August 2014 - Rave & Review

Cheesy Broccoli Pasta recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.When I was little, I loved helping my grandma cook and I would help her measure, stir, and taste test whatever we were cooking for our family. Aside from actual cooking, I vividly remember one of my main jobs was to carefully remove all the Campbell's Labels for Education so I could add them to her stack she collected in her kitchen drawer.

At the end of every visit, she would place that thick bundle of labels in my hand so I could take them to my elementary school that was saving them to earn much needed playground equipment. When I returned to school next, I remember taking that huge bundle of labels secured tightly with a rubber band, setting it on my teacher's desk, and hearing an audible gasp from every table at the sheer number of labels I had collected.

From soup, cereal, and snacks to dairy products, beverages, and school supplies, there are over 2,500 items that can earn points for your school and I've been saving Campbell's labels ever since I was little. Before I had kids, I would give them to my nieces and nephews, but now that I have kids, I have my own helpers in the kitchen whose job it is to remove those labels, clip them, and then collect them in our little tin canister on our counter to take to their own schools.

Bumbershoot? {August 30 – September 1 2104 at Seattle Center}

Yes, Bumbershoot. Not the often mispronounced “Bumpershoot”, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t mean anything at all. We’re talking Bumbershoot, as in the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival that takes place at the end of every summer in Seattle. This weekend thousands of music and art lovers will descend upon the Seattle Center in the shadow of the Space Needle for concerts, comedy shows, and so much more. It’s this variety that truly sets Bumbershoot apart from other festivals, and that keeps us coming back year after year.

Thank Goodness It’s Back to School with Fruit of the Loom

You know what back to school means? It means fall colors, tall boots, chunky sweaters, steaming lattes, and a whole lot more “me” time – even if I do plan to spend it working.

This is the first year I will have both kids in school {even if it’s just a few hours a week}, and quite honestly I’m a bit teary eyed about it. But, I know it’s so good for both kids to be with kids their own age and learn with their peers that it’s hard to be too sad about it. For that reason, I’m saying TGIBTS {Thank Goodness It’s Back to School}. One of the things I’m most excited about is the fact that I get to go school shopping. I’m using back to school shopping as a great motivator for purging the old so I can make room for all their new must-haves, and I’m loving it. Anything with holes or worn spots is gone, anything that is outgrown or doesn’t fit quite right is donated, and anything that just isn’t getting the love that it should is passed down to someone who can truly appreciate it. In doing that, I have started from the top drawer and am working my way down. That means all those well worn, mismatched, and outgrown socks and undergarments are being purged first and I’m finding that we desperately need to restock before the new school year. Thank goodness Fruit of the Loom has us covered!

Corolle Dolls have our hearts

Corolle Dolls is a brand that I will never grow out of. My love of the brand started in my own childhood when I grew up playing with their baby dolls and then later collecting their older dolls as a young girl.

Even well after I was done playing with dolls and had purged all my old stuffed animals, my old toys, and my once-sentimental items, I just couldn't get rid of those Corolle dolls I had loved so much. Instead, I packed them away and hoped that one day I would share this love of Corolle with my own children. I was thrilled when not just one, but both of my children gravitated towards the brand at a young age, and even more excited that they loved their dolls as much as I used to. In fact, I think it would be fair to say that they love their Corolle dolls even more than I had as a child, which I never, ever thought was possible. Their babies are not treated merely as dolls, their babies are truly friends that go everywhere with them, sleep with them, and are part of nearly every game they play.

Back to School shopping with Northgate Mall in Seattle

Can you believe fall is just around the corner? It seems like just last week I was walking the kids to and from school each day, packing lunches, and taking them to and from extra curricular activities, but here we are again ready to start a new school year. While I don't love the idea of summer ending and sending my kids to school, I do really love going back to school shopping.

Last week we headed out to Northgate Mall in Seattle to shop our favorite stores and check out all the new stores they have added this summer. With great clothing and gear for all ages, it just makes shopping for everyone so easy.

It truly is a one-stop shop, which is why it's one of our absolute favorite places to shop. And, with back to school sales signs in nearly every window, now is a great time to hit the mall!

Work on the go made easy with a Free T Mobile 4G Data Plan for Life

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

When many people think of work from home, they have images of working from anywhere but an office – whether that’s a park, a beach, the pool, or even while on vacation. The reality is that cords and Wi-Fi don’t reach that far, and some days I feel like I'm tied to my computer since it's so hard to do some tasks over smartphone. Thank goodness I found out about T Mobile free tablet data that solves the problem of working on the go, without requiring a separate Wi-Fi device or easy access to coffee shops.

Disney’s MUPPETS MOST WANTED on Blu-ray Combo Pack today!

In our family, Kermit is a very big deal. He is part of nearly all of our vacations and our vintage Kermit puppet has travelled extensively around the US and even into Canada and Europe. Are you like us and can’t get enough Kermit? You’re in luck because the new movie Muppets Most Wanted has not one, but TWO Kermits! Okay, it technically only has one, but don’t tell Constantine, aka The World’s Number One Criminal, that we’re not buying his impersonation of our beloved Kermit.

Keep summer boredom away with a DVD collection from NCircle

by Susan, editor and reviewer

It's no lie that our family enjoys watching TV together. As a stay-at-home-mom of two active boys, we like to keep ourselves very busy with whatever we can; play-dates, walks to the park, gymnastics, tae kwon do, and even a living-room-destroying art project on occasion. Not to mention countless hours outside in the backyard dancing to our favorite songs. "Everything is AWESOME!!!" But on those days when we're pooped, it's nice to cuddle with my boys and watch some TV together. And it's pretty amazing to watch my two littles get completely wrapped up into the stories unfolding in front of them. With an education background, I often prefer shows that {not to insult a certain sea dwelling yellow sponge} teach something. And many of the shows NCircle puts out educate my kids!

Skip the shopping trip with the new Walmart mobile app

Did you know that Walmart has a mobile app? Not only can you comparison shop and find great deals, you can also order now directly from your phone, making stocking up on home essentials easy and convenient. The image above might be a *slight* exaggeration, because the products came packaged in cardboard boxes, but the point is that I didn’t even have to leave home to get all my essentials.

Because this is what a normal shopping trip with my little jokesters looks like: Who doesn’t want to hang out in a fort made from Bounty Select-A-Size paper towels?

Create your perfect pillow with the Naturepedic Trio organic pillow system

Before I was a parent, I didn’t know how much difference a good night’s sleep really makes. Even though my kids {for the most part} sleep through the night and even allow me to sleep later than them some days, I have a horrible habit of staying up too late and then waking up too early. To add to the problem, I’ve also found that I seriously dislike all of the pillows I’ve bought in the past few years and seem to go through pillows like most people do groceries trying to find one that won’t keep me up at night tossing and turning.

Call me Goldilocks, but I have a stash of pillows that have been deemed too soft, too hard, too thick, or just plain too uncomfortable, and I’ve been searching for the elusive “just right” for years and years now.

Thank goodness for a chance encounter with Naturepedic at Gearapalooza Seattle because I finally got to talk to a pillow expert who was able to identify my problem and help me find something he thought might work for me. While I’ve been a fan of Naturepedic for years now and have their mattresses on my wishlist after reading more about what goes into traditional mattresses and the care that Naturepedic takes to ensure their products are the highest quality, I honestly had no idea that they carried pillows at all.