Archives for May 2014

Greatest Gifts For The Greatest Dads at Best Buy @BestBuy #GreatestDad

May 31, 2014 By Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

Father’s Day is right around the corner.  Have you decided what you are getting for the Dad in your life?  Most Dads can fall into one of several categories (The Entertainer, The Gizmo Guru, The Fitness Fanatic, and The Memory Maker).  Good thing Best Buy has you covered for types of Dads with great gifts including many under $100 or under $50 in their Best Buy Gift Center.  Plus they have a low price guarantee and FREE Shipping on qualified orders.

o    Entertainer – Gifts for the Dad who aspires to set up the ultimate man cave complete with gaming, sports, movies, listing to music, or just hanging out. This Dad loves to share so it also has everything at the ready for entertaining a crowd.

o    Gizmo Guru: Gifts for the dad that always wants to take his tech to the next level with the latest and greatest – always connected, at home and on the go.

o    Fitness Fanatic: Dad who doesn’t let age slow him down.  He has no fear and loves adventure, but aspires to be/keep healthy as well. Dad uses technology in a wide range of ways in his active life both for himself and the family for instance; Go Pro and Fit Bit to track activity and recording adventures, to portable batteries for on the go fitness, camping while listening to music / watching movies on the smartphone

o    Memory Maker: For the Dad that makes sure that not only all the memories are captured and stored (video/photo) but keeps the family organized and under control. Gifts for him make his life easer; Dad pays the bills with laptop, videos kids, back up storage for pictures, prints out schedules for baseball practices and games, etc.

breville ovenMy father would fall under The Entertainer category.  My parents got divorced about 15 years ago and since then my father has learned to cook and enjoys entertaining.  He’s a little Martha Stewart and a little Emeril (BAM!).  I think he would love the Breville Smart Oven.  It is a great little oven that features Element IQ technology that suggests the ideal cooking temperature and time for each of the 9 menu functions.  It fits a 13″ pizza for easy baking and my father would be able to cook so many different things without heating up his whole house with his regular oven.  Plus I love that the rack automatically ejects halfway out of the oven for the safe removal of hot items.  It also includes a 13″ non-stick pizza pan, 12″ x 12″ enamel baking pan and 12″ x 12″ enamel broil rack for added convenience.

morphieI think my husband is more of a Gizmo Guru so a great gift for him would be the mophie juicepack powerstation XL so he can charge all of his devices on the go.  With a 12,000 mAh capacity and dual micro USB ports, the mophie Juice Pack Powerstation XL 40805BBR charger provides efficient, reliable power to simultaneously charge up to 2 compatible devices. The compact design makes it totally portability and easy to use for any techie on the go.

Make sure to check out some of the other great gift ideas in the Best Buy Gift Center!

Entertainer:

Bose SoundTouch 20 Wi-Fi Music System
Apple TV
Samsung 48″ Class LED 1080p 120Hz Smart HDTV
Krups Beertender
Stone bake pizza oven
Xbox One Console
Xbox One Wireless Controller
Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 2D/3D 1080p 3LCD Projector
Samsung 2.1-Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer
Sony Blu-ray Player
Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray
Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Blu-ray
True Detective TV Show Blu-ray
Slingbox 500
Logitech Harmony Wireless Smart Keyboard
Beats Pill XL
MARGARITVILLE Mixer
8 bottle wine chiller
Breville Smart oven
LG Microwave + Pizza Oven
PlayStation 4 console
Beats Studio Headphones
Marshall Stanmore Bluetooth Speaker
Anki Drive
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1
iPhone 5s Space Grey
HP ENVY TouchSmart Sleekbook Touch-screen Laptop
Powerstation mini Black
Samsung WiFi All Share Hub
iPad Air Lifeproof Nuud Case – Black
$50 iTunes Card
Large Full Motion Mount for TVs 32″-60″
Universal Soundbar Mount

Gizmo Guru:

