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Busy Mom Solution: STP Simplifies Car Care! #engineluv #CBias

STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment Display

“I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.” – Author Unknown

When I was approached about a new project to learn about the STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment, I knew that this one would have to involve Mike too – I don’t know much about car care at all. It turned out to be a great shopping experience – I learned a lot, and I’m excited to have him teach you some of the simple tips too! Who knew maintaining your car could be so easy?

STP Motor Treatment

“Driving a brand new car feels like driving around in an open billfold with the dollars flapping by your ears as they fly out the window.” – Grey Livingston

Mike – So many people make the big mistake of not doing regular maintenance on their vehicles. Even if you drive an older car, it’s still really important to take care of it. Changing your oil, using a good antifreeze, tire rotation – all important for keeping your vehicle running well. And a new product that I’m really impressed with that will help you out a lot is STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment. If you’re intimidated by car care – don’t be! This product is as easy as it gets – Step 1: Grab a bottle of the treatment at a local store like Walmart or Auto Zone, and open up your gas tank.

“Walking isn’t a lost art – one must, by some means, get to the garage.” – Evan Esar

Step 2: Pour it in your tank. I like to use a funnel, to minimize the chance of spilling, and to make the job faster. I prefer these big funnels, but any type will work fine. And you can just pour it in directly – it’ll work fine. Just pour it a little slower so you don’t get a mess.

“Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer.” – Author Unknown

Step 3: Pour it in! Yep, it’s really that simple – and you’ll be surprised at how effective such an easy treatment can be. Why should you use this STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment? Well, here are a few things that I think are really great:

  • It can be used a few different ways, to help prevent a lot of common problems people see in their cars.
  • It can clean the deposits and other junk out of the system – this makes the car run a little better, and can save on gas too.
  • Gas these days can contain a lot of water – in cold weather, that water can freeze, which clogs up your fuel-lines. STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment removes water, so you can prevent that problem from happening.
  • If you have a high-mileage car, using this treatment will help it run more efficiently, and can help extend the life of your vehicle.

“Money may not buy happiness, but I’d rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus.” – Françoise Sagan

STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment works in many different ways to protect your vehicle – AND you can use it in many different things around your home! This is great for just about anything you’ve got with a motor – mowers, snow blowers, chain saws, leaf blowers – and if you’re a lucky guy and have a motorcycle, it will help keep that running great too. So – one product, easy to use, and works on everything you’ve got. I give STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment a thumbs up!

Remember:

Just like eating healthy and exercising can help keep your body running well, so that you can avoid trips to the doctors office – regular maintenance of your car at home can help you avoid expensive trips to see a mechanic.

Check out STP on Facebook for a great coupon, and follow them on Twitter too.

Learn more about the full line of great STP products on their site.

See the rest of our shopping trip on Google+.

{This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions, tips, and photos are 100% ours!}

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Busy Mom Solution: Surface Shine Spray!

Surface Bassu Shine Spray

I was sent a bottle of this Surface Shine Spray a few weeks ago to review. It’s a brand that I’m not familiar with, but I figured it’d probably be a nice product, work about the same as other shine sprays – I’m kind of addicted to shine spray, but most of them are pretty much the same.

All SURFACE hair products contain Vitamins A, C & E, organic and 100% vegan protein. The ingredients are gluten, sulfate and paraben-free.

Um – This little bottle knocked my socks off! I love that it’s a more natural product, since I’m trying to cut some of the yucky-junky chemicals out of my life. And I LOVE the shine it adds to my hair – it’s really light so it doesn’t make my hair flat. It’s not greasy or weird feeling on my hair. And here is my FA-VO-RITE part – It smells amazing! It smells almost exactly like the Sun Ripened Raspberry Body Spray from Bath & Body works – which has been one of my favorites since I was in high school. And the scent lasts all day – I get SO many compliments!

Busy Mom Solution: One great product the whole family can use!

Well, dad may or may not want to smell like raspberries, lol. But this spray is a great detangler for kids hair, since it’s filled with natural ingredients. And it’s so versatile – use it on the kids or your own damp hair as a detangler. Use it before heat styling for a deep shine treatment. Or spray it on your finished look to detail it and add a gorgeous gloss! You will love this – I’m so serious. If you’re a busy momma like me, it’s such a great product to quickly polish and freshen up messy-crazy-mom hair!

Find a local salon to purchase SURFACE hair care, or find Surface Bassu Shine Spray on Amazon.

