Dear Audrey Grace,

This last year has gone so fast.  It seems like just yesterday that we were bouncing and sliding around in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bouncer for your 4th Birthday and now here we are, with another year under our belt.  Five.  FIVE.  Wow.  You are growing so fast and while I have a blast watching you grow, part of me desperately wants you to slow down so that I can savor one more snuggle, one more hug, one more pout, one more smile.  Sometimes I ask you to turn around and come back to me, to give me another hug or some more love and you oblige me, but now that you’re older you have a distinctive “my mom has lost her mind” look on your face.

I can only imagine what your teenage years will bring.

Yesterday you chose your Mickey Mouse dress from your 4th birthday party to wear to school, since it was your “last day of being four”.  As soon as we got out of the car you started telling everyone who would listen – “it’s my last day of being four!” with the kind of glee that is usually reserved for a trip to the beach or a visit with Mickey Mouse.  Moments like this make me giggle, because you are far from what most people would consider a shy child.  As a matter of fact when, a month into the school year, you teacher told me that you were one of the quietest girls in the class I worried that something was terribly wrong.  You’ve since made up for it, and they are now trying to figure out how to make you pipe down during circle time.  Your Italian heritage has served you well – you are a child who talks frequently and uses her hands for emphasis.  I have no idea where you get that from.

This year has brought so many changes for the two of us.  For starters, we uprooted our lives from the only place either of us had ever known — Louisiana — and moved out to sunny southern California.  You haven’t missed a beat – you dove headfirst into your new school, made new friends, and oftentimes I think you know the way home even better than I do.  You love living close to the beach and to Disneyland – and we find ourselves at both of those places pretty often.  Sometimes it makes me sad that you will probably not remember a time when you were a full-time resident of Louisiana, but I’m thankful that the frequent trips home means that you’ll always be a Louisiana girl at heart.

You love our little family out in California even more than I ever expected.  You have embraced “Misser Morgan” and “Beezie Boy” with a big, open heart as if they have always been a part of your family.  You have called Banks your brother from the near start, and a few months ago I sat you down to explain that he wasn’t your brother just yet, but that he would be in September when Mommy and Mister Morgan get married.  You looked at me with those clear blue eyes and simply said “but I can call him my brother anyway, can’t I?”  Your love for him melts my heart – you are so happy to have him in your life.  Every morning you wake up and ask “is it a Banks day?” and my answer either excites you or disappoints you – but you ask again the next morning just the same.  It is my wish for both of you that you will always be close – it is not blood but love that binds us all.  You will always have each other.

For the first time this year, you had to deal with heartbreak.  Our sweet dog Lilly passed away a month after we moved to California.  It took me two whole weeks to compose myself enough to be able to tell you what happened.  When I told you that Lilly had gone to heaven you seemed sad, but fine.  And then you turned to me and asked how long it would be until she came back from heaven.  Fighting back tears, I told you that she would never come back.  And then you cried.  You cried hard, taking big gulping breaths in between sobs.  I couldn’t help it – I cried too.  And so for almost 2 hours we sat together and I stroked your hair and we cried.  Seeing you so heartbroken just about killed me.  I would do anything to protect you from such pain, but there was no way to do that.  I’m sure it will be the first of several times in your life where I feel totally helpless, and I hate it.

This year you have been full of questions.  Why do we put conditioner on my hair, mommy?  How does it work to make my hair soft?   What sound does Mickey Mouse start with?  Are there rules in heaven?  When I get older mommy, can I still follow you?  Why doesn’t my hair glow like Rapunzel’s?  When I get older, can I be a Princess?  Is chocolate healthy for you?  Who am I going to marry one day?  Some of your questions make me giggle and some of them really make me think, but I love that all of them give me a glimpse into your mind and your heart.  You have always been so curious, so analytical.  Even though you can be a little incredibly hard-headed, I think that your persistence and inquisitive nature will serve you well, and so I do my best to encourage it.

