We all know that the end of October pretty much marks the beginning of the holiday season. While I do, at times, wish Thanksgiving could get all the focus until it arrives and that the gift giving holidays could take a backseat until after that, I also know that trying to wait until the end of November to shop leads to excess stress.
Holiday shopping in general can be quite an undertaking, especially when shopping for children. Adults are pretty good at knowing what they want and hinting(or outright telling) what that is. Kids on the other hand are not even always sure what they want, even if they think they are.
As adults, it is difficult for us to really understand what toys are best for our kids, no matter how well we know them. As hard as it is to shop for our own kids, it is even harder to shop for other people's children. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, etc. have a huge task when shopping for kids that are not their own, especially those that do not already have kids(or kids the same age/gender).
I have nieces, nephews and friends' kids to shop for in addition to my own, and I am racking my brain to come up with ideas, only to come up with nothing. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a service that helped adults get the perfect toy for their pint-sized recipient? What if it could be done fast and the item was even gift wrapped for you(for FREE)?
Although it sounds like wishful thinking, that is exactly what you can get with the concierge-style, superior, customer service of Brilliant Sky Toys & Books. If you are lucky enough to live near one of the 15 Brilliant Sky Toys & Books Specialty Stores, then you never have to worry about finding the perfect gift on your own.
Great service is the most essential aspect of any company. I will take great service and a mediocre product over mediocre service and a premium product any day. Thankfully, though, with Brilliant Sky Toys & Books, I never have to worry about a trade off. It truly is the best of both worlds. Amazing service and a huge selection of incredible products that are fun and educational for kids.
You can be sure you are getting the perfect gift, especially if you select one of the 12 winners of the 4th annual Brilliance Awards. There is some really awesome stuff on the list. I got two of the items for my son for Christmas, and I know he is going to love them.
I got him this Melissa & Doug Deluxe Magic Set.
I am a huge fan of Melissa & Doug products. I love that they are wood so they are made to last and I know they are safe. I think my son will love doing his own magic tricks. I know I always wanted a magic kit growing up, and this one looks even more awesome than what was available in my day.
I also got him this awesome Lego City Brickmaster Set.
It is Lego bricks, with figures, but it is also a book. The packing itself makes it really cool. It looks like only a book at first glance.
It is packed with fun Lego pieces though.
My son loves Lego, but he used to be restricted to Duplo because of his age. I feel his is old enough for these now. He has played with the small ones before without incident, and he loved them. He has asked for them many times before, so I know he will be really excited to get this for Christmas.
Both of these products are amazing, but the fact that they were hand chosen by Brilliant Sky as award winners
just gave me even more confidence and made the decision that much
easier. I just wish I lived close to one of Brilliant Sky's incredible specialty stores so I could go in and get help picking out even more fantastic gifts for the holidays. I need some for my little girl and I trust that Brilliant Sky would be able to help me make the best choice.
If you are shopping for toys this holiday season, I hope that you are lucky enough to live near a Brilliant Sky Toys & Books Specialty Store. If you are, please take advantage of it. Make your holiday shopping less stressful and more productive with Brilliant Sky Toys & Books.
*Although I received these items at no cost to facilitate a review, all opinions are 100% my own*
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
WWE Hell in a Cell Review!!
Hello everyone. This is probably the most excited I have ever been about sharing a review with you all. That is because it is a review of one of my dreams come true. Last night, I had the great pleasure of attending my first ever live WWE Pay Per View.
Not only is this the first WWE Pay Per View I have attended, but it is the first televised WWE Event. I have been to WWE house shows twice, and both of those were awesome. As amazing as those shows were, they were nowhere near the magnitude Hell in a Cell.
The Hell in a Cell is the most demonic structure in sports entertainment. The matches that have taken place there are some of the most historic matches in WWE history. In addition to the wonder of the Cell itself and the fact that this was a Pay Per View event, the card was slam-packed with prime match-ups.
All of the biggest stars in WWE were in competition(of course). There was even a few old school all stars as well. What really made as unforgettable as it was is that this has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember.
