life. photos. scrapbooking.

Guest Post :: Vitamix Bliss - Part Deaux

By :: Elizabeth Martin

 

There are questions I didn’t really answer in my first post about my new Vitamix, so I’m going to try my hardest to dispense with the meandering story-telling and stick to the facts in this post.  I said try.  No promises.  With that in mind, let’s try this again.

 

Things I love about the Vitamix:

 

The variable speed dial – This allows you to chop/mix at a precise level, from 1-10.    If I want to make salsa, I’ll set the dial to 4-5.  If I’m making a smoothie (of the green variety), I’ll turn it up to 10, then switch over to “High” to fully pulverize all the ingredients.  As you can imagine, the versatility of the variable speed dial allows you to make a lot of different types of foods.

 

The plunger – There’s a little see-through topper that inserts into the lid that – like most blenders – contains the ingredients while chopping them like crazy.  But if you happen to throw a lot of ingredients into the canister, you can replace that little see-through topper with the plunger to mash everything down.  It is awesome, and you can mash away to your heart’s content.  The plunger is designed so that it’s long enough to push everything down into the spinning blades, but ingeniously short enough so that it does not also become a victim of the Vitamix’s super fast blades.   

 

The sheer, unbridled power – As I said before, the Vitamix’s motor is a total beast.  My husband used to drive a Honda Fit (he loved that car), and I honestly think that the Vitamix could have taken him in a straight up drag race.  It’s no joke… when I turn it on, our dog runs for cover.  Because this thing has such a powerful motor, you don’t have to spend so much time chopping and cutting things up.  Just throw it in.  You also don’t have to worry about burning out the motor.  My friend who introduced me to the Vitamix had burned out four or five blenders before she finally bought her Vitamix.  Regular blenders usually just can’t stand up if you are planning to make green smoothies long term.

 

The seven-year warranty – My understanding is that if you have any problems at all, the Vitamix people will fix it or replace it – free of charge.  I think this is great, and I hear their customer service is great, too!

 

The cookbook – The Vitamix comes with a fabulous and pretty extensive whole food recipe-book.  I pretty much made up my own recipe for our green smoothies, but everything else I’ve made since pulling this thing out of the box has come from the Vitamix cookbook.  The cookbook is separated into the following categories: beverages, soups, dips & spreads, sauces, breads, breakfast, desserts, dressings & marinades, and recipes for kids.  There is also a separate pamphlet focused on whole grain recipes.  So far, I have made the following: hummus, whole wheat bread, apple pancakes (made with whole wheat flour), and smoothie popsicles (for my kids).  I plan to try making various nut butters (since peanut butter is a no-no) and rice milk. 

 

The dry mix option – The Vitamix also comes with a dry mix canister (if you opt for one of the upgraded packages).  You can use this canister to grind your own flours and grains.  I plan to use this to grind grain for a whole-wheat cereal for my kids.  Really, the possibilities are endless.      

 

The clean up – Again with the clean up.  I love how easy the Vitamix is to clean. This is a big plus for me!

 

The three-payment option – I have the Vitamix 5200, and I’m not gonna lie… it wasn’t the cheapest appliance.  My husband, kind soul that he is, knew that I really wanted one, so he researched what kind to get (there are a few different versions sold at different retailers).  We were thinking about buying one from Williams-Sonoma, but then my husband discovered that if you buy the Vitamix directly from the source over the phone, they offer you the opportunity to spread your payment over three months.  Which is pretty sweet. 

 

(Again, it’s not cheap… but if you’re gonna use it long term, it’s totally worth it.  We used our regular KitchenAid blender for several weeks before finally purchasing the Vitamix.  There is a world of difference.  Where we were kind of chewing our smoothies before, the Vitamix is able to really mix everything up so that it truly is a green smoothie.  It is downright frothy!) 

 

The health benefits – I feel that I have benefited from this purchase in so many ways that I thought the best thing to do would be to try and stay concise.  He it goes:

 

Headaches: I have not had a headache since I started drinking my daily green smoothie.  This is saying a lot for me.  I used to be almost immune to Advil because I took it so much.

 

Weight loss: I have lost about 7 pounds with this dietary change.  That is always a fabulous benefit!

 

Mental clarity: I feel I am able to focus more on my tasks at hand.

 

General digestive regularity: This dietary choice has so much fiber in it that I have been amazed at how regular I am… and I was already a very regular person, before the green smoothies… if you know what I mean.  (I’m talking about pooping.) 

