Next to the Drumheller Visitor Centre is this dinosaur structure, getting children and adults alike excited to see the museum and the area in general. There is, of course, more to see and do in the area around Drumheller than the museum. I’d love to go to the Badlands and go camping sometime.

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I’ve been wanting a non-backcountry camping outdoor stove for a while now. I think this would be great for BBQs at the park, road-side meals, car-camping and even just for roasting veggies and corn in the backyard. Save having a full-sized BBQ to grill on, the tabletop variety (which is more portable anyway) is next on my list.

Either the Coleman 9949-750 Road Trip Grill LXE which is on for $159, or the Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill on for $59.99 would easily make our ‘Road Trip Essentials’ list.

For car-camping, when you need a spot to put your food down, or when another table surface isn’t available, I would love to have a small folding camping table like the GSI Outdoors Micro Table which seems light and portable. The Ming’s Mark TA-8102 Two Shelf Aluminum Folding Table with a surface to put things on/cook on top of, plus a shelf, would also be really practical.

To go with all of the above, I’d also like some portable chairs—but I’m not sure if I want stools, or the typical clunky camp chairs. I don’t want anything that is too big to store.

I would love to get Greg one of those black and neon yellow Nike+ SportWatch GPS Powered by TomTom. He’s been running a lot lately, so I think the watch would be well-used.

What’s on your late spring wish list?

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What’s that they say about hind-sight? 

Clear goals are great, but what is even better is making plans on ways to reach those goals. Removing yourself from your current situation/whatever it is you need to ponder can often help with deciding which direction to take your life next.

Road trips are great for clearing the cobwebs

That very thing happened when Greg and I left the city with our annual Canadian National Parks Pass in hand and headed to Banff National Park (and city) for a day last week. We’d gotten the gears turning on ideas about what to do next, but it wasn’t until this week (yesterday, actually) that we clearly decided which direction to take out adventure next.

It’s perhaps no coincidence that just a year ago I graduated from university in Vancouver—and prepared myself for the next of life’s adventures—and I am now looking back on the last year wondering what could have gone differently. It’s often the pause in the adventure that makes everything much more clear—whether it be sitting down on a log and catching your breath after a gruelling ascent up a mountain, or a mid-day coffee break—when you give yourself a chance to evaluate what just happened and what you’d like to have happen ahead.

Escaping to the mountains seems to work well for collecting my thoughts and re-examing recent life changes, but now that Greg and I have clearly decided what we’d like to do in our life, we need to also come up with ways that we can achieve those goals.

Can you make a mistake and miss your fate?*

Not one to let a bad decision, no matter how big, change my fate (or goals, if you’d prefer), I’m determined to put things from the past year behind me and look forward.

Clearly, we are looking forward to living on our own again. I don’t mind living in a 500sq. ft place if I can be doing the things I love. I have had to re-evaluate what is most important to me, and more so who is most important to me.

*this is a quote from Carrie Bradshaw from SATC.

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Whoever had bought the car originally had sprung for the limited package—we could see the upgraded speakers all around us, and knew they were fine—but the head unit was low-spec. Having an in-dash 6 CD player seemed kind of cool—until we found out that it wouldn’t play anything burnt at home, or CDs that were the least bit blemished. Worse, it put out a muddy output that made our tunes sound more like my first Fisher Price cassette player than digital audio, and there was no way to plug in an MP3 player (the radio wouldn’t even pick up the FM from our iPod adapter.) It was clear that something had to be done.

Thankfully, after hours of research and advice from car-audio-install friends—we found a unit we thought would work well for us, the Kenwood DDX 319.

At $349 MSRP, often less on sale, it was also the cheapest double DIN deck with support for video (what’s double DIN? Check out ‘size’ in our glossary below). Why video? At first we didn’t know either—and then we fell in love with the way the large-touch screen display facilitated navigating our media on the road—and we were smitten with the idea of adding a back-up camera to help in tight parking situations and to see if the neighbour’s kid left their bike behind our vehicle (like always).

We really like both the aesthetics and the ergonomics of the unit—there are enough physical buttons to be helpful, but not so many you’re left squinting and confused.

