Karmin flat iron giveaway

I hope I don't appear to be too desperate but maybe I am....I really want a new flat iron in case you haven't noticed. So yet another giveaway. You can enter the giveaway here: http://www.makingmyamericandream.com/2010/08/karmin-g3-salon-pro-hair-styling-iron.html
I really hope I win won... it'd be so nice... if not I'll just need to practice a little patience I guess until I can get a nice salon style one.

Big giveaways coming!

Wow so if you aren't into giveaways yet... you should start Sept 1st! This is gonna be big! You can see the full preview here: Bump 2 Baby. Basically, if you want to be pregnant, know someone that's pregnant or has little ones, have a little one yourself or are in any way associated with people that want to eventually be pregnant or are or whatever..... you want to tune into this. It's gonna be huge! Amazing giveaways are planned. Lots of baby gear and stuff. I pretty much would love anything that they are offering. If I don't use it I'm sure I'll find someone who could. This is just an amazing opportunity and by blogging about it now I can gain some extra entries before the big even begins. So here's some pics of what can be won.... seriously... great opportunity.

A new crib set

A couple different strollers

A convertible crib!

A new car seat!

And this little beauty. This is what I needed for Charlotte. Having to hold a baby on your lap and feed them rice cereal for the first time is terrible! We had nothing to put her in. She hated her bouncer and didn't want to sit in the swing but I think she would've liked a chair like that... maybe I'll win this and have it for next time around!






So as you can see some pretty sweet stuff! I'm so excited for this... I hope I can get something good... a new crib would be nice too. Having hand me downs isn't bad but it'd be nice to have some new stuff!

Dryel at home dry cleaning kit

Okay so I'm not sure who is reading these but if you know me you know me and my family go to church and that means Scott wears suits.... suits that are dry clean only. Yeah, and we can't afford to clean them all the time and luckily he only wears them once a week for 3 hrs and sometimes more if he has a meeting. So its ok because if they get dirty its either from the dog at home or Charlotte at church. I think it'd be sweet to win this giveaway to try a new product. It could save us money in the long run and I can clean a couple coats I've had sitting around and haven't worn in years since they need to be dry cleaned. So if you'd like to check this giveaway out you can here: dryel giveaway. If you would just rather buy it you can go to walmart and buy it then they have a link to a mail in rebate to get it free so if you can put the money out now you can get it back! If I had the money now I'd do it but oh well. Hope you go and check it out!

New music

So I saw this really cool thing Scott's cousin, Liz, had on her blog that doesn't just play music but music videos. I love to listen to music so I created a new playlist for this blog and edited my other. So here's some of my fav stuff and I'm sure I'll be changing and updating stuff but this is what I like so I hope you enjoy!

My favorite things to clean with

So I'm kind of a neat freak. I have now developed a cleaning schedule for the week so I don't spend an entire day cleaning. Thursday is my day to clean our bathrooms. I have tried and tested a few products on our toilets and showers. When we first moved in our house was fixed up after being a rental. From the looks of the unfinished basement and some other things, it must have taken quite the beating and probably wasn't cleaned very well. We have hard water as it is and you could still see hard water stains. So I tried any and everything to help get rid of them. I've come down to my favorites. When I buy these I seriously get excited  to use them and see how well they work How sad am I... I get excited to clean. So here is my list. If you haven't tried them, you should. They are awesome and I love the way my bathroom looks after using them. First for sinks and tubs I use:

Kaboom foam-tastic. It sprays on blue then turns white when its ready. Its my new favorite....just barely pulled the lead from the arm and hammer oxy clean spray.

This is a good one too, to remove hard water and stuff. I loved it too but kinda like the foam spray better

This is my new favorite for toilets. I saw a commercial and got some at Costco. Its amazing. And it smells really good too. It smells like wintergreen mints. And it works so good. Highly recommend it.






I just had to share some of these with you since I'm so into a clean house. I've noticed a different spirit about our home when I keep it cleaner everyday. I feel like I'm in a better mood with our home being cleaner. I now sweep and mop 3 times a week, vacuum twice and dust twice. If you don't already I totally recommend splitting things up like that. It's easier to clean in between and things stay cleaner longer. So hope you enjoy my little review. Kinda sad I'm so passionate about cleaning but hey.... I like to clean.... its kinda my therapy... what can I say?

