Edited to add: Discount, discount, I’ve got your discount!!! My gracious Thermaclear contact has set up a special coupon code for you my lovely readers for a 25% off discount – the code is BLONDEMOM and it is effective until September 4. Just apply the code when you check out at the Thermaclear website.

I’ve written before about being in complexion purgatory…well entrenched in my 30s, yet still sporting teenage acne, or zips, as Miss C calls them. Anti-aging eye cream and benzoyl peroxide make strange bedfellows, but both share space in my bathroom drawer. Now if only my abs would rebel like a hormonal teenager and revert to the days when I could wear a pair of lycra bike shorts and do them justice. That would be a cool trick.

When I was asked to try out the Thermaclear acne treatment system I was excited to give a serious skincare system a test drive. The acne clearing gel, which is actually more of a cream consistency, has been great at clearing up my skin without drying it out. The cleansing pads didn’t do much for me, but I’m an old school Sea Breeze girl. I do love the clarifying cleanser, though.

The piece de resistance of the Thermaclear system, however, is an FDA approved hand held device that enables you to apply a pulse of heat on a pimple. If you have a red angry pimple flare up on your cheek and you’ve got a once-in-a-lifetime job interview in a few days or you’ve scheduled lunch with an old friend, better yet an old boyfriend, this little device is a lifesaver. Just apply the heat sensor for two seconds (you can use it 1 to 3 times in a 24-hour period). It does give you a little zing if set on the high heat setting, but frankly it’s worth it to help clear up your acne in half the time. Also, if you want to get really cheesie you can give it the ole “blow the smoke off your gun” move once you’ve used it. Too bad it doesn’t come with a holster.

Of course I’m an every day sort of mom on a daycare/diaper budget so it would take some convincing for me to fork over $149.95 for a skincare gadget like this. But if you are willing to spend the money, it’s a great product that you can use without a prescription. The acne clearing gel is a more mom budget realistic $17.95 and it is definitely worth it.

I remember the first time Miss A went under the water last summer at the kiddie pool. I yanked her out of the water, fully expecting her to burst into tears and cling to me. Au contraire! She laughed and let go of my hand, as if to say, “Don’t cramp my style mama. This is the life!”

Taking the girls swimming is anything but relaxing and having a 28-month-old who has no fear of the water takes it to a whole ‘notha level. There is the hunting and gathering of clean beach towels, the slathering of little cheeks and noses with sunscreen, and the realization that going to the pool with nothing but a Glamour magazine, a boom box, a pair of Ray Bans, and a bottle of deliciously fragrant Hawaiian Tropic suntain oil is so 1987. My biggest concern back then was what color to paint my toenails and making sure I gave equal layout time to both my front and back.

Yesterday we headed to a friend’s neighborhood pool. Both girls tested out their floaties. Miss A was a bit hesitant at first and warmed up by kicking my untoned belly repeatedly while I held her in the water. Who needs water aerobics when you can play with a 28-pound toddler in the water for three hours and she uses you as her own personal punching bag?

Being the uber protective parents of the year, the hubby and I, of course, never failed to keep our eagle parenting eyes focused on both girls the entire time. However, at some point the hubby and I were engrossed in a serious game of keep away with Miss C in the “deep” 5 foot end of the pool and we glance over as Miss A is climbing in to join us without hesitation. Being the independent type, she doesn’t come near us, but instead takes off dog paddling with the aid of her floaties. She swam without falter to the side ladder, climbed out, and proceeded to do this about a dozen times in a row.

I think the girl is ready for swimming lessons.

First I want to share with you one of the loveliest things I have read in a while. Go read Mommy by Her Bad Mother. I can’t read it without crying. She captured the perfect essence of the moment.

Partners in Paper e-mailed me about a special discount for you, you, and you. The stationery shop features sassy designs from Dabberdoo, Amy Jennings, and Skirts, just to name a few. Use promotion code Eskimo to receive 20 percent off your order. They charge a flat $6 for shipping, which I love. The notepads would make great gifts; I’m especially partial to the flirty purse and flip flop and cocktail themes. I’m sure you find that hard to imagine.

Speaking of paper bliss, check out Mom Business Cards. Scrawling my cell phone number on the back of a Target receipt or one of my dog-eared business cards suddenly seems so lame!

Martha Stewart plots WORLD DOMINATION. OK, that’s a bit dramatic, but she’s launching an online social network for you craftys, which would, admittedly, not include me. (Hat tip: Back in Skinny Jeans)

Susan from Friday Playdate has new digs at The Working Closet which is all about “creating a wardrobe that works for your body and your life and your budget… feeling polished and elegant and pretty no matter where you’re going… wearing what you love and loving what you wear…and having a closet that works for you.” Thanks to Susan’s blog I realize I own a pair of pink chandelier earrings. (I had no idea that’s what they were called.) Check out all the cool bloggers at Work It, Mom!

Pottery Barn Kids and Parenting.com are sponsoring a $10,000 dream room sweepstakes. I could do some serious monogramming damage with that kind of cashola. Ann Taylor Loft and InStyle magazine want to whisk you away on a cruise. Kailani from Island Life has the scoop on all the giveaways in Blogland.

Have a great weekend!

Spa Flo, originally uploaded by blondemom.

Clearly I am not living right, since the last thing I want to do when I have my period is don a white spa robe and get a facial. I’d like to know what she’s drinking. Green tea? An apple mojito? I’ll bet her feet are soaking, too.

