Florida Orange Juice and Ice Age 4 are teaming up!

There are a few things this family loves and doesn’t mess around with. One of them is our Florida Orange Juice.  We love 100% all natural Florida Orange Juice like Simply Orange. We buy it constantly for us and the kids.  I love that it’s a 100% juice, not from concentrate, and it taste just like freshly squeezed oranges.

I love Florida Orange Juice for the great flavor, but I also love that it’s a healthier option to give my kids. One 8 oz. glass of 100% orange juice provides you with at least 100% of the Daily Value for vitamin C. And getting that daily dose of Vitamin C is an essential part of everyone’s health and nutrition.

This summer Florida Orange Juice is helping to promote the release of Ice Age 4 (in theatres July 13), with their awesome idea to “Chill Out and Bring the Family Together.”  I think this is a great way to promote health and nutrition, with a whole lot of fun thrown in.  What kid wouldn’t love a glass of cold OJ while watching one of their favorite movies, right?

My little ones can’t wait to head to the theatres to see the new Ice Age 4 movie, but until it’s released we plan on having a whole lot of “Chilled Out” moments at home.  This summer we’re going to be making frozen fruit pops with our Florida Orange juice, and Orange Cream Shakes/Smoothies while we settle in for movie night with our family. 

I bet your kids and family would love a special movie night with Florida Orange Juice too. You just have to head out and buy your favorite brand and make up something delicious!
You can head over to the Florida Orange Juice site for great information, ideas, and even recipes. Or check out their Facebook page for great tips and info too!

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Pollinate Media Group. The opinions I shared about Florida Orange Juice are completely my own.  

My Birthday Beach trip with the kiddos

I am one step closer to being a grown up since I turned 29 last week. It’s only 1 year away from 30. Though right now I am leaning towards deciding that a grown up age is more like 45 or 50… We’ll see. ;)  We planned a mini vacation at the last minute and took the kids to Monterey, California so that they could play on the beach and see the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Justin was A-FREAKING-MAZING, and let me enjoy the beach time reading a book or two on my new Kindle Fire (Yes, happy birthday to me!), all while he played with the kids. He is the best dad you guys. THE BEST.  The weather was great, and I swear one day, if I win the lottery I am buying us a house by the ocean. 

I feel very blessed to have my amazing husband and kiddos. God is so great!   

Backyard BBQ’s just got a whole lot better #worldmarketsweeps

The past week was pretty awesome. I had a birthday and turned 29 on the 19th. We took a trip to Monterey and the kids played on the beach and got to visit the aquarium.  Justin had the whole week off of work.  And I splurged and bought us a new outdoor table and chairs and some awesome grilling accessories.  Quite the week, right?  It was busy and fun, and full of family moments. And we ended the week with an awesome backyard BBQ.

I took a shopping trip to World Market when we came back from the beach, and I was so excited when I saw came across our new outdoor table and chairs. I fell in love with the design of the round wood table and the chairs, and knew that I wanted it for our backyard. I think it’s perfect for our family, and can see us eating plenty of summer meals outside because of it.

After deciding on getting the table and chairs, I picked up some grilling accessories from World Market too, because I knew we’d be doing our BBQ right with them.


Seriously, how yummy do the kabobs and jalapenos look?  As good as they looked, they tasted even better!  The cute skewers are my new favorite item. I love grilling kabobs, because I can load them up with delicious veggies and protein.  I made these ones with different colored peppers, yellow squash, onions, and turkey sausage.

World Market has a ton of products that are perfect for your summer BBQ’s and parties. I fall in love with something they have every time I go there.  This trip was no different. I made a mental list of all the things I need to go back and check out.

To make your summer even more amazing, World Market has launched a Summer Getaway Sweepstakes. Each week during the sweepstakes World Market is giving away a trip for 4 anywhere Southwest Flies, including hotel accommodations and a $500 World Market gift card. You can enter easily, by heading over to the Cost Plus World Market Facebook page.  You can also take advantage of their Buy and Fly in Store promotion. When you make a $20 or more purchase in the store you will receive a 15% off coupon for Southwest Airlines to purchase a flight anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. The Summer Getaway Sweepstakes and the Buy and Fly in store promotion runs from June 16 to July 13, 2012.

