mommypalooza™ ~ a daily dose of mommy mayhem.

Disney Social Media Moms Conference 2013 - Official Dates Announced! #DisneySMMoms at Walt Disney World

Earlier this evening, Disney PR peeps confirmed that there will INDEED be a Disney Social Media Moms Conference in 2013.  May 9 - 12,  2013 {Mother's Day weekend} -- to be exact -- is when all the magic will take place at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.  

And from now until then, many would-be conference attendees will undoubtedly be  frantically stalking their email boxes every 5 minutes keeping an eye on their inboxes in anticipation of that coveted invitation to the conference.  The event itself is unparelleled, much like the magic of Disney.  Not only are invited guests and their families able to immerse themselves and become one with the Disney Parks family, but bloggers / social media influencers who attend will have access to the most amazing speakers and learning opportunities that will go beyond inspiring them to be and do more!

Last year, my family and I were beyond privileged to be invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and I will be forever grateful!  We were able to experience Disney on a whole new level and well, do Expedition Everest at night which was totally "boss" {as my 9 year-old son would say}!  The memories of the entire experience is something that will never, ever fade from my mind or heart! 

Our passion and love for Disney has been strong for quite some time, but the conference event last year simply put us over the moon!  So much so, in fact, that I was inspired to build my own Disney online home at ¡Hola Disney!, which is my space for sharing ALL things Disney {movies, tv, park info, news, products, shopping, and more} both in English AND en Español! As a Latina, I realzied {after my own searching around} that there was a true need for sharing info in both languages so I headed it up and debuted the site in January 2013.  I'm so excited about the wonderful response I've received and at all that's to come in the future!

 And, no worries, I will undoubtedly be keeping all of you in the loop with the latest happenings of Disney Social Media Moms as the details become available.  In the meantime, I'd LOVE to connect with you on:

¡Hola Disney! - the blog

¡Hola Disney! on Twitter

¡Hola Disney! on Facebook

!Hola Disney! on Google +

Get over Go Daddy and the Super Bowl ad.

It won't stop.  The comments, that is, about the recent Go Daddy commercial that aired during the Super Bowl.  Here are my thoughts.

First off, I didn't see the commercial air live, as we were out to dinner with my inlaws and {thankfully} missed it along with the first hour of the game.  I watched it later on DVR and even though I was repulsed, did not find myself surprised.

Then came the slew of comments on my Facebook wall and Twitter feed about how people were now going to change where they registered their domains -- from Go Daddy to some other service -- all because of this poor taste in ad choice.  Personally, I think that's absurd.  I mean, sure the ad is not exactly enticing or in great taste, but did we really expect it to be?  I mean if the past few Super Bowl ads have been any indication, this is exactly the kind of commercial we should all come to expect from Go Daddy.  If you have kids and are worried about them seeing this kind of repulsiveness, then prepare for it.  You know it's coming.

The same can be said about the {in my opinion: lousy} performance by Beyonce during the half-time show.  I'll preface by saying first off that I am NOT a fan of Beyonce's as it is.  Her music doesn't gel with me and in my opinion, she just doesn't appeal to me as an artist.  But, it's BEYONCE for crying out loud.  We all know there's going to be gyrating and booty-shaking and lots of skin showing.  Why are so many people "disgusted" and in shock about how "sleazy" of a show it was?  Actually, I personally didn't think it was all that bad.  I was actually quite bored.  It's nothing we've not seen from Beyonce before, but certainly not beyond what one could expect.  

Am I saying that I enjoyed being subjected to the awkwardness of the Go Daddy commercials or the sight of Beyonce's thighs?  No, not necessarily.  But, I'm not getting my panties in a wad for it all because hey, it's not like I would have expected anything different.  As much as we'd all like to think it's "family friendly tv", it's not.  We all know that.  To be honest, I am more concerned with my kids being exposed to the ads that glorify alcohol consumption, more than the ones that have sexual connotations.  But, knowing this about myself, it's MY responsibility to shield them from watching the ads, not my job to complain that they are part of the show.  

People forget one thing in all this.  The Super Bowl is selling ads.  And the advertisers are going for the jugular in many cases when it comes to their ads.  We have known this for decades and yet every year it seems someone complains about the commercials or raunchy-ness of the half-time show.  This is what makes the Super Bowl the Super Bowl.  You can't get this stuff anywhere else!

So since you know it's coming, either watch it or don't.  But complaining about it is counter-productive.  It will always remain the Super Bowl.  

Walt Disney Studios: 17 Oscar Nominated films including Best Picture

Congratulations to Walt Disney Studios on receiving 17 Oscar nominations for several films.  2012 was indeed a mouse-kerrific year for Walt Disney films, as many of these were my personal picks of the year as well!

