Home Girl Blog

MyMusicRx YOU WHO Rock Show For Kids SXSW 2015

Austin loves families! Especially families who want to get out and into the mix with the cool kids during big festivals and events like ACL and SXSW. There's no shortage of family-frienldy activities during those events and we take advantage of them every time. 

This year we were invited out to the MyMusicRx YOU WHO Rock Show For Kids at Fader Fort again. Just like last year, we laissez le bon temps rouler'ed and rode the Capital Metro Rail downtown from the burbs much to my son's pleasure. His favorite part of the event last time was getting to see Aloe Blacc live. The highlight for me last time was finding out Aloe Blacc was black. True story...

 

Also, nobody told me @AloeBlacc was black! totally feels a little different singing along about being older and wiser with the radio now. And by different I mean way cooler! lol #biased @mymusicrx #sxsw @do512family

A photo posted by @homegirlblog on Mar 13, 2014 at 12:12pm PDT

 

This year was a bit different since I was the one enjoying the bands and he mostly enjoyed two hours of beachball soccer pick-up games outside the tent. True story...

 

Because what's a kids rock concert without a little beachball soccer? #mymusicrx #sxsw

A photo posted by @homegirlblog on Mar 19, 2015 at 1:03pm PDT

 

When The Zombies came out and became my living and breathing soft rock easy listening car radio station in front of me, inside, I flicked a lighter, held it high and sang along at the top of my lungs with my head back and eyes closed whilst swaying from side to side. In reality I sang along way under my breath and smiled until my cheeks hurt whilst doing a subtle sway-bounce from side to side as if to convey to anyone who might glance my way-- hey, I recognize those songs--cool--nothing major. 

I totally enjoyed Edward Sharpe, who I hadn't heard of until just about every parent I chatted with said they couldn't wait to see him. He turned out to be a BUNCH of good-looking guys playing cool instruments. It was so cool of them to play family friendly songs for a great cause. I googled them after the concert, and totally get the fandom. 

My son dropped everything on the makeshift beachball soccer field and made a beeline for the kid mosh pit when Koo Koo Kangaroo hit the stage. He can't resist a hip hop beat and normally he pop-locks almost involuntarily. When that happens, as a parent, I feel like I have done at least one thing right. This time he just stood there and watched a bit entranced. After their performance he found me towards the back of the crowd and very seriously asked, "What's a fanny pack?" Then I knew I had clearly failed as a parent on at least one front. Parents, if you've never heard of Koo Koo Kangaroo, check out their video for "Fanny Pack" and it might leave you a bit entranced as well. 

After the show, we walked back down to the Plaza Saltillo train stop en route to the park and ride in the suburbs. To my credit...my...credit...my son doesn't roll without something to read. While I continued my reading of the Game of Thrones series, my son got into James Patterson's latest, Public School Superhero. True story...

 

Way better than driving back out to the suburbs. Riding #CapMetro rail home from #mymusicrx #sxsw kids rock concert at #FaderFort #Austin. Just went hashtag crazy. Reading James Patterson's latest, Public School Superhero-- about a black boy who plays chess and whose superhero "friend" is named Stainlezz Steele. @jamespattersonbooks is a master of getting kids turning and dog-earing pages. @weneeddiversebooks.

A photo posted by @homegirlblog on Mar 19, 2015 at 1:19pm PDT

This was the third year for the MyMusicRx: YOU WHO Rock Show For Kids at Fader Fort during SXSW. If you missed it this time, or have never been, don't make the same mistake next year. I know some people skip it because of the ticket cost, but consider that one hundred percent of the ticket proceeds benefit an insanely amazing cause based on the healing power of music. 

MyMusicRx is a Portland-based program that provides bedside and online music programs to kids facing cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

About MyMusicRx (from their website)

MyMusicRx.org is a "music medicine" site for kids and teens facing cancer and other serious illnesses. We invite kids to feel the music and feel better, by exploring our exclusive artist greetings, concerts, music lessons, digital instruments, and games. MyMusicRx is a program of the Children's Cancer Association. We believe that joys matters and music heals. For two decades, CCA has delivered innovative, free-of-charge programming to hospitalized kids, teens and their family members. MyMusicRx.org extends our bedside music program to an online platform, enabling seriously ill kids and teens access to the healing power of music anytime, anywhere. See our music programs in action here. 

