Cold Stone Creamery and Make-A-Wish Foundation-Sept 30 FREE Ice Cream and GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO #6 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG! Please respond to my email within 72 hours. Thanks everyone for participating and look out for a new giveaway soon!
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While I've been training for the San Jose Half-Marathon and raising funds for Ullrich CMD research, I've been thinking a lot about kids who have life-threatening illnesses and how lucky I am that my boys are healthy. R was sick every day from month 1 to month 11 of his life with one infection after another. I remember being so frustrated and agonizing over what we could do to help him feel better. At one point the infection was so bad it spread throughout his upper respiratory tract and turned into pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized. Life finally got better for all of us when he had ear tubes surgery in month 11. When I think about what a big deal I made about it and compare it to what parents of really sick kids go through, I do feel a little ashamed of myself.

I found out about 11-year-old Kate at the Dinner’s On Us event sponsored by Bloganthropy.org and Child's Play Communications at the Blogher conference in New York last month. Kate has a life-threatening congenital spinal-cord condition. Her Make-A-Wish Foundation wish was to be the Cold Stone Tastemaster and she’s hoping ice cream lovers around the country will dig into the exclusive ice cream Creation that she developed. Cold Stone Creamery and the Make-A-Wish Foundation are inviting the country to help make Kate’s wish come true by participating in the “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social.” I had a chance to sample her creation and was amazed that the young chef could come up with such a flavorful Creation. I was also inspired by her making a wish, unlike a trip to Disneyland or another amusement park, that means part of Kate's life will always be a part of our national zeitgeist.  


Throughout September, every Cold Stone store nationwide will sell paper wish stars for $1 each. The month-long fundraiser will culminate in the ninth-annual “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social” this Thursday, Sept. 30. During the social, Cold Stone locations will give away three-ounce portions of Kate’s Creation from 5-8 p.m., while encouraging guests to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cold Stone Creamery has supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation since 2002, generating more than $3.6 million in donations.

Kate, who hails from Tampa, Fla., was inspired to become this year’s Cold Stone Creamery wish kid after she attended last year’s social. An ice cream connoisseur, Kate discovered that a wish kid has the responsibility of creating an exclusive Creation for the “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social.” When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked Kate for her most heartfelt wish, she knew she was the perfect candidate for the position. In March, Kate traveled to the Cold Stone Creamery World Headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., to work with the Cold Stone Tastemaster to mix up this year’s Make-A-Wish Creation. Kate was named “Junior Tastemaster” and invented Kate’s Creation: caramel apple ice cream mixed with graham cracker pie crust, chocolate shavings and apple pie filling. Her exclusive Creation will be featured at Cold Stone locations throughout September. “My wish day at Cold Stone was the most delicious day of my life!” Kate exclaimed.

I hope Random Mommy ice cream lovers and supporters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation will be part of Kate’s wish and visit their local Cold Stone Creamery on Thursday, Sept. 30. You will get FREE ice cream this Thursday, and to help you continue to enjoy Cold Stone creations, Random Mommy is giving away one $10 Gift Card for future use!

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: Contest period runs from Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 3:01 PM (Pacific) until Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving the name of your favorite dessert, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.


Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)

1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. A huge thank you and much appreciation to my friends at Cold Stone Creamery for their generosity! Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received product samples at the Bloganthropy event to facilitate my review.

California Strawberries: Teapot GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO #11 AS PICKED BY RANDOM.ORG! Please respond to my email within 72 hours. Thanks everyone for participating!
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Berries figure big in our house. I think it all stems from my reading the book Jamberry to H even before he could eat. His dreams must have been filled with blueberry waterfalls and meadows of strawberry jam. We loved that book so much the first copy fell apart and now we're on the way to loving the second copy to its death. So it's no surprise that berries are a staple of H&R's diet. During the summers, we've had California Strawberries every day, from the supermarket, from the farmer's market, and even from the garden at H's school. When I saw the California Strawberry Commission represented at the Child's Play Bloganthropy Dinner at BlogHer, it made me feel like a piece of home that had followed me all the way to New York. That's why I really had a great time at BlogHer. It was a gateway to learning things that I wouldn't ordinarily come across on my own. I didn't even know there was a California Strawberry Commission and I live in California!

