I belong to Crowdtap, and they sent me a nice digital kit for the premiere of season 2 BrandX with Russell Brand. It was so much fun to have an inside look at the brilliant and hilarious mind of Russell Brand. I don't know if it is his accent, or his quirky witty attitude, but he is hilarious and a bit raunchy at times!
The show premiered on October 11th at 11:00 p.m. est. If you missed the premiere of the second season, don't worry! FX will repeat it. For more information, check it out here. http://www.fxnetworks.com/brandx/social/connect
My husband and I love to throw parties with great friends. Unfortunately, only a couple were able to join us due to the late night showing. Maybe next time Crowdtap will let us TIVO it and throw a party on a Friday night so we will have a better turnout. Regardless, it was a great time! We served your usual chips and dips, but on top of that we made my Mom's famous baked ziti served with fried scallops! Yum!
In my opinion, the show is quite hilarious! Russell is very raunchy, so I am cautioning you now! If you get offended easily, then this may not be the right show for you. If you love to laugh and are open minded, then you will love this show! I believe it will be easy for Russell to get a good lineup of celebrities He even had Opie from Sons of Anarchy! I can't quote some of the funny stuff because it is not appropriate for my blog, but if you caught this first episode, know that we all were dying laughing on the restraining order bit! ;)
Overall, we all were laughing at Russell. You are either laughing with him or at him, but either way you are laughing! Check out the show, and let me know your thoughts!
The other day, we went to Old Navy for a Cardi Party! Thanks to Crowdtap, we all received one free scarf, one free skirt, and one free Cardigan. It was a blast, and I am so thrilled with the Old Navy's new looks!
How cute are these scarfs? So many colors and so many styles! My sister and I went with the longer skirts, as we were not a fan of the pencil skirts; however, two of our friends went for the shorter skirts, and I have to say... it looked awesome on them!
They have two different style Cardigans, and they come in various colors. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and get them before they are gone! If you want to experience an opportunity like this in the future, join me on
Crowdtap!
Did you know that there is a crown out there for America's Perfect Woman? I had no idea! I can't even begin to imagine the stress and dedication one woman has to bear by being crowned as America's Perfect Woman! It can't be easy, and it is definitely not for everyone. It takes a strong passionate woman to take on the job!
Laura Ngo Pucker, a friend of mine has just been crowned, and I am very happy for her! Laura and I met awhile back while I was living in Florida. Not only is she stunning with an amazingly funny personality, she also is very talented. She has really inspired my creative side and I can't thank her enough for that. We even took a crochet class together. Unfortunately, I did not do so well in the class. ;)
Laura, my personal congrats to you on achieving this honor! You deserve it, and I am sure you will be an excellent role model for America's Perfect Woman. If not, we are all coming after you! Just kidding. ;)
I belong to Crowdtap, and they sent me a nice digital kit for the premiere show of Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. It was so much fun to have an inside look at Kamau's brilliant and hilarious mind before the show aired!
The show premiered on August 9 at 11:00 p.m. est. If you missed the premiere, don't worry! FX will repeat it. For more information, check it out here. http://www.fxnetworks.com/totallybiased
My husband and I love to get together with good friends. We are always looking for excuses to entertain and who doesn't love comedy?
In my opinion, the show has great potential! I think we all agreed that Kamau is hilarious, and is going to do really well. He reminds me of Seth Rogan. Not so much with his personality, but more in his looks and expressions. You decide!
Kamau's personality reminds of George Carlin at times. Not so much in the vulgar sense, but more in the way he picks apart everything and has a deep thought connected to it. I can't wait to see his next episode! Favorite quote of the night: Would it be any better if they called it "Pop and Frisk" and gave you a soda after?
I have one critique. During the most recent show Kamau had an opportunity to interview people on the street. One of the women he interviewed kept cursing in front of her little girl. I didn't think it was right, and it really annoyed me.
Overall, I recommend you check him out. I think you will find the show to be quite entertaining to watch. If you get an opportunity, check Kamau out on Twitter he comes up with some of the funniest tweets! He also has a Facebook page listed as well and if you are in the NY area, you can apply to watch him live! Thumbs up on Totally Biased!
I recently had a chance to check out Melt Mobile. I really enjoyed my Caprice Grilled Cheese Sandwich. My Husband had an old fashioned Grilled Cheese. The bread was perfectly grilled, the cheese was melted to perfection (maybe even mixed with two different kinds, not sure), and the containers were just the right size for our sandwiches.
