Included in this gift basket:

• 10 piece Terry Kitchen Towels $9.95
• Set of 3 Handled Bakers $19.95
• Stainless Steel Cup size Measuring Spoons $9.95
• Fruit Crisp Mix $7.95
• 5 piece Bread Dipping Set $4.95
• 4 compartment Bread Dipping Seasonings $5.95
• Pioneer Woman Cookbook $12.95

The grand total for this gift basket is $71.65. You could also separate this into 3 smaller gifts if that work better for you.

Mom Maven’s Thoughts

I was excited to receive this package. I have wanted a Pioneer Woman cookbook for a while now and I have been in the market for ceramic bakeware so this set is perfect for me. The pachage comes disassembled in a large 19lb box. Here are the easy-to-follow gift basket assembly instructions. I am excited to start using all of the wonderful things in this gift basket.

The Lakeside Collection Gift Basket Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive everything listed in the gift basket above. Valued at over $70, this will make a great gift for the cook on your shopping list. This giveaway is open to US residents only. The giveaway ends at 12:00am on 12/10/14. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and verified. The winner will be notified via email and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

The post The Lakeside Collection Kitchen Gift Basket Giveaway appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Both Sears and Kmart offer free in store pickup, letting you shop thousands of gifts online in the comfort of your own home before picking up your items in store in 5 minutes guaranteed (or whenever you’re ready). With in store pickup you’ll avoid lines, busy stores and the wasted time of walking down every aisle. The bow on top: You can have a friend or relative pick up your order and pay in store with cash, if you prefer. Now it’s no question that you should try free in store pickup at Sears or Kmart but there’s now a question of, what will you do with more free time over the holidays? A few ideas include: volunteering at a shelter, making gingerbread houses with the kids or simply putting your feet up and enjoying the view of the Christmas tree.

I am so thankful that Sears and Kmart are helping me save time this holiday season!

Disclosure: “Presented by Mami Innovative Media, this is a sponsored post on behalf of Sears and Kmart. All opinions expressed here are my own.”

The post Sears and Kmart Make Your Holiday Shopping Easier with Free In Store Pickup appeared first on The Mom Maven.

My brother-in-law, Mike is a huge Auburn Tigers fan, his brother played for the Tigers in the 80s. Mike is also a Guy Harvey fan, fisherman and he owns a bait shop as a side job. When my husband and I were in Grand Cayman on our cruise, we stopped in the Guy Harvey store and gallery hoping to find a Christmas gift for Mike and my son Jordan. When I laid eyes on the shirt I knew it was perfect for Mike so I picked it up in 2x. Guy Harvey was in the gallery that day so he autographed both shirts we purchased. I was tickled with my purchases and was sure I had bought the best gift I could for Mike.

Little did I know, while we were gorging ourselves on delicious cruise food, Mike was starting a doctor supervised weight loss plan. By Christmas morning he had lost 45 pounds and was much too small for a 2x shirt! I spoke with my sister and she decided that after Christmas she would get the shirt framed and it could hang in the bait shop for all the customers to see.

We are all so proud of Mike and how well he is doing on his weight loss program, even if his Christmas present doesn’t fit.

What did you buy this holiday season that you shouldn’t have? Let me know in a comment.

The post What I Shouldn’t Have Bought This Holiday Season appeared first on The Mom Maven.

When Kmart announced several years ago that they would be open on Thanksgiving Day with special one day only sales, we vowed never to go shopping on Thanksgiving. We felt it was wrong to ditch the family just to save a few bucks on pajamas for the kids. This year that all changed again. Walmart opened at 10pm and Target opened at midnight. In my parent’s town of Venice, FL those two stores are right across the street from one another-which makes Black Friday shopping a little easier.

I only do a little Black Friday prep online. There is something about having the ads physically in my hand that makes it easier for me to plan my purchasing strategy. Honestly, this year there were no big ticket items on my list, but there were a few things I wanted at both Walmart and Target.

We arrived at shopped Walmart first because they opened at 10pm. It was mobbed but I did get what I went for and so did my dad. Then we headed across the street to Target to wait in line. We arrived at Target at 11:00pm and the line was quite long already. I noticed right away that the line was different than in years past. This year’s line was filled with young people. There were lots of groups of teens and college age kids. Also lots of young families with kids in tow!  An hour before the store opened, there was a line that went the length of Target and half of Bealls. By the time the doors opened at midnight, the line for Target went past Bealls and down the side of the building.

