Ageless Fantasy Giveaway Winner

The winner is comment 157,

terri142 said...

No stores near me but I learned that Harvey Prince & Co. is a USA based company ane that their products have been designed to be environment friendly.


Congrats Terri!

EcostoreUSA.com winner

The winner is comment number 130 - Betty C. Congrats Betty!

Betty C said...

I have been watching the Manuka Sandalwood Shampoo and Conditioner and the Coconut soap for a long time. I really want to try both.

Blogmania - Douglas Toys winner!

The winner is Maja: Blogger Maja said...

joli husky

I haven't been around lately. I have been working a lot of hours due to a fairly large and sudden increase in workload. That is such a pretty great thing any time but especially in a recession. I also have all the same stuff that needs to get done at home so the work is pretty much constant.

Tomorrow I will clean with the kids but hopefully we can get it done quickly. I have a few things to do this weekend. My hair is starting to look like a brillo pad so it is time to get a good cut. My eyesight is failing and I am running to the eye doctor to get checked out. My husband keeps making fun of me because I really can't see. Example - Today I misread my daughter's report card and was raving about how good she was doing. (I thought it said she was reading at third grade level. It said she was reading at 3rd QUARTER level. Big difference as she is in 1st grade and we are much closer to third quarter than we are to third grade). Also, the problems I was having with my eyes is not pink eye - it is the re-occurrence of an inflammatory "thing". Not sure what it is but basically I get blistering on my eyes. It looks bad and it feels bad. That said it sounds much more disgusting than it is. It is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Today I received my new PC. I am trying to work my way around VISTA. I love the look of my new PC (RED notebook). I hate setting up a new computer though so I am sure I will be working on that most of the weekend.

Back to my blog - I have 2 - 3 new reviews and 2 new FUN giveaways coming up. I also will be drawing winners this weekend for all of my current giveaways and those that are now a week past due. I will also be doing some dropping by this weekend for my Entrecard friends.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow so after we run around in the morning I am hoping we can settle in quietly for the rest of the weekend and enjoy.

Fruit Salad - Yummy Yummy

Miss E. and I made a yummy fruit salad today:

1/2 cantaloupe, chunked
1 pineapple, cut into small chunks
1 bag of frozen raspberries
2 bananas, sliced
1 cup of strawberry low fat yogurt

We mixed it all together and immediately enjoyed eating. The girls ate theirs plain - I scooped mine over cottage cheese. Tomorrow I may serve over waffles. Love making fruit salad in the Spring and Summer. Now that Spring is officially here we were ready to resume our annual tradition.

Lost Road Trip - want to come along?

I'm going on a road trip. Then a plane trip. Then a freaky, psychedelic trip.

First pit stop is the LA. Meet me at the Lamp Post. Apparently the Lamp Post is one of those places that calls for the "right place, right time" rule. I hope our Lostie friends in LA can help us determine what the 24 - 48 hour window right time IS or we may be waiting around for a long time.

Next stop is a plane to Guam. Or Hawaii. Or Fiji. OR Antartica. Or the Thousand Islands. At this point it is difficult to say for sure but in that 24 - 48 hour window this will be all be cleared up. One thing you can be certain of is that we will be flying over a large body of water.

Final step is go on the plane. Hmm, what to pack. Valium for one. This is going to be one rough plane ride. Regarding clothing, personal items, etc. what we pack really depends on what decade we are going to. Since that is also difficult to say, I say be prepared for both.

In the off chance that we land in the present time (Alas!), I will simply bring along my normal travel stuff including my itouch and cell phone. These can be ditched easily enough.

In hope that we are quite literally dropped into 1977 I will pack the following (please do your research before packing also!):
- Patchouli Oil
- Breck Shampoo
- Love Beads
- Jean Nate body splash
- Bell-Bottoms
- Bohemian shirts
- Macramé hanging for my quarters
- designer mess kit in harvest gold
- Earth shoes
- Required reading: "Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life", "Sisterhood Is Powerful" and Love Story.
- Two 2-dollar bills
- Brownie mix for Rosie
- Pony Tail holders for Horace
- Bicentennial memorabilia.
- Belt's to accessorize with the rather drab Dharma Khaki uniform. (Sorry, but I don't do jumpsuits)

Ohhh I really hope that the Island cherry picks us straight off the plane and sets us in 1977 Dharma land. Although La Fleur was not initially thought to be Dharma Material, I am sure that I will pass the test. I am all about world peace- a little alarming that so many Dharma members are packing heat because of those pesky Hostiles. I wonder if you can contentiously object to strapping a rifle to your person 24-7?

