Featured Blogger: Brandy O'Grady

The Featured Blogger Series is a weekly thank you to one of our blogger members that provide great spoilers and reviews to our Sub Box Spoiler community.  Each week we get to know one of our bloggers and encourage you to visit their blog!
Name: Brandy O’GradyA little bit about me: I’m a mom of 2 (a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy) and my husband works in Vermont. We live in DC. I’m a part-time grad student and done with school in one month.
Blog Title: MommySplurgeBlog Link: http://mommysplurge.comBlog Description: I review primarily subscription boxes but I also review household & other beauty items when someone approaches me and I’d like to try it. Mostly I am addicted to new things.

How did you get started on subscription boxes? 

Birchbox! I should also add that we live in the DC suburbs, and it takes me about 15 minutes to get to the subway tracks, and about 15 minutes to push a stroller to Costco, Target, or Safeway. My husband has the car and despite me being able to walk everywhere, I have a lot of stuff delivered. I always have!

How did you get started blogging? 

I started my blog because after a few months of my husband being away, I got ridiculously bored.

What boxes do you currently receive? 

All of them? Ok, I get Julep, Sample Society, Birchbox, Mugler Addict, LMDB, Ipsy, Glossybox, Citrus Lane, Kiwi Crate, Bluum, Stork Stack, Darby Girl, Darby Smart, Popsugar, Socialbliss Style Box, Wantable, Fabletics, Rocks Box, Tyler Florence Fancy Box, Love With Food, Taste Trunk, Plated, Hello Fresh, MunchPak, and more! Sometimes I get Crafters Crate, Golden Tote, Loot Crate or Nerd Block, and I get many more for review - Bestowed & Appleseed Lane are definite faves.

What is your favorite item you have ever received in a subscription box? 

The Popsugar Must Have Box May 2013 Kooringal hat.

Would you consider yourself a casual, intense, or obsessed sub boxer? 

Really?

Spoilers or no spoilers? Do you prefer to know what’s coming in your packages before you open them? 

Um, if I wasn’t blogging, I wouldn’t look (or I would look if I came across them but I wouldn’t specifically seek them out). Oh I lie, I’m totally obsessed I would.

What would be in your dream sub box? 

Something that smells great, something new that I’ve never seen before, something chocolate, something to occupy my kids from the stuff I want to keep, I don’t look for anything specific or set, I just love being surprised!

Do you have any fun reuses of packaging from your boxes? 

No, I really don’t. I try to recycle them as fast as they come in. I have started saving squiggles for Easter.

What advice do you have for someone just getting started with subscription boxes?

Subscribe to what YOU like, not what everyone else likes. Don’t get a long subscription unless you are sure you will love it.

Any news or updates about your blog that you’d like to share? Anything else? 

I’m pregnant and expecting my third child - a boy! - in September. No, the baby does not belong to the letter carrier. I think he hates me.

Featured Blogger: Marina Thelen

The Featured Blogger Series is a weekly thank you to one of our blogger members that provide great spoilers and reviews to our Sub Box Spoiler community.  Each week we get to know one of our bloggers and encourage you to visit their blog!

Marina Thelen

A little bit about me: I was adopted when I was very young from South America and was raised in Southern Minnesota. Currently I'm a SAHM of an adorable son...he's our only child so far (hope to have one more down the road). I'm married to an amazing veteran (recently he just got medically discharged). We enjoy fishing, camping, sports (especially hockey & college football), and traveling.  

Blog: The Little Oak Tree Blog

Blog Description: Blogging about some of our favorite products, cloth diapering, recipes, family, and more...oh and having giveaways!!

Any news or updates about your blog that you’d like to share? I recently just got offered the contract with PetBox for a full year so I'm very excited to work with them. There is also a giveaway that will be starting 3/20 for all those Washi lovers out there...it'll also have something else with it too


How did you get started on subscription boxes? I actually got started on box subscriptions from a great friend (Kristina Espley) I've met originally in the aden+anais b/s/t group but kept in touch with her almost daily and eventually she introduced me to some box subscriptions she had for her son. I never realized how many box subscriptions are out there haha.

