Adventures in Float (Sensory Deprivation) Therapy.

It's November you guys and I'm totally back. I know that's my line but...hey..

No seriously. This time it's going to stick. I have missed my blogging so terribly much. So. Terribly. Much.  I have such a backlog of posts in drafts. I have been typing away like a fiend but for some reason I have had such a mental block about getting back in the blogging saddle. But here I am. I am  here.

Several years ago somewhere on this blog (in a post far away which I cannot find) I waxed wishful and wistful about how desperately I would like to have the experience of floating in a sensory deprivation tank. And then.dreams came true and ..this marvelous place opened not very far from my home right in time for my super intense adventures in PTSD. I had read quite a bit about the benefits of floating for PTSD and since I am all about getting that episode of my life dealt with as quickly and properly as possibly, I made an appointment with alacrity. True REST is the acronym representing Reduced Environment Stimulus Therapy which is somewhat different from the idea of total sensory deprivation. The pods offer lights, music and even iphone hook ups so you can listen to whatever you want. They are also equipped with a two way intercom so you are never without access to someone who can answer questions or help you out should you need them.

Just the aesthetics of the True REST float spa are enough to attract anyone looking for some calm and serenity. This glowing orb filled with warm water is nothing short of mesmerizing. MESMERIZING I SAY.  But let's start at the beginning because the whole thing is An Experience.

When you check in, you trade in  your shoes for flip flops, then you are escorted to the Oasis room where there is all manner of soothing stuff going on. Adult colouring books, soothing instrumentals, herbal tea, fireplace.  It's the stuff overstimulated mom's dreams are made of.  At the appointed time you are escorted back to your very own "suite". It's all very zen and minimalist.  You shower with the provided shampoo, conditioner and soap, and then you slip into this womb like environment. The photos obviously show people wearing swimsuits but you are encouraged to float naked and since your room is completely private there is no reason not to.

I am horribly claustrophobic to the extent that I have made all of my loved ones promise that I will be buried attached to all sorts of bells and cell phones and shovels and such should it turn out that I was just in a deep coma so I was pretty skeptical as to how well I would cope with getting into a pod and closing the lid. Turns out it really isn't claustrophobic at all. If you want you can leave the lid open as much as you like (I didn't like because I didn't want to get chilly) You are free to push it open at any time. You can also control the lighting from blues, greens, reds or plunge yourself into total darkness, which I only managed to deal with for a few moments at a time. It's just SO dark.  The pod itself is not small or confining you can float around in there very freely.

My first experience really surprised me because I relaxed and almost fell asleep almost immediately and I am the type of person who can only sleep in my own bed under optimal conditions, when thoroughly exhausted. Ugh so high maintenance.  I felt incredibly relaxed after and the sensation lasted for days after but it wasn't a very intentional experience and by the time my hour was up that day I was more than ready to get out. I was just so unused to lying still without stimuli.

The next time I went I had the intention of dealing with an injury prior to a race. The extremely high salt content is recommended for athletes and I have had a lot of luck preventing injuries by taking regular Epsom salt baths. And this is way, way next level to that.  I found that the nagging pain in my calf was markedly improved after the first float and so I made an appointment for one more the day before my race.

That's when the real magic happened. The float started out just as the others, I felt relaxed and delightfully weightless but this time I was able to truly meditate in preparation for my race. For a full hour I was able to really check in with each body part. I spent time visualizing each organ and limb functioning smoothly and healthily. I pictured my heart beating steadily and strong, my lungs expanding fully, I focused on each muscle, tendon, bone. I imagined them, strong and healthy, completing each mile effortlessly.  Then I focused on my mind. I pictured myself feeling the great joy of having overcome so much in the last few years and over the course of my life. Going from completely broken and hopeless to going back to being able to complete goals that that required mental toughness, commitment and consistency. I pictured myself filled with joy and gratitude. At the end of my float I had some playful moments, doing the yoga poses of my dreams in the weightless environment. I felt so completely relaxed and rejuvenated and lo and behold. The pain I had been dealing with for weeks was gone. Entirely gone just in time for my race.  I carried this sense of peaceful, calm confidence in my body and serenity and joy in my mind throughout next 24 hours and my race was truly the stuff that running dreams are made of.  I felt so totally in synch with my body and completely joyful and pain free throughout. I had no anxiety, paced myself perfectly and felt truly triumphant and at peace from beginning to end.

I honestly cannot speak highly enough of the benefits of the float tank. The whole experience is so serene, nurturing, healing and uplifting.  If you are dealing with excess stress physically, mentally, emotionally. If you are dealing with PTSD (the Perrysburg location offers special pricing packages for veterans), if you are an athlete trying to avoid or heal from injury, if you have a chronic condition or illness, this is for  you.  If you like time to yourself, would be interested in taking your meditation to the next level or are just curious as to what this otherworldly womb like state could do for your mind and body, this is for you. Did I mention that they have an oxygen  bar that you can hook up to after your float session? And a beautiful, well appointed dressing room where you can dry your hair, reapply make up and gradually re-enter the real world? It has FLAVOURED oxygen. It's so incredibly Hollywood!  For more pictures, locations close to you reviews and videos as well as to take advantage of the packages being offered this month be sure to check out their facebook page. 

**I was so impressed with my experience that I felt moved to reach out to True Rest to see if they would be interested in a collaboration to get the word out.  While I have been compensated for this post, all of  the opinions expressed are unsolicited and genuine. 

Pretty! Pretty! Sooo Pretty!

