Being Thankful

Thanksgiving is a day for thanks, with that being said I am thankful for my parents, healthy kids, all of my extended family (especially Auntie Lou Lou ) and my best friend Amanda. Without them I have no idea where I would be. 

Everyday I am grateful for the roof over my head and the food on my table, I may not have a lot but I have enough. 

I think this is one of my favorite holidays. I love the tradition of it all; Macys Day Parade,having lunch at my parents then of course my aunt comes over with her boys for dessert. I like looking over the Black Friday ads ( I don't actually shop just look ) and just relaxing in my turkey coma. Which I am currently in the middle of !!

Now onto Christmas ......

Flu season is around the corner

Summer is over and we are into fall we all know what comes next...Winter. Blah, winter is my least favorite season and with everyone being cooped up with no fresh air and colder temps it usually brings around colds and the dreaded flu.
Sorry for sounding like a Debbie Downer !

Luckily I was chosen by Influenster to try out the new Braun No Touch forehead thermometer ! With a 2 year old this thing is a blessing. I do not have to fight with her and it does not go in an unmentionable place. However she does think its a toy so it stays high up. It's quick to use, easy and efficient. Quick is important with a 2 year old who is very busy ! It was easy enough for me to use on myself as well not awkward at all. 

All in all I am quite happy with this thermometer and it came at a perfect time. It only requires two batteries which it comes with when you buy it. And it is accurate, that is THE most important aspect of it. Would I purchase this if it were not given to me...YES ! Take a peak at my picture of me taking my daughter's temp, excuse the jammies and messy hair.

 "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

Let's get cooking

Now that there is a chill in the air I like to make soups and cook a whole lot more. Recently I was selected to try out a Garlic Press from Priority Chef, prior to this I was using a KitchenAid on that I adored let's just say she has been since replaced ! 

The first time I used my new press I made enchiladas Suisas ( recipe can be found on www.allrecipes.com ) I only used two cloves so it was just a little test. I like that it does not come apart into pieces like my other one, it's one cohesive piece. Night number two I made a kale,spinach, bean, potato, quinoa soup I have concocted up and I use LOTS of garlic in that and the press stood up to the test. Not once did any of the garlic skins get into my soup or enchiladas, I did not have to use a ton of muscle and I like that it is stainless steel there will never be any flaking/chipping of paint. Perfect size garlic for me every time and no need to risk my fingers with a grate, mandolin or chopping. It was easy to clean too, very easy to get into every nook and cranny. 

Overall I am quite happy with this addition to my kitchen ! Today we are making a lemon chicken orzo stew I found on Pinterest ...yummy !! 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Out of Darkness Walk North Shore

This past Saturday was the Out of Darkness suicide awareness walk and it was a great success ! There were over 1200 walkers there and I believe I heard over $10,000 was raised, but do not quote me on that since the stats were not up online and I could not really hear well from where I was standing..however I do know it was a huge chunk of change !

Team Lourenco ( my team ) had 19 walkers, a dog which whom was my uncle's dog ( the uncle in who's memory we were walking in) and my toddler. My daughter walked for a bit but was kind of a hazard because she would randomly stop and cause a traffic jam so up on grandpa's shoulders she went then into the carriage. It was a nice walk with perfect weather. Lucky the dog was a surprise and the perfect touch, Lucky was my uncle Carlos' little buddy those two were inseparable. He now lives with my other uncle and is doing very well, I am sure he misses me uncle like we all do. 

The sponsors of this walk thought of everything and were so considerate, they had tissues on hand for anyone that would need them, snacks, water, music, and a Wall of Remembrance for anyone to write on. I am glad I did this, if I can prevent just one family from feeling the pain and anguish my family has been going through then my job is done. 

Take a look at Team Lourenco, the wall of Remembrance and maybe one day there will be a world without suicide till then hug your loved ones and tell them you love them.

Suicide Awareness

This is a very personal subject matter for me and it hurts to even write about it right now but I must in order to bring awareness and raise money. In June of this year I lost my Uncle to suicide, it shocked me to the core never ever in a million years did I think he would do something like that. Not only was he my uncle he was my godfather, we even share a birthday. My uncle Carlos was crazy, you never knew what he was going to say but did he have a heart of gold.

I wish he would have told someone how he was feeling, maybe he was too ashamed. I know old school people think being depressed or having suicidal thoughts make you " crazy " not in the way I not used the word in the paragraph above but as in straight jacket crazy. Older people think it's wrong to need antidepressants or a therapist to talk too. Some people are ashamed of needing either pills or someone to talk too. At one point I was ashamed because I was told I was going to see the crazy doctor when I was going to see my therapist...that's not right. If it helps clear your mind then go for it. That is why we need this awareness. We need to make people aware that it's okay to need someone to talk too or it's okay to need an antidepressant or anxiety medication.

