Friday, July 31, 2009

Music For Me & More!!

Okay, so technically its not for ME... but if it makes Lil' Buddy then it's definitely for ME!

Given the opportunity to review something special for Lil' Buddy from Music For Me & More, we had to pick the Baby Genius Favorite Nursery Rhymes. Now that the little guy is almost a year, I had come to realize that almost all of our personalized stuff belongs to Boug... and I felt so bad that Lil' Buddy didn't have much personalized for him. The Baby Genius Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Music For Me & More was absolutely perfect! It's a great DVD that isn't just personalized with his name, but his picture too!!
Lil' Buddy's face lights up each time that the DVD goes into the player and for two days straight he carried around the DVD case. Music For Me & More offers so many different choices that it was hard to make the initial decision, but I'm so happy with the Baby Genius choice that we made. Music For Me & More carries books, cds, dvds, letters and phone calls and are the perfect gift for birthdays, holidays and just because!

Music For Me & More has definitely been added to my own personal go-to-guide for gifts for years to come!!

Big thanks to Music For Me & More, as well as Extraordinary Mothers, for making this review possible!!

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Aloha Friday!!


Its been a little while since I've participated in an Aloha Friday... but I'm feelin' it this week... I just am! Over at An Island Life, Kailani hosts Aloha Friday each week to take it easy before the weekend....

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.


This week... my question to you is...

Do you honestly judge people? Do you jump to conclusions? Or do you give the benefit of the doubt and not judge what you are not 100% sure to be true?

I do not judge unless I know of something to be 100% true. I may QUESTION what I do not know as a fact, but I am not one to JUDGE or JUMP TO A CONCLUSION. Many years ago, yes, I was one to judge. I thought I was the shit and thought I was so much better then others, then I got older and realized that everyone is different, situations are different. I think that myself not being an absolute angel has given me the ability to see things differently and be able to not jump to a conclusion. Here it is folks- I'm No Angel. I've messed up. I haven't been perfect my 27 years here and it took me making mistakes in the past to realize that NOBODY is perfect and that is no grounds for me to make assumptions or judge anyone.

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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Bright Summer Polish

There's something about bright nail polish that says summertime to me!
Though I may not be the tannest chick on the block, I still wear the bright colors on my toes. I'm definitely excited to have been able to try out the new Jessica Nails- Mega Watt Style!

Being not so different in application than other nail polishes, Jessica's Mega Watt Style is awesome because it is so much brighter, shinier and lasts a bit longer then some I've tried.

Just apply two coats of basecoat, then two coats of the Jessica One Million Watts color, and then one coat of the Brilliance High Voltage Shine and even if you do it yourself it looks like you just got a mani/pedi from the spa! Perfection!!

You can pick up Jessica Nails Mega Watt Style from www.JessicaCosmetics.com and use some of the same nail products as celebrity clients like Demi Moore, Kate Beckensale, Daisy Fuentes and more!

Want to win the Jessica Nails Mega Watt Style set?? Leave a comment here answering this- do you paint your own nails or do you go get them done? If you go get them done, how much does it cost you??

Extra Entries??
Follow or Subscribe to A Couch With A View
Follow CaseyDeuce on twitter and tweet this giveaway.
Become a fan of A Couch With A View on Facebook.
Post my button on your blog.
Post about this giveaway on your blog!
If you don't have a blog, you can gain extra entries by emailing a friend about this giveaway! Just CC me in your email! caseyscouch@yahoo.com

This giveaway will accept entries until noon on Friday, August 14th. Winner will be drawn with random.org and emailed. Winner must reply within 48 hours to winning email or a new winner will be drawn. Please make sure that your email is accessible, whether in the comment or a blogger profile, cause if I cant contact you, how can you win??

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Menu Plan Monday... errr... Thursday??

I'm way behind on my MPM this week due to the chaos of BlogHer, getting back into the swing of things around here etc... etc... but without further ado... here's the rest of this week!