First on our agenda would be to discretely find SFL ("Sawyer-Ford-La Fleur") and convince him that we are here, much like the Huey Louis and The News song, to bring them "Back in Time". Although this would not mean anything to pre-Huey Dharma, it would demonstrate my strong knowledge of useless 80's pop culture to Sawyer and the gang, thus proving that we too are time jumpers....

Next on the agenda is to blend blend blend in, jump over to the processing station and get enrolled in the next new recruit Dharma initiation. Nameste! Oh, and no crappy "workman" duties for me. I am assigning myself a nice job such as "Art Director", "Beautification Engineer", or "Holistic Healer".

* I vehemently hope that our arrival would coincide with the sub transport of new recruits because there is no way in Hell I would survive in the jungle 1 day, much less 6 months. A simple warning - I would not be the best travel companion. If Christian Shephard or one of the various security systems greeted us in the dark I would die right there on the spot from immense fear and heart failure, leaving you to fend for yourself.


Ok - now onto the important stuff - we we have work to do. While you may opt to venture on to the Island tour, (visiting the temple, the foot statue, the various stations including orchid, the swan, the pre-explosion hatch, etc). I would be jumping right in to somebody else's business and busting up the love quadrangle otherwise known as Skate, Jate, Jacket and/or Suliet (Jack - Kate - Sawyer - Juliette). Not sure what this would entail but the end result would be that Kate stays with Jack, SFL stays with Juliette and everyone is happy. (Everyone except for Kate who will never be satisfied with where she is in life). Hey if this doesn't work I may try and convince SFL that I am the woman that he's always dreamed of , although being 3rd in line, my chances aren't looking so hot.

Now obviously I can't MYOB. Although I would have familiarized myself quite nicely with Halliwax's and Faraday's rules and I am generally NOT a rule breaker, I would be oh-so-tempted to warn Horace about the Purge. I am sure I could convince Hurley to join me. My plan would be simple - lie to him and tell him I see dead people too (and Miles too!). Then he would trust me and I could appeal to his every present Jiminy Cricket conscience to do the right thing - break the news to Dharma that cute lil Ben is a psychotic sociopath who along with the others will kill them all off. All except for Ethan apparently.

Double your pleasure, double your fun. One thing that does put quite a damper in that plan is that there are both a pre-teen AND a 40-something Benry running around the Island. Exposing Ben as the initiator of the purge would put me right on Ben's Bad List and that is not a good thing. I am not sure if being on the good list is a good thing either. Truth be known I really don't want to be on either list. The only list I want to be on is the Dharma Initiative new recruit roster. Just the thought of the exposure and the repercussions of exposing Benry / Ben Jr. for being are enough to make me take stock in the situation and resolve for once to keep my mouth shut. I have a feeling Sayid may be taking care of the Ben problem though, (or half of that problem at the very least - and my guess is that this would be the smaller half).

This alone should be enough to keep us busy for a while. Guess we will have to wait until next week's showing to see if our presence is needed. I will post an updated travel itinerary next week..... Until then Kumbaya!

I don't think it is going away on it's own.

I think I have pink eye. Or at least I have an eye that is pink, dry, itchy and it hurts. So even if I DON'T have pink eye, I have something going on. Not sure where I got this. Stayed in the house all weekend. The kids don't have it. Now I have to figure out how I am going to squeeze in a trip to the Dr. tomorrow.

I am tired, cranky and contagious. Off to bed soon but have to wipe the keyboard off first... Want to make sure that we don't have another epidemic like the last time conjunctivitis visited our home.

Blogmania Winners - 3/16/2009

Paperjewels Giveaway
Research Randomizer Results Set #1: 10
The winner of the Paperjewels Giveaway is Penelope who said... I follow you on Blogger.


Magic Senses Giveaway
Research Randomizer Results Job Status: Set #1: 1
The 1st winner of the Magic Senses Giveaway is mom2anutball who said... I like the smell of Green Apple!!

