A Couch With A View

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

My baby girl is 5 now!! Happy birthday to my Boug! 5 fun filled and fabulous years!!
Check out more WW at Extraordinary Mothers, 5M4M and the Hub.

As I'm sure you know, Extraordinary Mothers is putting together some kickin' swag bags for BlogHer. I have to say a big thanks to Sheena over at Mommy Daddy Blog, cause without her, we'd be screwed... she's been collecting the swag, protecting and loving it while it patiently waits to be packed up into the bags... (which is a whole nother story...) and handed out at the quickly approaching BlogHer.... What? You want a preview?? Okay... but you must thank Sheena for putting this cute little video together and please, resist the urge to dance. Focus on the Swag! FOCUS!!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Finding Foot Comfort with Kuru

When traveling, whether its to BlogHer or anywhere else, there's going to be times to put aside the party shoes and put one something comfortable to putz around town in, sight see and more...

When I heard about the opportunity to kick around in Kuru shoes while at BlogHer, I jumped! They look so comfortable and definitely the Chicane in the red is my color style! (honestly, the sneakers I normally wear are yellow and black...) Not only that, but Kuru is responsible... You can register each Kuru purchase in order to donate a portion of your purchase to a charity of your choice! With causes like Feed The Children, Susan G Komen for the Cure, Livestrong Foundation and more, you can definitely feel good about your purchase.

Lets not forget, that your foot isn't completely flat and Kuru has taken that into consideration with their KuruSole to cushion your steps, with the heelkradl, refined arch support and custom molding sockliner, these shoes are sooooo comfortable!!

You'll be seeing me do my wandering around Chicago in my Kuru sneakers!! The hub's already eyeballin' the Kuru Cirque, but he's got a size 16 foot... I'll just be able to rub it in how much I love mine!!

What a joke....

Really... Are you serious? "PR Blackout?" This is MomDot's way of getting traffic to their site?? Hey, not all attention is GOOD attention, not all publicity is GOOD publicity... all this negative attention is going to take its toll. You're overwhelmed with reviews you say? Hey guess what! You don't have to accept all of them when offered!! OHMIGOSH.... what an idea!!!

Seriously though, be real. MomDot has obviously taken on more than it can handle and its way of dealing with that is passing the blame onto PR for putting too much on their plate. I'm sorry, but there's never a gun to your head saying that you have to accept all the reviews and giveaways that have been offered to host.

Lord knows I don't, and I wont name names, but there are plenty of reviews that have been offered to me that I've passed by because, to be honest with you, I didn't think that they fit the site or it wasn't something that I could use or needed in my life. This is where really standing behind the product you're reviewing comes into play, I'm a real person and I won't review something that isn't appropriate for me to review. I'm not dealing with urinary incontinence, so why would I review a product tailored for that... pass it on... (not that I've ever been offered that!)

I'm sorry, but I love the PR people that I've worked with/will continue to work with and blacking them out of my life for a week isn't my way of saying "thank you for standing behind me and what I do at A Couch With A View." Instead of loading the site with reviews and paid posts, I try and keep a healthy balance instead of jamming one week full of everything you could ever want to know about me... that's not balanced.

So, with all that said.... PR Blackout is a joke. PR Blackout is no way to say thank you. And PR Blackout is no way to keep a balance on your site year round... not just replacing sponsored posts for one week.

Scott Common Sense Community

Seeing the Scott Common Sense Community, its a perfect fit to pass on to you all because July's focus is great family vacations!!

With the Scott Common Sense Community, you can find so much useful information, from everything like "packing like the pros" to "be a savvy traveler." So far, I think that in the "packing like the pros" article the most helpful thing that I've read is the fact that you can't bring bottled water or other beverages through security and to plan on buying a bottle once you get through to the gate. I had all sorts of plans for bringing snacks and beverages, but I guess that isn't going to happen now is it!! I'm glad that I know now though, or else I would have had to get rid of good stuff for no reason.

When you head over to the Scott Common Sense Community site you can even access articles from past months and even years!!

Would you like to win a gift card and coupons?? I've teamed up with Scott Common Sense to give away a $50 gift card and coupons to get your next vacay on a great start!! Just head over to the Scott Common Sense Community and browse around, leave me a comment with your favorite travel tip!!

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Take-Alongs for Travel!!

