The Shopping Mama

Quote the Walls Personalized Wall Decor Giveaway (Closed)

by Kate on September 10th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Uncategorized

Quote the Walls is an awesome website that offers personalized vinyl wall words and wall quotes and, best of all, for affordable prices.

About Quote the Walls
Our wall letters, words, phrases and quotes are made of semi-permanent vinyl material and can be used in place of artwork on the walls. The wall letters and words can be made to fit any size space on your wall. Use the letters horizontal, vertical or space them however you would like on the walls.

The Quote the Walls website is easy to navigate and offers a huge selection of quotes to personalize and decorate any room in your home. Once you find a quote you love, you can select the size, font (if applicable) and color. And, if by chance, you can’t find what you’re looking for Quote the Walls loves to do custom work. Quote the Walls vinyl wall words adhere to your wall quickly and without the hassle or complication – but with the personalized look – of a custom paint job. Simply position your wall quote on the wall, make sure it’s level with a ruler or level and then peel off the backing paper and you’re all set!

Of course, the first quotes I checked out were the nursery room decor. And, Quote the Walls has a great selection of super sweet quotes perfect for a baby’s (or big kid’s) room.

I am also in LOVE with the adorable, traditional and modern monogram wall decals. These are seriously perfect for a kid’s room or an entry way or a master bedroom. There’s so much variety you could probably find one for every room in your house!

There are also some great quotes to spice up the walls in your kitchen. I always have trouble decorating our kitchen for some reason and some of the wall quotes would be a perfect finishing touch.

Shop! Want to add a little something special to the walls in your house? Check out the amazing selection and competitive prices for vinyl wall decals at QuotetheWalls.com. Quotes startt for around $20 and monograms start around $16.

Win! A $50 gift certificate to Quote the Walls!

How to Enter: Visit Quote the Walls, take a look around and then leave a comment with a quote or wall decal you’d like if you win.

Bonus Entries:
* For TWO bonus entries, add the Holiday Gift Guide button to your blog
* Follow The Shopping Mama on Twitter and Tweet this: Win a $50 gift certificate to Quote the Walls vinyl wall art @TheShoppingMama http://bit.ly/183dUO
* For TEN bonus entries, blog about this giveaway including a link to www.theshoppingmama.com and www.quotethewalls.com
* Be a Shopping Buddy: a.k.a. Follow The Shopping Mama in Google Friends Connect
* Subscribe to The Shopping Mama in Email or in a Reader

The fine print: Please leave a valid email in the comments so that I can contact you if you win. If you prefer, you may email me directly with your contact information. Giveaway ends September 25.

Thursday Giveaway Linky

by Kate on September 10th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Uncategorized

Thanks for stopping by to link up your giveaway! The big giveaway news here at The Shopping Mama is the Bumbleride Indie Twin giveaway that starts on Monday. If you can spare some room on your sidebar, I would be totally stoked if you post the Bumbleride or Holiday Gift Guide button! Seriously, I’d owe you!

I am getting all packed and prepared for my trip to the ABC Kids Expo this weekend. (More on that later!) I can’t wait! So much to see, so little time.

Now, get your link on! And don’t forget to link up at Baby Loving Mama, too. Have a great week!

Test

by Kate on September 10th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Uncategorized

This is a test post from my iPhone. Getting prepared for the ABC Kids
Expo!

****
Kate
www.theshoppingmama.com
Sent from my iPhone

Holiday Gift Guide 2009 is Here!

by Kate on September 9th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Uncategorized

I’ve teamed up with three other bloggers (Tiff of Babes and Kids Review, Kate of Mom Trend and Shannon of Potamus Prefers) to create a comprehensive gift guide to help you with your holiday shopping this year. It’s an awesome resource, and, trust me, you’re going to LOVE it.

Between now and the holidays, the Holiday Gift Guide will be updated frequently with the best of the best gifts for babies, toddlers, kids and teens. The Holiday Gift Guide even has gift ideas for moms, dads and parents-to-be. The Gift Guide is easy to navigate - you can search by gift price or gift recipient.

HolidayGiftGuide2009.com should be your first (and only) stop for holiday shopping! We’ll help you find the best gifts for babies, kids and beyond.

Of course, I’d love your help to spread the word. Grab the button, send a tweet, tell a friend! I appreciate it!

