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Archive for December 2009

My 10 In ’10

By Nicole · Comments (9)

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

“Fall down seven times…get up eight”

Do you make New Year resolutions?

Yes, always!

Sometimes

Only if someone like you forces me to come up with something

Never

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Ask anyone in my family, including my extended family. Every New Year’s Eve, I make everyone go around the table after dinner and state their New Year’s resolutions. And if they don’t have any, I make some up for them.

Maybe I’m weird. But I’m a sucker for fresh starts. Newness. A clean slate. A restart.

I make resolutions every year. And I break them every year (usually around February). But that doesn’t deter me from making them again the next year. Not a bit. I’d rather start something and not fully accomplish it than to not start anything at all.

So for 2010, I have come up with “My 10″…a list of some serious, some practical, some ridiculous things that I want to accomplish. And maybe, just maybe, I can come back at the end of the year and report completion and accomplishment. And if I don’t? At least I got to try 10 new things.

1. Project 365. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time…to take a picture of something representative of my life every day. At the end of the year, what a story it will tell! (Check out Project 365 for more info and tips).

2. Be more organized. This is a repeat offender. Typically, I’m a very organized, neatnik person. But three kids, one hubby and a dog…and all that they entail…overwhelm me sometimes. This year, I am going to use more tools like:

Post-It Labels – they’ve got some really cool new products
My bank’s online banking tools…to avoid being so “surprised” at the end of the month
Good ol’ delegation…and a chore chart

3. Get a Roomba. My home is 85% tile and it takes forever to clean. In line with #2, I want to make better use of my time by cleaning less. Ok, not less, just smarter. I’ve heard rave reviews about the Roomba…have you?

4. Be a better friend. By calling a friend when she is on my mind, inviting her over for coffee, going for a walk or meeting her for lunch. A simple gesture goes a long way…for both of us.

5. Run 3 5k races. I’ve done one a year for the past two years. Time to step it up.

6. Read with my kids every school night. I read to my kids when they were little. But now that they’re older, I see the benefit in reading with and to them…still. It is a whole-family activity that I want to continue through the next year. Right now we’re reading The Last Olympian.

7. Stop the late night snacking. I’m a natural-born night owl and I like to stay up and work or watch TV after the house is quiet. A quiet house + TV = Eating (and not healthy stuff like spinach and tofu). I need to break this bad habit.

8. Be “Early to bed, early to rise…” To help with #7, among other things.

9. Try “Once a Month” Cooking. I think I would dig this. I like doing things “in bulk”. Any cookbook recommendations?

10. Take my boys to Disneyland! Yes, that’s right. We have yet to take our boys (8, 10 & 13) to the happiest place on earth (does that make us totally unAmerican, or what?). Hopefully, 2010 will be our year!

No matter what resolutions you make or break, here’s hoping your 2010 is prosperous, healthy and happy!

Comments (9)

Christmas 2009

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

Merry Christmas from me and my family…to you!

Comments (0)

HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web Printer {A Review}

By Nicole · Comments (1)

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Back in September, I was approached by HP to host a giveaway for the newest addition to the Photosmart, all-in-one printer family. They wanted to gather customer input (smart move) before the printer was released.

The Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web is different from the other all-in-one printers, or any printer for that matter, in that it connects directly to the internet through your network. Through the touchscreen, you can navigate to sites like Google maps, Coupons.com, Snapfish, Fandango and Nickelodeon and print what you need, immediately. Without even touching your computer. More apps are being developed as we speak.

