Mrs Fussypants

Mom Bloggers Rawk Week. Day 1: Moms who Create Beautiful Things.

I have a sickness. Launch-itis. I am hopelessly addicted to launching new projects. My sweet friend Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer nicknamed me "Miss NASA" because I launch so many things. HAH!

I think the real secret is I'm cool with failure. Somethings work, somethings don't, and I love the

creative outlet of trying a little bit of everything.

 Half of the Mom Bloggers in the Western Hemisphere have known and given input for my latest project and it is a huge labor of love. Forgive me for not saying more, but we have NDAs and are all secretive about it. Th

e launch date is set for mid-Summer {fingers crossed} and I will give you more details when I can.

 You may ask yourself, "Wait! Why is she teasing me this way?" Because all week I want to use my little corner of the web to let you tell me about blogs you love and give some love to Moms who have blogs. Mommy bloggers, Blogging Mommas, Moms who have blogs but may-or-may-not-even-talk-about-being-moms, you catch my drift?

 I also want to learn more about blogs I may not be familiar with. As I work more and more on Blissfully Domestic and other projects, I don't have as much time to read new blogs like I wish I could. I need you all to share your picks with me this week. Sound fun?

Ok, good, here goes...

Mom Bloggers Rock Week.

Day 1: Moms who Create Beautiful Things.

Tell me in the comments about blogs that are written by Moms about creating beautiful things from all genres: cooking, crafts, decorating, scrapbooking, jewelry, photography and so forth.

Here are the rules:

1) The site needs to be a blog, not a business website.

2) The author needs to be semi-family friendly. If language is not safe for work, please do not leave the link.

3) Only tell about other people's blogs. Let's highlight other Moms here this week!

Ok, now go show some Mommies some love!

Fight the Frump- Oprah Joins The Fun

 

Oprah did a whole show devoted to Fighting the Frump with Fussy makeovers. Here is a little snippet-

"Do you run errands in your pajamas? Are your husband's sweats a staple in your wardrobe? If the answer is yes, you may be a shlumpadinka. Though this word isn't in Webster's Dictionary—yet—Oprah says she knows a shlumpadinka when she sees one. "I made this word up a long time ago," she says. "It represents, for me, a woman who dresses like she has completely given up…and it shows."

Whatevah, as The Tempered Woman said, "It's Frumpadinka not Schlumpadinka!"

Here is an example of her magic non-schlumpadinka-frumpy makeover. This woman is breaking all the Fight The Frump Mandates.

Oprah's Fight the Frump Expert Guest Stylist did a totally Fussy approved makeover. Except for that bag. I would never approve that bag. Ack!

  Does this remind you of Fussy's Supa-Fab Advice?

My beloved trousers slacks pants & a cute jacket.

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I guess we'll continue to let Oprah play along. Seriously, Oprah, next time at least throw us some linky love, Sheesh!

My love to all my Fabulous Frump Fighters (and you too, Oprah),

Fussy

Vote for your favorite header for Fussypants

All of the entries were beautiful and I am so grateful for the wonderful headers. I hope when you look to have your own header professionally made, that you will look to the wonderful women who entered.

My favorite 4 headers are these beauties-

From Amy @ Living Locurto. See her beautiful work at Atomic egg.

From Carrie @ Koehmstedt. See her work at Sweet Faerie Designs.

From Julie @ How I see the world. See her work at Gribco Photography!

From Jen @ CTT-Musings of a mom of three. See her work here.

Please leave your vote in the comment section. Voting ends on November 3rd. The winning design will grace the new MrsFussypants blawg, and the designer will win a beautiful necklace from Moi. ;)

Love you all!

xoxo, alli

Blissfully Domestic Nashville Blogging Conference- I haz it!

Blissfully Domestic is hosting our first blogging & social networking conference next month here in beautiful Nashville. We are teaming up with the wonderful people at Epson to host a fun, intimate and informative conference and fun cocktail party.

On Saturday, October 18th, we will host a free {yes, I said free} all-day event  featuring brilliant women from across the globe. All speakers will be on panels sharing our knowledge, tips, secrets and lives. Because we are focusing on Q & A sessions we will limit our attendee size to 75.

