Author: dee

Global Influence Holiday Guide

Published by dee on November 24, 2009

Holiday shopping season is here again and the Global Influence network has some great gift ideas for you, tried and tested by real moms. Click on the links to check out what our team of reviewers had to say about each of these gift ideas, and then take a moment to enter our fun giveaway and take a chance at winning some of these fabulous products.

Featured Reviews

Pouchees – Busy moms need all the help they can get to stay organized and keep life as simple as possible. The Pouchee is the perfect solution to keeping all those little things together, putting everything you need, right at your fingertips.

Duck Hunter – Duck Hunter turns the excitement of the hunt into an activity the whole family can enjoy. Launch the duck in the air and try to hunt it down with the toy shooter as it flies freely in the air. A fun choice for those who love outdoor sporting.

CardStore cards– Personalized holiday cards are an important item on everyone’s to-do list and often a hassle to create and print. Cardstore.com has everything from family photo cards to invitations for your big holiday party, simplifying your holiday season.

Great Holiday Gift Ideas

Things Remembered Custom Couture Jewelry

Just Elfin’ Around

Card Cubby

Harumika By Bandai

Harumika Runway Showstopper

Harumika Style Starter

Baby Alive Whoopsie Doo

Strawberry Shortcake Playset

Kota Monty Rex

Wall to Wall Basketball

Nerf Pocket Vortex

Busy Ball Popper

Talking Chuck Truck

Leapfrog My Pal Scout

Leapfrog Tag Jr

Leapfrog Scribble and Write

Animal Planet Polar Land Playset

Animal Planet Dinosaur Playmat

Onionhead Adult/Teen Feelings Pack

OnionHead Children’s Feelings Pack

Onionhead A-Z Feelings Magnet Set

FotoboxPlus

MeTime Tees

Fun Holiday Giveaway!

For this holiday guide, we want to share the love with the blogosphere! Some of our generous sponsors have donated prizes to be given away to lucky readers! To enter to win one of the following fabulous prizes, simply fill out the form here: http://tinyurl.com/y8t92rw

Prizes include:

Things Remembered Custom Couture Jewelry

Pouchee

Elfing Around

Harumika

Onionhead Feelings Pack

Nerf Wall to Wall Basketball

Baby Alive Whoopsie Doo

MeTime T-shirt

Entries will close on December 6, 2009 at 11:59 PM EST. Winners will be contacted by email after the close of the contest.

Global Influence Member Guides

Need more ideas for this holiday season? Check out the guides that some of our Global Influence members have put together on their own sites! Thrifty Jinxy, Happy Healthy Hip , And Twins Make Five , Because Two People Fell In Love, Mommy Musings , Lipstick to Crayons , Bargain Briana , Mommy PR , Shop With Me Mama, Santa Picks, Rave and Review, Connected 2 Christ , 3 Boys and a Dog, The Classy Closet , Contest Corner, Lisa Reviews , A Giveaway Every Day, HulaHoopinMom, Spalibrations, High Impact Mom, From Cribs to Car Keys

All reviews listed in the Global Influence gift guide were product provided. Featured positions were purchased by sponsors. Member gift guides are not affiliated with Global Influence.

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A Night With Zac Brown Band

Published by dee on November 22, 2009

Thursday night Hubby and I had the pleasure of seeing Zac Brown Band perform. I knew the first time I heard “Chicken Fried” that they were a band to watch and they quickly became a favorite. I pre-ordered The Foundation long before it was released and listened to it over and over again. I don’t think there’s a song on it that I don’t like.

I waited for well over a year to get a chance to see them live and it was definitely worth the wait. They were absolutely amazing live. I’ve seen a lot of live music and it’s rare to see a band put so much emotion and heart into a performance. The whole show was incredible, but I’ll never forget the raw emotion of “Junkyard,” a song written about Zac Brown’s home life when he was a child.

Opening acts Levi Lowry, Sonia Leigh, and Nic Cowen were all great too. Instead of the traditional concert set up where each act plays for an allotted amount of time, each one played a few songs alone, then Zac Brown and various other musicians from each band joined in. It was like one big jam session with everybody playing together.

I decided to take a chance and bring my good camera along so I could zoom in. I wasn’t thrilled with all of the photos, but I got enough good ones to make me happy. I definitely need to work on getting sharper photos in a dark environment. I played around with settings a little bit, but in the end I was getting better shots on auto so I gave up. I did have a girl come up to me halfway through the show and ask if I would e-mail her some pictures though.

If you want to see the rest of the photos, you can check them out on Flickr.

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Custom Thank You Card Giveaway

Published by dee on November 21, 2009

This giveaway has ended and the winner, Jamie P, has been notified. Keep checking back for more great giveaways!

It’s time for another fun giveaway from UPrinting.com. Just in time for the holidays, UPrinting is giving away 50 Custom Thank You cards and envelopes! These cards are perfect for thanking friends and family for all those holiday gifts or even giving away in a gift basket! Don’t need Thank You cards? Customize it and turn it into a greeting card instead. UPrinting cards are printed on high-quality paper and cardstock and are perfect for just about any occasion.

greetingcards_up

Here are the specifics of what you can win:

Prize Offered: (50 ct.) 7 x 5″ (folded to 3.5 x 5″) Custom Thank You Cards with plain envelopes
Shipping: Free UPS Ground within United States
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents due to shipping costs.

