Category Archives: Blog

Shucks and Golly Gee Wow!

  By Amy | March 20, 2013 - 4:25 pm |
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redtricycle_badge_1
I’m very humbled and happy to announce that Red Tricycle Chicago has named ParentSphere one of their Windy City favorites.

A big ole’ THANK YOU to Red Tricycle!

It is most definitely appreciated to be recognized as someone who loves their city enough to feature local content, in addition to reviews on their blog. I have been blogging darn near a century now and I sure am proud of what I’ve done here at ParentSphere over the past five years.

So, thanks again, Red Tricycle for the love. I’m definitely feeling the warm fuzzies. <3

Album Review: Smile and an Interview with Mike Park

  By Amy | September 23, 2011 - 12:53 am | , ,
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smile_mike_park

Smile is Mike Park’s debut kid’s album.  Mike Park has been putting out music on his punk record label, Asian Man Records, for quite a while. He’s married, has kids and runs his business out of his parent’s garage. He had a vision and his vision became a big success.  I have been a huge fan of Mike Park, the person, for a long time.  I am now a huge fan of Mike Park, the guy who wrote a great kid’s album.

Smile is everything I want to listen to with my kids.  It’s my kind of music and is completely enjoyable for all of us.  If you like punk rock, indie, pop, and ska, you’re just gonna love the entire album. Here are a few of my favorite tracks: Turn Off the Lights, Everybody Loves to Jump and We All Live at Animal Park. The entire album of 12 songs is really fun and upbeat. We kinda can’t stop listening to it…ever.

Mike and I had a Skype interview the other day.  I babbled, rambled and stumbled, like always.  He was super friendly and it was such an honor to speak with someone I have admired for so many years.

Here is our interview, including all of my spectacular video editing skills. The interview stops abruptly and that is because we filled up an entire 8 gig SD card.  Hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did – oh – and when you’re finished watching the interview – you should totally order a copy of Smile.

PS: Make sure to watch the entire interview, as Mike makes a special announcement somewhere in the middle!

Mike performing “We All Live at Animal Park” for us via Skype:

Here is a stop-motion video that Mike’s friend put together for We All Live at Animal Park:

Online Safety – Tips and Resources

  By Amy | September 19, 2011 - 9:32 pm | , , , ,
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online-safety-sphere

I was asked to join Chicago’s Bump Club and Beyond at the local Microsoft Store to be a part of a panel with three other terrific bloggers and writers.  We each had a topic to talk about and mine was online safety.

My kindergartener is currently familiarizing herself with the online world, so, online safety and privacy protection are topics that cross my mind on a daily basis.  It’s part of my job to keep current on the latest technology trends, so I can effectively do my job as a parent, which is protecting my kids and steering them in the right direction.

That being said, here are some things to keep in mind for online safety and privacy:

  • Social Networking – When creating an account online where you’re going to share personal information about your life, research the site’s privacy settings before posting or uploading anything.  Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace or Twitter (to name just a few); each service has privacy options that need attention.  It’s important that you understand how each one works, before you completely dig in.
  • Blogging – Blog platforms (ie: WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, etc.) also have privacy settings.  You have the option of keeping your blog unlisted from internet search results or password protecting individual posts.  You can also password protect your blog, so that only the people you specifically give the URL and/or password to will be able to view it.
  • Photo Sites – (ie: Flickr, Photo Bucket, Shuterfly, etc.)  You have privacy settings here, too.  The ability to set photo visibility to contacts only, excluding your photos from search results and setting your sharing terms are just a few of the options to review when uploading personal photos.
  • Using Names – Depending on how social you wish to be online, you may want to refrain from using yours or your kid’s full names.  For example; I don’t always use my daughters’ first names.  I’ll say, “the kindergartener” or “the toddler”.  A lot of people have nicknames they’ll use for their kids, like, “little miss” or “little mister”.
  • Forever is a long time – Remember that anything you post online is there forever.  When your kids are older, they may see what you posted about them when they were six.  Be mindful of their dignity.  I would specifically encourage you not to post pictures online of your babies/toddlers/kids when they are naked.  I have taken thousands of photos of my kids and yes, there is an occasional shot of their cute little bottoms as they’re scurrying past me, but those are filed away for me, not for the rest of the world to see.
  • Times are changing/Announcement Etiquette – This tip is geared toward those of you who are having babies.  Chances are, many of your friends and family are using social networking sites.  Be aware, that in their excitement, these friends and family may post their own status updates, sharing your special news.  I think it is important that it is made clear to them whether or not this is acceptable.  You may have to consider sending out an email to those on your friend list, asking them to refrain from posting anything until you give the ok.  We are all pretty immersed in technology but unfortunately, not all of us are up to par on online safety and privacy.  You have no idea who will end up seeing your news if you’re not the one posting it.  The etiquette should be: You shouldn’t post anyone’s personal information or special announcements without permission or before they do.
  • Disclosing your location: “Checking in” is all the rage these days.  People use social networking applications like, Foursquare, Get Glue, Facebook, etc. to log where they are at any particular time.  Remember that when you check in somewhere and you’ve made this information available to the public, the wrong people may assume you are not home and act on that.  Please check and double-check your privacy settings and only share your location with trusted contacts.

