Gifts for Mom & Baby: Gaga for Mama Babywear ::CLOSED

Gifts can be so universal and interchangeable, who says "rules" have to be set for gifts, the way they are given and the way they are received. I personally enjoy gifts that can be given to multiple people which is why I want to share with you Gaga for Mama Babywear for babes and their mothers.

“Thank you, Mom.”

Have you ever wished that your baby could tell you just how much he or she appreciates everything that you do? Your wish has just come true with Gaga for Mama babywear!

“Thank you” is such a simple, yet powerful phrase. And, I bet you would agree with me when I say that as mothers we sure don’t hear it as often as we would like. Well, now you can! Gaga for Mama baby-wear features high quality bodysuits, printed with inspiring sayings, that will make you feel appreciated and loved every day. They also offer coordinating pants, bibs, and sun hats to make a complete outfit for your baby.

The Gaga for Mama baby-wear line is sold at http://www.DoubleUpBooks.com. Double Up Books is the only bookstore that specializes in books for and about twins, triplets, and multiples for parents and children. Double Up Books will be giving away 2 Gaga for Mama bodysuits to 1 lucky winner. [DoubleUpBooks.com, 2009] *The Five Fish did not receive any products in conjunction with this giveaway.

MANDATORY ENTRY:
Visit the babywear store within Double Up Books by going to http://bit.ly/3aXL7 and tell me which 2 bodysuits you would like if you were the winner (please include size and color info).

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow Double Up Books on Twitter and tell me you do
• Sign up for the mailing list for awesome money saving deals, new arrivals and MORE!
• Follow my blog, or tell me you do
• Follow me on Twitter, or tell me you already do
• Tweet this giveaway (daily RT's available)-  I'm going Gaga for Mama with @DoubleUpBooks & @KariewithaK http://tiny.cc/RFnJz
  
• Fan The Fish on Facebook, (widget to the right)

CONTEST ENDS  DECEMBER 10TH 

@ 11:59 ARIZONA TIME

Best of luck!

*Five Fish always blog ethically and with transparency. Click HERE!

Merry Thanksgiving Winners

I am so late and behind on posting these so I wanted to wish you a Merry Thanksgiving to the winners of the following fabulous giveaways!

1. Soda Stream

 

 Congrats Sheila!

2. High Sierra Luggage

 

CONGRATS Nicole!

3. Rubbermaid 20pc Set

 

Congrats ERIN!!

4. Bendaroos

 

CONGRATS Amanda!

5. Thanksgiving Gift Pack courtesy of Pillsbury and My Blog Spark

Congrats Susan!

6. High Sierra Duffel

 

 

CONGRATS Belinda!

All winners have been contacted.

Thank you again to all those who entered and to all of those who sponsored such great giveaways!

Thank you Rubbermaid, Soda Stream USA, Pillsbury and My Blog Spark, Bendaroos, & High Sierra.

Did We Need to Go There

My blog has never been one for controversy. I leave controversy to many face-to-face communications. Body language can be read and understood, as can eye movement, facial expressions, tone. Tone is often hard to communicate in writing. One must be a skilled author to have the finesse to emit tone in the conversation. So controversy as I said is left to the true verbal arena so as not to encounter miscommunications or to misunderstand.

So my tone is about to go to a beaten path NEVER taken before. EVER. I will probably lose blog followers and I am deeply sorry. I will not yield nor apologize for my personal life, my personal decisions, something that completely affects me, with the exception of my husband as he was a very intricate part of my life in this decision.


Once upon a Thanksgiving in 2009 a young woman who spent two days prepping, cleaning, cooking and baking, not to mention caring for her three children. Might I add, two of which are twins in case you are just tuning into the Fish Film @ 11, and I work a full-time job, a real. full time job. Not just the job of mom, you see that is my first job, my real job is my third job, my second job is wife, and my fourth job is business owner. So you see I truly have FOUR FULL time jobs....ah hell five if you add all the housework. So back to it, I was cleaning up after a much enjoyed pie hole stuffing event. Family was gathered on my couch, every seat taken,  reading Black Friday ads, friends were conversing, laughs shared abound. As the crowd began to simmer and disperse I thought I need to call my dear friend who so lovingly called to share in her thanks and love on this day. But in addition to the love to be shared was the hate that this ugly world can bring. Not hate by my friend, the hate of strangers, the hate of those who put up a loving facade to avoid confrontation, the hate spewed behind anonymity to win out in some delusional war of words.

Please be advised that the images you are about to see are repulsive, obscene, disgusting, and horrid. All directed AT ME. I debated on posting these images and by rehashing information I so prayed to disappear, but the glutton in me took pictures of the proof of hate generated by people.

For privacy reasons the images were removed and can only be viewed by invitation only. 

As I said. I apologize for any and ALL of you to read this ugliness. I was so physically ill on Thursday I could barely sleep. I was shaking, I was borderline inconsolable. My husband, bless his heart, reassured me to ignore this. It would go away. It did not. The pain did not go away. These people have NOT. GONE. AWAY! The Twitter account STILL EXISTS!!! I thought the account had been deleted, however, I was wrong and hatred breeds and multiplies and yet another account can be created in anonymity so as to further the cause of hatred.

Now here is my beef. I have no problem with someone gossiping at or about me. Whatever, sticks and stones okay. But a FULL ON CHARACTER ASSASSINATION will make this Lionesses blood boil! My sweet little guppy fish exterior will molt into the full on lion bitch I am! What else....NO ONE. I do stress NO ONE has any of this information in the blogging community...oh wait. With the single exception of my sister.

YES. You know her. Brittany Greer. Brittany Hudson Greer over @ The Greer 5.

My flesh and blood. I had attempted to try to keep this between the family. A family feud that she clearly took too far in divulging my personal information to sheer strangers for their personal use to attack me. To belittle, to judge, to bring me shame, to destroy my character, to inflict pain, I can go on and on. Clearly a reprimandable offense correct? One might think considering that a third party went so far as to assassinate my good character, to attempt to destroy my friendships, my networkings, or maybe because the cretin who created this account thought it may be funny to bring pain to someone such as me. If you believe in this.....keep on being a subscriber to your community that is "generously" run and operated by Mom Dot. Because my information seems to have been so "generously" shared and detailed...although I will state that the details in these tweets are clearly misinformed, out of time line, and clearly NONE OF ANYONE'S FUCKING BUSINESS. I also encourage you to continue to be a member of a community that does love to breed controversy as my personal life so clearly became a hot topic in a forum for enjoyment. Or hell maybe just in an email but regardless, the two involved ARE members, very active members of that community. Which further suggests that the negative behavior of public humiliation, belittling and degradation is A FUCKING OKAY with these people. I would love to publicly humiliate...man...I would be such a big girl to do that.

To post pictures of random strangers and discuss their situations may they be unfortunate with other random strangers and call it "fun" or "comedic" hell albeit fucking hysterical right...just a joke.

FUCK YOU and you know who you are. Are those tweets a fucking joke to any of you? If so....I dare you to leave me your FULL NAME to leave up for public humiliation. I also dare.....no....I challenge the lowly individual who so PROUDLY created this account with the original intentions of bashing MY friend Kristin, whether you like her or not, who then decided to turn the object of their desire to me...I CHALLENGE you to come to my blog and apologize to me. Furthermore I CHALLENGE the cretin and or CRETINS who acted in such a distasteful, vulgar, unbecoming, and plebian manner to PUBLICLY APOLOGIZE to myself and Kristin on Twitter and on a blog post that shall stay posted for AN ENTIRE WEEK. To allow those who read it to show their disdain to you. To show you how much of an uncouthful coward you were and are for hiding behind anonymity, your keyboard, and indecency. I also challenge Miss "I am the Community and this is my blog" so shoot me an email...we'll discuss the details like adults.

Wordless / Wordful Wednesday

WORDLESS

Grinding out Pies!

(Yes,  a mortar and pestle for my FRESH spices)

WORDFUL

Me and my favorite sister in the world! She is my sister by marriage but I love her all the same! She and I acting like total dorks for NEW MOON! Let me tell you, that was a fabulous experience.

I could care less if people thought the movie was a flop or success. The point of the movie was based on the book and this movie definitely stayed more true to the book. While parts were left out for obvious time constraints, the movie was fab! Did I scream like a ninny teenager you ask?

