....Canon Selphy Printer

Recently I had my first house party through HouseParty.com. While it didn't turn it out quite the way I had hoped, I did get to try out an awesome product from Canon and have my girls over for food and drinks. That in itself was a sanity saver.

Anyway, Canon sent me their new Canon Selphy CP770 and can I just say what an amazing little printer this is? For starters, you don't have to only plug it in, it runs off a battery pack, too. Secondly, it comes perched on a handy little bucket that carries the adapter for an electrical outlet, photo paper, extra ink, the printer cleaner, the instruction manual, and any photos you may print out. And lastly but the best thing of all, the photographs it prints out are of amazing quality. I thought for sure that this printer, with it being portable and not super expensive (retails at $139.99), would print sub par photos that would be something for the fridge. The pictures are so vivid in color, so crisp. I am completely sold on this printer and would go out and buy one for myself if Canon hadn't already been so generous in letting me keep the one they sent me.

It's so simple to use. You pop out the memory card from your digital camera, plug it into the slot on the printer, and choose the pictures you wish to print. You can even time stamp them, take out red eye, and a host of other options. Don't have a digital camera? How about a cell phone with a camera? You can send your pictures to the printer via infrared technology. How completely crazy wicked is that?!

I can't say enough about this printer. I highly recommend it for anyone, especially those with family they travel to see or avid scrapbookers. We'll be using ours on our road trip back to the midwest so my great grandmother and Brad's grandmother can get the pictures we'll take of them with the boys immediately.

Go get yourself a printer! If you order it off the Canon website and do it before the 18th, you can get a coupon code from me. Leave me a comment if I can help you out!

...Nicole for OPI Nic Sticks

I had never even heard of this product before I was approached by SheSpeaks to try it out and review it. I usually only have french tips on my nails when I have them done and very rarely do I paint my nails myself anyway but I figured I'd give this product a shot.
Upon opening the package, I noticed the color; something I affectionately refer to as "Old Lady Orange" because, well, it is. It's officially called, "I'm Outta Here!" but I would like to make a case to OPI to either change it or change the color to a more pleasing shade. The Nic Stick was easy to open and easy to figure out. I decided to take it with me on a Starbucks run since it's meant for on the go purposes. After ordering my Pumpkin Spice Latte, I unscrewed the cap, shook the pen, and pumped the top to get the paint moving. The polish goes on smoothly and the brush is thick enough to get each nail done in 2-3 strokes but thin enough to avoid painting your finger as well. I didn't notice any lines anywhere and it dried very quickly. I applied two coats on each finger and had completely dry nails by the time I arrived at the drive-thru window to pick up my drink (about 4 minutes total).The polish was a bit too matte for my taste, but it looks like there are plenty of flashier options that are offered. Another down side to this product is it's chippability. I had the nail polish on just over 24 hours before I had 3 different chips on 3 different nails. Perhaps applying a top coat would have helped. However, even after taking the cons into consideration there is one HUGE pro that gives this product my seal of approval; your child will have a horribly hard time making a mess out of himself, your car, and your house with this stuff. The cap is difficult for a kid to remove (I let my 3 1/2 yr. old give it a go) and there's no spillage to worry about. Any mommy/glam-goddess would probably agree that this is enough on its own to be worth purchasing.

You can Nic Sticks at Target, Wal-Mart, and Ulta for around $6.50. I will be utilizing some of the $1 coupons OPI sent me along with their product to purchase a few colors that match the shades I use on my toes for quick touch ups.