Brugo Mug Review and Giveaway

I love coffee.

Coffee is good.

Caffeine is good, too. Coffee keeps me sane in the morning.

A burnt tongue is not so good.

Here's how my typical morning goes: I hear my alarm in the morning and then I decide to sleep for 10 more minutes. 10 minutes becomes 15 and then I'm running late. I bolt out of bed and run to the shower. Meanwhile, Eric is supposed to be getting Ben dressed and ready to go. I jump out of the shower, get dressed, turn on the coffee maker and run around madly trying to make sure I have my keys, lunch, purse, etc. I splash some milk and sugar into my coffee and we're out the door. Finally, I take my first sip of coffee. Yow! I burn my tongue! It never fails...

I should know by now that I have to wait a few minutes for my coffee to cool down but I have no patience in the morning. What if you didn't have to wait? What if your coffee was cooled to the perfect temperature for you?

The Brugo Mug can do it for you. I was recently given the opportunity to try it out.

Did you know that coffee has an ideal temperature? To take full advantage of the flavors you should drink coffee at between 150 and 170 degrees (F). Coffee is usually brewed at around 205 degrees.

The Brugo Mug will instantly cool your coffee, or any other hot beverage, to the perfect temperature in its patented Temperature Control Chamber. The lid has three options: Lock, Tip and Cool and Sip. Slide the lid to Tip and Cool, tip the mug away from you and a mouthful sized sip of liquid (about 1 oz) is transferred to the Temperature Control Chamber where it is instantly cooled to the perfect temperature. Then, just sip like usual. Tip away from you, then take a sip. That's it. No more burnt tongue! You can bypass the temperature control chamber by turning the lid to Sip and when it's turned to lock you have a spillproof mug.

The mug is ergonomic and fits nicely in your hand. It looks sharp and comes in 13 different colors from bright to neutral and everything in between. It has double wall insulation so your drink stays hot for a looong time and has a no slip bottom to minimize accidental slippage (off the edge of your desk or the roof of your car for example).

After using this mug, here are my thoughts: It takes some getting used to, but it works just like it's supposed to. I found that you should only tip away from you when you are going to drink the sip immediately after. If you leave the liquid in the cooling chamber it becomes too cold. If you're not taking a sip, then don't tip. Once I got the hang of it, it was wonderful! If you're adding a cool liquid to your coffee, creamer or milk for example, you may not need the cooling chamber so turn your lid to Sip to bypass it.

There are two things about this mug that I didn't really like. One, the lid has a stainless steel coating and I kept getting a metallic taste in my mouth. However, Eric also used the mug and said he didn't know what I was talking about. Maybe it's just me. Two, the cooling chamber can be a pain to clean. If you clean your mug shortly after using it it's no big deal. If, on the other hand, you are the type (like me) who gets to work and leaves the mug on the desk until late in the afternoon (or the next day) you might have trouble cleaning out the temperature control chamber. It's a narrow opening that does not allow for a normal sized sponge to fit in it. This won't really be a problem if you are aware of it, though.

Overall, this is an amazing travel mug that does everything they say it does. This would make an amazing gift for that hard to buy for person, or even for a company Christmas party or gift exchange. There are 13 different colors to choose from and are $19.95 each. Check out www.brugomug.com to see all of the colors, videos about the mug, and details about how it works.

One lucky reader will win one of these amazing mugs! Here's how to enter:

• Visit www.brugomug.com then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite color Brugo Mug is. (1 entry)

To earn extra entries:

• Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page. Please leave link to your post in your comment. (2 entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or write your own. Just make sure to include a link to this post and include @WanderingPeanut in your tweet. (1 entry) Never get burned by your coffee again! @WanderingPeanut is giving away a Brugo Mug. Enter here http://bit.ly/1AYWmY
  
• Subscribe or Follow The Wandering Peanut. If you already do, that counts, too. (1 entry)

Please leave a comment for each separate entry and make sure to leave your email address as well. This giveaway will end on Sunday, November 22. The winner will be notified via email within 48 hours and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a free Brugo Mug to try out and review.

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Big Universe - Review

Reading has always been an escape for me.  Ever since I can remember, I've loved to read anything I can get my hands on.  In particular, I remember reading the Babysitters Club series when I was in elementary and middle school.  I just could not wait to see what happened next and I read the entire series of over a 100 books and then moved on from there to other series throughout the years.

I hope to instill that same love of reading into my son.  Of course, his Daddy hopes that he's going to be an NFL or NBA star someday but I'd love it if he was a bookworm like his Mommy.  And, why can't he be both, right?  I've been reading to Ben since he was an infant.  Now, he's 2 1/2 and loves story time.  We're always looking for new books to read and new ways to hold his interest in reading.  Enter, Big Universe!

