Do you have a Giveaway going on?   Feel free to join in on the party!

Share with us your Fabulous Giveaways and enter a few while you’re at it.   Be sure to come back next Thursday, same time same place.      

Feel free to leave me a comment or hit the little Retweet button so that others would be able to join in on the Party!

Cheers!

Check out my current Giveaways!!!

SleepJoy Memory Foam Mattress Topper ends 9/10.

PowerMat Charging System ends 9/9.

With the 2010 Holiday Season only a few months away, Cocktails With Mom is taking submissions for our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. This year we will be putting together yet another successful Guide and will be featuring some of the hottest electronics to the coolest toys and MORE! There will be gifts for everyone in the entire family. We are also doing things a bit different this year where our Gift Guide will be cross promoted on other blogs which means even more exposure.

Do you have a product you’d like featured in the Cocktails With Mom 2010 Holiday Gift Guide?

If so, please fill out the contact form below or contact me directly at dee (at) cocktailswithmom (dot) com. You may also offer a reader giveaway that will be scheduled between November 1st and December 15th, 2010. A non-returnable product is required to be featured in the Gift Guide.

We look forward to reviewing you submissions.
Cheers,

Dee

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This recipe rocks! I came up with this super tasty dish (taking a little bit from different recipes I have seen or tried) and am shocked at how good it really was. I cooked this over at my parents house and my Mom actually took the pictures, in case you are wondering why they are so much better than normal! She needed some food pictures and I figured the best way was to just drag my stuff over to their house and whip something up. It was fun and delicious! This recipe is very good and I think my favorite part about it is that it isn’t overwhelming. It kind of seems like it could be too creamy and overpowering, but it is just right. Try it out, let me know if you agree!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound penne
• Olive Oil
• 1 pound shrimp, preeled and deveined
• 4 cloves (or more!) garlic, minced
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 can (about 15 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup parmesan, grated

Don’t let this ingredient list intimidate you! It’s mainly the liquid, which I have changed a couple times to get just right. It’s a weird combination of things, I know, but it works so great. Also, you could easily substitute dried herbs for the fresh, it just has a bit more pizzaz with the fresh ones. If you do use dried herbs, rub it between your fingers before putting it in the dish – this helps bring out the herbs flavor.

This recipe is fairly simple. Cook your pasta a bit al dente according to the package directions. Drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add a bit of oil and then toss in your shrimp, garlic and a dash of salt and pepper. Remember, you can always add to, but you can’t take out! I’d suggest no more than 1/2 teaspoon of either. Cook your shrimp until they are pink, which will take a varying amount of time depending on the size of your shrimp.

Take a spoon and remove the shrimp. Set them aside. In the same pan, add the tomatoes and 1/4 cup of each herb. Cook just long enough to heat it through, stirring constantly. Next, add in your liquids. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce your heat to medium-low and simmer til the sauce thickens. Mine took about 10 minutes to thicken nicely. Now you want to add in your parmesan, shrimp, cooked pasta and the remaining herbs.

Toss everything together and viola!

Feel free to top your dish with some extra parmesan… more cheese never hurt right?

This penne with shrimp and herbs is totally delicious. It’s just creamy enough without breaking your belly bank! My family loved this recipe and I hope you do too.

With 6 kiddos keeping me on my toes all day long I usually end up having to shower before bed but I hate going to bed with a wet head, so I have to blow dry my hair before getting in bed. My hair is really long, down to my rear to be exact, which means I am usually drying it for a really long time and my old hair dryer was loud and pretty heavy to hold, which meant I have to shower then say a little prayer that the noise of my hair dryer doesn’t wake the children. Then I was sent a pretty awesome gadget to review and now my worry is gone as well as my aching wrist. Meet the super sleek/super chic *new* Conair Infiniti Pro hair dryer!

Infiniti Pro Features:
*Removable filter
*Ergonomically designed
*True cold shot
*Durable Rocker Switches
*Hang ring
*No slip bumpers
*Long line cord
*2 concentrator attachments
*1875 watts
*4 year warranty
*Lightweight 2.53 lbs.

The Infiniti Pro Dryer is much quieter and dries my mop of hair in literally half the time my old dryer did!.  There is also a truly unique feature I have never seen before, it’s pretty ingenious if you ask me…. a removable filter! All of the hair dryers I have owned get backed up with lint so I would use tweezers to dig the lint out until it finally croaked on me. This cool new feature will keep the blow dryer running smoothly and longer than other dryers.

Another great feature is the blue cold button, my old dryer had a cool shot button but it wasn’t really cool air that came out, this feature really blows out cold air!

