Seattle Mom Blogs

When your week starts out like mine did on Monday, it’s hard for it to get any better. What I’m trying to say is that I’m still riding the high from the Cervical Cancer Awareness event at Grey Gallery that SMB co-hosted with The Yellow Umbrella (spear-headed by the lovely Christine Baze and her celebrity makeup artist co-hort, Debra Macki). If you weren’t able to make it, you truly missed out. It was an incredible evening of music and friends with an even more incredible message, that being SAVE THE HOOCH!

We were spoiled by our very own local professional photographer, Sarah Alston (of Sarah Alston Photography of course) who brought a ton of yellow props for us to play with as well as her enthusiasm for our group and the cause. We posed for silly photos in the photobooth that she lovingly set up and had no time at all coming out of our shells, as you can see. The night definitely would not have been the same without her and I know that she’s just as committed to spreading The Yellow Umbrella’s message as we are.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the term “SAVE THE HOOCH,” prepare yourself to be educated. The purpose of Christine’s non-profit, The Yellow Umbrella, is to educate, empower and inform women about the 3 very simple things that could one day save their lives, their fertility, and their cervix: the Pap test, the HPV test and the HPV vaccine.

At the age of only 31, Christine was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. It all started with an “abnormal” (how many of us have had one of those?) pap result and quickly turned into a diagnosis, a radical hysterectomy, laproscopy, daily pelvic radiation, chemotherapy and brachytherapy. In Christine’s own words, “Nothing hurts worse than having these things done to your body, not a shot, not a pap smear.”

Christine Baze and Debra Macki are in Seattle to spread the message, that cervical cancer is preventable. Through education and music, Christine sends her message to all women, everywhere, so they don’t have to go through what she did 10 years ago. With her uplifting lyrics that encourage us to live our lives while we can and her passion for this cause, she speaks to all women – as she spoke to us Monday night, telling them, telling us that cervical cancer IS preventable!

To accompany the message, Debra has designed an exclusive eye color palette for The Yellow Umbrella representing the 3 tools every woman needs in order to prevent cervical cancer. One of our lucky readers who wasn’t able to attend the Girlfriend Gathering will have the chance to win one of these palettes (valued at $36) just for doing one simple thing: telling us what she will do to prevent cervical cancer for herself, her daughter, her mother, her friend or her neighbor.

All you have to do is comment to win!  The awesome eye shadow palette is just the proverbial icing on the cupcake (a YELLOW one of course) in our effort to spread information and awareness of cervical cancer pevention.  Won’t you please join us?  Winner will be chosen by random draw on Monday, May 24th.  Best of luck and remember ladies (and gentlemen) SAVE THE HOOCH!

May 9th – 15th marks Seattle’s inaugeral Cervical Cancer Awareness Week – a week dedicated to education, information and empowerment for all women (and those who love them) to battle cervical cancer.

Seattle Mom Blogs has partnered with the non-profit The Yellow Umbrella to bring this special event to Seattle.  The event will feature live music by The Yellow Umbrella founder, Christine Baze, an accomplished musician and cervical cancer survivor, who has opened for Michelle Schocked, Sheryl Crow, The Fray, etc; and makeup demonstrations by celebrity makeup artist, Debra Macki, whose clients include Rhianna and Cyndi Lauper.  The pair will be in town to kick off Cervical Cancer Awareness Week and to showcase the recently released Debra Macki for The Yellow Umbrella eye shadow Palette, desighed exclusively to benefit The Yellow Umbrella.

The Girlfriend’s Gathering will also include:

• Eye makeovers by Debra Macki (for a select number of lucky guests)
• A complimentary Debra Macki for The Yellow Umbrella eye shadow palette for the first 25 women to RSVP
• Additional eye shadow palettes will be given to bloggers throughout the evening for reader giveaways
• Hors d’oeuvres, drinks and (yellow!) cupcakes
• Photobooth by Sarah Alston 

Where:  Grey Gallery & Lounge, Seattle,  WA 98122

When:  Monday, May 10th

Time:  7 – 10PM

We hope you can join us!  To view the invitation, please log into facebook and click on this link:    Or, you can email Carrie at if you have any questions.

