Good Cook ProFreshional Keepers + Giveaway!


Good Cook ProFreshional

Disclosure: I did receive a free set of Good Cook ProFreshional Keepers to facilitate these reviews, but all hilarity and awesome opinions are my own.

How many times have you bought produce, left it in the plastic bag just to have it go bad? I know I have. That’s why I wanted to take a look at the Good Cook ProFreshional keepers line. They have tons of great keepers to help keep your produce fresh and man does it do the job.

My biggest problem with produce is that we don’t seem to eat it fast enough before it goes bad. Maybe I am bad at buying produce, or maybe it’s just that the plastic bags you get at the grocery store aren’t really meant to store fruits and veggies.

Good Cook ProFreshional

The other problem I always run into is forgetting what I have bought or if I have something. You know that tomato you find at the back of your fridge that has turned into a science project? Yep, we get that ALL the time.

One of the things that I like about the Good Cook ProFreshional Keepers is that they LOOK like the produce that they store. The bright colors and cute designs leave no question as to what is in the produce keeper. (Of course you can always store different stuff, but you get the point) I mean the tomato keeper looks like a tomato. It even has cute leaves at the top!

Of course my favorite of the keepers is the asparagus keeper! That’s because one of my favorite recipes is a good roasted asparagus recipe, especially during the springtime! Before our cool asparagus produce keeper, we would just find the biggest latte mug we had pour some water in it to “keep” our asparagus. It worked, but it was a pain because if the kids bumped the mug water got everywhere. With the great keeper from Good Cook, that is no longer a problem.

Roasted Asparagus Recipe

The line of Good Cook ProFreshional Keepers includes these great keepers:

  • Asparagus Keeper
  • Lemon Keeper
  • Melon Keeper
  • Tomato Keeper
  • Banana Keeper and
  • Pepper Keeper
Good Cook Profreshional Keepers
Whether you are an avid produce lover, or just every now and again I really recommend using these keepers. They really do a lot better job keeping my produce than using regular plastic bags.
Right now you can score 25% off produce keepers at Goodcook.com when you use the code KEEPER!
The most exciting part is that FOUR lucky Crunchy Frugalista readers can enter to win their very own produce keeper sets! Just enter in the entry form below to win! Good luck!

 

Fall in Love With Some of My P&G Favorites, Giveaway, + Twitter Party Invite!

Oil of Olay

I received the products shown above from P&G in order to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

The P&G Brand of products have been a favorite of mine for about as long as I can remember. When I turned 13 my first tube of lipstick was given to me by my mom. It was this bright pink lipstick, which looked awful on me, but it was best thing in the world. To me, that Cover Girl lipstick symbolized that I was growing up. To everyone around me, it symbolized that my mom didn’t know how to pick out lipstick for a 13 year old! (That’s a story for another post)

As I got older, I tried a lot of other great P&G products. Not because their company sent me some goodies to try, but because they were products that my mom had used. My Nana was always telling me how important it was to moisturize your skin that way I didn’t get old and wrinkly like she was. (At the tender age of 14 that was a horrifying thought!) She always had Oil of Olay on her night stand, so of course because she used it I had to. To this day, I still put on Oil of Olay every morning after my shower. If I don’t, my face gets all tight and itchy. That stuff works wonders.

My favorite P&G Products

When I became a mom, I was blessed with two little girls. One of these darling has a SEVERE dust allergy, and of course that meant this momma had to learn how to dust. Swiffer dusters are my go to for this. They make my life so much easier. I even developed a crochet pattern to make your own covers for them! Keeping dust away from my youngest is essential, and it would be such a pain in the butt (well more likely arms) if I didn’t have my Swiffer!

Oil of Olay

I owe this skin to Oil of Olay ;)

 I could go on and on about P&G, but I won’t. Let’s get to the exciting part for you guys! P&G is throwing a Twitter party and you guys are invited!

Join “Most Loved” Twitter Party on Thursday, April 18 at 9 p.m. ET.

In addition to discussing some of P&G’s award winning products and brands, participants will have the opportunity to win great P&G prizes. Simply follow #PGmostloved to join the conversation and RSVP here for the chance to win the grand prize.

Before you head off to RSVP, make sure to enter to win your own “Most Loved” P&G Products! This great package is full of goodies like

**Products may vary based on availability

Just enter in the entry form below to win your very own package!

 

How To Do Yoga for FREE!

Aurorae Yoga Mats

Right before I had my foot surgery, I had a chance to get a new yoga mat from Aurorae Yoga. If you haven’t tried one, you absolultely need to them are amazing! With my great mat in hand, I decided I needed to start doing some more yoga.

Mr. Crunchy and I don’t really have the budget to pay for yoga classes right now, so I figured I would hit the World Wide Web to see how I could teach myself new yoga poses for free! What I wasn’t expecting was the amount of FREE videos you can get too! It was like a Yogi smorgasboard! (or however you spell that word)

Aurorae Yoga Mat: The Right Mat for Any Yogi

Before you start getting into yoga, I can’t stress how important it is to have a good mat! I have used several yoga mats over the years, even the $5 specials from Walmart. Getting the right kind of mat makes all the difference in your workout. Once you work up a sweat, you don’t want to have to worry about slipping and hurting yourself. The Aurorae Northern Lights mats are built for just this!

Aurorae Yoga Mats

They were originally made for hot yoga, where they elevate  the room temperature which makes you sweat more. What does that mean? It means you aren’t going to slip off your mat and bust your bum! These mats are extra cushy, and have a great color pattern to them. Now that I have one, I won’t use any of the Walmart special yoga mats anymore! (Plus they are eco-friendly, which you know makes me happy)!

