What Barbie Is Teaching My Daughter

As I was rearranging my living room, I decided that the castle, Barbie's castle that is,  needed dusting too. Remember the days of playing Barbie alone or with friends? I do, endless hours of make-believe.

And Barbie could do anything, in fact at age six, Barbie was going to be a stewardess, get married, have babies, join a rock band, become a fashion designer and later hold the prestigious position of  editor-in-chief at Glamour magazine.

Who knew that Barbie (who is now 50 years old) might want to become a Social Media Strategist.

I guess today, Barbie can be anything or anyone she wants to be. Boy have things changed. Then I noticed something else that's changed...

My eight-year-old's Barbies are ethnically diverse (especially the one on the right with the plastic-lilac-legs!?!)  Not that there aren't any blond Barbies in our house, they're just in the Volkswagen Bug driving around with their boyfriend, who happens to be a male 'Little People' toy. That's because Ken has yet to grace our house, maybe when our daughter is 30.

Our daughter said something the other day about not wanting to be blond and how brunettes 'have more fun.' Where did this come from? School probably.

Typically when I talk about career paths with our daughters it's, "You know, you're a great debater, you could be a lawyer," or "If you go into the medical field, you will always have a job." Ad nauseum.

I think I bought this doll because she resembles me. In fantasy land, that is.

I just want them to not have to worry about bills. Not having enough money can be brutal.

Anyway, both our girls will decide on what they will pursue soon enough. As for our son, I'm constantly steering him towards "Biomedical Engineering," the job of the future!

For now, I will continue to enjoy the Barbies (and toys, games, clothing, clutter) that 'decorate' our home for as long as I can. Because Barbie is still teaching our daughter about sharing, social interaction, manners and desire for a closet full of shoes. Just sayin'.

Is Profanity Necessary To Be A Top Blogger?

Recently I googled "top mom blogs," because I love to find new blogs, read them and check out their design. I went on a popular site that touted a Top 100 list of mommy bloggers. I noticed something interesting...

At least three of these acclaimed blogs featured a gratuitous amount of profanity.

Wow. Does a good blogger have to throw in a swear word to make her point? Or is this just for shock value?

Hmmm...

This is not a post about SOPA or PIPA, I just wonder if people wonder if some might find this offensive. I have said before that my mother, Husband and kids can read my blog, if I started cursing in it, would I find that appropriate as a role model to my children?

What are your thoughts? Do you care? Does it matter?

Social Media Equals Sales?

I've read a lot about how businesses must embrace the channels of social media. But I've also witnessed firsthand the criticism of how social media does not grow a business. I really had to think about this...and it hit me.

Social media can increase sales, but sometimes it does it in a round-about way.

Meryl Streep said it well in the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada," where she repudiates Anne Hathaway's snubbing of what seems to be insignificant decisions in fashion.

"...You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select...

I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff."

What may look like a "pile of stuff" to a novice (or a business owner) may really be a necessary tool into sending your business/products/services skyrocketing out of the red and into the black.

Here are some brands that are trending on the growing social media giant, Pinterest.

Nutella, RumChata, Hershey's, NYX Cosmetics and Sephora, just to name a few.

These brands, like RumChata (a rum-based cream liqueur) are now the fundamental ingredient for making "RumChata Cupcakes," which has been re-pinned over 500 times
(at last count.) Did RumChata ever think about the cupcake business? I doubt it.

INFOGRAPHIC: Pinterest Infographic via Cool Daily Infographics

In this day of recycling and repurposing, women, who make up 80% of the Pinterest market, are now scouring for the above-mentioned ingredients/products or even discarded items (old Mason jars, shipping pallets, etc.) in hopes of creating the next best ____ (fill in the blank.)

So even if businesses are not seeing direct sales increases right now, give it time, and don't discredit social media. Because let's face it, it is everywhere and its influence, although seemingly insignificant at this point, might just be your next secret weapon in growing your profit margin.

Enjoy those cupcakes, people.
 

Why Moms Don't Sleep (Much)

This week I made an awesome raspberry vinaigrette, baked homemade brown sugar cupcakes (which will be frosted with a salted-caramel frosting later this week) and decided once in a while, fast food is okay. Every supper can't be a Pinterest supper, right?

Other than that...well, let's just say I've had a busy month. Someone once told me (when I was pregnant with our first child) that I would never sleep again. I do sleep, just not so much. Here's my Instagram overview:

1) Cleaned and organized my craft room (aka the laundry room) 2) Got our eldest daughter ready for Homecoming 3) Bought an iPhone, dumped my dumb phone 4) Learned more about Instagram 5) Made sure our 2 younger kids made it to soccer practices and games on time 6) Oh, they're on the swim team too... three times a week 7) Carved pumpkins, baked pumpkin seeds (an annual tradition) while listing to 'Monster Mash' 8) Baked cupcakes for two October birthdays 9) Redesigned a client's website.

Not pictured: Studying Facebook analytics for a client, merchandising a store, marketing meetings, scrubbing windows, doing laundry, huffing and puffing on a treadmill and coffee time with Husband five times a week at 5:30 am. <3

So on that note:

"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?"

-Henry David Thoreau

It's all good.

Goodbye Dumb Phone, Hello iPhone

It's no secret that I've fallen in love with my new iPhone which I finally got last week. It's my first smart phone and I love that I can sync my whole 'Apple family' together.

As I say goodbye to my dumb phone, I'm giddy with excitement about all the accessories and apps I get to nab. (Here comes my weekly ode to Pinterest...)

- Thank you Pinterest for my free apps:

- For the assortment of amazing iPhone cases I get to pick from:

- For the cute and sensible idea of labeling my iPhone charger:

- And for the inspiration to bake 'Apple' cookies in the near future (okay, not really, well maybe.)

