A Tale of Two New Yorkers

Back in high school you were probably forced to read A Tale of Two Cities.  I was.  And I hated it, though I'll never forget the opening line: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...  Today, I have a much shorter tale of what I witnessed on the beloved New York City subway system very recently.

A woman walks onto a subway car.  A pregnant woman.  She's clearly pregnant, appearing to be somewhere in her third trimester.  There are no free seats, so she places her work bag on the dirty floor and holds onto a metal bar.  

It's the morning commute.  There's a twenty something woman doing her makeup.  A thirty something woman catching a couple more minutes of sleep and a forty something man reading a newspaper.  It's the usual suspects, some youngish, some oldish commuters, a good dozen who see the standing pregnant woman.  No one gets up.

Also standing and holding a metal bar, about a foot away from the pregnant woman, is a mother and her son.  The mother is in gym clothes.  She's relatively young and seems to have already accomplished quite a bit for the early hour.  Her son looks about 9-years-old.  He's rambunctious, but not disruptive to the other riders.  The pair banter as the subway moves from one stop to the next.  Both take notice of the pregnant woman, the son  is particularly interested in her protruding belly. 

At the next stop, two seated passengers get up and exit the car.  The pregnant woman lifts her bag and shuffles for one of the seats.  The mother and her son beat her to it.  Both sit happily and continue to joke and laugh as the subway starts to it's next stop.  The pregnant woman shuffles back to her original standing position and again places her work bag on the car floor. 

At the next stop, the mother and son get up and exit.  They had scooped the seats for a whole one stop.  Again, the pregnant woman grabs her bag from the floor and attempts to take one of the two vacant seats.  Again, she is beaten to the punch by two other standing passengers.  

As the pregnant woman once again settles into her standing position, a twenty something woman with messy blond hair stuffed under a tilted fedora pulls at her sleeve.  The kind hipster asks the pregnant woman if she'd like to sit down.  She has seen the pregnant woman's two failed attempts at a seat and has taken it upon herself to secure a seat on the pregnant woman's behalf.  She has asked seated man if he'll please stand.   The man agreed and quickly puts away his iPad to relinquish his small stretch of bench.  The pregnant woman, stunned, thanks the woman and the man, and gratefully plops down for the remainder of her trip.

Can you believe that shizzle?  I have written about NYC transit more than any other topic (not true), but I can't help myself.  It's usually the blatant lack of etiquette and human decency that catches my attention.  This story certainly falls into that category, but it was also the random and asserted act of kindness that stuck with me.  It was very cool to see and almost made up for the other bunch of selfish meatholes.

There are many lessons to be learned here, but the one I'd like to point out is that hipsters have hearts too.  Their look may scream "I don't care", but their actions often scream "I do".  I'm kidding (sort of).  The real lesson is GIVE THE PREGNANT LADY YOUR SUBWAY SEAT.  And if you don't have a seat, then be the hipster and call out some lazy shmoe who is pretending not to see the pregnant lady because he's so engrossed on his iPad.

Stuff People Google 62

Today's edition of Stuff People Google is GREAT.

monogrammed coolots

I will never know who searched this phrase.  Yet, I will always admire the person who searched this phrase.  I'm happy that this searcher found Next Stop Baby, though I know that they didn't find monogrammed coolots on Next Stop Baby.

For those who don't know what coolots are, let me assist:

Those are black and white coolots.
They are trying to being current in a hipster-ish way,
but I know coolots when I see them.  

Coolots are not current.  Coolots are a fashion joy of the 1980s.  They are flowy shorts that are both high-waisted and awkwardly long (aka flattering on everyone no one).

Popular Names by Decade

Check out my handy dandy lists of popular names by decade.  Okay, it's technically not my handy dandy list, it comes from the Social Security Administration website (here) where all things baby name related are born.  Just because a name makes the Top 10 list in any given year doesn't mean it's overwhelming popular through the entire decade.  The names below speak to each decade as a whole and, thus, to each generation as a whole.  Even if your child is born in 2012, you can give him or her a throwback name from your favorite past decade.

These statistics are based on the number of people that were given the name in each decade (and not the percentage of people).  You can see that in more recent decades the most popular names jockey quite a bit where as at the turn of the century...the 19th century...very little changed.  You can also see that popularity of girl names changes much more drastically decade to decade as compared to popularity of boy names.

