Fedex Office Blogs?

Seems like everyone has a blog these days! What really surprises me though is when main stream companies come up with a really cool hip blog that isn't just about gratuitous self advertisement, not that there is any thing wrong with that mind you I actually do like to read about new products and services from my favorite companies but not necessarily every day.

Fedex Office however is totally thinking outside of the box with their new Out of The Office blog! Out of the Office is sort of the creativity idea central for office professionals or even just work at home peeps like myself. There are some great templates for cool creative money saving projects like making your own fitness chart, something I desperately need to do once this baby arrives, and what to do with all that left over holiday wrapping paper especially the smaller pieces that are really not necessarily worth saving for next year.

Actually the holiday wrapping paper ideas gave me a brilliant idea that will save me a few extra bucks in the new boy's room rehaul. Many of you know by now I'm redoing Connor's room as a joint room that he will share with his new baby brother in a few weeks. His dresser is a nice solid wood dresser but I really like to keep the drawers line just to keep everything looking a little more tidy. The first time around I invested in some really expensive heavy duty scented paper liners which were great but we've pretty much worn them out. So I'm going to give this holiday wrapping paper idea a whirrl and line them with some of the cool striped papers I bought this year for wrapping. Maybe I'll even use some of Connor's baby cologne to "scent" the paper! Brilliant... Thanks Fedex and Out of the Office!

Check out the Out of the Office blog by Fedex Office I'm positive you will find some cool ideas to help reorganize your space! Fedex does more than ship packages you know, Fedex Office is a great resource to print personalize calendars, signs, and pretty much any other print need you might have!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of FedEx Office. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

So Xmas is over now what do you do with all the toys?

I'm constantly asking myself "What do I do with all these toys?" partially because I'm totally anal about loosing pieces to sets and partially because we live in a fairly small house with an outrageous amount of toys and to keep anything to a point where I can handle it creative organizing really must be established. I've been preparing for the new baby to top it all off and seeing as Connor is about ot have a new roommate we really had to get his toy collection under control.

The solution? Everything has a place and a there is a place for everything. Quite simply if a particular toy collection doesn't have a home it must go. This is all good and well but I'm not heartless and I didn't go throwing Connor's toys in the trash, but I did have to come up with some new options for storage. The even bigger issue is most of our storage is visible to the naked eye as Connor does not have a door on his closet and I sort of like it that way as it not only forces us to keep that area very neat, but it gives him really easy access to his things.

KangaRoom sent me this really awesome Collapsible Toy Box right before Christmas. It's fairly generously sized at 15x15x12 and though its considered their "small" toy box it holds a large amount of toys. I decided shortly before Christmas that one thing we were going to sacrafice in Connor's room in hopes to make more room for the new baby was Connor's train table. Though its a small train table and it does have a pull out drawer for toy storage it usually acts more of a catch all than a train table and more times than not we end up setting up our trains on the floor so we have more space to work. The problem is with the loss of the train table I was totally at a loss as to what to do with the trains. His train set is all wood and it's quite heavy so it needed to be at floor level so he could easily access his trains and parts without having to lift anything but I just couldn't bring myself to put a plastic bin on the floor as though I'm a huge fan of the plastic bin I'd not look at them all day. The KangaRoom Collapsible Toy Box was the perfect solution!

KangaRoom Collapsible Toy Box's is made of a really heavy duty canvas and when not in use it can be folded down almost flat for storage. This makes it a great idea for grandparents or even to take your toys with you when you travel. There are two reinforced handles on both sides of the box that allow you to move it very easily and Connor can easily drag his KangaRoom Collapsible Toy Box from the edge of the closet to the middle of his floor for easy train access anytime he pleases. The box itself has a flip down lid that velcro closes that makes it very easy for little hands to open and close on their own. There are also mess pockets all the way around the outside of the box which is perfect for storing some of the smaller pieces that might otherwise get lost at the bottom of the box. We use them to store our smaller engines, people, and traffic signs for easy access.

If you need something a little larger the KangaRoom Collapsible Toy Box also comes in a large size that measures 30x15x16 which I'm highly considering buying to put at the foot of Connor's bed to use as blanket storage. I keep having to remind myself that we live in Alabama now and not the Midwest as the temperatures as of late have been dropping down into the 30s and even 20s this week with snow in the forecast for Thursday I'm starting to wonder. Needless to say I've had to wake up several times the last few weeks to help Connor get down more blankets and having a attractive way for him to access his own blankets would be a huge plus and it would also be a great place to store his favorite stuffed animals which have now sort of overtaken his toddler bed.

