Great Gallon Give--Got (Free) Milk?

Yesterday I attended my first blogger event of the year. Got Milk? sponsored a fun-filled afternoon at the W Hotel in Los Angeles. (This had me confused for awhile until I realized that the hotel was actually the same hotel in Westwood where I had gone for my mother's day massage last year. Even though I've been here for over a year and half, I'm still confused about LA addresses. Sometimes you have to write Santa Monica, sometimes Los Angeles. I think the GPS is as confused as I am.) The event launched the Great Gallon Give and revealed the latest celebrity spokesmom.

When we got there, R was hungry and attacked the remainder of someone's lunch left out on the W patio area. Someone clearly trying to keep their new year's resolutions because the fries were untouched, and before I could catch him, R ran over and ate some of them. That boy is super fast when it comes to food, yet he's still in the 15% for weight. Why? Because he doesn't drink enough milk. I'm still doctoring his milk with ovaltine and yogurt so I'm especially glad when there are events like this that feature milk and milk products. H, on the other hand, will drink strawberry milk over any other beverage. I'm not sure, but I think it's genetic. When I was growing up in Korea, all I drank was strawberry milk. When we came to the US and they asked me in school what kind of milk I wanted, I said strawberry. I thought I had moved to a very backwards country indeed when they informed me that that was not an option. Thankfully, the event yesterday was flowing with strawberry milk.

Rebecca Romijn was revealed as newest celebrity spokesmom. She spoke about the importance of milk to her as a mom and also described the details of the Great Gallon Give.The new program will give away hundreds of thousands of gallons of milk – the equivalent of more than three million servings – to help raise awareness of the important role milk plays in building strong families. The “Great Gallon Give” will also make it possible to help families in need by passing a virtual gallon of milk to friends on Facebook. For every virtual gallon passed, $1 will go to Feeding America, the country’s largest network of food banks that serves more than 25 million people facing hunger in this country. Go to whymilk.com to find out if the Great Gallon Give is coming to your town. Local events are planned for 20 markets from coast-to-coast. In total, more than 200,000 gallons of milk will be distributed. While there, you can register for a chance to win a year’s worth of free milk. The first 125,000 people to enter the contest will receive a downloadable coupon for free milk with purchase.

At the event, I noticed that Rebecca is incredibly tall. I'm sure she is drinking milk to make sure she stays that way and doesn't succumb to osteoporosis. She looked amazing for someone with infant twins. Her husband Jerry O'Connell was also there. At one point, I was standing five feet away from him. I didn't want to be uncool and start talking to him about how I was such a big fan and that I thought Crossing Jordon was an awesome show that was cut before its time. I didn't see anyone else go up to him to ask for a photo so I didn't bother him. But it was Woody, in person!

One of the activities at the event to teach kids good health practices was herb and vegetable planting. H planted rosemary and dill. Hopefully one of the 30 seeds H threw into the flower pot will grow into dill. H's favorite activity at the event, by far, was the ice skating on synthetic ice. His friend Chip ran out onto the "ice" and was dancing around like a natural. H could barely stand up. After a couple of times around I determined the problem wasn't his lack of athletic ability but 1) his skates weren't on properly and 2) the attendant had put them on the wrong feet. Once those two issues were taken care of, H was out there attacking the ice with Chip. It didn't feel like ice, sadly, but at least it was harder to fall so H and Chip could thoroughly enjoy their first ice skating experience. Unfortunately since I was out there on the "ice," I couldn't snap photos. And when I did get off and let H skate on his own, R was so upset he wasn't allowed to skate that I had to hold him to prevent him from running out there.

Anita Renfroe was also at the event promoting her new book, Don't Say I Didn't Warn You, but there were too many things going on and I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Check out her very funny youtube video. Anita sums up all the things that a mother says to her children in a three-minute song called "Momisms" set to the William Tell Overture.


The boys and I had a blast at the event. They were full up on chocolate and strawberry milk, vanilla milkshakes, and cheese at the event and didn't need an elaborate dinner when we got home. I am so glad I Got Milk?