Hello. My name is Karen and I’m a mum/mom (depending on what side of the Atlantic I’m on) to 3 amazing, genius boys who manage to keep my days very busy and fulfilled!
I am one of those who try to do it all and then some whilst making green and organic choices for myself, my crazy, funny family and the environment!
Often times, I find myself desperately in need of sleep and longing for a clutter free existence . . . oh, if I could escape.
An aspiring writer, it is my dream to publish a book … whenever I get inspired enough to finish one. Until then, I am hoping that daily or even weekly blogging will help with my self-imposed writer’s block.
And, yes . . . I love Crunchies.
Gila said:
Hello,
Motherhood? I could write a book about it! If you share this response, submit to us. We enjoyed reading your blog and we think you could make a great contribution. At WeBook we want to publish your motherhood stories in a printed anthology. Whether you are a published writer or just starting out, WeBook wants to hear your insights, highs, lows and most-loved tales about motherhood. Click:
http://www.webook.com/short-story/Motherhood
Hope to see you on the site and I wish you all the best, Gila
General information:
Are you interested in becoming a published author under the imprint of a
revolutionary new user-generated book publisher WEbook? WEbook is looking
for talented bloggers to test drive our new site. Here’s your chance to get
your musings reviewed and rated by a community of active online writers like
yourself. The catch? There is no catch. The best work written at WEBook.com
will be published by WEbook at our expense as paper books and eBooks. And
you? You have a chance to participate in writer/reactor royalty streams for
future publications.
Want to know more about WEbook? Read this.
What is WEbook?
WEbook is the vision of a few intermittently erudite people who believe
there are millions of talented writers whose work is ignored by the staid
and exclusive world of book publishing. It just makes sense that if you
create a dynamic, irreverent, and open place for those bright folks to meet,
write, react, and think together, the results would be extraordinary. Cue
WEbook.com, an online platform that allows writers, editors, reviewers,
illustrators and others to join forces to create great works of fiction and
non-fiction, thrillers and essays, short stories, children’s books and more.
WEbook.com is a place for lively writing groups, groundbreaking titles, and
a chance for an engaged and creative community to find unrecognized talent
and select the very best books for publication as books, eBooks, and
Audio books.
Best Wishes,
Gila
tjonsek said:
Hey! Found you on momdot and thought I’d visit, check things out – it caught my eye when you mentioned you want to have a book written (published?) by 40.
I’m in the same boat, except I’m hoping for something when I’m 35.
Great looking kids you have – I have 3 boys too. And now that my sis has 2 girls, it makes me so so happy that I ended up with boys. All the drama!
Anyhow, love to chat sometime about what genre you are wanting to publish in, that sort of thing. And good luck!
tuapekaweka said:
Hi there
My first visit here.
Enjoyed reading your blog.
We have four young boys.
Cheers
Kimberly said:
Hiya Karen! I am a “Brit by marriage” living in Tennessee. Mum to a 3 1/2 year old daughter with my 2nd being born in 2 days! I loved my visit to your blog. I have added it to my ‘blog roll’ and will definitely be back. Looking forward to getting to know you. Cheers, Kimberly
PS: Thanks for the link to MomoCrats! I love that site!!!! Go Obama!
Phil Done said:
Dear Karen,
) Thanks so much!
Congratulations on being chosen for All Top! Five of my mommy blogging friends told me to not even bother e-mailing you because your blog is so popular. But I decided to write to you anyway. My name is Phil Done. I’m an award-winning elementary school teacher in Palo Alto, CA (www.phillipdone.org) and author of 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching. (www.amazon.com/Third-Graders-One-Class-Bunny). Since you are a mom of it looks like a school-aged child, I thought that you might get a kick out of this glimpse into the elementary classroom. The book, which is very popular with parents, is a humorous and poignant collection of essays covering a year in third grade. May I send you a copy? Ideally, I’d love a review on If I Could Escape. Even if you don’t want a book, could you e-mail back so I can tell my five friends they were wrong.
