Harry Connick Jr Your Songs CD Review

One2One Network gave me this incredible opportunity to review the new Harry Connick Jr CD titled Your Songs that was released today.  This album is unique in which Harry teamed up with outside producer, the legendary Clive Davis.  Harry took his big band, string orchestra and that one of a kind soothing voice to give a captivating, tantalizing feel to these songs:

• All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
• Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
• Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
• And I Love Her (The Beatles)
• (They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
• Besame Mucho
• The Way You Look Tonight
• First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
• Your Song (Elton John)
• Some Enchanted Evening
• And I Love You So (Don McLean)
• Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
• Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
• Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

All the songs are very familar which is nice and to hear Harry's smooth and soothing voice remake them, adds more appeal. 

To hear samples of each song via Amazon click below.

Harry Connick Jr Your Songs

I think he did a fantastic job on each and every one.  Harry has such a great vocal talent that anything he would deliver in his usual way would be music to my ears.

As I was listening, I felt an urge to pour a glass a wine, shut my eyes and relax.

Recommended Upcoming TV Appearances for Harry:

• 9/25 – Oprah “Live Friday”
• 9/28 – Today Show
• 9/29 – The View
• 9/30 – Imus in the Morning
• 9/30 – Letterman
• 10/1 – Today Show
• Week of 10/5 – Rachael Ray
  

Recommended video click here for a video on the making of Your Songs:

Need more Harry?

Here are additional resources from Harry's website and become a fan for the latest news and updates.

Fast Facts:

• Harry received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Tulane University's 2009 Commencement on May 16th.
• Harry appeared on his first jazz recording at age ten,
• First film score When Harry Met Sally.
• Acted in Memphis Belle (debut), Little Man Tate, Copycat, Independence Day, Hope Floats, voice in My Dog Skip and The Iron Giant, Simian Line, P.S. I Love You as well as many others.
• Album sales over 25 million.
  

The list goes on and on and if you are a Harry Connick Jr. fan, you will want to buy this.  Be forewarned that it's not like his usual original work but it does have the Harry touch!

Highly recommend!

$20 Gap Gift Card & $15 iTunes Gift Card Giveaway 10/31/09 - CLOSED WINNER

CLOSED - CONTRATULATIONS TO

ANNJOYCE!

AN E-MAIL HAS BEEN SENT.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!

With fall coming, new clothes are a must have.  I divide my purchases over some brands that I'm loyal to and others that I need to find cheaper.  One place that I love to shop is The Gap.  I think they have trendy and cool clothes for your kids and if you haven't taken a look lately, do so!

I have been given a $20 Gap card and a $15 iTunes gift card to giveaway to one of my lucky readers.

To win, all you have to do is leave a comment that you follow my blog!

Extra entries can be obtained by:

• Following me on Twitter and leave a comment.
• Subscribing to my blog and leave a comment.
• Leave a comment on any other blog, come back here and leave a comment on which one you commented on.  This can be done five times a day.
• Vote for me at DivineCaroline (widget top left) and get FIVE extra entries! Just vote, return back to the each giveaway and leave five entries with what number of voter you were. Easy!
  
  Giveaway ends 10/31/09
  

Winner will be selected by random.org.

My e-mail Box of Discounts, Deals & Specials

Every morning, I check my e-mail and have a lot of good specials, sales and deals.  From my internet surfing experiences, I know these deals aren't always openly out there.  Luckily, we have sites such as dealcatcher.com that lists a host of great specials and sales.  There are tons of sites dedicated to coupons, deals and more which some of my favorites include Southern Savers, Frugal Coupon Living, Nicole's Nickels and Saving with Shellie.  There are many, many more great sites out there and all it takes is time to find them.

Here are the deals and specials delivered to my e-mail this morning:

1. Special sale on holiday clothing at AdorableBabyClothing (use code HOLIDAY).
2. $5.00 off coupon at magazine.com.
3. Save $10 off select Kid's outerwear and jackets at Land's End.
4. Take 20% off all sale styles - 9/22 - 9/25 at The Gap.
5. Free Mini at Clinique with a $30 purchase (use SKIN for the code).
6. 15% off and free shipping at David's Cookies (FSP5 for the code).
7. $15 off $100 or more at Office Depot.
8. $20 off $100 or more on home fashions, bedding and bath (exp COUNTRY3) at K-Mart.
9. Free Veggie Tales download.
10. 10% off at Shindigz and free shipping (use code SZ6LL9).

Extra Crafting Specials:

Sign up for the You Can Make This newsletter for a free eBook bundle:

Free Always Infinity Sample

Free Always Infinity Sample

Just try Always Infinity. It works like magic! Melissa from Virginia tried it and said, "All I can say is WOW!! Love Love Love it!!" and Joannie from Oregon said, "It feels like I'm not wearing one at all ... and it's super absorbent for my heavy days. I am extremely impressed!"

