CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

“Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 1” & “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 2” – Review

Crisis in Venezuela
Having watched several documentaries about the crisis in Venezuela, it is truly heartbreaking to find what the people of Venezuela are going through. Many are leaving the country out of desperation and some are receiving permission to do so even on expired passports because they have no choice. Other countries in South America such as Columbia have offered some Venezuelans refuge. In Venezuela, there is a major food crisis. There is few jobs available, low wages, hyperinflation. People do not have enough to eat. In Venezuela, the people who are sick and in need of medicine are not able to get the medicines at the hospital. ABC news reporting calls the medicine and food shortages “horrific”.
An ABC news report, titled “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 1” (published on YouTube Feb 15, 2017) makes mention of
Hugo Chavez’s “failed socialist government”
and an interview with a citizen of Venezuela reveals “There is no quality of life here.” “Under the new President Maduro, the descent into chaos has accelerated.”
Many of the school children go to school hungry and tired. A teacher was interviewed and she stated that she herself had not eaten dinner the previous night. Her son ate but she did not. She (Vanessa) and her husband, Adolpho and son had to sell their car to survive. Adolpho is a teacher as well. While many teachers in Venezuela are missing a lot of school days as they go to wait in line for hours to find subsidized food at a cheaper price so that they can feed their own children, Vanessa and Adolpho continue to go to work consistently every day as teachers. It is a two hour commute for them. They whole family (Vanessa, Adolpho and their son) commute together, first hitchhiking part of the way and then catching a bus. Vanessa and Adolpho alternate eating on different night to make sure that their son gets to eat every day.
Some of the stories of the people in Venezuela are truly devastating and sad. According to the ABC news report, Venezuela now leads as the country with the most requests for people seeking asylum to go elsewhere. China is in second place.

The ABC news reporters feared for their safety as they were uncovering information that the government of Venezuela does not want the world at large to know about. One woman approached the camera men and told her story, saying that she lost thirty pounds in the past year simply because there is not enough food to eat. She is sorrowful and let the journalists and camera crew know that most people will not speak up because they feel like they are gagged by the government militias. The people can potentially be harmed for speaking up.
An ABC journalist reports that “In this chaos [in Venezuela], the only thing thriving is the black market”.
An interviewee that did not want his face shown on camera said that the corruption starts at the top and only a fraction of the supplies (such as food in the supermarkets and medicine in the hospitals) that are supposed to get to the people are actually getting to them.
Sometimes donations of food and medical supplies come in from places such as Miami, Florida, USA but the hospitals for example are under military control in Venezuela, with armed guards and they want to take control of the donated medical supplies at the hospitals.

Video clip:




“Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 2”
This ABC news broadcast started in the city of Caracas, Venezuela but the reporting crew was advised to go to the periphery, to cities such as Valencia, Venezuela to see how bad things were really getting in Venezuela. News reporter Matt Gutman was taken to Valencia, a city of 2 million people by a doctor that wanted to help shed light on what is going on at the main hospital there. Matt Gutman reported that the hospital is providing only the doctor and the bed. Anything that the patient needs need to be provided by the family of the patient including surgical gloves, gowns and other supplies.
Matt Gutman went on say that that while reporting is not a crime in Venezuela, it can be turned in to one, it can be considered one. Much of his equipment such as i-phone was confiscated and he was taken to a police station where he was intimidated and informed that the SABIN, the most notorious secret police agency in the country of Venezuela could get involved in his case. Matt Gutman speaks passionately and wants the viewers of the broadcast to be aware that when you think of the SABIN, you can readily think of the KGB or other such notorious agencies. Matt Gutman was treated as a possible US spy and was asked repeatedly if he was a part of the CIA. He asserts that right now, Venezuela is looking at the USA like the USA is the enemy in many ways and it is a “Cold War”.
Carlos Lauria, Program Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, attested when interviewed that Venezuela ranks clearly as having one of the most repressive governments in the entire Western hemisphere. He notes that in Venezuela, news coverage is censored and any news reporting on issues deemed sensitive can be considered like an attack on the government of Venezuela.


