Karen Mendes

The Bare Necessities of our Lives #JungleBookBluray

The Bare Necessities of our Lives #JungleBookBluray

In honor of the blu-ray release of The Jungle Book this week, I thought I'd share with my readers some of the Bare Necessities in our family.  Family is truly the most important thing to me, and over the past 2 years I've realized it more and more.  One thing I haven't shared too much on the blog is my husband's cancer diagnosis.  We found out in June 2014 that he had stage 4 colon cancer, which is unfortunately terminal.  At that point we took a long hard look at our lives and figured out what was truly important to us - or in other words the bare necessities that we needed in our lives. Time Together We never enjoyed time together before, the way we do now.  After his diagnosis, he and I...

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How to Tell Flea-Market Trash from Treasure

How to Tell Flea-Market Trash from Treasure

The flea market is a fun and exciting place that offers an experience like no other. It’s like an organized garage sale where you can get handcrafted items that are unavailable anywhere else in the world, or great second-hand items at incredibly fair prices. But, not all items are of authentic quality – so how are you supposed to know the difference? Don’t Be Afraid to Get Dirty There’s a reason that your local flea market offers such great prices when compared to brick-and-mortar retail stores. They’re dirty, dusty and often unorganized – but that’s part of the fun of treasure hunting! Would Indiana Jones have found the Ark if he was scared of getting messy? Okay, so you might not find an...

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Things to do after hitting a parked car

Accidents happen and many of them involve parked vehicles. According to data analyzed in a 2009 Allstate Insurance study, 69 percent of hit and run accidents in the U.S. involve parked cars. Being involved in an accident isn’t a crime. You commit a crime when you leave the scene of the accident. If you’ve hit a parked car, there are several things you should do – one of the first is to calm down. Hitting a parked car happens to many people. You’re not the first and certainly won’t be the last. Things to do after hitting a parked car Don’t leave the scene – it’s against the law It’s against the law in every U.S. state to leave the scene of an accident, even if it involves a parked car. It...

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The Bare Necessities of our Lives #JungleBookBluray

The Jungle Book Blu-ray Exclusive – Interview with Brigham Taylor and Rob Legato

The Jungle Book was originally made in 1967. I saw it years ago when I was a little girl, but the songs are still in my head many years later. I was pretty excited when I heard they were remaking a live action version and so were my kids. They knew the songs, but had never seen the movie. Disclosure: I received an all expenses paid trip to LA.  While there I interview talent from behind the scenes of The Jungle Book.  No one told me what to say or how to think.  These are all my words and 100% my own thoughts! Interview with Brigham Taylor and Rob Legato While in LA earlier this month for the Pete's Dragon premiere, myself along with 24 other bloggers, sat down to talk with producer...

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Talking with Wes Bentley from Pete’s Dragon on Being the Nice Guy for a Change

Talking with Wes Bentley from Pete’s Dragon on Being the Nice Guy for a Change

Pete's Dragon has to be one of my favorite movies right now.  Not only is it a great movie about finding your family and where you belong, but it has a great cast of actors and actresses!  Hopefully you've been following along and have read all the exclusive tidbits I've shared with you.  My last interview for this movie is with the very handsome Wes Bentley.   Another very down to earth actor who I really enjoyed listening to (and looking at!). Disclosure: I received an all expenses paid trip to LA for the Pete’s Dragon premiere and junket.  No one told me what to say or how to think.  These are all my words and 100% my own thoughts! Wes Bentley from Pete's Dragon Wes Bentley plays Jack...

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Oakes Fegley & Oona Laurence from Pete’s Dragon talk Dragon Snot and Life After the Movie

Oakes Fegley & Oona Laurence from Pete’s Dragon talk Dragon Snot and Life After the Movie

While I was in LA last week for the Pete's Dragon premiere, I had the chance to sit down with the young stars of Pete's Dragon - Oakes Fegley and Oona Laurence.  Below you can read about these stars from Pete's Dragon talk dragon snot and what their favorite Disney movie is.  These two kids are amazing and so smart.  Acting has not gone to their heads at all and they are down to earth, pretty normal kids.   We also talked to them about their roles in the movie, what they are doing next and what they loved about making this film. Disclosure: I received an all expenses paid trip to LA for the Pete’s Dragon premiere and junket.  No one told me what to say or how to think.  These are all my...

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Diet Dr Pepper® Summer FUNd Sweepstakes at Walmart

Diet Dr Pepper® Summer FUNd Sweepstakes at Walmart

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Diet Dr Pepper®. The opinions and text are all mine. We are trying to have the most fun we can this summer.  One way we know how to do it best is by entertaining.  We have a nice in ground pool and I fixed up my deck area this summer.  It was in need of a paint job, the deck needed to be stained. It needed a makeover for sure!  My husband told me to do what I want, so I did! It went from this.... To this..... Huge difference, right?! The yellow and the blue from the first picture were fading big time and it just didn't look good anymore.  And the white was so dirty, no matter how much I washed it, it just didn't look clean...

