2009 December — MomStart

What makes a Girls Bracelet Special

December 11, 2009 By Momstart 3 Comments

I have never really liked wearing jewelry. I can’t even fit into my wedding ring right now. I haven’t been able to wear it since I was pregnant with my daughter who is now almost three years old. Now, the only thing that I wear is my necklace but I do have a special place for one bracelet.

For a Girls Bracelet to be special it either needs to come from someone special or have special meaning. One of my most cherished items that I have is a charm bracelet that my grandmother gave to me. She gave all of her granddaughters one. I kept it treasured and I still do.

Every time she went on a trip. She would collect us another charm. So I have charms from all over the world. When my grandmother was in better health she loved to travel.

She has been to Egypt, England, and other places in Europe. So I love looking at it and thinking about all those places. Before I had children I wanted to be a world class traveler just like her. For now, I’m just happy being a mother. You might consider starting a charm bracelet for the little girl in your life. It’s quite fun to have charms for different activities in your life or in my case someone else’s

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: girls bracelet, Girls Jewellery, jewelry

Guest Post: Fore! an article about Tiger Woods by Mary Jo Eustace author of Divorce Sucks

December 11, 2009 By Momstart 2 Comments

By Mary Jo Eustace,
Author of Divorce Sucks: What to do when irreconcilable differences, lawyer fees, and your ex’s Hollywood wife make you miserable

Just when you thought the world was safe and that beloved sports figures would stay beloved, another ball finds it’s way into the sand trap of life. Tiger Woods — the most disciplined and seemingly perfect man of all time has shanked big time and he wasn’t even holding a golf club — someone else was. . . .

December 3, 2009 on the Joy Behar show and probably every other media outlet as well, this was the topic of discussion. I joined the panel via satellite from Los Angeles with Joy and her guests, publisher Judith Reagen plus a woman who was an expert on marriage (god help us)!! We were supposed to use it as a jumping off point to talk about women who no longer wanted to stand by their man, but things got a little murky right from jump.

First of all, am I the only one who thought Tiger Woods didn’t have sex? I know he has 2 children and a very hot Swedish wife but he just seemed so above the fray and wholesome like he was practicing his putting 18 hours a day or constantly re-washing his golf balls. I just assumed that even though he was powerful and rich and had access to everything that he was a still "good boy." I mean really — his life seemed pretty kick ass — a fantastic career, a net worth of over 1 billion dollars, aforementioned hot wife and 2 beautiful children. What else could he possibly want?

Probably NOT a creepy car wreck on his front lawn, where he is driving barefoot and runs into a neighbors tree? Or a party girl who can barely string a sentence together hiring a victim advocates lawyer (Hello Gloria Allred — how are you?) to probably ink the deal on her new reality show planing "bottle" parties for the PGA? Or how about a lovely cocktail waitress from Las Vegas who just happens to have saved over 300 text messages from Tiger on her pink and glittery cell phone? You know — just in case he wanted to show his wife when there was a lull in the dinner conversation. How about her? Is this really what Tiger Wood’s went looking for?

It makes you wonder — a few things. I guess the first aspect of it, and to a certain extent I have been through this — is it really anybody’s business? Does the public really have the right to know every gruesome detail of someone else’s personal business? Now mine was just kind of low rent and tacky, but it was public and humiliating and in it’s own way a car wreck, but at least I wasn’t driving.

Yet when something like this happens I always think of a few things. Firstly, how could any of our truly beloved figures have ever remained beloved — John F. Kennedy. Martin Luther King, Bob Hope (yes even Bob Hope was known to swing his club in a extra curricular fashion) if they had of been under this type of public scrutiny? It would have been impossible and distracting and would have most likely altered their public contribution and legacy. Do we really need to know everything??

Yet the combination is intoxicating — infidelity, anger, image and perception — perhaps even a little domestic violence. No wonder we are hooked. Our culture is firmly rooted in the building up and taking down of those we revere.

Which leads me to my next point — even when a man presumably has it all is it never quite enough? Story after story of the fallen male figure — from the glib and permanently tanned politicians and religious leaders to the much respected David Letterman and now Tiger Woods.

I don’t get it — really I don’t. Their choices seem a little — yucky. And kind of insulting to the women they are with. These women they choose to stray with might as well be aliens from another planet they are so different from their wives. And the risk — not to just themselves but the things they hold most dear — it just makes no sense.

