Mimi – Page 17 – Unlikely Martha

Living

Addison’s Spring Fling

This post is brought to you by Kazzam and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

Yo. May, hands down is the most stressful month for me outside of December. Dance dress rehearsals, recitals, try-outs, end of year parties/award ceremonies, field day, teacher gifts, graduations, graduation parties, and the last day of school. On May 1st, I gave myself a nice pep talk that I wouldn’t let this month get the best of me. I write this on May 31st, rumpled, crinkled, frazzled and such but I made it. School is out, all of the above has been handled and I’m here to tell about it.

In the midst of all these things, I threw Addison a 9th birthday party. Did I really have the time to get a party together? No.

I’m slowly learning that I can’t do everything and that sometimes outsourcing is the best move. With a few clicks of my mouse, Kazzam helped me organize Addison’s party. Within 30 minutes I had a face painter and a balloon wall ordered, delivery time set-up, and I was done.

Kazzam is a one-stop shop for consumers to book party activities and entertainers – all in one place online.

I felt secure using the service for a number of reasons to include:

Kazzam guarantees your satisfaction or your money back
All suppliers are background checked
(last but certainly not least) THEY DID ALL OF THE WORK!

To further eliminate myself from having to do things like decorate and make food, I ordered nuggets from Chick-Fil-A, grabbed some plates from the Dollar Tree and had my bestie bring the decor. I was secretly itching to do some sort of craft so I grabbed some faux flowers from Dollar Tree along with some headbands and helped the girls make floral hair accessories.

It’s hard to believe my last baby is 9, during such a busy time of the year, I’m thankful to Kazzam for allowing me to celebrate her with minimal effort!

Kazzam is continuing to expand across the U.S., with new party service providers signing up every day. If Kazzam doesn’t currently service your area, be sure to check back soon, the service is a game changer making party planning a breeze, giving you back your time to focus on the fun aspects of your party… like gluing flowers on headbands!

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Beauty

Video Tutorial |How to Do Box Braids

I don’t even know when or how I learned to braid. I know for a fact my mother didn’t teach me, because she couldn’t braid that well. I suppose I taught myself at a young age. My doll’s hair use to be LAID.

Being an only child can get lonely.

When I got to college one of my old roommates knew how to braid hair as well. She taught me how to braid with extensions and it was on an popping from there. We would tag team on doing micro braids. She’d take one side and I’d take the other. Let’s just say we made quite a bit of pizza and shopping money.

I actually enjoy braiding hair. It’s calming, unfortunately, I don’t always have the time to do intricate styles on Addison so when I get a free moment I like to put a protective style on her. Recently I gave her some box braids to give my mornings a rest. I’ve had people ask how I braid so I thought I’d do a quick tutorial video.

Let me say, this tutorial is not for beginners. You will need to know how to braid hair a little. The key to braiding with extensions is to keep the hair right at your fingertips, that will keep the braid nice and tight. I know it sounds easier said than done, but with a little practice you can do it!

In the video, I highlight how to hold the hair and the simple process that connects the extensions with the real hair. I hope something in this video helps. If you become a braiding guru after watching this, holler at me and let me know!

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel! ( hover over my profile pic below and the subscribe box will appear.) I post content over there that doesn’t always make it to the blog like speed cleans of my sometimes messy house.

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Food

Meatless Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Peppers

This post was sponsored by Fresh from Florida as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central, however all opinions expressed are my own.

Outside of my lingering blood pressure issues, I was recently told by my doctor that I have high cholesterol. I’m like how Ma’am? I don’t eat red meat and I try to eat as many veggies and fruit as possible… yet here we are.

So the realization is I’m getting older and I need to be paying more attention to my health. I’ve decided to go meatless a few nights a week, and Fresh from Florida peppers which happen to be in season were beckoning me at the store. So fresh, and so green ( see what I did there) that I couldn’t resist grabbing a few. Fresh from Florida makes it easy to eat in season fresh veggies all year long. You too can get in on the goodness by purchasing bell peppers, produce, and seafood with the Fresh from Florida label.

