Down East Basics Blogger's Event

As I mentioned earlier this week, I was recently invited to attend a Blogger's event at a newish store here in town, Down East Basics. The idea behind the event was to invite bloggers from the community to come see the new fall line of clothing, shop a little (or in our case, a lot!) and then write about it on our respective blogs. I should mention that I'm not much of a mall shopper. My "momiform" usually consists of tees and tanks with either denim shorts and flip flops for summer or cute jeans and clogs in the winter...On the days that I'm feeling really put together, I'll throw on a scarf or necklace to jazz things up a bit. That said, the other night I entered the mall for the first time in...years?...and found my way to the store.

The sign in front pretty much sums it up:
Boutique Style at Affordable Prices.
The store features lots of great basic pieces--tees in a rainbow of colors and cuts perfect for layering, in addition to a great selection of affordable denim skirts and jeans.

But it's not just basics either--they've also got tons of embellished tees, charming skirts and adorable dresses. One gal went home with 4 dresses--I think her fall wardrobe is complete! More than one blogger went home with this cute little cardigan, which I think is just perfect for Tucson's cool weather. (It's coming, right?)

I know that I was not the only girl who was not on board with the very short shorts trend this summer...I wish I had known about these!

For a limited time, Down East Basics is also donating 50% of proceeds from purchases of their Live For Pink tees to Needs Beyond Medicine. I always love an opportunity to shop for a purpose...

I think it's fair to say that we all had a great time, thanks Down East Basics for getting a fun group of Mamas out of their houses for a night!

P.S. I know I said I'd share the details about my loot... Since I've packed on a few pounds lately and there's more coming, (hopefully not more than the recommended 25-35 pounds though!) I was in the market for accessories and what I call "transitional" pieces. I did come home with a great pair of sparkly earrings from the clearance rack and a super cute ruffled tank that was an easy investment--not too expensive and because of the cut and the stretchy knit, it will be a fun piece to work in to my wardrobe for the next year or so. I just need someone to snap a photo because I've discovered that taking side-view pics of myself is easier said than done, so stay tuned for that...

Blogging with Integrity

I realized the other day that this blog has been around for over a year...Wow! For all of the compliments that I receive about it, I feel like the lucky one because of what it's given me...an outlet, a voice, a creative diversion. I've always enjoyed reading blogs and I'm always looking for new blogs to follow. I read some of the more well known blogs with lots of followers and advertisements, and I follow a lot more that are probably similar to mine--smaller readerships, more personal, less corporate feeling. Some of my favorite bloggers post regularly about products or websites they are loving at the moment and it's fun to hear about the latest social networking site or some fun new product that could possibly change my life. Some of my favorite bloggers also write sponsored posts and that's ok too, especially if it has been made clear to me that the author has received something from the company in exchange for the "shout out". Heck, I'll be the first to admit that I've had visions of becoming a paid blogger for years, so for those who've done it successfully, more power...

Recently, one or two of my favorite blogs have changed and I can't help but be a bit disappointed. Not necessarily because the content has changed, just the tone. Posts are still full of fun musings on parenthood or something beautiful, but coupled with links to websites featuring various products. When it's not specified if it's a sponsored post, I can't help but feel that I'm being sold something. More importantly, I now find myself questioning the genuine-ness (is that a word?) of the endorsement and sadly, the author. I would hate to ever do that to my readers.

Tonight, I'm attending a local blogger's event at a new retail clothing store. I'm looking forward to seeing the local bloggers whom I've met in person and online over the last year or two. I'm looking forward to seeing some cute fall fashion. I'm also looking forward to an evening away from home and a reason to wear something other than yoga pants and flip flops. I will be receiving a gift card to do a little shopping in exchange for writing a blog post about the event. For the first time ever, I will receive some form of compensation for my writing. How fun is that? I'll be sure to show you my loot. I'll share my opinions about the store, the products, the prices. But no one will ever pay me to tell me what to write. My opinions will always be mine. And if I've been compensated in some way, you'll know that too. Thanks Friends, I appreciate each one of you.

Look what's NOT in my mailbox anymore!

