Me llego este correo y decidi compartirlo. Formen su propia opinion... El pasado 2 de abril durante la reunión del grupo de G7 integrado por EU, R. Unido, Canadá, Alemania, Italia y Japón se dieron 2 conclusiones fundamentales.    more »

The season of significant milestones in our kids' lives is upon us: Kinder to High School Graduation, Prom and 8Th Grade Promotion are among a host of events we will live through only once with our precious children as the school year ends. Photos are the only way to make time stand still so we, as parents, can relive those cherished days with our children for years to come.Why not preserve these special occasions with professional photographs? To help us capture these memories, Just-Hatched Photography is offering a 20% discount to Mamarazzi Knows Best readers! 

Recently, Melissa Perkins, professional photographer and owner of Just-Hatched Photography, invited me to experience a session at her urban studio located in trendy Hillcrest in San Diego. After an hour of constant clicking and lighting adjustments, we were done and waited to see the results of her work. Take a look. I think you'll agree, Melissa has that 'special timing' needed by a portrait photographer to capture the exact look of a child that will reflect his/her personality on Kodachrome for ever.

                       

Melissa lives in Coronado, and as a mother of four her self, she understands the sentimental value photos hold for families. She doesn't hesitate when faced with a challenging shoot either--she started her career as a family photographer with triplets as her specialty! Now, she does it all: maternity, newborns, and any age up to and including moody teenagers (as you can see, she even got my 14 year old to look angelic!). Melissa is a self-declared techie too; she designs and maintains her own website and blog. It's simply gorgeous!

With our terrible economy, and our little ones growing up way too fast making us pout, Melissa is offering a 20% discount on her photo packages exclusively for MKB readers!! Moms and grandmothers, this could be your chance to get beautiful photos of you with your little or not-so-little cherubs for Mothers Day as well. 

Friends and readers, share this information, and remember to mention Mamarazzi Knows Best when making your appointment to get your 20% discount. Let Melissa turn those kid or teen (maybe some parents too) frowns upside down and preserve them forever -- just the way we mommies and daddies like to think they always are!

Just Hatched Photography

619-946-7420

 

 

Being a mother is the highest calling in life. It requires us to give ourselves wholly to our children as we raise them to become great human beings – a task that lasts way beyond the years kids spend at home with their moms. But for some mothers, the nurturing sentiments involved in raising their own children spill over into helping others become better people too; participating in community, church groups, school or charitable organizations demonstrates these special mothers’ ability to take on more than the usual home life responsibilities, and in the process teach their offspring to give of themselves for the benefit of others too.

 

Time Warner Cable’s 50 Best Moms contest recognizes these special mothers each year, and what better way to find out what makes them stand-out moms, than in the words of their own children. San Diego County school children, from elementary to high school, are eligible to participate in this contest by sending in an essay describing why their mom should be chosen as one of San Diego’s 50 best.

 

I asked Tiffany Lynch, Community Relations Manager for TWC, to tell me more about the contest. “This is the eighth year of the San Diego’s 50 Best Moms essay contest. We recognize that moms and mother figures do so much to shape their children’s lives, and the essay contest is an opportunity for kids to tell their moms how much of a difference they've made. Many of the moms [in the contest] have faced adversity and the stories that are winners show how those moms shine in adversity”.

 

I also asked Lynch why choose 50 best moms and not 1 or 100.  “I’m not actually sure why we do 50 rather than 1 or 100, but it seems like a good number to celebrate (not too many, but not too few). Another thing to note is that all of the moms are our Best Moms, but we do choose 3 essays (one each at the elementary, middle and high school levels) that is the best essay. That student wins a Sony VAIO laptop and their teacher wins a $250 gift card for school supplies” she added.

 

Most of my blog readers know that in 2006, Time Warner Cable selected me as one of San Diego’s 50 Best Moms based on the essay written by my then-ten-year-old 5th grade daughter. As a past Best Mom and judge, I am honored to again join the many outstanding members of the judging panel to review essays for this year’s contest. As Tiffany noted, “Many elected officials love to be involved in the essay contest and celebratory luncheon on Mother’s Day weekend because it’s such a positive event. We have many politicians and members of the media that help us judge the essays.”  San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Diane Bell, KUSI’s Sandra Maas, and San Diego Council member Kevin Faulconer are among past contest-judges.