Born in the 2000s

1. Jacob

2. Michael

3. Joshua

4. Matthew

5. Daniel

1. Emily

2. Madison

3. Emma

4. Olivia

5. Hannah

Born in the 1990s

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Matthew

4. Joshua

5. Jacob

1. Jessica

2. Ashley

3. Emily

4. Sarah

5. Samantha

Born in the 1980s

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Matthew

4. Joshua

5. David

1. Jessica

2. Jennifer

3. Amanda

4. Ashley

5. Sarah

Born in the 1970s

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Jason

4. David

5. James

1. Jennifer

2. Amy

3. Melissa

4. Michelle

5. Kimberly

Born in the 1960s

1. Michael

2. David

3. John

4. James

5. Robert

1. Lisa

2. Mary

3. Susan

4. Karen

5. Kimberly

Born in the 1950s

1. James

2. Michael

3. Robert

4. John

5. David

1. Mary

2. Linda

3. Patricia

4. Susan

5. Deborah

Born in the 1940s

1. James

2. Robert

3. John

4. William

5. Richard

1. Mary

2. Linda

3. Barbara

4. Patricia

5. Carol

Born in the 1930s

1. Robert

2. James

3. John

4. William

5. Richard

1. Mary

2. Betty

3. Barbara

4. Shirley

5. Patricia

Born in the 1920s

1. Robert

2. John

3. James

4. William

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Dorothy

3. Helen

4. Betty

5. Margaret

Born in the 1910s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. Robert

5. Joseph

1. Mary 

2. Helen

3. Dorothy

4. Margaret

5. Ruth

Born in the 1900s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. George

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Helen

3. Margaret

4. Anna

5. Ruth

Born in the 1890s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. George

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Anna

3. Margaret

4. Helen

5. Elizabeth

Born in the 1880s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. George

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Anna

3. Emma

4. Elizabeth

5. Margaret

Does Mom Get Sick Days?

Everyone gets sick.  Everyone has down days.  Days that you call out from work either truly sick or in dire need of a mental health day.  On these days, you wanna watch crappy television or rent a movie, you want to eat forbidden foods and sleep an absurd number of hours.  You want your mom or your husband or your best friend to feel bad for you.  You want to be cared for and coddled.

Okay, now what happens when you have one of these sick, downer days...and you're a mom???  My guess is that an infant isn't going to provide the kind of sympathy and back rub that one is looking for when feeling like crap.  What's more, an infant's needs don't go on hold just because mom has the sniffles...or something more serious.

There are plenty of things that one has to change about her lifestyle (or give up altogether) when a baby arrives.  Things like travel and happy hour and new $300 shoes.  And, I think, these are the things that are most considered and discussed when deciding whether one is ready to have a baby.  But what about the more mundane, day-to-day sacrifices?  What about no more mental health days?  What about saying a long, sad good-bye to "me time" whenever the mood strikes you?

What did you think would be the hardest thing to change/give up when you had a baby?  What truly was the hardest thing to change/give up when you had a baby?

Stuff People Google 61

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The Money Shot

When a gorgeous Hollywood actress and a dashing Hollywood actor get together and produce an adorable Hollywood baby, the world goes buck wild.  Everyone (myself included) follows each glamorous tabloid tidbit from pregnancy announcement to over-the-top baby shower to delivery news to name choice.  It's a paparazzi fun fest.

The magazine that publishes the first photos of the new mini celebrity pays top dollar to do so.  Let's review some past biggies.

Suri Cruise.  As if Tom Cruise having his first biological child with the woman who he was jumping on Oprah's couch about wasn't historic enough, there was also controversy about Suri herself.  Was she born earlier than the now divorced (ouch) TomKat revealed?  I mean, she just had sooo much hair.  Was she actually the daughter of Chris Klein?  Vanity Fair scored this cover for free...or so I read...and enjoyed a 60% increase in sales for the issue.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.  She was destined to be a money maker from conception.  Surely the mere sight of Brad and Angelina's first biological offspring was going to burn our eyes from the over powering beauty.  Plus, Shiloh's arrival wasn't all that long after Brad had notoriously cheated on America's sweetheart for his now baby mama.  Everyone knew it and People magazine capitalized on it...or maybe it was Brangelina that capitalized on it?  For a cool $4.1 million, People featured the very first photos of Shiloh.

