A girls weekend in Puerto Rico!

This has been the year of turning 40 for me & a bunch of my friends. It was dreadful to know we would be reaching that top of the hill, but let me tell you its been a blast celebrating! My best friend decided to do it up in her favorite island, Puerto Rico. The best part of it was that I was going without hubby or son. A girls weekend!! Can I get a hell yea!!
This has been about my 6th time going to Puerto Rico, and I have to say I don't get tired of it. Its such a beautiful island rich in culture. Even though I live in El Barrio and have been surrounded by Puerto Ricans all my life, nothing beats going to the island.
I love the beaches, food and the peacefulness of it. This time we went to Vieques as well and stayed at the fabulous W Retreat & Spa. It was such a paradise. The hotel was exquisite and the staff amazing. We really felt like we were in a different world. We laid out in the pools facing the ocean. It was just breath taking. 

Sunset in Vieques

View of the pool at W hotel

Lobby of W Hotel

on the ferry from Vieques to Farjardo

 Puerto Rico has such rich culture. The food is so full of flavor & rather inexpensive if you venture to the local spots. We even had breakfast at a local favorite, Kasalta's bakery which President Obama ate at a few years ago! If you're looking for a family vacation or even a girl's weekend, try Puerto Rico. As they say, Puerto Rico does it better!

The Little Gym & Soles4Souls

A few weeks ago, I was invited by MomCentral to attend the open house of The Little Gym on the Upper West Side. It was the perfect opportunity to have a date with my son since I was leaving for a girls weekend the next day.
I've been to a Little Gym for my nephew's 1st birthday party, but other than that I assumed it was more of a play space for infants. Boy was I wrong!
The Little Gym has over 300 locations around the world and is geared for children 4 months through 12 years. They have a three dimensional approach to learning that is based on three core tenets:

• Get Moving! - Fosters flexibility, strength, balance and coordination.
• Brain Boost! - Fosters listening skills, concentration and decision making.
• Citizen Kid! - Fosters sharing, teamwork, cooperation and leadership abilities.

What I loved about the Little Gym were the team members that interacted with the kids. They were full of energy & were well trained. Andre has a love of doing flips, which totally freak me out. One of the members showed Andre how to correctly flip and she took her time training him until he mastered it correctly. He was so proud that he accomplished this! He had a blast being a "gymnast" for a few hours.

At the open house we also learned of The Little Gym's new partnership with Soles4Souls, a "Big Hearts, Little Shoes" donation campaign. It is an international charity that collects shoes and will distribute them to those in need around the globe. Beginning this fall, parents can drop off shoes that they or their children have outgrown or no longer need.

With such a great campaign at a fun facility, I'm sure to stop by this fall & donate one of the many pairs of shoes that Andre has outgrown. Please check The Little Gym's website to find a location nearest to you & donate. We all have a big heart in helping kids.

Disclosure: A Big thank you to Mom Central for inviting us to this event. I was only compensated for our travel expenses and given a thank you gift for coming. All of the opinions in this post are my own.

Wordless Wednesday

We rock paper bags well #Blogher12 #CheeseburgHer

Kids Foot Locker Back to School #Giveaway

I can't believe that Andre will start 1st grade at the end of this month. That is the beginning to the end of the summer. It really has gone by so quickly that I can't even remember what I did last month! I know that in the next coming weeks I will need to finish up on school shopping. Kids Foot Locker has a great way of ringing in the school year with their 1st ever exclusive launch of the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Crayola collection of sneakers. They come in an array of bright crayola colors that any child would be happy to rock on their first day of school.
Kids Foot Locker also launched their very own game, "Gym Class Hero," available on www.nick.com and www.addictinggames.com. It's a really fun game where the player can choose the Chuck Taylor sneers they want to play in, then draw paths using Crayola crayons to race through school, overcoming obstacles like lockers and homework. They get to unlock bonus shoe colors while reaching their final destination, where there will be an extra surprise.

To celebrate the launch of these amazing new sneakers Kids Foot Locker has offered

 3 lucky readers a chance to win a $50 Kids Foot Locker gift card!!

Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. First entry is mandatory and if not done no other entries will be counted.

Quilted Northern Bathroom Habits Sweepstakes #confidentclean #Blogher12

Blogher12 was such an amazing experience this weekend for me. One memory that will forever stick is how I was selected as the grand prize winner in the Quilted Northern Bathroom Habits sweepstakes! Who knew that my tweet would be selected from over thousands of entries! I was in shock when they contacted me to stop by their booth to pick up my prize. What did I win you ask? A $500 American Express gift card!! Wooohooo!!

Thank you so much @QuiltedNorthern for selecting me!

#confidentclean

Enter at Quilted Northern on Facebook for your chance to win today!

Official rules here.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I was the Grand Prize winner of a contest at Blogher. All opinions expressed are my own.