Be Different...Act Normal

Olay Total Effects Review and $100 Spa Finder Gift Card Giveaway

2011-04-14T00:01:00.005-05:00

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and OLAY.

Once upon a time I was young and well rested and didn't worry much about makeup. But three kids, 12 years, and countless sleepless night later I pay a little more attention to what I am putting on my face to hide those sleepless nights.

Here are a few firm rules that I believe help put my best face forward.

1) Water, water, water. Hydrated skin is pretty skin.
2) A facial lotion with sunscreen is my best friend. (I have used Olay Complete with SPF forever!)
3) When all else fails, conceal.

For the last week I have a new tool in the fight against dark circles, the Olay Total Effects Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush.

Inside this brush isn't just concealer. This makeup also tightens the skin around your eyes and has 7 anti-aging benefits. I wish I could brush the magic over my entire face, but for now I will have to settle for under my eyes. People see your eyes first anyways, so at least they will be making a good first impression.

So what are the 7 beautiful benefits? It reduces the look of dark circles, fine lines, puffiness, uneven texture, uneven tone, dryness, and firms the area under your eyes. And what does that all equate to for me? This weekend I lost an hour of sleep to daylight saving time, another hour to staying up late to visit with company, and two more hours to a little girl that woke up sick. But I got up in Sunday morning and got ready for church and didn't feel like that all showed on my face. So to me that is benefit number 8.

This handy little tube of makeup has a brush applicator that I love. It is easy to apply, no dabbing and smudging like with regular concealers. It is almost like painting it on. Smooth, quick and easy. It is a great addition to my typical makeup routine. Anything that works better and is easier to use wins in my book. Because when you need it the most, you are usually to tired to hassle with it all!

So how to you simplify your beauty routine when you are busy or tired or both? Share your ideas with me in a comment below and you will be entered to win a $100 Spa Finder Gift Card from BlogHer.

The Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

The contest will run from April 14 through May 14, 2011.

Visit the Exclusive Offers section for more ways to enter.

Visit the Official site to learn more about the Olay Total Effects Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush.

Healthy Families and Yummy Tropicana Juice

2011-04-11T00:01:00.004-05:00

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.

"I've always been able to get my daughter to try new foods simply by telling her she can't have any."

- Alton Brown

There are lots of tricks out there to get your kids to eat more fruits and veggies. I am not opposed to any of them, but they just don't work well with my kids. They are too smart for their own good. My daughter, at the age of four, had already mastered throwing food away when I wasn't looking and even hid broccoli under the leg of her dinning room chair. This girl has skills.

So how do I get my kiddos to eat their fruits and veggies? I have three guidelines I use.

1) I try to get them involved with their food.

I try to make food fun for my kids. I take them with me to the grocery store and let them pick out items from the produce section. I let them have input on meals we are going to make. We take trips to local farms and let them pick their own produce. My kids, in turn, love food. They enjoy helping me plan, prepare, and cook a meal. I wish this meant that they loved everything they tried, but they are 100 times more likely to try something new. And I don't feel guilty making them eat a vegetable whenvthey a picked it out at the store.

2) Everyone has to try one bite of everything on their plate, every meal, no exceptions.

This goes for kids and adults alike. You don't have to like it, but you do have to swallow it. This is an expectation we have always had is one that my children don't fight. In fact, when we made this a family rule, they were in on the discussion.

After we have tried everything, one of our topics of conversation at dinner is what we liked and didn't like about the meal. We have even been known to act it out as if we are judging a dish on a food show. It keeps dinner fun and it helps us decide on a better way to prepare food. If it is the seasoning, that is easily changed. Maybe the green beans are overcooked and it is the texture that they don't like. Talking about it is a lot nicer than having an argument over why you have to finish the veggies on your plate.

3) I try to give them choices they like, or at least don't hate.

My kids don't like cooked spinach, but they will eat uncooked spinach in salads. So they get their spinach that way. The same goes for carrots. And to be honest, I don't really love carrots cooked either. So if we are having carrots with dinner and they would rather have uncooked carrot sticks, they have uncooked carrot sticks. We load them up on things that they love first, like Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, bell peppers, string beans, and apples, and then we work in small amounts of other foods as we go.

These three things don't magically make my kids perfect eaters, but I do know that they are getting a good variety of the things that they need and it cuts down on the struggle at the dinner table, which makes everyone happy.

So how do you keep your family healthy and get your kiddos to eat their fruits and veggies? Share your favorite tip and you will be entered to win a $100 Visa Gift Card from Tropicana and BlogHer.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the Official Rules for an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
selected.

Contest ends May 9, 2011

Visit the Official Rules

You can read more tips on how to keep your family healthy and get your kids to eat the fruits and veggies that they need HERE. You can also enter to win more $100 Gift Cards from BlogHer, so go check it out.

I would also encourage you to check out Tropicana on Facebook, Twitter, and on their Website to find out more about why orange juice is a great way to get important nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, and folate into your diet and the diet of your kiddos.

Pledge to squeeze more fruits and veggies into your day & Tropicana will

help kids in need. Tropicana will donate one 8-oz glass of orange juice to

the USDA School Breakfast and Summer Food Service programs, up to 184,375

8-oz glasses. Please pledge by going to http://bit.ly/gAU7Eq . Promo will

end 12/31/11.

I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received nutritional information, a product portfolio, and a sample of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice to use and facilitate my review.

Tropicana Pure Premium and a $100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

2011-03-14T00:01:00.004-05:00

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.

This is Miss Ruby. Miss Ruby is three. Miss Ruby likes to do everything by herself. This includes getting herself dressed, doing her own hair (or not doing her own hair) and deciding what she will and won't eat, emphasis on the won't. My one saving grace in the food department is that she loves breakfast. So I make the most of this one meal I know she will eat.

The one thing that is always part of that meal is orange juice.

image by Joe Biafore

I want all of my kiddos to get as much vitamin C in their diet as they can this time of year. Their immune systems need all the help they can get. Ruby won't eat oranges, but she loves to drink orange juice with her breakfast. That is why I am glad that she gets a full days supply of Vitamin C from one 8 ounce serving of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice. Tropicana squeezes 16 fresh picked oranges into every 59 ounce container. No added sugar. No juice from concentrate. No artificial sweeteners. And one glass is equal to two servings of fruit. That is two servings of fruit that Ruby happily drinks.

Ruby is happy and I am happy.

Sitting at the table in the morning drinking juice with her I know that she is getting something good that she needs. Not having to fight with her about drinking it is the good start to the day that I need. Tropicana truly helps us put the "good" in our morning.

So how do you get the "good" in your morning? Do you start your day with a glass of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice? Leave a comment below telling me about the "good" in your morning and you will be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer.

Rules:

- No duplicate comments.

- You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry

methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment

on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on

this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about

an alternate form of entry.

- This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older

- Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

- You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

- Sweepstake will begin on March 14. 2011 and run until April 11, 2011.

For more information about Tropicana, check out their Offical Website. Head over to their Health Benefits tab and find out more about Tropicana Pure Premium. (Like the fact that it has as much potassium as a medium size banana) You can also become a fan of the official Tropicana Facebook page (where you will learn that orange juice is naturally fat free, cholesterol free, and sodium free) and you can even follow them on Twitter.

Visit the Exclusive Offers section for more chances to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer and make sure to come back in two weeks for another chance to win a $100 gift card right here!

I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.