Dragonfly Sugar Cookies

by Debbiegottablog // September 25, 2016 // No Comments

It’s that time of year again! Every October I donate 100 dragonfly cookies to the Unravel Pediatric Cancer Mama’s Night Out. Unravel is an organization focused on raising awareness about the lack of funding for pediatric cancer research. Their Mama’s Night Out events are held at multiple cities throughout the year. It is a wonderful event with lots of food, prizes, vendors, and speeches. I highly recommend attending one if you ever have the opportunity to attend.

Last year I tried out a metallic gold technique that I found on Pinterest. It was easy to do and turned out great! I have a favorite sugar cookie recipe (easy and yummy) that I will share in a future post. Unravel’s theme is dragonflies and their colors are hot pink, orange, and gold. I used vanilla extract with gold luster dust to create the metallic gold dragonlfy body.

Before gold:

Dragonfly Sugar Cookies

After gold:

Dragonfly Sugar Cookies

Final product:

Dragonfly Sugar Cookies

The event was a huge success!

Unravel Pediatric Cancer Mama's Night Out

Here is a peek at the previous year’s cookies:

Dragonfly Sugar Cookies

Find out more about Unravel Pediatric Cancer here. Find more sugar cookie decorating ideas here.

Quick & Easy Easter Basket Ideas

by Debbiegottablog // March 26, 2016 // No Comments

Quick & Easy Easter Baskets

Well, Guys, my Crazy was definitely showing this week! After posting my “Easy, Last Minute Easter Basket” blog post last week, I accidentally may have started a basket making business…. I received 14 orders this week (12 of them on Thursday, due Friday!) and had a lot of fun putting together these baskets!

Did you make your Easter Baskets yet? Easter is tomorrow and the stores will have slim pickings in the Easter section today and even less if you can’t go until tonight. But you actually don’t have to shop in the Easter section for Easter Baskets. I prefer to find fun items and gifts that the kids will actually use all year round. (I would rather buy a few real things than a bunch of random useless junk.) Here are some quick samples of easy themed Easter Baskets:

BABY EASTER BASKET

Baby Easter Basket

$25 Basket idea for baby: sippy cups, clothes, Gerber yogurt melt filled plastic eggs, Gerber banana cereal puff filled plastic eggs.

>$25: Add a book, a stuffed animal, and a toy (open up a pack of Fisher Price Little People and place around basket with eggs). Bath toys are also fun.

SCHOOL AGE EASTER BASKET

The key here is to choose whatever theme your kid is into (Legos, Star Wars, Disney Tsum Tsums, Fairies, etc).

Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtle Easter Basket

$25 Basket idea for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan: TMNT action figure, TMNT water bottle, TMNT coloring book, TMNT sticker book, TMNT fruit snacks, Annie’s bunny shaped cheese cracker filled plastic eggs, jelly bean filled plastic eggs, and chocolate bunny (those cool camo eggs are from Walmart).

>$25: Add a book, TMNT t-shirt or sweatshirt, and a big TMNT toy.

Shopkins Easter Basket

$25 Basket idea for Shopkins-loving kids: Shopkins 5 pack, Shopkins water bottle, Shopkins nail set, Shopkins playing cards, chocolate bunny, Annie’s bunny shaped cheese cracker filled eggs, and Annie’s bunny shaped fruit snack filled eggs (those awesome emoji plastic eggs are from Walmart).

>$25: Add a book, Shopkins t-shirt or sunglasses, fill plastic eggs with additional Shopkins (buy the bigger 12 or 20 pack).

TWEEN EASTER BASKET

Crafty Easter Basket

$40 Basket idea for crafty girl: journal, smelly gel pens, water bottle, bunny shaped erasers, Annie’s bunny shaped cheese cracker filled plastic eggs, jelly bean filled eggs, Fun Dip, and chocolate bunny.

>$40: Add a doodle or intricate coloring book and art supplies (blank canvas, paints, and brushes).

Warriors/Basketball Easter Basket

$25 Basket idea for Warriors fan: Warriors t-shirt, blue water bottle, stress ball/squeeze basketball, Fun Dip, chocolate bunny, jelly bean filled plastic eggs

>$25: Add a book or sports magazine, flip flops or slippers, and a mini basketball.

