I’ve got a special team of elves for the holidays, and we are gearing up to start a DAILY Facebook Contest through the whole month of December!  Every day at 10am, on my FB Page, a new contest will start! You’ll be asked to either post your answer to the question in a comment, maybe post a photo or even like something! Easy-peazy!  The winner will be announced the NEXT day before the new contest starts!  I LOVE stocking stuffers, and I thought this would be a fun way to give you some–or give you some to give to the photo lover in your life!  Here’s a peek at some of the stocking stuffer prizes coming to you daily!  See you on my FB page tomorrow at 10am!

Wait!  Did you know our New Beginnings Photo Contest deadline has been extended to tomorrow!  If you haven’t yet, get your photos off your computer and submitted TODAY, especially your kid’s photos!  One lucky kid is going to win a $200 GC to Toys R Us!! And if you want us to just give it to you, we won’t tell. :)   Check out the latest Kid’s Click Category!  A 7 year-old’s submission is my Weekly Photo Pick this week!

Happy Holidays!

xo,

m

p.s.

Happy Halloween everyone!

We had Harry Potter with us this year!

Well actually, not just Harry, but the whole crew!

Post YOUR favorite Halloween pic on my Facebook Fan page (lots of fun changes going on there for those of you who clickety-click the Like button!).

The Halloween photo who gets the most likes by tomorrow at midnight wins a $10 GC to Amazon!

Happy Halloween!

xo,

Professor Trelawny (the one who sees the future :) )

Our Dallas Confidence! Workshop is just around the corner the weekend of November 12-13. It’s Me Ra and Brian’s first time in Dallas for a workshop and everyone is completely EXCITED, including them! It brings Me Ra great joy to offer one spot to a deserving mom for this confidence building weekend.

Do you know a mom who needs this kind of group and weekend getaway? Her own ‘play group’? A woman Running on Empty?  Nominate her today. Let’s turn life around and put a BIG SMILE on her face and lift her spirit!

If you know a MOM who is;

A. Running on Empty

B. Lives near the Dallas area or has mileage to spend

C. Can arrange for a sitter and get the weekend free, starting Friday, November 11th 7-9pm, for Meet & Greet through Sunday evening, November 13th, about 7pm.

D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography

Nominate her TODAY! Nominations must be in by Wednesday night, November 2nd at 6pm PST.

We will announce the winner in time for her to jump in and make all the arrangements. So make sure your nominations are all in by Wednesday at 6pm PST. If you are not familiar with this contest, read Me Ra’s description below and see what it’s all about! Moms are one of the most beautiful parts of creation. This contest is all about acknowledging their beauty, even when they are Running on Empty and they sometimes know it least of all.

“Here’s how it works!

In honor of how wonderful moms are and all that they do and give, Brian and I keep one spot reserved in (almost) every workshop for a special mom like YOU! That’s right, you (or she) will get a free pass to the upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshop in the Dallas area! (Please note, we don’t provide room/board and travel.)

To nominate a mom, you must post a comment telling us about the mom who you think deserves a big break in life! If you are a mom, you’re probably laughing because we ALL deserve a serious break. But the moms we’re looking for are the ones who have had a ridiculous amount of stress in their life whether from trauma or things just not going her way this year. She is a mom in your life that needs a serious blessing to come her way. She needs a serious surprise that gives her empty tank some fuel. If she is a woman that has miscarried, she is still a mom in my mind b/c I know her heart became a mother’s heart the moment she found out she was pregnant. Don’t hesitate to nominate her too.

I’m proud to say that some of our previous winners stepped out on a limb and nominated themselves. Take courage in them and feel free to nominate yourself if you know you need a serious break. Who knows, you may have your house remodeled by Oprah!”

xoxo Me Ra

****

We’ll collect all the nominees, have a committee of wonderful moms vote, and then announce the winner in the next week! Being as wonderful as they are, it’s not an easy job. As one said recently, “After reading each story I’d say, ‘I’m voting for HER’.”  Each one of you is so deserving.

