Mamie and Mable Review and Giveaway

***This giveaway is now closed***

And the winner is....

Kate!

Congrats Lady! You will get an email from me today regarding your prize!

**********

Hey hey hey! Today's my birthday...so nothing celebrates better than giving you guys a chance to win something right?

Well how about a shot at this rockin' purse?



It came from a little online boutique called Mamie and Mabel. This store has everything a fun, hip, trendy gal could want.

Cool purses, pretty jewelery...and more! The also have a neat giveaway of their own each month for one of the super cool products they offer.

I like Mamie and Mable because their site is fun and easy to navigate. The items they offer are very unique and affordable. I also appreciate the fact that they are a charitable business.

It's nice to know part of the money I spend is going to a good cause. :-)

So if you're looking for fashion forward accessories, look no further than Mamie and Mable!

Now, I know you want to win that gorgeous Orange Bag...right?

Here's how to enter:

1. Visit Mamie and Mable and tell me which accessory you can't live without.

After you have finished your first entry (required), you are allowed extra entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry.

Extra ways to enter:

2. Put my bloggy button in your sidebar.

3. Blog about this Mamie and Mable giveaway and leave the URL to your post in the comment.

4. Follow my blog.

5. Follow me on Twitter (I'm @princesshaley) and make a Tweet about this giveaway.

That means you have a possible 5 entries!

Please make sure to leave your email address in all your comments, that way I can contact you if you are my winner! :-)

This drawing ends May 7th at Midnight CST. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced shortly there after. If the winner does not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn.

Good Luck!

If I could have any cake tommorow...

It would be this one. :-)



Photo from THIS cool bakery in Australia.

I'm a little sad that I probably won't be in the mood to have much food at all on my birthday.

More dental work...yipee. Why don't they just pull the darn thing?

But honestly, the thought of my tooth not hurting any more makes up for it.

Hope you have a great day!

Want to hear about how crazy I really am?

Honestly, if you are here and reading this, I figure you already know. LOL

Anywho, I'm over HERE today discussing my experiences with depression, anxiety, and the like.

Hope you can join me.

The End of an Era and a Bright Beginning

This past week I made a tough decision. With the immense growth and success of my AVON business, I decided I need to scale down some of my other ventures so I could give AVON all my energy. I want to do this because AVON has changed my life and things get better for my family with each passing day!

Basically, what I finally decided was that I would no longer be with Stampin' Up!. It was a hard choice to make for so many reasons.

One, because my upline Erica was fabulous! She was amazing in the way she helped and supported me, and I felt sad to let her down (even though I know she understands my situation).

Two, because I loved working with people and teaching them in a workshop setting. I will miss sharing my love of scrapping and stamping with others, but I will be glad to return to my own projects which I'm seriously behind on.

Finally, because well...I love the stamps themselves. Anyone who has alot of stamps (and likes them like I do) knows what I'm talking about. You probably even have a few sets laying around that you haven't used yet, but you "had to have" because they were SO cute! The darn things are addictive!

I made an even harder decision the other day when I decided to sell off all my SU! supplies to raise money for me to attend an AVON leadership conference in Las Vegas in August. Laugh if you want, but I was really sad to let some of my sets go.

In the end I did list them on Ebay obviously, because I want to grow my business more than anything now, but I did kind of have to laugh at myself for being emotionally attached to my stamp sets (proof that I'm a true crafter at heart!).

Most of the auctions are ending this morning, and I just saw that I did make enough for my trip, so my sacrifice paid off.

I never really considered how much of blessing my SU! business really was until now.

Thanks Erica for all that you've offered me, I'm glad that even though my time with SU! is done, that our friendship will go on for years to come. :-) (wow that rhymes sort of!)

Have a great day everyone!

This bag made my day

Actually, it makes me happy whenever I look at it!

I love Target! Don't you?

Wordless Wednesday

I realized yesterday that I never posted this photo. These are the Easter Egg cookies I made Jackson's party at his school.

I made a cookie for each of his classmates and put their first initial on it. I think they turned out rather nice!

As a side note: I'm having a root canal today (and I DESPISE going to the dentist) so please keep me in your thoughts. TIA!

Have a fabulous day!

Birthday Wishes

So here's a crazy fact...my birthday is in 9 days! And I have been so busy working I just now realized it. :-)

In my single and crazy days, I obsessed about my Birthday the ENTIRE month of April. I would tell everyone I knew, and start making my "obnoxious birthday wishlist" far in advance so that I could get everyone a copy.

There were always huge parties with lots of fabulousness and tiaras involved.

And here's my proof....

These are from my 22nd birthday. (I like this photo, if for no other reason that to remember that there was time *before baby* that my boobs looked good) Sorry for the TMI.

LOL!

My Princess cake.

Me, the (once) Sassy Birthday Princess

And then I had Jackson (best gift EVER, if you ask me) and the fabulousness shifted in his direction and he has all the cool parties and fun now...sans the tiaras of course! LOL!


