The internet is great.  I love that I have a place to come and spew forth my thoughts, my stories, my grief, my craziness, my joys.  I love sharing this space with Emily, one more gift in a life we’ve shared as cousins and friends.

And I love the friends I’ve made through blogging, near and far.

But mostly near.  Because there are amazing ladies I’ve met through blogging who actually live near me, and we’ve had the joy of investing in each other’s lives face-to-face.  You know who you are, #bigdealmoms!

So when I leave a blogging conference and everyone is all mushy-gushy about how much they miiiiiiissss each other and how they’re going through withdrawal, the cynical jerkwad in me just can’t buy it.  Maybe it’s just because I’m fortunate enough to have people.  I’ve got cousins and brothers and sisters-in-law and really wonderful friends, real-live in-the-flesh people. And as much as I love the blogging community, it’s my girlfriend down the street that I want to be mushy-gushy about.  The one who watches my kids when I’m in a pinch or helps me clean my house before my kid’s birthday party, and vice versa.  The one who knows my crap, sees me lookin’ like a hobo, and tells me I’m ok when I think I’m losing my mind.  It’s those people, my family and my friends that I love like family, that I want to embrace and be joyful with every time I see them.  Even if I just saw them yesterday.

So, there, I said it.

Let  the ones you’re with, be the ones you love.  And love the crap out of them!

Here’s the breakfast I shared yesterday:

I love chocolate milk!!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my Sophie gets her breakfast at school – as does every child at her school- and I think it’s a great program to ensure that each child gets the food they need to start their mornings out right so their brains can be ready to LEARN!  Here are some more details about how easy it is to Share Your Breakfast!  For each breakfast shared, Kellogg’s will donate the monetary equivalent of one school breakfast to Action for Healthy Kids!

Option 1: Online with photo
- Head over to http://www.shareyourbreakfast.com
- Find the upload station in the yellow band and click ‘browse’ to find your photo (You can also click the link to take a photo with your webcam!)
- Be sure that your photo is a JPG or PNG file, that it’s no more than 3MB and that no recognizable logos are included
- Fill out all the information, agree to terms and click ‘upload’!

Option 2: Online with no photo
- Head over to http://www.shareyourbreakfast.com
- Find the upload station in the yellow band and type in a description of your breakfast in the box provided
- Fill out all the information, agree to terms and click ‘upload’!

Option 3: Text message
- Text the word SHARE with a photo or description of your breakfast to 21534
- Be sure that your photo does not include any recognizable logos.
- Message and data rates may apply. See your carrier for details.

March 8th is National Breakfast Day, so Kellogg’s is even allowing us to share our breakfasts on Twitter on March 8th ONLY!  Woooo! Here’s how to do that TOMORROW, March 8th – just share a photo or description on Twitter using the #ShareUrBreakfast hashtag.

Please note: your shared breakfast doesn’t have to be a Kellogg’s product.  It can even just be a cup of coffee!

You can view the whole talk and watch the video with Trinh Le and Dr. Washington at this link here.

This is such an important program because 17 million children in our country live in food-insecure households.  That means they aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from.  Helping them get breakfast, in addition to lunch at school is a lifeline to these kids.

You can share your breakfast once a day, every day until July 31st.  It’s so easy to do and makes a HUGE difference!  Please join me in sharing your breakfast as often as you can!

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I was compensated by Kellogg’s and TheMotherhood.com for co-hosting the Virtual Breakfast chat.  All opinions on the program are my own.

Why yes, that IS me eating a Pop Tart.  I loooove them.  And while I am usually a cereal kind of girl, some mornings you just need a special treat.  So this morning, I had me one!  And then, I shared my breakfast with Kellogg’s at their Share Your Breakfast web site.  I uploaded this very hawt picture of myself to ShareYourBreakfast.com. Why?  Well, obviously because it is a very gorgeous picture and could not be kept from the world.  Duh.  But ALSO, because for every breakfast shared at ShareYourBreakfast.com, Kellogg’s will donate the monetary equivalent of a school breakfast to Action for Healthy Kids, a non-profit organization that focuses on childhood obesity and malnourishment.  One way they combat these problems is by providing funding to school districts  to expand or initiate school breakfast programs.

