NerdMom’s 2 cents: I really enjoyed Maleficent! Before the movie came out, I was sure the effects in Maleficent were going to be fabulous but I had no faith in the story line. I figured it would be fine but meh. As a true geek, I went to see it for the effects and grandeur the movie was sure to deliver. Well, it delivered all the grandeur and it also delivered a wonderful story. I was very impressed! Maleficent was a fabulous movie! I don’t want to give anything away so it is hard to review it. But be sure, this isn’t just a case of the mean person was right to do what she did. But just as life is, the story is complicated and layered.
As to the intensity of the movie and kids. I was a little concerned after watching the trailers that Maleficent would be a little dark and scary. There are intense moments but overall it wasn’t that scary. My kids have all watched The Avengers and Captain America 2. I will have no problem letting any of my kids watch Maleficent but I am prepared to hold hands at a couple of points;).
Bottom line: I loved this movie! Now for 10 year old’s thoughts;).
From the NerdPie: I think that Maleficent was better then Frozen. Maleficent was all about humans coping with magic using the story of Sleeping Beauty. The graphics were so amazing, it almost seemed like fairies were normal. It’s cool how, unlike other Disney movies, every thing isn’t centered around love.
(Disclosure: I was graciously given press passes to see Maleficent with my daughter. All thoughts and opinions are mine!)
A picture of me with Clinton Kelly! Shh, he doesn’t know;)!Clinton Kelly giving some outfit advice. (She asked for it;)
Recently Fresno was graced with the fabulous Clinton Kelly, who came to Macys with Estee Lauder as a sponsor. He was giving fashion advice and talking on adapting fashion trends to different people. I love the fact that we are now getting events like this in Fresno!
I am a huge Clinton Kelly fan! I was a viewer of What Not to Wear before he joined the show and loved it when he became Stacy London’s cohost. I have even watched a fair amount of The Chew (stopped because it isn’t so kid friendly and on during lunch;). So it was very interesting to hear Kelly talking about his time on What Not to Wear. I was left with the impression that he didn’t really enjoy his time all that much. He didn’t seem to be miserable about it but that “it was his job” so he was happy when it was over. He talked about how with The Chew he preps but pretty much an hour of work makes an hour of tv. But on What Not to Wear they would shoot at least an hour for every minute used and that they really did spend a whole week with the subjects so they were happy to see them go at the end of the week.
Clinton Kelly was just as entertaining in this format as he is on tv! He was funny and honest all at the same time;). He talked about how hard it is to get here by plane (oh yeah). Of course the heat was mentioned and it wasn’t even all that hot;). But he hit on a fashion challenge that I have saw here in Fresno for a long time. It is the casualness of Fresno! He was talking about everyone’s shock at him wearing a suit when he was at the airport. I struggle with that here too. If I am actually trying to dress cute I feel so over dressed. And people will comment about how fancy you are dressed, it makes me feel odd…
There was a fashion show covering some of today’s hot trends and a collection of cute dresses. Then Kelly walked through the audience answering questions! I walked away 4 great fashion tips!
1) Which trends should we follow? If you caught it the first time around it may not be for you. The example he gave is older women and the bohemian look. It looks like you just kept all your original 70’s clothes and never changed.
2) Who is that bold lemon color for? It isn’t for people who have a lot of pink in their skin. If that is you, look into the more mustard types of yellow.
3) Cross body bags, giant purses, little purses, what is a girl to choose? When it comes to purse size Kelly says to get a bag that holds all your stuff! But giant bags with skinny, petite girls look like their bag is going to eat them. And if you are large chested avoid the cross body bags as it draws even more attention and not in a good way!
4) What do I do to camouflage the back end in skinny jeans? Kelly says that skinny jeans are for all women of all sizes. But he says if you are self conscious of your butt you should practice divide and conquer. That is where you jacket or shirt falls just to the largest part of your butt and takes away from its size. But he emphasized, if you has a bog or small butt and are comfortable with it you should flaunt it.
I absolutely enjoyed myself at the Clinton Kelly event! If it comes your way you definitely should go! Now if only I could have a few hours of him shopping for me on my budget;).
