Slow and steady wins the race

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.

Hi there!!!

Guess what???? Tropicana is back and offering to give away a SECOND $100 Visa Gift card to a lucky reader!

To enter just help me answer the question....

"What are some of the simple things you do to keep your family healthy?"

I know that many times I am trying to think of something "big" and "grand" that will change the way we eat.... most times I don't come up with any viable solutions.... I think too BIG, which makes the idea not really practical for the way my family works.

What I've discovered lately is that it's much easier to find small things I can do on a daily basis to improve my family's health... You know, stick with the "slow and steady wins the race" mentality.

Now I will tell you I am no expert when it comes to healthy families. We have candy in our house, my kids ate take out pizza for dinner last night, and I will admit to a personal love of macaroni and cheese (especially the home made kind).  However I can tell you some of the things that we do that work for us. Maybe they will work for you too? Maybe not... but here are some.

-We try to lead by example. My husband and I exercise on a regular basis. Now neither of us is "super fit " but we do try to show a consistent effort to stay active.

-We also try to keep our kids involved in some type of extracurricular activity, my oldest daughter plays for her High Schools Field Hockey team and the little kids are always trying out new things.  We have yet to find something that will "stick" for my son, but we keep trying, and more importantly keep him active.

-We keep fresh food in the house.  I'll admit it's been hard this winter to keep fresh fruits and veggies around, but I'm buying what looks good at the supermarket. I always try to keep a basket of apples on the kitchen counter, and some baby carrots in the fridge.

-Kids will eat most anything if they can dip it! I found that a little bit of ranch dressing goes a long way towards getting a kid to eat some broccoli, carrots or celery!

-We try to use the rule of moderation.  I've never been a big believer of depriving yourself entirely of one type of food.  A few years ago we started "Sundaes on Sunday." Aptly named by my son, because he thought ANY dessert you have on Sunday is called a Sundae! The name stuck and it's become a fun tradition. We always try to have dessert on Sunday, then not so much the rest of the week. The kids (and me) look forward to our Sunday desserts and no one feels deprived.

I mentioned earlier on this blog that for the new year I was trying to eat protein at breakfast.  One of the ways that I've found to get protein in the morning is to make smoothies!  I especially like to do this for my teenage daughter since she is ALWAYS late in the morning, and she can drink it on her way to school.

Here's a recipe for one of favorites. It's a take off of the famous orange ones at the mall... (you know what I'm talking about)... but a healthier version. It also makes a great after school snack!

Ingredients

2 C. Tropicana Orange Juice
1 scoop vanilla  protein powder
dash of vanilla
2 scoops plain yogurt (get organic or something unsweetened if you can, yogurt sometimes has a lot of added sugar- you could also use vanilla yogurt, just eliminate the extra vanilla)
2 cups ice (fill up the blender with it)
If your kids are super picky and want something sweet, you can add in 1 T powdered sugar... it's up to you and how much you are watching your sugar intake.

Dump all the ingredients in a blender and mix well.

Now for the giveaway....

Tropicana is giving away a $100 Visa Gift card for one lucky reader!! To enter just let me know,

-What's something simple that you have done to make your family healthier?

I'd love to hear, I'm always on the look out for simple things with lots of impact!!

Pledge to squeeze more fruits and veggies into your day & Tropicana will
help kids in need. Tropicana will donate one 8-oz glass of orange juice to
the USDA School Breakfast and Summer Food Service programs, up to 184,375
8-oz glasses. 


Please pledge by going to http://bit.ly/gAU7Eq . Promo will end 12/31/11.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry

methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to my question

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment

on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on

this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about

an alternate form of entry.

Giveaway dates from 4/11/11- 5/9/11

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be

selected.

The Official Rules are available here

Also be sure to check out Tropicana on the web!!

Tropicana on Facebook

Tropicana on Twitter

Tropicana's Website

Check out what more bloggers are doing to put the good in mornings on BlogHer's round up page!

I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.

Shabby Apple Giveaway

Enter to win this Dress!!- The Spanish Steps Dress

One of my favorite clothing companies, Shabby Apple contacted me about doing a giveaway for them.

I jumped right on it, then they told me I got to pick which dress to give away to ya'll... and I got even more excited, but a little bit stressed!  Picking clothes for someone else, that's a whole lotta pressure!!

Luckily there were many many cute ones to pick from.. I chose the one above, the "Spanish Steps"... it's from their new Romin Holiday line.. which I am TOTALLY in love with!

I was lucky to go to Rome a few years ago, and I love how their new line captures the spirit and style of the city!

Some of my favorite dresses are:

The Trevi Fountain

Piazza Navona

and

Cassanova

I've been a "fan" of Shabby Apple for a few years now, ever since my sister bought this dress..

