Go ahead look at your shadow. The shadow knows.

Lurking shadows can slow your business down.

What are you avoiding? What or who is following you around that you don?t want to deal with? Do you have a problem shadow?

Frank Asch in the children?s book, Bear Shadow, reminds us about business problems we need to confront in order to move forward.

Bear went down to the pond to fish one afternoon. Bear saw a big fish. ?I?m going to catch that fish, thought Bear to himself.?

Something scared the big fish away?his shadow. ? ? Go away, Shadow!? cried Bear. But Bear?s shadow would not go away.?

Is there something you keep avoiding doing in your business? What?s nagging you? Do you have a problem client? A legal issue? Have you not dealt with public relations? Or, getting your product submissions out to magazines in time for the holidays?

Bear?s shadow does not leave him alone. Bear tries many ways to eradicate his shadow. ?He ran through a field of flowers, jumped over the brook and hid behind a tree?But when he stepped from behind the tree the first thing he saw was Shadow.? Shadow is in capital letters!

A small problem that is avoided can become a big one.

Bear sees a cliff. ?Bear walked over to the cliff and looked up. I?ll climb so high Shadow won?t be able to follow me, thought Bear. Bear climbed higher and higher until at last he pulled himself up to the top. Huffing and puffing, he smiled with pride. Then he looked down and saw Shadow.?

Problems have a terrible way of taking up so much of our time. We obsess over not dealing with ?a problem.?

Bear tries to hammer the Shadow to the ground, but that doesn?t work. He digs a hole, but his shadow does not fall into the hole.

When he finishes filling the hole??the sun was high in the sky and Shadow was no where to be seen. ? At last! sighed Bear. ?No more shadow.? ?

Bear is tired, so he goes to bed. The next morning when bear opens his door—his shadow greets him again! ?He slammed the door, hoping to lock Shadow inside. But Shadow was too quick.?

So, sit down and make of list of stuff you are avoiding?the stuff you will do after you get to x, y, and z. Reverse your list. Put that ?stuff? at the top. Deal with the issue one phone call at a time, one thought at a time, one letter at a time.

Bear talks to Shadow. ?How about this?if you let me catch a fish, I?ll let you catch one too. Nod your head like this if it?s a deal.? When Bear nodded his head, Shadow nodded too?.By this time the sun was in a different part of the sky, which made it easy for Shadow to keep his part of the deal. And when Bear caught that big fish, Shadow caught one too.?

So, make yourself do the tough stuff in the morning?when your shadow hasn?t had a change to take full, sharp form!

Cheers,

Gwen

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Newport, RI (August 19, 2009) ? Simply Chickie (www.SimplyChickieClothing.com), a line of 100% organic baby clothes and accessories has received The Baby Planners? Picks? Seal of Approval – an accolade program designed to help expectant parents prepare for their baby’s arrival with an exclusive list of products and services chosen based on quality, reliability, value and style.?

?We are so excited in having earned The Baby Planners Seal of Approval,? said Gwen Gardner, CEO & Founder of Simply Chickie.? ?This award is a testament to the quality of our product line and reaffirms our commitment in offering organic baby selections!”

Free of dyes and using only certified cotton grown in fields that are free of pesticides, Simply Chickie?s line of products are made in the U.S. and feature whimsical designs created by the CEO and Founder, Gwendolyn Gardner – who strives to capture the wonder of childhood by printing whimsical sayings and graphics on clothing that do not contribute to the pollution of our environment.

The line includes onesies, t-shirts, and hats in some of the following designs and motifs:

• I Toot Toot?
• I Am The Frosting?
• May Contain Peanut?
• I?m Well Bred?
• Inside Me ??

The eco-friendly line is offered for both girls and boys, with sizes ranging from 3 months to 6T.? Retail prices range from $14 – $24.

About The Baby Planners?

The Baby Planners? Picks? / Seal of Approval Program is an exclusive list of products and services that The Baby Planners endorse based on quality, reliability, value and style!

The Baby Planners showcase hundreds of product picks on their frequent television appearances, magazine features and online. They highlight everything from the tried and true, to the fabulously new and unique on such shows as Rachael Ray, Access Hollywood, KTLA?s Morning Show, iVillage and most recently on DisneyFamily.com.? Some of their top picks are also featured in Pregnancy Magazine, The Cradle, Tibesti, The Bump, and the Hot Moms Club where they are featured columnists and experts.