We just opened a forum discussion on the Blissfully Domestic Social Network. Please join in. All through the week, the attendees and speakers will be joining in and announcing their involvement.

We will open up registration on Friday and announce the lucky women who get to attend on Monday. If, due to space concerns, you are unable to get a seat, have no fear. We are planning a huge annual blogging conference in February. We think February is a perfect time to escape with our girlfriends for a weekend, don't you?

Now, head on over to the BDLiving Social Network to find out more, add your thoughts & ideas and find out which of your favorite bloggers will be there! Maybe like her, her, her, her, her, her, her, her or her? And that was just to name a few!

Love to you all, Alli

Voting & funnies. Grab your depends!

Online Surveys & Market Research

These made me giggle-

Yes, I am a bad person for laughing. I admit it! ;)

Now, I don't have a cat, but the little thought bubbles on this one were too cute.

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Comment theme for today-

What is your favorite part of autumn? The break from the heat? Tailgating? Football games? The new shows on TV? (heroes will be back soon. woot! woot!) I love it all and would love to hear from you. So, what do ya love?

Have I mentioned lately that I just love you to pieces for reading? I do! Well, I love you really just for your good looks alone, but let's keep that our secret, K?

Love, Alli

I'm givin' away something really cool from SimpleMom

I have a neat giveaway for y'all! One of my best online friends, Toblerone at Simple Mom, has just released her first ebook. It's called Spring Cleaning for Normal People, and of course, everyone loves it. Personally, I think cleaning while you have little kids around is like shoveling snow in a blizzard, but this book actually makes it manageable.

Now, stop laughing at me. Yes, I have Blissfully Domestic, but y'all know I am way more Blissful than Domestic. {winks} Seriously, her book is really great. I wouldn't tell the Friends of Fussy to go on over and get it if it wouldn't rawk your sawks!

It's a 68-page guide to helping you declutter, clean, and organize the main living space of your house in around 10 days.? It's chock full of checklists, recipes for cleaners, resources, daily game plans, and templates to inventory all your stuff.? Go check it out!? It's well-written, encouraging, and a lot of fun. And at only $7, it's an inexpensive tool to help you overhaul your home. Coming from me, who would rather stick a fork in her eye than organize (ADD much?) that says quite a bit.

One more thing about the lovely Toblerone of SimpleMom- she is the editor of the Digital Bliss channel over at Blissfully Domestic.

 

So, yes, she has a mega-popular blog, a book and edits the BD site. I always tell her if she wasn't the sweetest most humble chick I know then I'd be fiercely jealous! ;)

Now, go check out SimpleMom's site and come back here to enter my Spring Cleaning for Normal People giveaway. Leave a comment and tell me which part of keeping house makes YOU want to stick a fork in your eye. I'll choose the winner at random next week. Feel free to enter everyday. It will help your chances!

Love you bunches,

Alli

PS- My fellow Blissfully Domestic Diva, the lovely Gidget, is giving away this book and some really cute custom made Etsy items on her personal site, GidgetGoesHome. Yay, more free stuff. I love free stuff!

Family/Worklife Epic Fail & Yummy Baby

Hey there, sorry I have been away. We have been working around the clock on the Blissfully Domestic relaunch.

In the last 72 hours I have done these things-

• ingested 9864 pots of coffee
• a bottle of red wine
• cried in frustration
• invented new swear words
• forgotten that I have a offline life
• not showered

Behind the scenes we are building the forums, putting on beautiful headers, fighting with our web hosts and putting out a bazillionty fires.

Please feel free to go visit, fluff the pillows and make yourself at home. Be careful, it is a dangerous construction zone. Nails are sticking out, wires are hanging out of the ceilings and the potty won't flush. Hopefully this weekend the site will be fully functional. {{fingers crossed}} I wanted to let you see the site because it think peeking into a work in progress is fun personally. Or, maybe, um, I'm just nosey. Confession time- I do peek into your medicine cabinet in at your house. I. can't. help. myself. { hangs head }

In the meantime, how about a few blurry (unedited) yummy photos that will induce instant lactation?

"whoa, Mommy, too close. i look blurry!"

"you makin' me nervous, need to chew on my fingers."

