Month: May 2010

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Cirque du Soleil and Project Natal

I don’t usually do giveaways, but this is so amazing I just had to do it. The kind people at XBOX gave me 5 passes to give away to the premiere of Project Natal for XBOX 360, which includes a performance imagined by Cirque Du Soleil.
Here is XBOX’s description of the event on Monday, June 14 in Los Angeles.
Cirque du Soleil and Project Natal
Heralded byTIME Magazineas one of the top inventions of 2009, Project Natal is set to forever change the way we interact with entertainment. In the world premiere experience, the creative visionaries at Cirque du Soleil created a stunning production that brings the idea of controller-free gaming and entertainment to life. Witness an original and exclusively created consumer spectacle that pushes the boundaries of live entertainment with cutting-edge technology, pulsating music, amazing puppetry, futuristic video projection, and unbelievable physical dexterity.
If you and a friend would like to attend just leave a comment below before Thursday, June 3.

Here is the post I wrote about Project Natal a few weeks ago.

And the winners are…Everyone!! XBox gave me an extra pass so everyone can go!. I’ll email the winners with the passes. 


Lalo and Sydnies, I don’t have your contact information. Please email me at yvonneinla@yahoo.com

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Summer Camp

Summer Camp is on the minds of everyone I know and it’s making a lot of moms crazy. I signed my boys up for a cute little camp and had to get up at midnight the night of registration to secure spots. It sold out in 48 hours. And then I had to pay for it, which was more painful. Camp is expensive!!

I heard about this camp and it’s one that I want to go to, but alas I’m too old and one of my kids is too young. It sounds fabulous. Surfas, an amazing restaurant supply and gourmet food store, is hosting a cooking and art camp called Art Bites. Chef and art historian Maite Gomez-Rejon will take the kids around the world using food and art. Each week campers will study a different country from Mexico to Senegal and make dishes and art from that region.

The camp runs for three weeks from late July to early August and you can sign up week to week. For more information visit http://www.artbites.net/

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Whole Foods

I love food and I love to go grocery shopping. I’m a sucker for pretty packaging, which is why I sometimes come home with wine that tastes slightly better than Boone’s Farm, but looks lovely on the table. I try to go to the store when I have almost no time, so I can’t ponder over whether I need to try another brand of salted caramel sauce.

Last week I had an hour to shop, but ironically couldn’t buy anything. I was given a tour of a new Whole Foods flagship store in Tarzana the day before its grand opening last Wednesday. It’s 20,000 square feet and it’s fabulous. The gluten-free section had products I’d never even heard of and they were all on display together (I hate it when I have to search for gluten-free products all over the store).

I was given a tour so I couldn’t stand around and stare too long, but I really want to go back and try the wine and tapas bar. Or smell all of the Soaptopia soaps that were on display. Or try the Alba skin care products, my favorite these days.

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Mother's Day

I worked at my booth today at the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market. A couple of people said they weren’t sure if I would be there because it was Mother’s Day. I chuckled at this. Oh, the dream of Mother’s Day, where you get breakfast in bed, a diamond ring, a trip to the spa.

But in real life, Mother’s Day is like most days except you get something. In my case it will likely be Type 2 Diabetes. My boys and husband gave me a box of See’s Candy, which I love, and surprised me when I got home with a box of cupcakes. This, plus the fact that I was at the farmers’ market selling gluten-free baked goods that I had made, sampled and then just ate because I was hungry, not knowing cupcakes were waiting for me at home.

While I was at the market, my 4 and 6yrold boys went with dad to a birthday party. They spent the rest of the morning trying to get their hands on Rock Band, because I really wanted one for Mother’s Day (ummm, ok…). Apparently, there’s a new Rock Band coming out and they are out of the old version at the stores.

The husband told me about their adventure trying to get me my dream gift. I felt bad, but I had to tell him. “Don’t get me Rock Band. It’s too expensive for Mother’s Day (and I don’t want one).” I barely have time to sleep and I’m going to play Rock Band? He got the idea after we went to a fabulous fundraiser party last weekend for Help a Mother Out. The Game Truck was there and we played a few songs on Rock Band and I said, “That was fun.”

I’m just giving the husband a hard time. All of the boys were so sweet today. They gave me a card that plays the theme to Charlie Brown. Later, the 4yrold breakdanced and the older boy did his best Snoopy impression to the music. The 6yearold hid the gift he made me under his pillow for 2 days even though he was worried that the tooth fairy might take it. They gave me many hugs, picked flowers, and helped me shell the fava beans. And the husband made a lovely dinner (fish and vegetables to counterbalance the cake and candy) and cleaned the kitchen.

But I did do 4 loads of laundry, helped get the kids ready for bed, and cleaned up around the house. Mother’s Day was nice, but just because someone decides you have a holiday doesn’t mean you get any rest.

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Just One More Point About Arizona…

I’ve talked to several people in the last week about Arizona’s immigration law, and I wrote this post for LA Moms Blog. Some people said they didn’t have a problem with the law because when a person is illegal that means he or she is doing something illegal and should be punished.

But it’s not that simple. I read this LA Times article last night about two Arizona police officers who felt so strongly that the law would inhibit them from doing their jobs that they filed separate lawsuits against the state of Arizona. And they worried about what would happen to law abiding legal citizens like them, Mexican Americans who could be mistaken for illegal.

And that’s my biggest problem with the law is that it claims to be against anyone in the country illegally, but really it hurts all Latinos in the state. Not only could a legal immigrant be unjustly questioned, but it could have many more unintended consequences such as reduced ability to fight crime.

Someone who is in the country illegally isn’t going to be as willing to talk to the police if they have information about a crime. If you don’t trust the justice system you’re not going to use it. One of the officers in the article talked about how it took years to get the people of the South Tucson neighborhood he patrols to trust him. And those years of work could be for nothing.

When I say that the law will lead to racial profiling, I’m not saying that all police are biased. I can’t believe I’m going to admit this, but I was watching “Police Women of Maricopa County” on TLC, which is set in Phoenix. One of the deputies pulled over a man in an extended cab truck with dark tinted windows for something to do with his license plate. When she approached the driver, he accused her of pulling him over because he’s Mexican. She told him to look at the deputy to his right and look at her, that he’s Mexican and she’s Mexican. And how is she supposed to tell who’s driving the truck when the windows are so dark?

It must be incredibly offensive to be unfairly accused of racial profiling and the deputy was visibly angry. This law will make it even harder for the police to do their jobs and for people who are illegal or legal to live their lives.