Recently, Groovy Guy Gifts sent me a personalized “Totes Magotes” bag in the mail and asked me to write up a review of it – so here it is! The Groovy Guy Gifts Totes Magotes Bag review.

As you might guess from the name of the company, Groovy Guy Gifts specializes in gifts you might want to give the special guy or guys in your life. In particular, they market what they offer to people looking for groomsman gifts. However, I think that a lot of what they sell could be given as a gift at any time – no need to be a groomsman.

The Totes Magotes bag is a perfect example of this. Any guy who ever needs to transport his stuff in style, but with a classier upgrade to the tried and true duffel bag, has got a good option in this offering. And, it can be personalized with three initials for free!

The Groovy Guy Gifts website describes the bag as follows:

This personalized canvas luggage tote comes with a main compartment, inside zipper pocket, outside pocket, bottom zippered compartment, and adjustable strap. The canvas is dry waxed to preserve the material and maintain its durability and can be customized with a single or three initials, at no extra charge. With vegan leather and antique gold accents, this bag is a stylish option without limiting its functionality.

When picking out this bag, one of the main things that really attracted Brandon to it was the fact that it boasts a separate, zippered compartment below the larger main one. According to him, it’s a perfect spot for shoes (or anything else) that you want to keep separated from the rest of what you’re carrying. Both the bottom of the zippered compartment and the bottom of the main storage section of the bag are reinforced to give the bag some structure.

He also really liked the (fairly large) extra zippered pocket inside. To our surprise, there was an additional drawstring pouch inside the bag that was made out of the same lining material as the rest of the bag. That pouch wasn’t mentioned in the website description.

Speaking of the lining, it’s a great addition to this bag and is made out of a good quality material with a pleasing, classic design. The outside pocket of the bag is even lined, too!

Another nice touch is the removable shoulder strap, along with two different locations at which it can be attached to the bag.

Lastly, one of the most important factors in a bag is its size and portability. I’d describe this one as a great “Goldilocks” bag (though maybe don’t describe it that way to the guys you know). But you know – it’s not too small, not too big – it’s just right! The dimensions of the bag are as follows (per their website information):

• L: Duffle: 20”. Outside Pocket: 6.5”. Inside Zippered Pocket: 6”. Handle Drop: 7”. Adjustable Strap: 53”. Bottom Compartment: 20”
• W: Duffle: 10.5”. Outside Pocket: 6.5”. Inside Zippered Pocket: 8”. Adjustable Strap: 1.5”. Bottom Compartment: 10.5”
• H: Duffle: 17.5”. Bottom Compartment: 4”
• 20 oz dry wax canvas. Vegan leather accents antique gold accents.

All in all, we were both impressed by the quality of this bag and what is has to offer. It would easily make a great gift for anyone in your life who needs a way to transport their belongings in style!

If you’d like to purchase your own bag, you can get it here for $79.99.

Please note: I received this bag from Groovy Guy Gifts in exchange for an honest review. 

On the docket:

Portraits and weddings! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

Recently, Groovy Guy Gifts sent me some whiskey stones in the mail and asked me to write up a review of them – so here it is! The Groovy Guy Gifts Whiskey Stones review.

Perhaps you haven’t heard of whiskey stones before? If that’s the case and you’re wondering why on earth you’d put rocks in your drink, the main purpose is that you can use whiskey stones in place of ice to keep your drink of choice cool, all without watering it down. (You know, since stones don’t melt.)

I’ve actually been curious about whiskey stones for a while since I seem to always forget to fill the ice cube trays in my freezer, so I was eager to see how I’d like these and if they’d live up to their desired purpose.

First, the whiskey stones that Groovy Guy Gifts sell have the option for personalization, and you can personalize each of the 6 stones differently. I decided to add that onto mine to see what that would look like. The stones are about ice cube size (they measure 1″ x 1″), so the fewer characters you add per stone, the easier they’ll be able to read. (If you scroll down a bit you can see that the word “Photography” is pretty tiny in comparison to all the other stones with fewer characters.) You can personalize each stone with 2 lines of up to 9 characters per line.

The stones arrived in a little muslin bag and came with instructions for use which are as follows:

1. Wash rocks with soap and water, dry completely and place in muslin bag. Put in the freezer (3 hrs)

2. Place rocks in dram of whiskey or glass of wine to chill beverage without watering it down.

3. Can also be heated to keep drinks warm (please use caution when heating and handling).

4. Whiskey rocks never wear out, they are dishwasher and food safe.

5. For adult use only, please keep away from children due to choking hazard. Use at own risk.

To be honest, I was a little bummed that I had to chill them for so long before trying them out. But once they were washed and chilled, I decided to test them out in a glass of ginger ale. (Yes, I know, not whiskey.)

And they definitely did the trick! I only needed to add three to my glass, so the added benefit is that you could use all 6 to chill down a couple glasses of your beverage of choice.

While, overall, I like these stones and I think they could make for a nice gift, I did have a few minor things that didn’t quite jive with me:

First, these are marketed to guys. I’m very much NOT a guy. But I drink whiskey. And I like these stones. I’d like to see the marketing (and the instruction card that came with the stones) be less guy-centric. Women like whiskey too!

Secondly, they do smell like stone. Granted, I have a very sensitive sense of smell and taste, but upon their arrival I could tell that, yup, they are definitely rocks. So I wondered, would my drink taste like rocks too? As it turns out, yes, very, very faintly. I’m still not sure if this is a dealbreaker for me, so keep that in mind if you are purchasing these.

Because of this, it also got me wondering – what kind of stone are these made out of? Is it manufactured stone? Is it real stone that’s been shaped? Could anything be leaching out of the stones into my drink? I’m not sure. I’d certainly hope they’re safe to use in drinks and don’t leach out anything harmful, but I guess I’d like to know more about what exactly I’m putting into my drink. The card doesn’t mention this, but after looking at their website again, it appears the rocks are made of 100% soapstone.

The instructions mention you can heat them. Yikes – I’m not sure I’d ever want to try that. I’ve been around enough campfires with river rock rings and have seen those puppies EXPLODE into shards of rock shrapnel, so I’m super hesitant to heat up any kind of rock. Perhaps you’re braver than I am, though.

All in all, despite the things I just mentioned, these whiskey stones are a nice product, and I’ll be eager to hear Groovy Guy Gifts address my above-mentioned caveats.

If you’d like to purchase your own stones, you can get them here for $34.99.

Please note: I received these stones from Groovy Guy Gifts in exchange for an honest review. 

On the Docket:

Editorial shoots, a trip to the UK, elopements, portraits and more! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine