Tag Archives: Friday Feature

let’s BEE friends with Harriet!

Posted on by
11

Welcome back Let’s Bee Friends followers! Another week has come and gone but it’s Friday and we all know that Friday brings the weekend! A weekend, by the way, which happens to be a super-d-duper long one.  Gotta love Easter :)

I’m happy to announce that I have another local gal hanging out with me today. Her name is Harriet and she is the CEO and writer of the blog, See Theo Run.

I met Harriet through a small group of local Mom bloggers in my community. You may know Amanda from Lilahbility or Lisa from the Schwartz Chronicles. They are both cool chickies if you ask me, and now … I know Harriet who is as cool as anyone can get. You’ll see why once I stop jabbering and she starts talking!

Let’s begin …

I’m mom, well actually “mama,” to Theo, a rambunctious two-and-a-half year old who my husband and I adopted at birth. I blog about our adoption and silly toddler things at http://seetheorun.com.

10 Things About Me

  1. I’m the WASP part of a tricultural family. My husband is Filipino, my son is Jamaican-Canadian, and we live in an ethnically and socio-economically diverse neighbourhood in Vancouver.
  1. We have an open adoption. We have a relationship with Theo’s birthparents, who we see regularly, and we’ve also met all of Theo’s birth-aunties and uncles and both sets of his birth grandparents.
  1. I have a journalism and arts background and once attended 33 Fringe Festival plays. Right now, I work for LimelitePR on social media and mom blogger outreach for arts organizations, non-profits and small businesses. One of our clients is the Vancouver Children’s Festival, which I can’t wait to take Theo to.
  1. I’m closer to 50 than 40, a fact that may surprise many but shocks no one more than me.
  1. I starting running 10 Ks recently and working out so I can keep up with Theo. The kid has wheels! My friend, who is a long-distance runner, said he has “perfect form,” which really just means I have to keep training harder. Puff puff…
  1. I’m a super-tweeter, rapidly approaching 40,000 tweets. I tweet about Theo’s antics, Vancouver happenings, bits I hear on CBC radio, and I chat with other moms. I do not apologize for this minor obsession.
  1. I used to be quite adventurous. I rode my bike down the West Coast (from here to Mexico), hiked the West Coast Trail, taught English in Japan, backpacked through India, trekked the Annapurna circuit in Nepal, visited Thailand and Korea. I hiked the Machu Pichu trail in Peru, sailed around the Galapagos Islands and visited Ecuador and Bolivia as well. My husband and I walked 200 km of the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain before we got married. Now my idea of excitement is watching Theo jump in pool or hunting down a quality Americano.
  1. My great love (other than my family – ha ha) is public radio: CBC, NPR, BBC. I download podcasts and listen to them while I run or walk. I might be the only jogger tuned in to The Next Chapter while running.
  1. I prefer to be outside. My happy place is on a mountaintop taking in a spectacular view. Sitting on hilltops isn’t as accessible as it once was so I frequently settle for the woods, the beach or an urban outdoor setting like Granville Island.
  1. My biggest wish for my son is that he grows up with friends from all backgrounds representing all kinds of family forms and together they forge a fusion culture that mines the beauty and strength found in diversity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a side note, my friends, I have some news. My Let’s BEE Friends meme has been around for a year.   I have enjoyed recruiting writers, finding new bloggers and getting to know fabulous women and men via this weekly meme.  All greatness aside, I have decided to retire my fun weekly link-up.  As much as I have enjoyed hosting it, today’s link-up with be the last one.

Don’t be sad. It’s all good. There are a ton of link-ups out there and we all know how hard it is to keep up with them.  Just know that I appreciate the wonderful support I have received from so many of you who linked up with me every Friday.  Let’s BEE Friends would not have been the same without you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Wishing all of you a happy and relaxing Easter weekend!

*Hugs*

Lets BEE Friends with Julie!

Posted on by
12

Hey Friends! It’s Friday and I’m happy to be host to yet another bloggy friend today for my weekly link-up #LetsBEEfriends.

Today’s guest is the first BEE Friend feature of the year and I’m excited to share with you that I have Julie from Balancing Mama hanging out with me today.

Julie is “wife to smarty-pants engineer Steve and mommy to spunky Amelia”.   She was recently the featured blogger via the SITS girls! Check out her SITS Day post for a bit more about her blog and why she is a BalancingMama. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her via Twitter.

Now, let’s get to know her!

So happy to be here as a guest today. I am Julie, aka BalancingMama. As any mom can relate, my life is a constant attempt to balance many things at any given time. I am mom to 3 ½ year old precocious Amelia, a wife to a sweet and hard-working husband, a part-time employee in an advertising agency, a Facebook addict, iPhone junkie, and blogger. My DVR is filled with Disney princess movies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and a few Christmas specials I was able to catch this season. Sometimes I am a shopper. Always, I am a friend to those who hold a piece of my heart.

