Giveaways ending Soon...12/31

Last couple days to enter two giveaways. Start off the new year with a win! 3 possible winners altogether! Good luck, everyone.




ConservingNow Envirosax Bag of Your Choice! (US/CAN) Ends 12/31Groupon.com $25 Credit -2 WINNERS!! (US/CAN) Ends 12/31


Enjoy your holidays! I know I'm going to be spending my last couple days off with treasured family and friends.



Happy New Years everyone!! If you're here for the blog hops, don't forget to enter my two giveaways ending today.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone! Anyone else looking forward to turkey dinner? I know I am! As Christmas day approaches, we're all getting busy and spending valuable time with family and friends...and yes, don't foret the food. The food is the most important part, my belly would argue! As much as I love posting on here and chatting with you all, I'm afraid my family and friends will kill me if I don't see them properly in the short time I'm home, so I may have to hold back on my blogging for a brief period of time. 


Don't forget though, I still have a couple giveaways going on and winning them would be a great way to start off the New Year! *wink wink* So if you haven't entered, enter; if you have already entered, more entries wouldn't hurt!


Here's to well wishes for the holiday season. I hope all of you have a safe and Merry Christmas. I will talk to you all soon...

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Book Review: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball

How cute can this title get and its perfect timing for the Christmas season too! And so, I had already ordered my next book, "Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball" by Donita K. Paul to review. :)


The synopsis:

Cora Crowder is looking for Christmas gifts and when she returns home to open the book she purchased, a ticket to the Christmas ball falls out. A co-worker, Simon, also receives a ticket. The ball is not well known and research on the internet gives them no more information. The matchmakers at the bookstore have their hands full trying to get these two together. Will they succeed this year or will family and life get in the way.

Okay, I really liked the cover of this book. Sometimes, I think the cover art of books are terrible and don't suit the book but this time, it was perfect. It is such a cute cover and they made it so much more sophisticated and suited to the theme with the raised letters on the cover.  You know the funny thing is, I can very much picture myself curled up in front of a fireplace reading this book on a snowy day. In other words, its one of those books that I'd read over and over again. A nicely put together magical and whimsical book that tugs at your heart.  A quick and easy read that gives it a 5 stars out of 5.


Check out this short Youtube clip on the book, I have to say it really put me into the hoilday mood. 

Until next time,

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook Multinomah Publishing Group for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are MY OWN.

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Book Review: The Truth of the Matter

"The Truth of the Matter" by Andrew Klaven is a book I chose to review basically because the name intrigued me. It is the third book in the Homelander series and to be honest, I was worried I'd be a little lost but luckily the first few chapters quickly caught me up to speed so that would be a great refresher for those who are following the series or a good intro to those who just picked it up.

Anyhow, before I get ahead of myself, here's the synopsis:

Charlie is certain that if he could just regain his memory, the chaos around him would make sense. But the truth of the matter is even more incredible than he could imagine.

Charlie West was an ordinary high school kid who went to bed one night and woke up in the clutches of terrorists and wanted by the police for murder. He also woke up with no memory of the events of the past year.

Now Charlie has found the one person who knows what happened . . . and who can help him remember. But remembering is painful--as well as dangerous--and figuring out what to do with this new knowledge may be Charlie's toughest challenge yet.

This was a youth book but I still found myself enjoying it. I read this in one sitting because I love adventures and would yes, picture myself as some hero or the other. You might laugh, but I'm sure many kids out there dream of the same and that is precisely why I like this book. Although somewhat far-fetched at times, it is sure to attract the imagination of the young and the old, perhaps, bringing back a bit of our adventurous selves and the imagination we had when we were a bit younger. Overall, I would give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

Until next time,

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Booksneeze.com book reviews bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are MY OWN.

