Ah, weddings. A time to gather your loved ones together to celebrate your happy union. Or at least that's the idea, which somehow gets obscured in between bridesmaid dresses and seating arrangements.
And wedding gifts? Don't even go there, as one guest discovered the hard way. According to an article in the Star, a vicious texting war ensued after one of the bridezillas attacked her guest's paltry offering. Here's an abridged version of the exchange:
Bride: "I want to thank you for coming to the wedding Friday. I'm not sure if it's the first wedding you have been to, but for your next wedding... People give envelopes. I lost out on $200 covering you and your dates plate... And got fluffy whip and sour patch kids in return Just a heads up for the future :)
Guest: “… to ask for a receipt is unfathomable. In fact it was incredibly disrespectful. It was the rudest gesture I have encountered, or even heard of.”
Bride: “Weddings are to make money for your future … not to pay for peoples meals. Do more research. People haven’t gave gifts since like 50 years ago! You ate steak, chicken, booze, and a beautiful venue.”
Guest: “It’s obvious you have the etiquette of a twig, I couldn’t care less of what you think about the gift you received, “normal” people would welcome anything given, you wanna have a party, you pay for it, DON’T expect me to.”
Bride: “You should have been cut from the list … I knew we were gunna get a bag of peanuts. I was right.”
So who's right? Who's wrong? Well, according to my little book of etiquette, the answer is the bride. Sure, a gift basketful of edible treats—admittedly on the stingy side—involved more thought than simply plucking an item from a registry.
But part of receiving a gift is having the good manners to shut your trap if you don't like it. You offer a curt thank-you note and perhaps think twice about inviting guests to future events. You do not ask for a gift receipt or criticize what you get, nor do you expect a certain price tag to be levied against the cost of your wedding. (If you decide to go lavish, that's your prerogative. It's not up to your guests to foot the bill.)
Worst gift you ever received? Did you confront the giver?
A former Wall Street trader has bravely admitted to the world at large that she regrets her decision to stay at home with her children almost 20 years ago.
According to an article in Today Moms, Lisa Endlich Heffernan kicked the proverbial hornet's nest with her recent admission in the Huffington Post.
Though Heffernan just managed to carry on working while her two children were young, she was forced to leave her high-powered job when she fell pregnant with her third baby.
In a brutally honest piece, Heffernan admitted that she'd used her driver’s license "far more than her degrees," and that in choosing to stay at home to raise her children, her world narrowed to a degree she could not have anticipated.
With hindsight being what it is, Heffernan wishes she'd at least worked part time to retain her skill set and a modicum of her confidence.
“Keep a pilot light under your professional life,” she said. “If you keep a pilot light going, the transition back to the workplace is aided.”
Though she is quick to point out that she doesn't regret the time spent with her kids, she advises women to think twice before kissing their careers goodbye. Many jobs, though—including hers—are simply not viable in a part- or flexi-time capacity.
What do you think of Heffernan's story? Is her advice realistic? Should SAHMs get paid for their 'work'?
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If you have a vintage Cabbage Patch Kid lurking in a cedar chest somewhere, this post is for you. Having been around during the first craze some thirty years ago, I remember the department store wars and bare shelves incited by the popular dimpled dolls.
As far as I know the comeback of the CPK in recent years didn't quite match the initial enthusiasm, but for those who still have a soft spot for the dolls, there's a new trend.
You can now have your own Cabbage cutie, thanks to the handiwork of a pregnant Georgia woman, who crochets CPK wigs so that your own babies can resemble Anne Geddes models.
“I was a huge child of the ‘80s and I had lots of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and I just loved them,” said Amanda Lillie.
According to an article in Today Moms, the 33-year-old mom-to-be sourced a “Cabbage Patch hats” pattern via Pinterest, and the rest is entrepreneurial history. Lillie unearthed her old dolls and got to work fashioning a hair piece.
To her surprise, the wigs—which take between two to three hours to crochet—have been selling like hot cakes on her Etsy shop. She even sported her own, adult-sized 'hair' for Halloween last year.
“I’ve just seen a tremendous response,” Lillie said.
Though most of her sales are generated for Halloween, some customers have purchased her wigs for children who've lost their hair while undergoing chemotherapy.
“I thought that was just amazing,” Lillie said. “That was just the sweetest, endearing thing I’ve ever heard.”
We think so, too. Here's how another awesome mompreneur is reinventing the doll.
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