A Healthier Choice

Thanks to Crowdtap and Healthy Choice, I recently tried Healthy Choice's new Baked Entrees.  They were delicious! We were provided a $1 off coupon (they normally retail about $2-$3).  I bought 3 varieties and took them with me to lunch this week. I'll apologize now, that I remembered to take pictures when I bought them, but forgot to take them once I made them. :oP

First up was the Lasagna with Meat Sauce.  I LOVE lasagna, but I didn't have high hopes for this one since most of the "healthy" lasagna meals are bland and boring.  I was pleasantly surprised by this one! The sauce was great! It was very flavorful and it was a nice portion size. It was enough to fill me up for lunch.  I will be buying this one again.

Next was the Fettuccini Alfredo Bake.  I will say this one was probably my least favorite if I had to pick one.  The sauce and noodles were pretty bland but the broccoli was surprisingly good. I left a lot of the noodles so I did have to supplement this meal with something else to fill me up for lunch.

Last was the Chicken & Rice Cheddar Bake.  I was iffy about this flavor when I bought it but I think it was probably my favorite! It had the great broccoli and the sauce was really good! It was a very filling meal too and was plenty for lunch. I will definitely be buying this one again!!

Overall I was very impressed with the Healthy Choice Baked line.  I've eaten the Healthy Choice brand for awhile now and have stuck with it because the meals are very flavorful and unique unlike many other "healthy" meals. The Baked line was up to these standards as well.  I will be adding these into my lunch options. 

Thank you Crowdtap and Healthy Choice!!

We're sexy and we know it....

Thanks (again) to Crowdtap and Old Navy, I was able to do another sample share and try out Old Navy's Active wear line!  I received coupons, one for me and one for a friend, for a free Active top and bottom. This could not have been better timing because my friend and I had just signed up for a 6 week body makeover class.  What better way to get pumped for it than buying new outfits and knowing we look great!

Here's some pictures from our shopping trip...
 

We both LOVED these tops.  It's funny because on these trips we always like to grab a few things that we wouldn't normally try and like to have some variety.  This is one that as we're walking out of the department to go try on, my friend says, "I'm going to grab one of these to try, but I don't really like it".  Of course, I said, "fine, I'll try the purple on".  Not only did we both like them, but I ended up choosing it for my sample share top and my friend bought hers separately because we liked them so much.  So goes the saying, don't knock it until you try it...

This is showing off the pants.  She liked the purple splash of color, but they were  really tight so she opted not to get them.

These tops were the very first item we picked up in the Active section.  They were super soft and really comfortable.  My friend ended up choosing this top for her sample share and I bought the black one extra. 

As for the pants we are sporting in these pictures, it was a mix.   I have the ones on with the purple band at the top in the first picture.  I wasn't a huge fan of the fit so I didn't get them.  The second and third pictures are a different material and had a "belly band" portion at the top.  I really liked the material and the extra support of the belly band and ended up getting these for my sample share.  My friend, who has dancer thighs (in her words), didn't like how restricting they were and put them back.

Finally, I went with a top that was much different than the others we tried.  I liked the material a lot, but i don't see myself in this one for a work out.  It was almost too cutesy for me.

And...drum roll please... our final choices were...

 

We both ended up buying a second jacket along with our sample share ones.  I bought the one she's wearing and she bought the one I'm wearing in black.  I am so grateful to Crowdtap and Old Navy for these opportunities and I love being able to escape for some much needed adult girl time.  Thanks again!

Dress Divas!

I had ANOTHER fantastic opportunity from Crowdtap and Old Navy to get a free dress for me and a friend! (Seriously, if you haven't already joined Crowdtap, WHAT are you waiting for?!?)

Ashley and I grabbed dinner then headed to the Old Navy on Sawmill Road to try on dresses.  I have done a couple of these and I do have to add that the timing of the coupon was much better this time and we had LOTS of options!

Here are a few we tried...

 

I loved the 3/4 sleeve on this one!

 The color of this one was GORGEOUS!

 I liked the 3/4 sleeve and the material of this one.

 Ashley loved the cut and style AND the belt on this dress.

 Great cut and I love the pop of color.

 She loved the wrap part of this one.

 And of course we needed to try on some of the same...

TA DA! These were our final choices of the night.  I loved the versatility of the one I got.  I can put a sweater on for the winter but it will also work for the summer.  She loved how this dress could work for a night on the town or a day at work. Thanks again Crowdtap and Old Navy!!

