Holiday Contest: Time Warner Cable

This week's contest is near and dear to my heart.  Mostly because it involves personal shopping, lol!

Time Warner Cable, in the spirit of the Holidays and giving back to the community (and their customers) is offering all Time Warner customers a chance to win a $700 gift spree - purchased, gift-wrapped and hand-delivered by Time Warner Cable.

The entry is once again super-duper simple:  Tweet why you think you should win to @TWCable_KC with the hashtag #EnjoyHolidaysBetter each day for a chance to win!

For official rules (yes, the kind you need a law degree to understand) visit the Time Warner Enjoy Holidays Better Social Media Contest Rules Page.

As you can see form the Rules page, weeks three and four are no longer a surprise - but don't worry!  I will tweet lots of reminders.  Good luck to all!

Want to see pictures from last week's prize?  Visit Coordinately Yours to find some great DIYs.

Deck Your Halls.......For Free!

Time Warner Cable has launched the first in a four-part series of Twitter Holiday giveaways.  This past Monday kicked off week one (don't worry, we have until Thursday to get our re-tweets!) with a generous prize of outside lighting, a fully decorated Christmas tree and interior decor (by the beautiful Julie Blanner.)

All you need to do is tweet why you think you should have your home decorated for the holidays, and then get the most retweets by Thursday!  My tweet:

I deserve to #EnjoyHolidaysBetter because The Grinch stole our Christmas! (RTs please!)
— Erin B. (Triple P) (@_TripleP) November 28, 2012

There are a few details you should be made aware of:

Be a TWC customer
Follow @TWCable_KC
Use the hashtag #EnjoyHolidaysBetter

Get to tweeting, and encourage your family and friends to get those re-tweets a-tweeting!!

Wondering what's in store for the rest of December?  Stay tuned Sunday night for next weeks giveaway!

McCoys, Mac n Cheese and Math

This past Friday we grabbed the boys and headed downtown for First Friday.  With only one food truck to be found (and a mile-long line) we decided to try McCoys' world-famous Mac N Cheese for dinner.

Somehow, taking my sons to a popular bar in Westport on a Friday night felt a little but like wearing a ball-gown to wash the dishes.  I'm pretty sure my sons were the only people under the age of 18 within several blocks......

We had a thirty minute wait for a table, so I did what I'd like to think any mother would do - I ordered kids' drinks straight from the bar.  The guy who I squeezed in next to wouldn't stop staring at me - he was either hitting on me or thought I was the craziest person ever - and let's face it: who hits a woman ordering three kids' drinks, complete with plastic-cup-lidded-funky-straw, from a bar??  Haha!

While the jury is still out on whether McCoys has the best mac n cheese (my sons ate every last bite!) I will say that it's pretty darn good stuff.  If you ever find yourself in the area, I'd be interested to get your opinion on it.

I will admit - while newborn babies are amazing and tiny (not mine - my oldest was nearly 9 lbs and completely skipped the newborn diapers and clothing,) I much prefer the stages they are in now.  If for no other reason than their ability to communicate their needs with something other than a cry or a temper tantrum (though there are still plenty of tantrums to go around.)  I love answering the math equations my sons shoot at me randomly throughout the day.  I love hearing them talk (sometimes endlessly) about what they've learned or think is cool.  I love wandering the streets of Kansas City, taking in the culture, learning new things and eating unhealthy food (haha.)

I took the opportunity to discuss our next week's schedule with The Mr while we drove.  I mentioned the upcoming STEMfest* at Union Station this Saturday (it's free!)  As I rattled off what the acronym stood for (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,) my oldest son turned to me and said, "Science and Math?  You know I like science and math right?"  (Fellow math nerds, unite.)  What exactly is the STEMfest you ask?

What:       

           

Exhibitors will provide fun, hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activities to help encourage STEM careers, and all those attending will receive FREE admission to Science City for the day.

There will be many exciting activities and visuals, including robots, hands-on science projects and more!

When & Where:            

   

Union Station/Science City

30 W. Pershing Road, Suite 400, Kansas City, Mo.

Saturday, Nov. 10

9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

*Time Warner Cable STEMfest was created as part of the company’s Connect a Million Minds initiative (www.connectamillionminds.com), which aims to engage youth in hands-on learning opportunities in the areas of STEM. For Time Warner Cable STEMfest, TWC has joined forces with the Girls Scouts of NE Kansas & NW Missouri and Science City to engage STEM partners from the local community to be a part of the event and showcase ways that their organization engages kids in STEM learning opportunities. Children of all ages will be able to participate in hands-on, discovery learning activities with each of Time Warner Cable’s STEM partners. 

Are you a math nerd like me?

Art Fair via Wi-Fi

This past weekend was the annually-much-anticipated Country Club Plaza Art Fair.  I look forward to this event every year (the parking, not so much – thank you Time Warner Cable, for the free VIP parking pass!)  Friday night was spent in the TWC (Time Warner Cable) VIP Media Lounge with many of Kansas City's finest bloggers.

L to R: Sarah's sister & Sarah, Kat, Michelle, Ellen & Jamie, Lisa, Meg, Emily, Sarah and yours truly.

Sorry Sarah!  This picture was just too cute to pass up:

We talked shop, life and free wi-fi (thank you again, TWC!) while gorging delicately snacking on appetizers (the Tuna Rolls are my new fave) and desserts from Seasons 52.

After the group went their separate ways, Lisa and I participated in the TWC sponsored Tweet and Go Seek.  I was completely shocked by how much fun we had running around the Plaza, seeking out these hidden tiles!  Of course, we ran into a few problems (you know how much I love math problems, right?): 

Sprint network + thousands of people in a three block radius = no coverage.  

TWC's free Country Club Plaza's wi-fi + their courtesy iPad* = problem solved. 

Lisa, me and our prizes

The Mr and I took our sons up to see the art, peruse the booths and generally bask in the fun atmosphere (and face-painting, courtesy of the TWC booth.)  We also fell in love with some new favorites (the Asian Pig Wings at Gram & Dun are to die for people, even the boys liked them…..and that’s HUGE!) 

Photo of Gram & Dun courtesy of  The Pitch

We met up with Lisa for a little bit more Tweet and Go Seek, and our last tile of the afternoon brought us face to face with the pretty-cool guys behind the game.  We found a total of 21 tiles (the word tile hardly does these post-recycled-material, multi-purpose masterpieces justice!)

Gear up Kansas City, Time Warner Cable is about to spoil their customers with innovative technology (and free wi-fi of course,) great customer service, and even better community presence.  Are you a Time Warner Cable customer yet?

*Did you know that TWC has an HBO app that lets you watch every single show, every single episode?  I wish TWC was available in my neighborhood, darnit!