Cider Mill Season Has Ended, I Want a Cinnabon!

Autumn is my favorite season. The leaves are changing color, the weather turns cooler, and the Cider Mills are busy with people looking for hot donuts, crisp Apple Cider, and fresh air.

Apple Orchards are perfect for families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the activities take place outside making it easy to practice social distancing, especially if you go early enough. Our family was all set to make the trek to the cider mill when we tripped up and found a Cinnabon truck!

Most of us remember Cinnabon from walking around the mall. I have so many memories getting those yummy cinnamon buns with the warm icing. What a joy it was to find the Cinnabon truck sitting in the parking lot!

The Cinnabon truck is located on 23300 Ford Road  in Dearborn Heights. It is the second Cinnabon truck in the country, with the other one esconced in California. All of the yummy delights that we’ve all come to know and love are available on the truck, including the pecan bon. The pecan bon is extra yummy with the regular Cinnabon topped with warm caramel and pecans with a hint of salt on them.

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The hours are pretty cool too as they are open from 10 AM – 10 PM. The kiddos loved it and the hubby and I felt so nostalgic as we took bite after bite! So hop on over and check them out today!

Celebrate Labor Day with Resolutions

A very early Happy Labor Day to everyone! It’s another holiday in the COVID-19 world and we’ll all do our best to incorporate a sense of normalcy as we celebrate with those we love and like. Bring on the smoky barbeque, yummy desserts, and fireworks! 

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But as we enjoy another holiday, I suggest we establish a new tradition – Labor Day resolutions. Just like New Year’s resolutions, which focuses on ways to improve life and achieving new goals, Labor Day resolutions can channel positive practices in our professional lives. 

_{Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com}

It’s a perfect way to celebrate, once you consider the history of Labor Day. The holiday honors workers, which is very important because we didn’t always appreciate the workers in this country very much. 

In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories, and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages.

Courtesy of History.com

So while we have gotten away from having our children enter the workforce so early, Americans still work crazy hours and women still do not have equality when it comes to receiving a fair wage, or decent maternity leave. At this point, childcare isn’t given the respect it deserves. And most times we are not thinking about our futures, we’re just grinding along for a paycheck.

let’s establish new goals and get a new outlook!

Here are some possible Labor Day resolutions to jumpstart your career and think about the future.

Sharpen Your Skills
There are many courses available online where you can improve your current expertise. Check out LinkedIn Learning, an online educational platform where you can learn business, technology-related, and creative skills via expert-led course videos. The platform makes recommendations based on your industry and the skills mentioned in your profile. Watch the courses on your computer or cell phone and earn a certificate upon completion. Users have the option of paying for the service monthly at $29.99 per month or annually at $239.88 per year. If those options are too steep for your budget, LinkedIn does offer some free courses that can be beneficial to your career. 

Get Certified
Certifications aren’t only for doctors, engineers, and the like. There are plenty of certification programs that don’t require years of learning to achieve. For example, the Society of Marketing Professionals offers the Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) certification to experienced marketers who have 4-6 years of experience in marketing or business development for firms providing professional services.

Consider Becoming an Entrepreneur
Many people want to start their own business but aren’t sure where to start. Starting your own business is a daunting challenge that can be exciting and rewarding. If you have a great idea or have spent years providing a service as a sideline and want to establish a business around it, now is the time to take the plunge into becoming a business owner.  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) can help you get started by providing workshops, resources, and a mentor to walk you through the process.

Feeling inspired? I would love to hear your ideas for a great Labor Day resolution. Share them with me below.

Keep those New Year’s resolutions alive!

We are two months into 2019 and it sure seems as if everyone has forgotten about their New Year’s resolutions. I am determined to not be among those ranks and am looking for ways to stay in shape and eat healthy.

So far, I have lost over 47lbs, and am looking to lose at least 35 more lbs. But, it’s so difficult to stay on the wagon. During the warmer months, I walked outside during my breaks at work. Now that it is winter, and we are experiencing snow and ice storms, I have no desire to brave those harsh temperatures.

And the food! Oh, why does the food have to look so good? I think it’s unfair that I have to make the most delicious and fattening food for holidays including most recently, the Super Bowl. The chicken wings alone are enough to knock out my weight goals for the week. And let’s not even discuss those homemade potato skins….#numyummy.

But still, I am not deterred from my goal. I do however, have a new plan.

The Grand Workin’ Mama Plan

With three children, a steady job and a plumbing business that I co-own with my husband, there’s never enough time to trudge out to the local fitness center.

But with a little help from the Daily Burn, I can go out to the living room and stream a variety of classes including Daily Burn Move! The class, taught by Keaira LaShae, gets you moving and the pounds melting. If you like to exercise and dance then you are interested in this class. Keaira gets you moving with Latin spice, African dance or even 90s Hip-Hop.

