VEGAS BABY!!!

I am going on vacation this weekend to VEGAS! I'm just excited to be getting out of here, and it's supposed to be tanktop weather down there. Yay! Bustin' out the tanktops.

So, I will be MIA until probably Tuesday, but I want you all to know that I have some really great giveaways coming up! Already planned for next week are special things from Sassy Apron, Pure Naturals, Lily Pond Soaps, and Boojiboo.

I am ecstatic about the fantastic things to be given away, so stay tuned and tell all your friends and make sure to come back next week!

ALSO - don't forget that the tutu giveaway ends Sunday night. I won't be able to draw the winner until Tuesday but any comments after Sunday at midnight MST will not count, so get your comments in now!!

Yummy!

I found this great cupcake place called Cupcake Chic on Twitter and realized they were in Utah. Upon further investigation, I found that they are in my neck of the woods! I stopped by Art City Coffee today for a cupcake, got the Orange Cream or something like that, and it was DIVINE! Very lightly orange flavored cake with a very lightly orange flavored buttercream frosting. I loved it.

Yes, I know, I have a cupcake addiction. I get that, and I don't care. :)

This LITERALLY made my mouth water

Click on the picture of the giant cupcake. Go ahead, do it now! Reading this article made my mouth water. Really. Especially #s 1, 10, 11 and 19 . It takes a minute to load the page (at least, it does on my connection which is pretty fast) but it is SO worth the wait! Go, friends, and read about the delicious things that are not accessible to me.

Mmmmmmm

I am in a very random mood. You have been warned.

I LOVE the warmth today! I drove with my windows down and didn't freeze my hiney off. YAY!!! Now hopefully it stays. I want to go on a freakin' motorcycle ride!

And, two things. First, and I don't know why I do this to myself, but I decided today that I needed to find fabric. I'm going to be making covered corkboards to sell on Etsy (SO cute!) and need fabric to cover them, obviously. So, I did a search for fabric stores in my area and found two I wanted to go to. WHY did I do that? Seriously!? Like I need more stores that catch my heart. I found this great place in Springville called Corn Wagon and it is the cutest little shoppe! It's like a fabric boutique. Good gosh. I was there for an hour. I finally got some fabric and some fat quarters and off I went to visit the other one. WHY?!?!? I apparently didn't think my first fabric venture of the day was enough. I stopped at this place called the Cotton Shop (I think) and again, why do I do this to myself? I got enough fabric to cover like 30 cork boards today. Der. Keep me AWAY from crafty places! Jeepers.

Second thing, I went to Sweet Tooth Fairy again today. >>Don't judge me!<< I tried the German chocolate cupcake and the sugar cookie. I figure if I go once a week, and I get two things, I can try everything in a couple of months! :) I've already adjusted my checkbook to allow for weekly cupcake fixes. I'm like a drug addict. But it's just cupcakes, so it's okay... right? Anyway, both were absolutely delicious. I'm not huge on chocolate cake but love German chocoloate frosting, so I had to try it, and it was great! It was really, really sweet and if I get it again, I will share it with someone, but I liked it. The sugar cookie is wonderful as well! Super soft, with vanilla frosting to make it that much better!

Side note: can I just take the time to say thanks to my parents for great genes? I've got the metabolism of... well, something with a really fast metabolism... and without it, I would weigh 1,500 pounds. I have a serious sweet tooth. When eating, I typically eat pretty healthy, but I CANNOT avoid the temptation of anything sweet.

Anyway, thanks for reading and go to the Sweet Tooth Fairy Bake Shop!!! You won't regret it.

iPod/Cash Giveaway

Enter here:

http://www.anothermmoblog.com/2009/02/contest-win-tons-of-great-prizes-including-ipod-shuffle-ad-spots-and-more/

Sponsors for this great giveaway are:

Making Money Online
DatMoney.com
iBlogtoBlog.com
Ahnternet.com
BloggerStop.net
CreateBanner.com

Windows Vista Giveaway

I actually really like Vista and would love to win this!

http://www.5minutesforgiveaways.com/148/windows-vista-ultimate-product-red

Tomato and Avocado Salsa

Can we take a break for a minute? I have something I want to discuss. And that something is this salsa.


