He’s Just Not That Into You – The Soundtrack {Giveaway Closed}

So, since I was JUST talking about music in my last post, I thought today would be a good time to gush over the new soundtrack that I have been listening to non-stop since late last week.  One2One Network sent me a copy of the “He’s Just Not That Into You” Soundtrack (and yes, I’m DYING to see the film too – the book was hilarious and oh-so-true) and I think this is one soundtrack that really just hits it out of the park.  Really, the book was great, the cast of the movie is phenomenal, so there could be no less than an amazing soundtrack to accompany it.

Don’t believe me? It’s got a great mix of going-out-with-my-girlfriends and rockin’ in the car tunes, mixed in with others that just make you want to sway a bit and sing along, mushed together with ones that make you want to bust out the hairbrush-microphone and pretend like you’re the opening act at the VMA’s.

What?!  Ok, well, maybe that last one is just me.  (But I would totally rock the VMA’s.  Totally.)

The song I keep hitting repeat on is Erin McCarley’s “Love Save the Empty”, though I’m also totally lovin’ Lily Allen’s “Smile”, as well as the great stuff by The Cure, Wilco, R.E.M, and Maroon 5.  Oh, and as an added treat – you can hear Scarlett Johansson sing “Last Goodbye”.  For the record, I am totally impressed with her deep soulful voice – I am a sound believer that actresses do not automatically equal singers/musicians – but in this case it was a good call.

Be sure to grab a copy of the He’s Just Not That Into You Soundtrack – it was just released this past Tuesday, Feb. 3rd and the movie will make it’s premiere tomorrow, February 6th!  (And give me a call if you’re going – I’m willing to bet this is one that hubby won’t want to go see with me!)

Win it! I have a copy of the soundtrack plus this super awesome hoodie to give away to one lucky CSC reader!  (And wow, I don’t think it will look like that on me…)  For your initial entry, leave a comment here on this post.   Something more than “I want to win” would be great!  After that, every other (pertinent) comment left on this site on other posts from now through February 13th will count as an extra entry each. As usual, extra entries are also available for stumbling Chic Shopper Chick (leave your stumble name), subscribing to my site, following me on Twitter, and blogging about this giveaway with a link back here.  Good luck!

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on February 15th, 2009.

My Little Pony RC Scootaloo (A Giveaway!)

I grew up with a father who loved cars — working on them, driving them, even watching them race around a track.  I suppose it was inevitable that I would develop a love of things that “go”, but as a girl, it was oftentimes hard to find toys that would do so and ones that were simultaneously “girly” enough.  When I saw the My Little Pony Scootaloo RC On The Go (included in my 2008 Holiday Gift Guide for Kids) I immediately started gushing about how I would have loved to have something like that when I was a little girl.  Little AG will have her turn with the RC Scootaloo this Christmas, and thanks to Hasbro, your little girl will have her turn too!

Hasbro Toys has generously offered one lucky Chic Shopper Chick reader the chance to win a RC Scootaloo on the Go of their very own, or to give as a gift!  To enter, follow the easy-peasy rules below!

• Tell me what toy you always wanted as a child.  Also, tell me who this would be for!  (Must have both to qualify!)
  
• Earn extra credit! You may do these for extra entries.
• • Blog about this giveaway and link back here. Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Follow me on Twitter.  Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or in a reader and tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Stumble my main webpage (www.chicshopperchick.com) and leave me your Stumble Upon name in a separate comment.

That’s it! Good luck! Oh, and the official rules and legal jargon are below.

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here and on Prizey Fetch, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on December 22nd, 2008.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts

Paramount Home Entertainment has completely simplified gift-giving for you last minute Holiday Shoppers!  With their wrapped and ready DVDs, you have 3 great options for gifts for this year, including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, and Kung Fu Panda.  They come wrapped in adorable paper (that doesn’t give anything away) with a removable cardboard sleeve over the top.  When you are ready to “gift it” you can just take the sleeve off, stick a bow on it, and you’re ready to go!

You can order them now on Amazon, or, if you freak out on Christmas Eve and remember that you forgot to get a gift for someone, you can always stop by the store and grab one — you won’t need anything else!  I’m giving hubby his copy of Indiana Jones this year already wrapped and ready – it will be perfect for his stocking, and it saves me time wrapping gifts (because frankly, it’s a daunting task with a 22 month old wanting to “help”.)   What gifts do you wish were already wrapped for you?

Swoon over Il Divo (I already did!)