With BlogHer approaching, I have actually had to think about what I am bringing with me, what I need, what I have, what I'm used to, what I need to anticipate and more... its quite overwhelming!! Over the next few days I'll be bringing you a couple features about the perfect travel items!!

You always have to have more then you think that you need while traveling, and having a spare laptop bag could be quite important! God forbid the strap on the only one you have breaks or it gets a rip while running through an airport or something- Rainebrooke offers laptop bags that are not only colorful, stylish, lightweight, but they are padded and compact, perfect for stashing in the bottom of your suitcase!

Sometimes traveling and taking pictures can be difficult, because unless you stop and ask someone on the street, there's usually one person who is left out of every picture.... and that's usually me!! I can't say I like the fact that there are hardly any pictures of me, but I do like that I get lots of great shots of the kids. But for all the times that I'd like to be in the picture, I definitely need to get an xshot- I love that it extends 3 feet so that you can just stick your camera in, set the timer and be in each picture that you've been missing from!!

Sometimes while traveling you just don't want to give up some of the comforts of home, so you can pick up from She-Tech laptop cases, digital accessory cases and bags, including cases for the awesome iphone (that I don't have) so you can take your goodies with you while traveling, without the worry that you are going to bang them up or scratch them. The laptop essentials kit is perfect for on the go, as well as the flylight and the portable laptop speakers!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

This week's MPM has been ready for a week!! I'm so proud of myself for getting ahead of the game and getting it accomplished, along with getting together easy-peasy meals for the hub to make while I'm at BlogHer!! And surprisingly enough, we, for once, made all the meals last week and nothing is getting carried over to this week!!

Recipes are below!!

Monday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday: Pasta with Beef from the Crockpot

Wednesday: Penne with Cauliflaur

Thursday: Pesto Stuffed Steaks (my birthday!!)

Friday: Hot Dogs (a BlogHer meal)

Saturday: Chicken Quesadillas (a BlogHer meal)

Sunday: Tator Tot Casserole

I am going to be doing some "snack making" during the week so that hub and the kids aren't complaining while I'm gone that there's nothing to eat... they have a tendency to do that...

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!!

Recipes:

Pasta with Beef from the Crockpot:
I use any large piece of beef laying around, or even stew meat and let it cook in sauce in the crockpot, 6-8 hours, by the time that dinner rolls around the meat is tender and shredded and all I have to do is boil pasta!

Penne with Cauliflaur:
8 ounces penne pasta, uncooked
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup frozen chopped onion
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (16-ounce) package frozen cauliflower
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley
3 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Cook the penne normally, but save 1 cup of the pasta water. Melt butter or margerine in a skillet, add olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook about 7 minutes or so, add in the cauliflaur and red pepper. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Add in about 3/4 of the pasta water and cook about 5 minutes. Add in the penne, parmesean, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and stir well. Cook til the cheese has melted and everything is heated through.

Pesto Stuffed Steaks:
This one you'll have to do to family size, we use 3 decent sized steaks and just butterfly them and jam the insides with pesto and grill!
Recipe calls for ribeyes, good steaks, but you can definitely use your preference, we like ribeyes, but we'll be using shell's for this.

Tator Tot Casserole:
2 lb. beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of tator tots
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Pat ground beef into bottom of greased 13x9x2-inch pan. Spread soup over meat and cover with grated cheese. Top with tater tots. Bake at 350 degrees, covered for 45 minutes and then uncovered for 15 minutes.

Summer Style Guide presents... Kiss The Girl Clothing!

If you're following the trend with the choices that we've made with the summer style guide, you'll notice a lot of soft cottons, comfort and casual and Kiss The Girl Clothing is no different.

With a great selection of some of the greatest designs like their Anchor's Away shirt or the Red Wing Explosion, Kiss The Girl Clothing is one of my favorite choices for casual wear this summer. I received the Poppy's tee and I couldn't tell you how many compliments I've received, even though I was only wearing it while running errands! My own mother came close to just stealing it from me cause she loved it so much! The Poppy's tee to me, is the perfect way to jazz up jeans instead of just pairing them with a plain white tee.
Not stopping at shirts, Kiss The Girl Clothing also offers capris to pull the outfits together! Its easy to shop online and pick up the Kiss The Girl Clothing items that you love and get free UPS ground shipping on orders over $75!!