My son is on the cover of Atlanta INtown newspaper this month!    Because of his food critic skills on my blog as Captain Cuisine & The Gastro-teens, he was asked to be a part of the newspaper’s burger panel. Atlanta INtown is one of my favorite local newspapers and our family had been following their burger panel for a few years now, so this was an exciting opportunity.  And of course my son loves a good burger!   He had fun testing (eating) different burgers and then comparing notes with the rest of the panel at George’s for a final burger and photo shoot.  

I couldn’t scan the entire article with all the different burger panelists, so be sure to pick up your copy of Atlanta INtown this weekend and read their reviews about the best burgers in Atlanta.    Or stop by my house….I have a few copies lying around!  :-)

I bet you thought The Tooth Fairy was passe; au contraire, mon ami!  She’s hip, she’s happening, she’s part of the social media revolution!   (And apparently she’s French too.)  The Tooth Fairy paid a call to our house last night, but not before she got a little advice from friends on Facebook:

keyinfluencer@funkidivagirl Just hit me with the reality check that my Work/Life balance game is not tight. Time to make some changes–Yikes

This was a tweet that my husband sent this morning…after the, ahem, “discussion” we had.  I imagine that we are not alone and it’s a constant battle for most people, balancing work and home life.   Years ago my family was featured on 20/20 about this very subject.  We got excited calls from around the country, “Hey, we saw you on television!”, but were they not listening to what we were saying on TV?   Yes, we had an adorable son.  Yes, my husband had a glamorous career.  Yes, we lived a financially comfortable existence.  Yes, we were on 20/20.   But it wasn’t good, our life.

At the time my husband was an executive at Columbia Records, a position that 3 years prior caused us to pack up our apartment and newborn son and move across the country from California to New York.   It was big move literally, financially and emotionally.  We were leaving friends who were like family to us and moving to a place where we barely knew a soul.   But with our plans for me to be a stay-at-home mom, a huge career defining position and double our combined salaries, we thought it was a golden opportunity that couldn’t be passed up.

To say our life changed overnight is an understatement; my husband walked off the plane in NYC and hit the ground running.   Adjusting from a work environment in Los Angeles to one in New York was huge; I like to say that people in L.A. try to work as little as possible, while people in NYC try to work as much as possible.  I’m being funny because of course people in L.A. work hard, but the culture of the city is also about enjoying the sun and surf.  If they can make the money and still make the beach before sunset, why not?   Back in L.A. a late night working meant about 8:00 p.m. and it was rare; in NYC it meant about 10:00 p.m. and it was often–then a bus commute home.   In L.A. we took strolls around the block after work and dinner; in NYC I never saw my husband before 11:00 p.m.   And I was alone, with a new baby, in a strange city, without friends or family nearby.

My husband adjusted to the grueling work schedule, I adjusted to to not having him around and sadly we both adjusted to doing our own thing.   He made a life for himself at work and I made a life for myself at home making friends, getting involved in the community and tending to my baby boy.   It worked, but dysfunctionally.   I don’t know how to get ahold of the 20/20 episode to show you, but we do not sound happy on there;  I talk about how resentful I am and he talks about how stressed he is.  It was a recipe for disaster and that’s what happened, disaster.

Fast forward many years to this morning and here we are again.    Trade NYC for Atlanta, record executive for digital media influencer, a baby boy for two active growing kids and it’s a different scene, but the same movie.  It’s still a struggle to make it all work, although as evidenced by my husband’s tweet, he’s much wiser for the wear and not willing to let us get very far off-track without taking action.  The fear of what happened before is too great and too real to take this subject lightly.

I’m sure we’re not the only family who struggles with balancing a productive and happy home life with building a career.  What does your family do to make sure that you are still connected and growing together, despite the demands of work?   How do you strive to give the best to both your family and your career without having either suffer?

On Sunday I finally got to meet one of my Twitter pals, TalkingWithTami, at her Pajama Jam/Birthday Party celebration.   The event was held at the lovely Le Petit Marche in Kirkwood.  Great food, bumping music and great conversation with some fantastic ladies made for a lovely afternoon.  Tami is just as vivacious and funny and she is on Twitter!        

It was fun meeting other Twitter pals in real life like Hellobeauty, Wise Diva, EnchantedPr, Chatterboxpr, WordofMouthAtL and Da Vinci’s Blog Log as well as other business women doing their thing (and doing it well).   

I got my flowy/loungy pajamas and Swarovski crystal Havaianas at Nordstorm.  If you are ever invited to a pajama party and and want to look cute (but appropriately covered for public viewing), Nordstrom has a fantastic lingerie department.  And currently the Half-Yearly Sale is going on too!   I loved wearing pajamas during the day out in public; I wonder if I can get away with that next Sunday?  If not to church and brunch, a trip to Target perhaps?

Tami & guest speaker, Felicia Joy

The store is lovely and DJ Blak was spinning great music

Store owner, Marchet, and her mother

My friend Renee, Tami and me

All the beautiful women in attendance

Chili Dawg is not a shy little puppy anymore!  Now that he is comfortable in our house, he has started chewing everything and jumping on the furniture.   We learned of a trick to keep him off the sofas, using his natural puppy timidity of loud noises.  By putting pennies in empty cans and placing the cans on the furniture, they will fall off and scare him if he jumps up.  It really works and only took one can falling  for him to keep his paws on the floor.  I also use this trick for my exercise mat; if I place a can on either end of the mat, he won’t even come near it (he used wrestle with the mat).

The other day he discovered the basket full of reading material and started nibbling on a book.  We placed one of the cans on top of the book, let it fall and he immediately backed away.   But that doesn’t mean he’s happy about it!  He really wants the book and tries to show the can what a ferocious little guy he is:

He does this several times a day, but still won’t actually touch the book or can, just bark.  It’s so funny!  Cheap entertainment.

*Update 5/25/09: Chili got really bold one day and knocked the can off the magazine rack.  Barking and growling, he grabbed the can and took it into his crate.    And the winner is…..Chili Dawg!