January 17, 2020

It's Raining, It's Pouring: Indoor Activities in Tacoma

January 17, 2020/ Heather Brown

It’s raining, it’s pouring, there is no time for snoring, she bumped her head…well, let’s just stop there. We all know that raining days are the worst when you have kids. You get all couped up inside and everyone is stir crazy and it’s just a loooooonnnggg day. These days, I find my self racking my brain on what to do and/or where to go. I started a list on my notes app on my iPhone and usually start there. I thought I’d take it a step further and write a post.

December 13, 2019

My Favorite Things 2019: A Christmas Gift List

December 13, 2019/ Heather Brown

I feel like every email and every blogger I follow has list upon list of gifts (click here or here, for example). Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for the Home Cook, Gifts for {fill in the blank}. While I appreciate the lists and they give me ideas, but they also seem to send spirals of anxiety through me. I feel like I have to find all the gifts…on sale…right now. AHH! Then I always want to give thoughtful gifts and something the receiver would really enjoy, so I find myself online searching, reading, looking, deciding, and going down rabbit holes of random things. Top all this with all the emails about sales here, shipping deadlines, and I’m just going nuts. My brain is like a ping pong table. Or like a dog seeing a squirrel. Are you relating at all to me here? Or am I really just that nuts? Ha, don’t tell me.

So to further complicate things, I’ve got my own list for you. I’m taking the Oprah route and calling it My Favorite Things!

October 28, 2019

Halloween Week, Are you Ready?

October 28, 2019/ Heather Brown

Boo, Suprise, Oh My…it’s Halloween week! I don’t know about you, but my son is loving Halloween. He’s been talking about it since the beginning of September. He’s going to be Batman and his little brother will be his sidekick, Robin. Have you done all the Halloween things? If not, here are a few things you can still do before Thursday rolls around.

October 16, 2019

Coffee Crawl: Searching for the Best Pumpkin Latte in Tacoma

October 16, 2019/ Heather Brown

It’s fall y’all, and you know what that means: Pumpkin everything time! This makes me so incredibly happy. I am a pumpkin fanatic. I get a bit crazy in the fall for all the foods and flavors. And this is silly, but I almost get anxious because I love it all so much and there is so much I want to eat and drink that I feel I have to keep baking and eating or else I won’t get to have it all. Serious problems.

Of all the fall flavors, though, pumpkin is my favorite. Wow, that’s a bold statement. I’m not sure I’m ready to make such a statement. I mean there is also apple. Apple is definitely a favorite. Oh, gosh. Well, for now, let’s say pumpkin because I’m about to talk to you all about pumpkin in our coffee. That’s right, the drink made famous by Starbucks, the pumpkin spice latte. Everyone is doing it now. It’s pumpkin and spice and it’s everything nice. Let’s drink it!

I took it upon myself to go around and try as many pumpkin spice lattes as I could. I’m looking for places that make their mix and not just using Torani syrup (not that there is anything wrong with that, but…). I’m looking for:

Flavor: What’s the pumpkin versus spice ratio? Is there a lot of pumpkin taste or more spice?
Texture: Sometimes with pumpkin it can feel heavy or grainy with too much actual pumpkin. Or many all those spices are grainy?
Toppings: Is there whipped cream or spices & sprinkled on top?
Sweetness Level: Is it sweet, or not sweet enough?
Coffee Presence: Is the coffee still there?

Mind you, I do tend to like things on the slightly sweet side when it comes to coffee. Not majority sweet like a white mocha, but a smooth subtle sweetness. Also, I must tell you if there are any good noshes to go with the latte. That is always a plus!

Let’s take a coffee tour together!

September 20, 2019

Date Night in Tacoma: Where to Go

September 20, 2019/ Heather Brown

Awesome, you found a babysitter…the hardest part. Or is the hardest part really a question: where do we go? Hmmm. Let’s talk about that. Going out to eat is one of my favorite things to do (hello, foodie), but sadly with kids we don’t get out very often. So, when we do go out I want it to be super awesome. This is my one chance for a delicious meal with my sweetie and I don’t want it to end up being a mediocre experience because who knows the next time I’ll get out. So let’s keep this list to awesome places, okay? Cool.

