My Points and BzzAgent

I know I've written about BzzAgent.com before, but I don't think I've ever gone into detail about the other perk, you know besides getting to try out awesome products for free. In addition to all the freebies and coupons, members also receive MyPoints credits. MyPoints is one of those sites that offers cash back for online shopping, but they also partner with BzzAgent. I have already redeemed some of my points for a $10 Amazon gift card and I've never made a purchase. All of my points have come from completing activities on BzzAgent. The only thing that's bumming me out about this site is that I can no longer find Amazon gift cards as one of their rewards. There are lots of other great rewards though so I'm sure I'll find something else. A few I'm considering are cash through PayPal, a Visa gift card, or an iTunes card.
Joining both of these sites is absolutely free. Neither will cost you a dime!

June Birchbox

Well my Birchbox for June arrived yesterday and once again I have mixed feelings about it's contents. First off there are 2 products that I'm excited to try out. The first is called Egyptian Magic, All Purpose Skin Cream. I've heard of this stuff and it's supposed to be fairly amazing! Next up is the Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain. The color is called Sugar and it looks like it will compliment my coloring. Then there is the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit. This came in it's own box which included the face wash and a muslin cloth. It's a "British award-winner" and it's supposed to purify the skin. I've never heard of this brand but I'm always ready to try out new facial cleansers. After that, we have the Antica Farmacista Bergamot & Ocean Aria Body Wash. It's made with sweet almond oil and is called a "nourishing cleanser". It looks like the complimentary stuff that you'd find in the bathroom of an upscale hotel. Last, and most confusing to me is Miss Jessie's Original MultiCultural Curls. This says that it's specially formulated for "multiethnic hair" and "mixed heritage & multi textured curls". I don't think that applies to me and I definitely don't have curls. This is the second time I've received a product for curly hair. I went back and checked my profile to make sure I hadn't accidentally told them that my hair was curly, and I did not.
So the curly hair product aside, I think this was a pretty decent box. For $10 a month I still feel like the anticipation and excitement of opening the box to see what's inside is worth it. I'm still not 100% satisfied, but I'm also not ready to give up on Birchbox just yet!

Direct TV- Worst Service EVER!

I hate my Direct TV. I don't use that word lightly. I seriously despise this company. The service is the absolute worst! Every time it rains my television goes out. When the weather is bad, that's when you want to be inside watching television. With Direct TV that's just not possible. I have called more times than I can count and they won't make good on the promise they made when I signed up. I was told that if the service would not work well, they would cancel the contract with no penalties. However when ever I call they dance around the subject and promise to get someone to fix the issue. Techs have come and gone, the problem remains. Sometimes they even tell me that it's normal for the satellite to go out when it rains or snows, like that's no big deal. Just now, my service went out and it's not even raining. It's just cloudy today. Awesome.

Free Restorsea Skincare Samples

It appears that you can order a free sample of each of Restorsea's products. After filling out the form it says to hold the ctrl key to select more than one product. I can't guarantee that all 7 will come, but it does appear to be what they're offering. I've never heard of this company before, but I'm always down to try out new skincare products!

Kate Spade on Zulilly

Zulilly always has some great deals, but right now they have Kate Spade bags! I'm totally obsessed with this pink bag! How cute is that for summer!?!
If you've never shopped at Zulilly, basically they have all kinds of designer duds at pretty low prices. Each shopping event lasts for a few days (or weeks depending on the event), and during that time there are a limited number of each item available. I've found some adorable clothing there. Usually I shop for my daughter, but I've also found some great items for me too! In addition to clothing, they sometimes have toys and decorations for your home. If you've got some time, they're definitely worth a look!