Recipes are below!!

Thursday: Red Beans & Rice with Chicken Sausage

Friday: BLT Chicken Salads

Saturday: Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers

Sunday: Saucy Pork

Once again, breakfasts are usually cold cereal, oatmeal and sometimes Boug just wants toast and a banana! Lunches usually are leftovers or sandwiches paired with yogurt or fruit generally. My meals are usually a bit heavier in meats and chickens as hub is a butcher and brings so much home for free or next to nothing!! Check out more Menu Plan Monday entries at orgjunkie!!

Red Beans & Rice w/ Chicken Sausage:
2 tbsp. A1
2 tbsp. Heinz 57
2 tbsp. Worsterchire sauce
2 onions
2-3 cans red kidney beans
1 package smoked sausage (I use chicken smoked sausage w/ cheese & garlic!)

Put all sauces in the bottom of the crockpot. Chop onions and put on top of the sauce, then beans on top of that and then chicken sausage. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Stir will and serve over rice.

BLT Chicken Salads: (from Stretch Mark Mama)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 tablespoons barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
-----
8 cups torn salad greens
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
10 whole bacon strips, cooked and crumbed (or bacon bits, on those lazy days)
2 whole hard-boiled eggs, sliced

In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients; mix well. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Place salad greens on a large serving platter. Sprinkle with tomatoes, chicken and bacon; garnish with eggs; Drizzle with dressing. 4 main-dish servings.


Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers:
4 green bell peppers
1 lb. ground beef
1.5 c. cooked rice
1 jar pasta sauce
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
.5 tsp. pepper

Cut tops and hollow out peppers. In a medium mixing bowl, add the ground beef, rice, .5 cup of the pasta sauce, cheese and seasonings, mixing well with your hands to thoroughly blend. Stuff peppers with equal portions of the beef mixture. Place in the bottom of the slow cooker and top with the remainder of the sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Saucy Pork (from Kraft)
2 tsp. oil
1 pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4 inch slices
3 c. frozen peas
1 can turkey gravy
1/4 c. italian dressing
1 pk. stuffing mix for chicken

Heat oil in skillet and add pork, cook about 5 minutes or until browned on each side. Stir in peas, gravy and dressing, bring to a boil. Prepare stuffing separately. Put stuffing over the meat mixture around the edge of the skillet, cover and simmer (med-lo) for about 10 minutes.

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Laptop today? Or tomorrow? Or the next??

With Charter's new Laptop-a-Day Sweepstakes, you have a great chance in winning an awesome laptop, from July 15th through September 15!! Though its not valid in NY... today is one day that I'm NOT happy to be a New York resident!!

B2sbanner

Need to buy a new laptop for school or a job? Why not at least try to win one and save a few bucks? You can win a HP 550 Notebook with Windows Vista and a NeoTec Compu Backpack! But you can even save money by scoring the gift cards! You can use those toward back to school shopping as well, even if you don't win a laptop!

Not only do you have a chance of winning a laptop from Charter, you can also score a gift card, from $25 to $100 when you take advantage of their special online deals! When ordering three services, you receive a $100 gift card. When ordering two services, you receive a $75 gift card and when ordering high speed internet service, you receive a $25 gift card! Gift cards are available from retailers like Gap, Macy's, Marshalls, home stores like Best Buy and Sears, restaurants like Dunkin' Donuts, Applebee's and Outback as well as places like Game Stop, Bass Pro Shops and CVS!

Charter runs some of the best online contests! Can you believe that last year someone even won a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid!!??

Don't forget to become a fan of Charter on Facebook!
Keep on top of all things by following Charter on Twitter!

Make sure you check out all the rules and regulations at the site!


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You Know You're a Sister When...

Please take a moment and read Lizzy's post about Sisterhood. Its heartwarming, and touching... and yes... It made me cry. Love ya Liz!!