We don’t have any salons within 50 darn miles that carry this spray – so I’ll have to order it online. But you can betcha that I’ll be recommending it to my stylist at my next appointment – this stuff rocks!

{Disclaimer: I received a complimentary bottle of SURFACE Bassu Shine Spray to review, made possible by Mom Spark Media – but all opinions and over-use of exclamation points is totally and 100% my own!}

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Don’t Let Your Digital Memories Become Distant Memories

 

 

“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” Eudora Welty

Photographs are important to me. I had a few concussions when I was in my early 20’s {long stories, for another day…} and my memory just isn’t as strong as it used to be, or should be. But photographs help me really hang on to those special moments in life – silly faces, baby toes and fingers, fancy occasions when we’re all actually cleaned up and dressed up – I love looking back at the photos that capture our lives.

“You don’t take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.” – Author Unknown

If you love photographs like I do, you’ve probably got a TON of them saved on your computer too. I worry sometimes – what if something happens to my computer? What would I do if I lost all of my photos? That would be devastating, seriously. I’ve got thousands of photos saved in this thing. That’s where Sandisk comes to the rescue – “The SanDisk Memory Vault is a photo album for the digital age that allows consumers to preserve images in one reliable location.” What is it? Well, it’s a little gadget that hooks up to your computer with a USB cable, and safely stores every single one of those precious photos for up to 100 years!

Most Consumers Would Not Destroy Their Family Photos for One Million Dollars

SanDisk also issued results from an online survey conducted on its behalf by Harris Interactive from July 28-August 1, 2011 among 2,294 U.S. adults aged 18 and older2. The survey found that 79 percent of U.S. adults with digital photos plan on passing them down to future generations. Photos are so precious that 64 percent of U.S. adults would not consider destroying their family photo collection for any amount of money, not even for one million dollars.

“If you see something that moves you, and then snap it, you keep a moment.” – Linda McCartney

Sandisk makes a ton of my favorite products – you can see a few more of them in this great Holiday Gift Guide video. And like they mention in the video – the Sandisk Memory Vault is super easy to use, and you can store your photos AND videos! So someday you can hand down videos of your wedding day, adorable baby photos of the kids, videos of first steps, family reunions, and more – all safely preserved in one durable device. What more could you ask for, right?

Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

To preserve all of your yesterdays and tomorrows – Head to the Sandisk site to learn more about how the Memory Vault safely preserves your family photos for up to 100 years, for the next generation of your family to enjoy.

Buy the Memory Vault today on Amazon – Get the SanDisk Memory Vault 8 GB
for $49.99, or if you have loads of photos like me, upgrade to the SanDisk Memory Vault 16 GB for $89.99 – both with FREE shipping.

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of SanDisk and received a product sample to facilitate my review, and coupons to giveaway.}

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Busy Mom Solution: Silk Soy and Horizon!

Silk Soy Peppermint Mocha

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” – La Rochefoucauld

The Challenge – The kids only want to drink soda, eat cookies and chips, and avoid their veggie’s like their life depends on it. You want to encourage them to prefer better snacks, and you want to make sure they’re getting loads of good vitamins, minerals, and healthy stuff in their little systems. You try to set a good example – but as a busy mom, you sometimes skip meals too. Or you grab a soda as a quick pick me up. Clearly – you need a new, easy to find, simple to grab, snack option. Well – you’re in luck! Keep reading to learn more about this Busy Mom Solution….

Silk Soy and Horizon Organic

“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” – Edward Stanley

Horizon Organic and Silk Soy both make super portable, super healthy, and super YUMMY single-serve drinks – and they are the perfect snack solution! Here are a few things that I love:

  • No artificial junk.
  • 8 whole grams of protein in each serving – total wow!
  • Lots of great Calcium and Vitamin D in each box.

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn

After I learned more about these single-serve shelf-stable boxes – I realized what a great addition they would be to our current snacks and drinks. I assumed they’d be in the dairy section, which is where I usually buy our other Horizon and Silk Soy products – so that was the first place that I headed.

“High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Supersquash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us?” – Annita Manning

Nope – these super convenient little boxes are not in the cooler section with the other dairy products – in both Walmart and Safeway {I checked both} they were located next to the other shelved beverages. I found them near the juice boxes and chocolate milk packs – they were BY FAR the healthiest option in the whole aisle! The fact that they’re shelf-stable means that they’re easier to stock up on, since you don’t have to find room in the fridge. And they’re perfect for lunch boxes, in the car, or on the go!

