Front View of XOOM Screen.

I present to you the Motorola XOOM! It is sleek and sexy at first glance. It is thin, light weight, and it is a powerful little machine. It is small enough to fit into my purse, which is awesome, so I would be able to take it anywhere with me. It has a dual core processor, 10.1 in. widescreen, and you can watch HD video content on it as well.

One thing I thought was very cool is that XOOM has a holographic user interface to make it clearer and sharper. It has the availability for you to get the newest functions and software.

This is what the back of it looks like.

There is even more to the XOOM for me to share with you (Let’s get technical):

• The Max. Resolution is 1280 x 800
• It features a WXGA, Widescreen, HD, LCD Display
• It comes complete with an anti-glare coating and has Gorilla Glass!
• It has a TFT-LCD Touch Screen

It also has 32GB of Hard Drive Capacity.

The Motorola Xoom is a Clever Tablet and does A LOT. I love the features and Spec.’s it has. I cannot wait to go and try one at a store that carries them.

Do you have a Tablet? If so Which one? Share what your Tablet does with us. If you have a Xoom, please share your thoughts on it.

Get Xoom ‘in,

The Plus Size Mommy

Disclosure- This shop/research has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All research done and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Wikets for introducing me to this iPhone/iPad app. You can download Wikets from the App Store here.

On November 7, I was introduced to and able to review a new App. it is called Wikets. I love reviewing App.’s because I love finding out all about the cool and new things they do. And especially FREE app’s 9even better).
Wikets is a way of sharing things you love.places you love,App.’s you love,music and move and in return, you get rewarded!

When you sign up for Wikets, which is very easy to do you will see a bar at the bottom that shows FEED, EXPLORE, NEW REC, WISHLIST, and REWARDS.

FEED : This is the section where when you invited friends, and they join, and meet new friends, you will see a feed of all of their recommendations. Then you can put that rec on your wishlist, re-recommend it, and you may also comment on their rec’s.

Explore : by using the Explore tab you can search for what you like, example, if you like a certain song, you can put it into the search bar, and it will show you anything under that other people who posted. You could click Popular, it will show you popular topics under that search term.

You can click on Nearby, with this you will get a listing of places nearby where you are and you can choose from those that are in the list, to recommend off of that list.

And, if you click People, you will get a listing of people you can follow.

When you click on “Add A Rec” you will get 3 bars to chose from. Rec a Product, Rec a Place, and Scan a Barcode.

When you do Rec. a Product – it will take you to featured stores, such as iTunes, App Store, Best Buy, and more. Then you can add your Favorite Stores, for example I was able to add Petco,Gap, and any other store I may frequent and like to buy from.

Then when you have a Rec. to make, you can pull up that store and make your recommendation. So, for example, if I liked a song I could go to Rec.’s section, hit iTunes, and then click on the song I wanted to recommend.

For Recommend a Place, I could recommend places nearby where I am, places I have been, etc.

and for Scan a Barcode, you can take a product you have at home, or in a store, and scan the code, and then recommend it, AND OR add it to your wishlist! For a great example, Christmas is coming up, I could go to a Toy Store with my kids, and they could say, oh I want that or I really want this, etc.. and I can secretly scan the upc code and add it to my wishlist, and under Wishlist I can chose a category to put it under. For example, say I scan a toy for Bobby, and it is a book, I can add it to my Wishlist under book. Or a Barbie for Jenny, I can add it under gift idea’s.

The Wishlist topics are : Apps, Books, Food, Gadgets, Gift Idea’s, Home, and My trip to.

I can also add to my Wishlist things that my friends/others have recommended that I may want to get, or that I want to try out (like an App.) at another time. Then I am able to go back into my Wishlist at anytime.

And, now the cool part. The Rewards Tab! For every thing you use on Wikets, whether it is adding a rec., re-rec a friends rec., add things to your wishlist, bought, liked on Facebook, you earn points. After so many points, you can redeem them for rewards from many retail partners!
How cool is that?!

You can share your Rec.’s on Facebook and Twitter as well, to share them with an even bigger audience.
Also under Rewards, you are able to see your History, Your Top Rec.’s and also Your top friends.

It is a fun Social Media App. that pays you as you use it. If you would like to join me on Wikets, please use the code: PLUSSIZEMOMMY .

Thank you for joining me in the Wiket fun! I cannot wait to see your Rec’s and earn points with you.