Vivienne and Knox Jolie Pitt.  Not to be out shined by their older sister and with twice the star power, exclusive first photos of Brad and Angelina's twins, were jointly sold to People and Hello! magazines for a whopping $14 million.  The money was reportedly donated to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.

Christina Aguilera's son, Max, was covered by People magazine for $1.5 million.  Jennifer Lopez's twins, Maximilian and Emme, were covered by People magazine for $6 million.  The late Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannilynn, was covered by OK! magazine for $2 million.  Jessica Simpson reportedly just made a deal with People magazine to reveal the first photos of new daughter Maxwell for $800,000, not too shabby.  Side note: Writing this post has made me surprisingly aware of how popular the name Max is among the rich and powerful and not-so-surprisingly aware of how People magazine dominates the celebrity baby photo market.

So, how much do with think the first photos of Penelope Scotland Disick will earn the eldest Kardashian daughter?  According to the Huffington Post, not much (check out the article here).  Life & Style Weekly scored the first photos of Mason Disick back in 2009.  I couldn't find any reports on what those photos were worth, but if I know the Kardashians (and I think I do) they were not freebies.  The Huff Post sited Kourtney's B list status and Penelope being the 2nd child as reasons for the lack of big money worth.  It made me feel bad for Kourtney K., which is wrong on so many levels.  I'm not so sure she needs (or deserves) my sympathy.  Plus, do I really feel bad that her daughter's not pimpable?  I should probably feel worse that I just made up and used the word pimpable.

The questions of the day: How do you feel about these mag covers?  Is it pimping your baby or earning a worthy fee?  Does it make it any better if the money is donated to a charity?  Which magazine cover were you most excited to see?

Receiving versus Swaddling

A non-mother, non-pregnant lady looks at a baby shower registry with a spending limit in mind and finds something cute and that stays within the limit.  It's pretty simple.  She doesn't necessarily prioritize practicality because she doesn't know what's practical.  There's probably a lot of stuff on the registry that's totally unknown to her.  Before a woman is pregnant herself or has her own baby, she typically doesn't know jack about baby stuff.

A woman starts to become familiar with baby gear by attending other women's baby showers.  The more showers she attends the more familiar she becomes, especially when showering a close friend or family member.  Her baby brand vocabulary gradually expands from Huggies and BabyBjorn (which she learned from watching Knocked Up) to Dr. Browns and Graco.  She starts to become familiar with certain products like the boppy and the pack n' play.  But, for the most part, the nitty gritty of what a baby needs and what a mommy wants remain unknown until she goes through the process herself.

"Think we'll ever be as happy as the BabyBjorn couple?"

For example, does a non-mother know the difference between a receiving blanket and a swaddling blanket?  Ummm, no, she doesn't.  I'd be willing to bet that some first time pregnant ladies can't easily answer that one.   But I can...because I googled it.

Swaddling blankets and receiving blankets are both baby blankets.  Everyone probably figured out that much.  One is for swaddling the baby (the swaddling blanket...in case you hadn't guessed) and one is for keeping the baby warm (the receiving blanket).  A swaddling blanket is specifically shaped to create the perfect swaddle.  Basic swaddle blankets are squares and more complex swaddle blankets have pockets and folds and velcro.  A receiving blanket has no specific function other than to keep the baby warm.  Its rectangle shape is perfect for snuggling the baby in a stroller, car seat or wherever.  In sum, there is very little difference between a basic swaddling blanket and a receiving blanket.  Some argue (some = commenters on thenest.com, yahoo.com, etc.) that swaddling blankets are better because they're made to swaddle, but can also be used as a regular blanket.  Others argue that receiving blankets are better because they're simple, old school and easily double as a swaddling blanket.  I imagine that it would take a bit of a pro to "easily" swaddle without some design assistance, but that's me.

Aden + anais makes the very popular swaddling blankets (above).
Prices range from $35-$50 on Amazon.com for a 4-pack.

Carter's makes the receiving blankets above.
Pricing is much lower than the swaddling blankets above ($15-$25 for a 4-pack).

      
What questions did you/do you have about baby gear as a non-pregnant, non-mother?  What baby shower registry item completed stumped you?  Did you know the difference between a receiving blanket and a swaddling blanket?

Stuff People Google 60

How friggin funny:

is the host from pregnant in heels always pregnant?

