Back to School Shopping with Famous Footwear + Coupon

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Famous Footwear for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have gone to half a dozen stores this week in the mad hunt for shoes.  I have two and half weeks left to find shoes for my daughter and me.  My daughter is returning to school and I am returning to work.  You would think with all the stores in our area, including two decent size malls, that we would be able to find a ton of shoes.  However, this just isn’t the case.  My daughter finds shoes she likes, but they never have her size.  I have an even harder time shopping because the majority of the shoes either aren’t professional or they aren’t fashionable and “functionable” at the same time.  Needless to say, shoe shopping is a frustrating experience for us.

Famous Footwear is a store that carries thousands of styles, including brand name shoes.  They are not a huge warehouse crammed with shoes.  You can enter the store and shop without feeling overwhelmed.  I do not have a store near me, but I am pretty impressed by what I’ve seen available on their website.  After another frustrating shopping trip this morning, I visited their website and immediately found four pairs I want to buy. 

In helping parents in preparing their children to go back to school, Famous Footwear is having a special deal going on.  You can receive 15% off plus BOGO (Buy One, Get One Half Off).  You can receive 20% if you are a Rewards program member or if you sign up to become a Rewards member.  There are special perks for joining the FREE Rewards Program, including the following:

1. For every $1 you spend in-store or online, you receive 1 point.
2. You can add up your points to earn certificates to spend (max $100 per year)
3. You can receive a discount simply for signing up for the program
4. Additional inside discounts and perks throughout the year.

I was so excited to hear about this deal because I can purchase the shoes I found online for both my daughter and I!  I will no longer have the shoe shopping stress looming over me for the last two weeks of the summer. 

If you print the BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwear Coupon, you can redeem it in-store or online between 8/2-8/18.

Rubbermaid LunchBlox Sandwich Kit Review

  School has already started in many areas down south. In New England, schools don’t begin until either the last week of August or first week of September. So, we have a couple more weeks of summer to enjoy. There is an excitement in the air when school begins – new clothes, new school supplies, and new CLEAN backpacks and lunch bags. My daughter is very excited to pick out her new backpack and lunchbox. My daughter and I both pack lunch bags each day. I have always been annoyed by the giant freezer packs that I have to include in the lunch bags to ensure that everything packed remains cold. They take up so much room and everything has to get squeezed in to fit!

Rubbermaid products are a must-have in my house. They are essential in helping me keep organized in so many ways. Rubbermaid now sells the LunchBlox Sandwich Kit, which helps you in keeping your lunch packed perfectly in your lunch bag. The LunchBlox Sandwich Kit is comprised of containers that snap together so your lunch stays organized. There is a large container, a small rectangle container, and two small square containers. They allow for perfect sized portions of fruit, veggies, or pasta salad. The specially designed Blue Ice pack that is included assists in keeping cold food cold as well as saves space. It’s thin and attaches to the containers as well.
 
I love the way that the containers fit together so perfectly so my lunch does not get thrown around in my bag. The containers really are the perfect size for lunches. I typically pack a sandwich with some fruit and pretzels or crackers in a sandwich bag. I think that it’s so easy to bring too much food with you when you bring it this way because it’s harder to judge a portion in small bag. These small containers help you with controlling the size of your portions. I also love how thin the Blue Ice pack is - this removes the whole issue of the bulky freezer pack that smooshes our sandwiches!

The LunchBlox Sandwich Kit is currently available for purchase at Rubbermaid.com, Target, Kmart, Kroger, Safeway, Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie, HEB, other grocery stores and select Wal-Mart stores. The retail price of the LunchBlox Sandwich Kit is $12.99; however, the price may vary by retailer.

If you would like to learn more about organization, you can visit Rubbermaid’s Adventures in Organization Blog. You can also follow Rubbermaid on Facebook and Twitter.

*Disclaimer: I did not receive monetary compensation for this post.  I received a free sample of this product for the purpose of this review.  The opinions expressed here are my own. 

Back to Preschool Giveaway Blast: 8/8-8/25

Back to school is right around the corner for many children. There is excitement in the air!

But this excitement can be lost on the younger child(ren) in the family. 

This Giveaway has been put together with those older toddlers and preschoolers in mind, which makes it so different from all the other back to school giveaways out there.

Do you have a young child in your family who would like some great art supplies, games and an educational DVD? These are great items that can be used immediately, put away for a rainy day, or even saved for a holiday gift!  Would you like some learning activities to work on with your child? Well read on to see what you could win. 

