I've been staring at my monitor for ages and can't come up with anything remotely interesting or coherent. I will take the lazy way out and resort to a list of things that have been on my mind lately:

1. Back to school- I've not shopped for anything except a backpack.

2. Another summer is gone and once again we did not get to take our First Ever Family Vacation.

3. Babies.

4. My training and fund raising for the Breast Cancer 3 Day are no where near on track.

5. My trip to Minnesota- I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and am geeked out at the idea of seeing the Betty Crocker test kitchen.

6. School starts in two weeks! I'm having a friend over for mimosas after we drop the kids off.

7. Going back to work.

8. What I see as the "future" of this blog and "where" I want it go.

9. I 'marked all as read' in my reader Saturday night and I feel so guilty.

10. Getting Phil back in school.

What's on your mind today?

Overheard: Tyler Explains Being Biracial

"My mommy is brown and my dad is white.

They mixed together and made my color."

Mama, Look At Me!

"Mama, did you see me?! I was in the deep end!"

Disney's The Princess and the Frog

I can't remember whose blog post I was reading, but the gist was that any blogger who has been invited on a "mommy getaway" is automatically going to say great things about the company or brand. I disagreed (naturally). One of the reasons I've appreciated the relationship I have with Disney is because they really do "get it." They want our feedback, be it praise or criticism.

A few weeks ago, Phil and I went to see the new Harry Potter while Tyler was at a birthday party. The trailer for The Princess and the Frog came on and I couldn't help a little "yes!" and a fist pump. I've seen the trailer before, but watching it on the big screen made it a little more real.



When I went to Disney World last year, Princess Tiana was definitely the elephant in the room for awhile. I'm not sure the Disney execs were quite prepared for the discussion. The button was definitely hot! But everyone gave their opinion respectfully and in the end, I think both sides walked away with something.

Not having a daughter I didn't weigh in too much. But, as a adult who didn't have many black dolls to play with as a child, I'm conflicted. On the one hand it's great to finally be able to say, "wonderful, a character that little girls of color can identify with!" but there's also the "what the hell took you so long?!"

We didn't have enough time to really dig into the issue but I would have liked to. The part of the conversation I'm most interested in is the

why. Why did it take so long to get a black princess in the stores and on the screen? What were the obstacles? What was the feedback in preliminary screenings? I want to be angry (and a little jealous) that I didn't really get to have a princess experience when I was a kid. But, at the same time, how exciting it will be to go to the Disney store and see the Princess Tiana dolls and costumes at Halloween! 

I did say to the execs that Disney does a great job with their own stories (Monster's Inc, Cars, etc.) so why wait so long to feature an African American character in a feature? I also think they need to add more colors to the crayon box in their network programming. I don't think Hannah Montana or Alex Russo have any black girlfriends (unless I missed something). 

I will definitely be going to see Princess and the Frog in the theater. Sadly, the biggest way I can show Disney how important this is to me (and hopefully others in the African American community) is with my wallet.

36 Reasons I'm Happy Today

1. I have a great husband.

2. My son isn't too bad either.

3. My family are Rock Stars! (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

4. I live in Southern California.

5. I have a ginormous stack of books to read.

6. School starts SOON!

7. Weeds

8. True Blood

9. Football season starts SUNDAY!

10. I'm going to the General Mills Eat and Greet in a few weeks.

11. I'm still on a bit of a BlogHer high.

12. I have my new fave, Mango Smirnoff Ice, in the fridge.

13. I bought My Big Fat Greek Wedding at Target for $5.

14. Our cat is so stinkin' cute (even though she still peeing in the house, the little bitch)

15. My new purple bathrobe.

16. I have amazing friends.

17. I spent yesterday at the beach.

18. I will probably spend all of next week at the beach, too (husband's family is in town)

19. I'm still enjoying this blog and being part of the online community.

20. This time next year I'll be on my first trip to New York at BlogHer 10.

21. I think I've lost weight.

22. Hearing my son playing outside with the neighbors. It sounds like summer.

23. Californication

24. The season premieres of Grey's Anatomy, Brother's and Sisters and Desperate Housewives are only a little over a month away.

