Busy Mom Reviews

It's that time of year.

For many of us, bathing suit season is right around the corner.

Like many of you, I hate to buy bathing suits and tend to sticks with the same one for years and years.

Wait, now I realize why my mother had one bathing suit the entire time I was growing up.

Anyway, when I buy bathing suits, I tend to get them from Lands' End because they last so long, and there's a variety of styles for different body types.

I think the expiration is up on my current bathing suits (cannot get one more year out of them), so when Lands' End offered to send me a bathing suit to try out, I jumped at the chance.

I selected this one because it professes to be a "slender suit" that makes you look one size smaller, and I'll take what I can get.

When it arrived, I was a little skeptical since it appeared to have elastic contraptions everywhere and seemed a little heavy, but my fears were gone when I put it on.

Boy, it is solid and it looks great, I love it. I have no idea if I look one size smaller or not, but as far as me in a bathing suit goes, I'm very pleased.

Don't believe me?

Here's a chance to try one out for yourself, Land's End is offering a chance for you, dear reader to win a $100 gift card to Lands' End to get your own suit.

Just leave me a comment before 11:59 pm CST on Friday, May 9, 2008 and I'll choose a winner on Saturday, May 10th, 2008.

In the meantime, check out Land's End's swimwear and pick out your favorite suit!

No, this isn't a PR blog, thanks for asking.

But, from time to time I do get PR announcements that I like to pass along. I pass along whatever strikes my fancy.

Sometimes? I even use their text.

So, if you wanna hear about ice cream, then here ya go:

On Wednesday, April 30, 2008, from 5-10pm, Baskin-Robbins is offering ice cream for only 31 cents per scoop to pay tribute to heroes across the United States.

In addition, they are partnering with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and donating $100,000 to the worthy organization.

Local firehouses are invited to go to their neighborhood Baskin-Robbins to scoop ice cream, teach fire safety tips and help raise money for their individual fire stations.

Prilosec OTC is sponsoring the Winner's Circle Sweepstakes.

The grand prize is a weekend trip to the final NASCAR Chase for the Championship race in Miami, Florida the weekend of November 14, 2008.

More than 100 instant winners will receive other great prizes, including an authentic NASCAR firesuit with driver autograph, NASCAR SuperStore.com gift cards and a race tire signed by No. 31 Prilosec OTC driver Jeff Burton and the No. 31 team.

After playing, you can download the official “Winner’s Circle” widget to keep track of how the race is going.

You can enter once a day and it ends on September 1, 2008.

Pizza Hut is branching out and has introducedTusacni Pasta.

It comes in 2 flavors, Meaty Marinara and Creamy Chicken Alfredo.

We got to try out the Meaty Marinara flavor. It was delivered to our door just as promised, and, you know what?

It was really good.

I was mildly skeptical that pasta could survive the delivery process still warm, but the aluminum pan was carefully insulated in a cardboard box and it was still quite warm.

The pasta itself was done very well, there was lots of meat and cheese, not like some fast-food type pasta that looks like it might have accidentally run into some sauce.

It's a great alternative to pizza delivery. Though it's not exactly gourmet fare, we loved it and it would be an option for an informal dinner gathering.

Tuscani Pastas are $11.99 each and it feeds four, and comes with breadsticks. There was plenty for us and 3 kids.

Try it out!

Spring 2008 has arrived with lots of new toys from Hasbro, and I was sent several of them to try out.

Littlest Pet Shop has a fun VIP line. They are virtual interactive pets and kids can cuddle them and play online with them in cyber form.

Don't forget all the other Littlest Pet Shop fun things, too. They are all the rage with the kindergarten set around here.

The Fur Real Friends are a big hit at our house, even with my older kids. The Tea Cup Pup is adorable and there's lots more.

The Classic Easy Bake Oven (which my boys were knocking each other down to get to) is 45 years old! It's just like you remember and it allows young bakers to create cakes and snacks for everyone to enjoy.

Baby Alive has lots of additions to the family this spring. Each new member of the family showcases a different stage of a baby and toddler’s development from playing peek-a-boo to potty training.

The new for 2008 Baby Alive Newborn Assortment had dolls that sleep, sip from a bottle and even ones a "mommy" can pat and burp.

Hasbro also has another birthday. Did you know that My Little Pony is 25 years old? They have a contest to celebrate where you can have a chance to win a $25,000 savings bond.

These are some great gift ideas for girls, but be sure to check out all the other great toys and games as well!

April 12 is National Licorice Day, and what better way to celebrate than with Red Vines Licorice.

To celebrate, Red Vines is taking a look back at their beloved candy that's over 94 years old and they're kicking off a drawing contest.

Licorice loyalists can submit an original drawing illustrating their love of Red Vines candy for a chance to win fabulous prizes including a $5,000 scholarship or a trip for 4 to anywhere in the United States.

Fun facts:

- Each Red Vines twist is eight inches in length.
- It takes 3 days to make a Red Vines twist
- Red Vines brand is the number one non-chocolate confection in the West. Utah consumes the most Red Vines candy per capita.

I have nearly single handedly gone through the samples they sent us, and boy is it good!

Wedding Paper Divas is known for its simple, modern and unique stationery that serves all of your wedding needs from save the date cards and wedding invitations to place cards and thank you cards.

For other wedding related events, Wedding Paper Divas offers party invitations for showers, bachelorette parties and rehearsal dinners.

They even have a blog.

Save 10% on your order using the Wedding Paper Divas Discount Coupon Code BUSYMOM!

Tiny Prints is birth announcements, birthday party invitations, bar mitzvah invitations and more. Tiny Prints is the leader in custom online stationary offering invitations, holiday cards and birth announcements, birthday party invitations and more, many of which are designed exclusively for the company by top designers.

Save 10% using the Tiny Prints discount coupon code BUSYMOMREADER.

Baskin Robbins has a new lineup: Candy Bar Madness flavors.

Be sure to check out Reese's® Peanut Butter Cup, Heath® Ice Cream (yum!) and York® Peppermint Pattie Ice Cream and try them all in sundaes, shakes, ice cream and cakes.

They're available through June 1, 2008

Deep clean whites in cold water? Really?

Clorox Plus Cold Water Bleach is specially formulated to whiten in cold water (can work in hot water too) and it helps the environment by using less energy to get your whites whiter.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy notes that 80 percent of the energy home washers use goes towards heating water. Switching from hot to cold water washing can save up to 14 percent in annual energy bills.

I received a sample to try and, once I got used to putting whites in cold water, it does seem to work pretty well, although our socks may never see true white again ever with 2 boys.

Look for in the store and try it out, it's worth saving some energy especially in these tough economic times.

Playskool Easy Dunk basketball set is a min-backboard and net that hooks over any doorknob, just the right height for little players starting about age 3.

It's easy to assemble, kids can hang it up by themselves and the goal is nice and wide for easy scoring.

Be sure to check out all of the toys in Playskool's Kid Motion line.