Mom’s Back To School Guide

Threadless Tees – Cute Tank Top Review

September 20, 2011 By Stefani 6 Comments

When it comes to shopping, I love that I can shop online and find what I want without wasting my gas going store to store. The thing about clothes shopping is that is a downfall is that you can’t try it on before you buy. I have been lucky and have never had to return any clothing because is didn’t fit.

I recently received a cute tank top from Threadless Tees. When it comes to tank tops, I can be picky. For the most part, I like to find tank tops that are a little long in length. Not too long, but not short. The tank top that I received from Threadless Tees had the perfect length for me. I received the cute tank pictured below which shows the length that I like.

When it comes to clothes, I like to wear clothes that are going to last. When I washed this tank, it didn’t shrink or fade which impressed me. I was able to wear it again, still looking like a new tank and not something I had for years.

This design on this tank “My Favorite Playlist” is also available on t-shirts and also in other colors. Threadless Tees has a line of shirts that has a neat variety of graphics and colors.

To find out more, visit: http://www.threadless.com

Disclosure – The product featured above was provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. These opinions expressed are my own opinions and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

Filed Under: Clothing & Shoes Reviews, Mom's Back To School Guide, Reviews Tagged With: Threadless Tees

Office Max School Supplies Review + Back To School Deal

September 6, 2011 By Stefani 2 Comments

When it comes to office supplies and school supplies, I know that I can find what I need at Office Max. For supplies, I think Office Max has been around in my memory the longest. I actually remember my mom taking me to Office Max when I was in high school for my school supplies. It is too bad that the location I used to shop at is no longer close to me.

Out of my four children, three are in school. They are in need of school supplies all year long. I just got a new list handed to me yesterday for supplies my daughter’s science class needs. When it comes to OfficeMax, they have everything for your child’s back to school needs. You can choose to shop Office Max online or visit their store locator to find a location nearest to you.

I like that on the Office Max website, you can shop by your child’s school age. You can choose from: College and University,Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade, Middle and High School or browse the Teacher’s Corner. You can also find school supply lists that have been put together by Office Max to help you buy all the supplies that your child will need.

This year I have some cute office-school supplies from Office Max that I want to share. They have a cute line of products called Schoolio that I am really liking for one because they are CUTE. I received the cutest purple BLING gem stapler and matching scissors to review. Now these are so cute that I couldn’t give them to my kids to lose at school. They can find them on my desk here at home when they need them. You will find that the Schoolio line also has other fun stuff like folders, erasers, notebooks, binders and more. I would take a trip to a local Office Max retailer for these cute items though because I am not finding them on their website.

Right now on the Office Max website is an awesome Back To School Deal! You can get $50 worth of school supplies for only $24.99. This is their 2011 School Supply Bundle Plus FREE Bonus Gift and only available online. This is limited to only one per customer, while supplies last.

If you are not in need of office supplies, don’t forget that Office Max has computers, office furniture, camera, printing supplies and so much more!

To find out more about Office Max, please visit: http://www.OfficeMax.com.

Disclosure – The products featured above were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. These opinions expressed are my own opinions and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

Filed Under: Mom's Back To School Guide, Product Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: Office Max Review

Avery School Supplies & More Review

September 1, 2011 By Stefani 2 Comments

I am one of those moms with a strange addiction for office supplies. I have fun buying stuff for myself when it comes time to buy school supplies for my children. With having my own business, not only does my children need supplies, so do I. One of my favorite brands of office supplies that I buy is products from Avery. When it comes to labels, Avery always has whatever size that I need along with a ton of other goodies.

This month I received a few products to review which has really came in handy for my daughter’s back to school supplies. The first thing we received was one of the Avery® Heavy-Duty View Binders with 1″ One Touch EZD™ Ring. Since my oldest daughter is now in high school and was asked to supply 4 of her own binders, this Avery binder came in very handy for one of her classes.

This is a heavy duty view binder that offers a one-touch operation. The binder has been designed with the One Touch EZD rings that make opening and closing the rings really easy. For my daughter in high school, this is a must since she will be opening and closing the rings on this binder all year. I think my daughter’s favorite part of the binder is the clear plastic on the front so she can slide a paper underneath to make a custom front page to her binder. She is one of those girls that likes to take a piece of paper and glue on pictures of her family and friends.

Another product that I received for review is the Avery Big Tab Two Pocket Insertable Plastic Dividers. For dividers, these are cool. I remember I used to use the hard paper dividers with the colored tabs. They still have them and those still work, but these plastic dividers with the pockets are pretty neat. With these dividers, you will find a plastic pocket on each side to allow for extra storage for your important documents.

What I also like about these plastic dividers is the Big Tab design. With these tabs, they are larger than the regular tabs so you can use larger fonts or more lines of text on your tabs. You can visit Avery.com to use their templates to print your tab’s titles on the label sheets using a computer and printer. They also have a unique tab design that features a secure indent to help from keeping your tabs from falling out.