Paula's Choice

I had already been using and was fairly obsessed Paul's Choice skincare products when I was invited to try out the CLEAR Acne Kit through BzzAgent.com.
I'm 34 and I still breakout. There I said it. OK I typed it, but still. They're not awful and they don't ruin my day but they're still annoying. Over the years I have tried just about every acne remedy out there. I've used DIY tricks, drugstore products, department store products, all natural products, prescription medications, vitamins, infomercial acne subscriptions, and just about every 3 step system on the market. Through all the trial and error I've never found anything that has consistently worked well. Then I came across Paula's Choice.
The first thing that I loved about the website is that they offer sample sizes of just about every product they sell. The samples aren't free however they're pretty close to it. I love that I can try the products without investing in a full size before I know if I love it. I don't even want to think about the number of practically full skincare products that I've tossed in the garbage over the years. So far I have yet to find a product that I don't love though. The Shine Stopper legitimately works. The Resist Anti-Aging Clear Skin Hydrator is the best moisturizer that I've ever used. I'm totally in love with it! The CLEAR Acne Kit is pretty fantastic too. This is the first 3 step system where I've been able to use all 3 steps with no irritation. It is also the first set I've used that has been consistently improving the appearance of my skin. Totally loving that too!

#GotItFree

Coach Items on 6PM

Today I received a Coach iPad cover that I ordered a few days ago from 6pm.com. The price was phenomenal! MSRP was $168.00, 6PM's price? $34.99! I also had just been emailed a 10% off code that I used to make the purchase. Shipping is always fast and free, so my grand total was $31.49. Can't beat that with a stick! I'm writing about this because I just love this site. I've gotten so many amazing deals! Now, if they just had the Skechers Flash Mob white/pink/lavender in my size!

Coppertone Clearly Sheer for Beach and Pool

The last time I wrote about Coppertone Clearly Sheer I had only used the formula for sunny days. I was pretty impressed with that, and was looking forward to getting the chance to try the one for the beach and pool.
My in-laws have a 5th wheel camper that they keep parked at a campground every summer. Last weekend we took the kids out there to see them. The camper is parked right on a lake and there's a nice little sandy beach. I brought along the Coppertone Clearly Sheer for Beach and Pool. Right off the bat I was loving it because the top turns to keep it locked. This meant I could toss it in my purse without fear of it spraying all over my stuff. I used it on the kids before they went swimming. The label says that it's water resistant up to 80 minutes. I think they may have under estimated that. I only used it once and it kept my kids protected all afternoon. It didn't just prevent burning, they didn't tan at all. They spent all afternoon playing in the water and the sand yet were still as pale as if they'd spent the day inside. I'd say that was a successful test! I received the Coppertone Clearly Sheer from BzzAgent to try and review. If you'd like to get free products to try out, you should definitely check them out!

AT&T and the iPhone 5s

We recently upgraded our cell phones from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5S. My old phone was just not working as well as it did when it was new. It seems that each iPhone I've owned has started acting up right around the time my AT&T contract is coming up for renewal. Coincidence? Maybe, but it's happened a few times now. Anyways, so my husband and I went to a local AT&T store and bought new phones. I'm loving the iPhone 5S! The camera is seriously fantastic! The pictures it takes come out so well! I couldn't believe how much better it was than my old phone's camera. I don't know about everyone else, but I almost never bring my big DSLR camera anywhere. It's just not convenient. My husband probably wants to throttle me for the money I wasted on it, but lesson learned. I like using my phone to take pics and my kiddos seem to always be doing something pic worthy. So the phone itself I'm very happy with.
AT&T on the other hand, I'm not really all that thrilled. Their advertisement for 4 lines with unlimited calling and text, and a shared data plan is not real. The girl who helped us said as much. She said the only way it works out to that price is if you're hooking up AT&T phones that you already own or you want to pay full retail price for each phone and not get the discount they offer for renewing your contract. That seems a little dishonest to me, but I went ahead with the 4 lines anyway. My last complaint is actually a mistake on the part of the sales girl. She totally sold me on the insurance plan, but I was just looking over my receipt and it says that I declined insurance.

Costco 2

Well, my Costco trip was pretty good. I got a lot of stuff and spent less than I thought I would. My only disappointment? I see a huge display of my favorite drinks, the Special K Coffee House Protein Breakfast Shakes. I excitedly dash over, well I dashed as fast as someone my size can really do while pushing a giant cart full of a 4 year old and a ton of oversized items. Anyways, I get over there only to find that they only have one flavor and it's totally not the one I drink! I like the Chocolate Mocha, but not enough to buy a huge case of them. The Vanilla Cappuccino is my fave and it was no where to be found. Bummer.