Now, in my humbled Mommy state, I have just a few small wishes for my birthday this year.

I wish that:

• Everyone I know will plant a tree in Earth Day
• My family will be safe and happy for many years to come
• I will be able to grow my blog and AVON businesses bigger and better with each new day
• Things will improve for our country and it's economy, so that we can all be happier as a nation
• Finally, I wish that one day I will be able to meet so many of the fabulous bloggy friends I made along the way, :-)

So there you have it! Nothing grandiose...but my heart feels so good for making those wishes.

It just goes to show that Motherhood is humbling in the BEST way possible.

Have a great day.

Das Foods Review & Giveaway

***This Giveaway is now closed***

And the lucky winner is:

# 7

Erin said...

Tweet, tweet!
http://twitter.com/erincharp/status/1579050748

Congrats Erin! Enjoy your gift pack!

*******

As I write this review I'm enjoying a delicious Fab-O-Pom Lollipop from Das Foods. This lolli features and Orange and Pomegranate flavor that is unexpected, perky, and fun. The cute wrapper and unique flavor gives my whole eating experience a high-end, swanky feeling. And I love it!

Recently, I had the opportunity to sample several Das Foods products, and I have to say that all of them gave me the same feeling as the Lollipop. These foods feel exclusive and special because they are!



The Alaea Sea Salt I sampled was once only available for use in Hawaiian Religious Rituals. That fact was impressive to me, and I have to admit I felt a little special when I sprinkled some on my salad for lunch this weekend. It has a beautiful orange color and that comes from Hawaiian red clay that is rich with minerals. The flavor it added to my salad was smooth and earthy. I highly reccomend it! It says on the package that this flavor is also good on grilled steak, but we aren't big steak people...so I haven't tried it that way.

Of course the folks at Das Foods must know how much of a sweet tooth I have because they sent me some fabulous candies to sample as well.

I got to try 4 Das lolli Flavors: Fab-O-Pom (mentioned above), Naughty Ginger, Man Bait, and Caramelini Me Happy.



First off, I think the names are great! I also like that each flavor is unique. The interesting combinations like Orange & Pomegranite, Ginger & Lemon, Maple & Bacon, and Salty Caramel makes these pops irresistable! I think they would great favors for birthdays or showers.

And last but definitely not least were the Das Caramelinis. Trying these was like dying and going to candy heaven. :-)



I sampled the Candied Ginger and Pistachio caramels and just about fell over at how good they were! They were just amazing...and the flavor was so inviting and unique! Plus they come in a super cute little package.

Overall Das Foods really impressed me. Their fine ingredients, combined with unique recipes and cute packaging make them top notch in my book! I will definitely consider them they next time I want to give a foodie type gift.


Here's the best part! Das Foods is giving one of my readers a fabulous gift pack of their products!

One lucky winner will receive a jar of Black Lava Salt, Das Caramelinis in Cafe Cortado and Chai Latte, and 4 Das lolli's!

Here's how to enter:

1. Visit Das Foods and tell me which product you would love to try.

After you have finished your first entry, you are allowed extra entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry.

Extra ways to enter:

2. Put my bloggy button in your sidebar.

3. Blog about this Das Foods giveaway and leave the URL to your post in the comment.

4. Follow my blog.

5. Follow me on Twitter (I'm @princesshaley) and make a Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment telling me you did.

That means you have a possible 5 entries!

Please make sure to leave your email address in all your comments, that way I can contact you if you are my winner! :-)

This drawing ends April 27th at Midnight CST. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced shortly there after. If the winner does not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn.

Good Luck!

One Year Ago Today

McKenna on the Carousel

Jackson having an amazing time! LOL We had to cover him up b/c the sea breeze was cool!

The Ferris Wheel

Here's my sweet boy awake! He just loved this trip, well any trip outside really. :-)

I love this photo! I didn't even tell her to pose or anything, she just did that!

Feeding the Stingrays! Very, very cool!

A close-up view of the rays.

My mom helping McKenna touch them.

The Boardwalk.

McKenna looking out over the bay.

This was a great trip. My mom and I decided that we should try a make a trip somewhere fun every week, because there no reason we shouldn't be getting out and enjoying our beautiful state!

***Originally Posted April 17th 2008***

These photos are especially important to me now since the Kemah Boardwalk was extremely damaged when Hurricane Ike hit in Sept. 08. Although they have recovered somewhat and made many repairs....it will never be the same.




Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Yanni Voices CD Review!

Did you know that Yanni has spent the last two years working with some amazing singers to produce his new CD Yanni Voices? This CD has the most beautiful sound, and features uplifting music the whole family can listen to!

I love this CD. I have always liked Yanni, but it was really cool to see what his work sounds like with other talented people involved. We have been listening to this music in the car alot...and have really enjoyed it! Jackson seems to like this music especially, which makes me really happy!

Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas, and Leslie Mills sound simply amazing on some of these songs, and you can listen HERE now!

You can purchase the Yanni Voices CD at retailers now! The tour is going on now as well! Check the link to find a tour date near you!

