Mabel’s Labels to Mark Your Stuff

mabel's labels back to school combo

Photo from Mabel’s Labels Facebook page

I prefer Mabel’s Labels to any other way of labeling my kids’ stuff for school, sleepovers, camp, or whatever they attend where their stuff can get left behind. I like them better than any other brand, better than permanent marker, better than a label-maker. Why?

Mabel’s Labels are cute, and they don’t come off. The end.

mabels-logo

You can stick Mabel’s Labels in shoes, on fabric, lunch boxes made of fabric, pencil cases, notebooks, you name it. They just won’t come off, not even in the wash!

There are many different designs you can choose from. I love the cute little rocket logos and smiley faces, and the pretty color palettes. I have boys, so I stick with boy-type colors, and now that they are getting a little older (middle school here we come!), this time I chose a muted color scheme with no cute little-kid logo. I have left over rockets and skull and bones, though.

mabels labels back to school

And bonus for me, my initials are the same as one of my sons, so I can use the initial logos we bought a few years ago, along with these new last-name-only ones that Mabel just sent to me, for my own stuff or my husband’s stuff. Great for luggage and sports equipment for the whole family.

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This year’s selection is the Middle School Label Pack. It includes (in photo above, clockwise from top right) 40 mini name stickers, 2 teeny tags, 50 tag mates, and 16 shoe labels (round). The labels come in a nice, compact folio that you can stick in your family command center (aka the junk drawer) and it takes up barely any room, but it’s at the ready every time something threatens to go out the door unlabeled. I have been known to chase down a child with a label in my hand, eager to slap it on and mark his possession.

mabel's labels pencils

EVEN THE PENCILS.

Rumor Confirmed: Dunkin’ Donuts Coming to Westlake Village

 

Neighbors, it is confirmed. Dunkin’ Donuts is coming to Westlake Village!

I might have a tear of joy in my eye as I type this.

dunkin donuts coffee cup

Coming soon!

I received a wonderful voice mail message today from a rep at CBRE, the property management company for North Ranch Gateway, otherwise referred to as the TJ Maxx plaza at Thousand Oaks and Lindero Canyon. We’ve all seen the construction and facelift that plaza is getting. My kids remark on it every day as we drive past, and it’s a source of curiosity for everyone in town.

The rep confirmed that Dunkin’ Donuts will occupy part of the building that once housed Barbecues Galore. (The other part will be a Bank of America.)

Vacancies are filling up at North Ranch Gateway!

The rep also said that a nail salon and a Brazilian grill will be moving into the plaza, and that they’re in talks with some other restaurants as well. Their targeted timeline is to have these businesses open and ready for business by the end of the year or early in 2017. Here is how I feel about this:

I was pretty excited about finally making my pilgrimage to the Santa Monica @DunkinDonuts. #donuts

A photo posted by Kim Prince (@kimtracyprince) on

Stay tuned for more news and information as we get closer to this glorious day. (This post is brought to you only by my lifelong love of their coffee and glazed donuts.)

Super Mario Comes to Yogurtland

Nintendo and Yogurtland are offering Super Mario-themed flavors, decorations, and a sweepstakes for a limited time this summer!

yogurtland super mario kids

It’s time to power up with Nintendo flavors for the summer! Every few weeks, Yogurtland will roll out a new themed flavor. When we visited as guests of Yogurtland, we encountered Mario’s Chocolate Gelato, Goomba’s Iced Coffee, and Yoshi’s Honeydew on the wall. Only the first two were working when we got there. I did have a chance to sample the honeydew right before we left, though, and I wish the machine had been functional when we arrived, because it was very refreshing on a super hot summer day!

yogurtland super mario iced coffee

While the kids heaped their Mario-themed bowls with chocolate, I opted for Gooma’s Iced Coffee topped with Heath bar crumble, and a sour cherry candy (but one of the boys took that and ate it before I could).

The biodegradable spoons are also Mario-themed, including Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Bowser, and Princess Peach, as is the colorful display on the store front.

yogurtland super mario storefront

And right there on the tables, you can see how to enter the Game On sweepstakes! This contest features a grand prize of a Wii U System and one year of free Yogurtland yogurt with a variety of other instant prizes to be awarded daily.

yogurtland super mario sweepstakes

These kids are obsessed with Super Mario Bros. 2 at the moment (in between bouts of Minecraft and YouTube surfing), so getting them out to have a sweet treat at Yogurtland that tied right into their gaming was a perfect summer outing.

yogurtland super mario kids table

I look forward to trying Princess Peach Tart – the Yogurtland site has a handy “flavor finder” so you can see which local locations are serving up the flavor you’re looking for. Or you can see which flavors are being served currently at your local store – here’s the list of available flavors at the Westlake location. Which one is your favorite?

Yogurtland Westlake Village
111 S Westlake Blvd
Westlake Village, CA
91362 US