H-E-B gift card winner is...

Congratulations!!

Thanks to everyone who participated, especially if you put in your two cents worth when it came to candy because mmmm, cannnndy.  We had 20 total entries in the end (between blog/FB/Twitter), with 6 people getting an extra entry when their candy of choice was mentioned.  The candy vote was a two way tie between Cadbury Eggs and Reese's Eggs but since I also love Robin Eggs that ended up getting an extra vote so it turned into a three way never-to-be-decided-because-no-one-else-voted tie.  But I think since it's my post I will make an executive decision to declare Robin's Eggs the best candy of easter.  It's declared.  End of discussion.

Annalee - just email me your address and I will get your gift card on the way!

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!

H-E-B Easter Deal + enter to win a $20 gift card giveaway!

I just love being able to offer you readers opportunities to win free stuff.  I hope you enjoy it too.  H-E-B approached me to talk about their Easter Meal Deal going on now through April 6th.  I hemmed and hawed about whether to do it (because again, I don't believe in pimping just to pimp my blog) until I had to go to the grocery store for cookie ingredients and finally checked it out for myself.  Turns out it's a pretty sweet deal, especially if a) you tend to procrastinate when it comes to shopping like me other people I've heard of and b) you're all about the coupons and making the most of your food budget.

Anyway, this sweet deal is good through next Tuesday, even after Easter is over. I highly recommend checking it out.  The gist of the deal follows:

Buy H-E-B Spiral Sliced Ham, H-E-B Fully Cooked® Brisket, or H-E-B Fully Cooked® Prime Rib Roast, get 8 items free with in-store coupon:

• H-E-B Tea, assorted varieties
• Ball Park 2 lb meat franks, 32 oz
• Fresh Express Premium Garden Salad, 9 - 12 oz., assorted varieties
• Kraft salad dressing, 8 oz, assorted varieties
• H-E-B Entertainer or Bite Size Deli Crackers, 4.4 - 9 oz., assorted varieties
• H-E-B Creamy Creations(R) Churn Style, 56 oz, assorted varieties
• Kraft Natural Chunk Cheese, 7 - 8 oz regular, or 2% assorted varieties
• Handi-foil oval or rectangular roaster

And just because it's H-E-B and it's technically an Easter related deal, they have some links you can check out here: Easter Dinner, Easter Fun with Kids, Easter Breakfast.  I really want to make that coconut bunny cake.  How cute would that be?

So if you managed to stick around and read this post (and I hope you did) then please do yourself a favor and enter to win a free $20 gift card to H-E-B.  If you live in Texas your odds of shopping at an H-E-B are greater than great.  If you don't live in an area that has one then enter to win for someone who does!  Because we all need groceries, and we ALL can use an extra twenty bucks.  (Or at least I can, and I'm not even getting anything out of this.  It's all for you guys.)  Entering is as easy as leaving a comment.  I will keep the entry open all weekend, or until I think no one is looking anymore. 

Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter or your own blog and multiply your chances to win.  I don't care how many ways you enter, just enter.  And while I'm being bossy and telling you what to do, tell me your favorite Easter candy in one of the comments for a double entry.  Peeps? Cadbury Eggs? Peanut Butter Cup Eggs?  Whopper Eggs?  Anyone notice a trend in 'egg' candy?  The possibilities are endless!

Good luck!
 Comments closed as of 12pm April 7th.

blue sky scrubs

The search for a proper fitting, comfortable AND attractive scrub set is an endless one.  I am half convinced that the majority of scrubs out there are designed by an elephant, as that is the only explanation for the box like shape.  Who is designing these clothes that thinks women are shaped, scratch that, unshaped, like this?  Apparently someone does because that is what I look like when I wear them.  A LEGO experiment gone terribly wrong.  A giant square torso atop a rectangle of legs and feet. 

Then came an offer from blue sky scrubs to receive a free pair of scrubs, try them out, and tell you what I thought about them.  Um, yes?!