So another one bites the dust and I am kind of nervous to see who is next. So is my Aunt Sue, one of my favorite people and the best nun ever. She has put all her faith in Obama and I am hoping with a little divine intervention (maybe from Aunt Sue’s boss) he will be fine. . . .

Just stay away from the golf course.

Author Bio

Born and raised in Toronto, Mary Jo Eustace, author of Divorce Sucks: What to do when irreconcilable differences, lawyer fees, and your ex’s Hollywood wife make you miserable, is an author, actress, singer, chef, and mother to Jack and Lola. Mary Jo was married to Dean McDermott for thirteen years before Dean met Tori Spelling on the set of the Lifetime made-for-TV movie Mind Over Murder. After her highly publicized divorce, Mary Jo returned to her native Canada with her son and newly adopted daughter to film her cooking show, He Said, She Said with Ken and Mary Jo for Canada’s W Network. Mary Jo is the author of the bestselling cookbook By My Side. She has also written for the bestselling anthology The Other Woman and has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and The Today Show.

For more information please visit maryjoeustace.com

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: Divorce Sucks, Fore, guest post, Mary Jo Eustace, Tiger Woods

Ben 10 Alien Swarm Live Action Movie From Cartoon Network #giveaway

December 11, 2009 By Momstart 169 Comments

I wanted the opportunity to give this movie, Ben 10 Alien Swarm, away on Mom Start because I have been so deep in Ben 10 Products this year. I felt like this is a great fit even though it looks way to scary for my kids to watch. Should be perfect as a Christmas Gift for older children though, the ones in the tween age boy category?

B10AS-DVD 3D sku

About Ben 10 Alien Swarm:

This is sequel to Ben 10: Race Against Time. The movie was released in November and is rated TV-PG. This live-action movie was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. The director of this movie is Alex Winter, Ryan Kelley as Ben, Nathan Keyes as Kevin, and Galadriel Stineman as Gwen. The script was written by the writer of Fantastic Four part 2, John Turman. The plot is that our world is threatened with an imminent invasion from a swarming alien menace. And there is only one hero brave enough, smart enough and tough enough to fight back – Ben Tennyson! But when Ben teams up with an outsider, he breaks rank with Gwen, Kevin and Max and risks losing against the toughest enemy he has ever faced. The stakes are high and the action is intense as Ben fights to protect our planet from the Alien Swarm!

You can watch the trailer here:

To Enter:

Visit Ben 10 Alien Swarm and tell me who your favorite character is.

Extra Entries:

Become a fan of Ben 10 on Facebook

Advertise this giveaway on any giveaway site and tell me where you advertised it. 10 Extra Entries
Subscribe to my blog
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Blog about the giveaway include a link to me and to the sponsor for 10 extra entries
Tweet the giveaway (every time you tweet you get an entry) Link to the giveaway please!!!
Comment on any other non giveaway post and come back and tell me you did
Use any of the Share options at the bottom of this post: Dig, Stumble, or fav me on Technorati (two entries for each one)
Add my button/blog to your blogroll/friend list 3 extra entries

Sara Lee and Wizards of Waverly Place Whole Grain Magic Sweepstakes and #giveaway

December 11, 2009 By Momstart 375 Comments

My family likes to eat Sara Lee Soft and Smooth, we’re still using the free product coupons that we received from the Sara Lee Nutrition Summit but I can see us using these in the future too. They make great snacks and lunches for two growing kids.

Sara Lee is working with Disney on a charity contest (my favorite kind to support) that would allow one winner to go with Jake T. Austin and David Henrie of the Wizards of Waverly Place as they donate 25,000 loaves to a food bank in the winner’s hometown. The winner will also get a viewing party of Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place the Movie Extended Edition with David and Jake, which releases on DVD on December 15.

All the info you need is on specially-marked packages of Sara Lee Soft & Smooth bread, buns and new mini bagels products and www.Disney.com/wholegrainmagic. You can also watch the video below for more information.

To help inspire you to enter the larger contest we have a mini giveaway on Mom Start. Sara Lee is providing 10 coupons for free bakery products. These coupons are worth about 5.00 each so I’m going to divide them between two winners 25.00 each.

To Enter:

Tell me what the name of your local food bank is

Extra Entries:

Enter the Whole Grain Magic Sweepstakes for five entries

Toys R Us is trying to keep up with Walmart but how can they?

December 11, 2009 By Momstart 3 Comments

How can anyone keep up with Walmart when they are willing to price match any ad?

