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Me, Sailor

2012-02-16T20:08:48Z

I can't get over the new things my daughter does and says EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

For instance, she LOVES to go into my husband's office and sit on his lap and watch episodes of Caillou (WHAT is up with the colors they've chosen for their house??) and color on printer paper with washable markers while my husband tries to keep up with email on his Blackberry. She ususally just points to his office and says, "Dada. Dada. 'Mere (like "come here")." Today, she looked at him and said, "Dada. Office."

I know OFFICE doesn't seem that exciting, but when it's NEW and you realize it's the FIRST TIME, it's totally cool.

Also - and this is adorable - she INTRODUCED herself to her friend today!! We're part of the most amazing mommy group and every other Thursday one of the mommies hosts what we call "Music Play." It's basically like a "Music with Mommy" class, but it's just our group and the leader has her degree in awesome music stuff, so she's made the playdate UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME.

ANYWAY, her daughter's name is Summer and Sailor walks up to Summer today and says, "Hi, Summer!" then she points to herself and says, "Me, Sailor!" OMG. I about died. It was so adorable and so awesome to see her catch on to such a SOCIAL MUST. So cool.

New Momversation: Diaper Bag Must-Haves!

2012-01-18T01:24:17Z

New Momversation: What Holiday Traditions Are You Starting With Your Baby?

2011-12-19T19:32:05Z

That's Me!

2011-12-10T18:15:37Z

Last night, slowly sliding off her barely-too-big white wooden kid chair, I asked her, "Where's Sailor?" She looked at me, confused. Had the question been, "Where's dada?" or "Where's Sampson?" she simply would have pointed, repeating the name of who she was pointing to. But to be asked where HERSELF was? Hmm....

Where's Sailor?

As she continued to slide, she looked perplexed, but as if she was working swiftly through a Rubik's Cube, staring at the ground, deep in thought.

Her feet in the floor, her bum slid off the seat, she let go the back of the chair with her right hand, the matching table with the left, shot her eyes up to me, pointed to her chest and exclaimed, "SAILOR!" (Well, minus the "S" sound and the "L" sound.)

We clapped! Yay! She found Sailor! And then she pointed to herself again and said, "Me."

Being a mom is so cool.

New Momversation: Baby's First Birthday Party

2011-11-28T17:53:01Z

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T17:44:58Z

This year Sailor was old enough to wear a pretty dress and some adorable baby tights for the very first time. WE couldn't believe what a little lady she looked like...and that's where the "lady" stops. She LOOKED like a lady, but was her usual non-stop self. As my dad said, "Nothing like a tornado all dressed up." Because of that, it's virtually impossible to capture any kind of NORMAL photo - one where she's looking at the camera and smiling, one where her hair doesn't look like it's looking for rodent occupants, one that's simply not the blurred back of her head. So, this is the best I could get for Thanksgiving! An almost-18 month little lovely lady in her little lovely dress, buzzing around the house and the backyard like the Tasmanian Devil. She's a super cute Tasmanian Devil, though.

New Momversation: Picking the Perfect Baby Name

2011-11-28T17:39:07Z

Barn Light Electric Online Giveaway! WHOA!

2011-10-10T17:56:33Z

Ok, ladies! (and men, if you're out there and have an obsession with in-home lighting) - Barn Light Electric is doing an ONLINE GIVEAWAY! OMG. I was so insanely excited when I got their email about it. First prize is ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to anything they sell and second prize is FIVE HUNDRED! All you have to do is peruse their website (over the past 9 months - 6 while my house was being built and now 2.5 months in the house, I have logged crazy stalker-like hours on this site). You may or may not remember, but I even did a whole post about the lights I wanted in my kitchen and ALL my choices were from Barn Light Electric.

As of late, we have yet to PURCHASE those lights due to, oh, all the fun things that go along with owning a house such as BUILDING A FENCE YOU DIDN'T KNOW HAD TO BE APPROVED BY THE HOA AND NOW THEY ARE SENDING YOU OFFICIAL LETTERS VIA CERTIFIED MAIL TELLING YOU THAT YOU BASICALLY NEED TO SPEND $4000 - $6000 TO EITHER TAKE DOWN YOUR FENCE OR REPLACE IT. But hey! That's just normal home owner stuff, right? *big insane smile with wide crazy eyes*

So, although I want just about everything from B.L.E. (Do you mind if I call you that? We're friends, right? Let me pour you a drink and then it'll be all OH, BLE, REMEMBER WHEN WE GOT DRUNK TOGETHER? And you'll be all, OH, LIZA, SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH. WE PROMISED NEVER TO BRING THAT NIGHT UP. HAHAHA. RABBITS.), my focus is on my kitchen.

