Deals and Specials Archives - Page 3 of 5

May 05 2012

Review: Brookstone’s Tranquil Moments Travel Sleep Machine

Do you ever travel some place and have problems falling asleep? I do. New environment, new bed, new sounds – all these elements contribute to delayed sleep for me. My boys too. Sometimes I’ll use a soothing sounds CD to rest. I was happy to try out Brookstone’s top-rated sound therapy machine, the Tranquil Moments, when I read that the sleep sounds in the machine are clinically proven to help you sleep better.

So…I’ve been using the travel size of Brookstone’s Tranquil Moments Alarm Clock Sound Therapy Machine nightly for the past 2 weeks and I gotta say I love it. And so do my boys. My 8 year-old hijacked it from my room on repeat occasions, proclaiming that he “needs” it now to fall asleep. Oh-kaayy. I asked him “what have you been doing for the past 8 years to go to sleep? No answer. He did say that he likes the “Ocean Surf” setting. My 4 year-old on the other hand has chronic I’m-gonna-wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-dance issues. So far he seems to like the “Celestial” sound setting whereas my favorite is “Summer Night”.

Other features of the Tranquil Moments sound therapy machine include:

a full function alarm clock with dual alarm settings
a built-in calendar
30, 60, 90-minute auto shut-off
Records and plays a 15-second voice memo

For every Tranquil Moments purchased from now until May 31,2012, Brookstone will donate $5 towards Save the Children’s Mom’s The Word! Campaign. Perfect for the traveling mom in your life. You can also try your hand at winning one of the Tranquil Moments Sleep Machines in our Mother’s Day giveaway. Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter below and you’re done! Winner will be announced on Thursday.

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED..CONTEST WIDGET REMOVED.

May 03 2012

Omni Hotels Offers Girlfriends their Reminisce Getaway Package

Have you been meaning to get away for some much needed down-time? Well, just in time for Mother’s Day (or any other day until September 2013, because really, who needs an excuse?) Omni Hotels and Resorts is offering The ‘Reminisce’ Girlfriend’s Getaway package.

When you book your stay and bring a dress to donate to Donate My Dress, you’ll receive two $50 Bloomingdale’s gift cards per room. Omni will also give you ideas on where to shop in the area. It’s a great opportunity to reminisce, relax and retreat while doing a little donating and shopping at the same time. Here are further Package details:

Deluxe accommodations
Concierge pre-call to assist with special requests
Welcome amenity
Bring in a gently used cocktail dress to donate. Drop boxes will be located at the front desk
Two $50 gift cards to Bloomingdales to use online or any store location
Destination Shopping Guide
Turndown service
Package prices depend on availability

Donate My Dress is a national organization that encourages girls and women to donate gently used prom and cocktail dresses to others who need them. Do you have a few sitting around in your closet like I do? And since I won’t be needing them for a cruise any time soon, here’s a chance for someone else to be blessed. Love!

For more information, visit Omni Hotels online at www.omnihotels.com.

*Photo credit: Omni Hotels.

Mar 26 2012

Parrot Minikit+ Hands-free Device Review & Giveaway

On average, I spend 260 minutes a day in my car, dropping my boys off to school and therapy. Add running errands to the mix, and I’m easily spending over 5 hours a day behind a wheel. Some of that time is spent sitting and waiting. However, 67% of it is spent actually driving. This is a huge chunk of my day. As an entrepreneur, avid texter, and social media addict, I’ll admit that I’ve picked up some bad habits along the way. Thank goodness, the marketers at Parrot found me. Their Parrot Minikit+ hands-free kit is literally saving my life.

Parrot_Minikit_insitu_15 — Parrot MiniKit+ sits in your visor.

Let me admit this: I love gadgets. So, in the rare case that I agree to review one, the geek in me gets super excited. My first thought when I read the users manual for the Parrot Minikit+ was that this is something that I’ve been mentally asking for. I know that I have poor behind-the-wheel habits, such as talking on my cell while driving, texting, scanning emails, and even tweeting. There you have it, all my dirty sins on the table. But daily, I’ve been working on changing that behavior and I’ve been improving.

The Parrot Minikit+ does everything for me. It’s a Bluetooth device that connects and syncs with my cell phone. It has the capability to connect two phones simultaneously but I’m not sure that I want to share this particular toy with my husband. Here are all the things I can do with the Parrot Minikit+:

I can use voice recognition to call a contact
Manage all incoming calls by voice using standard commands
Listen to my Android’s driving directions
Through a separate TextFriendly fee-based service, I can listen to/compose/delete/reply/forward emails
Compose/Read text messages
Update my Twitter and Facebook statuses
….all by VOICE!

