Adorable Etsy Shop. . . New Fashioned Whispers Review and Giveaway!!!

Oh my gosh!!! Get ready to start drowning in gorgeousness. . . have you ever seen a more beautiful selection of earrings?

New Fashioned Whispers is my new favorite jewelry shop! She is so incredibly talented! Browsing through the sixteen pages of pieces she has for sale is like trying to decide what you want in an amazing chocolate shop. . . each one you see looks more delectable than the last, and you have no idea how you're going to choose what you want!

She generously sent me the Love Secret necklace. I absolutely love the delicate, vintage look! It's like a necklace straight out of the pages of a fairytale! The antique copper chain is so unique, and the multi-faceted glass crystals catch the light and sparkle like crazy. I just want to live in this necklace all the time now! Seriously. . . it's such a stunning piece.

She also sent me these fun and flirty 4 Friends Earrings, because she knows how much I love earrings. :) These earrings have now taken center stage on my jewelry stand! They are so colorful and adorable, and I love their dangly length! I get many compliments when I wear these!

This could be an extremely looooooooong post if I were to list all of my favorite items, because there are just TONS! You have got to check them out, you will be blown away by her incredible selection!
So, just a couple more stand-outs to me include:

*Arie. The vintage-style romantic and whimsical flower brooch. This would look amazing pinned onto a shirt, a simple dress, a headband, or a bag!

The vintage spring green charm bracelet. Love. This is going on my Christmas list.

ALL of her gorgeous pieces would make wonderful Christmas gifts! You can buy them for your friends and family members, and you should also give your husbands the link and a list of your favorite pieces, so he'll be able to get you some jewelry that you really want for Christmas this year. It's what I'll be doing!

Deal alert: Right now she's giving away a free pair of earrings with any order over $10!!!

And everyone better enter this amazing giveaway for a $20 gift certificate towards anything in her shop!!!

Here's how to enter:
Visit New Fashioned Whispers and leave me a comment on this post, telling me something from her shop that you absolutely love! Impossible to pick just one thing, yes I know!!!

Get extra entries when you:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Tweet about this giveaway.
3. Mention this giveaway on Facebook and link back here!
4. Mention this giveaway on your blog and link to me.
5. Add her shop to your favorites on Etsy.
6. Purchase something from her shop and get FIVE extra entries!!!

*Please leave me a separate comment for each entry, and make sure I have a way to contact you. Even if you get the five extra entries from one purchase, make sure to leave five separate comments about it so they will all be counted. This giveaway will close November 6'th. Good luck and have fun browsing through her beautiful shop!

Beautorium Review and Giveaway!

There's no doubt about it. . . all-natural and organic beauty products are HOT right now. I've been a bit slow to jump on that band wagon, but I recently got to try out Dr. Hauschka's Rose Body Wash from Beautorium.com. This is a certified all-natural body wash from Germany, and all the ingredients are organic or ethically wild-harvested. I hadn't ever heard of Dr. Hauschka before, but now I know that they are pioneers of certified natural, holistic skincare from Germany for over 40 years!

This is a very nice body wash! One reason I hesitate to buy organic beauty products is that a whole lot of them smell like weeds. I just don't want to put stuff on my skin that smells like weeds! But this body wash has a subtle, really nice rose scent. Pure rose petal extract is used in this body wash, and it really does smell wonderful! It's perfect for dry or delicate skin, thanks to the nourishment from jojoba oil and shea butter, and the formula is soap-free so it won't dry out your skin. I really like it!

EVERYTHING Beautorium.com sells is carefully hand-picked and they offer the best in natural and organic beauty from all around the world. When you purchase a product from Beautorium, you automatically know that it has met all five of these criteria:
1. All products are certified natural or organic.
2. Cruelty-free, and never tested on animals!
3. They have effective ingredients with proven benefits.
4. All are professionally and beautifully presented.
5. They have a compelling brand and company personality.

