The Daily Grind of a Work @ Home Mom...

Conferences, and events, and junkets. Oh, my!

I'm re-posting this for all you newer bloggers who are considering any upcoming events or conferences.  Also, I am about to attend an event at a local chapter of a "club" for public relations practitioners, and I'll have to remember to practice what I preach.

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We all know the type – a blogger who sits perched behind her desk all day blogging, tweeting, Facebook’ing like crazy. Telling all and leaving nothing out. Chances are, if you met her, she would be a laugh a minute, the life of the party, and your new BFF.

Or, maybe not.

Bloggers, securely fastened behind their computer screens, are very courageous people. But get them in public, and you may find that they’re not as outgoing as they seem.

Or maybe they are. But until you meet, how will you know?

The scene is familiar - at every blogger event, someone feels let down by the characters in the room. It’s happened to me. And I’m sure it’s happened to you.

But the truth is, with all the finger-pointing and “this group is so cliquey” and “who does she think she is” going on, are we really doing our part to control our experience? Or are we making our good time someone else’s problem?

Attending a blogger event is just like attending any other social or networking event - you get out of it what you put in. I’ve been to conferences where I’ve been the wallflower and come out of it having had a meh experience. But anytime I come out of my shell, put myself out there and actually behave in a way that is more magnetic, I have a ball.

It was a few months ago that a blogger attended a local event and felt snubbed by the other attendees. What’s more, she was told her seats were taken and had to find someplace to sit for herself and her child. As a person who curates events, this is unacceptable.

However, is it possible that feeling blown-off by other bloggers was largely a result of her already stressful experience? After all, everyone there was wrangling at least a kid or two. It was an evening event (whiny, tired kids). And the venue was very stimulating for the kids. Could it be that folks were having their own challenges that day?

Bloggers, PR people, or whomever we are - we are all in charge of ourselves. Social etiquette remains largely consistent under most circumstances. As adults, we control our fun. No matter where we are, it is no one else’s responsibility to ensure we meet people or enjoy ourselves. I’ll remind myself of this next time I set out in this big, bad world.

Eat well without moving a muscle? Yes, please!

It was Sunday evening a few weeks ago and after a day lounging by the fire, watching Shrek a couple of times and doing not very much else, my family was in lazy mode.  Neither the idea of cooking dinner versus getting dressed to go out and get food appealed to us so decided to order in.

If you live in Boston then you know that almost no restaurants deliver.  It's a really strange local phenomenon.  Coming from Montreal, where you could order breakfast and it would show up any time of the day or night, I'm still not accustomed to the idea that restaurants actually make people come in to get food.  So when restaurant delivery services started popping up a few years ago, I was happy to know that the option existed, but I never really took advantage of it simply because the prices of the food were so inflated, that coupled with the tax and delivery charge, plus gratuity, a sushi dinner for two could climb well past the $100 mark without even breaking a sweat. 

But on that Sunday, a few weeks ago, I was determined to find a way to make it work.

I started playing around on the Internet and found two sites - one that does lots of advertising and that I'm familiar with (I may have used it once or twice in the past), and another that I hadn't heard of called Foodler.  Being the kind of person that I am, I looked at the menu for the restaurant I wanted (it was on both sites) and compared pricing.  It was cheaper on Foodler.  My almost $100 order on the other site, came to about $75 on Foodler, including tax and delivery.  While still not cheap for sushi for three people (two of whom are under 4 feet tall), it beat cooking and the cost wasn't going to break the bank.

I ordered again from Foodler a week later during our only snowstorm of the year.  And even with the weather, the food came pretty fast, and was fresh when it arrived.

Other differences I've noticed with Foodler is that delivery costs differ from restaurant to restaurant, with some options having no charge at all.  I've seen discounts rights there on the site - no scouring the web for coupons, etc.  And really, the service was great.

For the moment, Foodler is available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, but that list seems to be growing pretty quickly.  Check it out next time you're too lazy to cook, too!

I received Foodler bucks to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

"Why I Can't Make Mom Friends"

I first posted this in September 2010 and something happened the otherd ay that made me remember it.  It's hilarious - enjoy.

This parody on moms is just so ridiculously true.  It pretty much covers, well, EVERY.THING that makes annoying moms annoying.  And how awesome is the word "Mompetitors"???