blogher12 Archives

What Moms Have to Say About Traveling with Kids

October 1, 2012 by Momstart 24 Comments

Pampers was my sponsor to Blogher 12 and I learned so much about where blogging conferences are going, networking opportunities and about moms and how those of us do it all and how we do it well. We keep our kids close and travel with them as often as we can. Sometimes work takes us away from them but many of the moms I encountered had their children with them. Since holiday travel plans are being made for us I figured others are thinking about the same things. And that’s what made me decide to go ahead and share these tips with you today.

I was tasked with interviewing moms to find out what their tips were about traveling with kids. Here’s what they had to say:

Tips:

Baby Carrier

Packed Toys Wrapped so the child can open them

Snacks that aren’t messy

Leave in the middle of the night

Travel Version of their favorite Game

Baby Wearing

I find that when I travel with my kids I need to be prepared to be stranded so we each have a backpack full of things we need. The kids have one change of clothes and all the toys and activities they can fit in their bags. In my bag I have a change of clothes, my computer, wrapped toys new and old and lots and lots of snacks. (YES I have been stranded in an airport overnight with my children). So we’re always prepared or try to be prepared for the unexpected.

I loved doing this with Pampers and thank them a great deal for sponsoring me to Blogher 12.

Trying Diet Pepsi For the First Time

August 20, 2012 by Momstart 21 Comments

It should be no secret that I want to be in a commercial or do another TV spot; so when I see opportunities to practice being in front of a camera I jump at the chance. I’m quite a shy person and it takes quite a bit to get myself to do this but I’ve found that over the last year it’s become increasingly easier, I would even say I can’t describe myself as shy anymore either.

At Blogher 12 there were opportunities to practice getting in front of the computer. This particular opportunity was at the party Getting Gorgeous. I’ve never tried Diet Pepsi before because I was convinced that I didn’t like diet drinks at all. Anytime I’ve had them I just cringe with disgust. So not only did I have to try something I was terrified to try, I also had to do it on the camera.

SURPRISE! I actually liked it and think I did a great job on camera. Actually I’m just saying that because I haven’t seen it. I can’t watch it after I’ve done it. So you tell me???

I found Diet Pepsi to be good and it wasn’t overly sweet like most sugar free drinks are to me. I will drink Diet Pepsi again some time.

Talking with The Jimmy Dean Sun #Blogher12

August 5, 2012 by Momstart 8 Comments

My Interview with the Jimmy Dean Sun – Watch And Support No Kid Hungry

By: Ashley

This weekend at BlogHer 2012, I had the chance to be interviewed by one of the brightest guys I’ve ever met. I mean, who’s brighter than the sun?!? It was such a pleasure to talk with the warm and friendly Jimmy Dean Sun… and luckily I have a video to share with you! Just by viewing, you’ll be working to end childhood hunger. For every view, Jimmy Dean will donate $5 to to Share Our Strength in support of the No Kid Hungry campaign. So please… take a look… and share with your friends.

Together with Share Our Strength, the Jimmy Dean® brand has joined the No Kid Hungry® Campaign, working to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. For every view this video receives now through August 18, 2012, Jimmy Dean will donate $5 to Share Our Strength (up to $5,000). This is in addition to the brand’s annual commitment of $150,000.

About Ashley (Managing Editor at MomStart): Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and former teacher working to navigate through the mysterious world of Mommyia. Read more about her adventures at Momicles and follow her @Momicles2010 .

Share In Ashley’s First #BlogHer12 Party – Thanks @MomCentral

August 1, 2012 by Momstart 9 Comments

My First #BlogHer Party – Thanks @MomCentral

Pampers is MomStart’s official Blogher Sponsor!

By: Ashley

After a day of traveling and getting settled into the NYC rush (which I should make a special point to say I LOVE), I hit the streets of New York to meet (not just Tweet) some of the ladies that make MomCentral so amazing. I had the chance to meet some great people, and learn about some cool things that 3M, Scotch, and Zulily have going on.

