eBay Holiday Gift Shop on Facebook [spon]

eBay created a fun Holiday Gift Shop app for Facebook this year.  You can create gift lists and kids' toy lists based on recommendations from eBay experts and, get this, each day a lucky winner will receive one of their gift list items (valued up to $200) PLUS a $100 eBay Gift Card.

How cool?!

The catch?

It ends today, November, 30, 2012.

My bad for not sharing sooner... ehem... my inbox has been a leettle out of control the last few weeks.

So, go on over and play around.  Right now.  No time to waste!

No one can see the lists you've created unless you share them.  It's quick and easy to do and is all connected to the eBay site and eBay mobile app, so if you see anything while you are on there that you must have, you can go ahead and purchase.  Convenient.

Who couldn't use a $100 eBay gift card headed into the holidays?

Disclaimer: I was hired by Splash Creative Media to write this post on behalf of eBay as part of my involvement with the eBay Parent Panel.  Thoughts and tardiness are clearly my own.

Yummy winter boots from Crocs

It's no secret here in Mommycosm that I am not a fan of winter.  Cold.  Snow.  They are my kryptonite.  

We have a family home on the sunny-all-year island of Aruba.  If we ever win the lottery (please, please?) or somehow else become independently wealthy, we would move there and avoid winter all together.  But that's just not in the cards.

*sigh*

So, I do what a reluctant New Hampshire native needs to do in order to get through cold, nasty winters.  I drink lots of warm lattes and make sure I am outfitted properly and fashionably for the cruel weather.

Speaking of fashionable, check out these new winter boots from Crocs.  Yes, you heard me right.  I said Crocs.

They are yummy and have become my go-to favorite to wear out and about when I'm brave enough to be out and about.  Warm and soft on the inside over a base that feels as wonderful as summer Crocs, all while remaining extremely fashionable on the outside.

love, Love, LOVE.

You can purchase these and other Crocs online via their website or find a retail store near you using their handy, dandy store locator.

The boots pictured here are mine, all mine.  They are the women's Berryessa Hiking Boot and are on sale right now for 21% off.  Woot!

My feet will be happy.  Any advice on how to get the rest of me through winter this year?

Disclaimer: I was offered free product in exchange for sharing information with my readers.  Thoughts are always my own.

Thanksgiving in Mommycosm

Feel like I need to be wearing a tee shirt today reading "I survived Thanksgiving 2012".  We hosted dinner for 14 people - mostly my husband's side of the family.  Not gonna lie, the planning and build up were a bit stressful, but we have this down by now. We handled a lot of prep in advance and were able to enjoy the day.  Really, really.

Here are a few shots taken from my iPhone.

What's better than a fried turkey?  TWO fried turkeys :)

The oreo cookie place settings were a huge hit - and were yummy to eat after.

The Pioneer Woman's Stuffing entered the menu here 3 years ago.  I think I've finally perfected it, if I do say so myself.  Devine.

Not the greatest quality picture, but wanted to share anyway.  To simply say that this woman is my brother-in-law's mother doesn't depict the bond we have with her.  Nana.  She has seen 95 Thanksgiving dinners and I felt privileged to have her join us again this year.  We have fun together, if you couldn't tell.  She's trouble and recognized my kindred spirit years ago.  It's quite the compliment when she finishes her plate and ask for seconds.  Unfortunately, due to a fall out of bed a couple of years ago after imbibing in one (or maybe two) of my famous Naughty Gingerbread Mantinis, she had to stick to wine instead this year.

Confession: Pretty sure I only made the oreo turkeys to hear her giggle.

I'm still recovering from a turkey hangover and we still have way too much food left over, but I'm grateful to have both opportunity and means to host dinner for family.  When I look back on past holidays, I fondly remember times spent with my Grammy and Uncle Vic and miss them dearly.  Who knows where we will all be next year.

So... did you survive Thanksgiving?  Tell me what you did.

Fresh, natural turkeys from The Meat House [$50 giveaway]

We may be far north of the Mason-Dixon line up here in New Hampshire, but I swear sometimes I was meant to be a southern girl.  I prefer the heat over the snow, don't mind my husband driving around in a big 'ol truck and even catch myself saying y'all every now and again.

Must have been from Charleston in another life.

One other southern thang I enjoy?  Deep frying our Thanksgiving turkey.

Oh, yeah.  YUM.

It's become tradition to fry our turkey ever since we started hosting Thanksgiving Dinner a few years back.  We even serve it up on paper plates.  We're Klassy.

Not your traditional New England holiday dinner, right?  They might take away my Yankee card after admitting this so publicly;-)

My husband takes the turkey (or turkeys depending on how many people we're hosting) outside with the fryer while I prepare the sides inside.  He gets to play with fire and I get him out of the kitchen.  It's a recipe for a long, long marriage.  Posting goofy pictures of him kissing a turkey may not be... we shall see.  Ha.

I think he enjoys this tradition as much as I do.

Check out this recipe over at The Meat House Blog for fried turkey.  Frying is super fast (3 minutes per pound, plus 5 per bird) and frees up my oven for other things like the sweet potato casserole and snowflake buns.

OK, I'm getting hungry for turkey and Thanksgiving is still over a week away.  Planning to order my turkey on Friday from The Meat House.  I mentioned in the past that we prefer to buy all of our meats there.  So, I was super excited when I saw that they are taking orders for their fresh, natural turkeys.  Count me in.

Want to win a $50 gift card to The Meat House to buy yourself a fresh, natural turkey this year?  Here's how.

Giveaway:

One lucky Mommycosm reader will win $50 gift card from The Meat House.

Mandatory Entry: Simply leave a comment on this post with your first name and state initials.  Tell me: have you ever fried your turkey?

One comment per person, please.  You must supply an email address in order for me to contact the winner.  (Note: I do NOT recommend putting email within the content of the comment itself. SPAM is not a quality meat.)

Submitting a comment constitutes agreeing to the terms of the Official Rules.

Extra Entry: Follow @TheMeatHouse and re-tweet their #Meatsgiving tweet, come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment.  Oh, and it's not just for an extra entry, it's for a great cause.  For every re-tweet, they will donate $.50 to Share our Strength, a campaign to end chlidhood hunger in America.

Deadline:

All comments must be received by Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 7pm (et).  Mommycosm will use Random.org to choose the winner.  Any comments received after the deadline will not be considered for the giveaway.  Although it is my intent for you to use this gift card to purchase your turkey, there is no guarantee that the gift card will arrive prior to Thanksgiving despite our best efforts... therefore you can use it to buy whatever you desire at The Meat House during this holiday season.

Disclosure:

I received a gift card in order to facilitate my review.  Giveaway provided by The Meat House.  Opinions, thoughts and the goofy turkey kissing husband are mine, all mine.

Update on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 07:24AM by Mommycosm

And the winner is...

Which is this comment... 

Congratulations, Adrrienne from CA!  Please check your email for instructions on how to claim your gift card.

Thank you, everyone for participating... and thank you to The Meat House for this fabulous giveaway.

Hope you enjoy your turkeys, no matter how you cook them :)

Wordless Wednesday: Home sick

My daughter has been home sick.  Again.  She keeps coming down with a yucky sore throat and sinus thing.  It's been off and on since the end of September and is on again, so I finally took her to run some tests.  Mono.  Lyme Disease.  Strep.  She's probably fine - especially because she was kinda fiesty and a pest while home today.  Good sign.  But it's always disconcerting when your kid is repeatedly sick, you know?

At least the dog is happy to have her home.