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Tween-agers go Bananas for Cody Linley

Monkey (Step and Rolling Around) with Cody Linley by Nancy Friedman

Cody Linley loves his mother. "My mom is amazingly strong and wise, " the twenty year old star of Hannah Montana fame told me last night. "I'm really lucky to have a super-mom, because that's what she is."

There you have it, proof positive that Cody Linley is not only a tween heart throb, not only talented, not only the on-again, off-again, on-screen boyfriend of Hannah Montana (he plays Jake), he's perfect in every way.

I got the chance to talk to Cody the other night at the launch party for Sega's Super Monkey Ball Step and Roll the newly updated version of their wildly popular game for the Nintendo Wii, Super Monkey Ball. In a downtown restaurant filled with tween girls thrilled to be near him and (mostly) too embarrassed to talk to the young star, Cody played the game - in more ways than one.

When we got there, Cody was playing Super Monkey Ball Step and Roll. And like any kid (hey, if you're young enough to be my kid, you are a kid) he was totally absorbed. Did he see the fawning metal mouthed tween-agers gawking? Probably not, he was too busy racing his Monkey around. Like the original Super Monkey Ball, the Step and Roll version has players move their favorite Monkey characters through an increasingly difficult serious of challenges. This version adds new characters, new brain teasers, and most important, the Wii Fitness Board. (As long as you have one - it doesn't come with the game or anything and you can play it without one.) Now, players can use either their Wii Remote or their Wii Fit boards to move their Monkey through the many levels of the game. You can even set the game to count the Monkey Calories you burn - the more you move, the more you burn. (That's what I like to call the "mother-marketing" aspect of the game: if you tell a mom she can burn calories doing something fun...you can bet she's gonna do it.)

When it was time for Cody to play the celebrity game - to stop playing and get to work shaking hands, giving interviews, and posing for pictures, just like that, he changed gears. (Further proof of Cody's perfection.) Wouldn't it be nice if all of our kids did that? Imagine, if they had (home)work to get to, we asked them to stop playing a video game....and they did right away!!!!

In work mode, Cody thrilled my daughter by posing for a photo with her, giving her his autograph, and (and this was big) telling her he liked her shirt. He answered the questions sent to me by Role Mommy Beth Feldman's daughter:

Question: Do you like Hannah Montana in real life?
Cody: We're really good friends. I haven't spoken to her in a couple of weeks, because she's really busy. But she's so nice, and her family is really great.

Question: How long have you been playing DS and Wii games?
Cody: Since I was two! I have older siblings, and they showed me a lot of stuff when I was young.

He also told me that he's in New York rehearsing for his Broadway debut in the musical "Over Here" in which he reprises the role originated by John Travolta in the 1970's. It's set in the 1940's, and he's getting to use his Dancing with the Stars experience to do some Jitterbugging in the show. He loves New York, he says. Growing up in Texas, he didn't have anything like Times Square or the Statue of Liberty outside of his window.

Through all of this, though, I couldn't help but wonder - what does Cody Linley have to do with Sega, or Chiquita? (Chiquita and Sega are partnering up for the "Super Bananza Sweepstakes" where you can win prizes such as a complete game room makeover including a 50" HDTV, sofas/chairs, and Wii console and Balance Board!)

And then I saw a bunch of tween-aged girls swarm Cody for a picture and an autograph, and I realized...it's because everybody goes bananas over him!

Role Mommy correspondent Nancy Friedman is a former TV promotions producer turned writer, author, ghost writer extraordinaire, retired Bar/Bat Mitzvah singer and contributor to See Mom Run. Nancy, her husband and twin daughter and son live in NYC with their new puppy who was recently discovered by a big time pet agent (no joke). Her blog, From Hip to Housewife offers a hilarious glimpse into Nancy's life as she ponders important feminine topics like aging gracefully without the influence of botox and her 20 year quest to lose the same 10 pounds.

Posted in: Events on 02/07/2010

Skating with the NY Rangers

My husband John, was like a kid in a candy store when he woke up last Thursday morning!  You see, that night we were heading into the city for a Skate with the Greats Ronald McDonald House of New York/Rangers event at Rockefeller Center.  My husband has not only been a Rangers fan since birth, but also an avid hockey player for most of his life. 