 

Less tired/more energy: I have been a lot less tired, which has made me feel just happier during my day.  It takes a lot of energy to keep up with my kids… 

 

Skin, nails, and hair: The green smoothies have definitely improved all of these.  My skin is clearer than it has been in quite awhile.  And my nails and hair are so much stronger and healthier looking.  I have a lot of bounce in my bobbed haircut!

 

 

The only downside: The only thing that has been less than fabulous is getting my mouth used to the acidity of the smoothie.  Because there are so many fruits in the drink itself, my mouth took some time to adjust and so I had a few tender taste buds at first.  Not really that big of a deal.  

 

So if you can’t tell, I absolutely love the Vitamix.  I really can’t recommend it enough.  If anyone still has specific questions that I didn’t answer let me know.  I would love to help you out. 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

PS – Wheat germ is great!  I use Mother’s Natural.  I buy it in the organic (frufru section) near the different flours and oats. 

Guest Post :: Vitamix Bliss

By: Elizabeth Martin

 

(Warning right up front… this is kind of all over the place.  But we get somewhere by the end.  I think.)

I used to never think about the food I ate, but all that changed when I had my son.  Jack is a healthy, happy little guy -- but he does have a good deal of allergies, and some of them happen to be food related.  When he was still a baby, we discovered that he was allergic to: eggs, milk, peanuts, and a few different kinds of tree nuts.  To put it mildly, this was a game changer for me.  I went from being blissfully unaware of food content to having to look at every label and every ingredient of every piece of food I bought.  (Take a wild guess at how many different types of food have milk and/or eggs as an ingredient or were processed in a plant that also handled nuts.  If you said: “Damn near everything,” you’d be close.)  Because I was still nursing him at the time, I had to be very focused on the food I was eating.  And when he stopped nursing, the focus turned to his own diet and, by extension, the rest of the family.  Basically, we’re like vegans that eat meat instead of peanuts. 

[SIDE NOTE:  I am not one of those crazy hipster moms that think food allergies are fun and trendy.  I did, however, attend a food allergy “support group” on one occasion when I was still coming to grips with all of this.  That was an eye-opener.  Some children in attendance were allergic to pretty much everything but water and celery.  That made me feel lucky.  Other kids, however, were proudly hailed by their mothers as being allergic to things like nutmeg and cinnamon  -- and nothing else.  I’m not kidding.  (I wanted to chokeslam those bitches.]

At first, I was very, very angry about all of this.  I begrudged the parents who could go out to eat with their kids, get food at a drive thru, and not give a second thought about what other kids in the playgroup were eating.  Sometimes I suffer momentary bouts of HDS (high drama syndrome -- that’s a technical term, usually accompanied by imaginary chokeslams). 

Now, however, I think it was a blessing in disguise because I have become much more conscious of what my family eats.  It was a natural progression for me to go from focusing solely on avoiding certain foods and ingredients to becoming interested in organic food and foods rich in essential vitamins and nutrients.  Reading food labels for hours on end will do that to you.  Bottom line, I have become a big believer that your body, health, and general wellbeing is very much linked to what you eat.   (Okay, so in that sense, I guess you could say that I’m one of those crazy hipster moms.)

So what have we decided to do?  Actually… nothing all that extreme or drastic, really.  We eat in shifts at our house right now anyway, which -- for this purpose at least -- works to our advantage.  Basically, my husband and I eat what we normally do for breakfast and lunch, but we’ve replaced our dinner with a “green” smoothie.   As a result, we now “eat” (drink) more fruits and vegetables in a week then we used to have in a whole month.  

 

So… after all that meandering backstory, here comes the main thrust of this post: I just have to sing the praises of my brand new Vitamix! 

We’ve been drinking these green smoothies for a while, using our regular kitchen blender, but we recently bought a Vitamix to make the process easier.  I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Vitamix -- I never had before I saw one at my friend’s house last year -- but they are amazing!  Take a blender, and then add the motor of a lawn mower.  These things are fierce! 

(This part coming up sounds like a shameless infomercial plug, but it is true…)

The Vitamix is so versatile and powerful that it can replace the following appliances in your home: the blender, the food processor, the bread-maker, and even the ice-cream maker.

So this has become dinner for my husband and me:

 

Here is a list of the ingredients for one drink:

A handful of pineapple;

Three strawberries;

A handful of blueberries;

One banana;

Half an apple;

One carrot;

Half an avocado (not pictured, but usually included);

Two teaspoons of wheat germ; and

Lots and lots of at least two of the following greens: watercress, kale, collard greens, and/or spinach.

