Sep
27
This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Febreze NOTICEables
When I was given the opportunity to review Febreze NOTICEables, I did have one question. Have the people at Febreze been to my house?! Seriously. I have a twelve year old and fourteen year old son, and a very large dog, and a husband. Can you think of anyone who might need help with ODOR more than me? No. You can’t.
Nothing says “homey” more than a fresh smelling house, and I rarely never have that. Remember when your kids were babies and you loved to sniff their cute chubby necks and breathe in their baby deliciousness? Well, that does not last, let me tell you. I am constantly trying different things to eliminate odor all over my house, and until recently, I never found anything that really worked. Candles do not really help, they’re just not strong enough. Sprays only last a short time, and believe me, we need something long lasting. So I was thrilled to get my box of Febreze NOTICEables in the mail.
Before I ever opened the box, all three of the men in my house commented, asking “What smells so good?”. Before I even opened the box, people! Febreze NOTICEables is a scented oil warmer that you simply plug into any outlet and enjoy for thirty days. Instead of one fragrance, NOTICEables alternate between two complimentary scents. I tried Autumn Spice/Harvest Festivities, Warm Celebration/Pumpkin Harvest and Morning Walk/Cleansing Rain. They are all so yummy, but my personal favorite is Morning Walk/Cleansing Rain. I just love that crisp clean scent.
Now, how did they work? I put the Warm Celebration/Pumpkin Harvest to the true test of odor elimination – it went in the boys’ bathroom. Two times the boy, two times the smell. I had given up on that room and resorted to keeping the door closed. But no more. Febreze NOTICEables worked wonders in that room and in my bedroom by the dog bed. I was able to keep their bathroom door open; in fact, I purposefully walked by there more often to catch a whiff of the lovely fall scent.
Febreze NOTICEables will freshen your air for thirty days, so I am still enjoying my sweet smelling home. If Febreze NOTICEables can work in my house, they can work anywhere!
And now for more awesomeness! You can enter to win a $100 Visa gift card and a Febreze gift basket!
To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me what is the most important thing you do to maintain a clean, fresh home – or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below.
The contest will begin on Monday, September 28, 2009 and will end Tuesday, October 27, 2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct. This giveaway has ended, thanks for entering and check back soon for more great giveaways!
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older
Winners will be selected via random draw and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
Check out more Febreze NOTICEables reviews for nine more chances to win!
Good luck!!
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Aug
28
This is a compensated review from BlogHer and AT&T FamilyMap
Don’t we all know moms or parents who said “My child will NEVER have a cell phone”? I do. In fact, I was that mom. I was sooo amused listening to parents complain about their teenagers and cell phones. I was convinced that no kid needed a cell phone. In fact, I didn’t have a cell until just a couple of years ago. Well, let’s just say that I will never say NEVER again.
My son got a cell phone last year. Not because he was begging for one since all his friends had one. They do, but he didn’t care. No, the reason he got a cell phone was because of me. He was going off to band camp at a large, out of state university. I became obsessed with the fear that he might get separated from his friends or get lost on the large campus. Or that he might miss the bus that took them back to the dorms at night. I was just worried, and a cell phone seemed like the best solution. Which it was. So avoid saying never, because you never know.
Even though I wanted him to have the cell phone, I didn’t want him to have free reign with it. We have AT&T, and I absolutely love it. I’ve used their Smart Limits program to set restrictions on time of use, how many texts, and more. I can log in anytime and change the limits if I want or just view what he’s been doing. I have made many phone calls to AT&T with questions about adding or removing services, and the reps have always been patient with this non-techie mom. AT&T is extremely family friendly. In fact, when we first got the cell phone I made some mistakes that resulted in a higher than normal bill. When I called in, the rep looked at our account and immediately said, “You have a teenager, right?” She knew exactly why the bill was higher and fixed it right away for me, and explained so that I wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Since I have had such great results with the Smart Limits program, I was really excited to see the new AT&T FamilyMap service. I don’t want to spy on my son or know exactly where he is every second of the day. But he is a teenager. He is notorious for saying he’ll call me when he arrives at his destination then forgetting to call for hours. He has also been know to call me to come pick him up at a friends house and have no clue how to tell me how to get there. I have spent hours lots of time driving around neighborhoods trying to find houses that didn’t map correctly on mapquest. So this seemed like a great service.
