Category Archives: Travel

Letters to Camp: Two Parents’ Mission to Fire Off Daily Missives

Sean joins Bryan for a photo on his cabin cot at Summer’s Best Two Weeks camp in Somerset, PA.

Our adventurous kids head to the same overnight Christian sports camp every year–Summer’s Best Two Weeks in Somerset, PA, a not-too-distant rural suburb of our beloved Steelers’ hometown. I could wax poetic about the picturesque location: pine-draped shoreline cuddled up close to a deep blue reservoir, two-story timber cabins reaching skyward, peeking through the pine needles to watch the sun rise over the breeze-tickled water.

With every trip to deliver and retrieve our camp-loving kiddos, my husband and I find ourselves standing in awe of the place our children are blessed to call home for two weeks of every summer. If only we’d had the chance to experience this camp, with its Christian foundation, its glorious shoreline location, its boundless sports activities, its mentoring counselors, and inspiring staff. We are hooked–which means we’ve become some of the most prolific writers of letters to camp–at least in our small part of this great big world. We’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way, ones I thought I’d share today on this blog.

AT SB2W, the only way form of communication between parents and children are letters–no emails or phone calls. Of course, if you’re worried about your flesh and blood (which happened to me in year one), you can call the staff office and have them check on your camper. That calmed my worries as a camp mom newbie. Now, after six summers, I know when to send mail, how often, what to include in care packages, and when to expect mail from my campers–so I do not succumb to another parental panic attack.  So here goes, with a top ten list:

(1) Mail delivery is a BIG DEAL at every camp. You must make time to write. Think Blue’s Clues’ mail time. Imagine every camper sitting on their cots waiting to see if the counselors will utter the most-wanted phrase of the afternoon: “You’ve got mail.” Recognize this, and get your pen and paper ready, with plenty of stamps on your desktop.

(2) Make sure that your first letter or care package arrives BEFORE your camper does. That way, he/she will have a letter on day one or two–depending on how quickly mail is dispersed.

(3) Add a family photo to the first delivery, whatever form that takes. Better yet, fill a dollar-store photo album with family pics and include it in your first care package (or even sneak it into their duffel bag without their knowledge). This little reminder from home will help calm the inevitable homesickness. Yes, they all get a little homesick–even the older ones. Don’t fret–it’s normal, and working through it empowers them even more.

Mike, Bryan and Sean pose for a quick photo on the cabin deck, which overlooks the Que reservoir.

(3) Take turns with your spouse, or another willing relative. My husband and I alternate writing letters to all four kids every single day–mailing our final letter on the Tuesday before Friday pickup. We know that any letters sent after Tuesday won’t land at camp before we do. Some days, we’ll both send something–but we know that at least one of us covers the duty daily.

(4) Invite grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, even neighborhood friends to write. I send out a family email with the camp address the week before they leave. This year, the kids received a letter from one grandmom, a package from another, a postcard from their NJ cousins, a handmade card from their Aunt Kathy with a $1 tucked inside, and several letters and packages from best friends and–in the case of my older teen boys, letters from their girlfriends.

(5) Zany, over-the-top  letters get the best reception. My husband tells outlandish tales with every missive–and includes an age-appropriate brain teaser that they discuss all the way home. Talking about the mundane stuff at home is tedious to write, and not so interesting to read. Channel your inner child; be wacky for a while.

(6) Pen a letter from the family pet. The kids always get a kick out of hearing from one of our four-legged critters, be it from Des, our pet gecko, Whimsy, Cady’s gerbil, or Jewel and Blossom, our nutty Snowshoe Siamese furballs. Taking on the voice of a household pet leads you down all kinds of imaginative paths. Just go there. You can be sure this will be one of the letters read aloud to cabinmates.

(7) Decorate the envelopes/packages. As a former Creative Memories scrapbooking addict, I have dresser drawers stuffed with stickers and specialty pens. During camp weeks, I pull out my treasure trove of colorful stickers and make nearly every letter an extra special delivery. I use alphabet letters to write messages, or add their names in big, bold colors. I create scenes with beach and zoo stickers (or what have you). A giraffe teeters on a surfboard. A spottted puppy leaps over a globe. My eldest daughter, home alone with the parents, likes to gripe that I spend hours prepping camp letters every day. Well, with four at camp for two weeks, I admit to getting slightly carried away every now and then. :)

(8) Customize a mass mailing. When you’ve got four letters to deposit in the mailbox before noon, there are some days when the handwritten letter just isn’t going to happen. That’s perfectly okay. Fact is, handwritten or typed, every letter delivers a hug from home. I’ll start with one Word-generated letter for Child #1, and then customize a paragraph or two for Children #2, #3 and #4. Sometimes, they’ll all get the same family update–and I still feel like Supermom when I lick the envelopes and beat the mailman to the box.

Maggie and Cady settle into their cabin surroundings, pulling out bracelet-making supplies within 15 minutes of arrival.

