Category Archives: New posts

A mom’s review of the Olive Shoulder Bag from the Coach Bonnie collection

Handbags & Accessories, New posts, ,

Coach Bonnie olive shoulder bagAnd now for something different!  Moms this one is for you, just for you!

Being the practical moms that we are it is not every day that we would consider spending $248.00 on a purse, but this is certainly no ordinary purse!  Not only is it by Coach, the materials, construction and detail making this a one of a kind under arm luxury.

This satchel featured in Coach’s Bonnie Collection and inspired by famed Coach designer Bonnie Cashin, exudes quality and class, just what we moms want and deserve, right?  The body of the bag is beautifully supple leather in an Olive Green with accents in apple green leather.  Delicious!  The metal openings are covered with the same apple green leather which is a touch not expected in this price range.Coach Bonnie - Olive Shoulder Bag

The satchel is expandable by about two inches by activating the robust zipper around the bottom.  What do you see but a beautiful inset green leather expansion gusset?  This just gets better and better!

The leather and synthetic strap is removable turning this piece into a clutch that will simply make you feel good!

Of course we can’t forget the interior which is beautifully finished with a zippered pocket and a slide-in pocket.

Don’t forget, moms this one is for you because you cannot get diapers, bottles, fruit juice, or a days’ supply of wet wipes in this bag so you won’t be tempted.

Review:
JazzyToes Baby Socks

New posts, ,

JazzyToes Baby SocksFancy footwear for babies!  Throw out those plain white, pink, or blue socks.
Slip a pair of JazzyToes Baby Socks on your baby’s feet when shoes aren’t necessary, like during indoor play dates, airplane travel, and when learning to walk, and you’ll have moms and Grandma’s flocking to your baby.  Your baby will have the cutest little feet in the room at your next play date.
JazzyToes are great for pre-walkers because babies this age should have foot protection but shouldn’t wear shoes.  JazzyToes Baby Socks are available for babies 0-12 and 12-24 months but to my dismay.. not for older toddlers, with good reason though.  JazzyToes were created to serve a purpose which is to give babies adorable foot coverage without  having to wear shoes and what 3 year old doesn’t have several pairs of super cute shoes?  We found that JazzyToes Baby Socks run a tad big so be ready to slip them on when your baby is around 3 or 4 months, maybe not right out of the hospital.

JazzyToes Cowboy Boot socksA few of my favorite styles are the new Cowboy Boots style, Sneakers, and the Mary Jane style for girls.  The preppies out there will love the Loafers!  Just don’t try to stick a penny in them.  The colors are bright and the details are great as you’ll see in the Cowboy Boots photo to the right.

The socks are great quality, washable, dryable, and there are lots of styles available.  A 6 pack of JazzyToes Baby Socks runs $25 – $29.  Imagine getting 6 pairs of baby shoes for $25!  Can’t choose a style?  Get a variety pack.  JazzyToes Baby Socks are great baby shower and 1st Birthday gifts.  If you don’t know the gender of the baby I think your safe to go with the Sneakers style.

In accordance with the new standards set forth by CPSIA, JazzyToes socks were tested by SGS, a independent test company. The test results for the Lead and Phthalates content of our socks came back “ND” (not detected).

Review:
The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime

Age 0-1 year, Age 1-3, Books, New posts, ,

The No-Cry Nap SolutionI am a firm believer in naps. It was difficult for me when Madelyn started fighting nap time at about 2 years old but I am determined for her to nap until she’s 10 at least 4.  Sebastian, now 9, took naps until he was 5 and still would if it was up to me! I need ‘nap time time’.  I need that couple of hours to work in peace, take a shower, or exercise and she needs the nap for many reasons.

In ‘The No-Cry Nap Solution‘ Elizabeth covers many reasons why your child may fight nap time including irregular schedules, being overtired and over-wired by nap time, and reliance on a specific sleep aid.  I believe that Madelyn started fighting nap time when we re-scheduled her nap time to 1:00 from her regular 11:30 nap time.  She was too wired and tired to settle down at 1:00 so it was difficult to get her to sleep.  I would not have thought about her being over-tired, but once we got her back to going down around 11:30-12:00, she fell asleep much quicker and with less of a fight.