This is a new service, and right now you can get your first thirty days free. With the FamilyMap, you can locate your child’s phone, or any phone in your plan. You can track phones from the internet or from your own phone. In addition to random location checks, if that’s what you want to do, the service includes a Schedule Check option which I am most excited about. With that, you can specify a time of day to automatically locate a particular phone. In my case, this will be very helpful when my graduate classes start in a few weeks. I can’t count on my son to call me when he gets home from school, but I also can’t call him during my class. With the Schedule Check, I can set it to check his location at 3pm on the days that I’m going to be in class. Then at 3pm on those days, I will get a text message letting me know if he is home. Since I would spend the entire class time worrying if I didn’t know where he was, that will be a big help.
There are some parents who might prefer that their child not know that they can track their location. When I signed up for AT&T FamilyMap and selected my son’s cell phone for mapping, he immediately got a text message saying that my phone number was tracking his location. Since I hadn’t explained it to him first, I got a not too happy text message asking why I was doing that. But we’ve talked and he understands now. He does not get a text every time I locate his phone, unless I go into my account and set it up that way. He will get periodic notification, about once a month. I’m really not using it to spy on him 24/7, so it’s fine with me that he knows I can track his phone.
However, if he turns off his phone, I can’t track it. If you have a teenager, you’ll understand why I’m not too worried about this 
Unless the battery is dead, his phone is on.
Now for the downside, if you can call it that. The mapping service works best with phones that have Assisted GPS. My phone is ancient and does not, so FamilyMap uses cell towers to give me the most accurate location when I track my own phone. It states right on the AT&T website that without the Assisted GPS phone, it can be within a few hundred yards to a few miles of the phone’s actual location. It also will depend on the location itself, if there are lots of trees or tall buildings it may not be as accurate.
Because I am so technologically impaired, I have done quite a bit of reading on the FamilyMap. It doesn’t say so in the FAQ’s or at least I haven’t found it, but through reading the AT&T forums, it seems like phones with internet accessibility will track better. My son’s phone is newer, and he has a media package on his phone, so he can browse the internet, but the media package is not required for FamilyMap. I have tracked my son’s location and my own location, and it has been right on target with my son’s phone. I do not have a media package on my phone, so no internet. The tracking is a little off for my phone, probably by only a couple miles. That’s ok with me, since I don’t really need to track my own phone.
I’ve been happy with the FamilyMap service so far. It was very easy to register and get it started. The mom (that would be me) who said her kids will NEVER have cell phones is probably going to be getting a cell phone for the younger son soon, so I’ll have more phones to track. I’ll be honest, if I stayed home and didn’t work or go to school, I might not think I needed the FamilyMap service, at least not until my kids are driving (let’s not talk about that!). But as busy as they are and as busy as I am, I think it’s going to be a lifesaver. You also can’t beat the free 30-day trial to see if it’s going to be helpful for your family. To learn more, and sign up and get your first 30 days free, check out the Family Map site.
Now for the giveaway! You know you were waiting for it.
To enter to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment below and tell me what gives you peace of mind -specifically with regards to kids/teenagers, but if you don’t have kids, please enter anyway!
The contest will begin on August 27, 2009 and will end on September 20, 2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct so I can contact you if you win.
- No duplicate comments
- You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
This giveaway is open to US residents, aged 18 and older
The winner will be selected via random draw using the Random Number Generator, and will notified by e-mail. You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
Check out how the rest of the BlogHer Reviewers explored AT&T Family Map – you have 10 chances to win a $100 Visa gift card.
The giveaway has ended and I will be emailing the winner soon, thanks for entering! Check back soon for more giveaways!
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Mar
29
I’m going to make a confession. I don’t watch much TV, so while I’ve heard of Dancing with the Stars, I’ve never followed it closely. So when One2One Network asked me to review the brand new Ballas Hough Band CD called BHB, I had no idea what to expect.
The founding members of the Ballas Hough Band are Derek Hough and Mark Ballas. Fans of Dancing with the Stars will know that Derek and Brooke Burke were the winners last season, with Mark and Kristi Yamaguchi winning season 6. That’s impressive enough, but these professional ballroom dancers have also been playing and performing music together since they were teenagers. Talk about multi-talented!
Even though I don’t keep up with the show, I had heard of the talented dancers. I just had no idea that they were musicians too. Most of the songs on this pop album were written by Derek and Mark, but the first single, “Do It For You,” was co-written by new American Idol judge Kara Dioguardi. That was the first song I listened to, and it’s my favorite from the CD so far. This song is hip, upbeat and fast paced. It’s perfect to get you moving, whether its dancing, exercising or cleaning the house -ok, maybe I need some music to get motivated to clean. Whatever works. You can watch the official video release of “Do It For You” on Youtube. I also really enjoy some of the slower songs, such as “Underwater” and “Longing For”. I’ve already decided I’m going to get a copy of this CD for my niece, she’s a dancer herself and a huge Dancing with the Stars fan, so I know she’ll love this. Even if you’re not a dancer, you can’t help but dance to some of these songs, this CD really gets you moving.
