LAST MINUTE MOTHERS DAY GIFT IDEAS FROM GOURMET GIFT BASKET

Mothers Day is quickly approaching! Have you picked up gifts for those special ladies in your life? One of my go to sources for gift giving, GourmetGiftBaskets.com can still get a special surprise to your loved ones before this special day if you act soon. 

Here are three of their most popular selections for Mothers Day gift ideas:

Healthy Hydration for Mom Gift Basket

Everything’s included in this care package to make it easy for Moms to enjoy a few drinks and snacks post-workout, errand running, or even when they just need to kick back and relax. Keeping hydrated is easy with this gift, because it includes two fruit-flavored San Pellegrino sparkling drinks and a Strawberry Lemonade Mixer (just add rum, vodka, or gin to make a cocktail or soda water if Mom just wants to hydrate).

Mothers Day Macarons

What Mom wouldn’t be excited to receive these delicate French cookies? So pleasing to the eyes and palate, each of the five macaron flavors is equally exquisite. Flavors include two each of vanilla, lemon, salted caramel, pistachio, and raspberry. What a beautiful way to wish mom bonne fête des mères, (Happy Mother's Day!)

Love for Mom Cookie and Brownie Gift Box

Mom deserves the very best which is why GourmetGiftBaskets.com put together a dozen of the finest freshly baked goods inside a gorgeous heart-themed keepsake box. Moms everywhere will love all the decadent flavors like chocolate chunk, butterscotch blondie, and lemon sugar cookie, and gift givers will love giving their Moms a gift that's (almost) as sweet as she is. This delectable offering includes: Chocolate Chunk Brownie 

Butterscotch Blondie 

Peanut Butter Brownie 

Chocolate Chip Blondie

 Lemon Sugar Cookies - 2 pack

 Fudge Brownie Cookies - 2 pack 

Chocolate Chip Cookies - 2 pack 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - 2 pack.

Don't be in the doghouse on Mothers Day for not getting mom something nice. Head over to GourmetGiftBaskets.com right away! 

MLB Holiday Uniforms + Baseballs Support Charitable Causes

On Memorial Day, Fathers Day, and the Fourth of July this year, Major League Baseball teams will again be having their players don special uniforms and using commemorative balls in honor of these holidays.  This has become a regular event taking place the last few years, but for the first time this year players will also be wearing special socks to go along with the holiday themes of their uniform's cap and jersey.  Stance socks join New Era caps and Majestic jerseys in making these special-event uniforms happen plus MLB also gets assistance from Rawlings to create unique stitching color patterns on the baseballs used during these holiday games.

In addition to adding an additional fun factor to the games on these days, the uniforms will be contributing to the community as well.  Teams will tie-in promoting the messages of several charitable causes by providing extra visibility with MLB fans and players in association with these holiday uniforms.  Also royalties from the sales of replica apparel from these special outfits will be donated to designated charities.  Fathers Day will support the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up to Cancer, while Memorial Day and Independence Day will assist the efforts of MLB Charities. Rawlings is also donating $1 for each replica baseball sold to the designated charity for each of the holiday themed baseballs.

Since I'm a Detroit Tigers fan, A Geek Daddy is primarily highlighting apparel sporting the Old English D but each Major League team will have their own variation incorporating their logo into these three standardized holiday designs.  To check out your particular team's look this year visit these links:

Memorial Day   |   Fathers Day  |  Independence Day

MEMORIAL DAY 2017

This year both the caps and jerseys will display 5 stars on them representing the five armed services of the United States military. The Blue Jays will have 4 maple leafs on their caps and sleeves to represent their country's military.  There won't be camouflage on the jersey's this year but the caps will incorporate a new pattern which MLB calls "ripstop woodlands" rather than the USMC style used in previous years.  Socks will be a continuation of the camouflage pattern from the caps.  

FATHERS DAY 2017

This year's Father Day apparel looks similar to previous years with a baby blue coloring scheme and a fresh heathered pattern to the caps.  New this year is two sock choices for players to choose from to match up with their jerseys and caps.

FOURTH OF JULY 2017

MLB is trying something new with this year's Independence Day caps featuring glossy logos they're saying are made from "LiquidChrome."  This shiny new material paints the logo with an American flag pattern outlined with a silver border.  These caps continue the heathered styling from the Fathers Day version with a patriotic red and blue color pattern.

Jersey's will look similar to last year with the player's name and number plus team logo embracing a waving flag stars and stripes pattern.  The player's socks though will stand out for sure though with one leg featuring a blue background with white stars while the other one will have a red and white striped pattern to it.

MLB also hosted a Mothers Day special event featuring pink caps, jerseys, socks and baseballs at the beginning of the season supporting Susan G. Komen.  Mothers Day themed items can still be found at MLBShop.com.

Wearing these special event balls, caps, jerseys and socks are a nice way to differentiate yourself from other fans and they also make great collectible items.  They also make for great gifts for sports fanatics, especially if you give one to someone to wear at the ballpark during one of these holiday games.  Plus it is nice to have America's national pastime make an extra effort to recognize these special moments during the year that are important to so many people.  Do you have a favorite out of these special event themes?  Mine is the Independence Day gear even though I couldn't find any pictures of it with the Old English D and had to sink to using an example from the Yankees.

CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE

 ** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

Did you know the term "Honeymoon" dates back to an ancient tradition when guests to weddings would give the bride and groom enough honey mead (wine) to last through the first moon (month) of their marriage?  I just recently learned this interesting bit of trivia as well as tried honey mead for the first time.  During Mothers Day, I brought out a bottle of Oliver Winery and Vineyards' CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE to celebrate the occasion with my family and one of my relative's shared with us some insights on the rich history behind honey wines.

