FL Mom's blog!

MRI results

2012-02-09T13:07:00.000-05:00

Steven's got a lateral meniscus tear to his left knee, we found out on Tuesday. He's already bummed that he'll probably have to have another arthroscopy. Steve and I are both taking him to the appointment in the morning, or should I say that Steve's going to meet us there since the doctor's office is a couple of miles from his work. Son will probably miss a couple of periods at school tomorrow, but he'll be able to make up the work.

We're also aiming to go out to dinner with a Disney friend of ours tomorrow from out of state, depending on how Steve is after he gets home from work tomorrow afternoon. We've known Matt for 4.5 years, and we've spent a vacation or two and tons of time with him on WDW property!

Two new "First Look, First Taste " products!

2012-02-07T13:46:00.001-05:00

I'm a member of The Dish, and I was recently in the past month given the opportunity to try some new products to tell you about! The new Ro*Tel Original Tomato and Green Chili sauce is great! You can mix it in with a queso dip, top your tacos and quesadillas and burritos with it. Or, you can do what we did with it, mixed it in while making chili! We also used Ro*Tel diced tomatoes and green chili in with our chili, so we had an awesome blend! I haven't quite been able to get Steve to give me an idea what he puts in our chili, it's from scratch, and he doesn't have a recipe written down for it! I forgot to take a picture of the can before we used it. We did use it, and enjoyed it in our chili! I definitely recommend this product!

I was also give the opportunity to try the Orville Redenbacher 's Flavors. They are a new variety of the famous brand that lets you decided on how much of the flavorful topping you want to add to your popcorn!
I got to try the Extra Cheese version, and seeing how I'm the only person in our family of 3 who like cheese popcorn, it was mine to try! Son is a popcorn fiend and absolutely loves his popcorn, but he doesn't like cheese toppings. You add the flavorful topping once you've popped the popcorn. I accidentally added a bit more than I planned to to mine, but it tasted great!I'm going to recommend this product to you!

Here's a few pictures of the popcorn and of the packaging. I took the wrap off before getting the first picture of it!

Package of popcorn unwrapped.

wrapper for the package!

The popcorn before the extra topping.

Extra cheese topping was added! Yum!

Disclosure: I'm a member of The Dish, and was given free product in which to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed in this review are mine own!

Son's got knee troubles again

2012-02-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

I mentioned during last summer that Steven had surgery on his right knee. Well, last week, he kept asking me, "Mom, will you schedule me a doctor's appointment? My left knee's hurting." And, over the weekend, he continued to ask me again, "schedule me an appointment this week, Mom, please?" I called Monday, and got him an appointment set up for Tuesday morning. I took him to the orthodontist early Tuesday morning, and we set up for him to get braces put on during Spring Break in March. Mid-morning, we ended up at the pediatrician's office. After reviewing his symptoms and the length of time that he's had them ---since around his 13th birthday in December, she decided to order a MRI of the left knee and wanted him to go to the orthopedic surgeon he went to last summer.

As of yesterday afternoon, I got the MRI scheduled for early Monday morning the 6th, and the surgeon appointment on the 10th (before my Rheumatologist appt). I did let him stay home the rest of day from school, since he had some of his homework with him and I knew that his knee needed the rest. I got blessed with driving him to school this morning! He wanted to stop by 7-11 for a donut, so we drove by one on the way to school, plus, he beat the school bus to school this morning! We're hoping that he won't have to have an arthroscopy, but we do have a feeling that it will happen. His pediatrician mentioned that she thought that it was a ligament issue. Well, he's got his parents' knees!

Day Off, All By Myself!

2012-01-27T13:42:00.000-05:00

Today's my day off before my work weekend! And, like lately, my husband's pulling some overtime on what would be our day off together! It's okay, it's paying the bills! I needed some serious relaxation time after I drove our son in to school this morning (he needed to retake a test on the capitals of Asian countries), so I decided to put on one of Glee's season 2's dvds. The music gets me in an awesome mood, and our birds love music for some reason or another. They make some noise to the music, but it's not the kind of noise that they make when they're annoyed or mad about something. Doc tries to make sounds like she's singing, and Woody makes some what I call "cute baby" noises! Shrek chirps in his little lovebaby voice, and Trouble will ring his bell. We're listening to the Warblers singing "Misery" at the moment, and Doc's saying "uh, uh"! Doc's not making any noise in this picture, she's just sitting on top of her cage.

