My bloggy buddy Jen @ Our Daily Big Top encouraged me to enter this in the iheartfaces photo challenge this week. The theme this week is rather fitting – SMILES – little miss BB is certainly donning a big grin in this picture – blackberries are apparently pretty awesome in her book – AND the picture makes me smile, too, so that’s like bonus points, right?
Have you got the perfect picture of a terrific smile? Be sure to link up with it this week at iheartfaces!
You know when you are at the playground or the library and you hit it off with a new mom – like she might just be your long lost best friend and kindred spirit that you’ve been looking for since forever and her kids and your kids seem to get along, too? And as you watch your respective darlings run about together while talking about the latest romantic comedy you both loved or your favorite places to get coffee you groan with the realization that despite having eleven spare diapers, enough wet wipes to supply your local CVS and snacks doled out in appropriate portions for all your kids – you don’t have a pen and paper anywhere?
So when that awkward moment comes where you might be brave enough to say, “Hey let’s get together sometime – here’s my number!” you don’t exchange numbers and you leave the playground or library feeling disappointed and hoping that your could be new best friend manages to come to the playground or library again at the same time you do – and that you have a pen on you.
Now, I know you could have cell phones and just swap numbers that way – and you very well might see them at the playground again – but the thing is, for me, finding the courage to even suggest that they might actually have liked you enough to want your phone number is tough – and any tool you can have to make that topic as easy as possible – well, I want it.
Lately Mommy Cards are all the rage – at least I think they are. I know I’ve been wanting them for a couple years now. Think Business Cards but hopefully with cute pictures of your kids on them and of course your contact information – perfect for giving out your phone number or for all my fellow blogging mommas out there – your website address, too!
I’ve been hunting and searching for awhile now for just the right company – just the right price – just the right amount of options and I finally found that in Cardstore.com – an online retailer with personalized photo cards, holiday cards, thank you cards, birth announcements, birthday cards, wedding announcements, as well as about a gagillion different business cards or Mommy Cards to suit any style. Add your own photos and text – and they’ll print and mail your custom photo cards anywhere, with no minimum orders.
Apologies for the poor attempt at removing private information from these pictures – I know it looks ugly.
I was really impressed with the cards I ordered at Cardstore.com. At their website I was able to choose a style and then further customize it with my own pictures and choice of text, fonts, colors, sizes, etc. so I could custom tailer the cards to my own preferences. The website was very easy to work with and I think the cards are just adorable.
You can actually put photos and text on both sides of the card – so no matter what side of the card you pick up, there is something there to look at. I put my phone number on both sides of this card along with pictures of my kids of course. Cardstore.com generously offered me a $25 credit to use at their website for review purposes and I decided to order two different styles of cards because I had such a hard time choosing from all their options. So I also ordered a card with all text on one side and pictures on the other – and a purple background just for fun!
So you can see that the front has more of a classic business card format – but with a fun colorful twist. But when you flip it over…
I thought this was adorable – more pictures of my cute kids and their names, too. I can’t really state enough how adorable these cards were. Each set came with 25 cards for $15 each. This quantity was perfect for my purposes – I can’t imagine I’ll go through the 50 total cards I ordered any time soon but if you are ordering these for a business and want more cards, they do offer discounted bulk rates. Each set of cards also came with a cute smaller carrying case that’s perfect to slip into your purse or pocket but still keep them separate and handy for quick access.
The best part is – this weekend when I ran into a fellow mommy at the train tables of our local Barnes and Noble who I’d met once before at a playgroup and had been hoping to run into again – I put these babies to good use, mustered up some bravery and gave her my card so hopefully we can get together again sooner rather than later.
This post was written as part of a program for Family Review Network and Cardstore.com, who provided a gift card for shopping for the product for this review.
– DISCOUNT ALERTS –
Thanks to the Family Review Network and Cardstore.com you can get a discount of 10 percent off your entire order using the code FAMILYREVIEW10 (valid until 6/30/2010)!
Also…
Save 15% on all Mother’s Day Cards and Photo Mother’s Day Cards when you enter code LOVEMOM at check out. Shop now for Mother’s Day Cards – offer ends 5/15/2010!*
*LOVEMOM coupon code expires at midnight on 5/15/2010 (PT) and applies to total card cost before taxes, stamps, and shipping. Offers cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts; no more than one coupon can apply per order.
Save 20% on all Graduation Announcements, Invitations, Thank You Cards and Congratulations Cards when you enter code GRADSALE at check out. Shop now for Graduation Cards – offer ends 7/15/2010!**
**GRADSALE coupon code expires at midnight on 7/15/2010 (PT) and applies to total card cost before taxes, stamps, and shipping. Offers cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts; no more than one coupon can apply per order.
Today…
Outside my window: It looks nice and sunny again – yesterday was so gray and dreary and cold and rainy – it’s a serious relief to see the sun again. Here’s hoping for a week of blue skies and warm weather.
I am happy because: my husband seems to have gotten over his cold, the baby is napping, Avatar just came in the mail (finally – I was expecting it Friday) for review and most importantly – I don’t have jury duty this week! I’d all but resigned myself to the fact that it would happen but my number wasn’t called and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I was not looking forward to orchestrating the baby’s feedings through all that and I know Dan wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of working from home.
I am still reading: The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz (squee!!!) and Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat by Michelle May – both of which I’ll be reviewing at Mommas Review when I’ve finished them.
This weekend we: did a lot of cleaning and projects around the house, bought a new hand vac finally – our old one wouldn’t hold a charge anymore. We got this Black and Decker that is very sturdy and powerful and is getting great reviews. So far we are very pleased with it – it makes our old hand vac look like a toy in comparison.
In the kitchen:
We also: found a new house for sale last night during a walk in the neighborhood that we both just love. We walked a little further than usual and there it was – beautiful brick detail, a front porch, a great secluded back yard with a sandbox, stone patio and play area, and a simple yet elegant kitchen with newer appliances and a nice overall layout (I got most of that information from their website, not just from the quick glance while walking by). It’s on a quiet cul de sac as opposed to a larger street which we like, in an ideal location. I highly doubt it will still be on sale next year – but it gave us hope that the kind of house we both love is out there in a price that isn’t entirely inconceivable. Maybe it will be there in a year, maybe not, but now we know something like it is out there, you know?
Some other links I think you should click:
One last thing I want to tell you about before I go: the other night Dan gave the baby her first plain old fashioned tub bath (as in, no infant tub or giant inflatable rubber ducky tub like we used with MM for a really long time because I have issues) and she did so well – I was all manic nervous mommy at first but she was totally fine and loved it – and she made a new friend.
