It can be overwhelming and exciting to get so much free stuff.

BlogHer didn't used to be such a swaggy experience, but it has certainly morphed into a legitimate place for companies to distribute information about their products. In some cases, it is simply a brochure; in other cases, it can be something huge like a pair of slimming designer jeans, an expensive curling iron and flat-iron, or a Powermat. (All three of these were at the fabulous Getting Gorgeous event.)

I'm not going to debate the whole whore-i-ness that can accompany an experience like this other than to say that I started out as a blogger first, and a reviewer second. I decline "swag" that I know will not fit me or my audience, unless it is something that I know will benefit someone else, such as diapers (I received one this year from PlaySkool) or infant clothing (I received a sleep sack from the Mom Central suite.) I have a favorite family shelter who will happily pass on such items, including the formula I received from Similac a few weeks ago, to families who need them.

It is unrealistic that I can review all the products that I received from this year's event. Just as in years past, the effects from "swag" tend ripple rather than gush. While I might not immediately mention a product here, I may several months down the line. Plus, my purchasing habits may change based on the products I see, or the brands with which I interact. Finally, people in real life learn and see about the things that I use on a regular basis.

I like gum. It is good stuff. I have several favorite brands, but for the most part, I can pick up nearly any brand and be satisfied. For me, it is more the flavor that matters than the name on the label. Most out there have similar flavor and similar consistency, so my choice is a matter of price and availability.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm eagerly awaiting a specific gum's release to the general public in October.

That's right, I'm excited about gum.

During the hoopla that was the BlogHer convention, I got my hands some packs of Extra Dessert Delights. I have both "Mint Chocolate Chip" and "Key Lime Pie." There is also a "Strawberry Shortcake" flavor that I have yet to try.

We've got bugs. Thankfully (hopefully? knock on wood) not the bed-bugs everyone's been talking about. (Yes, I've already purchased some diatomaceous earth and various sprays just in case. )

No, I'm talking about a different kind of bug I brought home from New York City - the Hexbug Nano. I was fortunate to grab the last "Hexbug Nano Starter Pack" from the MomCentral suite. My boys loved the tiny set so much that we soon got a full "Hexbug Nano Habitat Set", plus of course another couple Hexbug Nanos. (In fact, my youngest son was thrilled to find some pink and aqua ones while we were purchasing a birthday present for his friend a couple days ago. Of course I gave in, because I think the little bugs are pretty cute, too.)

Essentially, the hard plastic bugs run around, jittering on their soft plastic fringed legs the way a real bug would. It almost appears that they "sniff out" where to turn in their little environment. This effect is a result of their vibrating motion. The Hexbug Nano website has more information about what makes this particular toy realistic, but my kids just love it because it is fun.

For the past three years, one of my favorite parts of the BlogHer conference is the CheeseburgHer party. What started out as a stuff-the-suite-with-cheeseburgers event turned into a full-fledged ballroom filled with hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and McDonalds new Angus Snack Wraps. Of course there was a large cheeseburger bed in there, too. And sure, the photo booth was a great touch for my friends and I to show just how delectable we found the food.

I was intrigued by the new Angus Snack Wraps. I love the Chipotle BBQ grilled chicken wrap, so was definitely in favor of new wraps. The Angus Snack wraps come in three flavors: deluxe, mushroom & swiss, and bacon & cheese.

I tried the mushroom & swiss.

Back in the old days, my brother and I had plenty of fun board games. (Well, okay, once we learned of Atari, and later Nintendo, we had our share of screen time as well.) We enjoyed the traditional favorites, including classic Mastermind. When my kids were old enough, I giddily bought both the full-size and travel-size versions. I think I even got a "challenge" version that includes some additional colors and/or extra pegs for an even more difficult code to crack.

When I saw a representative advertising Mastermind at BlogHer, I saddled right on up with a smile. Since I already had the regular game, I was interested in what else was on the horizon. Her answer: Animal Mastermind Towers.

