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Companies You Should do Business With #BOBNOLA Version!

July 28, 2010 By 3 Comments

I have been recounting my weekend in New Orleans and wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to the AMAZING sponsors of Bloggers on Bourbon.  It could not have happened without them, and we would not of had as much fun without their support.  THANK YOU!  You should absolutely check this companies out, they support us moms!

My Personal Sponsor is The Pretty Peacock.  Thank you, Anna!  Please “like” them on Facebook, they offer amazing deals and sneak peaks!

1.       Collective Bias @collectivebias,

2.       OpenSky Project @OpenSkyproject,

3.       Lingerie.com @LingerieDOTcom,

4.       Global Resort Homes @globalresorts

5.       Harrah’s Casino, @HarasNOLA, @MasqueradeNOLA, Facebook: facebook.com/HarrahsNewOrleans

6.       Traveling Mamas, Shannon Lane , @travelingmamas

7.       Houmas House,

8.        Firefly Vodka,

9.       Community Coffee,

10.   BakeMeAWish Cakes,   @bakemeawish

11.   Uprinting @uprinting

12.    Zazzle @zazzle, @smalheiser

13.   Black Box Wine

And here are the Swag Bag sponsors:

1.       Boogie Wipes, http://www.boogiewipes.com, @boogiemom

2.       Mabels Labels, http://www.mabel.ca/,  @mabelhood

3.       EatSmart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale, http://www.eatsmartproducts.com,

4.       OpenSky Project, http://www.theopenskyproject.com, @openskyproject

5.        Avon, http://www.youravon.com/lorigutierrez,  @gutimom

6.       American Apparel, http://www.americanapparel.com,

7.       Kids Gear wireless headphones, bags, and transmitters, http:// www.gearforkidz.com,

8.       Ravensburger Hello Kitty Puzzlebooks, http://www.Ravensburger.com,

9.       Sesame Street USB, http://www.sesamestreetusb.com, @sesamestreet

10.   Kellogs Fiber Bars, http://www.kelloggsfiberplus.com, @ladyfibarista,

11.   First Impression,  http://www.macys.com/catalog/index.ognc?CategoryID=32298&PageID=138720816441719

12.   Country Time, http://www.kraftfoods.com/countrytime,

13.   I Love Inns , http://www.iloveinns.com,  @iloveinns

14.   SeeHere, @seeheredeals

15.   Passion Party Divas,

16.   Kidz Bop CDs, http://www.kidzbop.com,  @kidzbop,

17.   Print Art Kids, www.PrintArtKids.com,

18.   Simplisse, http://simplisse.com/,

19.   Arbor Mist, http://www.arbormist.com,  @enjoyarbormist

20.   Breyers,  http://www.breyers.com/, @breyers

21.   Rayovac:  More Power for Your Money, Moms please “Like” Rayovac on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Rayovac for a chance to participate in the latest promotions and receive great coupons all year long @rayovac_battery

22.   Incredibundles, http://www.incredibundles.com,  @incredibundles,

23.   Guthy-Renker, @beautinews, http://www.Proactive.com

24.   Marta Montenegro, http://www.montenegromethod.com,  @FindYourVictory,

25.   Toxic Fat (Dr Barry Sears), http://www.drsears.com,  @DrBarrySears,

26.   TheCarbLovers Diet, http://www.carblovers.com, @Carbloversdiet,

27.   Gaiam, http://www.gaiam.com, @Gaiam,

28.   Bremenn, http://www.bremennlabs.com,  @Bremennlabs,

29.   Parking Target, http://www.parkingtarget.com,

30.   Taste of Home magazine and book, http://www.tasteofhome.com, @tasteofhome,

31.   Travel mouse Verbatim, http:// www.verbatim.com , @usverbatim,

32.   Fling Bins, http://www.flingbins.com,FB: facebook.com/FlingsBins, YouTube: youtube.com/FlingsBins

33.   Sunglass Warehouse, http://www.sunglasswarehouse.com, @sunglasswarehse,

34.   Mamaroo Infant Seat,  http://4momsonline.com/,  @4moms,

35.   FURminator deShedding Tool, http://furminator.com/,  @FURminator_Inc,

36.   Rudi’s Organic Bakery/Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery, http://www.rudisbakery.com,

Giveaways for the event:

1.       Earth Footwear,  @earthfootwear, http://www.earthfootwear.com

2.       Wubbzy DVD Set, Anchor Bay Entertainment, @wwwubbzy,

Filed Under: Randomness Tagged With: ,
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Day 2 of The Best Weekend Ever (Part 2)

July 28, 2010 By 8 Comments

If you have missed it, check out my Day 1 post and Day 2 (part 1) posts first.

