The Marketing Mama's Giveaways

Cirque Du Soleil OVO - Discounted Tickets & Giveaway

2011-05-24T23:40:00.019-05:00

CONGRATS to Brenda on winning the Four-Pack of tickets - I hope you have a fabulous time!!! :)

Cirque du Soleil’s touring production OVO is hitting Minneapolis and friends and readers of the Marketing Mama can receive special discounts on select performances and enter a giveaway for a four-pack of tickets.

Cirque du Soleil opens in Minneapolis Friday, May 27. OVO will perform for a limited time under the trademark blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (Big Top) at the Mall of America.

OVO is a headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects’ home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion. Fun for the whole family, ages 2+.

Exclusive discounts for Marketing Mama readers:

Individual ticket discounts - 40% discount on individual tickets for Seating Levels 2 & 3. Follow this link to buy tickets, no promo code needed.

Family 4-pack discounted tickets - The Family 4 Pack is available for performances on Sunday to Thursday 8pm and Friday 4pm. Only purchases from 4 to 8 tickets may benefit from this special package. Two adult and two child tickets start at $115 plus applicable service charges. A minimum of one adult ticket and one child ticket must be purchased within each Family 4 Pack. Follow this link to buy the tickets, no promo code needed.

(I haven't priced out which of these discounts is a better deal for families, so be sure to compare the two options.)

Ticket Giveaway: (CLOSED)

I have four tickets to give away to one lucky reader for the 8 p.m. show on Tuesday, May 31 at 8 p.m. Here's the drill:

1. To enter, leave a comment with your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.

2. You may have up to two additional entries by A) becoming a fan of The Marketing Mama on Facebook and B) following me on twitter at @marketingmama and tweeting about the contest w/my name & a link to this post.

Sample tweet: Hey #twincities, Cirque du Soleil is coming to Mpls & @marketingmama has an exclusive discount & giving away 4 tix! http://ow.ly/52mpR

That's a total of 3 possible entries per person. Please leave separate comments for each entry alerting me to what you did, this helps me choose the winner at random based on # of comments.

3. Contest closes Friday evening (5/27) at midnight.

4. Winner will be chosen at random and e-mailed Saturday morning. Winner must respond to the e-mail within 24 hours to claim the tickets or I will choose another winner.

If you go to the show, I'd love to know what you think! Good luck everyone!
Missy

DISCLOSURE: Tickets for this giveaway were provided by Hadley Media on behalf of Cirque Du Soleil OVO show. I was also granted complimentary tickets to attend a preview show, along with many other bloggers and media in town.

:: winner :: madagascar live & discount code

2011-03-13T19:36:00.008-05:00

MADAGASCAR LIVE! is playing this spring and summer and is coming to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis April 1-3. To see the other cities the show is playing, check here for the full tour list.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway contest... and congrats to the winner, chosen via random.org:

Kim of I Want a Minivan -- Congrats, Kim! Have a great time at the show! (I'll e-mail you with info on how to get your tickets).

For those of you interested in buying tickets for the show, I have a special discount code for my readers to save $10 per ticket - just click here and use promo code PENGUIN.

DISCLOSURE: Tickets for this giveaway were provided by the marketing division at Broadway Across America/MADAGASCAR LIVE! I was also granted complimentary tickets for promoting the show. MADAGASCAR R ® and © 2011 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C.

MADAGASCAR LIVE! (ticket giveaway)

2011-03-09T21:41:00.014-06:00

We pretty much LOVE the movie Madagascar around here. So when I heard they made the movie into a new Broadway musical MADAGASCAR LIVE! -- and that it's coming to Minneapolis? I was pretty excited.

This is how much Alex and Avery love Madagascar...

MADAGASCAR LIVE! is playing this spring and summer and is coming to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis April 1-3. The promotions folks at the show gave me a four-pack of FREE tickets to give one lucky reader to the Minneapolis show of your choice! (yay!)

To see the other cities the show is playing, check here for the full tour list.

TO ENTER CONTEST:

1. Leave a comment with your name and e-mail address.

2. Only one entry per person, but your spouse and parents and siblings can all enter, too. :)

3. Contest closes Sunday evening at 6 p.m. Central.

4. Winner will be chosen at random and announced Monday morning. Make sure to come back to see if you are the winner... and just in case you aren't, I'll be announcing a special discount just for my readers at that time as well.

