Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Inspiration and new baby gear: My experience at Baby Bloggy Boot Camp!

March 30, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

This post is written by Alanna Peters on behalf of Liz Lange and Ergobaby. Product was provided.

February 28th was an unusually wet and windy day here in San Diego county but I woke up extremely excited, in spite of the fact that I had to get up and out of the house several hours than usual (with both kids in tow!) to brave the commuter traffic through the rain. (Let me tell you, people can NOT drive in Southern California during a rain storm!) I was on my way to the Baby Bloggy Boot Camp event at the Bahia Hotel in San Diego, CA, which was part of the Women Get Social blogging conference.

I had registered for the Baby Bloggy Boot Camp a couple months earlier as an expecting mom and wasn’t quite sure if I’d even make it to the conference, seeing as how my baby was due February 20th. Since she ended up arriving over a week early (yay!), I was able to attend, and I happily crossed out the “Expecting a Baby” status on my name tag and filled it in with “Mom to a Baby”. There were lots of other new and expecting moms there and it was so fun to show off my new baby and peek at some other little cuties!

INSPIRATION FROM THE ROOKIE MOMS

It was a very inspiring morning as we listened to several speakers and got lots of insight into blogging. I really enjoyed getting lots of tips from Heather Flet and Whitney Moss over at RookieMoms.com. They are full of advice on how to create awesome blog content and advice for working with brands. If you aren’t familiar with their blog, I highly recommend checking it out!

Now that we have a new baby in the house we’ve had to make some big changes in our budget and our lives. I’m about to become a full-time SAHM and, to be completely honest, I’m kind of terrified! (This means no more “free” days while my older daughter is at preschool. Yikes!) One thing I discovered about the Rookie Moms blog that has me really excited is a feature called “52 Challenges for Rookie Moms“. It is a series of weekly adventures to share with your little ones. I know I definitely need some inspiration for keeping my preschooler (and me!) entertained, as well as ways to include a baby in the fun! I’m really looking forward to getting started on some of the challenges.

ADVICE FROM THE SITS GIRLS

We also got some great advice on Rocking Sponsored Content from the SITS girls, Tiffany Romero and Francesca Banducci. They are a wealth of knowledge on what sponsors are looking for and how to attract them to your blog. They also had a lot of advice to share on implementing SEO techniques, which is extremely important for any blogger! I think I gained the most from this session. I have a long list of SEO tips to start implementing on the blog!

GETTING REAL WITH AMALAH

After a quick break (with some awesomely yummy snacks provided by the Bahia Hotel!) we listened in on a discussion between Amy Storch and Danielle Wiley regarding the benefits and drawbacks of being a “mommy blogger”. I really enjoyed hearing Amy’s point of view since her blog Amalah.com was one of the very first blogs I read when I was first discovering the world of mommy blogs.

After the Boot Camp part of the morning was concluded, we got to meet the day’s big sponsor. Drumroll, please….

ERGOBABY!

Oh my gosh, you guys…I was SOOO excited when I realized Ergobaby was the event’s big sponsor. I used an Ergo carrier with my first daughter several years ago and we used that thing ALL the time. I was looking forward to using it again with my new baby until I realized that during storage between babies, the belt buckle on the carrier had broken and it wasn’t really safe to use. Imagine my delight when I found out that I would be receiving the brand-new, not-yet-released Ergobaby Four Position 360 Carrier!!! Talk about perfect timing. 🙂

The lovely ladies from Ergobaby gave a demonstration showing us 3 great new products and how to use them. We got to see the Ergobaby Wrap which is great for keeping your newborn close and snuggly, the Ergobaby Swaddler (not a carrier) which keeps your baby’s hips ergonomically positioned while being swaddled, and finally the Ergobaby Four Position 360 Carrier, which is the newest carrier in the Ergobaby family.

After the demonstration I got to chat with the Ergobaby rep for a bit and talk with her about using the infant insert in the Ergo carriers. I still had the old-style infant insert which doesn’t really provide the necessary support for a newborn so, rather than purchase a new-style infant insert, she recommended that I just use the Ergobaby Wrap until my baby gets to 12lbs or more. It had been about 3 years since I last carried a baby in a wrap-style carrier so I was a little nervous about how to use it with my teeny-tiny newborn. The Ergobaby rep showed me how to use it properly and I felt much more confident. I could hardly wait to get home and give it a try!