Today's edition of Stuff People Google is just awesome.  Rosie Pope, the host in question, has been pregnant now for 2 seasons in a row (with her second son and her first daughter).  Oh, and the show itself has only been on Bravo for 2 seasons.  So, it's a fair question.  Is her pregnancy staged for the show?  Does Bravo only film when she's with child?  Or is the timing just magical perfect for a show about pregnancy and babies?  I'm fairly certain that it's the latter - she's just a baby crazy lady (like myself) who not only owns a maternity clothing line and runs baby/Lamaze/parenting classes, but also wants a full house of baby Popes.  

The Popularity of Being Unpopular

Who saw the news that Kourtney Kardashian had her baby girl?  And named her Penelope Scotland Disick.  I was intrigued, per usual, by the name choice.  The middle name choice was a hit in my book.  Ireland is a common enough name that Scotland didn't feel crazy.  And, I read, that it was chosen as a tribute to Penelope's dad, Scott.  Cute.  The choice of Penelope was also a winner for me.  I like the name and it feeds into a theory of mine about the popularity of unpopular names.  Though the popularity of Penelope has been on the rise for about a decade, it barely made the Top 200 most popular names of 2011.  Meaning, while Penelope may be a great name choice for the new Kardashian lady, it's not a popular name choice.

OK Magazine is already all over the Penelope Scotland news...okay, not really.
This cover was back from the gender announcement.
I wonder which tabloid will be the first to print photos.

Nowadays, parents prioritize uniqueness over all other factors (i.e. possible nicknames, family names, etc.) in their search for the perfect baby name.  This naming trend has presented itself in two ways: old school names and non-name names.  Old school names are suddenly (and fiercely) in vogue.  By old school, I mean turn-of-the-century school - names that were popular between 1880 and 1920.  Non-name names have been trending for a while now.  These are names that were not traditionally thought of or used as names.  This category includes last names that are being used as first names (Harper) and nouns that are being used as names (Sky).

With so many people jumping on this uniqueness bandwagon, unusual names are becoming not so unusual.  Everybody's doing it.  What's interesting about this trend is that it's not necessarily resulting in all babies sharing the same handful of names.  In five years, I don't think every kindergarten class is going to have a dozen girls named Penelope, but I do think that Penelope isn't going to be a radically unique name amongst her classmates.  There won't be three Jennifers, two Samanthas, four Michaels and one unique Penelope.  Everyone will have different names, all equally unique.  Penelope will fit right in with her friends Viola, Sullivan and Cash.

What do you think - is/was uniqueness important in your name choosing process?  how did you find a unique name?  did your name choice end up being unique after all?

Turquoise Nursery

Turquoise is the new yellow.  Or, technically, turquoise is the new orange...because orange was already the new yellow.  I'm talking about colors that can be used to decorate a gender neutral baby nursery.  Turquoise is great for a girl and great for a boy.  It's unisexually (huh) great.  

Check out the bare bones turquoise nursery (below) by Lulu Kuku, an Etsy shop that sells the cool world map wall decal (currently on sale for $44.20).  I can definitely picture a little lady or gentleman in that crib.

A friend pointed out this color trend to me and then I found the photo above and then, of course, I went straight to mood board mode.  Voila, here are some beautiful, turquoise nursery ideas.

(Clockwise from top LEFT)

Elephant clock by LeLuni ($52)

Pick stitch crib bedding by Land of Nod ($49)

Squid night light by Happy Owl ($42)

Elephant pillow cover by Modernality ($19.95)

Kitui baskets set of 3 by Bambeco ($45)

Set of 8 4x6 carnival photos by bomobob ($35)

Stuff People Google 59

Today's search phrase cracks me up:

big meal looks pregnant

My guess is that the typist wanted some pointers on distinguishing between someone who looks pregnant (perhaps from a big meal) and someone who is pregnant with a baby.  In the early stages of pregnancy, appearances can be deceiving.  Rule of thumb, however, is that if you're not sure that someone is pregnant do not say anything.  Do not.  The pregnant person has to be well past the "big meal" stage before it's appropriate to acknowledge the pregnancy.

I Met Rosie Pope (Part 2)

This being "Part 2", if you haven't read Part 1 you may want to do so first (click here).

