Hands on Kirtsy!

photo by Gwen Bell, one of the kirtsy gals

Last night there was a small event called Hands on Kirtsy which taught me how to use some of the internet's social media tools. We learned how to use kirtsy, Twitter, and RSS feeds (which I already knew, thanks Brian).

It was really fun to be out in the city (the swanky Hudson Hotel to be exact) with some fabulous, successful women who are working to help others become successful. I felt excited and motivated to pursue the talents and opportunities I have and to continue to learn, socialize and reach out of my comfort zone.

A few inspirational ladies I was able to chat with a bit:

Mariah of Playful Learning. I loved talking with her about her experiences in education and motherhood. I love, love, love her website that she has started since deciding to stay home with her daughters after working for 5+ years while being a mom. I love the Learning Experiences section of her website; such amazing, fantastic, educational ideas I can't wait to do with Isabella in a year or two. She's a real inspiration to me.

Adriene is a freelance writer, mom and blogger at What I Made for Dinner. We chatted about writing, motherhood, and finding decent housing in NYC.

Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom and one of the kirtsy founders. Okay I would have loved to have talked to her more than just, "Hi, my name is Kiasa." She's seriously a celeb in my book. Mom of 5 young kids and seeming to do a great job balancing work, family, life, etc. I want to know her secrets; how does she do it all? When I grow up I want to be like Gabrielle Blair (but she's probably pretty close to my age, just seems so much more advanced in life).

Extreme Playing

Swinging with Eliot

Chillin' (literally) with Morgan

Okay, so maybe it's not 'extreme' yet, but it sure felt cold, cold, cold today while we were out with friends at a local playground. Isabella wouldn't get out of the stroller for the first little bit. Which I can't blame her, all snuggled up in a fleece blanket. Finally the toy strollers persuaded her to get out and run around.

Learning our ABC's

I finally made these magnetic letters for Isabella. I posted about the idea found on The Purl Bee blog a while back. I have a lot of scrapbook paper someone gave me many years ago. So I used that, stuck it to business card magnets (purchased at Staples) and then cut out the letters using our best scissors and an exact-o-knife.

Isabella is enjoying them a lot. They are actually more sturdy than I would have thought...so far. And we are practicing learning the letters. She's such a little sponge right now with tons of new words and sentences all the time.

Thanksgiving

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with the Carini's in Connecticut. I got to make my Dear Little Rolls, the cranberry relish, and the orange/cranberry bread. It was fun and so delicious. I took only a couple of photos, none of the actual meal, or family, just Isabella.

The photo above is her at one of the local South Glastonbury farms, Belltown Hill Orchards. We bought a couple of apples and some delicious cider doughnuts. They were so good! Isabella kept asking, "More doughnut?"