And the winner is ...

Emma!

Emma wrote:
"How fun! I am in the middle of planning a birthday party for my almost 4 year old. He wants a basket ball theme. So I'd order some with a basketball and 'Happy Birthday Timothy' on them."

Thanks to everyone who commented. I've never given something away, and I might never do it again because it's hard to pick just one winner ... but my friends at Random.org made it painless.

Send me your email Emma, and I'll send you the info to personalize your Fruit Roll-ups.

(The rest of you can still order them here, but unfortunately they won't be free.)

Fruit roll-ups

Remember Fruit Roll Ups? Well, they're baaaack! Actually, I don't think they've gone anywhere, except for children's lunch boxes, but I personally stopped buying them a few years ago. So it was sort of a retro experience to have PBN let me pick out and order My Fruit Roll Ups.

Basically, My Fruit Roll Ups are a box of Fruit Roll Ups all imprinted with a design or message of your choosing. All you do is go to the Website and personalize your box o' treats with a design and/or message of your choosing. (One design per box, which is OK because the boxes aren't huge - 30 rolls apiece.)

The website is fun and mostly user-friendly. I found it pretty easy to use and had my box ordered in about 10 minutes, half of which were spent playing around. There are more than 400 image options, ranging from holidays to sports, and infinite message possibilities. You can choose your font, colors, etc. One catch? You can't choose the color/flavor of your Roll Ups, as far as I can figure out. Mine were red/watermelon so I guess that's the default flavor.

I decided to go with an image of a baby and a message that shall remain a secret, but you can probably guess what it says. And, no, I'm not pregnant. And, no, I'm not going to be any time soon. But one day I will be, and how cool would it be to throw some of these in the mail? A fun way to spill the baby beans, in my opinion.

Only bummer is the design and message aren't as bold as I hoped they would be. So instead of sending an overwhelming message about my hormone levels, I'll probably have to include a note - "Pay careful attention before you go chomping willy-nilly on these bad boys."

Overall, I think it's a cute idea. One cannot have enough personalized products in my opinion, and these are way cool than a mini-license plate. And if you made a birthday message for a young child's party, their party would go from fun to fabulous! All for $29.99 + shipping. (Orders ship in about 15 days.)

But it gets even better. Want to make your own? Just head over to the website and then come back to leave a comment about what design and message you would pick. I'll pick a winner at random, who will get a free box of these bad boys. Just leave your comment by midnight, June 10. (No offense to my friends across the pond, but this offer is valid for U.S. residents only. Commis!)

Were you Raised by Wolves?

It's happened to everybody - suddenly someone mentions a practice that is totally unfamiliar to you, only to find out the every single person besides you knows how to do it. Maybe it was poaching a chicken or sewing on a button (and hopefully not washing your hands after using the loo). In any case, you probably called up your mom and shouted, "Seriously? You never got around to teaching me that?"

Well, you can no longer make that phone call because there's a new book - "Were You Raised by Wolves?" by Christie Mellor - that takes a comprehensive look at adult behaviors your mother may not have schooled you about. It's not a Martha Stewart take, but there is an adequate emphasis on etiquette and proper how-tos. From how to use your leftover honey to make a face mask to starting your own family traditions, the book is all over the maturity map. Using humor and comical illustrations, you'll suddenly find yourself an expert in finance, love and fashion.

It's a fun read - minus the chapter on drinks and bar-hopping - but with books like these, I always wonder what to do with it next. I mean, when it comes time to poach that chicken, will I really remember to come back to the appropriate chapter, or will I head to an online cooking site? I just feel like all these new-age encyclopedias are too random to be a constant reference. But what do I know? I didn't even know how to make gravy until I read this book.


* Special thanks to PBN for sending me this book and being patient with my review.

Prestone warms my heart (and windshield)

It's not often that I get excited about negative temperatures. OK, so this is the first time, and I admittedly only got marginally relieved. Why? Because the Parent Bloggers Network sent me some Prestone auto products last month that guaranteed to make my winter windshield scraping easier, only to have the weather turn unseasonably warm - 20s and 30s - so I kept having to postpone this review.

But thankfully (??) the weather took a nasty turn last week, complete with snow, ice and some seriously cold temps, like -25 with windchill. Uggh! But not so uggh! as normal because these Prestone products really work! And I'm not using that exclamation mark haphazardly.

First, I used the Prestone Windshield De-Icer. It's basically a magic potion that comes in a spray can, which you use to warm up hard-to-scrape ice on your windshield. Just squirt a bit all over the icy area, wait a few minutes and - POOF! - your windshield wipers or ice scraper will wipe the ice right off with no elbow grease. So long carpal tunnel!

Trying to use the Prestone Windshield Fluid Booster was more of a challenge as my wiper fluid continues to freeze up, no matter what we put in there. (Including fluids that claim to be for the arctic tundra.) So we had to wait for a warmer day, defrost the old stuff and add the Windshield Fluid Booster, which supplements your regular fluid of choice. And while I can't really attest to its ice-melting properties, since I haven't had the chance to use it in that capacity, I am thrilled to report that it has not frozen. Woo-hoo!

So if you live somewhere where weather is regularly icy, I recommend that you move. If you can't arrange that, however, as we don't seem able to do, then I would recommend that you buy some Prestone products. (Find a retailer here.) They do work, they will save your digits from hypothermia and, most importantly, they'll get you to Target before the moving rush.

What more could you ask for? You know, besides summer?