Proflowers.com Review

I recently had the chance to review ProFlowers.com and it came at the perfect time! Dave's birthday was two days ago and I surprised him with this to start his special day off right!
This Birthday Bear set from Pro Flowers includes the bear, the balloon and the rose. I thought it was totally adorable and perfect gift for Dave! The bear is 14" tall and so totally soft! It is quality and will be loved for years to come! Elijah has already told Daddy that he will be sharing it with him! haha! I personally loved the little cupcake and hat and think this is the cutest bear I have seen in a long time!

The Happy Birthday Balloon varies a tiny bit from the one shown but just in colors and is still the perfect addition to this set! It's 7" in diameter making it a great size and since it's Mylar if you pack it away in a cool dark box after the birthday it should stay pretty full and nice for years to come!

The Yellow miniature rose comes with a terra cotta garden pot and is about 8" tall. It included care instructions and is absolutely adorable. It does say that some plants wilt during shipping, which is totally understandable since they are stuck in a hot box in transit, but mine wasn't exactly reviving quickly so I contacted them and would you believe they sent a whole nothing set out the next day? I couldn't believe the customer service!!! The next one will be here soon so I will update you.

All in all the set is absolutely beautiful and will order from them again. I was planning on ordering Dave's grandmother, who turns 90 next month, a birthday bear set since she collects bears, but since they sending a new one I will give her the extra bear and balloon. I am already looking at other sets though I can send others for their birthday or upcoming holidays. Their prices and delivery options are great for sending gifts even last minute!

Pro Flowers has a great selection! Flowers, plants, and gifts for almost every occasion imaginable! I especially love their wreaths and new baby gifts!
I highly recommend ProFlowers.com!

Disclosure: I received the birthday bear set free to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Tackle it Tuesday: Devo Cake - Chocolate Energy Dome Edition

Okay, Okay. This isn't EXACTLY housework, but it's baking, so it's still a domestic type thing right? Plus this has been on my to-do list for a hot minute.

Yesterday was Dave's Birthday so what better way to surprise him than with a special one of a kind cake, themed after one of his favorite things! As most of you readers may know DEVO is one of our all time favorite bands. Especially with the new album just coming out not a day goes by we don't listen to them or watch their videos. Elijah even has gotten into it and asking for them by name! A 20 month old spud, we are so proud! :D

Anyway, so originally I was going to make the cakes, cut to size of an energy dome and then use one sheet of fondant to cover it really smooth. If you are not familiar with what an energy dome is here are a few pictures. The blue is the color they are currently wearing for the new album so I was thinking of doing the fondant that color.

Since Dave doesn't like fondant though (and I didn't get to the store) I decided to go ahead and do one with chocolate icing. Once I made it I can make it again anyway and do a fondant version later. I think for my first try it turned out pretty decent.

First, the cake cut to size:

I used icing on each layer and built upon it, then I did the outside. Note that my icing spatulas all went missing in our last move so I was stuck with a rubber spatula and a butter knife to try to smooth the icing... which wasn't happening. But either way it still turned out pretty awesome! Hope you all like it!

Happy Birthday my Davo Daveed! I Love You!

Duty now Spuds!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy,

Your birthday reminds me
how grateful I am that you are my father.
With all that’s going on in the world today,
I’m thankful I get to watch you,
to look up to you, being an example of a good man.
What a privilege it is to observe your strength,
your competence, and your kindness.
I am so blessed to be under your wing,
your protection, your care,
learning important life lessons from you.
If all fathers were like you,
the world would be a very different
and much better place.
Happy Birthday, Dad,
from your baby boy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!
Love, Elijah

Poem By Joanna Fuchs

Wanchai Ferry {review & giveaway}

Once a week we have a frozen food night and have either pizza or Chinese. More often than not it's Chinese. Our favorite brand is Wanchai Ferry due to their selection and great taste. So I was thrilled when Wanchai Ferry offered me the chance to try one of their new entrees through My Blog Spark!

