Monster art by Johnathan Paine.

 

At the end of May I did a review on the brand Not Another Rubber Ducky, in the review I spoke about the creator Johnathan Paine. Johnathan Paine is a 3D character artist whose name you have seen in a number of movies & may not even have realized if you aren't someone who frequently pays attention to the credits. He has worked on films such as UP, Cars, and more! Now you can own a piece of his signed artwork through his Etsy shop called Me and My Monsters. He sells a number of greeting cards & art prints featuring his creature artwork. His studio is located in Canada, but my package arrived quickly and in excellent condition. 

I recently received one of his funny zombie greeting cards & an art print of Lonely Lionel who is a creature from the black lagoon. The greeting cards are 5 x 7 with a blank interior & comes with a white envelope. The cardstock used it thick, sturdy and the print looks fabulous on the front, full of color and fine details. It looks so nice, it is almost a shame to gift it or write in it because you'll want to keep it looking the same. The back of the card has a bit of info on the artist printed on them so whomever you gift it to can learn about the artist behind the print. The zombie is a little zany which adds a lot to his personality, he looks like a zombie that you might see as the role of a pet or friend zombie in a animated movie verses just being a crazed brain eater. Your card will arrive in a protective sleeve to keep your card looking crispy, clean & vibrant ready to be gifted.

I absolutely love lonely Lionel, the art print has a lot of fine details shown within the creature itself & in the background. This print also arrived in a protective sleeve and also had a protective sheet in front of the photo so nothing rubs off onto the plastic of the protective cover. The art print looks like a photography taken under water, I had bought a frame for it, however I had bought the wrong size. Once I get a proper frame, I can't wait to have this hanging up on my wall with my other slightly spooky home decor. Inside of your package, you'll also find special instructions on how to care for your print & frame it properly, so the ink doesn't get smudged or ruined. As a bonus the print has been signed & dated. So if you are a fan of his art, or are looking for a unique gift for a loved one stop by his Etsy shop to see what he has in store for you.

Disclaimer- Me and My Monsters provided the products mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Pogo Pass - Family fun this summer in AZ without breaking the bank.

Summer is here which means that the kids are out of school & you are looking for activities to do with your kids that won't break the bank. With how expensive gas is at the moment mixed with how much it cost for admission & drinks/snacks when you are out it can really add up which means you'll likely cut back on the amount of things you'll be able to do this summer. Pogo Pass can come in handy to help you cut back on some of those costs allowing you to still get the most out of the summer. Pogo Passes are available in five different cities (in four different states), the promotional code above will work on all of the different passes, however I will be focusing on the Phoenix Pogo Pass as that is where we are located. Passes are normally $119.98 each, but if you use the code on the banner above (6c8d10a3) you can get your pass for only $59.99. You might be thinking "Okay Luna, I can get the pass for half off, but then what do I do with it?"

Pogo Pass works along side a number of local business which allow you a certain amount of visits to each location for free using your Pogo Pass. A large majority of the attractions are located between Phoenix,Gilbert/Chandler & Mesa along with one in Scottsdale plus a few in Tucson. I put together a quick map showing where a large majority of the locations are found.

Is the pass worth purchasing? In my opinion the pass more than pays for itself, if you are an adult without children there are a few things on the pass that are for small children but there is a ton of activities for teens & adults so you'll still get your moneys worth out of the pass. 

Here are just some of the things that come included with your pass & this also only shows the cost of visiting each location for ONE adult and the list below does not show everything that is included in the pass! 

Gravity Extreme Zone - $17.99
Phoenix Zoo - $37.95
Golfland Sunsplash - $49.87
810 Billards - $10
AZ Ice skating - $10
Enchanted Island - $23.75
Fat Cats (Bowling + Mini Golf) - $18
Pangea Land of the Dinosaurs - $19.95
Paradox Escape Room - $25
Phoenix Rock Gym - $15
VIP Airsoft - $23.80
Total: $251.31 

Using the Pogo Pass app on your phone you'll be able to keep track of which attractions you've already claimed uses for and what you have left along with a list of what comes included & what days/times you'll be able to use your pass. Some of the attractions will allow you to visit more than once for free using your pogo pass, for example you'll get one visit to the Phoenix Zoo and you can get one free round of bowling + a round of mini golf once a WEEK at Fat Cats. So even if you were to only visit the locations listed above one time, after paying for the pass itself you'll have saved yourself $194. 

