Recently, I came across an article about Online Dating on the Huffington Post titled “The Mommy Penalty on Online Dating Sites.” The article references dating sites like AYI — short for “Are You Interested?”

Personally, I am happily married and I know that dating sites are both the butt of many jokes and the source of a growing number of television crime drama plots. The funny part is that sites like these seek to take the mystery out of dating but the very source of fictional fodder stems from the mystery that surrounds strangers interacting in a digital world and always that potential for something to go wrong.

In this article, it talks about whether having children and being a “mom” is a liability when filling out one’s profile versus the reaction men get, which is significantly lower.

According to the article by Jess Carbino,  “For example, among single mothers over 30, divorced women are more likely to be messaged relative to their never married, widowed and separated counterparts. Women with children theoretically may be considered less desirable because mothers are more likely to retain primary custody of their children.” Apparently, that changes when they turn 50 and aren’t perceived as being “tied” down with kids.

This is fascinating because, as a college professor, I have actually had students who met and married after meeting online and the trend is growing. By inputting real facts about yourself (not made up ones), you do shortcut the process of finding potential mates with similar interests where people would previously join local clubs or groups to maybe, MAYBE, find those people.

If I were to ever find myself in that position, I think I would stay in the church community where I know people share common beliefs (and I could get personal references) but I thank the Lord every day I don’t have to worry about it. I am indeed grateful for the hard-working, Godly man I married after meeting him during my graduate school years but I also recognize not everyone has it so easy.

Last week, I joined the audience of The Talk in a fun NYC filming and enjoyed participating in a HUGE giveaway as you can see below. It was truly an “Oprah moment” as each audience walked away with all of the items listed below that you can enter to win one of as well between now and 5/19/14.

Enter for a chance to win one of the summer essentials featured on the show: FarFaria Children’s Book App & Audiovox Tablet, 1-month Le Tote membership & $200 Gift certificate, MIRACLESUIT® Swimsuit, Camera from Rakuten.com, 28” Spinner from Samsonite’s Winfield™ 2 Fashion collection!

 

You can also enter to win a cookbook by guest chef Sal Scognamillo: “Patsy’s Cookbook Classic Recipes from a New York City Landmark Restaurant!”

Join weekday chats with The Talk hosts via Twitter for real-life interactions.

 

Mother’s Day is coming soon and hear are some fun ideas you might not have thought of:

SOL REPUBLIC 1111-31 JAX In-Ear Headphones with 3-Button Mic and Music Control – White/Black: These earbuds are sleek and have great sound. I use them when listening to Audible books on my long walks. When someone calls in during the story, the phone switches to the call and I can talk via the microphone and hear the caller clearly. The buds are soft and the cord is pliable and easy to roll around my earbud holder. The box includes several replacement heads too. The technology behind these buds is stellar.

iRules: What Every Tech-Healthy Family Needs to Know about Selfies, Sexting, Gaming, and Growing up: iRules by Janell Burley Hoffman helps parents navigate the new challenges of raising kids in a digital era. The book includes practical tips for teaching kids proper use of technology, a glossary (which can be very helpful in this era of new digi-words and apps), and a summary workbook to make it all doable in your home.

 

Vionic by Orthaheel Women’s Catarina Sandals: The picture below is actually my daughter’s toes because she LOVED them. I had to snatch them back to try them and loved the soft Microfiber-wrapped footbed that contoured perfectly to my feet over the course of the day. What an awesome shoe line. I like the flipflops too. The Vionic Womens Catarina features Vionics Orthaheel Supportive Technology which includes a podiatrist-designed, biomechanical orthotic footbed with deep heel cup that help support and realign the feet back to their natural position. The lightweight, flexible EVA midsole absorbs shock to reduce pressure on the feet, ankles and knees.

What’s your #solestory? Share to win!

 

 

 

 

 

The Model Child: A Parent’s Guide to the Child Modeling Industry – And, then there are those kids who really want to model and have that amazing personality that needs a larger to audience on which to shine. Help Mom read about the ins and outs of modeling in the Model Child by Olivia Productions. It’s a quick read with helpful hints on agents, markets, licenses, glossary of terms and the like.  You can also buy a digital copy for quick reference when you are off on a shoot and waiting in the wings!

Morfologi Bracelets (made with 3D Print Technology) by Joseph Nogucci (among many other beauties on their site). Click on the image below for a little stackable eye candy for all moms:

 

Enjoy Mother’s Day!

If you haven’t read The Fault in Our Stars, you are missing an rich, insightful book about the human heart folding teen love into a roller coaster journey of the greater evil of cancer.

The movie is coming out soon and I just finished listening to the book on Audible. I can’t wait to watch the movie and cry all over again.  My teen daughter cried just watching the trailer, tears of complete joy over the casting, feeling in her deepest young heart that the actors chosen would portray this delicate and beautiful story in such a complete way.

In truth, I spent most of my time listening the the story controlling the real tears which threatened as each chapter poured into my heart via Audible for Android through ear buds connected to my cell  walking through the middle of life which is the only time I have time to “read” fiction these days. I held back tears so that the Wawa employees wouldn’t think I was breaking apart over a coffee and egg, cheese & bacon croissant as bits of the story kept pouring out and I couldn’t stop listening even for quick trip into the convenience store.

