Thank you to 2nd.MD for providing me with a $200 stipend to test-drive this revolutionary online medical service.

Have you ever waited weeks to see a doctor, worrying the entire time about a health issue that isn’t urgent but still troubling? Do you not have access to a particular type of specialist in your area and seeing them would require travel and time off from work? Do you just want a second opinion and don’t want to wait forever to get it? Or maybe you just want to talk to a doctor from your couch without having to deal with the waiting room(s). If any of these questions leave you nodding your head yes, then 2nd.MD is for you.To get a little background on 2nd.MD watch this video: http://vimeo.com/24944025.

I have terrible luck when it comes to doctors offices. There were times when I was pregnant that my OB would have just gone to do a delivery when I got there and I would either have to wait forever or come back. Same with the girls pediatrician, I tend to get in right away but then have to wait with a half naked angry child for thirty minutes or so. Not fun.

I had some questions about my medication that I have felt guilty calling my OB’s line and asking, so I planned to use the consultation I received as a catalyst to ask these questions of a Doctor. I scheduled an appointment for 1:00 pm today (December 15, 2011) and expected to probably get called a little later than that. The phone interviews I have had tend to not be very prompt and I expected that a doctor would probably be busy and maybe call towards 1:30 or so. Much to my surprise, I was wrong:

I blocked out the number, but the above is a screenshot of the incoming call into my phone. He called me right at 1:00pm. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by this.

The specialist I spoke to was incredibly kind and helpful. He listened to me blather on about wanting to change medications but not being sure about a medication that was recommended to me for when I make the switch. He kindly explained the OB side of things and even gave me a great informational website I could check out to help with any more questions I might have. He also gave me a couple ideas on medication I could ask for and even kindly suggested that maybe I see a different type of specialist.

I was very very impressed with the professionalism and promptness of the Doctor I spoke to (in case you were wondering which one I spoke to, his name is Dr. Jason James. He was amazing.) If my experience today was any indication of this sites day to day operation, I highly recommend them to anyone needing medical advice.

Thank you again to 2nd.MD for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about 2nd.MD. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own. #Clever2ndMD #spon

Dear Target,

Your “new” website is absolutely atrocious. Whoever designed it should be forced to use a dial up connection for the rest of their life, because that is what attempting to shop on the new Target.com feels like.

It’s not that I don’t like Target. I do. In fact, I love Target. When I can manage getting to a Target I find myself wasting time just browsing the isles, looking at all the cute things you have for my girls. The problem is I don’t go into your store often, because my two year old has a complete meltdown if she sees something she wants and I don’t have the time or energy to deal with these melt downs on most days. So, online it is.

The problems I have with your site don’t just end with how slow it is. They have to do with how terribly your search function works, how you apply coupons and my shopping cart randomly emptying on its own. Also, the way you display your product availability is just awful. You cannot tell if something is in or out of stock until you realize you cannot click the “add to cart” button.

One would think that if they are sent a $5 off a $50 purchase it would be just that, $5 off $50. So, say your order total is exactly $50, your total would now be $45. On every other site I have ever shopped on, this is the case. Not true for you Target. I wanted to combine my $5 off $50 with a buy one get one 50% sale for women’s clothing, where I was buying two sweaters and two sweater dresses. My total was $70 with the buy one get one sale. When combined with the $5 off coupon, my total before tax should have been $65. Instead, it was $68. Why is that Target? It took me a while to figure out what you did, but I can venture to guess it takes some sneaky coding.

When you have a $ off coupon and combine it with a sale, instead of taking the $ amount off your total, you, Target.com, take a little of the $ amount off of each item, making it so when you take the % off you get less off. This is incredibly shitty of you, Target and I hope it is something you fix sooner rather than later.

You lost a sale this week, Target.com, because of the way you apply coupons. Normally I would not be such an ass over $3, but combine it with how impossible it is to shop on your site and the fact that one of my previous orders took almost a month to get to me because it was “stuck” in your system and I give up.

I realize that your website design is not brand new, but I am a believer in giving things a chance before I totally give up on them. I gave you a chance for a couple months and you let me down. Therefore, I quit you Target.com. I can also venture to guess that thousands of other people have quit you too since your changes.

My suggestion to you is that you fix your site soon. It’s the holidays and people are checking out your site, maybe for the first time this year. You are leaving a terrible impression and as someone who has a degree in Marketing, I know that impressions are everything.

Until I see you have changed, this is goodbye.

Sincerely,

A very frustrated and disappointed mother of two.

