.. Dia De los Muertos: A day of remembrance..

Dia De Los Muertos also known as Day Of The Dead, is a Mexican tradition where families create altars in remembrance of loved ones that are no longer with us. Altars that are decorated with favorites items, foods and the loved one(s) picture.

Now a mom, This is one tradition that I absolutely love teaching Frida about, her curiosity and intrigue about it is something I love to see. When we are getting ready to build our altar, I tell her stories about loved ones she sadly did not meet but knows of due to this beautiful custom, she loves to help in getting the items we will be placing on the altar. 

I remember when Frida first asked my about Why we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos? 

It caught me off guard and honestly I was a little confused, how do I explain DEATH to her, thats even though it is a natural part of life, it is still something we tend to shy away from the subject.
Before I could answer her she told me " Mommy, we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos to remember our family that we love so much!" 

I answered her "Yes, we love our Family and even though they are no longer with us, we celebrate our love for them."

Every year as soon as we start getting ready to create our altar, Frida loves to help in getting things prepared, we go buy favorite food items, flowers and other things we will place in the altar. 

While we create the altar we play music each one of our loved ones enjoyed listening to, share stories of our loved ones and creating new memories with each other. 

" The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living."

Dia de los Muertos is special to myself and has become special to Frida, we will keep setting up our altar every October 31-Nov.2. We will remember our loved ones with much love and understand that even though there presence is no longer with us their love will carry on.

" When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure."

Blogger Bash.. An Unforgettable experience!

Sadly Blogger Bash 2016 has come to an end! This was my first time attending and I couldn't help feel a bit overwhelmed & stressed out about what to expect. 

Even though I was told by many bloggers of how amazing & resourceful Blogger Bash was, It still fell short of how much you take away form it!! I'm not speaking of the swag but of the business connections & friendships that you build.
Honestly I am still amazed by Blogger Bash! It is a experience all on its own, nothing like Ive ever experienced.
Blogger Bash is two days filled with learning, networking, meeting brands and meeting or catching up with other Bloggers. It is so much you experience that if decide to make just one blog post about it, it would be such a long post. So I will make a quick brief post about Blogger Bash with lots of photos and then I will make separate posts regarding each brand I had the pleasure of meeting & Im working with.

blogger bash - Kizoa Video Editor - Movie Maker

Thank you Blogger Bash staff for not only the experience but for the memories made!!!

Tootsies & Paws

These pics were taken by my 3year old Frida. Once we were home she showed them to me & said "Look mommy Its Maverick & my feet!" lol. 

The TMNT Secrets Of The Sewer Exhibit at Liberty Science Center

Liberty Science Center

On Saturday June 18th, my little family & I ventured out to Liberty Science center in NJ for a special adventure with the Teenage mutant turtles! Liberty Science center is the first stop for the exhibits first ever national tour! The exhibit is open from May 28th- September 5th, 2016. This is something you definitely wanna check out with your family during summer vacation.

The exhibit offers so many activates for the family that are both mental & physical. Everything is a hands on learning experience! The lair provides an opportunity not only to have fun but to let your kids and your imaginations run wild. You'll have so much fun in the exhibit that you won't even notice that you are learning something while you have a awesome time!

I highly recommend that you visit the Liberty Science Center weather it be during your summer vacation or whenever you have some time through the year. LSC is a fantastic place for families, unlike other learning centers such as museums, here you can TOUCH!!! Lol. Its an hands on , let your imagination run free learning center!!!  If you go either  to enjoy the TMNT exhibit and/or to see all the other awesome things at LSC,  you'll have a memorable time with your family!

So Cowabunga dudes, get your butt to the Liberty science center & have some fun!!!

     

            

TMNT Secrets of the sewer.

For more information check out 

http://www.lsc.org

and follow on Instagram

@libertysciencecenter

TMNT Secret Lair!! Pt.2

A couple blog posts ago I mentioned I was able to visit the TMNT secret lair before it actually opened for guests. Well I ranted about how amazing this place to my husband & he took it upon himself to book a night for us to stay at the lair. Now the chances of this happening were slim due to the popularity & few dates that were to become available, my husband has some freaking luck cause he managed to book a night!!!!!!!! I don't know if my husband & I were more excited than our 3yr old, lmao.

