For the Fierce Style book giveaway, random.org picked 9.
Comment #9 was:
cqueen2 said...
i so need a book on fashion cause i have none lol i wear sweats and a t shirt almost every day cause i just dont know where to start
thanks
wadesherry@hotmail dot com
For the Softlips Pure lipbalms giveaway, random.org picked 117.
Comment #117 was:
Lisa said...Cherry sounds good.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Strider Bikes- a great idea!
After seeing Strider Running Bikes mentioned on a bunch of other blogs, and hearing rave reviews from other bloggers, I contacted Strider to see if they would let Ethan test one out. He's been very interested in being mobile, but he's too short to reach the pedals on the tricycle I bought him, so that wasn't working out.
From what I had read, I loved the idea behind this bike- it's a bicycle without pedals, so your kid starts out by walking it, and learns balance and coordination, without pedals getting in the way. According to their website, you don't need training wheels or a tricycle, and if kids learn the balance and coordination on this pedalless bike, they'll be able to easily transition to a regular bicycle and be on their way! There's a full discussion of the advantages of the Strider here.
The nice people at Strider sent us the coolest orange bike and we excitedly got it out of the box and did the simple assembly (it even came with the wrench we needed!). And Daniel and I were so excited that we accidentally let on to Ethan that we wanted him to try it out... which has, to date, been the nail in the coffin of Ethan ever being willing to go any further than touching the bike, no matter what we try, since us suggesting things makes it terribly horrifying to Ethan. I also made the mistake of acting interested in his Halloween costume and am now totally without anything for him to wear tomorrow, since he now refuses his costume. The bike has been hanging out in our condo since we put it together, where everyone else that comes over comments on how cool of a bike it is! Too bad none of them are young enough to try it out for me!
I still think this is a great idea and would be willing to bet that it would be a great introduction to bicycles for 99.99% of the kids out there. We are now leaving the bike propped up against the wall in our condo, totally ignoring it in the hopes that Ethan will decide that Mom and Dad have lost interest and that it is safe for him to try it out. I will update you when that happens!
Photos of the closest Ethan has gotten to the bike so far. Seriously, this kid could set a world record for stubborn. I'm going to just pretend like he got it from his daddy's side of the family...
So if your kid is not quite ready for a bicycle, consider a Strider Running Bike for them for this Christmas!
From what I had read, I loved the idea behind this bike- it's a bicycle without pedals, so your kid starts out by walking it, and learns balance and coordination, without pedals getting in the way. According to their website, you don't need training wheels or a tricycle, and if kids learn the balance and coordination on this pedalless bike, they'll be able to easily transition to a regular bicycle and be on their way! There's a full discussion of the advantages of the Strider here.
The nice people at Strider sent us the coolest orange bike and we excitedly got it out of the box and did the simple assembly (it even came with the wrench we needed!). And Daniel and I were so excited that we accidentally let on to Ethan that we wanted him to try it out... which has, to date, been the nail in the coffin of Ethan ever being willing to go any further than touching the bike, no matter what we try, since us suggesting things makes it terribly horrifying to Ethan. I also made the mistake of acting interested in his Halloween costume and am now totally without anything for him to wear tomorrow, since he now refuses his costume. The bike has been hanging out in our condo since we put it together, where everyone else that comes over comments on how cool of a bike it is! Too bad none of them are young enough to try it out for me!
I still think this is a great idea and would be willing to bet that it would be a great introduction to bicycles for 99.99% of the kids out there. We are now leaving the bike propped up against the wall in our condo, totally ignoring it in the hopes that Ethan will decide that Mom and Dad have lost interest and that it is safe for him to try it out. I will update you when that happens!
Photos of the closest Ethan has gotten to the bike so far. Seriously, this kid could set a world record for stubborn. I'm going to just pretend like he got it from his daddy's side of the family...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Review and giveaway: Set of 4 kids' books from Pretty Please Press- (giveaway closed)
Congrats to my winner: Evan and Brighid!
Thanks to my involvement at the Product Review Place, I was sent a set of 4 kids' books from Pretty Please Press to review.
Pretty Please Press is a small publishing company that prints books that are meant to be read aloud with your kids- books that will spark discussions for your family, while still being beautiful kids' books with great stories that your children will love. According to their website, "each book from Pretty Please Press contains a message about character and values that helps parents and children think and talk about a variety of issues." Go here to read more about Pretty Please Press.
The four books available from Pretty Please Press are Bella Basset Ballerina, a story about dedication and perseverance; The Scritchy Little Twitchell Sisters, a book about resolving conflicts; Pynx, a book about tolerance; and Kick Block Punch, a story about karate and setting goals. All four books are nice, hardcover books printed on nice paper. The illustrations in all the books are really nice and full of great details. My kids are a little young for the stories themselves right now, but I know they'll love looking at the pictures. The books are all most appropriate for the age range between little kid's books and before chapter books, on the website they suggest preschool-3rd grade.
Out of the four, my favorite was definitely Bella Basset Ballerina, a book about a basset hound that dreams of dancing. It's a fun story full of wonderful pictures and has a great message about believing in yourself and following your dreams.
The other really cool thing about these books is that the Pretty Please Press website has free downloadable vocabulary building cards, concept building cards and character-building lesson plans. Moms and teachers could all build a great lesson around each of these stories using the materials that Pretty Please Press provides. If you're looking for something beyond your typical children's books, especially for those kids in preschool and grades 1-3, go check this site out! Each hardcover book sells for $12.96/each (a 20% discount off their usual price), but if you buy three, the fourth is free. Both the 20% discount and the buy three-get one free are deals good until December 31, 2009.
One of you will get to win a set of these four books! US mailing addresses only, please!
To enter (please be sure your email address is visible in your blogger profile or leave it in your comment):
Go to Pretty Please Press and let me know what story looks most entertaining for your family
Extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button up on your blog, let me know where!
3) Enter my other giveaways. One comment per giveaway entered.
I'll choose a winner around 9 PM Pacific time on November 30, 2009. I'll email the winner and that person will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was sent a set of 4 books so that I could write a review of them. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Thanks to my involvement at the Product Review Place, I was sent a set of 4 kids' books from Pretty Please Press to review.
Pretty Please Press is a small publishing company that prints books that are meant to be read aloud with your kids- books that will spark discussions for your family, while still being beautiful kids' books with great stories that your children will love. According to their website, "each book from Pretty Please Press contains a message about character and values that helps parents and children think and talk about a variety of issues." Go here to read more about Pretty Please Press.
The four books available from Pretty Please Press are Bella Basset Ballerina, a story about dedication and perseverance; The Scritchy Little Twitchell Sisters, a book about resolving conflicts; Pynx, a book about tolerance; and Kick Block Punch, a story about karate and setting goals. All four books are nice, hardcover books printed on nice paper. The illustrations in all the books are really nice and full of great details. My kids are a little young for the stories themselves right now, but I know they'll love looking at the pictures. The books are all most appropriate for the age range between little kid's books and before chapter books, on the website they suggest preschool-3rd grade.
