Meet Chicklet, our latest Wishpot mom expert. You’ll love her and her baby registry recommendations.
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From ever since I can remember, my favorite word has been BLURB. Blurb blurb blurb.
You can WRITE a blurb, you can FORM a blurb, or you can just READ a blurb, but no matter what you DO with a blurb, it’s just plain fun to SAY blurb. Or at least for me it is. Partly cuz I’m easily entertained, partly cuz I say it with a GOOD HARD B at the end. I do NOT say blurb, BLURb, or blurp – I say BLURB-UH!
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So now that I’ve got your attention, or lost it, the real point of this babbling is to introduce myself. But being who I am, I didn’t want to do one of those boring old intros that just SAYS who I am, I wanted to do something that SHOWS who I am. And yes, I believe all that babbling about blurbs explains just who I, Natalie (aka “chicklet”, as I’m known on my personal blog and review blog) really am.
As for the whole SAYING who I am, well, I’ll do that too just to be clear. I’m a happily married 33 year old, more than a LITTLE obsessed with having chocolate for dessert EVERY SINGLE DAY, red wine on a sunny patio every SUMMER day, and an ever-growing arsenal of NEW and EXCITING ways to be mean to my charming (and extremely patient?) husband. Oh, and I get to do all that in one of THE most beautiful cities in the world – Vancouver, BC.
Fortunately AND unfortunately though, the wine habit in particular is suffering a little this summer with that whole being PREGNANT thing I’ve got going on – 7 weeks to go! What ISN’T suffering however, is either my shopping OR my exercise habits – both of which you’ll see a lot of evidence of here and in my blogs.
The shopping habit, well, I think that one’s pretty obvious what I’ve been focused on lately – I mean, I AM pregnant so there’s DEFINITELY been a strong focus towards the funky yet practical things I’m going to need (and want!) for this kid. But the other focus has really been on exercise, and doing it safely both during pregnancy, and after, when I’ve got my wee one in tow.
Because the thing is for me, I’ve been a runner for over 10 years – and it’s not just something I DO, but something I AM. My running is not JUST a physical outlet to let me eat what I want and maintain my figure, but also a mental SAVIOUR for my sanity. And so with being pregnant, I’ve had to find new ways to adjust that outlet in ways that let ME still be ME, but also let this kid grow as he’s supposed to.
And while I know a lot of women DO suffer throughout their pregnancies, I can proudly say I’m not one of them. And no, you don’t have to hate me for it, because I worked my ASS off to prevent that suffering. What do I mean? I mean I really and TRULY believe my fitness regime has been the key to an easy pregnancy. Back pain? Nope. Swelling? Nope. Discomfort? Barely!
So as time goes on, between the baby and toddler gear that will UNDOUBTEDLY fill my Wishpot, you’ll also find me posting a lot of VERY cool fitness gadgets, gear, and of COURSE wear. Partly because they’re things I have a HOOT shopping for, and give me a TON of pleasure when they compliment my running. And partly because what’s the point in working your ass off if you can’t enjoy yourself, and feel like you look good doing it.
Thank you Chicklet! And click here to add Chicklet as a wishpot friend. Click on the little plus sign under her name.
(This Re-Post is courtesy of one of Wishpot’s own Baby Experts, Simple Mom!)
It’s been well over a year since I first wrote about the digital, paperless tools I use to be more efficient around the home. It’s time for an update.
It’s easy to feel absolultely overwhelmed when you look for a tool or useful website online. There are hundreds of choices, and sometimes, it feels like they’re all pretty similar. There’s a theory that in this age of information, our range of choices — from toothpaste flavors to online calendars — stress out our bodies and our minds to the point that we’re actuallyless able to make sound decisions. I know I feel that way sometimes.
Here are my favorite digital tools I use around the home.
1. Gmail
Gmail is my email client of choice, because I can check all my email addresses in my one inbox. And I love the labels and archiving system — a quick word search, and I can find most any email I need.
I also “star” emails that become my online to do list, and I frequently use the chat feature for online meetings.
The key to successful email sanity is to only check your inbox at a few set intervals throughout the day. For me, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening is plenty. I get a ton of email, so if I kept it open, I’d be tempted to pop over to my inbox anytime something came through. That’s a recipe for stress.
And just like I don’t always answer my phone when it rings, I only open an email when I have enough time to give it a quick, five sentence or less response. If I don’t have that time, then I don’t open it. It can wait.
If it requires a longer than five sentence response, and I can devote the time for an appropriate answer, then I’ll write it immediately. If I don’t, the email gets a star. That means I need to make time to give it a complete response in less than 48 hours.
2. Google Calendar
I click on my Google Calendar from my Gmail inbox, and I host a wide number of calendars on one screen. I’ve got our basic family events calendar, my husband’s work calendar, our menu plan, my writing schedule, our homeschool routine, the advertising schedule for my blogs, and the Book Club schedule.
My husband and I share our family appointments and work calendars, so that we’re always in synch with each other.
3. Last.fm
We’re a music-playing family. We’ve got plenty of downloaded songs in our iTunes account, and with their recent home sharing feature, my husband and I can now share mp3s for both of our iPods.
