After I returned from the very amazing Mom 2.0 Summit last month, I was on a total emotional high. I attended the conference with both with my consultant and blogger hats on, and everything went so swimmingly for my client and it was amazing to reconnect with my blogging colleagues. Sometimes I still can't believe how much joy and energy and pure fun there is in my work. I work hard, yes, but it also feels like such a gift!

So it seemed like an embarrassment of riches to find out after the conference that I won a 4-door refrigerator from Whirlpool, one of the conference sponsors. I don't enter to win giveaways often, so I was truly shocked! Also, the timing was sort of crazy amazing because our fridge was limping along; the drawers were off the rails, a mysterious erratic leak was creating puddles on the floor, the water filter was broken, and so on. We needed to replace it but researching another fridge was, well, another thing to do. We just weren't getting around to it.

I wasn’t planning on blogging about the fridge; I actually was almost a little embarrassed about winning such a fancy prize and I didn't want to seem like I was showing off! But I have been shocked by how (cheerfully) obsessed people are with appliances. Online, people have asked me to share a video or photo tour. In person, friends have asked me about the fridge's features. When we've had guests over, people have been eager to peer into the fridge.

OK, OK, I HEAR YOU! And as a result, I decided to share a little fridge tour. There are lots of snappy features you can read about, but I'll give you the layperson's rundown. Here's what I love about the Whirlpool 4-door:

1. The main doors. Our old fridge had two side by side doors (freezer on the left, fridge on the right) and given the way our fridge is wedged into a nook in the kitchen, it made it very difficult (sometimes impossible) to get anything large into the fridge. Amazingly, the Whirlpool perfectly fit the dimensions of our weird nook, but the dual door layout changes everything. It's easy to get in and out of and I can make and refrigerate my sheet cakes again! YAY! No joke, I just baked one a couple of weekends ago and cried a little with happiness when I fit it into the fridge.

2. The drawer and shelf organization. There are more shelves and drawers than our old fridge, which has forced us (in a good way) to figure out a good organizational system for our food. However, I've found that the really big win has been that being more organized has led to us being way better about consuming our leftovers. Less food waste = good.

3. The refrigerator drawer. One of my very favorite parts of this fridge is the refrigerator drawer that sits under the main fridge cabin. Because our fridge sits in an aforementioned tight nook, we still need to be mindful not to bang the right door into the wall when we open it. We put the most frequently used, kid-friendly items (cheeses, meats, tortilla, fruit) in this drawer and not only is it easy access for us as we're making meals, but the kids can help themselves to snacks! WIN.

4. The freezer, part 1. Our former side-by-side freezer/fridge was horrible for organization; basically, it was a vortex. The large lower bin freezer we now have is great for organizing and I love that there are designated freezer pizza slots. Incidentally, this has led to us buying and consuming more freezer pizza.

5. The freezer, part 2. Immediately above the main freezer bin is a drawer that's handy for smaller items; we store our nuts (man, we have a lot of nuts...it's because of this easy and awesome homemade granola), chocolate (most often used for these killer brownies), and frozen bananas (almost always used for this banana coconut bread). Also, a mustache ice cube tray. Of course.

6. The freezer, part 3. I didn’t even realize there was another secret drawer above the nut/chocolate/banana/mustache ice cube tray drawer until Jon found it. It's perfect for frozen treats (hey, who put the stray banana in the wrong drawer?). This is Violet's favorite drawer. Of course.

7. The water/ice system. I haven't even explored all the electronic options on the water/ice dispenser but I've been happy with basic use and I love the in-door ice system. Inside the left door, the ice collects in a receptacle with it's own door and you can remove the ice bin, which is super handy when I'm loading up a pretty drink pitcher or want to dump all the ice in a cooler.

8. The beeping reminder. Finally, this might sound very minor, but one nice little feature on this fridge is that it beeps at you if the doors are left open too long. We used to accidentally not close our old fridge with some regularity; we'd joke that you needed major torque to close that thing. Anyway, on the occasion that we or the kids don't shut the fridge all the way, beep beep. So handy.