Before we left for South Africa we were getting our house ready to sell and so we stripped the walls bare of everything and repainted.  Then we left them bare because we didn’t really  have much in the way of generic art that didn’t scream, “The Sayer Family with 5 kids and 2 parents and a golden retriever all stuffed themselves into this charming little house”.
But now, we are back and I fear that our house looks like a government hospital minus the posters for Gardisil and such. In other words it looks very institutional and bland. And I’m finding it muy depressing. It’s time to get some art up there.
I brought some awesome beaded items back from South Africa, which I can’t wait to display properly but we need some filler. It seemed extremely fortuitous then, when Minted reached out to me.  Honestly, I tend to skip on sponsored post opportunities for the most part, but every so often I get an offer to share a company that I would be inclined to rave about anyway, and Minted is one of those gems.  As in, I just spent about 2 hours looking at their website as though it was Pinterest.  I always make a beeline for any store with pretty stationery and art and so it was natural that my prettiness craving soul would say “yes! the people need to see this on a grey and rainy afternoon”. People, if you like pretty things…read on.
I’ve long known that Minted was a stationery store extraordinaire, famous for doing stuff like these breathtakingly gorgeous wedding invitations.  (You know I had to look at them all and then agonize at length over which one I would choose for my wedding which took place almost 20 years ago).

I mean come on now. (Can I get married again? To Aaron, of course?) OK! Who is getting married out there sometime soon? Please order these invitations and send me one for mah fridge. You don’t even have to let me come to your actual wedding. Please?
Ok so as if all this eye candy was not enough, they also have all sorts of limited edition art (very reasonably priced!)  So now I’m obsessing over all of that too. My poor sad bare walls, take heart….mommy is going to make it better.
I fell instantly in love with these evocative pieces which I may as well have personally commissioned. Isn’t it luverly?




And, and and, they have custom art (the maps are really cool), home decor, party decor and a whole design section with tons of tips from the pros.  So now you have a new favourite website on which you can while away your rainy days. You are welcome.
Happy Good Friday, friends. xo

Beautiful skin in 2014? Check! {SkinPro Review and GIVEAWAY}

So I promised a giveaway to kick off a new blogging year and this is a good one!
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Just before Christmas I received this sleek and chic package from SkinPro. I was so excited, it was such fortuitous timing. A couple of weeks before it was sent, I had been suddenly noticing with considerable dismay some unmistakable signs of…AGING around the eyes (nooo, say it isn’t so) and realized that my lack of careful skin care and hit and miss sun exposure was catching up with me. (Because I’m still in my early 20’s so it’s not that it’s actual age ;) I immediately made vague and panicky plans to DO SOMETHING and resolved to start taking care of my skin better, but I was discouraged because I didn’t know where to start.

I’m acne prone and I have always been so preoccupied with keeping zits at bay. In contrast, aging always seemed…well for old people..miles away .  So despite the fact that I have a mom who is incredibly fastidious about skincare (and it is paying off for her), I am lazy and easily bored with extras in the grooming department. I had no time for things like eye-creams and all those anti aging lotions and potions. Look, let’s be real.  At the end of the day it is all I can do to wash my face, brush and floss before collapsing, and being consistent with any extras seemed highly unlikely.  But suddenly I realized with regret, the folly of my ways . It was happening! O em gee! I was starting to see those little lines, the ones they show in the eye cream commercials! I was also insanely stressed and sleep deprived at the time (not to mention just plain insane) and suddenly I was having major puffiness under my eyes, and dark circles. Things I had never noticed or dealt with before. It was all very distressing.

So when I opened my lovely package that fateful day in December,  everything looked super exciting but I was most thrilled about the DNA Serum eye gel and I was resolved to use it diligently. The serum contains  Acetyl Hexapeptide-8. which according to the website is considered by experts to be the best needle free alternative to cosmetic injections and claims up to 30% reduction in wrinkle depth in 30 days.

All the impressive science stuff aside, I’m a sucker for cool packaging and who can argue with something that says  it contains“ temple viper venom” on the package. Am I right?  It comes in this space agey syringe looking thing (except there’s no needle which is big bonus).  The gel is awesome, cool and light, not at all sticky or heavy. You just pat it around your eyes after cleansing twice a day and you’re done. No big deal. Gah! I should have been doing this the whole time!  This is not hard, Kirsty!

Anyway, whatevs… bygones. What counts is I am now a responsible skin caretaker and happily, I have already been rewarded with noticeable results. In fact I was so delighted with the almost immediate effects on the skin around my eyes,  that I started patting some of the excess (a tiny bit goes a long way) on my finger into the deeper lines on my forehead, and what do you know, they really and truly appear to be relaxing and smoothing out! I also noticed a definite tightening and depuffing around my eyes almost immediately. (I had been using one of those rollerball “pen” things with caffeine in them to get rid of the luggage under my eyes but it never seemed to make any difference).

Suffice to say, I am a total convert. As I said, a teeny tiny bit goes a very long way so I’m set for a long time but when this runs out, I will replacing it, stat.  The science behind the product is pretty fascinating and convincing and the proof is as they say, in the pudding, (or in the de-puffed, revitalized eyes).

I wasn’t asked to review the extra products I was sent from Bellapulse but everything I received from the line has been fantastic that I’m genuinely excited to share.  As I mentioned above, I’m always fretting about preventing or clearing up break-ups (ugh seriously, acne in your late 30’s? so not cute anymore. Enough!) and so I tend to ignore the products designed to keep you from looking like the crypt keeper before you are 45 because in the past they have ALWAYS made me break out . (Even in places I don’t ordinarily break out.)  But these products did just the opposite. They really helped to clear up an unusually bad break-out I was experiencing, and the tone and texture of my skin is much better too.