(9) Insert a riddle, brainteaser, word search or kid-friendly joke. Just Google what you need. There are so many sites teeming with camp letter-worthy inclusions.

(10) Be good for at least one amazing care package. SB2W, where our kids head every June, doesn’t allow electronics or edible treats of any kinds. So what do you put in a care package that can’t contain candy or cookies? Bandanas, glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets to share with cabinmates, nail polish, tattoos, frisbee, colored pencils and a small sketch pad, books, word finds/searches, colorful Mardi Gras necklaces, facepaint, puzzles, journal, inflatable beach balls, deck of cards, small boxed travel games like checkers or Uno, watercolors, crazy socks, outrageous shoelaces, pre-addressed stationery and stamps, pet photos, crafts like scratch art or friendship bracelet kits, baseball cap or visor, and so much more. For inspiration, visit www.orientaltrading.com. Every year, I end up shipping something to camp that’s necessary–like shorts this year for Bryan, my 6′ 14-year-old, or a second bathing suit to Cady. Amazon Prime is a great resource that always comes in handy at camp time.

As for kids writing home, go with the “under promise, over deliver” philosophy. Manage your expectations. Allow a week for the first letter to arrive. If it makes its way home before then, hooray! Small town post offices can be overwhelmed by the sudden influx of camper mail–and it takes a while to sort and distribute at camp central. Keep writing your letters even if letters aren’t coming home. They’re our children, after all. And we love them beyond words–even those we desperately want to see in their letters home from camp. :)

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Martha, Loudoun Crazy Mom

Oh Snap! Gotta Love A Five-Minute Drive-By Shoot

Sometimes, the best date nights are those spontaneous adventures Mike and I share in our sunshine yellow Jeep Wrangler. After the post-dinner clean-up, we like to put a little gravel in our travel, rolling over Loudoun County’s winding backroads. We always discover a tucked-away visual treat, like a fading sunset melting into a verdant pasture or a tattered old barn, fighting to stand tall against the inevitable decay of time and weather. Last week, we took a side trip off one of our well-worn routes and stumbled upon this barn, its metal roof peeled back by the power of a tornado that touched down a few years back. I didn’t have my Nikon 35mm or one of the family’s Canon point-and-shoots. So these photos were shot with my hubby’s iPhone camera. Oh snap–gotta love a drive-by photo shoot.

Be blessed–and be a blessing,
Martha, LoudounCrazyMom

Seeing the Beauty beyond the Weeds

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

After school today, Cady raced in from outside to announce that our yard has been invaded by an alien weed–oh no. Last year, we dug out our entire front bed to eradicate a nasty weed that had taken up permanent (and deeply rooted) residence. I followed her outside to inspect the unwelcome intruder, whose wispy greenery and tiny white flowers belied its true nature. Wandering around the yard, I started pulling up the weeds one bunch at a time.
 
Only a few minutes had passed when Cady and I both realized our focus had completely changed. Instead of rooting out the weeds, we stood marveling at the abundant beauty decorating our yard–a world now bursting in springtime Technicolor. We hurried inside and found our cameras. For 15 minutes more we wandered around the yard, forgetting about the dastardly weed and instead focusing on God’s glorious creation. The tiny purplish-pink buds fluttering on the red bud limb. The pale pink cherry blossoms like a cloud of hope above our heads. The dogwood tree, each tender bloom pregnant with anticipation for a season of rebirth.
 
Our yard is still blanketed by those annoying weeds. But my mind…it’s basking in the beauty of God’s breath-taking creation. Weed out the worry. Rejoice and be glad in today.
 

This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvelous in our eyes.  Psalm 118:23

Be blessed–and be a blessing!

Martha, LoudounCrazyMom

 PS– Check out this link (after you take a peek at the photos):  When Weeds Grow-Scripture Nuggets

Letter #9 of 52: Rainbows and Road Trips

rainbow and cow

Beauty seen is never lost, God’s colors all are fast. –John Greenleaf Whittier

Sparrows danced joyfully on the telephone wire. The blue, cloud-dipped sky sparkled with radiant light. The fragrant floral arrangements spilled abundantly over from their sturdy vases.

We who had come for her memorial service were seated in this light-filled atrium, embraced by the beauty of the world around us as we celebrated a life lost suddenly and unexpectedly. When her best friend spoke, she shared indelible memories that the two neighbors created together-family vacations and weekend outings, antique treasure hunts and entrepreneurial endeavors, Starbucks tete-a-tetes and conversations about life.

Just the week before this memorial service, Peggy and Renee had promised each other that they’d open a new chapter in their lives, a time for reconnecting with old friends, those who had shared volleyball bleachers and elementary-school hallways. The friends whose lives, like your own, become consumed by family commitments, returns to the workplace, and family schedules that erase the hours for spontaneous coffee breaks or hour-long phone calls. Renee told us how Peggy would want us to reach out to our friends and family, to rebuild and strengthen those bonds. And how we should all find time to explore the world outside of our front doors.

