The Summer Bucket List

I can't claim to have come up with this idea on my own - Julie Blanner of Coordinately Yours inspired me with her post - but what a great thought ... a summer bucket list!

Photo by Alicia Abla Studio

Every summer, we spend all of June and July in the water ... either in Seaside, Florida where we spend two weeks with our families or at any number of area pools (Leawood, Prairie Village, the Jewish Community Center and, lucky us, our neighbor's). But inevitably by August, swimming starts to lose its luster and it's just too damn hot for another trip to see the cows at Deanna Rose.

This summer, I need to come up with a few new adventures. Here's what I have in mind:

• Sign the girls up for an art class or two at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - the museum is a new client!
• Go berry picking - strawberries, blueberries, whatever ... we just need to cross this one off the list so I can stop feeling like a bad mom who's kids think their food only comes from Price Chopper or Chick fil-a
• Shop the Overland Park Farmer's Market - again with the guilt : )
• Ride bikes (and rent them in Seaside)
• Have a lemonade stand - have you seen this adorable sign at Pottery Barn Kids?
• Play in the sprinkler 
• Tennis camp - my favorite when I was young. The girls are both signed up through Leawood.
• Visit St. Louis
• Spend a week in Nixa - this one is for the girls, not Mark and me - whoo-hoo! 
• Picnic whenever possible 
• Enjoy an adults only weekend at the lake with our besties from Nashville, Denver and Kansas City! 
• Cheer for Evie playing t-ball for the first time with a bunch of other incoming kinders at Trailwood
• Visit the zoo ... in the morning ... and ride the trains. I am no longer pushing a double stroller with two 40-pound children in it all the way to Africa and back. Boo.
• Tour Shatto Farms - will the girls love this? Not sure, but we have to try.
• Sleep in! This one is for Nora and me; no one else will sleep past sun-up.

What are you planning for this summer? Any adventures we're missing? We'd love to hear from you!


- Kara

Win $700 for gifts and a personal shopper!

It's week two of the Time Warner Cable Enjoy Holidays Better contest on Twitter, and you'll definitely want to enter! Up for grabs? $700 for holiday gifts, and TWC will do the shopping and wrapping for you!

Read the official rules here and head to Twitter asap to enter. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Thursday. All you have to do is share why you should win, including @TWCable_KC and #EnjoyHolidaysBetter in your entry. We'll draw a winner Friday morning.

Last week's winner of a holiday home makeover by Julie Blanner of Coordinately Yours and Custom Christmas Lighting was photographer Claire Ryser of Lee's Summit, who didn't have a tree, lights or hardly any holiday decor before we stepped in!

Julie took these photos, not me, doesn't everything look gorgeous?

I'm sure Julie will have more photos on her blog soon, so be sure to check it out and follow her for amazing design tips and inspiration - she is truly talented and so nice too.

Don't forget to enter this week's contest for the holiday gift money and a personal shopper! I'd love for one of my friends to win!


- Kara

Win a Holiday Home Makeover

There is a really amazing contest going on right now, and you MUST enter! One of my clients, Time Warner Cable, is giving away a holiday home makeover (including outside lights, a fully-decorated tree and more) to a lucky customer, and that customer could be you!

Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to Twitter and log in with your account. If you don't have one, sign up; it's quick, easy, and really, we should all be on Twitter by now, right?!
2. Search #EnjoyHolidaysBetter or @TWCable_KC and share why you should win (the more touching or inspiring the story, the better of course!)
3. Get your friends, family and other random followers to Retweet your entry.
4. Cross your fingers and wait for the results.

The deadline is noon Thursday - that's tomorrow - so get on it! The very fortunate winner will receive outside lights, as well as a fully-decorated tree and more, all designed by fellow blogger and design extraordinaire Julie Blanner at Coordinately Yours.

That's not all ... While this week's contest ends tomorrow, you can enter each week for a new prize. Next up for grabs? $700 for gifts, plus Time Warner Cable "elves" will do the shopping and wrapping for you! Incredible, right?! You can begin entering for that gift on Monday, Dec. 3, with the deadline at noon Thursday, Dec. 6.

The following week, we'll be giving away a catered holiday lunch for a local business, and the final week will gift an area classroom with a special Breakfast with Santa. Think of how much your child would love you for that one?!

OK, the clock is ticking, so go to Twitter NOW! (While you're there, make sure to follow us too: @EditKC.


- Kara