Aesthetically, the products are so pleasing. The rosehip cleanser which I use in the morning, smells most pretty and refreshing, and the exfoliating cleanser I use in the evenings is just gritty enough to feel “polished” without feeling like I’m tearing away at my face and scrubbing a few layers of skin off. It leaves my skin feeling smooth and soft rather than raw and tight.  The rotating/pulsing brush is also really gentle but super effective. I have tried a few different brands of these rotating/pulsating brushes and they all turned out to be disappointingly flimsy and feeble and broke easily. But this one has really impressed me. It’s very sturdy and totally comfortable to use. I love the easily detachable brushes (they are snap on and off), one for cleansing, one for exfoliating, one for moisturizing and one for massage. They all feel lovely on my skin, especially the heavenly soft sponge for applying the AHA moisturizer (although I learned when I was cleaning it recently that it will tear if you scrub at it. D’oh) .

The whole system is  just really easy and fun to use. For once, I actually look forward to the whole cleansing rigmorale at the end of the day. It’s just as simple as what I was doing before but it feels so luxurious and relaxing to spend a few moments massaging my lotion into my face rather than just slapping it haphazardly around and wiping the excess on a wash cloth.  I’m quite addicted to the whole system.

The AHA moisturizer itself is wonderful. It feels thick and rich going on and has kept my skin perfectly moisturized (despite the grip of the polar vortex: non-stop drying heat alternated with blasts of frigid wind..mmm yummy!) but it doesn’t leave my skin feeling the least bit oily or greasy. I use it on my neck and chest too which have always been hypersensitive to moisturizers and apt to break out whenever I put anything on them. But I have had no issues at all with these and the texture of that skin seems tighter and smoother.  When my brother was visiting from South Africa, his poor unaccustomed skin was suffering terribly and he used a little bit of the moisturizer after a shower. He was really impressed and specifically asked me what it was.. so apparently it’s great for dudes too.

Thanks to the generosity of SkinPro, I’m giving away a full size of the magical DNA Serum to a lucky reader who wants to freshen up their face this year. All you have to do is comment below THIS post with your name and contact info,  and I will choose a lucky winner on Friday.

For extra entries if you are so inclined…
2.“Like” Momedysketch on facebook , AND/OR
3. Follow @momedykirsty on Instagram AND/OR
4. Follow momedykirsty on Twitter AND/OR
5. Subscribe to momedysketch.com via email (sign up in the box on the right hand column of the blog). AND/OR
6. Follow Momedysketch on bloglovin AND/OR
7. Follow me on Pinterest
DARLINGS! PLEASE BE SURE TO MAKE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY so that it will count. (If you already “like” me and/or follow me, somewhere, great (and thanks!)-just add a separate comment for each follow/like so I can enter you in the drawing.

I was not compensated for my review of the Skinpro/Bellapulse products, but I was gifted with the products I used, and the serum I will be giving away.  As always, all opinions expressed are 100% genuine and my own.
Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family, because this works for me!

Congratulations Claire! Email me with your mailing address! Your prize will be sent to you shortly. Thanks for playing and I hope you love it as much as I do :) Thanks again to SkinPro.

This one goes out to my fellow students

Hi guys. What up?
I’ve gone a bit off the grid lately, more on that another time (maybe) but I did want to come out of hibernation briefly to tell my fellow studenty type people about something potentially life changing. Financially that is. Prepared to be amazed and delighted. Trust me.
A while ago  CampusBookRentals.com reached out to me to tell me about their services. Within reading the first couple of lines of their pitch I was sold.  Anyone who figures out a way to save money on hugely expensive textbooks is alright with me, but these guys take it a step further. They have partnered up with the wonderful charity,  Operation Smile and are committed to donating a minimum of 80 life saving cleft lip surgeries this year to children in need.
I don’t do reviews unless I can really get behind what I’m reviewing but this one was a no brainer. Because I’m a student, obviously yes, but also because several people in our family were born with a cleft lip, and are now living normal healthy lives thanks to great medical care which so many kids can’t access. 
Ok so renting textbooks rather than buying? Um,  AWESOME! You’re a student so you’re smart therefore I assume I don’t need to tell you why, but I’m going to anyway. When you rent through Campus Book Rentals you:
-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-get free shipping both ways
- choose flexible renting periods
- are part of something wonderfully philanthropic and lifesaving since they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented. (Good karma=big bonus).
Here’s another silly to some,  but not silly to me part of this deal I’m loving.  I’m somebody who is obsessed with highlighting-I know, I know it’s not scientifically proven to be helpful and blahblahblah but truly, I cannot comprehend scholarly information without a highlighter in hand, it helps me to focus, no question. Which brings us to a problem with renting. When you’re renting you can’t exactly be highlighting every other word in fluorescent pink, right? Wrong!  CampusBookRentals gets those of us with highlighter fetishes, and they are cool with it. Go ahead and highlight for all they care. Every colour of  the rainbow!
Here’s a cute little video explaining exactly how it works.  I’m sorry but I think this freaking rocks.