Oh, and hey, after you enter the contest, you should check out the Marketing Mama page over on facebook to stay in touch. On twitter? I'm over there, too. :)

DISCLOSURE: Tickets for this giveaway were provided by the marketing division at Broadway Across America/MADAGASCAR LIVE! I was also granted complimentary tickets for promoting the show. MADAGASCAR R ® and © 2011 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C.

Custom Cookbooks (review)

2011-02-07T00:00:00.001-06:00

My recipes were all over the place. Treasured family recipes - some hand written, some in my head (or my mother's). Favorite cookbooks earmarked and post-it-noted. And let's not forget all the recipes I've printed out from the internet over the years. Of course, I'm not ashamed to admit my best cataloging system to date has been my blog. I've been known to set up my laptop in the kitchen and follow recipes from there...

A few months ago I learned about a new custom cookbook company, Blended to Perfection. You e-mail them your favorite recipes, along with personal photos and even stories, and they produce them into a custom cookbook. I was excited when Shelli, the owner, approached me with the opportunity to create a custom cookbook to review.

And so I set to work, gathering recipes. I chose a design from the web site, and sent everything off to Shelli. And look what came back ~ my recipes... in a beautiful book.

with my photos...

My favorite pages are the family recipes, such as this one of my Mom's roast... along with one of my favorite pictures of her.

...and my Aunt Trudie's Lasagna (the one you all love) with her photo.

There are recipes I included more for sentimental value than the need for instruction, such as Hot Dog Aliens... the photo alone is priceless.

Shelli encouraged me to include some family stories or memories. I wasn't sure where to start - so I turned to my blog and found two posts on food and family. They were perfect.

As you can imagine, pulling together all the recipes, and photos and stories took time. Many of the recipes needed to be typed. Pouring through photos to find just the right ones. I was also e-mailing family and giving my mom the third degree on how she used to make pork chops growing up. :)

But the result? Wonderful. Within only 1 or 2 days, Shelli sent me a PDF to review. I was able to see how she laid everything out and offer a few suggestions if I didn't like how a particular recipe was displayed.

She revised the proof and, with my approval, it went to print. I received it in the mail shortly after and am very happy with it. The cover is a glossy and durable. I was impressed with the high resolution of the photos - they printed beautifully! And I'm glad Shelli encouraged me to send in stories... it's really quite emotional to see all of the recipes and photos and stories together like that in one book.

I've been using it for a few weeks now and I have to say that I haven't needed to open my recipe box or a single cookbook since, as this is now my main go-to book. Not only is it functional, but it's a wonderful keepsake. I imagine Avery having this someday when she's older. And that makes my mama heart happy.

I would like to see Shelli offer additional designs options in the future. Right now there are only three and none of them really felt like my style when I went to choose one. I tend to be more of a simple, "less is more" person when it comes to design. That said, most of the time the cookbook is in my cupboard, not framed on the wall... so it's not a big deal in the scheme of things. But I do think a handful of new, simple design options would be nice. I would also like to see a table of contents option.

Blended to Perfection is a great option if you are would like to make custom cookbooks. They are typically $50, but through the end of this month she will give my readers the special price of $40 (plus tax + shipping). There are also discounts for multiple books (if you order copies for all your aunts and cousins, for example). You can get the specs for the books here or become a fan over on facebook for product updates and announcements.

Disclaimer: Blended to Perfection provided me with a free custom cookbook to review. They are also a paid sponsor of the Marketing Mama blog. The words and opinions listed here are my own.

Miracle Blanket Giveaway

2010-11-04T23:26:00.013-05:00

Listed as fave product #2 on my Favorite Unusual Baby Products, I've given the Miracle Blanket a lot of press on my blog.

Because it's awesome. These are the best swaddling blankets on the market. Hands down. I know because I tried a number of different ones before I found the Miracle Blanket.

They are better because the fabric is super long so you can get a tight wrap... and there is no velcro to startle or wake up baby.

I've bought 3 or 4 Miracle Blankets -- to keep at home and daycare, and bought just as many as gifts for friends. And now I have the pleasure to give one away to a lucky reader.

