Tips for Busy Moms to Break Free

Busy Mom? Need to Break-free?

If you are a mom, you are definitely a busy mom. Taking care of the house, your kid’s homework, your hubby’s favorite dish and what not. You are the best and there is no better mom than you.
But even the best needs rest. And that should happen before your body goes into the grave. So, break-free today and have a great time!
If you are looking for some tips to break-free, here are some;

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Captain's Wheel Hook Pillow #Giveaway

I was compensated for sharing this giveaway.

If you have a room with a nautical theme in your house, then you will want to enter this giveaway for this cute Captain's Wheel Hook Pillow. It could also make a great gift for the upcoming holidays. Retail value of over $50.

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Could You Have an Exploding Toilet in Your Home?

Did you know that there has been a major recall for toilets in American and Canada. The reason why is because they are exploding. Yes, exploding. More than 300 Flushmate assisted toilets have exploded leading to this recall on millions of toilets. These porcelain necessities equipped with the Flushmate pressure-assist flushing system have been mainly sold in home improvement stores and included by the major toilet manufacturers. Check out the following illustration for additional information on the recall:

Spartan Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning has been providing the best plumbing service in the DC area since 1964. Click here for more information on Spartan Plumbing

This post has been brought to you by Spartan Plumbing.

$50 Amazon Gift Card #Giveaway

It is time for another one of my favorite giveaways - an Amazon Gift Card Giveaway! Amazon has come to be one of my favorite places to shop. Not only for eBooks and MP3 music, but for video games, movies, toys and well... everything really. Wouldn't you like to win a little Amazon money to help with your holiday shopping? Or maybe to buy something for yourself? One (1) winner will receive a $50 gift card to Amazon.com. Please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway brought to you by Lightbulb Wholesaler fluorescent lights. Visit the giveaway page here.

$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

OK Amazon lovers, it is time for another Amazon giveaway! While normally I stock up on Amazon gift cards for eBooks and MP3 music, now I am stocking up for Christmas shopping. I am a pretty big Black Friday shopper and you can find me dragging my sister-in-law around Connecticut during the wee hours of the morning the day after Thanksgiving. But last year was the first time I paid any attention to Amazon's Black Friday deals and I learned that they are pretty darn good. Since I had to cut my shopping trip short last year due to a sudden and deadly stomach virus (not an exaggeration, I thought I was dying) I did the majority of my Black Friday shopping online and Amazon saved me. So I am looking forward to shopping on Amazon this holiday season as well.

Do you love Amazon as much as I do? Courtesy of Loans Bucket, you can enter for a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

click image for giveaway

This post has been brought to you by Loans Bucket.

Dyson DC35 Vacuum Giveaway from Happy Havens

When I am in the market for a product, I like to do my fair share of research before making a purchase. Not only do I want to find the best product in the price range I am interested in, but I also want to find the product that best fits into my green lifestyle. HappyHavens.com helps answer both these questions.

"Our goal is to give consumers information on home products and trends as well as promote wellness and a more clean, organic lifestyle. We give special twofold product reviews, listing both the technical features of home products along with a personalized, down-to-earth review of what kind of person each is designed for."

Right now, Happy Havens is having a giveaway for a Dyson DC35 Vacuum. The DC35 is a cordless vacuum with a 15 minute run time that can be used on any type pf floor surface. I love my upright Dyson to death and this cordless handheld looks awesome. Perfect for a quick clean up after messy kids.

Giveaway Details
One (1) winner will receive a Dyson DC35 Vacuum. Giveaway is open to US residents in the 48 continental states only and will end on December 17, 2012. Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Becoming an Eco-Driver: Green Car Maintenance Even Your Local Mechanic May Not Know

Becoming an eco-conscious driver doesn’t only mean you have to trade-in your old four-door sedan for an electric or hybrid model. Sometimes the greenest thing you can do is make your current car last for as long as you can. One way to help the car you already have earn its status as the environmentally-friendly vehicle that you’ve always wanted it to be is to find green alternatives to some of the most common car maintenance procedures. Here are just five green car maintenance alternatives that even your local mechanic may not know about.

1. Oil changes – According to Eric Wilson of 2ndGreenRevolution.com, “Choose a re‐refined oil or one made from bio-based animal by-products. Both are API approved and last up to 24,000 miles when matched with our dual stage oil filter.” Using these types of recycled motor oils can increase fuel economy up to five percent and can last twice as long as normal filters and decrease oil use by 70 percent, according to their site.
   


