Notes From Nashville

Buy Art Supplies with Ease at http://www.madisonartshop.com/

2010-01-19T16:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went to one of the chain arts and craft stores in town since I was feeling creative and inspired. I had my two little girls in tow so I knew I didn't have a lot of time before the inevitable meltdown occurred. As soon as I stepped foot through the sliding doors, I became lost in the labyrinth of aisles and displays. What was I looking for exactly and which side of the store should I begin my search on? I caught a glimpse of a sales woman in the distance but as I raced to make contact, she scurried away into a far off aisle and I was left alone amongst the confusion of craft clutter that lay in front of me. I ended up leaving the store empty-handed except for carrying/dragging my two grumpy children.
Today I discovered an online art shop called Madison Art Shop. You can find it at http://www.madisonartshop.com/. This is just what I need! Madison Art Shop is one of the most well-known art supply stores on the web today. The President and Vice President are a husband and wife team who specialize in customer service. The store really is a family-owned business with not only "Mom and Dad" working but at times their seven children as well! The store sells everything from the obvious art mediums to furniture and even art supplies as well as toys for children. Everything is simple in layout and unlike the craft store I visited, it is very easy to navigate. Prices are very competitive and often discounted. Below I have posted some photos from the website on some items I may not be able to live without!

My New Crush: Roku

2010-01-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

So the economy just plain stinks these days. Our family has not managed through this period unscathed and thus are always on the hunt for ways to cut costs and pinch pennies. Thanks to my brother, I have discovered the wonderful world of Roku. A Roku player is a tiny box that you can buy from amazon.com for about a hundred dollars, with no monthly fees whatsoever. Once you have it, you can use it with your netflix membership and be able to stream all the "watch now" shows and movies right onto your television set. This has been extremely helpful and a good deal financially for us. The first thing we did was to change our netflix subscription to just one movie at a time which makes it less than 10 dollars a month. We had already seen all the movies we had wanted anyway except for occasional new releases that now we can still order. Next, we will cut our cable down from advanced basic to basic which saves massive bucks. Any show we watch will either be on the basic channels, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, Roku, online, or order it from netflix. We have many options and yet will not be paying over $25 per month for it all. The great thing about Roku is that you can see your shows and movies on the television screen since they appear like movie posters when you are making your choice. They also offer descriptions of all the programs right on your television screen. You can start watching one, pause, and come back later. It saves your place. Also, this gives you massive control over programming for children. There are no commercials on Roku and lots of quality educational shows with entire seasons on Roku such as Calliou, Dora, and lots of wholesome family films. I have been watching a lot of programs on my new Roku including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, some HBO shows, and lots of movies. I like how I can just try out a show and if I don't like it, I just hit a button and watch something else. There is no commitment! The president of Netflix has said that he feels that streaming movies is the future of Netflix and that the concept of dvd rental may be a dead past time in as short as two years. In the meantime, Netflix continues to add more and more programming onto their "watch now" collection. Anyone with a Netflix subscription can watch the "watch now" shows already on their computers but Roku makes it much simpler to view them all and to be able to pause them and come back later. If you have a TIVO or DVR subscription, you could save massive amounts of money every month by switching. Maybe the extra money can pay down that mortgage or help with the grocery bills. You may or may not be ready to make the commitment to cut your cable but now with Roku, it is a lot easier to do so! So in a nutshell, Roku, I love you! Don't you think Amazon and Netflix should pay me for the free shout-out?

Should I Listen to the Skinny Bitch?

2010-01-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

At Target the other day, I was casually gazing over the bestsellers when my eyes stopped on the word "Bitch." At first I was taken aback. As a mother of two small children, I have become sensitized to those "bad words." Then I picked the book up and read about it. I ended up buying the darn thing. Skinny Bitch is a book written by two women who think they have the skinny (pun intended) on being slim and healthy. It is chock full of hilarious put downs about why of course you, the reader, have a fat behind. After all the comedy and direct jabs to the typical American's diet, it provides some convincing arguments for why we should all become vegans. I was originally surprised. No meat? No dairy? Are you nuts? I was expecting the barrage of criticism about the ever-popular enriched flour products. I looked forward to reading about how smoking, drinking, and sodas were all evil incarnate, but milk and chicken? I thought they were some of my closest allies. The book also discusses a bit about how our bodies have become highly acidic from all the high sugar foods we eat and how this can lead to cancer. There are certain foods that are more alkaline and apparently having your body have a more alkaline reading is very beneficial for good health.
I can't say that overnight, I have become a vegan from reading this book, but it has made me think more about my health and small things I can do to improve it. For instance, I have switched from splenda to stevia for the time being. I also tried the agave nectar but found stevia much sweeter. I also took their advice about starting the day with fruit only. I save my whole wheat carbs for later in the day. So far, I have not been hungry like I thought I would be from doing this. In fact, I feel pretty good. I also have switched from milk to soy milk for the time being and have been keeping dairy and meat out of my diet for the most part. So far, I have not been getting the mild migraines that I am used to getting nearly every day. I am also working to get my body more alkaline. Time will tell if this new trendy book will change lives. I may not be a skinny bitch necessarily, but I am probably a more healthy one!

