When you have kids it’s pretty hard to get out. Whether that is for a simple date night with a spouse or even a day out with the kids, actually leaving the house can be a real chore!

Nap time? Check.

Diapers? Check.

Extra clothing? Check.

Toys, blankets, pacifiers, stroller…check.

I have found that although it got easier as Charlotte got older, when I had Phoenyx the long days started all over again. Now we are lucky if we get time enough to go for a walk around the block much less have planned family activities.  Even with all we have to do though, one thing we can all agree on is to watch a movie at home! Its easy for everyone to pick out something they like, stop and start as we please, and not have to worry about nap or bedtime schedules. Simply pick a flick, grab some popcorn, and curl up on pillows.

Moms Movie Night?

YES!

Now while this isn’t a kid movie, you may want to gear up for movie night with Silver Linings Playbook.

Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Pat Solatano has lost everything – his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstance of their separation.

 All Pat’s parents want is for him to get back on his feet – and to share their family’s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both their lives.

And aside from the plot, you may enjoy this person:

Or this one:

WIN WIN WIN

To get you started on a true Movie Night experience in your home,  we have partnered with Lunchbox PR for an exclusive Movie Night giveaway! Not only can you save money by choosing to stay at home, but you can have a true experience any night of the week without packing everyone up and then overpaying for stale popcorn and flat soda.

The winner will receive a 3D Blu-Ray Player, a Home Popcorn Maker, a Flavored Popcorn Kit and a $20 Walmart Gift Card so you can purchase the Blu-Ray of your own choosing.

Please wait for rafflecopter to load and thank you for supporting this blog by entering!

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When I look back in old pictures of myself I can always tell what age I was simply by looking at my smile.

If I was under 28 year old, I have a lip smile.

If I was over 28, I have a teeth smile.

Why the difference? Braces.

 I have always been a confident person. I can’t remember a time that I was afraid to stand up in front of a classroom or be who I am, but I have done all of it carefully hiding my teeth throughout my life. Having straight teeth, no matter what age you are, shows the world what you already feel inside and reflects it on the outside.

 In fact I never actually realized I was hiding a part of my soul but not smiling out loud. When everyone was laughing and I would turn away so no one would notice my teeth were not straight, I knew it was time for a change.  I was about 26 years old when I made the decision that I didn’t want to feel that way anymore. I got Damon System braces just before I found out I was pregnant and had treatment throughout my pregnancy and for about a year after.

 It was actually a bit awkward having  braces and being pregnant at the same time. Going to the dentist and orthodontist was a lot more difficult since laying on my back was almost impossible during that time, but with the Damon Braces my appointments were quicker. Since the design features a slide mechanism the wires are easy to change and quickly pop out when needed—meaning there was no long appointments lying backwards. And while the cost was def scary to take on while expecting a new baby, it was also something I could not afford to wait on any longer.

 As a mother-to-be I was asking myself “How can I raise a child and show who I am while still hiding my smile?”

 So I didn’t.

 This is me at 27 years old with braces….1 of only 2 pictures that exist of this time in my life and the first time I am showing this publicly.

And now?

At almost 35 I cannot remember even having braces, but I can tell you that my results are still giving me a beautiful CONFIDENT smile from the point I got them off and into the rest of my life.

 

This year I have been an advocate for the Damon System, the exact braces you see above on my crooked smile going straight!

You can see my past posts here:

• More Than Straight Teeth
• New Year, New You!

About the Damon Clear Braces

Virtually invisible, Damon Clear has clear advantages over traditional braces and aligners. Damon Clear is part of the innovative Damon System, which combines tieless braces with high technology archwires that are clinically proven to move teeth fast and comfortably with truly spectacular smile and facial results.

 Available from skilled orthodontists, Damon Clear combines the best of traditional clear braces and invisible aligners to deliver a discrete treatment experience with results that go beyond straight teeth.

 If I could give anyone any advice when it comes to their teeth I would say do not wait. I wish I had felt this way early on in my life. I wish I had done the treatment as a teen or a young adult. I waited for a smile that I should have had a long time ago. Even more so, I developed dental problems along the way due to my teeth not being straight that I could have saved myself from by acting sooner.