 

Contest winners will be personally contacted by a Time Warner Cable representative and given the good news. They will also receive and invitation to attend the splendid awards luncheon held at the La Jolla Hyatt Regency on Saturday, May 9^Th, where they’ll be awarded a keep-sake trophy and gift bag courtesy of this years sponsors: Mission Federal Credit Union, Sony Electronics, Soap Net, Ultra Star Cinemas and the San Diego Repertory Theater.

 

The contest is now closed, and we are in the process of reading and selecting the winning essays (tissue boxes at the ready!). I will be attending this year’s TWC 50 Best Moms Award’s luncheon, and am looking forward to hearing about the remarkable 50 Best Moms of 2009 who live among us and are making a difference in our fine city.

 

Wishing all entrants the best of luck!

 

I can't believe it! I've written over 100 posts this first full year at Mamarazzi Knows Best. When I started this blog, it was an attempt to get my brain jump-started again, and clear out of my mommy-fog after many years as a mommyholic. With both my kids in full teenage mode, I found I knew nothing (or so I was told!), and had much to learn to get on the technological ball before I was completely left behind eating my children's cyberdust. Plowing through a few HTML tutorials (no, HTML does not mean How to Mow the Lawn, it's geek speak), brushing up on my English 101 and digging deep, deep into my frontal lobe I found enough material to keep me filling cyber pages for an entire year - I hope there are many more topics left in my cortex to write about too!

Little did I know, that in this process I would also find a wonderful mom-bloging community who would be open and accepting of a newbie like me, and let me join their ranks to learn the bloging way of my Internet co-blogers. Thanks for your support during my first full year of writing about things inspired by my family's antics, adventures and experiences. It's been really fun and rewarding to be able to share these with you, and to know that some of my posts have made you laugh, think, cringe or realize that we are all going through similar things with our families, at different stages perhaps, but nevertheless the same. You are not alone!

In the course of finding a direction for my blog, I allowed my kids to influence some of my posts and write about the current pop culture scene they are living through, and how this affects our lives. As you know, this aspect of my writing opened a new door for me at The Wrap.com where my new gig is writing about family and entertainment. "Way cool", is what my kids think about mom now, and I hope it lasts!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I have a fun GIVEAWAY for you! The person to correctly answer the following question on this post, will win a $20 Starbucks gift card! Coffee, as some of you may know, is my only addiction! Make sure your e-mail is on your comment so I can contact you to send you the prize. Ready...

What pop culture phenomenon have I written about the most this past year?  Hint: I'm looking for a name...

If you are new to my blog, welcome. If you're a loyal reader, thank you! I hope you keep coming back to read and contribute your thoughts on the many family and entertainment topics of this humble blog.

Good luck, and thanks for reading!

 

 

 SUZETTE VALLE Driving Under the Influence of Celebrity
Is there a double standard for Nick and Miley? My 16-year-old driver sure thinks so.

After reading TheWrap post, click on these links to see a photo and video of the teens in action.

The Huffington Post reported that $747,000 were donated to a children's organization helping Mumbai street children. Though it seems this money may help more than just the child actors, it is still unclear how much more the young stars are getting as a result of the trust funds set up to help with their education.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending San Diego's own second annual Fashion Week held at the beautiful California Center For The Arts in Escondido, CA. Inspired by haute couture's New York fashion scene held yearly at Bryant Park, our small town's version is growing in popularity and is helping to bring new life to main street in this north county city.

Suzette Valle and Crumpets&T fashion blogers Isabella and Bianca

Los Angeles designer David Kahn of Kahn Jeans, Lauren-Elaine Designs (LED), national retailer Old Navy, and many locally owned boutiques participated in the week-long activities ranging from traditional catwalk shows, to couture pet fashions and  a show dedicated to clothes made out of recycled materials to keep-up with Green fashion demand. Mercedes Benz of Escondido was the presenting sponsor along with the The Downtown Business Association of Escondido.

                                           

The display of fashions at the elegant facility ran the gamut of designs; feminine outfits with lace, frills and rhinestones were prominent on the runway, and included Bridal Wear and beach attire. The event also offered local designers an opportunity to showcase a unique creation in a contest similar to the one seen on the television show Project Runway. Of the five finalists, the winner was the ultra-feminine  white ruffled gown designed by a mother and modeled by her daughter.

Area restaurants showed-off their fare during the launch party Monday night. I especially liked the small potato and salmon creations from Tango Restaurant and Lounge!

