The drive-thru: it’s how I handle stress
Apr 30, 2010 Amy in the Morning
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 1 (Frigidaire) and 8 (Tropicana). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: video
Twenty minutes of peace
Apr 30, 2010 What's Going On
This morning I woke up in a bad mood. I’ve been busier than I would like lately. It’s really a good thing – a bunch of great opportunities came up in the past couple of weeks, and I said yes to all of them. Things are usually more spread out, so this was just a fluke. But by this morning I was worn out.
On the way to school this morning, Fiona said “Mommy, why are you sad?” I told her I wasn’t, that I was just very busy and worried that I wouldn’t get some things done in time. Well, Fiona’s world has been all about her sixth birthday lately – she’s been counting down for a month. Tomorrow is a small slumber party, her first. We stopped walking to wait for a red light and she looked up at me and said “Are you going to be busy for my party?” I told her completely honestly that all work would stop before we brought her friends home from school. (For sure I’ll be on Twitter while the girls watch the Hannah Montana movie, but that’s not work – that’s how I relax.) Great, my mood had my daughter stressed about her birthday party.
By the time I picked the kids up I had climbed about halfway out of my mood, but four hours of homework and driving to after school activities dumped me back into it. The kids were fine – they were actually being quite good – but by the time we got home close to seven I just needed a little peace and quiet. I told the kids to go upstairs while I made dinner. They went without arguing, they could tell that it was in their own best interest.
About twenty minutes later I heard Fiona sneaking down the stairs (cat burglar will not be on her resume) and I waited while she tiptoed into the kitchen. “Mommy, why didn’t you want to be around us?” I went over to the couch and asked if she wanted to sit on my lap. She’s a sensitive soul and I wanted to get this just right.
I explained that it wasn’t her and Jake that I didn’t want to be around, I didn’t want to be around anybody. I was in a bad mood and wanted to have a little time to myself to get into a better mood, so that I wouldn’t start yelling. I asked her if she ever got into bad moods moods where she wanted to be alone, and she said no, that she was always happy and always wanted to be around people. (Which I think is actually mostly true. I gave birth to a Disney character who wakes up singing every morning.) So I asked her to try to imagine what I was feeling, and she said she could, and that she was glad I was back into a good mood, and asked very sweetly if she could be around me again, and I said that I would love that.
And that was that. The rest of the evening was really good. I’m still not completely out of my mood, but that’s fine. The important thing is that I did what I had to do to keep from taking my mood out on the kids. And I think that Fiona really gets it. The next time I need them to leave me alone for a little while I’ll remind her of our talk.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Overwhelmed and bailing
Apr 29, 2010 Amy in the Morning
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: video
Kids Club Thirteen: exclusive events & discounts
Apr 26, 2010 Around NYC
I’m really excited to announce that I’m an ambassador for the brand new Kids Club Thirteen! Besides getting to participate in fun events all year, I think being an ambassador also gets me out of traffic tickets. But I have to double-check that part. Anyway, Kids Club Thirteen is a new kind of family membership for our local PBS station here in the New York City area, Channel Thirteen. A family membership (2 adults and up to 3 children) costs only $75 for a year, and includes 13 “fun & free” events.
Each of the thirteen events includes admission for the day at whatever fun place is hosting the event, and each event has exclusive activities just for Kids Club Thirteen members. Plus, there are other discounts available to dozens of places in the tri-state area, like the NYC Police Museum, the Queens Botanical Gardens, the Big Apple Circus, the Gazillion Bubble Show, New York Liberty games, and many many more.
The first “fun & free” event is coming up on May 9th at the Prospect Park Zoo. Kids Club Thirteen members get admission to the zoo on the 9th for the zoo’s annual alpaca and sheep shearing event, with special activities just for Kids Club Thirteen members! Ruff Ruffman from FETCH! will be there, and that’s another great thing about the club: your kids will get to meet some of their favorite PBS characters at these events.
Some other details of the club:
- The club is designed for families with kids ages 3-11.
- There’s a free event each month, with four events this summer
- Your children’s birthdays get announced on TV
- If you buy your membership before May 10th you get TWO years for the price of one!
I just want to talk a little bit more about that last point, because that’s kind-of a big deal. “Founding Families” who join the club before May 10th get the first two years of the club for $75, which is an incredible price. It will probably pay for itself just in free admission to a couple of events.
I’m not being paid (besides getting a free membership) to talk about Kids Club Thirteen. I enthusiastically agreed to do it because I think it’s a great program, and I would have joined even if I had nothing to do with the program. While some of the events will be at places my family already loves, some of them are going to be a great opportunity to sample some of the best museums and other venues that the area has to offer. The next three events after the Prospect Park Zoo take place in places we’ve never been: the Staten Island Children’s Museum, the Stickley Museum, and the Intrepid. And hopefully we’ll make some new friends as we attend these events each month and get to know the families.
