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Get UnCommon Review & Giveaway

April 30, 2013
inGiveaway, Review
• Leave a comment
UPDATE

HUGE Congrats to the winner, commenter #11…Carissa Rogers! 

I received a case to facilitate my review


I love seeing my kids artwork and having three children I am never short of it. When my daughters art was picked for the cities All-City & Faculty Art Show I was beyond proud, elated. My daughter and I visited her art and it was the cutest thing ever to see her reaction in seeing her art project on display with the rest of the schools out here. So when I was approached about doing a review for Uncommon  which specializes in making cases for your iPhones and iPads with your children’s art I had to do it. What better way to cherish my child’s art then having it on display for years to come!

This photo was from art night at the school before they had chosen her art work
 This is the photo from art night that I used to make my case with


And this is the beautiful case that I received

The colors in the photo don’t do the case justice. They are exactly as her picture is.

The case is simple, not heavy but still protect the iPad. The important slots that you need access to are still open to you. 
 And the camera is open as well

UnCommon offers many different designs, either pre-made or one’s you can make yourself with your photos. You can make cases for iPhones, iPods and iPads. They also offer deflector covers for MacBooks and screen cloths too.  Prices vary depending on the type of device you choose and design but they’re pretty affordable. Seeing as some of us change cases for our phone’s and iPads more often then we change purses that’s a huge plus.

Using their website is easy as pie. Once you have created an account simply upload and image and then select “Customize & Buy”. From there it will show your image on the device of your choosing. Make sure to choose an image that will fill the screen around the dotted lines as that is the recommended area for your design to look it’s best. The entire process is pain free and fast. Once you have this step done simply add it to your cart and check out.

I personally love that I now get to carry around my daughters art work on my iPad. And yes I totally show it off just so they can see her art.

Today I get to offer a $50 GetUncommon.com Gift Certificate to one of my readers. Perfect timing for Mother’s Day!

Mandatory entry:

  • Visit GetUncommon.com and let me know which design you would choose if you won and if you have a specific piece of art already in mind.


Optional entries:

  • Share the YouTube video above and leave a link here of where you shared the video
  • Tweet about the giveaway and leave a link of your tweet
Example tweet “I just entered to #win a $50 GC to @GetUncommon from @Shanamama9197 http://bit.ly/10qfUQG”
This giveaway is open to residents of the US only and will end on May 3, 2013 
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I received a case to facilitate my review. No other compensation has been given. My opinions, as always are my own.

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PieOgraphy’s Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate & Caramel

March 3, 2013
inBaking, Cooking, PieOgraphy, Review
• Leave a comment

Oh yes, I did just say Banana Cream pie with Chocolate Ganache.

Let me introduce you to Jo Packham. the creator and Editor-in-Chief of Where Women Cook. I’ll wait while you go peek at her site….and you must peek because it’s gorgeous and FULL of amazing recipes and soooo much more. Back to Jo now, in addition to her amazing website she also owns a publishing company where she creates the bestselling magazines Where Women Cook and Where Women Create, Where Women Create Business vand she is also an author! I don’t know about you but I think Jo is amazing and I bow down to Jo and her awesomeness. On February 1st she released the Where Women Cook PieOgraphy cookbook, where pie meets biography.

You always hear how a recipe has a story behind it but what happens when you don’t get to hear the story? You’re left wondering what it was, was it a good story, I wonder who actually created this recipe because damn is it good, man I wish I knew what it was! At least that’s how it runs through in my head. So when I was approached about reviewing Jo’s new cookbook the first thing that stuck out at me was the fact that you actually get the story. You may get the story behind the person who created the recipe, the story behind the recipe heck you get both. I really love that about this book, I may even love it more then the actually recipes….wait who am I kidding, I love food how could I say that. All joking aside I really enjoy both parts of this book, getting to know the person behind the food and knowing the story of the recipe as well as the drool worthy pictures. Have I mentioned the pictures yet? Forgive me for not sharing them….they are drool worthy.

I couldn’t review this book without making a recipe from it, it just wouldn’t be right. One of my all time favorite pie’s is the Banana Cream Pie so when I saw there was a recipe in PieOgraphy for it but with a special twist I knew this would be the pie I would make. Confession….I’ve never made a pie before from scratch so I was a little scared. Yeah I’ve made one that involved pudding and whipped cream but I don’t count that because the ingredients for the filling were already made, nothing done from scratch. So with a deep breath I gathered my baking confidence and got to work.