"you so funny, Mommy"

"i am finding you to be very tiresome"

"ah, that's more like it. now, time for dinner"

I love you all. See you again tomorrow when I have showered and sleep a few hours in a row. **mwah**

Love, Alli

Twitter Linkapalooza- Little Known Facts about Sarah Palin

Here are some wonderful things that my Tweeps suggested:

Handy igoogle tips from Divine Domesticity.

I really want Stacey make me some cool stuff, too!

This post from IzzyMom is an instant classic.

I so felt this post by Octamom. Beautiful.

Grab your own in honor of this post.

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Twitter Trend of the Week- The Sarah Palin Meme that would make Chuck Norris proud!

This has been so fun! For some crazy reason we all started twittering little known Sarah Palin factoids. So fun!

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I was able to see the pre-release version of The Twitter Handbook this week. @warrenwhitlock & @CoachDeb wrote this ultimate guide to twitter. Now seriously, I thought I knew everything about Twitter. I learned quite a bit. I so love all things that feed my Twitter addiction.

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Once again, thanks for putting up with my infrequent posting and constant pimpin' of Blissfully Domestic. I know it gets tiresome for you. Thanks for forgiving me. We are almost there, relaunch is Tuesday! If all the editors and I don't die of exhaustion beforehand.

I love you all immensely, Alli

ProBlogger- The secret to groovy success!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

I get emails daily asking how did I do it, how did I build a successful MommyBlog and such a cool online Magazine so fast. I wish I could say that I am a brilliant chick who has all the secrets.

I'm not. I am just your average mom who types while nursing the baby, between diaper changes and after football practice. I drink coffee by the gallon and I dream of one day getting a housekeeper. Honestly, I just did one thing on the road to bloggy fame.

I read ProBlogger. I studied it all. I took the advice and I worked and worked and worked. Darren, aka ProBlogger, is the best thing that ever happened to bloggers. If you aren't familiar with him, you should be. He is a former minister, he co-founded b5media, runs Digital Photography School, and daily teaches people all over the world exactly how to be successful online.

I use Problogger as the must read list for all the 175+ wonderful writers at Blissfully Domestic. As we prepare for the big relaunch next Tuesday I have instructed them to go read all the best of Problogger archives. If you want to know exactly how I did it, and be inspired to grow your sites, get yourself to Problogger and start studying!

Love, Alli

PS- Yes, I did ask Darren if I could place his head on a dancing body for my post. You know he's a great guy. His response? "You Bet".

PSS- Ok, Remember the Hot Blogger Calendar contest I mentioned last week? I was not going to ask for votes, until something happened. The man formerly known as my husband, Mr. Smartypants, laughed out loud when I told him about it. Now I want to show him! So please go vote. Click here!

Twitter Linkapalooza- Just tryin' to get by, bein' quiet and shy, in a world full of pushin' and shove.

I found one of my 5 future daughter-in-laws right here.

Amy is spreading the word about the Birth Survey. Very cool.

Marcy writes about an unnamed other blogger here. I have no idea who it could be.

Holly is so adorable. So is her son's teddy.

I plan on begging this woman to write for Blissfully Domestic/ Marriage Channel soon. I wish I could write this well. Wonderful post.

Anne does wonders over at FlowerDust. Go do wonderful things also.

My favorite post of the week month year. Go read it and when you pick your heart up off the floor and finally release your kids from your shaking arms, go read this.

The wonderful Green & Clean Mom gave away a wonderful prize. A free move to Wordpress and theme. Amazingly, I won. Seriously, I never win anything. I cried when she announced the winner!

I've wanted to do so many new things here at Mrs. Fussypants. I want to branch out with the site. I'll still have the crappy normal type of posts, no worries there.

I want to start adding daily funnies, youtubes, and links to great stuff! More a magazine type format than blog. OK, that is the worst description ever. Sorry. ;)

In short, I will combine my usual posts with sections that will entertain, showing funny things and a sideblog of wonderful places to visit online.

So, go ahead, Friends of Fussy, sound off in the comments. Anything you would or wouldn't like here at the site? There is no point doing anything if y'all don't like it. Without you, there is no fun!

I love you all immensely,

Alli