Queen Mother Blog

First, if you are new to working deals at Acme, please read the background info on this post. This will explain how the coupons double & how to print two copies of the printable coupons.

There are some good buys this week, but there really aren't any stellar coupon matchups. Here is what I see:

Circular deals:

All day tomorrow, 4/21/09, Dunkin Donuts is having Iced Coffee Day.  Pick up a 16 oz. iced coffee for only $0.50 and DD will donate $0.05 to the charity "Homes for Our Troops".  You can check out the details here.

The random-number winner of this giveaway is #27...that is...(this is my drumroll)....Michelle!  Congratulations Michelle and you should receive an email from me asking for your mailing information.  If you didn't, contact me.

Hello readers!  I have had an extra busy weekend, and it is already late Sunday night and I'm just getting around to clipping my coupons.  So for this week, I'm going to pass on scouring through the Acme circular and pass on a link to the Acme deals post over at Moms Need to Know.

On April 15th, participating Maggie Moo's ice cream shops are giving away one free single-scoop of ice cream in honor of tax day.  According to their website, "MaggieMoo's will create its own "e-cone-omic" ice cream stimulus package for customers that will include MaggieMoo's award-winning, super-premium ice cream."  Before you head out, be sure to call your local store to make sure that they are participating!

First, if you are new to working deals at Acme, please read the background info on this post. This will explain how the coupons double & how to print two copies of the printable coupons.

At the very end of my pregnancy with Rayna, I went to the ob-gyn to get the usual non-stress tests and the like. Before the tech got started with me, she asked if I had used any cocoa butter on my belly that day. I told her that I hadn’t, and she said that was good because caffeine from the cocoa butter could enter my bloodstream and give the baby an erratic heartbeat, thus causing mixed test results. I went home and tried researching this and I didn’t find anything to indicate that it was true, but it did get me thinking.

When I was pregnant I went through great lengths to stay away from paint fumes, lunch meat (the hardest for me, since I craved Italian hoagies every day, lol), possibly unpasteurized cheeses, etc, but I never really gave too much thought to what items I was slathering on my body multiple times a day. Belli Skincare is the #1 recommended pregnancy skincare brand by OB-GYNS and is the only skin care line in the world that is teratology screened. That means that every product and ingredient is safe, even for pregnant mommies. I wish I had heard of Belli when I was pregnant, because I definitely would have confidently used their products (and possibly even saved myself a few stretch marks in the process).

Well when Belli Skincare asked if I would review their products I was pretty excited. You know all about my frugality and I have to say that I don’t buy cool stuff for me very often. They hooked me up with some awesome products and I’m going to go over a few of my favorites here. They also are so generous to give a special discount to my readers and one lucky reader will win a Motherhood Essentials Kit (valued at $38.99)! Keep reading to get all the details.

The Motherhood Essentials Kit contains:

-Pure Comfort Nursing Cream- Now, I am not currently nursing, but I do have SUPER dry skin, so I used this thick lanolin balm to moisturize really dry spots (like elbows and knees).
-Eye Brightening Cream- This one really was awesome. It revives puffy and tired eyes and must contain some type of light-reflecting property, because instantly my dark circles looked much improved. Not that I'm traveling anywhere these days, but I think this would be great to perk your face up after those long, dry flights.
-Body Firming Serum- I don’t know if there is a product under the sun that could firm my stretch-marked stomach. My husband was VERY concerned that I was going to post before and after pictures…seriously! What could he really have been thinking?! Anyway, I have tried all of the stuff I could think to try, like Bio-oil, PreferOn, etc. and nothing has helped. I can honestly say that I have seen some improvement in my saggy belly skin since using this product. Now according to the Belli website, you can use this product all over as “a multi-vitamin for your skin”, but so far I have exclusively used it on my stomach. You won’t see any after pictures, but you can take my word for it.
-Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer- Pretty straight-forward. Moms are constantly sanitizing their hands and those Purell-types leave skin pretty dry. This hand sanitizer actually leaves them softer than they were before. The size that comes in this kit is perfect for the diaper bag.

I got to try a few other products, including the Belli Baby Bundle of Joy Gift Set which left Rayna soft and smelling faintly like honey. Yummy! ;) But my favorite product was the Skin Smoothing Body Exfoliator. Honestly, this was the first thing I tried because I love anything that smells minty. I used this exfoliator before I applied the Body Firming Serum, so that everything would absorb the way it should. I like that the consistency of the “scrubbers” is like a fine sand (instead of those ones that feel like broken shells, you know which ones I mean!) and doesn’t hurt or irritate you in the process. So combine the refreshingly minty smell and that it gently sloughs away dead skin cells and you have my new favorite scrub.

