Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying a happy weekend! If you're looking for something to do, be sure to check out the events in the Weekend Roundup. And if you're looking to cozy up and catch up on some good reads and visuals, there's some great fodder in this edition of Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome (and also the Best of July 2014). Enjoy, enjoy, and I'll see you back here on Monday!

- Can doctors teach the body to cure cancer?

- 15 super cute animals who just won’t give up.

- Exposed by my children for what I really look like.

- The last stand for the middle class is taking place in a parking lot in Massachusetts.

- What I’ve left unsaid on balancing career and family as a woman of color.

- The low-tech appeal of little free libraries.

- The world has changed.

- The link between work-life balance and income equality.

- Living a year as if it were my last.

- Teaching a child to wrangle, not reject, rage.

Image credit: stitched map routes via Pinterest

Hello folks! We have my sister and her family here this weekend (yay!) and I'll be ducking out for a few hours for the Splendid event in Chestnut Hill today (I'd love to see you there!), so I wanted to take a moment to share some fun reads/visuals that caught my eye this week. I've been so enjoying sharing links and commenting on posts these days (wonderfully old school!); happy reading and have a great weekend!

- For any creative professional who struggles with comparison.

- Doing nothing is OK. (Hell yes.)

- 7 common problems solved by owning less. (Again, hell yes.)

- 10 DIY window treatments.

- What happens when a 35-year-old man retakes the SAT. (Warning: profanity)

- Eight ways to be (more) here and (more) happy.

- Dancing Korean chunkamonk. OMG.

- Dads who do housework have more ambitious daughters.

- 17 crazy animal photobombs.

- Warped childhood, Restoration Hardware style.

Image credit: triple pocket napkin fold tutorial via Pinterest

Hello folks, I hope you're enjoying a lovely weekend (and thank you rain, for watering all the plants and then departing to allow for lots of outdoor weekend fun!). This weekend is a perfect mix of social engagements, household projects, and a little bit of work time for me. If you're looking for some good reads/visuals, enjoy this week's Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome:

- How young is too young for a digital presence?

- 25 cities to visit in your lifetime.

- A decade of same-sex marriage began in Massachusetts.

- The best back stretches.

- A lovely sunny day.

- 50 completely unexplainable stock photos no one will ever use. OMG.

- The definitive manifesto for handling haters.

- How to style a coffee table.

- Why paternity leave is so important.

- My lovely friend Jessica has a book coming out + an amazing video that will make you cry (scroll to bottom of post).

Image credit: chocolate covered strawberry popsicles via Pinterest

My friend Meagan Francis is a gifted writer and incredibly productive person. She is the mother of 5 children and has written 5 books, the latest being the e-book Beyond Baby. And what I love about this e-book is that it’s all about putting YOU back in focus following the baby years haze. Beyond Baby is divided into 40 weeks (get it?) of exercises that get you thinking and acting to better yourself, your shelter, your relationships, and your dreams.

As those of you who have read Minimalist Parenting know, I'm a big proponent of the position that you matter just as much as your children do. If you’ve been wrestling with this topic, go grab a copy of Beyond Baby right now. You won’t even need to wait for it to ship to your doorstep.

Want more Friday Finds? Check out: Bella Sante HydraFacial, chair reupholstery tutorial, Mizuno Wave Prophecy, Jordana lip balm stains, LA Fresh eco-wipes, ridiculously awesome pants, parachute cord crafts, Where Is The Cake?, and Travelpro luggage

Image credit: Amazon

Want more Friday Finds? Check out: chair reupholstery tutorial, Mizuno Wave Prophecy, Jordana lip balm stains, LA Fresh eco-wipes, ridiculously awesome pants, parachute cord crafts, Where Is The Cake?, and Travelpro luggage - See more at: http://www.bostonmamas.com/blog/2014/5/2/friday-find-bella-santa-hydrafacial.html#sthash.zmdAIwsT.dpuf

What a gorgeous, gorgeous day! It was wonderful to feel the amazing Boston Marathon energy downtown, enjoy some self-care (definitely call my friend Honey Jo if you're looking for a stellar hair stylist!), and watch Laurel and Vi hunt down eggs with a gaggle of kids. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and also these great reads and visuals via Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome:

- The world if there were only 100 people.

- 3 meditation techniques for beginners.

- Stick or twist: the postdoctoral dilemma.

- Lemon burst cookies. Yummy.

- Can’t afford organic? 10 foods you can eat anyway.

- 15 beautiful indie posters that could pass as fine art.

- The crossroads of should and must.

- 36 genius ways to hide eyesores in your home.

- Portraits of reconciliation.

- College ROI: The value of a college education.

Image credit: lemon burst cookies via Pinterest

Happy Saturday, everyone, what a beautiful day! I'm currently recovering from the insanity that was waiting at the post office to process Laurel's passport (if you need to do this, do yourself a favor and go on a weekday if you can swing it) and happy to be sitting in a sunbeam with a cup of coffee! Anyway, kick back and enjoy this edition of Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome!

- I guest posted about 6 ways to make parenting easier over at the Care.com blog. Go on and make your life easier!

- 15 things to give up if you want to be happy.

- O.M.G. Minimalist Parenting is available as an audio book!

- Books about women who changed history.

- Crazy amazing interior design ideas.

- I am, admittedly, the least shocking part of this shocking show via Dadsaster.

- Healthy 5-ingredient granola bars.

- Journalists at Sochi are live tweeting their hilarious and gross hotel experiences.

- A conference call in real life.

- On the trouble with the “do what you love” mantra.

- The bread that will change your whole world.

