I spent the majority of last week in New York City. Every time I go to NYC I send Mike a text saying, “Let’s move here.” There are lots of reasons why we won’t, but I just love the city so much. I really am a city girl at heart. I love being about to walk places, I love being in the heart of it all. I remind myself that there were many things I didn’t love when I lived there (that would be multiplied by children), but still. It’s fun to dream. And have honeycomb ice cream right around the corner.

honeycomb ice cream

They said that was one scoop! I freaking love you, New York.

Around The ‘Net

~The Refugee Olympians in Rio

~Common technique to prevent premature birth could actually cause it

~Why George W. Bush stood there and took the wrath of a soldier’s mom. Listen up, Donald Trump.

~Shoulder to shoulder, strangers came to the rescue of a suicidal woman in St. Paul

~For Six Weeks I Lived By Joe Manganiello’s Insane Diet and Workout Plan

~Intelligent people tend to be messy, stay awake longer, and swear more

~Want to Work in 18 Miles of Books? First, the Quiz

~This guy was loved so much both wife, girlfriend place obits in newspaper

~Ikea Finally Agrees to Collaborate With Kanye West, but Not the Way He Wanted

~Donald Maroney

Give It A Shot

~You guys are AMAZING with the vaccines! After less than a week, we’re responsible for almost 4,600 vaccines on the blog, and over 2,600 on Facebook (I haven’t counted on Twitter recently but the last I saw it was over 200). We are going to blow last year AWAY!

Olympic Anger

I have always loved the Olympics, and this is the first year where Annabel has been old enough to be into it. But UGH. NBC is (as usual) doing a TERRIBLE job of broadcasting. Besides the fact that the West Coast of the US gets everything on a tape delay, which sucks because of social media, I’ve now found out that NBC thinks very little of female sports fans. It’s so irritating that they package everything and assume that we don’t care about the results. Are you kidding me? There’s nothing I like MORE than the results!! I can’t get enough of medal ceremonies, no matter who is on the podium. I really hope NBC takes this year’s complaints to heart. It’s honestly ruining the Olympic experience not only for me, but for my kids. 8,000 commercials an hour makes them stop paying attention.

YouTube Kids

The big reason I was in NYC last week was for YouTube Kids. I am on their Parent Panel, and we got some previews of really amazing things to come for the app. This week, they launched YouTube Red for YouTube Kids. Some of you may have heard of YouTube Red – for $9.99/month you get uninterrupted music, ad-free videos and exclusive shows. Well, YouTube Red for Kids lets your kids watch kid-appropriate videos without ads, play kid-friendly music, and (my personal favorite), watch OFFLINE. That means your kids can watch YouTube on long car trips, or at their older sibling’s soccer practices, etc. I’m pretty excited about that for James! Anyway, YouTube has given me FIVE 6-month YouTube Red memberships to give away to my readers! To win, just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing to watch on YouTube. I’ll pick five random winners and announce them next Sunday.

Travel Picks

A few things I couldn’t have lived without when I traveled last week:
~A circle scarf that I use like a blanket and a pillow on planes.
~This folding water bottle for my…water.
~Noise cancelling earbuds which I keep in my ears at all times in the hopes that people will see them and not speak to me (it never works).

Happy Sunday, everyone!