We were able to try their newest flavor, Beef & Broccoli. It is the first beef dish in their line of complete meals for two. Since it is a meal for two, I made 2 bags and some egg rolls to go with it since there is three of us. The instructions were easy to follow and took about 15 minutes from the time I went to open the bag until the time I put it on our plates.

The vegetables were delicious and the beef was very tender. It also included rice and sauce to complete the meal. I do wish they were a bit bigger serving sizes, but it's very good so I will just buy two bags.

We have already tried many of their other flavors and loved them just as much! I even checked out Wanchai Ferry's Meal Tips page for some new ideas!

Bottom line: Quick, easy, delicious, pretty good value for the price.
Bought it again since the review. Plan on buying it regularly.

Buy it!
Wanchai Ferry is available in the freezer section of most grocery stores. Our local Wegman's and Walmart Supercenter both always have a huge selection available but if you want to find out which stores near you carry it, please check out the store finder on their website. Get a $1.60 off coupon here.

Win it!

*Update! Giveaway Closed! Congrats to N. M!

I have one prize pack including a VIP coupon and 2 tea sets for one winner!

To Enter:

• Fill out the form below! Easy right?

*FORM EXPIRED*

For extra entries please leave comments below!

• Follow me on twitter and leave your twitter name @erinjeany
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave tweet url. Feel free to write your own tweet, including a link to this post. If you are not feeling especially imaginative you can copy and tweet this: 'Win a Wanchai Ferry entree & tea set! http://bit.ly/d4kWin Ends 8/1 #win #contest #giveaway' (unlimited entries, leave 1 hour between tweets)
  
• 'Like' Wanchai Ferry on Facebook and leave your facebook link
• Like me on facebook. Link on right side bar.
  
• Blog about this giveaway or add it to a contest site/linky. (3 extra entries each)

Giveaway: Contest ends 8/1/2010. One main entry per person.
Disclosure: 1 Bag of Wanchai Ferry Beef and Broccoli, prize pack, information and additional prize pack to give away were all provided to me from Wanchai Ferry through MyBlogSpark for the purpose of this review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

More S'Mores, More S'miles!

We LOVE s'mores! So much that our family uses any excuse to make them!

We make s'mores at home in the microwave, over the grill, over the fire pit, camping, pretty much anywhere possible. We don't need a special occasion; we make s'mores just because! I personally like to catch the marshmallow on fire and then blow it out before adding my graham cracker and Hershey's chocolate. Dave is more of a slow cook type of guy!

Do you love S'mores? Then check out www.SmoresSmiles.com! There are instructions for making S'mores, recipes, family fun ideas, tips, an instant win game and more! More S'Mores, More S'miles!



Disclosure: I was not compensated for writing this post, but it was done to enter a contest for a S’mores prize pack as a member of the Mom Bloggers Club.

Wordless Wednesday

One of Dave's best friends, Mike, came to visit from Florida this past Monday. His father, Roland came too. It was a wonderful visit and Elijah really enjoyed meeting and playing with them both.

Happy Wednesday!

Mailbox Monday Freebies

Welcome to Mailbox Monday! Join me every Monday when I share what I received in the mail this past week for FREE and share links to get the items FREE yourself! To keep up to date with all my free stuff posts make sure you subscribe or check back often and look for these posts and Notable Newness Freebie posts.

Remember to always use a separate email just for freebies if you sign up for them to prevent your mail email from getting junk and third party ads you don't want! To make signing up for free stuff easier consider using the AutoFill Forms and InformEnter add-ons for the Firefox web browser. I use them both and have even written a tutorial for InformEnter you can view.

Click on the photo to view larger.

Leave a comment below if you want to know what something is I haven't included below or if you find that any of these offers have expired so I can update the post! Thanks!

