SATURDAY:

It hasn’t snowed here in Philly since my last PSMM Workshop back in October — yes, snow in October!! So it’s only fitting that it chose to dump on us again between the hours of midnight and noon the morning of my Workshop last Saturday. (Oh, and do you remember the hurricaine that postponed my August workshop? I. AM. DOOMED, people. DOOMED.)

So I woke up Saturday morning to a blanket of snow covering the earth and immediately came downstairs and turned on the news, where I proceeded to sit for the next hour as Cecily and I Skyped back and forth, debating the merits of postponing versus carrying on as planned. We eventually decided to make a go of it — a decision I regretted once I found myself halfway to my destination, but at that point, I had no choice but to continue on. Eleven hardy ladies joined me, and 7 or 8 more tuned in on Skype. We had a great time, and the smaller-than-normal group was actually quite conducive to the hands-on writing exercises Cecily had planned. We were each able to read our work and receive feedback. It was awesome!

This is what I wore. I wanted to be cozy and comfortable, and that was about all that I had on my mind. I was delighted to have an opportunity to carry my new Kelly Moore Camera/Laptop Bag*!!!!

I have been wanting this for MONTHS, a YEAR in fact — ever since last January when I attended the Blissdom Conference and SWORE I’d never attend another conference without a bag that holds both my dSLR camera and its appendages as well as my laptop bag. Well, I grudgingly attended two more that way, and then I ordered this for myself with Christmas money. It’s the Libby, in case you want to check it out. I signed up to be an affiliate because I love her products so much, and you can get to her site through the button on my sidebar at any time!

The sweater is from Banana Republic. I couldn’t find my cream tank so I wore white (not the best color choice, huh?)

Skinny jeans, gray UGGs* (now on sale!!) and boot socks and I was cozy and good to go!

SUNDAY:

This is the only other photo I have this week. It was still cold and snowy so once again, I was all about the comfort factor. I picked up this scarf at Charming Charlie’s the other night, and for some reason it looked a lot cuter in the store than it did at home. I wore it all morning, feeling like I was wrapped in confetti, and as soon as I got home I took it off and gave it to my daughter, who was delighted. That should tell you something right there, I suppose. When your 9-year-old daughter wants your accessories, you may just want to reconsider your choices.

And can I just SAY that I am so tired of seeing that guitar in the corner behind my photos? Oh and also too. Does anyone want to come and take down the rest of my Christmas decorations? Otherwise I have a feeling they’ll be up until Easter.

I did the boot sock thing again — thinking that it might be nice to break up the black boots and black pants. And you’ve seen that gray drapey sweater and magenta top underneath probably at least 42 times. It’s warm and comfortable, and I love the color combination. Nuff said.

Oooooh! LOOK what I just found. I almost forgot about this. Last week I went out  for drinks and shopping with a friend, and I decided to go for it and wear the “bat sweater”.

Look, Ma! I WORE IT!

I tried to jazz it up with the purple tank and boot socks. And the necklace and chunky bracelet. Tell me whatcha think!

And just pay no nevermind to those paint swatches on the all back there. They will be gone TOMORROW!!

Now for some real fashion inspiration (’cause you’re not getting much here today) be sure to check out Momma Go Round and The Pleated Poppy.

*affiliate links

I have a playlist on my iPhone of my favorite 25 songs, and they play over and over and over — in the car, in my office, in the kitchen . . . As much as I love them, I admit I could use some fresh blood in my Christmas playlist.

This week I decided to join Amanda’s {Top 10} Tuesday blog carnival, and I made a list of my 10 (or s0) very favorite Christmas tunes. I’d love to add a few new ones to my playlist, so please leave your favorites in the comments!!!

My 10+ Favorite Christmas Songs

1. Ring The Bells :: Travis Cottrell (featuring Natalie Grant)

2. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day :: Casting Crowns

3. Joy to the World :: Yancy (from her Have A Fancy Yancy Christmas album)

4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear :: Mercy Me

5. Deck the Rooftop :: Glee Cast

6. Joy to the World :: Yancy

7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlmen :: Mercy Me

8. Here With Us :: Joy Williams

9. O Come All Ye Faithful :: Josh Groban

19. Silent Night :: Jewel (She has so many good ones; I just picked this b/c it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs ever — the theology never ceases to humble me. But truthfully, her version of Joy To The World is one of my all time faves.)

BONUS: I know this was supposed to be top 10 but I can’t end this list without something from Martina.

11. O Holy Night :: Martina McBride (Her version of O Come All Ye Faithful is lovely too.)

I also really enjoy When Love Came Down by Point of Grace.