Lenovo Yoga 2 2-in-1 Touch-Screen Laptop
Amazon Fire TV
SoundTrue Headphons
Bose SoundTouch 20 Wi-Fi Music System
Nest Thermostat
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition Action Camcorder.
mophie space pack
iPad Air with wifi + 4G LTE
1817061 – iPad Air Ultrathin Keyboard Folio Carbon
Xbox One Console
Xbox One Wireless Controller
Nikon D5300 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens.
Logitech Harmony Wireless Smart Keyboard
PlayStation 4 console
PS4 Wireless Controller
Bose SoundLink Mobile III Speaker & Cover
Bose QuietComfort 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling Earbud Headphones
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker & Travel Bag
Samsung Protective Wallet Case for Samsung Galaxy S 5
mophie juicepack powerstation XL
Microsoft Surface Type Cover 2
HP Officejet 6600 Wireless e-All-In-One Printer
SanDisk Ultra Dual 32GB USB 2.0/Micro USB Flash Drive
Samsonite Premium Thin & Light Laptop Case
Targus Metro Rolling Laptop Case
Philips Hue Starter Kit
Breaking Bad Complete Series Blu-ray
$50 iTunes Card
LG 60″ Class LED 1080p 240Hz Smart 3D HDTV
Outdoor TV Antenna

Fitness Fanatic:

Jawbone – UP24 Wireless Activity Tracker
iPod touch 16GB MP3 Player (5th Generation – Latest Model)
GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition Action Camcorder.
GoPro Headstrap Mount
NutriBullet Nutrient Extractor
Sennheiser Adidas In-Ear Sports Headphones with Ear Clip
Otterbox Defender Camo for Samsung Galaxy S 5
LifeProof Bike and Bar Mount
Xbox One Console
Kinect Sports Rivals
Samsung Galaxy S 5
ZAGG InvisibleSHIELD Glass Screen Protector
JBL Charge Portable Indoor/Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker
LifeProof fre Cell Phone Case
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1, 16GB  Black
Canon – EOS 70D DSLR Camera with 18-135mm IS STM Lens.
SanDisk 32GB Ultra Micro Memory Card
Acer Chromebook – 2GB Memory – 16GB Solid State Drive
$50 iTunes Card
Philips Norelco SensoTouch 2D Electric Shaver

Memory Maker:

Nikon D5300 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens.
GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition Action Camcorder.
GoPro Headstrap Mount
Canon PowerShot ELPH 115 IS 16.0MP Digital Camera
Samsung Galaxy 2 Camera
Canon EOS 70D DSLR Camera with 18-135mm IS STM Lens.
Canon VIXIA HF R50 8GB HD Flash Memory Camcorder
Geneva 10 Camera Case
Newport 30 Camera Case
SanDisk 32GB Ultra Micro Memory Card
Canon SELPHY Wireless Compact Photo Printer
OlloClip Photo Lens for iPhone
mophie space pack
HTC One (M8) Amber Gold
$50 iTunes Card

Gifts under $100:

Powerbeats by Dr. Dre Clip-On Earbud Headphones
Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy [Extended Edition] Blu-ray
UE MINI BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Lifeproof Cell Phone Case
In-Case Campus Laptop Bag
Targus Topload Laptop Case
Plantronics BackBeat GO 2 Bluetooth Earbud Headphones with Charging Case
Plantronics Voyager Bluetooth Headset
LG Tone Pro Bluetooth Headset
WowWee MIP Robot

Gifts under $50

Roku Streaming HDMI Stick
Motorola S305 Headphones
Modal Case for iPhone 5/5s
Modal Bluetooth Speaker
Star Wars Trilogy: Episodes I-III Blu-ray
Star Wars Trilogy: Episodes IV-VI Blu-ray
Belkin Sportfit Armband for iPhone 5/5s & 5c
Griffin Survivor for iPhone 5/5s
Samsung Galaxy S 5 S-Views Case
Oster Cordless Rechargeable Electric Wine Bottle Opener
Tech21 Impacts Cell Phone Case
Eric Church – The Outsiders
Insignia Tablet Case
Zagg Invisi HD Shield
Twilight Zone: Fan Favorites
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
Family Guy: Laugh It Up, Fuzzball Blu-ray
Cobra 2-Way Radio
RemoProtocol Remote-Controlled Helicopter
Panasonic Nose and Facial Hair Trimmer
Philips Norelco Electric Razor
Wahl Chrome Pro 25-Piece Haircutting Kit

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Holidays, Miscellaneous Tagged With: , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

My Bumpy Road to Feeling Better #RoadtoRecovery #Fibromyalgia #AdrenalFatigue

May 28, 2014 By 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

adrenal fatigueThis post is a long time coming.  I can’t remember the last time I had energy.  I have been complaining to doctors for YEARS, well over a decade, that I am just too tired for my age.  I saw several doctors in my late 20’s and they all said the same thing, lose a little weight, exercise, and you’ll feel better.  But even when I did lose weight and exercise, I was still EXHAUSTED all the time and my whole body ached.  As I went through my 30’s I had the same primary doctor.  He also dismissed my concerns but I had been made to think it was in my head so many times that I figured I was going to have to live like this forever.  I became increasingly depressed.  The more depressed I became, the more tired I became.  I saw psychiatrists who prescribed antidepressants to help with the depression but I still didn’t feel like I should.  I talked to therapist after therapist which helped with the depression but still I knew something wasn’t right.

