I have not been sleeping well at night. I have crazy vivid dreams that wake me up and freak me out (I blame this on pregnancy). With that being said, my favorite thing to do during the weekend is take a nap! I can fall asleep at any time no matter what TV is on or Music is playing. I can fall asleep with lights on, people talking, and the dog barking...I love to nap. I do understand that most people are not like me, and require a dark quiet setting for rest. For those more normal people, I would highly recommend the satin sleep mask. These are also a great promotional giveaway for spas, airlines, and pharmacies. So be like me and take a nap at any time of the day!

Thank you Ali for the shout-out in the last blog! It is true, William and I are due to have a bundle of joy in March. Now that we are out of the 1st trimester we are starting to buy and look for useful baby items. Yesterday I bought a battery operated chair swing that plays music, as well as another book to keep me up to speed. Shopping for a baby is very overwhelming. There are about 1,000 things you can buy for a baby, which I am sure half of it isn't necessary, and multiple similar items that for some reason one is better than the other. With all that said, I hope to acquire all of the useful items that the baby may need. When my brother and sister-in-law had their most recent baby girl, I do remember that during bath time they had a handy thermometer to make sure the temperature was ok. I have no idea where they got it from, but I was determined to find one. So this morning, for the fun of it, I looked up the phrase baby items in our search. To my very happy surprise I found the custom baby bath thermometer! Plus this one has helpful hints on the back of it! I will now continue my search on Motivators.com for more promotional baby items to add to my growing collection!

I have been decently aware of the new craze for Silly Band bracelets, however I didn't know how much my nieces loved them. I try to be the "cool, fun Aunt," so I tend to buy them things I think they will like (that is the nicest way to say I spoil them). Recently I ordered them some of our custom imprinted rubber band bracelets in different shapes. I had no idea how much they would like them! The little one especially had so much fun stretching them and telling me the shapes, and colors of each bracelet. These are a great giveway for kids, plus you can have a four color process imprint on the top of the bag! After seeing how much they loved that present, I will have to look into our games and toys for other goodies!

Yesterday I received a call from my Mom's softball team about hats that they are ordering. They just needed to know her size so they could order, but that is besides the point. The point is that they did not order from me! How could they place an order for custom imprinted hats and not think of Motivators? We have every type of hat you can think of; embroidered, screened , structred, unstructured, eco-friendly, and visors. I will have to talk to them about this! Hopefully I can have them order their custom imprinted T-Shirts from Motivators.

It is officially August, which to me always meant that it is the beginning of the end of Summer. This Summer has been brutal, and being that Autumn is my favorite season, I am ready to say goodbye to the heat and humidity (and to my tan but that is ok). I would much rather be snuggled up under my promotional fleece blanket while watching a movie and drinking hot tea/hot chocolate from my custom imprinted mug. I am done with applying my promotional sun screen and bug repellent. I am ready for football and big Sunday dinners! So join me in saying goodbye to the sticky hot Summer and hello to cool crisp Autumn!

My family loves to travel. We love mountains, islands, Europe and even one of us lives in Asia right now. Whenever someone travels we pass around my super bright, handy-dandy promotional luggage spotters. The bright colors really do help locate a bag, especially when most bags are dark in color and falling on top of each other. Being that my sister is in Japan and she is going to visit South Korea she cannot borrow my luggage tags, so I will just have to order her her very own custom imprinted luggage tags. Maybe imprinted with their last name on them! Maybe I'll just order all of my family customized luggage spotters so that they stop taking mine!

I love seeing new promotional products on our site. Some are functional, some are necessary, and some are just FUN. Here at Motivators we keep the office festive by decorating our cubicles. We keep decorations up all year long, (yes there is Christmas tree on top of someones cubicle for the past 3 years) and love to add to our collections as much as possible. This morning I saw a custom imprinted paper clip holder with a magnetic smily face stress ball in the middle! Products like this is why I love working here. We all use paper clips, and holders, so why not make it fun?!

These days everyone is looking for the popular "go to" item for their promotional product needs. The promotional antibacterial was all the rage during flu season, and promotional beach balls and custom imprinted sunscreen are great for the summer; but what about the every day promotional need? I say stick with an oldie and a goodie...promotional magnets! Personally, I keep and collect important and fun imprinted magnets all the time.  I have one for my tax lady, my pizza place, my hairdresser, as well as novelty ones from Aruba, Vermont, Alaska (my parents) and other vaction spots! Having information right on your fridge is great, plus it doubles as note holders!

It is so hot out. I know that this is an obvoius statement, but I would just like to make it known to everyone who reads our blogs that yes, it is HOT here in New York. At lunch today, I felt a wall of hot air hit me when walking outside, and wished that I had my promotional fan with me. At that moment a promotional mini fan would have been perfect to cool me down while the AC in the car was kicking in.

A custom imprinted fan is also a great gift idea for the Summer. One of my good friends is getting married, and Kristen in the prep dept will be making her a gift basket that includes a promotional fan for their honeymoon. It is a useful promotional product that everyone loves to receive!

Getting something for Dad is not always easy. Honestly, how many novelty gifts can you get someone?! This year my Dad, brother, and uncle all received promotional apparel. Each of them received a custom t-shirt that reflected their hobbies (surfing, Yankees and music). But the best present that day was, oddly enough, for the puppy. He was given a promotional candy jar that was imprinted with "treats for Terry." So if you can't think of a good gift for someone, I suggest you turn to promotional products for help!