Out of the four, my favorite was definitely Bella Basset Ballerina, a book about a basset hound that dreams of dancing. It's a fun story full of wonderful pictures and has a great message about believing in yourself and following your dreams.
The other really cool thing about these books is that the Pretty Please Press website has free downloadable vocabulary building cards, concept building cards and character-building lesson plans. Moms and teachers could all build a great lesson around each of these stories using the materials that Pretty Please Press provides. If you're looking for something beyond your typical children's books, especially for those kids in preschool and grades 1-3, go check this site out! Each hardcover book sells for $12.96/each (a 20% discount off their usual price), but if you buy three, the fourth is free. Both the 20% discount and the buy three-get one free are deals good until December 31, 2009.
One of you will get to win a set of these four books! US mailing addresses only, please!
To enter (please be sure your email address is visible in your blogger profile or leave it in your comment):
Go to Pretty Please Press and let me know what story looks most entertaining for your family
Extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button up on your blog, let me know where!
3) Enter my other giveaways. One comment per giveaway entered.
I'll choose a winner around 9 PM Pacific time on November 30, 2009. I'll email the winner and that person will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was sent a set of 4 books so that I could write a review of them. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Review and giveaway!: PurpleTrail- an online invite/party planning site
I was contacted by the folks at Purpletrail.com last week - they wanted me to know about their online invitation/party-planning website. Since having kids seems to mean throwing tons of playdates and holiday parties and birthday parties, I happily agree to check it out.
When you first enter the site you will see that it is set up to help you send customizable invitations, announcements, or e-cards. Depending on your level of time/interest, you can either design a card from scratch using their design studio, use one of the designs available on the site as is, or tweak a pre-made design and add your own picture, music and video. It did take me a few tries to realize that if I wanted to tweak a pre-made design and use it as an invite, it was a two-step process (customize and save the design, then select to use it as an invitation), but now that I have that figured out, making a party invitation is a breeze! I made a random invitation for my husband to hang out with us tonight, and was pleased by how cute it turned out and how easy the whole process was.
I like that there are so many options for the invitations on this site, both for how they appear to your guests and for you as a host to quickly get an overview of who's coming, any messages they might leave about the event (great for those questions about what to bring to the party), the ability for guests to select an alternate time/date (if you choose to activate that option), and many many more. And the invitations that go to your friends' email boxes are ad-free!
The basic membership to use this site is free, but if you upgrade to one of the higher plans, starting at just $14.95 per year, you will have the option of larger guest lists, animated designs, and printing a high-resolution of your invitation/announcement at home (great for sending to those few people who aren't on email!).
The other thing that I REALLY like about this site is the fact that it goes beyond just the online invitation/announcement service. When you're designing your invitation and are stuck on the wording- there's a quick link there to give you suggestions for wording! Need an appropriate quote for an occasion? There's a link on the site for that too! And they go beyond that to actual party planning help- suggestions for reasons to throw a party, party food, party drinks, party games (I always need help with that one!).
So, if you've got a holiday party coming up soon, you need to do two things. One, add me to the guest list :) and two, go check out this site. It'll make your party planning and inviting more fun and easy!
One of you will win a free year of basic membership to this site (worth $14.95). This membership includes all the designs and customizing available to the free members, but also includes priority customer service, 5 free print-at-home designs, and the ability to send out a larger number of invitations/announcements at a time, among many other extras.
To enter (mandatory entry, please leave email address in your comment or be sure it's visible in your blogger profile):
Post the link of your favorite party idea from www.purpletrail.com/partytrail
Extra entries:
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button somewhere on your blog (please let me know where)
3) Blog about this giveaway with links to purpletrail.com and my blog. (Please leave me the link of your blog post)
4) Enter my other giveaways (one extra entry per giveaway entered)
Giveaway will end on November 20, 2009 at about 9 PM Pacific time. I'll choose a winner with random.org, and will email that person. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was given a pro membership for blogging about PurpleTrail and for displaying the PurpleTrail badge on my sidebar. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Also, for you other bloggers, PurpleTrail recently started a FRIENDS of PurpleTrail program, which offers benefits including giveaways of free premium memberships to PurpleTrail and even featuring your blogs and articles on the website. To get more information, read about it at http://purpletrail.com/pt2/cons/mkt/purpletrail_friends
Friday Giveaway Blog Hop!
It's time for the Friday giveaway blog hop! Go check out all these great sites!
Trekaroo!
I was contacted a few weeks ago about participating in a virtual tour of Seattle for the Trekaroo KidsMobile. I'd never heard of Trekaroo, so went to check it out and had a ton of fun writing short reviews of lots of fun sites here in Seattle and a few in other towns we've visited as well. Since I had fun with the site, I agreed to participate in this newest stop on the KidsMobile journey- they've already stopped in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and now they're here!
Please go check out the Seattle stop on the KidsMobile- and think about posting some reviews on the site for places you've been with your family- it's super fast and easy and you can even earn Amazon, Starbucks or REI gift cards and enter for a chance to win an iPod nano!
So here's the Seattle stop- please take a minute and go check out my list and all the other lists here as well!
Michelle Duffy, better known as Wandermom starts us off with a list of her favorite Seattle Parks and Playgrounds. Wandermom is truly a travel guru! Her active family of 4 manages to travel on a budget, spending much time hiking, diving and skiing around the world. She is also the co-author of “Wanderlust and Lipstick: Traveling with Kids“. Her wealth of helpful tips can be found on her blog: Wandermom!
Carrie, a super energetic mom who lives in the heart of downtown Seattle knows the best Places to Visit with Young Kids in Seattle. She is the voice behind – Growing a baby in Seattle. Carrie reviews products and services that urban moms are interested in. Her reviews are insightful and personable at the same time. Get her take on some really cool stuff, afterall, Christmas is just around the corner.
Jill Dickinson brings us a list of Stores Moms and Kids love in Seattlewho are owned by Momprenuers. Jill knows a good idea when she sees it because she’s the author of a book in the writing called “How to Become a Mompreneur”. She has interviewed a multitude of successful mompreneurs, so if you’re toying with a great business idea yourself, head on over to her blog – mombite - for some inspiration.
Hungry tummies = melt downs. Mona knows Where to eat in Seattle with Kids In Tow. Mona is the witty mom of a 3 year old and writes humorously about life as a full-time working mom on her blog – kirida. Need a good laugh about your predicament as a mom, you could spend hours on her blog (I just did myself – you sucked me in, Mona!)
So where are the locals hanging out? Amy tips us off with 5 Lesser Known Pit Stops in and around the Seattle Area. Her blog – Pit Stop for Kids – is filled with lots of helpful reviews about places to stop along various road trip routes around the country. Her mantra: Getting there should be half the fun! We couldn’t agree more.
The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while
Please go check out the Seattle stop on the KidsMobile- and think about posting some reviews on the site for places you've been with your family- it's super fast and easy and you can even earn Amazon, Starbucks or REI gift cards and enter for a chance to win an iPod nano!
So here's the Seattle stop- please take a minute and go check out my list and all the other lists here as well!
Trekaroo’s growing community of families have pitched in with their votes for 2009. Here’s the verdict!
