Rosie Scribble

Giveaway: Tickets to the Baby Show at Birmingham’s NEC

This May The Baby Show returns to Birmingham’s NEC to offer must have products, free expert advice and an unrivalled shopping experience for parents and parents-to-be.

The Baby Show with Prima Baby and Fisher-Price takes place from 20-22 May 2011 and I have five pairs of tickets to giveaway.

About the Baby Show

In just one day visitors can shop for everything they need from the widest range of products including all the baby brands mums love, enjoying savings on 1000s of must have baby and maternity products. New and expectant parents can try before they buy ensuring peace of mind.

World-leading experts will also be there offering complementary sessions giving out professional advice and tips. Breastfeeding specialist Clare Byam-Cook, nutrition expert Annabel Karmel and the British Red Cross will all be on hand to dish out their professional expertise. Next will also be offering maternity wear consultations.

To ensure the day is as stress free as possible there will be a number of free facilities which include the Pampers Changing Room, the Tommee Tippee Feeding Area and firm favourite amongst babies and toddlers, the Fisher-Price Crèche. Plus, there is The Emma’s Diary Shopping Drop Off, Collect by Car and Home Delivery Service so heavy bags don’t need to be carried around the show.

How to win a pair of tickets

The Baby Show takes place on 20-22 May, NEC, Birmingham.

I have five pairs of tickets to giveaway, which are valid on any day.

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this blog.

One entry per person.

Open to UK residents only.

The giveaway closes at midnight on Wednesday 13th April.

Winners will be selected at random and announced on this post on Friday 15th April. I'll also be in touch by email.

Responsibility for despatching the winning tickets lies with the promoters Idea Generation.

Tickets for The Baby Show are also available from the box office on 0871 231 0844 or online at thebabyshow.co.uk.

I have not received any payment for running this giveaway. Not a sausage. Not even half eaten pack of jelly babies.

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Ellie, Alex, Teannie Binns, Lucy Morris and Gen who have each won a pair of tickets to the show.

The Divine Women Awards: Who inspires you?

Divine Chocolate, a leading Fairtrade company, recently sent me a batch of absolutely delicious chocolate and news of their recently launched awards celebrating women who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference in people’s lives.

To mark the centenary of International Women’s Day and to celebrate the amazing achievements of women across the nation, they have joined up with ethical jewellers Ingle & Rhode to launch the first ever Divine Women Awards.

Divine Chocolate and Ingle & Rhode are inviting public nominations in a search to find the most Divine Woman in the UK, between the 8th of March and 8th of April 2011. They have enlisted the help of ethical-campaigner Livia Firth to help select a winner.

The aim is to give inspirational women, who are so often taken for granted, the recognition they deserve. If you know someone who inspires you and deserves recognition, why not consider nominating them. Just log onto the Divine Facebook page, watch the short film, and follow the instructions.

The ultimate winner will be awarded a truly divine prize of a bespoke pendant worth over £1,000, made with Fairtrade and Fairmined 18 carat gold from ethical jewellers Ingle & Rhode.

Divine Women can be any age and from any walk of life. Everyone and anyone can nominate a woman they believe to be an inspiration.

For more information visit http://apps.facebook.com/DivineWomenAwards

The Hovis Stop Snacking App

As part of the Hovis Wholemeal Campaign 2011, Hovis are encouraging women to swap their usual breakfast for two slices of Hovis Wholemeal bread and trial a number of quick and easy recipes available over on their Facebook page .

I was one of 50 bloggers who took the Hovis Wholemeal Challenge and for two weeks I switched my usual breakfast of yoghurt for one of the Hovis Wholemeal recipes. During that period I completed daily online surveys about what I had eaten, whether I had enjoyed it and whether I had snacked in-between meals.

86% of those surveyed - myself included - found that eating Hovis Wholemeal for breakfast prevented them snacking in-between breakfast and lunch. The survey also found that 56% of respondents didn’t even think about snacking during that time, compared to 29% when eating their normal breakfast.

I only snacked once during the time I ate Hovis Wholemeal for breakfast. The challenge coincided with our week of being snowed in, so there were plenty of opportunities to snack; I just didn’t want to.

I’ve always been a fan of brown bread. I’ve eaten it for years and will continue to do so, not for breakfast but for lunch as I like to start the day with natural yogurt.

For anyone looking to lead a healthier lifestyle and cut down on those in-between meal snacks, switching to wholemeal bread is an excellent place to start.

You’ll find the Hovis ‘Stop Snacking App’ over at Facebook.com/hovisbakery .

Sponsored post.

Take on Amazon Web Splash - The Hating Game, Talli Roland

The beauty of blogging is that you get the chance to discover some incredibly talented people. A blogger I've followed for some time is writer Talli Roland. Today I am helping to promote her debut novel - The Hating Game  - which has just launched as an ebook.

The idea behind the Take on Amazon Web Splash is to help Talli Roland's debut novel The Hating Game hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. Over 450 people are  spreading the word today.

Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers. The Hating Game can be found on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

For those without a Kindle - you can download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more. A paperback version of the book will be out soon.

Keep up with the latest at www.talliroland.com.

About The Hating Game

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £2000,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

Good luck Talli!

Shiny Happy People

I promised several people yesterday that I would write a happy post today and not one that had everyone reaching for their Kleenex.

So to compensate for recent misery posts, I am starting a Shiny Happy People meme to spread some happiness (I hope) across the blogosphere. There are several memes in circulation at the moment, but I'm throwing a new one into the mix anyway. Of course there is no obligation to take part. It's just a bit of fun.

So the rules of the Shiny Happy People Meme are simple:

Name a song that makes you happy -  a song you would listen to if you needed a sudden injection of happiness.

Post an image that makes you smile,  it can be anything  - a silly photo, an image taken from the internet,  anything at all that puts a smile on your face (and isn't too rude!)

My choice of song is Shiny Happy People by REM. They have written plenty of sad songs but this one puts a smile on my face and is best played at full volume. I love it and danced to it many times back in the 1990s.

And my picture?

Well, I may live to regret this.

Recently I mentioned that I would love a scanner so that I could upload some photos of IJ that told a difficult story with a happy ending. Amazingly, a representative from the UK money saving website DiscountCoder.com read the post and has paid me enough money to buy that scanner.

The emotional photos can wait. Instead, I have rather reluctantly opted to post an embarrassing photo taken in the mid-1990s instead. It makes me smile (and blush slightly).

The reason I have a giant red spot on my nose is because it was taken on Red Nose Day which of course you will have guessed. And of course no alcohol whatsoever was consumed by anyone before that picture was taken.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

So I'm grateful to DiscountCoder.com for helping me buy my new scanner; no doubt more embarrassing photos will follow. I'm happy to advertise that their website offers numerous discount codes for a wide range of UK retailers including discount codes for Comet and also for Argos, amongst others. It is worth checking out if you shop on-line and want to save money.

And now I'm tagging the following people to take part in the meme, if they wish:

Jo Beaufoix

Emily at Maternal Tales

Linda Jones  (because all hell will break loose if she is not tagged)

Tim at Bringing up Charlie

The adorable English Mum who would be most offended if not tagged

Citizen Cain

Heather at NotesfromLapland

Josie at Sleep is for the Weak

Have a go and make someone smile!