Aurorae Northern Lights

Now that you know what mat to grab, check out the list. You don’t know how to do yoga for free, because the best part is I have done the hard part for you! This is a great list of places you can look to find some amazing yoga tutorials,worksheets, books, and videos all for FREE!

how to do yoga for free

1. YouTube: There are literally THOUSANDS of free Yoga Workouts on YouTube! Here are some of my favorite channels.

2. Blogs and Websites: There are a lot of great Yoga Blogs out there that show you new Yoga poses. As an added bonus you always have a blog writer that you can ask questions! It’s like having your own personal Yogi!

3. Your Local Library: Many local libraries have great CDs, DVDs, and books that you can check out. It’s great way to see if you like yoga before you try it!

4. You could always let this guy teach you:

How To Do Yoga For FREE

 

Now what are you waiting for? Grab your yoga mat and get that body moving!

If you want to learn more about Aurorae Yoga Mats and Products, make sure to check them out:

  • Aurorae Yoga Website: http://www.auroraeyoga.com/
  • Aurorae Yoga on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auroraeyoga
  • Aurorae Yoga on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuroraeYoga
You can also check out great Aurorae Yoga products for sale on Amazon

 

Disclosure: I did receive Aurorae Yoga products to faciliate this review. All opinions are my own

 

 

 

Enter to win Alexia: Munchies Made From Ingredients You Can Pronounce!

Alexia Foods

We don’t have the best eating habits in the Crunchy household, but it’s something that we are working on. One of the ways we are doing that is by buying products that  aren’t full of a bajillion preservatives and other weird ingredients.

Since Bayla, littlest Crunchy kid, has severe allergies the easier it is to read the ingredients on a box the more likely we can figure out if she can have it or not. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I want to know what I am feeding my family. All those 25 letter long ingredients kind of scare me. Like what the heck is Ethyl Para Hydroxybenzonate, anyway??

Alexia Foods

Ever since Bayla was little, we have been eating Alexia products. She really loves their french fries and onion rings. I love the fact that you can bake them rather than fry them, and they are still amazingly crispy. If I would let her, she could easily eat a whole bag herself in a sitting. She may be tiny, but that girl can eat!

Recently we had the opportunity to try the mushroom caps, mozzarella cheesesticks, and the new multigrain onion rings. The mushrooms were mine, Mr. Crunchy refuses to eat “fungus”. Mr. Crunchy had the mozzarella cheese sticks, and Bayla had the onion rings (she shared with her siblings, but she wasn’t happy about it).

We were going to serve them at our annual Superbowl party, but after traveling the week before we were too zonked to have one this year. Instead, we opted for a fun family night in and prepared these great munchies! From the lack of chatter, I think the family gives these new Alexia foods 2 enthusiastic Crunchy thumbs up. Well, the silence and the empty plates at the end of the night.

Alexia Foods

A lot of the times when you opt for more “healthier” options, I find that you lose the flavor or they taste “off.” This isn’t the case with Alexia. Everything I have had with them has been extremely tasty, and you really can’t tell that it’s prepared differently than your other average frozen foods products. If anything, I think the flavors are better with Alexia.

Alexia Foods

Loving my Android Phone! Need to Keep it Safe!

Norton Spot

I have to say I have officially converted to the dark side. Well, in the eyes of Apple fans anyway. After several years with my iPhone, I have joined the forces with the Android users of the world, and I am NEVER going back. Mwhahaahahaah. (Cough, cough.  Ok, that was a little far.)

Seriously though, I wish I would’ve changed sooner. The camera on my phone is amazing, and there isn’t ridiculously aggravating iTunes program to update every other day. Plus, I still have TONS of applications to use. I ended up scoring the HTC One X, and it’s like a phone and personal assistant in one. (Now if only I could program it to fetch Starbucks)

HTC One X

The only thing that is new to me with this new phone is the threat of viruses, or madware. With Apple phones I didn’t have to worry about that, which was the main reason that I went that direction in the first place. Madware are these spammy files that affect only Android phones. They can really gunk up your phone and slow it down!

Rather than let that scare me away from my new Android phone, I decided to educate myself about how to keep my new baby! Information is power after all! Check out this cool infographic I found courtesy of Norton.

Norton Spot

 

After reading all these facts, I made sure to download the Norton Spot app on my phone. It will help me keep all of those nasty madware files away!

 

For you veteran Android phone users, have you ever had problems with your phone slowing down due to apps you downloaded? How important is it for you to keep your phone safe from Madware?

 

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Norton. I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.

Bring Your Garden Indoors with Aerogarden

Aerogarden Ultra

You guys know me. I LOVE to garden. Living in Indiana, it gets to be a little bit difficult to do this during the winter months. I like the cold and all, but I am not hardcore enough to want to build a winter box for my garden.

When my friend Lessie got her hands on an Aerogarden, I had to try one out myself. I mean can you imagine having fresh fruit and veggies year round. Woot!

Winter gardening needs to be really simple for me to keep at it. I am SO busy this time of the year, but who isn’t?! When we got our Aerogarden Ultra in the mail, I practically snatched it out of the mailman’s hands. I had a spot already for me to set it up.

Aerogarden Ultra

Set up took less than 10 minutes. (Most of that was reading the instructions, because I didn’t want to break it) Set up was pretty much idiot proof. It was super simple to do. Within minutes we had our plants “planted”, and understood how our little garden was going to grow.

