Neighbours and the dog.

We have a dog. A great big chocolate lab named Cadbury. He's very trainable, and we've trained him to 'go' in a certain spot in our yard, in the back corner. We are in a new subdivision and don't have fences yet between the backyards (although we are meeting with all the neighbours and a fencing company tomorrow to hopefully get that underway).

This morning I was out in back with the yard and one of our backyard neighbours (we have 3 along the back, since we have a corner lot) came out and asked to talk to me. We have been in our house for a year and a half and this is the first time they have spoken to us, ever! Even though we wave to them and say hi if we are out there, they ignore us! Four weeks ago we went around with a letter from us asking our neighbours to talk to us about getting a fence - and left our email, phone, said talk to us if we're out (we're out back a fair amount) and they totally ignored it!

So what did she want? To complain about the smell from our dog's 'area' that he goes in. Now I know we need to clean that up more regularly than we do (we did it about 6 days ago). And yes, popular belief has it right - poop stinks. I could smell it in her backyard and I could understand, nobody wants a backyard to smell like that. She suggested that we move the area to somewhere 'beside our house'. (It was up beside our house until a month or so ago when we moved his area so we could put in the vegetable gardens. Our plan has always been to use this particular back corner of our lot for him).

So we cleaned it up this morning. But, we are not moving his area. I am hoping the smell is reduced when we get fences up, at least blocked. And we are going to really make a point of cleaning it up more often than once a week. I don't want to make our neighbours unhappy, but it is our yard.
What do you think? Are we doing enough? Should we let our neighbour decide how we use our yard? Are we being totally awful neighbours?

I don't want to make an enemy :(

Anyway. I have found a couple giveaways today (I don't usually do this on weekends but here I am).

For the ladies:

• Win a $25 Layers Clothing gift certificate at Dev's Favorite Giveaways. Ends May 29th.
• Win a Hip-T at Blessings Abound! This is great for short shirts, low pants, or even as a belly band! Ends ay 26th.

For grown-ups:

• Win new Durex products at Household Treasures! Five winners each get two new products - Utopia and Quiver. Ends June 6th.
  

For baby:

• Win a pair of Leg Huggers at Thrifty Minnesota Mama! Ends June 2nd.
• Win a onesie or tee from Crazy Baby Clothing at My Mom's View. For all those punk rocker babies out there! Ends June 1st.
• Win a Muttaqin cloth diaper at Dazzled By Diapers! Ends May 24th at midnight so hurry!
• Win a pair of Shoo Shoos baby shoes at My Organized Chaos! Ends June 1st.
  

For the dog:

• Win a Dog Duvet from Karma Charms at Sweet Dog Organics! Every dog needs a comfy place to lie down! Ends May 29th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a tea wallet by Recupefashion at Recuperation Nathalie Brault. I love tea wallets since I always take my own decaf Earl Grey teabags when I go to friends' houses or restaurants. Ends May 30th.
• Win an audiobook of Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow at Book Love Affair! Ends June 8th.
  

Don't forget to enter my Snugs Boutique giveaway!

Snugs Boutique - Giveaway *CLOSED* Winner announced!

This giveaway is now closed!
I chose the winner with random.org which came up with lucky #43!
Congratulations to the winner....
Nicole D.
who said "I would choose the Belly Band."

I'm so excited to be hosting a giveaway here for Snugs Boutique! You may recall my review of the Bamboo Diaper and Diaper Cover a few days ago. I was so impressed by the quality of both these products, and as a mom-to-be on a budget, the amazing prices of Snugs Boutique!

Snugs Boutique is a Canadian company which I am happy to support. Andrea has generously offered one of my readers a prize!

The winner may choose any item from Snugs Boutique under $15!

What could you get for under $15 you may ask? Well, go take a look - you can choose from many different styles of cloth diapers (including the bamboo style I reviewed), diaper covers, belly bands, mama pads, and baby leggings!



How to enter:
Mandatory first entry - Visit Snugs Boutique and let me know what you would choose if you won! Don't worry, you can change your mind if you do win :)

Extra entries (only after you have completed the first entry, please!):

1. Sign up for Snugs Boutique mailing list (on the contact us page) and let me know that you did, please include the email address that you signed up with in your comment for verification.
2. If you have a product from Snugs Boutique, write your own review on your blog. Include the link in your comment.
3. Blog about this giveaway with links to Snugs Boutique and to this post. Include the link in your comment.
4. Become a follower of my blog (publicly).
5. Add my blog button to your blog. Include the link in your comment.
   

Comment separately for each entry! I moderate comments so please submit only once, it will appear once I accept the comment.

This giveaway ends next Friday, May 29th at 11:59 pm EST. I will choose a winner at random, announce the winner on this post and email the winner, who has 48 hours to get back to me or I will choose another winner. Please leave your email address or be sure it's set to public in your profile - if I can't contact you I'll draw another name.

This giveaway is OPEN TO CANADA and US residents!