I have learned a tremendous amount about myself, my life, and motherhood in general over the past few years. Here are a few mommy facts that caught me by surprise:
Other mothers can be your best friends. Or sadly, sometimes your worst enemies. I absolutely gravitate towards my mommy friends these days. 99% of my conversational topics are related to my child or my life as mom, and these friends “get it”. They understand why my house looks like a Toy-R-Us explosion. They don’t bat an eyelash if I have dishes on the sink and crumbs on the counter. They do not judge my at-home attire. In fact, they match me quite perfectly. However, I also see a lot of moms judging one another. Criticizing. Gossiping. Treating others with an “I do it better than you” attitude. This hurts my heart because I truly believe we should band together as a mighty mom force. All kids are different. It is okay for mothering to differ as well. We are all making our way through this busy and complicated world – in our own way.

Working from home is much harder than it sounds.  Every time I explain my part-time work-from-home schedule to a working person, they sigh. They wish they could have such a great deal. It all sounds so perfect… right? So I thought as well. But working from home? It is usually exasperating and always challenging. I rarely finish a task uninterrupted. I cannot take any important phone calls. I try my hardest to generate quality work for my boss and my clients as I sit, stand, sit, stand, assist, fix snack, search for toys, work a bit, turn on a show, sit, stand, sit, stand, etc. It is an exhausting day! At least at the office, my coworkers can take themselves to the bathroom. They even fix their own lunches!

Biceps, baby! Oh yes, many areas of my formerly small body have transformed into mush. The scale shows a number that I have never seen before. I could do without most of my new shape, but one new physical trait is not so bad: great arms. A child is a perfect gradually-increasing weight. We lift them in and out of the car, help them up and down the stairs, and on and off a chair. We play, cuddle, and wrestle. I have some serious biceps these days! And yeah… I kind of love them.

What surprises have YOU experienced throughout this amazing parenting journey?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
1. Now feel free to link-up a post from your own blog. Grab the  code for my button and add it to your post.
2. Use the linky below. (No giveaways please)
3. Hop around and read as many or as little of the other posts as you like.  Be sure to leave them a little or a lot comment love. ♥
4. Oh and don’t forget to tweet the word that it’s Friday and time for #Let’s BEE Friends!  The linky will remain open all weekend.

Let’s BEE Friends with … Bianca!

Posted on by
32

I’m excited today because I’m being host to a special guest. The coolest part is that she’s a local gal right from my very own backyard. Her name is Bianca and she’s the CEO of the blog, Bits of Bee.

I like her for many reasons. First because she’s brunette and super beautilicious. When you see her photos you’ll see what I mean. Second, she has the most adorable little kids. They obviously take after Mom. Last but not least, Bianca is Canadian and everyone knows just how sweet and friendly us folks can be. Eh?

If you don’t already know Bianca, you should subscribe to her blog. You can also seek out her friendship on Twitter where she’s known as @bitsofbee.

In the meantime, stay awhile, sit back and read 10 Things about Bianca right now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m BEE-yond excited to be hosted by Bruna from Bees With Honey for #LetsBEEFriends this week! When I started my blog (only 5 short months ago), I did a search on Twitter to see if my handle had been taken. I came across Bruna, a fellow Bee who is also from my neck of the woods, and I’ve been a devoted follower ever since!

Here are 10 random things about this Bee that you may not know:

1) I’m allergic to chocolate. Even a chocolate chip will put me in the hospital.

2) I was adopted. Twice. Once when I was 5, and again at the age of 21. Same mom, different dads.

3) I am Macedonian, Irish, African, Swedish, and German, but I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Vancouver, BC. I’m Canadian, eh!

4) I met Princess Diana in 1986. I was in a dance recital she attended during her visit to Expo ’86. She complimented me on my performance and gave me a rose.

5) I’m a career mommy of two with a full-time job as a Marketing/Sponsorship Manager for a major league sports team. I love my job even though I’m secretly not a big sports fan.

6) I have a 9 year old Dalmatian who is constantly mistaken as a 9 month old puppy.

7) I’m a crazy carnivore. Some say I have a meat tooth.

8) My best friend and I were once so caught up in a conversation, we didn’t realize we were being held up at gun point.

9) I can speak French fluently, yet I refuse to do so.

10) I grew up telling people that I was named after Bianca McJagger. It wasn’t until my teen years that I realized that it was Bianca, MICK Jagger’s wife whose name I was given.

That’s me in a nutshell! Through my blog I try to share advice, quotes and anecdotes from a career mommy of two, but I tend to get a little off topic sometimes. Check it out and let me know what you think! Bits of Bee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
1. Now feel free to link-up a post from your own blog. Grab the  code for my button and add it to your post.
2. Use the linky below. (No giveaways please)
3. Hop around and read as many or as little of the other posts as you like.  Be sure to leave them a little or a lot comment love. ♥
4. Oh and don’t forget to tweet the word that it’s Friday and time for #Let’s BEE Friends!  The linky will remain open all weekend.  CHEERS !

lets BEE friends with … Sarah!