A few years ago I took charge of my health.  I researched various medical conditions that sounded like how I was feeling and I stumbled upon Fibromyalgia.  Exhaustion- CHECK!  Aches and pains- CHECK!  Mental fog- CHECK!  And the list goes on.  Armed with information I went to my primary doctor and asked him if what I had was Fibromyalgia and he agreed with me that I was suffering from Fibromyalgia.  I went to a rheumatologist who confirmed my Fibromyalgia diagnosis and over the course of several months put me on a laundry list of meds- Cymbalta, Vyvanse, Nuvigil, Xyrem, and Lyrica.  You would think that with everything I was taking I would feel better but I didn’t.

As my 40th birthday approached I made 2014 the year that I would get my life back.  I had spent most of 2013 exhausted, sleeping on the couch, and basically checked out of life.  I did what I could to give my girls what they needed but I know that I wasn’t being the mom they needed.  I would wake up to help get them off to school and then sleep until it was time to pick them up from school.  I’d come home with them, they would have a snack, relax, and start their homework.  Some nights I was too tired to make dinner or help them with their homework so I would just sleep on the couch as they did their work.  I am blessed to have 2 daughters who do well in school so they didn’t need me for much of their homework but I still felt guilty.  Plus I knew they wanted to get outside to play with me, or do arts and crafts with me, or even cook dinner with me.  They know about my illness and are very understanding about it, but I felt like I was failing them, failing my husband, and failing myself.

In January of this year I found a new primary doctor who I adore.  She listened to my concerns and ran lots of tests.  She said that if I wasn’t feeling on top of the world with all the meds I was taking that I wasn’t taking the right meds.  In addition to Fibromyalgia she diagnosed me with diabetes, high cholesterol, thyroid problems, and severe adrenal fatigue.  That was a wake-up call for sure.  But for the first time in forever I had hope.  My new doctor had a plan.  She put me on medications to control my diabetes and thyroid issues and slowly I’ve been able to ween off of most of my other meds.  We discovered that the root of my problem wasn’t just the Fibromyalgia, but the adrenal fatigue.  What I love about my new doctor is that she supports the use of alternative treatments in conjunction with conventional medicine.  And that began my healing journey and my love of essential oils………

Keep an eye out for my next post about my healing journey…..coming soon……

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Health, Fitness, Weightloss, and Wellness, Life in General, My 2¢ Tagged With: , , , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

South Florida Parenting Baby Fair June 7th, 2014

May 28, 2014 By Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

babyfairLGO.epsAre you expecting or recently had a baby?  Make sure to check out South Florida Parenting’s Baby Fair on June 7, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Pavilion in Boca Raton- 301 Yamato Road

Admission:
$10 in advance (you can get South Florida Parenting Baby Fair tickets here)
$15 at the door

South Florida Parenting’s 2014 Baby Fair is the perfect place for information, education, relaxation and a little pampering – all in a tropical indoor setting at The Pavilion, which is located in the Stonegate Bank building on Yamato Road. The Baby Fair will feature prenatal and baby products and services, educational seminars, “Put your Feet up Lounge” and complimentary beverages. The Pavilion Grille will serve a complete meal or appetizer while you are at the event. Goodie bags with samples and special offers will be provided to the first 500 attendees. Dads can compete for gift cards by taking part in the “Daddy’s Diaper Duty” contests throughout the day.

2014 Baby Fair Seminars: 

Complete schedule of times will be posted  by June 1.