Special K drinks aside, I had fun at Costco. One of my favorite parts is the little café on the way out. To start we hit up the bottled water vending machine. The full size bottles of water are only $0.50! Next, we went to the counter and got a piece of cheese pizza and a cup of vanilla frozen yogurt. The portions are big enough that my daughter and I can split a piece of pizza and the yogurt. They have extra plates and plastic ware sitting on the counter so it's easy to cut the pizza in half and each have a separate plate. The pizza and yogurt was under $4.00 so with the 2 waters, lunch for the 2 of us was under $5.00. The food is really pretty good too. My super picky 4 year old actually wants to eat there, so that's huge for me!

Costco

I recently joined Costco. My mom has had a membership for ages, and when ever she comes downstate I shopping there with her. On her last visit I decided that it was time to get my own membership. I opted for the regular old $55 per year membership. The other option was $110 per year and offered cash back on purchases. Although that sounds great in principal, you have to spend $5,000 before you see any rewards. Otherwise they just refund the extra $55 you paid for this membership option. Since I can't imagine that I'll be spending that much, I went with the cheaper choice.
One thing I'm maybe a little more excited about than is normal is that I'll finally have that pesky membership number to enter on the free sample forms. Costco offers lot of free samples throughout the year but they're for members only, so until now I've been ineligible.
So, this year is my trial year. If I don't feel like I've gotten my $55 worth by the end of the year I probably won't renew my membership next year. Either way, I'm sure I'll write more about it at a later date. I'm planning to head over there today when my daughter gets out of preschool at noon. Here's hoping there's lots of good deals!

Pinch Me Samples

Pinch Me is a site that offers free boxes of samples to it's members. They get new stock in every few months, and today they've got new samples to give away. They ship for free and there's no obligation to buy anything. This is one of the word of mouth advertising sites that have been popping up a lot lately! I love these sites, they give you a chance to try out new products without investing any money. Their samples go fast, so if you miss them today, don't worry. Once you sign up they'll send you an e-mail next time they have samples available.

Children's Place Deals

Earlier today my step dad sent me an email about this website, Dan's Deals. I went to check it out and found some pretty great deals on kids clothing from The Children's Place. Apparently there are some glitches on the website that are causing the prices to show up in the cart lower than expected. I'm not sure if it's a mistake on the page showing the price, or a mistake in how they're loading in the cart. Either way, there are some fantastic deals. I just ordered 2 pairs of capris, a swimsuit cover-up and a pair of matching shoes for $5.79! That total includes the free shipping as well! I paid with PayPal since they'll handle it if there are any problems with my order later. Dan's Deals also shows a coupon code for 20% off which is: COIEM2014
This site seems to have some other great deals too but this is my first time placing an order through them so I can't say for sure how reliable they are.
Below is a pic of my order and the total.

Target Problems

I love Target stores. It's one of my favorite places to shop, and definitely the store I frequent most often. They're located close to my house and have a little bit of everything. Plus, their prices are usually great, especially for groceries. I have to say though, lately I've had a few problems. First off, going over my receipts after getting home, I see that the cashiers are not very careful. I've been charged double for some items quite a lot lately. I'm trying to pay better attention when I'm in the check out line now, but as anyone shopping with kids knows, that's not always easy. Next, I've seen a lot of discrepancies when it comes to prices. For example, there are 2 refrigerator cases with store brand milk. One case had the gallons priced at $2.79 each and the other case had them priced at $2.89. OK, 10 cents, not a huge deal but still not great attention to detail. Next, I've had a few items lately that have a sale price on the shelf but when I get home and look at the receipt I see that I was charged full price. Again, it's not usually a ton of money but still annoying. Lastly, I'm posting a picture below of this example. I buy this Gillette Body Wash for my husband. The sign says that they're buy 1 get 1 free, at the top and on the side. However if you read the sign in it's entirety, the smaller print says that they're buy 2 get 1 free. There was only 1 bottle left on the shelf, so I didn't take advantage of either sale, but I still thought it was crazy that no one employed by Target had caught and fixed this obvious mistake. So be careful and next time you shop at Target, make sure to check out your receipt and make sure you're being charged correctly for your purchases. I know that I'm definitely trying to be more vigilant.

