extreme makeover: blog edition

Please bear with me as I'm making a few changes to my blog's layout and appearance.  I've never been really happy with the design, and I'm tinkering with it (along with the idea of enlisting the help of professionals).

I'm really excited about the way it looks so far!

New and Improved!

In an effort to simplify my blog layout and clean up that sidebar a bit, I've made a few changes!

1. I've added an "autobiography" page!  Check it out!
2. I've also added a contact form on the "contact me" page.
3. I've moved my blog's archives (formerly in the sidebar) to its own page.  Because Blogger does not yet have a magic button to add your archives to a free-standing page, I had to link everything manually (eww).  So at the end of each month, I will manually update the archives.  If you want to see recent posts, they're on my home page.
4. I've moved my "Labels" box to my "archives" page as well.
5. You can now subscribe to "my life as a domestic diva" and receive email updates!  I am still trying to figure out how all of this works, so please be patient with me.
6. I'm also currently adding new links to the "stuff i love" page!

That's all for now, I hope you find my blog easier to navigate!

Just published my "Autobiography" page.  Check it out!

Comment Moderation is ON, Spammers!

OK so I'm sick of people posting their spam when commenting on my blog.  I've had everything from "buy valium online" to "tubal ligation reversal" and it's gotten out of hand lately.

I have turned comment moderation ON for now.  This means that before your comment appears on my blog posts, it must be reviewed and approved by me.  Hopefully this will stop the spam.

a domain name for the domestic diva!

In light of my blogging "face lift," I've decided to register a domain name!

From now on (unless I forget to renew my subscription next year), you can access my blog at:

mylifeasadomesticdiva.com

But don't worry, my blogger address, mylifeasadomesticdiva.blogspot.com, will still work!

my brief affair with wordpress

Thought about switching to wordpress.  Created an account and everything.  Saw it was WAY too complicated.  Changed my mind, and I'm back on blogger.

So I'm trying re-purpose my blog a little.  For one, I want to start writing product reviews.  Maybe book reviews later.  I thought that wordpress would give me the freedom to be more creative.  But after setting up an account and trying to simply change my design a little, I soon realized that as a busy mother of two, I just don't have the time to learn all of this.  I'd rather spend my time writing posts than html.

I'm still going to be working on it, a lot.  But it's going to be on blogger for now.

Side Note about my Blog/Nursery Design

I really like this design, and I think I'm going to use it as inspiration for my nursery.  I love the greens and browns mixed with the whites and greys.  The Graco Lauren crib I ordered is espresso, I have a changing table I plan to spray-paint white (and I can put those canvas baskets on the shelves - green, brown, or both), I'm re-painting the dresser (haven't decided what color yet), and I'm looking into buying a white wooden daybed (with a trundle so the girls can pull it out to sleep on when they're little).  The butterflies also gave me an idea for a wall mural or these wall decals - or maybe I can just cut out some designs in plywood and paint them dark brown to save a little $ - just some ideas bouncing around in my head.

But before I can do any of that, I really need to sell the antique-style yellow furniture I had as a little girl.  I like it, but it's not really the direction I want to go in for decorating the girls' room.  I put it up on Craig's List last night, and I have a few people interested - but no one's called me back yet.

So Photobucket Officially Sucks

Well I spent quite a while designing my blog page, got it just the way I wanted it, and then tried to upload it to photobucket.com.  Too big.  So I fiddled with it, adjusted and re-adjusted the size and resolution, and when I uploaded it to meet photobucket's 25 MB limit, it was too small for my blog.  So until I decide to spend the money to buy a membership (that would allow me to upload images of any size), I'm giving up.  Found this design from The Cutest Blog on the Block, and I really like it.  So I'm using it for now.

New Look for my Long Lost Blog

I know it's been forever since my last post.  But I have been working on creating a new and updated look for the blog.  So while I try to figure this HTML stuff out, it may look a little off.  I have a very tempermental-pregnant-digestive-system and a very cute-but-demanding 9-month-old, so please be patient.

Monday

...and Monday I updated my blog.  Obviously.  Lol.

What's in a Name?

When I decided to create a blog, I was faced with a dilemma - what to name it.  This may sound silly, but when you're giving a title to the Chronicles of your Life, you want it to be something good.  Something unique.  Something that describes your life as closely as possible without being a paragraph long.

So, naming my blog has made me do some serious soul-searching.  What describes me?  I'm Catholic, a wife, a new mother, and my husband and I are expecting our second child in November on our second anniversary.  Should I title my blog "Baby Machine?"  "Laundry Lady?"  "Dairy Queen?"  That's what I feel like sometimes when my baby girl wants to breastfeed all day long, lol.