My Pick For Christmas Gifts This Year

Never have I ever seen a product that I wished I could get for everyone I know until now!

NO lie if I could, I would order one for everyone on my Christmas list from my grandparents right down to my kids and everyone in between.

Let me rewind for a moment.

Like this blanket that was created from my photos.

I've never seen anything like this.

The detail of the photo is truly amazing. Each photo is on true color with the sharpest detail you can imagine.  I can see my son's beautiful mole, my nose ring and my daughters amazing sunlight hair.

You don't even need an amazing camera to get these. I didn't use my Canon 50D for any of these. They were all taken with my iPhone 4.

This Santa Cookie Cake Makes Any Holiday Table More Fun

 

Make this season extra sweet with this delightful Christmas treat! We've loaded this 12-inch cookie cake with rich chocolate chips and hand decorated with sweet frosting, creating a holiday dessert that's impossible to resist!

My hand for size reference

 

My daughter liked it so much she left a love note

Oh man!!!! This cookie cake is amazing.  My favorite part of it was how soft the icing was. It was as if I had piped it out AND it lasted like that until it was completely gone two weeks later. 

Wish I had more leftover. It looks amazing

The cake was moist and yummy and my kids and I loved it. We literally had to control ourselves not to go back for seconds and thirds every time we ate it. 

We will be using Gourmet Gift Baskets for our out of town family this year. They are so much more than baskets.

Everyone Should Have A Precision Kit

I am obsessed with making sure my face is hair free except my eye brows. For some reason I am constantly searching for my tweezer and never can find it. I get these little hairs in my chin and sometimes on my neck that I constantly need to remove. This Precision Grooming set is perfect for being able to control exactly what I need. In face the other day I handed the pointest ones to my 10 year old and asked her to get one on my neck that I couldn't see but could feel.

These are stainless steel and come in their own handy kit which makes them super easy to find unlike the one I am always searching for.

The ones I got were a beautiful blue. I have yet to try to tweeze a hair that wasn't tweezeable. Every single one so far has come out on the very first attempt. Usually there are those that slip out of the tweezers and have me pulling on air.

Yes, the set is extremely pointy. Yes, they could be dangerous but use with precaution knowing that you will remove whatever it is you are trying to remove, a hair or a splinter. The scissors have the tiniest tip, they are perfect for trimming any hair above my brow line.

Favorite set ever and priced as a set so well.

Make Your Phone Look Like A Pretty Snow Princess

I like this case a lot! It is definitely fluffy and very appealing and girly. When you flip it over you can see that it is just a clear plastic case but the embellishments are definitely eye catching. With winter coming really really soon I can so see how this would be a benefit. The fur is REAL. It is beautifully soft and the gems are definitely not movable. It appears to be very stable. However don't bother looking at it from the other side. Put your phone in it and leave it. The beauty is on the front anyway. I also wouldn't remove the phone to many times. The plastic seems like it would crack if you take the phone in and out too much.

With all that said, this is a beautiful phone that was worth the wait to get. It ships Internationally so it took 3 weeks to get here.

Paper Towns A Movie Review and Blu-Ray Combo

I have to admit it right here and now. I have not seen The Fault in Our Stars. I am not looking to cry these days maybe I will get to it eventually. But when I realized I had a chance to review Paper Towns through Fox Home Entertainment Insiders, I couldn't wait. I knew nothing about the movie other than there were two young people on the cover and it said from the makers of The Fault In Our Stars.

Going into the first 8-12 minutes I was completely invested in this movie about Quentin or Quinn and his neighbor Margo. They were really good friends as kids until one moment changed everything for her. She suddenly became adventurous going out at night on "investigations" and they drift apart.  Quinn has loved her forever and knows what he wants in life. He's got it all set in his mind. Graduate, college, doctor of oncology (of course), marriage, kids and he's a happy man. Margo on the other hand has no idea what she is doing tomorrow let alone planning her life.

Margo needs Quinn for one of her adventures and it changes his life. It changes the way he thinks and lights a fire in him that he didn't even know was missing. 

When she disappears Quinn become the adventure, taking off on a road trip with friends to find Margo through clues she's left for him. What will happen if he finds her? You will have to watch the movie to find out.

I love this different coming of age story. I enjoyed watching Quinn and his friends. Loved Margo and her antics and believe everyone needs a little bit of Margo and a little bit of Quinn to lead a truly happy life.

If You Get A Chance Watch SPY Starring Melissa McCarthy

 

The 411:

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Spy. Melissa McCarthy is great, Jude Law and Jason Statham equally attractive and amazing. It was definitely a fun ride one that I think you will enjoy if you are looking for a fun movie and enjoyed Bridesmaids. 

Tons of potty mouth but a great ride!

