Saturday, January 21, 2012

L.L. Bean goodies, awesome new iced coffee, a helpful hotline and other Stuff Worth Knowing About


L.L. Bean celebrates their 100th b-day with gifts for everyone: Here's my friend Anne and the 13-foot-tall Bootmobile, which will be making its way around the U.S. I have the exact same boot, in a slightly smaller size; it's about 20 years old, which tells you something about their durability and/or my hoarding tendencies. To celebrate their 100th birthday, L.L. Bean is giving away free outdoor gear every single day; just visit the L.L. Bean page on Facebook and tell them what you need (a canoe, perhaps?). The company also just launched the Million Mission Moment; for every Facebook "like" and story, photo, or tweet shared about an outdoor experience, they'll donate to the National Park Foundation—up to a million dollars.

Awesome socks for kids who wear AFOs: I recently ordered from AFO Socks for the first time. Designed by an orthotist, the socks are the most comfy, well made and reasonably priced ones I've found yet. Max is hoping they'll come out with a Cars 2 pair.

Attention iced-coffee addicts! I run on the stuff, and I just found me a new fix: International Delight Iced Coffee, which comes in Original, Mocha and Vanilla. I got to try it at a MomTrends event and it is really, really good—creamy and not too sweet. It's made with skim milk, a glass is 150 calories, and a half-gallon is $3.99. Pour me a tall one!

A hotline for travelers with special needs: The Transportation Security Administration has a new toll-free hotline, TSA Cares, dedicated to passengers with disabilities and special medical needs. Call before you leave and a rep can make necessary arrangements with your local airport security. It's open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST at 855-787-2227.

Props to Toys "R" Us: During its 8th annual fundraising campaign to benefit the Marine Toys for Tots foundation, they raised $4 million and collected more than 400,000 toys for kids in need.

List your favorite books, help a kid in need: Scholastic recently kicked off the One Million Bookprints for One Million Books campaign, an initiative to donate one million books in need through the nonprofit Reach Out and Read. When you join You Are What You Read, you make a "Bookprint"—a list of 5 books that have shaped your life. Both kids and adults can do it. For every Bookprint, Scholastic Book Clubs donates a book to kids in need, distributed through pediatrician offices around the country. On top of my list: If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries, What Am I Doing In The Pits? I started reading Erma Bombeck in the fourth grade; she was damn funny, and she's the author who inspired me to write.

Enjoy the weekend!

4 comments:

  1. I'm bummed that the AFO socks are too short for Joey. (He's wearing an hkafo...or now it's just a KAFO, I think...it goes up to his thigh)

    Joey got the special treatment from the TSA when we went to Orlando and back home.......Yeah, all the metal in his body and his brace made the lights and buzzers go off. He was frisked from head to toe. ((It was done very respectfully and the guy explained what he was doing the entire time)

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  2. Nice on the socks. I get mine from an orthotics provider but they're just white. It would be nice to get colors.

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  3. Thank you for the great help! I am going to get some sock on order asap and we are heading to Mexico in March, so the TSA help line is so timely.
    Thank you!

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Thanks for sharing!