April 16, 2010

It’s My TMC Day!

It’s another great start to another great weekend!  I couldn’t be happier on this Friday morning because today I am the featured blogger over at Theta Mom Community (TMC)! I was so excited and honored when Theta Mom’s author, Heather, contacted me last week about having a little time in the TMC spotlight!  And today is my day to shine!  I’m puttin’ on my sunglasses right now.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Theta Mom (though I’m guessing that there aren’t very many of you out there who haven’t heard of her because she is a total blogging superstar and is pretty much a household name in the blogosphere), she has created an awesome area of her blog that is completely dedicated to giving other bloggers a place to meet each other and network. It is a great way to catch up with blog friends that you’ve known for a while and also to meet some brand new ones! In the short time since Theta Mom Community was launched, it has grown to over 250 members!  If you aren’t listed yet, make sure to head on over there right away and join the fun!

If you have arrived over here at The Mommyologist via Theta Mom, then welcome to my little corner of the universe!  I am so happy that you stopped by!  I absolutely love being a parent, but the whole mama deal certainly came with a few more challenges than I thought it would!  I have definitely had my share of days when things are more than a tad shy of being a total bed of roses, but I’ve learned that the best way to deal with the bumps in the road is through laughter…and lots of it.  After all, if you can’t laugh at projectile poop and saggy boobs then what in the hell CAN you laugh at?  I tell it like it is on this blog, with no sugar coating, but always with a positive and humorous spin.

On Monday, April 26th, I am kicking off my new monthly “Mom Sexy” meme and I would absolutely love for you to be a part of it!

For the dish on Mom Sexy and to see how you can have the chance to be my Mom Sexy Blogger of the Month, click here.  In a nutshell, I am on a mission to give moms everywhere the credit they deserve for each and every square inch of their sexy…inside and out!

I hope that you will like what you see over here at The Mommyologist and choose to stick around for a bit.  Kick your shoes off, and make yourself at home…and if it’s anywhere close to 5 o’clock where you are, grab a cocktail and unwind. I’ll be joining you as soon as my East Coast Time Zone catches up!

36 Comments
Posted Under: Featured Blogger
April 14, 2010

Blog Changes For The Better

For those of you who have been following my “What The Heck? Wednesday” series, I am sure you are probably asking yourself just where in the heck my post is this morning.  After much consideration, I have decided to do a little bit of rearranging and change a few things over here at The Mommyologist, and the first thing that I did was to officially give “What The Heck? Wednesday” the boot!

Lately, I have found myself suffering from complete and total blog overload. Basically, The Mommyologist is finally starting to take off and grow and no matter how fast I run I just can’t seem to manage to keep up the pace.  My blog is always a good two steps ahead of me, and if I don’t take action and try to catch up, then I’m bound to get left behind in the dust. And that is the absolute LAST thing that I want to happen!

One of the things that was most definitely slowing me down was trying to keep up with a weekly Meme.  My “What The Heck? Wednesday” posts were a lot of fun to write, but it was really starting to get tough for me to come up with content for them each week.  But the reason behind my lack of ideas for those posts is actually very positive.  Truth be told, I just really don’t have very much in my life to complain or bitch about these days!  I used the whole What The Heck? theme to sort of get stuff off my chest and vent a little, but right now I’m just so happy and content and blessed that I really can’t invent stuff to whine about each week!

And though I’m still not totally thrilled about the fact that Legos are trying to brainwash me and completely take over my life, if that is the biggest problem that I have, then I’m doing pretty damn well.  I remember my Dad telling me many years ago that, “People really don’t want to hear about other people’s problems.” And you know what?  He was RIGHT!  My readers are not visiting my blog to hear me bitching and moaning and being a total Debbie Downer, and I think that once in a while my “What The Heck? Wednesday” posts came across that way, and kicking that meme to the curb was absolutely the right decision.

I want to stick with my whole philosophy that The Mommyologist should be a place where people can come and LAUGH.  I want people to feel positive and inspired when they leave here.  And I can think of no better place to start than with putting a huge emphasis on my whole Mom Sexy revolution.

