Making mints and making memories

/
Making mints and making memories

At Thanksgiving when my daughters were young, they enjoyed making cream cheese after-dinner mints as their contribution to the holiday meal. The recipe for the mints was super simple, super yummy, and a super tradition that makes me smile just thinking about it.

cream cheese dinner mints

A few years ago, when my eldest grandson, Bubby, was two years old — and my youngest grandson, Mac, was just an announcement emblazoned across his big brother’s T-shirt — Bubby and I made the cream cheese mints together.

Read More

Photo finish: People of the red carpet

/

The Starz Denver Film Festival wrapped up this past weekend, with the last red carpet event being the screening of AT MIDDLETON, directed by Adam Rodgers and starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga.

Here, my view of the people of the red carpet:

THE EVERYDAY PEOPLE

red carpet eventThe AT MIDDLETON red carpet experience with my favorite co-star, aka Jim.

THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

Read More

The best things about being a grandma

/
The best things about being a grandma

Giving thanks for our blessings tops the Thanksgiving to-do list of many — right along with the grocery shopping, turkey stuffing, pie filling and more.

Naming those blessings can sometimes be a challenge, though, especially when our What I Want list far outweighs our What I Have list. Yet as grandmas, it's no chore at all to list and be ever thankful for our grandma gig, especially those parts we consider the best.

Here, straight from some of the Grilled Grandmas, are the very best things about being a grandma. They're by no means exclusive to grandmas, of course, as grandpas likely feel the same, equally believe these are among the best of the best blessings for which we grandparents give thanks.

best things about being a grandma

The best thing about being a grandma is, in their eyes, I am sooooo cool. —Jules

Read More

Saturday movie review: 'The Truth About Emanuel'

/

THE TRUTH ABOUT EMANUEL is a wholly original and unpredictable film on grief and the stories that keep us afloat. Emanuel's story is that she killed her mother. Or that's how Emanuel (Kaya Scodelario) puts it in the voice-over in the movie's first scene.

As the dark film begins, it's days before Emanuel's eighteenth birthday. Emanuel detests birthday celebrations, though, because her mother died giving birth to her. Her combative attitude through much of the film makes it seem she detests far more than just her birthdays, including herself.

The Truth About Emanuel
(from left) Kaya Scodelario and Jessica Biel in THE TRUTH ABOUT EMANUEL.

Emanuel lives with her father (Alfred Molina) and a stepmother she treats horribly. She seems fragile and ready to come undone any moment. The situation — and Emanuel's psychological state — take a complex turn for the worse when a young mother (played by Jessica Biel) moves in next door.

Read More

BBC-Dallas: A cute kids and conference quotes wrap up mashup

/

I am a blogger. And I am a grandma. The role of blogger and the role of grandma are huge parts of who I am — though not all of who I am, by any means.

As a blogger, I can never have too many tips that help me succeed; as a grandma I can never have too many pictures of my grandsons that help me smile. Today I thought I'd meld the two: combine highlights of my recent Bloggy Boot Camp experience with highlighted photos I recently took of my grandsons.

Consider this a BBC-Dallas wrap up like no other — the ultimate cute kids and conference quotes wrap up mashup.

Bloggy Boot Camp: Brand Edition, which I attended free thanks to winning the conference prize package from The SITS Girls, was two days jam-packed with technical and inspirational information from successful women and men who've been there, done that in the digital world.

The technical stuff would require, well, attending a conference to get the full benefit. The inspirational stuff is a little easier to digest out of context, so that's what I share in this wrap up (with a wee bit o' tech thrown in just for you). Some are direct quotes, some are just nuggets of truth, all are surrounded by a few fave photos of Bubby and Mac taken during my visit to their world last month.

boys and iPad 

Read More

'Labor Day' movie a tender ode to imperfect people... and pie

/

I tend to expect the worst yet hope for the best when it comes to movies based on novels I loved written by authors whom I've long adored. Such was the case with LABOR DAY, a film directed by Jason Reitman based on the novel of the same name by author Joyce Maynard.

Joyce Maynard on her grandmotherI read Joyce's novel not too long ago. I literally hugged the book to my chest after reading the final page, I loved it so. Because of my love for the book, when I had the opportunity to screen the film — which opened the Starz Denver Film Festival — I feared I'd be disappointed.

Thankfully my fear was unfounded.

Read More

Wherein I attempt to master the selfie

/

I like to check my baggage when I travel. I know a lot of people prefer to carry on their items, but I prefer to check. Reason being that when I travel, I take my laptop (it's not an iPad or notebook by any means) as well as my DSLR camera. Once my camera is in a bigger bag with my purse, that bag and my laptop constitute my two carry-on items, while clothes and more are checked.

That said, I didn't check my baggage for my recent trip to Dallas for Bloggy Boot Camp, a fully paid trip I won from The SITS Girls. It was a quick trip with little chance I'd be leaving the hotel (which I didn't) so I left my camera at home, packed my laptop in my suitcase and lugged it all upon the plane.

Having no DSLR along for the trip meant I had to use my iPhone for any photos. An iPhone 4S, so it's not all that great, but it works in a pinch for most things.

I'm not so sure it worked all that well for selfies. Or maybe it's the camera operator. I tried, I really did. And the following provides proof.

Read More