When I first saw the previews for Real Steel, I’ll be honest, I was not interested in seeing it. I thought my son might like it because it was boxing robots. My second thought was, “why would anyone think that making a movie based on the concept of Rock Em’ Sock Em’ Robots was a good idea?”

I was wrong about both things.

Real Steel is actually based on a short story from the 50’s, written by Richard Matheson. You probably don’t know him by name, but he’s responsible for I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come, and some episodes of The Twilight Zone.

The adaption from short story to big screen was phenomenal. As I said before, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. I already love Hugh Jackman (who doesn’t??) but I was blown away by how great a job Dakota Goyo did. He plays Max Kenton, son to Hugh’s character Charlie. They don’t start the movie with a relationship, but they end it with one. It isn’t traditional but it’s absolutely perfect for the two of them.

While I did enjoy the movie, I loved it even more once I saw my son enjoying it so much. He was laughing and totally digging Max’s dance moves. He’s big into dancing right now and this movie has some really fun scenes with Max dancing with his robot, Atom.

Real Steel opens in theaters today (October 7th) and you’ll really be missing out if you don’t go check it out. I’m especially excited to be able to offer someone the chance to win a Real Steel Prize Pack courtesy of Dreamworks. It will have all kinds of Real Steel goodies for you and your kids.

It’s quick and easy to enter. Just leave me a comment here and let me know if you’ve seen it, want to see it, favorite Hugh Jackman movie, or if you just think my hair looks nice today. Bonus entry if you pimp my giveaway on twitter. Just make sure to leave me the direct link and I’ll add an extra entry for you. You have until Monday, October 17th to enter.

Pretty easy right?

So go check out an awesome movie and enter my giveaway for a fun Prize Pack. Hope you enjoy the movie!

**Comments are now closed! Thanks to all who entered!**

Special thanks to Dreamworks for inviting me, my son, and my dad to the Real Steel premier and for allowing me to host this awesome giveaway!

Last Wednesday, I had the amazing opportunity to attend the opening night of The San Diego Film Festival. In it’s 11^th year, the Festival opened with a brilliant movie directed by Jonathan Levine called 50/50. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, friends who are fighting cancer, together. The movie really focus’ on Joseph’s character, Adam, as he comes to terms with his diagnosis and his 50/50 odds of survival.

The movie is a biography of sorts for film writer Will Reiser who, in real life, is friends with Seth Rogan and who actually lived this story. Here he is, opening the movie for us, speaking about how he transferred his reality to the big screen:

After the movie we were treated to a Q&A with Will Reiser and Philip Baker Hall, who was also in the movie. In my opinion, the cast of the movie was perfect. Both Will and Philip agreed that working with the cast felt like working with family. The subject of the movie is so serious and cancer is something that has touched so many of us that it’s hard not to relate in some way. The cast did a great job of portraying their given roles and the emotions that went with them.

I can’t say enough good things about 50/50. Once it was over, I wanted to see it again. There are so many movies out, or coming out, that lack original idea. We’ve all seen and heard of so many movies that are re-makes, like Hollywood has run out of ideas. Well, this movie is a breath of fresh air, around all the crying and laughing you’ll be doing. It’s refreshing, it’s inspiring, and it makes you want to be with the people you love. From a mother’s point of view, this movie touched me. I could never imagine being in the position of sitting by while my child battled for his life.

If it’s playing in your area, go see it. Just don’t forget the tissues.

Recently, I was having a discussion with Ant about Disney movies that came out in “our time”. You all know that time, when you were young enough to really love them and old enough to know that the magic was going to end soon. We both agreed that the handful of movies that counted the most for us were The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and of course, The Lion King.

The Lion King was originally released in 1994. I was 12 years old and completely head over heels for Jonathan Taylor Thomas. On the cover on every Bop magazine, he was the IT boy. When I learned that he was cast as the voice of young Simba, it made the movie that much more important to me. Hearing his voice come through that adorable little lion made my pre-teen heart soar. I even wrote him, telling him how much I loved the movie (and him) and I got a letter back, with an autographed picture inside. I was early in defining my dork-dom.

