I’m going to start things off with a little background information for anyone who hasn’t heard of 5 Minutes For Mom’s Annual ‘Ultimate Blog Party‘ or just isn’t really sure what it’s all about. Basically, imagine a block party where each house on the block throws a shindig on the same day and everyone sort of migrates from house to house, meeting everyone, having lots of yummy drinks and snacks and maybe even winning some free stuff from clever contests.

Now imagine a gigantic online version – the parties are literally at your blog (so the snacks and drinks are all fantastic calorie free versions – unless you decide to party in real life while you are partying online of course). So make yourself at home here at Mommablogsalot, enjoy my little party then please feel free to head to the next party and of course if you are hosting one, too, please let me know in the comments section below so I can swing by your party later!

That said, let’s pretend I didn’t just give you a fifteen minute lecture on the definition of an online “block party” and you are really just now knocking at the door, maybe clutching a bottle of wine that you’ve brought (OMG, thank you!) and checking your reflection in the bottle to make sure your hair looks okay (I love your hair by the way, did you do something new?)

Come on in! Don’t mind my haggardly Tired Momma appearance – what you can see of it anyway. You’ll notice that the majority of my pictures only show about half of my face or less – which suits me just fine and perhaps gives me an air of mystery?

What do you think? Mysterious or not so much?

The cute baby I practically shoved in your face in that first picture is my little girl (she’s about eight months old right now), we call her Baby Blueberry here on the old blog. She’s a sweet little thing who’s always on the go, already trying like heck to walk so she can keep up with her big brother aka MM (My Monkey) who just turned four last Wednesday.

Some things you might not know about me if this your first time in my neck of the woods:

• We’re a cloth diapering, baby wearing, breast feeding, pescetarian family. I love adapting to a more eco friendly lifestyle but try to maintain some semblance of a laid back approach to it. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being a hog crazy granola tree hugger) I’d say we’re a solid 7.
• We just moved to Wisconsin last year from New England after the poor economy put my husband’s last company out of money. Though sad to leave family and friends behind, we’re rather enjoying the notion of being a “Midwestern” family and like the Wisconsin area a lot.
• I am a huge fan of John Mayer, Ellen Degeneres, Grey’s Anatomy and all those trendy young adult novels like Twilight, Shiver or The Sweet Far Thing. Actually I just love reading, period.
• I’m also a pretty big nerd when it comes to techy stuff like computers and video games or english major stuff like grammar and poetry. When I’m not writing open letters to John Mayer you might find me blogging about politics or religion or deep thoughts on parenting.
• In addition to my personal blog I also write at a review blog Mommas Review that I maintain with two friends back in New England. Definitely check it out for great reviews and giveaways.
• I like to make bulleted lists and talk about myself a lot, too.

So that’s pretty much the basics, though I’m sure I left out something monumentally important. Feel free to enjoy yourself and have a look around my little blog before heading off to your next party. Can I interest you in some cookies or a cup of coffee?

Before you go, I thought I’d mention some of the giveaways associated with The Ultimate Blog Party that are most exciting to me. If I could pick my prize these would be my Top Choices: