{GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED} Amazing Giveaway for RoC Brand Eye Cream and Night Cream Products!

The Giveaway is now closed. Congrats to the winner, Ellen of the Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms!


I am a member of the Collective Bias® (#collectivebias) Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #Eyes4NYC #ad


I'm so excited to be working with RoC® Eye Care and Duane Reade to host a giveaway for one lucky reader to win an amazing prize pack of RoC eye cream and night cream products valued at more than $100.

Prize pack includes the following RoC® skincare products:

• RoC® RETINOL CORREXION® Eye Cream
• RoC® RETINOL CORREXION® Sensitive Eye Cream
• RoC® MULTI CORREXION® 5 in 1 Eye Cream
• RoC® RETINOL CORREXION® Deep Wrinkle Night Cream
• RoC® RETINOL CORREXION® Deep Wrinkle Daily Moisturizer with Sunscreen BROAD SPECTRUM SPF 30
• RoC® RETINOL CORREXION® Deep Wrinkle Serum
  

ENTER NOW!

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To learn more about RoC® eye care and skin care products visit them online and join the fun on Thursday, April 24, for a Twitter party from 12:00 to 1:00pm, EST - no need to RSVP just search for the hashtag #EyeHeartNY.


And if you're in the New York City area, join us on Thursday, May 1 from 6:00 to 7:00pm at the Duane Reade at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue for a great event that includes a "Walk the Aisle" with prominent NYC dermatologists and health experts who will discuss RoC® product benefits and anti-aging/skin care in general, a well as answer questions.  Hope to see you there!

Seasonal Allergy Sufferers: Duane Reade and the Poncho Weather Service are to the Rescue!

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

Did you know I am kind of, sorta, maybe possibly a weather geek? No? I admit it, I am. I follow the Twitter and Facebook accounts of several independent meteorologists. And I also follow the official reports from the National Weather Service, both New York City and Mount Holly, just in case they're different. So you can imagine my interest when I heard about a new app, the Poncho Weather Service, and about their partnership with Duane Reade (you can read more about it on Mashable) to help with seasonal allergies by alerting users which days have a high pollen count and offering a coupon for allergy relief products.

Poncho is my new weather best friend. When I signed-up for the service I picked-out a Manhattan Zip Code and provided the times of day that I wanted updates based on when I wake-up as well as when I leave work. I also chose how I wanted the updates (email or text, or both), and now I get my latest weather forecast right on my phone via text as well as in my email. It's awesome.

One of the many reasons I love Poncho is that the weather forecasts are so fun. One day last week I got an all caps directive to "GET OUTSIDE NOW!"

Another day it was "You guys, I've met someone new. Their name is Spring, & I think it's love."

In addition to personalized weather reports, Poncho has subway and train delays based on the  commuting information provided, and if you choose, allergy alerts. As I am one of the many who suffer from seasonal allergy symptoms, I'm glad to be alerted on days when the pollen count is low, moderate or high. And, Poncho goes one stop further and even has coupons to save on allergy relief products at Duane Reade.

My favorite text so far: "Ain't no party like an allergy party cuz an allergy party means a Duane Reade trip," with a link for $4 off Non-Drowsy Claritin.

A few days later I also got a text reminding me to make sure to redeem the coupon, as it expires soon.

When Poncho sent me an email informing it was a high pollen day today, tomorrow and the next day I knew I should stock up with some allergy relief stuff, as I always suffer from seasonal allergies this time of year.

Apparently I'm not alone, because when I got to the top of the escalator at Duane Reade there was a huge display that included a variety of allergy medications and the always necessary, tissues.

There was also a separate Claritin display, and a huge aisle of allergy relief products. In addition to allergy relief medications, there were also cough drops and saline solutions, really everything you could need to feel better.

On my way to pay, I also stopped and got some peppermint tea as I've recently heard it can help allergy sufferers, and I'm always up for trying a new solution.

Back home with my Duane Reade supplies, I'm ready to face allergy season and with Poncho weather service, at least I'll know I'll be as prepared as I can be for days with high pollen counts.

To stay up to date with all things Duane Reade join them on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias (#collectivebias) and its advertiser (#DRAllargy).

Munch Madness with deLish Snacks from Duane Reade!

We're big basketball fans at our house, especially my oldest daughter who plays in the town league (and also constantly in the house).

My husband follows college basketball pretty closely, although less so this year as his team won't be competing for the National Championship. But hey, winning the NIT is still something, uh right?

