Mommybloggers: You know we have to ask about the name. Izzymom? So is Izzy short for anything? A pseudonym? An evil side personality? Do share!
Izzy: Izzy is a nickname. I decided to use it for blogging because my husband reminded me of some nutjobs I became entangled with in another internet community several years ago. Everyone used their real names and it came back to bite some of us when things went sour. I wish I had a juicy story to tell or a naughty alter ego to refer to but alas...it's just a case me being cautious and heeding my husband's suggestion.
Mommybloggers: Love the devil logo. How did you come up with that?
Izzy: Awww thanks! The backstory on the 'lil devil is that several years ago, someone gave me a stock photography CD that contained an image of the little devil doll and I was immediately smitten. I had always wanted to use it for something personal but never did. When I moved my blog to Wordpress, I started looking through all my old stuff for ideas. I came across that image and knew right then and there that I had to use it. I still don't know if it's a girl or a boy, though.
Mommybloggers: So you were able to kick your firstborn out into the real world of kindergarten. Tell us how that went over inside your heart.
Izzy: The actual act of sending her to kindergarten didn't get to me as much the memories of her first days of preschool. It made me very melancholy and got me thinking about how hard it was for me to leave her at preschool when she was 3. I just kept peeking in the window to make sure she was okay. And then the second day, there was a field trip that parents had to attend and her best friend at the time, who also had just started at this preschool, dissed her really hard. My daughter was heartbroken and kept calling after her friend, begging her to be her "buddy system" partner. I wanted to throttle the other kid for hurting my little girl like that. Those are the things I was thinking about as I let my baby go out into the big bad world of big kid school without me. Thankfully, she is so much more confident and independent now. I guess it was worth it to go through all the crap early on. These days, my heart both aches and swells with pride as she enthusiastically hops right out of the car with barely a nod to me. But it's hard to acknowledge that she will never be my little baby again.
Mommybloggers: We had the honor of meeting you at BlogHer and noticed that every time we looked up you were holding court, laughing and having a good time. Are you kidding us when you mentioned on your blog that "it was with great trepidation, for I am not what I would call socially graceful."? You are a natural in a crowd. Or were you faking it? (Come on, we all fake it now and then!) Do you fake it?
Izzy: I must admit it's interesting to see yourself through other people's eyes! But no, I don't fake it...lol Basically, I tend to feed off the energy around me so if it's a positive vibe, I can circumvent all that awkwardness and just be myself. At BlogHer, I felt this very positive energy swirling around and it's like crack to me. It's elating! But not knowing that it would be like that, I was a little nervous. I was afraid people might be snobby or cliquey and fortunately, that wasn't my experience at all. I had a blast!
Mommybloggers: What do you personally think about the term mommyblogger? (Yes, we do have to ask.)
Izzy: Personally, I don't mind it. I know some feel it's dismissive but I believe words only have the weight and power you give to them. No matter who you are or what you do, you're going to have critics and people that look down at you. That's the way of the world. I try to ignore that kind of crap in every other part of my life so I can't see allowing it to bother me in this particular arena and in some ways, I find the term kind of empowering. At Blogher, Erin (Queen of Spain) and I talked about how, as a group, we have a lot of power. I believe the term we bandied about was "a mom army". In other words, we are a force to be reckoned with if we choose to use our collective power that way.
Mommybloggers: How long have you been writing? Blogging? Being just generally cool?
Izzy: I've always enjoyed writing and words and language. Though not ever employed as a "writer" I was always the "go-to" person whenever people needed copy or a blurb or an article written or anything like that. I've toyed with the idea of writing fiction but as I lamented to my writer friend, Wendy Boucher, it's like scrapbooking...there are just too many options. You could take a story in a limitless number of directions. How do you decide? I've concluded that I need to collaborate with someone if I ever want to do that. As for blogging, I've only been doing that for nine months, though it feels like years sometimes. And generally being cool? Hmmm. I think I became cool-ish in college. Or rather, I PERCEIVED myself as terribly cool around that time. However, I make no claims to actual coolness...lol
Mommybloggers: How has blogging changed your social life?
Izzy: Oh man! In some ways, it's ruined my social life and in other ways it's enhanced it immensely. I say it's ruined it because I no longer feel compelled to hang out with or befriend people that are really not a good fit. Well, hello-o-o-o! That describes a lot of my "in real life" friends that are local to me. But to my benefit, blogging has made me realize that there are people that I click with and that "get me" all over the place and they are just a few mouse clicks away. So in some ways I feel really pathetic but in other ways, I feel like you guys inspire me to hold out for the real thing because it DOES exist.
Mommybloggers: Tell us more about Cool Mom Picks and how you got to become a part of that.
Izzy: Kristen and I had been friendly from our early days of blogging. When she came up with the CMP idea, she dropped me an email and asked if I was interested in being involved. And then she proceeded to put me through long interviews, rigorous psychological testing and extensive background checks to make sure that I was, in fact, a cool mom. I guess I passed ; P
Mommybloggers: You have Izzy Graphics. What do you love most about making graphics for other people? Would you consider it your passion?
Izzy: It's definitely my passion. When you're a designer doing the corporate daily grind somewhere, you almost never get to flex your creative muscle or spread your proverbial creative wings. You're always forced to kowtow to people with bad taste that don't even know what they want half the time. It's frustrating. But as a freelancer, I pick and choose the jobs I want and who i want to work with and I get to interpret people's visions or sometimes help them find their vision and I love it. I actually really enjoy my work about 99% of the time, which is pretty damn good, I think.
Mommybloggers: List 7 words that would best describe you if those were the only 7 words you could use to introduce yourself to a stranger and have him/her walk away feeling as if they know you better.
Izzy:
restless
loyal
demanding
sentimental
empathic
funny
scrupulous
Mommybloggers: Tell us a secret. We won't tell. (Okay, we totally will, but tell us one anyway.)
Izzy: *stage whispering* Sometimes I get bored with blogging.
Those are the times when I disappear and a post languishes for 4 or 5 days. Then I come back all invigorated and ready to rock.
Mommybloggers: And here are the questions we subject all of our featured bloggers to (With apologies to Bernard Pivot and Inside the Actors Studio):
1. What is your favorite parent related word?
"Love" or wait...maybe it's "bedtime"
2. What is your least favorite parent related word?
"discipline" is so not fun...
3. What is your favorite creative censored curse word used around children?
"I don't give a flying fig" is a perennial favorite.
4. What is your favorite hiding place within your home when you need to get away from it all?
The bathtub, without a doubt. I'm a huge fan of lolling about in the tub with a book or a stack of magazines.
5. What hiding place have you been found in too often and can no longer use?
Regretfully, I've never had anyplace else to hide besides the bathtub.
6. If Oprah exists, what would you like to hear her say when you arrive at the Oprah Winfrey show when she features the Mommybloggers?
"Meet the women who are going to change the world."
Check back tomorrow as we turn Mommybloggers.com over to the always funny and engaging Izzymom!
To end our week here at Mommybloggers, we are thrilled to bring to you the amazing Izzy of