A Letter to My Son with Autism

Dear Mason,

A little over a month ago, on Thursday, April 9, 2015, you were diagnosed with autism. Even though we had had some suspicions for a while, to hear the doctor say "Mason has autism" and to see the ADOS report say "diagnosis : autism" struck me hard. We thought you aced the test with flying colors and we were going to be wrong. We just knew that the doctor was going to tell us that you were fine and it was all a big mistake. I knew I had overreacted. But I wasn't wrong.

I was overwhelmed with all of the information that I was given. I didn't know where to go or where to start. Our world had just been rattled and I didn't know where to go from there. I thank my lucky stars that we have such a wonderful person in our life who could help us, who had been through the same thing. I talked to her on the phone for over an hour that night, picking her brain, asking her questions, hearing her story. She helped me in ways I can't even thank her enough for. I didn't cry. I was optimistic. We can do this.

We told our family all we knew and could comprehend. I don't want this to be a secret. This is a part of you. You are a part of us. We will get through this together.

People keep asking me and your dad if we are ok, and to be honest, I think we are. I know we are. You are no different today than you were on April 8. Nothing has changed except we were given more tools to help you thrive and grow.

Then the other day I stumbled across this post and she said everything I was thinking. Reading that post made me cry. I couldn't believe that someone had put into words exactly what I was feeling and thinking.

Your life today, as a newly diagnosed child with autism, will be very different than your life in a few years. Early intervention is key and I am so happy that we were able to get this diagnosis now, while you're two, rather than many years down the road. I see how well you respond to your speech classes and how much of a sponge your little brain is. I know this early diagnosis will only benefit you as you learn and grow in the coming years. And right now, there are still so many unknowns. We are still waiting to go to your follow up ENT appointment in June. Who knows, maybe he will still see fluid, you will get tubes, and your speech will take off. Maybe the fact that your hearing is muffled due to the fluid and minor hearing loss causes you to be so focused on one toy that you don't hear the sounds of other toys making noise in the background. Maybe once you can hear better, you will stop putting everything (non-food related) in your mouth and you can fully experience toys and writing utensils with all of your senses. I know this diagnosis is just one part of the puzzle. And there are so many that are still missing. In due time, we will see and learn more and as we learn more, the puzzle might change.

(source)

This diagnosis does not define you. You are still the same sweet, loving, caring, amazing little boy that we've always known. You are friendly, you are outgoing, you are fearless. You are a joy to be around. And your dad and I... we will make sure we give you every tool you need to grow, learn, and thrive. I can't wait to enroll you in kindergarten and cry my eyes out that my little boy is growing up too fast. I can't wait to see you make your first science fair project. I can't wait to see you play sports. I can't wait to see you graduate high school and to help you move into a dorm at college and then really cry my eyes out that my little boy really is ALL grown up. And furthermore, I can't wait to meet the girl you know you are going to marry and then walk you down the aisle to wait for her. One day (long, LONG from now), you will make me a Grandma and make me the happiest I've ever been to hold a baby since July 18, 2012, the day you were born.

I never thought of myself as a parent of a child with special needs. But here we are, here I am. A parent of a child with autism. And while that might be true and we might have some hurdles we need to jump over, you, your dad, and I are no different than we were on April 8. And I intend to treat you exactly the same way I did on that day from this day forward. I am constantly in awe and inspired by you. You make me want to be a better mama. I love you more with every day that passes.

Love always and forever,
Your mama

[Recipe Share] St. Louis Style Pork Ribs with Asian Ginger Marinade

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Weave Made Media®  Smithfield® and Farmland®, but all my opinions are my own. #weavemade #GetUpandGrill #GetFiredUpGrilling http://my-disclosur.es/RgFrEH”

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we had some AMAZING ribs with our Mother's Day dinner. They were seriously SO GOOD that I wanted to share the recipe with you.