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The Tigger Movie 10th Anniversary Edition


I remember 10 years ago when The Tigger Movie first came out, my niece was 2 at the time and now with the 10 year anniversary and my children being "Tigger-Aged" I'm happy to share it with them as well!

The Tigger Movie is going to be available on August 4th and contain a DisneyFile digital movie copy! Also, The Tigger Movie is loaded with bonus features like two new to DVD episodes, a sing along song, games and more!

Set in the Hundred Acre Woods, The Tigger Movie 10th Anniversary Edition features Tigger and the gang in this musical tale of friendship and adventure. Tigger sets off on a journey to find other "Tiggers" who he could call his own family after feeling left out while the gang prepares for a gloomy winter. Through his adventures, Tigger realizes that families come in all shapes and sizes, and even though they look different, The Hundred Acre Wood friends are his true family.


I've always loved Winne the Pooh and all the different selections of movies and books that they have. I love the fact that I can feel okay about letting Boug and Lil' Buddy watch... Winnie the Pooh is free of any suggestive jokes or humor and its getting harder and harder to find that nowadays!

You can preorder The Tigger Movie on Amazon.com!!
Disney

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

BlogHer 2009..... You know you want to know....

With the bags packed, unpacked, packed again, rearranged, packed again.... (thanks Sherpani) I headed off to BlogHer '09 for so many reasons. Network... Escape my children.... See how clean the hub can keep the house... Meet IRL the girls I feel like I've known forever.... and more that I never even expected. I learned more about who I am as a person, not just a mom and I felt validation.

To be honest, I didn't think this would be that hard of a post to write, but its more difficult than you'd think... Its hard to touch on exactly what was learned at BlogHer... but we'll get to that and for now I'll recap my couple o' days in good ol' Chicago. I rocked out in my Stuck On You shirt, first and foremost, which made me feel a lot less self conscious about what I was going to wear- I left the house at 3 am Friday morning, ready to go...

Of course, being the odd girl out and not arriving until Friday morning kicked my ass. Exhausted as ever... I rushed to the hotel to meet up with my girls- Kristin, Liz and Sarah, and it was as if we never had any distance between us... as if we were lifelong friends, and I know we always will be...

We ran our butts over to the Sheraton where it was everything that I expected and more... there was just an insane mass of women and they were REAL women... now- I don't want anyone to get all bent out of shape about what I'm about to say, but I was relieved to see that so many people looked NORMAL. I'm not thin. I'm no supermodel. Did I go into this feeling fearful a bit? Yes... but I was really relieved when I saw normal people who were down to earth.
Spending the day learning about other people, making new friends, new connections, figuring out what exactly I'm doing here and meeting some of the great PR that I've had the opportunity to work with was absolutely fabulous. The expo floor was amazing, learning about new products from different companies and seeing the one and only Paula Deen.

I don't think I could list all the awesome people that I met, the blogs that are now on my "must-read" list, but please know, I met some really amazing women and 2010 isn't going to come quick enough for me... plus knowing its just a 2 hour train ride to NYC makes me even more anxious for the next BlogHer....

Of course there were the parties, and then the parties that me and my girls created on our own that will sit in my heart forever- getting yelled at my security to stop being so loud because we were laughing about the public lovin' sessions being observed. The BlogHer cocktail party with Mrs. Potato Head and the Sobe Lizard and the awesome photo booth that Kristin and I had to take our picture in... Lizzy kickin' ass in our bowling game at the BowlHer party... Sarah my cabbie to O'Hare...

Goodbyes at 4 am are like no other. Alcohol and lack of sleep don't make goodbyes easy and in a way, I'm glad that its over and done with. I can't imagine how hard the goodbyes would be if I was there with them any longer.

I do want to touch on a few things though....

