I was contacted by Moo.com to see if I wanted to sample their Christmas cards and review them. DO I? Of course I do. We send out Christmas cards and letters every year. Getting the cards for free is awesome, and I’ve purchased from Moo before and it was awesome, so this was something easy to say yes to.

I haven’t received my cards yet, because the USPS and Canada Post are like oil and water, but here is the photo I used on the front:

Here is the photo that I used on the back:

I would wait to show you the actual card, but the USPS is telling me that I won’t receive my cards until mid-December. Moo.com has asked me to give away 3 sets of 25 cards to you guys (Three sets! Three chances to win!) and waiting until mid-December is a little late for ordering.

So here we are. My cards are en route and probably in Fargo or some other random US city, but I can give three (THREE) of you a set of 25 Christmas cards.

Here are a few of their card styles:

To enter, just leave a comment telling me if you send Christmas (or holiday) cards or not.

I’ll draw the winners this coming Friday, December 2nd, 2011.

***

We have our three winners!

Carla!

Charmedone17!

Mrs Wilson!

Congrats!

Way back in June, a lovely lady from Uncommon contacted me to see if I’d like a (Free!) customized iPhone case before I traveled to BlogHer. Added bonus: I could give a custom case away to one of my lucky readers.

Yes, and yes.

The problem is, the US Postal Service hates Canada. No, really. Whenever friends from the States send me something in the mail it takes weeks and weeks (and weeks and weeks). The week before I left for BlogHer I realized that my case wasn’t here and I contacted my Uncommon contact (who shares my Maiden name, coincidentally) and she said that she would try to track down my package.

I got an email yesterday about the deadline for the giveaway and was sad that I couldn’t participate. But then! I checked the mail on my way home (we have community lock boxes) and my case had arrived!

Isn’t it great?

It’s way sturdier that my previous case and I can’t wait to show it to all of my fellow iPhone users at my office and in my life. (My husband wants one now.)

The fact that it arrived (Yay, USPS! A month later!) means that I also get to give away a custom case to one of you lovelies. And, if you live close to me (or are someone I send mail to), I have a bunch of 20% off coupons to hand out.

So, about the free case giveaway. Leave me a comment and tell me whether you will use your own photo/design or if you’ll use one of theirs and I’ll pick a lucky winner on…August 22nd.

Leave a comment! Get a free case!

DO IT.

***

So! I ran Random.org and got the number…2.

It’s all yours, Tanis!

Do you guys remember how, back in November, McDonald’s Canada contacted me to let my lovely readers know about a promotion they were having AND to give a $50 gift card to one of you? Well, they’re doing it again.

McDonald’s is unveiling their first significant addition to the breakfast menu since 2003 – the Buttermilk Biscuit:

As part of the big unveiling, they want you to try it for free. For FREE.

On February 9th and 10th, at participating McDonald’s restaurants in Canada, you can enjoy any Buttermilk Biscuit breakfast sandwich FREE – place your order and walk away with breakfast, at no cost to you.

And, as I mentioned above, McDonald’s wants to give one of you lucky (CANADIAN) readers a $50 gift card too. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me which biscuit you are going to try (for FREE February 9th and 10th).

And for an extra entry, you can tweet this:

I want to win $50 from @McD_Canada and @AngellaD: http://tinyurl.com/6g6onsy

The contest ends February 11th, 2011 and the winner will be chosen randomly.

Good luck!

***Edited to reveal the winner***

Random.org picked #2 and the winner is…Cheryl! I’ll email you to get your address!!

At the beginning of December I was contacted by Tassimo to see if I would be interested in reviewing their Tassimo T20 coffee brewer AND giving one to one of my readers. I said yes, for a few different reasons:

1. I love coffee and drink one every morning, either on my drive to work or at my kitchen table on my days off.

2. I’d heard a lot of buzz about the Tassimo T20 through Twitter and other giveaways and had been hoping to get one for Christmas.

3. I love it when I get to give away cool things to my readers.

The Tassimo T20 arrived at Purolator on Christmas Eve – just in time to keep me caffeinated for all the festivities of the holidays (including hosting Christmas dinner). It was so easy to use! The coffee tastes great! And the only clean up consists of throwing the T Disc in the garbage! My husband and extended family were pretty impressed as well.

