My husband is hard to shop for because he says he doesn't need or want anything. I generally end up buying him the same things, shirts and his favorite candies, for gift giving occasions.This past Christmas I found a gift that has been very popular with the men in my family: The Sportula.

First I gave a set to my dad, then Dennis gave us a set and now my brother wants one too. The spatula, tongs and fork are super sturdy and two come with bottle openers on the ends.

Sportula has expanded beyond NFL and now has NHL, patriotic themed, college teams and Nascar sets. I like that they've also brought in a new product, the Boasters (stainless steel coasters) for those of us who already have the sets but want another way to show off our team pride. We're slowly making over the deck and the boasters would be perfect to have on the coffee table. You can buy Sportulas and Boasters on the Sportula store on Amazon.

*Not sponsored, affiliate link used. You can laugh at my dirty grill but not my team!

8 Gift Ideas for Your 3 Day Walker: 3 Day Thursday

After the closing ceremonies for the 3 Day, many friends and family like to bring their walker pink flowers or balloons. While those things are nice, I feel there are practical gifts that someone who just walked 60 miles would appreciate and be more able to use.

Here are eight gift ideas for your 3 day walker: 

Two years ago I found slippers like these EMU's at Boot World. I surprised Mom and gave them to her right after the walk. I had to take her shoes off for her because she couldn't bend over! She said the soft fur felt really good, especially between her toes. The sturdy sole makes them perfect for wearing out of the house. Mom wore hers to work every day for a week.

Last year, because I'm a good daughter, I let my mom use our foot spa first when we got home from closing ceremonies. Getting your feet into warm water with some soothing bath salts is priority number one after walking so far. I was eying it the way a starving person would a pork chop the whole time. This one from Dr. Scholl's is better than ours because it has a heater to maintain the water temperature.

My mom hasn't been documenting her walks very well but this year I hope to take a lot of pictures and put them together for her in a Memory Book to commemorate her 10th walk. 

Other ideas:

*Before the walk, give a scarf, hat and mitten set for the cold nights (it gets chilly where we camp because we're on the bay).

*A sleeveless vest. I was freezing in the early mornings! I wanted to layer but not take a chance on getting overheated. I wore a light down vest and it was perfect.

*Disposable cameras for anyone not on the digital bandwagon. No worrying about batteries.

*Gift cards to a coffee house. Many people go out of their way for a gourmet cup of coffee in the mornings. I don't carry my entire wallet in my butt bag. Gift cards save space.

*Certificates for a massage and/or pedicure are obvious but so needed! I think a massage would have helped me recover faster (hint, hint).

If you've done the 3 day walk, what was the best gift you've received? Do you have any other ideas to offer?  

*Affiliate links used

Father's Day Gift Ideas for the Stumped

I generally use Father's Day as an opportunity to buy Phil the type of clothes I like to see him in. He doesn't care one iota about fashion so I can make him my own life-sized Ken doll. But if he doesn't need clothes, I'm usually at a loss. And forget about our father's. They're both so hard to shop for. 

We usually rely on the ole 'cute picture of the grandkid' standby if neither of us have an original idea. Here are a few things I've come across for those of you who get stumped the same way I do.

Kicked up cutting boards

I saw these at the International Housewares Show. They're from the Epicurean BBQ Series and I think they're pretty cool.

I love the silicone holders on the sides; one for a knife or tongs and the others for spices (or, more likely, a beer!).

BYOB flip flops

I bought Phil a pair of the Reef Dram sandals from Nordstrom Rack. They have a flask in the sole and come with a key and mini funnel.

The other style, the Reef Fanning, has a bottle opener in the sole. I don't imagine either are very airport friendly but they're really cute.

Magnetic bottle opener

I saw the Clink N Drink at the Oceanside Farmer's Market. It's a bottle opener attached to a really strong magnet. The bottle caps stick right to the surface and stay there until you empty it.

Brian has a lot of different skins for the openers like surf. I think he has more skin options in person than on the site but I haven't verified.

What are you giving for Father's Day? 

(I still need an idea for my Grandfather!) 

*I wasn't asked to write about or wad compensated for this post. The affiliate links are to Amazon.

Mother's Day Gift Idea: Snaptotes *Update*

I got the Snaptotes backpack Friday and it's so cute! I used the photo Aaryn took of Tyler* at Cheri's pool last summer. It's one of my favorite pictures of him and one I knew would look great on the bag.

I love it! I'm glad I chose the black and white picture over the color. It looks good with the black bag. I like the extra pockets and the pen holders. I'm always digging for my pens and often give up and use lipliner. The attachment to hold keys is a nice touch.

It holds more than I thought it would. I normally use huge bags because I carry the world in my purse. This one fits enough for a developing country. I have room for all the essentials and a little to spare.


Now that I have it, I can't give it up. I was going to give it to my mom, but it's just too cute. I can't give one to her with out giving one to the other three Grandma's as well. In the interest of family harmony and to prevent them from not speaking to me, I'm going to consider it a Mother's Day gift to myself!

*Use code DRAMA15 for 15% off your Snaptotes order. Last day to order in time for Mother's Day is April 30th *

Thank you to Snaptotes for letting me show off my baby this way!

*Yep, that's his real name. We're going to be in a magazine, there's no use trying to hide it anymore!

Mother's Day Gift Idea: Snaptotes

My mom is really hard to shop for. Gift cards and things for the house are definite no-no's. Now that my brother is out of the house, her disposable income has gone up enough that when she wants something, she buys it. Like me, she has pretty expensive taste. Like me, she likes purses and shoes, however we have very different tastes. Night and day different. So, trying to come up with a gift she actually wants or needs can be a bit... difficult (but I don't mind! in case she's reading)

But, I know that she will never, ever turn down a chance to show off her Grandbaby. I've given her plenty of framed pictures of Drama Kid, sometimes in duplicate so she can have one at home and one in her office. Now I have an opportunity to give her a gift of something she likes (purses) and combine it with something personal (photos) that I know will be a hit.

I've seen women with photo handbags and assumed they were from a specialty boutique store. When the people from Snaptotes found me, I thought, "Duh! Of course something like that would be available online!" I ordered this bag last week. I decided to go with the backpack even though I really like the bucket style too. The backpack can also be worn as a shoulder bag so versatility won by a hair. I like having my hands free, especially now that I take my camera with me everywhere.

It would be a stretch to say the ordering process took me 10 minutes. The photo I chose loaded quickly, I only needed to use the editing tools to shift the image a little and it was done. You can upload several images and switch them out which was helpful when I was trying to decide between a color photo and a black and white.

I would have liked to see an overhead shot of the interior of the bags and wish they offered a camera bag, similar to the messenger style but with pockets for lenses.

I got a shipping confirmation that the backpack is on it's way. I'll post again so you can see what it looks like. If you have hard to shop for people on your gift list, definitely take a look at the Snaptotes site. They gave me a special discount code for you, DRAMA10, for 10% off your purchase! The last day to order for Mother's Day is April 30th so you've got plenty of time to snap a few photos or search your archives for baby pictures.