Reviews & Giveaways

Tea Collection: Inspired from Around the World

December 30, 2011 by melissa

With the recent traveling I’ve done lately because of my dad, you may have gathered that I’m half Costa Rican. I’ve traveled there many times throughout my life. What you may not know is that I’ve traveled elsewhere a decent bit in my life too. I spent two months in Spain when I was in college. I traveled through parts of Italy and France. I’ve honeymooned in Jamaica. Vacationed in Mexico. And a few other places as well.

I want my kids to grow up knowing that there are other cultures, other foods, other traditions out there. The world is full of differences and I don’t want them to live in an American bubble. With all that’s happened lately, I feel stronger about this than ever. That’s why when I learned about Tea, I was practically giddy.

Tea is a clothing company that travels the world visiting spots like Japan, Brazil, Catalonia (think Barcelona) and their most recent destination, Mexico. Then they design clothing lines inspired by the colors, art, scenery and all around beauty of the places they visit. Not only that, they write about their travels on their website, post pictures on Flickr and even blog about the inspiration behind their designs (which I know my fellow bloggers will dig). I can appreciate a company that has that much passion about the world around them.

Tea sent me some of their Modern Mexico line so the kids could try them out (and so this mama could see what she thought). The verdict? We are all officially in love with Tea. Even Daddy Roo (which I’ll get to later).

In fact, Big Roo begged to wear this Aztec serpent tee right away (and has proceeded to want to wear it anytime he sees it in his drawer, i.e. anytime it’s not in the laundry pile). It also gives me a chance to tell him about the cool Aztec pyramids (with a little help from Google).

And Little Roo desperately wanted to fit into Big Roo’s Desierto Henley shirt…

But ended up being happy with a shirt of his own.

So, the kids obviously love these clothes.

As for me, I’m totally enamored by the idea that these clothes are globally-inspired in such a fun way. Traveling around the world to design a clothing line is pretty sweet, isn’t it? The clothing lines that Tea designs are pretty magical in how they incorporate aspects of a travel destination with modern-looking clothes, like so:

I should mention that Daddy Roo liked these Fuerte polos so much that he wished they came in his size. He loved the texture of the shirts and thought they were pretty stylin’.

In addition to the awesome shirts, they also have some great pants, both basics and not-so-basics. Big Roo is wearing the Ticking Striped Pant. It’s funny because I typically don’t buy striped pants for the Roos… but you have to admit that he looks pretty slick. The pants are actually pretty awesome.

And Little Roo’s Surplus pants look super cool (though I can’t help looking at his cute footsies too).

If you’re itching to get your hands on some great Tea fashions after seeing the Roo kiddos all dressed up, check out their nice sale at the moment! You can also get 10% off your first order just for signing up for their newsletter.

I’m pretty curious to see how they incorporate their next travel destination into a clothing line so I’ll be watching for updates on their Facebook page. Until I travel again, I think I’ll be living through Tea!

Disclaimer: The lovely folks at Tea sent me these clothes to review. The opinions (and cute kids) are all my own.

Five Kid-Friendly Foods to Pick Up at Trader Joes

November 7, 2011 by melissa

If you follow me on Twitter, it’s no secret that I love me some Trader Joes. We first entered a Trader Joes when we lived in Phoenix back in 2003. I remember thinking, this costs WHAT? And it’s not filled with fake crap? Of course, not everything is super cheap but most of it is. Regardless, Trader Joes is a weekly adventure for us. The kids love trying whatever food they’re sampling that day and Big Roo enjoys hunting for the squirrel so he can get a treat from the treasure box.

If you have a Trader Joes near you, then pick up these kid-friendly and you can thank me later.

1. Orange-Flavored Cranberries- $1.99

Anytime we’re at a soccer game or out somewhere, I’m dealing these out like a drug dealer. My kids love them. Other people’s kids love them too. This was one of our first buys at a Trader Joes and we still buy them to this day. Regular dried cranberries? Meh. ORANGE-flavored cranberries with natural orange flavor? Yummers.

