Too Old To Trick Or Treat?

So, we've hit a crossroads with my 12yo son. Last week I started hearing murmurings that he might not go trick or treating because he was too old. I'm not sure where he got this, other than from his classmates. I certainly would never tell him to not go...unless he was 30.

The other day I told him to go and enjoy it because we grow up to quickly. His 8yo brother agreed. Unfortunately, they have no hindsight at this age. They understand only to a small degree how fast life passes by.

Today as Doodle was getting ready, I tried my best to encourage Buddy to go with us. I told him he needed to make a decision...all the while he's put on his costume and is walking around in it.

In all honesty, I was getting frustrated. I don't want him to care so much what others think of him. I want him to embrace the decisions he makes. To stand firm. He needs to have enough confidence in himself to have his own thoughts. Tonight wasn't going to be that night it seems.

He wore his costume and kept finding fault in it. He wanted to know if I could tell it was him. (Oh sweetie, who cares?) His mask was pressing his nose down. (no one will notice) He tried to use a mask to cover his face and then use the real mask. (it just isn't working pal)

As we drove around the neighborhood in town, Doodle went door to door gathering up all kinds of sugary goodness, along with a sample toothpaste, popcorn and pencils, Buddy sat in the back seat watching. I kept asking him if he wanted to get out (ya, kinda), and encouraging him to go have fun, he never moved out of his seat. In fact, by the time we were done, he had a throbbing headache and wanted to go home so he could go to sleep.

Have you hit the tween stages? Did yours go trick or treating this Halloween or have they given it up?

Puppies vs Babies Online Contest

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puppies vs. Babies for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I absolutely love it when people share photos of their puppies and their babies. Honestly who doesn't just "oooo" and "ahhhh" when you see photos of either? Puppies frolicking in a field, a baby giving a first smile, don't they just grab your heart?

I have to be honest, I'm not sure which I think is cuter. How can one choose? I think the only way is by going by the merit of each photo and not comparing them to the other. At least not until we get to the very end! That leads me to the reason for this post! There's an actual contest to see which is actually cuter: Puppies vs. Babies!

Starting now, you can vote until November 23rd for the puppy or baby of your choice. Can you imagine how hard this is going to be? My kids are older, but I still have some seriously cute photos that could rival any puppy photo out there...aside from the photos of my dog, Rugby, who was absolutely the cutest puppy EVER!

Are you ready to head over and start voting at the Puppies vs. Babies online contest? This is going to be quite the show down between puppies and babies! who do you think you'll vote for? Do you have a propensity to lean towards puppies because they're just so darn cute?

I can't wait to hear who you voted for and what the results end up being!

Sante Nuts Review

My boys and I have an affinity for nuts and when I had the opportunity to try Sante Nuts, I jumped on board! Since I’m always looking for new snacks that are healthy for my boys to eat, I was willing to try these and hope they enjoyed them!These nuts didn’t just come in any old box. No they came in a very cool display so that we could be more mindful on how we tried them! I liked that because the boys didn’t just dive in with nuts flying everywhere.

Buddy tried the Candied Walnuts to begin with. From there he went to the Candied Pecans. I knew of all four flavors, if they were candied, he’d probably like them. Unfortunately, they weren’t a big hit with him.

Next came Doodle’s turn to try them. He also tried the candied nuts first. I knew neither of them would care for the Roasted Salted Pecans or the Garlic Almonds. He absolutely loved the candied nuts! He and I pretty much finished both bags within a few days! They were very hard to put down and not eat more than a handful!

I liked the Roasted Salted Pecans, but they didn’t seem much different than a pecan nut you’d get anywhere else. The Garlic Almonds were probably the ones that I didn’t gorge my way through. Not because I didn’t like them, but because they weren’t my favorite. I liked the flavor, but I think I’m more of a candied Pecan/Walnut girl.