TEEN EASTER BASKET

Teen Girl Easter Basket

$40 Basket idea for teenage girl: flip flops, make-up bag, eyeshadow, lip balm, water bottle, candy filled plastic eggs (mint and gold color theme here).

>$40:Add a book or journal, more make-up (lip gloss or lip stick, blush, foundation, etc), and sunglasses.

$40 Basket idea for teenage boy (no photo): iTunes gift card, headphones, water bottle, candy filled plastic eggs.

>$40: Add video games and get fancier headphones.

For more ideas, see my previous post.

I hope you like these ideas! What do you put in your Easter Baskets? Any other great ideas?

Easy, Last Minute Easter Baskets

by Debbiegottablog // March 19, 2016 // No Comments

Easter Baskets do not need to be complicated or extravagant. A basic basket can be completed in one trip to Target. You definitely should have an idea of how much you want to spend before you go to the store. Whether you want to spend $10 or $100 per basket, there are some basic items that together will make the perfect Easter Basket. Here are some ideas to get you through the store quickly with quick basket assembly.

Easy, Last Minute Easter Basket Ideas

My basic formula for the perfect Easter Basket starts with 5 simple categories:

Something to EAT.
Something to READ.
Something to PLAY WITH.
Something to USE.
Something DECORATIVE.

The first category is Something to Eat. This can be as healthy or as unhealthy as you want. Ideally, the food would fit into plastic eggs. Ideas: fresh fruits, freeze dried fruits, yogurt raisins, fruit snacks, crackers, cereal, and candy.

Easter Baskets - Something to EAT

The second category is Something to Read. I like to put some sort of book in the basket, whether it is a board book, comic book, picture book, or a chapter book. Mad Libs are great too.

Easter Basket - Something to Read

The third category is Something to Play With. Obviously, there are a million toys to choose from and they will vary by age. Some ideas are sports equipment, outdoor toys, Legos, figurines, and games. Small items can fit into plastic eggs as well.

Easter Basket - Something to Play With

The fourth category is Something to Use. This can be any useful item that is actually needed – shoes, clothes, beach towels, and make-up are some basic ideas.

Easter Basket - Something to Use

And the last category is Something Decorative. This can be any Easter related item. Ideas: bunny stuffed animal, decorative eggs, cross, chicks, and flowers.

Easter Basket - Something Decorative

I personally love to stick with a theme. This year my girls are really into Disney Tsum Tsums, so I have a variety of plush and vinyl Tsum Tsum collectibles along with some Tsum Tsum t-shirts that I found. Shopkins, Legos, Thomas the Train, American Girl Doll, and Star Wars are more themes that are very easy to find. Think of something your kid just loves (sports, character, movie, game, dolls) and find what you can within that theme and within your budget.

Easter Basket Themes

Easter Baskets do not have to be fancy or expensive. They can contain 5 items or 50 items – you have total control over it. The important thing is to have fun, spend what you can afford, and think about what your child is interested in and would like.

Do you have a basic formula for your Easter Baskets? What are your go-to items?

Is My Crazy Showing’s One Year Anniversary!

by Debbiegottablog // February 19, 2016 // No Comments

Hello Friends,

Today I am writing you a letter of thanks for being there during my first year of blogging. I really appreciate the support and kind words. I still have so much to learn, but it really has been a fun year on the blog. I hope you enjoy the next year of blogging as I continue to Get My Sh*t Together, finish KonMari-ing, and share all my Crazy!

Sincerely,

Debbie

First Year Accomplishments:

I am just shy of 10,000 views!!! I don’t have a huge list of followers, but I do have pins all over Pinterest that are repinned daily.

Someone recognized me from my blog on the Red Carpet at the Emmys!

Several of my favorite blogs now follow me on Pinterest!

Favorite Posts & Milestones:

First post: Is My Crazy Showing?

your crazy is showing - is my crazy showing?

Introduction post: Get Your Sh*t Together, Debbie!

GYST Debbie! Is My Crazy Showing?

Most viewed post on release date: The Top 5 Most Common Mistakes Made at Disneyland

Disneyland Mistakes - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Most popular party post: Monsters Inc. Boo Party (For a Girl)

Monsters Inc Boo Party (for a girl) - Is My Crazy Showing?

