Awesome Summer Hacks That’ll improve your Summer For Sure

August 28, 2015September 9, 2016 - brandy3

The summer sun can be maddening, and can dehydrate you to the extent of making one look dead and shabby. These quick tips and hacks to save the day, even when the car breaks down on the highway helps you stay cool. And while you learn more about dealing with the summer sun, get your car upgraded to beat the summer harshness too by checking out shop.advanceautoparts.com. Want to save handsomely in your shopping today? Use exciting coupons from Advance Auto Parts from ChameleonJohn.com with free shipping and plenty of savings on everything your car needs. Now, be summer ready while shopping smarter and saving on your hard earned dollars!

Carry a DIY face scrub to cool off
It is a fact that most of the anger and temper arises when we feel the heat; literally. This is why, cooling down a little and then thinking of the next plan would be the norm. Make a DIY face scrub and carry it with you wherever you go. You could also make a DIY liquid face wash too. For this you would need halfa lemon (juiced), a tablespoon of sugar (mixed into the lemon concentrate) and cotton swabs. While driving around and should you halt somewhere, refresh not only with a cool frizzy drink for respite, but cool off your skin too. Dip the cotton swabs into the lemon face wash and apply it all over your face and neck. Keep it on for ten minutes and then wash off with normal water. Your skin would be freed away from dirt and grime, you would look fresh and the vitamins in the lemon would nourish your skin too.

Lemon green ice tea
Apart from the antioxidants and the vitamins in the drink, lemon green ice tea also helps calm the nerves and relieves the body from allergies of summers too. For the best drink so chilled and nice, refreshing too,colas and aerated liquids shouldn’t be the guzzle norm- empty calories galore! What you need is a cup of cold lemon green ice tea, which is easy to make at home. For this you would need a cup of water (boiled and hot) to which two bags of green tea are added and the lid kept closed for ten minutes. Remove the lid and set aside the tea bags (for reuse), add to this a pinch of spice and honey for taste. Allow the liquid to cool and set it in the fridge for an hour. Pour it into your shake bottles and add some ice too. Drink away, cool down and keep the body healthily nourished too.

Green Tea Bags at the BBQ
Summer BBQ parties happen now and then, and the whole neighbourhood gets together for a little fun too. But after the party, it is daddy who has to flex those muscles and clean up the baking and grilling trays, the skewers and more- not so much fun anymore now, is it? Did you know, reusing green tea bags can help clean the BBQ plates, grills and skewers faster than before? Soaking the plates and skewers in warm water to which the reusable green tea bags are added for the first half hour would do the miracle- wash it with liquid dish washing soap later on.

Body packs to cool down with
Come back home and let go off the heat accumulated on the body with a nice body back to immerse in. For this, you would need a large cucumber sliced and chilled. Cold honey (two large cups) and three tablespoons of Epsom salt for the bath water. Set your tub with cold water and warm water in equal mix, to which the Epsom salt has been added. Apply the honey all over your body, and wait outside the tub for the liquid to dry. Once dry, now place the cucumber slices over your face, your eyes and your neck and soak yourself into the tub till the neckline. Deep breathe, relax and let the magical ingredients work its way through. Wash up well and moisturize thereafter- get into bed and snooze away!

Shopkins Swap Event In NYC

August 14, 2015 - brandy3 1 Comment

Disclosure: No formal compensation was received a gift bag was provided by Moose Toys.

I was able to attend a Shopkins Swap media preview today in NYC with lots of other Vloggers, Bloggers and media. The event was a preview leading up to tomorrows Big Swapkins event at Toys R Us locations in the U.S.

They had so many new items on display for the upcoming season. Like new Mega blocks sets!

a new game with exclusive Shopkins.

Card game with Exclusive telephone

Now on to the swapping each Toys R Us will have tables set up and coloring sheets and fun activities. Each attendee will receive a Shopkins poster with the entire collection of Shopkins printed on the back from Seasons 1, 2 and 3.

Swapping was so much fun and we got a few Shopkins we didn’t have already. but the main part was just helping others out and having fun.

My daughter had so much fun swapping with others.

At the event we were also introduced to a Exclusive NY Event Apple Blossom Shopkin. Kind of like a Limited Edition, since there are only 800 made.

Thank you so much Moose Toys for inviting us to this wonderful event.

Go Back To School With NErD Journal

August 14, 2015March 1, 2016 - brandy3 1 Comment

Disclosure: No formal compensation was received, products were provided for review. All Opinions are 100% My own.

We love Science in my house, my husband has a PHD in Molecular Biology and talks to my kids about everything having to do with science, and they love it.