They also include a FULL list of ingredients for every featured product, so you'll know instantly what each product contains. This is really useful if you're trying to avoid certain ingredients!

Here's an awesome service they provide: their Try Before You Buy Samples Program! You get to choose four samples from a collection of their most popular lines for $10 to cover shipping and handling. The $10 is also refunded back to you when you make your order! This is such a cool feature, since I always hesitate to buy a full-size beauty product before I try it out.

Beautorium.com is offering a giveaway of a full-size Dr. Hauschka Rose Body Wash just like the one I reviewed!

Here's how to enter:
*Visit Beautorium.com and leave a comment on this post, telling me about a product they feature that you'd love to try out.

Get extra entries when you:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Mention this giveaway on Facebook and link back here.
3. Tweet about this giveaway.
4. Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link to me.
5. Become a Beautorium fan on Facebook here.
6. Follow Beautorium on Twitter. . . @beautorium.

*Please leave me a separate comment for each entry, and make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner. This giveaway will end on November 6'th. Good luck!!!

You can also go here to check out Beautorium's blog, where they feature new makeup trends, at-home beauty treatments, and tons more fun stuff!

*Deal alert- Sign up here to get 15% off your first order from Beautorium.com!

Look What I Won!!!

I know that sometimes it feels like entering a whole bunch of giveaways is a waste of time, and it seems like you're never going to win anything (I'm assuming this is why a whole bunch of my good friends and family members never enter any of mine?????)

But sometimes you really do WIN!!!
I am REALLY excited that I won my friend Rachel's giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to her Bowlicious Bowtique shop! Rachel is one of my best and oldest friends, and I have bought MANY bows from her in the past and get compliments on them all the time. She has a whole bunch of drool-worthy new flowers in her shop, and I finally got to order some of them, with the help of the gift certificate that I won!

I can't wait for this whole package of deliciousness to arrive at my door, and to try them all on my precious girls:

Aren't they stunning? Too beautiful for words? Yes, they are!!!

Rachel has a TON of cute items in her shop. You have to go check them out! She makes the cutest bows, like this one:

It only takes a few minutes to enter giveaways, and your chances of winning are actually very good, especially if you get multiple entries! I've won two other giveaways in the past, and it's just so wonderful to get cute stuff for free. I still think this Peapod Playset that I won a few months ago is one of the most adorable toys I've ever seen. It came all the way from Israel to me too!!!

And this Bebe Au Lait hooded towel I won is wonderful! I got the toddler size, but it fits my little Natalie perfectly and keeps her all warm and cozy after her baths.

So don't think you'll never win and you might as well not bother. . . because one of these days, you WILL win!!!

Faithworks Boutique Review and Giveaway!

Lovely, lovely, lovely. . . my little Kirsten in this gorgeous flower hat we received from Faithworks Boutique.

The Samantha Flower Beanie is just one of the most vibrant, fun accessories I've ever seen! I am blown away by the quality, and the beautiful look of these hats they create.
You almost don't need words to describe why I love these hats so much, but here are a few anyway:

*The crocheted beanies are such high-quality products, and the flower clips are interchangeable and lined with no-slip grip, so Kirsten can wear the clip alone in her hair. I can't say enough about how much I love interchangeable hats and headbands like these. This hat would also look amazing with a hot pink flower, or orange for Halloween!

*The ribbon that is interlaced through the hat is really unique, and creates such a beautiful look! I love tying a bow in the back!

*Check out that cute fabric-covered button in the center of the flower. LOVE it!

Brandy, the creator of Faithworks Boutique, is a Christian stay-at-home mom of three. The love that she puts into her work is plain to see in her beautiful products! As well as Kirsten's hat, she was kind enough to send this precious pink one for Natalie. The ribbon flower is SO sweet, and I love knowing that she can wear the flower even after she outgrows the hat!

