Continuation of pictures from Cricket Azima Salsa Class and raffle goodies I won and some of the toys I purchased for my daughter at the Festival.
KIDS FOOD FESTIVAL IN BRYANT PARK @KidsFoodFestNYC
3 MarLet me just start by saying Saturday at Citi Pond in Bryant Park was a busy day for my two kids and I. We attended the Kids Food Fest which teaches our kids to eat healthy well balanced meals and help to reduce childhood obesity. They showed the kids how to eat healthy meals by food demos, sampling of foods, healthy snacks, and hands on experience with cooking classes for families courtesy of the James Beard Foundation. We got to the festival early and stayed the whole day. Our first stop was Organic Valley where hot off the grill was grilled cheese sandwiches made wi the best cheese on earth because it is unprocessed, organic, produced without antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and toxic pesticides. Can you ask for a better healthier cheese? They also were serving chocolate milk which was just right. We snagged up a few coupons as well because I love me some coupons.
My daughter’s eye quickly found the Kitchen Crafts for Children play area with toys by Alex and wanted everything in sight. There were so many cooking toys, games, and crafts we went on a shopping spree. Wen it comes to toys like these I don’t mind giving my daughter because I know his is her future and it will help her when she becomes a chef. I have plenty of photos that you will see what I’m talking about. There were also arts and craft where she made necklaces and decorated her own lunchbox.
My daughter also enjoyed getting tattoos from a lot of the sponsors and taking pictures with the performers and dancing with The Little Clubheads.
Next stop was HoneyMaid. They were handing out their new HoneyMaid grahamfuls strawberry yogurt creme which do not contain high fructose corn syrup, and is 100% whole grain which is a big plus for me. They were very good. These are going to be a new snack item in my kids lunches especially since they also handed out coupons.
We picked up a Cooking Light the ultimate Kid-Approved cookbook for my mini chefs.
We headed to the trail mix station where we made our own trail mix where goldfish was a popular item. Next to that was the cheese station by Kerrygold which was tasty. There was also a station by GNT EXBERRY where you can build your own a hummingbird Feader. Exberry is a natural food coloring that do not contain any preservatives or or chemical solvents.
Plum Organics/Kids was letting kids spin the wheel for prizes and offering yummy snacks like Jammy Sammy’s.
Honest Tea were giving out their fabulous pouches like a fruit punch, grape, and lemonade. They also had the Ice Tea bottles as well.
Happy Family is where you picked up your goody bags which had goodies from Whole Foods, Bola, Crunchies, and Wreck It Ralph, once you completed your Balanced Plate Scavenger Hunt. You had to collect stamps on your map from all the food groups like fruit, grain, protein, vegetable, and dairy while sampling foods as well. They also were handing out Happy Squeeze pouches in Coco Strawberry and Super Kiwi Banana and Apple.
Scrapkins station let you build your own monster out of tissue rolls.
Probugs gave out samples of Kefir pops for kids.
Clean Well was on deck for sticky little hands and clean ups.
I entered the raffles and I won a 10 piece cookware set from Circulon Gourmet Cookware, and a Craft Set from Alex Toys, and a one -year subscription to Chop Chop a fun cooking magazine for families.
There were food demos on the main stage and performances by Songs for Seeds, Super Why had a meet & greet, Little Club Heads performed, Super Sprowtz, and Terry Walters made Apple Squash Soup. There were performances all day but we made our way to the carousel and the kids went on twice. Our cooking class didn’t start till 4 pm so we went to lunch, then saw a few more performances before the day was almost over but not before our Fresh, Flavorful, Fun Salsa Class with Cricket Azima from The Creative Kitchen. This was an amazing class where the kids got to make salsa with all types of fruits and vegetables. They used melon, strawberries, kiwi, corn, red peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, lime, salt, and olive oil. They chopped everything up then put in a ziplock, added a pinch of salt, squeeze of a lime, and olive oil and shook it up. Salsa!!! It tasted amazing. My kids and I enjoyed it very much!! That was the best fruit and veggie salsa I ever tasted.
Whole foods provided an amazing amount of food to make all of these wonderful dishes. Love Whole Foods!!!
We left with so many bags I had to get a cab.
I have a lot of pictures and I hope you enjoy them because we had fun taking them. I’ll have to make another post with more pictures. To be continued….