Seattle is also the hometown for some exceptional moms who are smart, savvy and in the know about what real moms love about Seattle.
Michelle Duffy, better known as Wandermom starts us off with a list of her favorite Seattle Parks and Playgrounds. Wandermom is truly a travel guru! Her active family of 4 manages to travel on a budget, spending much time hiking, diving and skiing around the world. She is also the co-author of “Wanderlust and Lipstick: Traveling with Kids“. Her wealth of helpful tips can be found on her blog: Wandermom!Carrie, a super energetic mom who lives in the heart of downtown Seattle knows the best Places to Visit with Young Kids in Seattle. She is the voice behind – Growing a baby in Seattle. Carrie reviews products and services that urban moms are interested in. Her reviews are insightful and personable at the same time. Get her take on some really cool stuff, afterall, Christmas is just around the corner.Jill Dickinson brings us a list of Stores Moms and Kids love in Seattlewho are owned by Momprenuers. Jill knows a good idea when she sees it because she’s the author of a book in the writing called “How to Become a Mompreneur”. She has interviewed a multitude of successful mompreneurs, so if you’re toying with a great business idea yourself, head on over to her blog – mombite - for some inspiration.Hungry tummies = melt downs. Mona knows Where to eat in Seattle with Kids In Tow. Mona is the witty mom of a 3 year old and writes humorously about life as a full-time working mom on her blog – kirida. Need a good laugh about your predicament as a mom, you could spend hours on her blog (I just did myself – you sucked me in, Mona!)So where are the locals hanging out? Amy tips us off with 5 Lesser Known Pit Stops in and around the Seattle Area. Her blog – Pit Stop for Kids – is filled with lots of helpful reviews about places to stop along various road trip routes around the country. Her mantra: Getting there should be half the fun! We couldn’t agree more.Other Resources for Chicago:
- All 140 Activities for kids in the Seattle-Puget Sound Area
- Kid-friendly hotels in and around Seattle-Puget Sound
- Destination Playgrounds in Greater Seattle and Puget Sound – Travelmom
- Pumpkin Patches in the Seattle Area - Lydie Thomas
Next stop, the town where the Trekaroo founders first met - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Go Phillies!
The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while1) expressing their unique point of view
2) getting a web of link exchanges.
Join us for one of our next stopovers.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
I went dot com!
If you look up, you should see my new webpage address- I'm now publishing at www.growingababyreviews.com
This is all new to me, so please let me know if you have any issues with accessing anything. I think I hae it set up so your buttons should still work and your subscription/following should be fine too.
This is all new to me, so please let me know if you have any issues with accessing anything. I think I hae it set up so your buttons should still work and your subscription/following should be fine too.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Winner- SmartMom Teething Bling giveaway
Random.org picked #5-
Comment number 5 was this one:
Comment number 5 was this one:
- I adore the Onyx and Pearl Gift Set. So pretty and would go with everything!!! Thanks so much for the chance!
Review: Glass pendant from Gamiworks (Etsy)
I'm not kidding when I say that I think my husband is about to put a block on Etsy.com on our home computer. I think it's where all my (very small amount) of spending money goes.
But I couldn't resist, once again, when I saw the prettiest necklaces reviewed on another blog. Not scrabble tile pendants this time, but beautiful glass pendants made with Japanese chiyogami paper from an Etsy store called Gamiworks. I thought the necklaces were pretty, but was powerless to resist buying one when I saw they come with a matching tin!
I got this necklace (with matching tin!) for only $9. It's a nice size- bigger than my scrabble tile pendants, but not too big.
But I couldn't resist, once again, when I saw the prettiest necklaces reviewed on another blog. Not scrabble tile pendants this time, but beautiful glass pendants made with Japanese chiyogami paper from an Etsy store called Gamiworks. I thought the necklaces were pretty, but was powerless to resist buying one when I saw they come with a matching tin!
I got this necklace (with matching tin!) for only $9. It's a nice size- bigger than my scrabble tile pendants, but not too big.
Isn't it beautiful!
The store also has some gorgeous other products including lots of other pendants and keyrings and stuff for the home like thumb tacks and magnets and salt and pepper shakers and belt buckles and these votives which I'm going to make my husband buy me for Christmas. Seriously, I could spend several hundred dollars on this site in the BLINK OF AN EYE.
The most beautiful votives
Pretty magnets
And isn't this the most fun belt buckle ever!
Okay, someone, please come to my house and block etsy. Please! :)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Review and giveaway: Chocolate- A Love Story (cookbook)-CLOSED
Congrats to my winner-jakiesmom !
This cookbook is full of quirky art deco posters, unusual descriptions and fabulous recipes. You'll love browsing through the cookbook, dreaming of all the yummy food and smiling at the illustrations and descriptions. As I mentioned, there are 65 recipes in this cookbook, ranging from morning chocolate recipes, to chocolate pies, to chocolate drinks and chocolate cookies, to name a few.
My parents are visiting this week, and doing a great job of entertaining my small children, so I had time to really go through this book and pick my favorite recipe to try out. I opted to make the recipe called "My very own honey pie manifest". It was actually really easy to make, and I even had most of the ingredients in my house already. It turned out deliciously- like a dark chocolate pecan pie. My family keeps sneaking in the kitchen and getting "just one more little piece". Even my husband really liked it, and he's not a big fan of sweets.
This is a wonderful cookbook for the chocolate lover in your life, or for anyone who's looking for some great new, and unusual dessert ideas.
Since I'm about to go on a diet (baby weight to lose!), I'm going to pass on my cookbook to one of you lucky people! It's in great shape and would be suitable for gifting, so even if you don't want it for yourself, you can enter and use it for a Christmas gift!
To enter (US mailing addresses only, please!)- please either leave your email address in your comment or make sure it's visible in your blogger profile.
Let me know what is your favorite dessert!
Extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button up on your blog, let me know where!
3) Enter my other giveaways. One comment per giveaway entered.
I'm going to end this giveaway early, so that I can get it to the winner in time for the beginning of the holiday season. I'll choose a winner around 9 PM Pacific time on Thursday, November 12, 2009. I'll email the winner and that person will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was sent this cookbook so that I could write a review of it. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Review and giveaway: Relish! (meal planning service)-CLOSED
Congrats to my winner-thesehappydays
People- I have an announcement to make. Are you ready? I, Carrie, have cooked 5 meals FROM SCRATCH in the last week. If you're not surprised, then you're probably new here. Because I do not cook. I assemble food or heat up frozen food or order takeout. I almost never cook an entire meal from scratch. Much less 5 meals in the space of a week.
This all started a couple of weeks ago when I was contacted by Relish!, asking me if I would be interested in doing a review of their meal-planning website. Since my parents are currently visiting, and they do not eat sushi (our major food group in this household), I happily accepted the offer of a free month membership and logged on to the site.
The site is great- it's a site designed to help families make healthy, creative dinners, while also cutting down on all those trips to the grocery store. For a monthly fee of only $7, you will get 5 dinner recipes per week, plus a dessert recipe. But you don't just get recipes, you get an itemized shopping list.