Even if you think you have a black thumb, you can rock it with an Aerogarden. I mean it TELLS you what to do. It has a great digital display that gives you tips and tricks. It even tells you when and how to harvest you plants based on what kind of garden you are growing.

aerogarden

 

This great garden is mess free. All you have to do is add water to the unit, add nutrient packets when it says to, and let it do it’s thing. We have a lettuce garden right now, and in less than a month it’s growing like weeds! I am so proud of my little lettuce babies!

Aerogarden Ultra

The next Aerogarden kit that we are going to grow will be the herb garden. I LOVE fresh herbs, and this way we can grow them year round inside!

You can find great Aerogarden products on their website or on Amazon too! Plus here are some of the great features of this unit.

·         QuickPlant feature walks users step-by-step through set-up and planting

·         On screen GardenCoach delivers timely, on screen tips, teaching growers to be better gardeners each and every time they grow

·        Audio and visual alerts remind growers when to add water and nutrients

·         Automated MaxGrow full spectrum grow lights provide all the light plants need

·         Automated Germination and High Growth modes adjust as plants grow, maximizing yields

·         Compatible with all 40 existing AeroGarden Seed Kits

·         Easy to assemble and plant in less than 5 minutes, without tools

How Uber Cute are these Crocs Winter Boots?!

Crocs Winter Boots

Having lived in Florida off and on for almost 10 years, when you say the word “Crocs” I think of the slip on shoes that my mom wore ALL SUMMER LONG. She even had all those little decorative tab thingies to stick in the holes. Being near Disney, it didn’t help when they started selling those tabby things too.

Crocs Have Winter Boots Too?

Anyway, I had NO idea that they sold other types of shoes too. Call me flabergasted when I figured out they actually sold Crocs winter boots! We live in Indiana now, and summer Crocs slip on shoes would not do much for the Crunchy kids during the winter time.

One of my absolute pet peeves about winter boots is that they are usually SOOOO ugly. I mean U-G-L-Y. If you happen to find a pair that aren’t ugly, they are made out of cheapy material and don’t keep your tootsies warm.

Crocs Winter Boots

Well, the Crunchy kids are growing like weeds and the girls needed new winter boots this year. Thanks goodness I found out about Crocs. With one girl being in her teens, and the other girl being the ultimate diva, I would’ve had a mutiny on my hands if I had bought them ugly looking boots. (They don’t seem to understand that warmth is more important)

Fashionable AND Functional

Both of the girls were able to find a pair of boots, that were uber cute. Keiran picked out a black and purple pair of boots, while Bayla got a pink pair. (Call me shocked on the pink choice, I never would’ve guessed that one ;) )

Crocs Winter Boots

We haven’t had any snow yet this year, but temperatures have started to dip down below freezing temperatures. I am happy to report that the Crunchy girls feet are nice and toasty AND stylish. Since getting their shoes, I haven’t been able to pry them off of their feet. They would probably SLEEP in them, if I would let them!

If you want to learn more about the great line of Crocs Winter boots, make sure to check them out here. They have sizes from toddler all the way up to adult!

 

I did receive a pair of Crocs boots to faciliate my review, but all opinions are my own.

Hickory Farms Celebrates the Holidays by Giving Back

Hickory Farms

You guys know how much I heart Hickory Farms. Every year when I was a kid my mom used to work at the stand in the mall. (Well, maybe not every year) I remember the holiday meltaway mints and cheese/sausage platters. It was one of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions.

As a mom, I love to know that a company I have fond memories of is setting a good example for my kids. During the holiday season, Hickory Farms is showing their Christmas spirit by giving back. Hickory Farms has a partnership with Share our Strength (SOS). Share our Strength is a leading organization in the fight against childhood hunger.

Hickory Farms

For each party planner box purchased, Hickory Farms is donating $5 to the Share our Strength No Kid Hungry Campaign. Since the inception of this partnershp, Hickory Farms has donated over $1.9 million to this great cause! How awesome is that?!

In addition to the SOS partnership, Hickory Farms works in conjunction with Operation gratitude, an organization that helps send care packages to our military men and women and their families. Hickory Farms also offers FREE shipping to eight different APO and FPO addresses overseas, so it’s easier for family members to send thank you packages and presents to their family members serving abroad.

Hickory Farms

Hickory Farms has been making holiday memories for over 60 years, and I hope to continue to have them as part of our family for many more years to come. It’s nice to know that their gifts go beyond special eats and treats. It warms my heart to know that my purchases with Hickory Farms goes beyond just filling my family’s bellies, but filling those of children in need too!

To learn more about Hickory Farms, make sure to visit them at http://www.hickoryfarms.com

Give a gift from the heart with Something About Silver

Family tree necklace

Something about silver

What do you get that special someone when you don’t want to get them something stereotypical? Don’t get me wrong, a lot of girls like bling, but there are so many other unqiue ways to show you put thought into their present. Something About Silver just might have something for you!

My day to day life is so full with activity, dirt, and outdoor time that I have never really gotten into fancy jewelry. All I would ever do is mess it up! That’s why I love something that is simple, heart felt, but at the same time still absolutely beautiful.

As you guys remember, this year I officially adopted my stepson, so I told Mr. Crunchy that I wanted something with all three of my kids on it. He didn’t have an easy task, because I am REALLY picky when it comes to mother’s jewelry. There are so many items out there that are down right cheesy.

It was great to run across Something About Silver. First off, I LOVE silver. I am SO not a gold person. As soon as I hit their homepage, something touched my heart. I really can’t put my finger on what or why, but this site just felt different. It felt like they really cared about their products and the story each piece told.