Because freshness is key to all of this, I make about two or three trips to the grocery store every week.  Of course, my frequent trips to Giant could also be a product of my complete inability to make a decent grocery list, but let’s blame it on something else.  In any event, my daughter actually cheers when I pull into the grocery store parking lot… so at least we all enjoy the experience.  (I’d cheer, too, if I got to cruise around in the car cart.)

I did buy a book to help me out with coming up with recipes when we first started all of this, but to be honest, I haven’t used it much.  It was great for telling me all the vitamins and nutrients that could be found in specific fruits and vegetables, but after that I kind of just took it from there.  I keep the basic things that I have listed above and then sometimes add a few things that look good to me in the store.  I am sure some of you are thinking, “You have got to be kidding.  You eat the same thing every night?”  Well, yeah.  My husband and I are boring, and variety is not necessarily the spice of life for us.  If you are thinking of trying this and feel that you may need a little more variety… buy a recipe book!

But no matter what you end up deciding to include, never, EVER forget to throw in a banana.  For real.  Be advised: the term “green smoothie” is simply a euphemism for “hey-this-looks-like-a-tall-glass-of-baby-poop.”  But as long as you include a banana in the mix, all you taste is the banana.  I’m totally serious.

Perhaps best of all, clean-up with the Vitamix is wonderful -- it's beyond easy.  With my blender, I always ended up taking it completely apart and washing every piece by hand.  This became tedious after the first night.  With the Vitamix, all I do is rinse the container out, fill it up halfway with warm water, add two drops of liquid soap, put it back on the base, and turn it on for thirty seconds.  Then I rinse again.  That’s it. 

Besides green smoothies I have also made whole wheat bread in my Vitamix.  It was so easy and ended up great.  I can’t wait to use my new “toy” to its fullest potential. 

 

Guest Post :: Word Art

By :: Elizabeth Martin

 

This is my downstairs hallway -- one of the first things people see when they come to my house. 

See that bow? 

It has been tied around that frame since this past Christmas.  That was my way of making a picture-less frame… festive, I guess.  Also, it ended up being a fun way of unknowingly punking people into thinking it was some kind of lame “hint” about me being pregnant again.  (I just used “punk” as a verb.)  

Here’s the problem – I just took this picture, and last I checked, it’s July.  If Santa is still around in that furry red suit, he is dying of heat stroke right now.  As with most of my projects, I started out just not being sure what to put in this large frame, but then (spoiler alert) I just got lazy.  As I’ve said before, I am an extremely slow mover. 

Well, this slow mover got a kick in the pants the other day while perusing Pinterest.  I saw something on there, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for this empty space in my house.  I’ve never been on Pinterest before, so I thought I’d check it out. 

I am in LOVE.  It is an amazing site, and I whole-heartedly recommend that all of you at least give it a test drive.  I started on Katie’s Pinterest page and just kept clicking on things I liked, and it took me to so many different pages, all of which contain a variety of different tastes and style choices.  It is a really great place to get ideas and inspiration for decorating your home and sprucing up all kinds of things in your life. 

Along the way, I stumbled onto an art piece that I LOVED (note the second use of all caps – Pinterest is a very cool place).  The words really grabbed my attention and gave me a chuckle because all the pictures that hang in my downstairs hallway are of my children.  I think it is a funny, if not ironic, way of acknowledging the absurdity of this makeshift “shrine” to the wonderfulness (new word?) of my children.  Here is the original artwork if you want to check it out.  Below is my adaptation and new color scheme… but I can’t quite figure out which font I prefer.  So what do you guys think?

 

What do you think?  I decided to go bold in my color choice because, unlike Katie, I am a total beige girl.  (You saw the hallway, right?)  Everything in my house is either beige… or sage… or some other ridiculously boring color.  (Except for my husband and son, who make Albinos do a double take.)  These colors really seem fun and playful to me -- just like the kids whose pictures I plan to surround them with. 

Since I went bold with the text colors, I thought I would mute the colors in the pictures to make the entire thing seem a bit more balanced.  Here are a few of the pictures I plan to hang around this new piece of “word art”:

 

I hope you all have a great day!  Also, go have some fun with a “word art” piece of your own.  It can spruce up an empty space in any home.

The Ordinary Stuff as Art: Old Rusty Junk Edition

By: Elizabeth Martin

Update: I got on my pony and rode.

I changed the pictures in my gallery frames!  Glacial pace be damned; I said I was going to do something, and I did it within the same calendar month.  It’s actually kind of hard to type this blog post over the sound of how awesome I am…but I’ll try.   

