Mommin' It Up!

December 9, 2013December 16, 2013

Slice = online shopping organized {+ iPad Mini giveaway!}

This post and giveaway is sponsored by the Slice app. All opinions about the app are my own.

As I have mentioned like, 400 times, we have three family birthdays between November 16th and Christmas. That’s two kids and a husband I’m buying birthday presents for BEFORE Christmas and then of course, I’m also buying presents for everyone else in our family by Christmas. Oh, AND my mom and grandma give me money to buy all my kids presents from them, too. So I am buying a crap-ton of gifts this time of year! I buy so much stuff that I have to make a list of what I’ve ordered for whom (and whether it’s a birthday or a Christmas present) to make sure I’m not forgetting a gift or doubling up on one. It’s fairly mind-boggling. Like most savvy and super-busy mamas, I do most of my shopping online. All of this crazy birthmaspalooza shopping has led to piles and piles of packages in my living room, my bedroom closet, and my office closet! I vaguely take notice of what they are and then when the birthday comes around, I dig through the packages hoping that what I ordered has actually arrived. I’m such an organizational genius!

There's much more...in my bedroom and office closets. — There’s much more…in my bedroom and office closets.

So when I got an email asking me to try out Slice, an app that is basically the perfect assistant for a busy online shopper, I knew I had to check it out. Before I agreed to work on a review and giveaway with Slice, I downloaded the app to make sure that it would really be a helpful tool. After all, there wouldn’t be a point if I thought the app was a dud.

Slice is the opposite of a dud! It IMMEDIATELY proved very useful! I signed up, connected it with the two different email accounts I use for online ordering, and WHAM – soon my Slice app had a neat list for me of what I’d ordered, whether it had been shipped or not, when it was expected, or if it had already been delivered. Oh, and uh…how much I’d spent (ouch!). It even reminded me about some things I forgot I’d ordered…oops! Let me show you (I wish I could show you my OWN screen shots, but then several people would know what I’d bought them for Christmas, soo…here are some from Slice):

(I find it humorous that there are only a couple items for this person! Mine currently says 6 Pending, 1 Shipped, 1 Delivered.)

Slice not only tells you what packages are coming and when (you can even use the app to TRACK YOUR PACKAGES, how great it that?!?!?), it also tells you if there have been any price drops on the items you’ve ordered. A lot of retailers offer price adjustments but most customers are too busy to watch for them. Now, Slice will do that for you! So if that Furby Boom you ordered for your little hellraiser goes on sale a few days AFTER you buy it, Slice will send you a nice little notification so you can go get yourself a price adjustment!

Another fab feature Slice offers is a recall notice. If something you’ve ordered is recalled for any reason, Slice will notify you via the app – so you’ll have a personal alert you can’t miss!

Not only will you get an alert if an item you’ve purchased has been recalled, Slice will also provide you with a link to get the info you need from the Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls Lists so you’ll have all the info you need at your fingertips immediately. Safety has never been more convenient!

If I haven’t already convinced you that you NEED Slice (and it’s available for iOS, Android, and the WEB – so you have no excuse not to get it!!), here’s a little incentive. If you sign up for Slice via this blog post, you’ll be entered to win an iPad Mini!!

That’s right, all you have to do to enter is sign up for Slice, then come back to this post to leave a comment telling me that you did so. When you comment you must comment with the email address that you used to sign up for Slice. My friends at Slice and I will be verifying that those email addresses are valid when we pick a winner! If your email isn’t signed up, ya can’t win.

Are you ready to have your online shopping be ultra-organized? Wouldn’t it be great to win an iPad Mini this time of year? Go for it! Simply sign up for Slice on the web, for iOs, or for Android then come back here and comment with your email address letting me know you did so.

One winner will be chosen at random from qualified email addresses on Monday, December 16 at 3 pm EST. This is valid in the US only, winners must reside in the US. GOOD LUCK!

Happy shopping and Slicing this holiday season!

December 8, 2013December 17, 2013

I love coffee, and I love giveaways!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Sturm Foods, Inc. I received a promotional item and product samples as a thank you for participating.