Growing up in a lake community in Northern New Jersey, John spent his entire winters - and some years they were long ones - on the lake.  I'm talking his every free waking moment was on the ice.  My mother-in-law said she used to literally drag him off the ice at dinnertime.  All John wanted to do was shoot the puck into the net.  His dream was to play for the Rangers and I'm told he's a pretty good hockey player.  He was so obsessed with the Rangers that he even permed his hair back in the seventies so that he could look like Ron Duguay.

Fast forward 25 years, I am pregnant with our second child and we're trying to decide on a name for our baby.  I've always liked the name Adam.  After mentioning it to John, he thought about it for a moment and agreed to keep it in the running.  I later found out that was because one of his all time favorite hockey players is Adam Graves #9.  While we didn't end up naming our baby boy Adam, it still makes me smile thinking about how he "agreed" to consider the name. 

You can only imagine my excitement when Beth received an invitation to attend the Ronald McDonald House of New York's "Skate with the Greats" event.  Headlining the event were New York Ranger veterans Brian Leetch and Rod Gilbert and, wait for it...ADAM GRAVES!  O-M-G!  I begged Beth to please let me be her Role Mommy "correspondent" on this special assignment.  As you can tell by this post, Beth sent me on my way with a Flip camera in hand. 

The night was truly amazing!  The event helped raise over $489,000 including a Live auction of valued sports memorabilia and Rangers experiences.  The Ronald McDonald House of New York offers children battling cancer and their families shelter and support while they undergo active treatment. Ronald McDonald House of New York is supported in part by the Rangers through a partnership with the Garden of Dreams Foundation, a non-profit charity that works closely with the Rangers and all areas of Madison Square Garden to make dreams come true for kids in crisis. 

The event was generously sponsored by RBC Capital Markets, one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies and among the largest banks in the world.  When I told John what we were doing a few days prior to the event, he was beyond thrilled and completely taken aback.  Minutes later, he was on his phone, calling and texting every hockey/Rangers fan he knew - and trust me, that's a lot of people. 

On the day of the event, I cracked up when I walked into our bedroom and saw John's clothes laid out on our bed - Adam Graves' Rangers jersey was proudly on top of the pile.  Off we went to Manhattan and when we arrived, there were over 850 attendees! While we weren't sure whether we would get to meet any of the great legends, we both felt grateful to be there for such an awesome cause.  It turned out to be beyond our wildest dreams!  John not only got to meet many of his all-time dream players, but he even got to skate with a few of them.  A smile was literally plastered on his face the entire evening.  The players were all so gracious signing autographs - John alone had about five different items autographed.  The event was truly incredible and ranks as one of my all-time favorite experiences with John, not because I'm a hockey fan (I barely even know the game) but because I was responsible for making one of my husband's dreams come true.  It truly was a priceless moment! 

Posted in: Events, TV on 02/02/2010

See Mom Run on Better TV!

While we launched See Mom Run back in November, today's edition of Better TV featured a segment on our New York City launch event at Miraval Living. Featured in the piece are Real Mom's Guide and Kids in the City editor Melissa Chapman, Liz Gumbinner at Mom101, my mom (Role Bubbe) and my two kids! Meanwhile, just checked our Amazon numbers and we're in the top 30 in humor parenting books. Woot woot!

Find more videos like this on Role Mommy

Posted in: Events, TV on 01/24/2010

See Mom Run: Maryland

We just made it to our ninth city and thankfully, we made to Maryland and narrowly missed a colossal snowstorm. Our first event took place at the B'nai Shalom Synagogue in Olney and some of our favorite DC bloggers came out for the fun including Jill at Musings from Me, Amy at Resourceful Mom, and Devra at Parentopia. Plus, we got to meet some Twitter friends too, including @ThienKim and @TeachMama. Special thanks to Giant supermarkets for providing the delicious crudite and snacks for our event. And now for a sneak peak of the event...

Now that you've seen a snippet of my story, take a look at Meredith Jacobs who shared her harried moment, "The Secret."

More videos to come, plus we'll be sharing details from our event at the brand new Be with Me Playseum in Bethesda where we finally got to meet author, mom of twins and See Mom Run contributor Cheryl Lage! Plus, we also had several amazing writers in attendance including Jessica McFadden (A Parent in Silver Spring); Sarah Pekkanen, whose first novel is being published by the same house that brought us the Nanny Diaries and all of Jennifer Weiner's books. And we also got the chance to spend a wonderful afternoon with Julia Beck at Forty Weeks - a marketing company with its finger on the pulse of new products and trends for pregnant and new moms. Lots more to come...but before we go, enjoy this special song...shot by Jill at Musings from Me.

