I awoke this morning, hair tousled, with a far away gaze and a sly grin. What did I do last night you wonder? Well. Of course you know. I went and saw New Moon.
And before I get any crap for the post I am about to write I want to say two things. Whatever justification I have for my Twilight interest can be found here. Read it and perhaps it will gain me a couple inches of slack. And secondly, I know I know, all crap given is perfectly understood and probably deserved.
You see when I parked my car in front of the theater last Friday, with the kids strapped in the back, car hazards on, and ran up to the ticket counter, I fully realized that being so fired up for a Twilight movie was silly. I knew that.
I KNOW that.
But pride is no matter here.
Escape, reconnecting with the teen within, who the “F” cares, and no kids for a few hours does matter however.
So sue me, “Two tickets for next week’s Friday screening of New Moon, please.” I stuck them in my car visor and looked forward to last night all week.
My fellow Twi-crack-mom and I arrived at the theater early with tickets clutched and “Mom’s night out” lip gloss applied. Once in, we moved to the back of the line waiting for the theater to open. Yes, there were small clutches of tweens in their “Team Edward” t-shirts, but mostly? There were women my age, waiting patiently, hoping no one recognized them (which my friend’s son’s teacher admitted when she was, in fact, recognized.) We waited about 45 minutes until the doors opened, tickets were rechecked and all Twi-freaks present rushed the seats.
Please be rest assured. My friend and I were absolutely laughing at ourselves. We saw humor in our anticipation. We joked that if we were going to do this, we were doing it right. We were committing to this Twilight thing that night, why be half assed? We giggled at the Twilight souvenir cups and promised ourselves some as soon as we were seated.
And honestly? We didn’t expect much. We didn’t. The first movie was just ok. The books were what they were. As addicting as it was, New Moon was my least favorite of all the books. But we were getting a rare Moms night out, with children and daily responsibilities left back in our deed-restricted communities. We’ll make this good even if its wall to wall cheese, teeming with eye rolling teenage angst and super over the top cartoonish CGI. It was all good. Go Twilight. Whatever.
So we scored seats middle center. We scored our souvenir cups. We took pictures. We chatted and wished for wine in our cups instead of Diet Coke.
Not that it mattered. My souvenir cup contained about a gallon of diet coke so I found myself under the influence never the less. I don’t do caffeine all that well. And by the time the lights dimmed, I was jacked the frock UP. That’s me below: wide awake, not blinking, humming with werewolf anticipation and twitching for some Edward action.
“It’s starting. I’m so TOOOTALLY excited and I don’t care. No for real. I’m soooooo into this. Woo hoooooo! Are you excited, I’m excited. I think its starting. Is it starting? Go go go go go New Moon! Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!”
Well. When we walked out of that theater I could not stop smiling. Maybe the Diet Coke was still working its magic but… I wanted to turn around and go right back into the next showing.
Yes. I loved it.
I was lost in the vampire, werewolf, love triangle, teen-aged drama for 2 blissful hours. I can’t remember the last time I was so lost in a movie. (Titanic?)
Sure, I was determined to love this movie. It could have been a steaming pile of over acted crap and I would have probably found a way to like it somehow. I was perfectly aware that I went in using the “kind of average but that’s ok” first Twilight movie as the yard stick by which I measured my evening. My expectations were hardly soaring.
But honestly? New Moon kind of pulled an Empire Strikes Back.
It was so much better than I expected. I loved it. I want to see it again. My fellow Twi-crack-mom thought it was even better than the book. I felt like I just saw the book come to life. I wanted to go back and re-experience it all and lose myself again. Really. I am going again, somehow. And then I want the DVD. And I want the soundtrack. More more more…
Shit. This Twi-crack-mom stuff just notched itself up to the next level.
But when Eclipse is released I don’t think I will be laughing at myself waiting in line an hour before it begins. OMG. I CANNOT WAIT.
Ok. ok.
I’m waiting for it.
Go ahead. Laugh away. Yes, I know. My street cred is in serious peril over this dribble. I know.
And to be fair, MSNBC was far from impressed. Maybe you might consider them as cooler heads prevailing and me simply just a mom that needs to get out more. Maybe my expectations are set so permanently low for fun and excitement that anything escape-ish in nature is a mind blowing experience.
Ugh, well that’s kind of depressing to consider.
Whatever.