Seriously…how cute is my new button?  My blog design guru, Lauren at Restored316 Designs made it for me earlier this week, and I’m totally digging it.  At Bloggy Boot Camp back in March, they told us to “pick one or two memes and stick with it.”  Well, I’m officially picking Mom Sexy as my monthly meme for this blog.  If you missed the details, you can click here for the scoop.  I’m really hoping that bringing Mom Sexy back will inspire women to feel better about themselves inside and out.  Make sure and mark your calendars for Monday, April 26th for my first official Mom Sexy meme and for your chance to be my Mom Sexy Blogger of the Month for May.

If I’m going to stick with the whole positive vibe on my blog, then there is one more big change that I’m going to have to make.  As hard as it may be for me to hold back at times, I think I’m going to have to resist the urge to rip various celebrity moms to shreds when their bullshit filled stories appear on the cover of US Weekly.  I think that I’m just going to put a little more faith in the idea that most moms hopefully know that the tales of perfection that they try and sell us are nothing but a complete and total pile of crap, and that if we all had nannies and personal trainers and personal chefs and hair and makeup artists, that we’d probably be featured on magazine covers too.  (I’d SO be on one).

From now on, I will only feature celebrity moms in my posts if they are real and honest and somehow inspire the rest of us “regular moms” to be confident and happy in our lives.  And if you are shaking your head right now because you don’t think that there are any genuine ladies out there in La-La land, then don’t miss my post about Kendra Wilkinson. Because she is the real deal.  And she is totally Mom Sexy.  Stories like hers are what my readers need to hear…and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll have more wonderful ladies like Kendra to write about in the future.

I am also working on a new series for The Mommyologist right now.  I am not sure how soon it will debut because I still need to work out the details and figure out where the hell I’m going with it, but it’s something that I’m very excited about.  It’s something that will feature REAL women, with REAL stories, and with REAL laughs.  And I can’t wait.

The only thing that is certain in life is change.  And the only way that you can grow is through change.  Because CHANGE IS GOOD.

33 Comments
Posted Under: changes, Mom Sexy
April 12, 2010

I LOVE A Good Party!

Ok everyone, I’ve officially decided to join the party…that is the Ultimate Blog Party 2010 over at 5 Minutes For Mom! I feel like I’ve been kind of out of the loop this past week as far as the blogosphere goes, but I kept seeing people link to this party and I just had to get in on the action.  I can’t resist a good shin-dig!  And not to toot my own horn, but I’m one hell of a good time.  Or so I’ve been told.

Ultimate Blog Party 2010

For those of you who have never visited The Mommyologist before, welcome to my humble abode!  I am so happy that you stopped by.  In case you are hungry for a little more info about the girl behind the blog, click here for all the details about how I went from being a jet-setting career woman to diaper changing diva.

The gist of the saga is that I had a tougher time than I thought I would with the whole transition and until I talked to some of my other friends who’d had babies before me, I thought that there was something wrong with me for missing the days when I could take a shower or read a magazine anytime I wanted.  I thought that because I wasn’t exactly doing jumping jacks over the fact that I hadn’t slept more than two hours a night in three months and the fact that my idea of a fun Friday night included predicting the consistency of my baby’s poop simply by lifting his ass to my nose and sniffing his onesie somehow made me inadequate as a mother.  And you know what?  Nothing could’ve been further from the truth.

Motherhood is hard, but it is WORTH it.  And I’ve found that the best way to get through all of the changes that come as a result of becoming a parent are a hell of a lot easier if you can laugh at them.  And that is my whole philosophy behind writing The Mommyologist.  This is a place where you can take a few minutes out of your hectic day and have a much needed giggle fest and realize that you aren’t the only mama out there who has those, “What the hell has happened to my life??” kinda moments.  We’ve all had ‘em.  And anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or extremely bored.

In addition to striving to make mothers laugh, I also have another mission that I’ve recently poured my heart and soul into.  In an effort to make moms everywhere feel beautiful, confident, and hotter than hell, I’ve started a revolution to officially bring back “Mom Sexy.” And Mom Sexy is about a whole lot more than just looking good.  Mom Sexy is about being confident.  It’s about knowing who you are as a woman.  And it’s about being comfortable in your own skin no matter how different you may be from everyone else.  I think that too many moms feel as though they have to give up their sexy after having a child, and it is my mission to put an end to that concept.  As mothers, we have EARNED OUR SEXY. And WE DESERVE IT.

