Having just recently returned from California, it's hard to believe I'm heading back in a couple of weeks for Camp Mighty. However, I'm super excited to engage in life happiness-centered connection and reflection, and the event organizers have built in an awesome charity component. Each attendee is responsible for raising $200 for charity: water, a non-profit dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
I'm teaming up with my dear friend (and camp roomie) Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks and we're hoping you can help us reach (or exceed!) our collective $400 goal. Instead of asking for direct donations, we lifted the brilliant idea of a raffle from fellow attendee Amy (thanks Amy!).

So, you totally want to buy a raffle ticket (or 10!). We have an amazing tote full of goodies spanning home, office, tech, baby/kids, personal care, and jewelry. Value is approximately $350. For real! You can see a bigger picture of the overstuffed tote below the Paypal donation button (note not so subtle placement), plus a list of the contents.

Each ticket costs $2 and you may purchase as many as you like (e.g., $10 = 5 entries). We will collect raffle donations up until noon, Sunday, November 6. Anything Asha and I raise above our $400 goal will also go to charity:water so feel free to be generous! And thank you in advance for helping us do something good for those in need.

Tote includes: Sustainable Earth multipurpose cleaner, Filtrete water bottle, Measure Up portion control bowl, Chico bag recycled tote, Hama camera bag, signed copy of Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, OXO staple remover, Robeez booties, HealthTracks record keeper, Baberoo organic baby socks (4pk), Skip Hop bottle tote, National Wildlife Federation stuffed animal, Baby K'Tan hat, Eric Carle growth chart, Ergo Baby organic front pouch, Leslie Graff stationery, Jabra bluetooth headset, Maclaren travel kit, Dr. Loretta Youthful Wri-Lax, Body Shop peppermint foot spray, Posh Peacock stationery, 2 Laylee Baby embellished onesies, Get Stoned jeweled pin.

Two more things:

1. If you'd prefer to make a direct donation, you can do so here. If you go this option, please write "Christine Koh + Asha Dornfest" in the Comment box.

2. Also, some of our fellow campers are fundraising creatively if you want to support them:

The aforementioned Amy's raffle is live until November 2.

Lisa Congdon is selling gorgeous prints.

Erica is baking banana bread

Linz is offering 20 percent off her design services.

Alison is selling greeting cards.

Eden Kennedy's raffle includes some crafty awesomeness.

Leslie is gifting prints to those who donate $25.

Hello everyone -- I hope you've been having a fantastic week! I went off the grid longer than expected due to an amazing trip to California, the residuals of which left me a little loopy (we came in very early off a red eye flight yesterday morning) and also wanting to take a slower, more mindful pace as we re-entered life here at home. I need to take today to square up on various things; meanwhile, if you're interested you can read up on the trip (and see some lovely photos) here, and also, here are a few picks to enjoy this week.

Wednesday, October 26, 4-5pm. Rock the Monster Dance Party with stories, monster making, a monster dance off, and monster-inspired refreshments at the Fox Branch Library in Arlington.

Thursday, October 27, 8:30pm. For grownups or older kids who dig classical music; head over to the free Mahler-inspired mashup at New England Conservatory.

Friday, October 28, 6:30-8:30pm. Enjoy live entertainment, pottery painting, spooky storytelling, guest speakers, and raffles for a good cause at Room to Read Kids' Adventure Night.

Hello friends! I hope you're having a super week. I'm going off the grid for a few days so I thought I'd leave you with this weekend roundup a bit early. Enjoy! Also, a couple of fun media things. I've been meaning to share that a cute little picture of me, Laurel, and Violet is included in the October issue of Parents Magazine, along with a quote in an article on 10 healthy cities for families (Boston ranked #2!). And yesterday I was honored to learn that I was named to the Top 50 Twitter Moms of 2011 list at Babble (and #1 for most likeable...how sweet is that?). Thanks Babble, and definitely check out the rest of the women on the list -- I know many of them and they are truly awesome!
Now, on to the picks for this weekend!

1. A harvest festival in Beacon Hill.

2. Join the pumpkin party at the Boston Nature Center (BYOP or buy one on-site).

3. A quintessentially fall tradition in Boston.

4. Enjoy the pretty at Acton Open Studios.

5. Rock out with Bari Koral in Brookline.

6. Or for classical music lovers: the Boston Youth Symphony (known as GBYSO when I played with them back in high school) is playing this Sunday.

7. A good pick for Berenstain Bears fans.

8. A Halloween romp in Easton.

9. Celebrate the Mystic River.

10. A haunted playground in North Reading.

11. Critter inspired festivities at Boo at the Zoo.

12. A great pumpkin fest at the EcoTarium in Worcester.

And if you'd like to pick apples and pumpkins or get lost in a corn maze, check out this roundup from last week.

As part of Momversation and Ragú®'s Mom's the Word on Dinner Program, I recently chatted with Daphne Brogdon and Caroline Murphy about grocery shopping with kids. I've embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure (it's about two and a half minutes long) and would love to hear whether you find family outings to the grocery store super helpful, utterly exhausting, or somewhere in between. Feel free to weigh in below in the comments or over at the Ragú® Sauce Facebook page (where a very lively convo is brewing!).
http://player.deca.tv/player.swf?embedCode=c3MHV2MjqBDJKq8mZNtI9AD7i2qV1HgD&version=2

Note: This video was produced in partnership with Ragú® and Momversation's Mom's the Word on Dinner Program. You can find out more about the program and join in on the conversation at the Ragú® Sauce Facebook page.