I have an confession to make:  I’m a choir girl.  Yes, yours truly, in all of my chic glory is actually a very good 2nd Soprano.  I have been singing in a choir for as long as I can remember — I think my earliest memory is the 4th grade, but it may have started even before that.  I sang all through high school and auditioned for the Women’s Chorale in college, and was the lone French major in a room full of Music majors.  It was a blast, I loved it.  A good piece of music in 4 part harmony is enough to make me swoon.

When I opened my copies of Il Divo‘s “The Promise” and “The Christmas Collection” I immediately swooned.  And no, I hadn’t even put the CD in the CD player yet.  Il Divo means “Divine Male” in Italian and divine they are…I’m just sayin’.  Being a Christmas music fanatic I immediately put the Christmas CD in and started listening.  It’s the kind of music that gives you chills it’s so good and so moving.  When we pulled up at the doctors office, Little AG was playing the drums on her legs and when I turned off the car, she looked at me and raised up both of her palms and shoulders like “Hey mom, where did it go?”

Their new CD, The Promise doesn’t disappoint either.  My ultimate favorites are “La Luna” and “Amazing Grace”.  Just like I said above, the music will give you chills.  So, for all of you singers out there (or singers at heart!) these are must-have CD’s for your collection.  We haven’t stopped listening since we got them!

Win it! You can win your very own copies of The Promise and The Christmas Collection.  To enter, just follow the easy peasy rules below!

• Leave a comment here telling me why you’d like to win.  A little effort please, no “Enter me” or “I wanna win” type entries will be accepted.
  
• Earn extra credit! You may do these for extra entries.
  • Follow me on Twitter.  Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Blog about this giveaway and link back here. Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or in a reader and tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Stumble my main webpage (www.chicshopperchick.com) and leave me your Stumble Upon name in a separate comment.
  • Add me to your blog roll. Not just my button in your sidebar, I’d love to be on your blog roll! Let me know about it in a separate comment!

That’s it! Good luck! Oh, and the official rules and legal jargon are below.

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here and on Prizey Fetch, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on December 8th, 2008.

Show Me How!

I recently had the opportunity to review a book called “Show Me How:  500 Things You Should Know – Instructions for Life from the Ordinary to the Exotic”.  Once you get past the long title (phew!) you will fall in love with this book.  It includes things like how to identify the different men’s styles of facial hair, which wines should be paired with what foods, how to get out of quicksand, how to identify edible plants, and how to remove gum from a child’s hair.  Granted, some of the things your will hopefully never need to use (quicksand?  Woah.) but that is what makes it fun to read.

Check out some of these shots of the pages of the book and you will see what I’m talking about.  It’s absolutely gorgeous! (You know, um, as far as books go!)

Here is one page on how to make your own Snow Globe!  (Hmm, this might be a project for the near future!)

Here is a page that shows how to do some other easy Holiday Projects.Here is one of the pages on Champagne/Wine and food pairings.

See what I mean?  It truly is a gorgeous book.  Talk about the perfect coffee table book!  Anything you ever wanted to know – including useless trivia that will wow your friends — is in this book!  This would make a great Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life!

Harper Collins has graciously offered to give two very lucky Chic Shopper Chick readers their very own chance to know how do do all 500 things — that’s right — you can win a copy of Show Me How right here on Chic Shopper Chick!  To enter, just follow the easy-peasy rules below!

• Leave a comment here telling me about something you’ve always wanted to know about, know how to do, or learn more about!
  
• Earn extra credit! You may do these for extra entries.
  • Follow me on Twitter.  Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Blog about this giveaway and link back here. Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or in a reader and tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Stumble my main webpage (www.chicshopperchick.com) and leave me your Stumble Upon name in a separate comment.
  • Add me to your blog roll. Not just my button in your sidebar, I’d love to be on your blog roll! Let me know about it in a separate comment!

That’s it! Good luck! Oh, and the official rules and legal jargon are below.

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here and on Prizey Fetch, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on December 3rd, 2008.

My Friends Tigger and Pooh: Our Christmas Must-Haves

If you’ve read this site a bit in the past, you know that Little AG has a thing, a love, an OBSESSION with Tigger.  However, most everything involving the Playhouse Disney show “My Friends Tigger and Pooh” easily qualifies as well.  Along with the 9 tiggers that we already have living in our house, I wanted to highlight a few of the things that will be on our Christmas list for Santa this year, just in case you have a little Tigger fan at home, too.

