New Blog Address! Seapotato.blogspot.com

Hello readers,

I've officially moved my blog back to my original address: http://seapotato.blogspot.com/

Please follow me there to continue to read about the latest freebies, deals and movies!

Thanks!

Room by Emma Donoghue - Book Review

I heard from my coworker that Room was a book she couldn't put down, so when my sister got a copy, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!

Room is told through the perspective of five-year-old Jack, and to him, Room is the entire world. He was born there and he lives with his Ma, eats, plays and learns there and sleeps in the wardrobe at night, in case Old Nick shows up. To Jack's Ma, Room is a small shed where Old Nick has kept her for seven years after kidnapping her, ever since she was nineteen. She has created a life for her son but knows they can't go on like this forever. She has to figure out a way to escape her prison.

I couldn't put the book down once I started. Emma Donoghue does an excellent job of drawing you into Jack's world, seeing things through his eyes, a child born and raised in captivity who doesn't know anything about the outside world. You feel the danger that Jack's Ma feels and the urgency of which she wants to escape. I highly recommend this book (try not to read it during a weeknight, you won't be able to put it down!) and I'm looking forward to reading more of Donoghue's books.

Tim Horton's Roll Up The Rim Contest

Tim Horton's Roll Up The Rim contest is back! When you buy any medium or larger sized drink at Tim Horton's, you will get a contest cup where you can roll up the rim to win a prize! With the boom of social media, people were able to find out if other people's cup were winning...and people realized that not that many people's cups were winners. So Tim Hortons increased the number of prizes (mostly food prizes).

This year's prizes are:
40 Toyota Matrix
100 Panasonic 3D TV Packages
5,000 Raleigh Mountain Bikes
1,000 Napoleon Grills
25,000 $100 Tim Cards
47,000,000 Food Prizes

Don't go to Timmies? You can still play! They also have an online game you can play for free! Though the prizes are not as exciting as a new car or TV, you get the chance of winning a $25 Tim Hortons gift card or even the daily grand prize of coffee for a year! That's a lot of coffee! Just log in at their website and spin that wheel! You can play daily.

Good luck to everyone who participates in this contest! Let me know if you've won!

Free Chocolate Bar from Mars Canada

It's back again! Mars Canada is bringing back their Random Acts of Chocolate, offering a coupon for a FREE single serving chocolate bar for you to give away (or give to yourself, heehee!). There are coupons on displays in stores (though please don't be greedy and take the whole pad) or you can order a coupon to be mailed to you house from Save.ca. Yum, nothing beats free chocolate!

Free Sample of Kellgg's Fibre Plus Cereal

Kellogg's is offering a free sample of their Fibre Plus cereal! You have two flavours to choose from, Summer Berry or Brown Sugar. I opted for the Summer Berry myself, since I love berries in my cereal! Yum! Sign up for your free sample here.

IHOP National Pancake Day (Mar 1)

IHOP is once again celebration National Pancake Day by offering a free short stack of pancakes. In return, leave a donation for the Children's Miracle Network-Hospitals! This is a great cause with great food involved too. Last year IHOP was able to raise over $2.1 million for charity, and this year's goal is to raise $2.3 million! This event is happening on Tuesday, March 1st from 7am to 10pm. Check out the IHOP website for more details.

Free Best of Vancouver 2010 DVD & Luggage Tag, Feb 26-27 (Lower Mainland Only)

Some interesting freebies offered by the Olympic Merchandise Warehouses this weekend! Get a Best of Vancouver 2010 DVD and a luggage tag when you visit either stores in Vancouver or Burnaby. Also if you spend $20 or more, you will receive a reusable Visa tote bag as a gift (not really worth it, these bags are everywhere!). Definitely go check it out this weekend, the DVD might be interesting to watch!

The two locations of the Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are at 8410 Ontario St in Vancouver and 6741 Cariboo Rd in Burnaby.

More information on the warehouse locations and hours, go here.