Do you have a product or website that is perfect for holiday gift giving? You can Get Listed in the Holiday Gift Guide! For a small listing fee, we provide a targeted audience of consumers looking for the best gift options. Act fast and get in on our early shopping season discount.

Wordless Wednesday: A Warning

by Kate on September 9th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Uncategorized

Warning: This is what happens when you let your husband “trim” your son’s bangs. You end up with Dumb and Dumber haircut 2 weeks before the ultimate camera op – a family trip to Disney.

Warning: this is what happens when you take too many photos of your kid’s ridiculous haircut. He tries to get revenge!

I look forward to checking out your photos!

We’re Going to Disney!

by Kate on September 8th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Life

We’re packing up and driving to Walt Disney World for a family adventure – and we leave in less than 2 weeks! We’ve been planning this trip for so long that I can’t believe it’s finally here.

When we moved to Florida last year I knew we’d go to Disney at one point, and it makes sense for us to go now for a couple reasons. First, Disney is offering an AMAZING opportunity for military families – my husband gets a free 5-day pass and my mom (who is meeting us there) and I get a 5-day pass for only $99. Second, if we go before December my son and and daughter are both free. I know they won’t get nearly as much out of it as they would if we waited a couple years, but we aren’t paying for them so in my mind that makes it all better.

We also got totally lucky and scored an awesome deal on our hotel and opted for the meal plan. We’ll be staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter and eating like crazy. I am so excited! In the past couple days we’ve really started talking up the trip to Toddler Boy. He’s psyched to go to “Mickey Mouse’s House” and meet the characters. I’m not sure how excited he’ll be when he’s actually face to face because he is not a fan of large costumed folk. Either way it will make for some priceless photos.

I’ve made a few purchases for our Disney trip and so far this is my favorite! Could you just die from the cutest shirts ever? I got them at Sew Sweet Too on Etsy.

My mom has done the majority of the planning. Okay, all of the planning. And, thank god. She’s totally on top of everything and I know our trip will be great. But, because I haven’t been doing much research and organizing I feel kind of unprepared. At least my kids will be in cute Disney clothes.

I have some more to share about our trip and will definitely share photos and feedback when we get home, but in the meantime I’d love to hear about your Disney experiences. If you’ve been to Disney recently with young kids – what is one thing I need to know? Or, what’s one ride or event that’s not to be missed?

Baby Cachet Paperie & Design Giveaway

by Kate on September 8th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Uncategorized

Even for all the blogging and computer stuff I do, I am a paper girl at heart. I could spend hours admiring beautiful stationery – and there’s plenty of eye candy at Baby Cachet. From birth announcements to baby shower invitations to birthday invitations to thank you cards and much more, it’s easy to find something you love.

About Baby Cachet
For momentous events, we share your passion for finding that perfect way to spread your wonderful news and we’re here to help… Our unique collection of announcements are a reflection of our life-long love and professional training in graphic design, printing, photography, web design, painting, and of course, parenting.

Baby Cachet offers a huge selection of birth announcements. There’s just something about the perfect birth announcement that almost makes me want to have another kid just so I can send some beautiful stationery. From classic and simple to whimsical colorful to gender specific, here are a few of my favorites.

There’s also a great selection of cute, funky and/or elegant baby shower invitations. The invitation designs are a great jumping off point for planning and hosting a baby shower. A ritual every grown woman is bound to participate in at one point or another!

And, get this – Baby Cachet is the only stationery retailer that offers Direct Mailing Service. They will address, stamp and mail custom printed cards! Takes all the grunt work out of announcements and invitations, that’s for sure!

Shop! The Baby Cachet website is easy to navigate – you can search by occasion or designer (like Doc Milo and Anna Griffin). There’s a wide price range depending on whether you order blank cards or pre-printed.

Win! A $25 Gift Certificate to Baby Cachet: Paperie & Design.