Research Randomizer Results Job Status: Set #1: 96
The 2nd winner of the Magic Senses Giveaway is Leslie who said... Mango Papaya Body Wash

Research Randomizer Results Job Status: Set #1: 69, 94, 24, 46
The 3rd winner of the Magic Senses Giveaway is Beth who said... I like the butterfly kisses glycerin soap

the 4th winner of the Magic Senses Giveaway is Emily who said... I follow you on twitter!

the 5th winner of the Magic Senses Giveaway is gkstratos who said... Subscriber/feed

the 6th winner of the Magic Senses Giveaway is Nickolay who said... I like the green apple or the blue musk

congratulations - I will be emailing all of you shortly. Winners must respond within 48 hourss

when your kid thinks you have a ghost in the house.

Are your kiddos afraid of the dark?

When we moved into our new home, our two little ones moved into separate bedrooms. At first they LOVED it. Miss N. and Miss E. were SO proud to have their own rooms. After the newness wore off (about a week or so), Miss E. started venturing into our room every night. Apparently the size of the new home (double the size of our old one), the unfamiliar territory and the fact that she no longer had a roommate was a little scary. Also, one of our doors is not installed properly and closes on it's own. She INSISTED that we had a ghost residing on the 2nd floor. It took me more than one explanation to convince her that we did not have a ghost living in our new house.

After a few weeks of co-sleeping we encouraged her to sleep in her own room. It started with leaving the laundry room light on but then WE could not sleep. Or she would head downstairs saying "I'm not tired." then fall asleep on the couch. I had back surgery a few years ago so carrying her up the stairs every night was NOT an option.

The solution was simple - a night light. Brilliant right? (that was a sarcastic jab at myself) We would have come to this solution sooner but our night light was packed in one of the hundreds of boxes. We finally went out and bought a few new ones for ALL the kids rooms.

We still have the occasional visit from Miss E. but for the most part she is comfortable in her new room. Also, I think she has finally accepted that we do not have a ghost. Good thing, because if we did I am pretty confident that I would be the most frightened out of anyone else in my family.

Thanks to Parent Bloggers and Sylvania for inspiring this post.

Fiber Friend Face-Off - Review and Giveaway

Do you know what your Daily Fiber goals are? For the FIRST FUN PART of this blog post, Fiber One® yogurt can help with their online Fiber Friend Face-Off.

Fiber Friend Face-Off is a fun and interactive online game that will help you better understand and reach daily fiber goals. When you visit www.fiberfriendfaceoff.com you can create your own Fiber Friend (personal avatar). For fun, you are matched up with a weekly opponent. The goal of this game is to help participants learn about daily fiber requirements and the health benefits of fiber. As an added plus for registering, all players are entered in a sweepstakes for a chance to win great prizes - these include daily gift cash cards, weekly Flip Video camcorder and a grand prize trip-for-two to a luxury spa in Arizona.

I had fun creating my avatar ("My girl" as Miss N. called it). It was a hoot trying making her look feminine because the default image was male. Overall I did OK at the challenge but lost to my opponent, Ryan.... Apparently I need to brush up on my knowledge of Daily Fiber Intake. Kind of ironic because that is my husband's name also and at home I am ALWAYS right :)

Upon registering you can also download various weekly discount coupons (depending on availability) for Fiber One products:
- Fiber One yogurt - this is the coupon I was offered
- Snack bars
- Breakfast cereal
- Toaster pastries
- Muffin mix
- Pancake mix

Fiber One has a GREAT tagline - "Carboard, No. Delicious, Yes." These are tasty AND healthy foods. If you want to start or maintain a healthy and balanced diet hop on by and register. Fiber One also has a great online Fiber counter at their main site.

For the SECOND FUN PART of this blog post, Three winners will be selected to receive a gift basket containing the following items:
- a VIP coupon to try a complimentary 4-pack of Fiber One yogurt
- a nutrition journal
- a water bottle
- a pedometer with calorie counter
- a kitchen scale. .


THE RULES:

Tell me what you liked or learned upon registering for the Fiber Face-off. THIS RULE MUST BE FOLLOWED FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO BE CONSIDERED VALID.

* Please make sure that your email address is in your profile or please post it with your entry.

* US entries only

* Giveaway starts 03/16/2009 and ends 03/29/2009 at 11:59pm EST

Please submit an additional comment for each extra entry
* For extra entries you can do any of the following:
- Post your favorite Fiber One product OR one you would like to try
- add my site to your blogroll
- blog about this giveaway linking to both Blogmania AND Fiber One
- Add my button to your blog!
- Add me as a friend in Twitter (@misaacmom) and Tweet about this giveaway
- Follow me in blogger
- sign up for my feed - this is in the top right hand corner of my page
- Stumble Upon this post (see "Share This" below) and post your username
- Add my blog to your Techorati favorites (see "Share This" below) and post your username
- Advertise on Blogmania via Entrecard.

