Yes/No Detroit

Me with the Denny's sign - Novi, MI *Disclosure: I received a gift card to facilitate this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. When I attended BlogHer this summer, I stayed at the Sheraton, which was the host hotel, and we received "room drops," little gifts that were sitting on our beds when we returned "home" after a busy day. In one of the room drops, I received a Denny's gift card, and when Denny's contacted me to see if I wanted an additional gift card to try out their restaurant, I said yes. Before this time, the last time I went to a Denny's was about four years ago, in Ann Arbor. I think I got a breakfast meal and it didn't really agree with me; it was too greasy and buttery.  Denny's has changed a lot since then, however, and its menu has a ton of choices, including "Fit Fare" - meals that are both healthy for you and low in calories - and even a reduced-price 55+ menu for seniors.  ...

*Disclosure: I received product coupons to facilitate this blog post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.  When I attended BlogHer this summer, Lean Cuisine was one of the brands featured in the expo hall, and I got to try their new Pomegranate Chicken. I'm a big fan of "the quick meal" - I work full-time, and I run this blog and my book blog . It also takes time to stand in line for movie screenings, and sometimes I rush home from work and want to eat something quick for dinner before I go back out again. My big problem with most frozen meals is that they don't fill me up. I usually stick to the pastas and individual-size pizzas, but even then I need to eat a side dish with it to feel completely full. With the Honestly Good  meals, however, I was full after eating, and they tasted pretty good as well. Honestly Good  is made with 100% all natural ingredients, and part of why its meals taste so good is probably because the sauce comes in a separa...

Navy Pier Crystal Gardens, venue of the Yappem party in Chicago *Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from One2One Network and Yappem. All opinions stated are my own. I'll be honest: when I went to a party that Yappem threw at the Navy Pier Crystal Gardens (Chicago) in July, I didn't know a lot about the app. I downloaded it in preparation of the party, and scrolled through it a little, but it seemed confusing and a little bit like Facebook, without the "Facebook friends" part. At the party, however, we were required to do some Yappem "missions" in order to participate in contests (I love  contests!) and I was able to learn more about the app and interact with it a bit. It turns out that it's a form of social media where you can share your experiences - either good, or bad - about products, brands, and places, by doing "missions." Here's one example of a mission: In this case, you'd write a short post - almost like a tweet - sha...

picture courtesy of Seadog Cruises *Disclosure: I received a free fireworks cruise in exchange for writing this post. All opinions expressed, however, are my own. In my massive BlogHer '13 recap from a few days ago, one of the (unofficial) activities I mentioned doing was the Seadog fireworks cruise, courtesy of Madame Deals and her team. I was super excited to be included in this as Navy Pier always does a great fireworks show - I was in Chicago last year for a wedding and was able to catch it then, as well - and I was curious to see how the view would be different from a boat versus sitting on the pier. The answer is: fantastic! Waiting to board the fireworks cruise After checking in at the Sheraton, Shannon , Melissa  and I, along with our new friend Sarah , cabbed it to Navy Pier and found the Seadog Cruises departure area. Amee from Madame Deals along with Gwen, a Madame Deals team member and also a Michigan blogger, were waiting to check bloggers in and let them ...

Chicago - view from our room at the Sheraton, downtown Last year I did four separate posts for my BlogHer '12 recap , but now that I'm no longer a "BlogHer newbie," I'm hoping to contain that all in one post this year - we'll see if it works out! If we are Facebook friends, I'm sure a lot of you saw the pictures I posted while in Chicago, as well, so I'll try to pick the best ones to post here. Last year, BlogHer was in NYC , which is a city I like but not one of my most favorites. This year, it was in Chicago , and what a difference it made . I think my schedule was just as jam-packed  but I somehow made time on Thursday AM to walk around Michigan Avenue - Ghirardelli is a must-go whenever I'm in Chicago, and I like exploring Water Tower Place as well - and I made sure to get some Chicago deep-dish pizza too. I arrived in the city on Wednesday  with Shannon ( GlamorousMoms.com ) and Melissa ( BargainShopperMom.com ). We made the smart decis...

*Disclosure: I am receiving a free fireworks cruise in exchange for writing this post. All opinions expressed, however, are my own. If you're a blogger, you've undoubtedly heard of BlogHer, one of the biggest blogger/writer conferences in the country. I had the fortune of attending BlogHer last year , for my first time, in NYC, and the even better fortune of learning that it will be in Chicago this year: a quick four or five hour drive from the Detroit area, where I live. The conference kicks off in about five weeks, and invites for events happening in Chicago at the same time are starting to roll into my mailbox. I'm in a few Facebook groups where event invites pop up, as well, and I happened to see and then be invited to this one: a fireworks cruise hosted by Madame Deals  with Sea Dogs Cruises ... and I have to say I'm VERY excited about it! I took a boat ride on the "Pay it forward express" last year in NYC, and that was also through Madame Deals...