Here is the Top Ten List for California Strawberries I picked up at the dinner. California Strawberries are:

1. Considered a super fruit because of their high nutrient content.
2. Voted the favorite fruit among kids.
3. Versatile and great for both sweet and savory dishes.
4. Grown by hundreds of caring and passionate family farmers.
5. Recognized global leaders in food safety.
6. Among the safest and healthiest fruit in the world.
7. Packed with vitamin C and loaded with beneficial antioxidants.
8. Available year-round across the country.
9. Found everywhere with 90% of strawberry production in the U.S.
10. The favorite topic of discussion at www.facebook.com/castrawberries

If you go to the CSC website, there are a lot of great resources for school-age kids, including fun facts and games as well as a cookbook and downloads. There's plenty for adults as well, including a link to a free iPhone App with recipes from top food bloggers and information about a strawberry recipe contest the CSC is running this month--$250 Amazon GC prize! If you like strawberries and prizes, the CSC will give one Random Mommy reader a Strawberry Teapot like the one pictured here to help make drinks to accompany your strawberry desserts.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 10:01 AM (Pacific) until Friday, August 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment about your favorite fruit, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Like California Strawberries on Facebook
3) Follow California Strawberries on Twitter
4) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. A huge thank you and much appreciation to my friends at the California Strawberry Commission for their generosity! Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. The CSC offered a giveaway to my readers and I took it!

More Fun at BlogHer 2010: Child's Play Bloganthropy, Bumble Bee Foods

Theoretically I was at BlogHer to learn how to become a better blogger so I felt duty-bound to attend the conference sessions. It was my first conference so I also attended the Newbie Breakfast after running the BlogHer 5K (if you saw women running in tutus in Midtown and in Central Park, that's what that was). I quickly learned that not everyone goes to the sessions, but I'm really glad I did go to the professional session: The FTC Guidelines: After A Year, Has Anything Changed? Basically a statement on the top page of your blog to the effect that "this is my real opinion, I'm not compensated for my views on this blog" is not good enough to comply with the regulations that came out last year. You have to mention in each post if you received product samples or other items that a reasonable person might taken into account in deciding how much to trust your review. You also need to disclose that you are part of any advertising or link program, like Amazon Associates (yes, I'm a part of it). It seems to me any reasonable person should know that if an ad appears on someone's blog or a link takes you to a purchase site like Amazon, it means that person is getting compensation! I'm glad I didn't go the blanket disclaimer route on my blog so I don't have to change gears at this point. Thank you panelists Lisa Stone, Susan Getgood, Kimberly Coleman and Stacey Ferguson!

I had so much fun and learned even more about blogging at the BlogHer Expo and the many, many parties during the weekend. I think that's the real reason people come to BlogHer. To have fun and make connections. And considering most of us have kids that run us ragged or day jobs that aren't very glamorous, I think we all deserved to have fun and get a bit of pampering. I was treated to a wonderful pedicure at the ECCO Shoes suite. My feet were so swollen from running around Manhattan in heels that it was really a treat to have someone rub lotion all over them. But it wasn't all about pampering, or even mostly. I learned so much about things going on in the blogosphere and in real life that I wouldn't have been exposed to had I not been at BlogHer. P&G's water for Africa campaign for one.

Then at the first annual Bloganthropy Awards announced at the Dinner’s On Us event sponsored by Bloganthropy.org and Child's Play Communications, I learned about what great work other bloggers were doing to raise awareness for social and personal issues through their blogs. The winner of the award was Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog in the United States on postpartum depression (PPD), postpartum anxiety, postpartum psychosis and other mental illnesses related to pregnancy and childbirth. It was encouraging to see and hear about women who make a difference by using social media effectively to promote a good cause. Hearing Katherine speak brought tears to my eyes because I could relate to how isolating motherhood can be during those first few crucial months. If only more women knew about resources like Katherine's blog, we wouldn't hear about those mothers who go insane and harm themselves or their children. The event wasn't only about serious matters, though. I was introduced to some great companies and their products, including Zillions Electronic Money Jar. I knew H would love this toy, and I was absolutely right. Maybe he loves it a little too much because every time he sees it, he shouts, "more money, more money." He emptied out the change from our wallets, and then I even used cash at the supermarket in order to get change for him. Don't worry--he's doing chores to earn the money!


The Bumble Bee Foods reception featuring Chef Scott Leibfried at the Viking Demo Kitchen was the source of some great new recipe ideas. Here is Chef Scott walking us through how to make Vietnamese spring rolls using Bumble Bee Sensations Seasoned Tuna Medley Bowl Spicy Thai Chili, fresh vegetables, rice paper, and his own special sauce:

We got to try the spring rolls after he finished making them and they were delicious! I'm definitely going to try this at home, especially since Bumble Bee Foods gave us free product coupons in our gift bags. I like Chef Scott's suggestion to use bagged coleslaw as a quick cheat to cutting up all those vegetables.

