Queen Mother Blog

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in the audience of The Martha Stewart Show.  Martha had a special call for the audience to be full of bloggers, who would be live-blogging and tweeting from their seats using netbooks, iPhones & Blackberrys.

If you missed my earlier "live" posts that I wrote while sitting in the audience, you can check them out here and here.  The show was a lot of fun to watch; Martha has a gorgeous set for her show (would you expect anything less?) and I also had a great time in NYC, since I arrived the evening before.

I met up with a group of Philly mom bloggers and we stayed together at the Holiday Inn Express Madison Square Garden, which gave us a great rate.  (Thanks Kelly for arranging the deal for us!)  The location of the hotel was perfect, we were within walking distance of Penn Station (I took the train in from NJ) and Martha's studio in Chelsea.

The night we got in we attended a tweet-up (a Twitter meetup) at the Roger Smith Hotel in midtown.  We had dinner there & then moved over to the bar where the tweet-up was occuring.  It was so great to meet and greet people who I tweet with and whose blogs I read.  One darling friend made my night by recognizing my face as "Queen Mother Blog!"  So that rocked. :)

After gobbling up the hotel's free breakfast (which was actually quite decent, not the usual Continental breakfast of stale bagels) we headed over to Martha, where I met up with my friend Linda from TGFMom.  I told you earlier that she was the one who suggested I attend, thanks Linda! :)  We then were herded into the holding cells where we waited to be placed into the studios.  Here's a pic of me (far right), Linda (middle) and our other 'real-life' friend Heather (who has a great blog called Penny Pinching Mama-thanks to her for the pics) while we wait in the holding area:


I'll spare you another recap of the show, but I will touch briefly on a few random points:
1.  I was struck by how lovely Martha was in person (and I mentioned her killer stilettos) and she seemed very gracious and friendy.  After the taping of the show, she answered some audience questions and she didn't seem like an ice-queen at all, which is actually how I kind of imagined she'd be.
2.  The ice queen was Martha's daughter Alexa.  Phew!  Everyone I've talked to who watched this show was taken aback by how unfriendly and mean-spirited she was.  Apparently Alexa has made a name for herself by making stabs at her mother, so maybe this is a persona?  I don't know, but I have to say I cringed when she said that, as a blogger, she doesn't read anyone else's blogs.  In my world, writing a blog and reading other blogs are inseparable.
3.  A little confession: I was a bit disappointed that the only audience gift we got was a cookbook from one of the guests.  Linda & I were both really hoping for a copy of Martha's "Cooking School" book, which was being featured on the show.  Or I'll admit, I was also holding out hope that the "blog show" guests would get some cool gadgetry or something social media related.  I'm not too bitter about it, because any gift at all is a bonus, but I especially felt bad for the bloggers that made huge efforts to be there for the show that day.  I overheard one girl talking about how she flew in for the show!

Since the smell of the Pad Thai cooking in the studio made us very hungry, we were getting ready to run over to a Thai restaurant (gotta love New York for availability of pretty much whatever you'd want to eat) when we spotted Martha's "crowd pumper-upper guy" Joey Kola outside the studio.  He was such a fun character during the show, getting the crowd clapping and even making a very brief cameo on-camera to deliver a gift basket.  Linda wanted to take a picture with him while we were in the studio so she was stoked to see him outside, ready to have his picture taken with us :)


All in all it was a fun trip, I was able to meet so many online friends & share a really cool experience with them.  Going to NYC is always so much fun, but also wears me out really fast! :)

I don't get out to anywhere near as many blogger events as I'd like to & that's something that is on my list of blog-related goals for 2010 (among MANY other things, such as making the switch from Blogger to Wordpress--anyone have recommendations on this? I need someone who can take me there from soup to nuts as I am tech-stupid!)  That aside, I love to meet new people and make friendships and connections along the way.

Well, let me just tell you that the blogger events goal?  It is already in over-drive for me!

