Wednesday

So there's not much up here today; I just finished up (I hope) the commissioned painting I've been working on, and am moving on to the next one.

My website is totally booched - I've been sticking my head in the sand but that's not very good business, is it? I'll have to deal with it. Apparently the server at my web host crashed and garbled my site. Not cool :(

Tomorrow is the big day (sorta) for my ultrasound and blood tests. Of course, I won't get the results until next week. Fingers crossed. Also tomorrow (I need something to look forward to here) is the opening of a new Winners store in my town. And the first 100 people in line get gift cards for $10 to $100. I hope I get there early enough, and can leave in enough time to make it to the u/s appointment!

So I'm sure that's not all that interesting (hey, it's not to me either, I'll admit it!). But I do have some fun news: I'll be hosting another giveaway coming up, starting on October 13th. It's for a great new cookbook that you will definitely want. So, you know, mark your calendars - or just follow me :) and don't forget to enter my Skin Free giveaway!

Heads up!

There are a couple of things over at Happily Domestic that I want to tell you about.
First off, she's hosting a Cloth Diaper event between October 14-20 with a giveaway posted each day! Hooray for cloth diapers.

Secondly, she's also giving away a Jeep stroller this month - and yes, it's open to Canadian residents! Nice.

Ok. Back in a bit with more giveaways :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the $30 to Skin Free... link up there on the left.

The list for Tuesday

Starting off with my very own giveaway for a $30 gift certificate to Skin Free! Go enter, these products are really nice!

And a peek at the lovely flowers I received yesterday ... just because ... from my parents (how sweet!)
in which you can also see one of our new wall colours... it's not really as pink as it looks, more of a warm beige. If you look closely in the background you can see one wall of the entry, which is a muted green. I'm still not sure about the green (it's in the kitchen, too) but I'm going to live with it. The wall colour is Litchfield Gray from Benjamin Moore. The entry is Oyster Bay by CIL, which I unfortunately can't find a chip for online - what's up with that? The lamp is from Pottery Barn (with a shade from Sears), and the brushed stainless steel and glass console is from Crate and Barrel - we scored the last one of these available in North America, apparently! The mirror is from a local framing shop - and I wish we'd shopped around, as I saw similar ones for half the price at HomeSense. What was I thinking not going there first?! I redeemed Air Miles for the clock in the background :)

Here are some more giveaways to keep you busy:

For baby:

• Win a plush blanket from The Modern Baby Company at A Mom's Balancing Act. I adore the butterflies design! Ends October 19th.
• Win a MetroMamma MetroWrap carrier at The Bragging Mommy. Ends October 13th.
• Win a Softbums Basic Pack at Dirty Diaper Laundry. Ends October 19th.
• Win a Drybees AIO Hybrid at The First Time Around. Ends October 16th.
• Another chance for a Softbums Basic Pack at Life Happens During Naptime. Ends October 11th.
• Win a black Sweet Pea cloth diaper at Monkey Toes Reviews & Giveaways. Ends October 15th.
• Win a Thirsties Duo Wrap at The First Time Around. Ends October 17th.
• Win a Glow Baby "Baby's First Journal" at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends October 18th.
• Win Bummas wipes at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends October 17th.
• Win a Bamboo bebe outfit at Fun and Funky Mommy. Ends October 30th.
• Win a BambooBaby gift set by Bamboosa at Monkey Mayhem. Ends October 12th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a Lady Lait nursing gown at Green Mama's Pad. Ends October 18th.
• Win a Va Va Vroom hoodie at Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends October 14th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a Bored, Inc. tote and tee at My Wee View. Ends October 9th.
  

Skin Free - Review and Giveaway!

***This giveaway is now CLOSED!***
Winner: Evil Angel!

Recently I won a giveaway on Night Owl Mama's blog, for a gift certificate to Skin Free. You may have seen some bloggers lately singing the praises of these products. I can honestly say, after having the chance to try out a couple of the products, that I wholeheartedly agree - these are great!

As you may know, we are trying once again to conceive our first child, so after watching and reading a lot lately about the scary ingredients in many skin care products (check out the video "The Disappearing Male" and the book "Slow Death by Rubber Duck"), I have become much more aware of what's going on my skin and therefore into my body. I've tossed a pile of products that I used to use regularly and have adopted a much safer and less chemically-laden skin care regime.

I am happy to say that Skin Free skin care products are 100% natural and meet a whole bunch of my criteria:

• All Natural, Vegan Ingredients
• No Perfumes
• No Petroleum Products
• No Harmful Chemicals
• No Steroids
• No Colorants
• No Greasy feeling
• No Animal Testing, Cruelty Free

They have lots of different products, even ones that address common skin concerns like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and blemishes. Plus... they're seriously luxurious to use and I love the way they smell!

The first product I tried is the Super Moisture Body Balm. This is a rich butter that comes out thick and smoothes on easily. A little goes a long way - I have been using this on my legs, feet and elbows and about half a teaspoon does the job. It smells wonderfully of shea and cocoa butter. The texture is smooth and soft but not oily. I put it on in the morning and at the end of the day my legs are still feeling moisturized and not dry at all. When I look at the ingredients, they're all plant derived oils with the addition of Vitamin E. Nothing weird or synthetic.

The second product I tried is the Acai Scrub for Sparkling Skin. Again a little goes a very long way. I have been using an amount the size of a pea and that is enough for my whole face. This scrub has a great texture, not chunky or rough like apricot scrubs, but more like a sugar scrub. The granules are fine and definitely give me that clean glow. The smell is herbal at first and I find it changes to more of a lemony scent as I am using it.

