Two Tina's winner!

Congrats to Jennifer Jozwiak, very lucky winner of the Two Tinas giveaway!

Money Savvy Pig - Review

MONEY SAVVY PIG



Today is challenging to save - with costs of necessities skyrocketing and salaries staying releatively flat, it is hard to make ends meet. Even during lean times it is important to teach kids the importance of saving money (something I have never been very good at!) With the must-have gift for 2009 - the Money Savvy Pig®, it is fun and easy to teach you child about spending, saving, investing, and even donating!

Created by Susan Beacham, founder and CEO of Money Savvy Generation (msgen.com), the Money Savvy Pig comes in a variety of colors and retails for $14.99
* (there's a cow and a football for those who have an aversion to pigs).

The bank has been featured in various media outlets, including The Oprah Show, The Today Show and The Dr. Phil Show. The Money Savvy Pig has also won numerous awards, including Parents Choice Gold, Nappa Gold and Preferred Choice.

The Money Savvy Pig includes a guidebook to help you talk to your kids about their money choices (its blue transparent plastic is divided into four labeled compartments: save, spend, donate and invest). Each compartment has its own slot on top and plug at the bottom and it comes with a curriculum aimed at teaching kids the basics of money management.

Most of the pigs are transparent, which Miss E. loved. (She liked to see her money growing) If you prefer a bank that is NOT see-through, consider The Platinum Edition Money Savvy Pig.

I received the Money Savvy Pig in green and gave to Miss E. who currently has a coin obsession. She was very excited to have her own bank where she could see her money growing. She did ask me about investing so it was a good opportunity to explain to her what investing was. The money is easy to put in and to take out.

This is a great way to teach your child about money management at a young age. These are habits that will stay with a child into adulthood. At $16.99 this is a great deal! If you are looking for a gift that is fun and educational, look no further.


Thank you to An Island Life for this review opportunity. Outside of receiving a product to review, I did not receive any form of compensation.

Must Read and Must See, aka my new favorite website

Most Etsy addicts (me included) may be overwhelmed by the vast array of artistic offerings, things that are probably better suited for Ebay (or the dumpster) and things that leave you scratching your head. I have seen a few inappropriate items, a few ugly items and a few poorly constructed items. It was not until I stumbled upon Regretsy did I discover the truly heinous.

With a simple tag line of "Handmade? It looks like you made it with your feet", there is no holding back. Regretsy looks ironically similar to Etsy in the look and feel of the website. The similarities end there. Regretsy finds hideous Etsy items for sale. The items are then posted on their site and open for commentary. Commenters debate the lack of merit of the artwork. Some features even include a pie chart to measure the degree of "what is wrong with this picture?"

Most of these items for purchase will leave you thinking or wondering the following:

1) Why did they not start over? / Why did they not discard?
2) Why do people paint crude pictures of genitalia and call it "Art"?
3) Do they really think they are going to get money for selling that?
4) Is this a joke?
5) That is really ugly / hideous / disgusting and/or disturbing
6) no, no, no, no, NO
7) seriously?
8) WTF?
9) My five year old does a better job than that!
AND
10) I cannot believe someone paid money for that!


My favorite? This gem. Refer to questions 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10.

If you want to share your delight in what should be someone else's sorrow (versus pride), consider purchasing Regretsy Notecards. Even better is there is a Regretsy book in the works. THAT is something worth spending for.

Blocked from Twitter

I've been booted from twitter. For 24 hours anyway. That is the last time I try to do 4 twitter parties at once! Actually I did 2 for the first hour and attempted to do 2 for the next before I was blocked from tweeting. Going through withdrawal!

On a serious note, I was also planning to attend the online memorial for Bryson, Shellie's son. I can still read the tweets and keep them in my thoughts and prayers. 

Quick Giveaway! You Can Make This

Need some last minute gifts? How about making something at home? With one weekend before xmas, it IS still possible to put something fabulous together.


