Tarte Cosmetics - Review

When I am not scanning review blogs looking for great products, I am scanning magazines looking for great products. I think I am slowly becoming addicted to not only giveaways but also to the search of the next best thing. The other day I was reading my Shape magazine and ran across a review for Tarte Cosmetics.

I am trying desperately to put a little more effort into my appearance. Especially since spring is finally here and I can take my boys outside. Tarte sent me their Perfect Whirled Limited-Edition Natural Swirl Cheek Stain. I have never used a stain before and I love it. As the day wears on, I normally have to reapply my powder blush but the stain lasts all day and washes off with just soap and water.

I also received the Spring Greening Limited-Edition Reuseable Straw Palette which has 6 fun Spring eyeshadow colors and 3 gorgeous lip glosses. The lip glosses smell fabulous and have just a hint of color and aren't heavy like other glosses I have tried are. The eyeshadows are long-lasting and the golden bronze makes my normally boring brown eyes pop! Something that is hard to do given the sleep-deprived look I usually have.

I have left the best part about these Tarte Cosmetics products for last. As you know, I am trying very hard to support companies that are aware of the impact their products have on the environment. I also believe that we need to be more aware of the types of products we use on ourselves and our families. Both of these products are free of petro-chemicals,phthalates, paraben, gluten, GMO, and sulfates. The packaging is eco-friendly as well. In fact the Spring Greening container is reusable and is perfect for jewelry, crafts, or general storage.

Both the cheek stain and the lip glosses contain Tarte's t5 super fruit complex™. This is a proprietary blend of the five most active superfruits: goji, acai, maracuja, acerola and pomegranate. The first blend of its kind, the t5 super fruit complex™ is loaded with naturally occurring, antioxidant rich nutrients and vitamins that have been known to deliver refining, anti-aging and skin-restorative benefits with each application.

I wish that some of the colors of the eyeshadows weren't so bold - I am not sure if you will be seeing me use the vibrant teal or the golden lime. Aside from that I really was impressed with the products that I received.

You can purchase Tarte Cosmetics at Sephora, online at their site or you can find a store near you on their site.

Wordless & Wordful Wednesday - Have Babies, Will Travel

Wordful: Hubby thought it would be fun to wear both babies on a hike. Jake (on his back) is in the wonderful ERGO Baby Carrier & poor Luke is in the oh-so-un-stylish pack hubby bought at a used baby gear store. Poor Luke, he gets hand-me-down everything!
I thought it was funny until I realized he was really going to go out in public like that. But then I thought that there are few men who will wear their baby to begin with and here I have one who will wear both of them at the same time! He looked ridiculous, but at least no one was left out.

For more Wordless Wednesdays: 5 Minutes for Mom
For more Wordful Wednesdays: 7 Clown Circus

Winner of the Pure Anada $50 Gift Certificate

Congratulations to the winner of
the Pure Anada $50 Gift Certificate:

Thank you to everyone who entered and Andreah has 48 hours to respond (email has been sent) or another winner will be chosen.
** My numbering of comments stops at 200 and starts back at 1 again. Andreah's comment # is in fact 201 and not 1.

Take Me Back Tuesday - My Baby

<center><a href="http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com"> <img src="http://web.me.com/mraceto/kari/tuesday/button.jpg" /> </a></center>
How do you play along?
We all have tons of photos from the days before the digital camera. I figure if I just scan a few each week, eventually I will get them all safely into my computer.
Every week you can come back here and share photos that "take you back." Maybe it is the bad hair we all had in the 80's or the bell-bottoms you swore were so hip in the 70's. Whatever you want to share! If you decide to play along - just sign the Linky!! I promise to head on over and spread some comment love your way!

Nathan's childhood was during the pre-digital camera era, therefore all my pictures of him need to be scanned. I am always sharing my littlest boys and I wanted to be sure to give Nathan a little face time lest he feel left out.


This was taken at his 4th birthday party. The innocent smile - he really was a sweet little boy. I remember he was in a ball pit at some play area and this kid was bouncing balls off of his head. He just sat there and when I asked why he didn't tell the kid to stop he said it was "ok." He was too nice then and still is. I on the other hand took a ball and chucked it at the kid and told him to knock it off. Clearly he did not get his disposition from me.

Hopefully you will participate. If you could link to my post somehow by either copying and pasting the code for the picture above or the text below. Don't forget to sign the Linky too!! I would love for you to Take Me Back!

Welcome to Take Me Back Tuesday! You can participate and/or check out other Take Me Back Tuesday posts at <a href="http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com">A Giveaway Addicted Mommy</a>.
Photo scanned using the Epson Stylus NX400.

