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Everything Else

Random thoughts from Susanna, co-founder of BritMums and blogger at A Modern Mother

Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking

I’ve just finished Quiet – The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking, by Susan Cain. It’s a fabulous feel good book for introverts and I can’t stop thinking about it. The premise is that while introverts make up 1/3 to 1/2 of the population, society is …

A river runs through it; a walk in the Thames

Do you remember my friend Charlene? You might remember seeing her at BritMums Live. She’s always in my back pocket – either I’m at hers or she’s at mine. We don’t let little things, like a flood, stop us! She invited me to her house for a cup of coffee. There …

I feel safer living in the UK

In addition to holding a British passport, I have an American one. I spent my first 24 years in Silicon Valley, but call Blighty home, living here for 20 of my 47 years. We travel to the US regularly, spending holidays with my ageing parents in California. Being raised by …

An online contract with your tweens?!

Wow. I’ve been blogging for more than four years. I really need to update my about section; this blog no longer has anything to do with nappies, fish fingers and endless loads of laundry! Now it’s carting the kids around to five million clubs and trying to get them off …

The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini’s flea market

  The San Jose Flea Market, made famous by Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, is not far from where we are staying in California. One of the reasons the book resonated with me was because of the author’s connections with Silicon Valley, where I grew up. I visited the flea market …

What do you get your 84-year-old father for his birthday?

My dad turns 84 tomorrow. He moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Los Angels in the 50s to be a tennis star (really). His claim to fame is winning a set off the Number 1 seed of the time. Like many first generation Americans, he was the first in his family …

Behind the scenes at BritMums Live!

Blogers waiting to get inMany of you know that I’m the founder of BritMums, the UK’s largest parent blogging community with nearly 4,000 members that represent more than 7,000 blogs with a reach of nearly 20 million page views a month.

More than 500 people flooded The Brewery in London on June 22 and 23, 2012, for BritMums Live!, the biggest parent blogger conference in the UK. Ruby Wax kicked things off with a frank and funny discussion of her depression and her online community Black Dog Tribe. From there we had blogger roundtable discussions, workshops, the Brilliance in Blogging party and awards, Sarah Brown, Cherry Healey, the Bloggers’ Keynote, social networking training, advice on charitable fund raising and awareness, fruity drinks, style sessions, film sneak peeks, pedicures, vacuuming (!), photobooths and much much more.

My phone made it to Hong Kong!

Have you been following my little project with O2 Recycle? I recycled my shattered iPhone  and O2 was kind enough to track her journey from my house to new owner. The poor little darling was so nervous when she left here. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I got £157 for recycling …