GOOD GAWD YES!

I loved it! I was wrapped up in the moment with my girls! I had a blast, they had a blast, we giggled. We laughed, we laughed until we cried, we swooned at the hot bods on the silver screen.

We did the double feature of watching Twilight at 9pm and then New Moon at Midnight.

After Twilight though we had some time to spare and so we do what all girls do when they are out late:

WE HIT THE BAR! LOL

Seriously, Brittany in the forefront is Nicole's sister, my sister-in-law's sister and she had never been in a bar.

So we do what all supportive friends do and we went to the bar and had some cocktails. In fact Nicole was so thirsty she hated to let any of her drink go to waste so she decided to help clean the bar.

I won't ruin New Moon for you I won't ruin your excitement and I won't ruin your opinion good or bad. I just know I had a grand time with some people that I love!

My Girls!

Lynsi, Karie (moi), Nicole, Brittany

I love you girls and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend a fabulously fun night with a great group of gals! I am also glad we rolled White Mafia in The Chad's car....because that car is bangin'!!

WEWT for Eclipse ladies!

For more Wednesday fun head on over to the HUB, 5 Minutes for Mom, my favies @ Extraordinary Mothers and of course Angie has some super good fun for some Wordful!

Gifts for Kids: Mattel Toys of the Season

Earlier this year Big G and I hosted a rocking party courtesy of House Party where we got a sneak peek into the hottest cartoon show on Cartoon Network this year! Created by Mattel and their HotWheels division a great cartoon and line of toys called Battle Force 5 was a big winner in my home and the toys were an even hotter commodity. Big G nearly lost his silly mind with the 1:24 scale toys of his favorite Battle Force 5 characters like Sark and Saber, do I know the drivers...I am a mom...a true girl. My boy could tell you. I just act like I know for him. I know one is green and one is red and he is enamored with Battle Force 5.

Mattel really topped themselves with these toys this year and the Battle Force 5 line of Hot Wheels cartoons and toys. Big G was able to play with the Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 Battle Pack  and the Battle Force 5 1:64 scale assortment from Mattel. The boy and his friend that he invited over to share in the battle, well they played for HOURS!

They boys can launch their cars at one another in a racing battle. Each picking a side and then they would swap from one being the bad guy and the other being the good guy. Needless to say this simple and great toy kept them well entertained. Plus Hot Wheels...BEAT THAT! What boy doesn't love to play with Hot Wheels. The cars are a 1:64 scaling so not too big but too small for the smaller boys with the small parts that could be a choking hazard. But Grant really enjoys playing with the Battle Force 5 Battle Pack and

Now girls are not left out either in their top toys section. I have found Sara to be quite a connundrum for toy shopping as she is quite the toy boy like her mommy and quite the girly girl...like her mommy. I was able to satisfy both her personality sides by reviewing The Princess and The Frog Magic Kiss. She enjoys frogs and she enjoys stuffed animals and when I saw these with Mattel I knew I had to ask for these to review and she loves them. They kiss with magnetic lips and make a smooching sound which makes her squee in delight. Plus she and her twin can fight for hours over these two on who will get the princess. Plus the movie is a huge hit with the kids. A new Disney favorite like all of Disney's other animated classics. I have to say though that The Princess and The Frog Magic Kiss is a great toy for toddlers without the small and loose parts which can result in a choking hazard or worse.

Thank you Mattel for continuing to bring quality, fun toys into children's lives.

I was not compensated for this review, I received these products on behalf of Mattel and their subsidiaries and provided my honest opinion of these toys based on how my children interacted with each toy.

Your Newest Mormon

Yes, that hot vixen....

Should be Mormon!

And for those who are Mormon, I would convert to LDS to be proper.

Here are my reasons to be Mormon:

• All my friends are LDS (at least a good portion)
• LDS have THE BEST support and networking
• They never cuss (this would be good redemption for my sailor mouth)
• I have enough kids to work my way into the lower echelon 
  
• I drive a B M W (Big Mormon Wagon) aka The Minivan
• I buy in bulk already
• I believe Jesus was a carpenter (LOL!)
• I do not celebrate Easter the way Catholics and some Christians celebrate...just the bunny (ha ha!!)
  