Grown women with bruises on them is not okay when those bruises come from other grown women due to swag. Please, we are just that- Grown Women. Most of us with children, lets not act like them... though my 5 year old daughter acts more civilized than that. Same goes for the baby that got elbowed over swag... Would you want that to happen to your child? I think not. Lets chill out girls. And by the way... if you think that you can BLACKMAIL a pr or a company or what have you for swag... you are seriously sick.

The mean girls were out in full force. When someone is LOW enough to try and sucker punch someone as they WALK AWAY... thats pretty pathetic. If there ever is a reason to fight, step up and do it, don't be a baby and wait til someone starts to walk away.

The holier-than-thou girls were out in full force as well. News flash. We all were there to do the same things essentially. The looks that I had seen over the weekend, the snide comments, the rude remarks... high school is over and guess what- you probably were like that in high school too... thinking you were better then everyone. Your shallowness and ignorance shines through. And surprisingly, some of the bloggers that I would have expected to have that attitude, didn't. Take note from their sucess and ditch the attitude, you're not a rockstar, you're not anything special when you have a better-than-you attitude, you just look nasty.

Did you get our swag?? If you did, I'd LOVE to hear from you!! Give me a holler if you don't mind... I had such a hard time keeping track of all the kick ass chicks that got the swag bags on behalf of EM!

I do want to thank Stuck On You for being a fabulous sponsor, for helping me with all the information that I needed, getting the swag items to me, and just all and all being super supportive for my adventures in Chicago!

Oh yeah... and we totally were the first ones to ride in the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile... Kristin rode shot bun.

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I'm Rockin' Out....


I love me some '80's music.
Love it. Love it. Love it.
Call me cheesey, whatever... I love Poison, Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister and the hub and I just had a pretty in depth conversation about REO Speedwagon just yesterday.

I'd love to head to Broadway and see the Rock Of Ages musical, but that's not going to happen anytime soon... I'm settling for the soundtrack, which isn't even settling at all because its amazing! I can only imagine how much this musical rocks in real life!

Constantine Maroulis does an awesome job (to be expected, of course), along with the rest of the cast, of belting out songs like "Sister Christian," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "High Enough" and more... My fave has got to be their rendition of "Can't Fight This Feeling!"

You can check out the making of the soundtrack video on YouTube now!! The album is available for purchase at Amazon.com or the Rock Of Ages Musical Store. You can also preview the songs and check out all the track listings at amazon!

Want to win the Rock Of Ages Soundtrack?? Just leave me a comment here with which song you think you'd like the best!

Extra Entries??
Follow or Subscribe to A Couch With A View
Follow CaseyDeuce on twitter and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet daily for the duration of this giveaway!!
Become a fan of A Couch With A View on Facebook.
Post my button on your blog.
Post about this giveaway on your blog!
If you don't have a blog, you can gain extra entries by emailing a friend about this giveaway! Just CC me in your email! caseyscouch@yahoo.com

This giveaway will accept entries until noon on Friday, August 14th. Winner will be drawn with random.org and emailed. Winner must reply within 48 hours to winning email or a new winner will be drawn. Please make sure that your email is accessible, whether in the comment or a blogger profile, cause if I cant contact you, how can you win??

Big thanks to One2One Network for making this review & giveaway possible!!

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Wordless Wednesday



This Wordless Wednesday is so much to me...
Its the Happy-Birthday-To-Me-I-Miss-My-Friends Edition!!

Find more WW at Extraordinary Mothers, 5M4M and the Hub!


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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Baby Dipper Bowl Review & Giveaway!!

When Boug was a baby, I feel like meal times were so much easier. It was just me, her and daddy and I had so much less to do, cause I honestly didn't cook much for the husband and myself at the time. Working at a restaurant... I didn't need to!! But now, being a stay at home mom, cooking dinner, feeding the kids and especially Lil' Buddy who is such a needy little boy... I'm so happy to have been able to try out the Baby Dipper bowl. With the Baby Dipper, I'm actually able to feed the boy one handed!! Okay, so maybe sometimes I'm not doing a million things for everyone else while trying to feed Bud, but honestly, I'd like to eat my dinner while its still at least warm. Being able to feed him one handed and use my other hand to eat my own dinner is a wonderful thing!!The Baby Dipper bowl has a great contoured design that makes the spoon easily navigate the bowl, all while the non-slip base keeps the bowl from sliding around. I had to try out the non-slip on different surfaces of course... I tried the table... Didn't slip... I tried the booster seat tray... Didn't slip... I tried the counter... Didn't slip.... I even tried the floor... Didn't slip.... Does it get better than that??

