Got Parties? Need Snacks? For those of you famous folks that get invited to more than one party this Memorial Day weekend, here’s a few quick ideas that will beat the pants off another chip and dip tray.

I guarantee that your friends will feel loved and you will feel proud of your creation. Best part of all,  it’s easy and fun!

The first memorable snack idea is baking cupcakes. My friend Jill had her BFF Betty Crocker hook her up. She made strawberry cupcakes and kept the patriotic theme with white frosting, a dash of blue sprinkles and topped it off with baby American Flag toothpicks.

Our friends at the party demonstrated their love for our country by devouring all the cupcakes. And some even ate the flag (which wasn’t edible), but at least was heartfelt.

Another quick but memorable snack that I did was a fruit salad. But how I made it go from “blah” to “rah!” was quite simple. I just cut the watermelon into a container that was unique. You can do the same by cutting your watermelon into a bowl, basket, a car or a face like I did.

I first determined what I was going to cut out and used a highlighter to draw on the watermelon to help guide me where I was going to cut.

Then, I scooped out the inside of the watermelon and placed the contents in a giant bowl. I then cut up the watermelon along with various of other fruit like cantaloupe and grapes Next, I poured all the cut fruit pieces into the watermelon.

The final piece? I added eyes made out of a piece of cantaloupe and watermelon.

All memorable snacks were gone before you could say, “Happy Memorial…”

What snacks to you like to make that are memorable?

What were you like in high school? and/or Which of your characters in GAMMA GLAMMA is the most like you? The least?

I was a total hybrid in high school. Most people knew me as the feature twirler. I twirled batons, hoop batons, fire and knives. I was also in band, drama, student council, annual staff and Keywanettes, a community service organization.

Everyone was pretty nice to me because I don’t think they knew how to label me and it didn’t hurt that I twirled machetes.

As far as the characters in GAMMA GLAMMA that are most like me, I would have to say that’s Luz and Susan. I was like Luz when it came to crazy fashion and that was partially influenced by being in drama. I would wear vintage clothes, pajamas, safety pins and slick paint creations that I would make. Like Luz, I wanted to have friends and boyfriends and would plan on how I could make that happen.

I was also like Susan because even though I wanted to have friends, I didn’t feel the pressure to be anything else than me whether folks liked it or not. I believe this is because I am one of six kids so I learned to have a pretty thick skin even in my own family!

I could be loud like Adam and I was also a writer for the annual staff. I like to draw (and still do) like Mase and Susan. And I could be catty like Venus. (I hate to admit it but we all have our bad behavior days!)

The person I am like the least like is Luz’s best friends, Bridget Joiner. Bridge wears all the right clothes and does all the right things but is still terrified what people will think of her.

Growing up, our family had the basics so I couldn’t have all the designer clothes I wanted. So I just used what I had and WORKED IT. I did have many friends who were like Bridget and we had a great trade off. They would let me borrow some of their cute clothes and I made sure to fend off any of the bullies that roamed the halls. It was a perfect situation.

(For entire interview go to …..http://slayground.livejournal.com/358123.html)

What were you like in high school? Are you still the same?

Spring has been here for a while and summer is just around the corner. and you know what that means? Sashaying with a new bag, purse, tote or clutch. With so many cute choices out there where do you start?I’ll make it easy for you. No matter what kind of bag you get, make sure that some (if not all) of these 11 things are able to fit in it.

1. ID/WALLET NUMBERS
This seems like a no brainer, but I can’t tell you how many folks leave home without it because it’s too big or bulky to fit in their microscopic size purse. Your ID is so important because if something happens like you get hurt or you leave your fav purse somewhere, how are people going to help you if THEY DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Here’s another part to this. In your wallet, you should have a few numbers stowed away. In case you lose your phone or break the glass of your iPhone (seen it millions of times), you can’t retrieve your important numbers if there is ever an emergency. One things police say is helpful to them and other is that in the list in your wallet or on your phone if you put the initials I.C.E before anyone’s name then they know that that number should be called the “In Case of Emergency” so that they aren’t trying to call oodles of numbers in your phone or wallet.