Video clip:


After I watched, “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 1” & “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 2”, there were links available to many other video clips on YouTube. One such video clip that I clicked on discusses the crisis of starving abandoned pet dogs in Venezuela. Sadly, an overwhelming number of people in Venezuela have had to relinquish their pets because they can no longer afford to feed them. The dog food sold in the stores is so expensive. Some people committed to volunteerism help to start shelters for these dogs but there is just so much that they can do. The dogs remained mostly emaciated, in starving condition. It is truly tragic.
According to a local veterinarian, some of the pets are even abandoned at the pet store. People arrive under the pretense that they are dropping their dogs off to have them groomed and never go back to pick the dogs up after the grooming service is complete.

[Video clip:] https://youtu.be/Y-uRYiimjdk


Here is another video clip, this one from the Associated Press, addressing the issue of abandoned pets in Venezuela.
https://youtu.be/cnRylczFKXQ




PRAYING FOR VENEZUELA.

The Peacock - Fashion Inspiration

I recently chaperoned a field trip for my oldest son's elementary school class. The field trip was a visit to the Greensboro Science Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The last time that I had gone there was last year around this time. Once again, there were lots of interesting animals to see. The Greensboro Science Center is a nice place to visit.This time around, an interesting thing to see was a big, bold and colorful peacock that would hop and leap right over its enclosure and come very close to the people observing it. What a beautiful peacock it is with brilliant and vibrant colors including blue & turquoise blue. The experience of seeing the rich colors of the peacock close up reminds me of all the peacock inspired fashions there are out there. Once upon a time, I even had a pair of long dangling earrings that were designed to look like peacock feathers.Below are some photos of the beautiful peacock that I saw at the Greensboro Science Center.

With a little bit of research, you will find that so many places sell peacock inspired fashion.
• Poshmark
• Venus
• Roawe
are all examples.
I particularly like the Roawe Women’s Elegant Peacock Embroidery Bandeau Prom Dress in Navy, selling at a cost of $75 and available in sizes XS-3XL. It is a simply beautiful dress! This particular dress is available in other colors including nude, royal blue and purple but the navy blue is definitely my favorite.
In the navy blue color, this dress is very elegant and can surely be worn by an older adult for a wedding, special dinner or other formal function not just by a teenager for a prom. Roawe also boasts free shipping and no tax charge on this dress! You can find this dress on the website, www.roawe.com .

Photo credit: www.roawe.com

A Great Find from Rose’s Department Store

A Great Find from Rose’s Department Store
I simply love this dress that I got recently at Rose’s Department Store for just $14.99! Navy blue with embroidery, this dress offers beautiful style. I do not shop at Rose’s department store often and I feel like this is my best find ever at Rose’s department store. The material of this navy blue dress is just 100% polyester which is not my preferred fabric but the dress still has beautiful styling detail nevertheless. I would enjoy wearing this dress with black tights and black shoes.

Slices By Tony Restaurant in Greensboro North Carolina - A Restaurant Review

SLICES BY TONY
Slices by Tony Restaurant Review
Eating food from Slices by Tony Pizzeria restaurant was a good experience. With the first bite of the pizza, we were saying, “Mmm, that’s good.” My two young kids and I shared a small pizza for a cost of $6.99. The pizza had six slices and we ate two slices each.
• Besides for that, the only other food items in our first order from Slices by Tony restaurant were an Italian sub that had French fries as the side and a zeppole.
• The Italian sub costs around $7.99 and the zeppole costs $1.69 each at Slices by Tony restaurant.
• The zeppole was a generous, sizeable portion filled with a tasty cream that reminds me of Boston crème pie or Boston crème filled donuts. Served warm, the zeppole was very tasty and also had a drizzle of chocolate sauce on it.
The Italian sub was made with an Italian type of homemade bread. The Italian sub sandwich was made with a homemade bread that was different from what I expected but still quite tasty. The lettuce, tomato and tart oil and vinegar all gave the Italian sub sandwich a refreshing taste.
The Italian submarine sandwich contained ham and salami. Pepperoni would have been a great addition, I think. I’ve had many Italian subs from various places and Italians subs often contain pepperoni as well, which I like.
The Italian sub sandwich that we shared up and the zeppole that we all took a taste of are pictured here in food photos. We so hungry and gobbled up the pizza before I could even take a photo! Trust me, the pizza was good and looked appetizing too. It was presented well. We ate the pizza while it was still at a nice hot temperature.
Slices by Tony restaurant is located in Greensboro, North Carolina near the campus of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) and it is quite a popular spot.
For us, Slices by Tony restaurant did not disappoint and we got to experience why it is such a well-known and popular, often preferred pizza restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Of the food items that we purchased from Slices by Tony restaurant,:
1. Small cheese pizza for $6.99
2. Italian sub sandwich for $7.99
3. Zeppole
We would be most likely to purchase the small cheese pizza and zeppole again in the future.

