orange leaf Archives - Through Heather's Looking Glass

Frozen Birthday Party

September 8, 2016 by Heather

On Saturday, we had Emma Kate’s second birthday at our yogurt shop, Orange Leaf. I was not nearly as creative as last year, and everything was kind of last minute, but we still had a great time! I feel like having a party at our house last year was a “rookie new mom mistake”. It was super stressful not only getting things ready for the party, but deep cleaning the house and then cleaning up after. Having it at another location is the way to go!

We had a little bit of food like donut holes, fruit, chex mix, and deviled eggs (and of course cake and frozen yogurt!) We kept it simple with bottled water and kool-aid in a cooler under the table. The Frozen decorations were bought at Wal-Mart, and the utensils, tablecloth, balloon holders, and a couple of the plastic trays I got at the Dollar Tree. We had a helium tank from Wal-Mart leftover from last year’s party, too.

The birthday girl was way too busy to smile for pictures.

Except when it comes to her daddy. She always smiles for him! her shirt is from Etsy, and her skirt is from Wal-Mart.

Emma Kate was so good and sat in her chair and ate fruit, froyo, and cake the whole time!

We had a lot of special friends and family attend, and the shop was a great place to let the kids run around and go nuts.

My mom made Emma Kate’s cake. After paying $45 for a cake last year, we decided on the homemade route and it came out great! We did a boxed mix but used homemade icing which was amazing. I will forever use this icing when I make anything! (It may or may not have had 4 sticks of butter in it!)

Lately, Emma Kate has been all about singing the happy birthday song, so she was mesmerized when everyone started singing it to her.

She wasn’t so sure about blowing out the candles, and to avoid a spit on cake, Bobby blew them out for her. We used food coloring for two of the layers of the cake, and I think it came out great! The Frozen characters on top are from Amazon, and the banner on the cake is from Etsy.

This pictures cracks me up. Unfortunately I didn’t think to do a photo with all the kids and a bunch of them had already left, but we rounded up who was still there and tried to get a photo. The parents were all jumping around trying to get the kids to look. It was awesome.

The little boy, Emma Kate, and the little girl on the right were all born within a week of each other! So fun to watch them grow over the past two years.

We had a great time celebrating our girl and can’t believe she will be two in a couple of weeks. I really loved the low stress party we did this year. We just have so many other things going around, I honestly didn’t have any more energy to put into it than what I did. I still think she had a great time. I know I did.

QOTD: Favorite party theme or location? Do you prefer a party at your house or somewhere else?

Filed Under: baby, Disney, family, holidays Tagged: birthday party, Disney, elsa, frozen, olaf, orange leaf

5 Things Friday XXII

August 19, 2016 by Heather

We made it to Friday! I know my blogging has been a little erratic the last few weeks and I apologize. I have a good reason, hopefully I will be able to tell you all soon! For now, enjoy my 5 things for Friday.

1.) Hair Help: Confession. I haven’t gotten my hair cut in about a year. I was determined to not “give in” to the frustrating and oppressive heat that usually causes me to chop my hair off in the summer. While I am happy to say I made it through the worst of it, my hair has seen better days. It is so thick, that on my first day back at boot camp on Monday, even with two ponytail holders in my hair, my ponytail kept sliding down the side of my head due to the weight. I had had enough. Even though I was sweaty and disgusting, I drove straight to the salon, got a trim, and asked her to thin the heck out of my hair. When she was done, it looked like a small dog was laying on the mat. I wish I would have taken a picture. Anyway, I feel much lighter and better now that I got some hair help. Anyone else have to get their hair thinned?

2.) Macros: My trainer at the gym convinced me to try out counting macros. I am usually NOT a fan of counting calories etc, it’s way too restrictive and time consuming for me and I would rather just go by how I feel, but after my last weigh in/body fat test last week I left feeling frustrated. I have lost 3 pounds since May, but my muscle mass has somehow gone done and my body fat is slightly elevated. I’m going to start lifting heavier, and she suggested I just try out counting macros for a bit so I’m giving it a whirl. What I have learned in two days is that I need to eat less fats and carbs but more protein, which I am finding difficult!

3.) Olympic Emotions: Wow. This week was such a heart breaker for my USA volleyball girls April and Kerri. I really thought they would get that gold. It’s so tough to lose any game, but I can’t imagine losing such a huge match that you have worked so hard for. However, I’m super happy for my gymnastics girls, and proud of how our marathon girls represented last weekend. So inspiring!

