Laurin and Kelly Talk

Some Halloween Links - Bwa-ha-ha-haaaaa!

Kelly, did you get my e-mail with these pumpkin pictures from Extreme Pumpkins? So imaginative, creepy, and downright gross. I liked them so much I Kirtsied the link. They also have everything you would ever want to know about carving pumpkins.

Today would be an awesome day to twitter. I'm talking to you @LaurinandKelly2! Here are the Halloween twitter icons people are using. All you do is highlight, copy, and paste the funny looking code to the right of the icon in the tweet box.

Having a party and want the ghouliest cocktail? Check out the The Culinary Sherpas site for how to make eyeball-tinis. Love them! Kelly, the Sherpas are from Tampa and I have been stalking their awesome blog for a while.

From Hooked on Houses, here are some home decoration tips (not) that will scare the living daylights out of you all year round, not just today.

If you love candy as much as I do, you'll enjoy Candy Addict. They have great posts like Top Ten Grossest Candies and Top Ten Worst Non-Candy Treats.

Last, but not least, my personal favorite gross-out memory from Halloween as a child was wearing a blindfold and sticking my hand in bowls of fake eyeballs, intestines, fingernails and brains at haunted house parties.

So, using these simple recipes, cook up some spaghetti, boil some eggs, oil up some marshmallows and freak out your kids and their friends. Just be sure to wear earplugs, and have some eyeball-tinis ready!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

How I Treat Baby Eczema

Laurin - As you know, we had a challenging time when C-Dog had eczema as a baby. He had it from about two months to a year old. The back of his legs would get raw--it was awful. We even had a trip to the emergency room when an outbreak got infected and his whole body was covered in a rash! Although Baby Kitten has it too, it's mild compared to C-Dog. 

A lot of people ask me how I treat the kids' eczema, so after another recent request, I think I'll talk about it here to hopefully help someone else. 

Eczema is basically severely dry skin that typically shows up as itchy, red patches, sometimes flat or bumpy.  Obviously there are better medical definitions for it, but this gets the point across.  After ruling out food, pet and other environmental allergies AND shunning a pediatric dermatologist's prescription for Prednisone for my three month old baby(!), I created my own regime for treatment to keep it under control. But first, let me preface this with, "everyone is different and this is what I do that helps my kids." So here it is:

1.  Bathe baby every other day. Use lukewarm water. Don't linger in the bath tub--in and out! I use unscented Dove soap or Burt's Bees Shampoo and Wash.  Rinse completely with clean water.  Pat dry really well and then immediately apply lotion. I use Burt's Bees Buttermilk Lotion or California Baby Calming Everyday Lotion. This is the most important part:  grease that baby up like a pig!!! Literally cover the baby in lotion from neck to toes. 

2.  Wear ONLY 100% cotton clothing--especially pajamas. Wash everything in hot water with unscented detergent. I use ALL Free and Clear. Wash brand new clothes twice. Wash anything that touches baby like this...blankets, sheets, towels and wash cloths. 

3.  Don't let baby get too sweaty. I know this sounds like common sense. But when an elastic waistband rubs on an already warm baby, it becomes the perfect trigger for an eczema breakout. Another trigger can be where calves or elbows rub on a surface like the car seat or a plastic high chair. Keep long pants/sleeves on (not always practical) or cover the car seat/chair strategically with a cotton blanket, towel or burp cloth where the skin may touch. (I got a lot of eye rolls with this one, but it really made a difference!)

Finally, I used a mild topical steroid cream that my pediatrician prescribed on persistent spots.  Reluctantly, I used it sparingly on C-Dog, and it really did help.

C-Dog's eczema cleared up miraculously when he turned a year old. He hasn't had one outbreak since and he's 2 1/2 now. Baby Kitten has several dry patches on her at the moment. Fortunately, I knew what it was the minute she got it (and confirmed it with my pediatrician). It has now moved from her back and elbows to mostly on her thighs and some on her tummy. 

Didn't your little guy have a problem with dry skin? Until I had a baby, I didn't realize this was such a big issue. Now I know so many people that have eczema problems with babies. Maybe this will help someone you know, too.                                . 

White Shirt Wednesday

Hey Laurin - Did you hear that the temperature will be in the 40's again tonight?  Brrrr.  That's pretty cold for Florida considering it's only October.  This weather is making me  sift through my cold-weather wardrobe, and of course, I have nothing to wear!  I really could use some more sweaters and cardigans--and the color white is feeling frisky fresh!  So I'm turning to some good old stand by's for affordable winter clothes--The Gap, J.Crew and Old Navy.

