While I have LONG been a Windows Phone girl, I am still in possession of only the lowliest Windows Phone – an ancient HTC Model – but what I covet is the HTC Windows Phone 8X. It’s HTC’s first Windows 8 phone, and it’s already been crowned by reviewers as the best one ever.
We’re giving one away over at KidzVuz Parents. Seriously. I cannot tell you how much I want it…and still, I’m giving it away! (I think maybe the HTC folks sensed my want — they didn’t send it to us for giveaway — they’re shipping it themselves!!!) The cool thing about the phone is that it looks and feels just like the Windows Phone Live Tiles. It’s powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 insides make it super fast. And just look at all the colors it comes in, too! Unique to this phone is a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera which has an 88 degree wide-angle lens. Translation: it’s large enough to capture up to four faces in one picture this holiday season. A stunning 4.3-inch HD display and Beats Audio make this a truly awesome prize to give as a gift — or keep for yourself!
How sad that I can’t enter my own contest — but you can!!
Yesterday morning, Rebecca Levey and I were on the WPIX Morning News with beautiful (and nice – damn her!) anchor Tamsen Fadal, talking about our holiday picks for tweens. Well, not OUR picks (because really, who cares what us adults think?) but our KidzVuz reviewers picks. Check us out:
We were super excited to be on our very first big-time TV appearance — it’s local news, but here, that means over 1 million viewers. Yikes.
I’m also happy to let you all know that we are giving away a lot of the stuff that we showed off on the show. (Not the Surface, but a truly awesome HTC Windows Phone 8X). So click on over to KidzVuz Parents to enter. Also, don’t forget, there’s still time for your kid to win a $100 Visa Gift Card by telling us what he or she wants for the Holidays over at KidzVuz.com!
So here’s the thing about living in Manhattan: It’s culture filled and exciting. It has great shopping and even better food. It’s never boring, it sometimes smells. It’s where my family has lived since the late 19th century. And it’s an island, which means that if there’s an emergency here, well, we’re kind of stuck.
So to us, being prepared for an emergency is a necessity. Yet in a ridiculously un-scientific survey of the other moms waiting outside school for pickup one day last week, not one of them was. Not even me.
Well, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) wants to change that. They want to give New Yorkers in all of the boroughs the resources to help them take the first steps towards being prepared in case of any emergency. Not just horrifying attacks, but big snowstorms, or hurricanes, or who knows what else?
Here in NY, the closing of H&H bagels is an emergency. But really, nothing can prepare you for that. (more…)
If I need a gift for a toddler, or a first or second grader, I head on over the The Toy Insider, because I know they don’t just list a bunch of toys, these people research and test and try and can rattle off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of any toy on the market. It’s almost freaky. And it’s just the kind of knowledge you want in a toy guide.
But if I want in depth suggestions for every kind of tween – from foodies, to book worms, to techies, to fashiontween-sta’s – well, then I head on over to KidZVuz. There, we’ve not only listed the best stuff, we’re giving a lot of it away.
And I mean A LOT. Like a Wappy Dog, Moshi Monster DS game with gift pack, Just Dance 3 for Xbox Kinect, just to name a few.
Everybody loves Pillow Pets. They’re pillows, they’re stuffed animals. They are, it seems, universally loved.
Personally, I don’t get it. To me, they’re neither really stuffed animals, nor quite real pillows. But hey, that’s why I invented KidzVuz, so kids could tell us what they love — even when their parents don’t get it.
And if you have a kid who loves pillow pets, she’s going to love the Pillow Pets DS game even more. And I’m giving away both: a Pet and the new game. (more…)
Congratulations are in order. Because I have accomplished the impossible. I now weigh what I weighed when I returned home from the hospital after giving birth to twins ten years ago.
Yes, it’s true. What it took nine months and two actual human being growing inside of my body to accomplish, I’ve managed to do all my own!!!
Yay me.
In case you, too, would like to achieve this milestone, here’s how I did it:
1. The Internet -I spend five to six hours a day sitting on my butt staring at the computer screen writing for this blog, or for TravelingMom.com. Or podcasting or posting for Blogging Angels. Or working on the business plan for my soon-to-be-announced new venture.
Which all means that my butt is completely mushy, but my fingers are in remarkably good shape – -what with all the typing.
2. Orlando - Now I’m not complaining, but I just went on a three night all expense paid trip to the super luxurious Waldorf Astoria in Orlando. (yes, you read that right, Orlando, Florida has a Waldorf. And yes, it really is super luxurious, not tacky luxurious.) The trip was basically eating punctuated by events that involved little to no physical exertion: massages, shopping, lounging by the pool. (you can read all about it here.)
So – and I repeat – I AM NOT COMPLAINING – But (you knew there was going to be a butt but.) all of that eating, and OK, drinking, my two trips to the empty and well-equipped Waldorf Astoria gym notwithstanding, did not do a lot for my bottom line. Well, it did a lot. Just the wrong a lot. If you know what I mean.
3. Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe”s: I love you. I love your prices. I love your vibe. I love your funny little signs. Sadly, I also love all of your nut-filled (i.e. fat filled) trail mixes. Damn you, NY Landmark Preservation Society. Had you acted faster, Trader Joe’s would not be tempting me with it’s delicious snacks!