With that call to action playing in my always-cluttered head, I phoned my parents on Thursday night and asked if I and at least one of my kiddos could come visit–make the five-hour trip south to reconnect. The answer was: “Come on.” We hadn’t seen each other since our family Christmas celebration in mid December. While I cherish my gene pool’s annual gathering, we’re an expansive crew so one-on-one time with any family member is practically impossible. My parents (AKA the grandparents) are in especially high demand.

With a “yes” tucked in my back pocket, our spontaneous trip to Edenton, North Carolina was on. Twelve-year-old, Cady, decided to come along. Just the two of us. I picked her up early from school on Friday, directly from my own half-day at work, and off we went. She pulled out her book, and I cranked up Jaime Grace, Matthew West, and Royal Tailor, quickly cycling through the CDs and then happily stumbling on Christian radio stations, AirOne and K-Love.

I was in a driving groove; my mind quieted. With my tinted Oakleys shielding me from the waning sun’s intense glare, I began to see the colors.

The fire-engine red tin roof on the white clapboard farm-house, a photograph begging to be taken. A brown and white paint nibbling at new growth inside the split-rail fencing.

The rusty orange clay soil, bumpy from tilling earlier in the day, its powerful scent temporarily invading our four-wheeled sanctum.

Daffodils, dressed in rain-slicker yellow, prancing carelessly in perfectly aligned, VDOT-planted rows.

Alien green fields aglow with grassy spring abundance. Cady and I couldn’t get over the vibrant verdant color, deciding it was nature’s reply to Astroturf.

Pale blue skies, dotted with marshmallow clouds that hovered effortlessly over the landscape, showcasing the colors, both God-breathed and man-made, that rested in fields, along roadsides, and in front yards.

Gray and white and chocolate horses, in paddocks along the route. A trio of chestnut and white calves romping in a meadow. Black-speckled ponies conversing in the pasture.

Indigo, violet and orange, stacked one on the other, pressing against the salt marsh as the sun painted its finale across the fading skyline.

Traffic delays and Burger King stops notwithstanding, we pulled into Mom and Dad’s just after dark, honking loudly and repeatedly to announce our arrival. We had a marvelous weekend, beginning with a golden yellow macaroni and cheese dinner. A rambling Scrabble game, aided guiltlessly by an Ipad dictionary app. A father-daughter bike ride. A mother-daughter-granddaughter shopping trip into town. Two Saturday meals out–Nothin’ Fancy Cafe for lunch and Tommy’s Pizza parlor for dinner (both delicious). On Sunday morning, we drove the 20 minutes back into town for the early morning church service, made earlier by Day Light Savings Time’s arrival. Then back to the house for a quick breakfast of pancakes and bacon before getting back on the road heading home.

I’ve seen my fair share of rainbows–even a double and inverted–but this weekend, I was blessed to witness God’s promise one striking color at a time. Red cardinals, boxing with one another for space at the feeder. The first bluebird of spring, perched on the highwire, undoubtedly searching for a place to call home. A metallic blue cruiser, carrying my 77-year-old Dad and Senior Olympian, along his daily four-mile trek (his ever-so-slightly winded daughter puffing alongside). Seven tan Scrabble tiles, lined up to spell URINE, and the shared laughter of three generations as our word choices grew ever more challenging.

It was a weekend lavishly colored with love.

Letter #9 goes to my parents, who on less than 24-hours notice welcomed us with outstretched arms.

I think now is the time to embark on more spontaneous adventures. Put down the must-dos and pick up the want-to-dos. Let’s get going people. God created a colorful masterpiece for us–step outside of the lines of your life and experience a new kind of rainbow. One you build color by color, moment by moment.

Peggy, thank you for all the moments we shared. Even now, you inspire me. I will get out and experience the beauty of this wonderland we call home. You, my friend, are deeply missed.

What a privilege to be here on the planet to contribute your unique donation to humankind. Each face in the rainbow of colors that populate our world is precious and special.–Morris Dees

Be blessed–and be a blessing,

Martha, LoudounCrazyMom

P.S.–In honor of rainbows and road trips, check out this recipe: Colorful Vegetable Fajitas.

Click above for this week's inspirational tune: "You Lead" by Jaime Grace

Country Roots & Caring Folks–Good Things Indeed

Bluemont Store sign

I’m a little bit country.  Always have been, always will be.

Seeing the country in Loudoun County.

By country, I don’t mean cowboy boots and spurs or corn fields and overalls. By country, I mean a deep-rooted attitude about how we’re supposed to treat one another. A frame of mind focused more on being friendly and accommodating, flexible and helpful. It’s a mindset centered more on giving than receiving.

Country folk don’t slam doors, they graciously open them wide for those coming behind.

Country folk don’t rush through life unaware of their surroundings. We listen to the birds. We stop and smell the roses. We see the parade of ants marching across our sidewalks–and we don’t stomp on them just because. We watch. We listen. We take note of God’s creation buzzing and fluttering, creeping and darting, rising and falling all around us.

