Review - Vroom Solo

What would you think of a device which you could pull out any second and clean up life's little messes? The Vroom Quick-Clean Appliance is installed in a kitchen or bathroom cabinet and is instantly accessible. It has been a lifesaver in our kitchen! Our son Adam routinely spills Cheerios on the floor and instead of hounding him to sweep them up everyday, he simply whips out the Vroom and whoosh, they are gone. We've vacuumed crumbs off the counter and even vacuumed our kitchen drawers for the first time in years. The Vroom is available in a freestanding unit (shown) and also as a central vacuum add-on.

The Vroom is NOT a glorified DustBuster. It is a full-powered vacuum with a collection bag. It is fairly loud during operation, so I wouldn't recommend it for prolonged use without hearing protection. The Vroom hose reaches 24 feet, although it is stretched pretty tight at that length. It comfortably reaches a 10 to 15 foot radius. It also comes with an adjustable wand and a floor/rug tool (a smaller crevice tool would be nice...)

The Vroom Solo is a real appliance that requires installation into your cabinet. Here are some photographs of our adventures installing the Vroom Solo.



Since I'm pretty handy, I got out the drill and performed the mechanical installation.The Vroom Solo comes with a wired plug for power, but we don't have an electrical outlet under the sink. The easiest way for us to connect it was to tap into the power for our dishwasher. I got the expert (my husband) to wire it up.



Afterwards, our cat examined the installation.

The top shelf of the vacuum unit comes with a non-skid pad which is handy for smaller items. It really didn't take up that much space and I was able to fit almost everything back into the cabinet.

Finally, here is my son using the Vroom for his darn Cheerios!

If you register on the Vroom website, you can enter to win your own Vroom. You can also follow them on Twitter @VroomVac.

Giveaway - Dance Me Daddy books

Dance Me, Daddy Cindy Morgan, Philomena O'Neill

Dance Me, Daddy by singer/songwriter/author Cindy Morgan is a delightful glimpse into the love between father and daughter. You can view a video of the book narrated by the author at www.dancemedaddy.com. My daughter was mesmerized by the video and then mesmerized by the book when we received it. The story is based on Cindy Morgan's song King of the World for Point of Grace. The story reminds me of the book Love You Forever, where the love between a mother and son is explored throughout their lifetime, but without the slightly creepy scene of mom crawling into her grown son's apartment at night. Although Point of Grace is a Christian group, the book has only a slight reference to God, and would be appropriate for religious and non-religious alike.

The book includes a CD of the narration and the song and is a perfect gift for Father's Day.

In addition, Zonderkidz is currently hosting a contest where you can enter to win a Sony BRAVIA on Father’s Day. Simply tell a story about a special man in your life who is a father figure for you, your children or a child you know. Check out this contest at www.dancemedaddy.com.

*** If you'd like to win one of three copies of Dance Me, Daddy, leave a comment below.***

For extra entries, promote this contest by tweet, blog, Stumble or other social media and leave an separate comment for each with the URL or username.

This giveaway ends June 21, 2008 at 11pm EDT and is open internationally.

Giveaway - Celsius Drinks

What would you think of a soda that actually burns calories? Celsius drinks were developed with a scientifically-validated blend shown to enhance metabolism, and is made with quality ingredients andnutrients including: Green Tea, Ginger, Guarana,Calcium and Chromium.

Multiple studies have shown a single 12 oz. serving of Celsius:

• Burns up to 100 calories or more per can
• Raises metabolism over a 3 hour period
• Delivers sustained energy and a sense of focus

Celsius has only 10 calories and none of the bad stuff - no sugar, no chemical preservatives, no benzoates, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors, no aspartame and very low sodium. In comes in five sparkling flavors and two non-carbonated green tea flavors. Celsius can be purchased at GNC, Bristol Farms, Vitamin Shoppe and other retail locations across the country.

I had the opportunity to try a sample pack of Celsius and it definitely lives up to its claims. I had a definite boost in energy with no crash afterwards. My favorite flavor was the sparkling orange. I will mention that it does contain quite a bit of caffeine, so it is not for people sensitive to it. It contains 200mg of caffeine per 12 oz. serving, which is equivalent to two cups of coffee. Other energy drinks contain around 135mg of caffeine, but also come with tons of sugar and other chemicals.