Posted on by
49

Who doesn’t love Fridays? C’mon!

Only it’s still Thursday …

Since I’m busy on Friday and gone for the weekend, I thought I’d make Let’s BEE Friends go live one day earlier.

Hope you don’t mind!

Today, I get to honour a friend by having them as a guest on my blog.  If you’re a regular at Bees With Honey, you know what to do but if you’re new, please read on!

Note:  I’ve been leaving the linky open all weekend so more of you have time to link-up a favourite post!


As with all blog hops:

1. I ask that you follow me.
2. Grab the button from the sidebar and include it in your post.
3. Link up your favourite post from the week. (no giveaways please)
4. Visit other bloggers who have linked up. Follow who you like.
5. Spread the honey by leaving them some sweet old ♥ comment love ♥ !

The linky can be found at the bottom of this post!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, Sarah from Meet Me At The Fence is visiting me! She came over for some good ol’fashion girl time!  I’m serving her my special made vanilla lattes and drilling her with tons of questions.  If you already know Sarah, you won’t be surprised to learn that she’s a mommy to four beautiful kids and a wife to a loving husband.  If you don’t know her, you better run on over and check out her blog and follow her on Twitter as @MamaRiceCake !  You will thank me later.

Sarah is nuttin but a whole lot of sweetness in a friend. You’ll love her the instance you friend her. I did!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. How long have you been blogging and why did you start one?

I originally started a blog back in 2007 because my husband was deploying to Iraq and I was getting so many emails from extended family, distant relatives, and friend of friends that I couldn’t answer them all AND take care of my 4 kids who happened to all be 5 years old and under at the time. It was an easy way to share information about our family. I wrote about how he was doing and how we were doing, etc. But, I abandoned that space shortly after he came back home and fewer people were asking how we were doing.

I started The Fence back in February. I’m tired of the typical jerky Christian stereotypes. It’s irritating when people assume certain UNTRUE things about me on the basis of some loud-mouthed jerks who don’t talk or think anything like me. It’s not much different than when the rest of the country thinks that everyone in The South lives in a trailer, dresses like The People of Wal-Mart, are missing teeth, and are uneducated, illiterate hicks. That’s not even close to being true. BUT that’s who ends up on TV and who is interviewed after natural disasters… and so, that’s what the world thinks we’re all like. I started writing The Fence to set at least SOME of the record straight about life as a person following Jesus. I’m far from perfect. I have crazy days as a parent. I second-guess some parenting choices I’ve made. But I love my family and I love my God and I’m trying to live a life that isn’t just “for show”. Hopefully, people who read it catch on to that. Hopefully, some minds will be changed about ALL Christians being bigoted jerks that think they’re perfect.

2. What’s the story behind your blog’s name?

I actually tell the story behind the name on my blog. Winking smile The short version goes something like this:

I wanted to build a space where I wrote and told stories that sound like things I’d say while sitting with friends in my backyard. Our backyard selves aren’t as guarded or pretentious as our front-yard selves. We hang out with our closest friends on patios and decks with cold drinks and just talk about life. We’re REAL in that space. That’s how I wanted my blog space to be… just honest about life and love, struggles and humor, and honesty about some of the tougher lessons I’ve learned in practicing my faith. I talk a lot about my family… Dave and the RiceCakes (that’s what we call our kids) and stuff that is going on in our lives. Hopefully, most people think the stories about my kids are funny instead of eye-rolling! (I’m so NOT Kathy Lee Gifford!)

3. Give us a brief synopsis of your family.

I met my husband Dave when I was 17. He joined the Navy and we had a long distance relationship while he was in Kosovo and I was in college at the University of Arkansas. When his full-time commitment to the Navy was up and he was starting his Reserve duty, we eloped in Las Vegas when I was 20 and moved back to Fayetteville, AR where I was majoring in Poultry Science w/ a minor in French. We had Jack and Abi there before we moved to lower Alabama. We built a house and Jack and Joshua were born. All four RiceCakes were born within a span of 4.5 years… yes, that means I was pregnant for 3 years of the first 5 years of my marriage. It was puke-tastic! The RiceCakes all currently between 5 and 10 so, I’m WAY OUT of the baby stage of mommying. We’re just getting to the really good stuff… the stuff the kids will remember… as a family! We just celebrated our 11th anniversary in July and I wouldn’t change a thing.

4. What do you find most rewarding about blogging?

I really love a good story. I’ve talked about that a lot. I love hearing that something I’ve written made someone laugh… or think something over. The feedback is fun. I really didn’t expect that it would be as fun as it is. I love hearing other people’s stories. I really didn’t expect to make such good friends via the interwebs. I didn’t expect that military spouse community would have as big of an impact on my heart as it has had. I didn’t expect that other parents would be as encouraging… as Non-judgmental… as they really are. I’ve been blogging about stuff that’s important to me… sometimes getting ranty… for 7 months and I haven’t had to deal with anyone bullying or picking fights. The people I’ve come in contact with are so awesome. Such a broad slice of the world makes up my bloggy space and Twitterverse. We’ve had some really interesting conversations and they’ve really renewed my love for people. The connection to other people is hands down the BEST thing about blogging.