If you scroll down on my left-hand sidebar, you will see that I have a “Mom Sexy Blogger of the Month.” To learn more about my whole Mom Sexy venture and to see how you can be my Mom Sexy Blogger of the Month for May, click here. Oh yeah, and before I forget, there is a Mom Sexy button on its way.  I’ve just gotta get in touch with my blog design guru tomorrow to see if she’ll make me one.  Because I may be Mom Sexy, but I’m completely clueless when it comes to stuff like that.

Ok, I’m hoping that I haven’t scared off any potential new readers!  On that note, this IS a party…and my martini glass is currently empty.  Time to go fix that.

I’ll see you later on the dance floor!  And I promise not to sing Karaoke no matter how many shots you give me.

31 Comments
Posted Under: Ultimate Blog Party 2010
April 9, 2010

My First Guest Blog!

Happy Friday everyone!  I am so pleased to be doing my first guest blog today over at Make Me A Blessing, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to Courtney for letting me invade her little corner of the blogosphere today!  She is in the process of moving from Florida to California…that’s a lot of miles!  Be sure to stop by and check out her adorable blog, and feel free to leave me some love over there on my guest post today!

If you missed yesterday’s giveaway for a $20 gift card from Whole Foods, click here to get in on the action!  I’m helping to spread the word about GE’s Pledge For Better Health, and what better way to do that than to offer someone the chance to win free groceries?

One more thing before I sign off today…I am STILL having issues with Google Friend Connect, so if you are a new follower and I’m not following you back yet, it isn’t for lack of trying!  Please know that I appreciate you following me and I will keep working to figure out the problem.

Ok, that’s it!  Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Comments are off…please visit me at Make Me A Blessing instead!


Posted Under: Guest Blog
April 8, 2010

Pledge For Better Health: Whole Foods Gift Card Giveaway

I don’t know about you, but ever since the weather started to take a turn towards the warmer side and the sun came out and the birds are chirping, I’ve had a huge boost of energy! It feels so good to get outside and not be cooped up in this house anymore. It feels great to take my son to the park and let him run around and burn off a little steam. It lifts me up each time I go to one of my Zumba classes or take a walk around my neighborhood.  It just feels great to actually MOVE my body again and start taking the right steps towards being healthy.

It is so easy to slack on my healthy habits over the winter, but now it’s time to get my butt back in gear and improve myself from the inside out!

I am so happy to have been chosen to help spread the word and take part in GE’s “Healthymagination” Initiative, Pledge For Better Health, in support of National Women’s Health Week, May 9th-15th, 2010.

GE is hoping to encourage women to take an active role in their own health, and the health of their loved ones through the Pledge For Better Health. I took my pledge this morning and it read as follows:

“I pledge to eat cleaner foods and get at least 20 minutes of exercise every day!”

Of course, I tell myself on a daily basis that I am going to do these things, but somehow taking the pledge and putting it in writing just makes me much more committed to it.

I would like to encourage all of my readers to take the Pledge For Better Health as well!  Together we can motivate women everywhere to live healthier lifestyles and feel good about themselves.

As an incentive for taking the pledge, I am so pleased to be giving away a $20 gift card to Whole Foods!

image credit

Whole Foods is such an awesome store and offers so many clean and healthy food choices to shoppers.  I always feel confident about feeding whatever I purchase there to my family.  Their produce is absolutely incredible, and they have such a wonderful selection of fresh meats, cheeses, seafood, and other minimally processed items.  What better way to start a health kick than with free groceries, right??

Interested??  Ok, here is the scoop on how you can score $20 worth of free goodies from Whole Foods!

REQUIRED ENTRY – Submit your Pledge For Better Health here.  After you submit, a field will pop up with a link to the pledge you submitted.  Please copy the link, come back to my blog, and post that link into the comment section of this post to count as your required entry.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES – *You must do the required entry for any of the additional entries to count.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry.*

Follow my blog publicly – 1 entry

Follow me on Twitter – 1 entry

Become a fan of The Mommyologist on Facebook – 1 entry

Tweet this giveaway by copying and pasting – Win $20 in free groceries from Whole Foods @themommyologist http://bit.ly/aXeTDq - 2 entries – You may tweet once a day

Link to this giveaway in a blog post – 2 entries

Grab one of my buttons and add it to your blog – 2 entries

Add The Mommyologist to your blogroll – 2 entries

Subscribe to my feed – 2 entries

Pledges can be submitted up until May 9th, so this will be an ongoing giveaway until that date.  Plenty of time to get those extra entries in!