This giveaway is now closed! Thank you for all the entries and welcome to my new followers - I hope you stick around.
Meanwhile I do recommend popping over to Snugs Boutique for your diapering and mama needs. The prices are great and it's so nice to support a Canadian mom's business!

Almost the weekend!

And I don't know about you, but I'm having a pretty good week so far.

I love this onesie from Snugfits! Great designs (one pictured here - can you read that? "sleep is for the weak", it says! Ha ha! Love it!).

Don't forget to enter my Snugs Boutique giveaway!

Eden Fantasys Review - Part 1

***adult content below!***

I haven’t done a lot of reviews, though I’m interested in the review process and definitely always happy to share my opinion! I was offered a review opportunity recently that I couldn’t pass up. Be aware, this is meant for adult eyes and it’s a little, er… racy!

As some of you may know, my husband and I have been TTC for a while now. And while the trying part is fun, certainly, it can feel a little like work sometimes when you know there is a goal loftier than just having a good time. So with the spirit of keeping things fun in mind, we were thrilled when Eden Fantasys approached me to do a review on my blog.

We spent some time together browsing on the Eden Fantasys site for adult toys (they also sell lingerie, videos, lubes and other things like candles, games, bath products and massage oils, really there is a lot of selection and not all of it as racy as what we picked!!). I’m going to get personal here and say, girl to girl, that I - like many other women - have had some experience with toys. The trusty vibe in the nightstand is not an uncommon thing. At least among the women I’ve talked to who are confident enough to admit it! But we were looking for something that would be for both of us as a couples thing.

So what did we choose? We ended up picking the Tantus vibrating c-ring which is not *quite* what you might think (at least it’s not *quite* what we thought it was! Yes, I will explain that!).

This toy is 100% silicone, so it is non-porous, hypo-allergenic, you can sterilize it (apparently even in the top rack of the dishwasher?! We won’t be trying that one). The bullet it comes with has a battery so there is no cord to get in the way. He picked the black one (it also comes in red and purple), which I think has a nuance of BDSM about it. I didn’t mention that to the DH ;)

The shipping packaging from Eden Fantasys was very discreet. The return address is ‘web merchant’ so it’s not screaming out that it's a sex toy to your UPS guy.

First off let me say on opening it up – being a novice to the whole ‘ring’ scenario – it was not what we expected. Let’s just say we were expecting a c-ring and it’s really more of a c-&-b-ring if you know what I mean! To be fair the website has an ‘actual size’ photo on it and does give the diameter so it was because of us not looking that closely. My first thought was, oh but it’s huge! I mean a 2” diameter, really, you hear people talk but I’ve never seen one that, well, girthy, lol. Then we looked at the back and when we saw the instructions, the light dawned – the whole package goes through the ring! Whoa. DH and I weren’t quite expecting the whole package to be involved here!

Now my DH is willing to try new things for sure, but this had him a little worried. I could see the ‘yikes’ in his face! He is brand new to the whole toy issue (I don’t think he’d even seen any in real life before he met me) and, shall we say, not exactly comfortable with the whole idea. He’s a down-to-earth kind of straightforward guy. This is all very new to him.

So that is our first impressions… I’m going to follow up in a few days with part two of this review and let you know what we thought! You might be surprised! And I promise I won’t get too explicit with the details but I will be honest.

What would you have picked to try if you had the opportunity?

Thursday's exhaustion

Okay so Tuesday night I got 5 hours of sleep and last night I got about 6. I know all you moms out there are going, "6 hours?! That's awesome!" But I'm not used to it and I am BEAT.

On the plus side, it's a pretty day. The crabapple we planted last fall is in full bloom and does it ever look nice!

Some giveaways for today... I am far from caught up but I'm trying!
For baby:

• Win a personalized baby blanket from Bubblecakes! Ends May 26th.
• Win a Seahorsey Lu organic onesie (6-9 months) from Finny's Greens at Household Treasures. Ends June 3rd.
• Win an Applecheeks cloth diaper, insert and booster at Our Lincoln Log! Applecheeks is another Canadian cloth diaper company. Ends May 26th.
• Win a B Nature Organic Onesie (3-6 months) at A Kindred Spirit's Thoughts! Ends June 6th.
• Win a pair of Shoo Shoos baby shoes at Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House! Ends June 5th.
• Win a pair of Jack and Lily baby shoes at Tales from a Shopaholic Mommy! Ends June 1st.
• Win a baby wrap (carrier) from Sugar Sweet Baby at My Mom's View! Ends May 25th.
• Win another Applecheeks envelope cover, two inserts and a booster at Monkeys on the Bed. Ends May 23rd.
• Win a pile of baby coupons (Canada only!) at Frugal Freebies! Ends May 29th.
  

For grown-ups:

• Win any item up to $50 from Eden Fantasys at Really, Are You Serious?! Ends June 3rd. And btw, later tonight I will be posting part 1 of a 2-part review of something racy from Eden Fantasys here on my blog!