The Nantucket

and called and told me it's the BEST.  DRESS.  EVER...

Since then I'll admit to buying a "few" dresses from them, but my favorite one is this one:

The West Coast Swing

I wear it with boots in the winter and cute heels in the fall and spring. 

I love their new lines and have added a few to my "Spring Wish List"...

You guys are LUCKY today becuase....

First:

Shabby Apple is giving Polkadot Chair blog readers and 10% discount!! Just enter the code "polkadotchair" when you check out to get your discount!

Second:

One of you is going to win the "Spanish Steps" dress pictured above!!!

To enter it's easy!!

- Visit their site and leave a comment here and let me know what your favorite Women's Shabby Apple dress is.

-For an extra entry head on over to Facebook- and "like" Shabby Apple

and for one more entry-

-Since you're already over on Facebook, "like" the Polkadot Chair for one more chance!!

Leave a seperate comment for each item that you do:

Rules

-Prize can be shipped to a US address only

-Contest open Sunday March 27th - March 31st at Midnight Eastern time.

Help me find the good in Mornings!

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.

- This is a long post, but you'll want to read it all... at the end there is a chance to win a good prize!

Okay,
I have a confession to make:

I am NOT a morning person...

you may all gasp as I hang my head in shame.

{I had contemplated inserting a photo of me in the morning here, then I realized I'm not that brave}

With friends at one of our favorite morning haunts

Actually I think this is not much of a confession as I have shared this fact before here on my blog, but here I am sharing it again.

You see, the fact that I am not a morning person has bothered me ever since I can remember. You've all heard the saying I'm sure "early to rise makes a man healthy, wealth and wise."  Well not me.

It's one thing that I would like to change about myself, but have tired numerous times in the past and have come to the conclusion that I am wired to be a night owl. However I am not willing to give up.

It's okay...

Since I have become a Mom and my kids have gotten older I have noticed that I've gotten "better" at mornings.  I have a teenager that gets up every morning and goes to early morning seminary for church, (she is not a morning person either, I wonder where she inherited that trait ? *wink*) and 9 yr old twins that need to be up, dressed, fed and ready to go when the bus comes to pick them up.

I tell all of you this because, I've been asked to write about mornings AGAIN!  I have to laugh because I think that someone is trying to tell me something. So now for the 2nd time you get to hear about my struggles with the "a.m.".

Tropicana asked me to write a bit about how I put the "good" in mornings... Since I'm not a morning person I've had to make a little extra effort to make my mornings GOOD... I have 3 kids that need me at 6:30 am  so I had to figure something out.

Before I tell more about my mornings, I thought I'd share with you a couple of things I learned this week from the good folks at Tropicana...

-Did you know that every 59 ounce Tropicana bottle contains the juice of 16 oranges? I didn't...

-Did you know that the ONLY thing in Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice is ORANGE JUICE? I didn't know this... I was under the mistaken presumption that grocery store juices had loads of added sugar.. Tropicana does not.. there is NO added sugar or artificial sweeteners!!

-Did you know that it only costs .50 cents for an 8 ounce glass of Tropicana juice and that 8 ounces give you TWO servings of fruit for the day? I didn't know this either...I hate to admit but I rarely get all of my recommended fruit servings in per day. (I don't really like fruit, I'd rather drink it that eat it).

-Did you know that a glass of OJ contains, Vitamin C, Folate, Potassium, & Thiamin?  Yep, there is a FULL days supply of vitamin C,  and as much potassium as a banana.

Pretty cool I think... I was really most surprised about the no added sugar, and the fact that for only .50 cents you can give your family 2 of their servings  of fruit a day.

I thought I'd share just a bit of what our family likes to do for breakfast... then ask for your ideas and suggestions!

note the OJ in the photo

We LOVE to go out to breakfast... We are lucky that there are a couple of fun places where we live with excellent breakfasts.  Now it's not really practical to do this more than once every couple of months, but it makes for a fun weekend activity when we do get to go.

Christmas morning 2008

I also like to try to make breakfasts on Holidays extra special. We set the table, make a fun breakfast and all sit down and eat together. My husband makes great waffles! We also like to do this on Sundays when our church is not until the afternoon. It's a fun break from our normal "rush out of the house" morning routines!

So now here is where I need your help!

Not every day is a Holiday or practical for a breakfast out... so for those of you that ARE morning people, how do you do it? Please tell me, help a girl out!

What's your best tip for me to make for a good morning???   After I get the kids all off to school, I tend to crash a bit... so what's your trick or your routine? Do you make the beds, jump straight in the shower, or head to the gym?