Okay, I give up. I can NOT keep this list to 10!! So here is one last one — The First Noel by Josh Groban and Faith Hill. Duets always do me in.

Still, I admit, I am tiring of the same 15 (or 25) songs over and over, so if you have some you think I should add, please let me know in the comments!!

For more {Top 10} fun, visit Oh Amanda.

But today I’m going old school blogger, and I made up a fun little meme. I hope you’ll play along!! You can post it to your blog or share your answers in the comments.

My Favorites Meme

My favorite new song :: Brighter Than The Sun (I love running to this song. It makes me want to lift my face towards the sky, put my hands in the air, and spin around in circles. But don’t worry, I resist the temptation because it might scare the neighbors.)

My favorite new toy :: Okay, I guess I’ll go with my iPhone.

Transitioning from Android to Apple has not gone as smoothly as I’d hoped (in fact, I have a post in the works about just that!!) But I am still glad I got the iPhone for several reasons, one of which is . . .

My favorite new app :: instagr.am (Funny, at first when I saw people posting photos from instagr.am, I didn’t get it but now I LOVE it. For those who don’t know, it enables you to crop your photos and apply a filter of your choice, which gives it a retro appearance, reminiscent of the Polaroids of our youth. Or at least MY youth. Some of you young’uns probably don’t even REMEMBER Polaroids!)

Favorite (old) Christmas story :: Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree (Seriously. Best secular Christmas story ever! I had it when I was a kid, and I bought it for my kids. They never tire of this story.)

Favorite new snack :: Kettle Brand Sea Salt Potato Chips

Favorite new recipe :: Gluten Free Banana Bread (I’m still amazed at how good this is. Seriously it does NOT taste like it’s gluten free in the least.)

My favorite new TV Show :: Parenthood (Okay, it is not new, but it is simply the best show on TV (in my humble opinion), and I don’t have any new shows I’ve started watching since I discovered it. If you haven’t seen it, start with season one, and watch them all. You won’t regret it!)

Favorite new lipstick :: Chanel’s LÈVRES SCINTILLANTES in #84 – IMAGINAIRE.

Favorite new accessory :: Vera Bradley Frill Button-Up Tote (Mine is lime green and black, but there are NO photos of it online and I’m too lazy to take one.)

Favorite Christmas tradition :: For sure, going out to cut down our family Christmas tree. I look forward to this every year! (We STILL have not gotten our tree this year. I don’t think we’ve ever waited this late. Fortunately, thanks to my mom, I have lots of other Christmas decorations around to make our house feel festive.)

Favorite New Beverage :: Gewürztraminer from Castoro Cellars (See my review here.)

My favorite indulgence :: UGG – Cozy Knit Slippers (Seriously so comfy.)

How about you?? What are your favorites??

Feel free to play along! If you post to your blog, please link back here so I can be sure to see it!

1) I thought it might be fun to write up a little F.A.Q. page for my blog. I saw this somewhere else and decided to shamelessly copy the idea. I have a few that I can put on there from previous “Ask The Housewife” posts that I did, but it’s been a while, so here’s your chance. Ask me anything. I can’t promise I will include your question on the F.A.Q. but I’ll be sure to answer you, either way!

2) And also. This only applies to a few of you, but maybe others will jump on the bandwagon if you know it’s available. I recently switched over my email subscription service from Feedburner to Mail Chimp. If you’re an email subscriber, you probably noticed a change of format. My emails may also be going to your spam folder, so be sure to check!! (Yes, I realize that those who really need to know that are the ones who aren’t going to see it, but this is the best I can do!) And if you would like to receive daily email updates (basically it means my posts, in their entirety, will come directly to your email inbox!!) feel free to sign up here!

3) While I’m at it, I am going to start sending monthly email newsletters (yeah, like I need another thing on my to-do list!) that will basically be a recap of posts and giveaways and info and things from the month. Sometimes there will be special offers just for subscribers ’cause I’m sneaky like that. I hope you’ll sign up! I promise not to send more than one a month (and knowing me, it’s unlikely that they’ll get sent out that often) and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

4) Okay, while I’m on a roll with the announcements, please consider supporting my online food drive. I would SO LOVE to meet my goal of raising $3000 worth of food for The Cluster — a food bank in Pottstown. The plan is to deliver the food in time for the holidays, but I can’t do it without you!!

5) And also, my Holiday Gift Guide giveaway has been extended till Monday night (tomorrow) at 5:00 PM, so there’s still time to enter to win $300 worth of toys for your Christmas gift giving (or charitable giving) pleasure!!!