Free Miga Plushies, Feb 19-20 (Lower Mainland Only)

Continuing on with the freebies, the Olympic Warehouses are handing out 9.5 inch Miga olympic mascot plush toys again this weekend. There is a limit of one plushie per person, while supplies last. There is no family limit though, so take the kids too! Go early to ensure you get one before they run out.

The two locations of the Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are at 8410 Ontario St in Vancouver and 6741 Cariboo Rd in Burnaby.

More information on the warehouse locations and hours, go here.

I Am Number Four

I Am Number Four, based on the novel by Jobie Huges and James Frey, stars Alex Pettyfer playing an alien (Number Four) who had to flee his home planet, Lorien, to hide from an invading species who have destoyed their planet, the Mogadorians (who has an uncanny resemblance to Lord Voldermort from Harry Potter). There are nine alien children who were sent to Earth, all with a guardian to protect them as they grow up. They develop powers as they grow, called Legacies, and each of the nine has different powers. John Smith (Pettyfer) has to move everytime he might be discovered and he moves to Paradise, Ohio, going to highschool there where he meets Sarah Hart (Dianna Agron), who loves photography. Number Four falls in love with Sarah, but when the Mogadorians find him, he has to learn to control his powers and protect the people he cares about.

I haven't read the book and after watching the movie trailer, I still didn't know what to expect, so going into this movie was a bit of a surprise. I thought it was a very interesting story, though very typical and similar to countless tv showers, movies and books we've all seen and read before (boy has superpower, gets girl, must save world - sound familiar? Much like Smallville or Spiderman) but there are some good special features to keep you entertained and may make it worthwhile to watch in theatres. I Am Number Four is not exactly the best movie I've seen in a while, but I think younger audiences would enjoy it.

I Am Number Four comes out in theatres February 18th.

Free coffee @ McDonalds (Feb 28-Mar 6)

If you didn't get enough of free breakfast items at McDonalds last week, they are now bringing back the free small coffee at McDonalds! People have said McDonalds make the best coffee and there are always huge line ups for them when they have this offer. The free small coffee offer is good all day during the promotion, not just during breakfast hours.

50% off Tazo Tea Lattes @ Starbucks (Feb 11-20)

Starbucks is bringing back their 50% off Tazo Tea Lattes this week, from 2-5pm everyday between February 11-20. The offer is valid for any size and flavor of Tazo Tea at participating Starbucks.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics 1-year Anniversary Celebrations!

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and there are tons of celebrations going on in the city. One of them is happening at Robson Square, starting at 9am to 11pm on Saturday, February 12th. There will be free skating and entertainment, athlete appearances, and also free admission to the Vancouver Art Gallery from 10am to 5pm. If you are at Robson Square by 10am, you also get a chance to win an awesome Canucks prize pack that includes 4 tickets to the game that night, dinner and passes to the post-game press conference.

Illuminate Yaletown (Feb 11-12) - Lower Mainland Only

Illuminate is coming back for two days to celebrate the anniversary of the 2010 Olympics! From 6pm on February 11 to 10:30pm on February 12, check out this free winter party with light art at several sites! This should be a fun and interesting thing to do this weekend!

Free Quatchi Plushie & Coin Purse, Feb 12-13 (Lower Mainland Only)

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics! The Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are celebrating by once again offering a DOUBLE freebie this weekend! Saturday and Sunday only, get a free 13.5 inch Quatchi plushie AND a coin purse just for showing up at the store! There is a limit of one plushie/coin purse set per person, but no family limit, while supplies last. Make sure to go early as they may run out quickly.

Be sure to check out the other stuff they have in store as well, as they get new merchandise every week. They now have the 5-disc DVD boxed set of the Olympic Winter Games from CTV. This went for about $60 during the Olympics and it has been advertised for 50% off.

The two locations of the Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are at 8410 Ontario St in Vancouver and 6741 Cariboo Rd in Burnaby.

More information on the warehouse locations and hours, go here.

From Prada to Nada

From Prada to Nada is a Latino spin on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Camilla Belle and Alexa Vega play sisters Nora and Mary who are left penniless after their father suddenly dies and they find out he is bankrupt They discover they have a long-lost half brother and with him, his fiancee who sends the two sisters packing. They then have to move in with their aunt who lives in East Los Angeles, which is very different from the lifestyle they are accustomed to.

