Disney World

Who Doesn’t Love to Go To Disney World?

Just about one year ago today I was posting about Disney World on a trip with Murphy USA and Collective Bias.  This post was originally posted on my Chat with Sandy blog on 1/30/11. Enjoy the sites of Disney again.

I was asked to attend the Murphy USA National Manager Meeting in Orlando FL (Disney world Coronado Springs resort to be exact) this last week, you might have seen my last post.

They asked six blogger to go to their meeting so we could help educate and sign up their mangers with whrrl and discuss how social media could benefit their business.

We were all paired up with a manager from Murphy USA that we would be traveling with. We were asked to be sure to take lots of pictures and whrrl them along the way. I was paired up with a manager from my area and met her at the airport. Jennifer Davis was my manager.

I had no idea there were 40 Murphy USA gas stations in Ohio. I only know of 2, one in Newark in front of the Walmart and one in Whitehall.  (I’ve not been to that one)

We arrived in Orlando and were all staying at the Coronado Springs Resort. There is a convention center attached to it, so it was perfect. It was so beautiful.

We had a meet and greet with some of the managers before dinner the first night. I am not sure if it was the regional managers, but it wasn’t a huge group (and there were over 1000 managers there). I know the president Hank Heithaus was there and the new president Tom (from Scotland) was there. Hank is retiring and just announced it. This picture was at one of the general sessions where Hank (left) is basically saying goodbye and introducing Tom on the right.

Their theme was “We The People” because they were making sure their managers knew that it was all of them that made Murphy USA successful.

Jay Staggs who I had a picture of in my last post, was in charge of running the show.  They had a good time with it, bringing in Tammy and Tommy through out the conference along with “their parents” for comic relief.

They had a speaker Peter Wahl do a speech/painting… lol  He is a motivational speaker and he painted these 3 paintings during his talk. He would have a music video on the screen while he was painting (in like 2 min) these paintings. He used his fingers (Bruce Springsteen’s hair) and spattered paint… really incredible to watch.

Each of us bloggers had to work a 2 hour shift in the Murphy Whrrl booth in the expo hall on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun. Teaching the mangers how to sign up for Whrrl and helping to try to get them to understand how it could help their business. This was my manger Jennifer on the left.  She had been signed up for FB already and I think even signed up for whrrl.. or did it at the airport. But she was all for it and was great to travel down with. We ended up not getting to really see each other much once we were there. It was crazy for both of us.

We had managers signing up via their smart phones, via text on their phones, or by computer. They could also sign up for a Facebook or Twitter account.

Melissa Garcia from the Consumer Queen had several managers recognize her from her picture being on the pumps or her fun Murphy videos.  Ok.. Melissa on the left.  The Red Strike girl on the right.

John Kim from Whrrl was there to help the managers and he also helped me… as usual with my problematic phone.

The managers could win a $50 gas cards and chances to win this autographed  Slash guitar worth over $900 just for signing up and checking into Whrrl.

I took this picture of Casey from Murphy USA with the Slash guitar and then posted it to Whrrl.  The screen it came up on was just outside the booth in the expo hall.

We had time to go and check out the rest of the expo hall. It was really huge and there were a lot of fun things to do. Wii games were set up, prizes to win… hippies to see

Mars candy and Wrigley’s were there in a both together. Neither of them knew much at all about social media or how it could help their business.  Melissa and I talked to them about it and told them bloggers would love to work with them!

I mean.. really? Who doesn’t love M&M’s?  They had a new candy bar for us to try, actually 2.  There was the new 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp and the Peanut Butter Snickers.

Here is my verdict.  Loved the 3 Musketeers.  I was actually surprised. Well… I mean I love # Musketeers anyway, but when I first broke it in half. It didn’t seem gooey and it almost seemed… well…boring inside. But… I took a bite and it was so light and it was like the chocolate was so creamy and just filled the whole taste. I loved it!  It gave you the feeling of Dove chocolate (not sure if I should say that or not… but that chocolate is about my favorite.. so it is a big compliment) creamy and light… oh… I WILL be buying more of these. Just not in high numbers since I have really been trying to not eat as many sweets.

I tried 1/2 of the Snickers bar. It was actually in 2 square pieces, so unlike a normal Snickers. I ate half on the plane on the way home and was saving the other half to take a picture of when we got home. But …. my dog found it first in my purse. Oh yeah.. nice.  It was good… the peanut butter wasn’t over powering. But do I think I would pick it over a traditional Snickers… no, probably not. I love the regular Snickers too much.

