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    • Some like it hot

    2010 - 01.07

    Tags: , , , , Category Eats and Drinks | No Comments »

    I couldn’t resist using that as a post title for a review of salsa.  Can you blame me?

    I’m a mild girl myself, but I do enjoy salsa with tortilla chips.  So when Mom Central contacted me about doing a review of a new line of Rosarita salsas, I could hardly say no.  Besides, I thought it would go perfectly with our annual New Year’s Eve snack-fest.  Each year we do up an assortment of appetizers and snack foods and instead of having a meal that night, we just snack on yummy things all night long.  And if you’re having a snack fest, you’ve pretty much got to have salsa.

    The salsa initially arrived in pieces.  Which isn’t exactly how you hope to receive a package of salsa.  The Fed Ex guy didn’t even ring our doorbell when he dropped off the package and I can hardly blame him.  Luckily, Mom Central got another package out to me ASAP and it arrived just in time for our New Year’s Eve celebration.

    We received three bottles of salsa.  A mild, a medium (with green peppers) and a hot.  Now, as I mentioned before, I’m a mild girl.  So I only really tried the mild.  But I liked it!  Word to the wise for other mild child’s out there: this salsa still has some kick!  Which was definitely tasty but also required a glass of water to cool my tongue.  And also, this cemented my decision not to try the medium or the hot.  Instead, my more intrepid husband tried those.  And his verdict:  SPICY!  (the hot)  TASTY! (both)  I would definitely rank these salsa’s up there with Pace and the Walmart store brand, which is what we normally buy.  And I was right, these salsa’s fit right in with our holiday snack-fest.

    I even tried some over a microwave burrito the other day and OMG so good.  I like rather plain bean and cheese burritos, but they are somewhat bland.  A good salsa always punches it up and I think the Rosarita salsa is the best compliment I’ve tried so far.

    This new line of salsas is still in somewhat limited release.  Currently, according to Rosarita, they can only be found in four cities — LA, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver — at select Walmart and grocery stores.  However, when I was at my local Walmart just a week or so ago, I found these salsas on the shelf there.  I would say, if you don’t live in one of those cities, don’t expect to find it.  But if you do?  Bonus!

    Do you love salsa like I do?  Hey, even mild child’s can love salsa.

    I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Rosarita and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

    Holiday cards done right

    2009 - 11.17

    Tags: , , , , , Category Stationary | No Comments »

    You might remember last year about this time when I reviewed custom photo holiday cards from Minted.com.  Imagine my pleasure when someone from Minted contacted me again this year to do another review.  I admit, that besides the lure of beautiful, professionally crafted Christmas cards to mail out to friends and family, that I was intrigued to see what the company had changed this year and what new designs they had to offer.

    I wasn’t disappointed! I couldn’t say for sure, but I think this year they’ve doubled (or maybe even tripled!) the number of available designs to choose from.  And there is literally something for everyone.  Do you want a secular holiday card, appropriate for passing out as someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas?  Or maybe you’re looking for something with a heart-felt message of faith?  Do your interests swing towards the more modern, or retro-stylish look?  Perhaps you prefer a traditional, elegant card.  Whatever your fancy, Minted has what you’re looking for.

    MIN-ALU-HYC-001_A_PD

    It was a tough choice, but this card fit the bill!

    Last year I mentioned that the cost might be somewhat prohibitive.  It’s still a little pricey for those of us who do most of our Christmas card shopping at places like Walmart, but when you consider the quality and service you get with Minted, the prices are really not that bad.   Especially when you consider you can get corporate cards, engagement announcements, wedding invitations, baby shower announcements…. the list goes on.  Custom cards like that aren’t exactly cheap, and Minted’s prices are very much in line and often, you can get a great deal on something that looks like it cost a whole lot more.