Image credit: digitalart via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Oh my goodness, I'm still on a high from the awesome that was Pivot Boston last night! It was a huge amount of work putting together this two hour event but it was so gratifying! We sold out, our waitlist was overflowing, the positive energy was buzzing like crazy, people were asking about another event (I do, in fact, have an idea for a second Pivot...), and there were just so many incredible attendees, spanning a wide range of ages, interests, and backgrounds. Having made a big career pivot myself, it was moving to see so many people seeking passion in life. Yay!
Now, it goes without saying that this event couldn't have happened without help. This was a volunteer effort; a passion project by me and my co-hosts Morra, Whitney, and Roxanna. Our amazing assistant Kaitlyn and a couple of other fine helpers were invaluable. And then there are our sponsors. I wanted to take a moment to call them out. Because they are awesome and also took a gamble and supported us on this first-ever venture.

Thank you to:

Hubspot, Sam Adams, Peapod, and Sweet Cupcakes for providing refreshments.

TaskRabbit, for providing rabbits to help get the refreshments and goodie bags to our event, and also for helping us with registration.

Caroline Cook Photography, for being our event photographer. I can't wait to see the event photo album!

Lands' End for the beautiful totes that served as the goodie bag base.

Dancing Deer, Lift Lab, Posh Peacock, AmLactin, Dr. Loretta, Wiley, Leslie Graff, Goodies, Jabra, Adora, and Mom.com for the wonderful goodie bag contributions.

And finally to Peapod (groceries!), Taza Chocolate (chocolate!), Stella & Dot (baubles!), Leslie Graff (fine art!), and Caroline Cook Photography (smashing new headshots for 10 women!) for the amazing door prizes.

And of course I was honored to be a speaker and was truly inspired to hear about the pivots made by Heather Coughlin, Karen Rubin, Roxanna Sarmiento, Leslie Graff, and Whitney Johnson -- who, by the way, was amazing in facilitating networking after the close of the program.

Seriously, I'm still on a high from this event. Just go check out the #PivotBoston hashtag and you'll see why. Meanwhile, I wanted to keep the Pivot Boston love going. I have an extra goodie bag from last night and want to give it away to one of you fabulous readers. See below to enter to win (also, for another chance to win, hop on over to Roxanna's site)!

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winner Kate!
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Rules:

Simply leave a comment below about this fantastic giveaway. If you're so inclined I'd love to hear about what your pivot would be if you could drop what you are doing right now and pursue your passion!

US entrants welcome to enter.

One comment per person (please do not leave comments from multiple e-mail addresses). Anonymous or SPAM-like comments will be removed. Note that your e-mail address will not be published or shared! Leaving just your first name or first name + initial in the name field is perfectly fine.

Entry period closes at midnight EST, Thursday, October 6, 2011.

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*One lucky winner (selected using Random.org) will receive a Pivot Boston goodie tote including all of the aforementioned fabulousness.

Whether or not extreme couponing is your thing, grocery budgeting is top of mind for most families. As part of Momversation and Ragú®'s Mom's the Word on Dinner Program, I recently chatted with Daphne Brogdon and Caroline Murphy about tips for feeding families on a budget. I've embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure (it's just over two minutes long) and would love to hear your clever tips for scoring at the grocery store, either below in the comments or over at the Ragú® Sauce Facebook page.
http://player.deca.tv/player.swf?embedCode=9zYnNzMjoo1MzPJ17wvQIGkFGWsKjoNv&version=2

Note: This video was produced in partnership with Ragú® and Momversation's Mom's the Word on Dinner Program. You can find out more about the program and join in on the conversation at the Ragú® Sauce Facebook page.

Image credit: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The polls are open until 8pm; I urge you all to get out and vote in today's important U.S. Senate Special Election. Whether by sling, stroller, or on foot, we always bring Laurel with us to the polls and are heading out shortly to cast our vote. If you’re unsure of where to vote, simply enter your address in the Secretary of the Commonwealth poll locator.

Apparently (and unintentionally), today is all about Blissdom! The lovely Amanda of Oh Amanda invited me to guest post for her BLISS*TASTIC guest blog series leading up to Blissdom, and the article went live this morning. Amanda asked me to share how I manage a local blog while making it attractive to a broader audience. I receive a lot of inquiries about this topic from folks looking to start geographical niche sites, so it was a pleasure to think more concretely about this topic and share my blogging niche & beyond approach. Enjoy!

The dead of Boston winter is the perfect time to head south, but that’s not the only reason I’m thrilled to head to Blissdom in a few weeks. I heard so many amazing things about this blog conference last year, and meeting lovely co-founders Alli Worthington and Barbara Jones this year provided extra motivation to attend. The agenda is fantastic; I’m so looking forward to listening to, learning from, and meeting other bloggers, and I’m also honored to be speaking on the life balance panel. If you’re headed to Blissdom (there's still time to register), do drop me a line; it would be lovely to connect in Nashville!