Have you ever tried to sit down and explain to your kids what a blogger is? Why you spend all day on Facebook? Why you have parties on Twitter? Then you need a copy of "My Mommy is a Blogger" by Sommer Poquette (Green and Clean Mom). I finally broke down and ordered my own personal copy and decided to keep it for my kids for Christmas so they haven't read it yet. While they haven't read it I had to sneak a peek for myself. OMG - I was laughing hysterically as I was reading it. I was afraid that I was going to wake up the kids and they'd see me reading it and want to see what was so funny. Sommers' kids are about the same age as mine so I think I've had some of these same conversations with my kids (and my hubby). I think next year for the Great American Teach In I'm going to convince my kids teacher to let me come in and read "My Mommy is a Blogger" and explain to them what I do for a living. If you are a blogger and have elementary age kids I think your kids would really ... [ Read More ]
Lessons learned while traveling with kids, dogs, and spouses
Observations from the road trip: 1- My son can't say 'pecan' or 'cotton' properly! Even being raised in the South he must not hear me say them much. At 8yrs old he says the 'pekin' and 'coddin' - I need to record him saying them. 2. Why are pecan trees always spaced out so evenly in rows? 3. When traveling with a dog your only options for food is fast food and I'm SICK of fast food!! I'm dying for a real meal!! The closest I got was a Wendy's baked potato; however they forgot to put the butter in the bag so even that didn't satisfy me. 4. Kids can fall asleep anywhere! 5. I don't like driving my husbands car because the left arm rest is too high and is uncomfortable. Since he drove most of the trip I'm not complaining. 6. Foursquare thinks my husband's my BFF because we spent the last 3 days checking in together. Awe! 7. Cars need to come with power strips these days! We had a total six items all fighting for the 2 plugs in the car. 8. My kids get along sooooo ... [ Read More ]
How do you blog when you’re offline?
This is a question I'm going to open up to my readers and fellow blog friends. When you decide to take time off how do you keep your blog active? I'm never good at scheduling posts ahead of time because honestly I do much better blogging on the fly. But what about when you really want to blog but you don't have more than just your phone? We're planning a trip to visit friends soon who don't ever seem to know their WiFi key for their network. So I'm normally sitting around their house in the mornings or evenings praying that I can figure out how to get on their network from the iPad. It's much easier to write from the iPad than from my phone. Just curious how other people manage their time - offline? Do you miss it? Do you have the urge to go to McDonald's or Starbucks just to get on WiFi? Or do you just enjoy the time off and know that your blog will still be there when you return? Yes, this is my lame attempt to keep consistent with NaBloPoMo while I'm 'offline' for a ... [ Read More ]
What’s on Your Fridge?
5 Things that are on my Fridge Today 1. #1 Dad magnet that the boy got for hubs a few Christmases ago. At their annual Holiday Store at the school this is what he purchased for his dad. This was the only gift he picked up for dad. I on the other hand received 2-3 really 'nice' gifts from the same holiday shop. It's an ongoing joke in our house. We all know he's a mama's boy! 2. 2010 Tampa Bay Bucs calendar. Yep - we're a little behind! 3. 2011-12 School Calendar from the boys school. They print one for each parent with all the holidays listed. I would be lost without this. 4. Tee-ball team picture from the first year the boy played ball. My husband was one of the coaches and I don't think either of us can bear taking it down - the co-coach passed away 2 years later. He was in his mid-30's and left behind a his wife and two young children. 5. Georgia Bulldawg magnet! Go Dawgs! This post was inspired by Kim, Dirty Diaper Laundry blog, and a conversation a few of ... [ Read More ]
Can I Really Make a Difference?
