Reviewing Lollacup

The good folks at Lollacup sent me one of their adorable kiddle cups to review, so cue the gratuitous pictures of my little boy!

The cup we were sent is my favorite color, which they call Happy Orange. In addition to being cute, Lollacups are made in the USA and use FDA approved, BPA-free, phthalate-free materials.The little chick head flips open to reveal the straw and flips back closed for when you stick it in the fridge. The straw is weighted on the bottom, which helps your kid when he wants to tilt the cup up (like a bottle) to get more out of it. The straw is also valve-free, which allows a young child to sip out of it without too much effort.

However, if your kid likes to shake the cup over his head to make it rain milk (this isn’t just my kid, right?!) it will NOT keep that from happening.

Ok, bring on the cute pictures!

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Hey mom, is that for me? Because it totally LOOKS like something for me…
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The handle comes off easily so you can fit it in a cup holder AND that little brush thing is a LIFE SAVER for cleaning the straw with a couple quick swipes.
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That’s it Jack, show off the goods!
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See how cute it looks in my fridge?! And yes, I totally moved the messy stuff for this picture…
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Jack thought the box was pretty awesome too. In fact, for the past couple weeks he’s enjoyed putting toys in the box, shaking them around and then taking them out of the box. Works for me!
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Oh hey Potter, can my Little Person guy ride you?

Disclosure: Lollacup provided me with a free cup to review. While I do appreciate the free cup, I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.

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Reviewing Citrus Lane: The February Box & A Rant on FunBurglars

Before I go into my bi-monthly review of the Citrus Lane box we received, I want to take a minute and vent.

When you sign up for a subscription box service, you are purchasing a surprise. The whole idea of the subscription box is that YOU DON’T KNOW what will be inside. It’s like a gift – you might love it or you might hate it. That’s the fun of the game.

You would think that everyone who signs up would understand that, but obviously some don’t. And those people are the ones that I have decided to name the FunBurglars.

Last week, Citrus Lane posted on their Facebook page that most of the February boxes had been delivered and they hoped that people enjoyed them. Well, it was like someone sounded the alarm to release the FunBurglars because some of the comments on their status were just ridiculous. My favorite was the person who complained that the “plot was so so” for a book her baby received. Um, it’s a BABY BOOK – what kind of plot were you expecting??!book

Look, I get it. Sometimes my kid doesn’t like things – whether I purchased them myself or received them in our monthly Citrus Lane box. But you know what, kids are fickle creatures. One month they might not be into books and the next your little guy might sit on the floor entranced with the sensation of turning a page back and forth and back again. So, here’s my advice to you: CHILL THE FRICK OUT.

If you cannot handle not knowing what is going to be in your monthly subscription box, cancel your subscription.  Don’t buy a box and then whine about how your kid doesn’t like the particular packaging on an item. Take that $25 and go buy yourself whatever it is you wanted in the first place!

However, if you’re checking out blog reviews to see what TYPES of things might be in the boxes and are excited to try them out, go for it. If you go in with an open mind and a good attitude that you may or may not love everything initially, you’ll probably be pretty darn happy with the experience.

Ok, rant done. Now let’s get into talking about this month’s box. Here’s what we got:

I Spy in the Ocean book from Chronicle Books – This is a typical sized board book with holes cut out so that your little one can see through to the next page. Jack thinks it’s also pretty fun to poke your little fingers though the holes while paging through the book. The book is beautifully illustrated and I’m happy to add it to our collection.

Toddler Tambourine from Hohner Kids – This lightweight and durable kid’s tambourine is AWESOME! So far I’ve rocked out like a crazed belly dancer (which delighted Jack and scared my dog), we had a family jam session with both my husband and I jumping around, AND Jack has shook the tambourine so hard he fell over. LOVE THIS TOY!

Here… doesn’t it look like I’m having fun?!

me and my dancing

Little Buddy Wipes from Me4Kidz – A cute little pack of wipes for wiping off your messy kid’s hands and face. They’re useful, they smell good and they’re small enough to fit in a diaper bag.  Works for me!

toothbrushingTooth Gel from Branam – We just started with kiddie teeth brushing at our house and so far Jack is a fan. This teeth gel is free from fluoride, SLS and saccharin, so I’m happy to have the FULL SIZED tube to try out.

Lip Balm from Pangea Organics – YAY, it’s a MOMMY GIFT! Pretty much my only complaint over the last few months is the lack of mom gifts and this one is incredible. It’s a brand I haven’t heard of and an item I’d never buy myself, but that’s the point! It’s a yummy lavender cardamom scent and does a great job of keeping my lips moist and kissable. And when you’ve got a cute little guy running around the house, you tend to kiss him a lot!lipgloss

So, now it’s time for the important question… Was it Worth It?

YES. We liked every single thing in this month’s box, but even if we didn’t it was fun to get a box of gifts in the mail. I love trying new products from companies I might not have heard of. I especially love having something new delivered to the house each month to entertain me AND my toddler!

