Blog Love: Tuesday Edition

I was recently awarded The Beautiful Blog Award by fellow bloggers Motherhood and Me and Adventuroo. This community never ceases to amaze me. We all have our reasons to blog, be it a creative outlet, writing practice, personal business or staying in touch with family. But one thing I love is when blogs promote others. Competition is everywhere so taking the high road doesn't go unnoticed! Thanks for noticing my blog ladies! 


And now on with the show :-) 


1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award and post a link to her blog...Doh did that already! Go check em out! They rock!

2. Pass the award onto 7 other bloggers who I believe have a Beautiful Blog: Yay! This is the fun part :-)

 

Pocket Smiles - Paige is a dear friend and one of the most thoughtful women I know. She is incredibly talented in many ways! Check her out! 

Onward Hoe! - For a ho-larious look at life on the go, check out Beth's blog adventures! She will always put a smile on your face!

Tales from a Marketing Mama - If you are a blogger, then you want to know Erin. She is incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and just plain fun! Somehow she manages her crazy marketing job AND being a mom. Mad props to you Erin!

 

Momo-Fali - Besides being one of my future roomies at BlogHer, Diane is just plain great! She has been in the trenches of Motherhood a lot longer than I have and I know I have much to learn from her!  

Much Ado About Nothing - This blog belongs to my sister Angie. Maybe in the past she deserved this award, but her last post was in Februrary, so now I am not so sure. I pass on this award in the hopes that she will start writing again. Get to it Angie!

Th B Keeps Us Honest - Jessica has seen great success in a short amount of time over at her review/giveaway blog. There is always a fun contest or event going on and many chances to win cool stuff!

Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom - Lara's blog will crack you up. She has a lot of fun with life and it shows! I found her blog through the Seed Sponsorship contest and she was incredibly helpful through that whole process. Here's to you Lara!

3. Contact the other bloggers to let them know they were given the award: You got it!

 

4. Say 7 things about myself: 7 whole things that I haven't already said?! hmmm....

1. I really hate it when I am singing in church and there is a part that repeats and then everyone stops when I think you are supposed to keep singing and I'm all HAlllleelu.......cough cough 
2. I am still disappointed in myself that I never tried Chocolate covered bacon at the fair last year. 
3. I have terrible posture
4. I feel too guilty to go to the tanning bed anymore but not to lay in the sun with no sunscreen.
5. I kinda like sunburns
6. I really like margaritas after a sunburn
7. I am going to Disney World in June and I can't wait!

If you made it this far, thanks for indulging me! I hope you have a great Tuesday!

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I'm A Smart Mom!

So you might remember that from time to time, I throw my hat in the ring over at Triangle Mamas, a local blogging collective run by the fabulous and talented Marty. I followed a rabbit trail one day through various blogs here and there and discovered that there is a really great blog community right here on my doorstep! So when I was invited by Erin aka Marketing Mama to participate in the SmartMom Solutions Roadshow, I jumped at the chance! My friend Jessica was also planning on going so we each got babysitters and had a real mom's morning out!

Before I get into the actual event, I just want to say how refreshing it was to be in a room with so many talented women! I didn't get to meet them all but the atmosphere was really great. There was definitely a level of professionalism, but at the same time an almost camp-like camaraderie that made me feel instantly welcome. 

After a quick meet-n-greet, we were entertained by several different speakers who each gave some really helpful information on how to be more efficient as moms. RealLifeSarah gave some wonderful tips on couponing including one shocker that blew me away! So good that I am going to share it with you. Did you know that if you see some beef or something on sale (like a chuck roast) but what you really want is ground beef, you can march it right over to the meat counter and they will grind it for you!? Who knew? Ok,  maybe you did, but I definitely did NOT.

Maria Bailey of MomSelect is the brain behind this operation and many other wonderful things including the upcoming Mom's Night Out. Her goal is to bring moms and companies together and figure out what works for everyone. Seems simple right? Well it is! We got to check out some great new products and hear from a number of different industry women. I am particularly excited about the Ionator HOM (link below) so stay tuned to this blog because you might see it around here soon!

Honestly, to try and relay all of the quality information we got would take all day, so I'll just say it was a great time and I was introduced to some really great products! Thanks so much to Maria and the sponsors (below) for putting together this road show. I can't wait to do it again!

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  Zippity Doo's - children's daily-use hair care products that prevent lice (zippitydoos.com);
• My Job Chart - an online source for a job chart your kids will love (www.myjobchart.com);
• BioGaia probiotic straws and tablets - safe, effective probiotics that promote healthy tummies; (childrensprobiotics.com);
• ionator HOM - chemical-free cleaning with ionized water (www.activeion.com);
• Hot Locks dolls - spunky, funky dolls with lots of fun and fabulous hair (www.wowwee.com/en/special/hotlocks);
• Fisher-Price Trio - a creative building set for children ages 3-5 (fisherprice.com);
• Smart Mom Solutions pads - products designed for busy moms (SmartMomSolutions.com);
• Puma  - gift cards for this popular kid's clothing line (Puma, LRG for Boys, Akademiks,
• Scandinavian Child- bags with safety information (SCIchild.com);
• Catch A Character (catchacharacter.com);
• Milson Road -  give the perfect gift of "The Daily Portrait" for special occasions (milsonroad.com);
• LikeWear - fun, boutique children's clothes that children love. (likewear.com)

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