Events | Redhead Ranting

Earth Day 2011

Filed under Events, How Did We Survive? by Jen on April 22, 2011 at 10:40 am {31 comments}

Today is Earth Day, 2011!

Yesterday my daughter and I watched the National Geographic special The Human Footprint. We’d watched it when it first aired a couple of years ago but because my daughter is learning how to conserve energy we watched it again.

I was amazed at the amount of things we use daily in our lives that get thrown away. Just the part about washing all our beauty products down the drain was an eye opener.

So I got curious and went into my bathroom to count all the various products I use on a regular basis. Things like soap, shampoo, lotion, nail polish, deodorant, make-up (there are tons of products there) and hair care products (even more in this group). I counted 19 products I use every day! And I am sure there are many more that I don’t use daily but certainly weekly like nail polish, nail polish remover (I use these every Saturday during the Tribal Blogs Slumber Party), foot cream, hand sanitizer, eye drops, face masks, and the list just goes on and on. Worst, most of those products get washed off at the end of the day and end up in our rivers.

So here is my question, how many products do you use each day?

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I Finally Met Some Bloggers in Real Life!!

Filed under Events by Jen on March 23, 2011 at 3:55 pm {27 comments}

Image via Wikipedia

I’m not a blog virgin anymore!

It took me four years but I finally met some other bloggers in real life. This past Sunday I had brunch at the marvelous Santorini with Anne from Small Town Mommy, Kat from Tenaciously Yours and Stephanie from Stephanie In Suburbia. It was so much fun to meet these lovely ladies in person and talk shop over a meal that someone else cooked and cleaned up after.

After the amazing meal I took Anne to get her first tattoo. We’d discussed the whole thing over Facebook the night before and to my surprise she went through with it. I had talked to the tattoo people the night before and though their website said they don’t allow cameras in the shop they said I could take a video of Anne getting her first tat. When we got there it was a different story completely. The wouldn’t allow me to take video or still shots. I mentioned that I was a blogger and had called the night before but they held fast to their policy. It’s really too bad because it would have been fun to show you Anne getting her tat and even more fun to show all the crack heads that were in the store looking to get a tramp stamp or two.

Anne promises me that as soon as she gets back home she will send me some pictures but last I looked she was stuck in Detroit.

It was great fun meeting everyone. The idea that we can meet in real life opens up a whole new world for me and makes me think it’s time to go shopping for something other than sweat pants and t-shirts. With the conference coming this summer, where I am going to be meeting tons of awesome bloggers, it’s time to look a little more put together.

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We’re Taking The Metro Dentalcare Two Week Challenge to Brighter Smiles!

Filed under Events by Jen on March 21, 2011 at 9:51 am {14 comments}

Yep, we are up to the challenge. Metro Dentalcare is challenging Minnesota families to brush their teeth twice a day for two minutes each day. Sounds easy enough but if you have kids, getting them to brush their teeth can be a challenge in itself. Metro Dentalcare has given me this awesome care package to help me get my kids to brush their teeth.

As you can see I will soon have a post about the timer falling into the drain.

Metro Dentalcare is challenging Minnesotans to take the time to ensure their kids are brushing their teeth for the recommended two minutes each time they brush and to make it more enticing they are offering up two sets of four pack tickets to a Minnesota Twins game and to make it really easy all you have to do is leave a comment telling me you are up to the challenge. There are 8 Minnesota bloggers offering this challenge so leaving a comment here does not ensure one of my readers will win the tickets, though the odds are still pretty good. Sorry this is only open to Minnesotans unless you plan on traveling here for the game.

There are many ways you can get your kids to brush for two minutes, have them sing a song, use a timer (like the one that will surely be in my drain soon) or use a light up toothbrush. I don’t recommend the child who is brushing to sing the song as that might make brushing a little difficult.

I was sent two care packages, one for each kid, but when I mentioned it to the 18 year old he gave me this look that said I must be crazy if I thought he would use a light up toothbrush or a timer. He’s 18, if he doesn’t know how to brush his teeth I can’t make him. Though I suppose I could take the car away if he doesn’t.

So, are you up to the challenge?