I am still swooning from all the creative inspiration that I found this year at the PBS Annual Meeting. The PBS Kids VIPS were guests of PBS so that we might bring our readers more information on new AND tried and true programming on our favorite station! Very exciting this year is Mando, the new man (or should I say hombre) on Sesame Street, aka Ismael Cruz Cordova. I feel so lucky to have access to the people who embody these wonderful programs – here’s a clip of a little get to together I had with Rosita and Mando just after Mando’s debut. You can see how bad my Spanish really is.

I also found the introduction of Peg + Cat, a very artful new show with a female heroine that promotes math learning, to be particularly exciting, as I loved the combination of the illustrative aesthetic and mathematical thinking, along with some very fun original songs. We were also able to spend some time with the creators, Billy Aronson and Jennifer Oxley, who are literally TITANS – their individual bios include such classics as Beavis and Butthead and The Wonder Pets. They were incredibly generous with their time to discuss how the program developed, and I adored how they are so smart AND silly at the same time. Check out this clip of their new show, debuting this fall.

There was more than I can possibly explain, but spending time in Miami was a great way to start the summer – I had some GREAT dinners and terrific conversations with my fellow VIPs and can’t wait to see them (and the Fountainbleu) again.

I had SO much fun planning the Critter’s birthday this year! I had the good fortune to arrange that the Story Pirates would perform at the party, and can honestly say that I have never been so excited to share something fun and new with our friends and family.

I first saw the Story Pirates in a special performance at the Montage Beverly Hills, and was really enthralled by their work. They are a theater group based out of New York and The Geffen here in LA that performs stories that kids write, and do crazy quick improvisations by letting kids in the audience steer the performance by letting them call out words that turn into the action. You may not know that I am a theater degree carrying theater hater ( i.e., I am sorry that I am busy on the night of your one wo/man show; or I mean, really, Flashdance on Broadway???), and there is not often a performance that I enjoy – call me jaded by so many bad ones. The Story Pirates have revived my faith

So we set up the party: lots of food from Ronis, tons of cupcakes and crazy making sugary sweets, crafts, and games before the show. You have to see the clips above, the pirates really THRILLED everyone, in fact, I am still getting feedback from the Critter’s pals and parents that they had so much fun. I really think that I have peaked – no way to top this next year!

I am just speechless over the song that Mr. Steve of PBS Kids wrote for us bloggers! He included all of our blog names!

I was one lucky mommy today – I was one of the first people to see the newest character on Sesame Street here at the PBS Annual Meeting! A huge search was undertaken to find the perfect person to join the cast and Ismael Cruz Cordova is THE guy.

I got to talk to Ismael after this adorable performance about Spanish words that sound alike and I can see why he was chosen. I will post ALL about it soon – enjoy the video of Mando and Rosita and all will be revealed when I get back to the ‘hood.

Usually I am so exhausted from getting to all our activities that the Critter and I just hang at home on Fridays, but I could not resist an afternoon at the zoo for a screening of Koala Kid – a soon to be released animated feature on DVD, and HUGE deal: to be able to meet Jenni Pulos, one of my all-time FAVE reality stars. Jenni was the voice of one of the characters in the new movie and I have always wanted to meet her.

I’ve been a fan since I first saw her on Flipping Out – I yelled at the TV for her to dump her lazy first husband, got annoyed with her boss Jeff when he picked on her, was mightily impressed with her awesome kids’ rap and way with a frog costume, and most recently cheered at her happy marriage and upcoming baby. I was really glad to be able to tell her that I always knew that she would be a great success and good things would come to her because she worked hard and was always such a great sport, even when everyone around her wasn’t.

You can see Jenni do her rap in the video above (and on iTunes) and hear her do her best little koala on DVD April 30th. I’m so glad I finally got to give her hug!

The Critter and I spent an idyllic afternoon last week at The Fowler, getting to know the wonderful gem of a museum located on the UCLA campus. The Fowler started as way for world travelers to share objects collected from different cultures, and its beautifully curated exhibits show all the love and care of those who see to it that their mementoes are seen in their best light.