2. TOOTH BRUSH AND PASTE
When I had braces, I started carrying around the travel toothpaste and brush. And I still do it even after they came off. It’s so easy when you’re out to brush your teeth and clean the lunch out of your teeth. Not only will you look cute and have minty breath but your dentist will heart you too.

3. LIPSTICK
If you wear lipstick, then get a tone that you can wear everyday. A make up artist friend told me that you can also use lipstick on your cheeks if you need a quick little blush. Just dab a little on your finger and rub it on the apples of your cheeks. Wow, I love two-fers!

4. CLEAR GLOSS
Now you can get gloss with color and glitter as well, but the reason I choose clear gloss is that you can use it alone if you want an extremely natural look or you can apply it over your lipstick and up your glam for special events or evening looks .

5. HAND CREAM
Just like the lip-gloss, you can get hand creams with color and glitter as well, but the reason I love regular hand cream is that it works as a two-fer just like the lipstick. Rub it on your hands when you need it, or, if you have some fly away hairs, you can just use a pinch (and I mean a pinch) of this stuff to tame those little critters. It work like magic.

6. PEN AND PAPER
Pen and paper. It’s not just for work or school anymore! Having a pen and paper is so important for writing down numbers, things you shouldn’t forget, or if you are a writer or artist it’s essential when you get some amazing idea or inspiration. And now that pens and paper come in such cute sizes and color - why wouldn’t you have some fun in your bag?

7. NAIL FILE
Nothing is more aggravating than to be stabbed or snagged by your own torn or ragged nail. By having a nail file in you possession you can take care of it at a moment’s notice. And it’s something fun to do when you’re waiting, when not texting.

8. PHONE*
A phone is a great tool. And yes, you can do all kinds of things like text, watch shows, listen to music and yes, make calls. But don’t get so preoccupied on your phone that you leave your bag or purse behind. It makes you look not just irresponsible but..uh… dumb. Yeah, I said it. *And if you don’t have a phone. Make sure to always carry loose change with you.

9. COMB
Combs are great because they don’t take up space. If you need a brush, you can find a tiny one. But don’t use your toothbrush. It’s not a two-fer.

10. MEDICINE KIT
Here’s some more magic. Everytime I carry things like aspirin, girl products (you know what I mean here!), bandages etc, I never need them. But when I don’t have them, I ALWAYS need them. Like right away. Like pronto, people. Plus, I can’t tell you, how many new friends I’ve made because I’ve helped someone out because they didn’t have these little lifesavers.

11. SAFETY PINS
For bras, missing buttons and to use as a very tiny weapon against teeny-tiny aliens. But be careful. They can put your eye out.

What else do you put in your purse?

Hey kids SO sorry for the blog silence. I’ve been working la vida loca lately on various shoots that had free ice cream, real live giraffes, sock hops and cranky famous movie stars with bad allergies. That last shoot was not so fun

Anyhoo - in addition, I’ve been working like a wild woman on my television show pitches. After this weekend, I was so happy to come back into town and spend time with you and, not to mention, find the latest issue May/June of Six78th in my mailbox. It was like the mini vacation that I needed.

It’s a fabulous issue. Some of my favs are:

The story about the “Crushed Assignment” in Oops and Ohs Section.

The tips on how you can celebrate with your Mom for Mother’s Day. (They are actually great ideas to do with your BFF as well.)

I took a quiz and found out what kind of shoe I am. I am a stiletto and I’m proud of that.

And there is a really great spread about girls all over the country from different countries and walks of life in the article called “Bridging the Barriers”. It’s really interesting and inspiring.

What also so amazing is that GAMMA GLAMMA has an ad on the back cover and it even matches the colors of the Jen Steele front cover PERFECTLY. I love serendipity!

So hurry and get your May/June issue of Six78th before I buy them all. And for those of you in the Dallas area I already bought all the issues at Barnes and Nobles across from North Park Mall and at the Borders on Greenville.