Country folk might seem simple. They might even appear silly at times. But if you breathe in the joy that comes from having a country frame of mind, there’s a smile waiting on the exhale.

So these simple truths are why I find myself drawn again and again to the backroads of western Loudoun County–and so many other smaller towns around the country. Country isn’t Southern. Or Midwestern. It’s international really. For me, country equates to kindness. Country means putting people first. Country sees the good stuff. And when it’s hidden under a little dust, country knows where to find it.

Across from Great Country Farms, the Bluemont Vineyard boasts exceptional elevated viewing of the LoCo countryside.

View from patio of Bluemont Vineyard, Bluemont, VA.

On a recent weekend, my hubby Mike and I found Loudoun County country in prime form when we headed out west, taking our Jeep off the paved pathways and onto the crunchy comfort of dirt and gravel. First stop: Bluemont Vineyards (18755 Foggy Bottom Road) in Bluemont, Virginia. Who knew that one of the most spectacular vistas in all of Northern Virginia can only be found down rain-rutted Foggy Bottom Road?

We arrived to pick up the vineyard’s generous donation to the Megan’s Walk silent auction — eight tickets to their summer concert series. The first person we met inside the vineyard was the person we were sent to meet…Loree Rupy, and she couldn’t have been kinder or more welcoming. If you haven’t treated yourself to a wine tasting at Bluemont Vineyards (elevation 951 feet) yet, do it soon! Tastings run $5 per person Thursday through Sunday, 11am -6pm. Sit on the patio and breathe in the quintessential country setting, with a view to Tyson’s that’s worlds away from the chaos of NOVA traffic jams. Just sit and sip. Root yourself in a piece of country.

Inside, customers find Virginia wines, crafts and ice cream!

The Bluemont Store is an historic local treasure.

Of course we couldn’t take the most direct route home to Leesburg. We never do. Instead, we stopped at The Bluemont Store (33715 Snickersville Turnpike, Bluemont) for a double dip of Cappucinno Crunch. Behind me in line stood three out-of-towners who spent every minute of their nearly non-existent wait carping about their surroundings. They noticed the dust on some old picture frames. They pulled a country cookbook off the shelf and complained ad nauseum about its contents…”Who would eat this junk,” they moaned. “This place would never fly in Said City,” they boasted. The not-so-nice little me inside wanted to turn around and say, “Go back to Said City then, please, go!” But instead I politely turned around and said something like, “Yes, Said City has its charming bodagos, but this is an incredibly special place, too–a little piece of Americana.”

This family missed the melt-my-heart charm that fills every inch of Bluemont Country Store. The Dad and the little boy in front of me got it. The five-year-old was beside himself with excitement that within a few minutes he’d have his very own cone of Superman ice cream. Dad was chuckling at his son, and talking back and forth with me. The lady behind the counter was a dipping machine, but she’d left her reading glasses at home and was wearing a borrowed pair from the store, still with its bright pink stinker in the corner of the lens. She was adorable. And sweet. And exuded the warmth of a storybook grandmother. And the visiting New Yorkers missed it. They just saw the dust, not the treasure surrounding them. It isn’t about being from New York or Virginia or Georgia or California It’s about being open to the world around you, finding the good stuff that’s right in front of your eyes, if you’d just stop, look and listen. The Bluemont Store is open seven days a week, from 6:30am until 7pm. Stop by and say hello.

Old-fashioned candy jars beckon little hands to hunt for sweet treats.

Philomont General Store...deli sandwiches, Virginia wines and friendly locals.

Thirty minutes later, we pulled over at the Philomont General Store (36550 Jeb Stuart Road, Philomont). I couldn’t drive by without snapping a photo, walking into this time capsule to breathe in a little country air. Two ladies sat on the bench out front, enjoying their homemade deli sandwiches and deep in good conversation on this warm spring afternoon. I asked if they’d mind me taking a photo of them. I told them about my blog, and they said sure–just tell people how good the sandwiches are. So here I am, sharing a little of my own conversation with a couple of mighty friendly souls, who I just happened upon while out driving our beloved backroads.

This is what I love about being out in the country. Just being.

Wake up and wander West for breakfast, Bear’s Den and berry pie

Pine Grove Restaurant, Bluemont

I like the morning rush of a Saturday in springtime — the birds chirping exquisitely as they dart from worm to worm, wet grass beneath my bare feet as I race to the driveway to retrieve a dew-dipped newspaper, the blare of a manual alarm clock replaced by my own hushed awareness that the day is beginning.

Today, my body clock nudged me awake a little after 5am, and I’m loving the peaceful quiet of my Saturday morning. That will change shortly, of course. Five children will pound down the stairs in search of sustenance. The dogs will hover, waiting impatiently for their dishes to be filled. Soccer uniforms and baseball gloves will need to be hunted down. But for now, I’m reveling in the solitude of this rare Saturday morning. I can write the blog I wanted to write last weekend, after our completely spontaneous Sunday adventure.