I was wandering around the internet last weekend looking for recipes and found this one. I could not wait to try it! It sounded so yummy. So, I set about to making it and decided two things. First, I need to figure out how to dice faster. Seriously, I'm slow. Second, why do onions have to make you cry? Geeze.

Anyway, it was really tasty. Now, the recipe calls for cilantro but I hate it so I omitted it. Next time I make it, I will add black beans and more avocado, and do a little less corn and a little less lime juice. All in all, I loved it and will make it again!

Tomato and Avocado Salsa
1/4 cup lime juice
2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1 large ripe tomato, diced
1 cup canned (or frozen, but thawed) corn
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Mix lime juice, oil, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients; toss lightly to mix and coat.

Enjoy!

TC & Company Review

A little about TC & Company (from their website):
This is a family owned and operated business. It involves my husband, our three children and me. We work out of our home making these quality handcrafted items - soaps, lotions, butters, sugar scrubs, bath soaks, candles, tart melts, incense, linen sprays and more!

Quality matters to us. We won't sell a product that we are not completely happy with and willing to use ourselves. I can assure you; we use all of our products EVERYDAY and love them!!

They offer many, many lines of products and all of them sound wonderful! I was able to review three of their fabulous products from the BaraNaos line – the Shea butter in Pineapple Cake, the whipped body butter in Sweet Essence, and the soy lotion in Black Vanilla Orchid.

The first I tried was the whipped body butter in Sweet Essence. Let me first say that I am VERY picky about lotions. If they leave my skin feeling too greasy, or too dry, or if they smell too strong, or not strong enough, I won’t use them. This left my skin feeling great! Soft and moisturized, just like a lotion should; even on the driest part of my body, my elbows. The scent is hard to describe; kind of floral but with a sweet sugary side. I do like the scent but it was a little powdery for my tastes. I do think my mom would LOVE the smell of this one, it reminds me of her.

Next, I used the Shea butter in Pineapple Cake. First off, I really like this scent! Angel food cake meets fresh Hawaiian pineapple. YUM. Not too strong, but strong enough that I can tell that I put it on, and like it. The texture of this is great as well. It’s super smooth and silky and made my skin feel just the same. It wasn’t quite as moisturizing as the body butter, but this would make for a better toss-in-your-purse, use-every-day lotion. I really like this one!

Last but definitely not least, I tried the soy lotion in Black Vanilla Orchid. The scent is very florally, with a definite musky undertone. It doesn’t smell bad by any means, just not my cup of tea. However, the lotion is great. It softened me up and my skin stayed soft for hours. Some lotions you put on and your skin feels great, for a minute. Not this lotion; I was well moisturized!

To sum things up, I really liked the quality of each of the three types of lotion that I tried. They work wonders for dry skin but actually smell good, unlike some of the lotions out there made for dry skin. I would definitely recommend this company.



Buy it! You can purchase the above items or any of the great items from TC & Company here or from their Etsy shop here. I recommend them!

I Never Grew Up Birthday Bash!

Guys, check out this website. It's their first birthday and they are doing a myriad of really great giveaways!



Seriously, SOOOO cool!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt Giveaway!

SOOO cute, I want this for Punk desperately.

