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Melitta for the Fall Season!

September 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Melitta Single Serve Coffee group shot

Happy Fall! I can not believe that summer has come to an end! Pretty soon we will fall back and it will be colder and darker in the mornings. But, there is a way to warm up the mornings! Melitta Cafe De Europa Classique Single Serve Gourmet Coffee is a great way to start of the Fall days! I just love this Medium Roast coffee and love that it can be made quickly in my one cup brewer. Just FYI, these will not work in the New Keurig 2.0 or the Keurig Vue. But,  it’s just so fresh and I love the smell of this coffee! Just a great way to start of the Fall! To find out more, and to see all of the other Melitta products, go to the website. You can also find them on Facebook!

Self Disclosure: I received free samples to facilitate this feature but any opinions expressed are my own. Photo Credit: Melitta.

 EveIry Cup Is Packed in a Unique Thermal Sealed Freshness Pack, Which Locks in The Flavor

Filed Under: Featured Products of the Week

Old Wives Tail

September 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment

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I recently received a hair treatment from Old Wives Tail, which is an organic hair care treatment website that donated proceeds to stop animal testing. I am all for being against animal testing! I received an Organic Almond & Cinnamon Mask which is great for dry, broken and brittle hair. I was quite happy with the results! This Almond Oil and She Butter based mask left my hair soft and looking great! I like how it can be used once or twice a week and how my hair looks better after I use it. This is a protein enriched mask and like I mentioned, there is no animal testing. Old Wives Tail also has a variety of other hair treatments, so check out their website to find out more.

Self Disclosure: I received a free sample to facilitate this feature. Photo Credit: Old Wives Tail.

Filed Under: Beauty and Fashion, Beauty and Fashion Corner

Kids a Focus as San Francisco’s Otherworldly Paxton Gate’s Debuts New Online Store

September 22, 2014 By 4 Comments

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Photos: From left to right: taxidermy weasel; knit frog dissection; custom water feature designed and built for popular SF restaurant Central Kitchen.

Paxton Gate, which for years has been a sought after destination for those living in and around the city as well as to tourists eager to sample their unique and wonderfully eccentric inventory, has completely rebuilt its website/e-commerce site into an easy to browse and easy to use online store. The former site was originally deployed in 2002.
 
“As someone who has loved science, history and the printed page since I was young—and put together a career based on those things—we built our original site so it resembled a book, with the idea that users could flip through to see what we had to offer,” says Paxton Gate founder, Sean Quigley. “It didn’t take too long to figure out this Internet thing was not only different, but here to stay, so we decided to fully embrace its capabilities. We wanted something that would approximate the experience of the store itself, so we built it.”

The new website encompasses the original store Paxton Gate, Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids, and its Design/Build arm as well as Paxton Gate Portland, owned and operated by Andrew and Susan Brown who call the Pacific Northwest home.  Paxton Gate Portland was featured featured on the show Portlandia, in an episode featuring Jeff Goldblum as the owner of an artisanal knot store.

The new site uses larger, higher resolution images, a much bolder look, plus a much more intuitive interface for browing as well as arranging for payment and delivery. Zoom in functionality that will allow detail and intrciacies to pop even further is currently being integrated and will be completed by the end of October in time for the holiday season.

Paxton Gate delivers direct from San Francisco (and Portland) throughout the USA, Europe and Asia.

What I really love about this website is that there are great products for children besides technology! Nothing against technology, I love my laptop and Smartphone with all the apps and so does my 10 year old son! But, sometimes it’s just good to get away from all that and use your imagination and creativity without technology. There are so many wonderful products in the Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids!

I received a few really cool products from are new friends at Paxton Gate. A really awesome Snowy Owl Puppet! We love this one! It is super soft and his head even turns! This is the best for creating fun puppet shows! We have had hours of fun with this one! I think it must be the softest puppet I have ever seen!

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Are you looking for other fun items for your Kids? We also received  Sands Alive which is so much fun for creating without the mess of beach sand. This one is also sure to keep the kids entertained for hours! The sand really isn’t alive but is tons of fun and this one would be great for a rainy day! The set comes with a tray, roller, shovel,and 1.5 lbs. of sand, which really is a malleable compound that is like damp sand. It really sticks together quite well.

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We also received the Robo Future Magnetic Blocks  which are really fun mostly because they are magnetic but they also can be used with the whole set..they are compatible so that would mean hours of fun! Click on the link above to find out more! One of our favorites about the website is all the Science fun products for kids! We received the Sunlight Print Kit and had so much fun learning and making prints with sunlight and water. It is available in 12 or 15 sheets so prices vary from $7.50-$18.00.

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So, if you are looking for something creative, fun and different, this really is a website to check out! You will find something for every child on your holiday shopping list and so many of these products would make great birthday gifts too!

To find out more, check out the website!