How did you get started blogging? I started the blog to originally give me something to do when our son naps while staying at home and to share our journey of our 1st kid. One of my friends from high school had a blog for her journey with raising her little peanuts so one day I asked her how to get started with my own blog and went from there

What boxes do you currently receive? Currently I subscribe to Citrus Lane, Stork Stack, Love with Food, occasionally Silly Rhino, got 1 Austin Lloyd box on the way, and have a contract with PetBox for a year. Now that my blog is mainly focused on box subscriptions (used to be a blog mainly focusing on cloth diapering) I try to buy a box from each of the companies that is a competition to the ones we subscribe to so I can bring my supporters a review of the boxes that are similar to each other.

What is your favorite item you have ever received in a subscription box? I would have to say our favorite thing so far has been Green Toys...we never owned any until Citrus Lane sent us one and since then they have become one of our favorite brands of toys to get our son.

Would you consider yourself a casual, intense, or obsessed sub boxer? I would say I'm a casual box subscriber. I only get one box for myself...otherwise all of the other boxes are either for our son or the pooch.

Spoilers or no spoilers? Definitely spoilers...I'm very impatient so I always want to know what we will be receiving.

What would be in your dream sub box? I love to paint in my free time with acrylics, oils, chalk, charcoal, etc...so a box pertaining to that would be very neat.

What advice do you have for someone just getting started with subscription boxes? Do you research before just subscribing to one of them...there are so many out there for children, and I wished I would of looked into all of them more before deciding to go with certain ones. :)

Anything else? I just want to thank all of my supporters and fans I have out there. It means a lot to me that people follow, like, and read my blog. I love hearing my supporters feedback and experiences with similar products that I've tried. I am so grateful for meeting so many new people via my blog and getting a ton of new opportunities through it too.

Featured Blogger: Erin Hamm

The Featured Blogger Series is a weekly thank you to one of our blogger members that provide great spoilers and reviews to our Sub Box Spoiler community.  Each week we get to know one of our bloggers and encourage you to visit their blog!

Name: Erin Hamm A little bit about me: I am married to my college sweetheart and am a mom to two amazing boys: L age 4, and T almost 2 years old. Blog Title: Subscription Box Mom http://www.subscriptionboxmom.com/ Blog Description: I love subscription boxes. I post reviews and giveaways for all kinds of subscription boxes. I also post the latest news and deals for all kinds of subscription boxes. How did you get started on subscription boxes? Our family's first subscription box was Kiwi Crate. I saw a blurb in a parenting magazine about subscription boxes for children. My son L loved doing crafts and I thought it would be a great box. I loved Kiwi Crate so much I started looking for other subscription boxes. My addiction to subscription boxes was born! How did you get started blogging? I have writing a person blog for years, but I had kept it private for family and close friends. I loved blogging and I wanted to share my love with subscription boxes with others. What boxes do you currently receive? I currently subscribe to Kiwi Crate, Citrus Lane, Bluum, Ipsy, Popsugar, Darby Smart, Taste Trunk, Love with Food, Glossybox, Beauty Box 5, Austin Lloyd, Wantable, and Silly Rhino. I also get lots of boxes for review. My mail carrier walks to my door frequently with boxes.

What is your favorite item you have ever received in a subscription box? The November Popsugar Michael Stars Wrap. I love it! Would you consider yourself a casual, intense, or obsessed sub boxer? Obsessed! Subscription boxes have taken over my life. I have subscription boxes all over my house and I spend many hours a day on my blog. I love finding new subscription boxes! Spoilers or no spoilers? Spoilers. I am not a patient person and I don't have enough restraint to not look. What would be in your dream sub box? My dream subscription box would be a Disney subscription box. I love all things Disney, it's my other obsession. I box of memorabilia about Walt Disney would be awesome! If I had to pick 4-5 specific itemes, I would pick, a new video camera, a Pixar item signed by John Lasseter, a coloring book and new crayola crayons (I find coloring calming and I love the smell of a new box of crayons). Do you have any fun reuses of packaging from your boxes? My son L and I created a fun fort with my subscription boxes. My kids love playing with my empty boxes. They make towers, roads, bridges and just have fun. What advice do you have for someone just getting started with subscription boxes? Stay organized. Make sure you write down what boxes you get, when you are billed and the cost. They can add up fast and it helps to stay organized.  

Any news or updates about your blog that you’d like to share? I will be posting a fun contest in the next few days. I am also working on some improvements to my website that I think people will love.