6) In addition to that, I have some awesome giveaways going on right now — FREE WINE and also a pair of Dansko shoes, winner’s choice!!

7) And finally, I want to thank Nolan Painting for sponsoring my blog this month! You’ve probably noticed their ads at the bottom of many of my posts. Nolan Painting is a local family-owned painting company serving Pennsylvania’s Montgomery, Chester, Philadelphia and Delaware Counties. They are known for outstanding service, quality of work and customer satisfaction. If you’re in the market for a painter, check them out. For small jobs, look into their affordable Painter For A Day service. I’m actually going to be trying this out. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Enter Ohanarama.

This unique, Philly mom-owned site (love that it’s the invention of a local mom!!), is sort of like Facebook for Families. Ohanarama allows kids to play games and connect with friends and family members in a safe and protected environment. For those of you with family that lives far away, this is the perfect way for them to interact in a way that your kids can relate to. Your kids can play games with Grandma or Aunt Myrtle from across the country. And YOU control who is in your space, so you have total control over who your kids are talking to online.

Even better, the games all have an educational component so you don’t feel like your kids are totally vegging in front of a blinking screen. And the same goes for the older generation. They say that games can help keep your mind sharp as you age.

Ohanarama is a safe introduction to social networking, and let’s face it. Social networking is here to stay, so I figure we might as well teach our kids how to use it appropriately before they are off starting illicit Facebook accounts . . . not that my kids have ever done such a thing! (They truly have not, thankfully, but I have a friend whose child did just that. And I’ve heard that it’s quite common.)

The part I like best is that Ohanarama takes an activity that can be isolating (electronic gaming) and uses it to build connections between children and their family members. It’s so easy to get caught up in activities online, at least with Ohanarama, you’re sharing those activities with the ones you love most.

I’d love to know. Do you let your kids play computer games? Do they belong to any of those social networking sites for kids? Do you think you’ll check out Ohanarama? Let me know what you think!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my time in writing this post and spreading the word about Ohanarama. All commentary and opinions are mine.

Rather than writing out a 1000-word essay on my BlogHer experience (been there, done that) I thought I’d give you a Best Of list. So without further ado . . .

Best Dinner On The Town :: Nobu

Best Party Food :: Udi’s Snickerdoodles

Best Champagne :: Le Grand Courtâge Use the code PARIS for 20% off your order. Cheers!

Best Book Launch :: Digital Mom’s Breakfast Get your copy of the Digital Moms Handbook NOW!!

Best MIRL :: Meeting Megan of Sorta Crunchy and Laura, a.k.a. The Hollywood Housewife

Laura, Jo-Lynne and Megan

Best Swag :: Lands’ End

Okay, I’m a bit partial. I got to hand out these super fabulous Lands’ End swag bags to twelve lucky bloggers in the Secret Style Suite.

But MY favorite personal swag was the ViX Ipanemas I received at the Cheap Sally party :: So cute and comfortable. I get comments on them everywhere I go.

Best Party :: Secret Style Suite, of course!!!

Jo-Lynne, Julie, Kelly, Colleen and Whitney

Best View of San Diego :: Elevation Suite atop the Hard Rock Hotel

Best Partner in Style :: Kate Lord, The Shopping Mama

Jo-Lynne and Kate in our Lands' End Day Outfits

I’ll tell you all about working the Secret Style Suite later this week, when I have time to catch my breath and regroup (preferably as I lay beside the lake with sunshine glittering on the water and a cool breeze tickling my skin.) Yes, we’re on our way to Maine for our annual vacation. Expect lots of pictures and very few words from my corner of the internet over the next 10 days.

Disclosure: Lands’ End generously sponsored my trip to BlogHer11, and a special shout out goes to Nicole Feliciano of Mom Trends who hooked me up with Lands’ End and gave me the opportunity to work with Mom’s Fashion File in the Secret Style Suite.

And yet, somehow, I seem to be walking in very familiar shoes.

My husband and I expected that once the kids were in school, I would go back to work to help save for our children’s college tuition and our retirement, but in the past five years, the blog that started out as a fun little diversion from the monotony of stay-at-home motherhood turned into an opportunity to earn an income at home while affording me the flexibility to schedule my working hours around the demands (and delights) of motherhood.

Blogging is my first love, but my success as an entrepreneur is due in large part to the blog design business I started back in 2008. I am not a designer by trade or by nature, to be truthful, but I discovered a hidden design monster begging to be released when I assisted with some of my own blog designs and found myself frustrated with the nit-pickiest of details. That’s when I decided to learn how to design blogs myself. Now I can honestly say, I don’t ever intend to go back to work for someone else.

