Dress troubles and.. blogger sellout?

Someone, get me a stylist.

So remember that dress I got for the Christmas party? I did a 'dry run' when I got home (when I took the photo), but I didn't think to add my dress coat. I'm just learning lessons every day these days!

First off - the nylons were so ridiculously uncomfortable - not to mention giving me that bulgy look at the waist - that they came off in the car on the way to the party! I can't understand how other women can wear those nasty things. Maybe I made a mistake buying the brand I picked. Maybe I really need to spend $25 and up (hello, Spanx - I've never tried them) on nylons to get a decent pair? But for the one time a year that I 'need' nylons, it just seems like too much money. And luckily I still have a bit of a tan from our trip to Mexico, and had actually bothered to shave my legs... so I felt cool about going bare-legged. It was COLD though, car to party, at -3 outside!

When we got into the hall and the coat came off... I discovered a much bigger problem. STATIC! The dry winter air, carpeted event hall, and I guess the satin lining of my coat all combined to attract my dress to my body like a second skin. This was at my husband's office party, about 200 people there, all dressed to the nines... and there's me in my static cling dress! I rushed to the washroom to wet down my hands and run them over the fabric. That worked long enough to get us to our table, and that's where I stayed!

The funniest thing was that when I went into the ladies' to deal with the static issue, there were a half-dozen women in there talking. When I walked in, they cried out, "Oh, look, she's doing it!" Huh? They quickly explained that they were debating whether nylons were a necessary evil. When they saw my bare legs (and I told them my nylons came off in the car on the way over), they all rushed into the stalls to remove the offending articles! Yay, female solidarity! There were lots of us there with bare legs and we were definitely happy about it!

Blogging for money

Just something I've noticed a lot more of, lately. Advertorials by bloggers about companies, no giveaway attached. I'm the first to admit, I love reading about products - honest reviews are good, giveaways make my day. But it seems there's a growing trend towards straight out advertorials, where the blogger hasn't tried the product and isn't hosting any giveaway joy.

I know blogging takes a lot of time, and it's got to be nice to get paid for it. There are companies out there that pay bloggers about $15 per post. And others that pay a certain amount per word. I've looked at these things and thought about them. I could totally do it - after years of practice in English courses throughout my education, an essay on any subject is not a hard thing to do (let's all pretend I didn't just tell you about my unfortunate art history paper). And I'm guessing you could put 45 minutes into a post, take the $15 - not a bad hourly wage, though of course it wouldn't translate into anything like a full time salary. Kind of perfect for stay at home moms, or people who want a little extra pocket money.

I don't know. On one hand, we're all smart people. As readers, we can tell the difference between a sponsored post and one from the heart. We can skip the posts that don't interest us (which kind of defeats the purpose for sponsors). And I have a lot of respect for people who can take what they love to do and make it profitable.

On the other hand, it just seems kinda iffy... it's like a fake smile on someone you thought was genuine.

I'm more of a fan of the kind of review post where a company sends a blogger something to try, they give it an honest go, and tell what happened, in their own words. Or the kind where a blogger has tried something on their own, unsponsored, and just has something to say about it. Whether it contains a giveaway or not, I am way more likely to read that than the other kind.

I don't think I'll be blogging for money. Just doesn't feel right. Not that I don't understand it or even think it's okay to get paid for blogging - as long as there's transparency and honesty there.

If you're going to do it, how about prefacing the entire post with "This is a paid advertisement," or "Hey guys! They sent me money to write this!"? And when you do, I'll probably be skipping down to the next post you wrote - about something real.

(Yes, I have accepted payment for an ad on my blog before. Is that different? I feel like it is. It's clearly an ad, and not passing itself off as anything but an ad.)

Today...

I've decided I'm having a lazy Saturday today, which means maybe some baking -

project #1: Peanut Butter Squares with Milk Chocolate & Oats from the rebar cookbook
project #2: herbed pizza dough for tonight's dinner

- and definitely some giveaways :) I will add them to the bottom of this post when I get to it. Meanwhile if you haven't entered my giveaway for some delicious tea that I'm about to make myself a cup of, go to it!

OH, and thanks for your comments about grudges. I'm glad I'm not the only one hanging on to a few! There oughta be a national grudge day to celebrate all our stale old grudges.

What you came for...

For baby:

• Win a Glow Baby Baby's First Journal at My Wee View. I have one of these in hopeful preparation for our future little one and it is fabulous - so of course, I'm not entering this giveaway, but I wanted to share it with you. Moms of newborns need to keep track of a lot of stuff, and this is the perfect tool (plus it's a Canadian mom's design & company!). Ends December 11th.
• Win an organic Hotslings baby sling at Best Baby Organics. Ends December 29th.
• Win a $25 gift certificate to Wild Dill at Mkokopelli. Ends December 15th.
• Win a Bummis Organic Diaper Kit at Happily Domestic. Ends December 19th.
• Win an EsBaby customized fitted OS diaper at The Cloth Diaper Report. Ends December 16th.
• Win a GroBaby shell set and soaker pads from Fluffy Bottom Babies at My Wee View. Ends December 18th.
• Win a Snugfits tee at Oh My Baby. Ends December 21st.
  

For tots:

• Win a Green Toys Chef Set from Stortz & Associates at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Open to Canadians only! Ends December 13th.

For the ladies:

• Win a handbag from Handbag Heaven (2 winners!) at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Ends December 12th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $20 Starbucks gift card at 4 Fabulous Families. Ends December 12th.
• Win a $110 Visa card from Kodak at {Natural} Mommie. Ends December 14th.
• Another chance to win a $110 Visa card from Kodak at This Mom Can Shop. Ends December 12th.
• Win a Limited Edition Clarisonic at Mommy Goggles. Ends December 19th.
• Win an amazing PC holiday products basket from Loblaws at Postcards from the Mother Ship. I *love* PC products - lately I've been gorging myself on their Stone Wheat crackers. I almost didn't want to tell you about this one. Open to Canadians only! Ends December 7th.
• Win a Popcorn Snowman Snack Tin from The Popcorn Factory at Guessing All The Way. Ends December 16th.
• A Simple Kind of Life is hosting a free tea giveaway! Check out Golden Moon Tea to find your perfect cup, from oolong tea to black tea! Giveaway ends December 9th.
• Win a tea set from Golden Moon Tea (red teapot, tea filter bags, and a tin of Tippy Earl Grey) at unpaint. Ends December 11th.
  

For the home:

• Win a wall decal by Wilson Graphics at Project Nursery. Not sure when this ends.
• Win a $100 Crate and Barrel gift card at Half Baked. I love C&B! Ends December 10th.