Posted in: Events, TV, see mom run book tour on 12/21/2009

Jetta Setting in L.A.

After zipping out of Chicago with absolutely no airline delays (thank you aviation Gods), we arrived in Los Angeles on a brisk Friday afternoon, hopped in a cab and waited for our cell phone to ring with our latest set of wheels. You see, the awesome folks at Volkswagen provided me with a car for our west coast leg of the See Mom Run tour and while I did ask about that hard top convertible (the EOS if you haven't been following our tour), the fancy Thelma and Louise sports car was on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show so we were out of luck again!

Instead, a gleaming white Jetta TDI showed up at the Hilton Checkers hotel and within minutes, I was navigating the freeways of L.A., Beverly Hills and Hollywood and having the time of my life. There is something about that zippy little car. I first hopped into a Jetta when I was 17 years old and so when it came time to reclaim my life after becoming a mom, I decided to lease a Jetta a few years back and since then have been a VW driver ever since. Take a look...

Posted in: Events, TV, see mom run book tour on 12/07/2009

See Mom Run: Chicago

The jet lag is beginning to set in and I still have a gazillion videos to edit, but in the meantime, I've got a great photo montage of my visit to the windy city. I literally blew into Chi-town at the crack of dawn and hit the ground running. From WGN-TV, to Eli's Cheesecake Factory, to 1-800 Baskets, a shopping diversion at the 1-800 Baskets warehouse (OMG, the deals we found), the Chicago Board of Trade, a narrated city tour by Nancy Loo, mad dash to Garrett's popcorn for some off the hook kernels and finally, our event at Comedy Sportz Theatre sponsored by Allstate's Vehicle Vibes, Dominicks and Safeway Stores and Whimsical Jewelry Designs. Over the course of the next few hours we were running all over town and enjoyed every minute of it.

I've been busy editing videos from our visit and we'll also have a more professional version available soon from our fabulous cameraman Ben, but in the meantime, check out the behind the scenes tour of Eli's Cheesecake factory.

Now that you're hungry, why not do a little holiday shopping? Check out our insider tour of the 1-800 Baskets factory. Amazing food, wine, fruits, gorgeous baskets? And we even got to shop their once a year warehouse sale for friends and family...good thing we're officially a friend!!!

Next stop...the Chicago Board of Trade, where Fox TV anchor Nancy Loo and I discovered that if you have a kid with a messy streak, he may have a future in the finance industry.

Posted in: Events, see mom run book tour on 12/05/2009

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well, it's the witching hour. The part of the evening where I should totally be going to sleep since I've got to get up at the crack before dawn (that would be 4 am), but instead, I'm still packing and making sure I have all my must have items for my four day See Mom Run road trip.

This time, we'll be heading to Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle and we've got all the info. below on all our appearances if you'd like to join in on the fun. And thankfully, even when I'm on the road, I will have access to free wi-fi thanks to Verizon. Incidentally, did you know that Verizon offers its customers free Wi-Fi access at roughly 14,000 hotspots across the country? If you're a FiOS Internet customer or a Verizon High Speed Internet customer, then free Wi-Fi is awaiting you!

During my whirlwind book tour, Verizon loaned me a laptop and granted me free Wi-Fi access. And that means I can blog wherever I want. So expect to see me uploading posts and videos from Starbucks in all three cities, plus, if I happen to hop into a Barnes and Noble to see if they've got a copy of See Mom Run handy, I'll be blogging about that too. Heck, I'll even be blogging from airports - in between buying the mandatory US Weekly, People Magazine and a copy of Time or Newsweek on my journey. Hey, I know I'm a bit schizo in my tastes but I have to always have two doses of guilty pleasures and one intellectual fix every time I hit the road. Plus, I may even go Rogue and buy Sarah Palin's new book. Then again, I might just buy a good novel and call it a day.

So before I hit the hay and look at my alarm clock every hour on the hour, here are all the details on the events we'll be hitting this week in a matter of four days.

Thursday, December 3, 2009
We'll be spending the day hitting all the hot spots in Chicago - like the Stock Market, Eli's Cheesecake; Garrett's Popcorn, 1-800 baskets Design Pac headquarters and a spot with the best deep dish pizza in town.