Family tree necklace

Some of my favorite pieces were the “family tree” necklace and the “forever” necklace. They both really spoke to my heart. Each one of these products is hand stamped, and personalized with your children’s (or family’s ) birthstones.

 

Mothers Birth stone necklace

 

Something About Silver has tons of great items that show you really care what gifts you give. They have handstamped guitar pics and dog tags for Dads. They even have bridal jewelry as well.

If you want to learn more about Something About Silver, make sure to check out their website.

Assassin's Creed 3 is on the top of Mr. Crunchy's Wish list (plus win one too!) #AC3Gold!

assassins creed 3


Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this post. Please visit Amazon.com to get your own copy of Assassin’s Creed 3, today’s Gold Box Deal of the Day! I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Crunchy is quite the Playstation nut. I am blessed is not one of those husband’s that act like I don’t exist when he plays video games, but he definitely has his fair share of screen time.

assassins creed 3

Last year, we were able to test the Assassin’s Creed 2 video game, and he LOVED it! He played that thing for hours and hours! That’s why he was so excited when he heard they were coming out with Assassin’s Creed 3!

assassins creed 3

 

Assassin’s Creed 3 is a different twist on the Assassin’s line of games. This time you are in the revolutionary American era! I love this fact, because I am a sucker for American Revolutionary history. Mr. Crunchy loves the action that is in this game. He has already rented it on Redbox 3 times! (Do you think he REALLY wants to grab a copy of the game?!?)

 

Rag and Bone: A Unique Handcrafted Planner and more!

Unique Daily Planners

One of my favorite pieces of artwork  is something I bought a few years ago. It was handmade paper that had flowers and seeds from our local flora in it. It had such a great texture and look to it. Just looking at it reminded me of the outdoors.Unique Day Planner

Rag and Bone Bindery has a gorgeous planner that reminds me of that favorite piece. This great year planner is handcrafted. It’s textured paper on the front has plants within it to give it an amazing texture. You can tell each and every book was made with care.

Beyond being beautiful, this planner is also extremely functional. It comes with a personal info section and a great assortment of calendars. The calendars are sectioned into  yearly, monthly, or weekly calendars too. Each of the pages has a tab you can tear off, so you know where you are in your planner (genius!)

You can further customize your planner by adding to do lists and plastic zipper pouches. I added both to mine! That way I can keep tabs on what I need to do and any receipts I need to save. Trust me, my purse will be thankful for this one!

Unique Daily Planners

One of my pet peeves about most planners is that they don’t allow you to add more to them, or the refills are impossible to find. Rag and Bone Bindary carries refills for this planner right on their site. This way you can get your favorite calendar year after year. Plus, you can always recycle last year’s papers. Score an awesome calendar and help the Earth a little bit too!

Check out some of the awesome covers these planners have!

Day Planners

Rag and Bone also offers photo books, baby books, journals and more! These journals and books really make excellent, thoughtful gifts.

NOVICA: Gifts from Exotic Lands

Novica

If you are looking for a truly unique gift this year, you should definitely consider Novica. I fell in love with Novica last year. Their items aren’t like any other site that I have found. I am a particularly big fan of their jewerly. I own several pieces, and ask for Novica gift cards each year for the holidays (hint, hint Mr. Crunchy)

This year, they have brought back their gift finder.It makes it so easy to shop for the perfect gift anyone on your shopping list. They have great categories by type of item, price, and even whom you are shopping for. With just a click of the mouse, you have hundreds of items that special someone just might love.

Last year, I got a really nice necklace for Mr. Crunchy. This year, I thought I would grab him a bracelet to match. I found a few awesome ones, plus a few things for myself!

Novica

I ordered these earrings for myself. They are going to look fab with a dress that I just bought. Shhh, don’t tell Mr. Crunchy ;) .

Novica

The really cool thing about Novica is that a lot of their jewelry items come with free jewelry boxes. The boxes vary depending on where your items were made. It’s like an extra special surprise on top of your already awesome purchase.

Novica

Their site is really easy to navigate, but I warn you that it is also really easy to get sucked into their pages and pages of handcrafted artisan goods. Whether you are looking for exoctic home decor items, exquisite jewelry, or just something unlike any other gift Novica is definitely one of my favorite place to find unique gifts for those on your holiday shopping list.

FREE Treat Cards for two days 11/19 and 11/20

Free Greeting Cards

Free Greeting Cards

Yeah for free Treat Cards! Turkey Day is this week, and I LOVE free greeting card offers that come this week. Treat.com has a great free greeting card offer that starts today, 11/19-11/20. You can get a free greeting card during these two days. This is how I get tons of great free cards every year.

Free greeting cards

I love the “Keep Calm and Eat Turkey”. I snagged that one, and personalized it on the inside. When I went to Treat.com, I picked my card and then added some funny lines to the inside to send to my parents for the holidays. My wit isn’t exactly a typical greeting card, so it’s really fun to be able to add my own snark to the card. My mom and dad will love it!

Want to grab your own Treat greeting cards?

1. Just head to Treat.com!

2. Pick your favorite greeting card and personalize it

3. Add it to your cart, and checkout out.

4. Use Treat.com coupon code TREATBLOGR

Send the card to your best friend wishing them a happy Turkey Day, or get one for your sister to pick on her about her Black Friday shopping habit. You can choose to have the card sent to you, or sent straight to the person you are getting it for. Just pay for the stamp!

There are a lot more than Turkey cards. They have holiday cards, birthday cards, thank you cards and more!