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Christmas Ideas #7: Barista Bath and Body Products Review

Oh my goodness, can you say YUM!? Imagine this, the delicious aroma of coffee surrounding you in the shower when you wake up in the morning. Its like a morning call before your actual cup of coffee!  Barista Bath and Body aka b3 brings to us the benefits of coffee to our skin. b3 products are made from organic coffee, coffee extract, essential oils and herbal extracts. I'm going to quickly summarize the benefits here and I'll bet you know someone who would love using it for one of the following reasons.  According to their site, coffee has a similar pH to our hair and skin, thus the balanced pH allows us to keep our hair and skin healthy versus the use of soap and water (basic) which removes the slightly acidic pH that we naturally have on our hair and skin. Other studies b3 have found supporting the use of caffeine to skin show that it may reduce the risk of skin cancer, improve the appearance of cellulite, help in preventing hair loss, and provide antioxidants. While I can't say whether I have experienced these effects, I can tell you what I have experienced.

I was recently sent the Barista Bath and Body Travel set to review, otherwise known as "I'll take that/mine to go." Isn't that just clever and original? It came beautifully packaged with travel sizes (2 oz) of "Perk it up" (energizing coffee shampoo), "soothe those jitters" (moisturizing conditioner), "triple shot3 (3-in-1 coffee shower gel), and room for cream (exotic origin body creme). I did take my own pictures but since it was quite similar to their pictures, I stuck with theirs! I have to say, everything smelt delicious. The shampoo and conditioner had a light smell of rich coffee that just left you lingering for more. I enjoyed how refreshing it felt and how smooth and silky it left my hair afterwards. Oh, and don't forget the shine, it gave my hair a nice healthy shine. The triple shot though was oh so heavenly! Wow, the scent of it was absolutely luxurious. It was so good that it brought my puppy running in earlier than usual and we all know dogs have an excellent sense of smell. I think it was my absolute favorite out of all 4 items.  The exotic origin body creme was very nice. It had a very light fragrance, you could almost say that it is unscented so I would recommend it for all skin types. It also had a very thick texture which is something I like with my creams. It left my skin moisturized and actually, my skin has remained that smooth, silky texture even throughout the day. 


This is another awesome gift idea for those coffee lovers out there or rather, anyone who loves taking care of their body. I've never tried coffee flavored body care before and I'm glad I found b3, it made for a very pleasant and well, yummy in the enticing sense, experience. This would be absolutely perfect for a gift or trial and if you like it, there are full sized versions as well. And...this travel set is on sale right now for 25% off!


Buy It: Find the delicious b3 products, gift sets, and travel set online.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Christmas Ideas #6: First Time Books Personalized Children Books Review

When I first found out about First Time Books, I was incredibly excited! This is such a wonderful present, whether its for Christmas, birthdays, other holidays, or even for learning their A, B, C's! Not only is it something personal that can make your little ones feel special, but it also inspire them to learn.


Here's a little background information about them from their site, written by John Burke, the mind behind this creation:

Our Story

Welcome to First Time Books, an interactive web site that lets you personalize and order children's books. Below is our story on how First Time Books was created.

My wife and I were having trouble potty training the youngest of our three daughters, Molly. With 25 years of printing and book binding experience, a light went off in my head one night. I devised a potty training book that represented the characteristics of my daughter, such as ethnicity, gender, and hair color. My business partner, Chad Kase, and I created and programmed a distinctive, unique and special storybook about Molly and her potty training adventure. Needless to say, after receiving her own potty book, Molly never entered the bathroom without it. Within 2 weeks, I was living in a diaper-free home.

We set out to create a new frontier in children's books. The goal of our company since inception is to offer an array of personalized products that excites children and motivates them to learn. We believe a customized, personalized product can have a significant positive impact on a child's development - from potty training and learning ABC's to reading in general. As our company and product offerings continue to grow, as more creative ideas begin to develop, our goal of servicing the development of children will never cease. We hope you enjoy what we have to offer, and that our ideas and products excite you as much as they do us.

With Christmas coming up, I chose a Christmas book for my SO's nephew. I have to say, I really enjoyed the fact that you could personalize the book to match the gender, hair color, ethnicity of the child and the parents. You could also choose the friend's names that you wanted to use in the book and even the Christmas present the child gets from Santa! Its actually quite quick and fun in its own way. This will be his first Christmas and I'm sure this will become one of his favorite stories for a while to come!


