Not a fan of pumpkin spice everything? Häagen-Dazs has got your back. While everyone else is sipping their PSLs all month long you can enjoy Peppermint Bark Ice Cream starting in October.
Pumpkin spice season has launched even earlier this year with lattes and donuts rolling out with the seasonal flavor as early as August. So it’s only fitting that peppermint bark gets an early launch of its own. Häagen-Dazs has just announced that its popular Peppermint Bark flavors will be back in stores beginning Oct. 1.
Long before the trick-or-treaters even hit your doorstep you can enjoy this favorite flavor in two forms. The first is the Peppermint Bark pint, which combines white chocolate ice cream with peppermint bark and peppermint candy pieces. The second option is the Peppermint Bark Ice Cream bars which feature white chocolate ice cream coated in dark chocolate and sprinkled with peppermint candy pieces.
After a long summer of fun, it’s time for the kids to head back to school, which means it’s time for moms to… play? One mom decided that the first day of school was the perfect time for a solo trip to Disney World.
Mom and Disney Blogger, Lisa DiNoto of The Castle Run took to Instagram to share her first day of school “mom field trip.” “This, my friends. This is what you do after you drop your kids off on the first day of school. You get yourself a pin and you walk it around Magic Kingdom like some garden gnome on a world adventure,” she wrote in the post which features several pics of Lisa and Disney employees holding up her Disney pin, which reads, “I’m celebrating the 1st Day of School.”
Before you feel bad for DiNoto’s kids, she explains in her blog post that the family lives just ten minutes from Walt Disney World so the kids have visited the park many, many times. As her kids head off for another year of learning, it’s only fitting that the mom of two gets a well-deserved day of fun after momming all summer.
“They were excited for their first day at school and I was excited for some time alone. Pickup time came soon enough and all of us had lots of fun sharing the details of our day,” DiNoto told Good Morning America.
Why wait a whole year to celebrate your little one when you can throw an incredible two-month-old party? One mom did exactly that with an epic Toy Story party.
Little baby Zion is just two months old but he’s already amassed over 150 thousand Instagram followers––all of which are loving the pictures from his Toy Story-themed two-month party. His dad, Brazilian actor Bruno Guedes and mom, public figure Jade Seba, are Instagram famous in their own right so it’s only fitting that they celebrate their new baby with a picture perfect celebration.
From the cake to the decor, every detail of this bash is incredible. But nothing is quite as cute as the photo shoot that accompanied the celebration featuring baby Zion dressed up as Woody and packaged in a box ready for delivery to Sunnyside Day Care.
With this out-of-this-world bash marking just two months of life, we can’t wait to see what kind of celebration awaits for his first birthday. You can follow along with baby Zion’s journey here.
If frills and floral prints were a staple of your ’80s childhood, then you’ll be excited to see the new line of girls clothing by Laura Ashley.
Laura Ashley already features clothing for infants and girls up to size 6x, but now the iconic brand featuring wistful, floral prints is releasing a new line of girls clothing for big kids. The capsule collection features both summery dresses and casual wear, like skorts and loose-fitting tops accented with giant ’80s-inspired bows.
“The new girls’ fashion line is inspired by generations of women who grew up wearing Laura Ashley,” says Laura Ashley President Penne Cairoli. “We’ve had a high demand from moms who want their daughters to also wear our clothes. Nothing makes us happier than to know that Laura Ashley has had such an impact on women of all ages who connect our fashion to a special time in their lives.”
The new line is available for girls sizes 7-16 with items ranging in price from $24 to $59. Laura Ashley plans to roll out new capsule collections for girls each season. The company will also be rolling out new toddler dresses in August. You can check out the full line of kids offerings here.
The Bard might have cornered the market on classic theater, but high schools looking for a modern twist to entice audiences will love the new Marvel Spotlight collection which features one-act plays focused on themes like responsibility and self-esteem using Marvel characters.
The initial installment of plays, which is published by Samuel French and can be licensed for school performances, will focus on three Marvel characters: Thor, Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel.
Samuel French and @Marvel are proud to launch Marvel Spotlight, a collection of one-act plays telling the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things! Learn more: https://t.co/fD2F4VHgsm#MarvelSpotlightPlays
One of the plays, Mirror of Most Value: A Ms. Marvel Play, by Masi Asare is all about accepting one’s imperfections. Ms. Marvel’s true identity is Kamala Khan, a teenage Muslim girl living in Jersey City who struggles with fitting in. Asare told the New York Times, “It’s so exciting to see more and more of these kinds of stories show up in popular culture and on the stage, because when I was growing up they were few and hard to find.”
License fees for Marvel Spotlight plays are $75 per performance for one play or $125 per performance for two or more. Published copies of the plays are available for $9.95 each through Samuel French.
A photo of a framed letter encouraging breastfeeding moms to nurse in a Target in Texas has been shared widely across the internet earning tons of praise. It looks like that sign is about to become the norm as Target promises to roll out nursing rooms in more stores.
