Mommies and Students Mixing It Up

Another Austinite mompreneur hard at work – I couldn’t pass up the chance to brag about her!

It seems like every time I turn around, one of my mommy friends is looking for daytime help with her little ones. And we all know that cash is a hotter commodity for strapped college students than $1.50 long neck Lone Stars and free Chick-Fil-A coupons.

Why not bring the two together? Even better, why not bring them together in the least intimidating environment a woman will ever step foot in: her favorite local boutique? Genius. Pure genius.

Mary Sullivan Cooper founded MommyMixer back in 2003 as an attempt (a very successful one might I add) to make it easier for struggling moms to find help with their kiddos. Gone are the days of calling a friend of a friend’s neighbor’s nephew’s fiancé “Kimmy” to trust with the lives of your precious peas while you head across town 3 days a week to your OTHER day job.

The big idea behind MommyMixer is to facilitate meetings between mommies and nannies in a relaxed, social environment that reveals true personality and the ever-important chemistry. The mommies get smart, driven students eager to help out, and the nannies get the bank they need to keep their heads above water while in school.

We Austinites are lucky for a lot of reasons (including the best frozens with salt to ever touch your lips), but Cooper already has plans to share the love by taking MommyMixers national. Check out her site at www.mommymixer.com for more info.

My Guilty Pleasure

I'm letting the cat out of the bag. I'm a mom and I like really bad reality TV. My latest guilty pleasure, The Girl's Next Door on E!. If you aren't familiar with this little gem of a show, let me tell you what you're missing.

The infamous Hugh Hefner has three girlfriends that live with him at the Playboy mansion - Kendra, Holly and Bridget. They are all blond, dingy (not that those two things are mutually exclusive) and don't have much to do, but look good. Each episode is filled with their girlfriend duties, events or activities at the mansion.

I can see you rolling your eyes now, but I promise you, one show and you'll be hooked. I think I like it so much because it is the exact opposite of my own life. Here are the comparisons below:

Helen / Hef's Girlfriends
married / single and in a plural relationship
have a daughter / each has at least one purse dog
own business - Two Blue Peas / has no business
brunette / bleach blond with extensions
20 million things to do in a day / 1 thing to do a day
drives a Honda / has multiple German sports cars

Well, the list could go on and on really, but you get the idea. Check out this little show and you will not only feel more normal than you have ever felt. You will actually be glad you are on the normal side of life. Real boobs and all.

Time to dust off the old yearbook

…and maybe even my favorite full-sequin purple prom dress – just to see if I can get a thigh in there. Ah, the high school class reunion. It reared its ugly head a lot sooner than I expected, but I honestly can’t say that I’ve been suddenly overwhelmed with the need to double up at the gym, re-vamp my entire wardrobe, get pregnant, or God forbid, have my happy face permanently affixed with some Botox. I think I’ll just stick to the Crest white strips and my trusty little black dress.

This weekend I will likely recite the story of my life (the past 10 years anyway) more times than I can count bottles of beer on the wall, but is that so bad? I’m happily married (did I mention to my high school sweetheart?), I live in the most amazing city, and I’m more than excited to talk shop and pass out Two Blue Peas business cards to every preggers whose name I can successfully remember.

Sure, I’m dreading running into “that guy”. You know the one. He always goes by his last name (which has to be O’Doyle or Fletch), has a personalized license plate, probably still takes his laundry to mom’s, and thinks he’s entitled to make out with the former Homecoming Queen since he did afterall, help us win state back in the day. On the bright side, maybe he’ll spike the punch again.

Keep cool this summer. LYLAS.

Your BFF,
Sarah

9 million cries heard across the nation

It happened yet again. Mattel has recalled 9 million of its toys due to lead in paint and choking hazards on small magnetic parts. Out of curiosity I took a look at the bottom of every toy that Lillie plays with just to see where it was manufactured. Much to my surprise ALL of them are manufactured in China. All of them plastic and painted and being licked on a daily basis.

So, this makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Is Mattel the only company that has paid more attention to its products lately or were they faulty in not checking them and this is the result? Are all the other toy manufacturers doing a better job? I'm not quite sure how to feel about it. Do I trust that the FTC and CPSC are testing all things that may come in contact with the mouths of babes? I'm not sure.

All I know is poor mothers all across this country had to deal with small cries and whines from their child's' toys being taken away. Probably not a good way to spend your Wednesday. Thank goodness mine is too young to have an attachment to toys. I have a sneaking suspicion toy sales across the US will begin to decline. An alternative - shameless self promotion here - buy a hand-made, lead-free toy from Two Blue Peas!

