Thursday, October 20, 2016

10/20/16: Costumes4Less Halloween Costumes

Halloween is a major holiday in our family.  Every year we throw a fun costume party for the kids and they have a blast.  I am always amazed at how expensive costumes can be can but not at Constumes4Less.  Lauren decided she wanted to dress up as Dorothy this year and had no problem finding the perfect costume on the Costumes4Less Website.
The costume is so adorable.  Plus it is comfortable!  Some costumes can be uncomfortable to wear.  It came with the dress and two blue bows for braids which we will put in Lauren's hair for Halloween.  Note that the socks, red sparkly shoes and the dog do not come with the costume.  The doggy is our new puppy and she makes a perfect Toto.
 How cute are they?
 Here you can see the dress and hair ties.  The dress is really sparkly and Lauren loves that it flairs up when she spins!  Plus it was only $31.94!  This is compared to $59.00 you would pay elsewhere.  You can find it here on their website along with many other awesome options for the whole family.
Here it is as packaged!  If you spend over $50.00 shipping is free!  We have ordered from Costumes4Less many times and always been really impressed with how quickly they ship and how great the costumes are for a great value! 
The focus of Constumes4Less is only on getting high quality products shipped to their consumers at the lowest possible cost in the most efficient manner.  They even price match if you find the same item somewhere else for cheaper.  They will more than match any competitor's price! They pay you 110% of the difference!!  The Low price guarantee applies to every item, every day. They are able to do this by eliminating advertising and marketing expenses and having no physical retail stores.  They even sell party supplies and wedding supplies.
What an awesome selection and great prices!  Why pay more when you can get Constumes4Less?
Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Costumes4Less
Follow them on Twitter:  @costumes4less
Follow them on Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/costumes4less/
Disclosure:  I received this costume for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Monday, October 17, 2016

10/17/16: Free Passes to an Advanced Screening of Trolls

I love all the fun movies for kids that have been coming out.  We have been seeing previews for 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming release TROLLS and we can't wait to see it!  Plus now I have an opportunity for my readers to attend an advanced screening on Saturday, October 22nd  at 10am at AMC Boston Common!  I have 40 passes of 4 tickets each!
To get your tickets:
Or, go to www.gofobo.com/rsvp    And enter RSVP Code: Evan&LaurenTrolls 
Here is more information about the film:
From the creators of Shrek comes DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, a smart, funny, and irreverent comedy about the search for happiness, and just how far some will go to get it. This hilarious film transports audiences to a colorful, wondrous world populated by the overly optimistic Trolls, with a constant dance in their step and a song on their lips, and the comically pessimistic Bergens, who are only happy when they have trolls in their stomachs.  

After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy (Kendrick), the happiest Troll ever born, and the overly-cautious curmudgeonly Branch (Timberlake) set off on a journey to rescue her friends. Together, this mismatched duo embark on a rescue mission full of adventure and mishaps - trying to tolerate each other long enough to get the job done. 

Utilizing music to further the film's narrative, the Trolls soundtrack is produced by Justin Timberlake and features five original songs including songs by Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani in addition to a number of classic hits from the 60's - 80's.  

TROLLS Official Channels
HASHTAG: #DreamWorksTrolls
Disclosure:  I was provided with these tickets to giveaway to my readers.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

