I’m headed down to Ft. Worth to see the most ultimate rock band of all time, Muse.  It has been my dream for a LONG time to see them live, so it seems surreal that it’s actually being realized.

How are you celebrating your St. Patrick’s day?  Are you wearing green?

Everyone’s Irish on St. Patty’s Day, right?

Well, Irish or not, everyone I know who’s ever had this Irish soda bread has LOVED it. It’s easy and oh, so delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda (make sure it’s a fairly fresh box)
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9-inch round cake pan with non-stick spray.

Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Add sugar, raisins, buttermilk and eggs and mix.

Pour mixture into pan and bake for 40 minutes.

When done, the top should be golden brown and a toothpick should come cleanly out of the center.

While the bread is still warm, melt about 1 Tbsp. of butter and brush on top of the loaf. Sprinkle sugar in the butter.

To eat, slather with butter! It’s really delicious that way! Especially with a hot cup of tea.

Erin go braugh!
Sue gets her Irish on at My Party of 6.

So, that brings me to the next question:  What does this mean for our babysitting budget?

If we can afford $40-80 per week for the occasional time away from the kids, that’s great.  But, what if we can’t?  We could choose to always be home with the kids, or bring them with us when we go out, but is there another option that we could feel comfortable with?

I was thinking about this when Kareen, the creator of HiveMoms.com told me about her website which brings neighborhood moms together for playdates and babysitting co-ops.  I expressed some doubt about a babysitting co-op:  “How would I know to trust the other moms?  They may live close to me, but that doesn’t mean we share the same values or that we care for our children the same way.”

But, as Kareen explained, HiveMoms is not about befriending strangers and immediately putting our kids in their care.  In fact, you could start a private co-op with moms you already know and trust – the site just makes it easy to keep track of the points you exchange when you trade babysitting!

I’m still wondering if I should give this a shot.  Maybe I’ll just join a few playdates that are posted on the site, and then see how it goes.  Is anyone game to join me for a peek?

Oh boy. These are so, so very good. Be sure to eat them warm, fresh out of the oven. I grew up with these. It just doesn’t get much better.

Besides being easy and delicious, Cheesy Parmesan Italian Biscuits are versatile. Pair them with a steak and salad, or your favorite Italian meal, basically any place where you’d serve basic breadsticks or biscuits.

Cheesy Parmesan Italian Biscuits
Makes about 10 biscuits

• 1 c. grated Parmesan (I used the kind in the green bottle, the way my mom did, but feel free to fancy it up and use freshly grated Parmesan)
• 2/3 c. mayo
• 2-3 Tbsp. fresh chopped green onion
• Garlic powder to taste
• Italian seasoning to taste
• 1 can Hungry Jack flaky biscuits

For some time now, you have heard me brag about Cozi for making my crazy life more organized with their calendars, journals, and shopping lists.  Speaking of shopping lists, Cozi just hit their 10,000,ooo shopping list item! To celebrate this milestone, they are giving away free groceries for a year.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Cozi is giving away a full year of groceries, which is around a $4500 value.  In addition, they are also giving away 30 Oxo kitchen gadgets a day for the duration of the giveaway, which is eight weeks.  Yes, I’m serious.

Want to know how to enter?  Sure you do.

1.  Visit www.cozi.com/win and enter your email address.

2. Gain extra entries by sharing the giveaway with your Twitter and Facebook friends.

3. Spin to win!  Spin the slot machine for a chance to win Oxo gadgets.  You get three chances a day to win.

During these tough economic times, we could all use groceries for a year.  As always, Cozi is making our lives easier.  Good luck!

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A few weeks ago, PJ over at Real Men Drive Minivans (awesome blog title) asked if I would help him promote the Sweartshirt Blanket, and in addition, have a custom “Mom Spark” Sweatshirt Blanket created just for me.  It was a no-brainer.  Seriously.  A Sweartshirt Blanket?  I’m sold.