Target employees had warned us that they were allowing groups of 30 into the store at 30 second intervals to avoid anyone being trampled. There were barricades up by the doors and even at SWAT team member patrolling the entrance. We didn’t get into the store until 12:20am and we were about the middle of the line! The big draws were the HD LCD TVs-though they were all off brands and we’re always amazed at how many people buy televisions based on price rather than reputation. While we were still outside we had seen a lot of televisions head out the door but there was nothing else in the cart with it so it appeared the loss leader didn’t do its job very well. I was shopping for 2 specific items that were on sale. The fire bowls and the collegiate fleece. We hunted for the fire bowls first, I wanted 2 of them but when we finally found an employee to help us all he said was “They are somewhere in the middle of the store.” big help. We finally found where they were, in two separate locations, but both were sold out. Next we were off to find the collegiate fleece. As you can see, the ad shows USF, Miami and UF. When we found the fleece in the sporting goods section, the display was pretty full but all it has was UF jackets in men, women’s and children’s sizes. We spent about 5 minutes tracking down another employee to ask if they had any other school’s jackets and we were told all they got in was UF. I needed 1 UF and 1 USF so again, we were disappointed. Dad got the video game he was after at a great sale price and then we headed to the checkout line.

For the second year in a row Target had the cash registers blocked off and an employee sending small groups of shoppers to each register like loading a ride at Walt Disney World. This causes a very long single file line of shopping carts around the store. The line went across the front of the store, down the side and half way across the back. Dad got in line and I wandered the store to see if there was anything I missed. I am not much of an impulse shopper. I usually know what I am after and get that item and don’t buy a lot of extras. Target had most of their “specials” on endcaps or in green bins sprinkled throughout the store. I didn’t buy anything that wasn’t on my list. The other thing I noticed while wandering the store is that there were several groups of youth just wandering around the store and getting in the way of people who were trying to navigate shopping carts with 40″ TVs in them. I think the youth were there because there was nothing else to do in town at midnight, we’ve never had that problem at 4am. Dad was in line for about 20 minutes before he texted me to meet him near the front of the line. I noticed that the long line was making it difficult to shop everything on the perimeter of the store and few people had cut through the line to get to the Christmas candy/stocking stuffer section, the grocery section or the health & beauty sections of the store.

All I purchased was 1 UF fleece because everything else I wanted was gone before we got there. Checkout went smoothly for each of us and we each spent less than $40. As we were leaving the store at 1:08am we noticed there were still people coming into the store but there were no carts available and the line at the in-store Starbucks was really long! We moved on and headed to Bealls to continue our shopping.

We finished our shopping at 2am and realized that this new Black Friday schedule messed with another tradition which is our daddy-daughter breakfast. Neither of us wanted to eat at 2am so we headed home to catch some Zzzzzs before hitting the mall later in the day for round 2 of Black Friday Shopping. We both agreed that we will re-think our Black Friday participation next year. I’d much rather shop at 4am with other dedicated shoppers than at 10pm and midnight with the masses.

Black Friday 2011 #myBFDeals

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are 100% my own.

The post Black Friday 2011 #MyBFDeals appeared first on The Mom Maven.

We started our research on the Motorola website, a great place to get all the specs and info about the phone. The Bionic is an Android phone that has a dual-core 1 GHz processor and runs on the Verizon 4G LTE network. As far as memory goes it has 16 GB on board; 16 GB microSD card pre-installed and it supports up to 32 GB microSD.  Bionic’s camera shoots stills in 8 megapixels. Flip the switch to video capture and record in 1080p HD. The camera is an important feature because my son is always uploading photos to Facebook. The Bionic also has a front facing camera so you can video chat with your friends and family.

As far as apps and accessories go the coolest thing about the Bionic is that it is ZumoCast enabled.You can now take the contents of your PC with you anywhere, anytime – without smartphone syncs and without wasting time uploading all your files. No more worrying about memory. ZumoCast by Motorola enables you to stream content directly to your smartphone. With ZumoCast, you can watch videos, look at family photos or listen to music — straight from your computer. Work on spreadsheets or presentations even if you aren’t near your computer, as there’s always the option to save files directly to your phone. Pair the amazing technology of ZumoCast with a lapdock and you won’t even need to bring your laptop with you when you travel. This is awesome technology.

