Yanni Voices Show at Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena

Ok really? You can bring a glass of wine into the shows at Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena? The night was starting off great. And that wine might be what lead to this...

Dancing with the Stars: Ender and Me!

Photo Credit: Resourceful Mom

Whether you're a Yanni fan or not, a little wine, some good company (Barb, Amy & Jill) and the amazing musicians and vocalists of Yanni Voices in Concert will put a smile on your face, and, at times, a little shake to your booty.

Here's Why:
This Yanni show is not at all about Yanni. It seems to have been created to highlight all the other musicians and performers on the tour. Of course Yanni himself is a great host for the evening, but the real stars are the four new vocalists (Chloe, Leslie Mills, Ender Thomas, Nathan Pacheco) and the incredible musicians including the violinists, the percussion and drummer, the classical guitarist, and the harpist.

Here are the highlights from the Yanni Voices concert in Baltimore as I experienced them.

Ender Thomas came out in a hot pink shirt and tight pants and the Grandma sitting next to us whipped out her binoculars. No Joke. I can only imagine what she was focused on....can you?

Leslie Mills' satin vocals and fabulous wardrobe.

Dueling drums....honestly, amazing.

Chloe performed Change and I swear she was really crying.

A family of young girls (ages 12 to about 7) sitting right in front of us completely enjoying the concert!

Classic Baltimore moment...the mom of the girls comes shuffling through mid-song with nachos and a 20 oz beer (see - loving the 1st Mariner Arena!)

Dueling violins - insane

Crazy Brazilian harp thing....doubly insane!

Nathan Pacheco gets a standing ovation and we learned later on that his family was in the audience.

Next: My Backstage Experience at Yanni Voices

Janine

Guest Post! JP Laqueur on The Verizon Hub for Families

Photo Credit: Techfever on Flickr

I was invited to get a first-look at the Verizon Hub home phone in New York last week but couldn't get up there in time. Thankfully fellow marketer, blogger, and all-around good guy JP Laqueur (full-disclosure, he's my brother!) was able to take my spot and here is what he experienced.
__________________________

So today I had the privilege of seeing the new Verizon Hub firsthand. Verizon Wireless has done a great job with the first generation of this product. The Hub is aptly named as well.

Verizon Hub connects family members

Verizon envisioned this device from the start as something that would tie an entire family together in the one time and place they are likely to meet each day: the kitchen at breakfast. And they built its features and capabilities around that typical family experience.

Mom or Dad can quickly check weather, messages or news while they make coffee. They can we real time traffic updates before staring the commute. The kids can even watch short-form videos of their favorite shows while they eat breakfast.

But the Hub goes beyond breakfast too. It's calender feature allows all family members to keep track of events and it will soon integrate with Outlook and other calender systems. At dinner Mom or Dad can also call up recipes to help whip up a quick dinner.

And the Hub has a messaging interface that integrates neatly with your Verizon Wireless phones. The kids can instant message the Hub remotely to let Mom or Dad know about soccer practice change. And anyone can leave a message on the Hub like "went to Kmart. Back in 30" in lieu of paper notes.

Cost of the Verizon Hub

The Hub costs $200 then $35 a month and it must be accompanied by a new or existing Verizon Wireless account. It can support up to 3 handsets in the house and uses a VoIP connection and the home wireless network rather than a land line - making it convenient, fast and easy. It's also very upgradable. Verizon pushes updates to the device (new videos and recipes) all the time.

The next generation of the device will be even smaller and more integrated into the 7-inch screen. All in all it's a great initial product an likely to get even better. For busy Verizon Wireless families it's definitely worth a try.

JP Laqueur is president of Idea-Ware Inc. and blogs his random thoughts on marketing advocacy, technology and life at The Madvocate Blog.

Mom It Forward and Make a Difference

Congratulations to Jyl and Carissa from Mom It Forward on the launch of their new site, the way cool chip in widget, and the upcoming LIVE #gno parties/fundraisers that are going to happen all over the US and Australia on April 18th!

What is Mom It Forward?

Mom It Forwrd is the newest trend in mom groups and makes giving back fun, sociable, accessible, and stylish. The Mom It Forward mission is “to change the world one mom at a time” by strengthening women, helping them become the best moms they can be, and providing support.

Who is Mom It Forward going to help?

The answer to this is always changing. At the Blissdom conference in February MOM IF members helped serve food at a homeless shelter. Recently Mom IF Utah members held a family service project to benefit kids who are abused or neglected. The LIVE #GNO event is raising money for The Pope Foundation which helps women and families support themselves through a concept called microfinance. The Pope Foundation took the microfinance one step further and created 2 more businesses to help their movement. (Read all about this in the Mom IF Fundraiser FAQs)

How you can help Mom It Forward?

