Keelin and I have been talking since the beginning of the year about putting out a monthly post with some of our favorite things each month.  Since we are approaching the halfway point of 2014, it seems only fitting that I actually get going with my first post of this new series!  We hope to continue these types of posts in the future as our way of sharing our latest finds!  Without further ado, here are my top five things I’m loving this month:

1.  International Delight Vanilla Flavored Iced Coffee: Although I love to make cold-brewed iced coffee, sometimes I don’t plan ahead and it can take 12-24 hours to “brew.” International Delight’s iced coffee line is perfect when I’m in a time crunch and need my iced coffee fix for the day!  ID’s iced coffee also comes in Original, Mocha, and Caramel Macchiato.

2.  Fit Bit Flex: Our entire family has recently jumped on the Fit Bit bandwagon!  The Fit Bit Flex is a pedometer that you wear on your wrist to track your daily steps, but is also estimates your distance, active minutes, calories burned, and sleep efficiency.  You can add friends who have a Fit Bit to compare 7-day step counts and that has proven to be a great motivator for me!

Here’s what the main dashboard on the iPhone app looks like:

It measures my daily steps in 15-minute increments throughout the day:

It even measures your sleep efficiency (at least I’m efficient at something!)

 

3. Raised Garden Beds: Earlier this spring, we built raised garden beds using these very detailed and helpful directions from the Pioneer Woman.  We planted lots of vegetable plants about a month ago and we love checking out how things are growing every day.  I’m crossing my fingers that we will soon be making Caprese Salad and Mediterranean Dip with our garden bounty (that is if our pesky forest critters stay away!)  I’m chronicling my gardening journey this summer with Instagram- follow me at 2Sisters2Cities and search for the hashtag #barryfamilygarden.

4. Audible: One of my favorite hobbies is reading books, but I struggle to get through a lot of books these days with my two little guys pulling me in all directions.  I try to read at night before bed, but I usually get through a page and a half before I’m falling asleep.  I recently started listening to audio books via the Audible app on my iPhone and I’m loving it so far.  I’m already on book #3!  I try to use the app whenever I’m cooking, cleaning, folding laundry, or out running errands (without T in the car as he pretty much insists on listening to kid’s music 100% of the time.)

5. Dark Sky app: I love that the kids can play outside almost everyday lately, but summer weather can be a bit unpredictable with sudden rain and storms.  Someone recommended I try out an app called Dark Sky.  It can tell you (pretty accurately) if it’s going to rain or not within the next hour.  It also has detailed forecasts of periods of rain or clouds for a full 7-days on a hyper-local level.

So there you have it…my first round-up of things I’m loving this month.  What are you currently crushing on this summer?

 

 

 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.