• I live in Mesa, AZ aka the Little Provo of Arizona
• I have lived in more Mormon towns than not (Mesa, Chandler, Show Low, Snowflake, St Johns WREAK of LDS  lol!!)
• I have a standing order from a LDS friend for 50% tithing and 50% Sundays, that's a killer deal!
• I am within walking distance to a local church, seriously, like I can see the steeple from my kitchen window!
  
• They won't have to baptize me again when I am dead
• I like this line of clothes and am holding a Shade Clothing giveaway (My friend Carissa told me I don't get any more Mormon than that!)
• Finally....I have the MOTHER of all reasons to convert to LDS

I HAVE THE MOTHER OF ALL PANTRIES!!!

YES!!

My walk in. Fully stocked. Loaded to the Hilt

PANTRY!

Those shelves are 24" or more deep...with FOOD!

Now I should show you my Mormon garage with water, another fridge, and all my extra canned/dry goods!

Gifts for Her or Him: Cookware.com CSN Stores

Christmas should be fun and practical. I for one am not a fan of bad gifts or gifts that can only be used for not so everyday activities or moments in life. I mean if you get me a knit sweater with the ugly Christmas trees I can only wear it during the holidays. Um, negative. Not a good gift.

A good gift should be used for greatness, for everyday maybe, or for a specialty that everyone loves. Well my family loves pancakes. And my husband used to live in California and visit Solvang when they lived on the base in Vandenberg. You have never heard of Solvang? COME ON PEOPLE. Solvang is the Dutch US, if you could ever visit any one place, Solvang is a MUST!

While visiting there he had the taste of Ebelskivers, phonetically ay-bell-skee-vurs. They are round pancakes that are about the size of a silver dollar and are to DIE FOR! Seriously these little puppies can be stuffed with all sorts of goodies like jelly, preserves, cheese, meats, whatever you want to put in them.

Cookware.com, a CSN Store, allowed me to review their Nordicware International Specialties Danish ebelskiver pan and I was and AM in cookware heaven. The pan has a Teflon, non-stick coating, riveted handled, and retails for $27.99.  I too love ebelskivers and have been requesting an ebelskiver pan for YEARS. Yes, YEARS people and the wonderful staff at Cookware.com, a CSN Store fulfilled my unanswered family gift request for an ebelskiver pan. The day I got it...I planned Brinner. (Breakfast + Dinner = Brinner!)

The use of the pan is simple, like any other pan but the divots in the pan allow for the batter to be poured in about half-way up to allow for rising and you add your fillings before the ebelskiver cooks too much and you have to turn. The batter I used was your standard pancake batter with Bisquick or whatever brand you prefer. I made a sweet cream cheese filling using Neufschatel cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, a few drops of maple syrup and my kids gobbled the perfect, hand sized treats like they were going out of style. I also sprinkled a little powdered sugar on them to really pretty them up.

Needless to say I am happy with my ebelskiver pan and with Cookware.com and CSN. In fact, CSN has over 200+ stores online from Cookware.com to bed linens, to home improvement, baby, you name it, they have a store! In fact you can buy your new dining room furniture from the furniture superstore Dining Rooms Direct. How is that for one stop shopping! They ship anywhere in the US and Canada, have a great return policy and on selected items they have guaranteed delivery by December 24th just in time for your gift to be wrapped from "Santa."

Check out CSN Stores and find that perfect gift and they have an offering of 100 gifts under $100!

Happy Holidays and big thanks to Cookware.com and CSN Stores.

Richard Scarry BusyTown Mysteries

I recently had the opportunity from One2OneNetwork to review the Richard Scarry series of BusyTown Mysteries on CBS Saturday Mornings (schedule and local air times in your area HERE). To be quite honest I had never heard of Richard Scarry, let alone BusyTown Mysteries but if CBS felt the series of childhood books worthy to air for children then I knew I had to take a gander.

Plus what can I say, Michelle @ One2One rocks and she wondered why I wasn't in on the campaign...and I cannot let them down right? I mean they have the coolest reviews that in my opinion are family fun and friendly. (Love you guys!) Okay enough of my schmoozing.

