While supplies last, Kodak is giving away $15 gift credits for anything on their site.
With $15 you can get a variety of items, including a mousepad ($9.99), a photo book ($9.99), coffee cup ($12.99), ornament ($12.99) or adult t-shirt ($14.99). All customized with your adorable mug!
If your mug isn’t so adorable, substitute one of your pet or child, those are usually crowd pleasers.
Just for joining Victoria Secret’s “Pink Nation” you can score a free pair of their cotton panties from the Pink line.
The Pink line of goods appeals to the younger set, middle schoolers up to college age, with their bright colors and graphics. But still have the high quality you have come to expect from Victoria’s Secret.
As an added bonus for joining online, you will also get a coupon for $10 off any bra.
I took my girls for the first time ever to a corn maze last fall.
It was cheap and fun and the perfect way to welcome fall. Lucky for us, this weekend seems like our first real taste of fall and the perfect time to wander in the tall stalks of corn.
Event days: Saturday, October 17, 2009 - Sunday, October 18, 2009 10:00am - 4:00pm
Place: Sweetfields Farm, 17250 Benes Roush Road, Masaryktown.
Incredible fun for the entire family! Work your way through the 4-acre corn maze! Enjoy the Hay Playground, picnic area and more! NOTE: NO SANDALS! Sunscreen / hats, water and camera recommended! Admission: Adults - $8.50; Ages 3 to 11- $4.50; Under age 3: Free. 352-279-0977
For more information, visit their website at www.sweetfieldsfarm.com
There’s a new online resource available for women who own small businesses and want to land federal contracts.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched the free online tutorial, Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs. It walks viewers through the contracting process.
“Federal contracts can provide unique opportunities for women entrepreneurs and small business owners to grow their businesses and create jobs, particularly during these tough economic times,” Administrator Karen Mills said in a press release. “It’s also a win for federal agencies, by contracting with women-owned small businesses; they are working with some of the most innovative and dynamic companies in the country.”
Click here to check out the course.
Some people remember to bring in their own reusable bags when grocery shopping.
It’s harder to get in the habit for all your other little trips and errands.
CVS is now providing a financial incentive for shoppers to bring in their own bags.
For 99 cents you can purchase a scannable “bag tag” to attach to your reusable bag. Each time you use it at a CVS store it gets scanned. Four scans equals an ECB (Extra Care Buck) for use on a future purchase.
For more details, visit this blog post.
This is a great time to start this new habit as I recently read that Americans generate 25% more garbage during the Holiday season.
Not that it is tempting at all right now, but here’s a coupon for a free hot beverage of your choice from 7-11.
Offer expires 10/31/2009.
If you have not already joined the “Box Tops For Education” website, what are you waiting for?
The Box Tops program gives schools 10 cents for every top redeemed. Ten cents may not seem like much, but those little pink rectangles are on dozens of products that your family is probably already using!
My daughters’ elementary school regularly earned between $2,000 - $3,000 each year just by collecting these little beauties. Our family uses many of the products they appear on (Chex Mix, Toaster Strudel, Fiber One products, Cottonelle toilet paper, to name a few). Plus, I have spread the word among my colleagues and relatives to save them for us as well. I have even been known to retrieve packaging from the breakroom wastebasket where a box top was carelessly discarded…
But you don’t even have to clip a thing to earn money for your school right now. Just join the website and invite your friends to join at The Power Of One. For every friend that joins, your school will earn 5 bonus box tops.
Ever had a great idea and wonder, “Fabulous, now what do I do with it?”
Find answers and inspiration at the Moms Reinvented event from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Westshore Yacht Club.
Local mom entrepreneur Barbara Keskiner, co-founder of Divine Events, says a great list of speakers has been lined up in a short amount of time.
“We actually just began talking about it this summer. Moms always have creative ideas for solving problems and providing solutions for moms’ dilemmas. So we’ve just been making it happen every since then,” she said.
Mindee Doney of Little Busy Bodies Inc. is flying in from Oregon to emcee the event. Many moms will recognize her as the genius who came up with the idea for Boogie Wipes for kids’ runny noses.
Speakers include Grace Welch, the founder of Patemm Inc., which sells a round, compact changing pad as an alternative to large diaper bags; Katherine Center, the author of “Everyone Is Beautiful” and “The Bright Side of Disaster”; South Tampa toy-store owner Katie Ryres of Silly Dilly Tot Spot; and Tampa entrepreneur Lisa Becker of Ostomy Secrets.
“We’ve asked them to talk about the moment they realize they were going to move forward with their business and their road map for success,” Keskiner said
“It’s great for women already in business because they have some trials and tribulations especially in this current market and they can see how other people are handling the same thing,” Keskiner said. “And then it’s for people who have an idea but want to see how other people have done it, how they balance work and family and how they can put their own mark on it.”
