GINORMOUS SALE at georgietees.com!

georgie tees is finally closing its doors. Life and all its excitement/craziness/joy/projects/endeavors has us moving on from the business we started five years ago. It is time and though a bittersweet ending, we are excited to see what the future will bring.

To help us close our doors as soon as possible before the holidays, we are having a GINORMOUS SALE on our site!

$10 infant tees (reg. $24)

$20 infant twin sets (reg. $45)

$20 mom & baby set (reg. $48)

and

FREE PRIORITY MAIL SHIPPING on all orders over $50!

That's a good 60% off or so and even better than our friends & family discount--whoo hoo! Now is the time to stock up on all those baby shower gifts and stocking stuffers for the holidays. Heck, stock up on our great infant tees for your kids as well!

To shop and support the cause (i.e., help us break even on our inventory investment),please visit georgietees.com.

P.S. All maternity tees are SOLD OUT.

P.P.S. You just might find our maternity tees on BabySteals.com in October.

P.P.P.S. A few of our styles/sizes in our popular infant tees have already sold out, so don't wait too long!

georgie tees Mother's Day sale!

Most of you know when I'm not writing multiple posts for multiple sites, I am co-owner of georgie tees, a fun and unique line of infant and maternity t-shirts and apparel. Well, with Mother's Day around the corner we wanted to make your shopping a little easier—and a little more affordable. Plus, it's a great time to stock up on gifts for all those upcoming baby showers. Summer is the busiest baby-birthing season (due to winter being the busiest baby-making month).

From now until April 17th we're offering

...

30% off your order

PLUS

FREE Priority Mail shipping

...
Simply enter code MOTHERSDAY in the Comments section when checking out. (Your discount will be reflected after your order is processed since we have to run them through the system manually.)

We'd love for you to spread the word about the sale. In fact, if you tweet/Facebook/blog about our Mother's Day sale and someone you know places an order, have her tell us in that same Comments section that you referred her.

For every completed sale (i.e., successful referral) we'll give you $5 towards a future purchase at georgietees.com!

Happy shopping!

And yes, that's me in the above photo...hard to believe I once had long hair but it's true!

I've moved! (i.e., check out my new site!)

...
...
...
I've been wanting to start my own site for some time, especially since LeShan and I decided we'd be wrapping up georgie tees so we could move on to other projects. My friend Quinn over at CreatedByChicks.com has been helping me with the design, and though it's not complete (the right-hand side is still a work in progress), I've officially started posting over there. AND I've imported all my Blogger posts into the new site as well so you faithful readers (hi, Mom!) wouldn't miss a recipe, Wordless Wednesday or any other life-changing post.

I'll no longer be writing on freshly baked so I'd love, love, LOVE for you to head on over to my new site:

is this REALLY my life?

Like I mentioned, please pardon my dust as I tidy up the site. Feel free to look around. You'll find the inspiration behind the site and its name on my "about me" page, and if you really and truly love me you'll become a fan of isthisREALLYmylife.com on Facebook and subscribe to the site's feed (RSS icon at the top of the right column). I'll even give you extra credit if you snag a button and add it to your site! (The HTML can be found on the right-hand side of the homepage.)

I'm so excited about this new adventure and hope you'll join me for the ride! --Emily

A Glimpse of Santa

Camille over at Make It Work Mom gave me the heads up about a fantastic photo opportunity for the holidays, not only because it's sure to be the easiest, cutest way to get pics with Santa but also because it supports a worthy cause. A Glimpse of Santa is truly a gift that gives back!

I too have dealt with those oh-so-fun trips to the mall for a photo with Santa. It was a traumatic experience and like Camille, the end result was a photo of not only Santa and my dear daughter but also me (and I'm pretty sure I didn't have makeup on either). That's why I love the idea behind A Glimpse of Santa. Here's an intro, thanks to Make It Work Mom:

A friend of mine, Jennifer Eliason, is offering special photo sessions with your kids and Santa. Only this one has a twist. The Santa is YOU! How cool is that? "Santa’s" face won’t be in the picture, but your kids’ true, naturally excited expression will! So, instead of tucking away a picture taken by a mall employee of a bearded guy from off the street holding your screaming toddler, you walk away with a classy, quality candid of your little one that you’ll want to frame and display throughout the holiday and each year!

