A Girl Named PJ

Archives for June 2012

Heatwave + Friday Links

 

We’re having a heatwave in Omaha and summer is barely underway. It is uncomfortably hot and humid here, so, naturally, our air conditioner is on the fritz. Murphy’s Law, right? It looks like we’re going to have to replace both the furnace and the a/c unit, which I’m super annoyed about because that’s a huge chunk of our savings that we weren’t planning on spending right now. Owning a house is expensive and (mostly) a huge pain the ass. Sometimes I wish we still lived in an apartment… Well, an Omaha-size apartment, not a NYC-size apartment!

Let’s commiserate: How hot is it where you live? And what are you doing to beat the heat?

Here are some interesting links to take you into the weekend:

How to take a “selfie” with your smartphone

Tips to get frame-worthy photos of your kids

An app that will save your phone’s battery life

A “why didn’t I think of this” organization project

I’m a 16…but not a narcissist

Lena Dunham remembers Nora Ephron (PS: Do you watch Lena’s HBO series Girls? Do you like it?)

Have you entered our photo album template giveaway?

Please vote for Levi as many times as possible over the weekend!

 

I also write for Lifetime Moms:

Reuniting After A Deployment: Full of Joy, But Stressful Too

 

Happy Friday, and have a wonderful weekend!

Giveaway: *on the day i was born* book

baby blue eyesI take a lot of pictures of Levi.

In fact, I just filled up a 16 GB memory card with 2,684 photos captured with my DSLR between January 22nd and June 24th. If you factor in all of the pictures I’ve snapped on my iPhone and with my digital point-and-shoot camera since the beginning of the year, I’m guessing I’ve taken about 9,000 photos in 2012 so far. (Yes, I take about 1,000 iPhone pics a month!)

I’m afraid to calculate how many photos I took of Levi, the dog and my family in 2011.

My intention had been to create a month-by-month photo album of my best shots to showcase how Levi has grown and changed. But I’m overwhelmed by the sheer volume of files to edit and process. And then to design a book? I’ve been procrastinating because I don’t know where to start.

I suppose the obvious place to start would be the day Levi was born–July 12, 2011–but there are 239 pictures (not counting iPhone snapshots) that were taken in the hospital. How could I possibly narrow them down for inclusion in a photo album of Levi’s first year?

bunny and dolly giveaway

Then I came across this post on The Creative Mama by photographer and mom Stacey Worthington and was immediately inspired to create my own special book documenting Levi’s birth story. However, possessing only basic Photoshop skills, I had no idea how I might make such a clever and well designed album. I could only hope that Stacey would make her template available to the rest of us non-creative folk…and lucky for me (and for you!), she did.

To celebrate Bunny & Dolly’s redesign, Stacey from Life As You Live It Photography would like to offer one lucky reader a free *on the day you were born* template! This extremely user-friendly template, compatible with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements., features 11 spreads in a cool 7×7 format. While the book above was made for a soon-to-be big brother, there is an alternate ending for a big sister. You can also change the wording on the last page if you’re making the book for an only child. (I’m making one for Levi in honor of his first birthday, and he’s definitely not going to be a big brother any time soon!)

Note: This giveaway does not including printing of the book, but Stacey offers a discount for Blurb (her printer of choice) on her blog.

Ready to win? Here’s how to enter:

One winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Monday, July 2nd. Good luck!

PS: Did you vote for Levi today?

snapshots from the weekend

messy baby eating

I think I’m just about recovered from our very busy weekend!

Our dearest friends in Omaha are moving out of state in a couple of weeks, and we decided to piggyback on their yard sale. Lately, I’ve been feeling suffocated by the amount of clutter in our house, and I was finally able to convince JB to part with lots of things on which we’ve (unnecessarily) placed a sentimental attachment. Pretending as though we were the ones packing up to move, we gathered kitchenware, electronics, furniture, clothing and additional stuff to sell. I even sent JB back to the house during the sale to pick up a couple more items I remembered we had but didn’t need anymore.

As luck would have it, it was chilly and rainy the morning of the yard sale. I’m talking major thunderstorms. Still, we managed to make a couple of sales before we were able to move our merchandise out of my friends’ garage. Eventually the sun revealed itself, and by the end of the day it was in the 90s. Hot and sweaty, we packed up our unsold goods in boxes to be donated and celebrated our successful one-day sale with take-out pizza and frozen margaritas we whipped up in the blender. Then we threw our kids in the bathtub, which may have been more fun for us parents than it was for our sons.

More exciting than the wad of cash we pocketed, though, was watching Levi bravely explore my friends’ house. He climbed on top of their ottoman and pulled himself up on their baker’s rack. Yes, he’s starting to stand up! He won’t pull himself to standing on everything, but in the last couple of days, he’s been getting up on his two feet more and more frequently. And I have to admit, I am less freaked out about this latest milestone than I thought I’d be. (Isn’t that always the case, though? The unknown is scary.)

PS: Thank you to everybody who has voted for Levi and shared the link on Facebook and Twitter! He’s currently in 53rd place (yikes!), so please vote today and every day until July 1st.

 

 

Winner! (The Stationery Boutique Giveaway)

Congratulations to Jessica R., the winner of our calling cards giveaway! Jessica, please send me an email to claim your prize.

Bonus for all readers! Jennifer, the owner/designer of The Stationery Boutique, was so thrilled by the number of people who entered the giveaway that she would like to offer everybody a discount on her products. Get 20% off your purchase through the end of June with the coupon code BUNNYANDDOLLY20.

Now you have no reason to not buy yourself some personalized mommy calling cards! (And please let me know if you do order some!)

Please vote for Levi!

On a whim last week, I entered Levi in the Parents Magazine Cover Contest, and this morning I received an email announcing that his photo is in the running to become one of the weekly Reader’s Choice finalists.

(Although, I imagine that every photo submitted has the potential to become a weekly Reader’s Choice finalist. It’s probably a very big pool of contestants!)

Still, I’d love for Levi to be chosen as a finalist. I mean, what mom doesn’t think her kid is cute enough to be a child model? Levi and I would very much appreciate your vote — just follow this link to show baby guy some love. You can vote once a day from now until July 1st.

Thanks in advance!

xx

 

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