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Always great giveaways at Peanut Butter and Whine 2016

Always great giveaways at Peanut Butter and Whine Holiday Contest and Sweeps  is proud to bring you the 4th Annual Holiday Giveaways t...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Root, Root, Router!

Now that I have a couple of devices that need to talk to each other I need a Router.



Cisco Linksys EA2700 Dual-Band N600 Router from Natural Baby Goods. ends 6/6

One lucky Contest Corner reader will win a Linksys EA2700 Maximum Performance Dual-Band N600 Router with Gigabit! Note: Winner cannot have won the Linksys router in any other contest/giveaway in the last 6 months. (no problem with that rule- that's why I need this) ends 5/22

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Fairy Hobmother Visited Me

The Fairy Hobmother Came By! 

Are You Next?

 

My week started off right - with a visit from The Fairy Hobmother! She lives in the magical world of Appliances Online. This U.K. company offers all sorts of cool appliances for your home - from washers and dryers to refrigerators and ovens.

The fun job of The Fairy Hobmother is to visit blogs, granting wishes and sprinkling magic dust - in my case, in the form of an Amazon gift card.  It will be going toward an Amazon Fire that I've been coveting since last year. How did the Fairy Hobmother know that Amazon is my favorite place to shop?? It's her little secret.

Now guess what, any of you that comment on this Fairy Hobmother post just might get a visit from him too!  How great is that??  So…tell me…why would you like a visit from the Fairy Hobmother?

Disclosure: I really did receive an Amazon Gift Card, and I am hoping YOU are next!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Win $50 Visa GC from BlogHer & Olay

Winner! Won $50 Visa from this sweep!

BlogHer and Olay invited bloggers to try Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting Moisturizer to see what they thought of the product.  Did it help even out their skin tone? Did they see spots minimized and discolorations become less noticeable?
Click on the links below to read their reviews. Each blogger is also giving away a $50 Visa gift card so be sure to read them all for your chances to win!
This BlogHer sweepstakes runs from April 9, 2012 to May 16, 2012 and is only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States and are 18 years or older.  Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. To read the Official Rules, click here. Good luck!

Hey ladies! Today's subject? Skincare. More specifically? Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer! When I got contacted about doing a review for Olay, I was pumped... We all know it is SUPER important to take care of our skin. I am 27 and, by golly, my skin is a-changing. I have become increasingly aware the past few years of how important preventative anti-aging action is. Ladies, be SMART! You have GOT to be preventing those wrinkles!
So today I wanted to share with you part of my mama morning routine. I'd call it a beauty routine, but who are we kidding? With three kids there is no way I have time for a "beauty" routine! After I shower in the morning (or at least wash my face!) I put on Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer. Now, to be honest with you, I was given this to try and review. I have to say, though, that I really like using it. Here is what it looks like.
You all know how much I love Olay®, right? I use Olay products every single day and I have for years! Over the years, it's become so apparent that their products simply work. In my experience, across the board, they are dependable and great for my sensitive skin. And now, I have a new product to add to my Olay arsenal, the Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer.
It's never too early to start taking care of your skin, which is why I was thrilled to try out Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer. All that skincare in just one beautiful little bottle! I am 27, a mother of three boys, and was not very good at taking care of my skin. I thought it would be more time-consuming and expensive than Olay has made it. This moisturizer is just the one-stop solution I need from a brand I trust. 
Now that I'm working from home fulltime, I rarely put makeup on unless I'm going out. However, I've noticed this lack of getting ready in the morning before I go to work -- even if it is just in the other room -- sort of makes me feel like I'm less than professional and might as well wear pajamas all day long. In my fourth month of fulltime working from home I'm finding the need to sort of revamp my work-at-home wardrobe and make getting ready a priority each and every morning.
Now that I’m nearing my 25th birthday, I’m becoming more aware of the fact that I can’t treat my skin like I did back when I was a teenager. Over the years I’ve definitely learned about the importance of using a moisturizer -– and have tried at least a dozen of them -- but, more recently, I’ve been learning that not all moisturizers are created equal. That’s where Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer comes in.  
I jump at the chance to try Olay products because they never seem to disappoint. I have tried other brands of facial moisturizers in the past but I always end up coming back to my Olay. So when I was offered the chance to try the new Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer, I said sign me up!  
As most of you know I turned the dreaded 30 last year, and in a few months I’ll take one more step towards “middle age”. Ugh….did I just say that? Like most women I have concerns about my skin. When I look in the mirror I see tiny lines starting to appear. Sun spots have started to make their appearance known. I’m more self-conscious about my skin now than I ever have been.
I've reviewed Olay® products before, and all the usual praise applies to the most recent item they sent me: it's good quality, it's affordable, it's available at normal places I already shop. But I think -- no, I KNOW -- this latest product is my favorite by far. Introducing the Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer. I hate to start with a negative, but right off the bat I need to say that my main complaint is that you can't see how inventive the product design is unless you open the box.
This is me. No filter. Me, after that outrageous Bob-Harper-is-the-Devil workout last week. I am flushed, but I feel good. Trying to avoid having it go to my head, but in the worst shape of my life with my self-esteem in the dumps, this picture resulted in an incredible number of positive, glowing reactions. Maybe some readers were happy I was finally doing the right thing for myself. Loved ones enjoyed that I actually took a self-portrait -- there are very few pictures of me in existence when I am not happy with how I look.