Magazines:

• OK 1 year (qualifier)
• Parenting Early Years (no longer offered for free)
• American Baby 1 year
• Parents (no longer offered for free)
• Maxim (no longer offered for free)
  

These magazines, although not pictured, are still available for free:

• Get Married 1 free issue
• Bridal Guide 1 free issue
• Wood Magazine 3 free issues
• Dime Magazine 9 free issues
• Mountain Homes 1 free issue
• Designing Windows 1 free issue
• Subaru Drive Performance 2 free years
• Vacations Magazine 1 free issue
• CBS Watch 1 year (qualifier) I got my sub back when it was always free.
• All You 2 free issues when you enter. Just cancel after the 2nd if you don't want it. Although the coupons in there pay for itself!
  
• There are also many free subscriptions here. Just fill out the info and it gives you magazines you qualify for.
• This is another site that I use often just like the one above to get Free Magazines!
  
• Free Travel Guides and Brochures - Browse destinations, pick travel guides that you'd like, receive guides Free by mail or download.
  

A bunch of the free magazines listed above come from ValueMags.com. They always keep a rotating selection of free subscriptions. Bookmark and check back to their site often for their current free titles. They give away a lot of digital subscriptions too. I didn't like digital subscriptions at first but now I am LOVING them! I can still read them, save them, and even print pages I want, anytime! And they don't even take up any space! I am totally sold on them now!

A few of their free digital subscriptions currently available are:

• Outdoor Life (15 issues)
• Spa (7 issues)
• Transworld Skateboarding (12 issues)
• Working Mother (1 issue)
  

Freebies:

• Got lots and lots of coupons and freebies when at Artscape on Saturday. Not going to list them all since they aren't available online but if you want to know which any are, just ask.
  

Not pictured, but still offered:

• Free Nursery Water reusable bag (Limited amounts daily. Starts at 12 noon est daily until all bags are given out)
• Free Baby's first year calendar (blank inside and awesome for new babies!!!)
• Free child safety tattoos (great for summer vacations to amusement parks!)

Want more freebies? To see all Walmart's current freebies check out this page. Sam's Club also has a sample page here. You may need a club member number to sign up for some. (You didn't hear this from me, but some people say any 9 digit number works.)

What did you get in the mail this week?

Check out A Frugal Friend for the Mailbox Monday linky to add your post and check out others!

See some of my previous mailbox monday posts here.

Cascadian Farms and FarmVille partner! {Giveaway}

If you are friends with me on facebook you probably know I LOVE Zynga's games! I am always playing Yoville, Frontierville, Farmville and more. One of my favorite things these games can do is partner with real world events and companies to bring us lots of in-game fun and extras!

This entire week, July 19 through July 26, Cascadian Farm will partnering with Farmville to bring you some truly awesome and unique stuff!

To begin with, Cascadian Farm is proud to be the first official branded – and organic – crop to be offered in the game. All this week you can plant and harvest branded Cascadian Farm organic blueberries as the most profitable crop!

Cascadian Farm has also created their own “Farmer Joe Cascadian,” inspired by the brand’s real-life farmers, who you can friend request, neighbor, and play along with! Add Farmer Joe at www.facebook.com/farmerjoecascadianh and use the FarmVille application to become his neighbor in-game.

There are also some coupon offers, organic farming and green living tips you can check out!

To find out more information please visit: http://www.cascadianfarm.com

As part of the promotion Cascadian Farms in partnership with MyBlogSpark sent me a great "Cascadian FarmVille Fan” prize pack that includes Cascadian Farm Fruit & Nut Granola, Harvest Berry Chewy Granola Bars, along with a Free item Cascadian Farm coupon and a FarmVille $10 gift card!

Their products are DELICIOUS! I found them easily in the organic section of our local Wegmans and spent my coupon on the Chocolate Chip Granola Bars! All of their products I have had so far are tasty and natural tasting. They don't taste processed like some of the granola products on the market these days do. Mmmmm the goodness of organic! I will definitely be buying these granola bars from now on!

Win it!

*UPDATE: Giveaway is closed! Congrats to Natalie!

I have one "Cascadian FarmVille Fan” prize pack that includes Cascadian Farm Fruit & Nut Granola, Harvest Berry Chewy Granola Bars, along with a Free item Cascadian Farm coupon and a FarmVille $10 gift card to give away!!!