Here’s a little bit about Sante Nuts:

“Our meticulous process eliminates any trace of bitterness in the nuts and, most importantly, helps minimize absorption of the organic canola oil we use for roasting. This technique has lots of benefits:

• A lighter nut with amazing crunch
• Less oil = less fat per nut = a healthier nut
• Gives the nuts a perfect, wafer-thin coating of pure cane sugar
• More nuts per ounce than other brands

We always roast by hand in small batches (with lots of care and love) so that every nut in every bag is consistently delicious.”

Check out the rest of the Sante Nuts story here.Thankfully, Sante Nuts has created a unique coupon code that all of you can use to get a 25% discount on any order at SanteNuts.com. All you need to do is enter this code during check out: 2011-Blog-079 This code is good thru December 16th, 2011.

I received these Sante Nuts for review purposes. The delicious opinions are mine and never influenced by the company!

Wordless Wednesday: Faith

Last week I got a wild hair and decided to paint my entryway. After I painted it I put up this saying “Faith makes things possible, not easy”. Boy that sure is true!
During the day it doesn’t look so green, more blue believe it or not!
Make sure to check out these Wordless Wednesday participants also:

Godiva Coffee Giveaway

My best friend came over earlier this month for a Saturday morning coffee taste testing. So fitting since this giveaway is part of the Friends You Love month! We settled in to try out Godiva Coffee for the first time!

I know she loves these cold weather coffees and she’d be the perfect person to try them with me. We started our morning with the Caramel Pecan Bark. I loved it. It was so smooth and the creamer I had only enhanced the flavor. LP had hers black and really liked it. She said it didn’t need anything added.Next we tried the Pumpkin Spice. It had a very strong flavor and LP liked this one even more. Now, I am not a big fan of spices like nutmeg or cloves, which go perfectly with this type of coffee. Needless to say, it was a bit strong for me even with a creamer. But like I said, LP loved it!
Here’s what Godiva has to say about their coffee:
“Priced just under $10, Godiva Coffee is offering 12-oz. bags of ground coffee at grocery stores nationwide. They are pleased to introduce a variety of everyday favorites and seasonal blends that combine the quality of medium-roasted, 100 percent Arabica beans with flavors inspired by the Chocolatier’s most popular truffles. From everyday brews like Chocolate Truffle and Hazelnut Creme to fall flavors like Pumpkin Spice and wintery Peppermint Mocha, treating your friends to a delicious treat is effortless!”
I tell you what, I’m keeping my eye out for the Peppermint Mocha!
Here’s your opportunity to win a full size bag of Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark! Be sure to get the $2 off coupon for your next purchase!

Forgetting To Keep Score Guest Post by Amy from As The Bunny Hops

I met Amy through the numerous Twitter parties we attend. We kind of have this thing for Twitter. Some people call it an addiction, we just call it love! I can't really think of anyone on Twitter who's made me laugh harder than she has!

Bio: 

Amy blogs about the things she loves at As The Bunny Hops. This includes (in no particular order) travel, shopping and making ridiculously complicated cupcakes. She can also be found far too often on Twitter and ocassionaly updating on Facebook.

Keeping score has it's place. In sports. In games of scrabble. I'm pretty sure Mimi would say it's vital in Fantasy Football.

But there's a place keeping score doesn't belong, and that's in friendship. I can't say I've never kept a friendship score. I can't even say I never do it now. But it is something I try to avoid. And I've been so much happier-and I think a better friend-since I stopped keeping score.

What do I mean by keeping score? If you know how many times you've hosted your friend as opposed to her hosting you. If you know who bought the last five lunches. If you know the difference in prices between the last few Christmas gifts you've exchanged. Those mean you're keeping score.

I've certainly driven myself a little batty in the past, watching a friend who borrowed money and hadn't paid it back treat herself to something I couldn't afford. I've wondered why I was the one who was always calling or inviting someone over and I've let myself feel resentful in the past. Then I had to ask myself why. Why did I loan money in the first place? Why did I invite someone over? It was because I cared about them and wanted to help them out. Or I wanted to spend time with them because we have fun together. I wanted to be a friend. 


