A few months ago the American Cancer Society asked me to let everyone know about a new Life List app they had and their 100 yr birthday celebration coming up. I didn’t know it at the time, but the relevancy to my life was going to show up out of the blue.

You see just 3 weeks ago my grandmother called me crying and said ” I have cancer.”

Words no one ever wants to hear.

After several weeks of side pain, she ended up doing blood work and a CAT scan. She had (has) cancer in her liver, spleen, lungs, and pancreas.  My grandmother isn’t even that old. She is 68. And while cancer certainly doesn’t age discriminate, all I could think of is why her, why this, why now?

It was devastating. On the outside looking in, I felt really helpless.

I am my grandmothers oldest grandchild. Other than my husband, she is my best friend. We have had thousands of conversations, have spent countless phone hours talking about nothing, been on way too many shopping trips, and the mere thought of existing without her took my breath away. And what was worse was every time I saw her the past few weeks she was giving me things. Distributing her household items so “they could go to the person she wanted”.

So with that news I asked her about her Life List. Was there anything left undone? Was there something she wanted to do before she died. She said two things, she wanted to go to Ireland and wanted to go to Orlando to the theme parks.

So I started making arraignments. And through the help from all the amazing people I have been blessed to know, we have a trip set up next week to Disney and Universal.

Then today I got a call from my dad. The biopsy was in. We already knew it was cancer, that wasn’t in question, but where did it start, what kind is it, how bad is it, and the biggie, how long will she live?  With it being in so many organs, the news could be anything.

The first words out of the doctors mouth?

I HAVE GOOD NEWS

Yes, she has cancer. But she has Lymphoma.

The most curable type of cancer there is. Out of everything that could be going on, we never expected this. The doctors feel very very positive about her recovering fully. In a week she will be starting 6 weeks of chemo and while that won’t be a walk in the park, we now have HOPE.

I think Phoenyx sums up how we feel in this photo I took today.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Happy birthday to the American Cancer Society

100 years ago, the American Cancer Society began the fight of a lifetime – the fight to end cancer. We’re determined to finish this fight. We want to give people everywhere more of life’s special moments – more proud accomplishments, dreams come true, and birthdays celebrated. We urge you to create your own life list on our Facebook page and then share it with your readers and followers.

• Steps to creating your own Life List on American Cancer Society’s Facebook page:
  • Visit facebook.com/AmericanCancerSociety
  • Add Your Accomplishments – Things you’ve done
  • Add Your Aspirations – What you still want to accomplish
  • Add your hope for the future of cancer
  • Add your photo – Use your Facebook profile photo, or upload another
  • Display your life list proudly, share it with your friends, and MAKE SOME NOISE!

So today along with many others, I am making my list.

The list of things I have done and the list of things I will do.

And a word to the wise.

This is not going to be an easy battle, but it has taught me a few things.

• Do not expect this to never touch your life. Help the cause for the cure NOW.
• Do not give up. Never give up.
• Do not assume! Even what looks bleak can change in an instant.
• Above all, do not wait to get news like this to LIVE. LIVE your life NOW. Do not ever go to bed at night waiting for things to happen. Make them happen. Enjoy every moment.

For all those that have been touched by cancer, for all those that will be touched by cancer, for all those fighting and those that treat, cure, and help, Make your life list here now and celebrate LIFE.

Happy Birthday to the American Cancer Society!

 

~Trisha

With Memorial day coming up (and 4th of July not far behind), no doubt you are planning a fun celebration. And what is a party without some firecrackers??!

So here is a super fun way to pass out cookies that will make the kids “ooh and ahh” when they pop in their mouth!

To make it easy, I am showing you the recipe in photos.

See? Super simple!

 

Memorial day Firecracker Cookies

Ingredients

• your favorite sugar cookie recipe
• butter cream or white frosting
•  2 packs of pop rocks
• white sugar + blue gel paste

Instructions

1) Make your favorite sugar cookie recipe

2) Frost with butter cream

3) Create blue sugar by adding sugar and blue gel paste into a blender and turn on for 30 seconds

4) Sprinkle sugar on frosting

5) Sprinkle pop rocks on cookies…you will hear them crackle as they hit the frosting

6) The kids will bite in and they will “explode” in their mouths like a firecracker!