Most pinned cake: Welcome to the World Baby Shower Cake under My Cakes

Welcome to the World Suitcase Cake - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Tsum Tsum Crazy – Star Wars Release

by Debbiegottablog // February 16, 2016 // No Comments

*Tsum Tsum 101: In case you haven’t heard of them, Tsum Tsums are a stackable plush toy that comes in different characters and sizes. The craze started in Japan and has made it’s way to the US via Disney. You can find Disney Tsum Tsums at Disney Store and Target. They came out with plastic Tsum Tsums in December 2015.

Tsum Tsum Crazy - Star Wars - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Is anyone else fighting a crazy Tsum Tsum addiction? Disney released the original Star Wars Trilogy Tsum Tsum characters today, so, naturally, I took the day off, got up at 4:00AM, and stood in line for 5 hours…. (And by “line”, I mean, my friend and I sat there freezing for 2 and a half hours before our 3rd friend arrived and then waited around until more people started lining up just before the store opened at 10:00AM.)

Best conversation of the day:

My 7 Year Old: What time did you get to the store?

Me: 5:00

Her: You shopped for 5 hours?

Me: No, I stood in line for 5 hours waiting for the store to open.

Her: (Long pause…) What?

In my defense, we are redecorating the girls’ room to a “Star Wars” and “Tsum Tsum” theme (they each chose one), so, OBVIOUSLY we need to invest in all of the STAR WARS TSUM TSUMS….

But back to the Tsums! There are 12 characters in this series: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Yoda, R2D2, C3PO, Storm Trooper, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt, and Wicket the Ewok. The next series will be the Prequel Trilogy characters, followed by The Force Awakens characters (release dates have not been announced).

I bought all 12 for us thinking we would return some of the extra ones, but…. They are too darn cute!!! I mean, even JABBA THE HUTT is cute! How did they do that??? C3PO seemed to sell out first online, but now they are sold out of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Wicket. They each have super cute details and features (like Luke is packing a light saber, Wicket has a spear, and there is super soft white fur on Yoda’s ears, under his hood). Most are soft and fluffy while C3PO and R2D2 are more of a smooth satin. Wicket is definitely the cutest, followed by Princess Leia and Chewie. They are just too adorable to return. Looks like we will keep the entire collection!

Tsum Tsum Crazy - Star Wars - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Do you (I mean, your kids) collect Tsum Tsums?

What are your thoughts on the Star Wars series?

Follow Is My Crazy Showing?’s board Tsum Tsum Everything on Pinterest.

DIY Valentine’s Day Cards

by Debbiegottablog // February 7, 2016 // No Comments

DIY Valentine Card - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Here is an easy way to make your own cards and Valentine’s Day cards! If I can do this, you can too. Programs used are all Microsoft Office.

Valentine’s Day Cards

My 9 year old wanted *Tsum Tsum Valentine Cards this year, which, of course, don’t already exist, so we decided to make them. This is how I make my own cards in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Power Point. The best thing about it is that you can use any theme.

Step 1: Choose your theme. I either use a photo I took or I search Google images online. I then save the image so it can be inserted into my card.

Step 2: Choose your format. If I am making multiple images, I use Power Point (it is easier to move things around). If I am making a card, I use Word.

Step 3: Insert your desired shape – I used a rectangle, expanded it to the size I wanted, chose “no fill” for the shape fill, changed the shape outline to my desired color and weight.

Step 4. Insert your picture/image. Adjust size as necessary.

DIY Valentines - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Step 5: Insert your text boxes. Adjust the font and size as necessary. Move your boxes around to fit within the rectangle.

DIY Valentines - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Step 6: Repeat steps #3-5 until page is full.

DIY Valentines - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Step 7: Print out onto card stock. Cut into 4 rectangles. It is very easy, and completely personalized and customize-able.

Here is a sample of a final product. We like to then add a candy or something small to the card with washi tape.

DIY Valentine Card - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

*Update: This year I found “Colorful Critters: Neon Markers” in the Target Dollar Spot ($3 for 8 markers) for my younger daughter’s classmates. She loved assembling them herself and picking out the colors.

DIY Valentine's Day Highlighter Cards - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Birthday Cards

I do the same for birthday cards so my card always matches the theme of the gift. I can’t stand spending $3-6 on a card that will be thrown away AND I can never find the theme that matches my gift so I started making my own cards several years ago. I buy a blank set of wedding invitations from Michaels (with my 40% coupon). I make the card in Microsoft Word and just add an image and message. I format my printer to the size of the invitation (follow the instructions on the invitation box). They turn out cute and are personalized too.

