Category: Product Reviews

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).

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.

I was in a ‘treating myself’ kind of mood last week and had the brilliant idea to order myself a grown up gift box. I’ve been loving Jack’s monthly Citrus Lane gift boxes, so I thought that getting a box especially for me would be just the thing I needed to pull myself out of the winter sadness that everyone seems to get this time of year.

I googled around for some different subscription box options and ended up ordering the “Lovely” gift box from Indie Gift Box. The company works with independent artists and small businesses to send you a few different surprise items. I’m obsessed with etsy and pretty much want everything they show on their main page, so I thought this would be a good chance for me to try something new.

And I wanted to love it.

I really, really truly did. And I did love the CONCEPT of the box…. just not the actual box.

My “Lovely” box contained:

• Three vinyl decals from threethirtysix (some small hearts, a rose and a small ‘you are loved’ heart.
• A handmade Valentine’s Day card from issaino.
• A bottle of citrus scented lotion from Blue Orchid Botanicals.
• A pair of fabric button earrings from Puddingcups.
• A postcard and silver-tone minimalist necklace from EEF LLC.

The box was $20.00 + $6.00 shipping. The value of the box was more than that, which is great. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like anything from the box.

Actually, that’s a lie. I did like the Valentine’s Day postcard. It is really cute and I’ll probably give it to my husband. Since my hubby is my only Valentine, I guess he’ll get the other card too. Or I can leave it on his dresser with a note to write something nice inside for me, but that sounds really super lame.

I kind of like the “you are loved” vinyl decal, but I have no idea what I would use it for. On their website they show the decals used on laptop covers, but I’m thinking a “You are Loved” decal might be a bit inappropriate for my work laptop. Well, maybe not inappropriate. Just weird.

I love lotions and potions, but really do not like the citrus scent of the lotion from Blue Orchid Botanicals. That’s obviously a personal preference thing though, so I’ll probably throw it in a box of stuff that I grab from for giveaways in the hopes that someone else would enjoy it.

The fabric button earrings are absolutely NOT my style. Um, I actually kind of hate them. Which is so mean, I know. And I’m totally sorry if you’re the person who made these things. Maybe a small child might like them? Or a hipster? I don’t know. Maybe not. They’re pretty ugly. (Of course, I just went on their page to grab a picture for you guys and there is a comment from someone who loved her earrings. So maybe I’m just so terribly out-of-style that I don’t know cute when I see it? Here’s the link).

The necklace actually DOES look like something that I would wear, but in person it looks super cheap. There are other necklaces on the EEF website that I like a lot better than the one I was sent (especially the cute star), but that’s the beauty of surprise gift boxes… you DON’T pick out what you get.

So instead of this box being a super awesome gift to myself that I’m excited to share with you, it’s just kind of a disappointment.

I don’t have anything against the company, I’m sure that someone else who received my exact box might totally love everything included. Just not me. And I’m kind of kicking myself for wasting the $26.00, when all I’m going to use is the $2 postcard. Needless to say, I will not be ordering another Indie Gift Box for myself.

And before anyone points it out, I know I sound like a total sourpuss today. I’m actually in a totally fine mood. I was just shocked that I didn’t really like anything in this box. Maybe my standards were too high, but I really expected more. There are so many wonderful artists out there who are making reasonably priced crafts that I just thought there might be SOMETHING that I loved in this box.

Oh well, I tried.

I do still have high hopes for two other subscription boxes that will be delivered to my door this month: the January boxes from both Citrus Lane and Bluum. The Bluum box is a one-time tryout thing because I came across a 50% discount, so maybe it will be a surprise winner that is exploding with awesomeness.

So here’s your chance to chime in. Have you tried a subscription box service for you or your kids? They have boxes for EVERYTHING now – I saw some with everything you need to make a recipe, monthly craft kits for kids (that I’d totally do), makeup samples, and even sassy adult playthings!

Update: I used my “You are loved” and heart decals and I absolutely LOVE them now. Check it out!