The Baby Dipper bowl also is lead free, phthalate free and meets the CPSIA standard! Gotta love that!! The shape and contour, along with the non-slip base, also makes the Baby Dipper a great tool for teaching older babies to feed themselves!

Would you like to win a Baby Dipper bowl of your own? Leave a comment here with who you need this for!!

Extra Entries??
Subscribe to the Baby Dipper Newsletter.
Follow @BabyDipper on Twitter.
Become a Baby Dipper Facebook Fan.
Follow the Baby Dipper Blog.
Follow or Subscribe to A Couch With A View
Follow CaseyDeuce on twitter and tweet this giveaway.
Become a fan of A Couch With A View on Facebook.
Post my button on your blog.
Post about this giveaway on your blog!
If you don't have a blog, you can gain extra entries by emailing a friend about this giveaway! Just CC me in your email! caseyscouch@yahoo.com

This giveaway will accept entries until noon on Saturday, August 8th. Winner will be drawn with random.org and emailed. Winner must reply within 48 hours to winning email or a new winner will be drawn. Please make sure that your email is accessible, whether in the comment or a blogger profile, cause if I cant contact you, how can you win??

Big thanks to Baby Dipper and Extraordinary Mothers for making this review & giveaway possible!

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Toys That Make Sweet Memories

With three of our birthdays in July and one in August, how could we say no to the opportunity to review the Chocolate Party Cake Play Food Set by Voila, available from Gummy Lump.

First off, the fact that our summers are so birthday focused, we had to review it... but not only that, I've been really falling in love more and more with wooden toys and the Voila Cake Set is definitely one of my favorites so far! With eight colored candles with felt flames, a pie cutter and a server, different discs to change the occasion of the cake and the doily for underneath with fractions, this cake is absolutely adorable and the kids have absolutely been loving it! Even Lil' Buddy, who is almost a year, loves to play with it!! Boug loves cutting up the pieces and serving everyone a "lishis piece of cake!"

Boug cutting her brother a piece of the Voila Cake.


Gummy Lump has tons of toys and more available at their site, which is soooo easy to navigate! I love being able to search by age, category, brand, new arrivals and more... It just makes shopping so much more efficient!! Maybe Lil' Buddy will be getting the Tool Box Fill and Spill for his birthday???

Right now all Voila wooden toys are 25% off!!
Thanks to Gummy Lump and Extraordinary Mothers for making this review possible!!

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Is going away worth it???

I love the girls that I hang with online... I LOVE THEM! But, on the other hand, is going away, even to BlogHer '09 worth it... for the learning, the meeting and the networking- ABSOLUTELY!

In the other sense of going away... I have to explain. I came home to a house that *looked* perfect. A husband who was so happy to see me. Kids who were thrilled that I was home. And a house that a mother-in-law had stayed in for 2.5 days while I was at BlogHer.

My kitchen table is ruined. She had set something damp or something down on it and some pink and purple ink has now sinked in through the finish and will not come out. The dishes and the bottles were washed, but in no sense were the bottles clean. There's random stuff in my fridge that I have no idea what it is. I had prepared stuff for my husband to make for lunches and dinners and they are still sitting in the fridge, waiting to be eaten... Why did I bust my ass to get it done if it was just going to be pushed aside?

