Posts Tagged ‘Reviews’
Need a Mother’s Day gift?
So I guess I didn't scare you off, huh? Good! Welcome back!
I’ve been a single mom for so long that I’ve become used to those cute, homemade presents from the kids rather than flowers or an expensive store bought gift from a husband. And, honestly, I prefer the construction paper & crayon cards and the tissue paper flowers.
But my inner Girly Girl loves the fancy stuff too. Like jewelry. I do love jewelry and I’m pretty picky about the few pieces I wear. All of my jewelry has a special sentiment behind it – and its all either silver or white gold.
I fell in LOVE with pieces from the Lia Sophia collection. A lot of the styles they offer are pretty enough to be considered dressy but still simple enough to be worn every day.
Like this “Love Dust” heart-shaped, cut crystal, matching necklace and bracelet.
This set is absolutely gorgeous! And it suits me perfectly. I’ve been wearing it all week, whether I’m in jeans or dressed up. I have a hard time finding jewelry I like but the “Love Dust” set is definitely a favorite. And I’ve received a lot of compliments on it too.
After receiving the bracelet, I browsed through the new Lia Sophia Spring/Summer 2009 catalog and found page after page of stunning pieces that I would love to add to my own jewelry box.
Whether you need a Mother’s Day gift for the busy WAHM in your life or one who dresses up to go to the office every day, you’ll find something she’ll love from Lia Sophia!
Snack attack!
Look, I’m a busy mom. I don’t always have time to cook and sometimes its just me at home so its not worth it to cook a full meal. When the kids are gone, I usually eat leftovers, fast food, or frozen quick meals. But the frozen meals all seem to be low-cal, low-fat, low-taste. I mean, come on, if I wanted to eat watered down bland stuff, I’d stick with Ramen noodles.
So when I got the chance to try out something new, I said “Of course!”
Pillsbury now has a new line of appetizers called ‘Savorings’. Here’s how they describe them:
Yes, they look that good in real life!
Pillsbury Savorings Flaky Pastry Bites feature warm, flaky pastry dough wrapped around tasty fillings and come in three varieties; cheese and spinach, buffalo style chicken and mozzarella and pepperoni. They are easy to prepare (just 20 minutes in the oven) and are the perfect accompaniment to a glass of wine.
Ok, admit it. We’re all a little skeptical when it comes to ad copy. They use all of these yummy sounding descriptions for food that ends up tasting like cardboard. Not this time!
When they say “flaky pastry dough”, they mean it! The crust part came out perfectly. Kinda like croissants but a little crispier. I wanted to try the cheese and spinach but Princess was with me when I went to get them at the grocery store, so we got the mozzarella and pepperoni. Oh they were so good! Its hard trying to describe how something tastes so just think of them as gourmet pizza bite thingies. Is that fancy enough?
Now I don’t drink anymore or any less but let’s just say I’m familiar with wine and these really would be great with a glass or two of red. I’m thinking the cheese and spinach ones might go better with white though.
Hey, that’s a perfect lead-in to the giveaway!
For one lucky winner, I’ve got a coupon for a free box of Pillsbury Savorings and a gorgeous organza gift bag that contains a wine bottle topper, wine glass charms, a bottle opener, a wine and food guide, stampable wine tags and an appetizer plate that also holds your wine glass.
Just leave me a comment letting me know which flavor you’d like to try and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll take entries until Friday 10/24/08 at 10 PM Central then I’ll choose a random number based on the number of comments.
Good luck!
P.S. If you have a hard time finding these in your local grocery stores, like I did, you can visit the General Mills product locator to find which stores closest to you carry them.
Review-a-palooza: Maiden America No-Slip Barrettes
I don’t post pictures of my kids very often but if you’ve seen the few pics that I have posted of Princess, then you’ve seen that child’s hair. It’s very long and very fine. She was 4 years old before I even gave her so much as a trim and I’ve only done it twice more since then.
I love her hair. Its gorgeous. But its also impossible to do anything with! Those little clippy barrettes don’t stay in. Even ponytails don’t stay in. The only success I’ve had is braiding it.
Then I heard about Maiden America Non-Slip barrettes. When I was given the chance to review these, I mentioned it on Twitter and one of my Twitter people said “Let me know if they really are no-slip!”
They ARE! I did a little experiment. One morning I sent Princess to school with her regular clippy things in her hair. They were falling out before we even got to school. FAIL.
The next day, I did her hair using the Maiden America barrettes. They stayed in all.day. I kid you not! And I know they stayed in all day because when her barrettes fall out, she shoves them in her pocket or backpack because she can’t put them back in.
Maiden America: 1
Cheap clippy things: 0
And not only are these truly non-slip, they’re also beautiful! We tried several different styles and sizes. Princess has a pretty white floral barrette, a hot pink pair with crystals, a black and pink small one, a light blue one…pretty much something to match every one of her outfits. Maiden America has small flowers, big flowers, bows, velvet, satin and crystals and pearls. If you have a little girl who doesn’t have a lot of hair yet, you’ll want to get the tiny ones. And if you have a little girl with a lot of hair or thick hair, definitely go for the larger sizes. Like I said, we tried various sizes so we could use them to hold back just a little bit of hair at the sides or a big chunk of hair on top.
