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Showing posts with label back-to-school blowout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back-to-school blowout. Show all posts

Friday, August 30, 2013

We’re in the home stretch with our back-to-school blowout—if you’ve missed the other fabulous products (and even more fabulous giveaways) make sure you check them out.  And as always, all current MIBR giveaways are listed in our sidebar for easy access so enter NOW—someone’s gotta win, might as well be you!

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I’m a self proclaimed pen fanatic.  Call me crazy, but there’s just something about buying a new pen that writes perfectly that makes me extremely happy every time I put pen to paper.  One of my very favorite brands of writing equipment is and always has been BIC; BIC pens are affordable, reliable, and they are constantly coming up with new and exciting ways to make writing fun!  Our back-to-school blowout definitely wouldn’t be complete without including BIC and they didn’t disappoint.  BIC sent me some of the products from their 2013 back-to-school lineup and I can’t wait to tell you all about them (and maybe offer one of y’all the chance to win ALL of them—keeping reading).

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This year’s list of must-haves for back-to-school includes the BIC Tech 2-in-1 Stylus and Pen. BIC Automatics Mechanical Pencils, BIC for Her Gel Marker Pens, BIC Brite Liner Highlighter Tape, BIC Round Stic Grip pen, BIC Round Stic Grip Fashion ink pens and BIC Z4+ Roller refresh.  BIC says that there’s “something for every student in this year’s back-to-school lineup, from fashion forward BIC for Her to the innovative BIC Mechanical Pencil and BIC Tech 2-in-1 Stylus.  The style and reliability of our products means that students can take on any assignment with confidence, and parents will appreciate the value that BIC provides.”

BIC Back-to-School Must Haves 2013

BIC Tech 2-in-1 Stylus and Pen:  The BIC Tech Stylus and Pen features a lightweight stylus on one end and a retractable ballpoint pen on the other.  The Stylus and Pen makes it possible to move from the tablet or smartphone to paper with ease and without having to search for two different instruments—I love the convenience of it!  My oldest daughter has been using the BIC Tech 2-in-1 Stylus and Pen on her tablet, she says that she loves how easily the stylus allows her to accurately complete her work in record time.

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BIC Automatic Mechanical Pencil:  The BIC Automatic Mechanical Pencil makes it easy to retract and protect lead with just one click at the top of the barrel.  I’m a big mechanical pencil user (traditional pencils seem to make my carpal tunnel flare up quite a bit) but I hate constantly breaking the lead and clicking the eraser for what seems like hours to produce lead…this pencil is quite possibly the best I’ve used—it’s seriously awesome and if you haven’t used it you NEED to run out and pick some up!

BIC for Her Gel and Marker Pens:  For beautifully smooth writing that will pass any test!

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  • BIC for Her Gel Pens are stylish and have a beautifully designed barrel, a contoured rubber grip and a floral design embossed on the tip of the pen—so classy! 
  • BIC for Her Marker pens are available in black, pink and purple ink and offer precise and beautifully creative writing. 

BIC Brite Liner Highlighter Tape:  Re-inventing the way we look at highlighters!  This fluorescent tape adds vibrant highlights without bleeding through—um, awesome and it’s available in pink and yellow.

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BIC Round Stic Grip:  An old favorite among students, teachers and parents, this old standby gets a new look and is now offered in a variety of fun, funky, vibrant colors (pink, purple, turquoise, and lime green).  The BIC Round Stic grip is perfect for everyday writing and is available in both fine and medium points for around $2 for an 8 pack—now that’s a deal!

BIC Z4+ Roller:  The Z4 also has a bold new look and is now offered in black, blue and assorted inks.  It’s neon ink colors make every writing assignment fun and funky and these pens provide an amazingly smooth writing experience—they are my favorite of all of the must-haves!

WIN IT!

One Misadventures in Baby Raising reader is going to win all of the BIC products pictured above (top picture)!  Check out the official rules and enter below using the Rafflecopter widget!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure:  I received the products mentioned above in order to facilitate my review…all opinions are 100% my own!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

We’re moving right along on the Back-to-School Blowout train and I have another fabulous brand to share with all of you today, but first make sure you head over and check out the rest of our BTS reviews and giveaways (all current giveaways are located on our sidebar)…after all, someone’s gotta win…might as well be YOU!