- Winners will be contacted via email. WINNER MUST HAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN THEIR BLOGGER PROFILE, IF NOT, PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR POST OR ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE DRAWN. If a winner does not respond within 3 days another winner will be selected.

MyBlogSpark is responsible for for prize fulfillment. Winner selected via randomizer on or about 3/29/2009 and posted within 24 hours.




Thank you to Fiber One and MyBlogSpark for this opportunity!

Ageless Fantasy Pefume - Review and Giveaway

Harvey Prince recently contacted me about doing a review of their new perfume - Ageless. With all of the perfumes on the market, what makes Ageless different? Ageless Fantasy Perfume is the World's first anti-age perfume. It is "timeless, clinically proven beauty" The fragrance is designed to give you a younger scent. This product is also environmentally friendly and safe to apply directly to your skin.

You can find out more about some of the the research HERE. Make sure that you read "Does our body really smell "old" as we age?"


Ageless was created with scents that are associated with youth, resulting in a very fresh, dreamy fragrance! "Ageless Fantasy® utilizing Pink grapefruit combined with antioxidant rich pomegranate achieves powerful euphoric properties, sets off a feeling of youth and excitement. A miracle in the field of beauty. A dramatically different perfume."
The top notes are fruity - Leafy Greens, Pineapple, Pomegranate (anti-oxidant), Apple and Mango and youthful grapefruit*.
The mid notes (heart notes) are floral - Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Peony and Cherry Blossom
The base notes are woodsy/earthy - Vanilla, Soft Musk and Precious Woods.
* pink grapefruit has been associated with youth and age lowering perception.











My review:

I have been looking for a new perfume for a while. Although I am a bath and body fanatic and have a wide array of products to select from, I am a little more selective about my perfume. Unfortunately because of my body chemistry, I have tried countless perfumes that smell wonderful on other people or great when I first try them but turn rancid on my skin throughout the day. I was very excited but tentative when Harvey Prince contacted me to try Ageless.

When I first opened the box I was impressed with the size and simplicity of the bottle containing 3.4 fluid oz of the fragrance. I immediately took a whiff and sprayed it on my wrist. At first the scent is a light, fresh fruity-floral. I Upon wearing thorough out the day this scent mellows down to a lovely, sweet, but mild floral with just a hint of citrus. Guess what? It still smelled great - even after wearing an entire day. I took quite a few test runs with this one to make sure that I did not end up with a "turn-coat" scent. Each time I tried Ageless, it still smelled great, from morning until night.

Because the scent is light I did find that I did need to apply liberally in order to make the scent last throughout the day. This is not a problem as the amount of the perfume in the bottle is plentiful. Ageless is light enough to spray generously without smelling like you doused yourself in it.

My children and husband loved the scent. Did it make me smell younger? I asked my 8 year old to sniff my wrist and give me her opinion on "how old I smelled" - she said I smelled like I was 24. Well, let's just say that I am NOT 24. In fact I haven't seen 24 in over 15 years. My husband would not commit to a number as he avoids any sort of questions that he may give a "wrong" answer to (smart man!). He DID say that he loved the scent and he is very picky about what perfumes I wear. In fact, he loved it so much that he became a little lovey-dovey on me. Apparently Ageless is a keeper!

In my opinion this is is an innovative, youthful scent but is fresh and sophisticated enough for women of any age to wear. I really look forward to using this everyday!

Ageless Fantasy® has been featured in many magazines and on many websites and blogs. Jackie Silver (author of the book AGING backwards – www.agingbackwards.com - ) is a mom who has tried Ageless. What does she have to say? “Ageless Perfume is an instant shortcut to Aging Backwards! Spray it on and men will see you as eight years younger. Talk about instant gratification! Plus, you’ll love the way you smell!” You can also read more about Jackie HERE.

You can order Ageless Beauty online at Harvey Prince or at a store near you.

Harvey Prince has graciously offered a bottle of Ageless for Blogmania readers - This is a $120 value (although it is currently retailing for $98)

THE RULES:

Please tell me where you can find Ageless by you by searching their online directory of stores. Click HERE to search. If you cannot find Ageless / Ageless Fantasy in a store near you, please tell me something that you learned from their website. THIS RULE MUST BE FOLLOWED FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO BE CONSIDERED VALID.

* Please make sure that your email address is in your profile or please post it with your entry.