Get your elbows out. It's TX tax-free weekend.

Unlike my other 23,507,782 fellow Texans, I have no plans to brave the mall this weekend to save a mere eight and a quarter percent on back-to-school clothes and shoes.

Call me lazy. Call me crazy. Or just call me while you wait in the back of the longest line the Gap has ever seen. A deceivingly long maze of a line that rivals LaGuardia’s security checkpoint on Christmas Eve. I’ll be at home lounging in the comfort of my ergonomic desk chair, clicking away at my favorite wait-free online shops. Yes, including Two Blue Peas. We’re tax-free for Texans this weekend too (August 17 – 19, 2007)! Throw in free shipping on orders over $100, and duking it out over the last legitimate parking space in the lot suddenly seems a little cuckoo now doesn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong. I love a good deal as much as the next gal. And I’m certainly not rolling in so much dough that eight and a quarter percent is considered peanuts every other time of the year. I can just think of a few better uses this weekend for my precious elbows. Say, gently nudging my husband’s ribs to politely ask if he can keep the snoring to a more reasonable decibel.

Peas… Good for your health AND your style?

We all know the little round fellas pack a punch of vitamins A and C. But did you know they’re also good for your style, not to mention your purse strings?

Your mom used to reward you for polishing off your pile of peas sans tantrum, so we’d like to do the same for those of you interested in us enough to frequent Two Peas and a Blog. This weekend only – that’s through Monday 8/13/07 – simply enter coupon code POSH BLOG to save an extra 10% on all designer baby clothes from Posh Baby at www.twobluepeas.com.

Posh Baby’s ultra hip designs and fabrics bring that cool California laid-back style to any playground or play group. Definitely a Two Blue Peas favorite. Enjoy!

Girl's night...A love/hate relationship

Girl's night is something I always look forward to. A glass of wine, chatting, putting on some clothes that make me feel more like a woman and less like a mommy. What's not to like? Well, what's not to like is the post night hangover that follows.

Unlike my Two Blue Peas partner, I have the knack of indulging in too many glasses of wine. The first one tastes so good and you think why not a second? And, since we're still chatting and having fun, "Yes, I'll take a third glass of pinot grigio, Tyler". That's right, by this point I know the server's name and have chatted him up a bit. I've told him he looks more like a Ben...he likes that. The group of us decides he's the best server ever, because he used the term MILF when describing our crew. He's no fool, large tip coming his way.

Anyway, I digress, I'm going to try my hardest to be good and not overdo the wine at the next girl's night, because the amount of melted cheese I need to eat the day after to counter balance my hangover is really not good for the waistline.

My Life as a Rock Star

OK, so it’s really not as glamorous as it sounds. I’m no Gwen Stefani and Two Blue Peas is no l.a.m.b., but I do have a fierce passion for fashion and I sure love a good music festival. Three days later and I’m still recovering from the heat, the crowd and of course the rockin’ shows from Lollapalooza 2007. Sure I’m a booze-free, spreadsheet-making, speed limit-obeying business woman, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hang with the group of fake I.D.-toting teenagers next to me singing along with every word coming out of Mickey Avalon’s dirty (yet oh so hilarious) mouth.

Maybe one of these days I’ll settle down and outgrow this guilty pleasure. Maybe one day when we finally start our family. Who am I kidding? I’ll just fly the grandparents in to have some QT with their future rock star grandkids. Besides, you could technically call it a business trip. I did wander through the Kidzapalooza tent to scope out our next sponsorship deal.

In this life, I plan to keep donning my tiniest tank top and SPF 50 to brave the sun in the name of live music. Next stop? The Austin City Limits Music Festival – right in our own backyard. In my second life though, maybe I’ll come back as a band front man instead of a wee festival go-er. That way I can get some free swag from boutiques like Two Blue Peas clambering to have my kids sport their goods in the next issue of US Weekly magazine.

Now if I can just figure out how to sneak a little brown and blue package into Perry Farrell’s trailer...

Noisy Body Parts

Did you happen to know that when you push a belly button it makes a tooting noise? Or, when your nose is pinched it honks? And sometimes if you touch a nipple it beeps? These are all the wonderful new noises that Lillie has discovered that her dad's body makes. And, since her dad's body makes those wonderful noises, so does her mommy's...well, minus the nipple part. That's just plain mean. It's absolutely hilarious watching Lillie discover the world and her pleasant surprises that the most common things make the oddest noises. I wonder if she'll always think these body parts make those noises? Will she be disappointed when she learns that those parts really make no noise? I hope not...that's what makes life fun.