Do you like the new look of A Parent in Silver Spring? I had the web design updated by Judith Shakes Designs to reflect that this site is all about the happenings, resources and offerings for Washington, DC-area families. Full stop.
Over the past four plus years, this blog has grown too big for just one website. So instead of my mom musings, rants, product reviews and the like running side-by-side local events and reviews of nearby family outings, I am getting organized.
Heretofore, A Parent in Silver Spring will be a place primarily for the latest information and first-person straight dope on local parenting resources and family-friendly activities.
Coming very soon will be my second website in which I shall be divulging all my dirty, hedonistic secrets.
Not really.
It will focus on what it’s like to be a happy-crazy-addled-overwhelmed-overshopping-overscheduled-joyous-part-time-working married mother of three…
Aka another thirtysomething mom blog.
Not really.
The new site will be packed with humor, frugal style, giveaways, interviews, freebies…the focus is still resources for YOU, rather than simply blather about me, me, me.
Really.
And hey, I’ll be giving away a laptop…so stay tuned! I’m launching next week!!
I hope this new organization makes it easier for you to find the posts that matter to you, whether you are the 99% who visit A Parent in Silver Spring for free event tickets and outing ideas, or the 1% (Hi Mom!) who find my writing about parenting and style mildly entertaining.
I am also currently working to update and organize the years of posts on A Parent in Silver Spring so that the Washington, DC local information remains useful to readers, e.g. if I reviewed a business in 2008 which is no longer running, I am going back and noting that for future readers who find the review in search engines.I am also going through all calendar events line-by-line to ensure that all ongoing events are still happening and worth your time. Unfortunately, businesses which contact me with events to be listed in the calendar do not contact me when those events are no longer happening, so it takes some diligence on my part to keep the calendar current.
Thanks for bearing with me as I take on these large tasks. Hey, I cannot complain. I have the best part time job in the world.
And thank you for reading all these years!
Do you have a Washington, DC-area subject/topic/event/activity that you would like to see covered on A Parent in Silver Spring? Or general topics to cover on my upcoming new site? Leave me a note in the comments, I am here to serve!
March 6, 2012 | in:
giveaways,
performances
Puppeteer Basil Twist, described as “one of the most ambitious and imaginative…in contemporary puppetry,” brings his re-imagining of the ballet Petrushka to The Shakespeare Theatre Company.
First commissioned for the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (and lauded by New York Times arts critics), Petrushka is a tragic love triangle of puppets at a Russian carnival. Petrushka, the clown, falls in love with a beautiful Ballerina at first sight, who rejects him in favor of the evil yet wealthy Moor.
Kids age eight and up, and their parents, will be intrigued as they decipher whether the puppets have come to life or are playing out a story being told. Nine hidden puppeteers use a combination of Czech and Japanese techniques to bring the puppets and Basil Twist’s vision to life, set to music by Stravinsky.
Petrushka at The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre
450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC
March 16-25, 2012
Tickets
$50 for adults, $22.50 for youth BUT use promo code KIDS for FREE tickets for children under 18 with the purchase of adult tickets.
Interested in a school field trip to see Petrushka? The Shakespearience program offers students discounted tickets, pre-performance workshops and specially prepared student and teacher guides to the production.
OPENING NIGHT FAMILY PACKAGE
Petrushka
Friday, March 16, 2012
Family Fun Fair and Buffet Dinner: 5:30-6:30
Performance of Petrushka: 7:00 PM
Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW
Ticket packages for families start at $250
To RSVP, please email familyseries@shakespearetheatre.org
FREE PUPPETEER EVENTS
Happenings at the Harman: Local Puppeteers
March 21, 2012, at noon
The Forum in Sidney Harman Hall
610 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Reservations not required.
At this installment of the Happenings at the Harman series, puppeteers from the D.C. area, including puppet theatre company Pointless Theatre, will feature examples of their work and excerpts from previous performances, in conjunction with the presentation of Basil Twist’s Petrushka. Free.
Conversation with Basil Twist
March 22, 2012, at 8 p.m.
Lansburgh Theatre
450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC
University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies professor Izumi Ashizawa will interview Basil Twist about his process and body of work. Audience members can ask questions of Twist and view puppets from his productions. Free.
GIVEAWAY
To be entered to win TWO tickets to a performance of Petrushka - the date is your choice, subject to availability! – leave a comment below describing your family’s best theater experience. I’ll draw the winner on Friday March 9th at midnight.
For additional entries:
Good luck everyone!