Remember how last year you had gradually started moving toward loving all things girly?  Well this year marked the full-on girlfication of Audrey Grace – Princesses, Hello Kitty, Barbie, and anything else pink are all at the top of your list.  Speaking of last year – I also promised that this would be the year that I would cut your hair for the first time.  Well, I was wrong.  You still have every bit of hair that you were born with.  It’s super long and a bit wild, but I just can’t bear the idea of parting with your curls.  It works out because you aren’t any more interested in having it cut than I am in cutting it – so we can both just pretend that you are a real-life Rapunzel for a bit longer.

Audrey Grace, you are the most thoughtful little girl that I have ever known.  You bring me flowers, draw pictures for me almost every day, and write letters to all of your friends.  You worry about kids that you see who aren’t wearing jackets, remember to call and check on family members when they are sick (even when I forget), and point out things that you know your friends and family would like when we are in the store.  One of your favorite parts of Christmas this year was buying toys for the other kids – you still ask once a week at least when we can buy some more toys for the kids who don’t have any.  You are so full of love for everyone and I couldn’t be more proud of that.

I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that being your mommy is the most difficult job that I’ve ever had.  That’s not to say that it is hard to love you because it’s not – on the contrary, loving you is probably the easiest thing I’ve ever done.  But the day to day responsibility of making you into the best possible human being that you can be is one that I don’t take lightly.  I have so many hopes and dreams for you, and I also realize that you will (and already do) have so many of your own. All that I want is to be able to raise you in a way that equips you with all that you need to realize those dreams on your own.  Of course, I’ll be there every step of the way to cheer you on – I’m your biggest fan.

Audrey Grace, I love you more than I think I will ever be able to put into words.  You bring so much joy into each and every single one of my days.  I cannot believe that it has been five whole years since Dr. Striplin first placed you into my arms.  You didn’t know it, but on that day you taught me how to love unconditionally.  I am so proud to be your mommy.  Out of everything I’ve accomplished in my life, you are what I’m most proud of.

I love you my angel.

Love always,

Mommy

I always say that you can tell how old someone is by asking them what their favorite Disney Movies were as a child.  If they say Snow White, Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty – you know you’re dealing with someone a bit older.  But if they say Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, or, my personal favorite Beauty and the Beast, then I know I’m dealing with someone who is close in age.

It’s funny how experiences that I treasured as a child have come back around full circle so that I can share them with our two kids.  I can very vividly remember sitting in the theater watching Beauty and the Beast at age 9 – falling in love with the music, the story, and of course – that yellow dress.  Naturally, at 29 I was totally geeked out to share that same experience with my family – to see the twinkle in my kids eyes as they watched the story unfold.

I’m so thankful to the folks at Disney, who were kind enough to invite the four of us to do just that last Saturday at the El Capitan Theater (the same place that I attended the premiere of Cars 2) in Hollywood.  We didn’t tell them where we were going until we were almost there – and then they kept shouting “We’re going to HOLLYWOOD!”.

I’ll take awesome parents for 500, Alex.

We felt like royalty ourselves when we got to the check-in table and discovered that we were special guests and were allowed to skip the line.  One day, when our kids no longer think I’m cool, I’m going to show them this post as proof that I am, indeed, cool.

Did I mention that Beauty and the Beast has been remastered and is being released in 3D?  We rocked our 3D glasses didn’t we?

What the kids didn’t know was that two very special people were making a surprise appearance at this sneak peek – so imagine how my heart melted when Belle and the Beast waltzed out on stage and I see both of my kids sitting on their knees, stretching out their arms waving and yelling at them with the world’s biggest smiles on their faces.   Belle and the Beast thanked us for coming to see their movie, and then there was a confetti explosion and I thought my kids might explode with excitement themselves.  They were literally bouncing in their seats.  Pure magic.

