O My Darling Blog

How To Find A Booking Agent

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When your band gets to the point where you are on the road playing 100-150+ dates per year, self booking the entire tour can get too time consuming. Having a professional booking agent taking over handling the booking and business end of things will free up your time to actually play music. Now its time to learn how to find a booking agent.

Our band needs a booking agent, where do we start?

First things first, ask yourself if your band is ready for an agent. A booking agent for band is going to be looking for bands that have a long touring history, have played with national level touring bands, play at least 100+ shows a year, have albums sales, and most importantly have a solid draw in regional/nation markets. If you answered no to most of those questions, odds are your band isn’t quite ready for a professional agent. Of course, there are plenty of smaller agents around the country trying to break into the industry that are more than willing to take on smaller bands.

When it comes to selecting a booking agent, do your research. You want whatever booking agent you work with to already be working with like minded bands. If you play in a metal band, working with a booking agent that handles blues artists isn’t going to be a great match.

Some of the top booking agency’s around the country are:

– William Morris Agency
– The Agency Group
– TKO
– Paradigm Agency

We have a list of booking agents we want to work with:

Now is the time to create your 1-sheet/promo pack for the booking agent. This is very similar to our article on finding a record label. Create your promo pack so it includes all the info a prospective booking agent would need. Keep in mind, just like with record labels you really only get one shot to impress them.

– List all tours you have been on.
– Who you have played with (Only national-level bands, mentioning local bands won’t help you out).
– If you have an album released, mention what your sales are.
– List any markets or states you have played with your approximate draw.
– Mention if you have a manager, publicist, record label, etc.

We sent our 1-sheet to the booking agent, when should we follow up?

After you have sent out your 1-sheet to the booking agent, give them a few weeks to review your band and send an email following up. If you have any shows coming up in the agents area, or are playing with any of their bands in the future make sure to mention that in the follow up email.

If the first booking agent passes, keep playing hard, touring, and submitting to other booking agency’s. Eventually you will find the perfect fit.

Dental Management System Programs

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A Dental Management System is a system that includes many software and programs. It is a very successful practice that takes a lot of hard to get a reputed name. Managing patients is not the only work under this system; it has to take care of all the other tasks that are performed in a clinic. This system has to practice many duties and responsibilities which are related to patients.

A good Dental Practice helps you to run your clinic or business smoothly with more safety and profits. It has to practice day to day activities such as scheduling appointments, employee information, and many others.

Programs

Dental Management System is handling various programs. One of the most used applications is Orthodontic Software Programs. Practicing this program helps you to keep your clinic running with more benefits and profits.

  • It helps to have specialized software and treatment planning systems to handle all the treatments and patients with proper safety.
  • This software helps to have digital treatment options with less pain and equipment and also analyze the position of the dentition.
  • This software includes various features such as Cephalometric analysis, digital imaging, intraoral, and extraoral image capture and many other important tasks.
  • Dental Management System needs this software the most to handle digital treatments. Under this Orthodontic Software Program, there are many which a dental system has to handle with proper dedication and concentration.
  • To keep proper control over the clinic tasks, dentists need to have this Dental Management System.
  • This system is the best to handle all the different works that are divided into various parts. Dental tasks are not easy to handle, but this system makes it easy to get into practice.
  • In the dental line, many different surgeries come under this system to control all the tasks of a clinic.

Conclusion

From the points mentioned above, you can understand the importance of programs in a Dental Management System. Dental practices are important in today’s world because of various diseases that occur to one’s teeth. Patients feel so uncomfortable, and they need a dentist at the same time on an urgent basis as they don’t handle the pain. Different programs and software are important in a Dental Management System to maintain silence and discipline in the clinic. It provides a good friendly environment for the patients. Management is important and helpful.

The evolution of the modern living room

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Your living room needs a personalized touch that best represents your personality. As you may already know, there are several things you can when decorating a living room. Your living room needs not to be expensive, but you can create a modern, beautiful, elegant living room using some simple modern living room ideas. Since making a great design is not just an accident, it requires some extra effort, you need to know where to begin. To get the best output, you can take help from the professionals. Interior designers Halifax can make your living room very comfy and welcoming with few touches of modern architecture.

