Everyday Celebrating

What did YOU love about Recess?

One of the things I love about blogging is having a platform to tell you about things I love. Today, I love helping promote the Danimals Rally for Recess program which helps elementary schools win $20K for their playgrounds.

I mean, we still remember RECESS, right? Wasn't it fabulous? That wonderful break in your day that came at just the right time?

It was perfect to stretch your legs and breath some fresh air and fly down a slide in the warm sunshine.

And not only that, since I'm a girl, it was nice to huddle up with your girlfriends and chit chat without getting in trouble.

Picking my son up from preschool reminds me of those times. Usually he's on the swings and we stay there for a few extra minutes so I can push him. Higher and higher! It makes me remember the feeling of swinging through the air. It was so simple and yet soothing. Especially on a fall day with the October air flowing through your hair while the sun beams down on your face.

What did YOU love about RECESS? Comment in the box below for a chance to win recess related prices!

In the past twenty years, children have lost an average of 8 hours of recess a week. Danimals Rally for Recessis a national initiative designed to create healthy competition, pitting school against school. Go to Danimals Rally for Recess for a chance to win $20,000 for your Elementary school playground. Plus each day Danimals is giving recess-related prizes to keep kids healthy and active. Share your Recess memories below and go to Rally for Recess for more information on how your school can win!

I have partnered with Dannon/Danimals to help promote the “Rally for Recess” campaign. I have been compensated for my time and commitment to the program, which includes writing about the promotion and product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Contest Rules.

DIY: Personalized Dinnerware!

So I'm gonna say flat out.  I WILL be doing this.  You know how there are some crafts you come across that makes you just stop in your tracks?  That was me with this.  LOVE!

I stumbled upon this great trick over at Brooklyn Limestone.  And while I've written on plates in the past, this just really stood out to me.  

Basically, she bought inexpensive white dishes.  (Hint: Goodwill or even Dollar Tree)

Then she wrote on them using a Porcelaine 150 pen.  Want to write text like in the photo?  Use painters tape to create the lines.

Want a damask or other design?  Use a stencil.

This opens up unlimited possibilities for holiday dishes.  Write the words to your favorite Christmas Carol!  Write a message to someone on their birthday!  Write the words to your wedding song on your anniversary.  ENDLESS possibilities.

And making a set would make a great gift!

Hop over to her blog and check out the rest of the photos.  

Part of Everyday... CLEANING!

This post is for all the MOMS out there!  

As a parent, there are several hard teaching moments, but one of the ones that you feel like you're always nagging upon is cleaning.  Picking up toys, putting them back where they found them and in the RIGHT place.  And explaining where the toys belong.  Then cleaning up spills, dropped food, etc.  It seems never ending!

This is definitely an area where we struggle.  We want the child to learn but sometimes it's easier and faster to do it yourself.

One of the things that we do with our son is make it a game.  My son loves anything that's a race.  So using a timer to see how many toys he can pick up before the timer goes off is a fun game for him.  Or we jump in too and it's a contest who can pick up the most toys.  Or how many toys can we pick up during commercials of his favorite shows.

We also try to encourage donating as part of cleaning.  We talk quite a bit about what toys he isn't using anymore.  What toys he wants to give to children who don't have toys.  

Of course....

Who wouldn't appreciate a house cleaner?  Especially after you host a celebration?

Want to hand over cleaning to the experts for a day? Tell us how you have taught and encouraged your kids to clean and be entered to win one of two prizes!

• First Prize:  House Cleaner for a day plus $100 in product from GreatCleaners.com.
• Second Prize: A Copy of the Book Over 100 Helpful Household Hints

With GreatCleaners.comClean Club, you'll never have to shop for cleaning products again. With the simplicity of automatic shipments that fit your schedule and free shipping on every order, plus 25% off your first order, you'll never have to be without your favorite, essential cleaning products. Click here to join the Clean Club today!

WamnWWantWant to hand over cleaning to the experts? Tell us how you have taught your kids to clean for a chance to win one of two prizes!

•First Prize: house cleaner for a day plus $100 in product from Greatcleaners.com.

•Second Prize: A copy of the book 101 Uses for Baking Soda With Greatcleaners.com Clean Club, you’ll never have to shop for cleaning products again. With the simplicity of automatic shipments that fit your schedule and free shipping on every order, plus 25% off your first order, you’ll never have to be without your favorite, essential cleaning products. Click here to join Clean Club today!Want to hand over cleaning to the experts? Tell us how you have taught your kids to clean for a chance to win one of two prizes!

•First Prize: house cleaner for a day plus $100 in product from Greatcleaners.com.