I emailed PJ the Mom Spark logo, picked out my favorite Sweartshirt Blanket color (Athletic Heather Gray), and in a couple weeks I received my custom blankets.  They. Are. Awesome. And extremely comfy.  Ask my husband, I’m wrapped up in my Sweartshirt Blanket every night now.  So soft and cozy.  The logo came out quite nicely too, check it out:

The Official Mom Spark Blanket

Here are the specs:

• Measures 54″ X 84″ in size
• Made out of 14 ounce sweatshirt fleece and weight 2.7 pounds
• As a result, they are 33% thicker than the industry standard
• Constructed using a ring spun process giving them a soft touch
• Anti-pill finish, which means they won’t thin out over time
• 100% preshrunk
• Wrinkle resistant

In addition to using at home on the couch, the Sweartshirt Blanket is perfect for staying warm and snug during outside sporting events, or even spreading out on the grass for a picnic on a warm day.  You can get any logo, image, or text you want printed on your blanket, like your sports team mascot, college fraternity, or business logo.  The Sweartshirt Blanket has also been used to help raise funds for charities, like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  If you just want a plain blanket with no print, they can do that too.

I am very happy with the overall quality and softness of the blanket.  It isn’t too heavy or thick, but still warm enough to keep me happy and content.  I was very impressed with the print of the Mom Spark logo as well.  It is done professionally and isn’t scratchy or bulky using the blanket.  I really do love this blanket.

To learn more about the Sweatshirt Blanket and to order your own, please visit www.sweartshirt.com.  Pricing starts at $19.98 a blanket, and discounts are provided when ordering in bulk.  See full pricing HERE.

::GIVEAWAY::

Sweatshirt Blanket would like to give TWO WINNERS a custom “Mom Spark” Sweartshirt Blanket AND the opportunity to designate a school, organization, charity, non-profit, or local sports team (little league) to donate six blankets that will be customized for that organization.  The organization will also receive special pricing in the event they’d like to use them as fundraisers.  How cool is that???

::HOW TO ENTER::

• To enter this giveaway, please leave us a comment telling us what organization you would like to donate six custom Sweatshirt Blankets to and why.  Earn even more entries below!

::EARN UP TO NINE EXTRA ENTRIES::

You can earn extra entries by doing the following.  Please leave a comment for each:

• Follow on @SweatShirtBlog on Twitter.
• Fan Sweatshirt Blanket on Facebook.
• Follow @MomSpark on Twitter.
• Fan Mom Spark on Facebook.
• Blog about this giveaway. (put link in comment)
• Become a subscriber of Mom Spark. Subscribe here. (mention in comment)
• Follow Mom Spark on Google Friend Connect. (see sidebar)
• Become a forum member. (mention in comment)
• Tweet about this giveaway:

I just entered to win a Mom Spark Sweatshirt Blanket on @MomSpark! Come enter, too: http://clicky.me/KPE #giveaway #contest

Contest ends Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at midnight CST.  USA & CA residents only, please.  Good luck!

DISCLOSURE – I was provided four custom Sweatshirt Blankets for this giveaway and promotion.  My reviews and recommendations are always honest and true. Read Mom Spark’s full disclosure here.

Do you fit the stereotype?

I try not to stereotype, I really do, but it’s hard to deny the stereotype of a woman.  Why?  Because it is true.

We’re too emotional.  Too dramatic.  We hold grudges.  We tear down our own kind.  We get jealous.  We gossip.

I see it almost daily online.  Mothers degrading other mothers and women.  Defaming.  Indulging in the misery of others.  Purposely leaving others out of opportunities.  Name calling.  Insults.

It’s wrong and annoying.

As mothers, we strive to be the nurturer and support system of our children, yet many of us do not carry this over to the women in our community.  We have the power to do positive, meaningful things, yet we focus our energies on petty, meaningless crap.  What a waste.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to fight this stereotype.  Who’s with me?

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At the Type A Mom Conference back in September, I sat through a tour of the HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web All-in-One Printer and was amazed.  Honestly, I had no idea how far HP had come over the years and was super impressed that they had created the world’s first Web-connected home printer.  Our “tour guide” was navigating the web using a touch screen on the printer that totally blew my mind.  It was so cool!  They must have noticed my excitement and amazement because they followed up with me a few months later and asked if I would like to review the printer.  I was thrilled to show my husband all of the cool features the Photosmart Premium had to offer, and most of all, how easy it was to use.

