In the Salt Lake area? Here's a great opportunity to help.

VOLUNTEERS! Help United Way of Salt Lake Stuff the Bus with school
supplies for 5,000 kids!

Salt Lake City – Join United Way of Salt Lake on Thursday, Sept. 8, to help stuff 5,000 backpacks with school supplies for low-income kids in our community.

What: Stuff the Bus Public Volunteer Project

Volunteers will work to:
• Stuff each backpack with pens, pencils, glue, paper, notebooks, rulers, crayons
and other generously donated school supplies
• Package stuffed backpacks into boxes
• Load backpacks onto school buses for delivery

When: United Way of Salt Lake’s Annual Day of Caring
September 8, 2011
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Where: The Gateway
18 North Rio Grande Street

Project will be set up outside in front of the Grand Hall (top of the stairs between Thaifoon and Urban Outfitters)

School buses will be parked on 400 West in front of The Depot

School buses will be on hand to be “stuffed” with backpacks and make deliveries to more than 15 area schools. If 500 volunteers participate, that’s only 10 backpacks per person. Come on community, our schoolchildren need you!

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United Way of Salt Lake works to improve lives and build strong communities by uniting individuals and organizations with the passion, expertise, and resources needed to solve problems. Our focus is on education, income, and health—the building blocks for a good quality of life. We invite everyone to be a part of the change. You can give, you can advocate, and you can volunteer. That’s what it means to LIVE UNITED. Join the conversation by visiting our blog at www.uwslhub.org or find out more at www.uw.org or www.211ut.org.
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I am going to try to make it to this. It's not hard work and it's a great opportunity to help out. Meet me there?

Teeth brushing and whatnot. Plus, a giveaway!

This was another one of those cool things I got to do recently that I have to thank the blogging world for. I got to ask questions to Dr. Jennifer Salzer, a widely renowned dentist, leading dental health expert and mother. (Thanks to MultiVu and Crest for the opportunity!) So, without further ado, here she is with the answers to my questions...



Getting Punk to brush her teeth is one of the hardest things we have to deal with, seriously. She's pretty much a great kid, but she doesn't brush her teeth unless I specifically tell her she needs to. It's weird for me because I love brushing my teeth. Yes, I'm strange, I know. After watching the video, we did get her a toothbrush just like the one at RealMom's house and little flosser things so it's easier to floss. Hopefully things start getting easier in the oral care division.

Now, want your chance to win your own dental health package? I need you to leave me a note and tell me your biggest struggle with oral care. That's all. But you need to do it by midnight MST on September 18th. I'll pick a winner shortly thereafter using random.org and will announce the winner right here on the blog. Easy peasy, yes?

And, I did get a really sweet dental care package from Crest for doing this. With all sorts of fun things in it, like toothpaste and toothbrushes for different ages, and flossers; it's pretty awesome. But you should know by now, my opinions are my own and are not influenced by free things. :)

Wordless Wednesday - my cat is a crackhead.

He gets in EVERYTHING. Shoe boxes (which he is much too big for), luggage, shipping boxes, laundry baskets... if it's enclosed and you take the top off, he will get in.

I have the coolest and sweetest and best cousin in the entire world.

You know those people who you envy? The ones who are crafty and fun and can do a 5k and also think about everyone else before themselves?

That's my cousin, Brandy. She is seriously so awesome, it blows my mind.

I won a giveaway on her blog, and as always, she sent me some of the greatest things ever. She's got a target on what's bouncing around up in my hollow head. Wanna see?

First of all, her wrapping is always so cute. It's half the fun of the package!



I bought a feather hair clip awhile back from her and still love it ridiculously, and she made me a longer one. This is going to be perfect for ponytails and doing my hair straight!



This is the package in all its glory...



And last but not even close to least, she sent me these...



Ohmigod. Finger monsters. FINGER MONSTERS! I promptly put them on and terrorized Satan. Then made Husband have a battle with me. Yah, I'm that mature.

Thank you, Brandy. Thank you! You astound me with your creativeness and your incredible heart. I heart you forever!

The coolest engagement photos ever. EVER.

I am not sure I could ever talk Husband into something like this, but oh boy would I try.

Zombie engagement pictures. Priceless. Just follow the link because I'm not posting any pictures here without her permission. :)

Skin MD - new bottle, same great lotion.

You guys may remember a long, long time ago, in a galaxy... wait, that's not my story. Quite awhile ago, I reviewed some lotion from Skin MD. You can check out the last review right here if you want.