Are there any extra fees? One or two places offer you the chance to upgrade from the basic package that comes with the Pogo Pass to a larger package or for a longer session, & one or two places will require a small fee such as the rental cost of bowling shoes so your costs may vary slightly. You'll also notice discount at some of the locations for food, you are not required to use the codes or upgrade to larger packages if you do not want to! You can stick with just what is included in your pass for free.

You can visit each attraction on a different day or you can work out a plan to have fun all day long visiting multiple locations in a single day. Most of these locations are a 30-45 minute drive for us & with the crazy prices at the gas pumps right now we decided it would work out best for us to group some of the locations that are near each other into a day of fun. We spent one whole day out of the house having fun, we stopped at Gravity Extreme Zone, Uptown Jungle, a mini golf spot we enjoy, & Fat Cats, we had planned on stopping at Pangea as well, but we wouldn't have made it in time before they closed. Later in the summer we will have another day where we visit several other attractions as well & we will still have vouchers left over for the outdoor activities (Enchanted Island + Phoenix Zoo) left for when the weather cools down again. Pogo Passes are good for 1 year from date of purchase so don't feel pressured into using all of your attraction visits at once. 

The Pogo Pass app is easy to navigate & simple to use, all of the locations also make it easy for you to use your pass to get entry without any issues! We haven't run into any issues with our Pogo Passes yet. 

USE CODE 6c8d10a3 to get your Pogo Pass for only $59.99

Disclaimer- Pogo Pass provided two of our passes in exchange for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. With the use of the affiliation code above I will earn a small commission on each pass sold. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Turn Psycho Killer into a drinking game with Bloody Mary!

Last year I found a card game that quickly become a favorite in our household, that game was called Psycho Killer by Escape Tabletop Games. I did a review on the base game which can be found by clicking HERE. We also did a review on two expansion packs that come with the game, that review can be found HERE. Now I am going to share another of their expansion packs with you that takes the base game and turns it into a fun drinking game for you & your friends. The game can get a little intense and will create a lot of laughs along the way!

The name of the expansion pack is "Blood Mary" which is quite fitting for it being a horror based game and a drinking game. You will need the base game in order to play with this expansion pack otherwise it won't work, the base game cost $29 and this expansion cost $14.95. The base game is recommended for ages 13+ for 2-6 players, however it depends on the parent, my son is nine and he loves playing this game with us. We have also played with more than six people at a time by playing with the base game and mixing in the other two expansion packs at the same time. For Bloody Mary, you can choose to play it strictly as a drinking game or you can come up with another way to play it if you aren't a drinker such as eating candies or drinking a normal drink. 

Bloody Mary will replace some of the cards in the base game so be sure to check the rules & instructions before playing. The Psycho's will be replaced with Bloody Mary and a few of the other cards will be swapped as well to turn it into the drinking game version. 

Some of the new cards in this edition include "Book of the braindead" which tells you to finish your drink in order to be able to pick up a card from the discard pile. "The Priest!" This is a fun one, it states "Each time you make the sign of the cross, the last player to copy you must take a drink". This is the first card where the other players really need to be paying attention after it is played so it adds an extra layer of intensity to the game. As you can tell with the right combination of cards you can get buzzed pretty quickly playing this game and it adds a new twist to party games. Like they always say in alcohol commercials drink responsibly, and have fun while playing the game!!

Disclaimer- Escape Tabletop Games provided a box for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Gift dad a delicious cheese assortment for Father's Day! + Giveaway!

Father's Day is coming up soon! If you are looking for a last-minute gift idea, you should look into getting a cheese bundle from Cheese Brothers. They sell a wide range of cheese flavors along with some delicious small-town goods from partners they work with to put together gift boxes. We had the pleasure of working with them to check out their Deluxe Charcuterie Pack and I get to host a giveaway for one as well. 