Following the spring season of Dancing with the Stars, the band will head out on a summer tour across the U.S. More information can be found at www.Myspace.com/ballashoughband
I highly recommend this fun CD, and you can buy it on Amazon now.
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Feb
17
When Blogher asked me if I’d like to do a paid review for the Swiffer Sweeper 2 in 1, I couldn’t say no. I love to try out new products in hopes that I’ll find something to help me keep my house clean.
I really love a clean house, and especially clean floors. But clean floors don’t come easy in a household with 2 active boys and 1 messy husband. But my biggest barrier to clean floors is disguised as a sweet, cute, cuddly pet:
While he is cute and cuddly, he’s also a smelly, shedding, tracking in all kind of mud and dirt beast. The shedding is a huge problem. I keep asking my husband, if we had to have a dog why didn’t we at least get a white dog. Every spring and summer, my floors are covered in black dog hair, which accumulates in the corners and under the cabinets. Which is just gross.
The only bad thing about doing reviews of cleaning products is that I have to post pictures of my unclean house. But it’s for a good cause, so here goes. These first pictures are of my kitchen floor. I’d like to say that I let the dog hair and dirt accumulate for a couple of days for the purpose of this review, but the truth is, I clean my floors every day and it still looks like this.
Just in case it wasn’t clear what those black blobs are on my floor, this last close up should clear up any confusion. Dog Hair! I swept and mopped yesterday, so this is what I deal with after one day. And it’s winter, so this is nothing compared to how I suffer through warmer weather.
But wait, there’s more than just dog hair.
He also tracks in dirt and mud, and since we’ve had a few days of ice which turns into nasty muddy slush, my floor has been covered with muck. If I could keep the dog inside all the time I would, but that’s not an option.
I have tried all kinds of products for the floors, mainly because I want something quick and easy. I hate to get out the broom, get out the mop, fill the mop bucket, sweep, mop then try to keep everyone off the floor while it dries. That takes too long, especially since it needs to be done at least once a day. So I was pleasantly surprised to open up the Swiffer 2 in 1 and find that it assembled very quickly. The Swiffer 2 in 1 is for sweeping and mopping, so it just takes up one hook in my garage, where I keep my various cleaning supplies. Yes, that is important, I want something small that doesn’t take up much space, because I don’t have much space.
And it passed the true test of convenience, my son was able to assemble it in seconds. This is also important, because my goal is to delegate the floor cleaning to my kids. We all want to give our kids something to cherish, right? That’s my gift to them.
I was skeptical about the sweeper part, I just didn’t see how those sweeper cloths would pick up the stuff on my floor. I was surprised here too, because it did pick up the dog hair and the dirt and trap it on the cloth. When I use my regular broom, I have to go over the floor several times, because it seems to scatter the dog hair around more than anything. The Swiffer cloths picked it up the first time.
I quickly swapped the dry sweeping cloth with a wet mopping cloth. Again, it was very quick and easy. Then I went to work on the mud. I expected to have to spend some time scrubbing, because that’s what I have to do when I use my standard wet mop. But the wet mopping cloths have a textured scrubbing strip, so I made one swipe over the floor with the cloth then flipped over to the scrubbing strip to go over the worst mud stain. It got it right out, no scrubbing necessary.
I did my whole kitchen floor in just a matter of minutes. Another thing I like about the Swiffer 2 in 1 is that there’s no concentrated chemical smell that you get with other cleaners. Just a clean, fresh scent.
Clean floor! No dog hair! No mud! Can you tell how happy a clean floor makes me? It’s the simple things in life. The Swiffer 2 in 2 was quicker, easier, and more convenient that my normal broom and mop routine. And it worked, my floor is clean and the dog hair is gone. Why go part of the way with your traditional methods, when Swiffer takes you all the way clean! Visit http://www.swiffer.com for more information and to save $2 on any one Swiffer® Sweeper Starter Kit!
For more Swiffer reviews visit Blogher.
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Jan
21
I jumped at the chance to review the Shielding Lotion from Skin MD Natural. My hands, legs and feet get so dry, and I’ve tried all kinds of lotions but nothing really helps. Most of the lotions I’ve tried are so thick, it feels like I’m just putting a mask on to cover up the dryness, but they do nothing to help heal my skin. This Shielding Lotion is totally different.
