Pizza for You and Pizza for Me: zpizza :: CLOSED

Who in the world does not enjoy a good slice of pie? I for one thoroughly enjoy a good piece (or two) of a pizza pie from a great pizza joint. Especially this year! Why this year?

I have hosted THREE, yes, I said THREE major holidays this year of which two are the biggest, Thanksgiving and Christmas. For each one, I fail to cook the night before because let's face the facts; who wants to cook a dinner when the next day you spend the ENTIRE day cooking dinner for an army. Plus the baking, the cleaning, the humanity!

Pizza is a big fave in The Fish home and we also enjoy a good bout of organic goodies, I try to shop and buy as much as I possibly can because of all the benefits of going organic which you can read about here. Imagine my surprise when I heard of a pizza joint that has certified organic ingredients I was in heaven!

Seriously though even The Chad thought oxymoron, "Pizza" and "Organic" together? Not possible. Possible.

Well, until he tried zpizza with me and the kids.

Now zpizza is not just about pizza, but salads, sandwiches, and more. zpizza offers a healthy and lighter alternative to some of your favorite foods. The ingredients are some of the finest, exotic, and freshest. 100% certified organic tomato sauce and flour coupled with MSG-free pepperoni for a truly amazing dining experience.

The Fish family received certificates to enjoy a pizza (or other dining options) from zpizza in the last week and I tell you what, seriously some of the most filling, flavorful, tasty, mouth watering, no other pizza can whet your appetite like zpizza. No lie, hands down, some of the best pizza and not because we received certificates to try out the pizza on behalf of zpizza.

I have had a sampling of zpizza before but not like this night, it was HOT, fresh, and OH. SO. GOOD! We ordered locally here in Arizona at the Midtown Phoenix location of 53 W. Thomas Road. I love midtown, downtown Phoenix, lots of up and coming businesses, a very hip and modern area revived in the midtown, downtown area.

The hubs was raving, the kids were cheering, well they weren't really because they were too busy scarfing down the pizza but you catch my drift. We ordered the American, a wonderful blend of fresh veggies, meat, comparable to a "Supreme" at other pizza places but this one is FULL flavor.

The crust was more of a light bread of sorts, not doughy, not too thick, not too crunchy, the true essence of a brick oven pizza if you have ever had brick oven pizza. The cheese was mild, not salty like traditional pizzas, the sauce was light and enough to add flavor to the pizza without taking over the pie and not dripping off the slices. The toppings. OH, the toppings were out of this world! Fresh! Cooked even, and still fresh. Large helpings of toppings that were full of taste, crispness, and color. If you recall "traditional" pizza the toppings are meek, pitiful, lack in color and taste and most often are soggy from the loads of grease. These toppings literally POPPED from our pie.

Big G wasn't too hip on the toppings so The Chad and I gladly ate his veggie toppings, savoring, every. Last. Bite. Now "traditional" pizzas leave you full and dissatisfied with yourself, like a glutton, pure swine after you eat it, and even after we had our slices, we were pleasantly full. Not overstuffed like a turkey at holiday or the need to slip into sweat pants, but satisfied on more than several levels.

So does this pizza option sound tempting enough for you?

Is your mouth watering for this tasty delicacy so aptly misnamed as "pizza?"

GOOD! Here is how you can win a $20 certificate to zpizza and avoid cooking for one night!

Mandatory entry: Tell me where the nearest zpizza is to your home and which creation (pizza or otherwise) you would order in your home to chow on?

Extra entries:

• Follow zpizza on Twitter and get all the "dish"
• Follow my blog 
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet this giveaway (daily RT's available): Enter this giveaway for $20 GC for @zpizza with @KariewithaK Ends Jan 5 http://tiny.cc/l1bE3
• Blog this giveaway
• Leave a substantial comment on a non-giveaway post (can't just say Oh Hey saying HI, share the love for Pete's sake) Worth 5 entries
• Fan The Fish on Facebook
• Enter one of my other giveaways and tell me you did (worth 1 entry per giveaway entry, this could be significant depending on the number of current giveaways)

CONTEST ENDS JANUARY  5th 2010

@ 11:59PM ARIZONA TIME

Best of Luck!!