I seriously LOVE the Ergobaby Wrap. It is such a lifesaver! If I couldn’t wear my baby I would get absolutely nothing done during the day. My baby likes to be held, or at least touching me, all day long. Now, I put the wrap on in the morning and wear it pretty much all day, popping baby in and out as needed. I love being able to keep her close and still have my hands free to do things around the house! I even wore her out to happy hour with the girls last night and she just snuggled and slept the entire time. Easy peasy! The wrap is very similar to my old Moby carrier, although the recommended Newborn Hug carry is a little different than the carry I used to use. I think the biggest difference with this wrap is the fabric. I love the Ergobaby fabric! It’s soft and stretchy but feels much stronger and sturdier than other knit wraps.

I haven’t used the Four Position Carrier much yet since my little peanut is still under 12 pounds but I did give it a try with my old infant insert. It worked well but I’m really looking forward to using it without the insert. (We’ve only got about a pound to go at this point!) We ended up using a Baby Bjorn quite often when my first daughter got older since she loved to face out rather than in. The ideal position for babywearing is facing in towards the parent, but sometimes babies just want to look out and see the world that you are experiencing. Now they can do it in the Ergobaby carrier as well, while still having their bottoms supported. (No crotch-dangling!) I did notice that while the velcro around the waist seems more secure than the buckle on my old carrier, I’m not able to adjust it while I’m wearing the carrier. I always feel like I need to tighten it up after I’ve been wearing it for a while so I do miss that feature. One new feature I do love is that the sun shade zips into the front pocket. It’s just a cleaner, cuter design than the old carrier, and I love it! I’m really excited to try out the forward-facing option and the hip-carry option once my baby gets a little older.

LIZ LANGE NEW YORK

Along with all the Ergobaby gear in our swag bags, all the attendees got to pick out a Liz Lange New York maternity dress. I was a little bummed that none of them were nursing-compatible, but they are all designed to be figure-flattering and transitional to accommodate growing or shrinking bellies. And the fabric is so soft on all the dresses we had to choose from! I ended up picking a shorter style dress that I thought would be cute for the spring/summer. I love that Liz Lange maternity clothes feel luxurious but they are totally affordable. (Target has a great selection!) I just don’t understand spending hundreds of dollars on maternity clothes that you only wear for such a short time!

SUMMING IT UP

We also got some yummy candies from the girls at Sugar Wish, and fun samples from the Honest Co., which I’m sure most of you are familiar with if you’ve been reading Tiffany’s Honest Assessment posts. Such good stuff! (I adore their diapers, by the way. So far they are my favorite of all the brands we’ve tried!) Just FYI, my other favorites are the Conditioning Mist, the Bathroom Cleaner, and the Hand Sanitizer.

All in all, the Baby Bloggy Boot Camp was an absolute success. I’m so thrilled that I was fortunate enough to be a part of it all!

This post is written by me on behalf of Liz Lange and Ergobaby. Product was provided.

Fashion Friday: Statement Necklaces for $5.95 Shipped!

March 28, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

Affiliate links included. I only promote what I love!

My Cents of Style is offering over 25 different styles and colors of statement necklaces today for the lowest price EVER offered: $5.95, and shipping is FREE!

Use coupon code CLEARANCE101 at checkout to scoop up the savings! At this price, you could get 3 statement necklaces for under $20! These make great gifts for Easter, graduation, and thank you gifts for teachers!

AND!!!!! They just released my favorite scarf ever for sale today, too!

Fashion Friday- Take 2- Chevron Infinity Scarf- $7.95 & FREE SHIPPING with Code HAPPYDAY.

A&W TEN Root Beer Float Hack (I Made It Skinny!)

March 27, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #TENways http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV.

So last week I was shopping at Walmart and I found this:

Several different sodas in the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) have been released with ten calorie versions. Pay careful attention to the one in the middle, A&W. That’s the one I zoomed in on almost immediately. Root beer is my all-time favorite carbonated beverage. In an effort to save calories, I’ve ventured over into the diet root beer realm before. I know a lot of people like it, but the flavor, for me, was just too different.

That’s why I was so thrilled to see this ten calorie version. It promised to have all the flavor of regular A&W, only without all but 10 of the calories per 12 ounce serving. I was sold.

All the Flavor, So Few Calories

When I got the product home, I tried it out just to make sure A&W TEN didn’t just taste like diet root beer. And it totally didn’t! If I had been offered it in a blind taste test, I would not have hesitated to say that it was a full-calorie soda. So they definitely nailed getting the flavor right!