My big brother got me hooked on WWE when I was just a kid. I cannot even remember how old I was, but I couldn't have been older than 4. He was(and still is) my biggest real-life idol. His passion for WWE is what made me know it was something special, and to this day, my love for it has only grown.
The two of us would watch together, play with the action figures, video games and even act out battles(and whole events) ourselves. Thankfully, my hubby shares my great passion(or obsession in my case) for the WWE, and together we share our love for it with our children.
So this was not only my dream of attending a WWE Pay Per View, but of doing so with my family, which made it even more special to me. It was a VERY long drive, especially on the way home when we did not make it back until about 4am, but it was totally worth every minute in the care. Although it was just one night, the memories will last forever.
So aside form all the sentimental attachment, I bet you are wondering how the event itself was, and if it was, in fact, as good as I am making out to be. Well, as much as I am talking it up, it was literally better than I've said.I am going to tell you ALL about it.
The doors were a little late opening, and the lines were insane, the inside of the arena was PACKED, and there was so much going on. The first stop was restrooms, but then it was st right to the merchandise booths. I knew that with all those people they would be packed and things would sell out quickly, and I was even more correct than I knew. It was a mob scene.
We actually left the first stand and went to another. By the time we got to the front, a lot of the sizes were not available, but that certainly did not stop me from getting us all a shirt, and I got the kids a John Cena Foam hand and a WWE Title belt.
While we were all already dressed in our WWE apparel(and me in my Divas Title), I had planned to change us into our new gear for the show. Unfortunately, it took so long that the pre-show had started, and we never did. After a quick stop of food and drinks, we headed to our seats.
The Pre-show match was Kofi Kingston vs Damien Sandow, where Sandow picked up the victory. I was still getting settled and unfortunately did not get any photos since the mach was almost over by the time we were seated.
The first match of the actual Pay Per View was the Triple Threat Tagteam Match for the Tag Titles. Goldust and Cody Rhodes(defending champs) vs The Usos vs Seth Rollings and Romain Reigns.
The champs entered in all their glory.
The Usos came out with their tradition chant and their awesome back and forth with the fans.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns came through the crowed like the shield always does. I just wish they had come on our side.
It was quite the scene in the ring with all these teams.
The match was awesome. So much action. With Triple Threat rules, there is supposed to be only one member each from only two of the teams legal in the ring at any given time, but there was so much "saving" the match from every team, and with the talent of all three teams, some of the moves were astounding.
When All was said and done, the champs picked up the victory to retain their titles. The emotion in their celebration was incredible.
I love the Rhodes, so I a really glad they won.
After that, The Miz(one of my favorites) came down to call out Bray Wyatt.
The Miz is hurt and was not cleared to wrestle, but challenged Bray to a fight instead, but the lap-dog came out instead and attache Miz from behind.
The crowed erupted when Kane(who was taken out by The Wyatt Family) unexpectedly returned to battle the Wyatts.
The excitement turned to confusion when Kane proceeded to Choke Slam The Miz too.
The evening came right back to a lighter note with the Mixed Tag Team match-up of Fandango and Summer Rea vs The Great Khali and Natalya. Fandango's entrance always inspired dancing throughout the crowd.
Not to take anything away form the entrance of The Great Khali and Natalya, who were escorted to the ring by Hornswaggle.
This was a great, fun match. In a Mixed Tag match, the girls can only fight the girls and vice verse.
After lots of mocking and massive chest slaps, Fandango and Summer Rea picked up the win.
That match was followed by the Match-up between Dean Ambrose(defending champ) and Big E Langston for the United States Championship.
This was a classic power match-up. Lots of hard hitting moves.
The match ended in a Big E Victory by count out when Ambrose decided to walk away form the match. As the defending champion, he can only lose the title by pin or submission, so he retained the belt. Big E did not let it go with that though, he went after Ambrose and left him laying, emphatically.
After that, the excitement went through the roof when the Cell began to lower.
Then, when CM Punk's music hit, it was deafening. I was definitely a contributor to the noise, he is my favorite. This was for his handicap match vs Ryback and Paul Heyman.
