BlogHer

Best. Swagbox. Ever.

Posted by Nat on Sep 15, 2011 | 1 comment

Are you a brand person?  I’m a brand person.  My husband is not a brand person- he’s a “generic stuff is just fine” kind of guy.  The last time he bought me oatmeal at the grocery store he got the store brand instead of Quaker.  I sucked it up and tried it, but it wasn’t as good.  I’m very attached to a brand once I like it, and will buy it whether or not I have a coupon.  I think that makes me a typical female consumer- but I’m okay with that.  I stick with what works.

At BlogHer this summer one of the biggest pieces of real estate on the expo floor was Proctor & Gamble’s “booth.”  You can’t really say it was a booth- it was essentially a house that you could take a tour of.  Throughout the house you could see different products that were in the P&G family.  They also gave you a little questionnaire to fill out, and at the end you gave it to a guy with a bunch of raffle tickets.  I think the raffle was for a new washer & dryer- I didn’t win that.  However, turning in that questionnaire also allowed me to give them my address, and they promised to mail me a “swag box” that I wouldn’t have to lug around the conference- rad!  The guy I spoke with said, “Believe me- it’s a great box.”  He wasn’t lying.  It showed up on our porch a day or two ago and as soon as the kids were in bed, Michael and I opened it up.  It was sort of like “home product Christmas.”

I am amazed at how many of these products I will actually, honestly try and/or use.  Many of them I already use- score!  I also liked that they included a challenge to all of the BlogHer participants to save energy.  Thanks P&G!!!

Here’s a few photos of what was inside:

…and here’s a list of what was in my P&G Swag Box.  I’ve broken it into 2 lists, Health & Beauty, and Home.

Health & Beauty:

1 Box of Tampax Pearl tampons

1 Box of Always Infinity Maxi Pads

1 Jar of Vicks Vapo Rub

1 Bottle of Vicks Nature Fusion Cough Syrup, Honey flavored

1 Box of Vicks Nature Fusion Cold & Flu Relief

1 Bottle of Ivory Simple Clean Body Wash

1 Gillette Venus ProSkin Razor

2 Cover Girl NatureLuxe mascaras, 1 in black and 1 in very black (I’ve been wanting to try this- woo hoo!)

1 Box of Pantene Damage Repair for Curly Hair

2 Boxes of Pantene Damage Repair for Medium-Thick Hair

1 Box/2 Bars of Oil of Olay Body Bar

1 Box of Oil-of-Olay 2-in-1 Daily Facial Cloths

1 Bottle of Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex

Home:

1 roll of Bounty Paper Towels

1 bottle of Febreze Air Effects Air Refresher

1 Bottle of Febreze Fabric Refresher

1 Bottle of Downy In-Wash Scent Booster

1 Swiffer 360 Duster Kit

1 Sample of Tide Washing  Machine Cleaner

2 Samples of Cascade Complete Action Pacs

1 Thumb Drive, 1 GB; this also has some tools for conserving water & energy on it

I think this is an incredibly nice gift- can’t wait to try them all out- thanks again, P&G!

BlogHer ’11 Highlights: Who I Met and What I learned

Posted by Nat on Aug 11, 2011 | 1 comment

As I was working on this post I came across a few blogs poking fun at all of us bloggers who attended “the conference” and are posting poetically about “our experiences.”  I had to sort of chuckle at myself, and it made me realize that all of my internal shuffling may not be that big a deal to the world.  However, I’m going to post some big things, if anything so I can remember them when I’m 80 and still blogging with a voice-activated iPad.  I’m sure by that point I’ll be lucky to even be able to read my past posts!

I learned a lot about myself at BlogHer (which is always a good thing).  Two big ones:

• I am scared of anything dressed up in a costume.  Weird.  I posed with the Jimmy Dean Sun (he is SO FLIPPIN’ NICE!- for reals) and that was okay because I could see his face, but I couldn’t do the Smurfs, the Pringles guy, or the California Raisin.  Too weird.  This makes no sense because when we go to Sea World or Lego Land I’m totally fine when I’m in “mommy mode.”  So strange.  My friend Dana waltzed right up and took pictures, but I either took them for her and then begged off or walked the other way.

• I really, really want to do something with blogging and writing (and maybe some crafting).  I have no idea what, but BlogHer ’11 has lit a fire under me to figure out what that is, and figure it out sooner rather than later.  I like technology (thank goodness I have Michael in my corner in that area), I like the Internet, I like reading and writing- it seems like a natural fit.  I still have scads of materials to go through that I was handed by different people from different companies- who knows.  I love and hate the open-ended-ness of it.

I also met some amazing people.  The biggest one for me, as in, “Holy cow theresheistheresheis…there…she…is….” was meeting Stephanie Nielson of the NieNie Dialogues.  She was amazing.  I was so nervous- I didn’t want to waste her time or make her feel like she had to talk to one more person.  But I also knew that I’d regret it later if I didn’t go say “hi.”

