sample share: baked goldfish grahams

Happy June! :) I'm dealing with a broken keyboard, so hopefully I'll catch all the quirky mistakes while typing, but if not, please forgive me! ;) My first June crowdtap sample share is baked goldfish grahams. I got to sample cinnamon and honey flavors. They are baked with real cinnamon/honey and have 8g of whole grains per serving (41 pieces for cinnamon and 40 for honey). These are my favorite goldfish snacks, besides the classic cheddar fish crackers! They are tasty and adorable, which just the right amount of sweetness for a craving. To avoid eating them all in one sitting, I shared with my four boys (ages 2, 4, 6, and 7) and they were huge hits! At a price point of $2.49 for a 6.6oz bag and the benefits of no artificial preservatives or flavors, I'd say this is a great snack for both kids and grownups! Check out below for photos of the product as well as my kids enjoying the sampling!

yum!

fashion shoot? ;)

Influenster voxbox: carefree acti-liners

My newest voxbox (free from influenster!) was from carefree. It was a sample of carefree acti-liners. I love these liners! I don't use liners often, but occasionally they are needed. I had used up the last of my free kotex ones (coupons are great!) when these arrived, so it was perfect timing to try out a new thing! I have used carefree before with no real preference. These are so much better than the original. They didn't bunch and were super comfy. I forgot I was wearing them! I tried them out for the first time on the very last day of my period (so super light) with no damage to my undies (yay!). I will definitely put to use the lovely coupons they sent with the sample. Check out the photo of my voxbox below, as well as my awkward unboxing video :) 

 

Influenster Vox Box: Temptations snacky mouse

I recently got selected to receive the Temptations snacky mouse from influenster. We have a 5 year old kitty named Jasper who loves snacks, attention, and playing. She got all three from this toy! It's a mouse shaped toy with a hollow body. You screw the head off and pop in a treat or two. Plop it down in front of your kitty and watch her play with her snack. My kids got a kick out of it, and she enjoyed batting around Mr. Mouse until her treat came out. It was super easy to set up and easy to understand. The toy came with a small bag of treats, and to buy more treats is fairly inexpensive ($0.94 for 3oz at my local Walmart) and are 2 calories per treat and are promoted as helping to control tarter. My kitty has gobbled down every treat so far--safe to say they are a hit! :) Make sure to check out the photos and videos below!

Cute and functional!

unboxing the Vox Box

Jasper exploring her snacky mouse for the first time :)

Bzz agent sampling: Tim Tam (slam!)

I just got the chance to try out Tim Tam cookies, thanks to Bzzagent! These Australian cookies are epically amazing. More like English biscuits than American cookies. They are advertised as being like a cookie candy bar-and i can definitely vouch for that! They taste exactly what a cookie candy bar would taste like. It's two cookie (biscuit?) layers with chocolate creme in between, coated in chocolate. It is SO SO good! They are now available at Target stores in the states! Definitely take a moment to check out my video at the end of the post--the Tim Tam Slam is apparently a "thing!" You bite off the ends of the cookie, then suck up a hot drink (cocoa, coffee, tea...) using the cookie. it basically melts the cookie from the inside, creating this amazing gooey mess in your mouth that is absolutely heavenly! I need to stock pile these cookies!

My "bzzkit"

oh YUM!!!

showing off the inside of the cookie!

Hosted party: Weight watchers and the super bowl

Last night, as much of America knows, was Super Bowl Sunday. While I normally watch, I was extra excited because the Patriots played (and won!) this year. It was an exciting, suspenseful, and emotional (if you were in my house, anyway!) game. One thing about super bowl parties: they are all about the food! For people struggling with weight issues, it can be a stressful time. One company seems to truly get that--Weight watchers. While there are many groups around, this one holds more of a place in my heart, since both my mother and sister are members--and a few friends of mine as well. It has especially helped my mom lose weight in a healthy way and feel better about herself. She attends weekly meetings in Massachusetts and is constantly sharing her goals, successes, opportunities, and healthy choices with me. When crowdtap first partnered with Weight Watchers, I joined the brand right away. I'm not a member nor do I go to meetings, but I appreciate them as a brand and get some great advice and hints from them. And their commercials are pretty neat (see below for the one aired during the superbowl!).