If you didn't donate to MyMusicRx by buying tickets to the SXSW event, you can donate 24/7 online here. #MusicHeals

Do Good. 

My Mickey Mouse & Monsters Inc. Mashup Disney Side Home Celebration & Giveaway

So this happened. I was selected to participate in the Disney Side Home Celebration campaign. I received an awesome official Disney Traveler suitcase from sponsor, American Tourister. It's purple, my favorite color, which they learned when I filled out the application to be considered for the campaign, courtesy Mom Select via Blogalicious B-Link. It arrived full of everything I would need, thanks to Disney Parks, to throw a Mickey Mouse themed party as well as party favors for guests and a few other gifts por moi.

If y'all have learned anything about me over the years, you know that I was a reluctant Disney fan. I made sure to tell Disney Parks this on my application, so it's all good--we can talk like family. I didn't grow up on Disney. Wonder Woman, Looney Tunes (wait--is that Disney?) and The Smurfs were my jams. I've never been to Disneyland. I've never been into Disney princesses. The only Disney princess movies I have seen are The Little Mermaid and Mulan and I just watched Mulan a couple of years ago after me and my now six year old son read the book. I celebrated the first black Disney princess--haven't seen the film yet, but my son's first and favorite Leapster game (I won the Leapster 2 and the game at Blogolicious one year) is Princess and The Frog. My pre-parenthood Disney movie watching happened in college. Lion King and it's soundtrack are forever my Disney all time favorite everythings. Because I didn't grow up on Disney, when I had my son, I had no intention of growing him up on Disney. But one day he saw Lightening McQueen on something someplace and about a year after that saw him moving and talking on a television in kid care while I was at the gym and resistance was futile after that point. My son is a car fanatic (that is not an understatement) and since Cars came out and Wall-E and Pixar came into my sons realm of exposure, we have not missed a Disney beat. We did go to see Frozen and those sisters totally opened my heart to Disney Princess movies. So that's my history with Disney. 

When I received my suitcase with everything for a Mickey Mouse party, I knew I couldn't throw a Mickey Mouse party. So I thought to mix Mickey with Monster's Inc. because it was a cool mix of classic Diseny and modern Disney Pixar and the alliteration in Mickey Mouse & Monsters Inc. Mashup made for a good title on the evite and on this blog post. 

Created with images from Disney and Disney Pixar

Keep reading for a brief rundown of my Disney Side Home Celebration party elements and more details on how to enter my Disney Mickey and Minnie Art Memorabilia giveaway.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Full disclosure statement in my sidebar. 

I'm A Sapiosexual and I Know It

Sapiosexual (n)- a person who is sexually attracted to intelligence in others.

Just like any person with eyesight, I know how to appreciate the aesthetics of a good looking man. But I've never connected emotionally with looks. Just like any person, certain physical characteristics appeal to me more than others like dark skin, strong shoulders, hyper-masculine facial features like a strong nose, chin and brow bone, and full lips. That's a good start for me on any day, but it's not the most important thing.

I remember freshman year in college, my frends thinking I was crazy because I refused the affections of a very beautiful latino boy I went to high school with. They met him at the mall and when he found out they knew me, he told them how much he loved me and they later told me I was crazy for not giving him the time of day. He found out where I lived on campus and showed up several days in a row begging me to be his girlfriend. He was good-looking, but so what? He simply wasn't very bright. There was another boy in my homeroom class in high school who was really cute, but he didn't make very good grades and he just didn't sound intelligent when he spoke. He wrote me love letters with terrible grammatical errors almost daily and just made things worse for himself. He stole a kiss from me one day at our lockers and after that, he was basically dead to me.

At the time, I was crushing on my friend of mine from middle school. He was not attractive by any means to anybody, but I had the biggest crush on him. We rode the bus together in middle school and kept in touch during high school. I was so excited when I learned we would be in college together and we wasted no time memorizing each others' schedules and spending every free moment on campus together. He was oblivious. He was always the smartest boy in school, definitely the most interesting person I knew and I never wanted our conversations to end. Only two people knew how much I liked him. I never told him because he was a Jahovah's Witness and I knew that we could only be friends as long as I allowed him to witness to me. He told me so. We were together on campus so much that even the cafeteria staffers and campus custodians would ask if we were a couple. I was aware that we were an odd pair--I was super hot in college--but we weren't a couple. I wanted us to be and I think we reached that point in a friendship like ours where you clearly become boyfriend and girlfriend, and I think it scared him a lot. He was a strict Jahovah's Witness and there was no way we could continue to be such close friends after that.