I you hadn't heard about Yanni Voices until now then you need to check out his website. One2One Network is helping to get the word out about this fabulous music!

Thanks to One2One Network! We have really had a great time listening to Yanni Voices!

Wordless Wednesday: Slide!

I took these photos during Jackson's Easter Egg Hunt at his school. He had NO desire to collect eggs at all. He just wanted to play. I think this is a really sweet sequence :-). His teacher is the one helping him in the photo.

Happy WW!

I made this cake..and ate it too

Wait...no I didn't! That would be because the day I made the cake for Dave's Birthday I had the toothache from you know where (which just happens to be persistent and still hanging out in my mouth today)!!!!

So I got to stare at this sugar laden masterpiece for 2 hours and then not eat one bite of it.


NOT ONE BITE! :-(

The lesson here:

Get over your ridiculous phobia and go to the dentist already (Haley!!!)


Hope your having your cake and eating it too today! :-)

Easter: A Photo Story

So here are a few photos from our Easter weekend. These are going up a little late today because I just learned how to upload photos on my new lappy, and well, let's just say me and Vista are already having issues with each other! LOL

Anywho, Enjoy!

Jackson looking very handsome in his Easter best!

Did someone say candy?

Easter breakfast of waffles and whipped cream (which he rubbed all in his hair!)

Blurry, but still so cute!

The coolest basket!

I hope you and your family had a very Happy Easter!

Mobi Stories Review and Giveaway

With Earth Day less than 2 weeks away I feel the need (as I'm sure you do) to try and be better to the Earth. Although I will admit that our family is not nearly as "green" as some others I know...I do know that we try harder at it everyday and we do what works for us.

Well, here's a new way for everyone to be more green that I discovered just recently.

It's called Mobi Stories. Mobi Stories sells virtual picture books for kids.

As it says on their site:

"71% of the world's paper supply is from trees cut from ecologically-valuable, biologically diverse forests.

1.6 million metic tons of paper was used to produce books in 2006 alone, resulting in a carbon footprint of 12.4 million metric tons, the equivalent of 8.85 lbs. of carbon dioxide per book. And of these books published, more than 1 billion books printed were NOT SOLD, instead ending up in landfills (or hopefully recycled).

MobiStories:

Reduce - paper waste

Reuse - watch 'em over and over

Recycle - make sure your younger kids watch the books your older kids first ordered! :)"

While I will say that we will probably never give up paper books altogether...I do think this is a great alternative to paper books. I recently had the opportunity to try out several of the Mobi Stories books with Jackson and we loved them! I think my favorite thing about these digital books (besides being good for the environment) is that they are perfect for your child while traveling.

I love the fact that I could put these stories on my laptop and then sit Jackson on a plane with headphones and let him be entertained (without annoying other passengers)! I think this would also work well for car trips as long someone could sit with him and the laptop.

Since Mobi Stories has several different download formats available, it's easy to put the books on an iPod or computer. Each story has bright illustrations and has a child reading the story aloud....which I really just love!

I think I enjoyed the books we got as much as Jackson did! We tried out 4 books: Spring, Summer, Train, and Ship. Jackson's favorite is Train, by far! We watched that one 3 times in a row the first day!

Our books came from the 1 to 6 year old section, but Mobi Stories offers books for children up to 10 years of age.

I'm very impressed with Mobi Stories. Jackson was very engaged with each book on the screen..and to me that's fabulous! Education and fun joined together is always a big winner in our home. :-) I think that Mobi Stories is a fun new way to share the love of reading with your children!

Want to share Mobi Stories with the children in your life?

Mobi Stories was kind enough to create a fabulous discount for all the readers of Love, Life, Family...and then some!

From now until June 30th 2009, you can get 30% off your entire Mobi Stories order! Just enter the code LLF042009C at checkout to recieve your discount.


But wait! There's More! (Sorry, I just couldn't resist)

One lucky LLF reader will win a $15 gift certificate to Mobi Stories!


Here's how to enter:

1. Visit Mobi Stories and tell me which book(s) you think your kiddos would love.

After you have finished your first entry, you are allowed extra entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry.

Extra ways to enter:

2. Put my bloggy button in your sidebar.

3. Blog about this Mobi Stories giveaway and leave the URL to your post in the comment.

4. Follow me on blogger.

5. Follow me on Twitter (I'm @princesshaley) and make a Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment telling me you did.

That means you have a possible 5 entries!

Please make sure to leave your email address in all your comments, that way I can contact you if you are my winner! :-)

This drawing ends April 17th at Midnight CST. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced shortly there after. If the winner does not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn.

Good Luck!

I'm here....buried beneath Easter goodness

Somewhere between a nasty migraine and getting ready for my hubby's birthday (which happens to be on Easter this year) and Easter itself...I totally have not had time to post...so that's what happened in case you were wondering.

I'm currently baking for Jackson's Easter party at school tomorrow. I'm hoping to come back to this post a bit later to add some pics!

See you then!