Sunshine and Sippy Cups

My Birthday = Gifts for YOU!

Happy Birthday to ME, Happy Birthday to Me….

This is a really terrible quality picture of my birthday cake last year. But I love it. This was a great cake. It came with plastic flower rings. How can a cake get better than that, right? And they spelled my name right. That’s always a bonus.

Anyway, in celebration of my birthday, which is coming up next weekend, May 22nd, I’m doing a few giveaways that will all end the 21st, so that I can announce winners and give away “birthday presents” to you guys on my birthday! Man, I rock, right?

So, make sure to get entered!! I don’t want you to miss out on the fun.

The BIG giveaway is this one…

The Spring Flowers Beauty Bag Giveaway {$80 Value!} Notice how the pink flowers match the pink flower rings from my birthday cake? Nice. Enter here: Win Me!!.

Next I have a fun giveaway to welcome you to my favorite product testing company, BzzAgent:

This is my most recent campaign for the new Tresemme color care line. I’m just getting ready to dye my hair again, and am excited to see if this helps keep it fresh. If you’d like to get boxes of free product like this, join me as a BzzAgent, and then sign up for MyPoints, which is how they reward your activity. Then just leave a comment right here and I’ll send the first 10 people one of the fun coupons I got in this BzzKit as a little welcome gift!

And another little giveaway…

Check out my post here: Ebates Giveaways!, and learn how you can win some pretty darn amazing prizes right now from Ebates, why it’s so awesome, and enter to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card from me, just for answering a quick question! Easy peasy, right?

I’ll make up a few more little giveaways next week too, just to add a little more fun!

And if you want to get ME a birthday present, I’d LOVE any of these gifts:

Leave some comment love on my posts!! I end many of my posts with a question asking for your opinions, but it seems like everyone is being shy :) Leave me some comments, share your experiences, add some new tips. I love conversation!
Suggest my blog, twitter, or facebook to any of your friends who would appreciate it! I love sharing fun new stuff, so of course the more people I get to share it all with, the more fun it is! And, the bigger Sunshine and Sippy Cups grows, the more cool stuff I’ll get to offer to you guys!!
Leave me a Happy Birthday message on my page on May 22nd!! I get to be a bit of an attention diva when my birthday rolls around… I’ll admit, in my early 20’s, I celebrated my birthday WEEK each year, and planned parties and events each day. What can I say? I love an excuse for a party!

So, get your name in the drawings, and look forward to a few more freebies and giveaways next week!! Have a great weekend :)

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 14, 2011 Filed Under: Contests, Freebies | 2 Comments

See if YOU Qualify for the $30 Survey too!

Big {THANK YOU!!} to Crazy Coupon Mommy for sharing this tip with me, or I would’ve missed it!! Be sure to check out her site too, she posts tons of great deals and freebies, you’ll love her!

If you’re a Toluna member, check your email to see if you have a NEW survey offer for a {super amazing!} 90,000 points, which would equal $30 cash!!!

If you use sites like Toluna, you can earn FREE checks just like me! {the picture above shows my recent checks from Toluna, Ebates, and Inbox Dollars.}

And if you’re not a member yet, you can sign up today to get in on the next big survey!

I used to spend a TON of time on these sites, and earned a lot of money each month. Not enough to get rich, lol, but a really nice bit of extra money.

Now that I have the kids all day, and have been working on this blog and a {soon, I hope!} future Etsy shop, I don’t have as much time. But when I do have a few minutes to myself in the evening, I’ll fill out 3 or 4 surveys, from a few different sites. Then, at least a couple times a month, I have sites that I can cash out on! THat makes for a steady stream of extra bucks!

It’s definitely best to use several sites, since you will be able to earn money quicker.

Here are a few that I use and have had a good experience with:

MyView: Share your Opinions! Earn great Rewards! Join the MyView Panel. Take Surveys & earn gift cards from top brands at MyView. MyView Sign Up.
Valued Opinions: Don’t give your opinions away, get paid for them! Valued Opinions Sign Up.
Swag Bucks: Do quick polls and surveys, search the web, and more. Earn Swag Bucks! Personally, I use all of mine for $5 Amazon gift cards, and earn one every week or two. They add up really quick! Swag Bucks Sign Up.

Have a great day!!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 14, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | No Comments

FAN-tastic Freebie Friday!

LOVE this one: Get a Free bumpersticker from MomsRising! Free Sticker.
Freebies: Learn how to get FREE Clairol Haircolor, Suave products, and Seattle’s Best Coffee samples at Free Samples MySavings.
TravelZoo: Fun, local, travel deals. Click Here. Really good reputation.
MyView: One of my readers favorites, earn free gift cards, sign up today! Click Here.
Kellogg’s: Get up to $10 bucks in free coupons. Don’t miss this! Click Here.
Free Internet Radio: Check out Athena365, a free internet radio option targeted to women. Sounds cool, I haven’t checked it out yet.

Zulily: Check out the awesome deal today on Klassy Kouture, including these adorable baby girl body-suits with built in tutus! Super cute.
Ebates: The Daily Double at Ebates today is Nordstrom. And it’s not just doubled, it went from the regular 3% cash back to 12% cash back, today only! {And enter to win in my Ebates contest here.}
Groupon: Restaurants, Salons and Events up to 90% off! Find deals in your city. Click Here to learn more.
Eversave: {I’ve never used this, but have heard you get some pretty sweet stuff. It just takes a couple steps to get started, but then you get loads of goodies} Get Free Coupons delivered to your indox, Free Brand name samples, Gift card Giveaways plus deals with up to 90% off! Click Here.
Vindale: Get paid to test products and complete surveys! Click Here.
Michaels: Print NEW coupons! Print Coupon.

