Month: August 2015

Got your calendar ready? #Backtoschool with #Planahead

Post author By trendymommies
Post date August 25, 2015
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Yes, I still use a hard copy calendar and yes I still like to write check lists!Â No all calendars are created equal. That is why I love this mom’s planner from Plan Ahead. It is an 18-month calendar and a planner all in one. It lists out the holidays up front (key for planning purposes), has a month glance, weekly calendar, contact section, vacation planning section (my favorite) party planning section, gift record and gift ideas and a separate notebook for contacts that you can pull out and take with you. Plus it’s just the right size and you can put a photo up front!Â What do you use to schedule and map out activities? You can find Plan Ahead at many major retailers like CVS, Target and Amazon.com.

Disclosure: Plan Ahead sent me the calendar to review for back to school. All opinions are my own in this blog post.

Mom's Organizer from #PlanAhead — Mom’s Organizer from #PlanAhead

Uncategorized

@Staples – Good Deal and Tips #backtoschool #sponsored

Post author By trendymommies
Post date August 19, 2015
No Comments on @Staples – Good Deal and Tips #backtoschool #sponsored

Yes, I know summer is not over and we are talking back-to-school deals. We have not started school yet but we know some families that have. Of course my kids love to get their supply lists and head to the store to pick out their items. Our favorite retailer is of course Staples. Just in time for school they have the best selection and great deals. For example:

â€¢ Back to School 110% Lowest Price Guarantee: The Staples Back to School 110% Lowest Price Guarantee gives shoppers the lowest prices on their back-to-school shopping. Staples matches any competitorsâ€™ prices, plus gives customers and additional 10 percent of the difference between the Staples price and the competitor price at time of purchase.

â€¢ Less List: The Staples Less List offers the lowest prices on key back-to-school essential products that are low priced all season long such as: 1-subject notebook (25Â¢), 2-pocket folders (15Â¢), index cards (48Â¢), composition books (50Â¢) and 24-pack Crayola crayons (50Â¢) and more.

â€¢ Extreme Deals: Throughout the season, Staples has Extreme Deals in its weekly circular and online at www.staples.com/weeklyad

â€¢ Exclusive Offer for College Students: For students heading to college, Staples is providing exclusive student savings by offering an additional $50 off any PC, including HPÂ®, with a valid College Student I.D. or verifiable .edu email address for online orders.

Have you done your shopping yet? If not here are some tips I have for shopping with the kids for their school supplies

1.Â If you can, focus on one child at a timeÂ – it can get a bit hairy if you have 3 lists and 3 kids and trying to get it all done at once. Space it out and make a night of back to school shopping with each child individually. (and grab some dinner after for a bit of one on one time)

2.Â Take it one isle at a time – we looked at our list and ran around to all the different isles and it took twice as long. Scope out each isle and look to see what is on your list – saves time!

3.Â You can avoid the crowds if you go early morning or later at night. Also, if you hate back to school shopping for supplies, have your hubby or grandma help the kids. I don’t mind back to school supply shopping but I know some moms find it a chore so ask for help if you need too!Â Kids can also pick a buddy to go with them and that eases the time too!

Disclosure: Staples sent me a gift card to shop for school supplies. All opinions in this blog post are my own.

food Products

Making your way to @BJsWholesale with kids! #backtoschool shopping #Sponsored

Post author By trendymommies
Post date August 17, 2015
No Comments on Making your way to @BJsWholesale with kids! #backtoschool shopping #Sponsored

I have not been to BJ’s wholesale club in a while and I was certainly missing out!Â They have a great optical section, coupon books with extra savings, a few samples of food for the kids to try and of course items in bulk that any family can use for back to school season.Â Just last week I was at BJ’s Wholesale Club to film a segment with @NECN for what products to buy or not to buy this time of year (more to come on that in the next post) and took along my older daughter. She was very happy to shop for back to school snacks but put in so many items in our cart that we went a bit overboard. You have to be strategic about this back to school snack shopping!Â Here are a few tipsÂ if you plan to bring your kids along with you (yes, they can help)

1. It can be very fun to shop here but it can be overwhelming so have a plan on which items you want to buy and stick with it. Because if you don’t one turn down the candy isle and the kids will go crazy. FYI…This is THE place to get your Halloween candy.