She and I played a portion of a trial game right there on the Expo floor, but I was most excited when she said she'd send me one for my family to review.

During BlogHer I was introduced to SOYJOY. I was fortunate to attend a breakfast talk with some fabulous food (some of which was indeed made with soy) and excellent speakers who explained some of the ways we could eat healthfully with our family. And, of course, they let us know the benefits of soy, while also speaking to some of the concerns we've heard in the media about soy products. It was a great event, and I was happy to come away with a sample of their new and improved SOYJOY bars. I received banana.

Well, when I heard that Mom Central was looking for folks to spread the word about the new SOYJOY flavors and encourage entry into their Second Chances Contest, I jumped at what would be my second chance to try SOYJOY.

When I was preparing for the excellent adventure that was The Relay, I read an eat.blog.run post on the Moji Knee Brace with interest.

My right knee has been all "crinkly" ever since a car rear-ended me at a stoplight. (Instead of crashing into the car in front of me, I slammed on the brakes, thereby sacrificing my knee.) My HMO said it was just "sudden-onset arthritis" but I'm pretty sure something snapped in there. So it snaps, crackles, and pops. Sometimes it hurts, but mainly it just sounds funny. Still, after races, my knee is sore, so I often ice it.

Before learning of Moji, I used the traditional runner's bag-of-frozen-peas method. That is all well and good, but requires that I stay in one place, carefully balancing and repositioning the veggies as needed.

What kind of Halloween candy is your favorite? Your answer might be none now that it is two-days-post-haul and your belly might not want to see another piece of chocolate or colored sugar for the remainder of your days. Or, you might just now be sneaking some of your kids' stash, or happily taking home some of that half-price stuff from your local supermarket.

For many years now, I've been thrilled to find that bright yellow and blue wrapper of a Butterfinger tucked into my trick-or-treating sack, or now, in my kids' bags.

It isn't surprising, then, that my eyes lit up when I saw the Butterfinger Snackerz booth at BlogHer. At first I figured the Snackerz were just a mini Butterfinger, but when I tried a sample, I learned that although the buttery-goodness is still there, the texture and taste is slightly different. The texture still has that satisfying crisp, but also includes more of a melt. And then the taste is a bit "lighter" with more of the chocolate shining through than in the original.

'Tis the season for lots of work - and also for kids to be on vacation, home from school. As such, I was wearing these beauties all day today - both to enjoy some tunes as I typed, and also to block out the various brother-bickering, video-game cheering, silly-song chanting behavior of my sons. Oh sure, they are good kids - but on Day #3 of having them at home ALL DAY LONG it was definitely time to go into my own space a bit. This was definitely do-able with my Agent CMYK headphones.

Don't worry, I didn't pump up the volume too high.

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Disclaimer: I received these excellent headphones while at BlogHer this summer. I was eager to try them out, but my youngest son declared them his - because they are awesome - and uses them while doing homework on the computer. But I stole them back because they are pretty. I will not receive any compensation or commission as a result of this quick shout-out.

I don't go to the BlogHer Conference for the Expo. (In fact the first couple conferences didn't have an expo.) My main focus is to hang out with friends I've met through blogging, meet new folks, and do a few sessions that might teach me something new. But I still go to the Expo. I use products on a regular basis that I originally learned about through my blogging activities.

This year's Expo was pretty food-heavy. In particular, it was pretty convenience-food happy. This is fine - because after all I'm a busy person - but I'm typically pretty wary about whether such things have too many additives, or too many calories.

I was pleased to see Skinny Cow represented since I love their ice cream. I happily snacked on some of their dreamy clusters during a writing session, and then took home their heavenly crisp bar in the milk chocolate flavor, which my son proclaimed the absolute yummiest bar ever. I already knew from the tasty ice-cream that Skinny Cow doesn't lose flavor just because they are lower in calories than the traditional desserts, but the clusters and bars brought home that point. After all, who can say their 10 year old son approves of the taste of "diet food?" Well, my son is begging me to buy more.

