CitySlips For Women on the Go (CLOSED)

Congratulations to Becky from Minnesota! We will be contacting you shortly
When I use to live in NYC, there were always times when I had to walk in pain in my dress shoes because my purse was too small to carry a pair of flipflops to wear after work. Sometimes my feet were in so much pain in my high heels that I would look for any department store just to buy a pair of comfortable shoes for the walk home.

Now you can walk in comfort and style with CitySlips. Angel and I are both huge fans of this product. Angel says CitySlips are perfect for running to court. I think they are great for any time of the day or evening.

What is so great about this product is that it fits into most purses and handbags. That means you can bring CitySlips with you even when you're not carrying your huge tote or gym bag. These shoes are very comfortable and each pair comes with a pouch that unfolds into a carrying tote to put in your heels. I love this product and carry it around with me everywhere I go. It's such a relief not to lug around a pair of sneakers in my purse and be able to fit a pair of comfortable shoes in even a clutch purse. This is a must have accessory for busy women looking for a stylish alternative to the usual boring flip flops and sneakers you see women around your city wear after work.

You can buy CitySlips online or at many of the fine retailers listed at the bottom of the page. You will also find CitySlips at Dillards in the near future and you can order them right now from Neiman Marcus. Yippee!

I've also learned that CitySlips offers an even flashier solution for a night on the town with AfterSoles. After an entire evening in those painful stilettos, you'll be grateful to have a pair of AfterSoles in your purse.

BIDER is giving away a pair of CitySlips to a lucky BIDER reader. Just visit CitySlips and tell us why you need a pair of CitySlips.

Get an extra entry for Liking CitySlips on Facebook or following CitySlips on Twitter. Contest ends October 5th. US residents only.

Good luck! Thank you to CitySlips for providing BIDER and a reader with free samples of their fabulous product.

Who Needs New Furniture and Home Decor?

Are you looking for affordable quality home goods for your home or apartment? How about a new dining table and dining accessories? CSN Stores is the perfect place to find anything you need for your home as well as clothing and accessories for yourself, your children, and even your pets.

Because CSN has had such good reviews online and with reputable media outlets, BIDER is happy to work with CSN for an upcoming review and giveaway just in time for the fall. Yes, one BIDER reader will get a $70 gift certificate to use at any one of CSN's 200+ online stores. I love their contemporary furniture, but if you just want to buy a little something to treat yourself, CSN also has a shoe store, a luggage store, and a fitness equipment store. I told you CSN has everything you're looking for.

Stay tuned for more information on CSN and that great giveaway to win a CSN $70 gift certificate!

Crazydog T-shirts Giveaway (CLOSED)

Congratulations to ellie for winning a tshirt from Crazydog T-Shirts!
We have a pretty good sense of humor here at BIDER. Angel and I will poke fun at ourselves both here and in real life. It makes life more bearable to laugh rather than cry about our current misfortunes and pitfalls after doing everything right. So we had a great time working with Crazydogtshirts, Nachomamatees.com, and costumesquad.com. I chose a tshirt from Crazydogtshirts and Angel chose tshirts from Nachomamatees.com and costumesquad.com.

This is my review so I will let Angel share her full experience wearing their hilarious tshirts in a few weeks. We had a good laugh picking out our tshirts and wearing them around town. If you like to offend random people walking down the street or have people laugh with you (or at you), then you will love this tshirt company. These tshirts are laugh out loud funny. I can't wait to see what designs they will come up with next.

I chose a retro tshirt because I'm an 80s baby and loved watching the Golden Girls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Gremlins movies growing up. They have tshirts for all of those 80s television shows and movies and more. If you buy one of their retro shirts, it is definitely a conversation starter at parties. Everyone will point out your MacGyver or Golden Girls shirt then share their favorite 80s moment without you even asking them.

Crazydogtshirts also make great and affordable gag gifts and presents for friends and family. Why is it that every guy I know loves Chuck Norris and the Chuck Norris jokes? I don't get it. Anyway, Crazydogtshirts has a variety of Chuck Norris tshirts to choose from for that special idiot person in your life. There are tshirts for men, women, and children and the tshirts are available in most sizes.

