For months I had been hankering after a new phone that would organize my life, cook our dinner, put away our laundry, and bring peace to the Middle East. I also wanted a cellular network that doesn’t cut me off when I’m in the middle of a life-or-death conversation with my hairdresser and gets reception at the northern most point on the Maine coast.
So when I was asked to test drive a Palm Pre Plus on Verizon Wireless, I immediately turned to my good friends at Engadget to see if the Palm Pre was a phone I might want to try. I don’t care to waste my time (or yours) reviewing products I don’t think I will enjoy so I always research them before I accept offers like this. Unfortunately there was no word on the phone’s ability to sort lights and darks, but it did tout multitasking capabilities, crisp web browsing, and a sleek, compact design. Because if a phone isn’t stylish, what good is it?
While the Palm Pre hadn’t been on my radar before, I was instantly intrigued when I read the reviews about it, and Verizon’s good reputation made me eager to try it and see if I noticed a remarkable difference from the network I was used to.
The rest, as they say, is history. If you’ve been following my posts in this series, you know that I found the Palm Pre to have a crisp, vivid touch screen with phenomenal web browsing and video capabilities, convenient multi-tasking and status updates, and clear, dependable reception on Verizon’s wireless 3G network. I haven’t had a single dropped call or found myself without cell phone reception since I started using the Palm Pre Plus. In fact, I am currently in the process of breaking contract with my current provider and switching over to Verizon so that I can use my Palm Pre Plus full time, I am that happy with it. As for dinner and the laundry, a girl can dream, right?
As this Verizon Palm Pre campaign draws to a close, it’s time to announce the winners of the three $25 Verizon gift cards and the Palm Pre Plus.
The winner of the first Verizon gift card from the first post is #29 — Elizabeth.
The winner of the second Verizon gift card from the second post is #7 — Courtney.
The winner of the third Verizon gift card from the third post is #143 — Nancy.
And finally. Dunh-dunh-dunnnnnnnnnnnnhhhh…
The winner of the Palm Pre Plus is #77 — DeAnn. CONGRATS!! I know you will love having a smart phone that lives up to its name, but don’t call me complaining when it puts a red sweater in with your load of whites. We’ve come a long way in the world of technology but some things are just better left to human hands.
I also want to give a big holla to my dear friends Cooper and Emily at TheMotherhood.com. Thank you SO much for the opportunity to work on this campaign.
Fine print: If I don’t hear back from someone by Monday at 8am, I will select another winner. I wrote this review while working on a Verizon Palm Pre Plus campaign by TheMotherhood.com on behalf of Verizon Wireless and was given a Palm Pre Plus (and prizes for giveaways) to facilitate my review.
This giveaway is closed. In addition to one 12×12-inch custom piece from Modern Bird Studios, Megan and Gregg have offered to give a second winner a 50% off gift certificate. The randomly selected numbers were 25 and 4, so the winner of the 12×12 piece of personalized artwork is Hillcrest Cottage. And should she wish to accept, the 50% off coupon goes to courtney. Congrats, ladies, and thank you Megan and Gregg for providing this giveaway.
In this challenging economic climate, it seems that there’s no end to the creative and innovative ways people are keeping food on the table. Case in point: Modern Bird Studios.
Modern Bird Studios is a small family business run by Gregg Deal and his wife Megan, inspired by Gregg’s interest in urban art and his desire to use his talent to provide for his family. He combines technology and painting to turn personal photographs into pieces of hip modern art. Seriously, you’ve got to check it out.
Megan contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I’d be interested in receiving a piece of their artwork and offered to provide a giveaway for my readers as well as a discount code. I’m pretty choosy about the reviews and giveaways I accept these days, especially the ones that I put here on Musings of a Housewife, but as soon as I saw their site, I knew I had to tell y’all about it.
The process was a piece of cake, and Megan was delightful to deal with. I knew immediately which picture I wanted to use.
I got to choose two colors from this color chart. I was tempted by the tan and white, but I knew I wanted to hang it on the rust-red walls of my office and I thought the black and white would be the perfect contrast, so that was my final answer. The very next day Megan sent an image proof for my approval. It looked great, so she said Gregg was going to get to work painting it. He painted it on a 12×24 block of wood. In their FAQ section, you can see a description of the process and an explanation of why he uses wood vs. canvas. A few days later Megan contacted me to say that my painting was going in the mail, and it arrived on my doorstep the next day. Even she was surprised at how fast it came. I unwrapped it to find this:
I KNOW! That’s my view whenever I look up from my computer. What a treasure!