5. Think dumb reality show. What is the one thing no amount of money could get you to eat?

In spite of the fact that I live in The South… I don’t share the love for pickled weird things. I have this silly running joke with Jessica (from My Time as a Mom) on Twitter about the weird pickled stuff in some of the grocery stores down here. Things like pickled eggs… or pigs’ feet… or ox tails. Gag me with a spoon! I’ve never seen anyone buy them. Surely someone IS right? Why else would it be in the store? I will NEVER eat anything pickled beyond cucumbers! You couldn’t pay me to try it. I’d absolutely Technicolor Yawn! 

6. If Hollywood wanted to make a movie of your life, which celebrity would you want to play YOU?

When I was a kid, I used to get mistaken for Soleil Moon-Frye (aka Punky Brewster) when I was out with my family. Seriously, I had people come up to me at Dodger games to ask me for my autograph. They were bummed when I wasn’t her. Although, I really think that had more to do with my wardrobe choices as a kid than what my face looked like. ha ha!

Sandy Bullock (yeah, we’re buddies… I call her “Sandy”… she just doesn’t know it yet.) does a decent Southern accent without coming across like an outright hick. I’m pretty sure that she wouldn’t be a pill to work with… that little kids would like her… and telling her my story (so she’d play me with “the right motivation”) over happy hour on my back deck would be a pretty great way to spend my time. She’s pretty darn good at portraying real people. I like that about her.

7. Part 2 – Which celebrity would you choose to play your husband and why.

Matt Damon would make a pretty good Dave. They both have great smiles, talk slow, and have a love for cargo shorts and beer. Smile I’d like to hang out with him and get him to teach me how to fight people with phone books and Bic pens a la Jason Bourne. Plus, I think kids would like him… and you can’t make a movie about me and Dave without KIDS in it! “How do ya like THEM apples?!”

Side note: why the heck haven’t Sandra Bullock and Matt Damon already made a movie together?! I’d watch it! It’d make a fortune. Dang! I need to copyright that idea!

8. Have you ever been to a blogging conference? If yes, which one? If no, do you plan to in the near future?

I haven’t been to any blogging conferences. I have no definite plans to attend any in the near future. #wineparty on Twitter might be as close to a blogging conference as I ever get! At this point, it would probably just be a Girl’s Weekend kind of trip! ha ha! Financially, that’s not in the cards… unless someone wants to start one in Mobile, AL so I could drive! I don’t know that blogging will ever be more than a hobby but, I’d LOVE to meet my best bloggy buddies IRL! Look out world, that much AWESOMESAUCE in one place might cause a tear in the space-time continuum!

9. What is your favourite time of the day? Least favourite? Explain why for both.

I try to embrace MOST times of the day. I like spending time with my kids. I like hanging out with Dave. I like alone time. I am a night owl. Anyone who’s talked with me on twitter knows that. Dave worked nights for YEARS and I’m used to get lots of stuff done late at night while I’m waiting on him to get home. I like that time when everything’s quiet and everyone else is sleeping. To me, that sounds like contentment… and peace… and feels like all the time in the world.

I HATE early morning wake ups. Seriously. I freakin’ hate ‘em. I would rather stay up all night than get up really early. I’d rather take a red eye late at night than go to bed and try to make the first flight of the morning. Early mornings feel rushed and chaotic and like there’s not enough time to do what needs doing. I hate that feeling.

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What would you like to be or not be doing?

I’m one of those weird people who doesn’t really like to think too much ahead. I like to try to enjoy the “right now” instead of looking too far forward. “No one is promised tomorrow” right? That’s not to say that goals aren’t a good thing. In five years, the RiceCakes will be between 10 and 15, and two of them will be starting high school. I hope that we’ll be making lots of fun memories as a family. I hope that they’ll each know how loved they are and that THAT chunk of time, that was SO hard for me, will be easier for them. Dave will have almost 20 years in the military at that point… he’ll be closing in on retirement, and we’ll have at least one more deployment under our belts. Hopefully, I’ll find ways to manage that life gracefully. Hopefully, I’ll still be telling stories about life and love and lessons I’ve learned. Hopefully, I’ll still be friends with most of my tweeps… and hopefully, we’ll have spent some time together IRL.

Bonus: This question is to be made up by you. You get to ask yourself something. It can be anything.

11. (as suggested by Dana from What Were We Thinking) Describe your perfect vacation with kids AND without kids.

