Rockabye by Rebecca Woolf

It's always exciting when a blogger publishes a book. But Rebecca Woolf's new book, Rockabye: From Wild to Child, was even more exciting to me. Rebecca writes the wildly popular blog Girls Gone Child. I have to admit that I am not a devoted Girls Gone Child follower. I read Rebecca's blog occasionally. She always makes me feel something and I've been struck many times by what an outstanding writer she is.

No, I've been dying to read Rebecca's book ever since an encounter I had with her last year at BlogHer. Joanne, Pundit Mom, introduced us and I immediately moved into blogger small talk mode and started talking about her blog. But unlike 90% of the population, I could tell that Rebecca was uncomfortable talking about herself, uncomfortable at the BlogHer cocktail party, and even more uncomfortable with the idea of being a Rock Star Blogger. As an introvert myself, I immediately understood Rebecca's discomfort and wanted to put her at ease.

I liked Rebecca even more that night when I somehow ended up in a conversation with her and Bite My Cookie about plastic surgery. I was thrilled that both of them were willing to talk to me about it candidly. But if you want to know Rebecca's position on that, you're going to have to read her book!

To get to the point, when PBN gave me the chance to review Rockabye, I was thrilled.

Rockabye is Rebecca's story of becoming a mother. She writes honestly about her unexpected pregnancy, her wonder over her son Archer, and her ambivalence about her new role as a "Mommy." One thing I love about the book, and about Rebecca, is her complete indifference to what everyone else is doing. She forges her own path, and that comes through in her book.

But the most compelling thing about the book is, of course, Rebecca's writing. She has a gift with word pictures. She brought me into her life and, even though we have very little in common on the surface, I found myself strongly identifying with her turbulent emotions as she passed through early motherhood. A scene you absolutely can't miss is Rebecca's description of child birth and seeing her son Asher for the first time. It's an amazing piece of writing and a powerful passage. I find myself thinking about it from time to time and I've had to go back and read it again.

So if you haven't gotten the jist of this review yet, GO BUY ROCKABYE. I want Rebecca to keep putting out books, so buy a few copies for friends too!

Three for the Price of One

New post up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. It's all about where I live, in case Jenny wants to stalk me.

New post up on DC Metro Moms. The sexist commercials just finally went too far!

New post up on MOMocrats. Want to read about the Evolution of a MOMocrat?

For Jenny, The Bloggess

Jenny,

Sweetie, I love you to death, you know that, right? You're such a talented writer, but you're also "funny as shit" (said in a British accent). If I can't read your blog for a few days I go into withdrawal.

You're funny as shit in person too. And so damn adorable I want to hate you, but I can't. Because you're too damn nice. Plus, you're one of the most supportive bloggers I know. I feel blessed to have been Bloggessed on a fairly regular basis for the last year and a half.

But, sweetie, please forgive me. I know you've just had your wisdom teeth removed, two of them because you're a freak of nature lucky. I know you're high and insensible right now. But when I saw a certain item in the room full of crap waiting room at Cracker Barrel yesterday, I couldn't resist. I bought it for my son.

It's a bath toy, battery operated, and it shoots around the bathtub making bubbles and entertaining the kiddos.

Or, scaring the hell out of them:

The Squid.

Is this thing on?

Ewww. What is this thing again? Are you sure it's a bath toy for kids, Mommy?
It looks like it came in a plain brown wrapper.

Mommy. You know Jenny's going to be really pissed.

Forgive me?

Whirlwind California Trip

We're back. I'm sure it will be a few days before I get back into the swing of things. We got in at 2am last night and I just got my bags a few hours ago. (I'll save that for a post after my blood pressure returns to normal.)

The trip to visit Defiant Muse and her Monkey was incredibly fun, exhausting, and amazing. Northern California feels like a good novel does to me. There's an eye catching cover, lots of drama and beautiful imagery, characters you love, and a story you never want to end. I could spend hours on the coast line just day dreaming or writing.