ONLINE SAFETY RESOURCES

Online safety:

http://safely.yahoo.com/
http://www.google.com/familysafety/
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/net_safety.html

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Stay current with social media and technology trends:

http://www.mashable.com
http://www.techcrunch.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social-media/
http://www.nielsen.com

An evening with Cirque Du Soleil OVO and Infiniti

  By Amy | August 30, 2011 - 5:53 pm | ,
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ovo

We were recently invited to attend a performance of Cirque Du Soleil’s OVO in Chicago under the Grand Chapiteau on behalf of Infiniti, OVO’s exclusive automotive sponsor.  Such a fun night!

grand_chapiteau

OVO is the third Cirque Du Soleil show my husband and I have seen, so we had an idea of what to expect.  We have seen O at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and I saw La Nouba in downtown Disney on the first Disney Mom Blogger Mixer trip.  Each of the Cirque shows were unique in their own way and I have really enjoyed each one of them.  When human beings perform extreme acrobatics in make-up and costume, how can you not appreciate that!?

To start out our evening, we attended the Tapis Rouge event on behalf of Infiniti.

tapis_rouge

Inside, we were treated to an array of super yummy hors d’ oeuvres, as well as drinks and desserts.  Not half bad!  Hubs and I were nearing our 9th wedding anniversary at the time, so this was a very nice date night for us.

tapis_rouge_1

The luxurious Infiniti M was on display.

infiniti m

The M is such a gorgeous vehicle!  I could never afford to own one but it sure was nice sitting inside of it and dreaming.

After filling our bellies, we headed into the Grand Chapiteau for the performance.

ovo

Ovo Synopsis:

OVO™ is a headlong rush into a colourful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects’ home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion.OVO is overflowing with contrasts. The hidden, secret world at our feet is revealed as tender and torrid, noisy and quiet, peaceful and chaotic. And as the sun rises on a bright new day the vibrant cycle of insect life begins anew.

The show was fascinating!

After the performance, a group of us were treated to go behind the scenes and look at Cirque Du Soleil’s OVO from beyond the audience.

We loved the experience. (Thank you Infiniti and Cirque!)  I highly recommend checking out a Cirque Du Soleil show.  I also recommend entering Infiniti’s sweepstakes for a chance to win a private Cirque Du Soleil event in your hometown for you and 25 guests.  Here is the link to the Infiniti Cirque site where you can enter to win!

We were encouraged to take home some of the butterfly confetti, so, the following day, I “surprised” my girls with a display of orange, yellow and gold butterflies:

Brands and Bloggers Summit – Reflections

  By Amy | August 16, 2011 - 7:50 pm | ,
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bbsummit reflections

It has been one month since the Midwest Moms Media – Brands and Bloggers Summit.  The Summit was just the right size, with just the right amount of information for my tired mind to absorb.

What I took away from the BBSUMMIT is how we’re all making an effort to help each other to be successful and expand our personal and professional connections.  Brands and bloggers need each other.  Online media has taken the world by storm and by attending niche conferences like this one, we can really dig in and focus on what it takes to help one another.

Our first session consisted of a panel of influential bloggers and brands, discussing their experiences being pitched and making pitches.  The session was moderated by Barbara Rozgonyi.  Bloggers are all very much connected with each other and if someone thinks a pitch was not delivered appropriately, chances are, there are many more that also feel this way.  This fact lead to discussions across the board on how bloggers would like to be pitched and in turn, how bloggers can pitch the brands they love.