I think that Belli Skincare really fits the need for products that you can feel good about using and giving to others, knowing that they are both safe and effective. But I’m sure you’ve heard enough of my thoughts on them and are ready to try some out yourself or give to a loved one. Check out the Belli Skincare website here and shop around. When you place an order, you will receive a 20% discount for being a reader of mine. Just enter the code OTHERHOOD at checkout.

PS- The folks from Belli found my blog through my friends at Otherhood, a social event company for moms in South Jersey. -- If you are in this area and are looking to get out of the house (with and without your little one!) check out their website here for their awesome events. I have been to a few of them and they’re fun and worthwhile. You can also check out (and subscribe/follow) their blog.

Also ready to enter the giveaway? To enter: Visit Belli Skincare and then come back here and post a comment telling me which product you’d most like to try. Be sure to include your email address so I can get a hold of you if you win! If you are worried about spammers, type your email address something like this: queenmotherblog(at)gmail{dot}com and you're good! This giveaway is open to residents of the US only.


**Want up to FOUR extra entries?**
1. Add my button to your site! Look over to my right sidebar where it says "Grab this button!" and copy and paste the code somewhere on your site. Then come back and leave me the link to your page in a comment.
2. You can post about this giveaway on your blog and then leave the link to your post in a comment. Though I would love a fancy write-up, a quick link on one of your posts will do!
3. Subscribe to my feed and post a comment letting me know.
4. Follow my blog and post a separate comment letting me know.

Just be sure to post separate comments for each additional entry, as I will be using a random number generator to choose the winners from all of the comments.

I will be accepting entries until 5 PM EST on April 17, 2009. The winners will be notified by email and also a post here on the site. Enjoy, and good luck!!

Deals are very slim this week.  But that doesn't mean that good coupons aren't out there.  Since it is the beginning of the month, be sure to print all of the good internet coupons while they last.  Did you know that now you can print coupons.com coupons right from here?  Check out the coupons.com bar on the right, where it says "Print Coupons From Here!"

First, if you are new to working deals at Acme, please read the background info on this post. This will explain how the coupons double & how to print two copies of the printable coupons.

Here is what I see this week:

There are a couple random promotions:

-On page 6 of this week's circular are two coupons (however, you can use only one) for either a free box of Yehuda matzos or a $3.99 box of Manischewitz matsos when you make a purchase of $75.  Also, if you spend $25 or more in Manischewitz brand items in one transaction, you will receive a $5 coupon at checkout good for your next shopping trip.

-On page 8 of this week's circular are 16 different coupons that can be used to get $2 off a carton (12 or 18 pack) of eggs.  If you are buying any of these items (such as Kraft mayonnaise for $2.99 or Betty Crocker Warm Delights 2 for $5) clip one of these coupons and $2 will come off your egg purchase.

-On the last page of the circular this week, there are quite a few participating Kraft products--purchase $20 of them and you are eligible to use the $5 off any Lancaster brand rib eye roast or ham.

This week I just see one good deal opportunity using Acme's printless "avenu" coupons, but just be sure to check your offers before you go to shop at your store.  Never used avenu before?  It is very easy.  Go here and enter your Supercard number from your card or one of your receipts.  You will then see some "customized" offers for you and then a list of electronic coupons.  Once you have activated these electronic coupons, all you have to do is purchase the items required for the specific offer that you would like to take advantage of, and the "coupon" will come right off of your total at checkout.  The best thing about these deals is that they CAN be combined with manufacturer coupons!

I have to make tonight's recap a quick one, so I'll dive in with my 'thoughts' :)

-Jack not helping Ben! What is his deal? He's a child, and Miles has it so right on, this has already happened. I knew that Sayid wasn't really "altering" anything. He was just creating the Ben he hates so much.
-Kate is such an awful mom (aside from her usual "hey baby, drink your milk." "c'mon baby, color your book" lol). I just can't get over her lame turnover of Aaron. It was just all so selfish to me, I was hoping for something much better. So Sawyer breaking Kate's heart allows Kate to steal a child for a few years, use him as an emotional crutch and then abandon him? Ugh, it just further cements my dislike for her character.
-Crazy chick that found Aaron in the grocery store. Why were they playing creepy music? We don't know her from anywhere do we? She was a bit of a Claire look-alike.
-I felt sorry for Ben's dad in this episode. I know he's a "bad" guy, but he does seem like he tries in his way. And he's Uncle Rico ;)
-I love when we see Richard Alpert! The mystery surrounding his character is fascinating to me and I loved the mention of Charles and Ellie. So right now they are in charge? And Ben losing his 'innocence'? What does that mean? He brought him into that "temple" that the smoke monster dragged Danielle's people into. And look how twisted and scary they came out afterwards...Creepy!

Ok, so I guess this episode raises a lot of questions, but at least we're moving forward with the whole island story and not just this relationship quadrangle business. Can't wait for the smoke monster next week!