Posts Tagged ‘giveaway’

In an act that would surely cause my mom to express both shock and pride, I organized my desk the other week. In the midst of my clean-up, I rediscovered two books by Julie Klam that celebrate the bonds between humans and dogs, and what we can learn from one another.

In You Had Me at Woof (Riverhead, 2010), Klan chronicles how everything she needs to know about life she learned from her dogs, starting with a Boston terrier rescue named Otto. Through looking after her dogs' needs, she learned a vast array of skills, such as how to be an amateur therapist and how to listen to that still, small voice.

Love at First Bark (Riverhead, 2011) is a "dog-oir" about how caring for dogs is sometimes the best way to take care of ourselves. Klan recounts trying to find a home for an abandoned and abused pit bull named Morris; her time with Clementine, a special needs Boston terrier she takes in as a foster; and the time she journeyed through swampy marshes to help rescue a starving feral puppy with a jar stuck on his head.

For your chance to win this pair of books, please leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, 2012, telling me what your favourite book (or movie, TV show, etc.) about an animal is or who your favourite fictional pet is. One comment per person, please; this contest is open to residents of Canada only. Not open to any TC Media employees or the people they live with. I'll randomly select and announce the winner on Wednesday, April 3, 2012.

Is your dog a picky eater?

Maybe he'd like to try Nature's Harvest Fresh, a new gently cooked dog food from Global Pet Foods.

Photography: Ildar Sagdejev

Made with locally sourced whole food ingredients, the fresh frozen patties have been gently cooked to the point of pasteurization and are available in four flavours: beef, chicken, lamb and salmon. You can find them at your local Global Pet Foods in boxes of 12 (for $21.99) or as individual patties (for $1.99 each).

You can also win one box of each flavour right here! Unfortunately, this contest is open to readers in only Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Please note that the winner will have to pick up the boxes at a Global Pet Foods store. (I, too, wish we had plane tickets to give away.) Here are the stores that carry the product:

ONTARIO
Ajax – 314 Harwood Ave. S.
Alliston – 113 Victoria St. W.
Aurora - 15440 Bayview Ave.
Bowmanville – 2316 Highway 2, Unit K1
Bradford – 170 Holland St. W.
Brampton - 2901 Queen St. East, Unit 4.
Brantford – 39 King George Rd #6
Cobourg - 471 Division St.
London – 509 Commissioners Rd. W.
Markham - 5990 16th Avenue. Unit 208
Newmarket - 130 Davis Dr. box 40
Oakville - 1011 Upper Middle Rd. Unit E5
Orangeville - 47 Broadway (Broadway & HWY10)
Ottawa – 700 Eagleson Rd. Unit 105
Ottawa – 1200 Wellington St. W. Unit E
Ottawa –  1029 St. Laurent Blvd.
Shelburne – 226 First Ave. E. SS 2
Thornhill - 70 Doncaster Ave.
Toronto - 243 Danforth Ave.
Toronto - 808 York Mills Rd. Unit 6
Toronto - 1753 Queen St. E.
Toronto - 125 Lower Jarvis
Waterloo - 425 University Ave. East, Unit 14
Waterloo - 440-450 Columbia St. West

QUEBEC
Brossard – 8200 Boul. Taschereau Unit 1265
Ile-Perrot – 475 Boul. Grand
Montreal – 5326 Chemin Queen Mary
Pierrefonds – 14905 Boul. Pierrefonds
Pointe-Claire – Plaza Pointe-Claire. 245-F Boul. St. Jean
Saint-Eustache – 136 25E Avenue
Sainte-Rose – 683 Boul. Cure-Labelle
Vaudreuil – 585 Ave. St. Charles #220
Vaudreuil – 3100 Boul. Harwood

NEW BRUNSWICK
Dieppe – 9 Rue Champlain
Moncton – 1126 Mountain Rd.

NOVA SCOTIA
Dartmouth – 100 Main St.
Halifax – 9-201 Chain Lake Drive
Sydney – 800 Grand Lake Rd.

For your chance to win 4 boxes of Nature's Harvest Fresh, please leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, 2012, telling me what food your pet turns his nose up at. One comment per person, please; this contest is open to residents of Canada only. Not open to any TC Media employees or the people they live with. I'll randomly select and announce the winner on Wednesday, March 28, 2012.

And after you've entered, why not spoil Fido with a batch of Tested Till Perfect Classic Canine Cookies.

Congrats to Catherine Brunet! You've won the super fabulous Green & Black's Easter basket giveaway! You know what the Easter basket is filled with? Delicious chocolate. It contains four large premium organic, Fair Trade chocolate eggs and 3 boxes of premium, organic Fair Trade mini eggs. Check out the photo and drool! Catherine, you are one lucky lady.