Self Disclosure: I received free products to facilitate this feature review. Photo Credit: Paxton Gate.


 

Filed Under: Featured Products of the Week

Skin Care that Fights Aging and Breast Cancer

September 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment

There is more to beauty than what meets the eye. That’s why the Avon Foundation for Women is proud to introduce two of their newest fundraising products: Avon ANEW Vitale Day Cream and Avon ANEW Vitale Night Cream. Just in time for breast cancer awareness month, these new pink products provide benefits, for the soul, skin and Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.

Breast Cancer Crusade Benefits: During the entire month of October, a percentage of the net profits from Avon ANEW Vitale Day and Avon ANEW Vitale Night Cream ($5) are donated directly back to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. Each purchase helps fund access to quality breast health care and research into the causes and prevention of breast cancer. To date, Avon breast cancer programs in more than 50 countries have donated more than $815 million for breast cancer care and research.

Skin Care Benefits: When using both the Avon ANEW Vitale Day Cream and Avon ANEW Vitale Night Cream, you readers will receive the perfect 24/7 skincare regimen that fights the signs of aging, dullness and fatigue. Apply the Day Cream in the morning for that extra strength to fight off daily stresses. Complete the day feeling calm, cool and collected by applying the Night Cream to leave your skin refreshed. Additional skincare benefits and specific active ingredients are noted in the grid below.

 

Soul Benefits: Indulge in some “guilt-free” shopping this October with the Avon ANEW Vitale Day and Night Creams. It is a great opportunity to contribute to a charity and receive fulfilling benefits on the inside and out!

I received samples of both of these products and just love them especially the Night Cream! My skin feels so soft and refreshed after using it at night. These really are Mom-Must-Haves and what a great cause to support!

 

 

Product Product Details
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Avon ANEW Vitale Day Cream

  • Price: $28 ($5 is donated to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade)
  • Helps strengthen skin to fight the signs of aging
  • Contains SPF 25
  • Targets essential multi-functional protein, SP1, for delivery of skin nutrients
  • Powered by ProEnergy Complex to offset the negative impacts of loss of SP1
  • Product will be available in October

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Avon ANEW Vitale Night Cream

  • Price: $28 ($5 is donated to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade)
  • Helps refresh skin overnight to fight the signs of dullness and fatigue
  • Targets essential multi-functional protein, SP1, for delivery of skin nutrients
  • Powered by ProEnergy Complex to offset the negative impacts of loss of SP1
  • Product will be available in October

 

Self Disclosure: I received samples to facilitate this feature but this is also a cause that SoCal City Kids strongly supports.     Thank you to our friends at Avon! 

Filed Under: Beauty and Fashion, Beauty and Fashion Corner

The Beat Goes On For Women Drummers: A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country

September 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Drummer Viola Smith shocked the jazz world by claiming “hep girls” could sit in on any jam session and hold their own. That was more than 70 years ago. Yet the very idea of women drumming remains a novelty even today. That shouldn’t be. Women Drummers: A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country (Rowman & Littlefield) is a compelling argument for gender parity, the first comprehensive book of its kind, focusing on women drummers in popular music idioms.

Author Angela Smith offers an exhaustive look at the world of professional drumming and the women who had the courage and chops to break the barriers of this all-too-male field. Combining archival research with personal interviews of more than fifty female drummers representing more than eight decades in music history, Smith paints a vivid picture of their struggles to overcome discrimination—not only as professional musicians but in other parts of their lives. 

Women Drummers outlines the evolution of female drumming from pre-biblical times when women held important leadership roles to their silencing by the church during the Middle Ages to spearheading the fight for women’s rights in the modern era. The stories and personal accounts of female drummers who bucked tradition and societal norms are told against the backdrop of the times in which they performed and the genres they represented, from rock and jazz to blues and country. 

Written for followers of popular music and also for those interested in gender and women’s rights issues, an excerpt appears in the latest issue of Tom Tom Magazine.  

Angela Smith is a native Texan and award-winning writer and working musician.  She is Executive Director Emeritus of the Writers’ League of Texas and a former reporter for the Associated Press.  A graduate of the University of Texas, she is also a political activist and a member of Zonta International, an organization dedicated to the advancement of women’s status throughout the world. Smith is active as a board member and advisory board member of numerous arts organizations.

Her book Steel Drums And Steelbands: A History (Scarecrow Press/Rowman & Littlefield) has been an international bestseller since its release in 2012. When she’s not writing, editing or gigging as a pan player, cellist or pianist, you can find her gazing through a telescope at star clusters, galaxies and nebulae, talking politics or fighting for women’s rights.

I received this book and am finding it very interesting to read! A very inspiring book!

For more, please visit the Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/RbxM5z 

Self Disclosure: I received this book to facilitate this feature.

Filed Under: Media Reviews