Halloween craziness
Oct 31, 2011 Around NYC
So to say my neighborhood gets into the Halloween spirit would be a bit of an understatement. It goes crazy. There are several streets that get closed down. There are live shows. There are insane numbers of people. It’s quite impressive.
We actually live on the outskirts of the neighborhood now, where there aren’t as many trick-or-treaters. So you get about three times as much candy per house. We set out with Jake and Fiona, whose lame mother obviously bought their costumes in a store. Which of course, to my kids, is a win.
I’m happy to say we weren’t the only ones using McDonald’s Happy Meal buckets to hold the candy. Although The Ass forbid me from pointing the other people out after the first one.
This guy scared the crap out of my neighbor. He sits there on his steps blending in with the decorations until you come close. He got my kids good a couple years ago.
Now, this house looks pretty normal, until you look in the window…
It’s not easy to see in a picture taken from the sidewalk, but the pictures in the living room look like something out of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. I can only hope they did that for Halloween, and they’re not the kinds of weirdoes who sleep in caskets or something.
And, well, the less said about this window, the better.
Many houses went a more traditional, but still impressive, route:
This is our old building. It’s like it was built with Halloween in mind.
This house is nuts. The owners put on a huge production every year.
Heh.
I don’t know what this is.
This house had a boxing ring set up, with people in costumes dancing in it. I’m not really sure what was going on. And since they weren’t giving out candy, the kids didn’t want to stick around and find out.
And this band was actually good!
After the trick-or-treating comes the sorting…
And the trading…
And for Fiona, even more sorting.
Happy Halloween!
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 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Today’s Agenda: More Slim-Fast edition
Oct 31, 2011 Today's Agenda
So I’m pumped. I said last week that this week would be the true test of my Slim-Fast experiment, since I always lose a lot of water the first week on any diet. And I’m happy to say that I weighed in this morning, and have lost a little over two pounds this week! I’m now done with the free samples and coupons that Slim-Fast had sent me, but I’m happy to go forward on my own. Let’s see how long I can ride this.
Today I’m getting back on the treadmill. I’ve been having trouble with my right foot for months, and with the help of Dr. Google I diagnosed it as a stress fracture. So, after re-injuring it several times on the treadmill I decided to give myself a solid month off to let it heal. Then, last week it started to hurt again, and I hadn’t been exercising! I’d been careful not to wear any pumps or heels for that month, or flip-flops, or anything unsupportive, so I give up. I’m starting the walking program I’ve been having false starts with for months and if my foot becomes unbearable I will drag myself to the doctor.
And, of course, today is Halloween. I hate trick-or-treating. I really detest it. Especially in our neighborhood, where people go all out and I just end up feeling lame. And I hate crowds, which doesn’t help my mood. And it looked for a while like this year was the beginning of the end, with only one kid wanting to dress up. But Jake has had a change of heart, and is dressing up as that killer from Scream (a movie he’s never seen). So we’ll be hitting the crowded streets today. Joy.
On GMA this morning Rocco DiSpirito presented a recipe for Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes that has me scratching my head. It uses egg substitute and egg whites, fat-free cream cheese, agave nectar, gluten-free flour, and black beans! And while he claims that the cupcakes are only 55 calories each, they’re tiny. Frankly I think I’d rather have three Hershey’s Air Delight Kisses for the same amount of calories. Plus, the cupcakes look like a lot of trouble. With the kisses all I have to do is unwrap.
But I may make them at some point to see if they’re worth it. If I do I’ll be sure to let you know.
Have a great Monday! I’m off to the treadmill as soon as I post this.
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 (Slim-Fast shakes and bars). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
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Tags: costumes, exercise, Food, Halloween, Recipes, Slim-Fast
Style Snaps review: I was shocked that they worked
Oct 28, 2011 Product Review
Whenever I see a product being sold primarily on TV I assume it doesn’t work. I assume that the producers tried to get it sold through regular channels, with no luck, and turned to bad TV ads and direct shipping instead. So I’m always shocked when one of these products works. This is what happened with Style Snaps.
Style Snaps are little adhesive plastic snaps that you put on your pants to make them shorter, and then unsnap to make them longer. I have many pairs of pants that I can only wear with high-heeled shoes. If I want to wear a pair with flats I fold the hem under and use double-sided tape to keep them in place, but I have two problems with this. First of all, I’ve yet to find double-sided tape that will stay put for an entire day, even the ones made specifically for clothes. Second of all, it means having to find the right length for the pants every single time. Pain in the butt.