A Day Made Better, For a Phoenix Teacher

OfficeMax developed a program in 2007 that helps erase teacher funded classroom, that program is called "A Day Made Better," Office Max teamed with Adopt-A-Classroom to aid teachers for supplies for classrooms. This program is so much more than just donations for a teacher, this is to help enrich the lives of our children and is a tremendous movement. For more information go HERE.

I got involved with A Day Made Better and Office Max by participating in the Girls Night Out on Twitter with Jyl Pattee of MomItForward. I have to say that was a great party! But on top of the Twitter party, I had the opportunity to go party for a teacher with Kelly Loubet. Have you met Kelly? If not, you should! She is a heck of a woman with a big heart, a fellow Arizonan, Phoenician, and blogger..ya herd! She is helping her daughter's kindergarten teacher, who was nominated, to enjoy A Day Made Better!

On Saturday October 3rd Kelly held a soiree at Scrap Happy Sisters in Glendale so we could "scrap it up" in, what I have to say is the coolest scrapbooking store EVA eat some YUMMY Organic pizza from ZPizza, guzzle gallons of water and wine, and have a great time for a great cause! But don't let me ruin the good time for you! Be sure to go Tweet up Kelly and read her story over at Whrrl!

Thanks so much Kelly, I had a great time at the party (and our super cool after-party at Applebees) and I am glad I could help be a part of your Adopt-A-Classroom and A Day Made Better with OfficeMax!

BIG THANKS to Office Max and Adopt-A-Classroom to help erase teacher funded classrooms!

The Five Fish Welcome You, Mona, and Moxie Media to Arizona!

Hey everyone I am Mrs. Fish, number Two Fish of the Five Fish, and you know me as Karie!

Welcome everyone to my great state of Arizona where myself and my kids are natives! In fact, my kids are fifth generation Arizona residents and third generation Natives! I was dancing around like a teen so honored and thrilled when Francesca and her Moxie team asked if I wanted to play along and host Mona for a tour of the states and the bloggers who live around the U.S. What fun to make Arizona a stop along the way! We took Mona around town and around the state with us. Please enjoy the sights that Mona will be sharing with you including my quick Vlog entry.

(Beware...totally unscripted, unrehearsed, pulled out of my arse...

since that's how I roll...with the MOXIE baby)

Mona Trip Vlog from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

Some fun facts about the state of Arizona and our travels with Mona:

• 48th State to the Union. Dedicated on February 14, 1912. So the state is young and HOT! Wewt!
• Home to the Grand Canyon, the Mojave, Sonoran, and Painted Desert, & Meteor Crater to name a few
  
• Home to Cactus League Spring Training and 14 MLB teams that train here(and adding more!)
• The World Series Champs Arizona Diamondbacks
• NFL National League Champs Arizona Cardinals
• Five Major Interstate Highways and 14 US Highways
• Three State Universities, NAU, UofA, and ASU
• Home of the Saguaro Cactus which is also a federally protected plant here in Arizona
• Some of the largest copper mines are found here (hence the name the Copper State)
• We have skiing in a variety of climates from water skiing less than 20 minutes away to snow skiing just over two hours away.
• Arizona has the largest Private air museum that Mona experienced with the kids. She was in awe with all her moxie that others can and have shown such great courage.
  

I won't ruin any more for you...Just come visit our beautiful state and see for yourself! Now here is a little slide show of all the wonderful things we did with Mona while she was here with the Fish in Arizona!

Moxie Movie from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

Thanks again Francesca and Kacey and Moxie Media Girls: Angie, Kathy, Jill, and Laura this has been a wonderful trip and opportunity and I am glad to be a part of your new venture with Moxie Media!

I am Karie, I am a Phoenix

I have a few posts here lately where I referenced my HUGE and seriously I mean HUGE accomplishment of completing my college education. Some people are like "Yeah whatever, good for you" while others I can see are my cheering fans, armed will bullhorns and pom poms (yeah...you know who you are!! Muwah!).

So here is the deal. A lot of people, moms especially, who, like me, did not have the opportunity to attend a traditional four year college right out of the high school gate. I was awarded a scholarship to the University of Arizona for academics. Quite the honor actually, the scholarship was for high honors in academics and I was only one of a small handful of students to receive the award (I had to maintain a 3.50 GPA in college to keep the scholarship). I was even accepted to Columbia University as well, another high honor. But each instance yielded a problem as an 18 year old kid....MONEY! My folks did not have any and I for sure did not have any making a meager $4.35 an hour for minimum wage back in the day. Plus my part time hours really did not provide any sort of paycheck, except one that did help me pay for gas for my car and my personal necessities and meals when working.