 
Anti-aging is a term we hear often today. We hear younger people talking about wearing sunscreen instead of tanning and we hear our moms telling us to protect our skin because aging skin is no fun! There are hundreds of anti-aging products on the market, but it's hard to find products that actually give you results you can see. Trust me, I've tried many of them. With my desire to have young-looking skin, I was excited when I was presented with the opportunity to test and review Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer.  
Everyone has at least one physical feature they covet but will seemingly never possess without surgical -- or divine -- intervention: a straight little nose, long, shapely legs, full lips, a flat stomach. (And anyone who says they don’t is either lying or a Ukranian fashion model.) My if-only feature fantasy has always been beautiful skin. I had some serious acne in my teens and early twenties (which I fetchingly spackled over with heavy foundation -- in my prom pictures I look like an awkward geisha who’s been let loose in a Jessica McClintock outlet).
I recently got the opportunity to try out a new product from Olay®. It's the Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer. It's supposed to fight seven signs of aging, all in one product! Read on to find out what I think! Olay has a long history in the skincare market. It started in the 1950's with Oil of Olay Beauty Fluid. Today, Olay offers quite an array of skincare products, especially products aimed at anti-aging
Spring is approaching pretty fast around these parts, and it’s time for me to evaluate and assess my facial skin regimen. I tend to wear less makeup and lighter moisturizers during the warmer months. It’s time to let my face breathe a bit! Olay is introducing Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer. Olay Total Effects minimizes the look of spots instantly, helps with the appearance of discoloration and fights the seven signs of aging. 
When I was in aesthetics school, they had one of those black-light booth things that you put your face in to reveal the extent of your sun damage. Suffice it to say, mine was that of an 80-year-old woman living on a Polynesian island. All those years of baby-oil-sun-worshipping had gotten the best of my skin. Although I try to stay on top of my pigment issues, sometimes it is hard to do an extra step in the morning, ya know?
I've had the opportunity to review several of Olay's products in the past and I have honestly been very pleased with all of them. Recently I was excited to try out Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer. Moisturizer is something I tend to be pretty lazy about. I know it's one of the more important things when it comes to beauty routine or preserving beauty per se. But often I'll just put some make-up on and go or wash my face, brush my teeth and hop in bed. I just think one more step can be kind of daunting. 
So I know I'm not that old -- 27 to be exact. Still, I've been wanting to start some kind of anti-aging routine or product, kind of a pre-emptive defense of my skin, so to speak. I have semi-decent skin, with some breakouts on my nose -- definitely combo skin. My T-zone can get oily sometimes. Wow, I bet you wish you didn't know that. No going back now, sorry! So when BlogHer and Olay contacted me to review their Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer I was really excited to try it out! 
After I hit puberty, and all through high school and university, I was regarded as the lucky one. Lucky, because I had minimal acne. While my sisters and friends battled mild to severe acne, I got away with occasional outbreaks which, when they quickly passed on, rarely left any spot behind. But I didn't really consider myself that lucky. You know like when people keep pointing out your blessings, and you don't know how to say "but what about this other thing?" 
What do little boys, puppies, and a home business have in common? All three of them start stampeding in the early morning, and they don't leave much time for primping. I wasn't sure if I would ever make time for facial moisturizer in the mornings, but now that I've tried Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer, little boys will just have to wait a bit!
Oh yeah, it's another sponsored post and giveaway. I'm on a roll with these! They are pretty fun, and I get to try stuff and give my honest opinion and give something away to you guys. I received a bottle of Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer to try and review. I was pretty skeptical because I have skin like a freak of nature. I get dry and peely really easily, and my cheeks turn bright red if I use a product that doesn't agree with me.
One thing about women of color is we tend to age gracefully. My grandmother is 86 years old and she didn't begin to show signs of wrinkling until she was in her 70s. Now, I'm not sure what grandmother used on her skin growing up, but it doesn't quite matter. Although aging gracefully can be linked to genetics, it's certainly not a guarantee. Environmental factors have an impact on our skin's clarity and elasticity. Our ozone layer has been depleting rapidly, putting our skin at risk for sun damage.
You know, I tried really hard to take a before photo for this review, but that just didn't work out. Somehow they all ended up looking like the photo above, only with long brown hair. So you will just have to use your imagination. Okay? When I was asked by BlogHer and the makers of Olay® Total Effects Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer to do this review, I was actually kind of excited. I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to all things girly, make-up in particular.
The other day in clinic at around 37 weeks, one of the immensely nice and flattering nurses told me that i looked like a "teen mom." umm, what? come on, i'm less than 4 years away from qualifying as 'advanced maternal age'! In 2010, i actually RESOLVED to do better [my 30th birthday was coming and i was scared!]....
As you already know, my magnifying mirror is a cruel cruel mistress. And, like any beauty junkie, I can't seem to quit her. When I was younger I wanted a magnifying mirror so bad I could taste it. Mostly because it seemed like the sort of thing a real grown-up woman would have on her vanity. I wanted a vanity that resembled that of Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard." I remember my mother being really against it. She opposed my purchasing such a mirror even more than she opposed my wearing a poodle skirt and jelly shoes everywhere I went.

