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5.30.2012

Have 10 Minutes? Disinfect with Bleach

Maybe everyone else thinks of this more often than I do, but I rarely think to do this.

Today take 10 minutes to fill up the sink or a wash tub with hot water and a splash of bleach to disinfect.

Things to disinfect:
  • sponges
  • scrub pads and brushes
  • plastic cutting boards
  • bath toys
  • plastic reusable straws
  • hard to clean cooking untensils
Toss the items in the sink/tub and let them soak for 5-10 minutes.

(This renews stinky sponges!)

5.28.2012

Giveaway: Perfectly Posh (3 Winners!)

As you may have noticed, I enjoy helping others promote their businesses. I want you to know that I only support those that I believe in and I personally have experience with. I promise you, this blog is not becoming a giveaway only blog. (I only have a week and a half of school left...then you'll start seeing more content!)

Perfectly Posh is a new company that specializes in pampering products. When Charla contacted me about Perfectly Posh, I was excited because I felt like I could really use some pampering in my life.

When I received my package of products, I was super excited because I could smell the delicious aroma through the packaging. Here's what I received.

handle solid hand lotion bar in the sassyooma scent
I had never heard of a solid hand lotion bar before, and was excited to try this one out. Generally I'm not a huge fan of hand lotion, because I work with my hands a lot, and I don't want greasy hands all over everything after using lotion. Most hand lotions that I've tried in the past haven't really helped my dry hands either, so I've just given up. This product works great and I use it right before bed. It's not greasy and I've even recently been using it on my arms, which have become dry from a recent sunburn and bug-bite attack. It smells delicious and leaves my hands (and arms) feeling smooth and refreshed.

oh, peaches! super fabulous sugar scrub for your lips
Confession: I don't wear lipstick, ever. I also generally won't ever use chapstick or lipbalm because I don't like my lips being sticky or smelly. The only chapstick I'd use was from B&BW, but they discontinued it years ago. Therefore, my lips never get moisturized. I'm sure my husband just hates it, but he's never complained. First of all, upon receiving Oh, Peaches! I was excited solely for the peach scent - it is my absolute favorite scent ever. I decided to try it at night, before bed, in case I didn't like the way it felt on my lips. Turns out, I love it and use it all of the time now. My lips are no longer scratchy from the dry climate here in SLC and the scrub isn't sticky, so it doesn't make me feel awkward using it whenever I feel the need.

lip balm
I have the Ooh La...Kahlua lip balm (not the one pictured) and keep it at school. Absolutely love it. It's not sticky, it smells great (kind of chocolatey), and it quickly moisturizes my lips, leaving them feeling refreshed all day long.

bombinator in the bubblin' broad scent
I don't take baths often, but when I do, I want it to be worth it. I like bath bombs, bubbles, or anything else that will add scent to the relaxing experience. The Bombinator bath bombs are awesome! I tried The Bubblin' Broad scent, which smells orangey, and it was an amazing addition to my relaxing bath. I'm so getting more of these!

I also tried samples of:
  • Sinful Skin lotion in the Lei Away scent. This scent is absolutely amazing. It's definitely a great scent for summer and makes me feel like I'm at the beach. 
  • The Detox Body Mud Stripper. I used this sample on my face. I am unfortunately prone to blackheads and I have really oily skin. The Stripper made my face feel clean without drying it out or making it feel super tight and uncomfortable (like other masks often do.) I'll definitely be purchasing the full-size product of this.
  • Chunk! Big Bath Bar in the Feng Shoap scent. I use shower gel because I don't like the way bar soap leaves me skin feeling - dry and grimy. This product didn't do either. It's made with shea butter and olive oil, so it made my skin feel refreshed and quenched after using it, and not at all grimy.
  • SugarFix body scrub. I love body scrubs. Living in SLC with the dry climate, I'm always battling dry skin on my chest and arms. I love the way body scrubs feel, unless they leave me greasy and gross after using them. SugarFix is non-greasy and left my skin feeling smooth and looking radiant. I'll be buying the full-size product of this as well.

Just in time for summer, Perfectly Posh has 3 foot products available. I am all about pedicures, and if I can do it myself this summer to save some money, I'm in!

Charla, my Perfectly Posh consultant, is giving away 3 Footsie Product Sets!


