Showing posts with label Mom Central. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mom Central. Show all posts
Monday, August 26, 2013
“I participated in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Zact. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating”
Though my two oldest daughters have standard cell phones (or devices that allow them to text and make calls via wifi) they are still constantly using my phone to FaceTime their friends or make calls when they are outside of wifi range. Having cell phones doesn’t stop my girls from asking me (constantly) for the latest smartphone, but the mom in me just doesn’t think it’s the best idea—much to their dismay! I’m far from the only mom out there though who has concerns about my children’s mobile usage, Zact recently conducted a survey that found 73% of U.S. parents are concerned about the lack of parental control of a child’s activities on mobile devices. How do you feel about your children owning smartphones? Do you think there’s a specific age where having a smartphone would be considered appropriate? Make sure you check out the Zact, U.S. Mobile Families Survey 2013 infographic below for more information from the survey!
Though my two oldest daughters have standard cell phones (or devices that allow them to text and make calls via wifi) they are still constantly using my phone to FaceTime their friends or make calls when they are outside of wifi range. Having cell phones doesn’t stop my girls from asking me (constantly) for the latest smartphone, but the mom in me just doesn’t think it’s the best idea—much to their dismay! I’m far from the only mom out there though who has concerns about my children’s mobile usage, Zact recently conducted a survey that found 73% of U.S. parents are concerned about the lack of parental control of a child’s activities on mobile devices. How do you feel about your children owning smartphones? Do you think there’s a specific age where having a smartphone would be considered appropriate? Make sure you check out the Zact, U.S. Mobile Families Survey 2013 infographic below for more information from the survey!
Friday, August 9, 2013
“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Haribo. I received product samples, and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”
There’s nothing my kids enjoy more than gummies and their favorite brand is by far Haribo! So naturally when Haribo teamed up with a cartoon classic to bring their legions of fans Smurfs gummi candy, I almost couldn’t contain myself, or keep my kids away from them. As a kid I remember watching the Smurfs on TV every chance I got, they were without a doubt one of my absolute favorite cartoons, as an adult it’s pretty awesome to see my children enjoy the Smurfs as much as I did, in a whole new way!
We had the chance recently to check out the new Smurfs gummi candies from Haribo and I’m not at all ashamed to admit that I had to hide a bag (or three) for myself to keep my kiddos from eating them all, you know, so I could “test” them out—for my post of course. Smurfs gummies are strawberry and raspberry flavored gummi candies that are shaped like some of the most popular Smurfs characters including Papa Smurf and my personal favorite Smurfette. If the telltale shape of these cute little gummi candies aren’t enough to instantly bring on that classic cartoon nostalgia, the Smurfs blue and red, white, and yellow caps on their heads surely will. Honestly, these Smurfs gummies are almost too cute to eat—almost. While all of my kiddos can’t seem to get enough of the Smurfs gummi candies, Lil Diva (a true gummi junkie) seems to like them the most, even taking a break from “swimming” (it’s Shark Week so they’re pretending to swim…with sharks, I know, I know) to get her gummi fix—now that my friends, is true gummi dedication!
(Notice the mouthful of gummies LOL)
Don’t forget to head over to the Haribo Facebook page to find out more about Haribo Smurfs gummi candy, you can follow Haribo on Instagram as well for the latest on the Smurfs and Haribo! Have you tried Haribo Smurfs? Have you seen Smurfs 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments—see you at the movies!
Monday, June 10, 2013
“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”
If there’s one chore that I detest more than the rest, it’s doing the dishes and I’m willing to bet that I’m far from being the only mom who feels that way. Thankfully I do have a dishwasher that saves me from hand washing the dishes several times a day, but thanks (or no thanks, rather) to my usual brand of dishwasher detergent, I seem to spend more time pre-rinsing before and re-washing after, than I should and that does not make this already way too busy mommy very happy. Being a busy blogger who frequently photographs food (though doesn’t always find time to post about said food) it makes it a little frustrating when my dishes aren’t as sparkling and presentable as I’d like them to be and more often than not, I find myself shining my dishes up before I can take a photo of my recipes because my usual brand of dishwashing detergent isn’t cutting it…there has to be a better way…right
It was by chance that I was chosen to participate in a campaign for Cascade through Mom Central, but I have to say, I haven’t been as impressed with a product review as I have been with Cascade Platinum, in a while. I received a pack of Cascade Platinum Pacs earlier this week so I decided to switch from my usual brand to Cascade Platinum to see how they compared. Before I get into my experience with Cascade Platinum, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about Cascade Platinum Pacs.