A big thank you to Tassimo for spoiling me with the T20 and for letting me give one away to one of you lucky readers. They can only ship to U.S. addresses for this giveaway and so I asked if Canadians were allowed to enter if they could provide a U.S. shipping address. They can!

So! If you have a U.S. shipping address and want a chance to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below and tell me how you take your coffee. (I take mine with Splenda and Half and Half. It balances out. Or something.)

We’re leaving for Disneyland on Wednesday, so I’ll leave the comments open until we return on January 12th and then use Random.org to choose the winner. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I received the T20 brewer to review at no cost and all opinions are my own.

***

We have a winner! #35!

I’ll email you, Chris, to get your mailing address.

This Holiday post is
sponsored as part of the UrbanMoms Network.

I’m sure that all of you know my friend Ali (aka my Canadian twin in many areas) and you may or may not know her boss Jen Maier from Urban Moms. I’ve known Ali for three years now (!) and Jen and I have gotten to know each other over the last six months or so and even sat together on a panel at Blissdom Canada in Toronto at the end of October.

(Ali was supposed to be on the panel but her Dad had health problems, so Jen graciously filled in.)

Both of these ladies are wonderful, as is the Urban Moms website (and team) in general. I’ve done a couple of guest posts for them in the past and when they asked me if I wanted to be a part of the new network they were launching, I responded with a resounding, “SIGN ME UP.”

So, here I am. They emailed last week to see if I was willing to be part of a promotion where they were giving away an Old Navy gift card. As a woman who has placed four (FOUR) online orders since the Canadian Old Navy website opened in September, I am all for giving my readers a chance to win money to spend at that mecca of Awesome.

What do I have to write about in order to host this giveaway? I simply have to write about what I want for Christmas. I know, right? SO EASY.

Except that I don’t really know what I want for Christmas. I tend to buy items that I need when I need them and am not really one to spend a lot of money on things that aren’t necessary.

Oh, WAIT. Christmas is (about Jesus’ birth, yes, but) not necessarily about what we need. It’s about wonder and surprise and about getting things that you might not even know you wanted. Or maybe that’s your birthday. Mine is next month anyway, so I’ll run with it.

1. A wireless remote for my camera.

Whether I’m taking macro photos of flowers or family portraits, I always use the self-timer on my camera to reduce camera shake/make sure I have time to slide into the photo. Wireless remotes aren’t even that expensive…I just keep talking myself out of spending the money on one.

2. A really great pair of jeans.

I have one pair of jeans that I like because my thighs appear less thunderous than usual but said jeans are quite faded and worn and not ones that I am able to dress up if I need to. I have yet to find a pair that works magic but I haven’t really tried or given myself permission to ignore the price tag.

3. A Photoshop Course.

There’s nowhere even remotely nearby to take a course in person, but I’d love to at least take an online course. I’ve read books and done free tutorials and can do more than I used to be able to, but I know that there’s so much more I could be doing. I just need to learn how.

4. A new bed.

My husband is a handy guy. He’s pretty much renovated our entire (over 3,000 square foot) house since we moved in nearly ten years ago, and has built a lot of our furniture to boot. It is this talent of his (and his inherent cheap/frugal nature) that is making him ask me to wait for him to find the time to build us a bed. The thing is, we have an AMAZING pillow-top mattress that is an absolute dream to sleep on that is…on the floor. WE SLEEP ON THE FLOOR. And have been doing so for OVER FOUR YEARS. I’d like a bed. With matching side tables too, please.

5. A trip to Hawaii, with just my husband.

We had tossed around this idea a couple of months ago when friends of our invited us to join them (sans kids) this coming January. We dreamed about it, we talked about it, we looked for deals, but it’s just not going to happen this year. The main reason is that we have nobody to come and hang out with our three kids. If we had an unlimited budget I could fly one of my sisters or my Mom here and cover their week off of work but, alas. It is simply not the case. But I’m allowed to ask for it anyway, right?

Enough about me. It’s now time to focus on YOU. And your chance to win $100 to spend at Old Navy. Head on over to this post at Urban Moms (Hello to another good friend, Metalia!) and leave a comment.

Good luck, friends!

A few weeks ago, I ventured to Toronto to (speak at, and) attend Blissdom Canada in Toronto. I’m still glowing a little from the time spent with a few good friends, staying up until the wee hours of the morning and talking. Hotel lobby chairs are the new therapist chairs. Or something.