Before they even broke ground on our house, I had some pendants all picked out from BLE, including the following:

Barn Light Cavalier Pendant (comes in both the first two shapes here and a few different sizes)

But the one I REALLY REALLY want with all my wanting is this:

Barn Light Bermuda Pendant

Isn't it gorgeous? And I want it just like that. Its lovely, galvanized self.

So, you ask, what's the deal with the pendants? Well, I had them all picked out so early on because we paid extra to have three pendant light hookups put in above our snack bar. And now those hookups just sit up there and wallow in self-pity for being useless. See? (I'll get to the teal oval in a moment.)

How awesome would those Bermuda Pendants look hanging right there? And then I'll get some barstools and be all set!

I LOVE how open our floor plan is, but it's SO open between the living room and the kitchen that there's just this gigantic sweeping space of confused energy flowing around and not knowing where to go. From the snack bar and above and all around it's just...EMPTY. I've got to get those pendant lights up there to help the flow! To highlight the snackbar! To help divide the upper space! TO CURE CANCER! (pushing it?)

Here's the view from the kitchen to the living room. See how awesome those lights would be there? (Please excuse the mess. The day I took these photos I was just diagnosed with a sinus infection AND Strep throat. Didn't feel like cleaning, you know?)

And then back to the other photo with the teal circle. We've begun a project in the breakfast area over there where we're going to put in a big corner bench and put in a nice and big regular-height table. It'll be perfect for any and all meals with any and all guests (if we don't want to use the dining room), AND it'll be great to prop your laptop on and get some work done, for Sailor and I to spread out and do crafts...it's going to be awesome. (you know, once we deal with the aforementioned FENCE issue.)

So, a big kick butt table with a big kick butt bench MUST have the appropriate kick butt lighting fixture above it, and that dinky thing that came with the house just will not do. I like THESE:

Barn Light Denyawood 4-Light Chandelier

It matches the pendants! Sometimes I'm all for matchy-matchy and sometimes I'm not, but I think this combo would be awesome and draw the two spaces together. LOVE IT.

OR, I can go non-matchy-matchy and do something like this, which would compliment a long, natural wood table oh so nicely:

Three-Light Industrial Chandelier "The Saddlebred"

Doesn't this light just BEG for crafts, crab leg dinners and great conversation? THAT'S WHAT I'D GIVE IT!

So, are you totally jonesing to enter this contest, too? Well, you can! Here's how:

Here’s how you can enter our Barn Light’s Online Giveaway:

1. Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you’d love to own

2. Feature your lighting picks on your personal blog, and link to the lights if you can!

3. Copy/Paste these rules at the bottom of your blog article

4. Once your personal article is up, you must email your blog link to: contest@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win. The contest ends October 12^th, 2011.

5. Don’t have a blog? Find out how you can enter by visiting our website.

New Momversation: Fashion After the Fact - Getting Your Body Back After Baby!

2011-09-28T16:29:33Z

It's all about "flowy," you know?

SMASH Summit: A Review of Sorts (Part 1)

2011-09-27T17:19:54Z

Most of you know me as a mommyblogger and not so much as a billion-dollar idea entrepreneur. Actually, MOST people right now don’t know me as a billion-dollar idea entrepreneur, but more just a mom with an idea and a plan. (All this is the reason for the serious lack of blogging lately.) Part of this Top Secret plan was to attend 500 Startups’ SMASH Summit in NYC this past Friday.

For those who think I’m just making up fancy names and fucking around with the caps lock, 500 Startups is a “seed fund and startup accelerator” headed up by Dave McClure – a venture capitalist so money hungry it’s been said if you hang out with him you’re likely wake up in a bathtub full of ice and a hole in your gut. NO FUCKING JOKE.

Aside from that, he’s a pretty approachable dude – but I guess all those kidney-stealing guys are. To the joy of all of us desperate startup founders, Dave and his company started a one-day summit called SMASH, designed to help light bulbs go off in our big dreamer heads regarding innovative and tech-based ways to kidnap and hold hostage any and all customers. Guns and ski masks are SO 1990s, you know?

First, 500 Startups, THANK YOU for making it one day. Although it was jam-packed with borderline information overload (I said BORDERLINE), it was SO nice that it didn’t do the usual 3-day conference thing where you have to arrive a day early and leave a day late keeping you away from regular life too long and having you spend more money than necessary.

