Over the "mommy blog" world? me too.

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Maybe it is just me, but i've never been into the "mommy" blogs. I do not enjoy reading about people doing the same things i am doing everyday with my own kid. If i want to get advice, i seek PROfessional advice or advice from people i know and trust, not some random blog writer. If i read a blog it is because it goes outside of my life... it is full of adventure, beautiful things being created, amazing photography, and people writing about full spectrums of life.

And there are so many "mommy bloggers" out there these days. And although i do enjoy a cute kid photo, i am not really a fan of reading about other people's kids in mass DAILY doses.

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If i know you, then i might care about little Johnny going poop finally in the toilet. If i have never met you, who gives a crap {no pun intended} if your kid finally went poop in the toilet? Do you really need to write up an entire blog entry that equates to 2 pages about how little Johnny finally pooped? No. You really do not need to write about it. Being a mom doesn't make you an expert on anything other than your own child. Unless there is a "Dr." in front of your name... when you write about your trial and errors in raising your kid, you only have the advice that worked on YOUR kid. All children are created differently, so your telling your story is no different than Mr and Mrs Jones telling their story... heck, it might even be the very exact same story! Every kid has issues with pooping, it is why they write books about helping parents with helping their kids poop. So yeah, your blog story might be cute for your mom to read about their grandchild, but save it for an e-mail to them personally. Trust me, when little Johnny grows up, he will appreciate that you didn't tell your mass blog following about him finally going poop in a toilet. Your kid isn't special, like the book says, "everyone poops."

And the photos... Yes, i like to think of myself as an amateur photographer in training. I have much to learn and miles to go before i would coin the phrase "i am a photographer" to any kind of a business card or website listing. But every mom/dad/sister/brother/grandparent/uncle/etc thinks they have the most beautiful baby/toddler/child/grandchild in the world. It's how it works, we adore our own family members. But unless your kid is truly a beauty and unless you've managed to take the most adorable of adorable photos of your kid - really, Do you seriously need an entire blog full of photos of your kid standing there with a dumb look on their face? Do you think the world needs to view every aspect of your child living their life on your blog about them? Will it help them be better kids if you can convince yourself that people love your child because they read your mommy blog? Nope. It might make you a few creepy strangers friends who love kids, in a bad way! You aren't helping your child become the next big thing in the world of blogs by plastering their face in every entry... in fact you are probably harming them by giving them an EGO the size of a Buick before they can even enter school to understand right from wrong and fame and normal.

Can you imagine... The kid goes to school thinking they are hot shit because mommy has a blog and tells the kid, "you're famous... look at all those people who follow mommy's blog and love to read about you!" so the kid goes off to school actually thinking they are famous. Reality sets in that no one in their classroom reads mommy's blog, not even the teacher... they realize, *gasp* they aren't actually famous! nope, they are just an average kid, going to an average school, along with other average children.

I hope the trend of mommy blogging goes away soon. I love me a good blog to read, but i'm tired of running into mommy blogs that aren't about anything other then the blog owners kid. Having a kid doesn't make you any more special then any other mom. Women on crack have babies all of the time. Women in China squat out babies in the middle of fields. Women have been having babies and raising them since Human's came to be... so please stop fooling yourself into thinking that you have the corner on being the perfect mom just because you have a blog and can put words together to form a story. Trust me, spending time with your baby/toddler/kid instead of coming up with stories for strangers... that will mean more to them when they grow up than realizing they need therapy for their mom issues and ego issues; all because their Mom wanted attention for herself and used them from birth to adolescence to write stories about them.

xoxo

MB

World Water Day 2011

If you watch an old movie and take notice of the little things that happen in each scene... you will notice one huge difference between pre-1980 movies and movies of today. Water bottles + plastic bottles of other drinks "on the go." It seems that people can't go too long without taking a drink of something, so they carry plastic bottles around everywhere they go.

Since today is World Water Day i am focusing on water.

How often do you grab a bottle of water? How often do you see people walking around with a bottle of water {park, gym, mall, sporting events, etc.}? If you answer never, you are either blind to the world around you, or you live in a place that doesn't have bottled water available {an Earth friendly utopia of sorts}. Everywhere i look, someone has a bottle of water in hand. It seems that the human body has "evolved" into something that can't go even an hour without hydration. We cling to our bottles of water like a baby to their favorite blanket. We rarely use a re-usable bottle or glass/plastic cup when we are on the go {how many starbucks cups do you use and toss each week?}. Most people that i know drink bottled water even in their own home, instead of using a cup. This baffles me a lot about the human psyche. What is it about a bottle? Why can't people grab a cup/glass and sit down at their desk?

