I learned about Babble.com’s Top 50 Mommy Bloggers list when fellow Silicon Valley Moms Blog network member Jessica Gottlieb was named to it (she’s part of the LA Moms Blog, I’m part of the DC Metro Moms Blog). In fact, the original Silicon Valley Moms Blog made the cut as well (congratulations, Jill!) There are a lot of other familiar names on the list, blogs I have been reading and some of them are women I’ve met at BlogHer or traded tweets with on Twitter. But there are also some I didn’t know — and that’s what I love about the blogosphere — when you accidentally bump into another kindred spirit out in cyberspace.

Babble recognizes that although the Top 50 are certainly noteworthy, that there are a lot of terrific bloggers out there, and they are letting readers nominate them, and then give a “thumbs up” if someone has already nominated a favorite. I think that’s pretty darned cool! So often you see the same names rise to the top (with good reason), and this is a nice effort to broaden the horizons.

A lot of the names on that list are already some of my favorite blogs, and some are going to become new favorites. Amongst some of my current favorites are Sarah and the Goon Squad, Toddler Planet, Jodifur, and Wife And Mommy all of whom I have the pleasure of having met in person as well as reading their blogs and they are terrific women as well as terrific writers. As I scroll through the list, I see more that look intriguing and I’m going to find some time to check them out and you should, too! (Not that I want you to stop reading here, of course!)

And yes, I’m thrilled that not only did someone include Caffeine And a Prayer, but people other than my husband and mother-in-law gave it a thumbs up! Thank you! It means a lot! If you feel strongly enough about Caffeine and a Prayer to add a thumbs up, it may encourage others to check it out.

In the meantime, I recommend checking out both the Top 50 list and the reader-nominated list — there are a lot of fantastic writers out there worth reading! One of these days I’ll get around to updating my blogroll…

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I burst into laughter when I walked into the Beauty Salon room of Bethesda’s Playseum and saw this scene. It immediately brought back memories of endless hours of playing with my Salon Barbie as a little girl (although mine did not come with creepy hands to manicure) and seeing this tableau sent my imagination spinning off in a million directions.

Were these two friends who came to the faux salon hoping to get matching hair-dos and something went horribly, horribly awry?

Was the doll on the left the victim of some awful Mean Girl scenario? “Sure, come to the salon with me… I’ll make sure you get an AWESOME blow-out just like mine! Ken, and all the football players will be sure to notice you at the big game!”

Or perhaps the doll on the right (let’s just call her Muffy) brought the doll on the left (let’s just call her Agnes) into the doll salon as an intervention after finding her locked in her dorm room, downing Red Bull and Vodka, hair hanging in her face, listening to her I HATE HIM playlist of top 25 breakup songs on her iPhone. Muffy became concerned when Agnes kept tweeting nothing but a nonsensical stream of letters and numbers every 4 minutes and sending TwitPics of her poorly manicured toes. Why yes, this salon appointment is just what Agnes needs.

On the other hand, perhaps Agnes, is merely the mother of a newborn, and Muffy is merely her very annoying friend who still has time for things like sleep, meals, and… personal hygiene.

Maybe it’s a photo shoot? Agnes is the “Before” model. Muffy is the “After” model. But for some edgy magazines, MUFFY may be the “Before” model and Agnes is the “After” model, sporting the new, hot, 2010 look, “Windblow, Mystery Woman look!” “Straight and groomed is sooooo out,” says the Beauty Editor. “Women today want to look mysterious, unpredictable. This hair says, ‘Hey, I may be a CEO, or I may be have just escaped from an asylum — you are just going to have to take your chances. When I walk into your company’s boardroom, I may be about to make you a million, or you should call security — 2010 is all about taking risks!’ That’s what this look is all about!” And then the Beauty Editor cackled and smeared more lipstick on her forehead.

I came back to reality when my little girl asked for a bottle of nail polish so she, too, could add a layer of polish to the creepy hands, which delighted her endlessly.

What scenarios come to your mind when you look at poor Agnes?