For the ladies:

• Win a $75 gift certificate to Jumeau handbags at 3 boys and a dog! Ends tonight so hurry up!
  

For anyone:

• Win a t-shirt of your choice from mchen's Etsy shop at the rikrak studio! Nice! Ends May 26th.
  

For the home:

• Win a $20 gift certificate to Scribble It (wall decals - they even have chalkboard ones) at My Mom's View! Ends May 25th.
• Win a Dream Sacks bamboo throw in Maize at Barefoot Mommy! Ends June 4th.
  

Snugs Boutique Bamboo Diaper Review!

Note: you can click on the images for a close-up! Just ignore how old my hand looks in that one pic... why does it look like that! I swear I have regular early-thirties hands in real life!

A while back I was lucky enough to win a one-size bamboo pocket diaper with insert, and a diaper cover from Snugs Boutique! The contest was hosted by one of my favourite blogs, My Mom's View. I received the diaper today and as soon as I saw it, I really wanted to review it right away.

Snugs Boutique is a Canadian company (yay!). The owner, Andrea, is a mom whose sewing skills led to the founding of this company. When she saw that cloth diapers were a great solution to diapering, but they were expensive - she set out to make her own. Now her company not only makes diapers but imports them as well, allowing her to control the costs and materials.

I received the Small Bamboo Pocket Diaper. The first thing I noticed was how amazingly soft it is. The lining and insert are made with microfiber and bamboo. If you don't already know about the amazing qualities of bamboo, let me just say it's first off a sustainable resource, perfect for your eco-baby! Secondly, and this is a great feature, it's naturally anti-microbial. Third, it's more absorbent than cotton! I would say this makes for a perfect diaper. The outer layer of the diaper is made of PUL, which is waterproof. I picked the yellow, going for gender-neutral, and the colour is a nice lemon meringue pie kind of yellow. The lining is beige.

The insert is also fully removable (it snaps in place in the pocket so won't bunch up), which is great for laundering and allows for quicker drying. I can't really think of a feature that this diaper doesn't have - unless a self-cleaning option was possible! I wish!

I also got a really nice diaper cover! The diaper cover is not absolutely necessary with this diaper, since it's waterproof already, but a little extra leakage or blowout protection can't hurt! The cover is blue and yellow - a bright blue on one side, and a paler blue with yellow accents on the other. Yes, its reversible! Awesome. Snugs Boutique will even do custom colour orders for the covers if you have something specific in mind.

One thing I wanted to mention that really impressed me was how adjustable these are. The snaps are all plastic, no cold metal on baby's skin, and there are two rows with four possible snaps in each row. This means that for babies with chubby legs and tiny waists (or vice versa) you can adjust for that. Not only that, snaps are more likely to stay on the baby - what's more fun than ripping off velcro and running around in the nude? Hey, the Chippendales made careers of it.

Now let's talk about prices. If you have looked into cloth diapering you know they seem like a huge investment (though they pay off in the long run, compared to disposables)! But these are very reasonably priced. The diaper itself is $9 and the diaper cover is $8. This is in Canadian dollars, no exchange or duty (bonus!).

Let's do a quick look at some of the other comparable brands you might have heard of. I think you can figure out which they are... I don't want to look like I'm criticizing these since I have formed no opinion of them, this is purely a price comparison. (I just stopped in at Kelly's Closet to check out some of theirs, if you're wondering where I got these prices.)

• Fu**ibun* Perfect Size pocket diaper with snaps: $17.95 USD
• Happy H****s one-size pocket diaper with snaps: $18.95 USD
• Swa**leb**s Econa**i one-size pocket diaper with snaps: $28.95 USD

None of these are bamboo and ALL of them are a great deal more expensive (plus for us Canadians you have to factor in the exchange rate and customs/duty charges). Now don't you think Snugs Boutique is a better option?! I sure do.

Yay, it's Wednesday!

I woke up this morning at 5 am, thinking about raspberry canes. Seriously, this is what keeps me up at night. I couldn't get back to sleep for trying to figure out where to put in some canes in our backyard and where the heck my blueberry bushes are going to go. Not that I have these plants yet but I have had them in my previous gardens and I definitely want them here. Crazy, no?

We have improved the greenhouse on our one vegetable bed (the 'hothouse' - it has peppers and tomatoes, zucchini and cucumber). The peas are about 2" up, starting to reach for the netting, and the radishes just started sprouting yesterday! With a forecast for 28 degrees and sunny I'm sure today will be a big growth day.

I wanted to let you know about Dealcetera as well. If you are Canadian and looking for a great site for deals and freebies, you should definitely check it out. They have a Monday Giveaway each week and I won last week's! Yay! Now, I can't win again but you could. This week if you blog about Dealcetera you could win a $10 Shoppers Drug Mart gift card! I subscribe to their email feed and although I get sometimes 60 emails a day or more (that sounds like they're all from Dealcetera - that's not what I mean) I always make a point to read theirs.

