How I Singlehandedly Saved the World: Atlantic City and The Carnival of Wonders Magic Show Part Deux!

When last I left you, oh most loyal of blog readers, the Demi Lovato/David Archuleta concert that I was taking my daughter to had been abruptly " re-scheduled" for November 1. Sarah, her friend Danielle, and I decided to go anyway and make the best of it.

We went shopping at The Pier Shops at Caesars where I spent the afternoon buying Sarah clothes at shops like BCBG, Juicy Couture, and Victoria's Secret. She chose some nice tops at clearance prices at BCBG, perfume at Juicy's, and Pink lounge wear at Victoria's Secret.

After all that shopping, were we excited to see a really cool water show that is performed every hour!



Once I spent most of my mad money, the girls and I had dinner and then found out that my mom was able to get us tickets to that night's show, " A Carnival of Wonders". This show is appearing at the only hotel that our family stays at while in Atlantic City, Trump Plaza.

The show was fantastic. We had third row center seats, we each got a free beverage, and spent the show oohing , aahing, and laughing until our sides hurt!

That night we went to bed tired(but happy) and forgot about being disappointed just 24 hours before.

I think I have earned my mommy points this weekend, don't you?

Today's Demi Lovato/ David Archuleta Crisis: or How I Singlehandedly Saved the World!!

Okay, maybe not the world. Maybe only my little corner of the world of my daughter and I.

We had won tickets to see Demi Lovato and David Archuleta tomorrow at the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. I was on top of the mommy world until today's rapid descent into mommy hell. All the plans were made and my daughter invited one of her friends to spend the weekend with us to see the show. All was right with the world..... okay our world.

Then the phone call from my sister Jaymie.

"Did you hear the news"
"Huh?"
"The concert has been rescheduled to November 1st due to scheduling conflicts"
(Audible groan)


How could it be? Scheduling conflicts? This weekend? No....anything but that! Demi and David must go on! Real teenage pop stars created by television always go on with the show, no matter what! Don't they?

Now what was I to do? I quickly surmised that indeed, even if they were not professional enough to go on with the show, I would make good on my word. I would take the girls anyway and make the best of it.

My daughter, when told of this tragedy, begged me to try and get Demi and David to change their minds and when that didn't seem possible, said, with an audible chuckle," There's still shopping at the mall in Juicy Couture, isn't there?"

This one is going to cost me!!

Drats to you Demi and David!

But, then again I did singlehandedly save the world today, didn't I?

Try Something Really Cool for Grandparents Day: Your Voice courtesy of Grandparents.com

These days many families don't have the ability to see their children's grandparents as much as they would like. Most grandparents will tell you it is the sound of their grandchild's voice that they miss most of all. Sure, they talk on the phone, but once in awhile the ability to hear their loved ones voice during a lonely moment would be a real blessing.

In honor of Grandparents Day, which is September 13th, Grandparents.com is offering a free service that does exactly that! Anyone can go to Your Voice and record a greeting on the telephone at no charge that can be sent to anyone via an email address. It is private, secure, and you are limited only by you or your child's imagination. Perhaps a song, or a story, or a simple " I love you" can be recorded in a few seconds and then stored in the recipients mail box so that they can listen to it whenever they want.

I tried it myself and it couldn't be easier: You call a number, enter a pin code that it generated on the website, record your greeting, hang up, and then return to your computer and send it along. Simple. Easy. Rewarding. That is what makes this service so wonderful.

Try it yourself. Go to Your Voice at Grandparents.com and let me know what you think. While you are there, check out the other services they offer. Activities, forums, guides, advice....all free, all geared towards grandparents.

Don't forget Grandparents Day is September 13th!

Yoplait Whips! " Summer Cool Down" Gift bag Giveaway!

In New York, we have had a heck of a summer this year. First we could not seem to heat up at all, and recently the heat has become almost unbearable!

On those hot and sweaty days, I am always looking for something interesting to help me cool down and feel more comfortable.

I was lucky enough to be provided with one option for an interesting alternative with coupons and items from Yoplait, courtesy of MyBlogSpark.

They had an interesting suggestion to place my favorite flavor of Yoplait Whips! in the freezer overnight as a frosty treat. What a great idea!

With summery flavors such as Strawberry Mist, Chocolate, Key Lime Pie, Orange Crème, Chocolate Raspberry, Lemon Burst, Peaches 'N Cream and Raspberry Mousse you are sure to find the right flavor for your taste buds!

They also have a promotion going on now for new members who sign up to receive the Betty Crocker newsletter. If you go here and join, you will get a coupon for a FREE Yoplait Whips!

If you go here, you can download a coupon to save $.60 off of any three Yoplait Whips! flavors. In this economy, every little bit helps!

The best part of this is that Yoplait and MyBlogSpark are offering one of my readers a chance to win the Summer Cool Down Gift bag featured in the picture at the top of this post.

In the spirit of full disclosure I will inform you that I was provided with the same Gift Bag as the one in this give-a-way as well as some of the information detailed in this post. My review, however, is unbiased and objective.

