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Tue, January 17 2012
So I’m a little late. Whatever.
Clothing and Accessories
Entertainment
Food
Health and Beauty
Tech
You’ll notice that I didn’t mention any products in terms of housewares. 2011 did not offer a lot in that category that knocked me off my feet. I would also like to make a special mention of Kaspersky Internet Security 2011. Although I reviewed it on the last day of 2010, I really enjoyed using it. I didn’t realize how much until it expired.
What were your favorite products of last year?
Mon, January 16 2012
I’m a bit slow posting my winners, my apologies.
Dez won the Chick Fil-A giveaway and we are anxiously awaiting for cows to arrive at her door. Moo!
Lucky Monica will have her own piece of couture from Channing & Co because she won the bracelet!
Aaannd Christy Ann will soon be receiving $50 worth of lingerie from Smart and Sexy.
Not too bad!
Sun, January 15 2012
I’ve been seeing a lot of links and posts about discount sites like No More Rack. I haven’t signed up yet but the premise seems pretty cool. If you have the time, it could be worth it (like those penny auction sites, except a lot less hassle). Certain items, including brand names, are available for just 24-hours at a discount price. The items are also generally limited in quantity so first come, first served. One of the coolest factors is that packages only cost $2 to ship, which is a steal if you purchase, well, pretty much anything.
I’m pretty set in my ways but I took the time to check out some nomorerack reviews and a lot of people, like me, enjoy the idea but haven’t signed on yet. I know I’m always hesitant to sign up for another website because I have so many accounts on the Internet already and I already receive soo many emails. If I had heard of the website before Chritmas, I probably would have signed up and kept my eye on some of the high-end items. We know how I’ve been wanting an iPod Touch for just about forever (and I have yet to win one in any giveaway).
Have you signed up for No More Rack Yet?
Sun, January 15 2012
Although my life no longer revolves around the military, I have a fondness for the time that I was exposed to it and an appreciation of how difficult military life can be for families and couples.
Finally Home to Family is a new website that aims to help service members and their loved ones reconnect and strengthen marriages and family life through your donations. This is a service that can be so beneficial to military families, where the stresses of long days and rigorous training — let along deployment — cause divorce to be higher than the national average. And the likelihood of divorce increases with every deployment. That’s not surprising when you consider that deployments require service members to be in an aggressive and agitated state of alert but the military doesn’t necessarily do the best job to bring them back out of it once they return. That’s exactly why this program can be helpful.
The Finally Home website has some great tips for reunions and the official Finally Home to Family widget, below, provides ideas for date nights and even includes a quiz to determine your recipe for romance.
You can enter to win one $15 Amazon gift code. Simple leave one comment below for each of the following entries.
- Click around the widget and tell me your romance quiz result, one of your favorite stories or something you learned. –Mandatory
- Follow Reviews by Cole on Twitter
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- Add a link to a blog post about this giveaway (must include a link to the direct post)
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- A link to a Twitter post about this giveaway (once per day) such as:I entered to win a $15 Amazon gift card at http://reviewsbycole.com/2012/01/finally-home-to-family-giveaway/ Ends 01/20 OR you can use the handy Twitter button on the left.
Giveaway will end on January 20. Open to US residents only.
Good luck!
Fri, January 13 2012
MrChewy is a website you would use if you have a pup or cat and want to buy treats, cat litter or certain pet medication. I was contacted by a staff member to do a review and was provided with a $50 code to purchase some items and review the website and experience.
The website is cleanly designed and super easy to navigate. It took me a single click before I was browsing the treats. Mr Chewy offers high-quality brands like Greenies and ZiwiPeak. I bought a couple Greenies packs for the cats to enjoy and headed over to check out cat litter. I used most of my $50 to invest in a large bag of World’s Best Cat Litter because I’ve heard so much about it.
One thing that I really like about Mr Chewy is the option for free shipping when you spend $49 or more. That’s a couple bags of cat treats and a large bag of cat litter, for me. This is a great solution because, while you can buy cat litter or bulk pet food online, shipping is often astronomical. With my items, I was able to qualify for free shipping. I placed my order at nice and early the next morning it was on its way to me.