My daughter was super excited to get ready for back to school with these fun Science Journals from Julie Huffman.

NErD Journal

Put all your scientific thoughts in this journal. Can’t think of what to write? The authors have put science facts and fun on every page to get you in the writing spirit.

Periodic Thoughts

Everyone loves to talk Science, and sometimes you just need little refresher or way to break the ice. These fun postcards are filled with Scientific facts, quotes and laws. Each card is designed using different letters from the Periodic Table of elements.

**My daughter absolutely love these books, she has started keeping track of all her experiments, and scientific ideas in the journal. She spent hours going through the Periodic Thoughts and reading everything. It’s been one of her favorites she reads over and over.

You can find The NErD Journal and Periodic Thoughts online or a book store.

Do you love Science? These books are perfect for anyone going back to school.

Kids By Safilo Makes wearing Glasses Stylish

August 5, 2015 - brandy3 1 Comment

Disclosure: A gift card was provided to attend the event. Al opinions are 100% my own.

I was invited to the Safilo studio to preview their new line of glasses for kids ages 0-8. I had never even heard of Safilo, but my son wears glasses and we go through so much trouble with them I wanted to learn more.

Kids By Safilo is a new eyewear collection designed for children with a medical-scientific approach and engineered with advanced technologies and materials.

These glasses are absolutely adorable and are perfect for kids. Some of the features:
Bio based and non toxic
Stay firm on nose (no annoying hinges or metal parts)
light weight design
fun and colorful
made 100% in Italy

I loved viewing these glasses they are made for everyday challenges that kids go through. You don’t have to worry about them biting on the ear pieces or bending them.

In addition to seeing their showroom, I was able to talk with 3 leading experts on kids eye vision and why it is so important.
A parent will take their child to the dentist before getting a eye exam.

This event was so important to me, because I am one of those parents that never noticed the signs. My son was in first grade and started complaining about having to walk up to the board in school to see, I just thought that he was back to far. Then I got a call from the nurse, he failed his eye exam. I took him to get a eye exam, and felt so bad. His vision is horrible including a high astigmatism, Far sighted in one eye, near in the other.

He received his glasses and the first thing he said was “The world seems so big”

It’s absolutely important to get your child a vision exam, even if you don’t think anything is wrong.

You can find Safilo glasses at these two locations:
Devonshire Optical
51 University Place
New York, NY 10003
212-982-3762

Vista Sight Eye Care
817 West 181st
New York, NY 10033
212-923-2020

Or online at solsticesunglasses.com

Celebrate 31 With Baskin-Robbins

July 23, 2015July 24, 2015 - brandy3 2 Comments

Disclosure: This is a compensated post with Blog Meets Brands and Baskin-Robbins. All opinions are 100% My own.

July is National Ice Cream Month and Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, is celebrating all month long by treating guests to fun special offers. Introducing a delicious lineup of OREO cookie-themed frozen treats, and providing guests with a sweet way to give back to their local communities.

Visit during July and you can get a free upgrade to a waffle cone when you get a double scoop of ice cream. Baskin-Robbins is also celebrating their 70th birthday with promotions.

Celebrate 31 with Baskin-Robbins! This July 31 get 31% off any sundae at your local Baskin-Robbins Store. Choose from so many different varieties like the classic sundae, brownie sundae, double scoop sundae, layered sundae, or a banana royale sundae.

This was our first visit to a Baskin Robbins and my kids just loved it. They had so many different varieties of ice cream and topping to choose from, plus the price was not bad at all.
We were admiring the cakes they had on display, they looked so yummy. My favorite was the Cookies N Cream ice cream cake, which features tons of oreo cookies.
Oreo N Cake is also the flavor of the month for July, which is a sweet combination of cake-flavored ice cream and oreo cookie pieces with chocolate cake batter flavored ribbon.

My kids each got a 2 scoop sundae with their favorite Ice cream and topping.

They picked out Snickers ice cream with gummy bears, chocolate ice cream with M&M’s and Cookies N Cream with M&Ms.

They absolutely loved it and had so much fun watching the guy make them in store. They each told the Baskin-Robbins employee what they wanted without any help and watched the creation happen.

I got a 2 scoop sundae supreme with Cookie dough ice cream and extra cookie dough pieces.

It was the best I ever had. The extra cookie dough pieces and the chocolate fudge and carmel made the sundae all come together. It was the perfect treat for a hot day.

Find the nearest Baskin-Robbins location to you and get 31% off your next Sundae this July 31.

