Barbie Shanghai

BARBIE SHANGHAI BABY

To add to my Fashionista fantasy, I just had to share this with you...



Barbie Shanghai


Mattel has created the ultimate Barbie experience in China. They've got a Barbie spa and cafe featuring Barbie products so mothers and daughters can have the ultimate girls day out. Girls can design their own Barbie outfits, have a photo shoot with Barbie, and see fashion shows featuring great designers such as Vera Wang!
Check out this design by Vera - just for Barbie!

Imagine - a day of all things Barbie - what more could any little girl want? The flagship store has 6 floors and over 40,000 (yes, forty-thousand!) square feet of shopping and dining space - designed by super awesome Slade Architecture - we like them because they are cute, married and parents to 3 girls - how lucky are they to have mom and dad as architects of the flagship Barbie Shanghai store? Shop, dine, spa - all things Barbie, all things pink and all things totally girl.

I am totally going to have to plan a special trip to Shanghai just to visit (that is uh - between my shifts in the ER and changing dipes and running Ooh La La Mama). Maybe next week... My boys might not be so stoked - oh wait - Max would love it. He's our little red-headed 'metro' 4 year old - artist, poet, mohawk sportin' Tae Kwon Do master (yellow belt last week! Go Max!)

Well - we'll get there someday! And if any of you are lucky enough to visit before our lucky day comes - please send pics and tell us all about it.

Check it out and plead with them to open one here in LA! Maybe we can persuade them by the time my little girl is old enough to play with Barbies. :)

Diets, and fitness, and gurus, oh my!

I get that one of the most common New Year's resolutions is to lose weight. (It happens to be my resolution as well.) But I'm overwhelmed with all the lose weight, change your life, get slim tips that are EVERYWHERE. Couldn't they just spread it out over the year, when I'm losing motivation?



Oprah's got the best life thing and Martha's got the body and soul challenge. Even my beloved food network has been airing their "light" recipes. It's all great, but I've been gaining and losing 20-40 lbs at a time for the past ten years. I think following any type of plan is going to backfire for me. I was all for Oprah's thing until I heard the doctor on TV say, "no sugar." Restricting anything for me is always bad. As soon as I've met my goal, I go right back. Perhaps at least answering some of the questions as to why I'm fat would help. I may go online and take a look at it again. Mostly this year, I'm going to really try to make better food choices, control my portions, and get outside and move!



I signed up for unlimited stroller strides classes and have commited myself to going at least three times a week. My first class was this morning and it was great! Of course I won't be able to walk tomorrow and I've never felt so out of shape in my life, but I know if I keep it up I should start dropping pounds in no time. I also signed up for Bookieboo.com which is a social networking site for moms into fitness. I'm using it as a support system. Check it out and add me as a friend!



What's your fitness plan/fad diet of choice this year?



Jackie

BIG LOVE ~ Can I sign up?

So - I am super excited about the season premiere of my new favorite show: BIG LOVE!

That's right - the bitchin' Golden Globe and Emmy nominated HBO show about polygamist Bill Henrickson and his three wives, Barbara, Nicolette and Margene.

So - first I have to let you know that I am not a Mormon. I do have tons of friends who are LDS. Got my first kiss on the cheek - shout out to Mike S. - one of my first neighborhood friends - 4th grade, Mormon boy who lived on my block.

Also - yes, mom - believe it! - my very first "real boyfriend" in high school was a good Mormon boy - went to church daily - every morning and well, we ran away to Mexico together. Never thought I'd be putting this in my blog - but here you go. Missed two weeks of my junior year of high school, sick as hell in Mexico. I was an honors student, good girl but totally went nuts over this boy. Yeah - pretty sad. My poor parents. I was such a bitch! They still randomly pull out the letter - it gets found at random times every few years - like when they move or organize things. "Dear Mom, I am sorry that I am leaving... I love Jeff... one day I'll return... you cannot possibly understand how deep our love is...." Always gets lots of giggles... 

Oh - and then I must also mention how many of my Mormon friends and their families supported us when my dad was hit by a drunk driver and was in a coma for 6 weeks (don't worry though - he did fine and he's still yelling at the dog and back to his usual self). This was when I was 13.  I will never, ever forget how wonderfully supportive my Mormon friends were. Not sure any of them will ever see this - but a huge Thank You is still owed to the Wright family and the Sego family.  So - I have never been Mormon but I have loved many.

But - I digress, let me get you back on board with the Henricksons:

For those of you who might be judgemental - let me just explain. First of all, wife number one - Barbara married Bill with no plans to be part of a polygamist family. Bill was raised on "the compound" at Juniper Creek - where everyone lives "The Principle" - that is the polygamist lifestyle that is no longer accepted practice in the mainstream Mormon religion of today.

But, back to my point - Barb married Bill with no intention of becoming a polygamist. Barb got sick - and Bill brought Nicki in to help care of sick Barb (who had already had three children with Bill but due to her cancer could no longer have children).

Barb agreed to let Nicki become Bill's second wife and then - BOOM - enters cute, young, flirty babysitter - Margene. The rest is history - enter wife number three.

Polygamy is still illegal in the US - and the Henrickson family live in plain, old suburbia - in Sandy, Utah - smack dab in the middle of Mormon Town USA. So the story is filled with all kinds of craziness in this regard - how do you have three wives and all of these kids (who go to public school) and not announce that you are a polygamist? How do you share your husband with two other women?

But - before you judge - you should just watch the show. Can you not imagine living next door to your best friends? The three of them live in separate homes - all connected by one open back yard - but looks like individual houses on the street. Also - they are not best friends but I would try to get my best friends as my sister - wives. Sounds kind of like fun. Meet outside, drinks by the pool (oh wait, can't drink if you are Mormon) share watching the kids, making meals, doing laundry. Doesn't sound so bad to me.

Tune in to HBO on Jan 18th for the season premiere of Big Love. Oh - and if you hear that they are looking for wife number four - please let me know.