– Miami Children’s Hospital Nicklaus Outpatient Center:
Stages of Physical Development & Speech and Language Development

– Palm Beach County Family Central: Choosing the right daycare

– Florida Dept of Health –  Palm Beach County:
Later delivery gives baby best shot at development

– Pediatric Associates: Baby 101

– Coalition of Palm Beach County Drowning Prevention: Drowning prevention

– Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies: Mom and Baby health

– Broward Health: TBD

*  Speakers and seminars subject to change

2014 Demo Schedule:

Joe DiMaggio’s Hospital will be sponsoring our Health, Safety and Wellness area which will include:

– Infant CPR

– Daddy Diaper Derby

– Prenatal Yoga

– Baby Nutrition

   Pediatric Associates will sponsor our car seat safety checks
provided by  the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. This is a  great
opportunity to make sure your car seat is installed  properly.
Drive your vehicle under the portico at  the Pavilion Grille to
receive your free safety check.

*Topics are subject to change

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Family Fun, Fun Stuff, Kid Stuff, Local/South Florida Tagged With: , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

‪Easy, Cheesy Beef and Noodles #‎goodcookcom #‎goodcookkitchenexprt ‪#‎KitchenDrawerContest

May 26, 2014 By 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

 Disclaimer- This post was sponsored by Good Cook as part of the Kitchen Expert Blogger program.  I received the items mentioned below to facilitate my post but all opinions are 100% my own.

beef

Good Cook challenged bloggers to create a comfort food, easy dinner dish and gave us each 5 tools to choose from to incorporate using at least 2 in our dish.
good cook toolsHere’s what we received:  SMART Ice cream scoop, Flip Measuring spoon, Safe-cut Can Opener, Egg Separator, and Pot Clip Holder.  I love all these tools but for this recipe I used the Flip Measuring Spoon, Safe-cut Can Opener, and Pot Clip Holder.

This is a simple recipe that definitely has that comfort food feeling.   There aren’t a lot of spices and seasonings in it as I was making it for my family and my children like food to be pretty simple.  If I was just making it for my husband and myself I would add some other spices.  Instead hubby and I tend to add things to our own plates.  For this particular dish hubby and I both added Italian bread crumbs to our meals to give it a little more flavor.

Easy, Cheesy Beef and Noodles @ThisIsCoriEasy, Cheese Beef and Noodles
Serves 6

Ingredients-
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 package of wide egg noodles- COOKED
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 Tablespoons of dried chopped onion ( Hubby forgot to get the onion when he went grocery shopping so I pretended like I was on Cutthroat Kitchen and used what I had on hand)
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of corn (feel free to throw in other veggies your family likes.  I want to try adding spinach next time)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions-

1. Brown ground beef with dried onion and Italian seasoning and drain.
Easy, Cheesy Beef and Noodles @ThisIsCori

2. Add corn. 
P12200943. Add cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup.
P12200954. Add sour cream.
P12200995. Stir until well incorporated.
P12201006. Simmer covered for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
P12201027. Stir in cooked noodles.
P12201038. Stir in 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and top with remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.
P12201069. Allow cheese to melt and serve.
P1220108

Can you guess what I used each tool for?  I used the Flip Measuring Spoon to measure my seasoning and chopped dried onion (I LOVE how flexible the spoons are and how you can turn them inside out) , Safe-cut Can Opener to open the can of corn and pull the pull tab up on both cans of soup (a real nail saver plus the can opener leaves no rough edges), and Pot Clip Holder to hold my utensil so I didn’t have to dirty my stove or counter with it.

Easy, Cheesy Beef and Noodles @ThisIsCori

P1220093P1220087

The Build Your Kitchen Drawer Sweepstakes:

Starting June 2, you can build your ideal kitchen drawer with 15 Good Cook tools and gadgets from GoodCook.com – choose up to 15 items from the list of products, and you have a chance to win everything you choose!

Make sure you take a look at Good Cook’s facebook page from June 2-7 to win prizes and learn more about the Kitchen Drawer Event (#goodcookcom) PLUS during the promotion, everything on the Good Cook site will be 25% off!  There’s NO CODE NEEDED!!!  What a great time to buy yourself some new kitchen tools and they make great gifts, too!


Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Recipes and Cooking Tagged With: , , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

FREE Summer Learning and Fun For Families Online With Camp Wonderopolis

May 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

wonderopolis

Looking for some great, educational activities to keep your kids busy this summer?  Camp Wonderopolis has got you covered.  Camp Wonderopolis is going to be bigger and better and even more awesome than last year!

How could Camp Wonderopolis get any better, you ask? Let us tell you.

