I've Moved!

I finally finished the switch to wordpress. Come visit my new blog at www.sweetnsassygirls.com.

I hope to see you there!

I'm making the Switch to WP!

I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I haven't posted as many reviews or giveaways lately. That's because I'm in the process of switching over to wordpress and it doesn't always transfer all the comments, etc.

I am almost done with my site, so things might change in the next couple of days. Don't be alarmed! I think you will enjoy my new site just as much as I do. :)

Wordless Wednesday- "Springtime Fun!"

Hapari Swimwear

MomDot's 31 Bloggers in 31 Days birthday bash continues!

Summer is right around the corner, and that means swimsuit season. I know a lot of you are groaning right now, but there might be some hope for women out there. I recently came across a company called Hapari that has made it their goal to help every woman feel beautiful and confident in a swimsuit.

It seemed impossible to find hip swimwear that is flattering and stylish. Very few of us are blessed with absolutely perfect bodies! Why not create swimsuits with body shaping secrets to enhance, decrease and even lift and separate?

Our mission is to allow every woman to feel beautiful and confident in a swimsuit! Let us enhance the curves you love and hide the curves you don't!

I first saw them on a local TV show and was very impressed with the things they have done to a swimsuit to make it better. They call it their "secrets."

Here's the segment they recently did on the local show to show you a little more about the suits and what the secrets are.

I have not had the chance to try out one of these suits, but I want to.

If you want to try out one of their suits, you are in luck! We are giving away a gift certificate for one Hapari swimsuit.

To enter:

• Visit Hapari and tell me your favorite suit

For extra entries: (the above entry must be completed first for these to count)

• Add my button on your site (1 extra entry)
• Add me to your blogroll (1 extra entry)
• Subscribe to my feed (1 extra entry)
• Tweet about this contest (Leave the link to the tweet- 1 extra entry)
• Blog about this and include a link to me and to Hapari (5 extra entries- leave a separate comment for each)

Contest will close May 31st at 11:59pm. Open to US residents only. Winner will have 48 hours to to claim their prize or I will draw a new winner.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

My Mom is in town from California, and she brought up a box of my stuff to go through. She's been bugging me to go through it every time we visit them (about once a year) and I just never get around to it. It was the box that contained my bell collection.

When I was younger I used to collect bells. Some of them really meant something, but others were just random ones my mom found at garage sales, etc. My mom wanted me to go through them and decide which ones I actually wanted, and which ones we could get rid of.

I finally went through them this morning and besides the bells, I found some other things from my past in there. One of them was my favorite stuffed animal from when I was little. It has glow in the dark stars all over it, and the eyes glow in the dark too (meaning the bottom eyelashes, so it looks like the eyes are closed in the dark) My daughter picked it up and was playing with it, so I decided to go show her the glow in the dark aspect of the doll. She thought it was great.

I also found a lot of my old awards in there, including my softball trophy from when I was 8. Then there were some trophies from high school for colorguard, and some metals we won at championships. I also found my high school diploma and valedictorian metal.

It was definitely a trip down memory lane for me! On a side note, my daughter was quite upset when my mom had to leave this morning. It was quite cute, because we don't get to see my parents very often, only a few times a year, and even just spending yesterday with her, my daughter became quite attached. She cried when my mom drove off. I bet my mom loved that!

We Might Actually Have a Decent Summer!

My little sister is going home for the summer, but is leaving her car here. Which means, we finally have 2 cars to drive around. That means I can sign my daughter up for swimming lessons. Or we can take a trip to the library. I can even go grocery shopping during the day. I can take my daughter to the zoo or to other events. These are all things I took for granted when I did have a car. (even though it's been almost 5 years) It's looking to be a fun summer!

Oh, and we just found out today that my daughter loves the little car carts they have at grocery stores. She was NOT happy when it was time to go.

Protect-A-Bed BlogHer Scholarship

I am so excited to be attending BlogHer this year! I feel like I'm still fairly new to the blogging world, and I can learn so much there. Well, I have been able to get most of my costs covered through wonderful sponsors. However, I have one little problem. Watch the video to see what it is.



So Protect-A-Bed has teamed up with Accidental Mommies and 3P's in a Pod (whom I happen to be sharing a room with!) to offer a $300 scholarship for one lucky person. This would help me finish off the last of my expenses, and will help save my poor little feet and back!

I wanted to thank Protect-A-Bed for this awesome opportunity!

Mommy Wants Mother's Day Flowers

Yup, that's right! I want Mother's Day Flowers! I love flowers. I don't care if they are "just the cut off ends of bushes" as my Dad calls them. They are pretty, they smell good, and they make me smile.
Recently I was chosen to be a part of a Mother's Day flower campaign with Colombia, Land of Flowers, and I was beyond thrilled when I found out. I think I actually jumped up and down. Why? Because I love flowers that much, and I can't remember the last time my husband bought me any. I decided to try to grown my own out in our garden, and every year I've gotten a few more to pop up. My neighbor and I are always out looking in each others flower beds to see if anything new is popping up. We get so excited when we find something that we have to go inform the other. (I know, we're weird like that.)

