LTDchix

Lost in the Woods?!

Nina Frye — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:35:34 +0000

My girlfriend Danielle and I decided to go for a hike in early September. The kids had just started school again and “us moms” were free at last. Danielle and her family had just done this hike over the weekend and she told me it was so nice. She mentioned that it had a steep climb so we would definitely get in a great workout, but at the top there was a great view and then we could have lunch there and work our way back to the bottom of the mountain. So off we went. It only took us about half an hour to hike up this hill and it was only 11am. We didn’t care and decided to have an early lunch. We packed a nice salad with crackers and water. Afterwards, we were very chatty and didn’t pay attention to the markers leading us back down to our cars. Next thing we knew, it was already 1pm and we were still walking on a railroad path, which had overgrown grass and didn’t look like a hiking path to me at all. Danielle swore that this all looked familiar and we should just keep walking. Another hour went by. Still no real path. Next thing we knew we saw a bear! We screamed and he ran away. I peed my pants from laughing so hard, but I was laughing out of fear, not humor! It was 2pm and I was getting nervous. We were definitely lost! We had no idea where we were. Now what? Then I realized that I had to be back by 3:45 pm to pick up 4 girls plus my own 3 kids after school to take the girls who were brownies to a brownie meeting. I called my husband and told him the bad news, he had to go and pick the kids up because it didn’t seem that I would be back in time. Thankfully, my husband’s schedule is flexible enough for me to be able to call him when these sort of problems arise. Danielle and I finally turned around and started running back the way we came. We kept running for about 30 minutes and we were deep in the woods. I started to panic and called 911! Thank goodness we had a cell phone with us. The ranger asked us to tell him which way we were heading. North, south, east or west? We had no idea which direction. How would we know what direction? Thank goodness for the sun. He told us if the sun was over our heads, we were heading north. We needed to head north and we would finally find the path markers marking the trail. It worked! It took us 3 hours to get back to our car. It was 5 pm when we left the stinkin’ woods! Our feet were throbbing and we were out of water. If we didn’t have a cell phone, we would definitely have been spending the night. I was never so scared in my life!
My dear husband tried to reach us while we were on our descent to let me know that I had the Suburban with 8 seats and he had the Toyota Camry! He needed 7 seats and he only had 4! He shoved them all in the car and doubled them up with seatbelts. Oh my gosh! On the way, he saw my partner Cindi at her kids’ bus stop across the street from the school. He dumped off 2 of the kids and took the rest to the brownie meeting. He was pretty angry with me. I don’t blame him! There was a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meeting that night, and everyone knew that Mrs. Frye got lost in the woods that day! I was pretty embarassed! Maybe I should have some sort of GPS chip sewn into my hiking boots…….

The Mysterious Pinewood Derby Results

Cindy Schmitzer — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:49:22 +0000

I am the proud mother of two cub scouts. I think the scouting thing is just great. On an annual basis, the cub scouts hold the Pinewood Derby. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Pinewood Derby is a car race. The cars are made by the scouts (yeah right) with the help of their parents. The cars are little, in fact they can’t weigh more than 5 ounces, and are made out of a block of wood and some metal. They race down a steep track four at a time and the results are computerized. It’s good stuff…big fun.

Now my husband has been making Pinewood Derby cars for years. He’s also an engineer, so he gets the whole physics thing of making these cars fast. This year was a little different for him though because he had two scouts in the race. All of the other years, he only had to make one scout car. The other cars he made were for siblings and that race doesn’t really count.

So anyhow, guy Luke is 10 years old. His car wins his Webelo I division after some stiff competition. Awesome Luke….although I must admit, he’s no stranger to winning his division. But here’s the thing…..my guy Troy (age 7) has a car in the Tiger cub division. There are only a total of four Tiger cubs in the race. Troy’s got this, right?? He has a good pedigree…his father is a veteran Pinewood Derby car maker, his brother just won his division, there are only four Tiger cubs for three trophies. Piece of cake, right?! Wrong!!! Troy Boy’s car comes in dead last in all FOUR races. Poor thing…he’s 7 and only understands he’s the only Tiger Cub NOT on the podium.

We called my husband to inform him of this distressing news. His reply?? “Sometimes it’s just about the parts that come out of the box.” Really that’s it?? That’s the sage bit of wisdom you have to offer the 7 year old who was the ONLY Tiger cub with NO trophy??!! Please Michael…you need to come up with something a little better than that.