This Gift Bag includes:

Two free coupons for Yoplait Whips!, Cooler Tote, Popsicle Molds and a set of 12 Color-Changing Spoons.

In order to win this, these are the requirements:

(1) You must be a follower of this blog ( this will be confirmed)

AND

(2) You must comment on your favorite flavor of Yoplait Whips!

For an additional entry, you can comment about where you would enjoy eating your frozen Yoplait Whips! treat.


Entries will be accepted until August 31st, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be chosen using Random.org, and all entries will be verified before contacting winner by email. Once contacted, winner will have 72 hours to respond. If no response is received, an alternate winner will be chosen.

Please make sure that your email is included in either the post or your profile so that I may contact you. I would hate for you to miss out on a win because you had no contact information available.

What are you waiting for? Start posting!

Lions, and Tigers......and plugs in my eyes????

I have recently had some trouble with dryness in my eyes and have been seeing my eye doctor on a regular basis to deal with it. Today I was told that the dryness, which affects my vision and is uncomfortable, will probably never go away. Sucks, doesn't it? Drops every two hours were suggested, but that didn't really work either and my busy life doesn't always allow me to stop for eye drops.

At today's follow-up, the doctor suggested plugs for my eyes to allow my tears to stay in my eyes instead of draining out to my sinuses. Plugs? Huh? Exactly what are we talking about here? He explained that he would painlessly ( I always worry when any doctor says that word) insert plugs into the corner of my eyes, that it would take about a minute, and that if I didn't like them or had a problem, they could easily be removed.

Before I had a chance to think about it....POOF!....they were inserted into the corners of my eyes and are doing their lubrication thing as I write this post. And you want to know a secret? My eyes feel better then they have in weeks!

Plugs in my eye...dryness goodbye!

And the winner of the Carolinapad Conpany School Supply Giveaway is...:

AMBER who said," I follow your blog and I would also love to own the Pearl Stripe Composition Book!
Thank you for the giveaway :)
hurdler4eva(at)gmail(dot)com

The winner has been verified and her information forwarded to the sponsor for prize fulfilment!

Congrats and Enjoy!

and thank you once again to Carolinapad Company for sponsoring this review and giveaway!

Back to School with Sprite and Twittermoms

You might have noticed a new widget installed on my blog today. It is from a group called " Twittermoms" and they have partnered with Sprite to bring you content as well as a contest related to this Back-to-School time of year!

Sarah has already highlighted an ad in a fashion magazine for the backpack that she wants and told me that " I just can't be seen wearing the same clothes I did last year!".

Ya think?:)

Since I clearly do not have the means to replace every item in her wardrobe we have been using a rather simple system lately where Sarah uses the sticky-backed tags and arrows that come in most fashion magazines these days to relate to me the types of clothes that she is interested in. This prevents me from buying those items that I would die to have her wear that she would not be caught dead in! We go through these items together and after discussion and negotiation agree on one or two main things that are both affordable and appropriate for her school dress code.

This process saves the inevitable " argument at the store dressing room" and makes our shopping process so much easier!

Do you have any back to school shopping tips that have worked for you? Please share in my comment section!

CBS Fall Entertainment Preview: A Continuation



I continue my review of some of the new programs coming to CBS this fall:



THE GOOD WIFE is a drama starring Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies as a wife and mother who boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail. Pushing aside the betrayal and crushing public humiliation caused by her husband Peter (Chris Noth), Alicia Florrick (Margulies) starts over by pursuing her original career as a defense attorney. As a junior associate at a prestigious Chicago law firm, she joins her longtime friend, former law school classmate and firm partner Will Gardner (Josh Charles), who is interested to see how Alicia will perform after 13 years out of the courtroom. Alicia is grateful the firm's top litigator, Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), offers to mentor her but discovers the offer has conditions and realizes she's going to need to succeed on her own merit. Alicia's main competition among the firm's 20-something new recruits is Cary (Matt Czuchry), a recent Harvard grad who is affable on the surface, but will use any means to ensure that he, not Alicia, secures the one full-time associate position that's available. Fortunately, Alicia finds an ally in Kalinda (Archie Panjabi), the firm's tough in-house investigator. Gaining confidence every day, Alicia transforms herself from embarrassed politician's scorned wife to resilient career woman, especially for the sake of providing a stable home for her children, 14-year-old Zach (Graham Phillips) and 13-year-old Grace (Makenzie Vega). For the first time in years, Alicia trades in her identity as the "good wife" and takes charge of her own destiny. Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Robert King, Michelle King, Dee Johnson and David Zucker are the executive producers for CBS Television Studios.

I found this show to be engaging right from the opening scene, which serves to set-up the premise of the show. Julianna Margulies brings a certain amount of vulnerability to an otherwise strong and determined character. The viewer can readily relate to her situation as she struggles to compete in a world that favors the young and inexperienced.

Take a look for yourself at this short preview:



I think this one will quickly become part of your " Must-See" line-up for the fall!

