Category: Product Reviews

Reviewing Citrus Lane: The October “Fall Fun” Box

Yay, finally a chance to do a review of the October Fall Fun box from Citrus Lane!

He looks like he’s excited about his two new sippy cups, but he’s really just waiting for me to throw down some puffs.

I mentioned when I received the box a couple weeks ago that I was in love with its contents, but haven’t been able to post about it until now.

So, what was I so excited about?

  • Munchkin 7oz Click Lock Trainer Cups (value $8.99) – Jack is currently still drinking his milk out of bottles, but will be moving on to sippy cups before you know it. I love the fact that they sent me two really nice sippy cups to try out before we even need them. That way, when we DO want to move onto the next step in baby drinking, we’re all prepared!
  • In my Den from Chronicle Books (value $8.99, plus a 20% off code) – Love this book, which is quite similar to one about a dolphin we received a few months ago. Jack likes the colorful pages and trying to stick his finger (and mouth) on the little bear. It also made me giggle a little (ok, a lot) that I put the “In my Den” book in MY den. Tee hee. Yeah, my husband didn’t think it was very funny either.
  • License to Drool by Bright Starts (value $2.99) – Honestly, I wasn’t really that excited about these keys because we already have a pair at home (the kind you keep in the fridge). However, the moment I gave them to Jack he gave them his approval. He LOVES them… even more than his other pair. The little nubs on one of the keys are apparently awesome in his little tooth-free mouth.
  • BabyGanics Healin’ Groovy (value $7.99, plus a 20% off code)) – This stuff is a natural balm that can be used on baby diaper rash. I don’t know if it works for that, because we’re super lucky that Jack has a healthy tooshie. However, it works great on my dry elbows!
  • DHC Deep Cleansing Oil Mini (value $4.99) – This stuff is sitting in my bathroom for me to try, but I haven’t had a chance to smooth it on yet. It is supposed to remove make up and other traces of your day, but since I’ve been home for 6 days straight I haven’t bothered with any makeup that I’d need to take off…
  • The Red One Fruit Smoothie by Ella’s Kitchen (value $1.49, plus a $5 off $25 code) – Food is always welcome in our house, especially tasty organic squashed fruit food for Jack!

So there you have it, finally my October review. I feel like this box deserves a high rating because Jack and I can actually use everything included. I also love the fact that they included a mommy gift, because frankly I need a gift every once in a while!

However, I have to mention one negative – the box wasn’t valued as high as previous boxes, only $36. One of the things that was so great about previous boxes is that you felt like you were getting a really great deal, in addition to trying new products. The March 2012 box had a value of $91, which made it a no brainer when it cost me $20 (I used a promo code). At a value of $36, I might not be as excited about the box if I had paid full price.*

My typical discloser: 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. As an added bonus to my fabulous readers, you can get 10% off the cost of any subscription (normal cost $25 each month). You’ll save $7.50 on three months, $12.50 on six months, or $25 on twelve months. To redeem the deal, click on my link and enter the word SPRINGFUN when checking out.

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.

*Which I did not. Thanks to some wonderful readers, I was able to redeem enough credits to get this box for free. Thank you so much!

My Thoughts on Citrus Lane

So Tuesday evening Citrus Lane posted on their Facebook page that they were going to be offering a Groupon deal for new subscribers to enjoy three months of their surprise boxes for just $35 (usual price $75).

Being a marketing kinda girl, I thought this was a great idea for them to get the word out to people who are on the fence about trying out their subscription. However, when I clicked on the update to check out the 60ish comments posted by their followers, I saw a bunch of complaints.

Basically, their followers were using the forum to complain about the boxes and also complain that current subscribers weren’t getting a special deal.* Which is totally FINE that they wanted to voice their complaints, I’m just not sure if this was the appropriate place to do so. Each month the company sends out a customer survey to get feedback on the boxes. THAT is the appropriate place for people to comment. Also, Citrus Lane seems to respond quickly to both emails and tweets. This is MY personal experience in dealing with a billing issue that was fixed within 24 hours.

On the status post, in addition to the complaints were worried comments from people who were now not sure whether they should try out the subscription at all (based on the bad comments). So I wanted to speak for a moment about MY experience with Citrus Lane for anyone out there thinking about taking advantage of the Groupon offer.

I have been a subscriber of Citrus Lane since March 2012, when my son was one month old. While I feel that the subscription service is totally worth it, obviously others do not feel quite as happy about the company.

My suggestion to you is to make up your own mind.

I think a lot of it has to do with people’s expectations when they sign up for the subscription. If your goal is to get a monthly treat and be surprised with fun products that you most likely wouldn’t have purchased for yourself, you will probably love Citrus Lane. If you’re going to compare your boxes to others that people received for different age ranges or be angry about a particular product that you might not necessarily care for, you might want to skip the deal.