2. Leaking tires – He also writes, instead of filling under-inflated tires with air, to find a place that will fill them with nitrogen. This change will cause leakage to happen slower because nitrogen molecules are larger, making them harder to leak. And since properly inflated tires improve fuel efficiency, nitrogen-filled tires may improve your car’s average gas mileage over time. Look around for service garages that offer nitrogen filled tires, but don’t overpay. Ten dollars per tire will more than cancel out any possible savings on fuel.


3. Low or no VOC paint – Paints with low volatile organic compound levels will always be safer for you and the environment than their highly toxic counterparts. So, if you’re thinking about touching up some rust spots or giving your car a new coat or color, consider using low or no VOC paint to do the job.


4. Windshield wipers – Did you know you can actually buy recyclable windshield wipers? Many windshield wipers are partially recyclable, but now manufacturers are making fully recyclable blades so nothing gets left in a landfill.


5. Windshield wiper fluid – Most windshield wiper fluid is made from methanol, also known as methyl alcohol and wood alcohol according to Ecoki.com. If ingested, this highly toxic chemical can be dangerous and even deadly. But companies are beginning to produce fluid without methanol as its base. These plant-derived products may have a higher freezing point but are just as effective.

When it comes to eco-friendly car maintenance, the products aren’t the only things going green. Jennifer Alsever, an MSNBC.com contributor, explains how shop owners around the country are aiming for a new level of environmentalism not only to benefit their customers, but also their bottom line. She reports that, “Shop owners say that by going green they can cut operating costs, reduce waste disposal costs, cut long-term liability and improve employee health.” It’s a win-win situation and the options really are endless when it comes to green car maintenance alternatives in today’s car market.

So, become an eco-conscious driver and take care of the planet as you take care of your car. Whether you’re looking for a new auto loan to buy a brand new fuel-efficient car or a used car loan for an eco-friendly car that’s a few years old, there are a number of financing options for you. Or, if you’ve decided to stick with the car you’ve already got, consider an auto refinance to help you save money on your existing loan. It could save you more money to use on your next green car maintenance trip.

Family Portraits Can Be Pure Torture

Every November I put myself through the pure torture of trying to get a family photo for our Christmas cards. Now way back in the old days when we had just one child it wasn't so bad. We'd get the little guy dressed up in his cute holiday outfit and head on over to the mall for a photo session. An hour later we would walk away with a decent photo.

Well then we went and had twins and went from one child to three. Suddenly trying to get a family photo became nearly impossible. First, I'd spend way too much time (and money) hunting down matchy outfits for the boys. Then instead of having a somewhat peaceful photo session now utter chaos broke out. One child would sit nicely, another child would keep trying to run off while the third child would just cry and scream. By the time we were done, I was the one in tears and I would vow to never do it again. And of course the next year I would be right back in the same spot.

Two years ago we changed tactics and had a photographer come to our house. The result was probably the best family holiday photo we ever had and doing it in our own home made it so much less stressful. Then last year I decided to cut myself and my husband out of the Christmas photo and I took a picture of just the four boys myself. Greatest picture ever? Absolutely not. But it was free and I didn't have to set foot in a mall. So to me, it was perfect.

Since I still have a very uncooperative toddler (a.k.a. the devil) on my hands, I am steering clear of mall portrait studios again this year. To venture in there now would just be pure torture again. Maybe in a few years when everyone is older and behaves, I will try again.

How do you get your holiday portraits done?

I Dream of Hawaii

If you could go on a dream vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you go? For me, I would definitely choose Hawaii.Now I am sure that I have some family members reading this right now, shaking their heads while saying I should pick Italy. Thanks to my grandparents, I already got to go on a dream vacation to Italy way (WAY) back when I was 18. So while I plan on visiting again some day, I figure my next dream trip should be to somewhere that I have never been.

Now that the kids are back in school, I have a few minutes a day I can dedicated simply to daydreaming and planning the special vacation. After learning a little bit about the islands of Hawaii, I decided that I would want to stay on Kauai. Kauai is known as the "Garden Isle" because hundreds of years of growth have created tropical rainforests, forking rivers and of course cascading waterfalls. Everything about Kauai just sounds beautiful. Of curse I didn't stop there and even started looking at where to stay. While looking at Kauai vacation rentals on summitpacificinc.com, I found so many condos and villas with breathtaking views of Kauai's beauty. It is hard to choose but I have settled on one that not only has ocean views from your condo, but an ocean side pool as well.