 And I am SO grateful it’s all in the past and it’s a decision I do not regret. Do not forget that near the end of the year MomDot will be giving away a SMILE MAKEOVER for one lucky winner that wants to change their life!!

 If you are interested in learning more and taking the step to change your life, make sure you visit and learn more about the Damon System.

~trisha

As a blogger I get a lot of emails asking me if I want to test out new products or give marketing feedback and for the most part, I only take a very small percentage of what is offered to showcase for my audience. So when Airocide reached out to see if I would test this brand new technologically advanced way to breath clean air, straight from NASA engineers, I knew I had to try it.

Why?

6 furry reasons:  Little Kitty, Paprika, Jedi, Coco Puff, Josie, and Gwen.

While no one in my family has allergies (thank goodness, right?) its serious upkeep to keep hair at a minimum, smells at a minimum, and on a bright clear day, the dust out of the air.

First a little about Airocide:

Airocide is different from any other air purifier you’ve ever heard of or tried because it’s not a filter. This technology, developed by NASA, clears the air of virtually 100% of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) – the harmful gasses emitted by products you have around your home, like aerosol sprays, cleaning supplies, disinfectants, hobby supplies, dry-cleaned clothing, building materials, paints and paint thinners, strippers, pesticides and even air fresheners. This FDA approved device also completely eliminates all mold, fungi, viruses and bacteria (all major causes of allergy symptoms) that enter the chamber. All that exits is clear, crisp air.

First Impressions on Airocide

My very first impression was that it was sleek and attractive, but I was still pretty skeptical. I have used many air purifier before, in fact I have one in Phoenyxs room, and I think of it as nothing more than a fancy fan. I let Airocide know that I was unsure how I would be able to tell my audience if it WORKED at all. I could not see particles going in…and since there was no filter, I could not show them. But they were not deterred. The company guarantees that you will physically feel better in 6 weeks or your money back.

Experimenting with Airocide

I am open to anything so I set up the Airocide in Charlotte’s room, where basically every animal in the house congregates 24 hours a day. It’s not only  dusty and has more dander than anywhere in the house regardless of how much I clean, but there is a wall of EAU DE DOG STENCH the second you walk in.

How Airocide works

Cause I cannot exactly SHOW you how it works, I’ll defer to the segment on Ellen where she demonstrated it.

This guy is the air in your home:

This is your air with particles and dust all swirled in it:

This is your air after Airocide cleans it.

Did Airocide really clean my air?

I cannot believe I am saying this, but yes.

YES.

I have had it for about 2 months running in Charlotte’s room now and its amazing. It no longer smells like a wet dog.

It just smells like…well…air. I never thought that difference would be so noticeable.

Whatever NASA engineers are doing in their time off, they are definitely getting it right.  And I feel good knowing its actually clean air she is breathing when she is sleeping, not just some filtered cover up or febreeze spray. As a mother there is nothing more important to me than what is going into my daughters body. There are so many things I can help regulate in her life to keep her healthy and prior to using Airocide I just had to accept that I had no control over the pollutants in my home.

Now I know that isn’t the case and this mom is fighting back….without making the animals find their own apartment.

Where can you learn more?

• Website: www.airocide.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Airocide
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/airocide

Don’t just take my word for it.

Check out some more testimonials and learn how Airocide works on YouTube. Additionally my husband noticed that it was listed in the Top Tech Toys, the sweetest gear money can buy, today on Fox news and you can read great site reviews by tech sites here.

~Trisha

*unit provided

Mothers day is on Sunday and hopefully you have something planned. If you don’t, you should probably start re-evaluating if you really want to sleep on the couch (dads) or how many phone calls it will take to convince your mom that yes, you do love her.

This mothers day I am doing something a little different than usual….going out of town! While it wouldn’t be the norm for me to leave my kids when I know they have cards, candy and love to pass on to me, it just so happened our Brandcation trip starts tomorrow through Sunday. Of course I will be home in time for a trip to Petes Party Castle or wherever Charlotte convinces me we should go in honor of mothers day later that night, but for now, my trip is a great gift!

