Leap Year Promos

There are some really great promotions running to celebrate this fabulous Leap Year! Here is a quick summary:

Daily Deals for Moms – my favorite

Be one of 5 lucky people to win $29 MomBucks to spend on deals! Register here:
http://dailydealsformoms.com/page/leapyear

Mabel’s Labels:

Mabel’s Labels is offering 29% off today only!

http://www.mabelslabels.com/info/leap+year

Zappos is offering until the NEXT Leap Year for free returns on purchases made today only. Details here:
http://www.zappos.com/shipping-and-returns

ENJOY!

Free Mozart Music Downloads for Babies and Toddlers

Image by SantaRosa OLD SKOOL

The good people over at Munchkin.com have generously put together free Mozart Musical Soup downloads for all of us.

You can either download the entire albums (Wombsong Collection and Mozart for Toddlers) or you can choose individual songs.  They also have the songs broken out by: Wake Up, Play Time and Sleepy Time.

No sign up is required, simply visit the Munchkin website and click on the links to download!

Great Giveaway from Gifted Imaginations!

If you are in the market for high-quality, eco-friendly toys, you absolutely must check out Gifted Imaginations.  I don’t know if I have found another toy store with such an amazing selection of educational and well-made toys that inspire your little one’s imagination and pretend play.

From their website: “From wooden blocks to puzzles to backpacks, dolls, cars, and games – these are not the kinds of toys you’ll find in your local department store. In addition to these unique finds, Gifted Imaginations also carries eco-friendly and fun children’s clothing such as Life is Good, Green Label and BioMe5.”

I love toys that inspire creativity and that is why I fell in love with the Magnetic Pattern Block Kit by Melissa and Doug.  There are so many reasons why this is a GREAT toy.  Geometric patterns and placement help kids develop necessary skills for future learning – even IQ tests!  The Magnetic Pattern Block Kit also comes in a neat travel case, which makes it perfect for your future travel plans!

And you, lucky reader, can win one!  Just leave a comment by Tuesday, April 13th.  We will use Random.org to pick a winner!  Want an extra entry?  Fan us on Facebook and leave another comment letting us know.  If you already are a fan, just leave another comment letting us know.  Tweets will count as one extra entry as well!

In the meantime, visit Gifted Imaginations website and check out all of their super cool toys.  And, they also happen to have very competitive pricing!  Fan them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter to find out about their latest promotions and specials.  I have already identified several unique gifts that I will be buying for all the little ones we know!

Ode to Zappos

My new shoes - clearly, not kid-friendly!

I just have to take two seconds to rave about my latest experience with Zappos.com.

Saturday night, my husband and I were watching TV and it suddenly occurred to me that I had no pool sandals for an upcoming trip.  I shredded the last pair I owned.  I sprang up from the couch and grabbed my computer.  Ten minutes later, I had found a pair of reasonably priced sandals and put in my order.

Now, I have to point out, it was 10 o’ clock on a Saturday night.  I chose standard shipping when I checked out and got an order confirmation email that instant.

Not kidding – the shoes were on my front doorstep at 5pm Monday.  I could not believe it.  I still can’t figure out how it was even possible.

On top of all of that, Zappos gives free return shipping if your purchase doesn’t work out and 1 YEAR to return it.  I can’t think of another store that has a return policy that even touches that.

Just had to share.  It made me happy.

Best Bargain Shopping

Photo by gingerbydesign

Lately I’ve been feeling a touch dated in my current wardrobe, yet I don’t want to break the bank buying new things.  I’ve spent the last couple weeks trying out various discount stores to see what I could do with a little cash.

Here are my top 4 stores/websites of the moment:

1. TJ Maxx

How can you not love this place? If I can invest the time, sifting through the racks upon racks of clothes always nets me something of value. And, oddly, I seem to be able to find things that are relatively unique.  They also have the new designer area that while a bit pricier, does have great jeans and other stellar finds.  Plus, never overlook the children, toy and home departments.