**

I also think I mentioned last week that last Wednesday I randomly had off from work. It was GLORIOUS. A mommy mental health day if you will. I know that sounds awful, that I enjoyed a day by myself, away from my family, but hey, every once in a while, a mama needs a day of rest. So, what's a girl to do when she has a day off all by herself? Shop of course! A new Walmart opened nearby my house about a year ago and I'd been wanting to check it out. People always talk about what a good deal they got there, but before now, there wasn't really one convenient or close to home, so I just never went. Then when this one opened, it was SO CROWDED looking in the parking lot (when I would go to my beloved Starbucks drive thru I would notice) so I never went in but one time. Evidently, the people I talked to were right, good deals. So when I had a random weekday off, I thought I would try it again. And it was much, much less crowded than the weekend day I went. A girl could get used to having Wednesdays off.

Anyway, long story short, I went in for a few things and found these ribs. I like ribs. I've had them a few times at Lucille's and our friend Matt made some delicious ones a couple months ago. But I never found them at the grocery store, so I kind of forgot about them. Until I heard that Walmart carried some. So, on my day off, I headed over there, found them, and grabbed them. Apparently I live under a rock because the rib section was packed with people and they were all looking at these Farmland ribs. Now I don't know a whole lot about meat, that's usually Seth's area of expertise, but these St. Louis style ribs looked pretty good to me.

These Farmland Extra Tender St. Louis Style Pork Spareribs were some of the best ribs I've ever eaten. Seth would say that is due to his excellent grilling techniques, and while I'm sure that had something to do with it, the meat was just that good. No joke, everyone was devouring the ribs and asking "where did you get these?! they are DELICIOUS." And Seth would say "Liz got them at Walmart" and they would all turn and look at me like I lived on Mars.

But let me start from the beginning. The marinade. I told Seth he was in charge of making the marinade for these ribs and that he needed to do some research. I immediately opened Pinterest for him to search and explained to him how to use it and he says "wouldn't google work just as well?" Touché, Seth, touché. I suppose google would work just as well, though, personally, I think my way was better. Anyway, he ended up finding an Asian ginger marinade that he used as his base and then altered it based on what we had on hand. And, I mean, really, anything that has brown sugar in the recipe has GOT to be good, right? Right.

It all started on Friday night when Seth made the marinade and started the rib prep for Sunday. As much as raw meat grosses me out, these things were looking pretty good already. He poured the marinade over the ribs and wrapped them up and put them in the fridge until Sunday.

ORIGINAL RECIPE // allrecipes.com Asian ginger marinade

INGREDIENTS:

-- 1/3 cup soy sauce (we substituted the teriyaki aminos since we had some leftover from our whole30 and it was gluten free for Seth's mom)
-- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
-- 2 tablespoons honey (we used brown sugar instead)
-- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
-- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
-- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
-- 1 tablespoon chopped green onion or shallot (we used green onion)
-- 1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds
-- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Whisk together soy sauce (teriyaki aminos), rice vinegar, honey (brown sugar), sesame oil, garlic, ginger, green onion, sesame seeds, and pepper until the honey (brown sugar) has dissolved.

It's really that easy!

Seth wrapped up the tin foil and covered the ribs and stuck the tray in the fridge until Sunday. The ribs marinated away in that delicious brown sugar mixture and were ready to go come Sunday!

Sunday I headed out for my massage and mani/pedi around 11am, Seth and Mason headed out to run some errands and then back for Mason to nap and for Seth to start the ribs. He decided to use these instructions for cooking the ribs on our gas grill but found that there were lots of instructions for cooking your ribs inside in the oven if it is not quite grilling weather where you live.

I came home from my massage and mani/pedi to the house smelling FANTASTIC. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it smelled like something I had eaten before, and it smelled amazing. And I was pretty bummed that it was only 3:30pm and I had to wait until at least 6pm to eat.

Shortly after I got home, Papa came over and commented on how good the house was smelling. I finished getting ready for dinner, we played with Mason, we had some appetizers, and around 5:30pm, our family came over for dinner. Around 6pm, everything was done. We had tri tip, chicken, and ribs as our main dish...

... but the ribs were BY FAR the hit of the night. I mean, I'll let this pan speak for itself.

Thankfully I started off with two because if I had only taken one, I would have been out of luck for seconds! The meat was so perfectly cooked that it just fell off the bones as you tried to pick it up. No joke, I CANNOT wait to pick up more of these ribs. They be my new Saturday night dinner go-to.

