When Internet Marketing Gets Creepy – I Think It’s Cool

Oct 25,2014 / By Maria / 2 Comments

We’ve all seen the Google ads that use your internet history to market to you. After I bought a pair of Frye shoes for my husband to wear as best man in a wedding, I got their ads for weeks. Call me a sucker but these sometimes work on me. I’d bought Primal Pit Paste and had poked around their site considering buying a stick. As their ads followed me around it stayed on my mind and I finally bought. This type of cookie based ad has led to some very interesting ads after I have done research for one of my clients, wholly unrelated to any desires of mine!

You may have heard how Target knows you’re pregnant based on your shopping habits (and no, not buying prenatal vitamins) and a lot of people are really creeped out about it. My nerdy self is fascinated by it all and was highly impressed when some advanced marketing got me recently.

0

323

0

Motherhood Personal Posts

Dear Mom on Her iPhone – Oh Wait, That Was Me

Oct 12,2014 / By Maria / 5 Comments

Though I have been that “mom on her iPhone at the park” checking a work email or sending a photo to Daddy while he’s on the business trip (dirty looks and all), I try to keep my eyes on my kids more than on my phone. I don’t judge others but I’m aware of the pull of technology and try to keep myself in check. Bedtime with Mommy is a story, some rocking, a little back rubbing and a kiss and hug goodnight. It has always bugged me that my husband would just sit on the rocking chair and play on his phone while my son went to sleep.

So, why did I spend the last few nights in that rocking chair with my nose in my phone? Let me back up.

0

Personal Posts

Do Pinterest Worthy Homes Make You Depressed?

Oct 8,2014 / By Maria / 6 Comments

This post was initially supposed to be a tongue in cheek tour of my not exactly Pinterest worthy house. I realized that it could be taken as a) Jealousy towards bloggers who have posted their lovely home tours or b) Humblebragging. I decided I was going to make this a learning experience for myself and try to look at our home in a different way. Seeing the good, the memories & the humor instead of the bad. I ended up learning more than I’d planned. The most surprising thing? Looking at the photos I took, I don’t see the dust, the sticky fingerprints, the dings on the floor, and the mess doesn’t seem as bad. So either the camera makes everything look nicer (in which case I don’t feel as terrible about these Pinterest homes) or I am really being too critical of my home.

We are very blessed. I know we are. 15 years ago I was living in a hotel room sized efficiency apartment, in a bad part part of town, and driving my rickety car to my $8/hr job. I eventually saved for a used couch, but sat on a folding chair & used cardboard boxes as tables for quite a while. If you’d dropped me into my current life then, I wouldn’t have believed it. Back then I had very little but I couldn’t have been happier and I don’t remember comparing myself to others or lamenting what I didn’t have. Today, I see these gorgeous, beautifully decorated homes on Pinterest and blogs, and I can’t help but feel down about my own. Old, ratty furniture, sweat on my brow just keeping up with the laundry, dishes, toys and junk, let alone deep cleaning. Why would it take me a full day of cleaning & re-arranging to even consider photographing my home? Well I didn’t (clean) and I did (photograph.)

0

Personal Posts

Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones but Words Still Hurt 20 Years Later

Oct 1,2014 / By Maria / 9 Comments

When I was in 6th grade, a boy in my gym class made fun of me for being “fat” (I went through a chubby few years right before puberty & briefly in high school when a med made me gain weight.) He made fun of my high forehead (yeah I have a “five head” – I should probably get bangs), my big nose (I’m Italian/Portugese & it shows in my schnoz), and my “mustache” (the hairy Italian genes again – tweezers are my friend.)

0

Motherhood Personal Posts

When Little Kids “Help” With Household Tasks

Aug 20,2014 / By Maria / No Comment

If we were talking face to face, yes I would have made “air quotes” with my fingers when I said “help.” My kids really like help (“help”) and for that I’m grateful. I don’t want to squelch that desire to help and the sense of accomplishment they get when they finish….but let’s be honest here. Their help can be more of a hinderance than a help.

0

Category : Personal Posts

When Internet Marketing Gets Creepy – I Think It’s Cool

Dear Mom on Her iPhone – Oh Wait, That Was Me

Do Pinterest Worthy Homes Make You Depressed?

Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones but Words Still Hurt 20 Years Later

When Little Kids “Help” With Household Tasks

Subscribe