On Tuesday, October 12, 2010 – World Arthritis Day, I’ll be wearing blue to show my support for the Arthritis Foundation and individuals living with arthritis, especially children. You see my 12-year-old son was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when he was just five, so it’s a special cause close to my heart. Please join me and show your support as well and Do Blue too!

Do you tweet as well? Please spread the word and join the Arthritis Foundation’s Twitter Party on October 12th as well from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST. Use #arthritisday to participate!

Thank you!

Baskin Robbins is honoring America’s firefighters by hosting 31 Cent Scoop Night on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 from 5pm – 10pm at participating locations.

Stop by show your support by purchasing a 31 Cent Scoop and if available and within your budget, you might even consider making a donation to your local fire charities.

You can also RSVP for 31 Cent Scoop Night on FaceBook and even follow Baskin Robbins on Twitter.

Don’t forget to sign up for Baskin Robbins Birthday Club. About 5 days before your birthday you’ll receive any email for FREE ice cream and a discount on a ice cream birthday cake.

Special thanks to all firefighters for putting your lives on the line to protect the American public

To find local businesses offering birthday freebies and birthday discounts visit: Free Birthday Treats.

Follow us on Twitter: @FreeBdayTreats! // Become a FreeBirthdayTreats.com FaceBook Fan

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In celebration of 2010′s National Volunteer Week (April 19-24), the American Cancer Society is is recognizing and celebrating the more than 3 million volunteers nationwide making a difference in the fight against cancer and encouraging those who’ve never volunteered to pledge at least 1 hour to volunteer with the American Cancer Society in your community. Volunteering just one hour is easy, makes a real difference and helps create more birthdays!

Cancer has had a huge impact of my life-the loss of my dad just before his 50th birthday. I’m pledging 9 hours for the remainder of 2010 and hope that my friends, family and readers will volunteer a few hours of their time as well. I’m doing this in memory of my dad, who I greatly miss and to save lives so more birthdays will be celebrated.

The American Cancer Society’s is hoping to reach 57,000 volunteer hours for 2010 and you can help by visiting their MoreBirthdays.com website to pledge your hours.

While you’re there why not take a moment and declare the American Cancer Society as the official sponsor of your birthday and create your own birthday page? I created a birthday page in memory of my dad.

Here’s to more birthdays in 2010!

To find local businesses offering birthday freebies and birthday discounts visit: Free Birthday Treats.

Follow us on Twitter: @FreeBdayTreats! // Become a FreeBirthdayTreats.com FaceBook Fan

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Hero Hugs is a very special non-profit organization not only because it was founded by one child’s passion to tell troops “Thank You!”, but also because it is run by kids who have sent over 48,000 appreciation packages to deployed troops. Another example of how one person, no matter the age, can make a difference in this world.

Bailey Reese the founder of Hero Hugs and Angela Riseden who is the “honorary” Vice-President are celebrating their 14th birthday’s this month. Bailey’s birthday was on April 3rd and Angela’s is on April 21st and their special birthday wish is to receive 500,000 birthday cards with a $1 donation for Hero Hugs so they can send out 100,000 packages to deployed troops by their 15th birthdays.

According to Bailey:

“We get emails all the time, but people just do not send stamped mail anymore. Kids love getting mail so I think the best birthday present ever would be getting buried in cards. We’d have an awesome birthday, be able to send more thanks to our troops and it would help us reach our goal of 100,000 packages mailed!”

Let’s help make their wish come true! Send a birthday card and $1 donation to:

Bailey Reese -or- Angela Riseden
c/o Hero Hugs
P.O. Box 27
Niceville, FL 32588

Happy Birthday Bailey and Angela! You’re both amazing young ladies!

To find local businesses offering birthday freebies and birthday discounts visit: Free Birthday Treats.

Follow us on Twitter: @FreeBdayTreats! // Become a FreeBirthdayTreats.com FaceBook Fan

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Help children and the Earth by recycling those used greeting cards! St. Jude’s Ranch is accepting used all-occasion greeting cards (birthdays, holidays, etc) for their Recycled Card Program.

This is a limited time offer so take advantage of it now. Cards will be accepted by St. Jude’s Ranch from now until February 28, 2010. Mail your card donations to:

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

Recycled Card Program

100 St. Jude’s Street – Boulder City, NV 89005

877-977-SJRC (7572)

Cards that are donated are then used to create new cards which are sold through St. Jude’s Ranch website.

The children participate in making the new cards by removing the front and attaching a new back. The result is a beautiful new card made by the children and volunteers. The benefits are two-fold: customers receive “green” holiday cards for use and the children receive payment for their work and learn the benefits and importance of “going green”.

Happy Holidays!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Be sure to enter for their giveaway as well! Deadline is October 9th.

We have a poster signed by Chef Duff himself that we’re giving away to one lucky person. Just share your thoughts on the episode in the comment section (and read the rules after the break) to win.

You can enter by clicking here.

Recently the American Cancer Society(ACS) teamed up with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) challenging the baking and pastry students to invent a healthier birthday cake.  And who should help with choosing a winner from the five talented finalists? None other than the fabulously creative  “Ace of Cakes” Chef Duff Goldman.