Short and sweet, the technology is awesome! The device attaches to my visor and I talk normally into it to activate any of the commands. It’s user-friendly and once you sync your phone book you won’t have to worry about any annoying ear piece or painful crook-in-the-neck from cradling your phone while you drive. If you opt in for the TextFriendly service, you’ve raised the ante to hands-free communications about 10 notches.

My husband (the same person I don’t want to share my new toy with), has been my guinea pig all week as I’ve tested out the Parrot Minikit+. I’ve sent him emails, text messages, and dialed him, all by voice command. Surprisingly, there were no errors. The automated voice that comes over the Parrot ,when you activate it to make a call, asks in a refined English accent, “Who do you want to call?” Sometimes, the system gets it wrong with names that aren’t as phonetically simple as Charles, Tracey, Kala, and Mommy – the people that I call the most. So, I either have to figure out how the system might read the name in my phone book and pronounce it that way or quickly find it directly in my phone, press “Call”, and proceed using the device. When the Bluetooth of your phone is connected, the call automatically transfers to the device.

There’s so much more I can say about the Parrot MiniKit+ but the one thing I want to highlight is that this is the perfect device for us moms on the go, whether we’re chauffeuring our children for hours on end or conducting business on the road. This is one of those gadgets, we shouldn’t live without. And guess what? I’m giving one away! Whoo hoo! Follow the Rafflecopter instructions below and you’ll have a chance to win a Parrot MiniKit+ for yourself. This is worth saying again – it’s pretty awesome!

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED – CONTEST WIDGET REMOVED

* I received a Parrot Minikit+ to review but was not compensated for this post. All opinions expressed here within are my own.

[Photos courtesy of Parrot Inc.]

Mar 08 2012

Passport Day 2012

This Saturday, March 10th is Passport Day in the U.S. Do you have a passport? Do you need to get yours renewed? Putting it off because of the hassle of coordinating an appointment with the Post Office or your local passport agency?

Well, if you’re in the market for a new or renewed passport, you can join the State Department on Saturday for Passport Day at a regional passport agency without an appointment!

Those of you who’ve ever tried to schedule a last minute appointment for a passport at one of these agencies, knows just how valuable it is to be able to walk into one without a scheduled appointment. If you don’t, you can check out my escapade here and here. I had to write about it AND vlog about it, the process was so “fun”.

I’m extra excited about Saturday because the Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs extended an invitation to some travel bloggers to take a behind-the-scenes look at the process. Thanks to the coordination of my girl Tracey Friley of the Passport Party Project (she’s the woman, by the way), I’ll be “behind the glass” of the D.C. Regional Passport Agency, where I got my family’s passports processed last summer. And my 8 year old is coming along for the ride!

I have some burning questions on my mind, like, “Why does it take so long?” and a few others that I’m hoping they’ll answer for me. Do you have any questions that you want me to ask for you?

I’ll be sure to come back and post about what I learn and the experience. If you don’t have your passport, go out there and get one on Saturday. This happens only one day a year, so take advantage of it.

Happy Travels!

Jan 19 2012

MOO Business Card Contest

CONGRATULATIONS TO CARRIE, NANCY, AND CHUCK FOR WINNING THE MOO BUSINESS CARD CONTEST! Thank you to everyone who entered.

We’re VERY excited to have the guys at MOO provide 3 sets of 100 MOO business cards for three of our readers* in an exclusive contest! If you’re not aware of MOO, they just love to print – whether it’s unique business cards, MiniCards, Postcards, Greeting cards, StickerBooks and much more!

MOO’s own unique ‘printfinity’ technology allows you to place a different image or design on each card in a set to make each of your business cards really stand out.

More About MOO

MOO was born out of a love of beautiful, high-quality print and design. They make creating beautiful and unique business cards, PostCards and MiniCards easy!

You can choose from a range of business card templates and designs for your cards and personalize them with your own details, or upload your own images or artwork to create truly unique cards.

The Prizes

3 sets of 100 MOO Business Cards for 3 lucky readers!

How to Enter

To be in with a chance of winning one of the 3 sets of 100 Business cards – all you have to do is post a comment below and tell us one way you would make your cards stand out from the rest of the crowd.

We are looking for fun, creative and unique answers :).

Contest runs from 11:05pm EST January 20, 2012 – February 3, 2012 11:59pm EST.

Winners will be chosen by MOO from the comments below! Please enter a valid email address so that we can contact you if you win!

{Update: This post contains an affiliate link.}

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