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Mia Cupcake

One Enthusiastic and Colorful Mama

Travel

Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag

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DriveShop provided me with use of the 2016 Mazda MAZDA3. All opinions are mine.

Once upon a time in one wintry December, I had car troubles.

These problems became bad enough that it looked like we were going to have to cancel our trip over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house my parents’ house.  Things were looking considerably UN-MERRY.

I was contemplating taking the bus, but my friends at DriveShop came through with a fabulous 2016 Mazda MAZDA3.

As we traveled through the woods and over a couple of rivers to get to our family gathering, Wolfgang and I had a merry old time making a list of reasons why we would prefer traveling in this zippy little car to Santa’s Sleigh.

Aside from the obvious reasons (sleighs are slow and probably not great when it’s not snowing, reindeer are smelly and possibly against the law when used as transportation devices) and the silly ones (would the reindeer even listen to us? What if we didn’t like the color scheme?), here are 5 reasons why the MAZDA3 is better than Santa’s sleigh!

  1. Better interior. I bet that Santa’s sleigh has some wear and tear on those seats…and I bet you they’re not even heated. When you’re riding in a one-horse open sleigh (or with 8 tiny reindeer), it has GOT to be chilly.The MAZDA3’s interior is not only nice to look at, but has push button start (my personal favorite feature on any car), Bluetooth (including audio) with a 6 speaker surround sound stereo with the USB integration and MAZDA Connect (which means you can play Pandora from the fancy touch screen in the car, plus it will read your texts to you if you’d like).The higher-end trim packages also offer heated seats, leather and heated SIDE MIRRORS.
  2. Gas mileage. 27 MPG in the city and 38 highway means that you don’t have to stop to refuel your reindeer half as much on your way to deliver the Giving Tree presents for your local moms group (like I did).Also, when you’re not spending oodles of money on gasoline, you have more dollars to get more presents for your loved ones! (Or more Bailey’s for your late-night toddies.)
  3. Trunk space. You don’t need to carry a magical sack with toys for all the good little girls and boys, but it helps when your trunk is a little on the roomy side. We dug the sedan model, as it’s a nice bit of trunk on a smaller footprint of a car.With the last-minute shopping we had to do before driving to Seattle for Christmas, we managed to fit all of the purchases from 2 runs for groceries, two very-last-second runs to Best Buy, one really ill-advised trip to Costco, one to Walgreens…..and a partridge in a pear tree.Kidding on that last one. But with 47 cubic feet of space with the back seat laid down, we had no issues fitting Wolfgang’s luggage, my luggage, a chair I painted for someone and all of the groceries and presents we would need.
  4. Backup Camera comes standard. Can you imagine trying to maneuver Santa’s overloaded sleigh into a parallel parking spot? Or trying to deliver to some ranch house in the middle of Wyoming in the dark?On the 2016 MAZDA3, you get the backup camera standard. Boom. No more backing into someone’s car while you’re trying to improve your parallel parking skills.(Also comes in handy when you leave the presents behind the car and shut the trunk and get in the car to leave. Keeps you from running over them….not that I’ve done that. But I totally have.)
  5. Price point. I can’t imagine that keeping those reindeer fed and healthy is cheap. Or the costs of maintaining a centuries-old method of transportation….all magical methods aside.Prices for the MAZDA3 would be way cheaper than feeding reindeer for a year, I would wager. Or paying all those elves to take care of the reindeer. Or grooming them.

So all in all, 10/10 would pick the MAZDA3 over Santa’s Sleigh if I had to choose.

Hope that won’t put me on the naughty list…..

5 Things To Do in Seattle in 24 Hours

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Seattle is so close to where I live in Bellingham, yet just far away enough that we don’t worry about traffic. I grew up just outside of Seattle, my parents still live there, and I have a crew of friends who still live there…so we like to visit a lot.

Sometimes we are there for a couple of days, but most of the time, it’s a quick 24 hour or less trip that we have to cram all the “big city stuff” into.

So as a self-proclaimed Seattle “expert”, I know what’s up. As a visitor, I know how precious time is on a trip and as a single mom, I want to make my dollar go as far as possible.

