Things that I am LOVING right now: 1. Modern Family on ABC. (Sorry Community. You are just not doing it for me. I’m so disappointed. Joel McHale , you are still cute and funny and really the BEST part of the show, but I just can’t hang with you guys anymore.) On the other hand, the pilot for Modern Family was hilarious. I’ve loved Julie Bowen from her days on Ed and Lost and it’s so great to see her pop up again in a fun new show. The woman who plays Ed O’Neil’s (Al Bundy from Married …with Children) wife is Sofia Vergara and she is a great discovery. She is funny and sexy and definitely has that “IT” factor. I’m hoping Modern Family will stay on my Laugh Out Loud TV list (crossing fingers.) 2. THIS magazine cover: Thank you Entertainment Weekly for putting Jim and Pam from The Office on your cover. They are so adorable. I’m so happy they are finally getting their time in the spotlight. John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer seem like really cool people. And The Office is still bringing out the laughs this season. The show continues to have great writing and great acting. I can’t wait for this crazy wedding of the year! 3. Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman. My son recites this entire book back to me. It’s amazing how fast he picked it up. The words are simple and repetitious and fun. It’s a great “learning to read” book. It’s a classic that has been around forever and I’m glad we finally discovered it. We actually checked it of the library last week but I just went to the bookstore to buy it so we can have our very own copy (to read over and over and over again.) 4. This necklace: It’s from the Tori Spelling Jewelry Collection. I saw Tori wear it when she co-hosted The Today Show a couple weeks ago. I just had to have it! I love the stone colors with the gold. I also love that you can wear it with a dress or a T-shirt. Well, my awesome hubbie was listening because he bought it for me for our 8th wedding anniversary. Thank you, Baby! 5. My kiddies. Of course I am ALWAYS loving them, but I’m extra super proud of my babies this week. I’m proud of Bean for STAYING in that Gymboree Sports Class on Saturday morning. He was a little mad and a little sad about it, but he DID it. He stayed in that room the entire 45 minutes and it was a great hurdle we accomplished. I’m also proud of Annabel for participating in her very first charity walk with her Daddy. It was the Heart Walk for the American Heart Association. Daddy pushed her in the stroller and she had a blast. I love that it’s becoming a tradition for our family to do these charity walks together.
OMG! It’s Elmo!
Our family of four ventured out to see our very first live performance event, Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up. I really wanted the kiddies to see Elmo and company for their very first live event. They love Sesame Street and watch it every single day. They know, and love, all the characters. They know the songs. But the show was not coming to OUR neighborhood. Bummer. It was coming to a neighborhood a million miles away. (Or, so it felt. ) But I decided to go ahead and order tickets for the next town over. It would take us 90 minutes to drive there. 90 MINUTES. That’s how long the show is! But guess what? IT WAS SO WORTH IT! The mini road trip was not bad at all. I loaded the car up with snacks and every Sesame Street book and toy I had in the house. It was 90 minutes of Elmo and Abby Cadabby build up. When we arrived, the first thing we did was… BUY STUFF. We were prepared, but, MAN, is that stuff expensive. We spent $30 in five minutes on an Elmo light up twirly thing for Bean and a stuffed Elmo doll for Annabel. NOTE: I WANTED to get Annabel the Abby Cadabby doll, but they did not have any! I was shocked! A mom behind me groaned about it too. Every little girl wants the pink fairy doll, don’t they? Abby is just too cute for words. They had the Elmo doll (of course), Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Zoe. I don’t get the Zoe doll. She is barely in Sesame Street at all. Maybe they sold out of Abby? Oh well, it really didn’t matter. Annabel can say “Elmo” now so once she saw the little red furry monster doll she started shouting “ELMO!” and the choice was pretty clear. (Never mind that we already have TWO other Elmo dolls at home, right?) The show was a blast! We had great seats on the floor. Daniel and Annabel loved it. They were either frozen in awe or laughing, screaming, and dancing. I had so much fun too. Every character from Sesame Street was in attendance, including Grover, my favorite. There were super cute musical numbers and I loved the theme of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They ended with Elmo’s World and Mr. Noodle was there! Very fun. There was even a short intermission. It was just enough time for a balloon man to walk in front of all of us parents with 100 huge Elmo balloons. And all of the kids start screaming and begging their parents for one. And, OF COURSE, we had to buy one for Bean! ( And, get this, they were only TEN BUCKS each! AHHH!) Okay, so the entire thing was a LITTLE pricey, but the memories were definitely PRICELESS. (This blog NOT brought to you by the Visa card, although it was used. A LOT.) We heart you Sesame Street!