The winner’s, Chef Alexandra Mudry, new, healthier red velvet cake is now the official birthday cake for the American Cancer Society. It’s certainly a unique cake recipe and available for download on their site.

If you haven’t heard of the American Cancer Society’s More Birthdays campaign. It’s simple, just declare ACS as the official sponsor of your birthday and encourage others to do so as well.

Back in April, I wrote about More Birthdays and also created a donation page in memory of my own father, who passed away very unexpectedly because of cancer. He was only 49. This is why birthdays are so special to me and why I want my loved ones to have more birthdays.

Please help us fight cancer and spread the word!

Thank you!

Not only am I the mom of two, but I’m an aunt to six nieces and six nephews. All of them so special in their own way.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of enjoying a few days with my twin nieces who just happen to be the same age as my teenage daughter – 15. They stayed up until the wee hours of the morning watching their favorite videos and chatting away. The next night as I’m sorting through boxes of stuff (moving again), I came across some face paint and temporary tattoos. I’m sure you can imagine what transpired and as soon as I get their ok, I’ll post the results of their “you can’t look at your face until we’re done painting it” project. They conned my younger son (11) into participating as well, however, after taking one look at what his cousins did to his sister, he was a bit reluctant and had to be tied to a chair – all in good fun though.

I don’t spend nearly enough time with my nieces and nephews, but when I do, I try to have fun, listen to their hopes and dreams, get as many hugs as I can and let them know that they are loved no matter what.  That’s what being an aunt is all about and if anyone knows this, it’s Melanie Notkin, the founder of Savvy Auntie, a website created just for aunts.

Melanie has taken it one step further and declared July 26, 2009 as Savvy Auntie’s Day. A special day to recognize the doting aunts in our lives.

If you’d like to know more and get some ideas on how to celebrate Savvy Auntie’s Day visit her website: Savvy Auntie.

Happy Savvy Auntie Day to all you aunts out there!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

I just received an email from them asking…

In honor of America and her 11 million cancer survivors, we’re asking you to take part in a little challenge this holiday weekend:

As you celebrate the 4th, will you cook a healthy “more birthdays” dish and tell others why you cooked it?

They even provide some healhy More Birthdays Snack recipes on their website and on their Official Birthday Blog just in case you need some inspiration.

Please join this worthy cause and share with your family and friends!

Happy 4th of July!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

What is True Beauty?

True beauty. Superficial beauty. Recent generations have lost the line which defines the difference between the two. They confuse the beauty of the eye and the beauty of the heart – two things that could not be farther from each other.

Of late, our minds have been set on the superficial beauty, tossing aside true beauty – the beauty of the soul – for physical prowess.

There are few truly beautiful people left in the world, but when you meet one, it is obvious. They smile warmly and truly, shining a light from their purity almost unknowingly onto you. And through that smile, you feel that that person really does care. They listen intently to what you say, encourage your ideas; they mean it, they remember what you’ve said or done. They treat everyone like they are amazing and worthy and honestly outstanding. They don’t judge or make you feel bad, and they are so very easily trusted. But most incredible, a truly beautiful person brings out your true beauty – just by being themselves, a person with true beauty can make you reach farther, try harder, dig deeper. They believe in you and want you to succeed.

But all that is just detail though. Because there is one sentence to describe a truly beautiful person, one sentence. That’s all.

True beauty is the ability to love unconditionally.

Mackenzie is an observer of life and based this essay on the behavior of one of her friends at school. When she found out she won, she printed off a copy of it and gave it to this friend, explaining that it was because of her that she won. This friend in turn told Mackenzie that when she becomes a famous author, she is going to buy all of her books. Isn’t amazing what kind deeds can do for everyone?

Mackenzie’s dream to become an author came one step closer with this essay. She was recognized for this deep and insightful description of True Beauty and won a pampering package from Aloosions Salon & Spa, who partnered with the high school.

Although Mackenzie was extremely excited about winning this contest, she has also been blown away by all the copy requests from her friends.

I’d like to say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but…sigh…I can’t. Her gift with words is hers alone and I’m extremely proud of her.

What does true beauty mean to you?

I created FreeBirthdayTreats.com because birthdays are a celebration of life and should not go past without some acknowledgement. In the weakening economy though, it’s tough spending money on celebrations. So I track down birthday freebies and discounts to help others continue to celebrate their special day.

To say the least, I’m very passionate about birthdays and this brings me to an email I received today from the American Cancer Society: Join the Movement for More Birthdays. I adore it! Declaring the American Cancer Society as the official sponsor of your birthday…awesome! It just launched today and will be an ongoing long-term campaign.

For me, this is a no brainer, but then I lost my dad to cancer over 16 years ago. Had he have been diagnosed sooner, he might still be with us today.

I joined the movement and would like to invite all of you to do so as well. Just visit www.morebirthdays.com to declare the American Cancer Society as the official sponsor of your birthday, join their Face Book group, send an e-card, download their More Birthdays Kit or start your own birthday page like I did:

I created this page in honor of my father, Joe Jameson. My goal is to raise $2,500 to help create a world with no cancer. Donations are welcome at: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/Events/BirthdayPages?pxfid=492974&fr_id=19690&pg=fund

Thank you!