Bounce has launched an application called “Bounce it Off Millions” on their Facebook page, and they want you to get involved! It’s one of the fabulous things about the internet– the ability to share ideas, opinions and get some quick response from others. This app is both fun and helpful.

Life is full of difficult, but important choices. Need advice on whether to go to Mexico or the Maldives for your honeymoon? Can’t decide whether you should live in the suburbs or the city? Bounce Fanatics can help you make these important decisions— kind of like deciding between the Bounce Dryer Bar and Bounce dryer sheets!

Starting on August 22nd, when you visit Bounce’s Facebook Page click on the “Bounce it Off Millions” app, and submit a question that you need help making a decision on. Your question will be turned into a poll, and other Bounce fanatics will be able to vote on it so that you can make the right choice! Let’s try to keep this fun, people! Don’t ask a bunch of randoms whether or not you should go to the doctor for the huge rash you have on your thigh {save that for Yahoo Answers! }

To celebrate at the end of the four weeks of Bounce it Off Millions, FOUR very very lucky users will be chosen to win a grand prize—the chance to turn their life’s great questions into a Facebook-wide advertisement, inviting Facebook’s 150+ million users to help you decide between your two options! How cool is that!?

Also on the Bounce Facebook page during this time, fans can enter a special sweepstakes for the chance to win two Bounce Dryer Bars—one to keep, and one for a friend. 5,000 winners will be chosen!

Bounce it Off Millions ends on September 17th. For official rules please read here

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by O2O on behalf of Bounce.

We had such a blast at the Style School Event! Check out all the goodies on the swag bag!

Disclosure: I was given these products as a part of my swag bag. I was not provided with any compensation for this post.

Thanks to humorpix.com for this awesome reminder… I don’t want to be rich; I want to be wealthy! bling bling! haha {Chris Rock reference}

Finally, the statistics that I was looking for in order to prove to “outsiders” of the blogosphere that mom bloggers indeed do hold some real clout with big brands!

In fact, a social-media study released earlier this year by BlogHer and sponsored by Ketchum, a global communications agency, found that blogger promotions are more effective than celebrity endorsements at influencing purchasing decisions (20 percent of respondents said they find blog promotions from a blogger they know enticing enough to want to learn more or purchase a product, while 13 percent said the same of a celebrity ad).

Read more: http://www.portfolio.com/companies-executives/2011/08/18/coveted-by-brands-mom-bloggers-now-have-their-own-reps#ixzz1VP5gDBle

I often have family & friends and total strangers who I mention blogging to ask me “but WHY do they hire YOU to do these things?” and they aren’t being rude at all…they are genuinely confused. I always say that we as mom bloggers are a total steal as far as pricing goes for these brands. We all know we aren’t getting paid nearly as much as a celebrity, but for the most part we find the brands that are fair in compensation. There are a ton of success stories that I know of from mom bloggers that I actually know like Renee Ross, Katja Presnal, Kristin Ruiz, Erika Lehmann and Audrey McClelland. All women who I have watched over the last 3 years and who have grown as bloggers into power bloggers and professional bloggers. It’s inspiring and encouraging whenever one of my fellow bloggers gets a new opportunity. It means that WE as a whole get more opportunities, too!

It’s only the beginning, still… there is a lot more to come from mom bloggers and for mom bloggers. Happy to be a part of the family!

One of those stories that just breaks your heart for a total stranger and their family. Below is the info from TMZ.com :

Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Taylor Armstrong, was found dead of an apparent suicide … sources tell TMZ.

Story developing …

I watched The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and whenever Taylor & Russell were shown or talked about I always cringed at some point when they were on the television. It was high tension, awkward silences and just feelings of “wow…they will divorce soon” and then, when I saw clips for the new season it seemed like that was what was going on. I felt sad. Yes, I am one of those people who watches reality tv and acts like I know these people. The way I feel is at least they are REAL people and not just characters in a movie {as far as I am concerned I think they are genuine about their lives}. They are a lot of times very broken souls and having them on tv helps us “normal people” relate and feel like we are not alone in our struggles.

Taylor & Russell’s marriage was one that I could somewhat relate to in my previous marriage. I felt like I couldn’t be ME or have a good time without the reins being pulled in on me. I’m not saying that she was without blame but, I could relate to her on that one level. I also often found myself feeling terrible for the husband and thinking that he had to have been this way all along and why was it such a shocker to her now? As with all things…you never know the whole story and there are always two sides. Unfortunately in this situation there is now a child without a father.

I couldn’t stop smiling watching this video and it literally brought me to tears. Having a toddler at home, I can relate to it perfectly. KUDOS to the parents who did some fabulous editing here! ENJOY!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2T7jP7dpQ&feature=player_embedded#at=161[/youtube]

Just a little something that I wanted to share… my biggest projects and partnerships.