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Read about why Bryce Dallas Howard Reads Blogs and her Role in Pete’s Dragon

Read about why Bryce Dallas Howard Reads Blogs and her Role in Pete’s Dragon

While in LA for the Pete's Dragon premiere, we also sat down with Bryce Dallas Howard and talked about her role in the movie,  going to New Zealand, reading blogs and more.  She's not only beautiful but she's so nice and down to earth.  She was actually upset that we had to end the interview because she enjoyed talking with us! Disclosure: I received an all expenses paid trip to LA for the Pete’s Dragon premiere and junket.  No one told me what to say or how to think.  These are all my words and 100% my own thoughts! Bryce Dallas Howard Reads Blogs Not everyone is Hollywood is aware of what we do as bloggers.  Some have never read a blog and are sometimes a bit confused on it.  But not...

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Pete’s Dragon Movie Review – Some Secrets are Too Big To Keep

Pete’s Dragon Movie Review – Some Secrets are Too Big To Keep

Pete's Dragon is nothing like the original, so if you haven't seen it that is OKAY!  You can still go see this one and know what's going on.  So read on for my Pete's Dragon Movie Review and some great images as well! Disclosure: I received an all expenses paid trip to LA for the Pete’s Dragon premiere and junket.  No one told me what to say or how to think.  These are all my words and 100% my own thoughts! Pete's Dragon Movie Review While in LA this past weekend, I attended the world premiere of Pete's Dragon.  (Make sure you read about the fun I had at the Pete's Dragon movie premiere too!)   I couldn't wait to see this movie from the first time I saw the trailer. It stars Robert Redford...

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Pete’s Dragon World Premiere in LA!

Pete’s Dragon World Premiere in LA!

Monday night I was in LA for the world premiere of Pete's Dragon.  I was invited to walk the green carpet (instead of red!) and attend the pre-party at the famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd.    I've stayed at the Roosevelt before so I was excited to be back there because it's beautiful and has so much history inside! Disclosure: I received an all expenses paid trip to LA for the Pete's Dragon premiere and junket.  No one told me what to say or how to think.  These are all my words and 100% my own thoughts! There was a lot going on but the first thing I did was take a ride with my friend Elliot.  Who is Elliot?  Why he's the dragon in Pete's Dragon and he was there giving...

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Pete’s Dragon Trailer & Coloring Sheet

Pete’s Dragon Trailer & Coloring Sheet

I'm in LA right now and tonight I'll attend the Pete's Dragon Red Carpet premiere and I'm so excited! Have you seen the trailer yet? If you haven't here it is! But before you watch, print out this fun Pete's Dragon coloring sheet for the kids.  It's a PDF file you can download to your computer. Follow me on twitter for all the fun! Pete's Dragon Trailer Pete's Dragon will be in theatres 8/12/16!

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Alice Through the Looking Glass Comes to Blu-ray October 18, 2016

Alice Through the Looking Glass Comes to Blu-ray October 18, 2016

  I'm excited to share with you that Alice Through the Looking Glass will be on blu-ray in October 2016. Alice Through the Looking Glass The all-star cast from the 2010 blockbuster is back with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter who’s desperately searching for his family; Anne Hathaway as Mirana, the kind, mild-mannered White Queen; Helena Bonham Carter as Iracebeth, the short-tempered, big-headed Red Queen; and Mia Wasikowska as Alice, the heroine at the heart of the story. Sacha Baron Cohen joins the ensemble as Time, a magical being that is part human, part clock, and the late Alan Rickman—to whom the film is dedicated—is the voice of Absolem, the blue Monarch butterfly who...

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I’m Heading to LA again for the Pete’s Dragon Premiere #PetesDragonEvent

I’m Heading to LA again for the Pete’s Dragon Premiere #PetesDragonEvent

I'm so excited to share with you that this weekend I'll be jumping on a plane to head to the west coast.  It's been a while since I've been on a California Disney blogging trip so I'm super excited for this one.   While there I'll be doing several cool things including attending the 'green' carpet premiere of Disney's Pete's Dragon!  But before we see the movie, we'll go to the premiere pre-party at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel! We will also be interviewing Bryce Dallas Howard  who plays “Grace” along with Oakes Fegley  who is “Pete” & Oona Laurence who plays “Natalie” in the movie!!!  I love doing these interviews and hearing behind the scenes happenings.  Make sure you following...

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Saving Money When Shopping for Clothes

Saving Money When Shopping for Clothes

Clothing, food and shelter are regarded as basic commodities and we all know what a huge chunk of our budget is dedicated to them. Does it have to be so much, though? Today let's make clothing our point of interest and talk about saving money while shopping. The fact is that many people are misled by passionate marketing, fashion designers, celebrity preferences, numerous shops, compelling salespeople and our own perceptions so in the end, a lot of money is practically wasted on things you will maybe wear once. Every season I have to buy new clothes for my daughters because they are still growing.  When they were babies, I could easily purchase the next size up at the end of the season...

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