The Plus Size Mommy

Thank you to Wikets for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about the app. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own. #CleverWikets #spon

I have been recently trying out a new App on my iPhone called Calyp. (pronounced Klip) It is simply an app that is available to Droid, iPhone, or right on your computer. It is an extremely easy way to make money by endorsing ads over social network sites, that most of us use every day anyways. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and also by SMS. You are also able to share through your blog.

You get to chose 4 ads to endorse every 24 hours. After the 24 hours you can keep the endorsements that you originally chose or you can switch it up and drop and add new endorsements. So there are always 4 possible endorsements that you can send to your social networking sites.

There are stats on your endorsement page that show you which one’s are doing well (getting clicks, getting actions, posts, texts, and if you click on your currently chosen Calyps it will show you a timer of when you can endorse again.  When people click through your endorsements, you make money. If people take actions on your Calyps you also get money. And then when you refer friends and they join, you also earn money.

Who doesn’t like earning quick, easy, money ?

There are also different levels of Endorsers, Preferred, Gold, Platinum, and Elite.  When you sign up on Calyps you start as a Predeffered member. And then on your home page, you can see what type of endorser you are currently, Your current Earnings, and also how many points you need to reach the next level, so it keeps you striving to get to that next level.

When you reach higher levels you get higher earnings  per click- thru, every time you post/endorse your ad, and on actions.

As you climb the ladder to the levels, you earn points to get you toward the next level. And you earn points just for joining Calyp 20,000 of them!

And that isn’t all, they also have Calypstakes and Exclusive benefits from Caly brands.

The Calypstakes are prizes you can win just for being a member. The exclusive benefits are things like, when you reach Gold level, you will get an Exclusive Calyp Reward Visa Prepaid card!  Other benefits are discounts on services, brands, places, and things. Again, each level you reach you can gain more exclusive benefits.

If you think it is hard, or that how is .20 cents per click-thru going to get me anywhere making money, well the money adds up, and adds up very quickly, especially if you endorse everyday.  In my personal experience, I  made $3 in less then a week, and now it has been 2 weeks and I am up to Gold status, and $20.50 in my account. I earned the Exclusive Calyp Reward Visa Prepaid card! I can now endorse 4 products every 12 hours!  Now I am on my way to Platinum, which should come quickly.

Another thing I would like to point out about Calyp’s, is when you endorse a product, you can create it in your own words. IMO, I think this is a pretty cool feature. So, I can write something that will attract my readers and therefore they will click-thru on my Calyp.

Like I would never do an endorsement for alcohol, cause I don’t write about that subject (usually). BUT I do have mom’s who want their house’s to smell good, so I chose Glade. Also, my blog’s focus is mainly to mom’s with children, so since it is back to school time, and kids are ALWAYS hungry when they come home from school, I picked the Oreo’s Calyp  ;)

When your earnings do come in, when you hit your earnings button, it will fill in Card Balance (once the $ is loaded onto your card), new Earnings, and when these NEW earnings will go onto your card (for example, mine says 10/1/11 so on Oct. 1 I should have the earnings on my card.

Lifetime earnings shows how much you have earned since starting your account. Also under card balance, you can see what your available funds that were added onto your card at that time

Don’t get discouraged if your not seeing an earnings yet, as soon as you hit Gold, it will appear.

Another feature I like is that you can pick from a long list of subjects that are of interest to you. And you will only get endorsements to choose from, from the choices you pick.

Now as with most new App’s there are some things that need to get worked out on them. And I am sure as the company gets feedback and hears what changes or recommendations that their endorsers would like to see they will take everything into consideration.

Some things I would like to see are:

• I would love to be reminded  by a text message or email when it is my time to be able to endorse again.
• I would like to have had a way of knowing how many Calyps I was able to endorse at one time before I choose them.
• When you join, there is a set of questions that some people do not feel comfortable answering, or even giving out their cell phone number. I believe it is a way for them to just get info. to better know what Calyps should be geared to you, but perhaps for the people who do not wish to give that info. should be able to opt out.
• I would like more info. on how to put this on my blog. And an idea I had was to give an html code to put in your sidebar which would rotate the 4 Calyps you are currently endorsing. This would work well with bloggers who blog in niches because their readers would be more likely to click through the ad’s  in the sidebar.
• There have been some problems with it working on the Droid platform, but I think they are currently working on this to resolve any problems.
• Also there have been some ad’s that are either slow to add or don’t load, this too I believe is being worked out.
• I personally would love to see more VIP rewards to choose from.