Tsum Tsum birthday card - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

Tsum Tsum Crazy - www.ismycrazyshowing.com

GYST Part 7 (Get Your Sh*t Together Debbie!)

by Debbiegottablog // January 6, 2016 // No Comments

GYST Debbie! Is My Crazy Showing?

Well, here we go again! Another year but here I am with the same old New Year’s Resolution! This is my 7th time I am going to attempt GYST. Remember when I was going to get my sh*t together last year? I definitely made progress in 2015, but still have a little ways to go….

2015 Review

Goal #1: Go Glutton Free

Going Glutton Free - Is My Crazy Showing?

Home: I probably made the most progress here. I read “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo and KonMari’d my way through my clothes, my kids’ clothes, my shoes, my totes and accessories, and my books. This was huge! I was able to get rid of a ton of stuff that no longer brought me joy. Life-changing indeed! And then I got halfway through the 3rd category, Paper, and that’s when I fell off the wagon. I am not totally sure what happened, but I still have 1 box and a desk full of paper that has not been KonMari’d. I am anxious to finish paper (and tackle reorganizing and decorating the office/playroom at the same time) and move onto the next 2 categories – Miscellaneous and Sentimental. I translate that to mean, “everything else”. My “everything else” includes the garage, entry closet, craft armoire, and scrapbooking closet.

Gettin' Shit Done - Is My Crazy Showing?

Health: I also made some progress here, but later in the year. I continued to pay for Weight Watchers and attended meetings as I watched my weight go UP. I lost my focus and stopped caring about what I ate and gained during the first half of the year as a result of it. Half of my co-workers joined a 5 Day Challenge through Herbalife over the summer and I laughed and laughed at all of them because I thought they were already skinny and were ridiculous for trying to be even skinnier. I figured that since everyone on the program already appeared to be thin, then this challenge must not be for me. But then one of my friends at work told me how it worked and what she liked about it. I looked into it more and decided, why not? Worst thing that could happen is that I try something new and maybe lose a pound or two on the way. I loved the Herbalife shakes, learned a ton about eating healthy, cut my sugar addiction (WHAT?!?!?!), AND lost about 8 pounds and 3 inches in the first month. After that I continued with both the Herbalife and Weight Watchers program and feel like I have lost an entire layer all around me. It is weird because it is not totally reflected in my weight or inches, but it is very visible when I look at before and after photos. I had already done so much damage in the beginning of the year that I ended just a couple pounds under where I started, but I will totally take it considering I had lost what I had gained! I basically eat less sugar, simple carbs, and saturated fats, and eat more proteins, complex carbs, and vegetables now (the Herbalife diet while tracking the Weight Watcher points). I even maintained over the Holidays! I look forward to continuing on this healthy path, losing weight, and starting this exercise thing I keep hearing about….

Recent studies have shown that I diet best from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM

Finance: I started the year strong because my favorite coffee shop closed BUT I soon replaced it with a terrible habit of going to Starbucks everyday! UGH! I should mention that I don’t drink or like real coffee, but I love glamorized coffee flavored milkshakes like frappacinos… This habit cost me about $5 a day. I stopped when I started Herbalife but then started again over the Holidays. I de-cluttered my emails and unsubscribed to nearly everything. I did not keep up with grocery shopping and eating out less. And I am also pretty sure that I went to Target every single day in December…. So I definitely need to GMFST this year (Get My Financial Sh*t Together)….

Thirty-One Bags - Is My Crazy Showing?

Life: Did I learn to say “No” and not over-schedule us? No, not really. December was crazy with activities and events. I over-scheduled January and apparently signed up for basketball, ballet, Girl Scouts, and piano on Saturday mornings (split between 2 kids). So here is another area with great room for improvement!

In Case You Thought My Life Was Glamorous

Goal #2: Start a blog

your crazy is showing - is my crazy showing?

