Sign the Toyota & Teen Vogue #ArriveInStyle pledge for safe driving and win prizes! #ad

***CLOSED***
This post was written as part of my association with Toyota for Arrive in Style. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.  The prize was provided and may be shipped by Toyota.  Toyota is not a sponsor, administrator, or connected in any other way with this giveaway

I have been working to help spread the word about a great initiative by Toyota and Teen Vogue, to promote safe driving for teens by taking the Arrive in Style pledge. I was Tweeting a couple days ago with many prizes to give away just for taking the pledge. I still have a lot of prizes left over and I would love to see them all in the hands of those moms and teenage daughters who make safety a priority. It takes about 2-3 minutes to complete and all you have to do is copy and paste the link when you reach the completion page. The other alternative is to share your pledge through Facebook. It is very easy to do and I sure hope you will take the pledge!

You can win one of the three prizes we have available:

A Two-Pack “Arrive in Style” safe driving promise rings (photo below)
An “Arrive in Style” beauty box or
A $50 AMEX gift card

To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is take the pledge then copy & paste your completion link or Facebook share post in your comment. That's it! 9 winners will be chosen at random and contacted via email to claim prize.

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will close on August 31, 2013. Mom Files is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Good luck!

My favorite new kitchen appliance, the Belgian waffle maker

This past Mother's Day, I received a wonderful present from my family. I had hinted around for some time that I wanted a Belgian waffle maker and finally got one. I have had the same traditional, round waffle maker for about 15 years now. It works just fine, but I prefer the taste and texture of a Belgian waffle. They bought me the Food Network brand from Kohl's. The name brand alone made me giddy! 

I couldn't wait to use it! I have quite a few recipes for Belgian waffles, but honestly I don't always want to dedicate the time to measuring a dozen or so ingredients. I use the Krusteaz Belgian waffle mix in the box (gasp!). I have mixed up this same waffle batter and cooked it in my traditional waffle maker, but they always come out too dense.

In my fancy new waffle maker, the waffles come out so good! They have the perfect texture inside while being a bit crisp on the outside. I have used my machine about 20 times since I got it and I have learned what to do and what NOT to do. If you look at the picture above, you will notice that my waffles don't all fill out to the edges. Welllll, after overfilling the cooking surfaces a few times too many, you will learn what happens! My waffle maker had a locking feature to ensure that the cooking plates come together properly to cook your waffle evenly and maintain the shape. I learned the hard way that by overfilling to get the edges filled all the way in results in the top popping. The noise it makes is SO scary! It sounds like a mini explosion!! 

I was watching an episode of Bobby Flay's show on Cooking Channel called "Brunch with Bobby" and he was making some coconut waffles. I noticed his were not perfect and the edges were not even. If Bobby Flay can have uneven, imperfect waffles, then it is okay for me too! 

My family enjoys their waffles with butter and syrup. My husband loves having chicken with his. For me, I like mine with butter and some fancy strawberry preserves. If you live near a Kroger store you must try out their high-end line of preserves called Private Selection. It is amazing! I make a hefty batch of waffles and put the leftovers in the refrigerator. They toast up perfectly the next day. 

I love my Belgian waffle maker so much and wanted to share my thoughts for those of you considering buying one. You won't be disappointed! 

Sign the Toyota &Teen Vogue #ArriveInStyle Pledge & join me for a day full of giveaways! #ad

This post was written as part of my association with Toyota for Arrive in Style. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.  The prize was provided and may be shipped by Toyota.  Toyota is not a sponsor, administrator, or connected in any other way with this giveaway

Hi guys! You might remember a couple months ago, I posted about the Toyota and Teen Vogue "Arrive In Style" pledge. The pledge is a very simple way for moms and daughters to make a promise to make safety a priority when driving. Many girls and women have already taken the pledge and I would love for you to do the same!

Starting tomorrow, July 23, 2013 at 11:00 am EST until 8:00 PM, I will be tweeting about this initiative and would love for you to join me! By taking the pledge and posting your public link or a screenshot, you will have the chance to win one of 13 awesome prizes! We will be giving away:

(10) Two-Pack “Arrive in Style” safe driving promise rings (photo below)
(2) “Arrive in Style” beauty boxes
(1) $50 AMEX gift card

Taking the pledge is so easy! It has 4 steps in all and takes about 2-3 minutes to complete. Go to the Teen Vogue and Toyota Arrive in Style pledge page.