4. My Kids’ Laptops – Before my kids were required to bring their laptops back and forth from school, I walked them to school, then walked home, then walked back to school to get them, then walked home again. For a grand total of 5.5 miles.
Now, they have laptops. And even with the wheely bags, it’s too hard to schlepp across the park. So now the kids take the school bus, I walk the dog for 30 minutes, and then it’s back to the computer – aka sitting on my ass.
5. Me. I am not above taking responsibility for my own actions. I eat too much. I don’t exercise enough. So sue me. Please. Because a law suit, that might cost me so much money I wouldn’t have anything left for food, and I would LOSE weight.
So what am I gonna do about it?
1. Zumba Fitness® Classes -A few weeks ago, I went to an event for the Zumba Fitness® videogame for Wii, Playstation Moe, Playstation® 3 and Xbox Kinect. I tried it. It was hard. It was fun. It was really really good exercise. And since – with the new game – I can do Zumba Fitness® in my living room, I will no longer have the excuse of not being able to get to the gym. See the new Zumba Fitness® game (and yes, they told me I have to keep on using that little copyright symbol EVERY SINGLE TIME I SAY ZUMBA, I mean Zumba.®) lets you pick the length of your routine, the difficulty level, the music – even the setting. And you get to dance around like a lunatic without anyone getting to see your jiggly bits.(like Niecy Nash says)
Check it out:
I like this idea.
When the Zumba Fitness® Game finally comes out,On November 18th, I will buy it — yes, with my very own money. And I will do it. Not only to lose weight, but because it was fun. Yes – I have called a form of exercise fun. Call the papers. Or the FBI – someone has kidnapped my exercise hating self.
Until Novmeber 18th, until, that is, the Zumba Fitness® Game is available, it’s the gym for me. And ballroom twice a week, and yoga. Because there are no Zumba fitness® classes during the day in NYC, and daytime is my workout time. Just the way it is. Plus, by the time November 18th rolls around, I’ll have – well, less rolls around, and I won’t feel so awkward playing the game.
And how will I have lost the rolls? By replacing one meal a day with a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers frozen entree.
Full Disclosure: I am going to use my Healthy Choice coupons for free frozen diet food that actually tastes…like food! That actually has an ingredient list with a normal number of perfectly pronounceable ingredients. (I like the mushroom risotto) And that has – wait for it – NO PRESERVATIVES.
And because I am so nice, I’m going to give away a few of those coupons too. Leave a comment below – telling me what caused you to need to eat Healthy Choice, and I will send two lucky winners two coupons each for a free Healthy Choice entree. (If you just leave a “I want to win” comment, you won’t be entered. )
So – wait – I’m going to eat right, and exercise?
Call the papers!
Contest open to US residents 18 and older. Contest ends Oct 22nd at 11pm eastern. Two winners will be picked at random by random.org.
I am looking out my window right now and perhaps the only word that comes to mind is “YUCK!” Or something that rhymes with yuck, that I won’t type, this being a family-centered site and all.
But seriously — it’s not even snowing. It’s SLUSHING. And I don’t care if that’s a word or not. That’s what it’s doing. And it sucks.
Even better, is that it’s going to be slushing non-stop until tomorrow afternoon, which means that by the end of the day tomorrow, there will be about six inches of slush on the ground, just in time for the temperature to rise up into the mid-forties, making the streets even MORE disgusting. Yay!! Nothing like NYC slush on my dog’s paws to ruin a perfectly good upholstery job.
But rather than dwell on the yuck. (I know I’ve already dwelled, but too bad, baby!) I am offering a virtual solution. Endless Ocean: Blue World, the Wii game that makes you feel like you’re scuba diving in warm tropical waters. It may be totally gross and frozen in the real world, but out there in Wii world, it’s endless summer.
Endless Ocean™: Blue World (click this link, it’ll take you to a trailer of the game) takes the original Nintendo ocean game to the next level, “with new features and story elements that create a mesmerizing aquatic odyssey for players of any age or experience level.” (can you tell I took that last bit straight from the Press Release?)
Endless Ocean: Blue World features an original story that players can follow as they choose. The plot involves Oceana, a girl who investigates the “Song of Dragons,” which her father, a prominent ocean explorer, sought before his death. As you swim around, you advance the story and go on new undersea adventures. Plus, if you happen to have a WiiSpeak microphone and a broadband connection, you can chat with friends(as long as they also have the microphone) while you play.
Wanna win it? Leave a comment below telling me why your winter weather stinks, and you’ll be entered. Link back to this post and you’ll be entered again. Please note: If you just write: I wanna win. Or “Thanks for the chance to win” you won’t win. You need to make some effort, people. In this case, it involves telling me why your winter weather sucks worse than mine.
Now for the legal mumbo jumbo: Contest open to US residents 18 and older. Winner will be chosen at random by random.org. Contest ends Friday, March 5th at 10pm.