We woke up everyone at a little after 7am so we could be at Saint James for the 7:45am service. Immediately afterwards, we piled into the Yukon and headed west to find Pine Grove Restaurant,  an unassuming brown wood building that houses one of the yummiest country-style breakfasts this family of seven has found around the county. Pine Grove is located in Bluemont at 574 Pine Grove Road, just off Route 7 West. Not only is the food delicious, but the wait staff couldn’t be friendlier or more accommodating. When we visited near Halloween, the girls were decked out in their country bumpkin best–including painted on freckles, pony tails and blacked out front teeth. When you chat with the staff, which of course we do, it’s evident that working here is nearly as fun as eating here. Attitude is everything, and

Pine Grove’s friendly staff delivers breakfast with a smile.

at Pine Grove Restaurant, service with a smile makes the meal all the more delightful.

On this early Sunday morning in May, we arrived with big-breakfast appetites, and were pleased with every aspect of our overly generous portions. Our kids wanted cheddar cheese in their eggs–no problem. I so appreciate that my steaming hot coffee is served in an extra-large ceramic coffee mug…not a dainty tea cup that needs three refills to equal a normal cup of coffee. Daily specials are listed on the blackboard, behind the cash register. Today, it was blueberry pancakes ($3.50 and so large they hung over the sides of the plate) and the tomato, feta and spinach omelette ($6.95). They also offer the 1-1-1 or 2-2-2 breakfast specials, which are easy on the wallet. Choose one egg, one meat and one bread–or two if your appetite, like our teen boys, is a little heftier. We’re usually torn between the sausage patties (mmmm) or the bacon strips, and flip a coin between their pancakes and french toast. Sean, our youngest at eight, has his own menu-must: the egg and sausage sandwich ($4.95).

Given to Pine Grove’s proximity to the Appalachian Trail, you’re as likely to spot a thru-hiker catching a hot meal as you are a local retired couple in their Sunday finest. We like this diversity, and the lack of pretense. There’s nothing fancy about Pine Grove, but everything feels just right the moment you walk through the door. It’s country perfect, and for this family of seven, we’ll take that any day of the week.

Bear’s Den Overlook–on the Appalachian Trail in Bluemont.

If you venture out to Pine Grove for breakfast, you’ve got plenty of time to hit the AT for a short hike to one of the best overlooks in the county: Bear’s Den. Buemont rests at the base of Snickers Gap and the Blue Ridge Mountains. According to LoudounHistory.org, Bluemont is the county’s loftiest community, perched at 680 feet, with the still-higher mountains as a beautiful backdrop. Bear’s Den Overlook provides a spectacular view of the Shenandoah River from high atop a rock outcropping. You can hike the moderately difficult trail–with kids and pets alike–from two directions. Our favorite route is to start from the public parking lot just off Route 7–at Blue Ridge Mountain Road. This is about a mile and half climb over somewhat rocky trails bordered by mountain laurel. Or, you can take the easy road, enter Bear’s Den from Blue Ridge Mountain Road, park in the lower lot and walk to Bear’s Den Hostel, and then follow signs to the AT and overlook. Either way, it’s a picture-perfect, year-round destination and one of nature’s best playgrounds, with plenty of rocks for young kids to slither through.

On this particular Sunday morning, we skipped the hike but instead headed even farther west to Berryville in search of more geocaches to uncover. And that’s precisely what we did, finding a nano-sized hide clinging to the wrought iron fence that surrounds the courthouse. And a sneaky little hide  in the the white storybook park gazebo, placed to celebrate a wedding of young loves. We learned a little about the Battle of Catoctin Springs on another find. We stopped at Tastee Freeze for chocolate-dipped soft serve cones and parked ourselves at a nearby picnic table as our melting towers dripped sweat cream all over our fingers. We landed at the Berryville community park, which was one of the best discoveries of the day. We couldn’t find one of the tricky geocaches at the park, but who cares because we found the best playground in the world–slides so high and winding that our kids felt they’d been transported to a big-time amusement park. Only it was free–and line free. Even the light rain that arrived as they climbed and jumped and slid couldn’t deter them from exploring every inch of this amazing playground. You can bet we’ll be heading back on another westward meander.

In all, we found 12 geocaches, some along rarely traveled dirt and gravel roads, others expertly hidden along Main Street in plain view. The three kids who came along, although slightly squished in the rear seat of our Jeep, only broke into backseat squabbles a few times, thank goodness. It was an incredible day out and about in Loudoun and Clarke counties–not necessarily because of what we did or where we went, but because our day wasn’t scheduled to the minute or even the hour. After church, we just rambled west, our GPS leading us to the next great cache. The more geocaching we do, the more we realize that the best part of this newfound passion is that it gets us outside, together, and never fails to deliver something unexpected–new information, new sites, new challenges.

