Monday Moments

It's been one of those crazy weeks! Sometimes the days blend into one another and life is rather boring (especially living in the small town we've been in for the past 4 years) and other times, like this past week, like has been chaotic and exciting and messy and exhausting all at once. I've made a point to take care of myself though, indulging in little treats (the other night at dinner I ordered the most delicious warm brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce drizzled on top, mmmmm!) and also of course keeping the kid's spirits up with little indulgences as well.Monday Moments, brought to you by Starbucks, encourages us to take care of ourselves - cherish those little moments of relaxation or simply things that make you pause and smile for just a moment.

This photo, taken last week, cracks me up and I thought it was fitting for my Monday Moment. There are days when you just gotta toss in the towel - put on a silly hat and a tutu and say "whatever...". Don't take yourself too seriously. I think that's a great lesson from my 2 year old!

Have you had a Monday Moment this week? What happened this week that gave you time to reflect, take a moment for yourself, or just made time stand still for a second so you could catch your breath and smile?


Leave a comment here sharing your Monday Moment and be entered to win a great prize pack from Starbucks! 1 reader is going to win 4 Starbucks Light Frapp (2 Vanilla/2 Mocha) AND a $10 Starbucks gift card!

For additional entries:
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~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
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Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on April 30th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.

Royale Reno-Cation Contest (and to celebrate I have one of my own here too!)

Canadians, I have an awesome contest to share with you! I've entered! Actually, you can enter once per day so I need to attach a sticky note to my laptop to remind me because I really REALLY want to win!

The Grand Prize in the Royale Reno-cation Contest is $13,000 towards the home renovation of your choice PLUS an 11-day $7000 Royal Caribbean Cruise for two to rest your weary body after all that renovation planning (hey, for $13,000 pay someone else to do the actual reno work, right?!)

An additional $5000 in prizes will be given away in the form of $15 weekly prize packages from the Royale Luxury Bath Collection which includes a personal heated towel rack, luxurious new towels to keep nice and toasty on the towel rack, and premium Royale robes!

This contest couldn't have come at a better time - we are just in the process of moving into a new home and are so excited! I love planning home renovations - the work, not so much. I know if I won this contest a portion of the $13,000 home renovation cash prize would go to paying someone to do the work, that's for sure! Definite improvements I would make would be: pouring a new driveway, laying real hardwood instead of the engineered hardwood we have, renovating a large bedroom to turn it into 2 bedrooms (which involves adding a window on the side of the house), and building a deck. Yes, I have plans...big plans! $13,000 would definitely help me take care of those plans. The 11-day Royale Caribbean Cruise would be the perfect way to reward ourselves for all our hard work (picking paint colors and deck stain is hard work, no?) I have no preference on where the cruise destinations take us, just take me somewhere fabulous!

Excited? Me too! Make sure you enter the Royale Reno-Cation Contest by clicking here and come back once per day to get those daily entries in!

While you wait with the rest of us until the grand prize draw on June 29th, 2010, you can also stop by Feisty Frugal & Fabulous to enter a great home-reno contest too!

Home renovations are hard work, from the research and planning stages all the way until the project is complete. Believe me, we are in the midst of it right now and I'd love to win the great prize pack I have for 1 of my Canadian readers! Home Hardware is a great one-stop shop for many home renovation needs. We were just there this week checking out their flooring! Of course, while painting my kitchen, cooking a meal for the family is the last thing I want to do, so a restaurant meal would be perfect in times like that.
1 Canadian reader is going to win a $50 Home Hardware gift card to help jump start a home renovation PLUS a $50 Cara Restaurant Gift Card accepted at Swiss Chalet, Montana's, Milestones, Kelsey's or Harvey's to help you relax after a hard day of reno work!

To enter, leave me a comment here telling me what your ultimate home reno-cation would be (what reno project would you do first and what destination would you pick to relax afterwards?)

For additional entries:
~ Follow me (join this site with Google Friend Connect)
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~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
~ Follow @FeistyFrugal on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (RT 1x per day) Enter to win a $50 Home Hardware GC + $50 Restaurant GC @FeistyFrugal @MC_Canada I need a Reno-Cation, do you? http://tinyurl.com/ykdmlas
~ Become a Fan of Feisty Frugal and Fabulous on Facebook (please leave your first name and last initial so I can find you as a fan)

Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on April 27th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian addresses only.

The Princess and the Frog - On DVD March 16th!