The first time I logged in and chose my 5 recipes and printed out my shopping list for the 5 meals, I was a little overwhelmed, since I don't cook and recipes scare me. But when I started looking at the list, I realized that all the items were things that I knew I could buy at my local grocery store- no unusual ingredients that I couldn't pronounce or identify. The shopping list is nicely organized into a section of things that you might have in your cupboards already, things like spices and oils, then broken down by category into things you need to buy- dairy, produce, meats. Each ingredient on the shopping list is labeled with a letter corresponding to the recipe it goes to- so if you decide at the last minute that you don't need 5 meals for the week and only want to make 4 of the things you chose, then you can easily mark the things off your shopping list that you don't need.
My family has really enjoyed the things that I've been making. My parents walked into our condo on the day they arrived and were met by the smell of Autumn Harvest Stew cooking in the crock pot. And it turned out as delicious as it smelled. I've made 4 other recipes since then, and they've all been hits with my entire family. There are a number of recipes that are going to be added to our rotation, and I'm excited to see what next week has in store!
Each week you will get to choose 5 recipes for dinner and 1 for dessert from a list of 15 possible recipes. The recipes are helpfully labeled as kid friendly, quick, crockpot, lower calorie, simple gourmet, vegetarian, morning prep, one pot, dessert or custom meal, so you can quickly narrow down the choices to what works best for your family. The recipes include both the main dish and a side dish, so you'll be all set for your meal. Nutrition infomartion is also included on the recipe. The other great feature is that you can easily scale the recipes- this week I've been cooking for 4, but next week it'll just be 2 of us, and that's a simple thing to select.
In addition to the weekly recipes, you also get monthly freezer recipes- things to make ahead when you have free time and to have on hand for the busy evenings when even the simplest meal just isn't going to get cooked. Your subscription also covers things like simple lunch ideas, and a HUGE list of special menus for every event you can imagine including movie nights, holidays and parties of various themes.
I'm a convert to this- it's totally designed for people like me who are just not able to come up with ideas for what to cook. And having the custom shopping list has way cut down on our miscellaneous trips to the store. I can shop once on the weekend and have all the things I need for dinners all week. The site is designed so that dinners and sides for 5 days will cost less than $85 per week.
One of you is going to get the chance to win a year's subscription to Relish! This is a $58.80 value- and will be worth even more to you in terms of sanity savings!
Mandatory entry (please leave your email address in the comment or make sure it's visible on your blogger profile)
Go here and let me know what meal from the sample menu looks best to you.
Extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):
1) Follow my blog
2) Add my button to your blog-let me know where to find it.
3) Blog about this giveaway (three extra entries, please leave 3 separate comments).
4) Enter my other giveaways (leave a separate comment for each one that you enter).
Giveaway will end at 9 PM Pacific Time on Saturday, November 28, 2009. I'll choose a winner with random.org and will email the winner. That person will have 48 hours to respond to my email. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was given a 1-year membership to this site so that I could review it. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Winner- Print My Baby
Random.org picked #4- comment #4 is
- I like the Red Dots holiday card. PS: I put up a giveaway roundup post on my blog where you can list your giveaway for all my readers to see! http://bonggafinds.blogspot.com/2009/09/list-your-giveaways-here.html
Review and gift guide: Personalized CD from mycreateabook.com.
We recently received a (belated) birthday present from a friend for our 2-year-old son, Ethan. It's called "Jesus Loves You" and is a personalized CD from the site www.mycreateabook.com. We got the CD home, popped it into Ethan's CD player and turned it on. And then we laughed at Ethan's confusion when he realized the CD was talking to him!
I really like this CD. The songs on it are fun and peppy and not at all annoying (as we all know kids CDs can be!). Ethan loves the fact that the CD talks to him and says his name. I've never seen him pay so much attention to his music before. He likes to listen and then dance along to the songs with his stuffed animals. Sorry for no video of that- he's instituted a ban on video taking of himself lately :) You can go here to test a sample of songs on the CDs with your kid's name.
The website has a huge selection of options for personalized CDs and books. Available CDs include: Disney Princess Tea Party; Sing Along with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy; Silly Songs with VeggieTales; and Fun Time Bible Stories, to name just a few. Many of these are available with a free dedication right on the CD label. The one we got from our friends has a happy birthday message to Ethan, with our friends' names. That way we always remember who got us this great gift!
Also available on the site is a huge assortment of books. There's really something here for everyone. Another great gift idea for the holidays!
I really like this CD. The songs on it are fun and peppy and not at all annoying (as we all know kids CDs can be!). Ethan loves the fact that the CD talks to him and says his name. I've never seen him pay so much attention to his music before. He likes to listen and then dance along to the songs with his stuffed animals. Sorry for no video of that- he's instituted a ban on video taking of himself lately :) You can go here to test a sample of songs on the CDs with your kid's name.
The website has a huge selection of options for personalized CDs and books. Available CDs include: Disney Princess Tea Party; Sing Along with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy; Silly Songs with VeggieTales; and Fun Time Bible Stories, to name just a few. Many of these are available with a free dedication right on the CD label. The one we got from our friends has a happy birthday message to Ethan, with our friends' names. That way we always remember who got us this great gift!
Also available on the site is a huge assortment of books. There's really something here for everyone. Another great gift idea for the holidays!
Review: Leslie Blodgett Perfume Diaries- Bare Skin
I had the opportunity recently to test out a new perfume that is now available at Sephora- Leslie Blodgett Perfume Diaries: Bare Skin. This is a perfume from the same person who brought us all Bare Minerals makeup. I love that makeup and wear it every day, so was excited to get to try out the new perfume.
The official website for the perfume describes the perfume as "an intoxicating blend of creamy sensuality, dreamy florals and sexy musks." And I have to say, I agree completely with the description! I'm not a fan of strong smells, so am very picky about my perfumes. But I really liked this one. I feel feminine when I'm wearing it, but it's not a girly or floral type of feminine. It's a fragrance for a strong, feminine woman.
This is one of my new favorite perfumes, and is going on my Christmas wish list! You can try it yourself at Sephora or buy online at Sephora.com. Check out the Facebook page for the perfume here.
Disclaimer: I was sent samples of this perfume so that I could review it. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
The official website for the perfume describes the perfume as "an intoxicating blend of creamy sensuality, dreamy florals and sexy musks." And I have to say, I agree completely with the description! I'm not a fan of strong smells, so am very picky about my perfumes. But I really liked this one. I feel feminine when I'm wearing it, but it's not a girly or floral type of feminine. It's a fragrance for a strong, feminine woman.
This is one of my new favorite perfumes, and is going on my Christmas wish list! You can try it yourself at Sephora or buy online at Sephora.com. Check out the Facebook page for the perfume here.
Disclaimer: I was sent samples of this perfume so that I could review it. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Review and (fabulous) giveaway: Mrs. Smith's Diaper Bag!-CLOSED
Congrats to my winners, ABCFrugality.com and Ivy!