Now, I am not sure if it’s because it’s Fall, or if I was drawn to these subjects because my parents instilled in me a love for all things antique, or maybe it’s simply because I think that anything that is old and rusty is totally cool.  Whatever the reason, you can definitely see at a glance that there is a theme to my selection of photos.  If you recall from my previous post, I wanted to limit myself to a two-mile radius around my house.  I am pleased with the way they turned out.   They really have a seasonal feel to them.

Here they are:

What do you think?  I know you guys can probably do even better.  So...if you have any ordinary stuff that you would like to share, I know we would all love to see it.  Send them in soon and we will share them with everyone.  Email your .jpgs to katiepegher(at)gmail(dot)com. 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Love, Lizzy

 

Photo Mosaic

By: Elizabeth Martin

In an attempt to continue decorating my house, I recently decided to put my own spin on a project I saw on another blog: Paisley Press. This particular blog post is where I got the initial idea. I liked the project, but decided that I wanted to put the least amount of holes, marks, and adhesive on my walls as possible - so I came up with a plan. I ended up making this.

Here’s how I did it:

First, I went to Lowes to get some supplies. I bought four, 1 x 4 x 6 boards, and one 1 x 6 x 2 (I think) board to hold it together. I also picked up the following (since they are items I don’t have just laying around my house): wood glue and 1-1/4” drywall screws.

And then I was off and away. I started off by painting the boards the color I wanted to be sure the sides were fully covered with paint before putting them together. Once the boards were dry, I was ready to assemble my project. Here are all the tools I needed:



(1) saw (this is a very puny one, but it works for little projects like this); (2) drill and drill bits; (3) tape measure; (4) wood glue; (5) drywall screws; and, most importantly (6)



wine in a water glass (with ice cubes)...classy, I know. But I have broken too many nice wine glasses over the years (including, just recently, one of Katie’s Kate Spade crystal ones), and I’ve learned my lesson. I am just too clumsy (yeah, let’s go with clumsy) to be trusted with the good stuff.

The assembly process was as follows:

(1) cut the 1 x 6 x 2 board in three separate pieces (20 inches each);

(2) measure and pre-drill four holes in each support board;



(3) apply wood glue to the support board and screw the board into all four painted boards; and, finally

(4) attach two more small pieces of wood to the back and then attach two jaggy teeth wall-hanger thingies (very technical…right?).

Once the board project was complete, I focused on my pictures. I chose my favorite 36 pictures that I recently took of Mr. Personality and Baby Girl. I opened each one in Photoshop Elements and cropped them down to 5 x 5 images. I decided to make them all black and white (everything looks better in black and white) because the other pictures hanging in my bedroom are (surprise) black and white. After selecting and resizing the pictures, I ordered them from Scrapbookpictures.com. Once the photos arrived, I arranged them out on the floor. And then finally I attached them to the boards (with some 3M poster stickers) making sure they were all evenly spaced.  



I have already replaced one picture (a stink bug found its way into our house while we were on vacation and pooped right on my baby’s face) and am glad to report that the 3M stickers work great and come off easily.  Because of the ease of replacing the pictures I plan to update the mosaic pictures at least every year or maybe I’ll do it a couple pictures at a time…haven’t quite decided. That is the beauty of this project you can either make the collage and leave it or frequently change it around.

So that’s my interpretation of someone else’s project/idea. Please feel free to improve upon my ideas and make this a project that would work for your home. 

The Ordinary Stuff As Art

By: Elizabeth Martin

My family and I recently moved into a new home.  … okay, that’s a lie. We moved like, ten months ago, but I prefer to say that we “just moved” because it makes me feel better since my house is still not put together. (You know those shows on HGTV where someone buys a house, and then the camera crew comes back a few months later and everything is done? What is that all about? I guess those people don’t waste a lot of their free time watching HGTV.)  Don’t get me wrong, my house is great, but there are still some rooms that look like we just moved in. Not good.  But then again, my husband and I move at what he refers to as a “glacial pace.” And while stuff may not get done as quickly as I’d like, I’m totally caught up on the Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and the Real Housewives of [insert city]. On balance, I’ll take Snooki over a finished downstairs half-bath any day. Don’t judge.