My Recent Finds at Burlington Coat Factory

Burlington Coat Factory -
I love to shop at Burlington Coat Factory for unique clothing that you can find there. Often times at Burlington Coat Factory, some of the clothing items on the racks are either "one of a kind" or there are just a few pieces of that particular item available and they sell out quickly. At Burlington Coat Factory, you really have to take a little bit of time going through the racks to see what you might like. Burlington Coat Factory is similar to another store, TJ Maxx in that way. When you spot something that you like in your appropriate size, you might want to get it before it is no longer available. Recently, I visited Burlington Coat Factory for the first time in a couple of years! I was happy to rediscover the types of clothing and accessory items that I can possibly find at Burlington Coat Factory for great prices. I walked into the store, Burlington Coat Factory with my kids, intending to buy some items for my kids. For the first time in a long time, I ended up spending a significant amount of money on myself instead! Lol. It was kind of inadvertent, really. I did not find the good selection of items for kids (at great prices) that I was hoping to find but I did find some great prices on clothing and accessory items for me!

A Rosetti handbag for under $20 was among these finds. The taupe/beige color of the bag is appealing to me. This handbag is stylish and durable. At the time of taking this photo, I have already used the handbag several times. I would typically take a photo of fashion merchandise that I have purchased while it is still brand new with tags but that does not always end up being the case. Sometimes, taking the photo is an afterthought, after I have already been using the item for a while and I think, "hey, this is a great fashion item. I should mention it on the blog." Here are some photos of the Rosetti handbag.

I've really liked using my Rosetti handbag. Other items that I bought on this trip to Burlington Coat Factory were Fila sneakers and a couple of tops for just around $8 each.

High Top Sneakers for $20.97 at childrensplace.com

In a previous recent blog post, I mentioned some high top sneakers that I was able to get for my son at The Children's Place online store website, childrensplace.com. I mentioned that I had purchased those sneakers for $17.99 and I had ordered a couple more pairs of high top sneakers from the childrensplace.com for $20.97. The ones that I paid $20.97 for have arrived and I am pleased with the purchases. Here are some photos of what the high top sneakers look like. Not pictured, I purchased a gray and black pair of high top sneakers in size 6 for my older son and pictured are blue, white and black color block high top sneakers in size 2 for my younger son.

A Great High Top Sneaker Find at The Children’s Place

A Great High Top Sneaker Find at The Children’s Place

For the fashion segment of this blog, Movie, Fashion and Music Reviews United, I hate to be a walking advertisement for any one store in particular but The Children’s Place continues to be my go-to place for fashions for the kids.
My oldest son currently wears the largest size shoe that childrensplace.com offers. That is youth size 6. I recently got a great deal on high top sneakers for him for just $17.99 (plus tax) in a cool burgundy color.
The sneakers are pictured below. Finding high top sneakers for under $20 is rare on the site, childrensplace.com. I just put in an order for a couple more pairs of high tops from The Children’s Place but they were $20.97 (plus tax) this time. Shipping was free as it often is on thechildrensplace.com.
Something about little boys and their shoes. They feel that need to be “stylin’”. Sometimes, when my little one has on a new pair of shoes, he is just staring down at his feet, looking at them in admiration while walking. I have to say look ahead of you, watch where you’re going!:)