To enter, simply become a fan of Miracle Blanket on Facebook and if you are into the twitter thing like me, follow them on twitter. For an extra entry, follow me, The Marketing Mama on Facebook, too! Then leave a comment here letting me know you did (I'll need your full name or at least first name and first initial of your last name, so we can find you on facebook).

Contest open until midnight CST Monday night. The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced Tuesday afternoon on their Facebook Page. You'll have 24 hours to respond to the announcement if you are the winner.

And yo, they said they'll ship to CANADA, people!!!! So U.S. and Canadians, get your groove on.

Fine Print: The Miracle Blanket people are offering up one blanket of your color choice to one of my readers. I am not receiving compensation or product for doing the giveaway.

New online community for Twin Cities bloggers

2010-10-13T00:12:00.006-05:00

You all know I love connecting people and building community, especially around blogging - that's why I organized the MN Blogger volunteer event last January, and founded the MN Blogger Conference in September. So I was thrilled when I heard from the folks at Blog Frog, an online message board community, letting me know they are launching a Twin Cities Family Community specifically for bloggers.

The community is meant to be a place for Twin Cities locals to connect with other parents, explore the area, share ideas, and give recommendations for family activities, tips, support, and more. As a community leader, I'll be one of a handful of local bloggers hanging out with you each day. Look at the great group of women I get to co-lead with:

The Twin Cities Family Community Team

Molly from The Snyder Five -- @MollyinMinn
Christina from Northern Cheapskate -- @NCheapskate
Marybeth from Baby Good Buys -- @BabyGoodBuys
Sally from Already Pretty -- @SallyMcGraw
Jennifer from MckMama -- @MckMama
Carrie from Pocket Your Dollars -- @dollarspocket

and me, @MarketingMamaMN

If you have a moment, check out their blogs, follow them on Twitter and, of course, at our Twin Cities Family Community at The Blog Frog where we’ll be sharing some of our favorite places to hang, things to do, and sites to see.

Don’t live in Minnesota? That's okay, we’ll also be discussing things that are important to all families, like meal planning, family traditions and more.

Don't know about BlogFrog yet?

BlogFrog powers thousands of online communities for women and moms, and is the largest network of mom blogs in the U.S. BlogFrog now has more than 50,000 mom blog members and reaches 4 million moms each month. There are great communities based on location, like this new Twin Cities Family Community, as well as communities based on bloggers themselves, offering a place for their readers to connect and share.

Our Sponsor

Living Social is sponsoring our new community. They are a company that promotes local businesses to local customers through a special “daily deal” with discounts of up to 90% for the best places to eat, see and go in local communities. The LivingSocial Deals have about a million subscribers and their products reach an estimated 85 million customers. It takes about 15 seconds to sign up for a daily email the latest local deal, then you can choose to purchase the deal in one click -- and can also choose to share the deal with family and friends. If three of the users referrals also purchase the deal than the users deal is free. Pretty cool!

I'd love it if you'd join us at the Twin Cities Family Community! And if you are a tweeter, follow us at #TwinCities. See you there!

Disclosure: I am being compensated to participate as a community leader for BlogFrog.

Brushing twice a day ~ a challenge for moms and kids

2010-05-20T11:28:00.004-05:00

My ears perked up when the folks over at Metro Dentalcare recently challenged a handful of Minneapolis/St. Paul bloggers to get serious about teeth brushing with our children. The mission? Two Minutes, Twice a Day for Two Weeks. Huh. Does that say twice a day? Two FULL minutes? You do realize I have a TWO YEAR OLD?

I'm accepting the challenge, because, well, I hope it will help me make brushing teeth with the kids at night part of our routine. Right now we are solid about brushing most mornings (yes, I did just say most!). But I can't say the same for our bedtime routine. Go ahead and judge, but I'm such a great mom in so many other ways... :) The Metro Dentalcare team sent me a couple plastic hourglass timers with colored sand... the kids love them.

... and yes, my children always wear sunglasses in the bathroom. Don't yours?

So, now I'm going to throw the same challenge out to all of you. Will you join me? Starting today, will you give it your best to brush teeth with your children for two minutes, twice a day, for two weeks?