But wait it gets EVEN BETTER.  I’m not lying. It does. They have figured out a way so that you, yourself can become a textbook landlord-yes, you can start making money on any textbooks you have already bought by renting them out to other people.  Which means you are making money rather than losing money on those crazy expensive texts. Two to four times as much in fact.  Your textbook-an investment-whoduthunkit?! Can it be true? It’s so true! This dude explains it quite succinctly. My fav part:  “putting the business of textbooks into the hand of students”. YES. Power to the PEOPLE.  Love. Check out Rentback.com

So if you are a student or you know a student or your kid is a student, or you’re thinking of becoming a student, or you just like to reading textbooks by the fire on cold winter’s nights, hit them up.  (If you are a blogger who wants to spread the word, let me know and I’ll connect you guys).
Later, gators.
I was compensated for this post,  as always the opinions I express here and anywhere else for that matter, are always genuine and 100% my very own.

These are a few of my favourite… Apps

(this is something Ella-24 months old- created using Wurm)
Yes we all love our instagram, our hootsuite and our facebook app, of course. But I am constantly amazed at how useful and productive the iPhone can be when you tap into the right apps and actually use them.  Here are a few of my favs.
Apps Gone Free-is just what it sounds like. This lists a collection of the best apps which are free for a limited time (usually just one day). I love this app mostly because it gives me a much broader idea of what is out there.  There are so many amazing apps that I would never have guessed existed! And once I do, I don’t know how I did without them. They offer free apps for iPhone and iPad. My kids love discovering free new games.
Phocus. This is a productivity app. I talked it about it in  this post (which was very popular).  It really helps the ADD inclined (or even just the undisciplined) to stay on task. You set it for work and rest periods, it has a big clock which takes up your whole screen (so that if you were to reach for your iphone to fritter away some time on facebook you’d be immediately reminded not to)…. and it chimes when you are done with each segment and then rewards you when you are done. Like a dog. Good stuff.
Wonderful Day. Basically a star chart for grown ups. A very simple and fun way to keep track of your goals. Checking them off each day is a little thrill and I will often do something simply because I don’t want to see a little red dot in a streak of green ones. It’s the little things. I am a kindergartner at heart.
Quipio. A really quick and easy way to put together an inspirational thought. They have a great library of backgrounds and fonts or you can upload your own.  I can throw something together on my iphone and upload it to facebook, email it or even put it on my pinterest page in a couple of minutes.
Everybody Walk! I like using this app when I’m working out alone or with clients. I like it because it is basic, and very easy to get going and stopped.  There is no fussing around with it while you are trying to run or help someone else to run. The stop/start button is large and clear so you can see it and start/stop it without breaking your stride,  you can very easily switch from time/calories/map view, it records your workouts, your distance, your calories and your route. And you can even share your results on social media sites if you are so inclined. If you are looking for something no nonsense and easily to handle while in motion, this is a great one.
What’s App-I know everyone knows about skype and I’m sure lots of people know about this one too but I thought it was worth a mention. This is about free texting for all (not just for iPhone). I have group conversations with my family almost every day using this. You can upload photos, video and it uses voice recognition on the iPhone 5.
Timehop-I love, love this one. It collects everything you posted on various social media sites over the years and then shows you what you posted 1, 2, 3, 4 etc years on this day. All on the same page. The option to post it to twitter and facebook with commentary. It’s a fabulous way to reconnect with some of the content you may have forgotten and a great reminder of how fast time goes, how quickly kids grow up and and how you were whining about the EXACT same thing on this day 4 years ago.
Shazam Well! I think this is just magical. You know how you hear a song you really like while you are in the car or at a restaurant and wish you knew the name of it so that you could download it to listen to again and again. Well…now you can! You just activate the app, hold your phone in the general direction of the music and bam. Within seconds you will get the name of the song, the artist, the album and the option to download it to your playlist. It’s AMAZING. Hasn’t failed me yet. We often just play with it with random music to see if it will be stumped. Nope. Never.
Wurm-this is just mindless and creative at the same time. You can create really lovely, mesmerizing designs by just swooshing your finger around. I know it sounds ridiculously simplistic, and it is, but I find it strangely soothing and very satisfying as does Ella. Here are a few more of her creations…

linking up to We are that family and Works for Me Wednesday.  Because these work for me.

On Stress and Sickness and Going back to the Womb

I am getting sick. I am displeased about this. I feel not so much annoyed as shocked and betrayed. As much as I am the most neurotic germaphobe where my kids are concerned, I tend to think of myself as fairly invincible when it comes to germs. I  always imagine that my immune system is virtually impenetrable after almost a decade and a half of nursing snotty, hacking kids back to health.  Case in point :when Ella was recently so sick with the dreaded lurgy, she literally coughed directly into my mouth. Repeatedly.  And I was like, “yeah I’m sure I will be ok”.  And I was.
But now I am getting sick. GOOOOSH.

So basically I can get a full and direct germ assault without getting sick and I can go years on 3 hours of sleep a night without getting sick.  But one thing will get me every time. My kryptonite is stress.  Generally an acute episode of stress does it rather than long, drawn-out low grade stress.
How do you deal with stress? Low grade stress makes me turn to food. I will munch ceaselessly and mindlessly on anything that does not beg me for mercy.  When I am acutely stressed though,  food is the furthest thing from my mind. I want no part of it. I am also unlikely to sleep. And so there ya go. Starvation and lack of sleep, that’ll probably do it. Oh and there is generally quite a bit of ranting. I’m not a silent sufferer. I’m sure this shocks you. Not.
So last night (prior to getting sick)  I was feeling exceptionally stressed and I found myself desperately thinking about what I would like to do to decompress, apart from sleep for about 85 hours in a row. You know sometimes you feel like you have to do SOMETHING but you just don’t know what? Nothing sounds appealing?
(I think this is called “not knowing what to with yourself” and I believe two year olds feel like that 80% of the time. Geez. It so sucks to be a two year old. One forgets).
Anyway today I saw this brilliant little video about how to calm a crying baby by recreating a womb-like experience.


