I really am a Mom living the Pop Life

That's me with the elbow and blonde braids in the middle in 2007 with my beautiful dancers at on of our first we performed at. I look rather lady like with my black pleather boots and fishnets. :)

When I decided to make this blog, I really wasn't sure what I wanted it to be about. I mostly think I wanted it to be about pop culture and how it impacts motherhood, society and children of all ages.

To an extent, I still feel the desire to write about these things.

Now I realize that I really wanted a place to write down my thoughts. Some people would get a journal. I want to be public. One of my purposes in life is to entertain, to engage and to inspire. My whole life I've always been fearless when it comes to my work; and especially when it comes to my music. My husband and I are both songwriters and after the children are in bed, we go down to the studio and write music.

In 2006, my husband and I began developing music and me as an artist. At that time, I had a one year old and a two year old. I was not in shape. I wasn't even in any shape at all in fact! I had put on fifty pounds. I started to work out, diet and ALL of the weight came off. I found a choreographer, interns, a band and even got a prominent music manager. I did this while also keeping a household, going to play dates and Gymboree classes.

Here was this suburban mom with her suburban friends coming to her shows at some not so 'mommy friendly' places. It was a movement. I didn't know it at the time because I was driven by my passion. It was saying a mother can still follow her dreams. She doesn't have to forget who she is.

My husband and I wrote songs that were relatable to what we were feeling. Impeccably produced by my husband Marcus who also worked with New Kids on The Block, our music was described as rocket fuel and explosive. Like 80's music with modern spin, it was electronic, rock, and theater camp. Songs like Wheel of Life outlined how we needed to live for today and not feel bad for ourselves-to just go for what you believe in and follow your dreams.

Monotony is a song about feeling trapped in your life. You ask yourself why you're living this life? My husband and I had so much fun making this music. One of our songs 'Too Much Funn' garnered the most interest and even got featured on Kiss 108.

On stage performing this music, I am space camp, pop queen who had outrageous costumes and a larger than life persona. The show was part Rocky Horror Picture show, part Metropolis but a low budget version!

After some excellent press reviews, I found myself going from small venues to opening for successful artists such as Kat Deluna, Leona Lewis, Maroon 5 and many more.

The music world, especially the pop world is a small one. Sometimes another artist can get inspired by your work. Well, an artist, a popular one did get inspired. Not only did she get 'inspired' by our lyrics but by our sound, show, my persona, my backstory/bio, my press clippings and our marketing. Unfortunately this person was signed by a major and going after that is kind of like a mouse vs. a lion. After all, a signed artist has more talent than an unsigned one, right? Even if that is not true, it's sort of like the rule in this business. Besides this, we don't agree artistically with what this artist has done with our ideas and would never want to be compared with this person.

I got down about it because we poured so much energy into it--not to mention all of the awesome and talented people who worked on the project. I gained weight as a result of letting myself get down and lost passion for something I've always loved.

So, my husband and I started over. We are writing music from the heart. Just like in the Johnny Cash movie, we asked ourselves 'if we were to die tomorrow, what music would we be making?' We have created a whole new sound and we're singing together. :)

As one of my favorite motivational speakers, Dale Carnegie once said "Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.

So, we are both working out and getting into shape, eating healthy and it's been a great influence on our girls who see their mom and dad not only doing something they love but working together for it. As parents, it's so important to make time for ourselves so that we have more to give to our children. Dreams don't have to stop being followed.

We are working on a new music video that will be released early winter and hopefully in time for the holidays. More details coming soon!

Pop is best served up as a side dish to life.

Christine

Taking away a child's Privileges DOES work

First, lets set out the difference between a privilege and a need. A need is feeding your child. Although, it may be tempting on those not so wonderful days in motherhood, we must feed our children. We must help them with their homework and we must guide, nurture and listen to them even when we do not like them at that particular moment. These are examples of needs.

A want would be play dates, ice cream and/or treats, 'special time' with mom and dad or other relative. These are examples of privileges.

Last week my two daughters had a friend over for play in the backyard. They made lots of messes and neglected to remove trash---food papers were left strewn across the backyard. And so, I held THEM responsible to not only clean it but they lost play dates (their favorite privilege) for an entire week. Today I am happy to report that they are very aware of leaving trash in the backyard and they are even cleaning up with a smile.

Privileges are a powerful tool, ladies. USE it!!

Pop is best served up as a side dish to life.

Mom and the Pop Life

Dunkin Donuts and the Mother Who Passed the torch too soon.

It's a hot day and I just came back from teaching music to the kiddos. I decided an iced coffee from Dunkin D was in order! It's a good time for weight loss and fitness reflection. So, I have been working out about five times per week for a month. I have lost only two pounds but I do see a big difference in my abs and hips so I'm happy for now.

In the past, I have lost weight a lot quicker but this time it's a slower process because I'm not doing any particular diet. I am watching my caloric intake and eating more fiber and fruits and vegetables. What I really need is to be held accountable for my weight. I don't have any events or any goal in particular I'm working towards so I'm using this blog and photos I put up as my motivation. I am accountable when I can be seen. So in other words, for me vanity is more important than health. I know that sounds terrible and I mostly don't eat processed foods and have been eating in whole foods my whole life but I LOVE my desserts and occasionally will binge on said desserts as well as junk food.

What made me change my mind about 'grown up' weight accountability was when my husband and I took the girls to see the Nutcracker. It was on this afternoon, I also decided that at what point should a woman pass the torch and let herself go. I decided it will be never on this day.

There was a woman in her mid forties looking disheveled taking photos of her beautiful and impeccably manicured fourteen year old daughter. It struck me as interesting and I had a couple of thoughts. Was the woman living vicariously through her daughter and was she being the mom that she herself never had? Was this mother believing that she was unworthy of a put together look and perhaps a shower and dental hygiene? Or, did the mother simply pass the torch?

Pop is best served up as a side Dish to Life.