Happy Earth Day!!

How would you like to help make a difference & be entered into an awesome sweepstakes? You would love it, I'm sure. Well guess what! You can!!

The great people at SheSpeaks told me about the Take a Load Off Sweepstakes & now I'm going to tell you! (See how that works?!).

Brought to you by Tide and P&G's Future Friendly Program, Take a Load Off is simple, yet revolutionary. Wash your clothes in Tide Coldwater, that's it. Specifically formulated to give your clothes a deep down clean in cold water & save energy at the same time.  Heating water for your laundry counts for up to 80% of energy per load in the U.S. Translation: Switching to cold water for 1 year saves enough energy to watch 1363 HOURS of TV. That's a big difference for such a small act!!

So what's the Sweepstakes for? A Maytag Bravo XL (HE) top load washer & dryer! And of course a 1 year supply of Tide Coldwater! Just head on over to the Future Friendly FB page & promise to switch to cold water washings. You can also do it daily since 1 winner will be chosen every week until May 13th.

No go! Enter & make a difference not only for you, but for the planet!!

An Apple A Day...

We've all heard that saying "An apple a day, will keep the doctor away". And I have to admit we eat a lot of apples in my house. Not to keep the doctor away necessarily, but because we all love them. Apple slices & Nutella anyone?

But what do you do when you have an abundance of apples & suddenly no one wants any? My solutions, make applesauce & a simmer pot.

Start with the applesauce:

• core, peel & slice your apples (save the peels for your simmer pot)
• place in a large pot with enough water to cover the bottom
• cook over medium heat until apples are "mushy"
• add a small amount of margarine or a sprinkling of cinnamon if desired

*You can leave as is for a chunkier sauce, or use a potato masher for a smoother consistency.

Now, about those peels...

I have one of those mini crock pots, you know, the kind specifically for dips. Well, just add your apple peels & a pinch of cinnamon or a cinnamon stick with a bit of water & turn it on. I've also added some orange peels & whole cloves before. If you don't have a mini crock pot, don't fret. Just use a small pot on your stove top over low heat. 

But no matter how you make it, your house will smell yummy without buying those fancy schmancy plug-ins. And you can experiment with other ingredients too. I wonder what banana peels & almond extract would smell like. Maybe banana nut bread?!

I know you're going to go get a HUGE bag of apples right now...don't forget the Nutella!

Giveaway Winner(s)!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Attention winners: Choices of color will be given in order as listed on the Rafflecopter Widget. I will contact everyone within the next 24 hours with available color choices & to get shipping info. I hope everyone can get a color they can use. I didn't want to have just 1 winner,hope you all understand. Thank you so much for participating!! I look forward to seeing you all in future giveaways! :-)

Just for Men AutoStop Giveaway Update

Tomorrow, 4/18/12, between the hours of 12:00 p.m & 2:00 p.m. est., I will announce our winner(s) for the 

Just for Men AutoStop Giveaway.

Don't forget, I have 4 available shades (medium brown, dark brown, real black & jet black) up for grabs. So get your entries in & spread the word. The giveaway is only open for a few more hours!!!

Best of luck!

Better Late than Never - Just for Men

This post is EPIC! For two reasons. The first being that hubs got to try out some Just for Men AutoStop hair color. It took those "stray grays" right out! He secretly loves it I know, but will never admit to it being anything more  than "cool". I have a feeling this will show up on my shopping list in a couple of months though!

Although this was super easy to apply (just squeeze the tube gently & comb it right in), I still managed to make a mess. How? This dang plastic gloves, LOL! I was flinging the dye left & right from them in my desperate attempt to hurry. Next time, because I know there will be a next time, I'll be sure to use latex gloves.

The chosen color, light brown

Before. The grays are hard to see with my point & shoot camera, but they are there.

Immediately after application.

End result. An even color!

But all in all, super easy & it did a great job! Just apply, set for 10 minutes, rinse & wash! Simple enough for a man to do! (Sorry guys, LOL.) Another great part, with a baby wipe (always on hand in this house!) or just a bit of soap & water on a washcloth, it wipes right off of skin. So no stained skin!

Now how did hubs get to try this you ask? (You asked, I heard it.) Well, I joined an awesome online community called Smiley360 where I get the opportunity to try & review products. It just so happened that because I'm a blogger,I qualified for this "mission". What's so special about being a blogger on this particular "mission"? Well, I got FIVE boxes of Just for Men AutoStop! Hubs chose the light brown to use, but that still leaves:

• medium brown
• dark brown
• real black
• jet black

What's a girl to do? Second epic event: GIVEAWAY!!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Each AutoStop package includes:

• 1-AutoStop color tube
• 1-comb applicator
• 1 pair disposable gloves
• instructions

Learn more about Just for Men here

Join Smiley360 & start earning smiles from completing your own missions here

Men: Join the Smiley360 Just for Men mission here

Be heard. Be happy.

Spring Break & Product Testing

In just a couple minutes, it will officially be the start of Spring Break for my little kindergartener. It will be a very busy, but fun, 11 days. We have some gardening projects, crafts & get-togethers to keep us busy. Let's just hope the oldest two don't try to kill each other after the first couple days!

But speaking of get-togethers, I get to have my own. I'm hosting a product sampling of Stonyfield's YoBaby & YoToddler yogurt. All courtesy of Green Mom's Meet. Not only do I have some wonderful organic yogurt to try, I also have activities for the kiddos & coupons for the mama's.

Then, because I'm a BzzAgent, I have 2 products to Bzz about. Quaker Oatmeal Squares (Honey Nut flavor) & Children's Claritin. (See how awesome the timing is with all the gardening!)

And last but not least, I get to spread the smiles with Just For Men Autostop. Hubs gets to try it & ironically so do 4 other guys. Boy that sure does sound like a giveaway doesn't it? That's right, my FIRST GIVEAWAY!! All of this courtesy of Smiley360! You can sign up to spread your own smiles here.

So if you are a man, have a man, or just know a man that has a few stray grays - be sure to spread the word! Just be sure to be a follower, you can do so by using the Google Friend Connect icon. Oh & "liking" the Smith and Blessings facebook page won't hurt either. Then, all you have to do is keep an eye out sometime during spring break. Well, my kid's spring break anyway.

Now aren't you excited too?