My Pet Peve With Little Girls' Clothing

I have to say, I'm a little disturbed by a trend I'm seeing in little girls' clothing. When they gather the material around the chest area, in adult clothing it's meant to make your chest look bigger. Why on earth would anyone be trying to accentuate a toddlers chest? This swim suit by Rugged Bear is a size 4. Why make this a feature on a little girl's bathing suit? This isn't the first time I've seen this kind of detailing on toddler and even baby clothing and it bugs me every time. Kids only have so long to just be kids. Why are designers trying to dress them like mini adults? I'm not trying to be a big prude here or anything, I like to dress my kids fashionably. I just think there's a classy way to do it and a trashy way. I was so bummed when I saw this feature because other than that gathering, I think this is a cute little suit. I love the braided straps and the laser cutouts on the skirt.

Free Dove Advanced Hair Products + $1.50 Off Coupon

Right now Walmart is offering free samples of Dove Advanced Hair Products and a coupon to save $1.50 on a future purchase. If you follow this link and watch the short video, you'll be taken to a form to fill out for your freebie. Walmart freebies, are legit. They have always arrived for me fairly soon after being ordered.

Athletic Shoes on 6PM

I just purchased 2 pairs of shoes from one of my favorite shopping sites, 6PM.com. One for me and one for my 4 year old daughter. I'm pretty happy with the purchase and I think 6PM has a lot of great deals. The pair I bought for my daughter was $21.99 and they are the Reebok Kids Reebok VentureFlex TD II. MSRP on these is $34.99, which works out to a 37% savings. Not to shabby! They've got some kind of cool features, they sole comes out so you can see if your child's foot fits correctly. They also open very wide so it's easy for little ones to get them on an off on their own. The shoes I bought for myself cost $52.99 and are the Nike In-Season TR 3. These have an MSRP of $75.00, so that's a 29% discount. These have a pretty cool memory foam sock liner. They're advertised for cross-training. I bought them for walking and jogging in the neighborhood.
I love this site. I love browsing and I love finding the great deals! I must have ordered at least 6 or 7 pairs of shoes here when I was trying to get us all ready for the cruise! 6PM has all kinds of great deals like this, some even better. They have tons of name brands and lots of high end items. The best part though, in my opinion anyways, is that they offer FREE SHIPPING! After being spoiled by my Amazon Prime Membership I really hate to pay for shipping.

Love Gives Chances

I just heard about this foundation, it was actually on the Disney Channel. I probably wouldn't have heard about it otherwise since I seem to only get to watch Disney shows these days! I see a lot of these kids that they feature who are making a difference in the world. This one really stood out for me. This little girl was in the Foster Care System before she was adopted and she wanted to do something to give back. That's the basic gist of how she started her foundation Love Gives Chances. My mom was a Child Protective Services Worker. Since she was a single working mom I went to a lot of different work outings with her. I spent a lot of time playing with different foster kids over the years. She would take me to the park with her when she had to supervise a parent/child visitation, things like that. Maybe that's why I really took notice of this. The money this foundation raises goes towards scholarships for these kids.

Best Stain Fighter $1 Can Buy

I came across this tip on Pinterest, of course the holy grail of household pointers. I think we all know though that some things just don't work as well in practice as the pins claim. This one though, was a huge success.
I'm talking about Fels Naptha. I found a bar for about a dollar on Amazon and it shipped free. I looked on Amazon today though and their prices seem to have gone up. I've heard that Walmart carries it for around $1 too, but I've never seen it at my local Target. This little bar is seriously a stain fighting miracle. After I opened the bar and started using it I realized that my grandma used to use it too! This bar has saved so many clothes in my house. I had a new white shirt of my daughters, the first time I washed it, it came out of the dryer with a pink stain. Something had bled on it in the washer! Now usually after the dryer has baked in a stain like this, it's all over. The shirt is junk. I decided to try and treat it with Fels Naptha, just in case. I mean it was brand new, I really hated to just throw it away! I rubbed the Fels Naptha on the stain and rewashed the top. When I pulled it out of the wash I could not believe my eyes! The stain was gone! 100% completely gone! I was sold. It hasn't let me down since. I've gotten out grass stains, oil and grease stains, food stains, mud stains and probably just about any other stain you can imagine. Even stains that I missed the first time around that came through the dryer! I have yet to find a stain this little bar can't tackle.

