Halloween Decorations: When is Too Early, Too Early?

When, ideally, should Halloween decorations festoon our homes?

I say October 1 at the very earliest, and really more like October 15 is ideal.

And yet, my neighbors seem perfectly fine having their Halloween flair out while it's still September.

Which just seems way too early to me. What do you think?

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The below content is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur’s Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Did you know that at any point, one to three percent of children in elementary school may have head lice? During an outbreak, that number may be as high as 25 percent. As the school year begins, turn to ExpertAdviceOnLice.com for tools and tips on finding, treating, and talking about lice. The Headfirst! Expert panel has the information to arm all parents should they have to battle head lice!

School fundraisers: what do they really teach our children?

I've been thinking a lot lately about "wants" vs. "needs" and what we really teach our children when we have school fundraisers.

Last year, my kids' public school was raising funds for iPads for the classrooms. And while I'm sure there are benefits to having iPads at school, did the kids really need them? Like really, really, need them?

Would it not be an okay lesson for the kids to learn that while having iPads would be a great (amazing!)educational resource that they were also an expensive educational resource, and their school just didn't have the funds to purchase them?

Are we not supporting our consumer culture and further solidifying the entitlement of the next generation by giving kids the message that even when you can't afford something, you still try to find a way to purchase it? That you just "have to have it."

And while I might begin by pondering the somewhat small question of if my kids "need" iPads at school, I end by asking what I think is the bigger question: should I really be contributing to this fundraising initiative at my kids school, when I know that the school just one town over doesn't even have basic supplies - y'know like books. Should we not teach our kids that we help all the kids get books, before we start raising money for some kids to have extras like iPads?

I don't know the answers, but I do know this year I am going to think more about what it all means before just sending in my check. And who knows, maybe this approach will even teach my kids more then they'll learn from having an iPad in their classroom.

Guess How Many People Follow Duane Reade on Twitter?

Do you know how many people follow Duane Reade on Twitter?

 

Wanna make a guess?

Do you think 10,000 people do?

Or 100,000?

How about 1,000,000? Or, precisely (as of this writing) 1,140,836. That's right, well over 1 MILLION people follow Duane Reade on Twitter.

In fact, Duane Reade went from 10,000 followers to over 1 million followers in just one year.

Duane Reade celebrated this amazing achievement last week, and I was honored to be part of the party which was a great time with wonderful people, and I even got my eyebrows shaped by a RAMY-trained consultant (Ramy himself pictured below). How many parties can you say that about?

 

 



I am also incredibly proud to be part of Duane Reade's VIP Blogger group, which was recognized for contributing to this incredible social media success story.

 In addition to being an example of smart and savvy social media use and of how to attract and retain followers by delivering quality content, it was inspiring and gratifying to hear Duane Reade talk during the celebration about the contributions of the VIP bloggers to the social media efforts overall, and towards reaching the million follower mark on Twitter. Duane Reade's VIP blogger program is a perfect example of how brands and bloggers can work together to do amazing things.

I'm so glad to have joined in the celebration for Duane Reade hitting the 1 million Twitter followers milestone.

Congratulations, Duane Reade. I can't wait to celebrate when you reach two million!

 

If you aren't one of Duane Reade's followers already, go join the million+ folks over at @DuaneReade on Twitter.

 

You can also follow the conversation on Twitter via the hashtags #cbias and #DR1MM.

 

To see other posts I've written about Duane Reade as part of the VIP Blogger program, click here.

Bye, Summer.

I realized that today is the last (official) day of summer. So to say goodbye to what is by far my most favorite of the seasons, here is an amazing video from mon chere Liz, who came all the way from Paris to share in a summer that was much too fun, and much too short.

 

And because the director is missing from her film, here's Liz:

 

Bye summer 2013. Thanks for the memories.

Talk Like a Pirate Today!

Today, September 19, is National International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Invented by two (possibly three) presumably bored and inebriated guys back in 1995.

 

My kids love pirates.

So, on their behalf, we'll be celebrating today with plenty of arrrs, avasts, costumes and the always festive meal of hardtack.

 

Need help talkin' like a pirate? Check out this handy pirate-english translator. Now if I could just find a woof-english translator...

I just read the original Dave Barry column that started it all, and aye, that be funny, matey.

Will you be talking like a pirate today? My husband has assured me he'll be yelling "Shiver me timbers!" as often as possible not only while at his office, but also on his way there via the New York City subway. Should be good times.

This post is a re-publish from 2011. I guess I forgot to be pirate-y in 2012.

Where's Ziggy?

Can you name this toddler hot spot?

 

This post title inspired by the current Where's Waldo addiction at our house.

