Think Pink

One of the most inspirational women I know is my sister-in-law.  She is a mother of five, a nurse, wife, friend, sister and breast cancer survivor.

My sister-in-law does not inspire me because she's a survivor, but because of the journey she took so I would be able to call her one.  I knew a lot of other inspirational women who didn't survive the disease.

All of them fought hard, through pain, nausea, weakness, hair loss, hospitalizations, infections and surgeries.  The least I can do to honor them is give a little back to their cause.

Each year, I participate in the Komen Race for the Cure, but Hanes has made it possible for me to show my support more than just one day a year.  They have a new program which allows people to design and buy their own shirts to support the fight against breast cancer.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so there is no better time to get involved.  Not only can you share and wear your personalized message of hope, but Hanes will also donate 10% of the proceeds from the sale of these custom shirts to Komen for the Cure.  You can create awareness and help support the cause all at the same time.

And, if you aren't feeling creative, then check out the Hanes Pink Collection with super-cute, reasonably priced apparel all designed to inspire. 

Help support this worthy cause!  Really.  It's the least we can do.

Heal Thyself

In early 1999, just after my daughter was born 10 weeks premature, I learned a lot of new words. The hospital has a lingo all its own and when you have a baby in the NICU you get a crash course in anatomy, ailments, monitors and medicine. To be completely honest, before our daughter came along we didn't even know that NICU stood for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

It was there where we learned how to take care of our tiny, new arrival. The nurses taught us what to do if her breathing slowed and they showed us how to touch her with firm hands because being gentle startled her.

The NICU is full of science and full of caring. It was where I saw my daughter being tube-fed and it is where I held her skin-to-skin because I was told it would help her grow. It is a place of delicate balance.

It was in the NICU that I first heard of Aquaphor.

I arrived at the hospital one day to find a small jar with a pharmacy label on it. My daughter had been prescribed a mixture of Aquaphor and Maalox to treat her very first diaper rash.

Let's just say that it wasn't the only time we used that jar. My little girl was famous for her middle of the night, up the back poops. She didn't just get a red bottom, but rather a red area stretching from her diaper to her neck.

Now, more than a decade later, I am working in the cafeteria at my kids' school. I never thought I would wash my hands more than I did when my daughter was in the hospital, but there is something about preparing food for hundreds of children that makes you want to keep your hands clean.

During the school year, especially throughout winter, my hands are more red and cracked than my daughter's rear-end ever was.

When Eucerin contacted me and asked if I would like to try one of their products, I jumped at the chance to sample their Healing Ointment. This would also be when I slapped myself in the forehead, because I hadn't thought of using it for my dry, chapped hands.

For the past week I have been putting the Healing Ointment on my hands and feet before I go to bed. In order to get the most out of the product, I have been wearing socks and gloves. I know that seems extreme, but you haven't seen my dry skin.

And, you know what? You won't see it. I now have the smoothest skin I can ever remember. After years of spending a lot of money on pricey lotions, it took a week of Aquaphor and some old gloves to heal me.

The generous folks at Eucerin want to heal your skin too. They have asked me to choose two lucky readers to receive an Aquaphor Wonder Set, valued at $33.00, which includes the following:
Aquaphor Lip Repair: Aquaphor Lip Repair effectively relieves dryness and soothes chapped lips so you can smile comfortably. Provides immediate and long-lasting relief for dry lips, seals in moisture and prevents dryness. Fragrance-free, preservative-free, dye-free and appropriate for sensitive lips.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment: Protects extremely dry, chapped, cracked or irritated skin and helps enhance the skin’s natural healing process. The multi-purpose ointment is safe to use on babies’ sensitive skin; it relieves chapped cheeks, treats diaper rash and relieves dry skin associated with eczema.

Aquaphor Gentle Wash & Shampoo: A convenient cleanser that gently cleanses both skin and hair. Enriched with soothing chamomile and provitamin B5, it is specially designed to be gentle for baby’s sensitive skin. Soap-free, fragrance-free, tear-free and pediatrician recommended.
To enter, leave a comment on this post (please provide a valid e-mail address) before noon EST on Friday, October 8, 2010. For an extra entry just tweet a link to this page (add @Momofali to your tweet).
Good luck and happy healing!