To Enter:

• Fill out the form below! Easy right?

*FORM EXPIRED*

For extra entries please leave separate comments below telling me what you did!

• Tweet about this giveaway and leave tweet url. Feel free to write your own tweet, including a link to this post. If you are not feeling especially imaginative you can copy and tweet this: 'Win a Cascadian Farms & Farmville Prize Pack! http://bit.ly/aiV8Yz Ends 8/8 #win #contest #giveaway' (unlimited entries, leave 1 hour between tweets)
• Friend Farmer Joe on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/farmerjoecascadian
• RSVP to Cascadian Farm’s Farmville Community Celebration http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123030261073465
• 'Like" Cascadian Farm on Facebook and leave a message on their wall that PyleofLove.com sent you! http://www.facebook.com/CascadianFarm?v=wall
• Like me on facebook. Link on right side bar.
• Blog about this giveaway or add it to a contest site/linky. (3 extra entries each)

Giveaway: Contest ends 8/8/2010. One main entry per person.
Disclosure: Cascadian Farms prize pack, information and additional prize pack to give away were all provided to me from Cascadian Farm through MyBlogSpark for the purpose of this review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Thursday 13 - 13 Favorite Big Brands

13 of our favorite big brands
(in no particular order)

1. Step 2
2. Huggies
3. Avery
4. Apple
5. Nikon
6. Singer
7. Scholastic
8. Coca-Cola
   
9. Wegman's
10. Disney
11. Mattel
12. Nintendo
13. Converse

Next week's Thursday 13... 13 of our favorite Mom owned brands!

Play along! http://thursday-13.com

Wordless Wednesday

Where's Elijah peeking out from?
Stay tuned until next week to find out!

Happy Wednesday!

Mailbox Monday Freebies

Welcome to Mailbox Monday! Join me every Monday when I share what I received in the mail this past week for FREE and share links to get the items FREE yourself! To keep up to date with all my free stuff posts make sure you subscribe or check back often and look for these posts and Notable Newness Freebie posts.

Remember to always use a separate email just for freebies if you sign up for them to prevent your mail email from getting junk and third party ads you don't want! To make signing up for free stuff easier consider using the AutoFill Forms and InformEnter add-ons for the Firefox web browser. I use them both and have even written a tutorial for InformEnter you can view.

Click on the photos to view them larger.

Leave a comment below if you want to know what something is I haven't included below or if you find that any of these offers have expired so I can update the post! Thanks!

Magazines:

• OK 1 year (qualifier)
• Lego Club 1 year
• Lego Club Jr 2 free years
• Parenting Early Years 1 year (qualifier) I got my sub through this offer, which is no longer offered.
• Baby Talk 1 year
  
• American Baby 1 year
• The Zone (Free for Harford County and part of Baltimore County, MD)
• AAA World (Was part of my AAA membership perks)
• Lowes Creative Ideas
  

These magazines, although not pictured, are still available for free:

• Get Married 1 free issue
• Bridal Guide 1 free issue
• Wood Magazine 3 free issues
• Dime Magazine 9 free issues
• Mountain Homes 1 free issue
• Designing Windows 1 free issue
• Subaru Drive Performance 2 free years
• Vacations Magazine 1 free issue
• CBS Watch 1 year (qualifier) I got my sub back when it was always free.
• All You 2 free issues when you enter. Just cancel after the 2nd if you don't want it. Although the coupons in there pay for itself!
  
• Parents (no longer offered for free)
• There are also many free subscriptions here. Just fill out the info and it gives you magazines you qualify for.
• This is another site that I use often just like the one above to get Free Magazines!
  
• Free Travel Guides and Brochures - Browse destinations, pick travel guides that you'd like, receive guides Free by mail or download.
  

A bunch of the free magazines listed above come from ValueMags.com. They always keep a rotating selection of free subscriptions. Bookmark and check back to their site often for their current free titles. They give away a lot of digital subscriptions too. I didn't like digital subscriptions at first but now I am LOVING them! I can still read them, save them, and even print pages I want, anytime! And they don't even take up any space! I am totally sold on them now!

A few of their free digital subscriptions currently available are:

• Outdoor Life (15 issues)
• Spa (7 issues)
• Transworld Skateboarding (12 issues)
• Working Mother (1 issue)
  

A few other free digital subscriptions other places on the web are:

• Cosmopolitan 1 year
• Organic Spa 1 year
  
• Gamerzines always free
• Celebrating Christmas always free

And if you're into ebooks, there are a few of those floating around free right now too!

• Free Crochet Patterns: Crochet Stitches
• Free 94 Page eBook: Recycling Crafts
• Free eBook: Simple Scrapbook Layouts
• Free 95-page eBook: Creative Crafting All Year Round Holiday eBook
• Free eCookbook: 40 Healthy Snack Recipes
• Free eCookbook: 31 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes
  
• Free eCookbook: 33 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes: Volume III
• Free eCookbook: 27 Simple Mexican Recipes

I'm not going to make a full freebie list from the photos this week since I didn't get many that are still being offered, but I will try to post some new ones this week and you can always check out some of my favorite places to get freebies. To see all Walmart's current freebies check out this page. Sam's Club also has a sample page here. You may need a club member number to sign up for some. (You didn't hear this from me, but some people say any 9 digit number works.)

Here are some of the freebies I got this week that are still offered:

• Free Nursery Water reusable bag (Limited amounts daily. Starts at 12 noon est daily until all bags are given out)
• Free Prilosec Sample
• Free Baby's first year calendar (blank inside and awesome for new babies!!!)
• Free child safety tattoos (great for summer vacations to amusement parks!)
• *Sorry! EXPIRED* Free being girl kit (AMAZING! Contains coupon for a FULL package of Always Pads 18 count! As well as containing 3 Tampax Pearl Tampons (1 Regular, 1 Light, 1 Compak Light), 2 Always Ultra Thin Pads (1 Regular, 1 Long/Super) & 2 Always Thin Liners. Amazing deal!
  

What did you get in the mail this week?

Check out A Frugal Friend for the Mailbox Monday linky to add your post and check out others!

See some of my previous mailbox monday posts here.

Music Monday - Devo: Fresh (Cat listening Party version)

Since Daddy and Mommy both love Devo, Elijah gets to hear it quite often. With their new album, Something for Everybody, having just came out we are listening to them even more... well everyday. So when Devo did a Cat listening party... {yes. they actually filled a room with cats and played the new album for them to sample...} we had to watch it. This has quickly became a favorite in our house. Seriously how could you not love Devo and cats? lol Elijah says it's not possible.

If you want to watch the entire cat listening party you can check out Devo's ustream channel where they have the entire party and tons of other cat listening party videos.

One of Elijah's favorite is this video for their track, Fresh. :) Happy Monday!




Are you a Devo fan too? Join us in the Devolution Army! You can also leave a comment below for an invite!

Posts Coming Soon...

Daily Free Samples from All You!

All You Magazine is sharing a freebie a day in July on their site! You can still go back and get the ones from the beginning of the month too!

Starbucks, Aveeno, Playtex and and Rachel Ray dog food are only a few of the great samples they have done so far.

Check it out here: http://www.allyou.com/coupons-deals/daily-free-samples-00411000068023/

Free Slurpees at 7-Eleven!

I have been meaning to stop at 7-Eleven for over a month now to get both of their limited edition Farmville and Yoville Cups. (If you don't know they are online games) Our nearest location is about 20 minutes away though so it's not exactly easy and every time we have gone past I forget to stop until after we are 5 minutes from home.

Well now I have another reason to go. I even added to my calendar so I won't forget! July 11th is 7-Eleven day! And to celebrate their birthday they are giving away free slurpees! Stop by any 7-Eleven location between 8am and 11pm to get a free 7.11oz one!

Check out the Facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=238830426044