Some Fantastic Finds At Getting Gorgeous
Apr 27, 2013 What's Going On
Today I had the pleasure of attending Getting Gorgeous, a fantastic event put on by my friends Audrey and Vera. It’s a place where bloggers can meet with brands large and small and discover new products. I found some new favorites that I’m thrilled to share with you.
I had a long conversation with the owner of Love Jac Cards, and was very impressed by the fact that this Brooklyn mom takes all of the photographs and makes the cards herself! I walked away with a gorgeous Brooklyn card, but they’re not all about Brooklyn. She has a huge selection of beautiful, handmade cards for every occasion. She has a card-of-the-month club, and even does custom design cards.
Foster Grant is a well-known sunglasses company that I knew very little about. The main thing I learned today? That their gorgeous glasses are really affordable! They have a huge selection of sunglasses on their site for under $30. I went home with this cute plum-colored pair, which are my new spring sunglasses! You can also find them on Amazon.
I stopped by the New Balance booth and fell in love with their new Ballet Flats. Not only are they adorable, they also have a reversible innersole with a massaging texture on one side, and cushiony foam on the other!
I brought home a couple bottles of Dial Kids Body & Hair Wash for Fiona, in Watermelon scent. It’s a no-more-tears formula, and I love that she only needs one bottle for body and hair. There’s also a Peachy Clean formula for younger kids, 2-5.
The ladies at the Downey booth gave me a sniff of the new Spring Scent of their Downy Unstopables. If you know me, you know that I have a bit of an Unstopables addiction. If I don’t have at least two extra bottles at all times I start to panic, thinking about the loads of laundry that might get done without Unstopables! Ahhhhh! No, seriously, I love Unstopables. And the new pink one smells really good. I’m told it goes well with the Downy Infusions Honey Flower fabric softener that I brought home from the event. Can’t wait to use it!
And my last great find of the day, Haute Tags! They’re cute metal tags surrounded by Swarovski Crystals and engraved with whatever you want (@SelfishMom, maybe?). They come with two bag tag-style ball chains that can be cut to size, so you can wear your tag as a bracelet or a necklace, or put it on a bag strap.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1 (Love Jac, Foster Grant, Dial, and Downey). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Brooklyn, Baseball, and Racism: My Unintentionally Sheltered Children
Apr 15, 2013 Kids
One of the reasons I love my Brooklyn neighborhood is the diversity. No, I don’t love the occasional shootings, I don’t love the graffiti, I don’t love the garbage. But I love my neighbors. I love my kids’ classmates. I love the playgrounds. I love the feeling.
From the time my kids were tiny, they were surrounded by people of every shade. Race was just not an issue. And if the rest of the world ran the same way, that would be an awesome and perfect thing. But with the absence of racial awareness comes an ignorance of what the world is really like.
Our neighborhood is not some kind of utopia. There’s plenty of racism, classism, and socio-economic stuff going on, and being white people who moved into a gentrifying neighborhood many people probably see us as a problem. But these are grown-up issues, and all the kids know is that white, black, and mixed-race people are our neighbors and friends. So when I told Fiona that we were going to go see the movie 42, I knew I needed to give her some background on just how bad things used to be for black people in the United States in what is very much recent history – just not her history. I was afraid she would be completely confused, and maybe even think the movie was fiction.
I explained to her about Jim Crow laws, and the more we talked the more I realized that except for one single instance – Rosa Parks on a bus – she knew basically nothing about what’s gone on between slavery and now. We talked about how if we lived in the 1950s, we wouldn’t have black neighbors, she wouldn’t be in school with black and mixed-raced friends. And then Fiona said something as hilarious as it was surprising: “And I wouldn’t have been born.” Confused, I asked her why. “Because you and daddy wouldn’t be together…Daddy’s black, right?”
Let me just take a moment to laugh hilariously, since I managed – somehow – not to laugh at the time.
My husband is Turkish, so he’s a bit darker than I am. He’s the same shade as many of her friends who are mixed race. I can see her confusion. And I love her for it.