I think the best part of these trips is the reaction of the cashiers.  The girl who checked us out was so excited about us getting these (maybe even more excited than we were, which was tough).  She kept asking me all these questions about Crowdtap and how to join and how it works.  I'm positive she went home and signed up right away!  I love being able to share this site with people.

I'm Dracula, blah blah blah...

I was chosen by Crowdtap to host a Hotel Transylvania movie to get people excited for its release.  It was perfect timing with Halloween coming up so I was excited about this one.  We ended up having 4 kids attend all between 3 and 5. 

First we started by making monster cut out cookies which the kids enjoyed.

Next they colored the picture pages and masks while I made lunch.

Lunch consisted of ghosts, bats and blood and a drink of monster poison.  In other words, grilled cheese, tomato soup and green milk.  The girls loved saying they were eating blood and poison and giggled all through the meal.

Dessert was ghost cupcakes.

Then the girls used the play tent as their "monster hotel" and all came to visit. Here they are with their best monster faces.

It was a great time.  All the kids were excited about the movie and were asking their parents when they could go see it.  My daughter and I ended up going to see it that night at our local theatre and she has been saying "I'm Dracula, blah blah blah" ever since.

Totally Biased Premier Party!

Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell is a new comedy show that just started.  Since you all know how much my family and I are jokesters, I was excited to get chosen to host a premier party.  It didn't take much planning, I offered beer, snacks and a stand up comedian, so it was pretty easy to get people over.

First Becca helped me prepare snacks...

This was her contribution since I wasn't going to let her stay up for the show.  She enjoyed it. :)

Next I got out the poker chips and games to play before the show....

I wish I had remembered to get pictures of people playing but I didn't think about it once the games got started.  Apples to Apples was the winner, that game is perfect for getting people in a laughing mood. 

Of course there was some poker as well...

I didn't think to take any of us watching the show either.  People had a mixed reaction to the show itself.  I think the general feeling was that it was ok, but not great.  The show seemed to drag some and a couple people mentioned that he seemed to be forcing the jokes.  I, and many people that came over, go to a local comedy club a lot and I think we were expecting something more like that, where it was fast paced and casual.  Instead it seemed very scripted and the bits dragged on and on. He also seemed uncomfortable on stage in the studio.  I would probably watch it again, but I don't see it being one of my "can't miss" shows. 

Overall it was a fun evening of jokes and family fun, so I'm glad I got the opportunity to host it.  Thanks Crowdtap and Totally Biased!!

Woolite Warmup

I had the awesome opportunity through Crowdtap to have a sample share for Woolite Extra Dark Detergent.  I had hoped to have a more elaborate party, but there was some sample mix ups and a long delay, so after having to reschedule the party twice, it wasn't what I had hoped for.  It was still a good time though.

First I asked everyone to bring their favorite dark item to share...dirty of course...

One girl didn't have anything of hers she loved, but she LOVED her daughters capris. lol

Next, I asked each person to share their favorite memory involving their favorite item.  We had quite a variety of stories from wearing it on their first cruise to wearing it on their first date with their now fiance.  It made for lots of awws, laughter and other story telling.

After story telling, I gathered up all our favorites and said I was going to show them the power of Woolite Extra Dark and offered to wash all their clothes.

While we waited, we talked some more about fashion and our laundry habits and best tips for washing darks and jeans.  Turns out we all had different ideas on how to protect them.  When the wash was done, I reminded them all that Woolite Extra Dark is just one more way they can protect their favorite clothes and keep them dark.

Lastly, I sent them all home with their own samples to try along with some panties!

It wasn't the huge party I had originally planned, but it was a blast spending time with my closest girl friends.  Plus they got some laundry done, so there were no complaints!  Thanks Crowdtap and Woolite!

Old Navy Beach Bum Babes!

Have I told you recently how much I absolutely LOVE Old Navy and Crowdtap??? I was chosen for the Beach Bum Party where me AND three friends got to choose a free pair of flip flops, a beach bag, towel and sunglasses.  How incredible is that?!?

Now on to the details.  I can't say this was the smoothest experience checking out that I've had for these, but it all worked out.  I asked 3 of my friends to meet me outside Michael's Craft store (which is right next door to Old Navy) for a surprise on Friday night.  Once they were all there, I filled them in on what we were really doing.  They were dumbfounded at first and couldn't believe it.  I even got out the booklet to show them! It was a priceless reaction.  Then we went inside to get started...