A few weeks ago, I received one of my very own to review. And in my opinion the Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web is the Cadillac of ink jet printers. Let me tell you why I think so:

Quality Photo Printing – In the last two weeks, we’ve had two science projects due. It was nice to quickly and easily print out some great quality photos of moldy bread and floating eggs (yeah, nice huh?) to add to the display boards.
Wireless Printing – I love love love the fact that I can print out a recipe or book report for my kid from the couch. None of our computers have to be connected to the Photosmart to print.
Prints First Page Last – I know this might seem like no big deal, but I totally appreciate that the Photosmart Premium prints so that pages are in correct order when its printing multiple pages. So when you’re going through 20 pages, you don’t have to re-collate. Its already done for you. Sweet.
Google Map – Every Saturday, I drive to at least two soccer games. I think it is the goal of the leagues to cause me to drive from one end of my city to the other, to new and unknown territories. With the Google Map app, though, I’m ready. I just punch in the address of the field I’m going to, press print, and I’m out the door (late, usually).
Coupons.com – I’m a couponer. Every week or so I click on the Coupons.com app, select the coupons I need for that week, and print. Not only does it print out the coupons 3 to a page, it also creates a grocery list, of sorts, listing the coupons you printed and extra space for other items you need. Again I say, sweet.
Cost Effective – The icing on the cake for me is that the cartridges are reasonable priced at around $10 (I don’t even want to tell you how much cartridges for my old printer, which shall remain nameless, cost me…). And, I love that they have an easy to use recycle program.

At $399, the Photosmart Premium TouchSmart isn’t cheap. It’s by far the nicest printer I’ve ever owned. But the investment is well worth it. Right now HP is offering a $60 instant rebate, a $50 trade in for your old printer (any brand, any condition) and free shipping. That’s quite a deal.

You can also enter to win one at Little Miss Know It All, Woman’s Day, and Southern Bella’s. Good luck!

Comments (1)

Good Cause, Good Deals, Good Will Towards Men

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

{Good Cause}

I love Christmas. I wish the sentiments of this season lasted year round. We seem to be more giving, focus on what we have rather than what we don’t, and we spend a little more time with the most important people in our lives…our family.

You have to know by now that I love me some SnapFish. I use them all the time to process my photos for scrapbooking. I love their photo gifts and their photo Christmas cards. And I love that they team up with charities on various campaigns.

Right now SnapFish is partnering with the Make-A-Wish foundation and has created the “Wish” book, a customizable photo book, perfect for birthdays, baby showers, or special events. The best part? 30% of the proceeds go directly to Make-A-Wish. Love that.

Look how cute…

{Good Deals}

Below, please find the officially unofficial Pixel Boutique guide to good deals, gift guides and giveaways.

Songs for Saplings • 25% off all CDs

Name Bubbles • 15% discount on all labels (enter “Holiday” at checkout)

Etsy • Gift Guides

Cool Mom Picks • Gift Guide

Classy Mommy • $200 Best Buy Gift Card Giveaway

The Fashionable Housewife • HP Envy 13 Laptop Giveaway

My Organized Chaos • Tassimo Supreme Brewing System Giveaway

{Good Will Towards Men}

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:10-14, KJV

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You Don’t Have To Go To Design School To Love Adobe… {A Giveaway!}

By Nicole

Monday, December 14th, 2009

UPDATE: The winner of this giveaway is #321, Tanya!

After several thousand dollars, copious amounts of hours, and many many many design comps, I graduated from design school (…more years ago than I care to admit).

From that point on, Adobe has been a household name for me. I use one program or another in the Adobe suite every. single. day.

I’ve said it before…if you are a blogger, scrapbooker, amateur photographer or do anything with photos (hello?…who else does that leave?), you owe it to yourself to purchase and learn Photoshop Elements. And of course, you can always check back here for various Elements video tutorials.

The people at Adobe have figured out a way to maintain the power of Photoshop while automating and simplifying many popular function for editing photos.

The latest version of Photoshop Elements is version 8. And it is jammed pack with coolness.

For instance, along with the Red Eye tool that automatically removes red eye from your subject, you can now brush their teeth with the Toothbrush tool. You can automatically brighten and whiten teeth with a swipe of the paintbrush. You can also treat your subject to an instant tan and add a touch of lipstick in the same manner.

For your landscape photos, quickly and easily make the blue sky bluer, the water clearer and even add a sunset to any sky. (I told you. Cool, no?)

