I was honored to interview Leilani Lim-Villegas who is the Financial Education Coordinator for the Texas Department of Banking (www.dob.texas.gov/dss/fe.htm). Leilani gives talks and meets with people, especially young girls, to empower them to take control of their financial futures. I have followed Leilani on Linkedin and thought that what she had to say needed to be heard by a global audience.

I was lucky enough to interview author and entrepreneur Felecia Hatcher. She owns the fantastic gourmet popsicle company named Feverish Pops and is the author of C Students Rock. She is a woman you should know!

If you are a “doll person” you should be aware that you are a part of a long-line of enthusiasts that harken back to girls playing with dolls in ancient Egypt, Rome, and even some ancient dolls have been discovered carved out of ivory more than 30,000 years ago! However since you live in the twenty-first century, you need to be aware of this great doll organization, the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC). At their Kansas City, MO headquarters; there is a museum, library, and gift shop.

I just searched the hashtag money; that I have saved in my twitter search engine, and received this great article on introducing money to children. Yes, it is a homeschooling article but, if you don’t home school, you could use many of the helpful tips and books to work with your own children at home. As you know, most money lessons are learned through modeling and need to be reinforced while the child’s mind is still an absorbent sponge taking in knowledge!

I was fortunate enough to interview Sarah Banas founder of Immortal Design. Sarah is a woman to watch, who has pursued and achieved a career in the STEMS field! My name is: Sarah Banas My company is: Immortal Design: http://immortaldc.com My company Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/immortaldc My Twitter handle is: @goimmortal My career is: Software Engineer, CEO (Entrepreneur) What I do everyday is: Develop new software to make our lives easier.

Oh yes, these women are breaking a glass ceiling, for women artists to join the comic book world! These five women have achieved superior status in the male dominated field of comic books. These are women you should know!

Is Richard Irvine here to help me revamp my collection? No, but the doll in question fits inside an egg so, you get the Food Network/Restaurant Impossible correlation. 1.) A precocious eight year old climbs on a chair to reach a high shelf in Gramma’s room.

It's overwhelming isn't it? Not only are you choosing a college and a major, but you also have to figure out the best way to pay for your education. To help you determine the best way to fund your future, let's define some of the confusing terms associated with loans.

Come along with Sunny Squirrel and Daisy Deer as they earn their first allowances and learn the value of short-term and long-term savings! Will Sidney the Snake tempt them into frivolous spending or will they successfully save toward their long-term rewards? Financial literacy has always been an exciting topic for author Darrah Brustein.

Warren Buffett Teaches Kids About Money Posted by Marcos J. Cordero Wed, April 10th, 2013 @06:36AM Warren Buffet,  philanthropist and investor, considered to be the most successful investor in the 20th century is now going to share his wisdom with children in a new animated series called the “Secret Millionaires Club”. The animated series has 26 online short webisodes that kids (and parents) can watch for free.

Monday Five: Put More Money in Your Pocket with Spring Cleaning April 1, 2013 in The Loan Voice by Eric By Eric The grass is starting to turn green, it’s opening day for some of your favorite baseball teams, and it’s time for a bit of spring cleaning. But spring cleaning doesn’t have to mean throwing everything away. Here are a few ways to spruce up those closets and turn it into income.

College Savings Dolls and GradSave have teamed up. Eddie from GradSave was watching the Twitter feed under hash tag #collegesavings when one of our tweets caught his eye. Eddie, a proud father of a 2 year old girl, thought our message to inspire young girls to go to college and set career goals for themselves was a great idea.

Just finished watching two short videos from Makers about two outstanding women who reinforce the need for more women to embrace the STEMS (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields. Women hold less than 25% of STEM jobs* and this needs to be changed by the young women of today. These fields needs to be considered when a young girl goes to college.

My Mom cleaned out her attic, after fifty years of accumulation. Low and behold, she found these four lovelies! Three dolls are in home-made clothes but, at least they don’t have shags.

Just mention Egypt and this fan of every Barbara Michaels book ever written and wanna-be explorer, is all in! I was flipping channels on Saturday night, and I landed on screen shot of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Cut-away to Brendan Fraser, and the hint of a new discovery!!

Remember, when you were in kindergarten and took a power nap, laying your head down on the desk following your “snack break”. I actually got a “Best Rester” award for that-well I fell asleep, but I digress. I just received a very well done you tube video, via a tweet from a new follower that extols the benefits of the power nap.

