Tag Archives: product review

Sock Club – December 2015 – Review

Sock Club – December 2015 – Review & Giveaway

When you think of California, the first material that comes to mind is generally not wool. People in California tend to live in shorts, bikini tops. and flip-flops – and that is in mid-December. I am not one of these people, as I run cold all the time. I get cold while going through our local grocery store. Since I have this temperature issue, I plan accordingly – I have sweaters in the car and I always wear socks around my house at night.

Despite the warmth factor, I tend to shy away from wool due to the added weight that wool sock provide. I can honestly say that my opinion of wool socks has forever been changed from this months SockClub sock selection for the December sock.

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Pet Treater December 2015 Monthly Box

Pet Treater Monthly Subscription Box Review and Giveaway – December 2015

When I was in my early 20’s we had a family dog named Poco (short for Pocohontas). Poco was a black lab with some retriever in her – she was a smart dog. Sadly, on Easter weekend in 2006 it was discovered she had a tumor and she quickly went downhill. It began with her not knowing how to jump into the back of the car and ended with her making circles upon circles with no break. She ended up being carried outside in the sun, and while my father held her, I held her snout, and we said our goodbyes. The next thing I remember is being asked if we wanted her paw print for posterity, and that was that – our family dog was gone. It was sad, and sudden – she is missed to this day!

Given the sudden way my father lost his beloved dog, I was unsure he would ever get another dog. Then about 2 months ago he mentioned that he might be ready, after all it has been over 9 years since we lost our beloved Poco. My father decided he wanted a puppy and for it to be a Australian Labradoodle. While surprised it took him so long to get another animal, I am thrilled to officially announce that we again have a dog in our family – Meadow.

Meadow was 9 weeks old on her arrival into my father’s life, and I can honestly say 6 weeks later they are the best of friends. Since she is a puppy and there is a lot of trial and error in her preferences towards toy and treats, I thought a monthly box might be a nice solution. I reached out to Pet Treater to inquire about a possible box for Meadow, and they were generous enough to send me their December box for review.

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Newman’s Own Product Review

Newman’s Own Organic: Product Review and Giveaway

I have a confession – before I started this blog I had an aversion to “organic” products. I believed that they were somehow inferior to their non-organic counterparts. Through the past 12 month of blogging I have discovered that there is nothing “inferior” or “less” about organic products. In fact, many times the thing that makes a product stand out from competitors.

Back about 7 years ago I went to the San Diego Zoo with my now husbands sisters. This was very exciting, as the plan was to drop Jason off at work and meet up with sister #1 at the local park and ride. The plan was to ride with sister #1, and meet up with sister #2 and have lunch and walk around the San Diego Zoo. The first stop was lunch, as none of the accompanying children had eaten yet. The 3 of us had all brought lunch, and sister #2 had brought a bag of “Newman’s O’s” to share with us all. At the time I politely declined because I was happy with my non organic chocolate creme cookies.

Since that day I have gotten to know both my sister-in-laws much better and not only are they wonderful mothers, and family members but they also know their food. Prior to meeting these two, I had not really considered reading the ingredients of packaging. I learned early on that to be in this family, label reading and ingredient awareness matters. This is not a negative in any way, but rather a way that all mothers should adopt.

A brand that was brought to my attention as a good positive company was Newman’s Own Organic. While I was a little bewildered and confused as to why she was such a fan, as soon as I began reading on my own, I realized that Newman’s Own goodness extends beyond just food and into the charitable world.

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The Beehive by Infusion Organique Review

The Beehive Candle and Lotion Review and Giveaway

One of my favorite scents is Lemon, well not just scent but also lemon flavor anything. I went on a chain of meals that consisted of lemon chicken and nothing else. I felt bad for my husband Jason that his pallet was not receiving any sort of flavor stimulation. Flavor aside, I love the freshness of a good lemon scent and will usually purchase the item in question.

Back in July I had the opportunity to review Infusion Organique by Cosmetix West. The candle that I reviewed remains one of my favorite candles, and is only burned on special occasions. When I was doing my research for that review I saw that they had a couple different brands under the Cosmetix West umbrella – one of them being “The Beehive“.

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Crunchmaster Review

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of Crunchmaster.. This post may contain affiliate links, but this in no way influences the review to follow.

Crunchmaster Review and Giveaway

I have mentioned this in the past that we are a snack house we really love our snacks! The most recent snack that we have begun snacking on is cheese and crackers. There is something very simple about a cracker and slice of cheese. We usually do a sharp cheddar and a white cheese of some sort.

As cheese and cracker snack people we are always excited to try different chips and crackers. I have begun also adding meat to our cracker snacks which adds a savory element to a simple snack. I have recently been looking for crackers that are versatile tasting from tuna salad to cheese.