The movie was a bit awkwardly put together and was a bit hard to believe, especially the love stories each of the sisters had. Okay, make that very hard to believe. It felt very rushed at the end, sort of like, oh wait a minute, the movie is ending, the characters better get together now! I found myself falling asleep near the end of the movie (though it was probably from all the chemical fumes I inhaled at work today!!). There were a few good laughs, and it was nice that the girls started to embrace their Mexican heritage, but this is no Oscar winner by far.

From Prada to Nada comes into theatres February 11th.

Free Purdy's Chocolate Heart @ Brentwood Mall (Feb 14)

Brentwood Town Centre is celebrating Valentines Day by handing out a Purdy's Chocolate foil heart when you visit the Customer Service Kiosk. This is only going on for one day, Monday, February 14 next week. It's a nice little chocolate treat if you are shopping at the mall already!

2 Fries/Soft Drink/Dip for $5.50 @ New York Fries (Feb 12-14)

New York Fries sent out a coupon in their newsletter today for a Valentine's special! From February 12-14, bring in your coupon to get 2 regular fries, 2 soft drinks and 2 dips for only $5.50! I've never been to NYF (or at least not in a loooong while) so I'm not sure about the regular pricing on their food, but it sounds like a pretty good deal to me! Mmm, greasy fries...!

Sign up for New York Fries' newsletter to get your coupon!

Apple iPad 16gb for $448 @ XSCargo

XSCargo is selling 16gb Apple iPads for $448 this week, which is a good $101 off from a new one at the Apple Store. However, they are refurbished, so it's a bit sketchy for me, but you might be fine with that! The sale is on from February 10-14.

There are many other great deals here (however a lot of their electronics are refurbished models, so be wary!) that might be worth checking out. My mum loves shopping here, she's bound to go everytime she heads down to Richmond! There are 6 locations in BC, go to their website for more info!

Tastygo - Another Groupon type site!

Tastygo has been newly launched and it has groupon type deals for restaurants and food related coupons! Today's (actually it's good for 3 days) deal seems worth getting, it's only $2 for $10 worth of Mexican food at Adobo Burrito. The location of this restuarant is downtown Vancouver, on Howe Street. Mmm, tacos.

Check out Tastygo here.

Year of Science - Sport and Science Expo - Feb 11/11 (Lower Mainland Only)

There will be a celebration of the Year of Science on February 11, 2011 from 10am to 4pm. An expo of science and sport, this will be held at Robson Square Plaza and ice rink. There will be top BC atheletes present, displays and activities, and presentations going on that day. The ice rink will also be opened and should be interesting to check out if you are free that day. For more information, go here.

Free MukMuk Plushie, Feb 5-6 (Lower Mainland Only)

The Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are once again offering a freebie this weekend. Saturday and Sunday only, get a free 9.5 inch MukMuk plushie just for showing up at the store! There is a limit of one plush per person, but no family limit, while supplies last. Make sure to go early as they may run out quickly.

If you are planning to purchase other items, the offer this week is spend $35 and receive a free 12.5 inch Miga plush or spend $70 and receive a free 16.5 inch Quatchi plush.

The two locations of the Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are at 8410 Ontario St in Vancouver and 6741 Cariboo Rd in Burnaby.

More information on the warehouse locations and hours, go here.

LunarFest - Feb 3-13 (Lower Mainland Only)

The annual LunarFest is here, a celebration of Asian arts and culture. Hundreds of school kids take part in the festival by making paper lanterns where it is displayed to the public. Last year, during the Vancouver Winter Olympics, there was a lantern forest on Granville Street. This year it's been moved to the outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery with a lantern aquarium! Everything is underwater themed, and there are many events going on, from parades to lantern making! For more information on LunarFest, check out their website here.