                                                                       Let me tell you, if you are a woman in the toy industry and not a part of this group, you are really missing something. The usual cat fights and secretiveness are not here. All you have to do is ask and people will respond or point you in the right ...

Flying into snowy LaGuardia, immediately checking into the Hilton Garden Inn-Times Square and heading straight over to Javits. The frenzied New York Toy Fair 2013 begins! We, as everyone in attendance, have been planning this for months or if you are a TIA event planner, for over a year!

Just got this email! What a great scholarship contest from Kohl’s. I love Kohl’s; they have fashionable merchandise and fabulous sales.

I just read that the Super Bowl is the second highest food holiday, next to Thanksgiving! I am actually just making appetizers this year and catering the rest from Boston Market. I have no time to shop/create this year.

As I went through some of my #bodyimage tweets and Pinterest images, I found yet another statistic on how a poor body image was being perceived in college but, also how it was being combated head-on in another country through retail therapy. First the sobering statistic, from Brown University Health Services: “Body image is a widespread preoccupation. In one study of college students, 74.4% of the normal-weight women stated that they thought about their weight or appearance “all the time” or “fr...

Have you seen the official trailer for MAKERS: Women Who Make America; the impact women have made in America over the past 50 years?The film premiere’s on PBS February 26, 2013. “The film will feature the stories of those who led the fight, those who opposed it, and the unintentional trailblazers -- famous and unknown – who carried change to every corner of society.” Some of those interviewed are: Gloria Steinem  Marlo Thomas  Hillary Clinton Oprah Winfrey  Katie Couric  Judy...

Come on’!! Not only do you have to find a school you like, that doesn’t cost too much, and will help you pursue your career but, it also has to be knowledgeable about food allergies. Can you imagine having to navigate all of the newbie living arrangements and adding food problems to the list of things to you need to master as a college freshman?!

This is a triumphant story of a real-life person & weekend photographer in CO, Anna Newell Jones, who paid down her debt in 15 months. Fed-up with her debt following her around, she starting writing a personal-finance blog to keep her honest at http://andthenwesaved.com/ . Anna had accumulated $23,605.10 in debt using credit cards, taking out college loans, etc.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2013 is going to be a great year for College Savings Dolls! Thanks for supporting us in 2012!

I just finished watching a very powerful documentary film on the OWN network titled Miss Representation. This film is written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. A synopsis from the site states, “the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.

Give yourself a gift this season: Gift Cards are a great gift to give and get. Why do they get a bad wrap? They are not a cop-out, especially when you don’t know what to get someone and if you get the GC with a person’s favorite in mind.

Over the weekend my husband & I explored the new Coinstar offerings, since we needed by buy several gift cards this year. You see, teenagers really don’t want anything that you pick out! You get an e-Certificate that you give to the recipient with a code for them to enter, they can use it in the store or on-line.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is a long awaited day in our family. We were all crowded around the television in our finest sleeping attire, i.e. jammies and anticipating the start of the parade.

This is the 2nd in series of things my Dad taught me: Coupons! My Dad always said, “You always pick up money on the street, right? Well, if you don’t what are ya thinking.” Using a coupon is the same as picking up money.

If you have ever shopped on your Florida vacation you know about the Florida based Publix grocery store. I used to shop here with my Grandma and loved their welcoming atmosphere. It is the dominant grocery store in the Deep South.

Saw a movie this weekend that pitted seeking kindness in others while still showcasing the ultimate in girl power. Okay, the girl power point was downplayed but, how often does the girl win, rescue the boy, and triumph by reflecting kindness back to others? Not only did I become one of the last people you know to see The Hunger Games but, coincidently, I also watched an interview by Marie Forleo with Sir Richard Branson.

I loved this little doll. I found her in my “saved” doll box in my parent’s garage. I always carried it around in my pocket-just in case I was bored somewhere like school, church, or running errands.

My Dad passed away suddenly, was a teacher in life and remained one moving forward. This series of life lessons will periodically appear on our blog. I am a big believer the positive items of the past need to be revisited and one of the many lessons he taught me was organization of your financial life.