Nominate her today and turn her day around!  Oh, wait!  Don’t forget to let her know you’ve nominated her too! If I was a mom nominated I’d love to know my friends were thinking of me whether I won or not! Deadline for ALL nominations is Wednesday, November 2nd at 6pm PST. Nominations MUST be posted as a comment on this blog post.  Nominations emailed or posted on other blog posts may be overlooked. Please post all nominees here . Thanks! (A tip: write in Word or other program first, then cut and paste over – just in case.:))

What do past attendees say about the CONFIDENCE Workshops?  Take a look at Me Ra’s birthday post where over 100 women shared what a difference this workshop has made in their life.  CLICK HERE to read their comments!

Get those nominations in and have a wonderful Halloween with the kiddos! :)

Genie

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Dallas, November 12-13 CLICK HERE!  Only Two spots left! Who’s coming?

Dallas Minis are SOLD OUT!

Seattle, Tampa/Clearwater and LA/Orange County are early 2012! Click here to get your Christmas present set up! ;)

Our Washington DC Confidence! Workshop is SOLD OUT except for ONE SPOT. We set this one aside for a deserving mom and know we’ll find one who could really use a break right now.

Do you know a mom who needs this kind of group and weekend getaway? Her own ‘play group’? A woman Running on Empty?  Nominate her today. Let’s turn life around and put a BIG SMILE on her face and lift her spirit!

If you know a MOM who is;

A. Running on Empty

B. Lives near the DC area or has mileage to spend

C. Can arrange for a sitter and get the weekend free, starting Friday, October 7th 7-9pm, for Meet & Greet through Sunday evening, October 9th, about 7pm.

D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography

Nominate her TODAY! Nominations must be in by Thursday night, September 15th at 6pm PST.

We will announce the winner in time for her to jump in and make all the arrangements. So make sure your nominations are all in by Thursday at 6pm PST. If you are not familiar with this contest, read Me Ra’s description below and see what it’s all about! Moms are one of the most beautiful parts of creation. This contest is all about acknowledging their beauty, even when they are Running on Empty and they sometimes know it least of all.

“Here’s how it works!

In honor of how wonderful moms are and all that they do and give, Brian and I keep one spot reserved in (almost) every workshop for a special mom like YOU! That’s right, you (or she) will get a free pass to the upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshop in the DC area! (Please note, we don’t provide room/board and travel.)

To nominate a mom, you must post a comment telling us about the mom who you think deserves a big break in life! If you are a mom, you’re probably laughing because we ALL deserve a serious break. But the moms we’re looking for are the ones who have had a ridiculous amount of stress in their life whether from trauma or things just not going her way this year. She is a mom in your life that needs a serious blessing to come her way. She needs a serious surprise that gives her empty tank some fuel. If she is a woman that has miscarried, she is still a mom in my mind b/c I know her heart became a mother’s heart the moment she found out she was pregnant. Don’t hesitate to nominate her too.

I’m proud to say that some of our previous winners stepped out on a limb and nominated themselves. Take courage in them and feel free to nominate yourself if you know you need a serious break. Who knows, you may have your house remodeled by Oprah!”

xoxo Me Ra

 

We’ll collect all the nominees, have a committee of wonderful moms vote, and then announce the winner in the next week! Being as wonderful as they are, it’s not an easy job. As one said recently, “After reading each story I’d say, ‘I’m voting for HER’.”  Each one of you is so deserving.

Nominate her today and turn her day around!  Oh, wait!  Don’t forget to let her know you’ve nominated her too! If I was a mom nominated I’d love to know my friends were thinking of me whether I won or not! Deadline for ALL nominations is Thursday 9/15 at 6pm PST. Nominations MUST be posted as a comment on this blog post.  Nominations emailed or posted on other blog posts may be overlooked. Please post all nominees here . Thanks! (A tip: write in Word or other program first, then cut and paste over – just in case.:))

What do past attendees say about the CONFIDENCE Workshops?  Take a look at Me Ra’s birthday post where over 100 women shared what a difference this workshop has made in their life.  CLICK HERE to read their comments!

The blog is open! Enjoy your week ~ Genie

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Our Sacramento Workshop is this coming weekend – here we come Sacramento!! We have a few spots open – have you been thinking about it? At the lovely Amber House B&B near the Capitol. CLICK HERE to sign up!

Dallas, November 12-13 CLICK HERE! Four spots left!

Seattle & DC SOLD OUT!

