What Happened To Your Giveaways?

If you are a loyal reader, you have probably noticed I have far less giveaways then usual. You may think I have been neglecting my blog lately *gasp*, but it is not on purpose. I think about you blogging almost all day, everyday. Here is a little glimpse into my daily life and actions regarding blogging:

Excuse me if this post appears scattered. I originally intended to organize my thoughts into two categories: life and blogging. However, since blogging is a part of my life and my life effects my blogging, it is nearly impossible to keep the two completely separate.

I think it’s safe to say my biggest problem right now is time. Lately, I just don’t seem to have enough of it. I thought summers were supposed to be a lazy time, a time to relax and spend tons of quality down time? Somehow, I missed out on that opportunity. I have been extremely busy tending to family matters while still trying to find a moment to sleep.

In regards to the family matters, everyone in the household recently suffered from bronchitis, and/ or an upper respiratory infection. My toddler also broke out in a mysterious rash, which is finally clearing up. Everyone is feeling better physically, however emotionally, I am drained.

The reason behind my emotional turmoil is the constant fear and worrying about my mother. To make a long story short – she is an alcoholic who has made many mistakes in regards to breaking the law by drinking and driving. Not only do I worry about her, but I worry about the long term impact her mistakes will have on my son (her only grandchild) along with constantly worrying about other drivers and pedestrians who may cross her path.

At the present time, we are awaiting her court date to find out the judge’s decision. With her prior drinking/driving record and complete disregard to follow the requirements as assigned by the judge, we expect a jail sentence of no less than 5 years. I know in my heart she will never learn. I’m completely torn. On one hand, I know the best thing for the community as well as my mother is to sit in jail. She won’t learn, but at least I can sleep soundly at night without worrying whether or not she will end the lives of an innocent family. On the other hand, I wish she would be required to complete a rehab program or be sentenced to jail if she does not comply. This way, my son would have his given right to know his grandmother.

My blogging is limited to night hours. I am a stay at home mother to a two-year old, and spend the days with my son. Bedtime comes at 8:00-8:30pm, and that’s when I hop online. Most nights I am online doing something blog related until 2-5am. Then, I’m up at 7am. I have been very busy working on the Fit For Fall blog event I’m co-hosting with two other wonderful women. I feel like I’m constantly going all of the time. All I can think about is how tired I am. My batteries have run out of juice, and I’m pushing through to make it through another day.

Honestly, I  did not intend on going into so many personal details, but I wanted to explain my lack of posts and I wanted to be open and honest with you – my loyal readers. With that being said, I have several great giveaways coming up including gift certificates, food, clothing, jewelry, gifts and much more. I hope my lack of giveaways has not deterred you as I truly value each and every one of you.

What are you are doing this summer?

Do you have any big plans? Vacations?

What are you doing to keep the kiddos busy? I’m curious to know what you are doing as well!

Quick Update Regarding Posts

Hi Everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I just wanted to let everyone know my husband, my two-year old and I all have Bronchitis. I’m busy taking care of them and trying to get better myself. I will post the giveaway winners soon, along with new reviews and giveaways. Thank you in advance for understanding!

Important Giveaway News

*****Important Giveaway News*****

It has recently come to my attention there are some giveaway participants who have been submitting entries without following through.

For example: "+1 extra entry for subscribing to Review Retreat's email newsletter. " You leave a comment/entry stating you have subscribed to the email newsletter. However, you have not subscribed.

I do verify ALL entries. Whether the giveaway has 10 entries or 600 entries, every single entry will be confirmed or validated!

If you don't want to subscribe to my email newsletter or become a follower, that is completely fine. But please don't be dishonest and enter a comment for that entry or extra entry if you have not done so.

I hate to be a rule pusher. But my giveaway rules help make my giveaways fair for everyone participating.

If you comment for your entry and have not followed through , that is cheating no matter how you look at it. Cheating will not be tolerated. If it has been found that you are cheating, you will no longer be allowed to enter Review Retreat's giveaways.

It takes a lot of time to prepare giveaways. First a review needs to be done. I put several hours into research and preparation for my reviews/giveaways. My readers entering my giveaways also spend a lot of time to enter. They take time to view the sponsors website, and take additional time to subscribe to Review Retreat, write blog posts about my giveaways, and so on. So please, respect the guidelines and be truthful when submitting your entry(s).