We paired our main dishes with parmesan zucchini and corn and crusted new potatoes which were a nice compliment to the ribs.



If you're in the market for ribs, I HIGHLY recommend these Farmland Extra Tender St. Louis Style Pork Spareribs. They were not only some of the best ribs I've ever eaten, but THE best ribs I've ever eaten. And even better? They are available at Walmart. 

If you're in the market for a marinade for your own meat, I also HIGHLY recommend this recipe. Trust me. You won't be disappointed. However, if this marinade is not your thing, I'd definitely recommend that you visit the Get Fired Up Grilling website www.getfiredupgrilling.com for additional recipes and tips from BBQ Pitmasters Moe Cason and Tuffy Stone. Also enter to win a trip to the American Royal BBQ contest and other great grilling prizes! The options are endless.

Happy Grilling!

Mother's Day Weekend

I know Mother's Day was technically only Sunday, but really, we celebrated all weekend. On Friday I came home to the best presents - a home made card from Mason and TULIPS! Tulips! I've been searching for forever for some affordable, pretty tulips for weeks and Seth listened and found some and surprised me. I was SO surprised and happy. They were beautiful and perfect!

The inside had Mason's purple handprints!

Saturday was spent with my little family and we had the BEST time! In the morning we had a playdate with one of Mason's friends from school at a new play gym that just opened. Since the gym was in the neighborhood of Seth's dad's house, we surprised him by bringing over in n out for lunch, spent some time with him, and then hit the new Dunkin' Donuts that was just opened near his house. I've been wanting to try it ever since one opened by my co-workers house a couple months ago but she says the drive thru line is always so long so I haven't been able to convince her to brave the line to bring me some. After that, we came home for nap time and then in the afternoon/evening, we had a playdate with our friends Vickie, Lauren, Seth, and Logan. We love spending time with them and Mason and Logan absolutely adore each other. It's the sweetest thing to hear Logan yell "May-on! May-on!" when he sees Mason. I hope they stay friends forever!

Sunday morning Mason slept in! Hallelujah! Seth and I on the other hand? Did not. I was up and wide awake at 7:01am while my sweet little boy slept until 8:34am.

He was actually in our bed because the past two nights he's been having bad dreams or something and had woken up in the middle of the night around 3am SCREAMING. We decided to bring him into bed with us (he falls right back to sleep) so we didn't want to leave him alone on our bed (you know, after the incident on the last night of our vacation, we're traumatized and think he will fall off beds and cut his head open now) so we just hung out upstairs until he woke up. And when he woke up? He looked at me, smiled, kissed me, and grabbed my phone that was sitting on the bed. Nothing like technology 1.2 seconds after you wake up.

We all headed downstairs where I convinced Seth that I NEEDED chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (he obliged). I cleaned up a bit in preparation for our dinner guests later that day and then I left for my massage and mani/pedi. Yep, that's right. The husband did GOOD and picked up on all the hints I was throwing out. I left around 11am for my massage at noon and was gone until about 3:30pm. It was glorious.

I ended my spa afternoon with a Starbucks. I thought long and hard about getting another one of those delicious s'mores frappuchinos at half price but ultimately decided on my go-to drink of peach green tea lemonade.

I headed home, got ready, and then our family came over for a BBQ put on by the guys. We had margaritas to drink, guacamole and chips and deviled eggs as appetizers, tri tip, chicken, and these AMAZING ribs as our main dish, and potatoes and veggies as sides. Dinner was SO GOOD. And then of course we couldn't forget dessert - ice cream sundaes.

The day ended with selfies and kisses on the lips from my boy and I couldn't have been happier. I got a little alone time at the spa as well as time with my favorite boys. The perfect end to a perfect weekend.

I hope all you moms had the BEST Mother's Day and your family spoiled you rotten!

Five [or Seven!] on Friday!

