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Tag Archives: giveaway
Back to School Giveaway … and How to Survive an SMT
Not a bad gig. I talk about what I do to get my kids ready for back to school and about trends for the tweens. The main crux of the gig was going to NYC and doing what is called a satellite media tour. This is when you see a personality in a faux room on local news. People, like myself, are speaking to Chattanooga, then Toledo, then Houston — quick way to get around the country. They can see me, I cannot see them. I am told their name so I can say things like, “That’s right, Joanne, shopping with your kid can be stressful, but here is my advice…” Of course, going to Searsstyle.com is on the to-do list (kept dropping that middle ‘s’ when I try to go and that doesn’t work).
On set, we taped this vid where I give my other pointers AND at the end, I tell you how to get a back to school outfit for your tween.
What I learned from doing this SMT? Bad idea to have insomnia the night before. Ugh. The smoked salmon sandwich they brought me really kept me going. Bad idea to travel back home the same day as 26 interviews; it’s a tad tiring.
I brought Vivien with me to NYC and that was so wonderful. But that’s another post.
GIVEAWAY: Bikini Thief
Put down the sunscreen, get your flip flops on and fire up the margarita machine! We are doing a swimsuit giveaway! Not one, but two!! Watch the vid and comment below to win.
The suits are fab and provided by Bikini Thief. My stylist friend Jess Zaino hooked us up. She thought (correctly) that I would love them since they have a vast maternity line. She gave me the red “St. Bart’s” suit last year. So cute and comfy. You don’t have to be pregnant to wear them; maybe just not wanting to display your less than stellar abs poolside.
Happy Summer!
**For official rules, click here.
1st Annual Cool Mom Awards
As we face down the barrel of Oscar time I think, ‘Hey, I can be as self-involved, self-promoting and self-congratulatory as anyone else in show biz, the Hollywood Foreign waiters (what my dad called the Golden Globe group) or the Tea Party’. It’s time for the CMAs!!! Oh, wait, that’s what the Country Music Awards go by … hmm, I know! Time to hand out the “Coolie” (sidebar: I worked with Coolio once on a VH-1 show in NYC and loved the guy. I’m from Culver City; he lived in Westchester, which is next door. We bonded over unchic addresses.)
But, will the Coolie go to me? Sure, the team that put that video together will know they were a big part of making something award winning — I’m talking to you Rex and Vivien — but, oh, no, the real winner is the randomly selected commenter. Because if you make a comment, that is my reward.
When I shot this video I didn’t know what my “trophy” would be for the lucky winner (a viewer, not the winning video). But now I know! The lovely moms behind PackIt (my first ever national commercial) have offered up one of their PackIts. (True: love the PackIt. Just packed a smoothie in one this AM for Vivien’s lunch snack.)
So, watch this video, and please “vote” below. Who knows? Maybe one day the Coolies will have a dinner, red carpet and sweaty under breasts – all the hallmarks of a REAL award show.
IF you need to jog your memory here is a link to nominee #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
For official rules, click here.
And the 2nd winner is…
I want to thank all the Cool Mom visitors who contributed their suggestions to this campaign. This was the biggest sponsored campaign on Cool Mom to date and I really appreciate you all having a good spirit and taking part by giving me your suggestions on snacking. Honestly, I have gotten a lot of good suggestions from you all.
Alexandra was our first winner with her continued brilliance in reframing food so that kids get excited about it. Muffin tin anyone, cookie cutter?
This round about conscious snacking I would have given it to the person who suggested portioning out the snack before the hand goes there. As a bulk food buyer this really moved me. The only reason I can’t give it to that person is a few had that idea. I’d have to break up the care package from General Mills.
So you may think it’s funny, but I have crowned Miranda the winner with her simple, yet often overlooked suggestion for conscious snacking: a big glass of water. Granted we are in a heatwave so water has special meaning to me right now, but I have often found hunger feels abated if I drink a lot of water. I forgot this and running after kids in the summer can definitely make me thirsty.
So Miranda, I like the tahini suggestions as well, but being the fan of tap water I am I say, “Enjoy your care package!” You’ll get a bunch of snacks from General Mills. Just drink a cup of water before you open the box. It will go further.
And the winner is…
For the past four weeks I’ve been running a Cool Mom Snacks giveaway (you can see the videos here, here, here, and here) looking for the most creative ways to make eating healthy fun for kids.
I got so many great ideas from you all. I think the overriding theme is PRESENTATION. Skewers, muffin tin, and food coloring being the most original “I never thought of that” ideas.
Renee, love the food coloring idea and will do it as my daughter’s favorite book is Pinkalicious and she just might go for it.