Who would you get your free Treat card for? Are you going to add your own funny lines to it, or just fill it out when you get it?

Starbucks helps us honor, Mr. Crunchy Our Favorite Veteran #DeliciousPairings

Starbucks Holiday Blend

Delicious Pairings

I have always had the joke that I had the entire armed forces covered someway in my life. Born in Hawaii as a navy brat, I married and Army soldier, and my second husband, Mr. Crunchy, is a Marine. If my son or daughters join Air Force or Coast Guard, we have them all covered!

Starbucks Holiday Blend

This Veteran’s Day we wanted to surprise Mr. Crunchy with breakfast to say thank you for serving our country while he was in the Marines. He’s a little bit too humble when it comes to his time in service, but we wanted to show him that we cared.

 

The kids thought it would be a great idea to make him breakfast and some cards. They each pulled out the markers, crayons, and colored pencils and got to it. (Ok, my 13 year old needed a little bit of convincing) When they each finished, they were so excited to hide their cards until it was time to give them to their dad.

Starbucks Holiday Blend

It was a bit of a covert mission to get his goodies for his breakfast. I have a cast on my driving foot, so he had to take me to the store. It wasn’t really possible to shop and check out without him seeing what I was getting, but I had a good story. We picked up the Starbucks holiday blend and pumpkin muffins. I just told him that I was trying to get in the holiday spirit (wink wink). He didn’t have to know which holiday.

Sam's Club Pumpkin Muffin

On Veteran’s Day morning, my son fired up the coffee maker and pulled out the pumpkin muffins to prepare breakfast for Mr Crunchy. Mr Crunchy is an early riser, so it’s not like we could actually make him breakfast in bed, but we were able to surprise him with breakfast. My kids all loved jumping out and screaming “Happy Veteran’s Day, Daddy,” when he turned into the kitchen.

Ok, I will admit I had some of the coffee before Mr. Crunchy got to it, and I have to say that Starbucks Holiday Blend is one of the things I look forward to most during the holiday season. With it’s subtle notes of  ginger, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange, and cloves, it was amazing on it’s own and even better when complimented with the pumpkin muffin.

We normally drink Starbucks in the store, but we thought this day it would be a great addition at Mr. Crunchy’s Veteran’s Day breakfast~ He was all smiles that day, so I guess it was a good idea!

To learn more about Starbucks and Sams Club, make sure to follow them:

 

 

 

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Starbucks. #CBias #SocialFabric

Scrabble Catch Phrase and Enter to win your one too!

Scrabble Catch Phrase

I will be the first to admit that I am a sucker when it comes to board games. Our family has  a long history of family game nights, and each Christmas we always make sure to get each of our children a new game.

 Scrabble Catch Phrase

That’s why I was so excited to included Scrabble Catch Phrase in this year’s holiday gift guide! My family is really guilty about having almost every Scrabble game known to man. We even have United States scrabble!

Scrabble Catch Phrase is a new electronic cousin to the classic Scrabble Game. It’s a fun fast paced game where you try to get your friends and family to guess a phrase without saying the actual word. You keep passing it around until your time is up. The more words you get right the faster it goes. It’s a whole lot of fun! I warn you it does induce anxiety though.

My family and I try to have family game night once a week, but lately it’s been once a month. I thought playing Scrabble Catch Phrase would be a great way to spend sometime together as a family. The kids were actually pretty awesome at it! They must’ve had fun too because they are constantly begging to play it again.

Scrabble Catch Phrase

Shhhh don’t tell them Scrabble Catch Phrase is also helping them improve their thinking skills. They have to think really fast in order to play the game, so it’s a good way to help your kids think on their toes. Heck, it kept us parents our toes too.

Start your own holiday traditions with Hickory Farms, and enter to win a large gift basket too!

Hickory Farms

For more than 60 years Hickory Farms gifts have been a classic holiday tradition that brings family and friends together. I know my family sure has members of holiday traditions that included Hickory Farms. My mom actually even worked in one of their stores when I was about 8 years old. It was so neat to pick her up from the mall knowing that she was working in one of my absolute favorite stores during the holiday season!

Hickory Farms Family Favorites

One of the traditions I remember growing up was that we would have a full cheese and sausage platter for snacking on Christmas Eve. We would go to see a movie to try and make the day go by faster. After the movie, we would head home to snack on some Hickory Farm num-nums. Then we were of to look at all the holiday lights throughout the town. Depending on the year, we would even drive around in our new Christmas pajamas that my mom and dad had gotten us that year. It was definitely a tradition that I looked forward to even into my teen years.

Now that I have a family of my own, we continue all of those same traditions with our kids. Even though they are are getting older now; 13, 11, and 10, they still enjoy those Christmas eve traditions. They especially love hearing about the way that Nana and Grandad had the same tradition with me as a child. It helps them feel connected to their grandparents even though they live over 1,000 miles away.

Many Americans have a distinct memory of Hickory Farms at their holiday gatherings; HickoryFarms is very proud to be a part of those nostalgic moments and continues to focus on and celebrate its long heritage of tradition and authentic holiday memories.

My kids know exactly when the holidays are starting when they start to see Hickory Farm products again at the kiosk at the mall or in our local grocery stores. Trust me they are little ninjas when it comes to finding Hickory Farms! Just in case you aren’t on the prowl like my kids are, let me tell you, you can find Hickory Farms at Hickory Farms.com, at many kiosks in malls across America, and even in over 700 retailers!

Here are some of our favorite Hickory Farm goodie baskets! It’s always hard for us to just choose one each year, we were able to try this one this year and it was amazing!