KangaRoom offers a great assortement of other storage options as well including a full line of kid's storage products for everything from ways to deal with laundry to creative closet ideas. All of which might I add is perfect for those of you like us that have two children sharing the same room as many items can be ordered in separate colors to make it easy to separate items. Visit
KangaRoom for the full selection.

Resolution - project clean!

I've let my organizational skills go since Connor got in the picture. Really they have been in the toilet since we moved to Alabama. I kept the old house pretty tidy and did a ton of work fixing up the place but since we have been in Alabama my cleaning and fixing skills have been sort of on Haidas. Past just keeping things from being dirty it's not gotten much better around here since the day we moved in and my incoming and outgoing blog mail certainly does not help. I don't know why I'm in a funk but its about time I start making steps in the right direction but one foot in front of the other.

So where is a great place to start small? The kitchen cabinets and one thing that has always bothered me is my spice collection. I've tried those little shelves, a lazy susan, I even had one of those things you put all the spices in and it spins on your counter. Needless to say though the counter organizer was cool it took up way to much space in an already small kitchen and forget shelves and lazy susans you end up knocking over all the spices trying to get the ones in the back.

The Spice Stack is sort of a filing system for your spices. It easily fits into my small custom made cabinets and I just took the spices I had in the containers they were already in, and started putting them in each of the "drawers". The result is amazing as not only does it make your spice collection finally look nice and tidy but finding and using my spices has never been easier. Sadly we only have one so I could not fit all of my spices into it (I actually recommend you buy two or three if you cook often or if your a basics kind of girl you can prol get away with one.) but I certainly got the ones I use most in there and no longer am I digging behind thirty bottles just to find the tiny bottom of red pepper buried at the back of the shelf. Now I just need one or two more and I may actually discover what it would be like not to knock over a bunch of spice bottles every time I go to get the vitamins out of the cabinet!

Another small note one thing I noticed when I was organizing all my spices into my Spice Stack is that I had two or three of the same bottles. When your spices, much like your can goods or groceries, are all crammed into a small space and you can not see each bottle you tend to forget what you have and over buy. Organizing really helps you not only eliminate clutter but saves money on not buying something that you already have!

You can get your own Spice Stack on the Spice Stack website!

I have a rather large family.

On benefit of moving back home is the fact that I have a rather large family which means that if you want to be your virtually never alone and with 30+ great grand kids in the family having outside playgroups are sort of silly. The problem has always been getting all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousin's kids (some of which are almost adults themselves and have their own schedules) is mostly done by word of mouth. Heh. Have you ever gave a message to your best friend to tell the rest of your friends when you were a kid? You tell the first person and by the 15th or 30th its a totally diffrent message. Relaying messages in a large family is sort of the same thing.

So what are we supposed to do about it? Well unfortunately most of my aunts and uncles do not have Internet but thank goodness most of their kids do! There is a new service called Qlubb that may just be the answer to our family communications. Qlubb is a totally free service that allows you to communicate, share photos, calenders, task lists, events, even use an RSVP service for events or parties! Remember I said there were 30+ great grand kids.... well that means there are over 30 birthday parties a year we attend not to mention everything else the kids are up to! Can you imagine what it will be like once those grand kids start having kids? Heh... it makes me laugh to even think about it.

Qlubb is great for things other than families though you can use it for your playgroup, a church group, sports team, or even just friends to keep up with everything going on. Its totally free so head on over to Qlubb to try it out for yourself!

A big thanks to Team Mom for letting us know!

Have a hard time remebering if your coming or going?

Family life can be rough, even more so trying to keep up with everyone in the families appointments, birthdays, important dates, and such it can be downright impossible. I have a hard time keeping up with my own schedule much less everyone elses and forget birthdays almost without fail. I keep a planner but I even hate to admit that even with the planner last semester I totally blew off quite a few birthdays, a very important test at school, and several very important doctors appointments including one for my eyes which was of absolute importance. Blowing off the Anatomy test alone was almost a disaster as it almost cost me my grade in Anatomy as I came a little too close to failing the class all together due to the miss.

Can you imagine a spot online where every family member in your household can upload their schedules, track everyone's schedule, add items to your shopping list, and even send the information directly to the family's cell phones. How amazing is that? Events can be added manually or uploaded from your outlook spread sheet. This works both ways as you can upload your home schedule to your Outlook schedule as well. This is great for working parents as you can check your children's schedules from home and print off a shopping list before you ever leave work. Cozi also provides a place to share pictures and a journal which is great for the grandparents to participate as well.

