OnStar FMV Review

I live in a rural area.  Our first grocery store in our “town” (I’m not sure it’s even called that…) is currently being built.    We do most of our errand-running seven miles down the highway in the next town over.  For anything else, we drive about 30 miles to the  Big City.   We make that drive to the Big City at least once a week.  It’s only 30 miles, but the majority of those 30 miles are surrounded by a huge lake on one side and an even bigger mountain range on the other.   In the winter there are frequently complete white-out conditions.  I’ve gone off the road once due to black ice in the middle of a sunny, clear day.  We’ve witnessed more accidents than I’d care to remember on the way to and from the Big City.
I get lost frequently.  I’m actually quite good at figuring out my compass points, but using those to actually navigate me through city streets and highways, not so much.  I can tell you I’m facing west, but how to actually get to a destination on the west side?  Major issues there.  I’ve made 20 minute drives into two-hour epic journeys more times than I’d care to admit.
My co-pilots on nearly any and all errand-running and trips are my three beautiful children.

Well, three and a half.  I have a lot to think about, a lot to be concerned over.  I do what I can to keep us all safe, but there are some things out of my control.
When presented with the opportunity to use and review the new OnStar FMV, I jumped at the chance. The idea of having an immediate, direct contact when needed with a real person was my main motivation.   With OnStar, you’re never really alone.  Having a non-GM minivan, OnStar has never been an option for us before.  But with the new FMV Mirror, pretty much any vehicle can now be equipped with very little effort, other than purchasing the thing, subscribing to the service, and getting it all set up.
 
The OnStar FMV is actually a replacement for your regular old review mirror.  It’s no more intrusive than that, plus a fun little “bug” microphone.  The installation for the mirror was super quick and easy.  I found a place, fairly close in the Big City, to install it, took it in, 1.5 hours later, they called me back to pick up my car with it’s fancy-schmancy new OnStar mirror and I was good to go.  That’s it. 

After picking up my car for the first time, before even leaving the parking lot of the audio center that did the installation, I decided to try out the services.  I pushed the iconic blue button.  A few rings and a friendly voice greeted me and asked what she could do to help me.  I felt kind of lame, since I really was just playing with it.  So I told her that.  She laughed and said, “Well, it looks like everything in your car is running great.  You’re located at______.  Is there anything else you need?”  And then, I’ll admit, I felt a little weird.  I mean what else did she know about me?  But really, it was also super cool! 

A few days later we decided to try out the turn-by-turn navigation features.  Blue button pushed, Friendly Voice asking what they could do for me.  My boys thought it was officially The Coolest Thing Ever.  The whole conversation I had with the OnStar advisor my kids were giggling and “wowing” in the background.  I told her where I wanted to go, she already knew where I was, she confirmed my desired destination and the directions were sent directly to my OnStar.  From there out, an automated voice navigated us through to the end.

My husband has a GPS unit.  It’s pretty cool and I thought I’d miss not having the screen to show me where I was going.  I did miss not being able to see as I was hearing, but I actually liked having just the voice, too.  I didn’t have to divert my attention to a screen.  The voice repeated the directions every few moments as we got closer to the next turn, so that I wouldn’t miss anything due to kids being kids in the back of the van.  And we got to our destination without a glitch.
Another thing I really liked that the GPS doesn’t have is a real human to help me figure out where I want to go to begin with.  I really stink at spelling.  No, really, it’s bad news.  Having to type out on a little screen my interpretation of the spelling of anywhere is pretty much a total challenge.  And there is no way I could do it while driving, at least not safely.  With the OnStar, I just push the button, get a live person to discuss things with, then we’re good to go.  As a person who starts hitting the “0” as soon as an automated system comes on when calling a service center, I love, LOVE getting directly through to a real person every time I hit that magical blue button. 
We’re going on a big, multi-state road trip in a little over a month.  I can’t wait to use the OnStar.  We’re going somewhere neither my husband nor I am familiar with at all.  Having the security of OnStar with it’s always-there and always-friendly advisors is a huge comfort in planning that trip.  And hopefully we’ll not have a need for it at all, but the security of knowing the emergency services are also just a button-press away is even more of a comfort. 