Daytime naps might last just a few short hours, but they can affect all twenty-four hours of a child’s day. Naps can improve a child’s mood and reduce fussiness, crying, whining, and tantrums. Studies show that children who nap daily get sick less often, grow taller, and are less likely to be obese when they grow up. Naps enhance attention span and brain development. Naps can also help make up for any shortage in nighttime sleep. Even a one hour shortage in overall sleep hours can have a negative effect on a child – compromising alertness and brain function, and increasing fussiness and fatigue.

Author, Elizabeth Pantley, is the author of several other parenting books including the popular No-Cry Sleep Solution and has four children of her own so I trust that she knows what she’s talking about.  I highly recommend The No-Cry Nap Solution for any new parent or even parents of toddlers.. it’s never to late to figure out why the heck your child won’t take a nap and learn how to make nap-time happen!

You’ll find information about all 9 of Elizabeth Pantley’s books on her website.

Out with the old and in with the new.. Frigidaire appliances

Cleaning & Cleaners, Frigidaire, New posts, , , , ,

I am on the edge of my seat waiting for my new Frigidaire appliances which should arrive within the next couple of weeks… I hope!

My current washing machine is over 20 years old and has served me very well.  With all of the new features my new Frigidaire washing machine will have, I’m afraid I might go into shock. Every time I start a load of laundry I think of the gorgeous red Frigidaire Affinity washing machine I’ll be using soon.

When I open my dishwasher and empty it for the 2nd time in a day, I day dream of the brand new Frigidaire Gallery Dishwasher that will take the old one’s place very soon.  I am looking forward to the new dishwasher because our isn’t drying the dishes very well lately and I have to spend time drying them before I can put them away.dishwasher-all-inside1

My refrigerator is great, but small. We bought it about 5 years ago when we bought our new house and we were on a tight budget so we bought a relatively inexpensive fridge that doesn’t have as much space or a water and ice dispenser.  The new Frigidaire refrigerator has an water and ice dispenser on the door and the water will be filtered!  Our sink faucet doesn’t allow for a water filtration attachment,  so I am really excited that we will be able to get filtered water right from the door of our new Frigidaire Gallery Side-by-Side Refrigerator.

spacewiseorganizationsystem_refrigerator_hires

Why and HOW am I getting new Frigidaire appliances?
I was lucky enough to have been chosen as one of 8 wonderful ‘Mommy Bloggers’ across the country to be a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom and receive all new appliances.  Besides the 8 of us who will test and review all 5 major appliances, there are 40 other great ‘Mommy Bloggers’ who will each receive one Frigidaire appliance to test and review on their blog.

Here are a few Frigidaire time savers that would have helped me in the last two days and that I’m really looking forward to:

  • I could have used the Quick Preheat feature of my ‘almost here’ Frigidaire Range this morning when helping Sebastian bake his chocolate chip cookies.
  • Frigidaire range - chicken nugget buttonI did 6 loads of laundry yesterday and was jonesing for Frigidaire’s TimeWise™ technology where the wash time equals dry time – so you don’t have to wait for clothes to dry.  I kept having to run downstairs to the laundry area to check on the dryer as it takes longer than the wash.  Madelyn’s at the age now where when I run down stairs, she runs down stairs.  Then she gets fixated on something to play with downstairs when I’m ready to get back upstairs.  Ahh!
  • I would have loved it if the clean dishes in the dishwasher were actually dry!  The new Frigidaire dishwasher has a feature called Effortless™ Dry which gives you best-in-class drying performance, so there’s no more double-duty towel drying.
  • Maybe I would have made chicken nuggets if my oven had a “Chicken Nuggets” button!?

Over the next few months I will be sharing photographs, stories, and videos with you of my new appliances and I will give you personal examples of how my new Frigidaire appliances help me save time.. because after all, Frigidaire has a “More Me-Time” Guarantee!