Katz Gluten Free Bakery – A Review

Katz Gluten Free Bakery – A Review
Katz gluten free bakery offers enjoyable treats. First, I ordered a sampler box which was a very good deal. For a cost of just $4.99, our family was able to try various treats in the sampler box. The sample box is actually offered to all first time customers with Katz gluten free bakery and it is marketed as being a free product. The $4.99 that the customer will be paying is really considered to be shipping costs. Generally, customers really seem to enjoy the sample box a lot and give it a 5 star rating on the bakery website katzglutenfree.com. The free sample allows customers to try both sweet treats such as rugelach, a muffin and a cookie and breads such as a slice of everything bread. Like everything bagels, everything bread typically has many kinds of seeds including poppy seeds and sesame seeds on it.
The functionality of the Katz gluten free bakery website is very user friendly and you can potentially do your transaction on the website pretty seamlessly. The website is categorized well. You can shop the section with “new products”. You can even shop according to allergy where there are products that are “gluten free and dairy free” or “gluten free and sugar free” or “gluten free and egg free/ vegan” and more. I found the variety in selections to be promising and the website to be user friendly indeed. Potential customers can find information about various deals and coupon codes. Signing up for the Katz gluten free bakery newsletter can help with achieving access to certain discounts also.
When it came time to place our first larger order, we selected various types of gluten free bagels including gluten free poppy seed bagels and gluten free everything bagels. Additionally, we tried the gluten free donuts and gluten free donut holes from Katz gluten free bakery and the gluten free donuts and donut holes were impressively tasty. Items from Katz gluten free bakery can readily shipped to the customer’s door. The items are shipped with care in sturdy plastic and paper packaging to ensure that pieces of the baked goods do not crumble unnecessarily.
Within this blog post, you will see photos of what the packaged products from Katz gluten free bakery look like. Katz gluten free bakery definitely did a good job with packaging. Freshness was preserved and items could easily go straight from shipping box to freezer. As desired, the gluten free bagels could be thawed and conveniently toasted in the toaster and then eaten while still warm.
You can get so many kinds of products from Katz gluten free bakery. They include English muffins, bagels, bagel chips, pizza crust, cake, cookies, baking mix for cake or baking mix for cookies and many more items.
Katz gluten free bakery began operations in the year 2006 in a certified gluten free facility. The popularity of the company has risen and continues to rise over the years. Free shipping is applied to orders over $50.
During recent years, my family tried gluten free eating for an entire year once. I don’t know. Maybe there is something to the gluten free diet. Perhaps there is something cleansing about it even for people that do not have a specific gluten sensitivity. We decided to give eating gluten free a try. We felt pretty good, active and energetic while eating this way. Rice became more of a carbohydrate source for us than bread. When it came to bread and baked goods, we purchased the gluten free variety. Certain things that I observed were that when you are eating less gluten or no gluten, you will not necessarily consume less sugar. In fact, you might find yourself consuming more sugar. I think that maintaining a lifestyle of consuming less sugar would be even more beneficial than trying to eliminate gluten when there is no specific gluten sensitivity or allergy.
Nevertheless, we did have our indulgences while eating gluten free and an occasional sweet treat from Katz gluten free bakery was something that we enjoyed. Among the sweet treats, the gluten free donuts were my favorite item from Katz gluten free bakery. They were a hit with my sons as well. I also enjoyed the rugelach a lot. The tasty and gluten free sweet treats are just as tasty as some sweet treats that do contain gluten.
I highly recommend Katz gluten free bakery especially for those individuals where eating gluten free is not an option or a choice but rather a necessity for healthy living, due to gluten sensitivities.
The difference in taste is more noticeable in the items that are not sweet (the breads as opposed to the desserts). I myself readily admit that when it comes to bagels and other types of breads, I generally much prefer the taste of regular bagels and breads containing the gluten to gluten free bagels and other breads. However, the offerings of these gluten free bagels, gluten free English muffins and other gluten free breads are generously innovative for the consumers that really need them. These people are able to enjoy acceptable alternatives to breads containing gluten. If they find it essential, they can still allow bread to be a staple part of their diets. It would just be gluten free bread. What Katz gluten free bakery is providing is a great service to those that need it.
In summary, when it comes to providing delicious taste, I would give the highest ratings to the Katz gluten free bakery donuts, followed by the rugelach and then the cookies. The bagels and breads would receive a lower rating for dryness and less pleasing taste. Overall, though, Katz gluten free bakery is great!
Sample rating of items from Katz gluten free bakery:
Gluten free donuts: ***** five stars
Gluten free rugelach **** four stars
Assorted gluten free cookies *** three stars
Gluten free bagels ** two and a half stars
Gluten free bread slices ** two stars
Founded in 2006 by F. Katz, Katz gluten free bakery also keeps it light with its funny nature. The bakery logo and marketing materials feature an animated little old lady with gray hair and an apron. It is described as Mrs. Katz, of course. Just something that will make you smile. This family business prides itself on striving for perfection with tried and true recipes and you will learn in the “about us” section of the bakery website that Mrs. Katz was very involved in recipe development and revisions.
Katz gluten free bakery