Tots and Me along with my co-host Baby Costcutters and a bunch of great bloggers are excited to bring you this great giveaway.

First of all there are going to be 

5 winners!!

The Grand Prize Pack is worth $368 and includes all these great prizes:

 

You can read my review of Crayon Rocks here.

Crayon Rocks has graciously supplied a 16 Count Bag of the winners choice.

  

You can read my review of For Small Hands' 3D Feel and Find Wooden Game here.

For Small Hands is donating a 3D Feel and Find Wooden Game.

You can read my review of Rock 'N Learn's Dance with the Animals here, and their brand new DVD Sight Words 2 here.

Rock 'N Learn is letting the winner choose which DVD or CD they would like.

Additionally, you can head over right now and use this coupon code JQ7711 for 25% off DVD's or CD's on the Rock 'N Learn Site.

 

You can read my review of The Orb Factory's Magnetic Mosaics My First Picture Maker here.

The Orb Factory will give the winner their own My First Picture Maker.

  

You can read my review of Blue Orange Games' Tell Tale Fairy Tales and Spot It! Jr Animals here.

Blue Orange games is graciously supplying both Tell Tale Fairy Tales and the Wooden Game CooCoo the Rocking Clown.

You can read my review of Early Expert Spanish Online Subscription here.

Early Expert Spanish is offering a 1 full year subscription of their interactive Spanish.

You can read my review of Endless Games' A Bee C Matching Game here.

Endless Games is supplying the winner with their very own A Bee C Matching Game.

You can read my review of Teach My Toddler All-In-One Kit here.

Teach My is offering the winner their choice of All-In-One Kit.

You can choose from Teach My Baby, Teach My Toddler or Teach My Preschooler.

You can read my review of Frecklebox.com here

There are so many great personalized gifts to choose from and the winner will get a $40 Gift Card to go shopping at frecklebox.com.

You can read my review of The Creativity Institute's Gulf Alive CD/Coloring Book Set here.

The Creativity Institute has offered this same set to the winner.

You can read my review of What Children Need to Learn to Read here.

Learner's Lane has offered to give the winner a copy of the book and the CD with the music and rhymes from the book.

I have not yet received the Doodle Roll due to some unforeseen circumstances. I will review it as soon as I can.

But you can check out their site to learn a bit about them. I have heard they have a new product out, which is the item I was going to be receiving for review and giveaway.

Doodle Roll is supplying one of their new Doodle Roll Products.

Starfall.com is offering a 1 month free preview of more.starfall.com

I will be doing a review of more.starfall.com soon.

My girls have used it for a year and a half and they love it.

Additionally these wonderful bloggers have donated some great prizes to the Grand Prize Pack

Discovery Toys Mom has donated a Discovery Toys Giant Pegboard

Mary's Cup of Tea has donated 2 Wee Can Too Edible Fingerpaints.

Leetle Baby has donated School House Rock Earth DVD

and

Mommy Bear Media has donated a $10 Gift Code to mommybearmedia.com

Additionally I would like to extend my thanks to the following bloggers for helping to supply a $25 Gift Card 

(store to be determined)

Oliver's Labels-By Jennifer, Mom to Grandma, Zephyr Hill, Stuff I Love,  Love, Peace and Tiny Feet

But that's not all! Some of these great sponsors have offered to supply additional items toward a 2nd Place Prize Pack.

Crayon Rocks is offering a 8 count bag of Crayon Rocks.

The Orb Factory is offering Magnetic Mosaics Metal Jr. 

Blue Orange is offering Spot It! Jr animal.

Doodle Roll is offering another new Doodle Roll

Teach My is offering a single Teach My Preschooler Kit.

Learner's Lane is offering an additional copy of What Children Need to Learn to Read.

Early Expert is offering an additional 1 yr subscription.

More.starfall.com is offering another 1 month free preview.

3 Additional Winners will also receive a 1 month Free Preview of more.starfall.com

To enter this giveaway just complete the tasks in the Rafflecopter below. Please make sure you actually complete the task if you say that you do as I will be verifying. This giveaway will run until August 25th at 11:59 pm and is open to US residents 18 and over. 

Fantasicakes Giveaway

This Giveaway is done by SaraLee's Deals Steals & Giveaways

This giveaway is a yummy one!  I love giveaways that include sweets and treats! I would love to have Fantasicakes in my local grocery store!