One suggestion I have is that Crazydog should make law school tshirts. "Seton Hell School of Law" tshirts would be a good start. A BIDER reader has the chance to win their own tshirt from Crazydogtshirts!

Mandatory Entry: Become a Crazydog fan on Facebook.

Extra entries:
- Post a comment on the Facebook page telling us what their favorite tee is or asking us a question about the shirts. Let me know in the comments. (1 extra entry)
- Post a comment on, or "Mark as Favorite" one of Crazydogtshirts' Flickr photos. (1 extra entry)
- "Like" or "Share" one of the products on Crazydogtshirts' website. The buttons for these are on all product detail pages, above the main image. (1 extra entry)

The winner can choose between receiving a free mystery tee or a free $15 gift card to use at Crazydogtshirts.

Winners cannot have won a shirt from us or have been sent a shirt for promotional purposes in the last 90 days. U.S. residents only. The contest ends on Tuesday, September 7th at 5pm EST. Good luck.

Thank you to Crazydogtshirts and their affiliates for providing me and Angel with their tshirts to review.

Wanderlustings Handmade Accessories (CLOSED)

Update: The winner is susan. Congratulations! You'll be hearing from Wanderlustings shortly.

I came across the new one woman business Wanderlustings on Etsy and completely fell in love. After about a minute on Caitlin's Etsy page and website, I knew I had to contact her for more information on her designs. I was very happy to discover Caitlin was eagerly as excited to accept my request to feature her on BIDER and tell all of our female readers (and their boyfriends) about Wanderlustings and Caitlin's unique handmade headbands, hair combs, necklaces, ruff collars, sashes and belts.

There is always the English major in me that wants to dress up like a character in a Victorian novel. Wanderlustings lets all of us girly girls indulge in our Wuthering Heights fantasies with her beautiful floral creations. I'll let Caitlin tell you about how Wanderlustings got started in her own words:

wanderlustings began on a blustery, autumn afternoon in 2009. yearning for lush, romantic, well-traveled accessories, caitlin peters conceived the brand right then and there! sometimes nostalgic. sometimes mysterious. many times sweet.

all of our artifacts are handmade, one by one, with love, care and attention to every single piece. many of the items include vintage or repurposed materials because we are considerate of our environment. our specialties include bridal accessories, performance costuming, custom orders and of course beautiful accessories for girls who just want to be exquisitely lovely and unique!

I get really excited when I come across an independently owned business that has a lot of potential. Going off what Angel said in her last post, I agree that more of us need to stop waiting around for things to get better and start using our creativity to be entrepreneurial and create our own path to success. Caitlin is doing just that as a talented designer and I really admire that. And her products just bring a smile to my face because they are so exquisite.

Caitlin and I want to give a lucky BIDER reader a $15 credit to shop at Wanderlustings!

Mandatory Entry:
Follow Wanderlustings on Facebook and let me know in the comments (1 entry)

Extra Entries:
Follow Wanderlustings Blog and let me know in the comments (1 entry)
Follow Wanderlustings on Twitter and let me know in the comments (1 entry)
Follow But I Did Everything Right and let me know in the comments (1 entry)

This giveaway ends September 1st at 5pm EST.

I did not receive any monetary compensation or free product for this review. These are my own opinions as a fan of Wanderlustings :-)

New England Coffee and BIDER Art Contest Reminder - Submit Your Entries By Tomorrow!

New England Coffee has been a Boston coffee institution since 1916 when they first opened their doors at Milk and Broad Streets. This family-owned company is now the largest roaster and distributor of coffee in New England. You can find them roasting coffee today at 100 Charles Street in Malden, Massachusetts. You'll want to drop by if you're ever in Massachusetts because their coffee is delicious!

If you visit their website, you can see that New England Coffee offers Light, Medium, and Dark Roasts in both Caffeinated and Decaffeinated. I have never seen another coffee company that offers such delicious flavors as New England Coffee. Just skip the coffeehouse and enjoy one of these delicious flavors right from the comfort of your home.

Blueberry Cobbler, French Vanilla, Decaf Hazelnut…these are just a few of the many delicious flavors you can find at New England Coffee. I tried all three and it is difficult to choose a favorite. I would say that there are some flavors I prefer for the summer and others I prefer for the fall and winter.