Instead, in-depth functions are handled by the touch-screen, which is much much better than trying to control your mp3 player or pick songs off a USB stick from a mess of switches and knobs (basically, you turn on the unit with the buttons, use the knob for volume, and can ignore them the rest of the time). The touch-screen interface isn’t bad either—as far as these things go. Though I read manuals obsessively, Tazim had a go at using it blind, and never needed to refer to it to figure anything out. Of course, figuring out some things—how to change the desktop picture or activate the aux-in—are trickier than others.

We love how well the DDX 319 works with media from USB, it loads albums and track quickly, and parses current ID3 tags with ease—so that things like the band, song title, and album art all show up. Adding media to the USB is as straightforward as drag and drop, but there are a couple of caveats: first, if you organize your music into folders by arts and album, it’s impossible to shuffle between them all, and second, the media shows up in order of the date the songs were copied to your USB drive rather than alphabetically, meaning that you may have to scroll around a little extra when you’re trying to find a particular track. Kenwood does provide windows-only download software that can sort this out, but as Mac users, we haven’t tried it.

Better still is the way the head unit integrates with iDevices, of course, with any iPlayer it gives you access to all of your tunes—in fact, it does this pretty well—but if you have the A/V cable (an optionaly extra) you can also mirror the iDevice screen to the unit’s for many applications. This is really cool because it extends the use of your deck and speakers—for example, if you have Garmin’s Street Pilot On Board app, you can use your iPhone to turn your 319 into an in-dash GPS. Of course—your navigation is only as good as your data plan, so it doesn’t work in all cases.  You can also use Kenwoods App mode to play Netflix videos and other content while you’re parked. And, with an iPhone plugged in, the head-unit piggybacks off your data connection to play from Pandora, which is actually supported from withing the 319′s default interface.

Finally, the other features of the unit work exceptionally well—DVD playback is a no brainer, though of course it only plays video while your vehicle is parked, the tuner is clear and locks on to signals well, and the device is easy to live with. It remembers what you were doing last, and starts there. It doesn’t freak out if something is suddenly unplugged—and inputs and outputs are clearly labelled and perform as expected. The USB port even charges all of USB devices we’ve tried plugging in (with the exception of the iPad). The rear input on the unit, suitable for a back-up camera, uses standard composite inputs and is not proprietary to Kenwood. The 6.1″ screen is clear and bright, with a resolution of WVGA (800*480, more than adequate for its size). And the audio is clear and loud, with a six channel output and an RMS power of 22 watts (more than adequate for most applications, perfect for souping up with an extra amplifier for those looking for big sound). Installation of the 319 is straightforward—but as with all car stereo installations requires a harness to match your specific vehicle, and is best done my someone with experience. The 319 does have support for steering wheel controls, and even features colour adaptive lighting so that you can alter the back light to match your vehicle’s interior.

We’d gladly recommed it to anyone looking for an entry level unit—though those looking for bluetooth connectivity would likely be happiest with its big sister, the DDX 419 ($50 more).

When we went to the store unit to pick one out, our jaws dropped to the floor. There’s so much out there, we were totally overwhelmed.  If you’ve never bought or installed a car stereo, it can all be a little intimidating. Here’s a short primer:

Head Unit:

The head unit is the brains of your stereo, it’s an amplifier and a component all in one—the thing with the radio, and that you stick CD’s into. Often there are other things that plug into it: perhaps a CD changer in the trunk if you’r old-school, or maybe a component input for a backup camera.

Size:

Car stereo head units come in two main sizes, single, or double DIN. DIN (aside from being a general hubbub or a bunch of background noise), is a nonsense acronym from Europe, that just refers to whether the stereo takes up one or two standard sized bays in your vehicles dash (about 7″ by 2″ for a single DIN). It’s almost always cheapest to match the size of what’s in your vehicle. But, for obvious reasons the double-DIN size is preferable for video applications.

Amplifiers:

Most of us are set with the amplifier integrated into the head unit, but it gets a little confusing, because you can choose to add an amplifier on, or will sometimes get a car with more than one amplifier. Why? So that you can deliver neighbour annoying window shaking bass from really big speakers—and also because as music travels from your head unit to your speakers through wires, it can loose some of it’s oomph. Additional amplifiers can scrub any cobwebs out and give the sound a boost. I wanted a billion watt amplifier in my car when I was 16. I don’t anymore.