Recently, when I went to see Glee Live in theaters (yeah, still a dork), I saw a preview for The Lion King 3D. It took my breath away. When I received the opportunity to attend a screening, I jumped at the chance.

The screening was held at the ABC offices on the Walt Disney Company’s Burbank lot. I absolutely geeked out just being there and almost totally lost it when I actually had a celebrity sighting. Having Justin Bartha casually walk by you to get on an elevator is just freaking cool. I know, I live in LA so this should be normal to me but, uh, it’s NOT. I never see celebrities. It’s some weird curse I have.

I took my mom to the screening with me and watching one of my favorite movies on the big screen again, this time in crystal clear 3D was absolutely amazing. It brought me back to my innocence. What the geniuses at Disney have done with this movie is incredible. There aren’t any cheesy “pop out at you” 3D gimmicks. All you’re getting is the opportunity to see this movie in a new way. The graphics are amazing, the sound is unbelievable and the jokes are just as funny. We both agreed that it was a wonderful experience.

The Lion King 3D opened in theaters on September 16^th and it’s only going to be around for a short time. I know that movies are expensive these days, especially 3D movies but this one is worth making an exception for. If you saw this in theaters 17 (!!!!!!) years ago, you owe it to yourself and your kids to see it again and this time, let them experience The Lion King 3D on the big screen. It’s something I hope they look back on years later and appreciate. I know I do.

Hakuna Matata!

I have no idea where the last year went. I’m going through my flickr sets for pictures for this post and almost every single set is labeled as being somewhere or doing something with you. Me and you and our strange little people, running around all over the place, making memories.

Yup, still rediculous.

I know this year brought change, some good, some awful. But I can’t tell you enough how very proud I am of you. I know it hasn’t been easy. I’ve watched you grow more every day that passes and on top of that, you’ve set an amazing example for D. I know she’s going to grow up and tell me how amazing her mother is and I’ll be able to say is, “she always has been.”

So many times I have to remind myself how lucky I am to have you as my best friend. Everything is better  when you’re around. All the really hard stuff is a little easier when I can talk to you about them. Everyone deserves a best friend, there’s no doubt about that. I can only hope that everyone is as lucky as I am. I’ve always wished for a sister, I just never knew that I’d be able to pick her out.

Happy Birthday, girlfriend. Thank you for always bringing out the best in me.

xoxo

How far would you drive for a burger?

Honestly ask yourself this question. If you’re thinking about where the nearest In N’ Out is, or whatever everyone else’s subpar equivalent to In N’ Out is, you’re probably thinking maybe 10, 15 miles at the most right?

Would you drive 180 miles, roundtrip for a burger?

Last week, I did just that.

During BlogHer, the lovely ladies of the SDMomfia invited their writers and their writers plus one’s to a Smash and Dine at the nearby Smashburger. I’d never heard of Smashburger before but I was happy to attend. Being BFF with Nic means a lot of things but one of those things is being on the hunt constantly for good food and good wine. Mostly that boils down to the best pizza, the best chocolate, the best mac and cheese, the best cupcakes, and of course, the best cheeseburgers. Our normal go to started at In N’ Out, moved on up to Cheeburger Cheeburger, and then to Five Guys when it opened down the street from her house. Well now, we’ve finally graduated to Smashburger.

Smashburger is the whole package. While we both agree that Cheeburger Cheeburger (and no, that isn’t a typo) has great options to build your own burger and hands down the best Build-Your-Own shakes and malts, Smashburger is the better burger. The way Smashburger cooks their meat, by literally smashing it, creates the juiciest, most delicious burger I’ve had in a long time. This is why they are absolutely worth driving 180 miles for.

Ever since BlogHer, I’ve been telling Nic how much I’ve been craving Smashburger. Because that’s what best friends do, they advise each other when they are craving juicy meat. Ahem.

She got invited to the opening of the new Smashburger in Kearney Mesa and asked if I wanted to come down. Midweek. ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. I quickly assessed my life’s priorities (which took about 5 seconds) and said, “HELL YES!” We made the trip out there from her house with Princess D and her parents in tow and we felt it was our duty as bloggers to give as thorough a review as we could.