Here are some more photos of me or taken by me at BlogHer:

And if you think I'm done recapping, think again. More to come!

I did not receive compensation for this post. Dinner's On Us event photos courtesy of Child's Play. 

Child's Play LA Blogger's Brunch

Mother's Day started early for me this year with a fabulous LA Blogger brunch last month sponsored by Child's Play PR/Marketing Communications.  We gathered at the fabulous Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach for a yummy brunch (omelet bar!) and the opportunity to see and touch some great new kids, mom and family products. I loved seeing my friends from the LA Moms Blog and meeting new mommy bloggers. It was the perfect informal setting; you could eat, mingle, and talk at your own pace with the representatives from the various companies set up at tables around the hotel patio. One of the first tables I approached before I even ate my lox and cream cheese on sesame bagel was the Cold Stone Creamery table sampling their new Double Stuf Oreo Ice Cream sandwiches. I'm a firm believer in the saying, "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first!" I think you need to love Oreos (which I do) to enjoy this treat because it basically tastes like a giant frozen Oreo cookie. Cold Stone also gave me a gift card so I could share the new sandwich with my boys. Yum! The ice cream shop is also celebrating new premium flavors every month in 2010. Strawberry cheesecake was the Gold Cone flavor for May. I can't wait for June--chocolate peanut butter!

Food is definitely always one of the topics at the forefront of my mind, so of course when I approached the Bandai table the first thing I noticed was the Bandai Chocopot. I can't even link to it because it's not on the market yet! This kitchen tool for both boys and girls will be available Fall 2010. You can melt chocolate and use it like a fondue pot or use the chocolate and included molds to make your own chocolates! The heat source is so safe that it seems pretty impossible that you would accidentally burn your fingers. This will definitely be one of H's Christmas presents--shhh, don't tell him! I love it also because the name reminds me of Choco Pie, which is every Korean kid's lunchbox staple. Bandai gave me a gift bag of neat toys from popular kids programming that I was able to share with the kids in my Sunday School. Thanks Bandai!

I picked up some more toys for my boys from Backyard Safari Outfitters by Summit Toys! They are always picking up things outside so I knew they would love these toys that are designed to support a child's natural desire to explore and foster a love of science and the outdoors. One of H's favorites is the Backyard Safari Binoculars, which he has found very useful in spying on the neighbors in our condo complex. I'm not an outdoors person myself so I probably would not have known about these toys if I hadn't attended the lunch (they weren't on my radar so I might not have noticed the display at Toys R Us), but now I know what to recommend to mom friends who are outdoorsy types. 

You probably know by now we're a family of TV and movie-loving fools. I went to a magnet school for part of my childhood. We were bussed in from all over Chicago so my friends lived nowhere near me, which meant my best friend was the TV. If there had been Nickelodeon back then, I probably never would have left the house. As it is, whenever the boys and I are at home (one reason I try to go out whenever I can), we're probably watching Dora The Explorer, who is celebrating her tenth anniversary this year--I know, she doesn't look a day over seven. The boys were thrilled when I brought home Dora Explore the Earth DVD (Thanks Nickelodeon!) and forgave me for going to a party without them!

I put some of these fun items together in the beach bag provided by representative from Pottery Barn Kids, who were present with a new line of beach inspired designs, including the Shark Beach Wrap that is R's new favorite towel. My kids love to play at PBK (although the employees probably cringe whenever we walk into the store). It's one of those stores where I know I can go and shop and they won't try to run out of the store.

Then there were the companies with products for the moms. Pajama Jeans look like a pair of jeans but feel like pajamas. I just received a pair in the mail. They definitely live up to the hype and I will be wearing them all around town as soon as I get them hemmed. The gals from the Temptress cosmetics and skincare store in El Segundo gave me a mini-makeover. I've test-driven the 2011 Toyota Sienna so I was excited to see Toyota at the event. Dyson was also on hand with models of their upright and hand-held vacuums. I've been drooling over my friend's Dyson for some time now. This event confirmed it for me, as soon as my current vacuum dies, I'm getting a Dyson!

That day, I left R with a friend for the first time in his two years of life. He didn't cry or look for me once, which was a relief but also made me a little sad. But now I know he doesn't have separation anxiety and that he's probably ready to go to preschool in the fall. Thank you Child's Play, for hosting this awesome event for moms and providing the occasion for me to learn something new about my child! 

I did not receive compensation for this post. I did receive product samples for review purposes.