Recently, my "real life" friend Linda from TGF Mom passed on information about a special audience casting call for The Martha Stewart Show before I heard about it from anywhere else. The girl is a Martha Stewart show junky! ;o)  Martha is having a show all about blogging and wants real live bloggers in the audience with their iphones and netbooks!  I excitedly applied and was accepted to go.  Then I found out that half of the world (exaggeration) was going to this very same show & it has turned into an *overnight* NYC trip complete with a tweet-up the night before & a blog-buddies lunch the next day. Hooray!  Oh yeah, and seeing Martha Stewart up close and personal! :) I am sure we will be doing some type of live-blogging from the show, so look out for that on Thursday.

Then what's next on my plate?  Another awesome session of Mrs. G's VIB series.  Remember my Mrs. G's blogger event with Electrolux post?  If you don't, just click that link and read all about it (and tell all your friends...the more unique clicks the more entries I get for a new dishwasher! ;)  At the end of the month, the Mrs. G's Very Important Bloggers have the pleasure of meeting Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, author of "Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right" and a child nutrition expert.  I am slightly obsessed with nutrition these days, so I'm excited for this!

AND THEN (this is where I wonder if I have completely lost my mind, in a good way) I am going to the Blissdom Conference AND the Disney Social Media Moms Conference in February!  These are both amazing trips that I can't wait to tell you more about!  As usual lately, I'm super short on time, so I promise to share more details on these in another post very soon because I am so, so excited about them!

With the impending (and then not-so-impending) sale of my house, the holidays, and just stay-at-home toddler raisin' in general, I haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like to.  When I think of it...and by think of it, I mean look back at my post archives...my blogging frequency tapered off right about Rayna's one year birthday and her transition from two naps to one.  Back in the good ol' days of two naps, the morning nap was my time to do computer stuff and blog.  The second nap was my time to maybe scrape myself together, eat lunch, clean, etc.  Now that there's only one nap the blog has taken the back burner.

And that's fine, really.  I'm not someone who is going to plop my kid in front of a movie all morning so I can electronically hob-knob with blog friends.  I do take pride in the fact that Rayna & I have really full days of playdates, meeting friends and family and other totally off-line activities.  Yet why do I feel a lot of guilt about not squeezing in the time to write more here?

That was a rhetorical question, but really I have an answer.  I feel guilty because I started my blog as one venture and it has meandered its way into something completely different.  And I keep lamenting that "my blog really sucks" as a "deal" blog.  This is where I need to be brutally honest with myself: I am not your sole source of deals, freebies and coupons (and if I am, then dear, you should think about expanding your horizons!)  When I first started out I couldn't find another blogging soul who was posting Acme deals.  Every weekend I would agonize over my need to get my Acme deals post up in & it took me hours and hours of my time.  Then this summer I found Mindi's blog Moms Need to Know and not only was she putting up an Acme deals post every week days before I would, hers was way better than mine.  So I fizzled out the Acme deals.

I guess I'm rambling on to level with you and myself that I am not a super "deal blogger".  If you want a lot of really great posts about deals, freebies, coupons, etc. then start reading Money Saving Mom or Common Sense With Money, or like I mentioned for you Acme shoppers, Moms Need to Know (check the links on my Resources page).  If you've read here for a while you also know that I'm not "super giveaway girl".  I actually can't stand doing giveaways and reviews, but I'll do them once in a while if they are relevant to me.

So what am I?  I'm a first-time, stay-at-home mom who loves to nab good deals & try to stretch our money as far as possible.  I'm currently a girl on Weight Watchers, menu planning, trying out new recipes & trying to be overall "greener".  I'm a Lost fanatic who could talk your ear off about theories and easter eggs for hours and hours.  I'm constantly trying to scheme new ways to find more time to read, do cross-stitch (you can say it, dork!) and occasionally get out for happy hour with the girls.  And all of that my friends is what you can expect to hear about on my blog.  So be warned, you are going to hear a bit more from me about me in 2010.

And just by saying all that, I have released a lot of completely unnecessary weight off my shoulders. =)

Well...

My house isn't sold.  This is the second time we have had our buyer fall through shortly before closing.  And honestly, it sucks.

It would be one thing if we just didn't have any interest on our house, but instead we get showings galore, people who "love" the place and a couple of first-time homebuyer single guys that think they want to buy a 100+ year old  house.  Instead my hopes get up, I waste tons of time and energy and it is pretty much for nothing.