We have anxiously been waiting for the latest princess release from Disney to arrive! I received Disney's The Princess and the Frog 3 Disc Combo Pack (DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital Copy) last week and I held onto it until this weekend. You see, we are in transition right now - in between our old house and our new house. Our new house is in a city an hour away, so we are spending a few days in a hotel and of course I knew I'd need some things to keep the kids occupied during this time! Side note here - having the 3 Disc Combo Pack is awesome - because the Digital Copy can always be kept in the side pocket of my laptop bag so should I ever run into an unplanned event where the kids need some down time, I have a Disney DVD handy (moms, there's my organizational tip for the week, keep those Digital Copies from Disney DVD releases with your laptop bag, not in the case!)

We missed The Princess and the Frog in theaters, but there's no way you could have missed the buzz about this movie. After all (and well overdue), Disney was unveiling their first-ever African American princess! This is also the first new princess since 1998!

Friends Tiana and Charlotte, as young girls, discuss The Princess and the Frog after reading the book. Charlotte, who is the daughter of the town's richest man and has her many dresses sewn for her by Tiana's mother (voiced by Oprah Winfrey) says she would kiss a frog for money, Tiana says she most certainly would not (her daddy taught her the value of hard work).


Fast forward years later when both girls are adults, and an interesting twist of events (aren't they all?) results in Tiana kissing a prince named Naveen who has been turned into a frog, to help turn him back into a prince which only results in...you guessed it, Tiana becoming a frog as well! Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Thankfully, the premise for the movie is silly and spirited enough that young kids can follow along. The rest of the movie is about Tiana and Naveen's adventures as they search for a princess to kiss Naveen and turn him back into a Prince (and possible husband for Charlotte...or maybe not?)I have two copies of Disney's The Princess and the Frog 3-Disc Combo Packs to give away to my readers! To enter, tell me: Of the 9 Disney Princesses, who is your favorite and why?

For additional entries:
~ Follow me (join this site with Google Friend Connect)
~ Subscribe via email or Reader
~ Grab my button
~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
~ Follow @FeistyFrugal on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (RT 1x per day) Win a 3-disc Combo Pack (DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Copy) of Disney's The Princess and the Frog @FeistyFrugal http://tinyurl.com/yfqos5g
~ Become a Fan of Feisty Frugal and Fabulous on Facebook (please leave your first name and last initial so I can find you as a fan)

Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on March 19th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.

Urban Chic Boutique

Urban Chic Boutique is a gem to find online. There's thousands of sites out there that sell beauty products of course, but sites like Urban Chic Boutique source out fun, popular, and buzz-worthy beauty items that, together, create a boutique that is a virtual magazine of everything hip.

Urban Chic Boutique carries a huge line of Jessica Simpson products including the Dessert Treats products, all of which I'd love to get my hands on! I love Jessica Simpson's marketing savvy - body products, perfume, and even hair extensions have been touched by the Jessica Simpson brand.
The Jessica Simpson Dessert Beauty Deliciously Kissable Sugar Scrub comes in three varieties - Creamy (vanilla/caramel), Dreamy (chocolate coconut), and Juicy (fruity berry scent). I was sent the Creamy Sugar Scrub, and began using it the next day in the shower. I'm so glad Jessica is a girl who likes her desserts, because she really took the yummy scents overboard but in a good way. The sugar scrub made my whole bathroom smell during the shower and for hours afterword - impressive!

I'm not sure if reviewing something from the Jessica Simpson Dessert beauty line was a good or bad thing. You see, now I want to try more! Better than shoving a brownie in my mouth, right?1 reader is going to win a Jessica Simpson Dessert Beauty Deliciously Kissable Sugar Scrub (whew!) To enter, just visit Urban Chic Boutique and leave me a comment here telling me something else you saw that you'd love to have.

For additional entries:
~ Follow me (join this site with Google Friend Connect)
~ Subscribe via email or Reader
~ Grab my regular button
~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
~ Follow @UrbnChicBoutiq on Twitter
~ Follow @FeistyFrugal on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (RT 1x per day) Yum! Win a Jessica Simpson Dessert product from @UrbnChicBoutiq http://tinyurl.com/yjd6rna @FeistyFrugal (US/Canada)
~ Become a Fan of Feisty Frugal and Fabulous on Facebook (please leave your first name and last initial so I can find you as a fan)
~ Become a Fan of Urban Chic Boutique on Facaebook

Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on March 21st at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.