Here are the 2 reps that were in the booth. Nice guys, but they need to realize how social media can  help them!

Wrigley was giving out packs of their new gum – Prism.

There are 15 pieces of sugarless gum in the pack. This was electric watermelon. I will tell you what. The smell of watermelon is strong, you can smell it as soon as you take the wrapper off the box.  The green foil that wraps the piece of gum looked kind of cool too. Different you know? My mouth was watering before I put the piece of gum in. I thought it was really going to be a gum for kids…. sour and all. But it wasn’t. As strong as the smell was, the taste was nice. I mean it was totally watermelon, but not a sour one. It is good… and with just a hint of that gum mint to it after you chew it for a little bit. (does that make sense).  I know the kids will love it, but it is a refreshing favor for adults.

There were ICEE’s there. I love Icee’s! I have always liked the Coke best. They are coming out with Root Beer float and a blueberry one (oops forget the name of it). I tried the root beer. It is awesome! It really tastes like a float. The foaminess of the Icee is just the right consistency.  I do have a new favorite favor.  You will have to watch for them to be released. (Try the root beer!!)

Dr. Pepper was there… giving away guitars and pictures with a couple cute girls.  What did I like? They had diet Dr. Pepper. It is one of my favorites. Really nice people too… also learning about social media and how it could benefit them. (Yes…. I had 2 diet Dr. Peppers that afternoon.. although there were other drinks I could have picked from.)

Are you used to seeing gas pump handles?  I wasn’t.. I thought they were cool.

What about a full size gas semi?  I wanted to get in and see the cab… but I didn’t.

John Andrews from Collective Bias was there. This is who these people need to talk to about social Media.. he knows first hand how the power of bloggers and social media can benefit the Brands. (That is what Collective Bias is all about)

The announced to the whole group of managers that they were taking us all to Disney World on Monday evening. That was about 3:30 and we had about 45 minutes to get ready to be on the buses.

I got to have dinner with the Collective Bias team that was there, Jerra and John and also with Casey from Murphy USA and John Kim from Whrrl. Also Kerry and Kristine from Nomadic were there.

Us bloggers ran around together at Disney. Mel Lockcuff from MamaBuzz and Leigh Caldwell from Theme Park Mom

Along with Courtney Solstad from My DFW Mommy and Melissa Garcia from Consumer Queen Jerri Ann from Mom~e~Centric was on the trip but didn’t come to Disney.

Mel introduced us to Dole Whip.. it was good.

I also got a picture with Eeyore. what fun!  I don’t know… I guess there is still kid in all of us!

Jerra from Collective Bias looked so cute with Piglet.

We had a full day on Tuesday and they announced all the Murphy USA Circle of Winners. After that they again surprised everyone with a trip to Sea World. I felt terrible because it was pouring rain, and storming.  But they had rented out half of Sea World and 2 roller coaster (announcing there were 2 coaster got a bigger whoop out of everyone than telling them they were going to Sea World).
I didn’t go. Even if it was beautiful outside, my feet hurt so bad (I’m such a wimp) and I hadn’t had a chance to get work done that I need to get done on my computer. So I took the evening off and had a wonderful dinner with Mel and Leigh..and then went back to my room and relaxed.

Thanks so much Murphy USA, Collective Bias and Whrrl.. it was great fun!

Disclosure: My trip was sponsored by Murphy USA and Collective Bias.

Roar and Explore

Looking for a mini vacation in Ohio?

We were asked to check out the Roar and Explore package that you can get through Experience Columbus.

What a good deal.  Staying in a hotel when you aren’t far from home can really make you feel like you are on a vacation in another state.  The kids love it and it is nice to not have to worry about laundry and cleaning the house and making dinner for two nights!

Columbus Zoo

Our adventure started at the Columbus Zoo. The day was perfect (in the 70′s) and the animals were out. There was a good crowd, but not too crazy. The kids had a blast. We were there almost all day. We went to an animal show, saw the gorillas (their fav), elephants, the aquarium, rode a train and much much more.

We checked into the Drury Inn and Suites in Grove City. The hotel was very nice! The kids kept saying it was the nicest hotel they had ever stayed in. (I heard that phrase for the hotel and also the Lincoln MKT car we got to drive.. this is the nicest car we have ever been in. lol)

Drury Inn & Suites

Over the course of two days they were in and out of the indoor/outdoor pool SO many times. They loved it.