To stay connected with World Market and all of their great in-store promotions and deals be sure to like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. They keep their page and feed updated with all of their latest and greatest deals, so it’s definitely worth it.
Can’t wait to see what else they’ve got planned for summer. What about you?!
Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Cost Plus World Market. All of my experiences and opinions are my own.

Ever heard of Nrelate?

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but at the bottom of my posts, I have a few thumbnail images and links to other posts I’ve done, and one image and link that has been written by someone else.   This is because I use a blog plugin that is designed by nRelate.  It looks a little something like this:

You can see three of my posts, and one that is written on another blog, but is considered related content in regards to that actual post. If you were to click on one of the thumbnails or links it would take you to a different post, hopefully another one of mine that you would enjoy reading. 
nRelate is a great tool that allows your readers to see more of your awesome content, by showing them other posts they might like. Newer and older content is shown so that readers can click through to your other posts. You can customize the related content plugin, by deciding how many thumbnails you want shown to readers, and the best part is you can actually make money by using the nRelate plugins for Wordpress or Blogger.  The number of ads or sponsored posts shown in the nRelate plugin can also be decided by you too.  Right now I only have one ad/sponsored content being shown.
nRelate is a free plugin for all users, and it is SEO friendly because it doesn’t redirect users through its own site like other related content sites currently do. 
I was able to install the nRelate plugin after having a little help from the nRelate team. Honestly, I have a ton of friends who use the nRelate plugin and installed it onto their blog very easily, and by themselves, but I needed some help. Which lucky for me, the service provided by the nRelate team is over the top and fantastic.  They were really quick with answering any and all of my questions, and I wouldn’t hesitate to call on them if I ever had a problem with the plugin. They make you feel like they are 100% there for you. 
I’ve been using the nRelate plugin for a while now, and have never regretted switching to it.  If you’re looking to add some new plugins to your blog, ones that might draw readers to more of your blog posts and something that pays, then you should definitely try the nRelate plugin. 
You can also check out nRelate on Facebook too.
Disclosure: This is a sponsered post for nRelate… but all the experiences and opinions of how kick butt the nRelate plugin really is, are my own.

My List…

I know I’ve not been a good blogger here lately. I don’t know whether it was a blogging rut, or blogging burn out, but I just needed some kind of break. I dove into reading some books, and got lost in the pages. Sorry I didn’t bring you all with me. ;)  But yesterday I decided to do something that was on My List.  What list you ask? Well, I decided to make a list of things I want to do in my life. Kind of like a bucket list I guess. I don’t have that many things on my list so far, but I add one or two things every so often.

Some of the things on my list are silly, like adding pink highlights to my hair. Or riding on a motorcycle.  Others are cooler, like taking self defense classes, or learning Krav Maga…. I know, I’ve got some strange things on there, but they are just things I’ve always wanted to do and haven’t done them. So like I said. Yesterday I crossed one of the things on my list off.

I got a tattoo. A second tattoo actually. I decided yesterday to get it, and we headed out around 5:30, and by 6:30 we were home and I was waiting the couple of hours before I could take off the bandage on my foot. I made my husband hold my hand the whole time, and kept thinking how since I had had two babies, and kidney stones, that I could definitely take this pain. :)  And I won’t lie, it hurt… sometimes it didn’t hurt as bad, and other times it hurt like the dickens.

I know tattoos aren’t for everyone, and I totally respect your opinions on them. But I’d love to know if you guys have any tattoos and what they are. Anyone interested in doing a show and tell? You can tweet me your pics, or share them on Facebook, email them to me, or post a link in the comments to a pic of one of yours.  How about it? Want to share?

Painted Garden Markers and Pot, #WalmartPlaid

I know it’s summer time and a lot of you have already been digging in your gardens for a while now, but I thought I’d show you guys a fun idea for painted garden markers, or how to create a a great gift for your favorite green thumb.
Plaid Crafts sent me a fun bundle of supplies and told me I could create anything I wanted with them.