Last week, we did the most FUN contest to celebrate your photo recipe results from “Your Baby in Pictures“!  I invited women to post on my FB page all forty, yes FORTY, of their photo recipe results from my book!  The prize…FIVE winners would get 50% OFF the Early Bird price for our CONFIDENCE Workshops!  Well, holy smokes!  I thought this contest would take a couple weeks because forty photo recipes are a lot!  But NO!  These women had their photos ready to go!!!  Within the day we had winners!  Check out a sample of their awesome photos!  If you want a chance to win this contest, see the juicy details below!

A BIG congrats to LISA WARD! 

Inspired by Photo Recipe #33, “Everyday Settings to Remember”

Inspired by Photo Recipe #36, “Flying Cherub Silhouette”

Our next winner is LESLIE CHANG!

Inspired by Photo Recipe #32: “Those Sweet White Shoes”…or red!  (Leslie commented on how the Photo Recipe “Your Baby’s Heritage” also inspired this photo because she is Chinese and her husband is British.  Just ADORABLE!)

Inspired by Photo Recipe #15 “The Push-up” (You can just see how hard Leslie’s twins are working at pushing themselves up! I LOVE IT!)

Next winner was JENNIFER LLOYD GRAY!

Inspired by Photo Recipe #5,  “The Fleeting Hair Swirl”  This is one of the most gorgeous fleeting hair swirls!  Beautiful Jennifer!

Inspired by Photo Recipe #25, “The First Swim”

I especially loved that butterfly swimsuit because butterflies are one of my FAVORITE things to wear!  She’s a kindred spirit with me!  :)

Our fourth winner is DANA CONLAN MERILL!

Inspired by Photo Recipe #17, “Baby and Toddler Together (Yes, It’s Possible!)”  Wow Dana!  You captured so many amazing moments, but this one is a favorite of mine!  So precious!!!  Wonderful job!

Inspired by Photo Recipe #34, “Making a Messy Meal Worth It”  I’d say they are making that ice cream worth it, and you are by capturing the moment!  GREAT JOB Dana!!!

 

Our FIFTH Winner…could it be YOU????

We had a lot of wonderful photos posted, but you have to post all 40 photo recipe results to win this contest!  If you want to be our fifth winner and get to attend a CONFIDENCE Wkshp for $400 instead of $999!!!!…. CLICK HERE for all the contest details!

Congrats again to the winners!  Your photos are WONDERFUL!  ALL OF THEM!!! Email Genie, genie@merakoh.com, to get your coupon code for an upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshop! I can’t wait to MEET YOU!

To see all forty of the winners’ photos scroll down on my FB page!

xoxo,

m

I’ve been given the honor of being one of the judges for a fun, new photo contest!  You are ALL invited to submit photos of your Rockin’ Baby for a contest celebrating the new award winning, board book called Rockin’ Babies!  Gotta LOVE that cover!

The authors are a dynamic mother/daughter team.  Dr. Jenn Berman is the daughter that you may recognize as the psychological expert on hundreds of television shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show and is a regular on The Today Show, The Early Show, and CNN. She hosts a live daily call-in advice show called “The Love and Sex Show with Dr. Jenn” on Sirius/XM’s Cosmo Radio 5-7 pm PST (heard five hours a day seven days a week). She is also the author of the LA Times best selling books SuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First 3 Years and The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy Confident Kids.

Dr. Jenn’s mom and co-author of Rockin’ Babies is Cynthia Weil who is someone who has written the songs we’ve all grown up on!!  Cynthia is best known as the lyricist of such classic songs as On Broadway, Just Once, Here You Come Again, Somewhere Out There, Don’t Know Much, He’s So Shy, We gotta Get Out Of This Place and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, the most played song of the 20th century.  Yes, when you find yourself humming You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling, you now know who the beautiful woman is wrote the song!!!

When two powerful, dynamic women approach me about being a judge for their photo contest, I am nothing but incredibly honored! This little gem of a board book has already one first place for the Purple Dragonfly award!

