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#LandsEnd Cyber Monday Twitter Party

Jenny and I love us a good twitter party, and there are none we like better than those about Lands’ End!

We’re thrilled to be participating in this year’s Lands’ End 12 Hours of Twitter event again this year. We’re hosting the first hour, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., and we hope you’ll join us. Here are the details:

@LandsEndPR on November 28, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. EST at #landsend and tweet along for a chance to win festive prizes, learn about great values, retweet offers and answer trivia questions. Participants will have the chance to win one of the more than 65 great giveaways over the 12-hour period.

Lands’ End gives away GREAT prizes during their twitter parties, and they are so much fun. This year they’re adding a Power Hour from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. EST, when they’ll give away three $250 gift cards, and if #LandsEnd becomes a trending topic on Twitter, they’ll also give away a $500 gift card.

Also on Cyber Monday, Lands’ End will offer lots of “St. Nick’s Picks” – great deals on gift items. Last year Jenny and I both bought monogrammed totes to give as teacher gifts at a great price, and we are looking forward to seeing what will be on sale again this year. As always, the Lands’ End quality and customer service can’t be beat – last year I needed to change something on my Cyber Monday order, and even on the busiest online shopping day of the year, a real live person answered my call on the second ring. Lands’ End is the best.

I hope you’ll join us for the Lands’ End 12 Hours of Twitter Even on Monday, November 28!

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What’s for Lunch?

Lately I’ve been making a concerted effort to eat more regularly throughout the day. Prior to the last couple of weeks, I rarely ate breakfast. Well, unless you consider black coffee and Diet Coke breakfast, in which case I had it every day! So, I’ve been taking peanut butter toast and a banana with me in the car in the morning, which is working out well.

However, there’s another big food question mark in the middle of my day – lunch. I rarely plan ahead for lunch, which means I either grab something quick (and expensive and not so healthy), or I scavenge something to eat out of my desk drawer, and then find myself ravenous when I get home. I think that’s a common problem for working moms and stay-at-home moms alike. Jenny has posted before about how her lunch sometimes consists of Mountain Dew and a hunk of cheese. I guess it’s another symptom of putting ourselves last! But it’s time for a change.

I thought I’d brainstorm and see what ideas I could come up with for easy, quick, yet affordable and nutritious lunches. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
— Leftovers – provided a) I cook the night before, b) there’s anything left, and c) I can remember to take it with me in the morning.
— Soup – there’s nothing appealing to me about breaking out a can of soup at lunch time, but there have been times that I’ve had my act together and have frozen portions of homemade soup (made by my grandma, not so much by me) to take with me. That actually works out pretty well. I also saw a thing on pinterest that suggested freezing soup in muffin tins, so you essentially have a soup ice cube.
— Frozen meals – honestly, having a stash of microwavable meals at work is probably the only way for me to make sure I stay out of the it’s-noon-and-I-need-food-but-I-don’t-have-any frenzy. However, I used to try to stay away from them because I don’t like the idea of fake food and preservative (unless those things are in Oreo form. Then I’m totally behind them).

Enter: the answer to this quandary – Healthy Choice Top Chef Inspired Cafe Steamers. TheMotherhood.com asked me to try them out and write a post about them, but truth be told, I had already discovered them. Basically, the meals come with the sauce separate from the meat and vegetables, and they steam to cook. They come in eight different varieties, including Barbeque Seasoned Steak with Red Potatoes, Chicken Fresca with Chardonnay, and Chicken Linguini with Red Pepper Alfredo. They are also budget-friendly – they cost between $2.75 and $3.50.

I’m going to keep a few of these in the freezer at work, and on days when I don’t have it together enough to have packed something, I’ll have them ready as an alternative to fast food.

Do you struggle with feeding yourself during the day? What are some strategies you’ve found to fit eating into your schedule?

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This post was sponsored by Healthy Choice through The Motherhood. For more info, check out their website, facebook page or follow them on .

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Family Review: CoCo Key Water Resort in Cincinnati

To celebrate Sophie’s 5th birthday, Bobby and I really wanted to do something special.  We took Joshua to Entertrainment Junction for his 5th, so we started thinking of somewhere that would really excite Sophie but that would also work for us as an entire family.  We wanted a little getaway but didn’t want to go too far from home.  Bobby came up with the idea of an indoor waterpark, because Sophie had loved the one we visited last June. After looking around at the options, we decided to try CoCo Key, just north of Cincinnati.

When we told the kids, they were *so excited*!  And when we got there, CoCo Key did not disappoint!  Joshua and Sophie had an amazing time.

Even Jonah enjoyed himself immensely!

Here’s what I really loved about CoCo Key:

  • Gates!! There were gates closing off the little kids area from the seating area and also gates closing off the main part of the waterpark  – they were easy to open and close for adults, and for older kids, but they made it very difficult for smaller kids to get away from their parents. 🙂
  • Smaller kids area: my kids had a blast in this area that was just for them.  Of course they could go off and enjoy slides in the main area, also, but it was great for them to have somwhere to relax and just play together.  There was a LOT of room for them to move around as well as do the slides.
  • Convenience: Food & drink were available to purchase poolside so you never had to be far from the action.
  • Lazy river – who doesn’t love one of these?
  • The main area was lots of fun, too.  Sophie, my adventurous child, spent just as much time going on all the slides over there as she did in the kids’ area.  And Bobby assured me (I didn’t try) that the slides for only those over 4 feet were screamin’ fast and lots of fun, too!

We did stay one night at the Crowne Plaza, the hotel that is home to CoCo Key.  It was very nice and comfortable, and we all slept great!  Even Jonah, which was totally unexpected!

We really had a wonderful time celebrating our girl, and CoCo Key was the perfect spot to do it in! We will DEFINITELY be back!  If you are traveling to the Cincy area and are looking for a fun family place to stay, I highly recommend it!  Check out all CoCo Key has to offer on their Facebook page.

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The good folks at Crowne Plaza/CoCo Key gave me a reduced rate for my stay to help facilitate my review, but the opinions are all mine and are not influenced by the facility.

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