I love my family, but yes.... BlogHer '09 was a wonderful break. My feet are killing me, I'm dead-ass tired, I can't seem to get unpacked, my kitchen table is ruined, there's no place to put the swag, the laundry has piled back up... but yes.... It was totally worth every minute of it.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

BlogHer '09 Update!

After a hectic morning... lack of sleep and all... I've arrived in one piece...

First off was meeting the girls that I've been friends with for what feels like forever, in real life! They of course, are awesome as ever and I'm totally blessed with the coolest chicks in my life!!

After breakfast, speed dating (BlogHer style) was super cool... doing the circles around the huge conference room, getting to know a few women first thing in the morning! Perfect occassion for Stuck On You's "Call Me" cards! They're adorable and able to be completely personalized with the info that you want to share with new friends!! And to be responsible... the "Call Me" cards are made of recycled materials!

Then there was much socialization, the passing out of the awesome Extraordinary Mothers swag bags (don't worry, if you didn't get one today, there's more going around tonight and tomorrow) which included tons of great goodies, from Tootsie Rolls, to Vicks and more... including awesome mousepads from Stuck On You as well!! I'm one of those girls who likes to use a mouse no matter what computer I'm using (too bad the hub didn't get me an apple one for the laptop), and didn't think to pack one in your bag, now you have one for your use, here at BlogHer and when you get home too!!

Stay tuned for more updates from BlogHer '09... I'm off to freshen up a bit and head off to the BlogHer Cocktail Party... the Nikon party and the EA party... Lets hope the muscle that I pulled completely out of whack eases up....

Oh, and I totally rode the wienermobile with Kristin from Our Ordinary Life...

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Like a little kid on Christmas Eve....

Here it is... almost 1:00 am... I can't sleep.
I've packed, unpacked, re-packed, added to my bag, cleaned up, grabbed some forgotten jewelry, found the piece of my birthday cake that I was supposed to eat hours ago and still I'm wired.

I think that most of it is the anticipation of BlogHer '09 and knowing that my flight leaves at 6:00 am.

Lets put it this way... I'm NOT a morning person. By no means can one classify me as a morning person. In high school, my best friend tried to wake me up at 6:30 am to drive down to Six Flags for the day, I, in my sleep, kicked her across the room.

So, the flight leaves at 6:00 am... which means I have to be there by 4:30. It takes 45 minutes to get to the airport, at the least... lets say its closer to an hour... so I have to leave here by 3-3:30 the latest. Which means, 2:00 am I have to be up and getting ready... yeah. That's about an hour from now.

What was I thinking!?
I missed out on the vibrator swag from Room704...
I missed out on the People's Party...
I missed out on the Crocs party...
My roomies have all been together, having fun on MY birthday without me!


All because I wanted to spend my birthday with my family.

Next year WILL be different, I can assure you that. I'll fly out late the night before instead of early the morning of.

Stupid....
Stupid.......
Stupid...........

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Make Feeding Easier!

The awesome Juvenile Solutions gave me the opportunity to make my life just a bit easier... Baby food gets boring and we're trying to incorporate chunkier foods and the like to Lil' Buddy. When I had the chance to review the wean machine and the baby cubes, I knew that it would be perfect for all the awesome super-fresh fruits and veggies that we stock up on in the summer.
I started off with some sliced organic carrots for the little guy, I steamed them up so they were fairly soft and put them into the wean machine.... Lets think garlic press with bigger holes, if you will, and then the same motion to smoosh up the food for your little one. With two different size "caps" of holes, a large and a small, you can customize the texture of the food for your baby. I went with the bigger and after I was done pressing the carrots through the wean machine, I was able to store them all into the baby cubes so they were on hand when I'd need them next!

Think of how easy it would be to incorporate all sorts of different foods and different flavors to your baby when all you have to do is "wean machine" it! You can make your own fresh chunky baby applesauce when you get done apple picking at the orchard. You could do a baby stew with all sorts of veggies and potatoes.... there's so many ideas running around in my head to use the wean machine for!! And the baby cubes are so handy as well, since the lid is attached, (no searching for a top), non-toxic, microwave safe, dishwasher safe and freezer safe!! They're stackable so you can prepare the fresh foods you have on hand now and store them in the freezer for a later day!

