My husband just started a new job.  He has to commute about 80 miles each way into Boston.  He will eventually have a company vehicle, but for now he is driving my Toyota Corolla S, Roxanne.  Much to my dismay.  I've been driving around another brand...a 10 year old small SUV.  It's OK - but it is super loud.  There's nothing wrong with it.  The aerodynamics are just crappy.  Plus, the seats don't fit me live a glove - not like Roxanne.

*sigh*

I've been thinking a lot about Toyotas since posting My Toyota Story.

We don't just own Roxanne.  We also have a Tacoma that we sent to Aruba over 8 years ago.  It was a few years old when we shipped it, so I'm thinking it's circa 1999ish.  My husband was given a work vehicle to use at the time and we no longer needed it here.  He didn't have the heart to get rid of it.  He gets a little attached to his vehicles.  Are all men that way?  Or just him?

Anyhow, this Tacoma, Blackie, it's a great little truck.  Perfect for us to have on the island.  It seriously just keeps going and going and going.

Since posting the original article, I've heard from a number of family members.  They, too, love their Toyotas.  They are blog-shy though and won't leave a comment. 

My husband's first new car was a Toyota Corolla.  He commuted to work an hour each way every day.  It's the vehicle he drove when I first met him.  He needed to upgrade to a truck and bought the Tacoma.  He was so attached to his Corolla, he would only agree to sell it to a friend.  He was even a little angry a few years later when she traded it in for a new model.

In the late 80s/early 90s, my grandparents had a great little Corolla as well.  My older cousin drove it for years when she first got her license.  My sister drove it for a bit, too.  Although the only memory I have of that is her puking out the window.  We were in high school.  PMS...or so she said.  That was a great car.  I think my cousin drove it to Florida with her when she moved years and years ago.

So, the feedback I have received: Toyotas are reliable, dependable, comfortable vehicles that are quailty in line with price.

Have a Toyota story that you'd like to share?  Add your Auto-biography to Toyota's Facebook page.

Disclaimer: I'm participating in a Toyota/TwitterMoms campaign, which inspired this post. My opinions, thoughts and feelings are my own. As a TwitterMom, I'm eligible for a courtesy gift of $50.



My kids are HUGE Sid the Science Kid fans.  We have a few Sid DVD reviews under our belts.  So when Three.Sixty Marketing & Communications (for The Jim Henson Company) sent us a free Sid the Science Kid Gotta Know Microphone from Hasbro, Inc. to review, Sarah and Max thought I was the Coolest.Mom.Ever.

The microphone is exactly like the one Sid carries around, complete with theme song, applause, echo and silly noise buttons.  They played with the microphone until the batteries ran out...which gave me an idea...

You see, there's this contest.  Energizer® Recharge Smart™ is offering (2) $2,000 BlogHer’10 sponsorship opportunities through An Island Life and Barefoot Mommies.  Have you heard?!  Well, I entered a few days ago with a post that explains why I would be the perfect blogger for the job.

So...the Sid Microphone needed new batteries...I needed to show Energizer that I would be a great brand ambassador...and...

Voila.  Inspiration struck.

I present you with the first ever Mommycosm Review video:

If you have NO idea who Sid is, but you want to see hilarious footage of my kids - scroll to the last minute.  Trust me, it's worth it;)

Have a Sid fan in your house? If you would like a Sid the Science Kid Gotta Know Microphone, click on the link.  (Disclaimer: Yes, that's my Amazon affiliate link.  Nope, still haven't accumulated enough affiliate $$ for them to cut me a check.  I'm pretty much providing the link for your convenience ~ you're welcome.)

Recently via TwitterMoms, Toyota asked for me to share my experience with their brand.  I was more than happy to oblige.

A little over a year ago I traded in my Honda mini-van for a Toyota Corolla.  We purchased the S model, a 5-speed manual.  I did a lot of research online before hitting the dealerships.  I was a Web Researcher at the time, afterall.  Based on features and pricing, I narrowed it down to the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla.  When it came to test driving the vehicles, the Corolla felt much more comfortable to me and was more *ahem* visually appealing.

According to Max: She's beautiful.

She really, really is.  We named her Roxanne.

Proof:

photo source: www.toyota.comThere are many things I love about Roxanne.  I mean, look at her. What's not to love.  Right?

The practical side of me loves that my gas consumption went way, way down.  She has an 11ish gallon tank and I usually get just under 400 miles between fill-ups.  I see that as a 2-fer: good for the environment and good for my wallet.

We originally purchased Roxanne with the intent to move to Aruba and ship her with us.  We knew that we would still have access to Toyota parts and service on the island.  Unfortunately, another round of lay offs happened - this time around BOTH of our jobs - and that move is off the table, for now.  So, do I regret my decision to downgrade to a smaller vehicle?  Not at all.

I've been driving Roxanne for 16 months now.  My initial concern: she would be too small for a family of 4 living in the US.  In fact, I had a mild panic attack when my son started playing soccer last summer.  I was accustomed to driving around in larger, 8-passenger vehicles.  I had a Suburban before my mini-vans.  My concerns were quickly dismissed. 

Roxanne has enough room for the entire family AND all of our softball, baseball AND soccer gear.  I haven't felt cramped once.  AND, as a reader nicely pointed out: I get to say NO to carpooling everyone else's kids around because we have just five seat belts.

I'm sure you've all heard about Toyota recalls in the news.  Yes, mine was included.  However, I must say that our Toyota dealer has been very proactive.  In fact, just yesterday while getting an oil change, they had me flagged for another gas pedal recall and took care of it right then and there.  I hadn't noticed any issues.  It was a "just in case" upgrade.  I seriously have no complaints about my car or how Toyota has handled the situation with my family.