Since A&W was able to produce something I loved so much while leaving all those calories behind, it left me wondering if I could do the same thing with my beloved root beer float, which is my very favorite dessert. After all, spring is already here and that means summer is right around the corner. Summer means trips to water parks for my family. And that means swimsuits. I don’t know about you, but for me, it would be a very good idea to start cutting back on sweet treats and getting some more exercise.

But what if I could take a note from A&W and figure out a way to recreate a root beer float that kept the taste and dropped the calories? Well friends, I did it, and it’s going to knock your socks off!

The 58 Calorie Root Beer Float

Ingredients

12 ounces A&W TEN Root Beer
1/3 cup whole milk

Fill your glass with root beer (2 ounces is 1 1/2 cups).

Then slowly add the whole milk. Stir and savor the taste!

Some of you may be wondering why I opted for whole milk in a “skinny” recipe. While you are welcome to try this recipe with 2 percent or even skim milk, if you really want the TRUE flavor of a root beer float, go with whole milk. You can even stick this in the freezer for a little while if you want it to get a little bit thick and icy. The texture is going to be different than it would be with ice cream in it, but the taste is spot on, and the calories are significantly reduced! A root beer float of this size made with ice cream and regular (full calorie) root beer would have roughly 300 calories!

I’m about to start heading back to the gym and my beloved Zumba classes, as I know I need to get my body moving in order to feel more confident in my swim suit this summer. But for me, denying myself indulgences like dessert never works…I only feel punished and eventually rebel, jumping off the deep end into a pan full of brownies or something similar. Now I have an option on hand that isn’t going to wreck my progress made during my workouts, and that tastes just like a guilty pleasure. I feel spoiled without spoiling my calorie intake for the day. Everybody wins! 🙂

If you want to keep up with the latest happenings with Core Four DPSG products, be sure to follow their Facebook and pages. And if you are ready to try out my fabulous skinny root beer float recipe, let me help with the bill! Right now you can score $0.50 offthe purchase of TWO 2 Liter Bottles or TWO 4-pack cans of A&W TEN (or 7UP TEN, Canada Dry TN, RC TEN or Sunkist TEN). But get this: if you share the digital coupon via email, FB or Twitter, you will be brought to a coupon that will save you $1.50 insted of just $0.50. Talk about a great reward for spreading the love! Offer available while supplies last, from 3/27 – 4/17. Jump on it before it’s gone!

So You Want to Try Essential Oils? How to Get Started

March 26, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 20 Comments

Ever since I told my little secret (which is that I have been using essential oils, even though I was a pretty big skeptic about the whole thing), people have been approaching me with lots of questions about how they can get started. I thought I’d get it all written down in one place so everyone can see the answers, because for every one person who has asked me these questions, there are likely several more of you who are wondering the same thing but haven’t asked, yet!

Step 1: Learn With Us!

I’m part of a small Facebook group started by my friend Kayla called Oil Love. It’s a friendly, no pressure environment where we can feel free to ask questions about using essential oils and share with each other what we are learning, and what works for us. If you are trying to determine if essential oils are right for your family, the Facebook group is a great place to start.

Step 2: Get Signed Up!

Ok, so Young Living makes incredibly AWESOME products that I trust and that I am certain you will love. They ROCK OUT at producing the best of the best essential oils. They do NOT rock out at making the sign up process simple and completely intuitive. That’s ok, I can help with this piece!

When you go to sign up, you have two choices: you can sign up as a retail customer, or you can sign up as a wholesale member. Think of signing up as a wholesale member like signing up for Costco or Sam’s Club. You are going to be offered discounted prices if you go this route (24% off, which can add up quickly!). If you sign up as a retail customer, you are under no obligation to make any specific purchase and can buy a much or a little as you like.

If you sign up as a wholesale member, you are required to buy a starter kit. You have several options from which to choose, and I will tell you which one I STRONGLY recommend in just a minute. Please know that once you sign up as a wholesale member, you are NOT required to make additional purchases every month if you don’t want to. Young Living does have an Essential Rewards program that you are eligible to enroll in and that does ship out monthly, but I will cover what that entails in a different post, so don’t worry about it for now. All you need to remember is that aside from a starter kit, which is a one time purchase, wholesale members are not committing to additional purchases, so fear not!