Sean, Mike, Bryan and Cady showcasing our Battle of Catoctin Springs geocache find.

On our way home from Berryville, we stopped at another of our family’s favorite destinations: Hill High Orchard, the well-known Route 7 landmark with the covered wagon sitting out front. You should never be in such a hurry that you can’t stop at Hill High. Sodas, ice cream, barbecue and country ham sandwiches, preserves, coffee, country crafts and dozens of flaky, mouth-watering pies that can be boxed in about two minutes flat. Hill High currently shares their building with an art gallery and winery–more reasons to visit. You can grab breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a snack for the car ride. This general store, with its worn hardwood floors and shelves teeming with local preserves and crafts, is just the place to “feel” LoCo.

A FEW OTHER NEARBY STOPOVERS:

I’m going to add a few more pictures to this when I can figure out how to post without sending my text haywire. Right now, I’m slightly frustrated by my own ignorance. I’ll tackle those editing details later. For now, I’m off to enjoy my weekend–plant some perennials, clean the upstairs bathrooms and head to the NOVAGO spring geocaching event at the Blue Ridge Center tomorrow, a first for our family. Hope you enjoy your weekend…get out there and live the life God intended us to live…surrounded by his awesome creation.

Wherever you go, be Loudoun Crazy–Martha :)

This online mamma has her sites set on saving

hotwire.com

Who doesn’t like saving time? Or money.

I’m online more than I’d like to admit. In fact, my entire life is coordinated via my Google calendar and email. It tells me when my kids have appointments and games. It reminds me when I need to be at school for a “special presentation” or to drop off another teacher appreciation dish. Thank you, Google calendar, for the oh-so-necessary email and text reminders when my mid forties brain doesn’t operate per the instruction manual.

It’s all there.. my life on the little screen. My computer, probably like yours, has become an indispensable tool that’s front and center in managing our household. Matter of fact, our Mac is stationed two steps from the kitchen counter, the hub of all family goings on.

Besides my trusted Google calendar, I started thinking about all the websites I visit regularly–many of which some LoCo folks don’t know about. And since I have nothing better to do this afternoon (okay, I could be planting shrubs, scrubbing floors or getting my dinner started), I can’t help but share my go-to sites. Maybe you’ll find some of these websites become bookmarks on your laptop, too. Or that every now and then, you need to do a little recipe shopping or shoe shopping–and you can’t remember where to go. My list is my list. I’m sure you have your own. And if willing to spill the beans on your quintessential sites, write me a comment. For now, let me share a little of where I go when I let my fingers do the walking.

 1. Hotwire.com — I am head over heels for this travel discount site. It’s definitely my favorite–even let’s you scout out deals on competitive sites from their homepage. Whether it’s booking two hotel rooms in New York City so we can take everyone to see Mary Poppins, or snagging two hotel rooms at 11pm on our drive home from vacationing in Maine, Hotwire.com has never let me down. For NYC, Hotwire hooked us up with two $115 rooms at the midtown Sheraton. On the way home from Maine, booking from our iPhone, we landed two $49 rooms at one of the nicest hotels we’ve ever stayed in as a family. They served a buffet breakfast with real plates and glasses–we felt like celebrities.

The secret to booking through Hotwire is to be fearless, and smart. The site doesn’t reveal which hotel you’ll be staying in until you’ve checked out, but the company works with some of the most familiar names in the business, plus some of the chicest boutique hotels. Hotwire does reveal all the amenities of the hotel before you book: fitness center, breakfast, restaurant, pool, wireless internet, and more. It also gives each hotel a star-rating, which is comprehensively explained on their site. We’ve booked plenty of hotel rooms and rental cars through Hotwire.com–and even explored many of their vacation deals. Don’t let the process scare you away–take a chance and save BIG BUCKS! I give this site a definite A+.

 2.Yipdeals.com — Yep, I’m signed up for the daily emails from major players, Groupon and LivingSocial. But I’m LoCo, and not very many of Groupon’s or Living Social’s offerings are at my back door. That’s what I love about Yipdeals.com– it’s specifically targeting Loudoun County residents. One of the best deals going, which seems to repeat monthly, is Leesburg’s Tally Ho Theatre family movie package. Get this: $20 for 4 first-run movie tickets, good any day of the week, a large popcorn, two medium sodas and a box of candy. Okay, read that again. $20 for what could easily run you $60 elsewhere. They’ve also featured Pev’s Paintball specials, and Layng’s Flower Farm deals. To win brownie points with my teens, I’ve purchased the Tally Ho deal and treated my teen and some friends to a movie night in downtown Leesburg. It’s an easy pickup and drop-off, and they think I’m pretty cool (for about five minutes).

