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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Memories... Brought to You by Coke

What do you think of when someone mentions Coca Cola? I think of fun summer evenings catching fireflies outside. When the air is wonderfully warm and the days end late. I grew up in a family who always had ice cold bottles of Coke in the fridge. Out past Pittsburgh, we had the Coca Cola Starlake Amphitheater (It's now renamed something else, but when I was younger, that is where we went every summer for concerts). I seen my first live concert there! And of course, they had plenty of ice cold Cokes to go around.

I remember growing up and having family game nights with home made pizza and having glasses of Coke's. We'd try to create funny words during Scrabble, only for our parents to say, "No, real words only." During Boggle, we'd race against the timer and try to beat each others word counts. We'd make ridiculous bets trying to win at Monopoly. It was fun times growing up. Too many families now do not have time for fun filled family game nights. I think we should all make more time for the little things like that. After all, that is what sticks out most in my mind of my youth. I want my children to sit back and tell their kids about fun times when they were little.

Oh! My grandmother made up yummy foods that had Coca Cola in the recipes. There have been one or two passed down. However, we have not tried making them ourselves yet. But I remember my Gram making up some yummy different meals that included Coke.

Just looking online you can find great recipes that have Coke in their ingreadients. I think my Gram might have gotten hers from a recipe book she purchased or one that she sent away for. Just looking online now, I found a perfect Chicken Wing recipe off the Coca Cola heritage site I found. (Here's the link you can check out for plenty of yummy recipes http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/recipes.html).

You can create fun family moments with your family and a glass of Coke. I think its the best thing ever to go to a Pirates game and enjoy the simple classic, hotdog and Coke. Baseball tickets for us do not cost a lot, and its truely a nice evening date if it is just Mike and I. We're taking our son to his first Pirates game this summer, and I cannot wait to make memories with him.

What memories do you want to make with Coke?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Coca-Cola blogging program. If I am one of the first 100 blogs recieved by SocialsMoms, I will recieve a $25 gift card. For more information on the program, please click http://familyclassics.socialmoms.com/about

Wordless Wednesday


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

My Diamond Candle Came!

(This little review is solely my opinion. I bought this candle myself and was not reimbursed in any way , shape, or how for my review. I just wanted to show everyone how great these candles are!)


Diamond candles are soy candles with a pleasant surprise inside the wax. There is a ring that could be worth $10, $100, $1000, or even $5000 inside!


I placed an order on http://www.diamondcandles.com/ this past Thursday. I've been looking at the Facebook page and going thru photos for about a week and decided to give it a shot. The candles are $25 plus shipping (I believe it's by weight and where its going. I paid about $8.70 or so for it to ship to PA). After you place your order, you get a link in an email to share to get a $5 rebate back, and whoever uses it gets $5 back on their order as well (a win//win situation!). These are SOY candles. Not what Yankee candles are made of folks. There are 5 scents to choose from. Apple Slice, Dusk, Sunwashed, Lavender Lemon, and finally, Cinnamon Tea. Apple Slice smells like Green Apple Jolly Ranchers in my opinion. Dusk is a manly scent (they nicknamed it the Boyfriend scent on the site). Sunwashed is like your laundry hanging out to dry on a fresh spring day. Lavender Lemon is a clean scent, which has more of a lemon scent rather than an overpowering Lavender. Cinnamon Tea is a cozy scent that smells delightful. (I think I may get Green Apple and Cinnamon Tea next time to burn together. Oh that would smell awesome).



I ordered the Apple Slice candle. The scent is awesome. We aren't talking about an over powering scent, we are talking a subtle, enjoyable. The candle came packaged in a regular cardboard box, securely taped up to prevent accidentally opening. I opened the candle as soon as it came, and seen it was wrapped with a sticky type bubble wrap. So, even if your mailman is a bit clumsy, your candle should be safe in its packaging. As soon as I started peeling back the bubble wrap, I could smell the delightful apple scent. I have this burning on top of my tv stand right now! My living room has such a lovely smell to it right now.







I have a bit of a wait ahead to get to my ring!




So fast forward 4 hrs later, and I'm able to get my ring! I recorded the big reveal of the ring, and it's uploading on to youtube right now. It's a very pretty ring. It's not real (so a $10 one or whatever), but, I like it and am wearing anyhow. I just got to get used to wearing a ring on my index finger or thumb (yes, sadly I have tiny fingers!). Here's the ring I got:














Tada! Here's the ring!~

When your candle is all burned up, you can reuse the jar to hold pencils, change, whatever you can bring up in your mind. I think I'll put cotton balls in mine and set it in the bathroom on the sink. It's nice to have a nice pretty jar to reuse rather than just throwing away in the garbage.


I really love these candles. They have a great scent and for a quality soy candle, the price is great. No matter what ring you find in your candle, you are getting a great product. I plan to order more candles in the future. I'm hoping that one day I can do a review and giveaway for Diamond Candles one day. Enjoy!





***EDIT*** The Video Reveal ***EDIT***


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBVfaCXD7VM

Little Switches That Make A Difference

I have a pretty good relationship with my hubby, Mike. We've been together for 7 years now and married for 5 years this September. After 2 kids, I can see when things are getting stale. We don't go out much, but we do have special little dinners at home.


My husband has a few tricks up his sleeve. He's been known to pull a romantic or two. I'm not a high maitenence girl, but I think its so sweet. It could be just cuddling on on the couch just watching a movie we got out of a Redbox or Blockbuster rental. Or it could just be sitting back in candle light talking and just relaxing. With 2 young children, I dont have much time to relax. And my husband works a full time job, so I know he needs to relax too.


Mike usually goes to work way before the kids and I wake up. So he's pretty much on his own most mornings to get his lunch made up. Every once in a while, when I'm up late by myself, I'll make him a supurb lunch and include a little note telling him to have a wonderful day. He keeps his phone usually in his car so I'll send him a text saying; "Good morning! Have a great day today!!". He likes seeing that the first thing in the morning since he has to work all day. I'd enjoy it too.


When he comes home late, usually, he gets a shower first thing; then will come in to spend time with us. I try to get him his clothes laid out and a towel so he doesnt have to go hunting for anything after he showers and relaxes. I know that I'd appreciate someone doing that for me. When we were traveling to Montana and got stuck in Salt Lake City overnight, he made sure that I had everything set up in the bathroom for a nice relaxing soak. After THAT stressful day, that was the top of my list.


Sometimes just a switch up that makes a huge difference. It brightens someones day, and they pay it forward to brighten anothers. I know if someone has done something to make me smile, I usually do something just to get a smile out of another. Be it my husband, child, or a total stranger on the street.


What are you going to do in the next few days to bring a smile to your husband, boyfriends, or total stranger's face?


I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Cottonelle blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link to http://littleswitches.socialmoms.com/about)