Dream: When I'm done remodeling my office
will look like a picture of a magazine.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Are you ready for 2009?

Yes, I am ready!

I am ready for New Year 2009 and I am ready to make it bigger and better and awesome.

I am starting to remodel here and my blog might be acting and looking little weird for a while. I am trying to make this blog better, and I will be moving from Blogger to self hosted WordPress. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am pretty good at googling and finding out stuff and I have some amazing friends who I am going to bug to help me to renovate this blog.


What are your resolutions?

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Like my tag line says.. my life is everything from skiing in Colorado to shopping in New York City. I wrote the tag line over a year ago, when we lived in Colorado, with no intentions of moving. But life happened, and guess where we live right now? New York!

My 2008 has been one of the craziest years in my life, a lot of ups and downs.. I got pregnant, lost the baby, and a week later our dog died... our move from Colorado was a struggle, I was a all over struggle, and lucky to be alive, I survived 12 blood clots in my lungs this summer. Had to cancel BlogHer - but got to go to BlogWorldExpo and visited Las Vegas for the first time.. Spent 6 weeks on the road when we moved from Colorado to New York, survived the move, even though my laptop got stolen..

Tom Cruise endorsed a pair of ladybug shoes on Oprah Show - shoes, which I had hand packed and given to his daughter Suri! I spoke on phone with Patrick Dempsey, met Harrison Ford, and Paula Deen kissed me. I became one of Walmart's Eleven Moms, and collected moms' voices in one 9,5 minute video, which was seen by tens of thousands and resulted a major company to take their (Motrin) ad down.

I'm closing down my store now, and I am not sad to let it go. At all. The store taught me everything I needed to know, and I am excited about new possibilities this will bring. The store was my security blanket, and I'm brave enough to go without it now.

I will be focusing on PR / Social Media Consulting and Blogging - I will also start a radio show! And so far my calendar for 2009 looks promising.. I am hoping to see you in New York, Detroit, Bahamas, Nashville, Austin, Chicago or Las Vegas in 2009 - all places where blogging, promoting and social media world will be taking me in 2009. Well, I hope so. Knowing my life - there will be some obstacles, and high hills to climb over, but I'm hoping you'll stay right here with me and share my journey, my product finds, my lifestyle, and the ups and downs of it.


JANUARY
Mountain Living At It's Best
Forget About Dieting - Look Good As You Are
I Snowboarded For The First Time

FEBRUARY
I'm Getting Old - And So Is Snow
Sometimes I Hate To Love My Virtual Life
I'm In Birth Control Hell


MARCH
Cultural Differences In Complimenting
Coffee Made My Boobs Bigger?
Time Is Running Out For My Four Legged Son

APRIL
Baby News (I'm pregnant!)
Is Your Sunscreen Safe? 89% In The Market Are Not!
How The Worst In Life Can Become The Best In Life (I lost the baby)
No More Babies (and the pregnancy drama continues)
Our Dog Is In Heaven Now (I can't believe I survived loosing a baby and a dog in a same month)

MAY
Suri Cruise's Ladybug Shoes Are From Skimbaco.com
Thank You Tom Cruise - I'm Jumping On The Couch Now
"It" Happened To Me - It Can Happen To You Too
Ladybug Luck Coming To Your Way
Jäger Schnitzels In Fredericksburg, Texas

JUNE
500th Post And 50 Things About Me
I Received A Card From Angela Kinsey From TV's "The Office"!
We're Moving To New York
I Cut My Hair For Charity
The Birth Control Hell Continues - I'm In Hospital Again (this time: pills gave me 12 blood clots in my lungs)

JULY
I Think I'll Live (I survived 12 blood clots!)
Ultimate Van Lines Offering The Ultimately Worst Moving Experiences (our moving truck didn't show up)
Our Car Got Broken Into And My Laptop Stolen (first night of our move from Colorado to New York)

AUGUST
Good Bye Dallux, I mean Dallas (vacationing in Dallas)
What? I'm Not Hot Enough? (for the Hot Blogger Calendar)
You Put Me In The Spot

SEPTEMBER
Calendar Girl Here, Hello
BlogWorldExpo For Me Was About Personal Branding (My BlogWorldExpo experience in Las Vegas)
Medical Bracelets, IDs And Other Precautions Parents Need To Take

OCTOBER
I'm One Of Walmart's Eleven Moms
I'm A Silver Can Girl, And The Other Things I Learned At Coke (while visiting Walmart Headquarters in Bentonville)
Eleven Moms And Paula Deen

NOVEMBER
Want To Know How You Can Get A Porsche
Motrin Giving Moms A Headache
Thank You Motrin For Listening

DECEMBER
Meaning Of Christmas. I Know It, But I Still Want A Puppy And Wii
Patrick Dempsey On Phone, In A Bottle, On A Kitchen Table (Yes - I was on phone with Patrick Dempsey)
Ask The Author! Exciting Interviews Coming Up!
Welcome Austin, Our Rescue Dog
Christmas Time In New York City

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Santa didn't bring you what you wanted?
Time to make New Year's resolutions?

Now worries, I have something here for you I know you want. Some delicious Bliss, dripping with fun, no extra calories, this is the one treat you can have and eat it too. Meeting the top women bloggers face to face, getting new ideas, tips and inspiration to take your blog to the new spheres. And how about sipping some Blissdopolitans with your friends and getting to travel in style? Talk about a treat! Make the best resolution ever - treat yourself well and commit into making your life a bliss by learning new things!

Join me and come to BlissDom Conference in February 6-7 in Nashville, TN! Get tickets now - the price goes up first of January!

BlissDom Conference is from women to women - practical advice, friendships, inspiration and hard core information you will need to take your blog to the next level. The two-day conference offers sessions for beginners and for those who have been blogging already for a while. Learn about building your blog, your brand, and your business while achieving bliss in those other areas that are so important too: being a mom, a wife, and being true to yourself.

I am so excited about going to BlissDom and meeting all the amazing women coming there. Some of the people coming that I can't wait to meet are Lori from A Cowboy's Wife, Amy from Resourceful Mommy and Steph from Adventures in Babywearing, and especially the two superstars, the hostesses of BlissDom Conference, Allison Worthington of Blissfully Domestic and Barbara Jones of One2One Network. The main sponsor for the event is Walmart.


The BlissDom Conference is held at the Preston Hotel, a nice boutique hotel close to airport and Opryland - we used to live close to Nashville, and the Opryland shopping is a familiar experience (if you get the change to go shopping, eat at the Aquarium).

GET TICKETS NOW

Register for BlissDom Conference NOW, the early bird price 100$ for the ticket ends December 31st! Act now to get the ticket and save 50 dollars! Please leave a comment here, if you are coming, I would love to meet you there!

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One mogul mom here, hello.

Today I do say it is so nice to be your own boss and make yourself working schedules. I took the whole day off and drove to New York city (Yes! I drove to city, took my Volvo station wagon for a spin around Central Park). My in-laws are visiting, so my Mother-In-Law and me took the kids to the American Museum of Natural History and had some real Italian/New York style pizza for lunch. Photos will come later... now we will watch the Night at The Museum - and show Daddy and Grandpa everything we saw today.

So, I'm kind of busy here... spending my day off, but if you would like to know more about me, The Mogul Mom interviewed me, check her blog post out!

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Flu season is in full bloom. The good news is that there are ways you can try to prevent getting flu and


5 Tips to Prevent Flu

1. Build your immune system by eating right. Vitamin C is important for building your immune system, foods that are high in Vitamin C include citrus fruit, broccoli, papaya, mango, bell peppers, kiwi, strawberries and tomatoes. Luckily most kids love fruit salad, think of it as the immune system builder.

2. Drink a lot. Water is the best, but certain tea types can even build your immune system. For kids water is the best.

3. Wash your hands - stop those germs spreading. Teach kids the right way to wash hands, and make it a daily habit to wash hands every time you come home from somewhere and every time before each meal. Be an example.

4. Don't stress and sleep enough. You should sleep at least eight hours a night, so your body will have enough time to repair cells and build up your immune system. Kids should get 8-10 hours a sleep.

