Adora Dolls: 20” Fou-Fou Fab Baby Doll Review

My daughter, like any little girl absolutely adores baby dolls. When I contacted Adora Dolls for a review I was excited when they emailed me back with a big “YES, of course!” I was ecstatic. My daughter means the world to me, and I wanted her to have something that would mean the world to her as well. I KNEW she would be deliriously happy when she seen what would be coming for her in the mail.


Adora makes a huge variety of dolls; of all hair color, eye color, and beautifully made outfits. I love the consideration and thought that they put into designing each doll. They really want each of their “little” customers to have the most giant smile plastered on their face from the very beginning. Each doll has it’s own style and is exclusive to “that” doll.

Adisyn ended up getting the Adora Fou-Fou Fab 20” Baby. The doll is absolutely precious with it’s auburn hair and bright blue eyes. The eyes are absolutely breathtaking with their gorgeous sky blue eyes. The eyes look so real, they are so captivating! They are hand set and are surrounded by hand painted details and eyelashes.

She has brilliant, luxurious short auburn hair that is secured in two pigtails wrapped in tiny silk light blue ribbons. She is a 20” doll and comes with her very own birth certificate so that whoever receives her can have the pleasure of naming her themselves!

As soon as I opened the box I could immediately smell baby powder. That is a special touch that only an amazing company would think of doing! Making her THAT more realistic by creating that natural baby smell! I placed her back in the box and patiently waited for my daughter to get home from school.

We checked her backpack for homework and then I took her into her bedroom and showed her the box that contained her baby. “What’s in the box mommy?” I told her that I got her a present for being awesome at school and she definitely has been. She is a natural leader, she listens extremely well, she cares about her classmates, and tries her hardest to learn! I am so proud of my little girl!


The baby is weighted so it feels like an actual baby! How cool is that? I don’t think I’ve seen her love anything more. You see Adisyn, you see the baby. She packs it everywhere with her. I love that it is dressed in a light colored pastel blue cardigan over a flower dress. She has matching shoes and bows, light weight capris under the dress and even a diaper!


She takes the baby to bed with her and acts like she is putting her to sleep. I think that’s so adorable! When she gets out of school, she finds the doll and constantly packs her around! She takes off it’s sweater and shoes when she lays it down so she can make it “comfy” she says!

Every since the doll came in the mail, she’s look at me countless times and said in her sweet little voice “Thank you Mommy, for getting me this baby.” She even lays her down with her when she gets out of school and watches cartoons.

Just the smile on her face brightens my day! AND there has been tons more smiles around here since getting the Adora doll.


Connect with Adora Dolls online:
Facebook and Twitter

10 Must Haves for College Bound Students

Summer is ending, and high school graduates are loading up the family vans with all the books and supplies they will need for the fall semester. As they begin taking classes at South University Savannah and move into their new dorm rooms, there are some essential supplies they may need. If you are preparing to send your children off to college this fall, here are some tips for helping them prepare for success.

1. Shower Supplies

Dorm showers are not always the most pristine environments. A good pair of shower shoes or rubber flip-flops will help keep your student clean. A shower caddy with good ventilation is a great gift when filled with your child’s favorite shampoo and soaps.

2. Snacks

Though your child may have been dreaming about unlimited food in their college cafeteria, some healthy energy boosting snacks can be a wonderful way to say, “I love you.” Granola, energy bars, apple sauce, trail mix and chocolate are just some of the yummy and creative presents you can send along with your student. These are good alternatives to junk food when your son or daughter is craving a late night study snacks.

3. Filtration Bottle

Hydration is one key to remaining healthy and ready to study. Investing in a water bottle with a filter can provide your student with access to clean drinking water no matter where they are on campus.

4. Headphones

When they are hitting the books in the school library or their dorm, it can be difficult to tune out the friends hanging out nearby. A stylish pair of quality headphones can cancel surrounding noise and help your student get into their study groove.

5. An Extra Pair of Sheets

Although it sounds simple to do laundry on a regular basis, many college students have trouble their first year with finding time to fit in basic tasks like washing their sheets. Sending along an extra pair might just help your student get a clean nights sleep.

6. Text Books

For the first semester, helping your student purchase their textbooks ahead of time can relieve anxiety and stress about finding and purchasing the materials they need when classes have already begun. Shopping ahead of time can also help cut costs by finding used books online.

