BzzAgent Badge

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Hunt Is Over!


Just HAD to share my recent WONDERFUL customer service experience!  Alex's has a water bottle, which is an Orange Camelbak Better Bottle (.75 liter)


This bottle gets filled 2-3 times a day with either plain water, or water with a hint of either juice or lemon. Well, the bite valve was showing the wear of him BITING on it. I really didn't feel like shelling out another $15 for a water bottle, but WOULD have if I hadn't found replacement valves. I looked EVERYWHERE around here, and NOBODY that sells the Camelbak brand had the replacement valves. FRUSTRATING! It's an awesome bottle, VERY durable (it takes WHATEVER this rough and tumble 5 yo boy can dish out, and TRUST me....that's saying ALOT!). 
So, since nobody around here had the valves, I started searching online. Of course, Amazon had them, and several other sites, but for $10 and up PLUS shipping. THEN, I stumbled upon Heart Rate Monitors USA . Not only are their prices competitive, they offer FREE SHIPPING! And, since it was in PA, I got it FAST! I actually received the package of bite valves (in an array of colors, I might add) on the same day I received the shipping info! KUDOS! He needs another smaller bottle for snack time at at school this year (water fountains...EEK!!!), so I will DEFINITELY be a repeat customer! Thank you again, Heart Rate Monitors USA  for not only offering competitive prices but for the free shipping! Alexander LOVED putting the blue bite valve on his orange bottle!

***>>>I was not compensated in any way for this endorsement of such a great site! All I received was my valves in a timely manner with FREE SHIPPING!<<***

Friday, August 19, 2011

Green Trash Ninja App!!









This app is under development by the folks at ECOlunchboxes . What a wonderful idea! I see they are still a bit away from their financial goal to develop the app, but there is still PLENTY of time!



Here is the rundown, directly from the page:


Our Story
Did you know that the typical American family generates 4,320 pieces of trash annually during lunchtime? We are ECOlunchboxes, a small business specializing in waste-free lunchware. 
Our dream is to teach children about lunch waste in a fun way and empower them to green their lunchtime habits. How do we want to do this? By developing a smart phone game.
Imagine lunch trash flying in air. The object is to quickly swipe trash into one of 3 cans: recycling, compost & trash. If the trash goes into the correct bin, the bin lights up and blinks. If the trash misses the bin or goes into the wrong bin, it explodes and splats in a pile on the lunchroom floor. Each round has a timer and point threshold to beat. 
Correctly sorted trash wins! 

The Impact

Our landfills and oceans are filling up with trash. Lunchtime provides an opportunity for children to take change into their own hands and green their habits. A study completed by ECOlunchboxes has shown that the typical American family generates 4,320 pieces of trash just during lunchtime! (Study results here http://www.ecolunchboxes.com/learn_study.html)
By recycling and adopting sustainable habits at lunchtime, families can dramatically reduce their environmental footprint. 

What We Need & What You Get
We are raising funds to hire a developer to create this smart phone app teaching about lunch waste and recycling. 100% of the funds will go towards programming, creative and other project costs. 

Other Ways You Can Help

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP SPREAD THE WORD:

1.    Tweet about it! We’re http://twitter.com/#!/ecolunchboxes. Here are some sample tweets that you can copy and paste (or change to make your own or whatever) to make it extra quick and easy for you:

@ecolunchboxes is making an #eco #app for #green kids! Help us obliterate waste & #recycle lunchtime on @indiegogo: http://tinyurl.com/3sczlx3

Fun flying #lunch trash! @ecolunchboxes needs help to make an #eco #app for #green #kids. Crowd funding at @indiegogo: http://tinyurl.com/3sczlx3

I’m helping @ecolunchboxes make an #eco #app about lunch waste #Green game teaches #recycling and #zerowaste @indiegogo http://tinyurl.com/3sczlx3

2.  Post on Facebook! We are http://www.facebook.com/ecolunchboxes Use messages we suggest here or make your own!

Join us in helping @ecolunchboxes make a lunch trash game for kids! This FREE smart phone app called Green Trash Ninja will be fun for kids and teach them about reducing lunchtime waste. DONATE to the cause and win PRIZES. http://www.indiegogo.com/Green-Trash-Ninja-Crowd-Fundraising-for-Eco-Game-App

Check out this crowd funding campaign by our friends at @ecolunchboxes! They want to make a smart phone game for kids to teach about reducing waste and lunchtime and recycling. They're offering PRIZES to donors who help them develop this project. http://www.indiegogo.com/Green-Trash-Ninja-Crowd-Fundraising-for-Eco-Game-App
3.    Post a badge on your blog or your website telling the world that you’re supporting our eco educational project! You can right click and save the badges below to use them. Link the badges back to this page at http://www.indiegogo.com/Green-Trash-Ninja-Crowd-Fundraising-for-Eco-Game-App so more people can learn all about it!  :-)

How cool is this! While you're at it, grab a badge for your blog! 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

John Grisham--The Suspense is KILLING me!