Zoombezi Bay Water-Park

The weather was great for the zoo and COSI, but not so great for Zoombezi Bay.  We ended up not being able to go on the 3rd day because of storms.  But the tickets are still good until September, so we will be able to go back and use them.  This isn’t my picture, but I was given this picture to use so you all could see what an awesome water-park this is.

COSI – Center of Science and Industry

We went to COSI on the 2nd day and saw some of what there was to offer. I don’t know if you could get through all of COSI in one day or not.

There was an awesome dinosaur exhibit.  Our tickets included this, but normally you have to pay extra to go into the exhibit. The kids enjoyed it.

We also got to watch one of the 3D movies (which is also normally extra, but is included)

My favorite part of COSI was the big machine display they had.  The kids got to actually work some of them and climb in them. It was great.

This package starts at just $375 plus tax for a family of four. (That is saving $84).

Here is what you get with the Roar and Explore Package:

1) Four tickets to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
2) Four tickets to Zoombezi Bay
3) Four tickets to COSI
4) Two nights stay at a hotel. (Columbus area Drury Inn & Suites is the preferred hotel – prices may vary at other hotels)

The package is designed for a family of four, but you may add extra family members.  You can make reservations by going to the Columbus Vacation Package on Experience Columbus.

I can highly recommend this for you and your family. We had a blast!

 

Canopy Tours

Hocking Hills Canopy Tours

Last week the triplets and my husband and I went on a vacation. We did wander out of Ohio for just a couple days, but our main activities were in Ohio.

The hands down winner was going on the canopy tours or zip line tours as others (including myself) call them.

We first suited up when we got there. Of course they help you with everything.

We had a lesson on what to do and then we did it on a practice line.

The triplets are ten now, so they were old enough this year.  I had gone on a small one while I was in UT last year, but had never done a canopy tour course as I would call this.

It was 3,300 feet, ten zips and five bridges long…

We all had a blast!!  lol…. Alex had fun, he just was nervous doing this maneuver they showed us. The tethers were holding you from falling off the edge of the tree stand. You can’t tell in this picture, but we were up at least 50 ft.

You can see our video of our zip lining on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog.

 

 

Organizing Mission Monday Link Party – Week 26

Vacation!

Don’t you love them?  Don’t we need them?  I’m actually on one right now! I’ve gotten some awesome opportunities for our family to review some areas around Ohio.

Ford Media Fleet is providing us with some wheels!!   We have a  Lincoln MKT to drive for the week.  Swaeeeett!

Our first stop was the Hocking Hills area in Southern Ohio.  We went to the Hocking Hills Canopy Tours! I love ziplines!  It was SO fun!!  We all loved it! I’ll have a post on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog within a week or two on all these adventures.

We went to  Mammoth Cave in KY today and then got to stop and visit my son in Lexington, KY.  That was a very short visit to see him at his new job as a buyer at the new CarMax they just built there.  The caves are not part of my review, but we wanted to take the kids there to see them.

We stopped by home and will be heading for a day at our farm.  We are going to be doing some fishing!

Then we are off to a three day fun package called Roar and Explore Adventure Getaway.  It includes a day at the Columbus zoo, a day at Zoombezi Bay and COSI.

This will be an awesome vacation.  I’ll be sharing videos and pictures later on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog.

Check out my Featured Bloggers For This week!

Susan from Homeroad refinished this Ikea cart

Look at what she did to this cart!  Just refinishing my table and painting my Ikea table were big deals to me. This is what her Ikea cart that she has had several years looked like.
Then she did all kinds of things to it.  Not just sanding…. but she got to take out some aggression and pound it with a hammer to distress it (that would for sure distress me! lol). She also put some black tacks in it, nails in it, put on some hooks and handles…

Made a cool stencil for the top and it turned out like this!!  Isn’t this awesome!!

You can see all her tricks and techniques on how to get this Ikea cart looking so fab on her post called Ikea Cart Re-Make.

 

Anna from Ask Anna- Cleaning your Blow Dryer

has some great techniques and ideas on cleaning some of those things you just don’t think about cleaning, or you aren’t sure about how to clean.

She took her little old hair dryer that looks so nice and clean

Until you looked at the filter/vent area.  She used a little known secret of using dryer lint from her dryer to stick to the lint in the grates of her blow dryer to pull it out!

Look at the difference!!!  It looks so clean.