Faithworks Boutique is offering a giveaway of a $15 gift certificate good towards anything on her website! What can $15 get you? An entire beanie like the ones I reviewed, complete with the flower clip and ribbon! Or you can get a few different bows, flowers, clips, headbands, and limitless other things from the website! There is a WIDE variety to choose from!

Here's how to enter:
*Visit Faithworks Boutique and leave me a comment telling me what you would buy if you won this gift certificate!

Get extra entries when you:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Become a fan of Faithworks Boutique on Facebook here.
3. Mention this giveaway on Facebook with a link to me.
4. Tweet about this giveaway and direct them over here!
5. Blog about this giveaway and link to me.

*Please leave me a separate comment for each entry, and make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner! This giveaway will end on November 4'th. Good luck winning this awesome prize! Believe me, I wish I could win!!!

Adorable Etsy Shop. . . White Lace Designs Review and Giveaway!

If I were to make a list of essential baby items that I'd hate to live without, pacifiers would be one of them. My first baby just loved her binky, and so far my second one does too. Another item on my list would be a pacifier clip. I just hate that moment when you're out with the baby on a long day trip, and you realize that the little angel dropped her binky somewhere and you don't have a spare! Oh, the horror! That's why I adore pacifier clips. . . the pacifier is attached to your baby at all times, and can't get lost! Genius!!!

Bonus points if the pacifier clip is stylish and cute too! I've seen some really ugly ones at stores (with giant elephants or giraffes attached to them). White Lace Designs makes very simple but cute pacifier clips using ribbon and a plastic clip. These are universal pacifier clips, so they can be used with ANY kind of pacifier, including the Soothie ones you get from the hospital. It's tough to find binky clips that are compatible with those!
White Lace Designs makes these in a huge variety of colors and styles for all genders, seasons and outfits. I thought it would be cute to get this Lil' Sister one for Natalie! I keep this with us when we go out at all times, and it has saved many a binky from getting lost in the shuffle.
Note: I love the fact that she uses plastic clips. I've gotten a binky clip with a metal clip before, and they are too heavy and really drag down on their clothes! Plastic is so much lighter.

White Lace Designs really is one of the most versatile Etsy shops I've seen, because they make SO many different items! They can do custom burp cloth sets that say anything you want. I'd love to own these minky ones. Minky is my favorite baby fabric, it's so soft!

If you take your baby with you to cheer for an older sibling at games, how adorable would it be to have your burp cloth coordinate with the sports team? I guarantee it would be a huge hit with every other parent in the stands!

White Lace Designs also sent me one of their Cord/Chain covers to review. I never would have thought to buy one of these myself, but as soon as I received a 4.5 foot cord cover made of white silk dupioni, I knew right where I needed to put it. I have a lamp that sits on our kitchen island, close to the wall, and I have no choice but to have an ugly cord extending down from the lamp towards the floor. It always bugged me. I put the Cord Cover on, scrunched it up, and now it blends in with the wall! These Cord Covers are SO versatile, and they come in tons of color and fabric choices. You could use it for covering:
*Telephone cords
*Extention cords
*Lamp cords, like I did
*Ugly chains on antique chandeliers
*Any light fixture that has to be hung from the ceiling and has a cord trailing to the outlet
*Christmas light cords! I always hate the way the end of the cord looks, between the lights and the outlet.

Another thing I love about White Lace Designs. . . free shipping to the entire US!!!

White Lace Designs is offering a really fun giveaway. . . Two pacifier clips of your choice to the winner!!! Enter to win for your own baby, or to keep on hand as a creative and useful baby shower gift!
I'd love to win this Fall Striped one. . .

Here's how to enter:
*Visit White Lace Designs and leave me a comment on this post, telling me your favorite item from the shop!

Get extra entries when you:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Tweet about this giveaway and link to me.
3. Mention this giveaway on Facebook and link to me.
4. Blog about this giveaway with a link to me.
5. Become a fan of White Lace Designs on Facebook here.
6. Add her shop as a favorite on Etsy and let me know you did!
7. Follow White Lace Designs on Twitter here.
8. Become a follower of her blog here.