No compensation of any kind was provided to A Parent in Silver Spring for this giveaway.
vintage 1980's Disney on Ice poster
Update: The randomly-drawn winner is Jamie B.! Thanks everyone for entering.
I used to see the television promotions for Disney On Ice when I was a little kid back in the early eighties. I thought the show looked so beautiful as I watched the commercials. But although my parents were great about taking us kids to lots of shows and amusements, we never got around to seeing those Disney characters on ice skates live and in person.
So while I claim that I now attend Disney on Ice to entertain and delight my own children, often the kid in our family who is most excited is me. But as I have written about previously, my son Charlie and daughter Eve thoroughly enjoy the Disney on Ice shows, and they are happy to introduce little sister Alice to this favorite family outing, too.
Disney On Ice Celebrates 100 Years of Magic is here in Washington, D.C. at the Verizon Center February 15-20, and in Baltimore at the 1st Mariner Arena February 8-12. The show features a retrospective of kids’ favorite Disney characters over the past century, beginning with ol’ Steamboat Willie himself and all the way up to the gang from Toy Story. Eve is especially looking forward to her favorite girl warrior Mulan. And my cheesy heart is ready to see the figure skating art is choreographed to old school Disney songs I adore like “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
Tickets can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets via charge, by phone at 800-551-SEAT, via www.ticketmaster.com and at the Verizon Center and 1st Mariner Arena box offices.
Use code BLOG12 for tickets for just $15!
Show Times:
Baltimore – 1st Mariner Arena
· Wednesday, February 8th @ 7:30 p.m. – Buy One Ticket, Get One Free!
· Thursday, February 9th @ 7:30 p.m.
· Friday, February 10th @ 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
· Saturday, February 11th @ 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
· Sunday, February 12th @ 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
DC – Verizon Center
· Wednesday, February 15th @ 7:30 p.m.- Buy One Ticket, Get One Free!
· Thursday, February 16th @ 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
· Friday, February 17th @ 7:30 p.m.
· Saturday, February 18th @ 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
· Sunday, February 19th @ 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
· Monday, February 20th @ 12:30 p.m. (President’s Day)
GIVEAWAY: Feld Entertainment has offered one lucky reader family of A Parent in Silver Spring 4 tickets to opening night at the Verizon Center, Wednesday February 15 at 7:30 p.m.
To enter to win, leave a comment below with the house of mouse character you or your kid would most like to see do a double axel. I’ll draw the winners on Wednesday February 8 at midnight.
To be entered to win:
- Leave a comment below with the house of mouse character you or your kid would most like to see do a double axel.
- Be available to see the Disney on Ice show at the Verizon Center on Wednesday 2/15 at 7:30 p.m.
For additional entries:
Good luck everyone!
Full disclosure: Tickets for my family and for the winning family have been generously comped by Feld Entertainment.
Just as two of you readers will win myTouch smartphones today on A Parent in Silver Spring, five bloggers won at the T-Mobile blogging event! Pictured L-R: Maria of Mummys Busy World, Tonia of The Chatty Momma, Thien-Kim of I’m Not the Nanny, Amy of Teach Mama and Leticia of Tech Savvy Mama.
Please tell me that YOU too are in the midst of mad holiday shopping.
If you were one of those awesome types who had this all done last month, the cards addressed, the names drawn in your family gift exchange, the packages wrapped and sent and perfectly selected for each loved one’s personality and needs…well, I salute you. (And I will try not to hate.)
But if you are anything like me and the mad mad mad mad crazy year I am having, RIGHT NOW is when I am finally getting my Christmas and Hanukkah gift act together. This morning was spent selecting items for family members and busting out the credit card for lots of online shopping.
Smart phones and tablets are two gifts which are especially needed by loved ones — much more necessary and coveted and up for daily use than another cashmere sweater — but those seem to be the hardest to purchase for another. Seriously, what will make someone happier than a brand new fabulous phone? Or a sweet Samsung Galaxy Tab that your gift recipient can begin surfing the web with right on Christmas morning?
Thankfully, T-Mobile has made the process of selecting and purchasing personal technology devices like smartphones such as the myTouch and the myTouchQ and tablets for our spouses, parents and kids easy and affordable!
I was excited to connect with T-Mobile, not only for the giveaway of the myTouch phones here on A Parent in Silver Spring, but also at a special blogging expert holiday shopping event. At the event, local bloggers and I learned from T-Mobile the following useful tips for selecting a smartphone or tablet as a gift (two items that I know my own mom, on her old flip phone and ancient desktop computer, can really use!)