I'm trying to get motivated to bake today for my guys. when we went to Orlando a couple of weeks or so ago, we stopped in Williams-Sonoma. I so love that store for the gourmet cookware and foods that they sell! I had seen in a catalog that they were starting to sell Momofuku cookie mixes!
I bought the Compost cookie mix. I have to add something like butter, eggs, potato chips and small pretzels, like Snyder's to the mix. The cookie mix includes graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chunks, butterscotch chips, and coffee. I know that it sounds strange, but I think that they will taste oh so wonderful!
Here's a picture of the box! I tried to get the picture clear enough for you all to be able to read it!

{Momofuku--- I heard about this restaurant in the past two years when I was watching the Today Show. Matt Lauer and the gang were talking about Crack Pie and Compost cookies, and that they were addictive! Ok, I did what most do when you don't know what something is, and I Googled them! Momofuku! I printed out the recipes from online and proceeded to set them aside---forgetting to do anything about baking!}

Recent Wins In The Past Month

2012-01-19T14:00:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to share a few pictures of some recent wins with you all. I know that I've never posts them in the past, but plan to start doing so this year. I won a trio of really cool books written by E.J. Stevens, of my blog followers, from her blog From the Shadows and Paranormal Author E.J. Stevens! I also won a lovely
box from Krishenka Vintage Treasures from Krishenka via Mary at The Vintage Arcade!
From another blog follower of mine, Escape With Dollycas, I won a cool book.
Thanks, ladies!!

Our Sea World Visit on Christmas

2012-01-19T14:00:00.001-05:00

Now that I'm feeling a bit better than I have in the past two weeks, I have a belated post about our family's Christmas day Sea World visit! It was what I call a very quick planned trip, since Steve decided on Tuesday before Christmas that we'd go to Sea World on Christmas Day. He set up getting the 3 of us a room for an overnight stay, and I contacted our pet sitters for a couple of visits. Since Dad wasn't going to be in town for Christmas, and he was visiting with his sister in the Panhandle, going away on Christmas wasn't going to be a problem for us! We got up early Christmas day and headed over to Orlando to check in early in at the hotel, to drop our things off and to head over to Sea World. We opted to drive to the park, rather than take their shuttle bus. That way, we could come and go as we pleased without having to wait! (If we had been at WDW and staying on WDW property, we would have used the WDW transport system!)

As soon as we were in Sea World, Steven booked for the Manta! (He rode the Manta and Kraken about 23 times combined!) There's a viewing area of stingrays and shrimp and seahorses not too far from the Manta in the Stingray Aquarium, so Steve and I headed there. I took a few pictures of the stingrays, seahorses, and shrimp, but I'm not too sure which of the two shrimp I took a picture that morning. (They looked so similar to me.) They had such cute names, like Peppermint Shrimp and Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp. Son continued to ride the Manta and went to the Kraken, too. I rode the Sky Tower by myself with a group of Asian tourists, since Steve's not too crazy about heights! I love the view that I had of Sea World and the surrounding area in Orlando! It was nice, but too short of a ride, in my opinion. The places that we visited after my Sky Tower ride were Seaport Theater (where the animals who are in the show are rescued animals) and the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium.

Steve and I had seats in the Seaport Theater close to the back, and we were able to see the one cat go from near our heads to the stage! We didn't take any pictures while we were there. It's a really nice show, for kids of all ages! Next, was the pre-show for Clyde and Seamore at the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium, the mime! I love watching the mime interact with the guests! I couldn't stop laughing, he was walking some of them from one entrance to the exit! He mimicked one guy who was on his cellphone, and then he took the cellphone away from the guy, pretending to talk with someone who couldn't hear him. The show was great and I just love the little otter in the show. At some point, we caught up with Steven, and decided to have lunch at the Terrace Garden Buffet. There was pizza, pasta, salad (pre-made), and cookies/fruit pizza, along with tea and soda. It was okay, but not my favorite, due to all of the carbs (not friendly for one trying to watch sugars and carbs).