I didn’t follow the exact recipe since I wanted to make sure it would be something my whole family would eat (kids, they’re picky you know) so I left out the salted butter caramel sauce but I kept the chocolate ganache because dude, it’s chocolate!

And because this was my first time making a pie I finally got to pull out my Grandmothers old pie dish that she passed down to me ages ago that has sat in the hutch collecting dust.

I even pulled out her beautiful pie server.

Not too shabby for my first attempt at making a pie huh? I have to thank the amazing instructions from the recipes creator, Nancy Soriano. And the drool worthy photos which caught my eye and conviced me to make this pie.
Really quick, another thing I enjoyed about this book is that it’s not just dessert pie’s in it. You also have delectable, savory pies included in there such as spinach quiche, heirloom tomato pizzas, chicken pot pie and more. So the reference of pie encompasses all types of pie’s. If you would like to take a peek at the book for yourself click HERE. And since I know you will fall in love with it instantly here is the link to where you can buy it.

You can also keep up on the Where Women Cook community on their Facebook page, Twitter and their Pinterest page.

I received an advanced copy of Where Women Cook: PieOgraphy to facilitate my review, the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Get your kids outside more with the EzyRoller

February 25, 2013
inEzyRoller, Review
• Leave a comment

Having three kids ranging from ages four to nine who all love to play outside is such a wonderful blessing. Having them grow so fast they they get to big for their bikes within a year…not so fun. But now I have found this awesome new thing that all three kids can ride on. Yes all three and even better is it’s something that they can play on for years to come. It’s not quite a bike, not even a scooter, it’s the EzyRoller.

I know you’re wondering what the heck is that? Those were my first thoughts when I saw it and even after reading about it I was still a little….confused. I’ve seen these new fangled trikes/bikes but this isn’t quite that. My next thought was maybe it’s a type of scooter. While it has the wheels similar to a scooter the fact that you are sitting and the handle bars are not like that of a scooter I was even more confused yet intrigued.

I am not the most handy person out there, I like to think I am and I love to take on projects but they usually end up a little….eh a little sad looking. I assumed something this awesome would have tons of pieces for me to mess up so when I opened the box and pulled out everything I was pleasantly surprised that there was only four pieces in all and set up was really easy. 

Even my little man got in and helped set it up.
 In less then ten minutes we were ready to roll!
 
Whala, I give you the EzyRoller
I’m not sure what I love more about the EzyRoller, the fact that it has already provided my children hours upon hours of entertainment or that all three of my kids can use it. My four year old can reach the “pedals” with it set up with the medium height bar but it’s easier for him if I don’t put a bar in at all but then the other two are a little big so I keep the medium bar in and they all do just fine. I also love that it came with the two size bars so when they get older they will still be able to use it because we can just make it bigger with the larger bar. 

So lets see the EzyRoller provides hours of entertainment for all three of my children, it will grow with them as they grow and at $99 it’s reasonably priced. I think…no I know I love the EzyRoller and I may need to buy one or two more so the kids can each have their own and we can go on walks/rides together.
I received an EzyRoller to facilitate my review, the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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Lay N Go Lite Review & Giveaway

December 5, 2012
inGiveaway, Lay-N-Go, Review
• Leave a comment
Don’t you just love when you’ve cleaned the kids toys up only to end up finding them everywhere five minutes later? Yeah, me neither. Especially when said toys are Legos, Littlest Pet Shop or really any tiny little toy that the kids seem to get a lot of.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was some type of mat out there that kept toys inside a contained area yet still allowed for kids to play with them? And when the kids were done playing then you could just pick up the mat and it would become like a bag so all the toys were still contained and all set up to be easily put away? Sound too good to be true? At first I thought so but guess what people….it’s not! The thing that sticks out to me the most about the Lay N Go is that it is a Mom-invented product. Amy Fazackerley created the Lay N Go and she does all of work to make and distribute it all on her own. I bow to thee Amy, you are amazing.

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This is the Lay N Go Lite. It’s an 18 inch mini activity mat that converts into a carrying bag. It closes with a nylon cord, the cord locks with a closing system that you have to press down on to close and open which keeps small toys inside so you have no worries of it opening and toys falling all over the place. One thing I really like about this product is how easy it is to use, not only for me to do for my children but my children can also do it themselves. They can bring it in the car, a restaurant, a friends house or even just to play at the kitchen table. There is even a little Velcro storage pocket on the front so you can store the drawstring when closing or carrying the bag. My daughter likes to keep the drawstring out and carry it as a “purse”. And it’s reversible!