I ended Part 1 with my standing in that huge crowd, waiting impatiently for my chance to meet Rosie Pope.  I'm feeling guilty for what's going to be an anti-climatic conclusion, so I'm going to cut to the punch - I never actually shook Rosie's hand or introduced myself...or technically met her.  The damn line was soooo long.  After 30 minutes of eating gummy bears in line and chatting up the pregnant women in front of me and behind me it became clear I wasn't even halfway through the wait.  So, I made up an excuse to get really close, took a haphazard photo (below) and bee lined for the exit.

I got within 15 feet of the Pregnant in Heels hostess, maybe closer.  The girl in the pink, patterned, long dress (blurry) was definitely Rosie's keeper.  She was standing close by while members of the press questioned her with notebooks and microphoned recorders.  You can see in the top right corner there is a person with a camera taking photos of something out of frame.  That something is Daron Pope.  Oddly enough, Rosie and Daron maintained a significant distance for the entire event.

You're probably pretty angry right now - angry that I didn't actually meet her, that I didn't suck it up and just wait in line, that I fraudulently entitled this post (and Tuesday's post) "I Met Rosie Pope".  I'm angry too.  And I'm sorry.  A more honest choice of words would have been "I Almost Met Rosie Pope But I Was Too Bored".  The worst part is that I can't officially confirm or deny her strange accent/lisp/speech impediment because while I got within an earshot, it was so damn noisy I couldn't distinguish her voice from all the others. 

Despite your anger, maybe you still want to read about my thoughts on her maternity line?  

The Rosie Pope for A Pea in the Pod maternity line is full of blazers and blouses.  It has a distinct business woman (with a bump) feel.  It's also expensive for what I would consider reasonable money to spend on maternity clothes.  A woman is pregnant for 9 months and probably only needs maternity clothes for 5-7 of those months.  So, spending a few thousand dollars on a 5-7 month wardrobe isn't a luxury that most ladies can afford, especially considering all of those other looming expenses (strollers, cribs, diapers, etc.).  The least expensive item in Rosie's new collection was a peach blouse for $85.  

I was also struck by the fact that this line isn't all that different (if at all) from the regular Rosie Pope maternity line.  The whole point of the collaboration alluded me.  It wasn't like Vera Wang's collection for Kohl's or Stella McCartney's collection for Target, both of which are highly affordable and stylish collections from designers who made names for themselves by making highly expensive and stylish collections.  

The collection itself is cute and very New York.  I'm not sure it's practical (both in cost and style) for non-professionals.  No need to drop $180 on a maternity pencil skirt if you're not required to wear business attire on a daily basis.  The color palette is black, white and rose, with few exceptions.  The individual pieces are almost all tailored, which I appreciated - just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you have to sport shift dresses and empire waist shirts - but a couple loose fitting items would have been nice.  Not everyone can look like Victoria Beckham through the 9th month.  

This sparkly, black blazer was one of many blazers.  It was cute, had a Chanel vibe.  

This white blouse was one of my favorite pieces.  

It was simple and didn't look maternity to me.  It retailed for $125.

This geometric shirt dress was another favorite.  But for $225?  

I agonize over non-maternity fashion purchases for $225, much less a purchase 

that would realistically fit me for a only few months.

Two parting questions:  Do you forgive me?  Would you buy Rosie Pope's maternity line for A Pea in the Pod?

I Met Rosie Pope (Part 1)

I'm splitting today's post into two.  I realize that most people read blogs during a 5-10 minute break when the day gets a little boring, annoying and redundant.  Most people don't have time for a 30-45 minute hiatus from their busy lives.  Knowing this, I try to write posts that take 5-10 minutes to read.  But, I couldn't bare to leave out a detail of my amazing Pope encounter, so I'm giving you a two part series - today and Thursday.  Be warned that even as "part 1" this post is long (more like a 15 minute read).  You may want to pause for an ice coffee after paragraph four.

A couple weeks ago, I received an email at the Next Stop Baby email address from what I assume is Rosie Pope's public relations person team.  The email was a "media alert" sent to members of the press.  I was immediately intrigued by the sender and doubly intrigued by the thought of myself as a member of the press.  Me, the press?  I was clearly flattered and fanning my red cheeks, but also smirking...I unintentionally and rather successfully pulled the wool over someone's eyes.

