review: #bengay zero degrees

so a little while back, i was approached about reviewing a newer bengay product. since i'm not an 85 year old grandma with arthritis or joint pain, i'd never bothered with bengay. that's changed over the last couple months... (using bengay, not becoming elderly... sorta...)

my little package arrived during what would have been the perfect week. i was planning to restart my workouts. plus i was dealing with pms muscle ache/pains. i'll try just about anything to soothe my cramps. unfortunately, the many workouts didn't really happen, but i did have plenty of opportunities to use it. here my bullet point highlights :) [would have written a more cohesive post, but i'm a bit short on time]

initial thoughts (unfrozen):
- packaging has a funk, but product actually is kinda nice. i'm weird and like the smell of menthol
- menthol scent fades over time
- easy to apply, like a deodorant applicator
- muscles looser within minutes with slight tingling from menthol. made stretching much less painful so i was able to stretch more deeply
- will stick to fabrics

(frozen):
- oh my god. i'm in love!
- not as sticky, just as soothing
- beware of overapplying. that tingling will become an unpleasant burning :-/
- menthol tingling/cold lingers after absorption, but definitely didn't stick. i think it might absorb quicker when "frozen"
- SO good for joints and muscles

i used it in vegas since i'm an insane person who went to the gym before 8 am (vegas time) every day. i wish they made small freezable packets or a travel sized container. hot plane + semi-liquid do not really mix. it did travel well to pa for a weekend with jesse though. think what you want; that shit came handy ;) and i used the hell out of it after aerial class. unfortunately, it has no effect on bruises heh... at this point, i take it on every trip away from home. i even brought for my dog/house sitting venture just in case. i'm still in love and highly recommend everyone pick some up

disclaimer of sorts: bengay sent me a full sized sample of bengay zero degrees along with a gift bag for reviewing their product. i received no other compensation, and everything above is my own honest opinion

#bisc love for you

and now? time for the goodies. some of our sponsors obvs want you to utilize them. i happen to agree that they're pretty nifty :)

4by6 co-sponsored our first party at carlos n charlie's. thanks to them i have a bunch of awesome blogger business cards. i'm terrible about promoting my blog, but i seriously can't wait to give these babies out to every stranger i meet :) additionally, they gave us a set of postcard samples with designs from paper'd. i want to rub these cards all over my face cause they feel so freaking nice. i have no shame :p one of the cards is going up in my work cube because the quote is so relevant to my life right now

in their own words: "we print high quality postcards, business cards, greeting cards and more using your custom designs." what's not to like?

dearest readers, 4by6 wants you to like them as much as i do. for this week only, you can order 20 of their 4x4 square cards in satin for FREE. all you have to do is register with them and use code BISC4by6. easy peasy [the fine print: code is good for one use and is valid until saturday, june 2nd 2012. shipping charges are not included] i'm getting myself a set as soon as i can decide on a design :)

paper'd, in case you don't know, is a fabulous wallpaper app for your apple products. i'm super jealous that i can't get it on my droid, but that new ipod fund is in the works. they're not lying when they say it's "the addictive, lifestyle-inspired iOS wallpaper app that makes your device more you." just scrolling through the sample designs is addictive; they're always adding new stuff. have i mentioned that the app is also free? i didn't? for shame! cause it totes is :) they have a vast collection of free and not free wallpapers in the app. there is something for everyone so get on it

but wait! there's more :) crush hub sponsored saturday brunch and one lucky bisc-uit got hooked up with the costa rican surfer man of her dreams. crush hub is no ordinary dating site; it's a matchmaking game for friends. many of us have been through the agony of the match/okcupid/grindr creeps. jesse somehow made it through the crowd of misfits before i went into an online dating coma, and i couldn't be happier. however, if i were a single lady today, i would be all over crush hub. who better to send you great matches than the people who know you best? it's 99.99% creep proof (nothing is perfect, y'all ;)) it's pretty easy, too. 1) sign up at crushhub.com with code "schoonsense" (the site is still in private beta) 2) pick a single friend or your single self 3) describe your selection. who doesn't want to crowdsource their dating profile? cause talking about yourself is hard, yo 4) invite your facebook friends to join in the fun 5) get suggesting! your single friend can choose from all the potentials to get an introduction. potentials won't know what's happening, but game players will see it all

