Category — Sweet Product Reviews

About a year ago, both my shoulders started to ache and if I reached up at just the right angle it almost felt like a pinched nerve. So off I went to the doctor who took x-rays only to come up empty handed and suggested I go through some physical therapy. Like most moms, did I follow through? Of course not! Well, when Beth over at Role Mommy offered this enticing offer of trying Slendertone’s EnerVive, I knew I had to check this out.

According to their site:

Slendertone Enervive is a hands free, easy to use, professional muscle conditioner that applies our clinically demonstrated EMS (Electrical muscle stimulation) technology, to gently and safely stimulate and relax your muscles. This same technology is used by physical therapists in hospitals and clinics across the US to rehabilitate and strengthen muscles. Now you can have an effective and convenient solution to muscle recovery and relaxation right in your own home.

Now depending on what your specific need is, Slendertone EnerVive is set up with six (6) different programs for muscle warm-up, improved muscle endurance, increased muscle strength, and muscle recovery from physical exertion.

The electrical muscle stimulation is conducted through two adhesive butterfly pads that you secure to clean designated areas on your body. The instruction manual provides the appropriate pad placements which are biceps, triceps, your lower and upper back, shoulder, abs, back and front of thighs, calf muscles and even the tushy.

After reading Beth’s little teaser about getting a massage while she sat typing away, I just couldn’t wait to get one. As soon as it arrived, I pulled everything out, read through the instruction manual and tracked down someone else…to try it first! Yes, I was a bit nervous about the electrical stimulation. Thank goodness my husband was a good sport and let himself become a guinea pig. He really enjoyed it, but was struggling to find the right words to describe how it felt. So before I could step in, my 14 yo daughter decides she wants to try it out. Guess where? Her abs! She liked it as well and finally decided, after almost falling asleep on the floor (each program runs anywhere from 15 - 20 minutes) that it was my turn. See what happens when you don’t try it first?

I knew right where I wanted to try them - my shoulders. So with the help of my husband, I got all set up and found that the Active Recovery Program 2 is my favorite. I used it all the time now instead of popping two or three Advil. And how does it feel? It’s not a zap, but a pulsating current between the two sides of the butterfly pad that seems to contract your muscles and then release. It really is very relaxing.

The Slendertone EnerVive retails for $179.99 and it can be purchased through Slendertone’s online store with a 60-day money back guarantee.

If you’re looking for a special Christmas or birthday gift for a loved one, this just might be it!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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Do you have a family game night where you drag out all the board games and have fun as a family? We don’t do it every week, but try to. It’s so awesome to interact with our kids (before they think it’s stupid to spend time with their parents) and see how they think through something or how excited they get when they beat you.

My family and I recently had the opportunity to review Robbins Toys’ The Original Ultimate Spinner, which by the way, is made in the good ole’ United States. Maine to be more specific. Jim Robbins, owner of Robbins Lumber, felt compelled to find a safe, environmentally friendly and fun toy for his grandchildren after last year’s massive recall of toys from China due to lead paint and other toxin concerns. Robbins Lumber is also a “green” certified fifth-generation lumber mill in Searsmont, Maine.

The Original Ultimate Spinner Game is an amazing 12 game collection of educational, recreational, physical and mental challenges. It features a high quality wooden base with a large wooden spinner hand and a full suite of colorful, durable games.

We had so much fun playing the bowling, racetrack (with the pine wood race cards) and math games and look forward to playing the numerous others. 

I will have to say though, the Spin-Do is probably our favorite, but I’ll let my 10 yo son explain why. He sat down and wrote out his very own review.

Are you looking for a game that makes your head go spinning?! Then get this awesome game called The Original Ultimate Spinner! It includes 12 crazy games for kids and adults to have fun! My favorite game was Spin-Don because it had lots of funny activities like acting like a chicken laying an egg! I’m looking forward to playing this game again with my family!

If you want to truly see how creative your kids can really be, play the Spin-Do game with them. I was amazed when my son, sat in his chair like a chicken put his arms back and clucked! Although I thought his favorite would have been the piggy back ride I had to give him around the house.

The Original Ultimate Spinner was made for ages 4 and up and can be purchased through their online store for $49.95 or at these other locations. It is a wonderful gift of fun and laughter that brings a family together. Perfect for the holidays or any upcoming birthdays!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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Weird Word Origins, World Mythology and Publishing Children’s Books

When my daughter was in 5th or 6th grade, her class along with some parent volunteers (I was one) went on a field trip to the Arizona State University to learn more about Mars and were treated to a presentation by a professor about word origins. The history behind words is really quite amazing.

