One of the great things about blogging is having an influential group of readers and knowing marketers who realize that. Once it awhile I get to try products for free and share my opinions (and sometimes give my readers goodies)!

Of course, not all the products are gems, but you can be sure that if I’ve added them to a list of Holiday suggestions, that I’ve tried the items (sometimes for months) before I’ve decided to recommend them.

1. Lovesac – Phur Slippers

I received these a few months ago, but didn’t want to confirm my love for them until the weather turned cold. Which it did. It snowed here yesterday and then I cried. The end.

But, to help me get through what is sure to be a long winter, I have these soft, warm, delightfully padded slippers. They are made from a hypo-allergenic polyester knit and so far, they are as durable as Lovesac claimed they would be. Also, HURRY! They’re on sale!

2. Epiphanie Bags

I bought this bag over a year ago and haven’t carried anything else ever since. I may have recommended this last year, but I love it so much I’m going to do it twice.

This bag has so many great features, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, let me say that it’s technically a camera bag, but I’m not a photographer. I use it as a purse and occasionally throw my DSLR inside and I can really throw it, because the entire bag is padded. It has a back zipper that is big enough for my iPad, front zippers where I can quickly get to my phone and business cards and removable separators inside TO SEPARATE YOUR CONTENTS.

Let me tell you how genius, yet simple, this idea is. I ALWAYS know that my sunglasses are in the compartment on the left, that my gum is on the right and that my wallet and tissues are in the middle, and my keys are in the back. I know where EVERYTHING is and I don’t even have to look in my bag; I can just reach inside. Do you realize how many hours of time this has saved me?

It’s light enough to carry every day and big enough (and protective enough) to use when traveling. Hands down, it’s the best bag I’ve ever owned and no one is paying me to say so. So there.

Stay tuned for more gift ideas and happy shopping!

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I am a fickle chef.

My cooking goes in cycles where I feel like stirring something up every night (quite literally) to not wanting to make a meal for days on end. There isn’t always rhyme or reason to these cycles, but often the urge to be in my kitchen is in direct relation to how busy I am at work, the amount of homework my kids bring home, or their after-school activities. If all three hit at once, there isn’t much chance that you’ll find me standing over my stove.

Because of this, I like to have pantry and freezer items that are easy to whip up in a hurry in case I get derailed and can’t get motivated to make dinner. I always have bags of frozen rice and veggies, pasta and beans, or if all else fails…cereal. I also keep frozen pizza and family-sized entrees at the ready just in case.

Of course, the convenience of a frozen entree doesn’t usually trump the unhealthiness of the food. I would like to offer my kids a variety of hot meals that don’t have to be reheated for someone else a couple of hours later AND I would like to be able to pronounce the ingredients.

Enter Kidfresh. Kidfresh is a line of frozen food for kids that started in a New York store, where they offered natural and organic kids’ food, and has expanded to more than 4,000 stores, nationwide. The best part? The labels aren’t scary.

Not only are they rich in vegetables and made without anything artificial, their “…packaging meets the highest safety standards with no BPA, no Phthalates nor other potentially harmful chemicals.” They use use recycled paper, carbon-neutral printing and recyclable containers.

Best of all, my kids like them!

Now a lucky reader gets to try Kidfresh meals for their kids. Just leave a comment on this post before 10/30/12 at midnight EST, and I will chose a winner, at random, to win coupons for three FREE Kidfresh meals. Enjoy and happy, healthy eating!

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Who couldn’t use a $1000 SpaFinder gift certificate? Yes, I said $1000. Read on, my friends, read on.

When I used to work in a school kitchen I had to wear a baseball hat every day. There is nothing worse than hair in your chicken and noodles and keeping a cap on my head, along with a tight rubber-band around my ponytail, prevented the students from walking away with a tray full of hair. You’re welcome, kids. You know you miss me.

The only problem with this hair-do was that when I took my hair down each afternoon, quite a few strands would come right out of my head; and those that were left behind starting tearing and became short, frizzy stubs. I have super fine hair and the slightest breeze causes my hair to rip away from my scalp.

Since my job change I have been using a lot of different products in an attempt to repair my hair. I’ve tried expensive (Note to self: When the pharmacist tells you not to try a conditioner because it will leave your hair a tangled mess, listen to her) and I’ve tried stuff that sounded fancy. What I didn’t try is my tried and true bath and shower product; Dove.

Maybe it’s because I never thought of Dove for hair before, but if it’s all I use to take care of my skin then why shouldn’t I try it on my hair?

So, try it I did. And, you know what? Dove Damage Therapy Conditioner works really well. The bottle says lots of important stuff like patented Micro Moisture Serum and Fiber Actives, but what stood out to me were Intensive Repair and Prevents Split Ends and Breakage. See that? Prevents breakage. Now we’re talking.

What is your biggest hair care concern? Is it too dry, too oily, do you have split-ends or heat-damaged hair, or like me, fine and prone to breakage?

Enter to win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/4/2012 – 9/30/2012

Be sure to visit Dove^®Hair.com to get a coupon for $1.50 off Dove Hair Therapy products.

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Yesterday’s mail brought the first of, what will be many, back-to-school catalogs. It is jam-packed with deals on everything from pencils to gym shorts to flash-drives to three-ring-binders.

I think I heard my wallet scream.

Because back-to-school shopping can be pricey, I do my best to put my coupon-cutting, savvy-shopping skills to work. The catalog I received yesterday will be perused and used to compare against the next one. I am always looking for the best deal. I have even been known to stockpile.

You’re selling a bag of #2 pencils for $.49? I’ll take fifteen. Composition books for $1.00? Give me the whole lot. I don’t care what color they are, what company manufactured them or the store from whence they came.

And, the dictionary that I just had to use to look up “whence” wasn’t anything fancy either.

Of course, there are some products that I just won’t skimp on. I buy a certain brand of school socks, I never buy cheap pens, and when it came to the tools my kids would need for papers and projects, the only choice was Microsoft Office.

Not only do I use Word and Excel every day in my own work, but my daughter has become a PowerPoint pro! Her middle school presentations look like a professional made them, and from what she tells me, they’re a breeze to put together (I wouldn’t know).

And, when she found out that she could automatically create a bibliography from in-paper citations, you would have thought that I had given her the moon. I was happy to make that easier for her, because dealing with a 13 year-old is tough enough, but throw in a bibliography and they’re downright grouchy.

Trust me, Microsoft Office 2010 should be on every parent’s back-to-school list!

Because I love a good deal and I want to share some savvy shopping with all of you, I’m sharing this offer with you. Buy Microsoft Office today and save 15%. This promotion ends on 9/14.

Be sure to visit Microsoft Office’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts on back-to-school shopping.

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