With Valentine's Day rapidly approaching, many of us, husbands especially, are looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for their significant other. Sure, there is a wide variety of Valentine's Day merchandise available now. It's everywhere you look. I cannot go to the grocery store without being assaulted by aisles and aisles that appear to be coated in Pepto Bismol, containing boxes of chocolate of various shapes and sizes, cheesy stuffed animals, and even cards that are bigger than a small child. It's safe to say, love is in the air. While you can definitely take the safe route and grab some mass-produced, overly generic Valentine's Day gifts from the big box retailers, does that REALLY do your love justice? In my humble opinion, it doesn't. There's nothing unique or special about the gifts you'll find in these large chain stores. All these gifts tell me when I receive them is that my husband was so incredibly clueless as to Valentine's Day that he resorted to heading into the local Walmart, fought through hoards of people, and grabbed the first thing that he saw on one of those overly decorated shelves. Sure, the gesture is nice, but there's nothing special about a stuffed toy, poorly versed card, and some chocolates that I won't even end up eating. No real thought goes into them. Guys, I'm talking to you here: Women like to feel cherished, not only on Valentine's Day, but every day. We like it when you put real thought and effort into a gift. We like to be wowed. It makes us feel special. And when WE feel special, we do things to make you men happy, too! Heck, you might even get out of the doghouse if you give a gift that truly says "I love you". So rather than giving her something she'll just toss into a closet and forget about, why not check out the amazing personalized laser photo crystals from 3D Laser Gifts? 3D Laser Gifts is an amazing company that specializes in custom, laser-etched, 3D crystal keepsakes to make your gifts unique, beautiful and from the heart. 3D Laser Gifts offers only the finest crystal products, and can engrave practically any type of design or logo on a variety of styles and sizes. Along, with their unparalleled image artwork based on your specifications, leading technology using green light laser, which produces the highest quality in laser etching reproduction, and fast shipping, they are your premier source for personalized, laser engraved, crystal gifts. HOW DOES IT WORK? Photo crystals are made using a special laser that focuses its concentrated beams of light to a precise point below the surface of the crystal. Each bright point in the image is plotted in the final crystal piece. The laser then focuses a high-powered beam on each three-dimensional coordinate. Once the beam reaches the focal point, the powerful laser pulse makes a tiny void or inclusion inside the crystal. Then the laser moves to the next coordinate and makes another etched point. Finally, enough points are created to reproduce the design deep within the crystal. As laser beams are non-invasive, no marks or blemishes are left on the surface of the crystal. When viewed from any angle the intricate design is viewed much like a three dimensional sculpture. Of course the best results will come from a high-resolution photo. A blurry photo will not produce ideal results. Also, the best images contain one, two, or possibly even three subjects.
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I have some lucky winners to announce!!
Green Toys: Alisha K. Earth's Best: Renee B. My Wonderful Walls: Stacey B. Bioken: Mickey C. You've all been e-mailed and have 48 hours to claim your prizes! Congrats! Thanks so much to everyone who entered, and be sure to check back often for more great giveaways! In my house, we are carnivores, plain and simple. True, I love organic and natural foods, but I am by no means a vegetarian. I tried to go that route one time, but found that I just couldn't give up tasty little critters! My stint as a vegetarian lasted all of about a week before I completely threw in the towel and went back to my meat-eating ways. The thing that did me in? Bacon! I was craving bacon something fierce, and I just had to have a big, juicy cheeseburger topped with a crispy, smoky pile of bacony goodness. Bacon just makes everything better, if you ask me. But now even those living a completely Vegan lifestyle can enjoy the undeniably delectable flavor of bacon, without ever having to ingest a pig...or a turkey, if that's how you roll. On a side note, what the heck is up with turkey bacon, anyway? Sure, it's lower fat than pork bacon, but turkey and bacon simply do not belong together in the same sentence! I have tried this odd phenomenon before, and to me, it did not look, taste, or act like genuine bacon. It didn't even cook like the real deal! Okay, rant