Here are several points you need to take into consideration while designing a modern living room are-

  1. Knowing the clear idea about what your living room will look like. Start collecting some pictures of kitchen decoration. When purchasing the furniture for your contemporary living room ideas, make sure that you don’t buy one that won’t last long as it will waste your money.
  2. Don’t only focus on one color as it will make the living room lacking some variations. There is no need to be afraid of switching from one color to another color or one texture to another texture. You can create an appealing design if you use a few different textures for a single room.
  3. Consider space utilization carefully; your living room may be limited in space. What you can do is to create the illusion of extra space. You will need more creative modern living room ideas.
  4. Starting with the contemporary living room decorations, this type of style uses soft textures and colors, making the living room become more elegant and have a friendly, warm atmosphere. Interior decorator Halifax usually use American country style. It looks great for your modern living room ideas. This look can be achieved by using some elements such as pastel colors, warm woods, and exposed brick. The use of vintage furniture will also become a great addition. The third idea for your modern living room is Asian styles. Do you know that Asian forms are also included as modern interior design? It uses several different textures and colors.
  5. While changing your living room is an enjoyable activity, you may prefer a simple one. If you don’t want to change the whole look of your living room, it is still possible to add a new atmosphere for living using some small changes. You can change the curtain, switch out the pillow, and even change the picture every month can also be a good idea.

Furthermore, changing the whole look is not always necessary if you want to have a new atmosphere. Unlike other design ideas, interior design Halifax emphasizes simplicity and elegance, allowing you to have a well-designed living room without wasting too much money and energy.

4moms 4 the win! *GIVEAWAY*

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Ever turned 5 months a few days ago, and this just might be my favorite baby age (but don’t sue me if I say the same thing next month!) He is full of smiles, belly laughs, and starting to be playful with his sister and fursiblings. He is rolling up a storm and is the kind of baby that makes me want another (uh oh, sorry Dave). Some pearly whites are starting to peek out of that gummy smile though, and sometimes he just doesn’t want to be put down. It is of course in those moments that I REALLY need to pee, or help Rylie with something. Thank YOU mamaroo for helping a mama out.

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Everyone said it was their favorite rocker. The new mamaroo is just as good as the older version, but can link up with your phone so if my (ahem) wiping skills are being summoned, I can change up the settings from the bathroom if he’s wanting a change in speed or movement. Also, not sure what it is about that dang mobile, but he smiles at it like they are old buddies.

IMG_1090Hi cutest feet ever.

I teamed up with 4moms, to give one away to a mama who needs it. Click on over to instagram to let me know you want one and find out how to enter 🙂 Giveaway closes 1/26/2015.

Good luck mamas!

xx

Everson Michael

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Everson Michael. He is here. We are crazy for him.

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On August 19 at around 8:30 AM during Rylie’s bubble bath, I was going pee. As I was finishing my business, it seemed like there was a gush of pee. As I stood up it kept coming, and we knew. My water had broke. I’ll go into more detail about the labor in a later post, it wasn’t exactly how we imagined it but in many ways it was a wonderful and ideal situation. My contractions hadn’t started so we were able to do our whole nighttime routine with Ry, and actually tell her that when she woke up that grandma and grandpa would be there, and she would get to meet her baby brother. I laid in bed with her, hugged her for what seemed like forever, and gave her a million little kisses all over her face, knowing that it would be the last time I would do so with her as my only child. It was one of those life moments and I really believe she understood.

Everson, you were born August 20th at 8:25 AM. You weighed 8 lbs 3.5 oz and they measured you at 18 inches (but you were 19 inches a few days later, so I think they got it wrong!) I overheard one of the delivery nurses tell a postpartum nurse that “she won’t let him go, she’s held him since we put him in her arms.” She was right, and that’s how we stayed.

We are so in love with you. Words don’t do the feelings justice. You are such a (as your papa called you) “fair” baby. You only cry when something hurts (a gas bubble for example) but otherwise you are just a bundle of sweet baby smelling, sleepy smiling, blue eyed (as of today) baby. At your first doctor appointment you had not only met your birth weight but had gained 10 oz! I love to smell you, breast feed you, hold you. Your heavy baby weight on my chest is what dreams are made of. You have the longest little fingers and softest skin. I cry as I write this because my feelings for you are already so tremendous.