Click here at BeingGirl.com

Harvey Prince Ageless Perfume Review & Giveaway WINNER

Contest Closed: CONGRATULATIONS PAM!
(an e-mail was sent to Pamela)

For those that didn't win, use coupon code LYA for $10 off a purchase

Harvey Prince Ageless: A Smart Scent

Nothing makes a woman feel like a woman like a good perfume. Having perfect strangers compliment you on the perfume you are wearing is always a boost to the ego as it shows you have good taste. Most important is when your significant other enjoys the fragrance and you know it drives him crazy. We all like aromas hence the big business around candles, incents, air fresheners and all the other products available so a perfume that is considered a smart scent only makes sense.

I was provided an exciting opportunity to review Harvey Prince’s Ageless perfume and I have to admit, I was a skeptic as I’m ultra sensitive to strong perfumes and have only worn two different brands my entire life. I was excited to receive the perfume in the mail and opened it right away to see if I felt younger or if my husband perceived me as being younger.

I sprayed it lightly on one arm and then performed the test on my husband and my oldest daughter. My husband perked up after I sprayed it on my arm as I lightly passed it by him. My oldest daughter liked the fresh smell and how it wasn’t overpowering. She's worse than me when it comes to perfumes.

I can honestly say that the perfume lives up to the smells of the various ingredients listed as top, middle and base notes.

The top notes consists of pink grapefruit, apple, mango, pineapple and pomegranate which left an upbeat, delightful smell. The leafy greens add to the freshness. This is the first scent when first applied to the skin and should last around 5-10 minutes. It was a nice refreshing smell which did not choke me up as many other perfumes do.

The middle or heart note contains cherry blossom and pink jasmine which is suppose to leave a calming and relaxing effect. The two additional ingredients, Lily of the Valley and Peony brings out happiness emotions. This scent becomes more obvious after 15 minutes post application and can last up to an hour or more.

The base or dry notes include precious woods, musk and vanilla. The vanilla lends its hand at soothing and a positive attitude. These ingredients are considered heavier and can last for hours.

It reminded me of living in Hawaii again with all the wonderful fragrances. The combination of all scents works wonderfully together and definitely leaves you not smelling like grandma.

Harvey Prince’s Ageless perfume is not like any other perfume as it’s marketed to make a woman feel years eight years younger due to the scent alone. What is different about the basis of this perfume is the president of Harvey Prince’s two sons researched and studied the writings of an author and scent critic in NY and a neurologist and psychiatrist who study scents. The outcome is a patent-pending perfume that smells nothing like your mother or grandmother and inspires thoughts of youth.

Pros:

1. Light, fresh smell
2. Not overpowering
3. Inspired by clinical trials
4. Sleek, elegant bottle design
5. 100% allergy tested
6. Not tested on animals
7. Free of chemicals

Cons:

1. It might be a little pricey for some but a good scent is worth it!

The Giveaway so you can try it yourself!

One full size bottle of Ageless (3.4 oz)

To enter:

Go to http://www.harveyprince.com/ and come back here to leave a comment on something you learned.

Extra Entries (leave a comment for each one done):

1. Follow my blog.
2. Follow Ageless on Twitter at http://tr.im/cxwp
3. Follow Ageless on Facebook at http://tr.im/cxzk

All non-winners will receive a $10 off coupon.
Giveaway ends September 20, 2009 and winner will be chosen by random.org.
Good luck and thanks for entering!

Free Wrap Around Sweater from Chadwicks: Expired 9/27/09

Chadwicks is offering this really cute wraparound sweater FREE with a $39 purchase. 

Use CHGIFT09

To Redeem Simply:


1. Add all of your items into your Shopping Bag

2. Enter Promotion Code into the Promotion Code Box & Click "Apply"

3. Pending confirmation, your savings will be applied in your shopping bag"

4. Proceed through the Checkout Process

Receive a free wrap sweater with your purchase of $39 or more! Valid on Chadwicks.com and Chadwicks purchases only.

Not valid on prior purchases, charges or purchase of gift cards.Cannot be combined with any other offer. Expires 9/27/09. PLEASE NOTE:YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE PROMOTION CODE AND ONE DEFERRED BILLING CODE PER ORDER.

$6.99 ships your entire order! Can be combined with other offers. Express and Superfast upgrade is additional. Valid on Chadwicks.com purchases only. Not valid on prior purchases, charges or purchase of gift cards. Not valid on international orders.

Free Cake Mania Game Download from Amazon

Like to bake and play games?  Amazon has a great offer for residents in the US with a free game download.