Luckily, Tacoma is starting to get some real winner restaurants opening up lately. It’s nothing compared to Seattle (oh man, I really miss some of my Seattle favorites), but then again we’re not living the prices, traffic, and less family-oriented life of Seattle…so we’re winning. Go Tacoma!

Of course, I take into consideration cocktails because I love me a good cocktail. Oh, and I have to tell a truth: I haven’t been to some of the places in a while. Like I said, we don’t get out much and we tend to vary it up so repeat visits take some time to happen. Lastly, my leaning is towards more upscale dining rather than dive bars when we go out, so that list is swayed in that direction.

Oh, and it doesn’t have to be with your significant other. This still totally applies to mom’s night out, out-of-town visitors, etc. Just a list of good food and drink places. Alright, without further ado, the list…

August 16, 2019

Top 10: Topics that didn’t make it to a Blog Post

August 16, 2019/ Heather Brown

I really wanted to post something with more oomph today, but that obviously didn’t happen. Nap/quiet time all week was filled up with household tasks like making dinner, laundry, dishes, cleaning, tidying, or me trying to stuff lunch in my face. I am currently brainstorming my next post which will be about where to eat on date night in Tacoma. Does that sound interesting?

So I came up with Friday Five. Then I realized I had more to say and went with Top 10. Which also made me think of David Letterman and his Top 10 lists. My parents used to watch him in the evenings after my sister and I went to bed (ha, I get it now)…But back to the Top 10. I am gonna say this is the top 10 things that I have on my mind and also wanted to share but didn’t have enough time or interesting enough to make up an entire post. So without further ado, here’s the…

August 09, 2019

Getting Crafty with KiwiCo

August 09, 2019/ Heather Brown

Do you ever read a description of a product or service and still wonder what the heck it is? I hate that! Sometimes I feel companies get too much into trending or key words and forget to give just a straight forward description of what they provide. Ugh!

I wanted to share my experience with KiwiCo and went to their “About Us” to get their official description and I feel like it was all fluff and didn’t actually give much “about” the service….which, by the way, is AWESOME. In my own words, I’d say it is a subscription based craft box service that delivers age appropriate projects to your door. (Okay, end of rant now)

I first heard about KiwiCo from my friend/neighbor, but never really went any further than talking about it. Then I got an email that offered a free trial. With it being summer still, I really need things to entertain my 3-1/2 year old son and this seemed just the ticket, so I signed up (while during Wesley at 10pm one night, haha).

You select the age of your child when you sign-up for your crate, so what you get will fit your kid. We landed with the Koala crate which focus on play & learn. Perfect! Then, when our crate arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see three crafts for us. When my son came out of quiet time, I delivered the news: he got a box in the mail. He LOVES getting boxes and letters in the mail (although I think he knows that boxes are better, hehe). He’s even happy with the box is as simple as a new cup. Easy to please, love it.

Of course, as soon as the box was open, we had to start a craft immediately. The box theme was Rainbows. Ahh, cute! I should have looked in the box out before letting him know about the box because I was scrambling a bit to get a closer look at what we had to do. This mom is just living and learning.

Once I had the box back in my hands, and a moment to see everything, I realized they provide all the materials and some great instructions.

July 28, 2019

Brick by Brick: RT's Guide to Legoland

July 28, 2019/ Heather Brown

I had this plan to post at least once every month. And now I’m looking at the calendar and July has almost come and gone. I started this blog with just one toddler who napped and that gave me time to post. Now I have a toddler that doesn’t nap and an infant. Having two kids is a whole other ballpark, friends. I went to sit down to write this yesterday and popped right back up because I realized I had laundry. I think the time before I had to make dinner. Then before that, the baby woke early crying. So hang with me, I’m sure I’ll get to a time where I post more, but for now bear with me. I love writing and sharing but this phase in life is a busy one.

Speaking of busy, summer has been busy for us. We went down to Cali for almost two weeks during June for my sister’s wedding in Pasadena and then some time with my parents in San Diego area. Fun fact: I’m born and raised in North County San Diego. My home was in Encinitas and I loved living there. My parents have since moved to a neighboring town called San Marcos and we get to visit frequently, which is awesome. Yes yes, I know you might be wondering this very moment why I ever moved away. I agree it’s heavenly there, but that’s a story for another day. Right now I want to share how great a place San Diego is to visit with kids.