So how can YOU Share Your Breakfast?  It’s super-easy!  Just upload a photo of your breakfast at ShareYourBreakfast.com. You don’t even have to be in the photo if you don’t want!  Or, you can even text your photo and the word “Share” to 21534.  Kellogg’s hopes to meet their goal of donation 1 million breakfasts to Action for Healthy Kids!! You can share your breakfast once a day, every day, through July 31, 2011.

Personally, I LOVE this program.  Sophie, along with every other child at her school, receives a free breakfast at school.  It’s great for families who struggle to put food on the  table, and it’s great for my Sophie because she is a very picky eater but the breakfast menu at school is very varied and she is constantly introduced to new foods – something that it can be difficult for me to accomplish at home.

Want to find out more?  I hope you’ll join me and some other great bloggers, as well as Trinh Le from Kellogg’s and Dr Reginald Washington, chairman of the board of Action for Healthy Kids, for a “Virtual Breakfast” chat on theMotherhood.com tomorrow, March 1, from 11:30-12:00 noon EST.  You can RSVP for AND attend the talk  at this link here.  I hope you’ll join us!

Whether you can make the chat or not, please go to ShareYourBreakfast.com as often as you think of it, and tell your family and friends to share their breakfasts as well!  Let’s give some school kids a nutritious, free start to their day!

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I am being compensated for my role as a co-host of the Virtual Breakfast talk by Kellogg’s and the Motherhood.com.  All opinions about the Share Your Breakfast program are my own.

You guys are amazing. Amazing.

In one day, one single day, you gave over $2,000 to help my friend Elizabeth.

We asked, “GimmE five!” and you did! And then some!  And today even more has come in…we are blown away.  And some of you are sending checks!  Thank you for making the extra effort.

By your love.  Your generosity.  Your faith in our word that this is needed.

I am humbled.

Grateful.

Just about speechless.

Totally in tears.

Thank you isn’t enough to express our gratitude and joy.  But it’s all I’ve got right now.

Thank you!

_____________________

We will keep the donation account open for a couple more weeks at least…you can still GimmE Five!  Please email me if you’d like to send a check.

Emily and I have decided to move our product reviews and giveaways from a separate review blog to a reviews page, much like the “See Jenny Shop” page.  SO if you click on said button, it will take you right to that page!  We will be updating it a lot, so make sure to check it out everyday! These posts will also come through your email for feed reader for those of you who subscribe to our feed. So you won’t miss them!

We’ve already put up a couple of reviews, including one about my faaavorite new undergarment, and Emily’s iPad Case of Dreams. So check them out on our reviews page here.

Can you believe it’s been three years? I know. I can’t either. So many of you have been here since the beginning, and I can’t tell you how much that means to us.

Thinking about our blogiversary got me to thinking about how this whole debacle started, and how many cool things have come of it.

Three years ago, I suggested we start a blog for two reasons. 1) We cracked ourselves up, and 2) I wanted to get Jenny off my back about the book I knew we’d never have time to get around to writing.

Back then, we had no idea what we were doing.

(And we totally do now, in case you were wondering. Yep, we really have our act together. Or something.)

We barely knew what a blog was, let alone what possibilities lay ahead.

We couldn’t have imagined the opportunities that would come our way. The trips we would take, the people we would meet, the friends we would make (too many to link, but you know who you are), the fun we would have.

It still kind of amazes me, to be honest.

Three years ago, we couldn’t have imagined using this blog to welcome Sammy into the world, and we certainly couldn’t have imagined that Jenny would blog her way through her third pregnancy.

We couldn’t have imagined that this blog would bring us closer to each other – we would have said it was impossible. We couldn’t have imagined that it would connect us to friends and family all over the country.

