Are you getting ready for the release of Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 3D in theaters starting on February 10th? Who are you going with? Are you going in costume or just your favorite Star Wars t-shirt? I am super excited! To be perfectly honest with you, Episode I is not my favorite movie of the 6 movies, The Empire Strikes Back would take that title. However, what I am so excited about is that I get to enjoy this movie with my nieces and nephews who will be seeing this movie in a movie theatre for the first time. I had the opportunity to watch all of the prequels in the movie theatre when they were originally released, but my nieces and nephews were too young or not even born yet. To introduce a new generation to their first Star Wars movie theatre experience will be a really special moment for me.

As I gear up for the release I found something new to do with my time. For those of you who don’t know, I travel A LOT. To help me with my business and travel, my husband got me an iPad for my birthday last year and I am constantly using it on the road or the long plane flights. Well, my husband and I had to travel this weekend and we found a new Star Wars game for my iPad called Star Wars Brisksaber. Let me tell you what,  it’s so much fun and addicting! It made our plane flights go by so much faster! This game is FREE and is available to download for your Apple or Android products by going to the iTunes store or The Android Market. The game is simple, once you’ve downloaded the game, press play and it will give you a choice between the Light Side or The Dark Side (I prefer the Light Side). Then you choose whether you want to play under a timed trial or fight for your survival. Finally, choose your lightsaber (I prefer Qui-Gon Jinn’s because it’s green like Ahsoka’s) and then tap Play. You will see your chosen lightsaber center screen and you control the lightsaber by touching the screen with your finger and Here’s where the fun begins! You have to use the lightsaber to slice in half all of the enemy objects and characters that fly onto the screen. It’s SO much fun to cut Darth Sidious or Darth Maul in two! Be careful though because your friends will fly onto the screen and you do not want to slice R2-D2 in half! I accidentally killed many R2-D2′s and not only did it make me sad, but it’ll end your game quickly. As I mentioned before, all of this is for FREE, however, look for certain Brisk drinks with the special Star Wars labeling and under each cap will be special codes to unlock new gear like new lightsabers, characters and ships.

You can also post your scores to your Facebook or Twitter pages and share your scores with your friends. Of course, my husband currently holds the high score between the two of us! This is a simple and somewhat mindless game that kept us going for three hours straight, and we only stopped because the stewardess told us we had to power down our electrical equipment for our decent. I also introduced this game to my nephew, David. He is a HUGE Star Wars fan and he really enjoys this game too. Next to Dave Filoni, my nephew David knows more about Star Wars than anyone else I know. He is very smart and I am very proud of him. He very quickly surpassed my high score within minutes of playing the game for the first time. I asked David to do a video with me and give a demonstration of the game. See the video below.

Just a reminder that Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 3D comes out in theaters on February 10th! I hope you get to share Star Wars and this movie theatre experience with someone new, like I do with my nieces and nephews! I also hope you will check out this new Star Wars Brisksaber game! It’s so addicting and so much fun!

All my best,
Ashley

Disclosure: In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that my time and efforts have been compensated by Pepsi Brisk for my participation in the Brisk X Star Wars campaign. Although I have a material connection to Brisk, any publicly stated opinions of Brisk remain my own.

For the past couple years while working with Lucasfilm, I’ve over heard conversations in passing about about George Lucas’ movie Red Tails. I am embarrassed to admit that I know very little about this story of the Tuskegee Airmen from World War II. I was definitely going to see the film but I didn’t think much about it until I read this article in USA Today. I was so inspired by this article and I want to share with you 5 reasons why you should join me this weekend and go and see Red Tails.

1. It’s A Dream Come True George Lucas seems to have it all. The fame, the fortune, the Ranch…he had a dream back in the 70′s to make this space movie called Star Wars and against all odds he turned it into one of the biggest movie franchises in history. He’s made it, I mean what more does he need?…So he should just stop dreaming right?…WRONG! Making Red Tails has been George Lucas’ dream for the past 23 years. It’s truly been a labor of love and a lot of hard work, but he never gave up and he made it happen. It’s an amazing lesson for us all. I don’t care how successful you are, a life without dreaming is a very boring existence and I applaud George Lucas for making his dream come true.

2. If You Want Something Done Right, Do It Yourself! George Lucas funded this $58 million dollar movie himself. He tried to partner with some of the major movie studios but they all declined, believing that this story did not have a big enough audience. Mr. Lucas did not let that stop him, he continued to make this movie. Yes, he has the money to fund a major motion picture now, without the worry of affecting his livelihood, however, he was making these tough decisions when money was an issue. George Lucas has been investing in himself since The Empire Strikes Back when he had a lot to lose. I remember at Celebration V he said that you can’t expect people to believe in you if you do not believe in yourself. Sometimes, that means forging ahead when everyone else has their doubts. George Lucas told USA Today, “The most important thing to me is my freedom. I’ve been investing in my own movies since Empire (Strikes Back), so it was just time to do it again.” Sometimes you just have to take control of your own destiny.