I guess you know what’s coming next…
WIN IT! One lucky winner will receive a 12×12-inch painting from Modern Bird Studios. That’s a $215 value. You will supply them with the photo of your choice and the two colors you would like the piece created in. To be eligible to win, there are a couple things you need to do:
1. Follow @Modern_Bird on Twitter
2. Follow Modern Bird on Facebook
3. Leave a comment on this post telling me anything relevant to the artwork at Modern Bird.
I will randomly select a winner next Monday, March 1st.
Finally, if you don’t win, Modern Bird is offering MOAH readers 15% applicable towards a custom piece (from a photo) or for any of the Bloom Pre-Designed Series. This offer expires on March 8, and the code is MUSINGS.
This giveaway is closed. The winner is Mel @ A Box of Chocolates!! I hope you enjoy your new jewelry.
At Blissdom, I received a $50 gift card to the vintage pearl and I met two of the lovely ladies behind the beautiful hand stamped jewelry.
Like this.
And this.
And since I already have a couple of pieces of hand stamped jewelry in my dresser drawer, I thought that I’d use this gift certificate as a giveaway, just because I appreciate you all. And because I have a minor case of the winter blues, and I thought it might be fun to make somebody squeal with delight. And because I hit 1400 subscribers today, and that’s as good a reason as any to celebrate.
I’m going to ask one thing. If you already have a meaningful piece of stamped jewelry, please pass on this giveaway so that someone who doesn’t have one might have a chance. Of course, if you want to use it as a gift for a special someone, that’s entirely your prerogative.
Just leave a comment and tell me anything — serious, funny, sad… anything. Just not “great giveaway!” or “pick me!”
I’ll randomly select a winner sometime next week.
This contest is closed. The winning number is…109. That’s Leanne K. Congrats, Leanne!
Remember when there was just one kind of Sharpie? It was gray with a black cap, and it came in black ink ONLY. Then they came out with the fine tip. Now they make Sharpies in every color of the rainbow, in every kind of tip imaginable, baby Sharpies, fancy aluminum Sharpies with replaceable ink cartridges… You name it; if it’s a pen, Sharpie makes it.
Just look at what they sent me.
How cute is that? A festive ball ornament full of different kinds of Sharpies.
And like the pens, when it comes to uses for the Sharpie, the possibilities are endless.
If I was craftsy, which I most certainly am not, but if I was, I might do something like create flower pot bell ornaments for the tree using Sharpie paint markers. You could color small terra-cotta flowerpots and let them dry. In fact, I might just have to go to the craft store and pick up some of those flowerpots and set my 7-year-old daughter free with the Sharpies one afternoon. She’d have a ball. Heh. Get it? A ball. Ahem, sorry.
Or you could create your own wrapping paper.
Or make your own holiday cards or thank you cards.
They make great gifts too. Just place an assortment of Sharpies in a large soup can covered in plain white paper and decorated with Sharpie markers. Wrap it up, top with a festive bow and there you have it — the perfect gift for your child’s teacher or babysitter.
Oh and hey. Sharpie wants to award one of my lucky readers with their very own ornament of Sharpies. I KNOW! Fun, huh? Just tell me in the comments how you would use your ornament o’ Sharpies, and you are entered to win. And for an extra entry, you can tweet about the contest using the hashtag #sharpie. (Be sure to leave a 2nd comment that you tweeted it, so you get two entries!!) I will randomly select a winner on Saturday, December 12.
THEN. Blissfully Domestic is hosting contest where participants can show off their Sharpie-inspired creations and enter to win a $250 gift card. Feel free to use one of my suggestions above, or create your own. Then you will need to upload a picture of your creation onto the contest post, or you can write a post on your blog and link up. I’ll update this post with a link to the contest when it goes live tomorrow. The winner will be drawn by random number.
This post is part of a Blissful Media campaign.
This post is sponsored by Hallmark.
And the winner of the $50 Gold Crown card is Emily E. Congrats!!
Last Tuesday morning, otherwise known around these here parts as First Day of School, dawned bright and early as I hauled myself out of bed at dark-thirty to make myself presentable to appear at the bus stop. My girls, both anxious to get up and start their day, wanted to get up with me, but I convinced them to stay in bed for another hour.
I came downstairs and carefully packed lunches and started breakfast before I went back upstairs to get the kids. Naturally they were wide awake an hour before, but took some persistent prodding to get them out of bed when it was no longer optional.
Finally my husband and I managed to get all three kids up and dressed and spit-shined and downstairs for breakfast with no time to spare. We barely manged to grab a few pictures before the bus came rolling down the street. I guess I should have let the girls get up with me at dark-thirty, although it is my sneaking suspicion that no matter how much time they had, they would have been cutting it close. It’s just the way we roll.
