Sunday, February 28, 2010

Flannery Brothers – Wake Up Songs

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to learn more about a band called the Flannery Brothers and hear some songs from their music CD called Love Songs for Silly Things. Even though it’s a music CD geared towards children, it’s not the kind of music that will get on parent’s nerves after a child has listened to it a million and one times.

The Flannery Brothers won the John Lennon Song Writing contest for children’s music. I enjoyed their music so much I even posted about them and the contest on my blog (CLICK HERE to read that post). Congratulations to them for such a wonderful accomplishment.

The Flannery Brothers recently sent me their new CD, Wake Up Songs, to review. Just like Love Songs for Silly Things, the new CD does not disappoint. What a fun CD!

I can remember when my children were younger and we’d listen to music CDs. After listening to something a dozen times over it would drive me batty. I WISH the Flannery Brothers were around when my kids were little. Their songs are fun, upbeat, “groovy” and just really great to listen to. I can easily picture kids and parents alike dancing around to their songs.

The songs found on the Wake Up Songs CD include:

Shake! - Reminds me of a Black Eyes Peas song for the under 10 crowd or something right out of the 80′s.

Pedal My Bike – I can see this song being a favorite with the kids. It’s very catchy. I love the beat. This is one of those songs that will easily get stuck in your mind. Trust me. LOL! It’s very happy and upbeat.

New Day – This song reminds me of something the “Stray Cats” would sing. Those of you around my age (41…sigh…) should remember that band. It’s got a bit of a hip hop 50′s beat to it. This is another song that I love the beat to it. There are children singing in this song too. I’m sure most little kids will sing along to the children’s parts too.

In the Morning -Honestly this doesn’t come across as a “kiddie song”. It’s more of an easy listening song that adults can enjoy. Oh…if every morning could start off this way, I might actually become a morning person. Ha Ha. The Kazoo at the end is a nice touch.

Sleepyhead – For some reason in the beginning of this song I kept thinking “Sesame Street”. It sounds like something straight from Sesame Street. It has that quality about it. This is probably my least favorite song out of all the songs on the album.

The Wake Up song – I can easily see a parent singing this song to their child in the morning to wake them up to start the day. It’s a lot of fun and sure beats a nasty alarm clock. I wish someone would wake me up signing this song. Ha Ha. In fact I’ve had this song stuck in my head! “Wake up, wake up…it’s the wake up song...”

I tried to get my daughter to listen to the CD to give me her thoughts but she just laughed at me (she’ll be 13 soon and that would be so “un-cool”). My son, 10, listened to it for me. I asked him to give me his honest opinion. He said it was “good”. I asked if this would be good music for a 10 year old and he said “I don’t know. Maybe. Probably not” (kids…never a straight answer). I then asked him again if he liked the music overall and he said “yes”. Keep in mind my son’s iPod has songs by Nickelback, Daughtry, Seether and Linkin Park, so this is not his “cup of tea” but he said honestly that it was good.

Personally I liked the music. I think this would be ideal for kids maybe 8 and younger. It’s clean cut, wholesome and a lot of fun. Parents will appreciate the fact that it’s NOT the kind of kiddie music that will make you want to pull your hair out after you have heard it three dozen times. In fact don’t be surprised if you pop in the CD to listen to it even when the kids are at school. Ha Ha.

To learn more about the Flannery Brothers visit http://www.FlanneryBrothers.com. They just had a CD release party at the Borders book store in Bangor, Maine this weekend. I’m assuming the CD will be available for purchase soon.

To keep up to date on when the CD will be available plus other Flannery Brothers news you can become a fan on Facebook (CLICK HERE), Twitter (CLICK HERE) or their blog (CLICK HERE). Check out all the awards they’ve won on their blog. Kudos to them!



*I received a sample copy of their CD free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and that of my son.

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SparkPeople – The Spark

Many years ago, on one of my many failed attempts to lose weight, a friend of mine told me about a web site called SparkPeople (www.SparkPeople.com). SparkPeople is like Facebook for people trying to get healthy, lose weight and add exercise to their lives.

