Guest Post: Give us a Smile

Meet my friend Kelly from Our Silly Rodriguez Family and her adorable son Gabriel. I suspect that if Blondie Boy and Gabe met up they would get into ALL sorts of trouble and probably get away with it by flashing a cheeky smile. Kelly's asking you all to help give a child a smile; that's not too much to ask is it?

We are calling in our privilege card. We are asking you to join us in helping babies who weren't born into the same privilege as we were. And our babies were. Babies who were born in the third world. To parents who believe birth defects equate to being cursed. Babies who will be shunned, abandoned, or even killed for being born with a wide smile.

Kids who will grow up with speech problems, nutrition problems, social and emotional troubles....

We can help these babies.

Or at least one baby.

Let's do it.

*************************
This gorgeous boy changed my life.





This gorgeous boy was loved so fiercely by so many people as soon as he was born.
 I mean...

I dare you to not melt over that face. Double dog dare.

It was the only face I knew. The only face I adored. And before his repair I wept. I wept because I would be losing the face I had kissed endlessly. The face that changed my life in the most incredible way.

And it definitely changed his face. His smile was inhibited and tight for awhile. Surgery was rough.
 After we paid our $10 copay we were treated so kindly. And given the gift of time by "Dr. Magic Hands." And he waved his wand (as my mama says) and repair = done. At 3 months. Exceptionally well done.

Privilege.

His repair-a-versary is creeping up and we figured "hey, let's celebrate this."

Let's help just one kid get their new smile. $250. We can so do this.

 He has faith in us.

He knows we can do it.

The donations go straight to smile train. No money in my grubby hands. Just a quick, super simple donation. $1. $5. $20. Whatever. Every bit brings us one step closer to spreading some love, sharing some privilege.

Thank you for loving my boy and sharing this adventure with us. More than anything we are simply grateful.


If everyone who reads this post donates $2, $5 or $10 we could make a pretty significant difference in the life of a child. Let's make a difference.


Two weeks from today last year, we woke up at 4am. I had to lock myself in the bathroom to weep while Justin did his best to soothe a very hungry little Gabriel. He couldn't eat. We couldn't sleep. The house was buzzing with nervous energy.


I held this tiny guy, in a tiny hospital gown and passed him off...








And even in that moment, even feeling like I was losing a piece of myself when he was taken away, I was grateful.


Looking back, I cry with appreciation. Appreciation for all you that were praying with us and appreciation for the skilled hands of our surgeon. And the nurses. And anesthesiologist. And the vast amount of skilled, well trained and fabulous people caring for our sweet nugget.


The surgery that happened at almost exactly 3 months old. The surgery that improved his breathing. And eating. And health. And the surgery that allowed the cleft to never have a chance to affect him emotionally or socially. And be teased. Taunted. Shunned.


The surgery that so many children do not get.


We can change that for a child. Please donate.

Guest Post:Typecast talks blog labels and SEO

My first guest post is from Nickie from Typecast, who I recently got to meet at Blog Camp and CyberMummy. She is true to herself and in addition to writing some amazingly inspirational blog posts and supporting other bloggers she also has a whole series of kick-ass blog tutorials. Here Nickie helps you with your SEO!

There has been a bit of discussion recently about putting tags or labels on your blog posts and how important they are. Generally blog posts are categorised (or tagged) to group together similar types of posts.  


Labels, tags or categories contribute to your "Search Engine Optimization" (otherwise known as SEO).  Simply put, SEO is all about being able to find an appropriate web page among the millions of web pages on the Internet when using free search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.).  It is having the right content, inclusive of labels, so that your web page or blog post is one of the first that people see when their search results appear.  If you want to read more then have a look at the SEO Wikipedia page.

If you use Wordpress as your blogging platform then you'll have a section for "categories" and "tags" to the right of your dashboard (example on the right).  You also have facilities when you upload an image to use a title, alternative (ALT) text, captions and for your image to have its own URL.  Here is where Wordpress wins hands down as all the facilities for adding the necessary SEO are right there in front of you - no frills.


On Blogger you need to do a little more digging and use the magic HTML again - which I actually think is unnecessary and if you're new to blogging or have limited knowledge of HTML then you risk lowering your opportunities.  But we all know that I'll never leave Blogger as it is my comfort blanket and I'm always trying to find ways to adapt Blogger.  I see it as my own personal challenge.


Write your blog post in Blogger as usual.  Also upload and place your images as you normally would, whether that be through the tools provided or using the "direct link" HTML code from online image storage such as Photobucket.  As an aside, using this method makes it easier to find them in the HTML tutorial that is to follow.  Remember to always insert HTML in the "Edit HTML" tab rather than in the "Compose" tab.  You can flick between the two without losing any of your blog post. 