This basket of chocolate has been sitting at my desk for two weeks. I've been tempted on many occasions to dive in, but have refrained.

Here's Catherine's favourite thing about Easter:

"Seeing childrens' faces light up at their stash of chocolates and Easter eggs."

Happy Easter to all of you.

Here are some great tips to help you get ready for Easter weekend.

Easter is almost here, and that means a three day weekend for some of us (yay!). I often find Easter weekend flies by and, between shuffling from house to house for family obligations, I barely get a moment to myself. It's always a fun weekend, but it can also be a little tiring. This year I vow to block off some time to do a few things I enjoy.

Here are 3 ways to enjoy your Easter weekend
1. Get outside
Ham. Frittata. Broccoli Salad. Egg Bread. Chocolate. You name it, and I'm full of it on Easter weekend. With all the eating and running around it's easy to forget to get outside and enjoy some of the beautiful spring weather. This year, be sure to fit in a walk in the park with your family, or meet up with a friend for a jog.

2. Sleep in
If you're lucky enough to get Good Friday off, be sure to sleep in. Ask you partner to mind the kids/walk the dog/clean the bathroom/go grocery shopping. Whatever you do just don't set the alarm. It's time to catch up on your beauty sleep.

3. Have an Easter egg hunt
This was once the best part of Easter, right? The Easter egg hunt doesn't have to be reserved for those under the age of 12. Challenge your spouse or siblings to an epic egg hunt, hiding treats in all sorts of fun places. The team that finds the least amount of eggs has to take the winning team out for drinks! (Tip: Do not hide chocolate Easter treats under radiators. They will melt.)

Easter giveaway
We're giving away an amazing basket of Green & Black's Easter treats to help you enjoy your Easter weekend.

This Green & Black's Organic Easter Prize Pack includes four large premium organic, Fair Trade chocolate eggs and 3 boxes of premium, organic Fair Trade mini eggs. Check out the photo and drool!

Eating lots of chocolate is another great way to enjoy Easter.

In order to win just leave a comment here telling us what your favourite thing about Easter is. We'll announce a winner on Thursday, April 21.

We're giving away some incredibly terrific prizes on Twitter throughout the month of December. This is them:

Treat yourself and your fam this holiday season
There'll be treats-a-plenty if you're the lucky winner of one of these two gift packs from The President's Choice Brand.

Get out of the kitchen and into the party with this crazy-delish Holiday Survival Kit loaded with yummy treats, valued at $100, including allll this good stuff:

• MUST TRY! PC® The World's BestTM Jumbo Cashews
• MUST TRY! PC® 100% Ground Coffee - Hawaiian
• MUST TRY! PC® Dark Chocolate with Cranberry and Almonds
• MUST TRY! PC® Gourmet Belgian Chocolate Collection
• NEW! PC® Premium Fruit and Nut Collection
• NEW! PC® Artichoke & Asiago Cheese Yogurt Dressing
• NEW! PC® Thick Cut Pizza Flavour Rippled Potato Chips
• NEW! PC® 100% Sparkling Fruit Juice - Kiwi Berry
• NEW! PC® White Chocolate Covered Sponge Toffee
• NEW! PC®  Butter Tart Square (OMG, running out to buy these right now. BRB.)
• NEW! PC®  Cinnamon Buns Mix
• NEW! PC® Cracker Collection
• NEW! PC® Chocolate Fruit Fancies
• PC® Baking Square Mix - Belgian Chocolate
• A $10 PC® gift card to help stock your holiday survival kit with the MUST TRY! PC® Puff Pastry Hors D'Oeuvre Collection or the NEW! PC®  Angus Sliders Mini Angus Beef Burgers
• A copy of this year's President's Choice® Holiday Insider's Report® to help you entertain smarter, not harder this holiday season

For a chance to WIN one of two Holiday Survival Kits from The President's Choice Brand, just follow @canadian_living on Twitter and tweet: Follow @canadian_living and RT this for a chance to win a prize pack from PC: http://cdnl.vg/ep62RU

Stay healthy over the holidays
If you're like me, getting enough veggies is the last thing on your mind during the hectic holiday stretch.

Luckily, one serving of Garden Cocktail has two full servings of veggies: it's just the thing to boost your health over the holidays. And Mott’s Garden Cocktail doesn't have that thick, tomato-y taste, so if you’ve tried vegetable cocktails before and didn’t like 'em, Mott’s Garden Cocktail might be your thing. There's also a low-sodium variety that has 78 percent less salt.