over. I suppose turkey bacon is one of those mysteries in the world that we're not meant to fully understand. Anyway, now even those living a Vegan lifestyle can enjoy the flavor of bacon! How is this possible? Well, I have found a product that gives you the taste sensation that only bacon can deliver, but with none of the guilt! Bacon Salt! I promise, when using this product, all of the little piggies safely made it all the way home, and none were harmed in the making of this tasty treat. J&D's Bacon Salt is a low sodium, zero calorie, zero fat, vegetarian and kosher seasoning that makes everything taste like bacon. Yum! I am fairly certain that a lot kids my son's age would HATE it if I were their mother. Am I mean? No. Abusive? No. Neglectful? Nope! Do I even spank? Not at all. Plus I can cook a mean dinner and I listen to all the current music. So why would a preteen despise having me as their parent? Well, because I am completely and totally opposed to allowing kids of this age to be on Facebook...Or twitter...Or any other social media network. I'm sure I just heard collective gasp of disbelief here. Yes, said it. No preteen child of mine (or younger) will be on Facebook. Ever. Period. Of course I understand the value of Facebook and similar sites. As a blogger, I utilize them every single day. These sites offer a great way to stay connected to friends, family, and even to businesses. You can chat, send messages, even play games and join groups. Facebook is a fun place to be, and is a very valuable networking tool. For adults, that is. Facebook can also be full of content that no kid should be privy to. While Facebook is not (usually) pornographic, there are many photos and pages that I, as a parent, would deem inappropriate. My soon to be 12 year old son does NOT need to see lingerie and bikini models' public profiles with their tatas hanging out in all their glory. Nor does he need to see peoples' drunken Mardi Gras pics, etc. Heck, a good friend of mine who is very openly gay has photos from the Gay Pride Parade in Washington, DC. One of them shows him performing a certain, oral act on a phallic ice sculpture. As an adult, I was able to giggle at these photos. Does my child need to see it, though? Yeah, not so much. There is a lot of content that is perfectly fine for adult eyes but may not be suitable for younger kids. And no, not everyone keeps their Facebook privacy settings on lockdown like I do. So kids aren't truly protected. It's time for another UPrinting giveaway! If you haven't heard of UPrinting before, let me tell you a bit about this great company. They offer a ton of different custom print products like business cards, rolled canvas prints, and even huge vinyl banners, just to name a few. I actually had my business cards made by UPrinting, and the turnaround was lightning fast, the customer service helpful, and the quality of my business cards was superior. I have always been quite impressed by the quality of the products I have created using UPrinting, and plan to use them for all of my future printing needs!
Today I'd like to tell you about their custom flyer printing. These flyers come on 14pt. high-gloss cardstock and are available in a variety of sizes. These would be wonderful as Save the Date cards, party invitations, or even as detailed calling cards for those of you who may be attending blogging conferences in the future. These would be great to hand to different PR and company representatives that you may meet while you're there, and a wonderful way to make a lasting impression. Another possible use is event promotion! I know a few club promoters, and they use flyers to spread the word about different night-life events all the time. Of course, having 3 kids at home, I never get to attend these events. But whether it be concerts, themed events, or even fund-raising events, flyers can come in very handy to bring awareness to them in a bold, attractive way. If you are unsure of how to design these flyers for your event, UPrinting even offers downloadable business and nightlife templates to help point you in the right direction and get those creative juices flowing! If you need them in a hurry, that's no problem, either. UPrinting offers 3 day turnaround time and FREE shipping within the US! WIN IT! One very lucky reader will receive 250 flyers! 4.25" x 5.5", 4" x 6" 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Front Only Printing, nightclub flyer templates and business flyer templates also available for download 3 Business Days Turnaround Free US shipping only Please use this easy Rafflecopter form to enter. This giveaway is open to US residents 18+ until 12:00AM on February 12, 2012. No PO Boxes. Winner will be drawn using Rafflecopter's Random Number Generator. All entries will be verified, so play fair! I will notify winner via e-mail and they will have 48 hours to reply before I am forced to redraw winners. No prize substitutions allowed.Winners are allowed to win once over a six-month period. Only email addresses used for the giveaway will be eligible to claim the prize. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. This contest is not affiliated with Facebook in any way. Thanks for entering, and Good Luck! ***Disclosure: You should assume that the owner of this blog will receive free print products in exchange for the post. Any and all reviews posted are based solely on my own experience and may be atypical. Please practice due diligence in making any related purchase decisions.*** NOTE: The +1 option on the entry form doesn't seem to be working on the Rafflecopter widget. If you wish to complete this entry, please do so here: While I am fortunate enough to not suffer from many aches and pains, even at the ripe "old" age of 30, my husband is an entirely different story altogether. Dan spent many years working as a mechanic, and while he is no longer turning wrenches and has a cushy desk job in the automotive field, his poor body still suffers from its past abuse. He often suffers from back pain, and even gets random stiffness in his legs and even in his wrists. Dan is your typical stubborn man, and refuses to see a doctor, as his pain is never overly severe. It's more of an annoyance than anything else. He also HATES taking any sort of oral medication. He has a hard time swallowing pills, and even something as tiny as a baby aspirin will leave him gagging and choking. I personally don't like to use a lot of over-the-counter drugs, either. Sure, I keep them in my home for fever reduction, etc. But if at all possible, I turn to naturally-derived, homeopathic remedies whenever possible. I have found that these kinds of remedies work just as well as their synthetically produced counterparts, if not better. And with natural medications, I don't have to worry about adverse reactions and safety issues nearly as much. With all of the recent recalls and health news surrounding common, over-the-counter drugs and their dangers, can you blame me for being cautious? One company I really like is Boiron. Boiron is the maker of a wide variety of homeopathic medicines, and I have personally used a lot of their cold relief products. They really do work, too! So naturally, when I learned about Arnicare Gel, I was eager to try it. Arnicare Gel, from the makers of Boiron products, is a topical pain relief gel that uses Arnica montana, an ingredient that is known to reduce muscle pain and stiffness, relieve swelling due to injury, and even help improve discoloration of the skin caused by bruising. I thought this would be a perfect remedy for my husband's muscle aches and pains, and one that he couldn't complain about. Since it's a topical gel, there is nothing he would have to try and swallow! As a mom, I love convenience foods that allow me to give the kids a quick snack or even a "mini-meal" between meals. Especially my preteen! I am truly starting to believe that he has either a tapeworm or a hollow leg, since he eats more in a day than some entire families do! This kid can put away heaping plates of food without batting an eye and will then be hungry again only a few minutes later! He would devour the entire contents of the fridge if I let him. I'm actually highly considering getting a padlock for it! So obviously, I need to keep some easy to prepare foods on hand for when hunger strikes, which should be in the next 5 minutes, if I know my son! He's always ravenous after a long day of school, so I know to expect the ongoing mantra of "But Mooo-ooom, I'm hungry!" I tend to be very picky about what snacks and foods I feed my kids, and in my opinion, natural or organic is always best. While prepackaged foods are indeed convenient, they are not often nutritious. Most "kid favorites" are laden with chemicals, fillers, and preservatives. These are not things I want to be giving my kids, if I can at all help it. I try and give them all-natural foods whenever possible. I was thrilled when I recently discovered the burritos and quesadillas from Red's All Natural. What kid doesn't love these Mexican staples? All 3 of my kids, toddlers included, love these items. What makes Red's All Natural so darn awesome is the fact that their products are just that: All Natural. That's right! No fillers, no preservatives, no junk whatsoever. These burritos are filled with only the finest natural and organic ingredients available. Want all natural turkey or chicken? They've got it! Or maybe you're a carnivore like me and want some tender, juicy steak? Well, Red's has got that, too. Add to that farm-fresh veggies like corn, black beans, peppers and onions, and you're got a winning combination. They've even