And if you book your session for DECEMBER 12, you’ll be helping out little Odette, a 1-yr-old who is battling leukemia because 100% of all Jen’s proceeds for that day will be donated to her fund.

Check out Jen’s blog for more details then contact Jen today to book your session!

You can also check out Camille's post over on Make It Work Mom. Her blog is definitely one you'll want to add to your blog reader!

Though we probably won't make the December 12th date as times are going quickly, I am hoping we can find another time early this season to catch our own glimpses of Santa, Christmas pj's and all! --Emily

30% off & FREE shipping at georgietees.com!

Just a quick reminder that we are offering our customers

30% OFF
(on all orders)

plus

FREE Priority Mail SHIPPING
(on orders over $75)

when you shop online at georgietees.com. Simply enter code BLACKFRIDAY09 in the Comments section when checking out. (We will process your discount manually.) Offer is good from midnight Thursday the 26th through midnight Sunday Happy shopping!

Stay tuned...

I have had an idea for a new blog for a few months now and it's about time I got moving on it. Once we move on from georgie tees (anyone still interested in buying the biz?), which will happen by the end of the year, I want to have this new site well on a roll. To do so means I need to spend some time now designing the site--with the help of my good friend Quinn from CreatedByChicks.com--and planning just how it will all come together. I'm super excited and can't wait to unveil the new blog, so stay tuned for that announcement. The URL was purchased long ago and I'm hoping the site will be up and running sooner rather than later. It all depends on how often Quinn and I can get together for our "business" lunches...

Along with blog plans I have some actual paying work I am excited to do for a few friends. Writing press releases and company bios will take precedence for the next couple weeks. Like I said, it's actual paying work... So with the new blog, a couple clients, my son's 4th birthday this week (complete with a party at Jungle Jim's) and literally 1,000+ photos recently received from Shutterfly awaiting photo albums, my posts may be a bit sketchy. But that seems to be the story of my life these days and you all are probably used to it by now. (I hope.)

You will still find me posting on food for thought fridays--it's one of my favorite posts of the week! And of course wordless wednesday always makes me smile so that's a given. Other than that it's a crap shoot as to what you'll find here during the week. But heck, who doesn't love a good crap shoot? --Emily

P.S. Don't believe me about the Shutterfly photos? Check out the photo below. Have YOU ever received a package that large when ordering prints? (By the way, that box measures about 11"x14"x4".)


P. P.S. If you find yourself wondering what I'm up to when not posting feel free to follow me on Twitter; you can find me here. And if you're suffering from withdrawals you can always read older posts on this site or catch the guest posts I've written for a handful of other sites (see "I ramble on these sites too" on the right-hand side).

$100 gift certificate to Oompa Toys!

My friend Vanessa over at I Never Grew Up is having an AWESOME giveaway right now:

$100 gift certificate to Oompa Toys!

I absolutely LOVE Oompa Toys! If I win I might have to put it towards the Chalet Dollhouse and furniture set. What a great Christmas present that would make for our youngest (and definitely not spoiled) daughter!

Head on over to I Never Grew Up and comment for your chance to win! --Emily

The hunt is on!

It’s that time again! We are proud to announce our sponsorship of the 10th Semi-annual Great Cloth Diaper Hunt! Register here and then visit participating sponsor sites, hunt for the Diaper Decisions diaper icon, and earn entries to random prize drawings, including two Grand Prizes (our "made it past third base" maternity tee is in the mix of prizes) and one Ultimate Grand Prize! For more details please visit the Rules and FAQs page.

This is our fifth time sponsoring this hunt and it is a lot of fun for everyone involved. The hunters have a great time trying to find the diaper icons and the sponsors have a great time trying to hide it. If someone gets stuck, they can head over to the hint forum for a little help. You won't believe the ginormous number of prizes; check out the haul on the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt's prize page.

