11/30/13: Kawaii Crush Hyper Happy Mall Play Set from Spin Master

Next up in my Holiday Gift Guide is Kawaii Crush Hyper Happy Mall from Spin Master.  I have done a variety of reviews of Spin Master toys and always enjoy them, you can see them all here.  My daughter loves play sets so I knew this would be a hit with her.

This happy little mall includes one exclusive Kawaii Crush Doll, 3 pets and 40 play accessories.

 Here is the little doll.  Her clothes and shoes are really tiny but Lauren had no problem changing them.

The mall has a Pet Shop, Fashion Boutique, Burger Shop, Photo Booth and even an elevator to take your dolls up and down.  Here is Lauren testing it out.  

 Now setting up all of her dolls hats in the boutique.

Here you can see the Mall set up.  It is so colorful and cute.  Love the photo booth with curtain.  You can see there are three pets included - a kitty, bunny and poodle.  The little clothes hang on hangers and she has 3 pairs of shoes.

  Lauren had a ton of fun playing with it.  She liked serving the food at the burger place and dressing the doll up in different outfits and shoes. 

 She especially liked the pets, the dolls outfits, and the elevator.

This is a super cute set and sells for $30.  It can be found at Amazon, Toys 'R Us, Target, Walmart and KMart.  I think your little girl would love it!

Find Spin Master online:

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SpinMasterGames 

Like Kawaii Crush on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KawaiiCrush

Follow them on Twitter:  @SpinMasterToys or Kawaii_Crush

Disclosure:  I received this product for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/29/13: Create A New You With Jenny Craig

Since I have had two kids and I am getting older I have noticed my weight go up and up.  It was time to make a change for me and for my kids to see.  I want to set a good example for them and I don't want to keep hiding from the camera because I don't want to be in pictures.  Last week I took a step in the right direction by heading back to Jenny Craig.  I first went to Jenny Craig soon after college when I had gained the Freshman 15 plus the Sophomore 10, Junior 10 and Senior 10 and I lost 40 pounds.  Since I joined back then I am a Member for Life.  Now they have several Membership Options that you can check out on their website.  There is even a monthly option.

As the sign says Jenny Craig where every step you take, is a step in the right direction.  I was back on track and ready to go.  Many asked me why are you starting before the Thanksgiving Holiday but my response was "it is only one day".  I was right, in my first week I already lost 6 pounds.*  Here is the dreaded scale.  When my consultant wrote down my weight last week she called it an ugly number and it was totally right, it was a horrible number.

Another sign right near the scale is I can do it!  It is so true, I know I can do it, I just need to get a kick start and do it.  They also have an online option but I choose to go in to a center as there is one near my home.

There is also this bag next to the scale and my consultant had me pick it up.  This bag weighs 10 pounds and shows you how much lighter you could be before the new year.

With Jenny Craig you buy your food from them and meet weekly with a consultant.  The food is really good and you buy your breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack.  For example I love the Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast.  There are also pancakes, french toast, cereals, and more.

 The Cheesy Potatoes and Chicken is so good for lunch.  There are options for frozen and shelf stable food.  I usually go for the frozen items.

 One of my favorite dinners is the Chicken Fettuccine but there are so many really good dinners.  The Chicken Fajitas are really good and so is the Three Cheese Ziti.

 The Red Velvet cupcakes are awesome.  The frosting is so good.  Even when I stop going I will get extra so I can eat these.  There are a lot of great snacks including cheese curls, carrot cake cupcakes and many flavors of cheesecake!

Along the hallways are success stories to keep you feeling motivated.

Plus ways to volumize your meals with "free foods".  These are ways to add volume to your meal and not a lot of calories.

They even had up a sign with some tips for Thanksgiving day.

They also sell scales, weights, water bottles and other products to help you on your journey.

I will let you follow me along on my journey to a new Gilda.

