How Paperless Post & I Became Fast Friends This Holiday Season

This time of year I lick more envelopes and address more cards than any other time of year. 

For the last 3 years, Christmas + Croix's Birthday (December 27th) has given me a workout all on it's own, but this year the correspondence game was inflated even more because we hosted a Christmas Dinner. As much as I love good ol' fashion snail mail I just didn't have it in me to order, address and send out one more clump of invites so I was THRILLED when Paperless Post approached me about trying out their site.

For those of you unfamiliar Paperless Post is an online card company where every invitation, greeting card, holiday card, etc. is sent online via email. I'm sure most of us have received an "evite" of some kind before but Paperless Post definitely takes it up a notch. There are several things I really liked about my experience...

Let's start with the pretty factor, which was a really big factor for me. Again, I really like cards and correspondence so I was NOT all about some corny email invitation, I wanted something pretty and elegant that I would choose if I was ordering, stuffing and hand addressing.  Luckily the selection of cards is great - so many options, most of which can be customized with fonts, colors, etc. I had fun not only picking out the card but playing around with the wording to make it exactly what I had in mind. 

                                   

Another feature I really liked was the tracking feature. Once you have selected and customized your card you enter the individual email addresses for each person or family and the number of individuals invited. Once the cards are sent out you can see not only who has RSVP'ed yes or no, but you can see who has opened the invite. It tracks total numbers in this area as well so you can keep a running tab of your head count as your event nears. 

I'm so glad I had such a good first experience with Paperless Post because I ended up needing a quick invite. I had originally had these adorable 3rd birthday invitations made on Etsy. 

We mailed them out and all was set for a big jump jump party on the 29th until.......baby BROTHER decided to join the world a week and a half early. I'll have more on that soon - but needless to say Croix's birthday party needed to be postponed so I quickly created a new invite using Paperless Post, letting everyone know the party would be rescheduled for January 5th. 

All of my email addresses were already saved and now, 24 hours after sending I have a good idea of the final headcount because most of us are more likely to RSVP with the click of a button vs. emailing or texting the host to let them know. I mean...am I right or am I right? 

Needless to say I've given Paperless Post a good workout over the last few weeks and I'm happy to say it's a site I plan to use again and again. If you have any events or notes to send out in the new year you should definitely give them a try - highly recommend!

Merry Christmas, xoxo - The Shearers

Happy Christmas Eve's Eve's Eve! This has truly been one of the most magical Christmas seasons I can remember and it all got kicked off in mid-November with a visit to Santa. 

Croix was not a fan of Santa last year, but this year, he was all about it. 

We booked our session with Sara D. Harper Photography and could not be happier with the photos. A festive atmosphere while we waited (hot cocoa, treats, holiday music), a pretty backdrop, a beautiful/authentic Santa and the best part.....natural light. Haha - just kidding, the best part was of course the happiest, most curious and slightly timid Croix Boy, who as you can see  really hammed it up with good ol' Saint Nick. 

It was hard to narrow down just one photo for our Christmas card, 

Family has already started to trickle into town, the house is all decorated, cooking has started and our shopping/wrapping are all done. Can't wait to take the next few days to soak it all in and remember the reason for the season with so many of the people we love. 

From our family to yours......Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Friends!!

Xoxo, The Shearers

All photos are Sara D. Harper Photography. 

All I Want for Christmas is... a New Toothbrush

A few weeks ago Smile Brilliant sent me an electric toothbrush to try out and boy did it come at a good time. You see,  I've used an electric toothbrush for awhile now, but about a year ago I left the stick at a hotel on one of my travels. I had big plans to purchase a new one, but those things are pricey, so much to Brent's dismay he and I shared a stick, not the toothbrush head, I'm not a total savage, but the stick. I was forever "in trouble" for not putting the stick back on Brent's side after using it, griping at him when he took the stick with him on his travels, leaving me to brush my teeth by holding the tiny head....it wasn't pretty. Sharing is caring, but apparently that does NOT apply to toothbrush sticks.

So, as you can imagine when Smile Brilliant reached out, both Brent and I were all about me trying out this electric toothbrush!

The toothbrush is a the cariPRO Electric Toothbrush and the game plan was for me to try it out for 2 weeks and then report back on my thoughts. As soon as it came in the mail I got her all charged up and I've been using it twice a day, every day since.

Photo from Smile Brilliant Website.

As a person that has used an electric toothbrush before I was interested to see how this one could possibly be "special enough" to dedicate a whole blog post to; I mean how different can a toothbrush be? Well, I'm happy to report  this one has quite a few praises I'm happy to sing.

First up....the brush modes... all 5 of them! 

                                                                     

Each and every time you brush your teeth you can choose between the following modes:

1. Clean
2. Whiten
3. Massage
4. Gum Care
5. Sensitive

It's cool because the modes are designed to function for 2 minutes around the 4 sections of your mouth (top left, top right, bottom, left and bottom right). After 30 seconds the brush vibrates letting you know to move it to a different section of the mouth. In general the main pro to using an electric toothbrush as opposed to a standard one is the fact that you are less likely to wear down your enamel by brushing too hard, but this tooth brush takes it to the next level by ensuring all of your teeth get equal attention. This is definitely not a feature any other electric toothbrush I've ever used has had and truly do find myself utilizing the various settings, especially the "Clean" and "Whiten".

The Battery Life is another feature I've been really impressed with. There is nothing I hate more than  phone/computer updates, empty gas tanks or dead batteries, I mean who has time for any of that!? Well, this toothbrush is different, it's very low maintenance and holds it's charge for so long! According to the manual, once charged for a full 24 hours, the toothbrush stays charged for 30 pre-timed brush cycles!! Per the instructions I let my toothbrush live on it's stand when not in use, so I've never run into wanting to use it but not being able to because it's dead. For someone who craves efficiency, this is HUGE to me. 

The price is another pro for this product. If you've ever shopped electric toothbrushes you know they can be quite the investment. Not only are the toothbrush systems themselves expensive but the toothbrush heads can be pricey as well. Well, this toothbrush is different, for all that it offers in terms of features it is extremely affordable as are the accessories that come with it. If you go to the site and shop the packages you will see that their prices are at least 50% less than other options on the market.  Plus, they back up their product with a 60 day guarantee where they will do a complete refund if you are not 100% satisfied. All of that in addition to the fact that they offer free shipping make this about as close to a no-brainer as it gets if you re in the market for a new toothbrush. 

After spending a few weeks with my cariPro, I'm overall a fan, but in the name of being truly transparent and real I do want to  speak to the fact that If there had to be a con I would say it would be the look. Don't get me wrong, it's a good looking tooth brush, but there are prettier versions on the market - matte black, gold, etc. HOWEVER, for me personally, I care less about aesthetics and more about dental care, so this is not a deal breaker for me. I'm very thankful to have this toothbrush and would definitely recommend it!

Before any of you go and purchase your own I'm excited to say I get to give one away!! To enter the giveaway follow this link and enter! And if you are not the lucky winner, fear not I have a 20% discount code for all of you! thecowspot20

Unless otherwise noted all photos are my own.