*UPDATE*  Congratulations to Amy and Shelly!  Your Aquaphor will be shipped soon!  Enjoy!

I'm an Admiral in the Old Navy

I can't really begin to tell you how much I love Old Navy. For real. Like I would marry it. You can't beat the cuteness, you can't beat the price and you can't beat the quality. Enough said.

Well, no. It's not enough said. Because recently, I decided it was time for me to get some new clothes. I didn't get myself much of anything for fall or winter and had cleaned out my closet which ended up looking like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard.

So, I walked into Old Navy with $100.00 and here's what I walked out with.

This cute, green shirt.



This soft, breezy and super-comfortable skirt.

Three pairs of flip-flops. One gray, one blue and one orange.

Some stylish, cargo-capris.

A cozy, long-sleeved tee shirt.

Two stainless-steel, water bottles...because the two I already have weren't enough.

And a crisp, white polo shirt.

And, after buying TEN items, I still have some money in my pocket! Which is why I think I want these shoes.What am I talking about? I need these shoes! Right? Right? Good. I'm glad we could all agree.

No Longer a Spectacle

When I was seven years old I got my first pair of eyeglasses. I clearly remember one of my second grade classmates calling me "four-eyes", until our teacher heard him and made him stop and apologize. I hated those glasses.

In junior high school, I was one of the few girls who had to wear glasses. It was the 80's and, as luck would have it, kids started wearing "fake" glasses to look cool. This would have been perfect for my pubescent-self had they actually made nice looking prescription glasses back then. While everyone was walking around in black, round, plastic frames, I was stuck with gold, oval ones. I hated those glasses too.

When I was finally old enough, I got contacts. I have to be honest, I was not a big fan. My eyes were always dry and itchy, they were a pain to take care of and there is no feeling like having a gas-permeable contact lens that gets lost in your eye. If there had been a better selection of eyeglass frames on the market, I would have never stuck those things in my eyes.

Thankfully, along came LASIK! I was one of the first people to sign up, but the doctor wouldn't do the surgery until I had been contact-free for six months. By this point in my life, I was nearly blind and my glasses were thick and chunky. My co-workers called them pop bottles. Guess how much I hated that pair?

But, it was worth it to walk around like Mr. Magoo for six months so I could get LASIK! I liked it so much, I got it twice. That's right. I had LASIK twice, and guess who still has to wear glasses? Mmm hmm. That would be me.

I certainly wasn't going back to contacts after knowing how good my eyes felt after more than a year without them. Luckily, times have changed and there are companies making good looking frames now. Like this cute pair I just got from GlassesUSA.com.

Here's me (and my son whose identity I'm concealing for his privacy...okay, not true, I'm just a bad photographer) sporting my new, funky, bold, brown-on-top, clear-on-the-bottom glasses. You know you love them.

And, because I love you, I went and got you a 5% discount with this great company (not that you need it, with prices as unbelievable as theirs). Plus, they're good people. Their returned eyeglasses are not restocked, but instead are recycled and donated to organizations throughout the United States and provided to people who can't afford vision care.

The discount code is Mommy5 and it never expires. See? Good people.

Who Wants More Floor?

When my husband and I bought our house nearly 12 years ago, we did a complete renovation. Walls were torn down, floors were torn up and every single room got a fresh coat of paint...or three.

We were in a hurry to get things done because we hated living with the mess and about four months into the renovation, I got pregnant. That really caused us to speed up the process. As a matter of fact, the last bit of carpet was installed the day before my daughter was born.

Because we felt rushed, we made some mistakes along the way. I chose wallpaper because they had enough rolls in stock, not because I actually liked the pattern and I picked white grout for our kitchen and back entrance, because I didn't consider how quickly a dog and future children would muddy it.

But, by far, the biggest mistake we made was in choosing our flooring. We made bad decisions on the color of carpet, we bought cheap vinyl for our bathrooms and we used contract installers from out of town. If I could rip up those floors and start from scratch I would.

This is one reason that I am so thrilled with the new carpeting in our mudroom. It looks good, it was installed perfectly and the color and texture are just what we needed. You know why? Because it was researched by a trusted Rite Rug employee who steered us in the right direction every step of the process. We also bought an area rug from Rite Rug years ago and it is the only other flooring purchase I'm truly happy with.