There are a few phrases guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of my husband. 1) Do I look fat in this? 2) Why do YOU think I'm upset? and 3) It's in the diaper bag, can you go get it for me?
he first two phrases are just inevitable in life, but happily for my husband, the third phrase is scary no more. And happily for me, since I am a type A, organization freak, and the messes that are my diaper bags have been stressing me out since my first child was born. Now that I have two small kids and have to carry around twice as much stuff, the problem has gotten exponentially worse.
The amazing thing that solved this problem for us? The Mrs. Smith's Diaper Bag. I was so excited when I found out that the company was going to send me a bag to review. I talked about it for days. And then the day the bag actually arrived was like Christmas morning for me. Seriously, if you want to make an organization freak happy- give them something that is meant to keep things organized. They will love you forever.
I dumped out my old diaper bag and set about loading up the new one. The secret of the Mrs. Smith's diaper bag is the fact that it is divided into a top half with bottle holders and pouches, and then has an entirely separate bottom half with a drawer (with dividers) to keep all those little diaper bag necessities safe and sound and organized. Those little things are the things that I could never find in my old diaper bag. Like my lip glosses- when I moved everything over to the Mrs. Smith's bag, I found that I had SIX lip glosses in there, because I could never find any and just kept putting new tubes in the bag. Now my lip glosses have their own little section in the drawer and I can always find them quickly, no matter what else my kids are screaming for. The bag also has insulated bottle holders and lots of places on the outside of the bag to stick things, as well as a full-sized changing pad.
The Mrs. Smith's Diaper Bag is slightly wider than I am used to for a diaper bag, but this isn't really a big deal for me. I had no problems with it when I hung it on the back of my stroller, and it was still comfortable to carry over my arm. The other feature (other than the organization) that I love is that the bag very quickly and easily, and without any extra straps, converts from a messenger style bag to a backpack. That's so handy!
This bag was invented by a mom, who had a 2-year-old son and a 6-month-old daughter who were both demanding things at once, all while the family was boarding a plane. As the mom of a 2-year-old and a 4-month-old, I can definitely relate to that challenge, and I really appreciate that Rachael Smith put her frustration to good use and invented this bag. Rachael, you might just be my new best friend.
My old, messy diaper bag. Shudders of horror!
Look at how organized everything is!!!
My Mrs. Smith's diaper bag
These fabulous diaper bags sell for ~69.99. Go here for a list of sites that carry them. They're currently available in a variety of patterns, so you'll be able to find one that suits you. I was sent the flower power pattern and really like it.
Two of you are going to get to win one bag each!!! The winners will get to chose their favorite bag, based on what's in stock. US/Canadian mailing addresses only, please.
To enter (mandatory entry):
Leave a comment letting me know what pattern you like best for the Mrs. Smith's Diaper bags. You can see the choices here. Please make sure your email address is visible in your blogger profile or leave it in your comment.
Extra entries (Mandatory entry must be done first, please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button up on your blog- let me know where to find it!
3) Blog about this giveaway- 3 extra entries- please leave three comments if you do this!
4) Become a Facebook fan of the Mrs. Smith's Diaper bags.
5) Follow Mrs. Smith on Twitter (please leave your twitter name in your comment)
Giveaway will end on November 24, 2009 around 9 PM PST. I will choose winners with random.org and will email those people. The winners will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
As usual, all opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone. I was sent this bag to review, but was not compensated in any other way.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Great giveaways going on for pregnant/nursing moms over at MommyNewsBlog.com
I've been having lots of fun lately entering the blogiversary giveaways going on over at mommynewsblog.com. And today they announced that their blogiversary celebration with great giveaways for pregnant and nursing moms has been extended into November. I already won a nursing shirt and plan to enter lots more giveaways. Go check it out!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
SproutBaby discount code!
Earlier this week I wrote about some great glass bottles that we received from SproutBaby. Go here to read that review and enter to win!
SproutBaby doesn't just carry baby bottles, they also have lots of other great things for the eco-conscious parent including wonderful baby food from Tyler Florence (read my review of that here), books, cloth diapers, baby feeding supplies, things for moms, and bath products. If you're looking for a great eco-friendly baby gift, this is the place to go!
Readers of my blog can get 15% off their first order. Just use the referral code SBBL023.
Happy shopping!
SproutBaby doesn't just carry baby bottles, they also have lots of other great things for the eco-conscious parent including wonderful baby food from Tyler Florence (read my review of that here), books, cloth diapers, baby feeding supplies, things for moms, and bath products. If you're looking for a great eco-friendly baby gift, this is the place to go!
Readers of my blog can get 15% off their first order. Just use the referral code SBBL023.
Happy shopping!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Review and giveaway: Personalized Jones Sodas!-CLOSED
Congrats to my winner, Attila & Tamara
For those of you who are not familiar with Jones Soda, I should give you a little background. Jones Soda is a soda company located here in Seattle, and it is known well around here for a couple of things in addition to their yummy soft drinks. The first thing that they are known for is their quirky labels which feature photos from real people. For example, this is a label on a soda that you can buy in the stores:
Disclaimer: I was sent a personalized 6-pack of soda so that I could write a review. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
For those of you who are not familiar with Jones Soda, I should give you a little background. Jones Soda is a soda company located here in Seattle, and it is known well around here for a couple of things in addition to their yummy soft drinks. The first thing that they are known for is their quirky labels which feature photos from real people. For example, this is a label on a soda that you can buy in the stores:
Jones Sodas are great even before you drink them- how could you walk past a display of sodas with photos like that and not smile? The other thing Jones Soda is known for is its unusual limited edition holiday soda collections. Who else would think to make turkey and gravy flavored soda? Right now you can buy the Halloween Jones Sodas in stores, featuring the flavors Lemon Drop Dead, Spooookiwi, Candy Corn, and Buried Pomegranate. Yum! Jones Sodas are made with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup and are available in a variety of flavors. They also make sugar free sodas.You can shop online- or use this handy tool to find what stores near you carry Jones Sodas.
I was contacted by the Jones Sodas people to see if I would be interested in reviewing one of their special products- the MyJones sodas. I sent them a photo (of my kids, of course) and in a few weeks I got a 6-pack of sodas delivered to my door. And not only was the soda great, I had these adorable faces to look at!
Isn't that just too cute? I'm going to pass on some of these sodas to my parents for them to display and plan to send one to work with my husband for his desk. What a great conversation starter that will be!
These personalized sodas would make a great holiday gift- it's something different that can't help but make your loved ones smile. Maybe you have a great picture of an old family home or a beloved pet or a picture of a family reunion from this summer? Or maybe the grandparents just can't fit one more framed picture of the grandkids on their walls- this is a great alternative!
The personalized sodas are available at myjones.com in either a 6-pack (16.99 plus shipping) or a 12-pack (29.99 plus shipping). Orders will take about 2-3 weeks to reach you, so if you're shopping for the holidays, start planning now!
One of you is going to get to win a personalized 6-pack of soda! US mailing addresses only.
To enter (mandatory entry, please be sure your email address is visible in your profile or include it in the comment):
What picture will you use and who will this gift be for?
Extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button on your blog (let me know where to find it)
3) (3 extra entries, please leave 3 separate comments) Blog about this giveaway!
4) What's your favorite Jones Soda flavor? If you haven't had it before, what flavor looks best to you?