Guess what. y’all? In my 35th year (which has now passed, I know, I know) I became a full-fledged coffee addict. And I’m not just addicted to it. I LOVE IT!! I can laughingly remember a time when I was *just* a “social” coffee drinker. HA! Hilarious. Now it’s 2-3 cups every morning and often an “afternoon” cup as well. And I like ’em fancy! Sweetened and with a flavored creamer, yes I do!

Seeing as I love coffee long-time, I was very happy to review these Caza Square and Grove Trail coffee and hot chocolate K-cups. Because, baby, it’s COLD outside! ‘Tis the season to be guzzling warm, tasty beverages. Because I am a giving person, I took my boxes of Caza Square and Grove Trail to our house church meeting one night to share with the group. These individual servings were so convenient because everyone could make the drink of their choice! And we had a lot to choose from.

Dark roast coffees are my fave so I went for the Caza Trail dark roast first. It was sooo good! I like mine with one packet of Splenda and a little French Vanilla creamer. Mmmm!

coffee 2 Jenny — This is my “I love this coffee!” face.

Next I went for the Peppermint Hot Cocoa because peppermint & chocolate together are magnificent, especially this time of year! It did not disappoint, either! Between my friends and I, we tried all 5 of the cocoa and coffee flavors I brought, and everyone agreed that they tasted great! My BFF Luanne especially loved the Grove Square Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa.

Here is where I confess I tried every single flavor. 🙂 I didn’t down five full cups though…I sampled some of friends’ drinks when I’d had my fill. I was impressed by how truly different the three hot cocoas tasted. You could really tell there was a real flavor difference between the three varieties. The cappuccino was yummy, too, but I’m still a dark roast coffee girl at heart.

Again, I just can’t stress enough how convenient the K-cups were, allowing us each to make an individual drink (or two) in whatever flavor we craved.

If you use K-cups, you’re in luck! I’m giving away one pack of K-cups in the Donut Shop Coffee variety! All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post and tell me how you like your coffee! Tell me your favorite flavor or what you do or don’t add to it.

One winner will be chosen at random on Saturday, December 14th at noon EST. Good luck and happy coffee drinking!

December 7, 2013December 7, 2013

Transformers Construct-Bots are Creative and FUN!

This post is part of a sponsored review with Hasbro and Mom it Forward Blogger Network. All opinions about the product are mine and my son Joshua’s!

Like his father before him, Joshua looooooves Transformers. So when I got the opportunity to review the new Transformers Construct-Bots, I was not going to turn it down. And my boy sure was happy! As soon as I gave it to him, he vanquished the packaging and started building his Construct-Bot.

The cool thing about Construct-Bots is you can build them, then customize their weapons and body parts any way you want. So your child can make them really unique. Plus – the parts are interchangeable with ALL Transformers Construct-Bots, so your kiddo can even make a hybrid Autobot/Decepticon if he or she wants to!

Joshua had lots of fun showing me the different things he could do with his Construct-Bots’ weapons.

Another really fun feature of the Construct-Bots is that the robots transform into a vehicle without being taken apart! So cool!

Of course, the vehicles can then be customized as well. Here’s Joshua’s “version 2” of the car:

I love that this is a toy that fuels Joshua’s creativity- he is SUCH a creative kid and enjoys toys like this that allow him to think outside the box – and also gives him an opportunity to play with Daddy! Like I said, my husband loves Transformers too! They had fun working on the Construct-Bot car together.

Immediately after Joshua got his Construct-Bot together, he said, “This is an awesome toy! I need a Decepticon to fight him!” Since I like the toy a lot, too, I ran out to Target and got him another couple-few for Christmas (shopping for my Grandma to give him.) He’s going to be so excited! (And, well-played, Hasbro!) All your kids’ favorite Transformers like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Starscream are available as Construct-Bots.

Joshua is having a GREAT time with his Transformers Construct-Bot! These are great toys and very reasonably priced! Joshua has played with his a ton in the past few days and I can’t wait til he opens the ones he’ll get for Christmas.

Think this might be a good gift for your kiddo? Find out more about Transformers Construct-Bots, on Facebook, or follow Hasbro on Twitter.