Lawyer Mama

I Have a Namesake! Monticello Shoes Rocks.

You all know about my obsession with shoes.  Do I really need to say more about that?

A few years ago I wrote about an adorable shoe store I stumbled upon in downtown Norfolk called Monticello Shoes.  They have their own designs, custom made in Italy and the shoes are absolutely gorgeous.  And for designer shoes, the prices are completely reasonable.

So, two years ago I bought these lovely shoes (see left) and I wrote about them.  When I went back into the store, Michael at Monticello Shoes knew who I was, knew about my blog post and gave me a hefty discount on another pair of shoes.  I bought two.  He also told me they were going to name my first gorgeous shoe purchase over there after me.

I thought, "Oh, isn't that sweet" and forgot about it.

Over the last two years my shoe purchasing has slowed down.  Now that I work from home, heels aren't a daily necessity.  And I have to admit that I wear flip flops more often than my beautiful work shoes.  But I still love my shoes.  And I still send everyone who will listen to Monticello Shoes.  If I need a pair of shoes for something special, like say an inaugural ball, I always go there first.  You see, they will also custom make shoes for you so you have just the right color, heel size, whatever.  Just for you.  Isn't that awesome?

Monticello Shoes has recently started this wonderful Deal of the Day on their website where you can get up to 60% off the featured shoe of the day.  This weekend, they're having a Fourth of July blowout sale so I meandered over to their website to check it out.  While browsing, I saw my pretty shoe.  You know, the one in the photo up there?

It's called the Stephanie.

They did name it after me. And I don't think I could be more excited if someone had dedicated a park or a library in my honor.

Thank you.

* Just to be clear and to stay square with the FTC, Monticello shoes did not solicit this review or give me anything for writing it.

The Lawyer Mama Family Gets Cocky

Let's start this out with a warning.

If you are related to me, consider me like a sister, or are otherwise grossed out at the thought that I may at some point in my life have had sexual intercourse, do not click the link below.

Now, I have to add on to my usual warning.  If you are related to T, consider him like a brother, or are otherwise grossed out at the thought that T may have at some point in his life have had sexual intercourse, specifically with me, do not click the link below.

Consider yourself warned.

Product Review: We Get a Little Cocky

Say, "Click!" Take a pic!

I have new review up on Lawyer Mama Review, but I'm warning you before you click that link.  It's an unusual review for me, for a product from Eden Fantasys, and it took me about 2 weeks after I wrote it to actually get the nerve to publish it. 

If you're related to me, I highly recommend forgetting that I even have a review blog.  In fact, you might want to gouge your eyes out just in case.  Unless you're dying to read about my sex life, in which case you're sick and twisted!  You've been warned!

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Julie Tower-Pierce, of Darling Hill, has an interview of me up on her site.  Julie is the author of Staying at Home, Staying in the Law: A Guide to Remaining Active in the Legal Profession While Pursuing Your Dreams. She blogs about flexibility and the law, is a great writer, and just plain nice!  She interviewed me about my transition from law firm to business owner and photographer.
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Now, on to the main event!

DD tagged me with a photo meme. I'm supposed to look in my 6th picture folder & post the 6th photo inside, along with the story of the photo.  But my 6th picture in my 6th folder is an unprocessed RAW camera file from a political fundraiser for congressman-elect Glenn Nye (LOVE writing that! Woot! Way to go, Glenn!).  Because I'm too lazy to process the photo and convert it to a jpg for this, I cheated and used my Flickr account.

This is the 6th photo from my 6th Flickr set:

 

I took this photo on January 10, 2008, while Hollis was home sick.  He hung out on the couch watching TV and sipping ginger ale for a few days and I took pictures of him.  Not much of a story, but I love this photo because he didn't know I was taking his picture.  This was also right after I upgraded to Photoshop CS3, so I had some fun with the photo.  For processing, I used a RAW preset by Michelle Black - Black & White Rich Mocha - modified quite a bit, and used a violet satin texture overlay by Leenda K.

Since this is a meme, I'm supposed to tag people, but I think there are maybe only 2 or 3 people who still reliably read my blog!  So if you're reading this and you have a blog, consider yourself tagged!  (That includes you, Viv.)

SEX

The D.C. Metro Moms are talking about sex today. In fact, allllll of the Silicon Valley Mom sites are discussing sex. Nothing but sex, sex, and more sex all day long.

If that doesn't intrigue you, I give up!

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I also have a review of a new Discovery Channel Store game, Rapido, up on the new and improved Law(yer Mama) Review. Well, it's almost new and improved. I got it up and running but none of my bells and whistles and shiny badges are there yet.