Enter to win the 50 Custom Thank You cards by leaving a comment below telling me how you plan to use them! Be sure to leave a valid e-mail address with your comment so you can be notified if you win.

This contest will close on November 29, 2009 at 12:00 Noon (Central). A winner will be chosen from all valid entries by Random.org and notified by e-mail. The winner will receive an e-mail directly from UPrinting with a code for their 50 free cards on December 5, 2009.

Disclosure: In appreciation for hosting this giveaway, UPrinting is also giving me a set of 50 Custom Thank You cards with envelopes.

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Canon vs. Nikon

Published by dee on November 18, 2009

It’s no big secret around here that I want a new camera, a DSLR, to be more specific. I know, I can’t stop talking about it. I’m saving everything I can and trying to come up with a way to make more extra money faster. Once I decide that I want something, it is hard to sit back and wait. I’ve been waiting for a long time already. So while I’m waiting, I’m shopping online.
Canon T1i I think I’ve narrowed it down to the camera that makes the most sense for me – a Canon EOS Rebel T1i . It is reasonably priced and from what I can tell has all of the features that I really want. I have it added to my Amazon wishlist and threw it out on Twitter this morning.

deew27 And then I got this response:

carissarogers

And then I thought about it. I’ve pretty much decided on Canon, but what if there is some sort of amazing magical thing that Nikons do that nobody has bothered to tell me about? What if I’m missing out on something incredible by not opening myself up to other options? I have nothing against Nikon. I actually have a very old Nikon camera that I really liked at the time. But, I have a Canon right now that I’m absolutely in LOVE with. I’m just ready to move above and beyond my PowerShot.

So, I’m opening up the floor: Canon vs. Nikon

Tell me what you love about your Canon. Tell me what you love about your Nikon. Any negatives about either one? I want to know. Keep in mind that I’m very much a beginner. I’m looking for something to learn on, but also something that will last me a while because I don’t see another big purchase coming for a long time. Just keep it nice and informative please! I’m ready to soak it all in.

Also? If you have a specific model that you think is perfect for someone who knows a little about photography but wants to be awesome at it, feel free to share that too!

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I ♥ Faces – Autumn Beauty

Published by dee on November 17, 2009

This week’s I ♥ Faces challenge is Autumn Beauty. I had plans of getting my kids out in the leaves last weekend for a fun Autumn shot, but the weather didn’t cooperate. It was cold and rainy all weekend so we didn’t get outside at all. Instead, I pulled up this photo from last Thanksgiving. I love this shot of my daughter. Looking back at it now she looks so tiny.

I loved looking at all the fun Fall photos this week. Be sure to go check them out at the I ♥ Faces blog!

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Patience, Photography, and An Awesome Weekend

Published by dee on November 9, 2009

Patience is not something that I have a lot of (just ask my family). I get frustrated easily when things don’t happen the way I want them to, or as quickly as I want them to. I want what I want and I want it right now! My biggest want right now is a DSLR camera. I haven’t narrowed down the exact model yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go with a Canon when the time comes. Photography is my latest obsession and while I still don’t really know what I’m doing, I get enough good shots that I want a better camera. It’s a big purchase and one that is hard to justify when money is as tight as it is. Plus, I still have so much to learn and am not sure I’m far enough into it to justify the cost either. The whole thing just seems so far out of reach, but I know if I stretch far enough I’ll get there some day. I just have to have patience – and a plan.

For now, my short-term plan is to save as much as I can. If you see ads popping up on my web sites, this is why. All advertising money I make is being saved up in my PayPal account for my new camera. It is trickling in slowly, but it’s a start. A couple months ago when I had my surgery (and was in need of a pick-me-up) I decided to spend everything that I had saved for some new lenses to extend the abilities of my current camera (a Canon Powershot S5 IS). It satisfied the want for a while, but now I’m back to wanting the DSLR and starting all over with the saving. I’ve listed my guitar on craigslist again to see if I get any bites on it and am trying to come up with other things I can sell for a little money.

The other part of my plan is to learn as much as possible while I’m saving. I could spend hours upon hours just looking at beautiful photos, but I need to get beyond the “wow” and start figuring out how the photographer pulled off that amazing shot. I need to learn more about manual settings, finding the perfect lighting, and posing. I also need to figure out how to get a 20 month old child to hold still for more than one second (any tips on that would be very welcome).

This weekend was one of those that had me sitting around wishing and longing for the day when I have the camera I want in my hands. It was absolutely beautiful outside. The sun was shining, it was warm, and I spent most of the day Saturday outside with the kids. First was a birthday party for a day care friend, then we played outside until it started getting dark (which came entirely too early). The kids had a blast and I really enjoyed experimenting and taking tons of photos. When I cleaned off my camera card later, I had taken nearly 400 photos. I also discovered that my hard drive I store my photos on is completely full. Guess I’ll have to deal with that soon!

I spent much of the weekend dreaming, formulating, and contemplating. I want this to be a real thing. I don’t want to give up on it like so many of my other hobbies. I’m thinking of all the possibilities that this photography thing could open up. I keep going back to how much fun I have with a camera in my hands. I think I might finally know what I want to be when I grow up. And it’s scary. I still have a lot of growing to do.

And even if my hubby laughs at me while I experiment, at least I can still get him to pose for me now and then. Now all I need is a little more patience.

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