Reading

  • Blog, Reading

    AN ODD MOM NIGHT OUT WITH JILL KARGMAN FOR THE RELEASE OF ‘SPRINKLE GLITTER ON MY GRAVE’

    You may not know it but I am obsessed with Jill  Kargman and the Bravo television show Odd Mom Out. When it debuted last year I immediately saw myself in Jill, if I lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.  Watching her weekly antics made it easy to declare Jill my “spirit animal”.

    When I heard she was releasing a book entitled, ‘Sprinkle Gitter On My Grave‘ I immediately thought, “I need to cop that shit”. Cause if there was a book that needed to be apart of my mommy humor collection this was it! My follow up thought was, I hope my ass gets invited to a book release event.

    Guess what? I did! And it was great!! I mean its Jill there would be no  way this event would be anything less. It was hosted by Diva Moms and Armitron watches, and took place at the Armitron showroom in New York City.

    I don’t know what I expected when the doors opened, but I know I wasn’t expecting to see the crowd that was there.  I couldn’t even get off the elevator and it took me 15 minutes to make it out of the lobby area. It was amazing to see so many women from all walks of life come out to show their love.  In turn, the red carpet was rolled out for us as Armitron gave out complimentary  watches to all the guests.

    jill kargman
    My free Armitron Watch (L) / Jill Kargman – Photo Credit: Heidi Green (R)

    If you haven’t purchased Jill’s book yet then you need to. She’s giving us classic Jill quirky humor.  Things that would make others cringe and cry anre hysterical moments for Jill. Sprinkle Glitter On My Grave will have you laughing and talking along with her as she poke fun at everything from life in general to her own family and friends, nothing is off limits.

    jill kargman

    Armitron

    JILL KARGMAN
    Jill Kargman & Lyss Stern Photo Credit: Heidi Green

    The holiday’s are coming up and this is a must buy for all your odd mom out friends!

    Check out my Snapchat Video to get a glimpse of how it all went down.

    And if meeting Jill wasn’t enough a couple of days later Armitron emailed me to say that I had won the giveaway they were running. All one had to do was share a pic of yourself wearing the watch during the event. My IG gif (shown below) won me FOUR more watches!! Can you believe it! I can’t wait to show you what I ordered.

    Jill and Lyss took a selfie with us at the end of the night. I know you see me right there in the center.

    jill kargman

    Just as an FYI – This isn’t Jill Kargman’s first rodeo as an author. She has penned a number of books which you can check out here!

  • EVENT RECAP, Reading

    SHITTY MOM FOR ALL SEASONS: HALF-ASSING IT ALL YEAR LONG BOOK RELEASE

    I’ve been a fan of Sh*tty Mom for a long time. You can imagine my excitement when I was able to attend not one, but two events for the release of their newest book Sh*tty Mom For All Seasons: Half-@ssing It All Year Long. It’s a follow-up to their 2012 New York Times bestseller Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide For The Rest of Us. Why was I at two events for the same book release, you ask? Well, I was supposed to go with a pal but she had to work the first night but she was able to come out the next night for the second event. And me being the party mama that I am, why would I turn down an opportunity to have drinks and cake two nights in a row.

    The first event I went to was hosted by Lyss Stern of Divalysscious Moms on the UES (Upper East Side) in New York City. In a fabulous posh apartment packed with women laughing, joking, eating and drinking, while sharing their own personal shitty mom moments.

    For those of you who are not familiar with the backstory of Shitty Mom, their first book The Parenting Guide For The Rest of Us is a parenting guide unlike any you’ve ever read. This is isn’t going to teach you how to make organic origami sandwiches for your kid’s lunchbox. Instead it’s gonna teach you “How to Sleep Until 9 A.M. Every Weekend” and “How To Not Hear the Baby in the Middle of the Night,” With the success of their first book it would only make sense that a second book would soon follow.