Speakers:

Head units seldomly come packaged with speakers—and usually there are some in your car. Talk it over with your bank account or your partner before you decide to upgrade speakers, as unless you’re doing the install yourself, costs add up quickly. That said—if your car has the factory low end inside—often the speakers are terrible, and the Achille’s heal of car audio. Refer to a site like crutchfield.com to make sure the speakers you have in mind will fit into your vehicle—sizes vary hugely!

There are roughly four types of speakers out there: two way/dual cone speakers are the most common, they generally have two cones loosely designated as a woofer for bass, and a tweeter for treble, integrated into a single unit; three way speakers add a mid range component to deliver crisper audio across the spectrum; component speakers need an amplifier that supports them, but work like a home theatre set-up, where each speaker is designed for a separate function and place; finally there are sub-woofers which can be added on to any of these three other systems to anchor the bass. If you’re not looking to spend a fortune, our suggestion is to match your original install, or move from two-three way. While adding on a subwoofer is appealing, consider where you’ll put it before you decide to go this route—in fact, those looking for better sound quality would be advised into looking into extra tweeters instead.

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The bracelets above were handmade by Mary in the spring 2012 Pantone colours.

The pastel purple colour Sweet Lilac is so perfect for spring time, don’t you think?

source

For just 229 pounds you can have this Lilac Forest Chair—which would be great on its own as a showpiece of sorts.

Perfect for warmer weather, this pitcher set from CB2, is a great shade of lilac:

This rug is subtly lilac coloured:

What do you think of the Sweet Lilac shade?

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People on a train form an alliance, as if the world that surrounded the parallel rails were hostile and they refugees from it. The dining car, humming and rocking gently in the night, annihilated past and future and made all associations outside of itself seem vaguely unreal. - Alexander Jablokov, Carve the Sky

I’ve spoken before about my love for train travel. Not only do I love travelling on trains in any country, but I also love visiting trains in a museum setting.

I absolutely loved spending some time at the West Coast Railway Heritage Museum in Squamish, B.C. last year around this time:

The heritage park is located in an absolutely beautiful spot—surrounded by trees, and mountains, with the ocean not being too far off.

What makes this destination so great is that it would appeal to a range of tastes/interests. Whether you or your company are history buffs, interested in trains, love nature or enjoy museums/cultural institutions, the West Coast Railway Heritage Park has something to pique your interests.

I’d love to travel on train more in Canada and the USA—I’ve travelled quite a bit throughout Southeast Asia and India. I really like the trip from Vancouver to Seattle, but haven’t taken the train anywhere else in the country.

Have you travelled on Amtrak in the USA? 

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Games, donations, the ability to race and challenge your friends, and share your progress online . . .just some of the great things about Striiv, a smart pedometer that makes it fun and exciting to walk and run.

The Striiv gets to know you over time, and gives you different activities and challenges that work with your level. I like that you can spin to randomize the challenges and that there are 3 levels, too.

I like how well the touch screen works—perfect for using your energy points (earned by walking or running) to buy plants and trees and structures in a game. For those people that like to compete against their friends and family to achieve particular goals, the Striiv works well for that, too.

I really like the quick challenges, and the way it keeps track of the number of steps you’ve taken in a day —comparing that number to the previous days’. Another great and unique thing about Striiv is that you can do a virtual walkathon and sponsors will donate real money to charities. I like to choose to have my donation put toward saving part of a rainforest, which really motivates me to get walking more each day.

This is a great gift idea for active moms, or ones that wish they were more active! The Striiv can be purchased from Amazon.comfor $99 and includes a clip to attach to your belt/pocket as well as a keychain attachment, so that you can always take it with you to record your steps.

Connect with Striiv on twitter and Facebook and check out all the motivated posters who are benefitting from using Striiv daily.

I was sent a Striiv Smart Pedometer for review purposes. I was not compensated in any other way.

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Enter to win below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I’ve always dreamt of having a little pond and a bridge in my backyard, like this one below:

Source: houzz.com via Stacy on Pinterest

photo source

A little backyard oasis, with a spot to sit would be lovely, don’t you think?

Source: Uploaded by user via Madison on Pinterest

 

 

Do you like your outdoor space? What would you change about it?

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I actually wish my mom and Greg’s mom needed more things for their kitchens—it would make it so much easier for gift-giving! At least, I know I can always get Greg something fancy for the kitchen for special occasions.