Um, Why Does Young Living Need My Social?

I definitely gave this part of the enrollment form my sideways glance. Always ask questions any time someone is asking for your social security number! I do have the reason for you in this case, though. If you sign up as a wholesale member, then you are eligible to earn commissions and referral bonuses if your friends ever make purchases based on your recommendations. Young Living has to report those to the IRS, and hence, they must have your social security number on file if you ever earn any money by referring folks to them. You are NOT expected to start selling essential oils by becoming a wholesale member. Young Living just knows from experience how friends talk to friends, and how sales often get made, not really even on purpose, and they want to pay you, even for those accidental sales! 🙂 Think of it as similar to when you share Zulily or a Groupon deal and earn credit for spreading the word. Same kind of thing!

Which Starter Kit to Select

Ok, so while there are several different kit options in section 2 of the enrollment from which you can choose, if you want my opinion, there’s really only one great option, and that is the premium starter kit (the very first kit you can choose from the selection). The bad news: it is the most expensive, at $160. The good news: It is BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS the best deal on the site. You will get 11 different essential oils (including the VERY expensive frankincense), as well as a diffuser in this kit. The other kits only come with tiny sample packets…not really enough to get a good feel for if you even like the oils. The premium starter kit has a retail value of around $300, and it gives you SO many great oils that can do SO many things. It really is the perfect way to get properly introduced to Young Living and to essential oils, in general. It’s how I started out, and I have zero regrets about my purchase. In fact, I wish I could purchase it again, to tell the truth!

Wait, Do I Need TWO Starter Kits?

I was very thrown off guard when I got signed up and saw section 3 of the enrollment form, which was for yet another starter kit of some sort (these are called essential rewards kits). Please note that step 3 on the enrollment form is completely OPTIONAL and you can skip right past it without selecting something! I totally skipped it, myself. Be sure to click the button at the bottom of the list that says, “No, thank you.”

What If I Want Wholesale Pricing WITHOUT Becoming a Wholesale Member?

I can help you with that, too! I can place an order for you at any time using my wholesale membership benefits. As long as you have PayPal, we can work something out so that you can get your oils at the wholesale price. I signed up for the membership so that I can get the best possible price for oils, and so that I can share that discount with others, so just let me know if you want me to place an order for you!

Step 3 (Optional): Get a Reference Book

I got MUCH more comfortable with essential oils once I ordered and read through the Essential Oils Pocket Reference. Not everyone may agree with me, but I think if you are hoping to use essential oils for more than just 1 purpose, then this guide is going to be extremely useful. It helps you understand the science behind essential oils and gives very specific recommendations for which oils to use and how to use them for a wide variety of conditions.

Ok, so now that you know all of your options for learning about and purchasing oils, you are ready to go! If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to email me at stuffparentsneed (at) gmail (dot) com. I’m here to help!

More essential oils posts:

Trying Essential Oils as a Skeptic

Lung and Sinus Support During Allergy Season

DIY Shower Disks for Congestion

Sugar and Essential Oils Scrub for Keratosis Pilaris (bumpy skin)

Use Lemon Essential Oil to Safely Remove Crayon Marks

How to Get Free Essential Oils Without Starting a Business (It’s EASY!!!)

How to Get Rid of Hiccups with Peppermint Oil

How to Strengthen Brittle Nails with Essential Oils

Back-to-School Germ Relief with Thieves

How to Neutralize Bathroom Odors in a Flash

Disclaimer: I’m sharing my own personal experiences and opinions, and am not claiming that you will have the exact same experience or results that I have. I am also not offering medical advice of any sort. Always consult with your doctor if you have questions or concerns before trying essential oils.

Odorless Diaper Disposal…Does it really exist?! (GIVEAWAY!)

March 26, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 83 Comments

by Alanna Peters

I received a complimentary Whisper Diaper Pail to test. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

When I had my second baby I didn’t even give a thought to dirty diaper disposal. I figured we’d use the diaper pail we used with our first daughter. The problem presented itself when we realized that her diaper pail was still in full use with overnight training pants. (And boy, is it stinky!) We quickly realized we’d need another solution for the little one. We tried a wet bag hung over the door but it wasn’t so hot at hiding odors.

And then we got the Whisper Diaper Pail. Ta-da!!! No more stink.