I received stencils, paints, brushes, Mod Podge, and a gift card to go shopping at Walmart to buy a few things I might want to make over.  I ended up buying a few wooden spoons from the Kitchen Tools aisle, a nice terra cotta pot from the gardening section, and a couple of other things to play around with.
I decided to create some cute garden markers and a painted pot using the Chalkboard Paint Plaid had sent me, and a few of the acrylic paints.

I painted the wooden spoons using the chalkboard paint, and the yellow and white acrylic paint.  I used a small brush to paint all of the spoons, and only had to do one coat of the acrylic paint for full coverage.  I taped off a large circle on the terra cotta pot, and created a few stripes with the tape on the wooden spoons.  I did two coats of the chalkboard paint, on both the spoons and the terra cotta pot. 

After the chalkboard paint was dry on the terra cotta pot I decided to paint it white. Might have been backwards, but I decided I liked the look of a white pot with the black chalkboard paint much better. I only used one coat of the acrylic paint on the pot as well. And I really loved how well it covered the rusty terra cotta clay color.

After I painted everything I let my spoons and pot dry for a little bit, and then pulled the tape off of the spoons.

I decided to seal the spoons with a couple of layers of Mod Podge, where I had used the acrylic paint…

After the the spoons were dry, I used some tissue paper, to stuff in the pot and help hold my garden marker spoons in place.  Then I put a few packs of seeds in with the garden markers, and tied a sweet bow around my pot.  I used a chalk pen to write on the chalkboard surface of my garden markers and pot. 

Hopefully my favorite gardener will enjoy getting this gift as much as I enjoyed making it for them.
For more great ideas, or if you’re interested in seeing what Plaid Crafts has to offer be sure to check out Plaid on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.  And you can also see a ton more crafty ideas by checking out the Walmart Crafts on Pinterest too.

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Plaid Crafts and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

A Red, White, and Blue Americana Dinner party, #WorldMarketSweeps

You all know how much I love setting up my gorgeous buffet, full of yummy foods and drinks. But I especially love setting up for a party when it’s as down home and fun as this one. This time I threw a Red, White, and Blue Americana dinner party. And this meant I got to go back to Cost Plus World Market to shop for some great Americana party supplies/décor.

Shopping at World Market is always fun for me, it’s one store I can go to and spend a couple of hours getting lost in all the amazing things they sell.  This time was no different.  I was able to find plenty of items to help me pull off an Americana inspired dinner party. From baskets and the liners, to the great wired stand and cupcake decorating kit, World Market had everything I could want help with my party.
When doing a themed party I usually plan out the food, drinks and the décor first, but this time I went shopping first and decided to let the ideas come to me. After seeing all of the cool vintage inspired Americana décor at World Market, I knew what I exactly what I wanted this party to be like.  The food, drinks, and décor were all inspired by wanting to recreate a summer BBQ, we just threw it indoors. 

My awesome husband went all out to help me and made hot dog buns, and grilled bacon wrapped hotdogs. We also had BBQ baked beans, yummy cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, and plenty of drinks…
The baskets and the liners came from World Market…

the cupcake stand, cupcake decorating kit, the cork coasters, and even the Fat Tire beers all came from World Market too. They have a pretty awesome food and drinks selection inside, and should definitely check it out.

You can easily throw your own Americana themed dinner party with some help from World Market. And there are plenty of reasons to be inspired by the Red, White, and Blue Americana inspired line they have. Not only is the Fourth of July coming up, but this year the World Games are being held in London and how awesome would it be to throw a party to celebrate the opening events. 


Cost Plus World Market is also holding a Red, White, and Blue in London Sweepstakes and the grand prize includes a trip for 2 to watch the Red, White & Blue compete in the London, tickets to the Opening Event and 3 sporting events, and a $1,000 World Market gift card.  Entering is easy, just head to the World Market Facebook page or the World Market Sweepstakes page for your chance to enter and win. 

You can also follow World Market on Twitter for more great ideas, and in store promotions.

This shop has been compensated by Cost Plus World Market. I created this dinner party because I was inspired by all the great items at World Market. All the opinions in this post are my own and honest.