    The follow up (shown above) explores the occasions throughout the year that test every mother’s patience and inspire self-deprecating humor and that second glass of wine. The book is organized by the four seasons and will teach you how to navigate your way through motherhood, tell you that it’s okay to laugh at the occasional parenting fail, and it will without a  doubt have you appreciate your own mother.

    shitty mom
    The ladies of Sh*tty Mom
    shitty mom
    Yours truly and Sh*tty Mom

    The very next night had a totally different feel as I met up with my blogging buddy Allaya and other friends downtown at the exclusive HAUS nightclub where The Moms were hosting their own Sh*tty Mom book release party. This dance party surrounded by friends, laughter, cocktails, a rocking DJ and a great book! It was just what the doctor ordered for a mommy only night on the town.

    shitty mom
    Photo Credit: The Moms (via Facebook)
    shitty mom
    Photo Credit: The Moms (via Facebook)

    Pick up your copies of Sh*tty Mom on Amazon today as these books are hilariously funny. Most definitely worth every penny as a teat to yourself or a friend.

    shitty mom   shittymom7

    *Please not that this post contains affiliate links to the Mommy R+R Amazon store.

  • Blog, EVENT RECAP, Reading

    EMBRACING MY SPIRITUAL AWAKENING WITH AUTHOR IRENE WEINBERG

    I don’t usually talk about this topic outside of those closest to me, and I definitely have never spoken about it on this site. I just didn’t think there would ever be a reason to mention it, until now.

    Things are gonna get heavy but stick with me.

    For as long as I can remember I have always been intrigued by the afterlife. The question of what happens to us after we die is a question I think many people have. It’s a natural curiosity. I morbidly think about the deaths of my loved ones. I don’t know why, I just do. And it’s not in the sense of that I want them to die, no. I mean cause if I had it my way we’d never age and walk this earth forever. I think more about how I would feel. The pain. The loneliness. I know death is inevitable, but it’s the how and when that keeps me (hell, all of us) on pins and needles. And since I don’t know, I can only from time to time wonder.

    But I don’t know how I would feel if someone told me my husband’s time was almost up? This is a double edged sword because I want to know, but I know in reality I couldn’t handle it, and beg the memory to be erased. However, this DID happen to a woman, on a very random day in her kitchen more than 10 years ago. There she was washing dishes when a powerful voice boomed into her head and told her that her husband would die soon. She didn’t know how to process this information. Where did it come from? Who said it? What did it mean?

    So she did what anyone else would do and pushed it out of her mind. But in less than 3 months she would find herself laying inside her flipped over car, in snowy ditch on the side of the road next to her deceased husband. The real life woman this happened to is named Irene Weinberg, and this is her story.

    Irene is the author of They Serve Bagels In Heaven: One Couple’s Story of Love, Eternity, and the Cosmic Importance of Everyday Life. This amazing memoir talks about the messages Irene received before, during and after the accident which contained a Directive from Heaven, opening her to a profound spiritual awakening that took her on a healing journey from devastating loss to a renewed sense of inner strength, spiritual wisdom and passion for life.

    Irene Weinberg

    Bagels in Heaven made me laugh, it made me cry, and it also let me know that just because our loved ones may not physically be here for us to touch and talk to, they are still around us, showering us with love and guiding us on our path in life. This book touched me in so many ways, especially with my Grandmother’s one year anniversary approaching in April. It helped me understand that she is still very much with me, I just have to open my mind to signs that she sends me.

    What kind of signs you ask? Well, how about the time I was sitting at a red light thinking about her and out of nowhere her favorite song More Than Words came on. This made me think of her standing in the window of her high rise apartment looking at the New York City skyline sipping a hot cup of tea. Then out of no where my 4 year old breaks my thought to ask if she can have some tea when we get home. Talk about a clear and direct message. All in a split second waiting at a stoplight my grandmother wanted me to know she was there. These are the signs Irene wants us to pay attention to because they bring us solace and comfort.