I actually really like going places with my kids but, my favorite place to take them is Holiday Island. Every 3 years, my Dad’s side of the family (YES, the Arkansas WINERY side of my family) has a family reunion at Holiday Island… which is just outside Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s so fun. 100 + people show up from all over the country… from 3 different forks in our family tree… for all the fun and loving you could possibly handle. They swim at the pool. They water ski on a lake where the Arkansas and Missouri state line crosses the water. They hold a Memorial golf tourney to pay tribute to my Grampa. And they host a Fun Run because they’re crazy. They usually have a Talent Show which no one wins… but usually results in my Dad laughs so hard that he almost throws up. There’s a massive BBQ/potluck and 4 or 5 generations of people all hang out and catch up. They had out “awards” made out of paper plates for ridiculous things…. my great uncle had both his knee replaced and he got the “Fewest Original Parts Award!” It’s awesome. 5 years ago was the first time I was able to take the kids… it was the coolest thing EVER to see them playing on a playground that I played on myself as a kid. I moved so much growing up that I don’t really feel like I have a “hometown.” The place I graduated high school from doesn’t feel like “home” at all. Holiday Island is the closest thing I’ve got. Letting my kids see a place that was important to me, with people I just love, is the perfect vacation to take them on. Letting them see where their family comes from… meet all kinds of distant cousins… and start relationships with family members they’d never meet otherwise is pretty darn fabulous.

As far as going on vacation without the kids… I’d love to go someplace beachy and do next-to-nothing. There’s a place in Bora Bora where you can stay in huts over the water and watch fish swim threw a glass floor… you have your own private pool… and room service. To me… having quiet time like that, swimming in sunshine and ocean… with Dave… and not having to take care of anyone else would be AWESOME. The price tag would be INSANE… but I know what I’d spend part of my jackpot on if I ever win the lottery! ha ha! For now, I’d love to just go hang out at Gulf Shores sans bebes for a few days and call it good! Down time + water = relaxation.

The Fence

lets BEE friends with … Jennifer!

Posted on by
35

TGIF!  Time to link-up for Lets BEE Friends!

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been leaving the linky open all weekend giving bloggers more time to join in on the fun!

As with all blog hops:

1. I ask that you follow me.
2. Grab the button from the sidebar and include it in your post.
3. Link up your favourite post from the week. (no giveaways please)
4. Visit other bloggers who have linked up. Follow who you like.
5. Spread the honey by leaving them some sweet old ♥ comment love ♥ !

The linky can be found at the bottom of this post!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can you guess who I’m featuring today?

It’s Jennifer from Take 2 Mommy!

She’s a “former full-time marketing pro turned WAHM / marketing freelancer. Slowing things down to watch my boys grow up.”  Jen lives in New York and blogs about things she loves and may have missed the first time around Motherhood. 

I love Jennifer because she’s always happy, sweet and a good friend. I see her lovely name on my blog daily and I truly appreciate the times she takes to read my blog and share with me her positive comment love.

If you’re not already reading Jennifer, you need to hop on over to her blog and check things out! You can also follow her on Twitter as @take2mommy. Do it! She’s a friend you want to have in your Twitter life!

And now, let’s get on with her interview! Woot! Woot!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. How did you come up with Take 2 Mommy for the name of your blog. Tell us the story behind the name.
After graduating college I spent nearly two decades in corporate America. (Yep, I’m that old!) Toward the end of that 20-year stint I got married and had kids — two boys, who I didn’t see much. I would leave to commute to New York City before my boys woke up, and I’d come home at night with just enough time to feed them dinner and put them to bed. I always felt tons of guilt about that — about not spending enough time with my kids. So in May of last year, huz and I did some financial figuring and decided I could stay home and pursue a freelance marketing/writing biz. I started my blog at the same time. I named it take2mommy because I felt like I was given a second chance, a second “take” at being a mom.

2. Tell us about your family.
There’s Huz who’s a workaholic, a computer geek, a baseball player, and a bit of a mama’s boy ;) He’s also a compassionate husband and a great dad! Then there’s Boo, my serious and sensitive 7YO son and Dipsy, my goofy and reckless 5YO son. We have a cat and a dog too, because whenever I’d pester huz about having a third kid he’d channel my energy toward pet adoption instead.

3. What did you do before marriage and kids? Career?
Pre-marriage and family, my career was my life. I worked for a couple tech companies, an ad agency and a leading media company. I managed their marketing, advertising, communications and creative services. More recently, I held director-level marketing positions at other media companies including Golf Digest, iVillage, Meredith Corporation (Parents and American Baby magazines) and most recently at Bonnier Corp. (Working Mother magazine). I created and executed custom marketing programs for the magazine’s clients and got to work with some great brands like Lego, Motts, Stokke, Johnson & Johnson, Huggies and LeapFrog. I gave all that up when I left Working Mother magazine last year. But I’m totally OK with it.

4. If you could go out for dinner with any celebrity and your husband wouldn’t mind, which celebrity would be your pick?
Easy one: Viggo Mortensen! First off I think he’s a hottie, but also I find it fascinating that he’s a painter, photographer, musician and poet in addition to being an actor. He actually sang in a couple songs on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, and his paintings have been featured in galleries around the world. All that should make for interesting dinner conversation, right?