Once we completed our online research, we headed to the Verizon store see the Bionic in person. We like the feel of the Bionic. It feels sturdy and well made. The 4.3-in.; qHD (960 x 540) display is clear and bright. We watched some YouTube videos and took some pictures with the 8mp camera. When the salesman talked to us he was trying to get us to look at other phones, the one that there were banners up all over the store advertising. We did give in and play with the other phone for a few minutes and when he came back to ask us what we thought my son said, “It feels cheaply made and too thin. This phone will break too easily and isn’t the phone for me.” I assured the salesman we were not going to make a purchase today and he quickly left us alone-the joys of commission based sales. The Motorola Bionic costs $249.00 with a 2yr contract and if you order  your Motorola Bionic from my link you get free 2 day shipping!

Is the Motorola bionic the phone for my son? I don’t think so. I think it might be too much phone for him but it would be great for me. Is it the phone for you? Let me know if the Bionic is on your short list for a new phone. Check out all the photos from our research in this slideshow.

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias all opinions are 100% my own.

The post Holiday Guide 2011-Gifts for Gadget Lovers-Motorola Bionic #MotoCalyp appeared first on The Mom Maven.

To start my Xoom research I first went to the Motorola website to check out the specs om the Xoom. The Xoom is 9.8 x 6.6 x .5 inches (H x W x D), nice and thin, yet comfortable to hold-at least it seems comfortable to hold while tethered to the display at the Verizon store. The display size is 10.1-in.; WXGA (1280x 800 pixels; 150 pixels / inch), HD 720p. My phone is an Android and so is the Xoom so that is a platform I am already comfortable with. Since I am a Gmail user I love that the Google services are all integrated into the tablet making it easy for me to set up.

Google Talk

The Xoom has front and rear facing cameras so using Google Talk to video chat is a breeze. You can even record video in 720p! The memory on the Xoom is great, it has up to 32GB on on board memory for $499.99. According to the Motorola website you can get a WIFI on Xoom or a 4GLTE version whichever suits your needs best.

Enough of the online research, it was time to play with the Motorola Xoom. I headed into town to the Verizon Wireless store for some hands-on time with the Xoom.

At the Verizon store I was shown to the tablet display by Marcos. I told him I was there to learn more about the Xoom and to play with it for a bit. The first thing I noticed was that both Xoom’s that were on display were the 4G LTE models. I asked Marcos about the WIFI only model and he informed me that they had been discontinued. He said “You wouldn’t have wanted that anyway because it cost $699 and the 4G LTE model is only $499.” I responded”Bbut with the 4G model I’d need a data plan of at least $30/month so in 7 months the 4G LTE model will cost me more than the WIFI model.” He said, “Well that’s one way to look at it but I’m sure you’d want the 4G LTE model anyway.” Not a great salesman Marcos left me alone for a while and I checked out the Motorola Xoom on my own. I played with the camera, visited a few websites, watched a YouTube video and even read a few pages from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
I left the Verizon store a bit bummed because I think I’d be perfectly happy with the WIFI Xoom. When I arrived home I went back online to see if I could still get the WIFI Xoom online. The Verizon Wireless website has no mention of the WIFI Xoom but it is still available on the Motorola website.

IF I were to buy a Motorola Xoom for myself for Christmas I would order it directly from Motorola so I could get the WIFI version AND FREE  2 day shipping with the Buy Now & Get Free 2-day Shipping promotion. Unfortunately, unless a miracle happens, I won’t be getting a tablet this Christmas. How about you? Is a tablet on your Christmas shopping list…or is it on your wishlist? Leave me a comment and let me know. If you want to see my photo essay of my research just click the link to see it.

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are 100% my own.

The post Dreaming of a Xoom for Christmas #motocalyp appeared first on The Mom Maven.

This post brought to you by Pier 1 Imports. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of my favorite stores to shop in for gifts is Pier 1. They have gifts that are unique, beautiful, quirky and fun. This year I am trying to be more creative in my gift giving so perusing the Pier 1 website has sparked a lot of creative thoughts…and added some ideas to my Christmas wish list!

