Giveaway ~ Orkin Scientific Fact or Fake

Orkin is back with their awesome Scientific Fact or Scientific Fake series of famous bug myths!

“Daddy longlegs are poisonous.”
“Mosquitoes prefer adults over children.”
“Ants can survive underwater.”

You’ve heard the myths about bugs before. Do you know what’s fact and what’s fake?

Take Orkin’s Scientific Fact or Scientific Fake™ Quiz to test your knowledge, and be sure to watch every clip for the scoop on these infamous bug myths.

Orkin uses the latest technology and unparalleled training to develop a treatment that's right for your home and your needs. To learn more about pest control that's based in science or to schedule an inspection, visit orkin.com or call (844) 503-8251.

Orkin Facebook Page: facebook.com/OrkinPestControl
Ask The Orkin Man® Twitter Page: twitter.com/AskTheOrkinMan
Orkin YouTube Channel: youtube.com/user/OrkinVideo

Check out the interactive blog app below~ 

•You’ve heard the myths about bugs before, now it’s time to debunk them. Take the Scientific Fact or Scientific Fake Quiz to test your knowledge! 

•Watch every episode of Scientific Fact or Scientific Fake and find out the answers to these age-old bug myths.

Orkin wants to reward one of my readers with this fun prize pack! 

The Orkin Scientific Back-to-School PRIZE PACK includes: 
- Clip-on Fisheye Lens (iPhone, Galaxy, Android compatible) 
- Orkin On-the-Go Drink Tumbler 
- Orkin Drawstring Bag 
- Orkin “Field Notes” Notebook w/ Pen



Click on the rafflecopter widget below to enter my giveaway!  (if you don't see it, just click the "read more" link)

Play Nintendo at the Mall of Georgia this weekend!

Atlanta friends, this one is just for you!! David and I spent the morning at the Mall Of Georgia where we checked out the FREE Play Nintendo Tour 2014! It was a blast! (I first heard about this event over at www.productreviewmom.com - check her blog out for great Atlanta area events and fun, too!)

If your kids enjoy video games, they will be thrilled with the chance to play some of their favorite games at the Play Nintendo Tour stop in Atlanta. Mario, Zelda, Yoshi and Pokemon are just a few of the fun characters they will be able to enjoy!  Radio Disney is there providing fun, upbeat music while you play, too.

We got there right when they opened (10 am), so only a few other participants were there.  We got a passport from Jessica, one of the super-friendly staff members.  She explained  that we would have the opportunity to  visit all six game worlds, play the game there, then answer a trivia question and get a sticker on the passport for that world.

When David filled up his card, he would take it to the Nintendo Claw machine for a chance to win! Jessica also gave us a brochure with info about the Nintendo 2DS, plus five games that are priced at $29.99,  and some coupons for 10% off at Target.  The coupons are good through 10/31 so they are perfect for early holiday shopping!

This is DEFINITELY on D's Christmas list! I love the new durable design - no clamshell hinge to break!  David really enjoyed playing on it today. 

We started out with Donkey Kong, one of D's favorites.  They had the cutest banana-shaped bean bags there!

Jessica and David playing Donkey Kong

After playing for a while, and getting his sticker, we moved to The Legend of Zelda, A Link Between Worlds.  It was a castle-themed land, and he enjoyed playing the game! He got another sticker here.

David had a great time in the other game worlds too, and picked up a sticker in each for his correct trivia answers.

Another great staff member, named David, here with my David!
Everyone was so helpful and friendly!

Pokemon X & Pokemon Y

Kirby:Triple Deluxe 

He filled his passport with all six stickers, plus a bonus one.  That got him three tries on the Claw Machine, but no luck.  Oh well!

Two of David's favorite things today ~  He got to try out Tomodachi Life:

and he was one of the first people to try out Super Smash Bros, which doesn't come out til early October! He can't wait - he said it was his favorite game of the day! And because we got there so early in the day, he got lots of one-on-one instruction from staff members. (Meaning he got some great hints and tricks from them - he was able to learn a lot!)

The Play Nintendo Tour 2014 will be at the Mall of Georgia, lower level near Nordstrom, through Sunday, August 17th.  (Regular mall hours) The Mall is located at:3333 Buford Dr., Buford, GA 30519-4913.   Costumed Nintendo characters will be available for photos at 2 pm each day.  It's SO much fun.  If you can get there and spend a couple hours with your kid, y'all will have a great time! (If you have smaller kids, there is a Simon play place adjacent to the Play Nintendo space so all ages can have a good time.)

There are two more stops in the Play Nintendo Tour - Houston, TX and Irvine, CA.  Click the link to find out those dates!