I suffered. Not knowing any different other than I had such a high amount of envy for those who did get to go to a traditional four year college. Those who got to enjoy the "college" experience and lifestyle. I went straight into the work force, I moved out of state, away from the comforts of my family. I had to grow up and not enjoy the young lifestyle everyone else was enjoying.

Not so bad actually since I met a LOT and I mean a LOT of business contacts in my young life, plus a very strong work ethic and impressive resume for my age. When I was 20 I bought my first house and was a finance manager for a large Dodge dealership in Albuquerque. By the time I was 25 I had bought another house with DH in Mesa, sold the house in Albuquerque (which meant we were NEVER going back...WAHOO), and I was working as a loan officer in mortgage firm in north Scottsdale. I had Big G by this time so pretty impressive to continue to work with a new baby. In 2004, the same year we bought and sold our houses DH graduated from college. He had done the whole college experience at UNM and was a fraternity brother alumni (Sigma Chi). But he did the experience like a lot of other kids who had a full paid opportunity by mom and dad.....partied. In 2000 he went back to school for his IT degree, completed in 2004 after moving, taking some time off for personal reasons, etc. So in 2005 I felt my time had come. We agreed when he was done I could go back. And so I did.

I called the Univeristy of Phoenix, just like he did and applied. Not knowing your application is accepted immediately I was in! In September of 2005 I began my classes online.

Let me clarify that online is not the easiest way to go to class. I truly thought at the time, online was going to be a breeze. I even sold DH on the idea. Little did I know that THREE LONG HARD years and two kids later what an undertaking going to school, and online school would be.

I had to post to my class 4 out of 7 days a week. This is really harder than it sound when you are working or even at home with kids. Homework. At least two papers a week, one individual and one team paper. Nights, dinners, weekends were sacrificed for the good of my work team to complete a team paper before Monday and to complete my own personal paper.

I had to on some days and nights force myself to log on to class. The days and nights that I wanted to blog. I wanted to sit and read a REAL book and not some boring text book on research and statistics. I had to neglect my home that much longer so that I could log into class, work on my homework, post to discussion questions, and participate with my learning team. Online gave me the option to not log in I felt like it, to avoid class, I did not "physically" have to be present.

But I did.

I went to class almost every night to ensure I had plenty of participation. I did all of my papers. Painstakingly. Reading all my text books, Google was my friend, DH's old text books were a savior to help in sticky situations. I did it. Three years, eight months, and four days, a twin pregnancy, a mental break down (that's another post), and a career later I finally finished my college education. A college education I thought I would never receive. A high honor of my personal sacrifice, the sacrifice of my family, my home, my livelihood. I did it.

I was proud to say on my graduation day that, "I am a Phoenix."

I used to be afraid to say that I went to the University of Phoenix, but now I am proud. I sport my degree like a big fat piece of bling! I had to cram as much information into five weeks as other students did into 18 weeks at a standard university. I was forced to work with people who were not always pleasant, but because of the UoP structure I had to finish assignments with them, stick it out, work through any conflicts and disagreements.

I now sit here today looking into my horizon of (student loans) my future. I have met one of my thousands and millions of goals and dreams. My next.....my Jurisdoctorate. To be awarded my doctorate degree. To add Esquire, to my name suffix. To practice law in the way I know how to practice law, with my finance experience, contracts, and to uphold the law. I know I can do it, I will do it, I will not let anything stop me or get in my way. I will not use excuses. I did not use excuses before, even though I had plenty. I did not let anything get in my way, even though I did have stuff to get in my way (twin pregnancy, work, married life, kids, myself).

Any of you that have considered going back to school but say, "I'm too old", "I don't have the money", "I don't have the time" these are excuses. I was afraid. I was terrified. But I conquered my fear in the first class and from then on smooth sailing. Sure I have lots of student loans, but who cares. Can you really put a price on an education? I know I can't.

Go out and do it. Research what program, what school works for you. Do not let your fears or your self get in the way of what you really want. Talk to an academic advisor, I can give you the name of mine. She was fantastic! She called me with every class telling me how much closer I was to completion and rooting me on through the process.