Keskiner anticipates about 130 guests will come from both sides of the Bay. In addition to gathering ideas and networking, there will be a silent-auction fundraiser for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, a topic close to Lisa Becker’s heart. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s 15 years ago but refuses to let it affect her activities, especially since she has a toddler to chase after.
Moms Reinvented “is geared toward women who like hearing about other inspirational women,” Keskiner said. “They don’t have to be a mom or a business owner but could be just women who want to give back to the community by helping a local mom.”
For information or to buy tickets for the event, go to www.tampamomsreinvented.com.
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In my inbox! Just reading about this is making me hungry. If you haven’t tried one of these, you’re missing out!
WHAT:
The Chick-fil-A® restaurant located at 1504 East Brandon Boulevard will offer a complimentary Chick-fil-A® Chicken Biscuit to customers each Tuesday in October from 6:00 – 10:30 a.m.
No purchase necessary, limit one free item per customer per day. Offer only good at the Chick-fil-A restaurant located at 1504 East Brandon Boulevard.
WHEN:
Tuesdays in October
6:00 – 10:30 a.m.
WHERE:
Chick-fil-A at East Brandon/Valrico 1504 East Brandon Boulevard Brandon, FL 33511
(813) 661-2300
Are you a mom who is stressed out, fed up and tired of it all? And wouldn’t have it any other way? You know, a “modern mom.”
You probably have friends just like yourself, birds of a feather and all that.
Now you can reach out to fellow moms in the trenches without breaking the bank. Saving more of your money for those all important ballet lessons and scouts dues.
Wal-Mart has a line of Hallmark greeting cards called “The Edge of Motherhood.” The cards are sassy and raw and real. They feature raised fingers, references to alcohol and bleeped out words.
There are cards for occasions unique to mothers such as crazy schedules, surly teenagers, daycare hassles and the school pickup line.
They are timely and relevant, commenting on the recession, blogging and the Octo-mom’s peanut butter sandwich load.
But best of all, they are only .88 cents.
That’s not a typo. Eighty-eight cents.
When I was looking online for images to link to I cam across the above link. They are selling for $3.49 elsewhere! Granted, they are a slightly larger version at 5x7. The Wal-Mart version (just as cute!) are about 4 1/2 x 5.
You can also personalize some of the cards at the site, but at $3.49 versus .88 cents, it’s just not that important to me.
I’m having one of those weeks that every working mom can appreciate. In my case, it started Monday morning when day care called at 10:30.
“Chris is running a 102-degree fever.”
I still don’t understand how a child can go from being fine at breakfast to being very sick by snack time, but that was the reality. I called my husband, who was just pulling out of the driveway to head to work, and had him swing by the day care to get Chris. We made arrangements to do a baby swap halfway between. The alternative was for Chris to have to wait 45 minutes for me to make the drive from downtown Tampa to Lutz.
“Yup, he’s sick,” my husband told me 10 minutes later. “His face is all red and he’s very lethargic.”
After spending two hours at the doctor’s office, we knew my 15-month-old did not have an ear infection or strep. The swine flu test was negative, but the doctor started him on Tamiflu just in case.
I called my boss and gave him the bad news: Chris MIGHT have swine flu. Which meant I MIGHT have been exposed to swine flu. We decided it would be best for me to work from home on Tuesday so I didn’t pass it on to the entire office.
I was up most of the night with a cranky baby, so it’s a good thing I didn’t have to wake up at my usual 3:45 a.m. and drive downtown. Carter got the kids up and dressed and fed and took Jay to school. Chris seemed a little better and came close to unplugging my laptop only once. It helped that my husband was home, too.
Then the baby broke out in spots.
I took my 13th furlough day of the year on Wednesday so I could take care of Chris. We were back at the doctor’s office where we got the happy news he did not have swine flu, but does have hand-foot-mouth disease, which is apparently a common childhood illness that causes spots. The good news is he should be fine by the weekend. The bad news is he can’t go back to day care this week.
So now it’s Thursday and the tricky balancing act of making money and caring for my sick son continues. I worked in the office from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., then met my husband in a parking lot on Dale Mabry Highway to do another baby swap. Now Carter’s at work and I’m at my kitchen table feeding Chris ham and cheese while I telecommute.
It’s not easy. Let’s hope Chris takes a long nap!
New to the area? New to motherhood? Or just have a question you wish you could throw out to somebody other than your Facebook friends?
Check out the new Mamapedia Web site. The Mamasource spin-off launched in May and is expanding to include users and information for cities across the nation. It’s addictiveness comes from the ability to ask questions and get support and answers from a wide variety of parents.
“I love how you can look up a topic and find all the conversations that happened about that,” said Gisele Lewis, who gave birth to a baby girl in February. She and her family just moved to Temple Terrace two months ago.
“For somebody who just moved here, it’s a huge benefit,” she said. “I’ve been looking for Tampa doctors and it’s a relief to find tons of information about that.”
