Who wants to be my Berrie Sweet sponsor?

I wanna go.

And I wanna go baaaad.

I wanna be able to put this button here on my blog and announce to the world that I am going to be attending the sweetest bloggy party out there and mingling with the best of the best in Lady Blogdom.

But without the help of a fantabulous company willing to sponsor my berrie poor booty for plane, hotel, and convention fees, I'll just be here all alone sitting on the sidelines. (And if you are extra fantabulous, you would also graciously offer to book a plane seat for Buttercup, who has been an awesome bloggy toddler and donated her time on countless ocassions for mommy to use her as my review child. Hey, I'm just sayin'!)

I know that companies read my blog because of all the great product review requests I receive, and I know that those reading value my opinion and like what I have to say because they keep coming back and bringing their friends with them...

So really, you could consider me an investment.

And in return for your sponsorship, I'd become your best advertisement and talk up your product and company to anyone I meet at BlogHer!

Hi, my name is Pauline and I love (insert your company name here.) They not only make the best (insert product name here) I have ever tried, but they also sponsored by BlogHer trip! Can you believe it?

...or something along those lines!

I'll also have a kickin' button made up to display on all my BlogHer related posts pimping your company out as the bestest ever, and dedicate multiple posts to tell my readers about you and your company. And if you want me to wear your logo on anything other than a tattoo, Butterup and I will gladly oblige. Just email me at berriesweet (dot) info (at) gmail (dot) com and we can talk about what I can offer your company as your BlogHer spokesblogger!

Yes, I know, I have no shame. But it's part of the reason you all love me!

There...that's really all I can say for now. So I'm just gonna sit back and wait for my inbox to get flooded with offers from hundreds of companies wooing me to choose them as my sponsor. (Hey, a mom blogger can dream can't she?)

The Bad Side of Berries

See that spankin' new button on the top of the right sidebar? The sassy little badge letting the world know that I am now an official Bad Mommy Blogger?

Isn't it awesome?

You know those comedic scenes in cartoons and movies when a little angel and devil appear on the shoulders of someone trying to make a decision between right and wrong? If you can replace the angel and the devil with little bloggy figures, Berrie Sweet Picks is where I come to show of my good mommy side with tips and reviews on some very cool products.

Bad Mommy Blogger? Well...that's where I go when I want to be bad, have fun, and let my hair down (figuratively speaking, of course. It is so short right now that my husband gently told me I look like a man. That's love for you.)

The site, which is rather new in the blogosphere, is a place for moms to hang out and be real with each other. No judging, no competing for "Mom of the Year," and plenty of laughs with the occassional "F" going off.

So stop on by and get ready for the Bad Mommy Blogger official launch! And don't worry about the lipstick or eyeliner. There is really no need to impress over at BMB. It's all about keeping it real.

What a boon! We got a potty bench!

Boon is offering one of my winners the chance to win a Boon Potty Bench
for themselves! To enter, visit the boon web site and leave a comment telling me which item you are most interested in seeing reviewed next. (Get an automatic extra entry if you mention a boon item I have not yet reviewed!)

Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, Jan. 31, 2009 and the winner will have four business days from the announcement date to contact me with their information or an alternate will be selected.

Additional extra entries are also available if you:
* Become a fan of boon on Facebook
* Become a fan of Berrie Sweet Picks on Facebook
* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Follow boon on twitter (Nickname: booninc)
* Tweet the contest leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!

Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Skin MD Natural: A new choice in natural skin care

Wow, talk about blogging withdrawal! I've been away from an actual computer since early last week preparing for a much-anticipated trip to see The Celiac Dad in New Mexico (he's been working out if state for the past few months) and appreciate the well wishes from all of you! Buttercup and I had a great time seeing her daddy, and I am counting down the five weeks we have left before we can see him again.

And as much as I hate getting behind, I have to get back to blogging yesterday now or my list of items to review will just keep growing!