TIME FLIES WHEN YOU HAVE KIDS. THEY GROW UP SO FAST!!
19 FebIt seems like yesterday I was holding my first born in my arms and now he is 22 years old. I don’t know how times flies but our babies are now toddlers, teenagers, and young adults. In our eyes they are still our babies though and they will always be.
Everytime I look at pictures I ask them remember this or look how fat you were. Sometimes they talk about it or smile which is good. I like to reminence.
I have no more babies. My daughter is 5 going on 6. My son just turned 10. My teenage son will be 17 and my 22 yr old son will be 23. Everyone always say you have a 22 yr old and I say yes. They can’t believe it. They say I don’t look old enough to have a 22 yr old and I love that compliment. I gave birth to my firstborn at age 17 and turned 18 that next month.
I don’t know how many kids I would have had if I waited later. I noticed with my Twitter followers a lot of families are going on their 3rd, 4th, or 5th child. I like a big family. My grandmother had a lot of children and I like when my aunts and uncles and cousins would come over to her house. I have a lot of cousins.
My friend comes from a big family too. She has 16 brothers and sisters. Lord!!
I’m not big on kicking my kids out when they become an adult. Now if they decide to go to college and move out that’s fine but if they are working or going to a local community college then they are welcomed to continue to live at home.
My son wanted to see what it was like to move out for a few months with a roommate. At first I was very skeptical and asked a million questions and wanted to do a background check on the roommate but when my son assured me of everything and said he was going a few blocks I agreed. The roommate was a longtime friend who worked and they were like brothers.
They both work fulltime and he was only charging my son $150 a month plus $25 for Internet which was fair for a big room. My son would come over for dinner which saved him from spending his money.
I thought he was going to be there permanently until I got a call from him one day saying he wanted to come back home. I asked was everything okay and he said yes, he just wants to save his money. I said okay come home. That’s my baby and will always be. I love having him home. He is now saving and I don’t have to worry as much.
So, basically our kids will have to make decisions in life and we can’t always say no but we can encourage if it’s for the best and hope they choose right.
I love my kids very much and want what’s best for them.
#EscapeFromPlanetEarth @themoms @Jane
15 FebI was invited by @themoms to the screening of Escape From Planet Earth with the hilarious @Janemarielynch held at the Dolby 88 screening room. May I just say this 3D animated family film is the best movie of the year. It just came to theaters today February 15 so if you or your kids haven’t seen it buy tickets this weekend because the kids have 4 days off. Brendan Frasier plays an astronaut hero named Scorch Supernova to the blue alien population on planet Baab. There were quite a few more celebrities in the film such as Jessica Alba, William Shatner, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sofia Vergara, George Lopez, Ricky Gervais, and the wonderful Jane Lynch who played lo a giant cyclops like alien.
Scorch Supernova is on a mission and finds himself set up in a trap by the evil Shanker. It’s up to Scorch’s brother Gary to save him, and the planet.
I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Lynch at a Q and A after the screening and she is just the best. She is down to earth and very funny and I enjoyed her character in the movie very much but I really enjoyed meeting her and getting to know her better.
We also were given treats by Perrier, Driscoll’s Berries, and Sangria.
Where do our money go?
15 FebI’m sure there are quite a few of us who love having an extended holiday off from work or school but what goes with that? Are you getting well deserved rest, vacationing, or spending your hard earned money? Some jobs require us to work on holidays and make holiday pay, some of us lose out on a days pay, then there are others who get paid when they are off. From January to December our money is being spent on so many things. You have kids off from school more than anyone so that requires babysitters, camps, school programs, taking them places on your day off and spending a lot of money especially if you have more than one kid. You know all the holidays so I won’t mention them but just add up all those holidays and calculate what you spend then say is it really worth it or can I save that money and do something special with my family? I don’t mind a good barbecue once in a while but not every weekend or twice a month like I used to do. Also, if you know your prices and you wait for sales like on President’s Day or Black Friday is it really a sale or could you have gotten it a few months ago?
My family and I haven’t been on a vacation in years but I hope one day I can take my kids on a cruise or to Disney World. Now that I am unemployed it’s gonna be hard but I’ll just have to continue saving my pennies.