Just know that goals and dreams can come true and don't limit yourself to just a single dream or goal, make lots of them, small and large, and don't let anyone tell you dreams don't come true.

Blase Blah Blah Blase

Yeah can you so tell I am feeling a funk again. Must be because I have a million things going on at once and I am so behind on my 'To Do' List. Seriously, I even have an ELECTRONIC to do list on my sidebar here on Vista........you see.I have some checked off but not all, some personal some blog, some I do not even have listed. Plus some days of my life really are not blog worthy and I refuse to bore anyone with how mundane and snooze filled my life can be. Granted, twins keep you on your toes, but who wants to hear about Big G and the twins sword fighting, all day, with spatulas. Funny stuff, but not always blog worthy. And I refuse to stoop to the blog or V-Log level of "Lets talk about MJ" or "Lets talk about Jon and Kate's divorce" or "How we are going on strike for a month from PR."

Seriously?!

I have no one to answer to but myself. If my fabulous bloggy friends would like me to answer to you....TOO BAD! You know it, heck I have no expectations about your life and what goes on, that is your business and if you want to share GREAT, if not GREAT TOO!

Anyway back to my million things, the one of my million things that I did not share in all my blase blah blah crap is that I graduated college this year. Yeah, I did the "I'm going to grow up first and not blow shit tons of money on college and not finish in my 20's. I am going to grow up and work and then blow shit tons of money on college and finish....before I'm 40!" I am on that plan...still on that plan. Have to take my LSAT's build a portfolio, yeah lots to do if you want to argue for a living. So I finished college and tomorrow is my big day!

I am participating in the commencement ceremonies at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale where I will be walking with like 1000 other people! Cool huh?! Yeah I am stoked, but been so busy to get really stoked about it....which sucks! I mean I should be like every other college grad out getting hammered.............and passing out puking. ICK, gosh I used to be that stupid, now I am a lame old fart who has a few and just passes out before 10pm. WOOT, I am such the life of the party! WOO WOO! No really, so I am excited and wanted to share with you all in case you care, or are super curious, or want to poke fun at me, because I have a fear I will trip and fall flat on my fat face tomorrow! So here is the linky for the commencements, the ceremony begins at 10:30am Arizona (Pacific Daylight Time) time. So please feel free to watch the ceremony, cheer me on through your virtual portal and laugh with me when I fall on my face, and then leave me a comment hoping I am okay!

www.phoenix.edu/graduation

Go Go Pets Review & Giveaway

Some families enjoy the pleasure of adopting a new pet into the family. They are loved, petted, caressed, looked after, named, and then finally cleaned up after. The cleaning job is generally left to mom and dad.....in my household namely me. The most common request for pets that I have heard from mom's and dad's have been dogs, cats, fish, and hamsters.

The folks at Mom Select and Cepia Toy decided to choose Phoenix and the Phoenix-metro areas to invade and unveil "Go Go Pets." Go Go Pets are great because they mimic real life pets without all the fuss and my home was one chosen to review their hamster pets and the "habitrails" that were included.

So my family is the proud owner of a hamster named Mr. Squiggles. I am quite happy to have adopted and received Mr. Squiggles for a few reasons:

1. No mess. Hamsters are stinky, they live in cages, and they have all sorts of junk they make messes with. YUCK
2. Hamsters are a rodent....I hunt rodents like the pests they are. This rodent, you would never know he was and is a rodent.
3. The feeding, the cleaning, all the excelsior cedar for their cages, we don't need any of that.
4. I never have to worry about him dying and explaining to the kids why we put him in a shoe box....I just crack him open and pop in new AAA batteries.
   

When the box arrived and I opened to see all the different habitrails I was a bit overwhelmed and spent a good amount of time putting the pieces together. Not that there is a lot to them, just there were a number of habit areas for the little rodent. Plus having an antsy five year old doesn't help when you are trying to put something together as fast as you can so they can begin playing. So here is what some of the "habitrails" looked like partially assembled:












Now with any toy and or new animal you have to find a place for them and they all have little quirks, ticks, and annoyances for some parents, here are mine:

1. Immediately had to change the batteries. As with any new toy as the batteries installed are for demo use only and not full play so they die within an hour of hard play.
2. The habitrail comes apart easily requiring an adult to continuously put the contraptions back together.
3. Mr. Squiggles didn't like the wheel. He would fall over sideways, again requiring someone to fix him or get him off the wheel altogether.
   