She has some other great ideas that you can get the links on my going to my Organizing Mission Monday link party Week 25 to see her posts, or you can just check out her blog! This one is called Hair Dryer Trick but she also cleaned the front of her oven door with a homemade mixture I want to try, and several other good cleaning ideas.

 

Card Cubby Giveaway is still going On! (Closed)

I am going to give away a Zebra Card Cubby!

***I am also giving a 10% discount from today until June 30th, 2011. If you use the code “Summer 11″ it will take off the 10%. This is good on the Card Cubby and pouchee purse organizer!

Required For Entry: Leave a comment below telling me how you would best like to use the Card Cubby if you won. **Be sure to come back here and leave me your answer in your comment. Your e-mail has to either in your comment or on your profile.   Please keep in mind….  Just posting a link to the link party is NOT an entry.  It is an option for an extra entry, but you have to ALSO put a comment in the comment section for it to be in the drawing.  At this point (morning of 6/13) there are only 24 entries for the 24 comments.

FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN:

**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment to win. The winner is picked using Random.org. It just goes the number of comments….not by what you say.

1) Leave a link in the link party for one of your blog posts. (1 entry) You can leave more than one link in the link party, but only one of them counts towards an entry.

2) Subscribe to my Organize with Sandy blog (1 entry)

3) Follow me on Twitter @OrganizerSandy (Leave me your twitter name) 1 entry

4) Stumble one of my posts for 5 extra chances to win. (tell me which post – please don’t stumble this post, as giveaway posts aren’t so great to stumble.) 5 entries – be sure to leave 5 comments below for this one.

5) Tweet this out up to 3 times a day. You can use the tweet button at the top to make it easy. ( Pls leave your url link) 1 chance for each tweet.

Please keep in mind I approve my comments. So you won’t see them right away. Never fear!

This contest will run until 11:59pm est on Sunday, June 19, 2011 (Closed) 

Any comment that comes in after the above time will be deleted. This is open to US mailing addresses only. Must be 18+ to win. One person per mailing address only. Winner will be chosen by Random.org

You will have 48 hours to reply to my e-mail if you are picked as the winner, or else I will go on to the next winning number.

Link up to my Link Party

I would love to see what you are working on this week. But as always you can link up any organizing or cleaning or DIY post to my link party.

You can find the link for my button and also my “Proud to Be Featured Button” on my sidebar Rules 1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (link just above underneath my button)
3) I’d love if you’d follow me on google and/or FB. The google is new and I’m trying to build it
4) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or decorating
5) No sales pitches or web sites.
6) If I feature you I will use one or more of your pictures with a link back to your blog.
7) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list.

If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple.

If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s Please Click Here.

This link party will be open until 11:59 on Sunday June 19, 2011. Feel free to leave more than one post. (But only one counts as an extra entry for the giveaway)

Holmes County

Exclusive Offer for Inn at Honey Run

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was visiting a beautiful Inn in Holmes county Ohio. It is the in the heart of Amish country and makes a wonderful place for an adult get away. Peaceful, beautiful and romantic.

You can see my review at  The Inn at Honey Run on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog. But they have offered to let me give my readers this exclusive offer!!

** If you call and make a reservation, you will receive a $25 gift certificate to use in the spa (who doesn’t love a spa?), at their fine dining restaurant or their gift shop. You just have to tell them that you saw the offer from Sandy at Explore Ohio with Sandy. (me – just my other blog)  You have to mention this when you make the reservation!

 

 

 

Guest Post

Packing Tips

by Sunny Brady

Tips and Tricks to Packing the Perfect Carry-On

 

I consider myself very lucky; I not only enjoy my job, but I also have the
opportunity to travel all across the United States. As an account manager for a
storage company, I am required to visit our facilities. About a year ago, I realized
just how much of my “free” time was being spent waiting at the airport’s baggage
claim. It was then I became a dedicated carry-on traveler. Since then I have not only
saved a bundle of airline baggage checking fees, but I have learned many tricks on
how to pack a carry on. There is an organizational science to packing a carry on and
by following these tips you can avoid baggage fees and minimize travel time.