We were fortunate to be able to have a private viewing of the collections on exhibit and to learn of some of the wonderful enrichment programs that The Fowler offers families, such as the upcoming Enter a Camera; Photo on the Go. The exhibit that caught me from the start was the Resplendent Dress: A History in Layers, which displays many elaborate traditional ensembles from Southeastern Europe, showing the handiwork of the layers of dress of the cultures and how they evolve. I was completely enraptured and couldn’t wait to post the photos above and share with my textile and clothing-philic friends.

The Fowler is a shining example of one of the wonderful things one can do for free in Los Angeles. It’s located close to Lot 4 where one can park easily to spend an hour or a day at the museum and to enjoy the flora and fauna of the beautiful UCLA campus.

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I’ve always wondered what the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books would be like and am so excited to finally see! I will no doubt go crazy trying to take in all the literature and programming, including visiting our friends at the HUB Network for a special screening a new episode of The Littlest Pet Shop. I look forward to the sensory overload…

As y’all know, I LOVE holidays, and Easter is my favorite – I think it’s the colors and all the cuteness. This year was a real milestone for us, as we have now started attending a church that we really like. We decided to make this shift from non practicing to practicing Christian behavior because our Critter was getting upset that we were not practicing the Jewish holidays. YOU try explaining why there’s no Hanukkah at your house without actually going to church. I remember taking the child to his first Sunday school class and when I dropped him I explained “We are trying to give him a cultural identity. So far all he knows is that Jesus is the boss of Christmas”. I think they probably pegged me for being a prime candidate for attending what we now call “cool church” as opposed to the traditional Episcopal service that we attended until cool church was called to my attention.

Since November, we have come to really enjoy Barry Taylor’s perspective widening sermons that relate real contemporary life to Biblical times. Barry is very interesting – legend has it that he used to be a roadie for ACDC, and sometimes my fave crooner Chris Mann sits in on the mostly music service. On Palm Sunday I grew to love cool church even more when Barry explained that he originally found religion in Stevie Wonder, which really validates my playing my Innervisions cd in my car over and over so the Critter is learning all the words. I really want my kid to have soul.

As time marched up to that day of Jesus’ (aka the boss) resurrection, I began to prepare for what has become an annual event at our home, where I go insane for two weeks choosing everything Easter and figuring out a menu I can serve to the usual twenty or thirty folks of all faiths who come to my place for good Southern food and fun. They all cram into our condo and I always worry that it’s like Holly Golightly’s apartment. This year carried on the tradition, and I had a ball putting it together.

The Easter service was really wonderful – Chris sat in, as you can see from the quick clip above. Our guests stayed at our home up until about eight o’clock, and then Spring Break officially began. You can see from the photos that we found lots of fun things to do to keep ourselves entertained, including Kathryn Ireland’s new fabric launch at Scalamandre, Taekwando, an awesome evening at H.O.M.E. Beverly Hills (SERIOUSLY – check out this video), playing with some cool new toys – in general having enough fun that we really didn’t take the break! The Critter returned to school yesterday. I think I’m going to take a cue from Louis XIV below and take a nap before I head over to Natalee Thai to hang with my mommyblogger peeps!

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Before I post about the awesome Easter and Spring Break we’ve been having, I HAD to share these photos that have been waiting to be seen. I am so fortunate (and grateful!) to live in a place that has SO much to do. The captions tell the story…

While it certainly would have been a worthwhile event for the Critter to play hooky and skip school, we had the good fortune that his school had what is mysteriously referred to as a “Pupil Free Day”, so no such infractions had to be committed. It was a great morning in Hollywood for a premiere, and the folks at PBS SoCal hosted a nearly full house of excited kiddos to watch the first Sid the Science Kid feature length film, which premieres Monday March 25th on PBS. The film is chock full of learning tidbits, from critical thinking to simple machines, to complex computers and how to work as a team, which all combined to captivate all said kiddos for the entire movie – a mom’s dream!

It was also a treat to be able to chat with Lisa Henson, daughter of Jim Henson and CEO of Henson Studios, THE studio for all things creative involving puppets and digital animation. You may remember the awesome time I had at on the lot, where I got to see how Sid and Wilson and Ditch were created. I was really happy that I was able to tell her how proud Mississippi is of her family, and what a fan I have been since childhood. To see the empire that creativity built is truly inspiring – make sure to tune in on Monday!