After freshman year, he transferred to another school and we slowly fell out of touch. Two years later, my cousin, who went to school with him, told me that she told him how much I loved him. I was shocked and embarrassed, but relieved, because at least now he knew. I always worked in the campus library during college and right before graduation, he found me shelving books on the top floor--where he would find me freshman year when I was working and keep me company. It had been three years since I had seen him and I was all but engaged to my husband by that time, but when I saw him, books dropped, hands on mouth, hands over heart, screech, sprint, jump, hug. Neither one of us could stop smiling and laughing. He was actually handsome now! He was always taller than me, but was chubby before and now he was slim, revealing all the important bones in a man's face. His braces were off, revealing a great smile. He claimed he was at our library to find a book that wasn't on his campus, which I never bought because his school's library was way superior to ours. I knew he just wanted to see me, and to let me see his new handsome self. My friends never understood why I was so smitten with him, but he was SO smart! 

When I met my husband, my sophomore year in college, his freshman year, I knew he had joined some of our other friends from St. Vincent at college. When I met him, my first impression was wow, he really likes me. If we were cartoons, his tongue would have hit the ground and I'd have seen the the hearts in his eyes and the birds and stars flying around his head. His friends later confirmed that it was love at first sight. I was amused, but that's basically it. After a few more encounters and conversations, I learned that he was super smart in school back in St. Vincent and that's how he got to come to college here. He told me how he had never touched a computer back home, but knew he wanted to program them and so picked the hardest major in our very competitive Engineering program. I found I always left our conversations enriched somehow and having learned about something that I didn't know before. During those conversations, you would have seen the hearts in my eyes. I'd overhear him studying and talking in computer languages to his friends and it really turned me on. Even now, I joke about how happy I am when he decides to work from home because I get to eavesdrop on his computer programming phone calls that sound like a Star Trek language to me--it's like fore-foreplay. Between you and me, I think he purposefully talks extra loud to make sure I'm getting an ear-full. He knows what's good for him. I really like a man who knows a lot about one thing and a little bit about a lot of other things. When Beyoncé's Crazy in Love came out all I could say was amen when she said, "It's the way that you know what I thought I knew. It's the beat that my heart skips when I'm with you..." He's SO smart! 

Once, I met a childhood friend of my husband who was even smarter than him and had gone to one of the best universities in the world and had double-majored in insanely hard subjects and had travelled the world and excelled in sports. I remember thinking he was just an all around superior human--physically and mentally exceptional. We all went out and I ended up sitting next to his friend at dinner and we talked (too much) the whole evening. He was SO smart! After dinner, I told my husband, I just met his competition and he'd better keep his friend away from me. I was joking but kinda serious and really glad we lived in different countries.

When I really realized my attraction to intelligence was really real, and was indeed a sexual attraction was this one time when my husband and I took Zack to a neurologist. Zack was 4 months old at the time. Due to an irregularity in his initial examination when he was born, we had been referred to a top pediatric neurosurgeon--in the country--from Duke--a black man--to take a look at Zack to see what next steps should be. I was already intrigued and impressed, then he came into the exam room. He addressed my husband mostly since I was, for the most part, dumbfounded. He began explaining what we were dealing with and the need for next steps and my husband was completing his sentences and conversing with this neurosurgeon and I saw a mutual respect emerge between them as the doctor realized my husband had actually paid attention in Biology or Anatomy or whatever and knew what he was talking about. I was in this small exam room sitting between two dark skinned, intelligent men tossing words and phrases around that I didn't completely follow and I started to sweat a little bit in my arm pits and other grown up places and they both became a swirling mass of big shoulders and strong noses and brains and I was literally turned on. Like, for real. I called my best friend after that visit to confess and we had a good laugh about it. 

