Goodies

A Graduation, A Birthday, and the End of Cancer Treatment

Judy Schwartz Haley — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:41:18 +0000

Sponsored Post: Shutterfly Announcement Celebration

We’ve got so much going on in our lives right now, so much to share with family and friends – and the rest of the world. Aaron is finishing up his Master’s Degree in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, that means we’ve got a graduation coming up real soon. It also means we’re going to move to a new apartment soon. Time to start thinking about packing.

Gem just turned two, and we still haven’t properly celebrated her birthday. I know she’s little and won’t even remember the party, but I’ve been forced to acknowledge my own mortality, and since then, I can’t bear the thought of missing even one of her birthday parties.

Then there’s me. I just hit a major milestone, the one year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. And I’m so close to completing treatment, I can almost taste it. If ever there was a reason to celebrate, a reason to shout the news from the rooftops, it’s successfully completing the marathon of cancer treatment.

I’ve been thinking about how to document this time in our lives. Of course there is the blog, but I mean something tangible. These years as college students, the first two years of my daughter’s life, my triumph over cancer – I want to make a little book to document each of these things, especially for my little girl. Something she can hold in her hand, and turn the pages. She loves books already, but this would make it so much more interactive and personal for her. To have a book about herself. To have a book about our years at the university. To have a book about her mother overcoming cancer. I can’t think of a better set of birthday presents for my daughter. Keepsakes she can cherish, but which are also relevant, and with which she can interact right now.

Baby Loves Books

Shutterfly provides a great resource for designing your own photo books and graduation announcements. Oh, I can see myself spending a lot of time on this site.

Are you a blogger, too? Click here to register for a chance at 50 free announcements!

This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Judy Schwartz Haley — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:06:40 +0000

I have completely fallen in love with pinterest.

Have a little too much free time on your hands? Need a new all-consuming obsession to suck up all your spare time?

Let me introduce you to the art of pinning on pinterest.

Pinterest is just one more of the oh so many different tools by which people are curating the web. What makes pinterest different is the visual focus.

fashion, makeup…

food,

nature

I come away from time spent browsing and pinning on pinterest feeling creatively charged and my head spinning with the most delicious images

feel free to friend me on pinterest. You can find me here: http://pinterest.com/coffeejitters/

Etsy Find: Bird in a Cage (Blue)

Judy Schwartz Haley — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:21:20 +0000

every once in a while, I stumble across something on etsy that is so lovely, it just makes me sigh.

I found this lovely print in the brown paper bag art shop

Five Fabulous (and Inspirational) Bloggers

Judy Schwartz Haley — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:23:50 +0000

Thanks to Trop 50 for sponsoring my writing about fabulous bloggers. This year Trop50 is granting 50 fabulous wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to help grant a friend’s wish!

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I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped in to Lucid Jazz Lounge for a book reading last night. A jazz lounge would not have been my first thought as a venue for selling and signing books, but it sounded interesting; the combination proved to be brilliant. I’m still a little giddy from the coolest book reading I have ever attended.

I was drawn to the event by one of my favorite blogs, Chookooloonks, written by Karen Walrond. Karen wrote the book that was featured last night, The Beauty of Different: Observations of a Confident Misfit. In a classic example of the way social media can enrich our lives and make things happen, last night’s event was the result of strangers meeting on Twitter. Karen tweeted that she was looking for suggestions on where she should promote her book. She got a response from Darrah Parker, who started her message with “you don’t know me, but…” and followed it with a suggestion that Karen present her book in Seattle, at a Jazz Lounge where Darrah’s husband’s band plays. Through a series of tweets, direct messages, and a real world meetup in Houston, where Karen lives, the plans that resulted in last night’s magic were set in place.

Backed by the oh-so-cool sounds of the Jason Parker Quartet, Karen read a collection of pieces from her book, and fielded questions from the audience in the band’s break between sets. When the band was playing on their own, people leaned back in their chairs, sipped their wine, nodding their heads to the beat, some even closing their eyes, while a quiet hum of conversation wafted through the room. When Karen took the stage, the band played on, but the energy in the room changed. People leaned forward and hung on her every word; conversation stopped. Eyes glistened, chemistry sizzled, and energy crackled in that tiny, packed lounge on the quiet end of the Ave.

