Dinosaur Train Halloween

We're a little PBS-obsessed in this household so when we were offered a Dinosaur Train costume for Jasper, we jumped at the chance. He looks so cute in his Buddy costume! Hopefully he will let me take a photo of him wearing it before the weekend is through but here's the general idea:

If your little one would like to be Buddy (the orange T-Rex) or Tiny (the green Pteranodon), the costumes are available at Spencer Gifts and other independent and regional retailers. SRP $39.99. If you're more of a DIY costume-maker, Jim Henson's Creature Shop — the folks who brought you Elmo and Miss Piggy, among many others — have created step-by-step instructions for a Buddy costume for you to make at home! There are sew and no-sew methods to try, check out this video of the finished project:

Be sure to watch the Dinosaur Train Halloween episode Night Train, airing this weekend on your local PBS affiliate. Check your local listings for airtimes. Here's a sneak peek:



Disclosure: we received a complimentary Buddy costume for spreading the word about the Dinosaur Train Halloween. 

R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series Tonight!

Since the new network The Hub debuted a couple of weeks ago, Roo and Jasper have been hooked, mostly on the cartoons but Roo has shown way more interest in live action shows. Tonight at 8pm EST, there's a special sneak preview of R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series, a a 2-part episode called “Really You.”

Roo was thrilled to be able to watch a pre-release screener of a scary show about kids. (R.L. Stine is the author of the phenomenally popular Goosebumps thrillers.) I remember loving spooky anthology shows (Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, etc.) when I was little, so it's a lot of fun to watch her excitement, especially since this episode is about an evil doll that comes to life…

Roo's been wanting a certain expensive doll lately, so perhaps this will stave off her interest, at least until the holidays…

Disclosure: we received a review copy of this episode.

Shopping for a Hard Drive

I am predictably rotten at keeping my data safe. This might be because the last external hard drive I had fried my iMac! Seriously. I was lucky enough to get all my info back but it scared me into thinking that investing in a more dependable memory solution would be smart. As luck would have it, I was asked to shop for a Seagate GoFlex Hard Drive. Here's my story:

More check-ins at walmart

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Disclosure: I shopped for and purchased a Seagate GoFlex Hard Drive as part of the #GoFlexMemories campaign and was reimbursed by Collective Bias.

Shutterfly Holiday- My Top Three Designs

I am not known for my punctuality or organizational skills. I know you are absolutely shocked. Still, since knew I was going to be too late to get holiday cards printed and mailed off before Christmas or Hanukkah last year, I took a slightly unconventional step and made awesome New Year’s cards. Unfortunately, they're still sitting here in my office, under a stack of books. Whoops.

This year is going to be different. This year, I will solemnly swear to design, print and mail holiday photo cards before the holidays. Shutterfly has lots options for personalizing the right card for your family. Personally, I lean toward the non-denominational cards since our family is all over the religious spectrum. This does create a little bit of mailing spread: Hanukkah cards need to be sent out before December 1st this year and we're already under the gun for Diwali, which starts on November 5th. If you're making Kwanzaa or Christmas cards you have a little more of a window since they happen in late December.

My top three contenders at Shutterfly right now are Mod Snowflakes flat card, with its stark black background and bright snowflakes. It reminds me rather nostalgically of Colorforms.

I'm also quite fond of the Vintage Plaid folded card. I love the faux engraved "Merry Merry!" and have always been a sucker for a red tartan. Very Alexander McQueen, RIP.

My final top pick is the Little Tree folded card. I think this one combines modern and vintage really well. I also like the fact that the interior allows for many, many different layout options. You could print a couple of extra pictures to spotlight individual kids or pets, or even include a couple of paragraphs as sort of a de facto annual newsletter. The possibilities are pretty mind-bogglingly varied… Okay, maybe I need to stick to something simpler, personally. 

Are you a blogger, organized or not -so-organized? (I won't tell!) Do you want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can get 50 free cards this holiday season, and make sure to select Clever 1000 as the referral source.

This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Wordless Wednesday- Turtle Power

Share your own pictures this week at Wordless Wednesday HQ!

Before you leave, have you entered all of my giveaways?

#CoorsHome for the Beer Snob

More check-ins at #coorshome

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Wordless Wednesday- Kooks

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Before you leave, have you entered all of my giveaways?

Yummie Tummie LBD

I have a couple of Yummie Tummie tops that I love to layer but I was totally psyched to see that they have some dresses on offer, too. I am currently coveting the Ella Rae long sleeve dress, a little black dress with flirty two-fer ruffle sleeves and hip ruching. This is obviously not the shapewear of the past! I'm trying to decide if it's worth the hefty pricetag- $228. 

It's a bit more than I usually like to spend but I think it would be pretty versatile. Maybe even a good 40th birthday dress, not that I'm dwelling on that or anything. 

What do you think?

10.10.10

In honor of this auspicious date, here's the classic Powers of Ten by incredibly prolific and inspiring midcentury designers Charles and Ray Eames.