I do not remember having a drink on the go when i was a really little kid. Our soda came in glass bottles, so we didn't take them out of the kitchen. Instead, we poured ourself a cup. If we wanted water, we turned on the sink, filled up our cup, and got our drink on. If we were out and about and thirsty, we drank out of a water fountain, or on rare occasion we would buy a drink that came in a paper cup {still not the best option}. There were many times when we would just wait until we got home or wherever we were going to grab a drink. We might be really thirsty by the time we got somewhere, but we learned to deal with it. When playing sports we had a plastic cup with our name written on it and the coaches brought giant water containers and we would get a drink in our cup when needed. If you look around at a sporting event today, every kid on the field has their own bottle of water to drink. I can't remember the last time i saw the giant water container in youth sports. Instead you see the individual bottles; even the parents in the stands have their own bottle of water.

I admit that the ease of water bottles keeps people more hydrated. There are probably less incidents of heat stroke and dehydration due to sports or over heating while being outside. But for the most part, the bottles of water aren't truly needed. Just as they were not needed back when we were kids. If you are not being over-worked, grab a drink before you go to keep you pre-hydrated and then refuel your hydration once you get back home. If you MUST take water on the go with you, invest in a reusable bottle {they come in BPA Free plastic, metal, and/or a mixture of the two}. They aren't that expensive. If you do the math... they are actually cheaper than the continued buying of bottled water.

If you are at home... use a cup! Drink from the sink or a filtration system if you aren't comfortable drinking unfiltered water. Nothing has changed since you were a kid. The use of a cup has not changed at all. They still hold liquids. It isn't as if cups have changed to no longer have bottoms or sides; trust me, they work the same as they have for thousands of years. You can still walk around the house with them and not spill it everywhere. If you are worried about spilling, invest in a "coffee" mug with a lid to take from room to room in your house. Clean water is available in all of our homes in America. We are blessed, super lucky, amazingly well off, and we should be humbled by the thought that we are lucky enough to have CLEAN drinking water at our fingertips.

* Fact: 8.8 BILLION gallons of bottled water were consumed in the USA in 2007.

* Fact only 12% of the plastic bottles from that water used were recycled.

* 63.4 BILLION plastic bottles are dumped into landfills and oceans each year, and growing to more and more being dumped each year.

Two quick things i want to add:

1. Charity: Water Water Day 2011. I've talked about this amazing charity before. They bring CLEAN water and education to other countries around the world. If you are able to donate to a charity, i urge you to check out Chairty: Water's website and give what you can, when you can.

2. The trash in our world due to water bottle use.

          a. MSNBC Article on Plastic Trash in America.

          b. Mother Nature Network: 5 Reason not to drink bottled water.

          c. Youtube Video about plastic in our Oceans.

          d. Youtube Video {commercial} for water filtration {brita}

          e. Youtube Video {commercial} "if you could see the real impact" of bottles {brita}

          f. Youtube Video {ethical Water} "Confessions of a plastic water bottle"

Now, go and get yourself a BIG cup/glass of water from your sink. Go on. You'll feel much better about yourself and the way you are treating the planet.

::WHITE::

some beautiful found white images...

{above images by Susanna Vento}

{above images by Beth Galton}

Hilary Walker photography

it is always nice to stumble upon wonderful photography. i always have to stop and look around websites that have pretty images of homes. There is a lot to say for blogs & websites with good solid content to read... but i happily admit to being a visual girl! The more beautiful photos, the longer i will stick around and read what you have to offer. Photography websites are not exactly full of text to read, but boy do they sure drag me in with their pretty pictures! LOVE!

The above images were taken by and these and more can be found on Hilary Walker's website.

bring on the rain of today, it's what i've been saving for, right?

saving for a rainy day use to be a term used a lot when i was a kid. We had a "swear jar" and we had piggy banks and everything. i have been saving for a new camera for over a year now, but that money keeps moving into other funds {like putting food on the table} and i'm just waiting for the rain {needs} to stop so i can save up for that new shiny camera. While i'm waiting, i do enjoy a rain photo, so here are a few for you to enjoy too!

Vintage has never lost it's style in Americana

You know how they say, "everything comes back into style..." well, that is very true. Check out the fashion magazines each year and your mom and/or grandmother will say that they wore that when they were younger. The world of Vintage has been very much alive for many years now. Some people are new to the trend, others have been doing it their entire lives, and some are just going with what they think is popular at the moment.