Here is a personal story, a little related, but maybe not entirely:
As I write this while sitting at my kitchen table working on my laptop while eating breakfast and I am breaking a little sweat.  The sweat is due in part to menopause (I’m 34..it came early) and part CHAOS!
Whatever do you mean Chaos, Alicia? That’s what I feel like my husband’s wondering sometimes when he gets home from work and I’m telling him about my day.   Here’s a run down of the last 45 minutes: I made pancakes, scrambled eggs, made a biscuit for Madelyn, helped Sebastian make chocolate chip cookies while trying not to burn the pancakes or overcook the eggs and in the middle of all of that, Madelyn went to the bathroom and came back without her panties or shirt and I had to chase her down to get her dressed hoping all of the food was OK and not on fire!  In between all of that I cleaned the pans and utensils as I was done using them because I don’t want ants in my kitchen as in previous years.  Gosh, when I read that it doesn’t sound like that much but while I was doing it, I could barely feel my feet touch the floor.  I swear I was hovering!  I know this is a typical Mom story.

You can learn more about the 5 Frigidaire appliances I’ll be testing and featuring on The Mommy Insider at the Frigidaire website.

More Frigidaire links to check out and how you can win Frigidaire appliances:

  • Frigidaire More Me-Time Guarantee
  • The Frigidaire DAILYDARE
  • Tell Frigidaire what 5 things you would do with an extra hour and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win a suite of NEW Frigidaire appliances!
  • Frigidaire on Facebook

Review + Giveaway!
Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets

Cleaning & Cleaners, Home & Garden, New posts, , ,

I am so excited that my new Frigidaire appliances, including a Washer and Dryer, will be arriving soon but until then I have some of my own laundry room excitement.  I have been trying out Purex’s new Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets.   I thought surely a sheet couldn’t accomplish and product the same results that detergent + a dryer sheet could but as always sometimes I am wrong.  Huh?

purex complete 3-in-1 laundry sheets

How Does It Work?

1. Drop a Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheet into the washer, the detergent is released during the wash cycle.

2. Once the wash is complete, transfer the laundry sheet with clothes to dryer. The stripe is heat activated by the dryer to soften and remove static.

3. You’re done!  Now, you get someone else to fold and put the laundry away.  (that was a joke!)

My 9 year old son does his laundry most of the time now and these are a life saver!  I would tell him how much liquid detergent to measure before he went down to the laundry area, but it never failed..  he would yell up to me “Mom, how much of this stuff do I put in”?  Ugh!! Haven’t I told you a million times?  Then I began to wonder, is 9 years old to young to do his own laundry?  Everyone I know convinced me that as long as he’s ok with it, doesn’t break the washer or dryer, hurt himself, it’s all good.  Now, I feel even better knowing that he just has to drop one sheet into the washer with his clothes and not worry about messy liquid detergent and remembering to put a dryer sheet in when he switches his stuff over to the dryer.

Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets come in three scents and are available in two package types – a Starter Kit (1 Dispenser + 20 Laundry Sheets) and a value Refill Pouch (24 Laundry Sheets).  Suggested retail pricing for both the 20 sheet Starter Kit (includes convenient Dispenser) and 24 sheet Refill Pack is $5.99-$7.49.

The Starter Kit includes a refillable Dispenser that makes it simple to protect and access Purex Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets. Once you have the Dispenser, simply purchase the money-saving Refill Pouch to fill the convenient Dispenser.

As part of The Dial Co./Purex’s holistic approach to sustainability, Purex developed Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets with significant consideration to our environmental impact.  If everyone in the United States1 switched to buying Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets, 41 Olympic-sized pools worth of water would be saved each single refill purchase versus purchasing a standard 50oz bottle of liquid detergent!  If every American bought just one Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheet Refill instead of even one bottle of liquid detergent2, we could prevent the equivalent of 91 million detergent bottles (27 million lbs), originally destined for landfills, from being produced – keeping over eight football fields worth of packaging out of landfills.

Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets website

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