October 2013 - Rave & Review

Want to be a brilliant gift giver this holiday season? Try Brilliant Sky Toys & Books!

My aunt buys the best kids presents, ever. Growing up, I never had to give her a list of what I would like if her daughter drew my name in the Christmas exchange, because she always just knew what I would love better than I did. Now, when she buys for my daughter, I am always grateful that she includes the gift receipt – not because I’m going to return the present, but because I am dying to know where she shops.

So, want to know where she shops? Hint: it’s not the big toy stores with aisle after aisle of the “popular toys” that changes every week based on whatever movie or TV show is coll at the time. It’s the small stores run with one goal: to offer kids a diverse and eclectic mix of high quality toys that they will treasure for years.

Stores like Brilliant Sky Toys & Books, an amazing toy store that operates in 15 states {and counting}. The first Brilliant Sky Toys & Books was founded by a husband and wife team in 2002 and their goal was to be the finest upscale specialty toy store in America and offer amazing and personalized service with a smile.

In the past 11 years, Brilliant Sky Toys & Books has grown from a single location to one of the fastest growing toy retailers in the country, which just goes to show you that what they are offering is what people really want.

So, what are they offering? They feature more than 10,000 high-quality specialty products and offer a place where everyone can find their way to play. They describe their approach as “vibrant yet warm, exciting yet comforting and exploratory yet safe.” Their stores are designed with rich colors and woods and low sightlines and custom fixtures, to make the Brilliant Sky sensory experience unlike any other.

They say, “Discover, experience, explore, interact, and enjoy. That's the Brilliant Sky way, and it's the way to play”. Seriously, who wouldn’t love to shop here?

Monsters University available today on DVD and Blu-ray

If you love Monsters, Inc. as much as we do then you’ve likely been dying to see the new Monsters University for yourself. Instead of a traditional sequel as we’re used to, Disney*Pixar has gone the opposite route and have introduced a prequel to the uber popular Monsters, Inc.

The new movie fills us in on everything that came before Boo and tells how Mike Wazowski and Sulley met. Taking place at the prestigious Monsters University {MU}, Mike and Sulley meet in the elite Scare Program that Mike has been dreaming of his whole life.

But, the academic life Mike always dreamed of is derailed almost immediately when the pair's competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University's elite Scare Program. They find themselves at odds over and over again and hilarity ensues.

Stokke® Scoot™: The urban compact stroller

I’m an urban girl at heart and have never met any big city I didn’t feel at home in. My stroller, however, prefers wide open spaces where turning radiuses are as far as the eye can see. On the days that my suburban stroller makes it to the big city, I feel like I am constantly apologizing for taking up the whole sidewalk, for knocking things off shelves, and for occasionally running over a toe or two.

Since strollers are still very much a necessity once we hit the city and are ready to explore, going without is just not an option. But, even though we needed something compact, it needed to be something as adventure-ready as we are and hopefully with a few premium features. Umbrella strollers need not apply.

I finally found the perfect candidate, and am now fully in love with the Stokke® Scoot™, hailed as the urban compact stroller. Besides simply being compact, it is by far the most maneuverable stroller we have ever pushed. It has an incredibly small turning radius and it takes almost no effort at all to steer – even one handed with a child inside. Add in the suspension to give you a smooth, easy ride and it really is a dream to push.

Yes, that's all the same stroller pictured above in 4 different positions. As you can see, it features an active and rest recline both forward facing and parent-facing. And, it looks absolutely nothing like an umbrella stroller with a minimal frame and lack of features. As many of you already know, I pushed an umbrella stroller for exactly two days in the past 3 years because I simply cannot stand them. Sidewalks trip them up, they require two hands to push, and they have zero storage, comfort features, or agility to handle real city life. Thanks, but no thanks.

And, then I met the Stokke® Scoot™ and fell in love with the perfect stroller for our active lifestyle. I love how versatile it is, the kids love how comfortable it is, and it's a great for all of our adventures.