With the holidays just around the corner, YouCanMakeThis.com thought it would be fun to showcase some quick and easy gift ideas you can give to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family! You can enter to win eBooks from www.YouCanMakeThis.com and learn some fun new techniques, tips, and ideas not only for the people on your list, but also creative ways to decorate your home!

You Can Make This has created a free download for some fun gift tags. Each of them coordinate with ideas found as part of the DIY Gift Giving Series videos that can be found at www.youcanmakethis.com/blog , as well as designs and patterns found at www.SWAKembroidery.com and www.YouCanMakeThis.com.

Here are some ideas!

Personalized Name Pillows

Portrait Peasant-Tops and Dresses

Easy- Fit Pants For Dolly nd Me - boys too

Easy-Fit-Pants-for-Tweens-Teens-and-Adults-Men-Women-XXS-3XL

You can also enter to win hundreds of dollars in gift certificates just for watching the videos that are part of the DIY Gift Giving Series and answering a question on the You Can Make This blog!

YouCanMakeThis.com has offered two of my readers two bundle packages of downloadable instructions/patterns .

To register to win, all you have to do is visit YouCanMakeThis.com, select a pattern you like and post it here.

Extra entries for following me on blogger, following me on twitter, tweeting this giveaway, grabbing a button or subscribing to my fee.

One entry per person. Please make sure your email is posted in your profile OR posted in your entry. Winner will be selected next Monday - 12/21/2009 by random.org!

Losses

Someone I do not know and who I have never met lost a child today. @Military_Mom (Shellie) lost her beautiful son Bryson in a tragic drowning accident.  I found out another mother (Kristine) lost her newborn baby Cora because of an undiagonosed heart condition.   I have visited several blogs and care pages of parents who are dealing with terminally ill or seriously ill children. 

While we are celebrating the holidays with our loved ones, it is important to remember those who won't be celebrating due to illness, loss or other tragedy.   Please keep these people and their families in your thoughts and prayers. 

The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch

When I find an author I like, I tend to want to read everything he or she has written. I often find that I have quickly read the entire works of a particular author, then needing to find someone else to obsess over. This especially applies to thrillers - John Grisham, Dan Brown, James Patterson, etc. I love fine literature but I also love my thrillers! My most recent search is over.

Thus comes in Richard Doetsch - I had actually heard of him but had never read any of his novels. I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of his most recent novel, The 13th Hour: A Thriller (Hardcover). Actually I am still reading it but liked it so much I wanted to share early. This is also a good thing because I will not be tempted to spill the beans!

Right away this book takes you from the hum drum of a normal day into the nitty gritty of a tense, horrific situation. The premise is that a man has to prove himself innocent of his wife's murder, going back in time in one hour increments to correct the past, change the course of the future and . One mistake and nothing changes and all is lost. What would YOU do for the person you loved?

I love that this book has action, intrigue and suspense combined with history and science fiction and cannot wait to finish it. The 13th Hour pulls you in at the beginning. I am a sci-fi nerd at heart. I love Lost, Fringe and Flash Forward. Growing up I was a fan of Quantum Leap, Planet of the Apes and Star Trek. Stargate is one of my favorite movies. You get the gist... What I love about THIS book is the mixture of realism with sci-fi, totally giving the novel a different flavor than most without being too unrealistic.

Available to the general public on 12/29/2009, this is currently available for pre-order. If you are looking for a thriller look no further.

For more information, please visit the official Simon and Schuster The Thirteenth Hour webpage.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for this review opportunity. Outside of being provided a book to review, I did not receive any form of compensation for this post.

Wholesalekeychain.com - Review and Giveaway

I was contacted by WholesaleKeychain.com and asked to select 3 keychains for review. What did I pick?:



Perfection from the games category (one of my favorite games when I was little!) This is SO cute. It is a minature game of Perfection. Other games are available too, including Scrabble, Monopoly and Twister. These are actual working games - just minature and attached to a keychain! Great fun for kids and kids at heart. GREAT stocking stuffer (and there is still time to order before the holidays!)