Now when I give a friend money it's just that, a gift. If I buy lunch it's because I wanted to buy lunch. I don't expect to have things reciprocated in the same way. If you're my friend it's because I find value in our friendship and that's more than enough for me. Perhaps you always short on cash but you can make a killer blueberry pie (and when you're baking you always make an extra one for me). Maybe you don't really want to entertain in your home but you're always ready to drop anything and be there for a friend in need.  All of these things have value, as do so many other things that I couldn't even begin to list them all. And there's really no point in trying to list them all, anyway. I refuse to keep score...

Thank you so much Amy for contributing to today's Friends You Love Guest Post! Make sure to check out other posts about friendships at Friends You Love! Do you have a guest post for today? If so, link it up and be entered to win a prize!

Simply Charmed Giveaway

When I first heard about Simply Charmed, I didn't see how they would fit me or my family. I mean, we don't drink wine. I've seen wine charms before. What use would I ever have with them.

Then I talked to Kristin from Only Parent Chronicles and she told me she was using them on a regular glass. I couldn't understand because I hadn't actually looked at my charms yet! I guess that would've been my first step!

 

I ran over and pulled them out of the packaging and voila! These were charms I would actually USE!! Go figure! They weren't at all what I thought they would be and as soon as I looked at them I started going thru my mind who would love these as a gift. I say that because the moment I saw them I knew my 20yo daughter would be taking them from me!

Their site has so many great groups of charms:

• Sports
• Nature
• Special Occasions
• Hobbies & Professions

That's only scratching the surface!

The charms are magnets. The charm goes on the outside with one part of the magnet. Then on the inside of whatever glass you choose, goes the mini-magnet. And let me tell you, that magnet is powerful!

Make sure to check them out on Twitter and Facebook!

The Mighty Macs In Theaters October 21, 2011

The film is based on the incredible true story of the 1971-72 Immaculata College team that started in obscurity but became the original Cinderella story in women's basketball. This team of pioneers went from barely making that inaugural tournament to the first dynasty in their game.
The all-star cast includes Carla Gugino, David Boreanaz, NBA referee Ed Rush, Marley Shelton, and Academy Award and Tony Award winner Ellen Burstyn.

Tweet with us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MightyMacsMovie

Here’s our Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/themightymacs

Freschetta Breast Cancer Awareness Giveaway

I was sent two sets of pink headphones from Freschetta along with a coupon for a free pizza! I don't think there's a person alive who hasn't had their life touched in some way. Either we have family or friends who have been affected by this disease. When I received these headphones, my first thought was to give them to my daughter. I mean, they ARE pink, and that's her favorite color.

Then I began to realize, I need to give her more than just pink headphones. I need to give her education. Those headphones need to be a reminder to her that she needs to be aware of her breast health. She's 20 yrs old and now is the time to get into the habit of checking herself monthly. She needs to familiarize herself with her body.

Freschetta wants to share their Proud To Support Pink Program! Since October is National Breast Cancer awareness month, they've started this program! Through the rest of October when you purchase specially marked packages of Freschetta pizzas and Artisan Pizza Crusts you'll help them reach the goal of $50,000 that they'll be donating to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. They'll donate $1 to support breast cancer research up to $50,000.

Do you have a breast cancer story or one of someone you know? You can share them at the Freschetta site and they'll post them at www.ProudToSupportPink.com and on their Facebook page! To top it off, they're giving away 50 pink iPod Shuffles every week in October. They'll also be donating 50 iPod Shuffles to four cancer centers around American to be enjoyed by breast cancer patients during treatments.

Now you have the chance to win what I received:

• A coupon to try a Freschetta pizza, 12oz or larger
• Two (2) pairs of Freschetta Proud To Support Pink earphones: 1 to keep, 1 to giveaway

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Apple Orchard

…where there were no apples left on the trees, there were tons of people, but my kids were able to get pumpkins! It was also SO windy I couldn’t see much in front of my face because of all the hair!



Make sure to link up to these other Wordless Wednesday participants:

Friends You Love Guest Post by Kristin at Kadbury Is...Thinking Out Loud

I met Kristin at the Minnesota Blogging Conference #MNBlogCon this summer. I was immediately drawn to her. Her sense of humor rivals that of any well known comedian! I'm so thrilled to introduce you to my new blogging friend!