Melissa plays a behind the scenes agent who is the voice in the ear of her partner on the job Jude Law who she is crushing on big time. When he goes missing she goes under cover to find out what happened to him.

If you have a chance watch the adorably funny Melissa and all her crazy wigs and aliases.

Let Nora Or Leo Help You With Behavior Modification For Your Child

The concept is called "Nora & Leo, The Simple Solution to Positive Parenting." It is still in Kickstarter mode but this NEEDS to be on the market. I don't know a parent who didn't need something like this at one time or another.

Goddess' new homework helper

We were lucky enough to be able to check out one of the fairies for ourselves. We chose Nora and so far Goddess is responsive to the program AND eager to collect gems outside of the original arrangement we made regarding how she would get gems. 

Check out our unboxing of the Nora kit:

Luseta Beauty Products - A Review

This year I am revisiting my youthful love of beautiful products. When I was a tween into my twenties I adored make-up, hair products, nail polish and all potions and lotions.Work, family, blogging all came before that after a while. I didn't stop wearing make-up, or taking care of my skin or doing my hair but I had one or two things for each of needs.

Fast forward a few years...I'm a little older and LOVE trying new products.

Luseta Beauty Moisturizing Olive and Jojoba Body Oil - is a wonderful smelling blend of oils that moisturize and hydrate your skin. You can even use it on your hair. I have ONE (why one?) very dry elbow which used to bother me. My daughter would actually play with it because she said she like the way I felt. I used to tell her to play with her own because her elbows was just as dry as mine. After two days she mentioned that my elbow didn't feel the same. I touched it and realized their was no dry circle for her to grab onto. So we used it on hers. Our elbows now feel as soft as our other skin. 
 
With the dry weather coming in I will be using this on my legs as well as all over when I get out of the shower. It smells amazing and leaves your skin feeling amazing and silky smooth. I even love the bottle.

Luseta Beauty Macadamia Hair Oil Treatment is a wonderful treatment for your hair. I have used it on my wet hair as well as my dry hair and love it. After taking the towel off my head after a shower I take a small amount into the palm of my hand and run it through my hair. It makes combing so much easier. It is a wonderful way to detangle hair. Also since I wash every other day I apply a small amount in the morning to my dry hair before leaving the house. My hair tends to be drier and very thick and wavy. Applying in the morning makes my hair less crazy or frizzy. It basically calms it down. I have BIG hair and the Macadamia Hair Oil Treatment means I can walk out of my house without someone looking to put a straight jacket on me. No more big bed head.  

Both of these products have an easy dropper top so you don't use to much or accidentally knock it over and leave oil everywhere.   

Great stocking stuffers. The bottles look like old time antique bottles. I will not be tossing them when empty! Love them.   

My Lazy Sunday Featured The Entire 6th Season of #modernfamily

The 411 by Maria:

I had a wonderful Sunday sitting in front of the fire while the boys watched football with my laptop and headphones laughing alone to the Modern Family Season 6 DVD Box Set.

If you are a fan of this wonderfully written, brilliantly acted ensemble this is a box set for you.

If you are not a fan or have lived under a rock, the award winning Modern Family is about three separate households all from the same family.

Jay Prichett lives with his Colombian, much younger wife Gloria, her son and their toddler .
Claire (Jay's daughter) lives with her husband Phil and their three children, Haley, Alex, and Luke
Mitchell (Jay's son) lives with his husband Cam and their adopted Korean daughter Lily.

Season 6 highlights:

Cam and Mitch are married
Alex is seeking colleges
Manny is benched on Cam's football team
Gloria and Jay talk about getting older
Phil and Claire get new neighbors
The Dumphrey kids are as lame as ever
Lily is as feisty as ever

This season brings the laughs and shows no signs of jumping the sharks. The jokes are still fresh, the cast still deliver and look like they are having fun

I loved the episode of Jay wearing his big "old man" glasses and Gloria once again proving she is not only a sexy woman but smart too by dressing down so he can see how important trying to be attractive for each other are.

Also, Cam's over the top displays of affection to his new husband.

Anytime Phil is on screen I am happy. He cracks me up every time.

This is a wonderful done comedy series that you really should invest some time in.

Selfie Stick Monopod Looks Good And Goes Anywhere

Some people think selfies are selfish but I don't agree. As someone who lost my mother at a young age I wish we had smartphones and selfies before she passed away. I have so few photos of her and think it is important to take photos of yourself.

Selfie without a stick

If I look through my old photo albums, I have taken at least 8000 photos in the past 12 years and only appear in about 100 of them.  Thankfully selfies are here to stay and some geniuses invited the selfie stick so we don't only have to be a head and shoulders although these days, I'm fine with that.

