Halloween Best Dressed Photo Contest Sponsored by Gilt Group! –Enter to Win a $1000 Credit!

Photo Credit: @ Gilt Group via Mom Bloggers Club

Think your child’s costume is the cutest on the block? Want to prove it and get a chance to win something really cool for doing so?

Between October 22nd and November 8th, upload a photo of your child in his or her Halloween outfit to enter for a chance to win a $1,000 Gilt Credit. Visit the “contests” tab on the Gilt Children Facebook page or click here to enter! The 10 most popular entries, as voted on by Gilt Children fans, (until November 19) will become finalists!

Fans can encourage their friends to vote the following ways:

1. Invite friends to participate in the contest on Facebook

2. Post your vote to your Facebook wall by selecting “share on my wall” when you vote for your favorite photo.

3. Let your friends know that you can vote for each entry once per day

Remember for best chances you should submit your entry early and vote often!

A panel of Gilt Groupe judges will then select five winners based on the overall quality of the photo and the costume, announcing the results by November 26 on the Gilt Children page and Twitter account.

Each of the winners will receive a $1000 credit for use on Gilt.com!

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FTC Disclosure: This is a compensated post. This is a sponsored post via Mom Bloggers Club and I am a participating blogger in a paid campaign.

Preparing for a weekend of all Treats (No Tricksies)! - Share your favorite horror movie!

photo credit: Mimoco

Our friends at Mimoco posted the coolest Hello Kitty Computer Wallpaper ever on their Facebook Page HERE! I just had to share, isn't Hello Kitty the coolest? As soon as I saw it, I immediately made it my desktop background on my computer and just had to share her with you!

We are preparing for a very cool weekend surprise of all treats and no tricks for you, so stay tuned! HINT: Our friends at 1800-baskets.com are joining us for a 3 baskets for 3 winners Halloween Themed Giveaway! You WON'T want to miss it!

We experienced a server glitch, no worries (you know I'm all over it!), no entries were lost, but as a result we are extending our deadling for the Satya Jewelry Breast Cancer Awareness Giveaway that was supposed to close today at 3pm until 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time, so HURRY enter NOW! Click HERE! (And don't forget to show Satya some love when you are shopping for gifts! They have many collections where the proceeds go to charity! And be sure to check back for a special upcoming giveaway with Satya for our holiday buying guide launching in mid-November! So let's show some entry love for this giveaway!)

So because I'm in super work mode, we are keeping things short and simple today. I thought it would be fun if we shared our favorite horror movie, what is yours?

Horror is my favorite genre and guilty pleasure, and my favorite 'killer' is Freddy Kruger, I also like the movie 'Terror Train' (maybe because it reminds me of my morning commute by rail in New York City, ROFLMAO!), and the Excorcist will always have a creepy factor for me!

NEW NEWS!:  Ascending Butterfly needs your votes! I really want to be NatureMade's Good Mood Blogger (no worries I do NOT have to stop blogging here, I can do BOTH jobs!), please rock the vote for me daily here: http://www.sam-e.com/job/entries/645

You can also get there using the cool button below:

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

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FTC Disclosure: This is a non-compensated post, just alerting my readers of cute wallpaper and upcoming giveaways! So as they say in my neck of the woods 'Don't get it twisted!'

Dunkin Donuts Flavored Coffee - Review and Giveaway!

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This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks so much to our wonderful sponsor Dunkin Donuts! We look forward to working with you again! The winner has been notified and upon confirmation, follower name will be posted both here and on our homepage. Remember: There are great giveaways active on the upper right hand side of the page Where it reads “Today’s Butterfly! Win Here’!

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America Runs on Dunkin

Don't you just love that tagline? America Runs on Dunkin - and on occassion so do I! My first memory of the smell of coffee in the kitchen was in my great-grandmother's kitchen, she was a die hard coffee drinker. And while I am not an every morning cup of joe person, there are mornings when I already know my to-do list for the day is what some don't do even in a week, and it's on those mornings, I know I need help. Help to see me through a day that will end up being 16 hours or more at least with back to back meetings. Sometimes I need a little help summoning up the 'back-to-back' energy for those 'back-to-back' meetings!

I want something that I can enjoy drinking and that won't drain my weekly budget, yes, even a butterfly has to stick to a budget! and in winter when it's freezing out, I want something warm to start my morning!