When I heard about a fun opportunity to put together Munch Madness snacks with deLish products from Duane Reade, I knew I could find something great for my basketball-loving family.

There really are a lot of deLish snack options to choose from at Duane Reade, whether you're looking for sweet, salty or even healthy. I had the color orange on my mind to fit in with the basketball theme, and got cheese from the refrigerated section of the store near the drinks and then headed over to the aisle marked grocery, snacks and peanuts that had just about anything you could want in the way of snacks.

I had seen a cute idea on Pinterest to turn fruit cups into basketballs, so I knew that would be part of my Munch Madness spread. I also grabbed a few more of my kids favorite snacks - pistachios, rice cakes, crackers and of course, cookies.

I was undecided on which cookies to get and then I saw these ones with a castle on them and thought perfect, I'll make it a riddle for them playing off the idea of a "King's court" and a "basketball court." Also not bad: they were on sale.

When I got home, I had a nice assortment to choose from to arrange our basketball snacks, including the addition of basketball clementines.

After I arranged our game day snacks on a serving tray, also turning the diced peaches into basketballs,

I started thinking these snacks would also make a really fun basketball-themed lunch, too. I added a cheese sandwich with basketball illustration, and wrote a shout-out to her pick to win the NCAA college basketball championship on the cheese stick.

I also included a riddle in her lunchbox, "What does a castle have in common with a basketball game? They both have a court!"

I think it turned out great, and my little basketball player loved it!

To get your own Munch Madness snacks from Duane Reade, visit a store near you. And stay up to date with all things Duane Reade on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias (#collectivebias) and its advertiser (#DRMunchMadness).

Do you know there's a Nickelodeon for moms? Check out NickMom! It's #MotherFunny!

Do you like to laugh? Of course you do, or you wouldn't be reading this - goodness knows you're not here for my crafting abilities or parenting advice. For some seriously funny stuff, check out NickMom. NickMom.com is a site from Nickelodeon that not only is full of laughs and hilarious insights into the life of a mom, but just like a magic eight-ball, it can tell you your personality just by what you drink.

Check out What Your Wine Choice Says About you from the always funny Nicole Leigh Shaw:

I will admit to being someone who picks her wine based on the label. In fact, I make a lot of my decisions for better or for worse on similarly superficial qualities.

Like decorating our Halloween pumpkin with glitter - because hello, glitter always looks awesome -- without really thinking through what would happen if it rained.

I found out what would happen is all the glitter would all wash off, and also that's why people usually carve their pumpkins.

I've also been concerned with getting really good last day of school photos of my school-age kids, that I didn't notice their little brother wasn't even wearing pants.

And then because everyone else makes taking a family portrait at the beach look easy, I thought I'd like to get a nice photo of my family, too. Because I care about appearances (there's that superficial thing again), I asked -- possibly forced -- my son to change, but I think he got the last laugh.

He's wearing the dress shirt as requested, but decided not to button it. And then he paired the shirt with his turtle pants because, and I quote, "they're really the best thing I own."

Indeed. Now where's that bottle of wine, you know the one with the gold unicorn on it?

And don't forget the NickMom.com website isn't the only place you can go for#MotherFunny humor - there's always lots of laughs on the NickMom Facebook page and Twitter feed, too!

Celebrate Halloween with DR Legwear from Duane Reade!

Regular readers know Halloween is a favorite topic here on my blog, and so I was beyond happy when Duane Reade asked me to share about their Boo-tiful Legs Contest and to visit Duane Reade to find some tights from their DR Hosiery and DR Legwear collections to add some flair to my Halloween costume.

This year, I'll be dressing-up as a witch for my Halloween costume when I take my kids trick-or-treating. I had the hat and the black dress for my witch-ness, but hadn't figured out my footwear or tights.

There are a ton of patterns to choose from in the Duane Reade tight department, from polka dots to fishnets. I went with chevron, which I thought would be fun to wear not only for Halloween, but for the rest of the other "regular" days of the year, too.

While my daughter Kay and I were shopping at Duane Reade we also checked out all the other Halloween offerings, there's tons of stuff for everything you want need from costumes to home décor.



When we got back home, I tried the tights and let my kids choose from my collection of black shoes the ones they deemed the most "witchy."

Also I should note that the tights could not be more comfy and the price is fantastic - $7.99. I'm so glad I had the chance find out about the DR line, because I will definitely be back to get some more.

I think the witch costume turned out perfectly, not to mention perfectly witchy.