Coming this fall to CBS Entertainment Network: Accidentally on Purpose



I am part of a special group of bloggers who were recently invited to have a chance to preview some new television shows coming to CBS this fall.

The first show being reviewed is called " Accidentally on Purpose". As the CBS press site states:

ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE is a comedy starring Golden Globe Award winner Jenna Elfman as Billie, a single woman who finds herself "accidentally" pregnant after a one-night stand with a much younger guy, and decides to keep the baby… and the guy. A newspaper film critic, Billie is barely surviving a humiliating breakup with her charming boss, James (Grant Show), who's still trying to resume their relationship. Suddenly expecting a child with her "boy toy," Zack (Jon Foster), Billie and Zack make an arrangement: to live together platonically. Billie's party girl best friend Olivia (Ashley Jensen), and Abby (Lennon Parham), her conventional, younger married sister, eagerly look forward to the new addition and offer their own brands of advice and encouragement. But when Zack and his freeloading friends, including Davis (Nicolas Wright), start to turn her place into a frat house, Billie isn't sure if she's living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or if she just has another child to raise. Lloyd Braun, Gail Berman, Gene Stein and Claudia Lonow are the executive producers for CBS Television Studios. Pamela Fryman directed the pilot.ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE will premiere this Fall, Mondays (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Take a look for yourself:





I found the pilot to be entertaining and very funny. I have been a fan of Jenna Elfman since her " Dharma and Greg" days. She brings a similar energy to this comedy as well. The supporting cast is terrific and the potential for future story lines seems endless. I can't wait to see where this show will go!

A chance to give back to your community:

ShopRite- Partners in Caring

I have been invited to join the “Blog It Forward To Fight Hunger” program created by ShopRite to help spread the word about this terrific program.

The following information is taken directly from their website ShopRite - Partners in Caring




ShopRite ShopRite Partners In Caring is a year-round, community-based, hunger-fighting initiative that works with more than 50 food industry manufacturers to provide $2 million annually to qualified charitable agencies in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Since its founding in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated $20 million to more than 1,400 charities, including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, child care centers, battered women's shelters, senior citizen programs, drug rehab centers, programs for the mentally and physically disabled, after-school programs and other organizations that aid those in need.

The ShopRite Partners In Caring Fund is a component fund of the Community Fund of New Jersey that accepts donations to fund its activities.


Every time you buy an item marked with the special ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf tag , you’re supporting one of the 50-plus partner companies whose donations help more than 1,400 hunger-fighting charities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania. It’s that simple.


Shoprite "Partners in Caring" Program sample shelf tag:




With the support of more than 50 companies whose products range from cereal to salad dressings, toothpaste to tamales, pasta to pantyhose and just about everything in between, contributions add up quickly. And, because each of the 200 ShopRite uses its share of funds raised to support local charities, your purchases benefit the needy in your own community.


ShopRite Partners In Caring dollars ultimately service a variety of organizations with feeding capabilities including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, child care centers, battered women's shelters, senior programs, drug rehab centers, programs for the mentally and physically disabled, after school programs and other organizations that support those in need in ShopRite communities.

A Little History About the Program:

ShopRite Partners In Caring was established in 1999 in response to the pervasive problems of hunger and food insecurity in the communities served by ShopRite supermarkets, building on more than 20 years of ShopRite supermarkets supporting local anti-hunger efforts through donations to the America’s Second Harvest Food Bank Network and by participating in the annual Checkout Hunger program.

Recognizing that hunger and food insecurity are year-round problems that require year-round attention, ShopRite Partners In Caring fosters ongoing partnerships, with ShopRite owners and managers directing contributed funds to programs that help feed hungry families, children and the elderly in the same communities as their stores.

Since our first year, when more than 500 organizations shared $1 million in donations, ShopRite Partners In Caring has grown to support about 1,400 charities with $2 million in donations each year. Through 2009, ShopRite Partners In Caring has raised and distributed more than $20 million to more than 1,400 participating organizations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland

Here's the part where you, my readers, get a chance to get involved:

General Mills and ShopRite will donate one box of cereal to a food bank in ShopRite’s trading area for the first 30 people who comment on this post.

You can say anything...what you think of the program, your thoughts on ShopRite and their commitment to the community, ways that you and your family give back...it can be anything, really. Just say something!

In the spirit of full disclosure I will tell you the payoff for me: If i can get 30 comments then ShopRite will include my picture on a special box of General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios, to be unveiled in January of 2010! You guys all know how much I love the limelight, as well as how much I love to pay it forward...by participating you get to fulfill both of my desires at the same time!!!

The campaign to earn a spot on the box takes place between July 28, 2009 and August 13, 2009. The custom box will be unveiled at a special ceremony and will also be featured on sale at ShopRite! My picture on your cereal box...what could be better then that?

Update on the Verizon FiOS: contest

We are holding at 12th place with about two weeks ago, but are hundreds away from first! Remember - you can vote EVERYDAY for Sarah and I to make our Ultimate Home Entertainment Fantasy come true!

Tell you friends, tell your enemies..just tell everyone you know to go and vote for us..we really need your help!

Thanks!