Ok, time for some more giveaways:

For baby:

• Win an Ergobaby carrier system in Hawaiian print at Go Graham Go! Ends June 3rd.
• Win a pair of Jack & Lily shoes at Finding Joy in the Journey! Ends May 25th.
• Win a $50 gift certificate to Atterdag Kids (man, they have some great stuff!) at My Mom's View! Ends May 28th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a $25 gift certificate to Layers Clothing at Loving Heart Designs! Ends May 25th.
  

For anyone:

• Win an audiobook by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child called Cemetary Dance at The Novel Bookworm! They have three copies to give away! Lincoln Child is a favourite author of mine. Ends May 27th.
• Win a $10 Starbucks card at Sweet Savings! Ends May 24th.
  

Tuesday, errand day!

After the Canadian long weekend this past weekend I have a few errands to run that I have let slide. Like grocery shopping (groan). I don't hate it, it just takes so long. They've opened up a new No Frills nearby which is great, but the aisles make no sense. It seems so disorganized and I'm still getting used to it. I wish there were a standard grocery store layout and everyone would just stick to it! I'm used to organizing my grocery list and coupons by aisle (it saves time) but I haven't figured out their system yet.

Oh, btw, we saw the new Star Trek movie last night - it was really good! Loved 'Sylar' from Heroes (Zachary Quinto) as Spock. I recommend it. Lots of action and lots of funny parts.

Happy Monday

Today is truly a happy day for us. We have the day off - we went for a hike up in the woods with the dog, it was lovely. Tonight we're going to see that new Star Trek movie - I can't wait to see "Sylar" from Heroes as Spock! We got some good news today, one of my galleries e-mailed me to say they have just sold three paintings and have two more on hold for clients. Yay!

I know I haven't been posting the giveaways as much lately, I do promise that I will get back into it. I still haven't moved everything from the old computer yet, there's not that much left, I just don't feel like it so I've been procrastinating. The quilt I'm making (as a procrastination exercise) is so nearly done. It was really fun to do and I think I'll do some more. Not sure if these will make baby shower gifts for my friends or if they will end up in my Etsy shop!

Anyway, here are a couple that I wanted to post -

For anyone:

• Win a Mystic Wonders Complete Laundry System at Thrifty Minnesota Mama! I love the idea of these. No more chemicals in our house, water or on our clothes. Sounds good, right? Ends June 1st.
  

For adults:

• Seeryus Mama is giving away any item up to $40 at Eden Fantasys! Fun stuff. They have everything from candles to lingerie and toys for grown-ups ;) Ends May 30th.
• you can also win a Body Frosting Crate from Eden Fantasys at Simply Stacie! Ends May 31st.
  

and a little heads up: I'll be doing a review of Eden Fantasys (and maybe, hopefully, a giveaway too) soon!

I'm it!

I got tagged by Capital Mom! Thanks for the props! And hugs to all the Canadian bloggers out there :) I know there are a few of us. I'm glad Capital Mom is hanging in there despite the chaos and aftermath of traveling with little ones! I think a lot of people can relate to that. I get a taste when I travel with my husband, ha ha!

So on to the game...Here are the rules:

1) Mention the person who tagged you and be sure to link to them.
2) Post your list of 8's.
3) Tag 8 bloggers and don't forget to tell them!

My answers...

8 of my favourite foods:

1. chocolate. Any way it comes, love need it.
   
2. the baked ravioli bites they used to serve at Boston Pizza. I am so mad at the jerk who took those off the menu!
   
3. spinach
   
4. eggplant (mmm, eggplant)
   
5. baked brie which I so rarely eat but love. I got over the moldy issue.
   
6. cheesecake.
7. coffee (that counts as food, right?)
8. muffins.

That list ends too soon. I love food.

8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. being a mom... feels like it will never happen, hopefully one day.
   
2. the end of the summer, when we're traveling out to the west coast
3. Sunday, we're going to Niagara on the Lake with friends
4. my coffee tomorrow... well, my daily cappuccino, thanks to my awesome MIL who gave me an espresso machine which I use every single day, basking in bliss. Now I'm drinking only decaf which is not quite as fabulous but it still makes me happy.
   
5. getting a fence for our backyard. finally.
6. finishing my first quilt! Maybe this weekend! Will post pics when it happens...
7. getting the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition over with for another year.
8. getting curtains downstairs... after a year and a half in the house, we still have empty curtain rods...

8 Things I did yesterday

1. worked on a painting
2. ate cheez whiz on a toasted bagel for breakfast (gross!)
3. took the cars in to get detailed
4. sat on the wet car seat when I picked up the car and got a wet butt
5. went into the grocery store with my wet butt, smelling like lemon car shampoo. Yes it was embarassing. But I needed milk.
6. made a weird pizza with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls for a crust. Sounded like it might be good. It really wasn't.
   
7. Told my husband I loved him :)
8. Read my book in bed until way too late!
   

8 things I want to do before I die

1. learn how to knit, properly
2. go to Italy
3. read a LOT more books. That won't be hard.
4. maybe write a book, one day.
5. have a wildly successful vegetable garden instead of a mediocre one.
   