So far, my only issue with the OnStar FMV is also one of the biggest perks: the ease of use.  It’s just a push of a button.  We’ve had multiple talks with the kids about how they are to never, ever, ever push any of the buttons on the new mirror.  Not that my kids are really ever in the car alone, but still.  It’s just *right* there, so easy to use, so very enticing for tiny hands to play with.  So far we’ve had no issues, but I do worry that in the near future my three-year old will have his own private conversation with an OnStar advisor.  So to that advisor, I apologize in advance. 

When I think about OnStar, I’ve decided it’s kind of like insurance.   It provides peace of mind and eliminates many of the “what-ifs” in traveling with the Roadside Assistance, Emergency Response, Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Assistance.  But better than insurance, you don’t have to have anything bad happen to use the other features.  The Turn-by-Turn Navigation and the Hands-Free Calling are already becoming quick favorites around here, and I can see us using them regularly. 

With OnStar always on and always ready to go, I know my children and I are that much safer while traveling.  The next time I’m looking for a new address, I’m totally pushing that Blue Button before even starting out, to avoid my usual creative detours and navigating.  Having OnStar FMV along for the ride, our 30 minute trips to the Big City seem less lonely and desolate.  It’s nice to have one less thing to worry about with a van full of small children, who hopefully will keep their curious fingers away from that tempting blue button!

Visit the Facebook page to learn even more and to read what others are saying about the FMV Mirror.  And check out other bloggers’ reviews of On Star FMV by visiting the Prizes and Promotions section. What will you use OnStar for?

Make it Work Giveaway with T Shirts for Wearing

I first heard about T Shirts for Wearing from the girls at Crafterhours.   When I hopped over to the Etsy shop to check it out, I was just so impressed with the fun and unique designs.  We buy a lot of t shirts around here, and fun t shirts aren’t anything too hard to find.  But fun, cute t shirts with sewing-related designs?!  So very awesome!

Tell me those aren’t the coolest designs ever!  They also have a great variety of other designs, including for children and men.  And you have to read the write-ups on all the designs, highly entertaining.  The talented folks at T Shirts for Wearing are offering up a coupon for one free shirt of your choice, plus free shipping to one of you!

All you have to do
-Leave a comment telling me which T Shirts for Wearing design is your favorite.
-One comment per person.
-If you need to leave a second comment, please delete the first. Or I will :)
-Your email address MUST be either in the comment or directly linked to your profile so I can contact you if you are the winner.
-Comments open for entry now through next Friday, May 27th at 8:00 a.m. MST.
-Winner will be chosen at random using Random.org.
-Winner announced, May 27th, 2011.
-Winner has until Tuesday May 31st at 10:00 p.m. MST to contact me back, or I will choose another winner.
-Winner will receive a coupon code via email good for one free t-shirt of their choice, and free shipping,  from T Shirts for Wearing, shipped directly to the winner from T Shirts for Wearing.

Thank you so much, T Shirts for Wearing, for this sweet giveaway!  I would totally be entering if I could!

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Have you entered the Make it Work Challenge yet? If not, upload your entry to the Flickr Group HERE after reading the rules HERE, then go daydream about the prizes as seen HERE.

Colette Patterns Giveaway

When I was organizing and planning Make it Work, I had a “dream list” of sponsors and participants.  I feel so lucky to have gotten the sponsors I did, all of them from that list.  Colette Patterns is such an amazing company.  I love their fresh and fun designs. They are modern and hip, but so well written. I also love that they allow for so much versatility and individuality when making.  They even have two new patterns out, designed especially with the beginning sewist in mind, The Ginger and The Violet  :

Both have a variety of options laid out in the pattern itself, so you can make the look however you want, with clear instructions the whole way. 

Colette Patterns has a great selection, including the famous men’s Negroni Shirt , which I’m pretty sure is about the only decent modern menswear pattern out there.