Giveaway is going to end in just a couple of weeks- I want you to be able to get your order in and receive it before the holidays! So please enter by 9 PM on November 6, 2009. I'll choose a winner with random.org and will email the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
Review and giveaway: Bottles of Joy Glass Baby Bottles!-CLOSED
Congrats to my winner, Mrs. Sanchez!
A few weeks ago, the lovely folks at SproutBaby contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing a review of a couple of different types of glass baby bottles. Since I am not the bottle feeder in this house (that's my husband's job since bottle feeding=time off for me!), I checked with him and he gladly agreed!
In our home we are still using our old Avent bottles that we inherited from a relative before my son was born two years ago. Personally, I am not concerned about BPA exposure from baby bottles, so have not replaced our supply. But, I know that I am definitely in the minority as far as moms go, so I was very interested to get to see some of the newer bottle options close up. Both bottles that we received, and all their accessory parts are BPA, phthalate, PVC and polycarbonate-free.
We received two different types of glass bottles. The first one that we tested out is a Wee Go glass bottle. This is a tall, narrow glass bottle that comes wrapped in a silicone sleeve. We received the bottle in the raspberry silicone sleeve, which I loved. You can also get this bottle with another color silicone sleeve- on the SproutBaby.com site they offer sleeves in pink, raspberry, orange, yellow sky and ocean. It's nice to be able to look at a pretty, bright color when you're feeding the baby! My husband said that this bottle was definitely heavier than what he was used to, since we've always used plastic bottles, but the silicone made it easy to grasp.
My daughter didn't have any trouble drinking from this bottle, even though it was a different style than she is used to. The Wee Go silicone sleeve is free of plastics, the silicone nipple is latex-free, and the plastic ring, plug and cap are food-grade FDA-approved and recyclable. I also really like that the bottle and the sleeve can be boiled or put in the dishwasher together- I have enough to do without assembling and taking apart bottles and sleeves! The only minor issue that we had with both types of glass bottles is that they took longer to warm up the milk than we were used to, since the glass is thicker than the plastic we generally use. So we have to start planning ahead a little better!
After we'd tried out the Wee Go bottle, we moved onto the Born Free glass bottle. We ended up using our usual Avent nipples with the Born Free bottle, since the flow on the nipple that came with the bottle was a little slow for our baby. I liked this a lot, as we have a huge stock of Avent nipples in our house, and the last thing I want to do is invest in much more baby bottle equipment. The Born Free bottle has a built-in venting system that's supposed to help eliminate colic symptoms. Our daughter doesn't have colic issues, but she does spit up a lot, whether eating right from Mommy or from a bottle. After she ate from this bottle she did a big burp, but only a small spit-up, so maybe it worked! My husband liked the size of this bottle and the contours that made it easy to hold. You can buy separate silicone sleeves for the Born Free glass bottles as well.
If you're looking for a good glass baby bottle, I'd say that either of these would be a great option, we were very pleased with both and will continue using them with our daughter. Both are available, along with lots and lots of other eco-friendly baby gear at SproutBaby.com.
Readers of my blog can get 15% off their first order at SproutBaby. Just use the referral code SBBL023 when placing your order.
One of you is going to get a chance to win a combo set of these two bottles! Open to US mailing addresses only.
To enter (mandatory entry):
Leave a comment letting me know what product (other than the two mentioned here) you like best from SproutBaby.com. Please make sure your email address is visible in your blogger profile or leave it in your comment.
Extra entries (Mandatory entry must be done first, please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button up on your blog- let me know where to find it!
3) Blog about this giveaway- 3 extra entries- please leave three comments if you do this!
Giveaway will end on November 20, 2009 around 9 PM PST. I will choose a winner with random.org and will email that person. The winner will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was sent two baby bottles so that I could use and review them. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
A few weeks ago, the lovely folks at SproutBaby contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing a review of a couple of different types of glass baby bottles. Since I am not the bottle feeder in this house (that's my husband's job since bottle feeding=time off for me!), I checked with him and he gladly agreed!
In our home we are still using our old Avent bottles that we inherited from a relative before my son was born two years ago. Personally, I am not concerned about BPA exposure from baby bottles, so have not replaced our supply. But, I know that I am definitely in the minority as far as moms go, so I was very interested to get to see some of the newer bottle options close up. Both bottles that we received, and all their accessory parts are BPA, phthalate, PVC and polycarbonate-free.
We received two different types of glass bottles. The first one that we tested out is a Wee Go glass bottle. This is a tall, narrow glass bottle that comes wrapped in a silicone sleeve. We received the bottle in the raspberry silicone sleeve, which I loved. You can also get this bottle with another color silicone sleeve- on the SproutBaby.com site they offer sleeves in pink, raspberry, orange, yellow sky and ocean. It's nice to be able to look at a pretty, bright color when you're feeding the baby! My husband said that this bottle was definitely heavier than what he was used to, since we've always used plastic bottles, but the silicone made it easy to grasp.
My daughter didn't have any trouble drinking from this bottle, even though it was a different style than she is used to. The Wee Go silicone sleeve is free of plastics, the silicone nipple is latex-free, and the plastic ring, plug and cap are food-grade FDA-approved and recyclable. I also really like that the bottle and the sleeve can be boiled or put in the dishwasher together- I have enough to do without assembling and taking apart bottles and sleeves! The only minor issue that we had with both types of glass bottles is that they took longer to warm up the milk than we were used to, since the glass is thicker than the plastic we generally use. So we have to start planning ahead a little better!
After we'd tried out the Wee Go bottle, we moved onto the Born Free glass bottle. We ended up using our usual Avent nipples with the Born Free bottle, since the flow on the nipple that came with the bottle was a little slow for our baby. I liked this a lot, as we have a huge stock of Avent nipples in our house, and the last thing I want to do is invest in much more baby bottle equipment. The Born Free bottle has a built-in venting system that's supposed to help eliminate colic symptoms. Our daughter doesn't have colic issues, but she does spit up a lot, whether eating right from Mommy or from a bottle. After she ate from this bottle she did a big burp, but only a small spit-up, so maybe it worked! My husband liked the size of this bottle and the contours that made it easy to hold. You can buy separate silicone sleeves for the Born Free glass bottles as well.
If you're looking for a good glass baby bottle, I'd say that either of these would be a great option, we were very pleased with both and will continue using them with our daughter. Both are available, along with lots and lots of other eco-friendly baby gear at SproutBaby.com.
Readers of my blog can get 15% off their first order at SproutBaby. Just use the referral code SBBL023 when placing your order.
One of you is going to get a chance to win a combo set of these two bottles! Open to US mailing addresses only.
To enter (mandatory entry):
Leave a comment letting me know what product (other than the two mentioned here) you like best from SproutBaby.com. Please make sure your email address is visible in your blogger profile or leave it in your comment.
Extra entries (Mandatory entry must be done first, please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button up on your blog- let me know where to find it!
3) Blog about this giveaway- 3 extra entries- please leave three comments if you do this!