 Here is some of what people are saying about Calyp:

“I just signed up and it was quick and super easy. I was tweeting in less than 5 minutes.” – Shelby from http://www.feltstories.com/

” one thing I am really impressed with is how many great items there are! These aren’t crap products they are wanting us to endorse! It is easy to go through the list and say.. Oh.. I LOVE That!” - http://www.organizewithsandy.com

“ I hit Gold ! I am loving this app. I already made $3 and it was so easy. I am on my way to Platinum For hitting Gold, I now have special perks and prizes. But I cannot wait to get the VIP pass   I am working on it. “ http://www.theplussizemommy.com

To learn more and to join and get 20.000 points to start you off visit www.calyp.com

You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter, then you can see what other’s are thinking and talking about, and also learn of everything new going on.

Happy Calyp’ in , it is like getting FREE MONEY!

The Plus Size Mommy

I really like to find out about new App’s that are useful to me for my iPhone. A recent one I was introduced to is RedRover.

RedRover is an app that was recently updated and can be used on iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad and Droid. It is a planning app. Which I totally need to keep myself on track. You can plan lunches with friends, play dates, date nights with your significant other, holiday parties, and so much more. You can add friends to make it an easy way to invite them to your plans and they can even RSVP back to you right away through the app.

RedRover also has Extremely useful Emergency information included on it. You can create an emergency contact list and use the default message, or create a message of your own. Then if your having an emergency, with a touch on the screen, you can alert everyone on your list that you need help.  It also has  911 and Poison Control built in it. For instance, if you need to cal 911, you would touch that button and then it will confirm with you if you are sure you want to call 911 or not, you can chose yes or no and if you chose yes, it will connect you to the Emergency services.

It has many helpful features, and I am so glad I learned about this app. Here is a slideshow I created on Flickr of what the app looks like and some plans I created with it, and I will also show you how the emergency feature works : http://flic.kr/ps/wV3EX

For more details right from RedRover, you can watch their Vimeo video HERE.

From Now – July 28th, I am so proud to share with you that RedRover will be donating up to $20K to Christy Turlington’s Charity for every app downloaded.  This is in celebration of their social good movement. I think this is just wonderful and I am proud to have helped in this movement.

You can also follow RedRover on Twitter - HERE  and also on their Facebook page – HERE

The top 5 places where I will use RedRover at is :

1. Setting up playdates
2. Setting up my open houses for my work at home business.
3. Making plans for Holiday’s using my Family Group I created.
4. Making plans with my girlfriends for lunch and a shopping adventure
5. My plans with family for our yearly family vacations

Tip : During the summer I love to take my kids around to the many parks around Pittsburgh. And I LOVE to meet up with friends there with their children. RedRover makes it so much easier to set up these days with friends so we can all meet up for a day of fun and picnicking at the parks all summer long

The following are a grouping of gifts sure to please any Father on Father’s Day (June 19th). I am very excited to provide you with these idea’s for 2011. Enjoy!

THE CHOP KEEPER

The “first couple of inventions” husband and wife Robert and Ruth Goldman have taken the mess out of good-for-you cooking. Their flexible Chop Keeper tray features raised sides that keep all the mess contained with no juice wicks underneath or on the floor or counter. And when the chopping and dicing is done, flex the tray to form and easy guide funnel which eases food into a bowl or pot. Juice or marinade run off stays within the confines of the tray and can be poured onto a plate or platter. It’s so handy for BBQs with no marinade trail from kitchen to grill and back.

Made in the USA, the flexible Chop Keeper comes in a set of three in two different color schemes to match any kitchen – copper, stainless or midnight or choose red, green and yellow – for $10.99. It’s reusable, dishwasher safe, safety certified and contains no BPAs. According to the American Knife Institute this material is the friendliest to knives. Unlike glass and Corian®, Chop Keeper is knife friendly and doesn’t dull your expensive cutting tools.

You can purchase the Chop Keeper Here : CHOP KEEPER You get 3 for only $10.99!

There is also a great video on there to learn more.

We LOVE the Chop Keeper at our home. It is so nice to cut things on and then you can serve on the same tray. I took a roast out of the oven the other night and placed it right onto the chop keeper to be cut. It was so easy, and basically mess free. All we had to clean up was the Chop Keeper which is extremely easy to clean. I love that they come in 3 colors. We use 1 for fruits and veggies, 1 for meats, and 1 for anything else. I love that it keeps my counter tops scratch free, and it isn’t like my glass cutting board that has an awful noise when you cut through to it. (Sounds like nails on a chalkboard or worse). My other favorite thing about the Chop Keeper is that it is MADE IN USA!!!! This makes me happy.
Dad will love using this for grilling, making sandwiches, carving meats, and so much more.