*Please don't forget to leave me a separate comment for each entry, and make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner! This giveaway will close on November 4'th. Good luck!!!

Lots More Winners!

A whole lot of my giveaways ended recently, and random.org was kind enough to pick some fabulous winners for me! Here goes. . .

*Winner of the Marie-Madeline Studios Handmade Skirt or Apron (this was SUCH a popular giveaway!) is. . . #194!
sabrita said... I think the Chic Sisters Apron is adorable. The fabrics are so cute. I like the Ann Flower Mural Blue & Amanda Fluer Pink fabric combination. Thanks!

*Winner of the Thanks Dad T-shirt is. . . #13!
Annie said... I am a follower of your blog, thanks for all the great giveaways!

*Winner of the Coco's Greenhouse Jewelry Piece of Choice (another VERY popular giveaway)
is. . . #88!
joeandbridge said... I posted a link to your giveaway on my Facebook page. Thanks!

*Winner of the MJM Books Personalized Book giveaway is. . . #10!
Jenny said... I loved everything by Madeline L'Engle as a kid...still do!

*Winners of the Envirosax Reusable Bag giveaway are. . . #155 and #178!
renee said... i follow
cqueen2 said... i'm a fan of Envirosax on face book

*Winner of the Polliwalks Kids Shoes giveaway is. . . #20!
Corey and Kim Nasfell said... Oh my goodness, I am in LOVE with all of their unique and adorable designs!! Wow, I'm so impressed!!

*Winner of the Cherry Creek Designs $20 gift certificate is. . . #24!
Julianne said... So cute! I love this giveaway! Her stuff is so different! I love it!
I actually have two favorites (they're all so cute!)
the "Let there be Peace Post Earrings" and "Simple Lines" earrings.

*Winner of the Kate W Designs Crayon Roll is. . . #48!
Carol said... I'm a follower!

*Winner of the Two Zany Zebras Monster Shirt is. . . #7!
Teri and Amber said... OK hearted their shop and had to heart some items too! Just stinkin' cute!

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered as well as the wonderful companies and designers who sponsored these giveaways for all of us!

Binga Bows Review and Giveaway!

I'm sure many of you will agree that you can never have too many bows, flowers, clips, hats, headbands, or any kind of cute hair accessories for your little girls! And I've found another adorable place to get them from. . . Binga Bows!!!

I love this green and blue flower clip on Natalie. The colors are so unique, and not the ones you normally see! She was a few months younger in this picture. She's growing so fast!!!

Of course I adore all of the Binga Blossoms! These Gerber daisies in a whole rainbow of colors make me smile! I like the luscious colors and the blinged-out centers.

Binga Bows generously sent me one of their knit beanies to try out, and it's so cute! My favorite thing about it is the strip of ribbon attached to the front, perfect for attaching ANY bow or flower clip! I think interchangeable accessories like this one are the best, because I can attach any clip I want to match different outfits. It can be a flower hat, a bow hat, anything!
The other thing I love about them is they can be washed. I took another beanie with us on our camping trip for Natalie (one with a flower sewn onto it) and was really sad when the beanie got dirty and couldn't be washed. This one can go right into the washer with the rest of your baby's clothing!

The price is so great too. . . $6.00!

Their wonderful crochet headbands are the same way. . . you can attach any clip you want! These look so adorable on Natalie, and I use them quite a bit because people seem to think she's a boy if she doesn't have a bow or flower headband on her head! :)

Binga Bows has such an awesome new Halloween line. This Spooky Blossom Daisy is just to die for!

I am highly recommending Binga Bows to anyone who loves cute hair accessories that stand out and have beautiful, lasting quality. Go check them out!