The sign posted in a Target in Weatherford, Texas was shared on Facebook by a Target customer and quickly went viral earning praise from moms across the country. The letter reads, “At Target, you are free to nurse wherever and whenever you like while you shop because we think #momsrock.”
The letter continues, “But, if you would like a comfy (or more private) spot to nurse or change a diaper, please ask our Fitting Room Attendant about our Nursing Room! A peaceful spot to take a break during your Target Run— and it’s even stocked with some free goodies to make you and baby’s time there even sweeter.”
For moms wishing this same service was provided at other Target locations, you might be in luck. A spokesperson for Target told Scary Mommy that more nursing rooms would soon become available for Target customers. “Our breastfeeding policy, which applies to all stores, is just one of the ways in which we support our guests. Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so. And as we remodel stores across the country, we’ll be adding nursing spaces to make shopping at Target even easier for new moms.”
June is national LGBTQ Pride Month and New York hosts one of the biggest Pride Parades in the country, so it’s only fitting that it should also be home to the world’s smallest Pride Parade.
At the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Westchester visitors are invited to attend the world’s smallest Pride Parade through the streets of a miniature New York City, all made out of your favorite plastic bricks.
To commemorate the fifty years since the Stonewall riots that brought LGBTQ rights to the public eye, the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Westchester has transformed its MINILAND Times Square streets with rainbow flags, “Pride” and “Love is Love” floats and a ‘Stonewall 50’ billboard.
The parade and rainbows will be marching through MINILAND Times Square streets all month long until the real NYC Pride Parade on Jun. 30.
—Shahrzad Warkentin
All photos: Courtesy of LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester
The gallon-sized jug of shampoo from the warehouse club disappeared in a week. What gives? Chances are your kiddo poured half the sudsy stuff out just to watch the bubbles float around the tub. If this sounds familiar, mom Stephanie McLaughlin has a shampoo and conditioner hack you need to read about right now.
When the Corpus Christi, Texas mom of four realized her newly-purchase shampoo and conditioner was disappearing in record time, she did something about it. Instead of handing over full bottles, McLaughlin used small plastic containers (the type you’d get take-out salad dressing in) to dole out hair-care products.
To follow McLaughlin’s hack simply pour shampoo or conditioner from the bottle into mini containers. Cap the containers with a tight-fitting lid and hand them out one at a time.
If you’re worried about creating plastic waste—don’t. McLaughlin reuses her containers, saving money and the planet too!
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcomed their fourth baby last week and now the couple has revealed their son’s name: Psalm West.
Kim and Kanye welcomed their baby boy via surrogate on May 10. Psalm joins big sisters North and Chicago and big brother Chicago. Kim announced the name in a simple tweet that included a picture of the baby sleeping. With so many unique baby names already, the choice of Psalm shouldn’t come as a major surprise.
The name is also a fitting choice considering that Kanye has recently been hosting Kanye’s Sunday Service, in which he performs gospels, as well as his own songs to crowds gathered in the Santa Monica Mountains, near the family’s home. He performed a special service on Mother’s Day which included Kim and the kids.
One of my missions in life is to lower the bar. Granted, most of my bar-lowering escapades are unintentional, but sharing them with the world is intentional. And fun. If slightly humbling. But that’s the point!
THE SETUP
I’m currently at a pretty humble point in my life. I mean, makeup is a crap shoot, my hair is at an awkward length, and I’m at my very heaviest. All superficial things, and I am NOT complaining. My life is rich and meaningful and I am very well loved. But I’m not at the top of my game appearance-wise. My body isn’t as fun to dress as it used to be. And I LOVE clothes. So. My mom tells me that there is a great sale at Dillard’s. 65% off racks! And she has this super cute, swingy, intricately detailed top on she’d just gotten there.
I have some time to kill in town, so I decide to check it out. I arrive at our adorably small one-story Dillard’s and pop into the department at which I always peer longingly as I dutifully march with my daughters straight to the junior department. Not the old lady department. You know, the chic-if-fully-adult ladies section. I eye some cute, discounted things and start filling my arms. I’d almost forgotten how fun this is! I’m scouring a rack of tops, clicking through hangers, and eagerly looking for my size.
Suddenly, I see that the top Mom was wearing is on the same rack. Same brand. Same style. Now, my mom has always been a sharp and current dresser, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is seventy. Has it suddenly happened? Am I shopping fashion that is appealing to the over 60 set? I’m not ready for that. I cover my grays (everyfour weeks even; it’s a real commitment). I’m not ready for the sassy silver look. And I’m not ready to dress like my mom. I’d already been informed when school shopping earlier in the year that the things I suggested my girls try on weren’t their style. “That would be cute for you, Mom, but not for me.” Well, ok. I can accept that I’m not dressing like a 14 year old girl. I’m even relieved. But I thought I was shopping the category between teenager appropriate and fully mature.
THE DRESS
I hang a hard right (maybe I’d wandered too far left) and grab a super cute ivory and black dress with some embroidery and a deep v-neck that I know my mom would never try (can you blame me? I’m trying to recover here!). I head to the fitting rooms and do the usual. I cycle through a big stack of shirts one at a time and find a cute striped v-neck front-tie top that is flattering and a steal. Finished with the tops, I throw the dress on over my cami and jeans. I’ll take that stuff off if I think the dress is a strong maybe. Just a quick look before really putting in the work.
