Huggable Hangers Winner: You’re #1! You’re #1!
Jul 31, 2008 Contest/Giveaway
If you look at the first few comments on the Huggable Hanger contest post, you’ll see why I think the winner is kind of funny. And I had to take a picture of the Random.org sequence generator, since I was afraid nobody would believe me.
Our winner is Adventures in Babywearing. Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone who entered. I have a feeling we’ll be giving away more of these hangers in the future. I got a bunch of emails from people saying that they already had them so they didn’t want to enter the contest, but that they thought that these hangers were really great. Feel free to post comments even if you don’t want to enter – just mention that in the comment. I won’t assign you a number.
And BTW, before anyone emails asking why the timestamp on Random.org was 3 minutes before the hour, I have no idea. By the time I printed out the comments, verified that nobody had entered twice in one day, numbered the eligible comments, answered the phone, got a breadstick from the fridge leftover from last night’s dinner at Olive Garden, and answered the door (my package is here!), it was probably at least 12:15 before I got around to getting the winner.
So a big thank you to Joy Mangano for the hangers, and remember to watch her tonight on the Home Shopping Network, at 9pm and 11pm.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
Tags: Home Shopping Network, HSN, Huggable Hangers, Joy Mangano
Win Fifty Huggable Hangers!
Jul 28, 2008 Contest/Giveaway
A little while back I received a couple of Huggable Hangers to try out. I had seen these on TV, but for some reason, the commercials had not convinced me to pick up the phone. I thought that either they really were as good as they said, and would be too expensive, or they were cheap and wouldn’t last. So I was glad that Home Shopping Network and Joy Mangano (the creator of Huggable Hangers) put a couple in my hands to try, because I might not have tried them otherwise. And that would have been bad, because I love these hangers!
I’ve been using mine for a few weeks now, and here are five reasons why I think they’re way better than any other hanger out there:
- They’re really thin. I hate wasting space in my closet, and my clunky plastic hangers take up way too much space for what they have on them.
- They’re coated in velvet, which grips whatever you hang on them without having to use clothespins, which leave ugly marks.
- They have a very gentle slope in the shoulder, so that even the thinnest, most delicate of fabrics doesn’t get an ugly “hanger hump.”
- The hook part of the hanger can be turned, in case you want to hang something on a door or some kind of rack.
- You can buy a whole closet full without breaking the bank. HSN is even shipping some of the Huggable Hanger packs for free right now, so you can get them for right around $1 per hangar.
In honor or HSN’s 31st anniversary, Joy Mangano will be on HSN this coming Thursday, July 31st from 9-10pm and 11pm-1am. And to help celebrate, she’s giving away 50 Huggable Hangers (25 adult, 25 child) to a lucky Selfish Mom reader! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and noon on July 31st. The winner will be chosen at random, but to make it fun, please tell us in your comment what the last thing was that you bought online. Only one entry per person per day please!
Update: Forgot to mention, these can only be sent to U.S. addresses!
To read my general rules on giveaways, go here. Good luck!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
Tags: Home Shopping Network, HSN, Huggable Hangers, Joy Mangano
Stainless Steel Card Holder Winners!
Jul 28, 2008 Contest/Giveaway
OK, I have the winners of the gorgeous Woven Stainless Steel Card Holders from Stewart/Stand. The random winner is bonggamom, and the winner that I chose was Leticia, AKA Tech Savvy Mama. Leticia’s suggestion was a stainless steel sunglasses holder, and perhaps I was swayed because I spent two weeks shopping for a sunglasses holder after buying mid-priced sunglasses that didn’t come with a case, but I really like the idea! Stuart/Stand, are you listening?
Tags: Stewart/Stand
Videos That Tickle Me
Jul 25, 2008 What's Going On
There are some videos that I can watch over and over (and no, not all of them are a-ha videos).
This one has been going around for a while, but my step-mom just emailed it to me and reminded me of its existence. It’s comedienne Anita Renfroe, condensing everything moms say to their kids in the course of a day into a three-minute section of the William Tell Overture. It’s hilarious.
If you want to see her interviewed on CBS, go here.
Even funnier, I think, is her response to “Momsense” called, of course, “Dadsense.”
