Totes Retro Review

This is the hardest blog post I've ever had to write but not because it's personal. I received a product I didn't know what to do with and, after wracking my brain, I think I finally figured out how to present you, my loyal readers, with an honest review that doesn't suck.

I was asked to review a hand-drawn tote bag from Totes Retro. I was given three options to choose from and I chose Space Invaders:

Source: Totes Retro

I was really excited when it came in the mail because I am a HUGE fan of canvas tote bags - Craig calls them my fun bags because when I travel with them, I always have fun stuff hidden inside. Well, when I received my bag, I was a little disappointed. 

The bad: I thought the drawings would be a little sharper and when the bag accidentally made its way into the washing machine, it came out half the size it was when I got it. Yeah, it shrunk.

Close up!

The good: It looks unique and I like that aspect. As a huge fan of the 80s, I like what the bag is all about (c'mon, I'm an nerd!). I like that every bag is unique and I think it's cool that someone took the time to draw on each bag. Also, the price is something that can't be beat: £2.50 ($4/15NIS) - which still makes this a winner in my book. 

Since the bag shrunk, I've found it to be really useful when I need to schelp Yoavi's diapers and wipes around - it's just big enough to fit 4 diapers, a box of wipes, a changing mat, one toy, a few pacifiers, and a ready-made bottle. I may add a zipper or a fastener on to the bag but it'll still be perfect when I need to change Yoav on the airplane. 

About the Company:Totes Retro creates light bags that come with one of three hand drawn images. You can choose between Tetris, Pac Man, or Space Invaders. To see the rest of what they have, visit their website. You can also interact with them on Twitter and Facebook!

Giveaway: Starting today, you can win your very own Totes Retro bag! From June 29 until 11:59 pm EST on July 15th, you can enter to win all three bags!!

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I received this product through Karma Media in exchange for my honest review.

Gothic Innocence Jewelry #Review and #Giveaway

I cannot tell how excited I was to receive a little brown package in the mail the other day - it was my pendent from Gothic Innocence! When I received my usual Karma Media email, I jumped at this opportunity because a) they're stuff is cool and b) they ship INTERNATIONALLY!!

How cool is that?!?!

Just a few days ago, I received this really cool pendent that is both a pin AND a necklace. I haven't tried to wear it as a necklace (none of my chains are long enough) BUT I bought a new dress for the Heseg event next week and I tied the ribbon using my pendent (below) as the anchor. I wish I had taken a picture but I was the only one home and with it being 10000 degrees in our apartment, I wanted to get out of that dress ASAP!

So, the pin itself is really lightweight and the green underlay REALLY brought out the white butterfly-lady (I have no idea what this is called). The only downside was that Cecil the dog found it to be light enough to run away with - he thinks it's a toy.

They have some really nice pieces of jewelry on their Facebook page - including a locket that I think my niece, Paige, would LOVE! Perhaps her Mom might light it, too...

Do you like what you see? You're in luck because you can WIN something from Gothic Innocence! There will be 17 lucky winners draw after the May 27th deadline (11:59pm EST!!!). Get crackin'!


Please fill out rafflecopter below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See what other Karma Media Members are up to:

I received this awesome piece of jewelry to review for Gothic Innocence as a Karma Media Team Member but the review and opinion are 100% mine!

An injury, some germs, a review AND a giveaway!

So, here's the scoop. It's hard for me to type right now. Why? Because I sliced off part of my finger while making a salad.

Yes. A salad.

That'll teach me to eat healthy!!

Anyway, my index finger is nicely bandaged and also nicely infected. Gross.

On top of everything else, today is my 1 year wedding anniversary. When did the year pass by?

We got some of our congratulatory gifts when we were back home in Detroit but one thing I did not expect to take home was the bottle of Prefense foaming hand sanitizer.

We got hooked up with it a few months back (this review is waaaay overdue... sorry!) and my Mom was supposed to test it out. Her #1 complaint? She never knew if it was actually working.

Here's the thing... we've been so conditioned to equating the sting of alcohol to a sanitizer actually working that when Prefense left no sting or sticky residue, my Mom was convinced it didn't work.

This is where I came in. I tried it out for a few weeks and... I LOVE IT! As a Bath and Body Works former employee, I can tell you that I HATE alcohol-based germ killers that sting my hands and then make them feel dry. I also can't stand the anti-bacterial lotions. They leave a residue that I am not fond of.