2.Â So if your plan is to get some back to school snacks be picky in each category. For example we chose one case of chips, one case of juice boxes, one granola bar box – as tempting as it was for my daughter to choose 7 snack options – you have to set a limit!

3.Â Know what your kids likeÂ – My daughter picked out a new brand of granola bars (and she is very picky) so Â I thought oh great – what if she does not like them, then I have 500 left over!Â It is best to stick with favorites here! Fyi….the bars were Cascadian Farms organic chewy granola bars and I love them!

Disclosure: BJ’s Wholesale sent me a gift card. All opinions in this blog post are my own.

Travel

Tips for a fun day @WaterCountry #Hosted #watercountrynh

Post author By trendymommies
Post date August 12, 2015
No Comments on Tips for a fun day @WaterCountry #Hosted #watercountrynh

Summertime is not over yet!Â If you are looking for a quick day trip and are planning to be in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area check out Water Country! We had a great time and here are trendymommies tips to surviving the day at Water Country!

Plan ahead and make sure you pick a sunny, warm day – We did have a great sunny day but toward the end of the day we were cold!Â I know that sounds funny as it was 72 degrees but many of the slides had umbrellas – for good reason – as if it’s very hot they provide a nice area for shade.Â It’s just we just would not want to be there in the cold!
Buy the locker.Â We wanted to take photos but didn’t want to carry around our phones all day and thankfully they had lockers to store our stuff. It was pricier than I thoughtÂ – $12 – but so worth it.
You can walk with you flip flops and towels – or just store them in your locker but I liked to have my flip flops handy – especially if you had to run to the bathroom.
Enjoy the wave pool – what I like about Water Country is that there are lots of places to lounge if you wanted to watch the kids and the wave pool is the perfect place to do this. Plus you can enjoy an ice cream or treat while lounging!
Lots of place to eat – enjoy the food – You can certainly pack some snacks and water and store them in the locker but they do have a variety of places to eat there so enjoy and don’t worry about packing a lunch if you don’t want to.
As with any travel destinationÂ – early or later is the best time – anytime is fun at Water Country but we did notice at the end of the day the lines were shorter and that is when the girls went up and down multiple times on their favorite slides.

Check them out on the web site here.

Disclosure:Â Water Country sent me 4 passes to enjoy the day. All opinions in this blog post are my own.

Travel

@rjresorts miss you! #travel #travelblogger #hosted

Post author By trendymommies
Post date August 6, 2015
No Comments on @rjresorts miss you! #travel #travelblogger #hosted

Well it has been a few weeks since we visited the Red Jacket in South Yarmouth and I miss it!Â Summer has been so busy but I will never forget our quick adventure to this must see beach resort! As part of the Red Sox Moms the kids and I were invited to stay at this lovely beach resort and we loved it! It is not too late to enjoy a night or more at this fun beach resortÂ so check out the specials they are offering here.

The Red Jacket Beach Resort is on a beautiful beach on Nantucket sound. If you have been to Cape Cod you know there can be a lot of running around and many things toÂ see. What I like about the resort isÂ how quiet it isÂ yet there are so many things to do right on the property. Â They have an indoor pool and an outdoor pool that is very close to the beach. Some of the adventures of staying here include yoga on the beach, aÂ great restaurant right on the property, a complete spa and children’s activities each day!Â Here are some of our photos from the trip. If you want to explore some more around the cape and for more information go to the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce web site. Click here for the site.

Disclosure: I was treated to a two night stay to the property as part of the Red Sox Moms initiative. All opinions in this blog post are my own.