So I know all of you LOVE a good Photo Contest!  This is the first one of a couple more to come this month!  To enter the Photo Contest, upload a photo of your Rockin’ Baby (between 0 months and 6 years) capturing the fun, edgy spirit of the book. The photos will be judged based on creativity, originality, and the ability to make the judges smile. The judges will select the top 10 Rockin’ Babies photos and then the public will vote to select the winner. Your other two judges are actress Leslie Grossman (Mary Cherry on the television series Popular) and Gregory Keer (syndicated columnist for Parenting magazine, L.A. Parent and on-air expert on fatherhood).

The Rockin’ Babies Photo Contest ends October 1st, 2011.  Be sure to CLICK HERE for all the juicy details!  Prizes?  See Dr. Jenn’s blog for a list of ALL of them!

Now go capture your Rockin’ Babies this weekend in the sun!

xo,

m

We’re looking for one deserving mom who would LOVE a seat in the SACRAMENTO CONFIDENCE! WORKSHOP September 24-25!

Do you know a mom who needs this kind of group and weekend getaway? Her own ‘play group’? A woman Running on Empty?  Nominate her today. Let’s turn life around and put a BIG SMILE on her face and lift her spirit!

If you know a MOM who is;

A. Running on Empty

B. Lives near the Sacramento area or has mileage to spend

C. Can arrange for a sitter and get the weekend free, starting Friday, September 23th 7-9pm, for Meet & Greet through Sunday evening, September 25th, about 7pm.

D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography

Nominate her TODAY! Nominations must be in by Thursday night, August 18th at 6pm PST.

We will announce the winner in time for her to jump in and make all the arrangements. So make sure your nominations are all in by Thursday at 6pm PST. If you are not familiar with this contest, read Me Ra’s description below and see what it’s all about! Moms are one of the most beautiful parts of creation. This contest is all about acknowledging their beauty, even when they are Running on Empty and they sometimes know it least of all.

Running on Empty

“Here’s how it works!

In honor of how wonderful moms are and all that they do and give, Brian and I keep one spot reserved in every workshop for a special mom like YOU! That’s right, you (or she) will get a free pass to the upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshop in the Sacramento area! (Please note, we don’t provide room/board and travel.)

To nominate a mom, you must post a comment telling us about the mom who you think deserves a big break in life! If you are a mom, you’re probably laughing because we ALL deserve a serious break. But the moms we’re looking for are the ones who have had a ridiculous amount of stress in their life whether from trauma or things just not going her way this year. She is a mom in your life that needs a serious blessing to come her way. She needs a serious surprise that gives her empty tank some fuel. If she is a woman that has miscarried, she is still a mom in my mind b/c I know her heart became a mother’s heart the moment she found out she was pregnant. Don’t hesitate to nominate her too.

I’m proud to say that some of our previous winners stepped out on a limb and nominated themselves. Take courage in them and feel free to nominate yourself if you know you need a serious break. Who knows, you may have your house remodeled by Oprah!”

We’ll collect all the nominees, have a committee of wonderful moms vote, and then announce the winner in the next week! Being as wonderful as they are, it’s not an easy job. As one said recently, “After reading each story I’d say, ‘I’m voting for HER’.”  Each one of you is so deserving.

Nominate her today and turn her day around!  Oh, wait!  Don’t forget to let her know you’ve nominated her too! If I was a mom nominated I’d love to know my friends were thinking of me whether I won or not! Deadline for ALL nominations is Thursday 8/18 at 6pm PST. Nominations MUST be posted as a comment on this blog post.  Nominations emailed or posted on other blog posts may be overlooked. Please post all nominees here. Thanks! (A tip: write in Word or other program first, then cut and paste over – just in case.:))

What do past attendees say about the CONFIDENCE Workshops?  Wow, the best place to send you is Me Ra’s birthday post where over 100 women shared what a difference this workshop has made in their life.  CLICK HERE to read their comments!

________________________________________________________________________________

*Three Fall Workshops remain:  Seattle, Washington DC and Dallas!  They are ALMOST FULL, so click the city below for more details on how to grab your spot!!  If confidence is your goal and photography your passion, it’s an amazing pool to jump in.  You never know what may open up!

Seattle, September 10-11 SOLD OUT!

Washington DC, October 8-9  CLICK HERE! Four spots left!

Dallas, November 12-13 CLICK HERE! Five spots left!

Remember to post those nominations by this Thursday at 6pm!