The Deluxe Charcuterie pack comes with 6oz of Dill havarti, Fratello, and smoked gouda (two blocks each), 5oz Rhapsody & 8-Year-Aged cheddar (two blocks each), two  5.5 oz. salamis from La Quercia Meats of Norwalk, IA, One 8 oz. jar of Cherry Lavender Jam from Bushel and Peck of Beloit, Wisconsin and One 8 oz. jar of Classic artisan mustard from Mustard and Co., plus one 5 oz. package of Classic White Organic from Potter's Crackers of Madison, Wi. This gift pack can be purchased for $119.95 and includes free shipping & they have a smaller pack which includes half of the items for $65. We think both are a great value for the price given how much cheese is in each pack, and if you aren't a fan of the Charcuterie packs they have plenty of other gift options to select from or you can buy the individual cheeses by themselves. 

We decided to take the goods over to my mother's house where we put together a charcuterie tray for everyone to snack on. I included the goods from this pack along with a few other things I picked up from the store for everyone to graze on including honey roasted almonds, grapes, pears and assortment of crackers. I had never put together an actual charcuterie board before & it was a lot of fun to do, I enjoyed laying everything out and looked forward to trying out the variety of cheese. 

Most of us are fans of eating cheese, but can be a bit picky with the types of cheese we like. It was surprising just how much everyone loved all of the cheese, even my mom liked one of the stronger bold flavored cheese samples that we weren't sure she would like. Each cheese had it's own unique flavor & scent, some smell a little stronger than the others but all smell delicious. The favorite seemed to be the Fratello which is a mixture of parmesan and Asiago as it was the first to disappear, followed by Rhapsody & the gouda. I actually had to pull the cheese back out to cut some more to refill the tray because everyone enjoyed it so much. We really liked how soft some of the cheese was, I think they would go fantastic in a number of dishes as well such as mac & cheese or pasta.

I am not very good at trying to break down the flavor profile of cheese, so I am not going to attempt to break down each cheese for you. However, I will tell you that I normally don't enjoy many cheeses by themselves or I just don't like them at all, there wasn't a single cheese in this collection that I didn't enjoy. I also really loved the jam included in this box, it was good on crackers, with the cheese and on toast, the mustard was also pretty good and that is coming from someone who eats mustard very rarely. There was very little left on the snack tray after everyone had grazed before dinner, it was nice to have this put together so we could all try the Cheese Brothers. We will all be a bit sad once all the cheese is gone, so it is a given that sometime in the future we will likely order more cheese. I am also looking forward to using some of what we have left in various meals through out the week. 

Prize Alert:
One lucky winner is going to receive a Deluxe Charcuterie Pack to try out for themselves.

This is open US Residents only! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 6/22/2022 This is being extended until the 26th!

Giveaway entry question: Leave me a blog comment letting me know which cheese from their catalogue you'd like to try. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Cheese Brothers for the review & giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Birdcall - One of Arizona's newest Restaurants!

 

A new restaurant just opened up their first location in Arizona & we were lucky enough to head over and see what they are all about. Birdcall is a restaurant that specializes in chicken sandwiches, chicken strips, salads & milkshakes that originally started in Colorado. The first ever location in Arizona is located at 7204 East Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 with a second location in Phoenix coming soon.

This restaurant is a great place to check out for anyone who wants to try new foods, and it is also a good spot for introverts who want to go out but don't really want to interact with anyone. How do they manage that? They have an automated system set up for ordering your food, and grabbing your food which cuts down how many people you need to talk with, in fact if you didn't want to talk to anyone you don't have to. When you first enter the restaurant there are four different kiosks where you will place your order, everything is set up in an easy to navigate fashion to make ordering quick & painless. Once you are finished ordering, there are cups right at the kiosk so you can take one if you ordered a drink with your meal and the screen will also instruct you on how to pick up your food. 

The kiosk will have all of the prices available directly on the screen along with the possibility of completely customizing your sandwich, you can change what kind of bun you want and all of the ingredients on the sandwich so you can add or remove anything you don't want. To pick up your food, you'll find another section beside the fountain drinks where there is a large monitor and several cubby holes. The monitor will show your name, how long of a wait your food will take & then once it gets placed into a cubby it will reflect which one it is in so you can grab it. The only time an employee had to call out a customers name to pick something up is if the customer ordered an alcoholic beverage that needed to be grabbed from the bar or the order had been sitting in the window for a longer than normal amount of time. 