T- Shirts & Hoodies

You can get dad a customized T- Shirt or Personalized Hoodie from www.tshirtprinting.net.

They offer different qualities of T shirt depending on your budget and what you intend to do with them. They categorise the T shirts as either budget, mid-range or premium. We offer regular fit and for our more fashion lead customer we can supply a slimmer, more fitted shape T shirt. Our range of mens personalised T shirts is available in a huge choice of colors to compliment your design or support your corporate identity.

We are also pleased to be able to offer a choice of organic T shirts to help to ease the pressure on our planet and provide you with ultimate comfort.

They produce screen printing of the highest quality regardless of the number of colours in your design and the position of the design on the T shirt all at very competitive prices and fast turnaround times.

These shirts are very nice for Father’s who wanna chill out and relax after a hard day at work, or anytime. My husband says his shirt is so comfortable and he ever sleeps in it sometimes. You can send them whatever design you like, which is another plus, you could have your kids create dad a t- shirt or hoodie that he will cherish for Father’s Days to come!!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Vaseline Men

Cooling Hydration body lotion. Aloe Fresh gel hydrating lotion, Aloe Fresh Moisturizing gel, Extra Strength Body & Face lotion, Fast Absorbing Body and Face lotion, and Vaseline Aloe Fresh Protecting lotion with SPF 15.

My Father’s day idea for these products is to make dad a gift basket or box which includes these soothing lotions and gels and include some soap and maybe a men’s sponge. You can even add a nice bath towel or robe with it. Dad will be pleased to get all of these products for a relaxing time, cooling and soothing, and also smelling fresh and hydrating him so he always looks his best.
Vaseline Aloe Fresh is a line of light and fresh lotions that leave skin feeling hydrated and refreshed all summer long.

These products from Vaseline retail between $2.99 – $5.99.

Fogless Shower Mirror

A fogless shower mirror that actually remains clear in the shower – and sticks to the wall! Our patent-pending design is simple yet most effective. Fill the shower mirror’s reservoir with hot water from your shower head and you’re done. It’s ideal for close shaves, cleansing and exfoliating, removing make-up, tweezing and more. You can watch an informative video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPSXEonnvvU&feature=player_embedded
Price : $29.95

You can also get updates and “like” Toilettree Products on Facebook Here : www.facebook.com/pages/Upper-Nyack-NY/ToiletTree-Products/127607620607464

And you can also find them on Twitter here : twitter.com/ToiletTreeProd

My husband absolutely loves his Fogless Shower Mirror. He is able to shave in the shower (and it makes me happy to not have tiny hairs all over the sink). He really enjoys shaving in the shower and saving some time every morning as well.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

UNOTRON WASHABLE corded keyboard

Washable Antimicrobial Protected Corded Keyboard
The UNOTRON keyboard is patented with SpillSeal® technology and tested to the International Standards NEMA4X and IP66, meaning you can wash and disinfect the keyboard in Hospital grade cleaning solutions, helping to reduce the spread of germs and cross infection.

The Cleanliness You Want.

Washable by design.
Sealed structure lets you wash and sterilize.
Antibacterial Product Protection
Is incorporated in the plastic providing a powerful broad-spectrum inorganic, silver-based biocide for antibacterial product protection.
Easy to Disinfect
Immerse in antibacterial solutions to reduce the spread of germs.
The Performance You Expect.

Touch Typing Keystroke
All UNOTRON keyboards have a responsive touch typing experience without the stiffness of traditional rubber keyboards.
Detachable Wrist Support
Ergonomic wrist support adds comfort for extended use and is easily removed when not required.
Easy Installation
Plug and Play for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista and Mac with no extra software or complicated set up.

My husband likes this keyboard a lot. He likes to drink coffee in the mornings and this is a safe way in the case of spills to have your coffee and still work on your computer at the same time. I think the technology is really neat. The Unotron keyboard can be washed under a tap, so even if you don’t spill on it, you can still wash it, and get off dust or little particles that get in between the keys.

Brilliant Screen Cleaning WIpes

Brilliant screen cleaning wipes with SR-8 provides gentle, superior cleaning to any electronic screen and removes dust, dirt, finger prints and makeup while imparting an invisible, durable barrier that protects screens 50x more form scratching. Helps protect against re-soiling to keep your screen brilliantly clean!

We like that you can use these on cell phones, pda’s, basically any electronic screen’s you may have. They do a nice job at cleaning the screen. My idea for Father’s Day would be to pair these wipes up with the keyboard (above) and your Hubby will have the cleanest electronics around

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Happy Father’s Day 2011!