Free Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich (Feb 9-10)

McDonalds is introducing a new breakfast sandwich line, the Buttermilk Biscuit! It's pretty much the same choices as a McMuffin: sausage, sausage egg and cheese or bacon egg and cheese. It's guaranteed to be extra greasy, so if you're watching your calories, skip this one! This offer may vary by location, so you probably should confirm with your McD's if they are participating. Also there will probably be a long line up because people go crazy over free McDonalds!!

Contest: Win Alice In Wonderland 60th Anniversary Special Edition

Disney is putting out tons of DVD/Blu-Ray movies out all at once, and here is the newest one yet! Alice in Wonderland (the cartoon) is hitting it's 60th anniversary so there is a new edition coming out! The DVD came out not too long ago and I already bought it, but though some of you might want the chance to win your very own copy! Check out My Organized Chaos to enter!

Contest: Win a Nokia N8 Smartphone

Because I'm phone obsessed at the moment, I thought I'd share this awesome giveaway for the Nokia N8 Smartphone! *drools* It has a 12MP camera (!!), records in HD, and is great for sharing pictures through social media! It's easy to enter. Hit up Kidsumer's blog here OR My Little Review Corner's blog here and follow the instructions! Enter at both blogs to double your chances to win. Good luck!

Contest: Win Not My Own Fragrance

Here is another giveaway from Leslive Loves Veggies. Win a Not My Own fragrance ($18 value). It is made with organic ingredients and is preservative free. A portion of all proceeds goes to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research. Win your very own fragrance by visiting the blog!

Contest: Win Barista Bath & Body prize pack

Leslie Loves Veggies is hosting another giveaway for Body Essential Gift Bag & Gourmet Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans from Barista Bath and Body. Even the name of the product makes me salivate! Barista Bath and Body's products all have brewed or ground coffee to perk you up. Sounds good to me! Get a chance to win a prize pack by checking out the blog!

Chinese New Year Celebration @ International Village (Feb 4-6) - Lower Mainland Only

Chinese New Years is fast approaching and with it comes celebrations of the Year of the Rabbit! International Village is once again holding festivities during the weekend with performances, vendors and draws happening everyday. Going to the celebration brings good luck, and it's always really fun to check things out!

This is happening February 4 to 6 and admission is free! It's bound to be crowded so go early! For more details about the event, go here.

Where: 88 West Pender St, Vancouver
When: Friday & Saturday 12-10pm; Sunday 12-7pm

Save $10 on Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack

Another Disney movie is coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray and Disney is once again offering a coupon for the combo pack! This time it is a $10 off coupon for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. Just head on over here and print it out. The coupon expires February 8, 2011. The movie comes out February 1st so make sure to go get your copy the first three days, since this is when the best sale prices are happening (Future Shop & Best Buy $19.99 after coupon; remember to check other store flyers)!

The Mechanic

I was lucky enough to go to an advanced screening of The Mechanic tonight, starring Jason Statham. Statham plays Arthur Bishop, one of the best hit men in the business. When he is ordered to kill one of his friends for leaking information, the table is turned when he finds out he has been lied to. He reluctantly takes his friend's son in and trains him to be an assassin as well while he goes on the hunt for his employer.

I have never watched any movies starring Jason Statham before but my coworker raves about him! I thought it was a good, mindless movie to go watch. While the acting is sub par (it looks like Statham plays the same character over and over in all his movies!) and it's by no means a deep storyline, but it has plenty of explosions and gun fire to keep you entertained. There are some pretty gory scenes, so don't bring your kids (like some guy did tonight!! It's rated R for a reason, sheesh!).

The Mechanic comes out in theaters January 28, 2011.

Free Quatchi Plushie & Luggage Tag, Jan 29-30 (Lower Mainland Only)

The Olympic Warehouse is upping their ante with a free 7.5 inch Quatchi plush toy AND an Olympic themed luggage tag this weekend (Saturday and Sundays only) to draw customers in. There is a limit of one plush and luggage tag per person, but no family limit, while supplies last. Make sure to go early as they may run out quickly.

The two locations of the Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are at 8410 Ontario St in Vancouver and 6741 Cariboo Rd in Burnaby.

More information on the warehouse locations and hours, go here.