I do find it interesting that Citrus Lane didn’t list the value for each item in this month’s box. However, maybe that’s better so that people aren’t adding up the exact value of every box and using that fuel to light their fire of unhappiness.

My typical disclaimer: I was not rewarded by Citrus Lane for reviewing their box on my blog. I review the boxes, because I feel like other mom’s would be interested in seeing what they’ll get if they sign up for the monthly service.

However, if you decide that you would like to sign up for your own subscription and use my link, I will receive credits on my account. Click here to access the Citrus Lane website with my special link and you will receive $10 off your order!

If you would like to see any of my previous Citrus Lane box review posts, click on the “Product & Company Reviews/Recommendations tab on the right hand side of this page.

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BIG Mistake

You know how I’m a little bit obsessed with delicious marshmallows?

I mean, I’ve done really well at cutting back a little bit, but gourmet marshmallows are pretty darn hard to resist. I did that product review for Plush Puffs where I was forced (FORCED I tell you!) to taste four different flavors of their amazingly awesome products. I also was given gifts from my friends (and boss), which of course also had to be tasted (aka devoured).

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Christmas gift from my boss. His note said “one is for those tough days and one is to mask your obvious drinking problem.” Best. Boss. Ever!

So yeah, I’m a bit of a marshmallow aficionado.

Well, what I didn’t tell you was that I actually reached out to four different gourmet marshmallow companies asking if I could please, please, pretty please sample their marshmallows so that I can do a review for my blog. I figured, it couldn’t hurt.

I mean, on the blogosphere scale, my blog is considered pretty small potatoes. I don’t have millions of monthly views or thousands of Facebook fans. But the views and fans I have are pretty ridiculously awesome and loyal, so I’d much rather celebrate the quality of you guys over the quantity of others.

Anyways, it was pretty much one of the best days of my year (besides, um, the whole birthing of my son thing…) when the PRESIDENT of Plush Puffs emailed me back (after reading my missing marshmallow story) and said since I was obviously such a fan of gourmet marshmallows that they would love to send me some to taste.

AWESOME, right?!

So everybody wins. I felt like a BIG DOG and got to taste some magnificent marshmallows. They LOVED the review and the silly pictures I posted, and it cost them less than $30 retail (which I’m sure is a lot less not-retail).

Good relationships all around!

What’s funny is that one of the other gourmet marshmallow companies I contacted emailed me back with quite a different response. Instead of just saying something to the effect of “thanks, but no thanks” or just ignoring me altogether, they informed me that my Klout score wasn’t high enough for them to communicate with me or my readers.

Um, what?

I mean, I totally expected them to ask about page views and Facebook fan counts and all that jazz, but to base their entire decision on my Klout* score?

No engaging me at all. Just a quick (yet a little bit rude) email that I wasn’t important enough for them to bother with.

Oh, okay.

And honestly, it really didn’t even bother me THAT MUCH. I mean, I’m cool. Small (or even medium sized) companies might not have the budget to send samples to every random blogger girl who asks. Even if that blogger girl is the biggest fan of gourmet marshmallows in all the land. I pretty much forgot about it and even forgot which company it was (which I looked up for this post, but won’t be sharing because I’m not mean like that).

Anyways, here is where I’m slowly making my way towards my point. Which {spoiler alert} is, “Always be nice to the little guy.”

I work at a university and I’m planning a marshmallow toasting event for next month. It’s going to be a fun (and admittedly a bit kooky) way for people to network and bond in a professional setting while making and enjoying some s’mores. Fun, right?

Well, I decided that it would be nice to have a little goodie bag item for the attendees of the event. A little somethin’ somethin’ that they could take with them to remember what a nice time they had. And that somethin’ somethin’ is going to be a package of gourmet marshmallows.

So, I ordered 5 cases of marshmallows from Plush Puffs.

That’s right, I ordered FIVE CASES – because they gave me a chance and had incredibly awesome customer service that left me with a smile on my face (and a sugary marshmallow in my mouth).

This moment has been running around in my head since I’ve made the order:

So yeah, always be nice to the little guy. Due to their awesome response to my email and spending (maybe) $30 on a sample pack, Plush Puffs can count me as one of their fans. In addition to that, my readers know how great they are and now a whole bunch of young educated professionals are going to get to sample their product too. If they love it, they’ll tell their friends and so on and so on.

Be nice to the little guy!

That flustered mom that you’re being rude to because her family has the audacity to come to your restaurant for dinner might be the same one who has a blog with 100,000 loyal readers. The tired traveler that you screw over on his hotel room reservation might be the guy who is posting his review on Trip Advisor. The badly dressed prostitute might just have a wealthy suitor who is happy to let her spend a bazillion dollars on his credit card.

You never know, do you?
So take a deep breath and try to be nice.

And send me marshmallows. That’s a good moral of the story too.

*For those of you unfamiliar with Klout, it’s a way of measuring “social influence” by looking at your online posts and interactions and assigning you a corresponding number. By the way, my Klout score is currently a respectable 54 thankyouverymuch.

PS. This is not a sponsored post and I didn’t receive payment in product or money for saying nice things about Plush Puffs. They just rock.

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