There are TONS of features included with the HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart, so I am only sharing a few of my favorites here (taken from the HP website):

• Print Web content like movie tickets, coupons, maps, recipes, and puzzles right from the HP TouchSmart screen, no PC needed
• Print checklists, fax cover pages, and notebook paper, and other forms and templates using Quick Forms
• Save time: directly access photos on Snapfish.com without turning on your PC
• Get lab-quality photos, rich black-and-white shots, laser-quality text, time-saving direct Web printing, and creative projects—all from one machine
• Edit and print photos, send faxes, scan photos for reprinting, make copies, and print from the Web—without a PC—using the spacious screen
• Simplify photo printing with the automatic photo trays
• Print photos directly from mobile phones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices, or an iPhone or iPod touch
• Cut paper use in half with the automatic two-sided printing
• Conserve ink and save money: replace each cartridge individually when it runs out
• Get exclusive offers and discounts on supplies, shop from your own supplies list, and get free next-day shipping with “My Print Rewards”

I have had “all-in-one” printers in the past, but they were never this easy to use.   Having the Touchsmart screen makes all the difference, really.  The steps for scanning, faxing, copying, printing photos, etc. are all very straight forward and totally done on the printer itself.  You can also access Disney, CBS Interactive, Google, DreamWorks Animation, Fandango,  Coupons.com, and others by using the Touchsmart screen.  It’s like having a second computer (with web) and photo lab on your desktop!

In the past, when I needed to scan and email a document, it was a huge pain and would take WAY too long to execute.  I would usually give up and run down to the copy store and fax.  Now, it only takes me five minutes tops and automatically saves my scanned document as a .pdf or image file.  So easy.  Isn’t it amazing how productive you can be when you have the right tools?

I HIGHLY recommend the HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web All-in-One Printer for your home, office or workplace.  You can learn more or purchase your own HERE.  The printer retails for $329.99 (after rebate) and is well worth the investment.  Thank you, HP, for allowing me to review this amazing printer.

::GIVEAWAY::

I REALLY want you to experience the HP Photosmart Touchsmart technology, too, so we are giving a HP Photosmart A646 Compact Photo Printer to one lucky winner!

The HP Photosmart A646 Compact Printer Series makes it simple to view, edit, create and personalize photos – all without a PC – with easy-to-navigate menus right on the printer’s HP TouchSmart control panel with large 3.45-inch touchscreen. Ideal for on-the-go photographers and busy parents, this portable and compact device easily prints from Bluetooth®-enabled mobile phones, allowing users to print out and share their photos wherever they are.

With more than 300 creative elements to choose from, including borders, clip art, album pages and photo captions, the HP Photosmart A640 Compact Printer Series makes personalizing and printing home photos easy and fun. In addition, 30 editing and enhancing options from the HP Design Gallery, including pet-eye fix, slimming feature, blemish removal and sepia tones, make photos look their best.

This ENERGY STAR® qualified printer helps reduce packaging waste by shipping in an innovative, reusable tote.  Valued at $150!

::HOW TO ENTER::

• To enter this giveaway, please leave us a comment telling us why you would like to win the HP Photosmart A646 Compact Printer.  Earn even more entries below!

::EARN UP TO NINE EXTRA ENTRIES::

You can earn extra entries by doing the following, leaving a comment for each:

• Follow on @HP_IPG on Twitter.
• Fan HP on Facebook.
• Follow @MomSpark on Twitter.
• Fan Mom Spark on Facebook.
• Blog about this giveaway. (put link in comment)
• Become a subscriber of Mom Spark. Subscribe here. (mention in comment)
• Follow Mom Spark on Google Friend Connect. (see sidebar)
• Become a forum member. (mention in comment)
• Tweet about this giveaway:

I just entered to win a HP Photosmart Printer #hp on @MomSpark! Come enter, too: http://clicky.me/JEC #giveaway #contest

Contest ends Friday, March 12, 2010 at midnight CST.  USA & CA residents only, please.  Good luck!

