Looking for a fun party idea that kids will love? MomSelect and Zhu Zhu Pets sent us a fabulous Party Pack  complete with recipes, games and activities, and enough Zhu Zhu Pets for each child to bring one home.

The Wild Bunch are adorable and all have their own personality and zany sounds. The set include Stinker the Skunk, Sweetie the Bunny, Rocco the Raccoon and ZuZhu the Hedgehog. Kat went straight for the pink Sweetie the Bunny! I love that she has so much fun with them, I only wish they didn’t drain batteries so fast!

Enter to WIN Kat’s favorite Zhu Zhu, Sweetie the Bunny! See entry directions below.

I created a video with my 5 Tips for Hosting a Zhu Zhu Pets Wild Bunch Prankster Party:

Bantering Blonde’s 5 Tips for Hosting a Zhu Zhu Pet Wild Bunch Party from BanteringBlonde on Vimeo.

ENTER TO GIVEAWAY FOR SWEETIE THE BUNNY!! Just leave a comment and tell me which Zhu Zhu Pet is the favorite in your household!

EXTRA entries:(Leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Subscribe to Bantering Blonde

2. Retweet this post

3. Follow @BanteringBlonde on Twitter

Looking for a fun party idea that kids will love? MomSelect and Zhu Zhu Pets sent us a fabulous Party Pack  complete with recipes, games and activities, and enough Zhu Zhu Pets for each child to bring one home.

The Wild Bunch are adorable and all have their own personality and zany sounds. The set include Stinker the Skunk, Sweetie the Bunny, Rocco the Raccoon and ZuZhu the Hedgehog. Kat went straight for the pink Sweetie the Bunny! I love that she has so much fun with them, I only wish they didn’t drain batteries so fast!

Enter to WIN Kat’s favorite Zhu Zhu, Sweetie the Bunny! See entry directions below.

I created a video with my 5 Tips for Hosting a Zhu Zhu Pets Wild Bunch Prankster Party:

Bantering Blonde’s 5 Tips for Hosting a Zhu Zhu Pet Wild Bunch Party from BanteringBlonde on Vimeo.

ENTER TO GIVEAWAY FOR SWEETIE THE BUNNY!! Just leave a comment and tell me which Zhu Zhu Pet is the favorite in your household!

EXTRA entries:(Leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Subscribe to Bantering Blonde

2. Retweet this post

3. Follow @BanteringBlonde on Twitter

I love TED – I could suck up an entire week of time just sitting watching the different lectures. I’m always interested in different topics and how they relate to my interests, my world. I’ve been inspired by many of the segments and will often email a link to someone I think would find it interesting. This morning I watched one that would interest and benefit all of us from the geeky, techy to the artsy fartsy. I found myself listening to it a second and then a third time.

This is worth 12 minutes of your time:

We are obviously in the midst of an Arts Reformation, and I do hope that folks will embrace these concepts. Those of you who know my background in the arts will not be surprised when I say that I am always energized and inspired when my work in the social media space involves an artist or organization involved in the arts. I can say with certainty that 100% of the people I’ve consulted with in the arts have been astonished by the reach they achieve once they embrace social media. Blogging, live streaming, a web presence, webinars – there are literally endless ways to creatively promote the arts online.

I have a client that wrote the music for her entire album with producers via Skype. She then flew out to the studio to record her vocals. This arrangement reduced the amount of travel, and significantly cut the cost and the amount of time it took to produce the album.

Donovan Stokes

One artist who has leveraged a number of social media platforms to promote his work is Dr Donovan Stokes. Stokes is a master bass performer, teacher, writer, composer – all around expert in his field. Most admirable to me, is his use of Skype. Stokes has developed a Skype Music Studio where he can instruct his students using the Skype video function. While this might not be the best method for teaching technique to young developing musicians, it struck me as an incredibly brilliant way to teach more advanced students from a remote location. A musician’s time is so precious and the day to day scheduling of students, rehearsals, lectures etc. can be incredibly difficult. The implications are huge – so huge in fact, that I reached out to “Dr D.” for an interview and will be working on a piece for Technorati on the use of Social Media in the performing arts.

Do you know someone in the performing arts that is using social media in an innovative way?

Growing up we didn’t have extended family around. My parents were immigrants from Scotland so while we stayed in communication with family, nobody could just “pop over”.

This weekend my Dad “popped over” to help Will and I out with our (I’m the bomb of all moms) skateboard ramp project. We didn’t have the proper power tools so Papa came to the rescue.  Although, it turns out he didn’t have the proper power tools either. It’ll be a skateboard ramp like no other you’ve ever seen. A definite piece of art.

It was fun to have my Dad here with us, working through the fine calculations and crafty guesswork involved in a project like this. He was awesome with the power saw, I was fabulous with the pencil, and Will worked the broom like a champ. At the end of a sweaty, dusty four hours, we had some fine lookin’ wood. This is wood just beggin’ to be formed into a ramp… soon, very soon.

Those were perfect moments but the part of the day that I enjoyed the most was later on in the day after we’d come in and cleaned up. I made BLT’s and called Henry, Kat and John to join us. The six of us sat around the table, it was nice. Of course, the kids slammed back their food and asked to be excused in about five minutes flat.

My Dad stayed and talked with John and I for quite awhile. It was nice. I hadn’t sat and talked to my Dad like that in a long time. He has a difficult time understanding me and our conversations are often via email, which is fine but not the same as sitting across the table from him. We talked about education, kids, life, history, all the things I miss talking to my Dad about. He’s a pretty neat guy, and I love the way he and John discuss things, they are both information freaks. They store everything they’ve ever heard, read, seen, experienced…. sometimes I think they both pull out BS that just sounds good, but for the most part they are some pretty smart dudes.

I love my Dad and moments like these are definitely perfect.

Le Skate Board Ramp from BanteringBlonde on Vimeo.

9/11.
September 11th.

We don’t say 9/11/01. It isn’t a date on the calendar, it is a noun, an adjective, an emotion, a memory that’ll forever be burned into the American psyche.

The images of that day are unimaginable.

The images in the video I posted yesterday are hard to watch. Uncomfortable. Painful. Still, I chose that video for that very reason. I know some of you didn’t like me very much for it. You’ve told me so, and I hear you, but I stand by my decision to post it.

When I first watched the video I had to turn away. You know why, because you turned away at the very same moment I first did. I chose it because it was real and it happened. 9 years have passed and our resolve to live differently has faded. Too many of us are quick to judge, quick to form an opinion.

We cannot soak ourselves in the misery and horror of that day but we can remember who we are. Teach your children curiosity, teach them humility and tolerance. Show them that the truth is often an opinion and that no opinion is ever stagnant, that a constant state of personal growth is good and can lead to greatness. And sometimes the dragon wins – so suck it up, learn from your mistakes, and do better next time.

In the wake of this anniversary I hope that we can step back and take a look at what has changed.  Have you changed? How? What about the people around you? Can we do better?

I believe that we can.

Seek your own truth and THEN form an opinion. Hanger-oners, lemmings, wanna-be’s – they are all ugly.  Stop trying to tear others down in the name of something you have not spent the time to learn about. If something resonates with you, do your homework before you jump on the bandwagon. Once on the bandwagon realize that it’s ok to change your opinion based on new information.

What do you think?

I’m giving away a $25 gift card tomorrow – have you entered to win yet?