—

I’m the kind of person who uses some kind of fragrance or freshener in just about every room of my house. With two dogs and two cats (all of which live mostly indoors) and five kids (who create a variety of smells on their own) I’m hyper conscious of not wanting my home to smell like a farm. So I’m always on the lookout for a fresh new scent to help eliminate any unpleasant odors.

Air Wick – a leader in home fragrance products – has just come out with a new line of scents inspired by America’s National Parks. The Air Wick National Park Collection is available in scented oils, scented candles, reed diffusers, and a freshmatic spray.

The Air Wick National Park Collection includes:

• Grand Canyon — be awestruck by the breathtaking majesty of the Grand Canyon then discover the subtle floral notes of delicate cactus blossoms carried on the warm summer breeze.
• Virgin Islands — find yourself in the idyllic paradise of Virgin Islands National Park and uncover the delightful notes of tropical plumeria & sweet honeysuckle.
• Gulf Islands — bask in the fragrant scents that take you to the Gulf Islands, rich in white sand beaches and seashores that evoke sun-drenched sweet notes of a tropical paradise.
• American Samoa — explore the lush paradise of American Samoa National Park to finally reach the sweet refreshing notes of native coconut & island palms.
• Denali — seek renewal in the sun-drenched valleys of Denali National Park while breathing in the clean notes of pure cotton grass & fresh spring air.
• Hawai’i — escape to a tropical island sunset in Hawai’i Kaloko – Honokohau National Historical Park and savor the unspoiled notes of exotic papaya and hibiscus flower.

It seems like everyone has their own preference for fragrance profiles. Some prefer more organic woodsy or floral scents, some prefer sweet fruity scents, others prefer scents that remind them of real-world items like fresh linens.

I was able to sample some of the new Air Wick National Park Collection scents, and I was most drawn to Denali, which did in fact remind me of spring breezes and fresh, clean laundry. When you visit the Air Wick website, you can see how each of the scents in the National Park Collection are created, and how they can inspire your home.

The National Park Collection is available in Air Wick’s full range of products that retail from $2.99 – $5.99 and includes Scented Oils, Freshmatic Auto Spray Refills, Scented Candles and Reed Diffusers. Available at all major retailers.

Air Wick is a proud supporter of the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks.

_____________________________________________________________

Air Wick’s New National Park Collection of Home Fragrances is original, copyrighted content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The post Air Wick’s New National Park Collection of Home Fragrances appeared first on Tree, Root, and Twig.

Chewbacca loves to play outside. Chewbacca loves to play inside. Chewbacca loves to change his mind 50 million times a day about whether or not he wants to play outside or inside.

We rent our house, so there is no option to offer Chewie his independence by putting in a doggie door. So we, in essence, become Doggie Doormen. Open, shut, open, shut, goes the sliding glass door, all day long.

Some days we’ll close off the dining room (so the cats don’t catch wind of what’s happening), and we’ll simply leave the sliding door open. This brings Chewie great joy, coming and going as he pleases.

Until…you try to shut the sliding door. Despite being perfectly content two seconds before, if he hears the slightest friction of the door being pulled against its track, he comes running. Wait!wait! Now I need to be inside – or outside, depending on where he started. I need!need!need! whatever else there is I can have!

The whole process reminds me of the battle I often fight by being so active online.

I will never be one to rant about the evils of the internet, how it’s disconnecting us from real human relationships, how it’s sucking kids into lives of screen glare instead of sunshine. No, I really do love the internet, social media, and all the POSITIVES being online can offer individuals, businesses, families, communities.

But I do notice something that happens to me emotionally if I don’t keep it squarely in check: I develop a false sense of need. I can be completely content in my life, doing my own thing, when I am sideswiped by the immediacy of needing to do something, have something, be something else that I see online.

Pinterest makes me feel like I “need” to be more organized, my meals “need” to be more elaborate (or healthy, or clever, or whatever). Instagram makes me feel like I “need” to have a more photogenic life, “need” to be capturing every moment in vintage filters. Twitter makes me feel like I “need” to have a stronger opinion on issues, “need” to have a louder – albeit more succinct – voice on…well…just about anything. Facebook makes me feel like I “need” to keep everyone updated through play-by-play on all the current goings-on in our family.

I put no blame on these services themselves. If anything, their purpose is like the simple function of a sliding door: to allow access from one point to another. Sites like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, even just blogs in general – they offer access to different perspectives, education, inspiration. This is all GOOD.

It’s my own internal compass that jerks the needle too quickly in their direction sometimes, pulling me along a path that feels more by command than by choice.

The internet is for me what the sliding door is to my puppy. It’s something that seems to offer choices that – if not taken – mean I’m missing out on the elusive “even better” I simply must have. But really, what I must do,  what I need to do is remember that whatever side I’m on, wherever I’m at in my life, it’s all good. I can be content, I can be whole, I can be me and my own “enough” and still appreciate all that’s out there on the internet without feeling the “need” to catch up, keep up, and follow suit. Which might make for fewer vintage-filtered photos on Instagram, but a happier life right in front of my eyes.

_______________________________________________________________

The Internet and the Sliding Door is original, copyrighted content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The post The Internet and the Sliding Door appeared first on Tree, Root, and Twig.

Do you remember your first Frosty at Wendy’s?

My son Eli, with one of his first Frosty experiences at Wendy’s.

Try as I might, I can’t actually remember the first time I tried a Wendy’s Frosty – it seems the tasty deliciousness has been a part of my life for a long, long time!

This Father’s Day weekend, not only can you enjoy a Wendy’s Frosty for the yummy taste of it, but your purchase will benefit the cause of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, which is a program that helps foster children in need find great homes.