Cheap Crest Toothpaste

This week, Safeway has Crest toothpaste for only $0.80 each (these are for the larger 130ml tubes!). And you know what that means...combine this sale with coupons and you've got yourself an even better deal! Some stores (like Superstore) have already price matched Safeway's price. If they haven't, you can bring in the flyer to your store to get this price as well.

Coupons to use:

$1 off when you buy 2 Crest toothpaste (from Brandsaver flyer or Brandsaver.ca) = $0.30 per tube


Remember you might be able to price match at Zellers and use your SPC discount on top of the coupon. I'm not too sure if they will price match "club card" prices though, but it might be worth a try. Then it'd only be $0.22 a tube!

$10 Body Scrubs @ The Body Shop

The newest deal at The Body Shop is body scrubs for $10 each. I have never tried any of them before but they look interesting and comes in all the nice fruity scents found in the body butters. The body scrubs supposedly exfoliates dead skin cells and looks to have kind of a grainy texture (like St. Ives apricot scrubs!). Might be worth a try!

Free Neutrogena Clinical with MIR

There is a mail in rebate going on right now for Neutrogena Clinical products. They range from $40 to $60 for a pack so it is definitely a great opportunity if you have always wanted to try it but didn't want to shell out the money for it.

I know Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart are offering the MIR (though I'm sure other stores are as well) currently. Buying it at Shoppers this week is the best deal since from Saturday to Monday, if you spend $75 or more, you will receive 18,500 bonus points. Buying the Neutrogena will get you more than halfway there and you'd only have to spend another $15. It's a good time to rack up your Optimum Points since there is a rumored bonus redemption happening February 5th!

Save $8 on Secretariat DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack

Disney is once again offering a coupon for their newest release on DVD and Blu-Ray! Save $8 when you buy the DVD & Blu-Ray combo pack! The coupon expires January 31, 2011. The movie comes out in stores January 25th, and remember to watch out for sales! Usually the best sales happens in the first 3 days it is released and is the best time to use this coupon.

Future Shop is selling it for $29.99 ($21.99 after coupon) for 3 days only. Remember also to check Superstore, Zellers and Toys R Us for special offers as well (they will also accept the printed coupon).

Free Clairol Product (Jan 24-27)

Clairol is going to be offering a coupon for a FREE Clairol product through Facebook starting from January 24 to 27th! All you have to do is mosey on over to their Facebook page and "like" their page. Come January 24th, go back there and order your coupon! There will be 100,000 coupons given away!

Get a $20 PC Gift Card wub spend $60 on P&G products

Superstore (and the Loblaws chain) is offering a gift card rebate on P&G branded products once again! Spend $60 on P&G products and get a $20 President's Choice gift card back by mail! This is a good opportunity to grab your P&G Brandsaver flyers (or the online coupons) and use up a lot of coupons! It's not too hard to spend $60 on these household and personal hygeine products, and this is a great offer especially if you buy these brands anyway!

The products that are included in this offer are: Always, Tampax, Pampers, Pantene, Covergirl, Olay, Old Spice, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Secret, Crest, Nice'nEasy, Natural Instincts, Venus/Embrace, Cascade, Dawn, Charmin, Aussie, Downy, Puffs, Bounty, Vicks, Tide, Bounce, Febreze, Mr. Clean, Swiffer.

You must spend the $60 in one transaction (so you can mail in one receipt). Remember you can use coupons and if you include these products with your grocery shopping, they won't be able to tell if you use the coupons on other products or not! The receipt must be dated between Dec 31/10 and Jan 31/11. One request per name/household/address.

National Hockey Card Day (Feb 12)

National Hockey Card Day is coming up soon! If you remember me blogging about this last year, it's the same deal. On Saturday, February 12, participating stores will be giving out a FREE 5 pack of Upper Deck hockey cards! I love collecting cards so I will be there! Remember these cards may run out fast, so go earlier in the morning. I will post a reminder, with the participating locations closer to the date!

