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Casual Friday with Mir—because some days are made for wearing your jeans and surfing the blogs.
Dude! A very, very happy Leap Year Day to everyone. How lucky is it that today falls on a Friday, giving us even more excuses to be casual (translation: slack off a little)? I mean, how often does that happen? I have no idea how often. I am too busy blog surfing to figure it out, either.
Some of my new favorite funny links:
5ives is the hilarious side of organizational wizard Merlin Mann, and consists of 5-item lists you didn’t know you needed (but be prepared to laugh out loud).
You’ve probably already seen Star Wars according to a 3-year-old, but I’ve watched it about five times so hey, go watch it again.
If you’re a knitter or a vegan or just someone who enjoys watching Martha Stewart realize she hasn’t got a clue, go watch this blogger school Martha in marzipan.
And here’s one that’s just plain True, plus it offers the kind of advice we all need to hear (or wish someone else would hear), sometimes: Eat some cheese, and put on some pants for goodness’ sake.
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You know, Leap Day only comes every 4 years. You should probably do a bit of bargain hunting to commemorate the occasion….
Hey, anything you buy from the Office Depot clearance is not only a necessary and justified and (!) deductible business expense, it’s a steal. (Ordering something big? Use coupon code 76902528 for $30 off $150+.)
Macy’s is having a Buy Bye Sale through the weekend—save up to 75% off original prices. I may have found myself a new purse. Just sayin’.
Of course, there’s always the Amazon Friday Sale.
Buy yourself something pretty—Coldwater Creek has plenty available in the clearance section, plus use coupon code PXA1114 for $20 off your $80+ purchase.
Enjoy your Leap Day, everyone!
I’ll just come out and say it:
Our daughter goes to sleep at 7pm and I really like having a few hours after she is asleep to do work, talk to my husband, or watch some silly TV. (OK, let’s be honest, mostly I spend the time working but the hour my husband and I spend together, eating dinner or catching up on a show is essential to my sanity.)
Don’t think that was selfish enough of a confession? I got more: Read the rest of this entry »
I get to write a post like this because:
- I’ve quit many jobs I hated and many of those were for the wrong reasons
- I’ve not quit two jobs for some of the reasons I list below and I think it was the right thing for my career
Now that we got that over with, here are 5 reasons why you should not quit a job you hate:
1. It’s a means to an end.
I once quit a job I hated 2 months before my contract there was up. (Long story, it wasn’t a contract job but I was hired for a certain period of time.) At the time, I thought I could not take it any more and another opportunity came along. But I lost a lot by not waiting an extra 2 months: My bonus, but more importantly, a great relationship with this particular firm. My career turned out fine and I ended up going in a different direction all together, but if I’d wanted to stay in that field, I would have had a harder time getting a great job at another company.
A job is a way to make a living but it’s also often a means to an end. Sometimes you have to pay your dues for a while before moving on to a different position, one which you will like more. You might have to work for a company where the culture is hideous but one that has great reputation, which will help you with other jobs in the future. You might be learning a great deal. Think about this before you quit.
2. It pays well and you need to save up money. Read the rest of this entry »
Here I am, writing this post while sitting on the couch next to my husband, during our daughter’s nap time, “relaxing” together and catching up on Project Runway episodes we missed. I have a great excuse for why my laptop is here: If I get a bunch of work done now, I can spend the afternoon with my husband and daughter, playing outside in the snow. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the laptop is literally between me and my husband right now.
I’m a technology entrepreneur and technology — cell phone, laptop, phone — is a huge part of my daily life. I literally could not do my job if it didn’t exist. My husband is also in tech and his job requires that he work on the computer and carry a Blackberry, which also functions as a phone. Our kitchen counter at times looks like a gadget store, with both of our laptops, phones, and Blackberries laid out on it. Sometimes this makes me laugh, sometimes it makes me want to throw it all away.
But I’d be a total lier if I said that I use technology just for my work. Read the rest of this entry »
Casual Friday with Mir—because some days are made for wearing your jeans and surfing the blogs.
Goooooood morning! I’m bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today, except for the tail part. (Though if enough caffeine can cause you to grow a tail, I’ll report back.)
For your reading pleasure this fine Friday:
I don’t know how I stumbled upon Whiskeymarie, but her Chronicles of Hairnia post is sheer brilliance.
As long as you’re basking in the glow of embarrassment, check out Isabel’s recent birthday party experience.
When someone does something that irritates me, I go visit Passive-Aggressive Notes and read until I realize that I’m being ridiculous. (It generally only takes a couple of posts.)
Love mom blogs? Wish you could find a definitive listing of the latest posts from the top mom blogs all in one place? Meet Alltop. I could lose the entire day, surfing from there.
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Shopping? Okay; if you insist.
All Discovery Store Boxed DVD Sets ship for free, through February 25th, 2008.
If you haven’t tried Restaurant.com yet, they’re a great way to eat out on the cheap. Through February 29th, you can use coupon code EXTRA to take an additional 60% off your order—netting you $25 worth of dining for just $4. Why wouldn’t you?
Clothing on your to-do list? Check out Monterey Bay Clothing Company and use coupon code 941075 for free shipping and an additional 15% off your entire order.
As always, don’t forget the Amazon Friday Sale—it’s the best time of the week to stock up on deals.
TGIF, all!
I wrote here once before about my envy for single moms, who can, from time to time, get a break from being a mom and experience things like a kids-free weekend. That does sound nice but let me tell you this: My husband has been away for 24 hours and I think single working moms are heroes.