I just need to take some time and upload my school schedules and appointments and who knows this semester may just run a bit smoother than last.

Visit Cozi to learn more and to watch the short instructional video that shows you everything Cozi can do for you! Thanks Mom Central for introducing us!

A cool way to keep your books in order.

I always find something I just can not live without it seems every time I head on over and visit one of our favorite retailers Oompa Toys. I mean seriously I can't even get past the front page without drooling on myself and making a list of at least ten things I MUST have.. mind you its what I think Connor MUST have but I think I get more excited over his toys than he does.

I know I've mentioned that his book collection is getting bigger by the second and his new toy box actually has a nice shelf at his level that we can store his board books on. I'm not quite brave enough to put his regular books out yet as I'm still a bit paranoid he will get a little rough with them yet. The issue I was having with his books is the fact that we don't quite have enough board books to go all the way across the shelf so I was at the point where I really had to buy a book end but the classic heavy book ends just would not do as Connor touches EVERYTHING and of course if there is something on his shelf he is going to want to touch it, carry it around, and who knows even lick it. To save his little toes I knew I had to find something safe for him to handle but sturdy enough to hold up to his abuse and of course something that would functionally hold up his books.

Oompa Toys has a whole section devoted to bookends that serve just this purpose. I ended up going with the Gator Bookend from Streamline. He looks a lot like a regular stuffed animal but if you pick him up you immediately know something is a little different about him. He is very heavy but not so heavy that he would hurt your foot if you dropped him. His "skin" is rough and almost leathery which makes him incredibly sturdy as well as easy to clean as if he gets dirty from sharing pop tarts with Connor on the living room floor I can just take him over to the sink and wipe him down with a wet washcloth. The only issue is he is rarely holding his post on the bookshelf as Connor loves to carry him around the house! When he does leave him alone he holds up the books as well as if we had gotten a wooden or heavy stone bookend. I'm positive he will be a cherished guardian of our book collection for years to come.

While your over there checking out our Gator Bookend why don't you check out Oompa Toys selection for the holidays. You can search for toys and items based on age, manufacturer, type type, even the country in which the toy was made. If your like me and have an obsession with wooden toys you will be in heaven as they have one of the largest selection of wooden toys and European made toys and goods I have seen. I know I can not leave the site without at least checking out the Haba Toys selection!

Bathtime just got alot easier!

We've had a hanging bath toy organizer for some time, but the problem has always been that the larger bath toys just won't fit. Seeing as Connor's favorite thing in the entire world is to take a bath, we have quite the collection of toys and lining up the big ones along the bath tub is just not working anymore as I'm bound to knock them off every time I even get near the bath tub. The problem is most bath toy storage products are built for small toys, like little boats and rubber ducks, but nothing really properly stores the larger toys or a big collection of toys.

The Bath Toy Store from Kuster not only solves the problems of storing the larger toys but it looks cool! It basically consists of two almost trash can looking bins stacked, the inside one has drain holes so you can just scoop the toys out of the bath tub and drain, then any leftover water will drain into the bottom bin. The best part about that is that you won't have to worry as much about mold which is always an issue when it comes to children's bath toys as they stay wet so much of the day.

The other most obvious benefit to the Bath Toy Store is the fact that it doesn't LOOK like kid's bath toy storage. If you have a really great looking bathroom, an animal shaped bath toy storage hanging in your shower may not be the biggest turn on to you. My parents had just that delima, they have a huge beautiful bathroom and their bath tub is seperate from the shower and a normal hanging bath toy sorter was just not practical as Connor bathes in the tub and not the shower and the last thing they wanted was a huge animal hanging in their shower. But finding something that doesn't look like a kid product but still functions as well is difficult at times. The Bath Toy Store not only looks great but it can hang out in the corner of the bathroom without anyone realizing its toy storage unless they look down inside of it.

Speaking of designs that are kid friendly but you won't mind hanging out in the middle of your modern kitchen, the K1 high chair from Kuster is so pretty. I can't stop checking out the pure white high chair with that green and white polka dot cushion. Who would not want that sitting in the middle of their kitchen? The really great part is that it works as a booster chair for kids up to six years old, so once its life as a high chair is over it coverts easily to fit the needs of children as well allowing them to sit properly at the table with the grown ups. The adjustable foot rest is also great for teaching babies and children proper posture, this coming from a girl who still cannot put her feet squarely on the ground in an average chair I personally would really appreciate a chair with a adjustable footrest myself! Though we have not tried one out personally, thus far all our experiences with Kuster has been fabulous.