Moving on to politics, where there’s always material, the funny folks at JibJab recently released their latest video, about the Obama and McCain campaigns.
But as funny as that is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the first JibJab video I ever saw, from the Kerry/Bush campaign. I’ve probably seen this 50 times, and it makes me laugh out loud every single time.
Sublime.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
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Tags: Anita Renfroe, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, JibJab, John Kerry, John McCain, Parody, William Tell Overture
What Did Happen When I Got Back?
Jul 25, 2008 What's Going On
On my way back from San Francisco I wrote a post for the NYC Moms Blog about leaving my kids home with my husband for an extended amount of time, when he would have to deal with the kids during their normal routine, carpooling and packing lunches and all that other fun stuff. As I revealed in the post, my biggest fear wasn’t that things would go badly. My biggest fear was that it would go so well that The Ass would wonder what I do all day. That he would see my life as easy and carefree and devoid of all of the angst that he encounters at work every day.
Being a stay-at-home mom is what you make it, to a certain extent. You can be a domestic goddess, the super-mom making bread and sewing costumes. You can spend all day taking your child to do interesting things and being the cool mom who is always on her way somewhere. When my kids were little, before each started preschool, staying at home with them meant taking a lot of naps (I used to take giant ones whenever they did), hanging out in the playground, and making an effort to keep the house organized and somewhat clean. Being at home with them kept me in a kind of forced routine. But now that they’re both in school (or summer camp) full time, I’m a stay-at-home mom who just isn’t home much. Housework and organization have taken a backseat for the past year or so. I’ve been trying to fit chores in between other projects: volunteering at my kids’ schools, keeping up with Filming In Brooklyn, and some other projects that I just couldn’t manage to get to when I had a kid with me all day.
But The Ass didn’t have any of that other stuff going on. All he would have to do is take care of the kids and himself. He would be on vacation from work, not trying to fit his work in around the kids’ schedules. Even though he would be playing my role for a few days, he would only be playing half of it. The other responsibilities went with me to San Francisco.
So what did happen while I was gone? Everything went fine. There were a few minor snafus, nothing worse than I would have done if I had been home. Some things were cleaner. He put away a ton of laundry. He didn’t run to me when I got home wailing “Don’t ever leave again!” But he did say something that made me feel better, made me feel like he didn’t see my time as wasted. He said that he thinks he tends to overestimate how much I’m able to get done each day during the five hours when the kids are gone. That’s all I needed.
My Meeting With A Couple Of Muppets
Jul 24, 2008 What's Going On
Have you ever gone out for a walk and run into your favorite movie star? Gone to the grocery store and bumped in to a rock star? That’s what I felt like last week when I stumbled upon Sesame Street characters Grover and Abby Cadabby.
I was in San Francisco, at the BlogHer convention. The convention was taking up most of the meeting rooms and ballrooms at the Westin St. Francis, and there was a ton to see. I had read something about a Sesame Street Suite in the convention guide, but hadn’t made my way over there. I was trying to gather up as much swag as possible (yes, I’m completely shameless) and was targeting the bigger rooms first.
So thank goodness I overheard another convention goer in an elevator, talking about how she had just met Grover! Not some second-string guy-in-a-big-furry-suit Grover, but the actual Grover. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I raced over to the Sesame Street Suite.
When I walked in, this is what I saw:
It was a little piece of Sesame Street, all the way in San Francisco!
There was so much to take in, at first I didn’t even notice the man behind the light pole. (No, there’s nothing wrong with his eyes, just my crappy camera.)
His name is Eric Jacobson, and for the past eight years he’s been doing many of the characters that Frank Oz used to do. I couldn’t tell the difference. I mean, not even a little bit. Whenever I hear any Frank Oz characters talk, I always hear a hint of Yoda, and there it was in Eric Jacobson’s voice.
I was still not quite over the fact that I was in the same room as Grover when Abby Cadabby came over and started talking to me. She was so nice and friendly, I was really embarrassed that I had no idea who she was. But she’s a pretty new character and my kids don’t watch Sesame Street as much as I wish they would anymore (although after all of this, they may start again).
Abby Cadabby is voiced by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who is just a really sweet person (thanks for letting me totally monopolize your time, Leslie!).