WAIT!!  THERE’S MORE!!!

I’m throwing out a shameless self-promotion in addition to this giveaway. The blogger who has the most people take the Pledge For Better Health will win a grand prize…and the word on the street is that the prize is an Apple Ipad.

There is nothing that would make me happier than to win that Ipad and be able to give it to my hubby for Father’s Day.  He works his butt off for me and my son and he is a total technology junkie and he would freak if I won him an Ipad.  He is also 100% supportive of me and my efforts to grow this blog, and I just can’t express to him how much that means to me.  The Ipad would definitely be a nice way to say thank you!  (Hint, hint, wink, wink)!

Of course…if I do win the grand prize, I won’t forget about my wonderful readers who helped me earn it…so…I will be offering my own grand prize to one of you if I win!  The grand prize will be a Microdermabrasion Cream and Buffer set from BeautiControl worth $65! It erases years off your face through deep exfoliation and is the perfect way to get a fresh summer glow.  Similar treatments in day spas run over $200!

I’d love to give it away to one of you…but I have to have enough pledges first!!

I can’t wait to read all of your entries and see how all of you are pledging to lead healthier lifestyles!

Disclosure:  I was not compensated in any way by GE or Whole Foods for posting this giveaway.  All opinions about Whole Foods and their products are strictly my own and were not influenced by them or by GE in any way. I will only receive the grand prize if I am the blogger who has the most pledges submitted during this initiative, which ends on May 9th, 2010.  My intention with this giveaway is to inspire people to take their health more seriously, but I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical expertise. Please consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise plan. If you have any questions about this giveaway, you can contact me at themommyologist(at)gmail(dot)com.

170 Comments
Posted Under: reviews & giveaways
April 7, 2010

What the Heck? Wednesday: Bachelor Withdrawal

Ok ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make.  I am 100% completely and totally going through some serious TV issues right now.  I mean, the tube is seriously boring me to tears these days. There is basically just not one show that I watch right now that is really getting it done for me.  What can I say?  I miss the action.  I miss the juice.  I miss the drunk chicks tripping over themselves at the cocktail parties.  And I really miss the drama.  Basically, I’m having a classic case of Bachelor withdrawal. Knowing that I have to wait until May to experience the nail biting suspense of a Rose Ceremony is seriously making me delirious.

What the heck?


I’ve decided that it really just isn’t fair to keep us Bachelor junkies waiting a good two months in between shows, and in protest of this gap, I’ve composed a nice, tasteful letter to Chris Harrison.

Dear Chris,

My name is Mary, and I am a self-proclaimed Bachelor/Bachelorette addict.  I mean, if there were a 12-step program available for this addiction, I’d probably have entered it years ago.  I seriously just cannot seem to manage to cope with the fact that I have to wait all the way until May until the next season of The Bachelorette airs.  And just in case you wanted to know how totally dependent I am on your show, I don’t even LIKE Ali in the slightest, yet I still can’t wait to see her get all gussied up and make out with a handful of guys who probably have way less going for them than the show alludes to.  In all honestly, I live for this shit.

The show is my Monday night escape from reality.  It makes me laugh, it makes me roll my eyes, and it somehow manages to make me feel a whole lot more secure about my “ordinary marriage” and my “ordinary life.” Because I may not have a TV show that revolves around me (yet), but I’m also pretty sure that my husband didn’t marry me simply because he’s gunning to be a Country-Western singer.  At least I hope that’s not the case.

What the heck Chris??

I just don’t understand how I can be expected to wait a good 60 days in between seasons before witnessing the “REAL” most dramatic rose ceremony ever.  Because I know it’s coming.  I know that one of these days, the rose ceremony is actually going to deliver on that promise.  And I know that you won’t let me down on that one, Chris.  Because I have faith in you.  And you work your ass off for your paycheck.  And I’d love to apply for your job should you ever choose to retire.

photo credit

I’m really hoping that you will strongly consider this heartfelt plea from a stay-at-home Mom and shorten the window between seasons a little to appease my addiction to insane reality bullshit.  I need it, and it needs me.