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Gymboree has long been one of my go-to brands for buying children’s clothes, no matter the season, Gymboree always has super cute, on-trend clothes that my kids love for a value that I appreciate!  This back-to-school season wouldn’t have been complete without my kiddos headed off to school in their Gymboree best and I’m so glad that they decided to be part of our back-to-school blowout! 
If you’re not familiar with Gymboree (and if have little ones I’m not sure how you couldn’t be) they sell quite possibly the cutest children’s clothes and accessories (and even uniforms) available in sizes newborn to 12 years.  In addition to having some of the most adorable clothes for kids I’ve ever seen, Gymboree’s clothing is super high-quality at a great value—if you haven’t had a chance to check them out, I definitely encourage you to do so, you’ll be so very glad that you did.

We had a chance recently to check out some of what Gymboree has to offer for summer and fall and it was perfect timing for back-to-school so we took the opportunity to snag a few great additions to Lil Man and Sporty Spice’s back-to-school wardrobe.  One of my favorite things about Gymboree is that each season they have several different collections filled with new outfit and mix and match pieces to chose from.  Having options is something that makes this Mommy very happy and I love that they give you options, while also giving you outfit suggestions it kind of takes the guess work out of what will and won’t work together and it’s a huge time saver!  My children have very different styles when it comes to clothing, but I know that I’ll always be able to find a collection that my kids love without stressing myself out running to a million different stores—major plus in my book!
Sporty Spice is definitely a sporty kind of girl, but she also loves frilly, sparkly, girly things too.  Since SS is going into 6th grade this year her style has changed a little bit from the super cute to more edgy, but when she saw the Glitter Koala Corsage Tee and matching Tropical Flower shorts she knew she just “had to have it”.  I love that the tee is cutesy while not being too cute, SS loves animals and she has a soft spot for koala bears so this one was a win—win!  And the fact that we picked up the whole outfit on sale for less than $20 made it even better!

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My Lil Man is all boy and he loves everything from superheroes to skateboarding and his style is definitely reflective of those things.  While my son may be all boy, he’s also incredibly picky when it comes to the clothes he wears, I swear sometimes he’s even pickier than the girls—seriously.  Since my son is so particular about his clothes I tend to chose comfortable clothing that show off his style, while also keeping him happy in them and it’s not always so easy.  I love the Shark Patrol collection from Gymboree and my son, who loves sharks, thought it was just the coolest thing ever as well.  Seriously y’all, how stinkin’ adorable is the Jawsome tee?  I paired it with a classic pair of jeans and the super cute  Asteroid Blue Plaid Roll-Cuff shirt (which is part of the Space Voyager collection), I don’t know about you, but I think he definitely makes this outfit look too cute!

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The last look I put together features skateboarding as the inspiration and it was by far and away Lil Man’s favorite of the looks I put him in.  There’s just something about a super crisp pair of khaki shorts paired with a bright, colorful shirt that I love and the combination of the Street Surfer Skateboarding shirt with the Skateboard Belted Patch Shorts.  My son loves belts, I swear he’s more of a clothes horse than all of my girls combined, and he loved that these khaki shorts feature a belt, I love them because they' are so easy to pair with so many different tees and when you’re working with a budget the ability to mix and match is super important and Gymboree makes that so easy!

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I never can say enough good things about Gymboree, they really are one of my favorite brand for children’s clothing and I’m always extremely pleased with the quality of their clothes, the value for my money and the smiles on my kiddos faces when they head off to school in their Gymboree best—that alone is reason enough for me to love them!

Don’t forget to Like Gymboree on Facebook and Follow Gymboree on Twitter for the latest deals, updates and goodies!

Disclosure:  I received a gift card to help facilitate my review from the brand or PR…all opinions are 100% my own and were not influenced by anyone, unless you count my kids, they kind of had a little bit to do with how much I love this company!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

It’s Day 2 of MIBR’s Back-to-School Blowout and we have a ton of great back-to-school gear, and hot back-to-school savings to share with all of you!  If you missed Day 1 of our BTSB, make sure you head on over and enter to win an assortment of pens from Pilot just in time for back-to-school!