Please let me know what you think if you go to the #PlayNintendoTour

Review: Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes

Earlier this summer, my friend Lynn asked if I would like to try/review Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes for the blog, as she was now selling them. I was very interested to give them a try - I love playing with makeup! Though I was not familiar with this product, my daughter was.  So of course I let her try them out too!

The Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes system consists of two tubes in a nice case for your purse. One tube contains the transplanting gel and the other contains the natural fibers.  These products work together to enhance and magnify your natural eyelashes.  They are water resistant, but easily wash off with water and any eye makeup remover.  And they make your eyes POP! They look like you are wearing fake eyelashes,w but without all the fuss!

The directions are pretty simple.  First you apply your favorite mascara.  Let it dry, then apply a thin coat of the transplanting gel.  While it is still wet, apply a coat of the fibers.  Then apply another coat of the gel to set the fibers.

It took me several times to get exactly the right look.  The first few time I applied too many fibers and my eyelashes just looked clumpy.  Finally figured out that if I did two lighter coats of fibers, each followed by the transplanting gel.  That worked better.  Also, I have simplified my beauty routine over the last few years, so I no longer have an eyelash curler or comb.  I believe those two tools would have made my Younique-enhanced lashes look even better. I'll be purchasing those to add back to my makeup bag so my lashes will look even better.

I do wear contacts daily, and I was a little worried about having fibers fall into my eyes.  That didn't happen, but when you apply the fibers too heavily, you will see them fall on your cheeks! (That happened to me the very first time I tried it)

Katie tried Younique on two different occasions when she was at my house. Both times her lashes looked gorgeous! She was blessed with thick, black lashes anyway, but the Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes enjanced them in a great way.  She only applied the fibers to one eye here so you can see the difference.  Pretty amazing, don't you think?

As much as I loved trying these Younique lashes, I wouldn't wear these every day, just because makeup isn't an every day thing for me anymore.  But I will definitely use them for nights out, or when I have something special going on! They are easy to apply and they really look fabulous.  If I still worked outside the home, these would be a must have for my makeup bag!

My final recommendation - easy to use, they do what they promise. Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes are great, and an affordable splurge for anyone who wants their eyes to look even better!

Want to try Younique Moonstruck 3D Fiber Lashes for yourself?  Please contact my sweet friend Lynn to try them.   She also does Facebook parties if you want to host one and earn free products. Please reach out to her and tell her you saw Younique on Just Kidding Around Atlanta!


Disclosure:  I received this product for free in order to try it and write this review.  No other compensation was received. 

Review : Zimtal Nut Milk Bag

Last week I received the Zimtal Nut Milk Bag to try out.  As a Saba Associate, I use many of our products, including Toppfast Meal Replacement shakes.  I like to use almond milk in my shakes, but it gets expensive, so homemade is the way to go!

I had purchased a nut milk bag on Amazon a few years ago when we got our Vitamix, but it wasn't the easiest to clean, so eventually I stopped using it.   This bag is much better.  When I opened the package, I noticed that the mesh on this bag was much finer than our previous bag.  I thought it was cool that they also give you a link on the package for a free ebook with recipes for making several types of nut milk!

It truly couldn't be easier to make almond milk at home.  You just put almonds and water in your blender or Vitamix, and blend for several minutes.  You can add a sweetener to it if you'd like, but since I use chocolate Toppfast mix with my almond milk, I don't add anything else to it.

When it's at the consistency that you like, then just pour it through your Zimtal bag (with a bowl or pitcher below!).   The milk will start to strain through the bag into the pitcher.  When it slows down, you begin squeezing the pulp left in the Zimtal nut milk bag to get all the milk out of it.  It will take 5 minutes, maybe more.  But it is worth the time and effort to get FRESH almond milk with no preservatives or additives!

Since I make shakes every day, I like to freeze some of my almond milk in cubes so I can add them to my shake and make it frosty! It will last in your fridge for several days, just store in a covered pitcher or other container.

Once you are done squeezing out the delicious milk, you can dehydrate the pulp that is left in the bag, then use it in smoothies, muffins, etc. In the past, I would toss it out, but I'm trying to find uses for it! I have also added a little of the dehydrated almond "meal" to my smoothies - yum!

Before washing

And After! 

Then I simply flip my Zimtal bag inside out to get all the pulp out, then handwash it in the sink and hang it up to dry. This bag is super-durable,  which is great because you have to squeeze the heck out of it to extract every drop of almond milk! This bag hasn't given me any problems despite multiple uses this week!