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I admit I’m terrible about remembering names when I’m first introduced to people, but I’m a real stickler for learning whether a William is a Bill, Billie, Will, Willie or the full William. I cringed when I realized that at a conference this past week I called a Katherine, “Kathy” by mistake — it had been a few months since I had seen her and I only knew her amidst a sea of other Junior League officers, but I’m sure she hates being called Kathy as much as I hate when someone calls me by my full first name instead of calling me J.J.

You can read more about my weird hang-ups about the importance of getting people’s names right in my latest post at DC Metro Moms Blog: What’s In a Name? Everything.

Photo credit: © istockphoto.com/Jill Fromer

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Motherhood isn’t all Jell-O and cute drawings on the fridge you know… it’s fraught with a lot of don’t-go-there thoughts. Especially for someone who not only watches lots of crime TV but has been a crime reporter and has seen some of the worst humanity can do.

You can get a glimpse of the dark corners or my maternal mind in my latest DC Metro Moms post, “Not on the School Supply List” today.

A slightly less dark and twisty post is my rant about DCMM post on Sunday about HOV lane cheaters.

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Fall began yesterday and the Fall Gun Guide is now officially up! Just like its Summer companion, the Fall Fun Guide is filled with classes and events for kids and families. Some are free, some are not, but somewhere in the guide there should be something for everyone. I am always looking for new things to add to the guide, so please contact me if you know of something that you think should be on there. And please check the guide frequently. The Fall Fun Guide is “younger” than the Summer Fun Guide, so it is still maturing and is not quite as far-reaching yet — it has lots of room to grow!

It includes a list of children’s consignment sales (coming up – My Child’s Closet and Catholic Consignments), pumpkin patches and corn mazes, a list of activities by dates, classes and events, day and weekend trips, and so much more!

Go check it out and then tell all your friends about it!

Oh — and start letting me know about events you think should be included in the HOLIDAY FUN GUIDE!!

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Silicon Valley Moms Group and Yahoo! are piloting a new web video series called A Byte Out of Life and I’m in the first episode (webisode) – Are You a Compulsive Blogger?

You can see the other ones at: http://svmomblog.typepad.com/abyteoutoflife/ There will be a new one each Monday. A second one about kids and technology is already up!

Do you consider yourself a compulsive blogger? Let me know why and where you blog in the comments section below. Or… tell me if you would watch a video series online.

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They Shoot Fat Women, Don’t They? was the title of a 1989 episode of a TV show called Designing Women. In the episode the character played by Delta Burke, Suzanne Sugarbaker, always proud of her beauty queen looks, realized that she was now seen as “the fat girl” by her friends at a high school reunion. She was awarded the “Most Changed” trophy at her fifteen year reunion, as a snark at her physical appearance, and she accepted the award with a lovely speech letting everyone know that she was going to take it as a testimony of how she has changed from shallow beauty to a woman of intellectual and emotional substance rather than the hurtful comment on her weight gain it was originally intended.

I remember reading an article about this particular episode a long time ago, because the episode was written specifically to address Burke’s real-life weight gain. She was a gorgeous, sexy slender woman when hired, and her weight gain became a problem on set between Burke and the show’s producers/writers. Burke’s weight gain was due to a combination of physical and psychological issues and the more she felt pressured about it, the worse it got. Since then, her weight has see-sawed and she has launched a line of plus-sized clothing. At some point she shifted from running from her weight to trying to help others who were heavy feel better about it.

I’m outing myself as a fat woman. I have been terrified of old friends seeing photos of me online in the shape I am in currently and I have decided to end the terror now.

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My friends are divided roughly in half by those who are rabid tech users and those who barely check their emails.  I consider it an extreme compliment when the non-email-checkers tell me they’ve actually read my blog (or “blob” as some say, which I actually kind of like.) 
So when discussions about social media and the [...]

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I apologize for careening back and forth between the PBS track and the recession track — I’ve had certain deadlines to meet with the recession stories — however, both discussion threads are germane to raising children, so hopefully it hasn’t been too jarring.

Back to the wonders of Super Why! For today’s activities, you will need:

• the episode available either in podcast or quicktime format
• the Princess Presto mask
• the Princess Presto day worksheets
• the Princess Presto instruction sheet

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Running a non-profit organization that works with kids struggling with obesity is certainly not easy, but there are many instances when it comes with rewards.

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