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I have one more action item, due to my airheadedness.  (Like how I made up a word.)  I listed the URL for the New and Improved Lawyer Mama Dabbles incorrectly a few days ago.  Oops.

I have new pics up if you'd like to check it out in the CORRECT location!

3-2-1- Blast Off!

I love the Discovery Channel Store. They always have the coolest toys, for grown ups and children. In fact, my husband has a robot and a remote control helicopter from the store sitting in our sun room right now. We've both been eying the talking globe for some time, trying to figure out just how old the boys need to be before we can justify buying it for ourselves the kids.

So when PBN gave me the opportunity to review one the Discovery Store's latest pre-school toys, I was thrilled! Discovery Store didn't disappoint me. Paz's Lift-Off Rocket is pretty cool. Read More....

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The DC Metro Moms are discussing breastfeeding and boobs today. Pop on over and check out the discussion.

HP Photosmart Compact Photo Printer

I take far too many pictures. I've taken more than 5000 photos since Hollis was born a little over 3 years ago. That averages out to about 4-5 every day for his entire life.

That's the wonder of digital photography. You can take a million photos and just print out the best ones instead of just praying that at least 1 photo on your roll of film came out all right.

But if you're anything like me you no longer have time to print out those "best" photos. I'm a scrapbooker. So for the first 9 months of Hollis's life I diligently printed out photos and created original scrapbook pages for each milestone in his infanthood. But when Hollis was about 9 months old, I really entered the throes of my second pregnancy and the paper scrapbook fell by the wayside. Hollis's scrap book stops at 9 months and Holden's never really got started.

Read More....

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The brand new New York City Moms Blog has officially launched! Go check out all the great writers.

I'm a Pimp!

I'd like to take a moment to pimp my blog out.

Many of you know Sonia from ...and the pursuit of happiness as a gorgeous blogger (seriously, check out her pictures, she's beautiful), mother of four cute kiddos, and really nice person from Iowa. But did you know that Sonia also makes fabulously adorable shirts? Check out her site Sunshine Designs.

Sonia designed and made a ridiculously cute Lawyer Mama tee for me. I don't have any decent pictures of me in the darn thing because I couldn't actually wait and ask someone ELSE to take a picture of me. I'm always holding the camera, but trust me when I say it's super cute. Black, short sleeve t-shirt with Lawyer Mama on it in light pink crystals. It's adorable. This was the best shot I could get that didn't include a fabulous double chin as an accessory:

Nice rack.

I even got the boys matching shirts.* Holden, of course, loves his. At 19 months he is easily distracted by any shiny object. But Hollis loves his too. His father put him in it for the first time while I was at BlogHer and he apparently refused to take it off. He slept in it. Of course, he also thinks that jammies are perfectly acceptable day time wear, but that's beside the point. The shirts are almost as adorable as my boys:

Lawyer Boy refuses to pose for pictures now.

And Lawyer Baby was feeling a bit grumpy.

(Don't you miss that brief time period when your kids actually smiled for the camera on demand? I think it happened for about 2 weeks between 6 and 6.5 months for my progeny.)

Unfortunately, I didn't think T would go for a Mr. Lawyer Mama shirt. Bummer. That would make a great family portrait. But as you can see, I did try to get a picture of Lawyer Boy, Lawyer Baby, and Lawyer Mama:

And I promise I will never again refer to myself in the third person.

In the interest of full disclosure, Sonia also awarded me the Power of Schmooze award not too long ago and said some incredibly sweet things about my writing on her blog. But this is not, I repeat not a quid pro quo arrangement! Although I certainly can be bribed to pimp out my space for martinis. I'm a cheap date.

But I love Sonia. She's funny, talented, snarky, a little bitchy, and a GDI (God Damn Independent) in the true sense of the word. What's not to love?

*If you're wondering, no, the boys can't pull the crystals off the shirt. Ms. Sunshine did a fabulous job. The shirts are toddler proof!

How to Sunscreen a Toddler

I have a new review up for KINeSYS sunscreen on my review site:

How to Sunscreen a Toddler

1. Lure toddler into living room with the promise of M&M's.
2. Reach for toddler, miss, and chase him around the house for 20 minutes.
3. Find toddler hiding in the pantry behind the cat food.
4. Grab toddler and drag him kicking and screaming out of the pantry.

Read More....

"Sunscreen? We don't need no stinking sunscreen!"

Can Your Child Poop His A, B, C's?

I've recently joined the Parent Bloggers Network and for my debut review, I have:

Can Your Child Poop His A, B, C's?

Hollis can.

We're very proud.

PBN may regret letting me in.