Those burgers were worth every single mile. Add to it their delicious haystack onions, their yummy shakes (of which we got to try every flavor), the fun atmosphere and the great staff; I was more than pleased with my visit and deliciously happy as well. Can you tell?

Thanks so much to Nic for inviting me to the opening of the Smashburger Kearney Mesa location. She didn’t ask me to post or anything in exchange for fattening me up, she just loves me. But I felt it was my duty to tell YOU, my dear readers, to seek out the nearest Smashburger and go there, now! If you don’t have one by you, I’m sorry. I can relate, there are none in the LA area but fingers are crossed that that is soon to change. If you do have one in your area, you are truly one of the lucky ones.

In my mind, it isn’t a huge thing but every time I confess it to a friend, they are surprised. So I’m going to say it’s safe to assume that most people will be surprised by this as well.

I’m not divorced.

Go ahead and take some time to process that. Some questions you might have are things such as, “aren’t you both in serious relationships with other people?” or “how does custody work then?”

Mostly, I think people want to know “WHY NOT?!”

Heh. Well. It’s simple really. Up until this point, we’ve both been kind of blah about it all. We’ve been separated for 5 years and while I’ve always wanted a divorce, it just never came about. At first I couldn’t afford the lawyer I knew I would need to fight him. As time went on, the fighting dissipated, we separated everything, he bought a house in his own name, and we really started working on being co-parents. I wouldn’t call us friends but I wouldn’t call him my enemy either. While he does continue to occasionally take liberties and make comments I don’t really appreciate, I don’t feel he is out to get me anymore. If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I ever thought I could get to this point, I would have tried my hardest to convince you that he could never make me feel that way.

The cycle of abuse is scary and it has forever changed me. I can’t deny that. I’ve always said it doesn’t define me and I can honestly say that it truly doesn’t. It’s only within the last year that I’ve even briefly considered that this man, the father of my child and the man who abused me for years, has changed. He isn’t perfect, he isn’t reformed. There are parts of that person still there but he’s working on it. He’s in therapy. His 30+ years on this earth and his experiences are kicking in. We always thought the military would mature him but it didn’t. If anything it made him worse. However, he’s healing with their help so I guess in the long run, it’s a good thing.

I’m sharing this information with you now because this circle I’ve been traveling, this chapter of my life, is reaching its end. Today, we’ll find out how much longer this process is going to take. We’ve filed paper work the same way we got married: together. We filled them out together, we agreed on terms together and submitted them together without one lawyer involved.

Today is our 11 year wedding anniversary, on paper. We haven’t been married in my heart for a very long time, yet I can’t help but mourn this ending. Not for him, not for us, but for what I dreamed we would become 11 years ago when we exchanged vows while I carried our child. We were young and stupid but we did what we thought we had to. And 11 years later, we are moving forward.

I’m lucky that I found someone who loves me and who understands this situation. While he may not like it, he hasn’t pressured me or guilted me into taking this step. His role in this has been nothing but supportive but I’m going to go ahead and speak for him and pretty much everybody else (including me) when I say…

“FINALLY!”

I saw a quote on twitter the other day that absolutely stuck with me:

This is the truth. It can’t get any more clear than this. I am strongly of the opinion that if you disagree with this, you don’t have or have not experienced (currently or in the past) a healthy sex life.

There’s nothing else like it.

I’ll be the first to admit that having 3,000 miles between you and the love of your life doesn’t exactly constitute a healthy sex life. Because let me tell you this: I MISS AIR.

Because lets face it, we all need air to live.

Even with the distance, I survive. How you ask?

I consider EdenFantasys my oxygen tank.

Have you visited EdenFantasys.com lately? If you’re reading this and blushing, you need to click over RIGHT NOW. Don’t let the sex toys on the front page scare you. THEY CAN BE YOUR FRIENDS. Trust me on this.

If vibrators scare you, don’t close that window just yet. EdenFantasys offers so much more than just vibrators. You can find some really fun lingerie and costumes, erotic movies or books, and even party favors and gag gifts. In addition to all the fun stuff they sell, they offer reviews on pretty much everything on their site.