is definitely worth giving a try especially if you have the special dietary considerations that the bakery caters to. Prices are reasonable and remember that you can always start off with a sample box to try the products. There are a few different sample boxes to choose from. You might get approximately 8 items in your sample box. For example,
• A muffin
• A donut
• A cookie
• A rugelach
• A cake slice
• A bread slice or two bread slices
• A roll
It’s always nice to try something new and different and be introduced to what a company that you have not tried before has to offer. What item will you like best from the Katz gluten free bakery? You shall see and make that determination if you decide to try ordering from this bakery. You might find that you will be delighted to try out the samples and then take it from there. It would be a pleasure and an enjoyable experience to at least give it a try and place your order to share with your family or place an individual order.

Victory Mountain youth camp grounds in Sophia, North Carolina – a review

Victory Mountain youth camp grounds in Sophia, North Carolina – a review

Victory Mountain Camp is remotely located in Sophia, North Carolina which is part of Randolph County, North Carolina. Victory Mountain Camp is just away from everything and oh so beautiful. I immensely enjoyed chaperoning my young son’s school field trip to Victory Mountain Camp in Sophia, North Carolina. Victory Mountain Camp is a remote and peaceful oasis of sorts as it features quiet fields, lots of trees, lakes, farm houses, barns, and lots of farm animals including, hogs, small pigs, goats, hens, cows and more. There is a pumpkin patch and the children took pumpkins home.
I love when an establishment has a really good website on the internet. When I learned that the school field trip would be to Victory Mountain Camp (VMC), I made sure to take a look at the website. The website is lovely with illustrative photos and when we physically went to Victory Mountain Camp, it lived up to the expectations I had from what I had seen beforehand on the website that markets Victory Mountain Camp, victorymountaincamp.com.

We were first greeted by the hosts that work at Victory Mountain Camp. Small plastic baggies containing a popcorn snack and cups of water were handed out to us as we arrived. The special features of Victory Mountain Camp were explained to us and then we were on our way. There was a nature walk as well as story time with story books about pumpkins of course. After story time by a very effective narrator who sat in a rocking chair, the children and adult chaperones which included teachers, teacher assistants and some parent volunteers were invited to board a hay ride that was lots of fun and exciting for the children.

The property is very expansive, covering nearly 150 acres. With so many acres of land at Victory Mountain Camp grounds, the little children’s feet can take them but so far on the many walks. The hay ride gave everyone a break from all the walking and covered quite a bit of the expanse of the grounds. The kids enjoyed looking at the sights as the hay ride moved along. Upon disembarking from the hay ride, there was another nature walk as we approached a barn and were able to see many animals. One popular topic of conversation was a large hog weighing over 400 pounds! There were many smaller pigs running around as well. Both the adults and children were invited to pet many of the animals and feed the goats some bread. The goats were frisky and playful and very ready to grab the bread. There were photo opportunities and lots of hand sanitizer on hand for when everyone finished petting the animals. That included being able to hold baby chicks with a words of caution beforehand about how to handle the delicate and soft creatures so as not to hurt them.

The Christian based Victory Mountain Camp is a very beautiful place with encouraging words of scripture posted in various places with various media including chalk on boards. Specifically, Victory Mountain Camp is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.

There was free play time for the children to run around and multiple walks, some of which were guided by a Victory Mountain Camp employee. Among the many topics of discussion on the walks was talking about the numerous types of trees including maple trees and what type of leaves can be found on each variety of tree.