If I have some time this evening, I’ll get you another freebie list too!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 13, 2011 Filed Under: Shopping, Deals and Coupon Codes, Product Testing, Freebies | 1 Comment

Rockin’ Newsletter: PureWow

I’ve been a subscriber to PureWow for a few months now, and it’s a fun one.

Mostly just fun new updates on products, sales, celeb’s… Entertaining every day.

They also do quite a few giveaways, and deliver new promo or coupon codes in many of the emails, which is why I keep subscribed!

Thought I’d share… You know what a big fan I am of newsletters that bring you freebies and deals. I’m trying to post info about all of my favorites as I go through my own email each day!

PureWow Women’s Daily Newsletter- Featuring the very best in culture, fashion, travel and much more! Click Here to check it out!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 13, 2011 Filed Under: Shopping, Deals and Coupon Codes, Freebies | No Comments

Starting the Weight Loss Journey…

Summer is coming, and I still have way too much of this “Baby Baggage” left over from being pregnant last summer…

It’s tough because, well, honestly, diet and exercise just aren’t my thing.

I like cupcakes. I like a glass of wine. I love to cook tacos, and bbq hot dogs, and eat tater tots.

Problem is, I kind of look like a tater tot. Which is not a good look.

I’m on a mission to lose about 20 pounds. Summer is coming, and our new house has a really awesome in-ground pool. And I don’t want to spend money on a new swim suit. So it’s time to get movin’.

I signed up today for the Jillian Michaels Free Trial, for a FREE 7 days of the program. Worth a shot, right?

You have to enter your credit card info to sign up, and if you love it and want to stick with it, they’ll charge you $4 bucks a week to continue. Not bad at all, right? Plus, I think that spending the money, even though it’s only a tiny amount, will help me to take it seriously. And if you don’t like it, you just cancel before the 7 days are up. I put a note on my calendar for day 6, so I can decide to cancel or keep going.

Read a little more:

Three Reasons My Program Works
	1. My Experience I’ve been helping people lose weight for 18 years. And I’ve struggled with my own weight issues. Trust me, I know what works.
	2. No Gym Required You pick when and where you want to work out. You’ll get all the tools, support, and motivation you need from my customized online program.
	3. It’s Customized Based on your body type, fitness level, and goals – you’ll get a customized weight loss program designed for maximum results.

I had looked into quite a few programs in the past, and you might remember some of my other posts asking for advice. While I think that the Weight Watchers program is pretty awesome, and know people who have used it successfully, it just cost way too much for me.

So, I’m going to at least try this out. Nothing to lose, right? Well, except the size of my hips :) If any of you guys are interested in joining too, or are already members, I’d LOVE to hear it!

If there are a few of you that join, I’d like to hear your stories, and share them in some posts, to help keep everyone motivated!

So let me know in the comments:

Are you already a member? What do you think of the program?
Have you used this program in the past? How did it work? Any tips?
Or, did you join today? What are your weight loss goals? What is your biggest challenge?

I really do eat pretty healthy, and am moderately active since I’m chasing a baby and a 4 year old all day. But I definitely need a jumpstart to help me on the way to my goals! I’m excited to give this a try…

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 13, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | No Comments

Facebook Freebies {Limited Time}

Here is a round up of freebies and giveaways on Facebook:

Free Trip: This summer, a legend will rise. See Conan the Barbarian in 3D on August 19. Join the Barbarian Army! LIKE Conan now to be entered to win a trip to San Diego Comic Con. Conan hits theaters August 19. Click Here to enter!
Bounce Free T-Shirt: Enter to win a FREE t-shirt from Bounce. Click Here.
Dial For Men: Enter to win a super cool trip! Click Here.
Suave: Enter to win one of 10,000 FREE Suave Body Wash or Lotion, or grand prize. Click Here.
Secret: Check them out for TWO giveaways, I hear one gets you a free sample when you submit! Click Here. After you fill out that one, click the other giveaway tab under their profile pic to enter the other!
Degree: Gone, but check back on May 18th for NEW giveaway of FREE products. Click Here.
Caress: Go on over and “Like” them now, and watch for their new giveaway coming next week!! Click Here.
Right @ Home: See their facebook page for coupons and offers, Click Here and sign up for their FREE gift packs and newsletters too, Click Here.

If I’ve missed any great contests or freebies on facebook right now, let me know so I can add them, and give you credit for mentioning them :)

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 13, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies, Contests | No Comments

Kraft First Taste Members: Freebie!

Are you a member of the Kraft First Taste program yet?

If you are, go on over and check your account for a {possible} new freebie! As you know, not everyone gets the same deals, but I had this one waiting when I logged in today!

They’re sending me a coupon to try the new Deli Fresh Combo’s for FREE. And you know free is my favorite flavor.

If you’re not a member yet, get on over and sign up! You can check it out here, Kraft First Taste Sign Up.

And if you don’t have the offer in your account today, my advice is to check back in a day or two. Sometimes I’ve seen people post about a new deal, but I didn’t have it. Bummer, right? But then the next time I’d check back, it would be there. So they must just take a bit of time to load them maybe?

Anyway, check it out, and let me know if you’re getting a coupon too!

And, if you guys have seen any other great offers that you’d like to share in the comments, I’m sure everyone would super appreciate it :)

And if you’re a fan of Kraft products, make sure to sign up for this NEW newsletter too…