7. Mini Fridge

Available for under $200, a little fridge easily fits into a college dorm room and provides the ability for your student to keep milk and other refrigerated foods on hand. This is one way to encourage your child to eat well and remain healthy.

8. Electronic Tea Kettle

College students can be amazingly ingenious. Given the ability to boil water, there is no telling what they can create. Whether it is saving money by making their own coffee and tea or satisfying their afternoon hunger by heating soup or boiling noodles for macaroni and cheese or spaghetti.

9. A Snuggly Blanky

In addition to their snazzy dorm room bedding, a cozy throw can be a wonderful piece of home when away form home.

10. Febreeze

Air freshener can be a breath of fresh air, or at least the scent of it, in a smelly dorm room. Sending along the smell of sunshine can also help your student feel at home.

Image from www.c2educate.com

Can A Work From Home Business Be A Success?

(Photo courtesy of BusinessNewsDaily.com)

Whether you’re just starting out in the working world or thinking about getting back into the swing of things after a few years’ absence, it’s not uncommon to want to work from home. The bureaucracy of a big company can feel daunting and dealing with a commute and overbearing bosses might just ruin it altogether.

So consider working from home. Don’t dismiss the idea as silly or impractical. Though many first time entrepreneurs or those business owners working in an unconventional environment are considered “high risk” by banks or investors, it shouldn’t stop you from working out of your home if it makes sense for you.

Read on for three reasons why a work-from-home business can be a success.

Flexibility can boost efficiency

Though many workers fear there might be too many distractions working from home, in reality, you will likely have more time to commit to the business. Instead of working a rigid 9-5 schedule with an hour-long lunch break, mandatory meetings, and plenty of chit-chatting with coworkers, you can work the hours that make the most sense throughout the day. For instance, it might suit you to work early in the morning before the rest of the family wakes up, or you can work from 10 am – 10 pm with plenty of breaks in between. Without a commute, you can accomplish more and achieve an appropriate work/life balance.

Inspiration is more likely to strike

When you’re stuck in a cubicle, it can be hard to get inspired and stay focused. When you’re free to roam the neighborhood, hit up the local coffee shop, or even multi-task in your home, you might find you’re struck with sudden bouts of creativity. That’s not to say that working in an office stifles creativity, but many artists, designers, and writers find that working outside a stuffy office is better for the overall quality of their work.

It’s not so different from a typical job

With recent technological updates, working from home just isn’t all that different from being in a more traditional work environment. You can dial in to conference calls, Skype internationally, do Google hangouts with vendors or colleagues, and collaborate through Google drive or using screen share software. The barriers for working from home are significantly lower than in decades past. Now is the ideal time to work remotely and enjoy the perks of working from home. Business owners who work from home today are taken seriously by their colleagues and peers and in some circles it even carries a bit of cache.

If you’re thinking about starting a business and working out of your home either full or part time – don’t fear failure. These days, an at-home business can be as successful as any other type of organization and in many cases, allows the owner the flexibility and freedom to accomplish more with lower overhead. For more information about starting a business for the first time and getting set up with the home office basics, click here.

SmartDeco SmartStand: Join the Furniture Revolution <Review>

SmartDeco Furniture pieces are like no other furniture that I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. SmartDeco Furniture has 3 different pieces of furniture, which consist of an Intellidesk, a SmartDresser, and a SmartStand. They even offer bundles of the different furniture.

The SmartDeco furniture pieces are simply designed and easy to put together because they require absolutely no tools at all. The best part about it is they are 100% recyclable and made right here in the great United States of America!

I was hoping to get the SmartDresser, but ended up getting the SmartStand instead. The SmartStand is available in 2 colors; cardboard brown and white. They send me the white SmartStand.

I received it in no time flat, within a week/ week and a half to be exact. I was super excited when I seen the box being delivered to my house and I got a sneak peek at the label and it said SmartDeco Furniture. I immediately (of course) opened the box and started putting the SmartStand together. Of course, I had a very small 4 year old assistant who definitely thought she needed to help out.


All you have to do when the furniture (whatever piece you choose) arrives go to the SmartDeco website and click on assembly at the top of the page. Then just click on the piece of furniture that you received and get to building!

