Maria's Space

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Sony Music Brings My Readers - 12 Days of Christmas Get the Hits Giveaway

I am so happy to bring this giveaway to you!

Thanks to Sony Music I have been given the honor of hosting a Sony Music 12 Days of Christmas.

I love listening to music and singing along. Karaoke online is one of my anonymous pleasures, I would be so embaressed if someone was to ever hear me and wish I had the nerve to sing in public but it will never happen.

One of my favorite things is singing with my kids in a closed car at the top of our lung. I also love buying CD's for my teenage nieces and nephews, introducting them to my favorite bands from when I was younger is something I get a kick out of. So, this is the perfect giveaway for me to host.

There are plenty of times in my life when music was all I had and I know I am not alone. Music lovers, I have the most fun giveaway for you and there are 12 possible chances of winning.

So without further ado, here we go...

Day 1: Enter to Win
AC/DC Backtracks
The ultimate fan experience! Available in standard 2 CD+DVD or Deluxe Edition features 3 CDs, 2 DVD, 1 LP, Memorabilia all in a working amp! This IS perfect for THE FAN!

To see what is included on AC/DC Backtracks head over here.

This alone is an awesome giveaway but it doesn't end here. Come back every day for the next 11 days and enter the next giveaway.

To Enter let me know who your favorite rock band is:

For Extra Entries:
*Tell me who this will go to
*Blog about this, and leave me the link for 3 extra entries
*Subscribe to my newsletter/email
*Follow my blog
*Subscribe to Chotskies
*Follow me on Twitter, leave your twitter name
*Tweet this giveaway and leave your link
*Become a fan of Maria's Space on Facebook
*Add me to your blog roll and leave the link
*Add my main button to your side bar

*Add my holiday button to your side bar

The Giveaway is open only to U.S. residents and will run until Dec 22, 2009 at midnight. I will choose the winner using Random.org. The Winner will receive an email letting them know to forward me their mailing address. Winners have 48 hours to claim prize.

"Romance and A Soak" Giveaway

On the 17th Day of Christmas,
Maria's Space gave to me,
some romance and some bath toiletries

Ahhh...that was so hard to come up with. It really isn't that good but I am watching TV with the kids and wanted to get this on up before they go to bed.

Don't you love taking a bath?

Don't you love reading?

Since I never find time for a nice, long soak in the tub I am giving the opportunity away to one of my readers.

The books include the following:
So Into You by Sandra Hill
How to Tame A Modern Rogue by Diana Holquist
Seduce Me by Robyn Hart
Knight of Desire by Margaret Mallory

The bath products are 6 different bath salts depending on your mood!

Wish I had some champagne and a robe to send along with the package. But I am sure you will enjoy it.

To Enter, fill out the form below answering the last time you soaked in a bath with a romance novel. For me, it was over 8 years ago.

For extra Entries:
*Tell me who this will go to
*Blog about this, and leave me the link for 3 extra entries
*Subscribe to my newsletter/email
*Follow my blog
*Subscribe to Chotskies
*Follow me on Twitter, leave your twitter name
*Tweet this giveaway and leave your link
*Become a fan of Maria's Space on Facebook
*Add me to your blog roll and leave the link
*Add my main button to your side bar

*Add my holiday button to your side bar

The Giveaway is open only to U.S. residents and will run until Dec 20, 2009 at midnight. I will choose the winner using Random.org. The Winner will receive an email letting them know to forward me their mailing address. Winners have 48 hours to claim prize.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Curious George Christmas CD Giveaway

On the 16th Day of Christmas,
Maria's Space gave to me,
a Curious George soundtrack CD.

As part of a Family Review Network and Denon Records campaign, I was given a Curious George A Very Merry Christmas CD to review. We love our Christmas music in this house. It is fun to hear the kids sing song that I have known and loved my whole life. It is the one time of year everyone listens to the same music no matter what your favorite genre is.

CURIOUS GEORGE: A VERY MONKEY CHRISTMAS SOUNDTRACK IN STORES TODAY!

Target, Walmart, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and iTunes Lead Extensive Retail Campaign for Denon Records Release

Movie Begins Airing Nationally on PBS November 25th and Throughout December.

If you haven't had a chance to see the movie yet, it will again air on PBS on December 6, 18, 19, 20 and Christmas Day, December 25 (check local listings for exact air dates and times). You can also catch Curious George Monday through Friday on PBS Kids (check local listings).

Curious George is a character we all know and love so it stands to reason that our children will love him too.