But perhaps most importantly, we couldn’t have imagined how incredible it would be to have a record of our lives. The good times and the bad, the fun-filled days and the sleepless nights. The funny things our kids said and our most embarrassing moments, the potty-training trials and the first days of school.

We couldn’t have imagined any of it. But I’m so thankful for it all.

Happy blogiversary, Cousin! I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather make fun of write a blog with. Love you!

But anyhoo, the All-Edge pizza was amaaaazing – crispy edge pieces all around, and the center filled with one of your fave appetizers!  My favorites are the toasted ravioli and the mozarella sticks but there were lots more including deep-fried bell peppers and potato wedges!

Seriously it was soooo flippin’ amazing. And the whole Cassano family was there, even the littlest ones!! They made a great showing and put on an amazing event. This was planned before Vic Cassano Jr.’s unexpected passing a few weeks ago and they still came together and pulled it off. I was much more than impressed! Here are some pics of some of my favorite people enjoying the event!

Cortney smiling like she LOVES me!!

The beautiful and always polka-dotted Katie!

The lovely divas of Deals for Dayton!

My girl MommySnacks gettin’ her SNACK ON!

It was a wonderful event and Em & I thank the Cassanos for inviting us! You can get the All-Edge pizza starting TODAY so call 294-KING and order you up one if you are in the Dayton area!

Now, let me switch subjects real quick to makeup. What do pizza and makeup have in common?? I LOVE them both, that’s what!! The fab folks at Mary Kay sent me some of their new SHADES to try and I got them Tuesday so I thought since I was going to the Cassano’s event that night I should try some of them out! I *loved* them. Here’s how my face turned out:

I absolutely loved all the new shades I tried!  My eyeshadow was crystalline, chocolate kiss, and the new shade Midnight Star (the dark blue on the outside. It is lighter than navy and kind of shimmery…gorgeous!)  My blush was a pretty new color called Citrus Bloom.  And on my lips, a new shade that MAY be just the perfect one I’ve been waiting for…Copper Star.  It is the perfect shimmery-brown-toned-bronze.  I wore it with neutral lip liner and it was perfect!  I also tried out a new product, Liquid Lip Color.  I didn’t wear it that night but I wore it out today and I LOVE it.  It is to die for.  The coverage of a lipstick with the application & shine of a gloss, and it has a hint of mint in it to make your lips tingle.  I want one in every color!

Thanks Mary Kay for helping me look my best and Cassano’s for a great night out!

Cousin love! Emily and me all dressed up for the Thursday night cocktail party.

Cortney, Emily, and me in line to see Harry Connick, Jr. who performed for us. The weekend with these two was a bed of roses! Seriously spending time with them in the car and in our room was one of the highlights of the weekend for sure.

One of 2009′s gifts to me, the beautiful, funny, talented Katie of Domestic Debacle.

The lovely Lotus. I made her cry because I blubbered everywhere and told her that because I’d read her blogs about depression, I knew I could write about mine. I *love* her. And she’s HYSTERICAL!

Susan and Shannan make me want to dance, dance, dance! These two Cincy girls are awwwweeesome!

This photo of Andrea (who I have nicknamed SassySnacks after this weekend!) and Emily makes my heart go pitter-patter. So much love!

More to come this week. Thanks so much again to INTEL for sponsoring our attendance at BlissDom! If you haven’t already, go ENTER our contest to win an mbook pocket PC powered by the Intel Atom processor.

For more BlissDom photos, check out my Flickr phototream.

So, as I mentioned Monday, it’s BLISSDOM week! Emily and I are leaving for this fab lady-blogger conference tomorrow morning and we can’t wait to hang with our bloggy friends in Nashvegas. But what we didn’t tell you yet is that we have a super-awesome sponsor that is sending us to the conference…none other than Intel! Chances are that the computer you’re using as you read this is powered by an Intel processor – it’s technology we all use every day and Emily & I are thrilled and proud to represent this great brand!

