Monday, May 31, 2010

Sex and the City 2 Soundtrack


I don't get to go to the movies much, but when a movie is hugely popular I try to make an extra effort to go. On that note, the much anticipated movie of the summer has arrived. Sex and the City 2 has already debuted in theaters. There's been a lot of buzz regarding the movie. In fact, there's been so much talk about it, I've had to learn a new acronym SATC 2, which I learned through Facebook. As an aside, I love the picture above of them in the desert.

I was very fortunate to receive the movie's soundtrack to review.


Here's some great information about the soundtrack:

  • The soundtrack  features a brand-new duet "Love is Your Color" by Grammy and  Academy Award® winner Jennifer Hudson, along with global superstar, multi-platinum recording artist and three-time Grammy Award nominee Leona Lewis.
  • Soundtrack includes a new song by platinum-selling  CeeLo and International superstar Dido also contributes an exclusive new track.
  • Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony and Academy Award® winner Liza Minnelli covers Beyonce’s chart-topper “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
  • 12-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys performs her own extraordinary new version of the Blondie classic “Rapture”.
  • The soundtrack also features the stars of Sex and the City 2, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, performing the Helen Reddy classic “I Am Woman.”  

One of my favorite ways to spend my free time (aka when the monkeys are napping) is to take a long relaxing bath and enjoy some good music. This soundtrack was really enjoyable and it has some great songs to sing along with. Don't worry, I only sing in the privacy of my own home or in my car.



If you want to buy the soundtrack for yourself, just visit Amazon, http://bit.ly/O2Osatc2Amazon. If you're like me, I need to see the tracklisting for CD's before I commit to them so, voila, here you are:

Tracklisting
1. Alicia Keys “Rapture”
2. Dido “Everything to Lose”
3. Cee Lo “Language of Love”
4. Erykah Badu “Window Seat”
5. Natacha Atlas “Kidda”
6. Michael McGregor “Euphrates Dream”
7. Liza Minnelli “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
8. Ricki-Lee "Can't Touch It"
9. Alicia Keys "Emire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down"
10. Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis "Love Is Your Color"
11. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim  Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon “I Am Woman”
12. Sex and the City Men’s Choir “If Ever I Would Leave You”
13. Sex and the City Men’s Choir “Sunrise, Sunset”
14. Sex and the City Men’s Choir “Till There Was You”
15.  Shayna Steele, Jordan Ballard, Kamilah Marshall “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”
16.  Liza Minnelli with Billy Stritch “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”
17.  Cyndi Lauper “True Colors”
18.  Aaron Zigman “Divas and Dunes”

 


There are some great classics on there as well as some contemporary greats. I have to confess I love the song Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It). Love Is Your Color is a great new song and I Am Woman is a fun choice with the 4 of them singing.  I also have a couple of others that I like to play repeatedly, but I won't bore you with my choices. I like soundtracks in general because you get a good variety of music to listen to and this is no exception. Next step for Momma monkey? Going to see the movie!

Ergo Sit Giveaway Winner


The winner has been selected for the Ergo Sit. The winner, as picked by Random.org, is comment #91.  Congratulations to Kathy P.

I've sent the winner an email. If I don't hear a response within 72 hours, I will select a new winner with Random.org. Thank you to everyone who participated and a special thanks to Theragear for sponsoring the giveaway!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Friendly Friday

My old Friday tradition ended so I want to thank Christi, Xenia, and Charla for being gracious hostesses and starting a new Friday tradition, Friendly Friday. Here's my inaugural Friendly Friday post. Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to meet some new bloggers. Happy FF!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Stir Fry

One of the things we've been doing to try to eat healthier is make a lot more stir fry meals. We've done it with pork, chicken, and beef and a bag of mixed frozen vegetables we bought. I bought shrimp, but I have to eat that when my husband's not around because he doesn't like seafood (as a native Marylander, I tried to get him to eat crab, but he didn't like it). I intended to mix up the sauces to keep some variety, but Dadda monkey found a sauce he loves at our favorite shopping place ... Costco (I'm starting to think I should ask for some endorsement money). I'm just wondering if using that sauce is negating any benefits we're trying to gain from doing stir fry. I haven't read the label carefully yet, but I need to put that at the top of my to do list.

Despite Dadda monkey's protests, I am going to look up some more recipes because it is getting a little boring to me, but it does feel good to be eating much better. Monkey girl likes it too so this has been an easy transition for us. Also, we found a doctor that I love because she encourages her patients to exercise and eat healthy. Anyways, she gave us a recipe for vegetable soup that she recommends we eat every week or two so that would help mix things up too.