These are two of my favorite patterns.  The skirt will be mine.  I love it so, so much.

And one of you will get to choose a free pattern of your own!  Colette Patterns is giving away one free pattern to a Sew a Straight Line reader, maybe even YOU!  To enter:
-Leave a comment telling me which Colette pattern is your favorite.
-One comment per person.
-If you need to leave a second comment, please delete the first.  Or I will :)
-Your email address MUST be either in the comment or directly linked to your profile so I can contact you if you are the winner.
-Comments open for entry now through next Thursday, May 19th at midnight MST.
-Winner will be chosen at random using Random.org.
-Winner announced Friday, May 20th, 2011.
-Winner has until Tuesday May 17th at 10:00 p.m. MST to contact me back, or I will choose another winner.
-Winner will receive one free pattern of their choice from Colette Patterns, shipped directly to the winner by Colette Patterns.

That’s it!  Good luck and happy sewing!

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Remember to submit your entry to the Make It Work Challenge

Review and Giveaway: Freschetta Simply Inspired Pizzas

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.


Frequently some girlfriends and I get together for a play date and lunch. We try to make something a little bit more fancy than the usual PB&J or grilled cheese that serves as our normal lunch fare. At least for us. The kids still get the other stuff. But these lunches really are often the highlight of our week, since we get to eat “chick food” like fancy salads, soups and whatever else our husbands turn their noses up at while looking for the meat and potatoes.

This past time that my turn came around, it also coincided nicely with my receiving the opportunity to do a review for Freschetta’s Simply Inspired Pizzas. According to the website, they have eight amazing-looking varieties. I live in Rural Town, USA and shop in Only Slightly Less Rural Town seven miles away. There were only two varieties offered at my grocery store, but it still took me a few minutes to decide between the two. I finally went with Harvest Supreme because I was super hungry while grocery shopping and it looked to have the most food on it. And that’s how I make major grocery-related decisions, I let my stomach do the thinking.

So at lunch, I told my friends that I was doing the review, and that I wanted their honest opinions. And I’m going to share those with you. First of all, we were all impressed with the small amount of packaging. Freschetta calls it their “Fresh-Taste Seal” and claims it locks in the flavors, while using 30% less packaging. It’s not a box, but more like a molded plastic case for the pizza, with a peel-back cover. It really was very low-profile. Secondly, you know how things on packaging always look better than in real life? Well, out of the oven, our pizza really did look like this: Except with slightly less perky onions. But it really looked delicious and not at all like a frozen pizza. The crust was nice and crispy on the outside, but as it got more towards the middle of the pizza it was softer, but not soggy—just not as crisp as the outer edges.

So how did it taste? Honestly, the flavors were a bit strong for me. Between the feta cheese and the sun dried tomatoes, I did find myself picking some toppings off to tone the intensity down a little. But I’m kind of a pansy that way. One of my friends agreed, the other really liked the strong flavors and even opted for less dessert so she could have more pizza. There was one piece left over when my husband got home. He finished it off and wanted more. He thought the flavors were perfect. And he doesn’t even like tomatoes!

All in all, it was a really good pizza. I did like the combination of flavors, there were just so many toppings that I thought it tasted better with some of them narrowed down. And I guess that’s really a sign of the quality and freshness of the ingredients. It didn’t taste like your typical frozen pizza. We all agreed we would totally buy it, and wanted to try some of the other flavors (if our local grocer ever decides to expand inventory).

And you can try it for yourself, one of you for free even! I have one coupon for a free Freschetta Simply Inspired Thin Crust Pizza to giveaway, along with a fun bamboo cutting board and serving set. And as the check out clerk at the store commented when I used my coupon, “Holy crap! This is a great coupon!”

