A RugPadUSA Review and New Rug for the Office!

Ever since we moved into this little house last year, I have known I'd eventually need a new rug for my office to cozy it up and take the focus off the cherry laminate wood floors. It wasn't high on the priority list though since I had a makeshift rug made out of these FLOR-like rug tiles that I found at the dollar store nearly two years ago. They definitely weren't right for this space (they moved around under the casters on my office chair and the overall size is too small), but they got the job done. 

Here's a photo of my office right after we moved in with the rug tiles. Sadly, I think this is the last full-view photo I showed y'all of my office - yikes! It's clearly changed a lot in about six months!

I finally got a kick in the pants to find a real rug for my office when Will from RugPadUSA contacted me to see if I'd be interested in reviewing one of their high quality (but affordable!) rug pads*. You bet I was! In order to review a rug pad though, I actually had to have a rug to put on it, right? Well, while on the hunt for something else, I stumbled onto the home section of Urban Outfitters and saw they were having a major sale and what do you know? The perfect rug happened to pop up for more than 50% off. It's sadly not available anymore, but it's the Magical Thinking Mirror Dot rug in gray for reference.

It's a flat-weave cotton rug and I wasn't sure what kind of pad would work best since I would be rolling back and forth on it with my office chair. The last thing I wanted was for the rug to move around and bubble up every time I moved my chair. I also wanted to make sure it would stick well, but not damage the laminate hardwood floors in our rental. Thankfully, Will helped me out on my selection and recommended the 1/4" Premium Lock Felt Rubber pad. 

{Side note: they have a huge selection on their site and lots of details about what pads work best for different kinds rugs and floors, so the decision can be pretty straightforward, but you can always give them a call to double check you've chosen the right one.}

The rug pad arrived tightly rolled up and I was a little worried it wouldn't lay flat right away, but there was no issue with that. Amazingly, there were hardly any wrinkles in it by the time I put it on the floor.

One side of the rug pad is felt, which is designed to grab onto the rug and keep it in place.

The other side is natural rubber (not latex, which can start to disintegrate and lose it's grip over its lifetime).

Once I got the rug pad into position, I laid my rug down right on top of it and had a little bit of a hard time putting it into the right place since the felt grabbed right onto it - which was exactly what was advertised, right?! It was a good problem to have :).

After a few days of use, even rolling my big office chair back and forth a ton, I'm happy to report that the rug has stayed in exactly the same place where it started. It bubbled up the tiniest bit in one spot where the casters go under my desk, but I only really noticed because I was trying to find something wrong ;). Overall, I love this rug pad. I'll admit - I've never thought much about rug pads until now. Now I'm a firm believer that a high quality one makes a huge difference. No rug movement = no frustration.

I think I've officially professed my love for RugPadUSA's rug pads. If you're in the market, check them out. They've got a fantastic buying guide so you can compare the different kinds of pads. You can even get 15% off your order using the code 'pr15off' and their rug pads typically ship the same day your place it. How's that for service?

Bit by bit, my office is becoming one of my favorite places in the house. It better be, since I spend all my time there during the weekdays, ha! I love the natural light I get in there, and my new rug brightens up the space even more. I'll be back on Wednesday to share more photos and details!

*Disclosure: RugPadUSA was kind enough to provide this rug pad for my review, but I was not compensated in any other way for this post. As always, opinions are my own and I only endorse products here that I truly love!

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Our Christmas Card from Cardstore

While most paper items in our world have gone digital, Christmas cards seem to be holding strong and I for one am glad for it. I love giving and receiving Christmas cards each year. There are so many pretty ones to choose from and if you're a design lover like me, it can be pretty overwhelming to have to pick just one. So when Cardstore approached me to see if I'd like to review one of their Christmas cards this year, I gladly accepted - I was glad to have my options narrowed down for me to one company at least! When I headed over to their site to choose one, I found several that I really liked and had a hard time making a final decision. My favorites (the runners up, if you will) were...

Gold Sparkles Overlay:

Merry and Bright Brush Strokes:

Sparkle Overlay:

In the end, we settled this very simple Noel Script Overlay card. Since I love our photo so much I wanted to let it speak for itself without too much distraction.

The customization process is simple and gives you several options for fonts, colors and size, which I really appreciated. You can also choose to add additional photos and/or a message on the back for most designs, or leave it blank. Once that was done, all I had to do was checkout and wait for them to arrive in the mail! When we got them a few days later, I was very pleased to find that the printing and paper quality was top notch: the card has a lovely matte finish (nearly always my preference for photos) and the paper is nice and thick.

I opted to have Cardstore send me all the cards to address myself, but did have them print our return address on the envelope to save a step (which is free by the way!). You also have the option for them to address, stamp and send the cards for you, so for those of you who say you don't have time to send them out, here's your solution! No more excuses :). The only extra cost is the cost of the stamp.

Would I order from Cardstore again? Absolutely! They have a variety of designs to fit any taste or occasion, the quality was great, they shipped quickly, and the fact that they'll send them for you is such a fantastic option. Be sure to check them out!

