Author: cvegnad

March 12, 2014

IT HAD TO BE YOU $100 Visa Giveaway from @SusanMayWarren!

Susan May Warren is celebrating the release of her newest Christiansen Family novel, It Had To Be You, with a $100 Visa cash card giveaway and offering readers a free book club kit.

One winner will receive:

$100 Visa cash card
Take a Chance on Me and It Had to Be You by Susan May Warren

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on March 29th. Winner will be announced April 1st on Susan’s blog. Also, visit her website to learn more about the It Had To Be You backstory and Susan’s free book club kit.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Susan’s blog on April 1st to see if you won.

March 11, 2014

It Had to Be You by Susan Warren #Review

It Had to Be You written by Susan Warren follows the story of Eden Christiansen. She was a young, passionate but quiet young woman trying to make her place in the world. She places herself in the role of her younger brother Owen’s cheerleader and babysitter. Looking after her reckless younger brother and his NHL career leaves little time for Eden. She has dreams and hopes to become a famous reporter but is currently stuck writing obits and she beats herself down thinking she will only ever write obits. She looks for help from someone on her brother’s hockey team to mentor him but she never expected bad boy enforcer Jace Jacobsen to step up and help. Jace has built his career on his infamous aggressive behavior both on and off the ice.

Like Eden, Jace finds himself at a crossroad in his career and his future in hockey. Everything changes when Owen’s carelessness leads to a career threatening injury and Eden stumbles upon a story that could be her big break in the reporting field. Jace and Eden are thrown together on this story and they begin to develop feelings for each other.

It Had To Be You was a fun and entertaining story from start to finish. The characters were love able and real both in their faults and in their emotions. Watching the relationship develop between Eden and Jace was fantastic. It truly showed that you can not always judge a book by it’s cover! Jace has so many layers to him and it was exciting watching Eden open herself up to learning more about him. He truly shows his true nature above the media bad boy hype. It also had a great side story intertwined in it with Jace’s good friend and his young daughter that left you craving for more about their own story.

It Had To Be You was a fun read and I really hope there is a second part to this book! I would love to see how both Jace and Eden’s lives end up. You can find more reviews on It Had To Be You here. To purchase a copy of this book you can do so here.

Rating: 3.5/5

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 10, 2014

How to Save Money on Everyday Items Part II: Finding Coupons

While I was off on maternity leave I became obsessed with coupons (yup I can admit it – I was and still am obsessed!). I was extremely overwhelmed with them at first. There are so many different kinds, different rules and each store has their own policy in regards to accepting coupons. Don’t let this discourage you! You can cut off some of your grocery budget with them (I find the most savings is found when you combine them with price matching – you can read more about my price matching tips here). You can find coupons for all sorts of items, not just food, I recently used some getaround promo codes and they saved me so much money!

So you know you want to coupon but how do you find them? Companies have made it super easy for us to save. You can find coupons not only in store but online or even delivered in your newspaper (if you are so lucky!). I will break it down for you as best as I can.

In Store

Some stores will have coupons directly in front of the product and others will have coupons on a board in front of the main entrance (these are usually coupon zone coupons that can only be used at specific stores – so make sure to read clearly!). My favourite stores to look for coupons are Sobeys, Metro, No Frills, Fortinos and Shoppers Drug Mart. I will occasionally find coupons at Food Basics as well. These coupons are helpful but tend to be for newer items in store. You can also sometimes find coupons attached to personal hygiene products which really goes a long way!

Ordering Coupons Online

My favourite way to find coupons? Online of course! There are some pretty great sites out there that will allow you to order the coupons you specifically want and will use. The four main ones are P&G Brandsaver, Save.ca, Websaver and GoCoupons. Each site offers a variety of different coupons to choose from. Some are available to print while others you can select and they will mail them to your home. Some companies will also have coupons available through their Facebook page that will link them to one of the above mentioned coupon sites.

Flyers

Many homes are very fortunate and will have weekly coupon inserts sent to them in their newspaper! We just had this service start with us and I am super stoked for it! We have had Redplum come twice already. Also look out for coupons in flyers for stores that you like to shop at or clothing retailers.

Coupons matched with price matching allows you to save a great deal of money on your grocery budget section. We usually save anywhere between fifteen to thirty dollars each grocery trip between coupon use and price matching. Which may not seem like a lot but add them up over a course of a year and bazinga! Extra savings that we can put towards our home.

Do you use coupons? Why or why not?

March 6, 2014

#BuyArtNotKids Auction

Art has always been the perfect way for me to relax and unwind, to draw out my frustration and a way to find myself. I try hard to encourage my boys to use their creativity and enjoy drawing, painting and sculpting.

Buy Art Not Kids’ (B.A.N.K.) is a fantastic organization that raises awareness and funds through art to support Ratanak International, a Canadian charity that rescues and rehabilitates child sex trafficking victims in Cambodia. The idea behind B.A.N.K is that art helps build up and communicate truths. They showcase art that inspires.

Their event is two fold; one to raise awareness about child sex trafficking in Cambodia while also raising funds to benefit Ratanak International.

The details:

Date: April 4th, 2014
Location: Havergal College – 1451 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON, M5N 2H9

Details: Will feature live music, performance art, raffle prizes, food, wine and auction. Tickets are $75.

You can purchase tickets online here. If you are unable to attend but want to donate you can do so here.

Here are some of my favourite pieces of artwork that I have framed around the house created by either myself or my children:

Art Can Change Everything  

Art can build up, or tear down; it can raise hope or trigger devastation. It communicates truth, or spreads lies. But can art really change the world? Without acting on it, the change that art points us towards is lost. Art itself cannot change the world, but art can change people. And people can change the world! The Buy Art Not Kids Art Auction will celebrate the connection between art and its call-to-action by showcasing ‘art that inspires’. – Buy Art Not Kids

Disclosure: I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own. Artwork is my own. Image at the beginning of the post is from #BuyArtNotKids

March 4, 2014

Staying Ahead of the Times with iParent.TV #giveaway

There is no way to get around it – technology is everywhere. My children are so advanced with apps and electronics I am constantly giving them my stuff to figure out!

I am always scared that they will be exposed to something that is harmful, download or share inappropriate information. What is even scarier is how many young adults will hide their online activities from their parents!

Here is where iParent.TV comes in! They will educate parents with all the latest trends via websites, social media, apps and devices. iParent.TV will carry hundreds of videos and product reviews that are current and trending with our youth.

iParent.TV will be a subscription based site costing $49 a year for parents to access as well as receive live chat support. They are currently offering it at $29 on Indiegogo.

With it you will get articles,videos, reviews, tips and tools on:

popular apps
social network sites
major websites
top devices

Check out this awesome video on iParent.TV:

They are offering one of my readers a one year subscription! US and CAN residents, eighteen years of age and older can enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I will receive a subscription to iParent.TV in return for posting and hosting this giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.