October 2017 - Lollipops & Laptops

Working Mom Interview: Ria

On October 30, 2017

I was fortunate to meet Ria about ten years ago through family. I had an immediate girl crush on her. She’s bright, spunky, energetic, has a heart of gold, and seems to really know her way around this whole parenting thing. In a world, and particularly in a county, where we see more and more entitlement, selfishness, and meanness, she and her husband somehow are raising the most incredible, driven, gentle, loving, and respectful children. She’s a working mom with a career in a unique industry and she has a few additional years of parenting experience over me, so I was excited to pick her brain. Here’s what she had to say:

Getting Creative with Photo Books

By Keren

On October 26, 2017

In Play

I initially planned to write about how I’ve gotten away with throwing away all my kids’ crappy artwork by taking photos of them and turning them into photo books. And I have, in fact, done that. But every mom blogger out there is talking about this idea. It’s not a novel one. Instead, when I was organizing my photos and making sure they were backed up properly to the cloud, I realized I had an album’s worth of photos that were truly worthy of paying to put together into an album.

Good Vibes from Around the Web: October

By Keren

On October 23, 2017

In Series

This month has flown by and I can’t believe the holidays are fast approaching. After taking three trips in August and September, this month was about schedules, organizing, and making plans for the upcoming new year. Check out some of the intriguing and inspiring content from around the web this month that is satisfying my inner #girlboss, my wanderlust, and hitting on that mom life.

10 Unique Ways to Use PTO to Spend Time With Your Kids

By Keren

On October 19, 2017

In Play

We can’t always afford the time or the money to take a weeklong vacation with the family. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t utilize our time off. Historically, I always felt like I should just stock up on PTO if I’m not doing anything fun. But that’s a bad idea for two reasons: first, many companies, mine included, max out PTO and you stop accruing it if you don’t take it; second, the burnout struggle is real if you never take a day off. And what better way to use that time off than to spend a little quality time with the kids? Granted, it’s important to spend time taking care of yourself as well, but here are some unique ways you can use that PTO for some good old fashioned fun with your family, bank-breaking not included.

Legal Tip of the Month: Guide to Approaching Angel Investors

By Keren

On October 16, 2017

In Series, Work

Plenty of people start businesses that aren’t right for institutional investment but require additional funding to get to the next level. Angel investors are a great resource in that scenario. An angel investor, by definition, is a person who invests his or her own money into an entrepreneurial company. The term “angel” was originally used to describe investors in Broadway shows, but has since been expanded to general business. Unlike institutional investors like venture capitalists who invest other people’s money, angel investors are generally involved in the very early stages of a company and because they invest their own personal money, a typical angel invests less than $1 million. Below are some considerations when preparing to approach angel investors.

4 Ways to Find (or Reignite) Passion at Work

By Keren

On October 12, 2017

In Work

I’m an old Millenial, but I’m a Millenial nonetheless, so please spare me the eye roll when I talk about passion at work. As a rule, logic dominates my thought processes, so I never expected to find a day job that was a “dream job.” (Those expectations died with my dreams, in chronological order, of being an Olympic gymnast, an actress, and a sports broadcaster.) Still, as I’ve moved forward, backward, and sideways in my career, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that despite my general contentment in my work these days, I’m not “feeding my soul,” as one colleague put it. Determined not to be stuck in a rut, I’ve used these tactics to find passion at work even if I’m not living the dream:

How to Help Friends in Difficult Times

By Keren

On October 9, 2017

In Live

One of the realities of life is that bad things happen. With any luck, we can avoid these scenarios as much as possible. However, someone in your life will certainly experience unfortunate events, and it’s in these difficult times where we can shine the most as friends.

Monthly Challenge Recap: Workout Challenge

By Keren

On October 5, 2017

In Live, Series

I had been feeling a little defeated lately about having no energy and being out of shape. I’ve been thinking about it for months. So naturally, I waited until the very end of summer to decide I was going to challenge myself to follow a workout plan. I even planned to do it in August and then pushed it back thinking positive parenting was an easier challenge to stick to than this–and that is saying a lot!

I wanted this to be a story about how I successfully implemented just a few key exercises and made this lifestyle change for the better. It seemed so simple. But I failed. I totally, utterly failed at this challenge. And I honestly thought about either skipping this blog post or bullshitting my way through it, but in my pursuit of authenticity, here is my story of failure.

Crafts for the Un-Crafty Mom

By Keren

On October 2, 2017

In Play

True story: I am the least crafty person on the planet. Okay, well, maybe not, but I definitely rank in the lower-than-average realm. I am not a creative person and spending what little free time I have doing arts and crafts does not sound appealing. Nor does the post-craft cleanup. But we can’t spend every weekend day at the park or out somewhere, and I know that a little variety is good for my kids’ development and imagination. So reluctantly, I set out in search of easy, mess-free(ish) crafts that didn’t require a trip to a hobby store and that I was least likely to screw up. In addition to meeting my high standards of clean, interesting, and using on-hand items that I didn’t need to go out and purchase, I also needed to come up with things that could entertain a four-year-old and one-year-old at the same time. It was a tall order. Read on for a few of my attempts.

Lollipops & Laptops

The Sticky Life of a Working Mom

Month: October 2017

Working Mom Interview: Ria

Getting Creative with Photo Books

Good Vibes from Around the Web: October

10 Unique Ways to Use PTO to Spend Time With Your Kids

Legal Tip of the Month: Guide to Approaching Angel Investors

4 Ways to Find (or Reignite) Passion at Work

How to Help Friends in Difficult Times

Monthly Challenge Recap: Workout Challenge

Crafts for the Un-Crafty Mom

About Me

Keren

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