SharivilleLife stories from Shari

One of the most rewarding experiences Jerry and I have had here in Dallas has been being able to become acquainted with Tommy’s business, 360 Wraps.  We are fortunate enough to get the inside track on what’s happening at the shop., and especially Tommy’s charity which is  called ” Wrap Buddies.”  It did all start with one father approaching Tommy about wrapping his son’s helmet.  Now we are not talking about sports helmets, which Tommy has done many, but about a medical device helmet used to reshape his son’s head. He stated that he was tired of people staring at his son because he had on a sterile white plastic type of head band.  These helmets are very conspicuous, made of hard white plastic, they are very expensive, and insurance usually does not cover them. So Tommy designed a wrap that makes the helmet  more cool.  His designs include sports themes, nursery rhyme themes etc, usually with the name of the child on the front of the helmet.  This really personalizes the helmet and then people know the child’s name too.  The parents leave 360 Wraps with happy smiles, and the babies become fashion symbols.

These helmets are usually worn for several months until the condition of Plagiocephaly is remedied.  This is sometimes referred to as “flat head syndrome”. This condition occurs when a portion of an infants skull becomes flattened due to pressure from extended outside forces.  It can happen in the womb.  Twins or multiples are at higher risk due to lack of room during development.  Preemies are also higher risk because underdeveloped skulls are softer.  To remedy this situation these babies are fitted with a helmet to help reshape their little heads.  It’s not unusual for Tommy to see twins and he also had a set of quads come in.  Talk about excitement. click here to see the Cox Quads

This entire concept was new to 360 Wraps, as Tommy and his team were used to wrapping big trucks, auto’s and SUVs, as well as other large speciality items.   After completing his first helmet Tommy decided to wrap the devices free of charge.  When this news got out the phone never stopped ringing.  So now one day each month is devoted strictly to Baby Band Day.  It’s kind of a baby party time.  The parents bring something to snack on, everyone shares, even the team gets a treat that day.  The shop has a Keurig coffee brewer for coffee and hot cocoa for all to share.  The parents get together and discuss their precious bundles, compare notes and generally have a pleasant time while the helmets are wrapped by Tommy and Tyler his production manager.  It has been so fun and rewarding for us to be able to interact with this special group,  esp for me , coming from an RNs background, anything medical just naturally attracts me.   The usual number of Baby Band Wraps is between 14 and 16 on that day.  This day has become so popular now that 360 Wraps asks parents to please make an appt. that way all helmets can be done in a timely manner.

These are the happiest babies, usually between 4 and 10 mos. old.  I think personally that having to wear the helmets, which they adjust to quickly, makes them more flexable and easy going.  This is a big investment for the parents, so making them look attractive is Tommy’s passion.  The wrap really makes a difference in their look, now they get stares of envy by their siblings and outsiders, and Tommy and the team of 360 Wraps get a feeling of satisfaction of a deed well done. 

Tommy has plans to expand the wrap buddies program to offer wraps to more than just the baby bands.  In the future the team at 360 Wraps plan on going into the childrens hospitals to wrap walls, floors, medical equipment and anything else they can get vinyl to stick to.  The first project that they have done that was not a child’s band wrap was for a 13 year old girl with Scoliosis.  She has been wearing the back brace white for almost 5 years and was very excited to get the wrap done to jazz it up.  Please visit www.wrapbuddies.com

Another fun filled episode of the Hip Hop industry.  Jerry and I had the best time yesterday afternoon at The Club Onyx, in Dallas.  That was the latest  BET and MTV video shoot for Money Militia.  Love that kid.  He has quite a story before all the fame and someday I may interview him on that. Until then I’m going to just appreciate him for all he represents.  He’s a sweet huggy bear.

It seems all the biggies were there, supporting one another.  This is a good thing. ”  Hezeleo ” and ” Valentino”, were there in their wonderful jazzy coats.  It’s still freezing here in Dallas.  These guys have class. They were looking GOOD!!! ’ Mario, (personality plus),  and” Valley of the Kings producers, “came by for the show.”  DJ Murk,” DJ,d the event, great as ever. ” Casu’elle”,sang me a song personally, this kid is fab.  He has a voice that sooths the savage beast in you, if need be. But from what I hear he simply dazzles the ladies.  I can see why.  Casu’elle will be doing an upscale event at the “Ghost Bar”, next week.  It’s at the top of the W Hotel in Dallas. Hope I’m invited. Then I will know he’s singing just to ME.  If you would like to hear Casu’elle sing click here to go to his my space.