The Infiniti  Pro by Conair retails for around $38.99 and is available at most mass retailers. For more information or to find a location closest to you visit http://www.conair.com/

Win It!

One Lucky reader will win a Conair Infiniti Pro to enjoy!

Mandatory Entry!

Go to Conair and tell me what other product catches your eye that you would like to try and why you want to win.

Extra Entries!

• Subscribe to Cocktails With Mom via email or RSS feed
• Follow me on Google Friend Connect (on the right sidebar)
• Like Cocktails With Mom on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway then leave me the link! ( 5 entries)
• Add our text link or button to your blogroll (5 entries)
• Enter one of my other giveaways and leave a comment telling me which one you entered! (1 entry)
• Follow Cocktails With Mom  and @Conair_hair on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway! ( once Daily)

I want to win a Conair Infiniti Pro hair dryer from @momcocktails http://tinyurl.com/2cbozvk  open to US Only!

STOP!

You MUST leave your email address in one of the comments or have it in your profile so I can get in touch with you.

Contest ends,September 13, 2010 at 11:59pm CST. Winner will be chosen via Random.org. Winner has 48 hours to respond to my notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. Open to US

Thanks to Conair for providing me with the totally awesome Infinit Pro hair dryer for the purpose of this review. All opinions are of my own and I was not compensated in any way.   

Back to school marks a time when parents and children, alike are excited about getting back on track and in the swing of a daily schedule. Oftentimes, children love the idea of picking out new school supplies and clothes for the year ahead, but what about their health? As parents, it’s our job to guide our children into making the right decisions and to learn that health and well-being are a priority that top the list. Getting an annual eye exam, in addition to a yearly doctor’s check up, is top priority in my household, especially, since I have issues with my vision. Twenty-five percent of children have vision problems that could impact their learning, and 80 percent of everything a child learns in his first 12 years comes through his eyes.  If corrective lenses are needed, select lighter, stronger and safer lenses such as Airwear®. The lenses are made using eco-friendly practices; 100 percent of the production waste from Airwear® lenses is recycled, greatly reducing the environmental footprint put forth by the manufacturing process. Airwear® lenses are the first Essilor lenses to GO GREEN.

As a parent, I appreciate that their lenses are tough and durable- so tough that NASA uses the same material to construct visors for astronauts. Airwear® lenses from Essilor are 43 percent lighter and 25 percent thinner than regular lenses, and 12 times more impact-resistant than standard plastic lenses.  Kids are active, so select lenses as active as they are; Essilor Junior lenses, which are made of Airwear® material, are specifically designed for kids and resist scratches and smudges and are easy to clean.  A quality parents can appreciate!
 
Twelve to 15 million people annually develop blindness from cataracts –and about 20 percent of those cases may be caused or compounded by sun exposure. Airwear® lenses provide 100 percent protection from harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Airwear And I are hosting a contest! If you’re a parent, we would love to hear your thoughts on how you envision keeping your child safer, healthier and more successful this school year.  Share your thoughts (in 250 words or less) by entering Airwear’s Lighter Safer Greener contest by visiting www.LighterSaferGreener.com.

One grand prize entrant will win $1,000, while 10 first prize entrants will win Airwear® lens vouchers valued up to $400.

Beth Aldrich is a Certified Healthy Lifestyle-Green Living Expert, Author and mother of three sons living in Chicago; visit her book’s blog/website at http://www.RealMomsLoveToEat.com.

Notice anything different?

Thanks to Stephanie over at La De Daa Designs I got myself a makeover!   Steph did a great job! I couldn’t be happier.  She is absoltley wonderful and her work speaks for itself.  Steph’s also a great blogger too and you can find her at Mommy’s Quiet Time doing her thing.

We still have a few tweaks to do here and there but I couldn’t wait much longer to share with you the new look. So if you’re in the market for a new blog design you should definitely head over to La De Daa Designs  to see what she can do for you. 

So what do you think?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Do you have a Giveaway going on?   Feel free to join in on the party!

Share with us your Fabulous Giveaways and enter a few while you’re at it.   Be sure to come back next Thursday, same time same place.      

Feel free to leave me a comment or hit the little Retweet button so that others would be able to join in on the Party!

Cheers!

Check out my current Giveaways!!!

SleepJoy Memory Foam Mattress Topper ends 9/10.

PowerMat Charging System ends 9/9.

HomeRight Painting Supplies ends 8/29.

SportBrella Canopy ends 8/29.

I recently had the opportunity to review a shirt from Blue Platypus.

About Blue Platypus…

Our company, Blue Platypus, was conceived in November, 2003. It has 3 main people: Heidi (President and designer), Scooter (vice president and assistant designer), and Big Dave, the financial wizard. We are based in sunny South Pasadena, California.