Mary Kay Lady to the Rescue!

2009-12-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

Today I did something that is as familiar to me as hunting large game animals in Africa.. I had my make up done. While my poor mother for many years tried to get different ladies to teach me the make up craft, it continued to be a mystery to me. Today I found that the doors of that often-complicated world into beauty may have opened a bit for me. Enter: Jennifer Bethea, The Mary Kay Lady. This is one of the sweetest ladies and she was so patient with me while I sat befuddled with my reflection in the mirror. She started out by showing this great treatment that smooths rough hands and gets rid of the dead skin and cracking. My hands feel about five years younger. After this, she went through an array of products that moisterize, cleanse, and beautify. I was very impressed with her demeaner, her clear way of explaining the products, and by the products themselves. The eye shadow, blushes, and lip colors are beautiful and vibrant. By the end of her session, she had me thinking that even someone like myself could do this every day! One thing that was especially nice, was that Jennifer had an eye for colors on people and what looks good. She was able to pick out a few different colors that would work for me and then provide me with a choice.
If you are interested in meeting Jennifer, she has a Mary Kay website that is full of information regarding all the products, services, and a lot more. Find her site at: www.marykay.com/jbethea2
and gain new insight and hope into this enigmatic world of beauty!

Want to Advertise? Seek Help from Moms!

2009-12-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Scarlet has a new business and I am looking forward to seeing her on Oprah as a multi-millionaire in a few years. Her company is Moms Wear Your Tees. Basically, companies or anyone trying to sell any products whatsoever can now invest in advertising by having stay-at-home-moms wear shirts with the company's logo around town, in addition to offering lots of word of mouth and internet advertising for that product or service. This is really brilliant because stay at home moms get around! You will see us at the zoo, grocery stores, libraries, schools, the YMCAs, malls,.. We are EVERYWHERE. The mommas who blog have already made a huge change in our world and it certainly is not going to stop there. Moms simply have power. I am very happy to have the opportunity to help Scarlet in her endeavors and to be part of her business where I will help in any way I can. If you would like to reserve a covetted spot on the calendar and have moms wear shirts with YOUR logo, please see the website at http://www.momswearyourtees.com/

Cheekwood Gardens

2009-12-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

I just must give a loud shout-out to Cheekwood Gardens in Nashville. What an awesome place! This may be the best bang for your buck; especially if you have kids or family that come to town. Cheekwood has miles of walking trails with gorgous gardens and a pond. It also has the Pineapple Room if you want to have a fancy meal, a gift shop, a huge beautiful historic mansion, and buildings added on for art classes, lectures, you name it. I have a membership at Cheekwood and it is a good thing since I go at least once a week for their offerings. We moved to Nashville last summer. Since then, my kids and I have been at every single Tuesday for Tots craft program. I must say that these are not your cheap construction paper and marker crafts. Those Cheekwood people think of all different materials to use to make art. We have painted with water colors, used a gourd to make a turkey, turned a frozen dinner dish into a sailboat, and even made a skeleton out of macaroni. The Tuesday for Tots is free with admission and the program runs from 10 to 1 every Tuesday.
    In the early fall, the gardens were filled with scare-crows. They lined the paths in all shapes and forms. My girls would ask more than once a week when they could go see the scare-crows again. Companies and families around town made the scare-crows. They really made walking the trails a lot more magical. Unfortunatley, Cheekwood won't have the scare-crows next year but instead will have colored glass scultures throughout the park. It should be beautilful, although I know my girls will miss the scare-crows! Cheekwood also had a great Halloween trick or treating event called Goblins in the Garden where costumed children got to run around and score candy from the kind docents. The best program I have been to in all of Nashville was the Day of the Dead Festival that happens in late October. Cheekwood really goes all out for this Mexican cutural event. They have music, dancing, tons of crafts, a puppet show, great food, and a chalk drawing contest between high schools. What an awesome day! This is one that is not to be missed next fall.

   Right now, Cheekwood is into their Season of Celebration. This means the grounds are all decorated beautifully with pine boughs and ribbon. The mansion has quite a few large Christmas trees. This year, the theme for the trees is "Christmas songs. "   Thus, the trees have names like "Jingle Bell Rock," "Angels We have Heard on High," and of course, the Nashville favorite: "Blue Christmas." In addition to the trees, they have free cookie decorating each Saturday until Christmas in addition to activities that cost extra like the gingerbread house decorating and the breakfast with Santa.
   For more information about Cheekwood, please visit http://www.cheekwood.org/. Hope you love it as much as I do!

Greetings!

2009-12-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Well hello out there in Internet Land! After spending nearly two years blogging, I decided that my family blog and my craft blog are great but where can I go when I want to give my honest thoughts on a broad array of topics? I'll tell you where! HERE. So I will be sharing with you Dear Reader (to quote Stephen King), all kinds of lovely info from my new adventures discovering cool material on the web, to critiquing different places in and around Nashville and beyond for individuals interested in leaving their computers (gasp!) and venturing outside. I might also just talk about just anything that I am into lately because hey, it's MY blog! So I am going to take a deep breath, hold it, and dive right into a new blogging pool. Care to join me on the adventure?