I’m countin’ on you, Chris.  You just gotta come through for me.


Your slightly over the top but loyal fan,

Mary, The Mommyologist

The McLinky is up below and I can’t wait to read your What the Heck? Wednesday and/or Glam Check! posts!

25 Comments
Posted Under: What the Heck? Wednesday
April 5, 2010

32 Going On 80?

Good morning everyone!  I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday weekend with your families and that you had some gorgeous Spring weather just like we did here in the Northeast. Seriously, it couldn’t have been more perfect up here the past few days!

At the beginning of last week after viewing the upcoming weekend weather forecast, the hubster and I decided that it would be fun to take a little overnight trip on Saturday with our son. We went back and forth between whether to go to Boston or New York City, and due to a last minute killer deal on a prime location hotel, the Big Apple won.

This was our little man’s first trip into the city and he was such a trooper! And of course he loved FAO Schwartz, and Toys R Us with the big ferris wheel, and running around Central Park, and…well…I guess not much else really matters when you are four years old!

When we finally got home around 4:00pm yesterday, the hubster and I collapsed on the couch like we had just run the New York marathon.  I mean, we were POOPED!  Of course, our little dude had slept in the car the whole way home from the train station, so he had a total second wind and went right into building various Lego “vehicles” out of the new sets that we’d bought him at the big city toy stores.  And he really didn’t seem to care too much about the fact that his Daddy and I had completely run out of gas and were merely surviving on fumes at that point.  My hubby turned to me at one point and asked how it was possible that two grown adults had completely been kicked in the ass by a four year old.  The answer to that one was pretty apparent.  WE ARE GETTING OLD.


And the fact that we were completely worn out after our little weekend excursion wasn’t the only indicator to that fact.  There were quite a few other tell-tale signs that the hubster and I just can’t quite hang like we used to before our little stud arrived.

(Note:  The following list is in random order, though I have to admit that #1 IS my absolute favorite)!

1. I sneezed in the middle of Times Square and peed in my pants a little bit and had to kind of waddle into the hotel with my knees stuck together so that I didn’t lose the entire contents of my bladder right there in the lobby. And yes, this happened more than once.

2.  My cousins from Pittsburgh were also in NYC this past weekend and they had their 14-year old daughter with them, who offered to babysit our son on Saturday night so the four of us could go out for some adult time.  The hubster and I turned her down because we were just way too exhausted to go out to dinner.  And we were in bed that night before 10pm.  (I mean, who turns down a babysitter)???

3. I actually noticed the crowds in the city and even mentioned something to the hubster about how I couldn’t believe how many people there were and that it must be because it was a holiday weekend.  He then reminded me that NYC is ALWAYS packed no matter what weekend it is.  I guess I just never paid that much attention to it before.  But this time I really just wanted to yell, “MOVE PEOPLE!!” every time the walk signal changed so that we could get across the street before the little orange hand started flashing because I had such an irrational fear of our stroller being run down by an out-of-control taxi cab.

4. I caught myself making a comment to the hubster about how I didn’t understand how “all these young chicks” walk around the city in stilettos when I am barely managing to stay upright in flats.  And then we passed the Easy Spirit store and I seriously considered stopping in for an impulse buy.  (For the record, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I mean, I’m not THAT old yet.  And please don’t go hatin’ on me if you own a pair of Easy Spirits. This is not an insult directed at you, it is just my personal philosophy that if I purchase a pair of their shoes then I’ve officially made the transition from semi-cool mom to old lady).

5. This morning, even though I only had one measly glass of wine last night because that’s all that was left in the bottle after my cousin and I had taken part in an all-out guzzle fest during her visit here last week, I feel completely and totally hung over, minus the whole sick part. My feet hurt. My eyes burn. And it’s only 8:30am and I really feel like I need a nap.

That’s all I can manage to squeeze out folks.  Time for another cup of coffee.

FYI: I am having trouble signing into my Google Friend Connect account, so if you are a new follower and I’m not following you back yet, it’s not intentional!  Hopefully I will get it figured out soon…if I can manage to wake up today!

34 Comments
Posted Under: life after kids
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