'So I totally hit the jackpot in reviews for this stunning bag!!!  I was contacted by Pheonix Trading Company to see if i would be interested in testing out and reviewing their handbag line by Joy and Iman.  Well he had me at handbag! Hello!!!!  So before I even received by bag I spent a little time checking out what the Pheonix Trading Company was.  As I had never heard of it I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did they offer unique and staple handbags the also had a lot of HomeGoods, clothes, and home appliances.  It appears that this is a great site for both your unique and staple clothing and HomeGoods.  It seems to almost have an online TJ Max or Marshalls feel to it.  Lots of selection of tons of stuff at really good prices.  According to their website they buy overstock and off-season items at a discount of designer and home shopping products which explains the amazing varity of products on thier website.  But lets talk about what is really important....THE BAG!!!  So here it is fresh out of the box.

Here you can see the various compartments.  There are two compartments with a middle laptop compartment that is lightly paddd.  There are generous pockets on both sides for all your phones, keys, etc.  Also notice how much is in here and there is room to spare-my big wallet, sunglasses, jouranl, papers.

Here is me trying to show you the inside side pockets that can hold your phone etc

Also if you are traveling this can hold your important cards so maybe you don't even need a wallet for business women it can hold cards etc.

A personal favorite touch is the light that is attached to the strap so you can find things in a bag of this size!!!

Here is the other side shot...it really is a lushous looking bag and I cant get over that it is only 70.00!!!

Several weeks ago I was shipped an amazing little surprise!  Several bags of freeze dried fruit to try and post a review about for my blog.  At first I was a little leery of some of the chips (hello beat chips) but having tried them all I was quiet impressed.  In each bag you got several servings of these tasty little dried fruit treats.  What I loved most about them is there was no added sugar like you sometimes get in dried fruit.  It was just the fruit themselves.  These were also non-gmo which for me is an added bonus.  Having tried them all my favorite ones were the medley ones with banana chips in them.  See below.  The reason I loved those were the bananas were so good!!!!    The only ones I didn't really love were the just strawberry I thought the strawberry alone were a little too tart for my liking.  Yet, my strawberry loving girl did enjoy these so maybe it was just my personal preference.  I think this make for a nice light after school snack or to go along with lunches as something different.  As most parents do I struggle with what to feed the kids that is easy to pack, they will eat, and is not junk!  These fit the bill.  So if you are looking for something new to try I would highly recommend Crunchies to try.  They are a nice healthy snack to add into your rotation.

All the ingredients:  One Pound Cluck-n-Moo, one pound ground pork, two large peppers, three tomatoes (one is hidden behind the Cluck-n-Moo, a large onion, garlic, BBQ sauce, ketchup, and bread crumbs.  All veggies except the onion are from my garden.

All veggies chopped

Step Two:  Next add in about a half cup of breadcrumbs and the egg.

Add it all in the bowl (use ketchup and BBQ to your personal taste-for me its a lot!)

Step Three:  Mix it all together

All mixed in

Step Four: Add it to a big-ole-pan and cook at 375 till meat is cooked through

Finished product

Cooked meatloaf with Brussel Sprouts and Sweet Potato  Fries

Here is a picture showing how wide the scarf is-it is somewhere between an normal scarf size and a pashmina

Once you have entered this you can go to your menu plan or your fitness plan.  Below is what your fitness plan looks like once you have clicked on it.



What I liked about the fitness plan is that not only does it have a video that goes long with it you see that button all the way to the right...that allows you to swap out an activity if it is too hard for you or if you do not have the equipment at home.  For example I swapped out a kettle ball routine for the inch worm because I don't have a kettle ball at home.



Above is a screen shop of the video.  Each exercise has a description of how to do the exercise, how long/how many reps, and the video for you to watch.  Basically everything a personal trainer would explain or keep track of for you if you were at the gym.  Also, you can't see it from this screen shot but the app also allows you to choose which music from your iPhone that you will be listening too.

Now above is one of what I thought was the best features of this program...an idiots guide of how not to hurt yourself.  I thought this was great especially for someone like me who is a beginner at strength training who might not know what good form should look like.  I don't think you would be looking at these videos for everything but if you are trying out a new exercise and want to make sure that not only are you doing it right but that you aren't going to injury yourself.


Finally, the last really great part of this program was the meal plans.  Now since I am doing weight watchers I wouldn't follow these plans exactly but there were many, many great recipes on the site and some really good menu plans.  For someone who isn't doing weight watchers this is the perfect thing.  Not only does it tell you how many calories to eat, it is giving nice balanced meals with portion sizes and best of all RECIPES!!!!!!!   So what you have below are screen shots of the menu plan and a few recipes.
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Right before Christmas I was contacted by a great company called Black and Blum.  They are a company that makes European functional products.  The contacted me and wanted me to test out one of their food containers.  I chose to look at the Lunch Pot.  This handy little lunch container has two separate containers with leek proof lids.  They are BPA free and are microwave and dishwasher safe.  They are good sized for soups, fruit, oatmeal, or a small salad.  I used mine to carry some fruit along with a few soy crisps for my lunch.  My favorite part is that the two containers stack on top of each other lock into place, then you secure the strap and it also has an attached spoon.  I thought that was a super handy product and a great encouragement to take lunch to work.  As a teacher who only has 20min to eat I always bring my lunch and this is a nice way to keep elements of my lunch separate.  If I take soup I can do fruit in the other container, if its salad the dressing in the second part.  Now the price is a bit high for my taste of 24.00 but I would say the quality is well above what your average plastic containers are.  I would suggest if you are looking to upgrade your lunch containers to something a bit more stylish as well as environmental friendly I would head over to Black and Blum now to check them out!  My next purchase is going to be the Bento Box!

The whole container

My snack for my Prep Period

Me holding it so you can get a feel for size