One item that I have had for a little while I purposely saved for the mini vacation. Skin MD Natural sent me a sample of their new Shielding Lotion with SPF 15. If you've been reading along here for a while you know that the more "free" a product is, the more I like it. And this stuff has all the bells and whistles with no animal products or testing, fragrant and colorant free, hypoallergenic, paraben free and it's non-comedogenic. Add in the fact that it is dermatology tested for my sensitive skin, and I'm ready to plunk down the $25 for the 4 oz bottle without even having tried it yet.

And before I go any further, I loved it just as much as I thought I would when I did try it in New Mexico. It's light. Doesn't feel greasy. And because it's fragrance free, even the most sensitive of noses will be more than happy to have this stuff slathered on.

Buttercup and I diligently applied Skin MD Natural daily while on our trip. And since we were constantly in the sun, I made sure to reapply as the need arose. No sunburns. No wind chapped skin. It was great!

So here's the funny part of the story: I sat down to blog my review and realized I had didn't have to wait for a trip to a southern state to start benefitting from Skin MD Natural. Maybe it was the SPF 15 on the bottle, but I had wrongly assumed it was just a better alternative to traditional sunscreens.

Turns out, Skin MD Natural is actually a shielding lotion said to fight the daily abuse our skin takes with all the fragrances, colorants, and other ingredients in soaps and cleansers that strip away the skin's protective elements. Even more impressive is the fact that by using a shielding lotion that seals in the body's own moisture for long periods of time, you can actually help keep irritants out.

Who knew?

Since taking the time to read up on the benefits of Skin MD Natural with SPF 15, I have been using it daily and plan to keep on using it. Interested in a new alternative for natural skin care? Give it a try!

Berrie Sweet Update

I've been pretty good about posting here on a regular basis, so I'm sure hoping wondering that you'd all be wondering where I went if I missed five days of reviews, so here's the scoop: Buttercup and I are busy packing our suitcases so we can go see her daddy. (He's been working out of state the past few months.)

We'll be back Tuesday with another review!

My Little Seat: My Newest Travel Must-Have

Who knew that planning a vacation with a toddler would be so tough? I'm getting ready to see my hubby for the first time in over a month (he's currently working in another state) and Buttercup is coming along for the plane ride and long weekend. This, of course, means extra planning and extra creativity to stretch our packing experience to the maximum, what with all the restrictions placed on what we can bring with us. So I decided to contact various businesses in a search for what I call "Travel Must Haves" for parents.

One item I came across is My Little Seat, an ingenious travel high chair sling that allows parents to turn any chair into a high chair for your child. And it's so small and easy to pack! Check out my vlog review, which I also posted at NewBaby!



I love this thing and highly recommend it to anyone interested in an easily portable high chair that takes up next to no space at all in a diaper bag carry-on! It's also a great idea for saving space, and money, in your own home or just a simple trip to a friend's house who doesn't have kids. You can get your own My Little Seat here or at Amazon.com.

Remember this contest? Yeah, that one...

Hi, so.. um....yeah....

Remember this post? And the contest for the free Lollitops hats that went with it? Yeah...about that...

Funny story! I got an email yesterday from Kim, the Lollitops owner, asking if I had ever sent her the winners for the contest and I, of course, said YES and then went back into my files only to realize that I, of course, never did.

Oops. I mean, the contest was back in OCTOBER! Sorry!

So here's the deal: Kim asked me to go back into the contest entries and pick two winners (which I did! Check my sidebar to see if you won!) and to make an announcement that all 126 entrants are being offered %10 percent off any purchase from her store. And if you order two or more Lollitops, you also get free shipping!

To qualify for the discount, just fill out this contact form letting Kim know that you entered my contest and would like to get %10 percent off. Wait for her to get back to you in order to apply the discount.

My apologies to everyone who entered and thanks for your patience!

Me? An Expert? Naaaaaah....

It's been a busy week, and I've beem using my precious free time to vlog some reviews received through NewBaby's new product review program.