Happy Friday! This week has been an interesting one. Monday seemed to drag on forever, Tuesday went by SUPER fast, Wednesday I had off (woohoo!), Thursday came and went and here we are at Friday now! Wednesday was super nice and just what I needed. A day to myself to do whatever I wanted. If you asked me what I did, I could throw out a few things, but honestly I feel like I did nothing and everything and got nothing done at the same time. Confusing. But amazing. A girl could get used to having Wednesdays off. It makes the week just fly by! And now it's time for my Five on Friday! Be prepared for an extra random five seven things today!

ONE.
This pin.

Have you guys seen this pin? I saw an arcticle on Facebook about the perfect road trip and 'screen shotted' it for future reference but Courtney told me there was a pin version as well so I hopped on Pinterest to find it. On Seth's bucket list is to visit every baseball stadium in the US and to be honest, I'd kinda like to also, so this may be a super fun road trip to go on once Mason is grown and out of the house and we are old and retired (you know, in like 40 years!). Maybe we can buy an RV and travel around the US and I can watch TV while he drives me around? LOL. I think I heard Seth yelling "NO!" in the background. Oh well. A girl can dream.

TWO.
Painted hands.

Mason came home with paint stains all over his hands on Tuesday. It looks like the teachers tried to wash his hands, but it just didn't come off all the way. The stains were of the purple and pink variety and I have a strange feeling that I know what he was doing all day. To say that I am excited to see what comes home from his cubby today is an understatement! I just LOVE the artwork that he makes!

THREE.
Starbucks s'mores frappuchino.

via

HOLY MOLY.

I wish these things came with a 50% off calorie count as well as the 50% off price tag, but honestly, it was worth every last calorie! That marshmallow whip cream... HEAVEN. If I can convince Seth, I might go back again this weekend!

Happy Hour is from 3pm-5pm (or 6pm if you are a gold card holder!) so run, don't walk, to Starbucks this weekend and get yourself one of these babies! Happy Hour only lasts until Sunday, so don't wait! You can thank me later :)

FOUR.
Blurry profile picture?

Can someone please help me?! This picture doesn't do it justice, but when I load my blog, my profile picture is blurry. Is it blurry for you all too? If so, how do I fix it? I think it was originally a rectangle and I uploaded it as my profile picture and I'm guessing it stretched it or something and somehow altered it, but how do I fix it? Thank you in advance!

FIVE.
May the fourth be with you.

Umm, how talented is this mama? She did this for her boys for May the 4th (be with you) and I think it is just so creative!

SIX.
Teacher appreciation.

Speaking of creative, I channeled my inner Pinterest and made this for Mason's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. We love his teachers a latte so I figured it was only fitting. It was seriously super easy and only took me like 5 minutes per one. #pinterestwin

SEVEN.
This post.

I try to keep things light hearted on the blog, but I also want to be real, and sometimes you come across something that just hits too close to come. Someone shared this post, A Letter to the Motherless Daughters on Mother's Day, on Facebook on Wednesday and I stumbled upon it. Being as it is Mother's Day on Sunday and being as though I lost my mom over 12 years ago, I found it to hit very close to home. My favorite part is when she says this :

She didn’t want to ever leave you and she still hasn’t left you. Your mother was greater than this world. I know sometimes life just doesn’t seem fair and it never will but please, please, don’t cry today, for your mother would want nothing more than to see you smile. I feel the pain within your heart as another day passes by without her. She doesn’t want you to be sad. She wants you to honor her life in the best way possible, and that way is to live it. Live it for you. Live it for her.

That's exactly how I feel. I know my mom didn't want to leave me, leave my brother and my dad. But sometimes we don't have a choice. I know she wouldn't want me to dwell on the fact that she is gone. She would want me to live my life. Live it for her. Live it for me. And in a weird way, I feel lucky. Luckier than most people. Though I can't physically see her, I know she is there. Always. Every day. Every minute of every day. How lucky is that? Not many people can say they have the privilege of being with their mom and having her look down upon them with a smile, beaming with pride, every day.

I hate to end this post on such a Debbie Downer moment, but please take this away.
Hug your mother. Call your mother. Tell her you love her. Tell her your miss her. Tell her she is amazing. Show her you care. Because one day, you might not be able to call her up and tell her you love her. She will know, but you won't be able to hear her voice telling you she loves you back.
Kids, hold your moms a little tighter and longer. And moms, hug your kids a little longer and tell them you love them. You can never say 'I love you' enough.

