Aside from the friendships I’ve made from blogging, I’m also very thankful for some of the brand partnerships that have come as a result of blogging.

About three years ago, I was approached by a family company called Dr. Smith’s diaper rash ointment. I tried the product, loved it, and we’ve used it during every diaper change since then.

Dr. Smith’s is a fifty-year old company that is now, finally, available nationwide at Walgreen’s. This is a pretty big deal for their company, and I was delighted when they asked Nina, Molly, and me to come to Chicago as their guest at a celebration event.

We got to Chicago on Thursday afternoon, and because Nina lived there for a while, she was so nice to introduce us to some of her favorite Chicago restaurants.

On Thursday night, we went to Roscoe Village, did a little bit of shopping at Little Threads, and had the most delicious Italian supper at Piazza Bella.  I wish I had a picture of the amazing rigatoni with sausage and mushrooms, but the photo of the flourless chocolate cake will have to do. Holy amazing!

On Friday morning, we got up, got dressed (we each had our own hotel rooms, so I slept so soundly. It was glorious) and went to Blowtique to have our hair blown out for the big celebration!

Then we made our way to RPM (Bill and Giuliana Rancic’s Chicago restaurant) for the Dr. Smith’s Launch Party!

Everything was decorated beautifully. There was a great mix of Dr. Smith’s brand messaging mixed with beautiful, simple decor.

And the food! Oh my goodness! I could have taken home this platter of lobster caprese bites!

We met quite a few wonderful Chicago bloggers, including the fabulous Katie from The Land of Nod. It was great to meet her after all these years!

And then the guests of honor arrived. Bill and Giuliana Rancic are the proud parents of baby Duke, and fellow Dr. Smith’s product users. They were so kind and gracious. And the girls and I had a great conversation with Bill, who was just so natural and easy to talk to.

It was a fantastic event, and we’re so thankful to the Dr. Smith’s team for bringing us to Chicago as their brand ambassadors. And now all of you can find Dr. Smith’s at Walgreens in your area!

(Love this picture with Nina, but the unflattering shadows need to go!)

We spent the rest of the day walking around Chicago. We had lunch at Rockit Bar and Grill and had the most delicious Rockit fries and Rockit burger. Seriously. Nina did not steer us in the wrong direction. And then we had supper after a full day of walking at Sunda, where I had the most delicious red dragon sushi.

Back in August, Nina and I flew to San Antonio to participate in a Satellite Media Tour for Dr. Smith’s. I had never done anything like this before, and really didn’t know what a SMP was. We rehearsed on Wednesday, and on Thursday we were live!

The Dr. Smith’s team and TV producer, built an adorable nursery set, and Nina and I stood on the set and were interviewed about diaper changing tips and on-the-go diaper changing. We wore little ear pieces so we could hear the person on the other end.

We got to the studio at 5:00 a.m., and we were ready to go! We participated in about 25 radio and TV interviews that lasted between 3 and 5 minutes each. It was really one of the most interesting experiences of my life.

At first, I was absolutely terrified. But once we started the interviews, it was just so easy to talk to them (even though we couldn’t see them) and just talk into the camera about general baby care. We talked to TV stations all over the country… Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Tampa, Seattle… it was so fun to virtually get to hop around the country all morning!

We finished up the morning just after noon, and went back to the hotel to crash. We had dinner that night with my friend Lindsey, which was such a fun treat. And then we headed back home the next morning. It was such a quick trip to San Antonio, but it didn’t end without a trip to Shipley’s Donuts!

Many, many thanks to our friends at Dr. Smith’s for two fabulous experiences this year. And seeing Nina and Molly was the icing on the cake!

I totally meant to write this post on Thursday night, but I’m out of town right now and that just didn’t end up happening. But because Five on Friday is one of my favorite things all week, I still wanted to go ahead and link up with Darci for Five on Friday… on Saturday.

-ONE- 

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been in Chicago since Thursday. Molly, Nina and I are here on behalf of Dr. Smith’s diaper rash ointment. I will blog all about this trip later, but it was really such a fun weekend! With beautiful Chicago temperatures! And the most amazing rigatoni at the sweetest little Italian restaurant in Roscoe Village, thanks to Nina’s awesome tour guide skills!