Well, if you are reading this, then you know the answer! I DID finally start a blog, an idea I had been entertaining for some time but was scared to make the leap. I started Is My Crazy Showing on February 17, 2015. I posted 43 posts in 2015, had 7547 Views and 4536 Visitors over the year. Most people find me on Pinterest and Facebook. My Home Page gets the most views but here are my top 5 posts from 2015:

The Life-Changing Magic of Marie Kondo Part 3 (Kids’ Clothes)

The Life-Changing Magic of Marie Kondo Part 2 (My Clothes)

Top 5 Most Common Mistakes Made at Disneyland

The Life-Changing Magic of Marie Kondo Part 4 (My Shoes)

The Life-Changing Magic of Marie Kondo Part 1 (Sparking Joy)

My most popular pin is my “Welcome to the World” baby shower cake.

Here we go – 2016!

Goal #1: GYST2016

Together, Shit Has Not Gotten

I plan on continuing to get my sh*t together this year by finishing KonMari-ing my house and life, eating healthier and taking better care of myself, spending and scheduling less while enjoying what I have and who I am with as much as possible.

Goal #2: Find my blogging self

GYST Debbie 2016

I have played around with different topics and blogging styles. How personal do I want to be? How informative do I want to be? What is my niche? I would like to learn more about blogging and find a blogging community that I can learn from and grow with.

2016 New Year’s Resolutions

Finish What I Started – I have a tendency to stop what I am doing before I have completed a project or idea or thought… I would like to finish all of my incomplete scrapbooks and finish reorganizing and decorating the office/playroom, downstairs bathroom, and the girls’ room.
Stop Complaining – “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou

What are your goals for 2016? What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Here’s to an awesome year!!!

Back from the Emmys 2015 (My Life as an Emmys Red Carpet Bleacher Fan)

by Debbiegottablog // December 8, 2015 // No Comments

Well, this is embarrassing! I started writing this post the week after the Emmys and here it is almost 3 months later and I am finally finishing it up! I have no idea what took so long!

The 67th Emmy Awards aired on Sunday, September 20th. I recently shared here that I am a red carpet bleacher fan at the Emmys every year. Long story short, I stand in line for a long time and then sit in the bleachers for a long time waiting for celebrities to walk past me. They pass by quite quickly but I wave and yell like a fool and am usually able to chat or at least photograph some of them. It is as hilarious, ridiculous, and as crazy as it sounds. This year was crazy insane hot – like people passing out hot – which made it pretty rough! This year first row seats went to Chase Sapphire Credit Card holders so we had to sit in the 2nd row (not complaining, they actually paid $165 for their seats). The bleachers were split into 2 very long sections with 3 rows each, so everyone had a pretty good seat. Our section was across from E!’s countdown show with Giuliana Rancic and Brad Goreski (filming below with Ross Matthews and Olivia Culpo – it was so hot that she fainted during a commercial break!).

The other section was across from Fox NFL Sunday with Terry Bradshaw, Curt Menefee, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, and Michael Strahan.

We were at the very end of a windy red carpet, past the media coverage (like Ryan Seacrest, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, etc), past the photographers, and past the 360 Glam Cam. By the time the celebrities got to us, they were DONE – exhausted, insanely sweaty, tired, and rushing to get into the air conditioned theater. There must have been a short cut to the theater because some stars that did red carpet interviews never made it past us. Bleacher fans received a People Magazine swag bag filled with a magazine, make-up, some snacks, Emmys t-shirt, and an Emmys bottle.

Fox provided us with paper fans (which actually helped a ton) and McDonalds handed out Egg McMuffins and iced coffees.

Enough with the talky talk! Let’s see some pictures, right?

Most of the day looks like this…

Most of the celebrities ran by like this (that’s Adrien Brody)…

And most of my photos turned out like this…

But some photos actually came out AND we even got to chat a bit with some of the celebrities! Here are some faves:

Amy Poehler (Parks & Recreation) Love her!

Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer) Her people ended up posting a picture of us taking a picture of her on Instagram!

Amy Schumer - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Angela Bassett (American Horror Story) I seriously almost missed her!

Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) Whoa! Terrible photo! That’s his son behind him that did most of the interviews with him.

Ariel Winter (Modern Family) She is always super friendly.

Carson Daly Ha! Hilarious face his wife is making at us!

Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)

Colin Hanks (Life in Pieces) Looks and sounds so much like his Dad.

Don Cheadle (House of Lies) So friendly!

Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) & Jane Lynch (Glee)

Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) I told you I take terrible pictures…

Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) Okay, so I really loved this dress. So pretty in person. Was definitely one of my favorites.

Fred Savage (The Grinder) Whoa, there’s another pissed wife! Is it because Fred is just so happy to see me?

Gary Cole (Veep)

Heidi Klum (Project Runway) GET OFF THE RED CARPET BIG BIRD!!!

Carol Kane (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) She almost snuck by too under her umbrella but someone spotted her.

Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) He totally remembered us from a couple nights before when we were stalking, I mean, hanging out, by the Entertainment Weekly pre-party.

Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul) Here he is pointing out what idiots we all are for being out in this heat.

Rico Rodriguez & Nolan Gould (Modern Family) Aren’t they fun???

Damian Lewis (Homeland) Winky smiley face!

Taraji P. Henson (Empire) She is pretty awesome!

Morena Baccarin & Padma Lakshmi (Homeland & Top Chef) Padma totally stopped and asked Morena to pose for us!

Andre Braugher & Pablo Schreiber (Brooklyn Nine-Nine & Orange is the New Black) Andre seems genuinely so excited to be at the events and incredibly grateful when we recognize him.

Michael Kelly (House of Cards)

Holland Taylor Could. Not. Remember. Her. Damn. Name!!! She has been in a ton of things!

John Oliver (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) I think that is Leslie Jones from SNL over his shoulder.

Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback) Total blurry picture but WAY better than all the other ones I got of her!

Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth) AAAHHH!!! HIDE THE CHILDREN!!!

Jesse Tyler Fergusen (Modern Family)

Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation) and Megan Mullally (forever Will & Grace in my head)

Terrence Howard (Empire)

Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)

Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) This dress was awful!

Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish)

Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) and Mark Burnett (Producer of everything, like Survivor & The Voice)

Allison Janney (Mom/Masters of Sex) This was a super pretty dress in person.

Kerry Washington (Scandal) Aw man, horrible photo. Everyone loved this dress but it really wasn’t my favorite.

Jaimie Alexander (Blindspot) Perfect example of how different a dress can look in person versus on camera. The colors were subtle and sparkled in the sunlight.

Melora Hardin (Transparent / Jane from The Office)

Jeff Daniels (Newsroom) Newsflash: He is not very friendly.

Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) Also not friendly.

Joan Cusack (Shameless / Sixteen Candles) SO FRIENDLY. She was so concerned if we had enough water and if we were melting in the heat!

Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) LOVE HER! Amazing how much younger all of the Downton Abbey actors look in person!

John Stamos (Grandfathered / Full House) AAAAHHHHH!!!! HELLO!!!

John Stamos taking a picture of us. I stalked him for a few weeks but he never posted the picture.

Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele)

Kristen Schaal (Last Man on Earth & a million other things) She is so fun! All I hear is Trixie from Toy Story 3 when I hear her.

Kyle Chandler (Bloodline but who could forget Early Edition?)

Laura Prepon (I don’t watch Orange is the New Black so I’m going with That 70s show!) She is quite striking!

Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie, Laugh-In, and everything in between!)

Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live)

Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honourable Woman) She is so cute! And so happy!

Marcia Gay Harden (Code Black)

Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project)

Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber (there for him in Ray Donovan)

Jordan Peele & Chelsea Peretti - Emmys Red Carpet Bleachers 2015

Jordan Peele (Key & Peele) & Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) They must be so fun to hang out with!

Phil Keoghan - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race) My buddy! Always says Hi, usually stops and chats.

Property Brother - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

One of the Property Brothers? No idea which one.

Rob Lowe - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Rob Lowe (The Grinder and 80 million other things) SO STRIKING!!!

Sarah Paulson - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story) She is super friendly too. I don’t watch her scary show but she is always nice.

Sarah Hyland _ Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Sarah Hyland (Modern Family)

Stephen Merchant - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Stephen Merchant (Hilarious writer/actor, no idea where I actually know him from!)

Taryn Manning - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Taryn Manning (Orange is the New Black) We saw her all 3 nights we were in LA. She was at all of the parties!

Timothy Hutton - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Timothy Hutton (Turk 182!) No, he did not appreciate me yelling that.