For the summertime, iced Blueberry Cobbler is wonderful to enjoy in the record heat and humidity all of us are getting this summer. Of course, you can have a warm cup of blueberry cobbler coffee anytime of the year, but I decided to try their Iced Blueberry Freeze recipe. It was so refreshing and I loved the taste of vanilla mixed with blueberry. It's a wonderful summertime treat. And don't forget the whipped topping!French Vanilla is always a favorite ice cream flavor of mine and I also discovered how wonderful it tastes as a signature New England Coffee blend. It's lightly roasted, smooth, and sweet. You don't even need to add any sugar or cream to this coffee!

For those of you who like dark roasted coffee, I suggest trying New England Coffee's San Francisco Blend. I had it in the morning when I needed the most fuel to start my day and it complimented very well with my breakfast.

New England Coffee has graciously offered to give the winner of our first annual art contest two bags of yummy Blueberry Cobbler and Peach Cobbler flavored New England Coffee. Please email your entries to hardknockslaw(at)gmail(dot)com or angelthelawyer(at)gmail(dot)com by tomorrow evening.

Thank you to New England Coffee for providing BIDER and a lucky reader with their wonderful coffee blends.

Cool Down Your Laptop With ThermaPak!

I use my laptop more than any other electronic that I own (including cell phones). I'm always on my laptop working, writing, emailing, or blogging. I use my laptop whether I'm at home, in my backyard, at the airport, train station, or coffee shop. Most of you probably do the same. Naturally, when you don't have a desk available and your laptop becomes overheated, a burning laptop on your lap is not only hot and uncomfortable but it's bad for your computer.

The ThermaPak Heat Shift Pad provides an environmentally-friendly solution. The best part is that the heat shift pad doesn't require any power, refrigeration, or noise like most other laptop coolers. Because my old laptop battery only provides about an hour of usage, I really like that I can use the heat shift pad while conserving battery life when my laptop isn't plugged in.

The pad comes in 13, 15, and 17 inch rectangular sizes in black, pink, and silver for MacBooks. I received the 15 inch in pink which retails for $29.99 at ThermaPak.com. I absolutely love the pink color. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, I was surprised at how lightweight the pad is (only 23 ounces), which is great for travelers because it is very portable.

Most importantly, the pad really works! Just place your laptop on top of the heat pad and that's it! The pad immediately begins to cool down your laptop. To be more scientific, the pad is filled with organic cooling crystals, also known as Phase Change Material (P.C.M). The crystals start out in a solid state. The heat given off by the laptop liquefies the crystals that absorb and dissipate the heat. This technology appeared to have cooled down my laptop by 8 to 10 degrees. The pad goes back to its original solid state when it cools down.

I was very happy with the overall design, flexibility, and effectiveness of the heat pad. I will use it from now on both at home and on the go. It's lightweight and compact enough to fit in most backpacks and laptop bags. Speaking of laptop bags, ThermaPak also sells HeatShift Laptop Bags that uses the same cooling system as its heat shift pad.

You can buy a ThermaPak at online and at retailers nationwide.

Also, if you want to trade in your tired, NOISY, and old laptop cooler for a ThermaPak, the company is offering an upgrade program where you can do just that! Visit ThermaPak's Competitive Upgrade Program page for more details!

Thank you to ThermaPak for sending me their awesome and very useful product to review.

Future Reviews and Giveaways

Angel and I once again want to thank our growing readership and would like to show our appreciation in the future with reviews and giveaways pertaining to the topics we discuss at But I Did Everything Right. I already have plans to review and giveaway the new book by my favorite financial blogger Yves Smith, ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism by the end of the month. I'm sure it will be a delight to read and I'm happy to be able to giveaway this book to one of our readers. We would also like to hear your suggestions, thoughts, and tips. Feel free to email us at hardknockslaw {at} gmail {dot} com or angelthelawyer {at} gmail {dot} com.

If you would like to advertise with our blog or host a giveaway for your product *cough* Apple, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, HP, Lenovo *cough* please feel free to email us too. We'd like to limit our giveaways to books, school supplies, and electronics - products that our students, lawyers, and unemployed readers can read, use, and appreciate. Thanks!

- Hardknocks