So we all went to see 42 yesterday. It’s a solidly good – not great – movie, but it is a great story. The problem is that the characters are all rather one-dimensional, and I have to blame that squarely on the script – the acting is uniformly superb. But in terms of my kids, I just wanted them to get a sense of what people went through – not just a superstar like Jackie Robinson, but average ordinary people – and I think the movie does a great job of getting that across.
The things that Robinson had to endure still happen today – post-racial my ass. But what the film showed was how common and normal they were back then, and how it took bravery on both sides to change the norm.
I highly recommend this film. Be warned that there is a lot of harsh language, but it is in no way gratuitous – it’s completely necessary for the story.
I can explain things to my kids until I’m blue in the face, but nothing can compare to them seeing it portrayed on a big screen. This morning I asked Fiona what her favorite part of the movie was, and she said “How some of the white people were friends with Jackie Robinson, even though other people might not like them because they were.”
She got it. The movie did its job.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
I Did Not Move To Brooklyn For The Wildlife
Dec 12, 2012 What's Going On
About five years ago some young raccoons tried to get into our house, every morning at 2am, for about two weeks. They would squeeze between our bedroom window and the security bars and scratch on the glass, waking us up (although by the second week, I wasn’t really sleeping). They would make a ton of noise, and nothing bothered them. We shined flashlights right in their eyes, they didn’t care. We pounded on the the window right in front of their faces, they were unfazed.
We didn’t have use of our backyard then (it was still a trash-strewn jungle), but our next door neighbors couldn’t use theirs, because the raccoons had taken to hanging out there. And that whole nocturnal thing? Nope. I saw the entire family crossing the street in front of our house one day at noon.
Our neighbor finally put a trap on the roof, and once he took one of the raccoons away, the rest disappeared. I’d heard stories of sightings nearby in the years since, but our immediate area was blissfully raccoon free.
Until tonight.
I was putting the kids to bed, and we all heard the most terrifying sound – at first we couldn’t even tell if it was human or an animal. I can’t even describe to you what this sounded like, but it was absolutely horrific. It was just pure pain distilled into a noise.
Whatever it was, it was trapped or hurt or something bad. Hanging out of a back window I couldn’t see anything, but finally I was able to pinpoint among the echoing buildings exactly where it was coming from. I grabbed my coat and ran outside.
Some people up in a third floor window saw me searching with a flashlight and pointed out to me what was going on: several raccoons had viciously attacked another raccoon, up in a tree. The wounded raccoon was still in the tree whimpering.
The crazy thing? The women up in the window had called 311, and were told that unless the raccoons attacked a person, there’ was nothing they could do.
This is not something I thought I’d have to deal with in Brooklyn. Isn’t this the kind of thing people in the suburbs complain about? What’s next, am I going to find a deer nibbling around my vegetable garden?
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
A Mystery On My Stoop
Nov 26, 2012 What's Going On
We live in the kind of neighborhood where you often wake up to find cigarette butts on your stoop, beer bottles, maybe some candy wrappers. But what I found this morning was much more than a few stray pieces of garbage:
Sigh.
Honestly, if this had happened yesterday I would have just told my husband about it and let him clean it up. Not exactly fair, but he gets all the shit jobs – dead mice, really gross bugs, garbage on the stoop.
I knew he was in the shower though, dreading going back to work after a wonderful, lazy four-day weekend. I went inside, grabbed a trash bag and a recycling bag, and got to work, my bare hands freezing.
I started off pissed, imagining what kind of jerk would leave this kind of mess on our steps as we slept. Luckily it didn’t look to be gross. Whoever it was hadn’t been smoking, eating, drinking, or something worse while making this mostly paper mess. At first I just jammed the papers into the recycling bag without really looking at them.
But then I started noticing things. Like, all of the mail was from the same address. A lot of it wasn’t even opened.
Then I found a picture, with a name and age scrawled on the back in a flowery hand.
A tax return, complete with W2 forms.
A birth certificate.
A high school graduation certificate.
A receipt for a breathalyzer test.
A mother’s day card that said “TO:” on the inside, but nothing else. As if the purchaser had stopped before going through with giving it to his mom.
A funny, flirty card from a woman.
More tax returns.
Job and union benefit info.
I started sorting the papers much the same way I would my own stacks: A dozen Bloomingdale’s statements? Recycling. Sensitive financial info? Save. Receipt from Toys R Us from 2009? Recycling. Pictures? Save.
