This post brought to you by Crocs. All opinions are 100% mine.

The sun is out and I am planting my garden tomorrow! I am so excited! One of my favorite parts about getting my yard and garden ready for summer are the bright colors! I was checking out all the flowers in the nursery just the other day – a gorgeous range from lilac, bright pink, yellow, blues and more! Love colors! Love summer!

Do you love colors? Why not capture a #splashofcolor and enter a cool sweepstakes while you are at it? You probably already have a dozen pictures on your phone that would work!

#SplashofColor Crocs Sweepstakes Details:

How to Enter: Use the Instagram app on your smart phone to capture “Splashes of Color”— get creative – it could be a gorgeous sun shot, bold colorful nails, a big city night or of course my favorite – bright and bold flowers! Tag it with the hashtag #splashofcolor and then connect your Instagram account through the Crocs Instagram Sweepstakes page and  you'll then be entered to win! You can upload 3 photos a day!

Grand Prize: A chance to win a $3,000 shopping spree for entering!

Dates: HURRY – the sweepstakes ends on Sunday, 5/20/13!

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I entered this fun contest because it was so easy (literally took less than ten minutes), and I am a big fan of Instagram – although I am still figuring out the ins-and-outs of it! I had a few pictures of my recent trip to Hawaii and one picture of my sprouting squash that I started from seed – ready to plant tomorrow! Check out my #splashofcolor!

Oh, and I would love to see your #splashofcolor too – tag me in your creative #splashofcolor so I can visit you on Instagram!!

And if you enter and win the Crocs shopping spree… I want to hear about it!!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for MetLife. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Don’t worry… not for forever people! Do you think I am insane? I meant just for a day! Do you think you could give up ALL forms of social media for a single day? No tweeting, liking, pinning or stumbling… pretty big challenge isn’t it?

Well I think I could… for my mom. My mom is worth the effort.

What does my mom have to do with this? Well, Social Blackout (#socialblackout) is a challenge and a movement encouraged by Metlife – so that we all can give the attention to mom that she deserves on Mother’s Day! On May 12th, not only will you give your mom a card telling her how much you appreciate her (you do have a card, right?), but you will also be giving her your undivided attention!

We all know that social media has taken away from the real personal transactions. Our face-to-face time is sparse, while our texting and typing transactions are more common. While this might be the trend with how the world is shaping today, maybe your mom would appreciate going back in time for just 24 hours? Remember the term "quality time"?

I don’t know about you, but maybe your Mother’s Day is pretty low key at home, maybe you go out to brunch or dinner. Maybe you just follow along, whatever mom wants? Well whatever it is… imagine doing it without Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest (okay Google+, Foursquare, Instagram, and Redditt too….) How hard can it be?

So take the challenge – show mom some extra love, and log off of all Social Media on Mother’s Day!

To check out more about the #SocialBlackout Event visit the official page.

Like most kids, your children probably beg for new clothes and shoes. You probably enjoy showering them with gifts, but if the family’s finances are tight, clothes shopping may be few and far between. Of course, kids grow rapidly. And because of this, buying clothes often becomes a necessity. What can you do?

You’re probably used to shopping sales and looking for deals. For example, if you need items for your car you may use coupon codes for AutoAnything or go online and search promo codes to save on your purchases. But what if you need to maximize your savings? In this case, your local thrift store can provide the things you need for less.

If you never have success at thrift stores, you may view secondhand shopping as a waste of time. There are, however, tricks for thrift store shopping.

Ask about store sales.

Like every other retailer, thrift stores have sales. The same way you stalk sales offered by your favorite retailer or check the paper for Black Friday leaks, call your local thrift store and inquire about their sale days. This is an excellent way to maximize your savings, and if you shop during a sale, you can get more for your money.

Shop alone.

You may enjoy taking the kids with you, but if you’re looking to shop with minimal distractions, leave them home. Besides, shopping at thrift stores is tedious. You’ll have to sift through several racks of clothes. And sometimes, little ones can become impatient. To find amazing deals at secondhand stores, you need to take your time. You’ll get better results if you go alone.

New inventory days.

Secondhand stores typically re-stock their racks with new items on certain days. Don’t be afraid to ask management about these days. Come when there’s new inventory and you might find amazing brands at a low cost. It pays to go often, as many thrift stores receive donations on a daily basis. The trick is being one of the first customers on new arrival days. If you can, shop early in the morning – as soon as the store opens.

Try on your clothes.

Store policies vary, and in some cases, all sales are final. To avoid wasting money, make sure that you’re satisfied with your finds before leaving the store. If there’s a dressing room, try on your items and make sure they fit properly.

