At long last Peter Pan's best friend (okay sometimes she's a vindictive bitch) is getting an animated feature of her own. After a few false starts, TinkerBell the movie is due for release on DVD and Blu-ray late this October. If you are the mother of a little girl and if just one more Disney Princess item in the house will make you run screaming into the night, here's your chance to distract your little darling with a new set of merchandising opportunities. And you don't have to wait for the film. Right now you can log onto Disney Fairies and get a leg up on what will surely be the marketing coup of the season - at least for the under ten set. That's because Tink (as she's know in certain circles) has GIRLFRIENDS! Yes, you can collect all five action figures plus whatever accessories are de rigueur in Fairy Fashion.

Pre-release propaganda bills this as a story about friendship. Not just about friendship but about the special bond among Girlfriends. I can't help but notice there is also a Diversity Component. Anything else would be so last century! Because I really and truly do believe, I have hope that this will be a story about real friendship and not just a lot of stupid cliches. I hope the fairy friends will exhibit true emotion and not just a lot of tee hee hee and boo hoo hoo. Even a child of three knows what real tragedy feels like. What if your precious Pooh bear got thrown out totally by mistake? How would you feel about that, huh?

There are few enough films about friendship among women and precious few aimed at audiences this young. If I had a little girl in my life, I'd certainly plan to watch TinkerBell with her. If the film is great, the job is done. If it leaves something or a lot to be desired, at least you have talking points.

On the website is a poll asking "Do you wish you were a fairy?" The icon next to  "Of course" is a picture of a beautiful fairy. The icon next to "No, I'm happy being myself" is some kind of green thing - I think it's a worm. Maybe it's a butterfly-to-be but I'm still not happy with that message. So far 85% of responders would rather be a fairy. That's because even little girls are very suspicious of this whole "inner beauty" thing. They aren't dumb - they know that adults fawn and coo over tots with big blue eyes and rosy cheeks and sort of pass over the ones with stringy hair and big ears (yeah, that would have been me). Just recently a good friend of mine asked his granddaughter, "Do a lot of people tell you that you're beautiful?" She said, "No, just you and mama." And I could tell she really didn't care. She was busy creating beauty - a really great drawing that showed she has genuine talent. She wasn't interested in being distracted by what other people thought of her appearance. She's only eleven; I hope that attitude stays with her for the rest of her life.

By John Lennon & Paul McCartney, of course

 

I get so many email "chains" that announce National Girlfriends Day or National Beautiful Women Day and demand that I forward to everyone in my address book, that I view each one with skepticism. However, when I saw that the first Sunday in August is National Friendship Day, I thought it sounded legit. So I verified it in the time-honored tradition - I looked it up in my little Hallmark date book - the ones you can still get for free by the cash register at Hallmark stores. Yes, there it is! The United States Congress, in 1935, proclaimed the first Sunday of August as National Friendship Day. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became an annual event. The Friendship Day website says it's a "hugely popular festival". Friendship is certainly worth honoring and celebrating, but I don't see any parades passing by or balloons going up. In 1997 the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the World's Ambassador of Friendship. I tried to reach him for a quote but all he would say was, "Oh, bother!"

The message I would like to disseminate today is this: Teach your daughters to value their girlfriends. That's the subject of another email floating around in cyberspace. It goes like this:

A  young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking  iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As they  talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities  of life and the obligations of adulthood,  the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon  her daughter, "Don't  forget your Sisters," she advised, swirling the  tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. "They'll be  more important as you get older. No matter how much  you love your husband, no matter how much you love  the children you may have, you are still going to  need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now and  then; do things with them. Remember  that 'Sisters' means ALL the women...
your  girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women  relatives too. You'll need other women. Women always  do."
"What  a funny piece of advice!," the young woman thought.  "Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't  I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married  woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my  husband and the family we may start will be all I need  to make my life worthwhile!"
But  she listened to her Mother. She kept contact with  her Sisters and made more women friends each year.  As the years tumbled by, one after another, she  gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew  what she was talking about. As time and nature work  their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, Sisters  are the mainstays of her life.
After  more than 50 years of living in this world,  here  is what I've learned:
Time  passes.
Life  happens.
Distance  separates.
Children  grow up.
Jobs  come and go.
Love  waxes and wanes.
Men  don't do what they're supposed to do.
Hearts  break.
Parents  die.
Colleagues  forget favors.
Careers  end.
BUT.........
Sisters  are there, no matter how much time and how many  miles are between  you. A girl friend is never farther away than  needing her can reach. When  you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have  to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will  be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying  for you, pulling for you, intervening on your  behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's  end. Sometimes,  they will even break the rules and walk beside  you...or come in and carry you out. Girlfriends,  daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law,  sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers,  aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family,  all bless our life! The  world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither  would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood,  we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows  that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would  need each other.
Every  day, we need each other still. Pass this on to  all the women who help make your life meaningful.