We stopped in the games area, and were given a few tickets to play some games. Steven tried the baseball one, and we both did the frog game. I really didn't do well, and we didn't win anything. (Oh well!We did try!) Onto Shamu Stadium and the killer whales! Before Shamu and the other trainers came out, they showed a message on the sidebars of the screen that if you texted a certain number to one of the names on the sidebar with a name, it would show up! I must have texted Steven's name multiple times, and he wasn't too humored! Anything to drive my boy crazy! The show was great, and I enjoyed seeing the interact of the trainers with the whales. It's sad that the one trainer died due to the one killer whale, I can't remember the whale's name.

We looked around in some of the shops, and I can't believe that I didn't buy anything. We went to the Shark Encounter, the Penguin Encounter (my favorite! I love penguins!), and back to the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium, to see the Christmas show. I did some recording of the mime during the pre show, but haven't uploaded it to YouTube yet---sometime in the next week. We didn't get to the Pacific Point Preserve, that's where the sea lions are in abundance and you can feed them, for a small fee. The Polar Express Experience is nice, too, but we went there the previous year. I missed seeing the beluga whale and the puffins. We ended our evening with watching the Sea of Trees, music synched to the lights on the trees in the water. It was pretty. I took some video of the Sea of Trees, too. We headed out of the park after that to get dinner and then back to our room. It was a nice Christmas Day!

Home Alone, Sick!

2012-01-12T13:31:00.002-05:00

Hi! As you can tell by the title, I'm home alone while my guys are at work and school! I looked at my post from the other day, and thought, gosh, I didn't even use spell-check! This started out as a cold early last week, and turned into a bad sinus infection this week. I worked the first two days, Monday and Tuesday, but ended up calling in sick last evening. The cough got worse, and I was constantly coughing up stuff. I'm definitely not going to gross you out
with the other details! Slept the afternoon yesterday, and when it was time to get up for dinner, I felt worse that before I had gone to bed. My doctor's been so busy this week with patients having similar ailments like mine, and he even has a sinus infection.

I finally got a call back his nurse this morning, she was calling in Tussinex for me! I woke up with a low-grade fever and major coughing. Even my son thought that I looked sick this morning, he called and told his dad that I was running a fever. Extra Strength Acetaminophen, Xopenex nebulizer treatment and Augmentin on board!!

I am trying to relax and rest on the sofa this afternoon, and I am watching "La Buche". It is a French Christmas movie on Netflix with English sub-titles. It is actually decent, except for the affairs going on in the movie. I'm thinking about watching Glee from my DVDs or some Gordon Ramsay from Netflix after the movie. I serious doubt that I'll be going into work tonight, still feeling feverish and the cough is bad!

I'm having issue with the Sea World trip posting!

2012-01-10T13:04:00.000-05:00

I'm having some issues this morning with the Sea World post that I had almost completed and lost a few minutes ago! Maybe it's my with my meds on board, and maybe because I'm still not feeling a 100% better yet from my recently diagnosed sinus infection (it cost me two shots yesterday, one Rocephin IM and one depomedrol IM injection, along with 7 days of oral antibiotics.). I will attempt to post it again tonight! I have pictures to go with the post!! Keep an eye out later for it. MY sleeping pill is starting to kick in!
So, bedtime for me all! Ciao till later!!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Katy Perry - Firework

2012-01-09T09:27:00.000-05:00

Come along, and join the Music Moves Me Monday gang! Today's theme: Freebie! It took me a little bit to think about what I was going to choose to share! I think that I shared Glee's version in the past. I chose this song, because the whole 6th grade sang this song last year at son's elementary school, about 2 weeks before school let out. I heard it a lot when he was practicing in the car singing it!

Early Friday afternoon!

2012-01-06T14:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, so my post hasn't gone up yet! The serious truth is that with Steven being home with a sinus infection and trying to get caught up with laundry before I go to bed in the morning/afternoon, and working late the past two days (one 12 hour shift and one 10 hour shift---that 10 being this morning, and one of my patients died this morning), my brain's turned to vegematic when I've got home. Plus, I was in MOM, mode with him, trying to take care of him, though he turned 13 last month. My nursing job that pays the bills, has worn me out the past week! I have at least two posts planned to post in the next few days, the one about Sea World, with several pics, from Christmas Day, and the other, unnamed yet.