Emmy Awards ’09
I LOVE television. I watch A LOT of television shows. Every year I watch the Emmy Awards. Then I realize that there are so many television shows that I DON’T watch. (Before I get into that, let me say that Neil Patrick Harris from How I Met Your Mother (and Doogie Howser, M.D. !) ROCKED as the Emmy host. He is funny, cute, and charming and should just host EVERY awards show. Ha.) So back to the television shows that I don’t watch. Maybe I should be watching 30 Rock (Winner, Best Comedy Series)? I did give it a try a couple of times last season but I just could not get into it. Tina Fey seems like a fun gal, but the show is not The Office. None of The Office nominees won, but John Krasinski (Jim!) looked so darn cute, so that was enough for me. Maybe I should be watching Mad Men (Winner, Best Drama Series)? This one I will give you. It looks really cool and I should start the TIVO now. The men are cute, the women are fashionable, and this show always wins tons of awards. Maybe I should be watching Breaking Bad, Damages, or United States Of Tara? They all won awards last night. But excuse me, what are these shows? I know that cable programming is getting more front and center attention, but I just have zero interest in these shows. I have not even heard of them. I also don’t have time to TIVO any new shows. (I already need to make room for Mad Men now!) John Cryer won Best Supporting Actor for Two And A Half Men. That was cool. It’s great to see Duckie from Pretty in Pink come out ahead after all these years! I am a huge reality show fan. Amazing Race won for Best Reality Show. It really is an incredible show. It must take hundreds of behind-the-scene experts to pull off this globe trotting competition. But I was hoping Ryan Seacrest from American Idol would win Best Reality Show host. He deserves it. He is the face of AI. (Jeff Probst won for Survivor.) And, of course, I love Top Chef so I was glad it was (at least) nominated. Heidi Klum from Project Runway was also nominated for Best Reality Show Host. She lost, but man, she WON for looking amazing at almost 9 months preggers. You go girl!
Patrick Swayze
I wanted to make sure I noted the passing of actor and dancer Patrick Swayze. He died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57. Everyone who knew him or worked with him said he was such an amazing guy. And boy, was he good looking. Dirty Dancing will always be a part of my childhood. And the final scene of Ghost will ALWAYS make me cry. Rest in peace, Patrick.
Mama’s Boy
Daniel has turned into a full on “Mama’s Boy.” I love it. I’m frustrated by it. It’s definitely making me a little…crazy. I love to oblige all his requests for hugs and pick-me-ups. He’s an awesome snuggler. He always wants to be by my side and go where I go. I really can’t resist it when he says “I want Maaamaaa” in that little baby voice. It’s super cute and I love to feel needed, to feel WANTED. He’s the most awesome kid ever. But all this wonderful, over-the-top Mama Love is starting to morph into something else. The new form is called the I DON’T EVER WANT TO BE AWAY FROM MAMA…EVER! form. DO YOU HEAR ME?? NEVER EVER!! MAMA, DON’T LEAVE ME OR I WILL SCREAM LIKE YOU HAVE JUST DROPPED ME OFF ON THE STREET CORNER TO FEND FOR MYSELF. I WILL CLAW AND GRAB YOU AND WEIGH YOU DOWN UNTIL YOU DIE FROM EMBARRASSMENT OR FROM BEING CRUSHED BY MY LOVE FOR YOU. I exaggerate. A little. I decided to enroll Bean in the Gymboree Sports class for preschoolers. It’s for 3 to 5 year olds and since he JUST turned 3, he is one of the younger kids enrolled in the class. I had explained the class to him for weeks, always reminding him that it was a drop-off class and Mama would not stay in the room. I would be waiting right outside the door and when he was done with the class we would hug and go and get chocolate milk. I thought this would work. He seemed fine with it all. He really did. He actually seemed EXCITED. On the first day of class I introduced him to the teacher and he waltzed right in and sat on the mat. Then the teacher closed the door. It was fine for about 20 minutes. Then I heard him crying. Ugh. My husband who was with me at the time peeked in the window and saw Bean holding the teacher’s hand and wailing. Then Bean saw my husband and that was it. He ran to the door and screamed to get out. THEN, he saw me. He climbed up on me and grabbed me so tight. He refused go back in the classroom. I think he just panicked when he finally realized he was in that room without a parent. Without his Mama. I tried again the next week and this time Bean would not even go in the room. He cried and screamed every time I tried to walk him through the doorway. The awesome teachers kept trying to help me out but Bean just wanted “Mama.” He wanted “Mama” and he wanted to go home. I spoke to another Mom who has a son in the same class. She told me it took about 5-6 weeks before her son would go in the class without screaming and crying. YIKES. That is a long time to go through all this. She said I just have to keep coming and trying and finally one day it will just click and he will go in. The Gymboree teachers said the exact same thing. I get it, I do, but it just seems like a long, frustrating road to take. I know ALL MOMS go through this. Whether it’s the first time you take your child to daycare, a new class, or a new school. I just never thought of the NEGATIVES of being a stay-at-home-mom. I think one negative is that I’m creating a child who is super attached to me. And maybe I’m making it HARDER for him to be socialized and comfortable in a setting where I’m not there. I guess I’m being a little dramatic. This too shall pass. Just like EVERY OTHER WORRY I had about my son. When will he sleep through the night? When will he give up the bottle? When will he walk? When will he talk? When will he go into the world and not look back or want me there? WOW. Maybe I should just hold onto my amazing baby boy a little longer and not worry so much.
