Five Fabulous Bloggers

Thanks to Trop 50 for sponsoring my writing about fabulous bloggers.

This year Trop50 is granting 50 fabulous wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to help grant a friend's wish!


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When I was asked to write a post about five fabulous bloggers I said "No problem!" I thought, easy peasy, I can name five bloggers that I think are fabulous while patting my head, rubbing my belly and chewing gum.

I mean, I could do this all day. I could probably name thirty blogs that I read daily. I could name a dozen blog post that have changed the way I do something or the way I feel about a topic. I could tell you about 15 people with whom I have had a playdate or attended a sporting event. I could name seven bloggers who I could call if my car broke down.

Here is the problem. I can only name five.

So, first I limited it to women. No reason. I had to make arbitrary rules and so I did. You can't stop me. Then I thought about who I would be actively sad if they stopped blogging.

Then I still had a really long list, so I just picked five. You were probably #6 or #7 so don't feel bad, but DO read these ladies. You will not be sorry.

Angela from Fluid Pudding - Angela has been a fabulous blogger since I was just figuring out what blogs were. At least that is true in my mind, her archives only go back to 2008. But no! I am certain that I was reading her back in 2005. Actually I know it for sure because I remember being convinced that one of her children was a model for a book that my kids had when they were babies but that was back in the day when I didn't realize you could just e-mail something like that to Angela and she would probably think it was awesome.

One time she posted a video of herself shoving a dozen marshmallows in her mouth in honor of her 38th birthday.



THAT is when I fell in love with Angela.

And when I e-mailed Angela to ask if I could post this video on my site she e-mailed me back in 10 minutes and said of course! That is what I call a fabulous blogger.

Danielle from Knotty Yarn - Danielle is the only blogger I know that has a blog post that is on a college syllabus. Beat that! Go ahead. Of course, if you go around writing posts like this it is bound to happen sooner or later. That isn't even my favorite one of Danielle's posts. Did I mention she is tall and pretty and an amazing photographer?

Deb from Deb on the Rocks - Deb might actually be the smartest woman I know. That is a huge compliment because I know a lot of brilliant ladies. Deb is astoundingly witty and also the reason I know what the word sigil means. She is like Sesame Street for grown people. Fabulous!


Jean from Stimeyland - Jean is truly as funny in real life as she is on her site. She also curses as much as I do and it makes me feel normal. Jean somehow manages to write about autism, parenting, pets and addictions to crossword apps all with equal hilarity. If I had a bucket list one of the things on it would be to go just hang out at her house and watch what happens. Jean is absolutely fabulous.





Laurie from Laurie Writes - Laurie is my favorite writer. She is also my best friend. I think the two are somehow related but it is difficult to wrap my head around. I can take her to a baseball game or a hair metal festival and we have a blast and act like morons but then she writes things like Stones proving that just because a person yells at strangers on a Pittsburgh Street because they are wearing a Sidney Crosby jersey doesn't automatically mean that they aren't brilliant. Did I mention that she is also an outstanding editor? She is. I could tell you how fabulous Laurie is all day long but it would just make her uncomfortable so I will stop now.

Tell me who your five fabulous bloggers are.

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Photo of Sarah and Jean via Mommy Needs a Cocktail - also fabulous.

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Don't forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to support a friend's wish. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.

The Best Gift I Ever Gave

SWAGG is a free mobile app (download here) that lets you shop smarter using your mobile phone. Buy, send or swap SWAGG GIFTS and organize your old school plastic gift cards.

For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) , up to $125,000.

Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! Download the SWAGG app and then visit the Ultimate SWAGG Getaway Sweepstakes site to enter to win a trip for two to the Sundance Film Festival. Entry deadline is January 3, 2011, 11:59pm, PST.

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The best gift I ever gave was mostly stolen.

Well, it was sort of stolen. I did steal the box of old photographs from my mom's house. I did, but I bought the photo albums.

My parents would never have even noticed the box was missing. When I got married in 1999 and my mom developed pictures from my wedding shower there were photographs on that same roll of film from my brother's prom in 1994.

This was back before digital cameras were reasonably priced.

What I did for evenings over the next five weeks was sort through 30 years of photographs. I picked out the best ones and put them in chronological order. Then I took forty or so pictures from my own collection and I added them at the end.

The box of pictures was just this thing that sat up overflowing on a shelf. I was the only one that ever really looked at it.

But that Christmas I gave my mom two and a half photo albums filled with memories starting from her childhood and ending with her first grandchild.

The whole family spent hours together looking at the pictures.

It was magical.

And now my parents can keep them out and look at them anytime.

They could also throw away that old box.

It was the best present I have ever given anybody - I mean, not including the time I gave four people twin grandbabies all at the same time. They seemed to really like that too.

I'm sure if you asked my mother she would tell you that she liked the twins better, but (and don't tell her this) I made them for me. The photo albums, I made those for my parents.

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Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity.

Sarah Reviews BATTLE OF GIANTS: DINOSAURS - Plus a Giveaway!