So you better snap to it and get your issue on before I buy them all. I am a stiletto after all.

What kind of shoe are you?

www.six78th.com

What is your secret passion? Mine is to write TV shows, books, and blogs. My other passions are to create toys and to help support my favorite causes.

Some people want to write a book, others have desires be a makeup artist, or website designer. What do you secretly want to do?

If you think you’re too busy to follow your dreams then please allow me the privilege of kicking you in the pants to help you think again. Feel better? Good. Now let’s get started.

Here’s how you can find time to pursue your passions with just a wee bit of effort.

GET UP EARLY OR GO TO BED LATER
Some experts say get up an hour early to find more time. I’ve never been able to do that successfully, so I stay up one hour later to find extra time. That way I can go to bed with a smile on my face knowing I did something in the direction of my dreams. And this is what sweet dreams are made of. (Thank you, Annie Lennox.)

TUNE OUT TELLY
If your best friend comes with a remote control, then you might need to take a little va-cay from your TV. Tivo your favorite shows so you can watch them when you want later. And use that time whether it is 30 minutes or 1 hour to pursue your passion. I promise it doesn’t hurt anymore than that kick in the pants you received earlier.

CHORE BORE
If you have chores to do, see if you can delegate to another family member or friend to find some more time. (But if they do a chore for you, remember that you MUST be there for them when it’s time to repay the favor.)

LOG YOU EXTRA TIME
Here is something to help you even more. Write down all the extra time you can find for yourself during the week. Keep doing that and in a month’s time, you will see where you can save tons of time for yourself.

SCHEDULE IT
The next secret is to write down in a calendar or notebook when you are going to schedule time to pursue your passion. Treat it like a hair appointment, doctor’s appointment or time with your best friend. Make it a “must do”.

Okay, so now you’re saying, “Thanks Kim for all this time, but what am I actually supposed to do with it to get closer with my dreams?”

I’m so glad you asked.

HUSH YOUR MOUTH AND DO IT!!!!
Like attracts like. So with that in mind, use your extra time to begin to study, research and experience the things you want to pursue. I could give you lots of examples but let me give you an example that I’m working on right now.

I’m pitching three exciting shows to one of my favorite networks soon. One of my shows is going to be an animated show and the other shows are going to be live action shows, meaning they have real people in them and not cartoons.

At the same time, I’m working on my other jobs in the film industry, writing books, cleaning my house etc. You get the picture.

One of my sketches

So, for the cartoon show, I find and schedule time to draw so that I can figure out what characters will star in my show. I need lots of time for this activity because I draw very slow since this isn’t something that I do everyday.

Mingo Flores 2008 (he’s my bro!)

I look for inspiration for my drawings from books, movies, and art. Again this takes time so, I schedule time to go to the bookstore, to “Google” things for research or go to an art gallery.

Since people are the biggest resource on the planet, I also make time to talk with other people who are doing things that I would like to be doing.

Mike (my crush, for those of you who don’t know) and I had lunch with a mutual friend of ours named Keith Alcorn. Keith is a very gifted artist who helped in the creation of the series Jimmy Neutron and was also friends with my good friend Joe Riley (Joe had helped me on my GAMMA GLAMMA mascot). During that lunch, Keith soon became our cartoon guardian angel and gave us insight about how the animated world works. It’s similar to the film world but in some cases it’s very different.

Little by little by taking time out of my “real” life, I will have used all my newfound time to create a show that I have written with fun characters that I have drawn myself all while learning new information and skills. And with that who knows, my cartoon series might be on your TV soon. And wouldn’t that be a dream come true?

This is my character’s called Cherish. Don’t you love her?

Oh, and sorry for kicking you in the pants but it was done out of love. Really.

What is your passion that you need to make time for?

What are you doing today to find more time to pursue your passion?

In your novel GAMMA GLAMMA, there are all types of experiments.
Do you recall any science experiments you conducted in school?