I was a little concerned about the loud shushing in the baby’s ear but the guy is a Dr. so I guess I will let that go.  I found myself thinking that I really wished that someone could do that for me when I was having a meltdown. It looked perfect. Those babies look so instantly blissed out and tranquilized.
Later I was perusing the site of one of my sponsors. And I came across this brilliance.

This is about as close to a womb-like experience one can have as an adult. In the summer time I love to float in the pool. The water drowns out all the noise-inside and outside of my head. I love to stare at the infinite sky and just feel suspended in time.  But the winter makes that a little less easy.  Something about a crowded indoor pool, reeking of chlorine, staring at florescent lights does not inspire tranquility. The water in this floatation tank though, is full of salt so your body is completely supported and you can completely relax into it. Doesn’t that sound DIVINE? You can lie in the dark or listen to music or even watch TV (which seems like a travesty to me). Ahhhhh…..
Anyway now that Valentine’s Day is over and you failed to get what you wanted and it is still winter and maybe you are feeling stressed and sick too,  you might want to direct your people to start looking  for Mother’s Day gifts at Treat Her .( They did not pay me to say this, but I have to tell you that this is such an entertaining and original site, I got lost there for the last happy hour. They seriously do have the most amazingly cool and creative gift ideas.)
And now I suppose I will shuffle off to my bathroom, wade through the pile of soggy towels on the floor, pick up the 26 random bath toys littering the floor of the tub, run a bath and throw some epsom salts in there and sink back into the warm water for approximately 15 blissful seconds before I am discovered by a small girl who will no doubt wish to join me. Which I must admit is good medicine too.
Hope you are having a relaxing weekend!
*This was a sponsored post. While I am offered many opportunities to write sponsored posts, I will only accept those that I feel are a good fit for my readers and I can sincerely and genuinely endorse. All comments and opinions are strictly my own. I will always tell you when a post is sponsored.

Twue Love

Happy Valentine’s Day my friends!  I’m surrounded by the debris of the Valentine’s Eve marathon of last night.  Hand-made Valentine’s for 2 classes, cupcakes for one, 2 Valentine’s boxes to create and decorate…it’s all a chocolatey blur of pink and red.  But oh, aren’t they so cute?

It’s really funny how special occasions and perceptions change when you become a parent.  Valentine’s Day used to mean angst and rejection, and now it means mess and exhaustion. It’s a good trade. No really, it is. And I have to admit that nobody holds a gun to my head to make things more complicated than they have to be…obviously I find the creative porcess fun (just not the cleaning up and doing it at 11pm part…why do I persist in procrastination? Why? Tell me why??!)
You know what also changes after you become a parent? Your perception of true love. When you are a parent of a small child, true love goes from being the person who will whisper sweet nothings in your ear, who strokes your ego and buys you chocolates and diamonds, to the person who will let you sleep for an extra 30 mins and the person who will give you a break from life when you are a zombie from fatigue.
I wrote an article about this when Finny was a baby and nothing has changed my friends. Nothing.  Actually that was pretty fun to dig up and reread. Because Nothing Has Changed. (Except for the amount of grey hair I have.)
I think we can all agree that with maturity in general, true love ceases to become the stuff of romance and more about the stuff of self-sacrifice and consideration. And it comes from friends and well as lovers. Let me tell you a tale of such love.
The night before last Ella slept not a wink. Well maybe 2 or 3 but not consecutively and if you blinked (or tried to sleep)-you missed it.  Aaron and I were crazed with exhaustion by morning time.
When my friend Claire texted me to ask about getting our little girls together, I , of course took the opportunity to whine about my bad night and reluctance to engage in a social endeavour with an exhausted kid who would need an early nap since I also had much shopping to do. To which she replied, “Ok here’s a plan, drop her off, go do your shopping, be back in time to get her home for early lunch and nap….won’t take no for an answer!”
She went on to insist that she would actually pick Ella up right at that moment and that I should not even get her dressed or give her breakfast! 
People! Do you know what this means to an exhausted mother with a busy agenda? It’s like the clouds parting, angels singing and having the first uninterrupted hot shower in recent memory. Do you know how much you can get done in 3 hours without a cranky toddler in tow?  Well not that much if you are as tired as I was (I shop like a MORON when I am tired..just walk around in dazed circles touching pretty much every item in the store robotically) but infinitely more than when tired WITH a tired baby.  It was a miracle and a marvel and I shall never forget this act of mercy and sacrifice.
Claire is one of the busiest people I know. She has 4 kids (one around Ella’s age) and a successful business but she’s also one of the kindest and most considerate. I really am blessed to know some incredibly selfless people.  I don’t deserve them.
Anyway switching gears here for a moment- as Claire was transferring Ella’s carseat into our car, she mentioned that she hadn’t seen one like it before. Do you know why that is? It is because it is a relic from another decade. Actually it’s a very nice relic in beautiful, like-new condition passed on by kind friends, but it occurred to me that using a car-seat that old was not really optimal in terms of safety.  And so we are in search of a replacement ASAP. But what? Such conundrums.
Up until now (like a week ago),we had her rear facing in an infant seat-which was touted as being good for up to 35lbs. She’s not yet even close to 35lbs but that seat was nowhere near to getting her there and had become very uncomfortable for everyone involved. (Wedging her in there every day was lots of laughs-not).  And so now I am in search for a new one.
The people from Britax approached me to let me know about their Baby Travel Systems at www.britax.co.uk which have become my new obsession and I am coveting.  Do you have any idea how much these things have come along since I last had a toddler? I am noticing that they now have this thing that we used to call a “carry cot” in S.A-which was wonderful and I used to wistfully fantasize about going back in time to be a mom when my mom was a mom to littles, just to use that thing-it made so much more sense for a newborn than the little bucket carseats-basically it’s a bassinet for the car,  but now it’s actually safe. Imagine! I really just want to have another baby to make use of such a thing. But then I remember the whole having the baby part and I reconsider. 
Here’s another way parenting changes you. I used to fantasize about roses and perfume for Valentine’s Day…now I’m fantasizing about carseats.