Still, I sit here. In a satisfied after-movie glow hoping I can go again with New Moon. Somehow, somewhere… soon. It sure as hell was good for me. Was it good for you?
I love my Wii Fit. I do. I have loved it from the moment I stepped on my brother’s balance board and decided I had to get up early and go wait in a Best Buy line to purchase my own. Yeah, I did that. I rushed in, swiped my bank card and was handed a balance board. I took it home, set it up and have loved it ever since.
Why?
Well, I’m a mom, home with my boys, getting by on one income. I am also the proud owner of a lovely little muffin top that I would like to be rid of. I adore running away from my kids but don’t get a chance to do that as often as I’d like to since my husband works late. A gym membership is out – I won’t pay for one and never have the child care to get to one. So, paying one time for a balance board that I could use at home, even with the kids around, made so much sense.
Granted, you have to make the time to use it. And fight your kids off to get a work out done. But with enough bribing and coaxing (both my kids AND myself), I can get a great work out in. Maybe it’s not quite as aerobic as I’d like but it helps me work on my core. And my core is where my muffin top resides. So, I heart my Wii Fit because it eats my muffin top for dinner, nom nom nom.
And aerobic work outs do happen too. You try 10 minutes of hoola hoops and tell me if it doesn’t kick your ass. No. Try it. I dare you AND your muffin top.
So last weekend, my blogger friend Britt invited me to a Wii Fit Plus party to check out it out in all of its new and improved glory. I was all about it. Because I have now unlocked all the games and work outs in my Wii Fit and am kind of looking for something new. My hopes are high for the Wii Fit Plus.
The party was hosted in a small gallery in downtown Orlando. I searched the street for the right location and knew I had it right when I saw Britt’s gorgeous blonde curls in the window. We were all greeted at the door by beautiful people wearing Wii Fit gear. Balance boards, yoga mats, flat screens and Wiis were lined up against the walls. And we all settled on comfy pillows in the middle of the floor to watch the demonstration.
After hearing from them and trying it out for myself, here are the pluses of the Wii Fit Plus:
More fun games! There are a ton of new balance games. I like the flying one that makes me flap like a crazy woman to soar between targets. My arms were burning – Michelle Obama arms may be in my future yet! And my 6 year old will LOVE the new “Wipeout”-esque obstacle course.
Better ways to chart your progress. There are activity logs and ways to count down how many calories you’ve burned during your work out. I didn’t see the option for “an entire bowl of Halloween candy” however – but I think I could figure out how to chart that too.
Targeted workouts. There are specific workouts that are set up to work on different areas like lifestyle, health or being more youthful.
Individualized workouts. I love the fact that you can cue your workouts up (instead of spending time going in between workouts) and let them run one after the other.
You can add your pet and create a Mii for them. No, I’m not kidding.
Some things I wish they did add:
I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t add aerobics to my indivudualized workouts. Its limited to yoga and strength training.
It would be great if they targeted Wii Fit to children more. The older Wii Fit did not register my 6 year old’s weight of 42 lbs so we had to make him the minimum of 5olbs. Still, the weight doesn’t adjust to the games correctly for him. And certainly some are just developmentally out of his reach. Good health and fitness tips for kids just makes sense. If they added a few kid specific workouts, this would be the perfect interactive family workout experience.
They still don’t have a bell jar accessory. Don’t know what that is? I’m looking for a large protective clear shell I can put over me and my balance board that children are not able to penetrate and push me off. You think I’m kidding too. Get on it Nintendo.
As the event wrapped up and we were walking out the door, the beautiful Wii Fit people (perhaps Miis in real life?) handed us all (drum roll please) brand new Wii Fit Plus games, balance boards and cutie Wii Fit Plus training jackets! Muffin top beware, I’m coming for you.
Thank you to the amazing Britt and the gorgeous people at Nintendo!
p.s. Please excuse the horrid pictures. They’re awful. My camera sucks. But you get the idea.
So its been a long time since I saddled up and got a magazine subscription. Not sure why. Maybe it was the cost or maybe it was never wondering where the best place to sign up was. Where was the best deal? And then, what if I got sick of that magazine? I’ve had subscriptions that I didn’t enjoy after I signed up and felt later I had wasted my money. Anyway, so, I haven’t had a magazine subscription in a really long time and just wind up grabbing them in the supermarket line and paying full price.