Didn’t win but still want to read it? Buy it, why dontcha? Just click on the little book icon just over there on the right, and pretty soon, you’ll be laughing and reading. Still not sure? Save $2 per book by entering discount code SMR2.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if two hyphenated last namers got married? Like, let’s say Harrison VonHarrison-Lundquist married Muffy Worcester-Wolfe. (All names are completely fabricated. If anyone out there has either of those names, I’m sorry…in so many ways.) Would they name their children Maximillian and Genevieve VonHarrisonlundquist-Worcesterwolfe???
Notice the last names I’ve fabricated. Not so very ethnic, are they? Jews don’t hyphenate. Take me, for instance. My maiden name is Rabinowitz, my married name is Friedman. I considered hyphenating for about twelve seconds. And then I realized I’d be Nancy Rabinowitz-Friedman; I might as well introduce myself has Nancy Double-Jew. Twice the guilt!! Twice the neuroses! So when I got married I just decided to get rid of my middle name, Jean, and replace it with my maiden name. That way, the clerk explained, I would legally be able to use either my maiden name or my married name. If I hyphenated, he told me, I would always have to use both names. Quite a mouthful, don’t you think?
For a moment there, I considered going with a one-name moniker:: Madonna, Cher, Bjork, Elmo. I tried Nan – but that sounded like a pug-nosed, perky cheerleader. And I feel pretty confident with my big-nosed, sarcastic, pessimist persona. I thought I could take my new initials, NRF, and call myself Nerf. Only that sounded like a squishy ball, and frankly, I didn’t need any name-based reminders of my physique.
Maybe my husband and I should have combined our names to create a new one. We could have been the Friedowitz family, or my personal favorite, the Rabinimans. Then again, maybe not.
So I stuck with the old switcheroo – sometimes one name, sometimes the other.
What’s in a name? A lot. If there weren’t, there wouldn’t be websites devoted to helping us choose names for our kids, or forums online for women deciding whether or not to give up their maiden names. Hilary Rodham Clinton wouldn’t be, well, Hilary Rodham Clinton. She’d be Hilary Clinton or Hilary Rodham. Not both. Names are complicated. Maybe that’s why Elizabeth Taylor never changed hers. Imagine if she had, she’d be Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky. (I think she stayed Taylor not for the celebrity, but because somewhere in her mind she knew she’d one day marry a man named Fortensky – and she just couldn’t bear to called that.)
Once we had kids, it got a bit complicated, but I figured it out. Generally, anything professional – writing, producing – I used Rabinowitz. Personally, I used Friedman, since I wanted to share a name with my kids. Aside from getting doubles of every catalogue in the universe, it’s worked out pretty well for the past 12 years.
But this fall, when I decided to publish as Nancy Friedman for the first time. I don’t know why I did it. I guess I just figured that at this point, I’ve pretty much stopped working, and most of the people I know, know me as Nancy Friedman. So why not publish that way? Plus, I think it kinda bugged my husband that everything else I’d ever written had been under my maiden name. And I wanna keep him happy.
Now is where the giveaway kicks in (yep, you had to read this far to find it!). I’m giving away two copies of the new anthology See Mom Run, edited by Role Mommy Founder Beth Feldman. It’s a collection of essays by moms…including me. And it’s really, really, funny. I promise. Just leave a comment below with your “dancer name” for a chance to win. What’s a dancer name? It’s the name of your first pet, follwed by the name of the street you grew up on. If you were a stripper, it would be the name you’d dance under — hence “dance name.” I’d be Honey Whig.
Hey — maybe I should publish under that next time!
Good luck!
Contest ends Friday, January 29th at 11pm. Must be 18 years or older. US residents only. Two winners will be announced Saturday, Jan 30th.
First of all, let me tell you: you guys like your sweets.
I asked you to write a comment with your worst holiday indulgence and I think I gained ten pounds just reading them.
Lots of people said fudge, and Christmas cookies. But some people really let it all hang out. Like Moonlighting Mama, who said “Pumpkin Pie. Like a whole pie.” One woman said cheese balls. Really? Another said Grinch Balls — which do sound pretty seriously good. Props to the one and only Hannukah foodie. I’m with you, babe. But my favorite indulgence was the one from the guy who just said Food.
Pretty much says it all, doesn’t it.
The winner (as chosen by random.org, btw) turned out to be a fellow NYCMoms blogger (beccarama) who lives in my neighborhood. Pretty funny, since I knew almost none of the nearly 200 entrants. I walked the dog and met her on West End Ave where I did the handoff. No postage required.
I’m planning on more giveaways soon…probably from Nintendo. So stay tuned. And read me once in a while, even if I’m not giving something away. At least while you’re typing you won’t be eating!
Click Here to buy See Mom Run, a collection of essays (including mine) by the most harried moms on the web.
Click Here to buy The Bigger The Better the Tighter the Sweater, which includes my essay about my boobs. (yes, really)
Click Here to buy The Knitters Gift, which features my essay on the psycho-sexual effects of being a knitter. (sort of, kind of)
While I have LONG been a Windows Phone girl, I am still in possession of only the lowliest Windows Phone – an ancient HTC Model – but what I covet is the HTC Windows Phone 8X. It’s HTC’s first Windows 8 phone, and it’s already been crowned by reviewers as the best one ever.