Before the movie itself started, we got a preview of something that we had been waiting a long time for – Tangled Ever After!  My daughter is the world’s biggest Tangled fan so this was a real treat for her.  She literally giggled throughout the entire short – she loves Pascal especially, and she even told her grandparents about how funny it was on the phone later that day.  My son’s favorite line from Tangled is “They just can’t get my nose right!” and without spoiling anything from you I can tell you that there is a little tribute to that line in the short as well!

We loved every second of Beauty and the Beast in 3D – and it was an amazing experience.  The movie still moves me to tears – I was sniffling at the end of the movie.  Just wait until you see the ballroom scene in 3D – you will be blown away!

Beauty and the Beast 3D hits theaters TOMORROW, January 13th – so be sure and check it out with your kids this weekend!  What a great way to introduce them to the movie that captured our hearts 20 years ago!  By the way, you can like Beauty and the Beast on Facebook for up-to-the moment updates!

Thank you so much Disney for this very special day with my family – we are still talking about it!

PS – Do you watch Modern Family?  We watched Beauty and the Beast in 3D all while sitting a few rows away from “Manny” who is played by Rico Rodriguez.  Kinda awesome!  We also got to see Zachary Levi who is the voice of Flynn  in Tangled.  :)

Thankfully though, the procedure itself was easy and I saw incredible results with CoolSculpting® after just one visit.  After a consultation with the doctor to choose my problem areas, I scheduled my appointment and went back to have the “procedure” done.  They lay a cool gel pad over the area to be sculpted, line up the machine, and then they turn it on.  It sort of pulls your skin tight and sucks in all of the…ahem…loose areas of your body.

CoolSculpting literally traps the fat between two freezing plates for a certain amount of time, freezing the fat cells and allowing them to die off and eventually leave your body.  What I’ve noticed is that after the procedure you don’t feel anything (except a little numb in that area – almost like you had Novocain in your stomach – you don’t feel anything!) except a little tingling.  A few days later I was in some pain, but nothing that kept me from doing my everyday activities.  I told myself that the pain that I was feeling were the fat cells shriveling up and dying, so that pretty much made me feel better.

The machine looks like the photo below.  I was set up on a comfy table with lots of pillows, and they even covered me with a warm blanket during the procedure.  For a busy mom, it was actually kind of peaceful!

I had the procedure on my bra rolls, my tummy, and my thighs.  I saw the greatest change in my tummy and I wish I had the opportunity to go back for a few more treatments before my honeymoon.  The areas on my back and my thighs did not hurt during the procedure at all, though I did feel some (bearable) pain a few days later.  However, when they put the machine on my tummy for the first time I felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me.  I’m so thankful to the amazing nurse in the room with me, Ashley, who kept telling me that after 5 minutes it would stop.  She literally stayed in the room with me and helped to distract me during those rather uncomfortable 5 minutes and at 4 minutes and 45 seconds the pain completely disappeared.  I sat through the rest of the treatment sipping on a diet coke and watching the Bachelor on Hulu.

Not bad, right?

Check out this video below:

If you want to find out more about CoolSculpting you can check out their Facebook page – where I’m sure other patients who are very happy with their results are posting as well.

Want a chance to win a CoolSculpting treatment for yourself?  (The answer is YES, I promise!)  Fill out the form below to enter – and the folks at CoolSculpting will choose one lucky gal (or guy, I suppose!) from across the 14 blogs on this blog tour to win a treatment!  I’ll cross my fingers that it’s you!

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post on behalf of CoolSculpting. However, all opinions are my own.  Trust me, after having this procedure done personally I would not still be endorsing it if I wasn’t completely impressed with the results.  

Thank you for being a normal size yet being successful.

Thank you for being confident in your own skin.

Thank you for setting a good example for women and little girls everywhere – including your own daughter.

Seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

As I work on my New Years Resolution to get healthy for my wedding it’s inspiring to see a celebrity whom I know is active and fit, yet is not as skinny as a rail.

By the way, this is not to say she is not skinny.  She is obviously petite and in shape.  I’m just thankful that she looks like she actually eats real food and not just a piece of grilled chicken breast with 4 asparagus spears for every meal.  You know the folks I’m talking about.

