If you have a daughter between the ages of 6-12, you MUST check out Fashion Playtes.

Their beta site is up and running and it is WAY cool.  Girls can go online, create and design their own t-shirts, dresses, skirts, jackets and accessories that can actually be produced to wear.

How cool is that?!

They are celebrating their anniversary by hosting a Red Carpet Anniversary Party next weekend.  They offered me tickets to bring Sarah, but she is in her school play, so we cannot attend.  I'm a little sad.  I think we both would have really enjoyed the event.

The good news?

They have now given me a 2 sets of tickets to the event to give to 2 of my lucky readers.  Each ticket is good for a mom and daughter between the ages of 6-12.

What else?

Each mother/daughter duo will also receive:

•  A $25 gift certificate to Fashion Playtes
•  A sneak peak at their spring line while watching a Fashion  Show
•  Model Shots where the girls can get styled for personalized photos in Fashion Playtes outfits.
•  They offered to interview you (if you're OK with that!)
•  They will take pictures and post them on their site (again, with your permission!)
•  Refreshments and treats

In other words, you will get the celebrity treatment!

Check our the event's Facebook page for more information.

I know that Sarah would be ALL OVER a special day like this.  So much so, I didn't even tell her what I passed up.  She may have been tempted to skip her school play.

So, if you have a daughter (or granddaughter, neice or friend) betwen the ages fo 6-12 and can be in Salem, MA on Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 1-3pm, please leave me a comment.  If I have more than 2 comments on this post, I will choose winners via a random number generator.  Not sure when to give for a deadline since the event is next weekend.  Let's say Tuesday, March 9th or until I get 10 comments. 

Oh, and you MUST leave your email address as a way for me to contact you!

Good luck to my readers.  And thank you to Fashion Playtes for this opportunity!

Update on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 03:03PM by THE Mommy

This is still up for grabs if anyone wants the tickets.  I'll keep the contest open until I have 2 winners.

NCircle Entertainment recently sent me a free copy of Puppy Party to review.

I mean, seriously.  Who doesn't like warm and fuzzy puppies? Right?!

This 70 minute DVD shares facts about 25+ breeds of puppies.  Besides being incredibly cute to watch, it is very educational.  My kids both thoroughly enjoyed it.

We have 2 dogs, an Australian Cattle Dog and an Australian Shepard.  My kids are very dog saavy.  As they are all growing, the dogs are appreciating the kids more and they are all becoming the best of friends.  There's nothing like having a doggy companion when you're sick on the couch or scared in the middle of the night.

My kids also know that dogs can drool, shed like crazy, bark way too much at times and can even steal your pizza.  They can be a lot of work.  So despite their campaign after watching this video, we are NOT getting another dog.

I dare you to watch Puppy Party without saying "Awwww" at least a few times.  Nay.  I double dog dare you.

We recently received a free copy of WordWorld: Happy Holidays, WordFriends from NCircle Entertainment to review.  We've reviewed other WordWorld DVDs here and here.  Yep, we LOVE WordWorld on PBS in my house.  LOVE IT.

This special DVD contains 2 episodes with a holiday theme.  My kids really enjoyed both.  Quite frankly, I get a little OVER the standard holiday movies this time of year.  We've already watched that famous train one 5x and the one about the grouchy green guy at least 3x.  Love them both and they're classics, but I can only take watching a movie so many times.

This WorldWorld DVD is educational and entertaining.  It only lasts 33 minutes, so it's great for a quick fix while I'm making dinner.  Perfect.

I would highly recommend this DVD.  It's not too late to buy and enjoy before Christmas - and would make a great stocking stuffer.  It's only $6.99, not a bad price.  Hear that Santa?

The NCircle site says the DVD is on backorder, but here's my Amazon link for your convenience:

WordWorld: Happy Holidays WordFriends!

We recently received a free copy of WordWorld: Lots of Letters from NCircle Entertainment to review.  In a previous review, we shared with you how much we LOVE WordWorld on PBS in my house.  LOVE IT.

Recently, Max's preschool teacher made it a point to tell me how well he's doing in class with his letters.  He has an August birthday, so he's one of the youngest in his class.  But, he is really ahead on the curve when it comes to sounding out words.  I definitely give WordWorld some of the credit.

We were psyched to open another WordWorld DVD, but this one?  Is the jackpot.  It is a Box Set and contains 180 minutes of 16 WordWorld episodes.  I grabbed my Amazon affiliate link and noticed it is selling for $15.99.  That's under $1 per episode.  Definitely a deal.

If you want to buy it, click onto the picture.  

(Disclaimer: If you do buy the DVD via my Amazon affiliate link, I might get a few pennies back.  Literally.  So, if you think I'm just promoting the DVD to make money...yeah, not so much.)

When Sarah was just a toddler, my sister-in-law gave us all of her Disney movies on VHS tapes.  All of them.  I still had my VCR from college, purchased in 1991.  Yep, it was still kicking.  We had so much fun watching all of the classic movies.  She fell in love with all of the princesses.  So much so, her nickname when I first started Mommycosm 3 years ago was "Princess".

Sometime between when Max was born and when he was old enough to watch and enjoy movies, my poor old VCR died.  It was a slow, painful death.  On its last day, it ate a tape. 

*sigh*

So sad.

I never really stopped to think about it, but Max has missed out on many of the classics.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs included.

When One2One Network offered to send us a free copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to review, my kids were SO excited.  So was I.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs hasn't been released in any form by Disney since 2001.  Before my kids were even born.  So, unless I wanted to scour yard sales for a used DVD, we would have never owned this movie.  Score!

Sarah was home sick yesterday and we were stuck inside for the day.  We all sat down to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Sarah and Max giggled at the dwarfs and were afraid of the witch.  A classic reaction from a new generation of children watching a classic movie.  It was awesome.

Now, I'm going to admit something here and it's going to make me sound like I live in the rock ages. Ready?

I don't own a Blu-ray player.  In fact, I wasn't even sure what the hype was about Blu-ray.  I get that it probably has better picture, but we get good enough picture with our DVD player on our 42" plasma that I seriously didn't care to spend the extra money to upgrade.  And we've collected a number of DVDs, it seemed like such a waste to change to another format.

BUT when I read on the PR letter that Blu-ray discs are more scratch resistant and kid-proof, OhMyGod, I was SOLD.  My kids aren't allowed to touch discs (yeah, right).  They have managed to destroy many of our favorites. Oh, and apparently, regular DVDs work in Blu-ray players.  Whodathunkit.

Needless to say, we WILL be getting a Blu-ray player.  Mark.My.Words. 

And to anyone in marketing for Blu-ray players: you really, really need to emphasize this whole kid-proof bit.  I had heard about the higher quality picture and better sound, blah, blah blah.  Whatever.  More scratch resistant?  Bring it.

You may be wondering why they are calling this the "Diamond Edition Combo Pack."  I was.

According to the press release:

The Blu-ray Diamond Edition Discs will be comprised of 14 of Walt Disney's most treasured animated classic titles to be released through 2016.

Way cool.  I'm looking forward to collecting these.  Although, by the time I have all of them again, there will probably be new technology and Blu-ray will be obsolete.

The combo pack includes both Blu-ray and DVDs.

It was released for sale TODAY :)

Buy it.

(Disclaimer: Nope, I don't get a penny if you do buy it.  Just the free video in exchange for an honest review.)

If you don't want the Blu-ray and DVD Combo pack, they will be releasing a standard definition DVD on November 24th.

Want to expose your kids to Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, but don't have extra money to purchase the movie right now?  The economy stinks right now.  I feel ya. 

Check out the official website.  They have some really cool (free) online games and printables.