Giveaway will end on November 20, 2009 around 9 PM PST. I will choose a winner with random.org and will email that person. The winner will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was sent two baby bottles so that I could use and review them. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Review: How to Roast a Lamb (cookbook)
I was given the opportunity to receive a new cookbook titled "How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking" by Michael Psilakis, thanks to my involvement at the Product Review Place. I jumped at the opportunity, since I live across the street from a fabulous Greek restaurant, and am always craving Greek food.
This is the most beautiful cookbook I have ever owned, and definitely one of the most interesting. It's a large cookbook, with a beautiful cover and great family and food pictures throughout. This cookbook isn't just full of recipes, it's full of stories from Michael Psilakis's life. For example, the section on salads begins with a story about spending time in his father's garden when he was growing up. The word pictures that Chef Psilakis paints are beautiful. Reading through the essays I felt like I had been transported to a wonderful place full of sunshine and yummy food and family celebrations. I have to admit, I'm rarely interested in food beyond eating it, but this cookbook is so beautiful and the food looks so delicious that it makes me want to cook!
Then there are the actual recipes (this is a cookbook after all!). Many of them are accompanied by beautiful pictures of the food. The pictures are so well done that you can practically smell the aromas coming off the page. I have yet to be able to look through this cookbook without having to have a snack right afterwards. Some of the recipes are not what I, a beginner cook, would consider easy to make, but I have marked a number of recipes in the book that I think even I can tackle, given enough time free of interruptions from my small kids. For the more advanced cooks, the cookbook includes a number of recipes from Chef Psilakis's restaurant, Anthos. The book jacket says that this book offers an approach to Greek food with "dishes that are easy to prepare, satisfying to share, remarkably healthful, and varied enough that they can be enjoyed any night of the week."
The recipes in this book are very detailed and look easy to follow- and at the beginning of the book Chef Psilakis includes a very useful section about the ingredients that he uses, along with possible substitutions, if the authentic Greek ingredients are unavailable where you live. There are 150 recipes in the book, including those for salads and side dishes, grilled meats, seafoods, and sauces, confits and vinaigrettes to go along with the foods. I love the idea of bringing some new recipes and tastes into my family's usual menu, and this cookbook has a recipe that will appeal to everyone.
If you are someone who loves cooking and who loves Greek food, or who just wants to experience a new world of tastes, this cookbook would be a wonderful addition to your library. It would also make a wonderful Christmas gift for the cook in your life!
Disclaimer: I was sent this cookbook so that I could write this review from personal experience. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
This is the most beautiful cookbook I have ever owned, and definitely one of the most interesting. It's a large cookbook, with a beautiful cover and great family and food pictures throughout. This cookbook isn't just full of recipes, it's full of stories from Michael Psilakis's life. For example, the section on salads begins with a story about spending time in his father's garden when he was growing up. The word pictures that Chef Psilakis paints are beautiful. Reading through the essays I felt like I had been transported to a wonderful place full of sunshine and yummy food and family celebrations. I have to admit, I'm rarely interested in food beyond eating it, but this cookbook is so beautiful and the food looks so delicious that it makes me want to cook!
Then there are the actual recipes (this is a cookbook after all!). Many of them are accompanied by beautiful pictures of the food. The pictures are so well done that you can practically smell the aromas coming off the page. I have yet to be able to look through this cookbook without having to have a snack right afterwards. Some of the recipes are not what I, a beginner cook, would consider easy to make, but I have marked a number of recipes in the book that I think even I can tackle, given enough time free of interruptions from my small kids. For the more advanced cooks, the cookbook includes a number of recipes from Chef Psilakis's restaurant, Anthos. The book jacket says that this book offers an approach to Greek food with "dishes that are easy to prepare, satisfying to share, remarkably healthful, and varied enough that they can be enjoyed any night of the week."
The recipes in this book are very detailed and look easy to follow- and at the beginning of the book Chef Psilakis includes a very useful section about the ingredients that he uses, along with possible substitutions, if the authentic Greek ingredients are unavailable where you live. There are 150 recipes in the book, including those for salads and side dishes, grilled meats, seafoods, and sauces, confits and vinaigrettes to go along with the foods. I love the idea of bringing some new recipes and tastes into my family's usual menu, and this cookbook has a recipe that will appeal to everyone.
If you are someone who loves cooking and who loves Greek food, or who just wants to experience a new world of tastes, this cookbook would be a wonderful addition to your library. It would also make a wonderful Christmas gift for the cook in your life!
Disclaimer: I was sent this cookbook so that I could write this review from personal experience. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions presented here are mine and mine alone.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Winner- SlimPerfect giveaway!
I chose a winner tonight for the $50 slimperfect gift certificate. Winner was chosen by random.org- #12. Comment #12 is:
Mijal Photography said... love the slimdress!
info@mijalphotography.com
Mijal Photography said... love the slimdress!
info@mijalphotography.com
My behind the scenes tour of QFC- with giveaway for you!- giveaway CLOSED
Congrats to my winner, JK!
Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, but I did receive a gift card, a bag of some store-brand foods and chocolate cake. And if you give me chocolate cake I will love you forever and say nice things about you :)
Go here to read about what my family got up to while I was gone tonight.
When my son was born two years ago we only stayed home for about 24 hours before venturing out with him. Our first outing? To the QFC down the street. And since that first outing, Ethan, and now Vivian as well, have been to QFC nearly every other day of their short lives. The people who work at our local QFC know the kids and always have a smile for them and a comment for me on how big the kids are getting. I love that feeling of knowing the people at the store where I shop!
Today I was able to participate in a Seattle Mom Blogger tour of the largest QFC in our area. It's a beautiful, gigantic QFC located near the University of Washington. I love my QFC, and it's nice and new, but this store that we toured today has it all and then some! We took a tour of the floral department where we oohed and aahed over the arrangements. QFC tries to buy local flowers when they can- but wherever they get their flowers, they're overseen by the staff florist. We walked past the bakery, where I think I moved fast enough to miss all the calories practically jumping off the gorgeous desserts. We also saw the huge deli area with tons of premade hot foods and salads and so many options for grabbing a quick meal. Then we got a tour of the surprisingly small coolers in the back of the store (we got the real behind the scenes tour!)- QFC likes to make sure that their customers are getting fresh produce, so they don't keep a lot of extra stock in the back. They get it fresh and then put it out for us.
One of the most interesting parts of the tour was our visit to the meat section. I buy a lot of meat at QFC, but haven't ever spent the time looking at their meat section beyond the regular steaks and chickens. QFC has way more than just the regular meats that you'd expect at a grocery store- they have all sorts of marinated meats and kebabs and stuffed chicken breasts and so many other options. Everything a busy mom could ever need to not just feed the family, but feed them well. QFC has meat managers at their stores- so if you have any questions about what you want to buy or need ideas for how to cook something, just ask!
Next we visited the huge wine section of QFC. This particular store has 3 full time wine stewards on staff! The wine section was rows and rows in size- and they are happy to order anything that you can't find on the shelves.
This QFC also has a really big health and wellness section, complete with a computer that you can use to learn about what supplements to take, or get healthy, budget-friendly recipes for your family. The people at QFC are working to get these computers into more of their stores, I'm hoping one comes to the store near me soon.