The folks at Metro Dentalcare are offering up a fun prize for local parents (or those willing to travel here) to reward you for participating - a chance to win four tickets to a Minnesota Twins game in June. At that gorgeous new stadium. In fact, they are giving away two sets of four tickets - here's how to enter:

a) join me in the challenge (don't think, just do)

b) share how it's going online. To qualify for an entry, update your facebook status update (tagging Metro Dentalcare), tweet about it on twitter (using hashtag #twiceaday) or if you have your own blog, share a post (linking to Metro Dentalcare).

c) update us as often as you'd like, even daily! Or twice a day! The more you post, tweet and tag them, the more chances you have to win.

So... who's in? Leave a comment here to let me know if you'll participate. Even if you aren't local and/or have no desire to go to a Twins game... I'd love to have you join me on this challenge!

If you don't have a timer or just really want one of the cool pink and blue ones, e-mail April at ameyer@amdpi.com and she'll send one your way for free. Thanks April!

List of participants as of 5/20:

Tina

Theresa

Lisa

Stacey

Kristine

Sarah Jane

Marissa

Rebecca

Robin

Kim

Disclosure: I am not being paid to participate in this challenge. I am not a patient at Metro Dentalcare, however, I was grateful they provided me with an expert to answer my reader's questions for the Expert Q&A post on pediatric dental health. The Twins tickets giveaway is NOT hosted by me and is not exclusively for my readers (I am not eligible, either). A handful of bloggers are participating in the challenge, and all of their readers are able to enter for the tickets as well. I will not be involved in counting entries or selecting the winners. Metro Dentalcare did extend tickets to a St. Paul Saints baseball game to the bloggers participating in the challenge. I have not yet decided if I'll accept, because, well, um, I find baseball kind of boring. I'm a hockey girl, ya know.

Winner - Yo Gabba Gabba tickets

2010-02-07T01:01:00.002-06:00

Congrats to Tikki on winning the tickets! Thanks to everyone who entered... stay tuned for future giveaways soon! Bummed? Tickets are on sale for the show now, follow this link to get yours.

Preschoolers throughout Minnesota are going to go nuts over seeing Yo Gabba Gabba live at the Target Center in Minneapolis, March 13! Here's your chance to win four free tickets to the show.

To enter, leave a comment on this post, include your e-mail address if you don't have a blog where I can find you. Extra entries will be given for 1) tweeting about the contest w/a link 2) mentioning the contest with a link on your blog 3) becoming a fan of my facebook page - or if you are already a fan, post about the contest on your status updates) and 4) subscribing to my RSS feed (for my main blog, you can find the orange RSS subscribe button over here). In order to claim these entries, come back here and tell me what you did with a separate comment for each entry. And remember, I can double check! :)

That's a total of 5 entries possible per person. Contest opens midnight, Saturday, January 30 and closes Saturday, February 6. Winner will be drawn randomly and announced Monday, February 8.

The fine print: You must be a Minnesota resident to enter and win this contest. Tickets will not be mailed to the winner, they will be held at Will Call. You will need to show ID to pick them up, therefore, they will not be transferable and you won't be able to sell them on ebay or craigslist. Sorry peeps. In the spirit of full disclosure, I received some free tickets to the show. Cool perk if you ask me. :)

Winner of the Winkflash giveaway

2009-12-21T10:03:00.004-06:00

Congrats to Shy for winning the $50 gift certificate to winkflash.com. Shy tells me she is already a big winkflash fan and shared her fun Christmas Card she custom made and printed through winkflash:

Congrats to Shy, and thanks to everyone who entered!

(closed) Win a $50 gift certificate to winkflash.com

2009-12-13T19:49:00.008-06:00

When I told the folks over at winkflash that I was going to be praising their custom ceramic photo ornaments, they offered a $50 gift certificate to one of my readers. How cool is that?

I've used winkflash for photo developing for the past 4 years (since my son Alex was born) and I've been very happy with the quality, service and cost. The regular price for prints is 8 cents, but they have a promo code that works any time to get all your prints for 6 cents, seriously! (code = ONLY6CENTS). That's an awesome price, peeps!

I've ordered a lots of photo items from winkflash over the years, such as the ornaments, an apron, key chain, mugs, can coozie and coasters. I love to give photo items as gifts, and they have a great selection of unique items that always make my friends and family say, "Where did you get this?! You always find the coolest things!" (by the way, I love it when they say that.)

In addition, they also sell posters, canvas prints, calendars, photo books, cards and more. And since they have such great prices, you could get a lot of things with the $50 gift certificate if you are the winner.