To enter, leave a comment telling me your favorite pizza toppings.
Make sure your email is either linked to your profile or included in the body of the comment.
The contest is open to anyone in the USA, since I’m not sure the coupon is valid in other countries (sorry!).
And if you like Freschetta Simply Inspired on Facebook, they’ll give you a coupon for $2 off. So you can all be winners! But only one will get the cutting board and little sharp guys. Good luck! 
FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ 

BlogHer Review: Libman Freedom! Mop

I’ve mentioned before my feelings on mops, yes?   Anything I can’t take off and wash grosses me out.   I won’t buy disposable pads just to throw away my money and take out more trash.  For the past few years I have been using a disposable-pad mop, but employing microfiber auto rags instead of the paper refill pads.  It worked great and I had no complaints.  Well, you know how sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until you find something better?  Yeah, enter Libman Freedom Mop and its friends.


When Libman offered to send me this mop package to review, site unseen, I decided I would be brutally honest.  I assumed I wouldn’t like it as well as the status quo mop situation in this house.  I didn’t want a disgusting germ/slime magnet, and I didn’t want to have to go the store whenever I need to mop my floors.  When the Libman mop arrived, I may have squealed.   It was perfect, my dream mop, or close.  There are some things I don’t love, but we’ll get to that in a minute…

Years ago, as a young wife, I actually asked for a spraying mop for my birthday.  True story.  I wanted one that badly.  I was sick of filling a bucket or the sink, and sick of wringing things as I moped.  My husband, ever the romantic, made that wish come true and I unwrapped a spray mop (from the plastic grocery bag it came in) for my 23rd birthday.  But I only used it for a few weeks before giving up on the spray feature because I was sick of buying the disposable proprietary solution canisters.  But while it lasted, Oh! how I enjoyed its spraying, n0-bucket-or-sink-of-disgustingness virtues! 
Well guess what?  The Libman Freedom mop takes the awesomeness of a spray mop and ads the *genius*, and practicality, of an empty bottle. 

What’s so great about an empty bottle?  You can fill it up with whatever you want!  This is especially important for freaks like me who have very specific needs when it comes to how a mopped floor should smell; two words: piney and soly.
I know a lot of you make your own cleaning solutions.  You can mix them right up inside the bottle.  The opening is fairly wide and there are measurement markings down each side for ratio control.

The other love? A reusable, washable microfiber pad with *scrubbers*.  This was actually something I missed when using the auto rags—a decent scrubbing quality.  The Libman pads have strips of, like, Astroturf in them-very scrubby. (fun fact: My aunt’s entire back patio was carpeted in plastic grass carpet.  The rug-burns of my childhood can attest to the abrasive qualities of the stuff!)(Though still gentle on floors.)(But seriously? Not on knees.) 
I think I would have preferred the Astroturf to be all in one area, like to one side, to allow for more concentrated scrubbing.  But it did end up easily getting tw0-day dried syrup off the tile, so what do I know?

The pads attach to the mop base via these crazy hooks covering the naked base on the flat side. 

So you just slap it on there, with no pushing anything through little rubber grabber things that also sometimes catch your finger and make you swear.  Just lay the pad down, smooth, and go. 

And while we’re on the subject of the mop head, it swivels and pivots so you can mop in awkward areas.  Like behind toilets.  Also, it’s long enough, I could get the first few inches of the under part of my stove without moving anything.  And since that’s all anyone sees, I can pretend for a while longer that any mess further back doesn’t exist. 

The mop comes with one pad, and you can purchase additional pads for rotating when the others are in the wash.

Fancy.  And so thoughtful.

You can also purchase an additional bottle.  I would think this would be really nice if you had various kinds of hard surface flooring?  Like, tile in one area and hard wood in the other.  With an additional bottle, you can switch out your cleaning agent depending on the surface.  We only have ceramic tile and cheap-o, ugly linoleum, so this isn’t really a huge selling point for me, personally, but I can see where it could be really handy for others.   

The extra bottle comes with a  stand so you can store the leftover solution.  The bottle itself has a rubberized plug-friend thingy that seals the dispenser opening when not inserted into the mop itself, so it doesn’t leak. 

