Girlymama

Easy. Quick. Yum.

Beef Skewers

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 pound boneless rib-eye roast, sliced against the grain into 32 (3-by-1/4-inch) strips (of whatever you happen to have!)

In a bowl, combine the garlic with 1/4 cup soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, cumin, and red-pepper flakes. Thread 2 pieces of beef onto each of 16 skewers; arrange in a shallow dish. Pour marinade over beef; refrigerate covered 45 minutes or preferable overnight, turning once.

Heat a grill to high. Season beef with salt and pepper. Remove skewers from marinade, letting excess drip off. Discard marinade. Grill beef 1 to 2 minutes per side for medium.

Recipe Origin: Everyday Food

My mom has a shop on etsy now called Popham Lane, that I've been meaning to tell you about. But now I just HAVE to, because look what she has added:
Personalized Beach Towels! 
 
You choose the towel color and type of fabric (flowers, ballerinas, puppies…) and for only $15, you have a totally unique gift! Wouldn't these be great for camp or swim lessons?

And – if you're looking for teacher gifts, she has fabric lunch bags - for eco-minded teachers – and check out these cute, cute aprons for $15:
 

And, if you think my quilts are nice, you should see hers. If you're looking for a baby gift or a wedding gift, she's your girl! How beautiful is this quilt?
 

…that brownies eaten one inch at a time do not count.

Dear Colin,
Please stop throwing your sippy cups. The walls of both the house and the van are covered in milk splatters. Also, your plate is not a hat.
Thank you!
Love,
Mama

Dear Gracie,
If you wouldn't mind, please turn the drama down a few notches. Don't turn it off – then you wouldn't be Gracie. But a little less would be wonderful. For example, remember today when Mama sarcastically said "Oh, Grace, your life is just soooo hard," you then sighed heavily and said "I know." Because you had to wait two minutes for Mama to help you with something.
Seriously, girl, you have no idea how good you have it.
Less drama. Trust me – it will help you survive the summer.
Love,
Mommy

Dear Ellie,
Please stop purposely making your sister crazy just to amuse yourself. There must be something you can do – perhaps reading one of your hundreds of books? Or playing with one of your zillions of toys? Or going outside or coloring? Really, there must be SOMETHING you can do that is more entertaining than driving your sister nuts.
Please. Consider it a favor to me.
Love,
Mom

Girlymama is my personal blog.  This is where I write about the ins and outs of daily life as a mom, balancing work and family and discuss my opinions on very important topics. Like shoes.  

I have a popular Fashion Friday series, and love to share new recipes I’ve discovered. We are discovering photography and love sharing our latest pictures.  We also love to travel as a family, and have posted chronicles of our trips all over the world. (We’re currently planning trips to Disney, Greece, Hawaii, Washington DC, New York and India in the next year or so!)

I am co-founder and editor of All Things Chic, a fashion and beauty site.  I also am owner and chief designer of  Eliza Grace Design, my graphic design business. I am an advisory board member for Philly Social Media Moms.

ADVERTISE:
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REVIEWS & GIVEAWAYS:
I do accept reviews and giveaways of products that I feel my readers will enjoy on a very selective basis. None of my policies are set in stone and I’m more than willing to work with companies and causes I support. Please see my Disclosures page for more information.

CONFERENCE SPONSORSHIPS:
I love to represent brands I believe in!  I’m one of those people who is always sharing new products I’ve discovered with friends (and strangers).  I will come right up to someone in Target who is looking indecisive and tell them exactly which floor cleaner I use and why its the best 🙂 I am currently looking for sponsorship for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference, Type A Mom and BlogHer ’11.  Please contact me for more details on what a sponsorship entails and how I can promote your brand at these very popular women’s blogging conferences.

MOM BLOGGER EVENTS:
If you are hosting a mom blogger event, I am available for attendance and consulting.  I’ve been a daily participant in the mommy-blogging community for over four years and I have pre-mommy work experience in PR/Marketing, graphic design, fundraising and event planning  as well as being a former preschool teacher. I’ve also done social media consulting for several companies trying to break into the social media scene. If you feel my experience and knowledge would be valuable to your event, feel free to contact me.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!  I’m always happy to answer questions at girlymama.blog at gmail.com.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

The nice folks at Story Fort contacted me recently to see if I would be interested in looking at their newest addition to their line of interactive digital books for kids.  Since my kids love books of all kinds and are always asking to play computer – which I'm often conflicted about – a digital book seemed like a great match for us!
We read "What is Bothering Carl?",($15) about a cyclops named Carl whose laid back life is disrupted by a single nuisance. We get to follow along as Carl tries to solve his problem.

Here's that they say about it:

• Story Fort was founded by Andy Hull, a former toy designer at Melissa and Doug.
• Specializing in interactive digital books for kids ages 3+, Story Fort features books designed to engage young readers' imaginations and encourage their sense of learning.
• Books feature a full (optional) audio narration by the author, as well as highlighted phrases to help your child read along and illustrated keywords to build vocabulary.
• Two original songs with animated music videos and a bonus memory game with 3 difficulty levels.

What we say about it:

I was concerned when I got the book and realized it was about a monster. With two little girls, we live in a pink princess land over here, so I wasn't sure that my girls would even be remotely interested in a book about a cyclops. But, they LOVED it.
They read it three or four times, then wanted to play the memory game and watch the music videos. They were both singing along with the music and Ellie – who is 6 – was reading along with the narration. I had to force them to stop playing and go to bed! My kids' only complaint was that there wasn't more. They said they wished there was another story and more games to play.
We've had it on our computer for a few weeks and they have been asking to play "What is Bothering Carl?" more than any other game that we have. (They're even asking for that instead of nickjr.com!)

As a mom, I thought this was a great product. My kids are both learning to read right now, so I'm always on the lookout for products that will help them build vocabulary and practice reading. This is NOT a mindless computer game! Plus, the instructions were so clear, the girls needed no help from me to read the book or play the games, which was wonderful. Some other "preschool" computer games we've tried were much too complicated and left the girls (and mommy) annoyed and frustrated. This is perfectly age appropiate. And it was so cute!  Look at this screen shot:
 
It is bright, colorful and FUN. I highly recommend this if you have a preschooler and are looking for learning tools or computer activities. As a former preschool teacher, I would have loved to have this in my classroom at the computer station!! (This would be great to add to your summer bridge activities!) I'm really looking forward to Story Fort's next book!

You can purchase "What is Bothering Carl?" at www.storyfort.com