I needed to see this today.  Maybe you did, too.

I remember the day that I discovered picplum very clearly.  It was August 19th, and I was flying back to Louisiana for my 29th birthday after having spent 3 weeks in Southern California with my fiance’ and his son.  It was actually the last time I would ever fly “home” to Louisiana and I knew that it would be – because 11 days later my daughter and I would officially become residents of California.

I had spent nearly 30 years as a Louisiana resident.  My entire life.  My 4 year old’s entire life.  I was excited for a new adventure.  My family was excited for me too, for sure.  Even so, there were a lot of tears.  Like, a lot.  A ton.

I think it was mostly over the fact that my daughter was going with me.  Not that they don’t love me or anything, but if you are a parent, or a grandparent you understand the joy that a grandchild brings to a family.  You also understand that if said grandchild lived with you for a good year of her life and also came over for dinner at least once a week then that loss hurts even more.

But back to my story.  I was sitting in the Dallas airport, waiting on yet another delayed flight, when I saw a tweet from my fiance’ – suggesting that I check out picplum.  The idea behind it was that you can upload photos throughout the month – from your phone, your computer, and via email  - and on a certain day each month picplum will print and ship that “batch” of photos to addresses that you had previously specified.

I literally read the tweet, went to the picplum website, and pulled out my credit card to sign up.  I was totally sold – I could think of no better gift and surprise for my family back home.  The idea is simple, 50 cents per print, and starting at $2.50 shipping per recipient.  So for under 10 bucks a month, I can print and ship photos to my parents of my daughter, my soon-to-be-son, and occasionally myself and my fiance’.  They get everything from photos of the first day of school, to sleepy morning photos, to photos of us all at the pumpkin patch.

Here is what one of my upload pages looks like:

You can see in the top left hand corner that I sent 3 different recipients 19 photos each.  I love me some picplum.

As I sat in the airport uploading my photos, I found myself with a few questions.  I sent a tweet to @picplum and had a response almost immediately.  At other times I’ve been on the site and the live chat has popped out and one of the founders has said “Hey Erika – let me know if you have any questions!”.  The customer service is amazing – and the team really cares about building a great product with a clean customer experience.  I love to feel special – and the folks at picplum have a way of doing that for me without even trying.

My family loves getting the photos each month – they really look forward to it and I always get elated text messages and phone calls when a new batch arrives.  My fiance’ has signed up with his own account and sends photos to family back in Connecticut, Maine, and Florida – and just this month he wised up and added me to his account!  I got my first batch in the mail a few weeks ago and I was so impressed!  Check it out!

They come in a pretty purple envelope (excuse the iPhone photo – but awesome packaging ftw!):

And the photos are just gorgeous!

Can you tell I just think picplum is the coolest thing since sliced bread?  Cause I do.  I have nothing to gain from shouting from the rooftops that I love this company – I just think they’re awesome!  I am a happy paying customer, and I know that will continue for the foreseeable future!

Because the guys over at picplum know that I’m a happy customer, they offered to giveaway some photo credits here on Chic Shopper Chick – which I thought was a super idea!  So, if you want to try out picplum for yourself, enter to win $50 in credit – which should get you several batches of photos printed and shipped!

Don’t want to wait to get started?  You can sign up for your picplum account now (and the first 5 people who sign up for picplum through Chic Shopper Chick and print and ship a batch of photos will get $10 in credit towards their next order) and if you win the giveaway, then they will just apply the credit to your account!

One last thing.  I want to do a little reverse disclosure here.  I am not benefiting through this write up whatsoever.  I am not getting any free product, and I am not being paid by picplum.  The link that you click above is not an affiliate link – it’s simply a tracking link so that we can keep track of the first 5 orders (and know who to credit the $10 to).  The guys at picplum simply offered this to do this though my site because I am a crazy fan and have been vocal about my support of the company from day one.

Ok, so now the good stuff.  To enter:

• Go over and click like on the picplum Facebook page. Leave a comment letting me know that you did so.