Do you have an iPhone? What are your best tips/tricks/advice for a newbie like me?

I Don't Know How She Does It

On the second day of school, I took a vacation.

After three months of Husband, three children and Juno (the slobbery English Mastiff) being home ALL summer, quiet time was certainly overdue.

I embraced that time by finally renting the movie "I Don't Know How She Does It" starring Sarah Jessica Parker. I rented it for two reasons; one) Husband is sick of my chick flick choices and two) This movie is my life (except I don't make that much money, we don't have a nanny, we don't live in Boston and we have three kids instead of two.) Other than that, pretty much art imitating life.

I was surprisingly happy with my DVD choice because if it was a rotten one, no one would roll their  eyes at me and say "well, that's another two hours of my life I will never get back..." (Words never muttered by Husband.)

I think all the juggling she has to do is realistic and don't even get me started with the pressure of baking for school! My biggest fiasco (other than forgetting that it was my turn to bring in a class snack) was the time I spent hours making cupcakes that were supposed to look like ground hogs, but looked nothing like ground hogs. If there was a 'Cake Wrecks' for cupcakes, I would have made the cut.

As a former SAHM and now basically a Jane-of-all-trades freelancer, there are very few luxuries in my life, and scheduling one day off is a HUGE luxury.

Anyway, I liked the movie, I think all moms and dads should watch it. If you did, tell me what you thought!

Earthquakes, Spring Fashion & Lemonade Pie

It's been crazy  in our little Midwestern town. We've had everyone from CNN to Fox News here reporting on the minor earthquake that has the people buzzing. The strange booming noises and shakes that started last Sunday night have the conspiracy theorists talking about everything from hidden bunkers to aliens! Yikes!

Even though Juno, the English Mastiff is pretty laid back, the strongest of the shakes did wake her up this past Monday night!

But aside from all the drama, our family was able to taste test a recipe from Pinterest; Pink Lemonade Pie. Yum. It was fabulous.

I've also started thinking about spring dresses and summer fashion since it's been unseasonably warm here (we're talking 70s to 80s, in March!) Talk about madness!

Don't you love this spring dress from H&M? Check out my other Spring pins on Pinterest.

Hope everyone else has had a less hectic week than our family! Enjoy your weekend!


Congrats to Shari Lynne who won the Re-tie giveaway! I'll be contacting you via email with details!

Shari Lynne @ www.faithfilledfoodformoms.com says:

March 19, 2012 1:12 PM 

Totally LOVE this idea! so cute! My fave accessory is earrings:)

Blessings!

A Girls' Night In

There was a lot of football in the house this weekend, we were flying our flag and watching the neighbors up the street don themselves in the appropriate team colors. But our girls (meaning me as well) can only take so much sports in one weekend. So while the boys decided to do football, I rented the "Ramona And Beezus" DVD and hung out with my girls.

The movie based off the children's book series by Beverly Cleary was well done. I remember reading the books as a kid and loving the antics of the adorable, yet tenacious Ramona. (Does anyone remember her "pixie" haircut?)

What I appreciated even more about this adaptation was the "G" rating and the relationship between the two sisters. It's hard to find a nice kids movie that isn't laden with innuendos and mature scenarios, even at a PG - PG13 rating!

Our youngest cried at two parts and I admit there were some very tenderhearted moments in the movie.

But all in all, if you're looking for a nice movie for young girls, and an opportunity to bond with your daughters, I highly recommend this movie! :)

Kate Plus 8 Goes Bye Bye

Last night I had to watch the series finale of "Kate Plus 8." Husband was less than thrilled to have to switch from baseball during commercials to watch this show. But I felt somewhat lead to watch it seeing as I had started watching the series when it began six years ago (back then it was "Jon & Kate Plus 8.")

At the time I was mesmerized by the cute sextuplets (who were born the same year as our youngest) and what seemed to be two super parents.

I have to admit that I also found it compelling because it was one of the first shows to feature a Caucasian mother and an Asian father. (For the longest time our youngest would say "I'm half Filipino and half human!")

I found myself laughing along with the toddler antics and relating to the frustrations of parenthood. Yes, I know all about sleepless nights, yes, diaper changing seems endless and oh my gosh, the noise can get incredibly loud at times! Whether you agreed with their child-rearing methods or not, viewers could at least see the commonality, even if theirs was eight times the work!

In the end I thought it was sad. As Kate basically reviewed their "TV life" with flashbacks of previous episodes, I thought she was sincere shedding a few tears with her own reminiscing. But that's only my opinion and others may disagree.

Whether you watched their show or not, I for one will miss those cute little faces who showed viewers that bringing up children isn't always fun and games, but that parenting, in reality, can be hard work.

Contagion - Will You Watch It?

Husband and I watch a ton of movies (DVDs, that is) and I recently heard a lot about the new Matt Damon film called "Contagion" which hits theaters today.

I'm not a germaphobe, well just a little, but I'm amazed at the star power in this film! Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, just to name a few...

This morning on the radio, someone who was reviewing the movie said it's definitely not for kids under 13. The main reason being that young children could believe that this pandemic could happen (and who says it couldn't) and then freak out when the kid next to them in class sneezes. Gee whiz.

I guess the reason for all the media hoopla is that this movie, according to the New Yorker, "evokes memories of the bafflement and the sense of outrage and helplessness that greeted the H.I.V. and Ebola viruses, in the nineteen-eighties, and the swine-flu scare a few years back."

So is this your form of entertainment, or will you pass it up? I'll let you know in about six months when "Contagion" is out on DVD!