Yes, DM and I did do some rabble rousing. You can read about that over on DM's site because, frankly, I don't remember much. I have some faded impressions of dancing, lights, asking lots of inappropriate questions, and posing on a mattress. Oy. Let's just say it's a damn good thing the tattoo parlors in DM's town are closed at 1am. Otherwise, I'd have the cliche of all tattooed cliches on my ass.

But the best part of the trip was having a chance to connect with my cousin. DM and I haven't spent much time together as adults without a crowd of a thousand around. Our family is loud, obnoxious, drunk, and overwhelming. It's hard to have a serious conversation about anything around them.

On the surface, DM and I have always been very different. I followed the good girl path to adulthood. She followed the road less traveled and found herself through a more literal journey. Underneath, however, I think we've both known how similar we are. It's not just genetics that binds us, but politics, personality, a quest for beauty and truth, and a desperate need to make a difference in the world.

The eight years between us no longer mean much. Particularly since we've both come to realize that all people are more similar than different. In becoming a mother, and in sharing that experience, it becomes obvious. The human experience repeats itself over and over, generation after generation, passing down to us the best and worst of human nature. It makes it difficult to understand how human beings can treat each other so badly. (Now I'd better get myself back on track before I start ranting about war, murder, and all the other atrocities of the world.)

This was also the first chance I've had to meet Monkey. She's a gorgeous, obsidian eyed beauty, with a romantically flowing name, her father's hair, her mother's mouth, and her grandfather's ears. She made me work for her smiles, like any serious girl should, but those upturned lips, tiny dimple, and sparkling eyes were certainly worth the effort. Monkey is a perfect combination of darkness and light. Watching her over the last week, as her eyes followed my every move and she wobbled cautiously across the room, I saw my cousin as a baby once more.

DM and her Monkey will be coming to visit us this Summer and we can't wait. We can't offer a dramatic coastline, just a boring old flat beach, but we do have some kick ass crabs and there's always beer in the fridge. After looking at all the photos, Big H is incredibly excited to meet his new cousin and Little H keeps asking me where Monkey is.

It won't be long boys.

DM also has some pictures up on her site. I took waaaay too many pictures and DM took some with my camera too, so who in the heck knows when I'll even look at all of mine. I'm sure I'll be annoying you with California pictures for weeks. Be prepared.

Mortality

One of us is in trouble. The blogger behind Just Making It Up is a mother of two, Asher and Maya, and she's in the ICU in a medically induced coma. Apparently she has a perforated bowel, although I don't know any more details, and has a just better than 50/50 chance of surviving. I hope that's changed by now.

Mary from Them's My Sentiments cued me in on her blog and asked that we stop by Just Making It Up and leave supportive comments.

I know I don't even need to ask....

House Sitting for Pundit Mom

I'm over house sitting at Pundit Mom's place today and talking about what a cheap date I am for Virginia's presidential primary. Here's a sneak peek:

In Virginia and Maryland, today is election day. We head off to the polls to vote in the presidential primary and obediently paste on our little "I Voted" stickers. But man, it feels like I've been on some wort of whirlwind romance.

Up until last Wednesday, the day after Super Tuesday, our little section of the Mid-Atlantic was pretty much ignored. I'm used to being ignored during Presidential elections. During my voting years, I've lived in Nebraska and Virginia. Nebraska isn't exactly high on the electoral vote count and its citizens usually vote for Republican presidents. (One of the many reasons why I no longer live there.)

Read More....

****************
I have a request for all of you readers who also pop over to MOMocrats from time to time. How about a little button linky love in your sidebar?

MOMocrats was originally founded with the goal of helping a Democrat take the White House. Yes, John Edwards was our candidate of choice, but we were prepared for the possibility that he might not be the Democratic nominee. The MOMocrats still alive and kicking and talking about the Democratic primary and the presidential election. We want the politicians to earn our votes and we hope we'll help keep everyone honest!