Keeping Kids Safe This Summer #SummerSafety

July 19, 2015July 30, 2015 - brandy3 1 Comment

I have three kids at home all summer and for the last few years I have been to the doctor and emergency room so many times for accidents. I try to protect them the best I can but they are kids and want to have fun. Most of the accidents have been unavoidable, from playing sports or just being a kid.

I have already made one major trip to the ER this year when my daughter broke her thumb riding her bike. Other than that one major accident there has been scratches, cuts, burns, and smashed fingers.

It really has me thinking about supplemental insurance for my family, you never know how handy it can be.
Supplemental insurance is a important part of health care, especially for todays workers who have not accepted that they have been diagnosed with a serious illness.
Helps save money from out of pocket expenses that most major insurance companies won’t pay due to illness, cancer and more.
Most policies will also have options to help you with your everyday expenses like groceries, childcare and lodging. You can ask your employer about these plans.

We still have over a month of summer vacation left and tons of activities so I am going through tips to help keep my kids safe.

1.Safety Gear- when riding a bike,roller skating, or playing sports, always make sure your child has the appropriate gear on. Helmets, pads, mouth guards, and gloves, they may seem like a pain, but they are there to keep your child safe.

2.Practice- Make sure your child has been practicing their sport or activity instead of just going at it. This will reduce the chances of injury. Also make sure they drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.

3. Body Aches- Parents should teach their child that if they are feeling tired, or any part of their body hurts it’s okay to stop. Pushing through when tired or having a injury will only hurt them worse. It’s okay to take a break.

4.Apply Apply Apply- We live near the beach so there is always 2 things we need. Sunscreen and bug spray. The beach is nice during the day but the sun can be brutal and sunscreen helps there skin stay beautiful. At night though the mosquitos come out everywhere. My kids are bit everywhere, so we always have bug spray and cream. West Nile Virus is around and even confirmed in our area. Always have spray or lanterns when out at night.

5. Always watch your kids around water, roads, pools, and trails. Please watch your kids this summer, I know that text message or email seems important but it’s not.

Accidents happen specially with kids around, make sure you’re prepared with supplemental insurance like Aflac’s accident policy to help cover out-of-pocket expenses.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Dannon Light and Fit Greek Tiramisu Yogurt Review #IHeartTiramisu

July 14, 2015July 24, 2015 - brandy3 1 Comment

Disclosure: I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Dannon. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. All views and opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of Dannon.

One of my guilty pleasures is yogurt, I love being able to sit down after along hard day and enjoy a cool and refreshing flavored yogurt. There are so many amazing flavors in yogurt from cheese cake to chocolate and more.

I wanted to find a new interesting flavor and found Dannon Light and Fit Greek Tiramisu at my local Stop and Shop.

Dannon Light and Fit Tiramisu is….
Made with 12 grams of protein, 80 calories and 0% fat per container.
Dannon Light & Fit Tiramisu Flavored Greek nonfat yogurt satisfies taste buds and helps shrink away daily temptations.

It can be so hard for me to eat healthy, specially when I am upset. You can taste the satisfaction with NEW Dannon Light & Fit Tiramisu Flavored Greek nonfat yogurt.

When I first Tried Dannon Light and Fit Greek Tiramisu Yougurt, it didn’t look very appetizing at it is gray colored. It was actually very good and made my craving for junk for go away. Even my kids enjoyed it and getting them to eat healthy can be very tricky, so I have no problem giving them the new Dannon Light and Fit Greek Tiramisu.

I tend to ea more after having a rough day and it puts stress on my body since I don’t choose the right things, after one cup of Dannon Light and Fit Tiramisu Yogurt I felt full and didn’t have cravings for anything else.

Tiramisu was the winning flavor in The cannon Light and Fit contest they had recently. It’s been a favorite for around our house.

Look for Dannon Light and Fit Greek Tiramisu yogurt at your local grocery retailer. It’s a great way to indulge in a yummy snack and not have to worry about weight or eating unhealthy.

Connect with Dannon online:

Cord Blood Banking With LifeBank USA

July 10, 2015July 24, 2015 - brandy3

I had a complicated pregnancy with all 3 of my children, I was sick all 9 months and struggled with several things. My middle daughter the doctor said would have a variety of issues like Spina Bifida, she could be blind and deaf etc. They gave me several options, abortion which is absolutely off the table. Cord Blood Banking, and adoption. It really scared me, and I didn’t know what to believe. I wanted to do anything to make my child get better.

