All Modern GIVEAWAY

I am so excited to send you to this amazing place.

All Modern is giving a lucky reader a beautiful modern kitchen accessory!
I chose this funky large kitchen jar to giveaway!
(It reminds me of those gorgeous coral hooks and such that were out a few years back! swoon!)

I am going to do some reviews for this site and I thought it was only fair to give readers something from the site too.
All Modern is super pleasant to work with and I am kinda swooning over some things on their site like the kitchen accessories!

The jar is bold and fresh and measures: 6.22" H x 4.13" Diameter, holds 33.81 oz.

Please leave a comment and tell me something you love
over at the kitchen accessories page?!

Twitter it and get an additional chance.
Blog about it and get another!
Just leave a new comment with link!

HomeGoods and Blogher

CONGRATS to our winner~
♡DIANE TAYLOR
Thanks to Homegoods, blogher, & YOU! xoxox


This is a compensated review from BlogHer and HomeGoods


We buy the house on the block no one wants. We have done it three times now. We buy that sad old wreck of a house and we put it back together again. It is thrilling when it is all finished, but the middle of the matter can be difficult.

I am living through a rehab right now and one of the most thrilling times is when a room gets finished. I felt this way about my nearly "done" living area in this home. We are insanely busy with our small business and have not put much time into the true finishing of any room in this house. We were happy to have new walls, floors, and paint!
So when I was offered by HomeGoods and Blogher to be a part of the amazing HomeGoods Review Program I jumped at it! I know from experience how amazing HomeGoods stores are and I was dying to try and use $500.00 to redo our living area.

I used a quiz to help me figure out my style:

StyleScope Quiz

I knew my issues were:
I have old furniture and must make it look fresh again.
I have little storage.
I have no color drama.
I have little lighting in the room.
I need space for kids toys and relaxing.
I need space for adults.

Check out Open House - HomeGoods' blog "for anyone that loves their home."

The morning I shopped at HomeGoods I prepped myself with loads of coffee, measurements, and a notebook of ideas. The thing with HomeGoods is there is so much stuff that it can be a bit overwhelming if you are not prepared. I found myself drifting off to other parts of the store quite easily. I spent two hours in the store and was helped numerous times by clerks and by the handsome and super strong young man that appeared to be a stocker and heavy goods lifter.
I honestly found most everything I was looking for in the store.
Two items I wish they would carry:
curtains and sofa covers.
I like the idea of changing the look of a room on the cheap with covers and window treatments. I did find alternatives though with my creative brain!

I found these lovely items:
3small/medium/large wood nesting tables, candles, amazing lamps, ginormous solid wood mirror, rug, two quilts, two throws, accessories, many pillows, and storage baskets galore.
I got a lot for $500.00.
I could have easily bought one large item there as they have big ticket gorgeous swoony things, but it was much more practical for me to spread the love throughout my large room and really make the biggest bang for my buck.

The thing I like most about HomeGoods is that even for $100.00 someone could walk in with some ideas and issues and be inspired and really make a change for 100.00.
The store is loaded with low price amazing things.
They have a clearance area that was awesome and if I had been bathroom or kitchen shopping I would have been in trouble.
OK. So are you ready to see what happened?
I had a blah room.
I took the quiz and found out what I already knew inside of my gut:
Amy Turn Sharp, you are a Global Modern!

Here is the scary before:

(it is truly frightening how we adapt to a way of life so easily- ah the life of a wife of a carpenter. It is almost like the cobbler's children. they have no shoes.)




Well, this is embarrassing- but the before is really so much better than the way we found the house. It was a large dirty carpet, drywall mess with low ceilings and two crazy dark wood type beams mess. The beams were scratchy like coconut shells and the whole place felt like a nightmare. I am really happy with the HomeGoods opportunity to make my large living area feel like a home. I was able to make two distinct areas (children play and sitting/TV) for us to actually use and enjoy. Functional and beautiful. It has not been this way for a long time. Thanks.

And here is the reveal:





I just love how our room has use now- We have a family TV room and a big area for the children to play. Storage baskets from Homegoods make things tidy and neat. We had our TV on the floor for over a year!




The mirror makes the room come alive. We had lived so long with a blank wall and now the room opens right up. It is huge and heavy and I was so thankful to HomeGoods for wrapping it and helping me load it in my truck. Great customer service.





We made a reading nook corner with comfy big pillows and the kids love it.







DO YOU WANT A HUNDRED BUCKS to spend too?
Come on! You want to make a change? Yes!

Check out what the rest of the BlogHer Reviewers found at HomeGoods - you've got 8 chances to win a $100 HomeGoods gift card.


To enter to win a $100 HomeGoods gift card - take the StyleScope Quiz
(StyleScope Quiz) and tell me what your style is in the comments below - or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at September 14th and will end October 14th. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:
* No duplicate comments.
* You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
* You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
* This giveaway is open to US residents, aged 18 and over
* Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
* You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
* Please see the official rules here:

I will use the Random Number Generator to pick a winner!
Good Luck! Please Play!!!!

RULES ARE HERE

Check out what other bloggers did to their spaces here!

I would stroke my Trapper Keeper with love

Listen up. My son Finn starts Kindergarten in one week and as excited as I am for the world of school to enter all of our lives I nearly passed out as I took a gander at the school supply list.
Geez.

Schools nowadays are really hurting because when I was a kiddo in the elementary period of life we had to bring PENCILS... and that was about it.

I know my parents bought me new crayons and a trapper keeper and such, but they really didn't have to. Things are so different now. I had a 50.00 list of items to bring. I even have to buy hand sanitizer and Ziplock bags for the classroom.

Geez.