The conference itself was pretty amazing and the topics covered were more than relevant to a writer/blogger here in Canada. The opening keynote was by Scott Stratten of UnMarketing and one of the stories he told was how he used to always get his coffee at a chain that rhymes with Jim Morton’s and their coffee was never consistent. Ever. EVER. Then, one day, he had no cash. And they didn’t take debit (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?). So, he switched to McDonald’s coffee and it was GOOD. And CONSISTENT. And they take DEBIT CARDS.

I drive by a McDonald’s six days a week (five on my way to work, one on my way to ballet) and the thought of getting good coffee, consistently, appealed to me.

Then, days later, McDonald’s themselves contacted me to see if I wanted to tell people that they were offering free (FREE) coffee from November 15th to 28th. Free! Coffee! Also, it’s free!

Which is all fine and good but I could simply tell you this via Twitter and Facebook.

Except!

They also have given me a $50 McDonald’s gift card to give out to my readers. FIFTY BONES, friends. It’s only open to the Canadians but we get left out of 98% of online giveaways, so don’t hold it against us.

All you need to do is leave a comment to enter. Why don’t you tell me how you take your coffee? I take mine with half and half and Splenda. Mmm…

(Don’t forget – even if you don’t win this gift card, you only need to go to your local McDonald’s to cash in on the free coffee. That’s what I did yesterday in order to grab a coffee and take that there above photo. Have I mentioned that it’s FREE?)

What are you waiting for? I have a fifty dollar (FIFTY DOLLAR) McDonald’s gift card to give whomever of you that Random.org chooses. (You don’t even have to buy coffee with it. Just sayin’…)

Ready? Set? GO.

(I’ll leave comments open until Friday, November 19th at…I’m not sure, exactly. But I’ll close them when I do the draw.)

***Edited to say that I left this open until Saturday because I’ve come down with the flu. Yay, winter! /sarcasm

The winner is…

Mrs. Wilson! I’ll be emailing you for your address. Thanks for playing, everyone!

When I was approached to see if I was interested in receiving a (Customized!) Flip MinoHD I had to sit back and ponder it for, oh, three seconds or so. A few friends of mine have one and they have done nothing but rave about how great they are. I keep a point and shoot camera in my purse that has video capability, but the clips are limited to one minute in length. I could haul our regular video camera around to catch the every day moments that occur when we are out and about but, no.

When deciding what to customize the Flip with, the choice was pretty easy. I have a photo of my three kids’ feet that is blown up and hangs on our living room wall. It’s one of the all-time favorite photos I’ve taken and I was pretty sure it would turn out well. The day the Flip arrived I excitedly opened the box to see how it looked.

Isn’t it FANTASTIC? I sure think so.

I couldn’t wait to try it out and knew that Emily’s ballet class would be a great place to use it. My husband Matthew has only seen photos of her class but hasn’t come with us to see her dance yet. We have to sit behind the glass, which means that instead of hearing the piano you get to hear the conversations of those around me. I thought about dubbing some music over it but I (am lazy, and) found that Graham’s captured conversation struck me as funny. It doesn’t start until about a minute in, but then he does not. stop. talking.

Dancing Queen from Angella on Vimeo.

Welcome to my life.

I’ve also posted a few other daily moments over on Flickr. There’s the one of my kids dancing after dinner,  as well as the one of them singing and dancing to Kung Fu Panda while riding in the minivan. Never a dull moment around these parts.

I was asked to give an honest review of the Flip and, well, I love it. It’s easy to use and is so compact that it fits in one of the small inner pockets of my purse. One other thing that I love about it is that the video is easy for me to deal with. Let me explain further.

We have an HD video camera that takes great video, is easy to use, etc. As I said above, it may be small but not quite “carry around every day” small. The other problem I have with is is that while I can easily download a video to my Macbook, in order to use it in iMovie I have to first run it through another program to make the file compatible. It’s a huge time waster. The videos I take on the Flip are easily downloaded onto my laptop and import into iMovie with no special conversion needed. Easy peasy. Maybe I’ll finally be inspired to learn how to be creative with iMovie. Maybe.

As is usually the case, when a company gives a product away for someone to review, they give their readers a chance to win one of their own. Let the people rejoice!