I also liked Julie’s emphasis on a vegetable, which I hate to say I sometimes drop. I always have a fruit, but other than peas, lately Vivien won’t eat anything else. I will see if dips make a difference.
Suse, thanks for the skewer idea. I could try that with Vivien, although I will worry if they get near Rex. He is a little dangerous!
So, I am going to pick the winner on not only one that I thought was good, but also got favorable comments from you all. And that would be Alexandra of Good Day, Regular People for her idea of a muffin tin snack bar!
I am going to try it and video it next week. Congrats!!!!
Thank you all who participated for these food for thoughts and check back next Thursday as we’ll be kicking off another Snacks giveaway!
ADVERTISEMENT: 3pm snack
Yes, this is an advertisement, but I do like the bar that’s in it. I don’t like a lot of “bar” type food, but I like the ones with nuts. And I needed something other than my normal piece of cheese that I normally use as my between meal snack. Well, and tangerines….and coffee.
This is your last chance to enter our General Mills lunch care package giveaway. Submit your tip in the comments and I’ll be selecting my fave Friday at 12pm PST! How do you convince your kids to eat fun and healthy lunches?
UPDATE: Congratulations to Alexandra for her winning snack tip!
Guest Post: Shh! Mommy’s Reading!
A Guest Post by Amanda Howells, formerly of Crabmommy
Hello, dear Coolmom readers. It’s been a while since my momblogging days (I’m writing other things now—more on that later). I do miss it, so it’s awfully nice to sit in for CoolMom this week.
Do you read much—as in books (books for grownups)? I know, I know, it’s a damn tall order to crack a book when the tots are wailing for Mama, requiring you to change a diaper/find a glue stick/draw a horse/slice an apple. What is it about children and sliced fruit, btw? My 5-year-old drives me bonkers with this slicing obsession—kids these days can’t bite into a whole piece of fruit…sheesh!
It is indeed incredibly difficult to train a mom-brain onto words on a page when the very act of child-rearing conspires to ensure you will never have another moment of silence again. But don’t let the wee ones colonize every inch of your body and brain, my friends! Protect your reading time, and I’m not talking those How To Be A Better Parent to Your Pain in The Ass Spirited Child -type books either. Read something you actually want to read. Don’t worry, I’m not about to pull a Goopy Gwyneth Paltrow and recommend you fall into bed with a nice cozy copy of Crime and Punishment (like you haven’t dealt with that theme all day as a mom). GMAFB, Gwyn. You read the Spark Notes. Fear not! Unlike Gwynnie, I won’t tell you what to read. I’ll just tell you what’s on my nightstand, just for the fun of sharing.
First off, this doesn’t even qualify as reading since it’s basically a novelty picture book but I had to get a copy of Regretsy: Where DIY meets WTF. Hil.ar.ious. Moving on to fiction, just finished: The Little Stranger – a perfect highbrow ghost story; The Forest of Hands and Teeth (wow, I had no idea zombies could be this compelling).
Gearing up for summer: Am I the only person in the world who doesn’t like Stieg Larsson? I read the first one and found it gratuitously grisly and otherwise overrated. So instead of being all excited for the new one that’s just out—The Girl Who Kicked The Cop in the Crotch or The Girl Who Smacked That Man in the Mouth (or whatever it’s called)—I’m tucking into the far superior Elizabeth George’s new mystery, This Body of Death. Clumsy title aside, I know this Inspector Lynley mystery will be as good as its predecessors. After that, I will complete my mystery/paranormal track with Carrie Ryan’s The Dead-Tossed Waves (this YA paranormal writer is oh-so-much better than You Know Who). Then it’s on to Red Hook Road (because I love everything Ayelet Waldman writes); Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’ Connor (I like to mix some bio in between the fic); and after that, The Summer We Read Gatsby, because it looks witty and fun and perfect for summer.
Speaking of “perfect for summer” [throat clearing here] may I timidly suggest my very own first novel for your reading pleasure? Just out, The Summer of Skinny Dipping is a bittersweet romance— a beach read with substance, if I do say so myself. Kirkus called it “a realistic and satisfying chick-lit debut,” School Library Journal said, “…this novel will live on for more than a summer” and I hope you will feel the same. Available here.
Want to win a copy? Leave a comment telling us what you’re reading/looking forward to reading this summer and a randomly selected winner will receive a copy of The Summer of Skinny Dipping. Yay! Competition closes Friday, June 11, 5pm PST.**
Thanks, Daph, for letting me guest-post and pimp my new book. Happy summer reading, everyone!
xx Amanda Howells
**UPDATE: Congrats to Sara for her comment. I’ll be emailing you to send you your copy of my book. Yay!