The Big 4-0

Today marks a new decade in my life...the big 4-0! This past weekend, I was doing this to celebrate:

Dinner (courtesy of my oldest) and bowling with my kids and brother. Today, I woke up to this on my bathroom mirror:

Drawn by my talented husband! (That so beats my "I love u!" written in lipstick, lol) Tomorrow, I'll be doing this:

Being treated to a spa day by my husband and having dinner again with our kids. Then, on Thursday, I'll be going down this hill:

That breathtaking drop is on Busch Gardens' brand new coaster Verbolten. It officially opens on May 18, but Matt and I will be attending a VIP launch (no pun intended) party on May 17, courtesy of Busch Gardens. Not only is the drop scary, but there are TWO free-falls where the track and car fall, ala Tower of Terror style. I know, right?

Stay tuned to my Twitter feed for live pics and to see if I'll survive to see another birthday! ;) I'll bring you a full review post as well after we ride. Oh and two of Busch Gardens' other coasters are up for awards on the Travel Channel's Insane Coaster Wars.

Click here and vote for Apollo's Chariot under "G-Force Giants," and Alpengeist under "Hang 'Em High." (Watch the videos for both while you're there too. They're proof that Busch Gardens knows how to do coasters right!)

Finally, on Saturday, we'll be going to a family reunion in Maryland and I can't wait to see my parents, grandma, brother, sister, cousin and more!

Who said getting old has to be boring? I'm having more fun now than I ever have! Hooray for 40!

P.S. I have an awesome giveaway on my review blog right now from Sony Music! Click here to enter to win Mariah Carey's new 2-CD collection The Essential Mariah Carey, an autographed booklet, and Mariah's fragrance, "Forever." Good luck!

Update, 6/5/2012- My review of Verbolten and details of the VIP party (including video) can be found on So a Blonde Walks Into a Review here.

Use of Artifical "Bionic" Pancreas in Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

Note: This post was temporarily put into "draft" mode for several months and when I republished it, some of the content, including the video of the artificial pancreas, was erased by Blogger. I am working to find the missing info and will update this post again when I find it. Thank you for your patience! 

Of the many changes in my life since I temporarily closed my blog a couple of years ago, my little girl being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes has to be one of the most life-altering. On March 17, 2011, I took Natalie to her pediatrician after she was falling asleep randomly in the middle of the day, quit chorus because she was too fatigued to keep up with practices, had frequent urination and increased thirst, and was very moody.

I knew that all of those symptoms could mean diabetes, but my world was still completely rocked when the pediatrician walked in after checking a urine sample and said, "Well, your mom was right to be concerned. You do have diabetes." She gave me a knowing look that said, "I know you are completely freaking out but we are going to keep our cool for Natalie's sake right now." And that's what we did. (Thankfully, Natalie has been going to her since she was a baby and I trust my kids' life to her, literally. She has always taken such good care of my kids and has been spot-on in her diagnoses. She is a Godsend!)

She got us in to Children's Hospital in DC the next day and we began our journey in to the world of Type 1 diabetes treatment and care.

(Natalie, the day after being diagnosed. Dancing, playing and happy, despite the bad news.)

More than one year later, I cannot begin to express how proud I am of my daughter. She is 11 1/2 now and her spirit is simply amazing. Nothing gets her down for too long!

It's pretty hard to sum up in words what a bright, happy spirit she has but this video will give you a little glimpse of it:



And you simply can't bring that kind of spirit down. Diabetes picked the wrong person to mess with. Natalie has taken charge of this disease and doesn't let it control her. She went from being deathly afraid to ever giving herself insulin to sticking herself faster than you can say, "insulin." (It was her desire to go to a sleepover that got her over that fear).

She knows when she is too low and she knows when she is too high and she knows exactly what to do about it. She knows better than I do most days in fact! It is my belief that the more responsibility I put into her hands, the more she will be comfortable in managing this disease now and for the rest of her life. And she has managed it better than a lot of adults have.

At her last check-up, her A1C (which is an average of blood sugars) was near-perfect, something that a lot of pre-teens and teens do not accomplish because they're not as vigilant as she is in her care. I am so very proud of her!

But, as careful as we are, there are days that she is dangerously low, especially in the middle of the night. And days where she's dangerously high. There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to trying to manage blood sugars.

Enter the "bionic" artificial pancreas, which is currently in the experimental stage. I just showed this video below to Natalie and it brought happy, hopeful tears to her eyes (and mine as well):



This amazing, brave little girl Emma will be on "The Doctors" tomorrow to discuss her experience and inform the public about the hope that an artificial pancreas can give to those living with Type 1 Diabetes. Click here to check your local listings.

Emma's mother Stefany has been blogging about her daughter's experience with Type 1 Diabetes as well as with the artificial pancreas here. Emma had to leave the artificial pancreas at the hospital since it is still experimental but it may be available to children like her and my daughter in as little as four years.