The code to post the button is:

{a href="http://momocrats.typepad.com"}{img src="http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats-square-button.gif" /}{/a}

Only replace all the { and } with <>. If you can't figure it out, email me and I'll send you the code. (My email is in my profile.)

Thanks!

Spanish Town

I have about 5000 pictures from Mardi Gras parades. And, of course, I want to share all of them! I'll try to restrain myself, but you'll just have to bear with me for the next few days, um, or weeks.

I'll put some up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles every day too.

These are from the Spanish Town parade in Baton Rouge that The Queen was in. She's a member of the Krewe of Pink Ladies. How cool is that? They have jackets and everything. Spanish Town is one looooong parade. It was great and much more family friendly than the parades in New Orleans.


Float with the capitol building in the background. The Spanish Town "mascot" is the flamingo. There was a lot of pink.



The Queen on her float. See what I mean about the jackets?



Hollis in front of the Pink Ladies float. The theme was "Purple is the new Pink" in honor of LSU's national championship. Geaux Tigers! (Please forgive me, Sebastian. It's just a fling.)
Notice that Hollis is all decked out with beads and a flamingo lollipop? This was looooong before the parade started. I just took him up and down the road to look at all the floats getting ready and the boy cleaned up!



My self portrait before the parade. I wore my pink boa just for the occasion. The Queen supplied the beads.



The Queen's gorgeous daughter and honorary Pink Lady. I tried to bring her home with me. Seriously. LOVED her.



Waiting for the parade.



More waiting. See? She's gorgeous. And she and Hollis got along swimmingly.




Everyone who's seen these photos swears these two must be siblings. Nope. There was no fighting at all, just playing. The Princess just entertained Hollis for two hours. Seriously. I'm going to go back and steal her.

I have to say that attending a Mardi Gras parade with two cute kids is far different from attending one as a hot, childless woman. (I'm just assuming the hot part. I never said I wasn't egotistical.) I didn't even have one request to ... um ... lift my shirt and I have never seen so many stuffed animals rain down around me.

I will have more photos up soon....

The Daiquiri Bar

Before we get to the gossip, I have a new review up on Lawyer Mama Review. I adore Pingu, possibly even more than my kids do, so go read about the new Pingu video.

I know y'all want more dirt on my weekend with The Queen and her Mayhem. I put up a few photos from the daiquiri bar we "stopped by" on the way home from "running errands" but here are a few more.

First we made a few friends and played some Quarters:




The Queen and I suck at this game, by the way. Although we did make a few shots:




Then we started making random guys take pictures with us. The Queen has done this before....


The guy washing the windows of the bar. He was 21. I asked.


We picked up a few more friends:


Here's one of our new friends. I can't remember if this is Chuck, or the other one.


And they bought us shots of tequila. Really, really good tequila. It seemed like a fabulous idea at the time....




Then there were more random guys friends:


In the Queen's defense, she had picked up these ladies on a previous visit to the bar. So she already knew them. Oh, and she might not have had anything to do with picking up this random guy. That might have been me....


Then we headed back to the house. Luckily, the kids were still alive and ready to boogie.

Then we were cooked. We're old ladies, you know!





Don't you wish you were us?

The rest of the weekend was a blast and it will take me days just to edit all the photos. I'll post more as I go so stay tuned....

Jealous?

LM and The Queen having too much fun. (Taken with my crappy camera phone.)

This message was sent using PIX-FLIX Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!
To learn how you can snap pictures with your wireless phone visit

www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getpix.

To learn how you can record videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getflix.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime� Player. Note: During the download
process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Toddler Birthday Party - A Monday Montage

The birthday boy digs in.

Holden attacks the cake.

At the party, I think Holden limited his non-organic consumption to sand and part of a birthday candle. If you're wondering, that's a goat on Holden's shirt. Anyone want to guess why?

Eeyore, daughter of CPA Mom, is too damn adorable. Even covered in cake.

The Pumpkin, son of Not Exactly A Princess.