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Rylie. You always amaze me, but this time…I am beyond amazed. From the minute you met him you have been such a gentle and caring big sister. You love to touch his head, pet his hair, find his toes (and play “this little piggy”), look at his umbilical cord, and you think it is hilarious when he pees as mama as changing his diaper. You have been such a big helper, getting diapers, blankets, and making sure he has his “mimi” lovey. This morning you said you wanted to snuggle with him in bed, and my heart exploded into a million little pieces. Sometimes it’s a little hard for you, when you want me to do something and I cant right away, but I see you taking a deep breath and trying to be patient. You are mature beyond your years, such an old caring soul. You get it too, you get what it means to be a big sister and that he is a new part of our family. I didn’t believe I could love you anymore than I already do, but seeing you in this role, I do.

photo 2-3

My heart is full.

Bohemian Inspired Mama + Babes Shoot

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I somehow never got around to posting about this incredible shoot we did for Glitter Guide before Mother’s Day. It was right around music festival season, and Tori (from Sitting in a Tree) and I decided to throw together a fun little photo shoot with some of our favorite mamas and their babes. I could gush all day about these mamas. Having a tribe of women who you can share the pretty moments with and the not so pretty moments of motherhood with is so important to me. I believe motherhood shouldn’t be experienced in isolation. We need each other, to accept each other as the unique mothers we are, to be able to share our anxieties and joys with each other. Behind the scenes, these conversations were happening, and I’m so grateful to have come to know these women and their beautiful children through this community of social media.

photos by Taryn Kent and hair/makeup by 1011

{click on over to the Glitter Guide feature for all other details}

Minnetonka, who provided all of our amazing boots and booties, used the photos for a Mother’s Day lookbook. They asked us each a couple of questions about motherhood, and here is what I had to say…

A perfect day together is spent…

Outside! I love watching her explore the world outside. I feel the best at the end of the day when I’ve put the electronics away for awhile, and just followed her lead, enjoying her sense of curiosity and humor. One of my favorite quotes is: “And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy, and your eyes sparkling.”

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from being a mom?

There is no such thing as balance, or being a perfect mom. I make tons of mistakes, and feel out of balance all the time. I’ve also learned that to get even close to balance means that I need to seek support and be ok with having support in parenting. Letting others help me, like family, provides me the time and space to do other things that contribute to my sense of identity. Then, when I am with my daughter, I feel more present and have that much more energy for her.

What’s the best part of being a mom?

Getting to experience parenting with my husband. We’ve known each other since we were kids ourselves, so it’s incredible to experience having children with him. I love our days and nights together, and having that shared experience with him has been one of the best parts of being a mom.

A lesson I learned from my mother is?

My mom taught me what I hope to teach my daughter. She was a working mom, and I grew up feeling empowered to take on whatever goal I had for myself. My mom also taught me though that it’s ok to not “do it all.” Meaning, we did not always have the cleanest house, and there were a lot of take-out dinners…but we almost always ate together and she was at every ice skating competition and soccer practice. She even ice skated with me, we did a mother-daughter duo at a competition once! Those are the things I remember, and the things I hope my daughter remembers.

Best piece of advice you’ve received or the best piece of advice you could give.
Ask for help. That doesn’t make you a bad mother, because really…it takes a village.

What made this shoot even more special is that our son was there. I’ll treasure these photos forever.

Pregnancy After Loss

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“A new baby is like the beginning of all things hope, wonder, a dream of possibilities.”

Picture taken over the weekend at a baby shower of a sweet friend.

Pregnancy after loss. It changes things. I’ve been wanting to write some of these thoughts down for awhile now, but have been trying to wait until I had an eloquent or even understandable way of expressing what my heart and head has felt the last couple of months. The clarity has not come, so bear with me while I stumble through my own understanding of all of this. After we lost the baby, I lost trust in my body. My body should have given me the signs…why was my belly still growing if the heartbeat had stopped 3 weeks earlier? Why hadn’t I miscarried? Why did I lose the baby in the first place? Rylie was an unplanned c-section (birth story here), and in my head I became convinced that something had been damaged inside and that the baby never had a chance.