The Whisper Diaper Pail just launched last November, and is a little different from most other diaper pails out there. Most of them rely on liner bags or air fresheners to cover up the smell. The Whisper pail features ODOGard Spray Technology, which doesn’t mask odors, but actually eliminates them! That’s a pretty steep claim to make, so I had to give it a try for myself.

Here’s what I discovered: it works! The first week we used it we had a LOT of poopy diapers. I did notice just a hint of that sour newborn poo smell, but it wasn’t bad at all, especially compared to the other two diaper solutions we had been using. And the best part? When I went to change out the liner bag I didn’t smell a THING. Crazy! Usually it’s like opening Pandora’s box whenever it’s time to change the diaper pail bag. Since that first week the number of poopy diapers has decreased a bit, and so has that hint of odor. I seriously NEVER smell the diaper pail in the nursery! Pretty awesome.

The Whisper is:

Odor-Free – thanks to the ODOGard spray!

Hands-Free – a foot pedal easily lifts the spring-loaded lid

Worry-Free – the ODOGard spray is safe for people and pets, and the child-proof safety lock keeps the pail secure for those with curious little ones!

There are a few things that I think could be improved on the Whisper Diaper Pail. There is no handle for carrying the pail. I’ve always carried our other pail out to the garage before emptying it so that the stink wouldn’t fill up the house. With the Whisper the stink isn’t much of an issue, but it would still be more convenient to easily be able to move the pail. The way we have our nursery set up, the diaper pail is blocking a cabinet door so I frequently have to pick it up and move it. I’d be very excited to see some kind of carrying handle added to the Whisper! The other thing that I found to be a little awkward with emptying the pail is that there is no handle of any sort on the inner can. It’s pretty difficult to pull it out to take out the full liner bag, especially because it’s quite damp from all the ODOGard spray. It’s just the slightest bit icky to touch that moisture, even though I know it’s just the spray.

The only other issue I have with the pail is totally user error. You are supposed to press the spray button twice – before you open the pail, and again after you close it. (The first spray keeps down any odors contained inside, and the second spray keeps new odors from filling the room.) I find it hard to remember to push the spray button both times, if at all! I’ve actually not had any issues with forgetting though. If I have a very stinky poopy diaper I’m pretty good about remembering to press the spray button. And if I do forget to press it, the odor really hasn’t been an issue at all.

The Whisper pail comes with a child-proof safety lock and a one-year warranty. And, best of all, moms can use standard seven or eight-gallon plastic trash bags inside the diaper pail for easy, “hands-off” diaper disposal. I didn’t have any of these bags on hand but I do have a huge box of 13-gallon bags, so I’ve been using those. They work perfectly! I just tuck any excess bag at the top into the convenient little slots at the top of the inner can. The pail holds quite a few diapers – my baby is still having very frequent diaper changes and we have to empty the pail approximately every 4 days or so.

So while there are a couple things that I think could be improved on the Whisper Diaper Pail, overall I am very impressed. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a diaper pail solution!

Want to try it for yourself? The Whisper Diaper Pail retails for about $79.99, and is currently available on Amazon.com for $64.99. (Why not add it to your Amazon Baby Registry?) Two packs of Whisper® Refill Spray Cans are also available for purchase on Amazon for $14.99. (Each spray can averages about 200 diapers with normal use.)

Want to stay in touch with Whisper?

Find them on Facebook
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Win it! One lucky winner will receive a Whisper Diaper Pail of their own.
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Honest Company Stain Remover Review: An Honest Assessment

March 26, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

Referral links included. All thoughts are my own, as always.

I’ve got a really high quality product to showcase today from The Honest Company (don’t miss all my Honest Company reviews if you want the dish on what to buy and what to avoid!).

This is the Honest Stain Remover. So you use this spray on your stained clothing to help get those messes that you fear detergent alone isn’t going to tackle. To use the product, simply spray the area that needs treating, and let it sit for a minimum of 5 minutes before throwing it in the wash.

The bottle is very large (26 ounces) and very reasonably priced at just $5.95. I have had very good results with the product, though I haven’t yet used it on the stains that scare me the very most. But I’m working my way up to them, as this spray has worked on everything I’ve tried so far!

How to Get the Best Price

Ok, so this product retails for $5.95. It is yet another product that doesn’t really make sense to put in the essentials bundle, since the per item price in the bundle works out to be $7.20. But this is a GREAT choice for the extra 3 items you are allowed to tack on to your bundle, as those 3 items are offered at 25% off. So by making this one of your +3 items, you will get it for $4.46! You can also just order it on its own without signing up for the bundle subscription service and pay $5.95, which is a very reasonable price for such a large product that works so well.

