I took this photo of Chili Dawg today and just had to share it because HE’S JUST SO CUTE!  

*I don’t get paid for my opinions in any way; this is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.

Wow, it’s been a MINUTE since I last blogged!  Did you miss me?  I missed you!  My kids getting out of school totally threw me for a loop and it’s taken me awhile to recover.  I’m slowly adjusting to our summer schedule and working in some blogging time a few times a week.  But I ask for your forgiveness in advance if I am a little light with the words this summer.

I’ve been missing on Twitter as well, but had a good time last night reading all the tweets about The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s finale. I was trying to go to sleep, but the tweets were so good that I had to turn on the TV. Personally, I think that the New Jersey housewives were the best of the lot, and I’m not just saying that because I love New Jersey.  The housewives were relatively normal (except for Danielle, who was a lunatic) and I liked the addition of a family dynamic as well.  Show fans: what did you think about Dina’s decision to focus on her daughter, husband and home right now and put her career on hold? I thought it was an interesting, tough and real dilemma; I could totally relate to her.

But this blog post is not to dish on the New Jersey housewives, but to call attention to the “Jersey Girl” t-shirt that Teresa was wearing when she showed Dina around the house.  I was so stoked to see that she had on a Festa T-shirt; I had been meaning to write a post about these super-cute tees!    I see the shirts in Atlanta boutiques and I love them, but I haven’t bought one yet because I don’t have an alligence to any one place that I have lived.

My formative years were spent in Chicago and south suburbs, so I would wear this tee because of course Chicago has the best pizza in the WORLD:

My teenage years were lived in Minnesota, where I NEVER got used to the cold.  Yeah, this tee says it all:

That’s why I fled to Arizona for college–the opposite extreme–and had a great time (oh yeah, and got a good education too).  This tee just about sums up the college town of Tempe:

Really digging the west coast, I went to grad school in California.  Of all the places that I have lived, I think that I am mostly a California girl and would like to rock this tee with some flip-flops:

Although I was upset to leave California, I really enjoyed living in New Jersey, the Garden State.  This is the tee that the New Jersey housewife Teresa was wearing:

And of course now I live in Atlanta. If I bought an Atlanta tee I would buy this one because I live “ITP”–or “inside the perimeter.”  Atlantans know that this means that I would only live in the city, not the suburbs.

My daughter, who was born in New Jersey, but has lived here in Atlanta since the age of 2 may turn out to be a Southern Girl.  If we don’t move she can claim this tee:

What about you, where’s your hometown love?

I’ve gotten a few requests for my morning smoothie recipe, so here it is.  It’s pretty simple; combine the following ingredients in a blender:

8 oz.              Pineapple Juice, Organic 100% Pure  (you can use any 100% pure juice)

1 package    Eboost

1/2 scoop    Rainbow Light Rice Protein Energizer 

1/2 cup        Organic Plain Fat-Free Yogurt

1                   Banana

1/2-1 cup    Fresh Strawberries, Blueberries (or any fruit; frozen is good too)

In addition to my smoothie I usually have 2 boiled eggs whites and maybe a piece of whole wheat toast as well.   I’m pretty energized after this meal and satiated until lunchtime.  I’m also happy that I have managed to ingest many good vitamins and minerals for my body without much effort.   

Let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it.  I warn you that the spirulina in the protein powder does have a “green” taste and takes some getting used to, but it’s so good for you!

From ages 4-8 my son took acting classes at a neighborhood theater in our little New Jersey town.  The kids did theater games during each class and the semester finished with a musical; each child had an equal amount of lines and their own solo.  I still remember the first musical, Candyland; my son was Peppermint.  Most of the kids were so frightened of being on stage that they mumbled their lines and whispered their song–they were only 4 years old after all.   But not my son; he stood on that stage and sang “I Fall to Pieces” in the loudest, clearest, sweetest voice.  After the performance a man said to us, “Your son does a great Patsy Cline!”

He went on to play an elephant in The Floating Zoo (based on Noah’s Ark), a turtle in James and the Giant Peach, and Chuckie in Toons On The Loose.  He always gave a good performance and had a great time, but really didn’t think of acting again after we moved to Atlanta.

That is, until last year when he played Winthrop Paroo in his school’s jr. high production of The Music Man.    Although I knew that he was talented at many things, I was very pleasantly surprised by his performance of “Gary Indiana” shown here on YouTube.

As you can see, he had a ball; I think that he has been bitten by the acting bug now.  This week he’s in the jr. high musical, Suessical; here he is on YouTube performing “Monkey Around”.  He just got a part in a fall production of The Sound of Music as well.   Musical theater camp and dance lessons this summer will only tighten his game for the high school productions in the near future.

When you see his name in lights one day, remember you saw him here first!

The Real Housewives on Bravo

Someone tweeted that the next season of The Real Housewives on Bravo will take place in Washington D.C.  I have watched, in bits and pieces, the O.C., Atlanta, New York and now New Jersey housewives.   Here’s my thing:  I have a problem with a show calling itself “houseWIVES” when some of them aren’t even married.  Bethany is the most likable woman on the NYC show, but she has a DOG;  how is she a housewife?    By association?  And how come there aren’t any wives of color on the shows, except for in Atlanta when it was all brown girls, except for Kim?  Can we at least get a token brown chick?  I know for a fact that there are housewives of color in New York and New Jersey because I was one of them.   I’m a 4 Real Housewife; you can read my story and others like me here.   

Jon & Kate Plus 8

My daughter enjoys watching this show, but I don’t know about letting her watch it now.  Depending on what’s going to happen with Kate & Jon, I don’t want to have to explain to her the reason behind the new  family dynamics.   I watched the last episode when Jon and Kate talked about their current struggles and it’s really sad to watch what they are going through.  I can only imagine how difficult it is to have your public life on display for so many years and I understand Jon’s frustration, but he’s really a PUNK.   I believe him when he says that he didn’t cheat on Kate, but he’s also not acting like a responsible husband either.   If he’s really that unhappy with their current situation then he needs to man up, talk to Kate and figure out their next move as a family, together.  

My two cents; as if you asked.