Category Archives: Guys

Who knew how much fun a label maker could be?

  By Amy | July 11, 2012 - 10:03 am | , , , , ,
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This is the Epson LabelWorks LW-400 (MSRP $49.99).  I’ve been using it for labeling files, power cords, clothes, drawers full of crafts, sippy cups, lunch bags, etc.  I’m a labeling freak, especially when it comes to home and office organization.

Here are just some of the useful features of the LW-400:

- Prints labels up to ~¾” (18 mm) wide
- Variety: 14 fonts, 10 font styles, 300+ built-in symbols, over 75 frames, bar codes and more
- Built-in Memory: store up to 50 self-created label designs
- Specialty Print Modes: a variety of flag, tab and wrap style labels — ideal for cables, wiring and more
- Asset Tagging: easily print barcodes for products and merchandise
- Types of Tape: double-sided tab, iron-on, glow-in-the-dark, reflective, metallic, strong adhesive, fluorescent and decorative tapes

(Info above adapted from Epson.com)

I find the label maker very easy to use.  I’m a big fan of Epson products because of their quality.  Also, the $50 price tag doesn’t break the bank.  It’s quite a convenient little electronic to have around.

Here’s a great product overview video from Epson about the LabelWorks LW400:

Since we’re on the topic of Epson and home/office organization, I have another product review coming soon of the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50 Document Scanner so, stay tuned.

Giveaway: Fossil Fighters Champions for Nintendo DS

  By Amy | December 4, 2011 - 11:36 am | , , , , ,
88 Comments

fossil-fighters-champions

Alright, this one is for all of the young, aspiring archaeologists out there.  Fossil Fighters Champions for Nintendo DS is quite an adventure.  Kids find and clean dinosaur bones and use the fossils to create and bring to life “vivosaurs” to send to battle.  The more clean the dinosaur bones, the stronger the vivosaur.  The goal is to have a few tough vivosaurs to enter into competition.  From what I have seen, the vivosaurs look pretty rad and the battles are epic.

Fossil Fighters Champions also works with DS Download Play, so three other friends can link up wirelessly with their DS’.  Imagine becoming an archaeologist with your friends.  Awesome.  The game is also compatible with Nintendo 3DS.

I’m giving away a copy of Fossil Fighters Champions (MSRP $30).  How to enter:

Leave your entry comment on this post.  For your entry comment, visit the Fossil Fighters Champions website and take a look at all of the different vivosaurs in the Fossil Museum.  Come back and let us know which one(s) are your favorites.  (PS: Your comment must list an actual vivosaur name from the museum for your entry to count – so please do visit the site.)

Giveaway is open to individuals within the continental US.  Deadline to enter is Monday, December 12th at midnight, PST.  A winner will be chosen at random from the comment section of this post and notified via email (Be sure to double-check your email address when you leave your comment).

I’m giving everyone a second opportunity to enter this giveaway.  Tweet this post.  You can find the option to share this post via Twitter at the bottom of the post (Just click the green “Tweet” or “Retweet” button and a new window will pop up allowing you to customize your Tweet).  Come back and leave your second entry comment on this post, letting me know you’ve Tweeted and what your Twitter username is.

prizey pick

*Click here to enter the Bratz Masquerade doll giveaway.

*Click here to enter the Tonka Truck giveaway.

Chicken In The Car And The Car Won’t Go

  By Amy | December 1, 2011 - 9:52 pm | , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment

ChickenInTheCar

As you’re searching for gift ideas for the young adults, I highly recommend picking up a copy of author Melisa Wells‘ newest book, Chicken In The Car And The Car Won’t Go.

This book serves as an excellent Chicagoland resource guide for families with tweens and teens.  If you have teens of your own or know someone who does, this guide is perfect for them.  When they are ready to head out and explore the Windy City and surrounding areas on their own, they should definitely bring a copy of Chicken in the Car along for the ride.  I know a couple of Chicago-bound teens myself who will absolutely receive a copy of this book before they venture out in our beautiful city.