I carefully researched the company and poked around the website.  Things that jumped out:

• blue sky was created by a resident working at Hermann Hospital in Houston – (the same hospital I delivered Avelyn at and spent my semester working in Labor and Delivery!)
• Their scrubs are made in the USA (always a plus to support US workers but especially in today’s economy)
• Tops are cut to taper at the waist and slightly flare at the hips (this = slimming, NOT boxlike)
• Fabric is a polyester/cotton blend to reduce wrinkling (because please, who has time to iron?)

I was sold.  There are two styles of scrub sets, Original which includes their signature white stitching on the pockets and the Simple scrubs with no stitching and a few dollars cheaper.  I bought the Simple style to get more bang for my buck.  I purchased 2 pairs of pants and 1 top. 

Note to readers: Make sure to utilize the sizing chart.  I did this but still ordered what I “usually” wear.  I was wrong.  USE THE SIZING CHART.  No worries though, they send a prepaid UPS shipping label with the product for easy exchange.  “A painless return policy!?” you balk?  YES!  SCORE!!

Anyway, it only took 2 days to receive my order.  Even if the scrubs had been awful (which they weren’t, they were great) I would have been impressed by the packaging.  The order comes wrapped inside a very nice box inside another shipping box.  The first thing I saw when I opened the package was a gorgeous scrub hat – one free with every order!  The top and bottoms (navy, as is our unit color) were neatly folded underneath.  While I tried on the scrubs Avelyn had a field day trying to figure out the hat.  (No picture of this hilarious debacle, the kid hates wearing hats so I couldn’t get a great photo.)

The top I ordered fit perfectly and really does taper in all the right places.  No box-shape LEGO look for me.  Also the fabric is amazingly lightweight, stretchy and breathable.  I love how soft and thin it feels.  A lot of scrub material is so thick and dense that there is no stretch.  With all the bending, lifting, stretching, running, walking, CRAZINESS it takes to be a Pedi ER nurse, I really need to be able to move in my uniform. 

Unfortunately I did not trust the size guide offered on the website and ordered the wrong size bottom.  They were a little big, which of course only makes me feel like a super skinny supermodel since I have to order a size I haven’t worn since kickin’ it in the womb.  PERK!

The only downside I found is the number and placement of pockets.  blue sky mentions their strategic placement of pockets on the website, with two pockets on the back of the pants and one pocket on the left breast of the top.  I imagine this placement comes in handy for doctors and anesthesiologists, who might have a lab coat over their scrubs or wear fanny packs or sling backpacks to carry their stuff around.  As a nurse however, I depend on the usual two front pockets on my scrub tops, located at my hips.  It’s easier access and I never worry about anything falling out.  This won’t stop me from wearing these scrubs though, I will just have to modify what I carry on the days I wear them.  One of my coworkers shops at blue sky and swears by them, so maybe I’ll corner her for tips next week. 

Overall I would highly recommend blue sky to anyone.  Whether you’re in the market for nursing scrubs, medical scrubs or OR hats, they have a great selection for you.  The service is fast, the quality is high and the attention to detail really do set them apart.  And if you’re in the market for scrub hats you HAVE to check them out.  blue sky started with hats before moving on to scrubs and the sheer amount of prints available for scrub hats almost makes me want to be an OR nurse.  Just think of how gorgeous my closet would be with all those prints! 

Puzzle time!

A few weeks ago I received an email asking if I would be interested in becoming a toy tester for a company called eBeanstalk. My immediate thought was “Um, yes please!” but then I slapped myself in the face and remembered to do my research before agreeing to a) give my address away to some strange person who found me on the internet and b) sign up to write a review about something someone else is selling.  So I did a little looking into eBeanstalk and I liked what I saw.

For starters they have a team of child specialists selecting toys and ranking them according to a stage of child development, so you can look up toys appropriate to your child’s age and skill level. Specialists include Clinical Psychologists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Physical Therapists, Pediatric Occupational Therapists, and Special Education.  Not that these specialist know everything, since eBeanstalk also selects another set of “toy experts” to give their opinions - MOMS. That’s where I come in. Sweeeeeeet.