2. Organic Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup- $2.79

Even the kids love this stuff. Big Roo actually requests it in his lunch and starts whining when we run out. Funny thing is, I really don’t like tomatoes. But this soup? It’s creamy and a nice blend of the two veggies. Great with a grilled cheese. Like, DUH.

3. Cereal Bars- $1.79

I’ll never buy the big name brand of cereal bars ever again. Why would I when I get these made with organic grains, no hydrogenated oils and no colored food dyes? These come in four flavors (blueberry, apple, strawberry and fig) and we eat em all.

4. Organic Bananas- $.29

My kids can eat some naners. I just love that I can get ORGANIC bananas for just $.29 a banana. The non-organic (and still yummy) ones are just $.19 and have been for years. So, this bunch here cost me $1.74 (there WERE six here but I ate one before I took the picture- haha). Gotta love a sweet deal on fruit.

5. Joe Joes- $2.99

I saved the best for last… at least my kids would say so. Little Roo, who’s 20 months old, even chants “Joe Joe, Joe Joe” after a meal (see second :19 in this clip to hear him). They’re like Oreos but without high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors. Right now we have Halloween ones (in addition to these) but once those are done, I’ll pick up with famous Peppermint Joe Joes before they sell out (they DO sell out).

Okay don’t hate me for posting this if there’s no Trader Joes near you. Just stock up next time you travel to a town with one! For those of you who live near one, what’s your favorite thing to pick up there?

Non-disclaimer disclaimer: No, I didn’t get a sweet gig with Trader Joes. I’m just sharing all the goodness because I’m a super fan.

LEGO KidsFest Coming to Raleigh October 7-9, 2011

October 3, 2011 by melissa

I can do this too. No problem. *cough cough*

I hear this story often from my brother-in-laws. When Daddy Roo got sent to his room as a kid, it wasn’t too bad. See, he was the lucky brother with the LEGOs in his closet. He’d come out of “time out” with a new ship or a skyscraper while his brothers came out from their rooms empty-handed (and a little ticked off I’m sure).

He’s now an architectural designer. Maybe those time-outs weren’t a bad thing after all.

Our kids love playing with LEGOs too. Big Roo is just getting into “big kid” LEGOs while Little Roo is all about the DUPLOS.

We were all pretty stoked to see that the LEGO KidsFest is coming to Raleigh later this week. From October 7-9 at the Raleigh Convention Center, kids can build, play and do just about everything with LEGOs (but eat them).

I must see this in person. Cool, right?

While there’s a TON of activities and things to do at LEGO Kidsfest, I think we each have a part we’ll be most excited about:

Daddy Roo: the LEGO Model Gallery, which has 40 life-sized models made entirely from LEGO bricks
Me: the Mystery Mural sounds intriguing, where you help build a piece of a giant mural to help reveal the image
Big Roo: no question he’ll be stoked to do the Race Ramps, where you build cars and race them down a ramp
Little Roo: I’m sure he’ll love the DUPLO area, since those bricks are bigger for his itty bitty toddler hands

If you’d like to join me there, tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for children. You can buy the tickets and find more info about the Kidsfest at the official LEGO Kidsfest website.

Disclaimer: I was given free tickets to attend the event. We’re headed there on Sunday and I can’t wait!

I Love It When This Happens

August 10, 2011 by melissa

You read a book. A REALLY GOOD BOOK. One you stay up too late reading because you’ll “just read two more pages.”

Then you hear it’s going to become a movie. Part of you is excited. Part of you wonders how much they’ll screw it up when it gets adapted to the big screen.

Then the movie comes out. You go see it… and it’s AH-MAZING. Like Oscar-is-written-all-over-this-movie amazing. And you leave the theatre smiling because Hollywood got it dead right.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about The Help.

If you haven’t heard about it, here’s the brief synopsis:

Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” is a provocative and inspiring look at what happens when a southern town’s unspoken code of rules and behavior is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.

The movie opens up today but I got a sneak peek of it on Monday night.

When I love a book so much, I always worry about the adaptation of it. I was truly blown away by this film.