 

All that's left to get ready for Halloween is to get a few lessons in scary from this witch:

 

Now tell me, what are you dressing-up as for Halloween this year?

Learn more about Duane Reade's Boo-tiful Legs Contest! From October 13 to November 3 upload a photo of your Leg Candy (Duane Reade branded legwear) for a chance to win an awesome prize.

Join the #DRLegCandy Twitter party this Wednesday, October 16, from 9-10pm EST to talk about Halloween as well as for the chance to win super prizes.

Catch-up with Duane Reade for the latest deals and new products on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Guess How Many People Follow Duane Reade on Twitter?

Do you know how many people follow Duane Reade on Twitter?

 

Wanna make a guess?

Do you think 10,000 people do?

Or 100,000?

How about 1,000,000? Or, precisely (as of this writing) 1,140,836. That's right, well over 1 MILLION people follow Duane Reade on Twitter.

In fact, Duane Reade went from 10,000 followers to over 1 million followers in just one year.

Duane Reade celebrated this amazing achievement last week, and I was honored to be part of the party which was a great time with wonderful people, and I even got my eyebrows shaped by a RAMY-trained consultant (Ramy himself pictured below). How many parties can you say that about?

 

 



I am also incredibly proud to be part of Duane Reade's VIP Blogger group, which was recognized for contributing to this incredible social media success story.

 In addition to being an example of smart and savvy social media use and of how to attract and retain followers by delivering quality content, it was inspiring and gratifying to hear Duane Reade talk during the celebration about the contributions of the VIP bloggers to the social media efforts overall, and towards reaching the million follower mark on Twitter. Duane Reade's VIP blogger program is a perfect example of how brands and bloggers can work together to do amazing things.

I'm so glad to have joined in the celebration for Duane Reade hitting the 1 million Twitter followers milestone.

Congratulations, Duane Reade. I can't wait to celebrate when you reach two million!

 

If you aren't one of Duane Reade's followers already, go join the million+ folks over at @DuaneReade on Twitter.

 

You can also follow the conversation on Twitter via the hashtags #cbias and #DR1MM.

 

To see other posts I've written about Duane Reade as part of the VIP Blogger program, click here.

Cottonelle Clean Routine

Before kids, I gave very little thought to my own bathroom habits and clean routine, let alone anyone else's clean routine.

 

Now that I have three kids, I not only feel like bathroom topics are the height of scintillating conversation, but I have the good fortune of spending a large portion of my day hanging out in the bathroom, mostly with my in-the-midst-of-potting training toddler son, with the hopes some magic will happen on the toilet. And of course, I am very interested in helping him to have a clean routine that works, because to be honest, I am counting the days  until my kids are all self-sufficient when it comes to going to the bathroom.

This is all why when I heard that Cottonelle had a new clean routine system at Target, I was completely interested in learning more. Cottonelle has flushable cleaning clothes, that come in an attractive and easy-to-use dispenser, which is just right for kids to be able to use by themselves.

We made a family trip to Target to check it out.

Because who doesn't like a family trip to Target?

Right now, at Target stores only, when you buy two 18-roll packs of Cottonelle you receive a free wet cloth dispenser - a totally great deal.

Target being Target, we bought the Cottonelle products we went there to get, and about 35 other things we may or may not have needed as well.

 Once we got home, I set-up the new Cottonelle dispenser in the bathroom and put away the toilet paper in our bathroom vanity.

I will admit to being happier than I probably should have been by seeing the nice stockpile of toilet paper that hopefully means at least a few weeks before I hear the children's cry of "mom, we're out of toilet paper!

As I mentioned my son is just starting to be a regular in the bathroom, and the Cottonelle Care Routine is a big help in getting him to be independent. He can easily use the dispenser on his own.

Now that my kids are using the bathroom mostly on their own, the next step is to get them to leave me alone when I'm in the bathroom -  a problem I know other moms can relate to, there's a reason that I Just Want to Pee Alone is the title of a humor anthology about motherhood!

Do you have tips for helping kids to use the bathroom by themselves, or for getting kids to let moms use the bathroom by themselves?

Find Cottonelle online at Cottonelle.com, @Cottonelle on Twitter, at /Cottonelle on Facebook, and via the hashtag #CottonelleRoutine. Learn more at Target about how you can receive a free Cottonelle dispenser with qualifying purchase.

For more photos from my shopping trip to Target and Cottonelle at home, check out my G+ Album.