Ryback got booed as he entered.
Heyman's entrance was ridiculous. He came out on a scissor life and was raised to the top of the Cell(to avoid CM Punk).
That didn't stop CM Punk and Ryback from having a brutal war inside the Cell. Unfortunately, the Cell did impede my photos, but you can see the intensity even in spite of that.
The Cell itself is dangerous enough, but weapons are also legal inside Hell in a Cell, so tables and kendo sticks were used as well.
After Putting him through the table and beating him mercilessly with the kendo stick, Punk gave Ryback a GTS(Go To Sleep, his finisher) and easily picked up the win.
Punk was anything but finished though, he put the kendo stick trough his tights and climbed the cell to finally get his hands on Heyman, who had no way to escape this time.
After putting the stick to good use repeatedly, it was time for a GTS for Heyman too.
This was the culmination of months of torture(attempts at least) on Punk by Heyman, who has always managed to weasel his way out of facing justice for his acts. The aftermath photo is so priceless.
That was followed by a passionate celebration for Punk and the entire crowd.
As amazing as this match was, the Pay Per View could have ended there and I would still have been more than satisfied, but it was far from over.
The next match was Los Matedores vs The Real Americans. The Entrance of Los Matadores is so fun, especially their "mascot" El Torrito.
The Real Americans are another story, especially their manager Zeb Colter.
The match was really exciting, lots of high flying.
Los Matadores have been upsetting The Real Americans for weeks, and that pattern continued last night when the again picked up the victory and embarrassed Zeb again.
The next match was one of the biggest of the night. Alberto Del Rio vs the returning(early form an injury) John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Cena's entrance was explosive. I could barely see over the entire crowd being on their feet.
This was a battle of strength more so than technicality, but there was a good deal of high flying and technical moments as well.
Del Rio tried to win it with his patented Cross Arm Breaker, which is especially devastating considering Cena's arm injury, but Cena Powered out.
He was able to hit his finisher and pick up the victory over Del Rio to re-capture the World Heavyweight Title.
Then it was time for the Divas to battle it out when AJ Lee(my favorite Diva) defender her Diva's Championship against Brie Bella.
She was accompanied by Tamena Snuka while Brie was accompanied by her twin sister Nicole.
Divas matches are always exciting, and this was no exception. AJ Lee is always entertaining.
Brie gave it a good shot, but AJ is relentless. She controlled the majority of the match and finished Brie off with her Black Widow submission, retaining her title.
And last, but certainly not lest, the main event, Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton for the vacant WWE Championship with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, inside Hell in a Cell.
Bryan is the fan favorite, but Orton has his gigantic following too.
The COO, Triple H, was present as well.
This was probably the most exciting match of the night, although they were all great.
Of course, weapons came out in this match too.
Of course as in every history making WWE event, there had to be a bit of controversy. This match delivered.
Orton though that Shawn did not count the three fast enough and let him know it. Triple H proceed to give Shawn an earful about it.
While Shawn was distracted, Bryan had the pin, as did Randy again. Shawn ended up getting hit(accidentally) during the match, and Triple H went to check on him. Bryan decided to take out some of his frustration on Triple H. Just after that, Shawn got up and delivered Sweet Chin Music to Daniel and counted the 1,2,3 for Orton to win the championship.
I like Randy Orton, but the corporate controversy is not my favorite play-out. I am hooked though and cannot wait to see where it leads now.
I could go on and on about the splendor of this event all night, but luckily for you, WWE RAW is on right now, so I am off to watch it as soon as I repeat how amazing this event was for myself and my family. Any WWE fan needs to attend a live event, especially a Pay Per View. This is an experience neither myself or my family will ever forget.
*Although I received complimentary tickets to this event, all opinions are 100% my own.*
Not only is this the first WWE Pay Per View I have attended, but it is the first televised WWE Event. I have been to WWE house shows twice, and both of those were awesome. As amazing as those shows were, they were nowhere near the magnitude Hell in a Cell.
