Today’s post is a hodgepodge (who thinks up these words anyway?) of updates. Hence, the title.

By the way, “un poco de todo” means “a little bit of everything.”

5 Resources for Raising Bilingual Children

First off, it’s another Wednesday where you’ll find me at the Family Eden blog.

Today’s post – 5 Resources for Raising Bilingual Children

Here are the resources I listed, but for a bit of back-story on our family, you’ll want to click over and read the full post. (I also included more information on each resource in the post.)

1. Colorín Colorado – A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners.
2. SpanglishBaby – Raising Bilingual & Bi-Cultural Children
3. Cody’s Cuentos – Classic children’s fairytales…in Spanish.
4. Latin Baby Book Club – Celebrating our Culture
5. Circletime Kids - A global gathering of children and the people who love them.

Contests

I also wanted to remind you about the two contests that are currently running.

1. There’s only 3 days left to enter to win a free ticket to the Florida Conference for Women. I will be attending and hope to learn, reflect, and network with other women in the area. Doesn’t that sound like something you ABSOLUTELY want to do also?
2. You can also enter to win a Mother’s Day makeover courtesy of a new salon in town, Adore de Salon. If you win, you can opt to hand over the prize to your mom. So even if you don’t live in Central Florida, but your mom does, you can still enter the contest and treat mom to a nice gift!

Meetups/Tweetups/Fun

There are several events happening in April and May in the Orlando area. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make them all. If I did that, my kid would probably forget who I am. Here are the ones I do plan to attend.

• Orlando Tweetup II – Hosted by Etan Horowitz of the Orlando Sentinel on April 30th. A recap of the first tweetup he did can be found on his blog. More info on round 2 & RSVP on the Facebook event page.
• National Mom’s Nite Out – This event is one of many around the country and will be held at the Seminole Towne Center Mall on May 7th. More info & RSVP on the Facebook event page.
• Market Leverage Women Bloggers Meetup – If you’re a woman blogger or Internet marketer in the Central Florida area, you can join us on May 8th for a meetup with the Market Leverage company. More info & RSVP on the Facebook event page.

And please? No more events need pop up in the months of April and May. I’ve got enough going on before my :ahem: birthday and oh yea! – trip to Puerto Rico.

If you’ll be attending any of these events, let me know! And be sure to enter the contests!

I’m so excited about this contest! You guys are going to LOVE me after this one. And, it’s just in time for Mother’s Day!

But, first let me tell you all about my new look and how it came to be. I LOVE IT! Really, you’ll want to read it through. I promise.

Some of you might have seen my new look already. I went and got highlights in my hair this weekend. This will be the second time in my life that I’ve ever gotten highlights…and I’ve NEVER colored my hair besides that.

So, why the sudden change in look?

Well, I was offered a full service (hair cut, blow dry, hair coloring) by a brand new salon in town. My first thought was “Oh what a great offer!” But, then it was more like, “Hmmm, someone else doing my hair? Someone new?” Any woman knows what I mean. You have to trust your hairdresser. And I’ve had the same hairdresser for oh about 20 years now. We’re talking since I was in elementary school folks. The woman knows my hair and knows what I like.

I also had a bad experience when I was a bridesmaid for my brother’s wedding. In a strange town and trying to do the bridesmaid bonding thing with the bride, I got my hair blow-dried and styled by the bride’s hairdresser. Simple enough, no? My hair was friiiiizzy! She did a horrible job of blow-drying it straight.

So yeah, after that, I’m extra hesitant to have other people touch my hair. But, after thinking it over and over, I decided what the hell. Let’s go for it. The worst that can happen is I’ll have to go to my own hairdresser for it to be fixed. So go I did.

When I met Lisa of Adore de Salon, I was immediately at ease. She is super cool and very down to earth. She heard me out, asked the right questions, and worked with me to be sure I was happy.

Here’s a before shot:

A few more pics…

Separating the hair

Applying the highlight color

Yup, I started to yawn...I was tired.

The whole process took about 4 hours, which isn’t bad considering I can be at my regular hairdresser for 3 hours without getting any color. So that means that Lisa and I had a lot of time to talk. She loves being a hairdresser; you can tell. She recommended some products for me to use and even told me where I can get them cheaper. She didn’t try to sell me any of her own. Love that! I also got an eyebrow wax and it didn’t hurt as much as it normally does!

The place is very nicely decorated; sleek and modern. A very relaxed feeling. You can see some photos on their site.

The only drawback for me is that it’s completely on the other side of town from where I live. But, it is near major highways and in all honesty, it only took me 20-25 minutes to get there. Again, that’s just a personal thing that won’t matter much to you.

All in all, I LOVE my new look and am very happy with the service I received. I took my mom with me and she said the same. She agrees that Lisa did a great job.

Annnnnndddddddddd…

Here’s the after shot:

No, I'm not shiny; it was the eyebrow lotion thing after the wax.

And, from the back. - Look how pretty!

And one more from after I got home.

Now on to the contest, which is why you’re really here.

Win a complete makeover! (up to $300 value)

Let’s call it a Mother’s Day makeover since Mother’s Day is nearing. But, by no means do you have to be a mom to enter or win. All women can enter.

What will one of you get?

A complete makeover includes:

1. Hair cut and style
2. Color and/or Highlights
3. Blow-dry
4. Eyebrow and/or lip wax
5. Free hair products

Can I just say that you’re getting a better deal than I did? AWESOME!

How to enter:

1. Write a blog post with your before shot. Make sure to include a link to adoredesalon.com and to this contest post. Leave a comment on this post with the link to your entry post. This will count as 5 entries.
   • If you don’t have a blog, then email your picture to contest@adoredesalon.com.This will count as 1 entry.
2. For an extra entry, tweet a message on twitter with a link back to this post.
   Sample text to use: Win a Mother’s Day makeover from @adoredesalon via @modernmami! Enter contest at http://tinyurl.com/modernmami-makeover
   You’ll need to leave a second comment with the link to your tweet, not your profile, so I can verify. You have to leave a separate comment so that it will count.

Rules

You have until 11:59 pm EST on Monday, April 27 to enter. The winner will be chosen by Adore de Salon on Friday, May 1 and will be contacted by email. So, be sure to include an email address when you leave your comment so I can provide to them. The winner, and only the winner, will have her before and after picture posted on the Adore de Salon website.

I’m so excited for whoever wins! Good luck! Of course, I’ll want to see pics and hear about your experience and makeover!

Update (4/14/09): I have just been informed that if you win, you are free to provide the prize to your mom instead of taking it for yourself. This means that if you don’t live in the area, but your mother does, you can enter the contest and give her the prize!