Best,
Phil Done
http://www.phillipdone.org
Kevin Fitzsimons (on behalf of Marks & Spencer) said:
Hello Karen
I recently came across your blog and have enjoyed your updates about life in the US. Congratulations on all the awards!
However, my specific reason for contacting you is on behalf of Marks & Spencer, as I thought you might be interested in a survey we are running exclusively for British expats.
The M&S ‘Home and Abroad’ survey – http://www.marksandspencer.com/homeandabroad – is looking to identify those things that British expats miss most when they’re away from home. The survey only takes 5 minutes and in return for completing it, respondents have the opportunity to win a £250 gift card which can be used through the new M&S International Delivery service.
Is this something you would be interested in posting about on your blog? Your feedback as an expat would be greatly appreciated.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at kevin.fitzsimons@lbi.com with any queries.
Thanks and regards
Kev Fitzsimons
(on behalf of Marks & Spencer)
smitten by britain said:
Me too. Crunchies are my favourite. Thanks for following me.
Gregory said:
Hi Karen,
Just came acroos your blog and I enjoyed reading it. I can see you have a very fulfilling job out there. Simple things in life give so much joy. Keep on writing and hope you do get your dream of being published realized.
Thanks,
Gregory
myxbooks.wordpress.com
Mommy Melee said:
Heya! Where are you guys in Florida? That’s great!
Nick said:
Hi,
I was curious what it would take to get a text link on your blog saying something like “Tungsten Wedding Bands” or “Tungsten Wedding Rings” with a hyperlink to our site (www.tungstenringsonline.com). We are a relatively new company and we are currently trying to improve our page ranking on Google. We operate on a small budget, and we would be more than willing to give you a tungsten ring from our site in exchange for a link. Let me know if this would be something that you would be interested in. Thanks for any help you can give us.
Thank You
Nick
Tungsten Rings Online
Anne Stephanie Cruz said:
Hi Karen!
I’m Anne Stephanie Cruz, one of your blog followers. I work for http://www.ownadaycare.com, it’s a site dedicated to giving useful information and advice to people who are passionate about having their own daycare business – but don’t know where or how to start.
Anyhow, I sent you this email to ask if you would consider having me write a guest post on your blog. It can just be a short article about child care, parenting and daycare, setting up a daycare center – or really anything that you might find interesting.
Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance!
Sincerely Yours,
Anne Stephanie Cruz
http://www.ownadaycare.com
Steph@Ownadaycare.com
Jocelyn Voo said:
Hi Karen,
This is Jocelyn, Senior Web Editor at Family Circle. I’m a big fan of your blog – your posts are a great read so relatable. We’re rolling out a new social networking site called Momster.com, created just for moms of teens and tweens, and I’m reaching out to people who seem like they’d have the kind of insight, candid personality, and web-savvy attitude we’re looking for to be a leader on the site – and from your blog, I can see that you’re the type of gal I’m looking for.
Still with me? Interested? Shoot me an email and I can send more details.
Talk soon,
Jocelyn
jocelyn.voo@meredith.com
Charlotte said:
I would like to talk to you about advertising on your site. Can you shoot me an email please?
Cathy Louis said:
Hi,
Balsam Hill Christmas Tree Company would like give you a free holiday e-card to post on your site. This e-card can be customized and also provides the readers of your blog a discount on our artificial Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands.
To grab the html for your e-card link button please visit: http://christmastrees.balsamhill.com/ecard/widgetcode.html
You can view the e-card here: http://christmastrees.balsamhill.com/ecard/widget. Just click the “send to a friend” link to customize the card.
Enjoy.
Happy Holidays,
Cathy Louis
Balsam Hill
clouis@balsamhillco.com
http://www.balsamhill.com
daffodilly said:
Crunchie really got my attention being an addict myself! This is my first visit to your blog and you are like a breath of fresh air. I’ll be adding you to my favourites.
PS I do have a packet of Crunchies in my cupboard!
gemma said:
Hello.