6. Take a train on a scenic trip. Hey, maybe this fall through the Rockies!
7. go rock climbing. If I ever get the nerve.
8. learn another language, properly. Not just to get by, but to be comfortable speaking.

8 shows I watch

1. Lost
2. Heroes
3. How I Met Your Mother
4. Dexter
5. Extreme Home Makeover - sometimes
6. I started watching True Blood but haven't finished season 1 yet (love the books though)
   

that's it - we have an antenna and the internet, no cable/satellite. Though honestly we can watch anything we could ever want on the internet. Movies (oldies and in theatres now), any episode from any season of any show... paying for cable seems carzy. And yes I mean "carzy". If you were in Mexico when we were, you would understand.

8 ways in which I kill time

1. reading books... like 3 or 4 a week
   
2. checking email obsessively
3. seeking out and downloading music
4. playing Rock Band 1&2
5. watching our shows
6. baking
7. poking around in the garden
8. doing little things like sewing, crocheting, knitting, making stuff in general

My 8 picks (tag! you're it!) - these are some of the blogs I follow and really enjoy:

1. My Mom's View
2. Fabulous Fun Finds
3. Optimistic Beauty
4. Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous
5. Glimpse
6. My Organized Chaos
7. The Mommy Diaries
8. {Natural} Mommie

There are more of course but I was aiming to include my favourite Canadian bloggers. I made them all 'follow' links to pass on the props! Hope you link back the same way :) Read and enjoy these great blogs!

TTC? freebie for you!

Anyone else out there trying to conceive? Here is a chance to try a Conceive Ovulation Predictor Test Kit.
I will be back with contests in the near future, I promise.

Procrastination! & a freebie for the ladies

Isn't it funny how you can procrastinate on one thing by action on another? Like, I still haven't got this Mac all filled up with my documents and stuff from the old computer. Transferring files ranks up there with watching paint dry for boring.

So, instead, yesterday I planted the vegetable gardens - beans, radishes, carrots, all seeds - and plants of tomatoes (cherry and regular), peppers, zucchini and cucumber. Also I put Nasturtium seeds in the boxes on the deck, and basil. The peas are up about an inch already! I have a little space left - I'm thinking maybe scallions, or arugula... any suggestions welcomed!

And today I'm starting my first quilt - well, cutting fabric for my first quilt. I'm doing a baby quilt, hopefully I have enough fabric. I started with one of my husband's old shirts and added some different quilters' cottons. I've cut about 25 of 108 pieces so far :) but I bought myself a rotary cutter and mat for my birthday (well my mum did really, she gave me some birthday money), and I'm having fun with it. It's way faster than scissors, that's for sure!

Meanwhile computer things I've been putting off are piling up like crazy... I'm just going to ignore it today, maybe tomorrow I'll deal!

Oh, BTW... Get your free sample of KY Intense Arousal Gel for Her! This is for us Canadian women only.

Quickly,

One or two more because they're so good. I'm running out the door to a doctor's appointment so this is a quick one. Still working on the file transfer, between work and errands...

For anyone:

• Win a pair of New Balance shoes at Peanut Butter and Smelly's Dad! Yeah! Ends May 29th.
• Win a pair of New Balance shoes and a sports bra at Look What Mom Found! Ends June 5th.
  

Still...

I'm not really here, not really posting.. I need to get this Mac going so I can get back to my regular life! But there are a couple of giveaways I just had to share because they are so great. So, quickly:

For baby/tot:

• Win a $150 gift certificate to Zutano clothing at Fabulous Fun Finds! It's part of the ongoing Baby Shower Blast. Ends May 18th.

For anyone:

• Win a 3-piece bedding set from Canadian company Seth & Grayson at Bellaziza's Favorite Things! Ends May 18th as well.

ok, back to file transferring for me. the fun never ends.

P.s. - check out this video of the Miracle Blanket in action. Amazing! I think this product is a must for any new parents!

AFK

Sorry folks, I have been busy trying to get this Mac up and running - I haven't forgotten about the blog... I will be back with more giveaways soon, I promise!

Boom and sparkle!

It is a weird weather day here, alternating thunderstorms (with hail) and brilliant sunshine! It's about 17 degrees. I like it - this is interesting weather!
I'm still waiting for the peas I planted 8 days ago to show any sign of life. I hope they were viable seeds. Our crabapple tree is this close to blossoming - we planted it last fall so we are very excited to see it in bloom! Waiting is the hardest part of gardening!

I was busy yesterday, running around and then out for Indian food in downtown Toronto. It was fun to go out with our friends. For once I didn't get a stomachache after eating Indian food! So I was too busy to post but I'll do a little bit of catching up today as my DH has gone out to run some errands.

