From Facebook: “Co-Creators, Leane Vandeman (@leevandeman) and Ciaran Blumenfeld (@momfluential) are working with a major Los Angeles-based production company to develop this unscripted series.” Hmmm. And wow. Pretty exciting. I’ve seen the competition. They are, as Nigel on So You Think You Can Dance says, “without question,” pretty fierce. And yet here I am at the 11th hour posting my own submission.

Why should I be one of the castmembers? I think it’s pretty simple: I have very strong opinions and I’m not afraid to share them. And yet I’m also very likable, I think, once you get to know me. People seem to like me — unless they’re all faking. Plus, I have been told I am a great listener with a heart of gold. I’ve also had lots of dramatic stuff happen to me. (I’ve got stories, people! Child of a widowed mother, sad childhood, engagement to an abusive idiot I broke up with, finding the man of my dreams online before there was the Web or AOL or even CompuServe, battling to stay together through our issues.) No, I don’t have a poof like Snooki or a propensity to get arrested like Lindsay Lohan, but just Saturday I yelled at a teenager for throwing a cigarette butt out her car window, and I have the ability to create a poof ala Snooki. (Lots of hair!) And there’s the whole come from nothing to make something of myself.

I’m also well-educated, have ridiculously adorable kids, a husband with a non-life threatening health issue (we’re going to go for operation number five in October), and lots of really interesting friends. And yes, I’ve been on TV before. A bunch of times, actually. For example, earlier this month on News 12. I work full time. I blog. I balance it all. I’ve been happily married for a long time. And I am staunchly committed to being green. And I’ve got lots of failings. I am, as I have mentioned many times before, a work-in-progress.

I started this blog as a mirror for myself. A way to figure out what works and what doesn’t. It was also a place to give myself permission to fail and make mistakes. I am incredibly hard on myself. Always have been. So while I don’t have a book deal and I haven’t been quoted in a New York Times article — hey, I’ve written a bunch of them, though — I think I connect on many levels with my readers. Even companies coughpeopleandcompaniesIamoutragedaboutcough read and post to my blog. Sometimes they are mad. I know I could do the same on TV. My final thoughts? You could do a lot worse, @leevandeman and @momfluential! So I hope you’ll at least give me a look as your girl-next-door, perfectionist greenie.

For those who are unfamiliar: BlogHer is a conference for women all about blogging. It’s a chance for a few thousand women to get together, talk about the business and craft of blogging. And maybe even meet a few sponsors and corporate folks who are looking to tap mommy bloggers who are — no surprise — extremely influential. (A recent MediaPost research brief even sliced and diced the mom blogger pool into subcategories of influencers.)

I missed the sign-up, but I was on a waiting list. A waiting list ticket came up, but I didn’t check my throw-away email fast enough and the link expired. I emailed the powers that be at BlogHer and explained what happened. Arggg. The wrote back and sent me another sign-up link. I had it on my to-do list to sign up but real work got in the way and I forgot. Sigh. So now I am without a ticket to an event that I desperately want to attend.

There are a ton of people running contests right now giving away BlogHer tickets. Most want you to follow them, Like them on Facebook, tweet about them, sign up for their RSS feeds, comment on their blogs, sign away rights to your first born grandchild…you get it. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to get those free tickets. (And drat to all of you bloggers who were smart enough to buy an extra ticket to give away essentially snatching tickets out of my grimy little hands!) It’s just too much for me to go through.

I was able to find one contest that I was SO on board with at Blog Conference Newbie until I realized I didn’t qualify. It is a $2,000 sponsorship gig with Energizer. I started reading the post. It would be so cool, I thought. The product that it asks you to shill for– a new Energizer Recharge Smart Charger — is something I could stand behind. Heck, it’s something that is totally in my bailiwick. It’s an ENERGY STAR-certified battery charger for two or four AA or AAA NiMH batteries. I’m all ABOUT the rechargeable batteries. We own Energizer rechargeable batteries already. (The new one does what sounds like a trickle charge to extend the life of the batteries as well as provide a charging gauge — how long it will be until the batteries are fully charged — and how much charge they have left.) How amazing would a product sponsorship like that be for me, Ms. Natural as Possible, who has been recharging or recycling batteries forever? But, alas, I don’t qualify for that one, either because you have to be registered already to win the sponsorship. Note to Energizer: Hey, Energizer! How about adding a sponsorship that includes a ticket, too?