I wanted to tear my hair out with the edits on the vlog I have posted below for Lost & Found Temporary Tattoos from Tattoos with a Purpose, but it was worth it!

I just found out that the powers that be at NewBaby thought enough of my vlog to list it in their EXPERT column on the homepage! How cool is that?

Thanks, NewBaby! I am enjoying the opportunity to vlog for you and share my insight with your viewers.

Waking up is Hard to Do: Neil Sedaka CD review

When I was little, I only knew two kinds of music: the regional Mexican music my family constantly played every time we got together and, of course, the "oldies" music station my dad loved to play when driving us to and from our family gatherings.


I grew up with an equal mix of Ranchero, Mariachi, and Mexican pop balanced with plenty of Beach Boys, Tina Turner, Beatles, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross and The Supremes, and of course, Neil Sedaka.


So I was very excited to receive a copy of Neil Sedaka's first ever children's album, Waking Up is Hard to Do. (Razor & Tie Entertainment.)


Sedaka has a long and distinguished career behind him, now stretching into its sixth decade, and this incredible children's CD, set for a January 6 release, is a wistful tribute to the hit songs that made my mother fall in love with him.


Waking Up is Hard to Do, which includes a coloring book, is a collection of classic Sedaka songs that have been smartly reinvented as children's songs. His inspiration was, of course, his granddaughters. And even cuter is the back-vocals on songs like "Happy Birthday Number Three," "Waking Up is Hard to Do," and "Where the Toys Are," provided by five-year-old twin grandchildren Charlotte and Amanda.


I love this CD. It's cute, it's fun, it's upbeat, and I love that while Buttercup gets to discover a new musical favorite, I get to sing along in my head to the lyrics I grew up with. This one is most definitely going on my iPod for us both to enjoy!


Waking Up is Hard to Do will be available at Amazon for $8.99 (and you can listen to the tracks, too!)

New monthly contest for Metro Detroiters!

Listen up, Detroit peeps! Johnny B's Cookies are so happy with the online interest in the two contests that I held so far that they have asked me to host a monthly contest for ONE winner to walk with a dozen of their tasty cookies!

Here's my review! And be sure to read on for instructions on how to enter the contest!

REVIEW
When is the last time you had a cookie so good that you wanted to hide it?
Here in Metro Detroit, we are lucky enough to have the homemade chewy goodness of Johnny B's Cookies, located on Mack Avenue in St. Clair Shores.

And their cookies?

OMG. Seriously....they are almost indescribably good.

Their best-known cookie, of course, is the chocolate-chip chewy. With it's crispy outer edge and super chewy center, it's got to be the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever tasted. My other favorites include their peanut butter, peanut butter bomb. and betsey's lemon shortbread bars.The owners say they have the best cookies in the world, and I'd have to agree.

They use the finest ingredients, no preservatives, and their cookies are made fresh daily by hand.

I know.

For $18, they will ship a dozen of their cookies to anyone in the United States--now wouldn't that make a super sweet Just Because present for a special someone? Johnny B's cookies are also a wonderful idea for corporate gift baskets, special occassions, holiday baskets, and more.

Now for the fun part: if you live in Metro Detroit, listen up! I've got a great giveaway, courtesy of Johnny B's Cookies, offering one winner one dozen of a variety of cookies.

To enter, you MUST live in the Metro Detroit area and be able to drive to Johnny B's to pick up your prize. The first contest starts today and entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, on January 9. All I ask is that you leave me a comment with your city of residence, a valid email address or Twitter ID, and share with me what your plans for your cookies if you win! Are they a gift? Or are you going to hide them?

Rejuvenate with ReJavanate!

Reusable shopping bags have passed the "in" thing to do and, in my opinion, have simply become a "must-do."

I've had the chance to try a few different options on the market, and recently found my favorite. The ReJAVAnate bag is just cool-for a variety of reasons.

ReJAVAnate bags are made from burlap from coffee roasters that would have otherwise went straight to a landfill. That's just a smart way to recycle and eliminate a large source of waste.