The best part is that the Daily Burn offers a free 30-day trial. This gives you an opportunity to try different classes – yoga, chair exercises, aerobics, African dance, and much more. If you like what you see, you can go for a membership. Standard Daily Burn membership costs $14.95/month. Watch out though, during signup you’ll be encouraged to go for the $26.95/month Premium subscription.

Features of the membership include:

• A 30-minute, full-body workout each day of the week, with Daily Burn 365.
• Access to over 1,000 incredible workouts, including Cardio, Yoga, Dance, Pilates, and more!
• 24/7 access to the Daily Burn supportive community.
• NEW Audio Workouts — take a personal trainer and great music anywhere you go!

Daily Burn also offers nutrition advice based on 3 tenets:

• Choose Natural
• Macronutrients
• Nutrient Timing

The advice comes in the form of blog posts and working with a coach on which recipes best for you. I am currently giving the 30-day membership a try and so far it’s been interesting. It’s good to have support so that you don’t fall off the wagon!

Wish me luck and kiss those pounds goodbye!

Don’t Let Work Get in the Way of Summer!

The summer has arrived and this year, I have no intention of spending it how I usually do…working. (says the “Recovering Workaholic”). Like most working Moms, the only way I know that it’s summer is the increased cost of the grocery bill. Other than that, it’s more proposals, presentations, and other marketing tasks for me.

This year, my eldest daughter is having none of it. “Can we do something fun this summer, Mommy?” So, here we are, scouring the Internet for events. Luckily, I don’t think the kiddos will disappointed. There are tons of events happening around Metro Detroit and I am determined that the family to going to have fun!

Here are a few spots that our family will visit over the summer:

• Head to the Park-There are many great parks in the metro Detroit area that have plenty of things to do for the kiddos. Our favorite parks are:
  • Inglenook Park – Southfield
  • Beverly Park – Beverly Hills
  • Hertitage Park – Farmington Hills
• Go Zoo Crazy! The Detroit Zoo is perfect for our family, if only we could ride the train throughout the whole park! The best event offered at the Zoo during the summer is the Wild Summer Nights, which offers concerts and activities on Wednesday nights during July and August from 6:30pm to 8pm.
• Take a Trip to the Library – A visit to the library during the summer is perfect for the kids because it encourages them to continue to use those thinking-caps! Southfield Public Library has the Ticket to Read program, which includes activities and a reading program for all ages — from the smallest readers to adults!
• Visit the Festival of Hope! Every year Hope United Methodist Church hosts the Festival of Hope. The event, which returns to the metro Detroit area July 13-16, 2017,  is free and provides carnival style food and games and live entertainment. Visit this link to learn more about how to save money on all-day ride wristbands and ride tickets!
• Venture to the Outdoors – The Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit, offers to educate families about the great outdoors through insightful exhibits and air conditioning. Events of interest to my family include the WOW – Wild Over Wednesday , which occurs the last Wednesday of each month.  For a whopping $0, from 6 to 8 p.m., visitors can take part in the special programs, fun and games around a specific topic each month, plus enjoy all the exhibits. In addition, the Center offers story time for the kiddos, hands-on experiences, games and informational sessions for interested visitors.
• Get Cooking! The Eastern Market is one of the oldest and coolest marketplaces in the country. During the summer, they offer Kids Summer Cooking Classes. According to their site, these lessons are targeted at ages 6 – 12, and each class is $10. Classes will be held in the Eastern Market Community Kitchen in Shed 5 from 9:00am – 10:30am.

Enjoy the summer and don’t work too hard!

Ditch the Cable or the Satellite! Join the Cut the Cord Community!

Recently my family decided to break away from DirecTV. There wasn’t anything wrong with the service, in fact it was top notch. But the bill that came every month took more out of our budget than we could bear. Through some quick internet research, I found some options and I decided to try them out. Immediately a wave of relief washed over me and before long, I was hooked!

In order to successfully cut the cord, here’s what you need:

Purchase an Indoor or Outdoor HDTV Antenna – Depending on where you live, you might have to buy an outdoor antenna. The best way to find out is to head over to AntennaWeb. They’ll give you an idea of the signal strength in your area and the stations available.

Bump Up Your WiFi Speed – Streaming requires a hefty bandwidth so make sure your router can handle it. Contact your internet provider to up your package.

Get a Streaming Media Player – There are different options available. We’ve opted to use our Xbox One in the living room and the Roku Premiere for the bedroom. The Roku Premiere is cost effective and has some pretty exciting features, including the ability to download the remote app. Comes in handy when the remote (which is very small) gets lost under the bed.

Sign-Up for Streaming Services – Again, there are many different options available. We have chosen Sling, Hulu, and Netflix. These services are awesome in their own right, but we are still missing certain channels including OWN. I can’t wait until Oprah opens the floodgates and allows streaming of her shows.

We’ve saved a few bucks cutting the cord, how about you? What are your tips for kicking the cable or satellite companies to the curb?