One Stop Boy Shop

But the gag order has been lifted!  I will warn before I write any spoilers, so feel free to read the beginning of this post.

I went to see New Moon at the 12:02 am showing when it opened.  My friends had sworn me to silence until they’d seen it for themselves.  So I kept my mouth and my fingers shut.  The friend that was especially adamant that I speak no evil is SMM and I don’t even know if she reads my blog!  But I couldn’t take that chance (btw, in case she does read this, I’ll admit that she’s my girl-crush, LOL).  Now that they’ve had a chance to see it, I can now talk about it!

A guy friend on FaceBook posted “what is this new moon”?  My response?  It’s between the waxing and the waning. 

The first thing that I discovered is that I’m TOO OLD to go to a midnight movie on a week night.  I got home at 3:00 am and then had to get up with the kids at 6:30.  OUCH.  I had what I called a “New Moon Migraine”.  Friday was an awful day, the kids wouldn’t nap and I was completely exhausted.  The theater was of course PACKED with tweens and teens.  The gasps and ohhhs and ahhhhs were kind of annoying and sometimes interfered with hearing the dialogue but overall it wasn’t too bad.  My husband cautioned me to beware of teen girls swooning in the aisles but I responded with “I’ll just step over those silly girls”.  I’ve tried to weigh in my mind whether the movie was worth the sleep deprivation hangover and I’ve come to the conclusion that Yes….. it was worth it (but barely).

On to the actual film!

I thought the new director did a MUCH better job.  It seemed like a more polished film and I loved the parts that they managed to squeeze into the movie that I thought they’d have to drop.   I was impressed with how they worked in the narratives and kept the feel of the book.

I love the way they handled October, November, December.  They were able to help you feel the pain without dwelling on it too much.  Very clever.

I loved the Volturi parts and think they nailed those characters perfectly (including Dakota Fanning, which I was certain wasn’t going to work).  Loved the red eyes!

Here’s where my mild spoilers come in!

I loved that they finally said that Jasper could affect moods even if they snuck that in there quickly.

I loved Alice throughout the whole thing.  And I enjoyed the narrative with the emails that bounced.  I thought that was a clever way to work in the feelings they couldn’t actually portray.

I HATED Edwards bare chest.  EWWWWW, his nipples don’t look right, one is different than the other and his chest was just plain ugly!  If I knew my chest was going to be ogled by a group of girls, I would’ve worked out SOME.  I know he’s not supposed to be buff, but he could’ve at least looked pasty toned!

Jacob tried to win me over and almost succeeded.  I was certain he was the wrong guy for the part but the chemistry was really there and I really enjoyed his role.  I had to keep reminding myself not to drool, he’s only 17 (thankfully I already have a Hollywood crush (my first ever!) and I’ll post about that soon)!!  I think he (Taylor Lautner) did a great job.

I had no idea ahead of time how they could come up with the wolf transition or to make the creature be believable.  I feel they hit the mark.  This was a much more action-packed movie than the first.

The best actors in the film were the more seasoned ones such as Harry Clearwater, Billy Black, Charlie Swan (Billy Burke), the guy who played Aro and surprisingly Jacob!

In my opinion Bella (Kristen Stewart) still needs some acting lessons.  She looks perfect for the part, but her acting could use some more polishing although she did much better this film than the first one.

I didn’t leave the theater like I did with Twilight — obsessed but I did enjoy the film so much more if not the story.

I saw the film again this Wednesday (night before Thanksgiving) and was glad that I did.  I enjoyed it more the second time than the first (except that I had to sit in the second to the front row and it killed my old neck!).

Ah yes…. it feels good to spill the beans!

We bought our kids Cranium Hullabaloo by Hasbro for Christmas this past year.
It’s well worth the price. It’s only $24.85 on Amazon. I’ve provided a quick link to it below.

It’s a game that’s kind of a combination of Twister and Simon Says.  The kids have a blast playing it and it’s perfect for preschoolers, although my 11 year old and 2 year old love to play it too.  It encourages quick thinking as they have to quickly process the commands from the game and find an animal or a musical instrument or a triangle, and so forth.  The commands vary from putting your nose on it, to crawling to it or stomping, etc.  Even Nathan gets into it and tries to participate, although sometimes he runs off with the game.

One of the things I like best, is that it’s good old family fun.  Everyone in the family can play and I have video to prove it (I won’t be showing it though, lol)!

Unlike a board game, it gets everyone up and moving.  The winner is often told to do a “funky dance” and the dancing that ensues can be quite hilarious. The only thing I wish were different about it is that I’d like it to play a little louder to make it even more “exciting”, but I have a feeling the volume was purposefully made low so as not to annoy the parents.. lol

Here are my boys playing Hullabaloo.

