Month: August 2014

Get Ready for Back to School With the Nokia Lumia 635 #NokiaBTS

Summer vacation is winding down and if you haven’t already done so it is time to start preparing our children for back to school. The new school year brings changes, meeting new people and for some of our children it will be their first time walking to and from school or even taking a city bus to high school. As a parent this is a terrifying moment for us – I swear I now know why my parents never wanted to let us go out alone! We want to be able to communicate with our children and let them have a security measure to be able to call for a pick up or assistance if needed. The problem? Tweens and teens can sometimes not be as careful with their electronics as we would hope they could be. Broken screens anyone?

Nokia has introduced the Nokia Lumia 635 a one of a kind smart phone in the affordable range that you will feel comfortable with purchasing for your tween or teen. How affordable you ask? You can pick up one for $0 down on some plans or purchase the phone itself for $199.  Despite the affordable price the phone does not look nor feel any different than any other smart phone out there. It still has a good solid feel while holding it in your hand as well as having full capabilities of any other smart phone.

Our son is slowly wanting to gain his independence and this was the perfect starter phone for him to help transition him to walking to a friend’s house, walking to the park and practice walking to and from school with his friends. He still had the confidence to walk alone or with his friends but knew that he was always one swipe away from being able to call us. Not to mention he fell in love with all of the apps and social media features he can use.

Nokia has developed several features that are unique to their line of phones. I wanted to share some of the ones that I felt your teen would love!

 Top Features for Tweens and Teens

  • Mix Radio App. This is probably one of the coolest apps I have ever seen. It comes already installed on the phone and is a FREE music playing radio app. Yup – FREE! That’s one perfect word to my ears especially since my son loves his music. You can even personalize your mix so that the app will recognize the type of music you like to listen to and play these songs.
  • Navigation App. I have the Nokia Lumia 1020 and became familiar with the navigation apps using that phone and it is a fantastic feature for those constantly on the go. The Nokia Lumia 635 has a built in GPS with no subscription or fees required to be able to use this. The three navigation apps are: Here Drive+, Here Maps and Here Transit. Your child can use the app to navigate routes home from after school activities, map out routes to their friends house and even check the local transit system! You can check out this app in motion here.
  • WiFi & Data Sense. Now this feature will be appreciated much more by the parents then their children but I had to highlight this feature. I have gone over my data plan only once and it was horrendous. An extra one hundred dollars in just data alone! With the Nokia Lumia 635 you can turn on WiFi sense so that it will automatically switch to WiFi while they are out and about or at school which helps prevent data overages. Your child can combine this with Data Sense – a feature that allows set limits on data usages, warnings when you are close to your limit as well as limiting data usage to WiFi only.
  • Social Media Apps. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – the essentials! All can be found on this phone and easy to use. With the large screen pictures can be viewed easily.
  • Customizable. The phone is easily customizable. Your child can change the display, accent colours, update the tiles, add more or less tiles as well as change the shell. We chose the bright green shell – flashy, bright and easy to find once he misplaces it!


 Nokia Lumia Specifications for the Techies!

  • Display screen is 4.5″
  • Touch screen technology
  • Dimensions: 129.5mm X 66.7mm
  • 222.1 ppi
  • USB 2.0
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows One Drive

The only drawback with this phone is no front camera. Now what does that mean for your child? It just means it is a little harder to take that selfie! Knowing this, Nokia developed a Glam Me app that helps guide the user to take their own selfie using the back camera. Once the timer is started it will beep to help you position the camera into the appropriate spot for that perfect selfie. Problem solved!

The Nokia Lumia 635 is the best and affordable starter phone out there. Our son fell in love with it’s easy to use features, bright display screen and mix radio.

What are your favourite features of the Nokia Lumia 635? What features do you look for in a phone for your child?

Disclosure: I am part of the Nokia BTS campaign and received product as well as compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

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#KinderSmiles Booth at the Toronto Eaton Centre – Come Unwrap a Smile!

This past weekend we had the opportunity to join our fellow #KinderMoms and #KinderDads at the Toronto Eaton Centre for the unveiling of the #KinderSmiles booth!

Kinder Canada is celebrating their 40th Anniversary (yup forty years of delicious chocolate surprises!). To start off this incredible year the #KinderSmiles Booth was set up at the Eaton Centre. Families, couples and chocolate lovers are invited to head down to the Eaton Centre to capture their best #KinderSmiles in the photo booth and receive a special Kinder surprise!