For baby:

• Win a stainless steel baby bottle from Canadian company Organic Kidz at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. I don't know how you feel about it, but I can't stand it when a 'z' is used in place of an 's'! I'm a spelling prude. Ends May 18th.
• Win a pair of Scooterbees baby shoes at {Natural}Mommie. Ends May 18th.
• Win a Twilight Sea Turtle from Cloud B at All Things 4 Baby and Mom! Ends May 20th.
• Win a block letter alphabet vinyl wall decoration from Tastysuite at Just for Me... And You. Ends May 17th. I think this would be super cute in a nursery, don't you?
  

For the ladies:

• Win a $50 gift certificate to DownEast clothing at Simple Finds. Ends May 14th.
• Win body scrub and massage oil from tabutoys over at Helping Mommys Win. Ends May 12th.
• Win your choice of any personalized paper product from Peony Paperie at The Shopping Mama. Ends May 16th.
  

Crazy Thursday

Okay, how did it get to be Thursday already? I spent the whole day yesterday thinking it was Tuesday (and thus missed Lost, don't tell me what happened!). Plus this laptop thing.. ugh, steep learning curve.
Anyway. I'm eating a cupcake so the morning's getting better :) and here are some giveaways for today...

For the ladies:

• Win a $50 gift certificate to Layers clothing at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous! What a great prize. Ends May 17th.
• Win four balls of cotton yarn and knitting needles from KnitPicks at Things Moms Like. Note: you have to join their Facebook group. Ends May 30th.
• Win a Bamboo 5 Piece makeup Brush Set from the Ecotools Collection at Simply Stacie. Ends May 20th.
• Win some of Durex's new adult fun products - Quiver and Utopia - at Dexter's Super Savvy Mommy. Ends May 10th at noon EST.
  

For baby/tot:

• Win a Boon Bug Pod (bath scoop/storage) at Mom Most Traveled! Ends May 15th and you can enter daily.
• Win a Warmies Wipes Warmer for reuseable wipes at The Green Mom Review! Ends May 18th.
• Win a One Small Change Portable Changing Station at The Green Mom Review! Ends May 11th.
• Win a Laundress hypoallergenic gift bag from Pure & Little at MomDot - containing laundry detergent, dryer sheets and stain solution all safe for baby. Ends May 15th.
• Win a Little Chickie Wear onesie at My Mom's View! Love that 'may contain peanut' one! How cute. Ends May 14th.
• Win a Mermapillar tee at My Organized Chaos. You choose the size, colour, and Merma-critter. Ends May 15th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a bottle of Organic Lavender Hydrosol from Aromatics International at Your Mama Reviews. Ends May 14th. I wouldn't recommend this for boys, infant or not - here's some info about lavender and unusual, unwanted effects on boys!
  

Mac is making me crazy

I got a new laptop, and it's a Mac. My first Mac since 1994 and guys it is making me twelve kinds of crazy. I woke up at 5am stressing on it.
The main reason is that two of my daily-use programs from my PC I can't get for Mac... Roboform and Sweep!... I have so much data and so much time invested in these two programs!

Roboform is a form filler and password saver
Sweep! keeps track of contests, entries, tells you when it's ok to enter again, takes you to the site. I highly recommend both for PC users who like the giveaways.
:(

Edit: I learned that I can run Fusion, which basically lets you run the Windows OS in a new window on the Mac! Yay. A little less easy than what I'm used to, but at least I can still use my favourite programs!

Published! (and some giveaways)

I'm excited! I am going to have a recipe published in Best Health magazine. It won't come out until September, but still. :) Anyways, on to the giveaways list, I know that's why you really come here! lol.

For the ladies:

• Win a $30 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret at Miracles on Mama Street! This would be awesome to win. If you ever shop at VS make sure to find some coupon codes - there's always a deal or freebie with purchase to be had. (I like retailmenot for good online retail coupons.). Ends May 31.
• Win two Boob maternity tops at Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House! I love the look of these. Ends May 20th.
• Win a pair of soy Yogo yoga pants at {Natural} Mommie! These look SO comfy. Ends May 11th.
• Win a pair of Moving Comfort capris at Barefoot Mommy. Ends May 19th.
• Win a Hip-T at A Simple Kinda Life. Ends June 2nd (not the 6th like I had typo'd! Thanks for pointing that out, Angie!).
• Win some Vera Wang Stationery at Things Moms Like. Ends May 20th.
• Win an Ellembee t-shirt at Sandier Pastures! I'm a big fan. Ends May 7th!
  

For baby/tots:

• Win a $30 gift certificate to Tiny Soles at Shop With Me Mama. Ends May 7th so hurry!
• Win a $50 gift certificate to Bei Bambini at Tales from a Shopaholic Mommy! Oh, my gosh. The clothes are lovely! Ends May 20th.
• Win a pair of See Kai Run shoes at Thrifty Minnesota Mama! Love those SKR shoes! Ends May 20th. Just a reminder, if you do win ask if the sponsor would put 'sample' rather than 'sale' on the shipping invoice if it's coming to Canada! It might save you the $13 in customs/duty.