    Irene’s book also spoke about soul mates. The love Irene and her late husband Saul have for one another spans more than just the one lifetime, which is why I speak of it in the present tense. And thanks to a now famous celebrity medium (who I will not mention because I want you to be surprised when you read it), Irene became aware of those past lives, some of them are happy and others are more tragic than the loss that she suffered this life. But what I loved the most was reading how they come together in each of them. I can only describe their love as the type of love that’s desired by most, but sadly only experienced by few. And it got me thinking, I wonder how many lives me and Jeff have lived together before this one? I mean, how else does a Haitian guy from Brooklyn end up meeting a Haitian girl from Jersey City? I always felt it had more to do with a pre-determined fate rather than some random fluke.

    They Serve Bagels In Heaven is a great read that will take you no time to finish because once you start you’ll want to keep going.

    IRENE ON EMBRACING YOUR AWAKENING SPIRITUALITY 

    A few weeks after I finished Irene’s book I found out that she would be hosting an intimate event in New York City to not only talk about her book but also give tips to help me tap into my spiritual awakening.

    See how things come together. Don’t you just love when that happens?!

    During her two hour event she taught me four keys things to help me live life full of happiness and positivity.

    1 – Lovingly detach from those around her who did not exude positive energy and light

    2 – Follow my intuition and only walk through doors that feel right

    3 – Understand that the only things we can control in this life is ourselves.

     

    Irene Weinberg
    Photo Credit: Irene Weinberg

    And lastly, (this is the biggie) she talked about how holding grudges and the inability to forgive (cause this is so me), stunts our own spirit from growing. It took me back to the popular saying, I’m forgiving you for ME. It makes sense when you really think about it.

    Irene Weinberg

    All in all, I learned so much from Irene in this little bit of time we had together. Regardless of your spiritual background there are so many life lessons that can be applied to everyone’s life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a loved one nearing a transition or if that person has already crossed over, or if you’re interested in the spiritual realm and past life romances. You can get a copy of They Serve Bagels In Heaven on Amazon.

  • Blog, Reading

    12 BOOKS I PLAN TO READ IN 2016

    I don’t get to read very often. Prior to children I could knock out a book within a week, and if I was really into it a couple of days. Now I’ll be lucky to polish off a book within 3 months. For 2016 I want not only want to get back into reading, but I also want to speed up how quickly I can read a book. I will be giving myself 1 month per book. That means, instead of trolling Facebook when I have nothing to do I’ll crack open a book and read it. This is a challenge I’m putting myself through as it’s apart of my goals for 2016, which included me doing more things I enjoy. It doesn’t matter if I read one page or 5 chapters, if I’m free then I will read – that’s the rule.

    And just so you see how serious I am, I’ve taken the liberty of ordering all of the books listed. I will share them with you when they arrive, which will be in no time thanks to Amazon Prime.

    This is my list of books (in no particular order) that I will be reading this year:

    Fringe Hours: Making Time For You
    Jessica N. Turner
    MommyRandR

    As you know I’m all about that self-care. I want it for myself, and for you as well. So when I discovered blogger turned author Jessica Turner’s ‘Fringe Hours: Making Time For You‘ I knew this would be one that I would be diving into. This is all about ways that you can carve out more time in your life in order to make more time for YOU! Every mom wants to know how to wisely make use of a  full day, and so if Jess has the secrets then I’m all ears for it.

    A Sinful Calling
    Kimberla Lawson Roby

    With a release date of summer 2016 (no cover has been released) I am biting what’s left of my nails in anticipation of my hands on ‘A Sinful Calling‘, the 13th installment in the Reverend Curtis Black Series. Since reading ‘Casting the First Stone’ (the first installment) more than a decade ago she has taken me and her faithful following on a roller coaster ride of cheating, deception and murder all happening inside of a church! Sista Johnston surely ain’t ready for all this drama within the congregation and neither are you. Note: Sista Johnston is a fictional person I use when I reference black churches. She’s the church member who sits front row every Sunday, takes no nonsense from anyone and everyone is pretty much terrified of her. Oh, and she always has life savers candy in her purse.