1. Chip in via the widget above.

2. Grab the widget and place it on your own blog, website, Facebook page, My Space page, etc.

3. Attend or even help organize one of the local LIVE events taking place April 18th.

4. Donate $20 or buy some of the the Pope Foundation's Basa Body line of products and you'll automatically be entered to win one of three gift cards: $250 Disney gift card, $150 Amazon gift card, $100 Target gift card.

I'll be helping with the DC event so let me know if you'll be there too!

Counting my blessings,
Janine

Make-A-Wish makes all the difference

This little girl had half of her brain removed...

One of the best things about being a blogger has been meeting people who make me stop and think. One of those people is Dwan, aka MommaDJane who I had the pleasure of meeting online and then IRL (in real life) at the Blissdom 09 conference in Nashville.

Dwan is one of those people that no matter what life throws at her (and she's had some serious curve balls) she keeps plugging along with a smile and always with a hand ready to help others.

Now Dwan needs some help as she and her family raise money for the Make-A-Wish 5k Walk THIS Saturday (3/28) !!!

MommaDJane and her daughter Gabby knows first hand what an blessing the Make-A-Wish foundation is for families with children who are facing life-threatening illness and operations. As Dwan explained on her own blog,

"Gab had a stroke during utero and therefore was born with Cerebral Palsy. At nine months old she started having seizures. With the help of steroid shots, seizure medication and lots of therapy we had been able to keep her healthy and active until she was about 4. Her seizures at this point became monthly, weekly and then daily. Since she had brain damage caused by the stroke her epilepsy was only going to get worse. The Neurosurgeon informed me we had to do surgery to remove the abnormal brain tissue in order to stop the seizures, the convulsions were lasting 20 minutes each time and she could no longer even go to school. The surgeon believed if we did not remove the left side of the brain (which was the damaged part) then eventually her right side (good side) would suffer stress and start having seizures as well." read more

Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, two weeks before her surgery, Gabby and her family were wisked away to a place where dreams really do come true.
Go here to see Gabby's own Make-A-Wish trip!

If you would like to help this amazing family raise money so that other children can enjoy their wish (no amount is too small) you can Go here to donate.

Ringling Brothers Circus is "Over the Top"

Wow.
Wait, WOW!

That's how we felt leaving the Over the Top show of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus last week.

First, we were invited by Mom Central and Feld Entertainment to join them for a meet & greet with performers before the circus.

The girls loved meeting some of the circus stars....

The Twoer with Pepe & Royo

and I loved meeting some of my blogging stars (now friends)!

Jill (Musingsfromme), Jodi (Jodifur), Me, Erin (CouponCravings)

Blog Idol Jessica (APISS), Me, and L (who was more hungry than impressed)

Then we headed over to the floor of the circus for the All Access Pre-Show event which I highly recommend. It does not cost extra AND you get up close and personal with some of the performers (Mr. swears the stilt walker nearly tripped over him but I'm thinking it's all part of the act), their costumes, and the crowd please...getting to see on of the elephants paint.

Stilt guy had a bone to pick with Mr.

The Main Event itself was incredible! From the motorcycle cage to the lions to the Bounce guys...we left feeling completely WoW'd and wanting more!

Bounce guys...waaaay cool

Did you miss the DC show?
Don't worry, tickets are still available for the Baltimore and Fairfax, VA shows!

Baltimore: 1st Mariner Arena –> March 25th – April 5th
Wednesday March 25th at 7:30 pm
Thursday March 26th at 7:30 pm
Friday March 27th at 10:30 am and 7:30 pm
Saturday March 28th at 11:30 am, 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday March 29th at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm
Wednesday April 1st at 7:30 pm
Thursday April 2nd at 10:30 am and 7:30 pm
Friday April 3rd at 7:30 pm
Saturday April 4th at 11:30 am, 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday April 5th at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Fairfax: Patriot Center -> April 8th – 19th
Wednesday April 8th at 7:00 pm
Thursday April 9th at 7:00 pm Friday April 10th at 1:00 pm and 7:30 pm
Saturday April 11th at 11:30 am, 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday April 12th at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm
Thursday April 16th at 7:00 pm
Friday April 17th at 10:30 am and 7:00 pm
Saturday April 18th at 11:30 am, 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday April 19th at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Use DISCOUNT code: MOM when ordering on www.ticketmaster.com to get 4 tickets for just $44!

Bonus:
Pepe and Royo turned the camera on us and snapped a really cute photo of our family!

Janine