New to The Honest Company? You Need Some Freebies, First!

If you have never purchased from The Honest Company, then let your introduction be with a bunch of free stuff. I’ve got the scoop on how to get lots of free samples from The Honest Company. Start there, for sure!

Bring the Library Home: Bookboard Subscription GIVEWAWAY!!!

March 25, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 7 Comments

I am a member of Bookboard’s Blog Ambassador program. I am compensated, from time to time, with free products and monetary payments. Any views expressed in this post are completely my own.

I’ve been talking about the awesomeness that is Bookboard for a good long while, now. Bookboard is an online digital library subscription service: basically, it puts a library of children’s books at your fingertips, right on your iPad. Bookboard even has its own librarian on staff, always looking out for new titles to add to the collection.

With our Bookboard membership, we have access to new reading material every day, and the more we read, the more great books we unlock. I have personally witnessed how this keeps kids motivated and interested in reading more. They become little book monsters, fed by pages! 🙂

photo credit: demandaj via photopin cc
photo credit: atmtx via photopin cc

And the cost? Well the free trial is, you know, FREE. And then the subscription service costs $4.99/month, which is slightly less than what we typically rack up in late fees every time we visit the local library. If you are more organized than me and tend to get your books back on time, the fee is still well worth it, in my opinion, simply for the variety and ease of use. And if you already have a book monster at home, you don’t have to check out the maximum number of books every time you go to the library, as Bookboard will be a fantastic supplement.

You can read all the details on how to get started with a free trial to Bookboard. But for today, let’s make one of you a winner!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a 1 year subscription to Bookboard! If you love what you see and sign up for a subscription and then win this contest, you will be refunded!

Mandatory entry: sign up for the free trial at Bookboard (remember, they DON’T take your credit card information, so there is NO RISK with the free trial. It is really and truly FREE!). Select and read one book and leave the name of the title in the comments section, along with the email address you used for the free trial. You must have an iPad with iOS5 or higher for Bookboard to work.

The contest will run until 11:59 pm am on April 8th when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please. Stuff Parents Need is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

59 Days Until Hurricane Harbor Opens at Six Flags Over Georgia!

March 24, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

I serve in a compensated role as a Six Flags Supermom. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own, as always.

I spent this past Saturday looking long at hard at the place where Hurricane Harbor is being constructed at Six Flags Over Georgia. I even got to get up close and personal and see how everything was coming along. As of two days ago, it looked like this:

Oh my, they certainly have their work cut out for them! But the crew I met was confident about their progress, even with all the setbacks that the tough winter provided this year (we don’t do snow in the South, y’all!).

Let me show you around a bit!

This is Paradise Island (formerly Skull Island) and it is a place that kids of all ages absolutely love! This interactive water play area serves as the entrance to Hurricane Harbor, and has dozens of slides, water elements, and lots of fun. Last year my kiddos spent the better part of the day in the park right here!

But starting this year, there will be SO MUCH MORE when it comes to water fun at Six Flags Over Georgia.

As you pass Paradise Island, you’ll come to Tradewinds, which will have some fantastic shopping (forgot your swimsuit or your towel? No problem!). You’ll also see Tidal Wave Cafe, which will offer a fun variety of yummy things to eat. After all, you work up an appetite when playing in the water! This area is also going to have a bath house for changing, as well as locker areas if you want to rent one to stow away all the things you don’t want to get wet.

The Six Flags Supermoms were all pretty excited about what we saw next. The centerpiece of the 7 acre Caribbean getaway inside Six Flags has got to be Calypso Bay, the GIGANTIC wave pool. It has 38,000 square feet and will hold 800,000 gallons of water and produce 4 foot waves. It is going to be THE place to have fun in the sun at Six Flags this year. You can find me there on one of their loungers, to be sure!

For all you brave souls out there, this is going to be the ride for you. Tsunami Surge will be a tower of slides up against this hill. It will include a 5 story drop and a moment of zero gravity. Who needs to go to space camp? Just head down Tsunami Surge to experience weightlessness! 🙂

If you head to Six Flags Over Georgia in the next few weeks, be sure to ride on the Sky Buckets, as you’ll get a great birds-eye view of many of the slide pieces for Tsunami Surge, as well as for the Bonzai Pipelines, which is another awesome water slide element you’ll find at Hurricane Harbor. I’m sure glad I’m not in charge of putting those puzzle pieces together!