This is all over the Internet, but no one seems to know who wrote it. If you do, let me know and I'll spread the word.

 

Cheers!

Carolyn

  Do men have buddies that are the male equivalent of girlfriends? If they are very lucky, maybe so. Some men have friends they have known since kindergarten, or at least high school. Some keep in touch with the friends they made in college or the military. Even though they may not see each other for years at a time, when they get together it's like no time has passed. But once those life experiences are behind them, they rarely make new close friends. Women are so lucky! We can bond and form lasting friendships at any stage of our lives. We recognize the value of friendships and the joy of having girlfriends. We are fortunate creatures indeed.

My "oldest" friend - the one I've known the longest - is from 7th grade. Our friendship continued through high school and we roomed together for two years in college. My first husband was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. There was a strong bond among all the wives whose husbands lived this larger than life existence. One of them remains my friend to this day. As our children choose their friends, they also choose ours for us. How many of your friends are the mothers of your children's friends, even long after the children have grown and left? We make friends at work, at church, in line at the grocery store. I made a new friend last week while waiting for a table at a restaurant! We exchanged cards that night and emails the following day.I cannot imagine my husband doing that. Will she be one of my BFFs? Maybe - maybe not. Only time will tell.

This morning on the Today Show the aforementioned Nely Galan was interviewed about her recent "firing" by The Donald. She said "even when I lose, I win" and displayed a check for over $200,000 representing money she raised personally from corporate sponsors and donations from women from all over the country. That almost matches the amount she would have won if she hadn't been fired. Take that, Donald! This money will be donated to CountMeIn.org to help women start and grow their businesses.

Interestingly (I thought) she mentioned the name of the organization numerous times, but the Today folks didn't have a graphic to run on the screen telling women how to get involved. Not worth their time?

In the interest of full disclosure, I have absolutely no idea who Nely Galan is, but maybe you do. I'm not a fan of reality TV which means I watch a lot of ESPN and HGTV these days.

Following is a plea from Nell Merlino, founder and president of Count Me In and Make Mine a Million $ Business. The goal of MMM$ is to bring one million women business owners to $1 million gross revenue by the year 2010. Some lucky women also receive grants and support from the program sponsors such as Cisco Systems and American Express. I plan to contribute $10 as soon as I finish this post. I challenge all my Girlfriends to match that contribution and show the world how powerful we are as a group.

As you all know Nely Galan has been competing on The Celebrity Apprentice to raise money for Count Me In. The women’s team on the show is not winning.  “But,” as Nely said at our Los Angeles event last week, “sometimes when you win you lose, and when you lose you win”.  In response to criticism from “Mr. Trump” that the women’s strategies aren’t as effective as the men’s, Nely is changing the rules and focusing on what she really wants to win: $250,000 for her charity, Count Me In. 
This Friday, February 8th Nely will be appearing on NBC’s Today Show to announce she is personally donating $25,000 to Count Me In, and is leading the charge to independently raise $250,000 by tapping into the network of women who are supporting each other in business growth.  I invite every member of our community to join in this effort by making a donation $10 or more by midnight on Thursday, February 7th so that we can announce the amount we have raised on the Today Show Friday morning.  This is a unique opportunity for Count Me In to represent the strength of our nation-wide movement on national television.

To participate, please go to www.countmein.org/apprentice and click on “Contribute”. 

In Gratitude,
Nell Merlino

Friday, February 1st is Go Red for Women Day!  Celebrate the energy, passion and power we have as women to band together to wipe out heart disease and stroke. Wear red - it's a simple and powerful way to raise awareness that it's not a "man's disease".

My own heart has always been close to the fight against heart disease and stroke. My father suffered multiple heart attacks before the final one which killed him as he was closing his business for the night. My mother died in a nursing home at the age of 65 of complications following a stroke. Much progress has been made since then, but more needs to be done. Learn all you can and do all you can. Visit www.americanheart.org to "Learn and Live".