Not too long ago, they contacted me to see if I wanted to review their lotion again. You see, they changed their look entirely and are also natural as well. Go green, right? Why should you use Skin MD for your skin care? Here's a look into the lotion, in words:

Skin MD Natural is a breakthrough in skin care that works to prevent dry skin in two ways.

First, it assists the inner layers of skin to absorb moisture. The humectant (an ingredient that attracts moisture) used in Skin MD Natural is unique to their lotion and has been laboratory tested to be 6 times more effective than any other ingredient you will find in common skin care products.

Second, a shielding lotion enhances the power of the top layer of the skin to resist environmental irritants while protecting the inner natural moisture.

This can be a big benefit for those who cook, wash dishes, garden, handle kids all day, etc. because Skin MD Natural helps skin retain its natural moisture and oils in the face of all those irritating soaps and chemicals.

Skin MD Natural has made a commitment to natural skin care by formulating products that contain more than 90% natural ingredients, are hypoallergenic, free of fragrances, parabens and colorants. All of the ingredients used in Skin MD Natural are 100% food-grade ingredients that are on the FDA's "most safe" list. Skin MD Natural brings you eco friendly skin care products that manufactured using solar power while also being vegan and cruelty free.

You can find lotion to purchase, as well as more information (such as dermatologist and user reviews) on their site.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love this lotion. You only have to use a tiny bit and it's moisturizing without being greasy. I use it on my face and that's saying something; I rarely use moisturizers on my face because it's got plenty of its own moisture. This lotion makes my skin feel good without making me shiny later. Plus, I use the one with SPF15 in it, so I'm protecting my face from the sun as well as keeping it happy. Win win.

I recommend it, definitely. If you've got eczema or other skin conditions, give it a go. It will work wonders for you. Oh, and the legal garbage - I got free lotion for posting about Skin MD Natural. But the opinions here are all my own and are not affected by free lotion. It just rocks all by itself.

Announcing... the ice cream winner!

The winner of the Bunny Bucks from Blue Bunny is...

Here are your random numbers:
4
Timestamp: 2011-08-18 15:49:05 UTC

jakell

Congrats my dear! I'll e-mail you and you have to get back to me in the next 48 hours or I have to pick a new winner.

Thanks to everyone that entered!

Wordless Wednesday - the 'I'm allergic to everything' edition.

click on it to make it bigger.

it's a mosquito bite. after two days. only about 50% of the bites I get end up doing this, but nothing any doctor has tried has made it any better. one was convinced it's because i'm itching them and causing infection but after two different antibiotics and no change, he changed his mind. i've tried benadryl and it just knocks me out. i've tried benadryl cream and while it does take the itch away, the swelling still happens. i'm open to any ideas at this point because i'm tired of them! my arm hurts where this one is so it's really awesome to bend my arm. ugh.

Mandoline? What's a mandoline?

This, my friends, is a mandoline:

I would guess that most people have heard of Frigidaire, yes? But, did you know they have a whole lot more going on than just fridges? If you head on over to the Frigidaire online store, you'll see a lot more than fridges - cleaning supplies, kitchen gadges, grill covers, even air conditioner parts! Wow, eh?

So, back to the mandoline thing. I was contacted by Frigidaire to see if I aws interested in reviewing something from their store. And I was all like, heck yes! Okay, sorry, probably not so much like that, but I was in. They sent me over a $30 gift code to use and after much browsing I decided to get the mandoline. I've wanted one since I was little and that dude on TV made crinkle fries.

I got the order very quickly. I did have a problem with the order, but I contacted them and they were super fast and took complete care of me! It seems like customer service nowadays is out the window but not with Frigidaire; they really went the extra mile to make sure I was happy. Shipping = great! Customer service = great! Now, for that mandoline...

I really love it. It took me a second to get used to but once I figured out how to work the thing (seriously just me being a little difficult) it is sweet! It took me all of three seconds to cut this entire cucumber down to slices. See?

A plate full of cucumbers ready for me to chow on. And, as you can also see in that picture, everything folds out so clean-up is really super easy. The blade also comes out so you can toss that in the dishwasher to use again.

I would absolutely recommend Frigidaire as a good place to purchase from. It was easy and I was treated well. Plus, my mandoline is freaking sweet!

Legal mumbo jumbo: I received a $30 gift code to use on whatever I wanted. I did have to pay a little out of pocket for shipping, actually, but I was fine with that. The gift code did not influence my liking of Frigidaire or the mandoline; they are both just great on their own.