My wife and I just got back from a mini vacation to Lake Tahoe, CA.  We went snowboarding at Heavenly Mountian.  It was a great time even with the lack of snow.  The " Tahoe " sun was out all 4 days.  A suntan was the last thing I was thinking about when I went snowboarding, so I was not prepared.  As lunch time rolled around.. I took a look at myself in the mirror and realized I was going to be in for a world of hurt.  I headed directly to the shop and picked up some promotional sunblock.  They were cool they were branded with the mountain logo and cool image of a snowboarder and they had a sport clip so I could clip it to my board bag and never be without it.  and of course I paid a premium being @ 10,000 feet.  The good news is they even threw in some promotional candy to help heal the pain of the sunburn.

There has been a study that people get more depressed in the winter time due to the lack of sunlight but, this year I think I am getting depressed due to the lack of snow.  Who would have thought it would have been a gamble to book a trip in December to go snowboarding in lake tahoe at the beginning of February.. no one.  Mother Nature has not been too happy with the California ski resorts.  Washington state, Utah, and Wyoming have been getting killed with snow.  Wyoming just got 80 " of snow in 8 days!!!  but Heavenly ski resort got an estimated total of 70" for the season.  We will definitly not be getting in the white room as they say or having to break out our snorkel but they do have plenty of man made snow so we will be tearing down the groomers.  Good thing about South Lake Tahoe is the Casinos and the lively night life,  worse case scenerio we go around collecting logod beer glasses.

Feb 6th is the beginng of the end .. again.  I started a workout routine in november for an 8 week program it was very successful :) and then the holiday set in .. ugh.  I just completed a 6 week introductory class to CROSSFIT.  If you don't know what this is, you should definitly check out a you tube video of it.  It is a fitness class that is like no others.  It is a combination of strength and cardio workouts that will keep anyone entertained.  I have been batteling the Bulge my whole life and I am going to make 2012 count.  After reading a great blog by my coworker Ali, Squash the habit, and some recently books and articles I have been reading about the decline of your health the heavier and older you get.  I am inspired and I am looking forward to the first workout "The Filthy 50"

50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 Kettle Bell Swings
50 Lunges
50 Knees 2 Elbows
50 Push Press
50 Back Extensions
50 Wall Balls
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

Hometown pride and promotional products go hand and hand.  Recently I was food shopping at the local grocery store and as I was heading in I received a customized tote.  The gentleman handling them out was hooting and hollering, he was very excited.  He was dressed head to toe in Patriots apparel bringing attention to himself, the store and the big playoff game over the weekend.  Im not the biggest sports fan but I sure appreciated the extra promotional grocery tote to bring home my groceries.

Tis the season for traveling for my wife and I.  We love the winter.  Unlike most people in the Northeast that head to the warmer weather climates we head to the pacific northwest in search of BIG POW, aka alot os fluffy snow .  I just pulled our snowboard travel bags from storage to get them ready for our upcoming trip.  Everything was fine but our custom luggage tags.  They were the free paper ones that you get at the check in counter.  This year I planned ahead and got some custom luggage tags guarenteed to be able to spot our luggage and last for many more trips to come.  I was able to get a couple of our promotional explorer Luggage Tags.  These are great hard plastic pieces with a protective cover for the written information.  

Promotional printed pens have got to be the oldest giveaway.  They are perfect!  Everyone needs one no matter how much technology is taking over.  My daughter and I were coloring the other day, she was using the promotional crayons, from our recent trip out for dinner, and I had some promtional markers and pens that I was using.  She grabbs the pen out of my hand and says MINE! .. it was too cute to get angry so, I grabbed the crayons and continued.  When she can read she will find the humor in it.. the pen had our company logo and my sales contact information on it.  so it really was MINE! 

My wifes family has an ongoing joke that unfortunately is based on true life events.  ".. Hold the Dang Flashlight.. ", this is the PG version of a statement that her Dad has been using for years.  Ever kid growing up had the pleasure of working with Dad on a project.  One brother was always working on the car or getting the boat ready to go bird hunting at 5 am or Suzy had the pleasure of trying to retrieve a favorite pair of earings from the drain.  These projects always required the helper to hold the flashlight.  If you have ever have been in this situation you would know that the beam of light is never in the right spot or if you are too young to help you may find yourself making shadow puppets or using it as a light saber when it was the exact time that the light was needed.  So it was really frustrated for Pop to get anything done.  For his 70th surprise birthday party we had some imprinted promotional tools made up as favors.  One of the favorites was a custom Garrity 3 L.E.D. Lithium Headlamp that was custom imprinted on the band to say " HOLD YOUR OWN DANG LIGHT " 

If you are like me, somewhere in your house you have a box of goodies from your past.  Maybe it is box photos, a box of collectible toys or just special items you have aquired over the years.  This week I have been slowly doing my fall cleaning and I came across that box.  Oh the memories.  There was a plastic baseball glove from one of my frist baseball games at fenway, a couple of toy figurines from happy meals when I was little and one inparticular was a employee holiday gift I had received from a job during winter break at college.  I was working as a delivery driver for a warehouse.  That christmas they gave all the drivers promotional plastic travel mugs.  I lived off of coffee that winter so much that the older guys use to joke around with me every chance they got.. they use to call me Jaun Valdez.  ahhh the memories.

Pets need love too and sometimes they get too much love.  After this halloween season, I feel bad for some pets.  How many labs did you see dressed up as a butterfly or the lap dog dressed with a lobster costume on.. heheheh.. funny but sometimes enough is enough.  I think what put me over the edge of the video sent by my neice where they had there cat dressed in a velour track suit with a gold chain.  Poor little thing couldn't walk right.  There are some promotional pet products that are suitable and not likely to scare your pets ego.  Perhaps a folding dog bowl monogram for the on the go pet or a royce leather dog leash to show how sassy they are.

My coworker got the best gift today from a client... yes a client.  He recieved this king size cookie tin today. It was huge, packed with all kinds of delicious cookies.  There was enough to feed an army or at least satisfy a hungry promotional products office.  Story goes is he had a client that placed an order for some custom totes.  Everything was going as planned until our warehouse was affected but the tropical storm Irene, about a month ago, and production had stopped.  The order was not going to meet the date.  My coworker, quick on his feet, was able to call in a few favors and find a substitute tote bag that we could expedite to meet the event date.  Sometime you have to let your inner superhero shine once and a while.  The client was so grateful that they sent a custom food product  to thank him.. Yummy !!!