In a nutshell, we love the fridge! I highly recommend you check it out if you're in the market for a new one. Also, it turned out that Lowe's delivered our fridge and we arranged on the delivery call that they would remove and recyle our old fridge, which was just fantastic. However, if you want to earn a little money, check out Mass Save's refrigerator recycling program. I think this is awesome (and hey, I could have used the $50 for more freezer pizza and popsicles); I just didn't have the bandwidth to coordinate another thing given that we were having some other work done on our house when all of this was happening.

Let me know if you have questions about the fridge! And finally, thank you Whirlpool for being an incredibly generous sponsor of Mom 2.0 Summit, and thanks Mom 2.0 Summit for making crazy magic like this happen!

Image credits: Christine Koh

Today, Katy shares tips for gardening on a budget:

Flowers and plants offer a visual reward, and my best friend (an organic farmer) posits that there's an alchemy that occurs when your hands touch the soil. I couldn't agree more, whether you have a lush garden (as my mother did) or a tiny suburban handkerchief plot (as I do!). I also happen to have a postage size budget and wanted to share these 9 tips for gardening on a budget:

1. Grow from seed. It's easy to get a lot for a little by growing from seed. When we manage to plan ahead of time, we start in February or March. We've tried morning glories, calendula, zinnias, and marigolds from seed in a condo with very limited space near windows with full sun (morning glories were especially successful!).

2. Use what you've got. If you're planting seeds, use yogurt cups, eggshells, and plastic bottles for growing containers. Kids love to plant seeds and see the results develop on the counter or windowsill. It's very exciting to wake up in the morning and see how much changes overnight, and it gives older kids a special sense of stewardship to watch over "their" babies and help care for them.

3. Consider a seedling/success tradeoff. If growing from seed isn't in the cards, the tradeoff of spending a bit more money on established plants is better odds of success that come with professionally grown seeds.

4. Build your knowledge for free. Don't be intimidated if your gardening experience is limited (or nonexistent!) -- the internet offers plenty of tips and techniques for gardening and plant selection. Local farms offer outreach programs and classes, and garden centers are staffed by seasoned gardeners and scientists happy to share their wisdom. In short, there is a lot of free information out there for gardening newbies and experienced green thumbs alike.

5. Plant easy, prolific perennials. Make the most of your purchases by planting easy, prolific perennials that will come up year after year. I use hardy daylilies, peonies, and hostas to form the budget-friendly, reliable backdrop against which to showcase my annuals.

L to R: perennial peonies planted in 2008, pink rosebush from previous owner, daylilies in bud from previous owner, 2014 pansies, knockout rose (my one splurge from last summer), purple and white pansies all along the edge, and another legacy plant from a previous owner, a pink azalea.

6. Peruse farmers markets. Farmers markets not only offer a great way to eat local on a budget; they also can be a good source for affordable plants. Most farmers markets will have at least one vendor selling plants throughout the season.

7. Connect with your local gardening resources. Find bargains via your local gardening clubs, meetups, and networks. My town gardening club offers plant swaps, so I've been able to divide up my thriving daylilies and trade them in for some great annuals from another gardener.

8. Check out Craigslist and Freecycle. Craigslist and Freecycle aren't just for finding and selling baby gear and furniture. I've found an abundance of free plants through these online services.

9. Let your gardening passion be known! Over time, my friends and family have learned that I love flowers and am trying to limit the acquisition of more stuff, so I get a lot of flowers/plants as gifts. Yay!

Want to see how I've put these tips into action? Here's how my 2014 garden acquisitions broke down:

• 2 morning glories (free, gift!)
• 24 pansies (~$20 on sale, Russo's)
• 6 perennial hostas (free, Craigslist!)
• 12 nasturtiums ($10, Waltham Community Farms seedling sale)
• 2 petunia patio pots (my big splurge; $30 at Russo's)
• Hanging begonia (Mother's Day gift!)
• 3 bags of mulch to slow down the ubiquitous weeds ($10 at Star Market)

2014 total: $70! WOO HOO!