For anyone:

• Win Coconut Milk Organix shampoo and conditioner at The Screamin' Deal. Ends May 7th. I have tried the Tea Tree and Mint shampoo and conditioner from Organix and I have to say I was not impressed. It smells great but does not do nice things to my hair (or my husband's). We put it in the guest bathroom - is that mean? lol. But perhaps the Coconut version is nicer. Surely it will smell great.
• Win a t-shirt from SnorgTees at Simply Stacie. Snorg is the sound my dog makes when he's sleeping. Just FYI. Ends May 19th.
  

Just giveaways and no blather.

I'm all typed out from yesterday, straight to the giveaways list today! :)

First off, a free sample of Mom's Healthy Secrets organic cereal. This is for Canada only.

For baby:

• Win a $25 gift certificate to Manhattan Toy at My Mom's View! I like their selection of developmental and award-winning toys! Ends May 11th.
• Win a Naturepedic crib mattress at {Natural} Mommie! What an awesome giveaway! Ends May 15th.
• Win a Baby Einstein Lullaby Classics CD at Frugal Shopping with Julie. Ends May 14th.
• Win a Green to Grow Welcome Home Set at The Army Wife. I'm not sure when this one ends. There are no eligibility rules that I saw, but note that Green to Grow's website says they don't ship outside the US. So, you can take or leave your chances with this one.
• Win a Little Chickie Wear onesie or tee at Everything Up Close! Cute stuff. Ends May 13th.
• Win a pair of Jack & Lily shoes at Country Girl, City Life! I adore these. Ends May 8th.
• Win a Little Towheads onesie at My Funny Bunny! Ends May 30th.
  

For kids:

• Win one of two pairs of Ahnu Benicia shoes (for little girls) at Celebrity Baby Clothes! Ends May 11th.

For the ladies:

• Win a Body Shop gift set at Designs by Vanessa! That would be so nice. Ends May 10th.
• Win a Crunchy Cute coupon organizer at The Shopping Mama! Ends May 16th. I have one but this looks better than mine! Nice!
  

For anyone:

• Win a $50 VISA card and Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues at MomStart! Ends May 30th.
• Win Lunchbots stainless steel containers at The Opinionated Parent. Ends May 12th.
• Win the clothing item of your choice from Ellembee at Dev's Favourite Giveaways! Ellembee has baby onesies, ladies' tees, tanks, skirts, hoodies, and even scarves! Ends May 11th.
• Win a custom two-pack of Nuworld Botanicals aromatherapy vials at The Beauty Counter! Ends May 14th.
  

more to come!

POM Wonderful cupcakes!

So a little while ago I won a coupon for a bottle of POM Wonderful from All Things Edible. Thanks, Jenny! I had thought it would be great in smoothies (I still think so - POM, a little vanilla frozen yogourt and blueberries, yum!), but I was inspired by her brownies to get a little more creative.

I headed to the POM Wonderful website and picked out the POM Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting. Chocolate is my weakness, this sounded perfect. I had picked up the Pomegranate-Cherry variation of POM (there are several different kinds!) and it seemed the perfect choice to go with chocolate.

The first thing I discovered when I opened the fridge was that my dear, handsome, smart and wonderful husband had guzzled down half the bottle of POM during one of his secret midnight fridge raids! Argh! And what do you bet he drank straight from the bottle?! Grr. So straight off the bat I had to halve the recipe. That's okay, though, because with only the two of us 24 cupcakes would be too much.

I bake a LOT, so the cupcakes were a breeze. They turned out perfectly - dark, rich and moist, with a slightly crispy top. I used my silicone baking cups rather than paper ones. They look pretty good, right? They are!

Okay, the icing. Now I am not the kind of baker who ices things. I kind of like my cupcakes plain and find icing too sweet. But I had the recipe right there so I decided to go for it. Not being an icer in general, I had practically no knowledge base for icing. Now I think I know a little better. I followed the directions to the letter (carefully halving all of the ingredients) and ended up with liquid icing. Delicious liquid icing, but liquid all the same. I tried adding more icing sugar. I tried adding more butter. I should have just divided the batch by a third and added more icing sugar, but I was invested in it by then and didn't want to! I added a good 2 cups more icing sugar (on top of the original 1 1/4 cups) and about 1/4 cup more butter. I still ended up with icing the consistency of un-set pudding - now with little lumps.

Finally I gave up and simply dipped the cupcakes in it. It is runny but will harden to more of a glaze. Unfortunately, it's not pretty - there are lumps of butter and sugar. Kind of disappointing. The taste, however, is fabulous, so I think I may be forgiven.

Next time I would leave out all the liquid in the icing recipe (the water and the milk) except the POM. I would beat the butter, sugar, melted chocolate and vanilla together, and slowly add in the juice rather than follow the recipe. Also I would make about a quarter as much - I ended up freezing a bagful of leftover lumpy icing, maybe it will work as a cake filling or in sandwich cookies.