You can read more about the Bath Toy Store and K1 High Chair over at the Kuster website. If your intrested in buying either for yourself head on over to BareBabies. You can get 10% off your Kuster's purchase at Barebabies with the code : sdb10offkuster!

Dymo Labelmaker makes organizing fun!

The new Dymo LetraTag Labelmaker is my new one label maker army against clutter and the disorganization that is plaguing my house. I'm not sure about you guys but the combination of college stuff, baby stuff, toys, a whole closet deticated to review items, and just household goods is completely clogging my life. I have stuff stashed underneath my desk, in hallways, basically in every room of the house minus the bathroom which still seems to be holding strong on being clutter free.

Its driving me bonkers!!! The real question is when exactly do I have the time or energy to organize it all, or at least organize it to the point that It actually looks organized, as honestly it is "organized" heh but some random guest would just find my organizational style just plain sad. Connor's Aunt was just recently down and she tried to organize my DVD pile and almost gave me a heart attack as it was actually in order, heh, though she thought it should be in alphabetical order it was actually organized by giveaways ended, giveaways claimed, unclaimed, and to be done. Needless to say I ended up having to redo the whole thing. Don't even get me started as to what happens when Connor gets his little mitts on one of my piles.

Well at least with my new Dymo LetraTag Labelmaker I can get Connor's things in order as a start. With a huge selection of label types you can pretty much label anything in a flash. Some of the label types you can choose from includes iron on, metallics, plastic tapes, paper tapes, and even super neato magnetic tapes. Personally I am as excited about those magnetic tapes as I am the iron on ones, and call me immature but its sorta fun to make silly statements to put on the fridge with them. If you really wanted to you could even make your own magnetic word set!

The Dymo Labelmaker comes equipped with WYSIWYG or "Wizzy Wig" meaning what you see on the screen is exactly how your label will look. As well you can change the font from normal, bold, italic, outline, shadow, and vertical. This gives you tons of options and that online view is really important as the last thing you want to do is print something you don't want as no label ribbon is super cheap, my old label maker did not have such a big viewing screen so I can not even tell you how many labels I've wasted over the years.

My favorite feature of the Dymo LetraTag Labelmaker is actually one of its storage options. If you buy the LectraTag Plus model which is available on Dymo's website it comes with a magnetic storage holder which will allow you to store your label maker on the side of the fridge on on the side of your file cabniet! I seriously need to upgrade just to get that holder! I seriously hate having to dig and search through every drawer in the house to find my label maker especially lately when I'm sending Connor off on a play date with one of his cousins and I want to label his sippy cup as they have the exact same one.

The Dymo Lectratag is very affordable selling for $19.99 to $29.99 depending on if you go with the base model or plus model. The labelmaker itself as well as its labels are available at most major retailers including Wal-mart, Target, Staples, Office Max and Office Depot. You can also buy it online at Dymo's website!

I have a Dymo LetraTag Labelmaker to give away to one of our readers including a ton of labels! Its easily a $50 value!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out Dymo LetraTag Labelmaker and tell me how you would use the Letratag to organize your life!
  
• No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end August 15th at midnight!

Just a little shelter from a chaotic mom schedule!

You might remember my review of the BusyBodyBook last year. That same BusyBodyBook is still sitting on my desk as we speak and I use it daily to keep track of my school assignments, blog posts, doctor appointments, and even our family get togethers (which lately are quite often) .

The weekly grid layout of the BusyBodyBook continues to be one of the most useful layouts you will find in a mom friendly organizer. With five separate columns to fill out you customize your BusyBodyBook any way you please. I currently use my five spaces for my : daily events including birthdays, doctors appointments, errands to do, blog posts due, and the last one is the wish list of things I would like to get done. I only wish I actually finished that last column more often.

One of my biggest complains last year was with the cover of the BusyBodyBook. The design of the book itself is similar to a spiral notebook and though I prefer it bound that way as you can fold it over to see just the page you want, if you are constantly dragging it in and out of your diaper bag (or school bag in my case) the cover gets pretty worn fairly fast. Well the 2009 edition added a great super thick new see through cover on the front and back of the book which will protect your BusyBodyBook from the wear and tear of daily life. Otherwise the design is exactly the same, which we have no complaints with as I absolutely love the layout of the inside of the BusyBodyBook.