Happy Weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

[Mother's Day Mom Exchange] The Goodies!

I've been looking forward to this day ever since we announced the Mother's Day Mom Exchange a couple weeks ago! I just love being able to spoil someone on a holiday (or birthday) and what better way to spread the love on Mother's Day than to give each other something to make each other feel special. I can't wait to see what everyone got!

As for me, I was partnered with Holly from Holly's Housewife Life. I hadn't known her before the swap so it was nice to get to know her through email and through her blog. I found out that she was really in to makeup and thought I found the perfect gifts to send her...

...and then I went to send them and the USPS asked me what was inside. I wrote everything down, the lady took one look at the paper and said "you can't send nail polish". I said "but it's in a plastic bag!" (thinking, you know, if it opened or leaked, I was protecting it) and she said "you can't send nail polish" and I said "but it's in a plastic bag!" and she said "it could explode on the plane and blow up the plane". (ok maybe not blow up the plane, but she said it was combustable and I pretty much just assumed the plane would blow up). So I hung my head in shame for not checking the USPS website for what you can and can't send on an airplane and took the nail polish out. I felt EXTREMELY bad as my gift was now half a gift, but I did try to make it up to Holly. To find out exactly what I sent her, you'll have to head over to her blog!

My partner ended up being Tawnya from All of Life's Little Adventures. I was so excited to find out that she was my partner because I love her and I love her blog! Tawnya's package arrived all the way from Canada and held lots of goodies that I absolutely loved!

PS do you notice something? Yes, that is nail polish. AND it came on a PLANE from Canada. And clearly no planes were harmed in the transporting of this nail polish, so the USPS must just be super strict!

She sent me a gorgeous notebook (and what blogger doesn't need a notebook?), a candle, some nail polish, and some Canadian candy. She also wrote me the SWEETEST card. I love it.

I immediately tried out the nail color and LOVED it. I've been starting to collect some Essie colors and only have 3 so this color was a beautiful addition to my small collection. And as for the candle... it smells amazing and I can't wait to light it! 

Also, I swear Canada has the BEST candy and I was so excited to try this Coffee Crisp. It tasted and looked kind of like a thicker Kit Kat with a coffee flavor. I promised Seth that I would save him some so I only ate half, but let me tell you, that took a lot of will power!

Thank you so much for everything, Tawnya!

This Mother's Day exchange was so much fun and I hope this is the first annual one because I would love to do it again next year! The mama's that participated this year were :

Ally // Even Miracles Take a Little Time

Angela // non-blogger

Ashley // Everything's Hunky Dorey
Ashley // Life on the Parsons Farm
Ashley // Perks of Ponder
Courtney // Sweet Turtle Soup

Elisabeth // non-blogger

Elizabeth // Chasin' Mason
Emily // Raising Avery Mae
Holly // Holly's Housewife Life
Jamie // Cocktails and Carseats

Jen // Everything in the Sky

Jenny // The Chronicles of We
Jessica // All Because Two People Fell in Love
Jessica // Being Mrs. Beer
Johannah // The Sirois Family
Kate // Creative House
Kristen // Rainbowtized
Laureen // Chateau Deveau
Liz // Ellie and Addie
Mama // The Mama Bomb

Michelle // Grammie Time
Nina // The Joni Journey
Sarah // Foxy's Domestic Side
Sarah // Seeing All Sides
Shelly // Windy City Baby
Stephanie // Wife Mommy Me

Susan // non-blogger

Tara // A Tale of Four Maples
Tawnya // All of Life's Little Adventures

Whitney // Work It Mommy

Participating mama's, please link up with us below and share your pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #mothersdaymomexchange so we can see the goodies that you got! 

Wishing all the moms a very Happy Mother's Day!

Mom's Day Wish List + a Giveaway!

scarf // gift card // nail polish // massage

dress // shoe // phone case  // jacket

With Mother's Day less than a week away, I thought I'd like to share a little wish list of what I'd like for Mother's Day. Though I've been a mom now for almost three years, which itself is crazy to think about, I still find it hard to believe that I get to partake in the festivities of Mother's Day. I still remember celebrating my mom and my grandma and thinking about 'when it would be my time too'. With that being said, here are a few things I wouldn't mind receiving for Mother's Day.