*** If you'd like to try a sample pack of Celsius, visit the Celsius flavors page and leave a comment with your favorite flavor. ***

For extra entries, promote this contest by tweet, blog, Stumble orother social media and leave an separate comment for each with the URLor username.

This giveaway ends June 12, 2008 at 11pm EDT and is open to US residents.

Giveaway - Sandisk slotRadio Player

Do you love music, but don’t have the time to spend hours creating a music library?  The Sandisk slotRadio player is a tiny portable player preloaded with a 1,000 songs from the Billboard charts and organized into various genres - all you have to do is press play.  The slotRadio player gives you a new way of listening to music without the hassle of downloads, software or a PC.  It also has an FM tuner and a belt clip for hands-free listening.

You can purchase the slotRadio player online at www.slotradio.org for $99.99 (includes the player and a 1,000 song card). Additional genre-specific music cards - Rock, Oldies, Hip Hop, Country, 80's and 90's - are also available for $40 that include 1,000 songs.

I love listening to music and always have my iPod playing at home and in the car, but the slotRadio player has definitely enriched my life.  The iPod boxes you into the songs that you already own on CD or have purchased through iTunes.  The slotRadio is an inexpensive way to gain exposure to much more music without having to listen to commercial radio.  My husband also tried the Oldies card and gave it a big thumbs up for its depth and thoughtful crafting of the playlists.  It is also great to have an FM radio on the go, as I miss that with the iPod.  If there are songs that you can't live without, you can simply connect the slotRadio Player to your computer via a USB cable and drag and drop MP3 files onto it (it has about 64 MB of free space), with no additional software required.  It "automagically" creates a new playlist for your own files.  The only downside to the slotRadio player is that it really operates in a "radio" mode.  You can skip forward through the playlists but not backward (unless you skip forward hundreds of times).  The music format is proprietary so you can't copy the songs to your computer (to be expected).  The sound quality is excellent as well as the battery life.

*** To win your very own Sandisk slotRadio player, visit the SanDisk slotRadio features page and leave a comment with your favorite feature. ***

For extra entries, promote this contest by tweet, blog, Stumble or other social media and leave an separate comment for each with the URL or username.

This giveaway ends June 5, 2008 at 11pm EDT and is open to US and Canada residents.

Giveaway - Tropicana Pure Premium Juice

Just in time for Earth Day and through 2009, specially marked packages of Tropicana Pure Premium^® and Trop50™ products will carry a code that consumers can enter online at www.tropicanarainforest.com. For each code entered, 100 square feet of rainforest will be saved. Once registered, consumers can enter additional codes with each purchase and increase area of rainforest they have rescued. There is no limit to how many codes a consumer can enter and Web visitors can register individually or as a group. Through the technology provided by Google Maps, those who register can watch the area of rainforest being saved by Cool Earth grow.

If you would like one of five free cartons of Tropicana Pure Premium Juice (up to $4.99) to enter into Tropicana's Rescue the Rainforest campaign, please leave a comment with your favorite Tropicana product.  Enter by April 30th at 11pm EDT, open to residents of the US and Canada.

Giveaway - Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair

With two black cats in our house, you can be sure that there is cat hair everywhere. When I heard about the Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair, I thought it was a dream come true! It picks up as much lint as 145 sticky roller sheets.  Lugging the vacuum out when you want to sit down isn't really an option, so I just resign myself to the fact that there will be cat hair on my clothes.



I don't usually like to show the not so cleanly state of my house, but here's a before and after shot of a particularly neglected lampshade:



It really does work! If you'd like to have your own sample, leave a comment with the name of your pet(s) and where you would use the Pledge Fabric Sweeper.  Enter by April 30th at 11pm, open to residents of US and Canada.

Giveaway - $25 Gift Certificate to Threadless

Race by Fawn Fruits

Threadless is a community where you can submit t-shirt designs and buy all the coolest shirts on the planet. One of my favorite designs is "Race" by Fawn Fruits.  They are having a huge spring cleaning sale from today until March 23rd. You can buy shirts from $5 and up.

To win a $25 Gift Certificate, just visit Threadless and comment here with your favorite design.  I know it will be hard to choose, so list all your favorites!  Winner will be chosen on March 31th, at 11pm.  Open to residents of US and Canada.