  • Set up your full Camp account with your own username and avatar.
  • This year is all about science (hello, EXPERIMENTS!), and here are the worlds we’ll be exploring:
    • Wonder Zoo (Zoology)
    • Wonder Amusement Park (Physics)
    • Wonder Woods (Biology)
    • Wonder Laboratory (Chemistry)
    • Wonder Dig Site (Geology)
    • Wonder Observatory (Astronomy)
  • For every Wonder you master, you’ll earn a Wonder Card. That’s right… WONDER CARDS! Can you collect all 42?
  • There are even going to be prizes for the most WONDERful photos and videos shared by campers.

So, what are you waiting for?! Preregistration is now open. Sign up today for your spot in Camp Wonderopolis, and we’ll see YOU in just a few weeks!

Explore. Imagine. Laugh. Share. Create. Learn. Smile. Grow.

Welcome to Wonderopolis®, a place where natural curiosity and imagination lead to exploration and discovery in learners of all ages. Brought to life by the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL), our Wonders of the Day® will help you find learning moments in everyday life—ones that fit in with dinner preparations, carpool responsibilities, a stolen moment between breakfast and the bus, or within school curriculum and education programs.

Wonder is for everyone. It can happen anywhere and at anytime. Connecting the learning we do in our schools, our homes, and our communities, Wonderopolis walks the line between formal and informal education. Each day, we pose an intriguing question and explore it in a variety of ways. Our approach both informs and encourages new questions, sparking new paths of wonder and discovery in family and classroom settings.

Wonderopolis is generously supported by funding from the Verizon Foundation, and we are a proud Content Partner of its Thinkfinity Community. A free online professional learning community, Thinkfinity provides access to over 60,000 educators and experts in curriculum enhancement, along with thousands of award-winning digital resources for K-12—aligned to state standards and the common core. 
Here, educators connect and collaborate through themed groups, blogs and discussions, sharing resources, and best practices that support 21st century teaching and learning. Camp Wonderopolis follows a new model this year, enabling programs, families, and individuals to customize their experience to their own particular needs. Campers will explore different tracks of science and build their vocabulary, background knowledge, and literacy skills along the way.

When you register as a Camper (kids of all ages) or a Counselor (parents, library staff, teachers), you will be able to:

  • Select your own avatar
  • Follow your own path through six tracks of scientific exploration
  • Engage in Wonder lessons and test your learning to earn Wonder Cards® (42 in all!)
  • Check out what other Campers are doing and share your own experiences on the Wonder Wall
  • Keep track of your Camp activities on your personal dashboard (Counselor dashboards will track individual and groups of Campers—perfect for parents, libraries, and summer learning programs)
  • Try out fun, hands-on activities with everyday items
  • Compete in photo and video contests for a chance to win Camp prizes

Be sure to pre-register now, and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks!

– See more at: http://wonderopolis.org/camp-early-registration/

Filed Under: Education, Freebies, Fun Stuff, Kid Stuff, Parenting Tagged With: , , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

Rainbow of Fun Collection at Build-A-Bear Workshop! Review and Giveaway

May 20, 2014 By 19 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

Disclosure- We received 2 Build-a-Bear Workshop furry friends to facilitate our review.  We received no other compensation and all opinions are 100% our own.

build a bearEverything’s coming up rainbows with Build-a-Bear Workshops’ new Rainbow Fun Collection.  All 3 of the Rainbow Fun Collection furry friends are in a beautiful rainbow of colors from head to toe.  Of course they are as snuggly and cute as ever.  We received the Rainbow Sytle Zebra and the Rainbow Dreams Butterfly which are both precious but I think the Rainbow Glitter Bear is my favorite.  There are also great accessories to go with these furry friends.  From glittery rainbow sneakers to pretty pink heart sunglasses, there are accessories and outfits to fit any budget.  So head to Build-a-Bear Workshop and meet your new furry friend today!

image014

  • Rainbow Style Zebra ($20) has colorful striped fur, big blue eyes and a purple nose and comes with a Rainbow Suspenders Skirt Outfit, Twinkle Toes Triple Up by SKECHERS® Shoes and Fuchsia Heart Sunglasses.

image015

  • Rainbow Dreams Butterfly ($20) is a beautiful pink plush butterfly with rainbow wings and comes with a Rainbow Sequin Dress, Lavender Flats and Lavender Sequin Bow Headband.image016
  • Rainbow Glitter Bear ($20) is bright and vibrant and comes with a Rainbow Is My Favorite Color T-Shirt, Rainbow Tutu, Rainbow Flats and Bear Flair Sequin Bows.

build a bear details

Want to win a $25 Bear Buck$ gift card to Build-A-Bear Workshop to experience the magic of creating your own furry friend?

