and the winner is...

Actually, we're going to do that annoying TV-game-show thing where they keep you in suspense just long enough to go to commercial break. And here's our commercial break: Thank you to everyone who took the time to come visit our new blog and especially to those who posted about freshly baked's giveaway on their site. We appreciate the shout-outs and have our own big shout-out in return: THANK YOU!

Now it's time to announce the winner of our very first freshly baked giveaway. We had a tie and randomly drew a name to decide the winner, and the winner is...Lace! Congratulations! We hope you enjoy the fabulous gift bag and maybe even post about it (especially about the cute freshly baked onesie from georgie tees...) on your blog, Keeping My Fingers Crossed, which by the way is a great resource for info on fab giveaways.

Because it's great to start the week of with a bit of humor I'd like to introduce you to Life's Lemons, a business owned by Amber Pulley, a good friend of mine. You'll have to take a minute to read the story behind the cards, as I'm sure many of you will relate. Once you've got a feel for the "how" and "why" of Life's Lemons, spend more than a minute browsing her line of greeting cards. Amber's mantra is to squeeze the humor out of life and Life's Lemons does just that. I guarantee you'll laugh out loud, and if you don't you've got to practice your squeezing! My favorite is the Bummer: "They say bad things don't happen to good people...You proved them wrong." I also love the birthday card that simply says, "In dog years you'd be dead." Leave it to my friend Amber to help us take a lemon and turn it into something sweet and sassy. Her Life's Lemons cards can be found in retailers across the country and Canada, or if you feel so inclined get your squeeze on sooner by ordering a handful online. I'm sure we all know someone who'd appreciate the post-surgery card: "Good luck on your recovery...the twins look great!" Plus 10% of all purchases goes towards the American Red Cross. Who knew laughter had so many benefits? --Emily

celebrity expecting!

Okay the celebrity I am speaking of isn't exactly headlining the news, although lately that's probably a good thing. I'm talking about one of the most celebrated woman in history, Mona Lisa. Her demure smile and unabashed beauty, make her easy on the eyes, but recent studies suggest it might be something more than just her outer appearance that makes her so alluring. Scientists suggest that Mona Lisa may have been expecting. Because of a veil that Mona Lisa is wearing over her shoulder, common to Italian Renaissance women who were expecting. It must be that inner glow that all expecting moms posess when creating nothing short of a miracle! That's why we thought it fitting that we create our own version of mama lisa to help you get your glow on!!! --LeShan

sweet treats & a sweet deal

We'll probably be using that phrase a lot since LeShan and I live for our daily dose of sweetness, and I'm not talking about our always-on-their-best-behavior children (even that made me laugh out loud). We've got two treats for you today, a delicious recipe to get you in the Fall mood and a "fresh" deal created specially for our readers.

With Fall officially here I immediately started craving my mom's recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, and because I follow the rule that food-related cravings should always be satisfied, I'm checking my pantry to make sure I have all the necessary ingredients. In the meantime, here's the recipe so we can celebrate the onset of cold weather together. They say everything tastes better when shared, so bring on the sharing!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar
2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 c pumpkin
1 egg
1/2 c oil
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Dissolve baking soda in milk. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Mis wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Add chocolate chips. Bake for 10 minutes or until set. Eat before completely cool. (Okay, I added that last part but these really do taste awesome if they're still a bit warm.)

Now for a treat without a recipe! To show our appreciation for those who've visited us so far, and possibly visited us more than once, we'd like to offer you a special promotion on apparel from georgie tees. Any order of $50 or more from georgietees.com will receive a FREE GIFT. Now we're not talking about some tiny little sample; we're talking about a full-size bath & body product from little twig. We do have a limited supply of inventory and this promotion applies only to stock on hand. To receive your free gift simply enter code lovetheblog in the Comments section when checking out. Offer expires 10/31/07.

We plan to offer special coupon codes now and then so you'll definitely want to bookmark our blog if you haven't already. We're sure you have but wanted to remind you just in case. Reminder: You only have until Friday at midnight to spread the word about our blog (see our original post) and be in the running for our fabulous giveaway. The person who refers the most people wins. You've still got time so put the pressure on! --Emily

peace and tranquility--it's an attitude!

As women and mothers, peace and tranquility are sometimes just an illusion, a pipe dream, our castle in the sky. In fact as I type this I have one of my 3 year olds sitting on my lap, and Curious George blaring in the background to buy me time with my other 2 kids. Not exactly conducive to any work environment. But as I sit here staring at my planner, trying to figure out where to begin on today's To Do List, I catch a whiff of my son's freshly washed hair and get a sense of tranquility. And as I hold him in my arms I get a feeling of peace, knowing that for now all is safe and well. If that isn't working, try taking it out on a large bowl of halloween M&M's. It is all in the attitude...easy said!

Speaking of Peace and Tranquility, check out the artist of our new Mama Lisa tee, Mike Bradshaw. Mike has loads of experience in graphic design, but where his real love lies is photography. His photos will send you on a journey, and you'll see beauty in the mundane (kind of like doing laundry). You'll feel like you had a mini vacation at your computer! Mike was fabulous helping us turn our concept of Mama Lisa into reality, and putting up with two, possibly unbalanced, moms. Having him as a brother-in-law has its perks! --LeShan

one for the road...

