As someone who is constantly losing things and digging through my bag for store discount cards and such, I’m so glad to know there’s an app for that. The free app, Flipp, is a very cool shopping all-in-one list, coupon and store card hub. The app allows users to save and look up store circulars, discount cards and other information that streamlines shopping and saving.
Because it’s location-based, it pinpoints your favorite stores’ locations so you can personalize the deals you save. I love that the shopping list shows what deals are out there, every time you add an item to your list. As a deal hunter, this app is so helpful and super convenient.
Because Flipp is all about making moms’ life easier by connecting stores and specials and lists in one place, they’re celebrating moms throughout the month of May. Flip has kicked off a special #FlippforMom campaign. Throughout May, on their official Facebook and Twitter accounts, Flipp will be hosting a different giveaway for every week. Be sure to check out Flipp’s Facebook page for more details.
And because we’re all about awesome apps that help make our lives as parents easier, Flipp is offering a very generous $100 SpaFinder gift card to one of you! Please enter below: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions on NKT are my own. Thank you for supporting Nextkidthing.com
It’s hard to believe that it’s time for the 2016 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In March, a magical invitation landed in my inbox at just the right time. Naturally.
Chaos and hardships always seem to pop up at the most inopportune times. This year, though I truly shocked and honored to receive another invitation to DisneySMMC. Because it wasn’t our first time, I had to really think about it. We weren’t financially prepared to take a vacation to Disney World, just weeks away. And truly, with all the chaos happening at home, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take a vacation, never mind be with anyone outside of my daily bubble.
And that’s when it hit me: in light of the crazy, I needed to seek joy. So, we pinched our pennies, and the stars aligned, and here we are…
Because joy always balances the crazy, right?
For my non-social media friends and family, DisneySMMC is an invite-only event hosted by Disney Parks where we, as influencers, are given an inside look at what makes this place so magical. It’s one of the few elite celebrations where families are included and encouraged to join the festivities. Disney hosts meticulously-planned parties and social media strategy lectures and more over the 4-day event.
One of my absolute favorite speakers was from the 2015 event. Eva Smith, Head of Marketing Insights for Pinterest shared a lot of valuable information. In fact, I’ve gone on to use a lot of that info when I freelance as a social media consultant and train small businesses. The lessons and insight I gained from that talk alone was worth all the effort and investment in attending.
Sponsors such as Hanes, Kimberly Clark, Alamo, GoGo SqueeZ, Joffrey’s and American Tourister contribute to the magic. But it’s the Disney Parks Team that goes above and beyond to provide such incredible experiences for the 150+ influencers and their families in attendance.
It goes without saying that, contrary to popular belief, DisneySMMC is NOT a “free trip.” I’ve had friends and family members assume that we get to come here for free. Not the case. In fact, we had to scrape to be able to afford this trip. (We’re eating PB&J on the days that Disney doesn’t feed us!) While we pay our way to take part in the Celebration, we do receive some complimentary items (swag), discounts and other cool perks. One of our favorite perks was meeting Olaf last year!
If you follow me on social media, then you may already know that my family has been in Florida for a few days. With the crazy weather on the East Coast, I’m glad we got the painful traveling out of the way so we can hopefully enjoy the sunshine for the rest of the week.
Today, May, 4, 2016, my guys and I spent the day at Hollywood Studios in honor of Star Wars Day. May the Fourth Be With You! It was cold, wet and rainy, but we had so much fun checking out our favorite attractions and interacting with Storm Troopers and more.
Now that we’re all settled into the Beach Club, I will be sharing a lot of info on my social channels. I plan to snap more off the cuff, behind the scenes stuff on Snapchat. Fun visuals over on Instagram. Limited updates and maybe a Facebook Live post from some parts of the conference on Friday, 5/6. And definitely videos over on YouTube. I’ll link up my channels below, so be sure to follow for more fun updates!
With our trip to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration coming up next week, I’ve been doing a lot of shopping over the past few weeks in preparation. The Children’s Place is one of our favorite go-to stores for stylish and classic options for kids. Though I’m always envious of the racks of pinks, pastels and sparkles, the boys’ selection at The Children’s Place is pretty plentiful.
We noticed that the main trends for boys at The Children’s Place were stripes, sharks and neons. I’m always a fan of the classic look with a little edge, and The Children’s Place does that so well.
