Book Review and Giveaway

Hello my friends - how are you?  Great, I hope!  We are all doing good on this end, but man, is it ever COLD here! I personally do NOT like the cold and especially when it is only 24 degrees outside and the wind is blowing making it feel like 19! ACK!  Oh well.. tis the season, right?! :)

Anyway, Valerie D'Orazio from Macmillan Publishing contacted me back in November asking if I would be interested in a review and giveaway for a client of hers new book coming out soon.  I said, of course - especially since I LOVE to read and I was certain that some of you wonderful readers enjoy it as well.   Anyway, she sent me two books - one to keep and one to give to one of you!

"The author of the book is Lisa Scottoline and she is a New York Times bestselling and Edgar-award winning author of sixteen novels, and her latest is a family affair as her daughter Francesca joins her in a series of funny, true-life short stories that any woman (and mother!) can relate to." 

And, since reading her book, I also learned that Lisa and her daughter, Francesca,  also write "Chick Lit"  for the Philadelphia Inquirer every week - which I am going to see if I can find online as I would love to read their column after reading this book. :)

The book I was given to read and give away is called:

My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space

In this book she teams up with her daughter, Francesca who has "flown the coop" so to speak and now the mom has the entire house to herself.  She talks a lot about her mother, Mary in the book as well as her brother.  I cannot tell you how much I truly LOL when reading this book.  There are a lot of short stories that are from Lisa's perspective and then there are some from her daughter, Francesca's perspective.  No two are alike.  However, there is one chapter in this book that I truly was LOL while on the bus home one evening and I had to cover my mouth to keep from disturbing the other passengers.  I truly was laughing so hard that I was crying!  It is in the section entitled "Batman and Robin" and is about a telephone conversation she was having with her Mother, Mary and it had little incerpts from the brother's conversation who was also speaking in the background.  I haven't laughed that hard over a book in a very long time, and it was such a refreshing change. 

I enjoyed this book tremendously and was so glad that Valerie contacted me asking if I would like to do a review and a giveaway.  It is definitely a book that I highly recommend reading - especially if you enjoy a good book full of humor.  I truly am looking forward to reading Lisa's other books and can't wait to start down the list.  If you want to know more about Lisa and her other writings - you can go here.

Okay, on to the contest - there is one rule and one rule only - be a follower of my blog - that is it!  If you would like to have this book - be sure and leave a comment along with your email address please and I will draw a winner this Friday.  Trust me, it is a book you will truly enjoy!  I loved every second of it and so much so, that I read the entire book in one day and the book has 241 pages! HA!

Have a great day my friends and thanks so much for stopping by to say hello! 

Lots of love and hugs,  

Ecostore USA Review and Giveaway

Good morning, my friends, Happy Tuesday! Maggie over at Ecostore USA contacted me a short time ago and asked me to do a review and a giveaway for their wonderful plant and mineral based eco-friendly products which contain no nasty chemicals and I happily agreed. I chose to review their plant and mineral based concentrate laundry powder and their naturally anti-bacterial spray cleaner and I have to say that I aboslute LOVED their products. We have a septic system and were advised against using powdered laundry powder at all in our machine, but since this was an eco-friendly product, I felt very comfortable trying it out and it worked out fantastic for our clothes and didn't affect our septic system either. The anti-bacterial spray cleaner was something that I could use on any type of surface and I must say, it cleaned everything wonderfully - even my teenage daughter made mention of how much she liked the spray as opposed to using Windex or other cleaners. Plus, if it's a product that can be used on most all surfaces AND it is eco-friendly and "green" - then that is less products under the kitchen cabinet and safer for our families, right?!

So, with that said, Ecostore USA has also offered to give one of my wonderful followers (that's you) a $25.00 gift certificate so you can try out their great products for yourself! I promise, you will NOT be disappointed! :o)

The Rules Are As Follows:

1) for 1 entry - go visit their website at http://www.ecostoreusa.com/ and leave a comment on this post and tell me what products you'd like to try if you win;

2) for 2 entries - let me know in a separate comment if you are a follower - (sorry, this giveaway is only open to my followers) (I love new bloggy friends so I will follow you in return if you become a new follower);

3) for 3 entries - post about this giveaway on your blog, twitter or facebook, link back to this post and let me know in a separate comment.