Having a fun summer? :D Genie

 

Holy COW!!!  After mentioning the contest idea in yesterday’s blog post, your beautiful, AWESOME, GORGEOUS, INSPIRING photo recipe results started showing up on my FB page!!!  I LOVE IT!!!  And by the middle of the day, an amazing gal named BreAnna posted her FORTY photo recipe results!!!  BreAnna!!! That was so LIGHTINING FAST!!  Girl, you are motivated to come to a CONFIDENCE Workshop!  You have won a seat!!! I’m honestly in shock that you posted them that fast.  Speechless girl!

For everyone else!!!

I never expected anyone to post their FORTY photo recipe results so fast!  So I’ve decided to keep them fun going!  I’m offering FIVE MORE Gift Certificates of 50% off the Early Bird (which means the workshop would only be $400 instead of $999–the normal workshop cost).  The next five people to post ALL forty of their Photo Recipe results on my FB page will win one of these Gift Certificates to a CONFIDENCE Workshop in 2011-2012! (see the fine print below)

For those of you who missed yesterday’s blog, here’s the scoop!

There are FORTY different Photo Recipes in my book, Your Baby in Pictures. 

The first one to post on my FB page their own results for ALL FORTY photo recipes, wins one of the five gift certificates!  Yep, that means the winners are posting 40 photos from 40 photo recipes!  If you’ve always wanted to attend our CONFIDENCE Workshop, this is your chance honey!  And in the meantime, we get to celebrate your photos and be completely INSPIRED by YOU!!!

How to Play!

1. Start by hitting the “like” button for this blog post! Let’s spread the word!

2. Photos must be posted on my FB page; CLICK HERE!

3. Click Photos.  In the top right hand corner you’ll see a box that says “Upload Photos”

4. Tell us the Photo Recipe # and Title from the book (this will help us keep count and make sure you got em all!)

5. Tweet it out as you post your photos and include me on it so I know!  twitter: @merakoh

*To buy your copy of Your Baby in Pictures, CLICK HERE!

To see the CONFIDENCE Workshop Fall Cities still available, CLICK HERE!

Happy Shooting and Posting Ladies!!!

xoxo,

m

p.s. Little bit of fine print…If a CONFIDENCE Workshop is already SOLD OUT, we invite you to choose any of the workshops that still have space!  CLICK HERE to see the Fall Workshop cities!  The Gift Certificate expires 8/2012.  This contest does not include travel or lodging, but does include your lunch on Saturday and Sunday…AND both of our Award Winning DVDs, plus ALL SIX 101 Kits and a chance to win more at the workshop itself!  Pretty sweet deal, huh!!  (All CONFIDENCE Attendees receive the DVDs and 101 Kits that is over $500 in value!)  MWAH!

For the last two months, I’ve had the honor of being the Photo Judge for a wonderful website called Our365.

Our365 has two different platforms.  First, one in every four women who have a baby in the hospital have Our365 photographers take their baby’s first hospital photo (Remember that sweet hospital photo of your little one swaddled with the hospital cap on?  That’s the photo!).  Second, many of these new moms want to join a community that helps support the first year, 365 days, of their baby’s life.  Our365′s website and newsletter is filled with wonderful tips from your baby’s health to caring for your baby to developmental changes to expect and more!  When you sign up for their newsletter, you fill out how old your baby is and they send you tips based on your baby’s age!  Their newsletter reaches over 1.25 million new moms!  Yes, 1.25 million!!  Isn’t that AMAZING!

I connected with Our365′s team through Random House.  They were kind enough to do a book giveaway of “Your Baby in Pictures” (which is still selling strong thanks to many of you!).  We continued the conversation, and I’ve been given the honor of being their Photo Judge every month for their Photo Contests!  They tell me the theme for the month, and I write a shortened version of a Photo-Recipe from “Your Baby in Pictures” to inspire their readers.  It’s been a wonderful partnership!

Check out the last two Baby Mama and Baby Papa Photo-Recipes and all the great photo submissions!

If you have a baby between 0-12 months, check out this month’s Photo-Recipe and enter the Photo Contest!  The theme is Water Baby!

Starts today!