State Farm Go To Bat program + Ryan Howard = the winning play

Ryan Howard and I after our interview at FanFest in Kansas City.

I'm so excited to have the privilege to attend the MLB All-Star FanFest right in my own backyard here in Kansas City with my family!  This morning we were invited to breakfast and the chance to visit with Philadelphia Phillies player Ryan Howard as he talked about his initiative with State Farm on their Go To Bat program. 

Simply put, this new initiative offers baseball fans a chance to support the program’s charities – Boys and Girls Club, Teach for America, Habitat for Humanity and Red Cross – and win a VIP trip for two to a 2012 World Series game.

Fans can engage and play a game online where they hit virtual home runs in an effort to "go to bat" for one of the four charities.  Simply playing the game provides an entry into the contest. To gain additional entries, players can hit home runs, invite their friends to play online, and share their results from the play on various social media outlets.  Then, at the end of each week, one entry is drawn to win a trip to the World Series while the charity they selected wins an $18,000 donation from State Farm.  All of this fun will launch today, July 9, 2012 at the Home Run Derby and will continue on for the next 10 weeks with 10 weekly winners! 

In my talking with Ryan Howard, I realized what a standout guy he really is, not only as an athlete but as a person.  He supports the Boys and Girls Club of America and truly believes in the postitive ways kids can impact this world.  He is also hosting a baseball hitting clinic with the several kids from the organization, and what's so cool is that my kids will actually get to take part in it as well!  They are so excited to be learning from a true pro and great athlete!

This Go To Bat program is all about voicing your support of organizations and communities that you believe in. Who or what do YOU go to bat for?

{Disclosure: I am have received all-access media credentials to attend FanFest & the Home Run Derby thanks to State Farm,  however I have not been asked to post anything about my experience of this event.  All thoughts I am sharing are my own and done so on my own accord.  No one is the boss of me!}

Olympic Swimming Trials make for exciting TV! #SwimToday

Photo credit: USA Swimming

The past week has been an exciting one on NBC!  I hope you've been able to catch some of the "heat" and fun of the USA Swimming trials.  The final events of the trial will be tomorrow, July 2, 2012. It has been unreal watching and cheering on Michael Phelps & Dara Torres from our home living room!

What's even more exciting is that there will be a LIVE Twitter party tomorrow, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time where you can join in and cheer on Dara Torres in real time as she swims!   The party will last an hour, and I hear there will be some FABULOUS prizes as you tweet about swimming and cheering on Dara throughout.  To follow along and join in the fun, you can follow hashtag #SwimToday.

With this 100+ degree heat, swimming has definitely been on the forefront of our kids' minds! They have gotten so excited about the swim team details I've been able to find out more about thanks to the resources on the SwimToday.org website.

I had actually received an invite to attend the trials in Omaha on Monday July 2nd, but because my son has baseball commitments, I will be staying here at home. I am a bit bummed that I won't be able to witness all of the excitement first hand but know that another wonderful blogger will be there to follow along and share it all with us!

The swim trials coming to a close this week just make it such a wonderful way to mark America's Independence Day...I am so grateful and proud of our country AND the wonderful athletes who represent our nation!

GO TEAM USA!!

{Disclosure: This post was part of a partnership with The Motherhood and USA Swimming, however all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. No one is the boss of me!}

Helicopter government is at it again.

New York city mayor Bloomberg is a super-sized jackass & should be banned.  I'm just sayin'.   I have been so insanely looking forward to posting about this ever since I heard about it last week.  I'm just about fuming.  As you may well know, New York Mayor Bloomberg has recently proposed to ban the sale of large size "sugary" drinks at all restaurants, movie theaters, and street carts in New York city.

Uh-huh.  Go ahead. You can say it. Ludicrous. And, no, I don't mean the rapper.

Seriously, W. T. F. ????!!!  This has gone so far beyond the point of making sense that I don't even know where or how to begin.  I mean, at what point is enough enough??  I don't know about any of you but I am all for regulating things that actually have a need to be regulated.  Whether or not you order a large Coke with your value meal is not the business of the New York mayor anyone else for that matter! 

Are large sodas the actual and only cause of obesity, anyway?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  Why can't stupid politicians just deal with the issues their constituents want them to without complicating things?  Since when is going to a movie and ordering a large Cherry Coke a crime? It's not. I am not obese and I LOVE to order large sodas.  Are you telling me that it makes any sense at all to restrict the rights of others just because you feel that such a restriction would help a few? Nope.