In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Weird Word Origins, Paul McFredries shares the history behind words like freelance which was coined in 1820 by Sir Walter Scott when he said: “I offered Richard the services of my Free Lances…” He was talking about mercenary knights of the Middle Ages who, in “bustling times” would sell their warrior skills to the highest bidder. By the end of the nineteenth century, the word had come to mean a self-employed journalist or writer. Nowadays it refers to anyone who is self-employed.

How about gadzooks, flibbertigibbet, yacht or scrimmage? Find out the history behind these and more with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Weird Word Origins which retails for around $10-11 on Amazon.

Not only is my interest piqued by the history behind words, but also by the history and value of myths in society. In the introduction to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World Mythology, the authors, Evans Lansing Smith, Ph.D. and Nathan Robert Brown, share that myths have nothing to do with fact or fiction, but with truth and how they have been used through out time to teach lessons, express emotions and the meaning of life.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World Mythology explores legends and tales from all corners of the globe from gods and goddesses to modern day mythology in pop culture.

My son was quite thrilled to discover the Vomiting Creator (Bushongo) who’s acts of creation are quite involuntary when he begins heaving and retching up the sun, moon, stars and creatures, including men. Yep, definitely the kind of thing that boys find interesting.

Ancient legends from Egyptian, Celtic, Teutonic, Norse, Japanese, Mexican, Native American and many other civilzations can be found within the pages of this book, which retails for around $14 on Amazon as well.

By no means am I the writer in our family. That talent passed me by and has been placed in the very capable hands of my daughter and son. My daughter spends hours writing her stories and I’m sure will become a published author some day. My son spends more time drawing the pictures for his stories than writing the actual story, but I’m sure this will change over time and felt it’s never to early for them to learn how to publish a book.

When the third edition of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books arrived on our doorstep, my son looked at me and informed me that he was going to use this book to publish his book for other kids to read. I don’t know how the author, Harold D. Underdown, fit all these nuggets of information into this book, but it is jam-packed with everything one would need to know from the very start to the very end of publishing a children’s book.

This book addresses the common hurdle “I don’t know what to write!”, encourages writers to keep at it with the old adage “practice makes perfect” and seeking out a writer’s group for feedback. There are 33 chapters in this book with advice on how to write books children and parents will love, insider information on publishers and professional strategies. It retails for around $13, again from Amazon.

All three of these books were recently released in August of this year and are certainly worth another look so be sure to check them out.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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Helen Hunt has played many diverse roles throughout her career. Some of my favorites are Jamie from “Mad About You”, Dr. Jo Harding in “Twister” and Darcie in “What Women Want”.

When I was presented with the opportunity to review “Then She Found Me”, a newly released DVD movie starring Mathew Broderick, Colin Firth, Helen Hunt and Bette Midler, I took it - mostly because I felt I could relate to Hunt’s character meeting her birth mother later in life, as did I.

“Then She Found Me”, also directed by Helen Hunt, is a comedic, heart-warming look at how lives can change in mere seconds. This is what happened to schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) who marries her husband (Broderick) only to have him call it quits shortly thereafter stating this isn’t the life for him after many attempts by the couple to have a baby. As if that wasn’t enough, April’s adopted mother dies then her eccentric talk show host birth mother (Midler) contacts her and April starts a budding relationship with a dad of one of her students (Firth).

Truth be told, I didn’t quite grasp the intense physical relationship between April and her husband in the beginning. It seemed as though they were more like friends. However, I truly enjoyed watching April and her student’s father playing out the funny, flirtatious beginnings of their relationship and the odd, but comforting relationship that forms between April and her birth mother when April finds out she is finally pregnant.

A life can change in mere seconds, it did with April and she made the best of her situation - in the end gaining so much. 

I can tell you that I was utterly surprised by the tears building in my eyes at the end of the movie. Definitely one to add to the “chick flick” library.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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This giveaway has ended!

Through the years, I have written many notes on my kids’ napkins when I packed their lunches and I always got a huge hug when they got home from school. I don’t do it very often anymore because both kids now pack their own lunches. Sneaking a note from “mommy” into my teenage daughter’s lunch would be a big no-no and I wasn’t quite sure about my son. However, the other day he actually asked me if I would write him a note to put in his lunch. That’s the beauty of being young and innocent, they have no problem asking for what they want!

When I got my samples of Kids Lunch Box Cards, I hid them away and then snuck one into my son’s lunch. It was a huge hit! All he could talk about when he got home from school was his Kids Lunch Box Card. He loves frogs so I chose the frozen frog card from the Wacky World pack.

There are five different theme packs:

Each pack comes with (5) 4×6 Kids Lunch Box Cards related to a specific theme and they will have the kids laughing, using their noggin to solve the riddles or thinking up imaginary creatures to play after lunch! I’m pretty sure the latter is what my son did!