Being a member of SparkPeople is free. All you need to do is create your own page (easy to do) and get started blogging about your weight loss efforts. There are also dozens of groups and forums you could join. If it’s related to weight loss, health and exercise you’ll find a group or team on SparkPeople.

The community section is just one of the great “tools” you’ll find on SparkPeople. You’ll also find great healthy recipes, charts to keep on top of your exercise and nutrition goals, articles, videos, blogs written by other members and so much more.

Are you looking for a weight loss buddy or someone to walk with? You can interact with other SparkPeople members and find people in your local area who have the same goals are you do.

It doesn’t matter if you are on any programs (Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers…) or trying to learn to eat better, you’ll find many valuable tools to assist you to help you reach your goals.

I honestly think that best feature are the groups and teams. It’s hard enough trying to lose weight. To know people who are in the “same shoes” that you are makes it a lot easier. It’s great to have people to support you, encourage you and help you through the rough patches.

Chris Downie, the founder of SparkPeople, has written a great book to help “spark” people into wanting to lose weight and get healthy. The book is called The Spark: The 28-Day Breakthrough Plan for Losing Weight, Getting Fit and Transforming Your Life.

I enjoyed reading the chapter Chris wrote about his own story and how he came up with SparkPeople. I LOVE hearing the stories behind successful people, most especially people like you and me…ordinary people who created extraordinary lives.

One thought I walked away from learning about Chris is a quote from the chapter…”Your daily actions and words impact more people then you ever realize“. Think about that one for a moment. You don’t realize that until someone puts it in front of your face like that.

In The Spark Chris shows you how to set goes and get your mind set on losing weight, exercising and getting healthy. He also shows you have to develop and inner “fire” and a positive outlook which will help you become more successful at reaching your health and fitness goals.

There is a plan within the pages of the book that helps you to determine how many calories you need to eliminate from your diet in order to reach your goals and how many calories you need to maintain your weight loss after you have lost the unwanted pounds.

Another favorite chapter of mine was Lifestyle Change. When it comes right down to it it’s not so much a “diet” or “exercise” plan you need to help you lose weight. Ultimately you need a lifestyle change. Chris help you to develop some positive lifestyle changes to help you bounce back from set backs, become more positive and how to find supportive people.

The Spark also features information on foods, recipes and exercises and my personal favorite a section dedicated to those who have lost 100+ pounds.

I realize that there are more “weight loss” books on the market then we can count. Trust me, I think I’ve read them all (ha ha). But I know that SparkPeople has really helped A LOT of people to lose weight. I have met plenty of people over the years who have sworn by how effective SparkPeople can be, most especially the community section.

If you are looking for proof that it works you should check out the before and after section in The Spark that features real life SparkPeople members with brief contributions from them about their SparkPeople experiences. If you need more proof that they are actual SparkPeople members the book even includes links to their SparkPeople pages.

I can’t tell you how motivating it is to see people around my weight and height who are not a more “normal” size. The before and after pictures are a huge motivator.

The Spark: The 28-Day Breakthrough Plan for Losing Weight, Getting Fit, and Transforming Your Life is available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and other book retail locations.


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Flirty Fashion for the Kitchen (Giveaway)

I grew up in an “old fashioned” household. My Dad “brought home the bacon” and my Mom was a stay-at-home Mom. Mom would cook, clean and have a hot dinner on the table at 5 PM when my Dad got home from work. It felt like I was living in “Leave it to Beaver” times, which was fine with me. My Nanny (Grandmother) was the same way.

My Mom would get up early every morning, do her hair and put on her make up, even though she was just going to hang out at home all day cooking and cleaning. I was always amazed by that. I’m a stay-at-home Mom too and I rarely put on make up and my hair is usually in a pony tail because I can’t be bothered styling it.

My Mom always wore an apron, most especially in the kitchen. My Nanny too. You would never see my Mom without one on in the kitchen. The older I got the more I looked at things like wearing an apron when you are cooking as “old fashioned”. I was a modern gal…I didn’t need to wear an apron like the “old folks” did.

