Subscribe & receive all blog updates straight to your email!

Theta Mom®

Redefining Motherhood

Flirty Aprons Review and Giveaway

***This contest is now closed. Congrats to Krista! An email has been sent.***

Flirty Aprons was founded by two couples who had a strong passion for the business world. Beginning with The Hansens, Heather Hansen has experience in the modeling industry and soon gained a love for fashion and design. She is the brain child behind the aprons’ patterns and designs. Her husband Joseph Hansen has a business background and is responsible for overseeing the operations, marketing and finances of the business. The other couple includes The Taylors. Spencer Taylor has an economics background and is currently the Executive Vice President of the company. His wife Jamie Taylor enjoys the public relations aspect of the business as she is the company’s Chief Operations Officer. Together, these two couples have built an exciting and successful partnership to what is now called Flirty Aprons. I reviewed the Chic Pink Flirty Apron which is actually one their best sellers:

 FlirtyAprons

Many of you know I despise cooking. So you may be wondering why I would be interested in an apron – and that’s just it – I NEED something to motivate me in the kitchen and this chic apron certainly works! I can’t tell you enough how adorable this apron is in person! As the site states “look cute and feel great” and in my Flirty Apron, I sure do! The colors are so bright and the design is so fun, I really enjoy putting it on each time I cook. The apron is soft, made of 100% cotton with two little pockets in the front. It has a short ruffle that runs along the bottom and the apron gently ties around the neck and waist. I totally adore the side bow, too. You can get the full details of my apron here and you can find an array of designs to choose from, including aprons for men and children by visiting their full website here.

You can purchase the Chic Pink Flirty Apron for $30.95 here or you can enter to win because Flirty Aprons is giving one lucky Theta Mom reader to chance to win her very own Flirty Apron! Woo Hoo! 

How to Enter The Flirty Apron Giveaway:

****Required Entry: Follow my blog publicly and tell me you are.

Extra Entries: (You must leave a separate entry for each extra entry to count and extra entries won’t count unless the required entry is done)


1. Follow Theta Mom on Twitter here and leave me your twitter name. (1 entry)

2. Become a Fan of Theta Mom on Facebook here and leave me your FB name. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to Theta Mom via email. You must activate the subscription for this entry to count. (2 entries)

4. Subscribe to Theta Mom any other way. (1 entry)

5. Grab one of my cute buttons and add it to your website. (2 entries per button)

6. Click to vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs. Just click the banner on the right side bar and tell me you clicked. (1 entry per click-can click up to 3x)

7. Tweet this giveaway! Just copy/paste the following: Look cute with a Flirty Apron! Enter the #giveaway to win a Flirty Apron @ThetaMom  http://tinyurl.com/yz8taop Please RT  (1 entry per daily tweet)

8. Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back to me. Leave me your link to show the post. (2 entries)

9. Add Theta Mom to your blogroll. (2 entries)

Giveaway Rules:

This giveaway is open to US residents only. It begins on March 21, 2010 and will end on April 1, 2010 at 9 pm. One winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. The winner will be announced and must respond with a current email address within 48 hours to claim. Otherwise, another eligible entry will be chosen. Enter as many extra entries as you would like Theta Moms and good luck!

I was provided a Chic Pink Apron from Flirty Aprons. I was not compensated for this review. These are my own honest opinions and experience with the product.

You Can’t Put a Price on a Mother’s Intuition

As a mother, I believe we are born with an extra sense. It’s the feeling you get when something just isn’t right. It’s when you know there may be danger ahead or your inner core screams that there has to be something more for which I feel compelled to share this with you…

Beginning when my son was about nine-months old we saw every specialist over the course of a year and not one doctor could tell us what was wrong with our child. At one point, after visit upon visit and test upon test, we were supposed to just sit back and wait for more blank results because they couldn’t give us a definitive answer. Nothing was conclusive.

This is when I began to educate myself. I stayed up late at night researching the new vocabulary that became an instant part of my everyday language. I needed to acknowledge the magnitude of what was taking place in my son’s little body and I needed the power of knowledge to help me through the times of uncertainty, especially when I was drowning in a sea of fear.

The bottom line is that we need to ask the right questions. We need to get the proper information and we need to seek out the help we are requesting and fight for our children until we are satisfied because if we don’t, nobody else will. You deserve it, your family deserves it, and your child sure as hell deserves it.

My son is now a healthy, thriving four year-old boy due in part to what I believe was following my intuition which ultimately lead my son to CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) to get some concrete answers.

I decided to share this because I truly believe my words just helped another parent who connected to this experience. I know there is at least one reader out there who totally understands what I’ve gone through and he/she may be still in the midst of this battle right now.

So if this post encourages even just one other parent to continue to fight for answers and to follow their intuition to get some sort of resolution, then this was well worth publishing.

Because knowledge is power – and if you don’t fight for your child, then who else will?

My Favorite Things

I am hanging out over at My Favorite Everything today talking about some of my favorite things! Shanna asked me to guest post on her blog since she is busy taking care of her new arrival – baby makes three for her – how exciting! Of course when she asked, I thought it would be really fun so I would love for you to go check it out!