I have a MacBook Pro, which I purchased 13 months ago. I use it for both of my businesses, One Stop Boy Shop and especially my website business Pages By Nancy. It’s basically a good laptop but don’t believe the rumors (or claims) that it’s not like a PC. Those are false. If you buy one thinking you won’t have to reboot as often, you’ll be mistaken. Every update that gets pushed to my Mac (and believe me there are A LOT) require you to shut everything down and restart your system. And the software is not immune to the blue screen of death on a Mac. There are many instances where a program will freeze my Mac and require me to “force quit” and reboot.

Then there is the durability. If you believe the ads, you’d think that Mac’s are immune to breaking…. not true. The insult to injury here is that their service SUCKS! It’s reasonable that your Mac may require some repairs every now and then but If you rely on your machine like I do, then you’d better buy a backup machine. Yep, that’s right an entirely separate machine to have on hand while yours is in the shop. Oh and make sure you have an extra copy of the thousands of dollars worth of software that you use available to run on your backup machine. This is necessary because their service repair is very poorly run and organized. I’ve had 3 things go wrong with my mac in 1 year. First was the powercord developed a short. They made me sit on the phone troubleshooting a powercord for 45 minutes before they conceded that yes, I need a new powercord. DUH!

Then my monitor went out. Very inconvenient to say the least. After another hour on the phone with their level 1 educated tech support they came to the same conclusion that I did… my monitor may have gone out. DOH! This resulted in me having to make an appointment with their “Genius Bar”. First available appointment was in 2 days. I went to my appointment and was told that my new monitor would be ordered and should be in within 2 days. Okay, there’s 4 days of productivity down. After waiting 4 days for them to call and say my part was in, I contacted them only to find out it wasn’t in yet. The next day (we’re now up to 7 days downtime with my Mac) they called and told me the part was in. I brought them my MacBook Pro immediately. I did tell them that I was severely impacted without my Mac and they assured me they would “try” to hurry, but no I couldn’t wait for it. Three days later, it was fixed and I could pick it up (and it would’ve been much longer I bet had I not pestered their “head genius”). So 11 days downtime to replace a monitor (which by the way is a 15 minute repair, I have 12 years of I.T. experience so I know what it entails).

Also keep in mind that I had the exact same issue with my Dell Inspiron laptop the year before. I called Dell on a Monday and they had a service tech come to my house on Tuesday and he replaced the monitor right then and there! Now THAT is service.

Now my DVD drive is out. I knew better this time than to call their telephone support. I certainly didn’t want to waste another hour of useless troubleshooting just to end up being sent to the Genius Team. I made my appointment on Thursday for Saturday. Went to my appointment where they were running 40 minutes behind. Lovely. But I waited. The “Genius” assigned to me verified that yep, I was right, my DVD drive is broken. DOH! He assured me he’d order the part and let me know when to drop my machine off. Today (4 days later) I received the call that my part was in. I figured it was worth the effort to ask if I could wait for the DVD to be swapped out because certainly they know that I know it’s a SIMPLE repair! But nope, they have to maintain the illusion that they’re “Geniuses”. So I have to drop my machine off for a couple of days while they replace my drive.

So Freakin Frustrating! Thank goodness I still have my Dell. I’ll have to use it for the next few days in order to sort through photos sent to me on a CD from a client for his website.

The moral of this story is that indubitably, a Mac is NOT a PC, because were it a PC, it would be fixed MUCH quicker! It’s too bad that Apple can’t get off their assets and create a better technical support experience. But I guess they’re not hurting for customers, so why bother? They certainly are not in business to keep their customers happy. They don’t care that you paid extra for a maintenance contract. You’re just one in a queue and they’ll work you in on their own time with no regards or cares for your deadlines.

I know that this post might sound like I have nothing good to say about Mac’s. That’s not entirely true. I just take exception to the way they run their service. The actual machine is great (when it’s not broken). I use the heck out of it and really enjoy the great programs that are available for it. Just make sure you buy it because you like it and not because you think it’ll crash less, reboot less or break less. It is afterall just a PC by another name.

As a surprise, my husband bought me a Kindle 2 this week.  About 2 weeks ago, we’d had a conversation about them, weighing the pros and cons and wondering if it would be something that I would like.  I love to read but I love books!  I have a “library” to prove it!  LOL   I love to hold a book in my hands, I love the reward of turning the page to find out what happens next.  I love to pull a book off of a shelf to reread the back, gaze at the cover or to recommend it to a friend.  I also love to reread my books.  I love the weight of a book in my hands, and I love to see my bookmark move along through the pages, marking my progress.

I didn’t think that the Kindle was for me.  But he bought it.  It arrived.  I opened it hesitantly.  I imagined that I’d be returning it after a basic look over to be polite.

First thing that I noticed is it was much lighter in weight than I expected.  I plugged it in, and started charging it.  I waited, and waited, and waited… still convinced that I wouldn’t like it, but eagerly awaiting that green light to come on indicating it was charged and ready to go.

