Promoting Kids' Brain Health with Vitamin Friends Just Focus Vegan Gummies

Disclosure: I received samples to facilitate this review; all opinions expressed are my own. 

As an 80s baby I still remember the chalky taste of my morning vitamin each school day - they somehow seemed like a treat to me. Fast forward to now as a mom of a 4 and 8 year old and there are so many more options available. My kids have become self-appointed vitamin connoisseurs!

Win Big with Folgers' Jingle Contest!

This post was sponsored by Folgers as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines concerning the use of endorsement and testimonials in advertising. I received complimentary products to facilitate my 
review.

I'm a proud 80s baby and if there's one part of my childhood that's stuck with me it's my obsession with 80s TV - I even remember the commercials vividly. Who can forget the classic jingle, "The best part of wakin' up is Folgers in your cup?" As a kid seeing how snuggly and warm the coffee drinkers appeared made me want to cozy up with my own cup and while it wasn't until I had my own kids that I became an avid coffee drinker, it's no wonder that I now drink Folgers. Mr. Lovebird and I wake up to it every morning (we're huge fans of the Black Silk blend!) so when I heard about their jingle contest I was intrigued.

Butterfly In the Sky: It's Coming BAAAAACK!

I remember hearing faintly about Levar Burton's desire to bring back Reading Rainbow and apparently the public has declared that time is NOW!

Did you hear?  Read this to find out more. Basically, Mr. Burton put up a $1 million dollar Kickstarter campaign and more than doubled it pretty quickly. Amazing!

This post on the 80s is one of my top posts and I do have a warm, fuzzy place in my heart for Reading Rainbow as I shared here. 

Now I get all giddy thinking about it coming back! It brings back memories of eating Little Debbie after school snacks while watching it laying on the living room carpet (please tell me I'm not the only one who has food/childhood TV associations like that!). Anyway, for old time's sake here are a few of my favorite Reading Rainbow moments:

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• Abiyoyo read by Pete Seeger - Mr. Lovebird, and I still recite this to each other randomly from time to time; we showed the video to Nia and it scared her

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• The Macy's Day Parade episode - it featured Jumanji (I was terrified of this story as a kid!), and I believe the guy who later became the voice of Elmo appears at the end (take a look and correct me someone if I'm wrong!)

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• Miss Nelson is Back - again another one that scared me, but still loved it; the full episode featuring the talent of the make-up artist from The Goonies is BRILLIANT! 

Did you watch Reading Rainbow as a kid? What are your thoughts on the Kickstarter campaign? BTW it's live for another 33 days if you want to contribute!



P.S. Did you know there was a "Mr. Rogers Meets Levar Burton" episode of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood??? I completely missed this awesomeness as a kid, but you can watch it here. 

Lil Love Bird's Appreciation of Michael Jackson

Before having kids there were super important things that Mr. Love Bird and I agreed upon such as the fact that our children would know from an early age who Michael Jackson was. He was such an important part of our childhood and when he passed away the day before we were married it struck us hard, but we were so busy with the wedding that we didn't fully feel the impact of his passing or for me, properly mourn. 

We play Pandora through our Roku box and the images of the current song playing bounce around like a screensaver on our TV. Lil Love Bird watches the images and dances around. We love dance parties! Michael Jackson's station is one of my favorites so I've started telling her who he is when his songs pop up and his image. Now when she sees him she yells, "Michael Jackson!" and sometimes even when away from the screen she'll still say his name usually correct in recognizing it's him or at least recognizing the 80s sound (yes, we play Journey and Christopher Cross' station in our home too!).  

I captured a MJ dance party moment Lil Love Bird and Mr. Love Bird had while I was preparing dinner last week . . .

Do you find your kids have an appreciation for the things you enjoyed growing up?
 
 

P.S. Nia danced SO hard watching Beyonce on the half-time show last night that she conked right out after! Thanks Beyonce for making our bedtime routine so easy ;-)

A Throwback Giveaway: Spirograph is Back!