To label your blog posts in Blogger you have to use the section below where you write your blog post (example to the left) and then to add labels to your images you have to set off on a little HTML scavenger hunt (with thanks to Pippa for the additional information).

* * *


Once you have completed your blog post using the WYSIWYG facilities click the Edit HTML tab

Search for your image URL.  This may be the Photobucket URL if you have used that facility or it will be something that look like "1.bp.blogspot.com/" followed by a few random numbers and letters.  This is still a unique URL for the image but is much messier (see the example below circled in red)

At the end of that URL (example circled in blue) a code that looks like this:

/></a></div>

Immediately BEFORE that section of code you need to insert an ALT tag (alternative text tag) like this:

ALT="yellow filofax"

or a description of whatever the picture is.  There are two reasons for this - the first is that this is the anchor tag for the image now and the second is that this is the text that will be read out by a screen reader if people use those.  Try not to cram this section with too many keywords as it would classed as spamming.


Also, if you want to add a pop-up caption that will appear when someone hovers their cursor over your image then in the same area insert:

TITLE="title of image"

(leave one space after the ALT command)

It is also a good idea to give your images proper names rather than retaining the image number as this helps to anchor SEO too - here your image could be "yellow-hearts-filofax.jpg" with ALT="yellow filofax" follwing it.  


* * *

I hope this has helped a little bit.  I've tried to keep it simple and explain the reasons why having this knowledge is important if you want your blog post to work for you and to be read by a wider audience.

Bon Voyage

Today is Transatlantic Blonde's third anniversary! Thank you all so much for reading all my random ramblings; here is what Blondie Boy has to say:

Yup that's right: Thanks and Bye! We are jetting off to Barcelona today and driving to the South of France tomorrow!  I've got some great guest posts lined up while I'm away so please show them some love!  I've also got Feminist Friday (open theme) scheduled for next Friday so please come by! I'm sure I'll have some interesting posts when I get back including celebrating American Independence Day in France, oooh la la!

We'll not have internet so please be patient if you are trying to reach me via twitter or email since I'll be cut off from the twitterverse and blogosphere. Don't feel too sorry for me though as I'll most likely be sipping a frozen beverage with my feet dipped in the pool :)

(that is the actual pool I will be lounging by!)

Travelling with a Toddler

Tomorrow we are leaving on a proper vacation. What the freak makes it proper you ask? It's a vacation which has the sole purpose of being a vacation. Being an expat means that a lot of your vacations are actually trips to visit friends and family. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing them, but I'm really excited to being going on a proper holiday which for me includes a beach and our very own OUTDOOR pool!


This will be our third trip with Blondie Boy so I thought I'd pull together a list of what I think are must haves for travelling with a toddler. Some of these I haven't tested or tried yet, but like I said it's my opinions, not facts.

Trunki: Unless you've never been in an airport ever you'll have seen a Trunki; I saw at least ten over the past two weeks when I flew to Manchester and London. Not only are they ridiculously cute, but they are functional. Your child can ride on it, you can pull them on it while you use it to schlep their carry-on stuff on the plane. Blondie Boy has been pushing it around the living room all week so I can't wait to see what he does at the airport.


Salter Luggage Scales: I hate packing; I am always overpacking and don't even get me started on how I jam everything into our suitcase when we come home from the US (I may or may not bring an extra bag just for food). On more that one occasion we've had to shuffle items from one bag to another so they were the right weight.  You attach the Salter luggage scales to your bag, lift it by the handle, and wait for the beep to see the total weight. No more embarrassing moments at check-in and no more excess luggage fees!

New toys and books: The tip mentioned to me most often is to bring toys and books your child has never seen before to keep them entertained. I've already broken that by letting Blondie Boy play with his Megasketcher but I love that the pen is attached to the board so he can't drop/throw it away. Luckily my Mother-in-law has gotten him some new books as well.


Change of clothes in your carry-on: I'm not just talking about for your toddler here; pack an extra top for you, too. Do you want to sit in a puked on, peed on or food smeared shirt for an extended period of time? I didn't think so.


Snacks: I don't like airplane food and chances are your toddler won't either. Pack snacks you know they like and are easy to eat. Things like snack bars or fruit pouches which your toddler can slurp. If the pouches are more than 100ml you'll have to taste them but 100ml or smaller and you are good to go.


A baby carrier: If your child is still light enough use a baby carrier. We used one when we flew with Blondie Boy at 5 months and it was amazing. He fell asleep in it and I could carry him while eating a Sausage McMuffin; I call that a win-win situation.

A compact stroller: We are taking our Nuna PEPP with us on the flight. It folds up easily and compactly, but doesn't slack on style or function. I've been happy with how it's worked for travelling around Glasgow and I'm interested to see how it does travelling abroad.


