A Badlands Birthday!

Katherine Heigl, Nancy Heigl and Meg Heigl-Beltran
July is a month where I get to celebrate the two most important women in my life. My mother and my sister. With their birthdays just a week a part I kinda have my hands full planning parties, dinners or some type of celebration that honors them. This year my sister was able to make it up to the mountains to attend my mother’s party at the ranch and while she was here I managed to plan a fun pool day party to celebrate her birthday as well. Two parities in one week had us eating more than our share of cake but it was well worth it to get to show the women I love just how much they mean to me. Here’s a look at my mother’s party. I hope my ideas will help inspire your next fete!Continue Reading

DIY Cleaning Supplies

About six years ago I happened upon a DIY counter spray on Pinterest that sparked my curiosity. The idea of creating my own cleaning products tailored to my specific needs and scent preferences that would also be non toxic and kid/environment safe seemed kinda awesome. But would they really work? Would they take too much time to make? Would they last me long enough or would I be making new batches every week?

Well, after that first batch of counter spray I became a DIY cleaning product believer and have never looked back. I even went as far as to make my own liquid and powdered laundry detergents, dishwasher detergent and even explored DIY body products making my own deodorant and body cream. I’ve since given up the homemade deodorant and body cream but I’ve continued to make my counter spray, glass cleaner and laundry detergent with great success! So if I’ve sparked your curiosity and you wanna try your hand at making your own cleaning products here my favorite recipes and scent combinations! Hopefully they’ll work just as great for you and give you the same peace of mind they did me!Continue Reading

Baggage: My Postpartum Weight Loss Journey

In the seven months since Joshua Jr was born I have managed to slowly but surely drop my pregnancy weight with only 10 pounds left to lose. I gained almost 50 pounds during my pregnancy and I’m not gonna lie, I had moments of sheer panic that I’d never be able to lose it all. I had hoped to only gain 25-30 pounds like my mother during her pregnancies but found that just wasn’t possible for me. Despite starting my gestation out on a pregnancy friendly meal plan and hiking my butt off 5 days a week my weight kept creeping up. At a certain point, probably around 4 months I gave up the struggle and tried instead to respect my body’s needs and trust my instincts. About ten days after Joshua Jr’s birth I got back on the scale to see where I was at and how far I had to go.Continue Reading

What Came First?

Katherine Heigl collecting eggs from the chicken coop on her ranch
Growing up my mother created a tradition of omelets for dinner. I’m sure it was to give herself a night off from the more complicated gourmet dinners she usually made, though the omelets tasted pretty damn gourmet too. I loved it because it felt a bit wild – breakfast for dinner? Crazy! Yeah, I realize I wasn’t really living on the edge as a kid, but whatever, it was cool to me! So in keeping with tradition and my need for an easy, quick fix meal option, I’ve implemented the omelet for dinner night at the Kelley house. Wild, I know! Continue Reading