Marble Coffee Cake  (8"/ 1.75 Lbs.)
One of life's most difficult choices...Chocolate or vanilla? Thanks to us that choice is now a piece of cake! We combined our chocolate and vanilla cake batters into one delicious coffee cake. Made from scratch everyday using fresh eggs, creamy sour cream, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, and a generous amount of high quality chocolate chips on top. This coffee cake is best of both worlds.

I was please with the service I got from FantasiCakes. I had a little issue with the first cake I got. With the weather being so hot and the way the cake was packed I got the first cake all melty and smashed up. I told FantasiCakes how it came and they sent me out a new one. As you can see the second one came and it arrived in great shape. I share the Marble Coffee cake with my mom & step dad. I can say that with 5 of us having a pretty good size piece there still was half a cake left. Just make sure you have a glass of milk while eating this.

I even ate a piece while I was blogging and it is so good.

 

FantasiCakes offers a complete line of pastries and bakery shop goods including Bundt Cakes, Coffee Cakes, and Tarts for Nationwide delivery. We also offer Layer Cakes, Pastries, and Mini Pastries for local delivery and store pickup only. We take pride in creating the finest quality products and distinguished designs. Our cakes and tarts are individually and carefully handcrafted and are made from the finest gourmet ingredients available in the market. We're always developing new items for our nationwide audience, soon to come are gourmet layer cakes and fine pastries.

 

Now for the giveaway: Three lucky people will win a 8” cake in winners choice of flavor. This is open to the US only and ends 8/18 @ 11:59 pm est. To enter, simply do the tasks on the Rafflecopter widget below and you're set to have a chance to win! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Plan an affordable FUN vacation to San Antonio!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of SAVE for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was very lucky years to ago to have the opportunity to visit San Antonio for New Year’s.  My sister had been living there with her husband and my husband and I flew there to watch the ball drop in 2000.  I instantly loved the area and the local attractions.  We were able to eat real barbeque, not the stuff the local restaurants serve here.  We went to a rodeo and a country bar – it was so much fun!

San Antonio is known for its affordability as a vacation destination, which I believe every family would be interested in hearing about.  SAVE – San Antonio Vacation Experience, includes more than $600 in savings to attractions (i.e., SeaWorld, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Schlitterbahn, Splashtown, Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, and San Antonio Botanical Garden), hotels, resorts, historic tours, water parks, museums, shopping, and much more!  Some of the SAVE hotel partners include the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, the Hyatt Regency San Antonio on the Riverwalk, the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk Hotel, the Hilton Palacio del Rio, and The Westin Riverwalk San Antonio.  Visit save.visitsanantonio.com to read all about the SAVE partners and find the best discounts! 

Back when my husband and I visited San Antonio, it was just the two of us.  However, we are now a family of four.  If we were to plan a trip, we would need to be cognizant of the money we were spending.  Therefore, we would definitely want to save money wherever we could.  I would love to stay at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio because it’s beautiful and located right on the Riverwalk.  If I were to build an itinerary, these are some of the local attractions I would love to visit with my family:

Schlitterbahn Waterpark – It can be extremely warm in San Antonio, so I would love to have us beat the heat in the waterpark.  The SAVE discount is $2 off a full-price all-day adult & children admission.

San Antonio Zoo – This zoo is home to more than 8,500 animals and 778 species!  The SAVE discount is $2 off admission ticket.

Sea World San Antonio – I visited the Sea World in Orlando, FL as a teenager and loved it.  I would certainly enjoy returning during this vacation.  There are multiple SAVE discounts available for Sea World San Antonio, including a deal for $10 off an admission ticket (up to 6 tickets). 

Alamo Sightseeing Tours – You can’t go to San Antonio and not visit the Alamo.  The SAVE discount for kids (ages 3-11) is $2 off and for adults it’s $5 off admission.

Natural Bridge Caverns – We don’t have anything like this where I live.  You can visit underground caverns with a SAVE discount of $2 off an adult & $1 off a child's Discovery Tour Ticket.

Limited Time Offers and deals are also posted to Twitter, so follow @SAVEinSA to stay on top of what's available and to help with planning a great vacation to San Antonio!

Find the best deals on cable, internet, and phone services with Connect Your Home

Our family lives in a small suburban town; however, it feels as though we live in the middle of nowhere. We actually can’t even have a pizza delivered to our home! We didn’t have too many options from which to choose for service providers for cable, phone, internet, etc. My husband and I placed our house on the market at the beginning of July. Fingers crossed, we will sell this house and move to an area that is a little bit more developed and we will have more options, not only for where to buy our groceries, but also for service providers.