I have quite a stack of saved stuff.
There were a few other items besides the papers. There was a crate, a cell phone case, some pirated DVDs, and a can of car cleaner. Probably stolen from a car in the area, and the lowlife who took it sat on our steps in the dark, looking for anything of value – the kind of value that could make him a quick buck. Probably not the kind of thief who could do anything with a social security number and drivers license number, but they were there for the taking.
Later today I’m going to do the thing that I hate doing the most: go to the post office. I’m going to put all of the stuff I saved into a big envelope, with a note explaining where I found it, and send it to the address on all of the envelopes.
The part where I’m being kind-of a jerk? I’m not going to put my return address. Because I don’t want to have to answer for the fact that I got rid of at least 3/4 of the papers, and the DVDs and phone case. It’s going to be enough of a pain to send back this much stuff, but the voice in my head is saying “You saved more than he probably ever thought he’d get back.”
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
A few glitches with the commute, and the importance of remaining calm and Rational
Sep 10, 2012 Kids
So on Friday I wrote a post about how, even though it will be stressful for me (I’m a born worrier), it’s important that Jake gets himself to middle school each day. Thousands – hundreds of thousands? – of NYC kids do it, he’ll be fine.
Right?
I said in the post that I knew things would go wrong – he’d take the wrong bus, etc. But I really didn’t think it would happen that very afternoon.
I got a text from Jake that he couldn’t find the bus stop (he’d been with friends the day before). Easy enough to fix. I called him, told him where it was, and made a mental note to show him the bus route on a map when he got home. He’s a visual learner like me.
About ten minutes later, I had a thought: would he know to cross to the other side of the street, and take the bus in the other direction? Of course he would. I mean, he’s taken the subway his whole life. He knows that you go to the other side to go the other way. Common sense. Sure, the day before had been his first time on a bus, but still. Same concept. He’d get it.
Or would he? I gave him a call. He was on the bus. Going the wrong way.
I told him to get off. By this time I was at Fiona’s school, picking her up. As she tugged on my arm wanting to tell me something really important I barked at her to wait. It took a few minutes, but Jake found the bus stop going in the other direction. I looked up the schedule on my phone and let him know that he had about a fifteen minute wait, and to text me as soon as he was on the bus.
And then I asked myself, should I just get in the car and pick him up? He was a ten minute drive away. We could tackle this another day.
He hadn’t sounded scared. A little worried, maybe, but not scared. No car. No saving him.
After fifteen minutes I couldn’t help myself. I called him. “Mom, the bus isn’t here yet. I just want to come home.” Now he sounded…not scared, but defeated. He’d been so excited to do this commute alone and he’d messed it up on the first try, and he sounded done.
“Wait, there’s the bus!!! See you at home.”
Phew. OK. No saving. When he got home I showed him the route. I explained how he was getting on the bus near our house on a one-way street, but his school was on a two-way street, so he had to make sure he was going in the right direction. I was kicking myself. Why would I expect him to just know this, having never ridden a bus? I had let his enthusiasm cloud my judgment a little bit.
Which brings us to today. He was trying the trip to school solo for the first time. The night before at dinner we’d impressed up him the importance of texting us when he got to school, every day. It was the last thing I told him as he left the house this morning.
I got out of the shower at 7:50 fully expecting to see a text on my phone from him, and my heart dropped into my stomach when I saw that there wasn’t one.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to call him. If he was sitting in class and had forgotten to turn the ringer off, he would get in big trouble. I decided to get dressed and call the school. They were nice, but explained that the attendance office wouldn’t get the attendance sheets until 9am. OK, thanks, I told them, not sure what else to do. Should I ask them to go to his room and check? Did I really want to be that parent?
Jake is forgetful. Last year, when he started walking his sister home from school, he forgot her three times in the first two weeks. It became a running joke. But after a few times of walking all the way back to school to get her, he got it. He never forgot again. So was this that? Was this Jake just forgetting, despite the reminders? Probably.
But what if it wasn’t? What if something horrible happened, and I lost an hour of doing something about it waiting for the attendance sheets? What if something terrible was happening to him right that moment and I could have stopped it if I hadn’t waited until 9am?
