Maple Leaf Mommy

Like this Holly Hobbie...

the mini felt stocking my mom made in the 80s

this beauty from my grandma's basement

hand-crocheted Santa my Grandma made

Poor plastic Mary was separated from Joseph and Baby Jesus when I moved out on my own.

Why yes, this is a plastic disco ball.

Nothing says Christmas like a porcelain bear in a nightdress.

In the spirit of the holidays, WORLD of EYES is offering each of their Facebook fans a FREE pair of GLASSES.


WORLD OF EYES is an online retailer that carries a wide selection of prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses and contact lenses.  They are a Canadian company and ship all their products from right here in Canada.  Their eyeglasses are sourced from industry suppliers and distributors and all lenses are processed, installed and inspected right here in Canada before being shipped out.

Each free pair of eye glasses includes:
- Your choice of an eligible frame
- High Quality Single Vision Essilor Lenses
- Scratch protection coating
- UV protection coating
- Glasses Case
- Lens Cleaning Cloth


I've been putting off getting a much needed new pair of glasses for a while now, so I was pretty excited to find out about this offer. I just browsed through the three hundred and something different frames available and picked out these beauties.
I then quickly realized I don't know where the heck I put my latest prescription. After spending a hour hunting around the house for it, I am am for the moment admitting defeat. I am so frustrated to have to pass on such a great deal!  Hopefully you folks are a little better organized then me, and can track down your eye glass prescription and take advantage of this amazing offer.


The Fine Print:

• You need to visit the WORLD of EYES Facebook Fan page and become a fan. Once you are a fan, you will gain access to an exclusive coupon code which you can redeem for a free pair of glasses.
  
• Only one free pair of glasses per person.
• You must be 18 years of age or older, and a Canadian resident.
  
• Upgrades (such as sunglass tinting) are available during this time at a reduced cost.
  
• You do have to pay to cover the cost of shipping & handling ($19.99) for your free glasses.
• This offer is good from now until Dec 28th, or as long as supplies last. 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, brought to you by World of Eyes.

If you're not familiar with HEXBUG Nano, basically they are small robot bugs. They look a bit like beetles or ants, and they act a bit like them too. The HEXBUG bots are small, about x1.5 inches long. They come in various colour combinations, with various markings on their backs. Some colours or symbols are more rare then others, thus introducing a Pokemon like collecting aspect to bug ownership. They have six soft rubbery plastic legs along each side of their body and they have a wee switch on their underbellies that you can slide to turn them off or on. When they are turned on they vibrate, and if you place them on a hard surface --like say in one of the many HEXBUG habitats available, they skitter around like bugs.

HEXBUG central sent me a generous assortment of bugs and play places for them to live in. Realizing that this would be too much for my four year old to process all at once, we started off small, with the simple HEXBUG Nano Spiral Starter Set plus one additional bug.  That night after we gave my daughter her first HEXBUGs I had to explain things like battery life, and energy conservation, as she had set their habitat up on a stool next to her bed and wanted to leave them on overnight, so they could keep playing while she slept. Needless to say, she is absolutely gaga over these things.


Speaking of battery life, among the boxes sent to me was a crate of "bug food" or replacement button-cell batteries. (The packs retail for $3.99 for two replacement batteries) Seeing this I was a little worried that these little guys would eat through their batteries rather quickly. However my fears were unjustified, as my daughter has played with her bugs a fair bit and they are all still on their original batteries.

My preschooler is absolutely in love with the "cutie bugs" as she calls them. A few weeks back I had never heard of HEXBUG Nano and to be honest I hesitated when I was offered a bunch of HEXBUGs for review. I took a good long look at their website. I liked that the toys weren't being marketed as "for boys". I liked that they claimed to promote an understanding of and interest in robots and science. I thought my husband and our daughter might have a bit of fun playing together with the robotic bugs, so I told them to go ahead and send me some. Still, I wasn't expecting much from these, but boy was I wrong.

Now, I've got a confession to make. These darn things are actually rather compelling to watch. I keep finding myself getting sucked in and watching the HEXBUGS move around, interact with each other, and do their thing. Sometimes they flip over on to their backsides, but they always manage to right themselves. They move up and down ramps. They nudge one another. They will even climb over top one another.