Big thanks to Juvenile Solutions for making this review possible! Check them out for so many great items, from bathing products to travel accessories and more!!

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Traveling with a Smooshie!

With all these posts that I'm doing about travel and travel related items, this one could be related. Having something to do in the car while traveling that isn't going to get old in 2 minutes is important when traveling with kids. I've brought things on car trips in the past that have literally been tossed on the floor of the car within minutes and then we have another 4 hours in the car with toys that Boug just isn't interested in.
Smooshies are a great new toy available at Joann fabric and craft stores where kids can create their own little friend!! The possibilities are great and its a awesome toy for keeping the little ones happy and occupied!

Smooshies have received the Creative Child Magazine Top Toy of the Year award, as well as the Dr. Toy Best Vacation Childrens Products winner!!

I got the cutest green and purple Smooshie for Boug and she's been contently playing with it for a while now, she hasn't grown tired of it yet, which is HUGE for us! We have tons of toys that she just gets bored with so quickly that are just sitting in her bedroom, its so nice to see her engaged with a creative toy!!

With starter type kits available and single add on pieces as well, its easy to keep this toy engaging for a long time to come! There are countless possibilities to what your child can create- a monster, a robot, an alien and more!!

Big thanks to One2One Network for making this review possible!

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Free iPhone App for Apartment Searchers!

As some of you know, we'll be moving to a new house at the end of September. We'll be renting an actual house instead of an apartment, one with a yard and space and most importantly... a dishwasher... I'm super excited and I just can't wait!!

BUT... I wish I had known earlier about MyNewPlace.com... with their compiled listings of over 6 million apartments nationwide and being one of the biggest rental sites on the web, they can make your search for a new home so much easier! They even were the first rental site to put Facebook Connect on their site to keep on making it easier for you! Their reputation is great, being a 3 time BusinessWeek best of the web winner!



Even better yet, they have a free iPhone app!! Follow this link to check out MyNewPlace in the iPhone app store, which makes apartment hunting even easier on you. Its a GPS based search so you can do those "drive-bys" and get maps as you need them. You can even share listings with friends and family on facebook while you stare at it in person. Need to jot down a note about a location? You can easily do that from your iPhone while using the MyNewPlace.com iPhone app. You can head here- http://www.mynewplace.com/iphone to go and download the FREE application!!



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Pack it up, Pack it in...


let me begin....

I'm not a good packer. I jam stuff in every nook and cranny of a big duffel bag and away I go... but not for BlogHer. I could never ever go on an airplane with a crummy ol' duffel bag and hope that its sufficient... I shall never go on another vacation again like that...

Sherpani has come to my rescue! They've sent me the most beautiful new Meridian 22" UltraLight expandable luggage in the most gorgeous color called palm... but the inside is beautiful too, so pretty that I'm almost sad that no one really gets to see it, maybe I'll walk around asking everyone if they'd like to see the inside of my luggage... and then I'll get those crazy looks....

The Meridian is not only gorgeous, but its expandable (make room for swag!) and it has so many different compartments and sections so that packing up is a breeze... I know what goes where and its easy!! Sherpani's responsible too... the Meridian is made out of 67% recycled materials! The recycled aluminum one touch retractable handle makes getting around the airport ridiculously convenient too!!

Not only that, you'll be seeing me tote around my Flora Minor Sherpani Messenger bag, also in the fabulous palm color, around BlogHer cause its the perfect size for my ibook and some essentials... you know, water bottle, wallet, business cards, power strip, battery etc... etc... and its got that same awesome floral pattern inside too!!

Sherpani has a ton of more choices too, with lines that cover all the items you'd need, from bigger luggage to accessories and apparel to baby carriers!

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