Of course, we have to start with the My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie.  Even though it’s not new this year, we have to have it as a part of our collection.  Plus, I am pretty much a Christmas fanatic, so I HAVE to have anything that is a “special Christmas edition”.  That being said, you can be sure we’re getting a copy of this ASAP!  (Look, I’m already listening to Christmas music, why not add in Tigger, Pooh, Darby, Roo, etc and make the kiddo happy at the same time?) You can snag it for $13.99 on Amazon.

Our next must-have is the Fisher-Price Super Sleuth Changing Tree.  Seriously, this was not an option to pass up this year (if you ever saw my daughter turn on the projector in our living room, hand me the remote to the TV, point at the wall and say “Grr peas?” {Tigger Please?} you would totally understand why).  This baby has hidden doors, slides and ramps (to launch them out of the Changing Tree on their scooters, of course) as well as lots of lights, sounds, and a total of 30 different missions.  It’s way cool!  I have been stalking it for a while, as Amazon wasn’t carrying it and it was about 70 bucks, but thankfully, now it’s down to $43.49, so grab it while you can!

I’m also lovin’ this My Friends Tigger & Pooh Wooden Puzzle with Sound — it has 5 large pieces and even plays a few sounds!  It’s perfect for Little AG’s little hands, even though I can see that we will probably always be missing one piece — isn’t that how it always works with puzzles?

Of course, Little AG’s Christmas will not be complete without the Fisher Price “Think Think Think” Darby – I can sing that song in my sleep.  Even seeing someone tap the side of their head 3 times makes me want to burst into song!  Darby is about a foot tall, and she not only sings the “Think Think Think” song, but she also has mysteries for us to solve!  Little AG spotted her in the store a while back, and I practically had to pry the thing out of her hands.  I’ve gotta say, it is pretty neat!  $34.99 at Amazon.

Lastly, I don’t think I can resist this Tigger Bounce Chair – it’s pretty inexpensive and I can almost picture Little AG tackling it when she sees it!  The chair has an inflatable seat that creates a “springy” effect, and he also says fun phrases and has 3D facial features.  Oh, and a big plus — the cover is removable and washable!  Plus, for $34.99, I’d like to think of it as a steal!

What about you?  Know any other Tigger must-haves for us for Christmas?  What character/toy/show does your child love the most?

Anne Taintor makes Vintage Modern! (A Giveaway!)

I could look through the products at Anne Taintor all day!  Hailed as “The Original Vintage Humor Company”, their snarky products do not disappoint!  These are the kinds of products I wish I had known about a couple of years ago, because I have friends who would have LOVED them!  I still do, and I think that they will not only make fantastic stocking stuffers, but also great girlfriend gifts — perfect for Secret Santa or gift exchanges!  I have a couple of things from there, so let me highlight some of my favorites!  Best of all, everything on the site is very affordable!

We are a family of travelers, so I chose this passport cover that says “High Maintenance doesn’t begin to cover it.”  When it arrived, hubby just grunted and said “Boy is that true.”  (Disclaimer:  He knew this before he married me!)

I also chose this ID holder that says “Of course it buys happiness!”  Oh how i love it!    My sister in law used to have a sign that said “All I’m asking for is the chance to prove that it doesn’t buy happiness” and this reminded me of that, so I immediately liked it! (I was thisclose to choosing the one that said “Domestically Disabled”)

I also really like their purse-sized emery boards — the “Stop me before I volunteer again” is SO me.  I say yes to too many things!  Plus, I love that these are small enough to keep in your purse all of the time, because you always need an emery board at the most inconvenient times!

Win it! Anne Taintor has graciously offered the chance for one lucky Chic Shopper Chick reader to win a $50 dollars worth of products from their site, to be chosen at the end of the contest!  That is more than enough to choose some items for both you and a friend! To enter, follow the easy-peasy rules below.

• Visit Anne Taintor and come back here and tell me what your favorite saying and product are!
• Earn extra credit! You may do these for extra entries.
  • Blog about this giveaway and link back here, as well as to Anne Taintor.
    
  • Visit From Dates to Diapers and leave a comment on one of her posts or enter one of her giveaways.  Come back here and tell me it’s done. (I will verify!)
    
  • Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or in a reader and tell me about it in a separate comment.
    
  • Stumble my main webpage (www.chicshopperchick.com) and leave me your Stumble Upon name in a separate comment.
  • Follow me on twitter!  http://www.twitter.com/chicshoppachick  Let me know that you did!
    
  • Add me to your blog roll. Not just my button in your sidebar, I’d love to be on your blog roll! Let me know about it in a separate comment!

That’s it! Good luck! Oh, and the official rules and legal jargon are below.  Don’t forget to check out all of the other great stocking stuffer items that I have for you here on Chic Shopper Chick!