I had decided that if we were going to try again, I wanted to wait until after the baby’s due date (April 6). I felt it was important to honor that pregnancy time, to honor that baby. One thing I’ve learned from all of this, among many life lessons (and I hate referring to the loss as a lesson), is that you cannot plan things that are inevitably out of your control. You can do all the “right” things, have all the right intentions, and things can still get all twisted. We weren’t exactly being careful, and there was a deep part of me that (despite what I was telling everyone) wanted to be pregnant again…like right away. It’s hard to explain, and not something words can really comprehend, but when this baby in my belly right now was conceived, I knew it. I took a pregnancy test, negative, but I still knew. We took our first trip away from Rylie as a couple to Las Vegas, and I tossed a pregnancy test in my luggage bag. When the dreaded 3 minute wait was up, and we finally knew, I laid in bed for quite awhile, allowing the news to overtake me.

Instantly, I mean…instantly, anxiety and guilt found their home. A little excitement and joy decided to show up to the party, but they stayed pretty quiet while anxiety and guilt took over the show. If it happened once, it could happen again, and I didn’t trust my body to show me the signs that would clue me in. I felt guilt. So. Much. Guilt. How could I even begin to love this baby, when I hadn’t even said goodbye yet to the last? How could I even be thinking that I couldn’t love this baby yet? What was I thinking having that champagne last night?

Do we tell people? Everyone knew about the last baby, and I was grateful for that, I felt less alone in the loss. But, do I put it out there again? That first appointment was horrifying. I had not been back in the doctor’s office since we had the visit with no heartbeat. My whole body felt cold and stiff. But there it was, a heartbeat, fast and strong. This helped a little, but we had heard the last baby’s heartbeat too…and it sounded just the same. By the time the 12 week appointment came, I had convinced myself on several occasions that the baby was gone. It was always late at night, laying in bed, and I would whisper my crazy thoughts aloud to my husband. Anxiety. The type of anxiety that leaves you feeling like you just ran a marathon, but something is chasing you, so even though you are exhausted and your heart is racing and you really just want to lay down, you have to keep running. You can’t stop for a second or it will catch you and swallow you whole. I know this sounds melo-dramatic, but like I said…I’m just trying to put the fog of feelings and emotions into words, and words never seem to get it exactly right.

12 weeks. It took them maybe 10 seconds to find the heartbeat, and in those ten seconds I had already decided that we were done trying. But then it came, loud and strong. Life.

Honestly, it was only then that I really let the love creep in. I hope that you (baby growing in my belly) do not read this one day and believe for a second that all of this makes me love you less. Oh no, this experience makes my love for you go beyond what is reasonable. So much had to happen for it to be you. The sound of your heart…and one day the smell of your skin will be intoxicating…something that will fill me up to the brim, a different kind of love.

And Rylie, one day, I need you to ask me about how you were through all of this. There are things that you did, things that you said, experiences we shared, that I need to tell you. You, and I believe most young kids your age, are closer to spiritual dimensions than we (as adults) are. These are things that aren’t for the world to know about, but that I want to share with you one day. You, have been my shining light through this.

I still know that a million billion things can go wrong (or at least that is what it feels like). Making human life is not for the faint of heart, seriously. Somehow though, we do it, and then do it again, and then watch our children and grandchildren do it. I struggle with my faith and spirituality, a lot. I think sometimes God (or whoever it is that is responsible for all consuming love and miracles) has to slap me in the face with experiences to make me believe and see. I’m not talking about the loss, I’m talking about the beauty I’ve seen through this.

Ok, I think that’s all I can say for now. Today we have our big ultrasound, and I am hopeful and terrified. Whatever happens though, I want these words to be here, to read someday, to read to Rylie someday. To maybe make someone, even one person, feel less crazy or alone.

Anxious. Excited. Guilty. Hopeful.

Love.

Everson Michael

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Everson Michael. He is here. We are crazy for him.

photo 3-2

On August 19 at around 8:30 AM during Rylie’s bubble bath, I was going pee. As I was finishing my business, it seemed like there was a gush of pee. As I stood up it kept coming, and we knew. My water had broke. I’ll go into more detail about the labor in a later post, it wasn’t exactly how we imagined it but in many ways it was a wonderful and ideal situation. My contractions hadn’t started so we were able to do our whole nighttime routine with Ry, and actually tell her that when she woke up that grandma and grandpa would be there, and she would get to meet her baby brother. I laid in bed with her, hugged her for what seemed like forever, and gave her a million little kisses all over her face, knowing that it would be the last time I would do so with her as my only child. It was one of those life moments and I really believe she understood.