4.) Flood Relief: The national news media has done a TERRIBLE job of covering the flooding and devastation in south Louisiana just 45 minutes from where I grew up. Y’all, it’s bad. Over 40,000 homes destroyed, 11 people have died, over 10,000 people in shelters. So many have lost everything. I have had a couple people ask how they can help. If you are local, there are so many places taking up items. Tomorrow, our local Lowe’s is having a “fill a truck” drive all day, and our gym is collecting things like diapers, toiletries, and wipes. My church is also collecting every day, and sending out several relief teams on day trips if anyone is interested in going. Samaritan’s Purse (they do the Christmas child shoeboxes that I love), are sending disaster relief teams and supplies, and you can donate to them online here. Do a google search or go to nola.com to see pictures and other ways you can help.

5.) Happy Birthday: Emma Kate’s birthday is September 24th, but we have decided to have her party early, on Labor Day weekend. We will be having a Frozen themed party at our yogurt shop (get it, frozen yogurt? haha). We are going to keep it fairly simple, just a fun time to hang out and eat some snacks and yogurt with friends. Emma Kate loves princess Elsa so this should be fun!

QOTD: Any frozen party ideas? Thoughts on the Olympics so far? Do you count macros?

Filed Under: Disney, family, health Tagged: flood, macros, orange leaf, party

Five Things Friday VIII

November 20, 2015 by Heather

1.) This may have happened this week. My parents are coming into town next week so this week was the only time we could find to get it together enough to get the tree up…sooo…yay!

2.) I may have had frozen yogurt for dinner last night. I had to go get a filling replaced because it cracked (ugh) and my mouth was still so numb by dinnertime. It’s times like this owning a frozen yogurt shop comes in handy. Hopefully “times like this” don’t happen too often.

3.) Only a few days left to get your Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to a collection center! Here is mine, it is being dropped off tomorrow!

4.) My Christmas tree has a baby gate around it. I did some research as the best way to approach this. (Note to all of you: do NOT go on Pinterest. You will find super cute crafty moms who wrapped up large heavy boxes in adorable wrapping paper with huge bows to “block” the tree from the kids. Aint nobody got time for that.) So we found the most economical 6-panel baby gate we could find and wa-la! So far so good. No needles have been eaten and no ornaments smashed…yet.

5.) I ordered our Christmas cards with a Groupon and I think they came out really cute. I will show you all what ours looks like on Christmas. Smile Does anyone else think sending cards is a lost art? I’m not sure if it’s a southern/traditional thing or I am just old fashioned, but I LOVE sending and receiving Christmas cards. Best mail ever! Thoughts? Comments?

QOTD: Do you send out Christmas cards? Thoughts on the whole thing?

Filed Under: baby, family, holidays Tagged: Christmas tree, decorating, Froyo, Operation Christmas child, orange leaf

10 Confessions

August 26, 2015 by Heather

Confession: I have eaten way more frozen yogurt in the past two weeks than any one person should eat.

But it’s blackberry greek with fruit, nuts, and granola!

Confession: I tend to over commit and then can’t do my best work because I am rushed.

Confession: I watched all the seasons of Nashville in a span of a month.

Confession: I have gotten jealous of people getting to run so many fun destination races that I have been missing out on.

Did you see the new runDisney announcement yesterday here on THLG?

Confession: I made a new year’s resolution to walk my dog more, and I am not doing so great with it (it’s SO HOT outside!)

Confession: I am in denial that my little baby will be one in less than a month

Confession: In the past two weeks we have eaten out and eaten frozen dinners on most nights.

Confession: I let my baby do things I swore I would never allow before I had kids.

Confession: I’m still obsessed with Taylor Swift’s 1989 album. Did I really just type that?

Confession: I have an alert on my phone for when The Walking Dead comes back on for the fall. (Thoughts on the companion series?)

QOTD: Ok, spill it. Give me a confession!

Filed Under: baby, blogging, fitness, runDisney Tagged: confession, Froyo, orange leaf, run, runDisney, television, walking dead

A Day in the Life: August 2015

August 18, 2015 by Heather

My life has looked a lot different in the past week. Bobby and I have been spending a ton of time working shifts at Orange Leaf on top of my blog work. Emma Kate goes to daycare 3 days a week, so I try to help at the shop as much as I can on those 3 days. I thought yesterday’s day would be a good example of a day in my life currently!