Very fun!

Enjoy !

 

~Trisha

 

As a blogger I get invited on a lot of brand trips but as a mommy, I don’t get to take that many. Generally there are two things that interfere with that jet setting: Phoenyx and Charlotte. And while being a mom comes first and being a mommy blogger comes second, I was still very excited when I was able to make the trip to Wendy’s Headquarters in Dublin, Ohio late last month.

Wendy’s invited myself and several other bloggers in addition to a huge selection of nutrition and dietitian experts, on a corporate trip to get to know their newest developments in the war for a healthier on the go food.

From the get go I knew I was going to learn a lot. You never know what to expect when you hop on a plane to meet a bunch of strangers or the message they are going to be showing you, but when I flipped open the magazine on Delta and saw this front and center, I knew I was going to be at least in good hands:

After arriving in Columbus and the shock of the extreme weather change from 85 degrees to 45, we headed to the hotel and then out for the night to meet the Wendy’s crew and the other media experts that were present.

I was surprised to learn how many (non) mommy bloggers there were. In fact, most of the attendees were not bloggers at all! They were all sorts of amazing women that write books, host websites, and consult to companies regarding better ways to create their foods. We were all there to learn how Wendy’s does it and how they are doing their part to make fresher, better food for the consumers that love and choose Wendy’s.

When we first walked in to the presentation, I was the first person through the door.

Where I recognized Wendy.

The Wendy.

And the first thing out of my mouth was “I know you from the commercials!“

*head smack*

That’s OK, she used mommy bloggers in quotations so I consider us even.

(sidenote: Wendy was really sweet. You could tell she was passionate about what her dad built and her role as the official ambassador for the company. She was definitely approachable but still very in control and smart.)

So what did I learn?

My husband is in transportation so the art of getting products or people to places isn’t foreign to me. But applying that knowledge to food was a whole new thought process. When a company, specifically when a food company, wants to get FRESH food from place to place there are all sorts of considerations. Working with growers to provide food at specific times of the year, packing materials, and even something as specific as getting fresh artisan breads to 6500 stores is a true testament of their logistics department.

Here is a run down of the presentations we were given so you can check them out yourself:

• Kids Live Well Presentation
• Flatbread Grilled Chicken Sandwich Press Release
• Berry Almond Chicken Salad Fact Sheet
• Brand Transformation News Release
• Flatbread Grilled Chicken Sandwich Fact Sheet

What you can expect.

Within Wendy’s you can expect your beef to be from America and Canada.. The vegetables and fruit, are fresh never frozen, and are delivered many times to each store per week. The fresh fruit and vegis are prepped IN each store when delivered. For example, the lettuce comes in heads straight from a farmer and cut right there. They are never prepackaged or bagged.

You can also expect Wendy’s to have gone through some serious testing before you get the option on your menu. From rigorous employee testing, to outside research groups, and this advanced group of “super tasters”, the food you eat is whittled down to very specific flavors and textures:

We also did a taste test in private cubbyholes and answered questions as we ate.

Then they fed us again…and again. I stopped eating by 3rd meal.

And I probably had 3 Frostys. (No one said those were healthy….but they were so good)

[Read more...]

I want to thank CNN for allowing me an opportunity to share an opinion on national news, as well as Jessica Gottlieb for the referral. I have done many different media outlets as a mom blogger, but this was so different.

And so scary!

I shot the piece in a local PBS studio about 7am Sunday morning and the room was dark other than overhead lights. I couldn’t even see the camera man. I was sitting at a desk with a chair and had an earpiece. I could NOT see myself on any screen and I could not see anyone else I was talking to. It was simply listening in my ear and responding. I knew I was live so I was nerve racked.

Not seeing anyone made it hard to not break in with a point because you could not see gestures or pauses of the other speakers, so as you can tell I only spoke when spoken too.

I lost my train of thought about 10 times…but here is the segment. If it doesn’t show for you, you can go here to watch it.

 

 

My husband said I looked young.