...or rather, one for the journey. Mom 4 Life is a boutique with the products you need for the lifelong journey that is motherhood. (And I mean lifelong--my mom says she still occasionally has nights when she can't fall asleep because she's worrying about her kids, and we're all grown up!) Mom 4 Life's blog has announced The amazing Mom 4 Life Month of Giveaways for the month of October. October marks Mom 4 Life's four-year anniversary and Heather, the site's owner, wants to celebrate with you! Check out the details and enter to win by clicking here. georgie tees will be sponsoring one of the giveaways by donating our "mama lisa" tee. This is your opportunity to win one of these new tees along with a variety of fabulous prizes from Mom 4 Life.

A big thank-you to those who have linked to our contest from their own blogs:

• Andrea at The Laughs Will Go On (who knew all those contests existed?)
  
• Daria at Boutique Cafe (yes, we've already mentioned this one but I am one of her biggest fans)
  
• Naomi at superdumb supervillian (even more contests!)
  
• Laura at Laura Williams' Musings (we'll be in her Wednesday Edition of Contests Galore)
• Lace at Keeping My Fingers Crossed (those are some great giveaways!)
• Christine at From Dates to Diapers, and beyond (I can so relate)
• Lesha at Fashion Fling (love that Coach bag!)
• Doreen at Doreen's Place (even more giveaways!)
  

After a day like today where I spent most of it attached to an infant who's decided at seven weeks old that sleep is a waste of time, I'd like to leave you with this quote from Leo J. Burke:

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."

Amen to that! --Emily

word is spreading!

It seems we're not the only ones excited about our new "mama lisa" tee. A Mom in Red High Heels, the new blog from the owner of In Style Moms, says "not only does it celebrate a beautiful piece of art, it celebrates motherhood too!" You can read her post here, and while you're at it check out the rest of her blog. I can totally relate to "Help a Mom Look Her Best." (And yes, I've actually got a fabulous pair of well-worn red heels, how about you?)

Daria, one of my good friends and hostess of the extremely popular Boutique Cafe podcast highlighted us in Boutique Cafe's Daily Finds and on her Secrets from the Studio blog. She is definitely one of our biggest fans. If you haven't yet discovered Boutique Cafe and are big into children's couture, you're missing out. Head on over and catch some of BC's podcasts. I guarantee your cup of couture will runneth o'er. --Emily

tastes great, less filling!

Welcome to the new blog from the girls behind georgie tees! freshly baked is your source for all kinds of tasty treats, from yummy recipes to satisfying stories to tempting tips. We've shared our humor through our tees and are really excited to share even more through our new blog. So bookmark this page and visit often. You won't want to miss our latest announcements (sale, anyone?), recipes (pumpkin cookies, yum!), and insights (hot cocoa with a friend is a must in winter).

To kick off our blog we thought we'd do our first ever giveaway! We're all about free swag! But you'll have to earn your free swag (guess that means it's not really free...sorry!). We want to spread the word about "freshly baked" and would love you to help us do so. Simply email your friends and family and tell them about our blog. Include a link so they can come by and check it out for themselves. Tell them to comment on this post and let us know who we can thank for referring them. The person who brings the most traffic to our site (i.e. has the most friends and family commenting on our very first post) wins a truly fabulous prize. And what do we have for the winner? How about one of our Modern Union diaper bags filled with products from little twig, baby star, and our personal favorite, georgie tees. The prize has a value of over $100, so get emailing! We'll give you until midnight on Friday, September 28th; any comments posted after that won't count. Of course that doesn't mean you can't still give us your two cents...we never turn away free money.

If you're totally confused by the contest details, shoot us an email. We're pretty confused ourselves but will do our best to clarify how it works. Now, we know you're so totally excited about winning that gift bag but try to hold off just long enough to check out LeShan's post about our new maternity line and her oh-so-nifty interview with the women behind the Madness of Motherhood Show. She totally rocked it!

Be sure and include freshly baked as part of your healthy (or not so healthy but a heck of a lot more fun) diet. It's calorie free, fat free, and sugar free but hopefully not light on humor. As mothers and business owners we're just trying to survive the insanity. Welcome to our world--or rather, our blog. --Emily

cheap therapy!

I can't say that blogging comes as naturally to me as it does for some people, but I will give it credit as good therapy. Especially when you take into account that my best friend and business partner lives on the other side of the country...I'll take all the help I can get! That's probably why we had to create something new to add to our fun and humorous maternity tees. We thought, what goes well with humor? Well, "artistic" flare of course! The new artistic line will feature our Mama Lisa tee with a modern yet feminine touch. Our new custom tee is made of the softest pima cotton with a bit of stretch, and longer fit, so it works great with moms-to-be or moms-who-are. I personally can't wait to wear mine! Also new to georgietees, is the lap tee. We think it's nifty because it offers the same comfortable, fun tee for the growing toddler. We know your toddler is learning to express themselves, our humorous lap tees make it even easier!

Youv'e seen the latest on georgietees, now you can hear the latest. Check out our podcast with the ladies who bring us The Madness of Motherhood show. What a great experience to talk with these fun women who are mompreneurs helping other mompreneurs. They share the same ups and downs as the rest of us, and understand what it's like trying to juggle pb&j's and emails. Being a mom and trying to run a business isn't easy, but can be so rewarding. That's why we believe that humor truly is the only way to survive! --LeShan