This was so much worse than him taking the wrong bus. Then I was in contact with him. Now I was just left wondering.
I calmed myself down. He was at school, I was sure of it. I got Fiona to school and set off on my bike for an event in lower Manhattan. I tried not to think about 9am, but of course that’s all I could think about. When the time to call rolled around I was on the Manhattan Bridge, which has a very narrow two-way bike lane with no place to safely stop. As soon as I got off, I called. After what seemed like forever, the nice woman on the phone told me that Jake’s class had 100% attendance. He was there.
Of course he was.
He finally texted me at 1pm, letting me know that he’d forgotten to text. Uh, yeah! I let him know how worried sick we’d been, how we’d called the school. I’ll let him know again when he gets home. Several times.
I set up a locator for his phone. He still has to text me each day, but this will be a little peace-of-mind back-up in case he forgets, and will be helpful if he gets lost. But I don’t want to use it. I don’t want it to become a crutch. When I was growing up it was on me to let my parents know where I was. Once I left the house, that was it – they had no way to contact me. And while I know technology has changed, I still want Jake to have that same sense of responsibility.
There’s a part of me that almost wishes I hadn’t answered his first text when he couldn’t find the bus stop. He has to figure this stuff out. On the other hand…I’m his mom. It’s hard to just stand by and watch him flail, even if it’s for his own good.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Brooklyn, commute, middle school
Win a taste of Brooklyn–a great gift for any occasion!
May 8, 2012 Contest/Giveaway
This giveaway has closed. Congratulations to the winner, Jodi F.
I love it when someone I know starts something great! My friend Dara started a company called With Love from Brooklyn that curates items and collections from Brooklyn artisans, so that you can have the best our borough has to offer shipped right to you at an affordable price.
Or even better, this is an easy way to send someone a thoughtful gift! I just ordered these gorgeous tea towels as a hostess gift for a party I’m going to. And I love that I know the artist who designed these towels, too. But if you don’t have a Brooklyn connection, you can get to know the artisans.
I had the opportunity to curate one of the collections on the site, and it’s really beautiful (if I do say so myself). Just think of how happy the mom in your life would be to receive these goodies from Brooklyn – three tasty treats and a gorgeous tea towel.
Whether you’re buying for a relative, friend or a client, these gift collections are unique and charming. Plus, you get the added benefit of supporting local artisans who put love into all they do.
The Giveaway
Although this won’t get to the winner in time for Mother’s Day, the Treat Yo’ Mom collection is a great gift for any occasion. Or, just selfishly keep it all to yourself – you know I support that! To win simply tell me in the comments who in your life would appreciate a taste of Brooklyn. (You must leave a comment answering this question before you can take advantage of the second mode of entry below.)
For a second entry, you can tweet about the contest with a link back to this post. The tweet must contain “@SelfishMom” (but should not start with it). Or, you can just copy and paste this:
Want to win the Treat Yo’ Mom gift collection from @withlovefrombk? Stop by @SelfishMom’s site and enter! http://slf.sh/JblxN7
Make sure to leave a second comment with a link to your tweet, or it won’t count (instructions on how to find and post the url of your tweet can be found here).
That’s two entries per household, please. You must be at least 18 years of age to enter, and must live in the continental US.
This contest will close at noon-ish on Saturday, May 12th. The winner will be chosen by random.org. See my complete Giveaway Rules page for more information.
Good luck!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 9. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Brooklyn, gifts, Mother's Day
I sort-of can’t believe this is my house
Mar 9, 2012 What's Going On
When I last wrote about my house we had finally, after five years, started renovating the last unused floor, the second floor (or, in Brooklyn brownstone parlance, the parlour floor). And by “we” I mean “the people we hired,” lest you get the mistaken impression that we can do anything more complicated than hanging up pictures.
Well, it’s almost done. The three rooms themselves are pretty much done. There’s still a lot of work to come in the hallway, and a couple of minor things we’ll have to take care of at some point in the rooms, but for the purposes of arranging furniture and decorating, done-a-rooney!
Tags: Brooklyn, brownstone, renovation
The “face” of winter
Jan 21, 2012 Posted From My Phone
Originally posted on Selfish Mom, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