“Life is not merely being alive, but being well.” – Marcus Valerius Martialis

These easy to grab boxes are perfect for snacks – since they’re so packed full of good stuff, you feel great about serving them. And because they come in fun flavors like chocolate and strawberry, the kids feel great drinking them!

Learn More –

Now that you know how amazing these products are – {organically good for you and filled with vitamins and good stuff, convenient, and super yummy!} – I’m sure you want to learn more, right?

Check out my full shopping experience, and learn more about these great products – including more serving ideas, a fun giveaway, and a great opportunity to give back – in my Google+ Albums –  Safeway and Walmart.

Connect with them on social media – Silk Soy Facebook, Horizon Facebook, and on Twitter, @WhiteWaveFoods.

{Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All thoughts, photos, and overuse of exclamation points is totally my own!}

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Invite Roboto to YOUR Next Party!!

The name is Roboto. Uno Roboto….

Like James Bond – Uno Roboto is a smooth talker, full of adventure, and totally action packed! I can’t even tell you how much fun we’ve been having with this – Like, the kind of night where your stomach hurts the next day from laughing so hard. Good times.

Uno Roboto

“Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.” – Voltaire quotes

Uno was my very favorite game from the time I was a kid, through my teens, and I even played it a lot during my early twenties. I hadn’t played in years, so when I heard about this Uno Roboto, I figured it’d be a fun way to get the kids excited about my favorite card game. I honestly thought it wouldn’t be much different than traditional Uno – just a gimmick to get people to buy a new version. Ohmyheck – I was so so wrong. This takes Uno to a whole new level, and is hysterical!!

Uno Roboto Package

“Ask not what fun does for you. Ask rather what you do for fun.” – the Oaqui

The basics of the game are simple, and work just the same as traditional Uno. And the Uno Roboto game package includes everything you need to play right out of the box – little mister Roboto with batteries already installed, the deck of cards, and instructions. Bam – ready to go. I cannot tell you how excited I was to get a toy that actually came with it’s batteries installed. When you have a toddler, you go through a loooot of batteries.

Playing Uno Roboto

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katherine Hepburn

Once you get the cards shuffled, and deal each player their set, you’re ready to bring Roboto into the game. Each player – up to 6 people – gets a turn to add their name. You push a button, speak into the mic in his tummy, and he’ll then say your name back in his funny Roboto voice. You then pick one person to make a “House Rule” – which is where the real fun begins!! The crazier your “House Rule” the better! One of our favorites was “Do the Cat Daddy” – {Don’t know what that is? Watch the video and see the dance here. The kids love it. Weirdos.} Once you’ve added your info, you’re ready to play. Start the game the way you normally would – match cards, take turns, discard, etc. The difference is that Roboto will randomly shout out stuff to make things wild and crazy – “Cade and Cole swap cards!” – “House Rule! Everyone do the Cat Daddy!” – “Throw your hands in the air!” – or just silly sounds and funny sayings. It makes the game really unpredictable, and seriously super fun!

Uno Roboto Booty

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ok – you can’t tell me that THIS isn’t hysterical? This is the backside {literally!} of the Uno Roboto guy – he has a little booty! The kids could NOT stop cracking up over this. And I admit, I think it’s pretty funny too. Roboto is like that friend that you always want to invite over to a party – totally unpredictable, always funnier than heck, and cute as can be. This is a must-have if your family loves game nights. And it’s a really great reason to START family game nights if you don’t do them already!

Special Deal:

Get a FREE 7×9 Shutterfly Photo Book with purchase of select Mattel Board Games!!

This is a $15.99 value – and includes not just Uno Roboto, but some of my other favorites too, like Apples to Apples and Pictionary Man.

Check out Uno Roboto on Facebook too! 

You can follow Uno Roboto on Facebook too – to stay updated on fun promotions and special deals. Have pictures or video’s of your family game nights with Uno Roboto? Come post ’em up on my Facebook wall to show me your fun times too!!

{I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of UNO Roboto and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.}

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My Favorite Quotes About Love..

Love, Beach, Sunset
I Love Quotes About Love…

“I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.” – Marilyn Monroe

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“Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.” – Michael Leunig

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“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” – Elbert Hubbard

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“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa

And my All Time Very Favorite Quote About Love…

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness – and call it love – true love.” – Robert Fulghum

Do you have a favorite quotes board on Pinterest too? Leave me your link in the comments – I’d love to follow yours too!