•Second Prize: A copy of the book 101 Uses for Baking Soda With Greatcleaners.com Clean Club, you’ll never have to shop for cleaning products again. With the simplicity of automatic shipments that fit your schedule and free shipping on every order, plus 25% off your first order, you’ll never have to be without your favorite, essential cleaning products. Click here to join Clean Club today!Want to hand over cleaning to the experts? Tell us how you have taught your kids to clean for a chance to win one of two prizes!

•First Prize: house cleaner for a day plus $100 in product from Greatcleaners.com.

•Second Prize: A copy of the book 101 Uses for Baking Soda

Want to hand over cleaning to the experts? Tell us how you have taught your kids to clean for a chance to win one of two prizes!

•First Prize: house cleaner for a day plus $100 in product from Greatcleaners.com.

•Second Prize: A copy of the book 101 Uses for Baking Soda With Greatcleaners.com Clean Club, you’ll never have to shop for cleaning products again. With the simplicity of automatic shipments that fit your schedule and free shipping on every order, plus 25% off your first order, you’ll never have to be without your favorite, essential cleaning products. Click here to join Clean Club today!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of GreatCleaners.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Arm & Hammer Brand. 

Need ideas? Join a Halloween chat!

Join the Halloween chat on Blog Frog!

wreath via etsy

WAHOOO!!! Halloween is just around the corner, and the savviest among us know it's time to start getting ready! Costumes don't just make themselves, and those gorgeous harvest mantels take time and planning!

So join a Halloween chat on Monday, September 26th at 1pm EST for a live chat all about Halloween! We'll share ideas and links for costume tutorials, decorating ideas, healthy alternatives to all that candy and all sorts of other Halloween related stuff!

 

Target Find: Cocktail Picks

First of all, I want to thank every one of you for continuing to drop by and check on me even while I took a blogging break.  I was working on a rather large (1200 person) black tie event and now that that is done and DONE, I can jump back into entertaining you with random finds and tips. :)  Like my Facebook page to see pics.

So... I'm gonna jump right back in!   Everyone knows that I love to share fab entertaining finds!  And here's what I've found over the weekend.

Fabulous pom cocktail picks at the Dollar Spot at Target!  These come 24 to a pack and they have so many color combinations and uses!  

And get this... they are on clearance now and at my Target were 30 CENTS per pack!   

They are glittery and fuzzy and would make a great addition to your celebration.  Let me give you a run down of occasions to use them: 

• Red/Green - Christmas
• Black/Red - Christmas
• Black - New Year's Eve
• Green/Black - Halloween
• Red/Black - Spiderman/Iron Man Birthday or Fraternity/Sorority 
• Red - Valentine's Day
• What about gluing on googly eyes for Halloween?

These are great to stick in cupcakes, meatballs, hold sandwiches together, make mini fruit kabobs, hold drink garnishes (olives), etc.  

Head to Target and get them while you can!  There are MANY uses for them in the coming months!

 

Do YOU blog?

Do YOU blog?  I mean, I know you come HERE and visit but do YOU have your OWN blog?

Have you ever considered blog conferences?

Probably one of the largest you may have heard about is BlogHer and I just wanted to pass along that through the end of August... like WEDNESDAY... if you use the code "Augustholiday" you can get 20% off any BlogHer ticket.  That's almost $40 off the early bird rate!

If you're planning on going to BlogHer 2012 in NYC next year, it's a great time to get your ticket!  Or... to pitch to a sponsor to get your ticket.

What OTHER blog conferences do you love?   Come join our conversation over at the Ebates Savvy Living Community on Blog Frog and share!  We talk about LOTS of things... school.. parenting... tech... social media... fashion... packing lunches... it's lots of fun!  Stop by!

Join me! We're talking Back to School!

Join me TONIGHT, Tuesday, August 16, for a wonderful LIVE chat on The Blog Frog!

We'll be chatting about BACK TO SCHOOL and all the good and bad that goes with it.

Lunches, schedules, waking up early, homework, school supplies, clothes, etc.  And what about your feelings about the school year starting?  Were you happy to get back into a schedule?

Join us for a one hour chat about Back to School.  9pm EST on August 16.  Take a break for YOU and share the good, bad and the ugly of back to school with other women that GET IT.

Join me for a TWITTER party with SmileBooks

In my last post, I told you about how I spent a few days in July with some wonderful women at an event we called the SmileBooks #METREAT!  

For the METREAT, we forced ourselves to make time for girlfriends.  We left our everyday lives behind - spouses, kids, work... everything!  We spent a few days tuning in and reconnecting with friends that sometimes end up on the back burner, unfortunately.  

We had amazing conversations about things like motherhood, politics, education, relationships, life, goals, what the future holds (or doesn't).  It was so relaxing to spend time sitting on the beach doing absolutely nothing but watching the water and talking about anything and everything.

Now that we're back, it's time to savor the memories!  One of the best ways to capture our trip is through creating a photo book from SmileBooks!  And while I didn't take a massive amount of photos like I normally do, mainly because a great deal of the time was spent in water, the photos I did take, are fabulous and really remind me of funny moments like this one....

