Guest Blog – A 7-Year-Old's Perspective

7-Year-Old Julia Hacker attended our Mamarazzi®  event on board the Norwegian Getaway. She was inspired to write a blog post, but doesn’t have a blog- we were more than glad to provide the forum for her voice!

“The cruise ship was very fun! My favorite part was the shows – especially the magic show. I also liked going to see the spa and sitting on the warm chairs and seeing the cabins where you sleep. I thought the pools and the water slides on the deck were cool but it was way too cold to go in! I think it would be fun to go on a cruise ship because I can do special things. I also liked being on the cruise ship because I dreamed of being on a cruise ship.”

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Mamarazzi® with Melissa Gilbert In People Magazine

The MOMS give People the inside scoop on Melissa Gilbert’s wedding dress and fashion plans for the red carpet…

Melissa Gilbert: I’ll Definitely Wear My Wedding Dress Again!

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Melissa Gilbert, 49, is a very on-trend bride. She’s one of many celebs to forgo the traditional white gown in favor of something bolder: A red strapless Morgane le Fay gown, which she wore for her 2013 wedding to Timothy Busfield. And now she shares that she’ll wear it again on the red carpet, just like Keira Knightley did last year.

It’s amazing to see such a beautiful wedding dress being used for such an occasion as there are many types that people cannot use again for other events and will instead keep them in their closets until a female member of their family, like their daughter for instance, will use it for her wedding day as her something borrowed. Brides-to-be will search for hours and hours in wedding dress shops and online for their perfect look, luckily Melissa Gilbert is able to re-use hers in a fashionable and eye-catching way.

“It hangs in my closet. I’ll wear it again,” Gilbert told PEOPLE at a MOMS and AriZona Beverages-sponsored Mamarazzi event. “I’ll repurpose it.” And while Knightley added a few modifications to her dress for its red carpet re-wear, Gilbert says she doesn’t see the need. “I don’t know if I’ll restyle it because it’s perfect the way it is,” she says. “If we have to come back to L.A. and walk a carpet at some point, I will wear that.”

So how hard was it to find that perfect dress? “[It] was just obvious to me,” she says. “I wouldn’t wear white the third time around, and I saw that dress and I thought, ‘Of course, that’s what I’m going to wear.'”

For the article in People, click here!

Divorce Diaries: Do Parents on Their Own Need a Plus One?

I’m a mom who does everything with my kids. And not only do I do, I like to try new things. If I didn’t have a fear of flying I would want to sky dive (although, I have looked at CBD oil law and it looks like this could be an option for when I do have to next get on an airplane to help me calm down a little). We scoot all over town. We play hockey, ice skate, ski, go on windy water slides, water ski, and I never met a roller coaster with too many loops or drops.

Going through the divorce process has not changed this either. Unfortunately, sometimes relationships and civil partnerships come to a natural end. Things are not always simple though and there are lots of reasons why a couple might decide to get divorced. Most importantly, no matter what the circumstances, if you are going through a divorce, then it is vital that you seek legal advice from a team of family law experts such as Simon Law. Divorce law can be complex and therefore it is in your best interest to work with a legal professional to help you both to reach the best possible outcome.

In situations where the father is present and known to authorities, this tends to make issues of child support easier when a couple is no longer together. Although a divorce is a hard thing to go through, I’m still glad their father is not absent. In cases where fathers have left the scene, it can become difficult for single mothers to claim child support when raising their kids. In these situations, something like DNA testing in Detroit may be useful to definitively state who the father is in cases where the actual father is disputing his own paternity and running away from his legal duties to act in the child’s best interests. DNA tests do away with any doubt even in situations when the mother is not sure who the biological father is too. These can be used in evidence when legal action is taken to get him to take some financial responsibility. It’s not pleasant, but it can be necessary for preventing raising a child on a single salary, which is notoriously difficult – especially while simultaneously holding down a full-time job. I don’t envy mothers who have to go through this ordeal, but at least there are services out there to help them.

So as we drove in our rented Kia, for a long weekend getaway with friends, to Woodloch Pines in Pennsylvania, even the car ride out of Manhattan is an adventure for us city slickers. As a “mom on her own” any experience or any road trip with my kids is something I thrive on. I like to show them the world. There’s nothing better than seeing them try new things. When we arrived was no better news than being able to snow tube at night.