 3. Takethemameal.com – This site was started by brilliant woman from Harrisonburg, Virginia, who was trying to figure out a way to better coordinate meals for friends and family in need. One person typically is charged with heading up this complex undertaking–weeding through a morass of response emails. Takethemsupper.com streamlines the entire process. There’s still one coordinator, but he/she simply sets up the page where mealmakers log in and sign up for a night of delivering dinner. The process takes all of about five minutes–there’s a place to make special notes about meal delivery or diet restrictions, add contact information, and even contact mealmakers about changes in plans (more servings needed, or switching delivery dates). After finding out which days are best for meals, the coordinator inputs the information and Viola!, an online sign-up sheet is created where volunteers register for a date and specify the meal they intend to deliver, thus avoiding four straight nights of lasagna.

The site also allows you to add links, like to one of my other favorites, youvegotsupper.com. When you sign up for weekly menus from youvegotsupper.com, you receive a week’s worth of menus–varied, relatively easy to make, and typically kid-friendly. Choose the recipes you’d like to make for the week, and print out the recipes and grocery list. This site gives me fresh, quick-fix ideas for family dinners, keeping me out of the casserole rut and reducing my “What’s for dinner?” panic attacks.

 4. The 36-hour boutique sale sites. There are too many of these deep-discount websites to list, but I already have my favorites:  Zulily.com; ideeli.com; ruelala.com; beyondtherack.com; hautelook.com and 6pm.com. The basic idea is that at a specific time each day, normally 10am or 11am EST, each of the aforementioned websites feature five or six new boutiques of designer items that will be on sale for just 36 short hours. The key is to be ready to buy when the sale goes live. You can preview the items in the hours before the sale begins, but only premium members, of which I am not, are permitted advance purchasing. Shelby, my high school junior, loves these deep-discount sites, because the designer brands she loves (Joe’s, Rock & Republic, 7 for Mankind) are featured at typically 50-70% off retail.

But if you’re a mom with young children, you MUST find Zulily.com–which is teeming with gorgeous name-brand apparel (including maternity and nursing wear), fashion accessories, custom-order stationery, home decor, shoes, toys, books and more for moms and their children alike. Ideeli.com showcases everything a man or woman requires to make a fashion statement–from high-end sunglasses and footwear to full-length gowns and bathing suits. My best Mom buys so far? A $17 purse for summer, and $100 worth of personal stationery for $50! Shelby’s list is longer and thick with designer names (all bought at steep discounts)! You’ll need to be “referred” by a member to join ruelala.com–but all you need is the email of someone already using the site. Like Ideeli.com, Ruelala.com offers an colorful collection of designer essentials–from reasonable to ridiculous in price, but all ready to go home at the 11 am bewitching hour.

I stop over at beyondtherack.com when I’m doing my rounds, but I haven’t ordered from this site yet. Ruelala, Zulily, and Ideeli appear to be the best and brightest we’ve uncovered so far. Orders from Zulily, Ideeli and Ruelala have all been fulfilled and delivered as promised.

Check out 6pm.com and sign up for special sales alert emails. 6pm carries all your favorite dress-for-success brands, from Betsey Johnson and Johnston Murphy to Nike and Ray Ban. If you’ve seen a brand at Nordstrom or Amazon, more than likely you’ll see it featured on 6pm.com. The special alerts notify you when the sales are, quite frankly, irresistible.

Every day offers something different on each of these steep-discount sites, which is why you’ll quickly find yourself patrolling your favorites, previewing upcoming sales, waiting for that one extraordinary pearl and gold necklace or one-of-a-kind floral  sundress.

  5. Etsy.com. I LOVE craft shows–I find unique, handmade works of the heart absolutely magnetizing. I’ve driven all over the map in search of the next best craft show: Crozet, Richmond, Old Town Alexandria, Harper’s Ferry, Frederick, Chantilly and beyond. With gas prices closing in on $4.00/gallon, thank God for Etsy. I can spend hours admiring the custom crafts of work-from-home moms from around the nation. Sure, there are dads on the site–but they’re completely outnumbered by the ladies. I’m one mom who likes that disparity–go GIRL POWER! I also majorly like the talent.

I’ll have to dedicate another post to some of my favorite Etsy shops. For now, here are a few of my current favs: Jennaration Yarns (especially love the hand-knit owl hat); gypsymoondesigns (stunning bohemian jewelry–lightweight statement makers); tannei casey (groovy patterned totes and purses); evalinen (striking felt jewelry creations); and ecoblingcouture (reclaimed and redesigned jewelry for your own red-carpet moment).

Thanks for letting this Loudoun Crazy Mom gush about some of my best online finds. I’d love to hear about yours–so write away. :) Thanks for stopping by–now get off the computer and enjoy this incredible spring weather. Plant a tree–a mandate from my own eight-year-old earlier this evening. Plant a kiss. Plant yourself in a new, unexplored part of your world. You don’t have to go far. Just go. :)

Hello world!

Oh Geo! Or why muddy meandering makes me happy.

If you aren’t yet familiar with geocaching and you have kids under the age of 18, you’re missing out on making some mudlicious memories. Loudoun County, and Leesburg in particular, is rife with hidden treasures awaiting your discovery.