Curious George
A Very Monkey Christmas

The soundtrack follows the story line of the movie through song and music: George and The Man with The Yellow Hat are having a very merry time counting down the days until Christmas. There’s only one puzzle: neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present. The Man is having trouble reading George’s wish list and George doesn’t have a clue about what to get for The Man who has everything. Will they be able to find the answers before Christmas morning?

In A Nutshell: It came in the mail the day Goddess and I were planning on wrapping some gifts with her assisting by handing me presents and tape. Perfect I thought, I can add this to our CD rotation. That was the plan anyway. Until I put the Curious George A Very Monkey Christmas CD in. We didn't listen to anything else. We played Curious George 3 times and since then have added him to my MP3 player for the car.

Not a bad thing because the songs are great and it wasn't so childlike that I didn't love listening to it too.

Congratulations to Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas for its ANNIE NOMINATION for Best Home Entertainment Production!

If you have a Curious George fan on your holiday list, head over to the Curious George website and find everything George.

Thanks to Denon Records and Family Review Network, I have a CD to give away for the holidays.

To Enter: Head over to Denon Records and let me know which song on the CD is your favorite. If this question is not answered any of your other entries will not count.

Fill Out The Form Below:

* Blog about this contest and link back to me (provide the link in the comment) for three extra entries (Enter 3 separate comments)

*Add me to your blogroll and provide the link

*Follow me on Twitter , Tweet this and leave the link.

*Subscribe to Family Review Network

*Become a fan of Maria's Space on Facebook

*Subscribe to Chotskies, my other blog

* Post my button on your sidebar

*Post my holiday button on your sidebar.

Blue Monday - Waaayy Back

My Blue Monday this week is a picture of my first painting. Notice the date? 1993. I had taken a painting class on a Tuesday night. It was my first class and I was so excited. I told my boyfriend ("shithead" who put me in therapy)I was leaving for class and headed out.

I lived with my boyfriend and in the same town as my best buddy (my now husband). Class was only 8-10 minutes away from my house and walked in so excited to be doing something I always wanted to do. When I left class, I was so proud of my painting. Never feeling especially creative and very low on self confidence, it still looked good to me and my self esteem at the moment was soaring.

Driving home I kept thinking how I couldn't wait to show "shithead" or well what the hell, his name was Michael. Why not, I don't owe him the benefit of an alias. I got out of the car with my painting, opened the door and walked to the bedroom. Mike was still awake but was trying to go to sleep because he worked a crazy 11:30-5:00 a.m. thing. Knowing that he was exhausted I said, "Mike!?" He said, "hey honey, how was class?" I told him it was great. "Look what I made." He said, "honey I am sure it is great just put it in the kitchen and I will look at it when I get up later."

Still holding it, I held it higher, still smiling and right in front of eyes, :"Mike just open your eyes and look, let me know what you think."

"Babe, you know I have to wake in a few hours, I will look at it later ok?" Then he gave me an air kiss and I walked deflated, into the living room.

Dejected I sulked for a few minutes, called my buddy who wanted to know how it went, I told him it was fun. He said, "come over for a while, we can hang out side". So I headed out to my buddy's house. Mike was sleeping so I didn't even mention that I was leaving.

I pulled in front of now husband's house, and he was already outside. He walked over to my car and I got out. He was like, "Dude, let me see it!" I took the picture out of the trunk.

He took it from me and "holding it up examining it from every angle said, "You did this? I can't believe it. This looks amazing. Wow, dude you did an awesome job. I am so proud of you."

I felt my crushed self esteem getting bright again.

Years later, when we were talking about possibly moving our friendship into something more, something he had always wanted but never told me until I finally said something; he told me more about that first night of painting.

"You know when you had that painting class? The very first one you took?"

I said, "yes".

"Well, I watched you that night. I stood outside the window and watched you paint that picture."

I was floored and teary. What a sweet thing to do and then never telling me. No fan fare. Just something he wanted to do because he loved me. Just one of the many reasons I married HIM and finally smarted up enough to know that my special "dude" buddy was the one I should stop looking past.

Mellow Yellow Monday Princess

Goddess, the actress was at it again this weekend. She played dress up with her princess dresses and I couldn't help myself. I had to grab one for Mellow Yellow Monday.

Lovely Bones By Alice Sebold Audio CD Set Giveaway

On the 15th Day of Christmas,
Maria's Space
gave to me,
an audio book soon to be a movie.

I read Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold when it first came out in 2004 and it has sat with me ever since. The book was so different from anything else I had read that Alice immediately became an author I mentioned when friends were looking for new books to read. After reading Lovely Bones I ran out and purchased another of her books, Lucky which was her memoir. She is an amazing author and her memoir was candid and inspiring.