I know that we all have our own opinions on pitches.  What some think is a major faux pas, others may just press the delete key and move on without looking back.  The goal of Session I: Building Blogger and Brand Relationships was for us to express our opinions and spark ideas about how to better approach pitching and being pitched.  Because, if no one speaks up, how can we improve our interactions?  We all shared ideas and gained some great insight from the session’s expert blogger and brand panelists.

bbsummit_panel

Next on the agenda was networking.  I loved how the networking time was managed.  Each attendee had a name badge and on the inside of that badge was the day’s agenda, prize drawing entry form and sponsor table checklist.

bbssummit badge

Each numbered box represents a sponsor’s table.  Visit each sponsor and exchange contact information.  The sponsor “marks” your card.  After you have visited each sponsor, you can complete the Prize Drawing Entry on the reverse side for a chance to win big prizes at the end of the day.  I can’t stop raving about this idea!  I thought it went really well.

After networking and lunch, we settled back in at the DoubleTree for Session II: FTC Guidelines Overview and How it Impacted the PR and Blogger World.  This session was lead by Sarah Evans.

sarah evans speaking

Sarah was adorably pregnant in the photo above and I’m happy to share that she brought her baby boy, @KashtonEvans into the world just a few days ago (Congrats, Sarah!).  You can view her presentation right here:

FTC Guidelines Overview: How it Impacts PR, Brands and Bloggers

Sarah provided us with extremely useful information.

nany loo speaking

After Sarah’s presentation, Nancy Loo took the stage for Session III, Catching Traditional Media’s Air Waves – Beyond Press Releases.  Nancy helped us understand how to prepare for on-air interviews.  I could have used her tips a few years ago!  She offered BBSUMMIT attendees some good pointers about online presence related to catching a reporter’s attention and getting your story noticed.

After some more networking, Miss Lori took the stage and gave us all a boost of self-confidence.  If anyone is good at encouraging a positive attitude, it’s Miss Lori.

miss lori speaker

Her presentation was inspiring and her advice to all of us is to take A.C.T.I.O.N.  You can learn all about that in Miss Lori’s recap post.  I encourage you to watch the videos in her post and make mental notes of her wise information.

I really enjoyed myself at the Brands and Bloggers Summit and not just because I was a media sponsor, although, it was very cool to have my own table with my own banner attached to it, passing out uber cool products from BBSUMMIT11 swag sponsors: Jabra, About Your Time, LLC, Cascadian Farm and Erin Gallagher Jewelry.  Oh yeah. That was so cool!

Here are some other great recaps of BBSUMMIT11 across the web:

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy – Life as a working mom with three boys!

Suburban Scrawl

The Megalomaniac Mommy

Mommypalooza

My Crafty Life

StarChiLife

Wired PR Works

Alright, I know there are more recaps out there!  Unfortunately, I just don’t have time to go and grab all of the links right at the moment.  Please leave me a comment and a link to your BBSUMMIT recap post if you’ve written one.  I’d love to read your thoughts!

Also, I’ve linked up to everyone (hopefully) that stopped by my table at the Summit HERE.

 

A post about feeling good

  By Amy | August 11, 2011 - 8:32 am |
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There was a time after Teagan was born that I kind of shut down.  I wasn’t interested in doing anything or seeing anyone or writing about anything.  Call it what you will, I was downright stuck in a rut.  Not a day went by that I didn’t notice how things had changed for me and how I knew I needed to do something about it.  I’m glad I finally did do something about it.

I didn’t feel good about much of anything.  Nothing was exciting anymore and I didn’t care to share anything with the world (and you know me, that’s what I do.)  After some time and some good medication, I feel like me again.  I feel good about life again.  It’s weird how when you’re in it, the funk, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel unless you really push yourself.  It’s a scary place.

That being said, I feel great.  I feel excited about opportunities and about life in general.  Don’t get me wrong, it took a while to get back to this point and I still have my moments (many of them, actually) but they’re minimal compared to the place I was in just over a year ago.

These last few months have been a whirlwind.  We’ve done so much.  We’ve made the most of our summer for sure.  Multiple visits to the zoo (which, we’re taking advantage of again today), multiple trips to the city.  New friends have been made and old ones have been reunited and exciting opportunities have arisen.  It feels so good to feel good again!

There has been so much to do that it’s been hard for me to update ParentSphere on an as-it-happens basis.  In case I haven’t mentioned, I have an extremely busy (we’re talking non-stop) 2 year old and 5-1/2 year old itching to get to kindergarten in a couple of weeks.  As much as I long to sit down and write about everything the minute it happens, I find myself just trying to enjoy things and write about them later.

I have many fun things to write about, like the BBSUMMIT last month (wow, last month already?), lots (and I mean LOTS) of new music to hip you to, Lollapalooza/Kidzapalooza weekend (the older I get, the longer it takes to recover!) and a dozen or so products to promote.

I’m here. It’ll happen. I’m just enjoying life.  Are you?