(Did you know that coffee is the second largest commodity in the world and a resulting 800,000 tons of burlap are out into landfills every year? I was surprised to find that out, too!)

The company works with individuals with bags developmentally disabled individuals through The Arc to hand make the ReJAVAnate bags, providing the rest of us with a sustainable way to reduce paper and plastic bag consumption.

I took the ReJavanate to the grocery store with the me to grab some stuff, and was impressed with the roominess. I managed to fit 2 boxes of cereal, a bag of baby carrots, a head of romaine lettuce, and a bottle of juice. There was even room for a handful of boxes of Jello!

And as Rachel from Honeychunks pointed out to me, I even get a five cent bag credit for every reusable bag I bring in. Sweet!

I'm really loving this and think you will, too. It would definitely be a great way to bring in the New Year, wouldn't it?

ReJavanate is offering two of my winners the chance to win one Grower Logo bag (like mine!) each! To enter, visit the ReJAVAnate sister site at Buy Green and leave a comment telling me which item you are most interested in seeing reviewed next.

Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, Jan. 7, 2009 and the winner will have four business days from the announcement date to contact me with their information or an alternate will be selected.

Additional extra entries are also available if you:
*subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Don't pack up the summer dresses! Just add Skid Pants!

Buttercup and I absolutely love our skid pants from Honeychunks! It's a great accessory to pair with a summer dress or a pair of shorts for a cute and practrical winter outfit!

Who wants to get "fiddled"

I know...she's cute, right? And as the mother of this adorable little Buttercup, I ask you: Is it possible to make this image any more adorable than it already is? Seriously!

Normally, I would say no. I mean, I am her mother, after all.

But then I found out about Photo Fiddle, and got ****this in the mail....

...and realized that it is entirely possible to improve upon perfection. ;)

With Photo Fiddle, the possibilities are endless. You just upload your photo of choice and then fiddle your way through the variety of options (modern, abstract, oil, sketch, Warhol-like pop art, airbrush, comic book, and more) and the end result is a stunning actual pain-on-canvas rendition of your photo.

I loved the concept, but didn't really have a true appreciation for the genius of Photo Fiddle until I got my package on my doorstep. Inside the box was this absolutely beautiful 12" by 18" canvas painting of my baby girl, and I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face the rest of the day.

The image we submitted, and that Photo Fiddle well, fiddled, was from our trip to the Toledo Zoo this past summer. My father died last winter, and my aunts and uncles on his side of the family were afraid that our connection to his side of the family might have been buried with him. That is as far from the truth as things can get, but still...

So one Friday my 10-year-old cousin called and asked if we wanted to take a drive to the Toledo Zoo the next morning with Buttercup and his mom and dad. I thought of all the things I had to do: work, laundry, cleaning the house, blogging...and quickly realized none of it mattered for the next 24 hours. What did matter was a fun-filled day with family that means more to me now than ever before.

So we packed up, drive from our home in Metro Detroit to meet my aunt and uncle at their home, and then piled up in one vehicle for an early morning trip to the zoo on a perfectly sunny day.

We had a great day and saw the entire zoo with me snapping photos on the digital every moment I could. This one we happened to capture in the Butterfly House. Buttercup's daddy was holding her close and as I went to snap a photo of the two of them, she turned and looked straight into the camera as the flash went off.

It was perfect.

I loved the photo to begin with, and still do. But there's just something magic about the Warhol-like canvas waiting to go up in Buttercup's new room. It's a memory that I will always hold on to. And thanks to Photo Fiddle, it's a memory that will be passed down for generations to come.

So *shuffling feet*...um, who might wanna maybe win a chance at a $50 gift certicate to get one of your own photos fiddled like I did? The 12" X 18: stretched canvas I got is priced at $59.95, and is perfectly sized for our little house, so this is a great giveaway to try for! (Thank you, Photo Fiddle!)