Preparation

1. Do Your Research: In the past few years, airport security has beefed up significantly. So before
   you start to pack, do some research on the airports you will be passing through,
   double check the regulation carry on bag size, the laptop policy and the rules for
   carrying on liquids. There is nothing more frustrating than having all your toiletries
   confiscated at the beginning of your trip. So it is well worth it to do a little research.
2. Make Use of Available Resources: When it comes to picking your carry-on luggage, be sure to maximize your
   options. Most airlines allow you one carry on and one personal bag or purse, which
   essentially means two carry-on bags. I often bring a small rolling suitcase, to stow,
   packed with my clothes and toiletries and a briefcase with my laptop, reading
   material for the plane and work papers, that I keep under the seat. For the carry-on
   bag that you plan to stow, make sure the bag fits airport regulation size. Most
   luggage is now sold based on airport regulations, but don’t be afraid to ask at the
   store to be certain. Depending on your preference, hard cased rolling bags or soft
   duffel bags make great carry-ons.
3. Be Budget Conscious: Since you will be carrying everything on, you will need to pack toiletries in
   your bags. Now that airport security regulations dictate the volume of liquid you can
   bring on the plane, you will need to purchase security certified sized bottles of
   shampoo, conditioner, or face wash. Instead of buying brand name, airport sized
   shampoo bottles, try buying a bunch of plain three ounce bottles. That was you can
   fill them up with whatever toiletries you already own and can reuse them for
   multiple trips.

Let the Packing Begin

Before you put anything in your bag, lay out everything you plan to pack. Try
to wear your bulkiest clothes and shoes on the plane so you can avoid packing them
and wasting precious space. Since you need to fit everything in one carry-on bag,
there are two strategic packing strategies to choose from. Folding clothes is one of
the least efficient ways of packing your carry-on:

1. Many of my friends swear by
   the “rolling” method that they claim allows you fit the most items in your bag and
   also keeps clothes wrinkle free. This method is pretty self explanatory, but consists
   of rolling your clothes up in to tightly compacted tubes. Then you pack them into
   the suitcase.
2. The other option is lying clothes completely flat on top of each other.
   This option eliminates the extra bulk of folds and allows you to fit quite a bit of
   clothing into your carry-on.

Once you have packed your clothes, put your toiletries in a quartz sized, clear
plastic bag on top. That way when you go through airport security, if they request
you remove your liquids and put them in a bin they are easily accessible. Remember
you can’t bring full water bottles through security. Instead back an empty water
bottle that you can fill up on the other side of security or once you are on the plane.
Also keep a jacket handy, there are usually drastic temperature changes on the
plane and it can also serve as a makeshift pillow.

Once you are all packed, you can print out your boarding pass, skip the hassle
of checking a bag and breeze through airport security. Carrying on saves a bundle of
time and money, once you make the switch you will never go back!

Sunny Brady is an account manager for storagearizona.com In her role she coordinates with a number of self storage facility operators so that potential customers can find the best self storage in Arizona online, including cities like Mayer. In her spare time, Sunny likes to bike and participate in outdoor activities.

 

photos provided by Sandy

Inn at Honey Run

Beautiful Place to Visit in Ohio

The Inn at Honey Run in Holmes County is in the heart of Amish country.

I will be doing a full post on Inn at Honey Run on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog in the next week or two, but I wanted to share just a couple pictures I took today that I liked.

This is a picture of their Facebook  bird cam. I kid you not. They have a camera mounted that takes pictures. I am assuming maybe it is action motivated.  I wondered who was spending all the time watching for birds and taking pictures. They are posted on their FB page. How fun is that?

There is so much nature here.  It is sooo quiet and peaceful.  It began raining right after we arrived, but only lasted a half hour or so.  When we came out, the sun was out, the rain was dripping off the flowers and it was absolutely beautiful. Everything looked so crisp and clear, the birds were singing.

Isn’t this orange tulip awesome!

This candle that hangs from the walk way up to the entry had a drip of rain that I kept trying to catch as it hit the top and bounced off.  I didn’t have the luck, but still loved the picture.

This robin was very accommodating as we were driving out of the parking lot to go to dinner. She just sat there and let me get a couple good shots.

We went into Berlin and had a great dinner at Boyd and Wurthmann restaurant.  It is an Amish run restaurant and the portions were huge and food was great!

I always love to see the horse and buggies.  Dave’s farm is in Amish country, so we get to see a lot of them, but I don’t know that I will ever tire of trying to get some good pictures of them.

Be watching on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog for the entire post.  I’ll plan to link it to this post once it is finished.

Also be sure to look for the exclusive offer at the bottom of that post. (Hint…. if you call and reserve a room for at least one night, you will get a $25 gift cert to use in either the spa, restaurant or gift shop! You just have to tell them that Explore Ohio with Sandy sent you!!)

