Glee!

Uh oh. I've found a new show to love. My friend kept recommending this show Glee to me, and I kept putting off watching it. Well, during a bout of insomnia I watched 4 episodes back to back and can say it's one of my new favourites! Love it. I'm watching it on ninjavideo (up to episode 7 now) and shamelessly singing along. At full volume.

Oh, and if you're in the Toronto area, one of my galleries has a Festival of Smalls show that's opening this weekend. The annual show features artworks under $250 by their many, many talented artists. If you're looking for a really unique and special Christmas gift, original art is a fantastic way to go. They do online sales as well during the show if you're not local. The gallery is Art Interiors, and you can find more details about the show here. I just sent them 8 small oil paintings for the show - here's one of them:The sailboats are a bit of a new thing for me, I'm playing around with them. This one's a teeny canvas at 6x12".

Some giveaways for today... thought I'd get to adding some more last night, but that didn't happen.

For baby:

• Win a set of Bumkins Grinch SuperBibs at The Mom Buzz. Ends November 26th.
• Win a Layla Grace blanket at Grosgrain. Not sure when this one ends.
• Win some glass bottles (Life Factory and Born Free) from SproutBaby at Fabulous Fun Finds. Ends November 18th.
• Win a cute Crane humidifier at Raising My 4 Sons. These have finally arrived in Canada, btw - I saw them at Shoppers Drug Mart yesterday, priced at $40. Ends November 19th.
• Win a Snugfits onesie or tee and knit pants or Baby Legs at Toddler Momma. Ends November 14th.
• Win a Cloud B Gentle Giraffe at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Open to Canadians only! Ends November 30th.
• Win a Cloud B Polar Cuddle Cub at Organic Girl. Open to Canadians only! Ends December 1st.
• Win Bummas cloth wipes at 1 Stop Mom. Ends November 17th.
• Win Bummas cloth wipes at Mommy World. Ends November 15th.
• One more chance to win Bummas cloth wipes at Mommy2TwoGirls. Ends November 25th.
• Yet another chance to win Bummas cloth wipes at Annie's Home. Ends December 1st.
• Win a panel wrap baby carrier from Cosy Baby Happy Mommy at Fun and Funky Mommy. Ends December 7th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win lavender pearl earrings from Pearl Paradise at My Organized Chaos. These would make a nice Christmas present (or a treat for you!). Ends November 21st.
• Win a Blush topless tee at Penny Pinching Mama. Ends November 19th.
• Win a handbag from Handbag Heaven at Comfort Joy Designs. Ends November 21st.
• Win a Hip-T at Momma Loves to Shop. Ends November 20th.
• Win a Samantha Half-Padded Bra and Hipster in Magenta by Affinitas Lingerie at Simply Stacie. Ends November 24th.
• Win a pair of Must Have Shoes at My Wee View! Ends November 25th.
• Remember the Teva sandals I grumped about? You can win a pair of their Mush sandals at Simple. Ends November 19th.
• Win a pair of holiday shoes from Supershoes at The Mom Buzz. ends November 28th.
  

For the men:

• Win the book ABC's for Expectant Dads by Todd Lieman (10 winners!) at smonk you. Ends December 2nd.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $50 gift certificate to Green is Black at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Ends November 19th.
• Win Crunchy Clean laundry detergent (you've got to check out the scents available!) at Take Time to Smell the Rose. Ends November 22nd.
• Win an audiobook copy of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold at Sweeps4Bloggers. I love audiobooks and this one's even read by the author. Ends November 18th.
• Win a Flip Ultra HD at Newly Wed, Newly Bred. Ends November 26th.
• Win Cowgirl Chocolates (1/3 lb!) at Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends November 13th.
• Win a Glade prize pack (wine, candles, reed diffuser, Chapters GC ) at Northern Mama. Open to Canadians only! Ends November 18th.
• Win your choice of BearPaw shoes/boots at My Organized Chaos! Ends November 19th.
  

Having fun yet? If you like what I'm doing here on my blog, you could do me a quick and easy favour by clicking on any of the Google ads that interest you to the left there. It throws a couple cents my way. Thanks!

Beautiful sunshine

I can't believe the weather here in southern Ontario. Today and yesterday have been beautiful and sunny, with highs well above 10 degrees Celsius. I love it.

I wanted to mention a couple of the great prizes I have won and received lately. I won an Evenflo Snugli Sway carrier at Mommy Goggles. This is a soft but structured sling type carrier for newborns (6-15 lbs). It's really more than a sling, but it is a one-shoulder carrier. The inside is a soft plush and the outside a more resilient fabric (nylon?). I love it and I'm sure it will be great when our little one finally arrives. It's got a really good price too, I think it's about $35 USD. This would make an awesome baby shower gift!

And today I received the organic Boba Carrier (by the makers of the Sleepy Wrap) that I won from Dirty Diaper Laundry. This is a front/side/back carrier for 1-4 year olds. It's even got foot straps for the comfort of bigger tots (over 2 years). I'm really impressed with the design and the quality of this carrier (and I love that it's made of organic cotton!). We chose the walnut, and it's a lovely deep brown. I had to get my husband involved on the colour choice as he's definitely going to take turns!

You'll never guess... today I also learned that I won an organic Sleepy Wrap at The Bragging Mommy! Can you believe my luck?! This one's for 0-1 year olds, and will fill in that gap between the Snugli Sway and the Boba. Unfortunately, The Bragging Mommy has recently switched over to US only giveaways - I'll definitely miss the giveaway fun there. But the site still is great for reviews, and if you are lucky enough to know someone in the States to be your 'postal drop', you can still enter.