And since I am 35 this month, I will take that as a compliment.

~Trisha

PS- We had a conversation on this Saturday on this blog post if you want to chime in (or of course you can on this post as well)

So yesterday Chris and I just gotten back from a quick trip to Pensacola because I was on CNN (more on that later), then we stopped by to see Grandma, and then ran into a few model homes cause we are looking for a new house, and THEN we drove the 2 hours home. It was a long day.

And then this happened….

Me:

A BOY speaks:

My brain lapses for a minute.

Then.

 

My daughter is 8.

8.

When I think of her, this comes to mind:

I put down the phone and whisper/yell to my spouse…IT’S FOR CHARLOTTE.

He immediately starts laughing. I am finding zero humor.

He goes to get her..she comes in and I tell her, causally, to take the call in my office because the reception is better. She takes the phone from me, walks through my office and out the back door and closes it.

With my phone.

Then she has a 4 minute conversation I cannot hear and because I trust her, I have to stay in the house and pace.

She comes back in.

“Charlotte, who was that?”

“William”

“What did he want?”

“I don’t know. To say hi I guess.”

“What did he ask you?”

“What I was doing. How the weekend is. I said I was standing in the backyard.”

“I think he has a crush on you.”

She gives me this look that totally means “mom, that is disgusting.”

(inside sigh of relief)

“Charlotte, you know you cannot hang out with boys till you are a teenager.”

“I know.”

Then she runs off to go watch some Disney movie.

I am still sitting here, a day later, asking myself is this when it starts?  I am still trying to figure out what Williams family was thinking when he said he was gonna call her. I could hear an adult in the background.

Do you think this OK? Am I old fashioned? Someone tell me this is totally normal.

~Trisha

 

 

 

First of all, cause I will be a voice on it…and that pretty much means watching me is celebrity by association.

Ok, maybe no.

But you have to admit its a pretty cool opportunity! Thanks to a great blogger friend referral, I am pleased to announce that I will be on CNN tomorrow morning discussing some huge topics going on in our society.

1) Plan B: We are discussing Plan B and if I believe it should be available to 12 year olds. (keep in mind that right now the law is 15 but is being challenged for younger/no age restrictions) You can read more here on that. Actually, I am still shocked about this.

2) Guns: After the gun given to the 5 year old in Kentucky whom shot his 2 year old sister, should we re-evaluate guns be marketed to kids?

I am not sure how you feel about these topics and to be honest, sometimes I find myself very circumstantial when talking about them. Myself and another blogger, Trudi Roth, will be arguing, I mean “debating” about it in the morning.

(actually I am kidding, I really hope we are not arguing, I think we are both too classy for that….I promised to leave my Romney 2016 shirt at home)

If you are brave enough to answer me on how you feel regarding those topics, please leave your opinion in the comments.

I am open to your thoughts so feel free to see if you can impress them on me before National TV.

 

~Trisha

Last week a big flame of controversy hit the blogosphere fan, as it always does, when everyone gets a little too comfortable or a little too bored out there on the Internets. I wasn’t surprised.  In fact, I was more surprised that it had taken this long for everyone to start up again on shills and worth of which I lovingly refer to as “crap on mom blogger week” once a year.

What I was actually a little taken aback about during the “Disney” controversy posts was that there was plenty of name calling and questions regarding “free” trips and relationships between bloggers and PR,  but very little attention to a more important central theme:

Personal Responsibility

It wasn’t until I read this post by Amy at ResourcefulMommy that it struck a chord with me and has compelled me to respond.  Amy’s post was good and I get what she is saying. I do not at all disagree with her sentiment. The original thought process dates back to a post I read by Jessica Gottlieb earlier in the week which contained some great food for thought as well (she has since removed her post, proving again what a classy blogger she is). They both penned statements regarding the delivery of the information we tend to share in public. Their point was if we only show the mimosas and drinking and fun times, it becomes an industry standard.  In other words, lasting first impressions.

I get that.

I really, really do.