Since we are representing Intel at BlissDom, they figured they’d also send us with some cool products to show the power of Intel technology! So we will be taking two amazing Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) with us the mbook and the Viliv S7. These are small but fully-functional PC’s with wi-fi, web cams, and everything else you could want in a computer! They are smaller than netbooks, even. To give you an idea of size, here’s the mbook in the palm of my hand:

And the ViLiv S7 next to a pop can (seriously, Emily, is that DIET Mountain Dew?? EEEWW! Why defile such a wonderful soda by removing its sugar!?)

These machines are amazing! They both have touch screens (the screen on the ViLiv even swivels and pivots to become a tablet!) They also both have huge battery lives – 4 hours for the tiny mbook and 9 hours for the ViLiv – wow! I don’t think Emily and I will need to worry about plugging in at BlissDom! They both have fully-functional keyboards, and the mbook uses a stylus for its touchscreen. The ViLiv S7 features a touchpad mouse – or you can just use your fingers on the touchscreen. They also can be used with the Kindle for PC software – so you can download Kindle books on them and use them like a Kindle! HOLLA!

So here’s the REALLY exciting part! Thanks to Intel, we are giving away a UMID mbook featuring the Intel Atom Processor to one lucky reader! It’s the world’s smallest PC and it can be yours!

Here’s how to enter (several ways):

1) Leave us a comment on this post telling us what feature you like best about the mbook.
2) Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter. Make sure to follow and include @intelnews in your tweet! Then leave us a separate comment with your tweet URL.
3) Hit the facebook button at the bottom of this post to share this post on facebook, then leave us a separate comment letting us know you did so.
4) Subscribe to our feed and leave us a separate comment letting us know you did or already do.

ONE winner will be chosen by random.org on Monday, February 8th. Good luck and thanks so much to Intel for this great giveaway and for sending us to BlissDom!

(Frigidaire ad from 1959, during the time our grandfather worked there.)

In that post, I told you how all my appliances are Frigidaire, out of a sentimental homage to our grandfather, whom Emily and I never got to meet. From what everyone says, he was a very quiet man. Kind of serious, and shy. But I am betting, despite that, he would get a kick out of his two goofy granddaughters and their blog. I sure hope so!

Because we kind of owe him even more thanks now.

In September, Frigidaire and Mom Central opened up applications for phase 2 of Frigidaire’s Test Drive Team, a group of bloggers who get to try out Frigidaire appliances and blog about their experiences with them.

So Emily and I applied!

And…WE’RE IN!!! We’re Frigidaire Test Drive Moms!!

And I am more than a little bit sure that our family history with the company helped us out in our application. So, thanks, Grandpa Laton! Forty years after your death and you are still helping your family out. We are grateful.

So here’s the fun part: Emily (because she is SUCH a good cook! I mean, look at her pumpkin cake, and her crock potting skillz) will be receiving and keeping and reviewing the Frigidaire range & microwave from their professional line as a member of Team Range/Microwave!

Because I tend to wait to do laundry until everyone in the house is wearing their last pair of underwear, and because my hubby does most of his own laundry we are both super excited to announce that I am on Team Washer/Dryer!

I will be receiving and keeping and reviewing a washer & dryer from Frigidaire’s gallery line. I am hoping they will magically transform my entire basement into looking like this laundry room:

Well, maybe it won’t look exactly like that, because mine are going to be blue. But I am pretty sure the rest of the room is going to magically take shape.

Ok, I am getting off topic!

We also want to tell you about Frigidaire’s Make Time for Change site. Frigidaire is working with Jennifer Garner (I always KNEW I had a lot in common with her – we could totally be BFF!) to raise money for Save the Children! You can spin the wheel on the site and have a chance to win a sweeet Affinity Washer & Dryer (like the ones I’ll be receiving! YAY!) – and every day you spin, Save the Children gets $1.

So go check that out, and stay tuned for more fun appliance-related updates from Emily and me! She should be getting her range & microwave really soon! SO stay tuned for lots more cooking adventures from her. I’m getting the washer & dryer in the spring, but I’ll try to entertain you in non-laundry related ways in the mean time.