Old Navy and Crowdtap Dress Sample and Share

          On November 19, 2012 my friend Amanda and I went to Old Navy to pick out our free dresses. I am a member of Crowdtap (go here to sign up http://bit.ly/m9tKnm) and through Crowdtap I am a part of the Old Navy Style Council. I got selected for their Old Navy dresses sample and share. I was given one coupon for a free dress for myself and another coupon for a free dress for a friend. I chose to take my friend Amanda.
          When we got to Old Navy, there was a display right up front with many of the styles of dresses. We chose about 4 each to try on, and then we found the rest of the dresses and Amanda chose 2 of those to try on. We each tried on a wrap dress (http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=86263&vid=1&pid=251851002), a t shirt style dress with a belt (http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=73355&vid=1&pid=330128032), a 3/4 sleeve dress with a belt (http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=50186&vid=1&pid=332796032), a silky feeling dress that zipped up the back (http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=86263&vid=1&pid=330125112), and she tried on 2 sweater dresses (http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=73359&vid=1&pid=372619002).
          Amanda is a few months pregnant and because of this, she had some trouble getting the wrap dress to work and her and I both had trouble with the silky feeling dress that zipped up in the back. It looked really cute on once we did get it on. Looked cute on me not being pregnant, as well as her being pregnant, it was just really hard to get into and out of. The t shirt style dress also was really cute on. It is a very casual dress though. The 3/4 sleeve dress with belt is a very cute dress and quite flattering. The length for some people was shorter than they would have liked (others that were trying it on) but for me, it was a good length. I am however going to have to get a wider belt for it to help flatter my tummy area better. This 3/4 sleeve dress was the one that I chose for my dress. I plan to wear it for my husband's Christmas party. Amanda chose one of the sweater dresses. it flattered her quite well even with her pregnancy and it will also still fit her after she has the baby (she is one of those really tiny pregnant women that only gain in the belly and their clothes fit through their entire pregnancy). I would have loved to have gotten a sweater dress as well, but I will definitely be going back to get one later.
          This was a great experience and there was a fantastic selection of dresses to choose from. A great big thanks to both Old Navy and Crowdtap for this opportunity and being so good to their customers and members.

Woolite sample and share with Crowdtap

Recently I was approved to be a part of a sample and share with Woolite on Crowdtap, http://bit.ly/m9tKnm. I was sent samples to share with my friends to try the new Woolite Extra Dark for Jeans and dark clothes. sadly since the samples came a little late, I wasn't able to share with everyone that I wanted to share with because so many were out of town  right before school starts this year. So what I did was had a few friends drop off their husbands military uniforms and I did a load of uniforms using a Woolite sample. To be quite honest I didn't see much of a difference. I guess its hard to tell when you use it after you have already washed clothes in other detergents before trying Woolite to see how it will keep it looking like new. I then did a load of my son's jeans since school is coming up and could really use for his jeans to look new longer so they don't wear out as fast. Same again that I didn't really see much of a change or difference using the Woolite on them with just one wash and the clothes had previously been washed with other detergents. Finally for myself I have recently purchased a new King size comforter for my bed and was needing to wash it for the first time. I was terrified at what the results would be of washing it. Other comforters have "bunched" in the washer, started to get the "rub" spots where the material rubs together and makes those little fuzzies and pieces that you usually have to remove with a fabric shaver. So I decided to take a sample of the Woolite with me to the laundry mat to see if it made a difference on my comforter. I have to say that with this one I was seriously surprised. My comforter came out looking as new as when I had put it in the washer! I do have to say that if you are starting from the first wash with Woolite Extra Dark, it helps alot and keeps things looking new. The colors in my comforter had not faded any, the shape all stayed like new, and the fabric did not get that worn or rubbed look either. So over all, with the comforter, I would have to say I am overly satisfied with Woolite! I am certain that with what it did for my comforter, that if I had washed brand new jeans or was washing the uniforms for the first time, that I would have seen the same results out of one wash with Woolite. I do have to say that I will be purchasing a bottle of Woolite Extra Dark especially for use with my Comforter.

I sent 2 samples with each of the 4 friends I still had here that I could give samples to (one only got one sample). Three of the 4 have gotten back to me. One tried her samples on her own load of her husbands uniforms. She used the first sample on a load and then waited and used her second sample on that same load when she had to wash the uniforms again a week later. She said she liked how it seemed to preserve the fabric of the uniforms. When you wash clothes, the fabric seems to get more worn with each wash, and she said with her 2 washes with the Woolite, that the clothes didn't feel like the clothes had gotten the full worn wear that they usually would after washing them. Another friend used each of her samples of 2 separate loads of jeans. She didn't notice a difference in the clothes after they were washed. The third friend commented on the fragrance of the detergent. She said that she liked how they clothes smelt after they were washed with the Woolite extra dark.

Yesterday my family hosted a party for the new Madagascar 3 movie using the materials provided through Crowdtap. We were supposed to have done the party about a week before but we had to postpone so that more of the kids could come to the party since no one was going to make it to the first date that was set. A friend of mine also uses Crowdtap and was accepted to host the Madagascar 3 party as well so we got together and done the party together so that more kids would be able to come to the party. We had a blast. Kids started coming at about 3 pm. As they came we just let them play games until all the kids showed up. I had decided not to decorate for the party so that they kids could decorate for it themselves. They loved this idea. I printed off the pages of the kit we were provided and the kids cut out the characters and colored them and they did the dot to dot color pages and cut out their masks. Then when they were all done, they used their activities to decorate around the room. They liked that they got to display their works of art to decorate for the party. They showed each other what they had done. We watched the trailer to the new movie and then all the kids talked about the new movie. A few of the kids had already seen the movies so they talked about the new movie for those that have not seen it yet. They told the kids their favorite parts and even acted out a few of those parts. The kids were really excited about hopefully getting to see the movie themselves soon. Throughout the party all the kids were singing "Afro, circus, afro, circus, polka dot, polka dot, afro". It was so much fun watching the kids enjoying themselves. For dinner my husband grilled for the kids. We had chicken and hotdogs. I also made macaroni and cheese and baked beans. Once the kids were finished eating dinner, they had some Zebra stripe brownies and Polka dot afro cupcakes. The brownies were fudge brownies swirled with cheesecake which looked black and white and striped like Zebra stripes. The cupcakes I improvised since the recipe they gave us so many people complained was dry so I didnt try it. I made some Fundamiddles cupcakes but in the cupcake mix I added colorful sprinkles. then made up the cupcakes and baked it. They came out with their muffin tops and the colors all together making them look like they were polka dotted afros. It was too cute and these were the kids favorite. Finally some of the kids got to stay for the sleepover and they watched the second Madagascar movie when they laid down for bed. It turned out to be a great party and I got several messages from the parents afterward about how much fun their kids had and how they talked about it for quite some time after going home.