Princess and I both love these. She’s such a girly girl and she likes it when her hair looks pretty and, honestly, so do I. Its so much more fun than just throwing her hair back into a ponytail. Now we have both style and function.
Now my Princess doesn’t just act like a Princess…she looks like one too!
Share and share alike
I was reading this post at Simple Mom today about brothers and sisters sharing a room. I left this comment:
My two oldest kids are about 2.5 years apart, my daughter being older than my son. They originally shared a room because of space but as they got older and we moved into a bigger house, they could’ve had their own rooms but they didn’t want to. In fact, they did have their own rooms and yet they would still end up sleeping in the same room, one of them sneaking into the other’s after I’d put them to bed.
So for years they had a bedroom and a playroom, probably up until they were ages 9 and 7. They are now 18 and almost 16 and they’re still extremely close.
I had forgotten all about that until I was writing that comment. Sissy and Bubba grew up sharing just about everything – a bedroom, a playroom, toys.
And then I realized that Princess won’t have that same experience. Since her siblings are so much older than she is, she doesn’t have to share much with them other than the TV, the Play Station or the computer.
Now I don’t want her growing up to be spoiled, selfish or stingy. (Ok, it might be a little too late on the spoiled thing.) I want her to be compassionate, giving, and willing to share with others.
Luckily, I’ve discovered a fun way to do this. Hasbro has this new series of games out called Noodleboro, one of which is the ‘Learning to Share’ Fun Park. She has a blast playing this. Its not just a regular ol’ board game. The layout of the game includes a carnival style layout with 4 different stations. The goal is to win prizes from each game and if you win more than one of a certain kind of prize, you earn a star by sharing your extra prize with another player who doesn’t have one.
The best thing about it is that there is no “winner.” The point of the game is for the entire group to collect enough stars before the sun goes down and the park closes. So rather than putting player against player, the players are working as a team.
We’ve had a lot of fun with this game. Of course, there have been times where we don’t worry about collecting the prizes and the stars; we just play with the little carnival games.
Oh, and if your child doesn’t have any problems sharing – meaning they’ve outgrown the “Mine!” stage – then you might want to try the other Noodleboro games. There’s the “Learning About Manners” Picnic Basket game and the “Learning to Listen” Pizza Palace game.
I need a girlfriend
No, not that kind of girlfriend, although based on my experiences with dating lately it does sound like a better alternative.
I mean a girlfriend, like the kind you can tell anything to, the kind that will tell you yes those jeans DO make your butt look big, the kind who will rush over with a bottle of Absolut pint of Ben & Jerry’s when you find out the jerk is cheating on you.
That’s what Mary has. Actually, she has a few of them. See, Mary is really Meg Ryan and her girlfriends are Annette Bening, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett Smith. And they’re all in a movie called ‘The Women‘.
‘The Women’ is a remake of a 1939 movie by the same name that takes a comical look at women and the ties that bind them. When ‘the women’ find out that Mary’s husband is having an affair – with Eva Mendes of all people who I absolutely adore but really want to choke in this movie – her friends come to her rescue. But its more than just a story about cheating spouses, its about loyalty, betrayal, gossip, careers, and friendships.
The amazing thing about ‘The Women‘ is what went on behind the scenes. If you visit Dove.com, you can watch a short film about “The Women Behind The Women” to learn, first-hand, how Hollywood creates the images we see on screen, highlighting the work and people involved in making a major motion picture come to life.
The short film encourages women to challenge today’s beauty stereotypes, celebrates the opportunities for women to empower one another and explores the diverse definitions of beauty, shared through interviews with some of the cast and crew of The Women. The Women Behind “The Women” is available exclusively on Dove.com.
Here’s what you’ll find at Dove.com:
- View exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of The Women & The Women Behind “The Women”
- Read the Director’s Diary, written by Diane English
- Go Behind-the-Scenes with Dove teen journalist Cammy Nelson
- Download self-esteem building tools for girls, moms and mentors
- Enter for a chance to win a trip for you and a friend to the LA film premiere of The Women on September 4 (Sweepstakes ends 8/20. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.).
- Enter for a chance to win one of 100 pairs of movie tickets each day between 9/3 and 9/19 (No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.).
Its all tied in with Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty which is just awesome. Its been around for a few years and already it has made such a difference. Remember how shocking and controversial it was a few years ago when Dove ran ads showing women of all sizes, shapes, colors and ages (some of them in their skivvies!)? Now we don’t even bat a well-curved and mascara’d eyelash. Yay Dove!!
Anyway…I get to do something this weekend that I haven’t done in a long time. I get to go relax and enjoy a movie all by myself. No potty breaks during the good scenes, no trips to the concession stand because someone’s root beer is all gone.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