The video is super amazing. It shows you exactly which piece to choose first and an exact step-by-step tutorial of how to put the furniture together. The lady in the picture below puts it together, so that you can see how it’s done!

I laid the furniture pieces out on my couch and just took a piece at a time and followed the videos advice. For each piece that contained a duplicate (such as the drawers) I just rewound the video a little and replayed it if I forgot a certain step. The instructions are very easy to understand and follow along with!

The pieces pop right into place without a problem. Even putting the entire thing together by myself (I’m very handy lol) I had it fully constructed in less than 15-20 minutes. Of course about 3-5 of those minutes was spent laughing my butt off when I looked over and she had already taken the stand hostage as her “fort”.

She loved hiding inside of the stand while I was putting the other pieces together! She is absolutely adorable and she had fun “helping” and that’s all that matters. I definitely want to buy 2 more of these stands (one for each kid). It definitely makes an awesome desk for small kids.

Of course, since it’s white.. I let her decorate the sides of it anyway she wanted to. She had tons of fun coloring and designing Mama’s new <side desk>. I love how durable this is. She colored and colored and not once did it sway!!

I also love the fact that I can take either drawer out of the SmartStand and turn that space into something else. It has the potential for so many things. In my crafter mind I could totally see decoupaging fabric inside a space used for books, the drawers and sides painted contrasting colors, or just random “magazine” style clippings that fit your style in random spots! I love personalizing things and making them “mine”.. so I will definitely do something like that!
 
See how the top is glossy? It comes with a clear plastic cover that expands over the entire top of the SmartStand. I really like that because it protects the top from water damage (if you place drinks on the top), and natural wear and tear!

Of course she had to take her “own” pictures of the Smartstand! She’s amazing growing inside a 4 year old body, I tell ya! This fits perfectly inside our home! It is re-usable, so when we are done with it (should it ever tear up 5-10 years later) we could just recycle it. As someone concerned about the environment I’m raising my kids in, this is truly important to me.

As a crafter, the design possibilities are endless! That’s something else that matters to me. If I were getting just a regular stand, there’s no way I would feel comfortable painting it, drawing on it, or decoupaging fabric to it. I need furniture in my “office” to reflect who I am and this is just what I was looking for. Of course, you could always leave it the way it is if that’s what you like. It’s all up to you!

I truly love how modern and beautiful it is standing inside my office. It just captures the light with it’s amazing angles and the openness “air” feeling it has to it. I love that it can be used in many different ways, for so many different things, in any room in your home!

Specs :

• Made in California
• Bedside table / file cabinet
• 23” W x 30” H x 17” D
• 13 lbs
• Tested to hold over 300 lbs
• Made from high grade cardboard
• Folds together without tools
• 100% recyclable

Buy it: SmartDeco SmartStand $59.00 $41.00

To assemble the SmartStand

Connect with SmartDeco on Facebook and Twitter


Jessica Renee

ISeeMe Personalized Lunch Box & Coloring Book- Make Back to School Fun!

Personalized gifts mean the absolute WORLD to kids. Personalized means that it is truly and completely theirs because it was created just for THEM! ISeeMee has tons of personalized back to school items. What better way to send them on their first day of school or even back to school then a personalized lunch box packed with personality and spunk?


When your child gets something personalized, it’s just another way to express their individual style and a GREAT one at that! They have tons of NEW designs in their personalized lunch boxes, They don’t have to be JUST for a school lunch either. It would make an awesome present to give a new mom filled with baby items for a baby shower.



My lovely little Adisyn started preschool this year and I definitely wanted to send her in style. I set her down with me and let her choose which one she wanted. I wasn’t exactly sure which one she was going to choose because there were so many amazing designs.

The one she ended up getting was the All-A-Flutter-Butterflies Personalized Lunch Box. It came within a week- week and a half! That’s amazing for personalizing so many spots on the lunchbox. Their name is on both sides and the front!

I took two pictures of the front of the lunchbox. Where it’s metal, my flash cut out her name, so I took a closer picture for you to see. I LOVE that the colors are so vivid and bright! I loved the fact that it has a separate design on the side than it does on the front!

She was SUPER SUPER happy with the lunchbox! She jumped up and down “thank you mommy, thank you mommy for getting me this lunchbox”! She loved the fact that it has her name on it (although she doesn’t know how to spell it yet). She said “It says Adisyn doesn’t it mommy?” after I told her that her name was on it.

