Coast 2 Coast Mom

Who's Afraid of Pumpkin Goo?

This week while I co-op’d at Li’l Boo’s morning preschool, the class worked together to carve a pumpkin. As their teacher went around the table allowing each kid to reach their hand inside and grab some of the seeds and guts to pull out, I was surprised that each of the girls readily reached in - but four of the boys fearfully declined! As in emphatically shook their heads "No! I don't want to!" with some whining and one even turned and ran from the table! Li’l Boo was one of those who recoiled in horror at the prospect of touching the insides of the pumpkin. Not sure where this is coming from . . . he always likes "getting messy" helping me mix things up when I'm baking or cooking. Gonna have to warn B for when they carve our pumpkin tomorrow night. . .

Thanksgiving weekend ads begin circulating online

Oooh! Not sure how many of the ads are legit, but I am getting super excited for holiday shopping!! Maybe it's the crisp cool air here in Jersey . . .

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Business -- Thanksgiving weekend ads begin circulating online

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Great Deals for Li'l Rockers

City Threads is one of my fave clothing lines for Li'l Boo. We have their San Francisco zip up infant hoodie from our Cali days, a toddler size Chicago one from our time there, and we quickly picked up a New York hoodie and hat from them when we moved here earlier this summer. (I'm obviously a big fan . . . see shots of Li'l Boo below sporting their gear from coast-to-coast.)

So I was excited to get an email for previous and current customers announcing they're taking an additional 25% off everything online including items already marked down 50% . . . making these items 75% off! Click here for these sale items. Enter code: CT25NSX Sale ends at midnight 10/21.

There are several guitar/rock tees I plan to pick up for Li'l Boo and my nephew-to-be. . .

   

First Sunburn

Okay, so I had a bad mom day this weekend, but I don’t think I could have avoided it.

 

We woke up Sunday and checked the weather forecast to learn that it would be a high of 56 degrees in the NY area, and we dressed accordingly for our trip to Giants Stadium to watch the NY Giants take on the SF 49ers. Not knowing for sure if our seats would be in the sun or the shade, we wore long sleeves (Li’l Boo wore the requisite white mock turtleneck and Eli Manning jersey) and carried our coats should it be cold and windy. We lucked out and basked in the sun where it was nice and warm with a clear blue sky and felt like it was 68 degrees! (I seriously felt badly about putting Li’l Boo in a mock turtle as we were very warm the entire game.) By the end of the third quarter, I noticed Li’l Boo’s cheeks were majorly pink. I initially thought that it was due to him being warm, but I realized that it was the result of sitting in the sunshine for three hours. Aack!

 

 

So Li’l Boo got his first sunburn yesterday . . .

At a football game. . .

In the middle of October. . .

In 52 degrees. . .

In New Jersey. . .

Looking back, though I honestly don't think I would have possibly thought to bring sunscreen with us, but it’s one more thing that I have to feel guilty about for not being a good enough mom to have prepared for it. And it’s one more small lesson in learning flexibility, of letting go of my expectations as a mom, and learning that I can’t control everything despite my best intentions. That all I can do is the best I can at the time.

Feel Your Boobies

If you’re waiting until after the 15^th of the month to make your DonorsChoose.org donation for SVmomsblog, then consider helping to celebrate another national campaign - for free - by simply feeling your boobies today. My fit friends at BookieBoo introduced me to FeelYourBoobies. In conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, visit http://www.feelyourboobies.com or check out the group on Facebook to see how you can help spread the word about early breast cancer detection and for tips on checking your own breasts for lumps or changes.

Send An NJ School On A Field Trip . . . And Me To Lunch With Jerry Yang

With all of the bad (and scary) economic news surrounding us, Suze Orman was on The Today Show last week and mentioned that by helping or doing good for others, even in these bleak financial times, the universe will return the favor. So for any do-gooders, Suze Orman fans, or desperate readers, I encourage you to support the DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenger on behalf of the New Jersey Moms Blog (part of the Silicon Valley Moms Group) to help our local NJ schools. How does this pertain to helping a NJ school win a free field trip and me having lunch with Jerry Yang? Yahoo!'s awarding the blogger who motivates the most donors to lunch with CEO Jerry Yang - and the opportunity to reward his/her school of choice with an up to $5k field trip!

How does it work? For the month of October 2008, Silicon Valley Moms Group has partnered with DonorsChoose.org, to help spread the word about the lack of funding and support needed for our public schools. The premise behind Donor's Choose is quite simple: through DonorsChoose.org, teachers request what they need and write a descriptive proposal of how funding their request will benefit their classroom. You can then read through the requests and decide what items or projects you'd like to help fund.

Please take a moment to read some of our local New Jersey teacher requests and consider making a donation. The winning blogger is determined by how many donors they reach - not how much is given, so please give what 'cha can!

Welcome to c2cmom!

Welcome to c2cmom! Coast-to-coast or sea-to-sea - when it comes to the United States, I've probably lived, driven, sailed or flown there - most recently with my son in tow. A born and raised Midwesterner, I spent my post-college years in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area, raised my toddler in the Chicago area, and am now raising a Jersey Boy in the greater New York City area.

In the past three years alone, we've moved from Silicon Valley to Chicago to NYC. When people hear this, they often ask if we're a military family, or if we moved for family commitments. No and no. We moved for career changes and opportunities. . . I suppose that'd be for love AND money ;-)

When I was pregnant with my son in 2005, I was running my own public relations consulting firm in Silicon Valley. Business was growing, and I was busy . . . but my health was not so great. So I took time off from work, and planned to re-open the business one year later. I spent my pregnancy de-stressing, working out at the gym, relaxing by the pool (how awesome?!), and also managing the purchase and construction of our home (trust me, as crazy as that alone was, it was still less stressful than running my business!). Soon after the birth of our son, my husband was forced to make a major career decision that would require us to move from Silicon Valley to Chicago. Seeing as how I had to re-launch my business anyway whether we stayed in Silicon Valley or moved somewhere else, and I was still finding my way as a new mom, I figured that it was as good a time as any to move and start anew. Plus I felt that there were thousands of people like my husband with similar backgrounds in Silicon Valley and that he would be a more rare commodity elsewhere in the country. I was right, and many doors opened for his career once we relocated to Chicago. As such, he was presented a job opportunity two years later in New York City . . . we thought we'd be fools for passing on it. So we called the moving company and were off again on a new adventure!

I don't know where I caught this domestic travel bug, as I didn't picture this life for myself as a little girl growing up in Michigan, but I have it . . . and I hope that it's contagious so that Li'l Boo catches it! I'd love for him to enjoy a well-traveled life. This is where I will share our travels, adventures, thoughts and experiences living around the country . . .

New Katie Couric Fan

I started TiVoing Katie Couric’s interviews with Sarah Palin on CBS News this past week and I’ve been struck by many things . . . but most notably, I’ve been impressed with Katie’s hard-news interviewing skills. She’s held her own, politely held Palin to answering questions without acting like a bully, and has proved herself to be quick on her feet. I’m not the only one who’s noticed, as a friend pointed out this article tonight. Nice work and good luck to Katie and the CBS News team moving forward.