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B Reviews: The Robots of Sedna from Printakid
Here’s a fun idea for those of you who are over-achiever-Christmas-gift-buyers-who like to get things done well before Thanksgiving. Personalized books for children from Printakid.com!
I love it when I get free stuff in the mail and all I have to do is write a review of the product on my blog. I can do that. I majored in writing “puff pieces” in college. Well, not exactly “puff” but I never had the heart to write the hard news. I’d glady write for the life and style section over the front lines of a newspaper any day. But enough about me.
This is a review of the “Robots of Sedna” an exciting tale of space creatures named Gorbak and Gimik who kidnap ME! Baby Bug has to rescue me with the help of her trusty cousins Rapunzel, SuperChick and Emster! It’s pretty cool. I don’t think Baby Bug realizes the story has characters from her real life yet but she does like the glossy colorful pages and the big-girl paper that she just can’t wait to stick in her mouth and turn into oooey gooey slobber paste. I think as she gets older she’ll appreciate it more and more.
These books are such a cool idea that I might have to order one for each of Baby Bug’s cousins. There are several storylines available, including some about princesses. I chose the robot one because Baby Bug isn’t into that sissy stuff. (Ha! That’s what I think. We’ll see how wrong I am when she grows up and wants a Disney Princess lunch box.)
Overall I’d say this is a pretty good product and I’m not just saying that because I got it for free. The plot is clever though a little weak in it’s trap-door-opens-from-the-ceiling-and-everybody-is-rescued kind of ending. But what do you expect? Not every book can be award winning. Besides kids love trap door endings. The paper and binding and printing are very nice. Since I worked in the customized direct mail business for seven years I’m used to looking at personalized letters with my eagle eye. I’m usually an expert at spotting what was preprinted and what was printed on the fly with a dot matrix or a color copier. I’d say this was done very well. You can’t even tell that the black plate was added later after the color pictures were printed. Or maybe the whole thing was printed on a color copier. I have no idea how they do things these days. (Sorry to bore you with the shop talk.) My point is: it’s done well enough that the one-up personalization feels seamless.
I think this a very fun gift for children who love it when the whole world revolves around them. And hey, I can’t complain, I’m in the book too!
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Whoorlpalooza and Cupcakes!
Baby Bug and I have been hanging with Whoorl and Anders lately. The first day she needed company to run errands (’cause you can’t just leave your baby in the car while you run in and return your hospital breast pump) and the second day we walked the mall backwards and forwards while about 100 real estate agents threw an open house in her home! Her landlord is selling her house right out from underneath her. Talk about stress for a brand new parent. First you have the worry of where you are going to live next and then you find out you can’t even go home for four hours straight. Not exactly what you want to deal with when you’re still trying to figure out the hang of being a parent. Poor Whoorl, it’s been a little scary for her.
In our bumbling way, Baby Bug and I are doing our best to help make Whoorl feel better. I don’t know if it’s really working since we are walking germ circuses but still at least we can offer some friendly conversation and blow smiley raspberries at her.
What do you do when you get kicked out of your comfort zone? You eat comfort food of course! We went to Whoorl’s favorite cupcake store, Sprinkles. Actually, it was completely her idea. I didn’t even know this place existed. But if I had, I totally would have taken her there. It is soooo cool. Only a perfectionist like Whoorl would truly appreciate the art that is a cupcake from Sprinkles.
Why would anyone would pay $3.75 for a cupcake? Because it’s all about design. Every detail from the boxes they pack the perfectly round cupcakes in, to the lightly tinted whipped icing and little belly button top decoration, to the bamboo wooden forks you eat with… everything is thought out and a thing of beauty. Not to mention yummy!
We took our cupcakes to Whoorl’s house to eat them. While Whoorl fed Ander’s, Baby Bug and I hung out in her living room and took some stealth pictures of her groovy house.
How cool is Whoorl’s house? It’s like a shrine to good design. This is just the tip of the ice berg. I would have way more pictures but at the time I didn’t have Whoorl’s permission to be taking pictures and I felt kind of bad being a spy. But how can you not take pictures in a house this cool when you have a spy camera and you are just sitting there waiting around? A secret agent’s gotta do what a secret agent’s gotta do. Of course now I do have her permission to post them, so all’s fine and dandy. Just wait until next time I go over there. I’ll be taking a picture of every nook and cranny. I love her house. If I had a couple million dollars, I’d buy it.
And now because I’m cruel, I’ll finish this post up with a virtual cupcake for you to eat. It’s dark chocolate. Eat up!