i really like the concept, and the mastermind behind it is pretty swell too. chris didn't come to just pitch his product; he actually hung out during the weekend. he's super nice guy, who also happens to be single..... checking out this facebook app is kinda making me rethink my stance on severing my relationship with facebook. keep in mind that this is still in beta. if you have any issues, concerns or suggestions, chris wants to know. there's a handy "feedback" button right at the top of the app page, and i'm pretty sure chris is personally reading every single item. so get on over and start getting your friends paired up :)

those are all the things i've got for today. but, since bisc gave me all the things to blog about, be on the lookout next for shout outs to our other sponsors. i already told you we got the best swag in the history of swag. i'd be remiss if i didn't share the specifics :)

giving back

one of my (un)official goals of 2012 is to make more donations to the causes i care about, about one a month. there was a chance that this wouldn't be possible because of changes at work. however, bossman worked me a deal to keep me rolling in full time monies. so i'm less worried about not being able to take care of me, which means i can help take care of others :)

awesomely, mandi from life in beta announced that, for her birthday, she wanted people to donate to animal rescues and welfare organizations. i figured that was an excellent way to kick off my personal year of giving. since i missed january, i donated double in february. one donation went to the maryland spca; one went to the world wildlife fund. mandi also attached a giveawy to the giving. and i won a print from hue and hum :) it's a small shop with beautiful work. i can't wait to get mine from caitlin!

i totally didn't do this for the prize though :p

i love donating. i wish i had more time so i could make other (non-monetary) contributions, too. when my life is less hectic, i am going to make that a priority :)

bisc 2012

i'm trying not to bounce off the walls since i'm in the office, but i'm SO EXCITED! i registered for my first bloggers in sin city today. 2012 is my year of travel (and dinner parties/game nights... it's a big year). i kicked off the new year with work trips (boo), but i'll end the year with weddings (woot!). in between all of that? BISC. i've been wanting to go since the first time i read about it on katelin and rachael's blogs. happy hours, pool lounging, cheese plates, shows! who doesn't love an insane good time?

this year includes a cirque performance, which solidified my decision. i was originally going to go if i saved up enough to afford it sans credit cards. fuck that! CIRQUE DU SOLEIL! so instead, i snagged one of this year's 60 spots a few minutes after registration opened. i'm going to find a way to make it all work (hey there, tax refund), including stalking flight deals like it's my job

the other awesome thing is there's a chance i could attend for free. a new app which provides wallpaper for iphones, paper'd, is cosponsoring the event. i may not have (or want) an iphone, but i do like free things. you should go check them out; i'd be all over the app if i didn't have a blackberry. maybe if enough of us beg, they'll build an app for us ;) entering the giveaway is pretty easy; i just did with this silly squee-controlled post. maybe you can snag one of those last bisc spots and enter the registration giveaway, too (former is highly encouraged; latter is just a joke. don't enter :))

#nintendoenthused wii game night

so a couple weeks ago, brand about town was looking for a few hosts in the DC area. i volunteered to participate not entirely knowing what i was getting myself into. a couple emails and a skype call, i was moderately prepared for a night with the new wii play motion :)

look it!

conveniently, i'd scheduled to have last friday off. (i was going to take neal to see adele in jersey, but tickets were sold out in seconds! mega boo). so i was home when my packages of awesome arrived at the apartment. i can't even tell you how surprised i was when the fedex man showed up at my door with two HUGE boxes in tow. it was like christmas at chez schoon and neal's. one box had all the party goodies; the other had the adorable party favors. i spent an hour oohing over everything and setting up (a whole day early cause i was that excited). BAT is no joke, people. i received all sorts of stuff for one fabulous sundae bar

check my mad skills. bam!