Zulilly

One of My favorite shopping sites is Zulilly. I've gotten some really cute kids clothes through them, most recently a personalized dress that my daughter wore for boarding the ship when we were on our recent cruise. If you're not familiar with Zulilly, it's a site where the deals on certain brands change every few days. I love their kids' clothes, but they sell something for everyone really. They had some amazing swingsets this past week, that made me wish we hadn't gotten the set that we did a few years back. They sell a little of everything and it's usually really high quality, high end brands too!

Coppertone Clearly Sheer

Wow, that's one sexy leather face...said no one ever. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get older and end up with that leathery skin I see on some women. I'm really trying to get into the habit of wearing sunscreen daily, not just when I'm going to the beach or in the pool. I spray my daughter with it when she goes out to play and try to chase my son down with the bottle, but I was often neglecting myself. Then I started using mineral makeup, and in the instructions, it calls for moisturizer. The lotion that came with my makeup set has and SPF. However, I don't like it. The lotion just doesn't seem to absorb well enough so I was looking for something new to protect my skin. Then I got an e-mail from BzzAgent offering me a place in their campaign for Coppertone Clearly Sheer. I was intrigued and happily accepted. They send me some sunscreen to try, and I'm really impressed. There are 2 different formulas, one for regular everyday wear and one for beach days. For starters, the scent is really pleasant. It's not that typical sun screen scent. It's nicer than that, kind of fruity. The one for everyday wear is SPF 30 and it goes on really nicely. It absorbs super quick and leaves my skin feeling soft since it has added moisturizers. Its good for both face and body, and it doesn't clog pores, if it did my face would have broken out for sure! I have no problems applying makeup over top of the sunscreen either since its got a matte finish. I know some sunscreens leave your face too greasy for your makeup to really stay put, but that hasn't happened to me with the Coppertone Clearly Sheer For Sunny Days. It's not quite beach weather here in Michigan yet, but as soon as it is I'll try out the Coppertone Clearly Sheer for Beach and Pool and let you know how it works. It's water resistant for up to 80 minutes so that's nice. It's got a higher SPF too, this one is SPF 50.

Free 4x6 Brag Book at Walgreens

To celebrate Mother's day Walgreens is offering a FREE 4x6 brag book now through May 14th. Enter coupon code FREETOBRAG at checkout.

Easy Peasy Pot Roast

I make my pot roast in a crockpot. I don't know if that's the way they're supposed to be made, but it's simple, easy and only takes a few minutes of prep time. I generally start it early in the morning, around 8-9am and let it cook all day on low until say about 6-6:30. However there are days when I just forget to start it that early. I've found that if I can get it in the crockpot by noon I can cook it on medium and it still comes out well. The vegetables I use can be changed up depending on your personal taste, so don't feel locked in there.

Ingredients: -one beef roast, I've found any cut will work, I just get what's on sale. -one Bullion cube and though it calls for a corresponding cup of water I only add about 3/4 of a cup -one can of Cream of Mushroom Soup -one packet of onion soup mix -one potato or a bunch of baby potatoes if you prefer -carrots, I use about 3/4 of a bag of baby carrots -mushrooms Now to start I plug in my crock pot an turn it to low (or medium if I'm getting a late start). I put my roast in first. Then I add 3/4 of a cup of water and a bullion cube. Next I add the can of cream of mushroom soup. I usually just kind of lump it on the sides of the roast in the water. Then I add the packet of onion soup mix.

Now I just put the lid on and let it cook for a few hours. Around 2pm, roughly 4-4.5 hours before I plan to eat is when I add the veggies. Basically I just dump in the carrots, again on the sides of the meat so that they are mostly in the liquid. I cut up the potato and also try to get it into the liquid surrounding the meat. Last I dump the mushrooms over top of everything and replace the lid. I find that though most recipes seem to call for putting the veggies in first, that they are too mushy if I cook them as long as I cook the meat. This may just be because I put in relatively small pieces though.

I boil noodles just before I'm ready to serve dinner and spoon the roast and veggies over them. This is a favorite here, it looks and tastes like you spent all day slaving over a hot stove! p.s. Please forgive the ingredients running together, I'm still getting the hang of html codes.