Cascade Platinum Pacs are designed to get even your toughest dishes clean, while also helping to keep the inside of your dishwasher sparkling clean and ready to tackle the dirtiest of messes. Cascade Platinum Pacs feature a triple-action formula that not only leaves your dishes spot-free and helps break down tough to clean hard water build up on your dishwasher, they also virtually eliminate the need to pre-rinse, which is a huge time saver when you have a big family and a whole lot of dirty dishes!
As I mentioned above I switched my usual brand of dishwashing detergent out for Cascade Platinum a few days ago and I can’t wait to tell you (and show you) how well Cascade Platinum Pacs performed for me! Since I have a rather large household I run the dishwasher at least a couple of times a day, which not only means wear and tear on my dishwasher, but given the unusually hard water around here, it also means more buildup than I would like inside my dishwasher, it was really nice to use a dishwasher detergent that got the job done and didn’t leave a lot of excess hardwater buildup on my dishwasher. So before I started my trial with Cascade Platinum Pacs I took the opportunity to clean the inside of my dishwasher with a dishwasher cleaner so I could see if they made a difference in the amount of buildup on the inside of my dishwasher…so far I’m very happy to report that the buildup has been nonexistent. Now onto the dishes and I always have plenty of them so putting Cascade Platinum Pacs to the test was not going to be a problem…at all. I love telling all of you about how much I love a product or how well it performs for me, but whenever I have the opportunity to show you the product in action, I do prefer to let you see the results for yourself. Check out the before and after using Cascade Platinum Pacs…
I have to admit, Cascade Platinum does makes my dishes sparkle a whole lot more than my old brand, with a whole lot less effort on my part! Before trying Cascade Platinum Pacs I was rather unhappy with the brand of dish-washing detergent I was using, but now I’m thrilled to have found a brand that does a better job than my old brand at a very comparable price…I love that!
I mentioned early that as a blogger I take lots of pictures of my food to share online and how my old dish-washing detergent didn’t really make the dishes that food was served on as gorgeous as they could/should be and I’m not the only person who thinks presentation is important. Gail Simmons editor of Food and Wine magazine and Top Chef judge has partnered with Cascade to help discuss why presentation of food is so important.
Gail says…
Like playing with your food? Then you have to check out the Cascade My Platinum Instagram contest…check out all of the details on the contest below!
The Cascade My Platinum contest is a four week Instagram contest encouraging fans to upload photos related to the weekly contest themes. Show off how sparkly Cascade makes all of your pots, pans and plates!
If there’s one chore that I detest more than the rest, it’s doing the dishes and I’m willing to bet that I’m far from being the only mom who feels that way. Thankfully I do have a dishwasher that saves me from hand washing the dishes several times a day, but thanks (or no thanks, rather) to my usual brand of dishwasher detergent, I seem to spend more time pre-rinsing before and re-washing after, than I should and that does not make this already way too busy mommy very happy. Being a busy blogger who frequently photographs food (though doesn’t always find time to post about said food) it makes it a little frustrating when my dishes aren’t as sparkling and presentable as I’d like them to be and more often than not, I find myself shining my dishes up before I can take a photo of my recipes because my usual brand of dishwashing detergent isn’t cutting it…there has to be a better way…right
It was by chance that I was chosen to participate in a campaign for Cascade through Mom Central, but I have to say, I haven’t been as impressed with a product review as I have been with Cascade Platinum, in a while. I received a pack of Cascade Platinum Pacs earlier this week so I decided to switch from my usual brand to Cascade Platinum to see how they compared. Before I get into my experience with Cascade Platinum, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about Cascade Platinum Pacs.