I literally just received the disc and Big G and I popped the DVD in to watch the thirty minute program, comprised of two 11-minute stories per episode. I thought it was great! Very reminisce or Sesame Street, late 70s early 80s TV programming. You know the programming I am speaking of, the ones we all grew up on that were just great shows! Nothing mind numbing and at times painful like SpongeBob. While I like SpongeBob and Patrick one liners, definitely not a cartoon for children.

We watched BusyTown Mysteries all the way to the end and Grant wanted to watch again. And again. And again. Until I finally told him that the show is on Saturday's so we set up the DVR to record just for him. Could you tell he liked the show? I know I did and he was head over heels. He even knew "GoldBug" one of the beloved Richard Scarry characters. I began to wonder how he was so familiar and fond of "GoldBug" and then while cleaning for the day shortly after they watched the movie I found this:

 

If you look quite closely you will see this is an ORIGINAL Richard Scarry book! The beloved characters of GoldBug, Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm in the books and the series are lead by these cute and lovable characters. The book, copyright of 1974, is my husband's book from when he was a child. So imagine my surprise when The Chad saw the show and was like "OH HEY! GoldBug!" Just like Big G, my dear husband also shares a love and special place for Richard Scarry characters and stories in his life. In fact, Richard Scarry’s books have sold over 150 million copies and have been translated into 30 languages over the last 40 years (One2OneNetwork.com, 2009), so you can imagine how many different generations have grown up on these wonderful books.

The Scarry book that is losing her binding and a treasure in our home is Cars and Trucks and Things That Go and my boys LOVE this book, so I was enamored at the fact that the series would be a big winner in my house, especially if The Chad will watch with Big G, great bonding time for them.

If you kids are more interactive Busytown also entertains and educates fans at home with the fun, interactive website BusytownMysteries.com where kids can explore different neighborhoods in Busytown, interact with the Busytown characters and play 14 games and activities designed for preschoolers, including interactive games, a Fan Club and “My First Email,” which lets little ones email their progress to pre-approved friends and family addresses (One2OneNetwork.com, 2009)

Thank you One2OneNetwork and CBS programming for providing me with a copy of the series to view with my family, I am so glad they were already fans and now I am as well!

Gifts for Her: ScentChips

Some great gifts are ones that are often the simplest. Women request candles for holiday and birthday gifts all the time so why not take the candle option up a notch with ScentChips.

ScentChips are scented wax chips formed into shapes that can be used as potpourri with a life of over five years or they can be melted in a simmering pot that will scent an area of up to 3000 square feet. ScentChips have been hand made in the USA, in San Antonio, Texas for over 25 years.

While candles are wonderful, enhance a room with delicate lighting and scent, the candle is not always clean burning, can cause smoke damage, or worse start a fire. ScentChips can be melted and the aroma will last for hours. ScentChips are also clean burning and non-toxic making them a great alternative to candles.

Different chips scents can also be combined for the ultimate in home fragrance. The chips are melted in a wide variety of electric burners as to avoid the fire and candle issue and inherent danger. ScentChips are not to be left unattended as with any wax, the product may reach excess heats causing a hazardous situation. Literally hundreds of scents to choose from to mix and match.

ScentChips can be found in stores in select states in the US, Malaysia, New Zealand, Austraila, and Puerto Rico. The price for these wonderful scented gifts starts at $20 and up for the chips and the burner. The perfect gift for a woman who enjoys home fragrance and home fragrance that lasts longer than a candle.

Here is all the information straight from ScentChips themselves:

Hand made in San Antonio, Texas for over 30 years, Scentchips are the ORIGINAL scented wax potpourri. When melted, Scentchips will cover 3000 square feet with a rich aroma! Use them simply as a potpourri for a softer scent - which will last for over 5 years. 

Scentchips uses only the finest quality and safest ingredients on the market. Using the highest ratio of fragrance to wax, Scentchips are the strongest and longest lasting product of its kind. Scentchips are Non toxic and clean burning, making them the safest way to way to fragrance your home or office. Their fragrance is natural, dyes are vegetable based and no chemicals or toxic elements to the product. Scentchips were “green before “green” was cool. 