Be moderate.

Because of the wide selection and the low prices, it’s easy to go overboard. Before stepping foot inside a secondhand store, give yourself a spending budget. Don’t bring your credit cards or all your cash, as this is an easy way to go over budget. Bring cash, and only bring what you plan to spend.

Learning how to navigate a thrift store can save you money and greatly improve your family’s budget. And with the variety of products, there’s something for everyone. Whether you need clothes, shoes, accessories or household products, your local thrift store is the answer.

Consideration was received for the editing and publishing of this post.

This post brought to you by Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

I get so excited when spring comes, because that means I get to start my garden! With the wacky Colorado weather (it went from eighty to thirty in one day) it is necessary to start my garden indoors, until I know the snow has passed! I have become more and more efficient with starting seeds indoors over the past few years. This year I created indoor mini greenhouses! This is one of my fun garden projects:

1. Gather supplies you need: seeds, dirt, containers, water, and disposable lasagna pans. I found the lasagna pans work better than casserole or pie pans because they are higher and deeper. I found mine at Wal-Mart for $1/each!

2. Make planters out of recyclable items. I used yogurt containers – just make sure to poke small drainage holes at the bottom. You can also use water bottles, egg cartons, milk jugs, etc.

3. Poke holes in the lids of the lasagna containers. Make sure the holes aren't too large though. I used a  pushpin and poked about 20 holes. This allows a little ventilation for your mini greenhouse.

4. Plant your seeds in your various pots as directed, label as necessary and water with a spray bottle (pouring water directly might flood the containers and disrupt the seeds). 

5. Place the lids on the containers, set in windowsill that has good sunlight and watch your plants grow! Make sure to rotate every few days and water as needed!

6. Once my plants are safe for planting outdoors (no chance of frost) I will carefully remove them from their planters and make sure to water them well. It is important for their root to be strong so I will use a product like LiquaFeed All Purpose Plant Food Advance Starter Kit.

You can try to make my project too! It is so simple! It is a great way to speed up the germination and seed growth. It also saves on water and time spent watering!

About Sponsor:

Gardening is a growing hobby and Miracle-Gro wants to simplify gardening and help with all your gardening questions. They are passionate about proving how fun, easy and enjoyable gardening can be! (It is true, I became a gardener in the past 5 years and I absolutely LOVE it!) To help beginners and professionals with gardening they created the Gro Project!

There are lots of places to find more projects for the garden, including blogs, Pinterest (also Miracle Gro on Pinterest) and The Gro Project from Miracle-Gro online! They have an expansive library of articles and videos full of gardening tips! 

This post brought to you by ZzzQuil. All opinions are 100% mine.

There I was, laying in some random city's hotel room, restless, worrying about my 3:30am wake up call the next morning. I tossed and turned wishing there was some kind of sleep aid that didn't have a drastic affect on me, or have other uses beyond just a sleep aid. I just wanted something for restlessness, not something for insomnia, sinuses, or sickness.

The next day, I was talking to a friendly passenger, who also had an early wake up (since he was on my early-early morning flight) and he mentioned ZzzQuil. I asked him to clarify, because surely he meant Nyquil. I'd never heard of ZzzQuil. Nope, he even showed me the box. It wasn't more than a few days later that I got to try this product out for myself. 

I was pretty excited to be sent a sample of ZzzQuil, since I have such a sporadic sleep schedule while I am working. I switch time zones nearly daily, sometimes waking up at 1am – my hometown time! It's nuts! My irregular schedule could use a little help from a product like ZzzQuil.

I tried the liquid form of ZzzQuil to help me sleep (which is from the makers of Vicks NyQuil). I used it for my occasional drastic time zone changes. I don't need this nightly, just on those nights I go from Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone to Eastern – Greenwhich Mean Time all in a few days. It is really important for me to use something that isn't habit forming, which ZzzQuil isn't. Because I do use it often, I want to be able to sleep without it when I am on a regular schedule. I used it during my work week, and found I went to sleep faster – less tossing and turning, and woke up refreshed ready for my day's worth of flights!

ZzzQuil’s works because of it's active ingredient, diphenhydramine HCI, which helps reduce the time it takes for you to fall asleep. It is not for pain or sickness, it is only for when I have difficulty falling asleep, so this is ideal for me! ZzzQuil is intended for adults and children 12 years of age and older.

Purchase ZzzQuil over-the-counter – available in both Liquid and LiquiCap® forms. It can be found an drug stores nationwide. More information about ZzzQuil is available at www.zzzquil.com.

Connect with ZzzQuil on Facebook and Twitter using  #ZzzQuilNight