Mom rocks the holidays with rayovac

Who doesn't like (and need) more batteries?

Rayovac has launched an exciting sweepstakes where 3 Lucky winners will win $1,000 cash from Rayovac. In addition, 20 First Place Prize winners will receive a Rayovac Jam kit including a Paper Jamz guitar, drum, amp and guitar strap as well as 2 packs of Rayovac Alkaline AAA 24 packs (prize package valued at $90).

To enter:

1. You must “Like” Rayovac on Facebook: Facebook.com/Rayovac
2. Log on to Rayovac.com, complete the entry form and at their option, tell Rayovac in 120 words or less how you (or your mom) rocks the holidays.

Mom Spark is also giving away a $50 Visa Gift Card, Paper Jamz Guitar, and one pack of Rayovac Alkaline AAA 24 pack batteries to 5 winners! Visit Mom Spark to enter.

DISCLOSURE: Followers who promote the Rayovac Mom Rocks the Holidays Sweepstakes may receive gifts from Rayovac.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone ate as much as I did!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laplink

FYI Laplink's PCsync and Laplink Defrag rock-- check them out at www.laplink.com

@creep4ward

Our Halloween

OK, Halloween was this weekend and I have to confess that I wasn't at all prepared. I was at the supermarket Sunday afternoon digging through the remnants of leftover candy after all the good people had already gotten their candy. So I was left with caramels.

This was unfortunate because nobody in our house likes caramels, unless they are the really good homemade kind, and I know parents don't like caramels given to their kids at Halloween because they can be easily unwrapped and I guess they are scared that somebody put poison in them or something. Still, I got the caramels and drove home.

Of course once I got home we sat down in front of the tv and put on a scary movie on Netflix and waited for the kids to arrive. We waited and waited. The movie finished. We put on a second movie. Still no kids.
Eventually I peeked outside just to look. I saw some kids but they passed right by our house. I started to feel sort of offended. What was wrong with our house?
Then I realized that our front porch and front hall lights were out. Acutally all of our front lights were out. So if you were walking by you would think no one was home.

All this to say that we now have a lot of caramels and angry parents in our neighborhood who think we tried to get out of Halloween candy-giving this year.

Betty Crocker!

I won a twitter contest from Betty Crocker! We got a whole bag full of brownie and cookie mixes. Oh no! I was just getting used to going to the gym...

Have you heard about bag it forward?

Check out the bag it forward campaign by elmer's: http://bagitforward.org/donate-a-bag/

This Back to School season, Elmer’s is celebrating it’s every day low pricing on back to school supplies at Walmart by partnering with Adopt-A-Classroom to help make a difference in classrooms across the country.

Elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom with your participation. Join now!

The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward is charity blog meme, bloggers are able to raise $10 per blog post for Adopt-A-Classroom by writing a blog post or Facebook note and donating a virtual bag of school supplies . Elmer’s will donate $10 per each post written for Adopt-A-Classroom, up to $10,000.

HOW CAN YOU JOIN? It’s easy.

• Participate in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward by giving away a virtual bag of school supplies and creating a blog post or Facebook note with specific rules described below.
• Elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom.
• You can give as many virtual bags as you want.
• The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward will officially begin at 12 AM EST on July 22, 2010 and end at 11:59 PM EST on September 10, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted.
• The blog post link has to be submitted in the comment section below for your participation to be counted.
• In addition copy and paste the following text into your blog post:

ELMER’S VIRTUAL BAG IT FORWARD RULES

• Copy and paste these rules into your blog post or Facebook note.
• Create a post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your Back to School shopping trip at Walmart.
• Link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies.
• Let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag.
• Leave your link in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward comment section. You can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.
• Elmer’s is donating $10 for each blog participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $10,000 for blog posts written by September 10,2010).
• Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.

OK so our back to school trip involved a lot of notebooks and pens, along with some crayons for fun.
I want to donate a bag to mamanista.com: http://www.mamanista.com/2010/09/want-to-win-a-new-computer-and-help-classrooms-across-the-nation.html
Her post about donating a virtual bag led me to this post!

Here's a bag:
It's for a great cause! You should do it too!

Another CSN Giveaway!!!

WE HAVE A WINNER! It's JESSCIA! "I would hide all of our tv/dvd/cable/video game controllers" I will email Jessica and give 48 hours for her to respond. Congrats!

Thanks for everyone who participated!