When the session was over my friend, Dana, saved the day again, ushering me up the stairs to meet her and take my picture with her.  Stephanie couldn’t have been nicer.  It helped that I had Em with me- I know she loves babies. 🙂  But seriously- I couldn’t admire anyone more than I do this woman.  Her strength, courage, perseverance… Not to mention her amazing sense of style and her beautiful family.  I feel like her story is one that constantly reminds me that there is a higher power.  Thanks to Dana for pushing me along and taking these pictures (she deleted some just so she could take these!):

Although I didn’t get to formally introduce myself because I had no idea who she was, the very first person I spoke to on Friday morning was Lisa Stone, CEO of BlogHer.  Yowzas.  It was awesome.  I was making my way into the Newbie Breakfast and she was walking out.  She stopped to peek at Emily, tilted her head, and asked,

“How old?”

“5 weeks.”

“*sigh* You’re making my uterus hurt.  You look fabulous.”

“I’m wearing Spanx.”

“Honey, everyone here is wearing Spanx.”

Hilarious.  She gave me the most genuine smile and told me to have a fabulous time.  Such a nice way to start the conference.

And then there’s this sweetheart I met in the Lactation Lounge, Ky of Two Pretzels.  Ky has a wonderful blog and an even more wonderful personality in person.  That’s really something I liked the most about BlogHer- it sort of humanized the whole blog experience.  Ky and I somehow ended up in the LL 3 or 4 times over the course of the weekend.  She was amazing and instead of dumping her pumped milk, she donated it to a local mom- how rad is that?  Currently Ky lives in Cabo.  Yes, as in Mexico.  So exotic!

I also met Jes Ferris of Chirky.  She oversaw a Birds of a Feather session I went to and I seemed to pass her everywhere I went- she ALWAYS smiled at me.  It was a nice reminder to smile at people.

I wish I could have seen my friend Tonya in action more.  She was in charge of a huge party that I did not attend in order to save my sanity and energy.  Tonya, who has nearly-5-year-old twins, completely understood, too- she’s cool like that.  Tonya is not someone I just met- come to think of it, she’s probably one of the first bloggers I ever met, but I just had to give her a shout out.

So there you go- my big BlogHer ’11 moments.  In a few weeks I will have fresh memories to take the place of these- so much coming up and so ready for it all (not.).  My “to do” list is growing and growing, but for now I’m perfectly content to let it grow right alongside my kids.  They don’t really care what I have to do, so I’m going to adopt that attitude for a while and just do what I can, the rest can wait.

The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to BlogHer

Posted by Nat on Aug 8, 2011 | 3 comments

Well then.  Dang.  I am ti-RED!

BlogHer ’11 was amazing.  Really.  I’ve attended a lot of conferences in my life, and this one was by far the most well-organized, friendly and easy to access conference I’ve ever been to.  Little confusion, lots of friendly faces.  Well done, blogging women, well done.

I have so much to process, as I’m sure many people who attended do.  I need to revamp more and more of this little plot on the internet, and I’m sure that’s going to happen….eventually.  The biggest take away for me:  my blog is what I make it.  And I want to make it about more than crafting, yet stay away from family stuff since I already have my family blog.  The only thing holding me back from making it just that is… me.  Changes are a-comin’.  There’s just one thing holding me back, and it’s this:

photo by my amazing friend Amber of LifeArt Photography– isn’t she outstanding?!

In the meantime, while I get this whole “mommy-of-3-and-trying-to-start-anew” thing down, I thought I’d share the part of the conference that surprised me the most:  boob stuff.  That’s right, I said boobs.  That’s funny for a few reasons, one being that before I had children, I hated the word boob/s, but now… I’m okay with it (ah, the hands of time, how they help us change…).

Before I bit the bullet and bought my ticket to BlogHer, I emailed my friend Tonya and asked her, “Can I bring a baby?  She’ll be really little.  Am I insane to do that?”  Tonya assured me that there would be kids everywhere.  BlogHer also provided child care for bigger kids, and I ran into many people who took advantage of it- hooray for that.  But I couldn’t leave my  nearly-5-week-old Em with anyone- she needed me and my boobs.  So, in case anyone in the future wants to attend BlogHer with a new baby and isn’t sure, check this stuff out and you’ll find that it’s not too bad.  You’ll be hell-a-tired afterwards, but it is possible.

Awesomeness #1:  The Lactation Lounge!

When I received my email with my pdf document containing all things BlogHer I scanned the map of the convention center.  My eyes lit up when I saw the words “Lactation Lounge sponsored by Lansinoh.”  Holy crap.  A place to feed my baby?  Where other moms can pump?  In privacy?  Rock ON!  That’s what I’m talkin’ about!  I didn’t nurse every single time in there, but it was so nice to escape the craziness for a bit and just sit back, relax, hold my babe, and let her do her thing without a bazillion people in the midst.  Every conference with even 50% women should have this available.  Just sayin’.  I actually met some of the nicest women ever while nursing Em.  I even picked up a few nursing tips.  I did have visions of rocking chairs, pillows, nursing swag, soft music, dim lighting, etc.  That is not what it was- it was basically an empty room with a bunch of sectional chairs and some Lansinoh freebies, but it was so much better than a whole bunch of nothing.

