Walk with Me

The Sixth Picture Game

2009-07-02T14:08:00.004-04:00

I read Life as Mom's Sixth Picture Game post and decided to take part in it. Here's the 6th picture in the 6th folder in my pictures folder:

This is a picture from our trip to Napa Valley, CA that I won from Meow Mix & Del Monte Foods last year. After our luxurious weekend of spa treatments and dinner and lunch with Iron Chef, Cat Cora, we wanted to take a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley. The first group of people had already taken off as you can see the small balloon in the air while we waited for ours to be completely blown up.

Unfortunately, we never got off the ground. While we waited for ours to blow up, the wind had picked up and made it dangerous for us take the balloon ride. I was quite upset considering we were leaving very early the next morning and we wouldn't have another chance to go back the next day to try again. It took me a few hours to get over the disappointment. I don't know if we'll ever be able to make a trip back to Napa Valley, but if we do, that's the first thing I want to do when I get there. :) I can only imagine how gorgeous the view must be from a hot air balloon.

Anyway, if you want to play along, here are the rules:

1) Go to your photo folders
2) Select the sixth file folder
3) Open it and select the sixth photo in that file folder
4) Write a story for that picture, post it and
5) Select five bloggy friends to tag
6) Be sure to let them know they've been tagged

Like Fishmama from Life as Mom, I don't want to tag people that don't like doing these kind of things so if you come across this post and would like to participate, please do, and leave a link to your post in the comments here so I can visit your post.

Busch Gardens or Aquatica for Free

2009-07-01T12:59:00.003-04:00

This deal is for Florida and Georgia residents only.

Go buy a Seaworld one-day ticket and get a Busch Gardens or Aquatica ticket for FREE! 2 parks for the price of one, not bad!

Here's the link. Not sure how long this offer will last.

Aquatica is a blast. We got to go last year after winning tickets from a Pepsi/Publix sweepstakes. Would love to go again!

Cirque du Soleil Saltimbanco

2009-06-28T13:28:00.004-04:00

Have you ever heard of or seen a Cirque du Soleil show? I saw La Nouba in Orlando many years ago and my husband and I still talk about that show.

We were able to go see Saltimbanco opening night here in Tampa! We took our 4 yr old daughter and one of our friends' 7 yr old son with us. It was absolutely awesome! We all had a blast and my daughter still talks about and keeps asking to go see it again. My favorite parts were when Eddie the clown would come out and get audience members involved. And depending on the audience member picked, they can really make us laugh like the guy picked for the very last clown act. He didn't just imitate the clown as instructed but added his own flair and it made the act so much more than it would've been than if he just imitated the clown. He had everyone roaring in laughter. I wish I could see that act again. Now my husband wants to go see La Nouba again.

I highly recommend this show or any other Cirque du Soleil. You won't be disappointed.
Go to Cirque du Soleil to see the different acts and characters of this show. One of my favorite acts was the Boleadoras.

Check out the special 4 pack offer for Tampa and Estero.

Blog Giveaways 6/21

2009-06-21T11:51:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Baby Loving Mama: win SmartKnitKids seamless socks (ends 6/30)
Mom's Focus on Cyber World: win SafetyTats tattoos (ends 6/26)
My Mom's View: win a Sunsmarty protective bathing suit (ends 6/25)
Life More Simply: win a Blubandoo Cooling Headwear (ends 6/29)
Therapeutic Reviews and Giveaways: win a Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender (ends 6/24)

Have a giveaway? Add it here:

Horton Hears a Who & More On Sale!

2009-06-14T12:10:00.003-04:00

There are a ton of DVDs of TV shows, comedies, and dramas on sale! Here are a few of what's on sale:

Horton Hears a Who (Widescreen and Full-Screen Single-Disc Edition)
On sale for $11.99 - regularly $19.99

Wall-E (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
On sale for $12.99 - regularly $29.99

Love's Abiding Joy
On sale for $7.99 - regularly $14.98

Meet Dave
On sale for $11.99 - regularly $19.98

Prison Break - Season One
On sale for $12.99 - regularly $59.98

Check out the full list here.