My husband and I choose to leave our sandwiches how they are, but my children enjoyed having the option to change one or two things on their sandwich. We went with a gluten free bun for my son, and my daughter removed two of the items that came on the sandwich she selected. The kiosks give you the option to turn your sandwich into a meal which then allows you to add a side & a drink. Depending on your budget the sides range in price, the Brussel sprout salad is about half the price of a sandwich while the fries are only $3.14.  We ordered four meals and the total came out to $62.40 pre-tax, we were using two gift cards so to make ordering easier I placed two orders and had the receipt email to me so I could show you a break down.

We all really enjoyed the sandwich we picked out, the chicken was well cooked it was crispy yet juicy with a nice bun and an assortment of ingredients added on. The sandwich is big enough to fill you up even without a side, however if you do add on a side they have plenty to select from. We tried three different sides; fries, Birdcall tots and the shaved Brussel Sprout salad. We all agreed that the tots were pretty awesome, I'd stop by just to grab some tots! The fries were great as well, my kids aren't big fans of Brussel sprouts so my husband and I tried it out. I liked it, but would prefer it with a little less cheese and my husband thought it was perfect the way it was. Fountain drink wise, they had several store brand flavors and some regular fountain drinks, we decided to try out some of the store brand flavors. My husband and kids each found a flavor they enjoyed, I tried the one I grabbed and a sip of theirs but I personally wasn't a big fan of any of them so I will stick with normal soda choices the next time we visit. 

After you are finished with your lunch/dinner they have several milkshake flavors to order and a delicious sounding cookie! If you want to add a bit of adult spice to your milkshake they will add vodka for an extra $3 or you can purchase a mixed drink or beer from the bar area. One of the things we liked most about Birdcall is that they have two old school arcade machines that are Free to play! One of them has Mortal Combat and the other has an assortment of games, you are free to play them while waiting for your food or after you are finished. I didn't need to use the restroom while we were there, but my daughter let me know the bathrooms were quite clean & even had fancy lotion that smelled nice for you to use after washing your hands. The restaurant itself was very clean as well, a staff member was going around wiping off tables after everyone left and wished everyone a good day as they were leaving. 

I managed to get lucky & we arrived at just the right time. When we arrived there were only a few other people in the restaurant so we mostly had free reign of seat choices & I was able to snap a few photos of the inside of the restaurant without having a lot of the other guests in the photos as I always feel a little bad snapping photos of strangers that will go online. The seating area has table & chairs (which are pretty comfortable) and booths. Not too long after we got there a huge rush of people came in & almost every seat was taken so you can tell a lot of people want to stop & try it out, or are back to visit for a second time because even as I was getting up from our table with our drinks to leave someone had asked me if we were finished with our table and swooped in to grab it before someone else could. So depending on what time of day you arrive you can always opt to get your food to go if the inside of the restaurant is full or they have outside seating as well. Over all it was a great experience & the food was great. 

Disclaimer-  Birdcall provided me with two $25 gift cards for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

June Beauty & The Book Giveaway!

 

💙 Hello June, The first half of the year always seems to go by so quickly! Last month was a good month, I celebrated my birthday & mothers day, we tried out a great new place to eat which I will share soon and the summer heat kicked off swimming season, so we've been spending a lot of time in the pool. This month will be fun as well with my husbands birthday, fathers day and lots of fun places we have on our list to visit, it is sure to be another busy yet fun month which we are looking forward to. 

Tomorrow I will be posting an announcement on my Facebook page with the winner of last month's Beauty & The Book giveaway along with some other recent giveaway winners. Ready for a fresh new Beauty & The Book giveaway? Let's get into the details for this month's giveaway.