Wanna know something? My most popular posts of all time are those where I talk about 80s toys. Yep, it's true! It's definitely a passion of mine and having been invited to The Big Toy Book's Biggest Day of Holiday Play in December and now receiving my press pass for Toy Fair 2013, it's a topic that's here to stay at Harlem Love Birds. 

In keeping with this I was excited when Spirograph provided me with a Deluxe Set to play with. Yes, I still play with toys! I mentioned Spirograph in a previous post so when I saw them at The Big Toy Book event I was giddy with excitement (and thankfully I didn't scare the rep away hence this post you're reading now!).

Spirograph made it's debut in the 60s (yes, it's nearly 50 years old!) and has been updated for modern times. It comes in a sleek case, much nicer than the board-game box I remember having as a child. It's portable with a handle and very sturdy. While my Lil Love Bird is too young for Spirograph (it's for ages 8+), Mr. Love Bird and I will be having a date night-in to enjoy it on our own!

In the meantime, Lil Love Bird had fun exploring the set with me and watching me play...

 

An instruction booklet is included with details on how to make intricate drawings - there are hundreds of possible designs!

The case is sturdy and well-organized

My first design is on the left (putty is included to keep everything in place!); On the right is my attempt with the ruler - I need more practice! Oh and Lil Love Bird wanted to put putty on the wheel too so that's her doing!

As an entrepreneur, I've also found the story of how Spirograph made it re-entry to the marketplace interesting. It really is story of perseverance and if you'd like to see for yourself check it out here.

Are you a Spirograph fan like I am or wanting to become one? Well I'm excited to be giving away one Spirograph Deluxe Set! The giveaway ends Thursday, January 31 with the winner announced Friday, February 1 (open to U.S. residents only).

As always my Rafflecopter giveaway only has one mandatory entry with all others being optional. Good luck! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

P.S. Check out this 70s commercial for Spirograph - kinda funny!

Love Birds' Top 5 Retro Toys Gift Guide

All the gift guides spilling over in my Google Reader are making me feel dizzy so rather than copy the trend I thought it'd be fun to do a retro toy gift guide and share some favorites for those us who grew up in the 80s and 90s. I remember getting the JC Penney Christmas catalog (does that even still exist?) and drooling over it, dog-earing pages for things I knew I wasn't going to get. Nowadays are kids on Pinterest making their wishlists? Who knows.

Anyway, here we go . . .  

#5

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I adored my Sit 'n Spin and being an only child until I was nearly 8 years old it provided so much entertainment for me (that sounds sad and depressing now that I think about it - just sitting on a spinning disk all alone). Anyway, I loved this toy, but with its awkward size and not a lot of space in NYC apartments I think this is more of a suburban toy! (You can catch this pathetic toy in all its glory at the beginning of this retro commercial.)

#4

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I think the oversized eyes are what made Pound Puppies so endearing. We had a family dog but I loved my Pound Puppy more (I think because it didn't try to knock me down when I was learning to walk O_o). I remember having a big puppy and a few little puppies. I guess that would be a dog and puppies, but that's just being technical! There was a TV show too which was a favorite of mine as well. Those puppies always needed rescuing!

#3

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Cheri-Anabel Sloan - that was my Cabbage Patch doll's name and I adored her! I only had one official Cabbage Patch doll, and I think a well-meaning family member gave me an off-brand one  - the nerve! I didn't treat it the same as Cheri-Anabel, but would feel sorry for her occasionally and bring her out to play. I was a bit of a toy snob I guess! I heard earlier this year that they brought these back - did you hear about that too?

#2

Oh my! Just the sight of this reminds me of how much of a nerd I was. I don't think I knew any other kid that had this but I was obsessed with it. I had the Domino Rally that glowed in the dark although now that I think back I never used it in the dark! This toy required so much patience for a child and I would often give up and just go ahead and knock them down. There were sooooo many pieces! Now I would never let my Lil Love Bird have such a toy - how my mom dealt I have no idea!

