One of my favorite websites, MomsRising, is hosting a blog carnival for Mother's Day. The topic is "What My Mother Taught Me." First Lady Michelle Obama, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, and other illuminaries are writing there this weekend.
I have a post up over there called "For the Love of Mom." I hope you stop by and take a look! It's about what my mom taught me about love, family and community.
Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all of you moms out there!
During my trip to TWIN Camp, one of the trip highlights was a visit to the Toyota USA Automobile Museum in Torrance, California. Driving through a business district in Torrance, it would be easy to miss the museum if you weren't specifically looking for it. It's a fairly nondescript-looking gray building that appears more like a dealership than a museum on the outside. On the inside, it's jam-packed with hundreds of representative models of Toyota's unique and distinctive contributions to automotive history, or at least as it has evolved in the United States. It's like Alice slipped down the rabbit hole and right into Cars Land.
Inside, we learned about the history of Toyota in America. Toyota Motor Sales, USA was founded in 1957 in Hollywood, California. The first Toyotas to hit American soil were called Toyopet and were sold in a handful of dealerships beginning in 1958, along with the Land Cruiser. The Toyopet, which I thought was completely adorable, was smaller and more expensive than most American-made cars and didn't really fit the US market. Toyota decided to pull the line in 1961 and focus instead on the sturdy, all-terrain Land Cruiser until 1965, when the Corona arrived. Toyota introduced the economical Corolla in 1967, which has become the world's best-selling passenger car of all time, with over 27 million sold in 140 countries around the globe. The rest, as they say, is history.
Inside the Toyota Museum, you can see examples of all of these models from the past, and some special, futuristic eco-friendly cars as well. One car was so small that it looked like my eleven year old son could drive it. In fact, I think I have purse larger than that.
The Lexus branded concept car from the movie "Minority Report" is on display, along with some memorabilia from the move. The car was all sexy rounded shapes and slick design, in a dark red tone that I'm sure I have a lipstick to match. I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but regardless of who would be driving it, this is one hot-looking car.
Along with a hundred or more cars, there are displays on Toyota's advertising history, with some familiar slogans like "You asked for it, You Got It...Toyota!" and "Oh, What a Feeling" with the famous "Toyota jump" in the ads. Jenny from Mommin' it Up and Jill from Diaper Diaries showed us how the Toyota jump should be done. Later, everyone else got into the act and demonstrated the Toyota jump.
About large bookcases line one wall of the museum and display row after row of quality and service awards that Toyota has won over the years, including JD Power & Associates Quality Awards. It was an impressive sight to see so many trophies lined up in one place.
After viewing all of these fine vehicles, displays, and awards, I was sorry that my husband and son didn't have a chance to join me at the Toyota USA Museum. I think my son would have loved the race cars, and my husband would have enjoyed seeing a pristine version of his beloved and dearly departed 1981 Corolla on display. During our visit, quite a few Facebook and Twitter followers of the TWIN campers expressed extreme jealousy at our being so near to some really special cars.
Maybe on your next trip to Disneyland to see Cars Land, you can stop in at a real land of cars and enjoy the view.
Note: The Toyota USA Automobile Museum is open by appointment only. If you are planning to be in Torrance, California, it's worth planning a trip to view the cars. For an appointment to see the museum, call Susan Sanborn at (310) 468-4728 or email her at susan_sanborn [at] toyota.com.
Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of Toyota.
Photo Credits: All photos are © Glennia Campbell 2012.
When I met my husband, Frank, in 1994, he lived in a house in Austin, Texas with a large two-car garage. I was relegated to parking in the driveway, and at first didn't question it. One day, I wandered into the garage and found out his secret: parked inside was a decrepit, faded metallic blue 1981 Toyota Corolla that was taking up the half of the garage not occupied by his company-issued Ford Taurus. The Taurus was brand new, cobalt blue and was shaped like a jelly bean on wheels. The Corolla was all rusty sharp-edges, like some 7th grader's metal shop project gone terribly wrong. The upholstery was ripped and faded, and windows that didn't seem to roll up all the way.
I asked my then-boyfriend-future-husband about this relic in the garage, and the conversation went something like this:
Me: What's up with the rust-bucket in the garage?
Him: What are you talking about?
Me: The old car?
Him: You mean my Corolla?
Me: I guess so. What's it doing in there?
Him: That's the car I bought when I graduated from college. I brought it with me from California.
Me: Why?
Him: Because I might need it.
Me: Don't you have a company car?
Him: Yes, but it's a leased car. I don't own it. The Corolla is the first car I ever owned. I used my college graduation money to buy it. (Wistfully) I've driven it all over the west in that car. Back when I was a poor grad student doing photography workshops, I used to drive it out into the desert and camp in it. I took a photo at Eureka Dunes that Ansel Adams himself told me was beautiful. We've been through a lot, that car and me.
Me: That's all very nice, but don't you think it's time you sold it? I mean, you don't really need it, do you?
He shot me a look like I had just said something along the lines of "Why don't we sell your mother into white slavery? I know a guy who gives top-dollar for redheads."