Yes, the one that sticks out in my mind was a last minute science experiment to find out if my cats were colorblind. I colored all of their food and water green, blue and red. We found out that cats can see blue and green but not really red. The cats really didn’t go for the blue or green food but ate the red just fine.

I didn’t win because it wasn’t “break-through” science. However, I got many kudos for drawing tons of cats on my poster that looked like Garfield which was hot at the time. And I got to draw Garfield (and Snoppy) on all my friends notebooks and lunch sacks after that like Susan/Jabba in GAMMA GLAMMA.

I also had an experiment to taste whether Meow Mix tasted like Chex Mix.

It doesn’t.

It wasn’t a scientific experiment - it was Truth or Dare.

(For entire interview go to …..http://slayground.livejournal.com/358123.html)

What are your most memorable science experiments or Truth or Dares?

It’s Friday. Wherever you are, it’s a great day to try something new. Monkey around and goof off. Yeah, I said it.

Do nothing.

Sometimes you need to do nothing in order to re-boot your life.

By doing this and just taking a few moments to do nothing or an hour to just walk or do something that’s fun or pleasurable, you provide your brain, body and spirit with a much needed time out.

I would love to chat more but my inner monkey is yanking my tail.

What kind of monkey around do you like to do?

In your book GAMMA GLAMMA, Luz is proud to be both a science geek and a fashionista. Were any of Luz’s science experiments based on something you had tried - or just something you wish were available?

Most of the experiments I tried in high school were of the beauty/ science/tragic result kind.

Here’s a few experiments that you SHOULD NOT TRY AT HOME. This all comes from my personal database of HORRORS.

A.) NEVER use Nair on your eyebrows because you’re too lazy to look for tweezers.

B.) Don’t leave a chemical perm solution on your hair for a longer than it says on the box because it will not make your hair curlier - only crispier and crunchier (like Cheetos). And you will have to cut it. This is where Luz’s “hair harnesser” hair growth accelerator would come in handy. I had super straight hair (and still do) and wanted those cute spiral (think DNA molecules) curls. Instead, I got hair the texture of pork rinds and it started breaking and falling out.

C) If you want your cute white denim jeans to be extra white, then read and do EXACTLY what the bottle instructions say and DON’T leave your pants in a plastic bucket overnight because you think you can out smart a bottle of Clorox.

Trust me, the Clorox will win every time. Leaving denim or any clothes too long in bleach solution will rust out your zipper and cause the fabric to deteriorate thus causing your bootie to bust the seams after only a few hours of wear. Not to mention your skin will reek of Clorox. I walked in Algebra and this one guy said, “You smell like Comet.”
I told him he better step up his public education and nasal passages because I did NOT smell like Comet. I smelled like Clorox. Totally two different chemical solutions. Duh…Although now I know that Comet has bleach in it.

D) If you have to dissect a frog in science, and you don’t know what organs are what, then don’t just start cutting things out and labeling them with identification flags. Your teacher will know you are trying to bluff her. And besides that, no one wants to look at frog innards that have been chopped up like barbeque.

E) NEVER put formaldehyde specimens in living fish tanks. Not so good on the living fish. My boyfriend at the time was spinning a dead frog around and it landed in the aquarium. It was more than the dead frog that hit the fan that day when our teacher found out.

F) I tried many chemicals to get rid of that dreaded pimple in the middle of my forehead. Here are things that DON’T work. Toothpaste. Rubbing Alcohol. Baking soda or Dawn dishwashing liquid and Pixie Stix. (I know, what were you thinking?)

I read the ingredients and it said it had citric acid I thought it would help dry my zit out. Instead people wanted to know why I had grape Kool-Aid on my forehead.

And I told the kind ignorant people, “It’s not Kool-Aid, it’s Pixie Stix .” Totally two different chemical solutions. Duh… Okay maybe not duh. Pixie Stix and Kool-Aid are very similar in formulas but Pixie Stix had sugar and at the time you had to add your own sugar to the Kool-Aid packs.

What does work on pimples are: not picking it (It causes scarring) and using a topical cream that has peroxide or tea tree oil.

