And The Winner Is...

As you know, when I have a giveaway I leave it to my trusty assistant, Theo, to pull the winner's name out of a hat - but today he is at the sitter's as I have a ton of things to get done. So, instead of Theo, I used Random.org to select the winner of the Big Apple Circus giveaway. Are you ready?

Drumroll, please!

The winner of the Big Apple Circus giveaway is Sharon from Good, True and Beautiful! Yayyyy!!!

Sharon, I will be forwarding your information to the people over at the Big Apple Circus shortly and they will send you your voucher good for 4 tickets to the one and only Big Apple Circus!!! Congratulations, Sharon!

Gratitude

I just wanted to take a moment to offer immense gratitude out into the Universe. The last few months I've been so worried about how things might turn out that I haven't been fully present to what is. I am blessed with so many things, not least of which is a beautiful, healthy little boy that I waited all my life for. And in addition to that? My family, my friends, my home, my writing, this blog and all of you! I am so deeply grateful for my life and everything in it - even all of the things that I thought would break me. They didn't. I'm still here. And what a truly wonderful life it has turned out to be thus far.

It's My SITS Day!!!

Welcome, everyone! Today is my SITS Day and I am so excited! What? There are some of you who don't know what SITS is??? Well now, I'd be glad to tell you all about them!



SITS is a community of women bloggers who offer each other support through comments. What's more, there are many friendships that are made through SITS, friendships that span states, countries, whole continents! It's a wonderful community and I am very proud to be a part of it - and today is my day as their Featured Blogger! As a SITS Featured Blogger, I get to share my 3 favorite posts with you:

The Mommy Paradox

A Sobering Week

Tomorrow Starts My Own Personal 'New Year'

I hope that you enjoy your peek into my online home here at Single Mama NYC - and if you decide to come back over to my place in the future, you will always be welcomed here!


P.S. If you are in the New York City area and would love a chance to win 4 Big Apple Circus tickets, you can enter here.

HAVE A HAPPY MONDAY AND A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!

Single Mama NYC Has Its Own Domain!

Single Mama NYC used to be found at http://nycmamasan.blogspot.com - mainly because when I started this blog I started it as NYC Mama. This summer I changed my blog's name to Single Mama NYC so that single parents looking to find bloggers they could especially relate to would have an easier time finding me. I have now gotten this blog its own domain name:

http://singlemamanyc.com

Don't worry if you use the old domain name though, it will direct you here immediately!

Xoxo.

My Readers ROCK!!!

So, because of you guys, I won the Best Single Mommy Blog category of the Mommy Blog Awards over at TheBump.com! Thank you, thank you, thank you! What truly means the most to me is that you took time to go and vote for me - what amazing people you are!

The other awesome thing is that they chose Editor's Picks for each category and I won that too!



I'm feeling all kinds of special over here!

Now here's the next part - each category winner gets to go up against the others for the Best Overall Blog Award - the Grand Prize! So, if you can stand to vote some more, head on over to the polls and vote for Single Mama NYC.

Thank you for nominating me, for voting for me, and for winning this for me. I love you guys. I really, really do.

You Guys Are AWESOME!

The people at TheBump.com informed me today that it was my readers who nominated me for the Single Mommy Blog award in the first place! WOW! Listen, guys, I am so beyond moved that you thought enough of me to submit my blog as a nominee for this award that even if I don't win I feel like a winner already. I mean that. I'm touched, moved and inspired by your appreciation of my online home. I love you guys.

Single Mom Blues

If there is ever a time when I get the single mom blues it's when I'm sick. Mostly, as you all know, I absolutely LOVE being a single mama - no complaints here. But when you're stressed out about securing your finances, overwhelmed by the millions of things that need to get accomplished, and when you're taking care of your home and your toddler solo, AND you get sick? UGH.

UGH, I say.

The one good thing that came out of today was that I was informed that I've been nominated for a Single Mommy Blog award - which, if I win, could net me some much needed cash. The fact that I was nominated at all means a lot on its own though because the other Single Mommy bloggers are ROCK STARS of the Single Mommy blog scene, seriously. Single Mom Seeking is also being nominated and I started reading Rachel Sarah over at Single Mom Seeking before I even started blogging, when I suddenly found myself pregnant and single and oh so scared. She and Kimberly at Parenting Without a License (which isn't live anymore but may come back in the near future), and Christine over at Solo Mother gave me the courage to take on being a single mom by choice with the certainty that I was in good company. The other women being nominated are also great single mom bloggers who deserve every bit of the recognition.

But, with all that said, will you vote for ME here? :-D Thank you!!! XOXO!