There are many amazing blogs and articles out there that help you figure out vintage and how to buy it, but the truth is, most of the people who buy vintage and sell it online... they do not truly want you knowing their secrets because they want you to buy items from their shops online {and some have real actual shops too}. And it makes sense to hide their secrets to a point; you don't expect people who run shops to tell you the wholesale shop they purchase their items from to give you such amazing prices. If they did that, it might put them out of business. Luckily for us regular people who do not run our own vintage stores, we do not need an "in" or any "secret codes" to shop for Vintage. It really is as simple as going out there and doing it! If you are shopping for yourself, and not to sell online, then there is no trick. If you see it and you like it, buy it! It is pretty much the same thing you would do when you went shopping in a regular store. You wouldn't need any major tips or tricks to shop at Target. The same is true for Vintage shopping. If your town has a Goodwill, a Salvation Army, a Flea Market, or any store that sells "gently used items" then you are on your way to shopping for Vintage items!

There are no set rules unless you are a hard core Vintage shopper. Anything over 10 years old can be considered "one of a kind" because chances are there are not too many of its kind around. the older the item, the less chance you have to walk down the street and bump into someone wearing the same thing you are, which is a huge draw for people to shop Vintage. Same thing with furniture... the older the item, the more rare it is that you will have the same thing in your house as your neighbor.

Do not forget about the Eco Friendliness of buying Vintage. If you buy something pre-owned and pre-loved, you will not need to buy something brand new. Reducing the need to produce more waste in the world by making new items.

I've put together a list of a few websites that give some tips on Vintage shopping that might help those who enjoy shopping and want to branch out into the Vintage shopping world, but are not sure how to do it.

1. A Beautiful Mess is a wonderful blog to follow even if you are not a fan of buying Vintage items. The blog owner runs her own shop selling Vintage items online and in another store in the real world. A while back they described how to shop for Vintage clothing.

2. Frecklewonder is another great blogger. She has listed out some tips on how to thrift while you have little ones with you.

3. Bleubird {aka Miss James} did a guest blog spot on Candimandi's blog giving some wonderful vintage tips.

4. A big concern of mine is cleaning Vintage clothing. someone who wore it before could have just been a nasty person, not to mention the item was probably sitting in a box or attic for awhile, then it was hung amongst other clothes in a thrift shop before you purchased it. Here is a nice article explaining cleaning Vintage clothes.

5. Maybe you aren't hip to buying used clothes, but you would love to get your hands on some Vintage pyrex dishes that you loved when you were a kid? You need to know how to clean it properly! Most recommend that you DO NOT put vintage pyrex into the dishwasher for fear of removing the pretty details on the outside of the dish. Here is an article explaining how to clean up your pyrex before you use it.

6. Maybe the thought of using old dishes is beyond your thought process, as is wearing old clothes. fear not, there are still many things you can buy at a Thrift store that you won't use in a personal way. Like vases, old jars to hold beautiful items to display, art sculptures/statues, and etc. But you'll still want to clean up your newly purchased item. Here is an article explaining how to clean vintage glassware's.

7. And lastly there is purchasing furniture. Thrift stores, as my kid puts it, "smell like old attics that are dusty and stinky..." so you will want to clean up your items. Unless you enjoy that vintage smell... then you are welcome to skip cleaning it for the smell part, but you might want to consider it just for sanitary reasons. Here are a couple of articles that explain how to clean thrifted furniture items: article 1, article 2, article 3 {articles 3 & 4 help explain the bed bug effect that took over NY, and still takes over areas every year!}, article 4.

Basically when you thrift, you need to take into account many things. But if you are willing to put in the time and effort... you will find many amazing deals out there!

If you think you are just too freaked out by buying used items, not to worry... there are many, many, many places out there who specialize in selling throwback items that are made brand new, but I'll tell you all about those another time!

you have a blog? me too! oh, but you have no idea who i am, do you?

There are so many amazing blogs out there. It is always hard for me to focus on a favorite blog, they each offer a wide variety of facets. I have party decorating blogs, fashion blogs, cooking/recipe blogs, interior design blogs, family blogs, friends blogs, and too many to sum up! I have been known to blog hop around. You might wonder what this means.... you start on a blog and wonder around, while on there they either have a sponsor or an entry about another blog, so you end up on another blog and then it happens again and again and again! Before you know it you are off task, off topic and 20 blogs down the line. It's truly a maze of blogs in the blogosphere.

But oddly enough, it is very common for me to come upon a blog that is linked in one way or another to a blog i am already familiar with and love. It is a close knit community of bloggers out there. I often feel like quite the outsider over here in my own little blog. I talk with many bloggers on twitter, but i do not broadcast my blog to the world. I kind of like being in my own little corner of the blog world... just me and my thoughts. No worries {or not a lot anyway} of people attacking what i say because they do not agree with me.

That being said, i'd love to one day be a part of the blog world. Go to a conference and meet some of the amazing people that i love in the blog world.

*** beauty found online ***

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{ah! jumping photos, we love doing jumping photos in our house!}

happy blog viewing!

having an eco friendly kid, and let them have their toys too?