Friday is grocery shopping day so I'll have to try to get everything on my list tomorrow. Our milk man will be here around 7 am tomorrow, so I'm off to bed for now after this quick anecdote. Milk man initially told me that he'd be by at mid-morning on Thursdays. I almost missed him last week because I was still in bed when he rang the doorbell at 6:50. I ran downstairs and apologized, and he said he understood. He didn't have our organic milk that day because the truck didn't get there in time. Milk man said he leaves around 3 am so I guess 7 am is mid-morning to him!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Dentist Appointments

I hate visiting the dentist. It's not so much the dentist or the procedures that go on as much as the necessary admonition that I don't floss my teeth enough. Believe me, I know I don't floss my teeth enough, but I'm an adult and saying I need to floss more is all you need to say. Anyways, tomorrow is Monkey girl's first dentist visit. Apparently, she should have gone a year ago (well before she turned 2), but I've heard different views on that. Tomorrow should be interesting and even though it's not me, I'm not looking forward to it. It does remind me though that I should probably make a dentist appointment for both me and Dadda monkey. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. Wish us luck tomorrow; I have a feeling we'll need it.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Ergo Sit Giveaway! NOW CLOSED!

For approximately the last decade, I've had occasional back aches so I'm always looking for ways to help decrease those uncomfortable times. One of the things I've had on my wish list for quite a while now has been an Ergo Sit  from TheraGear for my chair. When I worked in an office that hadn't upgraded their chairs I brought in a stability ball to sit on. I wanted to first off be comfortable and secondly improve my posture/core muscles. I loved it. I used a ball at home too, but shortly after my daughter began to walk, she thought the big blue ball was just too much fun to leave alone. So I'm back to my chair.

The Ergo Sit is a small, ergonomical, inflated cushion that is simply placed on your chair. It works in the same way that a stability ball does. It will help you improve your posture and strengthen your back and abdominal muscles. I didn't know this before, but you can also use it on the floor to exercise your lower body. Another really great feature of the Ergo Sit is that it's rounded on one side and if you place the rounded side to the front of your chair it will help with active sitting. The opposite way is for stable sitting with thigh support. I originally had the round side to the back, but I didn't find that to be as comfortable to me as doing the active sitting. Of course I probably spend too much time sitting in my chair anyways.

I'm really enjoying my Ergo Sit and I feel like it is helping me. The Ergo Sit comes in 3 colors (blue, red, and silver) and is sold on TheraGear's website for $29.95. There's even a Kinder Ergo Sit for your kids. I decided on the blue Ergo Sit because it's my favorite color and I thought it might blend more in my black chair. My Ergo Sit arrived in a large box and was already fully inflated. A needle pump came with it for easy adjusting later.

The wonderful people at TheraGear generously agreed to give one Mommy 2 Monkeys reader their own blue ErgoSit! Go check out TheraGear and let me know what else interests you. I spent a little while perusing their site and they have a lot of great therapeutic and fitness products that I may be adding to my wish list. Even Monkey girl likes the Ergo Sit and yes, I know my chair is torn, but I can't bear to part with it just yet.



How To Enter:
(The first step is required for your first entry. Any steps after that reward you with an extra entry.)
This giveaway, and subsequent shipping, is only offered within the continental United States.

1. Go to TheraGear and leave a comment on this post telling me what other item(s) they carry that interest you OR let me know why you're interested in the Ergo Sit.

2. Become a follower of my blog, Mommy 2 Monkeys, and leave a comment on this post that you've done so.
3. Become a fan of the Mommy 2 Monkeys Facebook page and leave a comment on this post that you've done so.
4. Follow me on Twitter and leave  a comment on this post that you've done so.
5. Place my button on your blog/website and leave a comment on this post that you've done so.

This giveaway will remain open until May 30, 2010 at midnight central time. The winner will be chosen using Random.org. I will post the winner on my blog and also email the winner (please make sure your email is visible on your profile or post it in your comment). The winner will have 72 hours to respond to my email or I will choose another winner via Random.org. Good luck!

Disclaimer:


Mommy 2 Monkeys was provided with a sample for the purpose of this review and the opportunity to hold a giveaway for my readers. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Playset Saga Continued

We finally got all our landscaping plans back along with the quotes for a couple of the items. First and foremost, was the information for the playset prep...$4000. The quote isn't itemized and also doesn't list what materials are going to be used for everything (except pea gravel for filler), but I can't believe it. My thoughts are that if we knew what we were doing then it's something we could possibly do ourselves. It'd be a lot of work and take a lot of research and trials/tribulations on our part, but it's doable. I'm definitely not saying that we would, but I'm shocked by the price.