I know. I’m SUCH a smart shopper. I mean, only three or four full price magazines and the subscription is paid for…
Anyway, cue some magazine providence to solve my issue. My favorite peeps at the PR group Ivy Worldwide (the very same peeps who brought me to NYC in February) asked me if I wanted to be part of a promotion for Maghound.
It’s kind of the perfect magazine subscription management site. Basically, you pick three or more magazines and then replace, cancel or add new magazines at any time. Get sick of one magazine, replace it with another. Or stop one all together. Or add more. And then stop the whole thing if you want. Oh, and if your magazine isn’t monthly, you can substitute it with another while you wait. And the best part? You pay a nominal monthly fee – for three magazines, you pay $4.95 a month. Plus you don’t have to commit long term.
A couple catches. Sometimes you have to pay a little extra to substitute if the substitute magazine is more expensive than the one you are replacing it with. But its usually very little and it is clearly marked if you will need to pay more.
Because that’s the thing. The website is easy to use and manage your subscriptions. You can even change the names on the magazine to say your child’s name if you want. A cute touch.
Thanks to Ivy Worldwide, I have been given a free year of subscriptions. I’m looking forward to playing around with the site and seeing how it works as I start getting magazines in. I’ll keep you posted.
Anyway, of COURSE I wouldn’t be plugging something that didn’t have some benefit for my readers as well. So there are two very cool ways to get in on this.
1) Go here and blog readers get an exclusive one month free trial plus 20% off the first six months.
2) Maghound is offering a MAGnificent Makeover Sweepstakes for blog readers. Grand prize winners will win a trip to NYC, a $1,500 shopping spree and a People StyleWatch makeover.
Wow, right? New York City? A $1500 shopping spree? A makeover?
See now, I hook you all up. Sure sure, its all over a few magazines. But these are magazines with no commitment, a serious discount to try it out and possibly a grand prize trip to NYC with a $1,500 shopping spree – all for blog readers. Not too shabby.
By now you should know that I won’t do a review on Morningside Mom unless there is something about that product that truly impresses me. Well, I have another one for you. Toms Shoes approached me and asked that I review a pair of shoes for them. But these aren’t just a pair of shoes. In case you don’t know about Toms Shoes, I am going to tell you what makes this specific shoe company so very special.
The Toms Shoes company was started by Blake Mycoskie after he visited Argentina and noticed how many children did not have any shoes. His dream for this company was to create a shoe that he could sell and give away. Let me explain further. He wanted his company to make it possible to donate one pair of shoes to a child in need with every one purchased. That’s right. And he did. After one year, he and his family and friends were ready to donate over 10,000 shoes to children in Argentina. Next stop was South Africa where he and his crew dropped off 50,000 shoes. And in 2008 it was planned that they donate over 200,000 shoes worldwide.
Ok, now watch this.
Pretty amazing, right?
Ok, so lets get down to the shoes themselves. What did I think?
Well, in terms of style, I was a liiiittle nervous. I’ll admit, I was worried they’d be kind of like grandma shoes. I am just being honest here. I wasn’t sure they’d really be my style. So I looked through all the various patterns available online and went for a fun “Element” shoe style. At least I knew these shoes wouldn’t look anything like what Grandma would wear.
But here’s the thing. When I got them, they actually looked a lot cooler than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised. And my favorite part about the shoes? When I slipped them on, I didn’t want to take them off. Because, my friend, they’re like butta. So dang comfy. Granted, they don’t have a ton of support – these are flat shoes made of canvas. But they are well made and I really, truly never want to take them off. (Maybe I should get Grandma a pair, I think she wouldn’t take them off either.)
Now down to the fun part.
It’s giveaway time!
I have the DVD of their award winning documentary about their first shoe drop in Argentina and a coupon code worth $50 in Tom’s Shoes to give away to a Morningside Mom reader.
How do you enter? Leave a comment below about a time you’ve given back to your community or something you would like to do for your community. Real answers please, don’t just respond with some general Ms. America “I want to save the world” comment. Think about it for the sake of making change happen – like Toms Shoes has.
I will pick a winner at random on Monday March 16th.
It should come as no surprise that I was glued to my television this morning. The Digital Moms series on the Today Show has me sucked in. After being somewhat disappointed by yesterday’s show and the impression it gave viewers, I was ready for something better today. In fact, I was excited because I knew some of the women featured this time. Well, ok, so I actually met Wendy aka eMom at Seaworld but only knew Melissa aka @Consumer Queen and Amber aka @JerseyMomma from twitter. Amber was actually backstage brainstorming with producers during the segment. But STILL. I was behind them, and I had a feeling they’d come through.
So I poured a really reeeeeally big bowl of Cheerios for my thrilled two year old, and saddled up in front of the TV with my laptop – a twitter window open and ready to go. While I waited, Amber and Wendy sent tweets from the green room and the Digital Moms responded with all sorts of support. Melissa’s portion of the show had been filmed from her her home so she anxiously waited for the piece to start right along with us. Trusting that these woman knew what they were doing, and having read Wendy’s tweets from the day before, I had a good feeling about this segment.
Right away a cheer went up across twitter as Melissa (Consumer Queen) showed viewers that all of the products she reviews have come as a result of “a lot of hard work”. She reiterated the importance of her perspective to consumers and the narrator followed up by noting that Melissa is “influencing corporate America” and listed some of the big corporations that have asked for Melissa’s review.
Phew! Yes. Finally. Thank you. It seems this segment would be taking the impact of Digital Moms seriously.
Next the Today Show mentioned the example of the Motrin Ad. Someone on twitter posted “OMG they’re talking about the Motrin Ad!!!” Yes, any digital moms who were on twitter last fall will remember the Motrin Ad well. In November, Motrin released a new ad campaign with some pretty condescending phrasing about baby wearing – women everywhere were insulted. No, really, it was bad. Twitter and blogs alike exploded. Horrified. Outraged. What were they thinking? I am fairly sure it took about 48 hours of this sort of uproar from Digital Moms before Motrin pulled the entire ad campaign. For a summary, ready Crunchy Domestic Goddess’s post about it here. It’s only one example of many who blogged their opinion about the Motrin Ad campaign. And guess what? The company heard these women loud and clear. Why? Because these women are affecting the the success (or not) of a product simply by responding professionally with strong, heartfelt, honest writing.
Once the intro piece was over, Ann began her interview with Wendy and Terri Walter – an advertising Executive from Razorfish Media. They did a fabulous job. I appreciated that immediate focus was given to women as important influencers, not just as women looking for a bunch of free stuff. They underscored how much heart and soul goes into their work. Digital Moms care about what they are doing and take it very seriously. The relationships that bloggers build with readers was emphasized as extraordinarily valuable and full disclosure with readers was the only way to maintain such a relationship. I could not have agreed more when Terri stated that pressure is then put on the product to stand up to real consideration since these women will speak their minds in their review.
And finally Wendy made sure to say that digital moms are “making a difference and changing lives out there”. She disagreed when Ann asked her if this was all just a passing trend. “It’s just the beginning”, marketing has changed thanks to word of mouth and “consumers expect to have a voice, there’s no going back.”
And that’s exactly it. There is no going back. Products are finding success or not based on these women’s opinions. A fancy ad campaign with all the bells and whistles is just not enough anymore. Consumers are always skeptical. They want to hear real opinions from real people. They want to see someone kick the tires and tell them the honest to God truth. And that’s where we come in.
So I’ll say it again.
I am Digital Mom, here me post.
(Ok, no. That just sounds cheesy the second time around…)
Nevertheless, my panties are in less of a bunch today. I am feeling more optimistic about this series now. And I do realize that any focus on what digital moms do is a good thing. You women rocked out today. I’ll certainly be posting some more on this as the week goes on. Cheers.
**UPDATE**
I just DMed Amber aka @jerseymomma to ask if another segment was on this morning (3/11) since I never saw one. She let me know that it seems the series was only Monday (3/9) and Tuesday (3/10). But she did say that the producers were very excited about this topic and she is hopeful they will do more in the future.
So that’s it for now I guess. To sum it all up, digital moms seemed defined by the Today Show as very social mom bloggers who get free stuff and influence corporations if we work really really hard at what we do.
Hmmmm. I think there’s room for more on this topic, don’t you?
After an evening trying to whip myself together into some sort of presentable look for fashion week, myself and the 20 other bloggers tromped out into the rain to go see the Vivienne Tam show.
What did I expect? Some very beautiful, thin, doe eyed girls trooping around in fabulous outfits and a crew of fashionistas getting it so much more than I am, and eyeing everyone up and down. I doubted I’d see VT herself, but what do I know about how these events go down…
And what happened?
