Category: Product Reviews

Reviewing Citrus Lane: The July “Bon Voyage” Box

Let me start out by saying that I was extremely excited for this month’s box. Within the next few weeks Jack will be taking his first plane trip to Chicago and also spending a week down in Ocean City on the beach with my family.

The July “Bon Voyage” box from Citrus Lane!

When I found out that the theme for July was “Bon Voyage” with the goal of making traveling with your baby both easier and more fun, I may have yelled out “Wheeheewww” in the office and then had to explain myself to my boss.

Citrus Lane did something new this month and released a YouTube video review of the box before it was shipped.

I think that the video was really cool and a neat idea, but in my opinion they should have waited to post it until a week after they shipped the boxes out. Part of the fun is the anticipation of receiving the box in the mail and then the surprise of what goodies are inside. I tried really hard to resist watching the video, but gave in and was totally disappointed in myself afterwards. It was like finding all your Christmas gifts in the closet the week before Christmas – it totally takes away the fun of Christmas Eve!

The June box arrived at my house a few days ago and here is what I found:

Nom, nom, nom…Hippo likes baby food!

• Tiny Love Harry Hippo Stroller Toy ($7.99 value) This is a really cute little stroller toy and when you pull on its string it does a little wiggle. I already have a few different stroller toys, but this one is a bit more compact. I will definitely be taking this on the plane and using the (much more awesome than usual) clip to attach it to the seat in front of us.

Potter thinks that the bracelet is really cool, but not really his mommy’s style. Isn’t it weird how both me and my dog think alike?

• Chewbeads Bangle ($14.50 value) Hmm… A bit of a mixed reaction on this. I really, really like that they included something for the mommy, which is also useful for a teething baby (it’s made of 100% silicone for chewing). It’s not really my style to wear normally, but if Jack likes it than I can try it out. However, since Jack was sleeping during today’s photo shoot, Potter got his chance to admire the bracelet.

• California Baby Travel Set ($7.50 value and 10% off code) I’m familiar with the California Baby brand because my doctor recently recommended it for their baby sunscreen. The brand is pretty expensive, but since Jack is a preemie, it makes sense to use the best stuff possible (especially because you’re not even supposed to use sunscreen on your child until they are 6 months old). This month’s box includes shampoo/body wash, lotion and diaper rash cream in the perfect sizes to throw in our suitcase.

• On-the-Go Baby Laundry Detergent ($1.99 value) Now this came in PERFECT timing for our trip! I’m hoping to not have to do any laundry on any of our upcoming trips, but if I do these little packets are perfect for washing yucky clothes in the sink. I will definitely be throwing a couple packets in while packing.

• Me4Kidz Diaper Bag Buddy ($5.95 value)This is a pretty awesome little kit – it contains: disposable diaper trash bags, antiseptic wipes, hand sanitizer, latex free bandages, organic tush wipes, single use thermometer, and a coupon for wipes. And look how tiny it is — not only can you keep it in your diaper bag, it easily fits in a purse or even your glove compartment!

Look how tiny!

• Ella’s Kitchen Organic Baby Food Stage 1 ($1.69 value) Jack started food a week or so ago (so far his favorite is green beans) and I’ve been keeping my eyes open for good baby food options. I plan on making some myself, but still need some pre-packaged stuff to use when traveling. This pouch is 100% organic fruits and vegetables with no additives. The best part, no refrigeration is required, so they’re perfect to keep in the diaper bag for emergencies.

• Sincerely Inc – 10 Free Postagrams ($10.00 value) I’m going to consider this the only thing I’m not too excited about. In theory it sounds nice, using a free Postagram app you can turn your photos into printed, personalized postcards right from your phone. I just don’t know if I’d actually bother to use this. I guess only time will tell!

So, was this month’s box worth it?
Yes.

I didn’t have any “oh my gosh I love this sooo much” moments like I did with the hat, book and teething toy from the May box. However, I think most of what we received will come in handy over the next couple months. Best of off, it contains things that I wouldn’t have necessarily bought myself, but seem fun to try out. So, I’ll consider that another win Citrus Lane!

One thing I’d like to see in the future though – it would be great if they could let us know the next month’s theme when we receive our box. That way we can get excited and keep that anticipation going a little longer!

Here’s my typical disclosure: 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. 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.

Check out my other Citrus Lane box reviews:
March 2012: Dining Out
May 2012: Fun in the Sun
June 2012: Little Artists

Reviewing the Tot Swap: Is it Worth It?

A couple days ago, I posted about my plans to go and check out my first Tot Swap.

To recap it for you – my strategy was to infiltrate the warehouse like a sale hunting ninja and come out on the other end with just what I actually needed for baby Jack.

However, when you put my friend Lindsay and me together chaos tends to happen, so I anticipated us shoving baby hats on our heads while trying to fit into bouncy seats.

So, how did we do?

We pretty much won gold medals for shopping!

