During this time of "shelter-in-place," we are trying to make the best of our days! Matt has set up his office in our dining room and Eleanora does her school work at the kitchen counter and I have all of a sudden become the lunch lady (minus the hairnet)! We are keeping up on the latest news of the coronavirus but have also tried to find other news stories to inspire and humor us. I ran across this story sharing some of the funny things people are encountering while working from home! https://www.fastcompany.com/90478967/farts-cats-naked-bodies-people-are-failing-hilariously-at-working-from-home.  So it seems no one wants to get caught naked on a video conference, however, we think you may want to eat a Naked Cake!

Eleanora is home for eLearning for the next several weeks and is doing a great job with this new school experience.  On a couple of occasions, she has found herself finishing school work early and looking for other things to do to keep busy. Her most recent distraction is scouring Pinterest for ideas to celebrate her upcoming 13th birthday! She started pinning beautiful cakes called Naked Cakes and asked if I would try making one. Well, I take my job as lunch lady seriously so got right to work. While I didn't have items on hand to decorate the cake as some shown on Pinterest, I did have the ingredients to mix up this delicious three layer cake. If you make it and decorate it, please share your pictures - we would love to see them!

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and sprinkle it with dew???  Hey readers, we think it's Terese McDonald of Candyality! Join us in helping Candyality get recognized by the Byline Banks small business marketing contest. Candyality has the opportunity to win one of 3 prizes up to $10,000. I know we are all working on social distancing and can not make our way out to local businesses during this unprecedented time during the Covid-19 pandemic, but so many local businesses (along with all of us!) are being impacted by this pandemic. Your vote for Candyality could make a world of difference in making sure everyone's sweet tooth is satisfied. 

Place your vote daily starting today until the end of contest, April 3rd. Visit Paystobanklocal.com. Scroll down to @candyality, vote, then hit "submit" at the bottom of page. You can do this everyday until the end of the contest! Be sweet and be well!

Checkout our post from December to learn about Candyality's Candy Charcuterie!
https://www.weebly.com/editor/main.php#/

We are early into the #StoptheSpread #FlattentheCurve #coronavirus staying at home phase. This weekend we discovered the amazing Jordan Matter YouTube videos and binged many videos of incredible dancers, contortionists, and gymnasts. Jordan often asks his performers to "do something interesting" and they do such cool poses. After watching another Jordan Matter video, I said to Stella and Sophia "do something interesting" and this picture is what they came up with all on their own! I was so impressed. The creativity and talent of kids is amazing!

Late night this weekend I was also scrolling through Instagram and saw an awesome post by the highly talented and inspiring Jennifer Garner. See below!

I love this! Like Jennifer, we know so many kids, parents, and friends that have been working on huge goals. From Eleanora's dance competition to Lilia's swim meets to Stella and Sophia's soccer games, kids across the country are having to be resilient and find different ways to show off their talents. After Stella and Sophia did their "do something interesting" picture we called their cousin, Eleanora and asked her to do a dance picture which is below. While Eleanora's dance competition was cancelled, her love of dance cannot be cancelled! We love this picture of Eleanora and her sweet dog, Ginger.

Thanks, Jennifer for encouraging everyone and for wanting to see the amazing talent of all ages. The show must go on! You sure helped the show go on! Search the hashtag #heyjenlookatme and you will immediately smile at the beautiful art work, amazing solos, Irish dancing, family talent gatherings, songs and dances from Footloose, Chicago, Matilda, Hairspray and so many more musicals, sporting shots, and other incredible feats. With so much anxiety in the world, this simple hashtag is showcasing that the sun will come out tomorrow.

We hope you will share your talents and do something interesting. Help spread some joy and share the incredible talents of your family and friends with the heartwarming, incredibly talented Jennifer Garner by using the hashtag #heyjenlookatme ​We'll be looking for your posts! Stay home and wash your hands.