10/15/16: Colony Place Shopping Tour

I love finding great places to go shopping and hearing about fall fashion trends.  As a Mom of two I am so busy that the fashion trends are usually something that I am not up on.  Recently I was able to take a tour of Colony Place in Plymouth, MA and learn about trends for adults and kids.  I had never been to Colony Place but I learned quickly that they have some wonderful stores.  You can see the full list of stores here.  Here is a sampling of some of the stores that I was able to tour and learn about.
The first place we headed to so we could start out our day with a smoothie was Cape Cod Nutrition Corner.  Honestly I am not a smoothie person.  I have just never been a fan.  I decided to try the Butterfinger Gainz smoothie.  It is made with Peanut Butter Protein Blend, Cookies and Cream Whey Protein, Peanut Butter, Cookie Pieces, Almond Milk.  It was so good!  I drank the whole thing.
They also had fresh pressed juices and pre and post workout shakes.
Of course there was pumpkin flavored things too.  This sounded really good too.
This store had one of the largest collections of vitamins that I had ever seen.
Then we headed to a store that my daughter loves.  Justice!  They have adorable and age appropriate clothes for young girls with sizes ranging from 5 to 20.  I learned that they take the New York fashions and make them mini for girls.  From the second I walked in I knew Lauren would be in love.  I personally loved the Llama sweater.  It is so adorable and so soft.
I also love the positive messages on their clothes and even written on their fitting room mirrors.
I love this interactive shirt that you can update the sayings.  I already showed this to Lauren and she wants one.
We learned that Unicorns are in for girls.  There was a lot of unicorn items in the store.
I love this adorable one piece unicorn pajamas.  You can even remove the feet on it.
How cute is this shirt?  Everyone loves a good photobomb!
Teal and light green are Lauren's favorite colors right now so I knew this outfit would be something she would love.
There is so much that little girls would love.  They also always have outfits that say Dance, Volleyball, Soccer, Gymnast and more.
They even have cool letter pillows.  I found out they have every letter of the alphabet.  So don't worry Valerie or Ursula they will have a pillow for you too.
What a great place to shop.  I can't wait to take Lauren in to get some new fashions.  Check them out online here:  http://www.shopjustice.com/
Next up on our tour was Ulta Beauty.  I learned something new when visiting Ulta, they have a Salon with beauty services!  I had no idea!  I was able to get a mini facial which was amazing and very relaxing.  They have hair, skin and brow services.
Plus they have awesome hair and beauty products.
Here are some wonderful hair products.
Love all the nail polishes they have.
These are so super cute!  They had some great items that would be good gifts for women or men.  Find them online here:  http://www.ulta.com/
Next up was Charming Charlie.  I had never been to this store so I didn't know what to expect.  This store had awesome handbags, accessories, jewelry, apparel and more.  I particularly like the Don't Stress Meowt book and the bag that says "do these rings make me look married?"
We learned that maroon is a very hot color right now for fall.  A beautiful color to pair with it is navy blue.
I love that the store is organized by colors.  Here you can see some beautiful neutrals.
This was my favorite color.  
The handbags were amazing!  Plus they were super affordable.
This beauty is like a two in one with a smaller bag inside it that can be used by itself.  It is a good size purse and only $39.00!  I was expecting it to be at least $60. 
There were also beautiful smaller fancy purses for special events.
They had some beautiful jewelry.
They had super cute unique accessories.  I think this would be a super cute gift.
You can check them out online here: http://www.charmingcharlie.com/
Last but not least was Loft which had lovely clothes for the fashionable Mom on the go.
I thought this shirt was really pretty and unique.
Lovely sweaters and they also had leggings that are very durable.
Such lovely outfit options.
Another beautiful piece!
I love the sweater with a pop of color with the scarf.
This was a lovely jacket.
I love the print on this top and it is a maroon.
The nice thing about Loft is that the sales associates will assist you finding the right pant style for you and what clothes will best fit your body.  You can find them online here:  http://www.loft.com/
Colony Place is a wonderful place to shop.  They also have restaurants including Alden Park, Olive Garden and Panera Bread.  Be sure to also sign up for their Preferred Shopper Card here.  Keep an eye on their social media challenges for cool upcoming events and promotions throughout Colony Place.
Check them out online here:
Disclosure:  I was provided with a tour of Colony Place stores in addition to a gift certificate in compensation for my promotion.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

10/15/16: Circus Extreme Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey

We have been going to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus for years.  This year we were able to go to Circus Extreme at the TD Garden and got to take a VIP Backstage Tour which was awesome!  The kids loved it and were pointing out what they saw during the show.  Here they are with a beautiful horse from the show backstage.
We started on the Pre-Show floor.  At every circus there is an hour long pre-show where you can see some of the acts up close.  We always enjoy the pre-show.  This is free with the purchase of your ticket and I suggest you take advantage of it.
First stop on our backstage tour was costuming.  The show has over 400 costumes that they use.  Many of the costumes have a lot of weight to them.
For example this jacket that Lauren is wearing weighs 16 pounds!  We also found out that the Ringmaster's outfit costs about $15,000!
The kids especially liked this amazing mermaid costume.  It was totally gorgeous and so detailed.
They especially liked getting in to some of the vehicles used in the show.  Here is Lauren in the vehicle that rides around with the Ringmaster on top of it.
They were also in this cool motorcycle.
Here we are in another one of the vehicles from the show.
We also got to see the sound board.  Evan even got to control the music for a little bit during the pre-show. 
Here is Evan controlling the music.
Then we got to go to the show.
Here is Lauren clowning around.
I find these shows always amazing.  There are so many fantastic acts with such talented performers.




The production value is always high and I see how much goes in to it now based off the backstage tour.
Here is the vehicle we were in backstage.
The camels were pretty cool and the performers did all kinds of flips on them.
I love the high wire act.  We learned that they practice backstage on a wire close to the ground to determine if they can do the high wire in the show.  They were fantastic.
The person flying out of the cannon always amazes me.
Here are the mermaid costumes.  They were up in the rings.
The tigers are always amazing.  The guy that leads them always cracks me up.
What a fantastic show and it is still in town.  You can see the full schedule here.  https://www.ringling.com/tickets-schedules/
Disclosure:  I was provided with four tickets to Circus Extreme including the backstage tour.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.