First we started with the flip flops because they were easiest to find. We ended up each finding a pair we liked, including the sparkly and wedge types.  The coupon said ANY pair of flip flops so we thought we were good to go.  Come to find out when we got to the register that only the basic worked so we had to get out of line and pick a basic pair out. I had fallen for the wedge ones but ended up with the basic in Navy.

Side note: it worked out because I got the Snap 10 with the Snappy App so I went back and got 2 pairs of the wedges for free the next weekend!! Have I said I LOVE Old Navy?!?

Next we were off to the bags.  We only found 3 that weren't on clearance so I asked an employee if they had them anywhere else and she pointed us to the two straw styles (also on clearance).  We each ended up with one of the three that weren't clearanced but they were more purses than beach bags.  I ended up with this one (on the left).  I also bought the one on the right (which was on clearance so I couldn't use it for the coupon).

Then we went in search of towels.  Again I ended up asking an employee because we couldn't find them anywhere.  She pulled a basket of them out from underneath a table.  It was odd because it was a low table and they were not visible at all.  They had quite a few towel options so we were all able to find ones we liked.  I got this one...

Last was sunglasses.  This was a disaster and what made my friends and I incredibly frustrated and ready to walk out without them.  We had all picked out sunglasses on the rack of them that was up front.  We all found ones we loved and we were ready to check out! Here's some of our first choices...

We waited in line and the first one of us started.... the flip flops we had picked didn't work and the sunglasses weren't Old Navy brand?!  They told us basic flip flops, easy enough, and pointed us towards some baskets of sunglasses and assured us all of the ones in there were ON brand.  So we got out of line and repicked flip flops and sunglasses, waited in line again and... wrong sunglasses AGAIN!  She tells us (not shows us) that they must only be the ones in the back, when we told her they were all clearanced, she called the manager up who (after a 10 min discussion with the cashier) decided to override the price and ring them in at $0.01.  We had to get out of line AGAIN, pick them out and wait in line AGAIN.  Needless to say, the clearance glasses were very picked over and not great. At this point, my friends were hungry, annoyed and ready to be out of there. I am always impressed with ON customer service and true to form, the manager did apologize for all the problems and gave us a $5 coupon for next time we come, which was really nice of here.

Here's a picture of all of us with what we had picked out before all the issues.

Here's what I ended up with...

Everything ended up fine and it eventually worked out.  I am more disappointed that that was my friends' first experience with the Crowdtap and Old Navy sample shares.  I hope the wording on the coupons are a lot more clear about the restrictions next time they have one.  That will eliminate a lot of confusion and frustration and make checkout go smoother. 

Thank you for the opportunity!

Madagascar crazy!!!

I had another opportunity through Crowdtap to host a party to get excited for the release of Madagascar 3!! Becca LOVED the first movie so I was excited to watch the second movie at the party.  It was such a good time.  We had 4 girls her age that were able to make it and we partied it up. 

I made masks from the party kit Crowdtap provided and got some pink wigs to supplement their looks. 

I played the first Madagascar movie in the background as people arrived and we ate elephant and lion shaped pancakes. The girls watched a lot of the movie through their masks.

I planned a lot of outdoor water games since it was HOT here.  After we ate we all moved outside to play in the sprinkler.  They had a good time pretending to be different animals running through the sprinkler and performing their "circus tricks" while everyone watched.  It was a great way to cool off.

Next we pulled out water balloons and tried to see how long they could toss them back and forth without dropping them (not long :) ).  It was so fun to watch and there was tons of giggling. The winning team got small prizes to take home.

Next we played pin the tail on Gloria.  I was a little worried that this game would be too hard for them but they did so well and we ended up taking second and third turns.  They were blindfolded, spun 3 times and faced to the wall.  I think the hardest part was keeping them pointed toward the wall. They had to be redirected a few times. :)

Here's the end result.  We had some deviations, but they all made it on the wall.

Next we dried off and went inside for dessert.  I had made tie dye cupcakes and zebra cake.  It got very quiet after they were passed out so I think they girls enjoyed it.

All in all it was a great day and everyone left full, happy and exhausted!  Thanks again Crowdtap!!