This contest is over. The first winner did not reply so a new one was picked. The winner now is Heather C. Congrats!

Have you ever wished you learned something?  For me, it is piano.  I can play quite a few instruments, but I never learned piano.  We’ve talked several times about buying a piano, but I was always at a loss of how to get lessons.  I am not real comfortable just answering an ad on Craigslist or in the newspaper.  However, TakeLessons solves everything for me.

TakeLessons is a resource for those looking for private music and voice lessons.  You can quickly and easily register via their site for local private lessons with a TakeLessons Certified Instructor.  It is super easy to do so — all you need to do is enter your zip code, and you’ll get a list of all the instructors in your area.  Since I live close to Chicago, I had two pages full of instructions.  I love that TakeLessons has their own certification process — they check the education background, teaching experience, references, and do a criminal background check.  When the instructor is listed for you to look at, you are able to see all of this information in their profile.  They make it super easy to set up a lesson too.  They even have a guarantee:  if your first lesson is not handled in a friendly, efficient and professional manner, they will gladly find you another instructor or refund any future lessons. All you need to do is contact them within three days after your lesson has taken place and we will set you up with another instructor.

I think this is such a great concept that I am giving away 2 free lessons to one of my lucky readers!  Here’s what you need to do:

Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post. Check out the TakeLessons website and tell me something you learned about them (be it why you should choose them, how many instructors are in your area, etc.

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 away2 Music Lessons! http://lisareviews.com/2009/05/19/takelessons-review-and-giveaway

2. Stumble this post.

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>

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 is for US residents and will end at June 2nd at noon CST! Good Luck!!!

This was my favorite newspaper.  I think we have been subscribing to it since we have moved here.  However, about a week ago, they changed their format.  Now, I have went through several format changes with them already.  However, this one, I cannot stand.  I cannot stand it to the point that I will be leaving them and getting a subscription to another area newspaper.  (The advantage of living in Chicago is that we have quite a few to pick from).

This  makes me sad.  However, the changes that have been made this time around I just cannot stand.  The majority of their articles completely blend with the ads for things like fat burners and real estate.  As a blogger, we got a lot of slack for not disclosing what is paid and what isn’t.  However, it doesn’t look the print media has to have the same standard.  The majority of the articles have huge pictures and less content.  I know it is not just my eyes playing tricks on me either.  It actually takes me quite a bit less time to read the paper everyday.  A lot of the articles also look like blog posts with the amount of stuff on the page.  If I wanted to look at something that looked like a blog, I would read my news online.  I personally love having a print paper in my hand.  I like the style and how informative a paper is.  If I want a synopsis, I go to the internet.  If I want to read full articles, I look for my local paper.

As soon as I find my credit card, I will be canceling my Chicago Tribune subscription and signing up for the Chicago Sun Times.  Hopefully, their paper will be less tabloidy and more news.