Now if you have yet to buy a gift, or need one for ANY occasion, jewelry is probably a good bet for a happy woman. Although not everyone asks for, or even minds if they don’t get jewelry, I can assure you its nice to have some good pieces in our collection as women.

Blue Nile

Blue Nile sent me these beautiful earrings to showcase for you in consideration of this Mothers Day and all that follow.

Here are some web cam model poses:

 

Honestly, they are REALLY pretty.

WIN WIN WIN

AND I have a 2nd set all wrapped up in a pretty bow sitting on my desk ready to send to a winner asap!

 

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~trisha

 

A few months ago the American Cancer Society asked me to let everyone know about a new Life List app they had and their 100 yr birthday celebration coming up. I didn’t know it at the time, but the relevancy to my life was going to show up out of the blue.

You see just 3 weeks ago my grandmother called me crying and said ” I have cancer.”

Words no one ever wants to hear.

After several weeks of side pain, she ended up doing blood work and a CAT scan. She had (has) cancer in her liver, spleen, lungs, and pancreas.  My grandmother isn’t even that old. She is 68. And while cancer certainly doesn’t age discriminate, all I could think of is why her, why this, why now?

It was devastating. On the outside looking in, I felt really helpless.

I am my grandmothers oldest grandchild. Other than my husband, she is my best friend. We have had thousands of conversations, have spent countless phone hours talking about nothing, been on way too many shopping trips, and the mere thought of existing without her took my breath away. And what was worse was every time I saw her the past few weeks she was giving me things. Distributing her household items so “they could go to the person she wanted”.

So with that news I asked her about her Life List. Was there anything left undone? Was there something she wanted to do before she died. She said two things, she wanted to go to Ireland and wanted to go to Orlando to the theme parks.

So I started making arraignments. And through the help from all the amazing people I have been blessed to know, we have a trip set up next week to Disney and Universal.

Then today I got a call from my dad. The biopsy was in. We already knew it was cancer, that wasn’t in question, but where did it start, what kind is it, how bad is it, and the biggie, how long will she live?  With it being in so many organs, the news could be anything.

The first words out of the doctors mouth?

I HAVE GOOD NEWS

Yes, she has cancer. But she has Lymphoma.

The most curable type of cancer there is. Out of everything that could be going on, we never expected this. The doctors feel very very positive about her recovering fully. In a week she will be starting 6 weeks of chemo and while that won’t be a walk in the park, we now have HOPE.

I think Phoenyx sums up how we feel in this photo I took today.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Happy birthday to the American Cancer Society

100 years ago, the American Cancer Society began the fight of a lifetime – the fight to end cancer. We’re determined to finish this fight. We want to give people everywhere more of life’s special moments – more proud accomplishments, dreams come true, and birthdays celebrated. We urge you to create your own life list on our Facebook page and then share it with your readers and followers.

• Steps to creating your own Life List on American Cancer Society’s Facebook page:
  • Visit facebook.com/AmericanCancerSociety
  • Add Your Accomplishments – Things you’ve done
  • Add Your Aspirations – What you still want to accomplish
  • Add your hope for the future of cancer
  • Add your photo – Use your Facebook profile photo, or upload another
  • Display your life list proudly, share it with your friends, and MAKE SOME NOISE!

So today along with many others, I am making my list.

The list of things I have done and the list of things I will do.

And a word to the wise.

This is not going to be an easy battle, but it has taught me a few things.

• Do not expect this to never touch your life. Help the cause for the cure NOW.
• Do not give up. Never give up.
• Do not assume! Even what looks bleak can change in an instant.
• Above all, do not wait to get news like this to LIVE. LIVE your life NOW. Do not ever go to bed at night waiting for things to happen. Make them happen. Enjoy every moment.

For all those that have been touched by cancer, for all those that will be touched by cancer, for all those fighting and those that treat, cure, and help, Make your life list here now and celebrate LIFE.

Happy Birthday to the American Cancer Society!

