Now, this is not something I had ever thought of doing before, but when I saw that Artefill was having a contest and giving away a $10,000 makeover, I figured it was worth a shot! The Artefill Makeover contest is for women over age 35 who have had a life changing event and want to look their best. Signing up is easy, but it does require that you write a short essay. I wrote about how I am the 41 year old mother of a toddler and she will be going to preschool soon, and I don’t want to look like the oldest mother at the school!

ArteFill is a procedure that fills in the smile lines around your mouth, by the way. I’m definitely starting to see those. I submitted my easy to the Contest, and you can too if you are over 35 and have had a career change, are in a new relationship, or any other event for which you want to put your “best face forward”. The contest judges will pick the winning essay and the winner receives a $10,000 makeover including:

* Consultation and ArteFill treatment* from a leading physician
* Other aesthetic treatments and products as recommended by the physician
* A professional photo shoot including hair, makeup and wardrobe styling
* A feature on our web site

* Subject to physician’s determination of suitability for ArteFill treatment

I hadn’t been thinking about a cosmetic procedure until I went looking for a photo to submit along with my essay and I realized that I really do have lines starting to form around my mouth. Writing the essay made me realize that I am self conscious about my age. Most people do think I look younger than 41, but my skin is definitely starting to look older. If I am lucky enough to win the makeover, it will be exciting to see what treatments I can receive to improve my complexion. Visit Artefill to learn more about their product and to enter the $10,000 makeover sweepstakes, and visit the Contest Rules page for all the information about it.

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I still have so much great stuff to review and giveaway, that this week is Giveaway Week again! As with last week, you have two ways to be entered automaticallyinto every giveaway! The first is by displaying this banner on your site:

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So what can you win in this week’s giveaways?

• Three winners will choose their favorite Family Talk game from Around the Table Games
• Five winners will each get THREE brand new hardback books from Harper Collins-”Blue Smoke and Murder” by Elizabeth Lowell, “Moose” by Stephanie Klein, and “Yes, You’re Pregnant, But What About Me?” by Kevin Nealon.
• One winner will get the Disney DVD “Minutemen”.
• Five winners will each get the brand new, ADORABLE Fancy Nancy doll, sold exclusively at Target
• One winner will get a $25 gift card from Build A Bear Workshop, where they can make the new adorable Tropical Hello Kitty from Sanrio
• Five winners will each get two boxes of cereal from EnviroKidz, one in Leapin’ Lemurs (tastes like Reese’s Puffs cereal) and one in Penguin Puffs (tastes like Honey Smacks).
• One winner will get a personalized skin iD™ treatment set from new Neutrogena(R) Dermatologics
• One winner will get a copy of The HOT MOM TO BE Handbook
• One winner will get the new Diamond brand cutlery, drink umbrellas, straws and serving ware, perfect for summer entertaining!

Plus all the other giveaways currently running here and on Table for Five! Don’t forget to subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email so you don’t miss any giveaway opportunities! Let’s get it STARTED!

Edited to add: oh my gosh everybody, I am so sorry about the button fiasco! I was so excited to get the post up, I just copy/pasted the code and didn’t pay attention to what I was doing! note to self-have more coffee before blogging in the morning, lol. I’ve corrected the button code, thank you everyone who so kindly commented to let me know about the mistake!

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Spas charge a LOT of money for herbal wraps, which use seaweed and other herbs slathered on your skin and covered with bandages to help tighten and firm sagging skin and cellulite. It’s much less expensive to purchase body wraps in kits you can use at home, which generally contain a seaweed mixture to which you add warm water. You apply the mixture, wrap the body part with the bandages, and relax for a half an hour or so, then unwrap and rinse off in the shower. Seaweed wraps can pull toxins from the body and help with the breaking down of body fat. Save money on body wraps by purchasing home kits rather than spending lots of money at the spa.

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Kids love to drink juice, but it’s loaded with sugar. Many parents dilute juice with water to cut down on the calories, but that also dilutes the vitamins. First Juice is a new brand of fruit-and-vegetable-blend juices that have 50 % less sugar than traditional juice but still retain all the vitamins.

First Juice comes in two flavors, Apple+Carrot and Banana+Carrot. Those were chosen specifically because they are often the first fruits and veggies given to babies, and they are rarely allergens. The idea is to start out right from the beginning offering a less sweet-tasting juice, to help children develop less of a sweet tooth.

Now, to be honest, Kaitlyn didn’t like it. She was offered both flavors on separate occasions, with the juice well-chilled. Each time, she took a sip and then refused to drink more. My husband and I also tasted each flavor, and we both agreed it was not for us. But I think that’s the point-we aren’t six month old babies that have never tasted traditional juice before. If it was the first juice given, the baby would have nothing to compare it to.

The primary ingredients in both the Apple+Carrot and Banana+Carrot are the same-purified water, organic apple, organic pear, and organic carrot. The Apple flavor also contains organic pineapple juice concentrate oddly enough, white the Banana obviously contains organic banana puree. For each flavor, a service for children ages 6-12 months is 4 ounces, while for children over 12 months, it’s 8 ounces, which is the maximum recommended amount. A 4 ounce serving has 25 calories and 6 grams of sugar, while
an 8 ounce serving has 50 calories and 12 grams of sugar. Both flavors are fortified with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Vitamin D.

First Juice comes in two sizes-a 32 ounce bottle, and a nifty 8 ounce spill-proof bottle that works like a sippy cup-the juice doesn’t come out until the child drinks from the top. All the bottles are made from BPA & Phthalate FREE plastic and are recyclable. Visit the First Juice website for more information about the company and the products.

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Ladies, we are going to have a very important talk today, about a topic that none of us really wants to discuss in detail. Gentlemen readers, you are welcome to stay, your wife or girlfriend might benefit from the information in this post. Okay? Everybody ready?

Today we are going to talk about our periods. Menstruation. Monthly cycle. Whatever you are comfortable calling it. For most of us, it’s a few days a month of taking care of ourselves and our hygiene, and then we are done. But for many women, their monthly period is a time of such a heavy flow, they almost can’t leave the house. My Aunt Stephanie had periods like that when she was my Mom’s college roommate (yes, my Dad married his sister’s college roommate!). I remember my Mom telling me that Aunt Stephanie had to wear two pads at a time and change them a lot.

The Dare to Wear White website was created as a place for women to get information as well as share their stories about what life is like for a woman who has heavy periods. And though I know this is not a topic one usually finds on blogs, I felt it was important to get the word out that there is help available. The website is sponsored by NovaSure, which is a treatment procedure called Endometrial Ablation performed by a doctor:

For this last option, NovaSure Endometrial Ablation is the leading choice with more than 500,000 patients successfully treated. The NovaSure procedure is a quick, safe, simple, one-time endometrial ablation treatment. This minimally invasive procedure controls heavy bleeding by using energy to remove the lining of the uterus. The procedure takes about 4 ½ minutes, and only needs to be performed once to lighten or stop your periods. No pretreatment is necessary; it can be performed any time during your cycle, and most women resume their normal activities within 24-48 hours.

The Dare to Wear White website has links to have a brochure mailed to you, download a discussion guide to use when speaking to your doctor, and also a link to find a physician in your area who does the treatment. You do not have to structure your life around your heavy period. I know this post sounds like a commercial, but this treatment could really help somebody, so I am spreading the word. It was NOT a sponsored post.

Also, if you have a friend or family member that you know has heavy periods, please show them the Dare to Wear White website, or have a brochure sent to their house. We don’t have to be embarrassed about it, it’s a biological thing we can’t control, but we can have this quick NovaSure procedure so we can get on with our lives. Thanks for reading.

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