Reviews – Life of Jill

September 20, 2013 January 2, 2015

grim, grinning ghosts come out to socialize

My family is so good at going to Disneyland. Not because we’re geniuses or anything, we have just learned over the years what works for us and how we’ve even learned how to have an amazing time without breaking the bank. You would think we would’ve grown out of it by now, but my kids are 16 and 11 and still want to go to Disneyland on all our vacations. All of them.

Sorry, Hawaii or Mexico. You’re just not good enough.

There is something about Disneyland that zaps the four of us into the best versions of ourselves-all at the same time. Even when we travel with friends or meet up with some of our favorite people. We have our Disney plans down to a science, so we know how to ride our favorite rides and see our favorite things pretty efficiently. We find that we have tons of patience for crowds and waiting. (Miracles!) And, somehow, we all just go with the flow and let the fun and excitement dictate how we spend our day.

Truth be told, we love going to Disneyland any time of the year. Summer? A blast. Thanksgiving and Christmas? Ridiculously magical. (Yes, I just said magical. I’m sorry. But you have to know the truth IT SNOWS ON MAIN STREET.)

disney_halloween-time-01-full — photo credit: disney

For years we’ve talked about going to Disneyland during the Halloween season. We’ve had many conversations about wishing we could go when the park is “dressed up” for spooking. But this is where I admit that I had no idea how amazingly cool Disneyland is for Halloween. And it’s even cooler this year.

The Halloween season made its appearance just this past Friday (Friday the 13^th, man.) and stays until Halloween. New this year: special Halloween décor at the Mad Tea Party in California Adventure.
Mickey’s Halloween Party: 13 nights of magical Halloween partying with Mickey. A separate ticket after-hours event for you and your family to celebrate Halloween and trick or treat with your favorite Disney characters. Your event ticket gets you in to the park up to three hours before the event, so you and your family can enjoy the park before celebrating with Mickey. Tickets sell out fast, so get your tickets early. For more information on the specific 13 dates, click on over here.
Monsters U Dance Party: new this year, a dance party with your favorite Monsters University students. It has been described as a “family friendly frat party” but if Mike and Sully show up in togas, I’m just not sure what to think.
Rides and attractions also “dress up for Halloween. The Haunted Mansion is a mix of Halloween and Christmas a la Nightmare Before Christmas. Space Mountain transforms into Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. (AWESOME.)

disney_halloween-time-00-full — photo credit: disney

What half of my kids don’t know yet, and why I’ve waited a little bit to say anything, is that the four of us are heading the Happiest (Spookiest) Place on Earth next weekend to check out Mickey’s Halloween Party. Like, next Friday kind of next week. I’m so giddy I can’t stand it. I’m also probably super annoying and I’M SORRY. This was just one of those things that has been on our radar for so long, I just can’t help how excited I am. And part of that is because I’m so excited to surprise that Ramona kid of mine. She’s been working so hard, I can’t wait to see (and probably video) her reaction when she realizes where we’re going. I’m a little bit bummed that we couldn’t surprise Beezus, but sometimes juniors in high school can’t be surprised by trips somewhere if they’re missing a day of school. (LAME, I know.)

I’m probably a little more excited than I should be to see some of the Disney villains take the stage. It’s not very often they get to be the center of attention, and I’m super excited to see them out and about a lot more. Hopefully my kids feel the same way because I kinda want to get a picture with as many as I possibly can. No seriously. I mean COME ON…Maleficent OUT IN THE WILD PARK.

I might not be able to sleep this week.

My family and I have been given tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party and Disney park. All opinions are my own.

September 16, 2013 January 2, 2015

a delicious night with Tillamook

You know what? I get it. Talking about cheese and yogurt and ice cream is, well…I guess it could be kinda odd. Except when it’s not. Like when you sit down with other area bloggers and talk cheese with some of the coolest people in the business. I’m sorry, but that’s when talking about cheese is super, super cool. (Actually, there was very little cheese discussion. It was mostly ice cream talk. Let’s be honest.)