Then the folks at The Brainy Company contacted me about their Glowberry Bears and I just knew that Audrey Grace would love it.  They sent us the light blue Glowberry bear, and I’ve discovered that it works in 3 settings:

• Bear to Bear – There’s a chip located in the bear’s foot and when placed in close proximity of another Glowberry Bear, they communicate with each other.  We only have one bear so I cannot attest to the quality of this feature, but it sounds pretty cool!
• Nighttime – This setting transitions our bear into a night light – pressing the bear’s tummy makes it light softly from within and the glow will last for 3 minutes.
• Bear to Child – The bear talks to us, and even has a name! If you press its hand it will say things like, “Hi, I’m Twinkleton. What’s your name?” Pressing its other hand makes the nightlight light up, and tickling its tummy makes it giggle.

I’m here to tell you that your time is limited, too.  It’s time for us to order our cards!  Let’s get a move on!

For four years now, Tiny Prints has been my one and my ONLY destination for ordering the most amazing Holiday cards.  If you don’t believe me – check out the great Christmas Cards that I sent out last year.

This year has seen a lot of changes for Audrey Grace and me.  I got engaged, and we moved across the country to create a family with my amazing fiance’ and his adorable son.  The kiddos are only a year apart in age, attend the same school, and just generally adore each other.  This year we had professional photos taken of the two of them, and fully intend to not only hang those in our home, but also to use them on our Christmas Cards.  I couldn’t wait to design my cards!  I literally stalked our photographer for our proofs and our CD (sorry, Cindy!).

Last night I sat down to order our cards, and all I can say is wow.  Tiny Prints has always had amazing holiday card designs, but this year I was positively overwhelmed.  There are so many options (over 1,000!) of cards to choose from, and that’s not even including the envelopes, color options, and so forth.  This morning I was tinkering around with the cards – here is one of the possible designs that I came up with  –

The front!

The back!

I loved this card (called Merry Medley) because it had several places for us to put photos of the kids on the front, and we were able to add up to 3 photos with captions on the back, though I chose to add one with a quick update of our lives this year.  SO cute, right?

Or how about this card?  This one is called Merry Grid!

Tiny Prints also has a cool feature where if you have additional photos to share that didn’t quite make it on your cards – they will create a custom website called Tiny Prints Snapshot for you to share more of them!  They print the URL right on your card, which I thought was super awesome!  Then your family can type in the custom URL and get their holiday fill of your adorable selves!

Where do you get your holiday cards?  Oh and help us decide, please – leave a comment with which card is your favorite?

Happy Holidays!

Maybe it was a crazy month at work, or maybe you have a new baby at home and you have exactly zero time to go out and shop.  Maybe you are on bed-rest, or just hate to shop.  Maybe you just wish life had an easy button.

Well, there is no easy button – but there is an easy, quick way to buy gifts for friends and family this holiday season – one that you can even buy ON CHRISTMAS MORNING.

You totally read that right.  But wait – you’re thinking that no stores are open on Christmas morning – so how can this be?

Check out clickit!togiftit! – a place to buy digital gift cards for family and friends!  clickit!togiftit! procrastinators like myself the chance to send digital gift cards (which can be redeemed at almost 50 vendors, including restaurants, retail stores, entertainment, and even online stores!)  The best part are the fees:  there are none!  No cost to ship your cards, and no fee to purchase.  Sweet!

I know what you’re thinking – you’re thinking that sending a gift card somehow seems impersonal.  Well, with clickit!togiftit! you can personalize your gift by selecting the egift card design of your choice or, my favorite, by uploading your own photos or images, which is then delivered directly to your gift recipient’s inbox!  I did this last year with a gift card for my dad, and I used a photo of us all at the beach the previous summer and he loved it!

Even better, right now Clickit!togiftit! offers a special gift with purchase.  So, spend $25 on a voucher to Uno’s and receive $5 to use yourself.  You can also receive $10 to spend at The Children’s Place for every $40 you send.  My personal favorite is when you buy $100 to Magianno’s you’ll get a $20 gift card and a free subscription to Food and Wine magazine.