Ty Burrell - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Ty Burrell (Modern Family)

Uzo Aduba - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black)

Viola Davis - Red Carpet Bleachers - Emmys 2015

Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder)

So, those were my best photos (HA!). I took a ton more but they were even worse. We had a great time even though it was a thousand degrees (as in people were fainting). It was nice to be so close up to the celebrities walking by, but it was out of the way and not everyone passed us. It was just too hot for anyone to stop and chit chat. Hopefully we can go again next year!

Another Side of my Crazy – I am an Emmys Red Carpet Bleacher Fan

by Debbiegottablog // September 16, 2015 // 1 Comment

Just when you thought you knew just how crazy I am, here I am sharing something else super crazy and hilarious about me – I am a Red Carpet Bleacher Fan at the Emmys every year! Funny, right? What is this and what does it mean? Well, I basically am on call every year on a wait list until the last minute and if there are any spaces left, my girlfriends and I get to go to the Red Carpet Event in LA. We don’t dress up because we are not actually going to the show itself. We sit in bleachers for hours and hours before the show and wave and yell to the passing celebrities as they walk the Red Carpet to be interviewed by various networks as they make their way to the theater entrance. Every year we think about how ridiculous this is and how we really don’t HAVE to go. But then when the time comes around we have an absolute blast while yelling and waving like fools to total strangers that we kind of sort of know because we watch a lot of TV. I have to admit, in the past few years, I actually don’t watch the shows that are usually nominated. I don’t have HBO, Showtime, or even Netflix (GASP!) so I have missed out on a lot of the top shows. I do usually know who the celebrities are though!

Me “on” the Red Carpet in 2010.

That’s me in coral taking a picture of Jimmy Fallon back in 2009.

Here I am over Brooke Shield’s right shoulder in the teal shirt in 2008.

IF you can steer your eyes away from Christina Hendrick’s chest, that is me over her right shoulder in the magenta shirt in 2010.

What it is Like: We get there early and wait in line before we are escorted to the bleachers. We have to go through some pretty heavy security checks before we can sit in the bleachers. We then wait there longer until around 2:30 PM when the first stars start arriving. These are usually the entertainment media hosts and more unknown/new stars. Everyone seems to come all at once between 3:00-4:00 PM and then it is absolute chaos! It is very hard to see everyone through a sea of celebrities and their handlers. I usually panic about halfway through worrying about all the celebrities I am missing. Every year I look at my photos when I get home and find stars that I hadn’t even noticed in pictures behind the star I was trying to take a picture of!

This is what it looks like for about 3 hours before the show starts. It is just like Where’s Waldo!!!

3 hours of chaos!

It is very hard to get a good photo. The celebrities are going by so fast and get lost in the crowd very easily. Then you finally get the perfect shot and you don’t let your camera focus or you get bumped or they moved while you snapped it. The sun is also an issue because it is usually insanely hot and bright. The main networks rotate hosting the Emmys so the bleacher set up varies dramatically year to year. Sometimes we are super close to the Red Carpet and sometimes we are very far. Sometimes we get shade over the bleachers and sometimes there is none.

Worst picture of Jimmy Fallow talking to me. (He is one of the friendliest celebrities out there, along with Ellen Degeneres and Sally Fields.)

Here’s one of Jimmy Fallon and he is looking right at me, talking TO me and it is a terrible picture of him!

Another horrible photo of Jimmy Fallon.

Sorry Fred Armisen!

Believe it or not, some photos actually turn out!

Jon Cryer (Forever Duckie in my mind)

Michael Sheen (He was SOOOO sweet! He saw me trying to get a photo of him and came over for a perfect shot after he spoke to some reporters.)

Ryan Seacrest (Yes, he is extremely short. But he is very friendly and always smiling. Never takes a break!)

Some celebrities are extremely friendly and others are super unfriendly. I am usually surprised by who is the unfriendliest. Most stars will talk to you or at least wave and smile. Most men are shorter in person and most woman are thinner in person. Believe it or not, most are better looking in person too. Dresses tend to be much prettier in person than on camera and it is true that some just do not photograph well. Some of my favorite dresses on the Red Carpet look terrible later in magazines.

Here are some of my favorite or most well known stars that I have seen over the years:

Mark Ruffalo (LOVE him!!! Could he be any cuter???)

Jimmy Kimmel (I am a total Kimmel fan so I am always excited to see him.)