As with any grilled cheese sandwich there was a little grease, but hardly the amount I had expected. The Ladies aka the owners were such nice friendly women. I really enjoy my experience and I recommend you check it out. My only gripe are the hours. They are open from Tuesday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. I would love to see them open on the weekends, and in a different location. The parking for Veterans Park is not great, but it is worth the trip. I hear they are on Bedford Street once in awhile which is much better in terms of parking. They accept cash or charge which is very convenient!
So this is the famous Melt Mobile Truck. How cute huh?
Here is a photo of the owners. Are these Ladies on a Grilled Cheese Diet? They have lost so much weight since they were on 3 Days To Open with Bobby Flay on the Food Network Show. Maybe they can make us the Grilled Cheese Diet Sandwich! ;)
As soon as you walk up, you will spot this regular menu along with a specialty menu for items they are cooking for the week.
I ordered the Grilled Cheese Caprice which I believe was a weekly special.
My Husband had the Original Melt aka Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
One tip I will give you, check out their Facebook page before you head on over just in case something is wrong with their truck. You never know what might happen, and they are usually good about notifying their Facebook fans about any issues.
Do you belong to Coke Rewards? If so, there is a hot deal going on now through August 12th. Family Dollar has released 2 codes (possibly 3 codes) that you can use every day until the 12th of August.
You will also get a free entry for the Meet LeBron Sweepstakes.
Family Dollar has released 2 codes that get you 10 MCR points each plus a free entry in to the meet LeBron sweeps. Should work every day until they pull them or the sweeps is over (8/12). I used them yesterday and today and got 20 points both days.
10096071476917 TEN BONUS POINTS (daily)- EXPIRED
10096122897198 TEN BONUS POINTS (daily)- EXPIRED
The following codes are no longer active: 10095913378567 10095827987467
I couldn't help but post this adorable collage. Disney's Up is one of my favorite movies. I cried like a baby when I watched it. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!
I recently married the love of my life, and this photo definitely represents how I feel. Are any of you brides or newlyweds out there feeling the same way?
Although
the term "boy band" is mostly associated with groups from the 1990’s
and onwards, other antecedents exist throughout the history of pop music.
I
guess if you really think about it, boy bands have been around for many
generations. Did you know that the earliest of boy band music came from the
19th century? That's right, the good old fashion A cappella Barbershop Quartets.
Basically a group of males singing in a four part harmony. This was way before
my time, but I am sure I would have been a screaming obsessed teenager had I
been born during that era.
Some of the early boy band genre groups were The Osmond’s,
The Jackson 5, The Monkees, and The Beatles which helped create a platform for
today's Boy Bands. Did you know that in a boy band, all members of the band can
sing? It is a common tactic of a boy band, as opposed to having a front man
take the lead while the rest play instruments. This method was effective so
that no single member of the band dominates the stage. Basically a way to
create a drama free atmosphere for the group. Having said that, members of the
band would still fall into their own stereotypical categories for example: Donny
Osmond- the cute one!
Let's
see... Does anyone remember Menudo, New Edition, New Kids on the Block,
98 Degrees, All 4 one, N Sync, and Boyz II Men? New Kids on the Block were one
of my favorite groups growing up! I was also obsessed with N Sync, and would sing my
heart out to Boys II Men.
Did
you know that the New Kids on the Block was the first commercially successful
modern boy band formed in 1984? They even found international success in 1988.
Let's not forget the awesome boy band N Sync. I am still a huge fan of JT!
My reason for this post is because recently I have been hearing a
ton of buzz about a new boy band group called One Direction. I love staying
current, especially in the pop culture department. .
I first learned about them from a friend at work. She took her kids to see them
in concert about a month ago, and now that is all they will talk about!
I have seen so many tweets, and posts on Facebook
about the group as well! I have decided to let you in on a few fun facts about
the group.
Fun Facts:
One Direction was formed on television in UK’s version of The X Factor.
I kid you not… Harry has four nipples and has been is said to be linked to several cougars. Right! His curly hair is legendary though!
Niall doesn’t have a driver’s license, and is the only one that isn’t British. He is Irish!
Liam and Louis both recently bought their girlfriends cars.
Zayn had fish and chips for lunch on 7-17-12. Check twitter. ;)
Their first CD is called Up All Night, and is debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200
Are you a One Direction Fan? What fun facts do you
have to share? Are you a boy ban fanatic? What was your favorite group growing
up? Tell us, we want to know!
I recently tried Woolite Extra Dark Care. I received a few samples in the mail from Crowdtap and have been happily passing them out to family and friends. Join me on Crowdtap if you want to earn Amazon gift cards, free Old Navy Samples, free Woolite samples, and more! It is really easy to do, and a lot of fun.