When I was asked to write a piece highlighting 5 Fabulous Bloggers, my first thought was: piece of cake. Then I opened my RSS reader and, noting the 1274 subscriptions in there (no, I don’t read every post from every blog, but I do read quite a bit), I thought: wow, that’s a lot of cake. Every blog in that list speaks to me on one level or another. Some are written by personal friends, some are hilarious, some enlightening, some are political, some are breathtakingly beautiful, many informative on a wide variety of topics that fascinate me. How on earth was I going to identify five blogs to highlight from this extensive list? What criterion would I use to narrow the field?

I allowed these questions to tumble through my brain for a couple days as I went about my business. Then last night I left the Lucid Jazz Lounge so inspired, I knew exactly how I would select my 5 Fabulous Bloggers. There are a few blogs that I find inspirational. These are blogs that blow my mind on a regular basis. Blogs that make me stop and rethink my attitude or approach, not by preaching, but by simply drawing my attention to a little piece of beauty in the world that I was overlooking. These are blogs that remind me how good the world can be, and is. These are blogs that call me to action, blogs that lead me to get up and do something to better my world, even if it’s just grabbing my camera and taking another shot of my daughter. These are blogs that remind me that the world is made up of individuals, and every individual change makes a difference. These are blogs that quicken my pulse and set my brain spinning with ideas, that make me believe that anything is possible and that I, too, can make a difference. And I can. And will. Just you watch me. Better yet, come join me.

Goodness, am I still high from last night? I’ve become a bit of a lightweight lately, and one glass of wine carries me much farther than it used to…

Well, anyway. Onward.

Five Fabulous (and Inspirational) Bloggers

Karen Walrond, writer of Chookooloonks. Revealing, heartwarming, challenging, funny, gorgeous photos – I always leave this blog with a smile on my face. Check out random thoughts: an experiment – applying successes in journaling to the rest of life.
Meredith Winn, writer of the~spirit~of~the~river. Parenting, poetry, and prose, studded with stunning photos. Check out Walk the Walk – on relating to her son.
Tara Austen Weaver, writer of Tea and Cookies. Food. Stories. Recipes. and the most amazing photographs. Tara is also the author of The Butcher and the Vegetarian: One Woman’s Romp through a World of Men, Meat, and Moral Crisis. Check out Winter Survival: Morning Rituals – “Because I’ve been here a while, I know this is the time I year I need help—a little boost to make sure I stay on track. This is the time of year I need my rituals.”
Britt Reints, writer of Miss Britt: In Pursuit of Happiness. What does it mean to be happy? This lovely blog is, in her own words, “about happiness. Defining it, finding it, and hanging on to it.” And if that’s not interesting enough, she and her husband and kids are selling off all their belongings, buying an RV, and setting off on an exploration of the country. I’ve always wanted to do this. Maybe someday we will. Check out Choosing Quality over Quantity – at first glance, the concept of quality over quantity is a no-brainer for me, but I had not considered this principle in regards to relationships.
Gwen Bell, writer of GwenBell.com. It’s difficult for me to put my finger on why I read Gwen Bell. Some of her best writing has touched on losing her mother to cancer at a young age. As a woman with both breast cancer and a young daughter, these posts can cut a little too close for comfort, sometimes I even skip right past them. I’ll read them when I’m ready. The bulk of her blog covers social media, technology, yoga, and meditation. And it’s brilliant. Check out Life Planning: The Heart Behind Systems – This meditation on systems was just what I needed.

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Don’t forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to support a friend’s wish. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.

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Goodies is my review blog. I am occasionally paid to share my opinion on a variety of topics on this blog, but the opinion is always entirely mine. If you’d like to read my regular blog or learn more about me, you can find me at CoffeeJitters.Net.

My Dream Vacation

Judy Schwartz Haley — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 22:24:39 +0000

Sponsored By

Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine, Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.

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There is a land on the other side of the world that I have longed to visit for years. Slightly larger than the state of Alaska, this country has a sea to the North and a sea to the South, and is one of the most mountainous regions in the world. The climate ranges from lush rain forests to desert, and is home to a metropolis of more than seven billion people along with many tiny, remote villages.

My chances of getting to visit this beautiful country are rather slim, our governments do not get along very well, but it is possible, and it remains at the top of my list of dream vacations.

The country I’m talking about is Iran.

There is so much that is good and beautiful about the country, the culture, and the people of Iran, but too many Americans have been feed misinformation that is compounded by assumptions and exaggerations. This results in a collective idea about a country that is quite different from reality.

