2012 January

on the move.

January 31, 2012 By Michelle 2 Comments

i’m not a spontaneous person, but - every now & again - i get impulsive. this is kind of surprising to some who really know me because a) i’m not a fan of surprises and b) i don’t always welcome change with open arms.

where am i going with this? i’m saying goodbye to blogger.

no, i’m not giving up blogging. i’m moving stuttering shell to wordpress {didn’t you see the message above??}. a move to wordpress has always been in the back of my mind, but i was never quite ready to take the leap.

until now.

why? that is the most popular question i’ve been asked since announcing on the twit that i was jumping ship.

well, first of all, i owe a lot to mrs. monologues for really making me consider the move. and, side note, she’s moving to wordpress, too, so if you follow her blog then you need to make sure you follow the same steps listed above for her blog. second, although it’s going to cost me more money in the long run {right now i only pay for my domain which is like $10 a year}, i like knowing that my blog will really be my blog. blogger has been good to me – really good to me – but i want to own my content. i also want my blog to have more security. i mean, if blogger were to ever go away, so would my blog {remember the blogger glitch a while back? yeah. not cool.}.

so, in the coming month, please be prepared for some downtime as i move my blog to my own web hosting space & transfer my domain. and, get excited because my new move also means a new blog layout courtesy of the amazing brea of utterly chaotic.

in the meantime, just remember to copy & paste my blog’s url into your google reader or subscribe via rss feed. you know, so you can still keep up with me. if not, you’ll miss seeing this face…

Filed Under: blog design, Blogger, blogging, moving, Mrs. Monologues, Utterly Chaotic, WordPress

valentine’s day à la tiny prints.

January 28, 2012 By Michelle 2 Comments

i’ve professed my love for tiny prints before and, here i am, professing my love for their super cute, personalized cards once again. valentine’s day is fast approaching and i love being able to send my children to school with sweet notes and cards for their classmates and teachers. personally, if you ask me, i think valentine’s day is overrated, but it think it’s such a fun holiday for children.

ask anyone who is a fan of tiny prints and they’ll tell you: the selection of cards is amazing. once again, tiny prints has outdone themselves with their section of valentine cards. tiny prints doesn’t just offer valentine’s day greeting cards, but you can also get photo cards and party invitations, too, each with a valentine’s day theme.

it’s hard to choose just one card that would be perfect for either of my children’s classmates, but here are a few of the designs that we are currently in love with…

{photo}

my daughter is quite the baker and is in love with cupcakes, so this would be the perfect card for her to share with her classmates this valentine’s day.

{photo}

and another valentine’s day card contender…another cupcake themed card! the simplicity of this design is perfect for exchanging with classmates.

{photo}

this option is great for my son who isn’t quite into all of the lovey-dovey valentine’s day cards. i like that this card – in addition to all of the tiny prints valentine’s day cards – is different from what you’ll find in your nearest discount store.

{photo}

and we just loved this fortune cookie valentine’s day card. it’s perfect for both my daughter & son to share with their classmates.

like what you’re seeing? then i urge you to check out all of the valentine’s day cards that tiny prints has to offer. in addition, you can follow tiny prints on twitter, facebook & pinterest. check them out!

disclaimer: in exchange for a blog post showcasing their valentine’s day collection, tiny prints is giving me 50 free kids valentine’s day cards of my choice. all opinions in this post are my own & tiny prints did not influence my opinion or the wording of this blog post.

Filed Under: cards, tiny prints, Valentine's Day

guest post: polka dot mani

January 25, 2012 By Michelle 6 Comments

hey y’all! i’m so excited to have my friend, andrea, from my chihuahua bites guest posting on the blog today. she’s talking about something near & dear to my heart: nail polish. for as long as i can remember, i’ve always loved a mani that was different and what andrea has created is so fun & i cannot wait to recreate her look on my own nails.

enjoy!!

Hey friends! I’m so excited to be guest posting on Stuttering Shell today. I’m Andrea, a 30 something mommy addicted to Sephora, makeup brushes, reality TV, and nail polish. I found Michelle on Twitter through a friend, and I soon realized we have a ton in common - we share of a love of nail polish, k-cups, and Lis.

I haven’t always been into nail polish. Up until about a year ago, I was strictly a special occasion mani type of girl. I didn’t polish my nails at home, and on the rare occasion I did, I ran around with polish smeared all over my fingers and cuticles.