Here’s what you need to do to ENTER –

First of all – you must follow my blog – The giveaways I host are for my wonderful readers. To be considered a Cori’s Cozy Corner reader, you must receive my once daily email.  This is not considered an entry, but rather a requirement in order to enter any of my giveaways.  🙂
I do verify that you subscribe to my e-mail at the time of the winner drawing.  You can sign up for my once daily email easily by entering your e-mail address right here:

Once you are a Cori’s Cozy Corner reader via email you can continue onto the Entry Form Below.  Good luck!

Join Build-a-Bear Workshop on all of their social spaces to get exclusive content and stay up-to-date on the most current promotions:

 

Filed Under: Giveaways and Contests, Kid Stuff, Reviews, Toy and Game Reviews Tagged With: ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

How Much Preservatives Are In YOUR Favorite French Fries?

May 19, 2014 By 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

french friesOne of my daughter’s friends did her science fair project on how fast French Fries get old, moldy, and rotten.  The pictures on the left of the image above are part of her project and show what Wendy’s fries, McDonald’s fries, and homemade fries looked like after 6 days.  You can already see Wendy’s fries and the homemade fries starting to rot.  I was volunteering in my daughter’s class the other day and the children were taking their projects home after having been in the classroom for over a month (making the fries about 2 months old) and I just had to take this picture.  The Wendy’s fries actually started eating through the baggie and the homemade fries were also pretty rotten.  But look at the McDonald’s French fries.  They look almost the same as they did 2 months earlier.  CRAZY!  How much preservatives are in them?!?!

I shouldn’t be eating any fried, greasy foods but I certainly won’t be eating another McDonald’s French fry again!!!!

Filed Under: Food, Health, Fitness, Weightloss, and Wellness, Life in General, My 2¢ Tagged With: , , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

Krav Maga Israeli Martial Arts With Elite Youth Programs

May 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

Disclosure- My family received a small discount in our monthly class tuition to Elite Youth Programs Krav Maga to facilitate my review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are 100% my own.  I truly believe in this program and it’s benefits and want to share it with my readers.

Pics 989
My girls and I were introduced to a self defense martial arts program several months ago called Krav Maga and we were instantly hooked.  We had attended a blogger meeting and the Krav Maga Elite Youth Program did a trial class and demonstration for us in their Tamarac, FL location.  I truly believe it was BASHERT, or meant to be for us to be at the blogger meeting to find out about the Elite Youth Program Krav Maga.  It is exactly what I have been looking for for my girls.   The Elite Youth Programs Krav Maga is all about being brave, being powerful, and being able to defend yourself against bullies and other potential attackers.  The children aren’t taught to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle or a Kung Fu Panda, they are empowered with real life skills to protect themselves and the courage to do so.  It is an amazing program that teaches self discipline, to be powerful, to be a team player, to be balanced, to be a good listener, to be ready in any situation, and many other important life skills that go beyond being able to defend yourself.

Elite Youth Program Krav Maga is for children from 3 and up.  They also offer private workshops to teach women self defense as well.  Want to try Krav Maga classes for yourself?  Sign up to receive 2 free weeks with Elite Youth Program Krav Maga plus get a BONUS FREE copy of their Family Safety Guide when you sign up.

 I will be posting as my girls progress with the program so keep an eye out.  If you are in South Florida and want to arrange a private women’s self defense class with the Elite Youth Program Krav Maga, I highly recommend it.  Get some of your friends together and learn how to protect yourselves.  You’ll thank me for it!
Elite Krav - Centerline Punch

About Krav Maga:

Your children deserve nothing less than the most effective system of self-defense available today. Krav Maga was created out of a need to survive; it is practical, highly effective, easy to learn, and used by the most elite armed forces and law enforcement units in the world.

More and more parents are turning to this art to keep their kids “stranger-safe” and “bully-proof”. We have a unique program designed exclusively for children of all ages which makes learning this effective art engaging, empowering, and of course lots of fun

Why Krav Maga for Kids?