I still heart Publix, though. You’ve got to love the marketing minds behind this attempt to make Aunt Flo a glamorous sort of girl who doesn’t suffer from cramps or pre-menstrual “I SAID IT’S TIME TO BRUSH TEETH!” please Lord let the girls go to bed by 9 p.m. syndrome. And I don’t have the embarrassing urge to hide this fashionable box in my cart under a jumbo bag of potato chips because it looks like a box of green tea or some soothing chamomile eye pads or something stylish and spa-like.

Miss A loves milk–good ole pure unleaded, whole milk, straight up, with nothing added. She usually has a night cap of milk in a sippy cup and considering we’re having some serious power struggles at bedtime, frankly if she wanted to curl up in bed with a whole gallon jug of milk I really wouldn’t care, provided it would entice her to stay put in bed and not come up with 9 million reasons to get up once I tuck her in.

Enter the devil, otherwise known as strawberry flavored milk.

I bought a bottle of strawberry flavored syrup as a treat for big sister Miss C after her recent dental appointment. She wanted chocolate milk and since she’d been such a great sport at the dentist I told her we’d get some chocolate syrup while at Target. She spotted the pink syrup bottle, however, from a mile away and exclaimed, “Oh mommy I never had pink milk before!” So in a fit of consumer impulse buying, I tossed the bottle into our little red Tarjay cart, not realizing that I would soon be dealing with the Lindsay Lohan of the toddler set once Miss A tasted strawberry milk for the first time and could not get enough of its sugary goodness.

I tried to hide the pink syrup toddler crack from Miss A but it was only a matter of time that she picked up on the fact that big sister was drinking pink milk. I let her try some and then there was no turning back. I was actually praying for the stupid bottle to be empty and considered pouring it down the sink because it’s all Miss A wanted to drink for two weeks. And then it was gone and I had to break the news to her Sunday night as we were settling down to read Goodnight Moon.

“Want strawberry milk mama!”

“It’s all gone!” I told her, secretly thankful that we could forget about it and move on with our lives.

“WANT STRAWBERRY MILK!”

“WANT STRAWBERRY MILK MAMA!”

I carried her to the kitchen to fix a plain cup of white milk and show her that, alas, the pink syrup was gone. She pushed me away, tearful and nearly in hysterics and tried to scale the inside of the refrigerator door to retrieve the ketchup bottle, hopeful that it was strawberry syrup.

I’ve created an addict. She’s asked for strawberry milk every night this week.

Learn from my mistake and don’t mess with nature.

Milk should not be pink.

I’ve started watching HGTV again after getting burned out on it a few years ago and realizing I’d memorized the script for nearly every decorating show, not to mention I was developing the annoying habit of saying things like, “we need an inspiration piece!” and “what wonderful curb appeal!”

I was checking out the HGTV website this weekend, though, in a quest to find dog hair friendly decorating ideas for our family room when lo and behold I read that the 2008 Dream Home was being built in Islamorada, Florida, in the heart of the Keys!

Woo hoo! Be still my heart. If any of you know the hubby and I in real life, you would know that this is definitely our kind of dream home…on the water and in the Keys where we honeymooned. I can just feel the ocean breeze…cue the Buffett and chill the shrimp and Corona, I’ll be right over.

Being the nerd that I am, I clicked on the Dream Home blog and started skimming the comments with amusement.

I discovered that there is an angry undercurrent of HGTV Dream Home passive aggressive groupies…those who lament the fact that all of the HGTV dream homes are really unaffordable to maintain and also bemoaning the fact that HGTV is building a home so close to the ocean, what with the threat of hurricanes and all.

WTH people?!?

First of all, it is the HGTV Dream Home, not the HGTV Sensible Home or the HGTV You Might Actually Be Able to Afford to Build This When You Retire Should You Invest Wisely Home or the HGTV Start Grooming Your Kids to Play Professional Sports at the Age of Two and All This Could Be Yours Home.

I’m sorry, but if you have time to bitch about the likelihood of hurricanes at the construction site of a sweepstakes home, then you obviously have more time on your hands than me and I’ll gladly take the dream home off your hands, should you win and want to be released from the burden of it all.

If we win the dream home (and I know one blogger I’ll probably be competing against), margaritas on the rocks for all of you!

Of course we’ll probably be renting it out for $500 a night so we can afford to pay the capital gains tax. But until then, I can dream.

So, now that you know my dream home has an ocean view…what’s yours?

Going to BlogHer in Chicago next weekend? I’m not, but Self Made Mom’s tips for what to do in her fair city were too helpful to not share.

Being ever so slightly anal retentive, I’ve already started a kindergarten stash for Miss C and I’ve begun to think a wee bit about Christmas (although I don’t start shopping until my Thanksgiving turkey is digested, so who am I kidding?) Current Codes is a great website to check the next time you shop online, though, and I lurv to shop online.

Back2School 2007 is sponsoring a home computer giveaway. Just share with them how prepping for school in today’s era of iPhones and texting differs from when you were a kid. Remember Trapper Keepers, scratch n’ sniff stickers, and friendship pins? Oh yeah, I’m a child of the 80s.

Need a new do? Participate in Mrs. Flinger’s virtual makeover and if your new look gets the most votes you’ll win a $15 gift card from iTunes.

Celebrity Mom is giving away a fun and funky Spunky Sprouts onesie. This ain’t your run-of-the mill white baby onesie.

I know it’s just wrong that I derived guilty pleasure from watching this show isn’t it? Of course in the same night I ate a Hostess cream-filled chocolate cupcake (my mom gave us some as a treat for the girls) after realizing there was no wine or beer OR ice cream in the house, the hubby was working late, and I just had to have a snack.

Have a great weekend!