MTV VMAs ’09
So I’m sure this will be the moment we all remember most from this year’s MTV Video Music Awards: Kanye West walked up and snatched the microphone right out of Taylor Swift’s hands during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video for her awesome song, “You Belong With Me.” He proceeded to talk about how Beyoncé should have won the award instead. He left Taylor Swift standing there just shocked and confused. The worst part of it all is that every entertainment news outlet is still talking about Kanye’s rude moment and that is probably exactly what he wanted. Taylor was a class act, of course. She didn’t make a fuss at all and it was INCREDIBLY classy of Beyoncé to bring Taylor back to the stage to finish her acceptance speech. Beyoncé won Video of the Year for “Single Ladies” and rather than use the time herself, she handed it all over to Taylor. Girl Power! I loved Madonna’s opening of the show. Her tribute to the late Michael Jackson was poignant and heartfelt. She really dug in the fact that we all just kinda forgot about MJ until his death. She reminded us again that he was definitely “one of the greatest talents the world has every known.” Janet then performed the song “Scream” while dancing along to the video she had created with her brother almost 15 years ago. She was strong and powerful and it was a touching moment. Lady Gaga can crank out the hits but, man, is she weird. She had some crazy costume changes, Kermit the Frog as her date, and a performance that ended with her bloody and hanging from the ceiling. In the future, I’d prefer to just listen to the fun Lady Gaga songs on the radio and ignore all the rest of her. And let’s talk about Beyoncé’s leotard she wore during her “Single Ladies” performance. She looked GREAT, but I felt a little uncomfortable watching her thrust and knee bend in that thing. Overall, the performance was amazing with all her backup females dancing the steps to the most popular video of the year. It was some awesome eye candy. I have to end with Pink. That girl can SING. And she SANG while performing on a trapeze high above the VMA stage. It was so incredible to watch. I was holding my breath for most of it. She definitely pulled it off and it was my favorite performance of the evening. Plus, she was the first celebrity to hit Twitter after the Taylor Swift/Kanye West deal. She called Kanye a piece of “you know what” and told all her Twitter fans to “pass it on.” Love her. PS – It took me an hour and a half to figure out how to put that fun accent over Beyoncé’s name! Ha. I’m committed.