So yea, San Diego rocks for kids. There is just so much to do there - San Diego Zoo, Old Town, Sea World, Seaport Village, Safari Park (formerly, Wild Animal Park), Balboa Park, and….LEGOLAND. The only thing I will say, is that all these places are not necessary located close together. But no problem, who really can (and wants) to do everything everyday with kids. For instance, you could do Legoland and beaches and that would be a fabulous vacation. And that’s what we did. Spent time with the family, spent time at the beach, and then went to Legoland. Besides the scary stridor (croup) that landed us in an ambulance and ER for the night, it was an awesome trip.

Gosh, I might be boring you with all this jibber jabber. You probably just want me to get to the nitty gritty of Legoland. You saw the title, and just really want the deets. I get it. Let’s do it.

June 10, 2019

Make the Grade: Thank Your Teachers with a Local Gift

June 10, 2019/ Heather Brown

We just had our last day of beginner’s preschool on Tuesday. How did that happen? I feel like the school year just started not that long ago and poof, here we are. But then I looked at our first and last day photos and you can clearly see time has past and my little guy has grown so much. Not to mention, that when the school year started, Wesley wasn’t even a thing in this universe yet.

With the school year coming to a close, it’s time to thank the teachers that took care the kids during the school year. My mom was a fourth grade teacher and I know how much time, effort, and love teachers pour into their students. The parents of our class ended up putting together a basket, but I had some ideas in my back pocket that I thought I’d share.

You know what’s nice, to buy locally! For one, you support all our local small businesses which help make Tacoma awesome. And two, they are near by and don’t require the time (and sometimes cost) of shipping. And let’s face it, the last day of school is nye so we gotta get things ASAP.

April 28, 2019

Tacoma Gem: Curious Bear Toys & Book Shop

April 28, 2019/ Heather Brown

Well well well, look who’s back on the blog. Raising Tacoma lives on. I’ve been pretty good at keeping up on Instagram (follow me) and Facebook (like the page), but the blog has been sadly neglected. Sorry about that, friends. But I wanted to break my blog silence to tell you about the best toy store around, The Curious Bear Toys and Book Shop. It opened fall 2018 and has been such a great addition to the community. I always leave the store so happy…as does my toddler.

Here’s what I love about the store:

March 17, 2019

My Friend the Instant Pot

March 17, 2019/ Heather Brown

I held out buying an instant pot for a long time. I hesitated to buy yet another appliance to fill my kitchen shelves or take up counter space. Counter space is truly special; I must really love the appliance for it to earn countertop space. My Cuisinart mixer, toaster, and coffee pot have all earned counter top space. And now, my instant pot has earned it’s special place on the counter. I just made space for it last week after I decided enough was enough of brining it out of the cabinet so often. I use it at least once a week if not more.

Now, I know some of you have also not purchased an instant pot, yet. Maybe for the same reason. I get the hesitancy especially if you have a small kitchen. Luckily, I have a fair amount of cabinet space, which is one of the main highlights of our kitchen. You must wonder if you’ll use it enough. Is it worth the price? Well, my opinion is yes…but to each his own opinion.

One thing you should know: it’s not instant. Sure, it’s fast, but it ain’t instant. One of the first things I learned was that it needs time to build up pressure before the cooking time begins. Oh, and it also sometimes needs time to release the pressure. So if something takes 4 minutes, it will be more like a 10 minute process. But it is faster than a crockpot. And it builds lots of great flavor.

February 25, 2019

LOL: Lots of Links - Volume 5

February 25, 2019/ Heather Brown

Here I am! I’m alive! Just coming up for air after eleven weeks of having two kids. It’s been wonderful and tiring at the same time. Last week I feel like I finally got a groove. I figured out a rhyme with Wesley and feel pretty good about it (notice I say rhyme not schedule. I’m working on a schedule, but not quite there yet. I think it just take some time…making progress, though!). I’m sure now that I feel like I’ve got something figured out, it’ll change again tomorrow because that’s what life is with kids. They are always changing and challenging you especially the first year.

The best I can do for a post right now is to share some links. Next time I think I’ll share some Instant Pot recipes. Does that sound fun?

Okay, are you ready for links? Let’s do it.