Search and Earn

There are a couple sites that I belong to that reward you for using them as your search engine. There may be others out there but these 2 are ones I personally know to be legit. The newest site, to me anyways is Bing Rewards. It's free to join and you earn points for every other search you do, up to 15 points per day on your PC and up to 10 points per day with mobile search. They've also usually got a couple search links to click on to get bonus points. The points add up pretty fast and the point "prices" on the rewards are reasonable. If you'd like to check them out, click here. The next site I have been a member of for years. It's called Swagbucks and like the site above, it's also 100% free to join and use. I have gotten a lot of gift cards through Swagbucks over the last few years. I picked Macy's gift cards and Amazon gift cards, but there are lots of different rewards options to choose from. The pic below is my rewards history on Swagbucks. They way is see it, we all search the web every day, why not get something in return?

Logan...

This year my family and I had to say goodbye to one of our dogs, Logan. He had Cancer and it was time to end his suffering. I just wanted to share a little about him because I miss him every day. He was such a part of the family and I feel the loss all the time. He was a really sweet boy, always lovable and ready to snuggle. He had no idea how large he was. At all. He had a penchant for climbing fences and escaping to explore the neighborhood. This is a picture of Logan and my daughter sitting on my parents' deck in northern Michigan. My mom used to joke that he went from being a homeless street dog to having a home and a vacation home. Logan was a good dog and I had thought that I would have at least a few more years with him. The Cancer came on hard and fast and caught us totally off guard. At his last vet appointment I was told that he had about 2 weeks until the pain was unbearable so I took him home for a week to give him one last great time. Putting him to sleep was without a doubt the hardest thing I've had to do in my adult life. The women at Berkley Animal Clinic were absolutely amazing and thoughtful. One girl sat with me for over half an hour listening to stories about Logan while I cried and stroked his head. If you live in Metro Detroit and are looking for a veterinary office, I definitely recommend them. They also sent a condolence card a week after the event that was personalized and signed by all the staff. I thought that was a really sweet gesture. I made a memorial donation to Detroit Dog Rescue in Logan's memory, they're a great organization that do some amazing work here in Metro Detroit as well. So that's my story about Logan, the sweetest boy to ever walk on 4 legs. I just wanted to do one more little thing to honor his memory.

BzzAgent

One of my all time favorite websites is BzzAgent. I have gotten to sample so many awesome products since joining. It's totally free to join and they ship the products to you for free as well. The whole shebang costs you absolutely nothing! Pretty cool, huh? I'm posting a pic of all the campaigns that I've been picked to be a part of below. If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, click here to check BzzAgent out!

May Birchbox

So this month's Birchbox just arrived and I'm pretty excited about the contents! First off we have the Marcelle BB cream. Now I know this is a good, rather high end brand however I'm so happy with my Sheer Cover makeup that I'm not sure I'll end up even trying this sample. Next up is this trio from Nexxus. It includes Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer, Shampoo and Conditioner. I'm excited to try this out even though I'm happy with the Wen I use now. My hair is highlighted and since it costs a fair amount to maintain, I'm always happy to try out products that promise to protect my investment! The third item in the box is from Pixi, it's Shea Butter Lip Balm in Pixi Pink. I see this brand at Target all the time! I'm pretty excited to give it a shot. I'm not certain about the light pink shade, but who knows? Maybe it'll look nice on. Next is Supergoop!. (The exclamation point is actually part of the name, not an indication of my excitement, though I am pretty geeked.)It seems like I've been seeing this brand a lot lately. It's gotten some good reviews so I'm happy I get to try it out. Last but not least, I also received a sample packet of Smarty Pants, All-in-One Fiber Gummies for Weight Management. I already take Biotin daily and I just started taking a Green Coffee Bean supplement but I'll definitely try these gummy vitamins out too! If you're unfamiliar with Birchbox, I pay $10 each month and the good people at Birchbox send me a surprise box of samples every month. It's fun and exciting opening the boxes and I get to try out some pricier products that I probably would not otherwise get a chance to try. Also, for every dollar I spend with Birchbox I get points. These points can later be redeemed for discounts on the Birchbox site. It's a pretty cool deal!