And so now I am back to square one. I am already signing up for a bunch of the parties and PR stuff that’s going on the evenings of the show. I can’t wait to meet some of the fellow bloggers I already feel like I know via Twitter and their blogs. Still, I want to get into that conference. Any ideas?

Over the years I’ve kept my toe (okay, right now it’s an entire leg) in the technology waters writing and editing for business and trade pubs, but the reviews slowed down. And yes, I’ve also kept writing for women’s magazines, but the stories are more likely to be about weird toddler habits than which sippy cup is best. Yes, I’ll admit it: I miss the rush of writing a review.

There’s nothing like being able to dissect a product, explain why I like it and what missed the mark. This is why — next week — I will launch reviews. I am committing to at least one review a week, although knowing myself that will balloon up quickly. I’ll have themes, of course. We’ll have Mommy Mondays for toys, baby- and kid-related items, Tech Tuesdays for — what else — technology and consumer electronics reviews — Whatever Wednesdays, which is my catch-all category and Foodie Fridays for food-related items. My first review will be for a reusable diaper. And now on to this week’s Favorite Things…

Yummly.com. This site sounds amazing. (And I intend on reviewing it, actually.) It’s a recipe site that, like Netflix, “learns” the types of recipes you like and makes suggestions based on past usage. With more than 500,000 recipes and a Universal Recipe Box that helps you tweak ingredients, this site may become the answer to this week’s blog post question: What’s for dinner?

Sunnygram.com. This is another one I can’t wait to review. So my mom is okay when it comes to technology. Okay, but not great. She’s not on Snapfish or anything like that. This site lets you upload all your photos and create — get this — a printed color newsletter that features all your pictures. I think it will be amazing for anyone who likes to write Christmas letters or someone who, for example, might be getting married and want to keep everyone up-to-date on the planning.

StorySnoops.com. I really, really love this idea. And yes, I will be reviewing it. So my Big Girl is only in first grade. (Gulp, second now, I guess!) But she’s reading on a fifth grade level. Finding books that challenge her but don’t introduce topics and subjects that I am just not ready to discuss is a chore. This site provides book reviews from a parent’s perspective. Will I, as I learned on the fly when we were reading Superfudge, have to skip an entire chapter about Santa Claus? (Thank goodness we were reading that one together!) I never knew. This site will help me answer that question, I hope!

Hope you have a great weekend! As usual we have ten parties and five events to run to. But I still plan on relaxing a bit. How about you?

Kenneth Cole sells shirts to support the Gulf cleanup efforts.

I have a big problem with plastic. It’s everywhere. Everything we buy — even at environmentally-conscious stores — is wrapped in it. Bread comes in plastic bags. Cereal is in a box. Inside the box: a plastic bag. Most cheese is wrapped in plastic. Even the paper milk cartons we use are lined with plastic. Very disheartening. It was making me really sick. With everything going on in the world today couldn’t I find a way to reduce my plastic use? Which brings me to my first Favorite:

PlasticBagRecycling.org. This site is where I found out I could recycle, “grocery bags, retail bags (hard plastic and string handles removed), paper towel and toilet paper plastic wrap, plastic newspaper bags, plastic dry cleaning bags and all clean, clear bags labeled with a #2 or #4.” Oh, and bread bags, Ziplock bags, potato bags, and others. Sweet. I was able to search for drop-off locations in my area, too.