5. Get a flu shot.

5 Flu Helping tips from Vicks

When flu happens... Vicks helps and not just offers great products for easing the pain, but also helps with these 5 tips from their website:

1. Get rest - sleep helps to get well sooner.
2. Same what helps preventing the flu, helps to make it go away - drink up! Water is the best, but you can also give fruit juice like orange juice.
3. Cuddle up - being sick sucks, so make sure to give some extra cuddles and hugs. I like to watch movies and cuddle up on to couch with my kids to make them feel special.
4. Clear stuffy noses. If your child is too young to blow his/her nose, use some saline and a nasal aspirator (a syringe that sucks the mucus from the nostrils).
5. Bath helps to lower the temperature and might be a welcome fun thing to do for your recovering child. The moist vapors also help making the breathing easier.

Humidifiers help to breath better and ease the flu symptoms. The Vicks GermFree Humidifier ($87.83) is quiet, easy to use with no filters to buy or replace but you can use it with Vicks VapoSteam or Kaz Inhalant medicines. This humidifier gives pure, sanitized warm mist - killing up to 99.999% of germs, mold, and bacteria in the water, it has a patented ultraviolet light process eradicating water bred germs. Added bonus for parents: 2 tanks with total of 2-gallon capacity gives up to 24 hours of operation - for parents this means no filling up in the middle of the night and restful sleep for both sick child and you.


My Top 3 Vicks Product Finds

If the humidifier feels like a splurge, try the Vicks Soothing Vapors ($5.99) for bringing waterless menthol vapors to soothe your or your child's flu symptoms. It also works as a night light.

When your baby or child is sick, even a small task like taking the temperature might be irritating. One of the must have products for every parent is a fast and accurate ear thermometer. On great choice is the Vicks One Second Ear Thermometer ($50.56) - in addition of giving an accurate temperature reading in a second, it has a gentle sensor tip and audible fever alert. A great bonus for parents is the large lighted display so you can take and read the temperature even in the dark while your child sleeps.



Read more flu fighting tips for babies at The Mommies United

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New Year's Eve Popcorn $24.99

If you are looking for a special snack for your New Year's Eve party, check out The Popcorn Factory's special New Year's Selections.

We received some Popcorn Factory popcorn for Christmas, and oh boy, I am addicted to this sweet, crunchy and absolutely amazing popcorn. We had our family movie night last night and we just couldn't stop eating the delicious flavors of The Popcorn Factory popcorn. The tin we received had three different types of popcorn, all-natural butter, robust cheese and secret-recipe caramel corn, and even the butter popcorn was the best butter popcorn I've ever had.

To be honest I've never before thought of popcorn as a gourmet food or a gourmet food gift, but The Popcorn Factory changed my mind entirely, and I think sending some popcorn as a gift is an excellent idea, and I felt so special to receive it. The popcorn was packed will in a pretty tin (I will save it and re-use it, it's so pretty!), and came perfectly crunchy, just like it's supposed to.

Or get the deal and get some on sale like the Snowman Tin was $29.99, now only $11.99.

It may be too early to think of Super Bowl (February 1st, 2009), but when you do mark it to your calendar, make sure to mark Popcorn Factory as you snack provider as well. The Sport Tin selection is large and make sure to order your teams popcorn tin on time for Super Bowl and other sports parties you will be hosting.

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I know, I know, you've just taken the Holiday photos... but if you are a scrapbooking enthusiast, I know you are already planning on your scapbooking pages.

Do you have one of these DYMO Caption Makers? It is so easy to use, and I like how versatile it is, it has three interchangeable wheels - one for lowercase, one for uppercase and one with a script font. The DYMO Caption Maker is an embossing tool that enables creative captioning, journaling and bordering through a variety of symbols, letters and fonts, great for scapbooking and labeling at home - and I like to use it for kids' school supplies as well.


I normally don't post much about scrapbooking, but thought this was very cool: DYMO is giving one lucky scrapbooker a chance to have their artwork featured in a future DYMO Caption Maker magazine ad. To win, use captions to create unique and inspiring personalized tags, borders and fonts on your scrapbook page. Think your scrapbook should be featured? Use creative and unique captioning and titling to help create your scrapbook and submit yours NOW! Deadline to submit is 12/31/08.

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I found an amazing Disney travel offer for you and your family! For a limited time, kids can sail free on most three-night Bahamian cruises this winter and spring on Disney Cruise Line.

The 3-day Bahamian cruise from Port Canaveral (Florida) stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay, Disney's private island paradise (pictured above). The day trips offer fun activities and relaxation on the beach, the cruise ship offers non-stop entertainment for kids and parents as well.


The Disney Wonder also offers a 3-D movies in both the Walt Disney and Buena Vista Theatres where you can enjoy 3-D movies like the Walt Disney Pictures’ Bolt and the upcoming Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience. You can also enjoy “Toy Story-The Musical” in one of the on-board theatres. Children will also enjoy seeing the familiar Disney characters on the cruise. Disney has something special to offer adults as well, like nightclubs, wine tastings and shopping.


KIDS SAIL FREE OFFER DETAILS
Guests 12 and under can sail free on three-night voyages to Bahamas aboard the Disney Wonder when accompanied by two full paying guests within the same stateroom. This offer is valid for most cruises between January 22 to May 28, 2009. Government Taxes and Fees not included in this free Disney Cruise offer. Book your vacation and get more info on the “Kids Free” special offer or the 3-day Bahamian cruise at the Disney Cruise site.

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Me and my family were lucky to receive an advance copy of the newest Beethoven movie, the release date for the Beethoven's Big Break is December 26th. What is better than watching movies with your family during the Holidays..? Oh yeah, one thing: watching movies and eating popcorn and homemade peppermint bark.

We have seen and liked all the other Beethoven movies, and let me tell you, Beethoven does not disappoint this time either. Most dog lovers can not resist the cute face of the big Saint Bernard known as Beethoven, and neither can we. While Beethoven's Big Break offers the same misbehavior of this large canine called Beethoven, and comical situations it leads to, and even the bad guys after Beethoven like in the other Beethoven movies, the story line of Beethoven's Big Break is still new and fresh.

The story is about a single dad Eddie (Jonathan Silverman), who is an assistant animal trainer in the movies, and his son, Billy (Moises Arias from Hannah Montana), who would like to have a dog as a pet. Things are not always easy for them. One day Eddie gets fired and arrives home to find their home in chaos after Billy has found a huge Saint Bernard and brought it home. The next day Eddie returns to his work to pick up his lizard he had left on the set, accompanied by Billy and Beethoven, and they accidentally walk into an audition of a new dog movie, and Beethoven gets the role. In fact Beethoven becomes the new star for the studios receiving glamourous start treatment, even the dog whisperer Cesar Millan is hired to help this canine super star. (Or like Cesar would say, it's never the dog - it's the people who need the help)

The shooting of the movie starts and of course Beethoven causes more than a fair share of chaos and unexpected situations and all that makes the movie just better. The scenes of the movie he is starring are from the previous Beethoven movies (like stealing the dad's bacon scene), and it makes you almost think that some of the scenes in the original Beethoven movie from 1992 were lucky accidents, like they are in the Beethoven's Big Break. There are also other scenes in the movie that include the funniest Beethoven moments from the original movie, like the "muddy dog in the bed" scene.

I found this behind-the-scenes clip about the real life dog stars behind the role Beethoven and the real life animal trainers:

The movie has an all-star cast, including Jonathan Silverman (Weekend At Bernies), Rhea Perlman (Cheers), Moises Arias (Hannah Montana), Stephen Tobolowsky (Heroes), Oscar Nuñez (The Office), Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer), Joey Fatone ('N Sync) and Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother), and it is appropriate even for the younger ones in the family making it the perfect Holiday time movie to watch with your family.



Beethoven's Big Break is $19.99 at Amazon, and I have a feeling it is one of those movies my kids will watch over and over again.

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Merry Christmas! Here is our family's Christmas wish come true (Austin, the beagle) showing some Holiday fashions.

Austin got this cute Santa outfit & toy elf from PetSmart, and kids love dressing him in little outfits like this. Austin - he would rather just take a nap, but he is such a sweet dog that he let's me and kids do silly stuff.

We've had a very low key and relaxing Christmas so far, just fun family time. Hoping you are having a wonderful Christmas!

PS. PetSmart has a huge sale going on, savings up to 40%.

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Rice Porridge & Prune Soup

Hyvää Joulua!