No, this is not your shopping list of items that are “must haves” in a dorm but, an actual way you can compare & shop school costs! 316 schools have participated in this task so, you should be able to find information on the school you’re thinking about. “Too often, students are left without a clear explanation of what the costs mean or how they compare to other colleges they are considering, and as a result, many students leave college with debt that they didn’t fully understand at the time...

If you have a Facebook account or already voted & can share this link with people who can vote, we would really appreciate it! http://shar.es/urltu We have 86 votes-only need 14 more to qualify! Thanks so much!

Click on the link below to help College Savings Dolls, Inc. create jobs! http://smbchallenge.com/challenges/1/companies/23d72be8577bfdaee205b27771193689

                                                                                     Photo courtesy of http://modernkiddo.com I was OBSESSED with miniature dolls, when I was a little girl in the 70′s. Does anyone remember the small dolls that came inside pieces of ...

I got published in Global Toy News!! Here is the link to my article, hope you enjoy it! http://tinyurl.com/9notzv3

Please vote & pass it on to anyone you think would vote. Just by voting they get entered to win a Toshiba Ultrabook. Click the link below: http://www.thebigreboot.biz/entries/156 Thanks- Sarah & Patty

Got my latest issue of Entrepeneur magazine & voted for my three picks; an established entrepreneur, an emerging entrepreneur & lastly a college entrepreneur. Much to my disappointment, in all these categories, only one woman was represented. But what a woman & a wonderful company!

  As most of you know,  I am gluten intolerant so when I opened my new issue of Living Without magazine, I was thrilled to see an article entitled, “College & Your Special Diet”.  I love that the educational community has embraced changes to its regular dietary curriculum to include people with food allergies. I remember battling the dreaded “Freshman 15”.

I could sit in my bedroom for hours re-arranging my Madame Alexander dolls, much to the happiness of my mother, who did not have to dust them! I was especially obsessed with Mexico. She was decked-out in a multi-layered beaded necklace, with her pretty black skirt, and white boat neck blouse. The senorita, as I called her, came with the patented white long slip and pantaloons, cute black velvet shoes with beads attached to the front and a white felt sombre...

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/sound+off/6442681450/story.html   

Who else gives you money for saving money-besides my son’s grandma! She is actually matching whatever he saves for a car. I thought, "Who is this woman?

Why do I just keep envisioning the Scarlet O’Hara bedroom scene from Gone With the Wind, where Mammy cinched Scarlet into her corset. Scarlett has to suck in her breath & hang on to the bedpost to get the ribbons tighter & wiggle into the garments boning to shrink her already tiny waist. Take a look at the youtube video!

I have met some truly caring folks in my foray into the twitter world. I  met a few small business owners, that really help each other out & genuinely seem interested in assuring you get your business to succeed. I meet most of them while I was on my long arduous quest to gather my 250 votes in hopes of the Mission Small Business $250,000 grant from Chase & Living Social.

Just got finished reading the money section of my local paper & it made me think about what sort of guidance we are establishing for our children. Are we doing enough to put them on the right path when it comes to their money & saving habits? The greatest teacher’s are your own family,  & we need to help kid's learn good habits that will last a lifetime.

                                Jessica & Deanna holding their doll counterparts!! College Savings Dolls are 15" scaled play dolls that promote positive role models, realistic body-image, with a financial saving twist for the future!

Hi everyone, Can you please go to Facebook and vote for “College Savings Dolls” through www.missionsmallbusiness.com they are giving 12 grants for $250,000.00 for small businesses. College savings dolls would greatly appreciate your help in getting the 250 votes needed to qualify. It is through Chase bank and living social, and no one has received any spam after voting, so don’t worry about junk mail.

Patty & I attended this years Reviewer's Retreat 2012 at The Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC. We really wanted to know what bloggers would need from us to do their jobs spreading the word about College Savings Dolls. The "Mommy Blogger's" hailed from all over the USA & most brought their families to enjoy the water park while the "Mom's" attended the conference.

Patty & I attended this years Reviewer's Retreat 2012 at The Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC. We really wanted to know what bloggers would need from us to do their jobs spreading the word about College Savings Dolls. The "Mommy Blogger's" hailed from all over the USA & most brought their families to enjoy the water park while the "Mom's" attended the conference.

Anyway you save for college is good. I’ll say it again; anyway you save for college is good. You are planning ahead so, you don’t have to worry about making payments all four years or strap your child with a huge debt that can’t be erased, even through bankruptcy.

