Love & Marriage

Love And Geekiness

February 15, 2011 By Blonde Mom 8 Comments

The best kind of office artwork is handmade.

Happy Valentine’s Day week!

Did you go out last night? We had a nice dinner at home and then heated things up by watching a Science channel special with the girls. Nothing says hot married romance like star geeks discussing black holes. We’ve also recently begun watching the original Star Trek TV series with the girls because, frankly, Zack and Cody on Suite Life were getting old…real damn old. Bring on the Vulcans, baby!

All kidding aside, date nights can be any night and include the entire family. I’ve written about some fun and creative family date night ideas for my first ever blog post at Zulily. I’m excited to announce I’ll be working with Zulily this year as a blog ambassador and will be posting to the official Zulily blog about once a month along with some other amazing women bloggers, such as Audrey McClelland from Mom Generations, Valerie from Charmed Valerie, and Jen Matuski from Mommy Instincts.

Zulily is an amazing daily flash sale site featuring wonderful products for women and children that just recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Although it’s for “members only,” membership is free and gives you access to up to 90% off great brands such as Child Craft, Russ, Miss-Tee-V-Us, Tiny Prints, Envirosax, and Mud Pie. You also receive a great shopping credit for every member you refer when they make a purchase. I hope you’ll check it out ya’ll!

Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work with Zulily.

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Filed Under: Love & Marriage, My Girls 8 Comments

Iron Man

February 7, 2011 By Blonde Mom 12 Comments

With both my girls in Girl Scouts this year I fully expected to be part of the cookie mafia. Oh yes, I’m a Thin Mint dealer. I can tell you how much any random number of cookie boxes costs. Go ahead and ask. I’m like the Rain Man of Girl Scout cookies.

One thing I didn’t expect with Girl Scouts was getting reacquainted with my iron—a household tool that’s as rare a relic as my college party mix cassette tapes.

The first time I brought home patches to iron on Miss A’s Daisy vest I started sweating. Could I DO it? I had asked at the meeting how difficult a level of domesticity this required and two veteran Girl Scout moms immediately chimed in that their husbands did all the patch ironing at their house. Alrighty then.

Even though I rarely iron, I am fully capable of ironing. I’m a big believer, though, in the slacker method of wrinkle removal: toss a damp wash cloth in with a cotton shirt in the dryer and voila! No wrinkles! I rarely buy any article of clothing that requires actual ironing. My husband does have a few button down logo work shirts but I shove them in the back of his closet, praying that he’ll never notice they’re missing.

Determined to be a top notch Girl Scouts mom and not ask my husband for assistance, I dug the iron out of the depths of our utility room, dusted it off, and plugged it in.

The girls came bolting downstairs to play and I warned them, “Don’t get near the ironing board! This iron is very hot and could burn you!”

They looked at the iron and looked at me and the first thing Miss A, my 5-year-old, said was, “What is THAT?”

I ended up caving after starting to iron on one patch and asking my husband to finish the patches.

After all, he was a Boy Scout.

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Filed Under: Domestic Diva, Love & Marriage, My Girls 12 Comments

It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times

December 31, 2010 By Blonde Mom 10 Comments

2010 was so up and down it’s a wonder we don’t all have whiplash.

My husband is a small business owner and if you are in business or are simply just a living breathing human who occasionally reads headlines you are aware that it’s been a tumultuous year economically speaking. Factor in a devastating flood of epic proportions almost literally in your back yard (less than a dozen houses away) and the trickle down effect on one’s clients and one’s bottom line and you’ve got one hell of an economic roller coaster. Even my husband’s biggest clients were affected by the flood’s undeniable effect on the local economy and of course there is that whole Great Recession thing.

There were honestly days when I worried that my husband was going to have either a nervous breakdown or a heart attack. He just about killed himself working to keep our family business afloat. His core group of employees is solid and wonderful and I’m sure they’re relieved this year is over as well, but it was certainly a year of attrition. We’ve tried to shield our girls from a lot of this stress, but even that is stressful.

Because God apparently felt like we could handle even more stress, the small publishing company I work for was unexpectedly bought out this year. This has proven to be a really positive thing and I have even better benefits than before, but if you’ve ever attended one of those impromptu company wide meetings that begins with your CEO calmly stating, “We have some big changes to announce…” you know the uncertainty can be unnerving.

I don’t write about our finances because, frankly, it’s no one’s business but I know how things appear on the surface when all someone writes about on their blog is their stalking of Hollywood celebrities and their butt. (Just a little reminder that any blog related trips I go on are all-expense paid junkets or I would not be able to afford to go on them…and yes I am very thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had, you’d better believe it!)

Despite all this we have a lot to be thankful for. So many in Nashville watched helplessly this spring as their lives were literally washed away but here at the end of 2010 we find ourselves still standing, a little worse for wear, but still upright.

With that said, over the last six weeks we have been very excited to see several signs that 2011 is going to be an incredible year for my blog, my husband’s business, and our family as a whole. My husband’s business is suddenly thriving, Bailey is still alive, Jack is a healthy boy, and the girls are loving life.

Here’s to 2011!

BRING IT.