Category Archives: Going Reviews

I See Me! Personalized Children’s Books Review & Giveaway

“What book do you want to read tonight?”, Going Mom and I ask our daughter each night before she goes to sleep plays around singing out loud for 30+ minutes before finally giving in. “Goodnight Little Avery” has been her answer for several weeks now, even for naptime.

I See Me! Personalized Children's Books, reading, kids, gift, gifts

We have many books to choose from, but this one from I See Me! is different from the rest. I See Me! makes personalized children’s books to bring your kid into their very own story of magic, wonder, adventure, and, in our case, sweet dreams.

Goodnight Little Avery is from I See Me!’s Goodnight Little Me Storybook, just one of 100+ personalized books just waiting to star your kid as the main character. We all love reading this book to Avery as every high quality page is filled with beautiful illustrations and words to amaze and delight those curious little eyes.

I See Me! Personalized Children's Books, reading, kids, gift, gifts, custom, customized

We even catch her reading it by herself sometimes. I think her infatuation with the moon is what really draws her into this book as it’s on every page, just like her very own name. I’m sure the fact that the illustrations are created by Mary GrandPré, the illustrator of the Harry Potter series, helps a little too.

I See Me! Personalized Children's Books, reading, kids, gift, gifts, custom, customized

Personalized storybooks created by I See Me! help to encourage your little ones to read as they recognize letters and learn to spell their own names at same time. When children see their own name and picture (if you choose the option) this helps build self-esteem by making them feel special for having a book with them as the main character.

I See Me! Personalized Children's Books, reading, kids, gift, gifts, custom, customized

Want more options than a nighttime book? No problem. I See Me! has books with themes like animals, adventure, ballet, dinosaurs, fairies, farm, garden, love, outer space, pirates, princess, sports and things that go. You’re sure to find several books your kid will absolutely love, and you will too.

These books make the perfect option for gits to celebrate birthdays, going to school, new baby sister/brother, Christmas, or just because they’re books and your kid will be reading. When ordering, you simply fill out info needed for I See Me! to put your child into their very own story like name, date of birth, gender, and you can even leave a dedication. Going Mom and I chose to dedicate it from Mommy and Daddy.

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Pretty cool if you ask me. Just don’t ask me what year our daughter was born, because apparently I don’t know! She was born in 2013, not 2014 like I entered for her book. In the words of Homer Simpson.. Doh!

But no worries, I See Me! has a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and will replace a book at no charge if lost or stolen during shipping, or only charge 50% of original product price plus shipping if you need to change the personalization options. Which, as you can tell, I needed to do, and I See Me! delivered a new book with the right date!

Avery, my wife, and I are extremely impressed with the overall looks and quality of this wonderful book and we want to get more for Avery to read soon. Maybe this time I’ll add the optional photo for Avery to see…um, Avery in her very own adventure book!

I See Me! Personalized Children's Books, reading, kids, gift, gifts, custom, customized

You can even find personalized growth charts, lunch boxes, coloring books (how cool is that?!), stickers, and more on I See Me!’s site. I strongly urge you to check out all they have to offer, and afterward, come back here to enter a giveaway to win a personalized storybook for that precious kid in your life.

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Visit I See Me! on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest news and products. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received the Goodnight Little Me storybook for free in exchange for my honest review. All words are my own and I was not compensated in any other way.

FitVine Wine Sauvignon Blanc Review

I first learned about FitVine Wine from the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast that I subscribe to.  I’m a fan of Ben Greenfield and enjoy the vast topics on fitness and nutrition that he shares, so when he featured FitVine Wine as the wine he endorses, I had to try it for myself. Plus, as the name, it’s made by active and healthy people for active and healthy people who love a good wine.

After reaching out to FitVine about a possible review opportunity, they graciously agreed to send one of each of their wines for me to review. I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get started trying their superior craft wines.

FitVine Wine, healthy drink, alcohol, biohack,

Let me get it out now that I am no wine connoisseur, far from, but just like food, I demand quality from anything I put in my body. Yes, even alcohol. I used to be a beer fan, but now stick to straight spirits or wine. With clear spirits like vodka and red wine being my favorites.

That said, I am a light drinker, and only have a glass or two on the weekends. It doesn’t take much for me to feel the effects of alcohol, but that’s fine with me, I like to enjoy the beverages I have, not pound them down just to get crunk. If you demand quality from your drinks, FitVine has just what you’re looking for.

Their goal was to produce a quality wine with less residual sugar, meaning lower carbohydrates and calories, higher in antioxidants, and less sulfites. With their intricate, multi-step process, they succeeded in creating wines with full flavor that’s higher in beneficial compounds like resveratrol, polyphenols, proanthocyanidins.

Here’s a paragraph from their site that explains their process.

All of our wines go through malolactic, secondary fermentation to lower pH levels to ensure the cleanest, best tasting wine. All our wines are cold stabilized and chilled to drop out impurities prior to filtration. We filter with both diatomaceous earth and micron pads. Our fermentation process is extended to 10-15 days to enhance the antioxidants and optimize the pH levels. With pH levels being at optimum levels, we do not have to add sugars, additives and or unnecessary amounts of sulfites. Many wines have sulfite levels of 50ppm (parts per million), where FitVine Wines are at 35ppm – that’s almost half the sulfites of typical wines! No GMOs here and all of our grapes are pesticide free!