One of the most used, yet seldom thought of products for gift ideas, is a pressure cooker. The WMF Pressure Cooker we talked about in our Deserted Island series is the one we’d pick:

We love this stainless-steel and induction compatible pressure cooker from WMF. All of the valve-workings are in a removable handle that’s easy to rinse and clean, and the quality is top-notch. If we had room for just one pot in our luggage—it’s the one we’d take—hands down. The fact that it takes so much less energy to cook means that we’d only have to gather half as much wood! (From $150)

Who wouldn’t love a cast iron wok? We use ours just about everyday.

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Every great adventure starts with quality equipment — and my favourite place to go to buy outdoor clothing, footwear, and gear is Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). This retail company is a co-operative where members pay a lifetime membership fee in exchange for being able to purchase products from the store, vote for board members and more. So many of our outdoor adventure gear came from Mountain Equipment Co-op—our current and first tents, our sleeping bags, winter jackets and fleeces, plus all of our camp food related things like our stove and pots. Whenever we decide that we need something for camping or hiking we head to MEC. Most recently, we went to Mountain Equipment Co-op to purchase our Canadian National Parks Pass for a full year of access to Canada’s National Parks. I’m really excited to have that pass, and plan on using it quite a bit this spring/summer/fall!

Above: everything you need to repair and maintain your equipment. 

They have all of the best brands and prices at MEC, because it is a not-for-profit company. We forgot to pick up some more camp fuel the last time we were there for the park pass, so I guess we’ll have to go back there again, soon.

They offer equipment for a full range of outdoor adventures—including rock climbing (notice the cool rock wall within the store, which can be used to test out gear before buying it)

The thing I love about Mountain Equipment Co-op (which has stores across Canada) is that I always feel more inspired to go outdoor adventuring, be more active and try something new. Their snack and kitchen section is perfect for stocking up on road-trip essentials, even if you went in the store just to browse and the new things available each season. I have my eyes on a new backpack for backcountry camping. What about you? Do you look forward to spring/summer to check out the new camping and adventure gear?

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Far from ordinary, the Jolica Earrings I received to review are made of silver, are elegant and fun at the same time. While many mothers may have a fair sized collection of jewelry already, the pieces from Jolica are much more unique than the average jewelry items you find in department stores.

I received the JE892 earrings, made in Peru. These earrings are simply styled, yet really beautiful. I’m really impressed with the weight of these—I like to know I’m wearing my earrings or else I keep checking to see if they’ve fallen off. These earrings don’t fail on that front.

What makes Jolica products stand out from the crowd? Everything available from Jolica is Fair Trade certified. What does that mean? Fair Trade is when the artisans who create products (like jewelry, coffee, tea, chocolate, furniture. . .) are paid fairly for their work. World Fair Trade Day is MAy 12th, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. Want to learn more? Check out the F.A.Q. on Fair Trade.

Jolica wants to honour you or your mother this Mother’s Day by having a giveaway for a $75 gift card! This giveaway is open to US and Canada and ends May 21st.

There are so many choices available on the Jolica site for online purchases. Jolica not only sells Fair Trade jewelry, they also sell scarves, purses, etc. Here are a few of the things from their catalogue I like:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The ceiling fan below, a Casablanca C9K66M Reverie Fan from Del Mar Fans, has a light kit attached so you can shed some light in a dark room and also cool the space. If you live in one of the contiguous 48 states in the USA, you have an opportunity to win this Casablanca fan (valued at over $300)! 

About the fan:

The Casablanca C9K66M Reverie Fan is a 3-Speed ceiling fan with Forward/Reverse & Light Dimming with Memory. It comes in Brushed Walnut with an Antique Gold motor finish. With its classical ornamentation, elaborate decorative elements, and timeless quality, the Reverie ceiling fan is a stunning example of this grand style. This fan includes a 12” downrod that is decorated with a scroll and palm leaf motif and a 3” standard downrod. This fan is approved for Indoor Locations.

-          56” Blade Span

-          ETL Approved for Indoor Locations

-          Remote Control Included

-          26” Height, Top to Bottom

-          Standard Mount

-          Uplight & Downlight Included

Enter to win the ceiling fan below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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photo source

It’s starting to get nicer out so we naturally can’t wait to take a few road trips. One of the reasons we moved to Calgary was to be close to the Rocky Mountains. With Greg leaving for Seattle for a writing workshop in June, we need to get in as many day trips as we can — to the places in Alberta that we’ve been missing for so long.

