SPAlapalooza!

I know lots of gals who do home parties for various products -- either they have the parties or they go to them.

One of the problems with hosting a party is having to clean your house! And set out snacks and drinks! If you're a mom, you have to figure out what to do with the kids while your party is going on. Then you have to clean up afterward!

A friend of mine took care of these problems. She is a Sensaria representative who came up with the idea of having a "home" party at the Heron Bay Country Club in Coral Springs! Ooh la la. Anyone can be a host there. All expenses are paid (food, dessert, drinks, wine)!

Join your gal pals for one big spa party where you will be pampered from head to toe with fabulous Sensaria Natural Bodycare products. If you choose to host, you can earn your favorite Sensaria products for free or half price! So, bring your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors -- or just attend as a guest.

Here are the deets:

Tuesday, June 29
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Heron Bay Country Club
Address: 11825 Heron Bay Blvd. (1st entrance to Heron Bay where Marriott Hotel is; through guard gate and on the left)
City/Town: Coral Springs, FL

Toy Story 3 mania!

Toy Story 3 comes out on Friday, and I have more than a few friends who can't wait to see it and are lining up playdates -- and the kids can come too.

Some of my favorite Toy Story 3 things so far are a free Toy Story 3 iPhone app and the chance to win a Toy Story 3 room makeover. On a recent trip to our nearby Disney Store, my preschooler spotted the Lego Toy Story 3 Great Train Chase set and wanted to take it home immediately. (However, we are practicing delayed gratification in our household. Yeah, that's a good thing to call it....)

There is also a fun Toy Story 3 video game that came out today that lets you play with Andy's toys your way. I love games that let kids use their imagination. The game is available for Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Play Station 3, Nintendo DS or computer (PC or Mac) and costs $30-$50, depending on the format. I have a game to give to a top commenter at Tropic of Mom, courtesy of Disney Interactive Studios!

Hand feed a kangaroo at Busch Gardens in Tampa

I've been to zoos that let you hand feed goats and even giraffes, but here's a new one: kangaroos -- at Busch Gardens in Tampa!

Here, and you can discover unique animals that are native to the Land Down Under at the new Walkabout Way, an immersive animal attraction that opened today. You can hand feed kangaroos and wallabies, laugh along with a kookaburra and encounter magpie geese, Australian black swans and other Australian species. A cool part of Walkabout Way is Kangaloom, where you'll find red and grey kangaroos and Bennett’s wallabies. In fact, you might even see wallabies hopping right along the sidewalk!

If you're 5 or older, visit Walkabout Way during daily scheduled feedings, buy a cup of food for $5 and hand feed both kangaroos and wallabies. Check the feeding schedule at the park’s entrance.

Also in Walkabout Way is The Kookaburra’s Nest, a free-flight aviary featuring species native to Australia and other parts of the world. At Aussie Station, guests can have up-close encounters with the park’s animal ambassadors, such as small Australian parrots, a tawny frogmouth, cockatoos and other exotic animals.

A PitiCure gives your underarms the spa treatment with Dove Ultimate

This weekend, I was mistaken for a Dove model.



And I didn't even have to strip down to my skivvies.



Yes, that's me, bad hair and all, at Kaffee's Garden Spa in West Palm Beach, courtesy of Dove. (Does anyone else think that when you are relaxed, then your hair tends to relax as well? Anyone?) Not only did Dove treat me and my peeps to pedicures, but we got fabulous PitiCures as well -- Pit as in armpit. Underarms don't get near enough attention, but they are part of our skin, after all, so they should.

Dove has developed the PitiCure to help women take care of the skin under their arms -- and you don't even have to go to a spa for it. You can give yourself the PitiCure spa treatment at home -- check out the video below!

So apparently, shaving reduces the top layer of skin by 20% and leads to irritation and dryness? (This is the part where I handily don't detail the time in high school when I shaved before a dance and had ugly red spots under my arms that were visible when I boogeyed in my sleeveless dress.) Also, as a result of shaving, underarm skin loses 50% more water, which can cause dryness and inflammation. (See above high school dance reference.)

Dove Deodorant partnered with Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Debra Luftman (co-author of The Beauty Prescription) when to it comes to the science of taking care of underarm skin. First, identify your underarm skin type with this quiz to find out which Dove Ultimate Beauty Care Antiperspirant/Deodorant fits you. (I'm a sensitive gal -- no surprise.)

Then, check out this video to see how to do an at-home PitiCure.



I love it!

Dove Ultimate Beauty Care antiperspirant/deodorant has three different kinds of moisturizers for the special challenges of underarm skin:

1. a humectant (works like a magnet to hold in moisture under the skin’s surface, keeping delicate underarm skin conditioned)
   
   
2. an occlusive layer (forms a layer on the surface of the skin to prevent moisture loss, which can cause dryness)
   
   
3. and a nourishing moisturizer (contains natural sunflower oil, which is known for boosting the skin's natural moisture barrier to soothe shaving irritation and help deliver soft, smooth underarm skin)

I got to try the Dove Ultimate Sheer Silk and thought it felt nice on my skin, smelled light and fresh -- and it kept odor away. For a product that costs around four or five dollars, it delivers a lot.

My friends and I were so impressed with our PitiCures. Let me tell you, we floated out of Kaffee's spa. The ladies at Kaffee's treated us so nicely that we thought we were queens for a day (or at least a couple hours). Especially after one of the Kaffee's ladies asked if we were Dove models.


Kaffee's Garden Spa

My friends and I were pretty much speechless.

But I think my gal pals are so beautiful that they really could be models:


Yanet of 3 Sun Kissed Boys totally blissed out







Don't you think so?

Dove provided me and six friends with PitiCures and pedicures at Kaffee's Garden Spa and also Dove Ultimate Beauty Care Antiperspirant/Deodorant.

Top 10 U.S. pet-friendly beaches

We are a cat family (something that I suspect will change after our purry ones are, ahem, no longer with us), so we don't take our pets to the beach when we go. However, I have been to several "dog beaches" around the state and love to watch the dog families having a great time.

MyPetCARETV.com launched a few weeks ago, and it has a superb list of the top 10 pet-friendly beaches across the United States:

1. Del Mar Beach - San Diego, CA
2. Cape San Blas - FL
3. Fort DeSoto Beach - FL
4. Huntington Island - SC
5. Fort Funston State Park - CA
6. Dog Beach - San Diego, CA
7. Carlmel City Beach - CA
8. Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint - OR
9. St. George Island - FL
10. Ft. Fisher State Recreation Area - NC

Way to represent, Florida! Three spots in 10 isn't bad.

MyPetCARETV.com also has instructional how-to videos that show how to do tasks such as properly remove a tick, brush your pet's teeth, etc. It also launched a fun sweepstakes with a grand prize trip to Hollywood for the winner and his or her pet. Just submit a funny pet video through the site.