Lots of Fun Stuff To Report…

OK, we have a lot to announce here, so bear with us!

First, we have a winner for our The Body Shop / Vera Bradley contest giveaway! And the winner is…

Mama Zen – comment #27!

Congrats, Mama Zen!

And just a reminder that The Body Shop’s Coconut Body Butter was generously brought to you by Sheena, our favorite The Body Shop consultant! Be sure to check out Sheena’s store (there’s a Buy One, Get One 1/2 Off Special going on!), and help this hardworking student/blogger/entrepreneur extraordinaire meet her sales goal by September!

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And now some more exciting news to share… we are totally Schmooze-tastic!

Yes, we have been recognized for our power of Shmooze, thanks to two of our favorite bloggers, Stacey and Louann, who passed along this awesome award to us!

Thanks, ladies! We feel special! And we pass the award on to: Toni, Katja, M, Sarah and Dawn!

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And now, contest link-up time. Please take the time to check out all of these fabulous contests that these fabulous blogging ladies have going on!

- Our new friend at Mamanista is celebrating her beautiful daughter’s 1st birthday on August 9th with a contest! Her daughter, Baby Diva, was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect two days after she was born.
So in honor of Baby Diva being a winner, you can be a winner, too! There are already some great prizes, but more will be available as they are donated! Check out the contest, which goes on through August 9th, HERE!

- The FlipFlop Mamma has a contest giveaway going on for a DVD of Walt Disney’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Friendship Edition. Contest ends Thursday, July 12th. Check it out HERE!

- Steph at Adventures in Babywearing is having a contest for a Podonbutai, in the fabric of your choice, courtesy of All Natural Mommies. Contest ends Friday, July 13th. Check it out HERE!

- aBlondeBlogger is having a fun Treasure Hunt contest for a signed copy of Bruce Littlefield’s book Garage Sale America, plus one of Bruce’s garage sale treasures. Fun stuff! Contest ends July 17th. Check it out HERE!

- Katja at Skimbaco – The Lifestyle is having a contest for a beautiful Children’s Eternity Necklace by DeAnna Cochran. The contest ends July 15th. Check it out HERE!

- Tanyetta at Days Like These! is celebrating her 500th post (yeah, Tanyetta!) by giving away a copy of the book Money, A Memoir. The contest ends July 16th. Check it out HERE!

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And, last but not least, keep checking back for the new look of our Pinks & Blues site… coming very soon! We are so excited about the changes, and will, of course, be having a contest giveaway to celebrate!

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Dreamin’ the Barbie Dream!

When I was a little girl, I loved Barbie. I admired Barbie.

OK, I was pretty much sure that I would grow up to be Barbie.

I would marry Ken in a great big Barbie wedding in a great big princess gown.

We would live in our Barbie Dream House.

I would drive my pink Barbie Corvette.

Ken and I would take fun Barbie trips to the beach (where I’d lay out in the sun in my pink Barbie bikini).

And, of course, we would have beautiful little Barbie babies.

That was the Barbie dream, right? Heck, I even dreamed this dream at night while sleeping on my Barbie sheets and pillows!

(I didn’t think about it at the time, but this Barbie dream clearly came with the whole 39″bust, 19″hips, 33″waist thing, too.)

Yes, looking back at it, the dream was a bit shallow. I even had a friend whose Mom forbade her from playing with Barbies, believing that the Barbie establishment was selling little girls a bill of goods on the idea of the perfect body.

But it was fun… it was a fantasy… and come on, it was the 80′s! Everyone was a narcissist, even Barbie.

So, now that I am all grown up, am I Barbie? Um… not so much!

But am I damaged because I didn’t live up to my Barbie dream? Of course not.

But now that my little nieces are into playing with Barbies, I have come to see just how Barbie has changed in the past 20 years.

I didn’t even realize that today’s Barbie is a jock until my 6-year-old niece told me she just got a Barbie tennis racket!

And there’s a Barbie skateboard, a Barbie scooter, Barbie In Line Skates.

And Barbie’s ambitious, too. Barbie’s a doctor, a veterinarian, a musician.

Sure, Barbie is still a huge fan of pink and all things girly…

But now Ken doesn’t have to be the only one bringing home the bacon to the Barbie Dream House. Actually, if memory serves me correctly, Barbie kicked Ken to the curb a few years ago.

It’s nice to see that with Girl Power all the rage, Barbie has kept up with the times. Barbie even offers girly Barbie doggy toys now (which this former Barbie dreamer bought for her own little sporty girl doggy, of course)!

The Barbie brand clearly has staying power, even after 50 years! So 50 years from now, whether my little granddaughters are athletes, working girls, stay-at-home moms, princesses – or all of these things! – I hope that they are dreaming big Barbie dreams, too!

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