Slendertone GIVEAWAY!

I recently went to a fantastic event hosted by Colleen of Classy Mommy and sponsored by Role Mommy and Slendertone called Moms Night In! It was an amazing night that was full of pampering and fun for all of the Philadelphia mommy entrepreneurs and bloggers that had gathered there. As always, there was great food, great wine, and great conversation as we all caught up with our bloggy buddies that evening and we even got to partake in FREE manicures and makeup consultations courtesy of Calista Grand Salon and Day Spa! **(As an aside, have you seen the specials that Calista is offering to Chester County Moms Blog readers? Go check it out!)

The highlight of the evening was hearing a brief, but highly informative presentation from the folks at Slendertone about their AMAZING product line! The Slendertone range of products includes a variety of solutions that includes everything you need to stay trim and in shape. Whether it’s a firm, toned midsection, shapely arms or a tighter bottom and thighs you’re after, there’s a Slendertone garment for you. And the best part? You can use it while doing cardio, taking a walk, doing chores, or even just sitting in front of the TV.

We all got to try a variety of Slendertone products at Moms Night In. The toning garments were all super easy to wear and to operate. And, they also let us try out their ReVive Professional Muscle Conditioning product. I have to say..... that was one of the best massages I've ever had. With backaches becoming more and more frequent in my household as I haul my 29 pound toddler around, I look forward to using that product over and over again.

OK, back to the awesomeness of toning while multi-tasking in your life!!! So, who doesn't want stronger, firmer abs in just 8 weeks??? I know I do. Well, here's your chance to win a FREE Slendertone Ab toner! That is a $99 value folks!!! All you need to do is leave me a comment here (PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL) to tell me why you'd like to win the ab toner system!

Also, bonus entries can be obtained if you blog about this giveaway or link to it on Twitter. Just come back and write me a new comment linking to either your blog post or your Tweet!

The contest will end on Wednesday, March 18th. Good luck!

In the meantime, check out this funny and adorable You Tube Video on the Slendertone Ab product!

Wordless Wednesday: Go Mommy!

This bib was one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year. My friend Kristin got it for me (and McKenna), and it says "My mommy's blog is better than YOUR mommy's blog." Not that this is in any way true of any of the fantastic blogs that I subscribe to, but it sure does make me smile and giggle when I see it!

Now THAT'S the spirit!

This morning while Madison was at preschool and McKenna was napping, I was sitting here minding my own business and getting caught up on the backlog of blog posts that were unread in my Google Reader.

Today, there were 2 unread messages from one of my favorite blogs, Musings of a Housewife. Jo-Lynne put up a post yesterday titled "Why I'm Voting for McCain on Tuesday". I think this may be one of the best politically-themed posts I've read in a while.

People who know me well are probably scratching their heads right about now, thinking Shannon, that title says McCain! Don't worry, people, I am still voting for my beloved Obama. Even though Jo-Lynne and I may not agree on which candidate to vote for, we do agree fully that we each have the right to our own opinions. And, having opposing opinions does not make either of us a bad person.

This is my biggest issue with politics... the extreme divisiveness. It seems to me that sometimes people believe so passionately in their own cause that they are willing to disregard, threaten, or belittle people who may have other views. I am so thankful for Jo-Lynne confidently describing that which she believes in, while at the same time respecting that not everyone feels the same way.

Go check out her post. It's a great one.

Not what I expected, but more than pleasantly surprised!

On Tuesday I'm headed to NYC to hang out with Martha Stewart. OK, so maybe I am going to see a taping of her show, but that's considered hanging out, right? A girl can dream.

I am going with 9 other Chester County Moms bloggers and friends. I am so thankful to Sarah for scoring these tickets for us. It's going to be a fantastic day full of laughter. I am sure we'll have alot to blog about upon our return.

There weren't alot of details given about the topic for next Tuesday's show. And, truthfully, does it really matter what the show is about? I mean, we're going to have a day in NYC, see Martha Stewart, and spend adult time with girlfriends... the show's topic is somewhat inconsequential because all of her show topics are good ones.

Then, I checked her website yesterday to see if they had posted any info about next week's lineup and saw the news...."Halloween Crafts with LL Cool J". Oooohhhhh... how the Ladies Love Cool James! This is awesome on many levels.

First, did you ever think you'd see a day when LL Cool J was sitting in Martha Stewart's craft room and helping her with a Jack-O-Lantern? Good stuff. Second, my inner college self has already played and replayed in my head the lyrics to Around the Way Girl and Mamma Said Knock You Out! So many of his songs were fixtures on the party playlists back in the day! I am really looking forward to hearing about his new album... think we might get a copy of the CD? And, third, well, you've SEEN LL Cool J, right? He's the ultimate in eye candy!