Thanks to L’Oreal for sponsoring my post about my favorite beauty looks, tips and tricks! Check out Makeup.com for beauty advice from the experts.

Having a two year old and a ten month old is exhausting, especially when neither child sleeps well. When I leave the house I don’t like it to look like I am a frazzled mom of two, I like to look put together and like “super mom”.  That is where covering up my dark circles and making my eyes look “awake” come in.

I always moisturize my face before I use anything on it. I use a day moisturizer with SPF 15 and a thicker night moisturizer in the evening, as I have really dry skin that looks terrible if I don’t keep on top of it. In my opinion, the most important part of any beauty regimen is keeping your skin smooth.

The second thing I do daily is use a primer to fill in my pores and fine lines. Makeup primer is amazing by itself, but the kind I use has a bronzer mixed in. My favorite is Laura Geller Spackle, but a comparable (and less expensive!) option is L’Oreal Anti-Dull Skin Primer. Most days I wear the primer by itself but when I need to I wear mineral makeup over top. The primer makes it last so much longer than it would otherwise.

The third thing I do whether or not I plan to go anywhere is put on a black, waterproof mascara. It always makes me feel more awake and like my eyes are open. I use both Blinc and L’Oreal Telescopic Explosion in Waterproof. I also always curl my eyelashes, a trick my aunt taught me when I was younger. On days where I am really tired, curling my eyelashes really helps with not looking like a zombie.

If you are ever stuck somewhere or forget your makeup on a trip, there are two really great tips I have learned to eliminate black circles. The first is to throw a couple spoons in the freezer and put them under your eyes when you get up. Hold them there for as long as you can stand it and your dark circle/puffiness should be reduced.

The second tip I have learned is to use tea bags on your eyes. This one is my favorite because you can drink a nice cup of tea while relaxing with tea bags over your eyes. Basically make tea as you normally would, squeeze the tea bags out and let them cool, then place them over your eyes for 10-15 minutes. You should notice a reduction in your dark circles immediately.

Do you have any tips you would like to share with me? I will leave you will one of my favorite pictures of me in full makeup, my wedding day:

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. Click here to learn more about Makeup.com or become a Facebook fan by clicking here

Or vegetables. Or whatever else you would like them to eat.

First step:

Have another child.

Second step:

Let aforementioned second child age to the point where they can eat purees (for Kate this age was 6 months)

Third step:

Buy 1st foods fruit and vegetable purees

Fourth step:

Feed new child these purees. Watch your older child salivate over the food you are feeding the baby, even though before they wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Fifth step:

So the older child feels included, give them their own jar of whatever the baby is eating and let them feed themselves.

Sixth step:

Feel good knowing you “tricked” your child into eating more fruits and vegetables.

Now, if I could only figure out how to get Molly to eat something more than Chicken nuggets and baby food…..

Tulle Rose Garden Party Dress

It is super cute on, look at this little girl:

I pre-ordered it, it won’t be in until November, but that is in time for the holidays! The price is a little steep but I got it for 35% off (they are running 30% off right now) and went through Ebates for 2% back.

So excited! You have got to love adorable dresses for little girls. Having two little girls to dress up is the best!

I bank with PNC. They recently changed their phone system to one of those where you talk and it recognizes what you say, then directs you to the right place. This is great, in theory…

Here is the conversation I had with the phone system today:

Phone System: Thank you for calling PNC! Please say your user id.

Kate: BABABABABBWAILLLLLLSCREAMYSCREAM!

Me: 123—

Phone System: Sorry, I did not get that. Please say your user id.

Me: 123-

Molly: BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE TAKE BATH!?

Phone System: Sorry, I did not get that. Please say your user id.

Me: Fuck.

Phone System: I am sorry you are having trouble.  Please say your user id.

Molly: CHOO CHOOO!!! CHUGGA CHUGGA!

Me: Screw this. ::click::

Obviously, I should have called when they were napping.

I adore Carters and their clothing quality. All of the pieces I have bought from them have lasted through both girls and have been good enough to consign after they grow out of them. So, you can imagine my surprise when I washed a new onesie for the first time and it came out completely ruined, with all of the lettering gone.

The top is what it should look like, the bottom is what it came out of the wash looking like:

I emailed the picture to Carters, who promptly responded asking for my address and said they were going to send me a prepaid envelope, that I was to send the garment to them and that they would refund me. I received my envelope earlier this week and sent the shirt back. I will probably receive my refund very soon and I am super happy with the service I received.