(I did notice that the ingredient list on the website and on my jars are slightly different. If you are ever concerned about the ingredients in your cosmetics or skin care products, it never hurts to ask what's in a product and do your own research. A great resource for this is the Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database.)

After trying the two products, I contacted Julie at Skin Free to let her know how happy I was with them. And guess what? Julie has generously offered to give one of my lucky readers a $30 gift certificate to Skin Free! So how do you win?

Mandatory entry:
Check out Skin Free and share in a comment what product(s) you would purchase with the $30 gift certificate. Please do this first!

Extra entries:

• 1 entry: follow me (publicly) on blogger
• 1 entry: follow the Skin Free Skin Care Blog on blogger
  
• 1 entry: add my button to your blog, or if you already have it let me know - leave your blog address, please!
  
• 3 entries: blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post

Seven possible chances to win! Be sure to leave your email address, at least in your first comment, if it's not visible in your profile - and leave one comment per entry.

***This giveaway is now CLOSED!***

This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, and ends at 11:59 pm EST October 19th. Comments left after that time will be deleted. I'll draw the winner using a randomizer, announce both on this post and that day's post, and also email the winner. If I don't hear back within 48 hours, I'll draw another winner. Good luck!

Keeping busy on the weekend

We went to the local farmers' market and picked up half bushels of red peppers ($12) and tomatoes ($10), and a few more ingredients we needed. The entire weekend has been spent doing preserves for the winter :) Here's the tally:

Roasted red peppers: 8 cups, frozen in 1-cup portions
This is an easy one, if you haven't done it before. Just stick whole peppers under the broiler, turning about every 5 minutes, until they are blackened on all sides. Put them in a bowl, cover in plastic wrap and let cool. When they are cool enough to handle, core and remove the seeds, slip off the skins and slice into 1" strips. Save the juices if you can; adding the juice gives a lot of extra flavour to salad dressings, soups, sauces or even dips. The peppers are great on pizza, blended into soups or dips, or even just on bread or a cracker with a bit of cheese.You can store the strips and juice in the freezer for a few months, in the fridge for a week or so (covered with a thin layer of olive oil), or make some or all of them into...

Pickled Roasted Red Peppers: 7 250mL jars
This recipe's from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small Batch Preserving. I'm a big fan of this book and recommend it to anyone interested in preserves, from the beginner to the experienced.

White Wine and Herb Jelly: 9 250mL jars
I can't remember where I got this recipe. It's a pretty jelly with a sprig of your favourite herb inside - it makes lovely Christmas gifts (and for double the gifts, use smaller jars! lol). I used thyme from the garden and a Yellowtail Chardonnay, but you can play with different combinations. This with a bit of Brie on a cracker... Yum!

Tomato Fruit Pickle: 7 250mL jars
This is a recipe passed down from my great-great-grandmother. It's been loved in my family for over 100 years! Amazing, right?! It's a delicious combination of tomatoes, peaches, and mango (our modern substitute for pears and apples), great on crackers.

Chili Sauce: 16 250mL jars
This is my aunt Marilyn's recipe. It's another one great on crackers, sort of a chutney. We made a double batch!

Salsa: 6 500mL jars
Another from my aunt Marilyn. We added corn to the recipe - I love salsa with corn in it!

Lots of goodies for the pantry. It was a lot of work, but my husband and I did this all together which made it easier and more fun!

l-r: Tomato Fruit Pickle, Chili Sauce, White Wine and Herb Jelly, Pickled Roasted Red Peppers.

If you would like me to share any of these recipes, just leave a comment and let me know which one(s)! The only one I wouldn't share is the one from the cookbook; I imagine that's copyrighted and if you want it, it is so worth the investment to pick up the book - you could even use Swagbucks to get it for free from Amazon.

Friday and October? Already!?

Where has the time gone? Does it feel to anyone else like time is just slipping through your fingers at an alarming rate?

If anyone was wondering (probably not), my doctor is sending me for a pelvic ultrasound and blood tests next week to try to find out what's going on. Since I had a miscarriage in June, I've had some issues with pain and my cycle is just wrong. Honestly, I'm frightened that I won't be able to get pregnant or keep a pregnancy. I've "only" had the one miscarriage, but I'm 33 and I feel like time is running out. I'm trying not to worry too much because right now there aren't any answers, but I can't help feeling scared and unhappy about it.

Anyway. Trying to focus on good stuff. Here are some giveaways for today:

For baby:

• Win a Bath Luve duck at Adventures of Wanna-Be Supah Mommy. Ends October 16th.
• Win a bib and burp cloth set from The Modern Baby Co. at My Wee View. Ends October 16th.
• Win a Smart Pocket diaper and boosters at Mommies Angels. Ends TODAY so hurry on over!
• Win your choice of cute Hatley Coveralls at Piece of Me! Ends October 16th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a book: Making Babies at Park Avenue Princess. Ends October 4th. As you can imagine I would love to read this.
• Win a Bravado Allure nursing bra at Just for Me...and You. Ends October 12th.

For the home:

• Win a set of stylish storage boxes for the nursery (or for elsewhere!) by JJ Cole at Project Nursery. Ends October 9th.
• Win a Glade prize pack (including wine and a Chapters GC!) at My Organized Chaos. This is for Canadians only! Ends October 10th.
  

I also have a great announcement for my readers... I want to let you know that there's an upcoming giveaway here on my blog! It's from a company with products that I'm pretty impressed by and I think you will be, too. Watch for a review and giveaway soon!