Prize: Perfectly Posh Footsie Product Set (includes Fabulous Foot Fizzies, Rubby Scrubby, & Soothing Stick)

Number of Winners: three

To Enter: You must use the Rafflecopter widget below. It's really easy to use and makes giveaways a lot easier for me to manage. The widget will tell you what your commenting topic is! (mandatory) One other optional entry is also available through the widget (after the first one is complete).

Giveaway Ends: Sunday, June 10 @ 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time). Three winners will be chosen using the Rafflecopter widget. The winners will be announced on this post and will be emailed to claim their prize. The winners have 48 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize.

To like Charla's Perfectly Posh Facebook page, click here.




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules & Disclosure:
  • You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
  • The winners will be chosen by rafflecopter.com.
  • This giveaway is open to readers living in the U.S.
  • Please make sure your email is left through the widget.
  • You must comment as your first, mandatory entry. All entries will be verified when the winner is chosen.
  • One entry per method per person (2 total).
  • This giveaway is sponsored. The information used in this post has been obtained through a catalog. Any opinions about products stated in this post are completely honest and purely my own. The prizes will be provided by Charla.

5.16.2012

Giveaway: Velata Fondue Warmer & Chocolate


Okay...can I just tell you how excited I am for this giveaway!?

Scentsy has created a new family member called Velata. Velata specializes in fondue warmers, accessories, and chocolates.

Now...before you jump to conclusions about past experiences with other fondue kits, just keep reading.


Here's how Velata works:
  • Heat up a pack of Belgian chocolate of your choice for one minute in the microwave (caramel milk chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate).
  • Pour the chocolate into the warmer dish and let the fun begin!
  • Any left over chocolate can be refrigerated and reused. Warmer dishes are microwavable, can be refrigerated, and are dishwasher safe.
Seriously, it's that easy. The great thing about Velata warmers is that it doesn't heat the chocolate up so it's scalding hot or burning onto the bottom of the dish - it simply keeps the chocolate warm so you can keep dipping and enjoying. This product is perfect for use with kids because you don't have to worry about them burning their mouths with the chocolate. (Plus, it's so easy, even your significant can do it!)

Velata chocolate warmers come in fun summer colors. I absolutely love the blue and green! Each warmer comes with 4 fondue forks as well.

Fondue is fun for any occasion and Velata makes fondue for dessert a lot more affordable than going out to an over-priced fondue restaurant!

Prize: one Velata warmer and a chocolate pack of your choice (choose from caramel milk chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate)

Number of Winners: one

To Enter: You must use the Rafflecopter widget below. It's really easy to use and makes giveaways a lot easier for me to manage. The widget will tell you what your commenting topic is! (mandatory) Two other optional entries are also available through the widget (after the first one is complete).

Giveaway Ends: Wednesday, May 23 @ 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time). One winner will be chosen using the Rafflecopter widget. The winner will be announced on this post and will be emailed to claim their prize. The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize.

Thanks to my wonderful Scentsy & Velata consultant, Ashley, for introducing me to these products! To join Ashley's Scentsy Facebook group, click here. To join Ashley's Velata Facebook group, click here.





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules & Disclosure:
  • You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
  • The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter.com.
  • This giveaway is open to readers living in the U.S.
  • Please make sure your email is left through the widget.
  • You must comment as your first, mandatory entry. All entries will be verified when the winner is chosen.
  • One entry per method per person (3 total).
  • This giveaway is not sponsored. The information used in this post has been obtained through a catalog. Any opinions about products stated in this post are completely honest and purely my own. The prize will be provided by me.

5.15.2012

Some Much Needed R&R

My life has been crazier than I can handle, but I'm working through it.

My father and step-mother came out to Utah from Pennsylvania to visit last weekend. We had a wonderful time. On Saturday we visited Antelope Island State Park. I hadn't been there since October 2005, so I was excited to return. Besides the bugs eating us alive, we enjoyed our visit. I took so many wonderful pictures. Check a few out below.









On Sunday we visited Red Butte Garden. My brother and his fiance plan to get married there next May, so they wanted to show my father and step-mother the grounds. It was absolutely gorgeous! I've been to Red Butte previously, but not when everything was in bloom. I went picture-taking-crazy and ended up with over 150 pictures. They turned out so amazing. I want to share them all, but it's too much work. Here are my favorites.









