I’m so excited for the next installment of the Hunger Games. I read the series over a year ago and I couldn’t put them down. I thought Jennifer Lawrence was brilliant in the first movie and I’m looking forward to the next one, Catching Fire, hitting theaters on November 22, 2013!

The below movie poster showcases heroic Katniss and a tagline pulled straight from the incredible words of Suzanne Collins – The sun persists on rising, so I make myself stand.

Here’s a quick look at the red carpet arrival and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Cannes Party at Baoli Beach sponsored by COVERGIRL.

 

 Synopsis:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark.  Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts.  Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever. 

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be directed by Francis Lawrence, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the second in a trilogy that has over 50 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.  

The post Hunger Games: Catching Fire Official Movie Poster and Trailer #CatchingFire appeared first on Life Without Pink....

Last weekend, my family and I spent some time in NYC (more to come on this later) and of course we had to make a stop at FAO Schwarz.

While there, we got a demonstration of the Air Hogs Vectron Wave (which retails for $29.99).

My boys went crazy for this and thought it was the coolest thing ever, so I thought I’d share with you a quick look at it in action.

A few cool features:

• Flies over anything you place beneath it (hand, face, boxes, floors, etc)
• Chargers for about 10 minutes and flies for about 10 minutes
• Only available in NYC
• Available in two colors: green or blue

Check it out:

The post Cool Toy Alert | Air Hogs Vectron Wave in Action appeared first on Life Without Pink....

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

About two months ago, my husband and I bought a brand new Maytag oven and dishwasher to match our stainless steel refrigerator.

We opted for a double oven for a few reasons:

1. I have a huge cabinet that holds all of my pots and pans, so I didn’t need the bottom drawer.
2. I do a lot of entertaining, so it’s great that I can cook two different dishes at the same time on different temperatures.
3. Since my microwave is still sitting in a box in the garage (um going on 3 years now), it makes warming up dinner for my husband quick and easy. The top oven only takes a few minutes to heat up.

Our dishwasher has the buttons on the inside, making it harder for little fingers to be tempted to hit every single button on a daily basis. Plus, with the Jetclean Plus Steam cycle in my dishwasher I don’t have to pre-rinse as much since the high-pressure spray jets, along with the hotter temperatures, removes food and leaves the dishes streak free.

For my refrigerator, we chose a side by side with a bottom freezer. My only word of caution is to keep organized. If you don’t, items will get piled on top of each other making it hard to tell what’s in the freezer (check out my tips for keeping a freezer inventory list). One of the benefits of having the refrigerator on top is that it keeps most of the items I use on a daily basis at eye level.

This week, I was invited to attend a Maytag event at h.h. gregg and was thrilled since (as you can tell from above), I’m a huge Maytag fan.

At the event, we received some inside tips on the new features of the Maytag appliances.

Like on these two beauties:

A few things I learned about this duo:

• Washing in cold water can save you about $2000 a year (and still kills the same amount of germs).
• Steam in a dryer has 2 benefits: helps with freshness and takes out wrinkles. Also, it takes jeans back to their original fit…hello new best friend!
• They have a sanitizer feature – perfect for a household full of boys!
• Smart Fan in the washer prevents mold from accumulating.

Now let’s move into the kitchen, where I spend about 80% of my day.

Not only do their models have a sleek design but they have a lot of great features:

• At 200 degrees the new Maytag ovens use aqua lift technology to clean your oven in 40 minutes. This totally beats having to clean your oven for 4 hours at 700 degrees!
• Another bonus of the cleaning technology – you can clean your oven and cook on the stove top at the same time!
• Lasagna spilling over in your oven is never a problem with a Maytag self- cleaning oven.
• Check out the window…notice it’s a bit bigger?

The Maytag Repairman gives us a quick overview of how the auto-cleaning technology works:

With a growing family, having a big refrigerator is a must. My fridge is very similar and I can say that it honestly keeps the food fresh longer. Normally when you put a pack of strawberries in the fridge it may last two days or so. With their refrigerators, it will actually keep the strawberries fresh for close to five days. This in the end saves you money because you aren’t throwing away food.

Another fun fact; you can actually store a frozen pizza standing up in the bottom freezer. Talk about a big freezer!

After we learned about the Maytag brand and their appliances, we had a yummy lunch and got to mingle with the other bloggers. Maytag and h.h. gregg even gave away a new washer and dryer set – not one but two! Sadly I didn’t win, but that’s ok since my set is fairly new. It was great to hear that the two lucky ladies that won actually needed a new washer and dryer. What a great win for them!

And of course, I made sure to snap a photo with the Maytag Repairman before I left.

We walked out with a nice gift bag filled with lots of goodies. I haven’t tried out all of the products yet, but see the one in the middle (affresh for cook tops)? I tried this last night and it works awesome! I normally just clean my glass cook top with soap and water, so this was the first time I actually used a product on it (my oven is only two months old). I was really impressed. It left the glass shiny and there was no residue or streaks left behind.

Maytag and h.h. gregg are giving away a washer and dryer daily until May 31st. Head over to their Facebook page and check it out.

The post From the Kitchen to the Laundry Room with Maytag #MaytagURIt appeared first on Life Without Pink....

Disclosure: This is a sponsored media trip. All of my thoughts and opinions are based on my own personal experience. Read Life Without Pink’s full disclosure here.

I’m back to tell you all about our recent trip to Lancaster, PA. Even though we only stayed one night, we made so many fun memories and really crammed a lot into two days.

We stayed at Bird-In-Hand Family Inn and it was great.  The property was nice, there’s a ton of things to do on site, and it’s in a great location.