Giveaway @ The Label Daddy Blog

My alter-ego, the Label Daddy Mommy, has posted a fab giveaway on the Label Daddy Blog! We're giving away FIVE $50 Gift Certificates in total! Use them to create adorable Disney themed labels for Camp this summer (it's almost time to start planning, crazy right?), maybe some Return Address Labels like I ordered last week, or what about some Disney Princess or Buzz Lightyear Zipper Tags?

The Label Daddy Blog is still in its infancy (awe, babies are so cute even if they are a lot of work...) so there's great odds on this giveaway right now. Check it out!

Also, I'm always looking for mom (and dad) bloggers to review Label Daddy, so if you or someone you know may be interested, apply here.

Old Dogs on DVD March 9th!

Today marks the release day of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment's Old Dogs on DVD and Blu-ray! Starring Robin Williams and John Travolta (I have such a crush on him), with tons of great actors who make appearances throughout the film, this movie was a treat for my husband and I when we checked it out this past weekend.

Dan (Williams) and Charlie (Travolta) are best friends and business partners who have their lives turned upside down when Dan's ex-wife (whom he married in a drunken night in Vegas and subsequently had the marriage annulled never to see her again) shows up explaining that Dan is the father of her 7 year old twins. In a can-only-happen-in-a-movie twist, Dan's ex (played by Kelly Preston) must leave her twins with him for 2 weeks.

Old Dogs is a bit reminiscent of one of my 80's favorites, Three Men and Baby except that these twins (played by Conner Rayburn and Ella Blue Travolta...yes that Travolta) are not babies and these men are not 30-something bachelors. The 'old person' jokes are dominant throughout the film but the comedy comes about from an assortment of situations.

In the clip below, Dan and Charlie's medications for all their ailments are accidentally mixed up by the twins and the result is a hilarious golf game that had my husband in stitches and a face on John Travolta that will probably wreck my fantasies of him for good!



Other faces you may recognize in the movie include Seth Green, Matt Dillon, Rita Wilson, Bernie Mac and a hilarious Justin Long among others.

There's tons of bonus features on the discs including "Every Little Step", a music video featuring John and Ella Blue Travolta (Blu-ray), bloopers and deleted scenes, of course the usual audio commentary. The 3 disc Blu-Ray set includes the Blu-ray DVD, a regular DVD, and a Digital DVD (for playing on your laptop or PC).
I have 1 additional copy of Old Dogs on DVD to give away to 1 of my readers! To enter, just leave me a comment here telling me why you want to win, simple enough right?

For additional entries:
~ Follow me (join this site with Google Friend Connect)
~ Subscribe via email or Reader
~ Grab my regular button
~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
~ Follow @FeistyFrugal on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (RT 1x per day) (Travolta + Williams) x Old Dogs on DVD = Hilarious! WIN a copy here @FeistyFrugal http://tinyurl.com/yhdoz7j (Ends March 20th)
~ Become a Fan of Feisty Frugal and Fabulous on Facebook (please leave your first name and last initial so I can find you as a fan)

Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on March 20th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.

See Kai Run (in the spring grass?)

The new spring styles from See Kai Run are now available on the site and in stores - have you checked them out yet? While we're not exactly running in the grass here just yet (thruthfully it's still snow covered but melting fast), there's no way I could wait until the pavement is dry to start looking for cute spring shoes for my kids.
One of the new styles, Ashley Maija seen above, is a big sister version of the popular Jackie shoe in the Smaller collection. If you have two daughters close in age, this pairing of shoes would be adorable for Easter photos!

Sandals can be tricky for kids because active kids who run and play and sweat in their shoes inevitably can get blisters from cheap materials. The buttery-soft leather that See Kai Run uses in their shoes helps ensure comfort when worn with bare feet. They even have a padded collar around the ankle to avoid blisters there too!

For the spring/summer 2010 collection, See Kai Run is proud to share that they have improved their shoes even more! “We’ve paid attention to customer feedback and have responded with improvements that will make our shoes even better,” says founder Cause Haun. “While See Kai Run has always prided itself on creating flexible, supple shoes healthy for developing feet, the trade-off has been using leather that has not always worn as well as we would like. Our new leather has twice the fiber strength of the original, but doesn’t sacrifice the luxurious look and butter-soft feel our customers love. We’re so pleased to roll out this major improvement!”

We checked out the Ashley Maija sandals from See Kai Run, and are now ready for Easter photos! I find See Kai Run sizing to be generous, my 2 year old is just coming into a size 7 and these 7's are a little big on her. Because of the hook and loop closure and ample velcro on the side, I can secure the sandals a little tighter to ensure a better fit until she fully grows into them.
Which latest spring style from See Kai Run is your favorite? Leave me a comment here telling me, and you'll be entered to win your choice of any shoe from the See Kai Run or Smaller collections!