Ok back to Woolite! So I tried Woolite Dark on my faded jeans. I took a close up shot of a faded area of my jeans. Tried the Woolite Dark, and voila! Very impressive. Jeans look as good as new! Tide has competition now. I always loved the smell of Tide, and always felt it washed my clothes the best, but now that Woolite can also bring color back to life!!! Oh yeah! I went ahead and bought their Woolite Extra Care for Dedicates since this worked so well. Stay tuned for more reviews.
Have you tried Woolite Extra Dark or any other product of theirs? If so, we want to hear all about it!
Free Hard Cover Photo Book from Shutterfly (just pay shipping)! Great for expecting Mother's or anyone who simply wants a free photo album! Let us know if you score one!
Free Hard Cover Photo Book from Shutterfly (just pay shipping)!
Customers of Shutterfly can take advantage of this great deal that Shutterfly and Baby Center have put together! It says new customers, but I tried it on my existing account, and it was worked!
Get a Free 8×8 Hard Cover Photo Book ($29.99 value) and only pay shipping of around $8!
Click here and add the code to your account by clicking on my account. You will then scroll down to the bottom and click on Enter special offer code. It will be saved for you until it either expires or you use it. Be sure to set your calendar for the expiration date!
* Offer expires September 26, 2012 (11:59 P.M. PST) and valid for individuals or Shutterfly account holders who have never made a purchase at Shutterfly.com. Offer is good for one (1) free, 20 page, 8×8 hard photo cover photo book at Shutterfly.com Offer valid for one-time redemption per billing address. Taxes, shipping and handling will apply.
Is That Safe to Eat? An Illustrated Guide to Food Storage found on the All You website. Ever wonder how long something can stay fresh? This is an awesome guide on what to keep and what to toss!
Found this interesting article on the All You website. They point out how grocery stores are loaded with traps to trick you into spending more money than you intended. Get in the know with this helpful info-graphic, and adjust your shopping accordingly!
Many of us have someone close to our heart that is missing on our wedding day. For me, it was my late Brother Bill. He was the sweetest man I have ever known. He was so caring and loving, and had the best smirk in the world! Not having him there on my wedding day was so painful & difficult, so I had to figure out a way to honor him. I knew he would have loved my husband, and definitely would have given us his blessing on our marriage.
For my husband, he wanted to honor his late Father Arkady. After my husband proposed, we went over to his Mother's house for dinner the following day. She went into her closest, and took out his Father's ring. It fit like a glove. His father's ring was made out of rose gold. It was so touching to have him wear it and honor him on our wedding day. Our Rabbi mentioned the meaning of the ring, and said some kind words about his Father during our ceremony.
For me it was not so easy. How could I honor my brother? What do I have of his that would do the job? Well my Rabbi gave me such an incredible idea. He told me to use Bill's Tallit from his Bar Mitzvah. He mentioned that he would drape it over the two of us during our ceremony. I was so thrilled and thought it was a fantastic idea!
On the day of my wedding, I was absolutely prepared for this moment. I was so excited to marry my best friend, and to honor my brother at the ceremony. I couldn't help but feel so emotional and shed some tears as the Rabbi draped the Tallit over the two of us and said some kind words about Bill. It was so touching, and I will never forget it, for I truly felt his presence in the room there with us.
Recently, my sister sent me a photo of her and I delivering my Brother's Tallit to him during his Bar Mitzvah. I had to put the two photos together. It just made sense! I plan to frame this photo, along with his Tallit in a shadow box, and give it to my Mom. I will post the finished product.
I love flowers. I love the memories behind the flowers I have received or have collected. It could be something as simple as my husband bringing me home flowers on Valentines, or a flower I collected in a park. Even flowers I have collected on our honeymoon, or various vacations.
Save your flowers! Put them in an old book, and let them dry for a few days. Then you can laminate them and have fun enhancing their beauty using an online photo program.
I plan to make a crafty flower book of our 2012 memories. Since this was the year we got married and went on our Honeymoon, I expect to have a great collection!
Remember, you can blow up your photos and frame them.
CLICK HERE & “like” Wickey Catering on facebook to request a FREE Olive Oil Sprayer. Be sure to share it on an online coupon forum or on your facebook page.
Well, call me sentimental or just silly in love... I do not want to forget a thing about my wedding day. It was better than what we expected. You always expect a few major things to go wrong, but it was the opposite for us. It was such a great day, with amazing friends and loving family. I am such a lucky girl to have married the man of my dreams.