5. Is the glass half full or half empty? How do you see yourself in the life you lead?
In high school I was voted class optimist, so back then I was a squarely in the half-full camp. Today I’m more of a realist. Sometimes I find I have to remind myself to look at the bright side of life — which is ridiculous, because Huz and I are fortunate and we have so much. I should always see the glass as half full!

6. What is one item you own that you cannot live without? Tell why.
It’s a little something I call my “SHHHH” machine. It plays a few different types of white noise. If I have that cranking all night and put earplugs in my ears when I sleep, I can almost drown out my husband’s snoring. Almost.

7. Bikini, grandma style, g-string or boxers? Which type of underwear is your favourite? (I love this question.)
I am actually glad you asked this question, because I experienced an underwear shopping fail over the weekend. I’m a bikini gal and have been forever. I picked up two packages of Jockey undies yesterday — my fave brand. The outside of the package said “bikini” but when I got them home? Grandma underwear! And the worst part is that Jockey apparently stopped making a true bikini style. Boo!

8. Are you a Tom-Boy or a Girly-Girl? As a kid? As an adult?
I’m much closer to being a tomboy than a girly girl for sure. When I was a kid I didn’t care what the heck I looked like. I’d cut my own hair or have gum stuck in my hair half the time. Today I can go months between mani-pedis, but I let someone else cut my hair! Since my kids are boys I think the fact that I’m tomboy-ish is a good thing.

9. How do you balance being a WAHM and a blogger with taking care of a family?The working/blogging mom juggling act is hard, isn’t it? But I try to be mindful that family comes first. When the kids need me, I close my laptop right then and there. When the kids are at camp or school I work feverishly. I don’t let myself fold laundry or shower or pee ;) I also prioritize my job over my blog, since the job pays the bills! My poor blog. It gets neglected at times.

10. What kind of work do you do, and what advice can you give to other moms about starting a work-from-home business?
I call myself a marketing communications consultant. Companies hire me on a project basis to create (write and design) marketing communications materials: eNewsletters, brochures, presentations, ads, press releases, etc. My best tip to someone who would want to start a similar (writing) business is…network! Seriously people, it is ALL who you know. Throughout my corporate career I often hired freelance marketers and writers. 9.5 times out of 10 I’d hire someone who came recommended. Engage with the brands and companies you like on Twitter to “meet” the people who work for those companies. LinkedIn is also a great tool for growing your professional network and finding freelance work. Even if you only have a handful of schoolmates or former work friends on LinkedIn it’s OK…because they have connections you can access, and those connections have connections, and so on.

11. What new and exciting things do you have coming up on your blog that we should stay tuned for?
I’m adding a Blogroll page, but because there are so many blogs (and bloggers) that I love it’s turning into more of an encyclopedia (Blogopedia?)! I also plan to build out the “veggie mama” section of my blog, with more vegetarian recipes and tips on healthy eating for kids. Lastly, I’d love some guest bloggers…and my sometimes-neglected blog would love them too. If any Bees With Honey readers are interested in guest blogging, please DM me on Twitter @take2mommy.

 

let’s BEE friends with … karen!

Posted on by
37

Happy Friday everyone!

It’s that time again.  Time to meet new bloggers and spread the sweetness of *honey*.  As you already know, every Friday, I feature a blogger I love and enjoy reading. Today is Friday, so let’s link-up!

As with all blog hops:

1. I ask that you follow me.
2. Grab the button from the sidebar and include it in your post.
3. Link up your favourite post from the week. (no giveaways please)
4. Visit other bloggers who have linked up. Follow who you like.
5. Spread the honey by leaving them some sweet old ♥ comment love ♥ !

The linky can be found at the bottom of this post!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today I’m featuring Karen from Time Crafted. She is a good friend and a very devoted participant of Let’s BEE Friends Friday here at Bees With Honey. Karen links-up with me every Friday and I love the posts she shares. If you haven’t yet crossed paths with Karen via Twitter, you should follow her @TimeCrafted. She’s a sweetheart of a girl and a fabulously cool friend. She’s super fun and super funny!

Now let’s get to know her!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Time Crafted is an interesting name for your blog. Can you tell us how you came up with this name? Also fill us in on how long you’ve been blogging so far.
I caught the blogging bug in February 2009.  Initially, my blog focused predominantly on paper crafts, cards, and stamping.  Though, I had always wanted it to celebrate all different kinds of creativity.  Crafting my writing, photography, and an altered art journal is where I’ve journeyed to this year.

I chose the name Time Crafted because having a blog and keeping the spirit of it’s mission to ‘alter personal time to include creativity, joy & smile worthy moments in our daily lives’ requires me to craft my time to include creative pursuits, to stop and see all those little bits that life offers for a smile, and to keep a blog going.  Sometimes I’m successful at it, sometimes I’m not.  But, it’s an ongoing process and I’ll keep on crafting my time and hopefully continue to get better at it.