Him (sputtering, through his teeth): I. Could. Not. Do. That. I LOVE THAT CAR.
He walked away, shaking his head and muttering something about "women" "cars" and "love". At that point, I started to wonder if this relationship had any future, or if I would always be second fiddle to his first love out in the garage.
One of my favorite places in our travels across the US has been the White Sands National Monument, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. This summer, our friends at Toyota have partnered with the Audobon Society to encourage everyone to exit the highway and visit beautiful, off-the-beaten-path places like White Sands.
Continue reading "Exit the Highway to White Sands National Monument" »
I spent last weekend as a guest of the Bay Gardens Resorts & Spa on the lovely island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. I had not really heard much about St. Lucia before the trip, but what I found there was a little slice of paradise. I've taken many sunset photos over the years, but this one is one of my favorites. The sky was not particularly dramatic, but the sun was a bright, golden orb over a tranquil bay.
While waters of the Caribbean were calm, the island teemed with color from the golden, delicate hibiscus to the hearty ginger stalks bursting with vibrant pinks and reds. Brightly painted houses dot the lush, green tropical landscape, surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic on the other. It's a place that lingers with you long after, a place to dream of when real-life stress and obligations become a little too much. I'm already planning a trip back.
I have a great deal more to say about the fabulous Bay Gardens hotels, the food, the people and more, but this little Photo Friday entry will have to do for now.
Wishing everyone a blissful, dreamy weekend and a little slice of heaven in your own backyard, or wherever you may roam on this big, beautiful planet of ours.
For more virtual travels, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday line-up.
Photos: Copyright Glennia Campbell/The Silent I. All Rights Reserved. Taken with a Nikon D90 DSLR.
Disney California Adventure' s new Cars Land opened recently, and I was fortunate enough to be part of the media corps of bloggers covering the grand reopening of the park as a guest of Disney Parks & Resorts. It was an exciting, memorable event that included a red carpet with celebrity guests, thousands of media folks from television, radio, print and online news sources, and a chance to experience Cars Land firsthand before the eager public arrived. As usual, Disney put on a thrilling show, featuring the opening of Cars Land, an entrance reimagined to look like Walt Disney's Hollywood of the late 1920's, and a brand new techno-night party called the Mad Hatter's T-Party.
The first night featured a red carpet with some of the voice talent from the movie "Cars", including the voice of Mater himself, Larry the Cable Guy. Larry is a very friendly guy, much like Mater in the movie, and joked around with everyone from the mombloggers to the TV broadcasters to the Radio Disney correspondent on hand.
Larry's co-star, Bonnie Hunt, seemed a little more shy, and was hiding under a baseball cap. I didn't realize it was her until she was halfway down the red carpet. Owen Wilson was nowhere in sight.
John Ratzenberger, the Pixar "good luck charm" who appears in some capacity in every Pixar movie, was seemed to enjoy the attention. Ratzenberger's date was carrying a very interesting Cars-adorned Prada bag. I didn't see these on sale in the gift shop. Apparently, only the Real Housewives of Cars Land know where to get these.
Continue reading "Disney California Adventure Cars Land Opening: Seeing Stars" »
We traveled up to Redding, California last weekend to pursue one of our favorite family activities: viewing a solar eclipse. This time, we didn't need a fancy cruise ship or a trip to the Sahara Desert or even an airplane to get to the site. We just drove our trusty, dusty Lexus RX300 about four hours north.
An Annular Eclipse is one in which the moon covers most, but not all, of the sun. What's left is known as the "Ring of Fire". You don't get the same twilight effect or the diamond ring of a total eclipse, but it is still a pretty spectacular sight. The moon moves slowly over the sun, leaving only a golden ring shining through. The center line of this particular annular eclipse ran through Oregon, Northern California, Nevada, New Mexico, and the Texas Panhandle. It's a once-in-every-forty-years sight at any given location, so it was worth the drive north to see it in all its glory. The last annular we viewed was in Costa Rica when Alex was 18 months old.
We headed out on our 2012 eclipse adventure on Saturday, May 19, after a rushed packing job that left us without sunscreen, lawn chairs, or hats. As much as we travel, you'd think we wouldn't forget essentials, but it happens to the best of us. We made do with what we had, which included a golf umbrella in the car, and even a grocery bag that Frank fashioned into a hat so his head wouldn't roast. Thankfully, I found an emergency supply of sunscreen in my purse.
We met up with some local friends who are also eclipse buffs the night before for dinner. We weren't quite sure where the best viewing spots would be, so we debated the various spots that were recommended by the local astronomy club as good bets. We decided to play it by ear, waiting to see what the weather would be prior to making a decision.
On Sunday, we woke up to cerulean skies and little cloud cover. The news reported that it would be hot, so we thought that being near water would be a good bet. We spent the morning touring Redding, which is a lovely little town with view of Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta off in the distance, surrounded by lakes made from the hydro-electric dam nearby. The Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River is something of an architectural marvel, with a tall spire swooping above the river like a tall-masted ship flowing in the wind. We walked across the glass-tiled bridge and enjoyed the views of the river and hundreds of tiny birds swooping over and under the bridge.