We are mid-century modernists at heart, although we find inspiration in various places. Our biggest inspiration is probably vintage furniture and clothing (mostly 1920s to 1970s). Furniture by Ray and Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Heywood Wakefield heads up our list. Other inspirations include paintings by Shag and architecture by Frank Gehry.

Prints, patterns, and colors from different eras play a huge role in our designs. Clean geometric as well as fluid organic shapes, e.g. silhouettes of heads, are featured in our designs. We believe that the juxtaposition of diverse elements in surprising ways is essential to the evolution of design. We create surface interest and create a cornucopia of flavors.. We also like to have prints that are interesting from afar, and surprising when scrutinized closely.

Our biggest inspirations in current fashion are the prints and clever trims used by designers like Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs as well as the prints on bags by Angela Adams and Transversion Airlines. Companies such as Stussy and Penguin are more favorites.

One last note: in our line, we want images to speak for themselves, so we try to limit the words. Occasionally we have a word-oriented design, but we strive to create images that are strong on their own. We try to avoid generic sayings and words, and use letters as visual elements as well as meaning. We do name each of our lines, and many designs feature on the back or sleeve as well as the front, to create 360-degree interest.

I immediately fell in love with the Vine Floral Mahogany shirt.

About the shirt…

This extra-long mahogany tee features a beautiful discharged design of a flowering vine. Snug-fitting through the hips, this shirt looks fantastic with an oversized belt. Contemporary sized, but it does fit a bit tighter than other Blue Platypus silhouettes, so if you want it to fit more loosely, order a size up! It is longer than it appears in the picture, will definitely cover the hips.
Mahogany.
XS, S, M, L, XL.

How gorgeous is that?

I was not disappointed when the shirt arrived.  It was just as pretty out of the box as it was on screen.  This shirt should have a warning label… Warning- May Induce Envy!

This shirt is extra-long and the bottom hem landed just below my hips.  It is lightweight and very breathable.  Perfect shirt for a hot day, or to be layered with a shirt over it for a cooler day.

The shirt was a bit snug on me, which is entirely my OWN fault (I did not pay close enough attention to the sizing information on the listing).  I ordered an XL.  According to the site, the XL fits a size 10.  I am NOT a size 10.  LOL.

The sizing chart on Blue Platypus is

• XS fits 0-2
• S fits 4 (comfy) or 6 (snug)
• M fits 6-8
• L fits 8-10
• XL fits size 10

Must be UK sizing, because US sizing is M 10/12,  L 12/14,  and  XL 14/16.

However, I love this shirt so much, that I might just hang it up with my skinny jeans and use it as my motivation to lose weight.

Blue Platypus has a great selection of funky fresh tees to spruce up your wardrobe.  Just be sure to actually read the sizing information contained in the listings.

And they currently have a super clearance sale on their summer items!

These little cupcakes rocked! It’s like a chocolate chip cookie in cake form – and speaking of which, you could easily turn this recipe into a cake! It’s nothing fancy, just a delicious dessert made from scratch! I always love making baked goods from scratch; you really just need an awesome mixer. Luckily, I have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and it serves me well. I did make a frosting from scratch, but as you can see in the pictures, it didn’t really ‘stand up’! It was more like a chocolate glaze, so I’ll leave that part out. If you want a great frosting recipe from scratch to top these babies off, you should check out the Perfect Chocolate Frosting at the bottom of the page for this Perfect Chocolate Cake Recipe from Hershey’s!

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup (or 2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips of your choice!

I think this recipe would be great to try with different types of chips – white chocolate, peanut butter or some of the swirl varieties. It’s a simple cupcake recipe so it molds well!

Preheat your oven to 375° and get your muffin tins ready. This recipe will make 24 cupcakes, so you can either grease your tins or get some muffin cups ready. Now, when it comes to baking, I absolutely hate mixing the dry ingredients separate and then adding them to the wet ingredients. I know it’s better if you do that, but it seems like I am dirtying a bowl for no good reason. If you like to mix your dry ingredients separate, do so for sure! I just toss them all in so that’s the way I will describe it.

Alright! So now you want to beat your sugar, butter and vanilla extract until it’s creamy. Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating in between egg additions. Now, gradually beat in your dry ingredients and the milk. Take turns… for instance, little bit of flour, little bit of milk and so on. You just want to make sure they are mixed well. Once everything looks pretty, add in your chocolate chips. You could easily add more or less, it’s up to you! If you are using the tiny chocolate chips, like I did, you can save some to toss on your frosting. It looks super cool that way!