Red 1.5 inch Digital photo Keychain & Keyring I selected this for my oldest daughter. With a digital photo keychains you are able to upload your favorite photos to a small, lightweight keychain. Wholesale keychains has many colors and varieties available for your selection. Red is is my daughter's favorite color and she is a teen so anything new and trendy should be a hit. This is another great stocking stuffer and that is what this will be in our house :)

Carolina Hurricanes Pewter Keychain - I picked this out for my husband and he LOVED it. It was really a high quality keychain. I was so impressed with the weight of the keychain and the quality of the logo, lettering and keychain itself. This is a wonderful gift for the sports fan in your life. Check and see if your team is available. In stores you would spend considerably more. At $9.99, this is a steal!

NFL Keychain

MLB Keychain

NBA Keychain

NHL Keychain

College Keychain

NASCAR Keychain

If you are not a sports fan, here are some other fun categories from the site:

Digital Photo Keychain

Keychain Flash Drive

Disney Keychains

Metal Keychains

Carabiner Keychain

Bottle Opener Keychain

Keychain Knife

Pepper Spray Keychain

Game & Toy Keychains

Entertainment Keychains

Laser Pointer Keychain

Heart Keyring

If you are looking for a nice but inexpensive gift or a stocking stuffer, look no further. Currently there is free shipping on orders of $50 or more.

I am very pleased that WholesaleKeychain.com has offered 3 lucky Blogmania readers one keychain each. To enter to win please do the following

MAIN ENTRY - Select your favorite Keychain from WholesaleKeychain.com. Please post link. Please use form for entry (not comments section)

EXTRA ENTRIES (please post for each extra entry):

1 extra entry (each) available for faving on technorati, following me in blogger/google friends, sharing on facebook, subscribing or grabbing a button.

2 entries for following me in twitter and tweeting this giveaway - please include @misaacmom in your tweet. Use the "share this" button for easy tweeting

5 extra entries for blogging about this giveaway.


* Giveaway starts Sunday December 13, 2009 and ends Thursday 12/31/2009 at 11:59pm EST.
* Winners will be selected via random.org or randomizer.org
* Winners will be contacted via email
* Winners must respond to email notification within 2 business days or another winner will be selected.
* Email address must be posted in your blogger profile OR you must post it with your entry.
-Only residents of the US are eligible to win
-No P.O. Boxes
- WholesaleKeychain.com is responsible for prize fulfillment.




Outside of receiving three keychains to review I did not receive any form of compensation for this post. For more information on this blog and my posting practices, please refer to the disclosure policy below.

Ultimate Party Meatballs Blog Tour

I was able to participate in The Ultimate Party Meatballs Blog Tour sponsored by Mom Central.

What are Ultimate Party Meatballs? A fantastic spicy-sweet appetizer that your party goers will be hovering around. These meatballs are made using a bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce, a can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce, and frozen meatballs. Thats IT. Nothing else... Just 3 ingredients and you are done.

I have made meatballs before in my slow cooker using frozen meatballs and sweet and sour sauce or spaghetti sauce. I have to say that these meatballs are so much better! A wonderful surprise.

I had heard about meatballs made with grape jelly, but not with cranberry sauce. I actually split the batch I made into two separate dishes: I made 1/2 a batch with meatballs and cheated and made the other half with the li'l wieners. My kids and husband loved both! The chili sauce gave the sauce a little kick and the cranberry sauce gave a tart and sweet touch. together it was a great sweet and mildly spicy combo.

If you want a dish that will have everyone clamoring for the recipe, look no further... This is great for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Superbowl and more! For more information and recipe details click HERE! While you are there, check out the site for more party ideas and enter the Utlimate Party Sweepstakes!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate

Tech 4 0 - review

I recently had the opportunity to review a brand new watch from Tech 4 0! You can find out more about the company HERE.