Of course, there are other types of plastic that weren’t covered on the above site, which led me to my next Favorite:

1-800-RECYCLING.com. This site is wonderful. You click on the type of plastic (using the number on the bottle or packaging) you want to get rid of, enter your Zip code and receive a list of where you can take your junk. And it’s not just for plastic, either. You can also search and find drop off locations for electronics, paper, glass, metal, automotive, yard, household and hazardous waste, too. (Who knew Target takes Plastic #2?!?)

Once I get rid of all the plastic in my house I’ll need to tackle all the piles and piles of clothing I have. Especially since my little girl is outgrowing stuff and my husband is tossing a lot of his unwanted work clothes. I needed a place to get rid of everything in an eco-friendly way. Enter my next Favorite:

Bigwardrobe.com The site, which is finally making its way to the U.S., is part Craigslist and part eBay. Dedicated to clothing as well as a limited number of household items, you set a price, upload photos and sell. You can also find really nice stuff to buy. Right now most of the items are located in Europe, but it’s worth browsing around. Buying on the site is free; it will cost you one euro to sell, however.

And speaking of clothing: my last Favorite is from a press release I got via e-mail. Kenneth Cole is raising money for Gulf cleanup by selling t-shirts. All of the net profits will go directly to AWEARNESS, The Kenneth Cole Foundation, which is committed to supporting the Gulf efforts. They come in 14 colors and 12 slogans. (Cute and poignant: “We Can All Clean Up Well,” and “I Clean Up Well,” are two of the 12.) They are a little pricey at $35, but worth taking a look at. Oh, you can only buy them on the company’s Facebook page. Just thought you should know…

Hope you have a great weekend. By the way: Are you following me on Twitter? Find me @NaturalAsPosMom. I tweet pretty regularly throughout the day. Also, see the little brown button to the right? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? (You might have to scroll down a bit.) Well, can you click on it and then click to vote for me? I’ve fallen out of the top 100 and I’d like to move back in. You can vote once a day…

It was a fun exercise, though. I found a ton of smart, well-written blogs along the way. I got to guest post — and let someone else guest post here. I wrote several haiku poems! I made an effort to write shorter. (I know, I know, I didn’t succeed on that one, but at least I tried!) My favorite posts were probably the ones I wrote late Saturday nights and as always, my environmental ones.

June will bring big changes here. My husband is consulting in the city. That’s going to be a huge change. We also found out he will need another operation. (I’m not even going there right now — I a m still processing it.) My big girl will become a second grader. My little girl turns two! And me? I’m just sitting here trying to hold it all together. As long-time readers know: I am not a fan of change. Or especially good at handling it. This coming month will explore all that, I am sure. I’ve got to figure out if the girls are going to camp. (Big girl always goes. Is Little girl old enough? I’m not sure.) I’ve got to let other people help me with the kids. My mother-in-law comes today to watch Little Girl. I’ve got to take over everything in the house — dinner, homework, both bedtimes. I’ve got to figure out how I am going to get to a 7 p.m. spin class when my husband doesn’t get off the train until 7:08. Uggg. I know this sounds trivial, but the gym is my medication. I need it to stay sane. I guess we’ll see what happens. At the very least you’ll get to read about it all. I’m sure it will make for great blog fodder. Too bad Blogathon wasn’t in June!

How was your weekend? Hope it was a good one.

DJ Lance spins for the babies!

This week we spent the early evening at Brooklyn Bowl, which, to me, is really just a club that happens to also have bowling lanes. It was a launch party event for Yo Gabba Gabba’s live show. My big girl has watched the show. My baby, who won’t turn two until the end of June, hasn’t.

We went inside and saw throngs of people — kids, moms, dads and babies — milling around. All the characters were there, too, as was DJ Lance, who was actually using a turntable and spinning records. (Yes, actual vinyl! Each one encased in its sleeve and the sleeve encased in plastic.)

My big girl was excited to be there. The little one was a little scared. The noise, the darkness, the flashing lights. Once she settled down, however, she loved the music. Only ten minutes after we arrived, she stopped clinging to my shoulder and started dancing. Then she started clapping her hands.