Here are the Toys R Us Deals:

$3,000 in savings on hundreds of the season’s hottest toys, including sought after brands like Barbie^®, Vtech, Fisher-Price^®, Disney Princess and Playskool^®
Over 20 FREE toy, accessory and gift card offers with purchase
An additional four pages filled with nearly 40 extra two-day bonus buys
First-to-market arrivals of 2010 products so LEGO enthusiasts can ring in the New Year early with a FREE Snowman or Christmas Tree Holiday Set with purchase of ANY LEGO Building item
Brand new hot toys such as the Zhu Zhu Pets Giant Hamster City Playset available ONLY at Toys“R”Us, the Zhu Zhu Pets Headquarters. This exclusive set includes a new hamster, Patches, as well as a Fun House, Adventure Ball, Garage with Car, Exercise Wheel, Sleep Dome and – everyone’s favorite – Mr. Squiggles.
BUY ONE, GET ONE 50% OFF ON ALL video games and CDs
FREE Radio Control Corvette ($44.99 value) with ANY Barbie doll or playset purchase of $100 or more
FREE New Moon bracelet ($9.99 value) with ANY New Moon purchase of $25 or more
FREE $25 Toys“R”Us Gift Card with the purchase of ANY iPod^® touch
FREE Harumika Deluxe Style Accents ($9.99 value) with ANY Harumika purchase of $25 or more
BUY TWO, GET the THIRD FREE on ALL Totally Me! craft sets

($1.48-$44.99 value)

30% OFF select games during the Big Game Sale
$20 OFF ANY Vtech purchase of $75 or more
25% OFF ALL Wii Fit, Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo DSi Accessories (Two-day Bonus Buy)

This is how they are going to win:

An Unadvertised In-Store “Deal of the Day” Every Day Until Christmas

As an ode to the traditional Christmas countdown, Toys“R”Us is offering a “Deal of the Day,” which presents customers with a new in-store deal every day through December 24 on the most sought after toys this season. Each day, customers who visit Toysrus.com/DealoftheDay can click on “Get Deal of the Day” or “Get Tomorrow’s Deal of the Day” for a sneak peek of the following day’s deal, and access downloadable, printable coupons to use in store. Today’s deal offers shoppers a coupon to save 50% on the Barbie Storyteller Clock Radio, Barbie MP3 Player, Barbie Portable CD Bloombox, Hot Wheels CD Player and Hot Wheels Alarm Clock Radio*. To make accessing these deals even more convenient, customers can sign up for alerts to receive the “Deal of the Day” via e-mail when they visit Toysrus.com/DealoftheDay.

Filed Under: Save money Tagged With: deal of the day, deals, Save money, savings, Toys R Us

Treat Blog Opportunities as a Job Interview

December 10, 2009 By Momstart 22 Comments

Over the last six months I have noticed how bloggers are receiving opportunities. Big opportunities like complete sponsorship to blogging conventions. They stand out! Every opportunity that you are offered can lead into something bigger.

Ways to Stand Out:

1) Dress for success.

If you are invited out on a trip and wonder what should I wear? You should ask yourself, how do I want to work for this company? Do I want to be the face of this company or just work from home as they call on me? If you dress for success then you will be successful. For example, on the Sears Design Summit The wonderful Design Mom, Gabrielle, dressed in this adorable blue plaid dress and red high heals. They offered to sponsor her to BlogHer09. Now they were not able to agree on terms but this offer was presented to her because of her professionalism, and style. Most bloggers wore business casual, but if everyone is dressing that way you need to think of a way to be unique.

2) Speak your mind

Ask questions and give great advice. Do not just sit and absorb. You need to be proactive all the time. It is a competitive world and to get ahead you have to interact with others.
When it comes to blog pitches be creative. Come up with unique ideas to advertise for the company. Twitter parties are a unique way to work with a company as opposed to just a review and giveaway. You could do a facebook or live party. Or make up something new.
Be honest and not afraid to be in individual. Uniqueness on blogs and with bloggers is harder and harder to find. With the growing number of Mommy Bloggers it is getting harder to stand out.

Another Example, I have my suspicions that the Red Plum Frugalicious event was an interview opportunity with the company, because about two weeks after the event they sent out an e-mail about conferences and I know that the responses from the event and from the e-mail are going to turn into other opportunities. There are possible sponsorships around every corner. So you never know when something is going to turn into more.

3) Be professional

Always be professional but you can still be relaxed and or boisterous.
Watch what you say, because once it’s on-line it’s never really gone. You can’t delete on-line transactions. You may not know this, but there is a website where you can pull up old versions of a website domain. We have a family domain that we use and my husband has looked at what the old owner had up. Who knew, it’s still there somewhere.