For our trip, I picked out a few dressier shirts for the boys to wear at the various dinners and family events at DisneySMMC. I let the boys choose and then picked outfits that coordinated.
For the more casual looks, we opted for sporty tanks and fun graphic tees. I’m pretty sure the bulk of our play clothes are from The Children’s Place. The clothes are comfortable and they hold up very well.
The Children’s Place always has great deals going on. I try to find coupons before I head to the store to maximize the deals. So if you’re on the hunt for great spring and summer outfits, make a stop at The Children’s Place.
Full disclosure: I received a gift card to share my experience at The Children’s Place. All opinions on NKT are my own.
Just in time for International Nose Picking Day, Funrise Toys sent us a Booger Balls care package. Yes, you read that right. There is, indeed, an International Nose Picking Day. And yes, there is a toy called Booger Balls!
If you have kids who appreciate messy outdoor play, then Booger Balls is totally up your alley. We love messy play, and as a play enthusiast who has a kiddo with special needs, I appreciate that this sort of play hones gross motor skills despite the slimy mess.
Booger Balls come as a powder mix, and then once mixed with warm water, it becomes a gelatinous substance that resembles—you guessed it—boogers. We had a few unsuccessful attempts getting it to mix correctly, but once it did, the guys loved flinging the Booger Balls at their target.
My littler guy loved mixing and stirring and then capturing the mixture. The older guy loved the sensation of the mix and practicing his aim. Booger Balls are certainly a messy outdoor toy, so expect lots of sticky mess. I recommend playing in an area that you can just hose off when you’re done. If you have a water table that you can wash off, consider doing it there.
We had a fun time with Booger Balls and have added it to our outdoor play arsenal! Check out the guys in our fun video below!
P.S. I edited this late last night, so disregard the poor angles and whiny preschooler. Just keeping it real!
It’s time for week 11 of the NYC Vlogger Challenge. This week, I have some great prompts for more travel hacks and other favorite requests.
This week, let us know:
1. What are more of your travel hacks? 2. What are your favorite books and magazine? 3. Does your family have a favorite board game? 4. What’s your favorite salad recipe?
How can you join the conversation?
Each week, one of us will host the challenge and we ask you to join us on Youtube, Vine, Instagram or your blog with a response video. That’s it!
Can’t wait to hear your video response to one of the prompts above!
On the heels of our recent Spring Break trip, we had DVDs on repeat in the car. Like most preschoolers, my younger guy loves Peppa Pig. So, naturally, since we couldn’t access YouTube Kids while on the road, my kids were watching a lot of Peppa Pig. Peppa Pig’s Cold Winter Day is always playing, and I think I know all the words by heart by now.
There are 10 fun-loving episodes with winter themes. My guys love the Pig family’s crazy antics, especially Daddy Pig becomes the toboggan. ha! “Why can’t our daddy be a toboggan, mama?” Wouldn’t that be awesome, though?
The Muddy Puddles Project
As huge fans of Peppa Pig, I loved learning about The Muddy Puddles Project and Wellie Walk, which is Peppa Pig’s chosen charity. The fact that this beloved brand has their own chosen charity warms my heart.
I first learned about The Muddy Puddles Project on one of my PBS Kids Annual Meeting trips. I remember tearing up at this young man’s legacy and his amazing family’s advocacy.
The Muddy Puddles Project is a fundraising platform for the Ty Louis Campbell (TLC) Foundation, a certified 501(c)(3) that funds pediatric cancer research. The project was inspired by Ty, a little boy who loved Peppa Pig and dreamed of jumping in muddy puddles when his cancer was cured. Since his passing, the Muddy Puddles Project continues to grow by leaps and bounds with families all across the U.S. joining the mission and participating in special fundraising activities.
Though we missed it, April 1st was officially proclaimed “National Jump in Muddy Puddles Day” by the nonprofit and it kicks off a whole season of special events – including Peppa-inspired Welly Walks to benefit the charity. Kids and families can help celebrate the beginning of Spring by organizing a Welly Walk to raise funds in honor of the Muddy Puddles Project.
This statistic from the Muddy Puddles Project is staggering:
Looking for ways of spreading the love for this wonderful charity? Learn more about the Muddy Puddles Project and ways you can organize your own Welly Walk in the name of helping families affected by pediatric cancer. We hope to take our own walk in the near future…when it starts to feel more like Spring!