    Last year, everyone was very impressed with our Christmas cards.  We had many people ask us where got them from and I was more than happy to pass on the information.  We’re not usually the bragging sorts, but it felt good to have people ooh and ahh over our cards (and the cute kiddo pics we selected go on them!).

    It also needs to be mentioned that Minted has made the ordering process even simpler than it was last year.  Last year I wanted to have a picture of each of my three children on the front of the card.  Unfortunately, it was next to impossible to get everyone together in one picture and looking appropriate.  I wanted to use one picture for each child.  My solution was firing up my trust photo editing program and creating a collage that I saved as one image and then used that.  Not difficult at all for me, but I can see where other people might not be able to or know how to do that for themselves.  This year, Minted offers many cards that are MADE for multiple images.  I had my pick of beautiful designs, since I planned to do the same this year, with three separate images.

    Once you submit your order, the folks at Minted proof it closely, making sure the typography is centered and that the photos are looking their best.  I was impressed at how quickly they got back to me via email with a proof to approve.  And once approved, it took just a few days for the order to show up on my doorstep.  So if you’re thinking it’s too late to get custom cards this year, think again!

    Consider pampering yourself (and your loved ones!) with a custom card from Minted this year.  It sure had eliminated a lot of guesswork for me this year and I’m actually (gasp) looking forward to sending these out!   I just need to go get stamps and I’m all set!

    “Lakeshore Christmas” Blog Tour

    2009 - 11.12

    Tags: , , , , , Category Books | 1 Comment »

    I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by MotherTalk on behalf of “Lakeshore Christmas” and received a copy of the book to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

    I’m a busy gal.  I don’t have time for a lot of things anymore… shoot, I hardly have enough time to blog.  One activity that has sadly fallen by the wayside is reading.  Sure, I made time for each and every Harry Potter book when they were released and there was the two months or so last year when I fell victim to “Twilight Mania”.  But I used to read every day.  Every night, before I went to sleep.  And I haven’t done that in a long time.

    When I was contacted about joining this blog tour, I very nearly passed up on it.  But then I saw that it was a Christmas novel.

    I have a history with Christmas novels, particular those of the romantic variety.  Every year at Christmas, I would find at least one Christmas-themed “anthology”, of sorts.  I would devour the stories because not only were they sappy towards love, but sappy towards the holiday.  And I am an admitted Christmas Nutcase.

    I’d heard great things about the author of this particular novel, Susan Wiggs, and maybe even read a book or two of hers back in the day.  Adding to my intrigue, was learning that this particular book was part of a series, called the “Lakeshore Chronicles”.  I have a hard time resisting a series.  There’s something about a book that is part of a series.  The side-characters are more interesting and intriguing, the atmosphere is almost homey, lived in.  So here we were taking about a Christmas romance that is part of a series of books based around this one little town in upstate New York.

    I was THERE.

    And you know?  I wasn’t the least bit disappointed.  I was excited to receive the book in the mail and each night before I went to sleep, I would read a chapter.  Or two.  Or three.  You know how it is.  I quickly found myself engrossed with the story, the setting, the characters, the whole shebang.  And before long, I became aware that I was going to have to track down some of the other Lakeshore Chronicles books because I want to read about these other characters.  Particularly one, who’s sub-plot was left on a rather intriguing cliffhanger.

    Still, despite being part of a series of books, I never once felt like I was picking a story up halfway through.  The author did a splendid job of summarizing past stories and getting you comfortable and friendly with the town and it’s inhabitants.  Never once did I feel there was a joke I was missing out on, a common problem with reading a book mid-series.

    This book was an easy, quick and fun read.  I was rather disappointed when I was finished because that meant a) I would have to leave these lovely characters behind and b) I now no longer had anything to read before bed!

    I would suggest, if you are a Christmas nutcase like myself, are a fan of romantic novels or just of reading in general, and want a cozy and entertaining story to read while snuggled up in front of the fire this season, you look no further than “Lakeshore Christmas” by Susan Wiggs.  You won’t be disappointed!

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