Poipu Shores Condos

Now that I have the start of my trip planned out, I just need to start buying lotto tickets so I can actually go. It would definitely be a dream come true.

Where is your dream vacation destination?

Zuuzs Back To School Giveaway

Can you believe that school is just around the corner? Whether you are shopping for a college dorm or trying to get your kids all set for the classroom, zuuzs is here to help and save you money! Check out their giveaway to help you get all of your back to school shopping done! Please see details below.

How to Enter

Sign up for zuuzs or use your active zuuzs account and invite friends to join as well! For every friend who joins, you get an extra entry! BONUS: if a friend you refer to the contest wins,YOU WIN TOO!

Prizes

The Grand Prize Winner(s) will win $1,000 in Back to School Gift Cards and the First Prize Winner(s) will win $100 in Back to School Gift Cards

Details

This contest is open to U.S. citizens only, 18 and over and ENDS SEPTEMBER 16TH WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN RANDOMLY ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH! Be sure to enter today and invite all your friends to enter as well! Back to School shopping? Just zuuzs it!

Sponsored Video: Find Your Soul Paint

If you have done any remodeling or do-it-yourself projects in your home then you have also been faced with the somewhat daunting task of picking the perfect paint color. I have to admit, picking paint is quite difficult for me because the amount of options is quite overwhelming. When we were doing a dining room makeover a few years ago, I spent weeks trying to decided on a color. And since I was going for a color that was somewhat unconventional for me (think pumpkin), that made it all the more difficult.

 
Ace Hardware can help you Find Your Soul Paint with their Chris+Kensington paints! It is a paint and primer in one that gives superior coverage and is also low VOC (so important!). My Soul Paint is Purple Energy, what is yours?




This post has been brought to you by Ace Hardware.

Cutting the Cost of Transportation

More and more of us are turning to eBay to purchase a lot of large items i.e. furniture, baby cribs, children’s playground equipment, electrical goods, even motorbikes and cars. However, the problem of bidding on large items is that they are often only available if you go and pick them up yourself. This makes some desirable items impossible to buy, either because they are too far away or because they simply won’t fit into the family car.

In situations like this you could call one of the larger delivery companies, but the price that is likely to be offered is in some cases maybe worth more than the item you have purchased! However, by using websites like uShip in combination with online retailers, you can benefit from a unique online shipping marketplace; connecting people with customer-reviewed courier services that can move large and/or unusually sized items, meaning those hard to reach items are now easily within reach.

Transporters place challenging bids to win a customer’s delivery jobs, which drives down delivery costs and makes the shipping process more affordable and efficient.

Using online classified sites like Craigslist and eBay with uShip means you will be able to find a transporter who is able to ship any item to your door at the fraction of the price larger couriers would charge. If you need something transported, then making uShip your first port of call might save you a lot of money and keep your budget in check!

Guest post by Amar Pate. This post has been brought to you by uShip.com.

Infographic: Family Safety on the Road

With summer in full swing day trips and family vacations are increasing rapidly! When hitting the road with family and pets stay clear of sticky situations that might arise:

 Created by Customized Stickers

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<img src="http://www.customizedstickers.com/assets/images/images/illustration-sticky-situation.jpg" border="0" alt="Sticky Situation by Customized Stickers" style="border:0px" /><br /><br />Stickers Illustration : <a href="http://www.customizedstickers.com">customizedstickers.com</a>

This post has been brought to you by Customized Stickers.

$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway at Codes911

I have mentioned one or two times before (OK, maybe more like 100 times) that I am addicted to my Kindle. I am a huge eBook junkie now and so Amazon is my best friend. I have downloaded an insane amount of eBooks, both freebies and paid, over the past few months. In taking a quick inventory, I have 149 eBooks. And I usually download at least two new ones every day. It is a sickness. Don't ask me when I am going to read all of these, because I have no idea.

Recently I discovered something else on Amazon - MP3 downloads! Now I knew they sold digital music, but I never really paid attention to it. What I didn't know is that most of their prices are better than iTunes, plus they have lots of deals and there are free credit codes to be found out there. So yes, now I am obsessed with downloading their music. This week alone I downloaded a Maroon 5 and Madonna album and I am anxiously awaiting Maroon 5's new album release next week.

So yeah, I spend way too much time on Amazon these days. Luckily I have gift cards built up, but at this rate, that will dwindle quickly. Codes911 is currently running a $25 Amazon Gift Card giveaway, which is a great way to feed my addiction! I've already entered myself, along with most other Amazon giveaways going on in the blog world. If you are an Amazon junkie like me, head on over and enter. Good luck!

