Win SkyMall products at the NYC Southwest Porch

Always wanted some of the SkyMall products that we profile every week in SkyMall Monday? Would you like to win some of those products? This Thursday, November 17, SkyMall is holding an event at the Southwest Porch in New York’s Bryant Park. From 6pm to 8pm, representatives from our favorite catalog will be giving guests chances to win Garden Yetis, marshmallow shooters, the famous SkyRest Travel Pillow, SkyMall gift cards and Southwest Airlines tickets. Admission is free and you might even see me there checking out the scene. We’ve attended similar events and they’re always a good time.

Garden Yetis and marshmallow shooters need good homes. This is your chance to help out a SkyMall product in need. Also, the Southwest Porch has beer!

SkyMall Monday: Edge Baking Pan ACTUAL REVIEW (ft. the Garden Yeti)

Last month we had a little poll to see which SkyMall dessert pan was the king of confections. The Edge Baking Pan won in a landslide. I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical about whether brownies sporting heaps of edges could be good. I like my brownies like I like my women: moist and packed with M&Ms. However, you voted and I listened. I got my hands on an Edge Baking Pan immediately and put it to the test.

Well, to be honest, my Garden Yeti, Calvin, was the real tester*. He whipped up a batch of brownies with more edges than a knife collector. And you know what? Those brownies were moist. Chewy but not tough. Moist but not loose. The best of both worlds, really. So, consider me a convert. All of my brownies will be edgy now. I’m sorry that I ever doubted the Edge Baking Pan. I guess even SkyMall experts don’t know everything.

Check out the video above to see just how a Garden Yeti gets busy with the Edge Baking Pan.

* Actually, it was my girlfriend, Jordana, who did all the baking. She’s good at that. I just manage the Garden Yeti.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

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SkyMall Monday on the Urly Show

If you enjoy reading SkyMall Monday every week, then do I have a treat for you! This week, you can lazily watch a video instead of reading! Put your work aside and check me out as a guest on the Urly Show. What’s the Urly Show? It’s the podcast of our dear friends over at Urlesque. We spent 36 glorious minutes talking about our favorite SkyMall products. I even brought in a few of my favorites to show off. Just click the image above to start the video!

Not ready to watch it now? Download the audio and video versions of the Urly Show talking SkyMall and enjoy it at your leisure! And if you get a kick out of internet memes, hysterical viral videos and cats, be sure to check out Urlesque tout de suit!

I do have to make one correction about something I said on the show. The Garden Yeti costs $98.95.

SkyMall Monday: Garden Yeti ACTUAL REVIEW

There are a few products that have become synonymous with the absurdity of the SkyMall catalog (not that I find any of it absurd – only naïve malcontents believe that). In that pantheon, you’ll find the SkyRest Travel Pillow, the Wine Glass Holder Necklace and the Garden Yeti, to name a few. Having reviewed the first two examples, I can say firsthand that these products deserve our respect and their inventors merit admiration. But, it always irked me that I had yet to review the Garden Yeti. As if it was a mythical figure, I had experienced Garden Yeti sightings when perusing the catalog, but never experienced seeing one in the wild (until, that is, one Slanket-fueled evening). Finally, however, I got my hands on a Garden Yeti of my own. I even shared the good news in a very special birth announcement and featured him in our SkyMall Monday review of the Sling Couture Arm Sling. Now, after having spent some time with the Garden Yeti, I’m prepared to deliver this official SkyMall Monday review. What’s it like introducing a Garden Yeti into your life? It’s way more fun than you might think.

%Gallery-90986%The Garden Yeti may be called a statue, but it’s more interactive than your run of the mill lawn ornament. While most Garden Yeti parents (you do not own a Garden Yeti – you raise it) simply leave their Garden Yeti in the, well, um, garden, that is not the proper way to care for these creatures. You see, the Garden Yeti sold in the SkyMall catalog is not, in fact, a miniature Garden Yeti. No, my friends, this two-and-a-half-feet tall gentle beast is actually an infant Garden Yeti. Having spent time with this missing link, I would venture to guess that he is no more than three-years-old.

Once I discovered that the Garden Yeti was just a child, I quickly learned how to connect with him. Now, we watch Yo Gabba Gabba!, eat lots of hot dogs and enjoy trips to the park. And, it was at the park that I was able to truly experience Garden Yeti parenthood it all its righteous splendor.

My Garden Yeti, Calvin, simply adores the park. He sits on the big boy swing and holds on tightly while I push him. “Higher, higher,” he yells. Well, that’s according to the young girl who watched us playing on the swings. Her friend insisted that wooden Garden Yetis can’t talk and that the first girl was simply “making that up.” It’s sad when you meet a three-year-old who’s dead inside. She made Calvin cry.

Garden Yetis love slides (exclusive Gadling fact). They also enjoy the fireman’s pole (though Calvin likes when I hold him so that he doesn’t fall). On the playground, Garden Yetis let loose, build self-confidence and make new friends.

Young Garden Yetis never get bored of playing catch. They almost always catch the ball perfectly in stride. They keep their eyes on the ball and never drop a pass. While my Garden Yeti is nearly 20 years away from pursuing a career in the NFL, I have already retained a team of attorneys to look into the league’s collective bargaining agreement to ensure that Garden Yetis are eligible to be drafted. While Garden Yetis are known for their big feet, it’s their soft hands that make them truly extraordinary.

Garden Yetis are also great with dogs. As the missing link, Garden Yetis are attuned to the feelings of both humans and animals. Calvin gets along swimmingly with my dog, Heath. They enjoy long walks together. And, as Calvin gets more mature, he has even begun to walk Heath on his own. Indeed, Garden Yetis are perfect additions to any family.

So, does the Garden Yeti deserve its place SkyMall lore? Without a doubt, yes. Garden Yetis make houses homes. They make families complete. And they make trips to the park the best memories of your life. Please, find it in your heart to adopt a garden Yeti. Twelve pounds of love are only a few clicks away.

Photos by Jordana Lapidus.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Southwest & SkyMall Bring Yetis & Slankets to New York City

The Southwest Porch in Bryant park has been around this the summer and has provided locals are tourists strolling through that Midtown greens space a place to relax, have a drink and grab a snack inspired by the cities that the airline services. But for three days this week, Southwest has invited Gadling’s favorite catalog, SkyMall, to join the party. With Slankets featured on the cover of the Southwest edition of the catalog, SkyMall made sure to bring plenty of the blanket/robe hybrids to keep guests warm and give away to some lucky attendees. And, one of the catalog’s most popular character’s, the Garden Yeti, was there in a Slanket all his own.

Not being able to resist anything SkyMall-related, I attended the opening night of the event and spoke with SkyMall’s VP of Airline Marketing, Casey Christ. He said that the partnership with Southwest was “natural and helps us connect with our fans outside of the flying experience.” Throughout the evening, attendees who entered the free raffle won Slankets. And one very lucky winner took home her own Garden Yeti.

And where does one find a Slanket that fits 28″ tall Garden Yeti? Well, Mr. Christ took a full-sized Slanket to his local tailor in Phoenix – along with the Garden Yeti – and asked her to make the proper alterations. I salute that talented woman, who I assume remains quite confused.

SkyMall will be joining Southwest at the Southwest Porch today and tomorrow to give away more Slankets and Garden Yetis. If you’d like to join them, be sure to RSVP in advance. The Southwest Porch will be open for snacks, drinks and lounging by their fire pit into January, when they will shut down until New York warms up again.

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