As a member of the Clever Girls Collective, I get to do some pretty fun stuff. This week I threw a Battle of the Giants: Dinosaurs Wii party for my kids and some of their friends.

The kids all loved it.

Of course the kids that came over ranged from ages 4 - 9 and most of them were boys, so really, what was there not to love? Fighting? Dinosaurs? Head to head battles? This game has everything!

When I asked my friend Tyler what his favorite part of the game was I believe his exact words were "DINOSAUR FIGHTING IS AWESOME!!! RAWR!!!!"

And I have to admit, it did look pretty awesome.

The coolness is as follows:

1) You get to pick what kind of dinosaur you want to be and as you go along you can earn the rights to choose from even more really cool looking dinosaurs.

2) Head to head battles. Even little kids know that video games are about 100 times more fun when you get to trash talk your friends.

3) This game tricked the children into cardio - especially Jacob, who thought you had to kick.

4) Once again, I look super cool in front of the neighborhood children. Now I will know all of the second grade gossip.

Also, my friend Eric who is in 4th grade and wasn't even at my party, but he heard about it from other kids, told me that he has the Battle of Giants: Dragons game and it is so awesome that I wouldn't even believe it.

Then he asked me if I had a copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs I could give him for his DS.

Well, I don't, but I do have a copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs to give you. Or really Ubisoft and The Clever Girls Collective have a copy of Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs for Wii to give you.

All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite kind of dinosaur is.

I'm not telling you mine because I am ineligible to win and my answer is embarrassing anyway.

Leave a comment! Tell me your favorite dinosaur! Win a free game! Be awesome!




I will choose a random winner by the end of the year. Make sure you leave an e-mail address where I can notify you if you win.


Ubisoft provided me with a copy of Battle of Giants and sponsored my BOG party. The opinions I've expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Ubisoft, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.

Sarah Should Just Stop Watching Woody Allen Movies

You know what I hated about the movie "Manhattan" - you know besides the statutory rape and Woody Allen?

Wait. No, Woody Allen and statutory rape are exactly what I hated about "Manhattan".

Why is this man not in prison again?

Sarah Should Just Stop Watching Woody Allen Movies

You know what I hated about the movie "Manhattan
" - you know besides the statutory rape and Woody Allen?

Wait. No, Woody Allen and statutory rape are exactly what I hated about "Manhattan
".

Why is this man not in prison again?

Sarah Reviews Wendy's Pick 2 Value Menu

Wendy's has this new Value menu where you get to pick two things for $4.99

You can get one of four salads and a side (water, a frosty, a soft drink, a baked potato, chili, a jr. bacon cheeseburger or a chicken to go wrap) for $4.99.

Wendy's (through The Motherhood) was kind enough to host a lunch for some local bloggers and they let us try the Pick 2 Value Menu.

There a four salads: a BLT Cobb Salad, an Apple Pecan Chicken Salad, a Baja Salad and a Spicky Chicken Caesar Salad.

I chose a Baja Salad and a baked potato for my side.

To be fair and honest, I only picked the baked potato because 1) fries were not an option and 2) I didn't realize I could have chosen a drink.

According to Wendy's website the Baja Salad has "rich and meaty chili with fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, tortilla strips and creamy Red Jalapeño dressing."

Now, I did not use the dressing because honestly a salad with chili on top does not require extra moisture. It didn't need it. I also didn't eat the guacamole because I don't like guacamole. Other than that it was pretty tasty. As far as fast food salad's go, this one was quite good and I would eat one again.

Overall, I would say that it is a pretty good deal. The other salads looked good too.

And it is always nice to have lunch with friends.




Photos via Vicky and Kristen.

Sarah's Ultimate Family Vacation

Sponsored By


Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine, Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.

My Ultimate Family Vacation

What is my dream family vacation? There are so many ways I could go with this - last year my husband and spent an amazing week in California's wine country and I would do that again in a second, but that isn't really a family vacation. I dream of seeing an opera at La Scala in Milan but I'm not so sure my kids would think that is as awesome as I do. My husband wants us to all go skiing in Colorado, and that sounds great even though I've never downhill skied in my life, but is that my dream vacation? No.

My dream family vacation involves a beach - a nice sandy beach that leads to an ocean. This ocean has water that is about 88 degrees and is aquamarine. This beach resort is not crowded, but is has more than one restaurant (at least one fine dining option and one place where he kids can get burgers and chicken nuggets), multiple bars and a place where the kids can go play when the adults go to the fancy restaurant and/or bar.

I'd like a cabana that has air conditioning and two bedrooms.

I'd like wireless internet on the beach.

I am envisioning an infinity pool.



I am envisioning a pina colada.

I'd like a pillow top mattress on an over sized king. I'd like a view of the ocean from my big bed. I'd like to sleep until 10:00 am and then I'd like to roll out of bed to eat brunch on my deck.

I'd like to start this vacation tomorrow.



Don't forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.