* US entries only

* Giveaway starts 03/15/2009 and ends 03/28/2009 at 11:59pm EST

Please submit an additional comment for each extra entry
* For extra entries you can do any of the following:
- Follow Ageless Beauty on twitter @https://twitter.com/AgelessFantasy
- Register for the Harvey Prince newsletter by clicking HERE and submitting your email address
- add my site to your blogroll
- blog about this giveaway linking to both Blogmania AND Harvey Prince
- Add my button to your blog!
- Add me as a friend in Twitter (@misaacmom) and Tweet about this giveaway
- Follow me in blogger
- sign up for my feed - this is in the top right hand corner of my page
- Stumble Upon this post (see "Share This" below) and post your username
- Add my blog to your Techorati favorites (see "Share This" below) and post your username

- Winners will be contacted via email. WINNER MUST HAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN THEIR BLOGGER PROFILE, IF NOT, PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR POST OR ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE DRAWN. If a winner does not respond within 3 days another winner will be selected.

HarveyPrince is responsible for for prize fulfillment. Winner selected via randomizer on or about 3/29/2009 and posted within 24 hours.

Lazy Sunday

Ryan, the girls and I cleaned the entire house yesterday (mostly Ryan and myself). Actually I did all of the cleaning, dishes, laundry, etc and Ryan cleaned the carpets. I generally take about an hour to clean the carpets. He took 4 hours (between intervals of watching the ACC tournament). Now I know why the carpeting always looks better when he does the job.


Today Ryan has the girls at the mall. I started dinner - I used a modified version of the recipe HERE. I also made myself a tuna sandwich. I won't let Ryan make me his version of Tuna - it is more like soup. I don't know how he can eat that. I prepare mine with 2 tsps of mayo, dill and onion seasoning, celery. It tastes great and is not drowning in mayo.

I have a couple of more giveaways to post, a million emails to go through, etc. I should get a headstart on work but I will get a very early start tomorrow to catch up instead.

Love lazy Sundays.

No Nasty Chemicals! EcostoreUSA.com Review and Giveaway

Are you on the Going Green bandwagon yet? If not, don't worry - it is never too late to join.

I have been slowly attempting to go green. Basically it is breaking habits and rethinking the way I buy and consume products. My main goal is to minimize waste, reuse and recycle as much as possible, and purchase safe and effective products that lessen my carbon footprint . This is important to me as an individual and especially as a parent. I was really thrilled when EcoStore contacted me and asked if I would review a few products of my choice.

With a tagline of "No Nasty Chemicals!", Ecostore is dedicated to providing consumers with safe and effective products that are not filled with harmful chemicals that can pollute our earth, air and water. Ecostore is a "manufacturer, wholesale distributor and retailer of sustainable household and personal care products". Their goal is to create and sell products that consumers can use at home ; Ecostore wants to help individuals and families embrace both a healthier lifestyle and the responsibility of achieving more sustainable world. Ecostore started out servicing "greenies" on a local/regional level (in New Zealand), but through the years their organization has experienced tremendous growth - they provide great green products to earth lovers internationally. You can also read more about Ecostore at their blog http://blog.ecostoreusa.com/
* Note: Ecostore USA is located in the suburban Detroit, Michigan area and their shipping warehouse is located in Pennsylvania.

I have already started the shift of going green over the last few years. I have made great progress with switching to green household cleansers but I am still struggling with going green in the laundry room and bath/shower. The first thing I did was head over to the Household section of EcostoreUSA.com and check out the selection of laundry products. Although I usually use liquid detergent I found the laundry powder appealing for several reasons (all which can be tied back to my kiddos):
- high performance
- consists of simple mineral salts and plant-based ingredients which make it easy to clean even the filthiest clothes.
- has a natural lemon fragrance will not harm or irritate the skin. Our
- one small box is good for several loads of laundry.

So far I have done two loads of laundry and have been very pleased. The clothes from both cycles came out looking and smelling clean. I immediately noticed that the clothing did not have a heavily fragranced scent - they simply smelled fresh and clean. The amount of powder I used was minimal - I just placed a small scoop (scooper enclosed in the box) in at the beginning cycle and waited until it fully dissolved before adding the clothing to the wash. I did one load in warm water and the other in cold. The instructions did recommend to use warm water but I found that cold worked fine if you let the washer fill up first. Honestly the only thing I had a challenge with was opening the box...I have to give the Ecostore Laundry Powder a big thumbs up.