Shoes for a Happy Planet - Simple Shoes Review

I have done shoe reviews for my children and I thought that it was mommy's turn to try some shoes! I looked for a company that I knew I could really stand behind and I have found that company, Simple Shoes. Simple Shoes makes eco-friendly shoes, sandals and bags. They are committed to making their product 100% sustainable. Seriously, how can you not love this company. I watched their video about how Simple Shoes came to be, well, Simple Shoes and I was sold.

I was able to take their flip-flop, the Gumbo - Hemp, for a test walk. First, lets talk about the shoe box which is in 100% post-consumer recycled paper. The flip-flop itself is made from the eco-friendly materials hemp, car tires and recycled carpet padding. These are by far the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. I wear them everytime I leave the house, even in 28 degree weather! I believe it is the carpet padding that makes them so comfy. It just doesn't flatten out like normal shoe padding.
As parents we really do need to be thinking about the planet we are leaving for our children. We need to put all this talk into action and really start supporting these companies that are doing all they can. Simple Shoes isn't just eco-friendly, they have fabulous shoes and bags. They've got shoes for the whole family - even your baby! It is never too early to start learning about caring for the earth.

With Spring FINALLY here and Summer right around the corner, why not head on over to Simple Shoes and pick up a pair of Gumbo Flip-Flops? I promise you they will be one of the most comfortable sandals you'll ever own.

MomFit Mondays - My Beginning

While I was simply looking for a fun meme to join in on I seem to have stumbled upon a great way to get movin'. If you are a regular reader, you are aware that I had emergency surgery almost 4 weeks ago. I am supposed to wait to exercise until 6 weeks post-surgery. Here is my dilemma: I am a former PE teacher. I am used to being active and moving everyday. I have been pregnant or recovering from being pregnant for over 3 years now! I can not handle looking like this much longer!

So, over at 3 Kids and Us, Cat has started MomFit Mondays. I am a week behind so here are my goals (from Week 1):

1. Overall to lose 23 pounds. This, I hope will allow me to fit into the pants I was wearing before #2 son was born. I am going to aim for 2 pounds a week.
   
2. To incorporate some sort of exercise each day. At least get out and take the boys for a walk. I received Lullaby Exercises to review prior to my surgery (exercise with your baby). As soon as my 6 week check up gives me the go ahead, I will do this on the days that I can't get any make-up on and thus won't leave the house for a walk with the kids!
3. Keep a log of what I eat. This includes the snacking I do as I make my kids meals. I know most of my calories come from this mindless snacking. You know, the extra goldfish crackers left behind, the last few bites of a grilled cheese sandwich you just can't throw away...

The task for this past week (Week 2) was to implement these goals into your everyday life and to try to incorporate your kids into your workout. I promise I will and I really am motivated. My husband said that I looked like I had lost some weight so I did something that I was avoiding - I tried on a pair of my "big jeans" from before babies. You know, pants without elastic in the waistband and maternity panel. Pants with a zipper and a button. They fit! I was so excited!! So I am FINALLY out of maternity pants. I am going to pack all my maternity clothes up and get them ready to be sold on Ebay.

Just hope I use the money from selling those clothes to buy something nice for me - and not a banana split from Baskin-Robbins.

Do you need help and support on your journey to lose weight? Join us! MomFit Mondays @ 3 Kids and Us

Photofiddle Giveaway & Review - YOU WILL LOVE IT

Have you ever seen an oil painting that was painted from a photograph? Or maybe you actually had your portrait done by a painter? I grew up fairly poor but would go to my more well-off friends homes and they always had these beautiful canvas paintings of the family. I had hoped when I was older that I would be able to afford such a painting.

Enter the 21st century and now anyone can afford such a "painting." Thanks to Photofiddle you can transform any ordinary photograph into a work of art! All I did was send them my digital photograph via email and in a day I they fiddled my photo into 24 different styles. I was able to view them and then choose which style I liked best.

We chose the oil painting style, canvas wrapped on stretchers which is canvas stretched on a wooden frame. It is BEAUTIFUL! I was simply shocked at how wonderful it turned out and I am so embarrassed that I almost passed on this opportunity. Really - it looks just like a professional oil painting.

Here is a picture from their site that gives you an idea of what the canvas wrapped on a wooden frame actually looks like.


I will admit, I was skeptical. I thought I could easily do this on my computer. I was so wrong!! Photofiddle is able to "fiddle" your picture and transfer it to canvas or professional archival photo paper. You can have it framed or not, or stretched onto a wooden frame like we did or not. You then have the option of framing them yourself to match your decor.