HI!  I’m Kristin from Kadbury Is… Thinking Out Loud.  Over at my place I focus on sharing stories about my life and hearing what you have to add to the conversation. So far, I’ve shared about how rodents nearly ruined my Easter, how I trick my kids (known as The BLT) into believing that I have not, in fact, eaten most of the monkey bread, how not to spend a hundred bucks on a Pottery Barn lampshade, and why Katy Perry makes my head spin.  Today I’m going to share how I’m just a generally horrible friend . Hang with me… I’ll explain:


I’d like to think I’m an awesome person, the kind of girl everybody wants to hang out with because I’m just so dang cool.  But the reality is this: people want someone they can rely on, someone they can trust to come through in a tough spot, someone that will always have your back.

And sometimes, I am not that person. 

Not because I don’t desperately want to be, mind you.  I like to blame my goldfish-like memory and lack of organization.  I simply can’t remember what the heck it was that I was supposed to be doing 9/10ths of the time.
 
Please know that’s not an excuse.  It’s more like a ‘the first step is admitting  you have a problem’ kind of thing.  But wait, there’s more!  Another reason I’m a bad friend:  I love to be there to help you through your problems and issues, but if I have a problem… I hide.  From everybody.  Including my closest friends.
I won’t answer your calls and I won’t call you back.  It’ll get so weird that you’ll begin to think you did something to make me mad and not have any idea what it could be.  Eventually, you’ll get mad at me for thinking I’m mad at you and not knowing why I won’t just answer your call so we can patch things up. 

Yep.  I’ve done that. 

I’d love to be able to say that I’ve grown up and matured and become a wonderful, caring, reliable friend.  Truth is…


When I moved from Arizona to Minnesota three years ago, I left behind some of the most awesome girlfriends on the planet.  They were understandably distraught (I hope you’re reading the sarcasm there) at my departure.  Truthfully, we were all sad, did the goodbye dinners and such and then I moved to the Frozen North with my family.  My girlfriends called me regularly and left sweet messages, asking how things were going and what our plans were. 


I really, really meant to call them back.  To keep them filled in on our Adventures in Minnesota.  But I was always confounded by the time difference and I could never find the right time.  And… I didn’t want to bother them with my problems.  So… I didn’t.  It got to the point where I felt horrible about not calling them back, and went into hiding instead. 


I knew how badly I had blown things when it came time to visit Arizona, and I just couldn’t make the call to get my girlfriends together for a night out.  I had let a huge amount of time pass without calling to check on them and their lives.  Instead, I just put a small, ‘hey, headed to Arizona’ status on my Facebook and slunk into the shadows.


To show you just how awesome my friends are: when I arrived in Arizona,  most of them acted like nothing happened.  Sure, we discussed my lack of communication, but otherwise, they treated me as they always had. 

Incredible.  Obviously I am the most awesome human to walk the planet…

Please disregard the previous statement.  Obviously, I have the most amazing, caring and forgiving friends on the planet. 


Because we’ve been friends for over fifteen years they know me and they know my heart.  I may not be the most reliable friend ever, but they know I would walk over hot coals for them.  And that’s what has held our friendship together through my move halfway across the country.  I’m may be horrible at sharing my feelings or keeping in touch, but usually I don’t have to because they can tell something’s wrong without me saying a word. 


Maybe that’s how friends work… or maybe that’s just how my friends work.  We pick up where the others are lacking.  I know if I need some organizing to be done, I can count on Melanie.  Rachel is the best listener ever and Katie is just plain fun.  Me?  I’m usually the go-to for artistic stuff.  Well, in truth, I’m probably the comic relief.  But I’m okay with that because it works.  We each fill a need in each others lives. 

Since moving to Minnesota, I’ve made some awesome friends up here that I now love dearly.  I know it’ll take time to build the relationships up to the level that I have with my Arizona friends.  And I’m really hoping they’ll put up with me long enough to find out that I’m an okay friend after all.


--
Kristin D

Kadbury Is... Thinking Out Loud

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Facebook

Be sure to check out all the other wonderful Friendship posts at Friends You Love.