6:00- I set my alarm for this morning. I have GOT to get a run in. I have been falling off the training plan wagon in the past week since we took over the shop. I don’t have a lot of time at home and when I am home, I am pretty wiped out. However, I was determined today. I always seem to get sidetracked with training plans, so I am a little disappointed in myself.

6:30- Emma Kate is waking up, and Bobby gets her so I can go run a quick 3 miles. I drink some coffee and chat for a minute before heading out.

7:30- I am back home, and pace around the living room under the fan (please tell me I’m not the only one who does this) so I can cool off, then I hop in the shower.

7:50- Time to bring Emma Kate to Daycare. Bobby leaves for the gym, and I throw a few last minute things in EK’s diaper bag and jump in the car. I go to start the car… and it’s not turning on because the key is apparently not in the car (my car doesn’t have a an actual key, just a box that has to be in the car.) I have a slight panic attack because I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT IS! I had taken it off my keychain when I ran the other day, but my brain was not functioning as to where it was. I call Bobby frantically, and the baby who is in her car seat, starts screaming. After some thinking and deep breathing, I remembered I had put it in the bag I brought to church that had my clothes to change into for work from the day before when I went straight from church to go open the shop. Crisis averted.

It takes longer than usual to drive to daycare, because now that school has started this time of day includes some heavy traffic (we pass a high school to get to daycare).

8:15- Drop off the baby, who cried when I left for the first time EVER (heartbreaking!) and head back home.

8:30- I grab some yogurt and plop down at the computer. , record payments from blog and social media posts into my spreadsheet, (I am really trying to keep better track of things)

9:15- I look at the time and realize I am running behind! I take the dog out, grab a couple of things we needed at the shop, and jump back in the car and drive to Orange Leaf.

9:30- I unlock the doors, go inside, and realize I had a lot to do and was rushing around. I managed to spill water all over the floor, and then thankfully, Bobby arrived from the gym to help me, Hooray! We clean and get toppings and machines ready for the day.

11:30- The shop opens and a girl we hired comes in to train for a few hours. I do some computer work, mix some yogurt, cut fruit, get toppings filled, etc.

12:50- I had a dentist appointment at 1:00 for a filling that cracked, so I packed up some cups of frozen yogurt, drove a quarter mile to the dentist, presented them with yogurt, and then spent an hour in the chair (ug).

2:00- I drive back to the shop and work until 5:00. The internet goes out so we had to figure out how to get the system offline so we could still take credit cards. Always something, right?

5:15- I throw some more small cups of yogurt into a cooler and get back in the car and drive to Emma Kate’s daycare. They were excited to have free froyo, and the baby was happy to see mama.

5:30- We drive home, and it looks like it’s going to storm, which would be awesome because we haven’t gotten more than five minutes of rain since the 4th of July.

5:45- We get home, and I feed Emma Kate her dinner, take the dog out, and throw something in the oven for me and for Bobby when he gets home after 10:00.

6:00- I put EK in her pj’s and we play on the floor for a bit and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (her favorite). It is super dark, but no rain.

6:20- Emma Kate took a very short early afternoon nap so I knew she was crashing. I gave her a bottle before putting her in bed.

6:30- Bedtime for baby girl. She has been going down between 6:30 and 6:45 lately and sleeping until 6:00-6:30. I put her down and poor girl fell right to sleep after saying prayers.

6:40- I put a load of laundry on and started writing this post.

6:50- I took some pictures with my good camera for an upcoming sponsored post.

6:55- Answered a few emails, did some picking up around the kitchen

7:15- Dinner is ready! I eat, and then take a shower.

7:45- Back on the computer, I set up some social media posts, text a couple of employees about scheduling for this week, and read a couple of blogs.

8:00- My brain hurts, so I head upstairs to watch TV, clean up my inbox, and do a few random online tasks that I have been neglecting. Still. no. rain.

10:00 Bobby arrives home from closing the store. He eats dinner and we chat about the day and the store. Tomorrow will be the first day we aren’t covering every single shift, hooray! We will both still be at the shop for a few hours but not 9:30 am –10:00 pm, so I’ll take it!

10:45- We are both exhausted, so it’s time for bed!

QOTD: Has your day changed now that school has started (for some?)