It’s unanimous though - kids love surprises and Kids Lunch Box Cards fit this bill quite nicely. Not to mention they are made in the good ‘ole USA too. Suggested retail for each pack is $4.95 and if you buy four or more packs, shipping is free.

Cool aren’t they? Well, Kids Lunch Box Cards is graciously offering one lucky winner (5) packs - one of each theme.

Enter to Win (5) Kids Lunch Box Cards Packs - One of Each Theme:

1. Visit Kids Lunch Box Cards, pick a theme you think your child would like best then check out the Cool Ideas page and choose your favorite idea for making kids’ lunches fun.
2. Come back here and leave that information (theme and cool lunch idea). If you have any fun stories about sneaking your kids lunch box notes - share that too!
3. Must have a valid email address within the United States (no International entries please)

Earn extra entries by:

• Subscribe to Kids Lunch Box Cards Fun Email Newsletter
• Subscribing to my RSS Feed via email or reader
• Blog about this giveaway
• Add the Free Birthday Treats button to your site (grab it from upper left sidebar)

Leave an additional comment for each extra entry.

Deadline: Midnight, September 28, 2008

I will randomly choose one winner for each game from participants who have entered correctly and post it on September 29, 2008. I verify subscribers and button placement on blogs.

Winner has 4 days to claim prize otherwise I will choose another.

Good luck to everyone!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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I have long been a fan of all these dynamic actresses and was not disappointed with their performances. Meg Ryan plays Mary Haines, a women who has an 11-year-old daughter, played by India Ennenga, and is married to a Wall Street hot shot millionaire who is having an affair with the Sak’s perfume spritzer girl, played by Eva Mendes.

Mary’s best friends, Sylvia, a high ranking magazine editor (Annette Bengin), Edie, a mother of four (Debra Messing) and Alex, a lesbian (Jada Pickett Smith) group together to try to help Mary deal with the emotional turmoil that has consumed her life. Mary is a self-sacrificing woman who follows in her mother’s footsteps volunteering her time to charitable functions and working at her father’s business designing mundane clothing, sparing her little time for her daughter.

The three friends confront Mary with the news and from there the story unfolds quickly. Mary’s mother, played by Candice Bergen, has convinced her to approach it in the same manner she would, which leads to her friend’s frustration and they decide to confront the spritzer girl themselves.

Through it all the young daughter is trying to cope, but has no one to turn and gets a bit wild until, of all people, Sylvia steps in. This scene is played out so well that I was glad my 14-year-old daughter was with me. I will also insert here, that although this is rated PG-13, there were one or two unexpected scenes that I thought pushed the line for teens 16 and under, but it didn’t take away from the story of the movie and unfortunately it’s probably something they have heard before.

The Women has so many comedic aspects: a starving, moody super model, a lovable housekeeper, an outrageous and out spoken star spotlight with Bette Milder, the talkative Sak’s nail technician and the hysterical delivery room scene.

Towards the end Mary fights to find out what she wants out of the life. Journeys like this are always inspiring to me, just wish it was as easy to do as it seems on the big screen.

My daughter and I truly enjoyed the movie and plan to add it to our chick flick library, but I cherished the time afterwards even more. Although we’ve always communicated well, watching The Women and laughing about certain scenes has led to more in-depth discussions about adulthood and for that I’m extremely grateful.

Dove, a sponsor of The Women, has established the Campaign for Real Beauty. If you have a daughter, I would highly suggest taking time to learn more about it. My daughter informed me that just this year in her PE class, they watched Dove’s Evolution YouTube video which shows the process of a model’s makeover physically and then digitally to her picture for advertisements. I think this is something every young girl should see.

Dove is also giving away 100 pairs of free tickets every day on their website. From this page, click on the “3″ in the lower left corner of the flash image box. While you’re there be sure to check out their product line. I just tried their Cucumber and Green Tea shampoo and conditioner - loved them and the scent blends wonderful with my cucumber melon soy candle!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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What kind of snacks do you provide your kids? My kids love yogurt, but not just any yogurt, I tried giving them non-fat plain yogurt and it wasn’t pretty. I won’t be trying that again anytime soon.

However, Yoplait has created a kid friendly yogurt that has the vitamins and protein needed to develop strong bodies, yet it has 25% less sugar.

A treat like this would be great for birthday parties when kids seem to have bottomless tummies and want to eat everything in sight.  A wholesome and fun snack for all the kids with less sugar and several flavors to choose from: Vanilla, Banana, Strawberry and Peach. There are even Yoplait Kids yogurt drinks in Strawberry and Strawberry Banana.

Won’t the parents be happy when they pick up their little darlings who are not bouncing off the walls from all the sugar?

If you’d like to try Yoplait Kids, be sure to print off this $1.50 coupon first.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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When birthdays pop up in our family, we usually go the easy route and buy paper plates to cut down on the cleaning time afterwards. And yes, when I see the trash bag(s) stuffed full with paper plates, it really does bother me.