I’m not knocking holidays because I enjoy spending time with my kids but I don’t follow behind the hype of everything. For Valentine’s Day hubby and I celebrated the day before. Who says you have to celebrate on the actual day? We don’t exchange cards because we say we love each other everyday. However, we spent the day together doing things we enjoy. I say don’t wait once a year to tell your loved one you love them, or only buy them chocolates, or roses on Valentine’s Day. Surprise them any time of the year. I love surprises!!
Don’t wait till Thanksgiving to make a turkey. Don’t wait till Christmas to buy your kids presents. If you can’t afford these holidays don’t worry a lot of people are cutting back. I say focus on the important things like raising your kids and giving them a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, and an education. They are our futures!!!
Also. save, save, save your money!!!!
#NYFW Kenneth Cole Fashion Show #KCRUNWAY
8 FebI love when Fashion Week comes to New York so I make it my business to try and attend a few shows. I used to volunteer years ago and see all the shows and take home a few freebies here and there. I miss the Bryant Park location but Lincoln Center is pretty cool. I won 2 tickets to the Kenneth Cole show and decided to take my 16 year old son along for the ride. The location of the show was on 27th street this year in a studio. There were celebrities there but I only saw Heidi Klum and Kenneth Cole himself who I was able to get pictures of. The show was amazing and I hope to attend a few more hopefully before the next one. If anyone has extra tickets just laying around I am available. Hope you enjoy the pictures!!!
SHED, SHRED, AND GET AHEAD!! #StaplesOrgTips @Staples @TilsonPR @LivingFreeNYC
31 JanToday I knew I couldn’t pass up the great invitation I received from @livingfreenyc.com to attend an awesome event given by Staples to get organized for tax season. I personally thought I was doing pretty good at being organized until I came to this event and learned about tips and great products that will help me even more. When you go to Staples take the time to actually look at all the fabulous products they have because you don’t know what you’re missing. Martha Stewart’s Home Office with Avery line have file folders that will keep your tax forms and other important papers in order. They also look great with the beautiful designs you won’t get tired of looking at them. Very stylish!! There also are calendars to keep up with appointments.
One way I keep organized is by getting rid of junk mail as soon as it comes in the house. I don’t have a shredder but Staples has a wide selection of shredders including the most recent one that retails for $99. This is the Staples 10 sheet cross-cut shredder which comes with a pull out waste basket, and lock out key which disables blades for added safety. We had the pleasure of seeing how this machine operates up close and I’m sold. I would love this especially with 4 kids there’s paper everywhere. But if you’re not into doing your own shredding or don’t have the time or space Staples will do it for you for 79 cents a pound available at any Staples Copy & Print location. Wonderful!!
On display at today’s event were the Staples Better Binder with removable rings. I’ve never seen anything like this. The removable rings can hand and be labeled in any standard file cabinet. Genius!!! This is great for back to school kids as well. Where was this binder when I was in school?
The Arc notebooks were another favorite of mine. They come in different sizes and I love the poly material. The pages rip out easily and can be put back in with no mess. Presto!
We also can’t forget that Staples carry USB flash drives to keep files safe in case your laptop crashes. There are these cute animal USB flash drives by Entec that you could use to remember what’s stored on each one. Example: I would use the tiger for my pictures and the owl for my blogs. That way when I’m looking for something I know exactly which USB animal character to go to. Cute!!
Another item to bring home is the Turbo Tax software if you file your own taxes. E-file is included with this software.
I am so glad I was able to get more organized and pick up great tips and products and meet amazing people. Staples has everything you need for your office and school. Shed, Shred, and Get Ahead!!
Thank you for the amazing gift bags, raffles, pastries, and coffee as well.








































































































































































































