Tom Hanks (One of my all-time favorite actors ever – you can see he was filming Saving Mr. Banks and had a mustache as Walt Disney this particular year.)

Bill Hader (One of my favorite comedic actors.)

Minnie Driver (She was super friendly and casual. We joked about how someone was stepping on her dress.)

Alec Baldwin (I know he has a horrible reputation but he is always friendly on the Red Carpet.)

Melissa McCarthy (She is too fun and super friendly on the Red Carpet.)

Matthew Fox (*SIGH* This is the most star-struck I have ever been. I was a HUGE Lost fan AND Party of 5 AND pretty much everything Matthew has ever been in and was blubbering all of this to him when a friend took this photo of him looking at me. I may have alarmed him because after he said “thank you” and looked away, I whispered, “And I live in your closet”. He totally looked back up quite startled! Honestly, I didn’t think he could hear me or was listening!)

Neil Patrick Harris (Crazy friendly!)

Julianne Moore (I really didn’t love this dress and it happened to be the hottest year ever – she must have been melting in there!)

Mark Wahlberg (He doesn’t stop to chat to the fans but he always waves!)

Rob Lowe (He seriously went out of his way to come over to the fans and shake hands and sign autographs. So nice!)

Gwyneth Paltrow (Not one of my favorites but she is extremely famous and striking in person.)

Nicole Kidman (She looks like a porcelain doll! She is tall in person.)

Kevin Spacey (This is a good example of how the sun affects our photos from the bleachers.)

Matthew McConaughey (Didn’t stop or talk but he smiled as he passed. He definitely seemed to be on a different level than everyone. Every year there are some movie stars but he really stood out.)

Drew Barrymore (She looked so pretty in this dress!)

Toni Collette (I also loved this dress and the color.)

Jason Bateman (HI JASON BATEMAN!!!!! Best photo I could get.)

Phil Keoghan (By far one of my favorites that I love to chat with every year. He is super friendly and I am pretty sure he might even remember us every year.)

Bryan Cranston (This was just as Breaking Bad was ending so it was a big year for him.)

Kristin Wiig (That’s Kate Walsh behind her. Maybe I should have put this under horrible pictures? She is awesome!)

Jon Hamm (I see him almost every year and have never gotten a normal picture of him.)

Steve Carell (Actually on my super-unfriendly list.)

I should probably also mention how hilariously crazy the entire Girls’ Weekend is. It is really just 3 days of eating, shopping, and stalking celebrities (we drive around their neighborhoods and then hang out near parties the night before). We plan our food first and then plan the rest of our activities around the food locations. We have seen a few live shows in the past (like The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and The Jay Leno Show) and have done some studio tours and celebrity home tour buses. It is great fun!

Looking forward to the 2015 Emmys this weekend! Can’t wait to see who will be there!

Minion Back to School Party

by Debbiegottablog // September 8, 2015 // No Comments

Every year we celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of the school year with a Back to School Party (past party details here). I plan the theme, decor, food, and favors, and my sister plans the activities. This year she wanted to do a music lesson that included the Banana Song by the Minions so we decided to go with the Minion theme. This party was so easy to plan because the Minion movie just came out this summer and Minions are EVERYWHERE. (The easiest way to plan a party is to pick a super popular theme!)

Invitation

I googled Back to School Minions and found an image that I could just add text to with party details.

Decorations

We kept it pretty simple this year – blue & yellow decor with Minion accents (with a side of chalkboard).

Food

Also very simple this year!

Uncle Dan Sandwich – Slice a giant round King’s Hawaiian Roll twice and fill each layer with lunch meats and cheese.

Bananas (duh)

Minion fruit snacks

Minion Snack Mix – Cheetos cheese puffs (Agnes’ caterpillars), popcorn, Minion graham crackers, pretzels, corn chex, blue and yellow M&Ms, candy eye balls, and banana Runts.

(Add circles to a yellow cup to make Minion snack cups)

Dessert

Yup. Still simple! Hostess Minion Twinkies! (And Rice Krispy Treats but didn’t get a photo of them!)

Activities

We played Bananagrams, Minion Operation, and had music lessons for our activities.

Favors

The favors were personalized composition books (using the same Minion Back to School image), Minion crayons, Minion paperclips, and the shakers from the music lesson.

Follow Is My Crazy Showing?’s board Back to School Party on Pinterest.

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