3. It’s American History As I said above, I am embarrassed that I did not know about this story of the Tuskegee Airmen. I admit that history was not my best subject but these men are true American heroes and I am so excited to learn more about their lives and sacrifices. Cuba Gooding Jr., one of the movie’s stars, said, “For my sons not to know about this part of history is unacceptable.” I agree! George Lucas is determined to share this story with today’s youth. He told USA Today, “I have only one agenda, and that’s for a lot of young people to see this movie,” says Lucas, who adds that corporations already have signed on to sponsor screenings at schools. “I think kids who see this, be they black or white, will walk out thinking (the Airmen) were cool.”

4. It’s Fun To Prove The Doubters Wrong! George Lucas was faced with a lot of adversity when trying to get this movie made. Hollywood dubbed this as a black movie and race clearly played an issue. Mr. Lucas disagreed and told USA Today, “But ultimately, to me Red Tails isn’t just a black story, it’s an American success story.” The only way to change this perception is to prove it at the Box Office. Please help spread the word and tell everyone you know to go and see this movie.

5. Who Doesn’t Love A “Good vs. Evil” Story? These are tough times. When I get bogged down by all of the negative things going on around me and in our world today, one thing that gives me hope is my belief that Good Will Always Overcome Evil. George Lucas feels the same and he told USA Today, “When you think about it, other than Saving Private Ryan, there haven’t been many movies like Back to Bataan and Battle of Britain, plain old propaganda movies where there were good guys and bad guys. So that appealed to me about Red Tails,” he says, smiling. “It’s all left over from me being 10 years old.”

Red Tails opens in theaters this Friday January, 20th! Make sure to catch it at a theater near you!
Ashley

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! I wish I could thank each and every one of you for all of your support during the holidays. Our Yoda pins were gone in record time and your kind words truly mean the world to me. I would also like to apologize to anyone who had a problem with their order. I hope our customer service team was able to resolve any issues you may have had and if there are any outstanding problems, please email us at orders@heruniverseshop.com or you can contact me on Facebook at the Her Universe Official Fan Page and Twitter @HerUniverse. It is my goal for everyone to have a positive experience with Her Universe and we can’t help you if we don’t know your problem.

After a relaxing break it’s time to face the New Year head on. We all have challenges ahead that will require a lot of hard work and determination to overcome. Whether it’s school, finding a job, keeping a job, dealing with bullies, difficult co-workers, a frustrating boss or what seems to be a very difficult or impossible situation, everyone has their own journey and story. I wanted to share with you something that always pumps me up and gives me the strength to keep going. I love the song “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. For me, it’s so inspirational and it gives me that extra edge to forge ahead and believe in myself. When I first moved to LA for acting, I used to go on hundreds of auditions and I had to get used to A LOT of rejection! I was constantly told I was not pretty enough, I was too short, I didn’t look the part, I didn’t have enough talent, every piece of criticism you could imagine came my way. When Jimmy Eat World came out with this song, I used to turn up the volume really loud and completely rock out to the music. (Yes, I am a dork and I am sure you are laughing at the thought of me jamming out in my room by myself to this song, and, no, I am not a good dancer…lol) Giving up was never an option for me, and this song always encouraged me to keep going and build my acting career. A couple days ago, I was driving in the car and this song came on the radio. It was the message I needed as we start a New Year. Her Universe is still a young company and we still have A LOT to do and prove. It’s been a long journey to get to this point and I feel like we are only in the middle of the ride. This song is definitely my anthem for 2012! Here is a video from You Tube with the lyrics.

May this New Year bring you all many blessings and thank you again for your continued support and friendship.

All my best,
Ashley

To prepare for the new holiday items, I wanted to give you another designer commentary video to answer some of your questions. I hope this video is helpful. You can also reach me on Facebook and Twitter where I enjoy getting to know everyone and getting your feedback.

Many of you have also asked me about plus sizes for the new items. Unfortunately the thermal hoodie and pj set did not come in plus sizes, however, both zip-up hoodie sweatshirts, the Yoda shirt, the Padme shirt and our Battlestar Galactica red spine shirt all come in plus sizes. We will continue to expand our plus size offerings as we grow our business.

Thank you again for your continued support and make sure you check the website on Cyber Monday for an announcement about two more products available for a limited time only while supplies last!

Ashley

While at New York Comic Con, I had the nice surprise of running into fellow fangirl Amy Ratcliffe. Amy has been a huge help and supporter of Her Universe, but more importantly she has been a friend and inspiration. Amy is the perfect example of the modern fangirl. She’s smart, stylish, confident, driven, hardworking, fun and she truly knows her stuff! Amy is a professional writer, loves Star Wars, Blade Runner, Doctor Who and enjoys reading comics. Amy was our moderator for our Her Universe message boards. (Our Forums are still down due to the overly aggressive spammers! Ugghhh!!! Girls…come chat with me on Facebook and Twitter instead!) I wanted to bring you this interview with Amy so you could put a face to the name. Amy is an excellent writer and she gives some great advice to all our girls out there who are thinking about a career in journalism. Check out our interview below!

- Ashley