For more information on The Baby Planners and the Seal of Approval Program, visit www.TheBabyPlanners.com.

About Simply Chickie

Simply Chickie Clothing is a line of 100% organic baby clothes and accessories made in the U.S., and free of dyes and pesticides.

?The line was founded by Gwen Gardner, whose creative background and living in Japan, served as inspiration for the company. Gardner comes from a long line of artists and writers and is in fact, a direct descendent of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of the 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter.

?Visit www.SimplyChickieClothing.com for more product information and selections.

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“I?m a big fan of anything organic, so when Inna@AGCG?told me about?SimplyChickie, I just had to mention it here on TheNewParentsGuide.com blog.

SimplyChickie?offers 100% organic cotton clothing including organic onesies, t-shirts and hats for both boys and girls to wear. Free of dyes and using only certified cotton grown in fields that are free of pesticides, all of the Little Chickie Wear products are made in the U.S. and feature whimsical designs created by the CEO and Founder, Gwendolyn Gardner – who strives to capture the wonder of childhood by printing whimsical sayings and graphics (one of my faves pictured) on clothing that do not contribute to the pollution of our environment. Sizes are available from 3 months to 6T.”

Go to The New Parents Guide Website here.

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Today’s Giveaway is for an organic onesie (winner’s choice)?from?Little Chickie Wear?by Gwen Designs! {arv $24}?Open Worldwide!

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I found a naked Barbie underneath the kitchen table.

Barbie has become my daughter?s companion; she loves to dress her, undress her, comb her hair, take baths with her, and drive in a pretend blue convertible around the living room floor on her way to the ? beach.? What is her attraction to that doll? The long legs that twist in every direction? The perfectly painted red lips? The shiny long hair? Perfectly pointed breasts? Polished toes?

I didn?t want that doll in my house, and made that fact known. Somehow Barbie crept in though?she always seems to find a way into little girls? homes. My little one practices on and with her?practices putting tight clothes on, practices brushing the hair, and practices dives into the deep part of the bath near the drain.

Do I tell her now that she shouldn?t look to emulate Barbie?she can never live up to the ideal?that idolizing her can lead to eating disorders?that no amount of micro-dermabrasion can create skin like hers?

Just when I get myself into a froth over this subject?I find naked Barbie carelessly thrown? under the kitchen table?her hair cut off on one side?her designer clothes lost in a crayon pile?dried playdough on her hands?and a thick red marker scribble across her stomach.

I take a deep breath?calm down?Barbie really is a little bit like all of us.

She has bad days too.

Written by Gwen Gardner

www.LittleChickieWear.com

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Playdate for mom: shopping and socializing
By Ami Albernaz
Globe Correspondent / June 4, 2009?

As Gloucester native Ann Andrew recalls, it didn’t take much for her to dream up Mommies Who Shop, the series of suburban shopping events and “play dates” for mothers that she launched two years ago. A former director of merchandising at the now-defunct Sigrid Olsen who’d left her job in 2004 to become a stay-at-home mom, Andrew – creative, affable, and with a finely honed sense of fashion – tapped into two of her big loves, socializing and shopping.

“I think of it as an upscale girl nights out,” says Andrew, 40, the mother of three boys. “I wanted it to feel intimate, to be something that women could dress up and head out with their girlfriends to, and maybe go out to dinner afterward. It’s like a happy hour with shopping.”

Some of the best-known shopping events for women are aimed primarily at the young and single. Shecky’s Girls’ Night Out parties and StyleFixx events, often held in Boston’s South End, gather local vendors and national labels, selling everything from Spanx to handbags to hair products in one traveling bazaar. Mommies Who Shop nights aren’t much different – except they’re held in the suburbs and most of the vendors sell hip goods for kids. Also available: a little grown-up time.

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My relationship theory goes like this?the distance a couple sits apart from each other in public has everything to do with how much they are ?together.?

If they are in the first phase?the lust phase, they use no less than four touch points:

–the shoulders,
–the hands,
–the hips.

Their feet are definitely kissing.

Don?t bother saying excuse me. Neither love bird will hear you.