Movie Review: "The Boys Are Back"

I haven't gone to the movies in AGES, and I don't suppose that I have to tell you why (busy, busy, oh, and busy). I've missed the movies a lot however, and even though I live in one of the most lively and entertaining cities in the world with tons of things to do, my two favorite things to do is going out to eat, and going to the movies. So, when I got the chance to go to the movies to see The Boys Are Back, the new movie with Clive Owen, I leaped at it - and I am SO glad that I did.

Apart from this movie being about a Single Parent, which of course resonated with me deeply, the movie was a really touching one for many different reasons. Clive Owen's character is so deeply moving as he works his way through the grief of losing his wife, to the upheaval of having to raise his young son at first, then his older son from his first marriage as well - mostly on his own, while keeping his fast-paced career as a Sports Writer for a major newspaper afloat. This movie literally made me laugh, cry, nod my head with recognition and wince with "motherly disapproval" at some of the things he let his children do. All in all though, the movie made me feel, and you can't really ask for more than that in a film.

The movie is still showing, so run out and see it! It will definitely be worth the price of the babysitter.

Big Apple Circus Giveaway!!!

I am so excited to announce my best giveaway yet - a magical day for you and your family at the Big Apple Circus! If you are the winner you get a Family 4 pack (a $200 value!), which includes 4 Mezzanine seats (no seat is more than 50 feet away from the main stage). Once my lovely assistant, Theo, randomly selects the winner, The Big Apple Circus will mail the winner a voucher with selected dates to choose from!

Now, for those of you who do not live in New York, perhaps this would be a wonderful reason to take a trip to the Big Apple! Don't think that just because you don't live in the area you can't enter the giveaway. And if you aren't from New York and you win, we must absolutely make sure to meet up - I will be so happy to meet you in person!

So, now for how to enter: if you leave a comment here saying why you would love to go to the Big Apple Circus, that will give you one entry (be sure to attach an email so I can notify you if you win). If you Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post, that's an additional entry. If you update your Facebook status with a link to this post, that's an additional giveaway. And finally, if you have a blog and you post on your blog about this giveaway with a link to this post, that's another entry! Make sure you leave a comment here to let me know if you've Tweeted, Facebook'd, or blog posted about the giveaway so that I can count your entries. And good luck!!!

The Holidays Are Coming! How To Shop Smart For The Holidays

Are the upcoming holidays stressing you out? Yes, sure, it’s supposed to be ” . . . the most wonderful time of the year”. The season of merriment, goodwill, etc. etc. The fact is, holiday shopping can sometimes ruin the joy that this season was meant to bring us all. I found a wonderful way to minimize that stress by saving time and money by shopping online with Offers.com. Have you any idea how crazy it gets in New York City around the holidays? Mothers will literally mug you for the latest Playstation game.

Offers.com is a website that offers deals on travel, services, “As Seen on TV”, and retail offers. They also provide you with promotions, coupons and coupon codes, discounts and more, all organized by the type of offer in lots of different categories. The best thing about this site is that the offerss are updated daily, and you can also sign up for their RSS Feed on their blog page so you can keep up with the deal as they come in.

So, take that, holiday shopping stress! You will not defeat me!!!

More On How To Keep Holiday Shopping Stress At Bay By Shopping Online

All parents, and single parents in particular, already have a full plate with working, caring for the children, cooking, cleaning (the list goes on and on). Now we’re supposed to fit in going shopping for holiday gifts into the almost non-existent time we have left! Here is a wonderful way to minimize that stress by saving time and money by shopping online with a website that offers considerable deals and discounts.

Deal of the Day is a blog that gives you the scoop on the best deals, discounts, sales, clearances, and freebies of the day. They find deals from all types of stores and on all kinds of products and services. They search the Internet for the best promotions and discounts and often contact merchants directly to learn about exclusive discounts and sales. The best part about this site is that since they are a blog, you can sign up for RSS Feeds so as they update their deals, sometimes several times daily, you can be notified of the deal they are getting as they post them. Sweet!

I Was Featured In One Of My City's Newspapers Today!

Always trying to make sure that the single parent community is represented by a strong, positive voice, I was featured in New York City’s Daily News newspaper today as the single mom blogger in a feature about Moms who blog!

One of the things that is very important to me as a blogger alongside making new friends (married, single, parents, childless - doesn't matter), is that I get the word out about the immense joys and particular challenges single parents face, and the necessity of the inclusion of single parents into the larger parenting community as a whole. I am here to support single parents, first and foremost, but I also want to ensure that the single parent image gets a positive overhaul. Why? Because single parents rock! And advertisers, marketers, and society at large should know that.

Feel free to check out the article here.

Cool, huh? :-)