15
Mar, 2011

Marsha (@Sweatpantsmom) and I get to tasting!

Fresh and Easy is my FAVORITE grocery store and now there is yet another reason to sing their praises – NEW WINE!!


F & E has added 27 new varieties of proprietary brand wines from our very own delicious California grapes and some of us lucky local bloggers, foodies and Tweeters were invited to a tasting party at the Smog Shoppe in Culver City.


The Smog Shoppe was the perfect and coolest venue for this event. An actual former automobile smog-check garage, it was converted into an eco-friendly, indoor/outdoor event center. I’m telling you – it is one of the best kept secrets in Culver City! You can get married there, screen your newest cinematic masterpiece or have a party and eat and drink like pigs. I’ll give you one guess which one we did.


We were treated to a tasting of four of the new Cali wines:
Open Field Pinot Gris
Cloud Valley Chardonnay
Open Field Pinot Noir
Barrel Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon


I think the general consensus of the night was that pinot noir was the favorite. While many people I talked to really liked the pino gris, I have to admit that the white wines weren’t too awesome tasting to me, but I was like, “rock on with the reds, dude” (I’m trying to give a California-ny description). 


All 27 of the new wines are offered at affordable prices with the most expensive bottles being $19.99 and the bargain bottle being only $3.99! Quality drinking at recession prices. I like.

Bernadette (@Bernadette923) and I enjoying some great F & E appetizers

We also enjoyed a full belly of Fresh and Easy fare ranging from cheeses and fruit, to ceviche, to stuffed artichoke hearts to lobster ravioli to cookies and chocolate cupcakes. There was even more and I’m getting hungry just remembering everything we consumed that night.


Get to your local Fresh and Easy store and dig in! There is so much to enjoy there and now you have 27 more reasons to go.  :0)

Ceviche and skewers = Party!

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Fresh and Easy • Smog Shoppe • wine

11
Mar, 2011

I’m sure you’ve seen the trailers and ads by now, but the new Disney movie, Mars Needs Moms, opens today and Aubrey and I were included in a lucky group of families who got to pre-screen it earlier this week.

The movie is based on the children’s book of the same name, by Berkeley Breathed and it is the story of a young boy, named Milo (played by Seth Green). Milo’s wonderful mom is swept up by Martians who need moms who know how to make their children behave. Mars has been ruled by a crabby old lady Martian for generations (played brilliantly by the ever hilarious Mindy Sterling) who has orchestrated an army of “nannybots” to raise the baby Martian hatchlings. In order to program the nannybots, they need real moms – thus the abduction. Milo ends up on an intense, but entertaining quest to rescue his mom from Mars with displaced Earthling “Gribble” (played by Dan Fogler) and a rebellious Martian girl, “Ki” (played by Elisabeth Harnois).

Here’s a quick, helpful MOM review in-case you were wondering whether or not to bring your kiddo.

1) We really liked it! Dare I say, better than Toy Story 3? Yes. I liked it, believe it or not, a lot more. The storyline was great, the animation was cool and the acting was impressive. The film’s animation is getting a little bit of a thrashing in other reviews I’ve read and while I’m not animation expert, I’ll let you know it’s that computer generated motion-capture style – the same technology they used in Polar Express. I guess this creeps some people out, but I kind of like it.

2) The movie is rated PG, so it may be a bit too intense for younger ones. My daughter is 3-1/2 and wasn’t scared at all, but she was scared during Toy Story 3 several months ago. Go figure. Most of the scenes in the movie are dark and there is a lot of intense action, including falling, laser gun shooting, chasing, etc. You will have to judge if your kids are good at handling intense action, even though it is a kid/family movie.

3) Stay and watch the credits if you can, as they show clips of how the motion-capture style animation is shot with the live actors. I think this was actually my favorite part! So fascinating and cool to see!

4) Wah-Alert: Lots of moms told me they wah-wah cried during Toy Story 3. Well, watch out then. There are a couple mom-centric scenes in this one that will get you!