Although it’s a bit early for it—I’m anxious to get out and do a bit of camping. We’ll be sharing some information on emergency car essentials — necessary for a short or long road trip.

Do you enjoy camping or road-trips? 

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• Mountain Equipment Co-op — Canada’s Best Outdoor Adventure Store
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ABOUT THE LOVE OF READING PROGRAM

We passionately believe that when a child has a book put in their hands it changes their life forever.  With the support of Indigo customers and employees the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation puts books into the hands of Canadian children. To do date Love of Reading has committed over $12 million to more than 650 high-needs elementary schools across the country so children can develop a love of reading, unleash their dreams and fulfil their potential.  For more information about the Foundation visit, loveofreading.org

I can testify that the range of Star Wars books put out by DK Canada are spectacular! Whether you’re a fan of the original Star Wars movies or the latest one (or all of them), or if you like Star Wars characters dressed up as Legos, there is a book by DK Canada out there.  As always, the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia is full of vividly coloured pictures, great text and a hard cover. 

Each character in the book has some basic information in a little box (see above), along with a full-colour photo and some other information.

Want to talk to someone about the movies but they’re clueless about certain characters? Whip out this book and show them who you’re talking about. This book is regularly priced at $18.99 but is on sale for only $13.99 since DK Canada has the Star Wars books on sale for 30% off for a limited time only.

There are a few promotions going on to get you even more excited about Star Wars this month. Today (May 4th) several Chapters stores in Canada will be having a party and there will be people dressed up in Star Wars costumes. Here in Calgary, the Chapters Shawnessy will be celebrating.

If you’re in to dressing up at Princess Leia or any other character, or don’t feel like dressing up at all—take a picture of yourself or a loved one reading a Star Wars book for a chance to win a $200 prize package of books from DK Canada. If you post your pics on the DK Canada Facebook page or tweet them out using hashtag #DKmay4th, a donation will be made to the Love of Reading Foundation. Details and entry form can be found on the DK Canada Star Wars page.

I received a copy of the above mentioned Star Wars book. I was not compensated in any other way.

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Source: elfenpulver.blogspot.com via Rae on Pinterest

source

The intricate beadwork on the above dress is gorgeous . . . modern and elegant at the same time.

Source: img1.etsystatic.com via Rae on Pinterest

 

The above is much more my style, though. I like the mint underneath the cream lace.

source

The bit of lace on this dress is understated and lovely:

source

above photos from this wedding blog.

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My mom has amassed a huge collection of jewelry, doesn’t want new clothing, and doesn’t need anything for the kitchen—but, luckily for me, she does want to upgrade her tech collection. For her birthday, in January, she asked for an MP3 player. My brother and I bought her one, and upgraded the earbuds to more comfortable ones with better sound. She recently mentioned that she wants some new wireless headphones that are rechargeable for Mother’s Day. This helps me out a lot—and works out well for me, since I work at an electronic store!

Here are a few suggestions for things that my mom (and maybe yours, too) would like for Mother’s Day:

How restful can a mother’s sleep be? I am not a mom, but I can only imagine the amount of times one might get up at night, when there is a child to take care of. I recommend the LARK Sleep Monitor & Un-alarm clock ($99) for the mom in your life, or yourself. Read my review for information on this product.

E-Book readers were really huge this past Christmas, and I think they continue to be popular gifts for both heavy and casual readers. If your mom already has an e-book reader, consider getting her a nice carrying case, like the ones from Waterfield Designs:

I have several cases from Waterfield Designs and absolutely love the quality, plus they’re made in San Francisco!

Having a connected home, including the ability for people to do more than watch cable TV on their television sets, has been really big this year. The Apple TV MD199LL/A [NEWEST VERSION] has been flying off shelves. At $99, the Apple TV has AirPlay, so you can watch movies from your iPod, iPhone or iPad, lets you watch Netflix, and TV shows and movies from the iTunes store.

For the mom who is looking to upgrade her standard point and shoot camera, or wants to have something other than her smartphone —as fun as Instagram is —DSLRs have really come down in price recently. Maybe you and a few of your siblings can get together and pool some money for a Canon or Nikon DSLR. There are so many different ones on the market, depending on what your mom needs/wants.

What tech gifts/electronics would your mom like for Mother’s Day?

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Welcome to May Buffet coordinated by ShePromotes!

