On My Nightstand This Month
December 24, 2008 | 2 Comments
5 Minutes for Books has a monthly meme called “What’s On Your Nightstand” and I decided to play along this time.
These are the books I’ve read this month, either in their entirety or at least partially. There’s always a stack of books on my nightstand and sofa. 
* Pasture Perfect: The Far-Reaching Benefits of Choosing Meat, Eggs, and Dairy Products from Grass-Fed Animals
* Never Be Sick Again: Health is a Choice, Learn How to Choose It
* Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods
* Empowered To Birth Naturally by Patrice London – the story of a mom and her journey to homebirth.
My latest issue of Ready Made
* All of these authors are upcoming guests on the show so stay tuned.
Review: Mom Essentials Organizer
December 21, 2008 | 2 Comments
The other day I mentioned that most moms have as a goal to get more organized. We’re always looking for that one magic idea or magic tool to help us to that end. The folks at Mommy Track’d came up with something that might make it all a little easier.
It’s called Mom Essentials: A One-Stop Organizer for Moms on the Move
They gave me a copy of this all in one organizer and I thought about giving it away, but sorry ladies. I’ve fallen for it!
For years I’ve used a “day-timer” type of organizer with refillable pages. I liked them well enough, but found that half of the inserts that come within are useless to me as a mom, and some of the stuff I wanted was not available.
As an example, I don’t need multiple pages for budgets (why do I need to carry that around with me all the time?), business expenditures (I record all that on the computer), mileage records, etc. I also don’t need the phone number and address fillers because I don’t want to update those each year when I get a new planner. I like to have ONE address book here at home. Anyone I call is programmed into my phone so I really only need to know someone’s address anyway, and it’s never urgent and can wait until I get home to look in my address book.
Plus, the planners are expensive. Most of the planners I bought cost around $20-$30. And by March, they’d been sharpie-d, colored, markered, and scratched by four kids named “I didn’t do it“.
This organizer is perfect for most moms. It’s also fun. When you have to look at something every day, several times a day, it should be cute and fun.
Don’t you think?
I’ll tell you about some of the neat things in this organizer that make it different and cool for moms.
The Week at a Glance calendar page at the front is the mainstay. It’s the to-do list, everything for the week at a glance. Once the stuff is done and checked off, you simply tear of the page and dispose of it.
It then has a small section for V.I.P.’s (important phone numbers and addresses). I likely won’t use this section too much, for the reasons I outlined earlier. But it’s good it’s there. If I meet someone new and want to record their digits, I can put it here, then transfer it to my main address book at home later.
Also has a couple of pages called “Love at First Site” – a handy spot for website addresses you want to remember (probably a lot more effective than putting them in your bookmarks, which nobody checks very often and get cluttered too quickly), along with usernames and passwords. (Of course you wouldn’t want to record sensitive data in here like your bank account or paypal stuff.)
The next section has checklists perforated with two on each page.
We are not Superwoman, so a half page is plenty enough! Once you’ve done the stuff, you can easily tear the page out and dispose of it, avoiding clutter in your organizer. (Which is some kind of organizational oxymoron that could throw off the cosmic order of things.)
And instead of being boring old plain white, they have a kitschy cute green wallpaperesque background. Remember what I said? If you gotta look at it all the time, make it stylish.
I like the Juggling Act section because this is where you can list stuff that doesn’t have to happen right away, or that can be outsourced or delegated. Thus reminding you to delegate stuff.
The Food For Thought area allows you to plan menus (very handy for moms!) and grocery lists. I probably won’t use the section for Takeout Orders because I don’t do takeout, but I’m sure it would come in handy for some people.
At the end there are plenty of pages of blank notes for those random thoughts and ideas that hit you. Now you have one place to record them all. At the end of the notes section is a pocket for receipts and other stuff you have to stash until they’re filed. Like bills you need to take to the mailbox, deposit slips and the like.
Finally at the back of the book are 6 sections of sticky notes, each featuring a cute saying like “balance schmalance”, “too bad all this juggling isn’t toning my arms”, etc. So you can write a note and immediately stick it somewhere. Cute and so handy!
(Not shown actual size here.)