Parents Magazine: Sept. 2010 issue- Interviewed regarding my tips for new moms to re-energize

Moms Magazine: May 2010- My idea of an ideal Moms Nite Out

Working Mother Magazine- My company, Petite Trendsetters, featured for our Pettiskirts as a gift for children

Glamour Magazine: Listed as a Glambassador {3 years running!}

Bill Parrish Photography/McDonalds

I’m sure you have seen the Tweets about the NEW Mc Donald’s Happy Meals… they are making them “healthier” :/ The buzz here for me, a mommy blogger, is that they are latching onto mom bloggers for feedback and for justification of their “new” changes. They know mama is on control. I’m glad that the moms they have chosen to work with are some really wonderful women and I hope that things go well. We have all seen some of these campaigns go south real quick.

My opinion…in case anyone really cares, or more so… just for my own sort of brain dump on the situation…

Mc Donald’s is gross. It’s funny because before I started working out {and mind you, I never ever in life ever had to workout before having baby #3 so this whole workout thing is new to me} I would take my son to Mc D’s for breakfast once a week so that he and his lil pals could have a playdate and us moms could chat.

We would order the kids the same thing almost every time…pancakes with sausage. Honestly, sometimes we would stay there so long it would be lunch time and we would again, order them almost always the same thing…a cheeseburger happy meal.

After about 4 months of that routine we all realized that OH MY GAH we are gaining weight! We are breaking out all of a sudden…and my stomach ALWAYS hurts after I eat at Mc Donald’s. What did we eat? Well, usually for breakfast we’d get coffee and maybe an egg McMuffin or sausage egg mcMuffin. Lunch was a cheeseburger with a diet coke– no fries {too salty and greasy}

We stopped meeting there for a few reasons besides the food obviously affecting us-and the kids– it started to really suck at breakfast time because my son only wanted pancakes…Mc Donald’s pancakes and chocolate milkkkkkkkk…. Other than that we also hated that the restroom that was right in the Playland area smelled disgusting and there was no Diaper Genie or someone cleaning it regularly. These are babies and kids using this restroom– it NEEDS to be cleaned more often. Also, the Playland was really icky somedays as if it hadn’t been cleaned for months! In those 4 months that we went there I counted ONCE that we actually had to wait for them to “sanitize” the area. It just reeked of beach and we left. Other times it straight smelled like POO and when we would ask someone to clean it they would say “we don’t climb in there”

Ok, so yes I will admit…I was a crappy parent {maybe a little} for taking my kid by my own free will to Mc Donald’s for breakfast and letting him play in that nasty place. It was winter, I was desperate to get out of the house and I figured a healthy dinner and a good bath would undo all the “bad”

So then, once I got preggers with baby #3 I didn’t crave anything other than Wendy’s Chili and homecooked food. My son soon forgot about Mc Donald’s pancakes {because mama learned how to make pancakes from scratch–and “donut holes” too} It was literally 6 months later that I randomly craved Sweet Tea and a Cheeseburger from Mc Donald’s so we went…and I was SICK for almost 2 days after that meal. My son didn’t even finish his Chicken McNuggets because his tummy hurt and he didn’t touch the fries.

Making a new Happy Meal with less fries and some apple slices… I don’t see that really, truly making any difference. I mean really… the damage is done, man. You guys make adult “happy meals” or “Value Meals” or whatever they are called and they have BACON AND CHEESE AND ANGUS… talk about a heart attack in a bun! I’m not gonna lie– it sounded delicious one day when I was driving past and saw the poster {and my kids saw the toys offered in the Happy Meal-ugh!} So, I was like “you know what, I have been working out, watching what I eat and doing “good” so I will try it out…sounds yummy” I took maybe 4 bites and was stuffed! It was good…I am a lover of grease and cheese and BACON– I’m not gonna front like I don’t like a greasy burger– but, I ate the entire thing {which is like 1100 calories which was MOST of my calories for the entire day!} and then, I was sick. UGH! Stupid me!

Here is my suggestion for a “New Happy Meal”: Chicken Nuggets with a lighter batter {like a bread crumb coating that wouldn’t need to be fried} and Sugar Snap Peas or Apple Slices or Baked Sweet Potato Fries and a 2% Milk. NO options for soda or juice or chocolate milk.

For the Value Meals I would like to see the same options instead of fries. I like the salads. I tried one once and it wasn’t memorable. I did however fall in love with Wendy’s salads. I’d also like to suggest that Mc Donald’s take a look at what Wendy’s is doing with the Pair 2 combos. This would be great if you could offer a Half Salad and a Plain Chicken Sandwich with lettuce and tomato and NO sauces or condiments and Snap Peas or the other options I listed above.

