communication difficulties

In addition to general fatigue and nausea that accompanies the first trimester, I have another really good excuse for not blogging regularly. 

A certain pet rabbit that shall remain nameless chewed through our telephone and modem cords last week.

Finding replacement AC adaptors proved more difficult than one would imagine. Especially when one happens to be the kind of hoarder that saves all sorts of electronic cords and plugs and things that are all jumbled up in a box on the top shelf of the guest room closet, purposefully saved for times like these. 

And of the 6 AC adaptor cords that were in there, not a single one fit either the modem or the telephone. 

A quick call to the telephone maker, Uniden, revealed that they no longer carry spare accessories to our outdated model. A trip to Best Buy to purchase two different universal AC adaptors was only minimally helpful; we found one that worked for the modem, but alas, not for our phone. Which meant we went ahead and purchased a brand new telephone for our landline.

But now we are back online and in communique with the rest of the world. Let the blogging begin!

Refurbished Header

Although spring tends to be a little messy here in Utah (sunny with temps in the 70s, then snow and hail a week later!), I'm starting to get that itch to do some spring cleaning and start sprucing things up. Here at Wabisabi Mama, we thought our humble little blog could use some sprucing up too. So we turned to our resident artist, PapaD, to add some new touches. Hope you like it!

Out with the old:



In with the new:
Something just a little bit more sophisticated but without losing that whimsical touch. We got extra fancy with a custom hand-drawn font by PapaD.

We even have a cute new button to match:

<a href="http://wabisabimama.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Grab our button" src="http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j360/emstur24/Wabisabibutton-FINAL.jpg"/></a>

We are so lucky to have PapaD doing some pro bono work for us (well, I am his wife so I am thinking that all the cooking, cleaning, raising children, and love should be adequate). If you didn't know from previous posts, PapaD has his own art blog where he posts his art work from his cool job at EA Games (isn't it every boy's dream to work for a video game company), freelance work, and his own personal work. And did I mention that he even has his own self-published, award-winning comic book, Green Monk!? Maybe one of these days, we'll do a giveaway of his comic to a lucky reader.

Stylish? Excuse us while we blush!

What a sweet surprise to be honored by Jill over at Elliemoon with the Stylish Blogger Award!

Since starting a blog a little over a year ago, we've been so honored and thrilled to find a little community of wonderful, like-minded bloggers who have embraced and supported us, including Jill. Jill is a super-creative mom of four who lives in my favorite state in the union (MASSACHUSETTS, the place that will always be our home) and she writes with grace and style. Many thanks to her for thinking of us.

And as this award works, here are the seven facts about the Wabisabi Mamas followed by a list of seven of our favorite stylish bloggers.

1. At one point in her childhood, MamaQ was determined to be the first female NFL player (Tom Brady has my dream job, {sigh}). Our brother never lets her forget it.

2. MamaQ can break an apple in half with her bare hands. It's pretty cool to see.

3. MamaM's bad habits include snapping gum obnoxiously, picking skin off her lips (I know, it's so gross) and interrupting people.

4. MamaM is the blindest of the Wabisabi Mamas with a prescription of negative 9 (pretty sure that's legally blind).

5. MamaD takes great pleasure in crappy rom-com and/or B-rated action movies (anything Jean-Claude Van Damme or Arnold Schwarzenegger is awesome!)

6. MamaD and MamaQ enjoy doing yoga, but MamaM likes to kick some trash cardio kickboxing.

6. MamaQ, MamaM and MamaD all sang the National Anthem at various high school sporting events.

Some mighty stylish blogs we love to visit:

Chaz and Ginger
Awesome homeschooling mama of four boys and radical homemaker extraordinaire! Also lives in marvelous Massachusetts.

Being Awesome
Another mama of four, but this one lives in NYC and is one of the funniest and warmest writers around. A talented actress and improv artist, she has brains and style up to her eyeballs.

Elegance Redefined

Rachel is an uber-talented, San Francisco-based interior designer that blogs about her projects, style inspirations and her adorable baby boy Sam.

The Pomegranate Chronicles

Pomegranate Girl is a sweet mama documenting her sewing, knitting and family adventures. Bonus -- she's got some Japanese in her and we love supporting our Nihonjin sisters.

Stitching Under Oaks
Lisa Q. from Maryland writes about her faith, her family and her creative endeavors. She also runs an Etsy store.

As Sistas in Zion
Funny ladies who tell it straight about what it means to be black and Mormon.

Dark Chocolate Daily
You know those food blogs with incredibly gorgeous photos that make you so hungry you could practically lick the computer screen? This is one of those, but with astute writing and all about chocolate!

New design

Hey mamas!

As you can see, we're updating the look of wabisabimama.com. Bear with us as you'll see some changes over the next few days.

Thanks for reading!

We're ba-ack

Okay, so I know the last bunch of posts have been by MamaQ (I don't know where in the world she finds time to do all that blogging!). But I wanted you all to know that D and I have not fallen off the face of the planet; things have just been crazy. (I'm sure you can relate.) But we are committing to do better (right D?)!

Looking forward to being more in touch with all y'all!

welcome to our little experiment

MamaQ: As if there aren't already enough mommy blogs out there, here we are throwing another one out into the mix.

MamaD: But ours is a little bit different.  Not only do we provide a forum for ourselves and other moms to share tips and anecdotes that highlight the simple pleasures of life, but we encourage them to embrace its imperfections.

MamaM: With a bit of a Japanese slant.  Wait, that sounds bad...

MamaQ:  Maybe we should help our friends understand what wabi sabi is all about.

MamaM: “Wabi” stems from the root “wa,” which refers to harmony, peace, tranquility and balance. A wabi person is content with very little; free from greed, indolence, and anger; understands the wisdom in simple things; celebrates the anomalies that make things unique; and eludes an understated elegance. “Sabi” means “the bloom of time.” It connotes natural progression and the beauty that comes with aging. Sabi is the wisdom, grace and serenity that are a result of transience.

MamaD:  Which all sounds really serious, but really, we are all about having a sense of humor about it.

MamaQ: Very important when you're a mom and your baby has just wet her pants and is screaming while the pasta is boiling over on the stove, the oven timer is beeping, the phone is ringing and you're up to your elbows in bread dough.  Breathe.  And then laugh at the surrealness that has become your reality. 

MamaM:  So, welcome.  We're happy you're here.  Leave a comment to let us know what you think and share the wabi sabi moments in your life.