The deals change every week, so be sure to check it out!

Disclosure:  I was provided with a gift card as compensation for this post.  Opinions are my own.  

It’s funny though, because when My Friends Tigger and Pooh went off the air, my daughter was crushed.  CRUSHED.  She has loved Tigger since she was 6 months old, so to lose her pals on Disney Junior – well it didn’t go over well.  To top it off, I thought most of the shows were more geared towards boys – like Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Special Agent Oso.  I didn’t think she’d like either show.

And then one day an episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates was on in the background and she was mesmerized.  Yo-ho-mateys-away!  ”Mommy – can we watch another episode of Jake?!” she begged.

I guess my boy-themed-theory was wrong!

Since that day, Jake and the Neverland Pirates has been the number 1 most requested cartoon in our house.  So, thanks to Team Mom, the kiddos were SO excited to receive a gift pack with some of their favorite Jake loot – including a special sneak peek of the Holiday Episode!  You can get your own sneak peek in the clip below!

The cool thing is that this episode airs tomorrow night, December 2 at 8:30 ET on Disney Junior.  The episode is called “It’s a Winter Never Land/Hook on Ice”, and in it Jake, Izzy and Cubby awake to find that Peter Pan has left the crew some presents and a tree to celebrate Winter Treasure Day, and Captain Hook invites Jake and the crew on a winter treasure hunt.

Be sure to tune in tonight and catch the all-new episode on Disney Junior on the Disney Channel!

Disclosure:  I was provided with a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Gift Pack by Team Mom to facilitate this review.  Opinions are my own, duh.

Well, this year kick scooters are back with a vengeance, but this year they look a little different – or at least the Rockboard Scooter
does!  The difference between this cool scooter and the scooters of Christmases past lies in it’s ability to convert from a kick scooter to a shredding scooter in no time.  Even better this scooter holds up to 200 lbs – so even adults can benefit from the awesome workout that the Rockboard Scooter provides!

And get this – this scooter has suspension in the rear – so even if you’re riding over the bumpiest terrain, you’ll have a crazy smooth ride.  My family has their very own Rockboard Scooter now and it rocks.  It would make a great gift for the tween or teen in your life – or even an adventurous adult!

To review – the Rockboard Scooter is:

• 2 scooters in 1
• Rear spring suspension for a smooth ride
• Features “Rockboarding” mode or manual kick mode
• Easy adjustment between modes
• No assembly required

Check out the video below and see the Rockboard Scooter in action!

I am in love with Christmas.  I’m the total opposite of a the Grinch.  The Grinch hates everything about Christmas, and I love everything about it.

So, considering that this is the first Christmas my fiance’, myself, and our two children will all be together as a family – I really, really wanted it to be special and feel completely magical.  My favorite thing by far about the Christmas Holiday, is the tree and the way that it smells.  Nothing quite says Christmas to me like the smell of a fresh Christmas tree.

Until I smelled my first live Christmas wreath from Lynch Creek Farm.

I immediately knew it would become a tradition for our new little family.

The wreath was shipped to us wrapped beautifully in a red box.  When the UPS man walked up carrying it, I squealed “ooh!  Is that our wreath?” and he said “It sure smells like it!”  He was so right.  Even the box smelled amazing.  He said he was sad to part with it – it had been making his truck smell good all day!

Audrey Grace and I excitedly started opening the box.  The first thing I noticed, besides the amazing smell, were the easy to follow care instructions for our wreath!

The wreath was carefully wrapped in plastic with a packet of information.  It was simple to lift it carefully from the box and slip the plastic off of it.

As if it wasn’t easy enough, I simply lifted it from here and hung it on the wreath hanger on the door.  Voila.  Morgan came home and stuck his face right in it to inhale the wonderful scent – he was giddy with excitement.  He has vivid childhood memories of having real Christmas wreaths so seeing this gorgeous wreath on the door made him a bit nostalgic.