Over the years I have ruined more clothing then I care to remember from “accidents” in the kitchen. From bubbling sauce (gravy as my husband calls it), splatters and spills. Some thing stain right away and there is nothing you can do about it. When that happens I just toss the top into my “knock around the house” drawer since I can’t wear stained clothes out of the house. Needless to say I have a HUGE collection of “knock around the house” tops and pants. I would have to say about 90% of them are from kitchen messes.

For a while now I have thought about getting an apron. Apparently my Mom and my Nanny were right about wearing aprons when they were cooking and baking. It’s NOT an “old fashioned” thing…it’s a necessity! So it comes as no surprise when Flirty Aprons contacted me about reviewing one of their aprons I jumped at the chance.

The hardest part of this review was picking out which design I liked best. I had narrowed it down to four designs. I eventually had to have my kids help me pick out which one I should get. Of course they chose the one with the cupcakes on it. Some of the other designs I liked are…

I was excited when the apron arrived (which was SUPER quick I might add). Part of me wanted to make the most messiest thing I could that night for dinner, but another part of me didn’t want to make anything that might mess up or stain the apron. LOL!

The apron from Flirty Aprons (www.FlirtyAprons.com) is made exceptionally well and just as adorable in person as it is on the computer screen.

When I receive articles of clothing to review I always pull in them to see if they tear easily or if I can find any loose threads. The Flirty Apron passed my tests with flying colors. This is a quality product.

One of the best things I like about my Flirty Apron, aside from the adorable cupcake print, is that it’s “one size fits all”. I’m a plus size lady and I have to pass up on a lot of reviews because things don’t come in my size. The Flirty Apron can fit anyone of any size. The generous ties make it easy to customize it to fit your body. Even my husband can wear the apron! And he did! Just this morning my husband and my daughter were baking a cake and brownies. It was great Father/Daughter bonding time, but it also means I’ll be home alone with cake and brownies for the next few days (not exactly good when you are trying to lose weight). My husband actually wore the apron! I begged him to let me take his picture and he refused, worried that someone at work my recognize him and he’ll never hear the end of it. Ha Ha. My daughter was more then happy to pose for some pictures for me.

Isn’t the pattern adorable! Don’t the brownies look yummy? LOL! By the way…the missing chunk is compliments of my husband who just had to “sample” it to make sure it was done. Ha Ha.

The front pockets are handy too for holding oven mitts and other cooking utensils.

Overall I am giving Flirty Aprons two chocolate covered “thumbs up”. Not only are the Flirty Aprons cute and fashionable they are also made very well and are VERY useful in the kitchen.

To learn more about Flirty Aprons visit www.FlirtyAprons.com.

The lovely people at Flirty Aprons wants to give one lucky She Scribes reader their own Flirty Apron.

To enter please visit Fliry Aprons (www.FlirtyAprons.com), look at all the wonderful designs, then come back here and comment on which apron you would choose if you are the lucky winner. Don’t worry, if you are the winner you are able to change your mind if need be.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. I ♥ my subscribers & followers! Plus it’s a great way to keep up to date on giveaways, reviews and more. Both options are found about 1/2 way down on the right side bar.

- Blog about Flirty Aprons and/or this giveaway. Please link back to BOTH this post and Flirty Aprons. Please provide the URL of the post.

- Tweet about this review/giveaway on Twitter. Please include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I may see it too. Please limit this to three tweets per day. Thank you.

- Add my button (found on the right side bar) to your blog or website. Please include the URL.

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways. For example Stumble Upon, Technorati and/or Digg (there are others). Please tell me what you did and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is for US residents only and will end on March 8, 2010 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random via a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with their name, mailing address (no PO Box) and the apron pattern choice or a new winner will be chosen.

Don’t forget to become a fan of She Scribes on Facebook. Learn about new giveaways as soon as they are posted!

Check out the right side bar under “Win It” for all other She Scribes giveaways.



*I received a free sample apron to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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