Now we’re off to teach our Photo Coaching Intensive Workshop and have a Mexican dinner afterwards with the ladies!  Can’t wait!  (Pray it doesn’t rain!  :) )

xoxo,

m

________________________________________________________

Last Week for the Early Bird Discount!

If you are planning to join us this Fall for our CONFIDENCE Workshops, make sure you register this week to get the Early Bird Discount Price of $799 vs. $999.  If you’d like, you can also break up the amount into payments.  Click on one of the four Fall CONFIDENCE Cities for more details!

Sacramento

Washington DC

Dallas

Seattle

 

Chicago -it’s your turn for ‘Running on Empty’ nominations! We’re giving away one seat in the CHICAGO CONFIDENCE! WORKSHOP coming up May 28-29th!  What an amazing Mother’s Day surprise for one lucky mom!

Who do you know who is a mom who needs this kind of group and weekend getaway? Her own ‘play group’? A woman Running on Empty?  Nominate her today. Let’s turn life around and put a BIG SMILE on her face and lift her spirit!

If you know a MOM who is;

A. Running on Empty

B. Lives near the Chicago area or has mileage to spend

C. Can arrange for a sitter and get the weekend free, starting Friday, May 27th 7-9pm, for Meet & Greet through Sunday evening, May 29th.

D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography

Nominate her TODAY! Nominations must be in by Sunday night, 5/1 at 6pm PST.

We will announce the winner in time for her to jump in and make all the arrangements. So make sure your nominations are all in by Sunday at 6pm PST. If you are not familiar with this contest, read Me Ra’s description below and see what it’s all about! Moms are one of the most beautiful parts of creation. This contest is all about acknowledging their beauty, even when they are Running on Empty.

Running on Empty

“Here’s how it works!

In honor of how wonderful moms are and all that they do and give, Brian and I keep one spot reserved in every workshop for a special mom like YOU! That’s right, you (or she) will get a free pass to the upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshop in the Chicago area! (Please note, we don’t provide room/board and travel.)

To nominate a mom, you must post a comment telling us about the mom who you think deserves a big break in life! If you are a mom, you’re probably laughing because we ALL deserve a serious break. But the moms we’re looking for are the ones who have had a ridiculous amount of stress in their life whether from trauma or things just not going her way this year. She is a mom in your life that needs a serious blessing to come her way. She needs a serious surprise that gives her empty tank some fuel. If she is a woman that has miscarried, she is still a mom in my mind b/c I know her heart became a mother’s heart the moment she found out she was pregnant. Don’t hesitate to nominate her too.

I’m proud to say that some of our previous winners stepped out on a limb and nominated themselves. Take courage in them and feel free to nominate yourself if you know you need a serious break. Who knows, you may have your house remodeled by Oprah!”

We’ll collect all the nominees, have a committee of wonderful moms vote, and then announce the winner in the next week! Being as wonderful as they are, it’s not an easy job. As one said recently, “After reading each story I’d say, ‘I’m voting for HER’.”  Each one of you is so deserving.

Nominate her today and turn her day around!  Oh, wait!  Don’t forget to let her know you’ve nominated her too! If I was a mom nominated I’d love to know my friends were thinking of me whether I won or not! Deadline for ALL nominations is Sunday, 5/1 at 6pm PST. Nominations MUST be posted as a comment on this blog post.  Nominations emailed or posted on other blog posts may be overlooked. Please post all nominees here. Thanks! (A tip: write in Word or other program first, then cut and paste over – just in case.:))

What do past attendees say about the CONFIDENCE Workshops?  Wow, the best place to send you is Me Ra’s birthday post where over 100 women shared what a difference this workshop has made in their life.  CLICK HERE to read their comments!

________________________________________________________________________________

*TWO SPRING Workshops remain:  Seattle and Chicago!  They are ALMOST FULL, so click the city below for more details on how to grab your spot!!  If confidence is your goal and photography your passion, it’s an amazing pool to jump in.  You never know what may open up!

Seattle, May 14-15 CLICK HERE! Two spots left!

Chicago, May 28-29 CLICK HERE! Two spots left!

Remember to post those nominations by this Sunday at 6pm!

And I’m not monkeying around like some people we know in Thailand! :D Genie

P.S. Our Running on Empty winner for Seattle will be announced tomorrow!