REDOING THIS GIVEAWAY: Three Pairs of The Princess & The Frog Slippers (Size Big Kid - Adult)

UPDATE: The winners are Julie, Meg and Sharon!

I am ticked that I have to do this, but I have to re-do this giveaway.  Here's why.

I used to have all my comments for A Parent in Silver Spring and A Parent in Silver Spring Reviews handled by Haloscan.  When I would log onto to Haloscan, I would have access to the email addresses of commenters and comment entries for giveaways.  This software was free, all I had to allow was one ad at the bottom of my first post.

I initially installed Haloscan because Blogger does not do trackbacks and would only allow comments from those logged into Blogger, and I wanted to be able to both send and monitor trackbacks and allow comments from everyone.  And keep my cheapskate booty on lovely, free, SEO-friendly Blogger.   Over time I came to really appreciate Haloscan's commenting system over the commenting system provided on Blogger and was very glad I had installed.

This week I logged on to Haloscan to access the email addresses of commenters and draw winners' names for giveaways.  Upon arriving at Haloscan I was informed that JS-Kit had acquired Haloscan, and I could either download all comments, or pay $9.95 for all my data to be converted to Echo and receive uninterrupted service.  

JS-Kit and Echo have received favorable coverage in the media and I knew that companies like Discovery were using this commenting software.  I wasn't aware that JS-Kit had acquired Haloscan, but then keeping up with tech news isn't my top priority.  I quickly caught up on Tech Crunch and then blithely plopped down my credit card info, logged onto Echo and went to my new Dashboard to access your comments and email addresses.

My websites' data wasn't there.  And my data still is not there.  Over one week later.  I should have downloaded the data.  But I didn't. I took them at their word that my service would be uninterrupted.  They did not say the data would be lost or delayed. 

I cannot get a response from Support, Customer Service, have not had any of public forum questions answered.  From the Twitter searches I've done, I'm not the only one that is disappointed.

I do not know if I upgrade to either the White Label or Echo Pro (which does not publish prices...hmmm, I bet the sales team would get back to me!) if I will have access to them.  Or if I will receive a response and better customer service.

Maybe it's just taking JS-Kit awhile to convert all the Haloscan info over.   But I did not receive an email from Haloscan or JS-Kit alerting me to the change over until after I had already paid for the conversion.  I didn't even get an emailed receipt for my purchase.   I haven't received an email letting me know about any timeline of service.

However, I was led to believe that by paying for the formerly free service, that all would carry on as before...and better.  And it has not. In their sole email to me, JS-Kit wrote:

While Haloscan has a been a trusted friend for many, the reality is that the servers and the software are beginning to fail and our small startup is unable to continue to support two platforms. We recognize that change is always difficult and daunting, however we hope that the new features, great support and constant innovation on the Echo platform will offset the challenges of any switch.

I hate going ranty.  It's just so bloggy.  I'm a freelance writer...right?

Well, today I am very bloggy ranty low-techy ignoranty.  Pretty soon I'll start talking about health care reform.

But it's all to explain to you why you'll have to send an email to apissgiveaways@gmail.com with Slippers in the title and your mailing address in the body of the mail to receive the free Princess and the Frog slippers before Christmas. In my mommybloggy giveaway.  

Now I'm off to go find some Precious Moments clip art to paste in my margins and a plug-in that will play Taylor Swift when you arrive at my page!

LOL.
ROTFL. 
WTF.
BFK.

Here I am modeling the slippers.  They are almost too small on my big flippers.

Courtesy of the Disney folks that are bringing us the fabulous The Princess and the Frog film this winter (we LOVED it), I have three pairs of exclusive frog slippers for giveaway.

These will fit kids age 9 and up through adult to size 8 (they are stretchy and conforming, but can have room at the toes for a more pronounced froggy flop.)  Leave a comment for a chance to win your own to keep or give as a gift this holiday season to your fave princess. 

If you give a pair to a girl you love, maybe she'll smile just as widely as Eve here:

Eve in front of the Princess Tiana display at Carols Daughter 

GIVEAWAY: Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie Extended Edition and Wishing Stone

The winners have been emailed and sent the movies - I have the list of Random.org-ly drawn winners somewhere and will update here once I find it!  

I'm giving away 10 copies of Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie extended edition with movie-tie-in jewelry included (a mood ring-like wishing stone with clip for backpacks and such.)

Here's the official DVD synopsis:

Wizards Of Waverly Place The Movie Extended Edition features exclusive footage, behind-the-scenes bonus and awesome extras that take you deeper into the mysterious world of wizardry! Embark on a supernaturally exciting adventure as the Russos, your favorite family of wizards-in-training, join together on a quest full of heart-stopping action and hilarious magical mishaps! While on vacation, Alex (Selena Gomez) accidentally casts a spell that threatens her family’s existence! Max (Jake T. Austin) tries to keep his parents together while Alex and Justin (David Henrie) use every trick they know as they search for the “Stone of Dreams” to reverse the spell and save their family.

Anywhoo,  if you'd like to win this DVD gift set, you must live in the United States and email me at apissgiveaways@gmail.com with Wizards in the title and your address in the body of the email. The winner will be randomly drawn on Monday morning and then sent by me Priority Mail on Monday or whenever mail in the DC area resumes.

Yes, I'll only mail and yes, I'll be shoveling my driveway and taking my desert booty (um, it's 80 degrees in my hometown right now) to the P.O. on Monday morning.   Which means that yes, you'll probably receive before Christmas but don't burn me in effigy if you receive on the 26th.

Giveaway - The Suite Life on Deck: Anchors Away! - 10 copies

UPDATE: The winners are Patti, Colleen, Val, Mary, Michelle, Jodi, Alec, Olivia, Sara, Kelly D.

The Suite Life on Deck: Anchors Away! - I've got 10 of these DVDs for giveaway...want one?

If you're not familiar with The Suite Life of Zack and Cody or your kids are starting to watch it but you're baffled by why are these blonde boys always alone, wisecracking and why now they're on a boat (I was at first), here's the Cliff Notes version:

These identical twin boys (except one is a bit plumper, don't ask me which) have a mom who's a lounge singer at a fancy hotel so the boys get to live in the hotel full-time (thus, the SUITE life pun, harhar.) While mom's on stage or working, the boys are alone getting into trouble and driving the hotel manager crazy. To reach the tweeny girl demographic, each episode there's always a storyline about two airheaded but loveable Disney Channel princess chicks at the hotel too.

So, Suite Life's been on forever and Disney had exhausted all variations on the "they threw waterballoons out the window, got in trouble and learned their lesson" story and their Adam's apples were starting to show, so they changed it up. Now mom's singing on a cruise ship (thus the ON DECK.) Everyone at the hotel's along for the ride except the blonde tween queen chick who hit it big in High School Musical: The 10 Year Reunion Danceoff. She's replaced by a less blonde cookie who doesn't have a record deal yet.

This DVD has 6 episodes of the popular series, it's rated G, the boys now like-like girls, and I'm sure there's lots of variations on the "they yelled 'Man Overboard!', got in trouble and learned their lesson" story. Your elementary or middle schoolers will dig it.

Cost: $14.49 on Amazon & eligible for free shipping.

Leave a comment to win one of 10 DVDs I have for giveaway. I'll randomly draw the winners in one week!