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If you are lucky enough to be in earshot of me from Thanksgiving to New Years, you will be wildly entertained by my nonstop singing of Christmas carols. While some may liken my voice to Adele (OK, really no one would say that), it’s the two kiddos that have joined in on my festive holiday singing that are the crowd pleasers. While they are huge Jingle Bells fans, my favorite is still Home for the Holidays, because this time of year, I am missing my family tremendously and counting down the days until we can all be together to celebrate the holidays. So until I can get home to “Pennsylvania for some homemade pumpkin pie” my kids and I will be counting on modern technology to keep our family connected. In this house, cool new gadgets mean we stay connected to my parents and my brother’s family. It’s not uncommon to find one kid Skyping with my parents and the other chatting on the phone with my nephew. The best electronics might mean games, pictures, or fast internet service to some, but to us it means family time.

Maybe it’s overuse, the constant drops on the floor, or maybe it’s just the holiday stress, but my cellphone has not been pulling its weight around here. Time for an upgrade! I decided to try the Best Buy Mobile Specialty Store that’s located inside the mall near our house. While Best Buy is sort of a heaven for my husband (must be all of the flashing lights, TVs, and gadgets), Best Buy Mobile Specialty store is exactly what I needed: close to home, just the mobile devices and accessories that I need, and super helpful associates for those of us that ask A LOT of questions. Added bonus: Santa was located right outside the store! I told the kids the “Big Man in Red” could see if they were naughty or nice while Mommy shopped for a new phone.

While my kids ran around the store grabbing every phone off of the shelves (is that why there is a rope attached to the phones? Smart!), Luis, who I will now refer to as my new best friend, was the lucky sales associate to help show me everything Best Buy Mobile Specialty Stores have to offer. He showed me the different phones, all of the different pricing plans, and the trade in value of my current phone. In addition to showing me a few tips and tricks on his own phone, he thought it was hilarious when my two year old knocked down a rack of phone cases. My best buddy Luis has a two year old of his own at home and knows the drill.

After we helped clean up the cellphone cover disaster, I had to pull out the big guns and “call” Santa.

Since this family relies on my cellphone to stay connected with our family that lives far away, one particular plan that Luis told me about is an amazing deal, is the perfect way to keep families connected over the holidays, and it helps students save money on pricey mobile plans. The Sprint My Way Promotion is a way for students to purchase a phone flat-out (some of the phones are pricey but some are really reasonable), but the best part– talk, text, and data are free! Are you thinking about your own mobile pricing plans right now? If you are a student or you have a student on your shopping list, think about how much this could save you (plus they would have to call you because you got this great deal for them)

Here is how it’s works:

If there was ever a doubt in my mind that our fancy electronics are the key to helping us stay connected to our family (especially over the holidays), I watched my son “call” his cousin while we in the store.

Want to know more about this great deal? Click right here or check them out on Twitter.

*I am a member of the Collective Bias ® Social Fabric ®Community. This post has been compensated as part of a social shopper insight study for Collective Bias and their client*

I really love taking two small children to the grocery store to shop for the week. Wait, I have to catch my breath from laughing so hard. The truth is having two kids in tow while food shopping can be enough to make this gal lose her mind, but this week I had a secret weapon thanks to Rubi Kiosk coffee . If the kids can have snacks to entertain and distract them, then Mamma can have Seattle’s Best fresh ground coffee while I browse the aisles of our local grocery store.

I am a firm believer that with coffee in hand, I can accomplish just about anything. However, with a delicious cup of pumpkin spice coffee that didn’t break the bank to buy, well then watch out world!

At first I was a little nervous about getting coffee from a kiosk. I mean come on, I’m used to paying close to five dollars for fancy coffee and waiting ten minutes for it to be made. I just assumed I would have to take the coffee the way the machine decided, but there were tons of choices of flavors as well as several different milk and sweetener options. So if you are just as picky as me, you can get your personalized your coffee just the way you like it.

Who would have thought that watching delicious coffee being made from a kiosk could be so entertaining?

This isn’t a machine full of coffee just sitting and waiting for you to stop by and push a few buttons. Once you make your selection, the coffee beans are ground as soon as you order. And a few minutes later I had hot fresh brewed coffee.

So I took my fresh Seattle’s Best coffee, my coffee cheerleaders, my coupons, and we were off to shop. However, this time the usual cart pushing, rows and rows of sugary cereal, and not being able to find corn starch (seriously where do they put that stuff?) wasn’t so bad. In fact, I would venture to say I actually enjoyed grocery shopping with my kids. I know, shocking right?