Full disclosure: we received a sample dvd for review purposes. As always, opinions on NKT are my own.
When two of my favorite brands collaborate, that can only mean good things, right? Our friends at Tommee Tippee have partnered with Snapfish for a fun collaboration.
Tommee Tippee and Snapfish have partnered together for a promo for an exclusive offer for a free 11oz. photo mug from Snapfish. On select cups and mealtime products, be on the lookout for yellow stickers that indicate this cool promo. The offer is currently on specified stickered cups (excluding single valve) and mealtime products. Cups can be purchased at Babies R Us, Target or Walmart and mealtime products such as (plates and bowls) can be bought at BRU.
I have more mugs than I know what to do with, but with Mother’s Day coming up, how perfect would this be for a gift for Grandma! I love personalized gifts, and I love giving them even more.
The boys and I went on a shopping excursion a few weeks ago to take advantage of this promo. My Target only had pink cups on our first trip, but lucky us, we found some cool blue ones on another visit.
As you can see, not all Tommee Tippee cups and feeding ware have the Snapfish promo, so be sure to grab the ones with the yellow sticker as seen above.
Once you purchase, you can go home and order the photo mug online with the code included in the specially marked packages.
So, if you’re on the market for some new sippy cups or straw cups or feeding gear, be sure to check out Tommee Tippee’s great gear.
Full disclosure: this is a sponsored post. Thank you for supporting NKT. As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.
It’s my turn once again to host the NYC Vlogger Challenge. We’re at week 8 and my prompts were inspired by Disney Social Media Moms Celebration on the Road, as well as Spring activities coming into play!
My prompts are pretty easy and straight forward. I’m hoping you share some of your favorite Disney World hacks or theme park essentials. If outdoor play is more your speed, tell us about it, we’d love to hear all about it!
1. Do you have any favorite Disney World or Land attractions or secret spots?
2. What are your theme park essentials? Is there something you always bring to a theme park?
3. What are your favorite Spring toys?
4. What are you favorite outdoor games?
5. Does your family like to swim?
How can you join the conversation?
Each week, one of us will host the challenge and we ask you to join us on Youtube, Vine, Instagram or your blog with a response video. That’s it!
Can’t wait to hear your video response to one of the prompts above!
I don’t know about you, but we’re still basking in the glory and excitement from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
We just learned that the digital HD version comes out on April 1 and the Blu-Ray Combo Pack is out on April 15.
On the heels of this news, they just released The Force Awakens deleted scenes, “Finn and the Villager”, “Jakku Message”, “X-Wings Prepare for Lightspeed”, “Kylo Searches The Falcon”, “Snow Speeder Chase,” and “Finn Will Be Fine” on Digital HD and Blu-ray Combo Pack, plus a special bonus deleted scene, “Tunnel Standoff” only on Digital HD or by redeeming the digital copy included in your Blu-ray Combo Pack.
In theaters March 25, Toula and the whole family are back together for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. Fourteen years after the success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos has written a sequel that will have the entire family cracking up and embracing their own crazy relatives.
Set 10 years after Toula and Ian Miller married in the first movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 gathers the star-studded ensemble cast to swig Uzo, devour Baklava, laugh with the Portokalos family, redefine relationships and, of course, to celebrate a big fat Greek wedding.
Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos took inspiration from her own life when writing My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. Following her journey to become a mother after adopting her daughter within the American foster system, Vardalos documented her story in her book, “Instant Mom.” While promoting her New York Times bestseller, Vardalos spotted a mother, similar in age to herself, in line. The woman was part of the sandwich generation, in which she was busy parenting her kids while helping her aging parents. From there, Vardalos imagined what the Portokalos and Millers’ family life was like 10 years later. She wrote the script of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and gathered the original cast for another soiree.
In honor of this absolutely hysterical film, I was invited by Universal to take part in an absolutely wonderful press conference with several cast members. We heard from Elena Kampouris who plays Paris Miller. We listened to Joey Fatone who played Angelo and Andrea Martin who plays Aunt Voula. And we also had the pleasure of interviewing Nia Vardalos, John Corbett and director Kirk Jones.