I Bring You FIRE!

Very old rock 'n roll song, but appropriate because I want to win a Kindle Fire.

Super Blake Books is giving away a Fire. ends 5/31


Fiberon is a composite decking, railing, and fencing company giving away a full color Kindle Fire! . ends 5/15
Visit their home page: Fiberon

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Win a $100 Visa GC from BlogHer and Similasan

The BlogHer Spring Allergies Program sweepstakes runs from March 14, 2012 to May 13, 2012 and is only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States and are 18 years or older. 


Read Their Reviews:

Sign me up.

The folks at Similasan recently sent their Nasal Allergy Relief my way.  Its homeopathic mist is supposed to help runny noses, sneezing and other allergy-related annoyances.  Sign me up.  I hadn’t used it before, but I like that it is a chemical and preservative free, all-natural mist. It works by stimulating the body’s natural ability to relieve nasal allergy symptoms which means that I don't have to worry about any rebound effects or reliance.
The most exciting was that my post nasal drip was no longer bothering me! I won't go into details, but if you've had a post nasal drip, you know what I'm talking about here. Hooray!!!I used the mist twice a day for six days and absolutely felt a huge relief of my allergy symptoms. I'm going to start using the mist once a day now to see how that works, and have already checked that my local Walgreens does carry it (at an affordable price!) so I can get more whenever I need it. Now I'm starting to love spring!  
The nice folks at Similasan sent me some to try out and since the day I have received it, I have had it at my desk, which I spend my morning, part afternoon, and little of my evenings at. I figured that way, I will remember to actually use it. I have faithfully, as recommend 1-3 times daily in each nostril. I have noticed within a week, my headaches have subsided, not nearly the itchy eyes I had, less congestion, and breathing through my nose again has been lovely!