Back to Lovely Bones; this book centers around Susie Salmon who at 14 is murdured and watches her family and murdered from "in between". In her heaven she is torn between getting vegence and helping her family to heal.

The story, narrarated by Susie is outstandingly written. Sebold has a knack for making ordinary daily occurances very profound as Susie's family struggles their way back to each other.

There were moments in the book that were very emotional but not in a graphic in your face way considering the way Susie was taken from her family. It is a connection between the author and the reader that make this such a deep story. Thankfully, the amazing writing takes you away from the fact that a young girl was brutalized and taken from her family. The hardest parts are hearing Susie watch certain rites of passage happen for her friends and sister, that she would never be able to experience.

The movie comes out next week

This is a story that will sit with you and hearing it on audio made it that more penetrating for me.

Hachette Book Group has given me 3 audio sets to give away to my readers.

Fill Out The Form Below:

* Blog about this contest and link back to me (provide the link in the comment) for three extra entries (Enter 3 separate comments)

*Add me to your blogroll and provide the link

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Ultimate Holiday Party Meatballs - Easy Peasy and Delicious

As part of a campaign through Mom Central I was selected to try out Ultimate Party Meatballs. I love food reviews. Receiving food in the mail is as good as receiving a letter from an old friend in my book.

I was sent:
A can Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce
A bottle Heinz® Chili Sauce

I supplied the meatballs and wah-la...a delectable dish.

The Recipe is so easy.
1 14-ounce can Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1 12-ounce bottle Heinz® Chili Sauce
1 2-pound bag frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail-size meatballs

Combine sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Add meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.
Makes 30 appetizer servings.

Slow cooker Preparation: Place meatballs in a slow cooker. Combine sauces and pour over meatballs. Cover and cook 4 hours on HIGH.

Here is what mine looked like while cooking.

And afterward:

Delicious!

My husband and I ate all of them and bought the ingredients on our last grocery trip to have them again.

The holidays are hard enough with all the preparations of family, gifts, and more. To spend less time in the kitchen while still satisfying and wowing your guests, head over to Ultimate Party Meatballs.

There are so many tips at Ultimate Party Meatballs, recipes, party ideas, and a sweepstakes that ends in February for 3,000 and crock pots for 20.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Weekend Winners for Dec 6th

The Winners of the Nutureshock Audio Set giveaway are:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

13 - Jaime P
19 - Renee
5 - Jodee

Timestamp: 2009-12-06 13:31:47 UTC

The Winner of the New Moon Giveaway is:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28 - Fallon

Timestamp: 2009-12-06 13:45:04 UTC

The Winner of the Joshua Bell CD is:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28 - Daniel Morell

Timestamp: 2009-12-06 13:51:28 UTC

The Winners of The Last Song Audio CD Set Giveaway are:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

12 - Doreen R
32 - Jaime P
19 - Stacey D

Timestamp: 2009-12-06 13:55:41 UTC

So Cute I Can't Stand It

I love Flickr and so a lot of amazing photos on there but never have I seen so many that have made me smile and squeel.

Tracy Raver's photostream is stunning. Loads of sweet baby faces that will make you long to hold a newborn in your arms again.

Tracy is one talented photographer and I just had to share her work with you.

Apericots - Organic Wear for Babies Giveaway

On the 14th Day of Christmas,

Maria's Space gave to me,

$25.00 to spend at Apericots!

Apericots is a clothing store for babies. They make size newborn to 24 months.

The clothing is 100% organic and the company was created by folks who wanted to get away from lame baby clothes and create cool, hip clothes for babies Every design is printed with eco-friendly, water-based ink because we care about the planet and the kids that play on it. The only thing more natural for your child is the skin they were born with.

Our babies are precious, should they have the best stuff possible against their very soft, sensitive skin.

I wish I knew about Apericots when my son was a baby. He had severe allergies and we needed to be very careful with what we put on him.

The prices are affordable and the styles are so cute. They have onesies, bibs, pants, shirts, hats, diapering, and more. You can even create your own design.

The powers that be over at Apericots, were nice enough to offer one of my readers a chance to try their amazing baby clothes.

I seriously love that blue shirt above!

Head over to Apericots and virtual shop. Let me know what you would use your $25.0o gift certificate on.

Fill Out The Form Below:

* Blog about this contest and link back to me (provide the link in the comment) for three extra entries (Enter 3 separate comments)

*Add me to your blogroll and provide the link

*Follow me on Twitter , Tweet this and leave the link.

*Become a fan of Maria's Space on Facebook

*Become a fan of Apericots at Facebook

*Subscribe to Chotskies, my other blog

* Post my button on your sidebar

*Post my holiday button on your sidebar.