The Toyota Corolla is perfect for our family of four.  The gas mileage is great.  There is ample space for all of our stuff.  An added perk: even when I'm driving around with my kids, I don't feel as if I'm driving a "Mom Mobile."  The S model is sporty and has a sun roof and really helps me in my quest to steal small moments to myself.  In fact, when I climb into the car sans kids, it's a much quicker transition from Mom to ME than the mini-van.  Hands down.

Do you own a Toyota?  Check out their Facebook page and Tell Your Story.

Disclaimer: I'm participating in a Toyota/TwitterMoms campaign, which inspired this post. My opinions, thoughts and feelings are my own. As a TwitterMom, I'm eligible for a courtesy gift of $50.

I recently received an email from an author - not a PR agency; not a publishing company...an actual author.

Jane Buckingham has already written two bestselling "Modern Girl" books.  She had just finished writing this third one about "Sticky Situations" when a friend of hers was diagnosed with ALS.

I can't do the story justice.  Here's what she had to say:

...ironically just as I put the book to bed, I discovered that there were some situations neither practicality nor wit could fix. A dear friend had been diagnosed with ALS, one of the cruelest diseases I have ever seen. It wasn’t sticky, it stunk.
 
I asked my husband if we could offer to move her and her family into our house in LA. They lived in NYC but living in a fourth floor walk up while her husband’s job would take him to LA was untenable.  So they packed up and moved in for what we all thought would be a 10 week period.
 
6 months later we’ve all been living together in a new sort of reality. It only hit me that there were eight of us when I had to fill out the census (and should I count the two visiting family members stuck here for 2 weeks by the volcano??). And while I love my book, it made doling out advice on a philandering husband or a burnt chicken often seem trivial. So the only thing that made sense was to donate the proceeds of the book to her family. The medical costs are high, and whatever happens I want her children to be well cared for.

Publishers and traditional outlets don’t understand this but moms do. SO I am asking for your help to spread the word. 

The web researcher in me went to work and I googled Jane Buckingham.  She's legit...and this is certainly a cause I can stand behind.  Even if the book sucked, I would probably ask my readers to help out in some way, shape or form.

But here's the thing.  The only thing that sucks about this book: the sticky situations we find ourselves in at least once in our lives.  She has pretty sound (and sometimes hilarious) advice on how to gracefully get out of those situations.

The situations vary from "Your family expects you to name your baby after a particular family member, but you don't want to" to "You boss wants to be BFFs and you want to keep a safe distance" and "Your slingbacks won't stay on."

My favorite (so far) is: "Your bra wire is popping out and stabbing your boob."  I'm going to assume that since this plight is listed in a published book, I'm not the only one looking for a solution?!

Let me just repeat that the author is donating all proceeds from the book to her friend.  The picture above links to the publisher.  I didn't use my own Amazon affiliate link this time.  I figure she will get a larger cut.  Any little bit can help.  Even if you can't afford to buy the book yourself, please help spread the word...or just think positive thoughts for her friend.  We all know that alone can work miracles.

And...

In addition to the free review copy, she gave me a SIGNED copy to give away to a lucky Mommycosm reader :)

Want to win?

Leave a comment on this post by midnight (my time, east coast USA) on Sunday, June 20th.  Each person can leave up to 3 comments for a total of 3 entries.

Also...

For an additional bonus entry, tweet: "Check out The Modern Girl's Guide to Sticky Situations #giveaway over at @Mommycosm http://bit.ly/arE9kH"  Then leave an comment with the link to your tweet.

It's that easy :)

Update on Monday, June 21, 2010 at 10:55AM by Ashlie

Call it a slow week - the first of summer for many of you.  Or call it karma because she wants to turn around and spread the word about the book and the author's cause...but the winner by default is...

Barbara from TherExtras :)

I will be in touch shortly via email.

I received a copy of Noonbory & the Super 7 from NCircle Entertainment prior to its release and offered my feedback.  I was happy to see that it made it into production and is on the CBS Saturday morning block.

If you haven't seen it, the show takes place in the world of Toobalooba where Noonbory and his team of super-hero problem solvers save the day.  Each superhero uses their super sense, such as: sight, sound, taste, touch and smell.

The story lines are cute and my 4 year old is really into the show.  I like the messages of sharing, patience, teamwork and helping.  I'm glad this show catches Max's attention because I need alternatives to that stupid sponge guy that clearly does not administer social messages, ahem.  He's figured out the remote - so I'll set the TV on something I deem acceptable, leave the room and come back to THAT.

Noonsbory, thumbs up from the preschool crowd.  My too-big-for-her-britches 2nd grader thinks the characters are cute, but would rather die than admit to her friends that she eagerly watches along with her brother.  She's too cool.  Take it with a grain of salt because Dora is falling into that category for her, too.

Another note: my husband is currently driving his sister's SUV.  It has a DVD player and the kids have been bringing movies with them on longer trips.  Max has been bringing Noonbory with him...even above Scooby Doo.  My regular readers know that he looooooves his Scooby Doo.  Enough said.

The review copy that NCircle Entertainment sent me is the first DVD release of the Noonbory series.  It includes 4 episodes and a bonus track.  For what it's worth, I'd pay the $6.99 for it...if I didn't already receive it for free.

If you would like a copy, check it out: Noonbory & the Super 7: They're Sense-ational!

Disclaimer: I did receive a free review copy, however, I do not receive a kick back if you purchase the DVD.