So here's how to enter:
1. Leave a comment telling me how you might spend the money at winkflash. If you don't have a blogger account, make sure to leave your e-mail so I know how to find you. That's it!

2. For extra entries, you can a) blog about it b) tweet about it or c) facebook it using this link: http://tinyurl.com/y8mrrk9. Make sure to leave an additional comment for each entry.

3. For even more entries, you can a) subscribe to my blog and b) become a fan of my facebook page. Make sure to leave additional comments for each entry.

I will draw the winner at random on Sunday, December 20. The winner will have 24 hours to respond to my e-mail or a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks for entering, good luck! :)

Winner of the Family Schedule Sanity contest!

2009-11-02T00:05:00.004-06:00

Thank you to everyone who entered the Family Schedule Sanity contest sponsored by Qwest! It took quite a bit of time this weekend to read through the entries (over 70!), and it was lots of fun! My husband helped out by printing each entry, then he coded and cut off the contact information so I was able to review them all without having any idea who submitted the entry. Then it was up to me to review and rate all the tips on criteria of ability to help organize (50%), creativity (25%) and originality (25%).

There were so many wonderful, creative and interesting entries on organizing your family, it was incredibly difficult to choose just one tip to win. I was impressed with the winning tip because it was original (the only one of it's type), creative (you'll see why in a moment), and definitely would help a family get or stay organized.

The winner is Jill S. and here is her tip:

Every weekend I do what I call CALMGRL = Calendar, Menu, Grocery List.

Calendar - Fill in the magnetic calendar on my fridge to see our activities for the week.
Menu - Then I plan dinner for the week based on our schedules and the time I have to prep meals.
Grocery List - Then I make my grocery list so I have everything I need.

Congratulations Jill! ~~Check your e-mail for a note from me.~~ I already heard from Jill this morning, she's excited to be the winner! She lives in the Twin Cities, has two teenagers (16 and 18) and works a full time job - she needs to be organized! I asked Jill how she came up with the acronym CALMGRL, since it's original (I googled it, people) and she said, "Every weekend I jot on a note pad what I need to get done. I was always writing: calendar, menu and grocery list so I shortened it to CALMGRL." Very creative Jill! If anyone does these things, it will definitely help them to be a calm girl!

Although many of you manage family calendars or plan meals in advance, it was the logic of how Jill plans these three things at once and gave it such a creative acronym (CALMGRL) that really caught my attention. I know my life would be much more organized if I followed this tip!

Some of you have mentioned that you would like to hear all of the entries in addition to the winner. I will definitely share the top 25 or 30 best tips over the coming weeks. Hopefully it will help all of us get more organized.

Congrats again to Jill and thank you to everyone who entered the contest! To keep up on all the fun around here, follow me on twitter or become a fan on facebook! Have a great day!

Fox 9 Segment on Organizational Tips

2009-10-26T22:20:00.008-05:00

Are you on Facebook? Follow along by becoming a fan of "The Marketing Mama" blog.

Family Schedule Sanity Contest - CLOSED

2009-10-18T00:27:00.037-05:00

Exciting news! I am partnering with Qwest to hold a special contest where you can win $500! This is an exclusive contest offered to my readers only. The theme is "Family Schedule Sanity" and I'm looking for creative and helpful ideas from parents like you on how you stay organized. I will announce the winner on Monday, November 2. One person will be chosen based on set criteria of creativity, uniqueness and ability to help organize. More on how to enter at the bottom of this post.

Like many parents, my life became a lot more complicated after having children. More wonderful and complicated, that is. My children aren't even in school yet, and at ages 4 years and 21 months there is already a lot to keep track of to keep our lives running smoothly. My husband and I both have full time jobs and with all the doctor appointments, dentists, social plans, occasional dates, volunteering, lessons, and food allergy meetings it sometimes feels crazy. There are times I don't know if I'm coming or going, or who is picking up the kids from daycare! I know I'm not alone. Other Moms tell me it only gets worse, when the children have their own school activities and social engagements to coordinate. UGH!

My husband and I don't have a fancy way to keep track of our schedules. We mark family activities on our old-fashioned paper calendar tacked to a bulletin board in the kitchen. Sometimes we text each other to coordinate who is picking up the kids. And occasionally we e-mail each other at work to talk through plans like which Minnesota Wild games we want to go to or when and where to plan birthday parties. It works for us, for now.