Ya know those photos that don't mean anything to anyone else but who was THERE?  THOSE are the perfect photos for SmileBooks!  Books that you create and give to your girlfriends as momentos that, flipping through them, will instantly bring a smile.

So in celebration of those kinds of memories, come join me for a Twitter party on THURSDAY, August 4 at 8pm EST.  Use the hash #METREAT.  We'll be talking about girlfriends, special occasions, memories and... how to create photo books!   

Staff from SmileBooks will be on hand to answer any of your questions about creating books as well as giving away prizes and discounts on books.

Can't wait to get started?  SmileBooks is offering a 40% discount on all photo books using the code METREAT40   Go ahead and get started on your book and by Thursday, if you join our Twitter party, you'll be ready to talk books or ask questions.

Join us for a fun filled hour of chat about creating special occasions about of everyday life!  

SmileBooks METREAT 2011

Let me tell you about something NEW....

As a blogger, I spent last year at several different blog conferences.  And while those were fabulous, definitely,  I wanted to create something new this year.  Really focus in my time on an aspect of my life that I've been neglecting.

I felt like there just wasn't time to see FRIENDS.  Being a wife and a mother and an employee and blogger and gosh knows what else, women tend to put friends last.  In the heirarchy of life, it just slides to the bottom.  You figure they'll always be there.  We'll catch up later.  And then months roll by, even years and the catch up never comes.  Sound familiar?

Earlier this year I decided to reprioritize some, slow down on blog conferences and create something new.  Where, for one long weekend, I'd focus on celebrating friendships.  To really do what it took to make it happen, for me.  I began talking this over with one of my best friends NakedJen and the METREAT was born!  

What is the METREAT?  
It is taking time out for yourself to reconnect with those you normally let slide.  It's about taking the time to create memories and inside jokes and to celebrate life and the amazing things in your life you have to be thankful for.

For this first METREAT, SmileBooks came on as the title sponsor and you've heard me talk about them before. They help you create amazing photo books with ease!  Not only that, they have a design service that will design the book FOR you because they realize that not everyone has the time or maybe they'd like to spend that time creating MORE memories!   

As a sponsor of the METREAT, SmileBooks is offering a 40% discount on photo books through 9/30/11.

Just follow the link to learn more and get started.  Their photo books are perfect to create documentation for your summer memories such as:

• a baseball season
• graduation
• summer vacation
• trip to the grandparents
• July 4th celebration
• Back to school
• boating season
• fishing tournament

and of course, birthdays and other celebrations!

Do you have questions about how to create books or other questions to ask the SmileBooks team?

I'll be hosting a Twitter party on Thursday, August 4 at 8pm EST.  Use the hash #METREAT. I'll be joined by Tracy of the SmileBooks team and she'll be on hand to answer any questions you have about creating your own photo books.  We'll be chatting about taking time for yourself and documenting those memories and also how to upload your books to Facebook to share!

In the weeks to come, I'll tell you more about the METREAT and show you the photo book.  In the meantime, here's one of the great photos from the weekend!  

Thank you to SmileBooks for their support of creating new memories!

 

Tell me what YOUR kids are reading! Giveaway!

I don't know about you, but here in Tennessee it's SUPER HOT!  Yesterday, we had a heat index of 116!  And the last thing you want is for your children to be outside playing.  So dangerous!  And even with a pool, you can get so dehydrated so quickly.

This heat creates a perfect time to cool off inside and celebrate READING!  

While my son is just 4, he can't read yet, but he really enjoys book after book after book!  We have several that we seem to fall back on, but one that really stands out to me is My Name Is Not Isabella.

 It's an amazingly inspirational story for young girls featuring some of the greatest women in history.  I love how they feature these women in a book meant for very young girls.  And while it's meant for girls, my son really loves it too!  There's a boy's version called My Name is Not Alexander which we haven't read but based on Isabella, we definitely should!

Tell me what YOUR kids are reading this summer for a chance to win a Summer Reading Prize Pack from the Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club!

 -  Grand Prize:Pottery Barn Kids’ reading chair and a Marc Jacobs Nylon Tote (for mom!)

 - 5 First Prizes: Personalized Pottery Barn Kids’ Beach Tote

EXTRA ENTRY:

 - Children’s Book-of-the-Month is now featuring the My Summer Reading Series!  Kids receive 2 great books at their door each month all summer.  $6.99 a book PLUS a free $25 Restaurant.com gift card!  Check out the different book series, find a book you love and tell us the book title in the conversation for an extra entry in the contest! 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Children's Book-of-the-Month Club. The opinions and text are all mine.  Contest runs June 28 - July 22, 2011. A random winner will be announced July 27, 2011.  Official Rules

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