With Old Man Winter making his way into our lives for yet another season, one big problem many women have to face is dry skin. I know when it gets really cold and windy here in Virginia, my skin can get rather parched and cracked, making my make-up look a little odd, despite using moisturizers and other skin care products. I recently learned about a great product from SKINDINAVIA, Moisture Lock Makeup Finish, that can help your skin look dewy and bright even through these harsh winter months. What is Moisture Lock? It is an ultra-fine make-up setting spray for dry skin types. Here are some of it's unique features: • Holds makeup perfectly over dry skin. • Creates a luminous and dewy finish. • Keeps makeup surface smooth. • Stops cracking, creasing, and makeup caking. • A great replacement to powder. • Translucent and weightless. • Hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, and oil free. Doesn't this product sound fabulous?! I know I am going to have to give it a try! But before I head out and purchase Moisture Lock, I am going to enter the Backstage Beauty Access sweepstakes for the chance to WIN some. A YEAR'S supply, to be exact! That's not all, though...This is HUGE...In addition to a whole year's supply of Skindinavia products, someone is going to get a 20 minute video chat with Emmy award winning celeb make-up artist and beauty expert, Melanie Mills! You may know her from the hit series, "Dancing With The Stars"! One very lucky winner will receive a one-on-one 20 minute video chitchat via Skype with Melanie to dish about the latest trends, ask beauty questions galore and bring out the best in YOU with tipsthat'll keep your makeup on and your glow sparkling long after the holiday lights have come down - the winner will also snag a year's supply of makeup finishing sprays from SKINDINAVIA. Look fierce and fabulous, Hollywood style. In addition to the fantastic Grand Prize, 10 more winners will be randomly selected to receive a year's supply of SKINDINAVIA products as well! How cool is that! To enter the SKINDINAVIA Backastage Beauty Access Contest, please click HERE or simply click the photo below. BUT WAIT! To celebrate the kick-off of this exciting contest, I will be hosting a SKINDINAVIA giveaway right here, too! So keep reading!!
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Babies have very unique nutritional needs. With all the growing done in the first 12 months of life, this isn't very surprising if you ask me. An important but often overlooked component of a healthy diet is whole grains. Whole grains can also be introduced during this important developmental period. Most adults don't get the daily recommended value of whole grains, so starting early can definitely put a child on track for balanced eating later in life. My youngest child Xander is about to turn a year old, and he has been enjoying whole grains for some time now. I started him on infant cereals like rice, oatmeal, and mixed grains. Now he also enjoys whole grain and wheat toast and crackers as well. Some other things Xander loves are Earth's Best Pop Snax and Blueberry Snackin' Fruit Hearts! I make sure to include whole grain products with every meal, since the fiber found in whole grains can help baby stay satisfied longer after meals and snacks. Fiber also plays a key role in helping the digestive tract stay regular. And as a bonus, offering baby a variety of whole grains helps to expand their exposure to new tastes and textures. As the Holidays approach, I have spent a lot of time thinking about family....Family near and far away....Family who is no longer with us. Even family we have yet to meet. We live in Virginia, and most of our family is out of state, making it difficult to get together as often as we'd like. I have a wonderful sister-in-law who lives in Texas, my grandparents and other family members live in Ohio, and my husband's birth-mother and her family are all the way in Chicago. Add to that the various aunts, uncles, and cousins that are spread throughout the country, and you'll see that we're literally scattered all over the place! One family member I have spent a lot of time thinking about lately is my Uncle Greg, who is a high-ranking Officer in the United States Air Force. While he is one of the many brave men and woman who serve our country every day, he is also a husband and the father of 2 great kids. Greg has spent a lot of time overseas, first in Kuwait and now in Afghanistan. He's been there for about a year now, and has been living in less than favorable conditions. In Afghanistan, there is no sewer system, so human waste literally flows down the street. In addition to the less than sanitary conditions, the attitude towards Americans is not exactly friendly. So living in Afghanistan has been like living in Hell itself for my uncle and the other courageous soldiers who serve there. Luckily, my favorite soldier will be coming home on January 1, 2012. Waiting for him will be his awesome wife, Darlene, and their 2 teens, Angel and Buddy. Not all of our soldiers are lucky enough to be coming home so soon. Please keep our service men and women in your thoughts and prayers this Holiday season. Even send a care package to a soldier if you can. Little reminders of the good ole' US of A are much appreciated and can make the time served overseas a lot more bearable. To many of them, there really IS no place like home for the Holidays! ***Disclosure: This post was sponsored by T-Mobile. While I am being compensated for my post, all thoughts and ideas are 100% my own.***
If you're a blogger and want more twitter followers, there's an awesome event called “Twitter Blast." This is a free event for bloggers to get some new Twitter followers! Amee from Madame Deals and Jen from all her blogs (Kobiso, Makobi Scribe, Sason and Pobi, etc) are the sponsors!! Simply sign up, follow the instructions, and watch your twitter presence grow! For more details and to sign up click here! As you all know, I am a BabyLegs fanatic! So naturally, I wanted to share this exciting Holiday promotion being held on the BabyLegs Facebook page! Every day through 12/23/11, BabyLegs is giving away a $100 BabyLegs Gift Basket to one lucky Facebook Fan and at the end of the giveaway, one winner gets a Grand Prize $500 Gift Basket!