What's the thing that you do to put the GOOD in morning???

Leave a comment HERE with your anwer and you will be entered to win a

$100 Visa Gift Card from Tropicana!!!

Rules:


No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
an alternate form of entry.

Sweepstakes dates 3/14/11-4/11/11

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
selected.
Official Rules


Also be sure to check out Tropicana on the web!!

Tropicana on Facebook

Tropicana on Twitter

Tropicana's Website

Check out what more bloggers are doing to put the good in mornings on BlogHer's roundup page

Oh and keep an eye out here!! In two weeks there will be another opportunity to win a $100 Gift Card!


I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.

Win a copy of Fresh Fabric Treats & A Fat Quarter Pack

Hey There!!!

I am so excited to be a part of the new Moda Bake Shop book, Fresh Fabric Treats! I wish I could share with you my fun project, but I can't yet... but I hope you will like it, I was so excited that I pulled it off!!

The other thing that I am so excited about is that I get to share it with you!!! The awesome folks at Moda Fabrics have generously offered to contribute to a very generous giveaway for my readers today!

There are 2 contests going on at the same time, the first one... Moda is donating for me to give away:

- A copy of Fresh Fabric Treats!!  

AND

-My favorite Moda pre cut- which just so happens to be a Fat Quarter pack!! (are you surprised, aren't I always sewing with fat quarters?)... What's even more exciting is that it will be in a yet to be named fabric line!! So a fun surprise for you!!

The second prize is pretty awesome too!

You know how I mentioned the "Progressive Dinner" going on right now? Well if you go around and leave a comment on EACH blog post, you will be entered to win:

- a copy of Fresh Fabric Treats

AND

-One of EACH Moda Precuts!! Yeah, that one charm pack, one fat quarter pack... you get the idea!

So here are the rules!

Leave a separate comment for each item you do:

-Leave  a comment here, say hi, let me know what project you'd love to see on Moda Bake Shop.

-Blog or Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link in your post (Facebook doesn't count as they do not want bloggers to use them as a forum for giveaways...)

-Follow or Subscribe to my blog, www.polkadotchair.com

A few other things:

-The book doesn't come out until May, so that's when your prize will arrive

-You MUST leave a way for me to contact you in your comment.  

-If I can't get a hold of you within 48 hrs a different winner will be chosen.

Giveaway Ends Friday January 28th at midnight Eastern Time.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

An Adventure at Home Goods

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and HomeGoods.

Did you venture out shopping last weekend? Did you brave the Black Friday Sales??? We hit the stores Friday and found some great deals! I did not however wake up early to hit the 5 AM sales, a girl needs her sleep!!

One of my stops over the weekend was HomeGoods.  You see, HomeGoods sent me a gift card and charged me with the task of finding some great gifts for the people in my life.... Hello!! Dream come true!!  I love to shop and I was even more excited because I had not been to the Home Goods in our city yet.  I grabbed my girls and headed on over.

The question now became WHO to buy for?  You see many of my friends, my Mom and my Sister all read this blog... so shopping for any of them would not be a good idea, since they would surely see what I bought.

I decided to shop for my twins teachers. I have the hardest time every year coming up with ideas for the teachers and thought it would be great to have that gift "checked off" so early in the season.

When we got to Home Goods it was packed!! But the store was prepared, every check out line was open and I don't think I even waited 2 minutes to pay.  The lady who checked us out was very friendly and I had fun chatting with her a bit.  It was nice to see such nice employees on such a crazy shopping weekend!

Now I must insert a little "plea" in here to the people of Home Goods. Our store, the Louisville Kentucky store, is shared with TJMaxx and Home Goods is just in the back corner. Not nearly enough space for all of the awesome things...  The stuff they had is SOOOOO cool and at such awesome prices! A big store would do so well in my area, we don't have anything else like it- So can you please please build a dedicated Home Goods in my city??? Oh how I'd love you!  I even know the perfect spot!

We started browsing... one of my girls wanted this giant Christmas ornament... clever, but we decided on something else for the teachers...

My other daughter wanted a new lamp for her room...

such beautiful ones to pick from but we were determined to stay on task.

Here's what I came home with...

Le Creuset bread pans for the teachers... Hello Le Creuset for $14 score! I knew that all of my kids teachers were big bakers, so I thought Le Creuset would be perfect!  I grabbed them quickly since the lady next to me was "eyeing" them... I'm going to bake my mom's famous Lemon Bread (in a separate pan) then put it in the loaf pans and tie them up fancy for the teachers. (come back later and I'll have the recipe and photos of the gifts all "fanci-fied").