You can get your own BusyBodyBook directly from their website or on Amazon!

BusyBodyBook is giving two of our readers their own BusyBodyBook in their color choice!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Head on over to BusyBodyBook and tell me which book you would choose if you won!
  
• No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end July 11th at midnight!

Ugg.. I can't remeber the password to my online account..

If your like me you have accounts on hundreds of diffrent web pages, storefronts, media sites, school accounts, ugg its an endless list.. and I admit.. I have a hard time keeping up with them.

The Internet Password Organizer is the perfect solution for those of you like me who either have too many accounts it makes your head spin, or just can't keep track of their passwords, or both!

Personally I just enjoy it to keep track of the accounts I have, and where.. its nice to try to figure out if I even have an account there and if so what my user name is... past that I can usually figure it out. I do list my passwords in it, except when its sensitive information (I don't recommend writing down the password to your bank account anywhere... thats a bad idea..), but if we are talking email accounts or your membership to the coupon forums I think its fairly harmless to write down your password.. that is if you keep personal info on email.

You can use it as a nice address book in a jam too.. lol For those of you review bloggers out there its actually a real good way to keep track of all your contacts for reviews and any accounts you may have on diffrent vendor's sites.

The Internet Password Organizer is available directly from their webpage as well as on Amazon!

I have one Internet Password Organizer to give away to one lucky reader!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Visit the Internet Password Organizer web page and tell us one feature of this organizer that you like or how you plan on using your organizer!!
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end May 8th at midnight!

Because I can never remeber how old Connor's Juice is....

I am going to be really honest here... and I hate to admit this, but no matter how hard I try I can never remember exactly how many Days Ago I opened Connor's juice. I KNOW your only supposed to use them for seven days but every time I open the fridge I end up questioning myself and in the end I am sure I have ended up throwing out juice well before its gone bad.

Enter the Days Ago timer. I actually saw these cute little gadgets for the first time when I was browsing a magazine in my doctor's office. I thought for a few seconds about how adorable they were and went along my merry way. A few months later I kept thinking about how useful they would be for this, or that, and you know I never imagined just how many things you could use the Days Ago Timers for!

I have the magnet versions on the outside of my fridge, one of which is counting down the days since I gave the dogs their heart worm pills (another thing I hate to admit I sometimes forget) and another one counts down the days since I opened that juice bottle.

The amount of uses for them by far does not stop there. You can use them in the fridge to time food or one of my favorite uses is on houseplants to keep track of how many Days Ago did you water that plant. If you have small children and a "caged" pet you could attach one to the outside of the cage to keep track of when to clean the cage too.

The possibilities are endless.. and I would love to hear about how you would use the Days Ago timers!!

Day's Ago is available on their webpage or on Amazon!

If you would like to have some Day's Ago timers of your very own I have a set of the Days Ago band attachment timers for one reader!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go check out Days Ago and look at the diffrent timers available. Let us know what is your favorite timer style and how you would use it! A winner will be drawn at random.
  
• No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end March 21st at midnight! **Please note there was a previous typo in the contest ending date. **
  

What all did I need to do again this week?

Talk about being one to sometimes bite off more than I can chew, I'm notorious for not wanting or asking for help even when I need it.


The Do&Delegate.list from Buttoned Up helps me keep my ever growing list of baby and school projects under control as well as helps give me an idea of when I've just got too much on my plate and I need some help. Midterm and Final week is always a rough one around here (hence the slowing of posts lately), if I had only delegated a few of my tasks away I might have a few less grey hairs than what I accumulated over the last week.

Along with the Do&Delegate.list, Buttoned Up has recently added a line of mom friendly notepads for those of you that were a fan of the original .pad series, rejoice! Included in the new lineup is the Kidpack.pad, Babypack.pad, and of course my absolute favorite the Babysitter.pad!!! Kidpack and Babypack is especially helpful for babysitters, grandparents and even Dad when it comes to getting the kids packed and ready for wherever they may be headed. I have to admit I am pretty partial to the Babysitter.pad as honestly as a first time mom I don't even know what all I should leave for a babysitter so in many ways its more helpful to me just to plan out the information I need to leave for a babysitter or even the grandparents when I actually get the rare chance to go out!

The Do&Delegate.list is available at Button Up and on Amazon!

Would you like to win a Babypack.pad and a Pocket.doc of your very own? I have one of each to give away to one lucky reader.