I was enchanted by Elena Kampouris’ interview. She was poised and well-spoken—pretty much the opposite of the dark and dreary teenager she portrayed. I was able to ask Elena about Paris’ storyline and this is what she had to say:
NKT: So the message about strong women is such an important part of Paris’ storyline. Do you have any advice or insight on how other teen girls can harness girl power for good?
Ms. Elena Kampouris: Absolutely, yes. Well, what I love that Nia did with this movie is, a lot of people have asked, oh, are they going to do a third movie? Are you going to get married? And I don’t think that would be the case, and I know that Nia’s not all about that. Because in the film, she makes a point, if you’re a teen girl and you get to a certain age and you’re expected to get married, you don’t have to.
You can do what you feel is right for you, what your path and your heart is telling you is right. So I like that Nia makes that point. And for myself, I aspire to be a weapon of love and mass creation. To inspire positivity and empowerment. Not just with women, but with everybody. I think we should all feel equal and I think that Nia has infused that into the movie a little bit, especially with Paris’ character, and I love that.
I loved listening to Nia Vardalos impart her creativity, as well as understanding Kirk Jones’ creativity and indulging in John Corbett’s charm. (Could they be any more gracious with our questions and photos?)
In My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Toula and Ian struggle with the status quo that had become their life. So busy parenting, like many couples, Toula and Ian forgot how to be in a relationship with each other. Their angsty teenage daughter, Paris, played by the eloquent Elena Kampouris, has college ambitions that would leave her mom seeking for solace. Never a family without drama, Toula always found herself responsible for her aging parents and dealing with her needy cousins and friends.
The highlight and my major takeaway from the press conference was the question I asked Nia, John and Kirk about balance. I appreciated their insight and it certainly give you a look at one of the main themes of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.
NKT: Nia, the beauty of your writing is that it resonates with from the young to the old. Everyone has a family member in the cast. But my question is for anyone. How do you think people can balance everything? We see the messaging in the story, but can we have it all? Can we balance our parenting without letting our relationships set to the side?
Ms. Nia Vardalos: Let’s all answer that, if you don’t mind. I believe that that balance is a quest. And I think that we need the yin and the yang and the only way to know that you’re off balance is to lose it a little bit. So I’m actually happy for those dark places in my life, because I find the light–I appreciate the light so much more.
Mr. Kirk Jones: I think it’s increasingly difficult to find a balance in life. And you would think that as a species, if we were so smart and we were so advanced, then where we should be at the moment in our history of evolution is that we should working about three days a week and we should be spending real quality time, four days a week, with our families and hobbies and just kind of improving ourselves. But that isn’t the case.
I don’t know about anyone here, but more and more with email and technology and computers. It’s like 24/7 we’re all going. And I seriously think there’s going to be a backlash. I think we will look at this period in our history and in maybe 10 years or so, I think, especially a lot of young people will say, “Do you know what? We just need to get out and live our lives a little bit, instead of being slaves to trying to organize everything and control everything.” But it’s difficult. It’s really difficult to keep a balance.
Mr. John Corbett: And when I was, I guess I was about 18, I decided to never get married or have children, so I think I have the best life up here.
Ms. Nia Vardalos: But John’s so smart, too. John went off social media just to get off it, and I just thought that was so smart. This is the thing that just, it breaks my heart. I walk into a coffee store and everyone’s got their heads down looking at a screen. And I know I sound old school, but we are the sum total of our relationships, and we’re missing out on so much with our heads down. Not that I don’t love twitter. I do. But I limit my time.
I laughed so hard and I even shed a few tears during the film. As I told my friend, Mitch of NYC Gay Dad, I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud throughout an entire movie in so long. I got married right around the same time as the first movie, and I have a very large and loud Filipino family, so I could relate to the films on so many levels. But in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, I really felt like Nia could see in my soul and wrote this movie for moms and women like me. Not only does she get the whole parenting thing (wanting to be there for everything and never wanting to let go) but she also gets the marriage limbo. What do we talk about if we don’t talk about work or kids? For those of us in the throes of parenthood and marriage, Toula and Ian are our soul animals, and Nia nails it with the dialogue. The humor was well-timed, making it such a fun film for those who are going through the different phases in life.
Full disclosure: I was invited as media to cover the press conference and interview. I was not compensated and all opinions are my own.