There is freedom when working for oneself, but there are also a lot of risks, which is why I was happy to hear about Intuit supporting the small business community with their Love A Local Business competition. Intuit is helping small businesses achieve their dreams by awarding $25,000 each month to a local business.

If you’re a business owner yourself or you have a favorite local business you’d like to support, you can nominate that business for Intuit Love A Local Business competition, and encourage your friends and customers to vote for you. Note: votes are like raffle tickets – the more votes a business has, the more chances they have to win.

I love running my own business so I want to know: What dream business would you love to start? By replying, you will be entered to win an iPad 2!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Intuit’s Love A Local Business competition. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs July 6 to August 9, 2011. A random winner will be announced by August 11, 2011. Official Contest Rules

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Usually I only post pictures where I look my best — who doesn’t, right? Don’t tell me you guys really think I always look as good as I do in the pictures I post on here.

Oh trust me, I go to great lengths to stand the right way and suck in my momma gut and I’m ALWAYS hyper aware of my dreadfully thinning hair. Friends in real life can attest that every time someone whips out a camera, I immediately start pushing my hair forward from behind, and then try to look directly at the camera, so that I appear to have hair on both sides. Then if I can get away with it, I check the photo to be sure I have hair before it goes out for the world to see.

Vain much?

But this morning, I couldn’t find a decent one in the whole bunch. I almost just posted anyway and didn’t call attention to it, but then and as I looked at these pictures, I couldn’t just throw them up there and be all, LOOK AT MY CUTE NEW SWEATS! Because what I’m really thinking is, I’M GONNA BE BALD BEFORE I’M 40!

I know it doesn’t help that this photo is backlit, but still. It’s quite telling.

I have been fighting this issue for a couple of years now, and it has only worsened over time. I try not to whine about it too much and just put it in the back of my mind and carry on. I mean, what else am I gonna do? But every once in a while, I get a glimpse of it and the reality hits me and I just want to sit down and bawl like a baby.

The hardest part about hair loss is that you feel so. utterly. out. of control.

And before you ask . . .

Yes, I am treating my hypothyroid. Yes, I take biotin. Yes, I use sulfate-free shampoos. Yes, I’ve seen my doctor, and I’ve done everything she suggests — mostly she thinks I’m not absorbing protein b/c of my digestive issues, so she has me on digestive enzymes and things to hopefully get things moving in the right direction. I’ve even gone off gluten (in case a food sensitivity is what is prohibiting my body from absorbing the nutrients I need).

I have no idea what to do to fix it, and with every change, it is so hard to be patient until I can tell if it is helping (and so far NOTHING is helping.)

You should see the hair on my bathroom floor. I could make a rug out of it.

Some say, just cut it off. Can I tell you how horrid I look with short hair? I’ve gone as short as I’m willing to go, although right now it’s a big longer than it needs to be, and I plan to remedy that stat.

I will say that I’m thankful that it isn’t thinning in the scalp area. It’s all on the ends and towards the front. My hair dresser says it’s not breakage – she says it’s more like it is falling out faster than it can grow back in. And this last time she described it as having a shelf life. It comes in, but it will only grow so much. She has not cut any layers into the sides or front in a year — the goal is for it to be a bob – longer in the front than the back. And as you can see, it is so not that.

Why do I share all this? I dunno. I almost didn’t. Everyone has something, right? I have a great life. I have three well adjusted kids and a husband who loves me and a nice home and good food and parents who are just a call away. It’s just hair.

But really, as every woman knows, it is so much more than that.

Actually I am having a ball, but I am just so busy I can’t possibly do everything I want to do. Which today included writing a witty and informative post about how to start a blog. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, right?

Let me just tell you, though, about my weekend. I am so excited about a workshop series I’ve started running for our Philly Social Media Moms group. It went over extremely well, and I learned a lot about running an event like this so hopefully next time it will go off without a hitch.

I was probably crazy to schedule myself to speak at the first event (there will be other speakers at future events — there are so many fabulously smart and successful bloggers in our area, we are set on speakers for a very long time). And then I had myself all psyched out about the AV equipment not working. I was convinced something was going to go wrong, and I just had a feeling it would involve something technical. I was determined that no matter what, we were starting on time.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, sure enough, I show up at our venue, and there was no AV equipment.