4. The hamster is ALWAYS making noise. I don't mind toys that make noise, but there should be some shut off timer that after some time and no response the thing shuts up!
5. He likes to back up A LOT, so going forward around the habitrail was a task for Mr. Squiggles.

Now I am not saying anything bad about the toy itself, just that I have higher preferences as a parent and mom about some of the toys my kids play with. Overall though my oldest boy LOVES Mr. Squiggles and the Go Go Pets toy. My twins, they like it because they can play demolition team on the house and chase the little fur ball. My philosophy is if the kids like it and are happy with the toy with no complaints....I'm good as well.

Here is a good deal about Go Go Pets.....you get one too!! Yup, you get your very own hamster and a habitrail. No muss or fuss of a real hamster, but your kids get to enjoy all the endless hours and entertainment that the cute little rodent brings! He has a love setting where he purrs for you and talks and his Go Go setting where he is on the move! Want to win your own Go Go Pet and habitrail? Here is what you will get:

One Hamster - Chunk
One habitrail - Car & Garage

Now here are all the rules for playing and you must post a comment for each entry and the additional entries thereafter to increase your odds (1 comment = 1 entry, Rinse and Repeat). Let me also say...if you don't follow the rules.....no loot.......no email, no loot, rules are made for a reason and to avoid spammers! So let the fun begin:

1. Follow my blog and tell me you do so or have done so, make sure you leave a valid email addy. (Worth 1 entry)
2. Subscribe to my blog in a feed, then come tell me you did so. (Worth 1 entry)
3. Follow me on Twitter @KariewithaK come back and tell me so (Worth 2 entries)
4. Tweet my giveaway on Twitter, come back and tell me you did, one per day please! (Worth 3 entries)
5. Grab my button to your right, add it to your blog, come back and give me the link showing you did! (Worth 5 entries)
6. Tell me why you would want one of these cute little fur balls for your kiddos, with your valid email addy. (Worth 2 entries)
7. Blog about this giveaway with the Mom Select button below and my button, come back and give me the link. (Worth 6 entries!!)

Now if you do not provide a valid email address you will be excluded from the drawing. The giveaway ends on June 7th @ Midnight AZ Time. I will choose a winner from Random.org

Good luck and have fun!

S.O.S. - Save Our Skin

Did you know that one MILLION new cases of skin cancer alone will be diagnosed this year? Just skin cancer. Did you know that the odds are 1 in 272? Those are good odds if you consider that some schools have upwards of 500 children in each school or more, so that's at least 2 kids.


The people that are diagnosed are just the people who have regular doctors appointments to have something checked or because they happened to notice a funky mole, maybe a dark spot on their skin that looked funny, or maybe some splotching that seemed out of the ordinary. The rest go completely undiagnosed.


Did you know that the chances of getting skin cancer start from birth? You got it! All the time of being exposed to the sun without protection, exposed to the harmful UV rays sets us up for skin cancer. Granted the sun is an excellent source for vitamins in our body and helps us to metabolize these vitamins and the sun provides us energy from the natural light, but the sun is also very dangerous.

How often do you send your child to school without sunscreen? You are probably laughing and saying "Um, like everyday, who has extra time for sunscreen and they aren't outside that long anyway." Well that is what I said too. Did you know 20 minutes is all it takes a day to be exposed to the harmful UVA/UVB rays that cause burns and can eventually lead to skin cancer later in life? That's right and that is about the time your child spends on the playground and outside in P.E. (Physical Education) class everyday if not longer!

With all of this being said I am the new Treasurer for the Hermosa Vista Elementary School PTO. At our end of the 2009 school year meeting the board was advised by the principal of Hermosa Vista that the P.E. teacher might make a motion to the board about allocating funds for a sun shade for the kids. Why a sun shade? Take a look at this picture below:







Doesn't that picture make you want to play on the playground? In the shade, no hot slides to burn your legs (like we all did as kids), and MOST OF ALL no sunburns!!! The kids are pleasantly shaded from the sun and the harmful UV rays. Wouldn't you want to see those at your kids school, especially in the warmer spring and late summer months? I know I do. Want to know what else I want to see?