Then, at 5 pm, Fox 5 Anchor Nancy Loo will be hosting a See Mom Run reading and musical performance at the Comedy Sportz Theatre featuring Dawn Meehan, Sara Fisher, Vanessa Druckman, special guest performer Miss Lori and me! The evening will be sponsored by Allstate and their Vehicle Vibes Radio show along with Swiffer WetJet, Whimsical Jewelry and food provided by Daymon Worldwide.

On December 4, we head to Los Angeles where we'll be doing a reading at the Treehouse Social Club from 5-7 pm with contributors Ciaran Blumenfeld, Jenna McCarthy, Sue Kupcinet and Beth Blecherman.

Then on December 5, catch us at The Echo when we appear as a special guest at the Kidrockers concert featuring The 88 and The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra.

We'll have one day of rest where we'll be tooling around in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI that's been graciously provided to us by our fave folks at VW (love them!) So expect lots of great sight seeing pics and videos on Sunday. Then we're off to Seattle!

On Monday, September 7, we'll be appearing with organization expert and See Mom Run contributor April Welch from 10am-12 pm at the Tot Spot Cafe. We'll be hosting a reading and discussion on how to stay organized during the holidays.

If you'd like to attend any of our events, then email us at seemomrunbook@gmail.com and tweet us at @seemomrunbook. Now I'm really going to sleep. I mean it. Sort of.

Posted in: Events, see mom run book tour on 12/02/2009

See Mom Run Hits Charlotte

There is nothing that quite compares to Southern hospitality. And recently, I had the chance to visit Charlotte, North Carolina and the amazing moms I met, rolled out the red carpet for me.

I was greeted at the airport by our See Mom Run contributor, Janie Lam Meyers who welcomed us into her home for two days and pretty much treated me as if I were part of her family. Janie is incredibly giving and gracious and her home appears as if it could have graced the pages of Country Living magazine. She and her husband Gene moved down South from Pennsylvania about three years ago and now live in a gorgeous brick home complete with cathedral ceilings, an expansive kitchen, spacious screened in porch, a master bedroom suite, loft and several bedrooms for their daughters and grandchildren who will be visiting with them this Thanksgiving.

Janie also introduced us to the incredible staff at the JCC of Charlotte and once I met program director Jodi Valenstein, I instantly felt as if I were back home. Jodi and I both hail from New York and several of the members of the JCC are also originally from the east coast and it was so much fun connecting with them in Charlotte rather than in some nondescript strip mall in Long Island and New Jersey...not that I have anything against shopping malls of course!

The food at both of the events at the JCC were sponsored by Harris Teeter, a private label branded supermarket which is located right near Janie's home. At our first event, a breakfast chat featuring myself, Janie and fellow contributor, Sherry Shealy Martschinck, Harris Teeter provided a scrumptious spread complete with bagels, fruit, juices and delicious yogurt, fruit and granola parfaits.

We then shared our personal journey which lead each of us to pursue our passion and even met one mom who told us how she now performs in a rock band (wish I could have stayed longer to catch her performance.) In between events, we went back to Janie's house where Sherry and I hoped on our computers (gotta love Verizon wi-fi) and then enjoyed a pizza that Janie had picked up at Harris Teeter. And despite the fact that I'm a New York pizza snob, it tasted great!

We returned to the JCC to a packed house for our evening event where we were going to be reading our essays from See Mom Run. As moms and a few dads mingled near the dessert table - Harris Teeter provided tasty items for our second event as well (my favorite were the brownies), we then posed for a few photos with Janie's friends and before we knew it, it was time to start the festivities.

It was truly a joy to read our stories in front of an audience who smiled and laughed in all the right places. When I shared that I'm turning the readings into a show, a group of women even said they'd drive up to NYC just to see it! Following the event, Janie, Sherry and I were on hand to sign lots of books and then we posed for photos taken by Janie's daughter Pam, who by day, is a nurse with a great sense of style (she knew exactly where I purchased my dress for the night....Black House, White Market)!

One lucky mom in the audience won the raffle for the Harris Teeter gift bag filled with lots of great goodies for the home and the road and then I gave away a Swiffer WetJet to the mom with the messiest purse.

The evening literally went by in a flash. And if you don't believe me, check out this photo montage that I created on Whrrl. Looking forward to returning to the Carolinas and hopefully, we'll be hitting Charleston in the coming months too! For now, it's on to Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle!!!