Prefense leaves no residue. No stickiness. No stinging.

The only thing it leaves is soft hands that are protected.

I'm a germaphobe and now that I'm pregnant, I worry about germs even more. I can put one pump of Prefense on my hands and it'll stay active through the whole day or through 10 hand washes.

Now, you can even win your own 8oz BIG bottle of Prefense hand sanitizer and the contest is really easy!

Mandatory Entry

Tell me your germiest nightmare! Were you digging through trash? Gardening? Chasing a runny nose? I want to know about it!

Extra Entries

Follow me on Twitter (@Hilly293) x 1 entry

Become a New Glaser Fan (http://www.facebook.com/thenewglasers) x 1 entry

Follow Prefense on Twitter (@Prefense) x 1 entry

Become a Prefense fan on FB (http://www.facebook.com/prefense) x 1 entry

Tweet about the giveaway and mention @Hilly293 and @Prefense x 1 entry (once per day!)

The Rules

• US Entries only
• Mandatory entry is a must
• Leave a comment after each action
• Contest open until August 21st, 2011

As always, the review is 10000% mine and mine alone.

Monday Coupon Madness and a $25 GIVEAWAY

Remember last week when I announced that every Monday I would feature coupons? Well, here's your next edition!! Be sure to stay until the end - I'm announcing a NEW giveaway!


Flowers: FTD.com 10% off Flowers, Gifts, and Plants
M&Ms: Get $15 off your order of $99 or more! Code: 15DOLLARSOFF
Kitchen Essentials: Top 25 Kitchen Essentials under $25!

Watches: Start at $2.58 Only! Shop now at Geekzones.com!
Jewelry: Enjoy 5% off and Free Shipping! Use Discount Code: CM5

Dogs: Free training course

Cosmetics: FREE SHIPPING from Bigelow Chemists -on purchases of $75 or more!
Coffee from Coffee Beanery: $5 off any order of $20 or more. Use code: CB520

BEST Cookies EVER: Save 20% off any item at Jimmy's Cookies! Use code: giftreviews20

Dog toys: Free shipping on orders over $100 from LucysDogHouse.net

Pop Corn: $10 off $50 of more at THEBIGPOPPER.COM

Asian Foods: $10 off any order of $125 or more at AsianFoodGrocer.com

Sorry the list is short this week... I'm really excited to get on to the giveaway!!

You all know by now that I put my backing behind Joanna Lindenbaum of Soulful Coaching for Busy Women. I'm really excited to join her WILP classes this summer and I REALLY think you'll like her. Well, we're teaming up to make her next FREE teleclass the BEST ONE YET! It's new and I'm really excited about it! So, Joanna and I are teaming up to help promote her newest class! Here's a short blurb:

Do you ever think to yourself that you don’t have enough time, enough money, enough love, even enough skills? Do you find yourself worrying about this every day? If so, stop worrying and take action! Join me on June 2nd, 2011 at 1pm EST for a 75 minute FREE session and I’ll teach you “The Soulful Coaching Proven 3-Part Formula for Incredible Abundance in Your Life” http://www.soulfulcoach.com/abundanceteleclass.php.

Here are the specifics:
The contest will run from today (5/23) until June 2nd at Midnight EST. There will be 2 winners and each winner will have a choice of a $25 gift card from Visa or a $25 PayPal direct transfer. This is open worldwide but insufficient entries will be deleted (but you'll be notified so you can correct the goof).

The winner will be announced on the New Glasers Facebook fan page on June 3rd - and the winner will be contacted via email. They'll have 48 hours to get back to me or I choose another.

Here are the rules:
You MUST leave a comment for each entry and include your email address!!

Mandatory Entry:
Visit the Soulful Coaching website and tell me what class you most want to join (you can find them under "programs")

Additional Entry - worth 3 entries:

• Write a quick blurb (around 100 words) about Joanna's new teleclass/newsletter and this giveaway on your blog/Tumblr/Facebook page (be sure to write the URL in the comment box below! If it's on FB, please put it in a note and tag the New Glasers on Facebook)

Additional Entries - worth 2 entries per item:

• Sign up for the Soulful Coach newsletter/Ecourse - it's packed full of useful information for busy women who want to succeed in life without killing their soul in the process.
• Sign up for Joanna's FREE teleclass on 6/2 at 1pm EST. Remember, it's FREE!!
• Follow Joanna on Facebook and leave a comment about one positive thing that has happened to you today!