When I found out that there was a new word to categorize me and that I was not alone, I felt a little less strange. I am a Sapiosexual. If I hadn't met my husband in college, I wonder if I would have trolled grad school happy hours for dates. I'm actually glad that the strongest part of my attraction to my husband (or guys before him) is not on the outside. When we met, I actually was not physically attracted to him. The more we talked and the bigger his chest and shoulders got, the more attracted I was to him inside and out. Although I do feel like I have won the husband lottery in those aspects, his appeal has always been intellectual. Looks fade, change, or can be altered in a minute.

Save the pretty face for somebody else, just give me them brains! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'm going to enjoy the next few days napping as much as possible and doing everything else in between meals and trips to the bathroom. 

Thanks so much for reading Home Girl Blog in 2013! 

See y'all in 2014! 

My Son Still Kinda Refuses To Not Believe In Santa

*Update* Zack still kinda doesn't believe and periodically asks, just to be sure, "Mom? Santa isn't real right? So, even if I'm not good sometimes, he really doesn't have a naughty list or anything like that, right?" 

Originally posted on Christmas Day 2011... 

Call me a grinch, but I don't want my son to believe in Santa. It is a waste of time, and feels like a terrible, drawn out practical joke. One day, he will find out that it was all a lie and what good does the whole believing in Santa thing do anyway. 

A few weeks ago I saw the Mission Impossible meets Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer film Arthur Christmas with my almost 4 year-old. It is an awesome little movie about how Santa and his elves get gifts under children's trees on Christmas Eve. That is how my son learned about Santa. A few days before Christmas, he asked me if Santa was going to bring his gifts through our fireplace while he was sleeping. Our conversation went something like this:

Him: Mom, will Santa bring my presents and put them under the tree while I'm sleeping on Christmas Eve so when I wake up I will see them and be happy?

Me: Well. Actually, mom and dad buy your gifts, wrap them up and put them under the tree. Santa is just pretend. You know, like Batman and Little Bill? Just pretend. So, he can't bring your presents because he's not real. 

Him: But mo'om! I LOVE Santa! I want Santa to bring my presents! 

Me: But he's just pretend, remember? 

Him: No, mom, I WANT SANTA! 

Me: Mmmkaaaaay? Ok. 

Him: *pumps fist* Yes! 

I tried. I guess I could have continued to try to convince him, but he was so insistent and I am not a monster. So I gave up, and let him have his not-pretend Santa. Unbeknownst to me at the time, not-pretend Santa would come in handy during the days leading up to Christmas. 

We are Christians, and are teaching our son about Jesus. I could talk about how confusing the concept of real Jesus/fake Santa is to a 3 year-old, but I'm not an expert on the topic.  My son, however displayed his depth of understanding at one point when he did proclaim that if Santa was pretend then Jesus was pretend too, because they're both "watching" (wink-wink) to see when I'm bad. My husband, who is a closer friend to Jesus than me, almost had a heart attack and tried explaining that Jesus is in fact real and that Christmas is his birthday...at which point my son said he wanted to give Jesus a race car for his birthday. And if Jesus is real and cares for him, then Jesus and Santa must be friends. So. I digress.

I must give props to not-pretend Santa because he did a much better job than mommy, daddy, and Jesus combined to get my son to walk the straight and narrow. I did not have to ask him twice to do anything! The first time I witnessed Santa's power was when Zack refused to take his nap...

Me: Zack, come into your room, it's time to rest up so you'll have energy for later.

Him: I have lots of energy! I don't WANT to take. my. nap. 

Me: Hmmm. I bet if I call Santa (because all parents have Santa's cell phone number), he wouldn't be to happy with your behavior right now. 

Him: NO! (He runs into the room.) Mommy, don't call Santa! Let's try again! (He leaves the room.) Ok mom, NOW tell me it's nap time again! (I did)...

Him: OKAAAY MOOOOM! (Runs into room and dives into bed. Score 1 for Santa)

For two whole days, Santa was my homeboy. How many times did I say, "Do I need to call Santa to tell him how you're behaving right now?"  Sometimes, when Zack would slip up, he would stop and say, "Um. Santa wouldn't like that too much, huh?"  Not-pretend Santa had my son, self-correcting! For one second, I was tempted to get an Elf on The Shelf--you know the little doll that looses it's magical powers if touched by a child and keeps an eye on the kids, comes to life and reports to Santa at night while everyone is asleep and moves to a different location in the house every day? The good-behavior payoff would be incredible, but to keep that up for a whole year would be kind of evil and ultimately, very creepy. 