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jennycraig

Follow them on Twitter:  @jennycraig

Follow them on Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/jennycraiginc/

Disclosure:  I was given a 50% discount on my food for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

*Note:  Members following the Jenny Craig program, on average, lose 1-2 lbs per week

11/29/13: Patch Products Chain Letters and Flying Kung Fu Frogs

Recently we have gotten in to having Family Game Night which I love.  I used to play tons of games with my parents when I was little and I love playing with the kids now.  We were lucky to receive Flying Kung Fu Frogs and Chain Letters from Patch Products.  First I will start with Flying Kung Fu Frogs.

Your goal is to aim Frogs at the targets for points.  It takes a few AA batteries as it does spin.  It may look easy but it is quite hard to get your frogs on to the little targets.

There are different point values depending on which area they land on.

The kids were really getting in to it.

It was really easy to put together as you just needed to attach the pieces to the base and put some stickers on the frogs.

Here is a closer look at your targets.

Lauren having fun flipping them on.

Lauren made it her job to organize the frogs.

Here it is as packaged.  It sells for $17.99 on Patch Product's Website.

Then we went on to trying Chain Letters.

This one takes a little while to prepare but we made it fun by all helping to get the letters done quickly.  It comes with the stickers and the pieces and you need to affix the stickers to the pieces.

Basically your goal is to come up with a word to spell but the twist is you need to find the letters and hook them together without dropping your chain.

Here is Lauren practicing.

Evan thought it was fun and a great way to practice spelling.

Lauren!

Evan spelling sun and looking for more letters.

Here it is as packaged.  It sells for $21.99 on Patch's Website.  Both games were tons of fun and a great addition to family game night.

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PatchProducts

Follow them on Twitter: @patchproducts

Sign up for the Patch Pals Club Here

Disclosure:  I received these games for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/27/13: Neat Oh Making Storage Fun

When I was at Time to Play Mag's Holiday Showcase in New York I was introduced to Neat-Oh! and was more than impressed.  They have wonderful products that are both functional and fun.  We were lucky enough to received two of them.  The first one is the Barbie Clutch Closet.

Not only is it fashionable, but it is easy to clean, but it is functional too.

It has a beautiful interior to bring your Barbie dolls with you.  It was always an issue that my daughter wanted to bring dolls to school and she would end up losing accessories.  With this new clutch closet she stores all of her stuff in one place.

Plus she has brought it to school and she said that she plays with it all the time as they play house and she plays the Mom with her fashionable purse.  I love it!

Here it is as packaged, is it not the cutest thing you have ever seen?  Plus it is perfect for your little Fashionista.  It retails for only $14.99!  What a perfect gift.

Here is another awesome Barbie product they have that holds dolls plus it opens up to be a Dream House Play

This is another super cute one with a little doll.  It is a Princess Bring Along Dollhouse.  Perfect for little ones.

For my son we received the Lego Star Wars ZipBin Toy Box and Playmat.

We are always trying to find creative solutions for storage and when I saw this one for the first time I loved it.

It is super durable and has zippers on each corner that allow the Toy Box to turn in to a Playmat!

It works just like this one which is the Dinosaur version.  It is so easy to take it apart and put it together.  This way it contains the mess and kids can play with the Playmat.

Of course Evan loves trains, he does love Legos too but he decided to store his train in here.  As you can see it holds quite a bit!

I love the sides of it and the details.

How adorable.

They also carry super cute lunch boxes.

I love this Go Sport Basketball Backpack.  Carry your things and get a little basketball practice in.  It includes the basketball too and when it is folded up the net folds flat.

For you Yoda fans, love this carry case.

Here is the Lego Star Wars ZipBin Storage Toy Box as packaged.  It retails for only $22.99 and this is a much more exciting gift than a boring storage bin for all of your Legos.

I highly recommend Neat-Oh! solutions.  What an awesome way to make keeping things organized fun.  You can find all their products on Amazon here.

Find the on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ZipBinProducts

Follow them on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/neat_oh

Disclosure:  I received the Barbie Clutch and Lego Star Wars Storage Toy Box for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.