Before I do the obligatory BlogHer RECAP post (or two), I need to go through pictures and come back to reality a little bit. In the meantime, I have a story to share with you, one that is related to BlogHer, sort of, in that it takes place in San Diego and there is much talk of bloggers and blogging… Upon arriving in San Diego last Wednesday, my roommate Michelle and I checked into the hotel and decided to hit the pavement in search of a place to enjoy lunch. As we strolled behind the hotel on the Embarcadero, Michelle pulled out her smart phone so she could consult Urban…
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The Madness Continues…
When I showed you my secret obsession back in November, I got some great responses. And lost only a few readers, I think… When I live-blogged the Royal Wedding on April 29, I really did it more for my own amusement than anything else, but it happened to entertain a few other people too, which was nice. (It quickly became one of my most popular posts in my nearly-four years of blogging.) What I’ve learned is that you people may not all like the British royals as much as I do, but you seem to like that I like them as much as I do. It’s high time for another…
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He Never Made THAT Mistake Again…
When you’re a parent and dealing with a little person who’s getting older every day and whose brain isn’t as malleable as he was when he was a baby, it can be very difficult to find ways to teach right and wrong. What works for one of your offspring may not work for the other, and that’s definitely been the case in this house. D has always had a sense of not wanting to make mistakes, ever. Of course, nobody is perfect, and it was only natural that he made some poor choices on his path to becoming the fine young man he is today. For example, there was the…
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Phoolin’ Around
One of the videos in my Cruzing Chicagoland series (click here for all of the videos!) spotlighted the Bristol Renaissance Faire. The star of the video was Jane the Phoole, who had Michelle and I (and her co-workers) laughing hysterically during the shoot. At one point I asked her, “I think a blooper reel would be really funny. Are you okay with that?” She said, “I would LOVE if you made a blooper reel!” And so, without further ado, here’s Jane the Phoole, engaging in something at which she’s very, very good: making people laugh.
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Cruzing Chicagoland: The Bristol Renaissance Faire
Mention that you’re visiting a Renaissance Faire and you’ll be met with a couple of different reactions. One of them is a raised eyebrow and a slightly alarmed look. That usually comes from someone who thinks of a Ren Faire as a weird Star Trek-ish convention for 16th century fanatics. (No offense to the lovely @dearbadkitty, who is a Trekkie.) The other reaction is a wide-eyed, “I’m so excited for you” expression of happiness. That one comes from someone who has been to a Ren Faire. I took my trusty sidekick Michelle with me to do a “Cruzing Chicagoland” video shoot at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which is located on…
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Like Mother, Like Son: A Mother’s Day Story About Similarities…And Vitamins.
First, a “Non-disclosure Disclosure”: I am not being compensated in any way by the brands mentioned in this post (I WISH). The mention of their names is important to the flow of my story. Thanks for your time and attention. J and I stopped at the grocery store last night on the way home from a post-lacrosse game dinner out with Jim, who drove separately. We were walking through the health and beauty section when J disappeared into the next aisle over. Eventually I made my way over to him, just in time to see him place a hand on a bottle of Flintstone’s Sour Gummies vitamins. “What do you…
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This Is Why We Don’t Play Practical Jokes. They Backfire.
Picture me sitting in our family room, watching television with Jim. J is up in his room doing homework. After a while he comes downstairs and walks through the family room towards the downstairs bathroom with his pajamas. “Wait a second,” I think to myself, “he never showers down here at night.” J puts his pajamas in the bathroom and then suddenly turns around and storms back into the family room, grinning excitedly. Then he exclaims, “So, yeah, I’m using kids’ hair products, but I LOVE THIS SHAMPOO!!!!! It makes my hair soft, it’s tangle-free, and…my…hair…smells…like…STRAWBERRIES! Yeah!” He was dead serious. “And another thing: don’t worry about it when I…
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Totally Worth The Two Bucks. Sort Of.
We don’t always get things done on time in this house. I mean, when it’s something that truly matters, we’ve got about a 95% success rate. Something trivial though, like, say, an April Fools’ Day joke, will almost always happen late, if at all. (Much like my ability to come up with a sassy comeback…three hours after it’s needed.) Jim and I headed off to the grocery store yesterday, but before leaving the house Jim asked J if he needed anything. “Manly shampoo,” he replied. Manly shampoo. Got it. At the store, we browsed the shampoo aisle for something masculine enough to indeed be “manly”. That’s when we saw this:…
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From “Never Say Never” To “Better Late Than Never”
I had big plans to post about the Justin Bieber movie (“Never Say Never”) first thing this morning, but things got busy, and then I had to leave the house, and you know the rest. I still want to get it in under the wire before midnight, since I said I’d do it TODAY, and so I’m in a “better late than never” situation. I’m sure most of you have been on the edge of your seats all day, just waiting for me to click “publish”. Right? So without further ado, let me share with you my Bieb-sperience. I tried to get Jim and/or J to go to the movie…
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I Think We’ve Discovered The Solution To Our Economy
Over the weekend, the four of us (D was home for spring break) sat at the dining room table, eating dinner. We were having a conversation about J’s college plans, and he brought up possibly going to a local college. I said, “Sure, that’d be fine. I’m fine with your living at home for a little longer.” And then, grinning, I emphasized, “A LITTLE longer. Just not forever!” D said, “Well, one of us needs to stay with you guys forever…” (He was laughing.) Jim stated, “Sure, you can both stay with us forever, as long as you pay rent!” Nearly 19-year-old D replied, “Okay! Hugs and kisses everyday*!“ What…