Not having to worry if my little girl is going to go into a coma in the middle of the night from low blood sugars? Not having to watch her prick her poor, little fingers several times a day? Not having to stick her with a needle (or have her stick herself) four times a day? Being able to have her live a more normal life like other kids?

Four years cannot come soon enough.

Meeting Justin Furstenfeld from Blue October

We are back from our spring break vacation and what a trip it was! As you know from the post below, we kicked off our trip with a Blue October concert Sunday, April 1 at Rams Head Live in Baltimore.

Lead singer Justin Furstenfeld opened the show with a solo set that was just fabulous!



I found this video of my favorite song from the set, "Freight Train of Pearl," but it's from a show in Myrtle Beach (skip to about 1:00 if you don't want to see Justin setting up the song...that's one of my favorite things about him though - his ability to make such awesome beats):



After Justin's set, we picked up a copy of his book "Crazy Making" which I've been wanting for forever! It's filled with lyrics from Blue October songs as well as notes about the meaning and thought process behind them.



After another opening act from Girl in a Coma, Blue October took the stage and did not disappoint! I was in Blue October heaven!

But, the highlight of the night for my husband and me came when we got to meet the band again after the show and have them sign our book.



We'd met them last October in Silver Spring...all except for Justin. This time, however, Justin came out and we? We died.

As per usual, every photo I ever take with a celebrity comes out horrible and you know you only get one shot! You can't very well be like, "Ummm...my face looks weird in this one. Can we do that again?" :)

My husband said he looked like a deer caught in the headlights, lol, and he never takes a bad picture! Oh well.

Here we are, in all of our bad-picture glory with the fabulous Justin Furstenfeld:



As I stated in my previous post, Matt can unfortunately relate to a lot of the music Justin wrote for "Any Man in America" and his songs have been very therapeutic for us during the most trying of times.

So being able to talk to Justin personally about what we've been through was even more healing. He had great words of wisdom and I am paraphrasing here, but he said something like:

"If you hate your ex, that's fine, but don't bring the kids into it. Stop the bitterness and the fighting. Take all the money you'd put into paying lawyers and battling things out in court and put it into a fund for your kids for college. Then, when they graduate, BAM! They're set!"

We couldn't agree more, but it's too late in our case and obviously in Justin's as well. We've wasted thousands and current/ongoing issues (which I am unable to discuss here) are going to potentially cost us thousands more.

But it's not too late for other families facing divorce and custody issues. That's why Justin created the Any Man in America (AMIA) website. Click here to visit and share it with those you may know who might be going through similar circumstances. If it helps even one child/parent, it's worth it!

I am grateful that my ex and I put our kids first and settled our divorce ourselves, without the need for lawyers. We work together on shared parenting, making sure each of us is involved in decision-making regarding the kids and always doing what is in their best interest. We would never even THINK of dragging our kids into our personal issues or degrading each other to them out of anger. And our kids are so much better for it.

It's my wish that ALL kids have the benefit of parents who care more about them than hurting their ex (which ultimately hurts the kids more than anyone). So I believe strongly in what Justin is doing for parents and kids all across America with his website.

And it makes meeting him in person that much more special to me!

Blue October at Rams Head Live, April 1, 2012

Before heading to Orlando on Monday morning, we'll be traveling to Baltimore to see our favorite band, Blue October, at Rams Head Live (April 1, 8 p.m.). Lead singer Justin Furstenfeld will open with a solo performance, which we are extra psyched to see!

You may know Blue October from hits like "Into the Ocean."



But Matt and I love ALL of their songs and we play their albums whenever we can, especially on long car rides. Here's one of our favorites, currently on the set list for their "Any Man In America" 2012 tour:



The tour name comes from Blue October's latest album and if you haven't heard it yet, I urge you to go buy it! The cover is a photo that Furstenfeld's little girl drew for him:



And the album is all about his bitter divorce and his fight for his rights as a father, something that Matt can unfortunately relate to. The songs on that album always bring tears to our eyes, no matter how many times we listen.

We had the privilege of seeing Blue October's AMIA tour live last fall, so this will be our second time watching (we'd go to all of the shows if we could). Never have I cried at a concert before. I did at that one. And I have no doubt I will do so again this Sunday.

Here's a video I found on YouTube from the show we saw last October at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD:



That song is called "For the Love," and it's all about why Justin performs. Listen to the lyrics. If that's not pure, raw emotion, I don't know what is. If you are not moved to your core at a Blue October show, you are not human!!

I'll be sure to live tweet and twitpic from the show so be sure to tune in to my Twitter feed April 1 at 8 p.m. EST!

Changes

Sheeeee's baaaaack!!! Yes, I have resurrected my old blog and am hoping I can get in to writing about my personal life a little more now.