Nevertheless, and in spite of my near-crippling lack of organizational skills, I was determined to bring some charm, personality, and (*gasp*) ART to my family room. So I went to work. I ordered seven square gallery frames that hold 8 x 10 pictures. This type of frame lets you use either landscape or portrait pictures and, because it’s square, will still hang on the wall the same way. This is perfect since I plan to change these pictures somewhat frequently. This is very convenient (and I love convenience – almost as much as my mother-in-law loves Styrofoam and lounge wear). Here is a shot of one of the pictures in the frame:



In addition to convenience, I love to take pictures, and I love the beauty that can be found in ordinary, everyday things. So, to get started on this project, I decided to look through my iPhoto gallery and find some of the photos that I had taken over the years of ordinary objects, items, and places. I am of the belief, that once you put a frame around a photograph and hang it on a wall, you automatically make the picture more interesting. Below you will find the ordinary yet interesting (to me, at least) pictures that are currently hanging on my family room walls:

 

The two above landscape photos were taken along the road on my way to the grocery store.  Always be looking around!

Before I hung these photos on the wall (this is where my husband would like me to point out that HE actually hung them on the wall… and what a fine job he did!), I opened them in Photoshop Elements and ran a few actions on them. I used the Boost and Burn Edge actions that I downloaded for free from the Pioneer Woman. These actions really put the finishing touches on the images. 

These pictures have been up in my home for several months now (glacial pace, remember?), so I think it’s time to put up some new ones. This time I’ve decided to give myself a little challenge. For my next round of photo “art,” I plan to limit myself to my home and anything found within a two mile radius. I think this will be fun, and I invite you to shoot interesting things that you find near your home and then hang them up on your walls. (By “shoot,” I mean take picture; please don’t shoot interesting things around your home and hang them on your walls, unless you have a permit or something.)

There is beauty in the familiar.

Stay tuned and I will share my next installment of my gallery pictures with you soon!

MY Intro To Digital Scrapbooking

by Elizabeth Martin

Hello everyone!  Let me take a minute to introduce myself to you.  This is me…Lizzie…

I am Katie’s sister-in-law, the wife of her wonderful brother and a mom of two little ones.  Let’s call them…

Mr. Personality

and Baby Girl

You will see more of them later!

Katie and I have a lot of the same interests so, naturally, I am one of her loyal blog readers. All of her posts about scrapbooking and journaling have piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a try! But let’s make one thing clear: no one has ever mistaken me for an organized person. I am the antithesis of Katie when it comes to organization and project follow-through. I can only dream of having odds and ends sorted away in cute bins and individually labeled with lovely tags. (I swear on a stack of Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living magazines, Katie’s arts and craft room would make any self-respecting, HGTV-watching gal hang her head in shame.) Needless to say, old-fashioned physical scrapbooking is not for me. I have no desire to make my house look like something out of a “best of” episode of Hoarders. (You think I am kidding, and I thank you for that… those people started somewhere.)

Hence, I have skipped over actual scrapbooking for an activity that diminishes my organizational shortcomings: digital scrapbooking. Everything is created, designed, and housed on my computer. I can create an entire scrapbook without drowning in a sea of little paper, pictures, and pretty stick-on thingies. The only downside I can think of, actually, is missing out on the rubber cement smell. I can’t help myself… I love it…don’t judge, you do too. 

So, recently, and without ever trying this before, I decided to make a scrapbook for my dad’s 60th birthday. The idea was to fill an album with several 8 ½ x 11 inch scrapbook pages and then update the album over the next several years. I thought the best way to start was to design several pages covering his life so far, make a page for each one of his grandchildren, and explain that I plan to continue filling in the empty pages with the events, moments, and memories to come. So off I went…

How I got started:

I already own Photoshop Elements, so that made the photo-editing and assembly part of the process much easier. I decided, before I even began, that I would try not to spend a fortune on this project in case I didn’t like digital scrapbooking.  However, and unfortunately, poor organizational skills go hand and had with procrastination so I decided to use some templates to give me a guide and help simplify the process, since I needed to bust some pages out quickly. I purchased this template set by Cathy Zielske from Designer Digitals. It really helped me get started because I didn’t have to devote tons of time making each page from scratch. Another great feature of digital scrapbooking, especially for those of us who do these crafty things on a budget, is there is a decent amount of paper and elements you can get for free. I downloaded lots of “freebies” from the Designer Digitals website; all I had to do was join the website’s community. (Totally worth it, and in my opinion, a great way to get started.)

Below are a few examples of the pages I made:







The gift was a success. And best of all, I found that I really enjoyed creating this kind of keepsake, especially since I don’t have to clutter-up my house in the process. And I know my dad truly enjoyed the pages I made him (not to mention the promise of more pages in the future).

Perhaps best of all, “post production” is super easy and convenient. I can create a digital page at my home, have the page printed by Scrapbookpictures.com, and then have it delivered directly to my dad. I thought it was a great gift and a great new way for him to look back on the good times we have as a family.