How to enter: Like BabyLegs on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/babylegs Fill out the entry form (must be a Fan to see it): http://www.facebook.com/babylegs?sk=app_184766258232400 One winner will be chosen every day. The winner will be contacted via email and, as soon as they respond, their name will be posted on Facebook! Fans only need to enter once to be eligible for ALL 13 Giveaways! Go enter! I know I will! Being the proud mama of 3 great kids, I am always looking for ways to make them as cute and unique as they can be. After all, they all have very different personalities, and I like to reflect that in their wardrobes. My 11 year old doesn't let me dress him anymore, since apparently he is "not a child." Okay. That statement made me cry just a little, but I still have my 2 youngest babies that I can dress any way I'd like. Both of them have very sweet personalities, albeit the fact that they tend to be polar opposites in a lot of ways. My soon to be 2 year old, Sophie, is larger than life. She is a little punk-rock diva and loves things that are bright, bold, and in your face. She also loves skulls and animal prints. Sophie is a girly-girl who loves dressing up in tutus, dresses, and bold statement pieces. Pretty pastels are not her style. She loves black, hot pink, purple, and red. She also loves tie-dye clothing and carries my tie-dye purse around any chance she gets! Sophie is ALL attitude and is definitely a little snobby at times. If she doesn't like something, she WILL let someone know by closing her eyes with her arms folded across her chest. When Sophie's not happy, nobody's happy. It's actually pretty hilarious to see her diaper get all in a bunch because something isn't just right in her own little world. Xander on the other hand is my sweet, laid-back baby. He is usually happy and smiling, and doesn't seem to mind much of anything. He's very happy-go-lucky and just goes with the flow. He loves animals and people and just seems to be mellow pretty much all the time. Unless of course he is tired or hungry. The rest of the time he simply loves laughing, playing, babbling, and snuggling. His style? Well, he doesn't really have one yet! He seems to like just about everything. Perhaps it's due to his laid-back nature, or maybe it's simply because he's a boy. One great way to personalize wardrobe basics for a child is through customizing clothing. This can be done in a variety of ways, including screen-printing, embroidering, heat-transfers, and sublimation. This can be great fun for those crafty mamas out there who want to give that personal touch to their kids' clothing. Customizing simple wardrobe basics is a wonderful way to add style to a child's wardrobe without breaking the bank. One great supplier of such garments is Kidsblanks by Zoey! Kidsblanks is a wholesale supplier of a TON of great items such as , t-shirts,dance tutus for babies and toddlers, leopard print shoes,legwarmers, leotards, bibs, tutus, crocheted beanies, cotton baby beanie hats, burp cloths, diaper covers, pajamas, night gowns, wholesale baby blankets, fleece hoodies with matching karate pants, short sleeve and long sleeve one pieces, infant beanie hats, flower and bow clips, newborn swaddle blankets, baby lap-tees, infant dresses, toddler dresses, camouflage t-shirts for baby, men and ladies. Their garments come in a wide variety and even some super-fun prints like animal prints, polka dots, and even damask! The best part? These items are all ready to be customized in any way you'd like! How cool is that?! I received a variety of Kidsblanks by Zoey products to try for myself, including an adorable tutu. These items are very high quality and made by Laughing Giraffe. The long-sleeved onesies and toddler dresses are made of a nice soft cotton, and are actually quite durable. While the prices per item are incredibly low, the quality is superior. Don't let those low prices fool you! Because Kidsblanks is a wholesaler, they can offer rock-bottom prices on great wardrobe essentials for the entire family! Take a look at some of the items I received from Kidsblanks: As many of you already know, I love cloth diapering. A lot. I probably have over 150 cloth-diapers of various brands, styles, and types. I guess you could call me absolutely fluff-obsessed! With 2 babies in cloth, can you really blame me? With all the great cloth-diapering options available in so many fun colors, fabrics and prints, I am always on the lookout for the latest and greatest designs in the