Free Day at Disneyland!

Yes, it is true!

You can go to Disneyland, ON YOUR 2009 BIRTHDAY... for free!!!



Click here for the specifics. It is too easy!!

The Something Store - Followup

My package from the Something Store arrived this weekend. I was pleasantly surprised.

Remember... I paid $10 (that was the total, it includes shipping) and waited for my surprise something to arrive.

I received a Sudoku Nano... which is going to make a perfect Christmas stocking stuffer for someone in my family. I have a husband and two daughters that are Sudoku obsessed!!

I did a quick internet search and found the very same game at several sites ranging in price from $10.95 to $14.95, plus shipping. So, I got a good deal and got something that I can use! Not bad! I might just try it again!

Halloween Costumes

Oh my goodness... it would be hysterical if I could talk my kids in to being a Happy Meal for Halloween this year! These costumes are from Pottery Barn Kids, and while they are on sale and offer free shipping, they are still pricey... starting at $63. But they are sure cute...

Play Tents, etc.

This adorable Fashion Show red carpet playhut is available here. I can imagine the fun my girls would have with this. It costs $50 and includes free shipping!

This tent, called the Fantasy Palace, is available here and is priced at $58, also with free shipping. I LOVE it!

Kisses

This is the sequel to the book, "The Kissing Hand," one of our favorites. "A Pocket Full of Kisses" is all about coping and adjusting to the arrival of a new baby in the family. We have certainly done our fair share of adding new babies... however, I think the message of the book is great for just dealing with day-to-day sibling rivalry! Chester, the older brother, asks his mom... "If you give both of us Kissing Hands, won't you run out?" Mother's answer is perfect, tender and a great way to explain to kids how our love for our kids is endless.

"Kisses" is a silly book about all sorts of kisses. The birthday kiss, a grandma's kiss, a circus kiss... etc., all leading up to a bedtime kiss. Cute, easy easy read!!

Who wants to win both of these books? Paperback editions. Leave a comment here by Tuesday night, September 30 and I will randomly select a winner on Wednesday, October 1! (Yikes... October is next week?)

Tasty Chicken Tacos

Mondays tend to be crazy hard at our house. I'm always looking for easy, yummy dinners for my house full of hungry kids! This looks great and I'm anxious to give it a try! I would serve a fruit salad as the only side (maybe chips and salsa) with this meal!

Tasty Chicken Tacos

from FamilyFun Magazine


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chili, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
12 flour tortillas


1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and chili and sauté until the onion has softened, about 6 minutes.

2. Add the tomato sauce, cumin, and salt and continue to cook for one more minute. Add the chicken and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

3. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve in tortillas with toppings of your choice.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

Kate Spade Coasters

I love polka dots. Love them. I don't decorate with them, and I don't wear them. But I still really love them.

And I love coasters. (I also really love place mats... weird, I know!)

Kate Spade has the cutest coasters. $20 for a set of 8! Not bad for some fun designer, but probably totally impractical, coasters!

Igor

First, you must know that I love John Cusack... and I have for years. Since the 80s... that is a long time ago.

I also quite like Sean Hayes and Steve Buscemi.

All three of these uber talented men have leant the voice talents to the new animated movie, Igor, that arrives in theatres tomorrow.

The story is about a scientist's assistant, Igor, who has the audacity to dream big!!! He accomplishes the impossible... with the help of his friends.

It is common knowledge that opening weekend is a huge measuring stick for the success (or lack of success) for a movie!

I propose that we support the heck out of this movie... this weekend.

The Something Store

The Something Store is a fun new website where they only sell one thing. And that one thing is something. You pay $10, that includes shipping, and The Something Store will send you something... and that could be anything. Their website says it most likely will be new, but that it might also be refurbished, or even antique. It could be a clock, a gift card, video games, a cool gadget, a rare book, a kitchen appliance, a magazine subscription, etc.

I'm so relieved to know that there are some things that you absolutely won't get from The Something Store... according to their website you will NOT receive alcohol, body parts, drug test circumvention tools, to name a few.