So, from south (near the train depot, where the Bolt Bus drops off and where the sports stadiums are) to the north (where there are quite a few hotels to choose from), here are…

  1. Uwajimaya. This is my favorite grocery store in all the land, and yes that includes Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s (and y’all know how I feel about them). It’s just on the edge of the International District, surrounded by telephone poles with cool Chinese dragons wrapped around them.They have a produce section chock full of things you don’t normally see (ugli fruit? Check. Durian? Yuck, but check), a really extensive seafood section, a whole aisle of fun treats from Japan, China and beyond and a kitchenware section with really nice woks for a low price, and chopsticks and soup bowls that make great Seattle souvenirs.
  2. Cupcake Royale. Hit the location that’s right up the street from the Pike Place Market to minimize travel time (which eats into your 24 hours). This location also serves ice cream. With cupcakes IN IT.During the summer, that ice cream can seriously hit the spot. Also, they have cupcakes and some really unique cupcake merchandise.
  3. The Gum Wall. People think this is totally unsanitary and it might be – but it’s also one of the coolest and most unique landmarks you’ll visit in your travels. (Incidentally, they steam cleaned it a couple of summers ago, and here’s a pretty rad time lapse video of the cleaning!)
    Bring your own gum (though, the last four times we’ve visited, we went empty handed and others were more than happy to share theirs), and make sure you visit the Ghost Alley Espresso, it’s tucked in down there, right as the road turns to the right to lead up to the market.When you’re done at the Gum Wall, head down the cobblestone path and to the right to head down to the water!
  4. On the waterfront, head to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. This place has been around for 100+ years, and has the crazy treasures to prove it.
    A four-legged taxidermied chicken. A “mermaid” (that might not be for the faint of heart – it’s pretty creepy!). A mummy. An antique “one armed bandit”.  And so many funky souvenirs to take home to family and friends, all at a pretty reasonable price.
    Hit up the Ivars next door for EXCELLENT fish & chips, and sometimes you can watch them dock or launch the fire boat from the waterfront fire station right next door!
  5. Seattle Center is just up the street from the north end of the waterfront, and if you’re not faint of heart, you could hike that hill (past the Olympic Sculpture Park, which is worth a stop) on foot. Or call a cab or a ride-share, I don’t judge.Seattle Center holds a lot of stuff to look at, take photos of, and do.
    If it’s hot outside, hit up the enormous fountain. If it’s cold outside, visit the Pacific Science Center, the Armory for lunch and then MoPop for your dose of pop culture and sci-fi history. Or catch a play at the Seattle Rep, or Shakespeare at the Center Theater! (Or a movie at the IMAX theatre!)
    There on a summer weekend? Check out the Movies at the Mural, where you can lay out on the grass and watch the sun go down near the Space Needle and then watch a movie.

There’s NEVER a shortage of things to do in Seattle, especially during the summer. Stay tuned – I’ll be sharing a lot more of my favorite places in Seattle in future blog posts!

Side note: I LOVE using my Google Maps to keep track of where we have gone and help others with our suggestions! <3

The purple markers are the 5 spots from this post, the green are restaurants or coffee shops, and the red are clubs and bars (or places that are more adult-appropriate).

It’s a work in progress, so I will have more colors and more markers soon! <3

What’s YOUR favorite place to eat, drink or just hang out in Seattle?

A Day In the Life of a Boss Mom

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DriveShop provided me with use of the 2016 Mazda CX-3. All opinions are mine.

I do a lot of things. I am one eclectic, hard-working, diverse momma.

I get quite a few people asking me how I handle all my business, and I figured when Drive Shop dropped off a 2016 Mazda CX-3 for me, I would figure out how many things I could get done in one day with this zippy little ride and record it all for you.

It was a Saturday in February, so brace yourself. Saturdays are always a little crazier than weekdays!

6am – bolt awake in a panic that I’ve forgotten something. Roll over and grab my BuJo (Bullet Journal) from my bedside table in my half-awake state and realize that I wrote ZERO things on my to-do list for today. Ponder whether this is a mistake. It probably is. Try to go back to sleep.

6:15am – surrender to the fact that I cannot fall back asleep. Stumble to kitchen to make coffee. Start coffee maker with no coffee grounds. Then run it with no mug to catch coffee. Third time is the charm.

I am out of coconut cream. I need a hug.

6:30am – sit down with BuJo and try to sketch out my day. Realize I have to squeeze in a trip to Seattle for an event in the afternoon to cover for the blog. Thank God that the Mazda CX-3 got dropped off a bit early, so this can actually happen. Feel overwhelming need to lie down again.

7:15am – have spent 30 minutes scheduling content for various gigs for the social media job, plus 15 solid minutes of screwing around on Facebook. Working on not arguing on the internet – but it is proving harder than one would think.

7:30am – Shoot about 30 photographs of the inside and the outside of the Mazda CX-3. Realize this car would totally work with our lifestyle, because it’s not uber expensive, it’s easy to park, it’s got enough head room for my giant melon and enough room for all the kids’ various and sundry items we seem to need to haul all over God’s green Earth.

7:45 – Realize I left my coffee somewhere, un-drunk. Go hunting for it.