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go check out Button Up and look and look at their current line of products. Let us know what is your favorite product and why (or even how you would use it!). A winner will be drawn at random.
  
• No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end March 16th at midnight!

Organization Review : Lobotome + Giveaway!

Lobotome offers some great organization goods that are mom friendly and eco friendly (all are made of recycled paper)!


The MomMe weekly planner is great for those of you that prefer a desktop pad compared to a journal type planner. Each page is organized by week and have a place for several schedules, errands that need to be done, personal stuff, dinner plans, exercise tracker, a weekly shopping list, and a household to do list. Once you have your schedule written out you can just rip off that page and stick it in your purse or diaper bag!

Along with weekly planners Lobotome sells the cutest notepads in a variety of topics. My personal favorite is the weekly to do list as I always have a ton of stuff to do each week and without fail I always end up forgetting something.
Want one? Visit Lobotome and check out their great products. You can purchase them right off their web page!

I'm giving away a MomMe Planner and a HelpMe Honey Do List to one winner. Enter below.

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go visit Lobotome and tell me which of their products would best suit you and why. No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com)
• Please US entries only.
  
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  
• This contest will end Feb 14th at midnight!

Organization Review : Get Buttoned Up

Get Buttoned Up offers some great options to keep your life a little more organized. Including a Life Organizer, Valuables Organizer, Collision Kit, & more.

Personally I was super excited about the Valuables.doc, an organizer that keeps track of all of your belongings (at least the expensive ones) by each room in your house. I have had experiences with insurance companies before (during a move) replacing stolen or damaged belongings and lets just say the experience left a bad taste in my mouth. Needless to say if something was to happen to our stuff (please.. no.. please) we would at least have a record of our "good stuff" to show the insurance companies. Ive always wanted to do something like this on my own and always get discouraged as I never have any clue where to start. Well the great thing is the binder walks you through it room by room so I just sat in the middle of each room and went down the page. Along with having a record there are places to store your photos of each item (I highly highly HIGHLY recommend this after my past dealings with insurance companies), as well as receipts. If your storing store receipts a personal tip of my own is make two copies on a regular copier. Store receipts fade dramatically over a short period of time and you might find yourself with a blank receipt when you needed it, unlike copied receipts that hold their ink much much longer.

Life.doc is similar to Valuables.doc other than the fact that instead of making lists of your belongings you make lists of all your important information from bank accounts to babysitters. Though I would strongly recommend keeping it in a safe place its a great resource in case something was to happen to you and your loved ones needed your records (including your insurance information!) I haven't quite finished filling mine out yet but when I do I am giving it to my parents for safe keeping in case something happened to me they would know where to start. Unlike Valuables.doc, Life.doc comes with a full cd that allows you to type and print your pages which is amazing as my handwriting is TERRIBLE.

Want one? The Life.doc & Valuables.doc is available at Get Buttoned Up as well as on Amazon.

Organzation Review : Baby Briefcase

I think I have been watching Oprah too much lately as when this organizer came in the mail I actually said "hallalureh" (or however she says it in that fake southern accent)

Baby Briefcase is AWESOME for those moms like me who have been carrying around their babies important documents in a plain manila folder. I am not known for my super duper organizational skills so I really love gadgets that make me look like I have some.

All of that aside its a really great (and portable I may add) way to keep your babies (or even older child's) paperwork nice, tidy, and even pretty without going all super scrapbooker superhero.

Inside you will find 15 plastic tabbed folders, six of which are pre labeled for you. The great part is that they are not just "dividers" they are actual folders that you can remove and use and then put back inside the organizer. The organizer does come with a preprinted thank you note tracker and some baby info wallet cards.

The only thing I wish this organizer had is more preprinted forms or at least some downloadable forms on the webpage. My handwriting is AWFUL and I do mean AWFUL, year of typing nonstop does not do your handwriting skills any good trust me. So I love preprinted forms that at least can minimalize the exposure to others of my awful handwriting. One for a shot record would be really nice..

All in all we love the Baby Briefcase and I have a feeling I will be handing it to Connor when he moves out one day far far away.

Want one?
You can get your own Baby Briefcase from their webpage or on Amazon for $29.95

Review and Giveaway : The Great Planner Debate!

This contest is now CLOSED. Check back tomorrow for the winner!

To recap my great planner debate I reviewed three planners all three were great planners with great features but only one will travel with me to school every day!