Awesomeness #2:  Undercover Mamas

My friend Jane turned me onto these.  Well, actually, she gave them to me to wear.  How cool is that?  If you have not discovered these yet, get some.  They are tank tops that have no straps; instead they hook into your nursing bra and you can layer them with anything from your wardrobe.  Anything.  No nursing top required, no tummy showing.  Awesome, right?

And a side note:  best nursing bra ever:  find it here.  I love it! It’s cute (I need to feel cute right now), comfy and it works so well!  I just noticed it’s a sleep bra.  Whatever- it’s comfy.  Wear it.

Other tips:

Take a stroller

Even if you are a baby wearer, take a stroller.  It’s not for the baby.  It’s for the crazy amount of swag you’re going to get.  Be sure to add a few stroller hooks (I’m cheap, so I use these) so you can just hang those swag bags and move on to the next booth.  Awesomeness.  Aside from the swag it’s nice to have a place to put your baby.  I wore Emily and had her in the stroller 50/50.  In the Expo hall I had her in the stroller, usually covered with a blanket, mainly to keep people at a distance to avoid germs and such.  But it was also nice to just have options.

Take a nursing cover if you need one

I need a nursing cover when I nurse around strangers.  It just makes me feel better.  Not everyone needs one, so if you don’t, feel free to do it your own way- I really was very surprised at how nice everyone was about having a baby at the conference in a general sense, and also how little people cared that I was nursing Em at all- maybe they just didn’t notice.  One of my favorite moments was when Annie of  PhD in Parenting spoke as a BlogHer Voice of the Year.  She shared with us a video she made about breastfeeding in public and telling women what to wear.  It’s an awesome video- you can view it here.  I love it. I was also nursing Emily as it was playing, which was just hilarious to me. I was touched by how much applause it received- it made me feel better about bringing Emily at all, let alone nursing her during sessions, etc.

Manage your expectations

Both of yourself and of the conference.  If you have a relatively young baby like I did, you can’t do it all.  You can’t do it all even if you DON’T have a very young baby.   I didn’t attend a single party, and I don’t feel like I missed out on too much other than seeing some transvestites and petting some cute puppies.  In order to have enough energy for day 2, I had to go home and rest.  I am lucky that I live in the outskirts of San Diego, but even if I was traveling, I would have gone back to my hotel room and passed the heck out.  I’m sure I would have enjoyed the parties, but that will have to wait until next year- in NYC!!!  Boy, I hope I can go (hint-hint, honey… please oh please?).

I hope these were helpful things.  If you went as a nursing mom and have more to add, please do! And if you met me and I didn’t get your card for whatever reason, please leave a comment so I can go see your blog- it was hard to remember to give out cards between feedings, diaper changes and poop explosions.  🙂

BlogHer ’11: Get your blog on!

Posted by Nat on Aug 4, 2011 | 2 comments

Hello everyone,

If you’re reading this because you’re at BlogHer ’11 in San Diego, welcome!  If you’re reading this because you subscribe to my blog:  you are rad!

I wanted to put up a fresh post and make it easily accessible to learn a bit about me, because if you’re at BlogHer, then you’re probably clicking around during a session learning about all the amazing women in one place, under one roof.  So here are some tidbits about me, Crafting Crazy, and what I’m all about:

–  Crafting Crazy started as an outlet for me to get my craft on and not have it mingle with my family blog posts.  With a house to redecorate, three kids, and a serious urge to make stuff, I claimed my territory in cyberspace about a year ago and started documenting away.

–  In May of this year I resigned from my teaching career.  I was an elementary music teacher and while I loved the kids and my colleagues, it was not the life I wanted.  Perhaps it’s because I recently gave birth to baby #3, Miss Em, or perhaps her arrival was the final kick in the pants I needed to move on to something new.  Either way, I’m on a new course, and I have no idea where it leads.  No clue.  At all.  Whatsoever.

–  The one thing I do know is that I want Crafting Crazy, and blogging in general, to be an outlet for me, and perhaps part of a new career.  I have no idea WHAT career.  This is unlike me.  I’m a planner.  But I’m letting go and seeing what happens.  I did recently change my tag line from “I fully admit I have no idea what I’m doing” (still true), to “Life is crazy.  Craft it well.”  I want to find out what it takes to craft a life that is beautiful, full of the right balance of busy-ness and relax-ed-ness (I make up words sometimes), and fun.  I want to take advantage of this time with my kids and my husband to really feel like I’m in charge of my destiny and that I’m in the right place at the right time.

–  I have a long list of “to do’s” for my blog.  I need to re-do my blog roll.  I need to rethink my theme.  I need to make a signature.  I need to find out how to place ads without making my blog look horrible.  I need to convince my husband that I need a new camera so I can take prettier pictures.   I need to write a boat-load/butt-load/crap-load of posts, but hey- I just had a baby– cut me some slack.  Right now I’m at BlogHer to take in information.  The rest will come, I’m sure.

If you introduced yourself to me, thank you!  I hope I was equally friendly because I am super nervous and excited about this 2-day adventure.  I can’t wait to post about what I learned, and see what happens after this milestone for me.  I’ve been looking forward to it for months, and here it is!  If you’re visiting via BlogHer, please leave me a comment so I can go visit your blog, too!