-- I've heard such good things about this scarf from some other blogs I read. Recently I've gotten so many printed scarves, these super cute plain scarves would be perfect staples for my closet.

-- Feeding my PGTL (peach green tea lemonade) addiction with a Starbucks card wouldn't be an awful gift either.

-- I just discovered Essie's website and I have to say I'm in love. Sorry Seth. But all those nail polish colors?! Holy moly. While I pine over all the colors I want, I'd love to be able to get a mani/pedi for Mother's Day! The last time I got my nails done was a couple weeks ago by me and let's just say... my nails look less than stellar and could use a little TLC.

-- Speaking of a mani/pedi, I'd also LOVE to have a massage. The last time I had one was last Mother's Day and it. was. amazing. I'm secretly hoping that Seth picked up on all the hints that I dropped and booked me a massage for Mother's Day!

-- I pretty much live in maxi dresses over the summer (even though it is so hot - my legs are sooooo white that I like to keep them covered - thus continuing the vicious cycle of white-ness) and I'd love to have this maxi dress to add to my current collection... of two.

-- I literally wear the same sandals everyday during the summer - my boring, old, black Rainbow flip flops. I do have one other silver pair that I wear when I want to be "fancier" but I'd love to ramp up my sandal collection for the summer with these babies.

-- I have been DROOLING over this phone case for months. I would totally just buy it for myself BUT I already have a perfectly good phone case on my phone right now that I actually do like and I'm tryyyying hard to cut back on buying things that I don't need (although I bet I could easily justify this as a need if I needed too!)

-- I've been looking for a cute, trendy, light jacket for Spring and when the nice people at Charles River Apparel contacted me about reviewing one of their jackets, I jumped at the opportunity. This Women's New Englander Rain Jacket is perfect for the crisp mornings here in California as well as perfect for that occasional (and I use occasional loosely) rainfall that we get. While I LOVE the aqua color (pictured above), I decided to choose the black color for myself because I know it will go with anything. And I love it. Unfortunately for me, I think I chose too large of a size (definitely check their size chart before ordering!) and it is a little larger in the arms and the shoulders than my typical jackets are, but as you can see from the pictures below, when I paired it with a jacket underneath, I found it to fit just fine. I'm hoping to take a trip (hopefully soon!) to Seattle (to visit the first Starbucks!) or to Portland (to visit Seth's cousins who just moved there) and I'm thinking this jacket would be perfect.

Please note : I am no fashion blogger. I have a lot to learn. I know my pictures don't do this jacket justice, but I swear, this jacket is awesome. I love how light weight it is. I love how large the hood is (I HATE when hoods don't cover your whole head). I love how a jacket AND a scarf fit totally comfortably under the jacket. I love that it has the option to synch in the waist at the bottom. And I love that you can unzip from the bottom too (in case you want to get something from your pocket). It's wind proof. It's water proof. It's lined with mesh. It has a hood and it has pockets. This jacket is wonderful and I know I will get lots of wear out of it when the weather gets cool again.

And now for the fun part... I get to give away one of these wonderful jackets to one of you! Seriously, I hope you love it as much as I do!

A few details... the giveaway runs from Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 12:00am Pacific time to Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 12:00am Pacific time. Open to US residents only (sorry!). All entries will be verified and winner will be notified by email by me.

Disclaimer : I was compensated with a free jacket for this review. All opinions at 100% my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[Five on Friday] Five Reasons Why I Love Cardstore + a Giveaway!

Hello and Happy Friday! Today I wanted to change up my usual Five on Friday to include a fun review of a product I recently got to try. Well, actually, this is my second time trying it! Cardstore contacted me last year to see if I would be interested in a promo code to make a card for a mom for Mother's Day. I, of course, jumped at the opportunity and they were kind enough to send me two promo codes so I was able to make a card for my step mom and my mother-in-law. This year, they contacted me again and shared a promo code with me and I was able to make a wonderful card for Bubbie, Mason's Great Grandma! Regardless of the freeness of the card, I LOVE Cardstore's products and would definitely be willing to pay the money all on my own for such a wonderful product. Let me tell you a little bit about why I love Cardstore.

