DISCLOSURE: I'm a member of the MommyCon blogger program. I will receive free admission to a MommyCon event in exchange for promoting and reviewing the event. All opinions are my own.

UPDATE:  General admission tickets for MommyCon Chicago has sold out! Half-Day Non-Gift Bag Tickets are still available:

Half Day Non-Gift Bag Tickets: This is your last chance to purchase for MommyCon Chicago. This ticket does NOT include a gift bag, and it only grants you entry into the event from 1:30 - 5 PM on February 21, 2015 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL which is by Chicago O'Hare Airport. Children under 16 are free to attend with a paying adult parent.

Heads up, Chicago! MommyCon is headed your way! The natural parenting convention will be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on February 21 from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. It will be a fun day full of great speakers, workshops, shopping and more!

Check out the session schedule:


There's something for everyone! I'd love to see Jessica from The Leaky Boob and Jamie from The Baby Guy NYC speak!

Tickets are $40 and are now available from mommy-con.com. Children under 16 are free with a paying adult. MommyCon has a changing room, nursing area and even a play area!

Use my discount code: STUFFIGOT15 and save $5!


Can't attend the one in Chicago? See the other cities MommyCon will be here. Maybe I'll see you in DC in August!

DISCLOSURE: I received free products from Smiley360 to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

I had my six-month check up last month at the dentist. No cavities, but they told me I needed to floss and use a mouthwash more often. So, I've been trying to be better about my oral health routine.  In addition to brushing at least twice a day, I've been trying my best to floss regularly and to use a mouth rinse at least once a day.

Luckily, I had the chance to try products from the Truly Radiant line from Arm & Hammer. I was sent a tube of the Truly Radiant Rejuvenating Toothpaste, a Spinbrush Truly Radiant Deep Clean Manual Toothbrush and a bottle of the Truly Radiant Whitening & Strengthening Fluoride Rinse. I had never tried any of these before and I was curious to see how it compared to the products I was currently using (Colgate Optic White, an Oral B toothbrush and Listerine Naturals mouthwash).

DISCLOSURE:  I received free products in order to host the Disney Side @Home Celebration.  The opinions expressed here are my own.

I'm so excited to be hosting a #DisneySide @Home Celebration party for the second year in a row!  Ever since I found out I was selected as a host, I had been stalking the UPS My Choice site, looking for a package. On the day it was to be delivered, my preschooler and I kept looking out the window every time we heard something that sounded like a truck pass by! My son would look out the window and say sadly, "No package."

By mid-afternoon, the package still hadn't arrived. It was time to walk over to the school to pick up my older kids. On the walk back, I saw the UPS truck at a house down the street from mine. We started getting excited and practically ran home! There it was, right outside the house! I wish I had my camera with me to capture the kids' excitement before my 7-year-old brought the box inside.

DISCLOSURE:  I received a free sample from Crowdtap to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

I love chocolate. Dark, white, milk -- I like them all. Chocolate is a nice treat and makes for a nice snack, too. I often bring some chocolate with me to work, so I have something to snack on in between seeing patients.

A couple years ago, I learned about a new brand of chocolate while I was at work. One of the girls at the front desk was eating some chocolate from a bag and saying how addictive they were. She called them chocolate covered blueberries, but they were actually Brookside Acai & Blueberry flavored dark chocolate. And she was right, they were so good! I can sit there and eat almost an entire bag in one sitting!

DISCLOSURE:  I received a free box of Vidal Sassoon Salonist from BzzAgent to try and review. All opinions are my own.

For the past few years, I've been getting my hair colored regularly at the salon. The grays were getting to be too much and I'm really bad at dyeing my own hair. I had found a stylist that I trusted to cut and style my hair. She had rescued my hair after a bad dye job by a different stylist. I had been going to her ever since. But, over six months ago, she had changed salons! This was the fourth time now that she had changed salons. I was tired of chasing after her.

So, several months later, my grays were out of control again.  Look how long the strands of gray are! And believe me, there are a lot more grays than what you see in the picture.

My husband does the cooking in our family. He has his staples that he makes regularly, but he's always looking for new recipes to try.  He doesn't use Pinterest or really any kind of social media. So, I'm not actually sure where he finds his recipes.  I just see stacks of recipes that he's printed out. Some of them turn out great and become recipes that we make over and over.  Others we only make once and then throw the recipe out!

This recipe was surprisingly one of the good ones. I wasn't expecting much from it. My husband never prints out a picture, so I don't know what things are supposed to look like when they're done! But, this turned out really good. All of our kids liked it, which hardly ever happens!