Hickory Farms

N

Compensation and products for review were provided by Hickory Farms via MomTrends. I received a free sample of the product for the purpose of this review and to facilitate a giveaway.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Hickory Farms

Check out Shutterfly Holiday Cards

Photo Christmas Cards

 

Oh, I’m dreaming of a white christmas. With every christmas card I write. ~Bing Crosby

One of my favorite memories as a child is all the holiday cards my family would get from our friends and family across the country. We always loved looking at all the pictures and how everyone was changing over the years.

Now that I have a family of my own, I have wanted to continue this tradition with my kids. That is why I am stoked to have a chance to review the line of amazing holiday cards and photos from Shutterfly.

Photo Christmas Cards

Shutterfly has an amazing collection of Photo Christmas Cards, Holiday Cards, and regular Christmas cards. I love how many options they have, and how each of the different card lines has so many customizable options. You guys know me, I am always about making something my own. With Shutterfly, you really can make a unique holiday card that is perfect for your family to send out this holiday season.

Our family’s problem is choosing which one we want. We always like to try to do something different every year. We usually stick with the holiday cards, that way we are wishing a happy holiday, whichever one they may celebrate, that year. We usually take our picture during the Johnny Appleseed festival here in September. It’s a great way to see just how much the kids have grown ever year!

Holiday Cards

One things that is for sure, is that ordering the cards every year with Shutterfly is super easy. Even those that are technologically challenged can handle order their cards. You just upload your favorite pictures to your account, personalize your cards, and order! They even give you options to go ahead and send them to all of your friends and family. They just charge you for the stamp! Now THAT saves a lot of time!

During the holiday seasons, make sure to check out the Shutterfly special offers page. They offer tons of great offers and discounts that fit you and your family this holiday season.

Spider Man Pre Order Party:Our Spidey Senses were tingly #SoFab #Cbias #SpidermanWMT

The Amazing Spider Man Pre-Order

My whole family are huge Spider Man fans. We own all of the versions from the early 2000s, and now we own the newest movie too! In the spirit of Spider Man, we decided to through a huge party to share the release of The Amazing Spiderman with our friends and family. Since we purchased The Amazing Spider Man pre order, we were able to watch the movie on Vudu.com even before we received our DVD!

The Amazing Spider Man

Since it was around Halloween, we decided to throw a pre-launch and a Halloween party. The kids and I had so much fun planning the party. Even though I had just had surgery, we still had a blast planning and preparing for our guests to arrive. Of course, we had tons of great spider themed goodies for our party. That was the most fun part!

The Amazing Spider Man Pre-Order

My kids helped me make the party extra Spidey special. We decorated cupcakes with spider webs on top, and then put plastic spiders in the top of the cupcakes. Plus, I found these adorable cupcake holders at Walmart that held one cupcake. It had legs on it so the whole cupcake cake looked like a giant spider. Want to hear a funny story? Mr. Crunchy didn’t realize that I had put plastic spiders on the the top of the cupcakes, and he started to chew on one of the toy spiders! Oops!

The Amazing Spider Man Pre-Order

The Amazing Spider Man Pre-Order

When we were also at Walmart, we grabbed a few of the Marketplace pizzas. I had only had them a few times, but I warn you they are addicting. They are large enough to feed an army, plus their toppings are amazing. We even saw that some of them had The Amazing Spiderman on them. Plus, they had stand up Spider Man signs that you can collect. I thought that was neat!

The Amazing Spider Man

About 15 of our nearest and dearest friends showed up to have a little spidey fun. I think my favorite costume of the night was my friends’ son. He is about six months old, and he came dressed as a monkey. He was absolutely fricking adorable!

The Amazing Spider Man

We also had a zombie bride, a My Little Pony, a cat, a viking, and of course Spider Man (that was my God daughter). Everyone did such a great job dressing up. I came as the laid up invalid. I tell ya, my bandage is the size of a small country, and that is scary enough. No need to wear a costume!

The Amazing Spider Man

After stuffing our faces, we all settled down to watch the movie. Everyone really enjoyed it! I love great movies like The Amazing Spiderman. It’s such a great excuse to get family and friends together for a great time!

Want to learn more about The Amazing Spiderman? Make sure to follow them:

Closer to launch date, The Amazing Spider Man is going to launch an amazing augmented reality app! You can scan things, like specially marked Marketplace pizza, to unlock the things in the app! It’s supposed to be a really cool app!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment #CBias #SocialFabric

Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charger: The Holidays aren’t complete without batteries!

Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charger

 Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charger

How many times have you had someone give you or your child a gift, and they didn’t send the fricking batteries. There is nothing worse than not having batteries for a new toy on Christmas morning!~

Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charger, and all the Duracell batteries are great for all of your holiday toys and gadgets! My family has been Duracell users for years, and I love all the alternative charging methods they are coming out with now that technology has gotten so advanced!

Duracell has a great Rechargeable Instant USB charger that I am in LOVE with! My iPhone battery is a dud. I can’t even use my phone for one day without it dying at inappropriate times, but I am too cheap to pay the $100 it costs for a new battery. With this new rechargeable battery, I don’t have to worry about that. You just plug in the USB charger in your computer to charge. Once the light is green disconnect it and it’s ready to use.

This means that when my cell phone is about to die, I can just plug my iPhone cord into this portable battery and charge my phone! This device is small and portable enough that you can just throw it in your purse. Plus there is a great on/off switch that allows you to save the charge.  I tell you, I am in love!

The Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charge offers additional talk time on the following devices:

  • iPod Classic: up to 50 hours
  • iPod Nano: up to 45 hours
  • iPhone 3G: up to 180 minutes
  • Blackberry Curve: up to 180 minutes
  • Motorola RAZR v3: up to 180 minutes

You can use this battery on anything that has a USB charger. Even if your device isn’t on this list, you should be doing a happy dance, because your device won’t run out of power again! I know I am stoked!

 

I did receive a promotional item to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. May contain affiliate links, and prices subject to change.

Daily Chef Bruschetta: Happy Birthday Italian Style! #MealsTogether #Cbias

Daily Chef Bruschetta

Not too many people actually know the story behind my youngest daughter’s name. The story begins when I was a little girl. Growing up with a common name, like Ashley, was really quite exhausting as a kid. I was constantly getting mixed up with other children, and never felt truly unique in my name. Having felt this way, I vowed to find names that were special and significant when I named my own children.

Daily Chef Bruschetta

My daughter’s name is Bayla. Her name was chosen for her Italian heritage on her father’s side. We adapted it from the name Bella, which means beautiful in Italian. We didn’t want people calling her Bella, a la Twilight. Instead we wanted it to be pronounced Bay- la; like the Italians do.

Bayla never tires of hearing the story behind her name. She is really proud of her Italian heritage, and loves sharing that story over and over. With her birthday coming up, we thought it would be a great way to surprise her with an Italian dinner party full of family, love, life, and of course bruschetta.

Daily Chef Bruschetta

To shop for our party, we headed over to Sam’s club to grab a few things. I wanted to make sure we had some of her favorites at the party. Bay really loves bruschetta and focaccia bread as well.

Daily Chef Bruschetta

When we were done, we had tons of goodies for the party. We grabbed an amazing Daily Chef Bruschetta to serve the family, plus penne pasta with Alfredo sauce, and the most amazing focaccia bread. We even had panna cotta for dessert. It was absolutely fabulous.

Daily Chef Bruschetta

Daily Chef Bruschetta

My eldest daughter was really excited about the party, and wanted to be “chef” for the day. She loves to cook. Her Italian grandmother would be very proud! It touched my heart that she wanted to help make her little sister’s day special, and that she put so much love into the meal that she prepared all by herself!

Daily Chef Bruschetta

Life is about family, love, and good food. It’s about spending time together and celebrating each other. Any occassion big or small, make sure you celebrate it with the ones you love. I know our family is stronger because we do.

Want to learn more about our Daily Chef Bruschetta shopping trip? Make sure to check out our Google + Album

To learn more about Daily Chef Bruschetta, make sure to follow them:

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and #CBias #SocialFabric

Wear Pink and Be a Drill Wielding Diva!

Skil Handheld Power dril

Skil Handheld Power drilI am in love with all the DIY projects that I have been doing lately. One thing I haven’t yet confused to is my love of power tools. The more unique the gadget the more I have to have it.

A lot of my projects lately have really odd angles. It’s a pain in the butt to try and tighten screws with a straight screw driver. That’s why I was giddy when I heard about the new pink SKIL iXO Palm-sized screwdriver kit.

Ok, so pink is about my LEAST favorite color on the planet, but this electric screwdriver is awesome. Plus, it supports and amazing cause.

Skil has joined together with the Susan B Koman foundation. For each of their pink screwdrivers that they sell they are making donations to support breast cancer research.

This great screwdriver comes with 5 separate drivers, an adjustable angled attachment, power cord, and it’s own carrying Skil Screwdrivercase! The battery on this handy little screwdriver can hold a charge up to 18 months.

As if all those features weren’t good enough, 10% of every sale will be donated to the Susan G Komen breast cancer foundation. They are making donations for all purchases betwee Aug 1 – December 31st up to $100,000. Think of all the lives that can be helped for such a great donation like this!

What would be the first project you would use your SKIL iXO Palm-Sized Screwdriver kit? Would you finish a new DIY project,or just use it to fix every day household problems?

To learn more about Skil make sure to follow them:

www.SKILiXO.com

www.facebook.com/skil and

www.twitter.com/skiltools

 

I did receive a free product to facilitate my review, but all opinions are my own.

Look ELFing Fabulous for less than $20! #EyesLipsFace #Cbias

Eyes Lips Face

Being a mom, and being a broke mom, doesn’t mean that you can’t still look fab. I used to be the mom that was always washed up. Crazed bags under my eyes with my hair in a pony tail. Yup, that was me!

Fast forward ten years, and I have learned about great brands like Eyes, Lips, Face makeup. It is not only quality makeup, but it is frugal too. Anytime I would see a $1 on a cosmetic, I would usually pass it over. Too often “cheap” cosmetics were worthless. They didn’t last long, and they usually wrecked my complexion. Eyes, lips, face has me signing a different tune.

Eyes Lips Face

Eyes Lips Face

How much do you think you could get for $20? A lipstick and two eyeshadows, or how about a foundation and a lip gloss? With other cosmetics brands, that is about all you could get. That is definitely not a complete look for $20 bucks. I decided to put #EyesLipsFace to the test and see what I could get for $20. Off to Walmart I went, and here’s what I scored all for quite a deal:

  • Eyeshadow case
  • 2 Eye shadow colors
  • Eyeshadow pencil/liner
  • 2 cream eyeliners
  • Tweezers
  • Tinted Moisturizer
  • Lip Stain
  • Translucent Matte Powder in a compact and blush!
Eyes Lips Face Makeup

It’s crazy how much stuff I could get! Plus, all of this stuff is going to last me for a while. Check out the difference this makeup makes. Here’s the before. (Please refrain from the jokes) I am not quite sure why my “before” pics I always look like I just rolled out of bed.