We were the first ones on the hill. After a few pictures to document our venture, my older son went first. He went fast and had a blast. Then another family started just off to the side. I then raced down with my little one on my lap. As we sailed up a hill and gained more speed it was the feeling I not only loved but I also felt the excitement in my son lying on top of me. But that didn’t last. Seconds later, we saw the other family in front of us. Just there. And then BOOM. We crashed at full speed right into them. Jaylan was crying, my head hurt. I was looking at my son to make sure he was ok and he wouldn’t stop crying. Then I heard the mom in front of me screaming, “We need medics. We need help. Get help.” And I wondered if she saw something on my son that I didn’t. So I started to yell, “We need help”. But it wasn’t until I put my hand to my head that I realized they needed help for me. There was blood everywhere. It was all over me, dripping down my face, covering the snow around me and all over my white jacket. At that moment all I could think about was who would take care of my boys? We were there alone. Our friends were arriving in about an hour. I worried that with all the blood I might pass out. What if I had a head injury?

I gave my phone to my almost 9-year-old son and asked to make sure he knew how to use it. At this point the other family used snowballs to ice my head. I didn’t know where all the blood was coming from or what was really wrong with me. Two medics arrived and I tried to get up, but after a single step, this mom who thinks she can do anything, knew that with one more step I might pass out. So I sat back in the snow while they put a neck brace on for precaution and tied me to a board. And I just kept talking to my boys. I needed to see them, to hear them and to know that they were okay. I still wasn’t even sure if my little one was also hurt and now, lying on the board, I couldn’t see. I asked the other mom to go be a mom to my kids. I blurted out phone numbers. I wanted to make sure everyone there knew who to call. We called my friends to meet us at the hospital. I gave everyone around me my kids’ dads name and number. I made sure everyone was connected. That’s what kept me thinking. I needed to plan. I needed to make sure my boys were okay and in touch with everyone.

And when we were finally in the ambulance, my little one was beside me also strapped in as a precaution, I began to think, should parents on their own with you kids do things like this alone? What if I had passed out? What if something worse really did happen? After being up all night and traveling back to a hospital in NYC, getting 14 stitches 3 layers deep, I wonder. As an adventurous mom, as a mom who loves what I call our #travelingtrio do I now have to re-think certain things? I love our trio, I live for every single thing I do on my own with my boys. However, this accident has made me think. It was traumatic for my boys to see me scared, helpless, hurt, panicked, worried and concerned. They had all of the same feelings. So does this mean a parent on their own has to alter adventures? Do I always need a plus one?

I don’t know the answer to this. What I do know is I have two brave boys. And that’s a good start.

To see the article, visit the Huffington Post.

#SummerDreaming With The MOMS

Everyone needs a little summer dreaming — especially after the polar vortex. So what perfect timing to host a spa day for Dreams Resorts & Spa and Now Resorts & Spa? With unlimited luxury at all of their locations, it’s the perfect getaway for any family. What does unlimited luxury mean? It means gourmet meals, kid zone activities, brand name drinks- you name it, they’ve got it! Maybe you are laying on your rattan sun lounger in your backyard reading this and thinking how you could top off your summer if you were in a spa right now, well you could be!

We know at The MOMS how important time is, especially when you are going on vacation. There’s nothing like relaxing in custom pools and spas to really wash the stress away. You don’t want to miss anything on those precious vacation days. Dreams Resorts & Spa and Now Resorts & Spa have very accessible destinations. We know this is key when you are a traveling family. You can hop on a plane to one of their many vacation spots and be on the beach within hours. That will put a smile on anyone’s face which we learned at our summer dreaming spa day.

Looking forward to a vacation is an exciting time, the anticipation of knowing that you are going to be lounging on a beach somewhere or relaxing in a luxury hotel or even taking half term holiday breaks in the north east either with your family or with a loved one. The thought in itself can make you feel that rise of happiness inside you. We know how hard it is to book a vacation, especially if your life is filled with family and work (that you can’t seem to escape), that is why many will go for timeshare options so they have a set time and place they can vacation at, however, it is not all roses and they can find themselves dealing with more financial ties to their timeshare then they initially wanted. That is why something like timeshare exit companies are needed so that people can free up their time and go on a vacation they actually want to go to… resort and spa anyone? You deserve a vacation that makes you feel happy and content.

To see the full photo gallery, please visit our Facebook album.