Their prices are extremely reasonable and the customer service was fabulous. From start to finish, the process was less than 10 days! This would make a fabulous Mother's Day gift. You can use a photo of the family, kids or an old portrait of her parents possibly. They also offer photo restoration and can turn black in white photos into color.

Don't just take my word for it. Oprah listed Photofiddle on her O list in 2006. More recently, the Today Show picked Photofiddle as a great DIY decorating idea, the CBS Early Show featured them as a best Mother's Day gift idea.

BUY IT!! Photofiddle is offering my readers a 15% discount. Simply enter nate15 on the shopping cart page in the promotion code box and click apply.

WIN IT!! Photofiddle is generously offering one of my readers a $50 Gift Certificate to create their own Photofiddle masterpiece.

TO ENTER: Go to Photofiddle and choose your favorite style - or better yet - the style you would choose for a gift to your mom or that special mom in your life!

This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

1. Blog about the giveaway with a link to this giveaway and to Photofiddle. (Be sure to leave a link to your post in your comment)

2. Follow me! Click on Follow This Blog in the left side bar. (Current followers count too! Just be sure to make sure you are still following me.)

3. Subscribe to my blog via email at the top of my left side bar. Don't forget to activate your subscription. (Current subscribers count too!)

4. Add my button to your blog. The code is located in my right side bar. (If you already have it, just let me know!)

5. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the contest. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends April 20th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on April 21st and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US Only.

**One Entry Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog.

Lauren Nicole Gifts Giveaway & Review

If you are like me, you love personalized things. I remember getting gifts with my children's names on them and they are still cherished to this day. I also enjoy giving gifts that are personalized or monogrammed because I feel that the receiver will know that I really put some thought and time into it.

Lauren Nicole Gifts is the perfect place to find gifts for everyone. They carry Monogrammed Gifts, Personalized Jewelry, Hand-Stamped Silver and so much more. Looking around my favorites were the:

Monogrammed Key Phobs

The Monogrammed Lamb

and the Hand Stamped Silver Family Necklace

I was able to review the Hand Stamped Silver Family Necklace and I am so happy with it! It is even more beautiful in person and came in a beautiful gift tin and organza bag. I love that it is on a sterling silver ball-chain necklace which is much sturdier than other chains. If you are a mother of a baby as I am, you know how important this is. The pendant is 1" in diameter and is hand stamped with your children's names and your initials. I have received hand stamped jewelry in the past and was disappointed in the quality - this pendant was professionally done and I was so impressed. I have gotten so many compliments and I can hardly wait to see what else I can convince my husband that I HAVE to have from Lauren Nicole Gifts.

With Mother's Day around the corner, wouldn't this be a great gift for a special mother or heck, for yourself? BUY IT: Lauren Nicole Gifts is offering my readers 15% off their purchase during the month of April. Just enter code: mommy in the coupon box at check out (coupon not valid with any other offer).
-or-
WIN IT: Lauren Nicole Gifts is giving away a Hand Stamped Silver Family Necklace to one of my readers!!

TO ENTER: Head on over to Lauren Nicole Gifts and pick out a great gift you could give to a lucky mom in your life (or yourself, why not?).

This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

1. Blog about the giveaway with a link to this giveaway and to Lauren Nicole Gifts. (Be sure to leave a link to your post in your comment)

2. Follow me! Click on Follow This Blog in the left side bar. (Current followers count too! Just be sure to make sure you are still following me.)

3. Subscribe to my blog via email at the top of my left side bar. Don't forget to activate your subscription. (Current subscribers count too!)

4. Add my button to your blog. The code is located in my right side bar. (If you already have it, just let me know!)

5. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the contest. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends April 19th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on April 20th and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US Only.

**One Entry Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog.

Oopdoo Review - Group Gifts!

In my former life as a teacher, we had many occasions when we had to purchase a congratulatory or get well gift basket for someone. No one wanted to be the person who collected all the money and handle the purchase and delivery. It isn't a whole lot of fun to hound people for money.

Recently I received a get well gift from a group of my online friends. Now, I never asked how they arranged the financial part of it, I can only imagine it was somewhat difficult since all them live all across the country. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to have someone or company handle all this for you?

Oopdoo has the solution for group gift giving, oopdoo wishes. For how the group purchases work see the blue box at right. A group of my online friends and I got to take their process for a test drive. It was very easy process and the only difficulty was choosing a gift from their amazing selection! While oopdoo specializes in Get-Well gifts, most of their gifts can be given for any occasion. Our recipient, Amy of Coffee with the Mrs., is expecting a baby and we sent her the Gotta Have Java gift basket which comes in a large coffee mug shaped basket. To see her actual gift visit her site.

I received update emails as well as an email telling me that the gift had been delivered. A great feature is that you do not have to know your recipients address. This is especially wonderful for online friendships. You don't always want to share your private information over the web.