Blog Giveaways 6/12

2009-06-12T15:33:00.007-04:00

The Mom Buzz: win a Worm Factory (ends 6/14)
The Mom Buzz and got free ecards: win $50 or $100 amazon.com GC (ends 6/17)
Busy Mom Reviews: win a SKLZ Sport-Brella (ends 6/16)
Seeryus Mama: win a Magellan GPS (ends 6/24)
Etsy It Up!: win a monogrammed apron (ends 6/15)
Ebay Selling Coach: 10 Sunday coupon inserts (end date unknown)
Frugal Girls: win a Complete Laundry System (ends 6/24)

Have a giveaway? Add it here:

Tomato Hornworms Are Attacking

2009-06-07T19:22:00.006-04:00

I started a vegetable garden a few months ago in EarthBox. My tomato plant is blooming and I have at least 15 tomatoes growing now.

I made a discovery this morning when I went to move the earthbox onto the patio from the yard to allow the lawn guys to cut the grass. I noticed these black dots all over the white cover that looked almost like rat droppings or something. I inspected my plant and all of sudden noticed a caterpillar on it. Then I saw another, and another. It was infested with these caterpillars. I did a search and found out these buggers are the larvae of the Hawkmoth and Sphinx moth. I picked off at least 10 of them by cutting off the parts of the branches they were on. There was no way I was going to handpick them off. LOL I later saw a bird eating one of the caterpillars I threw onto the grass.

Now I'll have to check every day for caterpillars to pick off. They do fast work of eating the leaves. Several branches at the top have been picked clean! They are also hard to see because they blend right in with the branches.
Here are 2 shots I took of the caterpillars before I picked them off:

Funnies: Making People Smile

2009-06-07T00:48:00.003-04:00

A friend fowarded this to me:

This is exactly why you should always, ALWAYS...

twirl once in front of the mirror before leaving the house.

But just think how many people she made smile throughout the day .

Mail Call: 6/5/09 & Honey Nut Cheerios Win

2009-06-05T21:32:00.003-04:00

Awesome mail day today. Besides the usual junk mail, I got a visit from UPS with a package for me. I got the Sony noise cancelling headphones I won from iMommies. This will be an awesome Father's Day gift for him. :)

Also, I got in my email the confirmation of my $5 win from Honey Nut Cheerios today. I won yesterday also so that's a total of $10 that I won so far. I'm going to keep playing til I've reached my limit of $50. You can enter 10x a day and win once a day for 10 days. Use this code to enter with: K30FR-H4F3H-7720. This is an extremely winnable instant win and I'm proof! I won 2 days in a row.

It's Free Chocolate Friday!

2009-06-05T08:07:00.001-04:00

Don't forget to log onto realchocolate.com today and get a coupon for a single sized package of chocolate. It starts every Friday at 9am EST until 9/25.

There's a limit to one per email address and 4 coupons per household. I got my 4 coupons already in the mail a few days ago.

Mail Call: 6/3/09

2009-06-03T20:50:00.000-04:00

I got in the mail today:

the $25 PF Chang's gift card that I won from a twitter party a few weeks back
and 4 coupons for a single size package of chocolate from Free Chocolate Fridays

The PF Chang's prize came at a perfect time cause we'll be using it to go out to dinner for hubby's birthday next week!

Thanks again to FreeBirthdayTreats.com and PF Chang's.

Blog Giveaways 5/30

2009-05-30T23:30:00.012-04:00

A Simple Kinda Life: giving away a Hip-T (ends 6/2)
Therapeutic (Ad-Free): $250 visa gift card (ends 7/8)
Bongamom Finds: $250 visa gift card (ends 7/8)
Just a Mom's Take on Things: $10 iTunes card (ends 6/1)
Cooking Up a Family: Bison Burger Pack (ends 6/4)
Playground for Parents: Gourmet Gift Basket for Fathers Day (ends 6/8)
Look What Mom Found: JVC Camcorder (ends 6/6)
Sales Addict: Pixie Dust Tutu (ends 6/8)

Have a giveaway? Add it here:

Money Maker: Free $10 Amazon Gift Certificate

2009-05-29T23:59:00.003-04:00

I just got a $10 amazon.com certificate in my email inbox today. It was for participating in an evaluation I did last night for Keynote Research Panel.

I joined them quite a few years ago and get paid $10 each time I qualify and complete an evaluation for them. I get an invite once every few months and I have to be real fast because the slots to participate in the evaluation get filled quite quickly. Each evaluation usually takes 30-35 minutes to complete. The evaluation usually requires you to review a website in a scenario they lay out for you. You will then need to answer the questions and provide comments.

