You are here: Home / Archives for reviews

Li’l Helper

February 26, 2013 By

There is something different about having a second baby…it’s not that he/she is cared for less, but some things aren’t as big of a deal as they were the first time around.

Maybe it’s because you don’t have as much time to obsess.  Maybe it’s because you learn the baby is not as fragile as you thought he/she was.  Maybe it’s because you have to put the baby down and wipe a preschooler’s booty after the poo he did because he is potty training.

For us, Charlie learned to wait much earlier than Eddie did.  From the first day Charlie was home from the hospital, he had to wait while we got Eddie his dinner or wait to be held because we were cleaning up a potty training accident.

Continue Reading…

Filed Under: review/giveaway Tagged With:

it’s the time of year for flipflops

April 24, 2011 By

I can’t lie, one of the most surprising, yet fun perks of a blog that gets a wee bit of readership from people other than my family is that once in a blue moon I will get a legit email from someone to try a product.

When I got the first email from Flipflop Wines?  There may have been squeeing.

Some bloggers get excited about products for their kids or storage containers or appliances.

Reviewing wine is my blogging dream come true.

Shut up, it so is.

I think it’s fair to say I was a bit skeptical about how good free wine could be.   My skepticism was for naught.

Flipflop wines is a newly launched California wine that is not just yummy, it is affordable (bottles are about $7 each).

They are also socially conscious.  Flipflop wines has partnered with Soles4Souls Inc, which is an international shoe charity providing shoes to those in need.  In fact, the program is giving one pair of flip flops to someone in need for each bottle of flipflop wine sold (up to 100,000 pairs for the first 100,000 bottles sold).

I was sent samples of the Pinot Grigio and the Riesling, which I was excited about because we are totally white wine drinkers here in Sluiter Nation.

You know how you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover?  Well I totally did when these lovlies landed on my doorstep.  Their labels are so cute, I KNEW they had to be yum.

This week we decided that since we were having spaghetti, we should try the Pinot Grigio first.

Cute, right?  AND yummy!

We tasted during dinner prep, of course.

Cort isn’t usually about whites that aren’t Riesling or Chardonnay, but he enjoyed this one saying, “it was dry in the front with a nice, sweet grape finish.”

We both stood there sipping and smacking our tongue to get the full taste of it.

It’s very light, but it has a really great grape finish, sort of like white grape juice, but better.

The back of the bottle actually helps you out if you have no idea what to pair the wine with, and it was not wrong about having it with spaghetti.

Some wines I feel don’t taste good with food (even though other people tell me they do), but this was a lovely complement to our meal.

Plus, it totally felt like it classed up my lame Tuesday night spaghetti to have a glass of wine instead of a can of diet coke.

This week we will be trying the Riesling, which happens to be a favorite for us, so we have high hopes.

Again, way cute.  Can’t be bad.

I seriously wish they sold this around here in Michigan.  But for now, I will get mine by ordering online. My Cali friends have told me it is available in-store there, so go stock up!  And report back!

Are you a wine drinker?

What is your favorite wine?  What Flipflop wine would you try first?

Me?  I want to try the Moscato before I get pregnant.  The sweet the wine, the better for me!

*************

Go like flipflop wines on facebook to keep up-to-date with the latest delicious news!

The Legal Stuff:  Flipflop wines provided me with samples of the Pinot Grigio and Riesling, but did not pay me for a review.  All opinions are my own.  You couldn’t pay me enough money to say I liked a gross wine.  Trust me.
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Frecklebox Freakout

March 29, 2011 By

A couple weeks ago, I pounced on happened upon a giveaway post by my lovely friend (and BlogHer roomie!  Squee!), Natalie.  It was for Frecklebox.

Have you heard of Frecklebox?  It’s the cutest kid stuff all personalized for YOUR kid.

You know how hard it can be to find the name of your little Sacajawea or Moses?  Or how about Cortney (yeah, he never had ANYTHING store-bought with his name on it.  Yes, he may still be bitter)?

This is no longer a problem!

Frecklebox has everything from personalized growth charts to books!

So of course I entered Natalie’s giveaway.  Having your name plastered all over things?  That is a no-brainer to me.  It is AWESOME.

I tweeted about it.

I crossed my fingers.

I may have done some lucky rituals (flush ice down the toilet?)  that may or may not have brought snow instead of Frecklebox winnings.

I was not the big winner.

I almost cried.

And then?  The Frecklebox Gods Mark from Frecklebox caught wind of my sadness.

And all of a sudden?

 

Cutest. Place mat. EVER.

People?  This place mat rocks my face off.

First, it’s got a DJ monkey on it that reminds all of us of Captain Huggy Face on WordGirl.  But not in a creepy way, of course.

Second, it says, “Eddie” and that?  Is awesome.

Besides being all aesthetically pleasing it is way easy to wipe up also.

It’s been time to move Eddie from the high chair to the table for some time now.  The high chair has become a platform for throwing things.  Plus it has WAY too many cracks and crevices to clean out.

This is much better…

He loves it.  Plus he loves pointing out the letters in his name and making monkey noises before his plate is put in front of him.  It is AWESOME.

But wait!  We have more!

oh yes we did!

 

I know, I know, my child is way too young to need a lunch box…even if it DOES have his name on it.

But you guys?  He LOVES this thing.

First he loves to “count” the monsters by either going “un, un, un, UN!” or “rawr!  rawr!  rawr!”  It doesn’t get much cuter than that.

 

oh look! the letters stick to it!

Eddie is also into putting things in other things, closing said things, and saying, “ba ba!” to us, waving, and walking around the island.

 

perfect for traveling toys

And lately?  He acts as if snacks are fleeting things.  We may take them away at any minute.  So he stock-piles.

 

no one will find my teddy grahams in here!

oops. missed a few!

 

Eddie and his sneaky side LOVE his new things.

And maybe, because of the whole personalized thing, his narcissistic side is happy too.

Ok, maybe that’s just me.

Where did THIS come from?

Why yes, I think we will be shopping at Frecklebox again in the future.  They DO have personalized books, and I DO love a book with my boy’s name in it!

——————————
The fine print: The Frecklebox Gods Mark from Frecklebox provided Sluiter Nation with the place mat and the lunch box, but the opinions are totally mine.  You can buy my happiness, but you can’t buy my opinion.
Filed Under: Eddie Tagged With: , , , , , , ,