Once you take your photo and receive your special surprise from the booth the children can sit, open and play with their Kinder toy. The Kinder staff were incredible playing with the children, helping put together the toys and they even had a few extra toys lined up in case there were a few tears over a toy (great planning!).

Once our photos were taken we took a short walk up the street to the Yonge and Dundas square (YAY for open Streets Toronto – so neat to walk on the always busy Yonge Street!). If you haven’t been to the square before it is surrounded by large screens on the buildings. Kinder was fantastic and displayed all of the #KinderSmiles photos on these screens! The boys were yelling every time they saw our pictures come up (famous!).

The #KinderSmiles booth is only open until August 28th so make sure to head in soon to capture those moments. If you are not in the Toronto area you can head over to their Facebook page and use their online Smile Booth to create your own special #KinderSmiles to share with your family.

Make sure to follow Kinder Canada on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss out on all the upcoming fun and surprises!

I will be having some extra special news coming your way early next week so keep your eyes peeled!

Disclosure: I am part of the Kinder Mom program and receive special perks for being a part of this program. All opinions are my own.

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BTS Transportation Sweepstakes 09/19 US/CAN

Welcome to the MPM BTS Transportation Sweepstakes Organized by: Mom to Bed by 8 – Special thank you to our supporting co-host bloggers: A Medic’s World, My So Called Balanced Life, Life with 5 monkies, Reviews 411, Monica’s Rants, Raves & Reviews, Michigan Saving and More and Plum Crazy About Coupons.

 

One winner will receive a $500 Southwest Gift Card.

Giveaway ends September 19th at 11:59pm, open to US and Canadian residents, ages 18+. Excludes Quebec. Only one entrant per household, per address. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Enter using the giveaway form below. Good luck!

Disclaimer: The participating bloggers were not compensated for this post. No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household, per address. Void where prohibited by law. Winner(s) will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. The sponsor(s) will be responsible for product shipment to winner(s) of this sweepstakes. This event is in no way administered, sponsored, or endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook and/or Twitter, Google, Pinterest. Contact teri@mompoweredmedia.com if you have any additional questions or comments.

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Dorm Room Decor with Posterjack

Are you sending off a child to college this year? Or maybe you are heading off yourself?

Looking back to my own university years my room was one of the most important things to me when I started school. It was my first time being apart from my family (a HUGE adjustment for me) and I wanted my room to be my home away from home, to remind me of those closest to me while still representing who I am. The only problem? Have you seen how small those dorm rooms are?!

This is where Posterjack comes in! If you are not familiar with Posterjack they are a Canadian online photo printing company with a passion for photography. They create original and unique works of art to display in your personal space.

Students can decorate their dorm room with some fantastic photo art tips from Posterjack to maximize every inch of space.

  • Make your room feel bigger with reflections! Metal prints and lacquer frames catch and reflect light helping to make a small space feel bigger
  • Make a statement. An oversize poster makes a strong statement as well as creating a focal point, tricking the eye into thinking the room is bigger than it is.
  • Create continuity. Use a collection of canvas prints that have the same soft colours and are the same size for a natural flow throughout the room.
  • Add personality without the paint. Most locations will not allow you to use paint on the dorm walls but you can still create an accent wall with Peel and Sticks.
  • Inspiration boards. My personal favourite – create a collage of all the people, places and things that inspire you – perfect for above your desk to remind you why you are there and your goals.

All of these products can be ordered in three simple steps off of the Posterjack site:

  1. Upload a photo.
  2. Select your print and size.
  3. Sit back as Posterjack delivers right to your door (bonus here!).

Parents – this would be a great move in gift for your kids so that they can take a little piece of family and history with them as they embark on this new stage in their life!

Disclosure: I received product for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

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2014 Biosteel Training Camp #mazdafan #WW

On Monday we were given the opportunity to attend the 2014 Biosteel training camp in Toronto. I grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada and my boys share my passion with me so we were stokked to attend!

I wanted to share our time with you this week and I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we had taking them! See anyone familiar??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you tell we had a fantastic time?! Big thanks to Mazda Canada, Biosteel Sports and Mom Central Canada for this opportunity!
Make sure to link up below so that I can check out what you have been up to!

 

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