I run the website http://www.peppa-pig-toys.org.uk.
As part of the website project we are looking to write some informative articles to place on related sites like yours.
If you would prefer you can choose the article title or you can leave it to me, the content would be directly related to your site and you would get some free unique content.
Hope to hear from you soon.
thewhitbyindependent said:
Good to have you following our humble Yorkshire newsblog.
momromp said:
Nice blog! Glad you found me yesterday and looking forward to following you.
Luke Farrell said:
Hello Karen,
Luke here from the other side of the pond! I hope things are well in the US, this was just a quick message to let you know about a great government incentive happening here in the UK this month. Everyone can get free dance classes on the 6th and 7th of March|! Although I am aware that you are in the States and ineligible for this, many of your readers and followers read your blog and Twitter from here in the UK and so I thought that it’d be something that mum’s would be interested in, whom may not necessarily have much time or money. I have been spreading the word on Twitter and it’d be great if we could get everyone dancing on that weekend. I’ve included a sample tweet below with the URL and my email if you’d like to talk more about this.
Kindest regards,
Luke
Luke.Farrell@profero.com
Twitter.com/Luke_PR
‘Have fun and keep fit with free dance classes from Let’s Dance with Change4Life, find your closest class here http://bit.ly/9nA6us‘
Nicole said:
Hi Karen,
I was looking at your blog “If I Could Escape” and I was wondering what it would take to get a text link on your home page saying “Natural General Health Remedies” with a hyperlink to our homepage (www.mynaturalremediesnow.com). We are a brand new company that sells 100% all natural remedies, and we are trying to improve our Google page rank and get our business started. I think that having a link on your page will really help us out with our page rank, and get us off the ground. Since we are brand new we currently operate on an extremely small budget right now so any help that you could give us be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Nicole
Natural Remedies Online
Nick said:
Hi Karen!
I work with Luke above, who happens to be on holiday at the moment. I have some updated news on the Diversity; Change 4 Life Campaign. The campaign launched a competition to win a dance lesson with Britain’s Got Talent’s Diversity. As part of the entry process, each entry was promised the opportunity to appear in a pop video with the dance troupe. Please find enclosed a link to the video that is great mash-up with diversity and the 99 entrants that we had to the competition we ran. There is also details of the competition winner now on site.
I have been spreading the word online. It would be great if we could get it out there to encourage people to take a look at the site and incorporate dance into their health regime I wondered if you would help me spread the message.
The winner of the Diversity & “Let’s Dance with Change4Life” campaign has been announced. There is also a pop video of all the competition entries. Check them out -http://bit.ly/bQpw7n
YDoUBlog? said:
Dear crunchiemummy:
My name is Leora Trub and I am a student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). I am conducting a study of the reasons that people blog and what benefits it brings, which at this point are still largely unexplored in research studies. I am therefore reaching out to you as a blogger who can help deepen our understanding of this phenomenon. I believe that your voice is an important one to be heard and hope you will enjoy participating in the study. I have developed an online questionnaire that asks about specific aspects of blogging as well as asking about feelings about yourself and others in your life. The survey is a mix of numerical scales and opportunities to reflect in an open-ended format about the role of blogging in your life, and how it has changed over time.
You are eligible to participate if you are at least 21 years of age and have been maintaining an English-language personal blog for at least six months that you update or visit at least twice a week (on average). Your participation involves completing a confidential online questionnaire. The data will be downloaded onto a secure server to which only I have access. No identifying information, such as your names or address, will be collected. If you desire, you may choose not to share your blog name, in which case I will not access your blog for any reason after this point. If you do share your blog name, it will NOT be connected to your responses in the survey. Additionally, you will be given the opportunity to be identified by a code name in research reports and to have your blog description changed slightly so it cannot be identified.
The survey takes approximately 45 minutes to complete and participation is completely voluntary. Three participants who complete the survey will be randomly selected by a lottery to receive a $75 cash prize.
