A few weeks ago, all my friends started pulling out these adorable Planet Wise wet/dry bags at play group and my inner green eyed monster immediately started gnawing on my common sense and INSISTED I had to get one too, even though I already had a wet bag and didn’t really need to be spending money on frivolous things.

But I bought one anyways, at my local fabulous baby store Papoose, and DUDE. It was SO NOT A FRIVOLOUS PURCHASE.

First off, it’s totally leak-proof, due to some sort of magical seaming and sealing process. Which means my biggest cloth diapering fear (carrying around a dirty diaper and having everyone think that smell is me) is totally gone. No poop smell or other kind of leakage. Exhibit A:

Magic non-PVC waterproof lining

Second, it has TWO POCKETS, one with the waterproof lining for wet stuff and one unlined pocket for your clean stuff. Brilliant. For someone who cloth diapers it means no digging around in my bag for the wipes and the extra insert and the diaper which is now full of Goldfish crumbs and sand and how did that green paint get in there? You could even do what my friend Megan has done and downgrade your GIANT DIAPER BAG to a cute little handbag and just use the snappy handle thing to attach it to your stroller or bag or whatever when it’s full. Exhibit B:

My cutest cloth diaper & my wipes case in the pocket.

Third, it’s freakin’ adorable. And large – 13″ x 16″. Exhibit C:

My print is called "Art Deco"

And just in case you thought I was lying about all my friends buying them first, Exhibit D:

Just from last week's playgroup, our collection of Planet Wise bags. Thanks to Connie & April for letting me be a weirdo and take pictures of your dirty diapers.

I sent Planet Wise an email letting them know I was going to sing their praises on the interwebs, for no other reason than I spent FOREVER looking at stuff like wet bags and diaper pail liners when we switched to cloth and I wanted to make it easier for anyone else trying to do the research. I also hinted at maybe doing a giveaway if they did that sort of thing and would be willing to work with a teeny tiny blogger. Shockingly, Lori emailed me back and said YES. I’m afraid she might be suffering from a head injury of some sort.

Which means YOU my friend, might be the proud new owner of one of these adorable bags in the pattern of your choice. Even if you don’t cloth diaper, these bags are perfect for dirty gym clothes, wet bathing suits, potty training, running clothes, or anything else that’s damp and possibly smelly. They’re cute and spacious and machine washable so you can just toss them in with your diapers/dirty stuff – even in the dryer.

TO WIN: Just leave a comment. That’s all.

If you want to check out the Planet Wise website and tell me which pattern you would pick, feel free. If you want to tweet about how awesome I am for giving you a chance to win the best wet bag ever, that’s awesome. If you want to like me on Facebook or vote for me on Top Baby Blogs, I’d appreciate it. If you want to tell me how much you hate these stupid reviews and giveaways, I’ll accept that too. But you only get one chance to enter with one comment. US addresses only please. (EDITED: OK MY DEAR CANADIANS! If you want to enter I will have Planet Wise ship the bag to me and I’ll cover the cost of mailing it to you. Because THAT is how much I love you!)

Good luck! And I’m wicked jealous of whoever wins. Free stuff is cool. Contest ends at midnight, July 29th. Winner announced first thing Friday morning! GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. SORRY :(

p.s. If you DON’T win, don’t despair! You can find a retailer near you here. Of course, Papoose also has an online store. Just sayin’.

Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated by any business mentioned in this post for my opinions. I’m not getting anything for free or at a discount for this review and spent my own cash on the product mentioned. YOU’RE the only one getting free stuff. Because I love you.

Really I do. But this? IS RIDICULOUS.

Found in my mailbox. From my local Ocean State Job Lot flyer.

P.S. I am SO SORRY about the horrible blog loading time yesterday. My host swears it was totally random and not a real problem at all so it “shouldn’t happen again.” If you missed entering the giveaway because you didn’t have two hours to stare at a “loading…” page, PLEASE scroll down and do it today or some time in the next week!

Before I had a baby, it seemed very important to have a nursery. I needed a room for the baby’s clothes and crib and a rocking chair and bookcases and toys and a changing table. A room dedicated to baby’s little life and little things. So we did the guest room shuffle (nice furniture to back bedroom, back bedroom furniture to third floor, third floor boxes to storage space, that’s what it’s all about) and turned the small front room into the baby’s nursery complete with a theme and matching furniture.

Then we brought the baby home and lost the second floor of our house. It just didn’t exist anymore, except for 15 minute blocks of time for a shower or maybe a quick nap in a real bed instead of on the couch. It was definitely too far to go every time my incredibly throw-uppy baby threw up and needed a new outfit. Add diaper changed to clothes changes and the nursery might just as well have been at the top of Mt. Everest. Only hours after getting home from the hospital we gave up all pretense of a nursery and turned our family room into baby central. E dragged the changing table down, we bought an extra diaper pail, a basket for baby clothes and we’ve never looked back.

Ok, I look back. All the time. I hate having that damn changing table in my family room, even if it does make my life easier. It’s big and disorganized and a constant reminder of how lazy I am. It also ruins all my good baby pictures.

Not to mention once the baby was mobile it was impossible to keep him away.

So right after Christmas I decided it was time to get my family room back. Baby Evan thrashes and squirms so much on the table I was changing him on the floor most of the time anyway. Plus we needed something to contain the explosion of baby toys that followed Christmas. I swear those things breed when I’m not looking. A couple of days in the basement, one new set of router bits, and a trip to Home Depot later and E had made my toy box dreams come true.

TADA! One husband made toy box, sturdy enough for climbing, painted with non-toxic VOC-free paint and built to prevent baby finger slamming.

My love of chalkboard paint goes on.

It’s big enough to hold all our toys and stuffed animals and whatever board books happen to be lying around at the moment with room for at least a few more. I can now un-baby the floor after bedtime in about 40 seconds, close the lid and not have to worry about tripping over a squeaky block on my way to the liquor cabinet refrigerator.

And that, my dears, is the story of how Mommy got her family room back.

Babies may not come with instruction manuals but they sure come with a lot of stuff. I got THREE diaper bags full of swag this morning, all from formula manufacturers. THREE full sized black bags with diapers, formula, magazines, coupons and who knows what else all magically appeared in my room while I was brushing my teeth. Now you know why parents drive SUVs – you need one as soon as you try to bring the baby home.