Leanne, Author at Rave & Review

Enjoy the season with the new Glade® Limited Edition Fall Collection scents

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GladeForFall #CollectiveBias My grandma always told me that they ended up in Washington for a number of reasons, but the big selling point for her was that it had all four seasons. Like my grandma, I love the changing seasons so I am very appreciative that they decided to put down roots here. But, as much as I adore spring, summer, and even winter, my favorite is fall.

Fall is bursting with promise. The promise of crisp air and cooler nights, colorful nature walks, road trips to see the foliage, and of family days spent walking corn mazes in tall boots and enjoying this beautiful place we call home. Fall is the month we get to enjoy all of that and more, and we get to do so with a steaming mug of coffee and a knit cap.

Gearing up for fall with the Lumix G7

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Panasonic. I received product samples as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
Like all good things, summer must come to an end sometime. While it’s only officially fall as of today, it’s easy to get in the mindset that summer is over as soon as school starts. I get it, trust me. As much as I love fall, I really don’t look forward to the back to school season. At all.

So, how was the first two weeks of school? It actually hasn’t been so bad because we still say it’s summer until the weather gets cold and the days get short. Even after school is back in session, we make a point to keep up with our summer activities as much as possible so we can enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

Chicco NaturalFit® Advanced Feeding & Soothing System grows with baby

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Chicco. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation. When I was pregnant with my first child, I was on a forum with other expecting moms where we would share our excitement and fears about motherhood. Of all the things that stressed us out about bringing our children into the world, one of the main concerns was feeding our children. Even though we were a mixed group with about half planning on breastfeeding and the others planning on formula, we all agreed that finding a bottle that would work for us and for baby was top of our list of must-haves.

Fast forward 7 years and now all of those ladies I met in the pregnancy forum are experienced moms of more than one child. But, do you want to know the one thing we message each other about the most often? Bottles. Crazy, right? Whether it’s concerns about baby not taking a bottle for girls night out or it’s a big life event such as returning to work or health issues, all of us have struggled with finding the perfect bottle at some point.

We’ve traded bottle brands to try, we’ve shared pictures of our kids using different types, and we’ve ranted about more bottles than I can count. So, when I found Chicco NaturalFit® recently and loved what I saw, you can bet I shared it with the group.

Out with the old

By Leanne, editor and founder

Want to know what we did all last weekend? We sorted through boxes, dug through our garage, and we did a full closet purge that has been months in the making so we could have a garage sale. Because, apparently we’re not busy enough these days.

So, what prompted this fall cleaning kick? Two people: 1) my step-mom who was kind enough to donate her time, energy, and her driveway to our garage sale, and 2) Clinton Kelly, the co-host of one of my favorite shows, What Not To Wear.

Disney’s Cinderella is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray & Disney Movies Anywhere

Ever since we saw the Seattle screening of the new live-action Cinderella movie, my kids have been begging me to watch it again. We even thought we were going to watch the new Cinderella one night at an outdoor movie event with our neighbors and were so excited. It was more than a little disappointing when it ended up being the older animated version that we already own, but I’m happy the kids handled it as well as they did and enjoyed the older movie together.

Knowing that they were crazy excited to watch the film again, I had the release date off 9/18/2015 set in my calendar so I could make sure I picked it up as soon as it came out. We were thrilled when we finally got a chance to have a Cinderella viewing party with our neighbors who were also owed a re-do on the Cinderella movie night.

Explore the ’50s with Maryellen, the new BeForever doll from American Girl

Have you ever felt like you were born in the wrong decade? For me, my heart has always belonged to the ‘50s. My parents were born in the 1950s so I grew up hearing stories of the way things used to be and I always felt a connection to the decade that shaped their generation. I spent countless hours listening to their 45s, exploring their childhood closets for clothing gems left behind when everyone moved away from home, and pining for a decade I never personally experienced. My love of the ‘50s has only been renewed with the arrival of the newest American Girl’s BeForever™ character, Maryellen Larkin. Only now it’s better because I get to share that love with my children. I don’t think it’s possible to be more in love with Maryellen. With her gorgeous strawberry blond hair, her brown eyes, and her authentic 1950s outfit featuring a striped dress, a lacy-knit shrug with a monogrammed "M", black shoes, and a ribbon bow for her hair, she’s exactly what I think of when I picture my mom and my aunts during the ‘50s. Classic and all-American, Maryellen is even more beautiful in person than she is online and in catalogue.

Where we were: soaking up the last of summer in Edmonds, WA

As much as we love to explore new towns, we definitely have our favorite local towns we could visit over and over again and probably never get sick of. One such town is Edmonds, WA, located just 11 miles north of Seattle but worlds away in terms of pace of life. Even with a busy train station, a popular ferry route, and an abundance of city-wide festivals, markets, and holiday celebrations, Edmonds still manages to feel like a small, close-knit town.

In fact, some of our most idyllic nights as a family take place along the Edmonds waterfront and it has become one of the kids' very favorite places to swim and play in the ocean. Admit it, it's pretty hard to top this view of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry on a beautiful summer evening. Whether you are enjoying the view while sitting on the beach and listening to the waves, or you are dining at one of the handful of restaurants with an awesome waterfront view, this view never gets old.

Happy harvesting – Pay It Forward

By Leanne, editor and founder

This girl should have been born on a farm. She’s never more at home than when we’re planting, sowing, and harvesting. But, unfortunately for her, our small urban lot means that the bulk of our fall bounty can’t be planted in our backyard. Thank goodness for the kindness of neighbors and family as well as local u-pick farms that allow us all to get our farm life fill, without all the work of actually owning a farm. Because can you imagine me owning a farm? It would basically become one big honey-do list for hubby who is decidedly much more handy than I am, and a whole lot less squeamish.

But, I love that in our glimpses of farm life we are teaching our children the simple goodness of harvesting fruits and vegetables. There is something so beautiful about preparing foods you picked earlier that day and canning and freezing for later. And, there is something even more beautiful about watching your kids devour healthy foods they previously wouldn’t touch.

Rain City Box – Seattle {and beyond} delivered right to your door

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Pacific Northwest here at Rave & Review. Having grown up in the Seattle area, our whole lives are here and it’s the only place we can imagine calling home. We show our Pacific Northwest pride with hashtags, Seahawks gear, and our “we don’t care if it rains, we all have hoods” attitude, but if only there was some other way.

A way to buy local, show our PNW pride, and a way to keep our favorite local companies in business. Even better if all of this was in one place and could be delivered right to your doorstep. That’s the mission behind the new Rain City Box. By working with Pacific Northwest vendors and artisans to share the taste, sights, and wares of this city we call home, Rain City Box makes it easy to order up some local pride, or gift it to other PNW fans.

Back to School ROCKS with AT&T – LG Tone wireless stereo headset

It’s back to school time, and you’re probably busy checking off lists consisting of pencils, glue sticks, backpacks and rulers. All of which are necessary for back to school, but I think we can all agree they really aren’t fun, are they?

So, what if you want to get them something they will be excited about for back to school? For all that fun stuff, look no further than AT&T. By now you know that the AT&T store carries everything you need to make the most of your mobile devices, and back to school time means everyone is going to be a whole lot more mobile with school schedules, sports, and extracurricular activities. Whether you are looking for a new smartphone so you can keep in touch, speakers for a dorm room, a tablet so they can do homework when they can’t be at a computer, or an activity tracker to keep up with all those extra steps they will be racking up on campus, AT&T has you covered.