She’s also mining the site to find information about babysitters, day cares and schools in the area. And she surfs the site to find information about things going on with her daughter now – such as introducing solid foods – and for information on topics she knows she’ll face in the future.
“One thing I find myself doing is reading the suggested topics posted at the bottom of the page,” Lewis said. “I get addicted to that and I find that really fun. It accidentally prepares me for things that will happen.”
A quick check of the site on Friday showed these hot discussions: school fundraiser ideas, getting kids to care about academics, dealing with Halloween fears, and tips on staying organized, including cleaning up that cluttered Tupperware cabinet.
Another local mom uses the site to advertise her business. Maggie Blatt lives in South Tampa and home schools her three children: Amber, who turns 8 this weekend, 5-year-old Jasmine, and 2-year-old Logan.
She also runs wheelsoflight.org, which features advice and products for homeopathic healing and natural childbirth.
She has also searched the site for content, including ideas for her kids’ birthday parties.
“What I like about it is you have real people responding to real questions and you’re getting all sides of the coin,” Blatt said.
Click here to check out the site.
The new Dora Explorer Girl has come out of the shadows.
When Mattel released a silhouette image of a more mature Dora the Explorer in March, it sparked an outcry from moms who loved the tomboyish cartoon toddler who always taught great lessons about friendship, problem-solving and adventure.
The reaction was not what Mattel executives had expected.
“We thought it would be a mystery and this would be a great way to give a sneak peek,” said Gina Sirard, a marketing vice president for Mattel. “We never imagined the firestorm that followed.”
The reason for that first silhouette was simple: Mattel was still designing the character’s look as a tween, and her face, hair and clothes were still in development. But some parents saw something much more sinister: a sexing up of the beloved Hispanic character from the Nickelodeon preschooler show “Dora the Explorer.”
The final version of the doll, unveiled Wednesday, showed parents probably have nothing to fear. The tween-age Dora wears a tunic and leggings and appears very wholesome in her looks and adventures.
“Throughout the years, we’ve heard from moms, ‘My child is getting a little bit older, she’s 5 now; and I love Dora; she’s so wholesome and so inspirational,’ and it got us thinking how can we age Dora up to make her cool enough for the older girl, 5 to 9 years old, and still have all those wholesome qualities she has now,” Sirard said Thursday during a phone interview.
About 2½ years ago, Mattel started toying with the idea of creating an older Dora. Then the designers and programmers set out to create a new kind of interactive toy that could live in an online world while incorporating the kinds of make-believe play their research shows girls love.
“When you think of what girls are doing in that age range, they are gaming online, they are buying Webkinz as well as fashion-style play, and so if we mixed all of those things together, what could we create that would be appealing to them?” Sirard said.
The designers “built prototype after prototype that we reviewed and improved upon,” said Mark Zeller, Mattel vice president of research and development.
And they got feedback from moms and children every step of the way.
“We used storyboards to walk them through the online play,” Zeller said. “Then when we got to the Web site, we tested it to make sure the games were age-appropriate and not frustrating.” (See kids’ reactions.)
The Dora Explorer Girl and her friends are plastic dolls that girls can dress up and accessorize. But they also live in an online world at www.doralinks.com.
Plug the doll into a computer via a USB connection and the real fun begins. If the user changes Dora’s appearance online, the doll attached to the computer also changes appearance. Her hair will grow or shorten, her eyes will change color, and she will talk to you about what she did in the online world, such as solving mysteries, volunteering at a pet clinic or cleaning up a beach.
“We wanted to bring something new. We wanted to incorporate online game play, but we wanted to create a two-way communication with the doll,” Zeller said.
“We wanted to make sure the mysteries were interesting enough for girls, and moms really appreciated the message in them: cleaning up the environment, going to a charity ball. This is the perfect solution to what we were hearing in research,” Sirard said.
The Dora Links Fashion Doll costs about $60 and is sold at most major stores and retail Web sites, including Walmart, Target, Toys R Us and Amazon.com.
Check out Dora’s online world here.
If you drink coffee, you might be interested in taking a Starbucks taste test to sample their new VIA Ready Brew.
October 2 - 5, at all U.S. Starbucks locations, taste test participants can taste Colombia Starbucks VIA™ next to fresh-brewed Pike Place™ Roast and challenge themselves to guess which one is Starbucks VIA™. Starbucks VIA™ Taste Challenge participants will receive coupon for a complimentary Tall brewed coffee on their next visit as well as an offer for $1 off a Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew purchase.
Want to get a head start on your holiday greetings? If you haven’t already bought a stash of cards at last year’s 75% off sales (or even if you have) you can get a few custom cards created by trying out Shutterfly.com’s new holiday designs.
The website is easy to use, you just browse your computer to locate a photo you want to import to a design and use the step-by-step wizard to custom design your cards.
For a limited time you can order 3 free cards by applying the following code to your order: 3FREECARDS.
Shipping is just 99 cents.