(Yeah, I know what you are thinking - how can we possibly discuss gift-giving holidays when it is still summertime? Well, I'm in denial that school starts in less than two weeks, so I might as well get a jump on December.)

When I was invited to the Big Toy Book's Sweet Suite Event (featuring KidzVuz) during the BlogHer Conference, of course I accepted. Who doesn't like toys?

There were certainly several products that caught my eye at the Suite, such as the new zombie and glow-in-the-dark Hexbugs. (I posted about Hexbug Nanos last year after seeing them in the Mom Select Swag Suite during BlogHer; they appeared at Mom Select this year, too, in addition to the Big Toy Book event.) The zombies will be out at Halloween, and I'm definitely eager to grab them up!

And then even though I have boys, my fairy-loving youngest son would adore Light Sprites. I watched a demo at the Suite of how the "lite wand" can pick up any color and transfer to the playsets. It is tons of fun, and will appeal to those who love sparkles, light, and sprites.

There were plenty of amazing products at the Suite, but by far the one that will likely end up in Santa's sack this year (shhhh!) is Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. My boys are both Wii fans, and definitely adventure fans. They love collecting little characters and moving through video game worlds.

This game is different, though. The characters aren't just on the screen; they are physical collectible figures. These figures enter the virtual game when the player puts the character on top of the portal. Poof! The character shows up on the screen!

The progress of the character is attached to the actual figure. For playdates, the child can just take their character(s) and enter the game over at his or her buddy's place. The characters work across platforms, so even if one child has a Wii and the other has an Xbox 360 or PS3, not to worry - both kids' characters will work wherever they are. And when it is time to go home, the child leaving can just stick the figure in his pocket; no need to wait for a "save point" in the game, since all items and abilities will be saved to the figure. (If the character is wearing a hat in the game when the playdate ends, then the character will still be wearing the hat in the game back at home.)

I've been a fan of CleanWell for awhile. I was first introduced to them back in 2007 when I reviewed their hand sanitizer, and again in 2008 when I reviewed their anti-bacterial hand wash. I've kept their products in my car and in my bathroom since then.

Last weekend I was introduced to another aspect of CleanWell: disinfecting wipes! In particular, I learned about 3M's Scotch-Brite botanical disinfecting wipes.

I clean with both disinfecting wipes and my Activeion. Sadly, the latter has lost charge and the chargers aren't doing the trick. So, it might have to go to the Activeion hospital. As a result, I'm definitely leaning heavily on the disinfecting wipes.

Unfortunately, the wipes I had on my counter before leaving for BlogHer leave residue of whatever their various active ingredients happen to be. To work properly, the surface must be cleaned, then allowed to dry. But there is a note in small print on the side of the container that reads "If surface will be in contact with food, rinsing with potable water is required." Yup, required. Realistically, do I rinse the surface after it has dried? And realistically, will "rinsing" really pick up the chemicals? Um, no.

The Scotch-Brite Botanical Disinfecting wipes kill 99.9% of household germs (including the scaries like salmonella, staph, MRSA, influenza, and even HIV Type 1) but are safe around kids, pets, and food. Hooray plant extracts!

I know cleaning isn't "sexy," but I admit I got pretty excited about this product because I definitely want to keep my house clean, but not at the expense of introducing other harmful things into our home. I'm always looking for "natural" ways of dealing with more modern problems, and the Scotch-Brite Botanical Disinfecting wipes fit the bill.

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Disclaimer: I visited the 3M booth at the BlogHer11 Expo and received a free canister of disinfecting wipes since I gushed about how much I love CleanWell and how excited I was about the concept of not having to rinse after use. The 3M gal was probably shocked at my enthusiasm about cleaning. I will not receive compensation - monetary or otherwise - for posting about this product.