Our family stumbled on geocaching last spring, after one of my kindergarten kids brought in a geocoin for his show-and-tell. Boy could you tell from that little boy’s ear-to-ear grin that geocaching had given him a veritable king’s treasure. One simple coin and he was richer than rich. I came home that afternoon and immediately googled geocaching, finding geocaching.com.

At first, we just dabbled in this newfound GPS-guided treasure hunt. We’d go out hunting every now and then, our handy dandy Apple iPhone serving as our official GPS device. We always enjoyed the find, but it wasn’t until this month that we officially became bonafide geocaching addicts. Come to find out, there are a lot of similarly minded geocaching nuts out there, all traipsing through overgrown fields, cobbled downtown side streets, and steel and concrete jungles to unlock the mystery of the next geocache. Nothing quite beats the thrill of shouting “Found it” while my husband is 15 feet away digging through rotting leaves, hoping he finds the cache before me. Yesterday, I won 2-1. Yep, that’s right–we spent two hours on our own–after our Costco shopping trip–hiking the muddied, tree-laiden trails of Red Rocks Overlook. The storm took its toll on the pines and hardwoods that frame the trail, but we trudged on, alternating between watching our steps and our iPhones (we used both his and mine, as we were tracking two long-hidden caches). Of the trio we found yesterday–two of which were hidden in 2001–one hadn’t been uncovered for over a month. Talk about feeling special! And then there was the view we’d never seen–a glorious overlook high above the swollen Potomac River. And the up-close chance encounter with some less-timid deer, out for their late afternoon snack. And me in flip flops…toes dipped in deep chocolate mud.

There’s lot to love about geocaching, and it’s for anyone with a sense of adventure. There are easy-to-find caches, or hides, as you’ll hear them referred, and then there are those that would likely stump the best and brightest MIT grads. The variety and number of caches hidden worldwide is astounding–and the number grows daily. There are puzzlers, virtual caches, underwater caches, multi-level caches and the geocaching.com websites states that geocaches can even be hidden in outer space. Not sure when the last Shuttle is launching, but I kind of wonder if there’s a geocache on the moon.

Back to the addiction, it’s consuming. We’ve outfitted a gallon-sized Ziploc bag with all our geocaching necessities–a flashlight for when darkness arrives before the find does, plenty of trinkets and treasures to trade, a camera, and a few ballpoint pens. You never know when it’s BYOP! For the future geocachers, that means “bring your own pen” because the cache is so itty bitty (possibly smaller than the fingernail on your pinky finger) that it was impossible for the cache owner to add a writing utensil. We’ve found camouflaged caches on light posts (a seeming favorite), wedged in rotted out stumps, hanging by a strings in trees and fenceposts, and magnetically clinging to every size and shape of metal.

Last weekend, I enlisted my Mom and eldest daughter, Shelby, for our Edenton, NC geocaching expedition. We were visiting my parents, sharing a beautiful church service at St. Anne’s, dining at the Nothin’ Fancy restaurant (oh my gosh, were the crabcakes and cornbread Bon Appetit good!). But the geocaching bug overpowered me, and thank goodness my Mom was up for treasure hunting in her hometown. We found two of the three on our short list. I can tell, my Mom had fun…we all explored and giggled and amazed ourselves with our ingenuity. Heck, when we couldn’t pull the miniscule log roll from within the magnetic nano we found, Mom headed over to the local fishermen and, in her most gracious Southern accent, asked for assistance. The fisherman stopped fishing, pulled out his rather large knife, and expertly removed the scroll. We got our BYOP ballpoint out and scribbled our code name: 7up4fun. Turned out that the day before, the same fisherman had been sitting on the bench where said cache was located when another geocacher, laptop in hand, had stumbled by on the same search. I can only imagine what that local Edenton fisherman must think of we out-of-town treasure seekers. So my Mom knew best when I was a youngster, and she still knows best. Later that afternoon, for another find, Mom was using a long stick to pull a tiny black and highlight-yellow snake from within the hide location. Thanks, Mom.

We hid our first geocache last night, and it was published among the website listings at around 8:50pm. Twenty-seven minutes later, some other geocaching addict, on his way to a movie with his wife, forewent date night to instead be the FTF (first to find) “Jeepers Peepers”–our ode to the springtime amphibian troubadors. Now it’s your turn to find our cache fully loaded with kid-friendly treasures. In doing so, you’ll find that the greatest treasure you really find is yourself! :)

There’s plenty more I’d love to tell you about geocaching, but why read about someone else’s crazy good adventures when you can start having some of your own. Go to geocaching.com and sign up for a free membership–or go hog-wild with a premium membership (great for even more cheap thrills). Then, let me know what you think. Am I nuts? Or is this the best thing since Andy Gibb and Twinkies?

Go head, use your GPS today to navigate a blessed adventure with someone you love :)