As an added incentive, participants receive a special discount code good at various sponsor sites. For example, if you register as a hunter you'll get a code for 10% off your georgie tees purchase!

Good luck and happy hunting! --Emily

Sweet Life in the Valley and Out & About with the Family Disneyland giveaway!!!

Anyone else want to escape the cold weather for Mickey ears and Cinderella's castle? Here's your chance to do so, especially if your travel budget is seriously restricted by holiday shopping.

Sweet Life in the Valley and its new sister site Out & About with the Family are giving away a trip for four to Disneyland!

Entering for your chance to win is pretty easy (we're talking subscribing to a newsletter) and just like in school you have some chances for extra credit (i.e. extra entries). But I think you should just stick to the one entry so I have a better chance of winning...

You can find the details on both Sweet Life in the Valley and Out & About with the Family. This is a great chance for you to take a pre-holiday vacation before the craziness hits, so take it! It's also a wonderful opportunity to see what Out & About with the Family is all about. (Could I put another "out" in that sentence?) It's a wonderful site for travel tips, city guides and reviews of travel-related products. Plus I'll be writing a post for the new site so definitely visit next week! --Emily

And the winner is...

A little while back I held a contest trying to find the best caption for this photo:

"No, like this, you bend, and SNAP!"

The prize was a freshly baked batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Apparently no one's tasted these cookies because only four of you entered. Had you had one of my famous homemade cookies hundreds of you would be clamoring for the win. (Okay, maybe not hundreds but at least tens of you!)

Though I loved all four entries the one that made me laugh out loud was from Azúcar and you'll find it included just below the photo above. And yes, it helped that Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies.

Congratulations, Azúcar! You can expect a batch of my homemade cookies very, very soon! (And by very soon I mean as soon as I can bake in the kitchen without "help" from my toddlers.) But I'll make good on the win, don't you worry!

Thanks to those of you who took the time to comment. And for those who didn't (Mom, you so had a chance!), you're missing out on some dang good cookies! --Emily

Technical difficulties

Okay, I'm not really having technical difficulties. The internet is working great, my computer is functioning just fine and I have power to my printer. I'd say "technical" is simply another word for "emotional, mental and physical" and it all has to do with a 10-day vacation in the southern Caribbean and the stark reality of life when I returned. Over 250 emails (not counting my Hotmail and Gmail accounts), stacks of bills, one child with a nasty cough, another with a 103 fever, an actual desk where I actually have to sit all day, no humidity, no shore excursions, no snorkeling and definitely no late-night frozen yogurt swirl cones. I have a term for this post-vacation experience and I'll be writing about it later this week. Until then bear with me as I adjust to real life...and believe me, it looks nothing like the photo you see below. And yes, that's really me with my feet up, leisurely reading our cruise itinerary for the next day's activities. {sigh} It's almost like it never happened... --Emily

Love me or leave me...okay, don't really leave me

If you're sick of my lame, excuse-filled posts, I don't blame you. This summer seems to have been one of survival and I still have a couple weeks left before I find out if I win the final challenge. Okay, there's no final challenge but there is an upcoming move on the 25th and I am still trying to pack. This weekend is the Hobblecreek Half Marathon for which I've been training for the past few months and the 26th is the first day of school for my girls.

I hope you all love me enough to bear with me as I try to make it through the next week and a half. Believe me when I say I don't deserve all you loyal readers. I promise to try and make it up to you after I've made the move and made it through the first few days of school. I foresee maybe one more blog post before the move, and most likely on Friday since that's when we feature food. And if you haven't learned by now, I really, really love food. It's my favorite day to post!

So keep hanging in there with me and I'll be back on track once school is back on track. By then I should have my computer up and running and a clean change of underwear unpacked from its box. Love you all! --Emily

Image by mpopp / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Happy School Year's Eve!

Celebrating New Year's Eve is, well, a yearly tradition in our home. Though we're not in Times Square with the rest of the world, we enjoy good food, family and some serious game playing to celebrate the new year. But for most families the "new year" really comes around the middle or end of August when the class lists go up and school shopping begins. The first day of school is truly a "new year" for kids and families alike.