I love the Robert Best Barbie illustrations.  My oldest daughter has some large prints framed in her room.  I grabbed this set of note cards and this beautiful frame. I'm going to frame my favorite one and stick it in my daughters stocking this year. (I was sneaky and sent her to look at the shoes while I snuck this one in the cart).

These gorgeous vintage gift bags!! Some of the gifts I have planned for my friends will fit perfectly in these.

Are you stumped for holiday gift ideas? Check out the BlogHer HomeGoods roundup page. You can see what others are buying and get some great gift ideas!

Want to learn more about home goods or find one in your area? Click here to find out.

Okay.... Now there is some awesome news for YOU!!

HomeGoods is giving away a $50 gift card to a lucky reader!!

Just leave a comment on this post and let me know who you'd buy for if Home Goods sent you a gift card!
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.


 Sweepstakes ends at 5 PM PST on December 29, 2010

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.

Also- you MUST leave a way for me to contact you in your post! Otherwise how can I find you to tell you if you win?

GO ENTER!!

Christmas Cards Quick & Easy...

I used to make my Christmas cards every year. I would never start early enough, plan too large of a project,  then stress out like a crazy person because they were not done in time.

A couple of years ago I learned my lesson.  After "biting off more than I could chew" in the Christmas card department, they never got mailed.  That year instead of Christmas cards, I ordered Valentines from Shutterfly.  Most people said it was a nice little "surprise" in the middle of dreary month (oh how I dislike February!)

I was able to personalize the cards with photos of our family and a little bit about what we had done that year.  It was so easy and the cards came out so nice, that I decided that my years of making cards were over.

Over the years our Christmas card list has grown. Which only makes sense, as we have gotten older our circle of friends has expanded and far too many friends have moved away. It's just not as "do able" to make cards any more.

Let me tell you, printed photo Christmas cards have come a looong way in the past few years.  Gone are the days when you only had one or two "styles" to choose from and neither one seemed very good.

Not only can you now get great professional looking photo cards, you can also get more traditional folded cards too!  Last year we got PRINTED folded cards, they were printed on high quality card stock and looked like they had come straight from a professional printer, (but at only a fraction of the cost)

Shutterfly has got an AMAZING assortment of Holiday Cards to choose from this year.  They have really "stepped it up" in my opinion!

You can see their entire assortment of cards HERE

They have my personal favorite, folded Greeting Cards...

I'm leaning towards using this one this year... 

Flat Stationary Cards

which are flat (not folded) but printed on cardstock instead of photo paper...

This one caught my eye...

and
Traditional Photo Cards...
which are beautiful and very economical, especially if you've got a lot of cards to send out!

This post has been sponsored by Shutterfly, but regardless of that I can tell you honestly that' I've been ordering from them for years and have always been very very happy with their product and service.

I usually order their photo books... they are a favorite of mine, quick and easy to make and they give you great results.

A few years ago we went on a big family cruise to Europe.  When we got home I complied all of the photos we took and made them into a photo book. I gave them to our family members that year for Christmas.  The book came out great, and I'm really picky about print colors/photo quality.

my actual book, it's still on Shutterfly, I can order more if want.

Now all I have to do is decide which card I like the best...that could take a while...

*this post has been sponsored by Shutterfly*
*are you a blogger? want to get 50 free cards from Shutterfly? click here to find out more*

New Giveaway, MB Sprout!!

Hi There!!

I've got another great giveaway for you guys today!  The Holidays are approaching and I love to support handmade businesses!

Today MB Sprout has generously offered to host a giveaway for Polkdaot Chair readers!

Here's a little bit about Ashlee the owner,

My name is Ashlee and I am new to the blogging 'craft' world. I have always enjoyed crafting in my spare time, but have learned to really love sewing since having my kids. I am a stay at home mother of two children. I have a 4 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. MB Sprout was started and named after my kids. I hope to someday have MB Sprout more well known in the craft world, and am slowly working on tutorials and pattern's that I hope to sell. Once the patterns are completed I will eventually discontinue the items I currently sell since it is easier to sell patterns, then make a thousand of them (especially with the little ones running around me).


MB Sprout sells beautiufl hand sewn items including:


-Nursing Covers 
-Aprons
-Car Seat canopies
-Minke Lovies
-Burpies

Today Ashlee has generously offered to giveaway one of her Car Seat Canopies!! I would love to have had one of these when my kids were babies!!

This one is specially designed to keep the wind off those precious little ones!!


To enter to win this canopy do the following,


1- Leave a comment on this post, what's your favorite item in the MB Sprout Store?
2- Follow the MB Sprout Blog, leave me a separate comment and let me know you did!

US residents only

Giveaway ends Friday Nov. 19th at noon Eastern time.

GOOD LUCK!!!