The fabulous #TMobileHolidays #DC blogger event at the Tysons Corner T-Mobile store.
- It *IS* possible to purchase a smartphone for someone who will pay for service on their own account. You simply purchase the device at the no-annual contract price and pair it with a Monthly4G prepaid service so the recipient can start using the phone right away and decide whether or not they want to sign up for a contract term later. T-Mobile offers a variety of Monthy4G no annual contract and Pay by the Day plans.
- You can purchase a smartphone and service for the recipient on your existing account just by adding a line or upgrading a line. T-Mobile offers a Value family plan with unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited data with 2 GB of high-speed data for only $49.99 per line for two lines.
- You can give a smartphone as a gift to someone on your family plan as an upgrade and activate service after the phone has been unwrapped to maintain the surprise!
- Your gift recipient can return and exchange their technology gift. Upon activation of a new account, T-Mobile contract/upgrade customers have a 14-day trial period (30 days in California) during which they can cancel service without paying an early termination fee. For phones purchased from T-Mobile at full price without a contract or service, customers may return the device within 30 days. In both contract and non-contract scenarios, the following restocking fees apply: $25 for phone-first devices and laptop sticks, $50 for smartphones and $75 for tablets and netbooks.
I hope these tips are helpful to those of you, who like me, are frantically shopping for our people from our computers right now.
And I hope these two randomly-selected myTouch winners, drawn from all of the comments, Tweets, Facebook Likes and Shares on last week’s post, are filled with holiday spirit at their good luck:
- Lolli of Better in Bulk won the myTouch with her comment regarding plans and gifts!
- Cristie Ritz-King of The Right Hand Mom won the myTouchQ with her Tweet entry!
Thank you everyone who entered! I hope you enjoy the holiday gift giveaways and may you all have very successful (and easy) gift procurements in the next crazy weeks.
Fabulous blogs in attendance at the #TMobileHolidays #DC event and GREAT reads!
I’m Not the Nanny
C.Mom
Just Be Enough
A Little Nosh
Caffeine and a Prayer
Tech Savvy Mama
Teach Mama
Dial M for Minky
Mummys Busy World
A Spiced Life
All Things Nanny
Real Housewives of NOVA
The Chatty Momma
703 Mommy and Me
Mommyhood’s Diary
Prince William County Moms
The Coffee Kings
Disclosure: I am compensated by T-Mobile for my participation in this campaign. Facebook is in no way affiliated with this promotion.
December 2, 2011 | in:
giveaways,
shopping
American Express Members Rewards rocks! I spent $250, and then got to pick up another $290 in Christmas gifts from Members Rewards points!
If you have an American Express card, you get to shop twice and receive double gifts. The first ones come when you make purchases. The second wave hits when you redeem Member Rewards points for more gifts.
Check out my own personal shopping example. Here’s how I spent $250 on family members on my gift list.
- I picked up some super soft and stylish sweatshirts for my dad and step-mom at Urban Outfitters for $115. (My dad is always rocking a suit so he can use casual clothes.)
- I chose a slew of imaginative games, art supplies and pretend play food for my preschooler nieces and nephews (SEVEN awesome, original gifts that I am really proud of) at Cattiwampus for $75. I was also proud to support Cattiwampus, a locally-owned online children’s shop, on Small Business Saturday.
THEN with the 40,000 Member Rewards points I earned shopping, I picked up THESE additional gifts…free! No charge! As thanks for doing my regular old Christmas shopping!
- I am getting a Thule Gateway 3 Bike Rack for my husband Chris, since he loves family bike rides but now all of our bikes can no longer fit in the car. I am redeeming 23,800 American Express Rewards points to acquire this (MSRP $160) bike rack.
- I checked with my sister Sarah and she informed me that my brother-in-law Fred could really use a lightweight jacket, so Uncle Freddy will be receiving The North Face Apex Bionic jacket (MSRP $130).
American Express Members Rewards rocks!! I spent $250, and then got to pick up another $290 in Christmas gifts!
American Express also rocks in that they are giving one of YOU lucky people $250 to spend on the holidays with an American Express gift card.
From all entries via post comment, Twitter and Facebook, the lucky, randomly drawn winner is…
Elaine from Connor and Helen Grow Up! Elaine, your gift card will be sent to you from the lovely folks at American Express. Thanks for reading!
Disclosure: This is a compensated review post and giveaway, thanks to American Express. All opinions expressed are my own. Facebook is in no way connected with this giveaway. All entries were numbered and Random.org‘s numbering system was used to draw the winner. Amazon affiliate links are used for my purchases.