So in true party fashion, Cookie magazine and PTA have teamed up along with GAP, KinderCare, Children's Zyrtec and Hot Moms Club, the celebrate the newest school holiday, School Year's Eve! This new holiday was created to help get families ready and excited about the new school year. (We could use some help with the excitement some years more than others depending on the outcome of those class lists!)

Who's invited to the School Year's Eve bash and when is it? Everyone is invited--families, schools, and PTAs all across the country are encouraged to celebrate. Cookie and PTA will ring in the new school year (and the new national holiday) on August 30th. What if your school starts earlier or later? Just celebrate whenever school begins for your children and do whatever works best for you. You can have the party at home, put together a larger block party or even check with your school and ask for help from your local PTA and principal to host it there!

For party planning tips and ideas you can check out the Party Planner section of the School Year's Eve site for ideas, links and downloads. The site also has a Style File for cool back-to-school looks, resources for parents with advice from Cookie, PTA and parenting experts and recipes for yummy School Year's Eve party treats!

And to make your School Year's Eve party truly fabulous, Cookie and PTA are offering partygoers the chance to win $1,500 for their school or PTA unit. Just post pictures from your School Year's Eve bash after August 15th for your chance to win!

Oh, and the site also has some great money-saving coupons from companies like momAgenda, Y WATER, Birthday in a Box and Sharpie.

With only 17 days and counting until August 30th you'll want to start planning your School Year's Eve party now! For more details visit the official School Year's Eve site here. Happy countdown! --Emily

This week's excuses

Here is this week's list of excuses for why I'm too busy to post regularly this week:

1. As of Wednesday night last week four people in this house have been sick, three of whom vomited for about a 24-hour period (two of which can't make it to a toilet in time).


2. We hit Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, San Fran and my Fremont reunion within a three-day period. I drove along I-80 long enough to be able to do it blindfolded.


3. We found a home, discussed buying the home, even had my dad whip up a pretty serious pros and cons spreadsheet and then put an offer on a home. And the offer was accepted.


4. My youngest has refused to nap and prefers taking me by the hand and leading me everywhere she goes, and if I leave the room, even super stealthily, she finds me and puts me back in my place.


5. I have had very little time to actually "hang" with my parents so I'm going to do that instead of sitting here while my butt goes numb.


6. I've been spending way too much time reconnecting with "old" friends via Facebook.


7. Today I spent a wonderful evening with Josh and Rebecca from MomFaves.com and their fabulous little boys instead of thinking of a super cool new blog post to write.

So that's only 7 excuses this time. Perhaps in about 6 weeks I'll have no excuses left and get back to posting regularly. Until then...enjoy the rest of your summer. It's flying by way too quickly! --Emily

Image by Maxey, shared via Flickr.

Less than 24 hours...

...until the Moms Who Make It conference and I am operating on 4 hours of sleep so this is all you're getting as a post for today:

Come to the conference.

You will leave inspired and empowered.

You will love it and I will love seeing you there.

Moms Who Make It: Empowering Creativity in Life & Business
Thursday, July 16th
@ Noah's in South Jordan, UT

For more info and to buy your afternoon/evening tickets click here.

Top 5 reasons why YOU should attend Moms Who Make It

My good friend Quinn is the woman behind CreatedByMom.com and the Moms Who Make It Conference. She just posted a great YouTube video listing the top five reasons why YOU should attend the conference. By the way, we only have our afternoon/evening session tickets left--the mini-class and full-day conference tickets are totally SOLD OUT!

But the afternoon/evening session ticket still gives you the biggest portion of the conference complete with fabulous keynote speakers, a wonderful panel of entrepreneurial women, breakout sessions on everything from motherhood to social media, a truly tasty gourmet dinner AND our mocktail party after the event where you can socialize, network and connect with other women.

The conference is next Thursday, July 16th. Grab your tickets before they're gone!

And the excuses continue...

I would be surprised if this blog still has faithful readers after the latest posts being few and far between. And once again here I am telling you this mompreneur's schedule is still so crazy, so full, so nuts she won't be posting much this week or probably next week as well.

