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WELCOME TO HEART & HABIT

Well it’s official, Baby Blackbird is now Heart & Habit! We are pretty darn excited about this move forward, The new name, Heart & Habit reflects who we are and what I write about: Life/Love & Style. I still have a few design changes to roll out on the site, but I hit a few snags (actually too many to count) that I just had to call it quits super late last night – but no way was I gonna let those snags delay the intro into Heart & Habit!

What does the name change mean?

If you accidentally still came from the old Baby Blackbird link, you will be brought straight here. Same goes for emails.
If you subscribe to us through our Newsletter or RSS feed you will automatically start seeing posts from Heart & Habit.
On Twitter and Instagram, we have a NEW user name! @heartandhabit (same for both).
Bloglovin, this is one I am TRYING my hardest to get switched over to the new URL, so I will let you know how that one goes.
Facebook, this is the big headache. I had to set up a brand new page, so PLEASE come like us at our new home and receive updates right in your feed!

Update your lists, links and blog buttons if you so please – of course we would love it if you did. And otherwise, same heartfelt everyday family and stylish content! Thanks for joining us!!

Filed Under: SIMPLE LIVING

Get Ready for a Brand Spankin’ New…

Kingston has a secret. Come Monday when you visit us we will have a brand spankin’ new name! I have fought with the idea of a name change for a long while, and finally came to the conclusion that it was time. Baby Blackbird has major sentimental value for me, but it really just isn’t the right name for our little corner of the internet. Our content will still be as heartfelt, random, simple and stylish as always – just under a new name that suits us better, one we can grow with and hold on tight too. So please, come back Monday to check out the changes and help us to spread the word! Have a great Friday, I think I’m going to spend mine trying to calm my excessively nervous and excited nerves, and prepare for the major work I have ahead of me this weekend.

PS. A fantastic contest will also be arriving on Monday, double whammy of awesomeness.

Filed Under: REAL LIFE, SIMPLE LIVING

Holiday Gifts For The Family

We have a few set rules/traditions when it comes Christmas gift giving, generally we have a pretty modest approach that is focused on the time together and of course a few very choice presents – this year we wanted to go even further and have some Christmas gifts promote even more family time. My Mom had asked me what to get the kids for Christmas, I was stumped – they do not need a thing, and the few things I had in mind were the few things we planned to buy (sorry, Mom). Chris and I talked and we thought gifts that would come in handy for family fun all year long would be some of the greatest gifts, and every time we used the gift we could be grateful all over again.

Stuck on what to get a family, or maybe even get your own family for the holidays? Here are some simple but really great ideas.

Yearly Membership To A Local Museum/Art Gallery – Usually you can buy family membership passes, for about the same price as it would take the whole family to visit twice.

Yearly Science Center Membership – Adult or child the science center never gets old, giving the yearly membership guarantees a lot of fun family visits.

Yearly Zoo Pass – Sometimes these don’t go on sale till closer to the summer season, definitely a gift that will get used a lot. And if your/their local zoo doesn’t have a yearly membership maybe even a family pass for a single visit.

Family Water Park or Swimming Pool Pass – Depending on what is in their/your neighborhood, a gift card or pass to family water fun will make it even easier for the kids swimming on a very regular basis.

Movie Theater Passes – This is a great gift, going to a theater is a special treat for us – something we don’t do enough. Every time we do go it’s always such a huge hit with the kids, pretty sure a theater gift card would be a hit with most kids.

Gift Card to Sports Store – My family loves to go out and play sports together (soccer, t-ball, street hockey, etc) so how about a gift card to a sports store so the family can buy sports items for family fun time.

Depending on what is in their or your city there could be way more Family Fun Gift Ideas, do you have any ideas to add to this gift list?

Filed Under: REAL LIFE, SIMPLE LIVING

The Business of Making Memories

I heard this quote a couple of months ago and it has STUCK to my brain like glue:

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice”

-> Peggy O’Mara

I heard the simple quote and was like “whoa, WHOA!”, I never actually thought that deeply about where my own inner voice came from and how we as parents are shaping our children’s. But it’s true, for better or worse it’s true and what a great thing to have stick to your brain like glue.