As you know by now, the focus of this blog is on all things related to family, and this outing was completely relevant to my blog too. You see,  part of the reason for my visit to Fashion Week,  was escorting my daughter and her friend who were there to report for their new fashion blog: Crumpets&T. Visit their new site and find out what a couple of inspired teen-aged girls have created with a little spare time, and a lot of imagination. Their blog is less than one month old, and it has already caught the attention of  Mom-101, one of my favorite blogers.

Finally, creativity in the fashion industry is never lacking, and this past week's event in San Diego demonstrates that talent and taste can be found everywhere, even in the flip flop-wearing southernmost corner of the West Coast.

 

Thanks for the laughs Marcia!

Happy Easter to all Mamarazzi Knows Best blog readers!

To kick-off the spring cleaning season, and as a special treat for my blog readers, I asked Tina Murphy to share her favorite tips on how to conquer this stressful seasonal ritual. Tina is an interior decorator and organizing expert who has been sharing her expertise with those of us who are organizationally challenged for seventeen years. She is the owner of MCM Interiors based in Virginia, and has participated in several prestigious Home and Garden Decorating contests in her area. The Designer Showcase house, Homearama 2005, which featured five designers who decorated different areas in the home, won the coveted Gold Award in Interior Design. Her young teen room was spotlighted on ABC Family - Living the Life, and she has appeared on local television demonstrating her talents.

 

How should we approach spring cleaning?

Spring cleaning to me is like a rebirth.  It’s a time to open up and clean out after the winter snow, rain and sleet have dissipated.  When approaching spring cleaning it is important to start small.  It is great to have a big vision, but even better to have a small goal that can be accomplished.  Looking at the big picture tends to overwhelm any individual. Start with a list of the areas in your home that bother you the most.  When you tackle them first, they give you the biggest sense of accomplishment.

Tip: Keep a pen and paper handy as you are organizing because you will start realizing you need certain things whether it is wardrobe or storage related. 

 

You don’t need to complete a room or an area in a day. You may only have an hour a day, and if that is the case then dig into one section of your closet, one drawer in your dresser or the area under your kitchen sink.  The key is to stick with that one area until it is complete, and it may take one hour a day for seven days, but when it is done you can move on to the next area in the same room.

 

Start with the closet. I find myself delving into closets and taking every piece of clothing out, trying on, seeing what is still current, dry cleaning and laundering anything that needs to go into winter storage and switching the wardrobe to spring-summer clothes. When re-dressing your closet with clothes you may want to indulge a little and splurge on wooden hangars.  Somehow having all your clothes organized on the same hangars creates instant organization.  When you place your clothes back into the closet start with all the shirts; divide them between short sleeve and long sleeve and the material they are made of.  If you are so inclined arrange them by color order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue).  Follow the same order for pants, shorts, etc. 

 

Going green means donating. For those clothes that no longer fit, or don’t want, create a give away pile-whether it is consigning or donating to the Salvation Army, it will require an extra step, but one that makes you feel good too!

 

Next, tackle your dresser.  (This is something that can easily be done when you only have 30 minutes!)  Start with your sock drawer by discarding the lost pairs. 

Tip: Socks make an excellent buffer between floors and furniture legs when moving furniture.  Not only do they keep it from scratching the floor but it is much easier to move.

 

Don’t forget the bathrooms and kitchen.  Go through your linens and transfer any old linen to the rag pile--they come in really handy when polishing furniture and silver. Work one drawer at a time and discard any old prescriptions (don’t flush them; they go into our water ways). Wipe drawers out, add a new drawer liner and return contents to drawer.  If you have lots of hairbrushes or combs purchase rectangular containers or drawer dividers to separate those from the other contents.  Keep like things together. Throw out old make-up and cleanser bottles. Suddenly, you will have found space you never thought you had.

 

Name one thing that would provide an immediate result for those with limited time to spring clean.

For those with limited time to spring clean I would recommend purging the kitchen counter.  If nothing else, having visual space on your counters gives you mental clarity, and it is something you can do relatively quickly.  Do you really use a blender every day or need 500 wooden spoons in a jar?  Leave the coffee pot, toaster, canisters and a few cookbooks out, but otherwise clean the slate. You will find that you are more organized, productive and efficient when you have a larger area to work in.

 

Here's a little extra tip Tina sent to inspire us to decorate for the Easter Holiday. Enjoy!

Photos by Tina Murphy

Pick twigs or branches from your own back yard, and arrange them around a chandelier or lamp to resemble a nest. Then hang colored eggs with colorful ribbons to match your Easter table decor.

 

Happy Easter!