You know it’s a big deal when he tweets about it.  And I thought I would be the one who was most excited!

We ordered the Country Christmas wreath, but there are so many options!  Kristin and Amanda both ordered the Snowbound Winter Wreath and that one looks amazing too!

So how about you?  Do you want your very own live wreath to convey your holiday cheer?  Awesome. I have one to giveaway, thanks to Lynch Creek Farm!

MANDATORY ENTRY METHOD:

• Visit Lynch Creek Wreaths and tell me what wreath (besides the Country Christmas and Snowbound Wreath) you’d choose if you won!

EXTRA ENTRY METHODS (LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH):

• Like Lynch Creek Wreaths on Facebook. (1 entry)
• BLOG ABOUT IT!!! 5 entries.
• Tweet this contest (button at the top of the page – make sure you add @ErikaB to your tweet so I can track it!).  (1 entry)
• Share this contest on Facebook!  Leave me a comment so I can verify!
• Like Chic Shopper Chick on Facebook. (1 entry)
• Follow me on Twitter. (1 entry)
• Like Design Public on Facebook. (1 entry)
• List this giveaway on any contest site for 3 entries.
• You can always leave a comment on any non-giveaway post. (1 extra entry per post commented on. just go to “home” posts are up front, please comment on all new posts and leave your extra entry comment)

No purchase necessary to win.  Contest only valid for residents of the US.  Winner to be chosen by random.org on or after December 6th. Winner has 48 hours to respond to notification email or another winner will be chosen.

Disclosure:  Lynch Creek Wreaths sent me a wreath to review.  They are providing another one for giveaway!

One of the most requested items in homeless shelters and homes across the united states are  fresh, clean socks.   While it might seem simple, it is a gift that has the ability to bring tears to the eyes of someone in need.  Just three weeks ago, a team from Hanes and the Salvation Army were in Los Angeles on Skid Row to hand out socks.  You can watch the short video below to get an idea of how much their efforts mean to those who were a part of this day.

This year Hanes is kicking off their 3rd annual Virtual Sock Drive on Facebook - new Hanes Fans can help Hanes to donate socks to The Salvation Army by “liking” Hanes and current fans can simply click “donate now” on the Sock tab.  This year alone Hanes will donate up to 250,000 pairs of socks to The Salvation Army with the help of the Hanes Facebook community.   You can see the Press Release that was released about the drive.

What does this mean for you?

We need your clicks!  It is so easy to donate a pair of socks to someone in need – you don’t even have to put down your iPad, phone, or computer.  All you have to do is click the graphic below to go through to Facebook and click to donate.  (Remember, if you aren’t already a fan of Hanes you will have to click “Like” first.)

So how did I get involved in this?  Well, for almost two years I have been a proud member of the Hanes Comfort Crew.  It is not a compensated role, I am a member because I believe in what the brand stands for.

Don’t worry, I’m not all talk.  Hanes has challenged me to create a local sock drive here in Southern California to encourage local donations.  I’ve partnered with my kids’ school, and we are working with the goal of raising at least 250 pairs of socks – which Hanes has graciously agreed to match!  My hope is, at the end of all of this, we will have 500 new pairs of socks to donate locally here to the Orange County Rescue Mission.  When we contacted the Rescue Mission to ask about working with them, they told us “We need new white socks desperately!”

So please, click if you can, and share a pair of socks and a smile this Holiday Season!

Disclosure:  I am a member of the Hanes Comfort Crew, so I do have a working relationship with Hanes.  However, this is not a compensated post in any way, shape, or form.  This is a great company who is working to give back to the community, and I hope you can help to support our efforts!

Thanks for checking out my 2011 Holiday Gift Guide!  Be sure to check out Our Ordinary Life and Mommy Mandy for more great gift ideas!

