Friday, January 28, 2011

Solise Review!

I am not a big fan of handwashing.

Wait. That came out wrong.

To clarify, I feel that the country has gone completely germaphobe and is anti-bacterializing our society into a nation of immunity-deficient citizens. If we don't regularly exercise our white blood cells with a few common germs and bacteria, how can we expect them to be strong enough to fight off the seriously dangerous stuff? Humans have been living in a symbiotic relationship with bacteria since we first crawled from the loamy seas. It feels like we should give them a little credit for our survival instead of eradicating all micro-organisms from every surface in our homes and inch of our bodies.

Nevertheless, we do need to clean ourselves with gentle soaps and water. Our bodies do live longer and healthier when we regularly wash our dead skin and toxins off. So when I received a jar of Solise Hand Wash with sunscreen, I was interested to read up on it and test it out.


The difference between Solise and your traditional liquid hand soap is that it is not anti-bacterial AND it provides an SPF of 15 after rinsing the suds away! It's gentle enough fro your face and after using it, I didn't feel like I was lubed up for the beach.

Check it out and see for yourself!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Excited for Disney on Ice! UPDATED!!


My kids and I are heading out to see Woody and the Gang on Toy Story 3 on Ice at the Allstate Arena!! One of my all-time favorite animated series, Toy Story 3 on Ice is highly anticipated in my household. I can't wait to see how they do Ham on skates. Heh...

Updated on the 26th to say....

We loved it! Disney did a really great job incorporating all of our favorite characters into this ice show. And watching a gigantic pig skate was an experience everyone should witness. Truly.

The absolute BEST characters, though had to be...

Barbie and Ken.

Holy Lord, I still get the giggles when I remember Ken's ice walk. If you've seen the movie, Toy Story 3, you know how he does a slightly jerky, bent-arm and knee walk. Ken on Ice PERFECTED that! It was the little details like those that made me really enjoy this show.

There are still plenty of tickets available! You can use the code MOM* for a discount (see here) at either the Allstate Arena or United Center. Let me know how much you loved it!!

FYI: I still have tickets for the Monster Jam in Feb and MacBeth (several dates to choose from). There are NO ENTRIES for MacBeth and only 6 for Monster Jam!! They end soon, so enter Today! And don't forget my Top Trumps Card game! As of now, there are 2 entries for FIVE PACKETS!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

MacBeth giveaway!

One of the best parts of having an older child is enjoying more adult activities with him. Justin and I are attending the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's rendition of MacBeth (an abridged version - only 75 minutes!) next Saturday. As it's recommended for ages 10 and up, I think Justin will like it. I hope he finds the flow of words and climb of the storyline as interesting as I always have. (Plus, there are sword fights. CST does awesome sword fights!) Shakespeare is just... cool. He was cool before cool was cool.Cool.

If you'd like to check out this play, you can purchase them online here. Or enter below to win 4 tickets to see MacBeth for free! They're running the show from January 22 through March 5 and the four pack is available on any number of those performances. (Fine print= Subject to availability. Valid by phone or in person only. Not valid in combination with other promotions or on previously purchased tickets.) Remember to validate your parking ticket at the theater for a big discount on Navy Pier's parking!

To enter:

~ Just comment! Be sure to have an email that I can easily find...

~ Tweet this giveaway and link back! (More than one tweet a day is fine, but be reasonable!)

~ Follow my blog on Twitter.

~ Subscribe to my blog.

~ Post about this giveaway on your own blog, Facebook, or other media site and link back.

1 Entry for each way you enter!


We'll pick the winner on Friday, February 4. Good luck to everyone!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Monster Jam Giveaway!!


Are you ready?!? Because WE ARE!!!

RAWR!! I had no idea that I would enjoy the noise and craziness that is a Monster Jam Truck Rally! But last year when we attended the Chicago show, it was a BLAST. Noisy as hell, but fabulously fun.
See? Those kids aren't having the time of their lives or anything, are they? :)

We're going again on the February 11th show at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. Want to go, too?!? Because tickets for the Friday show are only $10 for adults and children. OR, you can use this discount code, MOM*, when purchasing tickets through Ticketmaster.com to save 33% on adult tickets for the Saturday or Sunday shows (4 to choose from. Some restrictions apply).

OR!!! You can win 4 tickets for the Friday night show by entering my giveaway today!!

To Enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following but please leave a comment for each entry that you'd like to add:

~ Comment!