I love having a copy of the book for myself.  It’s nice to have a guide of Fun (with a capital F) destination ideas close by when I want to road-trip it into city limits.  Not only does Melisa give us fantastic options for downtown, she provides suggestions for the outlying suburban areas, too.  She’s got it all covered.

So, here’s the deal.

If you know of anyone moving to the Chicago area, Chicken In The Car And The Car Won’t Go is the guide for them.  I’m talking about for families, teens, college students, etc.  This book will become their bible.  Trust.  It’s a manageable guide with tidbits of helpful information, hand-picked by the author herself.  Consider it your own personal tour guide…without the annoying gum-chewing tour guide or group of people you don’t know and that random person in the back asking if there’s a basement in the Alamo.

It’s way more simple than that.  You have the book.  You’re with your family or friends. You use the book as an informational resource to guide you to some of Chicago’s great family-friendly restaurants, beaches, parks, shows, shops, etc.

Pick up a copy of Chicken In The Car And The Car Won’t Go.  It’s totally worth it for the Fun (with a capital F) that you’ll have!

*Chicken In The Car is also available for the Kindle.

And no, there is not a basement in the Alamo.

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet

  By Amy | June 23, 2011 - 10:40 am | , , , , ,
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best-homemade-baby-food

I’ve got my hands on probably the coolest, most useful resource/recipe book on the planet (pun intended).

I highly recommend The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet to any parent/caregiver. Tons (and I mean tons) of amazing recipes. Easy ones (I like easy!) and tasty ones. I so could have used this book when my first was younger. I specifically remember stressing about what I was feeding her and searching for simple, yet nutritious and interesting foods for her developing palate.

I’ve got a second chance now and I’m putting these homemade baby food recipes to good use.  There are dishes in here that the entire family can enjoy!

recipes-18-to-23-mos

I love the homemade baby food tips and the feedback chart included in the book.  I’m finding all of the information inside extremely inspirational, even now that I have a 5-1/2 year old and 23 month old.  I imagine I will turn to The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet for some time to come.  I’m equally thrilled to get copies of this baby food cookbook for family and friends who are expecting.

Here are just a few of the homemade baby food recipes you’ll find inside:

Authors, Tina Ruggiero and Karin Knight get huge kudos from me.  This baby food recipe book is just brilliant and useful in so many ways.

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet was sent to me for review.  To that I say, thank goodness!  Opinions expressed above are my very own.

Gift ideas for Father’s Day

  By Amy | June 14, 2011 - 12:02 pm | , , ,
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With a little help from my friends and the internet, I conjured up some cool gift ideas for the guys.  Check ‘em out.

the_vintage_pearl_cuff

Wide leather cuff from The Vintage Pearl – $35 (They also have non-personalized items in stock, for last minute gift ideas)

hatchcraft_boo_box

Boo Box from hatchcraft – $19-$29 + (Two sizes: 4″ prints and 7″ prints. Excellent for photos taken or edited with the instagram or hipstamatic apps, among others.)

Kata-R-102

R-102 Digital Rucksack from Kata – $100 + Excellent storage for the DSLR shutterbug daddies.

3M-TEKK-Safety-Eyewear

Fuel™ X2P High Performance and Forceflex™ Safety Eyewear from 3M (with TEKK Protection) for the outdoorsy/handyman daddies.

Barefoot-Trail-Glove

Barefoot Trail Glove from Merrell – $110  for the outdoorsy/runner daddies.

gorillamobile_joby

Is your man an iFreak?  GorillaMobile products from Joby are a must-must-must-have.  Totally affordable, totally cool.

GorillaMobile for 3G/3GS / GorillaMobile for iPhone 4 / GorillaMobile for iPod touch

GorillaMobile Ori for iPad 2 & GorillaMobile Yogi for iPad 2

zhip

The Zhip is a hands-free retractable zip cord and stand for your iPhone/iTouch, Android or other smartphone.  We have one, it’s awesome. It comes in very handy for watching mobile-sized videos…anywhere.  Extremely affordable, get a couple of them.