I have been in the kitchen most of the day, preparing our traditional Finnish Christmas dinner. We usually cook the Finnish dinner on Christmas Eve and then we cook American style Holiday dinner a day or two later. My ham is in the oven (I buy a whole raw ham and cook it myself and then make a mustard breadcrumb crust on it), but it will take a few more hours to cook. We just had some porridge for lunch.



RIISIPUURO - PORRIDGE

5 cups of water
1 3/4 cups rice (Sushi rice or Risotto rice, any type of soft sort grain rice)
6 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt

Boil the water, add rice and let it boil. Add milk and watch it until it starts boiling and but the heat down to medium, and stir constantly for about 10 minutes. There is a lot of liquid, but it's ok, the longer the rice cooks and the more liquid there is, the better the porridge. Turn down the heat to low and let it cook for about 30-40 minutes, stirring every now and then. Serve hot with milk, cinnamon and butter or with Prune Soup. Also - add ONE almond to the porridge, who ever gets it will be lucky next year and will have her/his wish to come true.

LUUMUKIISSELI - PRUNE SOUP
1 1/2 cup prunes
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbs potato starch

Boil the dried prunes in water together with a cinnamon and sugar for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool for a while. Dissolve potato starch in a drop of cold water and add to prune soup. Bring to boil. I forgot to buy potato starch and used regular flour instead, and we also like mixed dried fruits better than just prunes. To really get the "right" texture for the soup you need the potato starch or potato flour, but you can also make this using regular flour, then the consistency is just thicker, like in my picture on the top, but it was still delicious.

Rosolli is one of my must have Christmas dishes! I'm not that big of a fan of beets, but this salad is so traditional in Finland during Christmas, that I couldn't imagine having Christmas without rosolli.

ROSOLLI - BEETROOT SALAD

2 cans of beets
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 apple
1 whole pickle
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch white pepper

DRESSING
half pint heavy cream
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons beet juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 pinch salt
1 pinch white pepper


Boil carrots and the potatoes (with peels on to get better flavor). Let them cool down. Peel and chop the carrots and the potatoes to small. The smaller you chop the ingredients the better this salad will be. Chop beets, onion, apple and pickle. Mix everything well, add salt and pepper to taste. Put the salad to fridge and let it sit at least an hour before eating.

I took the above picture right after I had made the salad, but the color will get deeper red after you've let the salad sit for a while.

The dressing: whip the cream and then add other ingredients, make this right before serving.

Rutabagas

LANTTULAATIKKO - RUTABAGA CASSEROLE

2 large rutabagas
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
half pint of heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons of molasses / corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ginger or cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 stick butter
1 small onion
1/2 teaspoon white pepper


There are several variations of rutabaga casserole, and if not done well, it can be very bitter. My tricks - cook for long time, and add corn syrup and cream. The original Finnish recipe calls for molasses, but the American type molasses is more bitter than the Finnish molasses, so I use dark corn syrup or even better the brown sugar corn syrup.

Peel the rutabagas, chop in fairly large cubes. Boil in water (add some salt) for almost an hour until they are super soft. Pour the water out but save about 3/4 cup of it and smash the rutabagas and add the water in the mashed rutabagas. In a separate bowl mix egg, breadcrumbs, cream, syrup and spices and let them sit for about 15-30 minutes. Chop the onion to very small and then saute it in plenty of butter to make it nice and golden. Then mix well the mashed rutabagas, cream/breadcrumb mix and the sauteed onions. Place in greased casserole dish, the deeper the better. Make spoon marks on the top of the dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. You can bake it in 400F in less than an hour, but to get better flavor, I recommend baking in 325-350F for about 2-3 hours.

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Radio City Christmas Spectacular

I would like to welcome you to spend Christmas in New York City with me! Christmas time in New York City is something I encourage everyone to experience at least once a lifetime and here are a few must see and do things I discovered during my first Christmas in the city. You can still see the magic of Holidays between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and the New Year's Eve in New York City is another experience you should see at least once!

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN NEW YORK



Build A Bear Store, Fifth Avenue

What ever your budget, you will be able to find your Christmas gifts in New York City, but even if your wallet is little bit on the lighter side, or you prefer online shopping, the window shopping in New York during Christmas time is a must. Think of it part of the Christmas culture in the city.

The Christmas department store windows are filled with unbelievable moving displays, each window telling a little story of their own. Some of the most extravagant ones are Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales.

Build A Bear Store, Fifth Avenue

While I don't like going to the large department stores with kids, there are a few stores that are just plain fun to go and stroll around with kids. My kids love The American Girl Store and the Build A Bear stores on the Fifth Avenue, and Toys'R'Us on Times Square and FAO Schwarz on the Fifth Avenue are always fun.

MUST SEE SHOWS


Radio City Christmas Spectacular

If you are visiting New York during the Holidays, make sure to reserve tickets to at least one Christmas time show. New York City Ballet's Nutcracker is a classic Christmas time ballet, which I won't get tired of seeing over and over again. If you want something new and modern, I highly recommend Cirque Du Soleil's Wintuk, it is a show with acrobatics, dancing, even ice and roller skating. Even fast & funky skateboards and mountain bikes appear in this highly skilled show, which is a cool show for the entire family. Wintuk is a great show to take your little bit older kids too, even the tweens and teens in the family will love Wintuk's story line and the young performers.

Cirque Du Soleil Wintuk


Radio City Christmas Spectacular

As you may guess from my photos galore... The Radio City Christmas Spectacular was this Christmas season one of my personal favorites. Me and kids spent my daughter's 7th birthday in the city and saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with Rockettes.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is one of the oldest still playing holiday shows in New York, and even though this was the first time I ever saw it, I would say it has developed to a very modern show with 3D glasses and multi-media parts, while still keeping the original charm and character with the high precision kicking of the Rockettes. The New York City sightseeing with a bus (the top picture) was an amazing mix of on stage performances combined with multimedia show on the background, and geek in me loved it! I personally also liked the Nativity Story part, I hadn't seen it for a while, and was also impressed of the real animals on the stage! Oh and the costumes... so colorful, perfect to the T, and you could write a whole blog post just about the costumes

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

SIGHTSEEING

There are several books written about sightseeing in New York, so these are only a few Holiday related tips I would like to share with you. Like mentioned before, the department store windows are a sight to see, and Central Park is another top hit any time of the year. Take the horse ride (only if you are equipped with warm clothes!) and then stop for a hot chocolate at one of the restaurants, like the Sara Beth's at Central Park South.

The giant Christmas ornaments are on the Sixth Avenue, only a short walk from the Rockefeller Plaza, where is probably the most famous Christmas tree in the world.

You can also find the ice skating rink at the Rockefeller Plaza, but it is fairly expensive and usually pretty crowded. There are several other ice skating rinks in New York City, and ice skating is absolutely one of the must do things while you visit the city during winter season.

If you are visiting city by train, make sure to stop at Bryant Park, only a few short blocks from the Grand Central terminal in the corner of W 42nd Street and 6th Avenue.

Bryant Park


Ice Skating in Bryant Park

Hope you enjoyed my little Holiday Tour in NYC - hope to see you visiting us here soon!

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On the first day of Tweetmas, my followers gave to me…
a DM and a retweet.


On the second day of Tweetmas, my followers gave to me…
two #twickuplines, and a DM and a retweet.


On the third day of Tweetmas, my followers gave to me…
three #shortyaward nominations, two #twickuplines,
and a DM and a retweet.

...

And it just gets better and better.. Get the whole song at The Problem is Men, thanks for making my day Charles, this is awesome!!

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Thank you so much for everyone who attended my $500 Walmart Gift Certificate Giveaway and shared so many great Holiday money saving tip ideas!

The winning Holiday Money Saving Tip was staycation, staying home instead of traveling and spending the Holidays at the Rockies. I do miss the Rockies, but the idea of making smores at home and sledding in the front yard actually appeals to me, and the money savings - huge! And still lots of fun with the kids. More money saving tips at Walmart.com.

Since Christmas is almost here - I wanted to give one lucky reader one more Christmas Gift - a $100 Walmart Gift Card. You won't get it before Christmas, but it'll be a gift you will find out on Christmas.