Listen, I know the “healthier” options are there– but, let’s be honest. The pictures of the less than healthy options are the ones we see predominately and when we are rushing around town and we stop at a “fast food” chain we just go with what we see in front of us and, we covet what we see every day… greasy hot messes with cheesseeeee…

As you know, I have been working with Pampers on a few things recently. As a part of their mission to truly reach out to families and celebrate family they hosted a Father’s Day Cook-Out in NYC a few weeks ago. My family & I were invited, along with other bloggers in the area, to celebrate Dads with a cook-out. Of course, celebs are Dads, too and a few new celebrity dads were at the event as well.

The VaneDerBeeks

All of this was a part of their recently launched Little Miracle Missions campaign, Pampers asked consumers to log on to their Facebook page to pledge various acts of kindness for dads. In response to the commitment of pledges of support for Pampers’ Father’s Day mission, Pampers threw “First Father’s Day Cook-Out” celebrations across the country for new and expecting fathers, providing them with the recognition that they deserve.

The “First Father’s Day Cook-Out” celebrations focused on all of the things that delight dads: entertainment, grilling out, spending time with family and friends, and bonding time with baby!

NYC was the kick-off the series of celebrations, Pampers partnered with celebrity fathers, including Entertainer Drew Lachey, Actor (and first-time dad) James Van Der Beek, Football Star Shonn Greene, Model & Actress (and expectant mom!) Ali Landry and her husband, Producer Alejandro Monteverde. We all enjoyed a special cook-out complete with BBQ fare and activities with the little ones, including “Dad & Baby” handprint and photo stations.

It was a fun event– my 15 month old had a blast playing with James Van Der Beeks daughter who was just a DOLL– I said this on my Facebook page already but, I think it is so true for me at events like this– the kids were genuinely having a good time and playing and the moms who are non-celebs were just as sweet as could be– I didn’t want to ruin the genuine good time everyone was having with pictures or by asking 101 questions to the moms and then spilling all the deets here on my blog. There was a lot of press there and there were a lot of questions. I was happy to just be there and honored to be a part of the Pampers mission to celebrate these awesome fathers, including my own husband.

Thank you to Pampers for being so kind as to invite my family & I to share in this celebration! As a BONUS to the event– you can see me in the background of this video at about 15 seconds in and then my darling Suriyah, the 15 month old, is wearing a white shirt and striped skirt {The Children’s Place! love!} hee hee

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSPbPMO-Pio&feature=player_detailpage[/youtube]

-”The only way I’m gearing up is by getting a tan. I need to look good for pictures” – Drew Lachey (when talking about his brother, Nick Lachey’s, upcoming wedding to Vanessa Minnillo)
-”With the success of New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys, there’s been talk of a 98 degrees reunion.” – Drew Lachey
-”Every Father’s Day, I wake up with a plate of donuts. Donuts are my favorite food” – Drew Lachey
-”I may have to bust out the fat suit and bald wig for one more round” – James Van Der Beek (on whether or not he’ll reprise his cameo role on “How I Met Your Mother”)
-”My favorite moment with my daughter probably changes every day. Every day there is something that happens – a smile, a laugh – it’s an ongoing thing” – James Van Der Beek
-”With fatherhood, you have to squeeze out all of the residual selfishness you ever had. It’s not about you anymore – and that’s a good thing” – James Van Der Beek
-”My favorite fatherhood moment was my son saying ‘Dada’ before ‘Mama’ – Shonn Greene
-”I think football is very important to America. We can’t go without it” – Shonn Greene (on his thoughts about the likelihood of not having a NFL season this fall)
-”I grew up thinking that the American word for diaper was ‘Pampers’ – Alejandro Monteverde

This whole “blogger” thing just sorta fell into my lap. Through the years I have learned so much information that people now pay for– seriously, reading the Course Information on many “Social Media Seminars” is so silly to me but then I have to realize that I have been priviledged to have been a part of the whole movement from the early days of Twitter and through the whole Mommy Blogger blow-up. I’m very fortunate to have made some ties to great brands, great bloggers and I am considered influential in the mom blogosphere. Blessed.

So, with my recent epiphany to become to Youth Minister and my true feelings of just wanting to focus on my calling from God and be 100% obedient– I have been struggling internally and silently wit a few things.

Truthfully, I was so.close to deleting this blog. I couldn’t hit the “delete” button and now looking back to that moment 2 weeks ago… I am glad that I didn’t.

What I am trying to get at is this– it’s a blessing to be at this point in my career as a blogger however, it’s bittersweet because in my heart I want to do what God wants me to do as far as being a minister to the youth in this world. So, happy medium– create a new chapter for my blog {which I already talked about} anddddd… create a new leg of Posh Parent Media to incorporate the “new me” and new goals.

With that being said, the domain has been purchased, Twitter account claimed and photo shoot is being coordinated for… The Modern Mary.com

Mary, as in Magdelene

Stay tuned…ad pray!

xo,
Clarissa