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June 19, 2013

James Gandolfini Dies: Sopranos Star Dead at 51

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Actor James Gandolfinin has died. He was 51-years-old.

Gandolfini was reportedly in Italy for a film festival when he suffered a massive heart attack. The actor is best known for playing mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit HBO series, The Sopranos. For his role as the mafia boss who tried to balance family life with his role as the head of a crime family.

Since The Sopranos, Gandolfini portrayed the director of the CIA in “Zero Dark Thirty” and the gruff blue-collar father of a wannabe rock star in “Not Fade Away” last year.

Gandolfini is survived by his wife, Deborah Lin, and their daughter, who was born last October. He has a son with his ex-wife, Marcy Wudarski.

Click below to see the late, great James Gandolfini in his role of a lifetime, Tony Soprano. We raise a glass to you.

 

New Cetaphil SkinCARE Survey Results!

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Maintaining healthy skin, especially with those hot summer days upon us, is no easy feat. Cetaphil, the #1 dermatologist recommended brand of cleansers and moisturizers just launched a brand new SkinCARE survey to unveil how American’s feel about their skin and the common misconceptions people have that can affect the condition of their skin.

Samples of the findings include:

·         When shopping for a new skincare product, 62% notice the product label vs. the ingredient list.

·         34% would give up coffee if it meant they could have “perfect skin” for a year.

·         49% have used household items as skincare products to exfoliate or cleanse the skin. The top items used are cucumbers (22%), oatmeal (20%) and toothpaste (18%).

Readers, what do you think? What would you do for great skin?

Break a Guinness World Record with Stacy Keibler and Colgate

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It's clean teeth for a cause! Consumers are invited to join Colgate and Stacy Keibler on Tuesday, June 25th in Times Square to “swish” for a difference! The goal: To attempt to break a Guinness World Records record for the “most people using mouthwash simultaneously.” For every participant in attendance, Colgate will donate $1.00 to Make-A-Wish, the non-profit that grants a wish to a child suffering from a life-threatening medical condition. Colgate will also donate $1.00 for every “post-swish” smile uploaded to the Colgate Facebook page up to $10,000, for a maximum donation of $60,000.
In addition to helping raising money for Make-A-Wish, consumers will enjoy music and participate in games and raffles for a chance to win awesome prizes ranging from iPads to $100 Walgreens gift cards. So help be a part of history and swish for success!

Mom! I Want to Be A Star by Irene Dreayer

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Mom! I Want to Be a Star is the ultimate showbiz how to guide for aspiring kids and their parents written by Hollywood’s #1 Kid talent Expert & Disney/ABC/The WB Executive Producer Irene Dreayer (The Dray). As a thirty-year veteran of discovering kid stars and producing hit TV shows such as Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life on Deck,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and several TV movies, Irene Dreayer has seen hundreds of kids try to make it in show business. Most parents and kids don’t understand the steps or how to navigate the ins and outs of the industry. Most make critical mistakes. As Hollywood’s only trusted career coach for kid talent, Dreayer developed The Dray Way as her proven method for guiding showbiz kids and their parents on how to audition correctly, handle the business side and deal with issues such as image and rejection. The Dray Way is her method for working with kids and training parents on how to pursue the business in a strategic manner, the right way.

This book is designed as a workbook for parents and kids to do together. Every chapter explains, informs and delivers the honest truth about specific aspects of the entertainment business and outlines the crucial information kids and parents need to learn as a family. 

Mom! I Want To Be a Star is entertaining, fun to read, and a wonderful opportunity for families to explore together their child’s dream and desire to become a star ($4.99, amazon.com).

June 18, 2013

Parenting Resource Kids in the House Launches

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Kids In The House launched today to meet the growing needs and challenges of modern parents, offering a free comprehensive, online resource for parents and caregivers nationwide. Kids In The House respects the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to parenting, by offering a functional platform that allows users to weigh the advice and thoughts of health experts, educators, industry researchers, TV/Film personalities, other parents and many more.

With over 450 experts from a myriad of specialties, Kids In The House offers:

  • A library of over 8,000 easy to digest parenting videos in “parent-friendly” one-to-two minute segments
  • Experts from areas including healthcare, education, leading research institutes, non-profit organizations, other parents and more
  • A parent-to-parent social networking community for parents to bookmark key videos, create playlists and share them with family and friends
  • A plethora of hot topics ranging anywhere from pregnancy to getting into college

 

BARBIE in The Pink Shoes DVD

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Dance your way to a magical adventure with Barbie as Kristyn, a ballerina with big dreams! When she tries on a pair of sparkling pink shoes, she and her best friend, Hailey, are whisked away to a fantastical ballet world. There, Kristyn discovers she must dance in her favorite ballets in order to defeat an evil Snow Queen. With performances to the legendary Giselle and Swan Lake ballets, it's a wonderful journey where if you dance with your heart, dreams come true! ($14.98, amazon.com)

The Barnes & Noble Guide to Children's Books by Kaylee Davis

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Shopping for children’s books in a store and online doesn’t have to be an overwhelming experience—even if you’re unsure of what you’re looking for. This illustrated guide willhelp you choose books that are appropriate for children of all ages, whether for your own family’s library or as gifts for others. And you can be sure that every book that’s recommended has been carefully vetted.

