Bringing Families Together – #HPLovesMoms

In my role as a prominent loud Canadian mom blogger, I have many opportunities afforded to my family that might not otherwise happen.  This week’s trip to the Disney Social Media Moms conference is one of them, of course!  I’m fortunate that I have some very supportive extended family members who always cheer me on, are excited to hear about my latest blog adventure and of course are eager to try out products that come through my door.

When HP approached me with an amazing Mother’s Day themed idea, I knew immediately who among my family would be the perfect person to help me with this feature.  HP wanted to share the HP ENVY x2 (giving moms the power of 2 products in one with a Windows 8 notebook AND tablet that can be removed from the keyboard!) AND the HP ENVY 120 e-All-in-One printer, a sleek little number that prints lab-quality photos and documents with ease!

While Mother’s Day is about “mom”, I knew that our mother would not benefit from these products (she doesn’t own a computer at 73 and getting her started would require some pretty intensive work, LOL!) so the next-best, in my world, is my big sister, Kim!  At 12 years old when I was born, I’m sure I was both amusing and annoying in her life (hehe) but the age difference was big enough that I didn’t steal her clothes but looked up to her like she was the sun and the moon and the stars!  We’ve always had a close relationship and now I love that my own 3 kids adore her as much as I do!  I can come to her with my parenting dilemmas since she’s been there, done that, with her two kids who are adults themselves now.

When Everleigh and I visited her in Calgary in March, I was puzzled that she didn’t have a laptop (I thought she did!) so when I checked email and went online to purchase tickets for something, I had to use the desktop computer in my niece’s room!  When it came time to print the tickets, she wasn’t sure the printer would actually work as it’s one of those hit-or-miss printers (thankfully it worked that day!)  Remembering all of this, when that HP email arrived, I knew it was meant to be!

I didn’t tell Kim what was coming, just that something was coming for her by courier!  She was shocked when she got home from work and unpacked the HP ENVY x2 and HP ENVY 120- e-All-in-One Printer!  “Is it a tablet???” she texted me.  “Sort of,” I replied.

The HP ENVY x2 is a notebook and tablet all in one.  Now, my sister can take her office work home with her (boo, who wants to do that?) and utilize her HP ENVY x2 as a laptop, and she can also slide off the tablet to use on her commute to work or when settling in at night.  Which reminds me, I haven’t shown her how she can download books on the HP Envy x2!

So what kind of fun have we been having with the HP Envy x2?  Well, hooking up the HP ENVY 120- e-All-in-One Printer was a breeze and wireless settings means my sister can print photos, documents and more from anywhere in her house.  The printer itself is so sleek and small that it can easily sit on the dining room table and be moved to a shelf when not in use.

She’s going to visit our mom this week – yes for Mother’s Day while I go to Orlando (who wins best daughter this year, huh?) – so I emailed her some photos of the kids and she printed them out to bring to my mom.  She even printed out the photo I took just the other day of my daughter and I going for pedicures!  I love how everything is so instant today (remember dropping off film when 1 hour photo finishing was a big deal?)

We’ve also had fun playing with Skype (the kids think it’s hilarious to talk to Auntie on the computer for some reason and love showing off for her!) and my sister is learning how to set up her Home screen with all her favorites.  Maybe, just maybe, she will be able to change her own Facebook profile picture one day?  😉

While not everyone can get their sister, mom, or mother-in-law an HP ENVY x2 for Mother’s Day, it’s definitely worth looking at as a consideration for Mother’s Day, birthdays, Christmas and more.  You’re not only giving the person a gift of an amazing notebook and tablet all in one, or a printer, or other HP products – you’re giving them the opportunity to be closer to your family when they live far away – so much more so than can be done on the phone or with an email sent via smartphone.  Now – we can check in on “Auntie Kimmie” via Skype or Facebook chat, and she can print pictures of her fabulous sister and family with ease!

In Canada, you can find the HP Envy x2 Tablet and HP Envy 120- e-All-in-One Printer on the HP Canada site, or online at stores like Staples and Future Shop among others!

Thanks so much to HP Canada for making our #HPMothersDay so very special.  I’m so glad I could gift my sister with products to show her how much I care, and now we can stay closer than ever.  Even though she’s 8 hours away, she’s really just on the other side of a computer screen now.  At least that’s what my kids think, and that’s OK with me because it makes them miss her less in between our visits!   Actually, the same holds true for me.  Thanks HP for bringing our families closer!