15 days of school left. DIBELS test tomorrow. CRTs on Thursday & Friday. Biography Report Wax Museum next Thursday...along with Bike, Board, & Blade Day. No school next Friday or the following Monday. Zoo field trip on the 29th. Town meeting (class play) on the 30th. Half days June 4, 5, & 6. I am losing my mind at school. My kids are absolutely nuts...for the last 4 weeks. A few of them could see the stress rolling from my ears and made me coupon books for 10 minutes of silence and help during recess. So nice to have some of them looking out for me. =]

Thanks for all of your support that you've been giving. I appreciate all of the advice you've given and especially loved hearing how you cope with hypothyroidism and gallbladder (or gallbladderless) issues. It's so nice to connect with others, even if anonymously over the internet. As soon as school is out and I have more energy, I'm going to start running and hope that helps with energy!

I have high hopes to be able to clean something this week -- anything would be great, really. I've been so busy printing, cutting, laminating, and cutting again for centers that are math and language arts related. I'm out of ideas on what to do with my kids now that we've finished our math and language arts programs. Centers are a lot of work the first time around. Good thing I'm taking the time to laminate them so they'll last a lot longer. Any teachers out there have any ideas to share on things to do with your class at the end of the year?

I am exhausted, writing this at 11:20 p.m. and I have a killer sunburn on my shoulders from Red Butte on Sunday. My bad for not thinking this beautiful weather in May could burn me. (I regret it now, for sure!) My school's arts showcase is this Friday evening, so I've been working non-stop at school, trying to get everything ready. Each class creates a display for each student and then a class "quilt" with one art project. Ours turned out great. I can't wait to show you pictures after the showcase. I love being part of an arts focused school, but it's a lot of work this time of year!

I have some really great projects that I can't wait to get my hands on once school is out! I'll be back in-motion on here before you know it. Have an amazing Tuesday!

5.08.2012

Have 10 Minutes? Clean Up Your Feed Reader

I use FeedDemon to manage my RSS feeds for the blogs I follow. I used to use Google Reader online, but it would often mark my feeds read for no reason, not showing me what was new. I don't have this issue with FeedDemon luckily.


I currently subscribe to 121 feeds. A few days my number was 153. Missing even one day of reading my feeds with 153 subscriptions can be time consuming. I only want to subscribe to those blogs that I'm truly interested in. I don't want to waste my time reading content I could careless about. It was time to unsubscribe to a handful of blogs.

I still think 121 is a bit much, but there are quite a few blogs that I subscribe to that don't update frequently, but when they do, I don't want to miss out. It takes me about 30-45 minutes a day to go through my feed. That's a lot of time now that I actually think about it. Perhaps I need to clear out more.

5.04.2012

Friday Favorites: Gift Ideas




'Tis the season for gift giving. Weddings, teacher appreciation, graduation, mother's day, father's day, etc. I've been seeing so many cool gift ideas popping up all over and I wanted to share.

** Please do not pin any of these photos from this post. Click through to the original website or store to pin them if you wish. **

etsy :: sold by karimachal :: $17

etsy :: sold by DomesticNotions :: $69.80






etsy :: sold by SilverLotusDesigns :: $28

etsy :: sold by BeauAndStella :: $38








5.03.2012

My Favorite Things: Websites - Part 2

I spend way too much time online. Blogs, teacher resource sites, social media, blogging resource sites, curriculum searching, email, recipes, shopping, etc. I'm an internet addict.

I've been debating how to do this post for a while now. Should I categorize each post and write a blurb about each? Or should I just categorize the websites within the post, simply giving the site name/link? Well, I've decided the latter. Sorry if it's not ideal. I promise you though, these websites are great.

Amazon {checking out the daily deals & getting the free paid Android app of the day}
Cozi {our online family calendar that I use to send us reminders}
Etsy {updating my store & browsing others}
 Gmail {the only email I use & have 2 accounts with}
Mint {how I check my bank account balances & budget}
Pinterest {pinning home and education}

Google Apps for Business {home of my blog email accounts}
inlinkz {link collection organizer}
iStockphoto {free stock images each week}
Pixlr Express {for editing photos}
Rivit {advertising}

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