Overall I was pleased with this purchase, so when Adam needed new glasses as well, we returned to EyeBuyDirect for another purchase. I definitely learned a few things my first time ordering online, so I felt more comfortable with this second purchase.  I am in no way affiliated with EyeBuyDirect.  For my first order, I chose EyeBuyDirect over other popular choices like Zenni Optical or  $39 Dollar Glasses because after adding my prescription lens with a tint they were the cheapest choice.  Many online eyeglass sellers can be misleading because they don’t share upfront the cost of adding a prescription lens to the frame you choose.  Make sure you do your research with whoever you choose.  The second time around I decided to go with EyeBuyDirect again because of this.  During the holiday season, they offer 50% off Gift Vouchers (I don’t know when this offer will expire).  You can only use one voucher per order and it is a one time deal, meaning you cannot reuse any of your unused voucher money.  It is smart to put your order together first to see how much voucher money you will need.

Adam and I already had an order in place for 4 pairs, that’s right, FOUR pairs of glasses.  He wanted three pairs; an everyday pair, a computer use only pair, and a sport sunglasses pair.  I was putting in an order for a second pair of everyday glasses because I have the tendency to break my glasses.  The last time that happened I was without glasses for over a month.  I figure (for me) a backup pair is a necessity.  This brought our order total to around $158.00.  Since the gift vouchers come in $20-$100 values (and you can’t use more than one), I went ahead and purchased a $100 voucher for Adam to use on the order.  It was supposed to be sent instantly to my email.  So I waited.  And waited.  And waited!  Finally I contacted customer service and had a surprisingly lovely chat.  (I removed names and personal information from the chat log. You can also see the quirky files that were on my desktop at the time.)

The customer service person resolved the issue by giving my gift voucher redemption code directly.  Thank goodness!  Adam promptly placed our order.

Although our order total is only $61.37, you have to keep in mind that I paid $50 for the voucher, so in actuality we spent $111.37.  This means we spend $27.84 on average for each pair of prescription glasses.  Not too shabby!

Oh, I almost forgot.  EyeBuyDirect offers “loyalty dollars” so I was able to save an additional $3 because of my previous purchase.  They also gave me a code to share on facebook, twitter, or other social media that will save you 15% and give me $5 off when it is used.  If you are interested, my EyeBuyDirect coupon code to share for 15% off is: IFT2Q1B7BB

Happy eyeglass shopping!  Be sure to read my tips for ordering glasses online here.  I will post part two to this review once my order arrives.  I can’t wait!

There has been a big controversy the past couple of years about water bottles.  It is wasteful to use single use plastic water bottles.  To remedy the problem of excess garbage (since only about 23% of the drink bottles used each year are recycled) many people began using reusable containers such as Nalgene and SIGG bottles.  It later came out that these bottles released the chemical BPA into the water. Even aluminum bottles leeched aluminum into the water. It seemed like there was no safe solution.

Having read a lot about what to look for in a reusable bottle, we began searching for the best solution. While shopping at T.J. MAXX Jessica and I stumbled on a large variety of steel and aluminum bottles.  One brand of bottle seemed to have gotten everything right. The ones we chose were Nathan Human Propulsion Laboratories 700ml steel bottles.

The first thing we noticed about these bottles was the plastic lid and silicon mouthpiece. This is good because they can be used easily in the car without having to tilt your head back or block your view of the road (that’s why fast food drinks have straws.) Also, the lid prevented anything from spilling. When the mouthpiece is closed, it seals off the straw so it won’t leak.

The bottle was designed with the outdoors in mind. There is a ridge around the base that makes this bottle fit VERY tightly and securely in a metal bottle holder on a bike. Using it this way WILL scratch the paint off the outside, but the bottle will stay put, even for black diamond mountain biking trails. Even if the bottle gets scratched, again, it will never rust, so there’s no real damage to the bottle. For instance, the blue bottle in the pics here has a couple of dents in it, and lots of paint scratched off in random places from mountain biking, but you can’s really tell it.

Another great part of the bottles design is the wide mouth of the bottle. You can easily fit ice cubes in it if you choose. It is a single-walled vessel (meaning it only has one layer of steel separating the inside contents and the outside of the bottle) so it is only recommended for use with cool or cold liquid. Hot liquids generally require a double-walled vessel like a thermos so the heat of the contents won’t heat up the outside of the bottle and burn you.

Another nice thing we noticed about these bottles was the weight.  They aren’t too heavy, but they feel substantial; not like they are apt to fall apart after a few uses.

These bottles are made of a high quality food grade stainless steel. They will never rust (unlike cheaper Sub Zero brand steel bottles.) You can tell they are high quality stainless steel because magnets don’t stick to high quality stainless steel. The steel is not coated with anything on the inside as it doesn’t need a coating. Also, since it is stainless steel, it won’t leech into the water like aluminum bottles.