Well, we arrived, were escorted right in and handed glasses of champagne. And there was Vivienne Tam standing with all the models in front of a row of Touchsmart HP screens! After many pictures, the models moved on and the crowd mingled. The wonderful DWJ from the Art of Accessories grabbed my hand (I love this woman, by the way) and managed to get us in for a picture with Vivienne Tam herself!
Um. Is this my life? Here we are. (I have no idea what happened with my hair. I am clearly channeling “A Flock of Seagulls”. Whatever. I’m standing next to her!)
And then a few minutes later, they lined up all the bloggers with Vivienne Tam and took endless pictures. This sounds silly but I totally had a red carpet moment all of the sudden. Little ol’ me. Whoda thunk. I don’t have a big group shot now but will post one when I do.
Anyway, we saw the amazing collection. Its absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with a beautiful leather dress of hers and was amazed by the beauty of the detail in her dresses.
A Mom in Red High Heels and I checked out the Touchsmart PCs. We pulled up our sites and took pics of ourselves at the event.
We talked to interesting people, learned more about the inspiration of her collection (which I hope to post more about in the future) and just generally had an amazing time.
I think what impressed me most was Vivienne herself. She was so taken aback that we were all women bloggers there to support her show. She said it meant so much to have women supporting her this way and was extremely appreciative of us being there. I said to her that women bloggers absolutely adore this mini and all want one. Her face absolutely lit up. She spun around to some very nice man behind her. “Did you hear that?? The bloggers love the Mini!!!” She was genuine, she was warm, she was truly grateful to have us there.
Grateful. Yes. My words exactly.
What an amazing evening.
For more information about the HP products I review, please visit my HP Update page.
This Sunday, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Seaworld with a fabulous crew of mom bloggers. All thanks to Ted Murphy at IZEA and Wendy Piersall at Sparkplugging.com, we were able to spend an entire day at the park soaking up all things aquatic. I had never been to Orlando’s Seaworld before and was very excited to see what all the fuss was about. And while I wasn’t able to bring my children, I got to see the park through the eyes of the other mom blogger’s children – all while plying them with cotton candy.
So who did I go with? Well the wonderful Shellie from Blog 4 Mom , the brilliant Susan from Egg Marketing and Sometimes Parenting Sucks , the wildly witty Britt from Miss Britt, and the beautiful Melanie from Modern Mami. And had I ever met these women before? Well, here and there on Twitter or in passing at Blog Her last year – but for the most part we met as strangers. But c’mon. Give us some credit. We blog, we’re moms, we had pleeeenty in common. We really had a wonderful day together and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to hang out with them and their families.
Now what about the park? From sea exhibit to shining sea exhibit, I had an amazing time. Since it is February, the weather was perfect and the park was not very crowded. We walked casually to each section, we never felt too overwhelmed by other visitors and enjoyed every sea creature we saw.
The dolphin area was amazing. Visitors had the chance to feed dolphins and reach out to pet them if they happened to be at arms length. You could truly enjoy this creatures curiousity – they are such wonderful and social animals. The under water viewing area was impressive. The dolphins peered right back at us, swimming slowly by. I think they were equally entertained.
After checking out some wonderful manatee (and debating with husbands whether they are technically considered “cute” – which they are), we went to the Blue Horizons Whale and Dolphin show. I happened to capture the finale on video to share with my children and all of you.
Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch and then headed over to the shark exhibit. I really enjoyed being able to move through the shark tank and see them swim over us. I also appreciated seeing how thick that glass was separating us and the sharks!
The big event for the afternoon was the Shamu Show “Believe”. We all made sure to get spots as close to the front without technically being in the “splash zone”. If the kids had a choice however, we would have been right down front, bracing for wave impact. Nope. We mom bloggers are practical, we stayed dry. But I did catch that finale on video also.
At this point, the kids had been pretty good about following our agenda so we let them run wild in Shamu’s Happy Harbor while we chatted. Or should I say, the moms chatted and the dads braved the climbing contraption with netted tubes three stories above us. While we compared blog tips and tweeted from iphones, the dad’s sweated their way through it all, each coming back down exhausted and a bit overwhelmed. Be prepared if you head up into that maze yourselves, it is not really built for adults sizes or large crowds and can get very warm!
Our final stop was for the wild at heart. A few of the mom bloggers braved the Kraken – a ginormous roller coaster found at the back of the park. It absolutely took my breath away and was an incredible ride. Awesome for sure, but it left me seeing stars a bit on the way back to the car. (Groan, am I getting too old for roller coasters? …never.)