One of my favorite things about the night? I was actually able to meet @MomCentralChat. I do the #MomChat almost every Tuesday (from @Momicles2010). I do it because… well just because it is fun! It’s an hour long Twitter Chat that takes place on Tuesdays and it is just plain out fun. Eilieen (Ms. MomChat herself) knows how much I love those Tuesday time outs, but it was wonderful to actually meet her in real life! It’s so nice to take the online social world we work in and make real connections with it.

I was also able to feed my office supply addiction/obsession. Did you know Scotch makes a fancy, fun, colorful tape? It comes in SO many different bright, vibrant colors and gives me SO many ideas! There is a colored tape that is basically a color version of “Magic Tape” and decorative packaging tape. With back to school season here, I think this would make a GREAT gift for your favorite teacher… or for your child before they head back to school. The ways you could decorate a binder or folder with this stuff? The possibilities are endless! In fact, there is even a Pinterest contest to show just how cool your ideas for this tape are!

There were so many exciting things going on, I learned so much MORE about the blogging industry, and met some amazing people. Again, it was another one of those evenings that leaves me feeling so lucky to be doing what I’m doing.

Thank you Pampers for sponsoring us to Blogher 2012.

The Children’s Place Holiday Event #Blogher12 #PlaceHoliday Catalog in Photos

August 1, 2012 by Momstart 8 Comments

My first event at blogher12 (Thanks to my sponsor Pampers) was with some friends, we had dinner. My second event was with The Children’s Place thanks to an invitation from MomTrends. I was invited to come and speak with the designers and preview the new lines coming in September, October and November. By November 1st all of their new Fall/Holiday collections will be in the stores.

Talking to the kids about what their favorites were was a lot of fun. They liked the shoes the most which isn’t too surprising, but they also loved the dresses. They said they were quite comfortable. As a mom, I just thought everything was cute and couldn’t wait to get into the store to get some things for my daughter.

I love all the bling found across all of the collections. Glitter and metallic seems to be a trend this year and it’s nice to see it carried over into children’s clothing too. Plus in all of their styles, even though the holiday collection is more muted with whites and silver (not really muted right?) clothing styles will still be available in colors because we all know that The Children’s Place is all about funky color combination fashion. That’s my ZOE! She loves putting together mismatched colors and patterns.

And they never ever leave out accessories

Children’s Place 2012 Accessories Collection

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Here you can check out the full 2012 Collection from The Children’s Place

Children’s Place 2012 Newborn Holiday Clothes

Children’s Place Newborn Collection Fall 2012

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Children’s Shoes Children’s Place Fall/Holiday 2012

Children’s Place Fall/Holiday Shoes 2012

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Children’s Place 2012 Baby Girl Clothing

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Children’s Place 2012 Baby Boy Fall/Holiday collection

Children’s Place 2012 Baby Boy Fall/Holiday collection

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Children’s Place 2012 Boy Fall/Holiday collection

Children’s Place 2012 Boy Fall/Holiday collection

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Children’s Place 2012 Girl Fall/Holiday collection

Children’s Place 2012 Girl Fall/Holiday collection

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Thank you to Pampers for sponsoring me to Blogher12 and to The Children’s Place for having such a great event.

Find @MomStart Cooking it Up: Hillshire Farms #Blogher12 Booth #1005 Turkey Sausage Jambalaya Recipe

July 31, 2012 by Momstart 13 Comments

No they are not my sponsor, my Blogher12 sponsor is Pampers, but everyone has to eat and I did this in advance but feel amazing honored for Hillshire Farms to be featuring this recipe at their booth at Blogher that’s going to be seen by what over 4000 bloggers? Honestly, I had help coming up with this recipe, usually I search around the web until I’m inspired. I’ll use something like Allrecipes.com and type in the ingredients that I want to use and see what looks good to me and my family. This time, I found two chefs at my church to help me. I gave them the requirements and this is what they came up with and are letting me use on my blog. I’m very grateful to them for their help and will share their FULL story at a later date because they have an amazing testimony to share.

This is the main ingredients. I was challenged to create a recipe with one of three different types of Hillshire Farms sausage. I chose Turkey Kielbasa Sausage. Then I had to choose things from three other categories. This is what they helped me come up with.

Turkey Sausage Jambalaya

For a family of 4

Ingredients:

½ a 13 oz package Turkey Kielbasa Sausage Jambalaya

½ onion chopped
1 cup diced mushrooms
2 cups tri colored peppers chopped
1 cup of rice
½ tsp. Cajun spice
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. black pepper
2 cloves garlic or 1 tsp. garlic powder
½ cup tomato sauce
1 ½ chicken stock
1 Tablespoon oil
2 diced tomatoes
2 tsps. Salt
2 tsp. Thyme

Directions:

Pour oil in the pan and heat the pan on medium heat
Toss in all the veggies until they are translucent/ starting to get soft
Add the rice and toast it (lightly brown)
Add the sausage, salt, and other spices and the liquids, stir then simmer until the broth and tomato sauce is absorbed

Toss the rice mixture with the freshly chopped tomatoes and thyme.

Thank you to Hillshire Farms for this opportunity and for the gift card to buy all the ingredients and a Spa Finder Gift Card. Plus I have to thank Pampers for sponsoring me to Blogher12 without I wouldn’t have this opportunity to showcase a recipe.

Three Ways to Increase Your Traffic with Microsoft Windows Phone #Blogher12

July 30, 2012 by Momstart 773 Comments

Microsoft is going to be at BlogHer12 and I can’t wait to stop by their booth and say hello to them. Plus my Sponsor to EVO was Microsoft. I loved going to EVO and plan on going there next year as well. Why? Because it was an awesome event with so many different family friendly events. I was only able to attend one of the break out sessions because I had my kids with me but the suites were amazing.

I did learn a few things through tweets though, like what’s big in increasing traffic to your site. Here are three things you need to be doing:

You should be using StumbleUpon

So many people are using SU that it’s the place you need to be. You never know when something is going to take off like wildfire and give you a huge push in traffic.

You should be using Pinterest

Pinterest is just as big as stumbleupon. It’s good to put your posts on pinterest in the afternoon when many people are looking for dinner and have some free time to just surf the boards.

You should be using Google +

I hate google + it’s just not where everyone is yet, but it is where google is. Since they control your search worth on google you need to use it. They say that it’s going to affect your search rank.

Which ones of these can you do on your Windows Phone?

ALL OF THEM

Pinspiration and Pinspiration Pro

Pinspiration is the best way to browse and post to Pinterest on your Windows phone. Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place to catalog and share the things you love. You don’t need to have a Pinterest account to browse and share the amazing photos being posted here every day. Pinterest users can login to keep up with their stream then pin, like and repin photos to their heart’s content. The application also has Live Tile which rotates through the most popular pictures currently being shared. Pin your favoriite pinners to start to see their latest pins as a Live Tile as well. Free version has ads and refreshing Pinners You Follow list is throttled. Buy the app to remove ads and unlock ability to get up-to-the-minute updates from Pinners You Follow.

G+ Launcher

This App launches Google+ from the mobile site; The bonus for this is having an App which u can quickly launch and share whats on ur mind with the public or friends in ur circles. As soon as a google+ Api is available, i will upgrade ther user operatability.

I found a StumbleUpon app for Windows phone but it’s not in the Microsoft Marketplace so be careful downloading any apps that aren’t in the marketplace.

I have an HTC HD7 For one of you guys to win!!!!