Additional Entries - worth 1 entry per item:

• Follow Joanna on Twitter - @Soulfulcoaching
• Follow Hillary on Twitter - @Hilly293
• Follow the New Glasers on Facebook
• Tweet "I want to bring abundance into my life! I signed up for the FREE teleclass from @SoulfulCoaching on 6/2 - did you?"*
• Tweet "I'm starting the FREE eCourse from @SoulfulCoaching and can't wait for the FREE teleclass!"*
• Tweet "I want to win $25 from @Hilly293 and @SoulfulCoaching - do you? http://ow.ly/50rz6"*

*Only one tweet per day is allowed so choose your tweet wisely!!

There are so many options to win!! Good luck and remember - self-confidence will bring abundance into your life!

Disclosure: I was not paid for this giveaway, the money from the giveaway comes out of my own pocket.

Giveaway: My Birthday Gift... to you

My birthday is coming up. I'll be 30. Some of you readers are thinking "you're such a baby!" while others are pondering "isn't that old?" I'm neither old nor am I a baby... thankyouverymuch.

I decided that my new year resolution was to get people to like me more to take care of my health issues. I live in a fantastic country with sunshine 80% of the year and it gives me plenty of opportunities to get out and stay active. But I don't. Because I'm lazy. And I live on the Internet. No, not like Tron - I don't live IN it, just on it.

I kinda like spending money and April is going to be an expensive month for us. Why? Because it's my birthday month - DUH! So, in honor of my big 3-0 birthday and NOT completing all of the items on my 30 before 30 list (again, because I'm lazy) - we're doing a giveaway.

This giveaway is WORLDWIDE. Why? Because we live in Israel and it's my birthday. That's why! I'm a princess and what I say goes... on my birthday.


So, what will you be getting? A gift basket of stuff you can only find in Israel. So, for you, it's kind of a surprise but it's a gift basket of stuff that I like from the holy land.


What's in the gift basket? you ask...

• Water Based Hand Cream A Mineral Rich Water based Hand Cream with Sea of Life Minerals, Cucumber, Zucchini (squash) and Tomatoes extracts. For nourishing the skin and for a magic day. - it smells like Cabbage Patch dolls!!
• Dead Sea Mud
• Elite chocolate - like my favorite bar pictured below... the Egozi bar (hazelnut, nougat, and chocolate...drool...
• A Star of David or Cross Necklace from the holy land... depending on your religion (which I may have to ask of the winner)
• An assortment of dried fruit... we're known for it!

And a few surprises...

I really like our readers. You've been there for us through thick and thin and read all my b.s. so this is my gift to you for my birthday.

Don't you want my Egozi bar

Anyway, here's how to enter...

• Tell us what you know about Israel by leaving a comment on this giveaway listing - only comment once and leave your email address in the comment! (mandatory and must be done in the comment field)

For additional entries... (be sure to come back and fill out the form below each time you do one!)

• Be our FAN on Facebook and leave a relevant comment telling us why you want to win
• Follow us on twitter
• Retweet "@Hilly293 I want to win your birthday giveaway! http://ow.ly/4q3ir" once per day
• Blog about the contest (send us the URL in below form)
  

The contest ends on April 9th - 11:59pm EST.

Good luck!

Giveaway Round-up

So, life has been INSANELY busy lately and neither of us has had time to write much. In light of that, we're giving you a treat today: a whole list of awesome sites that are doing giveaways!

Check the sites for their specifics...

Health, Beauty, Children, and Family is hosting a giveaway of a $50 gift card to Apothica! They sell all your favorite beauty brands so this is a GREAT deal! The giveaway ends March 30!

3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires is giving away women's performance active wear from ION Actif! Now that it's spring time, you have no excuse not to get out and play! The giveaway ends TODAY (3/28)!!

My friend Jen, from Journey to the Max, is giving away 3 gift cards from Niki's Pizza in DETROIT worth $20 each. This is open to Detroit peeps only BUT if you've never had Niki's pizza, you're missing out. (Don't tell Buddy's Pizza I said that...)

Finally, Laughing Lindsay is hosting a unique giveaway. In the spirit of spring renewal, she's giving away the Step by step belly dance workout DVD by Acacia. Her giveaway ends April 11.

Stay tuned tomorrow... we'll be talking about our big BIRTHDAY giveaway (in honor of me turning 30)!