The Hell in a Cell is the most demonic structure in sports entertainment. The matches that have taken place there are some of the most historic matches in WWE history. In addition to the wonder of the Cell itself and the fact that this was a Pay Per View event, the card was slam-packed with prime match-ups.
All of the biggest stars in WWE were in competition(of course). There was even a few old school all stars as well. What really made as unforgettable as it was is that this has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember.
My big brother got me hooked on WWE when I was just a kid. I cannot even remember how old I was, but I couldn't have been older than 4. He was(and still is) my biggest real-life idol. His passion for WWE is what made me know it was something special, and to this day, my love for it has only grown.
The two of us would watch together, play with the action figures, video games and even act out battles(and whole events) ourselves. Thankfully, my hubby shares my great passion(or obsession in my case) for the WWE, and together we share our love for it with our children.
So this was not only my dream of attending a WWE Pay Per View, but of doing so with my family, which made it even more special to me. It was a VERY long drive, especially on the way home when we did not make it back until about 4am, but it was totally worth every minute in the care. Although it was just one night, the memories will last forever.
So aside form all the sentimental attachment, I bet you are wondering how the event itself was, and if it was, in fact, as good as I am making out to be. Well, as much as I am talking it up, it was literally better than I've said.I am going to tell you ALL about it.
The doors were a little late opening, and the lines were insane, the inside of the arena was PACKED, and there was so much going on. The first stop was restrooms, but then it was st right to the merchandise booths. I knew that with all those people they would be packed and things would sell out quickly, and I was even more correct than I knew. It was a mob scene.
We actually left the first stand and went to another. By the time we got to the front, a lot of the sizes were not available, but that certainly did not stop me from getting us all a shirt, and I got the kids a John Cena Foam hand and a WWE Title belt.
While we were all already dressed in our WWE apparel(and me in my Divas Title), I had planned to change us into our new gear for the show. Unfortunately, it took so long that the pre-show had started, and we never did. After a quick stop of food and drinks, we headed to our seats.
The Pre-show match was Kofi Kingston vs Damien Sandow, where Sandow picked up the victory. I was still getting settled and unfortunately did not get any photos since the mach was almost over by the time we were seated.
The first match of the actual Pay Per View was the Triple Threat Tagteam Match for the Tag Titles. Goldust and Cody Rhodes(defending champs) vs The Usos vs Seth Rollings and Romain Reigns.
The champs entered in all their glory.
The Usos came out with their tradition chant and their awesome back and forth with the fans.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns came through the crowed like the shield always does. I just wish they had come on our side.
It was quite the scene in the ring with all these teams.
The match was awesome. So much action. With Triple Threat rules, there is supposed to be only one member each from only two of the teams legal in the ring at any given time, but there was so much "saving" the match from every team, and with the talent of all three teams, some of the moves were astounding.
When All was said and done, the champs picked up the victory to retain their titles. The emotion in their celebration was incredible.
I love the Rhodes, so I a really glad they won.
After that, The Miz(one of my favorites) came down to call out Bray Wyatt.
The Miz is hurt and was not cleared to wrestle, but challenged Bray to a fight instead, but the lap-dog came out instead and attache Miz from behind.
The crowed erupted when Kane(who was taken out by The Wyatt Family) unexpectedly returned to battle the Wyatts.
The excitement turned to confusion when Kane proceeded to Choke Slam The Miz too.
The evening came right back to a lighter note with the Mixed Tag Team match-up of Fandango and Summer Rea vs The Great Khali and Natalya. Fandango's entrance always inspired dancing throughout the crowd.
Not to take anything away form the entrance of The Great Khali and Natalya, who were escorted to the ring by Hornswaggle.
This was a great, fun match. In a Mixed Tag match, the girls can only fight the girls and vice verse.
After lots of mocking and massive chest slaps, Fandango and Summer Rea picked up the win.
That match was followed by the Match-up between Dean Ambrose(defending champ) and Big E Langston for the United States Championship.
This was a classic power match-up. Lots of hard hitting moves.
The match ended in a Big E Victory by count out when Ambrose decided to walk away form the match. As the defending champion, he can only lose the title by pin or submission, so he retained the belt. Big E did not let it go with that though, he went after Ambrose and left him laying, emphatically.