All in all, it was an amazing day. Seaworld is wonderful park for every aged family member. While it brings a lot of the Florida sea life to visitors, it does a great job giving us real accessibility to the animals. Afterwards, visitors are left with an educational visit and a true appreciation for what is really living in our oceans.
Find some time when it won’t be crowded at Seaworld and go yourself!
As the fates would have it, Morningside Mom is heading to New York City. I know, pretty fabulous right? Now you are probably wondering why? And how? And don’t I have kids to watch and coupons to clip and… other, um, important stuff to manage?
Well, thanks to HP and the fabulous folks at Buzz Corp, I am a part of a crew of bloggers headed there to learn more abot the Vivienne Tan HP Mini Netbook. Four days of blogging from the center of the universe. Four days of checking out all that is fabulous about the designer Vivienne Tam. Four days of meeting HP peeps and getting the scoop on this product so I can report the real skinny back to you all. Four days of looking up a lot.
And what about the kids? Well, let me send a quick shout out to Grandma and Grandpa Morningside who are braving four days of kindergarten pick up lines and potty training to make this happen. I know they’re wondering what they got themselves into but no take-sies, back-sies. They’re coming and I am grateful.
Back to NYC. So I am heading there in mid February and will be meeting up with a whole crew of bloggers on the same adventure as I am. I think it is only polite that I introduce myself and my readers to them here. Come take a look at who is a part of this and what they’ve had to say about the VT so far. If you are interested in purchasing a VT, it should be a real advantage to have access to so many opinions in one place. And this is only the beginning so be sure to come back and check in with all of us later!
(Fellow bloggers: If I’ve missed your post and you’d like me to list it, just let me know!)
Hey, and did you see how I’ve organized my HP Updates page? Be sure to check there to find links to all of my HP product reviews and information in one place.
Ok folks. I got really lucky again. And I mean REALLY lucky. My favorite PR peeps over at Buzz Corps brought me into the fold of another project for HP. And a couple days ago, they sent me the product we’re reviewing this time. What is it? Oh, you’re gonna like this one. Its a Vivienne Tam HP Mini Netbook. It’s pretty damn fabulous – and I’m going to tell you why.
Now, I am going to warn you. I am going to post here all about how I endorse this product. But I am going to try my damnedest NOT to sound too much like an infomercial… I’m not sure I’ll succeed, but stick with me anyway, ok?
So to keep it interesting, I decided to also check out the 12 seconds site. Instead of typing a bunch of bladdy bladdy blah text, I thought I would try sharing my top 5 reasons why I love the HP Mini on there. Consider it my first stab at “Vlogging”, if you will. But I love the concept of the videos only being 12 seconds – its my personal guarantee that this review can’t get too boring. So check it out because if you’ve read this far, you clearly have an attention span of more that 12 seconds.
(So, be honest. I really don’t think I got away without sounding a little bit like an infomercial, did I? Yeah well, what are you gonna do. I’m sure Vanna White is quaking in her stilettos…)
Now there are certainly many other reasons why I like this mini so much. And I know that if you read on it will take more than 12 seconds, but bear with me if your interest is peaked now.
While it is certainly very light and easy to pop open and work on just about anywhere, it also doesn’t get as hot as my other HP laptop. The weight and low temp make this HP Mini seem almost effortless – and extremely easy to curl up on the couch with. (I guess it should be no surprise it has an energy star rating, right?)
The operating system is Windows XP and comes with Windows Media Player (which I use all the time). But I know someone else who just put Windows 7 on theirs and it sounds like it is working great.
It has two USB ports, one of which I am using for the remote mouse, a headphone/mic jack, a network jack, an expansion port, an SD card reader, and a security cable connector. Along with its camera, the HP Mini has speakers to play tunes on (and for such a little thing, its speakers actually sound surprisingly good - about as good as my regular sized HP laptop).
I know I talked about the design in Reason #3 but I have to go over that point one more time. It is really lovely to look at. The design makes it feel very unique. This mini even comes with a silk cloth “clutch” that you can slip it into. From there, I slip it into my purse. And as I mentioned before, all the flowers and femininity acts as its own security system – my husband, brother, father and the rest of the dudes in my family won’t be taking it out in public to use. With no threats of it disappearing, this mini has become the uber Mommy laptop.