The overtime's been great at work, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't trying to deliberately get it! Unforseen events that crop up during med pass at the end of the shift or before med pass delay things----especially on the last hall, I'm heading down it, calls to go to the bathroom, or could you help me change so and so---they're giving a CNA grief, and just about everyone wants the pain meds that they didn't need during the night, and 6:45am is fast approaching-----time to be finished with med pass and start giving report to the next two nurses whose halls that I've had the night before! It's all part of being a RN---team leader, supervisor, and team player.

I've read some of you all's posts on your blogs lately, and am aiming to back on posting a few comments on yours over the weekend! Reading blogs when I get home from a crazy if not insane night at work, helps me to unwind and stay in touch with you all!

Well, I"ve got to get to bed and get a few hours sleep!!! Love to you all!

Quick note!!

2012-01-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

Just a quick one to you all! I had planned to post during the past two days, but due to being exhausted on Monday after working the weekend, and running errands along with Steven's ENT appt yesterday----blogging just didn't happen. I'm aiming to post about the Sea World trip hopefully by Friday, I'm thinking about going into work early this evening.
Today's my Dad's 76th birthday, and we dropped his birthday card off yesterday and visited for a little bit before son's appt. Steven's got a cold, but the way he sounds, you'd think that it was a sinus infection. He's back to irrigating his sinuses today.

Ciao for now!

Friday before Christmas! Merry Christmas!!!!!

2011-12-23T12:52:00.000-05:00

WOW, two days before Christmas! I can't quite unwind yet, and I've already taken my bedtime meds (yes, you read right, I work tonight, and have to sleep this afternoon!). I looked at my blog and thought, gosh, I haven't really posted much in the past few days----well, on others' blogs but not here on my own! I'm sure that many of you are so organized that you had your Christmas cards out at the beginning of the month, Well, I wanted to do that, too, but it didn't happen this year! I just got them all mailed out on Wednesday this week. I had two cards that had to go out of the country, one to Ontario, Canada and the other to Athens, Greece, for family and friends. I do the handwriting, then, I have to track down hubby and son to both sign. We were so pathetic at doing cards a few years ago, that I brought them with us to WDW, and stayed in our room at Pop Century for a couple of hours signing and addressing cards on Christmas Day!!!
Ha! It had to be the latest that we ever got cards out!!

One of our Holiday WDW trips from a few years back, we were in Liberty Tree Tavern, if I can remember correctly!

I have all sorts of faiths in my family and friends, and I know that I didn't want to address religion in my blog, but this will probably be one of the rare occasions that I do. My husband's brother and his wife are Buddhists, and we respect their decision on their faith, and they are okay with us still sending Christmas cards to them, as far as I know. I have Messianic Jews in our of my mother's sister's families, and I never know whether I should wish them Happy Hanukkah or Merry Christmas. The rest of our family and friends vary from Catholic to Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, to name a few. I have friends who are nonbelievers, and friends of other faiths, and I respect what they feel and believe in. And, I have readers of other faiths, and I respect that, too! I may not go to church all of the time, but do try to get to the Christmas Eve services---which I'm planning to do tomorrow night.

Steven inside the tube area for picture taking at Sea World last December 26th! It was a very cold and chilly overcast day!

We are aiming to do something different for Christmas this year, and I'll post about it after the fact. If you're a twitter follower of mine, I may be posting on Sunday, so keep an eye out!! My father opted to go up to North FL for the weekend, so he won't be hanging out with us. (I did spend some time with him earlier this week, and took him to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I think that he doesn't like it so much when I pick up the check, but he paid for so many things for us kids when I was younger, so I want to help him out now.)
I can't believe that he'll be 76 on the 4th of January! Whew, that makes me feel a little old now!!
If I don't post tomorrow (Saturday), I'm wishing you all and your families a very Merry Christmas, and may you have an awesome one!!!

Love,
Barb

Google+ And Facebook Island Hop #5 ---Via Jamerican Spice

2011-12-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Colette from Jamerican Spice is holding a Google+ and Facebook Island Hop, and I hope that you join it! If you follow me, just leave a message below so that I can follow you back!

FL Mom's Blog Facebook Page

Barb on Google+ I haven't figured out how to make a Google+ page for the blog yet!