For bonus nerdy fun check out this 80s commercial of this rad toy in action:

 #1

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Finally, this was a toy I coveted so badly but sadly never received (and no I wasn't jealous when my sister nearly 8 years younger than I got one when she was a preschooler) - the Barbie Power Wheels Corvette. I was slightly older than my next door neighbor and she would oblige my tantrums requests to ride on the back thus creating so much drag I can still hear the motor struggling down the sidewalk to this day.

Did you have any of these toys? What were the toys you coveted in the 80s and 90s?
 
 

Take Me Back . . .

If you haven't noticed I have a bit of a thing for nostalgia so when I came across this website on MUG was so excited: Hard to Find Grocer.

The link is exactly as it sounds - hard to find items (read: 80s!) are available for purchase!

Hallelujah!

Here's a wrap-up of my favorite items from the site:

 I used to eat this at my grandma's house for breakfast

This must be a Midwest thing - kinda like gingerale

Ahhhh reminds me of summer!

I had this during my recent visit to Columbus; I've never seen it out East

* Sigh *

Now I want to curl up and watch Classic Nick.

I can never go back but at least this will help me get closer!

P.S. Did anyone see the recent story in the NYT about Teen Nick making a return? Check it out here. Almost makes me wish we didn't get rid of cable!

Speaking of the 80s . . .

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Nia's first birthday theme's got me SO excited that I wanted to share a few funny old school Sesame Street videos. They're not exactly 80s but they continued to be shown in the 80s although they were created in the 60s and 70s. Nia received volume 1 of Old School Sesame Street from our dear friend Melissa P., and while I wanted to wait until she was two to let her watch it, I couldn't help break it open a few weeks ago. Boy, does she LOVE it!

We were watching the following clip and I was so surprised to hear her laugh at it too, just like Joey in the clip! Nia has an advanced sense of humor! I'd like to try to get a video of her watching it, but that would take a bit of coordination with Mr. Love Bird.

And of course Nia loves John John as much as I did:

Nia responds to this clip with wide-eyed wonder; she looks at the screen like, "I want to play with these little girls! Why didn't they include me?" I used to adore this clip too when I was a child:

I do have to say that while I love Sesame Street there are some clips that now watching as an adult I completely believe were created under the influence of drugs such as these:

The dandelion image freaked me out as a kid! I still shudder when I see it!

Finally, I have to share my two all time favorite Sesame Street clips:

I wanted to live somewhere where the kids were this diverse!

I used to imagine me and my mom in this scenario! I used to wonder how a little girl was allowed to go to the store all by herself - I had no concept of NYC bodegas. LOL!

Am I missing any of your favorites? Does anyone remember these?

Sneak Peak: Nia's First Birthday Theme

My talented sister Lauren hooked Nia up with an awesome image for her custom Evite:

We're doing an 80s theme! We figured that 1 year olds don't remember their first birthday anyway and since most of our friends are also 80s babies we'd make it fun for everyone and do a throwback party. 

SO excited to eat Pop Rocks and drink Tang!

Random Childhood Memory

I was obsessed with this Sesame Street short as a kid:

Anyone else remember this?

Randomness

Am  I the only one who used to watch this show?

And did anyone else ever watch this movie?


(SJP was in it!)

I Miss 80s Toys

I'm excited about Baby Agbai coming, but what I really anticipate is getting to play with toys all over again! I was totally obsessed with my toys as a child, and I took such good care of them. My friends used to say coming over to play at my house was like going to Toys 'R Us! My dad painted a mural on the wall of my original nursery, and when I grew out of the room it became my playroom. 

Here's a pic:

You'll notice the My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake toys. They along with Care Bares were my favorite icons of the 80s. I still have my Strawberry Shortcake thermos!