Gift cards are the perfect Last Minute Gift and that way the recipient will get exactly what they like. And don't worry if you can't do the high dollar ones, choose something that you can get for cheaper - like Starbucks gift card or iTunes Gift Card, 15 dollars gets a few cups of java or several song downloads. The above picture is a collection of Walmart's selection, but even if you don't want to give everyone in your list a Walmart gift card, you might still be able to find a gift card of your liking at Walmart - they also offer several restaurant gifts cards and the gift cards even for iTunes.



GIVEAWAY DETAILS
1. Comment here with your last minute gift tip (and leave me a way of me to contact you if you win).
2. Deadline December 24th midnight EST.

PS. DOUBLE your changes to win and enter Christine's giveaway too at From Dates to Diapers and Beyond

PS. Check out this baby - customized Eleven Moms card, we just heard about it this week, and it still is a corporate secret what all they will be used for, but I like how Walmart is embracing their Eleven Mom mommy panel with little details like this.

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It was a few nights before Christmas... when a bunch of nice people with a help of one very special one, Kristen, decided to grant our family's Christmas Wish of having a dog for Christmas.

We had been in contact of several close by shelters we found from PetSmart Adoptions but we hadn't had much luck of finding a dog that would fit our family until yesterday. Yesterday we packed our family in our car and despite the show storm we drove to a local shelter and visited them for a few hours taking dogs out for walks, petting them and showing the dogs our Christmas Spirit and love, while hoping by the end of the visit we could take one of them home.

The shelter we visited actually had three different dogs that would have fit our family well.

A Labrador-Shepherd mix, one of the prettiest dogs I've seen (I love Labs) - but we took her out for a walk, and spent some time with her, and since was was only around six months old, with no training whatsoever, we decided that considering her size and lack of training she might be just too much for our family. Kids might get hurt and training her from her bad habits would to take a lot of effort (she was pulling so much on leash, and no way kids could have walked him for months, and of course, there was also the issue of potty training.. ).

The second option was a Jack Russel Terrier - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Mix, cute and happy, but also not house trained. Kids loved walking her, and she was fairly well behaved, until she saw other dogs to walk by, then started to barking... She was really cute, and my girls adored her, but I didn't really have the "connection" to her. You just have to feel that the dog is "the one", you know.

And... the lucky winner, whom we all fell in love with is our new family member Austin. An unknown age beagle from Kentucky. He had just arrived to New York about a week ago, he was rescued from a kill shelter (a shelter we they put dogs to sleep, if they are not adopted after a certain amount of time). He was dirty, little shy at first, but most of the time just a happy little sweetheart. Austin is somewhere between a year and a two year old boy, he still has some puppyish characters, but he also is very calm and has been very adaptive. In general we were a little bit vary of getting anything else but a puppy - you just never know what the rescue dogs have gone through and what kind of issues they might have- but Austin just is the gentlest little friend, and I am hoping our gut feeling about him is the right one. We also did a lot of research on his breed and beagle are known to get along well with children, and one of their characteristics is being friendly.

Austin looks mostly like a Beagle, but since he is a rescue dog, we can not be sure of his breed, and his body is fairly long, in fact he has already gained a few loving family nick names like "sausage" and "a nose with a tail" (he is a sniffer), so who knows, he might even have a little bit of Dachshund in him. Either way, we love him.

Last night he was just smiling (dog owners know, dogs smile too) and he slept on the floor right next to us when we watched a family movie. He feels really comfortable here, and I think he already loves us too. In fact the only thing we have hard time training him now is not to jump up to our bed... he seems to love us so much that he wouldn't have minded at all sleeping between me and my husband last night. We just gave a little blanket for him for his "bed" for now before we have time to visit the closest PetSmart and buy his own bed. He ended up giving up after jumping to our bed around 15 times last night and finally fell asleep in his own spot.

Stay tuned for our family's adventure with Austin, and thank you so much all of my friends who made this possible.

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Last week Kristen at A Ordinary Life wrote a blog post that demonstrated True Christmas Spirit. This Christmas Spirit that left me speechless for a while, kindness that I have not experienced in my life many times (and I don't get speechless easily either). And above all - resulted in a Christmas Miracle.

Kristen had read my Christmas Wish this year - I wished we could afford a dog for our family. We live in an apartment and not just adoption fees in most shelters in New York are up to hundreds of dollars, but we also have to pay hundreds of dollars for a pet deposit for the apartment we live in. Kristen wanted to help us to make our family's Christmas Wish to come true and she was able to collect us all the money for the pet adoption fee, and a little bit for the apartment deposit as well!

There were so many amazing people who helped to make this Christmas Wish to come true, and last weekend I was just bawling most of the time.. I didn't know how to react, how to say Thank You in a way that really demonstrated how much this meant to me. I was in shock of seeing this kind of support and love coming from my community - it was of course a positive shock, I guess I felt like I was love-attacked, it was so empowering.

Thank you Kristen and all the other amazing people with hearts of gold who made this happen. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys showed True Christmas Spirit and I would like to honor some of these amazing people with a "True Christmas Spirit Award". Others - if you want to get to know some amazing people, please visit these True Christmas Award winners!

TRUE CHRISTMAS AWARD GOES TO:

Kristen from A Ordinary Life
Alexis from The Intrepid Mompreneur
John from Katadhin - My Life With Two Marys
Alyssa from Keeping The Kingdom First
Lori from A Cowboy's Wife
Jennifer from The Smart Mama
Arianne from To Think is To Create
Amber from Jersey Momma
Jennifer from The Dirty Shirt
Amanda from Mommy Mandy
Erika from Chic Shopper Chick
Colleen from Classy Mommy
Caroline from The K Buzz
Amy from Resourceful Mommy
Tara from Deal Seeking Mom

In addition:
Victoria Tuncan
Donna & Danny Presnal
Tuula & Pekka Ruokonen

<br/><a href=" http://www.skimbacolifestyle.com/2008/12/true-christmas-spirit-award-winners.html"><img border="0" src="http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/skimbaco/true-christmas-spirit.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>

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Ok, I admit, I haven't really been listening to Celine Dion for quite a few years, but I have always wanted to see her on stage.
I just heard some news about Celine’s Taking Chances World Tour's North American tour dates - they have been extended into February ’09. Unfortunately New York isn't one of the places, but check out if she will be touring close to you. I will be enjoying her show only on video.



PS. Join One2One Network to be part of cool promotions like this one ;)

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Did you check out my gift recommendations, Top Books for Holidays?

Well, lucky you, a couple of the authors of the books have promised for a special interview and to answer your questions you might have for him/her! Even more exciting news: I will be doing some of these interviews live on radio - and you are even able to call your questions in. I'm still keeping my PodCast Show launch date and details as a secret.

Ok, fine, I'll be honest, I don't have all the details in yet, but I will have two great corporate partners backing me up in this venture and I'll fill you in as soon as I have details. It is going to be all about Skimbaco Lifestyle - enjoying life and living every day to the fullest, and I will guide you to "Live Better", like the Walmartians say.

Charles J. Orlando

Charles J. Orlando's book The Problem with Women … is Men: The Evolution of a Man’s Man to a Man of Higher Consciousness just came out and Charles is already taking media by storm. He will be appearing on ABC's View From The Bay TV Show on Friday December 19th, at 3PM PST. You can also watch it live. Also, check out his blog post at MomLogic to get the Four Core Flaws of Men, and to get your chance to win a copy of his book! Hurry up, the giveaway ends on Friday! If you have any questions about men or about your relationship with one, comment here with a question and I will try to get the scoop from Charles.

Jenna McCarthy

Jenna McCarthy is the real life Carrie Bradshaw gone mom. Ok, I don't know about the sex part, we are not that close friends (yet Jenna, yet, but it's just a matter of time), but I have been thinking of stalking her and kidnapping her for some Cosmopolitans and asking all about it. Jenna is a super star writer, she's been writing to more than forty magazines before meeting The One and starting a family. In her book The Parent Trip: From High Heels and Parties to Highchairs and Potties Jenna shares her journey as becoming a mom and some tips how to survive enjoy the ride. Got questions? Jenna promised to answer.

Beth Feldman

Beth Feldman is an inspiring one woman wonder, who shows moms you can have the cake and eat it too. Beth is behind Role Mommy, a company inspiring and entertaining today's moms. Beth co-wrote Peeing in Peace: Tales and Tips for Type A Moms for biz moms. Beth is a PR extraordinaire at BeyondPR, and prior to launching her own companies, she was Vice President of the CBS Communications Group and worked on several top TV series on CBS. When you have questions how to handle the being a successful business woman and a mother, Beth comes to the rescue! Make sure to check out one of Beth's upcoming events Role Mommy at the Ritz in January.