(For entire interview go to …..http://slayground.livejournal.com/358123.html)

What are some of your beauty/science mishaps?

Your bedroom is much more than a mattress and a catch all for your clothes. It can be one of your most valuable BFFs if you help make this happen. But first, you must treat your bedroom with as much love as you do with your closest of friends.

Clear the Clutter
You wouldn’t trash your best friend would you? Then don’t do it to your bedroom. Clear anything that you aren’t using. This means trash, food wrappers, dishes, old magazines etc.

Clear out anything that is on your bed, chairs, desk or floor like clothes-especially dirty clothes. If you can imagine your best friend holding all your dirty laundry, magazines and trash all day long for you, you can also imagine that she would be worn down pretty quickly. And she probably wouldn’t be very happy with you.

Same thing goes for the energy in your room. Anything that is dirty, old or trashy in your bedroom takes energy from you when you enter. This happens because in the back of your mind, you know you need to clean it up. And your brain will keep nagging you and draining your energy until you do.

Purpose of Place
Next, you need to find out what things you are going to be doing with your new best friend (i.e. your bedroom)
Will you have sleepovers? Will you be doing projects or reading with her? Will you be playing movies or video games with her?

If the answer is yes, then you need to map out areas in your bedroom to accommodate these activities.

Room for Fashion
What’s your fashion sense for your room? Do you want your new BFF to be exciting? Then dress up your room with bold colors and things that excite you (like pictures of your friends, crushes, pets and goals in life)

Do you want your room to be the BFF that’s calming and relaxing? Then find colors that are soothing and lighter shades of color and images that make you feel warm, fuzzy and calm.

Smell Friendly
If your best friend smelled funny for wearing the same clothes everyday without washing them, would you tell her? Hopefully, you would care about her enough that you would. And she-you.

Same goes for your bedroom. Make sure to wash your linens and pillows regularly. Sweep and/or vacuum your floor. (Inhaling dust particles at night isn’t condusive for a great night’s sleep.)

Every now and then, make sure to let in some fresh air by opening up window. (Make sure to lock your windows when you are done.)

Potpourri, candles and air fresheners can really improve the air quality in your room and give you a real boost when you walk in.

After enjoying your new relationship with your bedroom (AKA your new best friend), You will be more relaxed and energized

Keep up the commitment to care for her. By taking care of her she will take care of you. And isn’t that what best friends are for?

What do you do to make your bedroom your favorite room on earth?

What inspired Gamma Glamma?

My background is a little unusual. I started making stories and films when I was ten. In high school, I did a lot of theater productions and wrote for things like the annual staff and newsletters for the clubs I was in.

After graduation, I attended college and I thought about pursuing a degree in theater and/journalism. But when I took my first film class, I was hooked.

I’ve worked in the film industry for quite a while and I’ve directed and written short films and even a feature film with my partner Mike Swenson.

Today, we still direct commercials together and he’s also a brilliant director of photography.

Our feature film VOCESSITAS/LITTLE VOICES we produced ourselves and helped open all kinds of doors for us. One of them was the opportunity to pitch television shows to television networks. GAMMA GLAMMA was one such show. I wanted a show where girls could be smart and fashionable that you didn’t have to pick or choose.

I thought it would be fun to see teens using their talents and passion to create their serums, gadgets and inventions to help them navigate through the journey of high school and life in general.

The network liked GAMMA GLAMMA but passed, and continued to look at another show I had presented.

At the same time, I met my brother’s friend who happened to be a literary agent in NYC. He asked me what I was doing in town and I told him about GAMMA GLAMMA. He then asked me if I could turn my show into a book. Since I had written films before, I was like, why not? After six months, I had a novel. I had lived with all these characters for a year so I knew them very well. Plus, I used all my TV episodes and combined them to form a longer story.

I was very fortunate to generate interest and I sold my book to Kensington Books.

(For entire interview go to …..http://slayground.livejournal.com/358123.html)

What inspires you?