_________________________________________________________

This morning we were driving around town looking for some labor day yard sales. We didn't have much luck. Who wouldn't want to host a yard sale on labor day? In any case, one thing we were looking for was a small piece of furniture for storage, something normal-looking like a coffee table but with a hidden compartment. Like I said we didn't find much, but you might be able to find something similar if you enter and win the contest I'm sponsoring here with CSN stores! One of their shops, allcoffeetables.com, has tons of stuff to help organize your home. And if you're not in the market for coffee tables, they have tons of other stores that sell school supplies, cookware, health equipment, even stuff for your cats and dogs!

Allcoffeetables.com has a whole section dedicated to storage tables, where I saw sweet options like this one:


It's called the New Spec Cota-18 coffee table with storage in walnut and it has the coolest hinging top that opens to show what you stored inside! I love it!

You can enter to win a $35 gift certificate to ANY of CSN's 200+ stores by leaving a comment on this blog post that answers the question:

what would you hide in your storage coffee table?

For an extra entry, follow my blog on google friend connect and leave a second comment telling me that you do.

I will accept entries until midnight EST Friday, September 17th, 2010.
This contest is open to residents of the USA and Canada, but note that Canadian residents may have to pay for shipping if they win.
Good luck!

*

Recent wins

I won some stuff recently and I'm so excited I want to share what I got!

-Brugo mug from Caren at Iclipcoupons
I love this mug. It even came is a beautiful seaglass color. I will never burn my tongue again.

-$50 gift card to AJWright stores from My Milwaukee Mommy
I haven't spent this one yet but I can't wait to!

-coupon for free pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream from financefoodie.com
Ice cream. Need I say more?

-Scandle candle at tatums reviews
Can't wait to have a night to use this!

-WOW wood floor cleaning system from Living the Life of Riley
I haven't received this yet but I'm looking forward to trying it-- my wood floors are sad right now!

-Profoot foot products from Beeb at contest-corner
Already using the lotion and love it. Come winter the callus remover will be really useful.

I'll try to keep you updated!

Giveawayscout.com

You should check out giveawayscout.com. They collect the names of sites and blogs that offer contests and put them all in one place. I'm going to add my name to their list and maybe I'll be able to offer another giveaway sometime soon! The last one was fun. Thanks.

Make your bedroom a sanctuary

The winner is: WCC!

#27
You were chosen as the winner by random.org.

Please reply to my email within 48 hours!
Thanks to everyone who entered!



I recently was cat-sitting for a friend and stayed in their apartment for a few days. The best part (other than some kitty love) was their bedroom. I didn't realize how soothing a bedroom could be! They had a wonderful mattress, beautiful queen sleigh bed, and matching dark wood armoire and dresser. They even had a miniature waterfall with a buddha in it! I haven't slept so well in years. My bedroom is filled with papers, books, old second-hand furniture and whatever else I can't find room for. I've been inspired to do some cleaning and upgrades.

I decided that it was time to start looking for some new bedroom furniture sets. I got some great ideas for what I want to do from the site http://www.bedroomfurniture.com/. They are part of the 200+ stores of CSN, and I'm lucky enough to be able to sponsor a GIVEAWAY for a $40 gift certificate so you can start working on upgrades to your own bedroom sanctuary!

You might want to use the cash towards a new rug, like this beautiful one by Calvin Klein:
http://www.bedroomfurniture.com/SW11-GLD-CKR1413.html



















Or maybe you want to splurge on a new armoire like the one at my friends' apartment:
http://www.bedroomfurniture.com/Prepac-BDC-3359-2-PRP1100.html



The cool thing about bedroomfurniture.com is that they have all the basics like beds, futons, headboards, and dressers, but also accessories like cute bed benches and lamps.

If you want to enter to win this wonderful $40 gift certificate to buy bedroom furniture or anything else from the many CSN stores, all you have to do is post a comment that answers this question:

What item at bedroomfurniture.com would help you make your bedroom into a sanctuary?

I'll keep this contest open until 9am EST on Saturday, August 7th.
The contest is open to residents of the US and Canada, but please know that you might have to pay shipping if you win and live in Canada. Please one entry per person or household. Thanks!

csn stores?

I got an email a while back from someone at CSN stores about a giveaway, but they never followed up. I have seen a bunch of them around lately, so I'm going to try to get one set up again. Wish me luck-- we might just have my first giveaway soon!

publix mayo sale

This week Publix has their kraft mayo on sale for 2 dollars. I was just there and saw that the small jars of mayo also had a coupon for .50 off, which is doubled to 1.00. That means the mayo is just one dollar. YMMV

I won a handmade headband from this blog:
http://etsyitup.blogspot.com/


they are awesome! I recommend you check out the items they highlight- really unique.
The headband is from a shop called Mandy's Yellow Corner. Check them out!

OK am I crazy or is this oil spill thing out of control?
I don't even want to read the news anymore.