The first day of school was a big milestone in our family this year. Because our school district still has half-day kindergarten, for the first time ever, my first grader is at school for the whole day. She was beside herself with excitement. She had her outfit planned for weeks and her Hannah Montana lunchbox carefully chosen. When I asked her what she was most excited about, she stated decidedly, “Eating lunch in the cafeteria!”
Alright then.
My son, on the other hand, thought the subject matter in the fourth grade sounded interesting. We’ll see if he’s still singing THAT tune in a few weeks.
Our three-year-old didn’t start school till Thursday, but she happily put on a new fall outfit in honor of her teacher orientation later that morning and joined the big kids in the obligatory back-to-school pictures in front of our house.
Finally we put the two big kids on the big yellow bus and waved as they rode off into the sunset, or the sunrise, in this case.
I can assure you, no tears were shed in this house on the first day of school. As much as I love and adore my kids, I was eager to reclaim some semblance of peace and order to my days. Summer was *just* long enough to keep my sanity in tact. While I wouldn’t mind a few more weeks of warm weather, I am certainly ready for time to work uninterrupted and run errands without an entourage. And my kids are ready for structure and stimulation that I don’t provide here at home. So as far as I’m concerned, it’s a win-win.
I have been making a concerted effort this year (or for the past week, anyway) to get up before the kids and make their lunches and get breakfast started before they get up. It’s really made our mornings run a lot more smoothly than they used to. This morning I even took time to sit down with my coffee and eat with the kids, which I could tell they enjoyed. I really want to encourage you busy moms, even though I know what a rat race these school mornings can be, to try to make time to sit down and eat with the kids. Even if it’s just one morning a week, it really helps to get the day started off right.
*GIVEAWAY*
In honor of back-to-school season, Hallmark would like to offer my readers an opportunity to win a $50 Gold Card. To be eligible to win, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me about your back-to-school experience this year.
And finally, going to school can sometimes be a stressful and hectic time. Hallmark has put together a great resource to encourage moms as our kids go back to school. For sharing your child’s biggest concern about going back to school, you’ll be entered to win a prize package valued at $500. Check it out.
The giveaways are now closed. The winners are Christine @ Live Laugh Love & Bloggings, Michelle Smiles, and Dana. Congrats, ladies!
It’s hard to believe, but BlogHer 09 seems to be wrapping up already. The chatter on Twitter this morning is all about saying good-bye to Chicago and looking forward to next year. And next year? NYC, bay-beeee!!!!!! BlogHer is FINALLY coming to the East Coat, and IT’S ABOUT TIME, is all I have to say about that. And also. You may know that I’m in Philly, so barring death or illness or broken limbs, I WILL BE AT BLOGHER 10. Can you tell that I’m channeling a little Scarlet O’Hara right there? *grabs handful of dirt and pumps fist at sky*
So anyway. Enough about me.
You’re here for the GIVEAWAYS, right?
First, I want to say a big thanks to Robin who brainstormed and organized this event. And thanks to everyone who participated. I am sorry I wasn’t able to visit all 320 of you, but I’m excited about those of you who I did get to “meet.” Hopefully we have all discovered a few new friends this weekend.
So here’s what I rounded up for you:
12 Naturally Nora Cake/Frosting Mixes {Retail value $50}
A selection of Sun and Earth products {Retail value $52}
Eco “Talk Green to Me” bag, {Retail value $14.99}
To be eligible for the giveaways, you must have a Blog Hop 09 button on your blog and a link registered on the Blog Hop MckLinky. Then just leave a comment on this post telling me about one new “friend” you made through the Blog Hop. I will randomly select the winners sometime after Thursday, July 30. This week is CUH-razy for me (two trips, oh my!) so I can’t guarantee when I’ll get around to wrapping up the giveaway, but I will close comments and post the winners at the top of this post when I do. (And I will email them as well, so you don’t need to check back here to find out if you win.)
Then you’ll wanna hop on over to Robin’s and enter her giveaways. (Hers will be up shortly. While you’re over there, be sure to give her a li’l bit of TLC. She worked on her giveaway posts all day yesterday lost them all. See her In Tears post for the full details.)
And here are a few more giveaways associated with the BlogHop:
JanMary is giving away one of her super cute hand-made mobile phone/cell phone charms.
Shelly is giving away a $25 Starbucks gift card.
Good luck! And feel free to keep Blog Hopping. The nice thing about not being at BlogHer is, our party doesn’t have to be over. Bwahahaaa! 
For months I had been hankering after a new phone that would organize my life, cook our dinner, put away our laundry, and bring peace to the Middle East. I also wanted a cellular network that doesn’t cut me off when I’m in the middle of a life-or-death conversation with my hairdresser and gets reception at the northern most point on the Maine coast.
Just a mom attempting to juggle three kids, four blogs, a blog design business, and the laundry. 