Now, once you've got all of your supplies, there are three other things I recommend. First, map out a simple plan -- on paper, or better yet, by putting pots in the spots where you plan to dig. Second, get a second opinion if you're feeling unsure (I always count on my mom, my other gardening friends, and my neighbors for a second eye when I'm putting in a large perennial). And finally, let go of perfection! I give my little guys a lot of leeway when picking out spots for the annuals. A mistake is generally easy to fix when it comes to plants, and in Massachusetts the growing season is brief; the enjoyment of watching the kids take ownership is just as satisfying as a "perfect" planting.

Do you have other budget-friendly gardening tips? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Image credits: Katy

It may sound silly, but I've been thinking a lot of about composting lately, given that we've been having so much fun planting and bringing our little backyard back to life. Since today is Learn About Composting Day (I know this thanks to Kris-Ann), I wanted to share how crazy easy it is to compost. Totally doable and good for the environment. Here's the how-to in 5 easy steps:

1. Get an indoor compost receptacle. This is actually an optional step but a handy one; an indoor compost receptacle allows you to collect kitchen scraps to reduce trips to your outdoor composter. We just use a large plastic bowl with a lid but I'm thinking of replacing that eyesore with this stainless steel Epica composter.

2. Get an outdoor composter. Composters range from simple to fancier (we have one simple and one fancier); here are three good options to consider:

• We bought our "simple" composter at our town DPW for around $30 I think. It's basically a cylinder with a cone inside (to allow for airflow) and a cone lid with a rope handle. If your DPW doesn't sell composters the Geobin Composter is an inexpensive option at $30. The only thing I'm wondering about is a lid, to keep animals out.

• Our "fancy" composter (the EnviroCycle Composter) is out of stock but the Good Ideas EnviroTumbler is very similar. It's a little pricier (currently on sale at Amazon for $116, down from $160) but is so due to handy features. The composter rolls off the base so you can roll it to where you need it in the garden + the base collects the compost "tea," which we pour over our plants that need extra love.

• For a model a bit more in the middle, the Forest City Tumbling Composter is a well-rated option at $99. This composter has two chambers (let one sit while you fill the other) and a good ventilation system.

3. Collect your kitchen scraps! In your indoor composter, collect green matter: fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds/filters, tea bags, and egg shells; the coffee grounds, tea bags, and egg shells offer excellent nutrients for compost. Do not include non-plant matter (e.g., meat, beans), which will attract animals.

4. Mix it up. Dump your kitchen compost into your outdoor compost and add some brown matter to it (e.g., dead leaves). And when you're watering your plants, water the compost. Ideally you want a mix of brown and green matter and also water; the brown matter provides carbon, the green nitrogen, and the water moistens the mix to facilitate breakdown.

5. Turn and use. If you have one composter, you'll need to dig up the "black gold" from the bottom. This is one reason I like the rotating composter. However, later on we found we needed/wanted a second composter so what we do is fill one composter through the year and let the other decompose and then switch the next year. We either use compost for new plantings (dig a hole and line it with compost) or it's been great to spread compost + compost tea on existing plants as they've been coming back to life after the long winter.

For more information, you can check out the EPA’s guide to composting, but really, these 5 easy steps have carried us through many years of urban composting. If you have questions, let me know in the comments!

Image credits: Amazon

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

So, as crafty as I am, one area that has intimidated me is DIY decor and furniture. But my friend Paige (who has issued her interior design brilliance on our home...let me know if you want her contact info, she is AMAZING) gave me the push I needed. After prowling around Pinterest, I decided to try this chair reupholstery tutorial by Live Love DIY and I am simply over the moon about the results!

Some quick notes:

• There are lots of chair DIYs on Pinterest but this was one of the simplest I could find in terms of steps (to further simplify, I skipped the decorative nailheads and also didn’t sand between coats).
• Paige found this pair of chairs on Craigslist for $40 (amazing!).
• Laurel and Violet actually helped me sand and prime the chairs (I used a paint-on primer since we already had it kicking around).
• I painted the chairs glossy white and they definitely needed more than two coats, though this may have been due to my inexperience with knowing how thick to coat at the start.
• I ordered outdoor fabric (Thomas Paul thicket melon) since these chair cushions need to be Violet-proof!