I would love to see one of these bad boys put over the outdoor area where the kids play basketball and have P.E. so they aren't exposed to all those nasty UVA/UVB rays, the unrelenting Arizona sun and heat, and caring parents like us aren't worried about gobbing the sunscreen on everyday during the warmer Spring and Summer months. So I am asking you as a Board Member to the Hermosa Vista Elementary PTO to make your donation today, either in funds, goods, and or services for our awesome P.E. teacher Mr. Peace (yup, that's his name...awesome!!) so that he is able to have a safe environment for our children to learn outdoors.


I would also love to see some corporate sponsorship (*hint hint) for community PR, exposure, and education about the benefits and drawbacks of the sun. Plus just a great plug to show how much the big guys love us little guys in the community and so we can show support in return!


Donations can be made by clicking on the little linky on the side of my page, all donations are accepted through PayPal and will be directly paid to Hermosa Vista Elementary School PTO. Thanks again for your support!!

Update to "Moral Obligation"

Alright so I actually got a Tweet to give an update on my bout with the City of Mesa Public Schools, you know the one questioning the Moral Obligation of the board and superintendent to the teachers with skill and the students who need teachers with skill and expertise.

I have to say that I am quite disappointed that the only response that I received was one that was fluffed by a PR pro. The weak attempt to disarm me has left me holding the bag wondering when I would receive some sort of half cocked, debatable response. To no avail.... a week has passed and nothing. I am severely disappointed and frustrated that a school board, in fact the current superintendent, can leave a tax paying, parent to a school aged child hanging with a half-arsed, vague, weak, unexplanatory email. So now that a new week is upon me and I have some free time this early in the week I think I might have to battle with the beast again and see what sort of response, and hopefully an honest response, I can solicit from the Board, the Superintendent....and hell while I am at it...the state. Email moves fast, so I will make sure that my fingers are punching the keys like the ivory of a piano as I play my concerto of questions and I demand true answers. Wish me luck....and if you are as passionate about education as I am....get involved in your child's education and his or her school, we are the foundation for their future!

Day 3 "FREE" Week Product Review - Traba Door, Traba International

Welcome to Day 3 of The Five Fish "FREE" Week!!

I promised and so I am delivering.....since I got off on some tangents in the last 24 hours.

Okay so as I mentioned in yesterday's post you can actually make over your home in a preservative FREE fashion! Okay, I know you are saying, there are no preservatives in my home...what could have preservatives, what would need to be preserved? Well for one the wood in your home is made with preservatives. Yup, some of the good old 2X4 or 2X6 construction has what is called "green" wood (it actually is colored green) which is great for fighting those nasty little buggers called.............TERMITES!!! Plus "green" wood is treated so it is less likely to warp due to weather and takes longer to burn when your house is on fire from what DH has told me. I'm no "wood" pro (*giggle) so ask your local contractor or one of those fabu guys at the Home Depot.

Alright, so the biggest thing next to the overall construction is paint, which they have VOC free stuff (again click on the HD above) your carpet (same linky) and DOORS!!! Yes those fabulous things to keep our privacy are LOADED with nasty stuff that we are completely unaware of. Here is what a standard MDF door is filled with.........FORMALDEHYDE!!! Tell me that is not a preservative?! I mean we use it on the dead......good thing they are dead because it causes....you guessed it.....CANCER!! Hello, preserves them right? Preservative. Now luan doors, pictured below, you would think are super safe and preservative free right? Because they are a species of a mahogany in the veneer on the door. Nope they use the same type of glue as the MDF, the glue holds down that luan veneer that looks so great right? Nope...ugly doors!

Those photos are straight out of my home when I bought it in 2004. Aren't they stunning?

I hear crickets................

that must be a FAT NO!!

Alright so here is what my home looks like now.....mind you I made all the simple and inexpensive makeover options: paint and doors, plus a nice set of runners. All of that cost $240! But that includes the two runners, the doors you see in the above pictures (8 doors @ $20 each for a slab) and the paint! Now the best part of these doors......they are FORMALDEHYDE FREE!!