I had decided awhile back that I was going to try and collect as many things from our special day as possible. I made sure that I saved my wedding bouquet (you will see how it turned out in another post), bridesmaids bouquets (only because they forgot to take it with them), flowers from our chuppah, one centerpiece, and of course the groom's boutonniere! Now that was just what I saved for the flowers portion of it!
In the shadow box below I had included the following items:
My wedding tiara/headband
Groom's Boutonniere
One flower from our Chuppah
Groom's special Yamaka/ Kippah
Groom's handkerchief
Our wedding program
One Wedding Favor
Personalized I Spy card
The inside of our Yamaka's/Kippah's
Some decorative items from our wedding Day
I put a few stickers on the shadow box to make it decorative. On the top it says Wedding, with a flower to the right of it and wedding rings to the left of it.
On the bottom of the Shadow box, it says "to have and to hold."
Ok, I am doing this a little backwards. I haven't posted anything on my honeymoon just yet. I promise to post all of the details soon!
Last night I had decided to create our Honeymoon Box. Our Honeymoon destination was in Ireland and London. I made sure to bring back some typical and unique keepsake stuff.
I picked out a pretty rock in North and South Ireland, as well as in London. I wrote the name of the country on the Rock, and put it on display in the Shadow box.
I also pressed flowers from North and South Ireland, and again London. I then taped the pressed flower on a pretty doily (from our hotel) and put on display in the shadow box.
I made sure we saved all of the travel tickets such as airplane, trains, bus tours, etc... Any attraction we went to, we saved the ticket. I saved our first class menu from the airline as well. I highly recommend that you save as much as you can because it will look really nice in the display box. I even have some brochures from places that we visited.
We also bought these little keepsake bottles and filled it up with Sand from Ireland, and water from London and Ireland. You can put a pretty label on it.
I went to Michael's and purchased some travel and honeymoon sticks from Jolie. It is a great way to embellish the shadow box. Believe it or not, I actually got my Keepsake Box at Marshalls!
Check out the finished product!!! I went ahead and posted two photos of it, but they pretty much are identical angles!
Picking out music is easy for some people if they don't care much about it, or put a lot of thought into it. I am a traditional girl as I mentioned in a previous post, but I like to be a unique in my traditions. Because I am a singer, and I come from a singing family, it took me forever to pick out my songs. I am very picky, and for me it is all about the details. I think the only unique song we were able to think of was the song I walked down the aisle to and our first dance song.
While guests arrived we had a guitarist playing instrumental music. He played right up until the ceremony, and during cocktail hour. From what I was told some of the kids were crying during cocktail hour, and he started to play rainbow connection, and it calmed them all down and made them smile!
I went back and forth on what song to use for me and my bridal party. I finally decided to go with Somewhere Over the Rainbow, by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
Although this choice was not very unique, I was ok with it because the song I selected to walk down the aisle is unique.
For the song that I walked down the aisle to I selected Marry You, by Bruno Mars. Bruno's version is definitely too fast to walk down the aisle, so when I discovered a cover artist who sang a slower version, I was thrilled! Allow me to introduce you to the talented Michael Schulte. This guy is amazing and very talented! His version is so beautiful!!!
Once again, I was stuck on a recessional song. I thought so much about my music selection by the time my selection was due, I was just picking random songs for some of my music and this was one of them. Although, I actually like this song, so it was fine, just not unique. We went with Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours by Stevie Wonder. Quite fitting eh?
For our Bridal Party Announcements, we selected the following songs:
For our Parents, Ushers, and Ring Bearer, we selected Children by Robert Miles. It was the instrumental version. Our DJ actually picked out this song. He found it to be intense for announcements.
For our Bridal Party which included our flower girls, we went with the LMFAO, Party Rock Anthem, but only up to the first 47 seconds. It was on a loop if needed. Such a great party song! It really got the crowd going.
For the Bride & Groom's entrance, we went with The Black Eyed Peas: I Gotta Feeling. I actually love the Black Eyed Peas, so I was very happy with this selection even though it was not unique. My husband is not a fan of this group, but agreed that this song would be fine for our intro. There were so many other songs that I had selected originally, but lyrically they did not make sense.
For our first dance as Husband and Wife, we went with "The Way I am", by Ingrid Michaelson. Initially, I was going to dance to "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles to honor my Late Brother. It was his favorite song with his former fiance, Christy.