What I won!

Hooray! It's time to update some of the things we won lately.

-I just heard today that I won a Kor One water bottle from Sugar Pop Ribbons. I love this blog-- they always have great contests and reviews. I'm excited to see the water bottle. I drink water all day and re-use old plastic bottles (even though I know I shouldn't).

-I was lucky enough to win the first ever giveaway at Lady Luck's Abode. Foxxxy over there gave away a $25 Amazon gift card! I'm still deciding what to get with my prize.

-I won a pack of Colgate wisp disposable travel toothbrushes from The Mom Buzz. These came fast and I think it's a great product. Even though I'm a little put off by the idea of more disposible products out there in the world--for environmental reasons--this has already become my favorite post-lunch ritual.

-I got an email from Go Greet Street that I won a beautiful urthbag. I'm still waiting for it to arrive.

So yes I continue my lucky streak! Thanks for following.

yogurt

You can enter to win a case of Chobani here:
http://cward151.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/coconut-bliss-and-a-chobani-giveaway/

Chelsea's chew and run fun blog. Don't go there hungry.

Giveaway!

Who isn't a fan of stools?

The nice people who sell cooking supplies and stools over at http://www.cookware.com/ and http://www.allbarstools.com/ got in touch with me about hosting a giveaway. That's right! I just started this blog about my winnings and now I get to offer something to someone else!

I'll update more about the giveaway soon. Right now I'm thinking of offering a nice porcelain Paula Deen pan with lid. This is a piece of cookware that can be all-purpose-- soups, saute, and it can even go in the oven. It's really pretty. Take a look at:

http://www.cookware.com/Paula-Deen-19252-EEN1014.html

Now the company also runs allbarstools.com, and they want you to take a look at their huge collection of stools at http://www.allbarstools.com/.
Some of their designs are really funky!

I'll be back soon with details about the giveaway.

review

Ok, I got a few things in the mail recently and I wanted to write a bit more about them.

First of all, I was happy to win some applesauce from alittleoftheother.com, but sad when I opened the box and it had leaked all over the package :( No applesauce for me.

I got a Wish gift set from SpaDayR3 at Leslie loves veggies. I am in love with this stuff. It came with a large and small size each of lotion and body spray. The scent is wonderful, reminds me a lot of the smell of Philosophy's purity facial wash. Very fresh and clean.

I got some FuzziBunz cloth diapers that I gave away to a new mom, and she reports that they are great and will keep growing as her baby get bigger. So good score on that one!

And the benefit sampler came from Mod Goddess. I swear, everything I try from this company is the best. thanks for the extra samples too, Mod Goddess! You should check out her blog if you haven't already. Lots of good advice in the comments.

The last thing I'll note is that we won a gift card to my pleasure. Put in an order and are waiting for it to arrive. I have a feeling this one is going to be my favorite win yet....

things i won

So I haven't had as much time to get this blog rolling as I thought. One thing I'll do to keep my spirits up is to make a list of some of the things I've won recently. I seem to be on a bit of a roll! I have read blogs for a long time, but only recently started entering contests on blogs. For some reason I figured that I'd never win. I think I was really wrong! Maybe I'm just lucky and didn't know it?
I'm going to include a few things that my partner (creep4ward) won as well (we often enter contests together).

Things we won:
$10 Restaurant.com gift code from Living With Cents
Benefit Bestseller Kit from Mod Goddess
M.L. King concise audio book from sweeps4bloggers
Targus laptop bag from LSC Warehouse
Nourish Body and Soul skin care package from Leslie Loves Veggies
SkinMD lotion from Ladybugs and Tonka Trucks
FuzziBunz diapers from Givedaddy.com


Woohoo!

I think this is my new favorite way to spend time! Not only do I learn about all sorts of new products, get advice, and meet fun and interesting people, but it feels so good when I actually win something! I know it's all chance and luck, but it still makes me happy!

It makes a lot of sense for the companies, too, since I've already started purchasing or recommending products I've won or seen on blogs. It just feels safer buying a product when you know a regular person like you already tried it and posted their opinions and experiences. With so many products to choose from, these blogs help cut through the mess of options.

Another thing I love is that most of these products are from small companies, often handmade, and that means you are supporting small family businesses who might not get their items carried in a big box store like Target or Wal-Mart. I feel better knowing I'm helping an entrepreneur get their business off the ground instead of putting money into the pockets of fat cats in charge of large corporations.

That's it for now! I hope everyone had a good King day and took some time to learn more about King's life and social justice work.

-HJ

first try

Ok, here's my first attempt blogging! I like to enter contests so I'll see if I can pass some links on to you!