The set ups range from simple to complex. Each habitat breaks down into it's component pieces and can be arranged, rearranged, and combined with other sets, to provide tons of play value.  As we've been slowly adding to our daughters collection, bringing out more bugs and more playsets, she has had a blast creating larger and more complex places for her bugs to live and play.

Here's something I found rather amusing -- My husband spent some time with G-Girl, getting everything out of the box and setting it up, and he had a few choice words to say about how difficult it was to snap the pieces together. He assured me that the box rating of Ages 3 and up only applied if there was an adult on hand to help out. Then hubby headed out to run some errands while I got busy in the kitchen. I checked back in on my daughter half an hour later to find that she had taken apart the set-up and made her own. Apparently the pieces were far more age appropriate then her dad originally thought.

I love the packaging. Each HEXBUG comes individually packaged in a resealable plastic test tube. Each bug also comes with a code to enter on the HEXBUG Nano website, something I failed to notice before scooping up and recycling all of the instruction sheets. Um... my bad. The blurb on the website says that you can "register and track your HEXBUG Nano collection. Play games and learn about real science." I am looking forward to checking out the online component after my daughter opens a few more on Christmas morning  These little guys are going to make the perfect stocking stuffer. (Perfect price point for it too. The HEXBUGs by themselves retail for $6.99 for regular bugs or $9.99 for the glow in the dark varieties. Or a little cheaper if you buy the 5-pack sets.)

Overall, I thoroughly recommend HEXBUG Nano. They are a fun toy with some educational value.  My four year old has yet to tire of them, and I think we will have HEXBUGS living at our place for some time to come. My only warning would be to pet owners - my cat is FAR too interested in these little robotic critters. This can make for some fun supervised kitty-playtime, but it could also be a potential kitty hazard. You can order playsets and bugs directly from www.hexbug.com, or they are available at pretty much any major stores that carries toys. (Hubby noticed Costco had some great deals on HEXBUGs last time he stopped in there).

Disclosure: I received several bugs and playsets from the HEXBUG Nano series. As always my opinions and words are my own, and were not influenced by the free product received.

Around this time each year my husband and I have what I like to refer to as "The Great Ornament Debate".

The conversation usually goes something like this:

Him: Look at this nice box of ornaments.  It's on sale. We should get this.

Me: We have plenty of ornaments.

Him: It's red and gold.  Those are "the colours" for our tree.

Me:  I don't really want to spend any money on ornaments this year...

Him: It's on sale!  We really should get this....

Me: We really do have lots of ornaments.

Him: What about the five ornaments you broke last week, hm?

Me:  Right, on sale you say?

Him: You know if we picked up a few boxes like this...

Me: <Thinking> Oh no here it comes...

Him: ...we could get rid of some of those old ornaments.

Me: No.

Him: Maybe just the really old ones.

Me: NO.

Him: Well what about those green glass balls, we could replace all of those with...

Me: We really don't need more ornaments. The tree is full!

Him: Right but if we were to take off say all of the green balls we could replace them with....

Me: NO!

Him: <Looking dejected>

Me: Err... Want to go look at the electronics section? I heard video games are on sale...

I like my ugly old ornaments, thank you very much.

Here is a guest post from my good friend Shari. Shari is a happily married mom to three young boys who lives in Ontario. She knits, sells on etsy, and blogs over at The Knit Wit. Have you checked out her site yet? One of my favourite features is the low-entry giveaway round-up that she posts every couple of days. She also posts tons of giveaways and reviews, as well as tasty recipes like the one below...

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I have a really old Kids cookbook that I got about 15 years ago at a garage sale for 10 cents that I love to pieces.  It's from Better Homes and Gardens, and it is well loved.  The Front cover is long gone, so I can't even remember what it's called, but you can find the original recipe here.  Whenever I make any of the recipes from this book, everyone loves them!

I have made some changes to this recipe, so even though I call them Rudolph's Antlers, they don't really look like it anymore.  I make them to my own specifications now, from comments and suggestions we have made over the years.  Although if you want to make the originals they are quite cute, just these work better for our family.

Ingredients:


1 cup semisweet Chocolate pieces
1/2 cup butterscotch pieces
2 cups broken up chow mein noodles (I like smaller pieces so they clump up nicer)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan melt chocolate and butterscoth pieces over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.