Oh, and of course enter this awesome GIVEAWAY!!! Binga Bows is giving away a whole SET of bows to one of my readers! The winner's prize will include the following:

*1* One Medium Bubblegum Bow

*2* One Small Simply White Bow

*3* One Green and Blue Ella Blossom (like the one I received, that's pictured on Natalie)

*4* One Chocolate Sprinkles Clippie

This is such an awesome giveaway, and if you win you get all FOUR!!!

Here's how to enter:
*Visit Binga Bows and leave me a comment on this post telling me which Binga Bow or Blossom you love the most!

Get extra entries when you:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Mention this giveaway on Facebook with a link to my blog.
3. Tweet about this giveaway with link to me.
4. Blog about this giveaway with a link to me.
5. Visit the Binga Bows blog here and enter the Fall Giveaway they are running right now! Don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know you did!

*Please leave me a separate comment for each entry, and make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner. This giveaway will close on November 3'rd. Good luck winning these cute bows!!!

Mia Carina Review!

I always used to imagine that my first couple of kids would be boys. I don't know why I thought that. . . I guess just because I only have one brother (no sisters) and I used to babysit for a lot of boys. I was just used to boys! But let me tell you. . . having girls is SO much fun! Kirsten loves to watch movies and shows that include lots of singing and dancing (yep, she's my child alright!) and she laughs at the same things I do. Another awesome thing about having little girls is that I get to go crazy over all the adorable dresses, clothes, hats, bows, flowers, and accessories when I dress them up! I have way too much fun with it! But I know my window of opportunity is small, and before I know it she'll be wanting to pick out her own outfits. So, until then, I am taking full advantage of my job as little girl shopper and stylist. :)

I love to find companies that create gorgeous and unique clothing for little girls. I literally gasped out loud when I opened the box I received from Mia Carina and took out this beautiful ensemble. I couldn't wait to try it on Kirsten. Isn't this just adorable? It's like a little dress out of a fairy tale!

Mia Carina started up in early 2006, and began very small. They are just starting to sell their custom-design fashion line through boutiques. Each and every piece they sell is carefully designed, hand-crafted, and inspected to ensure the highest quality. . . and wow, the quality is amazing! Everything about this outfit is intricate, and I'm just in love with all the little details like the fun shape of the hat, the long bloomers to go with the dress, and the little rose on the waistband. Mia Carina loves creating "high fashion for little girls", and any little girl would just go nuts over these gorgeous dresses!

New outfits are created for each season, and most of the lines include multiple pieces that match and coordinate. These are stunning dresses, definitely perfect for photography and special occasions. Someday, when Kirsten will actually let baby Natalie be in a photograph with her without frowning, I want to buy coordinating Mia Carina dresses for the two of them to wear in pictures together. I love the look of coordinating fabrics but different styles, matching but not exactly the same.

You MUST check out all the deliciousness on the Mia Carina website, but here is a sampling of some more of their gorgeous pieces. I completely ADORE these pettiskirts!

This twirl skirt is modern and funky but still totally cute!

If you don't have any little girls right now, looking at Mia Carina's website is definitely going to make you wish you did. :) Go check out these timeless, high fashion dresses and outfits for yourself! And get ready to add them to your Christmas list this year!

Things That Make My Life Interesting Lately. . .

The life of a stay-at-home mom can get a little repetitive, boring, mind-numbing, you get the picture. . . so thank goodness for all of the followings things that are keeping my life interesting right now, for good and for bad:

Thing 1- Kirsten has already started shrieking, "Baby Natalie touched my clothes!" whenever Natalie's little feet or hands get anywhere near her. I can't believe it! Already she's started with the "she touched me, she's looking at me"s??? Impossible!
Well, she better get used to it now. In a few months Natalie will be crawling and then she'll REALLY be all over Kirsten and her stuff.