This post has been brought to you by Codes911.com. All thoughts an opinions are my own.

Get the Most Cash for Your Old Cell Phone with SellCell.com

What happens to old cell phones in your house when you upgrade? I'll tell you what happens around here: we give them to our kids to play with and now we have multiple cell phones scattered throughout the house. See at first they like to play with them, but only if they are charged and they can play games or press buttons. Then eventually I get sick of charging them and I stop, so they stop playing with them. I just spent some time this morning trying to collect them all. I only found four, but I know we have at least two more somewhere in this house.

A much smarter thing to do would be to sell them. Right now all they are doing is collecting dust but I could easily make some money from them instead. But what is the best way to do that? Who is going to give me the best price for my husband's old Blackberry? SellCell.com helps you easily recycle and sell your cell phone by finding you the best prices available. Not only do you get a little bit of cash but your phone gets recycled which is so much better for the environment. Why should you recycle your cell phone?  Cell phones contain a variety of precious metals, copper, and plastics and almost all of the materials can be recovered and used in new products. Plus, cell phones contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, none of which should be sitting in a landfill because they will contaminate the air, soil and groundwater.

SellCell.com is very easy to use: simply type in your cell phone make and model it will pull up what the top phone buyers are currently paying for it. If you are unsure of the model of your phone and you no longer have the information booklets, simply open up the battery area and take the battery out and the model number is printed there. So what IS my husband's Blackberry going for? Well it turns out, only $7.00. The other 3 phones in my picture I can get $2.00 each for a grand total of $13.00 for all four phones. I know it doesn't seem like much, but these are really, really old phones. Plus $13 is like 3 Frappuccinos at Starbucks!

Now, my current AT&T agreement will be up this December and I will be eligible for an iPhone upgrade. I love my iPhone 4 to death but if Apple should release the iPhone 5 by then, I will definitely be upgrading. And while part of me is tempted to give it to my kids so they can play Angry Birds and not try to grab the new phone, I know I am better off selling it. When I ran a search on SellCell.com for my 16 GB iPhone 4, I learned that I could get up to $194 for it. It even tells me which phone buyers will pay me via PayPal, which is pretty awesome.

If you are looking to sell old mobile phones, SellCell.com is definitely a website to check out. They take the hassle out of visiting multiple sites to get a quote on your phone by listing the top buyers all in one place for you. So go ahead, hunt down all of the old cell phones you handed down to your kids and see how much you can get for them all. The longer you wait, the less value you will get so do it sooner rather than later.

How many old cell phones do you have laying around your house?

This post has been brought to you by SellCell.com. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sponsored Video: Here's to A World with Less Cancer and More Birthdays

It is a sad reality that cancer touches all of us in some way. Whether it is a family member, a friend, a coworker, or even ourselves - we all know someone who has had to battle cancer. It is so important that we take care of our bodies and get routine physicals and checkups. Obviously there is no guarantee that you won't get cancer, but being proactive about your health may reduce your chance and give you early detection should the diagnosis come. This morning at my OB/GYN annual, I talked to my doctor about scheduling my first mammogram, even though I am just 33. My paternal grandmother had breast cancer and since I have inherited her higher level of hormones, double-ovulating, twin creating gene, I know that I am at an increased risk for breast cancer as well. After discussing this with my doctor, I learned that insurance will not pay for a mammogram before the age of 35. I am annoyed by this and if could afford to pay out of pocket, I would. But at least now I know and in two years time we will be having the discussion again.

The American Cancer society wants us to have a world with more birthdays and less cancer. I think that is something we can all say we want as well. What can you do to help their cause? Get involved. All across the country you can find a American Cancer Society Relay for Life to participate in. You can join a team or start a team and run, donate to someone else's team or simply purchase a $10 luminary to benefit cancer research.

This post has been brought to you by the American Cancer Society.

Should I Make My Own Perfume?

A few years ago, during my "get rid of all things chemicals" purge when I started my green journey, I stopped using my Clinique perfume. Conventional perfumes are filled with chemicals, including phthalates, and they are not required to lo list ingredients, so who knows what else they put in there. I no longer wanted to put chemicals on my body, so my perfume, and pretty much every other personal are product I owned went bye-bye. And so I began my hunt for a natural perfume.