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/02/blushing-buttercream-pettiskirt.html

Awwww

You know those moments, where you are completely reminded of why you married the man you did? [I know this is not applicable to all, just pretend if it's not, okay? :)] I had one of those last night. We are not the type of family to stay home all day, especially when it's nice out. We didn't really do much yesterday and around 10pm C was getting stir-crazy. We went driving around [one of my favorite things to do, not sure why] and while we were driving, we got to talking about my bows. See, C's ex also makes bows. Before I even knew she made them, when Punk would come to our house with them in her hair, I always hated them. I think they look like funny bugs in her hair. Last night as we were talking, he tells me, "You know, the thing I think is cool about your bows is that you can't tell they are made in someone's house. They look like something you would buy at an expensive store." AWWWWW my heart melted. He is not one to give compliments much (thanks MIL) but that just killed me. The conversation continued and he told me that he thinks they are amazing and it's really cool that I could do something like that just out of my imagination, and that all the bows Punk has worn home from her other house just aren't the same caliber as mine. And, he had a friend over the other day and told him he had to see my bows. Now, it doesn't get better than that. He told his GUY friend to come look at my bows. HOW CUTE!

Anyway, just wanted to share. As hard as he is to deal with sometimes, I know why I'm with him! :)

MarieLynn Boutique Giveaway

Super cute St. Patrick's Day bow giveaway!

http://marielynnboutique.blogspot.com/2009/02/st-pattys-day-giveaway.html

Sweet Tooth Fairy Review

Okay, I have to admit... If I could have an affair with a food, it would be cupcakes. I love cupcakes. I think they are the greatest idea any foodie ever had. And I love "cupcake porn". I stalk a lot of cupcake bloggers, but there is one in particular who always manages to make me drool just with pictures. I sit and imagine the cupcakes and how they would taste and I just die. But that's just it, it was always imagining. Until yesterday!

I finally made my way to The Sweet Tooth Fairy bake shop in Provo, and I can tell you that I was not disappointed! Now, I feel really bad because I literally spent 20 minutes in there talking to one of the owners, and after all that, I didn't even get his name. Seriously, I'm a brat. I know that it is Megan's brother but I didn't get his name and he was the nicest guy ever! He shared tips with me on making fondant (he said to always use Satin Ice, I think it was called), and he let me try a cake bite (HOLY DELECTABLE!!!), and we chatted about my infatuation with cupcakes. We even talked about credit unions. I can't believe I didn't get his name. I'm rude.

ANYWAY, onto the cupcakes. Sweet, tantalizing cupcakes. I tried the red velvet cupcake, the vanilla cupcake, and the strawberry cupcake. I also bought a black and white cookie. Let me start off by telling you, I don't usually like chocolate. But this cookie was calling my name. And I'm glad it did. Boy, was it good! The frosting was almost a coconut-ish vanilla flavor and it was DIVINE! All of the cupcakes were absolutely melt-in-your-mouth soft and moist and had amazing flavor without being too much. The vanilla was incredible, the red velvet was to die for, but the strawberry? There are no words to describe the amazing-ness of the strawberry frosting. It tastes like it was made straight out of a strawberry. It was SOOOOOO good. Like, good enough that I licked it off of the top of the box when the cupcake was gone. Seriously. I shared these with my sister Shelby who is also heavily infatuated with cupcakes, and her reviews were the same. Fabulous cupcakes. Needless to say, I had cupcakes for lunch yesterday (really).



If you are anywhere near the shop (1227 S. University Avenue in Provo), I really recommend going. Not only are their cupcakes spectacular but the people are wonderful and the shop is darling! Stop in and I dare you to try only one. It's ridiculously hard. If you are on the freeway to somewhere South, get off of the University Avenue exit, go North, and take a right at 1200 South. It's smack-dab in the middle of The Quilted Bear and Hogi Yogi.

I love this place, and I pretty much promise you will, too. Now go and get a cupcake!

Baby Quasar Giveaway

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT enter this giveaway because I really, really, really, really, really, really want to win. But check it out. Just don't enter. :)

http://www.sweetlifeinthevalley.com/2009/02/fun-free-fridays-baby-quasar.html

Eleven Shoes Giveaway

Cute shoes for Punk's size!

