Sunday, September 29, 2013

Dressfirst Review

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a self-proclaimed tomboy and while growing up I was only ever seen in jeans with grass stains on the knees and jeans/shorts. To this day I'm still a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl but have learned to appreciate the more girly things in life.

One of my favorite things to do after my babies have gone down for the night is to surf the internet and I won't lie, I spend most of my time on the internet looking at clothes. Jeans, tops, nightwear and yes, underwear, are a few of my favorite things to look through but what I really love to drool over are dresses. I'm not much a fan of the short Mini's the girls are sporting these days nor do I care much for the outrageous and loud dresses the girls are picking out for Prom but I do however love Empire dresses.

Maybe its because I'm a bit old fashioned, maybe its because I have this thing for the Jane Austen type fashion or maybe even because I know a plump girl like myself is best suited for the style but whatever the case is, I'm very much in love with the Empire waist style.

This dress in particular, the Sweep Train Chiffon, is one of my favorites and I would kill to have one in Blue!



Isn't it to die for? The off-the-shoulder straps give it that Austen era feel and the detail at the waist completes the look. I love the length of this dress in particular because as I said before I'm definitely not a fan of the short dresses and in all honesty really doubt I'd ever be able to pull them off.

Another of the many reasons the Empire waist dresses are more suited for me is simply the many different styles of shoes you can get away with while wearing a floor length dress. I'm 5"3' and don't exude the type of grace this dress suggests so heels are out and to my immense relief ballet Flats are most certainly in! With so many benefits, other than looking fantastic, there's simply no way I'd choose any other style of dress and at DressFirst there are many different styles/colors of the Empire dress to choose from!




So go on with your dress loving self, head on over to DressFirst and check out their great selection and if the Empire dresses aren't your thing don't worry: They have many, many wonderful styles waiting for you. Evening Dresses, Prom Dresses, the gangs all there!



Saturday, September 28, 2013

10 Tips to Smart Budgeting!


Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for writing this review. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

10 Tips To Smart Budgeting!



In no way, shape or form am I good about planning or sticking to a budget. I'm good at spotting a bargain and even better at shopping around for the best prices but sticking to a set budget is one of the things I've had the most hard time with since joining the world of adulthood..I start out my week calculating how much money I'll make, from day to day or hour to hour, what I can spend each day and how much I need to have saved by the end of the week/month and next thing I know the end of the week/month is on me like a vicious hound and I'm opening my wallet to find nothing but lint and old recipes.

Sadly, this happens to me more often than not and lately I've found myself very discouraged, especially when thinking of the upcoming Holidays. With just myself, the kids and my folks living at home its not such an anxiety Roller Coaster but it does send me into a panic all the same when I start thinking of the Holiday get-togethers and of the many gifts I'd like/want to buy. I mean, seriously, who has enough money for Hallowthanksmas anyways?!

Thankfully for my terrible budgeting self I've found this neat bag 'o' tips to help keep myself in check! If you've found yourself slipping in the budgeting department this might be a great little read to help get yourself back on track! 





Envelope budgeting is an age-old way of keeping  track of your funds by dividing it up into envelopes dedicated to categories of expenses. One for car expenses, gas, lunch money, bills, dining out, etc. This concept works particularly well to teach young couples and students how to manage their money.

While some people have found this works, others find that envelopes of cash are just too tempting, and they cheat a little here, a little there, and suddenly bills don't get paid. In this post I'm going to give you some quick tips to budget wisely and use the envelope budgeting concept the modern way, with a pre-paid Visa®  card.


  1. Buy a coffee maker. The average American spends $1,092 at coffee shops
  2. If carrying cash around in an envelope makes you nervous, try loading up a PayPower™ Visa® Prepaid Card ( https://www.paypower.com/ ) with the funds you have to spend. You can pay your bills online for free, and unlike a credit card there is no credit check and you can track your spending online and reload the card any time.
  3. Roll over any unused fund on your pre-paid card to use the next month or into an emergency or fun fund.
  4.  Schedule bills to be paid from your card at different times of the month instead of paying them all at once to give you better cash flow.
  5. Don't be discouraged if you don't perform perfectly the first month or tow. Getting used to following a budget takes time.Be persistent and you'll succeed.
  6. Set aside a portion of your budget for fun. Reward yourself for reaching your budget goals. It gives you something to look forward to!
  7. Pre-paid cards for each member of the household gives them a feeling of taking charge of their money and also teaches them about budgeting.
  8. Give the kids a re-loadable Visa®  card and then load it up with their allowance monthly. They'll learn how far their dollar goes.
  9. 50% of Americans have less than one month of savings saved for emergencies. Direct deposit (https://www.paypower.com/Why-PayPower/account-benefits/prepaid-visa-direct-deposit-bonus) a set amount into a re-loadable card every month and set it aside for emergencies.
  10. Set up electronic payments for your bills directly from your pre-paid card. No more lost or stolen check and you can easily view which bills are paid online.