Customers may select from over 50 fragrance blends or 72 single fragrance choices to create their own unique scent. Scentchips offers a wide variety of warming burners, including beautiful electric burners for those who would prefer not to use a tea light candle. 

Scentchips retail stores offer their customers a unique, creative and fun environment in select cities throughout the United States as well as internationally. You may also purchase Scentchips through their website: scentchipsusa.com or the Toll free number: 800-472-3687.
Scentchips offers many gift ideas, starting at under $15.00! For the finest in home fragrance, visit your nearest Scentchips store or their website today.[ScentChips USA, 2009]

Monday Mingle: Married....with Children

Monday Mingle! A great way to break in Vlogging and to get to know some of your favorite bloggers. Hosted by Jen over @ EightyMPHMom.com she has all the details for how to grab your camera and play along.
Without further adieu here are this weeks questions:

1. Men: When your spouse asks you "how does this outfit make me look" - how do you respond?
    Ladies: Do you really want him to answer honestly?

2. Both: What is one thing you should always do to keep your spouse/partner happy? What do you do/say to avoid friction in your relationship?

3. Both: What were the first thoughts about your spouse/partner that came to mind when you first met him/her?

4. Both: What is your favorite physical feature of your spouse/partner?

5. Both: What are the key ingredients to a successful marriage/relationship?

6. Are you ready for more Speedy Cop movie quotes?

Monday Mingle Super Couples from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

The questions for next week are:

1. Someone tells you that you have the whole day off and gives you $1,000 to do as you please.
What do you do?

2. Who would play you in a Lifetime movie about yourself?

3. We're in the technology age. What is your favorite technological innovation?
What one do you think is just useless?

4. What is your favorite funny childhood memory?

5. What is/was your favorite Kool-Aid/Jello flavor? One you hated?

Everyone have a very happy and safe holiday! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Have We Met

You want real posts....let's get real.

Karie Noel (Hudson) Herring

Born July 29th

I have had my life fall apart and put back together again free of assistance, pity, completely lost, insecure, fighting, grappling for proof of life at the end of mass destruction. I have loved, I have lost, I have hated only to transition into pity and finally indifference. I am a "feeler" albeit I take everything personally not purposely but out of a sense of unknown connection, maybe the need for acceptance even though I prefer to be a loner. I have tempted fate, death, only to find life, and that in this life coincidences do not exist, a well plotted three act play. I have my mothers heart and my fathers moxie. But I am damaged, even through pain and healing.

I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, woman. I can take your breath away and give it back all at once. My beauty does not overwhelm my being, but rather a simple knowledge and modesty that all are as beautiful and the ugliness is in immorality and wickedness.

I am a Leo. By all means I am loyal to the bone though in the face of distrust and disloyal conduct I am a front of offense and meanness a defense mechanism to protect a fragile, kind heart, an open book of emotion and feeling. Once scorned my well-known aura and light of love are scorned to darkness. The sun is my sign, to which I thrive by, radiate, and hunt the light, my internal burning light is what draws others to me, a moth to a flame. I am a survivor, hunting for purpose and tranquility with ferocity and intent. When I have found my prize I am relentless in obtaining that for which I want. I am proud but have swallowed the pill many a times. Like any big cat I crave for the acceptance in my hard work, persistence, the acknowledgment that often is ignored.

"What you see is what you get" 

I make no changes, exceptions, I am who I am. Full of brash comments spewing truth, my boldness is more often mistaken for rudeness albeit snarky but never hurtful with intention. I am a trailblazer and part of this trait is I get what I deserve and as a two part, others reap what I sow mistaking my generosity for charity. I am stubborn, hard-headed, willful and no one stands in my way, however, my kind heart allows me to consider others feelings as to prevent hurt while on my mission. 

Part of who I am is that I am highly observant, seeing the underbelly of truth and meaning, allowing me to gain a higher perspective for any situation and my surroundings. Bullshit can be smelled from a mile away by my extra-sensory call it the sixth sense but the ability to determine a lie from the truth no matter the severity is an uncanny ability when meeting people. My tact and couth however allows me to not always call out the truth for those who blatantly spew and emit falsehoods. However, I am bound by my word, what I say is the truth and I bear life by my own truths. I say what often needs to be said, full of heart, possibly with lack luster but better off speaking to those, I have no fear and would rather say too much than to never say what needs to be said.