The first thing I noticed when drinking this wine is that it has a smooth gelish texture as it slides down your throat which differentiates it from other types of wines.  CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE also has a nice citrusy taste with a refreshing honey twist to it.  Oliver Winery and Vineyards accomplishes this unique flavoring by only utilizing bee hives that produce honey from orange blossoms.  So you know there is some real craftsmanship and effort put into producing these wines.

CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE bottles stand out with their intricate collage on the label which combines whimsical images with a touch of the bizarre.  Can you spot Jeremiah, the label's bullfrog mascot on the bottle?  Finding him on the label is a promise that you are picking up a wine that is undiscovered, underestimated and refreshingly different!  Make sure to "pick up the frog" when selecting your next bottle of wine.

Oliver Winery and Vineyards in Bloomington, Indiana has developed a reputation for crafting satisfying wines that capture the flavor of high quality fruits and ingredients.  Their CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE continues that fine tradition.  Treat yourself to something out of the ordinary and enjoy a bottle of CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE.  Honey Wine has been called the "beverage of royalty." Go ahead and treat yourself like a king or queen by enjoying a glass.

CAMELOT MEAD HONEY WINE is distributed in Indiana, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.  Plus it is available at the Oliver Winery Tasting Room or you can also purchase it online by clicking here.

SEARS IN-VEHICLE PICKUP SERVICE MAKES MOTHERS DAY PRESENT SHOPPING EASY FOR BUSY DADS

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Life of Dad and Sears.  I have received compensation for this post; however all opinions stated are my own.

I've had a busy, hectic schedule the last few weeks with professional obligations and parenting responsibilities having me rushing all over the place and I hate to admit it but Mothers Day completely slipped my mind.  Suddenly the holiday was a few days away and I didn't have a special something to give to my lovely wife for the occasion.  My days have been filled running around taking my children to school, attending business meetings, dealing with unexpected client crises, coaching youth soccer, and handling the myriad of other tasks that your kids and work throw your way leaving me with almost no time to get away for some Mothers Day present shopping.  Fortunately, Sears bailed me out when I discovered their in-vehicle pickup service.

Through my Sears' Shop Your Way membership, I was very easily able to find something online from the retailer that my wife has been mentioning for awhile she'd like to get which was in-stock at a local store.  Using the Sears app, it's in-vehicle pickup option allowed me to quickly swing by the store and have someone come out to my car as I arrived to load it for me without any sort of shipping charge or service fee.  As my daughter would say, it was "easy peasy lemon squeezy" to use the Sears in-vehicle pickup service.  Based upon my experience, I will absolutely be using it again.

To take advantage of this convenient service, head to Sears.com and log into the website with a Shop Your Way membership account.  When making online purchases utilize the function on the Sears website which allows you to check product availability at local retail locations  and select the in-store pickup option for available merchandise.  You'll receive an email when your order is ready to be picked up.  Print out the email to take with you and head to the store.  When you arrive look for the reserved Sears in-vehicle pickup designated parking spot to pull your car up to.

Once you've pulled into the reserved parking spot for the Sears in-vehicle pickup, activate the Sears app that is available for Apple and Android phones. Select the in-vehicle pickup feature.  Note you need to have the Sears app connected to a Shop Your Way membership account for this feature to work.  The app will then show the product(s) you've purchased that are available to pickup.

Clicking on "continue" will activate a timer.  Sears promises that an associate will bring your order out to you within five minutes.

For my experience, it took exactly one minute and sixteen seconds for an associate to arrive at my car window to assist me.  The friendly gentleman who brought out my package had me look at it to make sure it was the right item that I had ordered then scanned the bar code on my email to finalize the delivery.

Noting it was a rather large box, the Sears associate offered to load it in my back seat for me.  So I was able to accept the delivery and have the item loaded into my vehicle without ever having to leave the drivers seat of my car.  Very nice!

Once your email has been scanned the timer on the app will stop and a survey which lets consumers rate their experience pops up.  I took a moment to rate my experience and left the Sears parking lot having been there for less than five minutes.

Yes, I'll admit that my selection for a Mothers Day present isn't sexy or glamorous but a high end KitchenAid blender is what my wife's been hinting she'd like to get for awhile now.  A happy wife is a happy life so I made sure she's getting something her Master Chef Mom persona will enjoy and make use of for this Mothers Day gift.  Sears has lots of incredible gift selections for all the different type of mom personalities out there.  Whether it is apparel or footwear for the Fashionable Mom, camping gear or gardening equipment for the Outdoor Mom, digital cameras or luggage for the Traveling Mom, or  smart technology for the Techie Mom, Sears has many great items available that can make Mothers Day shopping easy.

IN-VEHICLE PICKUP SWEEPSTAKES

Find a great gift for your wife or mom at Sears.com/AllForMom.  As a bonus, shoppers that use Sears In-Vehicle Pickup for their online purchases between Tuesday, May 3 and Saturday, May 7, 2016 are automatically entered for a chance to win a $5,000 Sears gift card.  Alternatively, you can also click on and enter the Shop Your Way All For Mom Sweepstakes at Sears.com/AllForMom.

Between placing my order online, driving to the local Sears store, and having it delivered to my car it literally took less than 15 minutes for me to get my Mothers Day shopping accomplished and I didn't have to worry about whether something would get shipped to me and arrive on time.  Not having to worry about taking the kids along, unpacking them from the car, and drag them through stores with me shopping since I could avoid that using this service was very much appreciated.  Being able to pull into a designated parking spot and have a Sears associate deliver to your vehicle your online purchase in five minutes or less at no additional cost is a really great service.  Based upon my own personal exceptional experience, Sears in-vehicle pickup service gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval.

For more information about Sears In-Vehicle Pickup Service please CLICK HERE.

#Sears #AllForMom