4) Network constantly

It does pay to know people. It always has and always will, my grandmother once told me, “Do not burn bridges, ever”. Many of the top bloggers will spread your name around if they believe in you. I have an opportunity coming up that I am not allowed to talk about yet but I think it helped that I have made some wonderful contacts over the past year.
PR Reps are your friend not your enemy. If you scratch their back they will scratch yours in return. You may have to wait and you may feel used but you will be rewarded. For Example, the company that represents D3 Publisher had asked me to review a video game. I said yes, a few games later I was on a paid vacation with my family. Now I get all of their games.
Another example was a job opportunity that I did not receive but I interviewed for. I was up against some really great bloggers and know that they were much more qualified but it was because of my work with another PR Rep that I was even up for the opportunity. I find that a lot of bloggers feel like they won’t do any work unless it’s paid for with money or product. Why? Just limit yourself to what interests you and do a few free posts every now and then. The return is huge I guarantee you.

Filed Under: advice, Uncategorized Tagged With: blog advice, blog stats, interview tips, mommy blogger, network

Run For Charity in New York, Fresh Air needs runners

December 10, 2009 By Momstart 7 Comments

The Fresh Air Fund is looking for runners and sponsors to join their Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Half-Marathon this coming March. It is scheduled for the 21st and I wanted to share this with my readers. This is a great way to participate in NYC’s premier summer road race while helping Fresh Air Fund children.

Over the last year, support from friends like us have helped them give nearly 10,000 inner-city children country experiences that they’re still talking about! They rely on donations this time of year to keep their programs strong for the summer months, and helping children is a cause that I’m interested in. Please feel free to repost or retweet.

http://freshairholiday.org

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: charity, Fresh Air Fund, NYC Marathon

Save 15 percent with aden and anais swaddle wraps

December 10, 2009 By Momstart 2 Comments

Filed Under: Announcement

Guest Post: Bob Stroller Press Release

December 10, 2009 By Momstart 1 Comment

Thanks to rugged tires and state-of-the-art suspension systems, BOB strollers are hardly hindered by wind, rain or snow (evidenced by the video seen here), but holiday shopping, winter walks and other errands can be made whine-free, thanks to a few key BOB accessories well-suited for the chilly time of year:

BOB Weather Shield – Available for BOB’s swivel and fixed-front wheel models, the water-resistant nylon shield helps keep little passengers protected from wind, rain and other inclement weather, yet lets them see the world through a clear waterproof window. Vents allow fresh air to come in, but keep moisture out. Offered for single and Duallie (two-seater) models. MSRP: $50-$65

BOB Warm Fuzzy – A cozy fleece panel that adds warmth to the stroller seat, this plush, padded accessory lets little ones kick back in comfort, and Velcro straps make insert and removal a snap. MSRP: $44

BOB Handlebar Console – This handy, durable console, complete with cup holders and plenty of room for keys, snacks and other store-ables, keeps warm gloves or a cell phone just fingertips away, ensuring parents aren’t left out in the cold. Available for single and Duallie strollers. MSRP: $19-$21

BOB Stroller Diaper Bag – Nothing’s worse than being stranded in unfavorable weather with a cranky baby. Decrease your chances by carrying along the Diaper Bag that can attach easily to any BOB stroller and features plenty of storage space for dry clothes, diapers and favorite toys. An insulated bottle pocket allows for impromptu feedings, and an odor-resistant changing pad lets parents perform diaper duty on the fly. Available in nine vibrant, always-in-season colors. MSRP: $65

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: BOB gear, BOB stroller, stroller review

What makes a Girls Bracelet Special

Guest Post: Fore! an article about Tiger Woods by Mary Jo Eustace author of Divorce Sucks

Ben 10 Alien Swarm Live Action Movie From Cartoon Network #giveaway

About Ben 10 Alien Swarm:

To Enter:

Extra Entries:

Sara Lee and Wizards of Waverly Place Whole Grain Magic Sweepstakes and #giveaway

To Enter:

Extra Entries:

Toys R Us is trying to keep up with Walmart but how can they?

Here are the Toys R Us Deals:

This is how they are going to win:

Treat Blog Opportunities as a Job Interview

Run For Charity in New York, Fresh Air needs runners

Save 15 percent with aden and anais swaddle wraps

Guest Post: Bob Stroller Press Release

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