Mary J. Blige’s highly anticipated "The London Sessions" (to be released December 2, 2014) is a musical delight full of powerful, inspiring messages – old love, newer relationships, encouragement, and even some faster tunes worthy of the dance floor. Mary has come a LONG way since her “What’s the 411?” rendition with Grand Puba (remember the 90’s)? London Sessions has (mostly) sophisticated, classy lyrics, with the exception of a double negative or two (“I’m not about to waste NO time”) and a few cuss words (compliments of track 8 – “Whole D-mn Year”).  All around though, the album is an enjoyable one and the instrumentation is much better than average.

The most impressive track on this album is song  1 – Therapy. If you’re a fan of India Arie’s music, chances are you’ll appreciate Mary J. Blige’s “Therapy”. With soulful, clear lyrics and an awesome acoustic humming in the background, this song makes reference to being stressed out due to a relationship that’s going through a trial. Who can’t relate? I actually like the sound of the music and her voice much more than I like lyrics. Not exactly sure what “…when I can go therapy two times a day” means.

Track 2, Doubt, lends itself to good old gospel music with its inspirational message, beginning piano tunes, and choir-like background vocals. This song of perseverance is sure to pop up at many a high school graduation next spring. Wanna bet?

Not Loving You seems more of the opposite of Track 2. In a soft ballad style and strong voice, Mary is gently speaking to a friend who is down on luck and needs to learn to start loving him/herself. Beautiful music, and I even like the “idea” of the song, but I wish Mary had gotten deeper into sending across a message. I guess I was hoping for more of a therapeutic approach – with a lyric about “smiling”, “everything is alright,” and “you’re beautiful and worth it”. Rather, she simply states, “There’s only so much I can do if you’re not loving you.”

Of the few upbeat songs – Right Now (great song for the dance floor), My Loving, and Pick Me Up (I love the sounds of the horn) – Right Now is by far my favorite. It boasts a sophisticated beat with some interesting instrumentals (I haven’t figured out what instrument is making the soft popping song, but I like it)!  

Mary J. Blige fans will not be disappointed with this album. Even my least favorite tracks were pleasant enough for me to listen to a second time.

Visit http://bit.ly/MJBLondon   to preorder/order The London Sessions on iTunes, or  http://bit.ly/MJBLS   to preorder/order on Amazon.

They're the cutest headphones ever! My oldest girls (9 and 6 years old) LOVE stuffed animals, so when these Animalz by ReTrak volume-limiting, retractable headphones showed up at the house, they were absolutely smitten. 

In our home, in any given week, there're arithmetic games on the iPad, a Guatemalan-based online Spanish tutor via Skype, video-based math lectures on the computer (we homeschool), audio books on the Kindle Fire, and Bruno Mars on my iPhone - often simultaneously. The problem is, these girls would rather not wear headphones. That is, until our new Animalz headphones arrived last Monday. Since these little princesses are stuffed animal fanatics, they were giddy about being able to wear these adorable furry animals on their ears. 

Love this!! These are our first pair of retractable headphones, and they're great.  Before life with Animalz by ReTrak headphones, our regular non-retractable headphones and ear buds were always a tangled mess! The retraction on our new Animalz headphones works smoothly, so they’re easy to store and very portable.  

Volume limits! Sometimes my kiddos have a tendency to slowly (but constantly) increase the volume when they’re listening to a favorite song. We all know what studies show about hearing loss in children who listen to too much loud music with the wrong type of headphones / ear buds. I’m happy to know that the Animalz over-the-ear headphones set 85 decibels as the maximum volume for optimal ear protection.

Animalz by ReTrak headphones are currently available in 6 adorable animal designs:  Biker Bearz, DJ Pandaz, Jam Bunneez, Scuba Sharkz, Skate Monkeez, and Surf Dawgs.   Available at more than 15 U.S. retailers including Amazon.com®, Best Buy® and Toys“R”Us®, they retail at $24.99.  For a full list and more details, visit: http://myretrak.com/ANiMALZ/

Disclaimer: I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Huggies & Target. I received samples for this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Do you have a little snuggler at home? Then you might want to try out the NEW Huggies Little Snugglers diapers that are available in grocery stores and mass retailers nationwide. True to its name, these diapers are very snuggly, and my six-month-old daughter seems to be very comfortable wearing them. The unique stretchy SnugFit* Waistband provides a gentle, secure fit, and the diapers are woven with a New GentleAbsorb* that helps draw the mess away from her skin. My Jasmine has super sensitive skin, so this feature is a big plus for me! Another plus is the wetness indicator which makes it easy for my 9-year-old  "babysitter-in-training" to let me know when it's time for a diaper change. 

I started using Little Snugglers just before my daughter turned six months, and we started feeding her solid (baby) food shortly thereafter. I was extremely fond of the diapers up until this point. As she began eating solids more regularly and making a bit more waste in her diapers, I was not pleased with the diapers’ leak protection despite the pocketed back waistband that’s designed to keep in the runny mess. In fact, we've experienced quite a few changes of clothes due to leakage.