We go all out when it comes to decorating our home for Christmas. I have a large snowman collection and I would love to add some of the adorable Pier 1 snowmen to my collection. If you are panning on doing some holiday entertaining Pier 1 has something for every decorating style. I have some favorites in each of their holiday collections: Christmas Couture-think Paris meets North Pole, Yuletide Treasures-Classic Santas and Snowmen, Gilded Forest-earthy, Flights of Fantasy-exotic colors, feathers and sequins, Merry & Bright-Christmas cheer!

Pier 1 has some great gifts that the ladies in my family will love! Beaded candleholders, eco-friendly totes, animal print compacts, jewelry-the ideas are endless. Pier 1 has great stocking stuffers too! Lots of fun, whimsical items are under $5 each.

Pier 1 is giving back to the community this holiday season by partnering with Toys for Tots. During November and December you can drop off an unwrapped toy or make a cash donation at your local store. Also, if you “like” Pier 1 on Facebook they will donate $1 to Toys for Tots.

I’m off to do more shopping at Pier 1!

The post Holiday Gift Guide: Fun from Pier 1 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

The Fischer-Price Fun with Friends Musical Table is $40.05 and perfect for children 9mos-3 yrs. This bi-lingual activity table has interactive characters to entertain and expand creative play.

The K’NEX Connect n’ Build Moto Bots Chomp is a great gift for kids ages 7+ and at only $25.99 your child can have hours of creative fun! Of course if you win, you can use your gift card for whatever you like from any of the 200+ CSN Stores.

Mandatory 1st Entry Visit the CSN Toy Store and look around. Then come back here and leave me a comment telling me what you might buy if you won.

Bonus Entries Leave a separate comment for each

• Blog subscribers, GFC friends, networked blog followers and Facebook likers get 1 entry each
• Tweet about this giveaway-Tweet MUST include @MomMaven and a link to this post (you may do this 2x a day)
• Use the button at the bottom of this post to “Like” it on Facebook
• Leave a comment on a non-giveaway post (you may do this up to 5x)

The winner will be chosen by Random.org at 9pm ET on December 2nd. US entries only. This giveaway is now closed.

Disclosure: I received nothing in exchange for hosting this giveaway. All opinions are 100% mine.

The post Holiday Gift Guide: CSN Stores $45 Giveaway appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Wizards of Waverly Place Magic Chic Lip Gloss Set
Two lipgloss test-tube wands available in grape and watermelon flavors. Three skinny lipbalm available in mixed berries, watermelon, and strawberry flavors.

Wizards of Waverly Place Spellbinding Roll-On Fragrance Set
Includes four roll-on scents in Passion Pineapple, Manhattan Mixed Berries, Pomegranate Paradise, and Magic Chic Kiwi in a keepsake box.

Wizards of Waverly Place Magic Luxe 10 Pack Nail Polish Set
Assortment of holiday colors in shimmer tones

Sonny With A Chance “Smell Ya Later” Body Sprits
Includes four roll-on scents in Beauty Break Blueberry, So Random Raspberry, Tawni Tangerine, and Go Random Grape in a keepsake box

Sonny With A Chance “Get Random Get Glossy” Lip Gloss Set
Includes three lipgloss shimmer wands, and two lipgloss shimmer tubes in Apple, Watermelon, Cherry, and Mixed Berries flavors.

Sonny With A Chance “Welcome to Hollywood” 10 pack nail polish set
Assorted colors in shimmer tones: Teal, Rubine Red, Yellow, Green, Deep Magenta, Orange, Purple, White, Blue, Hot Pink

iCarly Glitter Gloss Duo Compact
Includes mobile phone shaped compact with four variations of glitter pink gloss all in a delicious raspberry flavor, an orange flavored lip balm stick and a novelty iCarly carrying pouch.
iCarly Light-Up Remote Compact
Includes 6 vibrant shades of lipgloss featured in an irresistible grape flavor enclosed in an interactive light up remote control compact.
iCarly 6 Pack Lip Jelly Tin Set
Assorted fruit flavors lip jelly sticks in: Orange, Blueberry, Grape, Lemon, Cherry, and Watermelon.

Each set is available at Walmart for only $5.00! These make great gifts for the class gift exchange too!

The post Holiday Gift Guide: Tween Beauty Gifts appeared first on The Mom Maven.

What I’d really like to see this year though is conversation. I’d love to read your thoughts and ideas on the products I highlight in my gift guide so please leave comments on the gift guide posts.

The post Holiday Gift Guide 2010 appeared first on The Mom Maven.