Buckley Connerty

This was a very exciting Summer for my family. My husband had a month off of work. So we planned a fabulous road trip to sunny Orlando, Florida. We were even excited to be taking our dog, Buckley along for the ride.

We were thrilled to be chosen to be a part of the #HolidayRoads trip with Collective Bias and Bergan pet products. We were going to try out some of their products during our trip and even give some away to some other dog owners that we met while on the road.

A couple days before our trip, we headed to our local Walmart to purchase a Bergan harness for Buckley. We wanted to have a few days for him to get used to it. It actually didn’t even take that long. He loved it the first day.

Here is a little snippet of our trip to Walmart:

We put my son in charge of walking the dog for the most part during our trip. That is one of his duties at home and he was very excited to continue to do it on our Summer vacation. He also helped Buckley get used to the harness the first day after we bought it. Check out the footage:

The giving away of the harnesses was one of the highlights of the trip according to my children. We were so excited to pick people at local dog parks, at the beach and even at a few highway rest stops on our way down to Orlando. My kids couldn’t wait to give the harnesses away. It was like Christmas. Check out the lucky recipients and the cool canines we met along the way:

During the #HolidayRoads trip, we were also tasked with picking up another useful Bergan pet product along the way. This was a tough choice because these products are great. They are reasonably priced, durable and definitely useful. On this trip, we bought the only thing that we couldn’t get on our first trip.

Check that trip out here:

I am actually a little sad to be writing this post because it means that our wonderful trip is over, my husband has gone back to work from his month long sabbatical and Summer is quickly coming to end. I am a little teary eyed looking at the pictures and thinking how quickly they are growing up. I also love the fabulous Summer memories that we created this year.

My kids after a day of fun and facepainting in Orlando, Florida.

We loved being part of this project and especially enjoyed all of the furry friends (and some furry owners) we got to meet along the way. I especially want to thank Bergan for introducing us to some great products that I now cannot believe, as a pet owner, that I ever lived without.

I also want to say KUDOS to Bergan for participating in a project like this. This was a natural, organic way to really get to know their products and to introduce these products to some very grateful pet owners during our Summer vacation.

DISCLOSURE: I was given a stipend from Collective Bias and Bergan pet products to participate in the #HolidayRoads project. The money was theirs but the words are entirely my own.

So today is the actual makeover day. We are headed to Walmart and even though I explained to my children what a makeover for daddy entails, they still don’t get it!

My husband was chosen to participate in the Norelco Makeover Your Man program for Father’s Day. Collective Bias and Norelco provided us with a generous gift card (or I should say gift cards to be exact) to complete this project.

This was the perfect opportunity for my husband to get a much needed haircut, some new clothes and a new razor. His hair hadn’t been cut in months, his wardrobe hadn’t been updated in years and let’s just say that his razor had a lot of duct tape on it.

The planning began almost immediately. My husband likes to do research. So when I told him that he was getting a new razor, he jumped on the Internet and began searching for information.

I really wanted to get our entire family involved so last night we headed to Walmart to get this makeover started. As soon as we walked into Walmart, I immediately noticed the haircut place. We walked in and they could see my husband right away.

He sat in the chair and we all sat down in chairs around him. The lady told him, “Boy you sure have a lot of hair! It has been a long time since you last had your haircut. Hasn’t it?” He just nodded while my kids and I laughed. None of us could really remember when his last haircut had been.

We sat there watching the hair come off. It was so long that she had to cut it with scissors, use the shaver and then use scissors again. I had to take a picture because he had more hair come off of his head than I do when I get a haircut. Look at all of that hair!

My husband said that he felt about 10 pounds lighter. He looked so much better. In fact, he looked great! Some other lady getting her hair done at the same time stopped my husband on the way out and told him that he looked at least 10 years younger. What a great compliment.