    The Taming of the Queen
    Philippa Gregory
    MommyRandR

    When you talk about historical fiction there is only one name that stands out and that’s Philippa Gregory. She is a master at bringing to life time periods of long ago, most notably the Tudor era. You may remember the film The Other Boleyn Girl starring Natalie Portman. Now I admit the movie was not that great (I don’t know where they got those accents from. I’m looking at you ScarJo), but the book was FANFUCKINGTASTIC! So it’s a total no brainier that I will have my nose deep into her latest ‘The Taming of the Queen‘, which follows the life of the 6th and final wife of Henry VIII, Kateryn Parr. As crazy as he was at that point she’s lucky her head didn’t end up on the block like wives 2 and 5. But nonetheless, I’m quite sure that was something juicy going on as Philippa can craft one helluva story in between the pages of history. This title will be released on April 26, 2016.

    The Girl On The Train
    Paula Hawkins
    MommyRandR

    I haven’t heard so much about one book since The Da Vinci Code, one of my favorite books of all time! I feel like I’m the only one on the planet who hasn’t read The Girl On The Train. What’s it about? Well, Rachel spots some mess from the train she’s on regarding a couple she sees everyday. What she sees is so crazy she now has to investigate it, which pretty much means this is not gonna end well for someone. I can’t wait to find out what the hell she saw that just got her Jessica Fletcher investigative juices flowing. Did you read it? How was it? Note: You do know who Jessica Fletcher is don’t you?

    Humans of New York Stories
    Brandon Stanton
    MommyRandR

    No account on the internet can make people smile and cry at the same time than Humans of New York. Brandon Stanton is a saint among us. In 2015 alone he helped a young boy from Brooklyn raise over 1 million dollars for his school. All it took was one story about how he admired his principal and from there the donations poured in. HONY, as it’s affectionately called started with Brandon taking photos of random people and asking them questions that triggers them to share with him some of the most amazing stories you will ever read. He took some of the most memorable stories, and some you never read and put them in his latest book Humans of New York Stories. This is more than a coffee table book its a conversation piece that every New Yorker (and human being with caring soul for their fellow man) needs to own.

    The Martian
    Andy Weir
    MommyRandR

    When I saw the preview for this movie with Matt Damon I knew I had to see it. I never made it – the story of my life when it comes to getting to the movies. But, when I found out it was based on a book I thought, even better. The Martian is about a man who was left on Mars by his crew who thought he was dead and now he must do everything he can to survive. Whoa! I’m willing to buy this book just to find out if he made it off the red planet.

    Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns
    MommyRandR

    My personal Facebook timeline was a buzz with friends coloring. Yes, coloring. In what is known as adult coloring books. Stress reliving coloring books are clearly all the rage, and it’s really interesting to see all the creativity that emerges from my friends when they tackle a new pattern. I can actually see myself with some soothing sounds in my ear coloring away after the kids are asleep. I feel relaxed just thinking about it.

    Moms Who Drink & Swear
    Nicole Knepper
    MommyRandR

    Okay it’s obvious that this book was written for me. For the people who really know me I’m know they’re shocked I haven’t penned something similar, as I am a mom who drinks and cusses up a gotdam storm – see! Moms Who Drink And Swear is a book of tales about all the shit that happens in the homes of parents who have kids. This is no holds barred, so if you’re squeamish and put off by someone who thinks their kid is acting like a little asshole all while still being the apple of their eye then this book is NOT for you.

