go ahead, be bad.....

It's always a bit of a whirlwind when Erica Ehm rolls into town and last week it was no different. Erica was here to promote the Mischievious Mom at the Art Gallery, a delightful book about a naughty Mother and her spirited adventures with her kids (co-written with her friend Rebecca Eckler).  I love the book because it not only gives us Mom's permission to be bad, it celebrates us for it~

Erica's visit to Van was also another perfect opportunity to tweet up with her west coast friends and fans so we made a plan or two and what follows is a photo blog of the adventures of a village of  dynamic west coast Mom's  which  has grown under the umbrella of Erica Ehm and her Yummy Mummy Club.

 
First stop for Vancouver was at Kidsbooks in Kits where Erica did a book signing. A bunch of us girls showed up and we all wound up having a good old fashioned gab fest about parenting, Mommyhood and blogging. In the photo above was Danielle @justdworld meeting Erica for the first time, it was emotional meeting to say the least, she was excited, we were excited for her and there were a few itty bitty tears of joy shed. Erica as always, was gracious and welcoming and herself as she quickly put everyone at ease.

We found it funny how when we all met up we called each other by our twitter names (which is most often how we commmunicate to each other)!  So in order of appearance by our twitter names.......

@rachaelpachel  @yoyomamadotca @yummymummyclub @Savvymomvan  @ymc_bc

(thank you for the photo goes to Eileen, @ymc_bc)

Next on the progam a scrumptious dinner at the Sandbar. It started out with a couple of notably non-Mummy types joining us for a bevvie.  Raul @hummingbird604 and Jason @jasonsanders who are social media kings in their own right  really wanted to meet up with Erica to say hi in person after months of tweeting cross country so they were allowed a first hand peek into our world,  for a short while at least!   

You might notice a fair amount of handheld devices in this post,  I'm confessing on behalf of each and every one of us right now, Total Twitterholics..... and when a brand new iPad made an appearance, it held our attention for quite some time....

Yes, that's me singing with the piano player.... if there is a musician around, I will usually find a way to get in there and jam a tune or two. :)











Twitter handles from our cast of Mischevious Moms   @YummyMummyClub, @alexishinde, @crunchycarpets, @raspberrykids, @YMC_BC, @tjrossiGnol (thank you for the photos),  @justdworld, @mummyjanie, @theTsunamiMommy

So my gosh what a night, we just had a blast talking everything woman with no apologies and more importantly in the absence of kids, with no interruptions.... 

Of course we couldn't just leave it at that, we can't forget the way this started on the west coast, with a
full-on social media, networking/gathering coffee tweet up. And it also had to be complete with kids, because really, any day that includes a few moments of  awwwwwwww how cute factor  is a good day indeed.  This time our tweetup was at Cafe Artigiano on Broadway and we virtually took over the back half of the cafe because there were so many of  us.......I don't even have all the twitter handles of everyone so I invite you to help me along by reminding me and leaving your  name in the comments section so I can link you up! :)  

Saffron and Camille Henderson authors of the Motherboard as well as Sarah Bancroft (who runs Vitamin Daily, an online lifestyle mag that should be part of your daily reading if you are devoted to finding the best of the best in fashion, art and culture in your city ) all arrived a little early to chat with  Erica pre-tweet and it was nice to finally meet Sarah in person. I've enjoyed watching her fantastic career and business take flight ever since I was first aware of her as an editor at Fashion magazine. I admire how she has built a presence that embodies class and good taste and exactly the right amount of zest.


                                      Saffron and Camille with Erica (and with me in pic below)

Artigiano's was nice and calm and peaceful as we chatted and talked shop and slowly but surely Mom's and babies wandered in and introduced themselves to each other (often by twitter handle such as @earnestgirl @kstennant @TheraWise  all pictured).  And more Mom's and babies showed up, and more, and more, and more....... until there was noise, commotion, squeals of laughter and excitement flying throughout the room and as I looked around I thought once again, this is the perfect  village because kids are watching their Mom's socializing, getting along, sharing, doing and connecting........and  how better to teach your children how to socialize than to teach them by example. 

Catherine, me, Erica

This is what is missing from many families today, the community.

Some people complain that the internet isolates people. I don't buy it. This story is proof that it doesn't have to. I know all of these people through the internet alone. Some people like Erica have the ability to pull a group together and facilitate a community.  Other people, know how to find that community.  Erica seems to attract busy and dynamic women so she has all around her a powerful community who support one another and it reaches across the country. It is the village time a thousand.

I love that  about the internet, that I can sit here and do PR in my pyjamas yet still find different collectives to gain something from or give something to out there in the real and concrete world.  The internet can be a tool of inclusion, it all depends on the way you use it.

If you are a Mom who tweets or who has an online business and would love to connect and network with this amazing group of ladies, do make sure to join the Yummy Mummy Club and watch for updates, this is your village, it is a place where we as women and Mother's don['t apologize for being bright, creative go-getters and most of all, are not at all afraid to be mischevious!


Rach xo

from Yummy Mummy to the League of Rock

In the fall of 2007 I was a part of a baby store in Vancouver and a large portion of my duties were to get the name of my store known and out there in the public.



Poking around online, I had come across Erica Ehm's Yummy Mummy Club which was putting on a nationwide video contest. Two things immediately went through my head, first I thought, Erica Ehm?, how cool! Next, I saw the possibilities. A video contest which would be broadcasting to Mother's all across Canada? So I bought a camera and made my submission, and after it was all said and done, I wrote and told Erica why I had joined, and I thanked her for letting me share the name and news about my store.

Erica wrote back to me personally and told me I should keep making videos.

Just a handful of sentences but that is all it took to leave an impression on me. It was the moment that she took to see me, that meant the world to me. So of course, I was inspired to make more videos.

This all happened by the way, in the weeks following my father's death. It was a timely time to receive a lifeline. I had really fallen into a rut of sadness. Losing my Dad was my first deeply meaningful loss, and it ran nearly parallel to the ending of my marriage and the rebounding of personal relationships. I was suddenly very numb, and felt like I had lost all of my guideposts.
With that one simple email however, I was set on a new course. And the writing of the songs that were required to make more videos, helped me to find and guide myself. It is where I was forced to stop fearing Independence, its where I got brave, it's where I continue to find my voice, and it is where I am finding my strength.

It's just a form of expression yes, but I am an expressive being, so its a good outlet. For that I will always be grateful to Erica, and I am only one of the hundreds upon thousands of women who have been inspired by her to do something for themselves.

This story detours at this point, but it also comes full circle because it goes right back to the basics for me, music................

See next post for more details!

R~

rach in Erica Ehms blog....

Erica Ehm, one of the original VJs on Much Music, now runs a highly successful website called the Yummy Mummy Club. Last fall, I was mentioned in Erica Ehms Blog.