Here’s what we ended up with:

6 month sized clothes
Thought I needed: just a hoodie and a couple pairs of shorts
Purchased: 2 hoodies, 1 overall shorts and 1 pair of shorts
WIN

I would totally wear these if they were in my size!

9 month sized clothes
Thought I needed: everything for Fall
Purchased: A ton of stuff for Fall
WIN (Update: No longer a WIN, once I did all the laundry I realized that I actually bought NO 9 month clothes. Oops. Looks like I’ll be bargain hunting again…)

12 month sized clothes
Thought I needed: everything for Fall/Winter
Purchased: A ton of stuff for Fall/Winter
WIN

18 month sized clothes
Thought I needed: nothing – hold off until he grows more
Purchased: A couple things, but they were only $2!
WIN

Of course Jack needs a Captain Awesome hoodie!

Activity Gym
Thought I needed: one for my mom’s house
Purchased: Yes
WIN

Cheap Organizing Boxes or Baskets
Thought I needed: a few for random areas of my house
Purchased: None, nothing available.
BOO

Crawling to Walking Toys
Thought I needed: 2 – 4 to divide between my house and my parent’s house
Purchased: 3 – 1 Fisher price stand up piano, 1 VTech Paint and Learn, 1 Little Tykes Tool Bench. I would have bought one more piano-type toy, but there weren’t any!
WIN

Books
Thought I needed: Some more cardboard books and anything Dr. Seuss
Purchased: NONE. I felt like they were all super overpriced for a consignment sale
BOO

Childproofing Stuff
Thought I needed: a few things to start childproofing the house
Purchased: None. They had a few things, but not what I was looking for
BOO

Other Stuff
Thought I needed: Nothing Else…unless it was a really good price!
Purchased: a baby sized tonka car and dump truck, an adorable wooden pull toy and a set of blocks with car/truck/plane stuff inside.
WIN

So, if you add up the wins it was definitely worth my time to drive out to the sale and shop.

Some of the Pro’s:

Everything was organized really well
Baby clothes were divided according to gender and size and toys were on tables labeled for babies or older children. There was even a room with some larger stuff like high chairs and cribs. All in all, the sale was really easy to navigate – which is great since it covered such a large area!

There was TONS of stuff
Granted, I went to the sale on the first day that it was open to the public, but holy crap was there a lot of stuff! Each size in clothing spanned over a dozen feet long with two levels of awesomeness to search. The books alone took up an entire row of tables with all the choices, from cardboard books to Dr. Seuss and American Girls.

The prices were great
Okay, this is one that is going in both the Pros and Con’s column. I got some super great deals on shirts/onesies for $2 each, whole outfits for $5 and a Baby Einstein exersaucer * (that retails between $80 – $120) for $25!

A Couple Con’s:

Meet Lindsay — she also needs a Captain Awesome hoodie!

Carrying all the bargains
Thank goodness I brought my pack mule (just kidding Lindsay) because we had so much stuff that we were stumbling around to hold it all! They did provide big Ikea bags for shopping, which were helpful – but it would have been even better if they had some shopping cards available too.

Some prices were not so great
MOST of the pricing was great – however, some people obviously felt like their stuff was worth way more than other people. The typical price for the baby shirts and onesies I got was from $2 – $4, but every so often I’d come across a super cute one for $7! Now $7 doesn’t really sound like much, but when you think about the fact that I could buy THREE other onesies for the same price it just doesn’t make sense!

My huge disappointment of the day was the books area – there were tons of books that I would have loved to buy but I felt like they were priced WAY too high for being used. For example the two books above were probably about 6 pages long and maybe the size of my hand…and they were $2.00 each! Maybe I’m crazy, but I was thinking that books this size would be less than a dollar. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled at thrift stores and online to see if I can get a better deal.

So, was the Tot Swap worth it?

YES! Just take a look at the amount of stuff I got at the sale – it’s a good thing I emptied my trunk before I went.

I purchased 8 different toys and about 30 pieces of clothing and spent…

(drumroll please)

$171.72

Yes, that is kind of a lot of money – but considering the amount of stuff that I bought it is a super bargain. Jack has enough clothes to last him through the end of the year (maybe longer) and I have toys for both my house AND my mom’s house. Score!

The Tot Swap is still going on in Gaithersburg though the weekend. It will also be coming back to the area four more times between now and November:

Gaithersburg, MD
September 19 – 23

Frederick, MD
October 10 – 14

Timonium, MD
October 24 – 28

Howard County, MD
November 7 – 11

So if you have a little one, or even one on the way. I would make it a point to stop by and check one of these sales out. I definitely think that it was worth it – I got to spend the day with my awesome friend, we bought a ton of stuff and even got snow cones on the way home. I consider that a win!

* To any smart mommies out there that are about ready to tell me that the exersaucer I purchased was recalled, yes I already checked. There is a recall in place for the exersaucer I purchased and you are supposed to detach and send back one part of the toy for a replacement – however, it looks like the previous owner already did. YAY!