The email invited me (aka Next Stop Baby) to the premiere of Rosie Pope's new maternity collection for A Pea in the Pod.  I was asked to attend and gently prodded to write a post about my thoughts on the clothing line.  For a small-time, 1.5 year old blogger like myself the mere invitation was way more than enough to secure my attendance.  But there was more: there would be a red carpet, a candy bar, a mocktail (alcohol free cocktail) bar, a swag bag, some other free stuff and, most importantly, an opportunity to meet the Pregnant in Heels queen herself.

I was in.

The event was held at a Destination Maternity store in Manhattan.   I arrived a little early.  I'm not a fashionably late type person.  I'm either unfashionably late or early.  The first disappointment I encountered was a lack of red carpet.  Hello!?  There were no papparazzi and no velvet ropes either.  I nervously approached a pair of fresh faced, official seeming girls with clipboards as I considered what I was about to say (my real name? my blog? a monologue about being a member of the press?).  I was saved when one of the girls immediately handed me a ticket and directed me upstairs without questioning who I was or what I was doing.  That was sort of the second disappointment - I wasn't on a list...there didn't even appear to be a list.

Upstairs was mayhem.  At least 75% of the attendees were pregnant, which was somewhat bizarre.  How often do you see a couple hundred pregnant people all in one room?  To make matters more interesting, upstairs was a fully stocked maternity clothing store that hadn't been cleared or organized to accommodate so many big bellies.  Watching two pregnant women simultaneously squish between two racks of maternity dresses is both unsettling and hilarious.  It involves a lot of bump bumping.  There were also a decent amount of strollers.  You know how I feel about strollers in crowded spaces (if not, click here).

After asking around, it became clear that there were some a couple invited members of the press in attendance and a boat load of non-press pregnant ladies.  The preggers people were all invited through an email blast sent by Destination Maternity to it's subscribers.  Aha.  Here's where I realized that some sort of designation as a member of the press (albeit a fraudulent member) would have been handy.  I should have replied to the email and requested a press pass!  Too late.  Without such designation I was left to fight my way through the crowd of mamas.

There were three lines: one for the candy bar, one for the mocktail bar and one to meet and greet Rosie (for anyone and everyone) after the press interviews were complete.  I immediately jumped on the end of the candy bar line.  It was slow moving and a little nerve-wracking being amongst so many hungry pregnant woman.  A few people away from the treats, a non-pregnant, attractive 20-something approached me and asked whether I was craving chocolate, gummy or licorice.  Her job was to get the candy for me.  Nice touch.  I awkwardly replied, "gummy...please."  I skipped the mocktail bar, but it did look delicious.  The bartenders (if that's what they are) were managing to churn out some fancy pants non-alcoholic beverages.

With my celophane bag of gummy bears and taffy, I strolled to the end of the meet and greet line.  It was the longest line by far.  And it wasn't moving.  I craned my neck to the left and right to see exactly what I was waiting for.  At last, there she was!  Mrs. Rosie Pope.  She was wearing a black lace dress, looking taller, paler and more beautiful than ever.  And, bonus, Daron Pope was there too!  Both Rosie and Daron looked exactly as they do on Bravo.

Rosie and Daron Pope...and I shared a room (with hundreds of other people)

I'll end it today with a photo of the meet and greet line...it was more of a meet and greet crowd.

Thursday I'll fill you in on Rosie herself and, of course, the clothes.

What To Expect giveaway - NEW WINNER

Okay, this has never happened before.  Last week's What To Expect When You're Expecting giveaway resulted in two winners.  Only one of which got to me by the deadline (Sunday 7/1/12 at 5 pm EST) to collect the prize.  Sadly, I never heard from Audra-Anne Bowen.  So, I was forced to pick a backup winner.  And that backup winner is...

Ella Mae!!!

So, let's try this again.  Ella Mae, please email nextstopbabyblog@gmail.com with your contact information by Thursday (7/5/12) at 5 pm EST to collect your prize. 

Happy Monday.  

And I can't resist another tease on tomorrow post (first tease here)...there are photos. 

Oh, and one last thing (i.e PPPS) here are the screenshots from random-draw.org of both the original draw and the redraw on the giveaway.

THE ORIGINAL 2 WINNER DRAWING - Winners Mrs. Pancakes and Audra-Anne Bowen

THE REDRAW I DID THIS MORNING - Winner Ella Mae