I've also used it to strain juice from my Vitamix.  The Vitamix grinds everything and leaves your juice with lots of pulp.  I do not like pulp in my juice! So when I make apple/carrot/spinach juice, I strain it through this bag to get all the juice out and it works perfectly for that purpose, too.  You can use the leftover fruit pulp in muffins, soups, or smoothies, as well.

You can get your own Zimtal Nut Milk Bag here!  I am very pleased with this bag and I think it will be used often in our kitchen!

Have you ever made your own Almond milk?

Disclosure: I received a free Nut Milk Bag from Zimtal so I could review it.  No other compensation was received, and the opinions in this post are my own. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Mystery Room is the best place for date night or family night!

Last Friday the kids and I spent the morning defusing a bomb! No, really, we did! Actually, we didn't defuse the bomb, but we did manage to open four locked boxes to get all of the clues that could have helped us. We just didn't pick up on the right clue for the bomb.  But we had an awesome time trying! Want to solve your own mystery? Keep reading......

Mystery Room is a brand new, interactive real world detective adventure! It's located inside Sugarloaf Mills (formerly Discover Mills) in Gwinnett County, right off I-85.  You can either park and enter the Mall at Entrance 1, or go through Bass Pro Shop to get to Mystery Room .

In our family, we like to play a few of those games on Facebook - you know, the ones where you have to escape from a room, or find hidden objects, solve a mystery or puzzle.  Mystery Room is the real life version of those games! It didn't disappoint!  It is a fun place to take your family (with kids, probably 10 and up is best), or your girlfriends for a fun and unique Girls Night Out, or even make it a double date with your best friend and her guy.

It's such a great concept and so different from anything else you can do around here. Everything you need to solve the mystery is in each room - but you will have to work for it! This encourages teamwork, thinking outside the box, and it's a whole lot of fun, too.

There are six rooms for you to choose from.  You can pick a Detective Room - Sherlock's Room, Special Agent Room and Black Ops Room, all hold up to 6 people; or an Escape Room - Hollywood Room & Royal Room both hold up to 10 people, and Sports Room which holds 6 people.

Trust me when I say that you want to go with a group, and the bigger the better! In each room there is much to see, many clues to uncover, and codes to decipher. Oh, did I mention there is a lot to look at? It's not easy! So bring your friends or your kids and help each other solve the mysteries at Mystery Room.  Everyone can work together looking for clues, and also bouncing ideas off of each other to figure out the mystery.  Next time we visit it will be with more people - I think we could have defused that bomb for sure with one more person helping!

David chose the Black Ops room for us and it was much more difficult than I expected! Not gonna lie - I thought we'd be able to solve it pretty fast! But once you begin, you have 45 minutes to solve the mystery, so there is no time to waste.  There are definitely things in there to throw you off - it's very challenging trying to decide what is important and what isn't!

My daughter got a little frustrated early on, but she rallied at the end!  David was our helper, emptying things out and helping to sort through all of it, and writing down clues. The friendly and helpful staff at Mystery Room will let you know when you are about halfway through your time, and you can even buy a clue to help you out if you need to.   Whatever you decide - just have FUN with it!

If you are lucky enough to solve your room in the allotted 45 minutes, you will get your picture on the Wall of Fame!

They change the rooms on a regular basis, so you can revisit every few weeks and solve a new mystery! It was a really fun experience for my kids and me, and all the way home we kept talking about the clues that threw us off, and that last one we missed. We are definitely going back and trying another room!

They offer Corporate Team Building Events & Birthday Parties at Mystery Room, as well.

Mystery Room is located at:
Sugarloaf Mills
5900 Sugarloaf Parkway
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
Phone: 678-847-5002

Mystery Room can be found online:  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram  & Trip Advisor.

They are open 7 days a week, so get going and solve a mystery!  Tell them you heard about Mystery Room on Just Kidding Around Atlanta, please!

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Please share your experience in the comments if you've been - I want to hear what you think about the other rooms! (Trying to decide our next room to try!) Or tell me which one you plan to solve first!



Disclaimer: We were given free admission to visit Mystery Room to facilitate this review.  All opinions included in this review are my own.  No other compensation was received. 

First Things First

Summer is all about family and spending quality time with the ones you love. And the more skills you develop, the more time you invest in your family and your relationships.  First Things First (FTF) is an award winning, not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening families in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

FTF is a resource that collaborates with and is supported by a broad cross-section of community organizations, groups and individuals.  FTF accomplishes it mission through meaningful media messaging and skill building classes.

Did you know:

• 24 million children are growing up in homes without their biological fathers.

• Only 30% of divorces are due to infidelity, addiction or abuse, 70% of divorces are due to couples feeling disconnected.

• Couples who manage to devote time specifically to one another at least once a week are markedly more likely to enjoy high-quality relationships and lower divorce rates, compared to couples who do not devote as much couple time to one another.