Stir in Chow mein noodles.



Drop my rounded teaspoons onto a waxed paper lined baking sheet.  Leaving about an inch in between, so as they settle they don't stick together.

Chill in the refrigerator 1-2 hours or till firm.    Makes anywhere from 12-24 cookies depending on how big or small you make them.

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Be sure to link up and share your Holiday favourites in the Holiday Recipe Hop.

I'll be leaving this linky open until after New Years, and I've set up a tab along the top to keep it visible for the whole month. If you like you can grab my "Holiday Recipe Hop" button and link back here.



<a href="http://www.mapleleafmommy.com/2011/12/holiday-recipe-hop-2011-join-in-and.html"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GL82Ppcr3lg/TPm9pvNUTMI/AAAAAAAAASk/xD5_JSGx_SQ/holidayrecipiehopbuttuon.jpg" alt="Holiday Recipe Hop" width="185" height="140" /></a>

So, this is embarrassing... I still haven't gotten my beginners. I read the book, I studied. I took the Young Drivers online prep test a ba-zillion times. I made plans to go with my mom last Friday afternoon to take the test, and then she stood me up.  Nah. That sounds harsh. The reality is that she had an earlier appointment that ran long, and by the time she made it to my house it was too late to head to the Driver's bureau.  For me the problem isn't getting there, which I could theoretically do on the bus. The problem is getting someone to watch the kids so I can take the test.

Hubby got switched over to midnights, which sucks, but can be good for getting errands done. So I planned to go one morning this week., but then everyone got sick. Me, my husband, the kids... some sort of horrible runny-nose and a cough cold type thing. Ugh. In the meantime, the doc is still trying to pinpoint what's wrong with my body in general. I managed to coerce my husband into taking me for my doctor's appointment and to the med lab for more blood work and other miscellaneous fun activities, but again I didn't make it out to take the "knowledge test" and apply for my beginners.

Now today is my second day of Young Drivers classes and I am sort of dreading it a bit because I am feeling so sick, in a why hello yes I may just be contagious, sort of way, and just a tiny bit because I feel foolish for still not having made it out to get my learner's permit yet.

Actually one of the things that I was really impressed with during my first class was Young Drivers generous rescheduling policy. Once you start the course you need to complete it within a calendar year. Other then that they are really flexible with missed classes and the like. For me the issue is again the kids. My mom is able to watch the girls tomorrow while my husband sleeps after his midnight shift. If I "called in sick" for class today, I don't know if I would be able to make the next set of classes, so I need to stick to this one and make it there no matter what.

I want to tell you guys all about my experiences with the first class, but I am so groggy at the moment that I am going to let it slide. For now I will simply give you the short version - it was awesome. I was moved to tears by the founders story. I was blown away by several cool features of the learning experience. I learned tons of useful info, and I already feel much less nervous about getting behind the wheel. I can't wait to see how the second class goes...

Disclosure: Young Drivers is sponsoring this series of posts documenting my journey as I work towards getting my driver's license by providing me with free access to the Young Driver's Defensive Driving Program.

Have you had a chance to check out the Wag Jag Holiday Shoppe yet?  Over the past few weeks I've sort of become addicted to checking to see the new deals they keep adding. I keep swearing my Christmas shopping is done, but then I see one more very cool, amazing deal, and I want to shop just a little bit more.

One thing that has really caught my eye is the various discounted magazine subscriptions they're offering.  They have over half a dozen different subscriptions available. I really love that they are not the same old magazines that you see everywhere. I think any of these would make perfect, unique holiday gifts. (Or at this price you could try something new for yourself, guilt free.)

Take a look at the list, because it's pretty cool. Truly something for everyone; beer connoisseur, hockey fan, green thumb, gourmet food enthusiast, history buff, family genealogist, and health nut. 

Any guess as to which one I grabbed? Which subscription catches your eye?

• 50% off Puck Life Magazine (1 Year for only $8.98)
• 52% off Internet Genealogy (1 year for only $18)
• 35% off The Hockey News (1 Year for only $29 - in this case a year's worth is 26 regular issues, plus 4 special editions)
• 56% off Beer Connoisseur Magazine (2 Years, plus online subscription, for only $28)
• 70% off Savour (2 years for only $12)
• 52% History Magazine (1 year for only $16.95)
• 53% off Ontario Gardener (1 year for only $14)
• 52% off True Blue Spirit, Canada's Intuitive Living Magazine (1 year for only $14) (Yeah I'd never heard of this one before either. It says it contains features on nature, health and philosophy.).