Do you store your winter clothes away in a separate closet with mothballs?  I don't.  That must be an up-north thing.  I mingle my sweaters and cardigans in with my everyday wear.  Sometimes the air conditioned offices and restaurants around here call for a sweater in the summer.  One day I was having a Jamba Juice smoothy at work and couldn't stop shivering for twenty minutes...it was August.  Anyway, this is what I have my eye on for those chilly days:

The Gap's White Cable Crewneck in "Ivory Frost".  A crewneck sweater with rib-knit sleeves--a classic--and $44.00:

And The Gap's Wintersoft Turtleneck in "Ivory Frost" looks comfy, and even better at $38.00:

J. Crew's Tartine Crewneck Sweater has translucent silk-chiffon ruffles at the neck and hemline.  It's made of merino wool and has three-quarter length sleeves.  In "Snow" for $78.00. 

Finally, Old Navy's Cableknit Zip Hooded Cardigan in "Marshmellow White" for only $34.50.

I love me a zippered hoodie!

That's Bananas!

Kelly, Erin and I made some yummy banana bread last night and I had a big ole toasted piece for breakfast this morning. Yep, slathered in butter. I'm a big believer in slathering butter. A tiny little speck of butter isn't how I roll. Plus, I'm bulking up for winter. It's 54 degrees right now.

 

I was feeling guilty about the 5 bananas that were sitting there on the counter getting browner and browner. My kids will only eat bright yellow bananas, so when the first brown specks arrive, they're not having it, literally.

I wasn't in a banana eating mood this week, but my determination to be more frugal with our food was making me feel guilty about those damned bananas. Then I remembered my trusty banana bread recipe I got years ago from Allrecipes.com.

I've made this recipe many times and I love it because it calls for a whopping 2 1/3 cups of bananas, which makes it very banana-ey. It's really more like banana cake and the smell as it's baking is to die for.

Banana-Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
I guess you could add walnuts, but I don't

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, soda and salt. In another bowl, cream softened butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture just until moistened. Pour batter into greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Butter and Shopping at Cracker Barrel

Kelly, while shopping at Cracker Barrel on Sunday, I found the perfect stocking stuffer for everyone, the Finger Fidgetz. It's small, it's colorful, it's entertaining, it's educational, it's green, it's one piece, AND IT WAS A DOLLAR!

I can't keep my hands off of it - it's way better than a stress ball. It's just tiny wooden blocks held together by elastic cord and is easy to hold and perfect for kids to twist and play with, especially when traveling. Just the kind of thing my kids need right now - a simple wooden, not plastic, toy that doesn't have 50 jillion pieces.

For Christmas this year I'm going for toys that don't have a bunch of parts. I'm constantly picking up, putting back together, or just dumping in a basket all the toy parts that get scattered around my house. I'm a Crap Redistribution Engineer with burnout!

I just love shopping at Cracker Barrel, and scouted out some great gifts and stocking stuffers for Christmas. They really do have something for everyone, from your tchotchke loving Aunt to newborn babies. My husband is now in love with the carnival duck shooting gallery toy. Sigh. At least it doesn't have parts.

Oh yeah, we also ate breakfast. For those of you reading, if you've never been to Cracker Barrel, I'm sorry and please go. In addition to the mall, they have some good grub, down home blue-plate style.

It's not really for the raw food movement types or the healthy eating types unless you get a salad with grilled chicken, which is a little hard to do when you see the plates of artery clogging awesomeness passing you on trays and sitting in front of very contented looking folks. It's a folks place where the butter flows freely. And a mall. It's wonderful.

Photo credits: Our Creative Minds, Inc., Wyscan, and Highlimitzz

Walk this way

Laurin - Look at these adorable baby shoes from Robeez.  I have to get them for Baby Kitten now that she is walking--I just couldn't resist the owls.

Love them!

How to Know if I'm Able to Qwit You

This is a post about Twitter. If you're all "What's Twitter?", you can read this, or this, and come out slowly into the sun blinking. I kid. There's a lot to know about Twitter, but it sure is fun. Don't be scared.

Kelly, you know I'm a Twitter addict. It's not just me, you know. There are one or two other people doing it.

I see lots of tweets from people complaining that after they tweeted something, people promptly unfollowed them. I have more than 250 followers and I've never been able to figure out how to know if someone unfollows me, until now.

I came across a blog post on Blogging Tips about Qwitter. All you do is sign up with your Twitter username and e-mail address. Qwitter periodically checks your followers and sends you an e-mail you if someone unfollows you. They even tell you what tweet led to you being dumped.

I had my first and only unfollower the other day after an automatic Alltop twitterfeed item, something I do to help Alltop.com, was posted. I didn't think it was that bad.

 

In addition to being a great marketing tool, Twitter is so much fun, which I guess is more the point. It is a social media tool. There is a lot of advice out there on what to do and what not to do on Twitter.