Needless to say, Dadda monkey's next task is to get a couple of other quotes and get a break down for everything. I'm sure there's something we can do to save ourselves some money. For example, I bet we can lay down the weed barrier, which might save us all of $50. Who knows, but I surely didn't anticipate Monkey girl's playset costing us around $5000. I don't think I even need to continue with the rest of the information we got. Let's just say a deck will not be built in our backyard in the foreseeable future.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Stormy Weekends

I love thunderstorms, I really do. When I was a kid, my best friend and I would spend time in rocking chairs, blankets draped over our laps, sitting in front of the sliding glass door to the backyard just watching the storms go past. I still love them, but living in San Antonio has some drawbacks. The soil here is extremely rocky and the area doesn't get much rain. It seems that when it does rain here, it comes down in buckets and the ground can't absorb it all. Aside from being very expensive to put in an in-ground pool (due to the blasting required), the rocky soil contributes to our flooding problems.

The storms woke my daughter around 4 this morning and she spent the rest of the night with us. Interestingly enough, Bro Bro monkey didn't wake up early. We didn't venture out today so I'm not sure what the roads are like, but the news was consistently interrupting the day's television programming for storm related updates. We were planning on going to the Alamodome tomorrow, but I think we're going to play that by ear now. I heard it was going to rain some more, so I may find myself entertained by just watching some more storms pass. I hope everyone's enjoying their weather wherever that may be.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Boon Bath Goods

One of my recent favorite discoveries is Boon. They're products are fabulous and quite innovative. The company is also completely in tune with current social media trends. They even have their own blog, www.booninc.com/blog. You can also find Boon on Facebook and Twitter. We were lucky to receive the Boon Bath Goods and my daughter loves playing with them during EVERY bath. Unfortunately, that also means she's requesting even more baths. I must have the cleanest daughter in town.


I was surprised to see how large the package was. There is a ton of stuff in there and the name, Bath Goods, seems completely appropriate. The set includes 2 mini-scrubbies, 3 balls, and a bunch (15) of appliques that don't absorb water, but stick to the tub surround.  Monkey girl, like most kids, loves to have toys in her bath tub and these were no exception. However, after the initial excitement of new toys wore off, she wasn't sure what to do with the appliques. Dadda monkey and I showed her how they stick to the wall and that was it. She was in full gear designing her masterpiece.











The mini-scrubbies are great because they're smaller for children. Monkey girl grabbed one and declared it her own. Since she loves to play with balls anyways, they were also a hit. She had no problem figuring out how to play with them during bath time. I do have one warning though, for other households with retrievers, you might want to safeguard the balls. We had one casualty because the dogs loved them as much as Monkey girl does.

We already owned Boon's Flo for the tub faucet and the Frog Pod to clean up/hold her toys and have been quite pleased with both. Flo needs to be cleaned regularly though because of the bubble bath residue left behind, but it's easily dealt with. Amazon even has the Frog Pod and the Bath Goods packaged for sale together.

Boon Frog Pod Deluxe with Bath Toys

I'm sure Bro Bro monkey will also love playing with the Bath Goods when he gets older. Until then I'm pretty sure Monkey girl enjoys having them all to herself. As for me, I've already got my eye on the next Boon product I want, their Boon Benders. Monkey girl has a problem turning her eating utensils toward her mouth and these are designed perfectly to help her adjust to this. Be sure and visit Boon yourself and I'm sure you'll find something there that you like as well.


Mommy 2 Monkeys was provided with a sample for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

SodaStream Soda Maker Winner

The winner has been picked for the SodaStream Soda Maker. The winner, as picked by Random.org, is comment #159.  Congratulations to Anne J.


I've sent the winner an email. If I don't hear a response within 72 hours, I will select a new winner with Random.org. Thank you to everyone who participated and a special thanks to SodaStream for sponsoring the giveaway!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Friday Follow

Each week I tell myself that I'm going to make sure I try to get my name onto Friday Follow early so I can at least break into the top 100 and most weeks I fail. This week is no exception, but 108's not bad. So in addition to finding some great new blogs, I have a little contest with myself to see what number I can make.