This event will take place from May 1st at 12:01am EST through May 15th at 11:59pm EST.

It’s May! And for many of us that means the start of grilling and cookout season. Good food is great all year round, but there is just something about the warm weather that says bring on the steaks! I am sure you like to check out recipes shared by your favorite bloggers, so we thought we’d share some yummy prizes with you! Each blog listed below on the linky has a prize valued at $25+ for each winner – ALL FOOD RELATED! This means goodies to eat and items to help you fix, mix, cook, and serve delicious dishes. So let the May Buffet begin!

The giveaway on this blog is open to Canada only and is for a $35 prize package from Rubbermaid’s new Rubbermaid Glass line.

Check out my review of Rubbermaid Glass here.

Enter to win below, then hop on to the next blog to enter another giveaway!

There is no mandatory entry – do one of the entries and all others are extras!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Related Posts:

• Rubbermaid Glass Containers Review

*The prizes on this blog are for 2 winners. There is one prize open to Canada only and the other open to USA only. Please fill out the mandatory entry on Rafflecopter asking which country you live in before other entries count. When you’ve entered on this blog, hop to the next one on the linky below the entry form!

Prize #1 The LARK Sleep Sensor and Un-Alarm Clock (works with iPod Touch and iPhone) $99 Value

*Open to Canada Only! *

Prize #2 Gardening Package from CVS/Pharmacy  $30 Value

Includes:

• Gardening Gloves
• LED Lantern and Landscape Lighting
• Decorative Planters

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Makobi Scribe Reviews, LLC or the Mother’s Day Gift Event Bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.

Related Posts:

• Quick Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for the Mom who Likes to Cook
• Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for Tech-Lovers

But, many of them leak. Or, have lids that are prone to breakage—which is why we were excited to see this new line of containers from Rubbermaid, Rubbermaid Glass. They nest inside one another so that they’re easy to stack, have glass bottoms and BPA free lids—but most impressively, have a neat, dishwasher safe gasket system that really works.

We’ve been testing a set for a little over a month—first tentatively, with water and things that don’t stain. Then we went out on a limb, and tossed runny curries and rich Indian pickles in our lunch bags. Things that are delicious, but mucho high risk—one little leak, and your purse or backpack smells like curry for eternity.

These containers passed our most rigorous testing easily. Made in the USA, minimally packaged and not too dearly priced, they now have pride of place in our container cupboard. The only negative we’ve found is that the gasket absolutely has to be in place in order to prevent the contents from leaking out, and it takes a time or two to get used to installing it. Rubbermaid Glass products can be purchased on Amazon.com.

More about Rubbermaid Glass:

• Oven-safe up to 425 degrees
• Flex & Seal™ leak-proof lids won’t tear or break
• Square-shaped to maximize space
• Superior stain and odour resistance

Rubbermaid Glass with Easy Find Lids containers come in seven different sizes ranging from one cup (236 mL) to 11.5 cups (2.7 L). Retail prices range from $5.69 to $15.99 for individual containers, and $29.99 for an eight-piece set. The new line can be found at Walmart, Loblaws, Real Canadian Super Store and London Drugs.

Want your own set? Enter the giveaway on May 1st, during the May Buffet giveaway.

We received a set of Rubbermaid Glass in order to conduct our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.

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• LARK Sleep Sensor & Silent Alarm Clock Review

For those that get up at a different time than their partner or want to get up after a certain number of hours, the Lark Silent Un-Alarm Clock and Sleep Sensor is an interesting idea. Want to know how many times you’ve gotten up in the middle of the night? LARK can tell you that.

How does LARK work?

You need to have an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad in order to sync the LARK with the (free) app and track your sleep information. There is a wrist band that you put on at night with the LARK device attached (it feels like a large watch on your wrist), which slightly vibrates in order to wake you up when you set the alarm to go off. There is a dock which you can use to keep your iPhone or iPod Touch in place

The LARK costs $99 and is available from the Apple shop, from LARK directly and from Amazon.com.

My Thoughts: 

I don’t have an iPhone, and Greg uses the iPod Touch, so I thought I’d use my iPad2 with it. I didn’t have a problem the first night and liked the LARK because I woke up with it and liked how it tracked my sleep pattern etc. but the second night, I had difficulty getting my iPad to work with the blu-tooth connection. I ended up just giving up on it. If you decide to purchase this, I suggest you only do so if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch. The blu-tooth capabilities on the iPad are inadequate for proper use of this product.