Can't wait to "meet" you, LL. I'll be the inappropriately overzealous mid-aged mommy blogger in the audience whose 9 friends are holding her down because she's so star struck!

Check your local listings and look for us in the audience!

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

As some of you may know, I recently have lost some weight. 26 pounds to be exact! I worked the Weight Watchers program very devoutly over the spring and summer and ultimately reached my goal. What is the problem, then, you ask? Well, the problem is twofold.

First, I only made it to my Weight Watchers goal by the end of August, not my own personal goal. My personal goal was to lose another 10 to 15 pounds more after I hit my WW Goal.

Second, not only have I not been maintaining at my WW goal weight, I have gained a few pounds back! And, as sure as I am sitting here writing this post, I am NOT going to let myself get back to where I was and I don't like this upward progression on the scale that I am seeing each week!

So, after the little hiatus that I let myself take over the last 8 weeks, I am getting back on track and I am going to get Hot for the Holidays! I saw this challenge at Genesis Moments and Sarah's post inspired me to get in in on this great support system!

My goal is to lose a total of 17 pounds. I think that losing 10- 12 pounds by the holidays is reasonable, and if I lose more, even better. Here is how I am going to do it:

1. Go back to the Weight Watchers program fully. This means counting my points faithfully and accurately each day and staying within my target allowance. This program works for me. I've seen great results with it and I just need to get serious about it.

2. Go back to Weight Watchers for weigh-ins and meetings. I will set a goal to do this twice a month at a minimum and if I can get to more that will be even better!

3. Get my sorry self back to the gym. I haven't been there in months and I am wasting LOTS of money each month there. So, let me put the money and the membership to good use and get this remaining weight off!

Do you want to be Hot for the Holidays? Go to It's Almost Naptime and put a link to your blog under her Hot for the Holidays post and join the challenge. Then, leave a comment here for me so that I know you are playing along too! I'd love to have more people to support and be supported by. I will keep you posted on my progress.

I'm already feelin' hot, hot, hot!

Get your motor runnin'!

I'm going! I'm really, really going! On Friday, myself and my fellow Chester County Moms blog buddies Sarah, Jenn, and Kelly are headed to Boston to hit one of the BlogHer '08 Reach Out Tour stops.

In addition to all of the great fun and great learning experiences we'll have at the conference, we are also very lucky to have been selected to be part of the GM Carpool program for this tour. GM is letting us drive to Boston in style in one of their Saturn Outlooks. I can't wait to get that baby out on the open road..... just kidding, GM..... I promise to behave!

Please check out BlogHer's Notes From the Road page to hear all about what we and our fellow Carpoolers are up to out on the road. You can read all of our blog posts and our Twitter feeds from there! I am sure that there will be some very funny bloggy material during this trip!!!

We'll keep you "posted"!

Support a Fellow Mommy!

I am posting this message that my friend Sarah had on her blog. I've had the pleasure of meeting K.C. twice and she is wonderful woman and mother. It's a win-win.... you get one (or more!) of her amazing products and she donates some of her earnings to a wonderful cause. Her story will touch your heart.

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My friend, K.C was recently diagnosed with Stage 2A Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer. She had a double mastectomy and will under go chemotherapy for 4 months, Herceptin IV infusion treatment for 12 months and hormone therapy for 5 years. All while chasing around her young daughter and running her Mommy business, The Diaper Bag Wrangler. To read more about her diagnosis and treatment plan, click here to vist her blog. In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 10% of The Diaper Bag Wrangler sales from 10/1- 10/31 are going to be donated to The Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition.

Click here to start shopping!

Go, Team Classy Mommy!

On Friday night, Colleen from Classy Mommy hosted a benefit for the national virtual "Gal to Gal Walk" which benefits women with Stage IV Breast Cancer and their families. We created virtual girls for Team Classy Mommy who will "walk" in 31 cities in 31 days during the month of October! As an added bonus, Colleen had been being interviewed by a Korean documentary crew for the past 2 days, and the crew was there to talk to Colleen's Mommy Blogger friends too.

It was a great evening and it was so wonderful to meet some of the other Philly Mom Bloggers who I feel like I know from reading their blogs, but hadn't yet met personally!

If you are interested in helping out this amazing foundation, go to the Gal to Gal Walk website and for a small donation, you can create a walker and join Team Classy Mommy too!

Sarah, Nancy and Val: Do NOT read this!