Featured TMC Blogger: Complicated Mama

I had the pleasure of actually meeting our next TMC Featured Blogger! I met the lovely Complicated Mama in NYC at a Blogging Event back in November and would you believe she is also a native Jersey girl like myself? Corine has a wonderful blog and here is how this mama describes it in her own words:

ComlicatedMama1

“Corine is a mother of 2 and a “Real” housewife living in NJ Suburbia.  In September of 2008, when her princess arrived colic, this mama turned to the blogosphere for sanity. Often suffering from “Mommy Brain”, worrying more than she should about things Dr. Google diagnoses her and her family with and struggling with the squatter in her basement she lovingly calls Mount Wash-more (Aka- Laundry), Corine whimsically blogs to an audience of other “Complicated Mama’s” who are seeking balance in this full time permanent position in Motherhood (that never came with a welcome packet of instructions or expectations).

Complicatedmama2

Through her high activity in the social media and Blogging, this self proclaimed “geek” gets her fix of adult conversation thorough her daily interactions with her readers and “virtual co-workers” on Twitter. Most recently Corine turned her blogging & social media hobby into a profession when she signed to work with The Big Toy Book managing their social media programs. She says she feels that readers and twitter friends that are to be thanked for her amazing blogging journey and when starting up her blog, she never could have imagined the very real friendships that would grow from it.”

So be sure to check out her blog and show her some TMC love! You can also follow Complicated Mama on Twitter.

Balancing Your Mojo Before You Land in Blog Burnout

When I first started blogging I never knew how much pure joy I would receive from it. I also never realized how addictive it would be on so many levels. When I began to receive a few comments on my initial posts it was exciting to realize that someone actually read my blog and took the time to respond. As bloggers, we love comments because it’s validation that what we write has some kind of impact on others.

Needless to say I never imagined that blogging would be so time consuming and yet in the same breath, so rewarding. Through your own writing I feel as though I have “met” many of you. I have learned about your families, your children, your lives, as well as your hopes, dreams and aspirations because I read about it on your blogs. I know about your failures and fears because you share this as well. And when all is said and done this is the true essence of blogging, connecting with the very community that reads your blog.

Having said that, in the last few months my blog has grown immensely. I initially started out with a handful of readers and watched this blog grow more than I would have ever expected in such a short time. And for awhile, I was able to keep up with it all. I did a pretty damn good job visiting all of the blogs that paid a visit to mine, responded to a ton of comments daily, emailed bloggers, chatted at length on Facebook as well as on Twitter. But I have to be honest keeping up this pace amidst such blog growth has since become a challenge.

My bottom line is that my family comes first. My career (the one that puts food on the table) comes second. Without my job, I would not be able to stay at home with my kids. These two things will always come before this blog. I do most of my blogging in the early morning and in the evening when the kids are asleep. However, I found myself getting up earlier and earlier and staying up later and later and even began commenting on blogs during the day when my baby girl was napping just to “keep up.” Quite frankly, this began to stress me out.

I can’t worry anymore if I am unable to return a comment because the one thing I have learned throughout this blogging experience is that followers may come and go, but real readership – those who adore your blog and are at the core of your blog that return time and time again are not commenting on your blog just to seek a comment in return. They are connecting to your writing and they will continue to return time and time again because they love your blog. Period.

For a moment, think of a popular blogger who has a huge following. Do these bloggers return every single comment on every single post? No. Do they connect and support their readership and continue the dialogue in other ways? Absolutely, which is why these blogs continue to thrive. I’ve written about how the power of social media helps to truly establish these connections and I firmly believe in this approach.

So with the time I do carve out for blogging, I will continue to support my readership, but it may not necessarily always be a blog visit and I have learned to let this go. Support may be shown in various ways such as through a follow, blog subscription, the retweet of a tweet on Twitter, a Stumble of a post on Stumble Upon, communication through an email exchange or a chat on Facebook. I will continue to support and connect with my readers through these mediums and continue to use social media because the bottom line is I can’t do it all.

Which brings me to my final point about the recent launch of TMC. I am so proud to have created a platform to bring such a fantastic group of women together. Bloggers who are just starting out now have another place to call home and veteran bloggers just added another resource to their repertoire and it’s all about networking.

I have been asked, “How do you have the time to do this and how do you manage to do it all?” My answer is simple: TMC runs itself. This community is a space for bloggers. You are the ones visiting this space to get yourself out there to network. Think of it like this: I provided you the fabulous house to party in and filled it with amazing décor, cocktails, music, food, and peeps, but now it’s up to YOU whether or not you mingle, network and have fun. TMC has it all there and the more active you are in this community, the more you will get out of it. So aside from the initial set-up and commitment to feature fabulous TMC bloggers weekly, TMC basically runs on its own.

So if you ever find yourself seeking the balance of your own blogging mojo, here is my advice for what it’s worth: At any point you feel stressed out about any aspect of blogging, whether it’s the writing, commenting, promoting or networking, take a step back and reflect on your experience and make some changes that fit you and your life. If I continued at the speed I was traveling recently, I would have easily landed in bloggy burnout. I’ve come to terms with the whole comment thing and I’m ok with it. This experience has shown me that I am human, that there are only so many hours in the day and that I do actually live a life outside of this blog. I had to find a balance that worked for me and luckily, I did.

And in the end, those who really read and visit me will still love Theta Mom and continue to support me – whether I am able to comment on a post or not.

And I’m ok with that.