ONE.
Quality.

Best. Paper. Stock. Ever. Your cards are printed on high-quality, acid-free, 120 lb. Mohawk card stock. This means your keepsake cards won't yellow or fade with age. You can also rest assured that the paper is a Green-e Certified product sourced from FSC-Certified forests. No other paper has the same reputation for quality, consistency and uniformity. They're as thoughtful to the environment as you are to the ones you love. (via Cardstore)

TWO.
Ease of ordering.

You can upload photos for your card from pretty much anywhere you can imagine - Facebook, Instagram, DropBox, your computer, and many more.

They even have a mobile app (for iPhone, iPad, or Android!) that makes ordering on the go SUPER easy! Find a card you like, add some text, add some pictures, and Cardstore will do the rest. It's really that easy!






THREE.
Ease of delivering.

Cardstore has an option that you can chose where they will send the card to the recipient for you. How cool is that?! I'm always scrambling around trying to find a stamp (and of course have none and then need to go to the post office) and this option makes sending a breeze! I've never tried this option because the people I am giving my cards to I will be seeing in person, but I'm thinking of trying this option next time because it is so convenient!

I cannot describe the way the cards are packaged when they are sent directly, but when sent to me, the card was packaged so well. It came inside a hard envelope (kind of like those flat, cardboard envelopes you send important papers in via FedEx or UPS overnight) and was in perfect condition. I was very impressed!

You can also upload your address book and Cardstore will save addresses for you so you don't have to go looking for your address book every time you want to send a card. They have it right there for you.

Their shipping time is super fast as well. I think on my last order, they quoted me a week, and I got it well before then.

And, one of my favorite features - future send. This feature would be AMAZING for me because I am so bad at remembering birthdays! It's like once I flip my calendar to the week of the birthday, it's too late to send a card that will be delivered on time. Not only can you personalize it (with pictures or just with words) but you can advance schedule cards to ship. So, knowing that my Dad's birthday is in August, I can make him a personalized card today, and mark that his birthday is August xx and Cardstore will make sure he gets my card on time! Amazing for us busy moms (and us moms with mom/pregnancy brain...even almost 3 years after their kid was born!). Here's how it works : (1) the future send is only available when you choose the "mail to recipient" option, and can be found on the "mailing options" page. (2) just select "schedule a date" when asked about delivery date. (3) cards set up through the future send tool will be mailed via first class standard mail - anywhere in the USA. (4) you will receive a confirmation notice via email after you set up your future sends, and a second email will come once the card has shipped. (via Cardstore). So simple!





FOUR.
Cards for every holiday imaginable.

I've only ever ordered Mother's Day cards from Cardstore, but they offer so much more than that. Of course they have your typical cards like birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, and wedding. But they also have cards for occasions that you wouldn't even think to send (or at least I didn't!) like moving. I especially love that they tell you what day specific holidays are as well because I am horrible with that! Speaking of, I didn't realize that teacher appreciation was next week. Looks like I have some shopping to do. But in all seriousness, you think of an occasion, and they have a card for it!





FIVE.
100% satisfaction guaranteed.

Not that you would ever need it, but Cardstore offers 100% satisfaction guaranteed. I've been 110% happy with all my cards from them so I'm sure you'd never need to but just in case, they offer it. Just contact them within 30 days of receiving your card, tell them you are not happy, and they will fix it and send you a new one free of charge or just give you a refund. Always good to know!


Disclaimer : I was compensated with a free greeting card in order to share this review. All opinions are based on my experience and may not be true for others. All opinions are 100% mine and my love for Cardstore is 100% mine, too!


Now for the fun part! The lovely people at Cardstore were kind enough to let me give away a free card to one of my readers as well! All you have to do is follow the rules below and you could try their amazing cards for free!
Entries are open to US residents only. Giveaway begins on May 1, 2015 at 12:00am and ends on May 7, 2015 at 12:00am. All entries will be verified. Winner will be notified by email by me.

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