How to Enter – mandatory entries – you may leave a comment for each:
1. Take a look around Baby Cachet and leave a comment with your favorite item.
2. Fan Baby Cachet on Facebook

Bonus Entries – only valid after you complete the mandatory entries.
* Blog about this giveaway including a link to www.babycachet.com and www.theshoppingmama.com. Leave 5 comments, including a link to your post. You can simply cut and paste this:
Enter to win a $25 gift certificate to Baby Cachet Paperie & Design: unique, modern and classic birth announcements and baby shower invitations. Enter at The Shopping Mama – giveaway ends September 23.
* Twitter! You may tweet once a day EVERY DAY. Leave a comment, including the link to your status update, every time you tweet. Tweet this:
Win a $25 gift certificate to @babycachet Paperie & Design – birth announcements, baby shower invitations and more! http://bit.ly/5rxYh
* Update your Facebook status with a link to this giveaway
* Give a shout out on your MySpace with a link to this giveaway
* Follow Baby Cachet on Twitter
* Follow The Shopping Mama
* Subscribe in a reader or email
* Add The Shopping Mama to your text blog roll

Fine Print: Please leave verifying information in your comment. Note that you must be able to provide a user name or link to verify any winning entry. Please leave a valid email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win. If you prefer, leave a comment and then send me an email. Contest ends 11:59 pm September 23. Winner will be chosen via random.org and has 48 hours to respond or the prize will be awarded during a live giveaway.

Bumbleride Indie Twin Stroller Review {Part 4: The Recap, Other Bumblerides and News}

by Kate on September 7th, 2009 | 5 Comments | Reviews, Strollers

This is the fourth and final post in the Bumbleride Indie Twin review series. I hope you have found them useful and that you’ve learned about this awesome stroller. If you have any questions about my experience with the Indie Twin, please leave a comment or email me!

Indie Twin vs. the Mall
We’ve done some neighborhood walking, off-road trail walking and even jogging with the Indie Twin, but on Sunday we put it through its paces at a mall. Not just any mall, folks, an enormous outlet mall in a beach town on a cloudy afternoon on Labor Day weekend. (I have NO idea why we thought this was a good idea. All we got from the afternoon was an .85 cent letter for our mantle from Restoration Hardware. Oh, and a new Bumbleride experience!) So, needless to say the mall was totally crowded with people who added a new challenge to the maneuvering required to get a double stroller through a clothing store.

I knew the Bumbleride would fit through the door of stores, but I was worried about whether we’d be able to fit through racks of clothes and goods at a mall. I was completely surprised by how well the Bumbleride strolled through packed stores. Was it as easy as pushing a single stroller? Of course not, but we honestly didn’t have any problems getting where we wanted to go. I don’t have any photos to prove my point (I’m not that crazy), but I do have a picture of the Bumbleride conquering the grocery store.

The Indie Twin Recap
Here’s a quick rundown of my favorite features and a few ways to improve.

To Buy… My favorite features
* A luxury side by side double with lots of bells and whistles and standard accessories
* Suitable for newborns and up to 90 pounds of kid – and it comes with the infant car seat adapter bar at no extra charge.
* Wheels are large and in charge – at 12″ the air inflated tires handle various terrains with ease.
* Front wheels rotate 360 degrees and lock inline for jogging
* Super stylish – I love how it looks and we get compliments all the time. It’s available in 5 great color combinations.
* Folds easily – Slight learning curve, but now that I’m used to it, it’s super quick and easy.
* Large storage basket – it’s easy to access and can hold quite a bit. I also like the small zip pockets on the back of the canopies.

Or Not to Buy… A couple areas of improvement.
* The Owner’s Manual needs some updating and clarification for both assembly and use with accessories like the jogging strap.
* I wish the harness pad between the legs was attached to the stroller.
* No place to store included air pump

Overall, the Bumbleride Indie Twin is amazing and we truly love it. At $660, it’s definitely an investment, but I think it’s worth the money. We use our double stroller nearly every single day and we will for the foreseeable future – you can’t say that about very many baby and kid items.

Other Bumblerides
If you aren’t in the market for a double stroller, you should check out some of the other Bumbleride strollers. The Indie – a single version of the Indie Twin – is a nimble 20 pound all terrain stroller. My favorite feature of the Flyer is that the handle bar easily rotates so that baby can face you or the world – this is not your average stroller! The final stroller in the Bumbleride family is the Queen B – a modern taken on a classic pram stroller.

Next time… An Indie Twin Giveaway!

That’s right – one lucky reader of The Shopping Mama will get an Indie Twin! It will be in a new post next Monday, but grab the button now so you don’t forget to come back and enter next week! The button will also earn you an extra chance to win.

Thank you to Bumbleride for providing a sample product for the purposes of this review. The opinions expressed in this review are mine and others may have a different experience.