Obviously, you won't make a living off of this but it's shopping money for amazon.com. You can save all your gift certificates for Christmas or for any occasion and give gifts without costing you a dime and get even more for your amazon "money" when you buy items on sale.

Free Chocolate Fridays!

2009-05-29T17:47:00.003-04:00

Love chocolate? Go to realchocolate.com and get a coupon for a single sized package of chocolate. It starts every Friday at 9am EST until 9/25.

You can still get it cause I got one just a few minutes ago at 5:45pm. There's a limit to one per email address and 4 coupons per household.

Saving Money with Tracfone

2009-05-25T01:00:00.000-04:00

Are you needing to save money? Have you ever considered using a prepaid phone? We've been using prepaid cellular phones for over 2 yrs now. And for the moment, it's cheaper for us to stay with Tracfone.
.
With the calculations that I've done for myself and my husband, Tracfone is the cheapest. I've looked at MetroPCS, TMobile, etc and the prepaid monthly fees are still more than what we are paying per month. Yes, it would be nice to have more available minutes per month but we can survive on paying just $40 every 1 1/2 months for hubby's phone and $10/mo for mine.

Tracfones offers double minutes for life (DMFL) of the phone when you purchase that card or a phone with that feature. So, if you buy 60 min, you'll get 120 min on your phone. And there is always a current code out there that will give you extra minutes. The codes can give a range of extra minutes from 20 -100, depending on the code and how many minutes you bought.

Tracfone constantly has special packages that offer a great free phone (new or refurbished) with the purchases of minutes and many times free shipping is offered for any order of $19.99 or more. There haven't been as many great phone + minute card combos lately. The one great deal being offered right now is the refurbished Motorola W370 that already has DMFL and comes with a 60 minute card that will become 120 minutes when added to the phone.

Buy 120 min card, get 30 bonus minutes with code: 45639
Buy 60 min card, get 60 bonus minutes with code: 14938

FREE Blue Bunny Ice Cream Treat

2009-05-24T21:38:00.002-04:00

I went to my local Super Wal-Mart today and got my free-after-rebate Blue Bunny Sedona Frozen Yogurt treat. It's quite yummy!

It was $4.48 at my Super Wal-Mart but I'll get my money back when I fill out this form and mail it in with my receipt and UPC code from the box.

It's part of Blue Bunny's Memorial Day Weekend promotional offer. Tomorrow is the last day to go buy it and qualify to get the rebate. You have your choice of either the Double Chocolate Sedona™ Frozen Yogurt Granola Sandwiches or Double Strawberry Aspen™ Frozen Yogurt Granola Bars. Click on, "Find This Product In A Store Near You!", to find what store near you carries it. Seems like it is only sold in Wal Mart stores where I live.

Thanks to Freebies4Mom for posting about this and to Blue Bunny for the free treat!!

Don't forget to sign up for the iScream Team and get the inside scoop on new products, contests, surveys and a $1 coupon for any Blue Bunny novelty!

Blogger Giveaways

2009-05-21T15:13:00.000-04:00

Odds at winning a blog giveaway are so much better than a national sweepstake because I would normally see the number of entries in the hundreds and in the more popular blogs, into a few thousand entries. Those are still better odds than regular sweepstakes.

What I wanted to start doing is making a post once a month or once a week (depending on the response I get) to let those of you with a blog giveaway to promote it here.

So go ahead, if you have a giveaway on your blog, post it in the Mr Linky below.

Help a Boy Get Open Heart Surgery

2009-05-19T17:53:00.002-04:00

Can you spare $1.50? Help Alexander get the much needed surgery for his heart condition. Time is running out.

Read about Alexander's story here.

Please, if you can't donate any money, please pass the word to all your friends and family.

Restaurant Style Salads at Home Instant Win

2009-05-18T06:55:00.005-04:00

There's a great chance of winning this since there are so many prizes.

Prize (5,600): a Dole® Salads Coupon; a Marie's® Salad Dressing Coupon; a Fresh Gourmet® Coupon good on any Fresh Gourmet product; a Dole® Mandarin Orange Coupon; or an Athenos® Feta Cheese Coupon valued at $3.99

Enter: www.saladsathome.com
Entry Limit: 2 daily - one for playing the game, one for answering trivia
Ends: 7/12/09 or when all the coupons have been won
Rules: http://www.saladsathome.com/rules.html

Free In-Salon Treatment

2009-05-16T22:57:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Champagne Living for the heads up!