i had looked at a few of the games beforehand and was already looking forward to trying them. i was all about pose mii plus because i thought you had to actually pose lol. not quite. you basically have to turn the controller in different directions to maneuver your mii into position. briah and i played a few rounds, getting progressively better each time. and i still did a little posing. i just couldn't help myself ;)

there are 12 mini games, and we played them all. only took us four hours ;) none of us anticipated how difficult some of these games would be. skip skimmer was the least fun of the bunch until chris started getting special rocks with dolphins, music notes, frogs and more. treasure twirl, star shuttle and flutter fly only got one play through since chris kept kicking juli's ass. then she shot me in trigger twist hahahah. they're supposed to save the miis from alien invasion, ninjas and dinosaurs; she also forgot she and chris were on the same team and tried to block him. trigger twist was really fun (minus killing vegetarian dinosaurs - he was coming right for us!). any game in which you throw ninja stars at parachuting ninjas is a win in my book. the hard part is remembering enemies come from all directions. those jerk dinosaurs snuck up from behind and ate us (or bit very severely)

best games of the night were veggie guardin and cone zone. veggie guardin is basically whack a mole, except sometimes the moles wear masks and sometimes it's actually miis. the more moles you whack, the more gigantic and powerful your mallet can become. it was hard to control the mallets when more than two people played (sensor can get erratic), but that didn't overshadow the awesomeness. cone zone is a stacking/balance game (and the inspiration for the sundae party). briah and neal were able to get 28 scoops before bonking into each other. however, neal and chris got up to 40 and made quite a few balancing saves when they played together. it was hilarious to watch. swirl mode was also fun despite its one playerness. your cone is huge, and so are your mii's eyes as the cone fills hahah

the hardest game in the pack? spooky search. you have to hunt ghosts and put them in a containment box. it's very ghostbusters without the obnoxious, slimey pet ghost. too bad we couldn't get past the first round no matter how many times we played. there are ghosts you have to trap as a team, but they can (and do) break free. part of the problem was my controller. i'd try to lock on to the ghost with everyone, but i wouldn't show up on the screen until the ghost broke away. or i'd be the only one who couldn't lock onto it when it was "in the air". uber frustrating. i still had fun though wrestling with the spooks

i want to live in jump park! there are walls and floors made of bounce mats; you jump all over the map collecting jewels and awesome accessories, like wings. plus, in two player, you take turns directing the jump. it gets a little confusing when the jump space is short or you're moving crazy fast. i like to think that briah and i kicked ass at this and pose mii plus. we're a good team ;) ...teeter targets and wind runner fell in the middle of the pile on difficulty and fun. teeter targets is kinda brick breaker meets pinball; wind runner is mary poppins style mario kart :)

nintendo sent over an additional copy of the game and a controller to be given away. since half the guests bailed at the last minute, i decided to make it easy to win: classic rock paper scissor (best two out of three). it was juli versus briah, and juli won after a thrilling minute and a half :) the whole night was super fun, and i was exhausted when it was over. i only partially blame the cold stone ice cream sugar high. some ridiculously hilarious things were said through out the night, and i got some silly photos. i highly recommend this game (with or without the sundae smorgasbord :)) for anyone's game night. fun for all ages so go get it! 

[my favorite photos from the party & photos from all the dc area parties]

my camera sucks, but my friends are awesome

i was minding my business

and then my day exploded with awesome! MC had her baby yesterday, and he's the cutest little pudgeball born this week ;) i'm getting so excited about the other births coming up... AND glass gave me my own little invite code with 50 invites

my own invite code *dies*

if you were paying attention yesterday, i gushed about my new laptop (now known as cillianmurphy), scott pilgrim and glass. the super awesome jenn must have shared my post because suddenly there was an email from the head of marketing this afternoon. andrew reminded me of the awesome videos that describe glass and a post about what's happening with chrome. so go watch some videos ("run jogger run" is a personal fave). then click here and enter "mcschoon" (not case sensitive). whether you want to use it like virtual post its or want to take stumbling a step further, i think you'll like what's going on

and seriously if you join and want to start sharing, add me! i like puppy pictures and star trek jokes and long walks on the beach... ;)

ps: i hope you know that glass/border stylo is not compensating me for saying wonderful things about them. they truly are this amazing in my personal opinion. can't wait til my glass tee comes in :D

i love giveaways

this could be me :)

the adorable brittney over at LaMidge is hosting her first giveaway. wanna know what she's giving away?