I love that this lotion is very light. I work on my computer and I hate putting on lotion and ending up with greasy, sticky hands. With the Shielding Lotion from Skin MD Natural, there was no greasiness at all. I put the lotion on and it disappeared, leaving my hands feeling soft and smooth.
I have to admit that my poor hands have years of sun damage, and they show it. I have been using the Shielding Lotion for five days now, and I am thrilled that my hands look younger, healthier and more toned. My legs feel soft, not dry and scratchy.
I was surprised that the Shielding Lotion is for your face too. I am very careful about what I put on my face, because I have such a strange complexion. Part dry, part oily, never “just right”. I have spent years abusing my skin, using harsh treatments to try to combat acne and sun damage. I avoid moisturizer on my face because that seems counter productive to drying up my skin. So I tried the Shielding Lotion on my face with much apprehension. I was pleasantly surprised. Because it’s so light, I never got that oily shine on my face. It did not cause my face to break out, and the area under my eyes felt softer and looked refreshed.
Despite all my skin issues, once I decided that I loved this lotion, I put it to the true test. My son has even worse skin than I do. He has suffered from eczema for years, and his arms are red, chapped and irritated. It’s painful to look at and I know it’s painful for him. We’ve tried over the counter products and prescriptions, but so far nothing has helped. He was even more skeptical than me, but he agreed to try the Shielding Lotion on his arms. Despite how much I like the lotion for me, I was shocked that it worked so well for him. His arms are less red, less irritated and he’s not scratching now, after several days of using the Shielding Lotion.
I cannot recommend the Shielding Lotion from Skin MD Natural highly enough. It worked for my son and I, and between us we have about every possible skin problem. On the Skin MD Natural website they have other user reviews and some unbelievable before and after pictures. You can purchase online and I found a local pharmacy that carries it.
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Nov
25
Let me start out by admitting that my family is slow to jump on any new technology bandwagon. This is due to several things, one, we’re just naturally slow at everything, and two, any new gadget or game is usually not in our budget.
That said, when my kids pooled their money and wanted to buy a Wii, I let them. They’ve played with and loved so many Nintendo products over the years, I don’t question the value at all. And we all are in love with our Wii.
We don’t have many games for it, so when Blogher offered me the chance to do a paid review of the Wii Monopoly game for Electronic Arts and Hasbro, I jumped on it. I could say that I wanted to do it for my kids, but honestly, I loved Monopoly as a child. We’re talking favorite game ever, played for hours. Now that my kids are older, and are more interested in their electronic games, it’s hard to get them to sit at the table for a board game. Honestly, it’s hard to get them to sit at the table for dinner, much less family time. And I am all over anything that gives us family time.
The Monopoly for Wii is very user friendly, even for a technophobe like me. I was glad to see that it is very true to the board game. If you’re at all familiar with the board game then you can jump right into the Wii game. Up to four players compete to accumulate the most money by buying, renting or trading properties. Just like the board game, the goal is to purchase real estate and rake in the cash as your opponents land on your property. One new addition is that when you land on a property you can choose to auction it off. Park Place, Board Walk, even going directly to jail are all the same. Everything I loved about the board game is in the Wii version. You can also tweak the House Rules, if you want to customize your game.
My youngest son is a die hard gamer, but he wasn’t quite as familiar with the original board game. He figured everything out very quickly. You use the Wii-mote to roll the die, and to bid on auctions. We used one remote, but you can use more than one if you want. As you play and buy properties you collect stamps in your passport which will go towards unlocking the other boards. That’s one of the coolest things about the Wii version, the variety of boards. There are 10 boards total, including jungle, arctic, future, cheese, and deco themes, along with the new World Edition, where the currency is millions. The property names change with each board, and each have different backgrounds, tokens and music.
I like the little Monopoly man, moving along with us as we advanced in the game. He’s really kind of cute, but don’t tell my son I said that or he’ll have to give me the eye roll.
Also like the board game, Wii Monopoly can last for hours. The first time we played, it took a little over 2 hours to finish, using the Classic board. That 2 hours was for just the Monopoly game.
My sons have played a lot of electronic games in their short little lives, so I was concerned that they wouldn’t be interested in an electronic version of a game their mom played when she was a child. You know, centuries ago. I was wrong, they liked it and especially the different boards you can unlock. But for them, the main event was the Richest Edition. That’s where they shake things up a bit. It’s not at all similar to the Monopoly I remember, but it’s a great addition. It’s fast paced party mode, and the kids loved it. My sons have been playing the Richest Edition more than the traditional Monopoly, it’s a big hit.