Toddler's first ipod. The electronic obsession begins....

Below we have a rare sighting: three blogger children in one video. To the left of Hollis is CPA Mom's little boy, Tigger, and the head that pops in to help Hollis with the candles is Not Exactly A Princess's son, the Pumpkin.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

D.C. Happy Hour Update

The D.C. Happy Hour was a rousing success. Not everyone could make it and I was sad to have missed a few people, but I'm sure we'll be doing this again. It was too damn much fun not to.

Oh, and all of you who were there? I'm happy to host a party down here too. It's warm, we're near a beach, and I have a pool. Just please, please bring your suits. I shudder to think what this crew might do with too much alcohol and private access to water.

I have pictures for you. If you want to see my whole Flicker Set, click HERE.

I'll hit the highlights.

1. Mama Loves' office has an insanely nice view and it's huge. If I'm ever homeless, I'm just going to move in there.


2. I'm going to kidnap Kris from I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Wino. She's so friggin hilarious, I need her to amuse me 24 hours a day. She can even bring her cats. Minus the worms.


3. I only had 1 martini. Gunfighter tried to order me another one. Thank God he doesn't know me better or he might have succeeded. As it was I was already dragging my ass around all day today. Um, yeah, I had a few many beers too.


4. Amie & Kris let me feel them up. We need to do our own Hot & Bothered video.
   


5. Fried pickles are surprisingly tasty.
   


6. Mama Loves let us sign her cast with glitter pens! What else would you expect from a drag queen?
   


7. The people with kids outlasted all the young, childless people. In the end it was just me, Not Exactly A Princess, Gunfighter & Mama Loves frantically driving to Silver Diner for breakfast food.


8. You know how in college you'd end up at IHOP at 2 am after the bars closed? Well, you know you're old when you're getting pancakes at 11pm and you look and sound like death.


9. My throat still hurts from screaming in the bar.
   


10. I'm too old for this shit.


11. We had a great time.


12. I can't wait to do it again!
    

Not Exactly A Princess & Lawyer Mama

Gunfighter & Mama Loves

Me & Chrissy (She's known me since I was 13! I can't piss her off. She knows too much.)

Jenn & Jess

I sign Mama Loves' cast while Gunfighter wonders what the hell he's doing with these drunk wackadoos.

BlogHer - Part II: Chloe Dao Is A Sweetie Pie

I am a Project Runway fanatic. So, when I heard that Chloe Dao (winner of Season 2 for those of you who are not addicted yet) would be at BlogHer, I was thrilled.

At the Day 2 cocktail party, Pundit Mom (also a PR addict) and I stalked Chloe Dao. We approached our prey carefully. First, we just took pictures of her from a distance.


Then, we had our pictures taken with Chloe, who was incredibly sweet and approachable.


After we'd had a few glasses of wine, we actually balled up and had a nice conversation with Chloe. She told us about what she's been doing since Project Runway and told us a bit about her work as spokesperson for Dove. When she brought up body image issues, I nearly asked her to marry me on the spot.

We were standing there with Chloe when this video was taken:



You notice how Chloe keeps looking to her right as if she's having a conversation with a group? She was and that was us! Squeal!

Stay tuned for Part III where I dish dirt on Jenny from Mama Drama and The Blogess and her partners in crime, and Part IV where I demand that Elizabeth Edwards run for President. Why settle for Edwards Light (aka John) when you can have the real thing?

BlogHer 07 - Part I

I've been struggling with what to say about the BlogHer conference.

I don't want to bash you over the head with inside jokes and lots of anecdotes. If I hadn't gone, I'd be super jealous and a bit annoyed. But some of you are demanding dirt!

So here's the recap. I may mention some names, but I know I can't possibly remember every one in one sitting. So if I leave you out, try not to feel hurt. I loved meeting everyone.