I’m very excited to announce that Seattle will be able to experience the awesomeness that is the Hands on Business workshops that have been held across the country since October. And even more exciting? I’M TEACHING! I was approached by the indomitable Mrs. Flinger to help give our Puget Sound friends the opportunity to understand the intricacies of the internet and how it can help you and your small business.

IT’S FREE.

THERE WILL BE GIFTS.

AND FOOD.

I WILL BE THERE! So please check it out. The official deets are below.

and Microsoft Office Live are hosting FREE gatherings across the country to introduce a few easy ways to build and promote a start-up or small business. The hands-on sessions will offer practical advice, instruction, and application tips.

At the events, attendees cover popular platforms and get hands-on direction setting up accounts and applying them to their small businesses.

You don’t have to be a business owner to attend either session. Anyone can come!

Friday, November 20th, 7:00pm-9:00pm
* Location: Youngstown Cultural Arts Center – South Classroom
* 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106

Saturday, November 21st, 10:00am-12:00pm
* Location: Youngstown Cultural Arts Center – South Classroom
* 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106

Please visit Hands on Small Business for more information and to register.

Mona is a blogger and mother who lives in Seattle with her toddler and husband. She tries to stay out of the rain, mostly. You can visit her blog at

From Elliot Bay Bookstore:

RACHEL BROWNELL
Saturday, September 12 at 2 p.m.

Rachel Brownell, the mother of twins and a newborn, and suffering from postpartum depression, was using alcohol to cope and maintain a sense of herself as “more than mommy.” Gradually, she faced the truth about her alcoholism and found the help she needed to get sober. Her book, Mommy Doesn’t Drink Here Anymore: Getting Through the First Year of Sobriety (Conari Press), is part-memoir, and part-self-help book, providing hope, help, and support for a less visible part of the recovery community. “Brownell doesn’t pull any punches about the ugly side of her addiction, and her first year of sobriety is fraught with times where she felt lost, as if she were hanging on only by her fingernails, and overwhelmed by life without alcohol o help buffer it … There is no glowing happy ending, just the reality that life must be faced one day at a time.” – Library Journal.

Come see a local author and blogger! Hope to see you at Elliot Books Saturday.

Come support Rachel and her new book She’s fabulous. She’s a blogger. She’s a writer. She’s a mom. What’s not to love?

Join us!

Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Third Place Books
Street: 17171 Bothell Way NE
City/Town: Bothell, WA

If you’re not going to the awesometacular event that is the Blogher 2009 conference, here’s a great opportunity for you to meet other bloggers and also get your bowl on! (Do people still say get your [blank] on? I’ve been inside playing Wii Bowling for too long, I’ve lost touch with reality.)

On Saturday, July 25th, you can be apart of this fun, free, bowling soiree, but you have to RSVP here for what is sure to be a rocking and rolling event. (Okay, I know people don’t talk like that. I need to get out more!)

You’re all invited to come to a Pre-BlogHer meetup this weekend. What’s that? You’re a little shy? Well! This is PERFECT for you (and let’s face it… YOU ARE NOT SHY.. I read about your hayhay on the internet. Oh, wait, no, you read about mine. Whatevah.)

Please join us at Kelsy Creek Farms this Saturday at 2pm in Bellevue. This is a family friendly event. Bring something to share (brownies, I hear? or Juice for the kids? Or chips and dip? Keep it easy and cheap. This is Seattle, after all) and come take photos as we meet and get ready for The Big Conference In Chicago.

People who have expressed interest (and thus made me squeal) include (but is not limited to):
Linda at Sundry
Sizzle at Sizzle Says
(our very own SMB Editor!)
Angie at All Adither
Jenny at Jenny On The Spot
Leslie at Mrs. Flinger (me.. I will totes be there)

Comment with your name (what we will call you when we see you) and your website address and twitter name. Can’t wait, Seattle!