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This is usually how things start out when the kids pull out the Legos….

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The next picture would have been my entire table covered with Legos and the floor around the table and I’m sure there would somehow be some in the kitchen. I don’t know how it happens, it’s like they have legs and just go everywhere. But guess what, no more! This was how it went down last time. My daughter and I picked out a handful of Legos from her Lego box and placed them in her Lay N Go. She spent hours playing this way and when she was done there was no mess all over the table or on the floor. It was all contained in the same space as when she started playing. Inside the Lay N Go. Can I tell you how awesome it is not to have to clean up under the table and not have to worry about stepping on Legos every.single.time they play with them. 

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When picking out our Lay-N-Go I went with a neutral color in hopes that all of the kids would use it. Since having it here and seeing that in fact all of my do kids enjoy using it I am tempted to get each of the kids their own for the holidays. While the Lay N Go Lite is only offered in five colors (blue, green, orange, red and pink) the original Lay N  Go is also offered in the same colors. Me personally, I want the pink. What can I say, I am a sucker for any and all things pink.
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Right now Lay N Go is having a giveaway and it is an awesome one. They are giving away a Holiday Giveaway pack. In this gift pack of pure awesome there will be (1) Large Blue Lay-n-Go, (1) LITE Blue Lay-n-Go (1) Black Lay-n-Go COMSO, a gift card to Sephora and a “surprise” set of tiny toy pieces (hmmmm Legos maybe?) The total retail value of this giveaway is over $200.00! See I told you, awesome. Be sure to enter today as the contest only runs through December 15, 2012

https://www.facebook.com/layandgo/app_201143516562748

And for you, my awesome and loyal readers I get to give away a Lay N Go Lite in blue to one of you! Giveaway is open to the US only and ends on December 12, 2012 at 11:59pm. I will email the winner and they have 48 hours to respond. Good luck everyone!

There are two ways to enter. Please do the mandatory entry first in order for your second entry to count.
Mandatory Entry: Who would you like to win this for and why?
Extra Entry: Tweet about the giveaway. Sample tweet:
“I just entered to win a Lay N Go Lite by @LayNGo from @Shanamama9197 You too can enter to #win http://bit.ly/VFYpMi”
Please leave a link to your tweet so I can verify your entry
 *I was provided a Lay N Go Lite for review. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions stated above are solely my own.*

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Mabels Labels, perfect for my family and yours

September 20, 2012
inMabels Labels, Review
• Leave a comment

Mabels Labels was created by moms who were frustrated by the amount of stuff that was being lost. I am sure we can all relate to that huh. So, they created labels that were dishwasher, microwave, and laundry safe for all moms to label their childrens belongings. 

I may have gone a little overboard on going through my kids school and everyday items. I put them on all of the kids backpacks, lunch boxes, all sandwich containers, thermoses, inside their shoes, their sweaters, beanies, gloves and even on a few special toys around the house. Then again I am glad I did because last year we lost not only a lunch pail but a sweater and a few gloves. I even put my own labels on my phone, inside my purse and on some makeup that I am constantly loosing and of course my laptop.

In addition to their childrens’ labels they also make allergy labels, write on labels, sticky labels, waterproof labels, iron on labels and more. One of my favorite sets that they offer is the Ultimate Back to School Combo set. With three little one’s in school it’s perfect for all of their school necessities. 
The ultimate back to school combo set includes:

  • 40 Skinny-Minis
  • 50 Tag Mates
  • 16 Shoe Labels
  • 2 Teeny Tags  

The teeny tags are also great for luggage as well and for school backpacks. Especially if you ever run into more then one kid having the same backpack at school. Eventually it may happen and having a little tag on the outside helps the kids identify which pack is theirs.

To wrap it up I am in LOVE with Mabels Labels. I think what they have done with their labels is absolutely genius! I come close to using up all of my labels and I can’t wait to order some more. Are they my newest obsession….you bet they are!