I decided to honor him by wearing his talit during the ceremony instead. We selected "The Way I am" because I would always hum this song around the house or in the car. Every time I would hum it, about 20 minutes later my husband started to hum it without even realizing it. So every time we heard it on the radio while driving, we would hum or sing it together. It was very fitting, and the lyrics were perfect for us!
The image below most likely will be a little larger than I normally would post an image, but I wanted you to be able to read the wording.
We decided to combine our Father/Daughter Dance and Mother/Son Dance together. Everything goes so fast at a wedding, and we felt this would be a time saver , and the Groom hates personal attention, so I wanted to spare him! We selected "Stand By Me" which was a perfect song for both the Father of the Bride, and Mother of the Groom.
My Father and I dancing, and my Mother-in-law and Husband dancing in the background.
For my Bouquet Toss I decided to go with "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. This obviously is a very fitting song for a Bouquet Toss, but it is also an inside joke between the Groom, one of the Groomsmen, and I. We will leave it at that. ;)
My Father is a great singer. He used to sing in various venues all over Florida. He also sang for the President of Costa Rica back in the 90's. My Father honored me by singing two of my favorite songs from him. He sang "It Had to Be You" by Harry Connick Jr. He also sang Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. He was such a hit, that people were asking him to sing more the entire night! I would not let him because I really wanted him to enjoy our wedding, and no work for our wedding. Thank you Dad! I love you!
It Had To Be You
Sweet Caroline
We selected Sugar Pie Honey Bunch for our Cake Cutting Ceremony.
Sugar Pie Honey Bunch by The Temptations
Every Jewish wedding always has to play the traditional Hava Nagila dance song. We were no different! Everyone got around in a circle and then made circles within circles and dance together. It was a lot of fun. I am thankful that no one grabbed a chair to start lifting us. I would have ran!!! This song is a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it for a wedding. It is great to play toward the end of the wedding as people tend to be less stiff after all that drinking and dancing!
We finished the night with Last Dance by the late great Donna Summers.
Of course we had a lot of other songs in between, although I can't say that my DJ played all of the songs I requested. He was an excellent MC, and a talented singer, but for some reason he repeated some of our songs from our ceremony and bridal party announcements. Overall I was satisfied with his work, and loved his energy.
The first dance song of the evening was a request by me called Stuck in the Middle With You- Reservoir Dogs. I can't express what a hit that song was! Everyone was on the dance floor instantly!
I hope you have enjoyed my song selection and meaning behind the songs, and find this helpful with your decision process. Good luck!
I tried on 5 dresses, but the very first dress I tried one was the one for me! I purchased this dress from David's Bridal, and it was one of their Spring Watch Dresses. I had inspired three other brides to purchase this dress at David's that the store manager asked if I could stand in the window and model the dress! I thought that was hilarious! The dress comes in ivory and white, but I decided to go with Ivory. It is made of Organza material, so it does not wrinkle easily. I thought I was going to have to have it steamed, but there was no need for it.
Although I did purchase my veil their, I wish I wouldn't have. They were quite pushy about it, and I was so tired from trying on the dresses, that I caved in. It was a beautiful veil with a peal trim, but it was way overpriced, and I have seen nicer ones out there for a much cheaper price.
Because I hate my arms, I decided to design a jacket to go with my dress. I used a local tailor in Stamford to create it for me, and she did such a great job. Message me if you need her info.
My Husband (the groom) rented a Calvin Klein Tuxedo from Men's Warehouse. We got a discount from David's Bridal's website. I highly recommend using their coupon. The groomsmen all had the same tuxedo, except they wore ties and my husband wore a bow-tie. The colors were Black, and a silvery/gray for the vest, tie, and handkerchief.
My Bridesmaids dresses were also purchased from David's Bridal. Initially we picked something out from a small boutique, but they were charging extra fees and it started to become pricey, so we went back to David's Bridal and purchased them there. David's Bridal will give anyone in your Bridal party including Mom's if you purchase your wedding gown there. Their colors were an icy pink.
My flower girls wore a cute pink dress to match our Bridesmaids.
My little nephew who was the Ring Bearer was wearing a matching suite like his Father who was one of our Ushers. It was a gray suit!
My Father had his own Tuxedo because he is a singing entertainer.
Our Mom's wore very similar dresses. My Mother purchased her dress from David's Bridal. This is not my mother, but this is the dress she purchased.
Mom-in-law's dress.
My Father-in-law wore a gray suit.
Our Ushers wore Gray Suits.
My 90 year old Grandma wore a long black dress, and my Grandma-in-law wore a brown long dress. They both looked lovely!