Abby was so lifelike I was making eye contact with her. After talking to Abby for a few minutes, I asked her if I could speak to the woman “behind” her. I really felt like I had to ask permission, it would have been rude not too. Of course Abby said yes, and I introduced myself to Leslie. I asked her how she is able to put so much life and personality into Abby, and her answer almost made me cry: “You have to learn to put your heart in two places.” Wow.
Here’s Leslie in action:
After talking to Leslie and Abby for a little while, I went in search of information on how to get a video made with Grover. Would I have to donate money to PBS? Win a contest? Write an essay? Complete some kind of epic quest? Promise The Children’s Television Workshop my next born child? Nope, I was next in line. That’s all I had to do, wait until the person in front of me was done making her video. I couldn’t believe that they were doing this. Watching Eric Jacobson bring Grover to life was really amazing:
Making the video was completely nerve-wracking. I wanted to act relaxed in my video but was just too freaked out. Grover! I’m talking to Grover! OMG Grover just said my kids names!
While I was waiting for my DVD I wandered over to the food table. I couldn’t bring myself to eat any of the desserts, they were just too cute!
I really can’t say enough good things about the nice people at The Children’s Television Workshop, and especially Eric and Leslie. It must have been very draining for them to interact with all of us excited and starstruck parents for two days, but they gave 100% to each and every one of us. It was truly one of the most special things I ever participated in in my life.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
Tags: Abby Cadabby, BlogHer, Children's Television Workshop, Eric Jacobson, Grover, Leslie Carrara Rudolph, Sesame Street
Product Giveaway: Woven Stainless Steel Card Holders
Jul 23, 2008 Contest/Giveaway
A little while back I was in DUMBO stalking the cast of Rescue Me when I stumbled upon a really cool little store called Stewart/Stand. The store stocks household and personal items, many whimsical and different than what you’re going to find in most stores. Housed in what used to be a garage, the store centers around the Stewart/Stand line of wallets and card holders made from woven stainless steel. That’s right, woven stainless steel! Some are smooth, some are textured, and they all have a kind of shimmery quality.
I picked up a couple of their v-pouch single-card holders, and am giving them to you guys (two of you guys, anyway). These would be great for holding a single card that you need access to frequently, like a metrocard or a drivers license. (Unfortunately, they’ve discontinued the single-card holder, but they’ve replaced it with a multi-card holder, which you can see here – they look very similar, but the multi-card holder is gusseted to hold more cards.)
So, to enter the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment stating what other item should be made out of woven stainless steel, or absolutely should not be made out of woven stainless steel. I vote for underwear, but I’ll leave you guessing as to whether I’m for stainless steel underwear or against.
I’ll give one card holder to the comment that I like best, and one other comment will be chosen at random from the rest of the entries. Leave as many comments as you want for the subjective part of the contest, but only one entry per user will be counted for the random winner. You have until 6pm Eastern on Monday, July 28th to enter. Sorry, I’ll only send these to the U.S. or Canada.
To read my general rules on giveaways, go here. Good luck! And keep checking back, because I’ve got a ton of stuff to give away in the coming weeks.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
Tags: DUMBO, Rescue Me, Stewart Stand, woven stainless steel
BlogHer and Grover and Lists, Oh My!
Jul 22, 2008 What's Going On
So I’m still jetlagged from spending half of last week in California (my first trip there, incidentally). I was there just long enough to get on their schedule, and now I seem to be stuck. I went to San Francisco to attend BlogHer, a convention for female bloggers. I’ll write more about the convention later, I’m just too tired and want to take a nap before the kids and I make pizza. They’re happily eating Froot Loops and watching cartoons in the dining room so I’m going to write a little and then snooze on the couch for a while.
The highlight of the convention, for me anyway, was getting to meet Grover. You know, blue guy, furry, lives on Sesame Street? Yeah, I was hanging out with Grover. And not just Grover, Abby Cadabby was there too. I’ve got pictures, videos, the works. But again, the nap awaits, so it will have to wait until later.
Last, I just came across this list on my friend’s blog, with ten new sites she discovered at BlogHer. It’s a really good list, and I’m not just saying that because my other site, Filming In Brooklyn, is on it!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
Tags: Abby Cadabby, BlogHer, Filming In Brooklyn, Grover, Sesame Workshop