Ok, how about a couple cons? Well, once again, I would have to say the very shiny screen is a frustration (this has been an issue I’ve seen with most HP screens). The shininess is very pretty to look at initially but it is just too shiny. Its very hard to look at outside, especially if the mini is unplugged and the screen is not as bright.
The overall shininess of the Mini also means many finger prints. Finger prints (and other various types of smears) are a reality in this mother’s world. I feel like I need to wipe it down a lot to keep it looking beautiful.
Also the camera seems dark. I need to be outdoors or near very bright light to have any hope of being seen. Perhaps I don’t have a setting quite right but I have heard this is an issue for other VT users too.
**Update about the Webcam!**
While on our Vivienne Tam NYC trip, the wonderful HP rep who came along explained to us that some of the first VT HP minis still have a small bit of plastic over the webcam. She wasn’t exactly sure why it was left on, one idea was that it was to protect the camera from the paint treatment. Nevertheless, it is fixable. She actually opened each of our VT HP minis and peeled the piece of plastic off. If you are having issues with yours, I would call HP tech support and explain the problem. HP has now recommended that you do not try to do this on your own in case it causes unnecessary damage.
If you unplug the Mini fully charged, you really don’t have too long on it without having to power it up again. I think I’ve gotten a couple hours out of it, but that’s about it.
All in all, it is a fabulous ride. And my bottom line is: if you’re someone looking for something stylish and easy, something more than just a blackberry but less cumbersome than a regular sized laptop, you might want to check out one of these Vivienne Tam HP Minis.
In the meantime, I am going to hope the men in my family don’t get over their complex about flowers too soon and do finally walk off with the thing. Wish me luck.
For other blogger reviews of the HP VT Mini, visit this post of mine for links to each blogger involved in this review. They should be listed at the HP Website also. For more information about the HP products I review, please visit my HP Update page.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, seven boxes filled with my HP giveaway goodies arrived in one astounding delivery at my doorstep. Per HP’s encouragement (and my brother’s, who had since arrived for the holidays and was salivating over each and every box), we opened it all up and checked most of it out.
Now if you look carefully at the picture above, you are probably mortified. Yep, that’s Thanksgiving leftovers surrounding that PC on the table. Sweet potatoes to the right and a turkey sandwich to the left. But in the middle of the picture sits the Touchsmart – too large to put anywhere but dead center of my dining room table. So, the Touchsmart enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday with our family, who gathered around and tested it’s touchy waters – including my adorably tech-savvy five year old son pictured above in his PJs.
We had 10 adults visit my home over the Thanksgiving weekend. They all had different backgrounds although three are teachers and one, my brother, is an IT guy who happens to use HP products at his work. So we pulled out the 4 computers. Admittedly, I wouldn’t say we used any of them up to their full potential. A lot of email was checked. Lots of oohing and ahhing happened. At one point, all the guys were on the back porch with the HDX notebook. My brother had hooked up HD TV on it, and they were watching the game, beers in hand. The Touchsmart was taken over by the teachers, mothers and children. Educational websites were brought up and we all played online learning games along side singing, giggling children. Folks would often sneak off to curl up in a corner with the mini and my very classy, super hip sister in law has decided the Pavillion Entertainment PC is, in fact, all she wants for Christmas.
Gobble Gobble, my fam went techie this Thanksgiving.
Now, wouldn’t you know it – I took notes about what my family had to say about all these PCs over the weekend. And, as I am getting ready to send these boxes off to my winner, I thought I would share everyone’s thoughts with you now. Maybe this feedback will help you if you are in the market for a new computer.
Oh and wait. Big disclaimer here. Apart from sending me the hardware for this contest, HP (and other companies involved) did not reimburse me in any way for my participation in this competition. Yeah, I did get the HP Pavillion PC to review last summer (’scuse me while I give it a quick appreciative hug), but if anything, you should trust my feedback since I use my Pavillion all day, every day.
First of all, it was heavy. So, we needed to find a very secure spot to set it up (hence my dining room table). That said, it was fairly easy to set up and it certainly was beautiful to look at. It gathered the holiday crowds – even the guys stepped away from the game for a minute to check it out. The picture was fabulous. Truly, it was breath-taking to watch. It has a very responsive to touch, you almost don’t even have to touch it and it will respond. We loved that it had an HD tuner included. There is a CD drive on the side and cool snap in drive pocket on top. The flat screen makes it a space saver, although it is as large as a TV screen. Overall, HP outdid itself with the “cool factor” on this one.