I tried the Style Snaps with my favorite pair that Not Your Daughter’s Jeans had given me and found them easy to put on. I had to be careful getting into the jeans so as not to rip the snaps right off – the snaps are very strong and the adhesive will give before the snaps will open. Once the jeans were on the snaps weren’t too obvious – you can see one of them a little bit in the picture below – and these jeans are fairly thin. I haven’t tried them on other materials yet, though – I can imagine the snaps showing through very badly on a flimsier fabric.
My assumption with these was that I could wash the jeans with the snaps in and not have to position them again, but I’m not sure where I got that idea – the only washing instructions were for the snaps themselves. Apparently if you want to reposition them or reuse them you can wash any fabric residue off and they will remain sticky for 8-10 uses. That’s great, but frankly not the solution I was looking for – I want to be able to leave them in the pants indefinitely. So, after wearing the jeans two days in a row I put them in the washing machine on the delicate cycle, and crossed my fingers that I wasn’t going to ruin my machine with sixteen little plastic things floating around.
I have to admit, I was shocked when all sixteen pieces came out of the washing machine attached to the jeans, exactly where they had started. I don’t know how many times they can go through this, but if it’s at least a few then I think it’s worth the trouble of putting them on. Keep in mind, though, the gentle cycle on my washing machine (an awesome Whirlpool Duet HT) is extraordinarily gentle – I don’t know what a top loader would do.
I’ll do a follow up when I try them on some different materials, but for a pair of jeans with fabric on the not-too-heavy side, they get a thumbs up from me.
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 (for the jeans). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: As Seen On TV, Style Snaps
Today’s Agenda: costume edition
Oct 28, 2011 Today's Agenda
I’m really terrible about buying Halloween costumes on time. But I think last night’s excursion to Party City with the kids might have cured me of my procrastination once and for all. The kids and I had to wait outside – in the rain – just to get in to the store. Then we had to wait in a giant line to ask for a costume, and the kids’ first few choices were sold out. Then I almost got into an altercation with a woman who completely overreacted when Jake bumped into her and didn’t apologize fast enough.
But we survived, and the kids got costumes they’re happy with. Fiona’s going to be a mummy, and Jake will be that weird masked thing from the Scream movies, despite the fact he’s never seen the movies. The mask bleeds, the knife bleeds, he has a creepy voice changer…he’ll be in heaven.
There’s a haunted house at their school this afternoon, then we’re dropping them off at Jake’s Tae Kwon Do studio for a paid party that always works out to be more trouble and money than getting a sitter, except for one thing: my husband and I get the house to ourselves at a reasonable hour, when we’re not exhausted. We might actually make it all the way through a movie without dozing off on the couch.
Then we still get to trick-or-treat on Monday. Sigh. I heard that there was a proposed law floating around to make the last Saturday in October Halloween. I say go for it.
Coming up today, if I can get some writing done, will be a post about the Project Runway finale and a Project Runway reunion party thrown by HP during Fashion Week, and a review of Style Snaps. But I’m getting hesitant to say what I’m going to post later in the day because I feel like I’ve been jinxing myself! So here’s hoping I can get some writing done today…
Enjoy your weekend!
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 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Sitting down with Dr. Oz
Oct 26, 2011 What's Going On
So we’re right in the middle of our discussion with Dr. Oz. I’m here at his show with a fantastic group of bloggers (gathered by Barbara Jones of the One2One Network) talking about nutrition, weight loss, legislation, and other topics and I just have to say that he’s awesome. Friendly, open, helpful, and passionate.
The show that taped today won’t air for a couple of weeks, but it’s a good one – he’s really interested in making lives better, and he really seems to get the issues and hurdles that we face trying to get healthy and stay that way.
I’ll keep you posted on when that will air. Now, to get back to Dr. Oz!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Dr. Oz, health, Weight Loss
Today’s Agenda: Dr. Oz edition
Oct 26, 2011 Posted From My Phone, Today's Agenda
So I’m on my way to Rockefeller Center to attend a roundtable discussion with some fabulous bloggers and Oz the Great and Terrible. No, wait, wrong Oz. I’ll be meeting Dr. Oz, the one who rose to fame on Oprah and keeps making me look up the word “omentum.” (Many thanks to Barbara Jones and the One2One Network for this opportunity!)
I’m very excited. Dr. Oz is Turkish, as is my husband (which, incidentally, is why half of the gmail spam I get is in Turkish; if I were paying attention I’d probably know how to say “penis enlargement” in Turkish by now).
