Archives for January 2014

Lollipop Trees and Hand Sanitizer

January 30, 2014 by

On the wall next to our kitchen table is a print titled “Lollipop Trees.” I bought it from World Market a few months ago and it adds a bit of fun to that space. Our kitchen table is basically the center of our home because that is where we eat dinner as a family, the kids do their homework, we play games, do crafts, and on and on.

lollipop 2

It also made me wonder if the kids will always remember this “lollipop” canvas as a focal point in our home. There was an oil painting of a farm in the living room of my parent’s house and I have such a vivid recollection of the brown brush strokes on the barn and the way the sky looked dreamy. I probably looked at that painting every day. Then, there was the beautiful green glass salad bowl my Mom put on the table for every meal. And the heavy Uncle Sam metal bank. I would place a penny in the hand and push the lever to watch it drop into a tiny tax bag. It was pretty funny. Isn’t it strange the things we remember most?

I was telling Daniel these stories about my childhood and all the little things I will always remember about Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house. I then asked him what HE’D remember most about OUR house. I asked him if he thought it would be the “lollipop tree” picture.

He was quiet as he scanned the room. I saw him look around quizzically and then his eyes flashed open wide and he said, “THAT! That hospital hand sanitizer! I’ll always remember that!”

sanitizer

Well, it may not be whimsical or sentimental, but that kid sure has pegged his Mama. (Sigh.)

Filed Under: Travel

Missing Sesame Street

January 28, 2014 by

Huffington Post Parents asked on Twitter last week: What’s one Children’s book/TV show/movie you’ll secretly miss when your kids lose interest in them?

I answered:

Screen Shot 2014-01-28 at 3.08.55 PM

I had to “give up” Sesame Street a long time ago. I wrote about it HERE because it was a bit heartbreaking. I was a Sesame Street kid growing up and it was the first show I knew I would share with my kids one day. Daniel and Annabel both loved Sesame Street and the touring version was their first live theater show. They had all the toys and Daniel even had a Cookie Monster cake for his fourth birthday.

Children’s milestones are always tough. I never thought I would get sentimental over the loss of a television show. It’s also hard when I read a press release about a brand new muppet character. Did you see that Dr. Ruster (pronounced “Rooster”) is now on the scene?

dr ruster - ss

That’s Dr. Ruster holding the healthy apple.

Dr. Ruster is modeled after physician Valentin Fuster, who has worked with Sesame Street on a project aimed at promoting smart food choices to improve the health of children and their families. They basically wanted a balance for Cookie Monster. The new message is that certain things like cookies are “something you can eat sometimes, but there are some foods that you can eat all the time,” like fruits and veggies.

I love this! Do you think I can sneak in an episode of Sesame Street tonight after my two are done watching Jessie?

YOU TELL ME: What TV shows do you miss, or will you secretly miss, after your kids lose interest in them? Comment below!

And be sure to follow me on Twitter too!

Filed Under: Pop Culture

The 2014 Grammys: Tay and Bey

January 27, 2014 by

Did you watch the Grammys last night? It was a LONG one. There were a lot of confusing winners. Daft Punk for Album of the Year? “Get Lucky” is a cool jam, but I felt Red should have one!  See, Taylor agrees.

19dsspadncblfgif

I thought you won too, girl! (So did your Mom and Dad!) But instead of saying Red, they said Random Access Memories, Daft Punk’s album. Bummer. Red is Taylor’s best studio album to date and she gave us an amazing piano performance last night of “All Too Well,” a song she wrote about her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. She sounded amazing. It was my favorite moment of the night, complete with head banging, angst staring, and one gorgeous dress. See, Girls star Lena Dunham agrees.

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 12.01.15 PM

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 12.01.56 PM

rs_500x282-140126204621-tumblr_inline_n01khluWRM1roni0j

rs_500x281-140126204622-tumblr_n01kybgf0h1skeaf1o1_500

And then there was that hot opening number with Beyonce. Blue’s mama was on fire. You can never take your eyes off Queen Bey when she performs. Bow down.

56th GRAMMY Awards - Show

beyonce - 1

Jay-Z joined his wife on stage for “Drunk in Love” and the Grammys were off to a great start.  Then, they slowed down a little bit. I kept waiting for Beyonce to perform again.