Learn more about the benefits of prepaid cards here (https://www.paypower.com/Why-PayPower)

Monday, September 23, 2013

Making Learning ABC's Fun for Your 3,4 and 5 Year Olds with Educational Toys Planet!


I won't lie. Its hard for me to sit down and 'teach' a young child basic skills. Whether its counting, learning their ABC's or even Potty Training, I'm horrible at putting aside a block of time and just teaching. Call it an inability to sit still, an attention thing or even laziness, it just doesn't come easy for me and it makes it even harder to say about myself because I know I'm my children's first and best Teacher during these early stages of their lives.

Its just a good stroke of luck that I recently got the chance to review Educational Toys Planet's Alphabet Flash Cards for 3, 4 and 5 year olds and was given the tool my Sophie and I have been needing to get over my bump in our learning adventures!


Sophie and I have been loving sitting together these last few weeks and flipping through our Alphabet Flash cards together.The cards themselves are sturdy enough for our (almost) 3 year old Sophie to hold herself and go through at her own pace without bending them while the colors/pictures on the cards are vibrant enough to keep her attention while going through the entire stack.

I love being able to sit down during a quiet period of our day and listen to her tell me about the animals as we go through our cards and learn the different letters and sounds associated with them.

These Alphabet Flash Cards are perfect for helping your 3, 4 and 5 year olds learn their ABC's and are great for making the whole learning process fun for everyone!

The ABC Flash Cards are located in the ABC Toys section of the Educational Toys Planet website and also can be found under the: Toys for 3 Year Olds, Toys for 4 Year olds and Toys for 5 Year Olds.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

September Fan Appreciation #Giveaway! #Win a Walmart Gift Card from Slow Road to Insanity! 9/30

This giveaway is in no way endorsed by Walmart Co. I purchased the materials advertised for giveaway with my own funds. 

I know its been ages since I've been able to do a FA giveaway for all you loyal followers but juggling a Toddler, 5 month old and limited finances its been impossible to put together a spontaneous giveaway however this month I have found it possible, just barely, to scrounge up a little extra in order to do this!

Because I wouldn't be here blogging today if it weren't for all my faithful followers and giveaway entrants I'm happy to be able to bring you a chance to win a $20 Walmart Gift Card.

Whether you're like me and getting an early jump on Christmas or you're just looking for a little extra cash, this giveaway is for you.

Wanna win an easy 20 bucks? Just fill in the entries on the rafflecopter form below and stay tuned to see if you're been picked as my winner! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tinysoles Review and Giveaway! 9/30



Just in time for back to school or even for my parents who just love pint sized shoes, here's an awesome Review from TinySoles that I know you are just going to LOVE!

TinySoles is a shoe store dedicated to providing the most complete selection of stylish, comfortable shoes for babies, infants, toddlers and kids.

"Our story begins in early 2007 as three mothers on a mission to find quality, development appropriate footwear for our infants. Unable to find anything in our local area, we turned to the internet. After disappointing experiences with online retailers and their lack of product knowledge, we discovered that most stores sell shoes picked for fashion over foot development. As we began to understand what healthy foot development was and why it is so important, our kids footwear became harder to find. We often discussed the latest developments in our SOLE search and began to wonder why there wasn’t a children's shoe store dedicated to healthy foot development with exceptional customer service by knowledgeable staff. Our mission to find this ultimate shoe experience soon became our obsession and TinySoles was born."


I personally love shoes but more to the point I love shoes I can buy for my littles; Sophie is always outfitted in the cutest footwear I can find and while working with TinySoles I wasn't disappointed at their great selection.

To help facilitate this review I was sent a pair of toddler Geox New Jocker with Lights in pink from TinySoles.




When our package from TinySoles arrived I decided to let Sophie be the one to open the box and knew she would be excited no matter what was inside but the second she got to her new sneakers her face lit up! If there's one thing my two year old loves its shoes and boy, she couldn't get the tissue paper away from the shoes and the shoes out of the box fast enough. It also goes without saying that she had to try them on right then!

Are the Geox Jockers cute or what? My little did not take them off her feet for the rest of that day, she was in love and walked, ran and yes, jumped all over the house so she could see the lights flash.

From what I can tell just by having Soph in them constantly the Geox Jockers are comfortable for her little feet, fit her ever growing tootsies perfectly and so far have withstood some pretty heavy duty play sessions at our local park!

One of the great things I learned about these shoes or rather every pair of Geox shoes, is that they feature a microporous membrane thats placed on top of a perforated rubber sole that lets heat and humidity (aka all that yucky sweat) escape the shoe but keeps water from soaking up into your kiddos shoes.

All in all I love the experience I've had with TinySoles and the product I was sent. I'd recommend them to any Mommy/Daddy or relative, friend or acquaintance looking for the perfect footwear for the littles in their lives!

To find out more about TinySoles and to purchase their products you can find them online at www.tinysoles.com!

To keep up with the latest news you can become a follower of Tinysoles via Facebook and/or Twitter

Win it: To win a $40 Gift Card from TinySoles just fill out the simple rafflecopter form below to get started!

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