February 8, 2010 | Contests

Hopefully for this coming Valentine’s Day (heck, for every day) you can be with the ones you love. But we all know that that’s not always possible; jobs, school, all sorts of life kinds of things can get in the way of being where you want to be, when you want to be there.

The next best thing to being there is a great way to videoconference across the miles, don’t you think? Logitech sure does. Which is why they’ve offered up a Webcam Pro 9000 for giveaway, because its Carl Zeiss Optics and RightLight2 technology deliver the clearest picture while you use their free Logitech Vid software to reconnect with those far away.

Want to win this baby for your very own? First go review the contest rules and regulations, then come on back here and leave a comment on this post telling me who you’ll reconnect with this Valentine’s Day by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (that’s 8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 to be entered to win. (Wow, that was, like, the world’s most awkward sentence.) Winner to be determined by random number generation and amusing videoconferencing story.

Here’s mine: A few months back we videoconferenced with my brother, who lives across the country, and my children were delighted not to see their uncle, but to see his pet iguana. Which he kept holding up to the camera for them. Yes. I could not make this stuff up, folks.

Ready? Go!

Contests

I love how excited y’all are about Greek yogurt. It does my geeky little Chobani-loving heart good, and that’s aside from all the lovely “good” bacteria that’s making your digestive system all happy and such.

I promised you five winners, and five winners you shall have. In no particular order, they are: Adrienne (commenter 135), Melinda (commenter 70), Christina (commenter 132), Kira (commenter 236), and Jodi (commenter 19). Congratulations, ladies—please check your email!

Big thanks to all who played, and special thanks to Chobani and their helpers at Fleishman-Hillard for both supplying my own little rugrats with some delicious samples and providing the prizes for the winners today. We love free, and we love it even more when it’s delicious, right? Right.

Didn’t win this time? Don’t be blue! I have another contest coming up in just a little bit, but you know there are always lots more chances to win, so stick around.

February 6, 2010 | Contests

Some of you know that I am currently on a weight loss challenge with some friends, and the cornerstone of my new diet plan is More Protein, Less Fat. (Yes, that’s revolutionary. I should totally start my own diet program with that keen insight, don’t you think?) I’ve been on the plan for five weeks and hands down my favorite new “power” food is Greek yogurt. It’s thick and delicious, easy to get in either low-fat or fat-free varieties, and loaded with protein.

So when the nice folks doing PR for Chobani contacted me to see if we’d like to try their brand new Chobani Champions—4 oz. kid-friendly flavors of their yummy yogurt—I couldn’t say yes fast enough. My refrigerator is always full of Chobani cups, but for the most part I hunch over them and hiss “My preshuuuuuuus!” whenever the kids get near them. Ahem. Anyway, they sent us a 4-pack sampler and the kids inhaled them. (Leaving me to hog all of the fat-free adult-sized pomegranate yogurts to myself.)

I think they were a little alarmed by my passionate thanks (”We love Chobani so much! May I please have your babies?”), and so to get me off their backs they’ve offered up some more yogurt for me to share with you, lovely readers.

Five lucky Want Not readers will each receive eight Chobani Champions, two each of verryberry, honeynana, strawnana and chocolate. (It probably goes without saying that my daughter declared the chocolate the best, but I think it’s very telling that my son’s pick was the honeynana. This stuff is amazing.)

Want to win ‘em? Of course you do! To enter this contest, first go review the contest rules and regulations, then come on back here and leave a comment on this post by 8:00 a.m. Eastern (5:00 a.m. Pacific) on Monday, February 8th, 2010 to be in the running. Winners to be determined by random number generation and general awesomeness.

Ready? Go!

February 4, 2010 | Contests

It’s time to reveal the winner of this week’s contest, your chance to win an Idbids Scout Starter Kit. I’m inserting a drumroll here, just for effect. (Said drumroll sounds an awful lot like my dog dismembering a stuffed duck, but nevermind that.)

The random number generator has spoken, and our winner is commenter 10, Chris. Congratulations, Chris—please check your email! You’ll be receiving Scout and everything your little one needs to start taking iddy biddy steps to make a biggie big difference in keeping our planet green and healthy.

Big thanks to all who played, and thanks to the lovely ladies who run Idbids for the prize.

Didn’t win this time? You know, I hear there’s a holiday coming up, or something. It means I’ve got plenty of awesome prizes lined up for the next few weeks, so stick around for more chances to win.

February 2, 2010 | Contests

Those of you who were around to play along this weekend got to jump in on the first of what will probably be a series of clean-my-office-out contests, this one offering four great kids’ books for giveaway just because my children stubbornly refuse to stop growing. The wretches.