That’s a lot of science! What does it all mean? We spent extra time and effort to create healthier, cleaner wines so you know what you’re putting into your body. This is the way wine is meant to be made, not with all the additives, sugars and impurities that wreck havoc on our bodies. #cleandrinking

They basically follow four ways to make a healthier and tastier wine. Here’s a handy infographic I found from Ben Greenfield’s site.

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So, their wine is much healthier, and leaves no concern about high levels of arsenic. Which is unlike many winemakers that had a class action lawsuit filed for the arsenic levels in their wine. Very concerning, by the way, so make sure you choose your wine wisely.

As I mentioned, I don’t drink often, so I’ll share my thoughts on their Sauvignon Blanc first. This was the one Going Mom and I opened over the weekend to enjoy together.

FitVine Wine, healthy drink, alcohol, biohack,

I can’t wax poetic about how the wine leaves a dry but fruity taste on the palate with the perfect balance of tannins. Did I even use these tasting notes in the right way?

But, both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this white. It was in fact dry, but not overly so. I would compare it to a good brut champagne minus the bubbles. My wife and I both prefer reds, so we were pleasantly surprised to find how much we enjoyed drinking this white.

Since it wasn’t sweet like other white wines, that helped, but it was fit perfectly with the warm Texas weather. The aroma left a fresh hint of citrus and made for an easy drink with a crisp finish. I had more wine than I usually do and never felt ill effects from alcohol. It was hard to keep from drinking more as it truly is an easy-to-drink wine that will sneak up on you. Bring this along on your next picnic or other nice weather outing for a perfect pairing to enjoy with chicken salad or a simple cheese and cracker tray.

I think we’ll try the Cabernet next, and I’ll be sure to share our thoughts soon after. In the meantime, check out FitVine for yourself and be sure to connect with them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

FitVine Wine sent me their wine free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.

Lifetime BPA Free Stainless Steel Castle Plate Review + Giveaway

The type of plate they have plays a role in how well your kid eats. There are many reason for “picky eaters”, and a dull, uninspiring plate is one of them. We tried plain white plastic plates and solid colored plastic sectional plates. Both failed to impress, and made for anything but a cooperative toddler.

plate, stainless steel, bpa free, kids, toddler, review, food

Eating should be seen as an enjoyable experience, and for kids, they need a fun surface to eat their food. Since we prefer to keep the use of plastics to a minimum, I was happy to have the opportunity to review this Lifetime Stainless Steel Sectional Castle Plate sold by Fun.Bags on Amazon.

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Right from the start, you can see even the packaging offers a creative style to get your kids excited about their new plate. The look, make, and quality are all impressive right out of the box.

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The multiple sections are perfect to offer an array of healthy food groups to give your kids a fun way to eat a healthy serving of protein, fats, and carbohydrates.

plate, stainless steel, bpa free, kids, toddler, review, food

A typical dinner for Avery includes eggs and chicken for a protein, avocado for fats, and plenty of veggies with some fruit for wholesome carbs.

plate, stainless steel, bpa free, kids, toddler, review, food

Diced apples in the top left corner, chicken and eggs in the bottom left, avocado with egg yolk in the middle, steamed orange and yellow carrots in the top right, and steamed broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, and purple potatoes in the bottom right. Now that’s good eating!

Here are a few other serving suggestions….

Lifetime Stainless Steel Plate_Food Servings

Whatever you choose, kids are sure to enjoy eating from each section to reveal each shiny section. Make it a game they can “win” by creating a shiny castle.

We’ve been using the same one every day per Avery’s request. Who am I not to agree if she eats so well with the plate? The plates are stackable though, so maybe I should add a few more to our collection so I don’t have to keep rewashing the same one.

Lifetime Stainless Steel Plate_Stackable

She has been eating from her Lifetime Stainless Steel Castle Plate for over 2 weeks straight and just keeps asking for it again and again. She loves eating from it no matter what, but when she “helps” prepare her own healthy meal, you can see the pride on her shining smiley face.

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We have yet to find a bad thing to say about this plate. No plastics, high quality, plenty of sections for diversity of foods, and fun! If you are looking to add a fun plate for your kids to use, choose this one from Lifetime and have fun watching them have fun while hopefully eating better.

Speaking of fun, I have a couple things to offer you. First off, you can order your own plate(s) right here on Amazon and enter discount code ‘plateoff‘ at checkout to save 10% on your purchase.

But one lucky reader will have the chance to win their own plate. All you need to do to enter is follow the instructions below and patiently wait. The giveaway will end next Wednesday, May 18th 2016.

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Good Luck and hope your kids get to eat from this fun plate soon!

Disclaimer: I received the Lifetime Stainless Steel Castle Plate for free in exchange for my honest review. All words are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links where I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase by clicking on them. So, please click and buy! 🙂