For additional entries:
~ Follow me (join this site with Google Friend Connect)
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~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
~ Follow @SeeKaiRun on Twitter
~ Follow @FeistyFrugal on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (RT 1x per day) Spring collection @SeeKaiRun is here! Enter to win a pair of See Kai Run or Smaller shoes @FeistyFrugal here http://tinyurl.com/yjqfxhl
~ Become a Fan of Feisty Frugal and Fabulous on Facebook (please leave your first name and last initial so I can find you as a fan)

Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on March 20th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.

I'm A New Mommy!

And I did it all without an epidural this time!!

I'm thrilled to share with my Feisty Frugal & Fabulous readers that I am the new Label Daddy Mommy! See that button at the top left corner of my site? Label Daddy is a company I've worked with a few times over the past 9 months and I'm handling all aspects of social media (Twitter/Facebook/Blog) for the team!

If you're a mom (or dad!) blogger like me and would like to check out Label Daddy for a feature on your own site, contact me through Label Daddy on Twitter or via email here !

Here's my intro link on the Label Daddy Blog, my other home. Stop by and say hello!

http://labeldaddy.blogspot.com/2010/03/theres-new-label-daddy-mommy-in-house.html

Hurry up and wait...

This past month has been crazy, with selling our house and buying a new one. Finally, moving week is here! The moving company does all the packing and moving so we're very lucky! It's a little weird sitting among all your 'stuff' and not having it packed up when the moving truck is due at your house by the end of the week! Wednesday and Thursday are packing days this week, so we get to hang out and watch other people go through our stuff and put it in boxes (maybe I should put my feet up and read a novel while eating chocolate...it feels so weird watching other people work in your house!)

In this past month, there were a few projects that I wanted to complete before moving into our next house. Donating a ton of items to charity was the main project (the final boxes are going Monday!) Another (large) task was printing 2 years worth of photos and getting them into albums. Am I the only one here that's dropped the ball?

After my computer crashed last year, I made sure to back up all my pictures on cd's. Another thing I did was to take all the little newspaper articles and class photos from nursery school and scan those photos to cd as well. With moving as often as we will during my husband's career, I don't want these one-copy photos I have to go missing, so a night spend photo scanning is worth it in the long run.

If you're scanning class photos to disc, don't forget to create a file on the disc with your children's classmates names as well - years down the road you may not remember who his buddy in Kindergarten was. So, these past 2 weeks or so I've been printing photos and popping them in albums (still not caught up) and scanning photos and other items to disc. You can always hire someone who does photo scanning services too - either way it's a really great idea to get those important pictures printed or saved.

Born Famous Couture

Can you feel it in the air? Around here, everyone has a little bounce in their step because the weather has been hovering at just above freezing. Yes, that's right, having weather that is just above the freezing level makes us Canadians giddy this time of year. Hey, we're a polite bunch and we also take what sunshine and warmth we can get!The warmer weather makes a lot of us want to shop for spring and summer clothing, and we start looking in magazines, online and of course in store for ideas. Born Famous Couture has a fab collection of fashion tops and graphic tops that fortunately don't come with hugely inflated prices just because 'couture' is used in their name.
Born Famous Couture Clothing was inspired by famous young and fashionable celebs like Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Jordin Sparks and more when designing the line. It speaks to a young, youthful spirit and is attainable by women without a Beverly Hills zip code - no t shirt costs more than $33!

I loved this white tank with black lace featured on the Born Famous Couture home page, and just had to have it! It looks great paired with distressed jeans, and you can dress it up more with a long necklace or maybe some hoop earrings. The cotton used is unbelievably soft, making the tank hang beautifully. I really liked the length of the tank too. Because it hangs so nicely, it looks great paired with skinny jeans as well.Not only did Born Famous Couture send me this beautiful lace tank to review, they sent me a second one to give away to 1 of my readers! To enter to win a medium lace tank, simply take a look at Born Famous Couture and tell me which fashion top or graphic shirt you liked besides this one.

For additional entries:
~ Follow me (join this site with Google Friend Connect)
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~ Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link
~ Follow @FeistyFrugal on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (RT 1x per day) Win a black lace tank from Born Famous Couture @FeistyFrugal http://tinyurl.com/ydxl96h (Open to Canada/US, Ends March 14)
~ Become a Fan of Feisty Frugal and Fabulous on Facebook (please leave your first name and last initial so I can find you as a fan)

Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on March 14th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED