7/30/11: Keeping Clean with Lysol® Healthy Touch® and Lysol® Disinfecting Wipes: GIVEAWAY!

CONTEST CLOSED:  CONGRATULATIONS LAURIE who was chosen via Random.org
My husband can totally attest to the fact that I was so thrilled with the Lysol® Healthy Touch® No-Touch Hand Soap System.  I love this product especially in the kitchen when I am handling chicken and other meats.  I was beyond excited when Lysol chose my blog to spread the word about this product and their Lysol® Disinfecting Wipes: Dual Action.  And you as my lucky readers have a chance on my blog to win both of these wonderful products.  Keep reading to find out how. 

Did you know?

The Lysol® Healthy Touch® No-Touch Hand Soap System helps eliminate the millions of germs that your hands can pick up each day! 

What’s more, the system’s antibacterial hand soap kills 99.9% of bacteria on hands when used as directed – so it’s ideal for use in the kitchen or bathroom.  I have chosen to put mine in my kitchen. 

They have two options, a white one, and the one I received which is sleek stainless steel-inspired.  With this pump your family will never have to touch a germy soap pump again! 

 The starter kit includes a dispenser, one hand soap refill, and four AA batteries.  Antibacterial hand soap refills are enriched with moisturizing ingredients and available in four great scents:

Refreshing Grapefruit Essence™

Soothing Cucumber Splash™

Aloe Vera Vitamin E with Moisturizers

Antibacterial Total Care

Here are some helpful links the folks at Lysol have shared:

Handwashing Tips
Handwashing Poster

Back-To-School Basics
And a little video:

The other product I received are the Lysol® Disinfecting Wipes: Dual Action.  I love Lysol wipes and these are a bit more powerful on one side than others I have used.  I love them.  Use one side for everyday touch-ups and the other to scrub through tough messes. Because Dual Action Wipes are from the Lysol Brand, you can also trust them to kill 99.9% of germs when used as directed. Use Dual Action Wipes all around your home to clean and disinfect. Lysol® Dual Action Disinfecting Wipes come in Citrus and Crisp Linen® scent.

If you go to the Lysol Website you can download a rebate to get one free Lysol Wipes when you buy two Lysol Products:  http://www.lysol.com/healthy-families/healthy-kids/back-to-school

Did you know: 

They kill 99.9% of Viruses and Bacteria when used as directed

They kill Cold and Flu Viruses including Pandemic 2009 H1N1 Influenza A

  Additional Links:

Establish Before- and After-School Hygiene Habits
Cleaning and Disinfecting
Kitchen Cleaning Tips

Bathroom Cleaning Tips

Want to win both of these wonderful products?  Here is how to enter:

1 entry for each item:

- Comment here on this post as to your favorite Lysol product.  (comment section at the bottom).  Note if you are logging in anonymously please include your email so I can contact you. Also if you have problems, just Preview the comment and it should work.  Make sure you see Comment posted.

Additional Entries:

- Subscribe to Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog (and verify the subscription to be valid) and leave a separate comment that you did.

- Subscribe via Google Friend Connect to Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog (on the Right hand side)

- Already a subscriber (thank you) then leave a comment stating you are
- Share this link on your Facebook page and leave a comment here stating you did.
- Follow me on Twitter @galiberti  If you already follow me, just leave a comment here that you are a Follower.
- Tweet this Giveaway (you can do this daily):  Win Lysol products from @galiberti and never touch a germy hand pump again.  http://bit.ly/pQtbpk #Giveaway
Contest closes Wednesday, August 17th, 2011.

Winner will be chosen by Random.org and contacted.  They will be mailed their products.

You can also go to the Lysol® No-Touch® Stainless Kitchen Sweepstakes on Facebook and like their page to win a Whirlpool® appliance kitchen set.  We are redoing our kitchen so I made sure to do this.

Feel free to also check out the Lysol website

Disclosure: I received these products from MomSelect and Lysol in exchange for my honest opinion about the products. No additional compensation was received for this post.

7/29/11: Paint Boston Red with California Strawberries - Giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED:  CONGRATULATIONS GILDA M. who was chosen via Random.org
I was very lucky to attend a Paint Boston Red Party last night held jointly by the California Strawberry Commission and Mommy Niri who is a personal friend of mine.  It was a lovely night of conversation, wonderful food and drink, and learning about Strawberries.  Who could ask for any more on a summer night in July!  And you as my readers benefit also as I have a Giveaway for two wonderful books later in my post.

Here I am with all the bloggers that attended the event and representatives from the California Strawberry Commission.  What a wonderful group of people, so great to meet some of the familiar names I tweet with online and people behind the blogs I follow.  So nice to put a face now with a name/blog name.

Did you know?

Strawberries are an excellent example of a nutritious superfruit. They are nutrient dense but also low in sugar (only 8 grams) and have only 50 calories per serving (1 cup or approximately 8 medium strawberries).
Strawberries are high in potassium (helps control blood pressure and fights stroke) and fiber (helps control weight and relieves constipation).
Only 1 cup of strawberries will give you 160% of your daily needed Vitamin C. Great for a healthy immune system!

Did you also know?

California provides 88% of the US Strawberry crop.

"The coast of California is the best place in the world to grow strawberries. Warm sunny days, cool foggy nights and moderate temperatures combine with sandy soil, creating perfect growing conditions.

More than 500 strawberry growers in five distinct areas of California produce strawberries on more than 36,000 acres. Organic or conventional, many of these family businesses are farmers who have worked the land for generations, and produce the highest-quality fruit under the most stringent regulations in the world.

State-of-the-art, post-harvest techniques separate California from other producers. Once strawberries are picked, they are rushed to a cooling facility where huge fans draw out field heat. When cooled, the strawberries are loaded onto refrigerated trucks for same-day shipment. Keeping the fruit at 32 degrees Fahrenheit during transport helps ensure a quality product for consumers.

California strawberries are available all year long. The statewide fresh production averages 43,000 pounds per acre, per season."

We were lucky enough to have an actual Grower from California come and speak to us.

We were also lucky enough to hear from nutritionist David Grotto, RD, LDN, who is the author of 101 Optimal Life Foods of which we received a signed copy of.  He is also the Spokesperson for the California Strawberry Commission.  He had us do a fun experiment with a Strawberry Twizzler and stacking it up against a real Strawberry.  The Twizzler couldn't hold a candle to the Strawberry despite it's 1 foot length! 

Look at how beautiful this food is!  I absolutely loved the Muddled Strawberry cocktail and will definitely be making that soon!

And who would have thought, Mahi Mahi tacos with strawberries.

And of course dessert!  This was wonderful.

There are so many recipes you could make using Strawberries!  Want to win????  You can win David Grotto's book 101 Optimal Life Foods signed by the author ($16 value) along with a Strawberry Recipes for Everyday book ($16.99 value, shown below).  Note you won't receive the bag as it is too cute and turns in to the little strawberry you see below it.

Want to win both books?  Here is how to enter:

1 entry for each item:

- Comment here on this post as to your favorite way to eat Strawberries (comment section at the bottom).  Note if you are logging in anonymously please include your email so I can contact you. Also if you have problems, just Preview the comment and it should work.  Make sure you see Comment posted.

Additional Entries:
- Subscribe to Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog (and verify the subscription to be valid) and leave a separate comment that you did.
- Subscribe via Google Friend Connect to Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog (on the Right hand side)

- Already a subscriber (thank you) then leave a comment stating you are
- Share this link on your Facebook page and leave a comment here stating you did.
- Follow me on Twitter @galiberti  If you already follow me, just leave a comment here that you are a Follower.
- Tweet this Giveaway (you can do this daily):  I want to win a recipe book prize pack from @galiberti and @castrawberries http://bit.ly/qece7V #Giveaway #castrawberrytour
Contest closes Wednesday, August 17th, 2011.

Winner will be chosen via Random.org and contacted.  I will mail them the books.

What can you do to give Strawberries some love:

EAT THEM!

Like them! www.facebook.com/castrawberries

Follow them! www.twitter.com/castrawberries

Download our free "Strawberries" recipe apps in iTunes or the Android Market.

Check out their videos! www.youtube.com/user/castrawberries

Purchase the new "Strawberry Recipes for Everyday" e-cookbook available at www.fastpencil.com/marketplace

Check out their website at: www.californiastrawberries.com

Disclosure: I received the gift bag shown above along with a second copy of the Recipe Book and David's book to provide this giveaway.  All opinions are my own, as I love Strawberries!!!!

7/28/11: Stone Zoo Fun With Animals

We go to the Stone Zoo quite a bit as it is close by and we can go for $2 person with the pass from the library (last year it was free).  They also have Boo at the Zoo for Halloween and lights at Christmas so we can go there all year round.  So today the weather was nice so we decided to head on over. 

 Something cool the kids got to do this time is that they got to hold this pretty Parrot.

And did the Train Ride.  They have also added a spinning barrel ride.

 And my favorite, the black bears.

I thought this guy was cute too.

The Monkeys.  One of them only has one arm as he got hurt.

The Llamas.

7/27/11: Juice in the City BOSTON Area Local Business Consultants

Want to work your own hours with a home based career?

Want to help preserve high quality local businesses in your community?

Interested in joining a community of smart, fun women?

Help us Save Local and make the world a little bit better!

Juice in the City is still looking for moms in the Boston Area to become Local Business Consultants.  Do you know of great local businesses in the following areas in and around Boston:
North End
Beacon Hill
Charlestown
South End
Back Bay
South Boston
Somerville
Cambridge
Arlington
Winchester
Melrose
Medford
Malden 

A LBC knows the local community, the local hot spots, the places to go and has ties to local vendors. The whole point of Juice in the City is to attract moms within their area participate more with their surroundings, get them out of the house and go have fun! LOCAL businesses are preferred as opposed to chains, rarely do we ever source deals for companies like Starbucks or Target. We know spending money in the community means the money STAYS in the community.

Go ahead and apply to be a Local Business Consultant.

Also Juice in the City has launched a 3 million dollar Groupfund.  See more details here.  "Juice in the City, the destination for deals experienced and sourced by moms for moms, today announces the launch of a $3 million Groupmom Fund. The fund empowers moms to put money into local businesses with the discovery of exceptional services and products for daily deals."  More information here also.

Like them on Facebook

Follow @jitcboston on Twitter

Some information on Juice in the City:  Check out this video on how Juice in the City first got started here.

For another article that does a good job of describing everything from beginning to end, check out the article done by the Patch

History on Juice in the City:

Juice in the City was founded by two moms on Mother's Day in 2010. It's a unique deals site that supports local businesses while providing benefits to local moms. Our team is made up of moms who source deals based on their personal experience versus companies who hire teams that have never set foot in the businesses they represent. We believe in supporting the local economy while at the same time, empowering moms!

As co-founder of the daily deal website JuiceInTheCity.com, Eisner is one of the most successful stay-at-home moms around. Now, with 11 markets up and running across the country, Eisner employs more than 150 people to source local deals for Juice in the City—and every single one of them is a stay-at-home mom, like her.  ”We are basically deals, done by and for moms,” Eisner explained. “We do not feature any businesses that local sales moms have not tried, personally. So, the moms source the deals themselves.”

In other words, Juice in the City features deals on the best local businesses in 11 markets across several states that are targeted toward moms. Think coffee shops, boutiques, summer camps, tickets to children’s shows, yarn stores, spas and more—all mom-tested and pre-approved, and all signed on by stay-at-home moms, whom Eisner calls her “local business consultants.” You know this is right up my alley as I love to share discount codes with you. They pay a generous guaranteed commission of $100 to $200 per each sourced deal with a chance to earn even more money.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I’ll receive compensation as a thank you for posting about the Juice in the City however all opinions are mine.

7/27/11: Wordless Wednesday - Reflections of Sunset Beach, NC

3 Years ago

1 Year ago

7/20/11: Back to School with Master Lock

Master Lock® has hired a new specialist on student life to help students safely and securely navigate this school year in style. The Master Mind, a suave and funny college grad, is staring in a humorous online video series on in which he, along with his clever Little Sister, are setting out to answer students’ most frequent, awkward and perplexing questions on www.facebook.com/masterlock

Parents and students are invited to submit their own questions for the Master Mind and participate in daily sweepstakes conducted each weekday from July 18 through September 16. Prizes include back-to-school essentials for any student, such as an iPad®, high-end ear buds, messenger bag or backpack, bank gift cards and Master Lock® security products. Fans can enter daily, including weekends, and all entrants will automatically be entered in a grand prize sweepstakes for the ultimate back-to-school prize pack valued at $2,500, to be drawn on September 19.

They have asked me to post my best back to school advice to get you through the year.  One thing that works for me to keep us organized in the morning is to make lunches the night before, lay out clothes and get backpacks ready with homework, books to return to the library, and forms needed.  This always helps the morning routine and makes it less likely we will forget something.

Check out this cute video.

Disclosure: I am entering a contest for a Master Lock back-to-school prize pack as a member of the Mom Bloggers Club.

7/20/11: Mostly Wordless Wednesday - Happy 11th Anniversary to Us!

Hard to believe this was 11 years ago!  Happy Anniversary to my love and my best friend.  We have now been together a total of 16 1/2 years thanks to meeting at WPI!

Honeymoon in Hawaii.  Kauai, Maui, and Oahu

And they lived happily ever after.

7/18/11: Juice in the City Launching in Seattle!

I have been keeping you up to date on Juice in the City's launch in Boston in my posts.  I wanted to update you that the launch is now in September so there is still time to become a Local Business Consultant. 

I also wanted to let you know that they will be launching on July 25th in Seattle.  If you live in that area, you are lucky that Juicy Deals are coming your way!

Juice in the City is still looking for moms in Brookline/Newton/North End and Beacon Hill to become Local Business Consultants. 

The whole point of Juice in the City is to attract moms within their area participate more with their surroundings, get them out of the house and go have fun! LOCAL businesses are preferred as opposed to chains, rarely do we ever source deals for companies like Starbucks or Target. We know spending money in the community means the money STAYS in the community.

Do you want to work at a home based career and spend more time with your family? Do you want to make your own hours? Do you want to support local businesses in your community? Interested in joining a community of smart, fun women?

Go ahead and apply to be a Local Business Consultant here.

Here are some other things you can do....

Like them on Facebook

Follow @jitcboston on Twitter

For more information and history on Juice in the City, refer to my earlier post.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I’ll receive compensation as a thank you for posting about the Juice in the City however all opinions are mine.