Product Description


Help a young baker show big bad business who's boss in this fast-paced treat! When the retail behemoth "Mega-Mart" moves in, Jill's beloved family bakery is forced to close. But she's determined to get the business back on its feet with delicious sweets. Help Jill open her own bakery, bring in customers, and earn enough money to re-open her grandparents' bakery! With 48 levels and four different bakeries, Cake Mania is full of mouth-watering fun. Let's get cookin'!

Here is one reviewers opinion of the game:

The cycle goes like this:


- hand over the menu

- the customer picks shape and frosting

- bake the requested shape

- apply the frosting

- hand it over to customer

- pick up the money

It gets pretty frantic once you have more than 2 customers waiting and you need to optimize and multitask. You are successful if you meet your dollar target by the end of the day. The pace gets increasingly frantic as the game progresses.

That's just about it.

I can't say that the game has a high replay value and, unless someone is absolutely determined to run through the same repetitive cycle at a frantic pace, the motivation to advance is not that great.

On the good side, the graphics are okay in a cartoon/comics-style way. I'm afraid there's not much else to say. I don't believe I will play this game again. In fact, since neither my 6 yr. girl or my tween boys expressed any interest in it, I will probably uninstall it. Which, by the way, it's okay because I can always get it back from my Amazon-maintained downloads library.

Babysitting Sugarpaw Children's Book Review & Giveaway 10/20/09

Book Details:

Babysitting SugarPaw
Written by VS Grenier
Illustrated by Kevin Collier
ISBN: 978-1-93526-806-2
Available on sale at Amazon now!

Babysitting SugarPaw

Click here to see a really innovative and creative trailer of the Babysitting SugarPaw!  You won't regret it!

I was given the opportunity to review this delightful children's book titled Babysitting SugarPaw by VS Grenier and illustrated by Kevin Collier because of my membership at the Product Review Place.  The book, targeting children ages 3 to 8, tells the story of SugarPaw and his babysitter.  As many children can relate to having babysitters in this day and age, the story confronts the issue of being left with a babysitter for the first time and choices of right and wrong.  It provides the children an opportunity to see how one should behave while teaching that not everything is how it seems and you should give it a chance.

I thought the story's lesson was good and the illustrations were excellent.  I was surprised at how patient Bonnie Whiskers was throughout all the episodes that SugarPaw put her through. 

VS Grenier is an award winning author and Editor-in-Chief of Stories for Children Magazine.  VS Grenier's experience at the Institute Children's Literature taught her how to hone her writing skills.

To learn more about VS Grenier, visit http://www.vsgrenier.com/.

The fun doesn't stop there as there is an online monthly magazine called Stories for Children.  This online magazine targets children ages 3 to 12 and contains fun stories, articles, puzzles, games, book reviews, crafts and poems.  Visit http://www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.org/ for more information.

VS Grenier also sponsors a program that helps predominantly low income children receive books from First Book.  VS Grenier has joined First Book who works with many authors and publishers to achieve this great goal.   

There are many ways you can help to support this initiative:

Visit vsgrenier.com/BabysittingSugarPaw.aspx and purchase an autographed copy of Babysitting SugarPaw and 25% of the sales will go to First Book.

Buy and donate a copy of Babysitting SugarPaw to First Book.

Tell your friends about this program.

Enter to win your own copy:

Leave a comment that you would like to win this and follow my blog.

Extra Entries:

• Comment on another blog entry story and come back here and leave a comment.  Maximum of five comments per day.
• Follow me on Twitter.
• Subscribe to my blog.
• Blog about this giveaway.

Giveaway ends October 20, 2009 at 10:00 pm EST.

Winner will be chosen via random.org.

Thanks for entering!

Halloween Personalized Treat Bag & Tag Idea

This year for my daughter's school class Halloween party, I just made the personalized cards above via Zazzle in the business card size.  You can use the same template and change any of the words. 

They cost $16.95 for 100 so you have plenty left over for next year or if you have more than one kid, you will have enough.  If you are planning a party, it's a great addition to the party favors. 

It could also serve as a Save the Date type reminder by gluing a little magnet on the back to include in invitations.

I already have a small Stampin Up puncher and brads to use to fasten the cards to the bags.  You can use a regular paper puncher for the same effect and ribbon, yard or string.  This is a great project for your children to do to encourage creativity.

Before you purchase anything from Zazzle, always check to see if there are any coupons or special deals.

Lisa Jenks, Towle Baby Sale & Neige: Next 72 Hours

HauteLook.com has Lisa Jenks and Towle Baby on sale starting today (September 19) and lasting for the next 72 hours.