Hurricane Harbor may look like this today, but it is coming together VERY quickly, and in just 59 days, it will be an incredible tropical oasis right outside of Atlanta, Georgia. And the best part? Hurricane Harbor admission is included with your park ticket price. Are you ready to make some waves???

How to Shop Online for Gently Used Clothing (And Earn Money!)

March 21, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

Referral links included. Read on to find out how you can get your own to share Twice with your friends!

A few months ago, I noticed that my little sister, Laura, was raving about an online clothing store called Twice. It reminded me a bit of ThredUp, in that they both sell gently used clothing items online. Twice is limited to women’s clothing, though, and tends to have a “tighter” selection. By that I mean that they are pretty darn picky about what they will accept. The result is a lot of really nice clothes, so that’s really good for the buyer!

I also appreciate that Twice has a list of the brands they will accept. Plain and simple, if the brand you want to sell isn’t on the list, they won’t accept it, even if it is totally adorable. That might be a little frustrating to the seller, but unlike ThredUp, where you just send in everything you’ve got and hope for the best (and are often SUPER disappointed when 75% of it gets rejected), you at least have a good idea from the start if your clothing has a chance of being accepted.

How to Sell on Twice

If you want to sell clothes on Twice, you ask for them to send you a pre-paid shipping bag. The bag is sized generously, and can probably hold up to 15 items, just depending on their bulk. They provide good guidelines to help you determine if you should send something in or not.

I went through my closets and found three items I never wear and that I was ready to send to the thrift store. Why not send them in to Twice for a little cash, instead? I sent in one item from Banana Republic and two items from LOFT.

It took about 10 days for an offer to come through from them. One item was rejected due to having a small stain on it (I hadn’t noticed it, but I believe them that it was there, as I’m not exactly the world’s most observant person). The other two were accepted. I thought the payout was a little low (I earned $3.00 for both items, and I was offered an additional .75 if I turned the cash into store credit, which I did). For me, though, I ultimately felt at peace with the decision, as I sent in things I would have just donated, anyway. This way I earned a little credit to buy something new (to me).

If you feel like you could get close to what Twice is selling clothing for by selling it on your own, then don’t send it in for them to purchase, as they will likely offer you somewhere between 10-25% of what they plan to sell it for. But if you don’t have the time or the savvy to do that, then send it on in and be done with it!

How to Buy on Twice

Now for the buying part (which is the most fun!). One tip I have for purchasing clothing online is to go with the brands that you know work for you. I was very pleased to see that on Twice you can not only sort by size, but also by brand. I immediately started looking at their listings from Ann Taylor and from LOFT. I know this company well, and I have confidence that their pieces will fit me.

And what do you know? I found a pretty red tank from Ann Taylor on the site for $10.95. Is that more than I would pay at a thrift store? Yes. But I got a retail/online shopping experience while shopping for gently used clothes, as opposed to a thrift store experience, which takes quite a bit of time, and sorting through a lot of duds. I knew when I saw this that it had already been carefully inspected, and so I wouldn’t get it home and discover a stain or a hole (I have done that COUNTLESS times with thrift store purchases). And I didn’t have to leave the house to find it, either! Sometimes it is worth paying a bit more for things to come straight to your door.

How to Get The BEST Prices on Twice: Share!

While my tank was $10.95 plus a few dollars in shipping, I paid way less than that, because I had a $10 credit thanks to signing up through my sister, who was already a member. If you’d like to check out Twice, I have a $10 credit to offer you! They reward their members who spread the word. If you sign up and then make a purchase, you get $10 off your first order, and then they send me a $10 credit. If you want to sell something, you’ll get another $10 credit (and so will I!). And then if you tell your friends about Twice and send them your referral link (every member gets one), then THEY can get $10 for signing up and another $10 for selling enough to earn a $10 or higher offer, and you get rewarded just like they do. My little sister has earned over $100 in credit to the store just by shouting from the rooftops about her love for Twice. And here’s my favorite thing about the credits: they will let them apply to shipping costs! Most places never let referral credits go toward shipping, so kudos to Twice for really looking after their members!

To get your credit, all you have to do is sign up. That’s it!

If you sign up and buy something, PLEASE tell me what you found. I absolutely love shopping with friends and want to hear about your treasure hunt!