With this project under my belt, I totally have the decor DIY bug and am trying to decide on my next project! I wanted to share this tutorial in case you've had similar reservations about trying projects like this. It probably would have cost us between $600-$1000 to get a pair of host chairs and this project cost well under $100!

Want more Friday Finds? Check out: 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 credits: Christine Koh

I declutter on a regular basis, but one area where I tend to get stuck is tech. I have bigger items (hello, Mac tower from grad school) taking up precious space in my closet and the dreaded drawer of smaller gadgets and cords that I wish I could dump in the trash but can’t in good conscience. The good news? I just learned about, and want to share, an easy solution for the latter: ecoATM.

In a nutshell, ecoATM is a tech recycling solution. These kiosks offer an easy way to sell your old phones, tablets, and MP3 players or recycle ancient devices (like my Blackberry from 6 years ago...ahem), chargers, and other accessories (e.g., phone cases).

There are ~900 ecoATM kiosks across the US, located in malls or large retailers. I took my aforementioned ancient Blackberry to the Burlington Mall kiosk, which is right in the middle of the food court. Before you go, I recommend visiting the simple how to prepare page, but in short, all you need to do is place your device in the system, show your ID (at first I was slightly weirded out by this but the purpose is to deter thieves from using the kiosk to sell stolen phones), and follow the touch screen prompts. The kiosk examines the device and returns a value for it; the value will depend on age and condition (e.g., a device with a broken screen will obviously be less valuable than a device with an intact screen). You can choose to sell your device for cash or recycle it.

So cool, right? I also think the below facts are pretty awesome in terms of the big picture impact of these kiosks:

• ecoATM has found a second life for 75% of devices collected, and responsibly recyles the remaining 25%.
• ecoATM donates some or all of each transaction (ranging from $1-$300 per device) to charity.
• In 2013, ecoATM kiosks generated a hazardous waste reduction equivalent to the weight of 267 refrigerators.
• ecoATM recycled its two millionth device this past January, enabling the recovery or reuse of 500,000 pounds of devices -- the equivalent of three space shuttles worth of plastics, metals, and other potentially toxic materials!

So, if you've got old cell phones, tablets, or MP3 players, definitely check out ecoATM -- below is an image of what the kiosks look like, and it's super handy that they're in mall locations so you can make a quick stop while doing other errands. Now, if only I could stuff my old Mac tower in one of these kiosks!

Image credits: ecoATM

Disclosure: This post represents an editorial partnership with ecoATM; opinions on its recycling awesomeness are, of course, my own.

Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying a lovely weekend! Things are pretty lovely and mellow here; the girls are crafting, the snow is falling, and we're hoping to get out and finally see Frozen later today. If you're looking for some good reads/visuals, I've got you covered in this week's edition of Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome:

- 25 happiest cities in Canada (according to Instagram).

- #9 on this list of 10 cities where you're most likely to achieve the American dream! 

- Middle School: not so bad.

- The important thing about yelling.

- Animals sitting on capybaras.

- Redefining girly.

- This is what happens when a kid leaves traditional education.

- On click bait headlines. And baby rhinos.

- Reforming a picky eater: step one.

- What the most iconic women’s figure skaters are up to now.

- Give motherhood a microphone...in Boston.

- I’m Queen Amidala, who are you?

- 10 houseplants that clean indoor air.

Image credit: Pinterest

Because I'm all about reducing physical and emotional clutter in life (I'm even speaking about this topic at BlissDom next month), I'm thrilled to join Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks and Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom to host a conversation on The Best Ideas For Getting Organized at The Motherhood. Join us tomorrow -- Monday the 23rd -- from 1-1:30 pm EST to chat about simplifying and streamlining your home, schedule, and life. No complicated technical know-how is required to participate in the chat -- it's basically like commenting in on status updates. You will need a logon at The Motherhood to participate, so hop on over and register now. You can also submit questions in advance if you like.
Image credit: Parent Hacks

I had a fantastic time experimenting more deeply (i.e., beyond the IKEA runs I've used the service for in the past) with TaskRabbit as the Boston spokeswoman for their Do More. Live More. Be More. campaign. I shared my mid-month recap a couple of weeks ago; below are my thoughts now that the campaign has come to a close. Also, read on for a discount code so you can give TaskRabbit a spin!