In the spirit of the continued nature of the gift, I just completed a new page for my dad’s album. For my dad’s birthday, we spent the weekend at the river with his new kayak. The grandkids loved Poppy’s new gift! I thought it would be a great idea to make him a page for his new scrapbook album to remember the day:

_{LAYOUT SUPPLIES:  Photoshop Elements 8, Template: Cathy Zielske’s Layered No. 5, Wave Elements: paper waves by Katie Pertiet (freebie!), Colors: standard fill colors}

I would encourage any of you out there who are considering venturing into this hobby to go ahead and take the plunge.  Believe me, if I can do it, so can you!

THE INCIDENT

by Brooke Mathias

After a VERY long Friday of dropping "G.I. SEAL" (my fiance' Aaron) off at the airport for his mini deployment (tear) and then picking up some kiddo's from camp (I work with the children's services division of an organization that runs several homeless shelters) and driving these kiddos ALL over the city for 7 + hours… ALL I wanted was a hot shower (to get the camp STANK off me) and a nice relaxing evening. One spent NOT thinking about "G.I. SEAL in Afghanistan (yeah good luck with that one!!).  

After a GLORIOUS shower, I came downstairs to find… dunh dunh DUNH….  GASP…

Our victim. A.K.A BOB (the fish)

I know it's shocking! Faint of heart AVERT YOUR EYES!!!

Bob is our most responsible, most reliable, watch fish! He is our keeper of keys, he guards the door and keeps watch over scary monsters lurking in the living room, creepy crawlers, mean UPS drivers (trust me, they can be) so that they all stay at bay!

How could such a travesty happen?

THE PERPS

A recently developing gang that's moved into "our hood."

Bob's the first serious attack, but other small infractions have been rumored.

Both have records on file with the department.

MUG SHOT #2939592

Gang leader.

Referred to as Roo.

Prior charges:  Chewing, pouncing, barking, excessive licking, coffee table surfing, ENTIRE sample wedding cake eating, coffee drinking/stealing, ice hoarding

MUG SHOT  #32573612

Gang leader.

Referred to as Mack.

Prior charges:  Snoring, drooling, excessive licking, sofa hogging, serious and frequent rear-end air pollution.

Update on Bob:

Bob is in critical condition, currently receiving treatment round the clock. He suffered from a thundering blow to the gill leaving behind a potentially fatal gash. Experts are uncertain of his survival as they are currently unable to surgically repair the damage. If Bob does survive, he will have to live with a splintering fracture and the reminder of the horror that took place this evening.

Here is a clear image of the puncture wound.

So far the only news for prosecution is that the two perpetrators were locked up for the night without treats. No word as to how the rest of the hearing will follow when Judge Aaron returns from active duty.

So much for my relaxing evening!!! If that wasn't enough - these two bozos decided it might be fun to tangle me up in their leashes on our evening walk at 10:30pm so that when I exited the door - I actually fell out of it onto the ground as it was shutting behind me...

and locked us out...

without a cell phone.

This is NOT helping their case.

Write On, Momma!

by: Jen Hunter

Okay, so first things first: I'm Jen, one of Katie's friends and guest bloggers for the week. When Katie asked if I'd be interested in helping her out this week, I knew I wanted to do it, but I was a little nervous about (a) having a deadline and (b) writing for public consumption, because, well, it's been a while since I've done that, and before I put myself out there, my mind always goes through an entire gymnastics routine worth of cartwheels and flips, analyzing what people will think of me, how I will come off, yada, yada, yada. Yes, I am a little tightly wound at times, but this condition is usually best managed with a glass of wine and a little grabbing-myself-by-the-collar to say, “Girl, shut up, stop your whining, and just get on with it already.”

So, here I am. And after some deliberating, I've decided to write about writing, even though the topic of procrastination ran a close second, and lemme tell ya, I could provide some mad tips on how to put off today what you can do tomorrow. But that'll have to wait because today, the talk is about how to pick up a pen or cozy up to the keyboard and write, specifically about your experiences as a mother.

I've always loved to write. It's just been “my thing” for as long as I can remember. I enjoy it for a lot of reasons, but I think mainly it has been the primary way I organize my life (since I have no other organizational skills to speak of!). From the mundane grocery or chore list to the more reflective journal about how it felt to get dumped by my college boyfriend (yep, gotta love that), writing has been and continues to be the way I “pull myself together,” except of course when I whip out the Spanx hosiery for a special occasion, but I'll spare you the details of that pulling-together process.