After that, the excitement went through the roof when the Cell began to lower.
Then, when CM Punk's music hit, it was deafening. I was definitely a contributor to the noise, he is my favorite. This was for his handicap match vs Ryback and Paul Heyman.
Ryback got booed as he entered.
Heyman's entrance was ridiculous. He came out on a scissor life and was raised to the top of the Cell(to avoid CM Punk).
That didn't stop CM Punk and Ryback from having a brutal war inside the Cell. Unfortunately, the Cell did impede my photos, but you can see the intensity even in spite of that.
The Cell itself is dangerous enough, but weapons are also legal inside Hell in a Cell, so tables and kendo sticks were used as well.
After Putting him through the table and beating him mercilessly with the kendo stick, Punk gave Ryback a GTS(Go To Sleep, his finisher) and easily picked up the win.
Punk was anything but finished though, he put the kendo stick trough his tights and climbed the cell to finally get his hands on Heyman, who had no way to escape this time.
After putting the stick to good use repeatedly, it was time for a GTS for Heyman too.
This was the culmination of months of torture(attempts at least) on Punk by Heyman, who has always managed to weasel his way out of facing justice for his acts. The aftermath photo is so priceless.
That was followed by a passionate celebration for Punk and the entire crowd.
As amazing as this match was, the Pay Per View could have ended there and I would still have been more than satisfied, but it was far from over.
The next match was Los Matedores vs The Real Americans. The Entrance of Los Matadores is so fun, especially their "mascot" El Torrito.
The Real Americans are another story, especially their manager Zeb Colter.
The match was really exciting, lots of high flying.
Los Matadores have been upsetting The Real Americans for weeks, and that pattern continued last night when the again picked up the victory and embarrassed Zeb again.
The next match was one of the biggest of the night. Alberto Del Rio vs the returning(early form an injury) John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Cena's entrance was explosive. I could barely see over the entire crowd being on their feet.
This was a battle of strength more so than technicality, but there was a good deal of high flying and technical moments as well.
Del Rio tried to win it with his patented Cross Arm Breaker, which is especially devastating considering Cena's arm injury, but Cena Powered out.
He was able to hit his finisher and pick up the victory over Del Rio to re-capture the World Heavyweight Title.
Then it was time for the Divas to battle it out when AJ Lee(my favorite Diva) defender her Diva's Championship against Brie Bella.
She was accompanied by Tamena Snuka while Brie was accompanied by her twin sister Nicole.
Divas matches are always exciting, and this was no exception. AJ Lee is always entertaining.
Brie gave it a good shot, but AJ is relentless. She controlled the majority of the match and finished Brie off with her Black Widow submission, retaining her title.
And last, but certainly not lest, the main event, Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton for the vacant WWE Championship with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, inside Hell in a Cell.
Bryan is the fan favorite, but Orton has his gigantic following too.
The COO, Triple H, was present as well.
This was probably the most exciting match of the night, although they were all great.
Of course, weapons came out in this match too.
Of course as in every history making WWE event, there had to be a bit of controversy. This match delivered.
Orton though that Shawn did not count the three fast enough and let him know it. Triple H proceed to give Shawn an earful about it.
While Shawn was distracted, Bryan had the pin, as did Randy again. Shawn ended up getting hit(accidentally) during the match, and Triple H went to check on him. Bryan decided to take out some of his frustration on Triple H. Just after that, Shawn got up and delivered Sweet Chin Music to Daniel and counted the 1,2,3 for Orton to win the championship.
I like Randy Orton, but the corporate controversy is not my favorite play-out. I am hooked though and cannot wait to see where it leads now.
I could go on and on about the splendor of this event all night, but luckily for you, WWE RAW is on right now, so I am off to watch it as soon as I repeat how amazing this event was for myself and my family. Any WWE fan needs to attend a live event, especially a Pay Per View. This is an experience neither myself or my family will ever forget.
*Although I received complimentary tickets to this event, all opinions are 100% my own.*
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)