Everson, you were born August 20th at 8:25 AM. You weighed 8 lbs 3.5 oz and they measured you at 18 inches (but you were 19 inches a few days later, so I think they got it wrong!) I overheard one of the delivery nurses tell a postpartum nurse that “she won’t let him go, she’s held him since we put him in her arms.” She was right, and that’s how we stayed.

We are so in love with you. Words don’t do the feelings justice. You are such a (as your papa called you) “fair” baby. You only cry when something hurts (a gas bubble for example) but otherwise you are just a bundle of sweet baby smelling, sleepy smiling, blue eyed (as of today) baby. At your first doctor appointment you had not only met your birth weight but had gained 10 oz! I love to smell you, breast feed you, hold you. Your heavy baby weight on my chest is what dreams are made of. You have the longest little fingers and softest skin. I cry as I write this because my feelings for you are already so tremendous.

photo 1-2

Rylie. You always amaze me, but this time…I am beyond amazed. From the minute you met him you have been such a gentle and caring big sister. You love to touch his head, pet his hair, find his toes (and play “this little piggy”), look at his umbilical cord, and you think it is hilarious when he pees as mama as changing his diaper. You have been such a big helper, getting diapers, blankets, and making sure he has his “mimi” lovey. This morning you said you wanted to snuggle with him in bed, and my heart exploded into a million little pieces. Sometimes it’s a little hard for you, when you want me to do something and I cant right away, but I see you taking a deep breath and trying to be patient. You are mature beyond your years, such an old caring soul. You get it too, you get what it means to be a big sister and that he is a new part of our family. I didn’t believe I could love you anymore than I already do, but seeing you in this role, I do.

photo 2-3

My heart is full.

What’s In My Diaper Bag

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One thing is for sure…my most prominent accessory these days is a diaper bag. I’m having a serious love affair with this one from Lily Jade. It looks nothing like a diaper bag, but has a removable water-proof insert that just makes life SO. MUCH. EASIER.

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Top: old Jcrew

Jeans: J brand Maternity

Shoes: Kate Spade

Bag: Lily Jade

Now what’s in my diaper bag you might ask? Well, I looked inside and here’s what I found.

A book and a few toys for when we are out at a restaurant, some snacks, most likely some old loose snacks, an extra pair of underwear since we are potty training and accidents happen, a water bottle, Honest hand sanitizer spray, some sunscreen, loose change, sunglasses, and typically an old wipe with god knows what in it.

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And with a little boy on the way…this is what I expect will be making an appearance in our diaper bag. Diapers…duh, an extra pair of pants for those explosive poops, same old change and old wipe with god knows what in it, a hat for the sun, a burp cloth and teething ring (these ones from Alexandra Rose), and a pretty scarf just in case I decide I want a light cover while nursing.

What’s in your diaper bag?!

Filed Under: Baby, Biz Love, Bun In The Oven, Etsy, Favorite Things, Little Ones

Biz Love . 31 Bits

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I love me some good neck or arm candy, but when you know what you’re wearing is for a good cause…it’s even better. I first got introduced to 31 bits when we did our mother’s day shoot for Free People. Then I heard my girl Taylor Sterling was going to be modeling/styling some of their pieces for their winter line. I knew their stuff was good, but I didn’t know a lot about the cause behind it. 31 bits runs health education, finance trainings, business training, mentorships and more to 170 women in Northern Uganda. The jewelry is handmade by these women and provides them with an income. Their Fall line launches TODAY, so be sure to check it out! Each piece has so much love in it, you can tell.

They are also super fun to follow on instagram 🙂

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Top by Wendy Bellissimo’s maternity line

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Here’s a few of my favorite pieces from their Fall line. It’s so good, and I’m so ready for Fall…chunky cable knit and boots, yes!!!!

On another note…still on baby boy watch over here. Did I mention he has a name? Everson 🙂 Our son, Everson. (Nickname Ever or Ev). David actually came up with it. We always loved the name Everly for a girl, and were kind of toying around with the name Emerson for a boy. He put them together, and I fell for the name, hard. I’m ready to kiss your face and smell your sweet baby smell Ever, so anytime you’re ready…we’re ready too 🙂