It was a fun even even though I had to snag a bracelet from someone leaving (I was told at the front door they had no more to give) so we could get onto the dance floor. Once we stepped down onto the floor we participated in the meet and greets with everyone. I think my husband, who I am technically not allowed to write about anymore, was most excited. He really wanted to meet DJ Lance, who turned out to be one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met. I asked him to do a video intro for the blog. Not only did he do it, but he did it twice since he didn’t get the name right the first time. The video will go up over the weekend or on Monday. (Have to let hubby work his technical editing magic on it.) In the meantime enjoy the photo, the following Favorites and the rest of your Friday!

Leafware = I have a new compost bin. I entertain a fair amount during the summer. I hate plastic.

I’m hoping this statement — if I was doing a truth table — would come out all true. (I’m expecting a sample some time soon, so I will let you know.) Leafware, as the company says is  “leaves of specific trees and vines, sewn together with bits of stem” to form plates, bowls, and trays. If you buy them in bulk they come out to about $.50 each. I’m personally willing to give it a try, especially since I can throw it into my compost when I’m done. Again, I’ll let you know what I think.

BetterWorldBooks. I am a reader. I’m also someone who writes stuff that goes into newspapers and magazines. And yet I hate the thought of how many trees I’ve probably killed doing what I do for a living. This is why this site may be one of my favorite new haunts. Every book it sells ships free in the U.S. (the international shipping fee is $3.97), and the company offsets its shipping by buying carbon offsets from Carbonfund.org. It also collects old, unwanted books and sells them to support literacy efforts. To date, the company says it has diverted 33,082,876 books from landfills. Not bad. Now do they have my next book club book?

Let’s Go Chipper! app. I got a press release about this one. Sounded pretty neat, so I checked it out. It’s an educational storyline (books, movies, activities and iTunes downloads) for kids ages 2 to 6 that teaches them about ecology. With the summer coming up — at least here in the northern hemisphere — the stories explain how to keep the environment the way you left it. A plus: Chipper, who is a chipmunk, is pretty cute, too.

That’s it for now. I’m back to work. Another few interviews to do today and then we’ve got a birthday party and I have a flip-flop party to go to. Whoohoo! What are you up to this Friday night? p.s. See that little brown box over to the right? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? I am trying to move up in the rankings. Would you pretty please click on it and then click to vote for my blog once you get to the landing page? Thanks in advance! I only need 30 clicks through to move into the top 10 in the Eco category.

Watching the videos, I found myself crying a lot. Happy tears. Tears of disbelief. Sad, where-did-the-time-go tears. Watching myself pregnant. Seeing all three of our pets, our first babies but now long gone, walking around the house. Seeing Katelyn as a tiny baby with pin-straight red hair. (Her hair is now the same beautiful red, but a mass of curls.) Watching her first bath. Seeing Keira only a few days old. Watching her first bath. Watching six years worth of Christmas mornings. (WHY didn’t I put my contact lenses on and change into something decent-looking?) Listening to Katelyn’s language and emotional development. Watching my belly bounce around with first Katelyn and then Keira inside. Watching Katelyn get on the kindergarten bus for the first time. So innocent, so sweet.

The people on the video tapes seemed like they were here only yesterday and yet, at times, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Oh, and they were a little clueless. (“Look, she’s trying to lick the water!” Umm. No, that baby is nine-days-old. She’s not trying to do anything, dumbass new mommy and daddy.) And a little rude. I won’t even go there, but I will say that I had MUCH less of a filter back then, and wasn’t always the nicest person. My husband and I had a few laughs over those parts.

After we turned off the television at 2 a.m. and came upstairs I truly wanted to keep Katelyn home today and spend the day playing hooky. Maybe a little Barbie fun. Or a ride out to the aquarium. I see how fast it’s all slipping by. My little baby is growing into a big kid. My littlest one will soon follow her sister into big kid world, too. Everything is always changing, and it’s up to me to make sure I enjoy the ride. I didn’t keep her home, though. I have an immovable work thing today between 9:30 and noon. I did let her break the rules and eat her cereal in the den. I turned on the video of her second Christmas — she was only 14 months or so — and let her see how adorable she was.

