Gift cards:  I love them and I hate them!  Obviously, I love them because they're basically cash, yet I can't be tempted to pay bills with them, so they're like a special shopping treat.  The thing I hate about gift cards though is that they are so darn bulky!

My purse is crammed full with them and I never know how much is on each one.  This leaves me fumbling around in the checkout line trying to figure out what is left to spend on each gift card and what I'll have to pay for myself.  Right now, almost half of the storage space in my purse is being spent on a large stack of gift cards.  Thankfully, there's now an app out there called Gyft which is designed to eliminate the gift card madness.  Keep reading to learn more!

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When I want to instantly add a touch of class to my overall appearance, I head straight for my fingernails!  Apparently, I'm not the only one who likes to do this either, for mani/pedi shops have popped up on almost every street corner seemingly overnight.

Now when I paint my nails, I like to go bold without looking like I'm going bold.  :question:  That might not make a lot of sense, but what I mean is that I like bold colors, just toned down a bit.  I want my nails to turn heads without looking over the top.  That's why I couldn't have been happier to receive H-E-B's October Beauty Pick of the Month: A Selection of 5 Essie Nail Polish Colors!

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Can you hear me now???  If you have a small child, then you're sure to know the answer is, "probably not."  Listening is a skill that has to be practiced constantly, which can be quite difficult for a preschooler with a boundless amount of energy.

Educational Insights has always been one of my favorite go-tos for high quality toys that are not only fun, but teach valuable lessons and concepts too.  Of course, they hit it out of the park with their newest toy, the Magic Moves Electronic Wand.  Practicing listening skills has never been this much fun!

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My husband isn't one for wearing cologne that often, that is, until we go out for a night on the town.  While he doesn't wear it much to the office or while lounging around the house, he always smells great when we paint the town red.

Now, I'll admit that while I like the cologne he currently wears, I don't necessarily love it.  So when Michael ran out of cologne recently, I wanted to surprise him with two of the most popular men's colognes for fall from top designers, Nautica and Guess.

Keep reading to learn more!

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One of my all-time favorite books as a child was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  As a matter of fact, once I found out I was pregnant, one of the first things I bought for Riley was a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a large stuffed plush of the caterpillar himself.

To this day, she still loves it when we read this story together, especially the part about the caterpillar eating so much that he gets a tummy ache.

Riley even had a few toys from The Very Hungry Caterpillar Early Learning System when she was a baby, namely the Developmental Ladybug.  We had that toy hung from her baby carrier, her car seat and even her crib and it never failed to thrill and delight!

Now that Riley is almost 4 years old, I've had to part with many of the playthings she had as a baby, but I actually hung on to the Developmental Ladybug so that I'll never forget how much she loved it and used to play with this particular toy.

The World of Eric Carle has recently introduced four brand new additions to their The Very Hungry Caterpillar Early Learning System and I had the chance to review them.  Keep reading to learn more!

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With childhood obesity quickly reaching epidemic proportions in our country, I think it is in everyone's best interest to teach healthy eating habits to our kiddos.  While the food pyramid is an effective visualization tool for learning basic nutrition, sometimes it's helpful to bring the lessons directly to where they are put into practice...on our plates.

That's why I was thrilled to learn of a brand new game designed for children ages 4 years old and up from Learning Resources, entitled Healthy Helpings MyPlate Game.  Keep reading to learn more about a fun, family way to make good nutrition a top priority!

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