Carbonite Saves The Day With A Discount Code

This post brought to you by Carbonite. All opinions are 100% mine.

We all know that we’re a digital world, and if you’re like me, everything important to you that isn’t family is stored on that little ‘box’ that you call a computer. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the blue screen of death scare with my computer. It’s heartbreaking and like something happened someone in your family, or maybe Ella and I just share a bloodline … yes my laptop is named Ella lets just deal with it and more on okay? Don’t you wish there was a way to have a little ‘superhero you could call to make sure your computer backup goes smoothly?

This is where Carbonite swoops in to save the day! Carbonite helps take the worry out of online backup by securely and automatically backing up your files anytime your computer is connected to the internet. I know this is pretty wicked because my computer is hooked up to the internet just about all day. What I like about Carbonite is that it is very easy to use and can be accessed from virtually any internet connect. Yes this includes the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, and Blackberry smart phones as well. This would be pretty awesome to do if you were out and needed to share a photo from a few months back that was at home on your laptop. Since 2005, Carbonite has been able to safely recover over 7 billion files that easily could’ve been lost. For me I’d love this because you can’t get back the photos of your children right after they were born, or those family members that were lost. The last time my computer had a close call with the blue screen of death I was terrified I’d lose all the photos of my Grandma before she got sick and passed away forever. I didn’t have a backup at the time and was thankfully able to save poor Ella, but let me tell you it’s the first thing I’m getting once life settles down bills wise.

I believe that Carbonite is well worth the price of $59 for an entire year. As if that wasn’t a good deal right now you get 15 days free just for signing up, then using the code BLOGAD will give you an extra TWO months free. Now that’s a good deal! So what are you waiting for? Head to  Carbonite and sign up for their services today! You will not be disappointed.

Back To School With Tiny Prints

It’s the most wonderful time of the year ….. if you’re a parent that is. Yup you’re right it’s back to school time and if you’re like me, you’ve gone through a million emotions. One day I’m ready to ship him off on the big yellow bus and other days I want snuggle with him all day without letting him go. This year is a bigger deal than the last year on so many levels. Not only is O starting full day school, he’s beginning “big kid” school and entering 1st grade. As if that wasn’t enough for this mama to deal with, I’m putting him on the bus this year and it honestly scares me to death the most I think. We’ve been doing the bus thing for 2 days now and it seems to be going good so that is easing the tug on this mama’s heart strings just a little bit.
Now here at Creativelyb I can’t send O back to school with just any old stuff. No this mama has to send him back to school the creative way and I have to tell you my favorite place to start is Back-To-School Shopping with Tiny Prints because well have you seen the cute personalized notebook creations then you are just missing out. I also think I need to get the personalized stationary for O to write my brother. I know he’d love to receive a letter with a photo(s) on it already and O is getting pretty good at writing my brother. Are you sending your little/big ones back to school with fun things this year?

Bealls Saves Some Back To School Cash

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bealls. All opinions are 100% mine.
It seems like back to school shopping is a never ending process. First you have the list of supplies that seems outrageous and like you’re supplying for the whole class. For example O needs FOUR …. yes 4 packs of the 24 count Crayola crayons. Why does he need four?! Or my favorite of EIGHT glue sticks and two bottles of 4oz glue. How many things are they going to glue in the 1st grade? I don’t mind helping out the ones that can’t afford the supplies because Lord knows we’ve been down that path before. Plus we’re still trying to find a supply box the size of 12″ 7″. Now if the supplies were not pricey enough (depending on when you shop of course) there is the added expense of a new wardrobe. This is where Bealls helps save the day!
Bealls offers some great deals on all your back-to-school clothes shopping. We’re “lucky” (depending on your view of the topic) to not have to worry about uniforms. This makes our back-to-school clothes shopping a bit more overwhelming for O. I did like that Bealls offers a wide selections of not only ‘regular’ clothes but uniforms as well. I’m undecided on this topic to be honest. I went to school where we needed uniforms and didn’t mind them but I also loved going clothes shopping with my grandparents for ‘regular’ clothes. So since O’s school allows regular clothes he has insisted he needs “cool” clothes. Thankfully he still thinks anything with Lego Batman or superheroes are “cool”. He’s also into anything camo since my brother left for boot camp. Oh and lets not forget Angry Birds and how cute is the Woodstock Angry Birds shirt, it’s right up O’s alley. I really think that would be a cute way to start out the year. I think this would be a great shirt to put together with some camo cargo shorts. Yup that’s definitely my kid’s style. He loves to be comfortable, cool, and so very into the sporty/preppy style.

Do your kids need to wear uniforms? If not what is their first day of school outfit going to be?

My Coke Rewards For Schools!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of My Coke Rewards for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I ever I have some Coca-Cola I have say it always brings me back to my childhood. My grandma always kept the fridge full of cans of Coca-Cola. So when I heard about the My Coke rewards for schools I was very interested because well as I said I love Coca-Cola and My Coke Points so I was interested in how this program was going to help schools. If you haven’t heard about the program, it’s simple to start earning rewards for your favorite schools. To start donating you just need to buy your favorite Coca-Cola products. It helps that there are 15 participating brands so I’m sure you’ll find something to please everyone, O votes for Root beer if you are stuck on which product to pick. Then take your codes and enter them into mycokerewards.com/schools to points. After this you get to pick your school and donate the number of points you want to give. Now the awesome part. The schools gets to use the points to get rewards such as classroom supplies, athletic equipment and other things.