- How to take better smartphone pictures.

- An open letter to my kids about their lunch.

Image credit: Pinterest

My life list includes writing a couple of books that have been percolating in my brain the last couple of years (I'm actually drafting outlines for a potential publisher!). Meanwhile, I have a few friends who published books this year and I'm utterly thrilled for them! These titles technically are no longer new releases (though a couple of them, er, were in fact so when the review copies were sent to me during my Violet babymoon), but I wanted to share them before more time elapsed. The first title would be an entertaining gift for a new mom; the second and third handy for aspiring mamapreneurs.
Let's Panic About Babies!

I was thrilled to see my delightful friend Alice Bradley and finally meet the lovely Eden Kennedy -- co-authors of Let's Panic About Babies! -- at Camp Mighty last month. With the exception that it reminded me that I received their book about 10 minutes after returning home from the hospital with Violet and it eventually disappeared into the vortex that currently is my office. Though I have, in fact, gazed into Violet's eyes with the laser sharp adoration portrayed on the book's cover, as a not so panicky second time mom I had many laughs while reading this book -- particularly while deciphering the tables, graphs, and diagrams. If you need a comical break from all the "should's" typically associated with parenting manuals, Let's Panic is a welcome respite. Also, start following Alice and Eden's blogs. They are such smart and funny writers.

The Digital Mom Handbook

Audrey McClelland and Colleen Padilla were among the first mom bloggers I connected with online when the mom blogging scene exploded five years ago. They both are truly bright and generous spirits in this space and this year they published The Digital Mom Handbook, a guide to helping moms figure out the nuts and bolts of creating a digital career. Imparting their advice, as well as that of many mom bloggers (I'm honored to be included in the book), Audrey and Colleen help readers through top down elements such as finding one's passion, to bottom up building blocks such as handling pitches and navigating social media platforms. This book is great for newbies, but I also found it fun to read what fellow bloggers had to say about their journeys into digital careers.

MOM, Incorporated

I only had a few minutes to thumb through MOM, Incorporated at Aliza Sherman and my lovely friend Danielle Smith's Boston book launch party this past fall, but at said party, the authors talked about something in their book that really resonated with me: the persistence with which women apologize for their actions (often when not justified), and how it's time to stop that behavior. Ever since that day, I've been trying to start less e-mails and conversations with "I'm sorry I didn't do ______" (try it -- it's both challenging and liberating!). Meanwhile, MOM, Incorporated drills down into the how to's of building a business (e.g, business plans, incorporating, finances, tech) while having a family.

I hope you enjoy these books. I'm so grateful to know these talented authors!

I've been immersed in change and exploration ever since career pivoting five years ago, so I'm really looking forward to attending the Mass Conference for Women -- which encourages attendees to live fearlessly and pursue their path. In addition to undoubtedly drawing inspiration from speakers and attendees, next week I'll provide social media consulting sessions for those looking for guidance in developing their brand. My consult sessions apparently are already full (sorry about that -- I should have posted sooner!) but I did want to pass along a discount code in case you want to attend. Use code MAWD29 for a rate of $125 per individual ($30 off) and $1,250 for a table of 10 ($200 off). Hope to see you there!

It's been two weeks since I embarked on the Do More. Live More. Be More. challenge. I'm curious about whether you have shared a promise for the campaign -- it's a reflective task that's easy and enters you to win cool prizes (I mean, really, who doesn't dig cool prizes?). Anyway, I wanted to report in about how my challenge is going. The six buckets I wrote about experimenting with were: purging, pickups, event planning, household, travel, and virtual assistant.
Purging. This is a tough one, I haven't gotten to it yet. I ended up dropping off one bag of baby clothes to Isis (for Room to Grow) since I was going there anyway but I otherwise haven't done any major purging, primarily because I need to set aside time to drag out what needs to be purged. Perhaps I need to hire a rabbit to help me with that!

Pickups. TaskRabbit has been a huge help here. We're still a one-car family (though admittedly, this is becoming more challenging, particularly as it relates to transporting Laurel and her friends around) and most days of the week I do not have the car. I have used TaskRabbit to help me get items at the hardware store, pick up a birthday cake, and track down copies of Parents magazine (I'm in the October issue!). All of these things are super helpful (the birthday cake pickup saved me yesterday!) but one thing that has made a huge difference is hiring a rabbit to do our CSA pickup. We knew from the start that the timing of the pickup is not great for our schedule but we're committed to our CSA. Having someone take care of the pickup for us (Bev, you rock!) has been fantastic, allowing our family to have a lovely and relaxed transition into evening and dinner. So nice.

Event planning. The preparation for Pivot has been insane. It was awesomely helpful to have a rabbit help stuff my Posh Peacock goodie bag contributions and the Boston TaskRabbit team is amazing and offered to help out with many Pivot tasks that were going to be hard for our little co-hosting team to coordinate (e.g., transporting goodie bags, picking up refreshments), as well as helping us with a rabbit for check in at the event. So if you need help with event planning, hire some rabbits to help you rock your party!

Household. Jon and I have a lot of to-do's here but unfortunately almost all of them cannot be outsourced. With the exception that I'm considering hiring someone to fix the paint job I did on our front door (whoops).

Travel. I definitely have some needs here but travel planning has been on the back burner while I close out some major client deadlines and events.

Virtual assistant. As I predicted, this is the hardest bucket for me. I just don't know where to start and what to outsource. I need to think about this some more because I really could use some help!

That's where I'm at! What am I missing? What would you love to outsource? And don't forget to go share a promise!

Image credit: Rawich / FreeDigitalPhotos.net