There is no funky taste!

I was sent some Similasan Nasal Allergy Relief mist and have been using now it for a week, and I have seen such an improvement in my ability to actually breathe out my nose. I haven't had a nosebleed since I started using the Similasan nasal mist and it is actually draining, I have regained my sense of smell. I also feel super confident shooting it up my nose, and there is no funky taste.

I really can't express how much more peaceful and relaxing a clean home is.

The next morning I got proactive and used the Similasan before leaving the hotel. A good thing about using something that is all natural (and chemical and preservative free) is I didn't have to worry about a rebound effect. There isn't a moment where BOOM the stuff wears off, and I am a disaster.
Because I'm allergic to numerous other things besides pollen, I first tested a bit of the product out on my face, which is tends to be really sensitive. It passed that test with flying colors! Similasan's spray is apparently one of the only medicated, preservative free nasal decongestants for nasal allergies that you can buy, so I'm sure that helped.  

It's cleared for infant use!

Fortunately, Similasan has an herbal scent and taste that is not at all off-putting. It's kind of refreshing, actually. But here's the beauty of Similasan Nasal Allergy Relief: it makes me stop sneezing so much that whole nightmarish cycle never even begins. That's a win-win situation right there! It manages my symptoms so well that I don't need that other nasal spray. 
I'm a big fan of homeopathic remedies. I would much rather deal with something naturally than with unneeded medication and chemicals, so when I was asked to try Similasan Nasal Allergy Relief nasal mist I jumped at the chance! I was sent some to try out and I've really been pleased with the results of this product. The mist helps alleviate the symptoms of spring allergies, all while doing so with a natural twist.

This year we are trying a new product, and we are super excited about it. We are trying Similasan Homeopathic Nasal Allergy Relief. I love the fact that it's an over-the-counter nasal mist. I have tried nasal sprays in the past and they have worked, but I have always needed a prescription from the doctor. I've tried Similasan's nasal mist a few times now, and I think it's pretty awesome!

This year is different!

I work through all of the fun spring preparation things like clearing the debris from the garden, moving a few plants, mulching, edging, pruning, and taking the containers out of the garage. About halfway through, the misery sets in. I completely block out all intelligent thought and just keep on suffering. It's not until the congestion starts to clear on its own that it occurs to me OH, HAI. SEASONAL ALLERGIES. CAN FIX THAT.
I'm especially careful with what I give the boys, seeing as how their young bodies are more prone to react adversely to medications. Poor M2, though, has the worst allergies during pollen season and they kicked into full force this past weekend. I hate to give him anything that will make him loopy or drowsy, nor do I want him to be using something he could become addicted too. I had an aunt one time who couldn’t go a day without her nasal spray.
 I've recently decided to try using natural remedies as much at possible for myself and my family to keep rebound effects and reliance to a minimum. I'd rather stimulate my body's natural abilities to relieve symptoms - especially those associated with my allergies and chronic rhinitis. So the fact that Similasan's nasal mist is all natural and chemical and preservative free (in fact it's one of the only available nasal decongestant sprays that is preservative free) really appealed to me.
What fun is making all of this cute handmade clothing if I am not there to see my kids running around in it outside?!! So when the nice weather hit this past weekend, I was prepared... I was surprised at how well Similasan Nasal Allergy Relief was able to reduce my allergy symptoms.  Having had sinus pressure for what feels like weeks now, it was so nice to finally have some relief from that headache.  The runny nose and sneezing practically disappeared!
This past week I had a horrible sinus infection and bronchitis and Similasan Nasal Allergy Relief was one of the first things I started on. It makes such a noticeable difference in my sinus drainage! This is definitely a product that I can rely on throughout the horrible allergy seasons...which for me means fall, spring and summer, haha!

Win $50 Amazon GC



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