The Plus Size Mommy

Disclosure – I was sent each of the above products to review for my blog. All idea’s and Opinions are my own. Opinions may differ for other’s.

A couple weeks ago I was asked to have a Picnic and Family movie night to watch the Yogi Bear movie. My kids were so excited (as was I) because we love Yogi Bear and Boo Boo in my house. It brings me great memories from when I was a kid. I just thought it was so funny to watch Yogi stealing all of those pic a nic baskets

When the new movie came out, we didn’t have the ability to go to a cinema to watch it (with 8 of us living here, it is quite expensive) so we did the next best thing (and much more inexpensive thing) We rented the Redbox movie of it.
And I completed it with a picnic dinner of our own. The kids loved it so much, they wanted to watch it again, and have a picnic lunch the next day! It was a ton of fun. We all loved the movie and the picnic, it was fun to pair the 2 together to have a nice family night together. The only thing we weren’t happy about was that we really wanted to have our picnics outside but with all of the rain we have been getting we weren’t able to, so I did the next best thing, and had it in the diningroom complete with a red and white checkered table cloth and of course a pic a nic basket!

Here is a ThisMoment.com picture story of our shopping and preparing and all of the fun!

For the Dinner we had : Chicken from Walmart, macaroni salad, cupcakes with cute watermelon picks in them also from Walmart, cantaloupe and strawberries, baked beans, and dinner rolls.

One of the newest hobbies that are taking the toy world by storm are R/C or remote control toys such as helicopters, tanks, cars and boats. People of all ages, from the young ones to the young at heart, have taken interest in collecting RCs. Some prefer to have the ready to run varieties while others find more satisfaction in using RCs that they have crafted with their own hands.

Whatever your penchant may be, checkout www.XenonProject.com and to find RC helicopters, remote control cars and other RC toys in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Xenon Project is committed to providing some of the best RC toys and parts for both beginners and experts alike!

The Plus Size Mommy

Disclosure – This is a sponsored post, I was compensated for this post.

Today is the Day! The Brand New games for DS, DSi, DS lite, DSi XL, and will be able to run on the new (coming soon) DS 3D (all of the DS platforms) of Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version, will be in stores TODAY!

My sons are Pokemon fanatics! They goto Tournaments for the card game at the local library almost weekly. They have every game for their DS’s that they could possibly have, and they play them every chance they get. Now even my 5 yr. old daughter is getting involved into it. She just got her first deck the other day (The boys got mad because she got some pretty good cards )

Well today, you can be assured we will be hitting our local Toys R Us to buy both versions of these newest Pokemon games. They cost approx. $34.99 and in this weeks Toys R Us ad, you can buy 1 and get the 2nd 1/2 off!!! For me with 2 sons who want these 2 games, this is a GREAT SAVINGS!

And on Friday, I had the opportunity to interview Seth McMahill, Pokemon expert and Nintendo employee to learn more about the new games and some pretty cool stuff they have added. My boys were so excited. Seth even allowed them to each ask a question and they were on cloud 9!

Below is our video Skype call with Mr. McMahill :

Limited Time Offer–Victini
Receive your game by April 10th and qualify for a special Liberty Pass via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection (broadband Internet access required), which will enable you to catch the never-before-seen Mythical Pokémon Victini the Victory Pokémon–the first Pokémon that’s Psychic- and Fire-type and cannot be obtained through normal game play.

For more info. Please visit : http://www.pokemonblackwhite.com/en-us/

Happy Gaming!

The Plus Size Mommy

Congrats to the following 2 people for entering and winning the Speck iPad Cases (1 each).
The Winners as chosen via random.org are :
1. Rosanne Morrison
2. Marina at My Busy Children

You both have 48 hours from NOW (2/22/11 – 1:45 am EST) to email me at plussizemommy@gmail.com with your name, address, and phone # (for shipping) with Subject line as : Speck iPad winner. After 48 hours another winner(s) will be chosen.
– You can both also email me your first 3 choices of what you would like, and we will try to fulfill 1 of the 3, but no guarantee’s (thats why it is a “grab bag”) but I will see what I can do
Thank you all who entered to win, and to the winners ENJOY!

The Plus Size Mommy
Disclosure – I was sent a Speck iPad case at no cost to me. The prizes will be sent to the winners at no charge to me. I am not responsible for lost or damages items. Prize fulfillment will be coming directly from the company. We will try and satisfy one of your top 3 requests for prizes, but we cannot guarantee this, as there is limited stock.