So the party details: crowdtap sent me a big box full of weight watcher and football swag, as well as some awesome recipe books to share with my super bowl party guests.

doesn't get much neater than this!

We held the party at my mom's house, since they have cable. I didn't think a party while streaming the game of the year over my laptop screen would be as fun! I showed up a little before the game with swag and crockpots in hand. My mom and I finished the food, which we spread out instead of one big spread to keep from gorging!, and put up our decorations. The kids loved the necklaces and stickers, and the adults loved playing along (and getting some cool recipes to try!). I'm a little bummed that I didn't have too much time to really explore the recipe book--because there are some amazing things in that book that I can't wait to make (mini peanut butter ice cream sandwiches anyone?). I left my mom with a few foam fingers and recipe books to bring to her Weight Watcher meeting on Wed (sharing is caring, folks!) to spread the WW love a little more. We had a pretty epic night rooting for our Pats and are grateful to crowd tap and weight watchers for supplying this kit and making it a bit more fun (seriously, check out the photos below!). Please take a few moments to check out the weight Watcher super bowl commercial-it's really neat and shows what it's like to try and eat healthy in this country!

 

Misty digging the little game toy

WW is #1!

our spread-round one :)

those stickers were fun!

spread round two (sweet n sour meat balls and sausage with onions and peppers? YES PLEASE)

snap chatting during the game!

concerned about pointage--learned they are two points each! I only ate one!

Logan's touch down pose!

Sample share: Vick's Cool mist humidifier

It's a snow day here in New England. I thought I would take this time to share my thoughts on Vick's cool mist humidifier! I scored this for testing purposes from Influenster.

All set up :)

Let's talk about the things I loved: it hold a gallon of water, so it's easy for me to handle. It's pretty small so you don't have to worry so much about where you put it. It looks nice. This seems silly,  but when I was a kid, we had a plastic brown circle shaped one that was not pretty. It works well-I just plugged it in and turned the dial and it started working right away. It's so easy to use! The opening for the cool mist is a good size. The box came with a sample vick's vapor pad, which I have not used yet (waiting for a congested kid or parent!), but I can't wait to try out. The box also included coupons, which is the way to my heart. The fact that this is filter free means no changing out anything (and less stuff to buy!).

A few things I didn't totally love: the dial to turn it on has a little green light (lit up in the photo above). This works well so that you know it's on, but it's a pain when you need total darkness to sleep! The fact that this humidifier is filter free is great, but I am anticipating it will be a bit more difficult when it comes to cleaning. I haven't gotten to that step yet, so it could be easy-peasy.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my humidifier!

view of my running humidifier-mist coming out (and those are the Vick's coupons in the back!)

close up of the working lit-up dial, and the little pocket for the vapor pads

"I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

sample share: discover brookside: dark chocolate crunchy clusters.

It's no secret. I LOVE chocolate. I stock up on clearance finds after holidays. I save up coupons and combine with deals. There is never a lack of chocolate in my house! It's my most common impulse buy, particularly when I see something new. When I got selected for this sample share from crowd tap, I was so stoked! I've been eying the Brookside brand for a while, but at just over $3 for a 5 oz package, I was waiting for a great deal since I still have a huge stock pile from the recent holidays. My package came in the mail, and I could not resist ripping it open right away, even before I took a photo for this blog! oops... The flavor I received was dark chocolate crunchy clusters. The packaging describes: " clusters of crispy multigrains and soft fruit flavored centers, all covered in smooth dark chocolate." Let me tell you, these babies are worth that over $3 price tag! The dark chocolate is perfect, and the clusters have a good blend of soft fruit and crispy grains. I was expecting a bit more fruit in the center at first bite, but am not disappointed by the balance. I forced myself to make these last, only eating a few at a time (and although I shared, I admit I was a tad stingy with the amounts!). Towards the end of the bag, I tossed some on top of some cherry ice cream with honey. So amazing! I wish I had saved more for that treat! Crossing my fingers for some Brookside coupons to come out so I can indulge some more! I definitely recommend these clusters! Some photos to share my experience:

brookside selfie!

the bag ;)

view of the clusters

inside of the clusters-you can see the grain and a bit of the fruit

my sister showing off the bag

she's excited I shared ;)

what a face ;)

my ice cream treat!!! highly recommended!