 

My room at the Inn at Honey Run is complimentary, but has nothing to do with my opinions.  The photos and thoughts are all my own.

 

Planning for a Vacation

Organizing for Time Away From Work For a Vacation

Plan Ahead

If you know you are going to have scheduled time away from work, then it is easy to plan for ahead of time.  For instance a vacation or a planned medical situation.

Seems simple right?  Just plan ahead and all will be taken care of?  Of course it doesn’t always work that way.  Sometimes depending on your job you can already be so over taxed that you aren’t able to get to the things you need to for a week ahead.

But make a list of what you need to do and try to work on it one thing at a time.

When you Don’t Plan Ahead

There are times when we aren’t able to plan ahead and situations come up.  An accident or illness are good examples.  In those cases hopefully family members can help out to notify the proper people to take care of the necessities for you.

Blogging

For bloggers there are several options.  You can not put up posts (like I have not for the last several days this week. ) This is our vacation week and I took some time off from this blog.  I have been still working on my Chat with Sandy blog on a project I was doing for www.Holiday Roads. info (look for our family posts..Ohio to Marblehead with dog Gizzy!) …so I just took some time off from this blog.

I could have had guest bloggers, I could have prepared posts ahead of time.  I didn’t do either this time.  I think it is the first time in a year & half that I have not posted this many days in a row.  But I needed a little break.

Blogging is like that. It is my own business..I can post several times a day or not for several days.

Tomorrow I am having a small surgical procedure ….and will probably take a couple more days off from blogging.  I will just have to see how I feel.

Planning ahead is great and is ideal.  It is the best way to decrease stress and anixiety when you know you are going to be away. But you know what….things work out either way. You may have more to do when you come back if you have not planned ahead…but more than likely the work will wait on you.

Take a vacation this year…give yourself a little break.  We can all use them.

Summer Vacation – Organizing the Car

Keeping your Car Organized when traveling

Keeping things from turning into “car gone wild” while traveling helps to keep everything a little calmer. Remember the “Clutter in your Home = Clutter in your Head?” We can change that to “Clutter in your Car = Craziness trapped in a moving vehicle with kids while traveling!”

Here is one car organizer that you can find online.   It would fit neatly inbetween 2 kids in the back seat. Looks like it might be better for the older kids who might not have as much “stuff” as some of the younger ones.

Here is another version of a car organizer that would be great for younger kids.  It is bigger and allows for a surface to draw on or play some games. It also has pockets all the way around but has an inside storage area too.

This is a car organizer that attaches to the headrests. I think it could still work on the front seats if you didn’t have a bench seat…for a trip.  I do like the idea and looks like it holds more than many of the normal ones you see that hang off the headrest.

The last car organizer is one that goes over the headrest.  This is one that I actually bought myself.  I like it especially if I am alone in the car. When I drive on long trips it is great. I can put extra drinks up there and maps etc.  When I am not alone I simply swing it around to the back seat.

There are many different styles and prices of car organizers on the market. These all happen to be from Online Organizing.

So on your next trip….find a way to organize your things and your kids things (might be a backpack or bag from a convention. You don’t have to go out an purchase something new.  Heck…a cardboard box can work great. Use a shoe box inside or cereal box for magazines etc.  Be creative!

Disclosure: I think I do have an affiliate link for online organizing but  I did not use any kind of affiliate links on this blog post. I purchased the bottom swing away car organizer myself. It was not given to me. No one from Online Organizing or any of the car organizers asked me to do this. I just wanted you to see the different options that were out there.

Follow up Results of the Space Saver Bags

This is a follow up post to the I did just a few days ago pre-conference.  I told you I was scared to use these bags before I went because I was concerned about wrinkles. So I decided to test it on my way home.  So here is a picture of my jacket (the sleeves are crunched per design…not already wrinkled)

I put two jackets into the large Space Saver bag this time instead of three and it rolled much better.  You roll it to get all the air out of it.

This is the jacket once I got home and upacked it from the Space Saver Bag……Hello….I am SO glad that I did not use these on the way to the conference. I would not have been able to wear this.  Here is my shirt that I also packed to come home to see how it would do.  I put this in with 2 other thin shirts into the small bag.