I as also able to try Manuka Sandalwood Shampoo and Conditioner. The first attribute I noticed was the appealing floral, earthy scent. The shampoo and conditioner were both highly fragrant, but not pungent or overwhelming. The Manuka shampoo gave a soft, moisturizing lather (vs. a high lather), cleansed well and rinsed out easily. The conditioner was light and absorbed into my hair quickly. This is perfect for everyday gentle cleansing and conditioning.

If you are thinking of going green or would like to add earth friendly cleansing and personal care products to those already in your home, consider trying Ecostore!


EcostoreUSA has offered one lucky Blogmania reader $25 worth of full-sized products.

THE RULES:

* Visit EcostoreUSA and select your favorite product. No other comments will be considered unless this is followed.

* Please make sure that your email address is in your profile or please post it with your entry.

* US entries only

* Giveaway starts 03/15/2009 and ends 03/28/2009 at 11:59pm EST

Please submit an additional comment for each extra entry
* For extra entries you can do any of the following:

- add my site to your blogroll
- blog about this giveaway linking to both blogmania AND EcostoreUSA.com
- Add my button to your blog!
- Add me as a friend in Twitter (@misaacmom) and Tweet about this giveaway
- Follow me in blogger
- sign up for my feed - this is in the top right hand corner of my page
- Stumble Upon this post (see "Share This" below) and post your username
- Add my blog to your Techorati favorites (see "Share This" below) and post your username

- Winners will be contacted via email. WINNER MUST HAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN THEIR BLOGGER PROFILE, IF NOT, PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR POST OR ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE DRAWN. If a winner does not respond within 3 days another winner will be selected.

EcostoreUSA.com is responsible for for prize fulfillment. Winner selected via randomizer on or about 3/29/2009 and posted within 24 hours.

Anniversary Celebration

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. My MIL and FIL sent us a gift card to Bahama Breeze so off we went with 4 kiddos - 3 of ours plus Miss E.'s best friend.

We had a great time but boy was it packed. Apparently that is "slow" for them. I cannot imagine what it is like on a busy night. I ate WAY too much. We had appetizers, salad, dinner AND dessert. I never do that so I felt like I was going to die when I rolled out of there.

The girls really enjoyed it also - especially the onion rings and desert. I have to say if you ever go to Bahama Breeze, order the coconut Onion Rings - they are the best ones I have ever tasted.

Today I hope to burn off some of last night's caloric intake by doing some heavy duty cleaning around the house. If I can ever get off the computer that is.....

Add your giveaway

Add your giveaway

Add your giveaway to MB's Bloggy Sweeps bi-weekly mister linky. This one is now up and ready for you to post away.

Posted using ShareThis

lazy night

The house is clean - dinner has been served. Now I am just watching IDOL on DVR with my family and catching up on Blog Giveaways, posting, etc.

While you are here stop by and enter the giveaways we have going on - we currently have 3
- Magic Senses - These are WONDERFULLY scented and UNIQUELY shaped glycerin soaps
- Paper Jewels - Trendy yet affordable high quality pendants
- Douglas Toys - Great plush toys in a variety of animals (some realistic and others just for fun!)

Why is cooking like doing your hair?

I made a roast tonight and it just did not come out as good as I would have hoped. This is the same recipe I have used countless times. Sometimes it comes out great and other times it comes out OK at best. I am often left scratching my head and wondering how did this happen?

I much prefer baking over cooking. Baking is easy - you mix everything together, throw in in a pan, bake it for a set number of minutes and ta dah! You have something delicious and fattening that everyone is fighting over to eat. This dish will be the same each time you make it. No surprises. Baking is easy and dependable. Cooking is a different story; You have to actually know what you are doing.

When my oldest was a baby my husband and I used to eat out A LOT. When the second and then the third kids came along we tried to still go out to eat all the time. We quickly realized that this was 1) NOT FUN and 2) TOO EXPENSIVE. Yes, with 3 kids eating out everyday is just not an option. In fact, now it is a special treat. Because of this, I pretty much had to teach myself to how to cook....How to cook things besides hotdogs and mac and cheese with peas in it. Through this learning process we had one kitchen fire, several dishes that went straight from the stove/oven to the trash bin, and many things my kids just would not eat, period.

I tend to gravitate towards Crockpot recipes and casseroles because these follow the same principles as baking; you dump it all together and heat it up. If I had to do dinners with multiple dishes and sides every night I would just about have a nervous breakdown - I just cannot get the timing thing down right.