7:50 – Cold coffee is freaking terrible. We do not own a microwave. Briefly mourn the cold coffee as I dump it down the drain, then make a fresh cup. With the mug actually in the coffee maker so the precious life-giving liquid doesn’t go all over the floor.

My floor does not need any more caffeination today, thanks.

8am – Kid #1 wakes up. Makes their own breakfast (thank the good Lord for autonomous children, for real). I double check my to-do list as I take my first sip of coffee and realize we need to head out to pick up our Girl Scout cookies for the selling season.

8:45am – Run out the door to pick up a literal carload of cookies. Leave coffee at home.

9am – Made excellent time to Operation Shove All the Cookies In The Car. Manage to fit 28 cases with only half of the backseat laid flat in this speedy little car. That’s a ton of trunk space in a subcompact SUV! (Plus, it’s super easy to park because the footprint is so small.)

9:15am – Necessary coffee stop at our local shop. I might actually drink this one.

9:45am – all cookies unloaded and semi-organized in our dining room. (This will be my life for the next 3 weeks….all cookies all the time).

10:15am – all children loaded in the car, everyone has something to entertain themselves (or entertain me) and off we go the 90 miles south to Seattle.

12:00pm – roll up in front of the Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle for our event. There is valet parking. And chocolate. As I take a bite from a mocha truffle, I realize I left my coffee from 3 hours ago in the car.

I am still without coffee. (Or just the one sip, 5 hours ago.)

1:30pm – My kids behaved like CHAMPIONS at this event (I am so proud) and I only kicked one person (on total accident, of course) and knocked over one entire tray of hors d’oeuvres. I also tried to get into someone else’s car at the valet pickup, so yeah.

This is pretty much how it goes.  My kids are aces and I am a disaster area. It’s cool.

The event ended early, so we hit Pike Place Market for some dinner stuffs before heading home. Manage to, despite my UTTER OBSESSION with the market, only spend $50 and 30 minutes.  It’s a miracle. Also helps that I only brought cash and left my debit cards at home.

2pm – It dawns on me as we are loading the market haul into the car that I left my debit cards at home, and so I cannot buy gas.

Thank God for the Mazda CX-3 and the gas mileage (29/35 mpg (FWD), 27/32 mpg (AWD)). Only took about 1/3 of a tank to get from Bellingham to Seattle. YAAAASSSS.

2:10pm – stop in a coffee shop on the way home. Get some much needed caffeine and  A much-needed relationship insight from a quote written on the shop’s counter. Actually FINISH the drink on the way home.

Since the CX-3 comes standard with the Mazda Connect infotainment system, I got to use features like Bluetooth connect, a USB port, and a 7-inch touch screen. Made 4 phone calls I had been putting off through the Bluetooth system built into the car. Rocked out to my custom Pandora station, horrifying my children as I sang along with allllll the 80s songs.

Best mini-road trip ever.

3:45pm – Arrive home. Need a nap. Realize I haven’t checked my email today as I walk in the door, immediately regret checking email. Two with a subject line that starts “URGENT” and one that just says “OOPS”.

Give kids a (very short) list of chores that need to get done, as delegation is the key and I set out to extinguish the 8 fires I have burning in my email.

4:15pm  – The kids have completely decimated that chore list with minimal input from me and are famished. I emerge from my email inboxes, battle-weary.

Time to start dinner.  Making salmon fillets, a massaged kale salad and apple slices. (Yes, my kids eat like this. Yes, I am aware I am hella lucky.)

4:30pm – Checked email while I was standing at and nearly burn the salmon.

5:15pm – sit to dinner with the kids. One day left in the weekend and we are all exhausted.

6pm – Dinner is over and I finished the dishes. It’s family movie night! I shut down my phone and laptop and put them in my office and only think about them two or three times while we watch Wreck it Ralph.

8pm –  baths and pajamas and bedtime for the kids. Only takes 45 minutes.

8:02pm – contemplate a glass of wine. Come to the conclusion that there are too many children in my house for wine, have a root beer and get back to my email.

8:30pm – finish wrestling email for this evening, draft out a post about the event and slap a couple of photos in there. Proud I am doing this, as sometimes I write these posts at the last minute. (Now to schedule time to flesh out the post….)

10:45pm – Take a shower and fall into bed, still wrapped in my towel.

Somewhere around 11pm – fall asleep thinking “tomorrow I’ll put that Mazda’s 4 wheel drive to good use and take the kids up the mountain.”

Disclaimer: This is not a typical weekend day for us. Sometimes one kid forgets to tell me about some event they have to attend and I end up making mad faces and having to punt half of my to do list. Other Saturdays, we sit around and color in coloring books and watch Veggie Tales and don’t go anywhere.

We are fun, but sometimes we need a rest day.