The day finally came & we were all geared up with our turtle gear & enthusiasm over the roof to stay at the lair (airbnb). Now when we got there (still can't disclose location) they ask for your name & then give you tour of the lair as well as inform you of some rules of the lair. After you are done with the do & don'ts you're welcome to go about to explore , have some fun & make some unforgettable memories. 

The Turtles make sure your staycation at the lair is a fun one, being able to shoot some hoops, train ninja turtle style, play some games or simply relax & eat some pizza its all covered by the turtles. You'll feel right at home, thats how comfortable they make you're stay, good while you're there but bad because when its time to leave you just don't want to!!! 

This is one experience I will never forget, being a TMNT fan, having my husband & my Frida to share this moment with made it even more memorable as well as special. 

A special thank you to Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael & Donatello for giving us the opportunity to stay at their home. Hopefully we'll be able to do so again in the future!!!

Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Heros in a half shell
Turtle power!

Sipping on some fluids in these awesome TMNT cups!

Yummy pizza!!! Courtesy of Leo, Raphael, Donatello & Mikey!! 

My Frida getting some TMNT training!!

Turtle Power!!!

Caught some me time while they played on the TMNT arcade game!!

She wanted a selfie in the lair! lol

Splinter stopped by to make sure we were having some fun at the secret lair!

Midnight chillin!!

Enjoyed a cup of coffee right before we left the lair the next morning  :(

Family Fun...

One of her favorite games to play with mommy & daddy.

Mother's Day .... A must watch film

Today I had the chance to see an early screening of the Mother's Day movie. I've been looking forward to see this movie from the moment I had watched the trailer, excited to see so many of my favorite stars in one movie and the storyline caught my eye.

I was not disappointed at all. It's such a beautiful movie with different looks on motherhood, you go through an a ray of emotions  & so many relatable moments throughout the film.You will be sure to identify with at least one part of the movie. 

I don't want to go into any specific details because a spoiler might come out and we don't want that to happen. 

Make sure to grab your tickets, plan a day with your mom and go watch this movie!

P.s: Stay to watch the credits as there are some very funny bloopers to watch!!!

RUN don't walk to see Mother's Day

Kate Hudson and Gary Marshall with Denise & Melissa aka The MOMS.

Disclosure: I was invited to see this screening no other compensation was received. All words and opinions expressed are 100% my own.

The Irish Fairy Door Company.

Today I was invited to attend a special brunch with The Irish Fairy Door Company. An amazing company which began a little over 2 years ago in Ireland and was founded by life long friends Niamh Sherwin Barry and Aoife Lawler, along with their husbands Oisin and Gavin.  A dream come true during a time of recession and now an award winning toy abroad. 

Each little door is handmade from wood, and make for the cutest little portals to a magical world. Your child's will be so happy & heart fill up with joy when listening about the magic of having a new fairy friend. The Fairy Irish Door Company has thought about everything and it shows in every package sold. Every little fairy door comes with little stepping stones to lead up to their magical door,  a fairy lease/agreement that will help explain how to take care of your new fairy, a little magic bottle that holds a tiny key that is left out on the first night and if it's gone the next morning, it means that a new fairy friend has moved in all the way from Ireland. A notepad so your child can send little notes to her fairy friend and the Fairy Welcome Guide, that explains how to register your new fairy friend online so you can receive weekly updates on your fairy and where you can name her. 

The fairy doors retail for $24.99 and are available to purchase over at:

www.theirishfairydoorcompany.com

Each little door is the doorway to new traditions and memories. I loved being able to personally talk to the founders of The Irish Fairy Door Company and listen to their story, you see just how much they really care about the kids. It was also so great to listen to them say that they have partnered with the Children's Starlight Foundation, a leading global charity that partners with experts to improve the quality of life and health of kids and families around the world. They also let us pick a NYC  charity of our choice to which they donated 10 Irish Fairy Doors on our behalf. 

The Irish Fairy Door Company, truly an amazing company.

These cute accessories are sold separately. So freaking cute!!  :)

3 out of the 4 founders of The Irish Door Company. 

Enjoyed a Traditional Irish lunch! Freaking delicious!!

Frida super excited to begin sharing stories with her Fairy! Thank you so much The Irish Door Company!!