Get a free In-Salon treatment at a participating salon this coming Wednesday, May 20th, only!
For locations in your area, click here.
The participating salons here in Tampa are:

LOEWS SPA OCEANA
3400 GULF BOULEVARD
SAINT PETERSBURG, FL 33706
727.363.5029

PRIMP SALON
4205 MCDILL AVENUE
TAMPA, FL 33611
813.835.5600

PREMIER SALONS . SAKS TAMPA
235 WESTSHORE PLAZA
TAMPA, FL 33609
813.371.5388

THE GRAND BEAUTY SPA
2717 WEST KENNEDY BOULEVARD
TAMPA, FL 33609
813.874.7674

POSH SALON SPA
3120 BAY TO BAY
TAMPA, FL 33629
813.839.1882

You'll need to print this invite to bring with you at the time of your appointment.

Airport Birthday Party and more

2009-05-16T21:47:00.002-04:00

I found out recently that Tampa International Airport does birthday parties for free!
It's an aviation themed party that and all you need to provide is the food, drinks, and cake! They provide all the activities and even airport souvenirs for the kids. This is a party for kids ages 6 and older.

For more information, check out the flyer.

If you're into art, they have permanent and rotating art exhibits. Read about it here.

For tours and educational programs, click here.

Who knew all this was available at the airport? I didn't know until just recently, and now so do you!

Won $25 PF Chang's GC at aTwitter Party

2009-05-13T23:21:00.008-04:00

Have you entered for prizes given out at Twitter Parties before? What's a Twitter Party?

A Twitter party is a virtual party held on twitter.com with one or multiple hosts and is centered around a particular topic and lasts anywhere from 1 hr to 2+ hrs. The host(s) promote the party on their blog(s) and usually have giveaways you can sign up for on their blog. There are also door prizes and prizes given out for answering trivia, going on a scavenger hunt, etc. during the party itself.

There is also a hastag associated with the party so everyone's tweets ending with that hashtag are associated with the party and it helps keep everyone in the loop with the conversations during the party. The hashtag associated with tonight's party was #FBTbash for FreeBirthdayTreats.com 1st Annual FBT Twitter Birthday Bash.

It's really hard to keep up with the party if you only use twitter.com. I was grateful when someone referred me to Tweetgrid.com to help me keep track of all the party tweets. I'm told Tweetdeck is also a good tool to use for twitter parties. I personally have only used tweetgrid and find it very user friendly.

So, if you like prizes, try attending a twitter party (that truly interests you) and make sure to enter for the giveaways. You'll also have lots of fun and meet lots of great new people. It really helps to expand your network. And you never know, you might "walk" away with a prize or 2 from the party. I sure did tonight! I won $25 GC to PF Chang's and talk about the odds - only 42 entries were submitted.

Grand Prize Winner of YellaWood Western Sweepstakes

2009-05-11T22:35:00.002-04:00

Here's a great story about the grand prize winner of a hybrid Chevy truck from the YellaWood Western Sweep that ended in March and had three quarters of a million entries.
Click here to read the story.

Dockers® $10,000 Instant Style Sweepstakes

2009-05-10T16:10:00.001-04:00

Enter: Dockers
End date: July 8, 2009
Entry limit: 1 per day - get additional sweepstakes entry by referring friends

Note: As I noted in my post here it's good to get a friend's list going so you can have a people to refer and get extra entries.

Prizes:
Grand Prize: $10,000
Instant Win Prizes: (62) $50 Dockers gift code
Limit one instant win prize per person

Rules: http://dockers.eprize.net/instantstyle/index.tbapp?page=rules

Colorado Vacation Giveaway Click Here

Hiking in Florida

2009-05-10T15:49:00.004-04:00

My husband had been talking recently about wanting to go hiking. Hiking in Florida?? I did a search and found several websites dedicated to hiking here in Florida. This is a great inexpensive way to spend family time and get outdoors!

Here's what I found:
http://www.floridatrail.org/State-Park-Hikes.html
http://www.trails.com/stateactivity.aspx?area=10053
http://www.floridatrail.org/

Do you know of any others? Have you gone hiking and where did you go?