As most of you know, back in 2010, I made some major life changes. I got separated, divorced and am now remarried to a man who makes my heart and soul complete. There is so much I could say about that whole ordeal but in the interest of peace and moving forward, that's exactly what I'm going to do...move forward and don't look back (for the most part).



So, bear in mind that old posts on this site that refer to my "husband" are referring to my ex-husband Rob, not my current husband Matt. I am also now a bonus mom to three more awesome kids, for a total of SIX kids between Matt and me. Yes, we are the modern day Brady Bunch. :)

If you haven't followed along with our wedding blog, check it out here. I plan on putting up pictures and details of our wedding week at some point (hopefully before our first anniversary!)



I've also been focusing on our new social media venture Media Fl@ir. Seeing that Matt and I met on Twitter, and we have a passion for social media, we figured it was the perfect business for us to start together and we are having a blast with it!

In fact, there's currently a contest on our Facebook page to win a Disney Souvenir from our upcoming spring break trip to Florida (oh, how I wish I had been doing this blog the past year or so...we have had so many adventures, trips and experiences that I really wish I had documented here. Oh well...).



Anyway, just click here and give our page a like, then comment on the post about our Disney souvenir giveaway, and you're automatically entered to win! Plus, if you love as as much as we love you, you'd naturally want to have liked our page anyway, RIGHT? ;)

So there you have it. I am back. Now let's see how long I can live up to the pressure to keep on blogging. Right now it's fun again to me and I'm looking forward to it. The moment it becomes taxing, burdensome or just plain boring, I'll probably step away again. But I'm going to do my best to ensure that doesn't happen.

Oh and that blogger meet up I had been planning just before my world turned upside down? It happened! The wonderful Cissa Fireheart and Mr. Shiny took over the planning while I'll handled the chaos in my life, and the very first NoVACon was born!



And now it's almost time for the next! NoVACon2012 will be Saturday, April 14. You can find all of the details on Cissa's site here. Hope you can join us!

Now I need to get some sleep after fixing this site up ALL NIGHT LONG. I have laundry to do, bags to back and some fun to have starting Sunday night (I'll be sure to blog all about it of course!). Hope you're as excited to have me back as I am to be back! :)

A Spectacular Christmas

I have a confession to make. I have never seen the Rockettes or the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show before. After seeing both for the first time on Friday at Verizon Center in Washington DC, I learned what I'd missed out on and am now determined to make it a yearly tradition.

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular Arena Tour is fairly new, having debuted in 2008, but the show itself dates back to 1933. Two of the scenes from the original show are performed today: the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and "Living Nativity."





I, for one, was moved to tears by the latter and was happy to see a celebration of the true meaning of Christmas come to life before my eyes. I asked my 9-year-old daughter Natalie, who attended with me, what her favorite part of the show was and she said, "The way (The Rockettes) were able to do everything at the same time."





She was referring to their well-known precision, and she's right. From every little kick, to every little turn, their timing was perfect. But she was just as dazzled by the entire 90-minute performance as I was, waving at the dancing bears and laughing at the "boom" flag shot out of the cannon. At one point, Santa ran down the aisle in front of us and she practically jumped out of her seat.



The only thing better than the performance itself for me, was seeing her reaction as well as the children around me. Eyes were wide, jaws were open and there were tons of "oohs" and "ahhs" from the little ones in the crowd.

One fairly new number, "New York at Christmas," made me long for another visit to New York City. The scene features a tour bus with an LED screen backdrop that makes it appear as if the bus is driving through the city. It was so realistic that I just sat back and soaked it in as if I was there.



The special effects were even more dazzling than the backdrop, costumes and scenery. A few times during the show, huge explosions of "snow" are shot out over the crowd, and glitter falls from the ceiling to create a magical snowfall. Colored streamers were shot out at another point to the delight of the audience.





The show was helpful in answering one of the age-old questions children have about Santa: How can he be in more than one place at one time? So asks a boy by the name of Patrick, who doubts the existence of Santa, despite the faith of his younger brother Ben.

It is then that "Santa" tells Patrick that as things have gotten busier for him, he's had to find a way to be everywhere and does so through the use of magic. That brought us to a fabulous number with dancing Santa clones.



My little girl still believes so I know this number went a long way in putting any doubts she may have to rest. In fact, the entire show made our Christmas much more magical. Indeed...spectacular.



Many thanks to Verizon Center for making this review possible. For information on Verizon Center, including events and ticket information, click here.

For more information on Radio City's Christmas Spectacular, including tour dates and ticket information, click here.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Verizon Center

Tune in to my Twitter feed today at 4 p.m. EST, where I'll be bringing you live coverage of the Rockettes' Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Verizon Center in Washington DC.

I'll be posting a full review of the show here soon. Enjoy! :)