Month: April 2011

Smartfish Whirl Mini Notebook Mouse

Many of you are like me and run a web based business, so you know what the constant clicking and mouse usage can feel like on your hands and fingers. There is a new mouse in town that will make mouse usage much more comfortable. 

Newport Nautical Decor – Sand Dollar Toss Pillow

Newport Nautical Decor – Sand Dollar Toss Pillow

Today I have a really cool company to introduce to you if you love nautical home decor or coastal home decor and that company is called Newport Nautical Decor. When you shop their online web site store you will find it super easy to navigate. 

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKTHROUGHI love to read. I have been a voracious reader since I started reading in kindergarten and remember walking to the library everyday after school since the library at school did not contain enough books to keep me busy. I would read the 2 or 3 I checked out and the next day I would walk back again. My favorite stories are with female characters set in today’s time. When I heard about this book and read the synopsis, I knew I wanted to read it.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough (January 2011), by author and New York Times contributor Ruth Pennebaker, is a story that depicts a mother, daughter, and grandmother financially forced to live together under one roof:
* Joanie is a recently-divorced fiftysomething, shakily re-entering the work force;

* Her daughter Caroline is an angry teen in high school, who believes the best way to express herself is with hot pink hair (and “specially” prepared brownies);

* Ivy is Joanie’s 78-year-old mother, who has recently taken up shoplifting.

And to top things off, Richard, Joanie’s ex-husband, has just announced that his much younger girlfriend is pregnant.

Now that is my kind of read! True to life, a bit quirky and something I can relate to in my own life LOL

The Author, Ruth Pennebaker says “WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKTHROUGH is about the complexity, craziness and humor of the mother-daughter relationship. It’s about how you can live very closely with other people – even people you love – and still have no idea what’s going on with their lives since you’re so focused on your own hopes and sorrows and private dramas.”

My Review:
One of the things that I love about this book is that the characters are real. You find the someone in this story that you can relate to and several times I was agreeing with the conversation, thinking how just like me that was. The book is very well written in today’s language with some swearing and lots of humor and some sarcasm. It is lighthearted at times, with drama and the normal chaos our lives seem to have. A single mom taking care of her mom and trying to be a mom as well is just too much sometimes in real life and as portrayed in this fun, quirky book.

Joanie, the mom, feels out of place in her job, hates it and hates knowing that she is going to turn 50. Grandma Ivy who is out of place and used to hate immigration issues, now wants to help a friend who is having those same issues. Depression and a stint at shoplifting just for grins doesn’t help much either. And Caroline, the daughter… Awkward as a teenager, she is trying to fit in somewhere, live with a huge crush on a guy and just deal with mom, dad and step mom to be who is pregnant and wants a friend. Throw in all of the emotions 3 women can have living together in one house and you have a great read.

The story flowed very nicely and I like the author writing style. I am a very fast reader and if I have to go back and re read a section it means that it did not flow nicely or it was really a good part of the book. I found myself re reading a couple of parts because of the story line, so that’s a good thing.

Disclaimer: Please read our Official Rules before entering this giveaway. Chris Carroll has personally reviewed these products. I was provided with a free sample of this product to review. I have not received any Monetary Compensation for this review but did receive free products to use & evaluate for the review. Your thoughts & opinions may differ from me. All Content on this site is Copyright of the Two Classy Chics – Shelly Hill and Chris Carroll. All Rights Reserved

Getting My Family’s Laundry Clean with Celadon Road Laundry Detergent

Getting My Family’s Laundry Clean with Celadon Road Laundry Detergent

Today with great pleasure I get to introduce you to the Direct Sales Company called Celadon Road which markets it’s “green” and healthy products exclusively through it’s network of independent consultants. I had never heard of Celadon Road until a few months ago when I 

SheerTan Sunless Spray Tan Gives Skin a Beautiful Glow

With summer right around the corner, it’s time to ditch that pale winter skin and add some glow to your skin. Our next product that we reviewed is something that is affordable, easy to use and more importantly…gives you a great glowing tan that you 

Prissy’s of Vidalia – Southern Gourmet Food

Prissy’s of Vidalia – Southern Gourmet Food

Prissy's Vidalia Sweet Onion DressingsToday I have a fabulous company to introduce you to called Prissy’s of Vidalia which was started in 1986 in a small kitchen in Vidalia, Georgia. Prissy’s Inc. is a Southern Gourmet Food Company where you can find delicious food items such as gourmet dips, dressings, jellies, barbecue sauces, hot sauces, relishes, fruit butters, preserves, gourmet beverages and so much more! If you love the gourmet goodness of the South…you are going to love Prissy’s of Vidalia!