Contest: Win Secretariat DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack

Here's another contest for you! Win a Secretariat DVD/blu-ray combo pack fromMy Organized Chaos! I went to an advanced screening of this movie and loved it! It's such a feel good movie (but let's face it, have you ever watched a Disney movie you haven't liked?) and if I don't win it, I'm definitely buying a copy for myself! Check out the contest here!

FREE Amazon Gift Cards - Swagbucks & Irazoo!

Swagbucks is an awesome search and win site where you can earn rewards FAST. It's easy to do and you get 30 swagbucks right away if you use the link below. So far I have cashed out for $295 Amazon.ca gift cards.  There are tons of prizes to choose from, like other gift cards, cards,  comics, Wii and PS3 consoles, Nintendo DS, you name it! So many prizes  to choose from!  

All you have to do is search and you  might be rewarded with points. The fastest way to earn is through  swagcodes, that are released several times a day. You can find it  through their blog, searchbar, facebook, twitter, etc. Also there are  points for daily polls, checking out the survey link and the daily  special offers link!



Irazoo  is another great search and win site that I've been using for even  longer than Swagbucks. They recently changed it so that it's just like  Swagbucks - you win points for searching, and there are also treasure  codes. As a summer special, they brought back the rate and earn portion  of points - when you do a search, you can comment and rate a site for 50  points. They limited it to 100 points a day though (used to be 300!).

Canadians  are only allowed to redeem for Amazon.com gift cards, but if you live  in the states, you have access to the other prizes as well, like gaming  consoles, cameras, computers and other gift cards. I have already cashed  out for $135 Amazon.com gift cards!

Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant - Product Review

I guess it's about time I post a review about the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant Smartphone! I was lucky enough to receive this phone through the Samsung Mob!ilers program back in August of last year and have used it for four months. This was my first smartphone so I was pretty excited to try it out. I must say, I was very impressed! It has a gorgeous 4" Super AMOLED touchscreen (yes, muuuuch nicer than the iPhone!) and 1 Ghz hummingbird processor that made any downloading apps, watching videos and browsing really fast. It was using Android 2.1 as the OS (but now 2.2 is out for download). You can take pictures and videos with the camera and the photos turn out beautifully when you have good lighting.

The things I loved about the Vibrant:
- The phone is thin and light
- Beautiful screen
- 5.0 MP camera, touch to focus
- SWYPE (made texting so much faster!)
- Live wallpapers (very cool)
- Excellent for browsing and watching videos
- Easy to share pictures and videos through social media sites
- Front facing camera for video calling (or self portraits!)

Things I did not like:
- No flash for the camera so made taking pictures and videos in the dark harder
- Battery life - it has a very poor battery life, so I recommend bringing your charger with you

All in all, the Galaxy S Vibrant is an awesome phone. There were a few problems when it first launched, but the 2.2 OS has eliminated almost all of them (hurray!). Speaking as a regular consumer who likes playing with new tech gadgets but not being a particularly tech savvy, I would have to say I choose the Vibrant over the iPhone 4. Sorry, Steve Jobs. Samsung also has a couple other phones out in their Galaxy S line (Captivate & Fascinate) on different carriers. There are a lot of offers going on for these phones so go check them out in stores!

I'm hoping to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab soon...anyone want to give me one? *wink, wink*

Contest: Win Hello Kitty Seasons Wii

Feisty and Frugal & Fabulous blog is giving away a copy of Hello Kitty Seasons for the Wii! I love Hello Kitty so would love to play this game (yes, I'm still a little kid!). Get a chance to win it by visiting her blog and entering here!

Free Sumi Plushies, Jan 22-23 (Lower Mainland Only)

The Olympic Merchandise Warehouses are at it again! They are now opened up again after the Christmas holidays, and starting this week they are giving away free plushies again! This week the offer is for a 7.5 inch Sumi mascot plush and is only valid on Saturday and Sunday. Also if you spend $20 or more, you will receive a 9.5 inch Muk Muk plush.

The two locations are at 8410 Ontario St in Vancouver and 6741 Cariboo Rd in Burnaby.

More information on the warehouse locations and hours, go here.