Remarkablogger recently had an interesting post on Twitter mistakes, which could all be boiled down to "act like a normal person." That's pretty good advice. A normal person is hopefully achieving a balance between socializing and making friends and promotion, and their tweets should reflect that.

Beyond that, you are supposed to be answering the question "What are you doing?", so deal with the dumb stuff, haters. Please to enjoy some of my dumb stuff.

 

There are so many tools out there to make Twitter more fun and usable. I happen to like the Twitter homepage for reading, but I also use Twhirl.

Just look at this list of apps for Twitter. It's the most comprehensive I have seen. You can find like-minded new Twitter friends with Twubble, search for keywords or certain usernames with Summize - Twitter Search, find your "grade" with Twitter Grader, automatically update Twitter when you post with Twitter Feed, find who is tweeting within a mile or more of you with Twitter Local (love it), and more.

I'm @LaurinandKelly. Do you guys Twitter? If you do, which tools do you like? Be sure and leave my your username. I will totally follow you.

White Shirt Wednesday - My Virtual Shopping Cart

Kelly, today I wanted to show you some of the shirts currently in my virtual shopping cart. I may not be buying at the moment, but I'm doing a lot of browsering. Yes. That's a word. That I just made up. Wait. Apparently not. I googled it and somebody thought of browsering already.

All this talk of scarves lately has me a little jealous since we can't really wear them here. I guess we could wear them like celebrities do over a lightweight t-shirt, but my annoying husband people I know would be like "You look ridiculous. It's hot outside!"

So maybe the next best thing would be a little tie neck tee shirt. Look at this cute Project e Flirt tee.

And because I always, always want another white, slouchy tee, I would really like to have this Nation Ltd. top. I love the sleeves. Comfy in every way. Lovin' the next one from Ella Moss. Note the loose sleeves, long length, banded hem, and neckline detail. It's perfect.

The very affordable Kimchi Blue brand, available at Urban Outfitters, has a lot of feminine choices right now with great details, like this Lace Flutter Sleeve Top, which is only $32, and this adorable $54 Cutout Cardigan.

Post is done. I have a little time for my Google reader. Bloggering? That sounds dirty.

Related posts: White Shirt Wednesday

Photo Credits: Revolve Clothing, Urban Outfitters

Baby Center, Baby

Hi Laurin - I know you're out of the baby scene these days, but Baby Kitten is about to turn one year old and this is a huge milestone.  First of all, after seven months of breastfeeding and five months of formula, I'm sooo ready for her to have some organic whole milk.  Only three more weeks to go!  Just think of all the money I'll  save--$28.00 a week to be exact, and no more mixing and measuring...you get the point.  

I'll be logging on AGAIN to BabyCenter.com where I get most of my baby and toddler information.  This is my favorite one-stop site for tips on feeding, potty training, language development, etc.  I originally signed up for the pregnancy calendar when I was pregnant with C-Dog.  It gave me weekly updates on my pregnancy and text-book- like pictures of how the baby was growing.  Now I have both kids entered so I get monthly updates specific to their development and weekly newsletters. 

I have to give credit to the staff at Baby Center and the executive editor Gretchen Lee who personally signs the newsletters (a nice touch).  They do such a great job providing new moms--and experienced ones--with answers to just about anything you can think of, blogs, naming guides, recall lists and even baby astrology (hey,it's fun!).  Tonight I'm searching for that next car seat and for what Baby Kitten can start eating next month.

Gosh, I can't believe she's almost a year old!  And yes, I entered her in the Baby Gap casting call with this photo--so sue me.

News from Blissdom '08

Kelly, look at these fantastic women! This is a group photo of the bloggers at the conference in Nashville this past weekend who happen to be a part of Blissfully Domestic. The founder of BD, Alli a.k.a. Mrs. Fussypants, is the hot mama lying down in front.

Blissdom was sponsored by Epson and One 2 One Network which was represented by founder Barbara Jones and her team. The photos taken throughout the day were printed on the new wireless Epson Artisan Series printer in the back of the room.

This event was first class, down to the free internet in the hotel rooms for the group. A group of women bloggers? Come on. Getting on the Internet is the first thing I did after checking in! Nice touch. We even had a private performance by the super-talented and super-stylish Jessie Baylin.

Oh, and the swag bag? Totally got me out of the dog house for going on this trip when I got home and kept the kids occupied all yesterday afternoon.

I had an amazing time and met the nicest people. Kelly, you have to go to the next conference with me in February. I learned so much about blogging and can't wait to share it with you.

Check out the top story on Blissfully Domestic today for more photos of the panel speakers, the audience, the BlissTini drink that was created for the cocktail party after the event, and more. There I am, in the black and white photo above the BlissTini - the blonde in the bottom right of the picture. I promise, I was way more excited than I appear in that photo!

Related posts: I'm Going to Blissdom, Right Now!