So, I’m a little bummed that I won’t be at the first event, or at least not at the special activities part of it (that’s the day I’ll be running the RBaby Foundation race). But I’m really looking forward to the rest, and hope to see a lot of you over the next two years at Kids Club Thirteen “fun & free” events!
To join, go to the Kids Club Thirteen site. Hope to see you there!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: Kids Club 13
I’m going to be an aunt!
Apr 26, 2010 Amy in the Morning
I’ve been given the a-OK to spill my sister’s news here, but please keep it off of facebook. Gracias!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: video
All about “The Good Wife”
Apr 23, 2010 Uncategorized
The Good Wife
A couple days ago I was lucky enough to be at the Paley Center for Media to get an advance look at the next episode of CBS’s The Good Wife. Normally I don’t want to watch TV anywhere other than on my own couch, but there was a special treat following the screening: a panel discussion with five Good Wife actors. Thanks to my friend Beth, who invited me to this event, I got to listen as Julianna Margulies (Alicia Florrick), Josh Charles (Will Gardner), Christine Baranski (Diane Lockhart), Archie Panjabi (Kalinda Sharma), and Matt Czuchry (Cary Agos) talked about the show – the kind of inside baseball stuff that I just can’t get enough of.
The Episode
The episode itself was fantastic. Julianna mentioned that originally the plan had been to have a ratio of 40% personal life stuff to 60% legal/procedural stuff, but that’s been flipped the other way, and I think that’s a good plan. The stuff going on in the Florrick marriage is so rich, it deserves to be the focus. The procedural part of this episode revolved around a possible terrorist bombing at a newspaper that printed a controversial cartoon. It was an interesting story, but took a back seat to the intrigue surrounding Alicia’s marriage, Peter’s legal problems, and the firm’s money troubles. And it ended in a cliffhanger. If you’re at all jealous that I got to see the episode 6 days early, look at it this way: I have to wait almost twice as long as you do to find out how the cliffhanger is resolved. The episode gave me new respect for a few characters. Alicia’s character is fascinating to me because it’s so easy to look at someone like Silda Spitzer or Elizabeth Edwards and say “I know exactly what I would do in her situation.” But I have no idea. Alicia’s husband cheated on her in a very public way, and there’s no escaping from it. It’s on YouTube, it’s being tweeted about, her kids likely know every detail. And while she feels humiliated, she still has feelings for her husband and doesn’t want to break up her family. It’s complicated, and messy, and delicious to watch. And Alicia really takes the bull by the horns in this episode. Cary also has a great storyline this week. I still haven’t decided whether he’s a little weasel or not. On the surface this episode should have helped me decide, but the more I think about it, the less sure I am. He’s a puzzle. A cute, smart, conniving puzzle. I can’t wait to see what happens with him next.
The Actors
Julianna Margulies
Julianna looked amazing – and tiny. I will never get over seeing actresses in person. As thin as some of them are on screen, they practically disappear in real life. Her face also looks different in person, fuller. (If Miranda Cosgrove wants to know what she’ll look like in 20 years, she need look no further than Julianna Margulies – the resemblance was striking.) Julianna said that in researching the part, she looked at pictures of public women who had been cheated on. Before the betrayal they looked good. Immediately after the betrayal they looked like they had aged ten years. But then a year later, they looked better than they ever had! They had taken control of their lives and their destinies and it showed. And Alicia’s character is now squarely in that period post-affair, where she’s learning how to navigate things for herself, instead of for her husband, and becoming more sure of herself. It shows in how her character looks. (For the record, if this happened to me, they’d have to get Kirstie Alley to play me – I’m quite sure I would find solace at Chipotle.)
She talked about the initial casting process, how she made it clear that for her husband, they had to cast a Bill Clinton, not an Elliot Spitzer. Good move. If the guy is just repulsive, you won’t be able to identify with the wife wanting to stay married. But if the guy is charismatic and charming and a good father, you can sympathize. So Chris Noth is perfect. But so is Josh Charles as Will Gardner. Will and Alicia have got some sort of history together, although we don’t really know the extent of it yet. Public opinion seems to be divided on which man Alicia should end up with (if any). Julianna told a cute story about how just last week she was in Washington Square Park when a couple came up to her and told her that they were on “Team Florrick.” Then another couple approached and said that they were on “Team Will.” And Julianna just kind-of stood there as the couples argued it out. :-)
Josh Charles
Josh Charles has been a crush of mine since Dead Poets Society (and somehow he still looks exactly the same – somebody should search his attic for an aging portrait). He was fantastic on one of my all-time favorite shows, Sports Night, and I’ve really missed him since then. It’s often said that a show (or movie) is really made in the editing room, and Josh revealed something about his character that really reinforces that point. There was an episode where Alicia had a problem with someone the firm had represented. I’m fuzzy on the details, but according to Josh a scene was shot revealing that he sent the money the firm had won on that case to the losing side. The scene was eventually cut, and I agree with Josh that that was a very smart move. In real life, I would love it if doctors paid bills when patients couldn’t afford it and lawyers showed heart in the face of their own financial ruin. But it makes for syrupy TV.