January 18, 2019

Six Week Check-in

January 18, 2019/ Heather Brown

Today Wesley is six weeks old. Holy moly, how’d that happen? Time seems to have gone both uber fast and incredibly slow at the same time. Thinking back to his birth, it feels like forever ago, but at the same time like a blink of any eye. Does that even make sense? I think all you parents out there feel me on this one. I guess this is where the saying, “the days are long but the years are short” comes from. It makes absolute sense to me now as a mom.

Life really has been a whirlwind since Wesley’s birth. We had the holiday season, my husband at home from work (I’d say paternity leave but it was actually vacation days), my parents visited, Christmas, Caleb’s birthday, two nasty Caleb colds including strep and an ear infection, a baby cold, and then my in-laws visited. Whew! Now we can start to see what real life will be like with two kids.

I’m still not sure how I’m going to keep up with blogging, but when there is a will there is a way. I will continue to write, I promise. For now, I’m just going to peek in every once in a while so you don’t think I’ve disappeared completely.

December 06, 2018

Blog Maternity Leave

December 06, 2018/ Heather Brown

Hey there! Remember my big news? Well, Baby boy is still not here. I’m in utter shock. Every day since mid-November, I’ve been expecting his arrival. His older brother came just over two weeks early and for this pregnancy everyone seemed to think this little guy would follow suit. However, it appears he had his own ideas. Maybe this means he’s more laid back? Ha!

One way or another he’ll be joining us soon as I’m nearing 41 weeks! That said, I’ll be a little tied up with newborns and toddlers and not on my blog here as much. I promise to return! I’ll probably post some fun things on Instagram and Facebook in the meantime.

November 27, 2018

My 2018 Holiday Bucket List

November 27, 2018/ Heather Brown

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving has past and December is here in just a few days. We’re already starting to get into the Christmas spirit. The music has definitely started and will continue until Christmas day! Even though I’m super pregnant right now and excepting a baby any day, I still want to do all things Christmas, so I decided to put together a Holiday Bucket list. Do you want to join me in making one? Then I thought this PDF from Rochester MN Moms Blog was a cute template to make the bucket list festive and printable.

Here’s my Holiday Bucket List…

November 17, 2018

Thanksgiving Favorites

November 17, 2018/ Heather Brown

Usually I’m all about planning out a Thanksgiving feast. I research new recipes, I make a plan on when I’ll start each dish, figure out what I can make ahead…you know a game plan. However, this year I’m trying to take it easy since little baby might come anytime. Plus, standing and cooking in the kitchen for a lengthy amount of time just sounds like a backache, literally. I feel a bit like I am giving in, but I know it’s the right thing to do. Being 38 weeks pregnant for Thanksgiving is a bummer, man.

To take it easier, we decided to order a small pre-cooked turkey from Whole Foods this year. I was actually impressed that the price wasn’t as terrible as I anticipated given a raw turkey plus all the brining and cooking ingredients would come out not that far off…not to mention the price of your time and labor. Hopefully it’s delicious!

Another shortcut this year is on dessert. Our realtor, Harber Home Group, offers a free apple pie every to his past customers every year. This year we’re taking them up on it. It pains me not to make dessert. Baking is one of my favorites. If we get the pie and it’s not up to snuff, then I’m hunkering down and baking something (see below: Dessert).

I already make the stuffing and froze it, so all I need to do is defrost it. Then, I’ll make a simple side the day-off and there we have our feast. It’s just Josh, Caleb, and me so it doesn’t have to be a huge meal. Just a nice way to celebrate together and eat some delicious food.

Maybe you’re reading all this and saying, “man, I’m totally down for a huge feast with all the homemade fixings.” Power to you! I would reply telling you to check out this game plan I wrote a couple years ago . Also, How Sweet Eats timeline or the Faux Martha Cooking Schedule have some organized schedules for you.

Or, maybe you want to know some of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes. You can pick and chose if you want to make any of them. YES! I love sharing, let’s do this.

November 07, 2018

Uber-Fast Weeknight Meals

November 07, 2018/ Heather Brown

As my due date approaches, I get more and more nervous about how my meal planning will change. Right now, I usually cook dinner during Caleb’s nap. But will that still be possible once the baby arrives? Perhaps for a little while. However, I also know I’ll be exhausted and not wanting to cook much. I tent to push myself too far and cook meals that take too long and/or are more complex when I know I should be relaxing more…or at least that’s what my hubby tells me. But, I love cooking and coming up with delicious new meals - and I tend to frown upon pre-made things since I feel they aren’t as good for you (ugh, I hate that I wrote that, but it’s true - it just sounds so hoity toity. Goodness, I hope I’m not really hoity toity!).