Chicken Marsala and Cranberry Spinach Salad recipe

Alright, my first recipe post! Well I made this last night and it was so amazing! My mother in-law gave me this cookbook called Everyday Light Meals from Taste of Home. She knows I try to cook healthier foods and we try to eat good so I was so excited to get this book. I seriously have cooked out of only this since I got it last Mother's day... minus a homemade pizza or calzone recipe I'd make. So I love this book and every recipe I've tried I have loved. This one was probably one of my favorites though. I forgot to take pics of what mine looked like so I used the pic in the book.... I just thought mine looked better though :)

So anyway, if you wanna try it out, its not too difficult to make. Scott and I aren't mushroom fans either but the way these ones cook up is so good. We loved the mushrooms. Didn't bug us at all. The salad is good too but if you don't plan on eating it all if you have a smaller family then toss some salad with some dressing in a seperate bowl so it doesn't all wilt overnight or just make a 1/2 recipe. Anyway, here's the recipes below! Oh and remember your chicken needs to marinate for 8 hrs at least or overnight. Your chicken will be so flavorful if you let it sit overnight and while this cooks you can whip up the salad pretty quick and have it done just in time for the chicken to come out of the oven!

Chicken Marsala
6 (4 oz each) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup fat free Italian salad dressing
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 c marsala wine or 3 tbsp apple juice plus 5 tbsp additional broth ( I used the broth of course)
1 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 c minced fresh parsley

Flatten chicken to 1/2 in thickness. Place in a large resealable plastic bag; add salad dressing. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hrs or overnight.
Drain and discard marinade. Combine the flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika and pepper; sprinkle over both sides of chicken. In a large nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, cook chicken in 1 tbsp oil and butter for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer to a 13 x 9 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray.
Gradually add broth and wine or apple juice mixture to skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Strain sauce; set aside. In the same skillet, cook mushrooms in remaining oil for 2 minutes; drain. Stir sauce into mushrooms; heat through. Pour over chicken ; sprinkle with parsley. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Cranberry Spinach Salad
8 c fresh baby spinach
1 c dried cranberries
2 medium pears, cored and chopped
1/4 c cider vinegar
5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 c olive oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp chopped pecans, toasted

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, cranberries and pears. In a blender, combine the vinegar, sugar, onion, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and paprika; cover and process until blended. While processing, gradually add oil in a steady stream. Add the sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pecans.

So there it is. It makes for a really yummy healthy dinner and even if you don't like mushrooms give it a chance. We were shocked!

Baby legs giveaway!

Ok so how totally cute are these? Little leg warmers and they have the cutest designs and patters.

You can find a link to this giveaway here: http://ladyvdzine.com/2010/08/24/babylegs-review-and-giveaway/
Or if you wanna purchase (they have some on sale for $6!) you can go here: http://www.babylegs.com/Leg-Warmers.aspx

These would be so great since our fall and winter are pretty cool and it'd be nice for Charlotte to have something other than just tights to keep her little skinny legs warm. I love that they have newborn ones too! Next time around I'm so getting some!  It'd be way easier to change diapers and not have to take pants on and off all the time. I just think they're so cute and I hope I win so I can try some out!

Cute as a button giveaway

So I have Charlotte, my sweet little girl, and I love to make her girly. My mom had bought her one tutu already but I thought, hey, why not try to win another one. I technically could make one but a free tutu instead of a cheaper one after I buy materials is much better. They are just starting an etsy site so they're kinda inbetween but you can see some pics straight from the giveaway post here: http://everydaymama22.blogspot.com/2010/08/cute-as-button-product-review-giveaway.html
or you can head over to their facebook site and see some too here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137336242943829&ref=ts#!/group.php?gid=137336242943829&v=photos&so=0
I think they're so cute and would love to get Charlotte one.

One like this would be way cute for the 4th next year and she could get all patriotic and cute....Charlotte's like my little barbie doll

Got my gloveables!