You can be single or married and be able to find something you’ll enjoy. Trust me when I say that EdenFantasys has something for everyone. If you think for any reason that your sex life (or in some of our cases, lack of) is missing anything, jump on over and start browsing.

Now if you’ve browsed a bit and found something that you just can’t live without, I’m happy to share a 15% off coupon code, special for my readers. Just enter MISSBLOG at checkout and you’re set! Orders over $59 get free shipping so go have some fun shopping. Personally, I’m saving up for a WeVibe and that coupon code is going to come in handy!

If you’ve shopped and feel like sharing, let me know what you grabbed!

Coupon code expires at the end of September so head on over and get ready for some fun!

When I was a kid, I loved Curious George. Reading has always been a huge part of my life and my Curious George books were some of my favorites. When my Latina Bloggers Connect group offered the opportunity to take a first look at the newest season, I jumped at the chance.

This season, Curious George is taking on the Arts. As my son goes through school, I’m seeing how the Arts have so clearly taken the backburner when it comes to what is important, at least in the eyes of the state. The Arts are slowly being cut out and that is heartbreaking.

For any children’s show to focus on the Arts is incredibly special, in my opinion. I’m happy that the writers and producers of Curious George feel the same way. Here’s what producer Dorothea Gillim has to say about this season of Curious George taking on the Arts:

“The Arts are actually a great vehicle to teach kids about science, engineering, and math. With this new season, kids will be inspired to dance, sculpt and paint along with George, and they’ll also come away with knowledge of important STEM concepts.”

I know I said “tomorrow” on my last post, but my son’s back to school cold got the better of me and I was not feeling much of anything but ickyness for the last 4 days. My apologies.

I already told you about the negative things I experienced at the D23 Expo but enough of that. Let’s get to the good stuff.

I happened to stop by on Friday, the day the Expo started, to pick up my pass and my son’s pass for the next day along with some t-shirts for me and Nic. Walking in and immediately seeing a replica of the Black Pearl from Pirates got me totally pumped for the next two days.

I know it’s blurry but it was taken in a rush. I was like, “must take photos of everything right now!” which was crazy because it was only Friday.

The next day, me and my son met Nic and we began to explore. Seeing as we didn’t get to see any of the panels we wanted that day, we spent a lot of time checking out the various booths that were set up, along with spending a lot of time in the Disney Games Pavillion. My son loved it there. He is a huge gamer and it gave me a place to charge my phone and… ok I’ll admit, get hooked on a Facebook game called Gnome Town. Shut up.

After we spent some time there, we headed upstairs to be turned away from the Pixar Panel. At that point, we went to the media room where I had the pleasure of meeting Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the writers and producers of one of the boyfriends favorite shows, LOST. Grabbed myself an autograph and a picture and listened to them passionately talk about their new show on ABC, Once Upon a Time. Nic wrote all about it here so I’ll let you go check out her review. I’m excited to see it.

That may have been my highlight from Saturday, but my son’s was being able to get the autographs of some of the Disney kids from the show A.N.T. Farm. Don’t ask me about any of those shows, I know nothing. But he watches them and he was excited to take that home. Almost all of them signed the back of his expo pass which is now hanging in his room.

Sunday, I left my son at home (his school cold had hit him full force by the end of Saturday) while me and Nic went back to the Expo. This was our day to explore the exhibits, shop, and try again (only to fail) to see any panels we hoped to see.

We hit up the Disney Treasure’s Exhibit first which was an amazing collection of Disney memorabilia like no other. Since I’m a history fuh-reak, I was in heaven. My favorite piece was the saved draft of Walt Disney’s design of the entrance plaque that welcomes all visitors into Disneyland.

There was also costumes from Pirates, Alice in Wonderland, and LOST, and one of the coolest things, the book from the opening sequence of Sleeping Beauty:

Another highlight was the Carousel of Progress, which held the future of Disney parks and resorts. I was excited to see some of the things they are bringing to the new Cars Land which opens in California Adventure next year.

Sunday was very laid back. I mean, its really no big deal to catch a few celebrities signing autographs when you’re at D23.

FEZ!!

Sean Austin! And a freaky bear!