I even used to work in a 30 acre garden, and I would go outside and just sit sometimes. It was so peaceful and relaxing. There's just something dreamy about them. I always felt like I was worry free out in the garden.

So, here was my challenge. I was to receive a package of these items:

• 20 fresh-cut Gerbera daisies
• Mug with Colombia, land of flowers logo
• One brick of floral foam
• Rubber bands and ribbon
• Filling for the mug
• Step-by-step how-to Flower Topiary arrangement recipe
• Care and handling flier

And turn them into a Mother's Day topiary arrangement. I was free to add my own personal touch, so I did. Here's a video showing you how I made it and how it turned out.



Here is the finished product. Not bad for never doing this before! My husband even said he likes how it turned out.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have these in my house. Every time I see this arrangement I smile. I can't help myself. Even though it is cold and rainy outside, I have my own little ball of sunshine. It is also very special to have these around Mother's Day, because I became a mom two years ago, right around this time. In fact, I was in the hospital just after having my daughter for my first Mother's Day.

I received a few flower bouquets then, and now I am reminded of that special time every Mother's Day. I remember sitting in the hospital with my husband, holding our daughter in our arms and thinking, "This is our family. This is our little girl." We had big dreams for her then, and we still have big dreams for her. A Mother's Day flower bouquet brings back all those precious memories and feelings. I'm tearing up now just thinking about it.

I have absolutely loved having flowers in the house these past few days. I'm smiling more, which makes me happier, which in turn makes my family happy. I don't know if it's the extra oxygen being released or what, but whatever it is, it's a good thing.

Log Cabin Syrup- Now HFCS free!

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in almost everything sweet out there. I try to avoid it as much as possible, because I know how terrible it is for you. Some companies have realized that people don't want to eat it anymore, and have taken action to eliminate it from their products. One of these products is Log Cabin Syrup.

“Heritage and history are important to us, as our brand has proved to be a family household tradition since 1887” says Allison Meyer, Associate Brand Manager of Pinnacle Foods. “That said, Log Cabin is the first brand in a long time to bring innovation to the syrup category by removing high fructose corn syrup.”

I applaud anyone who decides to take out HFCS and replace it with natural sugar as Log Cabin has done.

They sent me a bottle to try out, and honestly, I couldn't taste any difference. It had a great taste, and now I can feed it to my daughter without worrying about HFCS. They also sent me a recipe for Apple Pecan Baked Pancakes. I tried it out, omitting the pecans because my husband doesn't like nuts, and cut back on the amount of syrup and it was delicious. My family loved it. In fact my husband told me I can make it again anytime. And this is the same man who has refused to eat pancakes ever since we've been married. For those of you who want to try it, here's the recipe:

Apple Pecan Baked Pancake (Serves 4)

Ingredients: 1/2 c. favorite pancake mix 2 tbsp. butter -- (melted) 1 c. Granny Smith apple -- (peeled and sliced) 1/3 c. pecans -- (chopped) 3 c. Log Cabin syrup 1/2 tsp. cinnamon -- (ground)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pancake mix according to package directions; and set aside. Pour melted butter in 9" pie plate. Place apple slices in bottom of pie plate; sprinkle cinnamon and pecans and drizzle syrup over apples; carefully pour batter on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Loosen edges and invert onto serving plate. Cut in wedges and serve with warm maple syrup and/or fresh apple butter. Serves 4 to 6. Good served with sausage links.

I cut back on the amount of syrup poured in the bottom because 3 cups sounded like a lot. I did 1 1/2 cups, and even then I felt like it was too much. The second time I made it I used 3/4 of a cup and it was great.

HFCS free Log Cabin syrup is now on shelves, so you can buy it at your favorite store. They have it available in Original, Lite, and sugar free.
As part of the Ultimate Blog Carnival on LiveGiveaways.Com, I am happy to announce that you can win a bottle of Log Cabin Syrup.

To enter:

• Tell me your favorite thing to use syrup on.

For extra entries:

• Visit Log Cabin Syrup and tell me who it was named after. (1 extra entry)
• Subscribe to my blog (1 entry)
• Add my button to your site (1 entry)
• Add me to your blogroll (1 entry)
• Blog about this contest with a link to here and a link to Log Cabin Syrup (5 extra entries)
• Tweet about this contest and leave me a link to your tweet (1 entry)

Please leave each entry in a seperate comment as well as making sure there is a way to contact you should you win. Contest will end May 11 at 11:59 am. Winners will have 48 hours to contact me or I will draw a new winner.