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When I was a little girl I was obsessed with American Girl.  A voracious reader, I read all of the books before carefully requesting that Santa Claus bring me a Samantha doll for Christmas.  It was the number one thing that I wanted more than anything – and when I found Samantha smiling back at me on Christmas morning with her glossy brown hair with the perfect bouncy curl – I squealed in delight.  I brushed her hair, I changed her clothes – Samantha came everywhere with me that year.  She was perfect, coveted, and mine.

Samantha still sits in my childhood room, prominently displayed on a shelf.  I never outgrew my love for her.

American Girl Bitty Twins

Twenty years later, I’m delighted to begin introducing my daughter to the world of American Girl.  She is a bit young for the full-sized American Girl dolls so when I discovered the American Girl Bitty Twins, I knew we had to have them.  You can customize your Bitty Twins with all different skin tones and hair colors – so that your child will have a set of dolls that looks like her.

Generally speaking I have a bit of a bias against all of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed dolls in the world – so  I was torn when ordering our Bitty Twins because part of me wanted to order a dark-haired duo.  However, I have a sweet little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl and I wanted the twins to look like her – so I gritted my teeth and ordered blonde twins – a girl and a boy.

They twins come in the cutest argyle outfits and have 15″ soft bodies, and they also come with a book – The Bitty Twins Learn To Share.  The two twins, in outfits, plus the book is $100.  You can also order the 18 piece Bitty Twins Starter Kit, which runs $180 but in addition to above includes toys for each doll, a doll carrier, training diapers, and an additional outfit for the twins (and saves you $20).

Order by December 21st for Christmas delivery (rush charges may apply).

*Disclosure:  American Girl sent Audrey Grace a set of Bitty Twins to facilitate this review, however all opinions are 100% my own.

Thanks for checking out my 2011 Holiday Gift Guide!  Be sure to check out Our Ordinary Life and Mommy Mandy for more great gift ideas!

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I’m sure you’ve noticed from my site that I’m a bit of a beauty and fashion nut.  I have an obsession with all things girly, including nail polish.  Naturally, when a girly girl has a daughter, the odds of her also being a girly girl are pretty high.  I can officially say that Audrey Grace is about as girly as they come – which is totally fun for mom!

Even though I generally think Audrey Grace is a little young for even pretend makeup and nail polish, I saw the Hello Kitty Nail Tin by TownleyGirl and thought I would make an exception. (As in, she can only wear it and play with it at home, not out in public.) The nail tin comes with fun polish, nail art, and of course can be used as a lunch box or a place to store treasures long after the products are used!

If you the Hello Kitty Nail Tin set right now at Toys R Us you’ll get free 2 day shipping and also get a free Hello Kitty Bowler Bag with purchases of $30 or more.

Lucky for you, I have an awesome Hello Kitty Cosmetic Tin to giveaway to one of my lucky readers!

Mandatory Entry Method:

• Leave a comment here telling me why you’d love to win this – is there a special little girl in your life who just adores Hello Kitty? Maybe she is a makeup fanatic?

Extra Entry Methods (leave a separate comment for each):

• Visit Mommy Mandy and enter one of her Holiday Giveaways. Come back here and let me know you did it. (1 entry)
• Visit Our Ordinary Life and enter one of her Holiday Giveaways.  Come back here and let me know you did it. (1 entry)
• BLOG ABOUT IT!!! 5 entries.
• Tweet this contest.  (1 entry)
• Like Chic Shopper Chick on Facebook. (1 entry)
• Follow me on Twitter. (1 entry)
• Like Design Public on Facebook. (1 entry)
• List this giveaway on any contest site for 3 entries.
• You can always leave a comment on any non-giveaway post. (1 extra entry per post commented on. just go to “home” posts are up front, please comment on all new posts and leave your extra entry comment)

No purchase necessary to win.  Contest only valid for residents of the US.  Winner to be chosen by random.org on or after December 2nd. Winner has 48 hours to respond to notification email or another winner will be chosen.

Disclosure:  Townley Girl sent us a nail tin to review, however these opinions are 100% mine and I’m thrilled to share them with you.