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Are you a savvy shopper like me? If so, you might want to enjoy Buzzillions, a product reviews site for consumers by consumers. Yes- real people, real users, real reviews and honest reviews. Every review is published and no favorites played. One of the best parts is that the reviews come from real buyers - Buzzillions sends out surveys to customers of several of their partners like Walmart, Macy's or RadioShack asking their customers to review a product, after the have purchased it. Neat way to assure the product reviews are real!

I have been thinking of getting a simple, light weight point and shoot camera that would be easy to use for traveling and carrying around every day. I typed in camera on Buzzillions and narrowed down my camera pick by use "travel" since I was looking for something small to carry along. I could have also chosen to see reviews of cameras of certain brand, or best cameras of a specific feature like "Comfortable controls".


Nikon Coolpix S50 Digital Camera was one of the products that I liked in the list and I wanted to learn more, so I clicked to see the reviews of this particular camera. I was able to find 237 reviews of real users of this Nikon camera, and I also saw where they purchased it and also the price in that particular store. Buzzillions also has this handy snap shot of the reviews so you can see with one look what are the best qualities of this particular camera:

$75 Giveaway

Since Buzzillions is a review site for people by people, they also want to know your opinion how to make it this community based site to work the best for you. The nice people at Buzzillion are offering a $75 paypal gift certificate for one lucky reader.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

1. Visit Buzzillions, spend some time on it exploring and taking notes on what you like/don’t like, and leave a comment here. Remember to leave me a way to get hold of you, in case you win.

2. Deadline December 22nd mid night EST.

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New York City area mamas! I have another great giveaway and event for you and your family to go. Join Role Mommy at The Ritz-Carlton, New York, Battery Park on Saturday, January 24, 2009 for a fabulous brunch, where you and your kids will get to meet a celebrity nanny, the author of the best selling Baby Name Wizard, children's book authors, a tween novelist and much more. Fashions, authors and fun giveaways, this will be an event you don't want to miss! Event sponsors include the One2One Network, Manic Mommies, who will podcasting from the event, Tres Couture, and Traveling Mom among many other cool sponsors.

Read more about this fun event and leave a question you might have for one of these special guests and you could win a few tickets for the event! Details below.




Q & A with Super Nanny!

Meet the Hollywood nanny Marva Soogrim, and ask her questions about parenting or about your newborn, toddler or pre-schooler. Want to know how to find a perfect nanny? Marva will answer! Marva is a one of a kind caregiver who has worked with celebrities like Julia Roberts, Courtney Cox, Sheryl Crow, Reese Witherspoon and more!







Need Help With Naming That Baby..?

If you're searching for a baby name or have been surprised by the names you hear around you, then you are going to love talking with bestselling Baby Name Wizard author Laura Wattenberg. Laura is a well known baby name expert and she will share the latest news on the hottest baby name trends.







Get Crafty!

Abby Pecorriello, bestselling author of Crafty Mama and editor in chief of Nickelodeon's Parents Connect will be on hand sharing great ideas for craft activities for your pre-schoolers.




O'la la Fashions!

Tres Couture will showcase their fabulous fashions in a fashion show that will make you ooh and aah, and the clothing and accessories will also be available for sale at the event.










Meet Mari Mancusi

Meet tween novelist Mari Mancusi, author of the new bestseller Gamer Girl. Plus, she's written over a dozen young adult novels including several devoted to vampires!



WIN TICKETS

The event will be on Saturday 24th January, 2008 at 11-3PM at The Ritz-Carlton, New York, Battery Park (2 West Street, New York, NY 10004).

Tickets: Adults are $40, Kids 6-11 are $20 and children under 5 are free! Get Tickets Now

You can win one of the following ticket packages, winner's choice:
$60 value - one parent/one child over six
- or-
$80 - 2 parents and two kids under five

1. Comment here with a question you would like to ask to one of the above special guests of the Role Mommy at The Ritz event. Remember to leave your contact info so I am able to contact you in case you win!

2. Deadline January 5th, mid night EST, 2009.

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I'm sharing a secret with you... my girls are getting hair clips and headbands from Pea Soup Accessories for Christmas. It felt like Christmas morning to me when I opened the Pea Soup Accessories package that arrived to my door steps earlier this week! I absolutely loved all of their products! I got headbands (also soft headbands) & hair clips for both girls.

To be honest, I have been seeing a lot of hair accessories in the past few years. As a retailer, I have been in children's apparel trade shows and visited several hair accessory companies, as well I have reviewed a few companies here in my blog before. And let me tell you, it takes a bit to impress me on this field. But Pea Soup Accessories sure impressed me with their high quality products. Every stitch was perfectly positioned, every decorative crystal was in a spot you'd expect it to be, and the hair clips are like candy, deliciously adorable.

When you are looking for special Holidy Gifts for your little girl, check out Pea Soup Accessories, they also offer cute gift ideas for babies, like baby socks (also for boys!), layette and photo albums. All of their products are high quality, nicely packed and they are super fast shippers. The hair clips would make perfect stocking stuffers too, and they come in so many colors and styles that you are able to find just the perfect one to fit any outfit.

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Protect your baby... I mean, your iPhone with durable silicone cover. My favorite brand is ifrogz and their Pink iPhone Wrapz for iPhone 3G ($14.99) would make a great stocking stuffer for any iPhone gal.







Another great choice from iFrogz is this Black Silicone Stylish Treadz Case for Apple iPhone 3G ($15.99) for the guys. It gives a totally new look to the iPhone, and makes your phone noticed while providing excellent protection.








For girls big or small this snowman necklace brings joy the whole winter. It is handmade and available at I Sew Cute ($12.50). You can also get it as a keychain!










Cute gift for anyone! A handmade Pine Tree Soap ($5) smells like the Christmas tree. You will find an amazing collection of handmade luxury soaps at SunBasilGarden











Apple iTunes Gift cards make great stocking stuffers for almost anyone in the family who enjoy music on the go. You can get them in several different amounts, starting at 10 dollars.










Seal's newest CD is a collection of old soul classics, and easy listening for almost anyone in the family. One of my most listened CDs at the moment! Seal Soul CD ($9.99)

A secret weapon, a fashion accessory must have - IsaBelt ($16.95) is a great gift for teens, tweens and women and now also they make a version for men. Keeps pants up without the bulge of a huge belt buckle.












Hatley's note pads are funny & make great stocking stuffers or small gifts for teachers, friends, neighbors, pet sitters and almost anyone in your list. The magnet in the back allows you to stick this pad in the fridge door for easy access. Tree Hugger Magnetic Note Pad ($6) sure makes me smile.










For a stylish tree hugger friend may I recommend this shopping tote ($10)? It is durable but light weight and it's easy to carry in a handbag as an extra bag if needed, and makes a stylish and eco-friendly shopper for everyday use.

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Boon ModWare ($3.99) toddler utensils are colorful gift your tot will love. Seriously - what would be better than learning independence?









This Mushroom Wooden Clip Light Blue with Nickel-free Clip ($4.49) by Haba is absolutely one of the cutest paci clips I've seen.










Munchkin Snack Catchers ($3.51) is another great product for a tot learning independent eating. You can read more in my previous review.







One more gift for eating... The green zany dots bib ($7) from Little Miss Matched is reversible and just plain fun!

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I am humbled of all of the blog posts about the Monkey-Toes' ladybug shoes I helped to get to the hands of Tom Cruise, who happened to show them for Oprah on Oprah Show, while she was visiting his Telluride home. Watch the Oprah today!

But I am just a retailer and a PR girl, who put everything together, the real mompreneur behind the Suri's famous ladybug shoes is Jenny Ford of Monkey-Toes from Colorado. Jenny is busy filling out orders and sending fabulous shoes to be found under the tree on Christmas morning, but I had a chance to interview her and even I learned some new things about her!


Katja: When did you start Monkey-Toes?

Jenny: I conceptually began Monkey-Toes about 9 years ago while taking a painting class with my best friend. I saw the cutest idea for painting on children’s shoes, so I tried a design from a book, and decided to change it around and I branched off from there with my own. My first design was the Ladybug and they have been our most popular ever since. After a ton of legwork, testing, copyrighting, I actually opened my doors 6 years ago. We’ve been blessed and have been growing ever since.