We then scoured Walmart for clothing. We spent about one hour shopping and he tried on all of the clothes (which he hates to do). We had a few fit issues and some problems finding colors that we liked but in the end, the kids and I picked out three complete outfits for my husband for under $100 total.

Special note: I found the greatest hat that I really wanted him to get. I made him try it on and he complained about it the entire time. I really liked the hat and so did the kids but he refused to put it back on. His loss.

Our last stop of the trip was to the Health & Beauty aisle to pick out a brand new, Norelco razor. It has been a long time since hubs has gotten a new razor. It is just not something that we think about all that often. So he did a little research online before we went and had two models in mind that he wanted to take a look at. He ended up choosing the Norelco Triple Track Heads.

He couldn’t even wait until we got home. My husband asked me to drive home so that he could open his new razor and start reading the directions. He plugged the razor in as soon as we walked in the door. The razor charged overnight and by the next morning, he was ready to try it out.

His thoughts? “It gives a great, close shave. I didn’t even get the usual five o’clock shadow. My skin feels great and absolutely no razor burn.”

Outfit for a night out at our favorite local wine bar $26
Black flat front shorts with grey pin stripes $9
Grey brushed cotton pocket polo shirt $7
Black Leather belt $10

4th of July outfit $17
Madras shorts $12
White button down oxford shirt $5

Outfit for going to see a concert or other event $33.50
Levi’s distressed denim jeans $18.50
Black cotton shirt with micro dots $12
Black tee underneath $3

New Hanes Underwear $10 – not shown, you can thank me later!

Total spent on clothing $ 92.56 (I added $6.06 for tax)
Total spent on haircut $ 20 (includes a $5 tip for telling my husband how great he looked)
Total spent on new razor $ 141.78

Grand total spent to Makeover my Man $ 254.34

Boost to his self esteem
P R I C E L E S S

Check out the Whrrl complete with pictures.

GIVEAWAY: Norelco will be giving one winner two replacement heads for their razor. To enter tell me what type of Norelco Razor you have.

The contest deadline will be Monday June 21, 2010 at 10am EST.

Disclosure: We received gift cards from Collective Bias on behalf of facilitating this makeover courtesy of Philips Norelco.

Ten bloggers have agreed to take part in a three month challenge that includes letting Jenny McCarthy into their lives on a daily basis via the Your Shape fitness game by Ubisoft.

Their goals and motivation are different but the end result is the same: Lose weight and get fit. Follow their progress on Twitter (#YourShape) and through their blogs.

I am thrilled to be the Team Leader and to be a part of a new challenge through Collective Bias with Ubisoft.

MEET THE PARTICIPANTS:

Lori from A Cowboy’s Wife [Follow her on Twitter @acowboyswife] recently started a new blog just to chronicle her weight loss journey, Operation Fatty (every time I read this name, I totally crack up).

Lori shared that one of her challenge goals is… “to be able to shop for normal clothes. Be comfortable in what I wear, not gasping for air while sitting at a table cause my jeans are so tight.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Beth from The Plus Size Mommy [@PlusSizeMommy on Twitter] is “on a mission to lose weight and get healthy…” She wants to “incorporate a healthier lifestyle all around for my entire family…to feel better and be around for my children.”

Beth has also set her goal having a better quality of life and says “I am just too tired of being and looking like this. This is “NO SHAPE” to be in for anyone.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Claire

Claire from The Mom Claire [Follow her on Twitter @themomclaire] is frustrated because “this is the most I have weighed in my entire life.” She wants to lose weight but says that lack of know how and motivation are stopping her.

In addition, Claire has a fun goal sparking her motivation to look great this Spring: “my little sister is getting married in May on the beach and I want to look healthy!”

* * * * * * * * * *

Jodi from Mom’s Favorite Stuff [@JodiGrundig on Twitter] is “trying to become more fit – regular exercise was never part of my life, but I know that it’s essential to work out in order to stay healthy.”

Jodi wants to lose weight and has a goal of “getting back into a certain pair of jeans I have!  I’m less worried about the weight on the scale, and more on the inches.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Toni from Just Stop Screaming [@Totally_Toni on Twitter] wants “to tone up areas on my body that need to be toned.”

She also shares the importance of “eating healthier and toning my mid section and implementing the healthy eating to the rest of my family as well.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Kim from Crafty Mama of 4 [@craftymamaof4 on Twitter] needs “to get in shape for myself and for my family.” She thinks that the “best way for me to do it is with support and out in the open.”

Kim’s goals are feeling better about myself and having more stamina and energy.

* * * * * * * * * *

Elizabeth from Busy Mom [@Busymom on Twitter] would “simply like to look and feel better.”

She says about herself, “I’ve put on way too much weight in the past few years and had knee problems for most of 2009 and had very little activity. My knees are much better, and it’s time to do something about my weight so they don’t get worse.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Amy from Selfish Mom [@SelfishMom on Twitter] wants to “look better in clothes.” She further states that “motivation has always been a problem for me.  I thought maybe a little public competition (and the possibility of humiliation) might help.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Kelly from The Centsible Life [@centsiblelife on Twitter] wants “to feel more energetic, healthier, and stronger.”

She also said that she needs to get fit but doesn’t have a lot of time to do so. “I was really interested in Your Shape because I want to make sure I’m doing exercises properly so I get the most in shape for my time. I know good form is important but I don’t know how else I could tell without having someone else monitor me.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Stefanie from Mommy Musings [@mommymusings on Twitter]

* * * * * * * * * *

So watch out as Lori, Beth, Clair, Jodi, Toni, Kim, Elizabeth, Amy, Kelly and Stefanie get fit, have fun and share their stories of the Your Shape Challenge with YOU!

Type-A Mom Conference is a unique mom blogging conference designed to help bloggers and businesses take it to the next level. The conference, held September 24-26, 2009 in Asheville, North Carolina will feature some of the most influential, admired and insightful mom bloggers talking about topics like power social networking, branding, blogging, finding your voice, and turning your passion for blogging into a real paycheck.

Bloggers can learn how to improve their writing, earn money from their blog and market their blogs while boosting their traffic. Bloggers also get the chance to connect with companies while learning from the best without leaving Asheville.

Businesses will learn about blogging to promote their businesses; understanding Twitter, Facebook and social media to promote their business while hearing real company case studies on social media successes; and have the opportunity to encourage influential bloggers to spread the word about their company. Companies will also be offered the opportunity to sell at the Mom Market.

The popular “Speed Dating” session will allow businesses and influencers to mingle and get to know each other. The Type-A Mom Conference schedule is designed to create a balance of time learning, networking, and enjoying some Asheville hospitality. This includes some fun programming that is even free for participants.

The Type-A Mom Conference speakers come from all walks of mom blogging life. There are marketing masterminds, and dazzling weavers of the written word. There are movers and shakers, Twitterati and social media mavens. Some know how to make cash blogging, some know how to build a fiercely loyal community of readers and followers, and some can craft a killer blogger brand. They all have one thing in common: these are the influential moms on the cutting edge of this brave new world of mommy blogging.

A special thanks to the conference sponsors who helped to make this all possible: Little Debbie, HP, Biltmore, Accents to Asheville, Creative Memories, iRobot, Collective Bias, Chick-fil-A, Boiron, Earth, Vehicle Vibes, The Health Adventure, Scandinavian Child, Mabel’s Labels, Mountain Xpress, Time to Play Magazine, Chef’s Requested, Sprig Toys, The Sister Project, momAgenda, EdenFantasys, LaZOOM Comedy Tour, MomSelect, Lands’ End, Scholastic, Asheville International Children’s Film Festival and Social Media Business Forum.

The Type-A Mom Conference is the brainchild of Kelby Carr who created the magazine-style website, Type-A Mom. Type-A Mom is a site designed to be created and maintained by the real know-it-alls in parenting, the moms.