When the book first arrived, I was very happy with its quality and colors. Everything looked terrific and the storyline was good. Actually, the funny thing was, the cover picture of the child seems to resemble my SO. We had quite a few laughs over that and I'm sure the family will as well because it seems my SO has the face that represents the Asian boys out there. ;)


First Time Books has such a wide range of ideas and products that I think it was truly an innovative idea. They have personalized ABC books and workbooks, birthday books, halloween books, zoo books, potty training books, coloring books, I spy books, journals and even personalized family notepads. Definitely a great idea to keep learning fun.  


My take: 10 stars out of 10. Awesome gift idea and I'd love to get one for my own little ones when the time comes but for now, our nephew gets this sweet present.


Buy It: Get your own personalized book for your little ones at First Time Books. They come in a variety of versions and prices ($5-7 PDF, $15-30 soft cover, $30-40 hardcover). You can print off your book yourself if you choose the PDF version.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Shutterfly Holiday Card Review -They're In!

Okay, remember a while back, I did this post about these really cute designs from Shutterfly for Christmas cards? So, I finally found some time to design my own cards and omg, the process was so easy and there were so many effects that I still had a hard time choosing. I'm a little shy about my cards so I'll blog about what I did instead. I thought it'd be fun and hilarious to make a storyline involving my puppy and use the card to break the news to our family and friends that we recently got a new pup. 

Here's the design I used, I liked how it was simple and elegant.  So, basically, in the center frame is our adorable pup and then surrounding that center picture are pictures of us with funny or shocked faces like "Oh no, what have we done!?" I know, I know, you have to use your imagination but they turned out great! There were even effects for the pictures, you could make them black and white or do that hazy look that makes everything kind of dreamy. I got the cards within a week of designing them and I was very pleased with their quality and speed of delivery! I was expecting paper thin cards but they came on these thick high quality photopaper and wow, I am definitely impressed! I think our families will get a pleasant and shocking surprise when they receive these cards.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Eden Fantasys Site Review

As most of you know, I am a part of the Ambassador program for Eden Fantasys and being a newcomer, I found their site very helpful. I loved how there were features to make the site easier to use and how people in the community contributed to reviews, ratings and even video clips! It definitely makes life a little less awkward and a little more personal if you know what I mean. Can you imagine walking into a store and asking for sex toys?! I can't, I don't think I even dare step into an adult toy shop. That is why Eden Fantasys is so great. Its an online adult shop that has a very friendly atmosphere and honestly, felt really welcoming and not intimidating even to a newcomer like me. And, if you haven't read my previous post, you'll be happy to hear that everything comes shipped to you in very discrete packaging and well, my package arrived within 2 days. That's just how fast their service was! 

Overall ratings:
Service 10/10
Speed 10/10

Go check them out here

Until next time,


Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Christmas Ideas #5: Groupon.com -Unique...Different...(Review and Giveaway)

CLOSED

Groupon.com is a pretty sweet site from what I've seen so far. Never heard of Groupon before? Well, now's the time to find out! This is what they have to say about themselves:

Each day, Groupon features an unbeatable deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in your city. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won't find anywhere else. We call it "collective buying power!"

Well, what do you think? That's pretty cool, isn't it? So, basically, they find us offers at various stores and get us deals. Most the ones I've seen have been at 50% or more. Who wouldn't want to make purchases for at least 50% off all the time? Some of the sales they have had in the past for example include $15 for $30 worth of gifts at Red Envelope, $99 for 3 Laser hair-removal sessions at Lumimnesse Laser (up to $360 value), $55 for a massage package at Okeanos Club Spa normally worth $120, and many more. Sure, these deals I've listed were the recent New York ones, however, there are Groupon sites for most US and Canadian cities, which makes it pretty cool because that means you can always get local experiences for great prices! Get this, there was even a basic private dance party class available for $125 instead of the regular $300 at DivaDance Company, one of the 2009 Best of New York Dance Class. Even if I'm not a dancer, I think that's a crazy deal! 10 friends, 60 minutes at a top notch dance studio for lessons sounds like amazing fun!

