Not very long ago I got the most beautiful bouquet of my absolute favorite flowers! What a treat! The gorgeous bouquet came through FedEx and arrived in perfect form. It brightened our kitchen for almost a week before the flowers started to fade and had to be put in the compost pile.

I know that I am not alone in my love of fresh flowers in the home, but I’ll be honest, it’s a rare occasion that I actually get flowers. It looks like I am not alone though, according to the California Cut Flower Commission, 42% of women don’t receive flowers as often as they would like. Well, they have come up with a very fun and clever way to “encourage” others to give you flowers. They are called Hint Cards, and they are funny reminders that you can easily tuck into your significant others pant pocket, lunch box, or leave around the house.

As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” However, in a recent survey conducted by the CCFC we found that 42% of women don’t receive flowers as often as they would like. That’s why the CCFC has come up with a “Hint Card” to help deserving moms, such as yourself, drop a hint to that certain someone that they would like to receive a beautiful bouquet of the world’s freshest flowers, California Grown flowers!

These Hint Cards incorporate a little romance or a little humor and are the perfect size to be left under pillows, inside lunch bags, stuck on mirrors, tucked in billfolds, placed on plates or just delivered from hand to hand.

The first 25 people to comment on this post will receive a set of Hint Cards (USA only please). The cards are a very fun way to remind your loved ones to give you the treat of flowers!

Wreaths Direct produces the finest trees, wreaths and centerpieces to fulfill all your holiday decorating and gift-giving needs. We received this gorgeous wreath from them to review, and let me just tell you how pretty it is! The photo doesn’t do it justice. And the smell of the fresh greenery is just amazing! It has really helped put our house in the holiday spirit!

All the fresh greenery ships FREE throughout the USA. They have a lot of great gift and decorating items, including fresh holiday wreaths, candy cane wreaths, and centerpieces with a free taper candle. Not only are their products fresh, but they are a family run business. From the site:

Grandma D’s Tree and Wreath Farm is located in the Silverton Hills southeast of Salem, Oregon, adjacent to Silver Falls State Park near Silverton, Oregon.

In the early 1920’s, the De Santis family began purchasing farm land.

This land was first used to plant and harvest strawberries. By the 1960’s, the strawberry crops were phased out, while Noble and Douglas Christmas Trees were gradually planted. By 1990, the Rutherford family, descendants of the De Santis family, managed the tree farm. This family-owned business sells beautiful noble fir wreaths, centerpieces, and trees.

We found the wreath to be very wish list worthy, and a great idea for gift giving as well as decoration! In fact, I already know of a few people who would love to have the fresh scent and gorgeous look of a fresh wreath in their home. Visit the Wreaths Direct Shop to see all the options.

Thanks to the Family Review Network and Wreaths Direct for the chance to take part in this review!

We are very happy to announce that our Holiday Gift Guide for 2008 is now live! From today until December 31st, you can visit our guide for fun ideas for all the people in your life. Come back and visit throughout the holiday season for posts highlighting each of the products in our Holiday Gift Guide, as well as great giveaways to put you in the holiday spirit.

This has to be one of the most fun reviews that we have done so far. Seriously, the Playstation 3 Rock Band 2 Special Edition lives up to it’s name, simply put, it ROCKS!

To be fair, we didn’t have the first edition of Rock Band, however, we did play it a few times, and the new version is much better. The new guitar and drum set that come with Rock Band 2 are second generation, and we feel they are a big improvement over the first generation. The drums are black this time, and have the option to add on cymbals. They are also stronger and last longer than the original game. The Fender Stratocaster wireless guitar is also very cool, with a whammy bar, more buttons, and a feature that let’s you easily sync it to your television and sound system just by holding it up to the television.

And the song list! There are so many great songs that are fun to play on both the drums and the guitar, as well as fun songs for singing. Most were songs that we knew well, but there were many that were new to us. The new songs did challenge us even more than the songs we knew of course, but some have become favorites of ours. The microphone is a lot of fun too, but since neither of us are great singers we stick to the drums and guitar. I feel like I missed my calling in life, and should have been a drummer for a rock band!

Other really great features of Rock Band 2 are the option that lets you learn to play the drums for real, freestyle jamming so you can play alone, and most importantly, it is backwards and forwards compatible, so you can play your old songs, as well as any future releases (speaking of future releases, I just heard that the Beattles songs are going to be available).

We absolutely love our Playstation 3 Rock Band 2 Special Edition, and declare without any hesitation that it is very wish list worthy! In fact, we are going to bet that it becomes the must have item for Christmas, and even though it is pricey, it is worth every penny for all the hours of fun you can have with your family and friends.

One thing that we have done before for holiday gifts is to make a calendar using our photos from the past year. It’s a gift that is always a huge success! Plus, with the year ending everyone needs a new calendar too! The above calendar comes from Shutterfly, and they give you the option to start your calendar any month of the year. You can also choose to add multiple photos to the page, and chose from a variety of backgrounds. Click the photo to learn more about it, and maybe make some for your gift giving!