The Qwest folks showed me a few ways that my hotmail account on Windows Live can help me get organized, such as an online calendar I can access from anywhere. I can even give my husband access (to the calendar, not my e-mail!). I've been trying it out for the last week and think it might help us. The other feature I'm really digging is an online document storage called SkyDrive, also a part of Windows Live. It has a crazy amount of space (25 GB) for storing back up versions of your files, then you can download them later from any computer. I uploaded a lot of my files and am excited I can now access them when I'm away from home. Another bonus, since I'm a Qwest customer my account is linked into my Windows Live account, and I can access both through my homepage, Qwest.live.com. I can customize the page to show news headlines, weather, preview e-mail and even schedule a DVR through Direct TV.

Now it's your turn! Tell me what you do to keep your family organized in approximately 50 words. You can share how you coordinate your family schedule or a tip for organizing the chaos in your home. The contest closes Wednesday, October 28 at 7 p.m. Central time.

The fine print short version: You agree to let me or Qwest reprint your entry on this blog and other media without payment. Only one entry per person. US 50 states, sorry Canada. No bonus entries, but all mentions of contest to friends, facebook, twitter, etc. will be much appreciated! The $500 prize will come directly from Qwest. I am not being paid to host this contest or write this post.

The fine print long version: Check it out here .

The contest is now closed! Check back Monday November 2nd to see who won! Check out the rest of my blog at themarketingmama.com.

Baby Safety Contest Winners

2009-10-01T22:21:00.006-05:00

Thanks to all of you who entered the Baby Safety Giveaway contest! This all started with my super-exciting TV Appearance where I promoted these products on behalf of a PR company. The business owners of these products sent them to me at no cost so I could feature them on TV, and I decided to share the love with all of you by holding a giveaway!

The four winners were chosen randomly using random.org. Two of the winners are regular readers of The Marketing Mama, one is an old high school friend who was new to my blog, and one is a new reader - a nice mix!

... and the winners are:

Congratulations ladies! You all have an e-mail from me with the details on how to claim your prizes!

Thanks everyone!

Missy

p.s. I have an amazing contest coming up later this month - stay tuned!

(Contest Closed) Great Baby Safety Products and Giveaways!

2009-09-16T00:00:00.021-05:00

Welcome Fox 9 Morning Buzz viewers! Thanks for watching this morning and stopping by for more information about the products I featured on TV. While you're here, you can learn more about me and my blog on my profile page.

Below you'll find photos, descriptions and web sites for all of the products. After checking them out, scroll to the bottom of this post to enter the giveaway contest for many of these cool products!

If you missed the show and want to see the 4-minute clip, click here.

Featured Products

Sport-Brella - This large umbrella gives instant protection from the sun, rain, and wind with its domed shape, side flaps and 125 SPF. It easily fits mom and baby or an entire family under its spacious coverage. The umbrella action open mechanism allows it to be set up in just three seconds and it's sleek case has a strap for easy carrying and can be stored in your trunk. $70 sklz.com

Tilty Cup - This infant training cup makes learning to drink from a cup easier. BPA-free, Tilty's angled interior and flow control lid allows a child to hold it like a normal cup and drink without tilting the cup way up like a sippy cup. $5.99 per 2 pack tiltycup.com

NeckSavers - the most versatile head and neck support for babies, ergonomically designed to reduce strain on the neck and cradle a baby's head, keeping it from slumping or flopping while the baby sleeps. I particularly like that the back of the NeckSaver is thinner than the sides, so it doesn't push baby's head forward. Made of soft, hypoallergenic material designed to absorb moisture, the NeckSaver is comfortable for baby year-round. $12, baberoo.com

ThermaCELL Patio Lantern - the best option for keeping mosquitoes and other insects away. It is a outdoor patio lantern and mosquito repellent device in one. Non-toxic and DEET-free, it provides the highest effectiveness in the industry at 98%, while also being the safest and healthiest for nearby babies and everyone else. Battery operated. $29.99, mosquitorepellent.com