The second company I had an issue with that was resolved quickly was Tea Collection. I placed an order with them that included some clearance items, and I guess a few of the items ended up be sold out and they let me know, telling me they would just deduct them from my total. Okay, no biggie. Two weeks later, I still hadn’t received my order and so I called their customer service line to ask what was up.

They informed me that my order was stuck in their system and to make up for it, they shipped my order overnight. On top of that, they let me pick out two full price pieces in place of the clearance pieces that were missing and charged me the clearance price.

I received my order promptly and adored everything in it. I will definitely be ordering from them again (when I can afford to!).

These both may seem a little cheesy, but I always like to share when I have a good experience with a company.

Janie and Jack is something I generally only get on clearance, but I LOVE this sweater!

Scottie Top

I have wanted these onesies for Kate ever since I saw them in the Carters catalog, but they don’t have them in her size:

Three Pack Carters Bodysuits

This dress is SO gorgeous. I almost got it during the 40% off sale, but I don’t know where Molly would wear it and I tend to not buy Kate dresses since she isn’t walking yet.

Flutter Tiered Ruffle Dress

This wardrobe set from Tea is super cute, but way too expensive unfortunately.

Tea Wardrobe Flor de Papel

I love bright, fun prints and Mini Boden is definitely one of my favorite brands for those. Here is a shirt I have been eying for a while:

Funky Tunic Top

For me, well, I have been wanting to order another bottle of Moscato for a while. The below is one of my favorites:

Winetasting.com Moscato

I used to be such a clothing monger—I loved buying clothing for myself. Now I adore looking at clothing for the girls and, while I need new clothes, I would much rather shop for them than myself anyday. I think have like three shirts I wear on a regular basis and they’re all “summery” so I need to get myself somethings soon. I did order a black cardigan for me the order day, so maybe I will just wear that over my summery things and call it a day.

It is amazing to me how much toddlers pick up just from observing what we do. Usually I assume Molly pays no attention to me because she pretty much disregards everything I say to her.

A typical conversation with her goes like this:

Me: “Molly don’t hit the baby!”

Molly: slaps baby

Me: “Molly, let’s take a bath!”

Molly: “Choo choo!!!!!!!”

Me: “Molly, are you hungry?”

Molly: “Go bye bye? yea! Go bye bye.”

Me: “No bye bye right now. What do you want for lunch?”

Molly: “Kitty!”

Me: “Would you like some turkey?”

Molly: “Choo choo!”

Me: “Molly, let’s change your diaper!”

Molly: “Baby! Choo choo! Rain!”

So, you can imagine my surprise when she is able to unlock my iPad after watching me do it. Or when she goes to the potty by herself without my encouraging her to do so. Or when she changes the TV to a channel she wants to watch (usually PBS). She also picks up her baby dolls and mimics what I am doing with Kate, the other night she wrapped her favorite doll in a blanket and told it to go “night night”. Toddlerhood is the most amazing, infuriating experience of my life and I love every minute of it. I think I like Kate’s age a little better, but that’s just because she isn’t able to misbehave yet.

It’s Gymbucks redemption time again and I redeemed mine this morning! Yay! I made the mistake last time I redeemed them of getting pieces from the new collection, which wasn’t marked down so I didn’t get as much out of my Gymbucks as I could have. This time I mostly picked pieces I have been eying and that were marked down.

Here are some of the things I got:

Panda Button Sweater (Both Girls)

Lil Sis Tee (Kate, obviously)

Mouse Tee (Kate)

Striped Sweater Dress (Molly. I wanted to get it for Kate but it was sold out in her size. I have been eying this FOREVER!)

Happy Halloween Spider Tee (Molly)

Bow Cable Sweater (Molly)

I also got some leggings, but those aren’t very exciting. Gymboree is also sending out a 30% off coupon with every $60 0r more order, good October 21-October 23. Here are the details.

Old Navy is also doing a surprise sale, you get between 15%-30% off. I got the 30% (Lucky me!) so I got the girls a few more things I had been wanting for them. I also got a couple plain turtle necks for Molly to wear under things, but those are boring so I won’t post them.

Adoraboots (Molly, I wish I could have gotten them for Kate but they started at a size 5 and she’s a 3)

Polka Dot Dress (Molly)

Ballet Slipper Tights (Both Girls)

Fall and Winter is so hard to dress for because you need so much more “stuff”. Tights or leggings have to be worn under dresses and I can’t just put Kate in a romper and call it a day. I am loving the fall lines though so maybe that will make the cold weather a little more bearable.