On top of that, I’m terrible at taking it easy. I go-go-go until I drop. Oh sure, it’s productive, but by the end of the day I’m just plain pooped. Sooo, I’ve been trying to think up ideas of healthy, yet tasty meals. I thought you might be interested in what I’ve come up with so far.

For starters, I created a new Pinterest board titled, “Dinner: Uber Quick & Easy” (<— click the link to get to the Pinterest board). I’ve been saving some tasty looking meals to it. The Trader Joe’s hacks intrigue me. The one that grabs my attention the most is the Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Spicy Chicken Sausage and Mushrooms. I will definitely be making a trip to Trader Joe’s and stocking up on some items for when baby arrives.

Anyway, you should peruse my board. if you have any suggestions, please share! Now, for the ideas I’ve come up with so far on my own:

October 30, 2018

Toddler Halloween Snacks: Pumpkin Oranges and Mummy Muffins

October 30, 2018/ Heather Brown

This is super last minute since tomorrow is Halloween, but these two snack ideas are so cute. I whipped them both up yesterday, so I think you can still manage to make one or both of them yourself in time for Halloween.

I made these especially for Caleb’s preschool class. It just so happened that I was assigned to bring snacks (we bring a snack about once a month) the day before Halloween. Since they don’t have school on Wednesdays, I knew today was the day to do something fun for Halloween. And that’s how we ended up with these snacks. Yay!

October 19, 2018

The Pod Works: Calling all Working Moms

October 19, 2018/ Heather Brown

I feel sheepish at how long it’s taken me to write this post. My pictures are from April, May, and June if that gives you any indication on how long it’s been. Yes, I say “I’ve been meaning to write” comment a lot, as in every post, but life is busy. Are you with me? Now, let’s get down to it and chat about The Pod Works. I’m super excited to be sharing this unique place with you.

What is it?

The Pod Works is a co-working space for moms. For instance, if you own a small business or work remotely, you could use The Pod Works as a space to do your work. You bring your laptop, mobile phone, and anything else along with you to do some work done. I have worked from home in the past, and it can be hard to be productive at home, so find a place outside the house can be very beneficial. What’s so cool about The Pod Works is that they have a great setup for working moms. You can bring your kid(s) along with you and still get some work done. There is a play space with all sorts of toys for kids and then you can find a separately space to hunker down and get some real work done.

What’s even cooler is that you can meet other working moms and even network and collaborate. Perhaps you’ll be working there one day and another mom comes along to work. You start talking and realize you could both benefit from each other’s services or product. Boom, connection made. The Pod Works has what they call The Pod Collective, which is there to support your business with workshops, outings, and a community of moms.

October 08, 2018

Visiting Kauai with a Toddler

October 08, 2018/ Heather Brown

Honestly, I had planned to write to you guys while I was on vacation. But then it just didn’t happen. Then we got home and all had to get our first colds of the season. Please forgive my absence. I’m here for you now and ready to share some fun things about Kauai.

We tend to think of Kauai as our place. Yup, just for us. I know that’s not true, but it’s been a perfect vacation destination for us over the years.

First Trip: My first time there was way back in 2006 and I went with my back-then-boyfriend-now-husband. We were with my boyfriend’s parents who happened to have a house there. It was also on this trip, that my boyfriend decided he wanted to marry me (by the by, the proposal didn’t happen until 2008 - sheesh, what took so long?).
Second Trip: We went for our honeymoon in 2011. It was perfection. (ah, no in-laws on this trip)
Third Trip: We took Caleb in 2017 and stayed with my in-laws (they had since sold the house, sad) who were renting a condo there for the month.
Fourth Trip: This was our latest trip, so 2018. Again, we stayed with my in-laws who are living there for a year. This time I was pregnant with baby boy #2.

As you can see, it’s a special place for the Brown family! Given, I’ve gone so much, I want to share some of our joyful places from the island with you. I’m going to keep it kid-centric since that’s what I’m all about on this blog. Talk to me if you want no kid recommendations.

Raising Tacoma