When You Cross Borders Like an Amateur

In my short life I have made several moves up and down the East coast- moving with a family is a lot more complex than packing a suitcase and leaving upstate with nothing more than $300 in my back pocket. This past weekend was complicated beyond belief beginning with working an hour an a half before abruptly leaving work- and all its baggage- due to Hub's moving mates bailing out.

Not only did he have no one to help him pack everything into the truck- but he booked the rental hours before we were to move! The following day we got our first peek at our new apartment- needless to say it was everything I had been praying it would be. Stainless steel appliances, wooden flooring, huge bedrooms- okay, okay, I'm done bragging! I happily signed our new contract and quickly began putting things inside.

That night was to be our last dinner together for a few weeks- while waiting for our appetizer I decided to start Hub's check-in process. My heart dropped as I read the email... Check in for Friday April 15th... NOT Saturday the 16th! With deep steady breaths I made my call to Delta and immediately turned to work mode. An hour and a half and a VERY PISSED OFF Delta supervisor later I got off the call with an account credit and heavy disappointment which I thought could be fixed by some retail therapy. I was even more vexed when 3 minutes into the target entry aisle a cashier announces the store was closed and the lights shut off. What Target closes at 10:00pm on a Friday?! REALLY?!

Lazily we awoke Sunday to open boxes and arrange our new home. A good friend told me to decorate a new house room by room- if you look at the place as a whole your imagination (and bank account) get carried away. So we started with the living room as we currently have no furniture and knew it would be easy and the fulfillment of mini accomplishments were much needed.

In the hours since returning to Florida I've had to cringe every time Zombie asks what time her father is getting home and whether or not he's sleeping with us tonight.I found myself under prepared with the multiple questions Zombie has asked regarding her father and why he's not around- i do not believe she understands the magnitude of the distance between her new house and Mama's house and I'm searching for creative and honest ways to explain it to her which pretty much wrapped up any energy left from the weekend.

Stay posted for a list of amateur mistakes we've made on this trip that cost us serious cash and could save you a buck or two!

And if you don't already, add me on SnapChat: Sloanofthemoon

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New York State of Mind

If you follow me on INSTAGRAM you'll know Hubs, Zombie and myself are packing our things and moving to Atlanta. And you know Big Moves call for BIGGER PLANS, so in the last few weeks hubs and I have been busy getting our ducks in a row in transitioning our life out of Florida. Our most recent adventure took us to New York City for the annual International Beauty Show!

Our trip started with a 2 1/2 hour delay leaving from Florida and a 45 minute Uber wait in 30 degree weather once at La Guardia Airport. It was well past 1:00 am by the time we got into my aunt's house and needless to day we spent day 1 catching up on some much needed rest.

During the two day convention and through the educational seminars I watched hubs begin to glow from within with motivation, drive and most importantly self-discovery within his art. It was beautiful. It's eye-opening to hear that many of the same struggles Hubs had expressed other hairstylists and business owners were experiencing as well! And their vulnerability and instructor responses on how to get out of that rut confirmed everything I'd known all along. Hubs is a different breed of Barber-Crazy. Our days were early and the nights long but the networking and invaluable information was well worth it- Plus since we didn't bring Zombie along we got to sneak in some much needed sleep!

When we had finally freed up some time we hit the station and made our rounds around the city. Taking up Washington Heights for some mofongo on a double date with my uncle, sleepily traveling to Bronx where Edward gave his estranged grandfather a haircut and waiting two hours in line in Williamsburg to try The Bagel Store Who is infamous for rainbow bagels! Believe me, telling my 90 year old great-grandmother that we took the L train into Manhattan was NOT a conversation I was ready for

The Bagel Store was certainly worth all the hype! Their cookies and cream- cream cheese is all that and a bag-of bagels! And can we just take a second to acknowledge their AMAZING customer service and song choices?! I would definitely recommend you take a trip if you ever get the chance. But bring deep pockets as the prices are pretty steep.

What a fun and inspiring way to beginning our traveling adventures this year! Ta-ta New York! Thank you for your hospitality!

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A Messy Way to Reconnect

As apart of my 2016 master weight-loss plan I decided to plann one 5k a month for the ENTIRE year for myself and my husband! Since we haven't seen much of her lately we decided to bring Zombie on the color run with us. I'd been hyping her for the mounds of chalkish neon paint that would cover her tiny body for days prior.