DISCLOSURE – I was provided a HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web Printer for this giveaway and promotion.  My reviews and recommendations are always honest and true. Read Mom Spark’s full disclosure here.

For me it started after 30.

Um, let’s see…. 2010 — 1975 — carry the 1…

35.

Wait, no I was born in May. 34. Still 34.

I always do the math now, because I spent an entire year telling people I was 32 when I was really only 31.

Sometimes the math is shocking.

It’s 17 years this spring since I graduated from high school. I’m closing in on the 20 year mark.

20 years?

In my memory it’s still yesterday. When did it get to be so long ago?

Almost two decades since I plastered my bangs high in the air with Aquanet, pegged and rolled my jeans and listened to Boyz II Men on the radio.

Yeah. The 90’s.

I said it was a long time ago. I didn’t say I missed it.

The math can be good too.

This month my husband and I celebrate our 12th anniversary. And we still like each other.

We’re not perfect. We have moments when we want to strangle each other. But the good stuff far outweighs the bad. I look forward to counting the next 50 years with him.

Then there are times when the cold hard facts of  the numbers take my breath away.

It just can’t be possible that my oldest is five, and heading to kindergarten this fall. It can’t be possible that the baby will be one already in May.

Everyone says it. “They grow up too fast.” You don’t believe it when sleepless nights stretch into long tired days. But numbers don’t lie. The math reminds me to cherish this time with my little ones. Even the days when they splash so much water from the bathtub that it leaks into the basement, and they stain the beige carpet with grape juice.

I’m actually not very good at math. College Algebra almost ruined my life. I can balance my checkbook five times in a row, and arrive at five different numbers. But those kinds of numbers really are insignificant.

It’s the equations that add up to a life that really matter.

When I’m, uh–

…34 plus 50…add that to 1975…

84 in 2059 I want to sit next to my husband in our matching wheels chairs, and like him even more than I do now. I want to see my children who grew into compassionate adults. I want to hear my grandchildren laugh, and watch them get into mischief.

If that’s what the numbers tell me all those years from now, I’ll know I got the answers right.

Merlin or Gandolph? You be the judge.

Can she handle adult decisions?

While chatting with a friend yesterday, I found out that she had left her 9 year-old home alone while the rest of the family went out to eat.  I was very shocked to hear this as this seems very young to me, but she felt peace about it.  She told me that she trusted him and didn’t worry about it at all.  I then started wondering if I were an overprotective mother, because I was baffled.  However, I did grow up home alone at an all-too-young age and will probably always overcompensate for that.  But still, what age is okay to be home alone?

Children obviously develop and mature at different rates, so I suppose an appropriate age would depend on the child.  My oldest, who is 10, is very mature and smart for his age, but I still can’t image leaving him home alone for any length of time.  What adult decisions would he be forced to make on his own, and could he handle those decisions at 10?  Sure, it’s nice to think that everything would run nice and smooth, but what if something went wrong?  Let’s be realistic, having a telephone nearby doesn’t always save the day.  What if someone knocks at the door and says, “Your house is on fire!”  Should they believe it?  What if the house really is on fire?  What if the child gets hurts and can’t get to a phone?  Are the cable tv and internet safety locks on when they’re alone?  What about guns & alcohol?  There are so many scenarios that run through my mind…

I think we have to be careful in assuming that our mature children can handle grown-up situations.  Is it fair to put them in those situations?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

One of them is Doteasy.com which offers web hosting and domain name registration services. They simply have what you could ever need for your website from free to unlimited hosting. They have over 160,000 domain owners and guarantee 99.9% uptime for your website.  They are also one of the few who implements no ads or pop-ups on your site with their free hosting plan. A lot of free web hosting providers you’ll find usually put annoying ads on your site, sometimes even at the top of your web page which could really be annoying. And others, just simply aren’t reliable enough for your site. That’s why reliability of a web host is an important aspect you should really look at.

Aside from the great offer they have with their free hosting package, they also have a great promo right now. This promo lets you register any domain name such as .com, .net, .org for ONLY $4.95 for your first year. To join this promo, just use the coupon code 0910FWH when signing up at: https://www.doteasy.com/SignUp4/index.cfm?