Cascade Platinum Pacs are designed to get even your toughest dishes clean, while also helping to keep the inside of your dishwasher sparkling clean and ready to tackle the dirtiest of messes. Cascade Platinum Pacs feature a triple-action formula that not only leaves your dishes spot-free and helps break down tough to clean hard water build up on your dishwasher, they also virtually eliminate the need to pre-rinse, which is a huge time saver when you have a big family and a whole lot of dirty dishes!
As I mentioned above I switched my usual brand of dishwashing detergent out for Cascade Platinum a few days ago and I can’t wait to tell you (and show you) how well Cascade Platinum Pacs performed for me! Since I have a rather large household I run the dishwasher at least a couple of times a day, which not only means wear and tear on my dishwasher, but given the unusually hard water around here, it also means more buildup than I would like inside my dishwasher, it was really nice to use a dishwasher detergent that got the job done and didn’t leave a lot of excess hardwater buildup on my dishwasher. So before I started my trial with Cascade Platinum Pacs I took the opportunity to clean the inside of my dishwasher with a dishwasher cleaner so I could see if they made a difference in the amount of buildup on the inside of my dishwasher…so far I’m very happy to report that the buildup has been nonexistent. Now onto the dishes and I always have plenty of them so putting Cascade Platinum Pacs to the test was not going to be a problem…at all. I love telling all of you about how much I love a product or how well it performs for me, but whenever I have the opportunity to show you the product in action, I do prefer to let you see the results for yourself. Check out the before and after using Cascade Platinum Pacs…
I have to admit, Cascade Platinum does makes my dishes sparkle a whole lot more than my old brand, with a whole lot less effort on my part! Before trying Cascade Platinum Pacs I was rather unhappy with the brand of dish-washing detergent I was using, but now I’m thrilled to have found a brand that does a better job than my old brand at a very comparable price…I love that!
I mentioned early that as a blogger I take lots of pictures of my food to share online and how my old dish-washing detergent didn’t really make the dishes that food was served on as gorgeous as they could/should be and I’m not the only person who thinks presentation is important. Gail Simmons editor of Food and Wine magazine and Top Chef judge has partnered with Cascade to help discuss why presentation of food is so important.
Gail says…
- From Prep to Plating: it’s more than just a great-tasting recipe, but also perfect presentation that makes people want to eat the food in front of them. Sparkling dishes, shining flat ware and spot-free glasses, truly let you put your best foot forward with culinary creations that pop!
- Gail recommends impressing with a Platinum presentation: “The easiest recipes pop with unexpected gourmet presentations. Drizzle bright sauces on sparkling white plates or layer dessert in crystal clean glassware. Keep your presentation sparkling with Cascade Platinum, which keeps dishes perfect for anytime entertaining or impromptu guests.”
Like playing with your food? Then you have to check out the Cascade My Platinum Instagram contest…check out all of the details on the contest below!
The Cascade My Platinum contest is a four week Instagram contest encouraging fans to upload photos related to the weekly contest themes. Show off how sparkly Cascade makes all of your pots, pans and plates!
- Visit the contest landing page for instructions on how to enter and submit images….(http://tinyurl.com/PlatBlog). (If you’re not currently an Instagram user you will be prompted to sign up on this page).
- Each week 2 lucky contestants will be selected to win a brand new Whirlpool dishwasher and one lucky grand prize winner will be selected to receive a Platinum Kitchen Makeover…who doesn’t love the sound of that! To win you must register and upload a photo with the hashtag #MyPlatinum and tag @MyCascade. Participants who have not registered will be disqualified from winning!
Each week will have a 6-‐day entry period where Instagram users can enter the contest with their #MyPlatinum Photo. Cascade will choose two weekly winners and one final grand prize winner after the entry period has ended. Please be sure to include both the #MyPlatinum hashtag and tag @MyCascade in your entries to the contest!
Week 1: My Platinum Plate (Entry Period: 6/3-‐6/9) Show us your best dish styled from the sparkling plate up!
• Week 2: My Platinum Bite (Entry Period: 6/10-‐6/16) Show us your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware!
• Week 3: My Platinum Clink (Entry: 6/17-‐6/23) Show us how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses. Cheers!
• Week 4: My Platinum Table (Entry Period: 6/24-‐6/30) Show us your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!