2. Tell us about the dynamics of your family. We would love to meet them!
I’ve been married for eleven years now and we have two beautiful kidlets, a boy in elementary school and a girl who’s about to start kinder next month.  I’m home with my kidlets and while at times, we have some additional challenges that come with having a kidlet with autism, we love our family time together.

3. Do you look at the glass as half empty or half full?
Definitely half full!  I can find the silver lining on just about anything, even if it’s downright ridiculous.  I know of two specific times in my life that I couldn’t keep the optimism going and that just made the challenges I was facing a million times harder.  Finding the good in something is somewhat natural, but when it’s not coming on its own, I make a conscious effort to find it.  Life’s just a whole heck of a lot more enjoyable when I can.

4. Who, in your life, do you admire the most? Tell why.

I admire different people in my life for different things.  I admire my brother’s adventurous spirit, traveling each year to far off places like China, Indonesia, Guatemala, Honduras, even trekking up to the Mt. Everest Base Camp.  This summer he’s bicycling through Spain and Portugal (though, I just got a postcard he sent from Wales, so he must have headed north too!).  I admire my closest friends’ (we’re The Four Musketeers…for over twenty years now) ability to translate friendship into sisterhood.  I admire many of my teachers growing up who were so passionate for what they were teaching that it infected their students, myself included.  I admire my husband’s silly side, bringing laughter into the house.  I admire my son’s strength and his intelligence.  And I admire my girl’s pure joy for anything and everything creative.

5. Choose a cartoon character (could be Disney) you would love to be and explain why.

Who knew that trying to decide what cartoon character I would love to be would lead to so many giggles & debates in our house?!  Though, I probably should have seen it coming. lol

One of my childhood nicknames was Tweety Bird, so I have an affinity for that sweet yellow bit.  Love how happy that Road Runner is (poor Wile E. Coyote). Give me an invisible jet and I’ll be Wonder Woman.  And I do love me some Smurfs!  La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaa….

6. How do you decide what to blog about each day? Is there a process you follow or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?
I enjoy sharing wherever the creative spirit takes me: from writing with The Red Dress Club or Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop to photo(s) for a Word-ful/ish/less (who am I kidding?! I can’t do wordless, I’m too chatty!) post on Wednesdays to a creative project or art journal page to sharing some of life’s smile worthy moments, hoping that you’ll smile too!

7. How do you balance your time as a Mom and as a Mom Blogger?
As a few tweeps already know, “balance” can find me up late at night.  Though, that can only go for so many days before I crash.  So, like many a Mama, I’m still on the hunt for that illusive balance.  If you find it beneath a rainbow or Mary Poppins to tick off To-Do’s with a song, give me a holler.  I promise I’ll share!

8. Who was your teenage celebrity crush? Who is your celebrity crush now that you’re an adult woman?
Back in the day, I crushed on Patrick Swayze.  He’s gone now, but quite a pleasant memory lane to travel down.  Now?  Not so sure I’ve got a celebrity crush, but do think Hugh Jackman and Gerard Butler are well worth crafting some time to watch!

9. If you were offered the chance to change one thing about your physical appearance and it would be pain free, what would you change?
I’d love a regular ol’ working ankle in place of the one that got pretty trashed in a car accident coming up on fifteen years ago.  While that may not be a part of physical appearance, it definitely effects what kind of shoes I can wear…you know, the cute ones!

10. What new and exciting things do you have coming up on your blog?
Just as soon as I get a chunk of time, I suspect I will be joining many of you, self hosting on WordPress.  I hear the water’s fine over there!

let’s BEE friends with … Debbie !

Posted on by
17


It’s that time again! Friday and the Let’s BEE Friends link-up! A meme where you link-up one of your favourite posts or a post you felt didn’t get enough comment love.

As with all blog hops …

1. I ask that you follow me.
2. Grab the button from the sidebar and include it in your post.
3. Link up your favourite post from the week. (no giveaways please)
4. Visit other bloggers who have linked up. Follow who you like.
5. Spread the honey by leaving them some sweet old ♥ comment love ♥ !

The linky can be found at the bottom of this post!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This week, I’m especially excited because I’m featuring a blog I became addicted to when I first started out blogging myself. What I liked most about my feature blogger today is the truth that emanated throughout her posts about Motherhood. I found myself identifying with her posts about parenting, children and marriage. It’s not often that you can find such honesty from Moms who share their tales of child rearing. It was refreshing to read Debbie from The Truth About Motherhood.

Debbie not only captured my interest because of her ability to keep my attention and entertain me with her sense of humour, she also was sweet enough to reach out to me when she saw me drowning in the world of Twitter. She took me under her wing and showed me the ropes, so to speak by introducing me to other Mom bloggers, educating me about the ever so popular Friday night #wineparty and by her supportive retweeting of my blog posts as I wrote and shared them via Twitter. I am forever grateful for Debbie’s friendship. She means a lot to me.