I don't know what I'm gonna do after Christmas. #JudgeMe for using not-pretend Santa to my advantage, but I was drunk with power. Knowing my son, this puts a bit of a wrench in our 'behave well to please God and Jesus' thing. Zack is sure to question why Santa can't be real like Jesus, but he is just three years old. He has plenty of time decide what he's going to believe, but please, Dear Santa and Jesus, let him believe in Santa for the next 364 days. At least! Thanks and Amen. lol

Do you encourage your child to believe in Santa? Has it interfered at all if you're also teaching them about Jesus?

Listen: Zack's Latest Original Songs

Y'all remember how when Zack was 4 years old, he started to work out his pain and frustration through creating dark and moody songs and "playing" them on his acoustic guitar? I posted the two songs he made when he was 4 years old here. I think he made them in one day--apparently he was dealing with a lot that day. Then there are the two he made recently, again on the same day--when he's on, he's on. 

His Latest Songs

This one was inspired by his friendless summer camp days at the YMCA. Sometimes, unknowingly, parents don't always encourage their kids to gravitate towards or to embrace kids who are different. We live in a very white part of town and Zack was the only black kid in the basketball summer camp. He came home the first two days very sad because he said when he would try to talk or play with other kids they "ignored" him or "walked away" from him. If you know Zack, you already know he attracts people like a magnet and is extremely social. He has lots of friends--some from his past school and other activities, but most from my moms group. He always makes friends easily in the gym or drop-in playcare or randomly on the playground, which is why this surprised me. Unfortunately, some kids never see their families socialize or interact with people who don't look like them and they just don't know what to do with a little black kid. If this sounds foreign to you, you're probably not a brown person, but trust me--this happens all the time and not just to kids. After two sad days, the only reason I allowed him to finish the week there was when I walked him inside to spy on the third day, I saw how he lit up and ran to the only black counselor there, a young man, and when the guy made eye contact with me he gave me that universal chin-up that we understand to mean "I see you out here in this white world--I see you and I got you." I left and called my BFF, also mom to a black boy out here in these suburban streets, who shared my relief and moved on with life. I digress. Zack came home from Day 2 of camp, and this happened:

"I Wish I Had Some Friends"

And this happened the same day. The following song is a combination of him wishing he wasn't afraid of flies and, in my opinion, his subconscious desire to be different--because maybe if he were different somehow or more like the at the YMCA who all looked similar to each other, maybe they would want to play with him the way they play with each other. Just my opinion due to the timing. 

"I Wish I Was A Grown Up (Insect)"

These songs happen all the time around my house. I have others on tape that I don't share, but every once in a while, he sings something insanely poignant and maybe catchy and I interrupt and ask him if I can record him. He has only objected once.  

An Unintentional Gift, Guilt Cookies and Redemption

My son turns five next month. The big 5.0. I've been planning his birthday party since after Thanksgiving. My life is essentially what happens in between events. I like throwing parties and entertaining, so I'm kind of always planning something. This year, while I have the pleasure of planning my son's biggest birthday party ever, I'm also planning a gift of atonement. This year will mark the fifth year that I have had the cookie sheet that my friend brought over to keep the baked chicken juices from spilling onto her car seat en route to my house after we brought Zack home from the hospital.

I have had her cookie sheet for five years. And I have used it. I didn't plan to have it this long, it just happened. See, what had happened was, I washed it and set it aside to return to her when I was back on my feet and out with the baby. I'm one if those girls who stays in for six weeks with my baby after birth because that's what my mama, her mama, and all the mamas before her said to do. Six weeks is a long time to remember to return something to somebody. Plus when I did try to return it, she was out of the country. She ended up being out of the country for several months at a time over the years to follow and I just moved on with life. Am I a terrible person? A thief even?

Every time I use her cookie sheet and wash it I feel a bit guilty and tell myself I will take her a new one the next time I see her, but I always forget. Until I see her, and then I remember, and feel guilty for not saying anything. This has gone on for five years! This year, I'm doing away with going to guilt-ridden play-dates and eating guilt-ridden cookies and biscuits.

