A photo journal comprised of my thoughts on motherhood and other life happenings, as well as some of professional work as a photographer. Southern California is home.
I have some wonderful sponsors as of late. Please help me in supporting my sponsors by showing them some love and support. Stop by, say hello. You can click on the photos below to be taken to their respective websites.
Want to read more about my decision to accept sponsors? Click here. Interested in sponsoring? Email me at ashley {at} thestorkandthebeanstalk.com.
-I sent my first email to my travel to Cuba dealer. It’s illegal to travel to Cuba from the US, but we did manage to find a legal way to go the first time we went. I refer to our helper as our dealer, cuz traveling is like a drug to me. It’s the first email in what I hope will be many.
-Got a free moment? I’d love your vote for The Dairy Queen award. I know, it makes me seem like either a frozen yogurt guru or a cow. I am neither. The lovely mom of Elliot that I donate my extra milk to nominated me for the award.
-When I was a young girl, I wanted so badly to be a mom. Well, really, I just wanted a baby. There was an old man that lived next door to us with his own children and grandchildren. He happened to have twin grandchildren. He’d walk them everyday and when he’d see me playing in the front yard, he’d proposition me in his heavy accent, “dollar for baby?”, and I’d run inside begging my mom for a dollar. I would have not brought this story up except for the fact some lady tried selling her 3 year old on Craigslist. You can read the story here. You have to admire her ingenuity. I mean if you buy can anything from a prostitute to a lamp on Craigslist, why not a baby? Or better yet, a toddler? There’s one way to combat the terrible twos/threes. Craigslist, for the win. And because you can’t win them all, she’s pregnant again.
-Listening to this record by Paul Simon over and over and over again. It’s one of my favorite records. It has some of my most favorite versions of some of my most favorite Paul Simon songs.
-When I googled “Why do moms”, the top three search results today are: 1. kill their children, 2. get postpartum depression, 3. eat the placenta. Yesterday, the top three were 1. yell, 2. do everything, 3. hate video games. It’s my new daily search. Perhaps “sell their children on craigslist” will creep up the ladder soon.
-I know, I know, I’m sharing a lot of trailer renovations. I’ve already alluded to my itchy feet, so what’s new? Check out this renovation. I wish I could smell that cedar through my computer screen. You better believe it made me pop on over to craigslist to find a baby for sale for a little hunt of my own. I may or may not have made a phone call and sent a couple emails.
-I received the sweetest gift in the mail, including a onesie similar to this, a shirt similar to this, and this cutie patootie badge similar to this, from Fritha. You can check out her etsy store here.
-Please welcome my two new sponsors: I’ve worked with Truly Sanctuary in the past and, though I know I shouldn’t be biased, Ron and Beth are two of my favorites. I have a girl crush on Beth. Homegirl is so funny. You must follow along on her instagram feed. I smell a Truly Sanctuary giveaway in the not-so-distant future. Also jumping on board is Melissa from Fawn Over Baby, a beautiful blog for all things baby. I love this nursery that she featured, especially the books in that vintage crate next to that little yellow chair… so cute. She also does fun style boards, like this one for tribal girl finds and this one for the little fellas. Her DIYs are also super sweet. Please help me in showing my sponsors some love. Stop by give em’ a virtual high five.
-Van’s teething. He’s got at least three teeth coming in. It hasn’t affected his sleep at night, but he wakes up crying and has been skipping some naps. Ho hum.
-Oh yes, and lastly, a plea. Votes over on Top Baby Blog have been reset. Care to take a second and click on the link below? I know, I know, broken record over here. Thank you all for your support. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
It’s December 1st and I don’t know about you, but Christmas has been looming over my head for the past week or so. It’s like a whole separate to do list: think of what to get people, go out and get it or order it online, wrap it, drop it off at the post office, think of what I want, think of what the kids need, decide on a Christmas card to send out, send out Christmas cards, buy a Christmas tree, decorate a Christmas tree. My mind is spinning, can you tell? Anyway, I’ve thrown out quite a few discount codes over the past month or so and I thought it’d be helpful to compile them all in one place to make online shopping a little easier. I hope these discounts are useful and that you can check a few people off your list from these awesome stores/companies below. There are some really cool people behind these stores/companies and I’m happy to support each and every one of them. So with no further adieu, get to shopping. And check some peeps off your list. It will feel so good, won’t it? I love putting that line through things. Or that check in the box. I’m really not a type A, but that sure makes me sound like one doesn’t it?
15% off from etsy seller Truly Sanctuary with coupon code STORKANDTHEBEANSTALK
I’m all kinds of excited today. We have a lovely giveaway and my first gif. I was showing off my gif capabilities to Willy who since has repeatedly made fun of me for pronouncing it like “gift” without the “t”, which according to him (and probably everyone else) is wrong. Schwhatever. I taught myself to gif (yes, it’s like a dance) and to that I say kiss my arse you phonetically gifted fools. I digress, we have a lovely giveaway from these two lovely people over at Truly Sanctuary. Say Hi to Ron & Beth, otherwise known as R & B but not to be confused with those that don’t see nothing wrong with a little bump and grind. Seriously, please give a little wave at your computer screens right now.
Truly Sanctuary has an array of designs to chose from. I’m talking everything from Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Gandhi (my apologies, Gandhi) and everything in between like Mr. T, Bob Dylan, and Woody Allen. Not to mention phrases like “My Beard Hurts”, “No Hablo”, and “I have tattoos”. And I can’t leave out Edward Scissor Hands, whom my dad refers to as Roger scissor fingers (seriously, that’s what he thinks his name is).
Truly Sanctuary has been kind enough to offer one of my readers any item of their choice. Choose wisely (wink wink). You can enter by visiting their store and leaving a comment below with the item you prefer. The winner will be announced next Monday. Please make sure your email address is valid so I can notify the winner via email. Good luck! And special thanks to Ron & Beth. You two are adorable and have one awesome store.
Should you not win the giveaway, Ron & Beth have been so kind as to offer a 15% discount off your entire order using the code STORKANDTHEBEANSTALK. So, if you don’t win, you still win. It’s a win-win people! Get to shoppin’, the holidays are coming!