Mars BOO Bags #DontBeTheDarkHouse #Cbias

We don’t typically do much more for Halloween than go trick-or-treating. For the first time this year, I heard via Twitter that people were being “BOOed”. I kind of made a face wondering what everyone else knew about and I once again DIDN’T.
Turns out at the beginning of October people begin BOOing each other. One person sneakily leave a poem for another person with some little Halloween treats and don’t let them know who’s done it.
Well, I had the chance to finally BOO someone this coming week! I headed to Walmart to grab some goodies to make and add into the BOO bags!When I first got there, the guys were stocking the shelves so I headed to the Seasonal decoration aisle to see what I could come up with! I was SO shocked at all the goodies they have for parties and BOO bags!
They had straws, bubbles, pencils, stickers, and much more! One could seriously go crazy over stuffing bags!
I grabbed a package of cellophane bags for my boys to decorate and then had to come up with a couple of fun toys all the while remembering that I’d need to add some candy as well.
I walked up and down the aisle trying to figure out what would be fun for the kids. I grabbed pencils, crafting necklaces, spider rings cellophane bags and stickers to decorate them with.
After I grabbed all the Boo supplies, I headed back to the candy to see what yummy options I would have! An entire aisle of candy on either side is pretty much heaven in my book!I found the Mini Snickers in a small package and a big package. Those were surrounded by 3 Musketeers, M&Ms and Milky Ways. If I’m going to buy candy on any given day it’s going to be a bag of Peanut M&Ms. Those are my go-to candy typically.
I grabbed Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and my favorite Peanut M&Ms! =) Of course, I didn’t want to forget the mama of the brood who will be receiving these BOO bags. I got a yummy Dove candy bar for her.
When my daughter came home this weekend, we all decorated the bags. What I had no clue was, once the glitter glue dried on the cellophane bags, the glue would fall right off! LOL Who knew? We may have to grab a package of paper bags to make sure the BOO bags are properly decorated, glitter and all!We all did a bag with the stickers and glitter glue. I love how my kids get into these activities! I’m hoping next year I’ll remember this and have our kids BOO our neighbors and I might even do the same thing at work!

Have you ever BOOed someone? Have you ever been BOOed?

Check out my entire shopping experience at This Moment!

*This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias The opinions expressed are my own and never influenced by the company.

#blogstars Twitter Party

Join us every Tuesday for the chance to win some GREAT prizes!

This weeks prizes will be:

 

Footloose ~ Not Your Every Day Remake

So, right now it’s the last day of August and I just finished watching the new Footloose. I was a bit apprehensive as I was a young teen when the first one came out with Lori Singer and Kevin Bacon.

I knew this one would be different in that the sexual tension would be heightened and there’d be more swearing. I know, I’m a prude. Get over it.

Let me say I loved the original Footloose and even though it’s been remade, it can’t be replaced. So here’s my review!

First of all, I LOVE that they used so much of the original Soundtrack! Right from the get-go you know that you’re going to love this movie. Almost like they are giving a gift to us old-timers saying, “we loved the original, too”.

It’s been a long time since I saw the original Footloose and as we watched the movie, it would come back little by little and I started to have expectations of what else would be reminiscent of the first.

There was the car Ren drove, the old VW Beetle, his pal Willard he meets at school is as bumbling and adorable, the girl is supposed to be good, but has a bit of a wild streak, and all they want to do is DANCE! When Ren teaches Willard how to dance. Of course it wasn’t exactly the same, in fact this one part was much cuter, but I remember Kevin Bacon teaching Chris Penn to get the beat by snapping his fingers, and of course the angry dancing in the granary, wearing the red jacket to the dance at the end of the movie…

I really had goosebumps throughout the movie. It was like deja vu.

Julianne Hough’s performance was good. I was surprised that she could act so well. Her emotional scenes left me wanting, but she had so much enthusiasm throughout the entire film. I wasn’t a big fan of Lori Singer in the original, so what Julianne brought to the character of Arielle won me over.