Cooking to me is like doing my hair. I can do the EXACT same thing as I did last time but I will get a totally different result. It simply never does the same thing twice. With baking if I make a mistake, it happens once, I fix it and I get consistent results from there on out. Doing the same thing with cooking each time does not guarantee that I will get the same dish. In fact a dish that I cooked last week which my kids raved over may be the same one I cook this week resulting in questions such as "What is this? What is that red stuff? Do I have to eat it? ".

What happened? I added all the ingredients. I followed the directions. I did the EXACT same thing I did last time. If someone has the secret to cooking CONSISTANCY please share.

Looking for a good laugh?

Head over to "The Junk Drawer" and check out THIS post about the Ped Egg. Oh my goodness, I was laughing so hard when I read this (and trying to picture her husband).

I have seen the Ped-egg commercials. It is the only commercial I have ever seen that both grosses me out yet also makes me so engrossed that I am interested in buying the product. Maybe on my next trip to CVS I will break down and buy this. I saw these lined up on the ends of the shelves last time I was there....

March Bloggy Love

March - Women - March is Women's History Month! In it's honor I am featuring notable women bloggers - those who have achieved goals, educated others, and/or focused on a worthy cause through blogging while helping other women do the same.

March is ALSO

• Cabaret Month
• Kidney Month
• Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
• Music in Our Schools Month
• Noodle Month
• National Brain Injury Awareness Month
• National Colorectal Cancer Month
• National Craft Month
• National Endometriosis Month
• National Frozen Food Month
• National Humorists Are Artists Month
• National Irish American Heritage Month
• National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month
• National Nutrition Month
• National Peanut Month
• National Poetry Month
• Peanut Butter Lovers Month
• Poison Prevention Awareness Month
• Red Cross Month
• Save your Vision Month
• Social Workers Month
• Workplace Eye Wellness Month
• Youth Art Month
  
  If you have a blog or post that would be relevant in honoring or celebrating any of these, please add your name to the Mr. Linky for the month of March.

Douglas, THE Cuddle Toy - review and giveaway

Douglas, The Face of Fun and Play!

How thrilled was I when Douglas contacted me to see if I was interested in reviewing one of their products? VERY! My kids love plush animals and we are also considering rescuing a dog, so we have been discussing what sorts of breeds we would be interested in. Douglas offers a wide array of stuffed dogs. Although these animals are toys, they are also so realistic that it would be totally appropriate not only kids, but adult dog lovers as well.

It was a very difficult decision, but my girls picked out Mandy, a pale yellow lab. Well let's just say that I should have ordered another one too. They loved Mandy so much that it resulted in quite a few arguments. The dog is soft, cute and the perfect size for my girls. Miss E. was the lucky winner of Mandy (apparently sharing was not an option) and since then Mandy has been following Miss E. everywhere! To see some more of the sweet and adorable plush Yellow Labs that Douglas offers, simply click HERE!

One thing I really detest is junky, cheap stuffed animals. My kids loved the fact that Mandy is cute as a button. I loved that these toys are made by a company that value but quality AND TOY SAFETY. Douglas offers high quality, unique toys (to define this I consider that both the both the materials and the construction are of high quality)














Douglas also has a fun product line of RAD Dogs and Quilties (Dogs and Horses). These are very colorful, unique and great for the kid that loves something a little bit different. I LOVE the Multiflower Quilti Dog pictured below! The Quilties look like something little girls would treasure and although the RAD Dogs were probably designed with boys in mind, these would be good for either a little boy or a little girl.














Douglas also offers the following product lines:
- Baby
- Horses
- Cold Weather Animals
- Cats
- Wildlife and Farm
- Sea Life
- Teddy Bears
- Unicorns and Dragons (LOVE the Unicorns)
- Dinosaurs and Beasts


Another line I love is the plush purses. In addition to their classic plush bags and purses, Douglas now offers ADORABLE the Cuddle Purses. How could your little girl would not love this? Any of these would be well loved by your little fashionista.



You can order Douglas online or find their toys at a retailer near you. To find the store nearest you that carries Douglas products click HERE!

Now for the fun part! Douglas has kindly offered one lucky Blogmania winner a Douglas toy of choice. To enter all you need to do is visit Douglas.com, select your favorite product and comment on this post. Douglas will ship the product directly to the winner.

THE RULES:

* Visit http://www.douglascuddletoy.com and select your favorite product. No other comments will be considered unless this is followed.