A big thanks to both the blogs and sponsors! I know I have totally lucked out here. I don't think I'll be entering any more carrier giveaways for myself (though perhaps as Christmas presents for my 7 friends with babies!) - but I will still share them if I come across them :)

What weekends are for...

This weekend was so busy. Here's what we accomplished in the two days:

• ripping out the old shelf and rod in our closet, repairing the walls, repainting, and installing a great new system by Rubbermaid that has loads of storage and shoe shelves (finally!) - it even has drawers! Love it.
  
• putting up the Christmas lights... I know it's early, but it was so nice to do it on a rare warm day in November than a freeze-your-buns-off day in December!
• bringing in our patio set for the winter... aw.
  
• making 2.5 litres of applesauce with locally grown apples from the market. Yum!
  
• making an apple-cranberry loaf
• making 8 meals' worth of butternut squash soup. Loading up the freezer with fall harvest goodness!
  
• making two loaves of spelt bread. I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer (which I won in a contest last year)! We used to have a bread machine, which was great, but when a small plastic part in it broke and Black & Decker wouldn't replace the broken piece (instead telling us to throw out this large countertop appliance and buy a new one), we opted not to get a new one. Not cool to add to landfills rather than replace a 50-cent part! B&D gets a big thumbs down.
  
• making chocolate ice cream (without an ice cream maker!). This one's for the grown-ups, as it's full of Baileys and rum! Mm. It's so easy, too. Though if you do make it, expect an overnight freeze time - the four hours the recipe says is not long enough. Maybe it would be, if you put it in a shallow container (I didn't think of that until too late). I confess, I had a spoonful at breakfast this morning :)
  
• cleaning the house... just a regular weekend task, but it got done along with everything else
  
• installing blinds on four windows. We finally got rid of the last of the 'temporary' paper blinds that have been up for two years since we moved in!
• Hosting our great friends for dinner. They brought their sweet daughter, whom I adore!
  

I think that's all! Good stuff. Isn't it satisfying to get stuff done?! Ok, I'm finished bragging about our accomplishments... With Christmas on the way, the blog giveaways have really ramped up lately! Here are some giveaways for today.

For baby:

• Win a set of fleece pants and a tee (for girls) by Brooke Van Gory Designs at Diapers and Dimples. Ends November 21st.
• Win a $25 gift certificate to Maukilo (toys) at The Bragging Mommy. Ends November 13th.
• Win a $25 gift certificate to Sprout Baby at Jabbering Jessi. Ends November 20th.
• Win a Babybjorn Travel Crib Lite at MomFuse (5 winners!). Ends November 15th.
• Win a Lamaze Space Symphony Motion Gym from The Learning Curve at Monkey Mayhem! Ends November 20th.
• Win a $20 gift certificate to Snap-Ez at The Cloth Diaper Report. Ends November 16th.
• Win a Econobum Onesize Cover & Onesize Prefold at Diaper Discussions! Ends November 13th.
• Win your choice of an AIO or Fitted with Coordinating Cover from My Sweet Punkin Patch at The First Time Around. Ends November 22nd.
• Win a Zosephine diaper bag at The Bragging Mommy! Ends November 15th.
• Win a Kolcraft Jeep stroller at A Giveaway Everyday! Ends November 16th.
• Win a $30 gift certificate to Great Lakes Diaper Company at Little Birdie Secrets! Ends November 15th.
• Win an aden+anais Burpy Bib at Tara's View of the World. Ends November 24th.
• Win a big Amelie Jo gift box full of goodies over at From Scratch. Ends November 23rd.
• Win a Britax Marathon CS car seat at $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge. Ends November 22nd.
• Win a ring sling from Belly Bumps to Baby Hugs at Moma Lovebug. Ends November 22nd.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a bamboo wrap by Naturally Knotty at A Kindred Spirit's Thoughts. Ends November 28th.
• Win a Shower Hug at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends November 18th.
• Win Om Shanti body scrub (in your choice of scent) at Cute Like Me. Ends November 16th.
• Win Cream perfume or lotion (your choice) at Mommy 2 Two Girls. Ends November 17th.
• One more chance to win Cream perfume at One 2 Try. Ends November 18th.
  
• You can also win Cream perfume at Helping Mommys Win. Ends November 20th.
• Win a hand dyed silk chiffon scarf at La Mimi. Ends November 21st.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $20 gift certificate to The Brown Bow at Mommies Angels. Ends November 30th.
• Win a $35 gift certificate to Novica at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Ends November 19th.
• Win a Walmart photo book at Peg City Momma - open to Canadians only! Ends November 16th.
• Win a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer (like I said, I love mine!) from Style At Home - open to Canadians only! Ends November 30th.
• Win your choice of BearPaw shoes (or boots!) at Fabulous Fun Finds! Ends November 12th.
• Win your choice of watch from Inexpensive Watches at A Mom's Balancing Act (two winners). Ends November 18th.
• Win a Christmas ornament from Huephoria at Simply Living on a Budget. Ends November 23rd.
• Win a pretty planner by My Lavender Cottage at Gifted Giveaways. Ends November 12th.
• Win a Mighty Leaf Tea travel mug at Katydid and Kid! Ends November 22nd.
• Enter to win a Hallmark ornament at the Canadian Family blog (open to Canadians only!) every day until December 18th.
  

For the dog:

• Win a Natural Luxe Eco-Me Natural Dog Kit at Mkokopelli. Ends November 15th.