There are no foreseeable risks to participation in the study. Although some of the questions are personal in nature, participation in the study provides an opportunity to think about the role that your blog plays in your life.
If you have any questions about this research, you can contact me at (732) 407-7928 or ltrub@gc.cuny.edu, or my advisors Dr. Arietta Slade at (212) 650-5658 or asladephd@earthlink.net and Dr. Tracey Revenson at (212) 817-8709 or trevenson@gc.cuny.edu.
The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Graduate School of the City University of New York and meets of their guidelines as well as all state and federal guidelines for research with human participants. If you have any concerns about the project at any time, you can contact Ms. Kay Powell, Institutional Review Board at the Graduate School of the City University of New York (212) 817-7525 or kpowell@gc.cuny.edu.
In order to participate in this study, I need to send you an invitation through survey monkey. If you are interested, please send an email to ltrub@gc.cuny.edu from the email address to which you would like the invitation sent. I hope that you will decide to participate and also that you will share it with others if you decide you would like to. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Leora Trub, M.A.
Doctoral student in Clinical Psychology
Graduate School of the City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309
ltrub@gc.cuny.edu
Ryan Levitt said:
Hi Karen:
I realise that you live in Florida, but as someone who was raised in the UK you might be interested in a competition I am currently working on with Shreddies (the breakfast cereal). The cereal brand is running a really fun competition the showcases the numerous nanas we have knitting Shreddies into perfect squares every day.
Shreddies is giving people the chance to honour their nanas by asking the question – Does your nana have what it takes to get the position of best Nana Job in the World!
The Shreddies campaign, which was launched on Facebook last week, will see the UK’s best nana knitter win the opportunity to be the Official On-Packet Knitting Nana for Shreddies. Full details of the campaign can be found at http://www.facebook.com/knittingnanas?ref=ts. You can also see more about how nanas make Shreddies and spend their time in the factory at the interactive, video, game and fact-filled site at knittedbynanas.com.
The current frontrunner for the job is Madge Waken from Stevenage, Hertforshire who has already generated over 1,300 votes.
I have attached the release below for your information. If you have any questions or need video links or photography for use in the blog, please don’t hesitate to contact me. And looking forward to being in contact more often in the future!
Best,
Ryan Levitt
BEST NANA JOB IN THE WORLD
Thousands vote to secure job for their Nana
Last year Briton Ben Southall, 34, from Petersfield, Hampshire, emerged from thousands of applicants to win what was dubbed ‘the best job in the world’, caretaker on the spectacular Hamilton Island, Australia.
A far more fun and exciting opportunity has emerged through internet websites, capturing the imagination of people up and down the country and causing people to do crazy things to win this coveted new job.
The campaign, which has only been running on Facebook so far, has already attracted hundreds of would-be knitting nanas and thousands of voters. The start of the TV advertising, launching w/c 26th April, is likely to bring a new avalanche of CVs as a far wider group of Nana’s become aware of the chance to become the next Shreddies knitting nana.
Pearl Burrows, Chief Knitting Officer at the Shreddies factory says, “We considered just putting a small ad in the local paper, but we thought we’d
miss the opportunity to meet so many incredible knitters across the country that we’d be far better off putting our ad on the television.
“This is bigger than the election! I’m surprised those nice politician boys haven’t been up to see us yet. Maybe their mums could apply? I think Nana Cameron might be an excellent knitter.
“We’re looking for someone who is good fun, an excellent knitter and who doesn’t mind making a nice cup of tea during our break, she will be a trainee after all. Her first job will be to take part in ever such a glamorous photo-shoot and become the Official On-Packet Knitting Nana.
“The other thing is that she must be a Nana, we just think Nana’s make better knitters.
And Pearl isn’t impressed with the applications made by some, “Some granddads have applied but I can tell you now, they won’t be making the final short-list, everyone knows only nanas can knit those delicious Shreddies!”
The current front-runner for the job is Madge Wakem from Stevenage, Hertfordshire with almost 1,300 votes.