added a few top secret ingredients that make these burritos even more delicious. I hear they might be unicorn tears, but that has not been confirmed or denied by the owners. So today I received a package from my "Boyfriend in Brown" AKA the UPS Man. It was a box that had the 1-800-FLOWERS logo, as well as the 1-800-BASKETS logo on it. I am not currently working with either company, so needless to say, I was totally puzzled. I opened the box, and there was no note, no card, nothing. Just a HUGE purple Chinese Take-Out style box. Strange, huh? Inside of the box was a gigantic, beautifully wrapped, chocolate and candy coated fortune cookie! I mean, this baby is huge! I had never seen anything like it before in my life! Of course, I thought it was too darn pretty to crack open, so I started googling sweepstakes thinking maybe I won it while entering sweeps at 3:00AM while half-asleep. After all, I have never seen such a gorgeous fortune cookie, so I would have HAD to be severely sleep deprived, as I often am, or I would have remembered entering to win one, right? Of course, my Google search proved to be fruitless. Back to the drawing board. Then I started calling everyone I know asking if they had sent me something really odd...I called my grandparents up in Ohio, my sister-in-law in Texas, and every other person I could think of that would have my address. Needless to say, I was going bonkers! I knew it wasn't my husband for 2 reasons: While he is wonderful, he is probably the most unromantic man in the world and this wouldn't even have occurred to him. And I manage our finances so I would have seen a charge show up in our statements, which I check daily. Finally, I was able to literally fish the fortune out of the cookie. Here's what it said: "A DAY WITHOUT LAUGHTER IS A DAY WASTED"-Charlie Chaplin. WELCOME TO THE 2012 STEP2 TEST DRIVE MOM BLOGGER PROGRAM! THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO AS A MOM AND AS A STEP2 BRAND ADVOCATE. THE STEP2 TEAM This totally made my day! Not only because I am THRILLED to have been selected as part of Step2's 2012 Mom Blogger team, but because I genuinely love this company. They have some of the absolute best products for kids on the market today, and I am always excited to work with them and share with my readers. My kids love them, too! Plus, this is a company that really knows how to treat people. They are friendly, warm, and with little surprises such as this, really know how to make us Mom Bloggers feel like part of the Step2 family! Must be because they're from Ohio...And Ohio people are awesome. I should know, haha. I grew up not too far from the Step2 Headquarters!
THANK YOU, STEP2! Looking forward to another wonderful year of working together! You guys are the best! I have always been told that I don't look my age. As a matter of fact, I get told constantly that I don't look old enough to have a preteen! When people guess my age, they often peg me for being in my early 20's. Well, as flattering as that is, this mama just turned 30 in June. Yep, the big 3-0! Yes, like many women, I had a mini-nervous breakdown at the thought of being thirty. I suppose it's not old, but it seems like only yesterday that I was a teen. I guess time flies when you're having fun! I think part of the reason that I may not look my age is the fact that I have been serious about skincare since my early 20's. I have been using daily moisturizers, night creams, gentle cleansers, and even wrinkle creams for many years now. They definitely do help keep the skin looking dewy and young, and it makes sense to start this type of regiment before you have "problem skin." It's all about preventative maintainence! When it comes to maintaining a youthful appearance, there are a few things one must remember:
Bloggers, you know as well as I do that more and more companies are relying heavily on social media stats, like Facebook Fans and twitter followers! How can you build your following quickly? By participating in great events that feature these outlets! I recently participated in a Twitter Blast, and I gained HUNDREDS of new followers by the end of the event! Easy, peasy!
I'd love to tell you about a new hop you can participate in, which is being hosted by Jennifer at Makobiso. This event will get you those Facebook fans you crave, and one lucky winner will receive a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate! How cool is that?! $100 on Amazon goes a LONG way, too! For more info on how YOU can participate, click the image above! See you on Facebook! |
PR Friendly Mama!
I'm Brandy, a happily married, proud Mom of 3 amazing kids. If you're interested in building a working relationship, please feel free to e-mail me at: NewlyCrunchyMamaOf3@gmail.com Links We Love :Archives
June 2023
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