How is that? Well the new doors being distributed by Traba Door beginning this year have to be formaldehyde free due to legislation passed in California which is where Traba headquarters are located. California Air Regulation Board passed a law about airborne toxins in products that have formaldehyde, among other toxic and carcinogenic preservatives, such as cabinets, doors, the whole gamut. So every door that is manufactured and sold by Traba has to meet the CARB regulations.



Here is some info on Traba straight from their website:


Traba is pleased to present an international line of doors infused with historic design and hand crafted with a rich blend of materials. Everything from the doors core construction to its beautiful finish is completed with relentless attention to detail ensuring every door is as strong as it is beautiful. More than just a brand, Traba retains old world craftsmanship with unmatched value.Traba Classic Series doors feature a unique 1 ½” solid wood edge along the top and sides; plus a 4” solid wood bottom rail. The deeper edges make the door capable of accepting longer screws while also providing extra room to customize for a special floor treatment or tight space. The stiles are 5” wide adding flexibility to incorporate an over sized lock set. A one piece veneer finish eliminates seams that appear over time in normal stile and rail constructed doors.

Environmentally Friendly Manufacturing

While the value of the engineered core is reflected in the superior strength and stability of the door, our real value is in the savings for the environment. Our engineered products are constructed of recycled industry bi-product which reflects our commitment to naturally sustainable construction and our environment. We are committed to improving the environment around us and we welcome any opportunity to contribute or participate in environmentally friendly projects focused on the sustainability of the resources around us. Our direct influence and participation in our facilities allow us the ability to control the adhesives and products we use and therefore reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants.

So with the doors being preservative free they are also a GREEN alternative!! The doors are made of composite materials, so the materials that would normally be thrown away. Click the MDF link above to read more about it. They do also have a wood product, Knotty Alder and I have to say that after reviewing all the beauty shots of the door I was head over heels.

Now you might also be wondering about warranty info and if you aren't here is the info.....every good door has a warranty!



Warranty - Classic Series

Limited Lifetime Warranty
A limited Lifetime Warranty is provided on all The Classic Series of MDF Interior Doors offered by TRABA INDUSTRIES. The Limited Lifetime Warranty is offered as long as the MDF Interior Door is in its originally installed location.
The Limited Lifetime Warranty covers all The Classic Series of MDF Interior Doors against warping, cracking and splitting. The Limited Lifetime Warranty does not cover any damage caused by cuts, abrasions or scratches on the surface of The Classic Series MDF Interior Doors. The Limited Lifetime Warranty excludes any doors used for the purpose of an exterior application. Only an authorized TRABA INDUSTRIES representative may give written consent to replace any of The Classic Series of MDF Doors.
Limitations and Exclusions
Priming of Traba Doors must be applied on all six sides (top, bottom, edges, front & back) within 72 hours. Failure to prime all six sides within 72 hours will void the limited lifetime warranty.Limited lifetime warranty pertains to doors for interior use only. If used for exterior applications, the limited lifetime warranty is void. Normal wear and tear including wear-through of the finish or deterioration for reasons other than materials and workmanship of the door itself.Abusive handling.Doors left sealed/unfinished at the job site, exposed to the elements. Appearance caused by failure to follow recommended handling, and finishing guidelines is not covered by this warranty.The appearance of field finished doors is not warranted in any event.Natural variation in the color or texture of wood not considered being a defect.Warp is not considered a defect unless it exceeds 1/4" in the plane of the door itself. "Warp" is any distortion in the wood itself and does not refer to the relationship of the door to the frame or jamb in which it is hung. The term "warp" shall include bow, cup and twist. For doors larger than 3/0 x 7/0, warp shall not exceed 3/8" in the plane of the door itself.If warranted door(s) are found to contain defects stated, the manufacturere may, at its option, either:Repair the door(s) without charge.Replace the door(s) without charge, in the same stage of fitting and/or finishing as was originally supplied.



If you are interested in a super easy, inexpensive, preservative free, beautiful home makeover and would love to see Traba in your home....be sure to contact Chad and he can point you to the many distributors and door shops all over the U.S. (and soon Canada!) that carry Traba Doors. I know here in Arizona, Legacy Custom Doors is carrying Traba. When you contact Traba by emailing Chad, let him know you read the Traba Door review here at Five Fish, so you get the superior treatment I received from the gentlemen at Traba.

Make it a Great Wednesday!