I bought one of these, but I won't tell you which one because I would like to surprise a certain someone come Christmas morning. Though I can tell you a bit about how the gift subscription redemption works. I've bought WagJag deals in the past, and as always the check-out process was quick and simple. Upon completing check-out I was surprised to discover that I wouldn't receive the voucher until the deal closes on December 26th. Well, I guess I should have realized that this is how WagJag deals always work. The deal closes and then you get the voucher. I had an idea in my head that because it was in the Holiday Shoppe, and was for an online redemption, that it would go through right away. However, it's easy enough to print out a gift voucher (screen cap of the item page) to wrap and place under the tree.

This is what I was thinking last night, now fast-forward to this morning, when I was excited to discover they DID send me the voucher within a few hours of my purchasing the deal.  Sweet!  I logged into my account and viewed the PDF voucher and discovered that all I need to do to redeem the subscription is e-mail customerservice@magazinenameremoved.com with the voucher number, and name and mailing address. How simple is that!  I love that everything is done and taken care of! Though I think I will still wrap up the printed screen cap to show the lucky recipient what they are getting.

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I mentioned this before, but I think it's worth repeating. This holiday season Wag Jag has a rocking contest going on, you can win everything you buy on WagJag. Every purchase you make on WagJag between now and December 25th is an entry into the contest. Then on January 3rd they will draw one lucky winner, who receive a cheque to cover the amount in cash that they spent on WagJag deals during the contest period.  Check it out here....



And if that wasn't enough, they've also got a cool holiday contest on their Facebook page where you can win $500. Head to the WagJag Facebook page and give them a like, then look for the contest tab. Good luck!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post brought to you by WagJag, who provided me with a credit to purchase an item for review. As always, the opinions stated are my own and were not influenced by the free product received.

It seems like everyone has heard of Elf on a Shelf, you know - It a wee plastic and felt elf doll that comes to life at night, spies on the behaviour of small children, and reports back to the big red guy. They appear to be really popular this year. I've seen many people writing about their Elf's exploits, or sharing images of where they found their Elf hiding this morning.

Last year my husband and I discussed the whole Elf on a Shelf concept and decided that yes, it's something we'd like to adopt for next year.  However, this year rolled around and we both forgot about it until several days into December.  In the meantime my daughter, who has a really wilful streak, has been refusing to clean her bedroom and lying fit to beat Pinocchio. Hubby fixated on the idea of the Santa-Elf-Spy as just the be-good-or-else tool we needed to help get G-Girl back into line.

So a few days ago we put in a call to Saint Nick and he sent over one of his scout elves. Now every child knows you can not touch the Elf or his magic will go, but as every grown-up knows the secret manual Saint Nick sent over informed us that not only are parents welcome to touch the Elf, we're actually invited to help him find good spots to hide, and fun things to do while staying at our place.

When our Elf arrived in our home my husband and I helped him out of his box, and found him a cozy place to perch. I was a bit surprised at how cheaply made he was, being one of Santa's own toys I had expected more. Given his mission of spying and playing hide-and-seek with the kids in various places throughout the house, I had expected posable wire limbs and was surprised to find that his red felt arms and legs merely seemed to have cardboard inside to help keep them stiff.

Our Elf perched up on top of a bookshelf in the front room - right next to the kid's Playmobile advent calendar display, with a new picture book propped in front of him - patiently waiting for an entire day until my daughter finally noticed him. Where had this Elf came from?  She immediately assumed that Santa Claus himself must have placed him there! We sat down as a family and read his book, learning his story, and the ever important rule - do not touch the Elf or his magic will go.

G-Girl named the Elf  Knick-Knack, carefully lined herself up within his line of sight and earnestly assured him that she'd been quite good at school that day.  Her father teased her about touching the Elf, asking again and again, "Should I go pick him up? Should I lift him down so you can see him?" and she would reply, "No, no! We can't touch him Dad! Not at all!"