Not cute.

About 6 months ago, I picked up some Sally Hansen polish from Wal-Mart and decided to carpe diem and give myself a mani. I learned to erase my polish mistakes with q-tips and acetone, and I’ve never looked back. I don’t know what got into me that day, but I’ve had polish on my nails every day since. I’m about to enter Nail Polish Addicts, as my polish collection is starting to get quite out of control.

Today I want to share a fun (and easy!) Valentine’s Day mani with you. Polka dots are one of the easiest forms of nail art, and you can do it to your nails with stuff you already have at home.

I apologize in advance for the pictures – it is impossibly hard to take pictures of yourself with only one hand.

You’ll need the following tools:

Red, white, and pink nail polish
A dotting tool – mine came from Sally’s, but you could also use a pointed q-tip or even a toothpick.

I’ll share the exact brands/names of the polishes at the end of the post.

Start by painting the ring finger of each hand with two coats of pink polish. Paint the rest of your nails with two coats of white polish.

Let your nails fully dry; however, do not yet apply a top coat. Drop 2 dots of each color of polish onto a paper plate. You can see I have a dot of red, white, and pink on the plate.

Using your dotting tool, q-tip, or toothpick pick up a small amount of polish on the tip of your tool. Start with pink; gently dot in a random pattern all over your white nails. Leave room for red dots!

After you’ve applied the pink polka dots, wipe off your tool (or get a new q-tip!) and start with red dots. Apply to both the white and pink ring finger nails.

Now it’s time for the white! The white dots only go on your pink ring fingers. Seal off your mani with a top coat, and you’re done!

Enjoy your polka dot nails!

Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy & Seche Base Ridge Filling Base Coat

Pink: OPI Pink Friday

White: OPI Alpine Snow

Red: China Glaze Poinsettia

Top Coat: INM Out The Door

Filed Under: guest blogger, manicure, nail polish

my eight year old eats what?

January 24, 2012 By Michelle 11 Comments

so there is a pretty popular book circulating the parenting set about expanding your child’s particular palate. i haven’t read it, so please forgive me if what i’m about to say seems harsh but…

do you really need to read a book to figure out how to get your picky eater to eat?

in my opinion, no. i believe that picky parents produce picky children. why? well, if you don’t like it, what makes you think your child is going to like it? i was raised by parents who believed that you ate what you were given. if you didn’t like it, you either sat there until you ate it or you went hungry. and – surprise, surprise – i am raising my children the same way.

i’m not a short order cook. my kitchen is not a restaurant. there is a menu, but there is only one thing on it: you get what you get & you don’t throw a fit.

don’t get me wrong, there are things my children choose not to eat. malia refuses to eat tomatoes, brussel sprouts & blueberries. aidan also doesn’t care for brussel sprouts {but he’ll eat them…reluctantly}. but, what my children will and do eat amazes people. i’ve blogged about it before, but my children are actually quite adventurous when it comes to food. i think a lot of that is due to the fact that adam & i are not picky eaters and are quite adventurous ourselves. are we foodies? i guess so. but, i do the draw the line at certain things and – more often than not – my children surprise me and show that they are more adventurous than i am when it comes to culinary deliciousness.

case in point…

{gotta love a blurry cell phone pic}

that picture above? that’s aidan eating a duck foot. yes, a duck foot. and, that particular duck foot was wrapped in a skin made from tofu. there was also taro root & steamed shrimp inside {my father & i joked that was the duck’s toe jam}.

i know, i know…ew, right? i don’t even eat duck feet. but, aidan wasn’t made to eat it. we were at our favorite dim sum spot in boston. my mom ordered them and we asked the kids, “do you want to try one?” malia said no. aidan said sure. i always tell my kids to give something a shot before they decide they don’t like it, especially when it comes to food. this is what aidan did and guess what? he liked the duck foot.

so, while some of you are battling the “i only want chicken nuggets” blues, don’t get frustrated. instead, get smart. hell, outsmart your child. stop catering. serve what you are eating. your child might surprise you. but, if you’re picky, well, i don’t know what to tell you. this mama doesn’t do picky.

p.s. food allergies and other sensitivities do not count as being picky.

Filed Under: Food, The Kidlets