For a chance to WIN a Mott's Garden Cocktail Healthy Holiday Survival Kit, including a bunch of different kinds of Garden Cocktail, a $50 Loblaws gift certificate, fitness supplies, and what looks to be a very handsome basket, just follow @canadian_living on Twitter and tweet: Follow @canadian_living and RT this for a chance to win a Mott's prize pack: http://cdnl.vg/ep62RU

Stay safe on the roads over the holidays
It's no surprise that almost 7 in 10 canucks say they find driving in snowy, icy conditions stressful and more than half of us avoid driving in bad weather altogether.

You can stand up to old man winter and stay safe on the roads in all conditions with a Winter Warm Up Prize Pack, courtesy of Goodyear Canada, including:

• a car trunk organizer
• a handy-dandy winter car safety kit
• a sweet travel mug with Timmy's gift card
• Canadian toque and mitts from HBC (It's those new "red mittens", BTW, which I LOVE)
• a rebate offer from Goodyear Canada to purchase new winter tires

For a chance to WIN a Winter Warm Up Prize Pack, just follow @canadian_living on Twitter and tweet: Follow @canadian_living and retweet this for your chance to win a Winter Warm Up Prize Pack: http://cdnl.vg/ep62RU

Make the kids think you're hip this holiday season
Grab-a-Scabs (icky name, cool product) are funky fabric sticker patches kids can stick on their backpack, jeans, sleeves – anything. They go on and they don't come off. The best part? There's no sewing or ironing required. And another best part? They're totally Canadian.

For a chance to WIN $25 worth of fab Grab-a-Scabs (and you get to pick which ones!), just follow @canadian_living on Twitter and tweet: Follow @canadian_living and retweet this for your chance to win a Grab-a-Scab Prize Pack: http://bit.ly/ftUhqR

Don't forget your pets this holiday!
Attention pet-lovers: We have two giant baskets (worth $300 each!) to give away, courtesy of our good friends at Iams Home for the Holidays.

Each basket is stuffed with all this good stuff for you and your furry friend:

• a holiday stocking
• a pet photo frame
• a paw shaped clock (so cute!)
• a pet bed
• a towel to wipe your pal's paws
• an I.D. tag
• a copy of the book, “Adopting the Right Animal For You”
• disposable doggy bags
• Iams dog/cat treats
• a gift certificate

For a chance to WIN one of these two baskets, just follow @canadian_living on Twitter and tweet: Follow @canadian_living and retweet this for your chance to win a giant Iams Prize Pack: http://cdnl.vg/ep62RU

Send your tweets by Sunday, December 19 for your chance to WIN. Tweet as often as you like! I'll announce the winners on Twitter on Monday, December 20. (We'll do our best to get the prizes to the winners by Christmas, but we can't make any promises.)

And the fine print: Here are the contest rules. (It's all the standard stuff, eh?)

Good luck and I'll see you on Twitter (@jenvillamere)!

There's nothing quite like a quiet paddle on a calm Canadian lake.

It's summer and, as the radio reminded me on Saturday, it's the perfect time to enjoy some of Canada's beautiful parks. There was lots of coverage of Canada's Parks Day (which took place just this past Saturday), but I was sad to learn that the number of visitors to our great many parks has been steadily dwindling over the past few years.

Have you been enjoying our parks? Though I'm embarking on 100 km (gulp!) hike for Oxfam along the Ganaraska trail this weekend, I won't be doing much park exploring this summer because we've just given up our car.

For all you folk who are able to get out of the city this summer check out the below articles for some great summer getaway ideas:
7 great Canadian canoe trips
Great Canadian Parks guide

Because I'm feeling rather generous on this Monday morning (and because it's been a while, I though I'd offer you lovely readers the chance to win a President's Choice Premium Water Filtration System. All you have to do is subscribe to my blog and leave a message here telling me which Canadian park is your favourite and why. It can be any park. I'll randomly select a winner on Friday, July 30.

I don't know what it is, because my partner is very eco-conscious in most ways, but I seem to follow him around the house turning the lights off after him. No matter how much I pester him, he still leaves them on. I think I'll make him sign up for the Ontario Power Authority's Power Pledge, a online pledge to reduce Phantom Power — the electricity used by some home electronics and appliances even when they are turned off. Phantom Power can waste up to 15 per cent of the average home’s electricity use.

OK, so not exactly about turning off the lights, but it will certainly keep us cognizant of the amount of power we use in our home.

Apparently for the average Ontario household, which uses about 1,000 kilowatt-hours of power a month, phantom power can cost up to $100 a year. And, three of every four Ontario residents are unaware of this invisible user of electricity.