But especially for the Christmas season, Groupon features Grouponicus as well as their regular site. Grouponicus is the holiday where "Groupo", the bargain bird as well as mascot, brings special experiences and savings at 50% off. Again, there are different Grouponicus offers for each city and a new offer is presented each day. The great thing is, these experiences can be for anyone of any age. For example, for Atlanta, Grouponicus currently has one deal where its $29 for $61 worth of meat, apparel and other manly products at the Man Cave. This deal is perfect for guys.  I am positive 

that if that deal was here in New York, my SO would definitely love me for it...he's a meat lover and bbq just happens to be one of his favorite foods!  In Boston, there is a Two-Hour Private Sailing Lesson or Two-Hour Leisure Cruise for Three People at Courageous Sailing for $95 instead of $190 Value, perfect for the adventurers. In LA, $250 for a Two-Hour Private Cooking Class for up to Six People in a Professional Kitchen with Simple Gourmet ($540 Value). This are only some of the deals Grouponicus has, there are so many more experiences and they can range from $15 for $30 drink or restaurant certificates to deluxe experiences like the private sailing above. This is a bad idea for me to look through all of these different cities so I'm going to stop now because I'm going to end up wanting to do every single thing in every city! I'll leave it up to you to explore the rest of the Groupon and Grouponicus site.   

 

The awesome thing about Groupon is that you can purchase for yourself or make it a gift. And if you're not sure exactly what experience you want to purchase for your friends, family, or SO, you can get them Groupon credit so that they can pick the experience of their choice! The other thing I love about Groupon is that even though I am in New York now, I can still purchase experiences or credit for my friends and family that are in different cities. For example, most my readers know I am originally Canadian, so I could purchase an experience for my family and friends back home through Groupon and it would be so easy! Groupon has deals in so many Canadian cities like Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Toronto, Oshawa and so many more...


Now, I am very excited to get to experience Groupon but I've seen so much that I want to do that I can't decide on one! But I will and after I have my experience, I'll let you know how it goes. However, Groupon has been very generous and offered 2 of my lucky readers $25 Groupon credits as well. How exciting is that!?

Bottomline, Groupon allows you to buy experiences either for yourself or as gifts for others for 50-90% off. You really can't go wrong with that, you're buying awesome gifts half the price or less! There are endless options...I love how you can either pick an experience for someone or just get them credits and let them decide. This would be "the" gift for those people that are hard to buy for or are more into adventure than material gifts! Or, in my case, my tummy might win over and I just might go for restaurant groupons! And its so easy, whether its for yourself or someone else, either you can print the voucher yourself or email it to them so its quick, no need to wait for shipping times with this gift! Groupon = very cool! My take? Love it!


Buy It: Visit Groupon or Grouponicus and pick your city of choice to view all the crazy deals they have!


Win It: Two very lucky readers are going to win a $25 Groupon Credit from Groupon.com!

To Enter (MANDATORY): This must be entered before the bonus entries count! I will check. PLEASE Leave a contact email in your entries if it is not found in your profile, if I can't contact you, you can't win. :) 
1) Comment on your favorite holiday tradition or shopping trip. 
2) Tell me what your favorite Grouponicus experience is OR what experience that you would like to see on Grouponicus. 


Bonus Entries -Please make sure you put 1 comment for each entry. e.g. If it says 2 entries, put 2 comments.

• Follow Whirlwind of Surprises on Google Friends Connect -1 entry
• Like Whirlwind of Surprises on facebook. Please leave your first name and last initial-1 entry
• Like Groupon on facebook. 
• Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post. Please leave your link. -2 entries.
• Grab my button and tell me where its at -2 entries
• Enter any of my other giveaways -1 entry
• Follow Whirlwind of Surprises on Networked Blogs -1 entry
• Follow Groupon on Twitter
• Follow Whirlwind of Surprises on Twitter and ReTweet this: RT @cinnybbs @Groupon #Win a $25 Groupon Credit towards an experience #Giveaway (2 Winners!!) http://bit.ly/fw4UTq US/CAN. Ends 12/31. #WOS 
• (can be Tweeted up to 3x daily for extra 2 entries each time. Each tweet must be 2 hours apart. Leave your tweet link)
• Subscribe to Whirlwind of Surprises via email. -2 entries

Giveaway ends 11:59 pm EST on December 31, 2010. Open to US and Canada. Winner will be drawn by a random number generator, posted on this blog and emailed. Winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.