Katja: The name Monkey-Toes just makes you feel warm and fuzzy, how did you come up with it?

Jenny:The name Monkey-Toes came from my first daughter Rose’s really long toes. I had thought for months about the name for the company and when she popped out and I looked at her toes, I knew that would be the perfect fit!


Katja: What is the best part of being a mompreneur?

Jenny: The best part of my work is the creative process. I love changing something from blah to something amazing and useful. I am a very visual person so I really love to change the look of everyday things. I love marketing, I love being myself (completely silly) and having people react in a really positive way.


Katja: What did you think when your shoes were on Oprah? Wasn't it amazing?

Jenny: Oh My! What does anyone think when their stuff shows up on Oprah??? I think I was in complete shock. Though I didn’t actually get to see the show until a few days later, which drove me completely nuts. My stepmom called and said “Jenny, I think your shoes were just on Oprah”. An amazing mix of feelings comes over you. I think I floated through the rest of the day!



Katja: But this isn't completely new to you though - several other celebrity children wear Monkey-Toes shoes too.

Jenny:Yes, the list of celebtots is endless, we’ve had a great success with celebrity gifting. Allison Sweeney was just photographed with some of our accessories (wings, wands, antenna), Jennifer Garner’s tot, Violet, was spotted with our Buzzy Bees socks, Liam McDermott (Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott) wears our socks and shoes, Trista & Ryan Sutter’s (from the Bachelorette) son Max wears our Spunky Spiders tennis shoes, and the list can continue on and on.



Katja: That's awesome! Can you give us a scoop what is the next big thing happening for Monkey-Toes?

Jenny: The next big thing…can’t reveal too much, but we are growing tons. We are getting ready to launch another complementary accessory line – it is amazing. We’re also seeking investors to grow this baby and explode it! We’ve got some major growth potential over the next year or so with more distribution in many more countries. I picture really amazing things.

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Last May something magical happened... All what I call "ladybug luck". A product from my store was featured on Oprah show...

Now the Oprah show will re-air on Friday! Check your local listings for show times!


In the show, Oprah visits Tom Cruise in his Telluride mountain home, walks inside his mudroom sees Suri's adorable ladybug shoes. Oprah picks up the ladybug shoes and Tom Cruise says "Suri likes the ladybugs".

The ladybug shoes? They are Monkey-Toes Little Ladies Mary Janes from Skimbaco.com!

I helped a Cruise / Holmes family friend last Holiday season to put together a gift basket for Tom Cruise and his family. Lots of great gifts for Katie Holmes, adorable clothing, jewelry and accessories for Suri, and even Blume personalized clothing for Tom. AND these adorable Ladybug shoes were on the gift basket, and now Suri's favorite shoes!

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I have been meaning to write about the Macy's Thanksgiving parade we went to see in NYC. The thing is that.. my photos are not very good and well, we missed a lot of it. We did get to the city fairly early, but still didn't get good enough of a spot to see the parade very close. It was still an amazing experience, but next year we will be there even earlier to see it better.

I think there is a little bit of Holiday magic just to be able to shop at Macy's during the Holidays. I am so happy to share a 20% Macy's discount code with you.



Click to see it better the details of the Macy's Friends & Family discount code


The coupon code is good during 12/10-12/15, please click the link to see details & restrictions, good news is that it is also valid for online shopping!

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Patrick Dempsey On Phone, In A Bottle, On A Kitchen Table

I'm mcdreamin' here, but it's all family friendly content. And with the "family friendly" I mean that my mother-in-law, father and husband read my blog, so I need to keep it down, ya know.

Ok, fine, Patrick Dempsey has not been even close to my kitchen table. (And if he'd ever come close to my kitchen table, I'd serve him some wild caught Atlantic salmon, hollandaise sauce and asparagus like for anybody else coming over for dinner. )

I do have a bottle of his new fragrance Unscripted in the front of me on a table though, and I was on a phone call with Patrick Dempsey, listening to him passionately speaking of his new exciting fragrance with AVON just mere 24 hours ago.


Ok, fine, it wasn't just me and him... It was me and Steph from Adventures in Babywearing, Maria from Diary of a Blue Suit Mom, Arianne from To Think is To Create, Janice from 5 Minutes for Mom, Amy from Parentsphere, Trisha from MomDot, Michelle from Scribbit, Beth from I Should Be Folding Laundry, Kim from Jogging Circles and a few journalists like the gal from Cosmo, to whom Patrick (I can call you Patrick, right? You can also call me Katja, and you are welcome to call me anytime) said "I know you" making us mommy bloggers green of envy.


Yes, me on phone with Patrick... Don't faint, even though I almost did yesterday. I got intoxicated from listening to Patrick Dempsey speaking sweetly in my ear. Or maybe it was because I just kept spraying some more Unscripted and smelling the hints of vetiver and patchouli in the fragrance. I had no idea what either one of those were but I googled them and used a dictionary so now I do know these two essential ingredients of Unscripted.

Either way, I was late picking up my kids from school, and still a little tipsy when I got to school and back to my motherly duties.

(Note to my daughter's teacher: I know I told I was late because of the call with Patrick Dempsey, and if you happened to notice my pants were unzipped, like I did when I was walking back to my car, I swear in the name of my dead grandmother, it had absolutely nothing to do with the phone call with Patrick Dempsey. The trousers are just old. Talk about quickly coming down from my mchigh to down to ultimate embarrassment.)


Start struck? I think so - but even more so - I was just impressed by Patrick Dempsey. Ok, maybe he is a PR machine & an actor, but he truly made all of us bloggers to feel that he was happy to have a little talk with us. He even called us powerful. He also said that what we say will either positively or negatively effect people deeply, and we have a responsibility.. Hm, I wonder if he saw my Motrin video..?

The story...

AVON has been working with Patrick Dempsey's make up artist wife, Jillian Dempsey, for a while and according to AVON, she is a true mastermind behind the reformation of AVON. Jillian has been creating new products, and her make up line has been a huge success. One day Jillian and the AVON representative were collaborating about AVON, and Patrick walked in and they started talking about possibly working together with him.

While Patrick was telling the story how he got started working on the project, how involved he was in the process of designing the fragrance, the packaging, the name and everything involved, all I could just sense how passionately he was involved with it. He said that he thinks AVON is genuinely authentic company with a true passion of taking care of the community, like fighting against women's cancer, which he also is passionate about. Did you know he has a The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Maine?

It was also very sweet how he was talking about his wife, working with her and that he had learnt after ten years of marriage to listen to his wife's opinion - and he just had to look at his wife to know her opinion if she liked the fragrance.

He was really into the whole process of making the scent and wanted to create something with authenticity and naturalness, and light to wear. He didn't want to put a product out that he didn't believe in. Unscripted is a fresh scent, that actually works for both women & men. He said that the whole crew of Grey's Anatomy now loves and wears the fragrance too!

Unscripted has black pepper, cardamom, lavender, water anis accord, vetiver and patchouli, among a few other scents used to form a very classy fragrance, sweet, but not too sweet, fresh but not like your morning mouthwash like some fragrances. I like it a lot, and I have been wearing it myself the past two days, but I think now I am ready to share it with my husband too.


Get Unscripted

FREE SHIPPING Coupon Code - JINGLE30
Expires – 1/31/09
The coupon gives you free standard shipping with a $30 order when you shop with an eRepresentative, and since Unscripted is $32, you'll get free shipping when you buy the fragrance!

But this is not all... I have one bottle of Unscripted for one lucky reader!


ENTER THE UNSCRIPTED GIVEAWAY

1. Leave a comment here with your most memorable scent.

2. Deadline December 16th midnight EST.

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What is more New York than Radio City Music Hall?
What is more traditional dance spectacular than Rockettes?
What is the most popular Christmas show?
You know the answer - I got the tickets!!

I am so excited to share you a discount code for the tickets for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with Rockettes and even better... four tickets for the Saturday Dec. 27th show!


The Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the world famous Radio City Rockettes is an amazing show featuring the Rockettes signature eye high kicks, stunning costumes and amazing choreography. The show offers the legendary "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and the famous "New York at Christmas" holiday number. Santa Claus, first Christmas and tunes of The Nutcracker - all beautifully spun in one spectacular show of dance and music. A show that the entire family will enjoy!