Hairdo
Annabel actually let me put a barrette in her hair today! I had to mark the date. I hope she lets me do it again. It just looks so cute with her curls 🙂
9/11
9/11/2001 I woke up, got ready for the day, and then drove to the Safeway grocery store around the corner from our condo to get an iced grande mocha. They had a Starbucks kiosk inside the front entrance of the store. I loved that. I went there every morning to get my coffee and a newspaper. I was still job hunting. I moved to Maryland three months prior with my husband-to-be. We were getting married in Charleston, SC in four days so I really had the job hunting thing on hold. This morning I just wanted my mocha so I could hurry back to the condo and finish some last minute wedding phone calls. I had to confirm my salon appointment. I had to confirm our wedding day girls’ luncheon. I had to go over every single detail and checklist one more time. When I was driving home with my mocha, I was listening to my husband on the radio. He was the morning radio host for the local Top 40 radio station. His morning show was always fun and upbeat but, all of a sudden, he started to sound really serious. He said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Because my mind was in a million directions, I heard him say it, but it really didn’t register. Then I heard him say, “I know we shouldn’t say this, but if you are near a television set please TURN IT ON.” That registered. I ran up the stairs to my living room and turned on The Today Show on NBC and sat and watched. Then I turned on CNN. I watched it all unfold while I sat there alone with my white wedding binder sitting on the coffee table. The second plane hit. Then, a plane hit the Pentagon? That was down the street from me. Then, one in Pennsylvania? What is going on? I just sat there in front of the television set. I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. I spoke to my husband on the phone a couple times. He had decided to stay on the radio for the rest of the day so he could update his audience. I also think that he wanted to help in some way. I know I just felt helpless sitting there and watching it all on TV. I called my parents and my sister and my brother. Everyone was just in disbelief. Then the towers fell. I was on the phone with my Mom. I will never forget it. I still had to make my wedding phone calls. I called the salon first. I felt so weird confirming a hair and makeup appointment. There was no answer. Then I called the restaurant to confirm my girls’ lunch. The man who answered the phone confirmed it and then we talked about how we could not believe what was happening. We bonded over the phone. We were two Americans worried about our country and that was the first moment I think I felt some anger. I was angry because innocent people were dead. I was angry because the joy I had inside me for my wedding day was gone. The joy turned into confusion. And the confusion turned into a million questions: Can this wedding still happen in four days? Can we even fly there? Do we drive now? Would all guests still be able to come? Do they even want to come now? Should we just stay home and cancel the whole thing? What should we do?? Then, the anger turned into sadness. I went to my parent’s house because I did not want to be alone. Every news channel had a different story. There was a preschool in one of the towers. There were people that had jumped. There were family members with photos already searching for their loved ones. It was heartbreaking and overwhelming. I went home to be with my fiance. I remember lying in bed that night and my head was spinning. I remember hearing airplanes fly overhead all night long. We lived really close to downtown DC…to the White House. And THAT was the first time the anger and sadness turned into fear. Oh my god, I thought, we are at war.
Fall TV Returns!
Okay. I was going to talk all about the premiere episode of Glee last night on FOX. It was awesome. It had the same charm as the pilot episode. I’m definitely a huge fan of this new show. My husband is a morning radio host so he always gets lots of cool promotional stuff in the mail. Check out what he brought home from work yesterday: It’s a Glee cardboard high school locker. My kiddies have been playing with it all day. They don’t know yet that I plan to steal it for my PopMommy office. Then, I was going to talk all about Ellen being picked as the new judge for American Idol. I was a little sad to hear it because it now means Paula is definitely out. Plus, I really don’t think Ellen is a great fit. This article explains it best. But now, I HAVE to talk about the 24th season premiere of Oprah! OMG. The Black Eyed Peas opened the show with one of my favorite songs of the summer, “I Gotta Feeling.” I was a little bummed out at first because the 20,000 people who came to downtown Chicago to watch the kick-off party were just STANDING there. They weren’t dancing or clapping or anything. Then, I saw one crazy chick in the front row going nuts. I giggled. Then, I saw more people dancing. Then, it all..happened. Check it out below. The largest Flash Mob Dance ever!
The Crock Pot (or My Attempt To Cook A Meal)
I don’t cook. My husband cooks. Okay, my husband doesn’t just COOK, he is a master chef in the kitchen. He never follows recipes. He can make anything he wants in 30 minutes or less and it is always DELICIOUS. He also enjoys to cook. So much so, that I never HAVE to cook. (He doesn’t really WANT me to cook, let’s be honest.) But, once in awhile, I do attempt to cook. And when I say “once in awhile,” I really mean “once a year.” On Father’s Day. Last Father’s Day, I made this rubbery baked chicken dish, which the hubbie happily ate. This Father’s Day, I made a weird watery bow tie pasta dish, which he also happily ate. Gotta love my husband. He is the best. But I really don’t know what I am doing wrong! I pick uncomplicated, five ingredient meals I find on the back of some box and just FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. (Okay, that’s probably why they taste so awful.) Well, I decided to give cooking another go because I discovered… THE CROCKPOT. Yes, I know. The crockpot is not some new invention. It’s been around FOREVER. But I never thought of it before. It’s perfect! I just need to chop up a few ingredients, season a piece of meat, throw it all in the crock pot, and turn it on. I mean, who can mess that up?? (Don’t answer that.) Today, I made crock pot pot roast. And it wasn’t half bad. It had red potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. I think it might need more salt and pepper next time, but the hubbie ate it and I don’t think that smile was TOO fake. The kiddies ate it too! (Well, most of it). I also really enjoyed it. MAYBE I’ll make it again sometime. Father’s Day is only 9 months away.
