Thursday, April 30, 2009

Nite Nite termite

Last night was date night for my Husband and I so we took a bike ride to a great, casual restaurant that is on the water. The weather was beautiful, the fish tacos yummy, the corona cold and the band was rockin'!

That's where he confessed a worry that has been on his mind. My sweet Husband is worried that one night he is going to come to bed and find Product X on his pillow and he on the couch. Oh, my Husband is such a comedian!!!

Now only if Product X could cuddle....

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

How cool is that?!

Well, well, well the day just keeps getting better!!!

I picked up one of my favorite mags - People - and saw a book titled "If you give a mom a martini" in the gift guide section. The book is written by Lyss Stern and Julie Klappas and it's a list by busy moms (including Kelly Ripa) of what they do when they have 10 minutes to themselves.

With the "Kelly Ripa" connection, I emailed Lyss to tell her about my blog and get her advice on how to launch my blog into cyberspace.

It was a VERY nice surprise to log on this afternoon and see that she emailed me back! How cool is that?!

Lyss said she'd be happy to help in any way she could so I emailed her back right away.

I'll anxiously be waiting for her reply and of course, her advice.

In the meantime I am sitting down with a glass of wine to read her book. Picked it up today at bn.

Getting the word out

Exciting news!

Connie Talk - one of the hottest news blogs - has published an article featuring my blog titled "Momtrepreneur hopes to make it to Mom, Inc"!

The article is also on Google News. You can view the story at www.connietalk.com. Also, if you go to Google and click on the news link, you will see the article there.

I feel so blessed with all the support I have received from family and friends - thank you all!

On to Product X:
I'm obviously not a pro with the glue gun...a part of my proto-type has fallen off but no worries, I fixed it with MORE hot glue.
I am planning a "focus group" dinner for some of my friends/family where we can share good food, good drinks and some constructive criticism/input/advice about Product X. I love to entertain!

I am a huge fan of Celebrity Apprentice and on the last episode, THE DONALD said "If you're passionate about what you are doing, you will succeed".

I'm passionate about Product X - I guess that's half the battle!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Protect your idea!

My Husband urged me to protect Product X by writing a description of my product and mailing it to myself. I guess doing this will prevent someone from coping it. So I spent much of my time today doing just that. He's such a great guy!

It's fascinating to me all that is going into Product X. So much time and thought but I do have to say, this is right up my ally! I love being creative and daydreaming of what's to come. I also love PR work so I spent the morning/afternoon promoting my blog and emailing sites that I thought would be interested in reading it.

I purchased a beautiful notebook to keep all my contacts, ideas, sketches, etc. in about Product X but sadly my handwriting is SO terrible that I feel sorry for this beautiful book. It deserves better than my chicken scratch! What will be fun will be reading it down the road when Product X hits the shelf (God willing)!

The show will air in January so it should't be much longer until casting starts! Can't wait!

Name

Just like that, Product X has a name!

I was showing Product X to my daughter and asked her what I should name it. She took one look and said "xxxxxx" and presto! My invention now has a name! I guess the creative juices run in the family. I do think it's pretty cool that my daughter came up with the name and not a focus group (although that could happen down the line). But for now, thanks my sweet, little girl!

When viewing my blog, feel free to leave a comment. Just click on the word "comment' at the bottom of the blog and you will be directed to a box to type in. Also, you can email the blog to your friends/family by clicking on the white envelope at the bottom of the last blog entry.

Oops, I'm running late for getting the kids to school...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Fighting Weight

You should never do anything you do not believe in. I believe in Product X. I believe Product X will get me on the show Mom Inc.

In light of that, I had fish and a salad tonight. What do they say, "the camera adds 10 pounds"? I guess I'll also be hitting the gym...

Proto-Type

It took quite some time to "build" but Product X looks amazing (if I do say so myself)!

Holding a glass of wine, I sat and studied my proto-type...with all of my past inventions, I have never made a proto-type so it was fun to see it live, in person! Normally my ideas lay dormat in my thoughts....
Here is an idea that I have spoken and thought about for 7 years and in a matter of hours, it has come to life!

Now the question is...will the invention be good enough to get me a spot on Mom Inc?! I think so and the family/friends that I have told about Product X seem to think so. Hopefully they are being honest!

I showed Product X to my sister-in-law, whom I am finding to be quite brilliant, and she made an EXCELLENT suggestion that I would have not thought of. Wish I could tell you what that suggestion was but you'll have to wait and see...I promise to give her credit for the (slight) alteration to my design!

I have Product X sitting nicely on my island in the kitchen so each time I pass it, I can secretly smile and imagine what it will be like to have Kelly Ripa announce "Tracy, your invention is the BEST invention I have ever seen"! Ok, somewhat of a stretch...how about something like, "Tracy, you've been selected to be on Mom Inc"! Yeah, I'll take that!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Toss and Turn

One thing about having an idea/invention in your head is that you're always thinking of ways to tweak it. This "tweaking" does not just happen during daylight hours. Needless to say some of my best "tweaks" occur in the middle of the night with the alarm clock gleaming the time...2am...3:30am...4:15....brew an extra cup of coffee and I'm ready to go!

I'm buying the materials today to build my proto-type. And a hot glue gun. I think I'm the only mom left on the planet that does not own a hot glue gun. I can't wait to see Product X in 3-D! I'm fairly confident that the design will change several times during this process.

My coffee cup is empty...time for a refill.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Contact

Backing up, when I found out about Mom Inc, I searched EVERYWHERE trying to find out how to audition. Google for what seemed like hours...racked my brain...how, how do I audition for this show...have they already cast the momtrepreneurs?

FINALLY in the middle of the night I woke with the genius idea to contact the production company and I found the "in" I was looking for. Spoke to a really sweet girl who filled me in on the process. No, they had not started casting (phew!) so she took my contact info and will let me know when things start gearing up. Needless to say, I am constantly checking my email to see if that time is "now".

I'm going to email the production company now to let them know I'm blogging about the process of this exciting journey. Wish me luck!

New reality show!

Everyone who knows me knows I LOVE to come up with new ideas/inventions so when my mom said she read in the Sunday paper that Kelly Ripa and HSN are teaming up for a new reality show called Mom Inc, I KNEW "here's my chance"!

I've had this great invention that I came up with 7 years ago - we'll call it Product X - but b/c I had no idea how to get this idea off the ground, I've just "let it go". Until now. Here is my story of what happens when a stay at home mom (SHM) gets out of the laundry room/kitchen and into the life of a momtrepreneur!

I hope you enjoy the ride!