Sooo, do you want to see our card? I did promise I'd show it to you when I shared our little photo shoot from a couple of weeks ago :). Merry Christmas from the three of us!

*Disclosure: I received Christmas cards from Cardstore in exchange for a review of the product. The opinions and assessment expressed here are my own.

Thanksgiving Card from Cardstore {A Review}

A little while ago, Cardstore contacted me to see if I'd review one of their cards. To be honest, I had never heard of the site, but when I clicked over to check it out, I was so impressed with the design of the site (what can I say, I'm a sucker for a pretty website!), I immediately wrote back and said I'd be happy to review a card!

This is what greets you when you arrive at the homepage:

Pretty, yes?

So I took my time looking through the different cards on the site, and finally settled on a Thanksgiving card with a watercolor leaf design. It was tough to choose just one! I'm planning to send it to one of my uncles we won't get to see this year on Thanksgiving. I thought I'd surprise him with a little "happy."

While the card is really pretty, what I really liked about Cardstore was all the options they give you to customize it. Once I selected my design, I was taken to a page full of customization options. I could add my own text, place a photo on the inside or outside (if I chose a card with that option), and play around with things like text placement, font and size.

I chose to keep mine to a couple of simple lines of text ("We are thankful for YOU this year. Wish we could be together today!"), but I loved playing around with all the options. They provide just enough options to make it feel like a truly customized card experience, but without having to do it ALL yourself from scratch. I felt like this was something that anyone could do - even those who wouldn't classify themselves as super computer savvy.

Once I was done customizing, I walked through the card from front to back, approving the design and text. When I was satisfied, I moved onto payment and shipping and the card was on its way to me...OR I could have had Cardstore send it directly my uncle. Yep, they'll address the envelope and send it for you! Talk about easy. No need to worry about receiving a big stack of something like a bunch of Christmas cards and then having to spend a few hours addressing and mailing them. So if efficiency is your goal, this is definitely a good system for you!

I like to handwrite personal messages in cards, so I had them send it to me directly, then I'll toss it into the mail myself. I did have them print an envelope with my return address on it though - that'll save me a little bit of time. If I was sending a bunch of cards though, I would definitely think hard taking them up on doing all the addressing and mailing for me! You can even make cards way in advance (if you're that organized, ha!) and have them sent on your chosen date.

Big thanks to Cardstore for letting me review one of their pretty cards! Definitely give them a look if you're shopping for your holiday cards. They're offering $20 off of $50 sitewide right now - don't miss out on a great deal! (They didn't pay me to say that - I just like finding good deals!)



*Disclosure: Cardstore provided one card for free for me to review. I did not receive any other compensation or instructions on what to write in this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own!

Winesdays at Whole Foods

A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed (per usual) and came across a giveaway from one of our local Whole Foods locations for two tickets to a concert. So I entered, of course (since I love free things), and later that day I got a message from their marketing team leader, Katie, saying that I WON! Crazy town. We had a great time at the concert, and a few days later, I got another message from Katie saying that she'd found my blog, really liked it, and wondered if I would be interested in covering an event they have on a weekly basis called "Winesdays." Umm, yes? So a friend and I went last week and I'm back to report on it!

{Whole Foods}

Winesdays (short for wine Wednesdays) is an event that happens weekly at many Whole Foods locations across the country. The basic idea is that you get five (generous) sips of wine that are each paired with five small plates of food for only $5. Yes, $5 y'all! It's a fantastic deal - I'd even call it a light dinner. My friend and I had a blast tasting the variety of food and wine pairings, and chatting with the different servers at each station. They're super friendly and eager to talk about what they've got on tap that night (punny!).

You start by "checking in" at one of the registers where you pay your $5 and they give you a glass (you get to keep it) and a menu with the wine and food pairings. Here's a look at our menu for the night:

Then you wander around to each of the five stations that are located all around the store, checking them off as you go. It sort of feels like a progressive dinner with a different "course" at each station. Be sure to take it slow though, not only because it's more fun that way, but also because they give generous pours of wine - drink slowly! By the end, you've basically had the equivalent of two glasses and if you're like me, you started on an empty stomach :).

Of course I had to take a photo at one of the stations, but man! so much awkwardness in this one...

All in all, we had a blast. My favorite wines out of the five were the Aveleda White from Portugal and the Begala Valpolicella Red from Italy. And I loved the veggie vegan rice delight from station one as well. So delicious (and vegan food usually scares me off!). They prepare all of the food items in-house using ingredients you can buy in the store. I think I'm going to try making that vegan dish for dinner one night soon.

I'm definitely planning to make another trip to Winesdays in the near future! Who's in? Check with your local Whole Foods and see if they do this event there - it's definitely a fun after-work activity for the middle of the week!

Many thanks to Whole Foods and Katie for inviting me cover this event. While they did provide two complimentary "tickets" for me and a friend, they did not otherwise compensate me or provide other incentives to write this review. The opinions are all mine!