~ Tweet this giveaway and link back. No limit, just don't do 20 in a row, m'kay?

~ Follow me on Twitter.

~ Subscribe to my blog.

~ Post about this giveaway on your own blog and link back.

~ Post about this giveaway on any other social media site (Facebook, etc.) and let me know what you've done and where, please!


We'll pick the winner using our favorite method of drawing from a hat with a lovely assistant (child labor at its finest) on Tuesday, February 1st.

Top Trump Giveaway #2

Top Trumps is an easy to learn and fun to play card game that my kids now bring with us, just about everywhere we go! Similar to the traditional game of "War", each player has to "trump" his opponents' stats with the stats on his own card. The difference between War and Top Trumps is that you, as the player, get to choose which stat is the best to battle with. If you happen to have cards on educational topics (there are tons of animal stat cards to choose from), they're learning without effort!Fabulous.

I am happy to announce that I have 5 more sets of cards (either the Horses and Ponies or the Dogs set) to giveaway! Enter below and good luck to everyone! If you don't win this time, come back next month for ANOTHER Top Trumps giveaway!

~ First comment is for free!

Extra comments:

~ Tweet this giveaway and link back. (you can do several, but please be reasonable!)

~ Follow me on Twitter.

~ Blog about this giveaway and link back.

~ Subscribe to my blog.

~ Visit the Top Trumps site and let me know what other topics sound the most interesting to you.


We'll pick the FIVE winners on Monday, January 31. (one pack per person) Good luck to you all!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

A Not So Subtle Hint...

It's COLD. And after the mouse-capades we've had in my house, I need a vacation. Great Wolf Lodge is having a huge deal on rooms right now... (Hint, hint for my husband.) We always have a blast in Wisconsin Dells!

Winner Redraw of Disney on Ice!

Due to a misunderstanding, Julie (who lives in Texas!) cannot attend the Disney on Ice in Chicago next week. :) She was so sweet, too!

Since my kids are still asleep and I wanted to get the info out ASAP so that I can send the winner information on time, I drew the number myself. Sadly, this means no adorable assistants are on video. It also means that I did a PICTURE drawing instead of video because this is what I look like right now:Yeah. You are NOT getting me on video this morning. The coffee pot took a break and I had to do some high-tech finagling to make it brew my life-giving liquid again (i.e. push that little red button in between the outlets on the wall) so I am not at my best. Also, the irony that I chose THAT particular random piece of paper from the "Eat Pray Love" dvd case has not escaped me.

Hence, the drawing goes as follows....

Drum roll:

DRUM ROLL, dangit!

Congratulations to #5 - Vicky! You have until 9 am Tuesday morning to contact me or else I'm just going to tape the tickets to my forehead for the first person to grab.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Toy Story 3 on Ice Giveaway

The new year begins with lots of new giveaways and reviews! Experiences, products and services all tried and tested by yours truly for my honest opinion. I appreciate the opportunities to go on fun outings with my family and to offer the chance for such outings for all of you!

The first of such outings is the chance to watch Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3 at the Allstate Arena for the 7:00 show. We'll be there, too! My kids can't wait to see another Disney production on ice. We've seen Tinkerbell... Princesses, High School musical, and Disney characters galore. We're becoming quite the ice skating followers! I can fully and honestly declare that all of my family (husband and pre-teen included) like Disney's ice productions.

I am so thrilled to announce that I have 4 free tickets for the opening night show for one reader! Or, if you don't get pulled out of the hat by my lovely assistant, you can use this discount code for anyone who wants to purchase tickets! When ordering tickets through Ticketmaster, enter the coupon code MOM* for a 4 pack of tickets for only $44 to be used on the Monday - Thursday shows and Friday Matinees (excluding holidays). You can also use the MOM* code for $4 off on all weekend shows!

Something for everyone, see?

To enter the giveaway for the 4 tickets to the 7 pm show at Allstate on Jan 26, please put in a separate comment for every entry!


~ Comment below! Easy. Just make sure I have an email to contact you with because if you don't respond in 48 hours, I HAVE to pick someone else.

~ Follow me on Twitter.

~ TWEET this giveaway!! 1 entry for every tweet and honestly, I don't care how often you tweet. Isn't that fabulous? Just be sure to link to the tweets, m'kay?

~ Link to this giveaway on Facebook or any other social networking site (please provide your site info!)

~ Subscribe to my blog.

~ Post about this giveaway on your own blog.



We'll pick the winner on Sunday, January 16. Good luck to everyone!