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2 Little Rosebuds

Subscription box reviews by a vegan mom of twins

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Matilda Jane Clothing Review & Giveaway

by Wendy Rose — 13 Comments

(Don't be fooled, she wasn't posing. She was trying to pull her headband off.)
(Oh, don’t be fooled, she wasn’t posing. — She was trying to pull her headband off.)

Matilda Jane Clothing is a mom-owned company that specializes in uniquely designed girl’s clothing and accessories. Their collections are fun, whimsical, and sized to fit everyone from babies to mommas.

Needless to say, when Matilda Jane contacted me to see if I’d be interested in reviewing one of their outfits, I totally jumped on it. Buying clothes for twins is NOT cheap! 😉

Twice a year, in the spring and fall, a new line is released. The outfit I received is from their Paint By Numbers collection, which can be found here.

Chloe was kind enough to be my model for this post, though she wasn’t exactly cooperative. Ah, one-year olds… [read more…]

Top 10 Reasons Why Having Twins is Effing Awesome

by Wendy Rose — 27 Comments

“Twins? Ugh! Better you than me!”
“Oh boy, twins? You must really have your hands full.”
“Uh oh! Double trouble!”

When you have twins, everyone feels the need to tell you how screwed you are. How your life is over. How they’ll age you faster than you can imagine. How happy they are that they didn’t get stuck with a similar, awful fate.

Well guess what, haters? HAVING TWINS IS EFFING AWESOME. And here are my top 10 reasons why…

10. A new appreciation for BOGO sales. Sure, everyone likes a good deal — especially when it involves buying something and getting another one free. This is doubly (har har) true with twins. They need a LOT of shit. We usually have to buy 2 of just about everything (to an extent), so BOGO sales are fan-freakin’-tastic.

9. We get more help in public places. Strangers often feel sorry for us. Two babies the same age? OMG! In turn, they go out of their way to be nice. Doors get opened, toys get picked up, they move the eff out of our way, etc… Sure, people do that for singletons too, but I think they up the ante a bit for us poor, poor souls who have twins.

8. Twins are cute as hell. One little baby in a frilly dress: cute. TWO little babies in frilly dresses: Cute as HELL. ‘Nuff said.

Right?
Right?

7. We don’t have to remember 6th grade math. I was awful in math. Awful. I was so relieved to finish my last math requirement and dreaded having to revisit it when I had kids. However, since twins will be in the same grade, they can help each other out when it comes to all that equation crap. At least one of them will be smart, right? RIGHT? (fingers crossed)

6. One delivery, two babies. I only planned on having one baby. Ever. But it was always in the back of my mind that what if I had one and decided I DID want another? Welp, no need to stress about it now, since I got myself some BOGO babies. One pregnancy, one delivery, two kids. I’m efficient as hell.

Thanks to Mr. Google, I now know that I'm not the only one who uses the phrase "BOGO babies".
Thanks to Mr. Google, I now know that I’m not the only one who uses the phrase “BOGO babies”.

5. Only one party to plan. One birthday, one party. (But two cakes, cos they shouldn’t have to share everything. Especially cake.)

4. Free stuff! Twins can be expensive. Some companies are willing to give you free shit if you prove that you’ve been cursed with BOGO babies. I made a list here.

3. I’m not a twig, and that’s okay. Babies wreak havoc on our bodies. Twins destroy ’em. While I got lucky and dropped like 30 pounds in the first week after giving birth, I’m still not at my ideal weight (in my eyes, anyway). Sometimes I get self-conscious about my “pooch”, but then I say “Fuck it, I had TWO babies in there. I look pretty damn good.”

(Not me.)
(Not me.)

2. Refer to #6. That really deserves to get listed twice. My uterus agrees.

1. You realize how damn lucky you are. Twin pregnancies are a lot more common these days, but they’re still riskier than a “normal” pregnancy. It’s a lot more demanding on your body and with double the babies, there’s double chance of something going wrong. I’m forever thankful that I didn’t have any serious issues (until the very end) and that the girls were only in the NICU for 3 days. I’m still amazed that despite the fact that they were born 6 weeks premature and weighed only 4 and a half pounds, they totally held their own… For that I couldn’t be more grateful. (I just need to remember that the next time I wake up to the smell of a port-o-potty and a dumbfounded baby with fists full of feces.)

Sparaj Review & Discount Code

by Wendy Rose — 2 Comments

Sparaj is a brand new monthly “discovery” box that features a collection of wellness products unique to Asia. It’s not a typical “subscription” service, as they don’t charge you every month. Instead, you simply sign up for a single month, or prepay for 3 to 12 months to ensure you won’t miss a box.