When I became a mother to my son (currently 4 ½ going on 34 ½), I knew that I would not only want to document our new family life with photos and video but also through words. I joined the blogosphere and was dedicated to that task for about two years but eventually became overwhelmed with it and gave it up. But I still wanted to write, to chronicle the day-to-day, even if it was only to have for myself to look back on many years down the road.

I remembered in my blog travels seeing a book featured on a friend's blog about chronicling your motherhood experience. Even though I knew I was going to take a break from the blogging, the book Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues helped me to get restocked with fresh ideas for organizing and privately documenting my experiences as a mother.

Writing Motherhood centers around the idea of keeping something called a “Mother's Notebook,” which can be as simple as a 4 x 6” spiral flip pad or as elaborate as a leather bound journal. Garrigues does suggest using something simple and small that will fit in a purse so you can always have it with you at any given moment to jot down something you don't want to forget – like for instance, when your car runs out of gas and you are stuck for almost 30 minutes at a busy intersection on a hot summer day (yes, this happened to me recently). My first Mother's Notebook was just a simple purse-size, black spiral notebook – nothing fancy. I am in need of another one soon, and I am still sold on the idea of something compact that can be slipped into a purse, pocket or stashed beside the coffee pot! I suppose for the really tech-savvy among us, an iPhone or BlackBerry might even suffice.

Garrigues encourages her writing mommas to write for at least 15 minutes a day, filling at least 2 pages of the mother's notebook. The writing doesn't have to be in paragraph form or even complete sentences, but instead just include snippets from the happy or not-so-happy chaos of the day, favorite quotations you stumbled upon, the obscene rudeness of your boss or someone in the check-out line, or a celebratory song about the fact that you can now squeeze back into your size 6 pants (God, what I would give for that). I think one of the best things that I've found to include in any kind of “notes” I write these days are all the comical things my son says, like when he announced very simply the other evening: “I hate opera.” You know, just in case his Dad and I were wondering. The kid is f.u.n.n.y.

So what's the point, you're thinking, just to have a notebook full of random kiddie quotes, rants about running out of gas, or about your husband working late or how the pile of dishes in the sink rivals the dog's pile of poop in the backyard? Recording the details of life – even the seemingly mundane ones – can produce something that later can serve as a source of intense gratification, nostalgia, and joy. And, if you're motivated beyond your Mother's Notebook and have the time, you can turn your writing into pieces for publication or use your writings as a springboard into starting a blog, creating scrapbook pages, filling a baby book, creating captions for a photo album, starting a journal to give to your children when they're older, or, heck, even updating your Facebook status, I suppose.

The point is, we all want to remember our lives and to tell stories and to be able to pass on our own history, even when we are perhaps no longer physically here. And writing is one way we can do this.


I'd also like to say that even though Writing Motherhood is obviously written for mothers, I think the model can be used for fathers who want to document their family life as well. A Mother's Notebook could easily become a Father's Notebook, or you could, in addition to your own notes, have a book you keep in a general area of the house that you both write in. The point is to write, and to write often. You won't regret it. I still have and marvel at the first diary I ever wrote when I was around 10 years old. It's just, well, for lack of a better word, really cool to have that and to flip through it from time to time.

For more ideas and information about Writing Motherhood, you can visit the official website HERE and you can preview chapters on Amazon.com (link is above) if you wanna take a lookey. Included in the book are tons of writing prompts and ways to get your brain well-oiled and ready to write. So, write on, momma. Write on!

Thanks again to Katie for letting me fill her shoes for a day. They're some impressively beautiful, sparkly, one-of-a-kind Manolo Blahniks, and I hope I wore them well.

TOP 8 MOMMY ITEMS NOT TO BE WITHOUT!

by Danna Stanyard

Hello fans of KP's blog.  As Katie takes on the wilderness this week, she asked me to guest blog for her.  This is my first blogging experience, so go easy on me. 

 
First, a little background... My hubby went to college with Clark, and they remain great friends today. Katie and I became buds a few years ago when she and Clark got married (the wedding was beautiful, and you can read about how the lovefest began HERE). I live in Maryland, and have two beautiful boys, 3 (going on 13) and 4 months. I made the leap last year to quit my job and stay at home with the kiddos full time, which was the scariest and most rewarding thing I've done in quite awhile. I love: photography, a good book, a healthy tan, a hot handbag, So You Think You Can Dance, freshly brewed iced tea, the Steelers and Jacob (Edward freaks me out). 
 