“That’s not me!” she said. Yes, I told her. It is. And she sat there with the same goofy smile on her face that I had last night as I watched in rapt attention, staring at the video of the beautiful little girl I fell in love with so long ago.

I’m not picking Favorite sites today. Nothing compares with the favorites I am still going over in my head. Maybe, since I am blogging all weekend, I’ll post the sites and services I’ve got in my “Blog Fodder” folder. Or maybe I’ll just moon over my kids some more. Hope you’ll check in and find out.

Happy Friday, folks. Do you take a lot of videos? How do you store them for safekeeping? We’re going to be digitizing all those old video tapes. Maybe I will throw some up online.

My husband got sick back in August. Those of you who have been reading for a while know that. At the time he had his own business. As soon as he got sick he stopped working. He didn’t have disability, so that was that. It’s been all me. Four operations later he’s finally feeling well enough to work again so he’s out on job interviews. He’s been on seven or eight — I’ve lost count. (Quick aside: I’m thinking, based on activity around here, that the recession seems to be waning.)

Anyway, the one I wanted him to get is close to our house. (The others are in New York City, which would mean a train ride and a very slim possibility of being home before the girls go to bed.) While on the last interview at the close-to-our-home place my husband brought up my kids. He said he liked seeing them in the morning. Today he found out he didn’t get the job because they need someone who is available all the time. “A 24/7 employee.” They never said that having kids was a problem; I am reading between the lines. He was told he was the best candidate and yet I’m pretty sure that one mention of kids crushed his chances. Bah.

This proves that once again no matter what anyone says, parents — moms and dads — are often looked down upon on in the workplace. We’ll  hear how he did on another of his interviews next week. Fingers crossed, people. And now onto the Favorites…

Oyster.com: There are plenty of websites that rate hotels and give people the skinny on travel spots. This one, however, is building in details about how green those locations are, too. For example, whether it is LEED-certified or making efforts to conserve energy and water. I like it.

World Vision Gift Catalog. Wait, Mother’s Day (another made-up holiday I don’t really love) is Sunday? And you haven’t bought your mom anything yet? Why not buy something that will help others? The World Vision people (I checked them out on CharityNavigator.com and they do excellent work) have a gift catalog that lets you buy things like medical supplies, building and farming supplies and food for impoverished or displaced people. There’s even a section for victims of the Haitian earthquake. Prices range from $16 to $39,000. Great idea — definitely.

Green Your Small Business Challenge. I get a lot of contest pitches. I usually skip them. I hate posting stuff that doesn’t apply to more than a handful of people. However, with so many people out there working for or starting their own businesses I figured this one was worth it. A 100-word essay will net some small business owner a $10,000 green office makeover.

Glass Water Bottles. I love my stainless steel water bottle, but I am afraid to put anything but water in it. These Aquasana bottles are made of glass. You have to buy the AquaKoozy (sort of like a padded bottle cover) to make sure it doesn’t break and shatter, but it looks like it’s something worth trying out, right?

I’m still participating in the WordCount Blogathon, so I’ll be here all weekend, folks! Hope you stop by and say hi.

Fellow freelance writer and editor Michelle Rafter created the WordCount Blogathon three years ago as a way to motivate herself to blog more. That year she got about two dozen writers to join her. Last year, the blogathon was even more successful. About 45 freelance writers joined the event and committed to blogging every day for a month.

This year there are about 110 freelance writers who will blog every day between May 1 and May 31. You can check out the other participants — many of whom are friends of mine — at the official Blogathon site. There truly is something for everyone. Blogs about personal finance, parenting, food, travel, blogging, marketing, gardening, business — it’s all there. The writers hail from all over the world. I spent some time on many of the sites and had to pull myself away since I have a huge assignment due tomorrow and needed to get writing (and stop reading)!

