If you know me in “real life,” you may have noticed that I’ve been completely preoccupied for the past few months, and if you know me as a blogger, you’ve maybe also noticed that I’ve written like two blog posts all year. It’s because (among other reasons, like, you know, parenting and illness and other stuff) I’ve been totally immersed in Listen To Your Mother. If you haven’t heard of Listen To Your Mother, it’s a national series of live stage readings where local writers read their original pieces about motherhood: having a mother, being a mother, the good, the bad, and the ugly. The stories are funny, poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes thought-provoking; it’s always a good show, in each of the 41 cities that are producing LTYM shows this year.

I’m one of the co-producers of Listen To Your Mother Boulder for the first time this year; I read in the show last year and in Denver’s 2013 show, and it was an incredible experience both times. Being a producer has been a different animal for sure, and it was such a thrill to be part of putting the cast together and hearing everyone’s stories during auditions. The pride I feel in this year’s lineup is ridiculous. It’s also been so special to see how local businesses have rallied to support us; we have the most fantastic local sponsors this year who have made it possible for us to do this show. More about them later . . .

Photo credit: Tiny Dragon Photography

If you’ve never been to a show, get on the website and find one in a city near you, pronto! Local Colorado friends, I would be so honored and thrilled if you joined us at our show this year: it’s Saturday (yes, THIS Saturday!), April 30th at 7:00 pm at Unity of Boulder. More details and ticket information here.

Last year I read a piece called “Babies Put the Fun in Funeral.” You can check out this video of me reading in the Boulder show last year . . .

And here I am reading “The Guilt, The Crippling Mommy Guilt!” in Denver’s 2013 show!

My production team has been so moved by all the support of our friends, family, and community, and thanks to our local sponsors we have some really cool ways to give back to YOU!

No matter WHERE you live, you can all enjoy this fantastic 20% deal on healthy, gluten-free candy and snacks that actually taste good, from Missy J’s Snacks and Treats, because you can order online and have it delivered, yay! If you’re trying to enjoy guilt-free snacks and stay healthy, or avoid gluten, dairy, or caffeine, or provide a yummy treat alternative for your gluten-free kiddo, you will love these candies and snacks. Go here to get the coupon code and find out how to order!

This mint cup rocked my world.

Local friends, we have a few fantastic giveaways happening:

Enter to win $100 to Joy Collective for a massage or other treatment here. JOY Collective is located in Boulder and they offer a variety of fantastic services; they also cater specifically to mothers and families, so how cool is that?

You can also enter to win $50 toward delicious, healthy, easy food from Organic Dish here! Organic Dish is also offering free cafe lunches when you order a meal kit in the store, so get the discount info here. Entering both of these giveaways is easy; scroll to the bottom of the post (after you carefully read each word I lovingly wrote, right?) and choose any or all of the entry options: liking a FB page, leaving a comment, tweeting about the giveaway, and then clicking the option to confirm you completed it. Boom, you’re done! And you won’t end up on some weird giveaway mailing list, I swear.

You can also save money on a great deal from our local sponsor Memories to Digital on a great Mother’s Day gift! Learn more here! They have a special discount for LTYM fans and you can save money on transferring old photos and recordings to digital, which, if you ask me, is a really thoughtful and unique gift for Mother’s or Father’s Day. And yep, I did it too– this year Grandma is getting a bunch of old slides that my grandpa took digitalized so she can see them again (shh, don’t tell her.)

I seriously hope you guys enter the giveaways if you’re local and take advantage of the deals, because LTYM Boulder really does want to thank you for all your support. Wish us luck on Saturday; we think it’s going to be a great show!

xoxo

~Steph