Aside from committing to reducing phantom power (by totally shutting off your TV, stereo, computer, rechargeable devices and gaming consoles when not in use), you can commit to reducing your power usage a variety of other ways. And, Ontarians who take the Pledge will earn 20 AIR MILES reward miles. Plus, the Ontario Power Authority will donate 10 reward miles to a participating charity of your choice, like WWF-Canada.

If you don't live in Ontario, it's still worth checking out the site to see how you can cut down on power usage.

In honour of this great program, the OPA has offered up three AMAZING prize packs (check out the image below). They include:

• A power bar with automatic shutoff to reduce phantom power
• 1,000 Bonus Air Miles (this could get $140 in grocery gift certificates, movie tickets or even a 3 piece luggage set)
• A cute & cuddly toy panda from WWF-Canada
• Cold water laundry detergent

The OPA prize pack!

To be eligible to win, simply tell us here what you are going to do to help reduce the use of phantom power. I'll announce the winners here on Tuesday, April 20. Remember, you need to be a subscriber to win. Also, even those who live outside of Ontario are eligible to win.

I think it's official: Spring is here to stay. When I woke up this morning I ran over to my little seedlings, and alas, my cucumbers, tomatoes, kale and marigolds have all sprouted. I'm patiently waiting on a few others, though. Tomorrow I'll be heading over to my garden plot to start working on the soil and pulling out some weeds. Sounds like spring, right?

Also, I have another great giveaway for you folks. I'm offering up a year supply of Cascades Enviro 100% recycled fibre bathroom tissue (see image below)! Cascades bathroom tissue has been given the seal of approval by Eco Logo and boasts that its:

• Made of Enviro 100 per cent recycled fibres (with a high percentage of post-consumer material).
• Produced with 80 per cent less water than the industry average.
• Bleached without chlorine.

Imagine not having to buy bathroom tissue for a whole year?!

If you'd like to enter to win this prize, just subscribe to my blog and leave a response hear telling me how you're going to enjoy these first few days of a real, sunny spring. I will announce the winner here on Friday, April 9.

Congratulations to Kevin, who has won our super fantastic Green & Black's Easter prize pack. Kevin's indulgence is baklava:

"The very first time that I ate Greek food I overindulged to no end - the Greek salad - the gyros - the spanakopita - the baklava - oh the baklava I must have eaten enough to feed a small army that night and I paid very dearly for it the next morning when I couldn't even roll out of the bed with the stomach pains I was experiencing - but my love of Greek food still holds strong even after the initial episode of over indulgence!"

Well, Kevin, I think you need a little chocolate in your life.

Your prize pack includes:

• Butterscotch Mini Eggs offer a delicious, crisp, crunchy milk chocolate experience;
• Dark Chocolate Mini Eggs delicious 70% dark chocolate with a smooth hazelnut and milk chocolate centre;
• Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs made with rich 34% cocoa solids milk chocolate encasing a smooth milk chocolate soft centre;
• Dark 70% Chocolate Egg, intense flavour of Green & Black’s Organic 70% dark chocolate provides a rich and satisfying taste experience;
• Milk Chocolate Egg a delicious, darker shade of milk chocolate containing 34% cocoa solids spun into an 110g shell.

Enjoy your chocolate - and don't forget to share with your family and friends to avoid the belly ache.

Happy Easter!

P.S. Learn how to make your own baklava here.

We're getting a nice bout of warm weather and it certainly has got me thinking about getting out and about, altering my diet and losing some of that winter weight (you know, those few pounds that helped keep me warm over the winter). I was searching CanadianLiving.com for some healthy-eating inspiration and came across some motivating articles. I thought I'd share them with you:

Photo gallery: 6 ways to cut 100 calories a day
Photo gallery: 6 ways to keep the weight off
Photo gallery: 10 ways to get healthy and happy now
Photo gallery: 12 healthy eating tips
Photo gallery: 14 simple ways to curb your food cravings
Photo gallery: 9 delicious foods that can help you lose weight
Photo gallery: 8 tips to avoid overeating
Photo gallery: The top 8 things you're wasting your calories on

Now here's the part you've all been waiting for! I'm giving away one copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Natural Remedies: Research-based remedies for more than 50 medical conditions. The back of the book boasts that it will "help you find a better way to treat all kinds of health issues - from high blood pressure to poison ivy." It features simple explanations of many symptoms and possible causes; info on vitamins and minerals, healing herbs and aromatherapy; and easy disease-prevention strategies.

To win this book just subscribe to this blog and leave a comment here telling us your best health tip that's helped you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. I'll announce the winner here on Friday, March 19.