* Please make sure that your email address is in your profile or please post it with your entry.

* US entries only

* Giveaway starts 03/07/2009 and ends 03/21/2009 at 11:59pm EST

Please submit an additional comment for each extra entry
* For extra entries you can do any of the following:

- add my site to your blogroll
- blog about this giveaway linking to both blogmania AND Douglas
- *NEW* Add my button to your blog!
- Add me as a friend in Twitter
- Tweet about this giveaway
- Follow me in blogger
- sign up for my feed
- sign up for my feed at MB's Bloggy Sweeps @ http://bloggysweeps.blogspot.com
- Stumble Upon this post (see "Share This" below) and post your user name
- Add my blog to your Technorati favorites (see "Share This" below) and post your user name

- Winners will be contacted via email. WINNER MUST HAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN THEIR BLOGGER PROFILE, IF NOT, PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR POST OR ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE DRAWN. If a winner does not respond within 3 days another winner will be selected.

Douglas is responsible for for prize fulfillment. Winner selected via randomizer on or about 3/22/2009 and posted within 24 hours.

more to come

Hello again - Just a quick note to let everyone know that I will have 1 - 2 new giveaway(s) posted this weekend! Keep an eye out.

I have been very busy with work this week but hope to catch up with shopping, cleaning and blogging over the weekend.

Oh, and my 13 year old has a "date". More on that later.

snow days

Well it has snowed again here and the girlies had off from school today. Working from home was pretty stressful. The snow was too mushy for them to go out and play in, so they burnt their energy off indoors while I tried to work. Amazingly I was able to get quite a bit done. Now it is 10:30 pm and the girls are still not asleep. They are upstairs in the loft on the pull out bed, giggling away. At least they are not arguing.

I have a feeling there will be a make-up day this weekend or next. Miss E. was so excited the first time I used the term "make-up day". She said "A make-up day? really", to which I responded "Yes. A make-up day". She then proceeded to ask "Where we put on make-up all day at school?". I hated to disappoint her but had to inform her that a makeup day where when they made up the day at school they missed due to the "snow-day".

So now tomorrow we are on a 2 hour delay. I am wondering how long it will take before we get back to our regular schedule.

PaperJewels - giveaway

Paperjewels.com is a site featuring lovely, colorful, pendants and earrings. There are several categories to choose from including the following:

- Japanese Kanji Collection
- Chinese Pinyin Collection
- Your Name in Chinese
- Your Name in Japanese
- Florals
- Animals
- Glass Tile Pendants
- Necklaces

Each piece of jewelry is made and finished by hand - there will be tiny variations in each piece. Most are made to order - You can find out more about the creation process HERE!

If you are looking for affordable and trendy accessories to add to your collection I highly recommend that you check out paperjewels.com. The prices are VERY reasonable, plus you have the opportunity to own a piece of jewelry that is truly unique and elegant.

PaperJewels.com has offered a free personalized pendant to one lucky winner! All entrants are also eligible for a discount on any purchases - Please use Coupon Code SB15 for 15'% off any item at http://www.paperjewels.com

THE RULES:

* Visit http://www.paperjewels.com/glass.html and select your favorite. No other comments will be considered unless this is followed. The winner will be able to select the color, initial, etc. Shipping is on the prize for the winner is free.

* Please make sure that your email address is in your profile or please post it with your entry.

* US entries only

* Giveaway starts 03/01/2009 and ends 03/15/2009 at 11:59pm EST

Please submit an additional comment for each extra entry
* For extra entries you can do any of the following:

- add my site to your blogroll
- blog about this giveaway linking to both blogmania AND paperjewels.com
- *NEW* Add my button to your blog!
- Add me as a friend in Twitter (misaacmom)
- Tweet about this giveaway
- Follow me in blogger
- sign up for my feed - this is in the top right hand corner of my page
- sign up for my feed at MB's Bloggy Sweeps @ http://bloggysweeps.blogspot.com
- Stumble Upon this post (see "Share This" below) and post your username
- Add my blog to your Techorati favorites (see "Share This" below) and post your username

- Winners will be contacted via email. WINNER MUST HAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN THEIR BLOGGER PROFILE, IF NOT, PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR POST OR ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE DRAWN. If a winner does not respond within 3 days another winner will be selected.

Paperjewels.com is responsible for for prize fulfillment. Winner selected via randomizer on or about 3/16/2009 and posted within 24 hours.