As I wrap Zachary's birthday present, I will also wrap one for my friend--a new cookie sheet, oven mitts and baking utensils from Target or Crate & Barrel, with a card attached that will read, "Sorry! I can't believe it's been five years!"

Five years! I wonder if she even remembers. lol 

What's the longest you ever kept something that was SO not supposed to be kept?

Making It Official: I will see y'all in 2013

My last post was two months ago from Paris. Since then, I've been spending so much time sharing my photos and anecdotes and whatnot on Facebook and Twitter that I have totally neglected my blog. I don't see a place in December where I can sit down to write, but trust me, I will be back at it in January 2013. I have a few inspired posts on the 2012 Presidential Campaign, Trayvon Martin, and vegan, non-allergen baking and recipes I'm trying out on my son, crafty undertakings, fitness and knitting for my other blogs and peeing in Europe...peeing...in...Europe, and of course pictures all on the Homegirl horizon. 

I'm caving and giving in to the ever-creepy Elf on The Shelf, per my son's request, after hearing of his friends', to ask Santa if one of his elves can visit our house until Christmas. I'm already thinking of ideas and will be posting Elf's pictures on Instagram, so you don't want to miss those. I won't be posting here, but in the mean time, I will be all up in and through social media. Catch up with me on...

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Please enjoy every moment wrapping up your 2012 and have a great Christmas and New Year. 

Also, since today is World Aids Day, I'll leave you with this: Death to AIDS. Death to judgement. Death to stereotypes. Death to misinformation. LIFE to those living with HIV. Let us remember those who we've lost and those still fighting. Get tested! http://www.worldaidsday.org/.

Thanks for reading! 

Holla! 

Best of HomeGirl: What had happened was...

 

I've been blogging since 2005. Over the years my blog has taken on many forms and the content has changed in waves, but one thing has not changed...I am a constant goof and crazy things happen to me. I post about them in the category, "One Time At Bandcamp." It was fun going through all those old posts. I'll probably do this for other categories from time to time too.

 In the words of THIS guy, "Let's no further then do"...or without further ado, in no particular order, here are my all time fave five what-had-happened-was moments: 

1. This happened because I'm awesome. I mean that sarcastically...but then sort of literally.
   About that time I locked my baby in the house.
2. I told my boss I did number one
   It was totally necessary.
3. Sushi
   About that time I learned that wasabi paste is NOT guacamole...the hard way.
4. So I flashed my neighbor.
   About that time, well, you know.
5. Note to Self: When traveling by air...
   About that time I wanted to put the smack down on some airline byotch.

And just because I had to share this one again, a bonus one about the time I had to use the men's bathroom...while it was in use:

No sir, don't mind me. You go right ahead and pee. I'm just changing my baby's diaper.

Girl, did you see this new Vlog!

So. My best friend, EssBreezy, and I were on the phone one day talking about Julia Roberts' film, Eat Pray Love. I had seen it months ago and she FINALLY saw it and we had a blast sharing our reactions to the film. We both love Julia Roberts, so there was the gushing about that. We both love food (one of us-->EssBreezy<-- more than the other), so there was the gushing about the 'Eat' part of the film in Italy. We share similar, some would say feminist, views and so we went on about our issues with how Julia Roberts' character made some of the decisions she made. We rehashed this film just like we do most shows and films we watch, going from shallow to deep and laughing from the gut along the way. After we got off the phone, I was still laughing. My husband asked me what was so funny when the phone rang again. It was Summer. She was like, "That was fun! I really enjoy our rehash convo's. We should record them." And so Girl, Did You See...? was birthed. 

In our first video, we rehashed the Season 3 Finale of Basketball Wives. The ones that followed were a 3-Part video on our opposing reactions to the film, The Help. See? Shallow...Deep. All the videos mentioned here as well as the ones to come can be found at http://www.girldidyousee.blogspot.com.

Please check us out! And Follow us on Twitter @GirlDidYouSee so you won't miss what we see next time.  We would love to hear your thoughts about what we saw.  Tweet us and let us know you watched it too! 

Here is our first video...

Keep It In My Backyard, Austin!