Also, I want to give a special thank you to TammyLyne who told me about my broken button. I have no idea how long it had been like that and it's fixed now, but it's really nice having people like her who care and take the time to notify you of problems. Happy Friday Follow and an early Happy Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Old Fashioned Milk Delivery

I'm pretty excited about something we discovered the other day. A guy was in the neighborhood and was leaving flyers for the residents (which normally annoys me) for dairy goods delivered to your home. I wasn't sure where it was coming from or how the prices compared to the supermarket so I asked Dadda monkey to call the guy and suggested we go comparison shopping. Even if the price was slightly higher, but the products were coming direct from local dairy farmers, I was willing to give it a try. Also, organic milk wasn't on the list so I wanted to make sure we could get that.

Dadda monkey called and the man was very nice and explained that he had gone to the local dairy farmers, but none of them wanted to sell through him. He explained that most of them sell everything to Borden and he was getting his products directly from Borden. So it didn't really eliminate all the middle men, but the items are still pretty fresh and come to find out most of the prices were competitive. He also said he could get organic milk and gave us the price, but told us we needed to let him know ahead of time (which really isn't a problem since we go through a gallon every week or two). After our trip to the grocery store we found out that bread (I know it's not dairy) was priced about the same, but the milk was much cheaper. Also, half gallons and pints of ice cream were cheaper.

Later this week, since we're already almost out of milk, we're going to place our first order. I think it's a neat concept and it is actually going to save us money. Though I think it would be more fun to get nice glass bottles of milk each time.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Movie Time

(This is the experience of my monkey family going to the movies, not a review of the movie.)

So many people told us how much they enjoyed How To Train Your Dragon, that we decided we would try to take Monkey girl. Her favorite stuffed animal is a blue dragon her dad bought her so we thought this movie would be appropriate. We've never taken her to a movie before and to be honest, I was quite nervous about how she'd behave during it. We went on a Friday, at noon, after the movie had been out for a while (yesterday in fact) so there weren't many people in the theater. Just to make things more difficult and increase my anxiety, Dadda monkey decided we'd try to see it in 3D at the Imax theater. I wasn't looking forward to the idea of trying to get Monkey girl to wear her glasses the whole time and if she didn't then she'd be watching a blurry movie, which would make it even less likely that she'd sit quietly through it. On the other hand, we haven't seen a 3D or Imax movie (much less both) in this theater (we don't get out much/at all) so I was sort of looking forward to it. We arrived about 2 minutes before the movie started so we were off to a less than ideal start, but they sold us the tickets and we headed in.

As an aside, I can't believe how often the prices of movies goes up. With the 3D glasses fee (2.50 each) and our 2 tickets (at least the kids got in free) it cost us $28 to go during the day. Maybe it's a good thing (for our bank account at least) that we don't get out often.

We went into the theater, picked up our glasses (they had smaller ones for kids), and took our seats. We got an entire row to ourselves, which turned out to be a good thing. I think there were only 2-3 other groups of people in there. The other thing I had been debating was what to do with Bro Bro monkey. I brought the sling in the diaper bag because 1) he's too big for the Baby Bjorn and 2) I thought it'd be easier to have him sort of attached to me hands free so I could deal with Monkey girl, however I do have to say that I'm not really hands free with it because I guess I just don't understand how to use it correctly. I also wasn't really looking forward to wearing Bro Bro monkey because he is very squirmy and I thought it would take away from my ability to handle Monkey girl. I didn't think there would be a decent place to put his car seat, however score one for Dadda monkey because he was convinced the car seat would be fine. So I let him lug it in and sure enough, it fit rather nicely on the seat next to Dadda monkey.

Now onto the movie, Monkey girl happily put her glasses on and was impressed enough with the 'big tv' to sit still for the first half hour. She was pretty good for the first hour and only got a little restless. She also started taking off her glasses and playing with them, but at least she was still sitting quietly. Occasionally, she'd say my name, point to the screen, and say 'dragon'. Dadda monkey got a drink at one point and she enjoyed occupying herself by moving the drink from one cupholder to the next for a little bit. The last half hour was a little more difficult because she wanted out of her seat. I wouldn't let her past my legs, but Dadda monkey did allow her to pass so she was happier and she never got more than 3 seats away. Bro Bro monkey started to fuss once, but with a quick adjustment of his pacifier, he settled down again. We all enjoyed the movie and I'm glad we went. We might even venture out to see another one in the not so distant future. Now even Bro Bro monkey has 'seen' his first movie and he got to see it with his sister for her first time.