Lastly, I received a package of the Avery NoteTabs. For me, I like to be organized and these are going to come in handy. These are tabs that are made out of a sturdy material that allows you to write and even highlight on them without leaving a mark on the page you are putting the notetab on. They can easily be removed or repositioned on your page without taking the ink off your documents. These come in a variety of colors to make subdividing and color coding your work easy!

You can find the Avery NoteTabs in a Citrus or Neon color variety. They also come in packs of 40 or 80 depending on how many you are going to need to get organized. These will come in handy for my older daughters in middle school and high school along with mom who likes to organize everything on her desk!

For those that save Box Tops for your children, Avery is a participating partner in Box Tops for Education, a nationwide fundraising program dedicated to helping America’s schools get the things they need—from books and school supplies to playground equipment to computers. Be sure to check your Avery products for the little pink box tops that will help your child’s school get the extra supplies they need!

To learn more about all the neat Avery products, please visit: http://www.avery.com.

Filed Under: Mom's Back To School Guide, Product Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: Avery review

MetroPCS Offers A Back To School Cell Phone Promo

August 18, 2011 By Stefani 11 Comments

If you have tween and teen children like me, I am sure you hear lots of wants for a new cell phone. Right now I have two daughters that would LOVE to have a cell phone, especially with school starting. For some phone plans, to have 2 additional lines for my two oldest daughters could be a little costly. This would be especially true if I put them on a plan that was not unlimited. I know how much I text and use the internet on my SmartPhone, I can’t imagine the damage that my daughters could do in just one month of playing with a phone.

So this Wednesday I had a Meet and Greet at my local MetroPCS store with 3 wonderful ladies and my daughter Hailey to talk about the Metro PCS plans, the phones and also about the advantages of our children using cell phones. My meeting with them was really fun and I appreciate the information I was given from each of these ladies on all the topics we covered. Thanks Moriah, Noelle and Chantille for the fun little coffee break! I learned quite a few things that I didn’t know about the MetroPCS services.

At my meet and greet, one of the phones we discussed was the Samsung Admire. This is a brand new phone that is coming out to MetroPCS that has been created for those with a budget and geared towards students. This Samsung Admire is operated with the Android operating system that allows access to a large number of applications, including social media and games for the Android Market. .The Samsung Admire comes equipped with midrange specs including an 800MHz CPU, 3.5-inch HVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera and Android operating system already pre-loaded. This phone is perfect for the first time smartphone users!

Today, things have definitely changed since I was a child. When I was in high school, I thought it was cool to have a pager. Now if you are in junior high or high school, it is cool to have your own cell phone, especially a smart phone that has access to the internet. With our children having phones, we have access to them at all times. With the GPS features in some of these newer phones, we have the options to find out just where our children are located! There are quite a few apps for cell phones that you can use to “Request a Check-In” from another user which means that parents can request a check in from their child to see just exactly where they are at. This is just one advantage of course!

Right now MetroPCS is having a Back To School Now promo that you might want to take advantage of. If you are in the market for a new cell phone, they are currently offering some awesome bargains on some of their most popular cell phones. With the promotion, you can save $50 instantly on the Huawi M835, LG Optimus M, Kyocera Torino and the Samsung Freeform III. If you are looking for something more fancy, you can save $100 on the Samsung Galaxy Indulge.

What I like about MetroPCS is that they offer unlimited plans starting at only $40 per month with NO CONTRACTS. I don’t know about you, but $40 per month for a cell phone with an unlimited plan sounds pretty affordable to me!

To find out more about MetroPCS, please visit: http://www.metropcs.com.

Disclosure – I received a cool new cell phone to review by the manufacturer or representing PR agency in exchange for this post. These opinions expressed are my own opinions and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

Filed Under: Misc Stuff, Mom's Back To School Guide, Product Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: MetroPCS

Pediped Flex Jake Shoes Review and Giveaway

August 18, 2011 By Stefani

My son is now 3, but his first pair of sneakers were from Pediped and I LOVED them. I honestly had wished I knew about these shoes sooner when Hannah was learning how to walk. For children, these shoes are the next best thing to bare feet because they are flexible and comfy! I know that many of you are looking for shoes for your children that are going to last a long time and I would definitely recommend the Pediped shoes. The only bad thing is that these shoes are only for infants and children, sorry moms!

This month I received a pair of the cute Pediped Flex Jake Shoes in the Chocolate Brown color for my son. These are cute, comfortable for my son’s big feet and they match with almost everything. This is actually my son’s second pair of the Jake style, his first pair was a set of the Flex Jake Shoes in blue (read my past review). This pair of shoes by Pediped has been designed with the Flex Fit System that provides additional insoles that can be insert into the shoe to create a snug fit then can be removed to create more room in the shoe as your child’s foot grows. These insoles can reduce the shoe size by almost half a size and also extends the life of the shoe.