Parents, at this point you may be asking yourselves “this seems fine for soldiers or police officers, but do I want my child learning this stuff”?

That is a great question. I ask you to consider this:

  • Bullies are nearly always bigger and stronger than their victims.
  • Abductors are adults with greater strength and experience.
  • Children are smaller and have very limited, reach, and endurance.
  • To have life-saving knowledge and not pass it on is unethical.

Krav Maga is not a competitive art. Your child will not be training to strike another child for a medal. The idea is to help your child feel safer, empowered, confident, and in control and full ownership of their body. When your child feels this way, they are actually LESS likely to react violently because they know how to keep a cool head, assess a situation, and react accordingly. Violence stems from fear. We at Elite Youth Programs and Elite Krav Maga help remove that sense of constant fear and the victim mentality. We do this while still making sure kids have fun and enjoy their class.


About Elite Youth Programs

Founded in 2008, Elite Youth Programs, formerly South Florida Youth Sports, is one of the leading youth empowerment organizations in South Florida that develops unstoppable students that feel safe and secure in and out of school and prepared for anything.

Elite is the #1 safety education provider with the best programs that include assemblies, class presentations, in-house field trips, staff training, parent workshops, after school enrichments, summer, winter, spring camps and community based personal safety training.

Utilizing the most practical and effective personal safety training, Elite equips students with the skills and mindset to deal powerfully with challenges ranging from verbal attacks such as name-calling and bullying to the most dangerous physical assaults that could involve a risk to their lives.

Elite programs are one of the best solution to safer schools and safer faculty, students and families.

More than 2,500 children have participated in our summer camps or Krav Maga self-defense programs located at over 35 schools in Broward and Miami-Dade County.  the organization provides the highest-quality summer camp learning programs that help schools and students maintain exceptional academic achievement in a safe environment.

The organization is transforming traditional day camps and aftercare programs to super-effective learning and skill building courses.  Rather than simply functioning as day care stand-ins and babysitting factories, programs help children break through in areas of their lives that matter to them.  Children leave Elite programs with an edge to help them excel in school and in life.  Elite provides students with skills that will impact every area of their lives.  Our contribution to the community is to develop and grow youth programs that reliably deliver results to kids giving them a sense of freedom and choice for their lives, the power to live life fully without constraints.

Elite staff include the best educators to serve as our school partners at organization sites, young adults with aspirations to make a profound and last impact on the lives of children and teenagers with a passion for education

  1. For teachers and educators, skill sets are developed that further their leadership ability in their respective schools and lives

  2. For college students pursuing careers in education, there are mentorship opportunities from experienced master teachers to accelerate their skills and crate advanced placement at school locations.

  3. For teenagers, a world class Leadership Development Program.

Filed Under: Kid Stuff, Local/South Florida Tagged With: , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

What Not To Flush and Other Plumbing Tips

May 13, 2014 By Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

cI learned about plumbing the hard way a few months ago.  I was sitting on my couch watching tv one evening and all of a sudden I felt water wash over my feet.  I looked down and saw water swirling out from under my couch and flowing all the way to my entertainment center and French doors.  I went over to the bathroom and found the source…..the toilet.  As luck would have it my husband was out of the country at the time but I called my father to bring over his wet vac to help me clean up the water.  I got the water to stop flowing and plunged the toilet.  The water went down so I figured one of my girls must have stopped up the toilet before they went upstairs to shower.  Half of my downstairs was flooded but the shop vac helped soak up the water.  I washed my floors with both a cleaning solution and then again with my steam mop.

Phew, it was all cleaned up and the toilet seemed to be working fine. We used the toilet the next 2 days and it worked fine, or at least we thought so.   All of a sudden when no one was in the bathroom it started to flood again.  How was that even possible?!?!  Once again I cleaned up the mess and turned off the water going to the toilet.  I closed the door and planned on waiting until my husband got back in town for him to try to fix the problem.  Apparently my plumbing had other plans.  My daughter was taking a shower upstairs the next day and once again the toilet downstairs overflowed.  How was this even possible with the water turned off?!?!

I called the plumber and it turned out that the line was totally clogged from “flushable” toilet wipes.  The pressure from running the shower upstairs was causing the toilet downstairs to overflow.  The line was cleaned out and we’re the proud new owners of a new toilet.  What is so frustrating to me is that I used to work for West End Plumbing and I knew that they didn’t recommend flushing toilet wipes but I didn’t realize just how bad they can be for plumbing.  With the help of the West End Plumbing, I’ve come up with some plumbing tips and what not to flush.