Some of the gift options are:

Blissful Bouquet

Get Well Wishes

Happy-ness (Cookie Bouquet)

So head on over to oopdoo and check out their (oopdoo) wishes. To read more about oopdoo, please check out Mrs. Cox's Slice 'o Heaven and Eighty MPH Mom. Thank you oopdoo for providing such a wonderful service and product!

EPSON PRINTER GIVEAWAY AND REVIEW!

Every time the UPS or Fed Ex van drives down my street I get all a flutter. Never more so than when I was expecting my new Epson Stylus NX400. I have to admit, it arrived a while ago. I hate learning how to use a new electronic device. I usually look at the instruction manual and get an overall feeling of dread. How wrong was I? Everything was super easy to understand and even I was able to master it all quite easily. Since then, I have been putting it through a vigorous test drive. It has been so much fun!

I have become a scanning maniac. I just started a meme called Take Me Back Tuesday where you can see samples of my scanned photos. They came out just as good as the originals. The Epson NX400 has an amazing feature, with a few button clicks and you can restore old and/or faded photos. You can also crop photos and enlarge them from this amazing All-in-One. The large 2.5 inch tilt LCD display screen makes it all a breeze!

My favorite feature by far is the index sheet. Simply place your photo memory card into the machine and you can print up an index sheet of all the photos on the card, the latest 30, 60 or 90 photos. At that point you can view all the photos and then print directly from the index sheet. Choose which picture you want, how many copies, borderless or with a border, if you want to print the date on the photos and what size picture you want. Place the index sheet on the glass and hit scan. It will read all of your selections and print your photos. How cool is that?

The print quality is amazing! I have received home printed pictures from friends and they always have a faded look to them. I used the Epson 4X6 photo paper and I dare anyone to tell the difference between the photos I printed and those you get at any one hour photo shop. They really are that good!

The Epson Stylus NX400 All-in-One is for your everyday copying, printing and scanning. It is a beautiful machine and you can not beat the price, $99! It prints up to 34 pages per minute for black and color text, prints 4”x6” BorderFree® photos in as fast as 26 seconds and copies up to 30 copies per minute for both black and color. There are so many other features - I have to say that I am incredibly impressed with this machine!

Epson is generously giving away one of these amazing machines to one of my readers!!

TO ENTER: Head on over to Epson's site and tell me what product you could use in your home or office and why.

This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

1. Blog about the giveaway with a link to this giveaway and to Epson. (Be sure to leave a link to your post in your comment)

OR For 5 extra entries write a dedicated post to this contest with links to this post and to Epson along with a photo of your old printer or a story of why you need this printer. (Be sure to leave a link to your post in your comment)

2. Follow me! Click on Follow This Blog in the left side bar. (Current followers count too! Just be sure to make sure you are still following me.)

3. Subscribe to my blog via email at the top of my left side bar. Don't forget to activate your subscription. (Current subscribers count too!)

4. Add my button to your blog. The code is located in my right side bar. (If you already have it, just let me know!)

5. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the contest. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends April 24th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on April 25th and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US Only.

**One Entry Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog.

Aloha Friday #6

"In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response."

To participate you ask your readers a question and sign her linky with your post URL.

So head over to her site and answer her question but while you are here you might as well answer mine:

What was the first word that your child, or children, said?

I am so embarrassed that I can't recall my oldest son's first word. My middle son is now a week from being 21 months and he is just starting to talk. His first "official" word would be "bye!" We taught him sign language and they said that it wouldn't delay his speech. I am not sure if that is why it is taking him so long to talk but he does communicate via sign and now a bit with speech (please, tree, bite, bottle).

A Thousand Word Thursday - Balboa Island

This is a picture of my son Nathan, my sister Aileen and me when she came out for a visit (from Indiana) back in 2002 almost exactly 7 years ago. We are on the ferry that takes you from Newport Beach to Balboa Island. It is kinda cool, you drive your car on and you can get out and sit on the ferry itself. Granted you can simply drive to the island, but isn't this a much more fun way to travel?

I know you are thinking, "Wow those sisters look so similar!" Ok, so maybe not. We are half-sisters. She's in law school now & I am so proud of my little sister. Plus isn't it totally great to have a lawyer in the family??

By the way - yes, those are overalls that I am wearing. It was socially acceptable to wear them back then. I think...

Winners of Boogie Wipes & Kidproof your PC

Congratulations to the winner of the Boogies Wipes Contest:

Congratulations to the winner of the Kidproof your PC Contest:

Thank you to everyone who entered and I will be emailing the winners soon. They will have 48 hours to respond!