I was sent a LARK in order to conduct my review. All opinions are 100% my own.

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The above Totoro is from this Tumblr blog.

If you haven’t yet seen the Studio Ghibli movie My Neighbour Totoro, I fear that you’re missing out. This adorable animated Japanese film stars 2 little girls who move to a new house with their dad and happen upon a giant creature and his little furry friends.

Are you already seeing May flowers?

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Welcome to Blogmania! This giveaway event brings together some amazing blogs with great prizes or packages to enter to win. This giveaway ends on April 30th.

There are 2 giveaways on this blog—one is for a HomeRight Heat Pro Deluxe II Heat Gun Set (ARV $50) and is open to US/Canada and the second prize is a $50 prize package from Shur-Line, and is open to Canada only.

Enter Below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer:

Please note that Tazim, or Being Tazim is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. We have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner we will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. We will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.

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I’m the type of person who loves dreaming about my ideal home, searching and browsing online for ideas and inspiration, and even drawing out some of my dream-home-plans. I remember a solo airplane trip when I was in my teens, where I spent most of the flight with my little ruler and grid paper, drawing out elaborate houses, complete with indoor pools, lots of bedrooms and a huge kitchen. While my ideas surrounding what I consider to by my dream home have changed since then, I do still have a picture in my mind of where and how everything is laid out.

A large, welcoming entrance or a smaller, more intimate one?

That is just one area of the house that you can customize. For me, the most important areas of the home would be the kitchen (as it would be for many people), the entertainment room/great room, and the office/studio. I’d want to have room to spread out and work on a variety of creative projects in my office/studio, and I’d want it to be on the main floor with lots of windows and a view—maybe one of the backyard. I’m not as concerned with the size of the master bedroom or other bedrooms—but for resale value I would be sure to make them a decent size, still.

The scrapbook, virtual tours and videos on the SchumacherHomes.com site make it fun to daydream and plan all the features that could go in to your dream home. I like that they have real houses that you can tour to get an idea about scale and how the rooms flow from one to the other. House plans on paper are great, and fun to look at, but seeing how the house has materialized from the drawing is magical.

What areas of the home are most important to you? What do you like about your current home that you’d want to emulate in your dream home?

I wrote this article on custom homes for SchumacherHomes.com. I only write about what I believe in and all opinions are 100% my own. All photos are from the SchumacherHomes.com site.

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Margarita by Pantone is a pale, muted green that reminds me of Easter, 80s pant-suits and ribbons in little girls’ hair.

Unlike many other colours, like Cabaret and Solar Power from Pantone’s list of spring colour trends, Margarita is a colour I would absolutely recommend that people add to the wall in just about any room.

Here is a kitchen done up in one of my favourite, fresh spring shades:

Source: bhg.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

 

This fireplace looks great against a Margarita backdrop:

source: Country Living

Do you also love this shade of green and can you see yourself using it on a large surface in your home?

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Earlier today, one of my co-workers asked me for some advice on what she could do to make her rental place seem a bit nicer, so here are my top tips for sprucing up your rental place. A home is much more than the walls that surround you. I’ve always been house-proud, needing to ‘put my own stamp’ on a place that I live in, even for a while. With a few additions, it’s easy to make even a rental place feel like your own.

1) Ask if you can paint your rental place

I’ve always rented apartments or live/work studios and yet have been able to paint my suites on more than one occasion. Once, I was consulted about the exterior colour selection, and other times I was told it was okay to paint the interior whatever colour  I wanted—as they’d be painting it white after we moved anyway. Painting your rental suite often costs money out of your pocket, but if you plan on living there for a while, it may be worth it. You could try asking your landlord if they’d be interested in having you paint (at their expense) if you’ve been there for a while.

2) Put up some framed pictures or artwork

Those taped-up posters don’t do much for classing up a place, so wait for a good sale at a framing shop or a place like Michael’s and decorate your walls! We were afraid to put anything up in our first place, even though we’d been there for 2 years. I hadn’t yet found out the beauty of Command Brand strips—which work well to hang a variety of things without damaging walls.