So without further babbling on my part … I present to you, the very popular and talented Debbie from The Truth About Motherhood!

1.  What did you do or were you doing before you had kids? Give us a little background on you. Before I had my girls, I was working on a masters in education and teaching a k-2 class in Tennessee. I was enjoying being married to my best friend and growing in our marriage, getting to really know one another.

2.  How did you come up with the name for your blog? Everything I had read  about parenthood was sugar coated and quite frankly, I was surprised a lot by motherhood. I wanted to have a place to share my successes and yes, even my failures. It’s lonely in the beginning, hell it’s lonely a lot, when you have children. Out of embarrassment or fear of judgment, most Moms don’t talk about the hard part and that leaves the Mommy feeling overwhelmed, isolated and like she is failing at her greatest task. I think that’s bullshit! We need to grow a sisterhood through motherhood and support one another. I want to start by giving women the straight truth and providing a community where we are all free to share our truths without judgment.

3.  Is there any topic you refuse to blog about? I don’t have a topic that I refuse to talk about, but I do give information as it is relevant. It’s  about motherhood but sometimes, other aspects of my life influence me as a mother and that is when I share those facets of me on my blog. I’m an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, surrounded by mystery.

4.  How did you come up with the idea for Throat Punch Thursday? My husband, the Big Guy, is an avid reader of CNN and loves to share all the shocking events of the world. I decided that the plethora of horrible things going on in the world needed a good swift throat punch.

5.  Name someone or something you cannot live without and tell why. I can not live without my children. I know it sounds so 1950′s but honestly, I can NOT remember life before them. They came along and gave my life meaning, beyond any comprehension.They are my heart and without my heart, I could not survive. Also, the Big Guy, I would not want to experience life without him. He is my best friend and closest confidant.I could survive without him but my life would lose the better part of it’s joy and verve.

5. Tell us the romantic story behind how you met your husband. Funny that you ask, our 12th year wedding anniversary is this Sunday. We had a mutual girl friend in college who really wanted us to meet, as friends.After several failed attempts to meet, finally we were in the same place at the same time. I remember ditching our LSAT class that Monday night in September and walking into the local bar with my friend, and expecting this guy to be the best thing since sliced bread. I mean after all, it was her best friend who she kept on and on about. Instead, we walk up to the bar and as I’m looking for the typical college frat boy, she stops short in front of this long, lanky, bleached blond hair with BLUE tips, an eyebrow ring and smoking a cigarette.  WTF?  I thought to myself,well, at least she’s not trying to set us up. To me, he looked like someone that I might have dated in high school when I was going through my “alternative” phase but no one I would date as a grown woman. She introduced us. I was cordial. I said, “Hi,I’m Debi” he nonchalantly cast his eyes downwards toward me and said “hey” barely acknowledging my existence.I immediately did not like him. I could barely stand him. Who did he think he was? Seriously? But as the night progressed, we ended up back at the house he shared with several other guys and they were having a party. Needless to say, the girl who introduced us and begged me to accompany her to the party, promptly disappeared, leaving me alone once again with this guy who , at first glance, seemed quite rude and disinterested in even having a functional conversation. I had an astronomy exam that I desperately needed to study for and all I wanted to do was go home.But, being me, I had absolutely NO idea of how to get home.Finally, he offered to walk me home. Which, at first, I found the idea ridiculous but out of necessity I agreed. I was completely at his mercy. I was praying that the walk was quick and that he was not a serial killer. It started off as a walk, then he took me to the roof of the parking garage to point out constellations and we began to talk.Really talk. Then we continued walking, I learned later that he took the longest possible way home. I remember being at the soccer fields, lying on our backs looking up at the stars at that moment as night meets dawn and the birds start to sing and you are so deliriously tired but the excitement of the newness propels you forward. In those few hours, we shared our entire life with one another. After a stolen kiss and butterflies invading my stomach, he walked me home…and we’ve been together ever since.

6.  If you could have one do-over in life what would it be? Any regrets? I have no regrets in life, none. I live life every day. But if I had to choose one thing, I wish I would have had my children a couple years earlier only because then I am sure I would have had one more.

7.  If you could be someone else for one day who would it be and why? I don’t think I’d want to be anyone else. I am exactly where I want to be with the people that I want to be with. I feel like good things are on my horizon. I’d stick at me. It’s pretty good to be me.

8.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Celebrating my 17th year of marriage to the Big Guy, the Mommy of two beautiful little girls in elementary school and hopefully taking my blog to the next level. I’d love to have a book published and continue sharing my truth and growing my amazing community of wonderful women.

9.  Anything new coming up on your blog? I wish I could say but really I post day by day as life occurs.I don’t do a lot of scheduled posts but this month, in celebration of my 2nd blogiversary, I am hosting several of my favorite bloggers at The TRUTH about Motherhood. I hope you will stop by and read the amazing truths of this wonderful community and if you like what you see, I would love it if you would come again.