Category Archives: product reviews/giveaways

Wendy’s is SO Nice, Mom!

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My daughter knows about Gotchababy.com. Actually, she likes to say my domain name like assorted commercial jingles, which is pretty funny. She loves helping me open  assorted blog-related  packages as they arrive, and checking out the contents with me.

What’s sweet is that she doesn’t understand the business side of these packages, so sometimes our conversations go like this:

“Oh look, there’s a FedEx bag!”

“Do you want to help me open it?”

“Oh yes.”

“Let’s see what we have.”

“Oh look Mommy! It’s cards, and a keychain, and oh, this says FREE BURGER. Mommy, who sent us this?”

“Wendy’s did, because they’d us to try their new cheeseburgers.”

“Wendy’s is SO NICE, Mom!”

For the record, Wendy’s really is nice. I love what they do, both with cheeseburgers and the Dave Thomas Foundation.

And OMG, the cheeseburgers. They’ve been reconstructed, and they’re YUMMY. My mom and I tried them out last weekend (the kids opted for chicken, even though they both had cheeseburger tattoos on their arms), and they were delicious. Substantial bun, juicy burger, fresh toppings. With this remake, the Wendy’s basic cheeseburger is more like a speciality burger. And unlike some other chains, this burger is sized so you eat one and you’re DONE. My mom and I both got a small fry with our meal and neither one of us could finish them. SO YUMMY.

But back to the FedEx bag- I’m wondering though, if next time, they’ll just contact Mam directly. I was walking near her in the hallway at school the other day (I was volunteering, she was going to class, and she was not acknowledging my existence) when she started her pitch:

“Hi Will!”

“Hi MaM!”

“I have a new keychain.”

“Cool.”

“It’s a cheeseburger. It’s from Wendy’s.”

And the future generation of bloggers has been born.

 

Disclosure- I was sent a bag of Wendy’s goodies, coupons and a gift card in exchange for my honest review. I chose to eat and sing the burger’s virtues on my own free will. And MaM raved about Wendy’s all on her own, with no prodding from me whatsoever. 

 

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Contain Indy

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If you live in Indy, you may have heard- the Container Store is finally here! If you’ve never been to one, you might not know why this is a big deal. If you’re familiar, well, then, you aren’t reading right now, you’re shopping.

Last week I had the opportunity to have lunch with some of my favorite people and tour the Container Store, all 25,000 sq ft. That evening, I attended the Preview Party, complete with live band, dance floor and 2000 of the Container Stores biggest fans.  It was a lot of fun, really overwhelming, and really left me wanting to reorganize my entire house. October 6, 2011 will forever be known as “Container Store Day” in my book.

The Container Store generously sent me home with a bag swag and I thought it would be fun to take some before and after pictures to demonstrate how useful their products really can be.

Exhibit A: The kids’ bathroom caddy. Ack.

Before: The basket actually held everything from toothpaste to a measuring tape, to hair ties.

Before
After: This Turbo Organizer has a spot for exactly everything that actually needs to live in that space nothing more, nothing less. I want one for our other two bathrooms now!
After
Exhibit B: Organizing the family calendar
Before: The back of my kitchen door is magnetic, so I use a couple of magnetic clips to hold papers I’ll need for the week. I only have two clips.

Every time I need a paper, everything else held by the clip falls to the floor!

After: The Container Store sent me home with four mega-magnets with hooks. Now there’s a magnet for coupons, tickets, school and etc. I’m still using the clips as well, and I’m not sure that it looks better, but things are a LOT easier to find!

Sorting the papers I need each each week by topic make things easier.

There are more goodies to put to work- I think the FlipFold  might have to be it’s own post. I find it oddly relaxing to fold my shirts like they do at the Gap.

What do you need help Containing? Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure the Container Store Indy will have an answer for you!

(Top photo courtesy of Angie Six, local blogger and Container Store enthusiast!)

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Twenty First Century Kids

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Back in the day (1992) my work-study job at college was to man the id table in the cafeteria. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I rolled out of bed at 6:15 and sat at a table from 6:30 until 8:30, checking id cards. Our college ids had a meal-plan sticker, and on each sticker was a number.

I marked off each student’s number on a sheet, in a binder. With a pencil and paper. 

Fast forward nearly twenty years, and my first grader is more slick than I ever was.

Her school has an automated lunch payment system- I load her account online, and she enters a PIN before she goes through the lunch line.

My first grader has a PIN. 

It only goes to reason then,  that a lot of her life is electronic. She even has her own arsenal of iPhone apps, and was most excited about getting to play with the My Little Pony app from Ruckus Media.

“Mommy, there’s a pony. Her name is Twilight Sparkle (of course it is!). And she sparkles. And there’s a dragon. And it’s a story, and there are games. You touch the sparkles and things happen, and there’s a maze, and …”

Sounds like a perfect match for six year old girls, don’t you think? Especially six year old girls who already have PINs.

My Little Pony, from Ruckus Media is on sale through Thursday for $0.99. Friday the prices goes up to $3.99. It’s been a huge hit around the blogosphere, and I think any little girl would like it!

Disclosure- Ruckus Media provided me with a download of the My Little Pony app in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

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