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Ugly Snuglies Review

UglySnuglies: Bizarre Bear and Krazy Kitty Review and Giveaway

When I was a child I was always reminded it was “what was on the inside that counts”. I took this lesson and applied it to friends, boyfriends and really everybody I encounter in my adult life. I believe that a person is defined not by their outer shell but what is in their heart and soul is what is important. I believe this to be true and think that it is a message that is getting lost in this beauty conscious world we are living in. There is more importance on filters, injections and basic photo editing then what somebody thinks or feels.

I think that this message needs to be taught at a young level, and while we have all these conveniences of modern photography, I am not sure they should be used to the extent they are outside of professional photography studio. The message of what is on the inside is not as clear as it was when I was growing up.

I believe in this message, so when an offer came across my email to review the UglySnuglies, I was looking forward to learning more about them. UglySnuglies are unique stuffed animals that teach the lesson that “it is what is on the inside that is important”.

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Rani’s Nutrafoods: Yummy Holiday 2015 Giveaway!

Rani’s Nutrafoods: Yummy Holiday 2015 Giveaway!!!

I am always in a state of learning. As a review blogger I get items from some companies that I have never heard of prior to that interaction. This happens more often than not, and when it does I have a standard of practices that I follow when this does happen. The first thing I do is I hit up my trusted search engine that rhymes with “Louggle”. Once I find the home page of the company I dig in and read as much as I can to learn as much as I can from the information provided. The second thing I do is go back to my search engine and begin looking for articles and any information about the company that I can find. I enjoy reading the good, the bad and if need be, the ugly. I like to compare and contrast my opinions vs others.

This was the process I followed back in September when I originally reviewed Rani’s Nutrafoods Yummy Shooters product. I learned that the company was born out of a need of wanting a healthy snack that provided energy and wanted to give them the same flavor profiles as the treats we all love. These are excellent on everything from ice cream to making your own homemade granola!

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Soap.club Monthly Subscription Review

Soap.club Monthly Subscription Review and Giveaway

As we travel through this crazy path we call life, we are met with a lot of unknowns. When we are children our parents try to tell us to appreciate life, and that one day you will wake up 40 and wondering where the last 20 years went.

I have always thought that it is important to have memories and moments. For many people they have the ability to turn those moments into not only memories but something more tangible. I love hearing the stories behind a company – what makes them start, why did they chose now to take this leap and where do they want to end up.

When I find companies that are inspired by moments and memories rather than the alternative, it always gets my attention – Soap.club has done just that. Soap.club is a small family run soap business. The business was inspired while the founding couple was on vacation on the Hawaiian Islands. While there they saw soap making in its purest form and set out to create this same soap. Soap.club uses sustainable ingredient sourcing and achieving ethical trade partnerships.

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EasyAcc: Classsic Powerbank PB10000C Review

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of EasyAcc but this in no way will influence the review to follow and all opinions are my own.

EasyAcc: Classic Powerbank PB10000c Review and Giveaway

I have a terrible habit – I let my phone’s battery get very low. Now when I say low I mean in the single digits. I think that the reason I do this is because I dislike being tethered to the wall and/or my computer. This flagrant disregard for battery power levels has not served me well over the years, and yet I remain stubborn. Be sure to ask in the comments the most precarious position this disregarding habit has gotten me into.

It has been suggested to me over the years that a portable battery of some brand would serve me well. As luck and fate would have it, I recently had the opportunity to review EasyAcc’s Classic Powerbank PB10000c charger.

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Ozeri Ceramic Knife and Stand Review

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of Ozeri and Moderna Housewares. This post may have affiliate links but this in no way will influence the review to follow and all opinions are my own.

Ozeri – Elite Chef Ceramic 3 piece Knife Set and Adjustable Ceramic Knife Stand Review

I had always heard while growing up that life is funny and there will be unexplained coincidences. Let me share a story that I think illustrates this fact – It all started about 3 months ago. As I am gathering cooking knowledge, one of the things that is vital is being able to make consistent cuts to the food you are cooking. Now it is important to note that we watch a lot of Food Network and the competition shows they air. We always watch a chef’s cutting ability because that usually tells us what kind of chef they are. If someone were watching me they would wonder if I could even boil water.

When we were out one Saturday we picked up a set of white ceramic knives. At the time I wondered about their quality but was assured that ceramic rarely breaks or chips. One night while I was doing my prep work, I saw why my knives were cutting less than ideally – they had various chips of various sizes. I mentioned this to Jason and he said we would go and replace them the upcoming weekend. Now, this is where the coincidences of life take over – I got the opportunity to review a set of ceramic knives.

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