*I received a package of Mabels Labels to facilitate my review. All opinions therein are of my own.*
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Back to School with SuperMe cape backpacks

August 23, 2012
inReview, SuperMe
• Leave a comment

This is the first year that all three of my kids will be in school. My youngest is in Pre School and while they are required to bring a back pack to school it isn’t something that is filled up every day or needed to carry books and lunches in. Keeping that in mind I knew we wouldn’t need a full sized backpack.
When we received our SuperMe cape backpack in the mail the very first thing I noticed was how light weight the backpack is. SuperMe cape backpacks are made with a material called EVA. What is EVA? EVA stands for ethylene vinyl acetate aka an expandable rubber. One of the great features to EVA, especially where kids are concerned, it that it’s water resistant so if your child spills on it you don’t need to fret. Just spot wash or throw in the washing machine and line dry and it will be as good as new.
With each backpack a starter patch and a mask are included. If you choose you can also get individual patches and masks. The entire back of the patch is velcro and attaches nicely to the front of the backpack. If you do end up getting more the one patch there is an extra spot on the back to store your extra patch. They currently offer fifteen patches and five masks in their store. With such a wide variety it’s easy to mix and match patches along with masks for your child’s ultimate super hero identity.

I chose the Ninja backpack for my son since he is a huge fan of all things Ninja, and to say he was excited when he saw it would be an understatement.  And of course the best part for him is the cape and mask. To be able to have his backpack be something that is fun as well as functional is a huge thing for me because not only does it help with his imagination but in a way it says that school is fun too.

Ninja SuperME cape backpack. The straps go across the front of the child & snap so you don’t have to worry about it falling off.
When opening the front flap there is a storage spot for the mask & above that is the zipper for the main opening of the cape backpack.
Best part about the space for the mask…it buttons so it wont fall out!

The SuperMe cape backpacks retail for $45.00. Now my initial reaction was that’s a little pricey but then I remembered that most backpacks, quality backpacks go for around the same price. But the thing that makes this backpack stand out amongst the others is the story behind it and the what it can do for a childs imagination.
If you’re interested in keeping up to date on SuperMe you can follow them on their Facebook page or their Twitter account.

I just received word that during Labor Day weekend (Friday Aug 31 – Monday Sept 3) SuperMe will be offering 20% off of EVERYTHING in their store with the promo code LABORDAY!

*I received a cape backpack from SuperMe to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed therein are my own.*

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Udi’s Gluten Free foods review

October 26, 2011
inReview
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Who knew gluten free could be so tasty? 
Um not me. I know many people who follow a gluten free diet and not once have I heard any of them complain when it comes to flavor. But I am a skeptic. I know, I know, but I can’t help it. While I do appreciate everyone’s opinions and quite often I am the one asking for them because I like to hear what people have to say, I still I like to try things on my own and go from there. 
Over the last few months I have heard a lot about Udi’s. I have also seen a few reviews on them, read them word for word. I was intrigued. You see my daughter has a lot of allergies and eczema. Her major allergy is peanuts. It is life threatening and not something to take lightly. She has low level allergies to wheat, eggs, milk, soy, peas and other things. Since discovering her allergies I have been wondering just how well a gluten free diet would benefit her. I spoke to a few Dr’s and they said “with her low levels it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference & a change to her diet isn’t necessary”.  So I either go with a medical professionals or go with my gut. Yeah I’m going to choose the later.

So naturally when I was asked if I would like to try some Udi’s cookies I said yes. I mean who doesn’t like cookies and it would give my family the chance to try something gluten free. Two birds…one stone. Win win.

Chocolate chip, Oatmeal Raisin & Snickerdoodles…oh my!

To say these cookies were good would be an understatement. They were delicious, soft, full of flavor and melt in your mouth good. If you’re like me and have to try for yourself then go get some. You will not regret it. And at only $5.00 a box they’re pretty reasonable.

Udi’s does more then just cookies though. They have a full line of products to cater to those who live a gluten free lifestyle such as bagels, breads, buns, granola and more.

This right here, that picture, that is what makes these cookies a new favorite in our house. Seeing my baby girl enjoying a cookie and not having to worry if there are nuts in them. I can’t tell you how many times she has come home from school saying that her class had cookies but she couldn’t have any because there were nuts in them. Finding a store out here that carries Udi’s products is next on my list so I can bring some to her school for her teacher to store on the days someone brings in something containing nuts.

*I was provided samples of Udi’s cookies for review. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions stated above are solely my own.*

 
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