Free Lean Cuisine Entree Offer Extended!

Lean Cuisine Canada has extended it's free entree offer for the 2nd week in a row! So if you didn't get the chance the last two weeks to pick up your free Lean Cuisine, you can now! Just print out your coupon on the Facebook page here.

Sara Bareilles Concert Pictures

I know it's really late (okay, 1.5 months late) but I've just been so busy that I haven't had the time to post up pictures from the Sara Bareilles concert on November 22, 2010. This was at The Commodore Ballroom. Holly Conlan opened for her, as well as Cary Brothers. Bareilles came out during one of his songs to sing with him too! It was a great concert and really great energy from the singers and the crowd. Her stories before some of her songs were interesting and funny. The best part? When Bareilles climbed ontop of the piano to sing! They all like to close their eyes while they sing so it was really hard to get a good picture!

Sara Bareilles singing with opening act, Cary Brothers.

Holly Conlan

Cary Brothers

I'm not gonna write you a love song, coz you asked for it!

The set was pretty cool with all the lighting!

<3

Coming back out for an encore.

Dance on that piano!

Latest Contest Wins!

Here are the latest prizes I have won from contests that came in the mail!

My first blog contest win! A $50 Dr. Oetker prize pack. It includes 4 Shakers, 3 Mousse, 3 Puddings and 3 coupons for free pizza!

Haha, this win is kind of funny! Book by Snooki. I don't even know anything about Jersey Shore so not sure what to think of this one. I'll try to read it after my pile of library books are finished.

Darius Rucker CD from a Country music Christmas contest.

$25 Visa gift card!

Contest: Win a Flat Iron Experts Avanti Ultra Professional Ceramic Hairdryer

Sweeps4Bloggers is holding a contest for a Ceramic Hairdryer from Flat Iron Experts. The retail value for this dryer is $220! My mum loves good hair dryers so I'm crossing my fingers for this one. Check out the blog over here for your chance to win as well!

Get 20% off Books @ Chapters (Jan 13-19)

Chapters is offering an additional 10 % off for iRewards members! Just print out a coupon and bring it along with your iRewards card to get 20% off your purchase of books. This offer is valid until January 19th.

Contest: Win a Philips Sonicare Basket

Here's another great contest for you! My Organized Chaos is holding a contest for a Philips Sonicare FlexCare+ power toothbrush basket! There is also a bottle of wine, chocolate, licorice, coffee and tea included with it, retailing at $265! Crazy! It's really easy to enter and only takes a few minutes to earn a bunch of entries! Remember, you can't win unless you enter! ;) Check out the blog here and enter the contest!

Extra 40% off Clearance Items @ Old Navy

I was passing by Old Navy today when I saw a huge sign that said they are now taking an additional 40% off already reduced clearance items! Usually there are only either super small or super huge sizes left, but if you are patient enough to look through the racks, you might find something that is worth buying for practically nothing! Usually their sale on clearance items is only 30% off, so now seems like a great time to hit up your nearest Old Navy store!

Free Lean Cuisine Entree Again!

If you missed the free Lean Cuisine entree offer last week, you're in luck, because they extended the offer to this week! From January 10-16, if you go to the Lean Cuisine Facebook page, "like" it, and click on the special offers tab, you can print a coupon out for a free entree of your choice! Remember not all stores will accept printed coupons (for fear of fraud) so you can always try another store if the first one doesn't take it. Please do not abuse this offer and only redeem the coupon once!

Tons of Bonus Point Coupons for HBC Rewards

If you missed the mega-bonus point coupons that expired Dec 31, have no fear - there is a new set that good until January 31! I wish I knew about these sooner since I already made several purchases at Zellers last week! These coupons do not have a minimum purchase, which means you can buy a candy bar and still get a lot of bonus points! If you use all three, you'll be half way to redeeming a $10 gift card. You can use each coupon one time, and they are good at The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters.

Click here to print the 10,000 bonus points coupon.

Click here to print the 15,000 bonus points coupon.

Click here to print the 20,000 bonus points coupon.