This thing folds up to be only about 7 inches but extends to 32 inches for a full view or a group shot! Love it and love taking selfies.

The Tech Savvy comes with a carabineer so you can attach it to your belt or pant loop, backpack, tote, camera bag or wherever.

If you know someone who has a Smartphone give them a selfie stick this holiday season. They will definitely love it.

Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner

I LOVE the smell of coconut and this coconut milk shampoo and conditioner from Luseta smells amazing.

It is not only the scent that makes it a great shampoo but as someone who has super dry hair ever since changing from the over the counter, drug store, sale shampoos and conditioners, my hair actually feels soft. It has been many, many years since I thought my hair felt nice.

I know taking care of my hair has always been something I never spent much time on. I remember back in the day when I read Seventeen magazine as a kid I read that you should treat your hair the way you treat fine washables.

Using the Luseta coconut milk shampoo and conditioner makes my hair smell and feel like I just came out of my hair stylist. Come to think of it, I should tell them about this brand.

Even now as I right it I am touching my hair and smelling it.

My hair:
Smells amazing
Doesn't feel weighed down
Looks silky and shiny.

Great for all hair types too! My son and daughter have much thinner and straighter hair then me and it makes their hair smell amazing. They love it too.

These bottles hold over 16 oz each. They are a nice size and even though they cost more than the .77 cents I usually spend, I feel like they go a long

My Son's Absolute Favorite Pizza

My son AND my husband will eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love it too but nowhere near where these guys do.

They love it from the pizzeria and they love it frozen. They are true pizza lovers.

We don't live in an area that delivers pizza so we ALWAYS have at least two frozen pizza's in the freezer and they absolute favorite is FRESCHETTA.

In 25 minutes they have a great tasting pizza and I don't have to stress about what they are having for dinner

  

Keeping Our Homework Pencils Sharp

School has been in session for almost two full months. We sit and do homework every single night. It's a blast. Yeah...no...it is awful and there are sometimes tears. Right before the tears there is the sound of a pencil breaking because someone has decided it was too hard, they are too tired or whatever other excuse I sometimes hear when someone (Goddess) doesn't want to do homework.

We go through a ton of pencils and my wrist was starting to hurt from all the turning I have to do to re-sharped the pencil that was perfectly fine before we started homework (10 seconds earlier) UGH!

This sharpener has gotten quite a bit of use over the past two days.

You can put 4 AA batteries in it but I choose to charge through USB plug (included). You can also plug it in if you want because it does come with a plug too.

My favorite feature is that you can set the sharpness of your pencil. My daughter is a danger to herself and me when she does her 5th grade homework. It is not easy for her and she is dramatic. She prefers it blunt or I should say, I prefer it blunt so she doesn't hurt herself. It breaks less often. I prefer my pencils as sharp as they can get especially when sketching.

Never have I seen a finer point. I definitely cannot get that with a manual sharpener.

This sharpener is easy to clean, just pop off the clear area where the pencil scraps collect, empty and reattach.

This is also so much quieter. I know the 2nd grade teacher I am currently working with will want to see this. For some reason kids love to sharpen pencils and when one goes up, suddenly three or four need to go up. It is such a distraction. This is so much quieter then the one we use in class now.

Bringing in for her to see this week. I will try to update at the end of the week.

Celebrate Halloween With Your Favorite Disney Villain!

They truly are amazing. I love the idea of these villain bags and I think Disney fans will too! Why should the princesses get all the fun?!

We received a Maleficent make-up bag to check out the quality. I can tell you it is pretty sweet! Nice detail. Great artwork! You will love them! Collect all. They also make great stocking stuffer gifts too. So get them now. 

Indie Film Lovers Check This Out - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

The 411:

INTERESTING!

At times I thought what the heck is going on here? I got the premise of a generational fortune teller who is in the family business of fortune telling, future stats and healing thanks to a bunch of ghosts who hang out in her old house. One problem, they are not hanging out, they were trapped by her grandmother.

The movie centers around her and the ghosts but in the mix is the band Califone who provide the soundtrack and appear throughout the movie.

During the first 10 minutes I thought can I make it through this movie but 20 minutes in I was sitting up on the couch instead of lying there.

There are some odd characters like a preacher who is always making out with a bride who died and a little mute girl who turns out to be family.

The movie is carried by actress Angela Bettis who plays Zel. I found myself wondering if she was afraid of the ghosts especially at night. She pours salt around herself when she sleeps. But seems completely unbothered by them during the day when they touch her to help her with her healings or readings.

Great premise.

It was definitely an interesting movie and part of the Indie Pix Mix 10.

You can get the movie alone

 Or as a set with 10 other Indie movies.