Erev 9-11

 

Tomorrow is 9-11. More than a decade has passed since the horrible events of September 11th. An anniversary that matters very much here in New York City, and an anniversary that I sometimes get the feeling matters much less in other places.

Here, anyone who lived in or near downtown Manhattan remembers the day. Like it was yesterday. I have my own tale of September 11, though it is more a story of where I wasn't than of where I was - Stamford, CT. Oddly enough, even though we live in New Jersey now, my husband will be in Stamford for a meeting tomorrow.

I remember waking up in my Upper West Side apartment to the sound of a lone bagpipe in the early morning on the first anniversary of September 11th. We knew it was coming from the firehouse on the next block over, which had suffered terrible losses on September 11th. My husband and I recall that chilling sound every year on the anniversary, and tomorrow will be no different.

Four years after September 11th, I was full-term with my daughter. My doctor had my due-date recorded as September 10th, but at my prodding, admitted it was September 11th, but that she thought it was best to move it a day for reasons she wasn't quite willing to articulate, but which I clearly understood. And I won't lie - I was hoping the baby would wait a few days past that day to make her appearance, as she did.

This year, marks twelve years since September 11th. Twelve years. That fact alone leaves me in disbelief. But so does everything else. How has so little changed since that day?  The global issues that brought us to that point our still here, probably worse, and definitely not better. I would have thought more would have changed in a dozen years, in international relations, in progress towards a greater tolerance of cultural and religious differences. That all these years later the mere thought of a mosque near grand zero would not be thought of as a "slap in the face."

And as much as tomorrow will be a day of horrific sadness and remembrance for many - way too many - I hope it will also be a day when we all think of what we could do to make the world post-September 11th a better one than it was pre-September 11th. And, perhaps, that is the best way we can honor those whose lives were lost, or forever changed by loss, on that day.

The photo above of the World Trade Center towers was taken by my brother. He has more amazing images of the towers here.

This post originally ran on September 10, 2011.

The last night of summer vacation

It seems like just yesterday it was the last day of school.

And yet, already, another summer is now in the family history books.

 

 

 

 

The kids go back to school tomorrow.

 

 

 

And as it does every year, the summer just went by much too fast.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

For the Jews reading this: L'Shana Tova!

For the non-Jewish audience: today is Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the new year on the Jewish calendar. In case you're wondering, we're ringing in 5774, and we're doing so earlier than usual which means this year Hanukkah falls over Thanksgiving which should mean some fun holiday blending to look forward to in a couple months.

A few years back I made a Rosh Hashanah video, and I'm sharing it for the third year in a row.

'Cause listening to the sounds of a young child repeatedly blowing on a plastic shofar never grows old.

Wishing all celebrating a sweet year of health and happiness!

September Finding the Funny - Join the Fun and Link-up a Post!

"You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth" is an Amazon Hot New Release - and I'm In It!

Congratulations to Shannon S. the winner of a copy of "You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth!" Email me: anna at randomhandprints.com for details and to claim your prize!

I'm in a book. In a book with some of my most favorite bloggers.

 

And as if that wasn't enough - and it's totally enough - the book is a Hot New Release on Amazon.

 

You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth is an anthology of 39 hilarious, mostly true essays compiled by the folks from the website In the Powder Room and edited by the one-and-only Leslie Marinelli - who you might know better as The Bearded Iris.

My contribution to the anthology is "The Last Nice Jewish Boy in Boston" which tells the story of how I met my husband. It takes place in the 1990s, a simpler time when the Internet was just a bitty little thing and texting was something you heard about people doing in Europe but were pretty sure was never going to catch on in the U.S.

For those who watch Princesses Long Island, my story is pretty much Season 1 condensed into 1,500 words without the Long Island accent.

"You Have Lipstick on your Teeth" is available on Amazon for Kindle and in old-school paperback.

To purchase from Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Kobo, Diesel, Apple, Sony Reader, Nook or wholesale quantities... click here.

AND IF YOU'RE LOCAL IN NEW JERSEY...  we'll be holding a book signing for "You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth" and I Just Want to Pee Alone at Kidville Westfield on Thursday, September 12.  Come join us for refreshments and lots of laughs and fun.

Last but not least, I'm giving away a copy of "You Have Lipstick On Your Teeth" to one lucky winner!

To enter, just leave a comment with your favorite shade of lipstick! Giveaway closes on Monday, September 16 at 8:00pm EST.  {Giveaway now closed.}

And if you want to know how things between the Nice Jewish Boy from Boston and me turned out, head over to Facebook where I chronicle the joys of marriage to my beshert at Instructions for My Husband.

Winner announced on Tuesday!