You can find information on Kelsey Creek Farms here.

Location:

P.O. Box 90012
Bellevue, WA 98009

Note: IF you’re unable to come this Saturday, we’re going to have an AFTER BlogHer gossip fest at a local margarita pub in August. Come share your stories and photos after BlogHer as well. Because Seattle is fun like that. If you want to be notified about August’s meet up, please let us know that as well. )

On Wednesday night, some Seattle-area bloggers, moms and mom bloggers were invited to a night of pampering courtesy of 5 Minutes for Mom and Pledge.  It was held at the aptly-named Swoon Boutique Spa in Capitol Hill, where the guests were treated to free manicures, pedicures and massages.  I don’t have enough exclamation points to describe how luxurious it was to even be offered such a beauty-trio, and on top of that, all of our laptops were given some pampering, too, thanks to Pledge Multi-Surface.

I was very happy to meet some local bloggers, some of whom I have only met twice or only seen on the internet. Who knew that these were very real (and ) women existed outside of their internet spaces? I love meeting bloggers, especially female bloggers, because it’s nice to have a conversation with people who “get” it; people to whom you don’t have to explain what twitter is, who Dooce is, and how weird it is when your elementary school classmate super pokes you on Facebook.

I signed up first for the pedicure because I knew it was my most urgent of the beauty procedures.  The last pedicure I had was in 2006, shortly before I gave birth to my son and my boss at the time mentioned that fire-engine red toe nails would be a good touch since everyone would be looking at my feet.  Though I can assure you, my feet were not the focal point in any of those 12 hours. The beautician did wonders to my huge Shrek-like feet. What’s it like to have feet like Shrek? Imagine leaving footprints that would make a dinosaur crater seem tiny.

It was also a first pedicure for Maggie from Mighty Maggie, whom I have coerced into being my best friend.  Don’t you see how she loves that I’m sticking a huge camera lens in her face and telling her to act natural!  Like I’m not even there! I’m so stealth!

It’s just like bloggers to immediately broadcast their experiences on twitter. What did we do before twitter? I think I just stuck my head out the window and yelled, “HEY, MY KID JUST POOPED AGAIN!” or hollered in the grocery aisles, “O-M-G BACON! NOM NOM NOM!”

It was a great night even though we had to pour out a little lavender lemonade on the ground–gangsta style–to remember our sick homie, Leslie who could not make it.

We also left a with a goodie bag with Pledge Multi-Surface cleaning tools, plus a Pledge flash drive which hosted product info and a survey to find out what kind of cleaner are you. You can also take this quiz on their website. I’m more of a follow-the-leader cleaner, which means, I wait until my very spic-and-span husband walks through the house bellowing, “THERE’S A TRAIL OF MONA HERE!”  or waves his hands over my various piles and says, “What are we going to do about this?” Hopefully, with Pledge, I won’t have to wait until my husband is giving me dirty looks before I work on making my house sparkle.

Check out more photos of our debauchery (okay, debauchery with a small “d”) here in my .

You can read Mona’s personal blog , which means “favorite child” in her native language, Chamorro. She doesn’t mind explaining this to people because she’s just keeping it real, yo. She also hopes to have another manicure in the future, perhaps before her three-year-old graduates from high school.

The Internet has been shaken by the death of a lovely and amazing little girl, Maddie Spohr. The thing about blogging is that you can know, and love, people you may never have met in person. I was lucky enough to meet Heather in person in room 704 at Blissdom where we found a quick affinity for whiskey together. “I like her!” I said as I turned to “Vdog.” She laughed. “I know, right?”

The rest is history.

When someone you only briefly met, but read, has a tragedy, it hits so close to home it’s as real as any life experience. To know someone is suffering the worst kind of suffer, the loss of a child, makes you forgot your relationship is based on ASCII characters and code. Instead, it becomes very obvious how strong this online community really is and the love that can poor from the people sitting at their computers is as real as an actual hug, tears and all.