This month's giveaway bundle includes;

★ A hardcover copy if "Finding You"
★ Emera Blue Shampoo
★ Amika Dry Shampoo
★ Found Face Mask
★ Neutrogena Face Mask x2
★ Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizer 
★ Pink round Lip balm
★ Large Nail File
★ Red & Pink heart zipper beauty bag
★ Kat Von D "Cake Pencil" Eyeliner
★ Wet n Wild eyeshadow
★ IT Cosmetics mascara
★ Jergens lotion
★ Wet N Wild 
★ Ion False Lashes
★ Real Techniques air cushion sponge
★ Revlon lipstick
★ CBD Shampoo/Conditioner set

This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 6/30/2022

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling me about something fun you'll be doing this month. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can complete as many entries as you want, there are several one-time activities and daily activities that can earn you more entries into the giveaway. Be sure to keep an eye on my site & social media pages for more giveaways headed your way.

Dinosaur play & explore sensory bin from HGUSA.

 

Sensory bins & tables have become quite popular over the last few years as they are a great hands-on learning experience. If you are looking to start using a sensory bin with your child, but don't know where to start then Horizon Group USA has you covered. They sell three different pre-assembled sensory bins that come with everything you need to get started on your sensory journey. The three themes are Seal Life, Dino Galaxy & Unicorn. 

My kids and I were recently sent the Dino Galaxy Sensor Bin in our partnership box & it is a pretty neat bin. The storage container for it is a lot larger than I had expected it to be, it measures 14.5 x 9.75 x 3.25 with a lid that locks shut to keep everything inside. 

The sensory bin comes with green smiley sand, garden pebbles, a paint brush, a foam volcano, a shovel, a roller, toy trees and dinosaur figurines of course. The only thing I would change about the contents is having double the amount of sand in it as it isn't really enough to cover the half of the bin like it is supposed to. Younger children tend to like to play with sensory bins, but this was fun for my nine year old too because we all love the play sand from HGUSA. 

Each kit sells for $14.99 on Amazon, you can buy just one or collect all three. After your child is done playing with it simply lock the lid on & keep it stored until later. The slimey sand can get a little dried out over time if left out so I suggest keeping it stored in a sealed storage container or baggie.

Disclaimer-  Horizon Group USA provided me with the products mentioned above for the review + giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Tesalate sand free towels are perfect for the beach or poolside!

 

Temperatures are rising which means it is water season! Whether you are hitting the pool, beach, or river/lake a good towel is important to bring with. A towel brand called Tesalate has recently been popping up all over the place & I was given a chance to try out one of their towels for myself to see what all the hype is about. Tesalate towels are not only absorbent but they are designed to be sand free so you won't be bringing back half of the beach into your car & home. 

There are a lot of nice designs to choose from so it took a moment to narrow down which design to select, I ended up going with Ripple because I like how it is a wave design done in tie-dye. Their regular sized beach towels are 63 x 31 inches, & if that isn't big enough they sell a XL beach towel meant for two that measures 63 x 63 inches. Regular towels are $59 each, and XL are $99, they often have sales so keep an eye out for those. They have a two sided design, the underside has a black & white design so it is like two towels in one. Tesalate also offers workout towels which are a smaller version of their regular towel great for the gym. 

Each towel comes with a free carrying bag & has a small handle attached to the towel itself so you can hang it up anywhere you'd like. Sometimes before I get into the pool I like to sit by the side & soak up a little sun and this towel is really nice to sit on. It helps protect my skin from the heat of the pavement and any dirt, rocks or other assorted things that might be on the sidewalk around the pool that I wouldn't want directly touching my skin. You can fold it in half to put next to the pool for a little extra cushion or lay it out completely flat so that someone can sit next to you.

I have not had the chance to test it out in sand yet, but it has done a great job staying clean. It absorbs well, I've used it to dry off after getting out of the pool and it dries quickly as well which is a plus. Washing it is simple, it just needs to be added to your normal washing routine, they do recommend taking it out to dry as it dries quickly anyways, but I haven't had any issue with it in the drier. I like the soft materials the towel is made out of & how light weight it is, you can either roll it up or fold it up small to fit into it's carrying bag or your beach bag which makes it great for travel. I look forward to using this towel more & it has definitely become a staple in our beach/swim bag. 

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Tesalate for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.