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 8.21.58 AM

I do realize that Beyonce’s sexy number displeased a bunch of parents who had children up at 8:00 pm. I definitely would not show my kiddos that performance, or Katy Perry’s either. Katy’s was too dark and spooky, just as Beyonce’s was too sexy. But if I’m looking at the entertainment aspect, she knocked it out of the park. It’s a great song and it’s cool to see a married couple with kids get their groove on. I also thought Lorde did a great job for her first Grammy performance. I loved Robin Thicke singing “Blurred Lines” and “Saturday in the Park” with the legendary Chicago men. Carole King with Sara Bareilles was a great moment and I love her “Brave” anthem. Madonna represented with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and 34 couples were married during “Same Love.” And everyone was talking about Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar. Oh, and Pharrell’s hat.

pharrells hat

But the night, to me, was all about Tay and Bey. Just check out their red carpet dresses. Winning!

taylor - grammy

beyonce - grammy

What did you think of the Grammys? What were your favorite moments?

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Frozen

January 24, 2014 by

I live in Florida. But it sure doesn’t feel like it.

freeze - 1

This is how we’ve all been looking over the past few weeks. It’s fun to have a real winter in the Sunshine State, but, gimme a break Mother Nature. I had to go out to Target and stock up on gloves, warmer coats, and even a face mask for Annabel to wear to her brother’s flag football game.

freeze - 2

She’s worn it for the past three weeks because we are freezing here! I chaperoned her class to an outdoor charity groundbreaking event this week and the poor thing had to wear her little plastic hard hat over her knit hat. I wish I had the picture of all the Moms huddling around the one space heater in the back.

freeze - 3

We have turned into true Floridians who complain when the temperature drops below 50 degrees. I grew up in Maryland, so I know what it’s like to stand at the bus stop until I couldn’t feel my toes. We would smile at the nice lady in the house at the end of the street so she would let us wait in her living room until the school bus was in sight. I put Wonder Bread bags over my socks when it was time to go sledding. I missed school when it snowed and I would spend the entire day outside playing in the wet cold stuff. But now, I’m a glorified cold weather WIMP. I keep watching the news to see when our warmer days are coming.

Speaking of frozen, are your kids obsessed with this song too?

“Let it Go” is THE break out song from Disney’s FROZEN movie . Idina Menzel rocks it. (And “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” gets me chocked up EVERY TIME. “We used to be best buddies.” Sniff.)

frozen - 5

My whole family loved FROZEN. It has a great message of sisterhood and the music was so awesome. Annabel loved when Elsa made her ice castle and Daniel thought Olaf was hilarious. Santa gave Annabel the FROZEN soundtrack in her Christmas stocking and it’s been playing in our house ever since. She came home from school the other day and requested a FROZEN party. That meant throwing on her FROZEN T-shirt from The Children’s Place and listening to all the FROZEN songs for the five hundredth time on our CD player. I made the kids some FROZEN drinks with what I already had in the fridge: skim organic milk over ice cubes topped with non-fat whipped cream and snowflake sprinkles. I added a “frozen” blue straw and the party began!

frozen - 1

frozen - 2

frozen - 3

FROZEN will be released on Blu-ray/DVD on Tuesday, March 18th and don’t be thinking we haven’t already added that sucker to our Amazon Prime shopping cart. Along with a new pair of cozy UGG boots for Mama. Brrr.

frozen - 4

Filed Under: Kid Stuff, Pop Culture

What are you doing for others?

January 20, 2014 by

Sometimes it takes the return of a national holiday and the memory of a great man to remind me what really, truly matters.

RIP, Dr. King.

766f80dc20e35e391c14b021463e69d8

Filed Under: Celebrations

Healthy Sports Snacks for Kids

January 19, 2014 by

I was assigned snack mom duties this past weekend and I tweeted this:

Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 2.49.29 PM

I work hard to keep it healthy and organic in our home. I don’t do EVERYTHING organic, but I always get the organic staples and I try my very best to buy items with ingredients I can understand, or, at the very least, pronounce.

When it comes to snacks for other kids, I don’t want to scare anyone away with some healthy nut muffin they’ve never seen before. But I also don’t want to go against my philosophy of keeping it healthy.

I never tell my kids they can’t eat a bag of Doritos someone gives them. What’s great about keeping it healthy at home, is that you can allow your kids to enjoy special treats at birthday parties or play dates.