After we returned from The Houmas House tour, I had plans of taking a nap.  Staying out till 3 am isn’t as easy as it once was!  But instead I hooked up with some girls and we headed out shopping to the the French Market.  Along the way I got my dad some famous New Orleans Pralines (The enunciation of Praline and Pecan was quite the hot topic along the way!),  some alligator jerky for Anthony and some other fun stuff for me.  I had a great time hanging out with Jessica, Kim, Maggie, Bridget, Cece, Renee and Blondie (I think this is who I was with…I hung out with so many people and it’s quite possible I got days and people mixed up.  If I missed you, I’m sorry).

It was really great having Renee and Bridget with us since they are local to the New Orleans area and they were our personal tour guides.  We encountered a wedding in Jackson Square where the LSU Marching Band was staged to play once the wedding let out and bells started ringing.  It was something called a “Second Line” and it’s right out of a movie, with parasols, hankies and jazz music playing.  We hung out for a bit, but it was getting late so we ended up leaving and headed to the French Market to shop.

After our fun shopping, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Dickie Brennans Steakhouse.

At this point, I am really upset with myself because I left my good camera in the hotel.  Why, why, why I didn’t bring it to dinner, I will never know.  But all I got were some cell phone pictures in a dimly lit restaurant.  boohoo.

Dinner was fabulous!

Really.  I can’t thank the sponsors Collective Bias and Open Sky Project enough for this amazing dinner.  The restaurant was beautiful and the 16 ounce seared strip steak was the best I had ever had.  Really.  The Best.  I ate the whole dang thing, and it was huge!  I had such a great time at the table with John Andrews (of Collective Bias), Jessica, Kim, Elizabeth and Kathleen.  John was talking about a movie being made for Sundance next year where people were submitting short movie clips of where they were on this date (July 24, 2010).   So he busted out his video camera and we all participated in making a clip.  I hope it makes it to the movie!  FUN.

During dinner Ted Rubin of Open Sky Project introduced us to their amazing concept.  It was really interesting to hear about Open Sky and learn of the innovated ways they are leading the online shopping world.  If you are a seller (blogger/website owner) or a supplier (small business owner) then you just have to check them out.  I will be opening up my own shop right here on mommy23monkeys in the near future!  More to come on that later.

I would no doubt visit Dickie Brennans Steakhouse again when I go to New Orleans.  It was such great food and a beautiful atmosphere.

After dinner, we headed back to Trisha’s suite to have a Passion Party.  FUN!  This explains the *cough*vibrator*cough* pictured in the above collage.  LOL  It was part of our gift collection.  I brought an extra one home for my BFF Cheryl.  She’s so happy.

Then, after that, we went out for some more dancing!  Saturday nights dancing was cut a bit short for me due to some personal female issues…for now I’ll leave it at that, but there is an entire post coming for just that.

Stay tuned…

Filed Under: Mommy Time Tagged With: , , , ,
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Day 2 of The Best Weekend Ever (Part 1)

July 27, 2010 By 12 Comments

Are you ready to be made more jealous of my amazing weekend in the historical city of New Orleans?  I thought so.

People who have never been to New Orleans have a perception that it is all about drinking, beads and boobs.  And while that is partly true, it’s also a beautiful city rich in culture and history.  This weekend I was delighted to experience a gorgeous Plantation House Tour that I will never forget.

10am we loaded into the Tour Bus that was sponsored by Community Coffee.  The bus took us on the hour or so ride out to The Houmas House Plantation and Gardens.

This place was stunning.

When we first arrived, we were greeted by Shannon Lane who is a local Travel Blogger.  We were treated to cocktails byFireFly Vodka (OMG..I am in love with the Sweet Tea flavored vodka!) and mimosa’s.  We got to meet the owner of Houmas House, Kevin Kelly.  I was flabbergasted to learn that he actually lives in this plantation home.  The third floor is his home.  Amazing.

The house is just amazing.  Have I said that already?  Well, it is.  The “stuff” in this house is all authentic, museum pieces that we could actually touch and see.  Nothing was behind ropes and glass.  The picture above, the bottom center, is a painting of Monet’s niece.  Yes.  That Monet’.  And the gold clock underneath?  Real solid gold.  If I remember correctly, it was Marie Antoinette’s (?)  someone correct me if I’m wrong.

The home is full of original 18th century furniture.  An original Steinway Grand Piano, a solid silver carved statue of Abe Lincoln (only 2 in the world and one is missing), just fascinating, historical things.  I loved listening to our Southern tour guide who was authentic right down to her “Lord have Mercy’s.”  She really knew here house history and it was a beautiful and educational experience.