I really enjoyed the new Ren played by Kenny Wormald. He had a good ol’ All-American boy feel about him. Kevin Bacon’s part was going to be hard to compete against and I think it was stellar to bring in someone who is somewhat new to the Hollywood scene to play this role. And Kenny can dance like nobody’s business and I felt he was very much equal in this area to Julianne’s Arielle.

Dennis Quaid’s character wasn’t as “hellfire and brimstone” like John Lithgow’s performance. So that was a departure from the original. Quaid was still a stern father, but he didn’t bring the same harshness.

I love that Craig Brewer put his own spin on this movie. He changed it enough that I felt like I was watching a mostly new movie. I had concerns that it would have a High School Musical feel to it since it had the dancing element and I wasn’t sure who their target audience was going to be. It could’ve gone spectacularly wrong.

Thankfully, the dancing was amazingly well choreographed, but it wasn’t a musical. Brewer made sure the storyline was the move, not the dancing. I was so pleased with how the movie was remade that I hope to see it again in the theater with my best friend this week!

*I was given passes to see the movie in August. The opinion expressed is my own and never influenced by the company!

My Son for Student Council

I don't typically brag about my kids, but I'm definitely going to do it today.

My Doodle came home from school today and announced as he came through the door that he was running for Student Council.

One of my kids? Running for an elected position in school? How did this happen? I have four kids and none of the other three had shown an interest in being involved in anything at this young age. Doodle is in 3rd grade.

I'm so amazingly excited!! Who knew I'd have a go-getter? He has to fill out an application and write a paragraph answering this question:

Why would you be the best student council representative for our homeroom?

Here's his answer with his spelling:

"Because I will respect others, I will be concidorit to others, I will respect other fealings, and student's omotions, I will talk with student's if they need it, I will encouarage student to try there best."

I really hope he gets to be on Student Council, just because he's my kid and that's what I hope for him! If he doesn't, I'll help him to see it as a learning experience and encourage him to try again next year!!

I'm so excited!!

Did you run for any elected positions when you were in school? How about your kids?

UPDATE: My little guy didn't get voted in. He was disappointed, but he might try again next year. Of course my heart hurt for his disappointment, but it's a learning experience. =)

Friends You Love Bestie Photo Contest

What would any of us do without our best friends in our lives? It would be a cold and dreary life if we didn’t share our lives with them. Here’s the chance to share about your Best Friend in a photo and you could win a Bare Escentuals gift pack!

Here’s my Bestie, LP when we were making s’mores at her house! I dig her!

Join us this week - October 9 - 15 - for the Friends You Love Besties Photo contest, sponsored by our friends at Bare Escentuals.
Submit your favorite photo of you and your besties for a chance to win a Bare Escentuals gift pack!

To enter:

Contestants can submit a a photo of themselves with their best friend to

kristin at onlyparentchronicles dot com

Submissions will be accepted 10/9 - 10/15.

Voting will occur 10/16 - 10/20 here
Bare Escentuals has put together a fantastic prize pack for the winner!

Facebook Pumpkin Carving Contest—Win a Kidorable Ensemble

 

Pumpkins Come and Pumpkins Go, but A Jack-O-Lantern steals the show! Carve, Chisel, or Shape your best pumpkin. One lucky fan will win a full Kidorable ensemble of their choice.

Its easy - just email a picture of a child you love with the pumpkin they carved to contest@kidorable.com. Whoever gets the most votes wins.

We will receive entries from October 17 through Monday, October 31. Then voting will continue through Monday, November 7 at 2pm when well announce the winner.

Footloose Interview with Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Craig Brewer

Last month I had the pleasure of seeing Footloose! Yes, the second one! I was so excited to see it and my review will be coming up at the end of the week!!

I met with several other social media people at the Grand Hotel in Minneapolis. We were there to have a round table discussion with  Kenny and Julianne first and Craig second. I was so glad that they bumped the interview back because the construction in Mpls made me late.

I had no idea how I was going to respond to sitting at a table with Hollywood actors. Would I act like a total dufus or would I be composed. Thankfully when they walked in, I just put on my Mom Blogger face and kept my composure! Thank goodness!