I never ask or look for handouts. As no one steps on my dreams I work that much harder. I take pity on those who constantly take and take and never give back, but only give back for their own personal gain, not for the sake of giving, the sheer joy in someone's pure, truthful enjoyment, I only hope that one day their karma check will be cashed. I rise above and help myself because if I cannot help myself I feel I cannot help others. I also believe hard work only makes one stronger, but I feel I have always worked doubly hard which might explain my jaded outlook, my snarky demeanor. With my hardwork I do not flaut it or promote, maybe I should but I am modest with my hardwork and should not have to spot light ti but rather let the results speak for themselves.

I do not practice any religion but I do answer to a higher moral beacon, with a simple basis of right and wrong, good and bad, earned respect, mortal consideration of beings with feelings. I have no use for divine paragons and divinity is both immanent and transcendent. Mysticism is alive and well, De ja` vu' is but our past life emerging briefly to foreshadow our well plotted three-act play of life. Life is life, a journey, a constant classroom of new experiences, the rehash of old. Call me a Neo-Pagan, I am more earthbound, the metaphysical excites and intrigues me. I light candles, I pray each time I drive or for those in need of prayer, I think and send out karma and mojo in all directions good or bad. A nice balance if you ask me. But I do not pray to any God or Heavenly Father, but some providential Higher power of sorts. God is not only man but quite possibly a woman. While humans are capable of great feats I do believe not all feats are meant to be reached. An intricate balance between science, technology and the respect for the providential higher power. I am a dreamer but grounded by my realism and perpetual optimism. 

Not always a loner

I never wanted to get married or have children. EVER. My contentedness of traveling a life alone and without rules was highly appealing but my internal driving clock and love for caring for my own young was appealing, and yet unappealing to my lifestyle. I enjoy my alone time and need for three feet of personal space, but I also crave the attention and company of others as long as they are intellectually stimulating. Otherwise I bore easily, simply amusing those to avoid an uncomfortable situation of truths.

I mentioned my ferocity correct? Could you imagine that ferocity in the way I care for my young. Ah yes, the power of the great lioness with her cunning protection and love. My mate also receives a loyal and unwavering love. Speaking of love I am a fiery lover with an insatiable desire for passion and romance. Forbidden love makes my sex on fire and yearn for more.

But even a mother and woman needs her time away to which I pride myself and my flowing mane with a run or a dance. Running is freeing and an adrenaline rush of raw endorphins to work off any angsts, my time for meditation of pure quiet and solitude. I dance because as a Leo and part of who I am I love the limelight, and proud enough to know I am a fabulous dancer. I read for enjoyment and to escape for a fantasy. I daydream but am a realist. However, I know that "days like this" exist.

I am a loyal and truthful friend. As I do take a lot of life personally I cherish and hold onto beautiful relationships. Not everyone can be considered a friend, let alone a best friend, not even family fits the bill of friend. I believe a best friend is close to being like family where he or she is never disloyal, unfaithful, and loves without conditions. Friends are not based on convenience but a spiritual, quite possibly divine connection, people cut from the same cloth. Maintaining the same level of morals, integrity, principles and values for people as humans regardless of wrong doings, the Rogerian theory of we are all inherently good by nature.

I hope I said all that I needed to say.

With that I hope you have a better glimpse into what kind of person I am and my friendship.

Gifts for Everyone: Solay Wellness Himalayan Salt Lamp

Have you recently gone shopping and maybe seen that quaint shop in the mall with the salt lamps. Salt Lamps. Yes I said salt lamps. Well at the shopping district close to my home a boutique shop of Himalayan Salt lamps is sold and I had yet to see what they were, what they are about, and just window shop the lamps. I began to Google these lamps. Why are they so special? What is the deal really?

Himalayan Salt lamps are positive, negatively charged ionic air cleansers. You know that wonderful feeling and smell after the rain? The rain generates those healthy negative ions that promote a sense of well-being. If you are a skeptic, read more here about How Salt Lamps work.