DISCLOSURE – I was compensated for this post and promotion.  My reviews and recommendations are always honest and true. Read Mom Spark’s full disclosure here.

They both took a chance, and made a lasting friendship.

I was more than a little frightened about attending my first blogging conference.  I mean, who in their right mind would pick BlogHer as their very first conference?  Insane, right?  I didn’t know a single attendee in real life and had NEVER traveled alone.  I had only been blogging for a year, so I was a total newb.  As the day came closer to leave for Chicago, I was riddled with a mix of excitement and nervousness.  Even after reading recaps of previous years at BlogHer, I still didn’t know what to expect or how the conference would treat me.  Would it be fun?  Would anyone know who I was?  Would it be hard to connect with others?  Was it out of my league?  I would get so angry at myself for worrying about such trivial matters, yet  I couldn’t stop.

Although I made it to Chicago in one piece, it was a little rocky, socially, at first.  I had the desire to jump into groups of unknown people and introduce myself, yet something was holding me back.  The first few parties I attended felt so awkward and weird, yet I didn’t know why.  I wasn’t sure what I was afraid of?  I was actually starting to get on my own nerves, so I made a quick decision.  From that moment on, I would not let ME get in the way of ME.  I was going to talk to as many people as I could.  Isn’t that why I went to BlogHer in the first place?  What did I have to loose anyway?  I honestly didn’t know anyone and most didn’t know me.  That was power.

Want to know what happened after that?  I had a blast.  I met many wonderful men and women.  I met with brands.  I made relationships.   I handed out 200 business cards.  I shared ideas with new friends and was inspired by others.  The sessions didn’t offer much for me, but the people did, and I never expected that.  My readership doubled in a mere 3 months after attending the conference and it has been a whirlwind since.  I owe this to me leaving my fear behind and just being me.  I had to get over myself.  Don’t get me wrong, I did met a few people who didn’t treat me nicely or seemed bothered by me, but that exists everywhere in life.  Mom bloggers are no exception.

When I returned home, I was honestly shocked to read so many negative posts about BlogHer.  There were many attendees that had a difficult time and took away nothing positive about the experience.  Then I heard it again after the Type A Mom Conference a few months after, then Blissdom, and so on.  I wondered, was it the conference or the attendee that had the problem? Maybe it was a mixture of both?  I obviously understood the fear of being a newbie, but the feedback I was reading was on a whole different level.  Attendees were feeling inadequate, discouraged, and questioning the very existence of their blog.  In a nutshell, they were experiencing the exact opposite of the conference’s ultimate purpose and message.  Interesting.

So, I reached out on Facebook and Twitter, asking the question, “Have you ever left a blogging conference feeling bad about yourself or your blog? Don’t feel good enough, or smart enough? Contact me.” It wasn’t long before I started receiving replies.  Most wanted to stay anonymous.

“I felt like less of a blogger after the conference. I felt inferior to all the other bloggers.”

“I really felt stupid a lot of the time.  I didn’t know what to expect and some of the friends that I had connected with online, just were kind of rude in person.”

“True story from BlogHer 09.  A new blogger admired a “famous” blogger and approached her.  Famous blogger looked at her card, snubbed her nose and handed it right back.   I was floored.”

Marcy Mcclelland-Massura from Marcy Writes told me, “The ass kissing on the mommy blogging circuit is reaching Olympic proportions. No one wants to be honest it seems. It is not ‘the bestest time ever’ and the spring break like binge drinking doesn’t always help.” Marcy then included a link to her after-BlogHer post, which describes the challenges she faced connecting with other attendees. Her post provided a great representation of the overall feedback I received.  Bloggers don’t feel wanted in their own community.   They feel there is a “pecking order” or a mom blogger status among the “famous” bloggers.