On April 6th, Heather and Mike rushed their daughter, 17 month old Maddie, to the hospital. We read as Maddie fell ill on Saturday and left comments for Heather, Mike, and Maddie to get well! We’re here! The internet loves you!

We watched and waited.

When the tweet (and blog post) came that she had passed away, April 7th, there was shock, denial, tears and finally: action. The Internet pulled together an d raised over $25,000 in honor of Maddie for March of Dimes. Blogs started turning purple in honor of Maddie. Teams are being formed in her honor.

Seattle, we have a team to walk in the March of Dimes for Maddie Spohr and all the preemies who need extra special care.

Please consider walking with us. If you’re unable to walk, then maybe give a few dollars to the March Of Dimes. I don’t ask for donations in my own life but for the lives of those preemies and those who lost babies and children, I can certainly beg.

We, at Room 704 and the Mamaspod girls are making purple bracelets and earings as donations for purchase. All profits go to the Spohr family to help with memorial service and burial costs. If you’d like to join with us on the walk, please consider purchasing a purple earing or bracelet. We’ll be wearing purple in honor of Maddie (and if there’s interest, I may have some t-shirts made up) so let me know ahead of time.

Join our team in person or in spirit. I know she is an LA girl, but she’s effected us up here in Seattle as we, moms and daughters and friends, can feel the weight of such a loss. I’m walking for Maddie and for my own preemie son, Owen, who is one gigantic two year old now and I will never ever take his life for granted.

I hope you’ll consider joining us!

Details: Qwest Field
May 3, 2009
Qwest Field

Seattle, WA 98134

Walk Distance: 3.5 miles
Registration Time: 8:00AM
Start Time: 9:30 AM
Chapter: Greater Puget Sound Division
Phone #:

Read more of Leslie’s sarcastic blahblablah at Mrs. Flinger and find podcast reviews, interviews, crafts, events and topics for the Seattle Parent at Mamaspod.Com.

We’re all preparing for a great 2009. We’re hopeful, inspired, making plans. We’re organizing. We’re creating budgets. We’re saying good-bye to one year and ushering in another. Which is why it’s the perfect day to say thank you to the gals who established this community as they step forward to new opportunities.

Kathryn, Jenny, and Eve, the founders of Seattle Mom Blogs, have passed the torch to Mamaspod. We’re excited to come together and bring both podcasted reviews of places you suggest, interviews of local bloggers and reviewing recommendations from resources like Red-Tricycle, and Parent Map. You’ll see these updates occuring over the next few weeks as we launch our exciting new section. Everything else remains the same with the same fantastic columnist writing the quality posts you’ve come to love and enjoy.

But before we start the new year, we want to make a promise to you: Our resolution is simple, one word actually, and it’s “Connect.” We’re honored to be trusted with this community to continue the momentum Eve, Kathryn, and Jenny started. We couldn’t fill their shoes but we’re honored to walk in their wake.

So thank you, Jenny, Kathryn, and Eve, for getting such an amazing group of women together. For thinking of community in our local area. For wanting to bring moms together in person as well as online. It’s been freaking lovely to meet each of you and I know this isn’t a good-bye, just a new venture for you all. We’re glad to keep alive your vision and hope you’ll stay close.

Do you have a story you can share? Do you have a memory from SMB that you want to post? Let us hear it. Tell thank you to these ladies who brought us together. I know I personally gained not just a new venue to share thoughts but friends I consider real. So thank you, ladies. Very. Much.

The next gathering will be sometime in February. We’re starting an anual wine-tasting event. Watch for that announcement. We may need plastic wine cups, though. As it’s been told, ONE OF US breaks things. (And thank you for that memory, too, ladies. It’s one of my favorite SMB stories: That night at the Method Party that I totally SPAZZED and broke a glass. Rad. I love you for loving me anyway.)

Much love and bringing in the happiest of New Years!