Let me start by saying that while I nag endlessly, my husband is probably towards the helpful side of the helpful/unhelpful scale. He drops off our daughter at school a few times a week, cleans up the kitchen after I cook, goes grocery shopping (with a detailed list from me and not always getting the right thing, but he is there, at the store, doing it), take out the garbage, unloads the dishwasher, and does a bunch of other helpful stuff around the house. He is ultra-involved in raising our kiddo and has even been trying to learn how to do her hair in the morning (we let him, and then I re-do it).
It’s now almost 11pm and my day as a mom without a somewhat helpful husband has kicked my butt. Read the rest of this entry »
Today’s guest post is by Ashley O’Neill, who is an editor for The Savvy Source for Parents, an early childhood education website, and blogs there as “Coffee Queen.”
Yesterday, I took my daughter to the museum. She fancies herself quite the artist and asked if we could go. Being an art buff myself, I was thrilled to oblige. I’m always happy when she wants to do something that doesn’t involve buying new toys, and she actually is a pretty good artist. Who knows whether she’ll become the next Georgia O’Keeffe or Cindy Sherman, but it’s nice to see her find “her thing” in this world. Some kids love to dance, some love to play sports — she loves to draw. It’s her passion. Not only does she love to do it, but she’s proud of her abilities. Finding something that she’s good at has done wonders for her confidence and it makes her feel special.
As the summer approaches, like many parents, we’re faced with the question of how to spend our time — a question made even more significant by my working at home and needing to keep up with my work during those months when school is out. Should we spend our money on a really great vacation? Should we spend our money on a membership to a pool? Those are both things that all of us would enjoy (and enjoy a lot!), but they don’t help me with my work. Maybe we should spend our budget on summer camps for the kids? My daughter thinks those a lot of fun — and they will give me time at home alone to work — but my son is painfully shy and has terrible separation anxiety. I don’t see him enjoying going to bunch of new places. Maybe we should focus our summer on nurturing our daughter’s love for art? She would be thrilled to spend the summer in art classes and camps. But that begs the question: At what point do we, as parents, know when to focus on something like my daughter’s love for drawing?
I thought for a while about not writing this post. It involves Britney Spears and for a gazillion reasons I don’t want to be yet another writer/reporter/blogger/person writing about her and her endless issues. It also makes some pretty big generalizations based on a few data points and that’s not my favorite type of post. But I just couldn’t make it go away, I kept thinking about it, and so here goes.
This weekend I was browsing through The New York Times online (the only way I get to catch up on reading the paper these days, during nap time, while taking a 10-minute break from work) and came across an article titled Boys Will Be Boys, Girls Will Be Hounded By The Media. It’s main point is the fact that the press seems to be much harsher and tougher on women celebrities than on men. (E.g. When Keifer Sutherland got released from jail, most media outlets ignored the event, but a panacea of coverage erupted when Paris Hilton returned to complete her jail sentence.)
I’m not what you’d call a celebrity junkie (OK, I read through US Weekly when I am stuck at an airport), so I was ready to move on to the next article when I read this:
“If Britney weren’t a mother, this story wouldn’t be getting a fraction of attention it’s getting…The fact that the custody of her children is at stake is the fuel of this narrative. If she were a single woman, bombing around in her car with paparazzi following, it wouldn’t be the same.” Read the rest of this entry »
I am a to-do list junkie. There, I’ve said it.
I write my to-do list every night for the following day and more often than not I actually re-write it at some point during the day. I am also a neat-freak, which means that if the list is getting messy — because things keep getting added to it, crossed off, written diagonally to fit them in — I am going to re-write it. (Yes, I am a little like Monk. OK, more than a little.) My to-do list is one of my key productivity tools and I am constantly trying to tweak it to make it work better. I wrote about one idea here and love this post from Zen Habits about actually using your to-do list to get things done.
So I got an idea this weekend to actually share my to-do list with all of you and to ask you to do the same. I am not exactly sure how this will be helpful, but I think it can be. (It will at least make for some fun perusing, since admit it, it’s a sneak peak into a life of a fellow busy working mom.) And then just as I was thinking about posting my list, I came across this post from Carmen, over at Mom to the screaming masses. Her list made mine look easy in comparison, which was awesome, since I was feeling overwhelmed. And that further indicated to me that this is a good idea for all of us to do. Read the rest of this entry »
Casual Friday with Mir—because some days are made for wearing your jeans and surfing the blogs.
Happy Day After Valentine’s Day! Or, as most will refer to it, either Happy Afterglow Day or Happy Thank God That’s Over Day. (Never let it be said that I don’t embrace diversity….)
Anyway. I think a bit of blog surfing is in order, don’t you? In honor of yesterday’s holiday, I’ve decided to focus on the men, today.
So. Without further ado, here are some men whose blogs you may not have known about, but now that you know, you won’t be able to stop reading: Santa Claus (hey, you’ve always wondered what he did the rest of the year), Dave Barry (mostly links, always funny), John Scalzi (my new internet boyfriend), and Michael Ruhlman (all things food—do not read while hungry).
You’re welcome.
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This is the only time of year I’ll say this, so pay attention and enjoy it: Perhaps some online shopping will distract you from all of that chocolate? Yes, that’s an excellent idea. (Swapping one vice for another. During Lent. I think I’d best be on the lookout for lightning bolts….)
There’s a whole mess of President’s Day Deals at Buy.com, in case you’re in the market for electronics.
I know, it’s months ’til Father’s Day, but this is a great deal if you’re in the market for it: Over at Sharper Image, get their valet charging station (a fabulous gift for any man with a bunch of handheld devices) for half price with any purchase, through the end of the month. Automatic free shipping on orders over $100, too.
The Kohls clearance has just been reduced another 25%, and through February 23rd all orders over $75 ship for free! Use code MVCCHARGE15 for another 15% off with your Kohls charge card, too.
And of course—the Amazon Friday Sale. How would we know it was Friday, without it?
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!