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining other Sac Bloggers for a Tillamook Ice Cream Social Event. And nothing says “ice cream social” like putting a social media spin on the evening. Or maybe I just find it awesome that Tillamook put a social media spin on an ice cream social. Either way, social media is so much more delicious when there is an ice cream social involved. Especially if the ice cream is Tillamook.

I think. I’m not even sure what I just said.

The lovely and talented Gillian gave us a brilliant overview on how to make social media work for us. Our “Visual Voice” in the internet and social media world and how we can use that to develop our brand and our stories and our visual presence on line. Did I mention she was brilliant?

Stephanie and I may have wanted to take the baby bus for a joyride.

I’ve made no secret about the fact that I love Tillamook. My family is maybe even more obsessed than I am. (Okay, there’s no maybe…they really are obsessed. And maybe threatened my life if I didn’t bring home yogurt from the event.) But one of the things I love most about Tillamook is the relationship they build with their consumers. I mean, c’mon…they know they they’re a company that makes and sells cheese. (Delicious cheese, of course.) But more than just cheese is the history of dairy farmers and creameries and the commitment to quality they made over 100 years ago. They have always been owned and operated by those that “work the soil” and “milk the cows” and who know the business best. But the community that they have built and nurtured is pretty fantastic. Tillamook doesn’t just care about selling you cheese, they love to be a part of that experience. And, yeah…I keep joking about cheese. But obviously cheese is just the jumping off point.

Because have I mentioned ice cream?

At the end of the evening, we all had a chance to make an amazing ice cream sandwiches out of the delicious Tillamook ice cream. The best “stylized” and best Instagramed picture of the ice cream sandwiches would be chosen. I was a little concerned about my sandwich melting. I took a picture, sure…but found it much more important to eat the darn thing. (I didn’t win. Clearly.) (I didn’t care. Clearly.)

I obviously had a wonderful evening. I got to hang out with some of my favorite people…I learned a lot…I ate way too much ice cream. My kids were so jealous that I got to hang out with Gillian and Katie from Tillamook that I kinda felt bad that I didn’t arrange for my own private ice cream social. Not that my family deserves their own event, but…when your 16 year old kid is so disappointed that she didn’t get to see them she started stalking following them on Instagram in a totally non-scary way? Well, I guess that means you need to admit that your yogurt addiction is worse than you thought.

A huge thank you to Tillamook, SodaPop PR and Sacramento Bloggers!

June 3, 2013 January 2, 2015

Tillamook and Sunset and Some of the Greatest Folks on the Planet

I’m a terrible salesperson. I almost wish I could give you some sort of visual that would help explain just how bad of a salesperson I am. I thought about putting together a PowerPoint presentation, but I ran out of time. Also, that just seems like a lot of work to tell you that I’m really bad at something, so it might not be very good for my self-esteem. Let’s just pretend you all totally understand how inept I am at sales.

But here’s the thing…if I like/love something, I’m going to talk about it. In fact, I probably won’t shut up about it. I might even name my children after my most favorite products ever. (JUST KIDDING! I don’t have a kid named M*A*C iPhone Starbucks! Silly…)

(Wait…can I change MY name?)

(Nevermind. Don’t encourage me.)

Every once in a while, you find further proof that a product is just as awesome as you thought it was. And even better? The people that represent or work for said product or company are dreamy and wonderful and especially fantastic and I’m super glad that I got to meet them. Like these people. Right here.

Katie, Beezus, Ramona, Me, Dyan ang Gillian — Katie, Beezus, Ramona, Me, Dyan and Gillian

I wasn’t lying when I said I love Tillamook products. You can believe this because I’m pretty much one of the worst liars in the world, but also because I really meant what I said. I didn’t say nice (and slightly ridiculous) things about these fine folks because I felt like I had to. I said them because it just so happens that I would say nice things about them anyway. (Also: YOGURT ADDICTION.)