I held back tears as I gathered s’more supplies and put out sodas for the teens guests at our house last night because the book was so close to the end and I couldn’t stop listening even then. If I had just said “The Fault in Our Stars” and pointed to my earbuds, they may have understood and nodded since this relatively new entry to the world of literature is already become a cult classic for my daughter’s generation much like Judy Blume’s Forever . . . was for mine but I didn’t want to share that moment with any of them there last night. They were too busy being concerned with their own teen relationships and who was talking to who.

Much more than worry over the ones around me seeing me cry, I held back the tears I wanted to cry during poignant moments because John Green has a way of infusing hope, a glorious silver lining, into every sad, sad moment. The true beauty of this book is that there is an “okay” to be found in the face of whatever we are going through.

(Note: Loved the interview with the author on Audible after the story ended.)

ABOUT THE MOVIE: Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Elgort) are two extraordinary teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them — and us — on an unforgettable journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous, given that they met and fell in love at a cancer support group. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, based upon the number-one bestselling novel by John Green, explores the funny, thrilling and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Connect with The Fault In Our Stars Online:
Visit The Fault in Our Stars WEBSITE: http://bit.ly/TheFaultinOurStarssite
Like The Fault in Our Stars on FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/TheFaultinOurStarsFB
Follow The Fault in Our Stars on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/TheFaultinOurStarsTwitter

Here is a trailer of the movie:

 

RIO 2 opened in theaters across the country this weekend to sell-out crowds and kids ready for sun and fun. Last week, my daughters and I had the unique opportunity of interviewing the Rio 2 director, Carlos Saldanha after attending a screening of the movie a couple of days before.

While other interviewers were going after pieces focusing on Saldanha’s environmental bent towards climate change awareness and tree hugging tendencies to his desire to share his Brazilian heritage with the world, we decided to find out what a director might be able to share with another budding film director, my daughter, and to get a verbal peek behind the scenes of the production process in general.

Sitting at the end of the conference table, Saldanha was very gracious as my daughter peppered him with all sorts of questions and even shared some cell-phone footage of various musicians in the sound booth filling the space with their passionate gestures as their sounds were captured and translated into animation by the next stage of artists.

For school, it was important to my daughter to note that Saldanha attended the MFA program at New York’s School of Visual Arts, where he graduated with honors in 1993, after completing two animated shorts, “The Adventures of Korky, the Corkscrew” (1992) and “Time For Love” (1993).

When my daughter asked Saldanha about getting started, he said that you can attend a lot of great colleges but it’s what you do with what you have available to you that matters, after sharing how many fellow students did not use all the resources they could have in the program he attended despite great teachers and great labs. Saldanha shared that deciding which direction to go is about what you truly want to do. He chose to pursue animation and loved the field after originally getting a computer science degree.

Every time we go to an interview like this, I justify the time it takes out of my schedule because of how excited my daughter is to learn about a craft that takes a unique blend of training, talent and genius to craft a fun movie that kids and parents can enjoy.

My daughter asked Saldanha how you go about achieving that balance to reach multi-generational audiences. Answering her, he said he makes movies he can enjoy too and has fun watching, naming Gaby the frog as one of his favorite characters in Rio 2. He also shared how Nigel’s character got darker and darker as they progressed and he had to lighten up the scenes so it could work. All of these decisions are what make a movie take on a life of its own as the project progresses over what typically takes 3 years to complete.

Saldanha obviously enjoyed the process and you see his passion infusing into the whole process when you watch the film, which in my opinion actually outshines the first one with vast Amazon scenery and song incorporating all the elements of the diverse jungle that it is.

Carlos Saldanha is a Brazilian director of animated films who works with Blue Sky Studios. He was the director of Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Rio, and the co-director of Ice Age and Robots.

ABOUT RIO 2:

It’s a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they’re hurtled Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary of all: his father-in-law. By Twentieth Century Fox

The Official Trailer:

If you are a mom, have a mom, are a husband to a mom, a sister to a mom, a brother to a mom or have any other relationship with a mom, you must see the movie Moms’ Night Out. Or, if you are simply a frequenter of tattoo parlors, you may just like seeing Trace Adkins in action as well.

This last week, I actually enjoy three ladies’ nights and in the middle was the movie screening of Moms’ Night Out. I had read that it had Christian values-based overtones and I have watched enough low budget good intention films to worry about film quality but this movie blows all those expectations out of the water.

Allyson, the main character played by Sarah Drew of Grey’s Anatomy fame, begins (intentionally) a little over the top in her perfectionist tendencies and she does something I never found myself doing as my kids were growing up – staying awake because the house is messy. I sleep well – perhaps too well.

In the movie, Allyson invites her best friend and the pastor’s wife, played by the ever fun Patricia Heaton, out on a girl’s night out which does NOT go according to the plan and much hilarity ensues in a fast-paced fun series of bad coincidences that lands most of the characters behind bars.

Patricia Heaton smoothly contributes her relatable warm personality and slapstick “awkwardly humble” schtick to create a “poking fun” look at life as the pastor’s wife in the middle of an overall message blast that we are enough for God as we are and that Jesus loves us for who we are – so slow down, breath and appreciate the beautiful mess of life.

Also featured in the movie was the team blogsite (In) Courage – one of my favorite. Want daily women’s devotionals sent directly to your inbox? Subscribe to their feed via email and you will be blessed.

This a great movie to take friends and family and perhaps a stranger or two. Moms’ Night Out officially arrives in theaters May 9 – just in time for Mother’s Day! What a great gift idea.

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