Think you would wear this when you got to location? Not me.  So here are my thoughts on these bags.  I think they might be worth the purchase if you want to use them to compress your dirty laundry on the way home.  If there were items that wrinkling was not a factor or you do not mind steaming clothes once you get there….then they might be worth it to use on the way there.  Otherwise….I can not recommend these to use with your clean clothes going on a trip.

List Travel

For those of you who are going to be traveling soon (hopefully to Type A Mom Conference like me) this post is for you.

LIST

Make one!  Sit down with your cup of coffee and start writing down all of the things that you need to take with you.  Make sure you do not forget all those phone and computer chargers. (Best to label them with what they are for and your name and phone number in case you forget them in a hotel room.)

I made a list for what I am taking and when I think of something else I add it on.

I made a list today. It looks like this:

Monday Tuesday

1) Todays posts                                                           1) Car oil change

2) Do Bills                                                                      2) Clean out car

3) Get pouchee orders out                                     3) Write family itenary

4) Start packing                                                           4) Finish packing

Well..you get the point.  But if you plan out all you need to accomplish and get it on paper you are going to clear your head and keep from forgetting things.  Cross things out as you do them and you feel like you are accomplishing something and you can see clearly how much more you need to do.

Just one way to simplify what can be a crazy time…keep from staying up at night because you don’t want to forget to do ….(fill in the blank)

Lists = simple + free + organized

Arrival at Blogher 09

I arrived by airplane about 11am to Chicago O’Hare airport. Found the shuttle to the Sheraton Hotel and Towers without any problems.

I met my roomie Military_Mom aka Shellie and I am a lucky person! For not meeting before in person I think being her roommate will be a lot of fun. I think we are getting along great. (Now ask us on Sunday and it may be another story. LOL..nope..I don’t think so.)
This is the view out our room on the 20th floor!! Cool huh? And if we look out and across we can see Lake Michigan and all the boats. (Looks like an ocean…makes me think I am some place tropical. LOL)
Ok…Miliary Mom and Miliary Mama are friends (go figure right?) and so they have had me tagging along with them to all these parties.

This is the Socialux party. Both Shellie and Tara had registered for this early and did not end up getting their swag bags (goodies bags..these had cameras in them!)
Lots of people, food and drinks. Great sponsors…Kodak, Swiffer, Lego, Landsend, Eye-Fi and several others. Chris Mann also sang. He was in Blissdom and loved his music..(not to mention he is sooo cute and actually seems really nice!)
Ok…get this. We had this at the Hyatt downtown Chicago. This was the same place that the President was. There were secret service everywhere….people dressed up waiting in lines to go to …what I guess was a fund raiser. That added a little excitement to the mix.

The People’s Party was next right here in our hotel. Lots of people and look at the swag bags.

Chris Mann was was here and I got his picture. I am going to give him a whole post because I think he deserves it…later today. (hopefully if I can get back on the internet…has been an ordeal so far.)

This is the last party I went to…if this picture gives you some idea of what it was like. It was the Room 704 party. I met the ladies who put this on when I was at Blissdom. We actually got stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes. They are a hoot. They were staying in room 704 there..and had a big party in their room. So they decided to repeat it..but it was sooo big they had to have it down in one of the lobbies. They gave away some very interesting swag bags (can you say vibrators ladies?). Nope…I didn’t get one..we came in a few minutes too late again.
So..it was a very interesting evening.
Stay tuned!!

Heading to Blogher! I will take you with me on my blog!

I am heading to Blogher in Chicago today. For those of you who may not know, Blogher is a blogging conference. It takes place this weekend and from what I have seen there are supposed to be around 1,500 bloggers there.
If you are on twitter you will see #Blogher all weekend. That is people talking about it.
There are many big sponsors who are going to be there. Companies are realizing that going to the mom bloggers they can get the word out about their companies and products to a huge amount of people.
Chevrolet is giving bloggers cars to drive if they carpoole together. They had to apply for it ahead of time.
Quaker Oats is going to be there, PepsiCo is going to be there.
Carson Kressley from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is going to be at the Nikon party. So yes Nikon Camera is hosting a party (I got invited as a guest of one of the VIP woman who were asked)
The Michelin Man is going to be there for Michelin tires.
Paula Dean is going to be there.
The list goes on…
I will be going to the Nikon party on Friday night and then hopefully over to MomAFluence party after that.
On Saturday night I will be going to Bowlher. Yes…it is a bowling party. MomTV is sponsoring that. It will be video streamed live.
There is so much fun to come!
I will take pictures and post daily my adventures.