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One of my favorite things about being a blogger is finding unique, colorful places to shop and sharing them with all of you and that’s exactly how Petite Lemon came to be featured in our back-to-school blowout!  If you’re not familiar with Petite Lemon, then I’d love to introduce you to what has quickly become a favorite place to find super cute personalized gifts at our house!

Petite Lemon offers their customers “personalized, colorful goods that add a thoughtful, modern touch to your home and family” and I just can’t say enough good things about this company or the finished items they produce!  In addition to gorgeous personalized growth charts and alphabet prints, Petite Lemon also has a large assortment of personalized tees that are great for birthdays, new siblings, and special occasions—including a few that are perfect for back-to-school.  Since Lil Man will be starting first grade next week (I still can’t believe my baby is 6) I thought it would be perfect to showcase Petite Lemon’s back-to-school inspired tees as part of our back-to-school blowout and both myself and Lil Man couldn’t have been happier with the awesome t-shirt they sent us.

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We received the Hello Boy tee from Petite Lemon to review and it couldn’t have been a more perfect fit for our Lil Man and his outgoing personality.  In addition to it being completely adorable, I love that the Hello Boy t-shirt is super personalized with both my son’s name and a phrase of his choice, since he’s starting first grade very soon he chose the phrase “I love 1st grade” which is definitely appropriate—he plans to wear the tee his first day of school—I don’t think his new teacher will have a problem remembering his name on the first day.

Cheeky and cute, this charming tshirt offers a fun and playful way to showcase your child's name as well as a phrase of your choice (e.g. i love recess or wants to be a professional basketball player). All of our personalized tshirts for kids are made of super soft cotton and digitally printed with premium inks. This design can be printed on short sleeve or long sleeve tshirts, baseball tshirts or personalized baby onesies.

  • Super soft, 100% pure cotton
  • Choose short sleeve tshirt, long sleeve tshirt or baseball tshirt

Petite Lemon has three back-to-school t-shirts that are perfect for your little ones to show off their individuality and personality:  The Hello tee, Plaid Pocket Tee, and the Chummy Crayon tee, all three available in an array of colors for both boys and girls and customized to fit your little ones personality to a, well, tee!  I personally love the Hello tee, but all three are completely perfect for back-to-school and I’m sure that any kiddos would agree!  While Petite Lemon has a ton of adorable personalized tees, they also have personalized growth charts and the cutest alphabet posters, which are the perfect accessory for every child’s room and they would also make a great addition to any homeschool classroom—love it!

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WIN IT!
If you’re as impressed as we are with Petite Lemon then I have some awesome news—one very lucky MIBR reader is going to win one of the 3 back-to-school inspired tees from Petite Lemon (of winner’s choice and color with personalization).  For official rules and to enter check out the Rafflecopter widget below.  Good Luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure:  I received the item listed above from PR or the brand in order to facilitate my review…all opinions are 100% my own!

Monday, August 12, 2013

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Hey y’all!  I don’t know about where you live, but the back-to-school countdown has begun here in Southern Ohio and we have t-minus 10 days and counting before our little ones are heading off to school and I couldn’t be more sad (I miss my babies when they’re in school all day).  Of course, there are lots of positives to back-to-school too and shopping for clothes and supplies is right up there at the top of that list and we want to help make this BTS season as successful, stress-less and easy as possible so that’s why all week long we’re bringing you the latest gear, the best supplies and the hottest back-to-school deals around—make sure you check back all week because we’ll have lots of cool reviews, great deals and awesome giveaways…y’all ready?  Well, let’s get to it!

If you know me well, or if you’ve been hanging around here for a while, then you probably know how much I like pens, yes, pens…I love them.  Maybe it’s my love of writing, maybe it’s just the feeling of happiness I get when I put pen to paper and create, or maybe I’m just weird, but I love pens.  While I enjoy pens immensely, they also happen to be the number one item I’m always losing and the one thing that is always in high demand in my house, especially during the school year.  Given how important it is to have a good, make that great, pen to use on all of that homework, I thought showcasing one of my favorite pen companies on day one of our Back-to-School Blowout was a complete no-brainer and and I can’t wait to show all of you the new goodies that Pilot has for back-to-school 2013!