To enter, visit Photo Fiddle's site and then leave me a comment telling me which artistic style you would choose for your photo if you are selected the winner.

Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, Jan. 9, 2009 (OMG! My first 2009 contest!) and the winner will have four business days from the announcement date to contact me with their information or an alternate will be selected.

Additional extra entries are also available if you:
* Write a dedicated blog post with your selected photo to fiddle and a description of your memory and why it's a memory worth saving on canvas. The blog post must link to Photo Fiddle and to this blog post, letting your readers know about the contest. Oh, and don't forget to leave me a comment with the link to your blog post.

*subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Sweet! Now go get fiddled!

Forget envy! Turn green with pride!

So are you "green?" Do you try to do your part to help protect our planet for future generations by preserving its natural resources?

Yes and yes? Sweet!

Now, take a look in the closest mirror and see if you have actually turned green as a way to show the world that you are doing your part! (Yes, I'm kidding...you can put the compact down now.)

But seriously, though, wouldn't the concept of turning green be a great way to help bring home the point of conserving natural resources for our kids? A new book series from The Little Environmentalists does just that, and from a kid's point of view, to boot.

"I'm Turning Green" shows how the little things we do, like turning off the water as we brush our teeth, can make a big diference! Check out Buttercup enjoying the story for the first time as her Abuela reads it to her!

I love this story, and I am pretty impressed that 18 mth-old Buttercup not only sat through the whole book, but eagerly requested a second reading (and sat through that one, too!)

And in case you're wondering, Little Environemtalists are a company worth promoting. It's refreshing to see a such a positive for kids reinforce the importance of "going green" with their dedication to producing environmentally-friendly products. All books are printed using 100 percent recycled paper that is 1200 percent post-consumer waste and chloring free. And if that wasn't enough, the ink is eco-friendly, too.

Can it get any better than that? Retailing for $7.95, "I’m Turning Green" can be found at The Little Environmentalists and Amazon.

So who wants to "go green" with their kids? One lucky U.S. winner will get the chance to bring the "green" home by leaving a comment on this post.

To enter, ask your children for their best eco-friendly tip and share it with my readers here! Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, December 29 and the winner will have four business days from the announcement date to contact me with their information or an alternate will be selected. US entries only, please. What a perfect way to bring in the New Year!

Additional extra entries are also available if you:

* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.

* Blog about contest and link to this post.

* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!

* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!

* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)

* Tweet the contest leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!
Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Go eco-friendly when fighting your cold

It happens every time: Buttercup gets sick and I just bide time until I get whatever little germs she is carrying passed on to me and then end up with a worse cold than she had.

But now I've got a little extra-something in my mommy-arsenal to help get me back on track sooner (since we all know that the world does not stop spinning for sick moms, although I really think it should.)

I had the opportunity to try Cold-Eeze zinc lozenges, which are clinically proven to help reduce the duration and severity of a cold by 42 percent (or within three to four days). It's the Zinc itself that helps get your immune system boosted, and it also gets your system an extra kick in helping fight infections.

But don't make the mistake like I did of waiting for a full-fledged cold hitting you before giving these a try. My sister had much better results when she started the COLD-EEZE lozenges as soon as she felt her cold coming on. She just followed the directions and took a lozenge every two-to-four hours, and she cleared her cold much faster than I did (and didn't have to call in sick to work!)

As for me, I sat at home on the couch popping Organix Cough and Sore Throat Drops like they were going out of style. And even though I would have gladly forced down anything to get rid of my cough and soothe my throat, I liked the taste of these cough drops. I also like that they are the first over-the-counter cough and sore throat drops that are Certified Organic.

Try them out for yourself the next time a cold gets the better of you. Organix are available in Organix is available in Dark Chocolate Mint flavor, Purely Peppermint, Orchard Cherry and Golden Honey Lemon.

Oh, and eco-friendly bonus alert: Even the twist wraps of each lozenge is made from fully compostable corn starch! How's that for sweet?