• Fathers provide unique benefits to their daughters through their active and positive presence from the time of birth all the way through adulthood.

You can see all of First Things First's e-learning videos here. They cover relationships, marriage and parenting.  Not only are they funny, they are educational! I think these videos are great resources for any family. 

I've watched them all, and this is my favorite FTF video.  Check it out! It's called Dad's Way....

I am the first to admit to being a helicopter mama.  But I realize it is important for kids to have the chance to get a little wild with Dad sometimes.  I need to let that happen more! 

First Things First wants to give one of my readers a fun prize pack that includes His & Hers MoonPie shirts (size L) and two boxes of single decker MoonPies!  

It's easy to enter, there is only one mandatory entry (you MUST leave a comment below this post about the video you like best - if you don't do the mandatory entry, your other entries won't count!) There are plenty of ways to get extra entries. Enter throught the Rafflecopter Widget below  & if you don't see it, click the read more link!

IKEA 2015 Catalog & $100 gift card giveaway!

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us! Tonight I am excited to share our visit to IKEA Atlanta last week. They graciously hosted a group of Atlanta bloggers and I was fortunate enough to be included.  The evening was a celebration of the release of their 2015 catalog, which is just fabulous, by the way! (Sign up here to get yours!)

We were treated to a delicious dinner, then the kids were whisked away to work on some fun arts and crafts.  We watched a video showing how Wellspring Living became the recipient of a $10,000 IKEA makeover! Wellspring Living is a non-profit organization that helps girls and young women who are survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse.  They desperately needed this makeover for their Life Skills building and therapy offices. We also heard from Jason King, who attended the Celebration to represent Wellspring Living.  It was so nice to see such a deserving group get this blessing! IKEA Atlanta loves to give back to the community, and that makes me love IKEA even more!  Then Deidra Cunningham,  IKEA Atlanta's PR Spokesperson, rewarded the IKEA staff members who volunteered their time to complete the makeover at Wellspring Living. It was wonderful!

Soon we split up into groups and were given a cool behind the scenes tour of the huge IKEA Atlanta store. I learned so much, despite having shopped there since they opened!  I never knew, for example, that they offer a 25 year warranty on their mattresses! They also offer a 90 day mattress return policy.  If you don't love it, exchange it for another.  We heard about IKEA's optional services, such as home delivery, assembly service, and even picking and delivery service, where they collect the items on your list and arrange delivery. What a great time-saver!

I enjoyed learning more about their PAX closet systems.  You pick the components you want, like a pullout slacks hanger, or shelving for shoes, even a velvet-lined drawer for your jewelry.  I could seriously spend a fortune just in that department alone! I had fun exploring the PAX planner online which lets you choose the products you want, from color, drawers, baskets and shelves and put them together in your dream closet!

Oh, and when you are shopping at IKEA, you know you have to enjoy some of their delicious food, right? Not just in the restaurant upstairs, either.  They have a variety of foods in the Marketplace downstairs, so make sure you give yourself time to explore there after you check out! They have much more in store for you than just those delicious meatballs! During our tour, we got to sample those meatballs, cinnamon rolls, and learn abou their UTZ Certified Coffee.   During our sampling, I discovered they have a delicious, bite sized chocolate toffee. (it's the red wrapped candies in the glass bowl) Oh how I wish I'd never tried it - That stuff is dangerous for me, but it surely is decadent! You should definitely try it!

Are you a member of the IKEA Family member benefits program? I wasn't, but while we were touring the store we were given the opportunity to sign up at their kiosk.  It only took a couple minutes and my card printed right out!  Some of the perks you get for being a member include getting free coffee or hot tea every day, product discounts and extra time in Smaland, the supervised play area for children.  David is too big for Smaland now, but when he was younger he enjoyed staying there while we browsed the store.

The new 2015 IKEA catalog highlights bedrooms and bathrooms.  In their words, "spaces where people refresh and recharge. Personalize these areas with customizable solutions to make the beginning and end of the day more comfortable, more calm and more organized.  Take a look, get inspired and find out how IKEA can help people begin and end their day in the best way possible."

Here are a few of my favorites from the 2015 IKEA catalog:

Another cool thing ~ IKEA offers a mobile app for their catalog, too.  You can get the Android version here and the iOS version here.

Now for something wonderful!  IKEA Atlanta teamed up with participating bloggers to offer our readers a chance to win a $100 IKEA giftcard!  Entry is through the rafflecopter widget below.  Winner will be contacted via Twitter, and prize will be available on or before September 2.  Click the read more link to enter if you don't see the widget: