Apron Thrift Girl

App Review - Family Friendly San Francisco

When I was asked to review an App I was so intrigued. Books are one thing but an app is in a completely different world. As many of you know, I adore my iphone. It's one of the best Thrifting tools that I know. I can check prices, research what I'm looking at when I'm out in the thrift field, can use a map if I get lost and I can search for the nearest coffee stand using the map feature. Someone said to me a couple months ago, "If it could cook, I would marry it." So true, so true.

When I'm on the road is the time my iphone really comes into use. I use it faithfully to find the nearest gluten free restaurants or addresses of local thrift stores.

The app that I've been asked to review is Family Friendly San Francisco. Although I grew up in Northern California, as an adult I still don't know my way around San Francisco. It's probably my favorite city in the world and it only takes us an hours drive to get to the city on a Sunday morning.

Family Friendly San Francisco is a part of Sutra Media which is a treasure trove of travel guide apps. This app is so simple that I loved it immediately. You open it and a list of sights to see will appear in alphabetic order. The one the above photo is Fisherman's Wharf. I appreciate that the first information that you see on the app is the cost followed by the distance to the attraction. Fisherman's Wharf comes up Free and it's 46.5 miles from me.

Michele Bigley, the author of this fabulous app gives you the lowdown on each attraction. At Fisherman's Wharf she mentions what places you need to hit such as hitching a ride to Alcatraz or the Aquarium. What is really important for parents of young children is the list of restrooms with changing rooms. She also includes a link to the Fisherman's Wharf website for more information.

You can search by Name, Cost, Distance or Neighborhood. We used the Distance search bar the most. We want to know what is close and how can we get there the easiest. If you click on the map button at the bottom of the app you will see a visual of the map of San Francisco with all the attractions highlighted in tiny photo squares.

This app gives you details about attractions such as the Aquarium by the Bay and the cable car museum, it lets you take a peek at food choices such as restaurants and bakeries, info on transportation such as Bart and riding the Cable Car and includes a variety of parks such as Balboa Park and Golden Gate Park.

Family Friendly San Francisco is only $1.99 and includes a wealth of information in one place. I'm a strong believer in that time is money. I much prefer to pay a small price to have all of this information in one place than to spend time going to each website and try to gather information while walking around the city with iphone in hand. I try to keep my iphone time to a minimum when I'm with the children and this app does that with it's simplicity and thoroughness of information.

For those that live in this area you can also buy the Napa and Sonoma with Kids app for $2.99. That is next on my list.

For more information on my review process please see my disclosure policy.

Organic Food at the Grocery Outlet

I feel completely blessed living only a few miles from the Grocery Outlet. It means that I can regularly visit their store to see what new items have arrived on their shelves. I've loved Grocery Outlet for years and when they recently asked me if I would team up with them to share my Grocery Outlet frugal finds with all of you, I had to say yes. Grocery Outlet has given me $50 to spend in their store and share what I found here on Apron Thrift Girl. Please read my disclosure policy to learn more about how this works.

After a very busy Sunday with the family I looked forward to going shopping on my own last night. I arrived around 6pm and the store was still quite busy.

I find it really surprising to see how many natural and organic brands are on offer. Tom's of Maine products seem to always be in our store. $2.69 for their toothpaste? I don't think that price is comparable anywhere. I also found some Arnicare Cream which we use faithfully on every bump and bruise that happens around here.  I paid $3.99 while the original price was $10.99.

It's fun to spot the natural/organic products while I'm shopping. Organic Beans were 99¢ each, Tomato Sauce were 39¢ a can and the Coconut Milk 99¢ a can. We are using the black beans today in a delicious mango bean sauce to go on our BBQ Hamburgers.

Don't forget to look in the refrigerated area. There is often organic cheese, Smart Balance Margarine and Aidelles natural products. I picked up the pork sausage for breakfast because it has no preservatives or MSG. It was $2.59. The Cheddar Cheese with Alaska Smoked Salmon was $2.49.

I was never a sauerkraut fan as a child. I couldn't stand the stuff but something in my taste buds changed in the last few years and now I can't get enough of it. Eden Organics is one of my top favorite Organic brands and yet I haven't ever tried their sauerkraut. The Sauerkraut was $2.99 a jar and the pickled Asparagus was 99¢.