Last Week

2011-12-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

What I didn't mention between Monday's Music Moves me and other posts last week, was that I was on FMLA for about a week, and I returned back to work last night. Friday a week and a half ago, I went to my Internal Med doctor, for some pain complaints that I had that I didn't think were Fibro pains. I had discussed the issues with my neurologist's RN, and she had talked to my neurologist, and since she was going out of town, she felt that my primary needed to do the work-up. I had shooting pains in my elbow/forearm area, and couldn't life my left arm and wash my hair without a great deal of pain on Thursday night. He ordered an X-ray of the left elbow, which came back negative. My left leg, from the knee down was trying to go what I'm calling "rag doll limp" while I was at work Thursday night, when I was walking around the building and when I was standing at my med cart passing meds to my residents. It kind of concerned me, since it happened at least 3 or 4 times that night. He gave me lifting restrictions of no more than 5 pounds, and I had to wear a sling. I ended up on FMLA leave for the week, and just returned back to work last night. I also had a MRI of my Lumbar Spine, and it showed a slightly bulging disc if I can remember correctly from L4-5. Nothing to really worry about right now, though it may be uncomfortable at times. Due to the sling during that time, I ended up watching a lot of tv, and posting on GetGlue! I may have been on the computer here and there during that time, but not a whole lot. I spent time on my iPhone and the iPad.

Doing better now, due to the heating pad and the Diclofenac and the sling, and resting!

Mega Bloks Family Club (Review)

2011-12-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

Do you have children who love to build? My son still loves to build at 13 now, and he helped with the review of the Blok Squad Construction Site that we were given. Unfortunately, between my work schedule and his science project taking 90% of his time recently, we haven't completed building the set yet. I have enclosed pics of what we were able to complete! (We are currently calling it a work in progress, and when we get it completed, I'll post the pics on my blog then!) We had chosen the Blok Squad Construction Site set, since son thought that the equipment pieces looked neat. This set is for ages 5 and up, and it includes 3 vehicles to build and figures (3), including a 4x4, Track Loader and a Road Roller. They can pretend to build a road, clear a rock quarry, and smooth down a path with their vehicles! They can collect and combine sets to male heavy-duty construction machines to complete any mission! The great thing about the Mega Blok sets is that they are for the children who have transitioned from the mini blocks into micro blocks. The playsets also introduce kids to different heroes, like the construction guys, police, and firemen!

The Blok Squad Construction site retails for $19.99 for ages 5 and up! They are available in the U.S. at Toys 'R' Us, toysrus.com. Walmart and walmart.com, Amazon.com. Available in Canada at Walmart CDN, Toys'R'Us, toysrus.com, and Zellers. The Blok Squads are perfect for this children who are ready transition from minis to micro blocks and work on more detailed projects.

For more information, you can cheek out Mega Bloks and the Blok Squad buildable playsets at Mega Brands ! They have a Mega Bloks Family Club, that you might want to sign up for at Mega Bloks Family Club ! There's a 12 Days of Christmas Holiday fun giveaway going on, and you might want to check it out!

My thoughts.... great toys which young minds can be creative with and enjoy! I highly recommend them!

Disclosure: We were given a free product in order to facilitate at review from Child's Play Communications for Mega Bloks Family Club. The opinions expressed here on my blog were mine and my son's! Honesty is important!

Monday's Christmas Music Moves Me: A blend of Christmas music!

2011-12-12T08:40:00.000-05:00

I had forgot all about Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song", music that my mother played when I was a child at Christmas time. I had the opportunity to listen to a lot of the classics back then! I stumbled upon Natalie's version when looking for today's song! She has such a lovely voice!
Also, I got picked as one of the two "Spotlight Dancers"!! Too cool!

My Boy's a teen today!

2011-12-10T07:54:00.000-05:00

Happy 13th birthday, Steven! We hope that you have an awesome day!
Love,
Mom and Dad

Krishenka's Vintage Treasures: The Vintage Arcade Feature + $29 Giveaway

2011-12-09T08:58:00.001-05:00

Krishenka's Vintage Treasures: The Vintage Arcade Feature + $29 Giveaway: A packed to the rafter’s box of mixed goodies ranging from vintage to the unusual. Some of the bits-N-bobs included are - vintag...

