Booties in my Briefcase: Series by Amanda

Kim and I are SO excited to announce this new guest series: Booties in my briefcase by our good friend, Amanda!

As you will read on, Amanda and I have been BFFs for a lifetime (!) and we surely have gone through our ups and downs. Amanda has been a huge supporter of the blog and if you have followed the blog for any length of time,  you will see her showing the love through comments at the end of the posts and “likes” on our FB page! Amanda is always sending us great info to pass along to all you mamas out there and we finally talked her into writing some of these things in her own words! She can add a lot of perspective to raising a family that I can’t because she is a working (outside of the home!) mom, trying to juggle it all :) Kim and I are thrilled to say she is going to start out with doing a 6 post guest series so she can dabble a little in the bloggy world and see how she likes it… she might just end up begging for some more!! Show her some love and look for her 6 posts to be featured bi-monthly on the blog as BOOTIES IN MY BRIEFCASE!

Hello Cyber world! My name is Amanda and I have been Jennie’s best friend since 4th grade. We have been through a lot together and have lead very different, yet somewhat similar lives. We are two totally different people with two totally different views on life, marriage, discipline, sleeping schedules, food choices, well pretty much everything, yet we tend to balance each other out and enjoy the contrast. If any of you have been lucky enough to have a lifetime friend, you know, that no one really knows you like that person does… and if they still love you after knowing all the dirt… you are one lucky woman!!

I am going to do a series of posts on being a working mother… my trials and tribulations and what it is like working for a Fortune 500 Company (scaling the corporate ladder) while being a wife and mother of two (well three if you count my crazy mutt Molly!). I plan to post about things that make my life easier, my experiences, how I try and achieve work/life balance, meal ideas, topics I am passionate about, address the stay at home vs. working mom debate, give some perspective on how Jennie and I lead such different lives but yet still are able to maintain our friendship, listen to each other, be supportive, and learn from one another. I hear so often from other mom’s, “Well, once I had children and she didn’t, we had nothing in common”. I have another “bestie” who is not sold on the child idea… yet… and is getting married in June! I will post about that relationship and how we maintained the married vs. single, kids vs. no kid’s friendship.

I am very excited to be a part of something that is so important to Jennie and my new found, favorite person, Kim! I am also a bit nervous… I can’t help but feel I may have bit off more than I can chew… but Jennie assures me, “it’s just a series of posts”! I am also excited to learn from all the other Working and Non-working mommies; their thoughts and ideas on my posting topics. After all we are all co-workers in this 7 day a week, 24 hour a day, most rewarding, yet no salary position! It would be great to share best practices and secrets. I am enjoying the ride so far, it goes a little fast at times!

However, I want to be able to look back and say, I enjoyed every minute and made the most of every minute, I have had with my children!

To be continued…