The only thing I don’t like about the Mom Essentials organizer is that it lacks a yearly calendar, so you would probably need to put dates on the weekly planning pages. It would also be a bit challenging to schedule events for the upcoming months. If you’re like me and never know what day it is unless you check a calendar, this might be an issue. It seems a teensy bit incomplete without a “Month at a Glance” section.
I suppose you could paste a small year at a glance type of thing in the back somewhere.
The whole thing is neatly wrapped up in a cute purse sized organizer that you won’t be embarrassed to pull out of your bag. This planner, combined with my recently adopted ToDooDlist system (which is similar to GTD/Getting Things Done but far easier to understand and implement!), will help me make 2009 ROCK.
Check it out here:
Mom Essentials: A One-Stop Organizer for Moms on the Move
Skuut Bike Review
December 5, 2008 | 5 Comments
Since moving to an urban community a couple of months ago, the kids have been spending more time skateboarding, walking to the park, and generally running about on the sidewalks.
So I was pretty excited when the UPS man brought us this Skuut bike.
I’ve never visited Scandinavia, but from books the kids and I have read together, biking is a way of life there, and kids start out with these wooden “balance bikes” before learning how to ride a “big bike”. No training wheels, the child learns how to balance using their feet so there’s no scary transition.
I thought my 3 and 5 year old girls would love the Skuut, but so far it’s been my 7 year old, who already rides a regular bike, who loves it.
When it’s too cold to ride outside, he Skuuts around on the hardwood floors of the apartment, as you can see in the picture above. LOL!
I think the Skuut has an awesome, clean looking and attractive design. It took us about 5 minutes to put the bike together (it arrives in a flat pack box), but since most of the furniture in my house came from IKEA, we’re all talented like that. Give us an allen wrench and we could probably build a house. 
The design is simple but like all things Scandinavian, quite functional. The seat is adjustable as far as height, making it comfortable for a child from ages 2-5 (or a small 7 year old like mine – maximum weight is 70 pounds). It also easily angles back and forth for comfort.
And it’s darn cute! The thing looks good just hanging around and happens to match my color scheme (note large red throw pillows complementing red leather seat and handlebars!) so all the better. Leave it to the Scandinavians to design something for kids that isn’t garish and ugly and plastic.
Another thing I noticed, and I’m not sure exactly what the wheels are made of (the website says they’re pneumatic rubber?), but they don’t stink like other rubber wheels. A plus since we store it in the apartment.
I recorded a quick audio testimonial of my son sharing what he likes about his Skuut. Click play to listen!
“You pedal with it with your feet, it goes like 3 miles an hour and it lasts going for ten seconds or longer.”
Not to be outdone, 5 year old Ilana recorded her own review of the Skuut bike here:
“It always doesn’t have wheels but it’s so easier. Sometimes I can balance on it but not really good of course. But I like the bike very, very much.”
Skuut Balance Bike
P.S. Environmentalists would be impressed that Skuut, has partnered with Trees for the Future, and ensures that a tree is planted for every bike sold.
Also notable is the fact that the Skuut bike won Dr. Toy’s 10 Best Active Products.
7 For the Price of One
November 21, 2008 | 1 Comment
Wow.
Talk about bang for the buck, Kelly over at Moms Talk Ebooks just announced that all 7 of her ebooks are available for the price of one.
If you want to know more about make ahead/freezer cooking, organizing, budgeting or kids health, go check them out here.
Review: Lil’ Dressers Drawer Labels for Kids
November 21, 2008 | 1 Comment
The folks at Mostly Organized Moms sent me these Lil’ Dressers Drawer Labels for kids. In a nutshell these are reusable, stick on/pull off labels that help your child identify the clothing in their dresser drawers.
It helps them remember where there clothes are and also make laundry easier because even a young child who cannot read can see the pictures and put laundry in their dresser without your help.
There are packages for boys and girls. Each contains 18 labels: for shirts (long sleeved and short), pants, PJs (summer and winter), long undies, underwear, undershirts, swimsuits, sweaters, sweatshirt, socks, tights, etc depending on the gender.
I let my girls color these with markers to their heart’s content then helped them stick them on their drawers. Even my 3 year old understands what goes where now, so when I give her a pile of clean folded laundry she no longer has to query me over and over, “Where does dis go? Where does dis go?” LOL!