Drop Into Autumn With These Lip Colors From Is Ecco Bella

While I love the idea of wearing lipstick because I think it completes the face I am very conscious of it when I have it on. It doesn't matter how many compliments I get when I wear it, I always feel like it is TOO MUCH.

 What I love about these lip colors is:

They aren't dark. They are nice stain to the lip that doesn't scream, I am wearing lipstick.
They aren't heavy. Have you ever put lipstick on and felt it on your lips? Happens to me every time.

I wear the Good For You Gloss every day and appreciate the little mirror on the bottle. I can put it on anywhere.

Over the past three days I have tried the Flower Color Lipstick. It is amazing how they stain the lip but aren't heavy! They last a long time too and I think because they aren't heavy, I don't lick at it feeling like I have to subdue it all day.

Pop Into The Thanksgiving Mood With The King Of Pop.Com

 
If you are like me and have family out of state you are always looking for something different to send to them during the holidays. How many times can I do a box of fruit or sausage and cheese plate over years?

This year I am happy to report that I am way early on my gift ideas for the out of towners in my family.

The King Of Pop.Com is the quickest review I have ever done that included a video and the reason is I was so impressed. I got home by 4:00 PM. Uploaded the video to You Tube by 4:45 and here I am at 5:40 typing out my review while in-between talking to the kids about school, getting one on Facetime with her friend, signing off on Handsome's reading log and downloading a new computer game for them to check out.

OK...here is what I can tell you......

This is not your grandma's popcorn. I am totally in love with all the new flavors included in the Thanksgiving Feast Sampler.  The popcorn taste amazing and if I had a larger appetite I would still be eating it right now.

We have gone through three bags already but tried them all.

Included in the Thanksgiving Popcorn Feast Sampler was:

Herb Roasted Vegetables
Buttered Corn on The Cob
Garlic Parmesan Popcorn
Gravy
Turkey
Cranberry Sauce
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Strawberry Cheesecake
Stuffing

I have no idea how these popcorn experts created these flavors but they DO NOT TASTE fake! It is crazy!

The kids loved the Buttered Corn on the Cob and Turkey. I loved the...oh...I should just list the ones I did not love...wait...I liked them all. I LOVED the Buttered Corn on the Cob, Apple Pie, Stuffing, Strawberry Cheesecake and Cranberry Sauce. This is why I will never be a size 7 again! EVER!

Still in my work clothes but so excited, I jumped on camera to tell you guys about these delicious, fun snacks.

A Day Of Outdoors

The kids and I spent the day outside yesterday. It was gorgeous and I know these days will be few and far between in the coming weeks.

Goddess even got a play date call while we were out and I invited them to join us but they wanted her to come over. She had slept over this girl's house on Friday and hung with her all Saturday, then we spent the day with them Sunday so I chose to not tell her they were looking for her and keep her to myself because I know in the coming years those days will be few and far between as well.

The sky was a stunning blue and the colors on the trees amazing. The kids and I played at the park, ate lunch at another park and walked around enjoying the weather and each other.

Here are some pics from the day.

The Axe In The Attic - A Movie Review

The 411 by Maria:

The Axe In The Attic is a powerful film done by two film makers focuses on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and it's effects on the people who lived through it.

I remember scratching my head during the first days of Katrina wondering why the government wasn't doing more to take care of our people. These are not refugees from other countries, they were United States citizens who were going through a horrific ordeal yet New Orleans looked like a war torn area.

The horrific stories shared, reiterated what I was feeling. How could this be allowed to happen?

This is an intimate account of what the people were going through told in their own words, plus narrative form.

My heart was bleeding for those who survived and those who perished. Stories of a mom who tossed her baby off a bridge after playing with it along with her other children. A man who was shot because he was demanding answers. People who lost everything. The tears! The visits to the homes all gut wrenching but it was a piece of our history where we saw the breakdown of systems that were set in place for catastrophes like this.

A Must See!

Coolest Mini Figurines - Heroclix

We have never heard of Heroclix but my kids love games and collecting and playing with figurines.

We received this huge lot from Golden Groundhog of 60 miniature Heroclix.

Before I go any further let me tell you what Heroclix are.  You know all those card games kids are playing these days. Like YuGiOh, Pokemon and Magic Cards? Well it's kind of like that but with figurines which my kids LOVED!

In Heroclix you create teams of characters from comic books, video games and villains and battle it out. The dial on the base keeps track of the stats like damage and special abilities. It also tells you their trait symbol, a collector number, a team symbol, the rarity of it if any, their name and more

It can be played with two or four players and the battles take place on a map like this.

My kids and I love looking at them. They have so much detail like this little guy.

My kids love little figurines and right now neither are interested in playing with the maps but they do want more because they want to "collect them". That is literally all I hear these days. They have so many little collections going on. These are small enough that I don't mind and you get a pretty big bag for a really good price.