sedan love

Last week Shea called me while driving a minivan.

"It's beautiful. So ridiculously cool! It has a center console where you can set things."

Then he came home two days later, still swooning about this beautiful ride while I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they'd fall out.

The minivan turned 30 this year.  I'll admit, the van-car style come along away since the 1984 Dodge Caravan (half car half van, get it?) with its boxy design and and fake wood paneling.

It's not that I don't want a van. I mean, I guess the leg room would be nice. Changing diapers without hunching over would definitely be an improvement. A door that opened on its own would probably change my grocery store with toddler stress mess.

But, then I look at my backseat and see the chaos of cracker crumbs and trains. Imagine when we actually had more room to spread out and get comfortable. Do car detailing shops have monthly memberships?

Plus it's just so big. I can barely fit my car in the garage now between all the storage, sand toys, lawn mower and Christmas decorations. And the horrid gas mileage.

We fit in our cars. Henry is still in his infant carrier seat at 2 years old. We're small, mighty and suited for sedans.

And guess what? They even have consoles where we can set things with built-in cup holders!

new blogging adventures

Photo shoot - Riverside, Mo.

Last night I got to meet the ladies of the Kansas City Mom's Blog, where I will be a regular contributor starting July 29.

The blog is a part of a national network of moms blogging about the cities where they are raising kids and helping to connect moms both online and offline. For a great example of what we'll be doing, visit the flagship - Scottsdale Moms Blog.

If you are in Kansas City and want to offer a giveaway, become a sponsor or have a mom review your product, let me know!

I'm excited about this new adventure - getting to know other moms, keeping up on my writing and exploring even more about KC.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to check out the blog after July 29!

for your dairy needs

We switched to Shatto Milk for our dairy needs a few months ago, which means much tastier milk that also makes me feel good about buying locally (and in glass bottles, eee!). It also means I shop for milk three times a week and have to drop off bottles for deposit every two weeks.

But seriously worth it.

Saturday we got to touch the cows our milk comes from at Family Day on the Farm. We drove forever through Missouri backroads and arrived at a very unassuming farm with a small cluster of cows.

We got to see the milking process up close, pet baby calves, shop in the general store and taste flavored milk. My favorite is definitely limited edition cookies and cream and root beer milk. Oh, and cotton candy. I don't even like cotton candy but in milk form, yum.

 
Today, I stopped by after work to get the new limited edition apple pie milk. Nothing says 'Merica like an iconic dessert in milk form.

Most grocery stores in the KC area offer Shatto products, but to be sure, check out this list.

so long, google reader

 
In case you haven't heard, Google Reader is no more. Mass hysteria!

I have switched all my blog accounts to Feedly, which allows you to easily bring in your Google Reader subscriptions. But you only have today to do it.

This switch, however, is really encouraging me to thin out my reading list. Gone are the quarter life crisis blogs (past that), the chic nursery blogs (the first thing you're going to see is trains and cars anyway), and anyone that just is giving away more free junk that I will have to haul to Goodwill next year.

But really, if you want to keep finding your favorite blogs (like this one) and haven't memorized the URLs, make your move today!

Here's some tips for Lifehacker on how to survive the shutdown.