March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction in Seattle with AT&T

Last week, we had date night. We started the evening with Washington wines and microbrews paired with delicious bites from Seattle’s top chefs, and then we topped off the night with coffee and sweet potato cheesecake.

It was pretty much the perfect evening, and it was for a good cause.

Tyler with always amazing Thierry Rautureau {AKA The Chef In The Hat}

We were guests of AT&T at the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction, where they were a gold level sponsor. The Signature Chefs Auction brings together prominent members of the community to raise paddles for stronger, healthier babies and proceeds from the event are directed to mission-based programs.

Corolle dolls for boys and girls

My son plays with dolls. He’s had a Calin Sky Corolle doll since he was a few months old, purchased when we realized he was army crawling across our house in order to get to my daughter’s dolls and cover them with sloppy, baby kisses. This doll, named Baby Knox, started out as a comfort toy. Baby Knox was something we would give him when he wanted to babble at something and all of our hands were busy, and has slowly evolved into a friendship that surprised us all.

Now, Baby Knox goes everywhere with us. And, what is really cool is that Baby Knox is both a toy and a comfort item that helps soothe him when he gets sad or angry or scared. He’s become a big part of our daily routine and an honorary member of the family.

Gift giving made easy with Uncorked Ventures

More and more of us have friends that are far away these days and I find I’m often sending gift baskets long distances to celebrate weddings, birthdays, and big events. The problem with this is that you usually need to handpick the items yourself, package them in a way that looks beautiful but still ships well, and then pay huge postage fees on top of the cost of the gift itself.

Or, you could go with an Uncorked Ventures gift basket and let them do all the work for you while you accept all the thanks. With collections specifically for chocolate lovers, those who love to cook, and wine lovers, it’s easy to find that perfect set for even the hardest to buy for.

Home sweet Lundby {SMÅLAND Swedish doll’s house review}

Home Sweet Lundby
I vividly remember when I began to think in miniature. It was one of the many summers I spent with my grandparents in their small town up north. One of our projects that summer was to build a dollhouse for my growing collection of miniatures my grandma and I had collected at swap meets and secondhand stores as well as things we had repurposed around their home that were to scale.

In my mind, my grandpa and I would make a house fit for our treasures, one with intricate details and style that was just like my cousin’s dollhouse my aunt had made from a kit. But, I will never forget when my grandpa and I started to sit down and design my dollhouse and I realized we were making a primitive A-frame house with scrap wood from the garage. My dollhouse would be without doors, windows, or details other than walls.

Don’t get me wrong, I adored the dollhouse we built that summer. It was more than a few steps up from the shelf in my room that had previously housed my miniatures, and it would be perfect for moving a play family into that didn’t mind a little bit of a fixer-upper. I played with that dollhouse for years and did my best to make it feel more homey and inviting by making my own wallpaper and adding realistic accessories.

But, my desire for a real store-bought dollhouse never went away. Even into adulthood, I would look wistfully at dollhouses that were done up to the nines and imagine my childhood dollhouse furniture I had collected filling those big, bright rooms.

In one of those searches, I found Lundby, the Swedish Doll’s House, and it was as if my childhood play family had finally found “home”. I remember bookmarking the site, emailing the link to my husband and asking him how soon was too soon to start buying dollhouses for our baby girl. We both agreed to wait a few years, but I always kept Lundby in the back of my mind.

Last fall, I lost my grandpa after a long battle with illness and I, myself, felt a little lost. My grandpa had been such a strong figure in my life growing up and I wished more than anything that I had held onto that dollhouse we made all those summers ago. I wanted something to help my daughter remember her amazing great grandfather, and wished that they could have bonded over miniatures like we had all those years ago.

So, when a package landed on my porch a few months later with a welcome letter and a “key” to a Lundby Smaland dollhouse, I was beside myself with joy. I knew this was the perfect way to introduce my daughter to the world of miniatures and to provide a link to my past at the same time.