That's all there is to it - I will announce a winner on Friday, March 5th. Giveaway ends March 4, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be randomly chosen (via old fashioned handwritten notes on separate pieces of paper and chosen by one of my children out of a bowl - and will have 48 hours to respond).  Also, the prize is limited to one person per 6 months.

Thank you again, so much, to the sponsor for contacting me and offering such a wonderful product for me and my family and my followers and their family! Good luck to everyone entering! (P.S. This product was sent to me free of charge to review. I was not paid to say any of these things, and the words written are my true opinion of the product. )

You can also find Ecostore USA located on Twitter @ecostoreusa and on Facebook @ Facebook.com/ecostoreusa, Meijer stores and Duane Reade stores too - so go and check them out!

P.S.S. - Yes, I changed my background AGAIN - but I couldn't read the text in each post very well, so I thought maybe my wonderful peeps couldn't either.  Sorry about that. :o)

Have a wonderful and blessed day and thanks for playing along!

Lots of love and hugs,
Trac-:o)

Ecostore USA Review and Giveaway

Good morning, my friends, Happy Tuesday! Maggie over at Ecostore USA contacted me a short time ago and asked me to do a review and a giveaway for their wonderful plant and mineral based eco-friendly products which contain no nasty chemicals and I happily agreed. I chose to review their plant and mineral based concentrate laundry powder and their naturally anti-bacterial spray cleaner and I have to say that I aboslute LOVED their products. We have a septic system and were advised against using powdered laundry powder at all in our machine, but since this was an eco-friendly product, I felt very comfortable trying it out and it worked out fantastic for our clothes and didn't affect our septic system either. The anti-bacterial spray cleaner was something that I could use on any type of surface and I must say, it cleaned everything wonderfully - even my teenage daughter made mention of how much she liked the spray as opposed to using Windex or other cleaners. Plus, if it's a product that can be used on most all surfaces AND it is eco-friendly and "green" - then that is less products under the kitchen cabinet and safer for our families, right?!

So, with that said, Ecostore USA has also offered to give one of my wonderful followers (that's you) a $25.00 gift certificate so you can try out their great products for yourself! I promise, you will NOT be disappointed! :o)

The Rules Are As Follows:

1) for 1 entry - go visit their website at http://www.ecostoreusa.com/ and leave a comment on this post and tell me what products you'd like to try if you win;

2) for 2 entries - let me know in a separate comment if you are a follower - (sorry, this giveaway is only open to my followers) (I love new bloggy friends so I will follow you in return if you become a new follower);

3) for 3 entries - post about this giveaway on your blog, twitter or facebook, link back to this post and let me know in a separate comment.

That's all there is to it - I will announce a winner on Friday, March 5th. Giveaway ends March 4, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be randomly chosen (via old fashioned handwritten notes on separate pieces of paper and chosen by one of my children out of a bowl - and will have 48 hours to respond).  Also, the prize is limited to one person per 6 months.

Thank you again, so much, to the sponsor for contacting me and offering such a wonderful product for me and my family and my followers and their family! Good luck to everyone entering! (P.S. This product was sent to me free of charge to review. I was not paid to say any of these things, and the words written are my true opinion of the product. )

You can also find Ecostore USA located on Twitter @ecostoreusa and on Facebook @ Facebook.com/ecostoreusa, Meijer stores and Duane Reade stores too - so go and check them out!

P.S.S. - Yes, I changed my background AGAIN - but I couldn't read the text in each post very well, so I thought maybe my wonderful peeps couldn't either.  Sorry about that. :o)

Have a wonderful and blessed day and thanks for playing along!

Lots of love and hugs,
Trac-:o)