Check out the giveaway here:
http://www.gograhamgo.com/2009/02/eleven-shoes-safe-and-fun-for-kids-feet.html

Here is the main blog:
http://www.gograhamgo.com/

And the shoe collection:
http://www.elevencollection.com/

Grab Bag Giveaway

Go here. Not only does she make really cute stuff but she has 6 adorable kitties, too!

http://zapoldesigns.blogspot.com/2009/02/grab-bag-giveaway.html

Sweet Irie Giveaway

Go here:

http://customcreationsbysydnei.blogspot.com/2009/02/simply-sweet-treatssweet-irie.html

I love her designs!

--Kendahl

Overcoat Giveaway!

Super cute coat giveaway on another blog, but don't enter. Seriously. I want to win.

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/02/conservatory-overcoat-giveaway.html

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't actually celebrate this holiday - I think it's a media holiday - but I do love conversation hearts!

Happy Valentine's day to all that do celebrate it!

Dyson Review

No giveaway with this one, but I wanted to review my favorite thing on this entire planet - the Dyson. Not only do I like the vacuums they make, but the founder of the Dyson company, James Dyson, is the epitomy of never giving up. Did you realize that it took 5,127 prototypes for him to finally get the bugs all worked out, and give us the greatest vacuum in the world? :) That's a lot of hard work. And determination.


<- This right here was the first model of the Dyson, called the DC01. I would totally own this! It rocks my socks. Now, let me just tell you that I don't actually own a Dyson. I live down the street from my MIL and she owns one, so I just go steal hers for now! At first, I wasn't falling for the hype. I figured it would be just like any other vacuum but more expensive. So, I put it to my own test. I vacuumed my house not once, but twice, with my current vacuum. We'll call it Jim (names have been changed to protect the innocent). I vacuumed twice with Jim, and then went to get the Dyson. I really didn't think it would pick up anything at this point. Boy, was I wrong! I vacuumed through my house and had to empty the cylindar once and then it was half full again! Needless to say, I am now a full believer in the power of the Dyson.


I shed a lot, which is the main problem in my house. I have a cat, but I seriously shed more than he does. Not kidding. All through my house, and especially in and around my bathroom, there are little blonde hairs laced throughout the carpet. The Dyson picks it all up, and I love it! I love feeling like my carpet really is clean, like the vacuum really has done the job it should do.

If all of my dreams could come true, I would own the DC25 Animal. I have dreams about that vacuum and the amount of hair it could pull from my carpet. :) Dyson vacuums are carried in almost all major stores, including Walmart and Target, but you can also shop HERE.

Thanks for reading, and have a great Friday the 13th! Oh, and Valentine's Day if you fall for all that media hype. :)

Also, don't forget to enter the TUTU GIVEAWAY and tell all your friends to enter, too!

--Kendahl

Just a reminder

Get your comments in on the tutu giveaway, and refer some friends! Also, follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/ScrapItUp

ALSO - on the right bar there is a button to click on! Just click it... do it! It's to enter for free KitchenAid stuff. That is never a bad thing!

--Kendahl

The Husband tag!

I'm really behind on this one but I wanted to do it...

1. Where did you meet? Andy's house
2. How long did you date before you got married? About a year and a half
3. How long have you been married? About a year and a half :)
4. What does he do that surprises you? Random things, like last year when he bought me a dozen roses for Valentine's Day. I don't really celebrate it so it was a surprise!
5. What is your favorite feature of his? I was never a butt person, but he has a cute one! And his gorgeous blue eyes.
6. What is your favorite quality of his? He is super hard-working, always.
7. Does he have a nickname for you? Wife, Boo Boo, Babe, Boo Boo Muffin (don't ask)
8. What is his favorite color? Orange
9. What is his favorite food? His hamburgers, Wendy's
10. What is his favorite sport? None really
11. When and where was your first kiss? The parking lot at IHOP in Orem
12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Sand dunes!!
13. Do you have any children? A daughter and a kitty
14. Does he have a hidden talent? No hidden ones, they are well on display
15. How old is he? 25
16. Who said "I love you" first? He did
17. What is his favorite type of music? Old school rap or rock
18. What do you admire most about him? He takes care of me!
19. Do you think he will read this? Nope

Allow me to introduce myself

I figure that if people are going to read my blog, they are going to have to know a bit about me and the fam. So, without further ado, here we are!




This is me and "Big C", my husband. Sorry for the cheeseball-ness but seriously, the only pictures we have of our faces are from our engagements or our wedding.








These pictures better describe us:
This is C on his Banshee at Sand Mountain in Utah. He is a great husband and a really great provider for our family. He works super hard every day so that we can play as much as we want! He's a gearhead to the extreme. There is nothing sexier than him coming in from the garage covered in grease. **Funny, he says the same thing about me. :) When we're not at the dunes, we are at the race track. We have a 2005 Cummins diesel that, when it's put back together, we are hoping will run high- to mid-10s straight fuel. We kind of have a thing for speed.






This is my hot pink bike. Because I'm the picture-taker, we have no pictures of me actually riding it, but it hauls ASS! I used to ride a bullet bike and had a really bad accident, and it scared the daylights out of me. It took me forever to get back on any type of non-car mover, but after about a year of riding this across the flat, I do really go up the big hill, at about 80 MPH. There is nothing like it. I love the adrenaline rush! Fastest pink bike I've ever seen, that's for sure! Oh, and that's my old car in the background, known as Lexy. She was a champ! I've now upgraded to the newer model but I miss her, she was a great car. To me, I would rather live in a shed and have a great car and lots of toys, than have a big house. Luckily, my husband thinks the same thing! We started dating a little over three years ago. I never thought I would be the type to rush into anything, especially marriage. I always thought that I would date someone for years and years before ever thinking about marriage, but it took me about three days to decide I wanted to spend forever with C. We got officially engaged a little over three months after we started dating, and haven't looked back. We bought a house together just shy of one year of being together, and got married a year later. We've now been married for about a year and a half.


This is my step-daughter, Punk. Before me, C was in a relationship with Punk's mom for about 7 years (but never married her; I must be special :) ). So, when we started dating, I became an instant mom. Boy, was that hard. I never planned on having kids, ever. I love watching other people's kids - I am a TOTAL babysitter - but there is nothing better than being able to hand the stinkers back at the end of the day! We have her pretty much every weekend. She's a great kid (most of the time, as is typical for kids I guess), but comparing her to how I was at her age, we couldn't have been more different. I was really independent and wanted to do everything for myself, be by myself, handle it myself; she is the total opposite. She always wants to be where the people are and wants the attention on her. I lose my patience with her some days, but I swear all I want to do is be the perfect mom! I do love her a lot and try my hardest to be a good mommy but I think I am a lot harder on myself than I should be. You should see this kid at the dunes though! We bought her a 4-wheeler for Christmas a couple of years ago and she is just now to the point where she can stand up and actually have her butt be off the seat! But, she is AMAZING. She's good enough that I can get in the Rhino, tell her to take me on a ride, and follow her until we both run out of gas. Then, no matter how far into the dunes we are, she can take us right back to camp. She definitely inherited her riding ability from her daddy!

And this is our kitty, Turbo. He's a Bengal. Punk has always wanted a cat, so for her 7th birthday, we got him for her. He's a BIG kitty - currently stands over a foot tall, almost two feet long, and weighs about 13 1/2 pounds. And he's only 9 months, so he's got plenty more growing to do! Turbo has turned me into a cat lady. I seriously love him and I talk about him like he's my child. Not kidding, I feel like a dork about it but I can't help it. You know Newton's law, where if it can go wrong, it will? Well, he's kind of like that, only it's if he can get into it and ruin it, he will. He loves to ambush people and attack toes, and he hangs out in the fridge sometimes. He's crazy, but he's a good kitty. Punk beats on him and hauls him around the house and pulls his tail, and he very rarely does any damage to her. She absolutely loves her kitty!