Hallmark Greeting Card Contest

Nina Frye — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:12:18 +0000

Win the Chance for Your Greeting Card to be Sold at Hallmark!

I don’t know about you, but every time I walk into a card store and sift through the selection of birthday, get well and anniversary wishes, I think to myself, I would so love to be a greeting card writer in my next life. Well guess what? Thanks to Hallmark and Ovation TV, I can stop dreaming and so can you!

Starting now, you can enter a new contest called “A Girls Gotta Laugh” The objective of the contest is to create a funny card that helps any mom laugh about the crazy reality of motherhood and we’re hoping that you can help us spread the word about the contest on your blog and if you’re up for this fun challenge, you can enter online and share your creation with your readers. Because let’s face it, if you love humor writing and are great at crafting snappy copy (come on, I’ve seen many of your brilliant one-liners on Twitter and Facebook), then you could potentially win!

The contest launched on Feb 8th and the deadline for submissions is Feb 22. 24 winners will be selected to have their greeting card creation sold in stores and one lucky winner will have their card broadcast on Ovation TV - reaching more than 38 million homes!

To learn more about the contest, you and your readers can visit Ovation TV which offers step by step instructions on how you can create an award-winning greeting card plus there’s a direct link on the Ovation site where you can visit Hallmark and enter your work.  

Outright Entrepreneurs: LTDchix.com Reminds Moms They Are “Living the Dream”

Nina Frye — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:12:07 +0000

When Cindi Schmitzer and Nina Frye bundled their kids into the truck one morning in 2005 and headed for a trip to the beach, little did the two friends know that, by the end of the day they would have dreamed up the idea for a business. As their website explains: Late that afternoon, as we wrestled to get seven rambunctious kids back into the truck, we both sat back and laughed at the insanity of it all. Kids were fighting, sand was all over the place, wet bathing suits were soaking into the seats, someone had lost a flip-flop and two boogie boards were sticking out the back window. We had to laugh…instead of pounding our foreheads into the car until we passed out.

What had happened to that idyllic dream of being the perfect mom with the perfect kids and the perfect life?

We came to a few conclusions that day. First: this was it. We were Living the Dream.”

And that’s where Schmitzer and Frye’s online boutique, LTDchix.com was born. LTD, of course, stands for their motto, Living the Dream. And the boutique sells t-shirts featuring the “Living the Dream” mom in various mom situations such as cooking doing laundry, or driving the kids to soccer practice. LTDchix t-shirts, with their illustrations drown in wispy, fly-away style, strive to find the humor and joy in a mom’s hectic everyday life. These days, the shirts have found popularity with moms of all backgrounds, shapes, ages, sizes and colors, all because of the central message. Says Schmitzer, “We remind moms that they are not alone.”

According to Schmitzer, starting a business was easy enough, but it was keeping it going that proved challenging. She holds a degree in accounting while Frye has a marketing degree, so each were prepared with complementary skills. They agree that putting money into a great website was tantamount to their success, while mistakes included participating in show in New York City. Says Schmitzer, the costs simply weren’t worth the return on investment. Another challenge has been driving traffic to the LTDchix.com website, as they now only sell their line online. “We initially sold to stores, but they took a big cut of our profit,” Schmitzer said. “So we decided to pass the savings onto the customer by only selling online.”

As for Schmitzer’s advice to new business owners, take advantage of SCORE small business services.

Schmitzer and Frye are also reminding moms that they are not alone every Thursday at 10am on their “Living the Dream Moms” show on toginet.com, and will soon be shooting an infomercial about starting your own t-shirt business. They also have a line of Living the Dream calendars in the works.

“This wasn’t something I was expecting or looking for,” concluded Schmitzer. But it’s been and continues to be a great ride.”

Cindi Schmitzer is a wife, mother of four, former CPA and and volunteer. Nina Frye is a wife, mother of three, and the sales girl of the universe. Together they own LTDchix.com and remind moms that they are “Living the Dream.”

Know a mom who’s “living the dream”? Tweet this post!

