Tag: guest post

Categories
Babies

Pumping at Work {Liberating Working Moms}

I’ve promised for a little while I’d write up my experience of breast pumping at work. Once I started writing for Liberating Working Moms, I decided I could share my pumping tips there since it’s most often a working moms issue. My good friend Brandy is also covering breastfeeding & pumping at work on LWM {she gives great advice too that you’ll want to read}.

In the past almost six months, I’ve done lots of pumping which means I have a lot of thoughts on the subject. Once I started typing, I realized I was writng a mini-novel instead of a post. Oops! So I’ve broken up my pumping at work tips into two posts.

My first six thoughts to make pumping at work easier are up on Liberating Working Moms today. Check them out & let me know what you’d add to the list.

Categories
Babies Everything Else Family/Travel Trying To Conceive

Triangle Mom 2 Mom

I know I just linked y’all to where else I’ve been on the interwebs yesterday. But I have another one today. When it rains good things, it pours right?!

I was contacted by a lady from the local Raleigh newspaper’s Triangle Mom 2 Mom blog a couple weeks ago. They wanted to feature me & Suz’s Treats today. I answered her questions & boom, Meet Suz is the featured story on their blog & is listed on the newspapers website too.

::feeling famous for a day::

Categories
Everything Else

Online Friendships {a guest post}

{edit: I wrote this guest post for Diana with our BlogHer11 roomies in mind. But it applies to all online friendships, like ours!}

While Diana’s cruising away {& having so much fun without us!}, she asked if I’d jump on over to Hormonal Imbalances for a day. And of course I said yes!

I ‘met’ Diana online when we decided to become BlogHer 2011 roommates. Then months later, we hugged in person for the first time. One of those ‘life will never be the same’ moments.

There’s something special about online friendships. Since you’re reading this, you probably know what I’m talking about. The best part of social media, & the near obsession my friends & I have with it, is that we’re almost always connected. Whether it’s a tweet how the days going in 140 or less, a silly photo of your child that morning from Instagram, a Facebook update on your night, or a detailed blog post on your dinner, I know how my online friends are & what they’re up to sometimes in more detail & much more frequently than my not-as-social-media-savvy IRL friends.

Meeting Diana, & Miranda & reconnecting with Alena, at BlogHer ’11 solidified them in my mind as making the shift from strictly ‘online friends’ to ‘friend friends’.

The four of us roomies bonded quick in the months leading up to BlogHer thanks to a myriad of emails, texts, a few silly nights Sypking & more Facebook group conversations than I’d be willing to admit. Our relationships only bonded further in person in San Diego. And our goodbyes were certainly tear-filled.

… Jump over to read the rest of my Feeling the Love {online} guest post.

Categories
Everything Else

Choosing to Work {Liberating Working Moms}

Tracy, the creative mind behind the awesome website, Liberating Working Moms, messaged me a couple weeks ago. I was honored & humbled that she thought I was worthy of guest posting on LWM. We decided for my  post {hopefully first of multiple} to describe why I choose to be a working mom of multiples.

For the last eight years, I defined myself as a working girl woman. Sometimes begrudgingly on rainy cold Monday mornings & warm, sunny Friday afternoons. But a faithful, full time employee none the less.

Then {finally!} I became pregnant, & I had hints early on that it was to be a BIG pregnancy. My worker status became taken over by my being Pregnant {with a capital P indeed}. When word at work spread {& it spread shockingly fast} that I was pregnant with multiples, I suddenly became the Pregnant Employee. Pregnant came before employee in my mind & somewhat thankfully the minds of my coworkers who suddenly thought I wanted advice from all {not really} & thought they could ask completely inappropriate questions {why is that?}.

The number one question coworkers {even ones I didn’t know} asked: ‘are you coming back?’ or phrased ‘you aren’t coming back, are you!?’.

… Jump over to read the rest of my guest post on Liberating Working Moms.

Categories
Travel

Going to BlogHer part 6 {guest post}

I’m finishing the Going to BlogHer, now what? guest post series today. Thanks to the posts by Suzanne, Suzanne, Alena, & Miranda, I’m feeling pretty good & prepared. BlogHer must have thought we’ve had good advice because they linked back here in their Nine Tips for BlogHer newbies post!

Today, I’m so happy to welcome my third roomie, Diana from Hormonal Imbalances, for her take on our upcoming trip. With just ONE WEEK until BlogHer, as usual she has great advice to give for those of us going through last minute packing rushes.

BlogHer on a budget

When I think of BlogHer this year, I think of SHINY. I think of new and things that smell new and light up and make everyone around me ooh and aah over what latest piece of technology I have. I think of people saying, “ZOMG look what an amazing (fill in the blank) she has.”

Sure. Fill that blank in with “rack”. I’m ok with that too.

Because I am a mom in a one income household on a budget, wanting all the latest everything is a very unrealistic, often dangerous, little dream.

So many times these past months I’ve had to talk myself off the shopping spree cliff. Would I like to have a new laptop to take to BlogHer? Yes. Do I need one? Yes No.

Would it be great to have name brand dresses and clothes to pack? Yes. In a Louis Vuitton suitcase? Yes. With a small white poodle?

No.

But the point is, these things aren’t necessary for why I’m going. I’m going to learn. To create. To be inspired and to come back a better writer. A Kate Spade bag might look KILLER next to my chair at the sessions, but it will only serve as a reminder of what I need to pay off once I come home. And it won’t make me any smarter or a better blogger. Because if it did? I would own them all.

Then I stress about what to wear. I will be buying a few new things, because as a SAHM I own lots of jeans and t-shirts. And sandals. So I need to do some upgrading. From snotty to hottie. (Ya like that?)

I did allow myself a few fun things – my birthday is right before BlogHer so everything nice I bought had the birthday excuse attached to it. I bought a Gussy bag. A pair of killer sparkly heels for Sparklecorn.

What is important to remember is this: 3,000 of us? Feel the same way as you. We all want to look nice. We want to wear designer clothes and carry show stopping bags and have perfect hair and makeup. We want to make sure that we hug everyone just tight enough to say, “Oh, you’re the best” but not “OMG I JUST ATE A PIECE OF YOUR HAIR SO I CAN HAVE A PART OF YOU WITH ME FOREVER.”

But we’re going to be so worried about us, we won’t notice that your top is one you wore on a blog pic. We won’t smirk because those shoes are so last year. We won’t care. And if someone does, that’s their problem. If they give you the evil sad eye because your hair isn’t done by a stylist from your private hotel room, they aren’t worth idolizing anyway.

Thank you Diana! Remind me of this as I’m pulling on shopped-from-my-closet outfits, k?! Can’t wait to give you an IRL hug next week! Read more from Diana at her blog, Hormonal Imbalances, & follow along with Diana’s BlogHer weekend on twitter as @LifeasaSAHM.

Don’t think this is my last BlogHer post. 😛 I’ve got one more up my sleeve as I do final preparations before next week. Did you stick with your budget? How’s your packing & schedule coming together?!