What made ME love the lunchbox was that I could write her a personalized note each morning with the chalkboard style back that it has. I love that I can draw hearts, a pony, her, or write her a special note! This is every mom’s dream! To let their kid know how much they mean to them while they aren’t with them!

She looks forward to helping me pack her lunch each day and putting the lunchbox in her backpack. She absolutely ADORES the lunchbox and looks forward to the cute stuff I write on the inside of the lunchbox! I love that it has a clasp on the front of it and can’t open and spill the contents in her backpack. Yet, it is easy for her to open it and close it herself when she’s at school! BIG win for both of us!

Get one: The personalized lunchboxes are only $29.95!


We also received a My Very Own Fairy Tale Personalized Coloring Book. Adisyn absolutely loves to color, so I was excited for her to see her name inside the coloring book. It was amazing how big her eyes got. They were just sparkling with amazement, and because she can’t spell her name all the way—the inside of the coloring book is slowly showing her how to do it.

The quality of the book is exceptional. The binding is really thick, which kept her from tearing it up. As a four year old, she can be pretty rough on a coloring book, but this one stood the test of time and durability.
The illustrations in the book are absolutely beautiful and it contains her name quite a few times! The story kept her interested and she absolutely loves it.

Get yours: They are only $9.95 for a personalized coloring book!

They also have personalized placemats, Baby Gifts and so much more!

Connect with them online:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ISeeMeBooks 

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/ISeeMe_Maia       

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/iseemebooks/   

Jessica Renee

#OmronPedometer 10,000 steps (5 miles) a day 30 Day Challenge with Omron Tri-Axis Pedometer

Before I had kids I walked all the time. I would opt to walk with my friends just about everywhere. Since I became a mom, walking definitely turned into a thing of the past. My city definitely makes it difficult to walk with small kids because the sidewalks are crappy.

They definitely need to be redone, and more need to be added. In most walking spaces here, there aren’t any sidewalks. If there are sidewalks available to walk on, they usually have major cracks, bumps, and huge drop offs that make it dangerous to push a stroller or pull a wagon.

Since my kids are a little older and don’t require a stroller or wagon anymore, I immediately applied to be an Omron Pedometer Ambassador for 30 days. This required me to strap on the pedometer and walk 10,000 steps (5 miles) a day for 30 days.

I was definitely wondering what exactly it recorded. Walking, jogging, or Running in place? Jumping? Would walking in a quicker pace help get to the 10,000 steps more quickly? It was something I was set out to discover.

On the very first day of walking, I quickly realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. It was way more steps than I was used to normally walking. I even walked 5 blocks to my moms house and back and still only had 2 miles down. Having a walking partner is what got me through most of the walking days! It’s a lot easier to get to your walking steps goal when you’re walking and talking.

Focusing on just the number of steps you have or how many you still have to go is what seems to take forever. When you make it fun instead of solely focusing on the steps, you relax a little more. These are the days that I found myself easily going over the set goal of 10,000. I was super glad to have the strapless heart rate monitor to let me know how much of the goal had already been met for the day though!


I was definitely exhausted the first week where my body was getting back into the routine of walking, but I was definitely making the goal daily. There were more than a handful of times that I didn’t make my goal, though.

I got sick twice in a one week period. I’m pretty sure it was the summers version of the flu (that lasts 2-3 days) and I didn’t even get 1,000 steps on those days. I could barely even manage to get out of the bed to go to the bathroom. I had a huge migraine, my body ached all over, and I felt like crap.

I loved the fact that as soon as I was better, the Pedometer was calling my name. All the other Omron Ambassadors were helping me and encouraging me along the way. It’s a lot easier to make your goal when you have friends standing behind you letting you know that you CAN do this!

The Omron Tri-Axis Pedometer is designed to be worn on the waistband of your pants/shorts or even clipped to your shirt. The pedometer tracks steps, miles, and calories, as well as tracks aerobic steps and aerobic minutes per day.

It has a 7-day memory for easier tracking, letting you know how many steps you’ve reached the past 7 days. The mechanism is extremely accurate and silent. When you first get it, you set it up with your information. It lets you add your height and weight so it can better track the motion of your steps. The aerobic steps function tracks your steps when you walk or run more than 60 steps per minute or continue to walk or run for 10 minutes or more at a time.