Overall, they taste fantastic so I can't complain too much. I wish they looked better - I simply ran out of patience with the icing. I probably should have abandoned the batch and started over but like I said, I got invested.

And I'm still a little peeved that DH drank all that POM. I will have to pick up a bottle and hide it just for me! Relabel it 'PMS medicine' or something so he doesn't drink it! lol.

Rollercoasters and deliciousness

I had such a fun weekend! Let me start by saying the Behemoth (the giant new roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland) is AWESOME. We went on twice and honestly I would rather have done that one all day long than any of the other rides. So fun, a smooth ride, three+ minutes of exhilarating speed! So I am thrilled to learn that I am not too old for roller coasters, after all.

After that, we took our friend (who's from out west, only in town for a little while) to one of our favourite restaurants. The restaurant is Fresh, down on Queen West in Toronto. It's vegan - if you've ever thought vegan or vegetarian food sounds boring or unsatisfying, get yourself to Fresh for an education. Their food is simply amazing, I highly recommend it. And if you go, save room for the carrot cake - it won't disappoint.

Two things were unfortunate about the day, though. One: we were on Flight Deck (another coaster) and the ride was delayed. We'd finished our ride and were sitting in the cars waiting to get out while the other train was in the station. They had some technical trouble and we ended up sitting there strapped into the seats for a good 10 minutes. There were some young teenage boys (13 or 14?) in the back of the train and they were basically shouting out all the bad words they could think of. Most of them were related to women's body parts. Not cool.

The second thing I saw that wasn't cool... we were waiting in line for one of the other coasters and in front of us were two young girls. Now I am not great at judging ages, but I'd say being just over 4' tall and very young looking, maybe 10 or 12 years old. Just starting to fill out but still scrawny in that kid way. Both girls were wearing a ton of makeup, and one girl had half her chest hanging out. I mean, more skin than I have ever shown as an adult (aside from swimsuits, maybe). Her nipples were just barely covered. I know that young girls are practically trained to be sexual in our society, and I really have a problem with that. These girls have no idea what they are doing. They might think they are smart and cool and in some immature and unformed way 'sexy', but please... 10-year-olds should not be trying to be 'sexy', it's just wrong. And it made me wonder, where is the parenting that is so obviously needed.

Am I way off base thinking these kids really need some parental intervention, and bad? I know kids that age act out. It's part of growing up, testing boundaries, all that stuff. They're still developing morality. And they can be hard to control (I certainly had my moments as a teen). But they are still kids. They need the lines for appropriate behaviour drawn for them, and reinforced. Any comments?

Ok rant over. Thanks for bearing with me, I just had to get that out.

Weekend guest!

We have a weekend guest coming later today and staying over! It's an old friend of my DH's from out west. So of course the morning was spent cleaning :) and I still have groceries to buy, so this will be quick. Tomorrow we're taking him to Canada's Wonderland - I'm so excited about the new giant rollercoaster, the Behemoth (the biggest, tallest and fastest in Canada!), but also a little worried that I'm getting too old to enjoy rides like that.

My mum (garden guru) says it's too early to plant radishes and carrots.. (carrost if you are an NFB fan). The last frost date here is May 9th so I guess I have to wait!

I'll see how far I get on the giveaways today, might not be too far, but that just means more for Monday right?!

For baby:

• Win a $50 gift certificate to Parenting By Nature at My Mom's View! Ends May 11th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a peppermint foot lotion and citrus toner from Aromatic Health (a Canadian company!) at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Ends May 10th!
• Win a $25 gift certificate to Layers clothing at The Write Gal! Ends May 18th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $50 gift certificate to Madi Couture at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous! This can go towards womens clothes, kids clothes, handbags, jewellery, games, and more! Ends May 10th.
• This one's for the grown-ups. Win two fun Durex products at My Mommy Said! No, they're not condoms. Ends May 16th.
  

Happy Weekend!

Yay! Love the weekend. Ours started early - DH decided to stay home today. But it wasn't for relaxation - I decided to call and get our soil delivery moved up to today! We spent the day hauling triple-mix back to the backyard and the new vegetable beds, and removing the old sod that we'd left in piles when we dug it up. Then I ran out and picked up some plants (love plant shopping!) - I got a bunch for the urns on our front porch, and also a couple herbs, lavender, strawberry plants and seed packets. I planted the peas today! Fun!

Is it too early to plant beans, radishes and carrots? I kind of feel like it would be okay.

Swag code

I know some of my bloggy friends are collecting SwagBucks - here is a code that is still working for now (they expire fast, it seems): twitter10k gets you 1 Swag Buck. Sorry folks this one is long expired... Feel free to add codes in the comments!

If you haven't signed up for SwagBucks yet, you can sign up by clicking this (this is a referral link, if you use it, thanks!):



You get SwagBucks for downloading the toolbar and doing searches, it varies how many (sometimes none, average for me is about 3 per day) which you can then redeem for gift cards and other merch. I just use it like I would Google. Although it doesn't seem as thorough, usually it gets the job done and I get the random reward.