2013 - Page 3 of 16 - Rave & Review

My Little Pony Equestria Girls toys for the holidays

My daughter loves everything My Little Pony. You may remember how much we adored the MLP movie and RC car last year, but what you don’t know is that the RC car and its pony passengers has been played with almost every day since it arrived. My Little Pony was the first characters my kids ever fell for and they show no signs of giving them up anytime soon.

Especially now that my daughter has found Equestria Girls dolls, based on the new Equestria Girls movie, which is a spinoff of My Little Pony. The basis of the movie and line of toys is that the ponies turn into girls by going through a magic mirror and they must learn about life without four legs, magic, or any of the comforts of home.

A Girl for All Time: Clementine, Your 1940s Girl

Know that feeling when someone catches your eye and doesn't let it go? For me, that someone was Clementine. Compared to other dolls she was a few shades more vibrant, more beautiful, and full of personality. Before I saw her, I thought all dolls were pretty, but next to her they all seemed dull and just so… ordinary.

Maybe it was her bright red hair, or maybe it was because her attire was so quaint and old fashioned, or maybe it’s her distinctly British charm, but whatever it was, she really couldn't help but stand out. I knew right when I met her that she was going to be a lifelong friend for my children.

Clementine is the newest doll from A Girl For All Time, maker of beautifully crafted dolls, accessories, books, and more. Each of their beautiful 16in dolls are based on 500 years of the fictional Marchmont family and feature independent, determined women from different eras of the most exciting times in English history.

One look at their website and I was immediately smitten by their exquisite collection of dolls with their beautifully detailed faces and their accessories that looked like something from a museum. It’s not surprising to me at all that A Girl for All Time can’t keep these dolls in stock over in London. The dolls sold out in a mere 10 days at the famous Harrods luxury department store and are selling well now that they have arrived Stateside at FAO Schwarz and a handful of New York boutiques.

But, as much as I loved Matilda, the Tudor girl, and Amelia, the Victorian girl, there was something about Clementine that enthralled me. Clementine is from London in the 1940s and survives the evacuation of London in 1939 as a 12-year-old. She comes in a historically inspired dress with vintage daisy pattern complete with period accessories and trim. After reading her captivating background story online, I knew she had to come home for tea with us.

Maestro Dobel Tequila for the holidays

During my teens and early twenties, I used to stress about the perfect birthday presents for friends and siblings. But, after age 21, nearly all birthday presents were given in drinks or shots at the bar and gift giving was as easy as hanging out with friends. Then, at some point in the past few years, a few drinks at the bar was replaced with full bottles of the good stuff and we would just swing into a liquor store on the way to celebrate birthdays so we didn’t have to show up empty-handed.

See, growing up isn’t all bad.

Now that I’m coming up on birthday season for our group of friends as well as the holiday season, I know that I can make it as easy or as complicated as I would like. I could go around store to store looking for something for the friends that have everything, or I could do a one-stop shop and grab a few bottles of Maestro Dobel Tequila – no stressing and no wrapping required.

Own the road with Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season tires

Most people pay almost no attention to the tires on their cars, which floors me. Those 4 tires are what connects your car to the road and what keeps you rolling, yet they don’t get nearly the amount of love they deserve.

3 years ago, I was hit while driving on the freeway and my car lost control, spinning and eventually coming to a stop in oncoming traffic. Ever since then, I am petrified of losing control while driving and even something minor like a little bit of ice or water over a roadway sends me into a panic. Since tires can make a huge difference in what traction you get in inclement weather, tires are very, very important to me.

As you can imagine, I was thrilled when I heard I would get the opportunity to outfit one of our vehicles with Goodyear's newest tire, the Eagle Sport All-Season later this year. I’m really excited to take my car in and trade in my old tires for these new high-performance tires just in time for the rainy and icy seasons.

For over 100 years, Goodyear has been devoted to advancing tire technology, and to applying this knowledge to new products that advance driving excellence. At the Akron Innovation Center, nearly 1,500 engineers, scientists, technicians, and other specialists collaborate to improve tire manufacturing for a wide variety of vehicles on six continents. The result is the new Eagle Sport tires.

VTech Premium Kid Connect lets you connect with your kids anywhere {InnoTab 3S}

My kids love to text and call their dad throughout the day while he’s at work, but I hate to leave them unattended with my cell phone. This means I’m constantly guarding my phone and making sure it’s locked down, and the kids try their best to convince me to take their pictures and send it to daddy all day long.

The solution? The awesome Premium Kid Connect available on the VTech InnoTab 3S that helps parents stay connected to their kids when apart. You may remember how much I adore the InnoTab learning tablet for kids and how it saved our Chicago-to-Seattle train trip, got us ready for school, and now offers supplemental learning we can do at home, but it’s way more than that when you connect it to VTech Premium Kid Connect and any Wi-Fi connection.

With the Premium Kid Connect on the InnoTab 3S, your kids can send voice, text, and picture messages right to loved ones' phones in real time. All by themselves.

Getting organized with Fellowes {Powershred 63Cb shredder review}

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Fellowes. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Years ago, when the company I worked for closed, I had the task of cleaning out my old office where I was office manager and handled all HR. Let me tell you it was quite the task. There was 16 years of my paperwork in that office hidden away in drawers, filing cabinets, and folders, and most of it had nowhere to go.

Some of those mountains of paperwork were important and they went to my boss, who then had to store it just in case. Some of the paperwork was about clients and that went to the company who had bought us.