Happy Valentine’s Day my friends! I love you! If I could give you all a bouquet of 8 hour stretches of sleep, I would. xoxoxox

*This was a sponsored post. While I am offered many opportunities to write sponsored posts, I only accept those that I can sincerely and genuinely endorse. All comments and opinions are strictly my own.

Random winner!

Since this was all about Random Acts of Kindness, I felt like using Random. org was in order. I divided up the report into 66 unique acts of kindness ( in other words if you counted number of individual acts it would be many more-isn’t that awesome! ) Well we had 65, but Eden posted number 66 this morning in the comments. Go read what she did! You rock Eden-and I have to say I kind of love that you left it at the wrong house, because that made it truly random and it is very possible that it was just the lift that a new mom needed on that very day and that family will never forget it. So cool.
Ok can I first just say, that I loved and hated doing this because there is not a single soul on this list who I don’t feel deserves to receive something wonderful, who I am not touched and inspired by. Who I don’t love. Who I don’t want to do something really nice for. Not a one of you.  And perhaps, in time I will figure out a way to get something nice to each one of you. Again, I can’t thank you all enough. For those of you who preferred to keep your names and acts more private, I love you too.
Anyway without further ado..the number was…

Which means that the legendarily kind Carolyn is the winner. 

Anyone who knows beautiful Carolyn, knows that she is kindness and consideration personified.  Carolyn is one of the most key components in our “parenting 5 kids more or less competently” support group. She is a ROCK. Without Carolyn, we just could not do it. I think of her as family. My fellow 1/2 Greek sister from another mister. Despite the fact that she has 4 kids of her own and works full time, I lean on her heavily, (I know…I suck), but she never ever makes me feel as if I am beholden to her or that we ask too much of her.  After all she had done for me on the week of my birthday, she texted me (texted!) me a list of 37 things she loves about me.  She was at a soccer game at the time. A game she had taken my kid to. I laughed, I cried and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have a friend like her.  Carolyn makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world, even though the entire world is her friend. She is the most unflappable, sweet, warm, patient KIND person you could ever hope to know, (and she manages to keep a wicked sense of humor and be all kinds of fun too) Gosh it makes me happy to give her something special. Can’t wait.
Have you found that the RAOK thing is really addictive? I have. Too fun!

Winner Winner!….We have a winner!

First off, my birthday was fabulous dahlings. Simply fab-u-lous. No seriously, it didn’t suck-not even a little bit. In fact I ended up the day shedding more than a few happy tears as I read the various reports of what had been accomplished. It was beautiful.  I was so happy. Still am Thank you, thank you. So, so much.
SO: I’m going to be composing a mammoth post including as many RAOK as possible-to be posted tomorrow, whereupon I will randomly pick one to reward handsomely. Or at least moderately attractively. So PLEASE, please, please let me know before then if you performed a random act of kindness yesterday (or today!!) , so that I can include you in the drawing tomorrow.   If you have a picture to share, I would love that. I can’t wait to give someone something lovely because you made my day spectacular. Thank you again.
Ok without further ado the winner of the NatureBright Sun Touch Plus light and Ion therapy was: ( I let Gracie pick a number because she had surgery today and she deserved a little fun)  She came up with 33…(I did not ask why) and then Gabe and I carefully counted the comments until we got to 33.  We are highly efficient here at Momedy. A well oiled machine. Who needs random.org?
And now you are totally going to think this is rigged because the winner is the ever lovely, ever deserving Lucia who lives in this very dark and dreary town. I speak of  course of where I live. The very same.  Lucia is a saint of note. She really is, and she has endured some major challenges over the last couple of years with so much grace.  An inspiration to everyone who knows her, she is sunshine personified, and so I am delighted that she will be hooked up with some sunshine..on a cloudy day. My girl…talkin’ bout my girlllllllll. LUCIA!
In all sincerity I deeply and genuinely wish I could give one to each of you because there were so many other beloved and deserving folks in there. Let me just say that if you can in any way afford one (they really are quite affordable when you consider the benefits) and you struggle with S.A.D. PLEASE get one. Just do it.  Check with your insurance. Some of them may cover it.
Thanks again Nature Bright, and thanks to all of you who played

Don’t be S.A.D, don’t be blue! Have I got a Winter Blues Banishing GIVEAWAY for YOU!