I decided on doing the cord blood bank. No matter how my child was born, she would be loved. When my daughter was born she was a perfectly healthy baby girl, No problems at all. Well she had jaundice, but thats fairly common. We still wanted to do the cord blood banking in case any problems arrived in the future, we still have yet to use it.

Important reasons why you should consider Blood banking:

Through cord blood banking, you can collect and preserve potentially lifesaving stem cells, and doing so could one day save the life of your child or a blood relative.

You can bank even more stem cells by collecting them from 2 usable sources of stem cell-rich blood: the umbilical cord and the placenta.
Placental Cord Blood Banking is only available through LifebankUSA.

If you decide to do the cord blood bank, LifebankUSA is the place to do cord blood banking. The process is easy you will receive a kit that will hold your entire placenta, to collect your child’s cod blood. After it is collected you can call the medical courier to come for pick up. Medical courier and LifebankUSA are on call 24 hours 7 days a week. There is no fee for the shipping service and your cord blood is shipped fast and safe.
Once it arrives at their lab, they will scan and process it, they separate the stem cells from the plasma and are counted and recorded. They then are sent to storage where they are seperated by stem cell and cryopreserved, vapor-phase cryogenic nitrogen storage. The storage is monitored all day everyday.

LifebankUSA has their own lab and storage facility in New Jersey, and is one of the largest Stem Cell Banks in the United States.

About LifebankUSA:
As the only company that offers cord blood, placenta blood and tissue banking — and the first to release placenta-derived stem cells for a successful transplant — New Jersey-based LifebankUSA is a technological leader that is pioneering key medical innovations in the field. Owned by the Celgene Corporation, a world-class biopharmaceutical company, LifebankUSA also operates a robust donation program and collects cells from anywhere in the US for use primarily in advancing medical research.

If you would like to find out more about Cord Blood Bank of your own, donation, or just how the process works. You can also see prices for their services and a calculator to estimate a payment plan.

Disclosure: A gift card was received for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Always Discreet Is Now At Target

July 3, 2015July 3, 2015 - brandy3

Always Discreet is a thin pad for everyday use. As a mom of three I suffer from bladder leakage. It happens when I least expect it, when i am working out or as simple as when I sneeze.

Always Discreet is great because it’s thin and doesn’t feel like a regular pad like when you are on menstrual cycles. It’s made a big difference in my life, I would get so embarrassed when I would leak and you could tell. I can work out now, runs after my kids and not have to worry about anything.

Discreet liners- absorbs 2x more than you need

Discreet Pads- Up to 40% thinner and absorb 2x more than you need.

Discreet underwear- Dual leakguard barriers help prevent leaks where they happen most.

If you love Always Discreet products and use the regularly, Target has a subscription service for them. When you sign up for the subscription service you can save 20% on your order.

Subscribing is so easy you just g to Target.com and click on your favorite Always Discreet product.
Choose your size selection on the dropdown menu.
Check the box next to “subscribe for 20% off
Select the delivery frequency of your choice from the dropdown menu.
Click subscribe.
Proceed to check out.

It’s that simple and so easy, you don’t have to worry about running out of pads or dealing with store crowds. It makes everything so much easer and you save on the product ad shipping.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Buy Pampers And Help The Children’s Miracle Network Giveaway Closed

June 22, 2015July 21, 2015 - brandy3 403 Comments

Disclosure: A gift card was provided to help facilitate this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

My first child was born and I wanted to do everything right, I tried breastfeeding and didn’t want to give up. In exchange for not wanting to give up my daughter didn’t eat for a few days. I was told I was doing it right but in fact I wasn’t and when they took her in for more testing they realized her belli rubin was off the charts, and they were worried about her.
Putting her under lights and not being able to see her. As it went down things had looked up, thanks to the wonderful doctors. She wasn’t out of the clear though we had to rent a belli machine and keep her under for 2 weeks. She hated it, but whatever kept her healthy.

Thanks to the Children’s Miracle Network everything was covered for us and we had great training on how to use the machine and take care of our daughter.

Walmart and Pampers have teamed up to donate $200,000 in the month of June.
When you purchase products like Pampers Swaddlers at your local Walmart, portions of the proceeds will go to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Supporting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals helps provide visits for 10 million kids each year. To see more on how much they have helped please visit.
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We don’t have little ones at him anymore but bought a pack of Pampers just to help The Children’s Miracle Network, and then donated the diapers to a local family.

To donate and learn more visit here.

You can win a $25 gift card to Walmart to help support The Children’s Miracle network by buying Pampers diapers?

To enter: Tell me if you have a connection to their hospitals or a special story with the network?

Extra entries:
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Contest ends July 20, 2015

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