Anyway, hundreds of entries later, we have just one lucky winner, and that winner is… commenter 105, Sarah. Congratulations, Sarah—please check your email! I’ll be sending you four great books to read with your little ones. (Or just to read. I don’t judge.)

Big thanks to all who played, and special thanks to the generosity of my pals at both Scholastic and Simon & Schuster for supplying the prizes.

Didn’t win this time? Hey, did you enter the contest to win an Idbids Scout Starter Pack yet? There’s still time! And there’s always more chances to win coming up, too. I’ve got some great prizes lined up for this month, so keep checking back.

February 1, 2010 | Contests

Have you met the Idbids? They’re friendly plush critters designed to teach your kids how iddy biddy steps can make a biggie big difference when it comes to keeping our planet healthy and happy. There’s everything to love about these guys—the characters are made of organic cotton and the packaging is all recyclable, they come with a fun little book about making the world greener, and a field guide so that kids can keep track of the steps they’ve taken to be more eco-friendly, and they’re awfully cute, too.

Today I have a Scout Starter Kit for one lucky Want Not reader. The kit contains Scout, the cloud Idbid, as well as the book and field guide, and a cinch sack to carry everything. (This is one of the items I unearthed during the office clean-out, so the box is a little dusty, but everything is new and intact other than that.)

Want to win it? Of course you do! First go read the contest rules and regulations, then come on back here and leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (that’s 8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 to be entered. Winner to be chosen via random number generation and whether or not you remember to turn the light off when you leave a room.

Ready? Go!

January 30, 2010 | Contests

There’s absolutely nothing like reading with a child, y’all know that getting books into the hands of kids is something about which I’m pretty passionate. It starts when they’re little, and—as the saying goes—cultivating that love of reading in your little ones is a gift that will last them a lifetime.

So today I’m offering up a pack of four great kids’ books, compliments of Scholastic and Simon & Schuster. One lucky Want Not reader will win:
Boo Hoo Bird and Too Many Toys from Scholastic
and
Robot Zot! and Olivia Acts Out from Simon & Schuster.

These are all funny, engaging hardcover books your little ones will adore. Wouldn’t you like to add them to your home library?

To enter this contest, first go review the contest rules and regulations, then come on back here and leave a comment on this post by 8:00 a.m. Eastern (that’s 5:00 a.m. Pacific) on Monday, February 1st, 2010 to be in the running. Winner to be determined by random number generation and read-aloud voice.

Ready? Go!

January 26, 2010 | Contests

I owe you all an apology. Not only did I fall down on announcing the winners from last week’s contest, I utterly neglected to put up a new contest yesterday. In my defense I can only tell you that I’ve been uprooting and rearranging my office, and some days it was lucky that I could even find the dog in all the mess.

By way of compensation, though, I can tell you that I found all kinds of stuff while I was moving, and in the next week or two we may have a “Mir’s cluttered office” liquidation giveaway, where y’all get to win various books and samples I totally forgot I even had. So. There’s always that to look forward to.

Anyway, today the random number generator and I cozied up with a cup of coffee and selected the five winners of last week’s contest to win two Elizabeth Kostova novels. Hooray!

Without further ado, the winners are: TinaH (commenter 246), Krista (commenter 95), exile on mom street (commenter 151), glittersmama (commenter 134, and—last but not least—Karen (commenter 17). Congratulations, winners—please check your email!

Big thanks to all who played, and special thanks for the continued generosity of our friends at Hachette Book Group, who are singlehandedly keeping us all in awesome reading material these days.

Didn’t win this time? There’s always another chance coming up, don’t fret!

January 20, 2010 | Contests

Just a quick reminder—you have until just before midnight tonight to get your entry in to Elizabeth Kostova’s latest novel along with her debut bestseller. This contest will have five lucky readers walking away with this pair of books, so the odds aren’t bad at all. Of course if you forget to enter, your odds of winning are exactly zero.

As always, please remember to put your entry comment on the contest post. This post is reserved for discussion of the following issue: Does waking up in the morning practically unable to move mean that you are old or that you are just a delicate flower? Purely hypothetically, of course.

January 18, 2010 | Contests

Thanks to our friends at Hachette Book Group, I have another page-turning giveaway for y’all today.

In honor of Elizabeth Kostova’s new novel, The Swan Thieves, I’ll be giving away five copies to five lucky Want Not readers. But wait, there’s more (she said in her best Ginsu Knives Infomercial voice)! All winners will also receive a copy of Kostova’s debut novel The Historian, which made it to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. So if there’s any question as to whether this author can write a page-turner, I think that’s your answer right there.

That’s two great Kostova novels apiece to five lucky readers. Will you be one of them? Maybe!

To enter this contest, first go review the contest rules and regulations, then come on back here and leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (that’s 8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 to be in the running. Winners will be determined by random number generation and plot twist.

Ready? Go!