Day of the Dead!

Yep! That's right! One of my most favorite events is happening next Saturday, October 22nd. The Hollywood Forever Cemetery presents DIA DE LOS MUERTOS. This is some great fun for the entire family. The alters that folks create are absolutely out of this world! Last year Jeff and I took Betty Jane, who was then only 5 months old. We could only stay about an hour, but it wore her out! Here are some pictures form our outing...

The color and art were awesome!

One of my favorite alters.

This woman was great!

I think they were taking requests.

Me and my peanut :)

Hope to see you there!

xxoo

iThank You, Steve...

The  other day I was at The Grove and I passed by the Apple Store. It, of course, was packed and doing great business but there was also a little memorial in front of the store for the late Steve Jobs. Everyone, including myself, was taking pictures of it ( with their iPhones, of course). As I was reading all the heartfelt messages, I started to think about Steve Jobs, what he has created and how his innovation has enhanced my life.

I must have been around 13 or 14 when my dad bought us our very 1st home computer for Christmas. The Apple IIe! My sister (5 years old at the time) and I had been begging my parents for a computer all year long. One night I was babysitting my sister and we sneaked around the house looking for our Christmas presents. I being the older sister knew of all the great hiding places. I opened the attic door and there it was. A brand spankin' new Apple IIe computer. The sis and I were stoked! Now we just had to last until Christmas morning and not spill the beans that we know what the great Santa Claus is leaving for us... Fast forward to Christmas morning. My dad sent me over to open "the big present". Before I could even get the bow off my sister yells "It's a computer! Yay!"... Well, that about sums it up. She didn't quite get the logic that I had to unwrap the present FIRST before acknowledging what the present actually was. At any rate, the Apple IIe opened up a whole new world to me.

Now, I've got my various iPods in which I store and play all my favorite tunes and videos. I've got my very 1st iPod (the model before the click wheel) in my daughter's room where my husband and I have sung countless bedtime songs to her as she sweetly falls asleep on our shoulder. Now at 17 months she likes to play "DJ" and flip through the songs herself. I have another iPod for my running and have used it the LA and NYC marathons. I've got my iPhone which I use every day for scheduling, listening to music in the car, playing the ever popular "Words With Friends", entertaining my daughter on the plane with little videos and "Peek-a-boo Barn", oh yeah, and let's not forget talking with friends and family. The iPhone was also how I communicated (text, Facebook, calls) to the outside world when I was in the hospital giving birth to my beautiful daughter. That leads me to my MacBook Pro. Not to mention that I've used this computer to get a President elected, write scripts and edit several short films. But... this is also the machine that I used to edit and e-mail the photos of my daughter the day we brought her home. This machine edited video of her 1st spoken word as well as her 1st steps, lets her see and hear her grandparents who live across the country and assists her mom (that's me) document every sweet, special landmark of her young life.

Thank you, Steve Jobs... For your innovation... So that this mom can create such lasting memories. RIP...

  

xxoo

Rub-dub-dub...

A few of my favorite (baby) things for the... Bathroom! Along with plushy, soft towels and washcloths here are some of my top picks for tubby time.

I'm a huge fan of California Baby products! In a recent study, more than half of the baby products tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics were found to contain trace levels of formaldehyde and dioxane. Can you believe it? It's true. Here is a link to the list of those products that tested positive:

http://consumerist.com/2009/03/baby-products-now-with-formaldehyde.html

There are a lot of really wonderful baby bath products out there. I'm crazy about California Baby because they smell delightful, they are made in the USA, they do not contain formaldehyde or dioxane and, well, I live in California. Tee hee...

I have used this since Betty Jane was born. Loooove!

This is great for giving baby massages!

The Boon Frog Pod is pretty rad. There is a storage for your bath products and tubby time toys. Plus, there is a drainable scoop which helps in avoiding soap scum and mildew issues.

The Ecowool Sheepskin Rug (long natural length) is something I never would have thought of getting. I received it as a baby shower gift and we have used it every night until Betty Jane was about 15 months. It's so soft and cushy. Great for after bathtime when your giving baby massages and getting baby ready for beddie bye. I highly recommend this sweet, little item!

 Wishing you loads of tubby time fun!!! xxoo