After the tour, we were treated to lunch sponsored by Global Resort Homes.  I had another fun meal time just gabbing it up with my new friends.  The cafe’ served delicious chicken Caesar salads with tea and cheesecake.  The Houmas House is also open for fine dining and you can rent the grounds for weddings.  I want to get married again just so I can having a wedding here!  (Don’t worry Bob, maybe I’ll just re-marry you ;) ).

The kids are hungry and I still have a lot more to tell you about the day.   So I’ll stop here and come back later to share dinner at Dickie Brennans with you!

Filed Under: Adventure, Pictures Tagged With: , , ,
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Day 1 of The Best Weekend Ever

July 26, 2010 By 17 Comments

First let me say “Thank You” to my personal sponsor, The Pretty Peacock.  Anna is a strong supporter of social media and believes in the power of bloggers.  Without her her help, I may not have even made it to New Orleans this past weekend.  Please “Like” The Pretty Peacock on Facebook.  You won’t be disappointed.  They are constantly sharing giveaways, discounts and new products.  I can’t say how much I just love this company!  While you are here, stop by and enter the giveaway going on until July 30th.

I was in the air headed for Bloggers on Bourbon at 6:15am Friday morning.  I was so excited, I hardly slept the night before.  The anticipation of meeting up with some of my favorite online people was just overwhelming.  What if they don’t like me?  What if I don’t like them?  This was my first time really stepping out to meet an entire group of new people and I was on my own.

I landed in New Orleans at 2:35pm.  I’d made arrangements to meet up with fellow blogger, Elizabeth since we were landing at the same time.  She was easy to find and I thought she was great!  So happy to be there.  Elizabeth was a riot and I will never forget her pink wig!

Elizabeth was nice.  So far so good.  We arrived at the hotel.  Immediately I hear a loud “IT’s RHEA!” from across the street.  I look over and see Kas and Britany running at me with hugs.  All my fears disappeared and I knew at that point everything was going to be great!

The first few hours were spent meeting people that I felt I already “knew.”  None of them were strangers.  It was just a lot of  “Oh, HI’S!” to people I recognized and it felt like meeting up with old friends.  It was a great feeling.  We spent time in Trisha’s GIANT suite at the Prince Conti hotel.  I got my “credentials” and decorated my name tag.  Got the itinerary and headed up to my room to get ready for dinner.

My awesome roommate was Kim from What’s That Smell.  I loved sharing a room with Kim because she’s smart, funny and didn’t snore or hog the bathroom.  I just hope she can say the same thing about me!

6pm Friday night:  Dinner at Besh Steakhouse at Harrah’s Casino. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. dinner sponsored by Harrah’s Casino.  I chose to have the “Surf and Turf” dinner but asked them to “hold the surf.”  It was delicious.  It was great to sit down and finally get to start chatting with my new friends.

8:15pm Friday night:  Ghost Tour sponsored by Lingerie.com. Honestly, I was terrified of going on a ghost tour.  I do not like to be scared.  At all.  But this tour was fascinating.  We were led around the French Quarter on a Haunted History Tour by Kalila Smith who is author of French Quarter paranormal books.  She was funny and entertaining and I loved listening to her accounts of the history behind the haunting’s.  The building in the above picture is called the LaLaurie House.  She told of horrifying deaths that happened there and it’s well known to be the most haunted house in New Orleans.  I was just star struck to find it was recently owned by Nicolas Cage!  I do know that I tried to take several pictures of the building and my camera would not let me.  Only this one made it through.  Was it a ghost or operator error…I’ll never know.

After the ghost tour, I hobbled back to the hotel.  My feet were terribly blistered since I did not wear shoes made for walking around the quarter.  But I did not let the blisters stop me.  We changed and headed out dancing!  Holy cow, I have not danced in a very long time.  I had a great time.

If this seems like a long post…it is.  It was a very long day.  I found myself passing out around 3am.

More to come tomorrow…

Filed Under: Adventure, Pictures Tagged With: ,
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I Survived New Orleans!

July 26, 2010 By 10 Comments

Meet my new friend:  The Pink Man.

I am home from Bloggers on Bourbon.  Only the coolest bloggy event EVER.

I am tired.  I am sore.  I am happy.

I met so many new friends and had such a great time.  New Orleans is a city rich in culture and fun.  I will be back with LOTS of pictures and stories but my head is spinning from all the editing I’ve been doing all morning.  I just decided I would quick say “hi” before anyone thought I was lost and wandering Bourbon Street sill.  In the meantime, you can visit MomDot and follow the links to other attendee’s posts and pictures (some people are much faster than I).

I’ll be back…

Filed Under: Adventure, Mommy Time Tagged With: , ,
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