I don't know what it was about the 80s, but I think there was something special about the toys back then compared to now. Now everything seems to be electronic, loud and/or light up like video games. When the rest of my friends were getting Nintendo a neighbor gave me an outdated Atari when I was 8 or 9 that I had little interest in. I was more content to make crafts, play with Legos or my absolute favorite . . . the Play-Doh extruder:

Now this was one of those toys that I knew, even as a child, my mother loathed. I would would get the Play-Doh in the carpet and could never quite clean all the Play-Doh out of the extruder so it would get clogged causing me to get frustrated and my mom having to help me dig it out. Play-Doh crumbs would be everywhere. I remember being threatened many times that each play session with the extruder would be the last and I would ever get to use it again, but miraculously there was always another play session! I also have to admit that I once fell under Play-Doh's spell with it's soft, squishy texture and intoxicating smell and ended up eating some. It was very salty and unpleasant.

In college I went through a phase to re-claim my 80s toys and started finding some on Ebay. I ordered a Strawberry Shortcake lamp but it arrived broken (good thing I got insurance on it), Bambi's Fragrant Forest scratch and sniff book (although my siblings tore that book apart and scratched all the sniff out of it, my Ebay treasure is sealed away for Baby Agbai and currently sells for $34 as a collectible), and a Strawberry Shortcake board game.

Here are a few of my other favorite toys you might recognize:

Now I have to pause and pay homage to play food. I'm a big foodie now, and I think it's due to my play food and kiddie kitchen I had as a child. Ahhhhh - I can still smell the particle board and plastic fumes! I would spend hours pretending to cook eggs, grill hot dogs and brew tea. It was fabulous! I went searching for play food to get for Baby Agbai someday, and nowadays it's much more advanced and realistic. Check out this bounty:

If I had received this plethora of groceries as a child I would have wet my pants! This is GORGEOUS! I want Baby Agbai to come out of my womb RIGHT NOW fully formed at 2 years of age so we can play with it together. Seriously, she just did a flip flop in my belly cause she can feel my excitement. I'm not lying!

Now there is one modern "toy" that I'm intent on getting for Baby Agbai and that's a Skuut:

I first saw this in Central Park last fall and have seeing them ever since. I did a little research and it turns out that kids learn better to balance on a Skuut and can forgo training wheels. How awesome is that?! I'm definitely getting one. 

Check out these kids riding their Skuuts in pure bliss:

The Wonders of 80s TV

Uka's recent post about the old vs. new TLC and the mention of Zoobilee Zoo made me long for the TV shows of my childhood so I've decided to devote a post to the wonders of 80s TV. 

There were very few programs my parents allowed me to watch so as I wouldn't be poisoned by secular influences, but the programs I do remember watching I treasured dearly! Off the top of my head here are my favs:


Pinwheel

Strawberry Shortcake 

Care Bears

Smurfs

There's a really good website called Retro Junk that re-hashes all the old shows, showing clips, theme songs and even commercials. Sometimes for fun Uka and I will go to the website and watch clips just for nostalgia's sake. Remember Picture Pages?

I wanted it SO bad and just about every other mail-in product. I would furiously write down the addresses for the items I wanted, but I could never get them down in time!
 

Now the nerd in me LOVED science shows like 3-2-1 Contact and Mr. Wizard. I haven't met anyone who remembers Mr. Wizard on Nickelodeon. but he really did exist! 

The website Classic Nick is like Retro Junk but focuses only on Nickelodeon. I think there's even been a petition to get a classic Nick channel on cable TV but I highly doubt it'll ever come to pass.


Sometimes I'll pick up an episode of the Smurfs on Boomerang, and I realize how poor the video quality was and how the creators were probably under the influence of drugs! But then I catch a glimpse of today's Saturday's cartoons and I realize just how more innocent the shows of the 80s were. 


I hope to get some episodes of my favorite shows online for Baby Agbai to watch as she gets older (Ebay has some great finds!). I know it's not the 80s, but Uka and I even want to go back as far as The Little Rascals! 

Let us know what your favorite shows were!