So since y’all have always been so nice to me, and we’ve been talking a lot about our issues and FEELINGS and the general losing of one’s shiz, and just…yeah…the dreariness that is Winter and the S.A.D-ness  that it brings about. Oh wait! Stop. Do you know what S.A.D is? It stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder and if you live somewhere like Ohio, you probably know someone who has it.    
Anyway, in celebration of saying goodbye and GOOD RIDDANCE to January (one month of winter down!-Woot),  I thought I would ask my friends at Nature bright if they’d hook one of you lovely people up with your very own S.A.D  Happy lamp again.
And they said, “for you, our esteemed Kirsty Sayer of the brilliant Momedy Blog-ANYTHING”. Or they may have said, “yeah ok, sure.”
‘Cos they are cool like that. It’s all the happy light they are soaking up. I’m sure of it.
As you may remember, that thing changed my life. I used it religiously for a few Winters but for some reason this year, inexplicably, I forgot all about it. Actually last year too. I blame the baby. (For a lot, until she’s old enough to object). And not so surprisingly since forgetting about it,  I have struggled with the S.A.D-ness ever since.
No more! After all the angst of late I suddenly realized…D’oh!  I pulled my magical box out of my closet and am basking in the glow as we speak/write/read and despite the fact that I am incapacitated at this moment and in considerable pain (due to doing something reallllly stupid).  I’m feeling perkier by the minute.  And my friends, it is UGLY grey outside. Just not pretty. Even so, I’m feeling happier every second. I find it miraculous. Miraculous I tell you.

It’s Summer on my couch today…all blissed out- messed up back not withstanding..
As I have said in the past. Winter (with its accompanying grey darkness) tends to make me inclined to become a bear. As in literally. As in a bear going into hibernation. I start eating carbs like it’s my job-and so I begin to resemble a bear. I become as still as is humanly possible-like a bear does during hibernation. I actually feel paralyzed. I become anti-social (even more so than usual) and irritable (even more so than usual) not unlike a bear disturbed from hibernation.   Ah how my family and friends love it.   It’s just a special, special time for all of us.
A few years ago after hearing about them for ages, I finally broke down and got myself one of these marvelous things and people, my sweet, kind, good people I am not kidding you when I tell you it changed my life. Best $120 I ever spent.  No lie. Behold the (cue: heavenly choirs)
NatureBright Sun Touch Plus light and Ion therapy

After this came into my life, I no longer started getting all melancholy in the Autumn because of what would surely follow…I lost a ton of weight (in the Winter!) my activity and energy levels became equivalent to what they were in the Summer (I am solar powered) . The beast, she was silenced. And the townspeople rejoiced. It was (have I mentioned?) magical and marvelous. And that is when I became evangelical in my zeal for this product and here we are.
I have referred to myself as the modern Florence Nightingale as I have been known to make house calls with this lamp to friends in similar distress (until they realized the magic for themselves and hustled to get their own lamp) and now I shall knight myself Flo of the Internet. Not quite the same ring but it works.
Let me just say, I am not getting paid or compensated in any way for this glowing (haha get it?) endorsement. Consider it a PSA.  Consider it my gift to you by way of the generous folks at NatureBright (who really should be hiring me as their official PR spokesperson and sending me flowers for my birthday-February 6th if they are reading- for the vast amount of business/hype I have given them over the years and if you knew how much I hate selling stuff, you’ll know it’s that good. )
Here are some answers to FAQ’s I’ve had over the years. Or you can just check out the naturebright website.
But yeah, really and truly it’s that good. Since I like you guys and I like feeling good and assumed you do too,  it seemed like a good fit during this, the most depressing time of year.

Let’s do this thing.
If you’re feeling S.A.D or you know someone who is inclined to, please enter to win. I’ll make it easy since I know from painful personal experience that motivation/thought processing during this time is minimal. Ok all you have to do is:
1.Like me on this here blog---> look in the side bar
AND/OR
2.”Like” me on Facebook
AND/OR
3. Subscribe to my RSS Feed
AND/OR
4. Cut ‘n paste following blurb, (or one like unto it) on facebook
Just entered to beat the winter blues by winning a S.A.D Light Therapy lamp from Kirsty at  Momedy!  (momedy.blogspot.com)
AND/OR
5. Put cut and paste the following blurb on Twitter (or  your own like unto it)
Just entered to beat the winter blues by winning a S.A.D Light Therapy box  from @momedykirsty      (momedy.blogspot.com)
So! I have given you FIVE (5!!)  different ways to enlighten yourselves (the puns, they just keep coming, it’s bigger than me people…just go with it).  
You may do just one of these things to gain an entry or you may do all 5! It really depends on how much you want to win this thing.
JUST BE SURE (for the love of light!!!) TO POST A SEPARATE COMMENT BELOW THIS POST FOR EACH ENTRY.
Ok so get on that without delay, or supervise your miserable, whiny, unmotivated carb inhaling friends/family members as they do so. I will be picking a winner on February 6th.  (Did you know that was my birthday? I like chocolate. And diamonds. And pretty much everything at T.J Maxx. Just sayin’)
xo
linking to we are that family's WFMW, because this most certainly works for me.

The Perfect Summer Dress

Recently the nice people from Fresh Produce offered to send me my choice of item from their store.  They are an awesome company who specialize in bright, coastal inspired island clothes for women.
Once I had perused their lovely site, I was very excited about this offer! I was particularly looking for a pretty yet casual summer dress , so I checked out their California Dress line. I ended up with the Wrap Me Up dress (seen below) in Sunrise. I chose sunrise to mix it up a bit. I don’t have a lot of coral/orange in my wardrobe, and it is supposedly a hot colour for this season. I was a bit concerned to go out of my comfort zone but it turned out to be a very wearable, bright and fun shade.