Recipe: Sweet BBQ Pork Chops

I'm not a fan of most BBQ sauces. I don't know what it is, I just haven't found a bottled sauce that I like. So, I make my own. It's easy and you can change the recipe up depending on your personal taste. Now, I suppose when I call it a recipe, I'm being a little generous. I don't use any specific amounts. But here goes! Sweet BBQ Sauce Ingredients: 1) Brown Sugar 2) Ketchup 3) Soy Sauce First, take equal parts brown sugar and ketchup and put them into a bowl. No need to measure, just eyeball it. If you want your sauce to be thicker and sweeter, add more sugar than ketchup. Next, add a couple splashes of soy sauce to the bowl. I start with 2 and after stirring, I taste it to see if it needs more. I suggest doing the same. After, I spread it on pork chops. It also tastes great on chicken too! After spreading it on the meat, I still have enough left over to use as a dipping sauce. This is a favorite for my whole family!

P&G Brand Sampler

If you're already a member, joining P&G is a great idea. It's easy to opt out of emails if you don't want to get any, however you can also get lots of great samples and coupons from them. Every few months they have a few new products that you can sample and they ship the box for free. If you want to check it out for yourself, click here.

Good2Grow Juices

These juices from good2grow are another great product I got to try through BzzAgent. I'm a big fan of these juice drinks. They are one of only a few juices that my picky little girl will drink. The SippaTops are all adorable characters which all the kids love and they don't leak! That may be my favorite part! They're filled with some healthy stuff, Vitamins A,E and C. There's no added sugar, no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. They also have 1 combined serving of vegetables and fruit. If you'd like to enter to win good2grow birthday party plus an additional $500 to out towards the party, click here. I don't know about you, but I know I could definitely throw a great party with these juices and $500!

Bic Soleil Glow

One of the newest products that I've been lucky enough to try out for free through BzzAgent.com is the Bic Soleil Glow razor. I recently received a free pack of 3 razors and a lot of coupons for $3 off more packages. I was a little skeptical of this razor at first. First of all, there's a plastic guard around the whole thing called a "comfort shield". Looked like a gimmick to me. Second, the head pivots. I don't usually like razors that do that. I like the blades to stay fixed in one position. Even so, I gave it a try. I'm pretty happy that I did. It turns out that the shield is more than a gimmick and I think because of it, the pivoting doesn't bother me. Now admittedly, it took me a minute to get used to this razor. On my first try I reopened a nick that I had gotten a few days earlier. That was just because I was trying to get in close and I hadn't quite mastered the guarded razor yet though. Now that I've got the hang of it I'm really liking these razors. Paired with my new favorite EOS shave cream, my legs are so super soft and smooth. Perfect for summer! Now if the weather here would just catch up, I'd me all set! I'm sure they're available elsewhere too, but I know for sure that they're available at Kroger for around $6.99. Lastly, on their Facebook page Bic is giving away prizes every day to fans.

Free Comic Book Day - Saturday May 3rd

Years ago my son and I accidentally walked into a comic store on Free Comic Book Day. We had been eating lunch at a restaurant across the street when my son spotted the store. I told him that after lunch we could head over and take a look. As it turned out they had a rack of comic books that they were giving away for free! The guy explained that it was a day that lots of stores participated in and that only certain comic books were free. If you'd like to read about it, you can click here. If you'd like to find a participating location near you, here is the store locator.

Free Listerine Mouth Wash from Walmart

Right not Walmart is offering free samples of Listerine mouth wash. Walmart is not my favorite store to shop in, however they do offer lots of free samples. They're freebies are always legitimate and I have always received every one that I've requested. Also, I don't receive any promotional email from them after ordering. If this is something you're interested in, click here to request your free sample. For any tablet users, I could not click on the free sample button from my iPad. I had to switch over to the laptop before it would work.

Dunhams Rewards through Quikly

Dunham's is having a contest right now through a site called quikly.com. How you get rewarded depends on how fast you respond when you're notified. In order to be notified, you'll have to sign up first. It fast, easy and free to sign up and the contest seems like a lot of fun! The biggest reward is a $500 Dunham's gift card! There are also $200, $100, $50 an $25 gift cards up for grabs too! In addition to the gift cards, a whole lot of people will also receive discounts, 25% and 20%. If this sounds like something you'd like to check out, click here.