 

~Trisha

With Memorial day coming up (and 4th of July not far behind), no doubt you are planning a fun celebration. And what is a party without some firecrackers??!

So here is a super fun way to pass out cookies that will make the kids “ooh and ahh” when they pop in their mouth!

To make it easy, I am showing you the recipe in photos.

See? Super simple!

 

Memorial day Firecracker Cookies

Ingredients

• your favorite sugar cookie recipe
• butter cream or white frosting
•  2 packs of pop rocks
• white sugar + blue gel paste

Instructions

1) Make your favorite sugar cookie recipe

2) Frost with butter cream

3) Create blue sugar by adding sugar and blue gel paste into a blender and turn on for 30 seconds

4) Sprinkle sugar on frosting

5) Sprinkle pop rocks on cookies…you will hear them crackle as they hit the frosting

6) The kids will bite in and they will “explode” in their mouths like a firecracker!

Very fun!

Enjoy !

 

~Trisha

 

As a blogger I get invited on a lot of brand trips but as a mommy, I don’t get to take that many. Generally there are two things that interfere with that jet setting: Phoenyx and Charlotte. And while being a mom comes first and being a mommy blogger comes second, I was still very excited when I was able to make the trip to Wendy’s Headquarters in Dublin, Ohio late last month.

Wendy’s invited myself and several other bloggers in addition to a huge selection of nutrition and dietitian experts, on a corporate trip to get to know their newest developments in the war for a healthier on the go food.

From the get go I knew I was going to learn a lot. You never know what to expect when you hop on a plane to meet a bunch of strangers or the message they are going to be showing you, but when I flipped open the magazine on Delta and saw this front and center, I knew I was going to be at least in good hands:

After arriving in Columbus and the shock of the extreme weather change from 85 degrees to 45, we headed to the hotel and then out for the night to meet the Wendy’s crew and the other media experts that were present.

I was surprised to learn how many (non) mommy bloggers there were. In fact, most of the attendees were not bloggers at all! They were all sorts of amazing women that write books, host websites, and consult to companies regarding better ways to create their foods. We were all there to learn how Wendy’s does it and how they are doing their part to make fresher, better food for the consumers that love and choose Wendy’s.

When we first walked in to the presentation, I was the first person through the door.

Where I recognized Wendy.

The Wendy.

And the first thing out of my mouth was “I know you from the commercials!“

*head smack*

That’s OK, she used mommy bloggers in quotations so I consider us even.

(sidenote: Wendy was really sweet. You could tell she was passionate about what her dad built and her role as the official ambassador for the company. She was definitely approachable but still very in control and smart.)

So what did I learn?

My husband is in transportation so the art of getting products or people to places isn’t foreign to me. But applying that knowledge to food was a whole new thought process. When a company, specifically when a food company, wants to get FRESH food from place to place there are all sorts of considerations. Working with growers to provide food at specific times of the year, packing materials, and even something as specific as getting fresh artisan breads to 6500 stores is a true testament of their logistics department.

Here is a run down of the presentations we were given so you can check them out yourself:

• Kids Live Well Presentation
• Flatbread Grilled Chicken Sandwich Press Release
• Berry Almond Chicken Salad Fact Sheet
• Brand Transformation News Release
• Flatbread Grilled Chicken Sandwich Fact Sheet

What you can expect.

Within Wendy’s you can expect your beef to be from America and Canada.. The vegetables and fruit, are fresh never frozen, and are delivered many times to each store per week. The fresh fruit and vegis are prepped IN each store when delivered. For example, the lettuce comes in heads straight from a farmer and cut right there. They are never prepackaged or bagged.

You can also expect Wendy’s to have gone through some serious testing before you get the option on your menu. From rigorous employee testing, to outside research groups, and this advanced group of “super tasters”, the food you eat is whittled down to very specific flavors and textures:

We also did a taste test in private cubbyholes and answered questions as we ate.

Then they fed us again…and again. I stopped eating by 3rd meal.

And I probably had 3 Frostys. (No one said those were healthy….but they were so good)

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