Crosley_isolo_ipod_dock

Crosley iSolo Universal iPod® Dock available at Target.  Beautiful!  I want it for myself.  It’s affordable as well, with an MSRP of $89.99

 

 

Zhip (a-Dee-Doo-Dah)

  By Amy | March 14, 2011 - 2:19 pm | , ,
1 Comment

zhip

We are loving this handy little holder called the Zhip.  It’s a smart phone holder with a retractable zip cord, that allows you to virtually hang it anywhere.  Our most favorite use: the backseat for the kids.  The Zhip holds my iPhone, so the kids can watch programs, which keep them entertained on long car rides.  It also keeps my iPhone out of my hands while I’m driving.  Without that temptation there, we’re all a bit safer.

*Just to clarify: The white cord you see in the picture above is not part of the Zhip.  It is our auxiliary cord, which we use to amplify the sound of the video through the car stereo.  The Zhip’s retractable cord is thin and black.

I have also used some of the suggestions from Zhip’s website like, suspending my phone from the cabinet in the kitchen while viewing recipes and keeping the kids entertained during meal preparations.

zhip holder

Clip it to the stroller when you go for walks/jogs, take it on flights and hang the Zhip from the tray table hook.  It helps keeps messy little fingers off of your smart phone/iPod Touch.  Another way that I like to use it is propped up on the bookshelf with a digital clock in view, so my phone is easy to locate.

Anyway, you get the gist.  I’m sure you can think of many other great uses for the Zhip.  We love it and recommend it.

Plustek OpticFilm 7400

  By Amy | March 6, 2011 - 1:40 pm | , , , ,
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plustek opticfilm 7400 scanner

In a recent pitch, I noticed this film scanner listed as a great gift idea for dads.  It’s a slide/negative scanner and as soon as I saw it, I remembered that we had a bunch of old family slides that we had collected from my mother-in-law’s basement.

Now, I would consider myself intermediate to advanced when it comes to computer software and hardware.  The set-up of the scanner took me between 20-30 minutes.  The instructions that came with it were easy to follow and the scanner was up and running in no time.  I have been using the scanner to turn those old slides and negatives into digital photos for viewing on the computer, sharing online or printing.

The OpticFilm 7400 works much like a regular home scanner, except it is smaller and only scans slides and negatives.  I have been having a blast scanning old film negatives that I had saved up over the years.  I had always thought that one day I would have all of my old negatives turned into digital photos, in my opinion, a much better way of preserving them rather than having photos gathering dust in boxes.

The imaging software included with the film scanner is SilverFast SE.  It’s a fairly easy program to use, again, much like the home scanner imaging programs.  It allows you to edit your scanned slides and negatives and save them in various formats.

silverfast se plus

Why would you want a film scanner?  Well, number one, if you have slides or negatives from your 35 mm film camera and would like to digitally store your photos, this scanner is a great option for doing just that.  From what I gather, this version of the OpticFilm scanner is better than its previous versions but lacks the dust and scratch correction option.  That doesn’t really make a difference to me, as I can do that in PhotoShop and quite honestly, my goal here is to preserve my original prints in electronic format.  I’m not super concerned with perfecting the images, so this film scanner is satisfactory for me.

plustek opticfilm 7400

In the world of film scanners, quality and price points vary.  I would say that the Plustek OpticFilm 7400 Film Scanner is one of the more affordable scanners, retailing for under $300 (on Amazon.com).  Like I mentioned above, this particular film scanner does the trick for me.  If you have a project you are working on that maybe doesn’t consist of the mass scanning of old slides and negatives for digital storage, then you should definitely do some comparison shopping.  To start, here is a slide scanner comparison article from Buzzle.com

If you’re looking for more in-depth information on the Plustek OpticFilm 7400 film scanner that I’m talking about here, check out this article from ScanDig.

Now, I must get back to preserving my old memories!