GIVEAWAY CLOSED: Winner #28: KIMBERLY!!

Today we are talking about vacuums.  And kids.  And how they come with crumbs.  A lots of crumbs.

And I?  Well, I am not a big fan of crumbs.  Or cleaning. A few weeks ago I told Craig I thought we should get a dog so that I could stop sweeping my floors three times a day.  He said that was a poor reason to have a pup. Party. Pooper.

But then Oreck emailed me about doing a giveaway and I signed right up because A) I’m not turning that down and B) we didn’t actually have a good vacuum.  (True Story: Our old vacuum did such a poor job that when our cleaning lady came, Craig had to go next door to borrow his mother’s vacuum.)

A week or so later, the Oreck Magnesium vacuum showed up at our door.

Craig was home before me, so he got it out of the box and tested it out before I even got off work.  When I walked in the door, he greeted me with, “the sweeper came!  It’s SO LIGHT.”

Light is right! It weighs less than Chessa did the day she was born. I can carry it from room to room and up and down steps easily. When sweeping, it feels like it’s pushing itself across the floor.

Although it’s pretty basic, with no fancy attachments, it does everything I need it too. The upright part extends back far enough to be basically flat and fit underneath most of my furniture. It gets right up to the edge of the baseboards. It works on my tile, laminate hardwood and puts those beautiful, just-swept carpet lines in my living room.  It has a high speed and a low speed (that doesn’t freak out the baby.)  And, I may have even run it across my couch and loveseat.  (I told you, kids are messy.  And so are husbands!)

Cole approves when the vacuum is not actually running. Otherwise, he’s not a fan.

I don’t usually get excited over cleaning equipment, but this really is an awesome vacuum.  And, thanks to the wonderful folks at Oreck, you can have one too!  That’s right! They didn’t just give me one, they are giving a reader his or her very own!

To enter, simply visit Oreck’ s website and leave a comment telling us one thing you learned about the Magnesium vacuum. 

If you want to increase your odds, you can do any of the following and leave me a comment, letting me know that you did.

• Follow @oreck on Twitter.
• Like Oreck on Facebook.
• Sign up for Oreck’s email list by clicking on “Sign up for Email” in the top navigation bar and entering your email address.
• Tweet about the giveaway… Want to win an @oreck vacuum from @notmommyofyear?  Visit www.notmommyoftheyear.com.

The contest is only open to folks living in the continental US – sorry Canada, Hawaii, Alaska and everyone else. It will close on Saturday at midnight. Winner will be announced on Monday morning!

Disclosure: I was provided the Magnesium vacuum from Oreck.  Also, Oreck Corporation provided the prize for the sweepstakes but is not the sponsor of the sweepstakes.”

GIVEAWAY CLOSED:  WINNER WAS COMMENTER #4:  JESS @ STRAIGHTTALKJESS.COM

I have a confession to make:  I’m not good at baby books or photo albums or scrapbooking or any of that stuff that crafty, creative mothers do to preserve their child’s memories.  Before C had her birthday, it was Craig who reminded me every month to update the baby book.  And even then it would take me a week or so to actually go do it.  And then I’d have to look back over blog posts to make sure that I got the date of the first time she rolled over right.  And, if truth be told, I may, MAY, have made up a few dates.  When it comes to pictures I have one photo album full of pictures of the girl’s first three months, a shoe box of pictures of months four through six and a camera full of all the shots I’ve taken since then. 

I’m just not good at this stuff. 

But I do want to have pictures for her. I want her to be able to look through her baby book and compare herself to her little brother or sister or her kids.  I want her to know about the stories that I share with you here, on this corner of the internet.  So, I’m working on a photo book.  And, as luck would have it, as I geared up to start my project of C’s first year, I received an offer from Mixbook to do a review, giveaway and offer you guys a promo code.  So, I decided to try it out. 

And, while I’m not done with it yet. I can tell you I love working with their site.  They have a ton of different layouts, backgrounds and themes to choose from.  Their themes and backgrounds range from traditional to fancy to plain to simple.  And if you pick a page layout but it doesn’t work quite right - like maybe you just need this picture to be a little bit bigger or rotated that-a-way a little, you can do it.  Not to steal from their tag line, but it’s completely customizable.  My favorite part. 

