Back to School with Better Lighting

“Turn the light on or you’ll wreck your eyes!”

That’s what I remember hearing from my dad as he flicked on the light after finding me reading in a dark room. It stuck with me throughout college and now as I have two very active readers. Through the years I’ve noticed that the right kind of lighting is not only better for your eyes, it’s better for concentration.

SmartLight by Verilux is the perfect homework partner

Now that I think about it, I am drawn to work in a room with good natural lighting. The room in my house I chose for my office has 2 southern facing windows and gets the most daylight of any room in my house. When I choose a ‘virtual office’ for the day, I choose a coffee shop or library that has lots of windows and day light.

When Verilux asked me to review their SmartLight I was intrigued. Could a desk lamp really help someone read faster, work longer, and experience better concentration? I’ve been using the lamp for over an hour now writing two blog posts and I can tell you, I’m in a groove I haven’t experienced in a while.

SmartLight – what’s the difference?

Here’s the difference between the lamp we have on the Twofer’s homework desk and the SmartLight.

our regular desk lamp

You can see the yellowish light from the regular lamp, versus+ the “natural spectrum” light from the SmartLight. Which one do you think increases contract, reduces glare, and stimulates the body’s natural enhancers much like a sunny day would do?

Here’s what else I like about the SmartLight:

• Lightweight and easy to move from room to room
• Flexible gooseneck and 6 foot cord perfect for any desk
• White, contemporary design fits into any décor
• Bulb that lasts 10,000 hours
• Retails for under $40

For more information about SmartLight
visit Verilux
Find them on Facebook
Follow them on Twitter

Got questions about the SmartLight? Leave me a comment and I'll try to answer it as best as I can!

Want more back to school tips? May I suggest...

DIY Portable Study Carrel

I spent $130 on Backpacks for School

Disclosure: I received a SmartLight at no cost for the purpose of this review. All opinions and experiences are mine and this post was neither reviewed nor approved prior to being published.

Perdue makes dinner AND Lunch a Little More Fun Review & Contest)

Perdue chicken and a thermos can do a lot for a boring lunch

Here is how Perdue brought a little more joy into my life...especially around dinner time.

I hate cooking dinner.

There, I said it.

Especially during the summer when it stays light so long and the dinner whiny hunger creeps up on you without warning. Suddenly it's 6:00 and I've done nothing to prepare a meal! Sure, I have a few go-to easy dinners but they get boring. Enter Perdue Whole Grain Crispy Chicken Strips. Throw some frozen veggies in the microwave and cut up some fresh fruit and I've got a great meal.

I hate packing school lunches

There, it feels good to say that too.

The monotony of making sandwich after sandwich and chips and applesauce or yogurt. If it's so boring to prepare every day, it's got to be borning to eat, right? Enter Perdue Whole Grain Chicken. I heat it up in the morning and put it in their thermos with some ketchup and voila! Smiles abound! It's easy for me to make and adds variety to the lunch routine.

Share how Perdue and Crayola can add fun to your family dinner and win great prizes!

Perdue and Crayola have teamed up to celebrate fun family dinners as a way to encourage families to take the time to sit and enjoy this important meal together. Simply upload a photo or original drawing that shows how your family brings fun to the dinner table for a chance to win a Family Cruise as well as other great Perdue and Crayola prizes!

Disclosure: I received a coupon for a free sample of Perdue Whole Grain frozen chicken at no charge. This blog post and my participation in the Twitter party make me eligible to win prizes. Also, it's damn good chicken. All opinions are my own and no one reviewed or approved this post prior to publishing.

Win a DYMO Label Maker and Let's Get Organized Together! (winner)

Congratulations to Trish! You won the DYMO label maker! Thanks to all who entered. - Janine

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OK, so here's how this goes down...

My house is a total, complete, and utter mess from a summer spent swimming, crafting, and not organizing.

The night before the first day of school you would have found me scrambling all the supplies together at 11:00 pm making sure I have everything...times two.

But now that The Twofer are back in school I can find at least some time to organize and I'm hoping to take at least one whole day per month (if not twice a month) and dedicate it to cleaning and organizing!

So far, it took me half a day to do one junk drawer:

junk drawer after organizing

DYMO makes getting organized fun

So, to make a long story a little shorter (and make it a reivew since that's the point), I JUMPED at the chance to review a DYMO LabelManager 260p label maker! This little machine gets me excited to get organized. So far I've labeled that junk drawer, school supplies, backpacks, and more.

DYMO Label Maker that helps me get organized

Here's what I like about this label maker:

It's easy to use - even The Twofer have figured it out!

It has different font sizes, special characters, even cool borders!

You can store labels and print out up to 10 copies at once! (Perfect for labeling all the back-to-school stuff...times two)

The labels have a very easy packing to peel off and the label maker is compact enough to store in a junk drawer (at home or at the office).

WIN a DYMO LabelManager 260p Label Maker!

I'm lucky enough to be able to give one of these little charmers away to a TwoferMom reader. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me how you would use the label maker to get organized.

Extra entries (of course leave details and URL in comments):

1. Tweet a link to this giveaway on Twitter and include @twincident in there

2. Post a link to this giveaway on Facebook

3. Subscribe to TwoferMom RSS feed via email (click the coffee cup at the top of the right column)

Contest ends 9/17/10 at 11:59pm ET. Winner will be chosen at random and notified via email or Twitter so make sure I can get in touch with you or I'll have to choose another entry!

Good luck!

Janine

Disclosure: I received a DYMO label maker at no charge to review. All opinions are my own and this post was neither reviewed nor approved prior to being published.