Feel free to check out my previous box reviews to see if the Citrus Lane subscription boxes sound like something you would like:

I did not post a review of the April box because I wasn’t really thrilled with it… until I actually started using the products and decided that I really liked them. I also did not post a review of the September box – not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I was super busy and didn’t have time to post.

I have been wanting to post my review of the October box, because I really loved its contents – however both my son and I have been sick so I haven’t been able to do a fun photo shoot with the products. I do hope that we are both feeling better soon so I can post that review. And well, it would be nice to NOT feel like I’ve been run over by a snot truck…

Anyways, back to my point. If you are interested in paying the small commitment of $35 to try out three months of surprise gifts, go for it. You can always cancel once the time is up! Click here to access the Groupon offer (good for 10/24/12).

Here’s my typical disclosure: I was not rewarded by Citrus Lane for reviewing their boxes 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 missed out on the Groupon offer and would like to try out the subscription — by using my special link I will receive credits on my account. You can also benefit by using the code SPRINGFUN which will take 10% off the cost of your subscription.

If you do decide to try out Citrus Lane for the very first time, stop back by my blog and let me know what you think!

*Even though the post states that they will be releasing a special deal for current subscribers soon.

Me and My GPS: In a Fight to the Death

My GPS hates me.

No, it’s totally true. The stupid thing hates me and I’m starting to hate him back. And yes, it’s obviously a boy GPS. Even when we’re totally lost the stupid thing won’t own up to it – it just stalls and says “recalculating” over and over again, even though he totally KNEW where we were a second ago!

Can you tell I’m a little riled up over this? And you would be too if you went through the things that I did with the little buttwipe.

Here are my top 3 reasons why I think my GPS is trying to kill me and/or cause my life to be very inconvenient:

#1. I drive into Baltimore City and Washington, DC quite often. Like most large cities, they each have some really ritzy areas and some…um, not so great areas. Like really NOT GREAT areas. In Baltimore those areas have flashing blue lights that are our classy way of telling you to turn around and get the heck out of the area because shiznet is going DOWN! Yeah, well my stupid GPS will take me on a route though the ghetto EVERY SINGLE TIME! If there is an easy way to get from point A to point B, I somehow end up taking a detour through an area where I might get my stupid lost butt kicked. Or carjacked. Or worse.

Oh what’s that little green alert thingie indicating that there is no traffic? LOOK AT THIS… it’s TRAFFIC!!!

#2. I paid extra money to have a snazzy traffic alert thingie for my GPS. Since I drive on pretty much all the terrible roads in the area, I thought it would be great to get a ‘heads up’ on backups so that I can avoid them. It DOES sound great, right? And I’m sure it would be fabulous if the stupid traffic alert actually WORKED! Half the time it’s totally ignoring the fact that I’m sitting in a 10 mile backup. The other half the time it will alert me to traffic…after I’ve already been sitting in it. Um thanks, Mr. GPS, that’s so helpful for you to add 50 minutes to my commute time on your screen. That is obviously what I want to happen, rather than you do your JOB and find me an alternative route.

#3. Speaking of his sense of direction, I really think a GPS should be intuitive and LEARN from its owner which routes are preferred. I know that it’s a better idea to go on 97 then 140 because you skip a ton of traffic lights, but my GPS doesn’t know this (why DOESN’T he know about traffic lights anyways?). It would be nice if he could learn the way I like to go so that it can be included in all future directions. Of course, I wouldn’t have to choose my own route if that darn thing didn’t pick the slowest route every time! I swear it’s like I somehow checked the option for “slowest route with traffic” because that’s the one he always instructs me to follow.

My Awesome Idea
Here’s where I share an idea that’s going to blow your mind – so listen up Garmin, Magellan, TomTom and whatever else GPS maker is trolling the web. Sometimes I find my own route by using Google Maps before I leave on my trip (because it would be silly to trust an expensive device I purchased just for the task of leading me…), so why can’t I somehow upload the route that I WANT to take so that I’m not overriding his stupid directions at every turn? It kind of defeats the purpose of a GPS if I’m still struggling with looking back and forth between the road and my printed directions. Make this happen people! And send me a free unit to test, because this was totally MY idea.

I swear my last GPS wasn’t this stupid or suicidal. That girl – her name was Bridget and she had an English accent – may have gotten confused every so often but it was more endearing (oh Bridget, you silly little thing) than offensive. This little craphole (no, he doesn’t have a name because he doesn’t deserve one) better watch his back, because he may end up experiencing what it’s like to fly…into traffic on the Beltway.