Sparaj selects high-quality products that are both eco-friendly and beautifully designed. Each month you can expect to receive an assortment of bath/body, spa, and aromatherapy products.

I recently received their “pre-launch” box to review, and was very impressed, to say the least. Beautiful packaging, natural ingredients, awesome scents… Sound good? Read on! [read more…]

Citrus Lane September 2013 Review & Discount Codes!

by Wendy Rose — 3 Comments

Full box!
Full box!

*As of December 2015, Citrus Lane is no longer in business. If you’re looking for an alternative, bluum is a great choice. — You can see my reviews of them here. With bluum, you can choose your own products and build your own box. They feature the same great brands, plus you can save $10 on your first month with coupon code “MRVA286CCE“.*

Citrus Lane totally delivered this month! I mean, I’m usually happy with everything they send, but this month was perfect. All of the items I hoped to get (from seeing spoiler pics), I ended up receiving in my box. Score!

For any newbies out there, Citrus Lane is a monthly subscription for babies/kids (aged newborn-5). It’s $25/month (cheaper with longer subs) and includes a nice assortment of toys, books, snacks, toiletries, etc. Sometimes they even include a gift for mom. Needless to say, I LOVE this box.

This time around, my box was geared towards a 14-month old girl. There really wasn’t much of a theme, though the info card does mention autumn and doing more indoor activities. Blahblahblah… Let’s see what I got! [read more…]

Petit Vour September 2013 Review & Giveaway! Ends 10/21

by Wendy Rose — 29 Comments

Petit Vour is a monthly subscription that features 100% vegan/cruelty-free luxury bath & beauty products. It includes samples (“miniatures”), as well as full-sized items for only $15/month — and shipping is always free!

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know I’m not a huge fan of “beauty” products (especially makeup). Thankfully, this box had a nice mix of beauty and bath/body stuff. That was definitely a relief. 😉

Let’s see what was inside, shall we?  [read more…]

Taste Trunk (Health) September 2013 Review & Discount Code

by Wendy Rose — 4 Comments

It’s Taste Trunk time again! Yay! As always, I ordered the “Health Trunk” and was pleased with the nice mix of healthy (and tasty) treats I received.

For those new to Taste Trunk, there are 4 different themed boxes (“trunks”) to choose from: “Sweet Trunk”, “Health Trunk”, “Gourmet Trunk”, and “BBQ Trunk”. Can’t decide which one to get? There’s an option on their website to switch trunks whenever you want. You can change it every month if that’s the way you roll. Personally, I always stick with the Health one, since I assume I’ll have a better chance at getting vegan-friendly items in the box.

September’s “Health Trunk” was full of autumn-inspired goodies. Let’s see what I got! [read more…]

Try the World Paris “Mini Box” Review

by Wendy Rose — 4 Comments

Try the World is a new subscription service that invites your taste buds to explore a new city every sixty days. Each box will include locally made/grown gourmet goodies and cultural finds, such as music playlists and poetry, native to the city being featured. The first month’s box takes you to Paris, France.

Try the World kindly sent me a mini version of the actual (fuller) Paris box that subscriber’s receive. It was a nice little taste of what they have to offer, and as luck would have it, everything was vegan. 🙂 Let’s have a look! [read more…]

Mia Tempo September 2013 Review & Giveaway

by Wendy Rose — 27 Comments

Mia Tempo is a monthly subscription box featuring all natural/organic spa and beauty products. Their mission is to provide you some much needed “me time” with a relaxing, spa-like experience each and every month. What could be better than that? This —> With each box sold, Mia Tempo donates a portion of the proceeds to non-profit organizations that empower women. Sounds good to me!

This month they debuted their first “Limited Edition Signature Box”, which is the box that I’m lucky enough to be reviewing. Lucky, because this is the first box in which ALL of the products are completely vegan/gluten-free! Yay!!

Thankfully (for me), this box was heavier on the “spa” products than beauty, which makes me a very happy camper. Alright, let’s see what’s inside! [read more…]

Love with Food Gluten-Free Deluxe Box September 2013 Review & Code for Free Box!

by Wendy Rose — 5 Comments

Super full box!
Super full box!

Love With Food just launched a new “deluxe” box and September (this box!) marked its official debut. Their regular box is $12/month, and this new one is $19.95/month (shipping included for both options). There was supposedly a waitlist to sign up for deluxe one, but I think current subscribers were instantly switched if they decided to go with the new option. You could also keep your “regular” box and get the deluxe as well.

This month’s box was curated by Chef Ming Tsai and featured products that are all gluten-free. (Many of them are also vegan. Woo!) I was excited as soon as I saw the size of the box — the “normal” one is a LOT smaller. My excitement turned to giddiness when I opened it up and saw how full it was. Jackpot!

