Have a Very Hexbug Halloween!

Maria Bailey and MomSelect really have their finger on the pulse when it comes to kids' toys. Every blogger toy party I've hosted for them has been a huge success, and the kids who attended have all gone out and spread the word about the toy in question, telling their friends and buying toys of their own. It's the perfect example of how bloggers...

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AeroPress Coffee Maker review

Alfie loves a good cup of coffee, but he doesn't have one every day, so it's difficult to justify the expense of an espresso machine or good drip machine. Besides, we don't have the counter space. We recently reviewed a coffeemaker that's making waves on the internet: the AeroPress coffee maker by Aerobie. It's small in size but big in taste, and...

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Bonggamom's Friday Finds -- list your giveaways here

Welcome to Bonggamom's Friday Finds! This is my 101st Friday Finds post, and I'm all set to feature the Bestest Giveaways Around the Blogosphere a hundred times more, and beyond. Don't forget, we're still celebrating the 100th Friday Finds post with a giveaway for a PS3 game, a DS game and a music cd. And if you leave a link to a giveaway on the...

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Biggest Online Shopping Mistakes

Two weeks ago I shared my biggest online shopping mistake, and asked you to share yours. I had great time reading through all your stories! Not that I enjoyed your misery, of course, but you know how misery loves company, and it's somewhat comforting to know that you're not alone. Here are some of my "favorite" ones:Ordering beauty products online...

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Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery (and a giveaway for you!)

It's that time of year again.... time to change your clocks! On November 6 everyone has to "fall back" and move the clocks back one hour. I for one am glad, because it has been so dark in the mornings, so moving back the clock will mean I can wait for daylight to wake me up. Of course, it means that it gets dark earlier, but we only have a few months...

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Halloween pumpkin template: The Lorax

If you're looking for an original Halloween pumpkin to carve, how about a pumpkin that looks like The Lorax from Dr. Seuss? Everybody's favorite environmental activist is easy to carve into a pumpkin with the template from Universal Pictures' The Lorax Movie (scheduled for March 2012).Click on the image below to access and download the full-size image:Happy...

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Santé Nuts review

I love nuts. They're packed full of protein and good oils, and they fill you up quickly so a little goes a long way. I add them to stir-fries, toss them into salad, top baked goods with them, or eat them just as they are! They are perfect for nibbling along with cheese, olives and fruit. And just like cheese, olives, and fruit, I've come to realize that most nuts taste good -- but not all kinds are created equal. Quality matters, and the difference in taste when you have a high quality nut...

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Moonpig Personalized Greeting Cards Review

We send holiday cards to a lot of people every year -- friends, teachers, cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings. Most of the time, especially for people we don't see very often, I like to send a photo holiday card with a short update on how we are doing and what sorts of things we were up to for the year. I certainly like receiving these kinds of cards,...

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LeapFrog Tag Solar System Adventure Pack Review and Giveaway

The holidays are coming up -- and I'm giving away a LeapFrog Tag and Solar System Adventure Pack! Keep reading to find out how to enter....My kids are getting older but our house is not getting any bigger, so last year we reluctantly said goodbye to our collection of LeapFrog Tag readers. Thanks in part to all the hours they spent with their Tag...

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Extreme Facepainting

I love painting faces. I've always liked to draw, ever since I was a little girl, and my childhood pastime has manifested in the form of face painting. I've painted faces at my kids' birthday parties, my sister's kids' birthday parties, class parties and charity events. I've donated my face painting services to raise money for the PTA. Parents...

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Introducing the new Children's Creativity Museum (formerly Zeum)

For years, one my kids' favorite places to visit in San Francisco was also one of the most difficult to pronounce. Was it Zee-yum? Was it Zoom? Whatever it was, we won't be having that problem anymore, because the museum formerly known as Zeum has changed it's name to the Children's Creativity Museum. And that's not all that's new: after a five...

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Five things you thought you knew about Grocery Outlet

When you hear the words "discount grocery" or "bargain grocery", do images of old, expired boxes of pasta or bags of generic-brand cereal or pallets of canned goods come to mind? You'd be surprised at what you can find at a Grocery Outlet store! They're a bargain hunter's dream for low-cost, brand-name goods. This weekend I attended a Grocery...

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Bonggamom's 100th Friday Find (and a giveaway for you!)

Welcome to the 100th edition of Bonggamom's Friday Finds! I can't believe I've hosted a hundred weeks of links to the Bestest Giveaways around the Blogosphere. Thank you to everyone who has left their links over the years. And I hope you all continue to find this giveaway linky as useful as I do.And what better way to celebrate the 100th Bonggamom's...

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Pink Fridays at Kara's Cupcakes

Hey, Bay Area peeps -- satisfy your sweet tooth with a Kara's Pink Friday cupcake! These sweet vanilla cupcakes from Kara's Cupcakes are decorated with a pink sugar ribbon; proceeds will be donated to support breast cancer awareness. The Pink Friday cupcake is available every Friday in October. Yum yum yum..... they give a whole new meaning to TGIF.Disclosure:...

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LeapPad Explorer Review and Giveaway

The holidays are coming up -- and I'm giving away a LeapPad! Keep reading to find out how to enter....It's funny how just as I think my kids are going to outgrow LeapFrog products, they come up with another cool gadget that has my kids fighting to be the first one to play with it. We've been LeapFrog fans ever since The Pea received her first LeapPad...

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Lonesome George & Co. Apparel

Tee shirts are a dime a dozen these days, but even though there are so many shirt companies around, it can be difficult to find a shirt design that's cool and unique -- especially when it comes to tee shirts for a cause. All too often the shirt is low quality, or the design is cheesy, or the shirt contains such a blatant cause-focused message that...

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CLIF Kid Full Moon Brownie ZBar

Halloween is almost here, and you know that that means. Yeah, yeah, yeah, costumes and candy and blah blah blah, I'm talking about the long-awaited arrival of CLIF Kid's limited-edition seasonal flavor Zbar: Full Moon Brownie.Yesterday I chaperoned my son's class on a field trip to Whole Foods Market. As a special treat, the store manager gave each...

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Set a Spooky Mood with Pottery Barn Kids Candles

There's nothing like candlelight to give your home a spooky glow this Halloween season. I always light candles during our Halloween parties and on late October nights, but I have to admit that it can be a real pain. I constantly have to remind our excited young party guests to slow down when they run past the candles, and I constantly have to check...

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Twisted Bazooka Halloween giveaway

Halloween is approaching fast, and it's time to think about what kinds of treats you'll be handing out to the little goblins, ghosts and devils that come knocking at your door. I remember how popular Ring Pops were when I used to go trick-or-treating. Getting a Ring Pop was like striking gold! Now Bazooka Candy has put a new twist on the original...

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Pink Ribbon Cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery

Anyone who loves cupcakes has Magnolia Bakery to thank; they are credited with starting the cupcake craze in the 1990's. I wish they had one nearby; I tried their vanilla and red velvet cupcakes the last time I was in Manhattan, and they are delicious.Now there's even more reason to envy New Yorkers, Chicagoans, Angelenos and Dubai-ers (?) -- customers...

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