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Facebook Blast Event – Join Today & #RockYourBlog2012

 

FacebookBlast

Join me in a totally cool new event – The Facebook Blast!

What is a Facebook Blast? You the blogger can join for only $1.50, and everyone links up just one social media account – Facebook. Then, the amazing Jennifer over at Sason & Pobi will provide the prize – a $100 Amazon code.

What do you need to do to join? 

  • Post about the event with the button linking back to this post. (Right click save the image)
  • Send  a PayPal payment to jennifer@makobiscribe.com with your email address. After she receives the payment, she’ll send you the form to fill out. This way she won’t have to track payments at the end of the event.
  • You will get the instructions once you send payment.
  • Instructions on posting to your Facebook page can be found here.
  • Then schedule the giveaway post to go live on Feb 1 at 9:00 am EST to Feb 15 12:01 pm EST.
  • Easy peasy and super fun, right?

The More the Merrier!

You can sign up more than one blog if you have one – just make sure to post about the event on EACH blog you’re using to join. Jennifer will email you on the 30th to remind you about the event – but grab the button and code today when you sign up, to make sure you’re ready to go! #RockYourBlog2012 with me – and get signed up!

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Busy Moms Movie Night – #CouchCritics #CBias


I Don't Know How She Does It Review

“The phrase ‘working mother’ is redundant.” – Jane Sellman

December was such a busy month around our house. I took on way more projects than I should have – {I have much more enthusiasm than I do time, lol} – plus the traditional craziness of the holidays.  By the time January rolled in, we were all pretty worn out, I was definitely over-worked, and we were all ready for things to get back to normal again. So of course, instead of that – we all got sick! Abby and I both have been sick for weeks now, so I figured that this was a perfect time for a lazy, mommy-baby, snuggle up movie night. I had just the movie in mind too – “I Don’t Know How She Does It”, with the always fun Sarah Jessica Parker, since it’s all about life as a busy momma. So we headed to our favorite Redbox kiosk up the road to get this “Girls Night In” started.

How to Rent Redbox Movies Online

Things {as usual} did not go as planned

We live a ways out of town, so there is only one store with a Redbox anywhere near-by. And wouldn’t you know it – the movie wasn’t available! I wasn’t sure what else to get, since my heart was totally set on this movie. Then I remembered – Redbox.com! I hopped online, typed in the movie name and my zip code – and BAM, it showed me the closest three rental kiosks to go and pick it up. Awesome, right? You can even pay for the movie right on the site, to reserve your copy until you get there – so you KNOW you can get it. Perfect.

Redbox Rental Kisok

“A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car for ever after.” –  Peter De Vries

We drove into town and found the next closest kiosk, and since I’d already paid for my movie online, I only had to hop out into the cold for a minute to get my movie – which was great, since it was starting to snow! Luckily, this Redbox is under the roof of the store, and tucked into a cozy corner, so it wasn’t tooooo cold. Getting the movie I had reserved was quick and easy as can be.

Redbox Video

Easy Peasy and Ready to Roll

A few buttons to push, and out came my movie! I love Redbox. And I loooved this movie, in case you were wondering if it was worth the bit of extra trouble that I went through to get it. Here’s the basics – Sarah Jessica Parker plays a super busy mom named Kate, who is struggling to balance life as a mom, and as a businesswoman. {Um, can you say – totally relate?} Years ago, we grew up with our own moms telling us that we can “have it all” – a family and a career. I grew up thinking that I could be super woman. But – once you have it “all”, it’s a lot harder to manage than anyone told me it would be! This movie really focuses on those struggles that we all go through, whether you work out of the home or from your home, like I do. Being a mom, a wife, a boss, a friend – there are so many roles that we play each day. Watching Kate do her best to find the balance that we all search for made for a totally entertaining movie – Loved it.

Love Movie Night Too?

If you’re a Redbox junkie like we are – make sure that you’re following them on Facebook, and find them on Twitter, @redbox – You’ll find out about cool promotions, discount codes, and new releases!

{Disclaimer: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. Photos and movie review are 100% my own opinions.}

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Buzz Blast Cash Giveaway Event!

Buzz Blast Giveaways

Welcome to Buzz Blast January!

Buzz Blast is hosted by ShePromotes and the goal is to bring you a great little prize while building a little buzz! If you love to enter giveaways and discover new blogs, Buzz Blast is a great opportunity for you!

Buzz Blast January runs from Monday, January 16th through Sunday, January 22nd. This month you will have the opportunity to check out some great Facebook pages! You will also have 3 chances to win $10 cash (paid via Paypal) or a $10 Amazon gift card because we have 3 Buzz Blast giveaways going on now! What could be better than the chance to win a prize? The chance to win 3 prizes!

How to enter

It’s easy to enter the Buzz Blast giveaways!

  1. Enter the Buzz Blast Giveaway here by using the Rafflecopter form below.
  2. At the end of the Rafflecopter form, you will find links to the other two Buzz Blast giveaways.
  3. Enter each of those and you also earn extra entries in this giveaway!