Eyes Lips Face Makeup

Now let’s wave the magical wand of Eyes, Lips, Face makeup. Here’s what I looked like after less than 15 minutes in the bathroom. (I threw in a hair cut too while I was at it)

Eyes Lips Face

I love the fact for little effort and little cash, that I can look fab. It makes Mr. Crunchy happy too because I am not breaking the bank to support my makeup habit!

Want to checkout my Eyes, Lips, Face shopping adventure? Make sure to check out my Google+ album!

Want to learn more about Eyes Lips Face? Make sure to follow them.

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and e.l.f. #CBias #SocialFabric

 

 

Fijit Friends Newbies: The Toy to have this year!

Fijits Friends Newbies

Even though my kids are older. They have always been big fans of Fijits. They are these interactive toys that your child can take care of as a “pet.” (Think Furby but MUCH less annoying) Last year Fijits were one of THE hot toys to have for the holiday season. This year I predict that Fijit Friends Newbies are going to be HOT.

Fijits Friends Newbies

They are a smaller version of last year’s Fijits! They are really cute. My kids were able to play with the regular, Halloween, and Holiday Fijits Friends Newbies. My son was pretty stoked about his bat one this year. It was his favorite color, purple!

As a parent, I like the interactive toys because it really teaches cause and effect. You have to take care of your Fijit Friend Newbie, and then let it interact with other Fijits. It lets out these noises when it’s happy or sings when it wants to play with other Fijits. It is really neat to watch the kids try and figure out what makes the Fijit do all the things it is capable of doing.

Fijits Friends Newbies

Since my kids are older, I thought I would give them the challenge of figuring out how to make their Fijits happy without the instructions. It didn’t take them long before they were able to get them to sing, duet, and even coo. I never thought I would be using an interactive toy to teach my kids about cause and effect and even responsibility. (Can we say homeschool lesson?)

There are so many great seasonal Fijit Friends Newbies. They would make a great gift for any child this holiday season! If this year is going to be anything like last year, these are going to be hard to find. I would go ahead and check them out at Mattel.com, and then see where you can snag them before they sell out.

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Mattel Fijit Friends. I received product samples to facilitate my review.

Add a little fabulous to your home with Mohawk Home!

mohawk mission

Moving into a bigger home in January was super exciting, but it also left my family with a LOT of empty space. We went from a 1200 sq. ft. home to almost at 2500 sq. ft home. There were a lot of spaces to fill and places to decorate!

FIND KEY PIECES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

When you buy a new home it can be quite expensive, so when you are looking to decorate you really want to find key pieces that make a big difference! That’s why one of the first things that I looked for was a fabulous rug for our entry way.

We have hardwood floors throughout part of our home. They are gorgeous, but the front foyer needed a little extra something. We found this most amazing “stained glass” rug from Mohawk Home. It really goes with our country/rustique motif we try to have throughout our home. I never would’ve thought that something as simple as adding a rug could add so much depth to a space in our home.

SOLD AT MANY LOCAL RETAILERS

Mohawk Home is a great company that offers a wonderful selections of floor and area rugs at tons of retailers. I have been in the market for area rugs for  a while now, and most of the rugs I was probably looking at were Mohawks. They are sold at Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Walmart, and Kohls just to name a few!

You can also find the complete line of Mohawk Home rugs online at http://home.mohawkflooring.com/.

If your home needs a little extra something, I highly recommend them. Their rugs are affordable and high quality. You won’t have any trouble with your purchase, but you will have trouble trying to pick just one to buy!

Holy Underwear Batman! Give Your Underwear an Upgrade with MaLo Underwear! #CBias #MaLoUnderwear

malo25

From time to time I share interesting tidbits about my husband, Mr. Crunchy. He’s that big teddy bear, ex-Marine type and I love him to bits. What I don’t love is his underwear habit. Yes, my dears my husband has an undewear habit. His habit is to wear his underwear until they are more holy than the Pope on Sunday.

Malo Underwear

Working a pretty heavy labor job, he tends to blow through pants pretty quickly. He is so rough on his underwear that I have had to take to cutting them up in order to prevent him from wearing them again! (If he had some time, he would probably sew them back together just to be stubborn). Ever since the beginning of our marriage I have had to take to shredding, ripping, tearing his divine underwear. That way, I know if something ever happened to him he would have a WHOLE pair of drawers on when it happened.

He’s about down to his last pair so it was time to upgrade his underwear and find something that was not only comfortable, but would last the abuse that Mr. Crunchy was going to put it through. (Do you know how hard it is to shop for a man who’s thighs are the size of redwood trunks?)

 

Recently we decided to head to Kmart. I had heard that Mario Lopez had a line of men’s underwear that is both cute and comfy. (I think I just heard Mr. Crunchy cringe at the word cute).  I have to say that yes, they did look pretty comfy. The colors were a little bit different. Mr. Crunchy REFUSED to wear a pair of bright green underdrawers.

Malo Underwear

Malo UnderwearAfter searching around a little bit, we were able to find something that was going to turn the tide in the battle of the underpants. Mr. Crunchy was able to find some boxer briefs that had colorful bands but the bottoms were gray or black that he loves! (As much as a man can love his underwear anyway)

Ladies are you ready to end the war against holy underwear? Say, aye! Then head over to check out Mario Lopez’s underwear. (I mean the package, um!)

Want to learn more about upgrading your underwear? Follow #MaLoUnderwear !

 

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and MaLo #CBias #SocialFabric