A few weeks ago I had lunch with a very nice woman who works with the American Lung Association who was looking for influential bloggers to help her spread the word about the Clean Air Act and our children's health. We had a nice conversation and I enjoyed listening to someone who was so passionate about her cause and her mission. When I started this blog I didn't have a clear mission other than to share my knowledge about the environment and going green with others. As time progressed you can see that my primary mission these last few years has been cloth diapering and raising children in a safe and eco-friendly environment. Like most of us in the cloth diapering community I am just as passionate about our diapering choices as Heather is about air quality. She didn't understand how women/mothers/parents/etc couldn't be as passionate about our air quality as she was. I've struggled with this question for years but I've come to the conclusion that we all have our own personal ... [ Read More ]
Start Pinning – Pinterest Addiction Explained
Are you on Pinterest yet? I got an invitation to join Pinterest a few months back but never activated my account because I was too busy with other projects. Over the past few weeks I've noticed more and more of my friends (mostly my bloggy friends) have been 'pinning' cool photos on their Facebook walls. I downloaded the app on my iPad so I could play with it a little more. Then I realized I needed another invitation to join in order to actually repin my favorites. I finally broke down and begged Jill with Baby Rabies to send me an invite. You will never see me again! I think I may just spend all night on Pinterest instead of blogging! Don't worry - I exaggerate a LOT! In all honesty though I can see how Pinterest could suck all of my free time right up though. Hopefully my husband won't get tired of me saying "Ohhh, honey look at this one!" I have a boards for: DIY I Love Dream Room Ideas - Girls Dream Room Ideas - Boys And I think I need to add an Upcycled ... [ Read More ]
Eco-Confessionals & Mommy Guilt
Breathe In - Breathe Out - Breathe In - Breathe Out! I'm finally catching up from my three day jaunt to Nashville, TN where I attended (along with 650 other bloggers) the annual Blissdom conference. Having attended BlogHer last fall I wasn't really sure what to expect but I had heard such amazing testimonials over Blissdom that I was super excited. All I can say is that I totally found my BLISS and will be making Blissdom a regular event each year. I honestly learned so much about the business of blogging and about myself. I want to share with you just one of my many stories... First a picture for you to enjoy: What do you see when you look at this picture? What thoughts immediately come into your mind? It isn't hard for a mom to find guilt and shame everyday in our lives is it? Why are we so hard on ourselves? It's just a hamburger, right? The conversation came up several times at Blissdom about my niche and my readers. My readers expect me to talk about ... [ Read More ]
Finding My Bliss at Blissdom11
Can anyone guess where I'm heading this week? #Blissdom11!! Now most of my followers are probably staring at their computer screens going "huh?" or "Bliss-what?" or maybe "Oh, isn't that like BlogHer?" Yes, it's a blogging conference where bloggers meet up, share ideas, create new ideas, and form real life relationships. I had the pleasure and joy of attending one of the largest conferences held each year last August (BlogHer) in NYC and I have to admit it's still overwhelming to think about all the things that happened that week. Did I really have lunch with the Jenn THE inventor and creator of the bumGenius cloth diaper? Did I really form an amazing bond with Kelly from Kelly's Closet? Did I really meet and partner with great companies like ecoStore USA, Plum Organics, and so, so, so many more? Did I really meet other eco-minded bloggers like Green and Clean Mom, Beth Terry, Melissa Moog, phD In Parenting, Consientious Confusion, Condo Blues, and so, so, so many more? ... [ Read More ]
Hide and Seek with The Eco Chic
I'm all sorts of geeky today - I decided to start posting information on a few other community blogs to gain some additional exposure and hopefully reach some mom's that don't regularly visit us over here at The Eco Chic. Today I found myself on BlogHer.com where I wrote more about My Extended Breastfeeding Journey. Go visit me on BlogHer and leave a comment if you want to share your story with me. Then last Friday I got an email from the producers of Mom Talk Radio asking if I was available to fill in for a cancellation they had with Maria Bailey during the weekly Mom's Roundtable discussion. I was intrigued so I said YES! After rushing Lil' B off to the pediatricians office early that morning (turned out she got stung and never told me - swelled up all nasty like!) I returned and talked with Maria and MaryBeth Whalen about Halloween. I know it's not a very eco-conversation but I did talk about composting Halloween candy at the very end of our segment. The entire podcast ... [ Read More ]
Read Every Day, Lead a Better Life – Scholastic
I've been planning this post for over a month now since my trip to BlogHer in NYC but I'm afraid it's going to take me more than just one post to tell you all about it. While I was in NYC for BlogHer I was invited to an unrelated event sponsored by Scholastic on Saturday morning. I was a little nervous because I didn't know anyone else who was going but I was super excited because it was Scholastic. See I've been reading to my 7 year old son for over 7 years now - almost EVERY DAY! We read so much that I had to go out this week and buy him a bigger bookshelf. Upon entering Kindergarten he was very comfortable with reading and continues to be a very strong reader - reading at a 3rd-4th grade level (he's only in 2nd grade). I can't help but feel proud of him and his success in reading but what makes me even more proud how much he LOVES to read. He loves reading so much that tonight as I tucked him in he was in tears because he couldn't find his book light. I always let him ... [ Read More ]