Imagine my surprise when I had trouble putting the darn thing down! I downloaded a book recommendation from a Twitter friend.  It’s called “Marked, (House of Night, Book 1)”.  I’m actually enjoying this book!  And I’m enjoying reading it on the Kindle.

Now the down and dirty.  What don’t I like?

It does not have a backlight.  It NEEDS a backlight!  I have a separate Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On Light (Black, Kindle Version)(another gift from my husband), but quite frankly I don’t think it SHOULD need one.  It should have one built in.  It shouldn’t even be considered an extra, it should be a “necessary”.

I don’t like the hesitation in shutting down.  Generally when I have to stop reading it’s in a hurry like maybe Nate has climbed onto the kitchen counter and is balancing precariously on the edge of danger.  Inevitably, as I close the book as I’m simultaneously powering it off, it changes pages on me… grrrrr

What do I especially like?

I can take an entire library of books with me, anywhere that I go!  I carry a very small handbag, and it fits!  It’s lovely, thin and lightweight.

I love that I can increase the size of the text so I don’t have to worry about finding or wearing my reading glasses.

I can immediately have any book that I want!  It’s wireless so it doesn’t matter where I am, someone at the grocery store can recommend a book to me and I can download it right then and there.  It operates effortlessly on Sprint’s Network.  There is no monthly charge for this, it comes standard with your Kindle.

It integrates with your Amazon wish list and will recommend books that you’d be interested in (which you can buy, on-the-fly!).

The cost of the books are substantially less than buying a paper-bound traditional book.

It keeps track of your progress in the book by showing a %age of what you’ve read.

You can (and should) buy a Leather Cover
for the Kindle separately (my husband bought me one).  The cover for the Kindle is a MUST.  It allows you to hold it like a book, you can close it like a book, all the while offering a protective covering for your precious Kindle.  It helps keep your reading experience book-like.

So even though I was hesitant.. and was more like a hostile witness on the stand, it very quickly won me over.  I will miss not having a book to put away on my shelf, although I’ll just have to remind myself how many trees that I helped save.  The Kindle 2 is a hit for me.

Please also read my Update Review to the Kindle 2.

I’ve not kept it a secret that I’m a huge fan of Lumiere Celeste Facial Cream.   Last month Lumiere Celeste launched some new products and sent me some samples to try.  I’m going to review 2 of their new all natural products.

First off is their Mother of Pearl Cleanser -
I put my cleanser in the shower and use it every day to wash my face. It is a LOVELY cleanser. It very quickly washes clean away but leaves
my skin feeling wonderfully clean without drying it out.  It leaves no residue behind and I feel very refreshed.  I absolutely love this new product of theirs.

Another new product is an Exfoliating Serum. The best way I can think to describe it is an Un-masklike “Mask”. You use it like a “mask” in that you use it once or twice per week to really cleanse your face and unclog your pores. I call it an “unmask” because it does not make your face feel like it’s going to crack, nor does it dry out your skin.  It washes away quickly leaving your face soft and clean. It also has a very pleasant soft scent.  It smells tasty. I managed to easily squeeze it into my rushed routine. I put it on as I enter the bathroom to start taking my shower. By the time I’ve gathered my towel, clothing and the water has warmed I have also successfully exfoliated my skin!

I really appreciate how easy and effective Lumiere’s all natural skin care products are.  I’m also fascinated by the anti-aging results that I’m seeing in the mirror.

I am thrilled to have samples to giveaway and to be able to let 4 of you try out the new Exfoliating Serum for yourself!  To enter, just visit www.lumiereceleste.com and leave me a comment about the product that most interests you (maybe it’ll be an upcoming give-away!).   Entries must be received by midnight CST on January 25, 2009.  The winners will be announced on January 26th.

This giveaway is open to all, but only United States Domestic shipping is included.

Good luck!

Want an extra entry?  Just blog about this giveaway and come back and tell me where.

Wow.

I’m a very busy mom, one who can’t be bothered with skin care. Everything I do for myself is in a rush. It’s glorious to just have 10 minutes alone to take a quick shower.

I have had very dry skin for several years and loved the sun way too much in my 20’s. I also don’t sleep enough. All of this has contributed to my skin being in very poor condition. I went to the dermatologist back in early October for something unrelated and much to my chagrin she commented on how dry my face was. I’ve been using various face moisturizers every day but I’d constantly switch from one to another because none of them impressed me (I guess my Dermatologist wasn’t impressed either! lol).

In mid October I began using Lumiere Celeste and WOW. It’s all natural and the most fabulous facial moisturizer that I’ve ever used. I put it on every day out of the shower and voila, it’s absorbed immediately. My skin does not feel greasy but it feels soft and fabulous. I have noticed a huge difference in my skin and with my 40th birthday quickly approaching I think my skin looks better now than it has in years. I’m never switching again!

I can’t wait to go back to my dermatologist to see if she notices the difference. I’m Certain she will!