Oh, did I mention that with every box purchased, Love With Food donates a meal to a child in need? Yep. They do.

Okay, onto the goodies! [read more…]

The Fantasy Box “Essentials” Review & Discount Code

by Wendy Rose — 2 Comments

The Fantasy Box is a monthly subscription service designed to help you spice up your love life. (Yep, I’ve finally taken the plunge… I’m reviewing an “adult” box!) If you know me (or Mike) personally and would like to keep thinking that a stork dropped off our girls, you should probably skip this post. (If it helps, I’m reviewing the items before they get any use.) For everyone else, be forewarned: There will be photos of items intended for mature readers. (Ooh la la!) [read more…]

Whimseybox August 2013 Review, Discount & Giveaway

by Wendy Rose — 27 Comments

Whimseybox is a fun subscription box for those who like to get their craft on! Each month they send you a different DIY project, along with all of the supplies needed to complete it. They also include a pretty 5×7 art print to collect and/or get crafty with. Their motto is “Stop Pinning and Start Making!”.

I must admit, I’m not a very crafty person. Like, at all. When I was little I LOVED crafts, but now… not so much. However, now that I have 2 little girls of my own who’ll likely be all about “making things” in a few years, I figure I better start getting myself reacquainted with glue guns and glitter pens.

Unfortunately, this month’s project was a little more advanced than my current skill level (say, age 5-10 maybe?). 🙁 Hey, I told you I haven’t crafted in a while…

Okay, time to see what project came in this month’s box of intimidation Whimseybox… [read more…]

Vegan Presence September 2013 Review

by Wendy Rose — 3 Comments

Pretty bows! (and chips)
Pretty bows! (and chips)

I love that Vegan Presence ships at the beginning of the month. LOVE. IT. However, that said, this month’s offerings were kinda disappointing for me.

As always, the items were beautifully packaged. That’s never an issue. They always put such care into wrapping everything up so nicely and making you feel like you’re opening gifts from a friend. It’s a nice, personal touch that I really appreciate.

I suppose my “issue” this month was due to the fact that they had a guest curator choose all of the items. Normally, this wouldn’t be a biggie, except that the person chosen runs a beauty blog. As anyone who’s been reading here for a while knows, beauty is NOT my thing. (Did I just proclaim my ugliness? That’s not exactly what I meant…) I guess I’m just unadventurous when it comes to beauty products. When I find something that works, I just keep on keepin’ on. I’m not a fan of trying new things when it comes to face lotion, cleansers, etc. However, I do realize that I’m in the minority here. So I’m not saying this box is “bad”, it’s just not for me. Make sense? Awesome!

Okay… Enough rambling… Let’s see what I got!

[read more…]

My Giggle Box September 2013 Review, Discount & Giveaway

by Wendy Rose — 10 Comments

My Giggle Box is a monthly subscription box full of crafts & fun projects for kiddos aged 3-7. Every box includes detailed instructions, along with all of the materials needed for each activity.

There are 2 different box types to choose from: The Standard Activity Kit & The Ultimate Activity Kit. The Standard Kit is $19.99/mo and includes 1 craft, 1 activity, The Giving Project, an activity/coloring sheet, and a recipe. The Ultimate Activity kit is $29.99/mo and includes crafts, activities, Parent & Me, The Giving Project, Outdoor Adventures, activity sheets, fun facts, a recipe, and a hardcover book. Add-On Kits are also available so siblings won’t have to fight over which activities they each get to do (cos you KNOW it’s gonna happen!).

I was sent August’s Ultimate Activity Kit to review. The theme this month was “A Day at Camp”. Let’s see what was in the box! [read more…]

Lovely Candy Co. Review & Giveaway

by Wendy Rose — 18 Comments

Candy!!
Candy!!

Lovely Candy Co. isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill confectionery. No siree. Lovely Candy Co. makes sweets that are 100% free of artificial ingredients and are certified gluten-free. Their treats are also free of GMOs and yucky corn syrup. Want more good news? The fruit chews are *vegan*! 😀 Are you sold yet? Read on! [read more…]

Gfreely Gluten-Free Snack Box August 2013 Review & Discount Code

by Wendy Rose — 1 Comment

Gfreely is a monthly subscription box for gluten-free snacks. As you can see from the photo above, they pack the boxes with a nice assortment of gluten-less goodies for all your healthy snackin’ needs.

Boxes are $25/month (with a monthly sub, shipping included) or as low as $19/mo with a 3 or 6 month commitment. Like something you receive in your box and wanna buy more? Gfreely has an online shop chock full o’ all your faves. Yay for convenience!

Okay, time to see what’s in the August box… [read more…]