While we're at it let's just ban double slice orders of Sbarro too!  And, how much sense does it really make to ban the sale of large sodas but yet allow the person unlimited refills and additional drink orders?  If that's the case, instead of the 1 large Coke, can can I order 15 smalls then?

Why don't we just ban Sponge Bob too since he aparently makes you stupid?  Or, let's ban friggin' people who drive in the left hand lane even when they aren't passing? Or, how about let's ban the sale king size candy bars?!  I mean seriously, when does it EVER END??

We've already got a ridiculous epidemic of helicopter parenting out there, we don't need to add "helicopter government" to that list.  Banning the sale of certain drinks just simply bans the sale of them. It does not and will not suddenly make a city or state less obese. Nope, I hate to break it to you Bloomberg, but the only thing that can change that are the people themselves.

One of my favorite brands, Coca-Cola, recently released a statement about this proposed ban:

“The people of New York City are much smarter than the New York City Health Department believes. We are transparent with our consumers. They can see exactly how many calories are in every beverage we serve.

We have prominently placed calorie counts on the front of our bottles and cans and in New York City, restaurants already post the calorie content of all their offerings and portion sizes -- including soft drinks.

New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this. They can make their own choices about the beverages they purchase. We hope New Yorkers loudly voice their disapproval about this arbitrary mandate.”

As you also may know, I recently attended Conversations with Coca-Cola, a social media moms event.  I was so enlightened by how well their brand promotes and supports living positively.  Much information about their "Live Positively" initiatives can be found on their website here.  

In a nutshell, I am not saying that ordering a large soft drink with every meal is necessarily healthy or that it couldn't contribute to obesity.  Rather what I am saying is that if you're going ban the sale of them simply because they have the potential to contribute to obesity, then you have to start banning just about everything else in eating establishments because of the same link!  And when the words "goverment" (whether it's federal, state, or local) and "ban" are used in the same sentence, that always gets me fuming.  I mean, if they can't yet figure out how to stabilize and prioritize the Social Security system, how on earth could they possibly be equipped enough to tackle the obesity problem?!

What are your thoughts on the proposed ban?

Don't dawg on Paula, now!

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Last week Paula Deen {probably my most favorite TV foodie} revealed during a Today Show interview that she was diagnosed a few years ago with type 2 diabetes.  And, boy did that open the floodgates for the dog pound to pounce all over her!

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 What really got my blood boiling was this post over on some lame vegan blog.  I mean, seriously -- how can one ever even consider being a vegan?  What would be the point in living?!  Anyway-- a whole other blog post entirely.

In a nutshell, the above reference post attacks Ms. Paula for having "pushed" her cooking methods and recipes on everyone via her shows, cookbooks, and websites.  Now that she's a diabetic she is somehow being blamed for sharing her own passions and knowledge about southern comfort food and should somehow be held responsible for passing it on to the rest of us?!  Excuse me?  All that vegan crap you've been eating must totally have you lightheaded!  What I'd really like to say to the author of that blog post is "Chill out and cut into a nice ribeye!" It might actually make you a bit more enjoyable to be around.

How is what WE {as free and independent individuals} choose to eat suddenly the problem of celebrity chef's and the recipes they've been dishing out for years?  Aren't we humans of free will, able to decide for ourselves what we want to eat and put into our bodies?  I, for one, LOVE her cooking and think we'd actually be a lot better off as a society if we'd actually USE a stick of butter in a batch of cookies every now and again.  I mean, why mess with a good thing?  The poor kids who are succumed to being short-changed by moms who swap butter and eggs for applesauce?  I couldn't even imagine.  Why even indulge in a cookie if it's not truly "indulging"?

And why is it so horribly wrong that Paula is now an endorsed representative for a pharmaceutical company with whom she is now working to develop a new "Diabetes in a New Light" nutritional program for diabetics?  Because of her diagnosis, is she suddenly expected to simply find a new career path and NOT use her newfound passion to educate others to share what she knows?  Would any one of us - given the same situation - NOT change our tune in an effort to sustain our living? Shifting her professional focus and using her circumstances to her advantage is quite brilliant!  I love it when people think entrpreneurally.  Genius.  Pure genius, Paula!

It's absolutely ridculous that "Erik" from Vegan.com actually put this into his blog post:

"Nevermind that this meant that she went a full three years continuing to encourage people to eat the same sorts of godawful foods that likely caused her own diabetes."

Really?   The fact that she took the time necessary to figure out where to go from this point is her own business and she owes her fans and audience ZERO response or accountability.  Even if by sharing her recipes she actually was "encouraging" others to eat that way, so WHAT?? Since when did we revert to blaming others for our own choices?  Simply sharing a recipe does not force us to change our own life choices or eating habits.  We are bombarded everyday with messages from television, social media, blogs, internet news, and so on, yet ultimately the decisions about our own health and well being are our own.  If you are someone counting on a celebrity chef to teach you about the value of nutrition, then you are in need of some serious therapy, my friend.