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About Pilot Pen.
Pilot Corporation of America was established in the United States in 1972, and is recognized as a premiere manufacturer of quality writing instruments.   Pilot’s growth has been driven by the consistent development of highly innovative products that deliver unsurpassed quality and an exceptional writing experience.  Pilot’s diverse line of pens has been created in a culture that has revered the art of writing for over a thousand years.  The essence of art, design and quality of Pilot’s fine writing line can be seen throughout its entire range of product offerings, including Pilot’s everyday pens - G2, Precise, FriXion and many others.

Before I show you the goodies that Pilot sent me I wanted to share a few fun facts about Pilot Pen…

#1: Pilot is the market leader in the gel and rolling ball categories
2 miles: The distance a G2 pen’s ink flow will last; more than 2X longer than other gel ink brands
4 point sizes: G2 is the only Gel Ink pen that comes in 4 point sizes – because one size does not fit all!
15: Number of our product lines that received the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval
6 bottles: The average amount of recycled bottles in a dozen pack of our bottle-to-pen, B2P pens
18 karat gold: Namiki pens are available in hand painted and hand lacquered gold paint; $18,000: The retail price of our most expensive Namiki pen, Setsugekka

An 18 karat gold pen?  I so need that!  Alright so Pilot didn’t send me one of their Namiki pens, but they did send me a ton of their favorites to test out and share my opinion with all of you and if you stick around, there might even be an awesome giveaway for one of you!

First up is the G2 family or pens and I must admit, they’re some of my favorites! The classic G2 is not only available in 14 vibrant colors (enough colors to please even the pickiest teenage girl), it’s also available in 4 different point sizes.  I received both the Classic G2 and the G2 Fashion, which is available in classic black in with 5 funky and hot barrel colors—it was a definite favorite amongst all of us ladies.  The G2 is America's No-1 selling gel ink pen for a reason ya know, it’s super long lasing ink makes it a great buy for back-to-school and the smooth line it creates it perfect for everyone—love it!

My daughters are all about “cute” pens and the Acroball and Acroball PureWhite were their personal favorites of all of the pens we reviewed.  I love that the Acroball features a hybrid ink that allows users to have the vibrancy of gel ink with the quick-drying with the water-resistance of a ball point ink—brilliant!  Acroball PureWhite is available in black or colored ink and in a variety of vibrant, brilliant grip colors—I personally love the African Violet grip…so pretty!

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As someone who has carpal tunnel pain constantly when I write, my number one priorty when choosing a pen ( or any writing utensil really) is choosing one that feels good in my hand, if it’s too big or too small or doesn’t have the right size grip, writing can become very painful, very quickly.  The Dr. Grip family of pens from Pilot has been commended for it’s ease-of-use by the Arthritis Foundation and in a Georgia Tech study it was proven to be twice as comfortable to write with than a traditional ballpoint pen—I’ll definitely vouch for that.  The Dr. Grip line makes it super easy for me to write for longer periods without getting cramps and without losing feeling in my hand, not only that, they’re also relatively stylish which is a big plus in my book!

Sporty Spice is in middle school and while pens aren’t completely banned, they are frowned upon simply because they’re permanent, but not with the FriXion family of pens.  The FriXion Clicker is retractable, is available in 8 vibrant colors and is erasable making it perfect for younger children to use in school as mistakes can easily be erased—you have to love that.

I couldn’t mention Pilot pens without mentioning their B2P (or bottle-2-pen) family of pens, they are the world’s first line of pens that are made from 89% post consumer recycled water bottles, I love that.  B2P is available in both gel and ballpoint and they both feature a comfortable rubber grip and smooth writing.

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Pilot has so many other great pens that I know you’ll love, so make sure you head over to the Pilot Pen website and check out everything they have to offer and make sure you pick up a pack (or 5) for back-to-school…your kiddos will be so happy that you did!  Don’t forget to Like Pilot Pens on Facebook and Follow Pilot on Twitter for the latest!

WIN IT! 
One lucky MIBR reader will win an assortment of Pilot Pens (similar to the picture above)…for official rules and to enter check out the Rafflecopter Widget below!



a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure:  I received the items listed above in order to facilitate my review..all opinions are my own!