What I love about these functions is that they make “smart” edits. Rather than changing the original image, they do it the right way…(the way I paid thousands of dollars to learn how to do…). Elements creates a new adjustment layer and mask to create the desired effect. It can be deleted, adjusted, turned on or off. Ingenious.

Photoshop Elements assists you with just about anything you want to do with a photo. If you want to make some simple touch ups, crop a photo or create a whole new project, Elements gives you step by step instructions.

For some added cool, there are tools like PhotoMerge that allow you to take multiple photos of the same scene and blend them to create the perfect image. So, you know those 17 Christmas pictures you just took, where no one was looking at the camera and smiling at the same time? With the stroke of a brush, you can merge photos together to create the near perfect holiday picture (I say “near” because this function works, given that you have two photos that are very similar in composition.) You can also do things like create seamless panorama photos with the Panorama tool and create beautiful black and whites.

There are so many more great features in Photoshop Elements 8…I’m only scratching the surface in this review. You can find out a lot more here. Currently, Elements is priced at $79 for Windows/$69 for Mac and Adobe is offering free ground shipping through December 21. What a steal!

WIN IT! Adobe has generously offered one Pixel Boutique reader a free version of Photoshop Elements 8 (for Windows or Mac) just in time for the holidays!

To enter, comment on this post with how you would use Photoshop Elements the most…printing out family photos? Scrapbooking? Blogging? All of the above?
For extra entries, tweet about this giveaway up to once a day and/or subscribe to this blog.
Entries must be made by Tuesday, December 22 at 11:59 p.m. MST.

(Because the giveaway will end so close to Christmas, the program will be shipped after Christmas. If this is a gift, check back on Dec. 23 as the winner will be announced by then!)

How to Color Correct Photos Quickly & Simply with Photoshop Elements

By Nicole · Comments (2)

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Its that time of year…

Not Enough Available Light Morning…er, I mean Christmas Morning is just around the corner! And instead of trashing all those imperfect, under exposed and color cast photos, just correct them in Photoshop Elements.

Here’s how…

Simple eh? Check back after the holidays for more Photoshop Elements tutorials!

Comments (2)

No Doubt About It. They’re Boys. {Squeeball Party Giveaway}

By Nicole

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

UPDATE: The winner of this giveaway is #112…Huguette English. Congratulations!

Boys.

Are they all like mine?

Mine think anything related to the “bathroom” is humorous.

Mine have no problem with having sticky faces and dirty fingernails.

Mine always have something interesting to find in their pockets. Rocks. Nails. Gum wrappers.

I’m not a real girlie girl, but I’ll never get over the differences between boys and girls. (And I will NEVER be convinced its due to modeled behavior. No way, no how.)

My boys are at the age that the dirtier, faster, higher, sillier, more dangerous, the better. Gone are the days of cute little baby jean overalls and over-sized Legos. No, no. We’re on to bigger and better things. Quads, pellet guns, friends, sports, video games…

Speaking of video games, I was asked by Performance Designed Products to review their newest Wii game, Squeeballs Party. The game was just released in October and is available for the Wii, DS and iPhone. The Wii game retails for $19.99

Now I am no gamer. In fact, Wii Sports and a little Rock Band are as far as this mom has gotten. So I thought it best to gauge my review on my boys’ reaction to the game.

The game got a lot of ‘ewwwwww…cool…’s and giggles and out-loud laughs. I think that was a good sign.

From my perspective, the game is appopraitely marketed to kids 10 and up, with a warning of “cartoon violence”. If you or your child find yourselves becoming easily attached to cute, inanimate objects, this may not be the game for you. For instance, in the cooking game, the poor little suckers are sliced, diced and chopped up into a tasty stew (not in a bloody, gory kind of way…but still. Ew!)

This game is for pure fun and silliness. And my boys enjoyed every slimy, silly, goofy moment.

WIN IT! Know a boy like mine who would like to find Squeeballs Party under the tree this year? Enter for a chance to win your own copy of the game for Wii! Just leave a comment here and get extra entries by tweeting about this giveaway up to once a day. Entries must be made before Dec. 14 at 11:59 p.m. MST.