You know you are a mom when you get all excited about a new winter coat for your 5 year old. However, this Lands’ End’s Kids Sport Squall Parka is Madison’s new winter coat and we couldn’t be happier! First of all, it is windproof with a  3-ply nylon shell with a DriOff™ finish.  For us here in Chicago, this means it keeps the kid dry and warm.  We’ve had plenty of icky weather so far, and this coat has passed that test!  I love the adjustable cuffs (which you can’t really see on this picture that they really are adjusted for her arms.  It’s a great way to keep the cold finding it’s way in.  I do like that the trim is reflective.  It makes it easier for her to be seen when we are in the parking lot (like at school for drop off and pick up.  I can only imagine I’ll be dropping her off in the dark come winter!)  A feature we don’t use but is on there is a MP3 player pocket with a cord port.  The waist also cinches so make the coat fit better and be warmer.  I can see us getting (hopefully) two years wear out of this.  The first day I had Madison wear this to school, her teacher complimented her on such a nice coat! The Lands’ End’s Kids Sport Squall Parka is available in 12 colors (differing for boys and girls) and come in youth sizes S, M, L and XL.  Your kids definitely want one of these for this winter!

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

This giveaway is over. The winner is thegamblinggirl. Congrats!

Now that we are hitting the hundreds in Chicago, it is time to get our swimsuits. If you are like me, it is a scary time. I normally hate shopping for swimsuits. I bought my last swimsuit before Madison was born (and she’ll be 6 in January).  It’s a two piece and I hate it.  However, Lands End made it easy for me this year. It wasn’t a horrible experience, and I can say I will order from Lands End again.

This is the first time I have not tried on a suit before I got it. I used Lands End sizing guide, measured myself, and I ordered it.  I am amazed how it fits!  Lands’ End wants to make sure women of all body types feel fabulous in their swimsuits, and they definitely did that!  My new suit (see picture above — Madison took it for me, so I’m sorry she didn’t get more of it in it) makes me look better.  I am not thin (as you can see ), and the suit definitely compliments me.  The suit fits well and actually does make me feel better about myself.  If you have problem areas, you definitely need to watch this video:

If you check out their channel on YouTube, you can really figure out what suit you should be looking at for your problem areas.  I know we all think we have problem areas, so these are truly helpful.

Now, I want all of you to be happy with your swimsuit this summer, so I have arranged for one of my lucky readers to get a $100 gift card to Lands End so you can be happy with your swimsuit this summer too!  Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post. Check out the Lands End site and tell me what swimsuit you’d like to spend the gift card on.

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 a $100 Lands End gift card!  http://lisareviews.com/2009/06/23/lands-end-swimsuits-review-and-giveaway

2. Stumble this post and 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:

<a href="http://lisareviews.com"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png" alt="Lisa Reviews" border="0"></a>

If this isn’t working, please let me know. For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post. Each of these will give you 10 additional entries:

1. Join my Spark E Crew at Social Spark. Click here to find out how to sign up. If you are on my crew, please leave your social spark ID, so I can verify it.

2. Sign up for my free newsletter!

This contest will end at July 7rd at noon CST! Good Luck!!

This giveaway is over. Congrats 3boyzmom(tangie)!

I have always been a huge fan of Lands End Products.  They make a good quality product for a great price.  My kids, my husband, and I have always loved and worn their products.  When I found out they were coming out with a new sun protection line, I was super excited.  My mother in law last year had bought my kids some sun protection clothing, so I know how well it works.

My biggest complaint about sun protection clothing in the past is that it really wasn’t wearable.  I don’t know what they made it out of, but it just wasn’t comfortable.  Lands End’s Sun Life collection solves that problem.  Their clothes are adjustable, breathable, and most of all comfortable.  We recently tried out the Boys Solid Sun.Life Shorts.  Now, Will has very sensitive skin.  It it rubs at all, Will breaks out in red icky blotches.  With these shorts, we did not have this problem, and we brought them to DisneyWorld with us (which to me is the ultimate test).  The UPF rating on the Sun Life collection is 30 or 50 which will protect you from 96.7% – 97.5% of the sun’s harmful rays.  I love that their line comes in normal colors, so you can very easily match it with clothes you already own.

In these times, you really can’t to be too protected from the sun.  One of the easiest ways is by what you wear, and since you can be stylish with the Sun Life collection, why not get some?  If you’d like more information to the why’s of why they made the line, they have a great video on YouTube.

Now, since I love this product, I, of course, want you to have one.  However, this is going to be a quick contest, so you have to be ready.  Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment on this post.  Here is the list of items you get to pick from if you win:

Boys Sun.Life Pants

Boys Solid Sun.Life Shorts

Boys Short Sleeve Sun.Life Tee

Girls Sun.Life Pants

Girls Solid Sun.Life Shorts

Girls Sun.Life Tee

I want to know which one you’d like and who you’d give it to.
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 Lands Ends Sun Life items!  Ends tomorrow! http://urlbrief.com/cfc5e4

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:

<a href="http://lisareviews.com"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png" alt="Lisa Reviews" border="0"></a><br />

This contest is for US residents and will end at noon tomorrow CST (March 6th) and is for US residents.  Good Luck!!!

Lands End offered one of my lucky readers a choice between three of their products.  I personally love the Lands End brand.  They are great products that stand up to the test of time.  Without further ado, here is the winner:

Congrats Rebecca C!  I will be emailing you shortly for what gift you’d like and your shipping information.

I love Lands End.  They have some of the greatest products.  They are priced great for the quality you get.  In case you don’t know, Lands End has more than just clothes.  I have a Lands End jacket (I did a review of it a while back), luggage, and slippers too!

Madison picked out these really cute kid slippers herself. I was leaning more toward some that looked like ice skates, and she was like “no mom, I like the penguins”, so as you see, she won that argument. We were in the market for some slippers for all of us for the basement. As you may know, we remodeled and put down tile on the floor.  However, that tile gets really, really, really cold, and it hasn’t gotten below 0 yet.  Also, my house is pretty much all hardwood floors.  Socks don’t work well, because everyone ends up slipping and sliding and falling all over.  Madison told me they were super warm and then makes me touch her sweaty feet when she shows me (the joys of being a mom).

Now, Mommy took care of herself too. I picked up a pair of these travel slippers.  They are extra flexible for easy packing and are super soft.  They also have a slip resistant outsole.  Since I go to quite a few conferences, these will come in really handy.  Also, I have been using them around the house.  These also save my feet from my ice cold floors (both upstairs and downstairs).  My husband is liking them since I am not sticking my ice cold feet on him anymore.

Another piece we have added to our travel arsenal is this wheeled duffel bag. Can I tell you how awesome it is? Without anything in it, it is small enough to fit under my bed. Space is it a premium in my house, so that is so helpful! It also comes in extremely helpful when we go up to visit my parents. We are trying to get 4 people in two tiny bedrooms, so space is limited there too!  It is made out of denier ballistic nylon which is resistant to tears, abrasion, stains, and moisture.  Basically, it wil take a lickin’ and still look great!  You can even get it monogrammed!

Now, all I know you want to know how to get your hands on this stuff, so I am having a giveaway. The winner gets to pick which item he/she wants! Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know what you want and why!
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. 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.
4. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

For 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:

<a href="http://lisareviews.com"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png" border="0" alt="Lisa Reviews" /></a>

This giveaway will end on December 5 at 8:00 pm CST is available to US residents only. Good luck!