But last.fm is our daily radio programming of choice for background music. It’s free for 90 days, but after that, it’s only $3 a month. I get my money’s worth and then some, in my opinion. Here’s my profile, if you want to see what we listen to around our house.
It’s similar to Pandora.com, but Last.fm is available anywhere in the world. Pandora is available only in the U.S.
You simply enter an artist or type of music you enjoy, and it will play a “station” of similar music. If you really like a song, you can “love” it, and it will play it more often. If the song is atrocious, you can “ban” it, and it’ll never play for you again. You can also just skip a song if you don’t necessary hate it, but you’re not in the mood to hear it, either.
Last.fm has been my book writing sanity.
4. Pear Budget
I’ve written about Pear Budget a lot — it’s where we handle our family’s budget and accounts. It’s got a great interface, and it’s incredibly simple. For a bit more on what I’ve written in the past head here.
5. Delicious
It’s a classic. Delicious.com (formerly del.icio.us) is one of the oldest bookmarking sites, but it’s incredibly useful and easy to use. I have the bookmarklet in Firefox, so anytime I want to bookmark a site or URL, I simply click on the tag button, enter my tags, and save.
When I need to access my account (which is several times a day), it’s just one click, and Delicious opens in a separate tab. I keep my recipes, book research, website coding helps, and much more here. This is where people can send me links that they want me to consider sharing on this site. My husband and I also send links to each other from here when we’ve got something we need the other person to see.
6. Spark People
I’m working on losing a little baby weight, so I’m currently logging my food intake and exercise habits on this free site. Spark People worked well after my first birth, so I’m confident it will do the same again.
There are a plethora of things this site will do for you — almost too many. It’s easy to get distracted from its main purpose of food and exercise logging, but because it’s free, it’s still a great resource. It also saves the nutritional information on your own recipes, and it’s easy to record the basic things you eat often. I also like that I can map out and track my jogging routes from here with Google Maps.
7. Recipezaar
There are tons of recipe sites, but Recipezaar is my favorite. It has thousands of recipes, and almost every one I’ve tried is good. It’s easy to search for recipes by ingredient or meal type, and for the designer in me, I love how these recipes print. Very streamlined and easy to read.
8. Flickr
We store all but the blurry and redundant family photos on Flickr. It’s a breeze to share with grandparents, and the tagging feature and the ability to create sets, it’s easy to find photos.
9. Wishpot
Wishpot is the perfect place to store gift ideas for grandparents or events. With the bookmarklet for Firefox, all you have to do is click a button when you’ve found something you like, and it’ll toggle a pop-up screen where you can enter the item in a wishlist, along with pertinent information you need. Here’s a few of our wish lists, along with a few recommendations for kids I’ve created as a Wishpot “expert.”
It’s also a great way to create a wedding or baby registry, so that you’re not limited to a few select stores. You can store anything found online.
10. Skype
Skype
has been our sanity saver. This is the way we keep up with the grandparents as we live on the other side of the world, and with a small annual fee, we’re able to have a US-based number so that anyone stateside can call us for nearly free.
This is where I also have a host of business meetings, either by phone or by chat. Skype has truly made the world a much smaller place.
11. Audible
Finally, we’re a book-loving family, and Audible
is a great resource of audiobooks. Since we live overseas, this is a frugal option for “reading” new books, and as I’ve mentioned before, an audiobook is a good entertainment choice for a child’s daily quiet time. Audible Kids
has a wonderful selection.
These tools are about all we use for everyday personal use. I’ve got another slew of digital resources for book writing and blogging, but they’re not terribly useful for productive home management.
(Images courtesy of Simple Mom)
Win 50 free cards from Minted – photo birth announcements, cute baby shower invitations, luxe holiday photo cards and more! Just tell us what your favorite Minted card is, and why.
(Image courtesy of Minted)
Minted.com is the premier online destination for fresh, modern stationery products for babies, kids, and families. We constantly update our assortment by hosting design challenges during which talented indie designers submit their creations, the public votes for their favorite designs, and the top vote-getters are sold by Minted. Our global design community spans North America, Asia, and Europe, and is growing by the day.
On top of great design, Minted also offers the thickest, most luxurious matte paper of any online photo card company. Birth announcements, birthday party invitations, baby shower invitations, and holiday photo cards can be printed on Minted’s Premium 130-lb 100% recycled paper or Signature 120-lb. 30% cotton paper. Additionally, our professional design associates can customize anything so that your cards are as unique as your family.
Minted is excited to partner with Wishpot to provide fresh stationery for your family’s special events. Readers, go to Minted’s website, tell us what your favorite baby, kids’ or holiday card design is, and receive 50 free cards of that design worth up to $119.
To enter:
· Tell us what your favorite Minted baby, kids’ or holiday card is by leaving a comment on this post with the design name and why it’s your favorite design.
· Get an additional entry every time you do one of the following and leave a comment about it on the Wishpot blog:
o Sign up to receive Minted’s email newsletter here.
o Tweet @wishpot or @minted and include the hashtag #minted.
o Leave a wall message on Minted’s page with the name of your favorite design.
o Add anything from Minted to your Wishpot wish list, baby registry, or wedding registry.
On Monday September 28th all entries will be entered into the draw, and the winner will be chosen.
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