cloth diapering world. My love affair with all things fluffy started when we discovered we were pregnant with our son Xander, the little booger to the left, just after I had given birth to our daughter, Sophie. (The babies are literally 12 months and 2 weeks apart in age.) We were faced with the fact that we had to prepare for our new arrival, and the cost of keeping two babies in disposable diapers would have been astronomical. We're a one-income family, so there was no way this would be even remotely affordable! A friend of mine then talked to me about cloth diapering. She had been using cloth for some time on her two youngest daughters, and she raved about it. So I started doing some research of my own. I quickly discovered that modern cloth is not what I had envisioned at all. Long gone are the days of huge diaper pins, prefolds, and squeaky rubber pants. Modern cloth had come a long way, making the decision to make the change easy. On top of the fact that cloth diapers behave and look much like their disposable counterparts, they are a much more environmentally sound choice as well. Diapers are already a huge problem in our already overflowing landfills, and it can take up to 500 years for disposable diapers to biodegrade. Eeeek! Also, cloth diapers are free of all of the nasty chemicals often used in disposable diapers, which makes for less rashes and irritation for baby. After learning about cloth and seeing it in action, I was definitely hooked! While cloth diapering can and does save thousands of dollars over a baby's diapering career, the initial start-up cost can be rather daunting. Some diapers cost well over $20.00 EACH! Building a good stash of cloth can get expensive quickly. That's why when I was contacted by Diaper Junction about their new affordable line of diapers, Diaper Rite, I was really excited. I was already familiar with Diaper Junction, since they are a leading retailer in all things cloth diaper related. They carry all of the best, most trusted brands and often have great sales. So I knew that if the folks over at Diaper Junction believed in this product, it must be good! Diaper Rite One Size Diapers look much like some old favorites of mine, GoGreen Pocket Diapers and Kawaii Diapers, but they have a few key differences. These diapers are customized with a cross over snap, an extra row of bottom snaps, and a better placed hip snap. They also come with 2 ultra-absorbent, three-layer microfiber inserts. And another thing that makes these diapers super-appealing? The price! Standard Diaper Rite OS Diapers are only $9.95 each, while the Diaper Rite Bamboo Diapers are only $11.95 each! This is literally HALF of the cost per diaper than many other cloth diaper brands! Did I mention that Diaper Rite Diapers come in a HUGE variety of vibrant colors? I'd love to own one of each! If you're anything like me, you have some people on your Holiday gift list that are very difficult to shop for. You know, the people who either seem to have everything already, or those who simply say "I don't know" when asked what they'd like to receive. My husband is a prime example of this! What does HE want for Christmas? I kid you now, an S-Class Mercedes something-or-other that costs more than some houses. Yeah, that is so not going to happen any time soon! So when shopping for my husband, I have to get creative. Dan, being the typical man's man, loves beer. And what goes great with beer, especially during those sporting events? Soft pretzels! When looking online for a way to make homemade soft pretzels, I stumbled upon Nostalgia Electrics. This company is awesome, offering tons of innovative and fun electric appliances that bring the fun back into the kitchen. Some of their products include Fondue Fountains, Slush Drink Makers, and yes, they even have a Kegorator, something my husband has been desperately wanting for the entirety of his adult life. They also carry some awesome, retro-styled refrigerators, toasters, and other fun items that will make you feel like you've stepped back in time to a genuine 1950's diner! I was thrilled to receive the Soft Pretzel Factory for my review. While the hubby still doesn't have a Kegorator, he can have all the soft pretzels his heart desires as he settles down on the couch with his bottled beer to watch the Bears games. (Yes, I realize I SHOULD be a Redskins fan, living in Virginia, but we're Chicago fans all the way!) The Soft Pretzel Factory from Nostalgia Electrics is actually really neat. With this small, space-saving