My husband started learning Farsi (the language of Iran) ten years ago. He is currently finishing up a Master’s degree in the Near Eastern Language and Culture, with a focus on modern Iranian literature. All these years of study have led us to meet so many Iranians and Iranian-Americans, many of whom we now count as friends. A trip to Iran would mean so much to us, as well as lend additional credibility to his Masters Degree.

As a fun way to support his studies I learned to cook Persian food. Oh, my goodness, the food. The food is wonderful. My favorite dish is called fesenjan, it’s chicken stewed in a velvety gravy of pomegranate and walnuts. It’s almost chocolaty. The national dish is called chelo keabab, which is ground beef massaged with a lot of finely ground onion and then packed on a long thin metal utensil that looks like a sword and grilled. Chelo kebab is served with buttery rice and grilled tomatoes. They eat it with the same kind of frequency that we eat hamburgers.

I have heard so many stories of this country over the years, I can’t wait to see it with my own eyes. I would be so honored to be able to experience the culture first hand.

I would start with Tehran, the capital city and the 27th largest city in the world. I want to visit the beautiful 16th Century Golestan Palace, the Archaeology Museum and the Carpet Museum (I could spend hours looking at Persian Rugs).

I would definitely want to visit Bam, a fortified medieval town built on a desert oasis which was once a crossroads on the silk road. An earthquake six years ago put this entire structure at risk, so it would be better to see this World Heritage Site sooner than later.

Isfahan is the romantic city full of palaces, covered bridges, gardens, boulevards, and gorgeous Islamic architecture,where many Persians honeymoon. I would love to spend a week just relaxing riverside.

So who would travel with us on this trip? My husband of course, and I would definitely take my daughter. There are other places in the world that I would not take my daughter, but I would definitely bring her along to experience Iran.

Where would you go on your dream vacation?

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Don’t forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Decorating the Nursery

Judy Schwartz Haley — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:31:32 +0000

My daughter’s nursery is still a bit of a mess, I’m afraid. But it is slowly tipping away from a storage room and more towards a little girl’s room. Now we just have to find a place to put all the goodies we had been storing in her room.

Since my daughter’s birth, I’ve had something of a garden party/butterfly theme in mind as I decorate the room. For some reason, nearly all the gifts we received for her that were decor related (blankets, sheets, stuffed animals… ) were in some shade of green. Many, many different shades of green. It bothered me for a while that the shades of green did not coordinate well, until I realized that there were so many different greens, at some point they stopped clashing and pulled together like a family. I didn’t plan the green theme, in fact the colors on my registry were pink and brown, but the green works well with my garden party/butterfly idea. I’m also trying to pop in bright spots of pink here and there throughout the room as well.

There is one wall over the guest bed that is completely bare. I’ve been puzzling for months on what to hang in that spot. Nothing seemed quite right. That is, until I came across these wall decals by Toodles Design Studio.

photo property of Toodles Design Studio

No, they are not exactly butterflies. But that’s alright. They still fit with the garden party theme, and I think they are lovely and whimsical and perfect for my little girl’s room.

Legal Mumbo Jumbo: I was in no way compensated by Toodles Design Studio for writing this post..

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Recently on CoffeeJitters.Net: Doris McKinley

Beauty is only skin deep

Judy Schwartz Haley — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:11:37 +0000

this quick video by Dove is an excellent reminder of just how artificial our standards of beauty are.

Halloween Mary Janes for baby

Judy Schwartz Haley — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:35:34 +0000

These little Halloween/spider web baby booties I found in the DesignCreateEnjoy Etsy shop made my heart go squee! and reminded me that my daughter doesn’t have nearly enough orange in her wardrobe. Such a happy color.

Dee & Lala

Judy Schwartz Haley — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:08:46 +0000

The letterpress stationery and wall prints by Dee & Lala are just exquisite to me.

But what really caught my attention was this wall clock, or as they call it, the Peaclock.

recently on CoffeeJitters: Dear Gem

Polka dots, pink bows, and skulls

Judy Schwartz Haley — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:09:42 +0000

Anyone who has met my soon-to-be Sister-in-law Mel, would understand that I have just found the perfect dress for my daughter to wear to her wedding.

Polka dots, pink bows, and skulls.

I just love the out of the ordinary things I can find on Etsy.