I received the Heartbeat watch from the Performance line. This is not a "normal" watch - this watch is multi-functional and multi-featured:

* Female Friendly Size and Fit

* Angled Face is Easy to Read

* Training Manager:
* Maximum & Average Heart Rate
* Target Heart Rate Zones (3)
* Alternate Display of Training Results
* Calorie BurnType
* Fat Burn
* Settable Sport

* Comfort Contoured Chest Strap, Continuous Readout

* High Speed, “Coded” 2.4 GHz Transmission

* Dual Time/Date/ Alarms

* Chrono: 50 Lap Memory, Average HR, Per Lap and Total Laps HR

* SOS Emergency Mode

* Birthday Reminder

* Low Battery Indicator

* Water Resistant: 30m

Other neato features -

• Emergency SOS Information: Name/Phone/Blood type
• Multi-Lingual: English/French/Spanish/Italian/German

I found this watch comfortable and easy to read. The chest monitor was something I was not really used to but was able to figure out how to correctly wear the strap / monitor based off of the instructions. The instructions were fairly simple and easy enough to follow. (I am good with computers but not so great at figuring out "gadgets" so this in itself demonstrates how easy it really is to use!)

This watch is designed to make your workout more effective by providing you with data on heart rate - based on this data you can increase or decrease the intensity of your workouts. I am not on a formal workout plan but look forward to using after the first of the year.

The New Year is a great time to start thinking about health and fitness -an investment in the right tools can help you stick with a fitness plan. (*please talk to a physician before starting any new diet or exercise program). I am really looking forward to using this watch.

Outside of the Performance Line, Tech 4 0 also carries the following:
Adventure
Navigation
Solar

Tech 4 O also is proud to promote women’s healthy, active lifestyles. A percentage of the Heartbeat product’s gross sales is donated to the Breast Cancer Fund at www.breastcancerfund.org!

A Pretty Rock

I was the lucky winner of the 12 days of Christmas Giveaway at A Pretty Rock. I won a genourous gift certificate to use at the site.

Look at the lovely earrings I selected I was already familiar with A Pretty Rock through the annual Happily Handmade giveaway and was very pleased to have won such a generous gift.

I am a beader (currently on sabbatical), but love checking out other artists' creations. I prefer to work with lampwork glass, crystal and Bali silver. What I love about beading is the vast variety of different materials available lending to the variances in creativity and workmanship by different artists. I read once that you can give 10 people 10 bags of the same beads and you will end up with 10 totally different pieces.

The jewelry at A Pretty Rock is delicate but structurally based. Most of the materials used are high quality - natural gemstones, precious metals and Bali silver and crystal accents. There is a wonderful precision to Yazmin's work. I love her wire wrapping techniques. If you are looking for a piece of unique jewelery you should definitely check out http://www.aprettyrock.com.

Hi everyone - for the holidays I am going to take a break from "sponsored" blogging. I have a few posts to do tonight and tomorrow and then will be taking a break until the new year. I do have a few committments - reviews and giveaways to post in addition to sending emails to winners and sponsors.

I have spent so much time on giveaways and reviews this year, that I did not post about family and home life as much as I want to. Next year I will continue to offer giveaways and feature reviews, but hope to spend more time actually "blogging".

Things I am looking forward to at the end of 2009 and in 2010:
- Xmas with my family
- LOST final season (VERY bittersweet!)
- Painting the house (hopefully)
- Writing
- ?

In 2010 my oldest will be starting high school. Not sure how much I am looking forward to that but I know that she is :)

What are you looking forward to?

Congrats, congrats, contrats...

Congrats to all of the winners!

Dove workbook winner
Research Randomizer Results
2 - Nicole Feliciano

Sentimental Silver winner
Research Randomizer Results
6- Chrissy E.

Amon Maternity
Research Randomizer Results
25 -Angela Gaffke

Consumer Reports Baby
Research Randomizer Results
2 - theyyyguy

Pretty Please Press
Research Randomizer Results
37 - donna444444

Campus Quilt Company (there were a few people that entered this one several times with extra entried and I am so sorry I cannot give a gift certificate to everyone)
Research Randomizer Results
196 - Xenia Sundell


Congrats to everyone. I will be contacting you directly over the next couple of days for mailing information or you can contact me directly