Diamond Ring Selection

Something Special for Your Someone Special…

If you have a special someone – Mom, Daughter, Partner – that you’d like to surprise with an amazingly special gift this year, check out the beautiful selection of handcrafted diamond jewelry on Seventy Seven Diamonds. They can provide you with a little piece of perfection…. Their huge selection means that you can find the right piece that’s as beautiful as the person you’re shopping for. The free worldwide delivery, Best Price Guarantee, and 60 day return policy mean you also get piece of mind with every purchase. Shop www.77diamonds.com today – and make the holiday more magical for that special someone!

{Disclosure: Photo Credit on main photo – Marley Grosz, lower photo, 77diamonds.com. This article is written in behalf of Seventy Seven Diamonds.}

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Build a Better Smile – Oral Health Care for Toddlers

Taking care of toddler teeth

Taking Care of Toddler Teeth

Abby got her first teeth really late. She was born at the end of July, and started teething in November. I could feel little teeth wanting to poke through, and thought that it meant she’d have her first little pearly white pop through any time. I was so wrong – she didn’t get her first tooth until she was almost a year old!

First Dentist Visit

Since she just started to get her teeth at 12 months, I hadn’t even thought about going to a dentist yet. But I recently learned that it’s recommended that kids see the dentist for the first time when they get their first tooth, or by a year old – so at 15 months, we’re behind schedule. Many parents have the misconception that baby teeth don’t require too much care or concern, since they’re just going to fall out anyway. But this is why it’s important – 40% of children will suffer from cavities by the time they reach kindergarten. Getting an early start on good oral hygiene ensures that children will have healthy gums when their “Big Kid” teeth come in, and that they’ve developed good habits to take great care of them.

Some Challenges and Solutions:

  • It’s tough trying to use a toothbrush on a baby: While those infant-style toothbrushes might be cute, they can be a big challenge. An easier option is to use baby teeth wipes to remove plaque from baby’s gums and budding teeth. Super simple, and very effective.
  • I’m worried the visit to the Dentist will be scary: Kids can be scared of what they don’t know – so teach them about the dentist early on! Read toddler books about teeth brushing, or fun videos, to get them used to the idea. Abby watches her Baby Signing Time videos daily – and one of them talks about brushing your teeth. Soon after, she became super interested in watching us brush, and wanted to brush too! Watching the videos and reading the books has made it fun for her – so I’m sure our first dentist visit coming soon will go smoothly.
  • What else you can do: Avoid putting baby to bed with a bottle after 12 months. Limit the amount of juice or other sugary drinks that children drink out of a sippy cup during the day. And of course, have kids brush after eating sticky candies or snacks – that sticky food can do a lot of damage to those little teeth.

 Oral Care is Important for the Whole Family!

Those baby and toddler teeth aren’t the only one’s that are important – the rest of the family needs to build some great habits too! Cavities are no fun for anyone – they can be really painful, and the bills for dental work add up really quickly. That’s why I’m excited to announce a new campaign from Listerine and Reach – the Oral Care Challenge!

The Oral Care Challenge

To get started, gather your whole family together, and build some excitement for the challenge. Maybe offer rewards, or break into teams. Talk about why oral health care is so important, and then let them know what their challenge will be…

The challenge is for everyone in the house to Brush, Floss, and Rinse every day, twice-a-day, for two full weeks.

Why is this so important? Because, while your family might be great at brushing every morning and night, brushing by itself misses 75% of the germs in your mouth! By flossing between teeth, and following with a great rinse, you’re doing a much more effective job, and fully protecting all those pretty teeth in your family’s smiles.

Protect Your Family’s Smile: From Toddler Teeth to Grown-Up Grins!

The smiles on your families face are the best part of the day – so make sure you’re helping them protect them! On your next shopping trip, make sure to stock up on some new products, to help make the challenge fun – Learn more about the full line of products from Listerine, and how they can help. Sign up for the ListerineKids newsletter for some money-saving coupons. And read some fun facts and tips on smart oral health care for kids too.

Savings Alert: $1.25 off when you buy any ONE LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® Anticavity Flouride Rinse

Join Me in the Oral Care Challenge!

Stay tuned in two weeks to learn how our challenge went – how successful we were, what challenges we faced, and our plans to improve. Are you planning to join the challenge too? Share your story in the comments!

{Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Listerine and received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.}

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