Organized by age, reading levels, and formats, the easy-to-browse chapters are filled with thoughtful reviews of the "best of the best" books within the following categories:

• Newborn to two years

• Picture books

• Beginning readers

• Chapter book series

• Middle grade readers

• Innovative formats

• Fairy tales, folktales and anthologies

• Poetry

• Growing up experiences and new transitions/milestones

• Nonfiction and reference

($19.95, amazon.com)

Just Jennifer: My Microwave is Possessed

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My microwave is possessed by the devil. No, it really is.

How did I come to realize this? Well, it started off one night like in a really, really poorly written horror movie. We had just moved into our new home, so everything was so new to us. We were still trying to figure out what all the light switches did (Ah, this turns on the ceiling fan! Wow, this one turns on the motion sensors outside!)

A couple of months after moving in, my husband had to work overnight at the hospital. Being the bad ass momma that I am, I did what anyone would do when alone with two sleeping kids in a big dark house surrounded by woods.

I hid on the couch.

With the phone and a frying pan next to me. I figured if I had to wallop anyone, the frying pan has a greater surface area, and I was sure to clobber some part of the person’s body.

So it’s about 2:30 AM, and after watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for the third time in a row, my eyelids are heavy and I’m snoozing. All of a sudden, I hear beeping. Again, since the house is so new, I don’t know what the sound is or where it’s coming from. So I jump up, and start wandering around the house, playing a poor man’s version of Marco Polo. I go into the kitchen, and there it is. The microwave is on.

Um, I didn’t turn it on.

Not only is it on, but numbers are appearing on the screen. And not any ‘ol numbers, either.

Yup, you guessed it.

 

At first, I looked at it, confused. My first instinct is to pshah it off, like this must be some sort of an error code. But the numbers keep coming up, all nice and slow, too.

6

6

6

And then I full-on freakin’ panic. I run back and grab my frying pan, and for good measure, I grab the pot I usually make rice in, double-fisted, ready to start swinging. I fly upstairs to check on the kids, to make sure, you know, that they aren’t possessed and crawling along the ceiling, as children in horror movies are wont to do.

Thank God, they’re sleeping.

I check their heads just in case.

I debate whether to wake up the sleeping kids, tell them wild-eyed that the microwave is telling me that there is evil afoot and we must vacate the premises ASAP or just let them sleep. I decide on the latter—they’ll just slow me down if I have to run. 

I investigate the rest of the house. It’s alarmed, and there are no doors or windows open. Good, I think, but then I realize, duh, evil spirits don’t need to knock first.

So I sit down and debate with myself. What do all the stupid people do in the horror movies right before they get killed? Well, I figured, I would do the opposite of that. And since I am a compulsive list-maker, I start to make a list. Hey, some people drink to calm their nerves. I write down my to-do’s. Don’t judge.

1- They call 911 for help.

I’m not going to call the nice policemen in our little town and let them know that the new family from NYC is seeing the sign of the devil in a Kitchen Aid microwave. Not a good way to make friends with the other moms in the PTO.

2- They wander around the house looking for clues.

Oops, too late for that.

3- They run into the woods!

I figure I have a greater chance of hitting a deer (or ten) on my way to the highway, so I stay put on the couch. And I do what any scared out of her mind person would do.

I start talking/praying to myself. LOUDLY. And swinging. I look something like this.

 

I swing and talk to myself for three hours straight until the sun comes up. I rationalize that everyone is scared of a crazy person, even spirits. I don’t even think to call my husband. Why? Well, when you call for help, the phone always goes dead and the boogeyman is ALWAYS behind you. That’s Horror Movies 101 for you.

After the kids are in school, I’m sore from all the swinging but decide to start Googling why the microwave would do this. I can’t find any info, so I call the 800 #. The pleasant customer service lady who answers the phone starts to change her tone quickly as I rattle off the evening’s events. She wants me off the phone—fast. I tell her that I’m not crazy (but really, no crazy person ever thinks they’re crazy), and that my microwave is showing 666. I can tell that if we were standing together she’d be pushing the panic button like crazy. So I start laughing thinking about this, which again, is what crazy people do in the middle of a heated rant. She tells me to call a local service repairman and then promptly hangs up on me. I feel momentarily rejected, but am determined to solve this problem.

After further investigation, it turns out that this is quite a common occurrence with this microwave. Apparently, a wire has gotten loose and this can cause the mechanism to turn on and random numbers to appear.

Mine just happens to have a sick sense of humor.

So our happy ending is this: We bought a new microwave. But if this one ever starts to show Biblical numbers, I’m ready for it with my frying pan, my rice pot, some holy water…and a baseball bat.

Until next week,

Jennifer

 

June 17, 2013

Curious George Swings Into Spring

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George is so excited about Spring that he wants Hundley to have Spring Fever too. But even blooming flowers, baby animals and canoe rides cannot make Hundley love Spring. Even worse, Hundley gets lost in the country. Searching for his lost friend, George accidentally launches the hot air balloon rally and sails over the countryside. Luckily he manages to grab Hundley from a hilltop along the way. Together they return triumphantly to the city. The Man with the Yellow Hat, the Doorman and Lydia stage a daring rooftop balloon rescue. Not only are George and Hundley saved, but they manage to win the coveted Spring Building Prize! Finally, to George's delight, now Hundley has Spring Fever too! ($14.99, amazon.com)

June 16, 2013

Barney: Play With Barney

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It’s game time! Barney and his friends demonstrate all the benefits of play with their signature style of imagination, music and laughs! Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff get practice being leaders and trying new sports, like baseball and basketball, and everyone learns that taking turns, following the rules, practicing and cleaning up makes every game more fun…especially when you do it with friends! So join the team and have a ball with Barney and friends! ($14.98, retailers nationwide)





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