How to host your own upcycling party {Singer VIVO Repair & Create machine}

You know those times when everything in your closet just seems so boring? Whether you haven’t been shopping since you were in high school or your body has changed and you’re still wearing your old clothing, chances are you have a stack of clothes in your closet taking up space that you really don’t want to be wearing anymore.

I know I did, as did my friends, so we decided to get together to make a negative into a very big positive. Instead of going shopping together and blowing a few hundred dollars between us while we updated our wardrobes, we did something a whole lot more fun and cost effective – we upcycled our clothing.

For those not familiar with the term “upcycle”, the basic idea is that you use what you already have and are not using to create something new and fabulous that you would have otherwise had to buy. Think of it as the greener way to recycle.

So, to start my party off, I had all of the guests create two bags full of stuff beforehand – stuff they like but want to make amazing in one bag and stuff they really don’t want any more but can still be used for parts in the second.

Immediately upon walking into the party, they were greeted with two felt bins – one to dump their discards into for everyone to use as material, and one for the clothing they would like to upcycle. Once everyone had arrived, we went through the contents of the first bin together so everyone could see what materials they had to work with.

The saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” comes to mind as digging through the discard bin quickly turned into a clothing swap where everyone grabbed a few new-to-them items. Hey, it's green and resourceful.

But, our purpose wasn't just to swap clothing, we were here to make our clothing awesome, which is why we had this little baby by our side:

Who doesn’t want an Honestly Good meal in just minutes?

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Lean Cuisine, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #HonestlyGood #ad http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

Back when I had a corporate job, I brought lunch almost every single day. Some days lunch was just what I grabbed as I was running out the door, and some days it was leftovers and lovingly made lunches.

But, the days I really looked forward to were my Lean Cuisine hot lunches, which always felt like a special treat. I would find myself craving Lean Cuisine meals and would even *gasp* opt out of restaurant meals in favor of my favorite meal: Lean Cuisine Pizza.

In addition to being delicious, these Lean Cuisine lunches taught me a lot about portion control and the idea of "not hungry" vs. "stuffed". They ended up being a great tool for me back then and even on the days I ended up eating out or we ordered in, I had trained myself to stop eating when I hit the point I wasn't hungry anymore instead of eating everything I was served.

But, while my days of corporate office life are behind me now, and these days I work from home right next to a fully stocked kitchen, I feel like I need Lean Cuisine meals more than ever. Sitting next to kitchen with a full refrigerator and pantry tricks you into thinking that you will prepare gourmet lunches every afternoon and that you will be able to eat better than ever before, but that hasn’t been the case for me. Instead, I find I’m more rushed than ever with two kids, a job, and a website to run, so lunches for me almost always take a back seat.

This typically means that I skip breakfast most days, graze throughout lunch, and then am starving when dinner rolls around. Even though I’ve made an effort to make healthy choices, I haven’t eaten foods that fill me up enough or feel like a meal. This means I tend to snack in the afternoon and eat more at dinner, which takes a toll after a working at home for 5 years now.

When I heard about the Lean Cuisine Honestly Good meals debuting this year, I decided I needed to make Lean Cuisine part of my weekly meal plan again. With gourmet choices such as Plum Ginger Grain-Crusted Fish and Pomegranate Chicken, I knew I had found a great solution for enjoying a hot lunch in my busy day.

DIY: transform your wagon into an awesome fire truck

My little guy can’t wait to grow up and fight fires and drive fire trucks. On his 3rd birthday he came running in as soon as he woke up and asked if he was old enough to be a firefighter yet, clearly thinking that 3 just had to be grown up enough to fight fires.

Although I can’t do anything about the fact that he’s still got a decade and a half before we can pursue his dream of firefighting, I can encourage him to imagine himself as a firefighting hero every day of his childhood. With the Get Real Gear Jr Fire Fighter costume from Aeromax paired with what is quite possibly the coolest kid’s ride ever, we are well on our way to helping the kids play hero whenever they want.

Hello, Step2 “Fire Wagon”!