Thing 2- I realized, after about a month of trying, that being a work-from-home travel agent is a complete waste of time and money. The company really did sound great at first. . . they send you leads, you decide your own hours and work as much or as little as you want, and you make some extra money. What I didn't notice was the fine print that said they charged you a $49 monthly "affiliation fee" if you didn't book at least $1,000 just in commissions per month! How could anyone possibly sell that much from home? Long story (kind of) short. . . I'm no longer a work-from-home travel agent. And I'm trying not to feel too bad about the wasted time and money.

Thing 3- The rain has returned to Seattle! All week it's been really coming down hard, making it very tempting to just stay home and be cozy and warm. Yet I still took all of us to the Seattle Aquarium on Wednesday, and (much to Kirsten's delight!) to Chuck E. Cheese today. I hope she appreciates the things Mommy does for the sake of her entertainment!

Thing 4- Grocery shopping with two little kids is about 50 times harder than it is with one little kid. I usually grocery shop alone in the evenings or on the weekends. But our nice, new, massive Fred Meyer store has a pretty awesome contraption. . . race car shopping carts! Huge and hard to steer they may be, but Kirsten can sit right by me and drive the car, while I squeeze groceries and Natalie's car seat into the basket. This works best if you only need a few groceries, as you can see from all the grocery bags surrounding Natalie. (I know, you can't even see Natalie!)

Thing 5- It was Seattle Free Theater week, and I snagged free tickets for Stephen and I to go see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was such a fun and entertaining show! The best part was that Joseph was played by Anthony Federov, who placed fourth in American Idol season 4. I voted for him that year, and I still love his voice! He sang "Close Every Door To Me" every bit as good as Donny Osmond did, or better!

Thing 6- I heard Kirsten tell the babysitter, very clearly, "Go away!" Seriously rude!!! Where did she learn to say that???
On a much cuter note, yesterday she told Mr. Potato Head to "Go to sleep" and she laid him down on the floor. And when we ask her what a fish does, she says "Squim, squim."

Thing 7- Natalie is rolling over now, both ways! She loves to roll all around the floor, and it's fun to watch her and see where she ends up. Sometimes she still thinks she's stuck, and needs our help to flip back over onto her back. And today I was in the other room and heard her start screaming. When I ran to her, I found that she had rolled around and her head was somehow balanced on top of the metal leg of the bouncy seat. Pretty amazing!

Thing 8- Natalie is still an incredibly unpredictable sleeper. Sometimes she goes down at 9 and wakes up an hour later. Other times she wakes up at 2 or 3 am. Then last night she was up at 5 am and just didn't want to go back to sleep until about 7:30. Apparently I was incredibly tired, because when Stephen tried to wake me up and tell me to go get Natalie, he says I started saying stuff about pumpkin boards (?) and making lunch and nothing was making sense. I vaguely remember it.

Thing 9- I tried again this week to get cute two-year portraits taken of Kirsten. It's pretty difficult to do, and last time was a disaster. We drove down to Seattle (again, in the rain) for free photo shoots at a fun toy store. She wouldn't warm up to the photographers until they got out a bunch of balls and marbles for her to play with, and then she started smiling a whole bunch and throwing the balls to them. I haven't seen the photos yet, but I'm hoping for some really cute ones! The girls had such adorable matching dresses on, but do you think Kirsten let Natalie be in any photos with her? I think you're all guessing NO, and you're right.

Thing 10- I was the pool champion on our double date with our friends last night! It made me feel special.

Thing 11- I love Glee! And Project Runway. . . Survivor. . . The Office. . . Amazing Race. . . Top Chef. . . So You Think You Can Dance. . . Dancing With the Stars (kinda). . . Flipping Out. . .
And yes, I do still have a life. And a very full DVR.

Thing 12- I have recurring dreams about going to Disneyland, only the Disneyland in my dreams is a VERY strange place and nothing like the real park! The whole place looks different and the rides are bizarre, like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where you're actually in the water, in an inner tube, going down big dark tunnels and huge waterfalls. I hadn't had one of those dreams in awhile, but then I did a few nights ago and was reminded again of how crazy they are.

