Disney On Ice "Frozen" (Boston) Tickets Giveaway!

The winner is Laura O.!!!!  Thanks everyone who entered.  Stay tuned for more giveaways and discounts!
Enter for a chance to win a 4 pack of tickets to 

Disney on Ice Frozen Opening Night on 

Friday, February 13th @7PM at 
TD Banknorth Garden Boston

Well isn't this a fitting giveaway for Boston...Elsa has taken over! 

I am giving away a 4-pack of tickets to the highly anticipated Disney on Ice "Frozen"

Disney on Ice "Frozen" will be in Boston at the TD Garden 

February 13 - February 22, 2015

To enter to win 4 tickets to Disney on Ice "Frozen" leave your name and last initial in my comments section.  I will announce the winner this Thursday.  Good Luck!

For more about the show click here Disney On Ice

or follow Disney on Ice on Facebook DisneyOnIce 

and Twitter @disneyonice

Van Halen: A whole new level of crazy!

I swear this boy is reincarnated from the 80s!  My 7 year old son, Nolan started playing Guitar Hero over the summer.  He then wanted to find out more about the songs they used in the game.  In this version of the video game it was a lot of 80's rock.  Thanks to Google and Youtube, he become entranced by Van Halen, to be specific Eddie Van Halen.  I crack up because this was the music from my generation, some of it was even from the late 70s.

And so the Eddie Van Halen costume for Halloween started to take shape.  I really got into it and realized I am just as crazy as him.  I also realized I used to do the exact same thing to my mother--the poor woman made me a Michael Jackson glove for my 7th grade dance, spending countless hours sewing individual silver sequence on a white glove, see the whole family is crazy!  (yup I wore a sequenced Michael Jackson glove to a 7th grade dance, I also dressed up like Cyndi Lauper for a Halloween dance that same year-wish I had a picture of it!)

I also remember my mother making other kick-ass costumes for us when we were kids.  My brother's Kiss costume back in the early 80s.  He won best costume that year!  And my Red Riding hood wasn't to bad either.

Anyway back to little EVH.  Here is the look we were going for:

I love this, in Nolan's "research" we learned that when Eddie played in MJ's Beat It song, he did it for free, just for fun.

For the guitar:

I used an old toy guitar and some red, white and black duck tape.  I heart colorful duck tape!  It comes in sheets as well as rolls.  We used red sheets and then different sized black and white rolls.

I make Mommy do crazy things

Nolan found this picture and captured it on my iPhone for me to copy.

 I cut the duck tape using a paper cutting board.  First I covered the guitar with the red duck tape sheets

 Then starting adding the black and white

Then I took a break...

to keep the creative juices flowing

finished!

Then (not the same night!) I tried to make the shirt.  Nolan thought we would just find one at Marshall's...he looked, believe me.  I took a white t-shirt and made squares with duck tape and painted the middle of them with black craft paint.

I pulled the tape off when the paint was dry, to reveal little black squares that I made to look like dice by using little bits of cut up white duck tape.  

We used a red bandanna from the dollar store.  I let Nolan rip a pair of old jeans.  I got a $7 "rock star" wig from Target and these adorable Chuck Taylor's from Marshall's...

The end result:

Nolan trying to get Sean in on the act

DIY Wipe Board

Not sure where or how I found/realized that you could use "dry erase" makers on glass and it would actually wipe off!  I am pretty sure it was somewhere on Pinterest.

All you need is:
A frame - I got this one at Michael's, they are constantly having buy one get one free or 50% off sales.
Some fabric
Tape (duck tape or painters tape)
Dry erase markers and an eraser (Target)

I wrapped the fabric around the cardboard that was inside the frame.  I pulled it tight and taped with some painters tape.  Then I just stick it back in the frame.

I hung it in the kitchen.  I put lists, reminders, messages to the kids/hubby, and countdowns (as you can see here, I did this project over the summer).

Sean loves it too.

NYC: Attending the Jimmy Fallon Show!

Many people have been asking me how I got the tickets for Jimmy Fallon.  The answer is, anyone can do this and it's FREE.  It just takes perseverance and a some patience.