The Ass begged me not to try out the one Turkish phrase he taught me years ago. He says I’m pronouncing it all wrong and Dr. Oz won’t know what the hell I’m talking about. But I don’t think he understands how much I enjoy making a fool out of myself.
That, coffee with a couple of PR friends to talk about the upcoming start of round two of the Hidden Valley Moms Panel, and a PTA meeting will round out my day. Did I mention I’m doing all of this on 3.5 hours of sleep? Not cool. If I can work in a nap somewhere I will, but I don’t see how that will be possible.
I spent about ten minutes this morning shortening a pair of jeans with Style Snaps, one of those “As Seen On TV” products. They’re these little adhesive snaps that are supposed to let you snap your pant legs shorter for wearing with flats. I wanted to wear my favorite jeans (a gorgeous dark pair that Not Your Daughter’s Jeans gave me) with comfy shoes because today will be a long day. I got them onto my pants no problem, and I think they look good. But the real tests will be if they show at all when unsnapped, and if they stay on in the washing machine.
Have a great day!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). 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.
Tags: As Seen On TV, Dr. Oz, sleep
Today’s Agenda: Ghostbuster graffiti edition
Oct 25, 2011 Posted From My Phone, Today's Agenda
I don’t support graffiti, of course, but if you just have to deface something, make it as funny as the sign I just saw in my subway station.
I’m on my way to an event centered around video games for girls, put on by Techlicious and hosted by my friend Jessica, who just might be the most adorable pregnant woman I’ve ever seen. Then off to an electrolysis appointment. So, once again, everyone at an event gets to see my face at its furriest. Lovely.
Hoping to squeeze in a mani/pedi in between. When your underwear snags on your heel, it’s past time to give your feet some tender love and care.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: events, spa, video games
Week 1 Slim-Fast weigh in
Oct 24, 2011 Weight Loss
I’m done with my first week on the Slim-Fast plan. Slim-Fast sent me two weeks’ worth of products to try, so for seven days I’ve basically been following their plan: a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, three 100-calorie snacks, and a 500-calorie dinner. It really wasn’t that hard. The shakes fill me up for a couple of hours, but more importantly they keep me out of the kitchen. Not having to prepare food keeps me from getting tempted.
This morning I stepped on the scale, and was thrilled – but not that surprised – to see that I had lost exactly six pounds. I say not surprised because whenever I start a new eating plan I lose a lot in the first week, and I’m pretty sure that most of it is excess water weight (when I eat better I eat less sodium, and I also tend to drink more water when I’m being “good”). I’m not saying that losing excess water weight doesn’t count, I’m just saying that it’s something that happens and then is done – that kind of weight loss won’t be repeated. Going forward I’d be satisfied with a two pound loss each week. More than satisfied. It would get me to my first goal of losing 35 pounds by the beginning of February! But I’m getting way ahead of myself.
I say that I was “basically” following the plan because I discovered immediately that after not filling my stomach with a large volume of food all day, a 500-calorie dinner was just too much! Which is funny, because 500 calories is about what I used to snack on while making dinner. So, I have more snacks. And my snacks aren’t always exactly 100 calories. I just make sure that by the end of the day everything adds up to roughly 1,200 calories.
When I’m not at home, the 100-calorie Peanut Butter Crunch Time Bars are very handy and extremely tasty. But the key is the shakes. First of all, they’re delicious. I’ve been drinking the Creamy Milk Chocolate ones and they taste like thick, rich chocolate milk. Second, they’re convenient. Third, they’re not very expensive. Here in NYC I’ve been finding them for about $10 for a 4-pack, which means they’d be costing me only $5 a day if I were paying for them.
There are also meal bars, which look delicious, but I haven’t needed one yet. The two times last week when I wasn’t home at lunch time I ate “real food” with other people, and just tried to estimate 200 calories. I went into both of those meals telling myself that if the food was irresistible, I would just have my dinner calories at lunch and a shake for dinner, but I’m glad I didn’t do that either time. I think one of the reasons that this is working for me is that I tend to need food more later in the day. I even try to save a snack for late evening after dinner, since I tend to stay up late and my will is weakest then. My favorite late night snack is a 100 calorie mini-bag of Smart Pop microwave popcorn – it fills me up and I don’t have to listen to my stomach grumble while I work.
So, I’m curious to see what will happen over the next seven days. I think this past week was pretty easy all things considered, but at the same time it did seem very long. A weight loss program is only successful if you can stick with it.
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.
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Tags: Food, Slim-Fast, Weight Loss