Thing 13- Kirsten was singing along to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" in the car today. She loves that song! I would sing "Don't Worry" and then she'd sing "Be Happy!" And you know what?
It made me happy! :)

Joolwe Review and Giveaway!

Every girl loves jewelry. Especially free jewelry! Am I right???
Joolwe.com is such a great online jewelry store that sells beautiful pieces. It's really easy to search their website by style, metal, metal color, gemstone, or price. And they offer free shipping on all US orders!
I received this nice pair of earrings from them. I don't wear a lot of studs (I usually like my earrings dangly!), but these are fancy enough to look really beautiful for a nice evening out.

So what about the free jewelry part?
Joolwe.com has a really awesome Jewelry Loyalty Rewards program. You earn 1 Reward Point for each dollar spent, then you get to spend your reward points! Pretty awesome! You can go here to read up on all the details about their program.

And here's an amazing deal for all you bloggers. . . if you blog about joolwe.com and talk about their Jewelry Loyalty Rewards program, you'll get 30 rewards points just for doing your post! AND they have a whole bunch of pieces that can be redeemed for free, starting as low as 24 gold points. Sooooooo. . . write up a blog post, make sure you go here to fill out the form and let them know you wrote about them, and you get a free necklace or pair of earrings or whatever you want! Doesn't get much easier than that! Something about getting great stuff for free. . . it just makes me happy!

You also get a chance right NOW to win some of their jewelry. . . because I'm doing a giveaway for them right here! One of my readers will win a pretty necklace or pair of earrings!!!

If you win, you get to choose between the following THREE options:

1. Sterling Silver and Cubic Zirconia Dual-Textured Open Circle Pendant
(this one's my favorite! I love the design, and I think it's so pretty and classy!)

OR

2. Sterling Silver and Blue Topaz Dolphin Pendant
(Awww, cute!)

OR

3. Sterling Silver High-Polished Tapered Hoop Earrings
(Classic, shiny, and beautiful!)

Here's how to enter:
*Visit Joolwe.com and leave me a comment on this post, telling me about a jewelry piece from their store you'd love to own!

Get extra entries when you:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Mention this giveaway on Facebook with a link to me.
3. Tweet about this giveaway.
4. Tell me which of the three pieces you will choose if you are the winner.
5. Follow Joolwe on Twitter here.
6. Blog about Joolwe (plus if you do this one you'll be guaranteed a free piece of jewelry directly from them!)

*This is so exciting! Their Jewelry Loyalty Rewards Program has just been launched, and that's why they want so many people to blog about it and get the word out. I'm happy to promote such a cool program!
Please leave me a separate comment for each entry. This giveaway will end on November 1'st. Good luck!!! And don't forget to blog about their program to get your Rewards Points and free jewelry!!!

Kernel Season's Review!

Do you ever have one of those days where you don't want to eat anything that's in your house, and you wish a big box full of yumminess would just arrive at your front door? That actually happened to me! I was so excited when Kernel Season's sent me an awesome box full of popcorn, butter toppings and sprays, and every seasoning flavor imaginable! I wanted to try them out right away, so we planned a game night, invited some friends, and started popping!

Our verdict?
Ohhhhhh YUM!!! All of us are now ADDICTED to these amazing popcorn flavors! Kernel Season's motto is "No more naked popcorn!" and I will definitely not be eating naked popcorn anymore! We were all in agreement. . . these flavors are authentic, vibrant, and totally delicious! They really jazz up an ordinary bag of microwave popcorn or bowl of air-popped corn. And just to prove how addicting they are, one of our friends who tried them was craving them so badly one night he actually came over to borrow some of the seasonings.