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here and on Prizey Fetch, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on November 21st, 2008.

Learn along with Thomas’ Great Race!

I loved to play games as a child, but as a parent, I prefer games that are going to provide a sort of education for my child and not just “occupy” their time.  Briarpatch has a great game, Thomas’ Great Race, that does just that.  In order to play, kids learn their numbers to earn coal to power their engines (Thomas, James, Percy or Molly) over the hill to win. The game encourages the development of sorting, counting and color matching skills.  The pieces are nice and chunky, this is obviously a fun game that was made with toddlers and preschoolers in mind, and I love that it was well thought out.

The game works like this:  “Each engine drops into a slot on the Great Race track, with the back of each slot open to receive “coal blocks.” For the youngest children, a parent or older sibling is designated as a helper to join in the fun and aid emerging readers. Players take turns selecting a card and answering a simple counting question based upon what they see on the card –for example, how many blue engines do you see?” The answer – ranging from one to three, depending on the card selected — appears on the back of each card in the form of a graphic that matches one of the blocks of coal. A correct answer is rewarded when a player picks up the matching block of coal and inserts it into the open slot behind his engine, powering it up the hill. Coal blocks are also different sizes and colors, adding to the drama and excitement of the race. Once the engines crest the hill, they roll across the finish line.”

This is a great game made for children ages 3 and up, and for 2 to 4 players.  It is a very reasonable price ($24.99), and I think you will enjoy the educational aspect of it as much as we do.  Plus, it really is a game that you can play WITH your child, and I love it when mommy can play too!  You can purchase Thomas’ Great Race from the Briarpatch Website.
Win it! Briarpatch has graciously offered to giveaway Thomas’ Great Race to one very lucky CSC reader.  To enter, just follow the easy-peasy rules below!

• Head over to Briarpatch and pick out your other favorite game. Then come back here and leave a comment on this post telling me about it.
  
• Earn extra credit! You may do these for extra entries.
  • Blog about this giveaway and link back here. Tell me about it in a separate comment.
  • Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or in a reader and tell me about it in a separate comment.
    
  • Stumble my main webpage (www.chicshopperchick.com) and leave me your Stumble Upon name in a separate comment.
  • Favorite Chic Shopper Chick on Technorati and let me know about it in a in a separate comment.
  • Add me to your blog roll. Not just my button in your sidebar, I’d love to be on your blog roll! Let me know about it in a separate comment!
  • Get a gravatar!  It looks so much nicer than a blank space, and I’d love to see your lovely face.  It’s universally recognized, so you can use it more than just here on my site.   Oh, and let me know about it.  Kthxbai.
    

That’s it! Good luck! Oh, and the official rules and legal jargon are below.

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here and on Prizey Fetch, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contests ends at 11:59 pm CST on November 15th, 2008.

A little slice of heaven…

The life of a stay at home mom is not always as glamorous as you may think. Contrary to the beliefs of my husband, I do not sit home watching soap operas and eating bon bons. Well, at least not until last week — and there were no soap operas involved. Honestly, I didn’t know that REAL bon bons actually existed. From my time as a French teacher and my college years I already knew that a bon bon is a “goody goody” in French — and more importantly just a general term for candy. But last week, a company called South N France gave me a delicious wake up call!

These amazing little bon bons are all handmade and dipped in chocolate. When they arrived I opened the box (maybe a bit too eagerly) and divulged in a tase of the cookies and cream bon bon. It was absolute heaven and quite possibly one of the best things I have ever tasted. I brought them to lunch that day to give some of my husbands coworkers a chance to try them too. They were a hit — everyone loved them!

These delicious bon bons come in 7 delicious flavors and my favorite is by far the Cookies N Cream! The Pistachio is very good, as well as the Chocloate Chip Cookie dough! To be honest, I may have favorites, but they are all fantastic! I think these would make great Christmas Gifts for co-workers, bosses, friends, and even those family members that you never know what to get! They are fantastic and you will be the talk of the office/family! You can order them online in different quantities and flavors at the South N France website. Oh, and if you live in the North Carolina area, you can even schedule a bon bon making party or a Grapes and Crepes party at their shop! Sounds like a great girls night out to me!

If this sounds like something that you would like to try then stay tuned for our 2008 Holiday Gift Guide, being released on November 10th. We will be giving away a 20 piece gift tin of handmade bon bons in conjunction with the release of the guide, courtesy of South n France!

So tell me, do you have a sweet tooth? Is this something you would enjoy?