“Denver,” in all her glory, was there to entertain the house and incorporated into the video. This girl is especially talented.  She told me her profession is Choreography,  well she can choreograph my dance team anytime.  It’s amazing what she can do with that stripper pole, both winding herself up it and winding  herself back down. The girl is poetry in motion.  Very Very tastefully done, I might add.  I for one could watch her all day. She was a hit with the guys and the gals. She’s a very sweet girl. 

“BJ Diva “ was there. I had hoped to see her again, we sat with her group for awhile until”  Money” called Grandpa Jerry and I to the front, for a front row seat for the finale of the video.  The “Diva” is representing the dancers and models for the video’s.  She has a vast experience with stage productions and sings so beautifully.  She has experience with speaking and singing and pageants.  She will be helping the girls with their makeup, proper application, etc. with all the little intricacies that prepare the younger girls for the camera roles.  she’s great with makeup, all the girls looked beautiful. She will be helping them with their wardrobe choices and shoe styles. Plus The Diva is a HOOT, a personality plus. It does suit her tho as she was Mrs. Texas Plus, for 2007.  She can backup up her qualifications. She is so much fun to be around. We all had lunch at the club and let me tell you, and I’m not a burger fan, but those cheese burgers and fries were fab. The food the others got looked equally scrumptious.

Money the star of the video was his usual cool dude persona.  This kid can do no wrong, everything he does turns to money.  Wow, did I just say, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.  They wound up the Video with Tommy’s 360 Wraps Camero, and Tylers 360 wraps Chevy pickup, loaded with hot babes.  Be sure to catch the next round in the Hip Hop world.

Sunday was one of the most interesting and definitely most fun events I have ever been to.  Tommy does a lot of business with the local and some national Rap Artists, ie:  They travel from far and wide to have their Vans wrapped with Tommy’s designs.  Tommy’s other fact to fame is that he is a fantastic marketer.  Most everyone likes his design ideas and he is so good at presenting them to the clients.

This event was sponsored by 360 Wraps, Detail Werkz, and Yum’s shoes and accessories.  Brian, the owner of Detail Werkz, works out of Tommy’s shop,  and details high end autos for the folks with the Maserati’s and Lamborghini’s Mercedes, Beemers etc. Often there is a million $ worth of cars sitting in the shop. For this event there was that much in just two cars. The other sponsor is so fun, it’s Yum’s.  They have the neatest shoes on earth.  Tommy just brought home a pair for Jerry called “Smores.”  Like I said Tommy is quite the marketer. Also featured in the video shoot is famous DJ  Bay Bay’s Old’s Cutless.

The filming of the Video is being made for BET and MTV, it started about 2 PM and went until 7PM.  It was quite a day.  It was also 32 degrees outside and some of it was filmed outdoors.  There were lots of pretty girls there to dance with the star whose name is “MONEY.”  They all had very little on and it was freezing outside They had to dance fast just to keep from freezing. I’d say half of the day was spent outside, because they were featuring Tommy’s Camera as he spun donuts in the parking lot, coming within a foot of the line of dancers and MONEY, the artist. Good thing Tommy has really good control of his driving skills. It was cool the see a professional video being filmed. MONEY said at one point he was thinking Tommy was going to hit them, but he just kept on dancing.

I have never met such a professional and polite group of people.  There were about 150 participants, camera men, lighting directors and of course a director and co director.  Valley of the Kings, are MONEY’S producers. He’s known as MONEY MILITIA.  They look so tough on film but in reality they are respectable professional business men.  I had the pleasure to meet such characters as ” White T”, ” Danger”,  ” Lil Wil”,” Bobby Blue”, ” DJ Merk”,   ” BJ Diva”, she’s 49 yrs old and was Mrs. Texas Plus of 2007, she was really special, she could sing like an angel, and did on several occasions.  I met the  “GoDJ’s”, “Valentino”, “  HEZELEO”, and the  guys from Money Stretch Entertainment. The various Rapper’s come to the shoots in support of their own. One of the dancers there called “ Denver”, is reported to be a famous stripper out of Denver.  Boy could she dance, we couldn’t take our eyes off of her.  She was fab. 