Well, that's us! Sorry for the long post. I like to talk some days. So, if you ever want to chat, just contact me! :) I hope I can get to know more of you out there. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them for me! I love getting comments.

And, have a good day, I'm out!

pomegranate&pink Review and Giveaway!

CLOSED!!



Bio:
pomegranate&pink is a store that sells, well, anything! The company is operated by two sisters, Shelby and Kendahl (FYI, that's me!). We both love to do basically anything crafty, and figured, why not sell the stuff we make? Currently we’ve got tutus and hairbows and things like that, but plan to add home décor, like wall vinyls and wreaths and stuff.

We are based in Happy Valley, Utah, but will ship anywhere; so come one, come all! We also adore custom requests as we want you to be as happy as possible. If you find something in our store, but want it in a different color, no problem! If you find something online that you want but it’s too expensive, let us know and we will see if we can get it done for you cheaper! We’re like the super cute boutique, minus the boutique prices.

My daughter was able to review an adorable tutu from pomegranate&pink. The minute I handed it to her, she put it on.

Her first question? “Mommy, what do I wear it with?” I told her anything she wanted, and this is what I got:

She wanted to be a ballerina princess. She didn’t take the tutu off except to change into different outfits for a good 4 hours straight. Then it was jammy time and it got put on her big stuffed dog for keeping.

I am kind of biased because this is my company and all, but this was also a test for me and my product, and I was happy with it. Punk is not soft on things, ever. She breaks almost everything she touches (she gets that from her daddy). So, I really wanted to see how it would hold up, and it’s still in great shape! It got a little kinked and all I had to do was leave it in the bathroom while I showered, and it straightened right out. These tutus make me wish I had a little one to put it on and take pictures, because they are SO adorable on babies!

Buy it!
You can purchase the above items, or any of the great items from pomegranate&pink here . Mention that you saw this review, and get 10% off your entire order!

Win it!
pomegranate&pink has generously offered one tutu to one of my wonderful readers! When the winner is selected, they will need a measurement from you and the tutu will be custom-made to fit just right. You can make it for a baby, or yourself, it doesn't matter!

To enter, visit their site and tell me your favorite item. **THIS IS REQUIRED!!**

Extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):
--Follow me
--Tweet about this giveaway, with a link to the giveaway
--Add my button to your site, and leave me your link
--Blog about the giveaway and leave me the link
--Purchase something from pomegranate&pink and get 3 extra entries
--Refer a friend to this contest! You can e-mail them and cc me -kandrade84[at]hotmail[dot]com- or you can have them leave me a comment saying they were referred by you. One extra entry for each referred person!

Please be sure I have a way to contact you if you win! Leave your e-mail address in your comment, or if your profile is set to public and your e-mail address is in your profile, that works too.

Because this is my first giveaway and I want to increase readership, this one will be open for awhile. This giveaway ends March 1st, 2009 at midnight, MST. I will use random.org to choose a winner, and will post the winner on my site. The giveaway is open to international readers.

Let's start things off right, eh?!

I am going to start off with a giveaway of my own! My step-daughter comes to my house this weekend and I am going to have her review a super cute tutu from pomegranate&pink.

Okay, I have to admit that p&p might just be my company... so what? :) So, once we've had the chance to review the tutu, I will be posting the review and GIVEAWAY right here! Stay tuned, and be sure to spread the word around so that more giveaways are possible in the (near) future.

Thanks!

--Kendahl

New Blog!

It's official. I've decided to jump on the review & giveaway bandwagon. I love the reviews and giveaways out there, but I haven't really found any for my daughter's age group (she's 7 [and a half, if you ask her]). Most everything is for the littles! So, I am going to do my best to get some good reviews and hopefully giveaways for that age group so that you can all enjoy! Thanks for stopping by.

--Kendahl