So despite the disappointing stuff, the weekend was a lot of fun. I got to see some things I’d never see anywhere else and I even got some really cool, exclusive pins and clothes that I won’t be able to find anywhere else in the parks.

I’m interested to see what they plan and hopefully modify for the next expo so I can decide if I am interested in attending. But, I have two years to decide because the D23 Expo won’t return until 2013.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed my post and the photos I shared. If you’d like to see the whole set, it’s here.

Happy D23 Expo 2011!

Well, I survived the D23 Expo. Coming right off the high of BlogHer set my expectations a bit high. I think it was because of that, I was disappointed.

I’ll get the bad out of the way first because I do have a lot of really great things to tell you about. But I do have to explain what I think was done wrong and some suggestions for fixing them.

The first year of D23 (2009), it was open to D23 members only. It’s a fairly exclusive club, you have to pay for your membership and you do get a lot of perks from being a member. One was the expo. This year, it was open to anyone and D23 members received a discount on tickets. It sold out Saturday and I heard a rumor that Sunday did sell out too.

It showed.

Arriving 2 hours before a panel is supposed to start and being turned away because the panel is full is absolutely heartbreaking. There were maybe 4 panels I really wanted to see. I saw none of them. In the interest of full disclosure, I was invited to the expo (after I purchased my own tickets) as a guest of Disney. I had a press pass. With the exception of things being held in the arena (which seated 4,000), my pass did me no good. The other two rooms where panels were being held only sat 750 and 500 people. I was irritated enough that as press I had absolutely no access but I truly felt for the people who had spent hundreds of dollars in tickets, hotels, and travel (along with those that didn’t have to travel or stay over) only to be turned away because they hadn’t sat in line since 10am for a panel that started at 3pm.

How could anyone expect to enjoy the rest of the expo like that?

The only solution I can think to fix this is for one, don’t allow people to line up all day. Advise that you’re going to allow lining up to start an hour prior to the show. For those who don’t make it in, broadcast the panel in one of the many empty rooms. I’d have been happy to sit in a room and watch the panel if I couldn’t be in it. And for goodness sake, set aside room for your press people. If not, this is the review you receive.

Some might argue that it’s my own fault for not waiting and you are right. However, there is no way my son would have survived 5 hours sitting on the floor of the convention center waiting for an hour long panel. The whole weekend would have been wasted waiting in line.

As a matter of fact…

The lines. There were lines for the lines. Lines to eat, lines to shop, lines to pay, lines for photos, lines for autographs, lines every where you looked. I would walk by a line and have no idea what it was for. I started surveying people by Sunday, asking what they were in line for and how long they had been waiting. As someone said on twitter, “Be our guest, be our guest, wait in line with all the rest!” The only place I didn’t wait in line for was the bathroom. I know, its Disney. We should be used to it! Well, I’m not. Disney invented the Fast Pass! Let’s figure out how to use that technology! I understand there were so many people and that’s how you control crowds but holy cow, did I get tired of waiting in lines.

There were other things along the lines of the Disney reps being stingy with their hand outs. Being turned away by two people at the Disney Movie Club booth who were handing out 3D Nightmare Before Christmas cards (the size of a playing card) was such a turn off. We didn’t wait in line they said. Yes, for real. They said that to two people wearing press badges. I know. I was blown away by that and it happened all weekend. I didn’t walk around expecting more than I deserve but I got less than that. Add in being hassled about how to exit exhibits (while open doors out were being guarded by Disney employees) and needing secret passwords for 5 cent buttons… Those little things really add up when they are happening constantly throughout the weekend.

Overall, these things did not define my weekend. I think honestly, a quick fix to a lot of these would be to close it off to the public and go back to members only. If you really want to go, you will join and enjoy all the benefits. Another could be to hold a conference once a year, one year here, one year in Florida.  Haven’t we learned anything from Kevin Costner movies?

“If you build it, they will come.”

Like I said, these things did not define my weekend. Yes I was disappointed by the things I missed but believe me, there were many more things that made up for it.

But you get to see those tomorrow.

…

Ok here’s Lightning McQueen made out of freaking LEGOS. How much more awesome can that be?