From June 15-16 – Wendy’s will donate 50 cents to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA) for each Frosty purchased. Any Frosty purchase counts – even their newest product, the Frosty Waffle Cone.

You can also use the hashtag #FirstFrosty on Facebook and Twitter and share your first Frosty memories. For each story, image or video, Wendy’s will donate $1, up to $50,000.

GIVEAWAY

One (1) reader at Tree, Root, and Twig will win a $10 Gift Card to Wendy’s for their own Frosty Family Outing. US entries only, please. This will be a quick giveaway, ending at midnight (PST) on Wednesday, June 19. To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

__________________________________________________________

Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend {Giveaway} is original, copyrighted content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The post Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend {Giveaway} appeared first on Tree, Root, and Twig.

But 400 was still a lot to me, and judging by the fact that the photos from my last trip to NYC (taken three years ago) are still on my hard drive, I was fighting against my lazy nature to leave the digital pictures in digital limbo.

Luckily, I’ve known about – and have been religiously ordering – photo printing from Groovebook for several months now, and realized that they were the perfect solution for taking our vacation memories and bringing them to hard-copy life.

Groovebook is a free app for iPhone and Android that helps you upload up to 100 photos/month to their service, then they print the photos and ship them to you for just $2.99. If you need more than 100 photos – like I did after our vacation to NYC – you simply email Groovebook support and they will allow you to upload an addition 100, and then another 100, and more and more and more – as many as you need (*note: you can actually do less than 100, too)! You still pay the $2.99 for each book, and they ship to you in about 10 days.

I realize that some people love the online services where you can actually print a more decorative, personalized photo book that comes to you already made. I’ve used those before and like them, too – to a certain extent. In my experience, when you get into the hundreds with the photos, the photo book creation process can become a little cumbersome, and it will certainly cost more than $2.99-per-100 photos.

I also decided this time around to do a comparison between Groovebook printing and the photo printing at my local big-box-store. Again, Groovebook absolutely won for being cost effective – at roughly 3cents/picture, it was FAR cheaper than my store’s 14cents/picture. And how did the quality compare? I will say, printing on a glossy finish at my big-box-store made the photos a little more vibrant, but not significantly (to me anyway).

big-box-store printing on the left, Groovebook on the right

Every single picture I took in New York City was on either my iPhone or my Samsung Galaxy Camera, so it was a cinch to upload via the Groovebook app. But if your photos are on a non-smartphone digital camera, Groovebook has some ideas for how to still use their services on their support page.

PRINT 100 PHOTOS WITH GROOVEBOOK FOR FREE

Want to give Groovebook a try?

1. Download their free app for iPhone or Android.
2. Follow signup instructions.
3. Enter promo code NERDIN1 at checkout.
4. Begin reviewing and uploading photos.

If you try Groovebook, make sure to come back and tell me what you think!

*Totally unnecessary non-disclosure disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Not in any way, shape, or form. I am a customer of Groovebook and love their services. I pay my $2.99/month, just like everyone else. The free promo code comes in my photo book each month, and I can share it with as many people as I want. I love Groovebook and want you to know about them, and I love you, so I want you to try them for free!

__________________________________________________

What to Do with the 400 Pictures You Took while on Vacation is original, copyrighted content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The post What to Do with the 400 Pictures You Took while on Vacation appeared first on Tree, Root, and Twig.

Clean floors are my #1 housekeeping priority. Above dishes, above laundry, above dusting or anything else – I am a fanatic about our floors being free from the dirt, hair, and debris that comes from living in a house with seven people and four pets.

But one major design frustration I’ve found in all the vacuums I have ever used is how quickly the brushroll gets clogged up, and how difficult it is to clean it off. Talk about gross – there’s no way to get around it being a very messy – and hands-on – experience. And the last time I cleaned the brushroll on my old vacuum, I somehow didn’t replace the belt and roll in exactly the right position, and it hasn’t worked as well since. So frustrating!

So when I was contacted to review the Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean Bagless Upright Vacuum, I was intrigued. The main feature on this vacuum is the abrasion device completely enclosed inside the vacuum to clear tangled hair and string at the touch of a button. Wait, what? The vacuum cleans the brushroll for me?? YES! To fully appreciate how this works, you have to see it in action:

Brilliant! And even better? It works! I’ve been using the Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean for the past month, which was more than enough time to collect a brushroll full of hair. Just 10 seconds of lightly stepping on the pad for the abrasion device on the Electrolux Precision vacuum, and the brushroll was completely cleared! And all hair was simply sucked up into the bagless canister. I’m telling you: this is absolute genius.

But there have been other features I’ve really enjoyed about the Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean, too.

• I like that it’s lightweight, and the lower profile means I’ve been able to get under furniture, beds, and kitchen cabinets.
• I love how easy the one-touch, quick-release wand is to release from the vacuum, and the attachments are fantastic.
• I also appreciate how quick and easy it is to switch from carpet to bare floor, since we have a large mix of both in our house.
• The suction is very powerful on the Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean, and I appreciate the rubberized sides of the vacuum itself (I tend to run into things while vacuuming!).

GIVEAWAY

I am SO excited to be giving away an Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean Bagless Upright Vacuum to one (1) lucky reader here at Tree, Root, and Twig.

In addition to just being a great vacuum, it solves a major pain-point for consumers everywhere with the innovative Brushroll Clean technology. It’s fantastic!

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below. US entries only, please; all entries due by midnight, Monday, June 24. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

____________________________________________________________

Introducing the Electrolux Precision Vacuum with Brushroll Clean Technology {Review & Giveaway} is original, copyrighted content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The post Introducing the Electrolux Precision Vacuum with Brushroll Clean Technology {Review & Giveaway} appeared first on Tree, Root, and Twig.