Since I’m going meatless, I’m in the market for new recipes and perused a few of the bell pepper ones on the Fresh from Florida site before deciding to go with meatless, cauliflower rice stuffed peppers. This was something I came up with when I realized I had a bag of cauliflower rice on hand.

I’ll be the first to say I was on the late bus for cauliflower rice, and I’m still not sure how I really feel about the taste but it was great in my stuffed peppers. I started with sauteeing the rice in a little olive oil, with onions, bell pepper from the tops and bottoms that I cut from the bell peppers. I added a little Italian seasoning to the mixture, along with some crushed tomatoes. I cooked until the mixture was fragrant.

While the “rice” was simmering, I boiled the bell peppers until they were soft. After I removed them, I simply stuffed them with the cauliflower rice mixture, covered with parmesan cheese and placed in the oven.

After 20 minutes in the oven, lunch was ready.

Meatless Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Peppers

1 Bag Cauliflower Rice
1 Cup Crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup Chopped onion and bell pepper mixture
4 Bell peppers
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

Cut off the top of each bell pepper and clean out the seeds
Thinly cut off the bottom of each pepper, only taking off enough so that the pepper is able to stand on its own
Boil peppers for 5-10 minutes or until soft
While peppers are boiling, saute cauliflower rice, onions, and bell pepper in olive oil. Add in crushed tomatoes and stir
Once peppers are done, fill with the mixture, top with parmesan cheese and bake at 325 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted

For more recipe ideas and videos be sure to visit the Fresh from Florida website.

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Living

I Turned 40… It was Epic

On March 2nd, I turned the BIG 4-0. For a whole year leading up to my 40th birthday, I was hype. I kept telling folks about my impending entrance into the 40/40 club… then a few days before I was to pull out my ID I got all in my feels.

All. In. My. Feels.

It hit me like a brick. I don’t think it was so much turning 40, as it was the realization that I was closing out a decade of my life where so much happened.

From 30 to 40, I had a baby, we moved into our forever home, I moved past the debilitating grief of losing my mother, and most importantly I found JOY! All of the major events I had dreamed and prayed about happened in the decade I was leaving behind and it got a whole lot emotional.

Tears were shed, then I turned up like only I can. If you know nothing about me, know that I’m down for a good time. I walked into no f*cks 40 free as a bird. I’ve struggled with self-love, jealousy, and, getting rid of other folks perceptions and thoughts of me. Overcoming all of that gives you the type of joy that no one can take away. After I shed those tears I was ready to walk into the next decade like a boss.

A 40-year old boss at that.

I didn’t want any part in planning the festivities, so I just showed up where they told me.

Friday started at Little Trouble in Midtown. Then it got really real and moved to the club where I brought in my actual birthday. There was video, sorry if you missed it. There is a reason Instagram Stories self-destruct after 24-hours.

This picture had the potential to be so epic. However, I do not have an Instagram husband. After our given 5 takes, this was the best of the bunch.

Saturday, the day ones put together a nice little slumber party at a suite downtown. We stayed in, drank, had girl talk, and found ourselves down to the lobby for shots, a round of Black Card Revoked and sushi. It was perfect.

I love my friends. I try my best to make time for them because they mean so much to me. These were the ones that have been there since college. They know the WHOLE story, the ones that act and ask questions later.

Sunday, we slept in, checked out, and headed to Murphy’s in Va. Highlands. Murphy’s hands down is my favorite brunch spot.

I am now 40. I kind of feel like I have no more big milestones to look forward to, but considering how fast 40 rolled up, I’ll be 50 in like two years!

Thank you to everyone that sent me birthday wishes, I received them. They were much appreciated.

I’ve documented many birthdays here if you want to go down memory lane… let’s go. Here is 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39!

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