Now, pass me those sticks of butter, ya'll and step off Paula!

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Why, oh why, are we a community centered around controversy?

This afternoon while doing my usual browsing of news feeds from the various blogger resources I am a part of, I came across this whole J. Crew ad controversy story.

My first though was "oh, wow, another mom painting her son's toenails?" 

I say this only because it's totally not my thing.  I mean, I have three vivacious boys that have honestly never even asked to hold or use my nail polish.  Ever.  But, even if they had, I can't say that I would have been open to them doing so.  This totally does not mean that I think there is something wrong with mothers who would or do choose to have their boys play with nail polish; it's that it's simply not for me.

My thoughts then went to "hey, wait a minute -- WHY is this making the news?  Surely there are more newsworthy topics concerning the children of today."

Then after posting the news article and video on my Facebook page, I realized that there are A LOT of us who have differing opinions on this whole thing.  And in expressing those opinions, this can sometimes result in divisiveness between mothers.  Totally not cool.

Whether or not you agree that the ad should be considered controversial, what ends up becoming the real subject at hand (and controversy in and of itself), is how moms are pitted against each other whenever there's some sort of issue or ordeal going on in our society.

Remember that whole Similac recall when there were reportedly bugs found in formula?  The aftermath of that story ended up being formula-fed baby mamas feeling that they had to defend their decisions.  And in turn, fueling the debate (once again) over formula feeding versus breastfeeding.  Now, let me be clear that I am certainly a mom who breastfeeds and believe strongly in its benefits for my family.  But I would never, ever want (or try) to belittle or cause self-doubt within my formula-feeding mom friends because of their parenting decisions.

I think any "controversy" nowadays ends up being drowned out by the frenzy of debate that ensues afterwards.  It's a stressor that we, as moms, don't need or deserve!  Why have we become a community centered around controversy?  Do you try to stay an arm's length away from discussions centered around controversy?  Why or why not?

 

So now what do I do?

Yet another recall was issued, I discovered today.  I've totally gotten used to the fact that while strolling the aisles of my CVS store, that the Tylenol shelves are empty.  Ok, I get that.  What I don't get is how there can possibly be a recall now on Hyland's Teething Tablets.  Seriously?  The homeopathic tabs that I've relied on for most of my life as a mother to help soothe my boys during teething time? Ugh.

Oh, and guess what?  Jacob is right smack dab in the middle of cutting his molars.  Oh yeah.  This recall is great timing.

So I am a little perturbed and disappointed that my perfect little all natural teething tabs are now junk.  My poor baby will just have to rely on nursing for comfort and just tough it out since I refuse to give him any other sort of pain reliever that God forbid, could be recalled just moments from now!

Do you have Hyland's Teething Tablets in your medicine cabinet? If so, you should probably check to make sure yours are not ones that are affected in this recall (though they likely are).  Hyland's is offering a replacement product (yeah, right!) or a refund if you fill out your info here.

I'm off to tend to my teething baby.  Wish me luck!

 

Corporate ploy or legitimate recall?

By now I am sure many of you have run to your medicine cabinets and pulled out all the Tylenol, Benadryl, Motrin, and Zyrtec in sight to see if it is indeed part of the recent massive recall issued by McNeil Consumer Healthcare.

Imagine my disgust when I discovered that we had bottles from nearly every single category they recalled -- and that just days before I had administered Tylenol to my oldest son for a fever.  And, in the weeks prior to this recall, both of my older kids had been taking Zyrtec for their bad allergy symptoms.

So what I am most irritated about is how does a company manage to screw up "quality control" for so many medications?  It really makes me wonder -- is it a matter of quality control or simply another sly way to make a buck?  All of these medicines combined easily have a retail value of at least $30 or so. 

Which leads me to my point in posting this.  How come McNeil provides NO recourse for families (and not to mention its customers) to replace these everyday medications?  Oh, wait, I know why.  Because now that they've gotten you to get rid of your stash, you can now head down to your local pharmacy and drop another $30 of "safe" medicine to replace what you just threw out!

Is anyone else annoyed at the fact that all you're encouraged to do is simply dispose of the recalled medicine, yet aren't given an option to have it replaced for free or at some sort of discount? ♥  

UPDATE: Thanks to Jackie, a blog commenter for letting us know you CAN indeed get at least a partial refund or product replacement by filling out this form.  It seems to be buried in the company's website though.  I think they should've been more obvious about it!