Our family was grateful enough to receive a salt lamp to review from Solay Wellness and I was stunned by the "cool" factor of these salt crystals, the sheer weight, and the feeling these lamps resonate in your home. The assembly is easy peasy with the salt rock and the opening at the bottom for the easy to remove electrical and bulb attachment, just plug in the bulb, the plug, turn on and enjoy.

The light is a warm orange-red color and is fabulous. We have the lamp in our room and the color is so soothing, albeit hypnotic in a sense, and I always have trouble sleeping. Not only because I have children, but I am a busy working woman so my mind and body have a hard time shutting down.

Seriously I have slept like a rock with this lamp, pardon the pun. Seriously. I was thinking it was all in my head until I turned the lamp off and when I did...I tossed and turned again. I am a firm believer in the metaphysical and alternative therapies and of course you know I am a proponent for organic and healthier living so this lamp was right up our health nut alley.

The lamps retail anywhere from $29.95 on up depending on the weight of the lamp, yes the salt rocks are based on their weight, and depending upon which salt you prefer. Himalayan, Persian, polished, shaped, lots of options when you want a great salt lamp. But Solay Wellness offers more than just the salt lamps, they offer an entire product line of healthy living for your home, kitchen, and pets, salts for living, art, health, go check them out. They have such a wonderful offering of products for everyone in the family.

Happy Holidays and enjoy Solay Wellness.

Thank you Solay Wellness for the wonderful lamp and the

sample beauty products they are enjoyed to the fullest in our home.

Gifts for Everyone: Knit Rite Inc Smart Knit Kids

Stocking stuffers are always fun for kids and what better stocking stuffer than socks! However, these socks by Smart Knit Kids are no ordinary socks these socks are completely seamless.

Seamless socks you ask? How? How can you have seamless socks. Everyone has those socks with the annoying seam in the toy that rubs. In fact I wear my socks inside out because the seams rub and bother my toes. If I do this can you imagine how my kids feel or react? How about children who have sensory issues? Multiply that factor by a hundred or a thousand where the socks binding and rubbing on kids feet and legs will cause an uncomfortable feeling for kids (and adults) or even pain if the sensory issues are severe enough, not to mention the bunching in shoes, I know I hate that, you have to constantly pull on your socks to make them fit. A little background about Knit Rite and Smart Knit Kids:

Knit Rite Inc. was founded in 1923 and markets, designs, and manufactures quality textiles for medical and consumer purposes. Knit Rite Inc is continually researching, developing new product lines to promote healthy benefits for a higher quality of life.

Now I am a skeptic about everything. I am a complete realist so when I heard "seamless socks" I was all over it and my other side was saying "Pound sand...no way." Until I received the Smart Knit Kids socks and pulled them out of the boxes and felt the material. Fantastic. The socks felt super soft and were not the standard rough knit cotton socks you buy in the store. The fabric is tightly woven, but stretches and conforms, and the fabric is breatheable where some fabrics are not which cause sweating and of course the funk. Yes, funky feet!

Imagine my surprise when I read more on the socks and put them to the test with Grant to fins that the socks are made with moisture wicking material and are anti-microbial. Grant has some serious barking dogs after playing all day on the playground, in the Arizona "heat," and adding all that sand to his shoes, he is the type of kid who sweats, A LOT! So imagine the funk coming from his feet at the end of the day. Needless to say these socks help to curb all of that. I am not saying he is totally stink free, but I will tell you that the stank is kept to a minimum and he really enjoys the way the socks feel. He also likes that they feel like he is not wearing socks because they are so soft. As you can see, lots of color offerings and sizes from crew to ankle cut socks.

But the Knit Rite product line is not limited to just kids, moms and dads can get in on the products as well! Knit Rite has an entire line of products for everyone, plus they have a new line of compression stockings just for pregnant women. Compression stockings you ask? If you have had circulation issues or lower extremity pain, then you are all too familiar with compression stockings. I know I had to wear compression stockings during my pregnancy with my twins and they were a life saver! So you should check out these cute compression stockings, they are not the ugly ones your grandma wore. The site is called RUPreggers.com and is a wealth of information about compression stockings and they have a great product offering that is very stylish.

Enjoy each of these products and be sure to share with family and friends

with kids who have sensory issues or just want a really great pair of socks or stockings.