I recently received a sample package of VerTerra’s dinnerware plates and with their stylish natural look, they put those other paper plates to shame. They are made from fallen leaves and are biodegradable.

From their site:

From start to finish, the impact we make on the earth is our top priority. We start by collecting fallen leaves from plantations without cutting down any trees. Normally, these leaves would be burned on the side of the road. Instead, they are brought to our factory, sprayed with high pressure water, steamed and UV sterilized. We recapture over 80% of the water we use. No chemicals, lacquers, glues, bonding agents or anything toxic are ever used. The entire process uses only a fraction of the energy used in recycling.

Now my family is always up for a challenge so we decided to see how well VerTerra’s plates would withstand hot food, cold food, being stored in the fridge and even washed with soap and water a couple of times. To be honest, I thought for sure these plates would turn into a soggy mess with the dressing from the salad or the dipping sauce for the fish sticks, but they didn’t. The photo of VerTerra’s plates with the white paper plate, well…that’s after they’ve been used and abused.

VerTerra has a large assortment of biodegradable dinnerware available from prices starting at $8.99 for a 10 pack to $12.99 for a 12 pack.

So not only will the place settings look stylish for our next birthday bash, but we’ll be making a more positive impact on our environment.

If you’d like to learn more about VerTerra and their unique and stylish dinnerware products be sure to visit their website.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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When it comes to planning birthday parties there is one essential item needed to get the ball rolling…besides the birthday person hounding you “Can we plan my party, Mom?” It’s the invitations!

I recently received a package of sample birthday invitations from Tiny Prints and of course, couldn’t keep them to myself. I had to show my friends and family.

Then my kids grabbed them and placed their votes for the ones they liked, even going so far as to ask me to go online and look at some more designs. My son has already chosen the Blast Off birthday invitations for next year. Although he would like to know if Tiny Prints can design a Godzilla invitation. Yeah, he’s a huge Godzilla fan.

My personal favorites are the photo party invitations that can be easily personalized through their online ordering system. Just upload your photo, type in your custom message using the font style of your choice and even choose colors to match your theme.

More information from their website:

We believe it is important to let you easily personalize and preview a card before ordering. You can let our suggested wording and layout guide you, or you can create a card entirely from scratch in the font types, sizes and colors of your choice! Either way, you will be able to preview your card and approve the exact look prior to ordering. We have built a powerful set of tools to help make this process fun and convenient.

The invitations are printed on a high quality card stock with brilliantly colored designs. Tiny Prints obviously has some very talented designers coming up with these unique and modern invitations. Prices range from approximately $.95 to $1.39 depending on how many invitations are ordered.

Tiny Prints also creates birth announcements, an assortment of other invitations and thank you cards so be sure to check out their website.

Special Offer - Coupon Code
Visit Tiny Prints and use coupon code TPBR136508 to receive 10% off your order of stationery, invitations and photo cards. Offer expires 12/31/2008.

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When was the last time you read a book that you felt someone had written especially for you? I felt this way while reading Dr. Susan L. Reid’s book, Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success.

This is definitely not your typical self-help entrepreneurial book. She has filled the pages with inspiration and enlightenment, encouraging you to listen to the inner you..your “Inner Samurai”. 

The impact of this book really hit me when I got to the “Multiple Streams of Passion” chapter. How many business ideas/concepts do you have planned or are thinking about? If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a whole notebook full. How can you follow your passion if you have a notebook full? That is what has stumped me time and time again when someone says “just follow your passion…”. In this chapter, Susan shares how to find your one true passion.

Discovering Your Inner Samurai is an easy read with intimate real life examples of how to apply the philosophy and strategies to your own situation. If there is one book that should be on all women entrepreneur’s night stands - it’s this one.

GIVEAWAY: I told Susan that I would be sharing this on my blog and she immediately agreed to donate a copy of her book for one lucky reader. It would be a fabulous gift for that entrepreneurial woman!

TO ENTER:

• Visit Discovering Your Inner Samurai, make a note of who this week’s Accidental Pren-her is and if you would keep the book or give it away, then leave a comment with that info by midnight, August 23rd
• Must have a valid email address within the United States (no International entries please)
• I will choose a random winner and post it on August 24th
• Winner has 4 days to claim prize

Earn extra entries by:

• Subscribing to my RSS Feed via email or reader
• Mentioning this giveaway on your blog with a link back to here
• Sign up for Discovering Your Inner Samurai’s Newsletter

Be sure to leave an additional comment for each extra entry to make sure you’re entered correctly.

I don’t want anyone missing out here, so be sure to leave a way to contact you in case your the winner.

Good luck to everyone!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit Free Birthday Treats.

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