We've visited the Walt Disney World resort six times now as a family.  (This past November was my 11th trip, if you count the ones when I was growing up.)  Over the years, I've learned there are a few essentials that I need to make sure I bring with me every time we visit.  Some of these depends on if you're going with kids, but the majority of these should apply to anyone who visits Walt Disney World.  They're not listed in any particular order -- just in the order that I thought of them!

DISCLOSURE:  I will receive free products from Disney and MomSelect in order to host the Disney Side @Home Celebration Party.  All opinions are my own.

If you know me or have been following the blog for awhile, then you know I love Disney.  We came back from our sixth visit as a family to Walt Disney World at the end of November and we're already planning another trip for the fall!  To top off that excitement, I received news earlier this week that I was again selected to host a Disney Side @Home Celebration Party!

My kids are so excited.  We haven't yet settled on a theme for our party.  My one son wants a party about Disney Infinity.  My daughter wants Frozen.  My youngest son wants Big Hero 6.  So, we'll see what we end up doing.  Last year, our party theme was "It all started with a Mouse" and focused on Mickey Mouse.  I think once the party package arrives, I'll have a better idea about what the party will be about.

I've been pinning party ideas here:

Check out my past posts about my Disney Side @Home Celebration party last year:

• My #DisneySide @Home Celebration Party Package Is Here!
• Our #DisneySide @Home Celebration Party! Part 1
• Our #DisneySide @ Home Celebration Party! Part 2

So, what is Disney Side? It's that fun-loving adventurous spirit that comes out to play when you’re feeling the Disney magic! Check out the Disney Side website to reveal your Disney Side and see how others show their Disney Side!  You can even make your own decal to show off your Disney Side!

Interested in throwing your own Disney Side party?  Check out the Disney Side Celebrations site for party ideas, recipes and activities!

DISCLOSURE:  I received free products from Crowdtap to facilitate this review.  All opinions are my own.

I've been eating foods from Campbell's for as long as I can remember.  My parents bought us Campbell's products and now I buy Campbell's for my own family.

Over the past couple months, I've had the chance to sample a variety of new products from Campbell's. Some were new to me, others I've tried before.

DISCLOSURE:  I received free products from Crowdtap to facilitate this review.  All opinions are my own.

This time of year, it's inevitable that someone in the family gets sick.  It might be that the kids bring home a virus from school or my husband and I pick up something from one of our co-workers.  That means lots of sneezing, sore throats and runny noses.  We go through a lot of tissues in the winter.

Recently, I had the opportunity to try out a couple different varieties of tissues from Kleenex.  We usually buy Kleenex brand tissues, but just the regular Everyday or Ultra-Soft kinds.  I was sent a box of Kleenex with Lotion and the Kleenex Anti-Viral.  For as long as I've been using Kleenex tissues, I'm not sure I've ever tried these varieties!

It's hard to believe but 2014 is over and it's the start of a new year!  2014 was full of ups and downs for me and my family.  My youngest celebrated her first birthday, as did my niece.  We had a fun summer full of trips to museums and amusement parks.  Plus, we took a week-long trip to Disney World in the fall.  We also had health scares with my Dad being hospitalized a couple times and surgeries for both him and my mother-in-law.

And so, I'm looking forward to starting anew.  I don't usually make resolutions but I have a few that I want to try and achieve this year:

1.  I want to be more present with my family.  -  My kids think of me as always being on my phone or on the computer.  Even when I'm supposed to be spending time with them, I'm not really spending time with them.  I need to pay 100% attention to them.  Time goes so fast.  Already my oldest is 10.  Soon, she'll be a teenager and may not want to spend time with me.  I need to be with her now.

2.  I need to get in shape.  - Yes, this is something a lot of people say they want to do.  But, it's true.  I don't really exercise at all.  The most walking I do most days is to the school and back to pick up the kids.  I need to be more active.  I used to take walks with my kids when I only had one of two.  Now, that I have four, I just don't really do anything anymore.  I need to strive to achieve some sort of physical activity at least three times a week.  What kind of activities do you do?  Give me some ideas!

3.  I want to redo this blog.  - This started out as just a place to post reviews.  I'd love for it to be more than that.  I'm hoping to do a whole redesign and name change this month.  I'm still brainstorming on ideas, but check back soon!

I don't want to do too many resolutions.  I feel if you make too many, you may not end up achieving any.  So, I'll start with these three.

Have you made any resolutions?  I'd love to hear what you're hoping to achieve this year!  Maybe we can help each other reach our goals!