Pour your awesome mix into your prepared muffin tins and bake for about 18 minutes. (Side note! Don’t overfill your cupcakes like I do! I have some addiction here and I like making them massive. Also, don’t open the oven while they are baking! Helpful tips!) The best way I have learned to judge cupcakes is to poke em. That’s right, poke em! If they spring back, they are ready. Now don’t plow your finger in em, just poke em gently like you would the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

Remove these beautiful chocolate chip cupcakes and let them cook. Once they are completely cooled, top them with your frosting and any chocolate chips if you’d like. Delicious!

Getting a good night’s sleep is very important to me.  In fact it is important for all of us moms.  When I get a good nights sleep, my days usually get off to a great start.   I’m ready to take on the world!  I’m bright eyed and bushy tailed!  But does it always happen that way?  NOPE. 

Some mornings, I have to literally roll myself out of bed to get going.   I always thought a good night’s sleep = a well rested body.  Well that may be true, but why are there times I wake up feeling tired and fatigued?   I never really knew the answer to the question until just recently I learned that it could be my mattress that’s making the difference in how well I sleep at night.  Its true- and it’s all starting to make sense.

For the longest time, I’ve complained about not sleeping well and waking up the next morning feeling as if I only had a few hours of sleep.  Just  drained, tired and sluggish.  There may of course be other factors but I’m starting to think my mattress is playing the bigger role. It’s old; it’s lumpy, and quite uncomfortable.  I’ve tried mattress toppers in the past but they deemed to be a waste of money.   My best bet would probaly be to get a new mattress, but to be honest, it’s just not in my budget at the moment which is why I pleased hearing from SleepJoy offering me to test out one of their toppers.

I was sent their 3″ Caress Top ViscoFresh enhanced Memory Foam Mattress Topper for review.    I’ve heard about the memory foam matress toppers but I wasn’t so sure if it was right for me.   I’ve heard that they have a tendency to get you hot at night and that is not good for me or my husband.  We need to stay cool while sleeping but my worries were put to ease because it also comes with a 300tc cover that keeps you cool while you sleep.  With that in mind, I was willing to give it a try.

It’s been about a month now that I have used the 3″ Caress Top ViscoFresh and I am very pleased.  The 3″ topper is quite comfortable and very eco-friendly made from plant based materials.  It is also hypoallergenic and microbial which is also a plus. 

My nights are so much better now, I almost feel like I have a new mattress and the Topper has made my bed feel ULTRA comfortable.  Having the topper has really made a huge difference in how I feel the next morning.  Before the topper I would wake up feeling tired and fatigued, now I feel freshed and vibrant.   Thanks SleepJoy, this has really made a difference.

I would definitely recommend the Sleep Joy mattress topper.  It would help you sleep a whole lot better.    SleepJoy also has a variety of other products available such as memory foam pillows and memory foam mattresses.  If you would like to get more information on other available products and to learn more visit the site at  sleepjoy.com.  You’d be glad you did.

SleepJoy wants you to get the good night’s sleep you deserve.  They are offering one of my readers an opportunity to win a memory foam mattress topper for themselves.   Now I know we are promoting a good’s nite sleep but if that just woke you up, read more…..

Win It!

One Lucky reader will win a SleepJoy Caress Top ViscoFresh enhanced Memory Foam Mattress Topper to enjoy!

Mandatory Entry!

Go to SleepJoy and tell me what other product catches your eye that you would like to try and why you want to win.

Extra Entries!

• Subscribe to Cocktails With Mom via email or RSS feed
• Follow me on Google Friend Connect (on the right sidebar)
• Like Cocktails With Mom on Facebook
• “Like” SleepJoy on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway then leave me the link! ( 5 entries)
• Add our text link or button to your blogroll (5 entries)
• Enter one of my other giveaways and leave a comment telling me which one you entered! (1 entry)
• Follow Cocktails With Mom  and @sleepjoy on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway! ( once Daily)

I deserve a good nites sleep. I want to win a 3″ Caress Top ViscoFresh Memory Foam Mattress Topper from @sleepjoy @momcocktails http://bit.ly/9YCsy0  open to US/Canada!

STOP!

You MUST leave your email address in one of the comments or have it in your profile so I can get in touch with you.

Contest ends,September 10, 2010 at 11:59pm CST. Winner will be chosen via Random.org. Winner has 48 hours to respond to my notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. Open to US/CANADA

Thanks to Sleep Joy for providing me with a fabulous 3″ Caress Top ViscoFresh Memory Foam Mattress Topper for the purpose of this review. All opinions are of my own and I was not compensated in any way.