The Repairmen Love Me I Tell You

Cindy Schmitzer — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:01:52 +0000

Much to my husband’s dismay, I am quick to call a repairman at my house. Mike doesn’t like this because he fancies himself as a repair kind of guy. I must say he is very handy WHEN HE’S HERE. Here’s the thing - you can’t repair things unless you actually come in contact with said things. This presents the crux of the problem. Mike works 3,000 hours a week..ask anyone.

I have called the local guy in town to come and fix my washing machine on two separate occasions. The first time the complication was a sock stuck in the drum. The second time, I kid you not, there were two buttons partially pushed down simultaneously. This guys loves me and can barely hide his smile while I am writing out a check for an outrageous amount of money for 30 seconds work. But I am an idiot after all…..

Today the phone repair guy was here. He is a fan as well. He has been here before. The first time he was here, he performed the oh so complicated task of unplugging my cordless phones to reset them. What was the problem, which required a professional, this time you ask?? The kids had knocked a drum from the drum kit in the basement onto a phone wire. After all, the Schmitzer family loves to do their part to stimulate the economy!!

LivingtheDreamMoms Question of the Week: 1/21/10

Nina Frye — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:24:48 +0000

The Living the Dream Moms on Toginet radio “Question of the Week” is:

Moving Stories - Have you moved a lot with your family? Do you have any funny or horror stories you would like to share?

We would love to hear from you. Please email your replies to info@ltdchix.com or post your reply right here!

Funniest Cartoon In Gynocology Office

Nina Frye — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:31:03 +0000

I was paying my co-pay at the gynecology office and I saw this cartoon on the back of the receptionist’s computer and I was cracking up and wanted to share this with you. The cartoon read like this:

Men shouldn’t leave phone messages…

Someone From the Gyna Colleges Called. They Said The Pabst Beer Is Normal.

I Didn’t Even Know You Liked Beer!

In The House Where Christmas Never Ends

Cindy Schmitzer — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:52:01 +0000

We took our Christmas tree down this past Monday. This was late even for us. I always leave it up to celebrate Orthodox Christmas which is on January 7th. My mother comes from a Russian Orthodox background, so I love to keep that tradition alive. However, this year January 7th came and went…the tree stayed up. January 7th turned into the 18th when I was doing other stuff. Who knows what that other stuff was.

This wouldn’t have been so bad except we cut the tree down really early this year. My husband has left us to work weekends on Long Island. So we actually had to get the thing up very early this year while we could still include him. By the time we took it down, the tree was pretty much petrified. Every time we removed an ornament, there was a noise….like rain. The needles were falling off every single time the tree was touched. When I say there were almost no needles left on the tree, I am not joking. We were cracking up…..will we ever learn to do anything in a timely manner?? The answer is a resounding NO. We love living our lives days behind the rest of the world.

Girl Scout Cookie Fiasco

Nina Frye — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:08:49 +0000

It’s the annual Girl Scout cookie sale again! Last year, the cookies were made by a different baker and the names of the cookies were different than the original names. Since my daughter is a girl scout, I received an email from a friend who wanted to order some cookies. She wrote that she wanted one of each of the following cookies: thin mints, peanut butter sandwich cookies, short breads, Thanks-A-lot. So I answered her email saying, “Laura, you are so welcome! Thank you too!” The cookies came in and it was time to deliver them to Laura. When she received her 3 boxes, she told me that she ordered 4 boxes, not 3. I told her that I was almost positive that she only requested 3 boxes. I checked the email. When I read it over, it dawned on me……how funny! “Thanks-A-lot” was the name of one of the cookies. I thought she was thanking me. I did think it was odd that she wrote “Thanks-A-lot” in that way. I was cracking up! She received her “Thanks-A-lot” cookies. Kind of a crazy name for a cookie….who would have thought??

LivingtheDreamMoms Question of the Week: 1/14/10

Nina Frye — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:15:47 +0000

The Living the Dream Moms internet radio show on Toginet radio Question of the Week is:

How do you handle a pile of laundry on the floor?Please email your answers to info@ltdchix.com or please leave your comment here! Thank you and look forward to your answers!

Thank you for all your replies!
1. Lots of sniffing!
2. If it hits the floor, it is dirty!
3. Let the husband sniff for a change!
4. If it is folded, it is clean, if it’s not, it’s dirty!
5. Best one: Treat it like spaghetti, throw it against the wall, if it sticks it’s dirty! LOL