Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

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ISafebag: Keeps Your Kids Safe!

Monday, August 16th, 2010

From the department of Such a Good Idea comes ISafebags.  Created by an entrepreneur from  Chicago after he heard a news story about a woman walking on the street at night who was attacked by four guys.  He was so upset by this story that he decided to do something to help protect women and kids from abductors, muggers and rapists…and even your run of the mill school yard bullies!

Essentially the ISafeBag looks like a regular backpack and computer bag but underneath a flap on the right strap is a rip cord that, when pulled, activates a LOUD alarm (equivalent to a car alarm) and a strobe light.  It will go for two hours so it’s also wonderful for young campers who are lost.  It works on two nine volt batteries and the weight of the back pack is similar to any other back pack.  And.. it’s doesn’t cost anymore than a Land’s End backpack — just $59.99!  I was sent a bag to review and I was blown away.  You would NEVER know it was anything other than a bag, but the rip cord is easy to access and trust me, it’s loud.

Recently there have been 2 attempted abductions in our area.  A local toy store (Wishes Toys Store in Glenview IL www.wishestoywonderland.com) gave away whistles to all the kids for free. Although I love the whistles and the generosity of the toy store,  this bag is hard to beat!  I am giving a bag to my 21 year old sister who returns to college next week ~ and plan to give another one to my high school aged niece.  Sadly there are a lot of crazies out there, but this bag is just one more way we can help keep out kids safe.  For more info:  click here.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary ISafe Bag for this review. No other compensation was provided.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »

Drawer full of cards, not sent

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Sound familiar? Every year I have the BEST of intentions and order a stack of Valentines Day cards to send out to family and friends.  And every year I give myself enough time to order the cards, pick them up, address the envelopes and mail them out.  And every year  ”the mail them out” piece falls flat and the cards never make it out the door.  Maybe it’s because  designing them online is the fun part, while stuffing and addressing envelopes  is not?  Whatever the reason, I am excited that a new “ap” has been added to Facebook that not only lets you design the cards, but will also address and mail them  out for you too!  Yes, a bit more expensive than doing it yourself, but it is a whole lot less expensive then just keeping them stockpiled in a drawer.  The ap is called fidipidi and here’s cute video that tells you all about the process.  Click Here to Watch it!

And now here’s the shoestring part…fidipidi will offer the first card free for the first 15,000 people who sign up for the ap.  Just use the code: 1stCardFree.  So check it out, design a card,  have it mailed and keep those drawers free to store something useful like…socks!

Posted in Miscellaneous, Mommy | 1 Comment »

American Idol Week on Toginet

Monday, May 17th, 2010

This week is American Idol Week on the Her Insight network on Toginet Radio… where favorite past American Idols will stop by  by all week to visit our shows.  On Thursday we will  welcome Leslie Hunt to our show  at 2:00 EST.  I love Leslie’s family friendly music.  Here’s a sample:Let them Go

All week, I’ll share some other musical goodies from american Idol as we count down to our show.  In the meantime, tune into www.toginet.com and check out the  American Idol fun, games and guests!  Everything’s coming up Shoestrings!


Posted in Miscellaneous, Mommy, Radio Show | No Comments »

Storybook Treasures

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

When jrb and I returned from California this week, you can only imagine how delighted we were to find a package waiting for us!  A package!  A package!  He sang as he danced around in a circle.  Will mail always make him this happy, I wondered as we tore open the box.  To my delight, it was a Scholastic Storybook Treasure DVD of our FAVORITE Doreen Cronin books which include Giggle Giggle, Quack, Duck for President and my personal favorite Diary of a Worm!

The DVD was sent to me to review and it did not disappoint.  The stories remained true to the spirit of the books, entertaining to both kids and adults.  Jrb loved listening to the stories in Spanish (no, he doesn’t speak Spanish, he just likes the sound of the language) and I loved the “talk about the stories” feature which encourages conversation about the story ~ which is always a bonus!

The other thing I LOVED was the  pacing of the stories. They were not fast-paced like so many other cartoons and movies, but instead  took their time as the story evolved which is a lot like real life, which is something that makes me very happy.

To find out more click here

Posted in Children, Education, Miscellaneous, Mommy, gifts | 2 Comments »

Ella Jenkins Countdown: 1 more day.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

That pitter – patter,  CRASH you hear is me doing cartwheels!  I can hardly wait for our interview tomorrow with the First Lady of Children’s Music.  Want to learn more about Elle Jenkins?  Tune into our MOAS radio show tomorrow at 2:00 PM EASTERN / 11 AM PACIFIC.  www.toginet.com. Want to learn more about Ms Jenkins? Check out her website www.ellajenkins.com

Posted in Children, Education, Miscellaneous, Mommy, Radio Show | 1 Comment »

Ella Jenkins Countdown: 2 more days!

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song…Want to find out where Ella Jenkins wrote that song?  Tune into MOAS radio at 2:00 EST on Thursday to find out.  Visit www.Toginet.com and listen LIVE on Thursday! In the meantime, enjoy this clip in honor of Ella Jenkins.

Click Here

Posted in Children, Education, Miscellaneous, Mommy, Radio Show | 1 Comment »

Ella Jenkins Countdown 3 more days

Monday, March 29th, 2010

3 MORE days until Ella Jenkins visits MOAS Radio!

check out this video

Posted in Children, Miscellaneous, Mommy, Radio Show | 1 Comment »

Ella Jenkins Countdown 4 more days

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

4 more days until the Godmother of Children’s music visits Mommy on a Shoestring Radio. Let’s celebrate with this clip!

Posted in Children, Education, Miscellaneous, Mommy, Radio Show | 3 Comments »

Portrait Parties

Monday, January 18th, 2010

For those of you who heard our Radio show last week, we talked about a new craze that is sweeping the mommy nation…Portrait Playdates.  the idea is simple, playgroups or just groups of families and friends gather at one house while a photographer takes pictures of the individual kids or families. It is a great way to get professional pictures taken at an affordable price.  If you are local to Chicago here is the contact info for a FABOOSH photgrapher!  She was so wonderful with my little one and took amazing pictures!!!

see details below:

FACEBOOKPORTRAITPARTYKIDS1

Posted in Children, Miscellaneous, Mommy, gifts | No Comments »

Freecycle for the New Year!

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

I just got back from picking up some free paint to use on sets for my daughters’ spring dance show. No dumpsters or begging required, I just replied to an island neighbor’s posting on FREECYCLE. If you’ve never heard of Freecycle, here’s the quick scoop: Freecycle is…  ”a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.” Basically, you sign up for Freecycle as a Yahoo group – other people in the group post “Offered” free things, you get the email, and if you can use that thing, you reply that you could use it. You may not get it, but you just might! The best thing about Freecycle (other than getting free useful stuff) is that when you post an item, the person who you choose to get it has to come to your house and pick it up in a timely fashion – no more hauling large items to the local thrift store.

I have given away many things that could have ended up at the dump – old garden edging, black planting pots of all sizes, and I’ve also given away large useful things that were cumbersome to take to the thrift store – a rug, a futon frame and more. You can also post a “Wanted” item – useful when that specific cable goes out, or when you need any color of leftover paint for children’s shows.

To find out more about Freecycle, and to find a group near you go to: www.freecycle.org

Posted in Miscellaneous, Saving Money | No Comments »

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