I'm not nearly as crafty as Katie (although a girl can dream), but if there is one thing I'm into it's my kids. So, I thought I'd share the 8 mommy items I literally could not live without with you.  I am always looking for great recommendations from friends on just about anything, so I'm hoping this helps out those of you with little ones.  Please feel free to share your mommy must haves in the comments below, I'd love to hear em!
 

My 8 Mommy Must Haves:

1.  Aden and Anais Swaddle Blankets (*Katie is obsessed with these too!)

These muslin blankets are so soft and cool they are perfect for a summer baby.  I use them for just about everything, nursing cover, burp cloth, swaddler, stroller cover, picnic blanket, the list goes on. I just know they are going to end up being my little one's "BaBa", because he already loves chewing on them before he goes to sleep. They come in tons of cute patterns, but these star ones are my favorites.  I just love the big bold colors, certainly not your average swaddler! Get them HERE.

 
2. Name Bubbles
Last year when my 3 year old first started pre-school, a friend turned me onto these wonderful little stickers called Name Bubbles. These too-cute-for-words stickers with your child's name on them can be stuck to anything and they never come off!  I use them for sippies, clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunchboxes, etc.  They are both laundry and dishwasher safe, so wash after wash they keep on sticking!  So much easier, and more cute, than a sharpie. Get them here - www.namebubbles.com

3.  A Nook

As I mentioned above, I'm a huge reader (huge as in, 1-2 books a week huge).  So I recently purchased the Barnes and Noble e-reader (Amazon's Kindle would work too).  At first glance you wouldn't consider this a mommy must have, but you would be wrong.  If you have kids, epically little ones, you know the challenge of suddenly living your life with only one arm.  It is rare these days that I'm not carrying one (or sadly, both) my kids around the house.  The secret that no one told you about the Nook is that you can now read books, newspapers and magazines with NO HANDS!  It's been life changing for me.  You can prop the little sucker up anywhere within viewing distance and without having to hold open a book you can read to your hearts content.  Page turns are just a click away.  Such a huge time saver, and for a big reader like me, a must have! Get it HERE.

 
4.  Trader Joe's Apple Carrot Crushers

Such a convenient invention.  Apple sauce, with a bit of veggies thrown in, all packaged in this brilliant little envelope that allows a kid to literally suck the apple sauce through a tube.  Both Katie's Macho, and my little guy love them more than candy, and I never leave the house without 2 or 3 in my bag. 

 
5.  Red Envelope Monogrammed Quilts

We have a dear family member that buys these gorgeous quilts for all the new babies in the family.  It's such a wonderfully personal gift with the new babies name and birth date on them.  My oldest has had his hanging in his room since he was born, and the new baby's we use as more of a classic quilt for tummy time.  They are beautiful, and something I can see both my boys passing down to their kids years from now.

My camera wasn't cooperating when I tried to take a picture of ours.... See what I mean HERE.

 
6.  OiOi Diaper Bag (Katie and I both own this bag - in this pattern!)

As referenced above, I have a bit of a problem with handbags.  I would literally put my family deep in debt if my husband didn't limit my shopping habit to one bag a year (I know, it's painful). So once I became pregnant with my first, my search for the perfect diaper bag began.  I've now owned 4 total, but this little beauty from OiOi is by far my very favorite.  The perfect size, the perfect colors, and has held up beautifully through years of diapering.  A week doesn't go by where I don't have someone stopping me in a parking lot, or the grocery store asking where I got it.  It really is that perfect.

Get it HERE.

7.  Mini DVD Player

Just like most mothers out there, I really do have mommy TV guilt.  You know, that feeling you get when you know your child has been in front of Sprout for WAY too long that day.  So know that this little beauty is at it's best when used in a pinch (not every day).  With that said, I could not live without this little mini- DVD player.  Paired with a set of inexpensive headphones it has gotten my oldest through many a long car ride, airplane trip, and fancy dinner. Can I get an AMEN?

 
8.  An Easy Morning Routine

As a stay at home mom of a toddler and newborn, just finding the time to shower each morning can be a real feat.  So it became very critical for me to find a makeup routine that would look natural, and beautiful (otherwise why bother) and take less than 5 minutes to apply.  After quite a search, and some scary failures, I've found the perfect morning routine:  CO Bigelow All In One Protective Day Cream, Bare Minerals foundation, Bare Minerals Tinted Mineral Veil, and Mabelline Lash Stiletto Mascara.  All of these products receive my seal of approval, buy them- you won't be disappointed!

As I said before - please feel free to share your "Mommy Must Haves" in the comments below!