The Amish Village

Our first stop was The Amish Village. To kick off the day we enjoyed a nice lunch in their picnic area and had some time to chat with the other bloggers and their families.

My favorite part was participating in the guided tour and learning about the Amish. We toured an Amish house and school and were given lots of interesting facts about their culture, religious beliefs, and family life. 

Here are a few things I learned:

• Kids only go to school until the 8th grade.
• Amish prefer no buttons – too fancy.
• Aprons are attached with straight pins (yes, you heard that right…straight pins!).
• Amish sew all their own clothes on old fashioned Singer machines.
• Weddings are in November on either a Tuesday or Thursday (end of their crop season).
• No divorces are allowed.
• Once an Amish man marries he never shaves again.
• Amish use peacocks like a watch dog.
• Amish read a newspaper called The Budget. They jokingly call it their version of Facebook.
• Amish can not own a car or vehicle.
• The Amish have a summer kitchen in order to keep the main house cool.
• They are not allowed to use decorative objects in their home, unless it serves a purpose.
• Girls sit with their parents during Church, unless they are married.

After the tour, we explored the rest of the property and stopped to visit the animals.

This lamb was born the day before and my boys asked if we could bring him home with us. He was adorable!

Strasburg Railroad

Next stop…the Strasburg Railroad. We’ve been here a few times and it never gets old.

You can ride the “big” train (a 45-minute scenic train ride), the miniature Pint-sized Pufferbelly steam train, and the authentic Pump Car.

My boys love watching the train pull into the station and this time I got it on camera:

I’ve never been to Day Out With Thomas, but I’m planning on taking the boys this year. They are running this special event in June, September, and November and from what I hear it’s a must see!

Choo Choo Barn

Last stop…the Choo Choo Barn, which features more than 150 animations and 22 operating trains, this 1,700 square foot handcrafted, work-of-art is packed with small-scale local landmarks and detailed scenes from Lancaster County.

The boys had so much fun running around the display pointing things out.

Look there’s a zoo!

I see a baseball field!

Mom, people are skiing down a mountain!

But our favorite by far was the house on fire. You see smoke coming from the roof, a firetruck pulls up, firemen get out and squirt water on the house, they get back into the truck and drive away. Talk about attention to detail!

At the end of the trip we attempted to get a photo of everyone. As you can imagine, it’s pretty impossible especially with kids but we managed to snap a photo of half the group:

A special thank-you to my Girls’ Lunch Out {GLO} partner Erica and Tiffany from Scheffey for helping me put on a fabulous event!

The post Fun Places to Visit in Lancaster, PA #VisitLancaster appeared first on Life Without Pink....

Disclosure: I was provide a sample for my review. All of my thoughts and opinions are based on my own personal experience. Read Life Without Pink’s full disclosure here.

For such a little guy, this Iron Man rechargeable speaker has a lot of power! The kids are having fun hooking up their Nintendo 3DS so they can hear the sound effects echo throughout the house. And I’m having fun hooking my iPhone up and working outside on my patio – nothing like a little music to make the work day go faster.

The Iron Man M66 rechargeable speaker includes:

• Usage for all MP3 players, smartphones, tablets, computers, and handheld game systems
• Built-in rechargeable battery – take your music anywhere!
• Cable for music listening and charging

We put together a little video to show you just how cool (and loud) this speaker is:

The Iron Man M66 is available in-store and online this month at www.ekids.com  and retails for $24.99. They also have Captain America and Hulk designs.

The post Iron Man Rechargeable Speaker Review {Video}: This Baby Has Some Punch #IronMan3 appeared first on Life Without Pink....

The other night before jumping into bed, I decided to check my email one last time.

I noticed my friend, Trina, shared a video on my Facebook page. You know how some videos and stories stick with you and leave a lasting impression? Well, this is one of those times.

This video tugs at your heartstrings. Being a mother means pouring your life into your children in everything we do.  This video shows what our sacrifices may look like through a child’s perspective. It makes you think about the every day ‘little’ things to us are really the ‘big’ things to our children.

In any given day, a mom does many things for her children:

• Gives good morning kisses
• Brushes teeth and lays out clothes
• Makes breakfast
• Packs the book bags and lunch boxes
• Does school drop-offs or waits at the bus stop
• Kisses boo-boos
• Does laundry
• Helps with homework
• Gives words of encouragement
• Makes dinner
• Cleans up after everyone
• Cheers from the sidelines
• Mends broken hearts
• Plays and laughs
• Gives baths
• Reads bedtime stories
• Snuggles
• Says prayers
• Gives goodnight kisses

Happy Mother’s Day

XO!

The post Happy Mother’s {and Son’s} Day – Must Watch Video appeared first on Life Without Pink....

My Girls’ Lunch Out partner, Erica, and I had the fun opportunity to interview Kristin Cavallari all about parenting, her shoe and jewelry line, and everything in between. We chatted about must-have items that she never leaves home without, three staples every woman should have in her wardrobe, and, our favorite question, who is her business mentor.

Check out the interview:

Kristin also teamed up with TiVo to celebrate the best TV moms!

Over the past few decades we’ve welcomed many iconic TV moms into our homes including Clair Huxtable, Marion Cunningham, and even Marge Simpson. But which of these lovely ladies is considered the best TV mom of all time?

To uncover the answer, TiVo conducted their first-ever Mother’s Day TV survey to see which TV moms ranked highest with viewers. Who do you think took the crown for the funniest TV mom of all time? And which TV mom do you miss seeing each and every week?

Here are the results:

Who is your favorite TV mom of all time? Why?

Happy Mother’s Day!

The post Interview With Kristin Cavallari Plus The Best TV Moms Of All Time appeared first on Life Without Pink....