Lisa Jenks


Award winning, New York Designer, Lisa Jenks is inspired by ancient cultures, varying textures and intricate patterns. Those inspirations have been the foundation for her collections in jewelry, tabletop, accessories, and home décor. Having started as a clothing designer after graduating from Parsons School of Design, Lisa launched her own company in 1987 concentrating initially on sterling silver jewelry that quickly became a distinctive focus in the designer jewelry world.

Lisa's remarkable flatware patterns are often described as jewelry for the tables, with all pieces possessing her distinctive matte finish and oxidized etchings. A variety of accessory pieces are also available, including picture frames and decorative glass for the home

Towle Silversmiths

One of America's oldest, most respected brands, the Towle name dates back to a small colonial silversmith in 1690 Massachusetts. Since then Towle sterling silver, silver-plated and stainless steel flatware and serveware have been appreciated across the country for their beauty and extraordinary quality. And now Towle offers a comprehensive collection of barware, entertainment products, stemware and giftware in a variety of quality materials including alternative metals and crystal.

Neige

Neige was born out of Adrienne Catrina's unique vision of sophistication and style in children's wear.

The French word for "snow", neige was chosen to designate the collection for its connotations of purity, innocence and sophisticated playfulness.

Catrina's erudite eye and design philosophy were honed during her years as an assistant designer to preeminent ready-to-wear and bridal designer Vera Wang, for whom she worked upon graduation from Parsons School of Design, until 2003, when she moved to Southern California with her husband.

Upon becoming a mother, Catrina was surprised by the void in the children's wear market for clothing that is both modern and age-appropriate. "All too often, children's clothes are 'decorated' and overwrought with frills, patches, colors, and patterns. Our clothes are designed with tremendous respect for both children themselves, and to style." For children, comfort is the yardstick, and each piece on the collection is conceived with this in mind. What separates Neige, meanwhile, is that each piece is designed with an intense dedication to quality and style.

This unique philosophy and look has garnered Neige an immense following among retailers and editors alike.

Don't miss the great sales as most sales are 50% or more off!  Sales start at noon EST.

Classic Chocolate Truffles Recipe

ALL You has this terrific, easy recipe for Classic Chocolate Truffles.

Sweeten the holidays with homemade candy. Share edible gifts wrapped in festive boxes or bags.


Cost per serving: 21¢

Yield:  About 20

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa, for coating

Preparation:

Melt chocolate in cream in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until smooth. Pour chocolate into a bowl and let cool at room temperature until thick enough to scoop with a spoon, 1 to 2 hours. (To speed process, refrigerate for 30 minutes, but do not let it get hard.)

Put cocoa in a bowl. Using a regular teaspoon, scoop about 1 Tbsp. cooled chocolate and roll between palms to form a 1-inch ball. Place ball in cocoa and roll until thoroughly coated. Repeat with remaining chocolate mixture.

Nutritional Information:

• Calories:78
• Fat:5g (sat 3g)
• Protein:1g
• Carbohydrate:10g
• Fiber:2g
• Cholesterol:5mg
• Sodium:4mg

Kit + Lili Children's Line Sale at HauteLook Ends 9/21

Now on sale at HauteLook!

Designers Teresa Ok and Meg Hoberman achieved the perfect balance of wonderment, simplicity, whimsy and quality with their endearing Kit + Lili line for babies and children.

The Kit + Lili line, devoid of gimmicks, offers a collection of modern and contemporary pieces. Tucks, colors, graphics and fabrics have been chosen with great care, resulting in a quality brand that can be trusted and favored by both parents and children.

Old Navy $10 Off $50 Coupon - Anyone Want It

I have a $10 off a $50 or more purchase if anyone wants it.  Let me know as it expires 9/24/09 and I can e-mail it.

Free Samples & Stuff

FREE!  FREE!   FREE!   FREE!    FREE!  

Free Huggies Pull Ups Training Pants Kit in Boys or Girls

Free Beech Nut Next Steps Kit

Free Huggies Little Movers Sample

Free Mars Chocolate Day:  Friday Only - won my second coupon!

Free Natural Asphalia Don't Disturb Me Sleep Aid Sample

Possible Free Baby Gear:  ”looking for first-time pregnant moms for our “Preparing for Baby” research study. If you’re located in the West, South, or Mid-West please email marketresearch@djgusa.com You will be compensated with free baby gear”

Elegant Baby Products 50%~ Off at Hautelook

Looking for a piggy bank, bath toys, feeding set, frames or other products by Elegant Baby?  Hurry as the sale ends soon!

Just the other day my husband stated the girls should have a piggy bank and these are adorable and half off at $26 for a HUGE light blue with polka dots!

Too bad that I missed out on the bucket of duckies as they both love them!

Elegant Baby has a great number of unique, personalized choices but Hautelook has a great deal on many of the products.