Despite the shipping being free, Mr Chewy uses quick shipping. Mine took a few days at most and was delivered via FedEx. The website does split up some items. For example, my bag of cat litter was in its own box because it was so large. I imagine that large bags of food would ship in a similar manner. It makes sense and I can’t complain but you should be aware, if you prefer things to ship in one box.
My only sort of complaint is that it seems like there wasn’t a lot of tape on the big box with the litter. Nothing had come open but it was starting to sag from the weight. Another piece would simply have made it feel a little more secure.
I had a positive experience with Mr Chewy and I would use them again. If you do use them, you can sign up to have scheduled deliveries and save money off your first order. This seems pretty cool, if you can afford it and want to make sure you always have surprises.
The one downside to the website is that the focus is so limited. While the brands are quality and there are multiple options from some brands, there overall catalog is limited and you really could only use it for food, treats, meds and litter. I can see why someone would shop at a retailer with a bigger selection because of that.
However, Phantom really, really, really likes the box. I keep trying to take a picture of him in it but he’s so excited, it turns into a silvery blue blur. He’s happy. I’m happy. Mission accomplished.
Thu, January 12 2012
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I sometimes make cracks about not having insurance — it does suck — especially because the insurance I previously had, through the military was top-notch. It was so much better than any insurance program I was eligible for or involved in prior to that. On more than one occasion, I used that insurance for birth control refills as local Walgreens, which were then part of of the pharmacy provider network that for Express Scripts.
Express Scripts, if you’re unfamiliar, (I was!) is the organization that is the middle man between pharamacies and employers like the US military (which uses insurance through the umbrella company Tricare) and, despite Walgreens’ willingness to not raise and drug prices and to match any other pharmacy’s price for drugs that is in the network, Express Scripts refused to deal. You can read more about Walgreens and Express Scripts here.
What this means is that many service members and their family, along with other employees of businesses that relied on Express Scripts, will have to go elsewhere to purchase medications will have to find other pharmacies if they don’t or can’t afford to pay out of pocket for their prescriptions. Of course, that’s just not a suitable option for many people, especially those in small towns, remote areas or with mobility problems. Walgreens is trying to help its customers by offering discounts ($5 for individuals, $10 for family) for enrollment into the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens You can still save on thousands of medications by joining this club.
Even if you’re not a Walgreens customer (I rarely use them these days; although, I just dropped by one last night), this is a pretty serious issue and you probably know someone who is. If you think this action on the part of Express Scripts is incredibly shifty, you can contact your local news outlets. You an also hook up with Walgreens on Twitter and Walgreens on Facebook to let them know that you appreciate their support and support them in this issue.
Tue, January 10 2012
If I had more money to spend, after clothes and make-up, I’d invest in more home decorating. I still haven’t found my stride; although, I tried in San Antonio. It’s harder now, trying to mesh styles of interior design with a roommate. My style is definitely more grown-up and sophisticated than others my age. For example, I like framed art rather than posters. I prefer to line up my pictures in an appealing way. I like when every vase or candle or statue has a place of its own and I cycle through decor based on the season or holiday.
I once read some advice about picking a main theme or piece to use as a basis for your decor and, in San Antonio, I used a large wall mirror for that purpose. However, there’s no room to put it up in my current apartment so it’s leaning against a wall. It definitely makes me a little sad because it’s a very nice piece. But the rest of my decor, which uses an autumny golden orange theme doesn’t seem to match because it’s not up.
I could also definitely use a lesson in grouping and choosing items that either match or contrast in a way that helps to make the decor of a room feel complete and well thought out. My interest in this definitely had a correlation to watching all those home design shows and now sites like Pinterest or Houzz make it even easier to get ideas from people who are more creative — and experienced! — than I am. A decor coffee table book would be cool, too.
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I'm Cole, a 20 something female newely returned to Central Wisconsin after my divorce. I review products in my free time. I also enjoy reading (fantasy), TV and movies (sci fi), music (mainly rock and metal), maintaining my numerous websites, chatting, and spending time with my friends and kitties...