While The Something Store does not indicate what the value of your something is going to be, they claim to strive to send something that is valuable so that you'll surprise yourself, again and again. They want their customers to be happy... but be aware... there are no returns, refunds or exchanges.

I'm going to order mine tonight! Just for fun... I'll post when I receive my something!

The Lucky Winner of the Bezales Pendant is...

The Random Integer Generator, selected random number 6!!!

and that winning comment is...

Carter Family...... said...
How cute! What a smart, 16 year old.

Congratulations to you...

And thank you so much to Bezales!!!

100 Days Until...

... Christmas!!!

Husband's Revenge

I laughed... until my cheeks hurt... when I saw this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPSeuZWpknA

Lunch Boxes

Check out these adorable, insulated lunch boxes from a fun on-line store, Lunchboxes.com. They have a great selection of fun insulated bags, plus a wide selection of traditional metal boxes as well. It is a fun site, and the perfect place to find the unique lunch box for any school aged kid! The bags below range in price from $13.95 to $19.95.

The Lion King

On Saturday, Sept. 13 from 7 to 10 a.m., the only spot to buy LION KING tickets will be in-person at the ASU Gammage Box Office! The first ticket buyer in line will receive an autographed souvenir LION KING book, the first 100 ticket buyers will receive a free LION KING CD, and all ticket buyers will receive a LION KING t-shirt and fan (while supplies last). Online and phone sales will open at 10 a.m. tomorrow as well!

I was able to pre-buy our tickets and am so excited! This is an amazing show! We went as a family a couple of years ago to see this and it was EVERYTHING we hoped it would be.

I bought tickets for me, my ten-year old daughter and mother to see it again. ahhh... I am so excited!

Lion King will be in Phoenix (Tempe) from January 2 through February 8, 2009. I bet it will sell out! That is my predication.

Perhaps an evening that starts at Oregano's, then on to The Lion King... with dessert at JuJuBerri after, is enough to get all of you non-Arizona residing readers here!

Mamaisms Gear

Mamaisms Gear is a fun website with some great t-shirts. I love them.

From the Mamaisms Gear website I took the following quote...

BE POLITE. BE KIND. BE THANKFUL. BE RESPONSIBLE. BE GOOD....

Simple, powerful wisdom from one mama to another.
Carry the message – because the world needs a dose

Isn't that great??? I love it! The mamas that run this fun, cool company, also donate 5% of all proceeds to a variety of charities... including a Child Advocacy Program! I have always been passionate about child advocacy issues and love to support companies that recognize this need.

Bezales - CURRENT GIVEAWAY

Bezales is a fun new on-line shop with the most darling pendants around! The company, run by, and the brain child of, a 16-year old entrepreneur takes your digital photos and creates darling pendants. She offers two choices, the medallion style and the original stone style. Both come with either a black cord or silver chain.

Bezales has generously offered to give an original stone pendant, with black cord, to a randomly selected reader of LaughUntilYourCheeksHurt! Please leave a comment here by midnight, Tuesday September 16 to be entered in the drawing! Add a "shout out" to your blog about this giveaway and I'll enter you in the drawing two times!! Just tell me in your comment that you did it, so I'll get you entered the second time!

These would make great gifts for so many people on your gift-giving list! I love this idea and all the possibilities!!

Medallion Style

Original Stone Style

The Winner is...

Congratulations to Pollyanna! She is the winner of Qrazy Quandaries!

Pollyanna wrote in her comment "Oh me, me, me. This is very cool. We need to get back into playing more games together. You come up with the coolest things."

I hope you have fun playing this with your family! I'm sure you will.

Keds Shoes

Add to the list of my titles... SHOE DESIGNER!

Keds Studio has to be one of the coolest ideas on the web! In just under a minute, I customized these pair of Keds Mini-Slip Ons. Cool? YES!! I love the little surprise of red on the inside of the shoe.




You seriously have to check out this site... Keds Studio. Can you imagine a more fun (read: silly) way to wear a favorite photo?

Enjoy!

Oregano's

One of our favorite local restaurants is Oregano's. There are six locations in the valley, plus one in Flagstaff and one in Tucson. We usually go to the one on Camelback, but have been to the one in Tempe and Scottsdale... the service and the food is high quality at each location.