3) Add a rug

The best thing we did when we were re-decorating our co-op apartment in Vancouver was put down a rug. The floors (throughout) were blue and white checkered linoleum and there was a big black stain across most of the living room. Adding a rug in the living room instantly warmed up the place (physically and otherwise) and made it feel less cheap and temporary.

4) Hang some curtains

It’s fairly easy and inexpensive to put up some curtains or blinds in place of the cheap rental-quality ones that came with the place. We have bought a few different ones over the years and keep putting them up (or sewing new ones) in each place. They let us show a bit of our personality in our place.

What other ideas do you have for sprucing up a rental place?

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For those who aren’t afraid to use a bit of paint to change the look of a room dramatically:

source

I like the idea of a bright coloured bathroom—though be careful with the colour you choose. We painted our bathroom green once and we ended up looking really strangely coloured when we looked in the mirror before leaving.

For less Cabaret (hot pink), try a few bright picture frames:

From Etsy seller Retro Pops

This accent throw on the edge of the bed is a fun way to temporarily add a bit of pink to your décor:

Against a white backdrop, this hot pink ottoman really stands out.

Do you like hot pink (Cabaret)? Could you see yourself adding it to your décor?

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This giveaway is open to Canada only—it is valued at $50 and is an enormous prize pack of the brand new product—Stained by Sharpie. These brush tip fabric markers are perfect for adding some colour and fun to your shoes, t-shirts, hats etc. I had a chance to review these fabulous fabric markers. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks to Walgreens for underwriting this post. I was paid as a member of the Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all mine. Visit http://www.discoverbeautywithin.com/.

As with fashion and décor for spring—think light pastels, bold colours and floral shades—makeup for spring is also all about freshness.

The Hunger Games’ influence spreads to fashion and beauty, along with more typical venues—like other books, and movies. Because fashion and beauty trends tend to be somewhat fleeting—especially when you choose to add really bold colours or looks—I would recommend not spending your entire spring budget on lip colour or eyeshadow alone. There are inexpensive brands to choose from so that you can pick up a few new products in the latest spring colours. The number one trend I’ve seen when it comes to lip colour is influenced by The Hunger Games. A nude lip colour, as seen on Katniss Everdeen is always in fashion, but the bold colours seen on Capitol residents are much more trendy this spring.

There are nail polishes and lip colours named after the characters, and the looks of the characters are emulated in advertising. Definitely one of the most ‘out-there’ characters in terms of makeup and hair would be Effie Trinket from the Capitol. If you’re interested in adding a bit of her flair to your spring event look, I would suggest keeping it simple with a coloured eyeshadow or bright lipstick—but not both.

Photo from US Weekly

Bright lipstick inspiration for your spring events:

source

Lea Michele at the People’s Choice Awards -

notice her neutral-colored clothing, which makes her lipstick stand out even more.

The bright lipstick is slightly toned-down in this beautiful wedding look:

Here is just one colour from the many brands that offer inexpensive lipstick in this bright colour:

For spring, I like to wear more colourful clothing, so Katniss’ nude lips and natural look to her overall makeup (other than when she is dressed up by Cinna in a very ‘fiery’ look) works well with bold and pastel clothing.

I have always liked gold for eyeshadow/liner, so I was happy to see it shown on the character Cinna (as played by Lenny Kravitz) in the move The Hunger Games. This look would be great for an spring evening wedding or formal occasion.

I would suggest you pick up a few inexpensive, fun, colours of eyeshadow and lipstick—maybe bolder than you would normally wear—and try them out prior to the day of a big spring event. I know many people pick out their event outfits well-ahead of time, so why not try out your makeup look with your outfit?

What events do you have coming up this spring season?

Do you like to change up your makeup look to include new trends?

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A large part of me definitely loves the old, dusty books, vintage photos, wallpaper and ‘cozy’ feel of this look.

I like the punch of bright yellow from the bowl on this shelf!

All of those great postcards and nic-nacks I’ve collected would have a happy home on a mantel like the one above.

Yes, I’ll take the cute dog, too! Absolutely love the wood/glass cabinet in the back! It reminds me of an old museum or maybe Indiana Jones’ office!

This is definitely me! I have an easel that I would love to have set up permanently so that when the inspiration struck, I could start on a new painting. I don’t have a spot to set up my easel and painting supplies now, and I really miss being creative in that way.

All photos from Schuyler Samperton’s site. 

What do you think of this look? Is this one of your favourite types of interiors?

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