Included in the package are blank labels for your own unique needs. They stick on and easily pull off without any damage to furniture. Anything that can help us moms stay a little more organized and make things go more smoothly is good in my book!
These will be available December 1 at the Mostly Organized Moms website.
Caleb Says: Buy Your Kid These Books
November 13, 2008 | 1 Comment
Caleb sat down to write an article about some of his favorite books and gave me permission to post this here. I didn’t help him, other than a quick bit of spelling assistance. Caleb is 10 and a big reader. Here are a few of his favorites.
Nine Book Recommendations for Kids 7 to 11
Are you looking for a book for your child? Here are some books for your seven to eleven year old:
1. I think the Great Illustrated Classics are some really good books for your 11 year old. I like them because they are FULL of excitement and fun. (Note to parents: Caleb’s favorites are The Three Musketeers and Treasure Island.)
2. Some more good books are the Magic Tree House books. Or, Magic tree house Merlin missions. (With these you will even save money on schoolbooks because they’re good for school.) I like Jack because he’s brainy like me and Annie is cool because she believes in stuff Jack doesn’t and is kinda weird but funny.
3. The Tale of Despereaux is a very good chapter book for all ages. I liked that such a small mouse was so brave that he could go on a dangerous journey.
4. Geronimo Stilton books are a short chapter book series for all ages. They’re just plain hilarious!
5. The Klutz books are wonderful learning and playing books for kids. (These are some of my favorite books.) The Klutz Book of Magic teaches me all kinds of simple sleight of hand tricks. I’ve learned a bunch of these and once you know how to do them you can amaze your friends and family.
6. If you love mystery books you’ll love The Hardy Boys. I like that the Hardy boys are so genius that they can figure stuff out really fast. These are full of mystery and excitement.
7. The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey are hilarious books! They are boyish if you ask me. That’s what I like about them. If you have a silly kid this is the perfect gift for him/her. The characters are always doing pranks.
8. If you have a kid who loves dogs you need to get Dog to the Rescue 1or 2! It has 17 true stories about dog heroism. These stories are almost unbelievable. Your kid will read this book again and again!
9. The Little House on the Prairie series are great because they’re old fashioned, and it’s interesting to hear what they do. I like reading about Pa Ingalls. He’s funny. It makes me laugh just to think about them. A lot of the things they did is similar to stuff we do nowadays, like in The Long Winter, they used a coffee mill. And they used machines to bale hay and other machines to do stuff like harvest wheat. Pa Ingalls liked technology and progress.
A Craft Project Even I Could Tackle
November 11, 2008 | 1 Comment
I am NOT the crafty type.
But, even I could probably handle one of these no sew fleece blankets projects. My 3 year old got one of these at her baby shower. I didn’t even know it was homemade. I thought my friend bought it like that.
You can see that my 5 year old, pictured above, complete with bedhead, quickly absconded it.
I don’t think 3 year old even knows it was intended for her.
It’s super soft and cuddly. All it takes is two fleece blankets and a sharp pair of scissors. And the instructions posted at the link above.
Might make a great present for another happy toothless grinner.
On Personal Growth – A Review of Steve Pavlina’s Book
October 28, 2008 | 2 Comments
I got a copy of Steve Pavlina’s new book, Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth
If you’re not familiar with Steve, he is one of the most well known bloggers on the internet, and probably THE most known blogger in the genre of personal growth. I’ve read his blog for a couple of years now, and his posts are always fascinating. They always make me think. I like that.
Personal growth is one of my favorite topics to read about, although I rarely write about it, and usually not here but on my other blog in a business context.
I’ll start by saying that I don’t agree with some of the things Steve says, especially on his blog, and where I disagree, I disagree passionately. As an example, Steve’s thoughts on religion seem to come from a place of his disgruntled feelings with regards to the Catholic church, which hardly seems an enlightened place to form a philosophy on religion as a whole. Steve is also a raw food vegan. (Y’all know how I feel about that.)
But, his blog is one of the most thought provoking, intellectually stimulating places to hang out on the web. So I was happy to read his book.