Making sure your school is on the list is just as easy. First the school must identify a School Coordinator that manages the school’s account. To do this just visit mycokerewards.com/schools to find your school and complete the registration process. After this the hardest part is spreading the word and letting other parents know how easy it is to donate. I mean if they buy Coca-Cola products they aren’t going out of their way to donate things. Plus it can be done in the comfort of their own home. Some creative ways to spread the word would be posting it on your school’s website, sending home brief fliers about the program, and even hanging banners around the school.

So there you have it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy as O says. Are you participating for your school? What fun ways are you going to help spread the word?

Back To School Cell Phone Shopping … Really?!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
In about a month and a half my baby will be a 1st grader officially. I’m nervous because well it’s his first year of full time school, but it’s also his first time being on the bus. I’m so nervous about this. I know he’s young still but I can’t lie and say I haven’t thought of getting him a TracFone. I know you think I’m probably crazy but with all the crazy stuff that is going on in schools with violence and such, PLUS I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about kids being bullied on the bus that I feel justified with my thoughts of getting him a phone. Obviously he doesn’t need a super fancy iPhone or anything like because well the boy can’t spell or read hardly yet lol. I just want something for him that can store our cell phones and our house phone, doesn’t require upping our phone bill, and something that I can just add a few minutes on here or there when he needs it. This is where TracFone comes into play. Though I was really interested in what real TracFone customers
 say about their services. After looking at their website I was intrigued by a few things.
What drew me into thinking about getting a TracFone for Owen was that there are no contracts, no credit checks, no activation charges or cancelation fees. They offer great nationwide coverage with amazing reception and connectivity. I liked that they offer some of the best leading name brand manufactures such as LG, Nokia, Samsung, and of course Motorola. Another great point was we had the option to pay-as-you-go (which I love that I can do online lol) or even use a monthly plan. Their monthly plans are priced anywhere from 119.00 for a year with double minutes for the life of your TracFone and includes 800 minutes. If that’s not something  you’re interested in, you can go with 200 minutes for under 30.00 and they go as low as 9.99 for 50 minutes. Also you can purchase the double minutes for the life of your phone for 19.99 though check your phones because sometimes it’s included. Now not that Owen needs it but I really liked that the cost of calling internationally is the same price as any other call.

TracFone has some interesting Youtube videos up of real TracFone customers talking about their experiences with reliability, No Surprise Bills, and even coverage. So after looking at what real TracFone customers had to say AND the information I found on their website I think is a good basis to take this argument up with my husband and even if it’s not the right time NOW to get Owen a phone for safety reasons I think that it’s something that we will need to seriously think about sooner rather than later. It’s nice to  have options that aren’t going to break the bank.

Fandango and Monte Carlo

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Monte Carlo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Sometimes I’m not a fan of movies based off of books. I’ve found it’s hard to translate from one form to another. But with that said, I’m really excited to see Monte Carlo when it hits theaters Friday. If you haven’t heard, Monte Carlo stars Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester, and Andie MacDowell.is a film based off the book, Headhunters by Jules Bass. In the movie, a girl is traveling to Paris with her best friends and soon-to be uptight step-sister. Then the girl, Grace (played by Selena Gomez), is mistaken for a spoiled British heiress, and Grace and her friends find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of attention and going on a dream vacation to Monte Carlo.
I’m really excited to see this movie. I love all the main characters of this movie and it just looks like a really cute movie. I really like movies that are great to see with the girlfriends, and also something mother-daughters/Aunt-nieces etc. can see. Also who doesn’t love a romantic comedy with a dash of adventure? A great thing is that if you’re like me, you don’t have to wait to get tickets. Starting June 29th, you can get tickets online through Fandango, and for more fun you can ‘like’ the movie on Facebook for more fun. So fire off in the comments if you are going to see this or how interested you are to see it.

Also if you haven’t seen it yet, here is the awesome trailer:

Ebeanstalk Makes buying toys simple

I’m one of those parents that spoils their kid rotten, though in my defense he is my only child … my baby, and he doesn’t act like a spoiled brat much so this makes me feel a bit better ha! But I also prefer getting him toys that are fun AND don’t seem like educational toys even though they totally are. Now that the monster is almost 7, this is getting to be a bit tricky, that is until I browse through Ebeanstalk.com.  I think that my favorite part of the Ebeanstalk site is that they make it easy to browse by age and gender. I do most of my toy shopping for my son & nieces (who are 6.5, 4, and 2) through Ebeanstalk because I know that they have some really fun, creative, and educational toys that they will love.