ENTER RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR WITH ROCKETTES GIVEAWAY

Ticket Giveaway Details:
Prize: 4 Tickets on Saturday Dec. 27th at 7pm
Enter by December 12th, midnight EST by leaving a comment to this post with your link, email or Twitter handle.



RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR TICKETS COUPON CODE FOR 25% OFF

Get tickets for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Show now! Tickets on sale now through Dec. 30, 2008. But if you go before December 19th, thanks to One2One Network, I am able to offer a special 25% off coupon of select tickets by using the Sale Code: ONE2ONE for the following show dates and times:

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FOR NEW OR PREGNANT MOM.
Mama Knows Breast ($14.95) by Andi Silverman is a perfect gift for a pregnant friend, who is planning on breast feeding. The book is full of facts and practical advice, but it doesn't preach - it's written more with a humorous note for a new mom to enjoy.

ANY MOM.
Every mom should read Jenna McCarthy's The Parent Trip: From High Heels and Parties to Highchairs and Potties ($11.66). It's a great not-so-serious book for any mom, or mother-to-be. Real life advice spun together with humorous self-expression by a mother-of-two, superstar fashion writer Jenna McCarthy. Thanks a lot Jenna - you made me look like a weirdo at NYC subway, laughing out loud and being afraid I'd wet my pants in public. (Yeah, the book is that funny.)

PROFESSIONAL MOM.
Talking of peeing (sorry to grouse you out during Holidays and all, but this is what all moms talk about sometimes in form or another)... another funny book for moms is Peeing in Peace: Tales and Tips for Type A Moms ($9.95) by Beth Feldman and Yvette Manessis Corporon. Real life advice spiced with humor for working moms by two successful professional women behind Rolemommy.com.

FOR WOMEN & MEN.
Being a parent is serious business, that can also put your relationship in a hard spot sometimes. The Problem with Women … is Men: The Evolution of a Man’s Man to a Man of Higher Consciousness ($14.95) is Charles J. Orlando's first book, and not your traditional relationship book. He interviewed hundreds of women and men and based her witty advice on his own experience as well as the research he did. Great read for anyone who wants to succeed in her/his relationship.

WINE LOVER.
And if sipping wine with your loved one or to accompany your dinner is for you, I would like to recommend Gary Vaynerchuk's 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World ($13.57) to give you ideas of wines to taste and that give bang for your buck. You can also watch Gary at Wine Library TV.

FOR WOMEN.
When you need a break and want a great vacation book, I love Karen Quinn's books. Her Holly Would Dream ($11.90) came out earlier this year, and it is a perfect NYC biz girl novel with world travel, action & romance, and gives you a few good laughs too.

FOR BLOGGER.
Problogger ($16.46) by Darren Rowse & Chris Garrett is a must read book for a novice or an experienced blogger. No other book can so essentially address both the beginners questions as well give detailed information for bloggers who have been already blogging for a while.

FOR ANYONE WHO WRITES.
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing ($11.20) by Mignon Fogarty is a perfect gift for any blogger, writer or tween or teen. Easy to read modern day grammar book

FOR KIDS WHO COOK.
My kids love cooking - and Paula Deen! The Paula Deen's My First Cook Book ($13.43) offers recipes that are easy and fun to do together with your child.

FOR DOG PEOPLE, ANY AGE.
If you are planning on taking your kids to see Marley & Me in the movie theater this Holiday season, your kiddo might also love the Marley and Me: Meet Marley ($3.99) - great for 3rd graders and up. You will also enjoy the full novel by John Grogan ($7.99).

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Did you know Patrick Dempsey teamed up with Avon and created a new fragrance called Unscripted? The fragrance for men just came out, right on time for the Holidays.


"At the heart of Unscripted is the idea of living your life on your own terms, and not by a written script. It's about loving what you do, and doing it in your unique way, rather than being defined by rules" Patrick Dempsey

The story behind the fragrance is great and something that me and my husband truly believe in and live by every day, and ultimately what Skimbaco (= "skiing in Colorado", enjoying your life by doing what you love) is all about, and the fragrance with "woody greens, cardamon, peppercorn & lavender" sounds so inviting & may I say: sexy for men.

So I am very excited to be not just testing this product soon, but also.... being on a call interviewing Patrick Dempsey!

I kid you not! Patrick Dempsey and Avon invited a few mommy bloggers on a call and we get to ask questions from Mr. Dempsey regarding this new fragrance Unscripted.


I need your help my dear friends & readers! What should I ask?

Ps. I found Unscripted on sale for $23

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LeapFrog Leapster ($52.63) is a great gaming system starting at 4-5 year olds. The best about the Leapster is that your child can grow with it - there are several levels & different age appropriate games to go with the system. The games are fun, but also educational, like all of the LeapFrog products.






Boys (little and big) love the EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles ($63.99). These night vision goggles use the real night vision technology and yes - you can really see with them in dark. Since these night vision goggles are only monocular (= only for one eye), not binocular , it might make it difficult for the little ones to navigate and I wouldn't recommend this toy for kids under 4.







The Cascading Cars Toddler Toy ($58) is a great gift for your little man. The cascading cars provide hours of joy for toddler aged kids. Made of solid wood, so you know this high quality toy has potential to be your family heirloom to be passed around.













Looking for something beyond the latest toys? The Transportation Twink Lamp ($56) brings color & style to the boys room, and mom will probably like it too.









The wooden Airport Play Center ($80) is a gifts for 2-3 year old - and he will love it for a few years. This toy is something boys can already play with when small tots, but also can grow into.











Stylish, but practical. This Chalkboard Table eBeanstalk ($269) is a prefect gift for a toddler boy. The durable wooden table & chair set is awesome - you don't have to worry about your son messing it up. The table top is chalkboard - endless hours of drawing fun!









This VTech Write N Learn Desk ($188.90) may seem a bit pricey for over 180 bucks, but it is way more than just a table & chair. Your child will magically learn to write (really, the table teaches kids to write letters step by step) and makes the pictures alive (the table will react to drawings with sounds & music). Recommended age: over 4.

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The Children's Place offers great gifts for the Holidays, and especially I was drawn to their cute pajama sets this year - and The Children's Place offers sleepwear also for adults, which was news to me! Giving pajamas is our Holiday tradition, and I'm sure we are not the only family with that tradition. The PJ gift is usually "the one gift" children can already open on Christmas Eve - and then take on Christmas morning wearing a new set of pajamas. The Children's Place wanted to offer one lucky reader a $30 gift certificate for Holiday shopping, details below - after some of my gift idea picks.

My favorite ones are the comfy 100% cotton pjs ($12.50) with joyful graphics like this snowflake stripe. The same print is available for adults ($24.50) as well. These are also cute unisex pjs for siblings.

My daughter would love this cute comfy cotton pj set ($12.50) with delicious stripes.

Another great gift idea for the cold winter evenings and morning is this soft & warm glacier fleece robe ($24.50), it has an adorable polar bear skiing embroided in the front.

And for the little ones... isn't this candy cane blanket sleeper ($10) cute and very inexpensive gift for a baby spending his/her first Christmas.



$30 THE CHILDREN'S PLACE GIFT CERTIFICATE GIVEAWAY DETAILS
One lucky winner will get a $30 The Children's Place Gift Certificate!

1. Check out The Children's Place and tell what you would gift from their store with your $30 gift certificate and comment here with your choice.
2. Remember to leave your link, twitter handle or email address so I have a way to contact you if you win.
3. Giveaway ends December 10th midnight EST.

Check out more gift ideas

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When my kids were babies & toddlers they had the older version of the LeapFrog's Learning Tad ($59.99) - they absolutely loved it! The green lovable & huggable frog sings songs, teaches colors & shapes and even soothes the toddler into sleep with a lullaby. Now my kids are older - but they still love the LeapFrog products, and so do I for their high quality, colorful graphics and they are worth every penny for the amount of time my kids play with them.




