Parent Perks - Bag Review

As both a sponsor, a best friend of the founder, a blogger and of course an extra pair of hands to pack, I was lucky to be able to get an early Parent Perks bag to take home for review (and use!)

What is Parent Perks? It's the brain child of Monika at Aias dot ca

Parent Perks prepares and distributes gift bags full of fabulous perks for parents. These gift bags are 100% free to parents and contain coupons, gift cards, product samples, and full-sized products from Vancouver and Canadian based businesses.   Products vary from items for kids and babies, to perks that are just for mom and dad. Parents pay zero dollars to get a Parent Perks Gift Bag. Sponsors pay a small fee to participate and have their goodies in the bags.

Others have and continue to do something similar, but she took it to a whole new level. In the past, I've gotten one of those "free for parent bags" and almost all of it was just paper that ended up in recycling. There were a couple of good offers, but most of it was not even worth the time I spent sorting it. I've also paid for bags full of 'surprise' products from multiple companies. Now these, I've mostly liked, but they run about 30 each and even then there was lots I couldn't use.

So I was a bit skeptical when Monika started Parent Perks. But I had also recently launched my Avon Independent Rep business. I wanted in that bag! If it was going to be all junk, I wanted to be the one who stood out. I put together 100 bags with a full sized Avon product, some samples, a business card, an offer code and a flyer. I figured I was rocking it!

Then I went over to help stuff the bags on Sunday. I was blown away.

Fast forward to when I got home and was able to unpack the bag. Check out how much was in the bag!!! And it may not even be complete as there was 1 or 2 sponsors who said their products 'were in the mail'.

For me, this was one of my favorite and shows how serious the sponsors were about the bags. There were 100 handmade greeting cards from Stampin' it Up. There is even a class only a few blocks from me!

This next group contained lots of samples. Almost all of these are new to me and I'm excited to try them out. There was more than 1 pack of Runa tea, Ener-C supplied one of each flavor, and Gardener's Dream also provided several good sized samples. Along with the sample products, most of these included an offer or a discount coupon so once you find a favorite, you can save on your next purchase!

A few Sponsors offered services rather than products, or were larger, heavier products so of course they couldn't include a sample. They did manage some kick ass offers though. There is a coupon for a free David's Tea, a 6 pack of zevia (I'm glad we didn't have to bag full sized of these!), 25% off at Helix Personal Training and more.

Then there was this grouping. These were full sized included products! A bag of Hardbite chips, a full bag of coffee from local roaster Doi Chaang Coffee, Valentine's Day lunch box Lovable Labels, Bamboobino washcloths, candles, scrubbers and more.

I was very impressed. More than impressed. There is very little "just paper" and what there is has a very compelling offer. There were many sample and full sized products. There were no business cards with a candy stuck on as the offer. I think if I added the value of this, it's less than those full sized bundles I paid for, but I will get more value out of it. Also, these are mostly local small sometimes sole proprietorship businesses, not big corporations, looking for an extra buck. 

As a parent who got a bag, I think Parent Perks is an amazing service. As a small business owner, I have high hopes for the marketing outreach. These bags are reaching a target market, mostly parents, all local (bags must be picked up in person). Vancouver is a very expensive city and I can't afford to be at trade shows, but this is something within my reach. How successful remains to be seen. 

This is being cross posted on my other blog Comfort And Beauty

Attention all Vancouver West End Residents

Most of you should have heard by now that we are all working towards making Vancouver the greenest city by 2020. The City of Vancouver and The Vancouver Foundation have teamed up and are offering grants to you to help us get there.

The maximum grant per person or group is $1000. The project must be completed within one of the 9 major focus areas. It must be legal and something socially acceptable to the neighbourhood. You have to finish it by October 31, 2012 and cant financially profit from this.

The areas of focus are:

1.    Making businesses greener or creating green jobs

2.    Growing and eating local food

3.    Making buildings more energy efficient

4.    Promoting greener forms of transportation

5.    Creating zero waste

6.    Mitigating climate change and breathing clean air

7.    Improving access to nature and planting trees

8.    Conserving drinking water

9.    Reducing our ecological footprint

For a full list of details and how to apply check out Gordon House Greenest City Project Grants

But I'm not done. Have a good idea that does not necessarily meet the criteria above that can help the community? Well there are some funds for you too. Last year's projects included community BBQ, drumming circle, theatre groups, organic food co-op and more!