First check out this shocking Consumer Reports video on flushable toilet wipes:

(Not so) Flushable Toilet Wipes– While we all know what is supposed to be flushed, there are items that do not belong in the toilet that you probably didn’t realize should not be flushed. Flushable wipes while convenient and sanitary may not break down in a timely fashion and can still cause a back up in your pipes. The same is true for most feminine sanitary products.  This problem can often be cleared by simply plunging, but when plunging doesn’t work a plumber might be needed to resolve the issue.

How drains work. A drain simply needs gravity to work. A drain is located at a higher level than where the water is being delivered. This simple process can be a big headache if it’s interrupted. When a drain in your bathroom becomes blocked by foreign objects or a sink drain is blocked by food or grease build up the drain flow may slow or completely clog.  Here are a few tips: never place too much food in your garbage disposal at one time and always use lots of water while using it. Never put rice, pasta, or beans down your garbage disposal. When these block your drains they may harden almost like concrete in your drain pipes. If this occurs under the house, repairing can become a messy and costly process.

What to do when your toilet is overflowing – Stop it! The valve located below and behind your toilet should be shut off immediately to avoid a major flood in your home.  This also applies to most sinks in your home.

Stopped up toilets and sinks-  If clear water was the only thing your drains and toilets had to deal with, they would work well all the time.  But household drains deal with grease, hair, soap, toothpaste, dirt, and many other things that can clog them up and make them run more slowly over time.  Toilet paper is made to disintegrate but facial tissue, baby wipes, and other personal products are not.  Flushing these items are usually the cause of a clogged toilet.  Sometimes toilet clogs are caused by a flushed sock or toy.  When simple plunging doesn’t unclog your toilet or sink, you probably need to call a plumber who has special equipment that can break through the obstruction to unclog your toilet or sink.

Toilet freshening tablets are bad for your toilet.  Another toilet villain is toilet freshening tablets. These are usually placed in the inside of the tank itself. The problem can occur when these begin to break apart and may block the tank from filling properly causing your toilet to run and raising your water bill.  The only toilet fresheners my plumber recommends are the gel type that simply dissolve and will cause no damage to your tank or basin. 

When the toilet doesn’t flush at all – This means that the handle is loose or broken or that the chain inside the toilet is not connected properly. If you have connected the chain and your toilet is still not flushing then a broken handle is the probable culprit.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: For The Home, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

I Wish You Could See What Is Hidden

May 13, 2014 By 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

fibromyalgiaHaving a “hidden” illness can be very frustrating.  I have Fibromyalgia and it has taken a while for even my family to understand.  It is hard for everyone around me because I look “healthy”.  They can’t see the pain I am in or the exhaustion I feel on a daily basis.  Even my husband took a long time to understand even a little bit how I feel.  I can almost handle the daily aches and pains, but for me the exhaustion is the worst.  Some days I can’t even get out of bed.  My doctor also said I have severe adrenal fatigue and a few other disorders which also compounding the situation.  But from the outside I look “normal”.  Only a few of my close friends really know what I am going through.  The other parents at my girls school must think I am a flake when I sometimes have to cancel volunteering because I am just too exhausted or in too much pain.  I do what I can, when  I can, but some days it takes everything out of me just to do the regular daily things I need to do for my family.  I don’t want pity.  It’s not about that.  I just wish people could see what is hidden without me having to say something.  It would be nice if everyone just understood and was a little more patient with me.  There are days when I do feel great and I will be able to give 110% but on those days when I can’t give 10%, I say a silent prayer that those around me will have patience.

The good news is that I started seeing a new primary doctor who has switched some of my medications.  I am also eating healthier and using alternative treatments such as essential oils and I am starting to feel some relief.  I will keep updating on my health and hopefully one day I will feel “normal”.

For all of those that suffer from a “hidden” illness, you are not alone.  To all of you who are healthy, please remember those of us who are not.  Be patient with others no matter what you think you know about them.  There might be things hidden inside of them that they, too, wish you could see so please be patient and kind to everyone.

Filed Under: Health, Fitness, Weightloss, and Wellness, Life in General, My 2¢ Tagged With: , , ,
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

Next Page »