Product Reviews - Pocketful of Joules

Not Geeky Enough?

I’m a winner.

No, really. Quirky Chrissy had a contest and I totally won a $25 gift certificate for Think Geek. Cool, right?

I’ve never actually checked out the Think Geek website before though, so it was pretty fun clicking around to decide what I would get for my free $25 of awesomeness.

After a bunch of clicking here and there I realized that I’m not really THAT geeky. I’ve never actually watched a full episode of Doctor Who, I’m not that into Star Wars OR Star Trek, and I have no idea what a Minecraft is.

Hmm… I always through I had a little bit of geek going on. Maybe I’m more of a nerd instead? Which one is the one that likes to read? Would it be a geek or a nerd if you’re totally not ashamed when this song* comes on your Pandora mix station at work?

After my clicky-clicky travels, here are some of the items that made me giggle:

Campfire Cologne – What?! My husband can smell like a campfire? Heck, rub a marshmallow on him and I’m IN!

Texting Umbrella – With the texting umbrella I don’t have to choose between “staying dry and staying online,” so there’s that.

Bacon Soap – Who DOESN’T want bacon soap? It would go delightfully with the campfire cologne.

Secret Decoder Ring – I actually kind of want this ring, but I’d have to buy one for all my friends so that we can have secret conversations. Oh and I’m totally bringing back handwritten notes on lined notebook paper too while I’m at it.

Scrolling LED Belt Buckle – This would be perfect for BlogHer. I could promote my blog name AND have random people staring at my crotch!

Cosplay Pajamas – Oh look, some special pajamas for sexytime!

After much consideration, I think I’ve decided to go with something that is just very, very ME…

So a great big THANK YOU to Chrissy for the gift certificate! I’m going to rock the crap out of my Wonder Woman t-shirt.

* By the way, what is UP with the mostly-bald guy’s random head eyebrows he has going on? And am I the only one who wasn’t expecting the Barbie Girl to be a tattooed brunette?

What’s Better than a Chick Party? A Chic Par-DIY!

Do you guys remember when I did a review of a Brit Kit a few months ago? I called it Having a Polka Dot Party with Myself because even though I had the makings of an awesome party… I didn’t actually have time for a party.

Well, fast forward to last weekend because I linked up with my friends at Brit + Co again as part of their brand-spanking-new Brit Co-op!

As a member of the Brit Co-op, they provided me with their May Brit Kits so I could have a party (or actually a par-DIY) with my girlfriends. It was the perfect excuse for me to have my friends over AND gave us something to do while we talked, drank wine, talked, munched on snacks, talked and um… talked.

Part of the fun in hosting the party was that I had no idea what the craft would be until a large box arrived at my house a couple weeks before the event. My only hint was in the original invitation — it would be something beachy. As soon as the package arrived, I ripped that box open like a rabid spider monkey and found a couple of canisters of tea (thank you to the Blackbird Tea Company!) and kits with all the ingredients to make a…

DIY Chic Weekend Tote:

Canvas tote bag
Three bottles of fabric paint – magenta, navy and gold
Gold studs
Paintbrush
Painters tape

Everyone had such a great time and I was surprised that each person’s tote bag turned out so unique when we all had the same kits to work from. I especially loved that the crafting party gave me a reason to take some time for myself to have friends over. Even better, since everything was included in the kit all I had to do was provide some munchies!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the par-DIY:

blog 2 — Delicious, right? I made up a recipe for the oversized marshmallow “s’mores” that I think I’ll probably post on Friday if you guys are interested.

blog 1 — I unintentionally matched the kits with my cheapo tablecloths I picked up to protect my kitchen table. Um, I mean that totally happened on purpose because I am very, very stylish.

blog 3 — Bestie Annie and sister Katie getting their tape on!

blog 4 — Me and my buddy Jessie. I have no idea why I look like a giant next to her in this picture because we’re basically the same height (check out the last picture if you don’t believe me!)

BLOG 5 — Fabulous friends, Kendall and Ilana — I LOVED their bag designs!

blog 6 — All of us with our gorgeous totes. Bring on the beach!

I wish I could have invited all of you to join us, because it was like a grown up version of summer camp. However, one of you CAN kind of join us because I have an extra kit that I’m giving away!

All you have to do is leave me a comment on this blog post and tell me your last DIY project (whether it went well, or not). All comments left between now and noon on Tuesday, June 11^th will be entered to win a DIY Chic Weekend Tote Brit Kit. In addition to your entry here, you can earn one additional entry by “liking” the status on my Facebook page that says “Like this status for an extra entry!” I will choose one winner by using a random number generator.

Disclosure: Brit + Co provided me with the Brit Kits for free. I was not required to review the kits or even write a blog post about the party. I just wanted to because we had so much fun and I could see this being a cool idea for a bridal shower, baby shower or birthday.

6/11/13 Update – Sara S is the winner of the DIY Chic Weekend Tote from Brit + Co!

Oogaa Love

Do you remember a month or so ago when I couldn’t figure out how to use a placemat?

Yes, I’m quite the smarty pants.

I just wasn’t quite sure what to do with the crumbs after we were done using the mat that we received in our April Citrus Lane box. Luckily, Sam, the founder of Oogaa set me straight. That’s right, she somehow came across my little ol’ blog and reached out. Such a sweetheart!

Even sweeter, is that she sent Jack an Oogaa silicone mealtime set! Just for funsies.

I wasn’t required to write a blog post about it or anything, but we finally had a chance to test it out yesterday and OF COURSE I had to take some pictures.

Check out my saucy little minx…

Really mom, you’re going to try to feed me when I’ve been doing it myself for months?!

Oh, you want me to try the plane spoon? Okay…

My favorite part of the set is that the bowl is a softer silicone. So when Jack decides he’s had enough and throws it on the floor it doesn’t scare the bejesus out of me. Because, frankly nobody wants to be missing their bejesus!

Disclosure: In case you skipped over the first part of this post, I received this set for free but wasn’t required to write about it. All thoughts are my own.