Reviewing Let’s Dish: Is it Worth It?

So, the latest and greatest in my “Is it Worth it” series is the meal assembly store, Let’s Dish. The store has been around for a little while and there are a couple different companies that do the same type of thing – you pick your meals according to the monthly menu, visit the store to make the meals and then bring them home to stock your freezer.

I visited Let’s Dish for the first time a few years ago and got hooked. I go pretty regularly at about 4 – 6 times each year, even though I now live about 40 minutes away from the closest store. According to my session card at this past weekend’s visit, I’ve been there EIGHTEEN times – so it’s pretty weird that I’ve never written about my experiences there even though I’ve gotten lots of questions in real life.

lets dish worth it

So, is it worth it? Obviously I think so, since I’m a repeat offender… but to truly answer the question, it is best to divide it into a few mini questions:

1. Why don’t I just get off my lazy butt and get a cookbook to make new meals?
Good question Joules, even if you are being a little snarky. Why don’t I just find new recipes somewhere and make them? I mean, there are tons of cookbooks out there and even a bazillion websites that I could use for free?

Well, the thing that I like about Let’s Dish is that I not only get the chance to try a new recipe, I can try it without buying a crapload of a spice that I may never need again. I find it a bit intimidating to have to purchase a bunch of random ingredients which could be expensive, when I don’t even really know if I’m going to like the finished creation. By doing it at the store, they have everything there for me to try with no fuss or extra cost. Oh and bonus points because you don’t even have to clean up after yourself!

2. How many meals do you make at a time and how many people do they each feed?
You can make anywhere from one meal to 12 and each dish has six servings. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, since we have a family of three (two that eat actual food at the moment), I split each meal in half while I’m making it. I also tend to get four meals at a time… so for every four meals I purchase, it’s actually divided into 8 meals. Which works out great because we have an extra serving for a guest, or for a leftovers lunch the next day.

3. What kind of food do you get?
There are ALL kinds of food offered on the monthly menu and it changes each month to different choices so that you won’t get bored. When I went this past weekend, I made:

  • Four-Star BBQ Pork Tenderloins
  • Honey Glazed Pork Chops
  • New England-Style Shrimp Rolls
  • Santa Fe Tilapia

Each of these meals is totally unlike the typical dinners I’d usually make if I go to the store and buy the ingredients myself. Sometimes by trying out various meals and finding out the proper cooking times, it helps me replicate them on my own. For example, I made a pretty delicious pork chop meal there a few years ago which used garlic and had roasted apples on top. After a few tries, I was able to start making that meal at home all by myself like a big girl.

Sometimes the menus look awesome to me, sometimes I don’t like more than one meal offered. That’s why I don’t go every month. Well, that and the fact that it actually takes us awhile to get through all the meals.

4. Isn’t it super expensive?
It can be; however there are lots of promotions and coupons out there for you to use.

Let’s pretend you don’t know of any promotions at the time to give you a cost comparison. For the 4 dishes session, the cost (at the Columbia, MD store) is $105.00. So that’s $26.25 per meal. Because we are a smaller family, I divide the meals in half when making them – so each meal for us is actually $13.12. As I mentioned before, this takes care of dinner, as well as leftovers for someone’s lunch the next day. Some meals come with sides already, but I typically will add in an extra veggie for a couple bucks. So let’s round to about $15.00 for a homemade meal (with leftovers). When is the last time you paid that at a restaurant for two adults to eat (McDonalds doesn’t count)?

Lots of times, there are promotions to be found. Let’s Dish will run them directly from their website (or by emailing you if you sign up on their list). Other services, such as Groupon and Plum District have also run deals. In fact, I used a Plum District deal for this past weekend’s meals: $84.00 for 4 meals (which divide into 8), one side item, one dessert and one package of their famous scones. Pretty awesome, right!?

So, with all that in mind – is it worth it?

For our family, YES.

If we had a larger family, it might not be as good of a deal once you determine the cost of making food from scratch. However, for our little family it works out pretty much perfectly. We get to try different meals (which we don’t always love, but it’s nice to have variety), the cost is reasonable and it’s usually pretty easy to finish putting the meal together and cook it after a long day of work.

In addition to the ease and yumminess of having the meals ready to cook at home, the actual Let’s Dish process is pretty fun. It’s a great excuse to meet up with a friend and chat while throwing a bunch of meals together. The store also makes up lots of samples of their recipes for you to munch on in between stations. Each time my friend and I go, we make it a point to camp out by the food and meticulously try each of the samples. Sometimes more than once.  In the case of the freshly baked scones, maybe even more than twice…

Here’s my typical disclosure: I was not rewarded by Let’s Dish for reviewing their meal assembly service on my blog. I pay for my own sessions and have never received any of my 18 sessions for free or a discount for giving them a favorable review.