• Grand Prize Winner (Entry: 6/3-‐6/30)
Get those cameras (or phones) out and start snapping those pictures, you never know, you could be the big winner! And if you haven’t tried Cascade Platinum, what are you waiting for? Next time you’re at the store grab a pack, you’ll be so glad you did!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
When my oldest daughters were younger, one of their very favorite things to play with was their collection of Polly Pocket dolls and play sets. I can’t tell you how many hours were spent playing quietly (both together and independently) with Polly and her friends and if you’re a parent then you know how insanely difficult it is to get kids to play with anything for more than five minutes without fighting. For me, Polly Pocket was a Godsend, the best possible answer to the age-old question, “Hey kids, what do you want to play with today?”, but for my girls Polly was a friend, someone they could turn to when their day wasn’t the greatest and it’s for that reason that I’m so happy that my youngest daughter can also experience Polly Pocket, the new and improved Polly Pocket that is.
When I found out that I was part of the Mattel Polly Pocket Blog Tour from Mom Central I was so excited because Lil Diva has finally reached the age where I feel completely comfortable letting her play with small toys and pieces and because I hoped that Lil Diva would be able to experience some of the magic that Polly Pocket brought her sisters before her. We received a Polly Pocket Hangout House Playset and Polly Pocket Stick N Play Room Assortment from Mom Central to check out and it didn’t take long before Lil Diva had Polly Pocket and her accessories out of the boxes playing with them.
I think this is a good a time as any to mention some of the modifications that Mattel has made to the Polly Pocket brand of toys. One of the only complaints I’ve ever had about the Polly Pocket toys was how incredibly small they were, it wasn’t an issue of my children being too small to play with them, it was that the toys themselves were too small and thus very hard for my children to manipulate and play with. Almost immediately upon seeing the Polly Pocket toys that we received, I realized that they were bigger than the Polly Pocket toys my oldest daughter’s had played with years ago—the larger size not only makes it easier for Lil Diva to pick up, the bigger dolls and accessories mean that younger children can dress and undress the dolls by themselves and I look at that as an excellent opportunity for Lil Diva to work on her fine motor skills. Another modification that Mattel made to the Polly Pocket line is the addition of suction cups on the bottoms of all of the accessories—seriously, from the suction cup on the bottom of the dog to the suction cups on each individual shoe, as a mom (you know, aka the housekeeper) that’s a huge thing, that means I can spend less time picking up tiny toys and more time playing with my kiddos. One of the biggest complaints from my oldest daughters when they played with Polly Pocket way back in the day, was how hard it was to get all of the accessories in the houses to stay where they were supposed to stay, with the suction cups on the bottoms of the newest Polly Pocket toys, that problem is no more. Check out Lil Diva and her cousin B in action below!
As I mentioned above, our Polly Pocket delivery just so happened to come on a day that Lil Diva was having a play date with her cousin B, and the girls wasted no time getting things in order so they could play. Both B and Lil Diva loved that they could change some of the clothing on their Polly Pocket dolls without help and I was relieved that though some of the clothing (the skirt and shoes) on the dolls could be taken off and changed, the rest of the clothing was part of the doll, it just made it a little easier for the girls to do it themselves (something that they enjoyed doing) and kept me from having to change doll clothing every 5 seconds. Another features of the Polly Pocket Hangout House that I also really liked is that you can buy the Stick N Play Room addition and attach them to the Hangout House for even more fun, this is something that’s already on Lil Diva’s Christmas list! Lil Diva is not known for her calm, even-tempered personality, she’s usually going a mile a minute and that usually means that she grows bored with the toys that she plays with rather quickly; I am blown away by how engaged she is with the Polly Pocket toys, she plays with the dolls and playhouse daily and they are her go-to toys when she has friends over…I love that!
To be honest, I can’t think of anything that I don’t like about the new and improved Polly Pocket dolls and play sets, the small issues that I did have with the toys in the past are no longer relevant making the toys that much better. I know that my oldest girls will probably never play with “little kids toys” again, but at least I can relive some of the magic that they found during playtime with Lil Diva… and I think Polly Pocket is an excellent place to start!
Disclosure: “I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Mattel Polly Pocket. I received a product samples and a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.”
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