Hubs and myself had gone to a color run last month and absolutely loved the pre and post party, we loved the random color stations and the energy of the hypeman and volunteers. This one was a little bit different.

We got to the race an hour and a half early as their registration website didn't allow me to use my Groupon code and I, of course, had to make sure we were still good to race. We walked up to the podium, turned in our waivers and were given our packets.

After downing a bourbon pizza pie and running around looking for paper toilet after the (1) women's bathroom stall ran out it was finally time for the race to start! I wish they would have had a disclaimer that said "please bring swords- will be chopping down branches during your run" The first 1/2 mile was spent avoiding splintering tree branches and raising tree trunks.

I'd go on about how unorganized this team was but it doesn't compare to how much fun we had as a family. Zombie ran for awhile and then abruptly stopped. She whined saying she couldn't go on and her toes hurt and we needed to be carried. Well you can't expect a 3 year old walk 3 miles so on daddy's shoulder she went until we saw the finish line. For days after the event it's all she wanted to talk to anyone about. She even kept her sticker tattoo on for 2 days! Hopefully this is a tradition we're able to keep even in our new city (details on that to come!)

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Totoro!

My sister's due date is on the day of my niece's 5th birthday so we decided to celebrate a few weeks early. She chose a far-stretch theme- Totoro! For those of you who haven't seen this animated film (like myself) here's a very bief synopsis:

It’s about two sisters being raised by their father for the time being Their mother is in the hospital Satsuki is the big sister and is trying to run things in her mom’s stead She makes breakfast, takes care of her little sister Mei Basically a coming of age story Totoro is the spirit of the forest who helps remind Satsuki that she is still a child Gives the children hope that their mother will be alright

For the last 2 weeks my sisters have been in and out of Viet-town searching for the perfect party favors like these cute sticker and chocolate "colored pencil" set, decorations, cake toppers and other party details. They DIY'd the heck out of this party including handmade sticker Totoro cupcake toppers and a "thumb print" canvas.

The results were incredible- and the turn out a lot more than my mom's 3 bedroom apartment could bear. Isa drew a lifesize Totoro poster as a photo op backdrop. Then they taped oragami cranes to the wall and hung a Happy Birthday banner from left over party invitations which were handmade Totoro silhouettes.

We kept it simple with pizza, chips, asian salad and cupcakes and one of our very generous guests even brought a dozen assorted donuts! We put the movie on for the kids while they ate- a great way to keep multiple children busy when having a birthday party at a small location. And by the time they were done it was time take pictures and sing happy birthday! It was a great turn out for a much-deserved 5 year old. And the best presents of all? Why the Totoro snuggie and Totoro bed of course!

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Getting Lost in a 64 Box of Crayons

After 4 months of my "Crayola Experience" tickets sitting in my gmail inbox I finally decided to use them as a mommy-and-zombie playdate. While sitting in Florida Mall traffic I cynically thought "this better be worth the $35 I spent... I do not want to spend more money once inside".

At admissions we were each given a clear bag with 2 silver tokens inside- 2?! What could I possibly do with only 2 tokens...?! I immediately began searching for the token kiosk with zero success.

Fast forward to 4 hours later where I'm arguing with Zombie because I want to make another shark mold but she's ready to move onto the lava stations. The Crayola experience stimulates the right side of the brain through hands on, messy and oh-so-colorful activities, bringing out 5 year old in everyone. You begin with naming your own crayon, making your own puzzle ornaments and Christmas cards, you can even maek your own figurine out of melted crayons... so to answer the question we all have in the back of our minds- YES it lives up to the hype!

I noted a few social trends that scare but excite me about Zombie. She approaches kids her age like they are exotic animals- with added precaution and always starts with a waive to get their attention. While sometimes she's successful, other times kids find her too intense to befriend her. At the watercolor tables when these pompous 6 year olds (who stole our paintbrushes) came back for our paint pallet Zombie stood on her stool and yelled "YOU NEED TO SHARE!" they didn't come back for anything else. My 3 year old is a bad-(M)ass- a socially awkward bad-(m)ass!

At around 6:30 my stomach started to rumble and I remembered it had been hours since we'd last eaten. I would not recommend their "cafe" which has limited choices including: pizza, corn dogs, hot dogs and salad.

Since Hubs was taking us out to dinner in a few hours anyway we relied on a sugar rush of Dippin' Dots and Churros to sustain us for the next hour. After that the hunger was stronger than the urge to make more selfie coloring pages so we called it a day.

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