Having had our family chat, and introduced Knick-Knack the Elf to our family, I headed upstairs to put Baby-G to bed. As I was helping the little one into her PJs I could overhear my husband down stairs talking with our daughter. She had already decided that she need only be good in the front room where the Elf could see her, the rest of the house being fair game. I could hear my husband trying to explain to G-Girl how he was pretty sure the Elf could see her everywhere because of his magical powers. Five minutes passed, then ten as Baby-G and I snuggled in her room, rocking quietly in the chair.

Then I heard a commotion coming from the ground floor.  My husband's voice sounding stern, and then G-Girl sobbing loudly in her bedroom. I hurried to finish up tucking Baby-G into bed and rushed downstairs hoping I could smooth things over. I found G-Girl in her bed already asleep, the light still on in her room. Her eyes half opened when I walked in, then tiredly flickered shut. I saw Knick-Knack sitting on top of a play clothes hat, smack in the middle of G-Girl's dresser. I scooped him up, turned off the light and gently shut her door.

Apparently once I was busy putting her sister to bed and her father was busy on the computer, G-Girl took her stool out of the bathroom and helped Knick-Knack down from the bookshelf. She smuggled him down the hall and into her room, where she placed him on top of her dresser. She then excitedly burst into the computer room and told her Dad,

"Wow, you should have seen it, that Elf just flew down the hall and right into my bedroom! He's sitting on a hat! Come see, come see!"

My husband knew she was lying, and I think he was pretty upset. He told her how disappointed he was and asked her what she thought would happen to the Elf now that she had touched him.

When I heard all of this I thought, Oh, you have got to be kidding me! In my heart I knew that my girl would eventually mess with the Elf, but this I never expected. Our Elf didn't even make it thirty minutes! I think we may have set a record for shortest Elf visit ever.

In the end my husband and I helped Knick-Knack pack his bags and sent him on his way back home to Santa. The next morning my daughter barged into my bedroom and said, "That Elf walked out of my room!  I looked everywhere! I think he's gone mom! How could he get out of my room?!?"

Personally, I'm hoping that Santa will restore the magic charm and send his Elf back to us for a second chance.

My girls sharing a chair while having a snack and watching Blue's Clues in the computer room.

Thought I'd share this with your folks because it looks YUMMY. Ever since I read a review over at Did You Know Canada I have been wanting to try this fantastic sounding "Singapore style" jerky from Canadian company and Dragon's Den winner BKH.

Featured in Vancouver Magazine's "101 Things to Taste Before you Die" BKH's Singapore style  Jerky is supposed to be soft and moist, as opposed to the normal boot-leather jerky we're used to.

And now WagJag has a deal for it in their new Grocery Section. I am seriously considering buying some... but which flavour? Beef or pork? Spicy or Original? Decisions, decisions....

I'm surprised more of you haven't entered this one, so I'm guessing it slipped under the radar somehow - I've teamed up with three other bloggers to offer a fantastic group giveaway. You can win a $100 gift card to Grassroots Store.

Grassroots is a small Canadian retailer operating out of Toronto. They offer MANY cool green, eco-friendly, and fair trade items. I would definitely have an easy time spending $100 in their store.

Each of the bloggers taking part in the giveaway has reviewed an item from Grassroots 2012 Green Gift Guide. For a chance at a $100 gift card all you need to do is visit these four posts:

Habitue - Review of the Kill A Watt Power Meter

Maple Leaf Mommy - Review of Clementine Art Natural Paints

Multi-Testing Mommy - Review of Dream Designs Organic Cotton Pillow Cases

The Knit Wit by Shair - Review of Sprig Toys Recycling Truck

and while your there look for the secret keyword. It's really simple, somewhere in the post it will say something like "My Secret Keyword is X". Then fill in the blanks to complete the magic phrase for the mandatory entry: "Grass Roots Gift Guide Features items that fit into the categories: _______, _______, ________________ and __________."  At that point you can go on and complete as many of the optional entries as you'd like as well.

Good luck! You can enter via this Rafflecopter entry form right here, or in the form on any of the four review posts.  Keep in mind, it doesn't matter WHERE you enter, as it is all the same giveaway - and you can only enter once.  Entering at all four sites will not increase your odds, as we'll be deleting duplicate entries.

When the Royal Canadian Mint contacted me asking if I'd be interested in doing a review and giveaway for one of their coins I immediately said, "Yes!"  I had the chance to pick out a coin to review and I chose the $15 Fine Silver Lunar Lotus Year of the Dragon Coin , aka the 2012 coin for the "Year of the..." series based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Why did I chose this coin? Well, I'm a gamer-geek and I live with a gamer geek husband, so a fantasy creature like a dragon is just an image that resonates with me.

Now I have a confession to make. While I have a small coin collection, it consists mainly of coins from ancient Greece and Rome. So while I know a little bit about ancient coins, when it comes to modern day coin collecting I know absolutely nothing. Aside from some discontinued bank notes ($2 bill anyone?) and silver dollars I have saved from when I was a child, this is my first experience with modern coin collecting.

When the coin arrived and I had a chance to view it in person I was simply awestruck.  Everything about this coin is absolutely gorgeous, from the packaging to the coin itself. It is a work of art.

The coin comes packaged in a presentation box, wrapped in a red cardstock sleeve. The sleeve is well made of beautiful thick cardstock and embossed in silver with the Royal Canadian Mint Logo. I worried that once I removed the cardboard sleeve I'd never get it back on again, but my concern was unjustified as I was able to slip it back on easily.


Inside the sleeve is the sturdy presentation box, covered in a dragon and flower patterned silver brocade, with a band of burgundy around the centre. When you open the box the lid is lined in black silk and again bears a silver "stamped" Royal Canadian Mint logo, while the bottom of the box is lined in black velvet with a circular indent made to hold the coin snugly.

There is a little fold out booklet explaining the background of the coin, what the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dragon symbolize. This booklet is also the "certificate of authenticity". It certifies that coin is "99.9% pure silver with a weight of 26.7 grams and a diameter of 38 millimetres", that it was made by the Royal Canadian Mint and that it has a limited mintage. It shows the mintage number, 35667/48888. Which means that my particular coin is number 35667 of 48888 made worldwide (I had to have the rep from the Royal Canadian Mint explain this to me, I had no clue what a mintage number meant!) A little black silk ribbon in the lid holds the booklet neatly in place.

The coin is housed inside a thick clear plastic (I'd hazard a guess it's acrylic) shell. This plastic outer case has a seam and looks as though it can be removed, but I'm leaving it on there.  I thought it was simply awesome that the coin came in a protective plastic case like this. No worries about finger prints, smudges or nicks.


Okay so that is a whole lot of gorgeousness and coolness, and we haven't even gotten to the coin itself yet!

The coin is beautiful. It is absolutely lovely, and silver and shining in the light. I love the scalloped lotus shape. Parts of the coin are carved in or embossed and parts are raised. Okay, this shouldn't surprise anyone -- look at a quarter, you'll see what I mean. But what really blew me away here is the level of detail. From the flower petals, to the dragons whiskers and even the ever so tiny individual dragon scales; all of it stands out in stark relief. You seriously have to see it yourself in person to get the full effect.


I think this beauty is going on display in our gaming area. This coin has sparked an interest in me to check out other offerings from the Royal Canadian Mint. Of course the previous two in this series, the Rabbit from 2011 and the Tiger from 2010, are sold out, or else I would be seriously tempted to pick them up.

The collectible nature of the coin, paired with the gorgeous way it's presented, makes this the ideal present for anyone who is a reaching a major milestone in the coming year, or who was born in the Year of the Dragon. I think this would make a perfect wedding, anniversary, birthday or baby shower gift.  You can pick one up for $98.88 directly from the Royal Canadian Mint website or in person at select Canada Post outlets.

Or you can win one here! That's right the Royal Canadian Mint is teaming up with me to give one of these lovelies away...

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Congrats to the blog giveaway winners:
- Kerry Warnaar
- Shari Goss
- Jamie Shephard

Congrats to the Twitter giveaway winner:
@AskMamaMOE

I am super looking forward to bring G-Girl to see the Nutcracker next weekend. If you didn't win passes you can still purchase tickets at a discount thanks to the special discount ticket offer Cineplex has been kind enough to provide me with to share with you guys - Simply print this out and bring it with you to the box office to purchase tickets for $14.95, that's 25% off the regular adult fare. (The regular price for adult tickets is $19.95, Seniors $17.95, and children $9.95.)
Bolshoi Ballet - Coupon


Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to Cineplex for sponsoring this awesome giveaway.