When the Mom Bloggers Club asked if I'd like to participate in a testing opportunity with Dunkin, needless to say I jumped at the chance, and while I'm no Coffee Connoisseur, I do know what I like, and just how much I am willing to pay for it!

I was sent 3 different flavors to try,  French Vanilla, Cinnamon Spice and Hazelnut. I ripped open the Hazelnut first. Which doesn't surprise me, it's my favorite variety and I already knew it would be. It didn't fail to disappoint, honestly just the smell in the bag before you even brew it, is just heavenly! My second fave was French Vanilla, and Cinnamon Spice came in last, but not least, it's good, but hazelnut is definitely my hands down fave!

While these three year-round flavors are awesome, Dunkin Donuts also offers seasonal flavors! You can find info on the seasonal flavors at: http://www.dunkinathome.com. (There are Halloween as well Holiday flavors available, they even have gift baskets too! Or you can pick up some bags at your local grocery store and put together your own gift basket, I'm sure some of those hard to shop for gifts like your mail carrier would definitely love a bag or two of morning love for the holidays!)

WIN IT! - Ascending Butterfly and our friends at Dunkin Donuts would like to provide 1 Ascending Butterfly Follower with a bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee. The flavor will be a surprise, chosen at random by the sponsor; But I can assure you it's all treats and no tricks here at Ascending Butterfly!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - How to Win: (1) You must be a PUBLIC follower of Ascending Butterfly to be eligible for this and all giveaways. Indicate in your entry that you follow (if your 'comment name/user id' differs from your profile id, please let me know what name you follow under) and Mandatory Entry: (2) Visit Dunkin at Home and tell me which Dunkin Donuts flavor you would most like to try! (3) You must also leave your email address somewhere in your comment. (You can format it this way for security, example: ascendingbutterfly AT mail host DOT com). (If your email is clearly visible in your profile, you can just say so, that's OK!) Please follow the easy 1, 2, 3 steps to winning (or in this case, the A,B,C’s of winning!) This giveaway is open to USA residents who are 18 years of age or older. No PO Boxes.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please follow directions or you will be disqualified! All comments are moderated, they may not appear on the site right away (comments like "I want this" or "I want to win" will not be entered). You have from Tuesday, October 26, 2010 until Tuesday, November 02, 2010 at 03:00 PM (EST) to comment and be entered for a chance to win. You will have 48 hours to confirm if we do not hear from you we will be forced to move on to an alternate. (We only notify winners DIRECTLY via email, so if your profile or your comment does not have an email your entry will not be processed)

EXTRA CREDIT:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Blog about this giveaway, linking to this giveaway post. Leave the URL in a comment. (If your blog post contains more than just a pic and link you'll get 5 extra credit entries!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Grab our Button and put it on your Blog. Leave the URL where we can see it in a comment (if you already have our button, just let us know, you will still get extra credit!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow @Tracy_Iglesias on Twitter (this is ascendingbutterfly’s editor) and give me your twitter ID in a comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Tweet this:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  #ascendingbutterfly No Tricks all Treats Halloween #Giveaways! - Win a bag of Dunkin Donuts #Coffee! http://tinyurl.com/2g8fswx

(Leave a comment with the tweet’s url so you can get a valid entry (click on the time your tweet was sent to get the direct URL and then copy and paste it here). You can Tweet TWICE per DAY. If you Tweet more than that, that entry will be disqualified.)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Digg about this giveaway and leave your digg username in your comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Fave this blog on Technorati and leave your Technorati user name in your comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow Ascending Butterfly on Facebook HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow Ascending Butterfly on Networked Blogs HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Join Ascending Butterfly's NEW Community/Real Time Chat, Group HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Vote for Ascending Butterfly on: Fuel My Blog

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Have you entered another giveaway on Ascending Butterfly? Let me know which one and you’ll get more extra credit!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Have you commented on a non-giveaway entry? Let me know which one here and you’ll get more extra credit!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Ascending Butterfly needs your votes! I really want to be NatureMade's Good Mood Blogger, please rock the vote for me daily here:


Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Ascending Butterfly is a nominee for the Bloggers Choice ’10 Awards in the ‘Best Blog About Stuff’ Category - You can press the button below to go straight to the page where Ascending Butterfly has been nominated!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Press the button below and join, you get an extra entry for this giveaway and a shot at more great prizes, lets win together! (one time extra credit, will be verified before entry can be accepted)

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FTC Disclosure Info for this Giveaway: This is not a paid insertion. This is a non-compensated post and all opinions regarding Dunkin Donuts are my own experiences. I was provided product via Mom Bloggers Club to facilitate the review & giveaway. The sponsor is fulfilling directly to prize winner(s), this in no way influenced my opinion of the product. Once a winner is selected and their information has been forwarded to the sponsor, the responsibility of prize fulfillment rests with the sponsor.