Pokemon Toys on the kids dresser

The other day i was wandering the house trying to pick up the things that the kid left out, mostly hair accessories and jewelry. And the past few weeks i have been trying to make my closet a CLOSET and not a storage for boxes left over from the move. You are probably wondering what these two things have in common... my kid. All of the boxes are full of her things. Things she has collected and saved during her 11 years on this planet {there were 10 boxes when i started, i am down to 7 and still going through them all}

My kid is a collector of everything. And rightfully so, i should have put a stop to it years ago, but i did not. She started collecting Pokemon when she was 2. First it was cards, then the little plastic figures, then the stuffed animals, and then there are a few posters and coins and strange nic-nacks that go with her collection. She collects keychains as a trinket from all of our vacations. She collects pins that say funny things. She collects rocks {no joke. any rock in her life that she found to be "pretty" she kept it}. She collects coins from around the world. She also collects rare American coins. She collects/saves every card anyone gives her... heck it doesn't even have to be a card, write a note on a piece of paper and she will keep it. She has a hoarder side for sure! And it isn't so much that she keeps things. I'm ok with keeping things that you treasure and that will stand the test of time. She takes it a step further... once she starts, she doesn't want to stop. It is now part of a "collection" which is truly a collection of junk... for the most part.

A few years ago a friend of mine Karyn wrote a blog entry that i couldn't get out of my head these past few days. She wrote about how not having kids made her more eco conscious. And i remember reading that back in Feb 2009 and thinking, "my kid can't consume that much, she's just a tiny kid." But now that i am sitting her trying to figure out the Trash pile, the Goodwill pile, and the "oh my God are you kidding me, why the hell are you seriously keeping this crap" pile... i think Kayrn was spot on in her thinking!

Now, i would not trade my kid for anything in the world. I love her to pieces. But kids are a major contributor of the current eco system we find ourselves in. Take ANY kid under the age of 10 to a store and the first thing they say, "can we go to the toy isle?" And sure enough, that kid will complain their way into a new junk, er, i mean toy. It's bombarded into their brain on a daily basis.... BUY BUY BUY. The breakfast cereal has a junk toy inside of it, so they want the cereal that has a toy in it. The cartoons they watch before school have commercials telling them about how cool the newest toys are. Then all day at school they have Billy and Janie telling them all about their toys and how cool they are, and if you kid doesn't have what the other kids have... they now want what the other kids have!

I'm not sure what, if anything, we as parents can do to break the wants and desires of the children. I do know that by the time Claire was 7 i had her convinced of being more ECO friendly when it came to toys. It also helped that all of her Barbie toys were tainted with LEAD {thank you China!} and she had to throw them all away. She isn't exactly the best eco kid on the planet, but she hasn't asked for the toy isle since age 7.

Yesterday i turned my kid onto thrift stores. At first i took her to Goodwill a few weeks ago and her reaction was "ICK! can we leave? it SMELLS really bad in here!!!" but yesterday i took her to a thrift store and she was like a kid in a candy store looking at all of the old, previously used, still perfectly good, already manufactured, made to last things. She only bought 1 thing with her own money, a painting. But it is a start in the right direction.

My goal is to put her on a path to keep things OUT of the landfills by donating her gently used toys + not buying so many toys to begin with. We've always been big on recycling and reusing anything that we can. We donate and only trash things that are truly trash. But i think when it comes to a life with kids... it really is hard to live a truly eco conscious life style.

Flickr images to share

1. pocky & moustaches., 2. 100_2743, 3. 366-307, 4. They're heeeeeeeere, 5. Amélie, 6. Feel the wind in your hair!, 7. Alexis, 8. Summer, 9. MARRAKECH, MOROCCO, 10. [Irish spinner and spinning wheel. County Galway, Ireland] (LOC), 11. We walked a long way, over golden hills, 12. Untitled, 13. :), 14. Brighton Pier, 15. Cool Bunker with Gorgeous graffiti, 16. Winter Bokeh...

Adoring finds on the internet

using images found online to show a few of the things i adore in life...
(in no particular order)

good friends who have known me since the days of my funky hair styles...

and they still love me even today!

Ice Cream on a hot summer day

swinging... and easy relaxing days

when my favorite songs come on the radio

laughing at myself...

laughing until my face is sore...

laughing until i fall to the ground...

laughing for the sake of laughing!

getting messages the old fashion way...

i adore hearing from people by letters!

having my hair done...

brush it...

braid it...

play with it...

i love it!

taking photos of those i love...

old style photography...

old cameras

Old books with covers that aren't shiny and plastic looking

anything old and vintage...

anything from the 1940-50's

current clothes that are made to look like vintage clothes

family trips in the car...

driving to get where we are going...

taking our time in getting anywhere we need to be in our lives...

xoxo

MB