On September 20th there will be a walk on the North Shore to help raise this much needed awareness. I am walking in my uncle's honor "The Lourenco Team " we will be wearing blue ! If you want to join in with us that would be awesome or if you would like to donate that would be great too. I would hate to see other families lose members to suicide, if there is anything we can do to prevent it lets do it. It's harder than you can imagine.  I miss Carlos a lot, we were not extremely close but we were close enough, I think about him daily and know he watches over us now. Please follow this link if you are interested in walking or donating. Also here is a picture of Carlos and my daughter, this was Christmas of 2012. 
http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=600823

Let's talk Baby Care ....

Once again I was lucky enough to have some goodies sent to me to try out and review out my little monkey Gina.This times around I got Walgreens' new line of Baby Care products called Well Beginnings, I was sent diapers, wipes, baby wash and Oral Electrolyte. The products are reasonably priced and are well made in my opinion.

First let's talk about the diapers; they are adorable, although looks are not important but when you are trying to get a wiggle toddler to stay still it helps when they are admiring the new elephant on their diaper ! I normally purchase Pampers Swaddlers so I kept comparing the Well Beginnings brand to the Swaddlers. They were soft enough, and the tabs were easy enough to maneuver, nice stretch on the wast line and the fit her nicely. We had no leakage !!! That is always a strong feat and an A+ in my book. They were not bulky at all however a little on the thin side, great for the day but I would not use them over night, that is just me personally. Overall great value for your dollar. I am not going to talk about rashes with the diaper because Gina has super sensitive skin and gets rashes all the time, it would be unfair to say the diaper caused one because she gets them with ALL diapers even the beloved Swaddlers. 

Moving onto the wipes....I LOVE them. I normally use the Pampers Sensitive wipes which is what I compared these wipes too. These wipes are the most durable wipes ever, I swear. I tried pulling them apart and they did not give easily, it was just a test I do not normally go around tearing apart wipes for entertainment purposes. They cleaned up a lot of mess in one swipe. They did not irritate the skin at all and I have made the switch. They are not too wet either even when you get to the bottom of the package like other brands.

As for the baby wash I was not blown away by it really, do not get me wrong it did it's intended job; get baby clean with a gentle formula but I am a person who longs for the baby smell and it was not there. No smell was there really. Like I said it cleaned Miss Gina, did not cause her to break out at all and that was that ! We normally use Johnson & Johnson Lavender Body and Hair Wash which is what I compared it too..guess that was not fair.

I have not had the chance to try the oral Electrolyte drink thank goodness because that would mean Gigi were sick ! I have a feeling will be just as good if not better than Pedialyte just cheaper, lol ! I like having a bottle on hand for when the inevitable does hit our household. 

I would like to thank Walgreens and Green Moms Meet for offering me this wonderful opportunity. I was not compensated in anyway and all opinions were my own. I was sent all the reviewed products for free.

Personalized hair color delivered to your door ?

Yup it's true ! I was recently offered an opportunity to try our a service called esalon by bzzagent for free. It came at the perfect time, I swear the bzz agent bees saw the state of my hair and threw this campaign at me, lol. 

I logged onto https://www.esalon.com/ and filled out my profile which included uploading a photo and choosing a color. I actually had a good time doing this, maybe I do not get out enough ( shrugging ...) I went with Mahogany Red, after choosing my color I got to choose some extra goodies, up to $60 worth as part as my campaign; I went with Shampoo, Conditioner, Clips, bowl and brush so I can feel like hair dresser while coloring my hair. Shipping was super quick, took a matter of days and it was tracked. 

To my surprise when I opened my box, which was so nicely packaged inside I got a free bottle of hair color, stuff to put around my hairline and ears (essentially Vaseline ) and stain remover for the places I missed, whoop whoop ! After I got my tot to sleep I busted out the old towels and slipped on the rubber gloves...I did the usual mixing like a mad scientist and then for the first time ever I clipped my hair into sections and used the hair dresser bowl and brush to paint my hair, well that did not go so well it's so much harder than it looks doing it to yourself especially the back of your own head. I ended up just using my hands like I normally would with a box from Target or someplace similar. I hate to say anything negative but I must be honest, the smell of the dye was horrible it made my eyes water for the whole 30 minutes it was in my hair, I could not wait to rinse this stuff out. After rinsing and conditioning the smell was gone thank goodness. 

The color was more mahogany than red until the sunlight hit my hair THEN it was red, red, red ...I LOVE it. With esalon you never have to worry about running to the store to buy more dye they will deliver every 4,6 or 8 weeks and charge your card accordingly and you can cancel anytime or just order here and there. It's all up to you. It's all reasonably priced as well. Please check out my before and After pictures as well as my box of goods. 

Boring disclaimer: I received esalon products for free, I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are mine :-)