If you're looking for more energetic family fare, consider checking out The Hub, a new TV network that went live today at 10am. My cable company has The Hub where Discovery Kids was (channel 101) ; you can check where it is in your area by clicking here. Offerings range from a newfangled My Little Pony, Pound Puppies, Strawberry Shortcake and Transformers to old favorites like Fraggle Rock, Meerkat Manor and GI Joe. There's also a new game show, Family Game Night, and familiar family series from the '80s like Family Ties, Happy Days, Doogie Howser, and The Wonder Years. The Hub website also features a ton of free online games and activities.

Join The Hub on Facebook and on Twitter.

Disclosure: I received a box of Jiffy Pop advertising The Hub which, sadly, I was unable to use on our ceramic cooktop. I welcome any attempt to provide family-friendly entertainment, though, and took it upon myself to check it out. No compensation was provided, just in case you were wondering.

Gorillaz on Letterman

This is way cool. Almost an hour long, too…

We Are Visible

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Invisible People, the blog that puts the homeless population in the spotlight, literally, is now empowering them by teaching them to use social media to reconnect with the rest of the world. Watch the We Are Visible intro video and try not to be inspired…

Monster Cable CleanTouch and Outlets to Go

Know what I really like? Things that make my life easier and/or better. Monster Cable makes a bunch of things that can do both, from cables for everything you own (the bane of my existence as an RTF major, pre-digital technology; I totally flunked the patch bay tests…) to headphones and accessories for all of your electronics.

Jasper uses my iPhone about as much as I do, so its lovely touch screen is frequently mired by sticky fingerprints. Monster CleanTouch  for iPhone/iPad/iPod is a spray cleaner in a small, flat container that fits into a pouch with its accompanying microfiber cloth. Yes, travelers, it is TSA-approved. The solution is ammonia and alcohol-free so it is safe to use on touchscreens but it also leaves an invisible coating that  helps to prevent smudges and fingerprints. The microfiber Monster Clean Cloth is imbued with antimicrobial AEGIS to control the spread of germs and bacteria. You know, the kind you get from a three year old picking his nose and then playing with your phone. Shudder.

I tested it on our iPhones, our iMacs, our TV. It really does reduce smudging and fingerprints! Impressive. I wish I had an iPad to test this out on, since that's its obvious focus, but c'est la vie…

The Monster Outlets to Go Power Strip features 3 AC outlets and a USB port so you can charge your iPod or iPhone and your laptop at the same time. It has a really smart design, plugging into itself to store, making it very slim and portable. I love this little guy for travel– it is a lifesaver in airports and at conferences where outlets are sparse. I had a 4-port Outlets to Go Power Strip (without the USB port) that my husband stole to use in his studio. He says the small profile makes it really useful to fit into awkward spaces where he wants to use power tools without a huge extension cord or power strip.

Disclosure: I received complimentary samples of Monster CleanTouch  for iPhone/iPad/iPod and Monster Outlets to Go Power Strip to facilitate this review. My opinions were not coerced in any way.

Halloween is for Grownups at Lingerie.com (Discount)

Halloween has taken on a new meaning for me since having kids. Before becoming a parent, Halloween was typically an excuse to go out in a ridiculous costume and act totally irresponsibly. Now it's mostly about trick or treating, Hannah Montana and Darth Vader. Sigh.

After the kids have gone to sleep, it's time for you to bust out the sexy Halloween costumes. Lingerie.com has a huge selection of new costumes for 2010 including everything from naughty schoolgirl costume (reverses to hot teacher costume!) to a sexy Freddy Krueger costume  and a slinky Princess Leia costume, complete with ear-bun braid wig.

I'm a bit of a purist, I guess, so my favorite is the Naughty Red Riding Hood Costume:

I was surprised at how well-made it is. The fabric is a bit stiff but it's hand-washable and softens up. The miniskirt is actually pretty demure, as sexy costumes go, so I could probably even wear this to take the kids trick or treating if I wore opaque tights. It would also be very appropriate at a renaissance fair or Oktoberfest gathering. You know, wherever heaving bosoms are required. I kind of forgot that costumes generally look better with makeup, oops.

Lingerie.com is currently having a Sexy Halloween Sale, with discounts of 25% or more. As an added bonus for Superdumb Supervillain readers, you will get an extra 10% off your costume price by entering the code "SexyVillain" when you place your order.

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Disclosure: I received the Naughty Red Riding Hood Costume shown above in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are my own.

Wordless Wednesday- In The Wilderness

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Wonderopolis

Wonderopolis is a new website from the National Center on Family Literacy (NCFL), conceived as "a place where parents nurture a brighter world for their children through discovery, creativity, learning and imagination." The big hook of Wonderopolis is a featured "Wonder of the Day" that gives parents and kids something new to think about and explore every single day. So far, there are two Wonders listed: Why are flamingos pink? and How do streets get their names?

Follow Wonderopolis on Twitter and on Facebook.

Wonderopolis is supported by a grant from Verizon Foundation. It’s the latest website in the Verizon Thinkfinity suite – a robust educational project composed of 11 of the nation’s leading educational organizations.