Filed Under: baby, blogging, family, fitness, running Tagged: baby, day in the life, orange leaf, running, work

New Owners

August 13, 2015 by Heather

It’s official! Yesterday was our first day taking over the Orange Leaf frozen yogurt shop here in Mississippi. It was a very long very overwhelming day, but it went pretty well. Bobby and I were there from 9:00 yesterday morning until 10:00 last night working. Whew.

We have a LOT of work to do and changes to make to how things were run before, but the store has a lot of potential. We have access to the store cameras on our phones, and were watching two nights ago and already see some issues that need to be addressed. I know change is hard, especially for the teenagers when they could do whatever they wanted at work before with the old owner, but that won’t work with us. Hopefully all the employees get used to the changes soon and everything is smooth sailing! So far so good!

If you are local to the area, please come by the Madison store and say hello!

QOTD: What is your favorite frozen yogurt flavor?

Filed Under: food Tagged: dessert, frozen yogurt, orange leaf

What a Week

August 10, 2015 by Heather

Hey guys! Last week was quite the whirlwind, and to say it was stressful would be an understatement. We don’t actually have the Orange Leaf just yet but very very soon. It has been kind of a nightmare week but hopefully the worst is behind us. I just wanted to give you a little peek inside of what we were up to all week.

Monday morning we dropped Emma Kate off at daycare at 7:00 and then drove straight to Oklahoma. We arrived at 5:30 and made it to Orange Leaf corporate headquarters.

Tuesday morning we signed some papers, and had a full day of classroom and hands on training. But not before a quick run on the treadmill. We were going to run outside but we stepped out and it was raining. Since we have not seen rain since July 4th, we kind of forgot it existed.

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early to open a store ourselves and work. We learned a ton, it was information overload. Everyone was super nice though, and we really enjoyed our training. We also closed the store Wednesday night so we got back to our hotel around 11:30.

Thursday we got to do something pretty cool. Kevin Durant hosts a series of basketball camps at OU, and we got to go help hand out frozen yogurt to the kids at camp. Kevin Durant is a giant. That is all.

We wrapped up our training Thursday afternoon and Bobby and I were exhausted. We went out to dinner and hung out at the hotel before calling it an early night. Friday morning we ran on the treadmills again before heading out of town.

We drove ALL DAY (Dallas traffic is quite the nightmare on a Friday) and got home at 9:30 that night. We crashed pretty soon afterwards, and then were up early to drive to the gulf coast for Bobby’s best friends wedding. (My mom had taken the dog and baby back with her to Louisiana earlier in the week). We drove 3 hours straight down to the lunch time wedding, then after drove 1.5 hours over to my parents house in Louisiana.

We literally felt like we had been around the world! I was happy to see my little chick, she had a great week with grammy and grandpa while we worked.

Sunday morning I went for a very hot and humid run, and after a BBQ lunch, we drove the 3 hours back home.

I am SO TIRED of being in the dang car! Hopefully we are here for good for a long while! Now it’s time to play catch up with my work and prepare to get things at Orange Leaf going. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

QOTD: Do you like road trips/being in the car?

Filed Under: blogging, fitness, running Tagged: oklahoma, orange leaf, road trip, running

A New Venture

August 4, 2015 by Heather

Hey guys! I can FINALLY share with you what we have had in the works since oh…the end of FEBRUARY! This has been a long, slow road and I really hope it will be worth all the stress in the end.

Bobby and I are proud to be the newest owners of Orange Leaf frozen yogurt here in Mississippi!!

We bought an existing franchise from someone looking to sell, so we did not have to deal with finding a site, completing a build out, and all of that fun stuff…but this did come after having to do a TON of negotiating, front end work, and training in Oklahoma. There were some tears shed and angry words said, but we FINALLY signed the paperwork and will takeover on Monday.

The next few weeks will be interesting, and very busy as we learn a new normal (we will be self managing the store) and balancing our time with my two existing jobs (blog and travel work). Please be understanding if I miss a day here and there blogging over the next few weeks, I promise I’m not going anywhere!

We have been warmly welcomed into the Orange Leaf family, and I hope for you local readers, you will stop by and say hello and support our business! Please keep us in your prayers as we get this thing going! Also, hopefully I won’t gain 20 pounds in the first month. I love me some froyo.

QOTD: Have you ever taken a big business risk? Do you own a business?

Filed Under: blogging Tagged: business, frozen yogurt, orange leaf, work