The most awesome thing about the Omron Tri-Axis pedometer is the web connectivity at OmronFitness.com. Connect the USB pedometer at OmronFitness.com to track your results, set certain goals and share your victories; It is both Mac and PC compatible. It records on a weekly basis as well as gives you an overview of the entire month!

The pedometer is extremely easy to get started with. It is easy to set up- you just turn it on, enter your information (weight, height, etc.) and start walking. It’s easy to add your information to the OmronFitness website as well. You open an account on the website which takes less than a minute.

The Pedometer has a detachable cap that reveals a USB plug. You plug this into your computer and it automatically downloads the little blue circle you see in the above picture. When you’re finished with your daily steps, just plug the pedometer into your computer and right click the blue circle icon to start uploading your information!

For those of you on a weight loss goal—this would be amazing for you! It records your weight on a daily basis as well as your calories lost. I didn’t do it to lose weight, I just wanted to start living a healthier life. I wanted to introduce walking back into my life. Heart Disease runs in my family, and I don’t want to add to what is already there. Heart healthy all the way!!

Here is a list of the bloggers that joined me on this adventure, and MAN did we have fun!

Kenlie of All the Weigh as @alltheweigh

Jennifer Drummond of Peanut Butter and Peppers as @JenatPB

Brandy O’Neill of Nutmeg Nanny as @NutmegNanny

Skye Moyer of Real Mom Reviews as @RealMomReviews

Melanie Walsh of Simply Being Mommy as @simplybeingmom

Amber Pilcher of Beautifully BellaFaith as @littleamberfate

Paige Wolf of Spit That Out as @paigewolf

Alicia Voorhies of The Soft Landing as @thesoftlanding

Nicole Bangerter of Mom Always Finds Out as @skipbang

Robyn Wright of Robyn’s Online World as @RobynsWorld

Sarah Stanley of Sarah Stanley Inspired Living as @SarahStanley

Deborah McConnell of Scattered Musings of a Creative Mind as@Scatteredmusing

Candy Olivares of Candypolooza as @Candypo

Jessica Blankenship of Stylish Southern Mama as @Aidanadisynsmom

June Ash Moore of Simply Junebug as @SimplyJunebug

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post about the Omron TriAxis Pedometer through the Bookieboo Influencer Network and Mamavation, a disease prevention campaign for moms.

Jessica Renee

Let’s Talk about Bums: I’m an Official @Cottonelle Ambassador! The Announcement! #LetsTalkBums

I am a paid brand ambassador for Cottonelle. All opinions and cracks at humor are complete;y my own.

I have been expanding my blogging business this year. You’ve seen the new and improved ambassador buttons on my page. This year has definitely been an awesome one for me in the Ambassador area!

I was just selected to be an ambassador for Cottonelle, which just inflated my ego a little bit. It really boosted my spirits to know that I fit in with the “Humorist” ambassadors. I mean there are times when I find myself laughing and laughing at myself because I’m goofy and write tons of off the wall stuff that just makes me bust out laughing!

My friends think I’m hilarious, but I never thought that such a huge brand would think so as well. It was quite astounding yet mind-blowing and scary at the same time. So, merging with Cottonelle, talking about wiping butts, AND doing it in a hilarious way? Um.. Scary!

BUT.. when I really REALLY thought about it- who wants to sit down and have a serious conversation with eye contact when you’re talking about what they use to wipe with? Even the thought of it makes me chuckle!

So, I plan on diving straight into the real talk about toilet paper and bum wiping. Why not? As a mom, when my kids were small it was normal conversation for me! From the early newborn days, to the “is this normal?” when changing a diaper? Even when they started potty training and started wiping their own!

SO, why not have some fun with it? I’m sure to share some of the other ambassadors posts as well. There are some very hilarious people in the group and I’m sure they will have me laughing until I HAVE to go to the bathroom!

So, thanks for the Awesome Guy behind the branding (Dino) and Cottonelle for letting me a part of this! So, I’m ready to turn on the funny switch—and hope you all get some laughs!
You can join in on conversation by tweeting @Cottonelle on Twitter and sharing with Cottonelle on Facebook. Share your toilet paper humor stories with the world. -