Nana’s can be entered to the competition and voted for at http://www.facebook.com/knittingnanas?ref=ts
ENDS
For further information contact:
Ashley Lewis – 020 7878 3233 – ashley.lewis@mslworldwide.com
Joanna Tubbs – 020 7878 3107 – joanna.tubbs@mslworldwide.com
Ryan Levitt
Account Director – Digital UK
MS&L
Pembroke Building
Kensington Village
Avonmore Road
London W14 8DG
t. +44(0)20 7878 3295 f. +44(0)20 7878 3030
e. mslworldwide@googlemail.com
w. http://www.mslworldwide.co.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/msl_london
Blog: http://mslworldwideuk.wordpress.com
————————————————————————
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Ali Galgano said:
Hello there Karen. My name is Ali and I’m from Fuel PR in London. We represent Palmers-a brand that offers a variety of products for babies as well as for mummys. Palmer’s products such as stretch mark lotion, firming cream, bottom butter, cocoa butter lotions etc. are great for new mummys and well as babies. I wanted to know if I could have your email information so I could possibly send you some information about our products. I really think your mummy readers would enjoy Palmers products as they are wonderfully made and get great reviews from other mummy users! Please let me know if I could send you some press releases or information so you and your mummy readers could get a chance to use these great products. My email is alexandrag@fuelrefuel.com! Thank you!
-Ali
P.S.-I am from the states as well. New York to be exact. But I have a lot of family in Palm Beach- I love sunny FLA!
ReadersHeaven said:
Hi, nice to meet you !
Crystal Lien said:
I am new to blogging..yours was one of the first I really liked. I love story telling….it has been my life for years. Now it is finally comedy for all. Thanx for sharing your great stories….moms need to bond, laugh and cry together. I have 4 (all boys) of my own…so…we life a colorful life!
kyooty said:
i just read this again I see there is “update”
Oliver Moss said:
We have recently launched a blogger e-fundraising campaign for Surfers Against Sewage , Trees for Cities & Young People’s Trust for the Environment called the Green Chain.
We would be thrilled if you would like to participate and help us raise funds & awareness for theses great environmental charities.
If you answer our 8 question eco-interview http://www.PriceMinister.co.uk will donate £10 to your chosen NGO!
Why “The Green chain?”
In the last question of the interview we will ask you to recommend the fundraiser to a fellow blogger (bloggers) to raise an extra £10. Our goal is to create a chain of bloggers to raise funds & public awareness for these charities.
For more info check out our blog.
http://www.priceminister.co.uk/blog/the-green-chain-priceminister-blogger-interview-for-the-environment-1036
Thanks for your time, I hope to hear from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Oliver Moss
Julia Skinner said:
Hi!
Quick note here as I can’t get you on twitter or on your latest post – what do I have to do to get the password?
Raffi Darrow said:
I think you have a typo – fahionista should be fashionista – unless it’s RUNDMT’s blog, and then it should be fast-onista!
Should I be sad that I don’t know what Crunchies are?
The Sugarlump said:
Hey there!
I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blog Award. Check out your link here: http://thesugarlump.com/2012/07/22/very-inspiring-blog-award/ Thank you for inspiring me!
Best Wishes,
Sugarlump
Sue said:
Hi! My name is Sue, and I’m from SlimKicker, a diet/fitness app and online website. I bumped into your blog a few days ago and it captured my interest!
I’m contacting you b/c we’re about to release a fitness tracker (similar to FitBit) early next year, and are looking for bloggers who would be interested in receiving 1 for free to review when it is out (negative or positive).
Would you be interested in doing this? You can email me at: sue (at) slimkicker (com) with ‘Review’ in the email heading if you are.
Just to let you know, our online website SlimKicker basically turns your diet/fitness goals into a fun level-up game. The tracker will work with the website, and allow people to track calories burned and number of steps they walk automatically. The more they exercise, the more points they rack up! That’s basically how it will work.
Anyway, hope to hear back either way…
- Sue
P.S. You can choose not to approve this comment as this is more of a private comment
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