Two touch points, the shoulders and the knees, mean they have entered the love phase.?They don?t know what?s happening or where they are going, but they enjoy every minute of their bliss.

?Both will acknowledge your presence, and they will smile simultaneously. Whatever conversation you choose to have with both or just one (good luck), optimism will rain down on you. You will believe that anything is possible?even the odd notion that toothpaste can be stuffed back into the tube.

?When a couple enters the comfort stage, they may not touch at all.?In fact, one may be talking to the bartender while the other one discusses politics with a stranger. Their eyes reveal though; there is a deep knowing.

You can have an in depth conversation with one of the members of the duo and come away enlightened?especially after the sharing of a good Tuscan wine. You will even know the best castle to visit while visiting Austria.

Questions have been answered by this couple. Eyelids blink slowly.?They?ve come upon a secret.

A ?together? feeling?a ?together? secret?no more performances are necessary.

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So much can be told from a guy?s shoes. They are what he stands in and stands for. Sneakers mean a guy is too casual, and that he works so much that he never contemplates the thought of going out on the town. He thinks he will meet his dream girl in the supermarket over the frozen food section or while picking up a pizza. A bar and the frozen food section are one and the same?it?s where one goes to pick up stuff at night.
Now, shoes that are too black and too shiny, means he?s narcissistic.
But, a nice pair of slightly worn leather kicks means that he loves slowly and completely. He?ll make coffee in the morning.

So, listening to Chris Mann?s ?New York Time? this week, I was whisked away to thoughts of my man (with the nice pair of slightly worn leather kicks)?and a poem I wrote a while back?about a fictitious perfect man whom I could meet at a bar?say here in Newport. It went something like this:

Him
A man enters the bar tonight.
Not the kind that can ever be tamed,
Just one to watch from a distance,
With eyes so deep.

He has a slight sway in his hips,
Strength in his steps,
And hardness in his curves.

I like to see him lean against the wall
In front of me.

He?s like red wine,
Tart and sweet at the same time.

He stands and stares with a security of a thousand oceans behind him?
With each breath in and out?
Sending his wave in my direction.

It crashes into my chest.
An incoming tide,
Leaving a touch so fleeting,
Yet so permanent,
The kind I won?t forget tomorrow,
Or the next tomorrow.

I can feel now,
And the air feels so soft tonight.

I wrote him down, and he appeared?about three years after I wrote that poem?but still?fiction became non-fiction. Let it be said?writing creates reality.

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Lipstick?Lovely, Lara, Charmed, Cherise, Hydrangea, and #133! Lipsticks are friends. They have personalities, and I connect with them in certain moods?they are with me?I glean comfort and confidence from them.

Lovely is my ?Go-to? lipstick in a gun-metal shiny Smashbox case?an everyday color of rose that never lets me down?good for business meetings, tutoring students, and writing blogs.

Lara?is for hanging with my girlfriends?it?s purple with sparkle.

Now, Charmed comes in a matte airline black box type case?a dark rose?an exclamation point color! It?s worn when I need to do battle on my T-Mobile bill, get an oil change, or when I want to order the Venti Mocha Latte from Starbucks! I want to leave a serious mark on that cup!

The petite sweet Cerise in the small silver ribbed case is a barely-there pink for library trips with my daughter, and when I need to ask my man to fix the faucet in the bathroom.

Hydrangea is concave now?a bright pink used for serious wine class tasting nights?did I mention it?s hollow!

My Plum is for parties and going out; it?s worn down ?just peeking above the silver rim. Hummm, what have I been doing lately?

Then, there?s my #133. It has a little dust on it. The color is a pure candy apple red?I need to wear a mini-skirt with fishnet stockings and black patent leather boots with this number. It?s a New York City lipstick. Come to think of it?I?m going to the City next week. I?ll have to wipe the dust off and tuck it in my bag!

What are you wearing today?

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Little Chickie Wear by Gwen Designs?created my all time favorite onesie “May contain peanut” which I?blogged about?a while back. I was scoping out their site to see what else they have and I came across this onesie which states “I’m going to run with scissors“. Now, that cracks me up. Not only are they clever, but Little Chickie Wear onesies and tees are all made in the USA, 100% cotton and they have sizes for babies and kids up to size 6. Plus, they are located in Newport, RI. If you have never been there, it’s one to add to your list of places you must visit!

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