The Stokke Tripp Trapp was in my Holiday Gift Guide last year too, and it probably will be next year too. It is a classic and a worth every penny and a must have for every kid. I have three children and I have three of these Stokke Tripp Trapp high chairs, which are still in every day use, and my oldest one is almost 9 years old. The Tripp Trapp starts at $199.99 and you will also need the rail for the babies (mine started using Tripp Trapp around at 6 months old). I also recommend the cushion. All this adds to the price, but believe me, it is worth the money. These high chairs turn into normal chairs and last forever. And extra bonus - they come in a huge variety of colors to match your decor & look stylish & modern.








The softest, most luxurious modern baby accessories & blanket come from baby star. This soft Poodle Blanket ($66) comes in several beautiful colors and fashionable prints. The matching bedding adds extra luxury to baby's nursery.












Bright colors intrigue the baby and funky animals make the baby smile. Feed baby's imagination with this colorful Jungle Mobile ($120) - sure to bring color to nursery decor and smiles for the baby. An added bonus: this colorful zoo of animals is hand knit.








Record the memories in style in this Binth Baby Book ($110). The book's pages have simple yet elegant illustrations and it makes it easy to write down those all "firsts". Plenty of places for photos - this book will be a treasured keepsake for life.












This Hatley Bear Country Baby Snow Bundler ($80) got my attention! Great for strolling around, and something that is easy to dress and take off. I can't bearly believe how cute the print is! And for girls - you should check out the pink one :)














When a child is sick, any parent is ready to do almost anything to relief the discomfort. Even though this Thermofocus Family Fever Thermometer ($74.95) won't cure your baby, this will make it easy for any parent to take the temperature - without even touching! It takes the temperature when you just hold it in the front of the baby's forehead, you can easily to do it, even when baby is asleep. One of those devices parents truly appreciate in the moment they are needed.

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It's Cyber Monday, and I have been shopping for Christmas gifts already the past few weeks. But not spent a dime. I have been in this shopping business for years, and sharing my finds is a way of living and what I enjoy doing, but to be honest, I haven't even started shopping for Christmas yet for my own family, but I do have a wishlist what I want to buy.

To be honest, I normally do not make wish lists for me for Christmas or for any other day. We normally buy something we/I need anyway, and it is just "my gift", and to be honest, it's OK. I don't really seek for the excitement to open gifts. My best gifts have been experiences like going skiing with family, going to a concert with my husband or a trip to Europe or a car that we needed anyway and just happened to order around Mother's Day.

But this year, when we are really tight on money, due the economy and the recent move from Colorado to New York and my ever growing medical bills among other things, there are two gifts that I really really want this Christmas (for the entire family). It's weird, in the past years when we could have easily swung the money for these two gifts, I never really had big things in "my list", I didn't have a "list". This year - I'm really upset we can not just swing these two gifts, due money. Money or things don't make me happy, and that's not what Christmas is about, and has never been to me or our family. Spending the time with family, making the memories and baking the cookies, seeing kids laugh and be happy... that's much more important.

Even our kids know this. My 8 year old said she is looking forward of Christmas since it is fun family time, that it's not really about the gifts, even though chapter books would be welcome. My 6 year old said she wanted to have a few TAG books for Christmas to improve her reading, but no toys this year. My 5 year old wants his LEGO Police Set and a HESS truck, but said he'd settle for nice pajamas to keep him cozy at nights.

Why it is that after all this... after explaining kids the meaning of Christmas, and it not being about the gifts, and my kids actually accepting it... it is me, who is dying to buy two big gifts for our family? Why do I have this nagging conscious I'm being a bad parent, because I can not buy these two gifts? Even though I know deep inside that I am being a good parent, and teaching my children the right values.

Oh.. and the gifts that are nagging me.

A puppy. We lost our Frank earlier this year, and we now all feel we are ready for another dog in our life. Nobody will ever replace Frank, but we would like to welcome another rescue dog in to our family.

Wii Fit. Everybody talks about it, it looks so much fun, and it just looks something our family would enjoy playing together. I need to get in better shape for the ski season, and this would do the trick - bringing the virtual slopes to our living room. Just in case we can't afford many ski weekends this years either.

How do you feel about Christmas shopping this year?


PS. I've been attending Wii giveaways (too bad nobody is giving away puppies) online, and my best trick for you too is to attend giveaways to fill the Santa's sack. Check out several giveaways my friends & I are hosting.

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One of the reasons why we wanted to move close to New York City was the entertainment, the Broadway, the plays, the shows, the fun. And this Holiday season I really want to take kids to see at least one Holiday show, and the options in New York City are overwhelming, so many good ones to choose from. But Wintuk by Cirque Du Soleil seems to be one of the most unique shows out there, and something new and exciting, that I know me and kids would love to see. This seasonal story, which features a cast of 50 performers from Cirque du Soleil, is back this year with a mind-blowing new trampoline act and astounding puppet creations by Michael Curry.


Wintuk is a story of a boy who wants to find snow, he lives in a cold city, and seeks out to the imaginary North world called Wintuk to get snow to his city. The boy, Jamie, meets acrobats, dancers and ice giants in this adventure through the city and to Wintuk. The show is a combination of singing, dancing and acrobatics, something unique and exciting only Cirque Du Soleil can deliver.

Wintuk runs until January 4th in the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

If you want to see Wintuk, the musical, and playful show, bursting with the energy of the city and the magic of a winter wonderland, this is your change! Thanks to One2One Network, I am able to offer you the friends & family special 25% Off Deal of select tickets by using the Promo Code: ONE2ONE Get Tickets Now! (Promo ends December 23rd)



Even bigger thanks One2One Network I am able to offer free tickets for Wintuk (for 4) for one lucky reader! Yes! Wintuk Ticket Giveaway!!

DETAILS:
Blog Giveaway Ticket Giveaway Details:
Prize: 4 Tickets on December 12th, 7:30pm show - one winner!

Giveaway run dates: Asap so that we can get the tickets shipped to the winner by Dec 11th
Name and address of winner to O2O no later than: Dec 9th

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
1. Leave a comment here telling your best Holiday Memory or best New York City Holiday Memory if you have one.
2. Important: leave your email address or a link to your blog or your twitter handle so I can contact you if you win.
3. ENDS: December 7th and the winner needs to get back to me with the shipping address within 24 hrs - I must have your address by December 8th to be able to get the tickets on time.

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Many of my Twitter friends commented about the ELLE Sadie lunch bag in my Holiday Gift Guide, and a stylish lunch/insulated bag truly is a great gift idea for a working woman - or mom who wants to carry snacks or even milk bottles in style.


I am happy to host a giveaway for not just one, but THREE stylish lunch bags! Three winners and you can pick your favorite from two different styles, from two cool lunch bag brands.

MARIO BATALI LUNCH BAGS

Mario Batali's stylish and eco-friendly line of reusable insulated lunch bags are slightly more earthy and casual styles. The Mario Batali Lunch Bags are high quality and the best: a portion of the Mario Batali Lunch Bags proceeds will benefit The Lunch Box Auction, a non-profit organization which splits it proceeds between The Food Bank For New York City and The Lunchbox Fund. What is better than giving back?

Mario Batali Insulated Satchel in Persimmon Floral
and Pesto Green, starting at $20.

ELLE LUNCH BAGS

ELLE has several beautiful styles of thermos / lunch bags, in which beauty and style combine with functionality for every day use. ELLE bags are great for modern women, and I could totally see business women carrying lunch to work with these stylish bags.

ELLE Kate Lunch Bag in Plaid
and Wasabi Green (starting at $24.99)

WIN IT!!! TRIPLE LUNCH BAG GIVEAWAY!

I will randomly choose Three Winners to choose their lunch bags! The winners can choose either a ELLE Sadie Lunch Bag in print of your choice or MARIO BATALI Insulated Messenger Bag in any print. The print choice is subject to availability. NOTE: The winners need to reply back with their shipping address within 24 hours after the notice or I will pick another winner.

ELLE Sadie lunch bag in Plaid, Black and
Houndstooth (starting $19.99)




Mario Batali Insulated Messenger bags in Pesto Stripe,
Espresso and Persimmon (starting at $25)

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
1. Post a Comment with your Favorite Mario Batali or ELLE lunch bag.

2. Remember to leave a link, email address or your twitter name so I can contact you if you win.

3. Deadline December 9th, midnight EST. Winners will be contacted December 10th.



PS. You might want to Subscribe my Blog Feed so you won't miss my next giveaway & all the other holiday gift ideas coming up. See all my current giveaways.

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