I was trying to hold this post until I had my book done and then show you pictures of my end product so you could all ooohh and awww over it and tell me what a great job I did.  But, I’m not done yet.  (I keep looking over old blog posts, things she did, letters I wrote to her and I get all weepy, which ruins my productivity because I just want to go cuddle my kid.) But they are offering Cyber Monday discounts through Wednesday.  And I didn’t want you to miss that.  So here are those codes: 

20% off just for being you:  YEARMIX20

50% off if you order before midnight (PST) on Wednesday:  CYBERSALE

Seriously, if you’re thinking about doing a photo book for 2010 or a vacation or whatever, check out MixBook.  And if you want to win one (a 20 page 11×8.5 hardcover landscape book with free shipping) leave me a comment below telling me what your photo book will be about, or your favorite tip for preserving mementos or just say hi.  It’s easy.  No back flips or hoop jumping required.  Enter before midnight Sunday, December 5th.  Random.org will pick the winner Monday morning. 

Yes, I was compensated with a free 20-page photo book in exchange for this promotion.  My opinions are mine and can’t be bought.  And, let’s be honest, I’m way too long winded to keep it to 20 pages, so I will happily be giving up vending machine snacks and nachos at Craig’s football games to make up the difference. 

CONTEST CLOSED : Winner #14 Hayley Says

Congratulations Hayley.  Good luck deciding on a keepsake box.  Check your email later today for details! 

OK, I admit it.  I’m one  of the sentimental schmucks that thinks the card that comes with the gift is more just as important as the gift itself.  I still have things like ticket stubs and boarding passes from the early Krista and Craig dating years.  I will save one earring after I lose the other if it was a gift from someone special.  I keep drawings that little kids made for me because the thought of throwing them away makes me sad. 

I have a keepsake box that a friend gave me for a bridal shower and it’s been doing double duty holding all of my sentimental stuff along with things that I’ve started to save for C.  Her hospital bracelet, the hat she wore at the hospital, a necklace she received for her Christening, her birth announcement and more.  I’ve thought of putting these things in a shoe box, but well, that’s not very cute. 

So.  A few weeks ago I got an email from the awesome folks at CafePress asking if I was interested in doing a giveaway.  “I see you like to shop (hmm… I thought it was a better kept secret) so maybe a t-shirt” the email said.  After I got over my shock of “OMG a company wants ME to do a giveaway?!?” I spent a few hours on their website.  Yeah, you read that right.  HOURS. ON THEIR WEBSITE.  Looking at the personalized gifts at CafePress for a variety of interests, topics and brands.  I hate to even try to list them all because I’ll miss something but they have t-shirts, mugs, sweatshirts, onsies, calendars, and more.  When I found the keepsake boxes, I was hooked.  It was exactly what I’d been looking for.  Then, I spent another hour looking through all the boxes I could choose from.  One even said “future shoe shopper!” 

Finally I settled on this one.  (Just in case, C doesn’t grow up with my shopping gene – which is highly unlikely.) 

It’s the perfect combination of pink and brown and just too cute. And it is perfect for her hospital bracelet, birth announcement, hat and itty bitty baby jewelry.  But the best news, is that you can have your very own, because CafePress is giving one away right here!

To enter: 

1.  Leave a comment & tell me what you’d put in the keepsake box if you win it.
2.  Follow @cafepress on Twitter, leave a comment and tell me that you do. 
3.  Follow @notmommyofyear on Twitter, leave a comment and tell me that you do. 
4.  Tweet about the giveaway, leave a comment and tell me that you did. 

That’s it!  Easy peasy! Each comment you leave equals one chance to win.  The winner will be chosen using random.org.  The contest will close on Tuesday, March 23rd at 5PM. 

Good luck, folks! 

I received no monetary compensation for this review/giveaway. CafePress sent me a keepsake box in exchange for the review.

(Giveaway has expired. Comments have been closed & deleted.)