    Gone Girl
    Gillian Flynn
    MommyRandR

    Okay I cannot mention The Girl On The Train without Gone Girl. For the record these two books are not related in any way, hell they aren’t even by the same author. BUT there was much talk about which one was better than the other it deserved to be added *rubs hands together* I love a good book debate. Now I bought this book last summer. Yes, last summer. But I never read it. As a matter of fact, it’s still in the B&N bag. But I’m dusting it off and cracking the binding on it. If you don’t know about Gone Girl, it was made into a movie starring Ben Affleck that came out a couple of years ago. I will not spoil it if you have not seen it. But trust me when I tell you this book/movie is what mindfucks are made of. You need to watch it. Now I did hear some who did read the book didn’t care for the movie. I thought it was fantastic but I’ll see if that holds up when I’m on the last page. It’s a thick read so I need to pick a month with 31 days to do it. Again I implore you…WATCH IT!

    The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl
    Issa Rae
    MommyRandR

    If you follow her on Twitter then you know nothing else needs to be said about this one. She is funny, smart as a whip and all around relatable. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is a collection of essays told in only a way that Issa knows how. Covering everything from cybersexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself. Don’t let the title fool you, I assure you don’t have to be black to enjoy this book – anyone who is an introvert and/or just experiences a lot of awkward moments (me) will be able to enjoy this book.

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
    George R. R. Martin
    MommyRandR

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the prequel to Game of Thrones – obviously we all must buy it and read it. I’ma tell you right now this book will take me at least six months to read. Hell I haven’t even cracked open the Game of Thrones series. But I am curious to read about what takes place beforehand and if you’re die hard GoT fan then you probably already own it. Note: 2 things: 1 – If you don’t watch Game of Thrones then I’m utterly sorry for you as it is the greatest thing to hit television since the invention of television. The new season starts in April so you have from now til then to redeem yourself by purging on all 5 seasons. 2 – And I hope you really don’t think I’m gonna finish this book in a month. It’s not happening. I really will need six months. lol 

    American Housewife Stories
    Helen Ellis
    MommyRandR

    American Housewife Stories will debut later this month.  The reason this book made list is because the cover art grabbed me (this is actually how I choose books most of the time), then housewife (which I am), and finally the part about housewives who wear pink lipstick murdering people at garden parties. Wait. What? Killing people over casserole? Where does that even happen? I’ve never heard of this author before, but because she has my interest highly peaked I will, on my gut alone give this book a go. I like to think that I can trust my gut when it comes to books. I can’t name too many books that I hated despite what my initial judgement told me. So I hope I’m starting the new year off right with this one.

    And there you have it – my list for the year. While a lot of my books have published dates of 2015 or earlier this list was complied to highlight a number of books that I have an interest in reading for the year. If you’re looking for upcoming releases for the year Huff Post has a great list worth checking out.

    Oh, and if you’re wondering why I have no romance novels listed, it’s because I don’t do romance. At all. Okay that’s a half truth. I used to read a lot of it way back in early 2000’s but they began wear thin on me. I mean come on….those Fabio covers with all that heavy petting and looking into each others eyes for no reason. Ugh. I just can’t do it anymore. Maybe one day. But I guarantee you it won’t be anytime this decade.

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    Bonus mentions

    Characters Who Need To Come Back – Bad ass assassin Gideon created from the mind of Eric Jerome Dickey. It has been almost seven years since the shit storm that took place in South America. I wanna know where he’s at already. I hate when authors keep you on pins and needles with follow up titles. I guess I’ll have to keep waiting on bated breath til a release date rolls around.

    (Update: I tweeted EDJ and asked him about Gideon I didn’t a direct answer but he did retweet my tweets which is major!)

    Books That I will Never Read – 50 Shades of Grey. Nothing more needs to be said about that hot mess of a trilogy. I read some sample pages on my kindle out of curiosity, and I swear to the almighty heavens if I didn’t love my Kindle more than life itself I would’ve hurled it across the room. The mediocrity of that crap is astounding, but not as astounding as how many people love it. Smh. Just terrible.

    *This post contains Amazon affiliate links which earns this website a small commission that help keep this website active

    Photo Credit: All covers are from Amazon