It also made me think how we, as parents have sooo many jobs (great amazing jobs) – but one of the simplest and best parts about our awesome parenting gig, is being the memory maker. We as parents are in the business of making memories: racing down a slide with your little one (don’t worry we are very very careful, I know there have been many posts written about the possible dangers of going down slides with kids), skipping instead of walking, a song you might humm often, a little saying only your family uses, a trip to the park, a family pajama dance session. All things that may seem so small at the time and like little moments that just fluttered by, but those small things are the things that become big memories later. I know that’s how it is for me, sometimes I think back and remember the car trip to a vacation rather than the vacation – not that the vacation itself wasn’t special but the small things we did as a family on the car trip just stuck like glue. Or how we had to wake up extra early to rush everyone to daycare before my Mom had to be at work, I’m sure stressful at the time but it puts a giant smile on my face now. Or how my Dad used to hold our hands and skip with such bounce and vigor, pretty sure as I got older I was crazy embarrassed by it, but now? All smiles. I am so thankful for the memories my parents made for me – and I am so excited and honored to be the maker (well one of the makers) of memories for my own kids.

Filed Under: SIMPLE LIVING

Thinking of Change: what do you think?

I’ve got the itch to make some changes, big blog changes (scary blog changes). Over the past maybe 6 months, Baby Blackbird has made a bit of natural a switch to include much more of our everyday life, posts about our family life as well as kiddo and family style. I adore creating and sharing my background in posts around personal/kiddo style but I of course love my family and everything about them even more, so it only made sense to share a bit more about us and our simple city life mixed in with kids style.

With the bit of a content switch I also had the idea to make a name switch, duh duh duh! It was a thought that popped in my head, and I actually sorta hoped it was a fleeting thought – a name change is SO scary (which is why I feel so, duh duh duh dramatic about it) the amount of work that goes into it (has my head spinning) and would I lose readers, etc. My reasoning behind thinking about making a name change in the first place is pretty simple: I love the name Baby Blackbird, it holds personal meaning to me (see all about it her e) but I am not sure it is the right fit for what this blog is actually about (and not sure it holds a strong meaning to you). It denotes something much more baby (since well, baby is in the name) and I write nothing around or about babies at all – my thought is to chose a name that better encompasses US and kids/family style.

So, I am asking you my amazing loyal and new readers for your opinion on the matter:

What do you think: Should the Baby Blackbird name stay or should I replace it with a name that better suits this space? Or even more fun: Do you have any suggestions for a new name? I have a name in mind, but since I’m so nervous about the idea of a switch (if you have any experience in a name change, good or bad please share!) I’m not completely sold – which is why I need your help! What do you think, or do you have any expertise to calm my dramatic nerves?

Filed Under: ADVICE AND INFO, HEALTH AND WELLNESS, REAL LIFE, SIMPLE LIVING, YOGA

Hot Yoga: Tips and Advice for Newbies

Did I ever tell you about the time I became totally obsessed with Moksha Yoga? I had always wanted to practice yoga, I even tried it a few times but not enough to actually say “I do yoga”. I was more into other styles of working out at the time (P90x, Insanity, 30 Day Shred, etc, etc) but my obsession with those were fleeting and they faded when the 30-90 days were up. I can now proudly say “I do yoga” and it feels way less cheesy and granola-y then I thought I would (a big thank you to my friend Ashleigh for introducing me to it, she owns this awesome studio). When you fall head over sweaty heels in love with something it’s really hard not to talk about it a lot (but I will try to keep it to a minimum on the blog) – for the past two months I have been hooked on sweaty hot yoga, 4-6 times a week wishing is was 7, sorta hooked. The benefits I have noticed in my mind and body have been pretty astounding, no other physical activity has offered so many fantastic positive changes. I really wanted to share some of my thoughts, why I am head over heels in love with it and some tips from a nervous and scared beginners point of view (I was SO nervous and intimated to start) – so if this is something that you want to read more about…read on if not, don’t worry regular content will be back on the blog tomorrow!READ MORE

Heart and Habit