Travel Cot: Blondie Boy still sleeps in his crib so trying to put him to sleep in a regular bed is just not going to work. We're taking a Mamas and Papas Sleep Travel Cot. It is compact and portable, but still very spacious, sturdy and stylish. Hopefully Blondie Boy will like sleeping in it!

Pourty: I've talked about the Pourty before and since we know Blondie Boy likes using it as a potty and it is portable we are taking it with us on our trip. No reason for potty training to stop just because we are going on holiday. It also means we can dispose of everything in the potty easily and without mess.




What are your *must* haves for travelling with a toddler? Am I forgetting anything?


Some, but not all, of these products were provided to Transatlantic Blonde to review but all opinions are my own.

Feminist Friday X

This week's theme is there is no theme. You can write and link anything as long as your post has a feminist slant.


This week I've been thinking about being a modern feminist; obviously I'm not first or second wave, but I'm really not third wave so where does that leave me? As far as I know there hasn't been any academic discussion of a fourth wave so I'll go with modern feminist, which I'm stealing from Caitlin Moran. I don't know much about her, but from an article I read in Stylist, How to Be a Modern Feminist, I like her.


I completely agree with her on Lady Gaga, fashion and bitching.  Have you ever seen Gloria Steinem up close and personal? I have and she is stunning; immaculately stylish with long, manicured nails.  Does that make her less of a feminist? Does that change the amazing writing she's done or devalue her activist activities? No.  You can be a feminist and get manicures. Hell you can be a feminist and wear short pink dresses and heels; I personally prefer flip-flops for most occasions but I just bought a pair of amazing Steve Madden nude wedges today.


I think for me a large part of being a modern feminist is tackling the image the general public has of feminists. The de-feminization of feminists is clearly part of the backlash and tackling that is one of the much needed steps to turn the "F-word" into a title young women and girls want to claim.  I think many women are hesitant to claim their feminist identity because they are worried of what people will think of them.


I went out to happy hour in DC one night in my "This is What a Feminist Looks Like" fitted t-shirt and I had some guy come up to me and say "So do you shave your armpits?" Much to my friend's dismay I rolled up my shirt and said "Yes I do, you want to see my legs, too?"  I'm not sure where this "hairy-legged women's liber" stereotype has come from but if we aren't eschewing hair removal then we are butch lesbians. 


Feminists can be pretty. Feminists can wear pink. We can wear dresses and hell, even ribbons in our hair if we so choose. Feminists can come in every shape, colour, size, style, age and sexuality. Do some feminists not shave their legs? Probably. Are some feminists lesbians? Yes. Note the word some. Vast generalizations do not do any movement good and the sooner we cast off these generalizations clearly put upon us to scare off women who like being feminine the better it will be.


I hate when I hear women say they aren't feminists. (So what are they then? Masochists?) Maybe it's just me, but I think a lot of them are just afraid of the label. This feminist is proud to wear the label and I'll do so while wearing a pale pink dress and fabulous wedges.

Feminist Friday X

Here's how it works. Write a blog about being a feminist mom, raising a feminist child, a rant or anything that falls under the realm of the theme for the week. Come back and link your post and post the button on your blog.


That's it.


You don't even have to be a blogger to take part - just send me your post and I will publish it on my blog for you. You don't even have to include your name if you prefer.


When you've published it, come back on Friday and via a widget thing you can add a link to your post and share it with everyone. The link remains open for 4 days.


Visit others, comment if you like them or feel inspired by them. Just go out and encourage and support other feminist Moms.


The more support you give, the more you will get back! I can't wait to meet and interact with other feminist moms around the world!

CyberMummy 11 Meet & Greet

It's T-Minus 5 days until CyberMummy and I guess maybe it's time the #CyberMummyBirthdayGirl got her Meet and Greet post up. That's right I'll be celebrating my birthday with 400 friends I haven't yet met!

Name: Blondie (You'll have to meet me on the day for my real name)

Blog: Transatlantic Blonde

Twitter ID: @Melaina25

Height: 5' 3" ish

Hair: Long Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Likes: reproductive rights, sexuality and health issues, scotland, zack morris, tattoos, chocolate chip pancakes, washington d.c., skyline chili, bagel sushi, krispy kreme, mountain dew & randomness

Dislikes:  Hate, right-wing propaganda, coriander (I'm allergic), sexism and oranges

I don't bite so if you see me on the day please come say hello or happy birthday if you prefer. You know you want to hear my transatlantic accent live and in person :)

Happy Father's Day

My wonderful Dad made this for Blondie Boy's wonderful Daddy (on BB's behalf) and I love it.  I'm very lucky to have nothing by wonderful Dads and Grandpas in my life and I know how lucky Blondie Boy and I are to have such wonderful men in our lives.  I'm especially lucky to have NotBlondeHusband as Blondie Boy's Dad; he's a great husband and an even more amazing Daddy.

This free picture slideshow made with Smilebox