Where the Girls Are

Saturday, February 2: 8 AM - 4 PM at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino. Direct Selling Women's Alliance presents Celebrate 2008 and Build It Big with DSWA Co-founder Nicki Keohohou and other inspiring and educational speakers. Register online at www.mydswa.org or call 1-888-417-0743.

Monday, February 11, National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) breakfast, 8:00 – 10 AM at the Wild Horse Golf Club, 2100 Warm Springs Rd.  For information and reservations, contact catie@authenticsuccessteams.com

Thursday, February 14 , Moms in Business Network (MIBN) and Here’s to Girlfriends, will host a Girlfriends Get Together, 11: 30 AM at Dan Marino’s restaurant in Hooters Hotel & Casino. www.mibn.org

Saturday, February 16, 9:30 AM League of Women Voters meets at the Main Street Station Social Club. Guest speaker Secretary of State Ross Miller; www.lwvlasvegasvalley.org

Thursday, February 21: National Association of Professional Mortgage Women Dinner Meeting  "Self Promotion & Branding for Mortgage Professionals" with special guest speaker, Jill Lublin at Big Dog’s; www.napmwlv.com.

Friday, March 28, Richelle Shaw hosts a Boot Camp for women who want to participate in “Make Mine a Million $ Business”. The program, sponsored by OPEN From American Express, has a goal of bringing 1 million women business owners to $1 million in annual revenue by the year 2010. For information on the program, visit www.makemineamillion.org. For information and reservations for the Boot Camp, contact richelleshaw@gmail.com.

April 18 – 20, the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance Education Celebration will be held at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino with powerful speakers including Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Meet those women you’ve heard about – the ones who made a million in MLM. They are real and they are fantastic! Take advantage of this great opportunity right here in our own “hometown” by visiting www.mydswa.org.

I'm still new to this blogging thing. Last week I wrote this post but forgot to hit the "publish" button. So it just sat neglected in "drafts" until today. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again.

Now I know how the people in Iowa feel. Well, not totally because Iowa is the first caucus of the year so they have candidates and accompanying media camping out there for months. They were there when we visited my mother-in-law last August. They were there when we went back for Christmas. And then poof, they were gone - to New Hampshire. This year despite all the jockeying for position, Nevada maintained it's spot as the third caucus of the year. When my husband called to say that Hillary Clinton was coming to visit the place where he was working I said "Yeah, sure." I know how these things go. She won't come - her "people" will decide it would be better to visit a day care center so she can be photographed with cute little kids. Or maybe Letterman will call. She won't come.

Boy, was I wrong. On Thursday, January 17 the Secret Service people were swarming A&B Printing, a union print shop owned by my friend Kathy Gillespie. A bomb sniffing dog was showing a lot of interest in the graphics department. Big trucks with satellite dishes were lining up in the parking lot. Hillary was coming at 10 AM the following day - for sure! I just had to be a part of it. The idea was that I would be a customer who just "happened to drop in". Soon we abandoned that plan in favor of having a few "VIPs" who were allowed to participate.

I didn't have to be a Hillary supporter to get caught up in the excitement. The parking lot was filled with trucks and cables. Inside there were reporters and cameras from every major U.S. network and all over the world. I've never seen anything like it in my life and I was so glad I was there. Just about the time I thought they couldn't fit even one more person in that room, the Clinton bus pulled in and here came Hillary and her entire traveling press corps.

Even if you are not a big fan of Hillary Clinton, you must be thrilled by the historic importance of this woman attempting to break the ultimate glass ceiling. We have never been so close to having our first woman president.

The Democratic caucus was either a failure or a success, depending on who you talk to. At my precinct it was great, but I guess some others didn't have such a good experience. Both Republicans and Democrats drew thousands more participants than were expected. That alone is cause for celebration.

If you want to get "plugged in" to the political process, check out the national bipartisan public policy organization, Women Impacting Public Policy, www.wipp.org.

Welcome to the newest feature of Here's to Girlfriends, a virtual kaffeeklatsch (a German word meaning coffee and gossip)  where we can share ideas and news. I just thought we needed something a little more spontaneous. It's cheaper than Starbucks and you don't have to get dressed if you don't want to.