Cons? Well we all wondered what it would be best used for. It doesn’t seem practical as simply a regular PC. Your arm gets tired when you use the touchscreen option for too long and we wound up reverting to the mouse often. So this PC might be best used for demonstrations or display. Another big issue was the reflection. In fact, all of the computers had a very strong reflection. We kept having to turn the TouchSmart around to make sure no natural light was reflecting off of it. When it was placed facing towards a window, it was almost impossible to see during the day. And with all that touching, we worried how dirty it could get too – especially with children. Oh and a note about touching – my children saw that touching this computer screen was ok, and that made this parent a little nervous. I saw grape jelly finger prints in its near future if I didn’t fend my children off of it. Also, we couldn’t see any HD antennae with it which would make sense to have.
Again, this is a beautiful PC. Really, it is. It has a big screen which is very impressive to look at. If you are looking to get rid of your clunky home PC and laptop – and you need one overall good computer that is mobile – this is a great option. We loved the HD tuner and antennae. Its a lovely computer, very flashy and would make a fabulous all in one PC.
That being said, it is very big and very heavy. While, yes, it is a laptop, it is not something you would grab, throw under your arm or just throw in your briefcase and go. Its not an everyday portable type of PC. It can be moved, its nice and thin, but its heavy. Again, we had the same reflection issues with the screen.
This is what I have and (sigh) I love it. Although the model they sent (Dv4 series) seemed a little facier looking than mine – that may just be because it is a newer model. We all loved this one as a great laptop that has everything you need - especially for movie making and watching movies. All the external ports, serial ATAs and USBs are terrific. I also love that you can pop a media card directly into it. My brother noted that the HDMI out to the TV is great to have too.
Again, this PC does have a significant reflection. (I have gotten used to it on mine but avoid using my PC outside on my porch for that reason). My brother was disappointed that it doesn’t have a blue ray drive on it – but I don’t own any blue ray DVDs so that certainly isn’t something that bothers me. Also, this laptop and the HDX heat up on your lap. The fan is underneath so it feels hot fast. I always keep it on a table or lap tray if I am working on the couch.
We’re lucky this one made it back into its box, honestly. Everyone loved this PC – which surprised me. I thought the bigger, flashier ones would get them. Nope. My family loved how easy, small and light it was. It would be great for travel and it seemed to do a lot for its size. It was very fast and responsive. Folks appreciated the media card on this one too. Impressively, it has a full operating system. It has great resolution and is a very cool little laptop for sure.
However, users would need to get used to scrolling more often with a smaller screen. And they would need to get used to a small keyboard also. There is no CD rom, but what do you expect – its a mini! The track pad seemed a little too sensitive but maybe with some tinkering in options, that could be fixed.
We didn’t get a chance to try out the other parts of the prize package. Its just as well. I didn’t want to fall in love with anything more – after all, its not ours! And I certainly didn’t want the kids all over that TouchSmart any more than they were. My son even said “Mommy!!!! That Touchsmart is SO AWESOME!!!! You know why? I’m allowed to TOUCH it!!” SO COOL MOMMY!” And with that, I hastily packed it back into its box.
Thanks HP for the techie fun this Thanksgiving. But of course, I am more grateful for the opporitunity to send all of this someplace who will truly put it to good use. Congratulations again Moms Without Moms!
For more information about the HP products I review, please visit my HP Update page.
So sue me, “Two tickets for next week’s Friday screening of New Moon, please.” I stuck them in my car visor and looked forward to last night all week.
Please be rest assured. My friend and I were absolutely laughing at ourselves. We saw humor in our anticipation. We joked that if we were going to do this, we were doing it right. We were committing to this Twilight thing that night, why be half assed? We giggled at the Twilight souvenir cups and promised ourselves some as soon as we were seated.
So last weekend, my blogger friend 
Some things I wish they did add:
The Toms Shoes company
But here’s the thing. When I got them, they actually looked a lot cooler than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised. And my favorite part about the shoes? When I slipped them on, I didn’t want to take them off. Because, my friend, they’re like butta. So dang comfy. Granted, they don’t have a ton of support – these are flat shoes made of canvas. But they are well made and I really, truly never want to take them off. (Maybe I should get Grandma a pair, I think she wouldn’t take them off either.)
It should come as no surprise that I was glued to my television this morning. The Digital Moms series on the Today Show has me sucked in. After being somewhat disappointed by 
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