Slumdog Millionaire

I'm trying to watch a movie or two every week, and last week was Slumdog Millionaire. I've been hearing what a great movie this was so sister bought it on Boxing Day (only $5!).

Slumdog Millionaire is a romantic drama about Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), from the slums of Mumbai, who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He goes onto the million dollar question, so the game show host and police all believe he is cheating somehow. The movie plays out in flashbacks of Jamal's life, and you see how he knew the answers of the game show questions - because he lived through it. He is also trying to find his childhood sweetheart Latika (Freida Pinto), which was his reason for going on the gameshow in the first place.

It was an excellent movie, and very feelgood. Very interesting to see all the colours even in the slums!

Safeway Contest is back!

Safeway has another of their ballot contests running right now, with a grand prize of a trip for two to Las Vegas! Each time you buy something at Safeway, you will be given a ballot. Remember there are three ways to play! The instant win, the online game as well as the draw (you need to fill out the back of the ballot and drop it into the ballot box at the customer service counter. The smaller prizes this time include Hey's luggage, Lagostina cooking sets and an Eureka vaccum cleaner. A few contests ago, I won 2 ladies Bulova watches!

FREE Amazon Gift Cards - Swagbucks & Irazoo!

Swagbucks is an awesome search and win site where you can earn rewards FAST. It's easy to do and you get 30 swagbucks right away if you use the link below. So far I have cashed out for $285 Amazon.ca gift cards.  There are tons of prizes to choose from, like other gift cards, cards,  comics, Wii and PS3 consoles, Nintendo DS, you name it! So many prizes  to choose from!  

All you have to do is search and you  might be rewarded with points. The fastest way to earn is through  swagcodes, that are released several times a day. You can find it  through their blog, searchbar, facebook, twitter, etc. Also there are  points for daily polls, checking out the survey link and the daily  special offers link!



Irazoo  is another great search and win site that I've been using for even  longer than Swagbucks. They recently changed it so that it's just like  Swagbucks - you win points for searching, and there are also treasure  codes. As a summer special, they brought back the rate and earn portion  of points - when you do a search, you can comment and rate a site for 50  points. They limited it to 100 points a day though (used to be 300!).

Canadians  are only allowed to redeem for Amazon.com gift cards, but if you live  in the states, you have access to the other prizes as well, like gaming  consoles, cameras, computers and other gift cards. I have already cashed  out for $135 Amazon.com gift cards!

$1.50 Off Coupon for Smart Bread

Smart Bread is offering a $1.50 off coupon via Facebook/Save.ca for any of their bread products. Last time they had a free product coupon for their Smart Breads and they were delicious! Remember you can wait for Smart Bread products to go on sale before you use this coupon to maximize your savings! Check out the Smart Bread Facebook page to order your coupon!

Contest: Win a Peptol-Bismol Prize Pack!

Ken Jeong, the doctor/actor most known for roles in such movies as Knocked Up and The Hangover, is in a series of commercial spots for Peptol-Bismol. They are pretty funny and he encourgaes you to indulge yourself and have a bit of fun! Mom to Bed by 8 is hosting a contest for a Peptol-Bismol party prize pack that includes a pink iPod Shuffle! It's super easy to enter so check it out here. It would be awesome if one of my readers won it!

40% off The Gap (Online only)

The Gap is offering a 40% off discount code if you purchase anything online! Just enter the coupon code GAP40SALE and voila! This sale is valid online only and is good until January 9th.

Free Neutrogena Clinical Sample (Jan 11)

LivingWell is offering another freebie! Get a trial sized sample of Neutrogena Clinical lotion starting January 11th. I love LivingWell freebies because they come in such cute small sizes (perfect for traveling!). Just a heads up for this freebie, watch out since it is very popular and will be gone really fast! There are only 20,000 samples given away.

Free Sample of Gucci Guilty

Gucci is offering a free sample of their perfume, Gucci Guilty via Facebook. This is most likely just a postcard sample, but it's great for stuffing into your dresser to keep your clothes smelling nice! I <3 perfume samples! Check out their Facebook page here.