Swiffer 360 Dusters

I recently was given a Swiffer 360 Duster to try out from the folks at MS&L, Swiffer's PR agency. I was more than happy to try it out for a couple of reasons. First reason was that my apartment is in the front of my building, which faces a busy street, and we therefore get way too much dust and soot in our home from outside. The other reason was that having allergies to dust and other kinds of allergens, I wanted to see if this duster really "trapped dust and allergens" like it claims to. Dusting for me is usually a nightmare because all that most dusters do is shake the dust around a bit so it doesn't look like your home's surfaces are dusty - but we all know better, just give it a couple of minutes and the dust will settle right back again. With all that dust shaken up in the air I'd sneeze and my eyes would tear - ugh. What I usually had to do was wet a paper towel and wipe surfaces down instead, but you can't wet every surface. So, you can imagine that I was keen to see if the Swiffer 360 Dusters did what they claim to (traps and locks more than double the amount of dust, pet hair, and allergens from dust mites and pets). And guess what...it does!

I dusted my perfect-for-a-duster-test apartment with the Swiffer 360 Duster and it worked extremely well. It not only dusted my surfaces, but kept the dust trapped on the duster. No sneezing, no teary eyes - it was great! And would you like to know THE best thing about the Swiffer 360 Duster? Because it traps the dust and doesn't just spread it into the air, I was comfortable letting my 2-year-old dust. He's at that age where he thinks anything I do looks like fun so when he saw me dusting he wanted to as well - so Mama handed over the duster, pointed out where he should dust, and sat down while watching her minion take care of business. Can I say Fab-u-lous?!?!

So, Moms, if for no other reason than to experience the joy of watching your children do housework with a product that actually does the job, I recommend the Swiffer 360 Duster. You'll be glad you have one in your house-cleaning arsenal.

My New Haircut Kinda Sucks

I cut it last Friday because the following Saturday I was going to one of my best friend's birthday bash, and I wanted to do something new and exciting to spice things up a bit, you know? Tired of the same old thing. So, I got it cut and blown straight and it looked very nice. The problem is that I have very curly hair, as most of you know, and when it curls it shrinks up to about two-thirds of the length it was when it was blown straight. So, I washed my hair the other day and styled it curly and it was a mess. A. Horrible. Mess. The length is all wrong - it needs to either be shorter and sassier or longer and sexier, but this length looks like a horrible waiting-for-it-to-grow-out stage. The pro to this is that I can keep it blown straight and it will look pretty good, except for the fact that I absolutely LOVE my curls and prefer wearing it curly than I do straight. I at least like having the option of having it either way! It will be getting colder here in NYC over the next few months though, so I suppose keeping it straight will only make sense since going out with my hair curly often means it's wet too, which won't be good in the upcoming cold months. Bah humbug.

Okay, I've vented enough. Thank you for allowing me to have my cyber-tantrum. Bless you all. :-|

P.S. Okay, I'm giving in - here's a picture of the new hair. You can almost see the pain in my eyes as I try to smile in vain for the camera...










...sigh...

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010

I was at the Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 event held at Chelsea Piers in NYC on Wednesday, September 16th, and it was great fun. Jillian Michaels herself was there to introduce her brand new Wii game to us all, and we even got to work out a bit with the game!

I’m sure many of you know Jillian from the TV series “The Biggest Loser”, and she seems, well, downright scary. I mean, this woman can yell! You’d think she was just a mean and nasty person – but guess what, she’s actually really, super sweet! I mean, it was amazing! When she’s in Fitness Trainer mode she’s not to be messed with, but when she’s just being Jillian she is the warmest and most genuine “people person” I’ve met in a while. When her staff told her it was time to go she actually looked sad and pouted and said that she didn’t want to leave, and her staff member said, “I know Jillian, you never want to leave events like these”. She seems to truly enjoy being with real people, and getting her message of self-empowerment and healthy living out there in the world in a personal way, and she was so excited to roll out her new game to us all. Her new Wii game, Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010, is a game that she designed to help families combat the ever-increasing obesity rates in a way that your children will enjoy – through playing a video game; how awesome is that?!?

The approach is genius because it will bring physical fitness to children right at the place where they are the most – in front of the TV! The other things I find great about this game, especially for my fellow single parents out there, is that it allows us not only to work out (and as single parents who has the time to go to an actual gym???), but it also allows us to work out with our children. Quality time with our children is so important to us, and as single parents we may get just the slightest bit less of it than married/coupled parents do. This is a way to keep you and your children healthy, spend time doing something fun with your kids, and trick them (and let’s face it, yourself too), into thinking they’re just having fun playing a cool video game when what they’re actually doing is getting and keeping fit! Truly a win-win situation for all. The Wii video game will be released on October 6th and the Nintendo DS game will be released on October 20th.

I leave you with another fabulous picture of Jillian Michaels herself. Oh, and that body of hers? AMAZING! I’d let her scream at me every day of my life if it meant I could look like that!

I Just Won The Best Award!!!

Yep, that's right, I won the Golden Nut Award from Cat over at 4 Nuts in a Nutshell!!! I would like to say that I accepted this award over at her blog with grace and class, except that my acceptance speech went something like this:

WHOO HOO! YEAH BABY!!! I'M A WINNER! A WINNER!!! YOU HEAR ME WORLD?!?! WHOO HOOOOO!!! I WON THE GOLDEN NUT AWARD!!! BECAUSE I'M BAD, I'M BAD, YOU KNOW IT - WHOOOOO!!!