You can check out the rest of the requirements and apply here Gordon Neighbourhood House Small Grants Project

Application Deadlines on both is May 25th.

You must in the West End to apply via the Gordon Neighbourhood House but there are different funding projects at play in other parts of the city. Please check with your local Neighbourhood House to see if they one going. You can find the ones closest to you at Associate of Neighbourhood Houses BC  Not all Neighbourhood Houses will be hosting a grant program but all of them have great programs for children, families, seniors, immigrants and everyone else in the neighbourhood.

Vancouver Street Entertainment

There is a lot of it and most of its good, some is bad and some is just bizarre.
This guy has been downtown the last couple of weeks. He draws a crowd because of the look (how can you miss him) but unfortunately his playing still needs (a lot of) work so people rarely stay longer than it takes to click their phone.

I have a short video of him but I won't subject you to it. I'll try to add some more street music options as I come across them.

The Lego Store

On April 15, 2012, Vancouver made it onto the map, the Lego map that is. I had to visit.

The store opened up in Oakridge Centre at 41st and Cambie, conveniently located on the Canada Line. The mall has two anchor stores in The Bay and Safeway. As a Lego competitor, there is still a Zellers which will be come a Target in the next year or so. Otherwise the mall has a mix of stores, many specialty so the Lego store will fit right in. It couldn't have gotten a better place in the mall directly opposite the open kids play area.

The store is bright and nicely laid out. I was greeted as I walked in and encouraged to get a VIP membership (more on that later). I was also told about the 'Girl' Lego, but I'm not going to get started on that.

I think my head whipped around in every direction several times before I started at one corner and worked my way around the perimeter before moving in to the inner displays. It looks like they have a good selection from each of the current themes available and even some of the just 'bricks' sets. Each theme area had a display of a selection of sets put together giving you a better idea of what is in the boxes. There was a small selection of non-building set type of collectibles including watches, an alarm clock, mini-figure display cases and key chains.

The back wall had one of the features that will set the store apart from even the biggest toy store. It had a brick wall. This had domed filled drawers with just bricks. There were different styles and  different colors.  Some were fairly common bricks but in a less common color. Some were hard to come by bricks. For others, they may be common, but there may not be enough in a set to do everything you want. You get what looks like a cross between a giant frozen drink cup and a bucket and fill it up with what you want. If you bring the cup back for a refill, you get a discount. I saw many cups being filled and dumped and repacked in ways that make me think of Tetris to ensure that maximum space is used. I'm hoping that they rotate the stock periodically.

The next thing that set the Lego store apart from a 'regular' store is the custom mini-figure area. For 12.99 you get three totally custom built mini-figures in a special package made just for them. The possibilities are endless and there is nothing stopping you from mixing and matching themes of people. I poked around in here for a bit and will be back for sure. I think I would have made (at least) one three-pack but I foolishly went on a PD day and there were so many kids having fun that I didn't want to interfere (well, I wanted to but knew better).

There were a couple of small build areas with more than enough blocks to keep the kids at them busy.  The staff member who was restocking the brick wall, would take the bricks that left the wall and didn't make it into cups and dump them into this play area. This was probably much more efficient than sorting those tiny pieces out. It also exposed the builders to some of the bricks from the wall that they may not have seen.

The Technic section and Duplo section were fairly small. The store overall wasn't huge, but it makes good use of its space. I suspect they will change the focus of their stock based on their business in the first few months.

Because the boys are still in the Duplo range, for this first visit, I limited my block purchase to that grouping. I bought one of the sets aimed at girls. It adds bricks of different colors to their collection. And they got a turret to boot. (They have already built a few castles since the set came home 2 days ago). And for myself, I think I showed really good restraint and only got a key chain. I will go back, both with and without the kids. When I bring the kids, I will be prepared to buy what they pick so it's likely it will be close to their birthday (less than 6 weeks away). As they get older and we go back again (and again, and again), it can be to add things to their Christmas and Birthday lists or to pick gifts for others.

While the store opened on April 15, the grand opening isn't until May 4. There will be a 3 day building extravaganza. I don't know if we'll go. I'd love to but would really need someone else to come with us. The boys are past the stroller stage but getting them there and back on transit plus in a crowd by myself may be a bit much. I will try though. You can find more details at Lego Grand Opening

Online and in store, you can sign up to be a Lego VIP. The membership will allow you to accumulate points and convert them to Lego savings. Of course I signed up.