To those of you who submit truthful entries, thank you. If you have any questions regarding Review Retreat's giveaway guidelines, please refer to our Official Rules. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me via email at jennifermarek at rocketmail dot com

Pardon The Interruption

I just wanted to let everyone know I am working on my blog design right now. I thought I had everything transferred correctly, but it doesn't appear that way. Widgets are in the wrong categories, others are missing and some are even there that should have been deleted.

Please bare with me. I should be completed shortly. Thanks everyone!

✫Update Regarding Domain Name & Giveaways✫

I purchased my domain!! You may have already heard but I wanted to give everyone a quick update. I was told the process would take 3 days before my new domain was accessible. This causes an error message "blog not found" for some users when trying to comment/enter a giveaway. This was caused by Blogger transferring all users to the new domain before it was up and running.

I have found a way to discontinue transferring. Everyone should be able to access all links and comments now. If you do run into a problem, please email me at jennifermarek (at) rocketmail (dot) com. For the time being, you may still access Product Reviews at bzzagentreviews.blogspot.com.

This whole process is new to me and has been completely frustrating. I understand it may have been frustrating to you as well, and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, I have lost a few readers during this process. I appreciate everyone for hanging in there with me. I am hoping tomorrow my new domain, Reviewretreat.com, will be fully functional.

I have several new reviews and a lot of great giveaways coming up and I would love for everyone to be involved! If you have any questions, comments or feedback, I would love to hear from you. You have my email address. Feel free to email me anytime or use the comment link below the posts to comment.

Again, thank you to all of my wonderful readers! I couldn't do this without you!

In Transition - Important Information Regarding Giveaways

As some of you know, I have recently been considering the idea of purchasing my own domain. The name decision is what was holding me back. Tonight, the impatient side of me took over and I made the purchase.

I was told that the change would not affect my readers and they would automatically be re-directed to my new domain. I tested this and it seems I am unable to accept comments because it is already trying to re-direct to the new domain.

My deepest apologies. If I had any idea this would happen I would have waited. If you would like to enter a giveaway(s) but are unable to comment, please send me an email jennifermarek (at) rocketmail (dot) com. I have created a spreadsheet and will add the entries manually as they are received.

This transition should last no longer than three days. I know, that seems like forever to me. I don't know what to do with myself without being able to blog!

✫I have had several requests to extend the Giveaway deadlines. Due to the numerous requests, I will be extending all deadlines to account for the number of missed days during this transition. Example. If you are unable to comment for 1 day, and the giveaway ends on 2/23, 1 day will be added, changing the new end date to 2/24.

I will make an announcement once everything has transitioned. I appreciate your patience and understanding during this transition.

✫Welcome New Followers ✫

Hello to all of my new followers. I am so excited you made it. If you are a new follower from Friday Follow, I am probably following you as well. If I'm not, I assure you it was not on purpose. Just send me a quick comment and I will be by your place to follow you as well.

This blog is focused on providing honest reviews on old and new products. I love trying new new products and sharing my opinions of them. I also accept special requests. If there is something you are curious about but you need more information before purchasing it, let me know and I will try it and review it for you. Simply click HERE. I also like to host giveaways. Click HERE to view my current giveaways.

At Product Reviews, you will also find recipes, healthy living tips, coupons/savings and the occasional rant from an overworked wife and mom. Along with Blogging, my second passion is family history. I have spend several months researching my family tree. If you are interested in looking into your family tree, I have several of my favorite (free) links on the sidebar under "Free Genealogy Resources".

You may see several changes over the next few weeks. I am currently in the process of giving Product Reviews a complete makeover in order to make navigating easier for you. I appreciate your patience during this time. If there is anything you would like to see at Product Reviews, or something that you would like me change for your benefit, please just let me know.

I started this blog 2 months ago and since then, I have neglected my household duties. So for now, I am going to clean, clean, clean! Welcome to Product Reviews, I am so happy you are here! I will be back following the cleanup of the "tornado" that swept through my house with more great reviews. See ya then!

Help Me Choose My Dot Com/Domain

I want to thank all of my readers for your continuous support. I have only been blogging for about 2 months now and I have met a lot of lovely women and blogs. A special thanks for those who have helped me along the way (you know who you are ;) ). I have recently taken interest in having my own domain. I have read a lot of blogs complaining of losing their ratings/ranks when converting to their own domain, so I have decided to make the change now, while my blog is still fresh and new.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what my site should be called. Currently, it is Product Reviews, or bzzagentreviews.blogspot.com. How creative, right?

I was thinking about something like mommasreviews.com or Jen-Reviews.com Those are just so much more original and creative, not!

This is a work in progress. I plan to do a complete makeover along with my new site. I would love to hear your ideas. What name would you like to see?

✫Unable To Follow✫

It was recently brought to my attention that the Google Friend Connect, "Follow" Link is missing. I have reported this issue and I am awaiting a resolution. In the meantime, the "Follow" link option is accessible through Internet Explorer. I apologize for any inconvenience. I hope to have this resolved shortly.

I have tested this feature and it appears to be working. If you are unable to follow, please leave me a comment below or send me an Email.


Thank you for visiting!

✫Please Pardon The Interruption✫

I am currently in the process of updating my Layout. I will try to make this as quick and painless as possible. I apologize for any inconvenience. The changes will not affect the Kama Sutra Oil of Love Giveaway. If you haven't entered, there is still time. Just follow this link.

I estimate the changes to be complete today. Thank you for understanding.

To All My Friday Followers:

I only have a quick minute today. I wanted to take this moment to thank everyone who is now following me from Friday Follow. I have viewed a few of your blogs which I am also following.

If you liked my blog and are now following but are wondering why I haven't followed you, it has been a crazy day, which I'm sure all of you can relate to. I will be back on tonight to visit everyone's blog.

And if there is anything you would like to see on Product Reviews, please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Thank You For Showing Your Support!!

Tag, You're It!

Lily from Adventures of a Military Family of 8 has started a fun new game and way to meet new bloggers called "Tag, You're It"!

Sound Fun? Here's more...

Tag, is for followers for:
Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, and anything else you need followers in ;)"

Want to play?
Here's the form....

Tag, you're it!!!

Please make sure you follow everyone else above you, Let's try the honor system ;)

I've Been Invited To The CoverGirl Blast Party!

If you are not a member of Bzzagent, you must continue reading! I just found out I am invited to Bzzagent's Covergirl Blast Party Campaign. What this means is I will receive tons of goodies to try out & all I have to do is review it! I was so excited about the Loreal Lash Boosting Kit Campaign, but my kit was lost so BzzAgent was kind enough to invite me to the Blast Party (Thank You!!).

Here's a sneak peak at what I (not to mention hundreds of other BzzAgents) will be getting:



If you are already a BzzAgent, leave me a comment! I would love to check out your reviews. If you are not a BzzAgent, you are truly missing out. It's free to join, so what are you waiting for?!

And just in-case your not sure if you want to join, here is a list of recent campaigns being tested by bzzagents:

Philips Lifeline, Ultracept Antiseptic Handwash, Your Shape and Just Dance from Ubisoft, Danone DanActive, COVERGIRL & Olay Simply Ageless Party, Mahatma Rice, Loreal Lash Boosting Serum,and Covergirl Blast Party. This isn't even mentioning the past campaigns.

By now, you must be convinced...or crazy!! To sign up as a BzzAgent, click HERE!

New- Tuesday's Tasty Treat

In addition to Friday's Freebies, I will be posting Tuesday's Tasty Treats each Tuesday. This will feature one yummy recipe that you are sure to enjoy!

If you have any special requests ( Low Carb, Gluten Free, Diabetic Friendly, or anything else you desire), please let me know and I will be happy to post just what you are looking for.

New- Friday's Freebies

First of all, I would like to say hello to all of the new members. I'm so happy you have taken an interest in Product Reviews. I welcome all feedback, questions and comments!

I am also excited to announce Friday's Freebies. Each Friday I will dedicate a post to my favorite freebies that I think you will also love! So, be sure to check back!

Welcome!!

Recently, I signed up with Vocalpoint & Bzzagent. Both sites are word of mouth marketing sites allowing their members to try new products for free in exchange for their honest opinion/reviews. I found both sites by accident and am so happy I did. I love trying new product and even more, I love talking about them!

I joined several months ago and had only received one product to try and review. The sample I received was Tide Swash. I knew I couldn't blog once every couple of months so I took the opportunity to review products I had purchased on my own. I will also be sharing free product information, coupons and giveaways.

I would love to hear your feedback, questions and tips by commenting on a post or sending me an email.