I'm complaining and yet I'm also not, because today is the day before Thanksgiving.  I am SO thankful to have a house.  A safe, (relatively)warm house for my family that, as much as I complain about it, is actually very nice.  I'm thankful for my awesome family and friends and for the health of us all.

Recently, I posted about how I went to NYC for the Aiming Low event.  Aiming Low's founder, Anissa Mayhew (one of the "bloggy rockstars" I mentioned) was just recently struck down with two debilitating strokes.  I have been broken hearted that the amazing, vibrant woman whose funny words I love reading & I had the pleasure to meet in person just weeks ago is in the hospital just fighting to be able to open her eyes.

If that doesn't put things in perspective for a whiner like me, I don't know what will.  I have been touched and amazed at the outpouring of support for Anissa & I would be totally remiss if I didn't point my readers in her way so that you can add your prayers to the thousands who are believing for a miracle.

Anissa's husband Peter is posting updates on her recovery at Anissa's old blog Hope 4 Peyton.  (And why is it called Hope for Peyton? Because Anissa started that blog to chronicle their family's struggle with her daughter Peyton's recovery through childhood cancer)  If you are so inclined, please consider donating to the family who clearly have a long road ahead of them.  Here is a link to information about a PO box being set up and here is the link to a button if you would like to donate via Paypal (I can't get the button to work right here on my site).  I'm sure that no amount is too small; imagine if everyone gave $5, how quickly that would add up!

And while you're at it, if you're on twitter why not follow Anissa's 'celebrity' crush Ralph Macchio & tell him that Anissa sent you ;o)

Lately at least.  I wanted to give a little update as to why I have been so bloggy absent.  As you are probably already aware, we are in the process of selling our house & this time it looks like we might really be closing sometime in the very near future.  This has had me in the tailspin of packing, cleaning, vacating the house with kid and dog in tow, etc.

And now I'm sick. Blah.  The past couple of nights I haven't been feeling so hot (actually, that's wrong as I've been fever-y and definitely hot) and I think I've finally deduced that I have strep throat.  The enormously swollen tonsils with white patches (ew, sorry!) were what gave it away.

So now I'm on some strong antibiotics, but the packing and frenzied moving activities are still continuing (hopefully! Keep praying! I know the market is bad, but really? It is just so much harder to sell your darn house these days).

I should be back into the swing of things soon.

If you haven't guessed by the really scant number of posts this month, I have been really busy lately. I mentioned in the past (and definitely if you follow me on twitter) that I currently have my house up for sale. We had a reasonable offer right away, and we were so excited to be under contract in a market where friends and family are waiting months, even a year to sell their homes.

Well this week, our buyer went caput. Honestly, it was pretty crushing. After days of inspections, keeping the house spic and span (which is, you might know, extremely hard for me! lol), packing, etc. it was a blow to have our house back to square one. I've been pretty good at keeping this in perspective--its not like we lost our home, we are already very blessed, etc. but I'm sure how you could see it got me down.

A lovely blog I read, The Finer Things in Life, hosts a carnival every Friday to talk about the little things in life that make you happy. I love to read the entries, and this week I thought I'd do one, just because it is the random small things in life that really add unexpected joy.

My "Finer Thing" today? Sun dried tomatoes. I LOVE them. And just this week, for no reason, Gmail decided to have the suggested link be this recipe: Red Pesto. I love pesto, and I thought, ew, what is red pesto? So I clicked, and quickly my 'ew' turned to drool and I realized I have to try this recipe. The 'red' is sun-dried tomatoes instead of basil. THEN, I happened to go to the farmer's market with my mom and sister yesterday, and I stumbled right upon freshly packed sun dried tomatoes and realized that this week it was my 'finer thing'. I hope you enjoy the recipe and also checking out the other entries at Finer Things Friday!

Well, a girl's gotta take a vacation right? And how about have a birthday? I've taken a just about two week vacation and I gotta say that it was awesome! Had a great time at the beach, relaxing & spending time with family.

Guilty confession is that I don't think I thought about deals once! ;-)

But now I'm back have a very busy rest of July & August, and even have some cool new things for the blog (hint: giveaways!)

So, yes, please forgive me. I'm refreshed and ready to think of deals again :D