There are 3 Buzz Blast giveaways and entrants are eligible to win more than one prize. (Yes, you could get lucky and win $30!) Sponsoring blogs are not eligible to win.

All blogs are using the same Rafflecopter forms. For example, if you enter Buzz Blast #1 here, you do not need to enter Buzz Blast #1 on another blog. You can enter Buzz Blast #2 and Buzz Blast #2 on other participating blogs! Duplicate entries will be deleted.

Check out some new blogs and build some buzz this month with Buzz Blast! Oh, and best of all, win some money! What are you waiting for! Enter now for your chance to win!

And don’t forget…. There are a ton of other cool giveaways to enter too – Check my sidebar for my current and updated giveaway list! The more you enter, the more you can win – Good Luck!

[Read more…]

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7 Ways to Rock Your Blog Today – #RockYourBlog2012

Keep Calm and Rock Your Blog

“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” – Brian Clark

My new phrase to keep me motivated this year is #RockYourBlog2012 – {feel free to start using it too, I want everyone to be blogging rock stars this year} – so when I came across this totally amazing graphic over at abeachcottage.com, I knew I had to share it! You can read some really great tips from Sarah at A Beach Cottage below, along with 6 other totally awesome posts filled with great information, tips, ideas, and motivation for the new year! And if you’re looking for more ways to boost your blog, join our group for the 31 Days to a Better Blog Challenge, based on the Problogger book. {Read about the First Week Warm-Up we just completed, and link up with us for the 31 Days Challenge that starts today!} If you have a great blogging tips link too, share it in the comments – I’d love to read it.

7 Awesome Posts help you Rock Your Blog

  • Sweet Blog Tips for New Girls – This post is where the totally awesome image above came from, the lovely Sarah that runs this site, abeachcottage.com, created it herself. That shows you a little bit how awesome she is! Love it – and love her realistic tips here.
  • How to Work from Home Like You Mean It – There are a lot of articles with tips for working at home. But this is different – It’s a really honest and realistic look at the true challenges you face working from home, with solutions. Love this.
  • 10 Hard-Hitting Link Building Tactics That’ll Boost Your Rankings – Quick Sprout has some great tips for legitimate ways to increase your links. You can also sign up for their newsletter, and get a free “Marketing Secrets” report.
  • Simple Tips to Improve Blog Readership – Every bloggers goal is to have people actually read what they take so much time to create. These easy to put into action tips will help you increase your traffic. {FYI: Sign up for their email updates – awesome stuff!}
  • Learn Code in One Year – Code Year will email you a new lesson once a week. They claim that after a year of getting their easy weekly tutorials, you’ll be coding like a pro. Worth a shot, right?
  • Five Essential Personal Writing Tips – I really enjoyed this ideas about creating more powerful writing, perfect for bloggers.
  • How to Add a Pinterest Button to All Blog Posts – You know I’m a Pinterest Junkie – {follow me here!} – and it is quickly becoming a major influencer on the web. This is a great tutorial for those of you on Blogger. If anyone knows of a good WordPress tutorial too, I’d love you forever if you share it with me!
  • 8 Ways to Show a Blogger You Like Her – Nice Girl Notes is one of the funnest sites to read! And this is a really wonderful post – Let’s all go and show another blogger how much we love her today! {Read her “How to Use Twitter Like a G” post she links to in this article too – so funny!}

Have a great week!

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Smile – It’s Party Time! #OralBCrestFORME & Cars 2


Toothbrush and Toddler

“The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.” Author Unknown

When I found out that I’d been picked by MomSelect to host a MommyParties Crest and Oral-B Pro Health for ME Party, I was super excited. When I found out that it included the new Cars 2 – my excitement level doubled! I had an eye appointment at Costco a few weeks before that, and Abby got to watch about 20 minutes of Cars 2 on the big screen TV’s with Daddy while they waited for me – ever since, when she sees a commercial or a product in the store featuring the characters, she says, “Vrrrrrooooommmmmmm – Cars! Cars momma? Vroooommmmm….” She’s hooked. And, Abby loves brushing her teeth. LOVES. She steals everyone’s toothbrushes out of the bathroom, and walks around brushing her “teef” all the time. So – new “toof”-brushes + Cars 2 + friends over? Yep, that equals a happy little girl!

Goody Bag Oral B party

Oral-B & Crest Pro-Health FOR ME!

Here’s a little peek inside the awesome goodie bags that each child received when they arrived at the party – new toothbrushes, rinse, coupons, flossers, and more! These kiddo’s were super excited to see their goodies – and they all had to compare toothbrushes, and do a little trading, until they all had the perfect one. So cute.

Teeth and flossing

“You don’t have to brush your teeth – just the ones you want to keep.” – Author Unknown

The kids thought that these were hilarious – we added a set of fake super-yucky teeth to the floss picks, to show the kids why it’s so important to brush and floss every day. The boys put them in their mouths and tried to scare the girls with their gross smiles – but the girls just chased them around with their toothbrushes to try and clean them up! It was a mad house, but we had sooo much fun.