5) The main thing that I found to be a little disappointing about this film – and this is mainly from an actor’s perspective – is why Seth Green to play a little boy? They manipulated his voice to make him sound age appropriate and I admit, he did a really nice job with the part, but why? Aren’t there a zillion boy actors out there who would have done a great job? Whatev.

This wasn’t the perfect kid/family movie, but it was a really good one and we are glad we saw it. Aubrey loved the girl Martian character, “Ki” so much, she has a temporary tattoo of her on her forearm now. I don’t think it’s going to be a giant Disney classic, but the entertainment value was there and I’d totally recommend it. Just remember, it is PG. The little ones might think it’s a little s-c-a-r-y.

Mars Needs Moms opens TODAY in theaters across the US. For more information visit:
www.Disney.com/MarsNeedsMoms and www.Facebook.com/MarsNeedsMomsMovie

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Disney • Mars Needs Moms • movie review

18
Feb, 2011

Last weekend, I visited a longtime friend and mother of two. We have been friends since 1st grade and throughout all of life’s many twists and turns, we have always kept in touch. Her oldest son is 5 months older than my one-and-only daughter and part of the reason for this recent visit was to meet her new addition, son number two. He’s almost 5 months old. We are nearing… GULP… 40.


My daughter is 3-1/2 now. Even though we all know 3yo’s are CRAZY, irrational little Nazi’s, she’s not a baby anymore. I am not a baby person and it has been a relief having her at an age where she’s finally “easier”. She’s potty trained, she can put food in her own mouth, she can play independently for quite a while and most importantly, she sleeps about 11 straight hours every night, takes a 1-3 hour nap in the afternoons and attends preschool every Mon-Fri morning. WOOT!

One of the photos that help me remember the good ol’ baby days. Not.

Wait, I take that back MOST importantly, I have my body back to myself. I’m not super vain about the appearance of my body. I work pretty hard to keep in shape but I don’t kill myself and I don’t strive for physical perfection. I leave that madness to the rest of the freaks here in L.A. I’m a comedian. But the 4th degree tear, the post-partum depression, the leaking breasts (Yes, I was like a dripping faucet. Well, two dripping faucets.) are all but a faint memory now and for some reason, I’m having a hard time deciding to let it go and move forward with life. Until… last weekend. Remember? I went to visit my friend.


Her baby was adorable. Her older son was adorable. She’s a terrific mom. The baby barely cried for just a few minutes before his nap. It was all pretty easy-peasy-Japanesey, but hanging out with an infant and a preschooler for just a couple hours was the nail in the coffin for me. It made me realize I do NOT want to have another child.


As much as I would love to give my guy a biological offspring to toss in the air and hang out with and as much as I would love for my daughter to grow up with a sibling, I really don’t want to gestate it, give birth to it and then raise it! ACK! 


It’s not such a big deal, right? Lots of people are choosing to have only one child nowadays. It makes economic sense and for me, I think it’s my last chance of reclaiming my sanity. So is this my body’s biological clock making a last ditch effort to do it’s thing? Is my hormonal urge to reproduce really that strong? After examining these hard questions I realized the answers were NO! I was questioning my one-child decision because I felt sorry for my boyfriend and my daughter. Ai yi yi. This could turn into an entirely different blog all together now. Lutheran guilt syndrome or let’s talk about why I take better care of everyone else than myself. I even feed the dog and take her out to poop and pee while my breakfast gets cold. Every damn morning. Apparently, I care WAY too much about other peoples’ (and animals’) feelings sometimes. 


Yes, I was feeling bad that maybe THEY would be missing out on something magical and no doubt, if we did have a baby, it would be awesome and we would love it and, eventually, we would be so happy, blah blah blah. But the bottom line is, I don’t want to do it. And, BTW, I don’t want to adopt either. One is enough. More than enough and I’m going to stop beating myself up about it. Time to focus a little more on myself, my career and being the best mom I can be to the kid I already have. Starting right… NOW! 

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Tags: Amy Anderson • babies • biological clock • only children