For Saturday, I came up with fun little treat bags filled with organic apple slices, organic string cheese, and two organic cookies. I baked the cookies the night before. They were the break-and-bake variety that you can find right there next to all the others. They were so fast and easy. The apple slices came in two big bags that I had to divide up. And I knew the string cheese would be fun for the little ones.

snack - 1

snack - 2

One of my all time favorite discoveries has been clear cellophane gift bags that you can find in any craft or party store. They are perfect for collecting items together and the bags come with their own twist ties. I’ve also sealed them closed with fun ribbons and added stickers to the front when I used them for party favors or last day of school treats. Tip: I have used that large wicker basket for everything! It’s much prettier to transport items in a cute basket instead of a cardboard box or grocery bag.

I was so glad our flag football players loved the snacks and Daniel had an awesome game too!  Win-win!

Daniel - football

Filed Under: So Yummy

Go Broncos!

January 16, 2014 by

I really, really, REALLY want the Denver Broncos to make it to the Super Bowl on February 2nd. I’m a huge Broncos fan. (NOT.) I’m a huge football fan. (NOPE.) I’m a shallow lover of reality television shows and when E! introduced me to this man and his gorgeous wife, I was hooked! (YES!)

decker - 1

That’s Eric Decker and his pregnant wife, Jessie James. Eric is a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos and Jessie is a country singer. They also star in the E! reality series Eric and Jessie: Game On. They are currently filming season two and are expecting their first baby (a girl) this spring. They did this sexy photo shoot for GQ Magazine‘s February “Love, Sex & Madness” issue which will hit newsstands January 28th .

decker - 2

Even their dog is cute. And apparently Eric likes to bake cupcakes? brownies? Capn’ Crunch cookies? (with lots of eggs?) while hanging out in an open hoodie sweatshirt. Works for me.

decker - 3

Doesn’t everyone have couples baths with a dozen long stemmed red roses? They are very cute. I’ve watched their reality show and they have amazing chemistry. The final playoffs are this weekend and Eric’s had a record-breaking season. We’ll find out who makes it to the Super Bowl this Sunday. I know who I’m rooting for. Go Broncos!

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Golden Globes ’14: My Favorite Moments

January 13, 2014 by

I love all award shows, but the Golden Globes are always the most fun. There is alcohol on the table. The TV stars mix with the movie stars. We get to watch the winners awkwardly zigzag and weave their way to the podium. There is the occasional “f” or “s” bomb. Here are a few of my favorite moments from last night’s 2014 Golden Globes!

 1. Tina and Amy can do no wrong

Can these two awesome ladies host every year, please? Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler are fearless and funny.  You can tell they are BFFs. My favorite joke of the night was a Gravity reference: “George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.” Ha.

globes - 1

2. Matthew McConaughey hey hey

Yay! My boy Matthew won the Golden Globe for Best Actor-Drama for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club. It was one of the surprises of the night. Matthew has truly reinvented himself. He was the king of the quirky romantic comedy, but this film showed his commitment to new, complicated roles. I had the opportunity to work with Matthew when he came to Washington, DC on a press tour many years ago. He was the most down-to-earth and humble guy. I love when good people win big.

462623113XX00100_71st_Annua

3. American Hustle wins!

I always try to see a bunch of the nominated films before award show season and my favorite was most definitely American Hustle. I was excited it won for Best Motion Picture: Comedy or Musical and both Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence picked up awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Go. See. This. Movie.

globes - 3

4. J-Law and T-Swift

Speaking of Jennifer Lawrence, she was the talk of twitter when she photobombed Taylor Swift’s interview with Ryan Seacrest during the E! Red Carpet arrivals show. This pic says it all. Jennifer is just so REAL. That’s why we all root for her. And calm down, people. There was no animosity.  J and Tay have been friends for years.

globes - 4

globes - 5

5. Cate Blanchett’s Dress..and Win!

Cate Blanchett always looks amazing on the red carpet and her dress last nigth was my favorite by far. I love the black lace and the back was a cool surprise. Plus, her pinned up retro hair was perfection. AND she won the award for Best Actress-Drama for her flawless performance in Blue Jasmine. I think Oscar may come knocking!

globes - 6

What were your favorite moments from the 2014 Golden Globes?

My Golden Globes 2012 Recap

My Golden Globes 2011 Recap

My Golden Globes 2010 Recap

Filed Under: Pop Culture