Julianne sat next to me with Kenny right next to her. I was so amazed at how down to earth they were as they answered each of our questions! One by one we went around asking a single question. Here's what I learned about both of them:

They didn't watch the movie as they were filming. They had seen it before, but avoided it so there would be a lot more substance.

Neither felt pressure recreating the roles while they were filming because they trusted Craig's direction. Now that they're doing the pre-release tour they're both pretty nervous. (I would be too with people having such strong feelings about the remake)

Kenny said they had amazing acting coaches and he watched James Dean footage to help him with his character. Julianne mentioned she related to Arielle and just from life experiences had things to draw from.

Both Julianne and Kenny have a background in dance, although different styles. In the movie, Julianne said it was more sexy without precision and with the first dance scene there was grinding and really sexy. Craig just let them be free.

Julianne loved filming in GA with all the different cultures. It also helped that it was only about four hours from her home in Nashville. Kenny is from Boston and in the original Footloose, Ren was from Chicago. They allowed Kenny to stay with his natural accent and just changed where he was from.

They both felt this movie proves they can act. Julianne didn't want to go immediately into another movie that involved dance, but Rock of Ages came along and couldn't pass it up.

Unfortunately, our time with them was short and sweet because they were running to catch a flight. I have to say, I was so impressed with both of them. They were down to earth and easy to talk to. Felt like we should've been sitting at Starbucks chatting over coffee. I told them I felt whoever had cast them had done a great job and chose the right people.

Next came Craig Brewer. If you want to find out what happened before I met him face to face, you'll have to go read my Wordless Wednesday last month. Let me start off by saying Craig reminds me of your favorite neighbor who always invites the block over for a BBQ.

Craig had initially declined directing this movie. After seeing it, I'm glad he decided to take it over!

I asked him about the religious aspects of the movie and if he's concerned about repercussions from the religious community. He didn't think so. Craig felt like John Lithgow's portrayal was very "fire and brimstone". He realized that this new version didn't have the same vibe. He didn't want to "demonize the faith or demonize the parents" being a parent himself.

Being a parent changed Footloose for him. He started the movie off seeming silly and fun, but then "punched them in to face" with the accident.

Craig moved the movie to the South instead of being shot in Utah. It's home for him. He wanted teenagers to look like teenagers today. He was very particular about how they looked and not just pretty kids. He likes real looking kids.

He likes that Ren is feared by the people in the town. The fact of the matter is he's offered drugs and he says "no", Arielle asks him to kiss her and he says, "someday", he wants to take her to the dance, he asks her father. He's a good guy.

Craig realizes that there are a lot of haters out there because he's remade a movie that some have said shouldn't have been remade. He understands that, but he's past that now. He knows Kevin Bacon weren't stars when the original was made. He knows that it will just take people seeing it to get over the baggage.

My review will be coming up on opening day so you'll be able to see what I thought of the new Footloose!

Want to get involved in the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest without even having to turn on the oven? Cast your vote and help decide which apron will be worn by finalists as they compete for $1 million at the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off in March!

Adding a dash of designer fashion, Pillsbury has asked three former contestants from a top fashion design reality show to compete in a "Runway Challenge" and help design the official apron to be worn by finalists at the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest.

Althea Harper, Kara Janx and Carol Hannah Whitfield have each designed an apron to potentially be worn by the 100 finalists on the contest floor at the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest finals which take place March 25-27, 2012, in Orlando, FL.

You and your readers can visit the Pillsbury Facebook page to vote for your favorite and help decide which design should become the official apron of the 45th Bake-Off Contest. Hurry and cast your vote before voting closes on Monday, October 17th!

I received this information from MyBlogSpark and just wanted to pass on the fun. I already voted for my favorite. =)

Wordless Wednesday: #Cbias

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I’m so thankful for the relationship I’ve created at Collective Bias. Being part of their site has allowed me to have blogging opportunities I never would’ve had on my own. The cupcakes decorated above was part of a 50 Ft Party/Kmart Shopping experience. My boys really got into decorating the house and setting up all the party supplies we ended up using.
So many great opportunities await us as bloggers!
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