Sure there were some changes from the book or things left out. But it really didn’t bother me.

Instead, the characters and the story drew me in. I forgot about my eBook, my blog, my house being a mess. I just become engrossed in their world.

That’s Skeeter, played by Emma Stone. She’s the one interviewing the maids to write a book called, you guessed it, The Help.

That’s Hilly. Even if she’s played by the adorable Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron Howard’s daughter), you’ll just hate her. Really.

And that’s Abilene (left) played by Viola Davis and Minny (right) played by Octavia Spencer. They are the first maids to share their stories with Skeeter. If you’ve read the book, you’ll LOVE how well the “Terrible Awful” is done. People were crying from laughter.

The Help is a roller coaster of emotions, which is partly why I loved it so much. One second those of us in the audience gasped in disgust, a few minutes later there were muffled sobs and then in a few seconds we were breaking out in hand-clapping laughter.

At times, I couldn’t believe this was the 60s. The depth of racism in some of the characters was appalling. But the story is truly a beautiful one of strength and courage.

The Help has Academy Award nominations written all over it. I can’t wait to see how well it does in theatres.

Have you read the book? Are you planning to see the movie?

There’s also a Facebook page for The Help if you want to follow along.

Disclaimer: I was given movie tickets to the advanced screening but opinions are mine, all mine.

A Late Night S’Mores Buffet and Smiley S’More Monsters

July 25, 2011 by melissa

I have a confession to make.

I. Love. S’mores.

There’s just something about ’em. Gooey, chocolately and crunchy all at the same time.

While we haven’t gone camping yet this season (camping=s’more-fest), we DID go to the beach. One of my sisters lives at the beach so you could say we’re a WEE bit lucky.

Late Night S’Mores Buffet

Being that I’m in love with S’mores, I jumped at the chance to work with Hershey’s to encouraging families to create their own S’mores memories with the Say S’mores campaign. They needed no encouraging from me. Our beach late night S’mores buffet was a hit. And you HAVE to see the Roo kids get messy in the video I made (see below).

After a late dinner at my sister’s house, we heated up the fire pit and brought out the goodies. I thought it’d be cool to do a S’mores buffet so we had two types of graham crackers (regular and cinnamon), marshmallows (the store only had regular ones) and an assortment of Hershey’s chocolate: Milk Chocolate, Special Dark, Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Cookies ‘N’ Cream.

Low lighting prevented me from getting super great shots but I couldn’t help but post these pictures. Why? Because I think this signifies what eating S’mores is all about. Hanging out with family, breathing in the faint smell of the ocean, feeling the cool breeze all while smiling and laughing at the gooeyness (and yumminess) of the s’mores.

Big Roo made his with the Cookies ‘N’ Cream Hershey’s bar.

My sister reminds me of what would happen if S’mores made it to tribal council.

By the time I got into a picture, all I had left was a chunk of marshmallow.

Smiley S’Mores Monsters, the Video

Since Little Roo missed all the action that night at the beach (way past his bedtime), we decided to set him up with our own smore-a-thon when we got home. I captured the highlights on video. You’ll get a kick out of them getting messy with the S’mores (and be sure to catch :20 to witness some CUTE brotherly giggles).

My house looks like a wee bit of crazy, right?

Want a Chance to Win a Canon Rebel (& Other Cool Stuff?)

Another reason I was happy to share some of our S’mores moments was because of this. Capture and share your fave S’mores moment on their Facebook page for a chance to win some super awesome prizes like the grand-prize Canon Rebel Camera, slate marble outdoor firebowl, $250 SnapFish gift card, roasting skewers set and all of the ingredients needed to make S’mores, including Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars.

Plus, if you visit the page to download the Say S’mores application so you can participate in monthly photo contests, you’ll receive a $1 coupon good toward the purchase of any two Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar 6-packs. SWEET.

Grab your roasting stick and go check out the Hershey’s Facebook page to get your S’more on.

This post is a part of my participation in the Hershey’s “Say S’Mores” promotion. All opinions are mine.