If you’ll let me, though…I’d really like to say some nice things about those lovely people in the picture. But let me back up first.

Beezus is an excellent Vana — Beezus is an excellent Vanna

This weekend in Menlo Park, Sunset Magazine held their Celebration Weekend. It is a wonderful event, I might add, that highlights some of the awesome products and places and ideas that they include in their magazine with many of the vendors there to answer any questions and yes, probably to sell you on their product a little bit. But first of all, since we know how much I love California, you can blame Sunset for making me want this in my house:

8926062552_5aa3e8ab65_o — this *just* went on a certain “honey-do” list.

And possibly all of these things, too.

remind me to tell you about those chairs that are sitting in the sun and were not HOT.

The amazing Tillamook and SodaPop folks invited us down for the day so that we could have a chance to meet up with them face to face and also take part in the festivities.

Ramona painting by number with Benjamin Moore

There really was so much to see and do, but I have to tell you…meeting up with Dyan, Gillian and Katie was one of the best parts of the day. The entire walk to the car, my family talked about how gosh-darn-nice the three of them were. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. And yes, the shade, yogurts and water made it that much more enjoyable, but mostly all kinds of nice and wonderful people! (And there may have been a moment where we shared cute dog pictures and tried to convince Gillian that she needed one. That probably happened.)

So a very big and giant THANK YOU to Dyan, Gillian and Katie…and also to Tillamook and SodaPop PR. We really had such a nice time and loved getting the chance to meet all of you. And, not gonna lie (because I really can’t) we are really hoping make the trip up to Tillamook and visit soon. Because YOGURT ADDICTION. But also to see where all the cheese/yogurt magic happens. We promise to be on our very, very best behavior. Probably.

And because you knew this was coming, and since Facebook is right down the street, may I leave you with the obligatory Facebook sign thumbs up picture. Because my kids are just that cute.

May 23, 2013 January 2, 2015

I’m Sorry, But My Family Has a Yogurt Addiction

Here’s the thing. My family gets REALLY excited about yogurt. I’m not even lying and I kinda can’t believe I just announced it like that, but that’s an actual true thing about my family. I will buy a big carton of yogurt and it will be gone the next day. If I buy a bunch of the little containers? HEAVEN HELP US ALL. Because they just can’t help themselves. So if you ask if you can send me some yogurt to try, I am bound by the law of my family to say yes. And I will do so gladly.

So then you tell me it’s from Tillamook? I may be more excited than I should be.

(I just can’t help it. I love Tillamook. Also, cheese.)

peace and loaf...obviously — *peace and loaf…obviously*

I’m a huge fan of Tillamook. In fact, when my sister visited the Tillamook factory last year, I was more jealous than I would originally admit. But remember when I mentioned the Golden Ticket giveaway? It’s all part of celebrating National Burger Month (YUM) and their Loaf Love tour. Also, YOGURT.

*NO artificial sweeteners, flavors or colors. Also? NO high fructose corn syrup or artificial growth hormones*

I’d like to say that *I* was able to taste the yogurt and tell you how dreamy it is, but my children took over that job. While I was at work. Thank goodness I snagged a couple of pictures of the goodies we were sent because CHILDREN. But I’m not mad. They loved it and they raved about it. And honestly, it was their opinion that mattered. They want me to buy more (shocker) and were thoroughly entertained by all the Tillamook goodies.

may not be the 11yo's real lips — *may not be the 11yo’s real lips*

(Okay, maybe it was me that was thoroughly entertained by the goodies. Whatever.)

All I know is that I’m pretty sure that I will do my best to celebrate National Burger Month when my family gets together this weekend. With a proper loaf of cheese, of course. And yes, I will buy more yogurt for my kids and my husband. Not for the burgers, obviously…although, I wouldn’t put it past them and their love of yogurt.

Tillamook provided the delicious yogurt and wonderful goodies. All opinions are my own.