And now someone else has the chance for some flooring happy! Rite Rug has generously offered a $199.00 gift certificate to one of my lucky readers! You can use it for the purchase of an area rug, or new bathroom floor, or put it toward new wall-to-wall carpet. The choice is yours!

To enter, first make sure you live near a Rite Rug location. If your home is within the vicinity of a Rite Rug store, just leave a comment here before Friday, November 6th at noon EST. Please leave me a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you're the lucky winner!

Good luck, everyone!

**UPDATE**

Congratulations to Shelly...AGAIN! Last time, my daughter picked your name out of a hat and this time my son did.

This Rug is so Rite

I would like to introduce you to the latest thing to make my heart go pitter-patter. My mudroom. One sure way to make a woman happy is to give her family a place to declutter before entering the house.


This room at the back of our home has gone through a few transformations. When we moved in almost 12 years ago, it held the debris from the complete home renovations we did. If these walls could talk they would probably say they heard a lot of cussing back then.

After that, it contained hand-me-down furniture from my mom. It was lovely, but way too over sized for our small porch. You could barely walk through the room let alone sit in it.

Last summer we decided to make a change and finally start using this space the way we've always intended. We bought a table and chairs off of Craigslist which makes a great place for the kids to sort through their backpacks after school. We also purchased a storage ottoman that not only holds our patio cushions, but is also where the kids can sit down to take off wet or muddy shoes.

Yet, we made those changes and the room still looked horrible. Why? Because the flooring was astroturf. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING you can do to make a room look better when the floor is covered in astroturf.

Then like an angel swooping down with carpet-covered wings, I got an e-mail from Rite Rug asking if I would like to be part of their 75th anniversary celebration. They wanted to know if I had a mudroom that needed a makeover. Did I ever! I was thrilled with the idea of walking out the back door without feeling like I needed to suit up first!

Now there's no more astroturf. In its place is this gorgeous, green carpet that was covered in mud the day it was installed. And, you know what? I never even knew. My husband waited for the mud to dry, then vacuumed it right up. It's pretty carpet that cleans up nicely and you don't even need cleats to walk on it!

Oh, and apparently it's comfortable too.

The Old Navy Experience

Roughly one month ago I pulled my favorite pair of Old Navy jeans from my closet. Faded, with frayed hems and long enough for my 5'10" frame, they were just the right color of blue and super comfortable. They were perfect jeans. Notice I said, "were".

When I put them on that day, I noticed a big hole in the left, inner thigh. Years of friction will do that. And, I'm not little. There was a lot of friction.

I wanted to cry. Okay, I did cry. Don't judge me.

A few days later, karma stepped in. As if my trip to Chicago hadn't turned out to be great enough on its own, it turns out that while I was there, I met a representative from Brand About Town. They looked at me, my kids and my blog and thought I would make a good Old Navy enthusiast. (Little did they know, I already was one!)

They offered me an "Old Navy Experience". I didn't really know what that meant, but part of me was secretly hoping to replace those jeans. So, heck yes! Sign me up!

Yesterday morning, they sent us a car. Here are the kids in the back seat just before sucking down juice boxes which the driver had chilled for them.


When we got to Old Navy, the kids ran off to pet Barker while I was introduced to our stylist.


They quickly left the dog so they could start shopping.

After that, we were shown to the dressing rooms...

...which were loaded, not just with clothes, but with organic cookies and lemonade for the kiddies!

They tried on TONS of Fall clothes.

And, because he needs to learn that he will someday spend a lot of time waiting on women, my son entertained himself in the clothing racks while his sister kept trying on outfits.

Finally, out the door we went with FOUR bags full of stuff.

Including tax, we spent $359.00 and we got 35 items. I'm no math major, but I AM a good shopper and I can tell you that is one incredible deal. We got quality clothing that averaged less than $10.27 a piece.

I bought the kids some school uniforms, jeans, sweat pants, shirts, jackets, pajamas...and I even got myself two long-sleeved t-shirts and a stainless steel water bottle.

Here is the longest receipt I have ever had.

The only problem? I forgot to get new jeans.