Disclosure: I was compensated for attending and covering this event. But all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone!
I know that I was not alone in my sorrow when the Fresh and Easy at Tulare and R closed here in Fresno. But a new Grocery Outlet opened this week in its place. I am so excited because there are always great deals to be had a Grocery Outlet! And to celebrate there is a big Grand Opening this Saturday (May 24th)!
The festivities will kick off at 7am where there will be free coffee and treats along with free reusable bags for the first 500 customers. At 10am they are bringing out the Wheel of Bargains where you can spin and win (until 3pm). Then from 11am to 3pm there will be free face painting!
If you are there between 11am and 2pm you can get a $1 hot dog and drink. All proceeds will benefit Edison High School Athletics! You also should check out their facebook page before you go too. There may or may not be a deal to be had over there;).
I am going to go check it out and I hope to see you all there. And to get us all excited for the new store, Grocery Outlet is providing a $25 gift card for one of my readers. Just enter in the Rafflecopter! There will be lots of opportunities for entries!
I recently got a my first chance to go to Seattle with the Windows Champions Summit! And I took the #TravelingBunny on his (or her) first trip! I may be in love with Seattle and we already knew that I am in love with Microsoft.
Microsoft treated us right! They had us down in the Ballard area of Seattle and put us up at Hotel Ballard. We are talking seriously posh and hip! The design of the hotel is great but beyond that the linens and service were top notch! And do you see that bath tub? It was huge and so luxe.
But the focus of the trip was Microsoft! I got to go to Microsoft’s research area!!! I saw dancing robots and a huge image project! Then we popped over to their main campus and had some great time learning about some Skype tools and Xbox One. I even got to see their coffee shop but then we got to go to the campus store! Yes, I got my geek on;).
We also got some great time to soak up Ballard and the Seattle are with my fabulous Lumia Icon. They have a great Farmer’s Market with great flower vendors. The food was fabulous! There was a lot of farm to table places including a restaurant with the farm on the roof;).
I also got to visit Snoqualmie Falls! What a gorgeous area. They also had a fabulous restaurant up there. The thing about our venture up there was just how gorgeous the drive was. Great views from the freeway all the way up.
I think I have fallen for Seattle. Thanks Microsoft for bringing me up! I am sure you will hear more about my trip and the fabulous things I heard about!
And yes, Microsoft took me up there but all thoughts and opinions are mine alone!
Fresno got a LUSH store! Lush is a natural, handmade cosmetics store that apparently everyone else knew about except me! Lush makes the most divine smelling (and working) bath and body products along with cosmetics. They are possibly best known for their many varieties of bath bombs but they have lots of other great products. I received a package with some great soaps, shower gel and bath bombs that were divine! (side note: I really love the It’s Raining Men shower gel)
The Fresno location of Lush opened in April over at Fashion Fair Mall and I got a chance to pop in and look around. While I was there I also picked up some bar shampoo and conditioner for a trip! When you walk in you smell fabulous scents and see beautiful products! There are lots of items out for you to try from soaps to lotions to makeup. It is just a fabulous place!
To celebrate their opening of the Fashion Fair they are having a Grand Opening Party on Saturday. May 10th from Noon to 5:00pm. They will be doing face care demos, giveaways with $50 purchases and more. If you RSVP to the Facebook event and are once of the first 100 you will get a free gift too.
Lush has also decided to do a giveaway here on my blog! 1 lucky winner (who is here in the US) will win a Ray of Sunshine package! Just enter in the Rafflecopter!!!
I recently got my hands on a pair of Nature’s Sleep Memory Foam Slippers to review! I have been looking for great slippers for a while but have met failure after failure. I make be at home but I am working from home and needed slippers that could support me in my ventures! I think I have found them.