I have a LOT of Lego. No one really understands how much until I show them. As they get older, it will go to the boys, starting with the bigger pieces and moving onward. I am so happy both love Lego (Duplo) so much. There isn't a day that goes by that it's not played with. As they start to use some of my Lego, we'll know more what their interests in it are (I have lots of basic bricks, city type sets and castle sets). And of course there will be new themes that come out and new brick styles that we will need to add. I can't wait.

If you love Lego or love a Lego lover, you will enjoy the Lego store.

This review was done by me. No on asked me to do it. I was not compensated in any way. I did it for my love of a product and a selfish hope that the specialty store that just opened up stays open for a very long time. 

The promised Video

As promised, here is the video. The boys get very little TV time in a day. Corwyn couldn't care less. He will watch 'In the Night Garden' (with a passion) but nothing else has caught his eye. Nathan on the other hand is a TV junkie and if I let him would watch it non-stop. They have only seen PBS and TreehouseTV. This is what happens if I try to change the channels.

And for those with face.book, here is a link that has pictures took of some of the volunteers who showed up for the cleanup effort today. Now this is my city

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Sorry to those who saw the title and expected a cute little story about toddler shenanigans, this one is a bit more serious. It does have some toddler doings but only in relation to the bigger picture.


I live in Vancouver. This is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been too. The world had a great view into it during the 2010 Olympics. They saw some of what I see every day, the majestic mountains, the accessible (and clean) beaches, the friendly and helpful people. It certainly helped tourism.

We have a NHL hockey team here called the Canucks. In the 13 years I’ve lived here, the Canucks have had good and bad seasons. This year they had a fabulous one. They not only made the playoffs but they continued to win each series. Then came the last one, the final series for the Stanley Cup. The entire city has been pumped up. It’s been a great rallying point. Total strangers are giving each other high fives for just wearing a Canucks Jersey. Friendly discussions among friends break out over who will win Vancouver or Boston. It was a great series, with it able to go either way before each game. They stretched it out to 7 games.

The Canucks played well, but we lost. The fans were great. In the stadium, even after the loss they gave their team a standing ovation cheering ‘Go Canucks go’ over and over again. It was wonderful to see. Outside, at the huge viewing areas, things were not going so well. All fans were disappointed. Most started to pack up to head home. But a select few had other plans. I suspect they had these plans no matter what the outcome of the game was. They were looking for violence and they were going to drag as many people in as they could.

A couple of them started to tip over a car. They got it upside down. Then they encouraged others to help. Footage shows many jumping up on the car and cheering. Then the car was set on fire. At this point people had choices. They could go home or they could stay. If they stayed, they could try to stop it, sit back and watch in horror or join in. I’m sad to say that many chose to join in.

Monkey see, monkey do. Many of these joiners are those who had no intention of violence when they left, people who wouldn’t do it who got caught up. While many are ‘young’ all are still old enough to know better. All are still responsible for their actions.

I have a pair of toddlers who have mastered monkey see, monkey do. If one throws his food on the floor, and laughs about it, his brother who may have never thought to do it will. If it’s funny with one, imagine how hilarious it is with two? They are slowly learning though. There is sometimes some hesitation and looks to me to see if I approve before copying a brother. Sometimes they even stop short of following through. They are learning that monkey see, monkey do is not the right way to behave. They are 2 - a mear 24 months - toddlers. They have an excuse. The morons who destroyed the downtown last night have no excuse, none.

I have coworkers who grew up in war torn countries. They were surrounded by rioting and devastation by people who were just trying to survive. They came to Canada to escape that. It’s a crime that they are now presented with the same level of violence over a simple sports game.

There are currently pleas by the police for people to send in footage that can help identify the criminals responsible. The response is overwhelming. There are people who showed up this morning with brooms to clear the glass off the sidewalks and help small businesses so they could open again. The normal, sane people are rallying to bring Vancouver back to what it was and what it should be.

I was going to include some links to footage but I’m not going to bother. You can find them easily by searching ‘Vancouver riot’. It’s all over the news and youtube videos. I live walking distance to where this all happened. I could hear the helicopters well into the night. I had to close my windows because a small change in the breeze would have sent the tear gas/pepper spray in my direction. The boys happily slept through it. I’m physically okay but still feeling sad and a little bit scared by the events.

On a light note, once I’m home tonite, I’ll post a video of what happens in my place if I dare to try to watch hockey on TV. Its toddler adorable.