Kids and toothpaste

“Other than a dimple in a cute little chin, What’s more adorable than a toothless grin?” – Azu “Betty” Espezi

This little guy didn’t have that many teeth left to brush – lol – but was still excited to show us his new toothpaste! He said he will use it every night to keep the “sugar bugs” away, and make sure his new teeth are shiny and white when they grow back. Smart boy, right?

Popcorn

“Having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don’t have the top for.” – Jerry Seinfeld

And of course, no movie party is complete without popcorn! We had it all set up before the kids got there – and since we have an old-fashioned popper, they all wanted to gather around while we popped it. And a BIG thank you to Mommy Parties for sending these super fun popcorn boxes – I’m going to have to find some to purchase for our next play date – the kids thought these were the neatest thing. We ended up with a huge mess, and lots of tired kids – but this party was a total success, and everyone went home incredibly happy.

Wrapping it up

Abby loved the Cars 2 movie, and still watches it at least a couple of times each week! All of the kids had a blast, and the moms are still thanking me for getting them excited about brushing and flossing – which is so great to hear. In our house we use printable brushing charts, so I had printed some to hand out too. Since all of the other parents wanted more, I figured I’d share the link with you guys too – Printable Tooth Brushing Charts for Kids. And visit me on Facebook to check out more pictures too!

Next time you’re shopping, make sure to watch for these great new Oral-B Stages products for kids, and the very cool new Crest Pro-Health FOR ME line of products, including toothpaste and rinse. Keep your families smiles bright!

Follow @OralB and @Crest on Twitter, and use hashtag #OralBCrestFORME to share YOUR favorite products too!

{Disclaimer: I received a complimentary party pack to help me host this party – all photos, opinions, and overuse of exclamation points is 100% my own!}

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Greased Lightning – Making Cleaning Awesome

What’s more fun than Greased Lightning?

Ok – I’m not really here to talk to you about this awesome musical scene from one of my all-time favorite movies. But the Greased Lightning that I want to tell you about is almost as cool – Just like John Travolta dances around in total exhilaration to be sprucing up his sweet ride, you can be grooving through your home knowing that this new Multipurpose Cleaner & Degreaser is going to spruce things up from kitchen to bath! Just like the musical scene above, this cleaning spray rocks! {What, don’t tell me I’m the only one who sings and dances and embarrasses the kids when they clean the house?} Greased Lightning gets my approval as a Busy Mom Solution product – read more….

Greased Lightening

“I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes- and six months later you have to start all over again.” – Joan Rivers

Do you feel like you’re always cleaning up the house, one spill after another? It can be such a battle to keep up after a house of kiddo’s, animals, and guests. That’s why you need a few “secret weapons” – products that can quickly degrease the stove and counters in the kitchen, fixtures and shower walls in the bathroom, carpet stains in the hallway, and even baby stains! This one product can do it all – making for a happier and less stressed momma!

Great for surfaces in every part of your house and even for stain removal, Greased Lightning is a multi-purpose cleaner and degreaser that removes grease and grime, laundry and carpet stains, soap scum, and much more.

Greased Lightning is the BEST cleaner I’ve ever found for carpet stains – even on the old ones that have set in for quite some time. I’m a huge fan of the Bissell Stomp Pads I told you about a couple months ago, and they work wonders on new carpet stains. But we still have some old stubborn spots that I’ve tried everything on. This is the first product that actually lightened them all – and even totally got rid of many of them! Love it.

Cleaning Tips & Coupons

  • Get some great cleaning tips and learn how Greased Lightening can work on almost any mess in your house – Visit their website at www.Greased-Lightening.com.
  • You can also check them out on Facebook to grab some coupons for sweet savings. If you’ve used Greased Lightening and love it like I do – be sure to leave a comment to let them know. They’ll love it.
  • {Disclaimer: This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own – I really do love this stuff, and think you will too!}

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    24 Day Challenge: Shed those holiday pounds!

    Advocare 24 day challenge

    24 Day Challenge Bundles are on sale up to $20 off!!

    The amazing Tiffany and Sean from Advocare want to help you shed those Holiday pounds!! Average results after using the 24 Day Challenge Bundle are – 5-15 inches smaller, 5-20lbs lighter, and an increase in energy. How awesome does that sound? You can also learn a little more about them here – Weight Loss & Natural Products – Directory.

    Each Bundle includes every single one of these awesome products:

    • One box of Herbal Cleanse-Citrus
    • One bottle of OmegaPlex®
    • One box of AdvoCare Spark®-Mandarin Orange
    • One box of AdvoCare Spark®-Fruit Punch
    • Your choice of one box of Meal Replacement Shakes – Chocolate, Vanilla, or Berry
    • Your choice of one box of MNS® Max 3, C, or E
    To learn more about this great deal on the Challenge Bundle, and get a jump start on YOUR 2012 Weight Loss Resolutions – Visit their site – Advocare.com – today!

     Twylah Fan Page

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