Let me tell you a story. When I was in college cell phones were not the norm. In fact, when I first started college, my old school computer still had a black background and green text. Everyone was on AOL, chat rooms were a nightly thing, and blogs were on iVillage.  If someone wanted to take a picture of you, they had to take it, develop it, and if you were lucky, you would get a copy in the next year or two.  Had a camera been following me around in those formidable years sharing with my parents every time I ran to Miami when I should have been writing a paper, I may not have ever graduated.

But the problem for me isn’t the wild pictures, or the fun times, or the misunderstandings on the disseminated information that never should have been, it’s the fact that we, collectively as a group, cannot respect those around us and be responsible enough to just live and let live.  We have erased the lines that people draw between professional and personal and business vs life.

Instead, we take photos on the fly, make statements by the moment, and pass judgements in a glance.

Just because information is available, doesn’t mean we get an opinion.

 Over the years the advancement of technology and social sharing has encompassed our lives.  As a blogger I have embraced this sharing in a different way and one that has provided me with an exciting and lucrative business, all while allowing me to get out of the house and yes, away from the kids on occasion.  But the inherent nature of my job is not permission for someone to steal a photo to brand me.

I am not sure why everyone finds it socially or morally acceptable to write a post condemning someone publicly based on a personal thought.  When did we as people stop being able to recognize common decency?

Now, I admit that I have made this mistake personally.  Way back, I mean way back… and admittedly more than once.  I have been a blogger a long time so it was bound to happen at some point.

Specifically, what sticks out was when I wrote a largely circulated article called Are companies taking advantage of Bloggers?  I took an article that I read, got hopped up, and sent out my opinion across the net for additional judgements. What started out as what I perceived to be a simple complaint (rant if you will) about a company being wrong ended with me being wrong.  I spent a good amount of time really chastising Mr. Witt of General Mills and calling him “Mr. Dimwit”, which lead to Mr. Witt calling to personally discuss the situation.

As a result of that conversation, and a little bit of humbling on my end, I produced a secondary apology article in response. 

Why? Because, it was the right thing to do!  I took Personal Responsibility in the matter.  More importantly, I recognized that I had a responsibility to reach out to him before writing a scathing, name calling post.  I didn’t give him a chance to tell his side of the story to improve my understanding.

We need to take more responsibility as Bloggers

Over the years and in a very painful way I have learned what being responsible online means. I have learned how to work with companies as a professional, I have learned to respect those around me, and I learned to understand what integrity in an online community means.  WE as individual bloggers and/or a community are not exempted from applying common sense and decency in how we use (or dare I say manipulate) information just because an opinion or picture or video or personality is being shown to us in a feed, a tweet, a plus, or a pin.

There is a stark difference in a flame that is written to tear down a law, a movie critique, or even a celebrity criticism versus a personal attack.  And, when that personal attack lands inside a very public career field, the results can  have truly long lasting effects that are not just generated conclusions.

It is my opinion that the only real problem here isn’t the women having a drink from a sippy cup, or the mom that yes, goes to a conference to socialize, or even the call to a poster remake between PR and Bloggers at an event. The real problem is that somehow in this age of instant gratification we are responding without fear of consequence and without pride of ownership in who we are.  Freedom of speech is not freedom of consequence.

It is hard to navigate the changes the happen constantly in an online environment.  Relationships are complicated enough and certainly sitting behind a computer can up our confidence and alter how we would normally respond if we were face to face.  But it shouldn’t.

Ironically in the same breath that people flock to tear someone down in a public space, we also ask for support on bullying, understanding on controversial topics, and love on personal situations. The reality is that PR are part of our friendships, our business associates, and our community. We need to learn to respect them and respect ourselves in the same breath.

Marshall, if you are reading, I know I do not know you. We have never worked together. You may actually know me as the “girl who asked to removed from the email lists.” But in no way does the embarrassing and hurtful mess that engulfed you this week adequately portray how professional bloggers should be acting online. The growth that I have seen in the past 5 years has been nothing short of amazing and the bridges that have been forged between our two industries is solid. As someone that has made mistakes in the past with brands, businesses, and bloggers, let me be the first to truly apologize to you for how you were treated. 

CS Lewis once said that integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking.

But social integrity is doing the right thing when EVERYONE is looking.

~Trisha