Educational Financing Is Forgiving Student Loan Debt a Good Idea? By Kayla Webley | @kaylawebley | April 20, 2012 | 79 inShare7 Log In with Facebook Sharing TIME stories with friends is easier than ever. Add TIME to your Timeline.

From the Wall Street Journal April 18, blog    Between the ages of 18 and 22, Jodi Romine took out $74,000 in student loans to help finance her business-management degree at Kent State University in Ohio. What seemed like a good investment will delay her career, her marriage and decision to have children. Ms.

  As a childhood cancer survivor myself I felt I need to weigh-in on the hairless Barbie doll that Mattel is releasing this later this spring. Even though I had just turned eighteen, I still suffered the total loss of self esteem when I lost my hair & would have loved a gift of a Barbie doll by my hospital bed to bring cheer to a dreary situation.   That is what Mattel proposes by gifting children in the hospital with dolls by partnering with the Children’s Hospital Association.

We went to our first toy show last week! It was one of the biggest-Toy Fair 2012 at the Javit’s Center in NYC which is not open to the public. So, here is your sneak peek inside the show!

Toy Fair New York 2012 was a great experience for us.  We met many new people and learned more about the toy industry.  We purchased a "piggy bank" called digi-piggy that we are going to have available for purchase on our website in the near future.  There are some other very cute banks that we are looking to purchase that are fun, cute, and will encourage kids to start saving their money. Stay tuned for added information..........

Don't get caught with no place to stash their loot! Use these 4 tips to set-up a place for all of your baby gift money before the baby is born! Afterall, it is their money.

Boosted by improving margins and rising international sales, toy company Mattel (MAT: 31.23, +1.70, +5.76%) posted a stronger-than-expected 14% jump in fourth-quarter profits on Tuesday. The earnings beat, combined with a 35% hike in its dividend payout, sent shares of El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel jumping 5% to a 52-week high. The maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels said it earned $370.6 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with a profit of $325.2 million, or 89 cents a share, a year earlier.

MoneyWatch)  If you have ever filled out the FAFSA form, you can appreciate how complicated it can be. Millions of American parents have wrestled with this federal financial aid form and many of them have made mistakes. Some of those errors have inadvertently cost lots of families financial aid that they were entitled to receive.

Crazy for Madame Alexander Dolls Mexico_Doll.doc  I could sit in my bedroom for hours re-arranging my Madame Alexander dolls, much to the happiness of my mother, who didn’t have to dust them! I was especially obsessed with Mexico. She was decked-out in a multi-layered beaded necklace, with her pretty black skirt, and blousy white boat neck blouse.

  I was OBSESSED with miniature dolls, when I was a little girl in the 70′s. Does anyone remember the small dolls that came inside pieces of  jewelry? They were called Liddle Kiddles and came inside of brooches, earrings, bracelets, and later even ice cream cones and perfume bottles.

   https://guidance.fidelity.com/viewpoints/countdown-to-college  5 steps to take 5 years before college

Sarah and I are very excited about attending the "New York Toy Fair" in February.  It is the biggest toy fair in the USA, and we cannot wait to meet new people and talk about our "College Savings Dolls".  The dolls are being made and should be completed by Spring of 2012.  We will keep everyone posted on our progress and try to post some pictures, and new information.

“A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.”-Joyce A. Myers Posted on December 19, 2011 by dollsaver Image via Wikipedia I was tweeted this quote today from Marlo Thomas and it is so true! Yes, it was “That Girl“! Loved that show, she was so cute!

Just some FYI… there are 3 Barbie’s sold every second (world-wide) and there are more than 1 million American Girl dolls sold annually. The doll industry increased 8% in 2010, selling over $2.7 billion   in dolls. Where are they made?

Started thinking about my Grandma on Sept. 11th because it is National Grandparents Day. I always loved “playing” Barbie‘s with my Grandma.

Your new best friend and real college girl, Deanna, is the first doll in our series of wonderful soft play dolls with a purpose. She has hair you can comb and comes wearing a fun sundress underneath her cap and gown. You can visit her on the website, read her true story, register your doll and get a diploma you can display on your wall.

College Savings Dolls are realistic dolls, based on actual college students likenesses and body types. They are instruments of creativity that young girls can play with as well as start preparing for college. Many children come out of school with huge loans to pay off and this can be an extremely difficult situation for a young girl beginning her work career and life plans.