-TWO-

While the couple of days away were super fun, and I am so thankful to Dr. Smith’s for being able to go… I really miss my family. I can’t wait to get home today and hug my boys. Todd and I are also taking Hudson to the game tonight against Vanderbilt. Whoa, boy! I’m so excited!

-THREE-

The house progress is really moving! Almost all of our built-ins are finished, almost all of the trim is finished, and we should be seeing paint and our hardy plank soon. We’re getting close! The mantle on our outdoor fireplace was complete (except for paint) the other day when we went by. This fireplace is on our screened-in porch, and just about every morning Todd and I talk about how excited we are to sit on this porch and have coffee. If we were sitting out there today, we’d be watching College Game Day and sipping coffee!

-FOUR-

I am a regular contributor for Courtney DeFeo’s blog. Yesterday, I wrote about raising boys to have a healthy and normal standard of beauty. I’d love for all of you to go read it, especially if you have boys.

-FIVE-

My two new favorite pieces for fall are these two from J.Crew. I love the Merino leather-pocket sweater. It’s heavy, but so pretty! And I love this stripe necklace tee! It is simple, but has a little bit of sparkle, and looks pretty cute with an excursion vest!

**Don’t forget that you can enter to win a MacBook Air!!!

I have such a fun treat for everyone today!

One of my favorite fellow story-telling bloggers, AP from I Love You More Than Carrots, is turning 30 this week!

In honor of AP’s 30th birthday on Saturday, Becky, Mandy, AP, Darci, Tonya, Mandy, Neely, Jen, Molly, Meg and I are giving away a MacBook Air. To one lucky reader, we’re giving away an 11″, 4GB memory MacBook Air laptop.

This perfect little laptop is lightweight, compact, and super fast! I would love to have one! But one of you will win one!

Here’s a little bit about the other ladies participating in the giveaway, and a description of all the ways you can enter!

Happy Birthday, AP!

From top to bottom, the lovely ladies that made this happen

We’re in the phase where a certain four-year-old is knocking on our door every morning at 6:00 a.m. This is the earliest he has ever woken up.

And Todd and I are night owls. I hit my second wind at 10:00 p.m. I blog, I watch TV. I stay up way too late for his 6:00 a.m. wake up call.

So Hudson gets our day going. Todd and I sludge around and doze with Hudson in the bed until about 7:00 a.m. And then we start running and racing.

Dressing kids, getting ourselves dressed. Letting the dogs out and feeding the dogs and getting breakfast for the kids. I may guzzle a cup of coffee and wish I had more time to really enjoy it before we jump in the car and head off to school.

I spend my morning while they’re at school running errands, going to the gym, doing housework. Trying to wake up, basically.

But after school, and after lunch. My “mommy power hour” begins.

I get the boys down for naps, let the dogs out, get dinner prepped, and then it’s my time.

Because our mornings start out with us all running wild, I take time during nap time for coffee and quiet.

I turn on my favorite praise music and spread out. The TV is off. The toys are out of sight. I can hear my thoughts.

I sip my coffee slowly out of my gorgeous, enormous latte mug, and I soak up the Word. I work on my daily to-do list, and I have a couple of hours to do it.

It’s my favorite time of day, and if I’m feeling extra productive, I may even go back for a second cup.

I just need a little bit of quiet, a breakfast blend K-Cup, and the Word.

And I need my new latte mug and spoon combo from Jessica N Designs and NS Pottery. I chose the Cup of Love Latte Mug. This gorgeous mug is huge and feels so good in my hand.

And I chose the “Little Bit of Coffee & A Whole Lotta Jesus” spoon. This sweet little spoon and its happy message just cheers me right up!

These two fabulous ladies will be at the Influence Conference at the Sashes Market later this month, and I cannot wait to meet them! And hug them!

I’ll be at the Influence Conference speaking on the Accessible Experts Panel…. hello, nerves!

Seriously… these mugs and spoons will be given to everyone I know for Christmas this year. These girls are geniuses!

Okay, so are you like me, and get your routine going in the middle of the day because you’re a night owl like me? Or are you a morning person? What’s your routine like?