Archie Panjabi
Kalinda Sharma is easily the most fascinating character on The Good Wife. In fact, the panel’s moderator – TV Guide critic Matt Roush – referred to Kalinda as a “Super-Hero Mystery Sex Goddess.” I owe a coffee to whoever suggested casting Archie in The Good Wife. Despite having a long resume, I’d never seen her in anything so she was like a breath of fresh air. That part could easily have gone to someone more cookie-cutter, and the show just wouldn’t have been the same.
The first subject to come up with Archie was, of course, Kalinda’s boots. According to someone on the panel – Josh maybe? – there’s an entire website dedicated to Kalinda’s boots. (For the record, as of this writing the url KalindasBoots.com is available and would be a kick-ass niche site for someone who loves The Good Wife, leather boots, and attracting the attention of fetishists.) Archie said that she was initially nervous about playing this part, since she had never played anything like Kalinda before. The character practically oozes sex from every pore, and it seems to come so naturally that I was surprised to hear that. But Archie revealed her secret: she said that when she puts on the magic boots, Kalinda takes over. Hmm. Might have to get me some of those.
The big question about Kalinda is her sexuality. Archie said that by the last episode, the audience will get an idea about which way Kalinda “swings” – a term that Julianna had to define for Archie, who as a Brit was unfamiliar with that particular term. Ha!
Matt Czuchry
OK, in person Matt looked like he might have ridden his bike over straight from band practice. In reality he’s in his 30s but that’s hard to believe. He was really hilarious in front of a live audience, throwing out one liners that had the audience in stitches. Cary Agos is a tough character to play, because from the very beginning he’s been the guy who’s trying to get Alicia fired. There’s a “bake-off” (Julianna’s term) happening at the law firm pitting Alicia and Cary against each other for one junior associate job, and we’ve seen quite a bit of him trying to position himself for the job. And yet he still manages to be likable. He really shines in the next episode.
Christine Baranski
Christine showed up late to the panel, coming straight from a Good Wife shoot. She looked fabulous, if a little flustered from rushing over. She talked a bit about the nascent relationship between her character Diane and Gary Cole’s Republican ballistics expert. It’s such an unlikely pairing that it could be cringe-inducing, but the acting and writing are so good that it seems organic and believable.
I started out hating Diane for the first episode or two. I’m not sure if they made a conscious decision after the pilot to make her a bit more sympathetic or if it just happened as the character developed, but it’s been nice to watch. She’s still a tough broad (would that term annoy her feminist character?) but in an interesting, real way.
Join me on Twitter for the next episode
I’m really looking forward to seeing the next episode again, and I’ll be sharing the experience on Twitter. I hope you’ll be there too! Beth has invited me to co-host a #TheGoodWife twitter party on Tuesday April 27th at 10pm. From Beth’s post:
We hope you’ll join us for Twitter Tuesday on April 27 with #TheGoodWife at 10 pm ET. We’ll be featuring a surprise guest plus, if you have any special questions for actor Chris Noth, please tweet them during the session – the top tweet-able questions will be included in his video interview for “The Good Wife” DVD!
Please follow the following Twitter handles @rolemommy @selfishmom @madijack @jenwag57 @TheGoodWife_CBS @GoodWifeGuest @CBSTweet. Next, you can join the action by either logging onto www.tweetchat.comorwww.tweetgrid.comand enter the hashtag #TheGoodWife. And feel free to comment on this post to let us know you’ll be there!
This Tuesday is the beginning of five new episodes in a row, taking us right to the season 1 finale. I can’t wait until Tuesday!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: Archie Panjabi, CBS, Christine Baranski, Josh Charles, Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Paley Center, The Good Wife
Christine Baranski cannot keep a secret
Apr 22, 2010 Amy in the Morning
My in-laws are coming, our house is a disaster, and Christine Baranski spilled the beans last night about a big “Good Wife” plot twist. Oops.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: video
Ever change a diaper without using your hands?
Apr 21, 2010 What's Going On
I came across this video on CNN this morning and was just fascinated. This woman has a disability that prevents her from using her arms and hands, so she does everything with her feet. Including bathing, feeding, and changing her baby! I can’t even imagine, but I guess it’s just normal for her. There was an accompanying article that mentioned some people who decided to have children despite their own disabilities, and one who decided not to. It all reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie episode where Mary sits there, blind and pregnant, as her mother goes on and on about how fast her kids used to run and how hard it was to keep up with them. Really sensitive, Ma! So Mary has a little bit of a freak-out. As would I.
Anyway, watch and be amazed. I do wish there weren’t so many cuts in the video – I would have liked to see more about how she positioned the baby for getting him changed, how she wiped him, how she snapped his onesie, etc. But that’s just the nosey gawker in me.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