+ + + + +

Here are the 6 general buckets I planned on working on at the beginning of the campaign:

Purging. Well, I still haven't gotten around to this one in a big way, partly because I haven't had a chance to go through my basement, and partly because I unloaded a bunch of Violet and Laurel's outgrown clothes at Isis and Family Swap Day when I was changing over their wardrobes for the season. I will keep this on my TaskRabbit to-do list because I still want to lighten our household load!

Pickups. I cannot say enough how fantastic TaskRabbit is for pickups, particularly since we are a one-car family and I almost never have the car during the weekdays. The service has proven handy for random pickups (e.g., drugstore, hardware store) as well as more specialized runs (e.g., birthday cakes, CSA). Last week I also experimented with using the service to pick me up at home and drop me off somewhere; it ended up being a little more expensive than a cab, but was definitely more pleasant!

Event planning. I haven't needed event planning help since Pivot (during which TaskRabbit was insanely helpful) but I'm planning a baby shower in early November and probably will use the service to help me take care of various things.

Household. As I mentioned in my mid-month post, almost all of Jon and my household to-do's cannot be outsourced. However, I was thrilled to be reminded by Rookie Moms Heather and Whitney (who participated in the same campaign as the Bay Area spokeswomen) about using TaskRabbit for yard work. I cannot believe I didn't think of this earlier! We don't have a huge yard, but weeding and general upkeep has completely fallen to the wayside since Violet arrived. I'm totally going to post to have someone take care of that! Probably in advance of the baby shower I'm hosting.

Travel. I haven't yet used TaskRabbit for travel errands but I have a couple of trips coming up and will probably use them last minute to help me square up on logistics. Or better yet, to deliver a few surprises to Jon and the girls while I'm away.

Virtual assistant. As I mentioned mid-month, outsourcing work matters is hard for me, but the other week I gave it a go and had a rabbit do some data entry and research for me. It was fantastic and I will totally do it again. I also like Heather and Whitney's idea of hiring a rabbit to distribute promotional postcards. Since I operate Boston Mamas on a shoestring I don't take out ads or anything like that. So this would be a fun "small budget" way to help get the word out about my site.

+ + + + +

Concluding thoughts:

This outsourcing experiment has been really fantastic, and I'm grateful to TaskRabbit for asking me to be a part of the campaign. It's also been great to see how far TaskRabbit has come. When I first tested out the service, I was a very happy customer, but since that time, they have added a lot of features to improve the interface. Some of my favorites:

No cash needs to change hands when rabbits need to be reimbursed for purchases. This was a concern back when I first used TaskRabbit for IKEA runs because understandably, not all rabbits were psyched about plunking down large sums on their credit card for someone they didn't know. Now, all purchase reimbursements are handled on the TaskRabbit system. (So, the rabbit still needs to pay the expense, but they will be guaranteed reimbursement because task assigner's billing information is stored securely on the site.)

You can now set up tasks to recur. This has been handy for our CSA pickup as it saves on reposting time. (You also can repost previous tasks individually and update details.)

You can hire favorite rabbits to take care of tasks. I love this feature as it allows me to give first dibs to my favorite rabbits. What can I say, I'm loyal.

Similar to a coffee punch card, you can earn a free task for every three completed tasks. Sweet!

In short, I think TaskRabbit is a fantastic service for anyone who needs help with, well, anything. As an entrepreneur and a mother of two, I've found it particularly helpful to both lighten my load so I can be a happier, more engaged parent/wife/person in general, and also because the reality is that as someone who runs multiple businesses, it's often more time and cost effective for me to outsource small, not that complicated projects during time where I can work on large billable projects for clients.

Finally, I wanted to note that every single rabbit I have met through TaskRabbit has been courteous, on time, and really nice. To date, they have delivered on what I have asked them to do in every instance. Rabbits to the rescue, indeed.

+ + + + +

So, want to give TaskRabbit a spin? Of course you do! Use code PAL2676 to receive $10 off your first task. Happy outsourcing!