Mom on the Make

Finding fun amidst the chaos of Motherhood

Tiffany’s Christmas Window Displays

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I was lucky enough to visit the Tiffany Jewelers in San Francisco yesterday.

What an experience.  The people who work at Tiffany’s are all so welcoming, kind and very professional.  The jewels are Amazing (of course).

This particular Tiffany’s has two floors, and is an absolutely perfect setting, looking out onto Union Square in the heart of San Francisco.

When we were leaving I had to snap a few shots of the gorgeous window displays all set for Christmas to share with you all. 🙂

Tiffanys window display

Close up of the “Tiffany Blue” front door.  How cool is that??  Can you see the key necklace attached to the mini present on the front steps?

San Francisco Tiffany's window display

Close up of the necklace below.

san francisco tiffanys

Elegant Display featuring an engagement ring.

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This display was so very elegant with the mini chandelier and glamorous lounge.

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Look how beautiful the pink and green stones are…..love, love, love……

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Here’s the window with the Christmas tree.  Forgot to get a close up of the jewels.  Next time I’m there, I promise.

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I just love Tiffany’s.  Mountain Man gave me this chain link bracelet with three heart charms a few years ago.  I just had it polished and it looks brand new. 🙂  The new Tiffany blue heart charm is a gift from my Mom for Christmas this year.  I picked it out on this trip to Tiffany’s.

tiffany bracelet with new charm

Its amazing how shiny jewelry is such a huge mood lifter.  🙂

Wreck it Ralph

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wreck it ralph

I accidentally dropped my iphone yesterday afternoon and broke the glass face.  Such a bummer.  I’ve dropped my phone many times, but have never actually broken it.  Anyway, long story short, I wanted to get myself to our local Apple store immediately for advice.

Well, the Apple store is one block from the movie theater, so we decided to make it a family outing and take everyone to see the much anticipated Wreck it Ralph.

Bam Bam has been talking about seeing this movie since he first saw a preview about it five months ago.

I can tell you that this movie lived up to the hype.

What’s Wreck it Ralph about?

This movie is like Toy Story, but instead of the toys in a child’s bedroom coming to life, the characters in video games actually have their own lives when the arcade closes for the night.

Wreck it Ralph, voice by John C. Reilly, is one of the main characters in Fix it Felix, a video game where the gamer controls Felix in an effort to clean up the mess that has been caused by Ralph.  Ralph tears down a building and Felix has to keep rebuilding.

Well, Ralph grows tired of being the bad guy.  He is forced to live in a dump by himself at night, while Felix(voice by Jack McBrayer), and the Nicelanders (the residents of the building) live in a nice building, have parties, and eat cake.  Ralph wants this life.

Ralph attends a Bad guys anonymous group, where they all discuss the trials of being the bad guy.  Its such a funny scene, as you will notice many of the bad guys from games that you probably played as a kid.  The orange ghost from pac man and bowser from mario brothers are there, among others. Mountain Man knew all of the bad buys in the meeting, as he was a bit more into video games in his younger years than I was, apparently.

The bad guys tell Ralph that it is just his place in life, to be the bad guy.

Ralph cannot accept this fate, and sets out to be included in the camaraderie of the Nicelanders.

Ralph Looks for a Medal

Ralph decides that in order to be liked by the Nicelander, he must find a medal.  Felix wins a medal for rebuilding the building for the townspeople, so Ralph figures that with a medal, the people will be kind to him too.

He goes searching for a medal and finds one in a neighboring video game called Hero City, where he meets Calhoun (voice by Jane Lynch).  Somehow, on his way home to Fix it Felix, he falls into the game Sugar Rush, where he loses his medal, and meets Venelope Von Schweetz (voice by Sarah Silverman).  It is here where the adventure and heartwarming story begins.

I like that this movie is not predictable.  There are definitely a few surprises, and the creativity of the characters and adventures is really fantastic.

This movie is appropriate for 4 and up.  I went with my family of five, which included two adults, one eleven year old, one nine year old and one five year old.

We ALL loved it.  Ten Thumbs up!

The Best Swim Goggles Ever

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Aqua Sphere Goggles

Aqua Sphere Kaiman Goggles

I have been swimming for more than three decades now.  Fifteen of those years were competitive swimming, and now I’m on a Master’s Team.  I have swum a few meets in my Masters Career as well as several open water swims, but mainly I swim for fitness now.

