I live in Chicago where we have crappy winters. Really, we do. We have lots of snow and lots of cold here.  That being said, to get through a Chicago winter you need a great quality boot.  Sorel fits that bill.  They make their boots for purpose first.  I have admit I loved all the women’s boots.  It was really hard for me to decide which boot I wanted to go with.  I love the high boots, but my legs are short and they tend to look dorky on me.  These boots aren’t high, but are perfect for me instead.  I love that they have handles for my to pull on (with two kids I really hate having to tie anything).  They are super comfortable and warm too!  They also don’t make my feet look fat (all you women out there know what I mean about how winter boots can sometimes make your feet look a lot bigger than they are).  I love that they are fashionable too!  These will be the boots I pick Madison up from school with once the snow falls.

I love that Sorel gets that boots can be fashionable and serve a purpose too!  I can’t wait for it to snow!

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

I always love products where I hit myself upside the head and go “why didn’t I think of this”. GRiPPiES is another one of these products.  This is the no slip solution for tights and socks if you have hard wood floors.  My house use to be a “no sock” zone, because everyone, including myself, ends up slipping and sliding due to my hardwood floors.  If I clean them (the floors), the slipping problem often became ten time worse.  However, GRiPPiES is a product that has come to the rescue.

These are so easy to use.  You can either buy the tights that already have the GRiPPiES on them, or you can buy the adhesives (either iron on or peel and stick).  For me, the peel and stick ones are easier, but the iron ons weren’t all that hard to do.  There are easy to follow instructions on the back of the packs.  Each pack contains 24 adhesives, so you can add these to plenty of socks.  Best of all, these are machine washable and dryer safe. You don’t have to handle them any different than you do any other socks in your laundry.  They are also lead free, BPA/Phthalate free, non toxic, and fungus resistant.

If you hardwood floors in your house like me, you need GRiPPiES in your house too!

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

With having a new baby in the family (my sister, not me), I am finding all the cool new baby products out there. I often find myself questioning why some of these products weren’t out when my kids were little (and my kids are 5 and 2!). It is amazing all of the new things that come out. It’s also amazing to see what other women come up with to help us moms out.

The Scrunch Bottle Bib was not designed by a mom — instead, it was designed by a caring aunt who couldn’t figure out why there wasn’t a product out there to keep your baby’s neck dry while they feed.  Anyone who has bottle fed a baby remembers how much the baby seems to get in them equals the same amount they get all over them.  It also seems like the milk (formula, juice, etc) gets stuck in their neck folds which then either smells or gives the baby a nasty rash.

The Scrunch Bottle Bibs are reversible, 100% cotton, and best of all, machine washable.  I seriously can’t believe that no one has come up with this baby bibs idea before!  This is such a brilliant idea.  This definitely makes a new moms life easier and makes for a happier baby!

This giveaway is now over. The winner is Kelly F. Congrats!

Am I the only one who has noticed that kids shoes just don’t come with shoe strings anymore?  I personally think that if Madison actually had non velcro shoes, she may already know how to tie shoestrings.  However, that isn’t the case.  She starts kindergarten in the fall, and I figure shoestring tying is something she’ll probably need to know.  That’s where Tie Buddies come into play.  Now, their site explains how they work way better than I could ever.  However, they basically remove the loops you normally have when tying your shoes.  It makes it about 100 times easier to teach them to tie.

Now, Madison isn’t an expert yet.  However, these have definitely take away some of the frustration she was having.  We are also practicing on an old pair of daddy’s shoes, so I am not sure if that is making it harder or easier for her (since his shoes are the only ones actually needing to be tied in the house).  Your child still needs to practice tying, so this isn’t going to happen overnight.

However, I would definitely recommend this product for any of you who have little ones who are needing to learn to tie their shoes.  It definitely removed a lot of the frustration we were having.  Now, I do have one of these to giveaway to one of my lucky readers.  Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this entry.  Check out the Tie Buddies site and let me know something you learned.

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away Tie Buddies! http://urlbrief.com/51acb2

2. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

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If this isn’t working, please let me know. For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post.

This contest is for US residents and will end at April 21 at noon CST and is for everyone! Good Luck!!!

Ok, I have to admit it — I do like my shoes and am always on the lookout for new pairs at a great price.  It does not matter to me whether they are a pair of steve madden flats or a Birkenstock Sandals. However, I love finding sites that carry almost every type of shoe you could want. A site that definitely carries any shoe you could ever want is Jildor.

Jildor has been in business since 1949, and they definitely know shoes.  I love that they even carry shoes that fit my small feet (which seems to be an issue with a lot of online shoes stores.  Heaven forbid, if you have tiny feet, because finding shoes is like pulling teeth).  I love that they have live chat too!  Nothing is worse when you can’t figure something out, and you have to wait 24 – 48 hours before someones gets back to you.  The search on their site could not be any easier too!  You can search by keywords, designer, or even your size (which again is great for small footed people like myself.  I hate falling in love with a pair of shoes to later realize they don’t come in my size!). You can even set up product alerts, so you’ll be the first to know when they add a new shoes to the site!  They even have a great return policy:  if you are not satisfied with your purchase for any reason, you may return it.

If you are in the market for a great pair of shoes, definitely go check out Jildor Shoes.  I would definitely be surprised if you can’t find what you are looking for there!  Off to go shopping;  my birthday is next Friday and momma needs a new pair of shoes.