Again, thoughtful and convenient if you need to have multiple solutions ready to go.  But one of my dislikes is actually the stand the extra bottle comes with.  It doesn’t seem very stable.  Not that the bottle leaks when it falls out, but still kind of annoying.  Mine kept getting knocked over on my counter.  And with flat horizontal surfaces at a premium in my closets and cabinets, I would have preferred something wall-mounting. 

But onto more good stuff.  How about that even my five year old can now mop up the apple juice he is constantly spilling, since he doesn’t ever have to handle the hot water/chemicals?  He can even carry it upstairs to do the bathrooms by himself.  Awesome.  Now to just get him to control that over-anxious trigger finger. 

And finally, back to the pads.  Here is what the once-pristine-and-white new pad looked like after moping my kitchen and two bathrooms.  I have three little boys.  Don’t judge.  Okay, go ahead, just don’t comment it.  Please.

And after being washed with our other rags?  The one on top is the same pad as the above picture, the bottom pad is a new, unused pad

No, I didn’t use bleach, just my regular detergent.  I’m sure a few more weeks of hard labor in our house will dingy it right up, but I have no doubt it will still clean the floors.  Just maybe not look so pretty doing it.  But the same can be said for me, so I’m casting no stones.

AND
YOU can win a$100 Visa Gift Card from BlogHer and a Libman Freedom Spray Mop from Libman (all to go to one winner), open to those 18 and up, USA residents
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a)      Leave a comment answering “What's your favorite cleaning tip?”
b)      Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c)       Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d)      For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
 
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.      

Visit the Official Rules
Visit the Exclusive Offers section
Need some cleaning tips?  Check out Libman’s tip site here.
Visit the Official site

Can I get a Whoopdwhoop?

I have purchased from a variety of handmade online markets over the years.  I have never seen one like whoopdwhoop.  It’s completely currency free, running on an improved barter system.  You register and earn Whoops.  You create and offer your creation and you earn Whoops.  Then you get to exchange your Whoops for others’ creations.  It’s like a quieter, cleaner Chuck E Cheese.  The tokens are Whoops, the games are your creations, and instead of really chintzy plastic swords, you get to exchange for amazing, unique handmade items.  Oh, also, no freaky giant rats roaming around. 

Over the years I’ve done a number of trades with people online.  There are so many talented, creative people out there, and I always had a great time exchanging what I had made for something I couldn’t, or didn’t want, to make myself.  The trades and exchanges always involved a great deal of emailing, private-messaging and all that to sort out the details and iron out what was “fair”.  whoopdwhoop is all the fun of trading, without all the bartering and haggling.  Everything is set and laid out in an understandable, universal format.

The site is very easy to navigate, with new features and improvements being added all the time.  There is a Favorites feature, so if there’s a Whooper whose creations you love, the site will update you when that Whooper adds something new.   To register and participate is completely free.  But if you are a crafter with a shop, or a blogger looking to drive more traffic to your site, whoopdwhoop offers a Pro option, too.  For as little as $5.00/month you can link your outside site to your whoopdwhoop account, showing pictures of other items available elsewhere to all sorts of potential customers.  You can also add a link in your profile to your site with Pro.  And the site is just growing better and better.  It’s already grown and added more since I first checked it out.  There’s always something new to whoop over.  Here are some of my recent favorites…

Jam and Bread Stuffie	Kitty Bib
Gemstone Bracelet	Honey and Oat Soap

Seriously, so many great things.  And all you have to do to is offer up some of your own talents and creations, that you’re probably making or have on hand anyway,  to exchange for Whoops to buy them.  I’m currently offering some of my boxer briefs to earn some Whoops. 

Penguins and Stripes Size Five

Helicopters Size Four/Five

You should totally go open an account just to snag up these puppies.  Okay, or something else you really want.  But I wouldn’t hate it if someone whooped these from me.  I really want that bracelet. 

Our journey toward LEGO-organization nirvana

This is a sponsored review for CSN Stores.

So, we have a lot of LEGOs.  All of my kids prefer LEGOs to all other toys.  With three little boys, all asking for LEGOs for any and all gift-giving occasion, it’s pretty much all LEGO all the time around here. 

