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I asked Santa to make my life simpler…I got HP

I’ll go ahead and get this right out of the way now.

Should you ever need it, Hewlett-Packard has an awesome tech support team.

Ask for Gary, he’s nice.

*sigh*

BlogHer asked me if I’d like to do this review for the HP Photosmart All-In-One printer and I said, “Yeah!”

Then I found out I got to give one away…and I said “OH heck YEAH!”

“Oh, by the way, it’s a wireless printer.”  I nearly died on the spot.

A wireless printer! In my happy, clammy little hands.  It was almost too good to believe.

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Because me and wires?  We has a history.

It ain’t a pretty one.

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I have cords from one end of my house to the other, straggling between rooms and around desks.  With the sheer volume of electronics we power and network and recharge, my house is veritable MAZE of cords and wires. It’s a borderline safety hazard and drives me absolutely wild.

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Do you see this? (And no, I’m not talking about my dusty file cabinet, thankyouverymuch!)

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That one cord out the back of this printer is for power and that’s it. No more. NADA. ZILCH.

A beautiful thing.

Setting up this printer took all of ten minutes…and four of it was wrestling it out of the box. Nice job on the safe packaging there, HP.  It does have USB hookup for those without a wireless router, but it was as simple as giving the printer the WEP password from the back of the router and the printer said, “RAWRR, look at what I can do!”

This is where I ran into issues…because, well, I’m ME.  I spent the better part of the afternoon on the phone with tech support, where I developed a lasting friendship with Gary, trying to figure out why my shiny new printer would print from anything and everything BUT my laptop.  After many hours of plugging, unplugging, rebooting and playing with cartridges it turned out to be a faulty disc with bad installation software.

Once the fix was made, I started having some fun with it!

From my living room.

I’m going to just go ahead and say that again for you…FROM my living room!  Nowhere near the printer and without a single cord spanning the distance.  *le sigh*

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When they say “lab quality” printing, they aren’t kidding. You COULD NOT get better pictures from any photo development center…and most assuredly not as quickly or conveniently.

I might or might not have gone a little overboard.

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But, clearly, you have never experienced this kind of technological goodness or you’d be going overboard as well.

OH wait!  That’s right…you COULD!

Because thanks to the awesomeness that is HP and BlogHer, I get to give away one of these rock-on fabulous printers to one of you.

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ON TO THE GIVEAWAY!!

I am going to give you LOTS of chances to enter this contest!

1. Leave a comment below and tell me one awesome way this printer will make your life an easier place.

2. Leave a link to your post about this contest on your own blog.

3. Leave the link showing me you Twittered about this contest

4. Leave a link to a photo showing me your WORST cord/wire situation

Do any or all of the above and you get an entry to the contest for each one.

The contest will begin at 12:00 a.m. (PST) on Wednesday, January 28th, and will end Tuesday, February 3rd at 11:59 p.m (PST). Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:

  • No duplicate comments.
  • This giveaway is open to U.S. residents.
  • Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
  • You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

**Check out HP’s site for more information about their wireless printer products.

**You also have 7 more chances to win this same printer through BlogHer and 7 other awesome bloggers!

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Build-A-Bear holiday spirit!


Build-a-Bear review video and giveaway from Anissa Mayhew on Vimeo.

Links to check out:

Build-A-Bear

Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure

Mom Select

BuildABearville

Giveaway!

For an entry:

1.  Leave a comment sharing a Christmas memory, something funny or sad or just Christmas-y.

2. Twitter, Digg, Stumble or blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link.

3.  Leave another comment telling whether or not you thought the video was too dang long!

Contest ends Tuesday, Dec 23 at 12:00 EST and a winner will be picked by Random.com.

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A Seal Giveaway…wait, I’m not really giving away Seal…I wish!

Oh MY.

Is there anything sexier than a man serenading you?

Apparently it’s SEAL serenading you.

Heidi Klum, you lucky girl you!

Seal just put out his new cd “Soul” and all I can say is RAWWWWR.

The man’s voice is just delicious, both smooth and raspy at the same time and he can bring a song that melts your heart. LOVE!