Kiimby (Keep It In My Backyard) is so quintessentially Austin-- a movement created by tech guys, encouraging people to do good, while shopping local. Wednesday night I had the pleasure of joining them at Dress Shop in downtown Austin for the first of many events around town to celebrate their good-hearted movement to encourage Austinites to shop at locally-owned businesses while simultaneously supporting local charities. The short of it is that shoppers can register (at no cost) for a Kiimby card, select a local charity to support, and use the card when shopping at Austin businesses. The card works like a local shopper loyalty card--swipe it at an locally-owned business and a percentage of the purchase goes to an Austin charity. Pretty good, huh?

A percentage of purchases made at Wednesday night's event went to support  . In case you missed it, my relationship with DFS started with a little cupcake party I threw and has blossomed from there. Leslie, Judy and the team of volunteers there are just awesome. Austinites, if you have a do-gooder itch to scratch, and being part of an organization that supports women interests you, go register to volunteer with us! If you don't have time to volunteer, go over to kiimby.com, register for your card, select Dress For Success or any other local charity you want your purchases to support and shop local! Let me tell you, Dress Shop is a great place to start. Obviously the dresses there rock, but the accessories at that place? Girl! I promise my heartrate increased when I saw the first display of statement necklaces. I'm going back there for my next accessorie run and you should too. Brave downtown parking (I tried to use the law of attraction--really--to find a close spot, but still ended up walking 4 blocks to the store), wear comfy shoes, and prepare to be enveloped in ultimate girlieness

I managed to snap a few decent pictures during the event. Here are a few, but as usual, head on over to my Facebook page for the full monty!

 

5 More Randoms...

It's been a while since I've posted. Even longer since I've written a 'Randoms' post. I was just checking my social networking sites and thinking during my quiet time this morning--after dropping the boy at school and before going to the gym. Picture me sipping on a cup of tea, standing (I rarely sit down during the day--even eat standing up) at my kitchen counter on my netbook. These were my thoughts...

1. I want them to bring back Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy on SNL.I thought about that when I had my own Handyesque deep thought--> We say summertime and wintertime and springtime, but not falltime. What's up with that?

2. I got a Kindle for my birthday. I bought a hard cover book the same day. I'm warming up to it. 

3. There was a delay on my iPhone4 order and we ended up not buying it when it arrived at the store. I saw a commercial for the Blackberry Torch and am torn now because there's an option for me to keep my beloved Blackberry buttons AND get a touchscreen for browsing. Both phones will cost the same thing with my plan upgrade. Heading over to the store to play with the Torch today. Decisions, decisions...
 
4. I looked at my self in the mirror for the first...er...second time in Zumba last night. I use to not look because I didn't want to KNOW how crazy I looked trying to dance the samba. I felt better picturing myself getting down like the Brazilian Carnival girls in my head. But last night, after several months of taking Zumba and totally by accident, I looked...and I LIKED! :) 

5. Today was my first snack day for my son's class. I bought a watermelon and cubed it for the kid's morning snack. I felt like a mom. :) It's so much fun being a toddler's mom. I think I'll stay here for a while.

 

HomeGirl and Friends Did Good! Johnsons's® "Girl Talk Cause Party" for Dress For Success Austin

Recently, I had the honor of hosting a Johnson's® "Girl Talk Cause Party". All I need is any old excuse to throw a party, so I jumped at the opportunity to host a party for a good cause when I received the email from the Blogalicious marketing network, bLink, a few months ago. Johnson's® provided body care goodies for my guests, encouraging me to bring women together to celebrate friendship and to make a difference in our community by creating awareness and support for a charity that supports women. I was excited to create awareness, have a blast and send everybody away with a goodie bag, but I also wanted to really do something for the charity I selected. I wanted my party to make a tangible difference. So I contacted Dress For Success Austin to invite them to my event and find out how we could support them.

Dress for Success is a worldwide organization that provides interview suits, work clothes and support through career mentoring programs for women who have found themselves at a disadvantage. Judy, Executive Director, told me that they had a strong need for hair care products. Later, my tour of their facility confirmed that there was not one bottle of shampoo on their shelves. Y'all know hair is one of the many topics I write about on this blog. I understand the relationship between the appearance of our hair is to our confidence, especially in job interview situations. By collecting hair products, I felt like in some small way, my party would affect the mini-makeover process for a handful of women (and much fun are makeovers?!).  Thus, HomeGirl's Shampoo & Cupcakes  For A Cause party was officially on!