I woke up this morning and found a lovely bouquet of orange, yellow and pink roses on the table by my computer. I guess the Mothers Day Fairy must have landed here last night and just happened to know that my son's favorite color is orange and my favorite flowers are yellow roses. Such a sweet gesture from my husband and son, along with cards and hugs and reminders of why I love being a mom.
I called my own mom, who marveled at the fact that for the first time in years my card arrived on time, along with a personalized card from my son to her, courtesy of the amazing Treat.com.
I will forgive him the notion that her cooking (and not mine) is the best, because he is exactly right. I hope your Mothers Day is filled with joy, laughter, love, and great cooking.
I've confessed here before that I used to love scrapbooking. So much so, my husband used to call it my "cult meeting" when I would dash out of the house to join my friends for scrapbooking time together. Unfortunately, having a full time job, a seasonal job, a volunteer position and a blog don't leave much time for other hobbies, so my scrapbooking gear is gathering dust in a corner.
Still, preserving my family's memories is important to me. I have boxes and boxes of old photos that haven't made their way into scrapbooks yet. With the advent of digital scrapbooks making it so easy to create and duplicate beautiful scrapbooks with a few mouse clicks, all the time and energy spent on paper books seems like a waste.
Unfortunately, most of our family's photos pre-2000 are in paper form. Who has time to stand over a scanner and scan hundreds of photos?
Enter, LiveOn Rewind...A few months ago, Clever Girls Collective asked me to be a brand ambassador for a new photo sharing, digitizing, and restoration service called LiveOn. As part of learning about the company, they offered to digitize some of my family photos without charge to me. It was an incredibly easy process, and I am completely sold on their services.
The first thing I did was figure out which photos to scan. I decided start with photos from before 1990. I ordered a postage-paid box from LiveOn Rewind, which arrived in a few days. I was a little surprised at how small the box was, but I was even more surprised that I could fit nearly 500 photos into it. I included some that were in pretty bad shape, thinking that someday I would learn Photoshop well enough to fix them. Some of these are photos of my mom from the 1950's, when she was a young girl in Korea.
I filled up my box and slapped on the pre-made UPS label and dropped it off at a local UPS store. A few days later, I received an acknowledgement that my photos had arrived safe and sound at the LiveOn Headquarters.
While I was waiting for my photos to return, I got an email from someone at LiveOn stating that they could fix my damaged photos. (Note: there is an extra charge for this service). I was beyond thrilled. They sent me a sample of their work, which I posted. I couldn't wait to see the rest.
A few weeks later, all of my photos were returned to me, with a DVD enclosed containing digitized versions of them. There are copies of both the original image and the restored ones. There is also a gorgeous musical slideshow of photos that is like watching your life flash before you (or in this case, my mother's life). The results brought tears to my eyes.
My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year. I can't think of a better belated gift to them than a scrapbook of their early years together, and this way, I can keep a copy for myself and my brothers as well. I can't thank the folks at LiveOn enough for the precious gift they have given me and my family. I plan to put the DVD in our safety deposit box for safekeeping.
If you would like to let your family photos LiveOn, use this code at checkout for a 30% discount at Liveon.com: cgc65
Thank you to LiveOn for sponsoring this blog post. Please visit LiveOn to learn more about sharing and preserving your most important memories. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective. Although story ideas were provided, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Growing up in Ohio, Sunday dinner meant one thing to me: Granny's Chicken & Dumplings, a warm and hearty stew made of the simplest ingredients of flour, chicken, salt and pepper. A staple in the Midwest and South, chicken and dumplings is about as comforting as a comfort food can get. It seems to be something born of hard times, when only the bare necessities were on-hand to make a meal for a crowd.
As a child, I watched my grandmother roll out dumpling and make quick work of cutting out dumplings into little bite-sized squares. Her knife skills would put even the Top Chef Masters to shame. I often helped knead the dough, standing on a chair to put my whole body into the process of shaping and rolling the dough into a ball, then using a rolling pin to flatten it out. Granny coached me through it, making sure my dumplings were not too lumpy or too thick. Making dumplings was better than play-doh for keeping little hands busy.
Granny didn't use a recipe, so for the longest time I had only a vague idea of how to make chicken and dumplings. My mother showed me how to make it, using the "eyeball it and throw things in until it tastes right" method. My brother Mike is a chef, and he coached me through turning it into a real recipe a few years ago. The recipe that follows is an approximation of what you need to make Chicken & Dumplings, just like Granny used to make. The original recipe only uses salt and pepper for seasoning. I've added some chicken stock base and herbs for extra flavor.
Ingredients
For Stock:
12 c water
3 bone-in chicken breasts
2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
2-3 leaves of fresh sage (optional)
1 packet Knorr Homestyle Condensed Chicken Stock (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
For Dumplings:
6 c + 1 c Gold Medal Self-Rising Flour
1 c water
1 t dried sage (optional)
1 t dried thyme (optional)
1 T salt
1 T black pepper
Continue reading "Granny's Chicken & Dumplings Recipe: DailyBuzz Moms 9x9" »