Does a pecking order really exist, or does it stem from one’s own insecurities?  Is it easier to blame the person who is having a good time and taking away something positive?  Kim Moldsky from Hormone-Colored Days made a GREAT point when she said, “I think conference newbies tend to be aware of ‘chicks who clique.’ It’s not so much that certain groups intentionally exclude others, it’s more a matter of certain women having developed deep relationships over the years.” This is SO TRUE.  It’s so much easier to assume the worst, though.  “She thinks she’s better than me.” I hear this a lot.  Instead, why not say, “She may be nervous, or uncomfortable, like me.” One blogger I interviewed said, “I worried that at those times when I was catching my breathe between sessions, before meals when my sugar was low, etc. that someone might have mistaken a look or something as an example of the things that were fueling the conference Twitstorm.”

Guess what?  Some of us are introverts.  Just because we can express our opinions boldly online doesn’t mean we can easily speak face to face.  This is a HUGE issue that most do not consider before attending their first conference, and could also be a HUGE reason why expectations are not met after attending.  Some bloggers don’t even realize that they are painfully shy and introverted until they do attend.  Others may become overstimulated and emotional exhausted, like Maria Melee of Mommy Melee who recently experienced a breakdown at the Mom 2.0 Summit and wasn’t sure why.  Kim Daboo from Clumber Kim told me, “The simple act of handing someone my card is a leap.” Even rock star blogger Jenny Lawson, from The Bloggess, has a difficult time speaking to people.  We SHOULD give people the benefit of the doubt, yet our emotions take over.  We have to be careful.

So…..is there really a way to avoid the post-conference blues?  I think Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess) said it best, “You can’t experience those strong emotions (whether good or bad) and not suffer (or celebrate) the repercussions. For so many of us it’s a heavy mix of highs and lows and the effects linger.” It’s no different than life.  There is positive and negative all around us.  It’s how we decide to react and move forward that counts. Do we want to hold on to bad experiences and have that decide our future?  Like I mentioned earlier, I was scared of the unknown.  I met some “not so nice” people, but you know what else happened in the process?  I met some AMAZING people.  People who I love.  People who have been extremely supportive and inspiring.  True friends.

Are you a newbie blogger?  There is tons of info over at www.blogconferencenewbie.com that is extremely helpful for beginners.  Also, feel free to post any questions in our comments.

Have you experienced the post-conference blues?  Why or why not?

Chocolate eclair cake, originally uploaded by Jeremy Carbaugh.

ROOMIES. I had the best roomies.  There is nothing like spending time with your gals.  Staying up late.  Chatting.  Bonding.  Laughing.  Crying.

Holly Homer, Laurie Turk, Amy Bellgardt, Jyl Johnson Pattee, Jenny Ingram, Rachael Herrscher (in spirit)

MAD MEN PARTY. The Mad Men-inspired party on Thursday night was a blast.  It was fun dressing up in 1960’s attire and making new friends.

Marie LeBaron, Jyl Johnson Pattee, Laurie Turk, Amy Bellgardt

DEFINING A MOVEMENT ART EXHIBIT. Amazing photographs and art.  Taco stand sent straight from the heavens.  Body painting.  Inspiration.  #LOVE & #SHINE

Jenny Ingram, Amy Bellgardt

JUICEBOX JUNGLE PARTY. The folks at Juicebox Jungle invited a few of us for drinks at the Four Seasons Quatro restaurant.  It was awesome to finally see the faces behind Juicebox.

Jyl Johnson Pattee, Amy Bellgardt, Sarah Eisner

BARILLA DINNER. Chef Lorenzo Boni taught us how to make a delicious Italian dinner using Barilla pasta.  The lovely Christine Koh from BostonMamas.com cooked for our table.

Amy Bellgardt, Christine Koh

CHEESEBURGHER PARTY. You really can’t go wrong with eating cheeseburgers, drinking sodas and wearing McDonald’s bag on your head.

Jenny Ingram, Jyl Johnson Pattee, Rachael Herrscher, Amy Bellgardt

I barely tweeted from the event.  Reason?  I was so engaged with the content, message and people.  I love leaving a conference and leaving with inspiration and joy.  Go to Mom 2.0 next year in New Orleans.  Trust me.

I would like to thank Cozi for making my experience possible and well organized!!

Share and Enjoy:

Here’s what you need for the project::