The Blonde Diaries

3 Weeks till Valentine’s Day

If you haven’t started thinking about Valentine’s Day you should start soon. We only have 3 weeks until it rolls around. That doesn’t leave much time to order a gift and have it shipped, especially if it is personalized gifts for girls.

Mike and I aren’t hugely into Valentine’s Day. We tend to celebrate it with a dinner at a casual restaurant either the weekend before or after. On Valentine’s Day I usually cook a normal dinner and we do the usual – eat and gym. But I do like surprising Mike with a thoughtful gift – normally something small. I think it is just a nice way to say I love you and was thinking about you.

Posted by The Blonde Diaries in General on January 24, 2012

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This post brought to you by LG DoublePlay™. All opinions are 100% mine.

With just 6 more shopping days until Christmas Day (and a little more for Hannakuh) now is the time to go over your shopping and make sure you haven't forgotten someone. Every year, I find myself scrambling to finish up certain family members who are difficult to shop for. You know the type – they have everything they need, you've addressed their hobbies, etc – and you don't know what to buy for them.

Well, you can always turn to the LG DoublePlay to finish that list off. The LG DoublePlay™ is a nifty little Android phone that allows you to do everything you want to do on the go – talk, text, update your status, surf the web, and enjoy your apps. The part that really draws me to the phone is that it is a smart phone, using Android Gingerbread 2.3, with a QWERTY keyboard. I've tried other family members' phones but I cannot seem to get use to the touch screen. The keyboard feature is a big plus for me. For those who are use to touch screens don't fret because the phone also has touch screen capabilities and short cuts to set up so you don't have to go searching via a keyboard to find things.

Another feature I like is that if I'm in the middle of updating my facebook and I see something I want to take a photo of for a text message, the phone has the capability to split the screen in half. I can take a photo with the 5.0 Megapixel camera (with a built in LED flash) and continue with my status update on Facebook. Once I'm done with the facebook part, I can easily send the photo to my friends and family via Cloud Text or Group Text. No need to send out individual texts to each person and spend forever and a day doing it.

This phone is exclusively sold at T-Mobile and it is making me rethink automatically renewing my 2 year contract with someone else and switching over. I love the idea of having the ultimate social networking and web surfing phone. I have wanted to upgrade for a long time and the ease of having multiple screens, touch screen, and a QUERTY keypad is amazing. Right now I can only do my social networking and picture sharing via laptop. Being able to use a phone for more than talking and texting would be awesome.

Would you or your gift recipient benefit from a new phone that changes the way you can interact with the web and social networks while on the go? Would the benefit of split screens increase the time you spend sending texts and surfing the web?

Posted by The Blonde Diaries in General on December 20, 2011

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2011 was good but I’m looking forward to 2012

2011 was a pretty good year. I had quite a few firsts: my first home buying experience, my first firing, my first time on unemployment benefits, and the first time shooting a 9mm pistol. I also had some repeats this year: another cruise in the Caribbean, another new job, a fabulous LSU football season, and just a lot of good times with friends and family.

So with just a few more days until we hit the new year, I have to say I am looking forward to seeing what 2012 brings. I’m hoping another National Championship to LSU, a fantastic vacation to Walt Disney World at Christmas time, exploring new recipes, trying out new restaurants and ethnic foods, and maybe a mini vacation here or there. I feel like I’m in a much better place at this time last year even though I’m fairly new at my job and I’m still paying off my Amex from that 6 month unemployment stent but I think knowing that I made it through the challenges this year brought and have friends and family who love me has left me overall more happy.

So here’s to 2011 and I can’t wait to meet 2012!

Posted by The Blonde Diaries in General on December 19, 2011

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Win free pet food for a year!!!

This post brought to you by Hills Pet Nutrition. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now that I've got your attention let's talk about this free pet food thing. Hill's Pet Nutrition is challenging pet owners to increase the mobility of their best friends though increasing the nutrients found in your pet's food. My family began using Hill's Science diet over 20 years ago when we adopted a cat with urinary tract infections and have continued ever since. Once we switched to a premium, nutrient rick food, our trips to the veterinarian decreased substantially. It only made sense to do the same with our new puppies last year.

Pet's age just like people age. There are early changes that come about slowly. Think of it like wrinkles. One minute your skin is dewy and youthful and then you wake up with the beginning of a wrinkle and low elasticity. So to help combat this, you go out and buy premium skincare products like wrinkle cream, anti-aging cream, etc to minimize these wrinkles. The same thing happens with your pets. Twenty percent of pets have mobility problems or other health issues that come on slowly. Picking a high nutrient food will help gain flexibility and mobility. Very similar to skincare.

The Hill's Healthy Mobility Coupon allows you to get in on the challenge at a reasonable cost – $30 in coupons! The Hill's challenge is to feed your furry friend Hill's science diet for 1 month. After 30 days you should see your pet's mobility increase, energy increase, and overall quality of life increase. Registering for the challenge automatically enters you in the Sweepstakes where 30 winners will receive FREE PET FOOD for a year. so you can continue to provide your furry friend with healthy, highly nutritious food everyday. Hill's also asks that you report your results and stories on their website and on the Hill's Pet Nutrition on Facebook so other people can meet your pet and hear the wonderful experiences he/she is having thanks to Hill's pet food. Why wait? Your best friend loves you so why don't you do something to show you care.