25. The United States of Tara (I'm a cable TV junkie can you tell?)

26. I finally have the DIY Network.

27. No new grey hairs.

28. My first two pairs of Cole Haan shoes are beautiful.

29. I got a really cute evening bag from Target for $3.

30. It's almost the weekend.

31. I'm spending the day with my boys.

32. We're going to Sea World with friends.

33. Today's weather couldn't be more perfect.

34. I got to renew my driver's license online (I actually like my current picture).

35. Birthday money.

36. 40 is still 4 years away.

There's still time to enter the Foot Petals giveaway (consider it a birthday present!)

TJ Maxx Marshalls Back to School Event

The MarMaxx event (TJ Maxx/Marshalls to you) was really fun. I didn't go in expecting to learn a lot but I did. The off-price shopping concept takes a lot more planning than I imagined. It was nice to hear from the buyers and find out how they do their jobs and how they are able to bring items into the stores so frequently to keep the inventory fresh.

We got to tour the purse closet (I could have died from all the pretty-ness), the shoe racks, see some of the items in store for kids' back to school, see a few of this year's Halloween costumes (so cute!) and there was a fashion show with looks put together by celebrity stylist Art Conn (currently working on American Idol). I did not know that TJ Maxx is celebrating a 25 year partnership with Save the Children, which provides basic necessities for impoverished children (read more about the initiative and how your .99 can help here).

I enjoyed listening to Michael Macmillan, the company President speak. It was obvious he was not in it just for the paycheck. He, and all the other company employees, really seemed to have a passion for what they do. He was very down to earth and approachable. Which is why I felt a little guilty putting him on the spot with a question about diversity.

I don't remember how the conversation with Alli Worthington started, but I told her the Women of Color session at BlogHer was my favorite. She asked if being the only black woman there was uncomfortable for me. I said no, that I'm used to it. I also said that some people are not OK with taking on the role of "the token" but I don't mind. If it takes me being there to get a dialogue started I'm happy to take on that responsibility, as long as it's not the ONLY reason I'm there. So, I asked the CEO about the male to female ratio at the executive level and how diverse the company is. I commend him for his honesty ("we're not as diverse as we'd like to be") and appreciate that the company has programs in place to help them achieve a more diverse work environment.

(One of the buyers had these on, I covet them!)

I had no qualms about asking a similar question of the people representing the advertising agency. Around the room were posters of their back to school campaign. I think I may be getting cynical in my old age, but often it feels to me as though ads are very calculated, as though someone on the set was saying, "No, this won't work. All these children are white. Someone bring me a few brown children, right away!"

Of course, that's my own bias and it could very well be completely false, but it's how I feel. Anyway, I approached Stacey (who is SO nice!) and said, "same question about diversity for you." I told her that, as a parent of a bi-racial child, it's important to me that my son see himself in the places I choose to spend our money. He's too young to pick up on it now, but he will. Looking at the posters, I saw only one child he'd be able to identify with.

I also played Devil's Advocate and asked about children with special needs. Stacey said they have a whole campaign centered around the charitable programs the TJX companies are involved in. To that, I said putting children with special needs in "their own" ad campaign sends out the wrong message. They are kids first, kids with special needs second and there's no reason why the only time they should be acknowledged in ads is when the message focuses on how they are "different" from other children. 

Then I stepped off my soapbox.

Even though I didn't win the Gucci bag or Coach shoes (sob!) I still had a fabulous time. Thanks so much to Laura McDowell, Michael Macmillan, Denise Vitola, Naomi Borno and Stacey DeFino from Ogilvy, Victoria Taylor and Brian Brunskill from Rocket XL and anyone else who made our trip possible!

View the rest of my photos on Flickr.

*TJX paid for my airfare, lodging and meals as well as provided gift cards and a gift bag. All opinions are my own.

BlogHer 2009 Recap: TJ Maxx Shopping Trip {Video}