The arrays of pumpkins were beautiful and festive. The group convened for lunch in a large cabin also decorated with beautiful phrases from the Holy Bible.
The lunch was a hot dog lunch with tasty French fries and lemonade drinks. A field trip would not be a field trip without bathroom breaks for the kids and it was during these breaks that the group was able to see the interior of various other buildings on the grounds including cabins that had bedrooms and bunk beds for those who go to the grounds for overnight trips as opposed to just a day trip as we did. In all, we were there for approximately 5 hours and it was a lovely time.

The employees at Victory Mountain Camp were very pleasant people who seemed genuinely delighted to see when a large group of visitors arrived and they were very ready to show their hospitality.

Burgerim Restaurant Review

Burgerim
Burgerim Restaurant Review
A coupon code for takeoutcentral.com was offering free delivery of Burgerim food, a savings of $3.49 with coupon code: BURGERIM that was expiring on October 4th. My family decided to give it a try, ordering food from Burgerim. I would rate the food from this restaurant a 3 out of 5. We ordered a box containing a burger trio from Burgerim. I ordered 3 lamb burgers but received 2 lamb burgers and 1 beef burger instead.

When placing the Burgerim food order, it had seemed intriguing that you are given a choice of meats for your burger patty and you will be charged the same price regardless of what type of meat you select (turkey or vegetarian are other options for example.) I was really interested in getting lamb for all three burgers so when the burger trio was offered as 2 lamb burgers and 1 beef burger instead, it was just a little disappointing but I did not bother to call the restaurant to discuss the mistake. We just ate up and enjoyed the food while it was still warm.

The burger trio burgers were the size of sliders. Each meat patty (lamb or beef) was 2 oz. The bread tasted good and fresh and there were multiple toppings on the burgers including bacon and avocado which I love. Among the other abundant toppings that we requested for the burgers were lettuce, tomatoes, and melted cheese. The burger trio came with one order or fries and one large drink. We just put in this very small order and shared everything up. The burger trio was sold at a cost of $16.99.
One burger would have cost $9.99 with the fries and a drink and two burgers would have cost $12.99 with the fries and a drink. The food was rather unimpressive for the price. It seems like the prices of food items were a bit high at Burgerim but the burgers are considered to be gourmet. The packaging is great, practical and eye catching, with the Burgerim logo prominent on the box containing the slider burgers and the large cup containing the drink.

Burgerim stands out from other fast food restaurants that sell burgers in that the burgers from Burger IM are considered to be gourmet. Burgerim markets itself as an establishment that serves gourmet food “fast”. You can place a food order and get food delivery or receive your food in the restaurant for a dine-in experience in a timely fashion.

This Burgerim Restaurant Review is very brief because only a couple of items were ordered. The main thing here is that while the food was tasty, it seemed to be too pricey. There are many restaurants where we seemed to get more value for the money. $16.99 plus tax for 3 burger sliders, fries and a drink (ginger ale) just did not seem like a good deal and our family loves a good deal. We were glad for the free delivery though and I would not call the food order disappointing but it was just an average food order experience.

Unfortunately, the requested sauces such as ketchup for the fries were not included in our food order from Burgerim. Additionally, the lamb was aged so it did not have the same taste that I love when eating fresh lamb meat. The fries were great but in round slices, a different shape from the typical shape of french fries that your kids might be used to and love.

Just a quick reminder for the kids that the fries are the same as the long cut ones and taste just as great and they will be ready to dig in. Our beverage of choice was ginger ale on ice in a very large cup, where the drink could be poured out into portions and shared.
Overall, eating food from Burgerim was an okay experience.
Some food photos are enclosed and these show what the cute packaging looks like. The food presentation in the box was very good.

52nd annual ACM Awards

Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy listening to many types of music. Regarding country music, although I do not keep my radio dial on the country music radio stations regularly and I don't often watch country music videos, I still enjoy listening to country music occasionally. Since I've been lacking the familiarity of regularly listening to country music, many of the songs that I was hearing on the ACM awards show last night were songs that I was hearing for the first time. Yes, after our delicious lamb chop dinner last night, the family & I hung out & we eventually watched some television. We did tune into the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM).

Some of the songs were fantastic & I really enjoyed listening to them.