Uhm, yeah, didn't too well with the humility, did I? I know, I was just too excited! Cat is not just a great blogger - funny, sweet, and just a really great Mom, but she's become a genuine friend too. Through our emails, our emotional support of each other, and our genuine interest in what makes us unique from each other, we have found what means the most - how much we actually have in common despite our differences. I say if a Mormon from Utah and a Buddhist from NYC can feel genuine love and respect for each other, there may be hope for this world yet.

So thanks, Cat - not just for the Golden Nut Award (WHOOOO HOOOO!!!), but for your genuine friendship. You are a truly wonderful person and I am so happy you are my friend.

What a Fabulous Day!

I had a truly great day today! I started out by going on the Sex And The City tour so that I can write up an article about it for NY Metropolista. It was so much fun! I happen to be one of those obsessive SATC fans - I own the entire DVD collection of the series as well as the movie and have watched every single episode way more than once. My friends and I actually quote from the show still. It's ridiculous. The only show I've ever loved that much was X Files. But I digress... ;-)

I won't tell you too much about the tour because I'll be writing an article about it and will give you guys the link here when it's been published. I'll give you a sneak preview of one tidbit though: those of us on the tour got to go to one of the locations (the bar that Steve and Aiden opened up together), and have a Cosmo! Here I am lushing it up at only 1:30 in the afternoon:














Okay, in my defense, a) it was only ONE Cosmo, and b) it WAS after 12 noon. So I wasn't exactly lushing it up. ;-)

Then after that, I got to go to a great blogger event and guess who was there. None other than JILLIAN MICHAELS! She is such a "people person". She's so sweet when she isn't yelling at you to focus on doing the exercise correctly, lol. I'll be writing a more in-depth post about that event and all the juicy details of the amazing Wii game that she created to get families moving and healthy. Stay tuned!

All in all it was an amazing day. More days like today and I will be living my dream - out and about in the city that I love so much, writing about what I experience, and sharing it all with you!

I Won A Cool Toy From ThinkFun!

Okay, so my previous post about being lazy? Yeah, that speaks volumes about the fact that I won a cool game called Rush Hour over at 4 Nuts in a Nutshell, oh, I don't know, like 3 weeks ago, and I'm just now getting to write about it. Bad Issa, BAD!

ThinkFun is an awesome site where they offer games that are not only lots of fun, but that help your child THINK. What a fabulous combo! Rush Hour is for kids a lot older than my Theo, but he's so smart I'm sure he'll be playing with it way before the recommended age. Ugh, I sound like one of THOSE Moms, don't I?

Anyway, I'm super grateful that Cat randomly selected me to be a winner, and that I now know about ThinkFun. Anyone who knows me knows that I value learning above most else, and that my little guy is super smart and will need lots of challenging but fun activities to keep him from getting into trouble! So bring on the Thinking Fun!!!

A Little Lazy

I've been a little lazy recently. Oh sure, my son still gets taken care of because that's the most important thing in the world to me, but everything else has gotten the shaft. You can see it in the lack of regularity with which I post here and on my parenting site, YourSingleParenting.com. It's evident in the lack of visits I've been making to my Bloggy Friend's blogs. I just BARELY get my articles submitted by deadline time over at NY Metropolista. I don't know, I've just been feeling really lazy and I don't know why. It's not in a bad, I lack energy because I'm exhausted sort of way. I've kicked that sense of physical inertia I was feeling during the early Spring with vitamins, more walking, and better eating. I don't know, I just feel, well, lazy. Like I don't wanna do a darn thing. I don't wanna HAVE to do a darn thing. Like I only want to do what I feel like, when I feel like it! Hmmm, maybe my son's Terrible Two's are rubbing off on me... Yikes!

My Baby Turned Two Yesterday!

This week has been beyond hectic with, among many other things, getting my apartment ready for my Theo's 2nd Birthday. I threw him a little birthday party and it was very nice. Small, just family and some friends, but very, very nice. My baby has a dairy allergy so I got a very yummy, and surprisingly affordable Vegan cake from Whole Foods. He had his very first taste of cake ever yesterday and I'm afraid he absolutely LOVED it! From the first bite all he could say was, "Cake. Cake. Cake." It was like I couldn't shovel it in fast enough for him! Take a look:









As you can see in the third picture, I'm trying really hard not to laugh at my newly cake-addicted son. He was CLAMORING for it, lol! Ahh, what the heck - at least it was Vegan. Which is a good thing because the cake I got was waaay too huge - so he'll be eating birthday cake for dessert for days!!!

Happy Birthday, Theo! I love you more than anything in this world. Thank you so much for choosing me as your Mama. I am humbled by your faith in me. I won't let you down.

Do You Ever Miss Who You Used To Be?

For the most part - and I mean like 99% of the time - I absolutely LOVE being a mom. Everything about it, even the stuff that wears me out, drives me crazy, and taxes my patience. I'm grateful for every last bit of it, and I am SO very grateful for my Theo.

But . . . every now and then I miss who I used to be. Once in a blue, orange, green and purple moon. Very, very rarely. But I do. I miss being able to grab my passport and fly off to wherever the heck I want to go, with little more than my passport, tickets, a bathing suit and an outfit or two. Just going to the park entails packing more than that these days!

Sometimes, just sometimes, I miss being able to go out with the girls for cocktails at a swanky new spot, or our favorite swanky old spot, at a moment's notice. I miss being able to go to grown-up house parties. I miss being able to sleep in as late as I wanted to. I miss being able to have my friends over at any time of the night for a rowdy gab session. I just, well, I just miss some of the ME I used to be. But only sometimes.

Do you ever miss who you used to be?