They sent out a number of baby toys and toys for 1 year olds (my category) for moms to review. I waited and waited to see what I would get.  I finally came home one day to a cardboard box on my doorstep.  The return address said Melissa & Doug.  I almost jumped up and down.  I LOVE Melissa & Doug toys!  They make a lot of wooden toys, which is about all I buy Avelyn these days. The toy they sent was the First Shapes Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle.

I opened the box and took out the puzzle, oohing and ahhing over it so she might be intrigued by more than just the cardboard box and brown shipping paper. She liked it.  I liked it.  Success!

The large handles fit perfect in little Hobo’s hands, and the shapes are cut in ways that they will fit in the appropriate slot no matter which side is up, which is perfect for beginners who, ahem, don’t have the best hand/eye coordination yet. But my “expert” Mom sense tells me that’s kind of the point of the puzzle – to practice hand/eye coordination.  And also to look pretty, don’t you love the colors?  That’s one of the things I love about all Melissa & Doug toys. They are just so bright and fun.

We’ve had the toy for a few weeks now and contrary to other toys we’ve bought it’s held up remarkably well.  One of the reasons I started buying wooden toys to begin with is that Etta James (our dog) finds and chews nearly every plastic toy we’ve ever owned and I noticed she stays away from the wood. 

Even with the little fingers and toes beating up the puzzle pieces day after day the artwork isn’t peeling away from the wood, it isn’t scratched off the face, wood can’t bend or break so we’ve avoid that, and the surface is covered in a glossy film that is easy to wipe down and clean, an essential piece to anything a child plays with, in my opinion. 

Overall the Jumbo Knob puzzle is a hit. Avelyn loves it.  I would have bought this toy on my own even if I hadn’t been given this opportunity.  I love it that much.  I even bought her another one, the Barnyard Animals Jumbo Knob Puzzle and we play with them everyday.  I will have to record her on camera telling me what the animals say because when I say “Avelyn, what does the sheep say?” and you hear that little voice say “Ba-aa-aa-aaaaaa” you’re going to melt.

Oh, I suppose I should try to be objective and give you the cons to the toy too.  I have only one, if you can call it a real con, it’s a wooden puzzle, so it’s not that light.  You need to be careful of a very cute little girl (or boy) who might try to carry two puzzles at once and accidently drop them on her foot and then cry because HELLO! it’s a tad heavy and it hurts a little foot when it falls.  Also it hurts a big lady foot too so please Moms, don’t be like me.  Be careful when you’re cleaning up at night.

Last but not least, if you want my super duper best advice – make sure to finish off your play session with a healthy dose of milk and cookies.  I’m 100% sure it will be a hit and leave everyone feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Are you the circus freak?

UPDATE: Annalee won the circus tickets earlier today and emailed me right away to say “I’M SO EXCITED!” and also “But we can’t go after all. Boooooooooo.” Poor Annalee. Oh well, she has an excellent excuse and will have way more fun where she’s going. No worries, I did a second random number draw and the new winner is…

Laura Cress

Congratulations Laura! Don’t lose Donovan, they might think he’s part of the circus act and put him to work! :P I’ll email you the details.

Most of the actual circus acts have faded from my grown up memory. I can imagine the elephants marching around in their beautiful clothes, the lions jumping through fire, the motorcycle guys driving round and around the cage but those are fleeting images, I don’t feel much when I think about those. But when I think about glow stick necklaces I begged and begged for because oh my gosh, you can twirl them on your arm to make a beautiful bright neon swirl in the dark, don’t you see?? don’t you see??; bags of popcorn, covered in salt and dripping with butter; a big red Icee, still my favorite at the movies; how I longed to walk the tight rope and fly from the trapeze (although honestly I just wanted to swing off the trapeze and fall into the net. Does that not look like a good time?)… when I think of those things, those memories, I feel something. Just a little bit of something in my stomach, in my heart. Something that feels a little like joy. Childhood glee that we lose as we get older, when we move too fast and get so busy. Something I am feeling in a whole new way now that I’m on the other side and have a girl of my own. I wonder what her favorite thing at the circus will be. I wonder if she will laugh at the clowns or cry for them, the way I did (Clowns really bring me down.) I wonder if she will sit in my lap and share her big red Icee. Maybe next year we’ll get to find out.