2. Loehmanns

This is a new spot for me.  I always felt I couldn’t find things there in the past so I gave up going.  I’ve now gone a few times over the past month and have found some great things.  I love their clearance racks.  I got a rockin new shirt for under $15.  It is also a great spot for bras, underwear and shoes.  They even have quite a nice selection of salon products.

3. Bluefly

I didn’t have much luck with Bluefly in the past, but lately I have found some basics, including a new swimsuit!  I get their emails and wait for an extra discount to come through.  Recently I took advantage of an extra 15% one-day sale they had and saved even more off their already discounted prices.

4. Gilt Groupe

This one is a little trickier.  They send you emails once a sale is about to open, then it is a mad dash to get the deeply discounted designer clothes.  I typically don’t use them, but when I saw a sale for my favorite brand of jeans, I scored three pairs for the price of one! Needless to say, I was psyched!

Have other favorites?  Leave a comment – I’m always looking for new bargain spots!

A Free Resource to Back Up Your Files Online

A few months back a friend told me about Syncplicity:  a website that allows you to back up your files online.  A free account gives you 2 GB of space to upload unlimited files and folders.  That’s a lot of free space.  You can also get a few more GB of space by inviting people to their service (1 GB/person, max 3 extra GB)  If you need a lot more, you can purchase 50 GB of space for $15/month.

The great thing about Syncplicity: you can log in from any computer and retrieve your files.  At Grandma’s house and want to download some of your photos to her computer?  Done.  It is very user friendly and secure.

From the Syncplicity website:

Syncplicity Personal Edition is for individual users and makes everyday sync, back-up and sharing files easy. Accidentally lose a file, a folder, or your computer? Get your files back, instantly. Our SyncStorage means your files are protected with real-time, automated back-up and instant restore. You can safely share your files with anyone you designate, effortlessly. From Google Apps to Microsoft Office, photos and other media. Your files can be on every computer you use – instantly.

You can chose which files you want to upload.  Maybe you just want a place to back up your photos in case you get the blue screen of death.  Or just some old important documents that you want to have in a safe place.  The end of the year is a great time to have all of your important items from the year backed up.

And, of course, I love free services like this!

Great Personalized Holiday Gift

I’m in love with these personalized Token Tags by Elizabeth Lindsay.  Great for yourself, your mom, your sister,  etc, etc.  The best part: you can completely personalize them!  They can say whatever you want them too.  Have a special message for your mom?

Elizabeth Lindsay was chosen to design the 10 year commemorative pin for Denver for the “RACE FOR THE CURE” for breast cancer. Having one Aunt that was a Breast Cancer survivor and one who has passed as well as her mother who passed a few years ago,  Elizabeth stamped her first Token Tags as a talisman of support for her dad to where which included words of encouragement and love.

Elizabeth sold her work nationally for over ten years to such established stores as Nieman Marcus and The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She was also honored with a Buyer’s Choice Award in 1994 for Modern Jeweler’s Magazine design competition.

In addition, the Colorado Rockies wives honored the Philadelphia Phillies wives with Token Tags. Each Phillies wife received a custom Token Tag  form the Colorado Rockies wives commemorating the 2009 National League Division series.

Token tags can be seen on an incredible amount of celebrities including Selma Hayek, Trista Sutter, Eve Longoria Parker, Christina Applegate and Whoopi Goldberg.

Great news!  They are having a special holiday promotion: spend $50 get a small Token Tag for FREE! Use code Holiday09 at checkout.

www.TokenTags.com

New find: Incredible Website for Local Discounts!

My latest discovery: Groupon.  This is a website that aggregates users in order to offer huge discounts on local services.  For example, in Denver, recent daily deals included: a Botanical Garden family membership for 50% off (who knew those were ever discounted?), $25 off a $50 dinner at Zenga, a trendy eatery downtown, a $49 Spa-cation featuring four services that is valued at $136 (hello, incredible holiday gift!), and tons more.  And, of course, using Groupon is free!

Check out Groupon for super-discounted deals.  Love it!