well you can't cause i wants it all :p

just kidding, friends. luvya :D you can read the full list and entry details over here. it's pretty easy to enter, and giveaway goodies include:

- sample of chocolate coffee
- adorable owl cookie
- sample of whish's blueberry shave cream
- sample of sephora smoothing mattifying primer
- body nature cranberry & pear bath gel

it's a sampler of britt's favorite things. and, if you couldn't tell, i want to win. mostly cause i like winning. partly because i want to channel some of britt's awesome (am i sucking up too much? :p). go pay her a visit, even if you don't intend to enter. i promise you won't be disappointed

swagtastic

time for the annual christmas swag round up (mostly for HB):

DVDs-
Batman Begins
Edward Scissorhands
Beaches
The Lake House
Gone Baby Gone
P.S. I Love You
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Incredibles
Memento
House - S4

Books -
Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman)
Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman)

Misc -
magic gloves (lol i have no idea)
bath and body works set - twilight woods

items to be returned:
The Year without a Santa Claus [bought a copy on black friday, but forget to tell mom oops]
Stardust (Neil Gaiman) [previous Christmas item]

for "Christmaslite", this was not a bad year :) did y'all get (or give) any good gifts this year?

[update]
MA made me something; it hasn't arrived yet. and i got tees from my bestie. he knows me so well :)

from threadless

made just for me

more laptops?

apparently, yes. remember when jenn was giving away a laptop? well now katelin is too. laptop giveaways are all the rage this fall... just kidding :p

you should think about entering... or don't and cross your fingers that i win. lol

if i won...

jenn over at free and flawed is giving away a laptop. part of me really wants it; the rest of me feels like a traitor to toshiba lol

dont get me wrong, i love HP too. it's just that i haven't owned an HP since my high school desktop. i got a toshiba laptop when i started college, and my grad gift was a new (sleeker, widescreen) toshiba for grad school. of course the "new" laptop doesnt get much grad school use (have i still not filled you in on that? hmmm really should get around to it) and is 3.5 years old. she still runs fairly well considering she's brimming over with pictures, downloaded sims objects and itunes. instead of buying another replacement, i was thinking about an external harddrive. toshiba has cute ones that hold a gillion gigs, and one day i might funnel some of my shoe money into getting one. [sidebar: im amazed that external harddrives arent wireless yet. what's up that technogeeks?] but now that windows vista is out of the picture, im reconsidering my stance. la verbena and i have our moments, but i still love her. most of the time we're together, replacing her seems ridiculous. and then she hangs or runs out of virtual memory. leaving me silently despising her. i miss the old days when it was all smooth sailing; why cant we have that back?

new HP, are you the answer to my relationship woes? we bought mom an HP (the dvt) for christmas last year, and it is lovely. i dont remember the specs i chose off the top of my head, but mom LOVES it. i sass her constantly because all she does is play freecell and spider solataire while watching tv. at least she doesnt have to share a desktop with my dad anymore :p

unlike my mother, id actually be mobile with my laptop. i could go hang out at starbucks like the cool kids or find a nice quiet spot in a local park. not that i currently have much to do away from home that requires a laptop, but having the option is nice... when grad school round 3 starts (fingers crossed, everyone), i can hang out in a corner of the library without worrying about plugs placement. i can more easily work on group projects (bah) because my computer wont randomly decided to have a bad day, slowing our progress... plus i'll have the new windows 7. i dont know much about it, but i have to admit it looks funtacular. naturally, id get office 2007 to accompany the new os. i have it at work, and am slowly liking it more and more. still not feeling the new word, but excel is growing on me (and im a girl who loves her spreadsheets)...

ugh now i really want this damn laptop. im still not ready to part with la verbena, but i definitely want some change... a "new laptop" fund may be in order if i dont win