A few clowns short of a circus…

…unless you leave a comment below and enter to win a family 4-pack to see:

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s

Over the Top!

To enter, leave a comment on this post. If you don’t have a blog ID just choose “Comment as: Name/URL” and leave your name when you post a comment. For an extra chance to win, write a post about the giveaway linking back to this post and let me know about it or spread the word on Facebook - just leave another comment letting me know about it! I will pick the winner with a random number generator.

I’m sure the show will be cool and, er, Over The Top, because duh – it’s the circus. There is also an Animal Open House and something called the All Access Preshow that starts before the evening shows. My super secret source told me this:

“At the Animal Open House, which begins at 6:00pm, you can see the furry stars up close before their big performances. The Preshow begins at 6:30pm and will give you a chance to head down to the circus floor to meet the performers, get autographs, try on costumes, and clown around! These two extras are free for all ticket holders.”

How cool would it be to try on circus costumes? Very, that’s how. If you don’t think that sounds cool then please click on over to this site and check out the links on the left hand side. If I can’t go to this thing and take pictures of the Hobo in clown pants I will throw a major hissy fit.

The giveaway is for the Houston show on July 15th. Comments close NEXT Friday, July 3rd, at noon (CST).

PS - If you don’t win but still want to go to the show, don’t fret – just enter the code MOM in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing tickets at http://ticketmaster.com and get 4 tickets for just $44! Each additional ticket is $11.

Good luck!

Funday Giveaway!

Okay folks, good times abound. I've never accepted an offer to promote anything because I don't feel like being a blog pimp but this looked like a fun experience for someone so I said yes. I am so, so excited to offer my first blog giveaway! And it’s really, really good because who doesn’t love Disney?! Disney on Ice is on tour and wants to offer one lucky reader FREE tickets to see Disney On Ice presents Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey in Houston next week!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. If you don’t have a blog ID just choose “Comment as: Name/URL” and leave your name when you post a comment. I will pick the winner with a random number generator on Friday. For an extra chance to win, write a post about the giveaway linking back to this post and let me know about it. If you don’t have a blog to spread the word tell your friends on Facebook or send them an email directing them here – just leave another comment letting me know about it!

The prize is a family 4-pack of tickets for the
Houston show, April 15th at 7:30 pm!

Comments close this Friday at noon (CST). Make sure you check back Friday night to see if you’ve won!

If you don’t win but still want to go to the show, don’t fret – just enter the code MOM in the MomCentral promo box at http://ticketmaster.com and get 4 tickets for just $44!

Also use the “MOM” code for all events listed below:

• Houston (April 15-April 19) Disney On Ice presents Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey
• Houston (July 15-July 26) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top
• Newark/East Rutherford/Uniondale/NYC (March 5-April 13) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM (Offer not valid on performances from April 10 - 13 at Madison Square Garden )
• Washington D.C./Fairfax, VA/Baltimore, MD (March 18-April 19) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top
• Phoenix (April 9-April 12) Disney on Ice presents Disneyland® Adventure
• Philadelphia (May 13-May 25) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
• Phoenix (June 24-June28) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
• Anaheim/LA/Ontario (July 8-August 2) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
• San Francisco (August 12-August 23) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
• Sacramento (August 27-August 30) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
• Chicago/Rosemont (Sept 8-Sept 13) Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic
• Kansas City (Sept 16-Sept 20) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top

Good luck!

(And no, for those who have asked or are wondering, I do not receive any money for doing this! It just sounds like fun!)