The Vintage Pearl

I've been shopping for a mommy necklace that would have all three of my girls' names on it. The Vintage Pearl has some of the best ones I've seen. Their styles are very classy and well done. I have to warn you not to go to their shop though or you'll want to buy something! The pictures of the necklaces are absolutely gorgeous. I'm saving my pennies for the "dainty names" necklace pictured above. They are having a giveaway on their blog this weekend if you want to enter. Or not, since I'm hoping to win. ;)

Expressiva Giveaway

Expressiva is one of my favorite places to shop for nursing clothing. I have several of their tops, and recently had a chance to review a nursing dress from them. Esther was born on January 8th and we had a wedding to attend on February 6th. Both Lucy and Julia were flower girls, so I needed something that I would feel comfortable and pretty in, yet still be able to nurse Esther. When I was shopping for the dress, I wasn't even sure when Esther was going to arrive and how far post partum I would be (ie how big my belly would be!). I searched the internet for a nursing dress that would look nice on me. Thankfully, Expressiva has a few flattering and versatile dresses to choose from. I was able to review the Fabulous Tie Dress in black.

Expressiva clothes are stylish and very functional for nursing. The Fabulous Tie Dress opens easily for nursing by pulling the front layer over to reveal an opening. There are several different nursing opening types that Expressiva uses. They are all clearly demonstrated by clicking on a link in the product description.

I really like that Expressiva posts customer reviews and ratings on each product. It can be very helpful to read that a certain shirt runs a bit big, etc. They also have a sale section with great deals on closeout styles. Across the top of the website they often run giveaways that you can enter by answering a question or sharing your email address.

I actually ended up wearing a different dress to the wedding. Esther's baby dedication is coming up soon and I may wear this one then. I like that I can wear this now and through the spring and early summer as well. If I have another baby, this would work through early pregnancy too because of the extra material in the tummy area. It can easily be dressy or casual. I enjoy other pieces I have from Expressiva and would recommend taking a look around their website to see what interests you.

Need something to get you started shopping? Expressiva is giving one of you a $35 gift certificate! To enter, you'll need to sign up for their email list. Their privacy policy is not to share your email with anyone, but you will receive occasional offers and emails from them. On the home page on the left side there is a section that says "sign up for email notices and special offers". Sign up with your email address and then come back and leave me a comment. When I choose the winner I will verify with Expressiva that you are actually signed up for their emails. You must do this first in order to be entered in the giveaway. For an extra entry leave a comment letting me know that you follow my blog. The giveaway will close on April 7th at midnight. Be sure to take a look around my blog and enter the other baby product giveaways I have going on this month. Thanks for stopping by!

*Giveaway closed. Congrats Rebekah!*

Bravado Discount

The code MB-182 for 25% off your online order is good now through Monday at 11:59pm EST. (Don't forget to enter the giveaway here as well.) Thanks Bravado!

Clumpy Brown Sugar

The other day I needed brown sugar for baking and realized that mine was all clumpy and hard. It was so hard I couldn't even break the clumps with a fork. Shaking the container as hard as I could did nothing except scratch up the plastic! I thought I was going to have to throw it all away but decided to look up remedies online first.

One trick that sort of worked was to put some of the brown sugar in the microwave with a cup of water and heat it for several minutes. It was still pretty hard after that and I had to break up each clump with a fork. Enough sugar came loose to bake my cookies and then I decided to try another trick I had read. I just put a piece of bread in the container and closed it up.

About a day and a half later I opened the sugar and was amazed! It was the softest fluffiest brown sugar I had ever felt. The clumps didn't even have to be broken up, they just fell apart. Of course my next thought was... Kitchen Tip Tuesday! I also bought a brown sugar bear so that I don't have clumpy sugar ever again. I haven't used it yet so maybe that will be another post some day.

For more kitchen tips, check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes. If you haven't already, mark your calendars for Bake and Take Day! Thanks for stopping by.