BabyBriefcase - a charming document organizer designed for parents of infants and toddlers. BabyBriefcase stores all your baby's paperwork so it is easily accessible whenever you need it. The frosted plastic carrying case with handle and snap closure can accommodate many standard letter-size file folders. Includes 15 durable letter-size frosted plastic folders in periwinkle, mint green, and peach, 20+ preprinted and customizable folder categories, a thank you note tracker, two baby wallet info cards, framed photo pocket for the case and a dedicted slot to keep your pen handy (pen not included). $29.95, babybriefcase.com

Baby B'Air - the only safety solution for lap-held children while traveling in an airplane. FAA-approved, the Baby B'Air is the perfect solution for all babies, securing them safely to their parent so that both baby and parent are comfortable and there is no potential for baby falling. The Baby B'Air is worn by the infant like a vest. Constructed of 100% cotton and comfortable to wear for baby, the Baby B'Air is used by simply connecting it to the seat belt of the adult. The baby can then be held, fed and even changed while both parent and child remain securely fastened in their seat. The baby is more comfortable than they would be in a baby seat, but is just as securely fastened and unable to fall or pull away. $34.95, babybair.com

Contest Information

Please note: You must include an e-mail address so I can reach you if you are the winner. If you have already entered without an e-mail address, I suggest deleting your entry and/or re-entering with your e-mail. If there is no way for me to reach you, I will have to choose another winner. Thank you!

I'm giving away these four fabulous items:

ThermaCELL Patio Lantern
Baby Briefcase
Baby B'Air (in your choice of small or large)
NeckSavers (in pink)

Four winners will be randomly chosen, each person winning one item.

To enter, leave a comment and tell me which two of these products you'd most like to win and why.

Please leave your e-mail address so I can reach you easily if you win.

For bonus entries, you can do one or more of the following - be sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry:

Follow me on Blogger (click here, then go to the right sidebar and click "Follow" on the box that has a lot of little pictures of people's faces)

Follow me on twitter at @MarketingMamaMn and tweet "@MarketingMamaMN is giving away awesome baby products at http://tinyurl.com/pn9xtp. Enter today! "

Subscribe to the RSS feed for marketingmama.com

Send out a facebook update to your friends, "Marketing Mama is giving away awesome baby products. Visit her blog at http://tinyurl.com/pn9xtp to enter!" with this link

Post an entry on your own blog about this giveaway

Send an e-mail to five or more of your friends and cc: me at marketingmama (at) q.com

Contest details: The contest will last two weeks, closing at 11:59 p.m., CST, Sept. 30th. Four winners will be chosen using random.org. I will do my best to match the item to the person's first or second choice, however I cannot guarantee that. If a winner does not want the assigned item, another item will not be offered, they will forfeit their win and another person will be chosen. After e-mailing the winners, they will have 48 hours to respond before I draw another name. I will publish the winners first names on my site after they have confirmed. Continental U.S. Entries only.

Disclosure: I was not paid to appear on TV or review these products. I did receive free products so I could show them on the program. I was given the option to keep all of the products, however, I am choosing to share the love and give many of them away to readers. I will personally pay shipping fees to mail products to the winners. Because I'm cool like that.

Thanks for visiting and good luck on the contest!

House Husbands of Hollywood

2009-09-11T23:12:00.011-05:00

Pictured L-R: Darryl M. Bell, Grant Reynolds, Billy Ashley, Danny Barclay, and Charlie Mattera. Photo CR: Michael Becker/FOX REALITY CHANNEL

I'm a sucker for reality TV. Since we choose not to have cable at home (at least for now, it's an ongoing discussion), I'm shielded from most of the crazy reality shows out there. For example, I haven't actually seen the Housewives of New York, Orange County or Atlanta... and I still have a pretty full life in spite of that.

So when the people over at Fox Reality Channel asked me if I'd preview their new reality show Househusbands of Hollywood, I almost passed on the opportunity. It sounded a bit, well, degrading to men, and I wasn't sure how househusbands really related to the 'motherhood' angle of my blog. But before I completely dismissed the e-mail, I sent out a poll to my peeps on Facebook. And surprisingly, all but one of my friends wholeheartedly voted yes. In fact, they made me think I was crazy NOT to do it. So I obliged, but first I had to make my policy known - I told my contact that if I didn't like the show, I wouldn't talk about it at all. He wasn't paying me either way, he just thought I might be interested in seeing the show and perhaps if I liked it talking about it here. After a pleasant e-mail exchange and feeling respected for my policy, he sent a "screener" my way - which is PR speak for "publicity kit."