A while back I read about this family and their Zero Waste lifestyle in Sunset Magazine and it made me think. Then I started following their blog. It's a lifestyle that is a bit extreme for me, but I still find it thought provoking and inspiring. My years of living in Portland taught me to be a very good recycler. And with so many fun re-sale shops around town, it was also in Portland that I acquired a love for re-use. But the interesting thing about this family's lifestyle is that much of it is centered around a different R: Refuse. It's had me thinking...even if we do a good job of recycling it, is it really necessary to bring it into our homes in the first place? It's brought an awareness to my daily activities. I'm not sure I've made any sweeping changes or had any huge impact, but there have been several times when I've been offered a bottle of water or a bag, or a flyer at a fair and I have refused it, knowing it would just end up in my recycle bin when I get home. I have a reusable bag that rolls up to nothing that I keep in my purse, if I'm out and about and need a bag, I've gotten very good about remembering to use this one instead of taking a bag from a store. We always have at least one water bottle with us, so there is no reason to accept the bottled water that the sweet lady at the bank offers us nearly every time we walk through the door. Easy little changes to make, that hopefully over time, will actually make a difference.

These three circulars used to arrive in my mailbox on a regular basis. I can't remember how frequently but I do know that I never once opened them, they always went straight from the mailbox to my recycle bin.

So a few months ago I decided to take the next step and declare War on Junk Mail. It didn't take much of my time at all, I think for 2 of these I just sent an email requesting that my address be removed from their mailing list, and the 3rd I made a phone call. I also signed up at dmachoice.org to remove my address from catalog lists and optoutprescreen.com to opt out of credit card offers. Combine this effort with electronic bill paying, and our mailbox is empty a few days a week. I'm not sure I'll ever write "Refused" on a piece of mail and send it back, but these were easy steps to take and have had a big impact on the amount of unnecessary paper coming into our house. It took a few months to fully take effect, but I'm now feeling very gratified that it actually worked!

More Toilet Box Fun...

When the toilet-box-turned-barca-lounger got old, he converted the box in to an "Activity Center" complete with notebook, stickers, colored pencils, markers, and even a little hand carved Norwegian statue to serve as desk art... In between snacks and swimming and running around with his brother, he'd run over and kneel down to write a few notes in his notebook. His "notes" consist of a bunch of squiggly lines and a mish-mash of the three letters he knows how to write--H, E and F. I love them.

A friend posted this adorable video on Facebook about a Norwegian boy and his cardboard box early this week, hooray for imagination and innocent childhood fun!

Labor Day Weekend: New Mexico Roadtrip

My laptop has been at the shop all week. It quit letting us access the Internet wirelessly and we were getting a lot of SCOD. It's old, we thought it might be on its last leg and feared we'd have to stimulate the economy a little more by purchasing a new machine. Luckily, it was an easy and rather inexpensive fix and while it was there, the guys cleaned everything up and added a bit of memory. We're back in business.

We took a little road trip to New Mexico for the long weekend...

No, it didn't snow. Have you ever been to White Sands? It's by far, one of the strangest places on earth. Imagine driving through the New Mexico desert and all of a sudden coming upon 275 square miles of nothing but pure white sand.

I swear Mother Nature was playing a little joke on us when she came up with this one.

But what a fun place! The boys loved running up and down the dunes...

We'd love to go back sometime. When it's cooler. Maybe during a full moon for a moonlight hike?

We eventually made our way to our destination for the weekend: Ruidoso, to visit good friends Cicelee and Candice. (AKA MakPak Co-Founders!) Unfortunately, once we got there my camera never made it out of its bag again so I have very few photos of the rest of the weekend...Boo! Cicelee did email a few cuties over like this one of our lovely hike around the reservoir near their house. The boys took their dog-walking responsibilities very seriously while Papa and I savored the opportunity to wear pants and long sleeves! We had a lovely, but too-short visit and can't wait to go back again soon.

On our way home again I made Papa stop at the nut farm in Alamogordo just for this photo:

I know my kids will appreciate me when they are older for providing photographic proof that they actually *have* seen the Largest Pistachio in the world. You can thank me later boys.

His New Throne, Our New Throne

Some might look at this box and think "Recycle", he saw it and thought "New Living Room Furniture"! Who needs toys anyway? Give this guy a cardboard box, a marker, some stickers and a knife (for cutting out windows and doors and for giving his Mama a near-heart attack) and he's a happy camper.

He broke the handle on the old toilet yesterday so our dear sweet contractor took a short break from working on my bathroom to replace the toilet in the boys' bathroom today. Yes friends, we've officially gone dual-flush! I know more about toilets now than I ever thought I would...If you need the scoop on dual-flush vs. conventional, I'm your girl.