Ok, so as proof that my brain has TOTALLY left my body since these children were born, I am going to share a story about a little (or big!) faux-pas I made yesterday.

Sarah, Nancy and Val....my dog-loving friends.... you've stopped reading, right? No, seriously, STOP reading right now!

Yesterday, I picked Maddie up from preschool at 1pm. I rushed home because I was meeting someone at the house to give me a price estimate at 1:15pm. I pulled into the driveway and she was waiting for me. As I let this person into my home, the dog got out and I let him just hang outside for a few minutes to do his business and not bother me and our guest. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Fast forward 20 minutes and I am ushering guest out of the house and I get completely wrapped up in the nap process for 2 tired little girls. Finally get them in bed, finally get myself some lunch and settle into doing some housework and blogging before the little ones wake up.

Afternoon goes along normally and nothing seems amiss until dinnertime, when I am feeding my 11 month old peaches and she dumps half a bowl on the floor. Feeling lazy, I decide to call the dog to come clean up the peaches for me. Ben? Oh, Ben? Ben, where are you? OH NO! BEN!!!! I LEFT BEN OUTSIDE FOR THE LAST 5 HOURS!!!!!!

I go outside and start screaming for him to no avail. I knew that by this point he wouldn't be in hearing distance. I also knew that he does not have our phone number on his collar. So, I pack the kiddies into the car and start on a mission to find our poor puppy dog. By some miracle, I got only half way down our street when I see a man walking Ben on a leash. I pull up (looking so stylish with my mismatched baggy sweatpants and peach-stained tshirt!) and tell him that Ben was our dog. Were it not for my 3 year old in the back seat shouting "Ben I am so happy to see you!", I'm not sure this guy would've turned the dog over to me. Apparently, Ben had made it a few streets over when he ended up at this man's house and he took GREAT care of our dog all afternoon. He decided to take Ben for a walk through the neighborhood in the hopes that we'd be out looking for him. And, thankfully we were at that time!

Ben... I am sorry buddy. This whole memory thing.. yeah, well, I am working on it! Can't make any promises, pal, but I'm hoping I'll never leave you outside by yourself again :-) As my husband said "It happens to the best of us" which made me feel better, even though he followed it up with "although 5 hours IS kinda a long time"!

Blog Day 2008

Celebrate the 4th Blog Day on August 31, 2008!

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors. With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. This way, all blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

For more detailed information, check out the the Blog Day website!

Go. Check. This. Out.

Jo-Lynne over at Musings of a Housewife is doing a SUPER COOL (and quite expensive) giveaway of one of my favorite things in the world.... jewlery! Go check out her giveaway this week for a beautiful piece of your choice by Swede at Heart. They have some really cool stuff there. But hurry, she's picking a winner on Thursday.

So, go give Jo-Lynne some love and check out her blog. If you aren't already reading it regularly, you should be! And, leave a comment on her giveaway post and try for a chance to win! But, don't try too hard, people, I'd really like to win this one myself!! :-)

I'm Lovin' This Giveaway

A big, huge, heartfelt thanks to Michelle over at Mommy Confessions for naming me as the winner of her giveaway today! The prize is a one-year subscription to Kiwi Magazine, whose mission is all about "Growing families the natural and organic way"! I really love this magazine, and even have a link to it here on my blog, but only buy it for myself as a special treat once in a while. So, this was the perfect contest for me!

Giveaways are great, and "green" giveaways are even better!

Thanks again, Michelle.

Wordless Wednesday: Warning

I just got this t-shirt from Shannon's store over at Muzbee Crazy. I LOVE IT!!! She has some ridiculously adorable pieces in her store. The t-shirt fits great and is super soft! This is in a fantastic shade of pink, although my pic is distorting the color because of the crappy lighting in my bedroom :-( Go and check it out!

Chester County Moms Launch Party!

On Thursday night, a bunch of us went to celebrate with the girls over at Chester County Moms at their FABULOUS launch party! Sarah, Jenn, and Margie really know how to throw a par-tay! The gave away fantastic swag bags (which were Wegman's reusable grocery bags... great swag in and of itself!) that were full of amazing goodies from all over the local area! And, the giveaways... oh my goodness... the giveaways they had. My head was spinning from all of the AMAZING choices of prizes there were to put my raffle tickets in for. So many choices, so little time :-) I was even the winner of a Maggie Moos gift card... Yummy!

Thanks so much for a great night, girls. I am so excited that you guys have launched your site and am so happy to have your site as a one-stop resource for all of the local happenings. I'm a devoted reader/member of Chester County Moms already, for sure!