MomAgenda - Desktop :

The MomAgenda is the most luxurious of all three of the planners I reviewed, but it also has the highest price tag of $42.00. It also has the most features of the planners listed. I really admire its simple but but super soft binding. This was my favorite of the group purely from a vanity standpoint. The only thing that I didn't like was it size. It is a little big to fit into my book bag or my already overloaded diaper bag.








Whomi - Clarity :

This is the smallest of all three planners and offers an option of scheduling your day by the hour. It has a waterproof plastic case which makes it ideal to throw in your purse. Though I was very tempted by this planners size I would have not used the time based feature (I'm far to lazy). Size wise however I really admire this planner's compact footprint.





BusyBodyBook :

This planner has the most bang for the buck priced at only 16.95. It offers many of the same features as the MomAgenda in a more condensed format. I admit I was highly tempted by this planner as though its still bigger than I am normally used to toting around it is very thin and it fits nicely in both my diaper bag and book bag.



So which planner did I choose? I honestly had a really hard time deciding. All three are great planners and honestly I cannot say which one is better than the other as they all have very unique features that will fit everyone differently. All three sat on my desk for the last few weeks but my heart was with the MomAgenda from the beginning. I however needed something smaller so I contacted MomAgenda and got a MomAgenda mini sent over. Its perfect! Its small (though still on the thick side) it has everything I was looking for and I still feel like a princess carrying it around. My only regret was that I didn't get it back in august so I could make full use of it (it goes august-august). I really love the BusyBodyBook as well its practical so I decided to use it at home on my desk. I almost felt guilty choosing just one as all three of them are great!
That brings us to the first giveaway of the new year!! I am going to give away my Whomi Clarity and MomAgenda Desktop to two lucky ladies (or guys!). Read the previous reviews of the MomAgenda Desktop and Whomi Clarity and tell me if you won which planner you would prefer. Also give me a short blurb as to what feature you like most about that planner. Make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win (either leave me your email address in the post or have it available in your profile or blog). I will choose the winner on Jan 8th from all the valid entries (those that have an available email address and answer both parts of my questions!) I do have some extra credit as well. Blog about my giveaway for one extra entry and/or add a link to me in your sidebar for five extra entries. If your doing the extra credit make sure you let me know in your comment!

Review : BusyBodyBook

Spring is coming (or at least spring in the terms of college!) and I am on the quest for a new planner. I have several planners to try out and all of them are fabulous but which one will be right for me? I'm not sure yet.


This is the last review in my planner series and in many ways I saved the best for last! (honestly I have a hard time choosing which of these planners is the best as they all have points that stand out from each other and to answer that question it would truly depend on your needs)

BusyBodyBook

I saved this planner for last and truly last is not least.

The BusyBodyBook in our group of planners stands out as its the cheapest of the three journals I'm reviewing. The reason I mention that right off hand is in no way does cheapest mean its lesser of a planner. In many ways it offers everything and plus some of the other planner I've reviewed. For moms on a budget who have always dreamed of having a really nice, really organized planner for you!

This planner is a grid based planner and can track 5 different schedules be it your work/family/school ect.. or you and four others (really its totally up to your own imagination!). It also features two really unique options. On every page opposite of the daily calender there is a "to doodles page" which you can use to write yourself notes, doodle, ect. I really like this feature as sometimes those little planing boxes on each day are just not big enough for my entire list. There is also a list view for each month in 2009! Though honestly my favorite part of this entire planner is in the back of the planner there are pull out "To Do" lists. I can think of a zillion ways to use these!
I think honestly the only drawback to these planners vrs the other two is they are made much like a spiral notebook. The cover is a heavy coated paper and it is bound the same way as a spiral notebook. If your not rough on your planners that will not even remotely be an issue for you and in some ways its really nice as they will open up flat on the table. Its much bigger than the Clarity but its a lot thinner than the MomAgenda.

Want one?
You can buy a BusyBodyBook from their webpage or from Amazon!

Review : Whomi - My quest for the perfect planner!

Spring is coming (or at least spring in the terms of college!) and I am on the quest for a new planner. I have several planners to try out and all of them are fabulous but which one will be right for me? I'm not sure yet.





Whomi - Clarity Compact

Whomi sent me a Clarity Compact to try out and from the moment I opened the package all I could think was WOW this looks perfect.

