Win a Free 23andMe DNA Kit!

Newsflash! An amazing giveaway is at your fingertips. First, a bit of business.

The various online communities that have been growing at the 23andMe website the last few months are anything but dull. I have had the privilege of having my whole family’s genetic information at my fingertips and I cannot believe how it never ceases to amaze me. As a founding blogger hired by 23andMe for their pregnancy community I feel like I fell down the rabbit’s hole of ancestral information and my own personal genetic history. It has made me reflect on my past two pregnancies in-depth and communicate with others. One thing is abundantly clear, no matter how similar we may seem on the outside with our experiences and relations we are all unique due to our environment and genetic make-up. It has truly been a gift working with the whole 23andMe group as well as all the talented bloggers. The information this test provides is priceless.

Now the big news- I am giving away a FREE DNA testing kit from 23andMe to one of my readers. It is a $399 value and it will give you access to detailed information regarding your health and traits complete with clinical research reports as well as your ancestral background. Who doesn’t want to know what haplogroup they come from?

To enter simply leave a comment on this post answering one of the following questions:

“Are there questions you have about your family history that genotyping would help you figure out?”

“Are you like me, someone who wanted to do the test so badly because there is a particular illness, trait or condition that plagues your family? The DNA test could help you find out if you are predisposed or not.” Let me know in the comments!

“Are you adopted and have a desire to know more about your background?”

I will choose one winner at random. All entries must be in by June 13, 12 PM EST. The winner can choose to use the service for them, or pass the kit on to a friend or family member. The contest is open to legal residents of the USA, ages 18 or older and the winner is responsible for any applicable taxes. Here’s a link to the official rules.

Remember: I cannot pick you as a winner if you do not leave a contact email in your comment. Good luck!


*Disclosure: I have been working as a contractor for 23andMe for the last few months. I received my genotyping kit free and have been paid to blog at 23andMe.


CONGRATULATIONS to n2myown02@yahoo.com for winning the 23andMe DNA Test kit!!

Hungry, Broke and Ludacris

You hear a song on the radio, in the car, in a store, or on your ipod and suddenly you are taken back to a distinct time and place. You are no longer standing in frozen foods but in a darkened high school gym or in your bestest friends bedroom. The song/memory evocation is so strong it can bring up deep feelings, distinct smells and completely take you back in time, if only for a few moments. This week, in the days leading up to my birthday (and let's face it, because it's my blog) I'm doing a little trek down memory lane each time it will be accompanied with a song that brings it all back.

I would love it if you would share with me some memories you have and the songs that take you back too.

I had been married to H for about a year and we were living in what felt like the land of the lost, also known as the Mojave desert. Or as E liked to call it, 'my sandbox'. Having recently moved to SoCal herself we found that for the first time in many years we were only a few hours apart and could visit each other quite easily. For me, it was bliss. I had spent several years apart from my best friend between going to separate schools, traveling abroad and moving across the country. Now, living in the middle of nowhere, I needed her more than ever. We spent many weekends that year getting reacquainted over midnight drive-thrus to Jack in the Box for mozzarella sticks and drinking cheap wine.

One particular weekend I drove down to E's place in San Diego and we quickly realized that we were both flat broke. I'm talking mere pennies in the wallet broke. Having just moved across the country and me having been unemployed for a record eight months had broken us down a bit. Her apartment was almost free of food and I had brought down a few things from my place to tide us over. Still, between the two of us, I think we had less than two dollars to our names. We decided to that we could cobble together a pasta, artichoke heart, half a goat cheese pizza slice dinner (with some cheap wine we found in her cupboard) if we just bought ourselves a jar of pasta sauce. Off we went to Trader Joe's. As we stood in the pasta aisle of the store scanning the shelves for the cheapest bottle of sauce, E spent the last of her "real" money on her car payment via her cell phone. That payment made, at the last possible moment, made her officially flat broke. Altogether we had about two dollars in change. We grabbed a cheap jar of Trader Giotto's sauce and prayed tax wouldn't put us over our price limit.

Once we got home, made the pasta, reheated the pizza and threw the artichokes in the sauce for good measure we settled down on her couch to dissect the recent inexplicable popularity of Cameron Diaz's "butt-dance". The contents of the dinner didn't matter, we laughed and commiserated about how broke we both were individually and continued to drink our wine. Our friendship was moving into a new territory now that we were adults and we were continuing to find our way in our new lives. It was the perfect example of how you don't need money to be happy. Seven years later I still remember that weekend and it always makes me smile. Just recently E and I laughed over how broke we really were, how dire things had become for us and how at the time we felt so scared, but at least we had each other to make the other one laugh.

The song? The impossibly horrible, 'What's Your Fantasy' by Ludacris. Why? Because it was on all damn weekend no matter when we got in the car or where we went. It is laughably awful and each time I hear it I think of that weekend when E and I were so broke we almost couldn't afford a jar of spaghetti sauce between the two of us.


Over at 23andMe's pregnancy community I'm discussing pregnancy and allergies, "I am not allergic to anything. Scratch that. Sometimes clove buds make me hurl. However, during my second pregnancy... read more here."

I'm talking about my lack of a competitive nature and the 5k I'm training for at DC Metro Moms too. Read all about it!

Bathing Suit Season Cometh

You know eating an entire box of cupcakes seemed like a fab idea at the time. So did guzzling bottles of wine, eating crepes with bacon, syrup and yes, more bacon. Those fries were also pretty tasty as was the hot buttered popcorn I savored at the movies last week. Overdid it a tad? Perhaps. I admit I'm a glutton of sorts and I do like my salts and sweets. And um... all things winey. And beery and vodka-infused too.

So it is with great horror that I realized that the pool will be opening soon and I've got two kiddos who are all about running around in cute floral swimsuits with ruffled behinds. Me? Not so much. I've got more of a rippley behind and it has got to come to a full stop. Not a full stop for those walking near me either, as in, "Oh dear gawd! Would you just look at that white pasty mess before us? There are children present!"

I'm also training for a 5k, like some other Shredheads, and it doesn't really behoove me to be eating like a college football player. I'm not going to go into what my dietary restrictions will be and so forth. Because that is a snooze button waiting to happen but I will tell you this. My wine bill? It will be smaller and because of that so will my waist line.

I'm missing my pinot grigio already.


"Breast-feeding, every time I think of it, I feel faint." I'm talking about pregnancy and breastfeeding in Got Milk? over at 23andMe pregnancy community. Join me today!

I'm up over at Honest Baby too with, "Fondue=Happy Mother's Day?"

Why I Spat also known as My New Job

As if reviewing products, making vain attempts to make you all laugh on a daily basis, writing for other websites and more I've decided to take on yet another new job. In the coming months you will notice that at different times in this space there will be teasers regarding my adventures with my past pregnancies, being genotyped and a whole other realm of experiences I have had relating to both subjects. I'm working with 23andMe to help them establish their online pregnancy community. It is our hope that through this venue more patterns can be established, links built and research can be done relating to women's health and pregnancy.

If you want to read my first post, 'Why I Spat', "Good genes or bad genes I am not sure there is such a thing. It is a vast lottery of our pasts and our future that makes us who we are, adding in genes, good or bad simply cements things. Take me for example, as long as I can remember everyone in my family has died the same way."

It is a subject I am very passionate about and cannot wait to delve into more heavily. That being said, research breakthroughs are only possible if enough women participate by answering surveys-- if you are currently pregnant or have been pregnant before please visit the pregnancy community and complete a short survey.