Cecily, who thankfully was there early to help me calm my nerves and take care of irritating issues like, well, having no AV equipment!!! called upstairs and got someone down there, who informed me that the AV equipment was locked up and the AV guys weren’t there yet. WWWAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

The manager (or whoever he was) was super nice though, and he finally got a projector right in the nick of time, and we got ourselves hooked up (thanks to my smart hubby who sent me with a spare PC in case our MACs wouldn’t work, which of course, they didn’t).

My other big guffaw was that I failed to call the hotel and update our numbers when another 10 tickets were sold during the final week, so they only had set enough food and chairs for 20 people. The same super nice manager scurried around and got us all set up and brought extra food and everything.

Despite all that, we were able to get started a bit ahead of schedule. YAY ME!

I’m going to try to plan these monthly, if we can secure sponsorships to offset the costs, because you know I needed one more thing to do. But honestly, I loved it. I love meeting so many new faces, and I love talking about blog design and usability, and I love knowing that I’m providing something useful for this encouraging and thoughtful community of women.

With that behind me, this week is dedicated to tying up lose ends (read: blog designs) and following up on commitments that I’ve made, which are legion. Not the least of which is throwing my daughter a half-birthday party on Sunday afternoon.

She is one of those lucky kids with a holiday birthday — Christmas Eve, in fact!! And I told her last year that rather than celebrate during the busiest (and coldest) month of the year, we should have a half-birthday party instead. So that’s what we’re going to do. I’m so excited. After 11 years of planning fall and winter birthday parties (all three of my kids were born between October and December), I get to plan a POOL PARTY!

I want to make her a really cute cake, but while my cakes taste great, cute they are not. I may have to enlist the help of someone more creative than I. My daughter has requested one of my homemade chocolate cakes, though, so that much I have to oblige. Otherwise I’d be dialing the grocery store before you can say chocolate.

I have no menu plan to share — all I know is that we are having tacos for dinner, and there are chicken breasts defrosting in the fridge for tomorrow night’s mystery meal. I’ll solve the mystery in the morning, I suppose.

One more thing. We officially have picked . . .

OUR FIRST TOMATO!

That picture is compliments of my husband’s growing photography skillz. He complains that I often take credit for his photos, so in the interest of full disclosure, I had nothing to do with the taking of this photo.

So talk to me. Tell me what you’ve been up to this hot and muggy weekend? If you’re anything like me, you’ve been conniving to spend as much time as possible in the comfort of air conditioning. I am not, however, complaining about the heat. Not me. I love summer, and I’ll take the heat. Ha! Get it?

Nevermind.

P.S. Check out my articles on going gluten free in Udi’s Gluten Free Toolkit.

Not to say that I don’t agree that Western mothers are far too indulgent — we are, as a whole. Our children are coddled, they don’t have nearly enough responsibility, and we are more often concerned with building self esteem than character. Those of us who err too far to this side of the parenting spectrum aren’t doing our children any favors either. Somewhere there has to be a happy medium, but that’s not what this post is about.

Soon after that article came out, I was asked to review the novel, Bitter Melon, by Chinese-American author Cara Chow.

In Bitter Melon, Chow tackles the very same issues raised in the article but presents the story from the child’s perspective.

Frances, a Chinese-American student at an academically competitive school in San Francisco, has always had it drilled into her to be obedient to her mother and to be a straight-A student so that she can get into Berkeley to become a doctor. It has never even occurred to Frances to question her own feelings and desires until she accidentally winds up in speech class and finds herself with a hidden talent. ($16.99, Ages 12 up)

It’s a quick, easy read. I read most of it on a plane ride from here to Nashville and back. The story definitely kept my attention, it is told in first person so you really get into the character’s head. I felt her fear and angst and triumph, and it kept me engaged right to the bitter end. Ha, no pun intended.

The age recommendation is 12 and up, but parts of it may be intense for a 12-year-old. I found it to be an upsetting but enlightening peek into a culture that puts way more emphasis on performance than relationship. The interesting thing is, I have no doubt the mother loved her daughter and felt she was doing what was best for her. She sacrificed everything so her daughter could have a chance at a better future. But in the process, she almost lost her daughter.

This is a fictional work, but it reads like it’s a true story and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t. However, Chow describes the story as coming from a personal place, and I expect there is more reality than fiction within its pages.

The characters are well developed and lovable yet not without flaws. I particularly love Nellie, Frances’s mother’s best friend. She is hilarious, and she gives a different face to the Chinese-American mother. I think it was wise to place her in the story and give a slightly different perspective on motherhood within this culture.

If you’re looking for a book to add to your summer reading list, try Bitter Melon by Cara Chow. Let me know how you like it!

Disclosure: I was sent a hard cover copy of Bitter Melon to facilitate this review.