Right from the get go the first thing I noticed about the planner is the fact that it is completely encased by a thick plastic cover. Before I became a mom I may not have found that to be a huge selling point, but now with a 7 month old son anything small enough for him to hold and stick into his mouth always ends up there so waterproofing is a huge plus! (my current planner already has chew marks and drool marks and he still lacks teeth) I have an awful habit of handing Connor whatever is close at hand and not small enough to swallow when we are shopping and I need to temporarily distract him. My wallet and planner ends up being the sacrificial something in most cases. Not that I'm saying a planner should be baby proof but it certainly helps!

This planner is compact and certainly small enough to fit in almost everyone's purse (about the same size as your checkbook) so its easy to tuck into your purse, diaper bag, or in my case the side of my book bag. Regardless of its size do not let that fool you on its organizing power. Unlike a standard compact planner it has the ability to track four separate schedules organized in both a morning (am), afternoon (pm), and evening schedule. These are all color coded so you can at a small glance know which schedule you are looking at. I could see how this would be amazing when you are in a hurry and trying to figure out who, what, and where you should be! You could also use this feature to track your work, school and home schedules (four schedules in all) or really anyway you can dream up to use each of the slots!



Along with the main planner in the top part of the binder includes a mini calender, address book, birthdays, and contacts. For its size you certainly do not sacrifice any of the abilities of a larger planner. One very very neat addition to this planner is these tiny tear off tabs on each of the corners of the pages. I was fascinated with this feature as I'm a doggie ear queen!

If your attempting to track four or less schedules and need a compact (and somewhat rugged) planner I would highly recommend this planner. To top it off they come in a variety of beautiful prints and your sure to find something to fit your tastes. (Mine came in retro which is stunning and would really appeal to any of those mod girls out there!)

More later this week! I am also planning at least one giveaway this week (most likely two!) and I will announce the winner of our book giveaway Monday morning and post the next giveaway!

If you would like your own Whomi they are available for $25 for the compact or $30 for the larger version. Visit them here.

Review : MomAgenda - My quest for the perfect planner!

Spring is coming (or at least spring in the terms of college!) and I am on the quest for a new planner. I have several planners to try out and all of them are fabulous but which one will be right for me? I'm not sure yet.

MomAgenda

MomAgenda was gracious enough send me over one of their desktop planners to review. It's stunningly gorgeous.. simple nothing fancy on the cover but its made of this fabric that at first glance appears to be leather but its soft and feels wonderful to the touch.

Everything about this planner is luxurious the pages are beautifully laid out, the quality of the paper is first class and the inside pages are color coded in light pastels that are very pleasing to the eye. Nina (the founder of MomAgenda) thought of just about everything you could dream of and put it inside. Favorite Mommy webpages, Toll Free Numbers, Holidays (listed by year even!), a section for vacation and party planning, and a huge section for notes. It's almost so beautiful I hate to write in it! (my handwriting is awful!) As a bonus there is also a MomEssentials tucked into the back of the planner which is basically a removable (and replaceable) address and important information folder. It tracks not only your phone numbers, but all important information, medical information, and birthdays.

The calender portion of this planner is laid out in two "areas" the first one is a quick glance area perfect for short notes and major events. The second area is day by day and there is a section for not only you, but extra slots for four additional people as well as a dinner area perfect for planning your daily menus. If your a mom of multiple children you MUST get this planner. My cousin has four kids, two dogs, a active husband, several children she babysits, and runs the nursery at her church. I cannot help to think that his planner would be amazing for her!

Every detail is so thoughtfully laid out that I'm still in awe. The desktop planner sells for $42 and may be personalized. It comes in an assortment of yummy colors including pink, fuschia, green, blue, and brown. I honestly had a hard time choosing which color I wanted!!

The only con to this planner for my own sake is its sheer size. Its 7x9x1 (about the size of a standard hardcover novel) which for most people would be wonderful as it gives you tons and tons of room to plan / take notes / and keep track of addresses and events, however, but as my planner it may just be too big. I need something to tuck into my book bag and carry around with me 24 hours a day. When I'm already toting around a bag full of college books, a diaper bag, a baby, and random shopping it may just be one too many. I'm honestly heart broken as I am so in love with this planner I may just have to make room regardless! For those of you that are curious it is exactly the right size to fit inside your diaper bag though!

Want One?
You may purchase your own MomAgenda for $42.00 off their webpage. Currently they are 15% off and all orders over $75 ship for free! (use code FREEMOM) MomAgenda also comes in a mini size which I am highly tempted to buy!! MomAgenda is also available at Amazon!

Thanks again MomAgenda for allowing us to review your planner! They are simply gorgeous!