At the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM), Thomas Rhett won the award for song of the year with "Die a Happy Man" It's a beautiful song. Among the other nominees in that category was Tim McGraw for the song "Humble & Kind"

At the ACM awards, Thomas Rhett also won in the category of best male vocalist of the year. Keith Urban & Chris Stapleton had been among the other nominees. During his acceptance speech, Thomas Rhett humbly stated that he had shared nomination in the best male vocalist category with people who were an inspiration and great influence for him.

Miranda Lambert won the ACM award in the category of best female vocalist of the year. Carrie Underwood had been among the other nominees in that category. Miranda Lambert said we've already established that Carrie Underwood could sing her "under the table" as she also humbly accepted her award.

Miranda Lambert also won the ACM award for best album of the year with "The Weight of These Wings", an album that focuses a lot on songs about her heartbreak. She thanked everyone for listening and one gentleman in her group that went up on stage encouraged the audience and onlookers at home to "tell the truth" in your aspiring songwriting and/or singing. "It's a lot more interesting". We've heard similar statements before & they really resonate.

During the show, Miranda Lambert had also given a somber performance of the sad song "Tin Man" with lyrics such as "take it from me" "darling/you ain't missing nothing"..."Tin Man" [from the Wizard of Oz] "you don't [want] a heart"

While sad, the song was creative and solid.

On a brighter note, the band Old Dominion sang a song with the hook "You've gotta love like there is no such thing as heartbreak."

Earlier in the broadcast, Dierks Bentley sang a catchy song .."make my world go black, hit me like a heart attack, [put me] flat on my back." Many songs about love reference heart attacks.

Among other performances were Maren Morris with the song "I could use a love song". There was also Reba MacIntyre who performed a duet with Lauren Daigle who was recognized for being near the top of both Country music and Christian music charts. Many people in the audience and Reba MacIntyre herself on the stage became emotional and teary eyed while the performance of the duet took place with lyrics such as "We've gotta give this world back to God".

Nearing the end of the broadcast of the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music awards show (ACM), husband & wife duo Tim McGraw & Faith Hill debuted a duet song about respecting women (including your Mama!) with lyrics such as "That's how you talk to a woman. That's how you speak to a girl."

The winner of ACM video of the year was "Forever Country - Artists of then, now and forever". Among the other nominees in this category had been Miranda Lambert with the video for the song "Vice" & Tim McGraw with the video for the song "Humble and Kind".

Brothers Osborne won vocal duo of the year at the ACM awards show.

John Walsh of band The Eagles presented the Entertainer of the Year awards to
Jason Aldean. The other nominees for Entertainer of the Year were Luke Bryan, the band Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.

Everyone in the audience appeared to immensely enjoy the band Backstreet Boys throwback performance of a couple of their past hit songs and their collaboration with the band Florida Georgia Line as they sang "No one's ever gonna love you more than God, your Mama and me, unconditionally. God, your Mama and me, unconditionally"...

We really enjoyed listening to all the catchy tunes, indeed! The ACM awards show was entertaining and enjoyable.

Thanks for reading.
-Nyesha
journey.hubpages.com
mfmru.blogspot.com
avonladyny.blogspot.com
getgoodsavings.com

Look at what I got for free from Kohl's

I recently made a purchase of around $80 at kohls.com. Several of the items I bought were toddler/kids clothing on clearance sale. Some brown corduroy pants in size 3T by the brand Jumping Beans were on clearance sale for only $3.99! Needless to say I bought several pairs of those. With my Kohl's purchase I received a deal that the company is well known for frequently advertising. That is Yes2You Rewards, $10 back in Kohl's cash upon making a $50 purchase. So, when you shop at Kohl's keep in mind that you can get great deals in the clearance section, perhaps use an additional % off coupon code plus get the frequently offered $10 reward for a $50 purchase. This is a great deal all around.
I received the notification about my $10 reward via email and was able to use it on my next kohls.com purchase, no minimum order required. Since I was not really in the market for anything more at the time, I decided to spend no more than the $10 reward. This allowed me to head over to the clearance section of kohls.com once again and peruse it to see what I could find for under $10. I decided upon a stylish cute "Live, laugh, love" floor mat with floral decoration, on clearance sale for just $5.99, originally priced at $14.99. It is just the perfect size for a foyer or entry way & I think it's especially nice to decorate with during the spring season. To that, I decided to add a limited edition character ornament from the animated movie The Princess and the Frog. Originally priced at $16.99, the ornament was on clearance sale for just $3.99. With these two small purchases taken care of by my free $10 reward, I only had to pay only the shipping charges of $5.97. These two free items arrived from Kohl's in a timely manner and both are quite cute. Thanks Kohl's!

