HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.

+

Jazzer-Update!

This month I’m excited to contribute to the official Jazzericse blog! After I posted about trying Jazzercise for six months, I was shocked at how much attention it got within the Jazzercise community – a community that I still felt very brand new to. It was shared over 2,000 times on Facebook and is still one my most frequently visited stories today. Less than 24 hours after posting, I was equally surprised to receive an email from the Director of Marketing at Jazzercise headquarters in California. By that afternoon, I was on the phone with her talking about my post and how I could partner with them in the future. Well, that leads me to the blog post about giving back this holiday season that was published yesterday on Jazzercise’s community section of their website.

As for my Jazzer-journey after the first six months? I’ll do a full update soon, but I am still loving it and am super excited about the lunch-hour classes that started at my location this week! As a busy working mom, I can’t tell you how much that will simplify my life. For now, check out my article about giving back this holiday season.

Halloween – A LOOK BACK

Being an October baby, Halloween excitement is something that is in Iris’ blood. With her first costume at just two weeks old, she’s had her fair share of dress-up fun. In anticipation of this year’s trick-or-treating, here’s a look back at everything Iris has been over the years.

2011
Banana!

2012
Kitty cat!

2013
Foofa!

Bunny!

2014
Ballerina zombie!

Mini Tom Petty!

2015
Panda!

Mini Ryan Adams!

Mini Iris Apfel!

And last year, someone even dressed up as IRIS!

2016

This year Iris needed no assistance in choosing her own costume. It’s something that she completely made up, so hopefully I can make her Halloween dreams come true. We have her school fall carnival on Sunday, so watch for it on my Instagram this weekend!

TRAVEL LOVE: Heber Springs Getaway

The month of September I pretty much felt like I was on tour. I kept my bags packed since I was traveling more than I was at home. I didn’t mind though. In fact, I kind of loved it. For the grand finale of my September travels, we went to visit Todd’s dad and stepmom in Heber Springs, Arkansas. Earlier this year they bought a house on the Little Red River, which was the perfect spot to escape to considering the day before I was in Las Vegas for work. After nearly five days on the Vegas strip, a retreat to the country with my family was much needed. We visited once before, but hopefully we can head over that way more frequently. It is the most lovely, ideal spot for a grandchild to go visit her grandparents. Iris absolutely loves it (and so do I). And I’m sure you can see why…

Shopkins Birthday Party!

You might say that I go all out for Iris’ birthday parties. And I might say that you are right. While every year I tell myself that I’m going to “keep it simple,” every year I fail. Once there’s a theme, I kind of run with it and this year was no different. I mean, Iris will only turn five once!

Last year’s party was a bit tricky, so when Iris settled on a Shopkins theme, I was kind of relieved. As much fun as the CVS birthday party was, it’s quite nice to be able to go into a store and buy things that are already made.

During the party we had so much fun that I hardly had time to take pictures, but I did manage to snap a few before people started to arrive. Here’s what birthday party number five looked like!

THE TABLE


Banner: free download on ShopkinsWorld.com

THE FOOD

THE DRINKS

THE DRESS


Dress purchased from Three Little Bears on Etsy

THE FUN


Opted for a Pinterest inspired Blind Box instead of a pinata.


Coloring Pages: free download on ShopkinsWorld.com

THE FAVORS


Handmade cookies purchased from Krauft Cookies

As for next year? I’m planning on just keeping it simple…
😉

Iris turns FIVE!

On Saturday Iris turned FIVE-years-old! Can you believe it? Of course we went all out and celebrated all weekend. On her actual birthday, we went to the donut shop for breakfast and then surprised Iris with getting her ears pierced. Two years ago she started asking if she could get it done. Todd fleetingly responded, “when you’re five.” Well, she never forgot. I was a little nervous that she would do one ear and then not want to do the next, but this girl was so brave. I could tell it hurt, but she didn’t even flinch or shed a tear!

The rest of the day we took it easy, getting the house ready for her big Shopkins party the next day. Even though her birthday was on a Saturday, it’s common courtesy in Fayetteville that you don’t plan any parties on Razorback game days. Iris did get to open a few little gifts from us before getting her ears pierced. I had no idea how expensive ear piercing was (nearly $75!!), so I’m glad I didn’t go overboard on presents. Kept it small with a Star Wars pop-up book and a couple little trinkets. Iris did get to open a huge box of goodies that CVS sent her for her birthday though, so she was plenty spoiled on her big day.

With four previous birthday parties behind me, I had to take a little stroll down memory lane and look back at her previous birthday parties.


1st birthday / 2nd birthday
3rd birthday / 4th birthday

All these birthdays have come and gone so quickly, so why not celebrate just a little extra?