When I was planning a trip to NYC with my girlfriends, I thought how fun would it be to go to Jimmy Fallon?!  I went to the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon NBC website.  There is a phone number you call  to reserve tickets. Unfortunately, the show was not taping the days when the girls and I were going to be there...wah.

I kept the phone number at my desk and would randomly call until one day, someone picked up the phone!  I couldn't believe someone finally answered.  I got two tickets (you can reserve up to four tickets) for me and my husband.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon books one month in advance.  If you have a ton of patience there is also a standby procedure that is explained on the website.

NBC sends you an email confirming the you have tickets reserved but not guaranteed (eek).  The nice man on the phone told me to get to the "NBC Experience Store Cafe" by 3PM and I should not have a problem picking up my tickets and that everyone needs to have a picture ID with them.

We headed over to Rockefeller Plaza around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon to scope it out.  We located and confirmed the exact area where we were to wait in line for our tickets.  There were about five people hanging around.  I was getting nervous, excited and...hungry!  We ran across the street to Bouchon Bakery and split (inhaled) a nice sandwich.  We ran back over and got in line for our tickets.  We were probably about 15th in line.  An NBC guy came over and said not to worry that we all had tickets!! PHEW!!! Yeah!

Promptly at 3:00 p.m. they started handing out the tickets and wristbands.  We finally got ours...woo hoo.

They told to meet back at a specific escalator at 4:30 (no earlier and no later!).  The other strict rule:  No photographs whatsoever!!!  If you take a picture inside the studio, they will make you delete it and kick you out.  Oh and another big thing, you can't use the bathroom once you are in your seats.

We had some time to kill, which is easy to do in Rockefeller Plaza, so much to see.  We wondered around for a bit, found the restrooms, and made sure we didn't drink anything!

It was finally time to meet at the escalator, there was a sign, welcome to Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.  I would've taken a picture, but I was afraid to.  Once we got in and up the escalator, they broke people up into groups.  And then we were in another line for about 15 minutes.

We were finally lead to our seats, in the fifth row!!!  Oh wait a minute, did I mention that Justin Timberlake was on the show (scream).  The studio is small so, no matter what seat you get you can see...here we are in the audience

source:  Late Night With Jimmy Fallon website

There was an audience "warm-up" guy who was a hilarious comedian.  Then the house band, The Roots, came out, they were awesome.  The guests were Justin Timberlake, Dee Snider, and Timothy Olyphant.  All the guests were great but, Justin and Jimmy are so funny together.  Then Justin and his band performed, it was thrilling to say the least.

I was truly an exciting experience.

On The Brink...of eating a cupcake!

Ugh, why am I finding it so hard to eat better.  I know what I should and shouldn't be eating...I know what is healthy.  It seems the older I get the less willpower I have!  Last year I blogged about being in my 40's and all the changes that come with it (good & bad).  After yet another birthday in December and a weigh-in at my last check-up...eek, ugh, omg!!!
So today is the day...(although I said that last week, but this time, really, it is ;)
Here is how the day went....
Breakfast - plain greek yogurt w/blueberries & coffee (with cream, oops)
Dropped the kids off at school and went to Wholefoods for inspiration.
On the ride home from the market I had a "Think Thin" bar (Caramel)  I was really trying to think thin and not think about bagels, donuts and greasy egg sandwiches.
Lunch - kale, spinach, avocado salad, I texted a picture to my friend, saying "I hope I don't puke" and if it wasn't for the little bit of dressing, Brianna's Lemon Tarragon, I think I would've at least gagged.  Just a little side note, my sister-in-law Sheila introduced me to this dressing, I am obsessed with it, not only is it so good on salads, I marinate my chicken in it too, thanks Sheila!

It honestly wasn't bad, I do love avocado and it is filling...raw kale and spinach not so much, but I did eat it!

Then I started thinking about sweets...cupcakes...yummy cupcakes with sugary frosting!  Maybe I'll make some with the kids after school...humm....