Speaking of money, when I first saw the price tag ($300 for brand new startups and $500 for all others), I was all SHIT, REALLY? But something made me not want to miss this. And they certainly gave you more than your money’s worth with the people they brought in and the companies that were represented. I did, though, try to win a free ticket through their MailChimp giveaway. If you’d like to see my entry that didn’t win only due to lewdness, you can do so HERE. (Scroll down – entry under @blahggy – should be the second one.) And although I didn't win the ticket, I did get this free hat. Not because of my entry - just because they're so awesome that they gave them away FO FREE.

One of the first speakers up was Shiva Rajaraman, Group Product Manager of YouTube. You know when your friends send you links to funny YouTube videos? It’s a whole other world when a YOUTUBE GUY recommends YouTube videos. My favorite? Chuck Testa. Considering this video has had over 4 million views at the time of this writing, you might have seen it. Other than that, my favorite tip from Shiva was to respond to your audience using the same medium they used to communicate to you. Good ol’ Chuck did a “thank you” video back to his adoring fans.

Then, seemingly out of energy-ville, up pops Laura Fitton. She’s all the power of Kathy Bates, but more likely to be played by Sigourney Weaver for looks sake. This woman is straight up Web 1.0. Her web, business and Twitter knowledge (she's all WHAT, BITCH, I WROTE "TWITTER FOR DUMMIES".) combined with her fucking unreal energy makes you assume the only things you’d have to say if you had a chance to converse with her are, “Please teach me,” and "Don't hurt me." She was a waterfall of information. Did you know 42% of companies have acquired a customer through Twitter? Also, if you tweet, go check out Twylah.com. DO IT.

Next was Jon Steinback, author of Foursquare in the Rye. Perhaps the most approachable and friendliest speaker (even with his “brain floating in space” talk), I felt like running up and giving him a big ol’ bear hug, which I bet would’ve been soft due to his standard tech-boy hoodie accessory. He gave all kinds of practical uses for the Foursquare location-based API, which made it seem less like Big Brother and more like MUST. USE IT. NOW. including an example where a company used it to help people track their eating habits by having them “check in” at various locations throughout the day.

No one wants to hear me go on and on about each speaker, especially considering that I personally saw TWENTY – and there were more on a track I couldn’t participate in.

But I HAVE to mention the Platform Pimp Smackdown. When I first saw the name of this I thought, “Oh, that’s cute. Look at them using fun words.” And then the smackdown happened. And oh MAN was it a Smackdown. The players were Fred Wilson (Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures) Starring As Twitter, Dave Mcclure (Founding Partner, 500 Startups) Starring As Facebook, & Robert Scoble (Video Blogger & Media Innovator, Rackspace) Starring As Google+.

But I liked to think of them as Philip Seymour Hoffman as Robert Scoble, Robert Downey Jr. as Dave McClure and William H. Macy as Fred Wilson. (I tweeted this casting during the event, and it’s probably lame for me to post it here, but it’s just too good not to.) Now, if a gun was pointed to my head and I had to sum up the Smackdown in the briefest of terms, it would be this:

It was awesome. And you can watch it BY CLICKING HERE.

The rest of the day consisted of more amazing things that, and I will go into more in Part Deux.

One thing that was GREAT was how it was so easy to talk to everyone. From the conference speakers who were on the same level and close to the audience (no big "we're better than you" stage between us) to the attendees, it was DIVINE. I’ve rarely been to a conference where it hasn’t felt like you’re either begging people for help or they’re begging you for help (Dave, I didn’t beg, right? No, no begging.). Everyone was on their own, clearly defined path and everyone was so ready to chat and share with everyone else. Not one time did I go up to a circle of people already engrossed in conversation and have them ignore me. In fact, most of the time when simply PASSING BY a circle of people at least one person would make eye contact and open himself up physically in case I wanted to join the chat. It was really very cool.

One last little note: the south was horribly underrepresented. Aside from Ashley at MailChimp who was from Atlanta and had to be there because the company was a sponsor, I was the only one (as far as I could tell) not from NY, Colorado or Silicon Valley. Perhaps people feel that if they’re going to spend the money they’d rather it be a longer conference. If that’s you, I suggest you change your thinking when it comes to SMASH. It’s top quality delivery.

There’s still more to talk about, so keep a lookout for Part 2: 3D printers, .CO, this blogger's issue with Gilt Groupe and why Dave might remember my face (for good or for bad).

WORD.