Big Universe is a site where you can read, create and share books online.  What an amazing site this is!  Ben and I had a blast checking it out!  There are hundreds of books by well known authors and publishers that are available to read online anytime.  You can sort them by grade level, reading level, age, category and even language.  Of course, you can also search by keyword, title or author as well.  From there you can read the entire book online.  These are not just previews - it's the entire book!  If you find a favorite you can add it to your own personal bookshelf to find it again quickly in the future.  You can also rate books and recommend them to others. 

We had a wonderful time finding new books to check out.  Some of these titles are well known award winners, others are hidden gems that I'm so happy to have found!  One of our new favorites is The Tree by Dana Lyons.  The book is absolutely gorgeous to look at and the story is powerful.  Ben also liked When Pigs Fly by Valerie Coulman.  That one made him laugh at the silly pictures.  There are so many more that we want to check out. 

We also used Big Universe at bedtime.   We usually read a story each night but, like any 2 year old, Ben likes to hear the same stories over and over and over again.  I found that if I bring the laptop in at bedtime he's more likely to pick a new story from Big Universe to read thus saving my sanity!  I think I'll go nuts if I have to read I Love Trains one more time.  He sits in my lap and we put the laptop on the bed and read a story that way. 

The other amazing feature of Big Universe is that you can write your own story!  Ben's a little too young to really be interested in this feature yet but we did look around at a lot of user authored stories.  There are great tutorials that walk you through the whole process and it looks really easy to do.  Once you have your story, you can share it for the world to see.  We laughed a lot at some of the creative stories kids have come up with.  For example, what would happen if aliens had invaded a medieval castle?  Who would win the battle?  Check out Aliens at the Gates for the answer.  You can also rate, recommend and add user created stories to your bookshelf.  This is an amazing creative outlet for kids who love to tell stories or create tall tales. 

We had an amazing time playing on this site and I expect we'll continue to use it on a daily basis.  I urge everyone to check it out.  There's something for ages 0-teenager.  Parents will get a kick out of it too. 

You can sign up for an account by visiting the website.  They offer a free account which will let you preview the services and create one book of your own.  To have full access to the site you can sign up for a personal account which is only $4.95 per month.  This is a great deal since most hardcover children's books are in the $15-$17 range.  You can save a ton of money by reading them online instead!  There are also accounts for families, classrooms and schools so this would be a great resource for teachers and homeschoolers as well. 

Until the end of the month, Big Universe is offering my readers a Personal Account free for one month!  Here's how to take advantage of this great deal:

1. Visit https://biguniverse.com/account
2. Select FREE account
3. Fill out the short registration form 
4. You will get an activation email.  Click on the link in the email to activate your account
5. Sign in
6. From your account page, enter promo code BUMOM09
7. Your account will automatically be upgraded to a personal account for one month for free!

It's that easy!  This promo code is only valid until October 31 so hurry and take advantage of this great opportunity!

I hope you and your families have as much fun on this site as we did!  Leave a comment and let me know what you think! 

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Thomas and Friends Live on Stage

I was lucky enough to get 4 free tickets from MomSelect to see Thomas and Friends Live on Stage: A Circus Comes to Town! The show was last night and Ben and I went along with my brother, Jon, and nephew, Jacob. We had a great time!

Ben has become a huge Thomas fan of late. If you read my recent post you know how excited he was about his new Thomas playset. His new favorite movie is Thomas and Friends: The Great Discovery. He quotes whole scenes of that movie while he's playing or when we're in the car. He can name all of the engines. So, when we told him we were going to see Thomas he was absolutely thrilled. He had been looking forward to it for weeks.

We had a great time at the show. Before it started many of the cast members came out and walked through the audience talking with kids and getting everyone amped up. Ben didn't talk to anyone but everytime one of them walked by he turned to me and would say "Mama, look! Train driver!" or "Mama, look! Clown!" As soon as the lights went down he became absolutely still and quiet. His eyes were huge! He kept saying, "Where Thomas?" over and over again until he came out. I was a little worried that a 2 year old would lose interest part way through the show and not want to sit still, but he was absolutely enthralled. He sat in his seat and watched the entire show while pointing to things and naming the characters the whole time.
After the show Ben couldn't wait to get home to tell Daddy all about it. He got a new conductor's hat and kept saying that he wanted to "show Daddy!"

It was a really great show and would definitely be worth checking out for any fans of Thomas and Friends. I know Ben will be talking about it for weeks. The show is currently on tour and I highly recommend checking to see if it's coming to a city near you. Click Here for a listing of dates and cities.

Here's Ben with his new conductor's cap. He likes to wear it backwards because it's still a little big and it covers his eyes when he wears it right. That's James (the engine) in his hand, by the way. As soon as he woke up this morning he wanted to play with his Thomas toys.

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