This cd is something totally different, a collection of covers of some of the great R&B hits from classics like Ben E. King, Sam Cooke and The Blue Notes.

If you enjoy a good reincarnation of a song then you’re going to enjoy this cd.  If you like Seal you’re going to find it a departure from his standard sound, but still uniquely HIM.

If you loathe cover songs, RUN NOW!

I personally loved the majority of songs on this disc….there are a few that stand out, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “I’m Still In Love With You” are melty, lovey songs that make you want to go participate in an interlude…you know the kind I’m talking about.

WIN WIN WIN

Would you like to take your own free copy of Seal’s Soul to love and cuddle and call your very own? I (courtesy of the ever awesome One2One Network) can make that happen!

And what about one of these?

Mini Retro Ipod Speakers from Delight.com!  I can officially never allow Nathaniel to see these exist or he’ll have to have one in every color.  Delight.com is truly an awesome boutique site, they’re take on it is:

Think of Delight.com as a unique boutique that stocks the perfect gift for everyone on your list. Delight features eco-friendly tote bags, gadgets for guys, kitchen gear that is smart and saves time, travel essentials, one-of-a-kind baby gifts, stocking stuffers for holiday gift shopping and unique jewelry and décor accessories with most under $50.

My take on it is that any shop that offers something like THIS:

is ok in my book. Which, by the way, can be purchased here, if you’re just brimming with questions on something I’d like for Christmas.

I’m just saying!

Ok, back to the contest and what YOU can win.

PRIZE: 1 Seal Soul cd and 1 IPod mini retro speaker from Delight.com.

HOW TO WIN: Click over to Delight.com (give their newsletter a shot too, always with the good sales and new hot items) and leave me a comment with one item you’d like to see show up under your Christmas tree….really? Shouldn’t be hard.

For another entry to win, leave a separate comment with your favorite cover song.

And for one more chance to win, share this contest by tweeting it, blogging it, emailing it or facebooking it and leave me a comment letting me know!

As always, you can do all or any of the above, with one contest entry for each one. Contest deadline is midnight Friday 28th at midnight.  GOOD LUCK!

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Linda Eder - tickling your ears and warming your soul

If Sarah McLachlan and Martina McBride’s voices had a baby, I imagine it would sound like Linda Eder.  A voice rich and sultry, mixing a blend of contemporary adult and that slight-crossover-country sound that appeals across the board.

Her lyrics are strong and positive, songs about love, strength, finding one’s self.  Each song on her “The Other Side of Me” cd is unique and mood altering.  Whether you are looking for a song to fit a bright afternoon drive in a convertible or a rainy day in a quiet room, Linda provides them all.  However, I don’t have moments like that, so it works that her music is fabulous to just spark on in the car, we can sing (not well, but volume makes up for tune, right?) along and be relaxed by her soothing voice.

Linda’s Broadway background made me think that her music might be out of my normal taste, but this CD with it’s pop/country sound that gives a peek into the true powerhouse range of her voice and songwriting yet is radio audience friendly.  (You can give her sound a teeny sample here)

If I’m not introducing you to anything new and you’ve been a Linda Eder fan for eons…which would show how much smarter than me you are…make sure to check out the tour dates she has scheduled.

WIN WIN WIN!

I’m thrilled to get to share Linda’s music with you and to offer you the opportunity to win an autographed “The Other Side of Me” CD as well as an autographed T-shirt.

How to win:

1. Sign up for my RSS feed or RSS email notices and leave me a comment to know
2. Leave a comment telling me about a song that has swept you away
3. Twitter about the contest
4. Tell a friend about the contest and have them leave a comment dropping your name (that counts as a entry for you and your friend)

You can do as many or all of these as you’d like, and as many times as you’d like (daily) but make sure you leave separate comment entries for each thing you do.

Contest ends Thursday, November 20 at midnight EST.

A huge thank you to One2One for bring Linda’s music into my life and the chance to share it with you.

**check back, because there’s another awesome music giveaway coming soon!

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