One of the things that sets Steve apart is the fact that, unlike so many other authors and experts in the field of personal growth, he focuses on the value of hard work and (gasp!) discipline, two things that are practically dirty words these days. That resonates with me. All the wishing, hoping and visualizing in the world doesn’t do much good if you’re not willing to get off your butt and create some value in the world. That’s a refreshing stance, and one of the reasons I keep reading Steve’s blog. Some of the language around “The Secret” just makes me ill, and Steve’s voice is a refreshing change in the sea of nonsense surrounding the “Law of Attraction”.
Now I’m going to dig into the book and mention some of the highlights for me personally.
The book is split into two sections. Part One outlines what Steve calls “Fundamental Principles” of personal development. They are Truth, Love, Power, Oneness, Authority, Courage and Intelligence. When I first started reading the book, I couldn’t figure out how these principles were supposed to work together, but after introducing each one and defining it, it started to come together and make sense.
The second half of the book deals with the Practical Application of the principles. This is my favorite part, the juicy stuff. While learning principles is important, getting into the nitty gritty of specific things you can do to improve yourself and your life really gets my blood flowing.
Here’s an example of how the principles lead to the actions you need to take. A section from the book on Truth:
“One of the most important skills to develop in the area of personal growth is the ability to admit the whole truth to yourself, even if you don’t like what you see and even if you feel powerless to change it. When you face unpleasant truths, you’ll often encounter strong internal resistance. This resistance pushes you to avoid facing the truth, running through endless cycles of distraction, escapism, denial and procrastination. Only by staring directly into these truths can you summon the strength to deal with them consciously. A simple rule of thumb is this: whatever you fear, you must eventually face.”
Wow… I can see how true this has been in my own life.
I really enjoyed the section on goal setting. For me, goal setting has been mostly an exercise in frustration. It wasn’t until reading this book that I figured out why. Here’s a quote:
“The purpose of goal setting is not to control the future. That would be senseless because the future only exists in your imagination. The point of goal setting is to improve the quality of your present-moment reality. Setting goals can give you greater clarity and focus right now. Whenever you set your sights on achieving something, always ask yourself, “How does setting this goal improve my present reality?” If it doesn’t improve your present reality, then the goal is pointless, and you may as well dump it. But if it brings greater clarity, focus and motivation to your life when you think about it, it’s a keeper.”
Love that!
I also love the sections on motivation, desire and effort. The discussion of “Triage” can help you decide what’s truly important to spend your time on, whether it’s business or personal life. And my favorite part of the book is Chapter 8, which talks about Habits. This section has dozens of suggestions on how to increase the number of good habits you have in your life, and get rid of the bad ones.
One of the things you’ll notice about Steve’s blog is how he shares his personal journey with self improvement. Instead of having a “top down” approach where he claims to be the expert teaching others how to do it, the blog is more about him sharing his experiences with different things he’s tried in his own life, from polyphasic sleep to giving up coffee to becoming an early riser. Chapter 8 is where he shares some of the things that have worked for him. Ideas like Stairstepping, 30 Day Trials, and a list of 66 other ideas.
The chapters on Career and Money have been truly refreshing and have changed how I feel about money to a certain extent.
I still haven’t finished reading the book and am looking forward to finishing up the last couple of chapters. I really appreciate Steve for writing it and for letting me have a review copy. If you would like to check it out, you can get a copy on Amazon.com. It’s available for your kindle too if you’re into that.
Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth
I Heart Ready Made Magazine
August 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I heart Ready Made magazine
Have you read this magazine?
It’s a Do It Yourselfer/Crafter/Recycler/Reuser’s dream.
It’s Martha Stewart, but urban, hip and cool. And without the full time staff.
I’m actually not a handy or crafty person at all. But this magazine really inspires me.
Do you love Ready Made too?
Salad Saturday!
August 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Each Saturday I’ll post a free salad recipe from my new salad cookbook. It ha
s over 365 recipes, so you can either buy it now or just hang around here for the next 6 years. LOL!
Cherry Tomato Salad
1 pint cherry tomatoes
6 bacon slices
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh basil — chopped
6 leaves romaine lettuce
2 tablespoons chives — chopped
Wash and stem tomatoes. Dry completely. Cook bacon until very crisp; drain thoroughly on paper towels.
Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and basil. Pour over tomatoes, crumble bacon over all, and stir to coat tomatoes with dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves, sprinkled with chives.
Serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.
 
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