This one's for my fellow bloggers.... (and if you're here simply looking for directions on how to install the Alexa toolbar you can skip ahead to the last section).

You may be wondering, what the heck is Alexa?  Or, if you're already familiar with the term you may be wondering Why do I want it? or even How do I get it? 

What is Alexa?

Alexa gives each site on the internet a "page rank", somewhat like Google Page Rank or MozRank. The page rank is based on incoming links (aka when other folks have linked to your site), and traffic.  They measures the amount of visits your site gets, plus the number of links out there linking to your site and from that gives you a page rank number.  Where Alexa differs is that they have a Toolbar you can install in your internet browser and visits from those with this Toolbar installed count for more. So basically every time someone with the Alexa toolbar installed visits your site it counts as a vote towards your site.

Why should I care about Alexa?

Alexa is one of the many ways out there to measure the success of your webpage. If you're a blogger who is interested in selling advertising space, or receiving product for review or giveaway Alexa ranking is one of those stats that advertising agents and PR reps are going to ask for.

It's also fun to compare. Once you have the tool bar installed you can see the worldwide rank number for every site you visit. Twitter? #9 in the world. Facebook? #2. My blog? #190,142

To put it in perspective, I have seen many review or giveaway opportunities where they asked for an Alexa ranking of 200,000 or less. While some of the top bloggers that I admire rank in at under 100,000.

How do I get Alexa working for me?

You absolutely need to install the Alexa tool bar. Personally, I recommend installing it on every PC you use. For example I have it on both my Netbook and my desktop computer. Once you have the toolbar installed everytime you visit your own site you are helping your Alexa ranking.

How many times a day do you visit your own blog? Dozens, right?  Now every time you stop in you are helping to boost your ranking.  And every time you stop by and visit a fellow bloggers site you are helping them out as well. You don't have to DO anything. Just have the tool bar installed, and surf as normal. Every site you visit gets Alexa ranking bonus points via the toolbar.  Personally, I saw my Alexa number drop down to half what it was once I installed the toolbar --and keep in mind, in this case low is good.

I read once how tech bloggers have a major edge in Alexa ranking because they, as a group, tend to have the Alexa toolbar installed.  If we lifestyle/family/product review bloggers all install the Alexa toolbar, we're doing ourselves and our blogging community as a whole a service.

How do I install the Alexa toolbar?

Head to www.alexa.com/toolbar. The website automatically detects which browser you are using and directs you to install the correct toolbar.

Here's what it looks like in Firefox:

Click the big green "Install Alexa Toolbar" button and you're on your way!

Agree to the end user agreement by clicking "Accept and Install".

Firefox wants to make sure you're okay with being asked to install new software. Click "Allow" and the add-on will download.

Once it's downloaded (which took about five seconds on my machine), click on Install Now.

Then restart your browser by closing all browser windows and then reopening the program.

Once it's installed you have to be sure the add-on is TURNED ON.  You need to see a little check-mark next to Alexa Toolbar.  If it's not turned on, it's not doing anything.

The Alexa Toolbar looks like this...

Personally I find it a bit of a waste of space. So here is my trick -- you can change the options so it instead turns up as a discreet Status Bar in the bottom right hand corner of your browser.

If you click the little cog icon on the far right of the tool bar you will see a menu, the top choice is "Options".  Click that and the options menu opens: Choose "Show Status Bar".

Now instead of a tool bar at along the top of the browser Alexa shows up as a nice little Status Bar in the bottom right hand corner.  This I love.

Here's a close up of the wee status bar. It shows a graph, which is the six month trend for the site you are on, and it shows the Alexa ranking.  Short & sweet.

Again it has to be TURNED ON to work.  If you ever notice that wee status bar isn't there any more (which happens to me because my husband goes in and turns it off, ahem), you will need to go to the Firefox add-ons options menu and click on it's name ("Add on Bar" or "Alexa Toolbar") to toggle it on.

Now every site you visit you'll help spread some Alexa love! I am guessing that installing the tool bar in other browsers would be a similar experience, but if you run into any kinks let me know.