So, I slip it on over my head, wrestle with the under layer that wants to stay wedged up between the dress and my shoulders (what is it with these built in slips? Complicates things!), get everything in place and take a look. The dress is adorable but a little unflattering mostly because it is way too small. Well, shoot. I had been hopeful. That’s ok. I’ll just pull it off, buy the cute top, and call it a modestly successful shop. But I really wanted that dress to work. One more try in the mirror. You know, that futile attempt at shifting things around to make something that just isn’t right look better? This is a trap, and I don’t fall for it. Not right. Too tight. Reject! I need a size up if anything. I bunch up the skirt in both hands and do that arm cross dress-taking-off move we’re all familiar with, but I can’t quite shimmy it over my shoulders. Ok. This is nothing new. I have the world’s broadest shoulders.
Take a deep breath, exhale, and try again. Nope. Won’t budge. Um, I’m stuck. I look in the mirror and feel the pre-panic rising up my chest to my face. No, Joanne. Stay calm. Think! This fabric is so stiff. Maybe there’s a zipper. Yes!!! There is a little side under-arm zipper I hadn’t noticed. Sweet relief! I’m so ready to get out of this thing. I slide the zipper down and repeat the dress removal maneuver. Still can’t get it over my shoulders. Right then, the sweet clerk comes to check on me. “Doing OK?” Gulp! I need to buy some time. I pull the dress back into place and open the door. “Do you have this dress in an extra-large?” I ask her. She scurries off to check, and I resume the squirming, tugging, and wriggling. I try combining the cross-armed move with the little hops (you know the ones). That move combo works even with sweaty, skin tight sports bras. But no. I still can’t get this dress off!
My heart rate and temperature start to rise, but I’m not giving in to panic. No matter what I do short of ripping the seams or dislocating my shoulder, I can NOT get this dress off. The clerk returns, knocks, and says that she doesn’t think the dress is made in an XL. Well, there’s some good news. The largest size they make is too small. And I’m trapped in it. There’s only one thing left to do. I open the door, stick my head out, and say real quiet “Can you come in here? I need help. I’m stuck in this dress.” And God love that woman, she joins me in the 9-square foot room without a word and shuts the door behind herself. Reinforcements! Did I mention that I am not the only customer in the fitting room? I have a neighbor in the very next stall. I can see her feet. I can just picture her giving herself a wide eyed look in the mirror, thinking “Better her than me!” and then listening real hard to see what happens next.
One thing is comforting me at this point. At least I have clothes on under the darn dress, so when we finally get it off, I won’t be subjecting this nice lady to that awkwardness. She gathers up the free fabric in her hands for what seems like forever. As she starts lifting, I raise my arms above my head like a cooperative toddler. I feel a tiny sliding sensation. We are moving in the right direction! Wait. Why is she stopping? And why is it so hot in here? Can she smell my fear? She tells me that she can’t lift her arms any higher because she has an injured shoulder. Well, I don’t want to further injure the poor lady, so I squat a little and then more, hands still above my head. Can you picture me, arms and dress up over my head now in a deep, deep squat, with a stranger tugging upward to the point of shoulder failure? I could die. Finally, that poor dress is free of me. Thank goodness!!!
THE AFTERMATH
I’m not sure what happened next. My memory is foggy. I own the cute top, so I know I left the fitting room, purchased said top from my liberator, and somehow found my car. I don’t think I made any crazy attempts at saving face, but I can’t be sure. I think we probably both just tried to act like it hadn’t happened. Can you imagine? I do remember considering asking her how often that happens. I decided I couldn’t face hearing that I was her first, so I refrained.
Sitting in my car, my mood is equal parts amusement, shock, and mortification. At least I didn’t damage the dress. My next stop is to pick up Bailey and a friend from gymnastics. I end up telling them the story, and we all three howl with laughter as we fly down the interstate in the dark. It’s funnier once you’re free. By the time we arrive home, I feel only amusement. I decide to look online to see if I can find an XL. I really did like that dress! I check Dillards.com. Nope. Hmm. It’s such a good price. Oh what the heck. I order the large online. I pay shipping. I know! That dress is now hanging in the front of my closet. It isn’t mocking me. I’m going to win. I have a new goal. Mark my words, I will wear that dress.
And that is how you lower and raise the bar all in one story! To benefit from more of my bar-lowering escapades, check out the links in my profile to read articles about why I’m glad I got toilet paper stuck to my pants, how I injured myself shopping, or an observation regarding my rear-end made at full voice by my toddler in a public restroom.
What embarrassing stories do you have? Let’s chat and laugh at ourselves!
I am a family physician turned stay at home mom and blogger. I am developing a women's loungewear line, Shelfies, that will revolutionize what we wear in the {no-bra-zone} with soft fabrics, supportive but cozy shelf and just-enough-coverage cups.