The owl trend in kids' fashion | Cute owl t-shirt from the Children's Place with quote "Mom and Dad are a hoot!"

Saying that owls have been trendy might be a bit of an understatement as retailers have been capitalizing on the worldwide popularity of owls for years now. Owl motifs and designs are trendy in fashion, jewelry, household décor and more. Just as you might quickly come across some owl earrings in a store featuring women's jewelry for example, you might just as quickly spot the owl trend in kids' fashion options like I did at the Children's Place online store.

T-shirts for kids are often on a very good sale at the Children's Place. Some tees were on sale and it was a matter of choosing which ones I liked best for purchase. I really liked this "Mom and Dad are a hoot!" owl tee in its vibrant blue color with the owl drawn so cutely in a more of a minimalist design. I purchased this kids' t-shirt for only $3.99 plus an additional 20% off. The Children's Place often readily offers an additional percentage off sale price when you diligently look for a coupon code through websites such as retailmenot.com or through the subscribed email list from the Children's Place or perhaps even by just going directly to the Children's Place website where you might see a coupon code posted and available for all shoppers.

Free shipping no minimum at Forever 21 expires tomorrow 5/5

I love free shipping no minimum deals! Don't we all? Forever 21 is offering free shipping with no minimum purchase until tomorrow 5/5/2015. I enjoy shopping at Forever 21 for several items including sweaters and hair accessories. This is a great opportunity to grab something small like a hair accessory at the website and not have to pay for shipping. Forever 21 is a retailer that often offers some great deals, so much so that there are frequent waiting lists. You can subscribe to receive email alerts to learn about when something is available again if it had been sold out. I have done this myself recently for several items including some headbands and a pretty floral mirror compact that was on sale for less than $3. I hope you've had a great weekend. You can head over to forever21.com and enjoy this free shipping no minimum deal if you decide to use it. Please come back to visit here at moviesfashionmusic.com soon. Bye for now!

Dino on a skateboard

I recently spoke of the comic relief you can get when you child is wearing a super cute and really funny outfit, whether it is a tee with a funny saying on it or perhaps a shirt or accessory with a funny picture. This particular t-shirt artfully depicting a dinosaur on a skateboard is just so endearing. Something about it makes me giggle when I see my son wearing it. Of course, I love to laugh, so that makes this t-shirt rank high up among my favorites in his t-shirt wardrobe. I also like the high quality of this t-shirt. It washes well and the black trim at the collar and the ends of the short sleeves are good quality details that I really like. As always, I love a good deal and here at moviesfashionmusic.com, I am most likely to write posts about items that I bought on good sales and offer information that can help to save you money. Having had kids for a few years now, I would say that I definitely live and learn and it is very important to be frugal and save money for the really important things. Even famous billionaire Warren Buffet has lectured about the importance of frugality. Those that have a lot of money are also wise enough to save it whenever they can. So, over the years I have really learned about saving money on everything from food to clothing to travel and more. So back to the subject at hand, this dino tee is both stylish and adorable, perfect for little boys and I purchased it at the Children's Place. You will be hearing a lot about the Children's Place from me. I really enjoy shopping there. The price of this t-shirt with the dino on a skateboard was just $3.99 on clearance sale. At childrensplace.com, taxes were added but shipping to my home was free! Always be on the look out for those hot clearance sales and free shipping with no minimum offers. My review of this fashion tee is very positive, 5/5 if I were to rate it: In summary, it is well made. It not just a plain tee, but one with a super cute and creative picture that will make you smile. The t-shirt holds up well after several washes. The clever idea of dinosaurs on skate boards has really been catching on over the years in various arenas for artful and comical ideas but when I stumbled upon this shirt, I still found it fairly unique (I like unique items) and nice to add to the wardrobe.