The Moms Who Make It conference (have you nominated a mom who inspires you?) is just over a week away and there is still much to do to get ready: swag bags, gifts, goodies for our backstage bloggers (aka The Sexy Six), nearly sold-out registration for mini-class and full-conference tickets...the list goes on and on. Add to that a #GNO IRL tomorrow night at Rock Creek Pizza Co. in Riverton, Utah for which I'm a panel member, a church activity on Sunday, a few posts I'm behind on for other sites and the biggest of all, the sale of our home.

Our home is officially under contract as of today with a closing date of August 25th. It was listed less than a week before the offer came through. Now we need to not only start packing but also find a place to live!

So wish me luck as I live of Oreos and Diet Coke for the next seven weeks. I will try to post when I can but forgive me if it's not as often as you or I would like. I promise come September life will be back to its normal level of insanity. --Emily

Do you know a mom who inspires you?

Though Mother's Day has come and gone, moms are still working hard, creating joy and spreading love wherever they go. We would love to honor these women during the Moms Who Make It conference on July 16th. (For more information on the conference, click here.)

For our Moms Who Are Making It spotlight during the conference we’re looking for moms who have had difficult life circumstances but have used them as a catalyst to change their lives for the better. These are moms who have inspired you to look at your own life and think, “I can make it too!”


We will collect all the nominations and randomly select ten to be honored at the conference. Each time a mom is nominated she receives an entry into the drawing, so the more nominations the better her chance of being spotlighted at our event. These moms will receive a full-day ticket to the conference and an invitation to attend the VIP Mocktail Party that night so they can mingle with our speakers and the CreatedByMom.com moms. We're also throwing some fun swag into the mix!

If you know a mom who is “making it,” please email or comment a quick summary (200 words or less) on why you think she should be honored during the Moms Who Make It conference. You can send an email to momswhomakeit {at} createdbymom {dot} com.

If you wonder if you’ll be honored as one of our Moms Who Are Making It, buy your ticket now before the price goes up on July 7th (midnight) OR before they sell out! If you are chosen we will refund your ticket.

We’re looking forward to sharing their stories and being inspired just as you have been inspired by them!

Moms Who Are Making It is sponsored by The Potted Pansy

#GNO IRL: A girls' night out in real life!

Many of you know I have been super busy helping Quinn, the woman behind CreatedByMom.com, plan the Moms Who Make It conference. Believe it or not I've been dubbed the Director of Communications for this fabulous event, yet I'm doing the lamest job of it considering I've been failing to post all the cool pre-conference events/hype parties/taste-testings we've had. I've left that to our Backstage Bloggers, now more affectionately known as our Sexy Six. But I should definitely be doing my part to "communicate" when it comes to MWMI.

Though it's a bit late to blog about the Noah's VIP Preview night, Utah Celebrations taste-testing, The Sweet Tooth Fairy and Lorken Food Finery hype parties I can tell you about our last pre-conference event:

#GNO IRL!

For those familiar with Twitter you'll recognize the #gno hashtag started by none other than our very own Jyl from Mom It Forward. Every Tuesday night from 7 to 9 pm Pacific time, Jyl hosts #gno complete with a handful of panelists tweeting their answers to questions about a specific topic from preparedness to family activities to photography. The tweets are fast and furious but the night is a lot of fun, often continuing on into the wee hours of Wednesday morning!

On July 7th from 7 to 9 pm we'll have our first ever #gno in real life (IRL)! The topic is "me time"--basically, taking time for yourself (is it possible? does it make you feel guilty? do you even do it?) BUT Jyl will be hosting the July 7th #gno on location at Rock Creek Pizza Co. in Riverton, Utah. It's an official girls' night out online and off and we want YOU to come!

Whether you're an experienced Twitterer or a newbie, come on by for some great conversation and great food. Bring your laptop, computer, iPhone, whatever your Twitter tool of choice--Rock Creek has free WiFi! Or arrive with no intention whatsoever to tweet; come simply to get away with girlfriends for the night. To sweeten the deal Rock Creek Pizza Co. is offering everyone who at the tweetup 25% off her purchase. This is a great excuse for you to try their gourmet chicken garlic pizza, my personal favorite!