To try to get my mind off cupcakes...I had a cup of herbal tea with licorice root, licorice root is suppose to help with sweet cravings. 

 This tea is really good.  Not as good as a cupcake but it did take my mind off it for a little while.

When the kids got home from school, I said let's make cupcakes, I mean smoothies!  They love smoothies so I made each of them their specific smoothie and then I made one for me.

Frozen blueberries, rice milk and chia seeds (let the Chia seeds soak in water for like 10 minutes) in the blender.  Cha cha cha chia seeds have omega 3's, fiber and other healthy benefits.  This really helped my sweet tooth!

OK at this point, I'm starving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner - plain turkey burger and roasted asparagus - I know, you are all jealous.

And instead of a glass of wine, I am going to have this tea...

OK, who's sh**ing who here...

just a little glass...cheers!

...and for eating healthy and workouts check out my friend, "celebrity trainer" Jon Paul's blog

workoutwithjp.com It's informative and very funny.  One of Jon Paul's quotes that keeps coming to mind is "You might even feel a little bit hungry when you go to bed. It’s okay. You’re not going to die."   LOL

Disney on Ice "100 Years of Magic" (Boston) Giveaway!

Looking for the perfect holiday gift or something fun and exciting for your kids to do on winter vacation?  Disney on Ice shows never disappoint!  I have a special code for you to get a discount on tickets and I also have...A GIVEAWAY!

Disney on Ice "100 Years of Magic" will be in Boston at the TD Garden 

Thursday, December 27th through Sunday, December 30th

Enter for the chance to win a 4 pack of tickets to Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic for the December 27th show or to buy tickets at a discount go to http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/44z8h0
save $10 on $25 seats valid Thursday @7PM, Friday @11AM and 7PM, Sunday @5PM valid online or by phone.  Save 10% on $35 VIP seats valid Thursday @7PM, Friday @11AM and 7PM, Sunday @5PM valid online or by phone.
For more about the show click here disney.go.com/disneyonice/
or follow Disney on Ice on Facebook www.facebook.com/DisneyOnIce

To enter to win 4 tickets to Disney on Ice "100 Years of Magic" leave your name and last initial in my comments section.  I will announce the winner this Saturday, December 8th.  Good Luck!

A Few of Our Favorites Things at Disney World

We did two days in the Disney World parks.  The first day we went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and the second day we went back to Hollywood Studios and spent the entire day there.
These are a few of our favorite things...

Nolan's absolute favorite thing was the Jedi Training Academy.

Upon arriving at Disney's Hollywood Studios the second day the first thing we did was head directly to the "Jedi Training Academy" to sign my Nolan up for this awesome Star Wars experience.  A friend had told me that classes filled up extremely fast, we got in just under the wire!  Phew!

Nolan said it was the best day of his life!  Here is the video of him fighting the dark side (second kid up)

Nolan's other favorites, Star Tours ride and the Lego store...

We all went on the Star Tours ride, it was very very cool (although I am a wimp and got a really "carsick")

Lego store at Downtown Disney

Buzz made out of Legos

Buzz, Woody and the rocket entirely made out of legos

If you ask my younger little guy, Sean, what was his favorite thing at Disney, he would tell you EVERYTHING!  He is four and was the perfect age to get that magical reaction when he saw Mickey & Minnie for the first time.  When hard pressed for details, he will tell you his favorite things were the pool at the hotel, the Dumbo Ride, Goofy's rollercoaster, Buzz Lightyear ride (at Magic Kingdom) and of course, meeting Buzz!

and meeting Buzz and Woody together...

Buzz & Woody Meet & Greet 

At Disney's Hollywood Studios we all loved the Toy Story Mania and the 3-D Muppet Show!

Mike and my favorite thing was the Tune-in Lounge in the 50's inspired Diner. 

Nana's favorite was the American Idol Experience - She is a big Idol fan!

This was my favorite thing...I love this picture.

Nana, Nolan & Sean

Some very sweet family memories were created on this trip.

I received two complimentary Disney World Park Hopper passes to facilitate this post.