With that said, I also love Ebeanstalk  because I mean at the prices on their sites,  I don’t feel bad for buying way too much for him! One of the favorites of Oj’s is the Melissa and Doug toys. He just adores their wooden car carrier, especially since he likes to watch the Repo shows with us lol. He calls it his Repo Truck. I like that the car carrier is made of something that isn’t going to break in 20 minutes and it’s like 2 toys in one;  you have the carrier as a whole & then you get the option to play with the cars just by themselves … what parent doesn’t love toys that are like that? It not only stretches your buck but helps hold their interest longer I’ve noticed.  Now on the other side of the coin, I’m shopping for a gift for a 2 year old I decided to look under the section for 2 year old toys  and one of the first things that jumped out at me were the Bathtub Finger Painting kit. I mean what kid doesn’t love to finger paint and this way the fun and mess stays where it belongs …. in the tub! It’s a win-win for everyone right?

Add in these reasons, plus the added benefit of shopping at home in my p.j.s; where the only weird stares I get are from my monster-child, and the discounts and you have one happy mama. So have you visited Ebeanstalk yet? What are you thinking of getting?

*I was given a free free product and/or was paid for this review. Any opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way.

KinderCare saves Summer Vacation

Have you been experiencing sweaty palms? Is your heart racing? Are you running around screaming in a panic? If not you should be SUMMER VACATION is here. Yes that time of year when the teachers release those monsters angelic children of ours back into our care 24/7. Oh the sheer terror!!

Now if you’re like me, you’re thinking what in the world can I do to not only keep my loving child out of my hair, from arguing with everyone out of boardeom, AND still make sure he keeps his mind sharp for school next year? Well have no fear, KinderCare is here to help with their awesome Summer Camps. Now if you’ve never heard of these programs before here is a little information about them:

KinderCare, the nation’s largest private provider of early childhood education, asked 1,000
parents across the U.S. about plans for their preschooler’s summer. Day camps earn a top
place on families’ must-do list, with parents of preschoolers confirming that they want kids’
bodies and minds to stay active.

What more could a Super Mom ask for? I know my son butts heads with me a lot, I mean it’s not like we’re both extremely hard-headed or anything, and this would be perfect for him. He’s really excited to do the Kid’s Kitchen program. I may or may not watch A LOT of Food Network shows and he keeps telling me how we need to have our own “cooker” show. We’ve even done mock shows here at home that he thinks is so much fun. I really like that they offer their programs in two groups; Pre-k and School age kids. With the school-age kids they show them how to cook a meal but also create centerpieces, fold napkins, and set tables in preparation for their meal. Interesting enough they will even learn how to play the spoons … how cute is that?!

So what fun plans do you have for your kids this summer?

*I was given a free free product and/or was paid for this review. Any opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way.

Pier 1’s Outdoor Fun

I’m so excited because it’s FINALLY starting to get warmer here in my little corner of Northern Illinois and that has me thinking about ONE thing: Entertaining outdoors. Now there is no other place I’d rather check out for fun outdoor furniture than Pier 1. The big reason that this is my one stop is because their outdoor furniture can also be used INDOORS! How cool is that? I love when I can reuse things like that lol, especially since Owen thinks he needs a Papasan for his room. We both really love the Double Papsan Chair with a Garnet cushion. I can see how these would be great use both inside and out. Though the Speckled Egg Centerpiece has got to be my favorite thing and I can imagine what a great conversational piece it will be. I also can already picture this being used inside my house when the cold comes back.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1. All opinions are 100% mine.
Looking at all the fun Spring goodness that Pier 1 is offering brings me back to my Grandma. She had this big bay window that changed with the seasons. It was one thing that all the Grandkids LOVED decorating. I can definitely picture these items sitting in her window when it gets cold but a lot of these would look beautiful outside on her big back porch that over looked her giant flower garden. The colors of the flowers would definitely help the  decorations pop.
Did you know that Spring is officially here on March 20th? That’s about a week away YAY! In honor of Spring if you sign up for the Pier 1 Outdoor newsletter between March 18-20 you can a special in-store offer from Pier 1! With these great prices I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be a great special. Also Pier 1 Tweetups are happening in a select location. Dallas has a Pier 1 Tweet up on March 22nd, Atlanta on April 5th, and NYC on April 20th. How fun would those be to attend? If you live in those areas and are joining please let me know how it goes!
What are YOUR must have Spring entertaining items?

Dive into Summer with Express Swimwear

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Express for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Are you ready to dive into Summer? After the winter we’ve had lets just say I’m more than ready to do so.  I already have plans over the summer to take O to the indoor water park that we keep meaning to go to. Of course this means I need a new two piece swimwear and preferably a tankini style since that’s what I feel most comfortable in. Now if you’ve never been to Express before they have some really cute women’s swimwear that comes in a variety of styles. colors and even designer details. Also I really like that the bottoms fit closer to size so that we get a moderate back coverage. I also noticed that they offer removable padding in the tops which is great because sometimes that padding makes me feel like I’m a human life preserver lol. I also really like the necessary beach essentials that they sell too. I like getting my swim suit, sunglasses and sandals all in one place.

 Of course while I was there I had to sign up for the Express e-mail not only to stay in the know for the hottest trends going around, but because they are randomly giving away TEN (10) $200 Express Giftcards! Make sure you read the sweepstakes rules and join their email list today! The Sweepstakes ends 4.30.11 at 11:59 EST.