Weekend Words of Inspiration and THREE giveaways!

Keep Your 'lil Halloweenies' safe!

Just a reminder from the CDC on ways to make Halloween both fun and safe for the little ones HERE!

I have fond memories of Halloween as a child, and it saddens me that there are many children who have NEVER experienced the fun of 'trick or treating' because of the ever present dangers. Will there be a generation coming soon who doesn't even know what 'trick or treating' is?

Where do we draw the line between keeping kids and teens safe and not letting them enjoy being young?

As adults the holiday still presents some dangers, and I just wanted to send out a friendly reminder, especially to the ladies reading this, if  you attend a party, be it in a nightclub, bar or house party, if you go dance, and leave your drink behind, DO NOT go back for it. Please Buy a NEW one! While this is certainly true all the time, this weekend, keep this advice ever present in your mind. I would also highly suggest not going to a separate location with a dashing costumed stranger.......telling your friends 'I'm going outside for a cigarette with the tall vampire' is not going to help if you go missing, there will be a ton of vamps out there! LOL And a word of caution to all readers, do not drink and drive, do not get in a car with a drunk friend, do not let a drunk friend drive, Period.

If anyone is dressing as a butterfly, I'd love to see it! Please post your best butterfly halloween costume pics here.....there may even be a TREAT in it for you! And any tall, cute, boy vampires, are also encouraged to post here! ;-) 

Use 'Today's Words of Inspiration' as a breathing meditation to still your mind, quiet your thoughts and bring in positive energy. As you inhale bring in only positive energy by saying in your mind, I breathe in positive energy (or you can say creative energy if that is what you wish to create more of) and as you exhale, Affirm out loud today 'I am beautiful inside and outside of the mask.' :-)

Spend some time each day enjoying focused breathing AND soul guided meditative visualization, in doing so, you can bring about amazing, profound and powerful changes in your life.

Visualize yourself manifesting something unique, guided by universal forces that emerge spontaneously from within your soul. Do this at least twice today and see how by taking a moment away from the hectic pace and breathing in positive energy and affirming what you wish to create, your thinking will become different.

Remember, attitude really does determine altitude.

It is OK to *Re-Tweet* the link to this post and You can find me (@Tracy_Iglesias) on Twitter here! twitter love: re*tweet by copying and pasting the following into your update field:

OK to RT: @Tracy_Iglesias Today's Words of Inspiration and Two Super Giveaways! - http://tiny.cc/n4Thx

Make this your best day ever, Bless and Be Blessed!

Don't forget to enter the 3 great giveaways on the upper right hand side of the page! (And if we get a lot of  costume pics there may very well be a fourth giveaway!)

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NOTE: Readers have asked us to make entering the contests and giveaways, faster and easier. Your wish is our command! We have moved our 'Today's Butterfly - Featured Site(s) of the day, which is where we host our giveaways, to the upper right hand side of the page. It will be located here from now on to make entering the giveaways faster and easier.

NOTE 2: Twitter followers: please remember you must also follow Ascending Butterfly using Google friends connect on the upper right hand side of the page for your entries to be processed. And remember if your profile does not have an email and you don't leave your email in your entry, we will have no way of informing you if you win, and will have to select another winner. Make sure your entry and your profile have your email address!

Just a helpful Reminder: How to Follow Using Google Friends Connect:

Please look to the upper right hand side, where the follower pictures are. (Note the number of followers before you start this process)

1) press the follow button - the google pop up wizard will open, this is not an ad and your pop up blocker will not block it

2) tick the option that reads 'follow this blog publicly' once that button is selected, hit follow again - it should now read 'you are now following'

3) if the follower count went up you know you did it succesfully, if your profile has a picture, that picture will be the first one on the left side. If your profile doesn't have one, it should still be searchable on the members list.

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