I was recently introduced to Connect Your Home. Connect Your Home is a company that assists its customers in finding services, including those for television, phone, internet, home security, and wireless devices. Through a phone call or online form submission, you can receive assistance in finding the right services for your home for the right price. As I have mentioned on here numerous times, I really don’t have the ability to talk on the phone during normal business hours. Therefore, to make phone calls in order to gather information to compare prices is nearly impossible for me. I like that there is a company that can help me do this quickly and efficiently.

In viewing their website, one of the main services that caught my eye was the Dish Hopper and Whole Home DVR Service. I do not have as much time to watch television as I used to. With two children, working full-time, taking care of the home, and being a small business owner, there is very little time left over. However, there are particular shows that I love and I am ever so thankful that we have the DVR to tape them so that I can watch them at odd hours in order to catch up.

One thing that I have found really annoying though is that I can only watch the taped shows in the family room. This is inconvenient because my husband may have a game on and he wants to watch it on the larger screen. We have two additional televisions in the house and I can’t use either of them. Actually, they are rarely used. I also find it annoying that only two programs can be taping at once. There are some occasions when I have a couple of shows taping and my daughter wants to tape something.

The Dish Hopper and Whole Home DVR Service allows customers to have a Hopper DVR with up to three additional “Joey” receivers. This system enables you to have DVR service, in which you can pause, rewind, and play live and taped programs in up to four rooms! The systems also allows for DVR taped programs to be shared amongst all the televisions in your home. Lastly, you can tape up to six HD programs at once using PrimeTime Anytime™. Essentially, the PrimeTime Anytime™ feature records about 100 hours of shows during primetime on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox and saves them for you. This is a huge amount of programming that is saved and available for you to view for 8 days. Basically, the Dish Hopper and Whole Home DVR Service solves all of my gripes for my current system.

The other service that I would be interested in learning more about is their Home Phone Service. My husband and I were talking recently about our bills and the fact that we need to cut corners in multiple areas. We don’t have options for phone service right now, but if we can move out of this area, our options could broaden. Connect Your Home can help people find the best promotions and deals for your home service provider, which I would obviously be open to hearing. Connect Your Home carries major phone providers - AT&T, Charter, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable.

I’m not sure whether we will be able to sell our home or not, but I’m certainly looking forward to the possibility of saving some money and improving our home services.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Connect Your Home. However, the opinions expressed here are my own and are not influenced by compensation.

Coachlicious Giveaway Event: 8/1 - 8/22

Mom Powered Media, connecting companies to consumers the super mom way!

Services offered include (but are not limited to)
What Mom Powered Media Can Do For You

• Blogger Outreach – Need to get your product in the hands of bloggers to form reviews and reach a new level of consumer views? Let the team at Mom Powered Media ~ gather data, screen applicants, propose review contacts, provide shipping information, links and winner details for you.
• Reviews – Our team has an open door policy and welcomes all types of reviews. Email teri@mompoweredmedia.com with your interest in submitting a new product for review.
• Giveaways and Giveaway Events – Reach 10s of thousands of consumers in a single giveaway event.
• Sponsored Publications
• Twitter Parties and Social Media Blasts

For the Blogger

• Review Opportunities – Get on our list of available bloggers and be notified when review opportunities arise.
• Giveaway Events – Be the first to hear about a big event and get your blog at the top of the list.

Coach Madison Op Art Sateen Handbag

One of Coach's favorite silhouettes, updated in lustrous sateen with an intricate Op Art pattern: tailored on the outside, beautifully organized on the inside. Heritage hardware and our horse-and-carriage logo plaque lend it a classic Coach look, while a slender strap keeps it squarely on the shoulder.

• Op Art multi print fabric with leather trim
• Inside multifunction pocket
• Zip-top closure, fabric lining
• Handles with 7" drop
• 9 1/2" (L) x 7 1/2" (H) x 3 1/2" (W)

What a beautiful handbag!  The holidays will be here before you know it - you can enter to win for yourself or put it away as a gift for a loved one!

Big thank you to Mom Powered Media owners: Mom to Bed by 8, Powered By Mom and Real Mom Reviews for organizing this coachlicious fashion event.

As well as our fantastic co-hosting blogs Freebie Spot, There's a Contest for That and Keeping Your Cents.