First things first, just because I am at home doesn’t mean I am just sitting around! I need foot support and that is 1 thing most slippers seem to be missing. They are either flat or fluff but usually slippers seem to be missing any form of support. But not the Nature’s Sleep Memory Foam Slippers. They have the memory foam core so it adapts to your feet and gives them great support all along the foot. So I can wash dishes, cook, do laundry, whatever and not have aching feet. This is a big deal for me because if your feet hurt, it can trash a productive day. But because it is memory foam, it gibes you that luxurious floating, squishy feeling that scream comfy slippers!
The next thing is durability! I need to be able to run outside. No, I am not wearing slippers grocery shopping. But I have 4 kids that I homeschool, can you even imagine how many I get called outside to see things by my kids;). I also don’t want to have to stop to put on shoes just to grab the mail or get something out my garage. My kids seem to get a little water on the floor every time they empty the dishwasher. But hey, at least they are emptying the dishwasher! I really don’t want wet feet or to stand in their way!
It is a little thing but it is integral to me! I don’t want to worry about them getting stained or wet on the bottom. So I love the fact that these slippers have a very durable sole that comes up an inch around the sides of the slippers. It means that you don’t have to worry about a little water that splashes on the kitchen floor.
My final analysis is… I love the Nature’s Sleep Memory Foam Slippers and I highly recomend them! They would be a great item to buy for yourself or a gift. But you could also win a pair here!
WhyNotMom.com is running a giveaway for some great tween and preschool Disney® soundtracks! There are 2 prizes being offered, 1 for each age group. The Preschool bundle includes Disney Junior DJ Shuffle, Jake & the Never Land Pirates, Doc McStuffins & Frozen! The tween package includes Play it Loud, Austin & Ally, and the Teen Beach Movie Soundtrack.
Ok, there is nothing much cuter than those little baby leggings! It is the perfect thing to protect little crawling knees and keep them clean. They are a great gift or need for your own babies! And they have never been more affordable! Right now you can go to Baby Leggings and get 5 pairs for free!
All you have to do is go to Baby Leggings and click ‘shop now’. After you add 5 pairs to your shopping bag just enter ENBABY and all you will pay is shipping & handling. That is it!
Even if you don’t have a baby get some! They are great gifts.
(Yes, there are affiliate links in this post. It helps to support this site!)
It is almost Valentine’s Day!!! And for many people that means flowers. And Teleflora is a floral tradition that always has great flower bouquets and a people have used them for years to send flowers.
But sending flowers doesn’t always have to be expensive! Teleflora has a 20% off coupon that you can use now and all the way up to 6/15/2014! Use coupon code FLOWERSMC to get your 20% off on your Valentine’s Day flowers but also for your Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Graduation too!
But better than a coupon is a giveaway! Teleflora is going to give a $75 coupon code to 1 NerdFamily reader! And you will get it in time to have flowers delivered for Valentine’s Day!
Kids, do they really need more junk? You know the stuff I am talking about. The doll that gets tossed aside after the initial hugs. The character figurine that is boring before the movie it is even on dvd. I personally like to try to buy presents for kids and families that teach a little something or just get your mind sharp! Here are a few of our families favorites!!!
Snap Circuits: These good old fashioned fun! These are a bunch of components that you can make over 300 projects with. They snap together and you don’t need to know any electronics. But you will be able to pick up some great electronic knowledge.
My First Science Kit: This is an 8 activity kit with science experiments all centered around color and color mixing. It is for ages 4 and up so it really is for most ages. I do recommend doing it in the kitchen;).
No Stress Chess: This is a great way for beginners to master chess with out having to suck all the fun out of the game. You basically draw cards to dictate the play in order avoid being overwhelmed by choices. And if you out grow the cards don’t worry because it is a standard chess game too!
Knights Treasure Chest: This is a collection of fun activities and booklets surrounding the knights! There is a catapult kit and a signet ring and wax for seals! This is a great gift to bring history to life.
Ticket to Ride: This is a great game! You build trains and then pick up and deliver loads around the country. There are also versions of this for Europe, India and Africa too. It is a ton of fun for the whole family. NerdFamily Dad and I play without the kids and with friends all the time. Love this!!!
These are some great gifts! And don’t worry, you can get them in 2 days if you have Amazon Prime. If you don’t have it yet you can try it out for a month for free.