There are so MANY different awesome flavors, so there really is something for everyone! Whether you like your popcorn to be sweet, cheesy, or spicy, you'll definitely find several flavors that you love!
They come in:

White Cheddar
Nacho Cheddar
Ranch
Parmesan and Garlic
Sour Cream and Onion
Caramel
Kettle Corn
Apple Cinnamon
Chocolate Marshmallow
Jalapeno
Barbeque
Cajun
Chili Lime
Butter
Salt and Vinegar

We tried them all, and we all had different favorites. A few of the favorites were Barbeque, Salt and Vinegar, Apple Cinnamon, and Caramel. My personal favorite? White Cheddar. I kept coming back to this one!

These popcorn flavors are so awesome, because you get ALL the flavor from your favorite bag of chips, but with tons less fat and calories. Everyone knows that popcorn is a really healthy snack (as long as it's not drenched in a lot of butter), and Kernel Season's sent some really amazing Popcorn Spritzer Butter that has zero fat and zero calories! You just spray it on your popcorn and then top it with whatever flavor you want. The spray helps all the flavor to stick to the popcorn, and because it's so yummy you won't even notice the lack of butter! Most of the flavors have only two calories per serving, and all of them have zero grams of fat. Totally healthy and yummy at the same time! That is a hard combination to find!

For a special treat, they also sent me their Movie Theater Butter. Oh WOW, this really does make the popcorn taste like your favorite movie theater popcorn! Since I'm trying to lose baby weight right now, I have to lock this stuff away from myself, but I did try it and it is awesome!

Kernel Season's actually began in a college dorm room, where the founder of the company made popcorn every night and created his own personal spice blends to toss into it. His friends and fellow students loved it so much, he decided to create a company and market them, and now thousands of movie theaters and retail stores offer these products!

The prices are really great too. . . $3.99 for each flavor, and they are featuring a web special that if you buy four you get one free! You could also buy eight and get two free! They are also offering a great coupon code for my readers:

'Kernel235' will get you a free popcorn pouch and popcorn spritzer with any purchase on their website!!! This is such an awesome offer, especially since I think the popcorn spritzer with zero fat and zero calories is such a great product!
You've got to try these delicious flavors! I'm sure you'll love them as much as my friends and I do!

We're Not Done Posting About Summer Yet!

Brrrr, it's COLD outside! Seattle has finally been hit by a cold front (complete with rain, of course) after several weeks of sunny, beautiful October weather. Judging by everyone's Facebook statuses, it seems like temperatures are dipping all over the country! So, to add some sunshine to your cold days, here are some of our never-posted summer pictures. I know you've ALL been just dying to know what else the Veater family was up to this summer. . . and now you can find out!

*Hanging out at the Pacific Science Center with the awesome Van Dykes! Kirsten was fascinated by the live butterflies flying all around!

Kirsten just loves Allana, she wanted to hold her hand the whole time we were there. It was really cute!

Caution: two year old loose in the Science Center!

*Playing in her new sandbox (thanks so much Grandma!)

*Having some fun with the garden hose!

*Smilin' just because!

*Playing with her friend Christina.

*Growing and getting cuter and happier every day!

*Days at the park in gorgeous sunshine and perfect temperatures!

*Getting dirty and loving it!

*Playing at the splash park! (She didn't get too wet. . . but she still had fun).

*Enjoying some birthday cake. . . "All by myself!" (Common words from Kirsten these days)

*Discovering the joys of Chuckee Cheese for the first time.

We've only been there once, but she sure does remember it! Anytime she sees a commercial or a picture, she immediately says, "Chuckee Cheese!"

She loved all the rides, putting the tokens into the slots, and watching all the singing characters do the show while we ate lunch!

*Cheering for the Everett baseball team at the minor league game.

This was classic Natalie at the baseball game. . . chowing down on her blanket and drooling everywhere.

Gotta love summertime!

I'm almost done posting my summer pictures, but not quite. . . stay tuned for pictures of all the fun stuff Kirsten got to do while she stayed in San Diego with grandma and grandpa!