So I ordered some of these from Flirty Aprons:

Mine don't have the bows sadly but they are still really cute. Since our dishwasher is broken and I have to wash everything by hand, my hands have been so dry and icky. And I have other gloves I wear when I do the bathrooms but I hate the latex smell and they make my hands really sweaty so I wanted something different. Thought I'd give these a shot. They are really comfy and my hands don't get gross like the other ones. Plus I feel better wearing 'em. Makes me feel a little more girly while I scrub food off of pots and pans and plates. Funny thing is, I don't mind doing dishes as much anymore. As long as I can watch something on the laptop it isn't so bad. So yeah, I think everyone needs a pair of gloves like these so we can at least feel a little cute while we're sweating ands scrubbing away. I think I may purchase a couple more in the future. One for cleaning bathrooms and one for when I'm cooking and cutting up stuff. So yeah, here's a link to their site: http://www.flirtyaprons.com/
Check it out. I also like that they have mother daughter stuff too. I think there stuff could make great gifts.... especially for someones bridal shower!

Right on the wall giveaway

Alright so I've been dying to do something with Charlottes bathroom. I've already ordered some vinyl stickers but I know I'm gonna need some more and so I'm trying to win some here: http://www.jessicascoupons.com/2010/08/right-on-walls-review-special-offer.html. I've come across Right on the walls before and wanted to use them but didn't have the money to get what I wanted. So hopefully I can win!
Here are some pics of what I've done with Charlotte's bathroom so far. I basically did this yesterday evening:

I went to home depot and instead of paint I decided to spray paint. This was more of a baby blue and had a few chips in the paint. I wasn't gonna re-do it but then when I saw how cheap spray paint is, I went for it. I actually think it goes better with the shower curtain. This was a pain in the butt to hang and took forever. I had to try to shave metal of the slits on the back so my screws would fit. It was a huge pain and probably took me like 2 hours to finally get it hung right.

My mom had all this stuff from our house in CA. We were gonna use it in the bathroom my sis and I shared but never did so she gave it to me and its been great to have a cute kids bathroom now. These are just some wall hangings she had found and they fit perfect.

Charlotte's bathroom isn't very big so we didn't have a ton of room but its a little bigger than my bathroom in CA so I knew it'd fit here. I decided to go with a light purple to match the sticker I have on the mirror and the shower curtain. I just think its a really pretty color. I love the hanger... its way cute and just the wave cut in general. I used to use a design like that whenever I'd doodle growing up so I always loved it for as long as we've had it.

I got this sticker for $3 from somewhere... can't remember but its way cute and figure when Charlotte gets older and uses the potty, it'll be a good reminder of cleanliness.

So anyway, that's what I've got so far and I hope I win so I can get some more color in here since I opted not to paint. Re-decorating is fun!

Vapur Giveaway

I had posted about this one on my other blog but just had to repost. I think this is such a neat product and I hope to purchase some soon for our family since they are relatively cheap. To enter the giveaway head over to the site here: Vapur Giveaway and if you would rather just purchase the product itself you can find it here: Vapur. Only $9 a bottle.... not bad... totally reusable and dishwasher safe. Oh and you can freeze it too! So check out the giveaway site for more details and check out Vapur's site as well. Good stuff!

Misikko Hana Professional Flat Iron (pink edition) Giveaway

Alright, first giveaway post! This is a good one. I really need a new straightener. A good one. So I found a great giveaway on Dustinnikki. I'm so excited I came across this because I've wanted a good flat iron for so long. Mine is killing my hair but its the best I have and I won't waste money on one (plus I really don't have the extra cash for a new one). So I make due but there's nothing wrong with trying to win one right? Plus how cute is this one... it's pink.

Here's a link to Misikko's site:http://www.misikko.com/ They have lots of professional products for cheaper prices and from what I've read from other people's reviews is that the better salon style hair dryers and flat irons and what not, work way better than just the normal cheap ones we buy. So I'm really glad my sister is taking cosmotology this year so she can teach me lots of stuff and gimme the proof! But anyway, exciting giveaway, check it out!

Welcome!

Well this is my brand new blog started today! I've been thinking about doing this the last couple weeks. I hope to be able to share with you giveaways that are going on through other sites. I have found so many great products out there but can't really afford a whole lot of extras but at least you can check 'em out and maybe find something that is useful or just fun for you. I also will share stuff from giveaways I've won. Another reason I really wanted to start a new blog is to share recipes with you. If you know me you know I love to cook and I try to cook healthy... minus the sweet treats we make every now and again :) but hopefully you'll see something you like. This is also just a chance for me to be me. I just thought I'd separate all these things from my other blog which I mainly wanted to keep for just info about my family so for friends and family we don't see all the time. So anyway I hope people enjoy this site and I hope I can give you new ideas or help direct you to some great giveaways so you can try to win too!