I’m Gone, but The Shopping Mama’s Not: My Must Reads!

Just because I’m out of town enjoying an internet free internet-removed vacation I don’t want to leave you hanging. I hope you’ll take a look at some of my favorite posts and read them again or check them out for the first time.

Annabel Karmel Interview: I was absolutely thrilled to interview Annabel Karmel. She was gracious, lovely and full of wonderful information about feeding little ones. I seriously think back to our conversation often and try to keep her words in mind when I’m frustrated with trying to keep my kids eating healthy. I also love the post I wrote about how to make baby food, which is made fun with Annabel’s awesome recipes.

Crazy Dazy Discount: Long, long ago I did a week long series with suggestions of gifts for the kid who has everything. Not surprisingly, given my love of all things Stephen Joseph, I recommended the Quilted Backpack. The folks at the Crazy Dazy have an enormous selection of Stephen Joseph products and have offered a discount code with no expiration. Yay!

Ten Dollar Tuesday: One of my favorite things to do is browse Etsy. Who doesn’t? It is an amazing resource for beautiful, one of a kind products. It’s been my go-to resource for so much lately and it’s the first place I look when trying to find items to feature in the Ten Dollar Tuesday posts. I regret that I haven’t been able to do this feature every single week because I love it. The whole point is to find something awesome AND affordable so you can get your shopping fix without breaking the bank.

Life: Although this blog is largely about stuff, more and more I’ve injected bits and pieces and stories about my life. Sometimes it’s hard to open myself up to criticism or scrutiny, but honestly most often I post about my life because I’m looking to relate to other mamas. I know I’m not the first person to deal with life as a military spouse, exhaustion from a baby waking through the night or a troublesome toddler.

And while I’m doing this silly retrospective, I need to THANK YOU for reading. Writing a blog has become a real outlet for me. It’s grown into a way to connect with other moms, a source of friendship and support and I just LOVE it. I really do hope that at least a few of you enjoy reading The Shopping Mama for more than just giveaways because I enjoy writing it. But, it wouldn’t be any fun without all of you! <3