Tommy ordered in 15 large pizzas and cases of soft drinks for everyone.  It was one big party while , as Elvis used to say,” Taking Care Of Business.” Jerry had a lot of fun with all the girls, They were calling him Grandpa Jerry when they found out he was Tommy’s father in law and Felecia’s grandpa. I was thinking maybe I better find his heart pills.  He really had a good time, not that I didn’t.  I thought MONEY was one of the sweetest, most considerate people I ever had the pleasure to meet, esp since he is famous in these parts.  There were lots of groupies hanging around , but even they were polite and helpful.  They had to dismiss about half of the girls as to many showed up, they culled them out and kept the best of the best.  Naturally” Denver”, the dancer, made the grade and she was fantastic.  She was almost more fun to watch than the actual artist himself.  I said almost, because MONEY was fantastic.  He was so tired by the end of the shoot, because they kept retaking and retaking so they could get it just right. Jerry and I were privileged to watch most of the shoot from the VIP lounge. That is when I was not out there in the midst of all of it mixing it up with all the crazy fun people.  They were into introducing themselves and telling me what part of the business they were involved in.  Such a surprising polite interesting group of people.  I really had the time of my life out there mixing it up. There I was out there amongst the entire group, a slice of pizza in one hand and a Dr Pepper in the other, dancin around to the Rap Music, just livin it up to the max.

After the wrap of the Rap Video, about 50 of us adjourned to Chili’s for dinner.  They actually have really good steaks there.  We sat next to the camera and lighting guys.  Boy they lead an interesting life, one drove up from San Antonio and the other from Austin, just for this shoot. The Chili’s joint was jumpin. Everyone was tired and the Margarita’s were flowing.

A good time was had by all!

Hello all , happy Halloween. It’s fun here tonight, Felecia, my grandaugter, and her boyfriend Tyler are getting ready to go to a downtown  Fort Worth Club to celebrate, Angie is doing her hair for the occasion.  Here is a picture after hair and makeup.

Today Angie took Jerry and I to lunch at a place called Which Wich.  It’s different from any place we have been before.  You walk in and take a paper bag and on the bag has a choice of sandwiches, and what you want on the sandwich, you mark it pay for it and the sandwich is made according to your directions. Then you pick up the sandwich when they call your name and it’s packaged in the original bag. It’s a really healthy place to eat, they are a lot like Subs only better and more unique.

Yesterday morning we went to Tommy”s shop at 360 Wraps.  It was baby day, and Tommy and Tyler wrapped helmets for 16 different babies.  There were no multiples yesterday, but he has done helmets for quadruplets before.  The reason for the helmets is a condition called Plagiocephaly, it’s misshapen heads for one reason or another, usually happens in the womb with multiples, they just run out of room and get squeezed.  The helmets are worn 23 hours a day.  They cost $3,600 each .  They come  in plain white, made of medical plastic material and are adjustable.   The kids wear these helmets from 2 to 6 mos. and it takes about 4 months to correct the condition.  Tommy got into this helmet wrapping because a desperate father came in asking if Tommy could wrap his kids helmet with something colorful, it seems sibblings and other people kind of stared as in plain white it did make it look like a medical device and the babies stood out and the sibblings made fun of it.  Well, this has become Tommy and Angie’s charity, as they do not charge for this and to this day Tommy and Tyler have wrapped 95 helmets.  The parents are so delighted and now their babies are so admired.  It’s fun for them to pick a design and color with the babies name on the helmets.  It’s now a status symbol for what otherwise was a stigma. Now they have to have an appointment and Tommy devotes one day a month to do the babies, and he does it for free.  Click here for more info www.wrapbuddies.com.  We were lucky enough to get to be here for baby day and it was fun.  The parents bring food like a pot luck of finger foods, everyone shares and it’s a real event.  These parents are so happy with this, and it’s increasing all the time by word of mouth.  It’s amazing how many babies have this condition.  All the parents bring camera’s and photograph the process and then want a picture with Tommy holding the babies.  This way Tommy gets his baby fix too.

We did find a place for the trailer just down the street from the kids.  It’s not perfect, but it’s great to be so close.  That way when Jerry is in the hospital, and the Doc said from 7 to 9 days.  It won’t have far to drive to the kids.   Tommy is letting us use the Scion while we are here.

Well that’s all that’s new for now, each day something goes on here.    More later…Hugs  S and J