I've entered this giveaway, and thought that I'd share the link with you all, too!!! What an awesome box of goodies~~!

Wordless Wednesday--- Shrek, our lovebird!

2011-12-07T08:48:00.000-05:00

Music Moves Me Monday: Johnny Mathis - IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (1993 TV Special)

2011-12-05T06:56:00.000-05:00

One of my mother's favorite singers! I thought that I'd add him, too!

Music Moves Me Monday : Christmas Songs - Classic Perry Como - It's Beginning to Look Like Chri...

2011-12-05T06:53:00.000-05:00

Another classic! I love his Christmas music! My mother got me into listening to his music when I was younger!

Music Moves Me Monday: A Charlie Brown Christmas - Christmas Time is Here Song

2011-12-05T06:48:00.000-05:00

I love this one and have watched the show every year since I was a little girl!

Little Silver: The Stolen Souvenir (CD Review) and Interview!

2011-12-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

Little Silver is a band made up of the husband and wife duo of Steve Curtis and Erika Simonian. They recently debuted their recording of The Stolen Souvenir on their Record Park label. Let me give you a little more about their history in music! Erika's been a one decade veteran of of NYC's songwriter circle, with a Lilith Fair appearance and praise from The NY Times under her belt. Steve's one of the founding members of the acclaimed band Hem. With Hem, he sold over 85,000 records world-wide, and performed all over. This couple is definitely not new to the music scene!! Little Silver's band includes Ray Rizzo on drums (Dawn Landes, Doveman) and David Tarica on bass (Mia Riddle). Hem's trademark jewel box lullabies are a central feature of Little Silver;s sound. Little Silver also reaches out, venturing into the experimental and rock-and-roll-terrain.

The Stolen Souvenir was co-produced by Phil Palazzolo and mixed by Brandon Eggleston, They're currently preparing for touring on both coasts, and will be back in the studio during the fall of 2011 to put together a long-playing record. I reviewed Little Silver's EP. I really enjoyed all of their songs, of which there is five on the current EP, which you can purchase through iTunes! I was really surprised to hear "Irene, Goodnight", reminded me of the old song, "Good night, Irene". Their other songs are: "Sleep Till Morning", "Where We Met", "Food From The Cow", and last but not least, the title song, " The Stolen Souvenir". I was driving around between appointments one days when I was listening to it in my car, definitely enjoying the drive hearing their music! Should I pick a favorite song or tell you that I seriously recommend all of the songs!

Steve and Erika's title song from the EP The Stolen Souvenir had some collaboration with Nina and Peter

in the making of a video for the song. I found it to be quite interesting, and will be sharing the link to it for you to see!! This song is about a kind of special secret thing, the stolen souvenir is a something just out of sight, just barely perceptible, but important in some way that you maybe don't totally understand! (Some things to look for the video: the camera pans past a 1920's photo of one of Steve's music teachers, in the hills outside Kathmandu, and the video ends with a fanatical postcard (with a beloved family recipe for grilled chicken!).

Now, onto my interview with Steve Curtis and Erika Simonian:

1) Me: Hi Steve, Erika. Congrats on being new parents! Have you thought about writing and recording a song for your baby daughter?

Steve and Erika: Thank you so much . I have thought a lot about this as she's a constant love generator- it seems my heart is some never-ending motor. However, it's a tricky thing, capturing that divinity without sounding cliche. We're always searching for that balance and trying new ideas out.
Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) has struck that balance in the most beautiful way that I've heard lately, a song called "I've Never Loved Someone".

"I've Never Loved Someone"
And might I mention that I don't officially know if this is a song about her child, but it sure sound like it to me!

2) I enjoyed watching the video for "Stolen Souvenir"! Have you thought about writing another song for Peter and Nina to create video?

Steve and Erika: We'd loooove to work with them again. That was a serious amount of work for them, so we're trying to let sometime pass before we approach them again.

3) How long has Little Silver been together, and now did you come up with the name for your band?

