Shh...don't tell Sissy about this...

I mentioned recently that I had the opportunity to review a $40 product for CSN Stores. (I recently reviewed this car cooler from CSN.) This time, instead of choosing a "helpful" product, I wanted to go with a "fun" item.

And that's what I got! Fun for Sissy, anyway. And the boys, too. And fun for me to watch.

This is the Guidecraft Doll High Chair in Espresso. It came in this box, but there weren't too many parts. The directions were simple for someone like me who doesn't love to put things together. Only a screwdriver was required. It sells for $42.

As always, I received excellent customer service from CSN and a super speedy shipping time. I placed my order on Friday and received my shipment on Tuesday.

I had the great fortune of also winning a recent $45 CSN giveaway on Live, Learn, Love's blog.

When I saw the matching doll buggy, I knew I'd found what I wanted. It is the Guidecraft Doll Buggy in Espresso. It sells for $58.80. My only complaint about these products is this: there was a slight smell when I opened the package. I don't know if it was from any pressed wood parts, the stain, the plastic packaging. Online, I read a review that said it was the rubber wheels. Regardless, I am cautious about what materials my kids play with, but the smell seemed to go away after that initial unwrapping.

I love them! I think they're so pretty. I love the way the dark wood matches in her room. We haven't had much luck with the plastic/metal strollers and shopping carts. Ours have fallen apart. I thought they could use this as a shopping cart and doll buggy. I hope these will be a little more durable.

Here is another review I found for the Guidecraft Wooden Stroller. This person seemed to love it, too. And you can see the other color of stroller and highchair that CSN sells: natural.

It might seem like I was "playing" a little bit more than necessary by these pictures...I might have been.

I can't wait until she sees these under the tree on Christmas morning...shh, don't tell her!

Thank you, as always, CSN, for giving bloggers the opportunities to try out your products! You guys are the best. I am offering a $40 CSN Gift Certificate to one lucky winner on my food blog. I'll pick a number tonight (Thursday night around 9 p.m.).

Koolatron Fun Cooler for our car

I mentioned recently that I had the privilege to host a CSN Stores giveaway on my other blog (which is still open!) and to write a review on this blog. Here is my review!

It was really tough, deciding how I wanted to spend my gift credit. I was toying with picking out a steam mop, a grill pan, or this Earth Pan (still researching this product). Ryan and I finally decided on a plug-in cooler for our car. We do a lot of traveling and keeping our food and drinks cold is ALWAYS an issue for us. (We're not McDonald's type people - although I know it would be much easier if we were!) We always stop at hotels last minute on our road trips, and it's a hassle if there isn't a fridge in the room. We are curious to see how the Koolatron Fun Cooler changes this aspect of our lives.

We purchased two different things to go with the cooler, which made the whole purchase more expensive. We decided it was important (for us) to also get the battery saver and adaptor. The battery saver allows you to keep the cooler plugged into the cigarette lighter while the car is turned off. It prevents the car battery from draining if you forget to unplug it. (As forgetful as I am, we knew I'd end up doing this at some point.) Personally, I feel like this is a feature that should be built into the original plug-in, but it's not. The adaptor (which I actually purchased from Amazon because I didn't see it on CSN) allows you to carry the cooler inside and plug it into the wall. (I've tested it out inside - it works.) This will hopefully be our answer for constantly worrying about ice on trips.

We read many reviews of different coolers. There are different sizes and price categories. This particular one is $86.95 on CSN. I looked to see if I could buy it at Wal-Mart, but they didn't appear to carry this particular size. We chose this model because it was the least expensive one we thought we could get away with for our size of family. We also chose it because it would fit comfortably behind the driver's seat, in front of Sissy's car seat. Overall, there seemed to be good reviews for this one. It is a lot of money when regular coolers are so inexpensive - but like I said, we were constantly worrying about our ice melting or having to re-freeze our cooler packs. And we do a lot of traveling so I think it will be worth it to us.

As usual for CSN, we received excellent customer service, and shipping was super speedy. We didn't think, based on what it said, that we would be receiving our package for a week or so. However, it only took a few days. (And Ryan adds that it was very well-packaged.) The same cooler appears to be two dollars cheaper on Target.com and Amazon BUT CSN offers free shipping. Purchasing it from CSN ends up being the best deal.

We tried it out today while we were out running errands. I put our drinks in it while we were driving around and while we were in the library. They stayed cold, even in the 100 degree heat. Now, I'm not sure how long you can leave it in the car turned off before it started to warm up. I know we could throw in a couple of ice packs if we were going to leave something in the hot car for awhile. We'll just have to experiment with it for awhile, and I'll let ya know how it goes. Thank you, CSN!

My $40 CSN giveaway is open until this Sunday night.

The only requirement is to leave a comment about a CSN item that is on your wishlist!