We ended the evening with some divine desserts. I had a piece of the yummiest chocolate cake- it had raspberry filling and a gorgeous not-to-sweet-but-still-decadent-frosting. I'm really hoping this is not available at my local QFC. I will be in trouble if it is.
It was such a fun evening, hanging out with fellow Seattle mom bloggers, learning about the behind-the-scenes workings of my favorite grocery store, being fed with great food and waited on. I even got a good laugh after I left the QFC where we'd been visiting- I had my arms full of my samples and the floral arrangement that I won in a drawing, so I decided to go ahead and drive home and just stop at my local QFC to shop instead of trying to balance everything. And when I stopped at my QFC, the teller asked me how my evening was going and I said "it's been great. I've actually been hanging out with your company president". She gave me a look of such surprise!
You can read Shannon's review of the evening here.
One of you will get to win a $25 gift card- QFC is part of the Kroger family, so the card can be used at any of the following: Kroger, Kroger Marketplace, Barclay Jewelers, Baker's, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, FoodsCo., Fred Meyer, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Fry's food and Drug, Fry's Marketplace, Gerbes, Hilander, Jay-C, King Soopers, Littman Jewelers, Owen's, Pay-Less Supermarkets, QFC, Ralphs, Scott's Food and Pharmacy, Smith's Food and Drug, Smith's Marketplace, Turkey Hill Minit Markets, Kwik Shop, Loaf 'n Jug, Quik Stop and Tom Thumb! Phew!
To enter- (US mailing addresses only please) Please either leave your email address in the comment or be sure it's visible on your profile
Let me know where you usually shop and why!
Extra entries- Leave a separate comment for each
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button on your blog
3) Blog about this giveaway (3 extra entries- please leave three separate comments).
I'll choose a winner with random.org on 11/1 at about 9 PM. I'll email the winner, please respond within 48 hours.
Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, but I did receive a gift card, a bag of some store-brand foods and chocolate cake. And if you give me chocolate cake I will love you forever and say nice things about you :)
Go here to read about what my family got up to while I was gone tonight.
When my son was born two years ago we only stayed home for about 24 hours before venturing out with him. Our first outing? To the QFC down the street. And since that first outing, Ethan, and now Vivian as well, have been to QFC nearly every other day of their short lives. The people who work at our local QFC know the kids and always have a smile for them and a comment for me on how big the kids are getting. I love that feeling of knowing the people at the store where I shop!
Ethan's first trip to QFC
Today I was able to participate in a Seattle Mom Blogger tour of the largest QFC in our area. It's a beautiful, gigantic QFC located near the University of Washington. I love my QFC, and it's nice and new, but this store that we toured today has it all and then some! We took a tour of the floral department where we oohed and aahed over the arrangements. QFC tries to buy local flowers when they can- but wherever they get their flowers, they're overseen by the staff florist. We walked past the bakery, where I think I moved fast enough to miss all the calories practically jumping off the gorgeous desserts. We also saw the huge deli area with tons of premade hot foods and salads and so many options for grabbing a quick meal. Then we got a tour of the surprisingly small coolers in the back of the store (we got the real behind the scenes tour!)- QFC likes to make sure that their customers are getting fresh produce, so they don't keep a lot of extra stock in the back. They get it fresh and then put it out for us.
A beautiful floral arrangement from the QFC floral department
One of the most interesting parts of the tour was our visit to the meat section. I buy a lot of meat at QFC, but haven't ever spent the time looking at their meat section beyond the regular steaks and chickens. QFC has way more than just the regular meats that you'd expect at a grocery store- they have all sorts of marinated meats and kebabs and stuffed chicken breasts and so many other options. Everything a busy mom could ever need to not just feed the family, but feed them well. QFC has meat managers at their stores- so if you have any questions about what you want to buy or need ideas for how to cook something, just ask!
Next we visited the huge wine section of QFC. This particular store has 3 full time wine stewards on staff! The wine section was rows and rows in size- and they are happy to order anything that you can't find on the shelves.
This QFC also has a really big health and wellness section, complete with a computer that you can use to learn about what supplements to take, or get healthy, budget-friendly recipes for your family. The people at QFC are working to get these computers into more of their stores, I'm hoping one comes to the store near me soon.
After we toured the store and saw all that it had to offer, we had the chance to test out some of the foods for ourselves. Upstairs we went to the conference room where they had two beautiful tables set up. Then they brought out plate after plate of food, all options that are available in their stores, all really delicious. While we ate, we had a nice time chatting with several QFC executives (Kristin Maas, Public Affairs Director; Donna Giorano, President; and Tammy Bottcher, Sr. Director Advertising and Loyalty) and discussing grocery shopping, the challenges of motherhood (the executives were all moms too) and why we love blogging. We also got to learn the proper way to cut flank steak from the entirely charming meat manager, Lew. This was no ordinary flank steak, it was an amazing flank steak marinated in this divine marinade. Lew said that his kids call it "meat candy". When we sampled it for ourselves, we all totally agreed. Mona actually threw her arms up in the air in joy after taking her first bite.
The beautiful table they set up for us
The menu- 3 kinds of chicken. And 4!!! desserts!
Lew demonstrates how to cut flank steak
The dessert table. Yummmmmmmmmy
We ended the evening with some divine desserts. I had a piece of the yummiest chocolate cake- it had raspberry filling and a gorgeous not-to-sweet-but-still-decadent-frosting. I'm really hoping this is not available at my local QFC. I will be in trouble if it is.
It was such a fun evening, hanging out with fellow Seattle mom bloggers, learning about the behind-the-scenes workings of my favorite grocery store, being fed with great food and waited on. I even got a good laugh after I left the QFC where we'd been visiting- I had my arms full of my samples and the floral arrangement that I won in a drawing, so I decided to go ahead and drive home and just stop at my local QFC to shop instead of trying to balance everything. And when I stopped at my QFC, the teller asked me how my evening was going and I said "it's been great. I've actually been hanging out with your company president". She gave me a look of such surprise!
You can read Shannon's review of the evening here.
One of you will get to win a $25 gift card- QFC is part of the Kroger family, so the card can be used at any of the following: Kroger, Kroger Marketplace, Barclay Jewelers, Baker's, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, FoodsCo., Fred Meyer, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Fry's food and Drug, Fry's Marketplace, Gerbes, Hilander, Jay-C, King Soopers, Littman Jewelers, Owen's, Pay-Less Supermarkets, QFC, Ralphs, Scott's Food and Pharmacy, Smith's Food and Drug, Smith's Marketplace, Turkey Hill Minit Markets, Kwik Shop, Loaf 'n Jug, Quik Stop and Tom Thumb! Phew!
To enter- (US mailing addresses only please) Please either leave your email address in the comment or be sure it's visible on your profile
Let me know where you usually shop and why!
Extra entries- Leave a separate comment for each
1) Follow my blog
2) Put my button on your blog
3) Blog about this giveaway (3 extra entries- please leave three separate comments).
I'll choose a winner with random.org on 11/1 at about 9 PM. I'll email the winner, please respond within 48 hours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)