Duane Reade "Happy & Healthy!" #cbias #DRHappyHealthy

It's no surprise to regular readers that I'm a big fan of the drugstore Duane Reade.

Even though I live in New Jersey, I love to shop at this New York City chain, and I'm looking forward to the day -- hopefully soon -- when there are more than just a handful of locations here in the Garden State.

I took the train from New Jersey into the Big City all by my lonesome, which is always a treat, to do some summer clothes shopping and to stop by Duane Reade.

I took a few minutes to check out on my phone which items were being featured, in the latest issue of  Duane Reade's Healthy & Happy newsletter, which is available both online and in stores.

The latest Happy & Healthy features lots of great deals and a very glam Fergie on its cover:

I immediately spotted a few Ology good deals, which has become one of my favorite brands since being introduced to the laundry detergent and fabric softener on a previous Duane Reade trip.

We had just run out of dish soap at our house, so I was glad to see that was one of the items on sale ($3.99 with card).

 

After a quick debate over whether I wanted fragrance free (my usual default), I chose a bottle of citrus scented liquid dish detergent with the feeling this may be my new go-to dish soap of choice.

I also picked up three bottles of seltzer (99 cents each) for the price of two which was a total score because my daughters and I drink seltzer like it's well uh water. Super-yummy orange and lemon flavored carbonated water.

Of course, I used my Balance Rewards card, and now I'm soooo close to my next 5,000 point award.

So with a nice collection of new summer clothes, as well as a stash of dish soap and seltzer, I headed back home to Jersey, another successful trip to Duane Reade and a great day in my favorite city.

And of course, immediately did the dishes, because that is my glamorous suburban life.

I've got lots more photos from my trip over in my Google+ Album, check them out here.

You can also learn more about Happy and Healthy by following the hashtag: #DRHappyHealthy on Twitter, as well as @DuaneReade on Twitter.

You can also find Duane Reade on Facebook and YouTube.

Get Healthy with Walgreens Steps with Balance Rewards #BalanceRewards #Cbias

It's finally spring, and that means it's almost summer.

Which also means I'm finally thinking about getting outdoors and getting healthy, walking more, and even getting back to counting my steps, which for a Type A gal like myself, nothing could be more thrilling than exercise that can be quantified.

I also like setting a daily goal for amount of steps walked, and seeing if I can meet it more often then I don't.

Walgreens has a great program - Steps with Balance Rewards - that gives you points for healthy behavior. You can sign-up here.

 I logged-on and started tracking my steps throughout the week, earning 20 points for every mile completed either by walking or running.

You can also receive 20 points daily for weighing-in, but that's not my usual routine so I decided to skip earning these points. However, I did try it one day and was happy to see my weight covered-up by a discrete row of xxx.

 

The points really do add up quickly, and as you can see below where I received 40 points for adding a motivational statement, and a total of 430 points in just a week of being in the Steps with Balance Rewards program.

 

I also set-up a daily goal for number of steps walked. I kept it low - 5,000 steps a day - so I could feel the joy of success - a quick peek around the Internet suggests I really should be walking closer to 10,000 steps daily. I also earned 250 points for adding a goal, which really helped the points start to add up quickly even though I had just gotten started with the program.

Steps with Balance Rewards is running Step Up to Win Daily Sweepstakes, with daily prizes through May 31, so be sure to enter for a chance to win great prizes. This week just some of the great prizes are a Walgreens gift card or a Fitbit Zip. In addition to teh daily instant win prizes, there is also a grand prize: a trip to The Biggest Loser resort of the winner's choice (Chicago, Ivins, UT, Malibu, Niagara, NY). You can read the official rules here.

In addition to logging my steps on the Walgreens site, I'm also planning to spend more time this spring in my garden, as gardening is a great way to get exercise. I went to Walgreens and purchased four seed packets - two for flowers and two for vegetables. I can't wait to plant them this weekend with my kids.

I'm looking forward to planting these with my kids, and adding tending our garden to the list of great outdoor activities we do this spring and summer.

I set my steps walking goal through June 1 (about six weeks) with the hopes of starting slowly and putting in a new and better goal come June. So 5,000 steps a day, get ready to step aside for 10,000 steps a day come June 1!

I'll be ready.

To learn more about Walgreens Steps with Balance Rewards, visit my Google+ Album. You can also find Walgreens on Facebook and Twitter, as well as read real stories by real people on AisleShare Fun.

I am  a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Walgreens. #balancerewards #cbias #socialfabric