Real – and Free – Chocolate

Found this important reminder on CitiesOnTheCheap:

“Chocolate just isn’t chocolate without cocoa butter. When companies got permission to swap in cheaper ingredients for the real thing & still call it chocolate, I was shocked. To be honest, I thought some of the candy bars I’ve indulged in for years would do just that to keep costs down. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mars (maker of Dove, Snickers, Twix, M&M’s, etc) plans to stick with the real thing.

To prove their resolve, Mars started a Real Chocolate Relief Act promotion in May. What does that mean for you? The free chocolate giveaway will continue every Friday through September 25, 2009, Mars is giving away 250,000 certificates for free Mars chocolate products. The certificates become available on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. ET, and they’re available until they’re gone, so you’ll need to act fast. There’s a limit of one coupon per email address per Friday & four coupons per household during the offer period. Must be a resident of the U.S. & age 13 or older to get a certificate.”

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Day 6 – “Somewhere Else” – and Giveaway

Help mom send stress “Somewhere Else” with these sweet instrumentals.

Remember the old bubble baths – “Calgon, take me away!”?  When I was growing up, I thought those long soaks seemed so relaxing. Now that I’m a mom, I think,”Who has time for a bath?”

So I settle for a quick shower, but I still need to soothe my stress. What mom doesn’t? And that’s why “Somewhere Else,” a CD of soothing, relaxing instrumental music, is a perfect choice for the mom under pressure. (I think there’s one or two of you out there….you know who you are!)

Produced by Jill Kremer, “Something Else” is a collection of gentle instrumentals featuring strings, distant bells and ocean sounds that soothe the soul and calm the spirit. Listen to “Prayers of Hope” to be gently uplifted; drift to a carefree past on the notes of “Distant Memories,” or relax and renew as you learn “Celestial Secrets.”

And while she’s drifting away, mom can feel good about herself knowing that a portion of the proceeds of the sales of “Something Else” benefit charities for homeless women and children.

You can’t put a price tag on stress relief, but $12.95 cost of the CD won’t cause headaches at checkout time. And for a limited time, you can win a copy of “Something Else” for mom right here on PhillyOnTheCheap. Just post your favorite relaxation song after this entry. We’ll put all the valid entries into our handy dandy random itemizer, and the winner will receive a copy of “Something Else.” (The rest of you can check out the tunes here at CDBaby….and buy a copy for mom there, too!)

She’s tired of the same old same old….this year, give mom “Something Else.”

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Day 3 – HotPrints on Facebook

Picture This: Photo Albums Straight from Facebook’s HotPrints – Only $2.99 (Or Get One For Free!)

Here’s a great Mother’s Day gift based on the latest in social networking. Most kids are pros at putting their pictures up on Facebook (much to the regret of some former American Idol contestants). Now they can use those pics to creat a personalized photo album for Mom….and it will be be printed and mailed to her for the user friendly price of just $2.99 an album (plus a mere .79 for shipping).  That price seems to work with almost everyone’s allowance.

It all comes together thanks to the HotPrints application on Facebook.  HotPrints allows users to create 16-page personalized, high-quality photo albums using photos from their Facebook collections. Make it a collection of your “growing up” years, a bunch of photos from your last vacation, or a montage of family and friends. Then your photos are put in albums that are printed on high-quality paper and delivered  by mail.(And I’m told the delivery is speedy quick – 3 to 5 days – so this may be the choice for you last minute shoppers.)

The HotPrints application offers family themed albums, so kids can document and present their family photos or a recent family holiday to their mother in a customizable album layout, and they can change every page to suit their own design. Captions are taken straight from the Facebook album and added to each picture. Each book picks up the tags from the chosen Facebook photos automatically adding the names under each photo. Added bonus: when you publish a HotBook, you will also receive a free PDF version to digitally share with friends and family, even if you do not order the physical print version.  Can you beat that?

Well, yeah. In honor of Mother’s Day, HotPrints is offering 10,000 free print albums. Just go to the application site and use the code MD09. But hurry – quantities are limited, and when they’re gone, they’re gone (though $2.99 is a small price to pay to celebrate memories with mom).

You’re still here?  Go!

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Day 2-Omoma Coffee

Brew up a cup of love for mom. Or win a pound for the two of you to share!

Remember the old Beverly Hillbillies TV show, where oil was referred to as “black gold”? Well, most of the moms I know would agree – coffee is the true black gold of our day. Serve your mom a mug of freshly brewed, delicious coffee this Mother’s Day, and you’ll open her eyes to your gratitude and affection.

For an affordable way to treat your mom to her favorite beverage, try a gift set from OMOMA Coffee. Gift sets range in price from a mere $14.99 to $74.99, and all include their delicious 100% Arabica gourmet estate OMOMA coffee, an OMOMA mug, absolutely yummy biscotti and a personalized gift message.  Or, if mom has enough mugs, order a pound of their medium (American), dark (French) or Espresso roast, sold in individual serving packet, by the pot or by the pound.

And, specially for PhillyOnTheCheap readers, OMOMA is offering two special ways for you to share their coffee with mom this Mother’s Day. First, you can get 20% off your order on their site. Just enter coupon code 1239922423 during checkout, and a 20% discount will be applied to one order per customer. Note this code cannot be used with Google checkout, but can be combined with other OMOMA discount offers, including the free shipping for orders over $35. The code is good until May 15.

Now the giveaway – the good folks at OMOMA are giving away a pound of their coffee to one lucky reader. Just enter a comment on this blog post with a mom memory, and you’ll be entered to win the pound. The contest closes Friday, May 8.  Winner will be chosen by our handy dandy itemizer and announced on Mother’s Day.

So head on over to OMOMA – and perk your mom’s day right up!