Oh, and you can keep up with what everyone is doing by following the #Blog2010 hashtag search on Twitter. I just took a look and there are a TON of people posting about their latest blogs and the blogathon.

Hope you’re having a good weekend. I’ve had a migraine since yesterday afternoon. Got a massage today. I’m hoping it will help loosen things up. Massage therapist said my muscle groups were all stuck together. Too much work, I think, and not enough yoga! I hope to change that. In addition to blogging daily this month I’m making a commitment to practice yoga daily whether it’s alone here or in a studio. Wonder which — yoga or blogging — will do more for my life?

Anyway, it’s Friday, and this week’s Friday Favorites has nothing to do with the above thinking-out-loud, but it was on my mind. Figured I’d ask everyone what you did for your child’s second birthday. Keep in mind that Katelyn had a giant second birthday party complete with a gorgeous dress, tiara, and about 25 of her closest friends. And now on to the things I really liked this week. A lot of these things are stuff I came across in my journalist life. I’m getting some really interesting press releases these days. The blog has made it into a few databases, which makes my life easier. Please note: I did not get any freebies. I have to buy everything I like below — and probably will be. Just wanted to provide full disclosure. I just liked ‘em, so I am writing about them.

This cool t-shirt. Again, no, I didn’t get a free one. I’m just writing about it because it’s cute. I’m not really a slogan kinda gal. My clothing is writing-free, but this t-shirt, which makes GREEN into an anagram is just really cute. A little expensive for my taste, but cute, so I thought I would write about it.

A green toothbrush. I brush twice a day like the rest of the world. I have switched over to a eco-minded toothpaste — finally — but I was still brushing with the same plastic-going-to-end-up-in-a-landfill toothbrush that I always used. Then I found Radius and its eco-friendly toothbrushes. Cellulose (made from wood pulp) handle. Nylon bristles. Cool design. The fact that you pick whether you want a lefty brush or a righty brush sealed the deal for me. (Yes, the entire family falls into the lefty category.)

Shoes for my pedis. I get pedicures. I got a really nice spa package for my birthday this year that entitles me to one every other month. Anyway, I usually drag a set of red flip-flops with me. They are big and annoying and dirty, so when I saw these foldable flip-flops that are also made of 90 percent recycled materials I was intrigued. And at $15 they don’t break the bank. Seems like a nice addition to my manicure kit. (I bring all my own supplies including eco-based top and base coat as well as files, cuticle nippers, and a pumice stone. Too freaked out about germs to do anything else.)

Non-plastic wrap wrapping. We have no plastic wrap in my kitchen. At all. Or plastic bags for that matter. Drives the husband crazy. I tend to put stuff in the covered Corningware I have or in a Pyrex bowl that also comes with a cover. When those are in use I put a glass plate over a regular bowl to keep food fresh. Works, but not the safest option. Which is why I will be ordering CoverMate Food Covers this weekend. These are reusable, washable hair-net-looking things that stretch over plates, bowls, and other food serving dishes. The nice part is that the ones I will be ordering are sort of free, too. The company’s PR woman sent me a nice offer for my readers, and you know I am getting in on it. CoverMate is currently running a special promotion. Pay $3.95 shipping and handling and you get a sample pack of all four CoverMate sizes along with a $1.00 off retail coupon in case you want to buy more. They are BPA-free, dishwasher-safe, and reusable. I plan on getting one set and hand-washing them so they last for a long time. I will still use my Pyrex and Corningware first since CoverMates are plastic, but they will be nice to have when everything is in use.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ve already written Monday’s post — a story about toddlers and dieting. Also, Tuesday should be about food allergies. And don’t forget about the Celestial Seasonings give-away. Check out Tuesday’s post and then scroll down a bit to enter to win a nice, big basket o’ tea. Finally, see that little brown button to your right? A little ways up the page? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? Can you click on it? I need to move up in the rankings a bit. I’d like to be closer to 100. Right now I am close to 200. You can click once a day, which I did not know!