#1- Enter your date of birth and then accept all 4 sections of safety guidelines.
#2- Sign and enter your basic information to be eligible for the sweepstakes and photo contest.
#3- Next you can post a photo of you and your daughter "air driving" (see photo below for an example).
#4- Spread the word! Share your pledge on your Facebook page and make it a "public" update. Remember, if you do not make it public, we won't be able to verify that you took the pledge. If you don't care to post publicly on your Facebook page, just copy and paste the link on the completion page and leave your link in the comments or tweet it to me @momfiles. Easy, right?!

Here is an example of what your completed pledge will look like: https://www.facebook.com/natasha.taylor.7355/posts/473892042700150

If you want to go take the pledge now, you can leave your public link or a screenshot in the comments section to enter to win one of the 13 prizes. For a screenshot, you can Tweet me the screenshot image @momfiles and use the hashtag #arriveinstyle. You have until 8:00 PM EST on July 23, 2013 to enter either here on the blog, or on Twitter.

Winners will be selected randomly and will be contacted to provide mailing information to claim prize. You will have 24 hours to respond or an alternate winner will be chosen. Mom Files is not responsible for any lost prizes. Good luck!

I have the best summer hair with Pantene Ultimate 10 BB Creme #PanteneBBCreme

It's that time of year. The time when the weather is hot, sticky and the air is humid. We had at least 3 weeks straight of heavy rain and storms. This means one thing, unruly hair. Like most people, the humidity makes my hair misbehave. It becomes frizzy, crunchy and just crazy looking. I received a Klout Perk from Pantene and Walmart a couple weeks ago that included their latest product, Pantene Ultimate 10 BB Creme.

I have heard of BB creme for your face but never for hair. I was very interested in finding out how it actually worked. It is supposed to care for your hair and style it all in one step. You can apply it to wet or dry hair. I tried it on wet hair since I blow dry and heat style. Immediately I noticed my hair felt very soft. Normally when I blow dry my hair, I have to curl it after or it will look frizzy. With Pantene BB creme, I could totally get away with just a blow dry. That is how I know it worked well! Even when I wake up the next day, my hair would feel so smooth and healthy.

My daughter took this photo of my hair (it was curled) from the back to show you how shiny and controlled it looks using the product. Would you believe that with all that hair, I did not use a conditioner after shampooing? I only used the BB creme.

To see if this stuff works on different hair types, I had all 3 of my kids use it. The oldest used it in her natural curls and loves how soft, controlled and calm her curls are. My younger daughter used it in her already dry and flat ironed hair. You could see an actual difference in how her super thick hair looks. She tends to have big hair and this products helps her hair to lay a bit flatter and it looks and feels softer. My little boy has wavy hair and the BB creme gives just enough moisture to help control his waves. We all love it and can't wait to buy other products from the line. The BB Creme is just over $6! Not bad at all! You can find them at Walmart and Walmart.com/pantene.

I was not required to review this product but loved it so much, I just had to share!

Sixteen30 Natural Skin & Body Care Review & Giveaway

I received some complimentary samples of Sixteen30 dry skin repair creams to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% my own as always. 

Despite the 3 weeks of rain we have been getting here in South Carolina, summer is in full swing. This means I am wearing more shorts, skirts and tank tops. I want my skin looking its best since more of it will be exposed. I tried out the Coconut Lime Dry Skin Repair from Sixteen30. The first thing I do with any product that I apply to my skin is to smell it. I was so pleased with how deliciously yummy the scent was. If  my eyes were closed, I would have sworn it was a key lime cookie or some sort of baked goods. Of course scent means nothing to me if the product does not come through with what it is intended for. Man oh man, was I amazed! I was not sure what the texture of the skin repair cream would be like. Turns out that it was very dense and emollient. This is what I look for when I need a deep moisturizing cream.

It applied very easily and had that subtle fragrance of coconut and lime. My skin looked like it was glowing! I couldn't believe how heavily moisturized it felt. The true test was what my skin would feel like the next day. My skin felt as if I had just applied moisturizer... amazing!! It even worked on my son's scaly skin. Normally we have to apply lotion or cream to his skin at least twice a day. That is not the case with Sixteen30 dry skin repair. Besides the effectiveness of product, it is great knowing they are made of all natural ingredients. I have tried many lotions and creams over the years and this one has exceeded my expectations! I highly recommend it for anyone who needs maximum moisture that will last. If you are interested in purchasing any of the Sixteen30 products for yourself, you can use this special code that will give you 10% any items (before shipping charges are applied) MOMFILES10. This code is good until August 2, 2013.

The owner at Sixteen30 has been so generous to offer a giveaway for one lucky Momfiles' reader to win. The prize includes a full-size Peppermint Foot Therapy Smoothing Foot Polish and a sample-size Peppermint Foot Therapy Cream. Perfect to soothe and protect your dry, achy feet!

Enter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on August 2, 2013. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email. Mom Files is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Good luck!