Month: February 2012

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The Cat In The Hat-A-Thon on PBS KIDS

My boys are 6 and 8 years old now and each year it gets harder to control guide what they are interested in. But I think it will be quite a long time before they age out of PBS KIDS. They love the exciting adventures of the Wild Kratts and Word Girl, learning about paleontology from Dinosaur Train, and hearing the informative Seussisms of The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That.

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Saturday, PBS KIDS is having a Cat In The Hat-a-thon on Friday, March 2. We will definitely be watching (or DVRing) the two new episodes that will be airing, one about seasons and the other about growing up.  You can catch the 2-hour marathon in Los Angeles on PBS Socal starting at 8 a.m Friday and also at 6 a.m. Sunday.

If you want even more The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That, you can enter to win one of two prizes I’m giving away. The prize includes a The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That video plus a 3D book and a $25 gift certificate to the PBS KIDS shop. All you need to do to win is leave a comment with your contact information before noon on Sunday, March 4. I’ll pick 2 winners using Random.org and announce them on March 5.

The winners are Angelike and Shelley. Thank you for playing! 

Disclosure: I received the same prize pack that I’m giving away 

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Story Pirates, The Lorax, and Salma Hayek

Story pirates perform in westwood

So many things happened last week, including the PS Vita MomsLA event, but the most exciting was seeing my son’s story acted out by the Story Pirates at the Geffen Annex in Westwood. I wrote about it on MomsLA, but here is the video.

That was Saturday. On Sunday the family and I went to the premiere of “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” which I also wrote about on MomsLA. Here’s my picture with The Lorax himself, Danny DeVito.

danny devito the lorax

Then on Friday, the fun continued with a press conference at the L’ Ermitage in Beverly Hills where Got Milk? announced its latest spokesperson, Salma Hayek. The video in the MomsLA post includes the two new Got Milk? commercials, both of which are very cute.

Ellie Krieger was also there and she gave us a copy of her delicious-looking cookbook “Comfort Food Fix: Feel Good Favorites Made Healthy.” She was kind enough to talk about Got Milk?’s The Breakfast Project on video and also gave the group of bloggers great tips for making a healthy breakfast.

To read more about events, news, and education in Los Angeles, please visit MomsLA.com.

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Latest Wikets Rec: Rockreation Rock Climbing Gym in West Los Angeles

wikets rockreation rock climbing

I posted recently about my latest obsession, the Wikets app for iPad and iPhone. It’s not just because I’m working with Wikets, but it’s because I can tell the world about what products, places, and apps that I’m currently loving.

For example, my latest Wikets recommendation, or “rec,” was for Rockreation rock climbing gym in West LA. Rockreation has adult free climbing, adult classes plus it offers kids classes, camps, and birthday parties. We had my son’s 8th birthday party there on Saturday and it was fantastic. It was $25 per child and the price included the equipment and one instructor per 5 kids. The kids loved it and they got quite a workout. The instructors had them climb walls with varying degrees of difficulty. If the kids didn’t want to climb with ropes, there were walls they could climb side to side.

About halfway through the party the kids took a break and had Fresh Brothers Pizza, another of my Wikets recs. I’m a huge fan of Fresh Brothers because they have excellent spinach and mushroom pizza and the best gluten-free pizza around (my husband has celiac).

Fresh brothers pizza
Fresh Brothers' Momma's Pizza

After pizza we had birthday cake. I can’t rec this cake, but I would if I could. I made it myself and I was extremely proud. I’ll post the recipe next week.

Homemade Rockclimbing Cake

The party was a great success and I was happy to have Wikets to tell people about the great time we had at Rockreation. Wikets is perfect for that because you have the ability to follow people that you know you can trust.

If you’d like to join Wikets, you can sign up here. If you use the promo code YvonneinLA, you’ll get double points. You use the points to buy products.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post and for working with Wikets. My opinions are all my own. (Just FYI – I was not compensated by Fresh Brothers or Rockreation.)

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Baby

All of the sudden there were 20 people in the room. I was in labor about to deliver. This should not have come as a shock to anyone because I was induced 10 hours earlier. But for some reason the doctor didn’t believe the nurse that I was ready to push. “I’ll be there in a couple of hours,” she told her over the phone.

Well my baby wasn’t about to wait. After a few minutes nurses came pouring into my room. One said, “We thought it would be fun to watch.”

The nurse who had been with me most of the day checked me again and said, “Don’t push!!!!” and ran to the door and yelled “Someone get a doctor!”

A lovely nurse who had just arrived held my hand and said, “It’s fine. Push if you feel like it.”

I asked her, “Why do we need a doctor? Cab drivers can deliver babies. And you’re all nurses. What are we waiting for?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Go ahead and push.”

“No!!” the main nurse said as she got ready to catch. Because he came out pretty quick. After 3 pushes he was out.

And he was blue. Blue like a blueberry. Thankfully, three of the nurses were neonatal nurses (there was supposed to be just one) and they whisked him away to the other side of the room. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breath. Everyone was quiet. My husband and sister, silent for the first time that day, were standing over the baby.

Then a few seconds later, a wail. A few minutes later I had my perfect baby in my arms.