When it arrived, I was thrilled with the colour and how soft the cotton was. I immediately knew this dress would be easy to wear and because of that-it would get a lot of wear. This dress is pretty much my dream come true, something as comfy as pj’s but a lot more pretty and presentable? Um, yes please.
In fact I wore it that very Sunday for our Easter celebration.  I happily changed out of the restrictive shift dress I had worn to church, because I wanted to be comfortable for our egg hunt and lunch, but still look festive and nice.  As I said above, the dress is supremely comfortable and incredibly easy to wear.  It felt so great to slip it on. The wrap front is a faux wrap so no worries about an embarassing wardrobe malfunction due to a handsy toddler trying to get at the goods (look, I’m sorry, but these are the things a nursing mother has to worry about).
When I was ready to nurse, the neckline made it perfectly easy to do so.  (I did need to wear a cami under it to keep things modest).  I got lots of compliments on the style and color of the dress. Unfortunately, since I was the one behind the camera, I don’t have a single photo of myself wearing it on that day! But I have no doubt that many will surface as time goes on.
Since I am pretty frugal (read: exceedingly cheap) when it comes to shopping for clothes, I’m going to be real and say that I highly doubted I would have forked out the $89.00 to buy it for myself, but when I got to thinking about it, amortized, this dress would end up being extremely economical. I plan to wear it pretty much all the time this Summer. The fabric is a great weight, which makes it cool, but not cheap and flimsy, and the style of the dress is such that it can be easily dressed up or down.  It has the perfect length sleeve to cover my ham-hock arms, while still allowing me to be cool, and the scalloped hem-line makes it different and cute.  The fit skims and is flattering, perfect if your weight fluctuates a bit.  All in all, easy, breezy.  I can easily see it being one of those items in my wardrobe that I never get rid of.
Thanks a lot, Fresh Produce!

A Grateful ***GIVEAWAY!****

I am grateful to Lori from My Baby Clothes who invited me to review another one of their cute beyond cute items AND give away a $25 gift certificate to their lovely store. 
Last time I got this. This time, I selected these…could you die? (As Rachel Zoe would say?)

They are the Baby Deer Black and White Houndstooth Fashion boots. Ooh lala. Perfect for the 8 month old fashionista.
Little Miss. EllaB is very pleased with them too…these boots are made for walking. (But she’s not ready just yet).

They are cozy and comfy. Easy to pull on and off.

And HOLY COW how cute are they??  I die. (To quote Rachel Zoe again.)
Do you want your own hyper cute baby clothes?  They have everything from shoes to shirts to dresses and tutus to baby headbands and the cutest baby hats
To enter, do one or all of the following (leaving individual comments for each thing you do, you get an extra entry for each one).  Just commenting on this post will not make you eligible to win! Alas, U.S Residents only.
1.       Follow My Baby Clothes on Facebook
2.       Follow My Baby Clothes on Twitter followers for us  (2 entries)
3. Subscribe to  Parentsnewz.com, the My Baby Clothes internet newspaper where you can find all the latest recalls, celebrity news, parenting tips and more.  Please like parentsnewz on facebook- , follow on twitter-  OR become a newsletter subcriber. ( 3 extra entries for this one!)
I will draw a winner next Wednesday. Good luck! Oh the cuteness is too cute? You can’t wait ‘til then? Happy news!

Black Friday Sale: You will get $10 off of your purchase of $50 or more plus FREE SHIPPING on every order!  Use the code: BLACKFRIDAY at checkout.
Cyber Monday Sale: You will get 15% off of your purchase of $50 or more plus FREE SHIPPING on every order!  Use the code: CYBERMONDAY at checkout.
I shall leave you with this image of Ella striking a contemplative pose in her houndstooth boots. They perfectly frame her thigh rolls.

My Baby Clothes-GIVEAWAY!

Thought I’d celebrate my return to regular blogging with an awesome giveaway. When My Baby Clothes contacted me to see if I’d like to sample and give away something from their store, I was paralyzed (once again) with indecision. The fun kind. Everything IS. SO.CUTE
My Baby Clothes sells boutique-style clothes in sizes newborn-4T in both boy and girl styles at affordable prices. 
They have an amazing variety  of baby clothes and I was profoundly torn between too-too cute tutus and adorable baby headbands (you know how I love me a brain squeezer). A bevy of baby hats and frilly bloomers were also hot contenders.
In the end, I could not resist going the route of something personalized. When it arrived I was firstly thrilled that it did not say, Elizabeth. Then I was delighted with how cute it was. Then I was enthralled with the lovely quality. Truly, I’m not just saying that because they gave it to me. It is really lovely quality. Beautifully made, super soft and sweet.  I will absolutely do  more shopping through their site because the prices are extremely reasonable and the quality and cuteness knows no bounds.

Ella was also enchanted. She loves loves loves the little ribbon fringe skirt (babies adore taggy things with a purple passion) and spent many happy moments playing with it as I tried to get her to look up and smile at me :) She was too interested in blowing spit bubbles and looking at butterflies to smile much but her adorable outfit made up for it. I love that this outfit is frou-frou but so comfy and wearable.  I’m excited to layer it over black tights and a long sleeved black shirt when the weather is chilly.

To enter to win your own $25 gift certificate to My Baby Clothes:
1.   Follow my baby clothes on facebook 
2.  For 2 extra entries follow My Baby Clothes on Twitter
. Subscribe to the My Baby Clothes newsletter on their site.
Post each separate entry below this post. Be sure to post separately for each thing you do!  Good luck!
Entries close next Wednesday.  Alas, U.S Residents only.