The Bare Naked cereal is for Dave and was $1.99. The raisins are going in our picnic basket and were $1.69 for 6 boxes.

 

I saved the best for last. My friend Shara told me that these fabulous cookies were in the store. Pamela Cookies were only 99¢ a box. These are usually sold for at least $3.50 a box. Not only are they gluten free but they don't have any processed sugar in them. They are sweetened with grape juice and brown rice syrup. I'm planning to make some ganache to add on top when I next crave a treat. Even by themselves they are mouthwatering. I love being able to buy gluten free products for less. It really helps with my frugality goals.

The Grocery Outlet even offer special savings. Their next ad starts tomorrow and goes through to June 8th. I got to take a peak and was excited to see Alexia Seasoned Onion Snacks on sale for 99¢ a bag. Dave and the children love them.

Don't forget to Like Grocery Outlet at Facebook. They are just about to launch their first ever contest there that you won't want to miss. You take a photo of your G.O. receipt and you could win what you saved in the store. If I take a look at my receipt it says that I saved $43.90. 

Now for the most exciting part of this post; a giveaway! The Grocery Outlet has generously offered a $50 gift card to one of my readers. You probably know the drill by now but let me share with you the rules just in case.

• Leave me a comment on this post.
• If you want an extra entry, become a Friend of Grocery Outlet at Facebook and leave a separate comment for that.
• If you want a third entry, follow G.O. on Twitter and again leave a new comment for me.
• I'll announce the winner next Sunday on June 6th. 

Good luck everyone.

Apron Giveaway

When I arrived home from Blissdom I was delighted to find an email from Sharper Uniforms asking me to do an apron review. I've worn a hundred different aprons but have yet to review a single one of them. I couldn't say yes quick enough. I asked Rebecca from Sharper Uniforms if we could do a giveaway as well. She was generous enough to send one apron for me and one apron for you. 

I don't know if this will surprise you but my favorite kind of apron isn't the tradition frilly one with ruffles or even the fifty year old kind covered in gingham, despite the fact that I have over 50 in my collection. My preference is the waist apron. I love how they curve around my waist tightly and are no nonsense.  I have made some aprons in the past and they have been very similar to this style. 

I spent all evening in my Sharper Uniform Apron and I loved it. I was unsure if I would like the fact that it wasn't 100% cotton. I tend to avoid most polyester but when you run your hand over the fabric it doesn't have that plastic, smooth feel that some polyester has. The kind that some vintage sheets in the 70's are like. The fabric is very thick and it is an apron that is ready to be worked hard. I loved the three pockets. I adored the three pockets that are perfect for my pen and little notepad that I carry everywhere with me.

I also loved the long apron strings which gave me a number of options of how to tie it around my waist. I chose to cross the strings in the back and tie it to one side in the front like in the photo (courtesy of my daughter Cerys).

I would highly recommend this apron to anyone who loves to be organized when they cook. The pockets are just fabulous and I would say they are the highlight of the apron. Sharper Uniform caters toward businesses with a minimum purchase of 6 aprons. If you wish to order these I'd suggest getting together some girlfriends and possibly doing a bulk order. Another idea I had is buying these and altering them to sell at a Craft Fair. They would look fabulous with some felted flowers or some vintage embroidered linens sewn into the pockets.

Now for the giveaway.

I have one pink Sharper Uniform Apron to giveaway. Please leave a comment letting me know what your favorite use for an aprons is? Is it to cook with? Go to the Farmer's Market? Garden with? Grocery shop?

To earn extra entries -comment separately for each-:

• follow me on twitter.
• let me know that you are subscribed to Apron Thrift Girl (Top navigation tab).
• post this on Twitter: Win a PINK Sharper Uniform Apron @apronthriftgirl http://bit.ly/aTkSsS #giveaway

This Giveaway is open until Sunday February 28th at 9pm. 

I don't quite have my disclosure policy up and running but just wanted to share that while these aprons were given to me from Sharper Uniforms, my opinions and review are honest and truly my own opinion. 

Good luck and thanks to Sharper Uniform.