Here are some of the Flex Jake features:

Nubuck upper and leather lining
All natural rubber sole
Sneaker style with elastic laces and a Velcro strap to keep them securely in place
Features the Flex Fit System ™ that allows you to adjust the fit of the shoe for pro-longed wear
Approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association for promoting healthy foot development

If you have a daughter, Pediped has some gorgeous shoes for girls too! If you have a young child that is learning to walk, I think the Pediped shoes are great to start with.

If you are feeling lucky, be sure to enter the Pediped Start Fall In Style Contest to win 5 pairs of Pediped shoes and a $500 Oilily gift certificate. This contest ends on August 24, 2011 so hurry and enter while there is still time left.

You can check out the cute Pediped shoes by visiting: http://www.pediped.com.

Now For The Pediped Originals Giveaway

One LUCKY Mom’s Blog reader is going to win a pair of Pediped Originals too!

1) To enter this giveaway, please leave me a comment on this post telling me what you think about the Pediped shoes! – (This entry is MANDATORY)….

Extra Entries:

#2 – Follow me on Twitter – leave your user name in your comment. (1 extra entry)

#3 – Send a Tweet or Re-Tweet with Twitter @mommye (Leave a comment with link to tweet – 3 extra entries – leave a comment for each – Can be done 2x daily)

#4 – On Facebook, become a fan of Mom’s Blog or Mommy Enterprises or ThisMomCanCook or Mom’s Freebie Blog (leave comment for each – can do all four)

#5 – Like Pediped on Facebook and leave a comment on one of their posts or leave a post on their wall that I sent ya (5 extra entries – leave comment for each)

#9 – “Like” this post on Facebook – see “Like” button at beginning of this post (3 extra entries – leave comment for each)

This giveaway will end on September 2, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. The winner will be chosen at random using “And The Winner Is” plugin from all valid entries and submitted. The winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to contact me with their mailing information before another winner is chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, ages 18 years or older.

Filed Under: Clothing & Shoes Reviews, Giveaways, Mom's Back To School Guide, Product Reviews Tagged With: Pediped Flex Jake Shoes Review

Sharpie Gel Highlighter Review

August 17, 2011 By Stefani 6 Comments

One thing that I probably use almost every day is a highlighter. I will have to say that I prefer to use a yellow highlighter when I do my highlighting, even though I one of my favorite colors is pink. I always am creating “To Do” lists for my home life and business, so I am always busing highlighting the things I get accomplished each day.

Have you ever highlighted something and it smeared it? I have had this problem before many times, especially when I was in college. Sharpie has a new Gel Highlighter pen that is designed to prevent smearing. Their new gel stick technology provides their strongest smear protection across most pen and marker inks and ink jet printouts! I have in my possession these neat new Sharpie Gel Highlighters and I am hooked. I might not go back to a regular highlighter again. I LOVE how it glides on the paper and I think it is NEAT! I even tried to smear my writing on purpose and it didn’t smear….

Here are some cool features of these groovy highlighters:

Won’t bleed through paper
Won’t dry out if left uncapped
Writes as long as a traditional pen-style highlighter
Gel stick conforms to your handwriting style
Twist bottom to advance gel stick

To find out more about Sharpie products, please visit: http://www.sharpie.com.

Filed Under: Mom's Back To School Guide, Product Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: Sharpie Gel Highlighter review

Crystal Vogue Tween Clothing Review

August 17, 2011 By Stefani 2 Comments

One thing I used to enjoy about shopping for my children when they were young were their clothes. When they are young, you can sometimes get away with buying them what you want and what is on sale. When you have tweens and teenagers, you have to have their approval before you buy or you might just waste your money on something you thought they would like and will never wear.

This year while looking for clothes for my daughter Hailey who is a tween this year, I came across Crystal Vogue. This is an online store where you will find cute and stylish clothes for children and tweens.

Hailey receive the Khaki Camo Shorts and she LOVES them. When they arrived, she couldn’t wait to try them on. They fit perfect and she said they they are really comfortable. I think they are really cute too! She will be able to wear these with a variety of tops this year. I really like the style of the pockets on these too! You can find these cute shorts in sizes 4 to 16.

Hailey also received a pair of the Twill Skinny Pants. Since skinny jeans are still in style here in California, Hailey is going to look awesome in these pants this school year.

These are the Rubee Jeans brand that have five pockets that include flap pockets on the knee sides. These pants are blue and made from 98% cotton and 2% spandex, so Hailey has room to stretch in them. In addition to these jeans, Crystal Vogue has a ton of different styles of jeans that Hailey is going to want to grab too!

Like I mentioned before, tweens can be picky and this store has some clothing that my picky daughter thinks is really cute! If you are looking for some cute and stylish clothes for your daughter before she goes back to school, be sure to check out this online store.

You can find the Crystal Vogue collection at: http://www.crystal-vogue.com.

Filed Under: Clothing & Shoes Reviews, Mom's Back To School Guide, Product Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: http://www.crystal-vogue.com/