So, here is what we love to order...

Anything.

Everything on the menu is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. We love it!

We went today for lunch and ordered the Pesto Bruschetta, Beefstro Sandwich, Pesto Penne Pasta and then a chocolate chip pazookie for dessert! Yummo! We were stuffed... but it was totally worth it! AND we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!! Yea! (See the end of this entry for a description of the pazookie. You HAVE to save room for this incredible dessert. It is often imitated by other restaurants, but never will you find one that is as perfect as the Oregano's version!

We love the t-shirts that the servers wear. They are always so dang clever. Here is one of our old favorite slogans...



THE ORiGiNAL PiZZA COOKiE Now this will knock your socks off! A 1/2 pound of Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, or Peanut Butter Chocolate cookie dough, slightly baked in a 6-inch pizza pan then topped with 3 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream. This baby serves 2-4. DO iT!

Sorry to everyone that does not live in Arizona. This is a strong reason to visit!!!

Qrazy Quandaries

Take Your Pick between two tough choices! Would you prefer to wake up with floppy dog ears or a fuzzy bunny tail? Wear the same outfit or eat the same meal for a year? Have one wish granted today or three granted in ten years? Packed with 125 questions, this game will have your family and friends "Qracking" each other up!

• Our family loves this game. And I love to give it as a gift. In my opinion, it makes a great graduation gift, wedding gift or birthday gift. We play it in the car, or sometimes we play it for a few minutes before we tackle homework. It never grows old... it is always funny and enlightening to hear what the kids come up with to justify their answers.

• Simply Fun has great games. We love them because they are easy to learn to play and quick to play!!

• Leave a comment by midnight Tuesday September 9 to enter the drawing for a free Qrazy Quandaries game. One person will be randomly selected on Wednesday morning!!! Good luck!!!

Pottery Barn Outdoor Furniture

I am ready for some outdoor furniture! This collection, Chesapeake Hardwood from Pottery Barn is my dream outdoor furniture.

Maybe someday...

The Sticks and Stones Winner is...

Molly!!

Congratulations to Molly on winning the $100 gift certificate from Sticks and Stones. In her comment, Molly wrote...Those are so cool. I have seen them before and have always loved them!

A big huge thank you to the folks at Sticks and Stones for this gift certificate!!

Molly... watch your inbox for an email from Sticks and Stones with a code that you will use when you place your order online.

From random.org...
Here are your random numbers:10
Timestamp: 2008-09-03

Pandora Radio

A few months ago I was introduced to an amazing website dedicated to helping 'me' find music that I have yet to discover but am sure to love. The website is www.pandora.com and I love it! I have had fun and highly recommend giving it a shot!!

Below is how Pandora explains their radio concept!!! It is amazing!

P.S. Can you believe that I got through an entire blog entry without mentioning Prison Break's season premiere last night???

When was the last time you fell in love with a new artist or song?

At Pandora, we have a single mission: To play music you'll love - and nothing else.

To understand just how we do this, and why we think we do it really, really well, you need to know about the Music Genome Project®.

Since we started back in 2000, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts has been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.

With Pandora you can explore this vast trove of music to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

You can create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it so and it will get better for you.

juju berri

75th Ave and Bell Road

(in between the Old Navy store and Jamba Juice!!)

UNBELIEVABLE discovery!!! Today, while out running errands with Kaleigh, I saw a sign for the grand opening of a new store and couldn't resist checking it out. It looked a lot like Pinkberry, which I love but does not have any stores in Arizona, so I entered the store very hopeful!


AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. It is almost a clone to Pinkberry...


The big difference is juju berri is self-serve. Another difference is that there are ten different flavors. Sample cups are provided so you can pick out your favorite, but I stuck with the Green Tea version that I loved from Pinkberry. I even did the same toppings... fresh strawberries and sliced almonds! It was so yummy!


I'm thrilled to have one so close to my home!


My only complaint... it does not appear that juju berri has a website. What is up with that? I got a business card from juju berri, but it only lists a myspace page. Weird.


So, for now, I can't even tell you if there are other locations...