Category: Reviews

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a thank me for my participation.

Have I mentioned lately that I  am addicted to LOVE COFFEE? Oh, I have? Well, just to make sure you know that I am in deep hot-and-heavy love with coffee, I am blogging about it again.  I’ve been drinking three cups in the morning and one in the afternoon for quite a while now. Lest the romance become stale, I’ve found a new way to enjoy it – I’ve brought a third party into the relationship. Scandal! Here’s my new paramour, the  NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto.

The NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto is a singler-serve coffee maker – the fastest-growing single-serve solution, in fact. It also makes delicious teas and can pump out gourmet beverages either hot OR cold. Hooray for versatility! I really love the convenience of being able to make a fancy, tasty drink in under a minute and having multiple varieties and flavors to choose from – it’s GREAT for entertaining! If you have (shudder!) a friend who doesn’t love coffee, you can offer them a Chai Tea Latte, Chococino, or Nestea Peach Iced Tea. Something for everyone, wheee!

What I most love about the Dolce Gusto is that it’s sooo easy to use. I’m pretty good at messing stuff up and I think the Dolce Gusto is Jenny-proofed (which is the same as idiot-proofed, I suppose!) All you do is put water in, put a coffee capsule in, and press either the hot or cold button. (Oh, and UM…don’t forget to place a mug under the spout first. Not that I’ve ever forgotten…)

Then, watch your tasty drink get dispensed right before your eyes…

…and enjoy!

So, I know many of you may have tried different single-serve beverage makers, and you might be wondering what’s different about the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto. Why is it so speeeecial? Well, I’ll tell you! NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto is the only machine that truly delivers delicious, coffee house quality creations every time with patented smart capsule technology delivering up to 15 bars of professional pressure and espresso technology. I love the way you can personalize your flavors by choosing how much of each flavor you want in your drink.

And speaking of personalizing…I added a little flavor to my frothy Chococino hot chocolate. Because ’tis the holiday season, and the season for peppermint! So I concocted an absolutely scrumptious treat, the Peppermint Chococino!

Making my Peppermint Chococino was as simple as can be! First, I prepared a NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Chococino as directed. Then, I added two drops of peppermint extract – you can add more or less to taste. Then, I topped it off with some whipped cream and holiday-themed sprinkles. Ta-da! The perfect, delicious, festive holiday drink ready in a snap!

My hubby and I are really enjoying the Dolce Gusto and so are the friends we’ve entertained this holiday season! Speaking of the holidays, the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto would make a great gift, and you can get 20% off on one of these fabulous machines with coupon code “GustoGift!” (without quotes, including the exclamation point).

So tell me, have you tried the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto yet? What’s your favorite flavor? Do you like to use it for hot or cold drinks?

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.

 

 

I’ve always been an organizational nightmare. People, I am a “piler”, not a “filer”. But I SWEAR to you , I know where everything in IS in my piles. I know which pile a particular object is in. I promise! There is a method to my madness.

Ok that last line isn’t really true.

Recently Staples reached out to me to see if I’d like to try the Google Nexus 7 tablet and a planner from Moleskine to perhaps help me get organized. Of course I said YES! I always *do* have good intentions. So I tested the products out to see what they could do for me.

I’ll be honest. Before getting into any organizational stuff with the Nexus 7, I just plain fell in love with it.

 

I love the 7-inch-size. I love how lightweight it is. I can definitely carry it everywhere – a mobile planner, if you will. And I love that is it screaming FAST. I can’t believe how fast the thing runs! I don’t have to spend any time waiting for anything to load. It’s just – boom! – ready to go, no matter what app I’m using.

Another great feature is that different users can create a profile, so Bobby and I can each have our own stuff on this tablet and easily switch between users. We also have our google calendars synced to a family calendar which we can view on the Nexus which is awesome for checking schedules and making future plans.

Of course the Nexus 7 does all the “fun” stuff you want a tablet to do – games, reading apps, music, and it takes great photos and video. It’s super-functional for work AND play, and I am really, really loving it! I’m typically an iPad user, but this tiny tablet has really won me over. It’s just so convenient to take with me and have my schedule at my fingertips. I’ve got the kids’ school calendars downloaded and saved on it as well!

No more getting online every time I need to look at the kids’ school calendar? HALLELUJAH!

Now, if you’re a more traditional person as far as organizing and planning goes, you’ll love the Moleskine Professional Planner I reviewed.

This thing is a total godsend for PLANNER NERDS, and you know who you are! I know some of you just loooove a planner. You want to write things down in pen and ink. You want to take notes, jot down ideas and circle, star, highlight, underline, and color-coordinate stuff. That is not me, so while I like the Moleskine planner as much as I can like a planner, I am sticking to digital. But if YOU are a planner-lover, you’ve gotta treat yourself to this! It’s got a sturdy hard cover so it can take some abuse. AND it’s got *Detachable* to-do lists! I have to admit that feature does excite me a lot because I love the cathartic list-making-and-crossing-off experience!

It really is a beautiful book for project-planning. All the dates are blank so you can use the pages whenever you need to.

To make a long story short, these are both beautiful, highly-functional products that will not only help YOU stay organized if that’s what you’re in the market for, but make great gifts as well!

You can get them both at Staples, online or in-store! Just one more way you can say “that was easy!” this season.

Are you in the market for a tablet this year for you? Or does someone you love have one on their gift list?