But, some of that paperwork was my notes and scribbles and it had no use to anyone, but was full of information I didn’t want to fall into the wrong hands. With only hours to evacuate and very little manpower because everyone was busy emptying their own spaces, I did the best I could, but eventually admitted defeat.

Sadly, some of this junk had to be taken with me as there was no way I was going to be able to track down 16 years of past employees in 24hours to ask them to come get every scrap of paper, time card, old insurance applications, bank slips and payroll stub dating back to 1997 {Fun fact! Most of these have your full social security number, account numbers and birthday on them!}.

Make yourself a home with Lundby {SMÅLAND Swedish dollhouse review}

I feel like I should win some sort of award for the fact that I still haven’t shown my daughter her new Lundby house she’s going to be opening on Christmas. It’s been an exercise in self-control to keep it hidden away in my office {which actually isn’t all that “hidden”, but that’s a whole other issue} even though I pass it numerous times a day.

Everyone is posting things on social media stressing about how there’s only 43 days until Christmas and all I can think is how on Earth am I going to be able to wait that long?

And, then when a new shipment of miniatures arrived the other day with a Lundby family and two packages to complete her Lundby kitchen and dining room, I realized this was going to be an even bigger task than I imagined.

Enjoy a hot lunch anywhere with Lava Lunch

I’ve become quite the expert lunch packer in the past 6 years. I have my method down to an exact science to make sure everyone always has a healthy lunch with all the food groups in it.

My planning starts on Sunday when I wash fruits and veggies, prep cheese and yogurt, and place each into reusable containers in the drawer of our fridge, as well as pre-portion items from the pantry for every day of the week. Then, on the morning of, I’ve got ice packs, a container in the fridge for each family member, and loads of insulated totes at the ready to make lunches only take a few seconds.

But, sometimes those lovingly packed lunches come back to me just exactly as I sent them because hubby or the kids was offered a hot lunch instead. Not that I blame them, there’s something really satisfying about a nice, hot lunch. If I’m being truly honest, I prefer hot over cold lunch any day of the week, especially during the winter.

In fact, I’ve even attempted to send hot lunch once or twice… and, unfortunately, haven’t succeeded yet. So, when I read about Lava Lunch, I was immediately excited about the idea of hot lunch on the go.

Melissa Zimberg, the owner of Lava Lunch, explained that in addition to just being nice on a cold and rainy day, hot foods are also more nutrient dense, have more flavonoids, and are easier to digest. She also described how hot food signals the satiated response sooner, so it also prevents overeating, which makes a lot of sense.

Lava Lunch makes sending a hot and hearty lunch possible without worry of spoiled food or cold and tasteless food. Instead of ice packs, Lave Lunch offers you something not available in other lunch bags – warmth. By combining proprietary insulation and Lava Rocks that provide additional heat, Lava Lunch bags can keep food warm for up to 6 hours, which allows you to pack all sorts of healthy and flavorful foods that were never possible until now.

Fun OshKosh fashions for fall and winter {25% off coupon}

I participated in an Influencer Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for OshKosh B’gosh. I received a gift card to facilitate my shopping trip and to thank me for participating.

I grew up an OshKosh kid. I vividly remember at least a dozen favorite OshKosh outfits that I wore from toddlerhood on up. I was so thrilled that of all my baby and toddler clothing, my mom had saved a few of my old OshKosh favorites in my keepsake box.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I discovered an OshKosh store that had just gone in a few months earlier, and I made the trip with my sister in law who also had little ones. Together, we loaded up on basics, PJs, and fun stuff from newborn to 12 month for our little ones and had a blast. Even though our baskets were full when we went to check out, I remember being surprised by how low our bills were.

I’ve shopped at the OshKosh b'gosh store numerous times since then, but those first clothes I bought will always be the most memorable. In fact, I can’t bear to part with 90% of the clothes we bought that day as those were the clothes my daughter ended up wearing the most. Since she didn’t grow for so long, our memories in those small sizes span about a year in total, so my daughter literally wore most clothing into rags at that stage.

But, not her OshKosh clothes. Those look as good as new, or as new as baby clothes can look after being worn for so long. And, that’s the reason I have such a hard time parting with them. So, instead of donating as I did with all of her other clothing, I kept quite a few pieces for her keepsake box just like my mom did before me.

So, knowing what big fans we are of OshKosh, you can bet we were excited to find out we were going to get a gift card to shop the store this fall to see all of their new styles. Armed with a few pieces from home that we were going to match with, the kids and I headed off to our local store this week.

Thankful for Corolle

Since November is the month to be thankful for all the great things in our lives, I thought I would play along. Naturally, I’m thankful every day for my amazing family and my two sweet and talented children, the roof over our heads and food on our table, but I’m going to share something else I’m thankful for that is not nearly as obvious.

What I’m thankful for is the kind of toys my children are drawn to. I see those kids who turn their noses up at “baby toys” and are constantly playing with toys that are far too old for them and I am thankful for kids who still love baby dolls, singing lullabies, and imaginative play.

They have their whole lives to be interested in video games, electronics, and makeup. I’d much rather they spend their time rocking their babies, making fake baby food, and taking them on long nature walks. This is why we’ve always avoided the large chain toys stores with their scantily clad fashion dolls and realistic-looking weapons and opted for neighborhood toy stores with a wall of Corolle dolls instead.

And, wouldn’t you know, they could play all day in those toy stores without ever getting bored, even though our own Corolle collection is nothing short of epic.