Cleaning is a breeze because these are top rack dishwasher safe. Since they are a bit tall, I bent the tines of the dishwasher rack just a little bit so I can fit them in there.  I wash the lids on the top rack as well, and the straws in the silverware basket. If you do put something in the bottle that dries or otherwise won’t come out in the dishwasher, these bottles are really easy to clean as they have a very large mouth.  The Nathan website says you don’t need a special brush to clean them, but to make it easy on myself I use a baby bottle brush if needed.

The lid, straws, and even the mouthpiece are all designed with food safe and dishwasher safe materials. The straws are made of polyethylene, the cap is made of polypropylene and of course, the nozzle is silicon. The design on the outside of the bottle is also dishwasher safe and does not fade, even in the “pots and pans” cycle. The only thing I’ve found to damage the design is dropping it on rocks or concrete, or otherwise scratching it REALLY hard with something.

When you buy a Nathan bottle, you will get a few extra straws.  I didn’t have any reason to use my extra straws  in the first 6 months I used it, and I use mine every day. Just recently, one of the straws that I use daily cracked on the end that connects to the cap. I simply cut off the 1cm cracked part with a kitchen knife, and I’m good to go. If you end up finally going through all of your straws, or the mouthpiece gets chewed up, you can go to the Nathan website and buy a replacement pack. Alternatively, you could just unscrew the cap and drink without the straw.

I use the finger loop constantly to pick up the bottle,  carry it, or even close the straw with a flick of my wrist. It has a nice little clip on it so it can be hitched to your belt loop or backpack on a hike. The clip looks a bit anemic, but has proven to be sturdy in everyday use.

All that being said, there is a problem with this bottle.  When closing the mouthpiece, it sometimes drips the water that was in the mouthpiece. This isn’t a big deal.  The second problem deals with pressure. While being at about 750ft. altitude, If I drive to the mountains then open the bottle, water spews out like a fire hose for a second or two. This is to be expected with any bottle though. This also happens to a small degree if I use very cold water in the bottle, and it stays closed and heats up all day.  Once the water has expanded, the air in the bottle pressurizes. When the mouthpiece opens, the pressure forces a bit of water out.  I have found two methods to solve this. The first involves completely removing the cap for a second to equalize pressure then screwing it back on before opening the mouthpiece.  The second method is slightly less reliable.  Open the mouthpiece half way (just before water can come out) and push down the little orange pressure valve in the center of the cap. Once you are satisfied the pressure is equal, you can try to open the mouthpiece the rest of the way.

To recap, other than the pressure problem that sometimes occurs, these bottles are great! They give you extra straws and even have a kit you can buy to replace the straws and get a couple extra mouthpieces should you loose one or in case it gets chewed up. The materials are top notch and design with ease of use and ease of cleaning in mind. I give them 5 out of 5 stars on the design of this product. I actually use mine so much that for my birthday, I got a second one! these are great gifts for anyone, whether they like the outdoors or not.

For my book, I decided to order a 8.5″x8.5″ square photobook.  My reason for this decision was two fold.  One, the digital scrapbook backgrounds I used were 12″ x 12″, so a square book would be the easiest to create from my photoshop files.  Two, this was the largest book size that had a casewrap (wraparound) cover.  I really wanted to have a full color custom cover, so I went with this size option.

To get my files ready for upload, I simply exported all of my photoshop pages to a 8.75.25″x8.75″ jpeg image.  The site claims to resize images for you, but I am paranoid.  I wanted to make sure that none of my images would be clipped or cut in a way I did not want.

The viovio site is fairly easy to navigate (most of the time).  I uploaded my files in the order I wanted them displayed, which worked well, because viovio automatically put them into this same order.  To get my book ready for printing, I just dragged and dropped each exported jpeg onto the page I wanted it to be on the photobook.

Placing My Order

Placing my order was quick and easy. For pricing, I had assumed that one page would consist of a front AND a back, but it turns out that every front and back are considered one page.  By this calculation, my book was 44 pages long.  With the full color cover, the upgrade to what viovio calls “pro binding”, and shipping/handling/taxes, my order came to 42.43.  I considered this a small price to pay for a personalized keepsake and also considering many competitor’s pricing.  Shutterfly’s pricing for an 8″x8″ book (which is smaller than what I ordered) would have been about the same price I what I paid, but that is not including their $8 shipping cost or tax.  I really had wanted to go with Inkubook, but their hardcover options are currently fairly limited.

Waiting for My Order

I placed my order on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009.  The next day I received an email stating that my order had “been sent to manufacturing. We expect it to ship by Wednesday, August 19, 2009″.  I was so excited, I could hardly stand it.