The Workout That Changed my Life

OK, so I know that title sounds a little dramatic, but honestly it's true. I have never been into working out. I was always a fairly thin person, though after having my daughter at 30 taking the weight off was much harder than it was when I had my son at 20. I had finally lost most of the baby weight (my daughter was 3 though!) but I still wanted to tone up some. I came across this article in US Weekly (a subscription I get free BTW because of offers like the one I posted here a while back!)Tracy Anderson is the pro who trains celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Richie. They both have pretty amazing bodies so I figured she had the street cred to be reliable. The workout seemed easy enough, and she said in the article that the moves are basically working all the muscles in your arm from shoulders to fingers. The entire workout takes 12 minutes a day 4-6 times each week and you will need a set of 3lb weights. Tracy says that when you start working out your upper body, its easy to see results in your arms quickly so that motivates you to work on other areas of your body too. Since I've never stuck to a workout routine, I wasn't so sure she was right, but for 12 minutes a day I decided to give it a try. Boy oh boy was she right! Not only did I start to see results pretty quickly, but it did make me want to do more. I started doing squats and lunges after my arms work. I added some leg lifts I had learned in a cardio kickboxing class I used to take. Now that its getting warmer out I'm going for walks and I can actually jog for more than 10 seconds without being out of breath! I've lost another 10lbs which really got me close to my pre-baby weight! So here are pictures of the US Weekly pages, they were a game changer for me and I hope they'll help anyone else looking to tone up or drop a few of those pregnancy pounds!

Awesome Shave Cream!

I'm not usually a user of shave creams and gels. I generally just use my body wash to shave with too. I always thought it did a fine job. I mean all you really need is something to lubricate the blade so that it glides over your skin smoothly, right? Boy was I wrong. Recently, when I took my vacation I picked up a travel size bottle of this EOS Shave Cream. Mostly just because it looked cool and I wanted to conserve my body wash. I didn't want to be using it all for shaving and run out half way through the trip. All I can say is WOW what a difference! This shave cream made my legs feel so soft and smooth after using it! The travel tube was kind of hard to use, it was just too sturdy to make squeezing the product out easy. I tossed it in the trash while I was packing up to leave the ship after showering the morning we departed. However, when I got home I made sure to pick up a full size bottle! This one has a pump, so no issues there. I got the bottle at Target for around $3.50. I think that's a small price to pay for soft, smooth legs all summer long!

Sheer Cover Review

I never thought much of mineral makeup. It never really made sense to me how it could work better than foundation and regular powder. Of course, I had never tried it but I never intended to either. Then one week my mom was in town and she said that she had a hard time sleeping at her hotel. While flipping through the channels in the middle of the night she ended watching an infomercial for Sheer Cover Studios Makeup. She was so hyped up about it when she came over the next morning. It was really pretty funny. I was still skeptical, but went ahead and placed an order. One lesson I've learned over the years is that parents are usually right. OK, so maybe not about everything, but this time I figured taking her advice couldn't hurt. I ordered the full set and patiently waited for it to arrive. When it got here I gave it a try. The first day I wasn't too impressed, but I kept at it. It takes some getting used to, and once I got the hang of it? WOW! This makeup is awesome! I am totally obsessed with it! When I was on my cruise, for some reason my face was breaking out like crazy. I'm not sure if it was the stress of traveling with both my kids and my parents or just something about the water on the cruise, but the breakouts were bad. Thankfully I had my Sheer Cover. In all my vacation photos my skin looks flawless! I was so thrilled! I had them ship out my next set as soon as I got home. I cant imagine ever using a different kind of makeup in the future. It would take something seriously miraculous to top what Sheer Cover does for my face! Oh, and it seems to be good for my skin too because there have been a few nights since I got home that I've been so tired I've fallen into bed without washing my face and I'm still not breaking out! That's huge for me. I breakout at the drop of a hat and if I miss even one night I'm usually fighting the aftermath for weeks. The mascara makes your eyelashes look crazy long! The Bronzing minerals are the first natural looking bronzing product I've ever used. I've been using them as eye shadow too! I really love this makeup!