That was 8 years ago today. The day my life changed forever.

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41 Years

homemad birthday card

That’s how old I am. I can’t believe it. Last year I turned 40 and had a big bash of birthday. But 41 isn’t really a milestone so I didn’t plan much of anything.

Lucky for me, my husband and boys did. They were so fantastic and made me breakfast in bed. My husband set up the coffee maker on Thursday night and when my 6 and 7-year-old got up at 6 am Friday all they had to do was flip the switch. Not only did they serve coffee with the perfect amount of milk, but they made toast with butter.

It would been a beautiful scene if I hadn’t come home with a migraine from a MomsLA event the night before. I fell asleep with my mascara on and blown out hair. I woke up and could barely see my kids because my contacts were stuck to my eyes. My hair was matted up in a bouffant and I had raccoon eyes. But they didn’t care and neither did I.

We ended the day with a delicious cookies and cream birthday cake from Jamaica’s Cakes and a lovely group of friends. 41 seems just fine.

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The House on Mango Street – One of Tucson's Banned Books

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do something about Arizona shutting down the Mexican-American studies program in Tucson. I wanted to show solidarity with the students there who are being denied their right to learn about their history.

Well, I don’t know if this is the way to do it, but I made a video last week where I read one of the books that has been banned from the curriculum. I then learned that there is an entire website devoted to doing this very thing. It’s called Banning History in Arizona.

In this video I read the first chapter from “The House on Mango Street.” It’s ne of the books that is not allowed to be taught at TUSD, the school district I graduated from many years ago. Let me know what you think.

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KPCC, Discover the Arts LA, and Ozomatli

ozomatli

While I haven’t been very good about posting on my blog, I have been writing for other places. I wrote on MomsLA.com about how outraged I am with the way the Los Angeles Unified School District is handling the abuse charges at Miramonte Elementary School.

That post led to an interview with Adolpho Guzman Lopez on KPCC for the report “Union Responds to Transfer of Entire Miramonte Staff.” I listen to public radio all day long so I was thrilled to talk to him.

Last week, I was able to attend the kick-off event for Discover the Arts LA, which is three months of discounts at museums and theatres throughout Los Angeles. It was in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall on a beautiful day, and one of my favorite bands, Ozomatli, played a mini-concert. I did a video interview with Bassist Wil-Dog Abers after the show for MomsLA.

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Blogging. What's That Again?

After years of talking about it, I’ve finally switched over from Blogger to WordPress. I finally have category pages so I can have one blog where I talk about gluten-free, being The White Mexican, and life as a mother in Los Angeles.

I’m so happy with it except for a couple of things. First, there’s no time to write on my new, beautiful blog because I keep fixing things here and there. Plus I’m the editor and co-founder of MomsLA.com and I write for CBS Los Angeles Best of Family. I’ve had posts on both of those sites, but only a couple have made it on my own.

And then there’s the issue of my url. It’s different. I was yvonneinla.blogspot.com for years. Now, I’m yvonneinla.com. Similar, but different. So different I have no traffic, no one to read my fancy new blog. Okay, it’s probably because I haven’t posted as much as I should, but I blame the change.

Oh, change. Because I need to do something drastic in order to change, I’m going to do just that. I’ve done quite a few crazy schemes to get me to follow through on things. For example, I went on a 28-day challenge where I was vegan with no oil or sugar. Why? to give up sugar. I signed up for a 6-month marathon training (twice) so I would exercise regularly, which was great except for running the 2 marathons. Here is my latest crazy scheme; I’m going to post a blog on this site every day for 30 days.

Today is Day 1. Thank you and Welcome to YvonneInLA.com

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Wikets App for iPad and iPhone

Wikets new app recommendations

I have a new obsession and its name is Wikets. It’s an app that allows you to recommend places, products, and apps to Facebook friends, Twitter followers or other Wiket app users.

At first, when I was approached about working with Wikets, I thought it wasn’t for me because I’m not one of those people who “check in” when they go places. But you don’t need to check in. You can go and enjoy a lovely breakfast at a new-to-you restaurant, like I did after I went to Huckleberry in Santa Monica and then share with friends about why you loved it.

And that’s what’s great about Wikets. I don’t always have time to write a post about the amazing potatoes with goat cheese and spinach topped with an over easy egg, but with Wikets I can quickly people about my good experience and full stomach.

The app is not just about hearing myself talk about what I like. I follow people I know and whose recommendations I trust. If Elise Crane Derby tells me a movie is good, I’m pretty sure it will be good. And my rec of a the Yoobao iPad 2 cover was seen by Sarah Auerswald and she was spared all of the comparison shopping for the perfect Ipad cover I did and went out and got one for herself.

Wikets iphone app

When someone buys something you rec through one of the app’s online partners you get points based on the price. You also get points if someone re-recs your recommendation. Once you reach 2,500 points you can turn in those points for a $25 Amazon gift card.

If you want to try out Wikets, you can sign up here and use the promo code YvonneInLA to get started with 200 bonus points.

The app is still in Beta and more retailers are being added all the time. I’m hoping for Anthropologie and Lucy.

 

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post and for working with Wikets. My opinions are all my own.