So I started to think about how the school shopping adventure was going to go down. I wasn't sure what kind of kid Finnian was going to be as there are two kinds:

The kid who is seduced and titillated by the back to school isle at Target and screams and holds hands towards the dizzying array of gorgeous trinkets lined ever so pleasingly
OR
The kid who really doesn't get too jazzed about that kind of stuff and is instead focused on the fact that he is certain this is the store where Power Rangers hang from shelving.

Lucky for me he is a Power Ranger freak.

But still- I wanted him to know what all of these items cost.
We are very luck as Grandma was kind this year and bought 90% of his back to school needs,
but I made the whole experience some sort of learning for him.
I took the Target newspaper ad and book they sent and circled items and talked to him about how much these items cost. I tried to break it down to his level.

Dude. These crayons and this pack of markers cost the same as Power Ranger Fury Red guy.
OK?
He totally got it because he was saving for like forever (um- three weeks) for that one.

Dude. These left handed scissors and this here art smock cost the same as Spiderman figurines.
OK?

Yes- he started to understand.

I wanted him to realize that these things costs money and we need to be thankful to grandma and responsible with them as I am not Mama Moneybags as of late.
Do you know how long it has been since I stepped into Church? I mean, Nordstrom?!

Seriously. Taking care of personal belongings is something that we must teach our children and if we are able to attach meaning and start the dialogue of money and responsibility at a young age I think we will benefit.
I was a spoiled only child and it hurt me in the long run.
Honestly. I did not have a good framework and it was a major learning curve for me.
I don't want my children to have to deal with that.

Check out This site for some ideas on how to talk to kids about budgeting and finances.
PBN will also have some cool tips and tricks!

17 hard bolied eggs sitting in a bowl in yr fridge?

I have issues with throwing out food. I have already eaten 4 hard boiled eggs and I really don't think the boys will touch another one.
What am I gonna do with these eggs? EGGGGGGGGSSSSSSS!

GREEN EGGS AND HAM!
Yep- the week after Easter is the perfect Dr. Seuss week for yr kiddos.
Plan a family learning week around him with The Lorax for some Eco green talks, the audio recording of Seuss for rest time one day, imagination day with this , lesson plans of gratitude with this , and OF COURSE GREEN EGGS AND HAM with a dinner of yr leftovers!
COOK this and make them laugh as you allow reading at the table one night with the book we all love!

Here is my recipe ( I use this term loosely)
Large bag frozen spinach, cooked and drained
8 hard-cooked eggs, halved
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped fully cooked ham
2 tablespoon onion
I saute the spinach and onion and slice up the eggs and add everything in a casserole baking dish and top it with a filo dough crust.
I bake it for 30 mins or so on 350.
I also use bits and bobs of whatever is on hand to add to it. (I add potatoes/veg-anything)
You get the idea. I am sure there are tons of great recipes out there! Have you been to this site:
http://www.incredibleegg.org

THE KEY is getting the buy in for a great week of learning and being frugal and wasting less! Learn! And talk to older children about the creativity involved in solving problems- no matter how small (like using up eggs instead of wasting)
Be a creative family with a full tummy of Green Eggs and Ham this week!
I hope all the cool folks over at PBN
LOVE this- It works!

like this post! It really works!

SYLVANIA PalPODzzz Portable Nightlights -My Review

When Parent Bloggers Network asked me to try out Sylvania's new PalPODzzz portable nightlight, I was over the moon as we have a bit of a flashlight fixation in this house. Flashlights are a massive source of power for little hands and I think they make nighttime so much better for mamas and papas.I was excited to try out these new Sylvania's LED nightlights and I am happy to report that I like the unit very much. The nightlight has a sturdy little base that recharges the cool rocket ship and doesn't look too junky sitting on my sons nightstand. The cord is a little fumbly and it gets knocked off the nightstand daily, but it is not terribly annoying. Finn can easily work the rocket as it is simple to remove and attach to the base. I like this. Finn has been using it each night and the LED light is a strong beam that bounces across the wall as he makes his nightly visits to the potty for just one more drink of water. I love the fact that it does not take batteries and is safe for little hands.

Finn likes it because he says, I can use it like a flashlight, a night light, and a toy."
He is quite smitten with it and so am I.

They also have a ladybug version that is super cute and some other other bloggers are chatting about it too!

It would make a great shower gift for a baby shower.
I liked getting gifts that had a lot of life.
A new mom could use this and then the wee one could start using it as a toddler.
Not too shabby for a 20.00 gift!

Hylands! Saved me from the antibiotics!

OK. So I am the mom who never gave my kids any teething medicine and really never gives out Tylenol without a high fever. I like to keep it pretty natural and not give put OTC, but I realized that every time my kids have had earaches and go to the doctor they get antibiotics. Every single time. I dispense the antibiotics freely and it has started to make me worry a bit as I really don't want to have my kids taking these antibiotics so much. I read about antibiotics resistance issues and it freaks me out so when Hylands offered me some products to try for the cold and Flu season I could not refuse.

It was perfect timing to try the Earache Drops as our whole family was coming down with a cold and my own ear was jabbing in pain. You know the kind of pinprick like sensation that makes you cringe every 20 minutes or so. (Yeah it was deligthful.) I used the drops on the whole family and although I did take my son to the doctor that week he did not have to go on antibiotics! ( a first!!!!)
I also had relief from my ear ache in 48 hours and was pretty darn happy with the result. It was a simple ear drop application and it really worked for us. I was somewhat skeptical as I am with most things natural. I do not believe in rock deodorant or the use of baking soda for teeth cleaning, but I really dig these drops. I am going to stock this in my arsenal always.
I like that I have a safe, natural, homeopathic choice now for the whole family.
Go Hylands!