Welcome to Queen Mother Blog! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Sometimes sisters don’t look anything like each other.  In “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” the story revolves around a pair of sisters that are as different in personality as they are in appearance.  This has always been the case with me and my sister Jessica.

My sister is 5 years older than me (sorry Jess!) and she is almost my complete opposite in appearance.  We have completely different face shapes, noses, body frames and even opposite hair.  Hers is light, straight and fine, mine is dark, kinky and thick.  Every time people meet both of us for the first time we get asked the same inadvertently rude questions: “are you real sisters?” and/or  “are you FULL sisters?”

What also stands out to people are our very different personalities.  Jessica is outgoing, friendly and sociable, while I tend to be “an acquired taste” ;)   When we were children (and still actually) we had completely opposite hopes for gifts–Jess wanted to open hundreds of small presents, while I didn’t mind receiving only one expensive item.

There was certainly not much we had in common growing up and we didn’t always get along.  Now that we are older and have families there are quite a bit more things we have in common, but she remains completely alien to me at times.  Sometimes I look at the differences between me and my siblings (I have a brother too) and I wonder how we all could have grown up in the same house with the same set of parents.  I’m sure most families are like that, no?

In “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” Natasha is the beautiful sister and Sonja is the bookish one, and I’m sure you can tell that I naturally related more to Sonja.  If you haven’t picked up on this yet, my sister was always considered the attractive one out of the two of us girls.  I can still remember one middle school classmate of mine (who I still can’t help but think of as such a jerk) and his pudgy face uttering: “Why can’t you look more like your sister?”  How nasty, right?  But I think that I developed a thicker skin because of that.  I don’t know if I could ever be a tough-as-nails surgeon like Sonja (I’m a blood-phobe) but I’m happy with my tougher personality as a result ;)

Disclosure:  This post was inspired by the novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra.  In war torn Chechnya, a young fatherless girl, a family friend, and a hardened doctor struggle with love and loss.  Join From
Left to Write
on May 20 as we discuss Anthony Marra’s debut novel.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for

review purposes.

{ 13 comments }

If you know me, you know that I love yard sales.  I also love flea markets, antique shops, estate sales and generally anywhere I feel like I could snag something unique and awesome.  You might even remember that I collect vintage pottery, and those finds always make me the happiest.

Well the last few weeks there have finally been some good sales around, plus last week we managed to oversleep and missed church (whoops!) and went to the Columbus Flea Market, where my in-laws had a table.  So while Marc and the kids hung out with his parents I actually had a few minutes of uninterrupted shopping time and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it was heavenly.  I didn’t manage to buy a ton, but this is what I ended up with from the flea market:

Don’t try to find my reflection in that pot, creeper ;)

The pot on the left is a Hull brown drip bean pot– I am trying to cheaply amass a collection of Hull brown drip pottery so we can use that as our everyday dishes.  Yes, people like to make passive aggressive comments about how “seventies” it is, but I love it.  I spied this lid-less pot on a very bored man’s table and I asked him “no lid?” and he said “no, but you can have it for a dollar.” Ding!  I was furiously digging out a dollar and then he looked disappointed like maybe he should have asked for more.  Booyea!

Then, I walked around a few more tables and found that brown drip cookie jar and loved it.  It only has “USA” marked on the bottom.  It’s definitely not Hull, and it’s also not McCoy, I don’t know what it is.  But they wanted $10 for it, and I managed to haggle my way down when I commented on how it “really doesn’t match” the pot I just bought, and then the seller said “well how much did you pay for that?”  And when I told her $1 I guess she realized I wasn’t going to pay $10.  Bing, $5!

While I was walking around I found this really awesome huge drum:

But the sellers wanted $75 for it, and that was too much for me.  They told me how they used it for a coffee table, and that’s naturally what I was thinking of using it for, wouldn’t this be cool as a playroom coffee table?  But, I didn’t get it.  It was pretty rad though.

So just when I thought we weren’t buying anything else at the flea market, we were on our way out when we spotted this:

I thought it would be really cute for our entryway, where we currently had this little telephone table.  Marc wasn’t sold right away, and the guy wanted $50, but after he agreed to take $40 we got it.  On our way out everyone was oohing and ahhing over it and I think that helped boost Marc’s opinion of it.  Now it’s in our entryway and looks really cute.  Plus it’s the perfect size for putting laundry baskets on (does anyone else make their husband carry up the laundry?  I might just be really lazy).  It needs a new coat of white paint, but I love it.

Flash forward to this week and there was a large community yard sale near us.  Last year we were pretty unlucky with this particular town sale, but we thought we’d give it a try, mostly because a friend was having a bake sale and I donated some lemon cookies and thought we’d stop by and support it.  We turned out to find some cute stuff and it was all for less than $20!

We have been on the hunt for a chair for a sweet little desk Rayna has in her room that my sister gave me.  I painted it bright green and it’s adorable, but it just needs a chair.  You’d be amazed how hard it is to find the right sized chair, at a decent price.  They had this for $10, we got it for $8 and now it’s another project for me to paint.  I think we’ll paint it dark pink.

My picture is lame, but this wood & silver tray is really cool.  The lady who sold it to us (for $3) told us that her mother in law used to store decanters on it.  I don’t know what we’ll do with it, but it looks cool.

This is another purchase that might suggest that I entertain more often than I actually do, but for $1 I couldn’t pass it up.  It is mid-century pottery at its cutest: a leaf tray with three little condiment jars (only 2 spoons, womp womp) and my favorite part–a little flower bud toothpick holder.  I love this, and hey it was $1.

At our last stop, which was a big church sale (thank God for them–no pun intended–because 5 year olds can really put a damper on a big yard sale day when they “just can’t hold it anymore” and the church is offering potty facilities) there were tables and tables of pure junk.  Like hideous mugs, ancient and now useless kitchen tongs, etc.  and then I found that brown mug, which might look hideous to you, but I love it!  It is an old pottery type called Mar-crest daisy and dot, and as you can see I already have that bowl (and some other things) and this mug was just yelling to me for a quarter!

So while I regaled Marc with my quarter find, what to my wondering eyes should appear?  A dirty little McCoy vase for a buck!  I washed it up & promptly stuck it on my shelf:None of this stuff is “worth” a lot, even the McCoy is a Floraline vase, which is generally worth much less than my usual ones, but they made me very happy. :)   I hope this has inspired you to get out and start trolling some yard sales, or at least not make passive aggressive comments about my dish choices ;)

{ 3 comments }

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco. I was sent a Fast Action Fold ClickConnect Jogging Stroller to try.  All opinions are my own.

Despite my rather lazy attitude, I sometimes do workout. Lately, this even involves running. But I confess: I have never used a jogging stroller. Umbrella yes, Sit & Stand yes, Travel System yes. Jogger…no. So when I was approached about an opportunity to try the new Graco Fast Action Fold ClickConnect Jogging Stroller (say that five times fast) I was very excited, because now I would have no excuse not to strap baby Marc in my awesome new piece of equipment and hit actual streets.

He was game to try it out as soon as I put it together

When the enormous package landed on my doorstep, I unpacked it all (the stroller came with an infant car seat that fits in it “ClickConnect” style.  I am saving it, ahem.)  While my small people went to town on the cardboard box, I put it together in about ten minutes.  By myself.

I can’t brag too much that I am a big dummy when it comes to putting things together, because in my life, I have to put everything together.  Marc is either not around when I need something, or he just doesn’t have the mind for assembly.  But I can really assure you that putting it together was super easy.  You don’t need any tools, you just snap in a wheel here, snap on a tray there, and you’re done.

Putting it together was easy, and as the name implies, folding it closed is easy.  In order to close it the “fast action fold” just requires you to pull up on a red handle in the seat.  Just pull up the handle and the stroller doubles in half.  The best part (which you’ll realize is the best part when you’ve had a stroller that doesn’t do this) is that once it is closed it stands up on its own.  So while you’re jockeying the stuff in your trunk trying to make room for your stroller, it’s not crashing down and getting scratched on the pavement.

So, since our weather has been so rottenly cold, I put the stroller together and then I did not open it until it was time to attend our blogger event.  We attended a blogger event last week at the beautiful Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse.  Side note:  if you are in the Philadelphia area and have children, this place is a must visit.  It is right near the Zoo, tucked back in a park, and it is gorgeous.  There is a mansion full of toys, a huge wooden slide and a playground of children’s dreams.

Our mission for the event was to try out our new strollers with the help of the women from Stroller Strides of Cherry Hill.  It turned out to be a beautiful weather day, and we were all excited to see each other and work out.  Maybe not that last part as much, but I would try it ;)

We lined up on the grass in front of the beautiful mansion

There was terrible traffic coming into the city from Jersey (I’ve learned to never take the Ben Franklin Bridge early in the morning, doh) so our fitness gurus were a little late to the scene and by the time we were beginning our workouts the kiddies were beginning to riot that we were trying to exercise while there was a fantasy land behind them.  Oops!  Luckily I will be doing most of my jogging stroller use with Marc while in less kid-idyllic surroundings.  Still, I got quite sweaty from the workout which uses your kids totally strapped in the stroller (so no excuses!).

I’m excited to get outside and (pathetically attempt to) run with Marc while Rayna is at school.  My two favorite features on the stroller are the trays.  The parent tray has a closed box (so you can put your keys inside and not worry about them bouncing out) and a really nifty clip to keep your smartphone locked into the stroller (either landscape or portrait, if you’re picky).  The child tray is key for storing lots of food and drink for the journey.  I heard one mom in my MOPS group mention that she feeds her son lunch in the jogging stroller while she works out so that he’s more occupied.  I thought that was a great idea since those of us with older babies hear a lot more “complaining” from the passengers when they are big enough to get out and run around themselves.

For those of you with smaller babies, the infant seat allows you to transfer your sleeping babe from car to stroller and back again without interfering with naptime.  I wish I had that two years ago!

Graco’s NEW jogger is the ultimate crossover stroller, combining all the comfort and convenience features of a traditional stroller (FastAction Fold and Click Connect Technology) with performance and maneuverability of an all-terrain jogger.

As an added bonus, Graco’s innovative one-second, one-hand FastAction™ fold automatically locks & is self-standing.

This post is sponsored by Graco.

{ 2 comments }

The 5:2 diet that I’m doing (that’s not really working)

April 24, 2013

We’re pretty much eating more asparagus than ever before I mentioned the diet that I was starting a while ago, and I feel like I need to finally talk about it here.  The problem?  Well, I haven’t lost, like, ANY weight.  Ok, so I am officially down 1.5 lbs but that is over MANY weeks. [...]

Read the full article →

The Spring into Summer fashion Mom Mixer in Philadelphia

April 18, 2013

This weekend I attended the newest Social Media Mom Mixer event, hosted again by Colleen & Whitney.  You may recall that I went to their inaugural Mom Mixer which was more toy-focused.  This time, the headlining sponsor was Lands’ End and the event was more about Spring/Summer fashion. Instead of trekking into the city by [...]

Read the full article →

It’s consignment sale season again!

April 4, 2013

  I’ve talked (literally, cause it was a vlog) about shopping the kids’ consignment sales before, but here I go again, writing a post about what I scored.  Why is it that women love to share what they buy?  I remember my mom and sister always elaborately displaying their purchases for anyone who would listen, [...]

Read the full article →

Snapping out of the blog funk

March 20, 2013

So, it’s been the longest hiatus in the history of my blog, and I only have one reason: busy-ness & tiredness. Okay, so that’s two reasons. As you probably could’ve correctly assumed, we were at Disney for our vacation. Then we came home and had all the usual post-vacation nonsense, plus Rayna’s birthday extravaganzas, and [...]

Read the full article →

#Vlogmom – Are you into your heritage?

February 21, 2013

This week’s Vlogmom topic is actually one that I asked.  I want to know what your family background is, if you’re interested in genealogy at all, and then why or why not.  Ok, does that sound a bit pushy and also like a potential topic for a very long high school essay?  Don’t answer that, [...]

Read the full article →

Is it time for Disney yet?

February 20, 2013

Yeah, so.  I am still having a terrible case of “can’t think about anything except my impending vacay” coupled with a random bout of strep throat (baby Marc of all people!  And they say babies don’t get strep…).  I feel like I haven’t had that much to say and then I realized that I promised [...]

Read the full article →

Book club: “Saturday Night Widows” & morbid things I do

February 13, 2013

I know that everyone thinks about death from time to time.  But I feel like I think about it more than others.  It’s not secret that I have lots of anxiety, so maybe that’s why–it seems like it goes hand in hand. Well, I’ve always been sentimental.  I place a lot of emotional worth on [...]

Read the full article →