The Richest mode has 3 variations, Developer, Industrialist and Tycoon. Each variation lasts between 30 to 60 minutes. Each round of Richest mode starts with a mini game, which takes about a minute to play. Whoever wins gets to choose how many pieces they’d like randomly dropped onto the board. If your piece lands on an unoccupied space, you own it. If you land on someone else’s space, though, you have to pay them. There are 12 interactive mini-games like breaking out of the jail cell and running away with all the loot (my personal favorite). Each player has to have their own remote for the Richest Edition. These fast mini games were my son’s favorite part of Monopoly for Wii.
I was excited to play Wii Monopoly as soon as I heard about it, but my sons were skeptical. They’re 13 and 11, so they’re jaded game players. It has to be fun and exciting to pass their litmus test for a cool game. Wii Monopoly passed with flying colors. They both enjoyed it, and especially the Richest Edition. This is a great family game, and should definitely be included on your holiday shopping list.
For more Monopoly for Wii reviews visit Blogher.
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Nov
1
There are some things that you just don’t talk about. I have had problems with my feet for years, but I just suffered through it and avoided wearing sandals. But recently, I’ve mentioned my dry, cracked heels to some friends, and most of them have said they are dealing with the same thing.
I’ve been to doctors, tried some very expensive prescriptions, and nothing has really helped. It had gotten to the point where my feet were cracked so badly that it was painful to walk, and I was limping. Plus, my kids started asking me keep socks on my “crusty” feet at all times. It’s painful and embarrassing!
So I broke down and tried a Ped Egg. I have little faith in products I see advertised on TV. I’ve tried more expensive foot file type products and those haven’t worked. At this point, I was willing to try anything.
I won’t shock you with before and after pictures, but the Ped Egg worked wonders on my poor feet. I was very nervous, because of the cracks on my feet I was afraid it would hurt to use the Ped Egg. But it was very gentle, and painless. It was quick, easy and my feet look like baby feet. No more limping, and now I can wear flip flops without being afraid someone will see my feet.
If you don’t have problems with dry, cracked heels, then you can’t appreciate how happy the Ped Egg has made me. My feet were hurting so badly that I could hardly stand to walk. Now my heels look great and the pain is gone. I highly recommend the Ped Egg, I’m not exaggerating when I say that it can change your life.
To celebrate my happy feet, I’m giving away 2 Ped Eggs, so 2 lucky readers can enjoy this product.
To enter:
Please leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win one of these, before midnight Wednesday November 5.
I will pick the winner using the random.org generator and will notify them via their email. Open to US addresses only. It’s one entry per person, but you can earn extra entries.
To earn extra entries:
- Subscribe to my feed You can subscribe through a feed reader or you can also subscribe by email and have posts sent to your email address.
- Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
Please leave 1 extra comment for each additional entry, telling me which you have done (ie 1 extra comment if you subscribe, 1 extra comment if you mention this on your blog)
This giveaway will end at midnight CST on Wednesday November 5. This giveaway has ended. I will email the winners and announce the names after they respond. Thank you for entering!
Good luck!
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Oct
20
This is my first time participating in Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom. I was sent a bottle of CLR Bath and Kitchen Cleaner. Now I have a houseful of guys, so my bathrooms get pretty dirty. So the tough part was deciding which one to tackle first!
I decided to try CLR out on something that I’ve struggled to keep clean. I’m embarrassed to show these pictures, but if it helps someone else to overcome this problem, I’m glad to help!
BEFORE CLR
I wanted you to be able to see up close just how dirty my shower door was. I have tried several different products, nothing has gotten it completely clean. So I wasn’t holding out much hope for CLR.
I actually knew that this product was different as soon as I sprayed the door. I could tell by the drops of the spray dripping onto the floor that it was getting the soap scum and grime off my door, almost instantly. I followed the instructions, sprayed then let it sit for 2 minutes before I wiped it off.
AFTER CLR:
Look at that shine! That door hasn’t been that clean, well, in years. I’m very impressed with CLR It worked fast, it didn’t require any scrubbing at all, and the smell wasn’t bad. I’m very sensitive to odors, and most cleaners are too strong for me. CLR did not have an overpowering cleaner smell, it was mild and not at all irritating.
Now I’m going to tackle the rest of the bathroom and the kitchen. I can’t wait to see how great those rooms look after using CLR Bath and Kitchen Cleaner.
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