In all of my years of swimming, I have never found a better set of goggles than the Aqua Sphere Kaiman Googles.  I mean nothing else on the market even comes close to these little wonders.  Seriously.

If you enjoy swimming often, you know that the comfort of your goggles is a big deal.

I can’t count the number of times I have adjusted my various goggles during my workout to make them more comfortable.  Then only to get out of practice and notice the raccoon eyes and red mark on my nose from a sharp nose piece.

Those days are long gone now with my Aqua Spheres!!!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  🙂

A few highlights of these goggles are the following:

  • They do not leak!!
  • The suction around the eyes is just right.  I used to always have the raccoon look around my eyes with my old favorite goggles, and I just learned to live with it.  About half hour after practice, the skin around my eyes would go back to normal.  With these, you never have raccoon eyes, period.  Amazing.  🙂
  • You get to enjoy peripheral vision with these goggles.  Typically, you would need to use really big scuba looking goggles to have such great peripheral vision.  These are normal size goggles with peripheral – gotta love it!
  • The nose piece is SO comfortable!!  This is probably my favorite part of these goggles.  I have never felt a more comfortable nose piece or one that even comes close.  The rubber is so soft and conforms to your nose size.  You will never have a red mark at the top of your nose again.

I know I may seem a little over the top about a pair of goggles, for goodness sake, but I’m seriously in love with my Aqua Spheres and I think all swimmers need to know about them.  I purchased mine at SwimOutlet for only $19.99.  I have not found a better price anywhere else.  I would pay $40.00 for these goggles, they are that good.

Enjoy swimming with more comfort!

My Early Morning Swim Workout

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Swimmer

Master’s Swimming is the Best

I love how I feel after my early morning swim workouts.  My Master’s team has workouts from 6-7am Monday through Friday and then 7-8 on Saturdays.  In order to get to this 6am workout, I need to set my alarm for 5:25am, then allow about 10-15 minutes for myself to mentally prepare (aka: time to pull myself out of my super comfy bed), then I have about a 10 minute drive to the pool.

We typically have about 3 people per lane which is great.  I find that I simply cannot get a good swim workout if I am not swimming with others.  I need a coach telling me what the sets are and I need people in my lane to create that much needed synergy in the morning to get me going.

The workouts are always 3000 yards, which for those of you not familiar with swimming, is 120 laps of a 25 yard pool.  This morning, there were other strokes in the sets instead of just freestyle.  One of the sets was 8 x75, where the odds were your best stroke and the evens were one lap of your worst stroke and two laps of freestyle.  I love this type of variety.

Fins and Paddles are a Master Swimmer’s best friend

We also were able to use fins and paddles in another set.  The more equipment, the better.  When I put those fins on, I feel like a dolphin.  Those mammals really do have quite a big advantage with their wonderful dorsal fins.

If I could use fins in the Swim from Alcatraz swim, I would not hesitate in signing up this year for one of these events.  I need to do that swim again.  It is such a high to get out of the bay and to look back at the path you just swam from Alcatraz Rock.

TYR Split Fins

TYR Split Fins

I have tried many different types of fins over the years, and I have to say that the TYR Split Fins are my favorite.  For some reason, they just fit my feet perfectly, they feel lighter than other fins, and I just feel like I gliding through the water so effortlessly when I have these fins on my feet.

Paddles also help in workout by creating a larger surface of water for your hands to push behind you.  I like using my paddles to change things up a bit in workout, but I am more smitten with my fins than my paddles.

The best swim goggles in the world are Aqua Sphere Kaiman goggles.

There is a swimmer on my team who swam the English Channel last year.  She has also swam the Golden Gate Bridge Swim.  The English Channel does not really interest me.  I prefer the tropics and extreme sun to cold and numbness in the extremities.  Still, it is pretty amazing to be able to say that you have swum the English Channel.

I would, however, love to try the Golden Gate Bridge Swim.  This is trickier than Alcatraz, due to the extremely high waves.  The Golden Gate separates the bay from the ocean.  The ocean, as you can imagine is quite a bit rougher than the bay.  Maybe they will let me use fins??  🙂

Early Morning Swim Workouts are the Best

Early morning swimming gets me energized and ready to face the day.  I get to enjoy the camraderie of the other inspirational swimmers, the endorphin rush from a great workout, and I get to avoid the initial bit of morning madness that tends to occur in my house every morning as all three of my little ones get ready for school.  Its all good.  🙂

Do you have an early morning workout that you love?  Feel free to leave a comment below

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