Steve and Erika: Little Silver has been together for perhaps two years, though we only really decided to record and play shows last year. And Little Silver is the name of the town where I was raised in New Jersey. As long as I can remember, we celebrated the name of the town. My mom even got printed us up t-shirts when we were 7 and 8 years old that read "I LOVE LITTLE SILVER" in kind of stiff, felt lettering. So, when we were trying to decide on a band name, Steve kept saying, "What about Little Silver?" I sort of couldn't hear it fresh, having heard it so many times in my life, writing my address, etc. It's sort of like saying, "How's St. Louis? Or Tallahassee? Actually, comet think of it, those sound pretty cool. Up for grabs, people!

4) Were either of you musically trained?

Steve? You can answer this one. The short answer for me, Erika, is "no". Steve: "nothing that translates dirtily to writing the sort of music we are interested in with LIttle Silver; that's more just a function of lots of time spent listening and playing. But when I was a music major in the broadest liberal-arts-sense (totally loved it), and took all manner of music lessons growing up since a young age (piano, bass, orchestra, then finally guitar, mostly totally loving all of it :))."

5) Any thoughts of doing a tour around the USA next year in the South and Mid-West?

Steve and Erika: Heck Yes! We're working on it, and with Hazel in tow.

And one more thing, thanks for the opportunity to interview you, Erika and Steve!

Steve and Erika: Oh, thank YOU, We appreciate it!

Now for some links where you can find out more about their band and their music!!

Little Silver's website

Facebook page

Twitter

My Space

LIttle Silver "Stolen Souvenir" Video

BARB

Disclosure: I was given a copy of the cd in order to facilitate my review from Sneak Attack Media. The opinions expressed by me are my own! Honesty is everything!

Holiday shopping!

2011-11-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

We pretty much got ours out of the way for the little family of three that we are in the past month and have been using some of the items already. I'm torn between mall or specialty store shopping, and shopping online. There are many places that I love to visit and look at when we go to Orlando and look at FL Mall and Mall at Millienia. Places like Crate and Barrel (we absolutely love to look at their kitchen and pots and pans and other accessories), The Sony Store, (for techy stuff, usually way above our means! ), The Apple Store (I'm such an Apple Fangirl ---Can I say that at 49? Definitely can!) , and those are to name a few at Mall of Millienia!

FL Mall--- well, I could stay there for hours, and get in awe of all of the lovely and enjoyable products there. We usually come in at the M& M's entrance to the mall, and the head past Harry and David's. Absolutely love buying their soup mixes! Son and hubby love their truffles!! Then, we usually check out Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, the Apple Store, and I go to Sephora and Lush. If we know that a particular friend of our is working, we stop by Teavana to say hi and to make a purchase. Then, it's off to look at the clothing stores for teen males.

There's a Best Buy in each of those mall areas, and we'll drive over to them to check out stuff that we're into: Steve- computers/ Mac products, Steven-usually found playing on and looking at mostly X-Box games and sometimes Wii, and last but not least me, Barb---I'm usually into iPhone supplies, iPad supplies, dvds and blu-rays, iPods, and music---and sometimes new audio/visual stuff.

I think that I'll be saving more next year from surveys and swag bucks and blogposts, to pay for Christmas out on non-household money or credit cards. I love the fact that you have use paypal on Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com, and Etsy!!! Seriously wish that Amazon.com would, too!

I'm big on using gift cards, especially for places that we go or places that we eat at! So much easier than throwing the item on a credit card or carrying a bunch of cash around. I would love to know your thought and ideas on saving money during the holidays. Do you use credit card, paypal, cash, or check or debit or gift cards? Let me know in a comment.

BARB

Black Friday, and you know where I'm not!

2011-11-25T12:38:00.000-05:00

GOOD AFTERNOON, MY BLOGGY FRIENDS AND READERS!
It's Black Friday, and you can obviously tell where I'm not! Between all of the chaos at the malls and even WalMart and Best Buy and Target, I'm glad that I was earning money last night, instead of standing in line forever trying to buy stuff for a deal, that would sell out before you got into the store.

I suggest that you do your purchases on line through the Etsy stores! I'm mentioning that since I know that a few of my followers are Etsy store owners of varied products, and I would like for them to step up and post a link on the comment section to their easy stores, if you don't mind!! In your comment, tell briefly what you sell, and post a link to the Etsy store!! Seriously, I mean it, I'd love to share about you all! And even if you have an Artfire store, post if, too.

BARB