Here is some history on the company: (provided to me by the company):  Prissy’s of Vidalia was started in 1986 in a small kitchen in Vidalia, Georgia. Priscilla Oxley had the idea of creating a quality specific food that looked attractive, tasted good and was made with quality ingredients. In the beginning, the focus was on recipes made with Vidalia Sweet Onions, however…due to consumer demand, Prissy’s expanded into other Southern recipes with an emphasis on the Sweet Georgia Peach. Today, Prissy’s continues to promote those two items but has expanded into other Southern Foods such as Pickled Watermelon Rind, Pickled Okra, Pickled Asparagus and an array of other fresh vegetables and fruits. The growth and demand of these types of products has been a direct result of consumers realizing that Priscilla has mastered these special southern recipes while still having a down home flavor. Presently, Prissy’s has over 100 gourmet food items and is still growing.

Our Review:
As someone who loves to cook, bake and entertain guests in my home…I was super excited about doing a product review for Prissy’s of Vidalia. I wanted to entertain some guests and throw a party and use the items I was sent at the party but ended up in the hospital for 26 days. With that said, I decided to have hubby bring in the 2 products along with a variety of tortilla chips and pretzels and we treated the afternoon nursing staff with a taste testing party of Southern Gourmet Goodness!

First up…we received a 10 oz. jar of Prissy’s Vidalia Onion & Peach Salsa which we served to them with 2 bags of organic tortilla chips. In a matter of 30 minutes….the entire jar and both bags of chips were completely gone! The Vidalia Onion & Peach Salsa is a wonderful taste of unique salsa that is excellent with tortilla chips or you can use it on baked/broiled fish and chicken dishes. It is Fat-Free & Cholesterol Free and has a 2-year shelf life. Every nurse who tried the salsa that afternoon told me that they loved the taste that it was mild but had a slight kick to it and tasted like it was freshly made an hour earlier. They could not believe that it came from a jar even though Prissy’s uses all fresh ingredients. They all told me that they would indeed purchase this salsa to serve to their family, friends or to party guests and NONE of them had a negative thing to say about it.

I will admit, I didn’t get to try the salsa at all but I did make sure that I got a few bites of the next product! The second product we reviewed and served to our “nurse friends” was Prissy’s Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip that also comes in a 10 oz. jar. For this one…hubby brought in 3 bags of pretzels (rods, twists and nuggets) and we served the pretzel dip to them with the pretzels. Again, this one was gone in less than 30 minutes and they even wiped the jar clean!

I love pretzels and pretzel dips so I made sure that I got a few taste tests of this one and I will admit, this is one of the best gourmet honey mustard pretzel dips that I have ever tasted….if not the best…certainly second best! A good pretzel dip will blend the ingredients together so well that it’s sweet but yet has a mild spicy kick to it and this pretzel dip is no exception. At first I would taste the “sweet” but after a few seconds I got my mild “kick” that I expected. The pretzel dip tasted freshly homemade, had the perfect blend of ingredients and I loved that after just one taste…you craved seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. within seconds. You can’t stop with just one bite…you have to keep going until it’s gone and like I said….we all gobbled it up in less than 30 minutes. Amy (one of the nurses) told me that day that she had never had a pretzel dip before and was now a firm believer that dipping pretzels in a pretzel dip was much more delicious than a bag of chips in a chip dip. Yeah! (I have always been a pretzel dipper so I am glad to see a new convert).

Overall Impression:
We all loved both products we sampled that afternoon and my only complaint would be that I didn’t have more of it to gobble up myself. Sigh….next time I won’t be generous and share! Seriously though…both of these products are just delicious and I seriously doubt you could make a better tasting Peach Salsa or Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip! I highly recommend that you check out Prissy’s and all of their wonderful Southern Gourmet Food Products…especially the 2 products we reviewed!

I would personally like to thank Prissy’s for allowing me to do a product review for their company and for hosting a giveaway here on the Two Classy Chics Blog.

Disclaimer: Shelly Hill has personally reviewed the product listed above. Shelly has not received any monetary compensation for her review. Shelly did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ. Two Classy Chics is not responsible for delivery of any giveaway items won from this blog. We are not responsible for injury or mis-use of any products won from the Two Classy Chics Blog. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy before entering our giveaways. Thanks!

Garlic Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I don’t know about you, but my family loves garlic. We use it whenever we can and even if it doesn’t make sense. LOL So when I got the opportunity to review garlic-infused extra-virgin olive oil, I jumped at the chance! Garlic Gold is a 

Shaun The Sheep DVD

Shaun The Sheep DVD

As a grandmother to a 22 month old little grand daughter I am always looking for affordable quality DVD’s for our wee one that are fun and geared towards preschoolers and the new Shaun the Sheep: The Big Chase DVD that was just released on