Our #GNO IRL is also the last hype party beforeMoms Who Make It on July 16th and marks the last day you can buy your tickets before the price goes up. If you want some serious "me time" then you'll want to schedule a sitter now for July 16th and plan to attend MWMI '09.

I'm planning to be there laptop and appetite in tow. Hope to see you all there! For more details, click here. To RSVP visit the Facebook event page: #GNO IRL "Me Time". --Emily

P.S. If you can't make it we would love for you to join us online and in your pj's!

P.P.S. Only a couple days left to enter to win a Flip video camera and full conference ticket to MWMI '09! We'd love to have you as Boutique Cafe's exclusive conference correspondent!

Now's the time to sell, right? Right?!?!

When it comes to real estate, now may not be the best time to sell...unless you have a home in our price range, in our fantastic neighborhood with the most awesome elementary school and fantastic view of the mountains from your front door. Today we officially listed our Sandy, Utah home for sale. Why? Well, we've already lived here longer than we thought and simply felt it was time to look for our 20-year home.

To view the full listing on UtahRealEstate.com, click here. I've included a slideshow of the still photos in this post since they're larger than the ones on the sight. BUT the listing does have a virtual tour (if you click Property Tour on the listing page) and that's kind of cool!

A few things to note:

• The colors are a bit different than you see in the photos. For example, the reds are brighter than they are in real life and the blue in the theater room is richer and darker.
• The virtual tour shows the step-up area off the formal living room, which we are currently using as a mini family room. This was originally used as a formal dining area and looks really cool that way. Simply use the casual dining area off the kitchen as your family room instead!
• Take a close look at those pictures--my home will NEVER be that clean again! (Totally kidding--we're keeping it clean 24/7 around here much to the dismay of my family but totally not to the dismay of me!)

The basic info:

Sandy, UT 84092

1978 brick rambler

.21 acres

3200 sq ft

6 bedrooms/(1) full bathroom & (2) 3/4 bathrooms

$289,500


And here's the description from the realtor:

What a beautiful and fully finished rambler in Sandy. Wonderful features include a great and open floor plan with nice-sized rooms, a beautiful yard, walking distance to the trail system and incredible mountain views. Easy to show. Call for an appointment.

Here's some not-so-basic info, or what I like to call...

Top 10 Reasons Why You'll Love This Home
(in no particular order)

1. Park Lane Elementary is one of the best in the district--and the Canyons School District is brand new for the 2009-2010 school year. It's going to be awesome!
2. The views as you drive up the street to our home are breathtaking. Gotta love those Utah mountains!
3. Sandy has everything you could want: Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Nordstrom Rack, two large movie theaters, South Towne mall, Tai Pan Trading Co., plus it's only 20 minutes from Salt Lake City, 30 minutes from Provo and 20 minutes from the airport (depending on who's driving).
4. Quiet, friendly neighbors who bail you out of a nearly doomed recipe by giving you eggs or sugar (or both) at a moment's notice.
5. The home faces directly south so you shovel half as often as your north-facing neighbors. The roofline is such that the sun comes through the windows in the winter but doesn't hit them full force in the summer.
6. Rambler with 3200 square feet--need I say more?
7. Low-maintenance yard; you couldn't kill those roses if you tried. Just ask me....I know.
8. The home theater rocks! Staggered seating, surround sound and a hidden closet in the corner for your audio equipment. By the way, the risers in the theater look permanent but are completely removable.
9. All rooms have high-quality cable and internet connections. Hello, I'm married to an electrical (and software) engineer!
10. My favorite feature? The central vacuum kick-plate under the bar in the kitchen. Simply sweep all those Goldfish cracker crumbs and Cheerios into a small pile, kick it open and that baby will suck all those crumbs goodbye. It may even suck up the family pet so use with caution! (Totally kidding!)
    

If you could spread the word, that would be great! We've found a home or two we kind of like and would love for them to still be there when ours goes under contract. The sooner the better! If you have questions you can email me at emily {at} georgietees {dot} com. --Emily