The packaged arrived containing an old-school metal lunch box with a picture of the show's main characters - the househusbands - on the outside. Creative! Packed inside was a DVD with 3 one-hour episodes (commercial free, of course), a small promotional book with photos and information, and a fun little "honey do" list with a magnet to hang on the fridge. Where mine is now, with my grocery list written all over it.

I didn't receive the kit until after the first show had already aired, and then it took me a few days to watch it... and even longer to write about it. So I'm sure many of you have already caught episodes of this and can chime in and tell me what you like and don't like.

Let's talk about the men - from their bios:

· Billy Ashley: Former professional baseball player with the Los Angeles Dodgers, married to celebrity makeup artist Lisa Ashley. Now a stay-at-home dad of their two pre-teen daughters, Alexa and Sophia, he also helps manage his wife's cosmetic lines, Lisa Ashley Beauty and l.a.girlfriend.

· Danny Barclay: A one-time pre-med student - turned aspiring actor, married to college sweetheart, Katherine Barclay, an attorney at a Hollywood law firm.

· Darryl M. Bell: An actor, best known for his role on the TV sitcom, A Different World, plays house with longtime partner actress Tempestt Bledsoe, formerly of The Cosby Show.

· Charlie Mattera: Once known as "The Gentleman Bandit," now married to a prominent psychologist to the stars and spends his time at home raising their baby son, Ryan. An aspiring actor/screenwriter, he also serves as co-executive producer and co-creator of the Househusbands of Hollywood original series.

· Grant Reynolds: A former Marine Corps sniper, married to Jillian Reynolds of Fox Reality Channel's American Idol Extra, FOX NFL Sunday and FOX 11's Good Day LA. Currently an actor and stay-at-home dad of their 2-year-old daughter, Ruby.

Once I finally locked myself in my room and started watching the show, I couldn't stop! I watched all of the first three shows in one sitting. I was particularly interested in two of the couples: Darryl Bell and Tempestt Bledsoe (Vanessa from The Cosby Show) and Grant and Jillian Reynolds. She's all over TV in various roles and he was my favorite guy to watch. For a couple of reasons - but mostly because he's really, really good looking. and seems sensitive. and appears to be a great dad to little Ruby. (I hear they are now pregnant with a little boy, too!)

So I was expecting that all of the "househusbands" would be stay-at-home dads. WRONG. Two of the five were ~~unemployed~~ looking for employment and their role was to keep the house clean and do chores and errands for their wives/partners while she was at work.

Some of the clips focused on relationships. Others focused on the children/parenting. Sometimes they brought all the men together to play basketball or drink beer in a garage. The parts I really enjoyed were the ones where the men took care of their children - like taking them clothes shopping or changing diapers. Or to the playground. These are the daddy activities (some of) these guys do every day and they are good at it.

Of course it wouldn't be reality TV without a little drama. Like wives bossing around their husbands from work (on e-mail and on the phone), at dinner parties and the like. There were times when I actually wanted to defend the men. It was interesting to see the relationships through the men's eyes rather than the women's.

Househusbands of Hollywood airs on the Fox REALITY channel, Saturdays at 9 p.m. Pacific/8 Central. For more fun info on the househusbands, check out their web site here. Or become a fan on Facebook.

Have you watched the Househusbands of Hollywood? What did you think?

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, however I did keep the lunchbox and notepad. I can't say it really affected my opinion. :)

Welcome to the Reviews and Giveaways Page

2009-09-06T00:55:00.007-05:00

Hey Peeps - I've recently been getting some great opportunities to give away products to readers, but have some limits about how I can do that within my advertising contract. Having this separate page with no BlogHer ads allows me to host giveaways without violating my contract.

All of my reviews are unpaid, however, I am not opposed to free stuff! And passing along the free stuff to you! I don't have a lot of time to review everything the PR reps send my way, so I really only pick and choose quality products or giveaways that I believe are worth my (and your) time.

I will continue to post unsolicited product reviews on my main blog page because I love talking about things I love. But rest assured, if the review was initiated by a PR rep, it will appear over here. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy some of these fun giveaways, I know I will!

Giveaways and Contest Entry Form

2009-09-01T22:42:00.004-05:00

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