The people from Mom Central (Who hooked me up with my pretty little Flip) are giving away three Flip MinoHD cameras. You need a “Flip Password” and they gave me one to pass along:

Dutch

Here are the promotion details:

You can enter 2 ways:  By signing up for their Mom Product Testing Panel at www.momcentral.com/canada and entering the promo code when you sign up.

OR

You can enter by sending an email to momcentral@live.com with the promo code in the subject.

You can see full contest details at www.momcentral.com and the promotion ends October 19, 2009.  The giveaway is open to Canadians only and you must be 18 or older to enter.

So, what are you waiting for? Go enter!

A few weeks ago Will Dailey was featured on the Daily Grommet and I gave away his CD. His lovely PR rep (Hi Zoe!) contacted me and asked if I wanted to interview him, so I threw it out to my readers.

Here’s the email I sent Will, followed by his answers:

***

Hi Will!

I first need to confess that I hadn’t listened to your music until I heard of you through The Daily Gromment. You make the style of music that I have been loving lately, so I was instantly smitten (With the music; I’m married. Yo.)

I was flattered when I was asked if I wanted to interview you because, well, I’ve never done this before. While I love to listen to music, I cannot play a single instrument to save my life. I have a decent singing voice, but nothing worth recording (Unless it gets caught in the crossfire while taking videos of my kids).

Seeing as I am a newbie to interviewing musicians, I did what any blogger would do: I threw it out to my readers via Twitter and my website and asked them what I should ask you. The questions they fired back at me are varied and mostly questions that I would love to know the answers to.

Here goes!

***

Who would you collaborate with if you could choose anyone – dead or alive?

Michael Jackson.

Who are you inspired by?

Inspiration is unavoidable. I find myself inspired by horrible people just as much as inspirational people. Though each elicits a different response.

My musical influence is hard to pin down and is always evolving but right now it is revolving around Stevie Nicks. It could be Fugazi by next week.

What’s currently playing on your ipod?

I just got a copy of these lost Nick Drake covers by Elton John that I can’t get away from.

How did you get started out in this industry?

One gig at time really. I have to attribute a lot of the “industry” initiation to Billy Zero formally of XM radio. He got a copy of my first album, Goodbyeredbullet and started spinning it like crazy and talking it up on blogs and emails. Calls started pouring in after that.

Do you write all of your own lyrics/music. Is so, do you find the process to be easy or difficult for you?

I do. Depending on what kind of day, week or month I am having I always find it in different ways. There have been times of struggle but they always yield new paths.

Also long as I enjoy the end result it will always be enjoyable, cathartic and an adventure into things I can’t explain by typing.

What instruments do you play?

Guitar is my main instrument but I also play Ukulele, piano, mandolin and I breath through a harmonica sometimes.

What other interests do you pursue in life other than music? Do I like video games (That was from a reader’s kids)?

Ha. Lots of things. I like rock climbing and non fiction the most right now. As far as video games go I am addicted to word games so if they are online I am screwed. But I tend to enjoy myself most making music or being outside. If I got a video game system I would not have a life because I have a hard time not finishing what I start. My friends with video games hate it when I come over.

Boxers, briefs or commando?

Depends on the occasion.

What is your favorite thing about social media? Do you twitter? Or is social media just something you have to do?

I go back and forth on it. I find it fascinating and sometimes fun. Someday I indulge with joy and sometimes I think we are destroying true communication. You have to think there was a whole generation of people that cursed the telephone as the end of culture. Then I start thinking that there was a whole generation of people who cursed the written word and printing.

Why this album? What’s the story you want to leave behind?

Torrent is a way for me to fit my natural writing schedule into my recording schedule. Putting out an album every two years isn’t fun or satisfying to me.

With Torrent I get to release these EPs every 3-4 months and keep it flowing.

I get to put songs together in concise packages: Fashion of Distraction features Roger McGuinn and a lot of my Byrds influence & By The Blue Hills features a lot o my friends from Boston and songs influence by my home town. And fans get to come along for the ride. I have no end date for my Torrent series yet.

***

Thanks Will! If you guys want to stalk Will on Twitter, you can find him here.

Zoe is also sending me one of Will’s CD’s, but since I already have his album on my iPod I’m giving it away. All you have to do is leave a comment if you want to enter. You want this album. Trust me.

***

I used Random.org and number 14 came up. Congratulations, Joyce! I’ll email you.

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