Finding a perfume has never been easy for me. I am extremely sensitive to smells and most perfumes give me headaches. So finding a natural option proved to be quite a challenge, especially since I had to shop online and couldn't smell them. So many that I had come across were floral and flowery scents do not sit well with me. I finally decided to try a Fruit scent roll-on perfume by Aura Cacia. It is made with just pure essential oil, no chemicals, and I fell in love with it. I instantly ordered myself a second bottle so I had a small supply. I wish I had ordered more since shortly after that, they discontinued this line of perfumes and I was unable to find it anywhere.

I have used it sparingly over so it would last longer, using it only when I go out. And being a work at home mom to four young kids, let's face it: I don't get out too often. Trip to Stop & Shop are hardly worth of my precious perfume! So my two small bottles have lasted me about four years. But now I am down to my last few drops and I have the daunting task of finding a new perfume to wear. I am not looking forward to it and have been putting it off. I am actually seriously contemplating ordering all of the individual essential oils that are in my perfume, I have the ingredient list, and mixing them together to make it myself. Of course I don't know the first thing about mixing essential oils or making perfumes, so some research is in order. This will definitely be interesting and educational. And hopefully fun too!

Have you ever mixed essential oils to make your own perfume? Any tips for me?

This post has been brought to you by LiveTru.com.

UPrinting Die Cut Business Cards #Giveaway

It is so important to have a professional looking and eye catching business card no matter what profession you are in. But I find that the eye catching part is even more important when it comes to blogging. There are thousands of bloggers out there and when you leave your card with a PR professional you want yours to stand out from the rest. You want it to make them visit your site and learn more about you and hopefully reach out to you.

I have ordered my share of business cards online for my blog and UPrinting has been my favorite to work with thus far.They make it very easy for you to upload your own design, which is what I prefer to do. With my graphic design background, I enjoy designing business cards and UPrinting has templates for various graphics programs that are extremely helpful in putting together your layout. I have been thrilled with everything that I have received from them. And of course I also love that they uses recycled paper and soy based inks.



Giveaway
One (1) winner will receive 250 Die Cut Business Cards from UPrinting.com. Details:
Sizes to choose from :
2 x 3.5" Rounded Corners, 2x2" Rounded Corners, 1.75x3.5" Rounded Corners,
2x3.5" Leaf, 2x3.5 Rounded one corner, 2x3.5" Half Circle Side,
2x3.5" Oval or 2.5" Circle
Paper to choose from :
14pt Cardstock Gloss / Matte / High Gloss (UV), or 13pt Cardstock Uncoated,
6 Business Days Turnaround
Free shipping for US residents only

Giveaway ends May 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM EST. Please use the Rafflecopter form below.

This post has been brought to you by UPrinting.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Have Closet Envy

The closet in our master bedroom is a sad, sad sight. While I am grateful that it is a walk-in closet, it is on the small side. Since my husband and I share it and we both have a decent amount of clothes and shoes, well it looks quite disorderly. OK fine, only my side is disorderly, my husband's side is immaculate, but that's because I need more room. When we first moved into this house nine years ago, the closet had a single shelf up high on both sides with a rod below it. One of our first projects in this house was to redo this closet. It started with a trip to Home Depot to pick up some inexpensive closet organizers. We ended up choosing a white wire system. Though it isn't very pretty, it was in our price range. After deciding on the layout we wanted like where to put shelves and drawer, my handy husband got to work installing it for us.

Image Credit: California Closets

It has held up well over the years and for the most part it has done its job. But every now and then I will be skimming through a magazine and I will come across beautiful custom closets and I immediately start to suffer from closet envy. Some of them are nicer and larger than my bedroom. I would love to have a big, luxurious closet like this some day with wood shelving and drawers like the one pictured above. I especially love the shelves for shoes and handbags! A closet like this is like a woman's dream come true. OK, well mine at least.

What would your dream closet look like?

This post has been brought to you by California Closets.

Scwhinn Bikes: Find Your Ride, Sponsored Video

This really cute video from Schwinn makes me want to get the family outside for a fun bicycle adventure. Growing up, I spent a good amount of time riding my bike around our town house complex. I would love it if my kids enjoyed bike riding as much as I did. This past Christmas we upgraded our oldest son to a larger bike and got our twins their first bicycles. Riding a bike is such a great way to get moving and get outside and have some fun with your family. Plus its a good way to sneak in some exercise. However, not only do we have to work on their riding skills, but someone needs to help mommy relearn. Contrary to what people say, it is possible to forget how to ride a bike. (I can't believe I just admitted that on the Internet). Once all this rain passes us, I am hoping we can all get outside and start practicing!

This post is sponsored by Schwinn.