Still Waiting for My Order

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009, came and and went.  Once it hit Friday, August 28th, I realized that 9 days had passed since my book was supposedly shipped and I had paid for 2 day shipping.  I decided to email viovio to find out where my book was!  The very next day viovio replied.  That same day my book had also arrived!

Finally Receiving My Order

Once I received my photobook I was enamored by its size.  It is portable enough to carry anywhere to show off or fit nicely on a bookshelf or table.  It is big enough to show off details in pictures.  The full cover cover turned out beautiful.

The colors on the cover are impressive!

I was also in love with the binding.  The photobook looks just like a book you would buy at the book stores.  I am in awe of the transformation that the book making industry is undergoing!

This is the view of the binding when the book is closed.

Just like a new book, the pages are crisp when you first open your book.

And this is how the binding looks when the book is open.

The coloration matched very well in comparison with my original files.  The quality of the printing was also very clean.

This was one of my favorite layouts in the book.

Some of the better photographs used especially popped from the pages.

Images from a higher quality camera produce the best end results.

I thought that my pages would be full bleed, but the center of each page was marked by a white stripe.

The white line was in the center of every page, but it did not distract from the book.

There were a few pages that are of concern to me.  It seems as though the glue from the binding splurged up into some of my pages, creating an uneven seam.

This particular page did opened about 1 cm less than the other pages due to what appears to be glue from the binding splured up into the page.

I did not find this out until after I was almost done ordering, but viovio adds a logo to your back cover.  It is a lot less invasive that I expected it to be.

The logo is about the size of two pennies.

My Experience (Thus Far…) with Customer Support

Since I was already in touch with customer support, I mentioned the glue splurges.  The representative asked that I send photos of what I was talking about.  That was today.  I will update on the outcome of my contact with customer support.  Overall, I love my book and customer support has responded quickly (so far).  It it were not for the glue splurges and very slow shipping, I would give viovio 5 stars.

**Update** Overall Viovio Experience

After 3 short and speedy emails with viovio,  I did not recieve any word about whether or not the glue splurges were “normal”.  What I did recieve about 3 weeks later was a whole entire new book!  It was a surprise when I recieved it in the mail because they did not tell me they were sending me a new book.  Although their communication was a bit lacking, I am definitely impressed with Viovio’s products and quality.   5 stars to Viovio!  I anticipate in using their services in the future and will share future experiences :0).

Recently we purchased an Exo Terra Reptile Den (Size Large) for our Leopard Gecko, Gizmo.  It was half price at a local pet store, so we couldn’t resist.  The premise of this product is that it has one piece that provides a secluded den for your animal and it goes inside the cage; it has another piece that covers the den and it goes outside the cage.  The pieces stay attached by extremely strong magnets.  Upon opening the two pieces for the first time, Adam quickly smashed his fingers between the rocks (hehe, at least it wasn’t me!).  Like I said, the magnets are strong!  Here is our review of the product and how we modified it for our leopard gecko’s cage.

Product Review

Previously we have purchased many toys for cats we have had that they NEVER play with.  I wondered if this would be the case for our leopard gecko.  He is a picky little bugger.  Gizmo hates his cage being rearranged.  He only eats two things – moths and a certain brand dead crickets (and he refuses to eat anything else!).  He hates lizard leashes.  He hates children and barks at them.  If you pick him up, he is only comfortable on your shoulder.   He is a grumpy little lizard.  Would he like his new reptile den?

Upon first putting the rock into the cage, Gizmo was not interested in it.  It sat in there for an entire week without any evidence of him even noticing it.  We decided to lure him into the rock with food and he apprehensively crawled in, ate the food, and then promply crawled back out.  Humphh….. he probably would not use his rock.  This was the cat scenario all over again.

Surprisingly, the very next day, we could not find Gizmo anywhere in his cage.  I opened the rock and viola!, he was there.  Nowadays Gizmo can usually be found in his Exo Terra Reptile Den.

Gizmo actually uses his Exo Terra Reptile Den!

Outfitting the Rock

In order to prevent more pinched fingers, we (…well, more like Adam and his sore finger) decided to attach felt pads to the outer rock piece.  As the rock clanged against the glass side of the tank, I also couldn’t help but wonder if this rock could break or crack the glass.  Although I don’t think that would likely happen, I feel it is better to venture on the safe side.

Felt pads purchased at a dollar store make a quick fix.

The felt pads were easy to attach.  Simply peel of the paper and stick on to the corners of the rock.  I only used four, so I have extras for other household needs.

Felt pads attach easily to the outer rock piece.

I was worried at first about the thickness of the felt pads.  Would they be too far from the other piece for the magnets to work?  Would the gap be too large for Gizmo’s liking?  Once I put the rock together, my worries were gone.  The magnets are strong enough, even at a small distance.  Plus, Gizmo still loves his new Exo Terra Reptile Den.

Gizmo loves his reptile den, felt pads and all!