Thursday night/Friday morning I got in to the W at 1am. I kept checking to see if I had accidentally walked into a nightclub because the pounding music and mood lighting (as well as general party atmosphere) had me feeling like I was waaaaaay too old for this shit. I staggered to my room and immediately went down to the Whiskey bar on the off chance anyone was still there. There were just a bunch of people practically having sex on the couches, so I dragged myself to my room and passed out.

Since I missed the Thursday evening festivities, I had no idea who anyone was or how to find anyone I knew the next morning. I ended up sitting with the Indie bloggers during breakfast. They were hilarious and so sweet despite the fact that they were about to speak at the first session. Love them. Want to see them again.

It turns out that many bloggers I already adored were sitting at tables behind me or near me and the squealing commenced immediately after breakfast. Shortly after that, I was filling up on some schwag when I saw Jessica walking past. I immediately threw myself at her. Who could blame a girl for that? While chatting, one of my blog idols sidled up and more squealing began (at least on my part).

Bad girl that I am, I skipped the first session with the bad girls below to get some coffee and chat.

Neen, Jess, and Jen skip class
I seriously needed coffee. This guy saved my life.

The coffee guy who saved Lawyer Mama
Then there were some seminars. The only one I really enjoyed the first day, was Catherine's on the State of the Momosphere. I love a rhetorical debate and this didn't disappoint. Plus, Catherine? I'm completely in love with her. I would love to just sit down and talk to her. She had so many insightful things to say in every session she was in.

At lunch, I finally hooked up with my roommate, who was supposed to be on the same doomed United flight as me out of Norfolk. She also flew out of Newport news (United, you SUCK), but at 4:45am Friday. And she didn't get into Chicago until 9ish.

Pundit Mom and Lawyer Mama
The cocktail party that night was great. I managed to hook up with a couple of people I hadn't seen yet, but I lost my roommate again!

Lawyer Mama, Slacker Mommy

Pundit Mom, Mama Loves, Lawyer Mama
I also made some new friends.

Neen from Can We Kick The Bar Here and Lawyer Mama
Oh, and Redneck Mommy? Is a total hottie. And she's intelligent, articulate, snarky, and just fun! I will be stalking her relentlessly now.

Lawyer Mama, Oh The Joys, Redneck Mommy
Dinner the first night:

Left: Lawyer Mama, Jen (One Plus Two), Tanis (Redneck Mommy), Tania (Chicky Chicky Baby), Georgia (I Am Bossy), Casey (Moosh from Indy);
Right: Neen (Can We Kick The Bar Here), Kiki (Sticking To The Point), Kristie (Slacker-Moms-R-Us), KC (Where's My Cape), Jessica (Oh The Joys), Ruth (Ruth Dynamite), Debi (i obsess)

Jen has this thing about having her picture up (can't say I blame her), so I made her into Bill Clinton for the photo. She makes a good Bill, don't you think?

I was worried going in to this conference. Not that I would be standing on the sidelines watching everything. Seriously. I call myself an introvert, but I have no problems walking right up to someone and saying hello. Despite my protestations last week that I need time to warm up to people, this weekend found me throwing myself into the arms of many bloggers I met. I love to meet new people, it's just more draining for me to constantly talk and put myself out there than it is for those extroverts out there. No, I was more worried that some of these bloggers wouldn't live up to the ideal I've created in my mind.

I shouldn't have worried. Pundit Mom was just as intelligent and warm as she is online. Jen is just as kind and smart as I thought. Debi is, well, exactly Debi. Except she's a little larger than life. I think it's the sheer force of personality of her hair that adds to the Debiness. Jessica is nice, funny, and smart. Kristin is a mom to everyone.

Oh, there was one thing. Mrs. Chicky would like everyone to know that she is not as nicey nice as you all think she is. She's a snarky bitch, just like the rest of us. Happy, Mrs. Chicky? I'm spreading the word.

I'll finish this up tomorrow. I don't normally do these "Here's What I Did Chronologically" posts, so I'm tired.

But really, I just want to torture Julie.