appliance, you can make chewy, delicious soft pretzels in the comfort of your own kitchen without ever having to turn on the oven! Take a look at this awesome little machine: One thing I have always loved, more than even sex or chocolate, is music. Okay, so I never really liked chocolate very much in the first place. But I do love cheese, so we'll go with that instead. I love music more than I love cheese. I was always very active in choir and have even been in a few musical productions. I love singing, playing guitar and piano, (which I am finally pretty good at) and I also love listening to music from all genres, with the exception of Death Metal. Frankly, all that loud noise and growling gives me a headache and scares the crap out of me. Music has always been a huge part of my life, so I was extremely excited to get the opportunity to review Sing4 for the Wii. What is Sing4? Well, it's just like karaoke without all the drunken pervs pawing all over you...Or wait...Does that happen to everyone, or is it just me? Anyway, Sing4 is a great game for those who want to bring the thrills of karaoke into their own living rooms. This is awesome, since karaoke bars don't generally allow children and are full of the above described drunken, often tone-deaf perverts. The fact that it is played at home also opens up the world of karaoke to those who may be a little on the shy side and wouldn't feel overly comfortable belting their hearts out for all the world to see! Sing4 comes with it's own special microphone, and offers over 40 chart-topping, current hits from the likes of Ke$ha, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, The Doors, and many more superstars! You can even download additional songs if you'd like! Once you've chosen your song, simply set the voice controls to your liking and sing away! That's right, I said voice controls. They're actually pretty cool. You can sound like you've inhaled a TON of helium, sing normally, enable pitch correction, and more. While you're singing, Sing4 tracks your progress and you earn points for singing the songs on point. Another thing that also makes Sing4 unique is that you can play in "Juke-Box mode" which shows the music videos for the songs. Sophie, my 2 year old, LOVES music videos, so this is an awesome feature. She had a blast dancing to all the awesome music on Sing4! My 11 year old, Kyle, wanted me to take video of him playing Sing4 to demonstrate how cool this game really is. He's not the best singer in the world, but he's having fun and that's what counts! Well, living in my house, video games happen. A lot. My husband is an avid gamer, and my 11 year old is steadily following in his footsteps. It won't be long before Sophie and Xander start playing video games, too! Sophie is almost 2, and she tries to play simpler games already and doesn't do too badly, if I do say so myself. She even loves watching Daddy play games. Her favorites are Epic Mickey and Rock Band Beatles. She squeals and dances and has a blast whenever these games go into the Wii console. She even knows how to take games out and put them in herself! Yep, even at almost 2, I think she's inherited the gaming bug! With the Holiday season here, I was very excited to get the chance to review a great new seasonal game for the Wii, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. This game is based off of the old-school, claymation Holiday special we all know and love from childhood. The game is fast-paced and is simple enough for even younger kids to play. Playing as a young Kris Kringle, one must escape the Burgermeister Meisterburger and bring toys to the children of Sombertown. You can also collect snowflakes and "throw" toys to sad looking children. (Toys have been deemed illegal and immoral, so of course the village children are sad!) We played this game for awhile, much to the delight of my daughter. She loved seeing all of the Christmas themed action, and happily danced around to the music. My hubby said that the game was too easy for his tastes, but that it is absolutely perfect for small children. It's also a great way for families to play together and get into the Holiday spirit! Overall, I really liked this game and appreciate the fact that even very young children can play it easily. This Christmas adventure is a great way to have fun with the whole family this Holiday season! |
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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
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