HTC HD7 Windows phone

This phone is for use on T-Mobile

.
Browse online content easily with this Windows Phone that features a 4.3 color WVGA touch screen. The virtual QWERTY keyboard makes typing text messages and e-mail easy, and the built-in 5.0MP camera captures beautiful photos and high-definition video.
Product Features
* Bluetooth compatibility
For wireless communication with a Bluetooth-enabled device.
* Windows Phone OS 7
Allows you to stay connected and productive on the go.
* 4.3 color WVGA touch screen
For clear viewing of your text messages, photos and videos.
* Store phone numbers, photos and videos
With 16GB internal memory.
* Built-in 5.0MP digital camera
With 720p high-definition video capture and autofocus for capturing stunning images. Dual LED flash helps you take photos in low-light situations.
* MP3 player
Lets you store and listen to your favorite music.
* Virtual QWERTY keyboard
Allows for easy texting and typing on the touch screen.
* Hands-free speakerphone
Lets you talk while driving.
* Up to 6 hours talk time and up to 9 days standby
With included lithium-ion battery.

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to the winner, Marilyn J.

Please see the giveaway rules

Bound for #Blogher12 Enter the $1500 #Giveaway 5 Winners #WindowsStyle

July 25, 2012 by Momstart 9 Comments

Wow, for once in my life I wish my husband didn’t work at Microsoft because I would love to win this giveaway. (Ok, I’m really glad my husband works at Microsoft, I just can’t enter amazing giveaways like this one) ANYWAY!!!

Here is the scoop on the giveaway.

5 BlogHer attendees will be chosen to win a $1,500 style makeover by a celebrity stylist, receive a new PC and more.

You need to nominate someone or yourself, I think the secret is to nominate yourself and make it look really pathetic, I mean good, because you want to be chosen. Write a blog post or create a vlog about why you deserve a makeover with Microsoft. I tried to get them to give me one since I can’t enter, but I wasn’t convincing enough. So maybe you can be convincing like these bloggers are:

Geek for the Real Girl

I obviously need a makeover;). And I am desperately hoping that Microsoft Windows will give it to me at BlogHer!

I am hoping that a makeover will help me to actually have a style that I can be confident in. I want to be that confident, geeky mom for my girls and my brand. So @KristinaLibby please pick me!

Cookies & Clogs:

As a work at home mom, I’m constantly trying to juggle my daughter’s homeschooling with my health and other responsibilities. Over the past 11 years, I haven’t had the time, energy, or finances to focus on my appearance. That said, I always feel old and frumpy despite being only 33 years old. This is not the kind of self-esteem I want to pass onto my daughter but need help to fix that.

Making Time for You

I can say that I am proud of what I have been able to do, but I need help! I would love the chance to be made over at BlogHer12 in NYC! The past year as been a trying year and it would be amazing to learn how to dress for my body type. I know I have more weight to lose, but this would be a great reward!

Me Savings Mama

All this talk about a make over – and BlogHer. I really should start getting together a list of what to wear! Any suggestions? I may need to do a quick shopping trip before I fly out, Just so I Look Presentable. No Sweat Pants for this Mama! Oh and, Sorry S.A., I will not be sporting my work uniform. I know it fits, but, It is in need of a vacation. This Mama is looking for suggestions. I’m all set with packing PJ’s. Now for everything else. Boy, could this mama use a makeover.

Be sure to include a sentence that says “In writing this post, I’m entering the Microsoft Windows Style Makeover Sweepstakes for a chance to win a head to toe makeover!” (Legal rules and all..!) Then tweet the link to @kristinalibby with the hashtag #windowstyle.

Winners will also get a Windows 7 PC (with a Windows 8 Upgrade offer). Oh, and a few more surprises that Microsoft will share along the way. Stay tuned throughout the next few weeks as they share who their special celebrity stylist is and I hope it’s one of the stylists that I saw on a list earlier this year.It’s going to be awesome. Whey will have a great presence on the floor of the event and the fun activities you can join in on. Full legal rules can be found here.

I’m a Microsoft Blog Ambassador.