John Grisham had me at HELLO with "A Time To Kill", and I never looked back! That book hooked me, and I read it in a day and a half by literally taking it everywhere with me--EVERYWHERE (don't act like you don't bathroom read ).  I think this is the book I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone just starting out their Grisham journey. It's the first (and again, my favorite!), and really gives you a taste of his wonderfully thought out plot lines.

What is SO engrossing about his writing style is that it grabs you RIGHT away, and doesn't let you go. His books are NEVER predictable, and ALWAYS leave me wanting MORE! Honestly, I have yet to read one where I can accurately predict how it will turn out, no matter how hard I try. I love how there is ALWAYS something that comes at me from way out in left field that I never saw coming (you would think I would be a pro, having been a Grisham reader since the beginning, but he makes it impossible--he REALLY does!).

SUPER excited about his upcoming thriller " The Litigators " which will be available in Hardcover and as an E-book on October 25th (CAN'T WAIT!!).

FROM THE FLAP ON THE BOOK JACKET:


" The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.
And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.
With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.
A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!
It almost seems too good to be true.
And it is."

C.A.N.'T. W.A.I.T!!!!!!   Have you read any of John Grisham's novels? If so, what is your favorite and why? Please share! I would love to see your favorites and thoughts!

Aaaaaaaand---DISCUSS!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Handmade Gift Exchange!

Awhile back, I posted that I was participating in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift exchange. I received my partner's gifts and they are so cute! I really like the cow print bag--it is now my new portable project bag!
She has a shop called HuneeBCreations , which doesn't have any items at the moment, but I can only hope that she adds more soon :).

I also received a VERY cute change purse (you can't see on the pic, but the inside fabric is bumblebees!  LOVE!


This gift exchange sure was a great idea, and I am looking forward to not only participating in her next one, but hosting one myself!
Happy crafting!
~ B

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension Party!

Party time! We had our party on Friday, August 5th during the premier of "Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension". What fun! The movie was just absolutely AMAZING! Of course, we're jaded here, as we are HARDCORE P&F fans, baby--HARDCORE!.

All the kids were amazingly silent during the movie, and, as always, there were MULTIPLE levels of humor that all the age groups guffawed at!  All the adults loved the brief nods to nostalgic tv, especially Phineas' nod to George and Weezy when they crashed into Doofenshmirtz's apartment  -- great, now that theme song is stuck in my melon! MOOOOOVIN' ON UUUUP!!!!




BUT--I digress. Aside from the Perry cake (whose beautifully crafted tail fell onto his body), we also had fedora cupcakes (whose hats were crafted from caramels and tootsie rolls!).
Let me just interrupt myself here for a moment and give an unsolicited plug to Wilton Cakes for creating the PERFECT Perry tint! A mere $1.99 for a tiny jar of gel color (which, by the way, I managed to get on my finger and didn't notice I was leaving teal fingerprints all over the place until the kids were WELL into eating and movie watching!).
 Ok, interruption over :). All of our guest ALSO dined on Mini Mr. Slushy dogs and "Tatornator" tatertots (Hey, don't shoot the messenger, I didn't come up with that  name :) ).
I BARELY got this picture before the galloping hoard came in to ravage the table! And what P&F party would be complete without Phineas (triangle) and Ferb (rectangle strips) nachos, complete with Chicka Chicka Choo Wa Queso!

...AND... Backyard Beach cocktails for the adults ;).


Yessss... it was wonderful :). 
Let me just reiterate how INTENT the children were as they were watching the movie. It was great! They ate and munched, and the adults refilled plates and cups as needed. OH! The sling bag/button/sticker gift bags were a HUGE hit! Although there was some EXTREME fighting over the Perry bags (everyone loves Perry!).

I actually have a few leftover, which means I will be the bell of the boardwalk come the October trip to the beach! What a wonderful opportunity , and even though we would have watched the movie ANYWAY, we all felt EXTREMELY blessed by the fact that we were afforded the opportunity to host a movie watching party (complete with goodies!), thanks to Disney XD and Child's Play Party . What an AWESOMELY wonderful idea !  HAVE to add that ALL of the adults LOVED the cartoonization (is that even a word??) of Slash (who is a HUGE P&F fan!).


We have recorded the movie, but will be purchasing it as soon as it is released :). In parting, I am going to leave you with this--I dare you to try to get it out of your head ;)

Friday, August 5, 2011

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension - Official trailer (HD)



WOOT! Today is HERE!!!! In a little over 8 hours, we will be watching and celebrating with some fun food and prizes! What are YOU doing for this auspicious occasion? Still trying to narrow down all my ideas for tonight, guess the trip out to the grocery store will make up my mind for me LOL. SO excited! Dinner tonight is going to be a total mish  mosh of P & F themed foods and snacks for the movie watching party. More details to come! Can't have my ideas stolen at the last minute by someone of the Doofenshmirtz persuasion, now, can I? Speaking of evil.....I wonder what kind of "inator" I can whip up at the last minute?