We’ve tried quite a few methods of organizing and storing our LEGOs.  Ikea bins:

All of our toys live in these bins, so it made sense that the LEGOs have a bin-home, as well.  But the thing with LEGOs is that you’re always in need of a specific brick.  And more likely than not, that brick has made it’s way down to the very bottom of the bin.  So multiple times in the day, this bin was upturned, it’s contents scattered to the far reaches of our home.  It drove me insane.

So I purchased a ton of those little plastic drawers, you know, the eight-inch high ones.  

source

I spent hours, HOURS organizing by shapes and sizes.  After carefully introducing my boys to the new tiny-drawer system, they quickly abandoned it.  It was too detailed for their minds and hands to deal with.  Plus, the thing with LEGOs is that your kids build stuff with them, stuff your kids don’t want to tear apart every night to carefully place back into their tiny storage drawers.  The drawers now hold various craft supplies.

We also tried this really cute giant LEGO head organizer.

Source

I figured that my kids could dump the contents of the Ikea bin slowly into the head, until they found the pieces they needed, then dump the other non-needed pieces back into the bin and we’d all be happy and organized.  Didn’t even begin to work that way.  They used the head as a giant, huge monster LEGO man for play only, and continued to pour the LEGOs across the floor to look for the specific pieces.  If we had far fewer LEGOs, we could have at least stored them in the giant head.  But I took the thing back to the store because it just wasn’t going to work for us.

All this time I’d been eyeing the Iris LEGO organization sets,thinking they were awesome but pretty pricey.  Then I found them on CSN for FAR less than you can get them anywhere else.  When CSN contacted me to do a review of a product, I already had these waiting in my cart, trying to decide between the two.  So after confirming with them, had these ordered within minutes.  Seriously.  A few days later, there were two huge boxes delivered to my door and we invited our little Iris friends in to play.

I ordered the 4-piece Stacking Baskets and the Project Case Chest Storage. 

The stacking baskets have these little handles on either side.  You can either flip the handles down, allowing the baskets to nest

Or, you can flip the handles toward the inside of the baskets, allowing another basket to stack on top. 

They also have wheels on the bottom, so they can be easily dragged around the room.

 

My thought was that the loose LEGOs could go into these bins.  Spread out between four largish bins, it would be easier to find specific pieces and less likely my kids would need to pour the entire collection out.

I picked up the Project Storage set for, well, projects.  With six individual chests, they could put their creations in here for safekeeping.

The Project Storage also has a recessed area on the top that holds the 12*12 baseplates.  It even came with two green base plates, which my kids were pretty excited about.

So I set up the sets in our playroom and told my kids to get to work organizing things however they would be able to maintain it.

They ended up deciding that all the mini-figures should go into one of the project cases, since they are always looking for those.
And other than that, they went with my original plan of creations going in the cases and loose Legos going into the baskets.

So, a few weeks later, is our problem with dumped-out, scattered LEGOs solved?  Yes and no. 

Here is what things look like on any given day now:

There are always, always a few LEGOs still scattered on the floor.  The bins are rarely, if ever stacked and the project cases are usually pulled out and left open, as well.  But in the entire time we’ve had these, there has not been any actual dumping out of the bins.  The boys have been really good to just transfer from one bin to another when looking through for a specific brick, or whatever.  

In the end, I’ve finally just come to realize that it’s not the LEGOs that are the problem, it’s my kids.  Kids make messes and, at least mine, don’t like to clean them up.  But these storage units have definitely helped to keep the mess manageable.  And when properly ordered around supervised, my kids have no problem cleaning and organizing things back where they belong.  Even my two-year old can do it, which is really nice. 

So between the two systems, we have the convenience of easier to find individual bricks and pieces, storage for built projects, and a clean-up solution my kids can do with minimal direction from me.   Do I think they solve the insanity that is an ever-growing LEGO collection of three small children?  No, but they do a better job than anything else we’ve tried.  And we’ve tried a lot.  Do I recommend them?  Absolutely.