SPONSOR WELCOME

April 29, 2012


sfd
Sweet Faerie Designs is a design site that can help you with any of your social media, branding, designing needs. Carrie whose blog is Carrie Loves, who removed her last name from the name of her blog because her teenage kids’ friends found it and didn’t result in happy times from her teenagers (so be careful what you put out there). If you want to spruce up your blog and need some things designed, check out here and here. Prices are affordable and you get your blog to stand out from the rest. So if you are in the need for a little renovating in the blogosphere, Sweet Faerie Designs might just be right for you! This and this are my faves.
For one Cakies reader, Sweet Faerie Designs is giving away one free pre-made blog template or a $50 gift certificate towards a custom blog design. Here are some things you can do:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what template you would choose from Sweet Faerie Designs.
2. Blog, tweet, or facebook about this giveaway and leave the link here.
Now, if you do all of the things mentioned above, you might even be able to up your chances by getting your name in 4 times! Fantastic, right? Open to those overseas too! 
The giveaway will end at 8am PST on Thursday, May 3rd and the winner will be announced via twitter (follow me on twitter here) on Friday. Good luck! Go visit Sweet Faerie Designs now… 

SPONSOR WELCOME

April 29, 2012


bbb
Betty Bow Blue… sounds like a nursery rhyme, doesn’t it? Wait. Is it? I’m not sure, but the lady behind it is a Betty Crocker type constantly baking up a storm and has a penchant for nursery rhymes, so this name seems aptly suited for her. This mama has two little boys named Owen and Ben (a very good name) and as soon as they are off to bed, she is off creating pretty accessories. All her creations can be seen on her facebook page or Betty Bow Blue shop.
For you, Betty Bow Blue is offering free shipping on any order use coupon code fr33cakies and one of you can win a $30 gift certificate to anything from Betty Bow Blue!
Here are some things you can do:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite item from Betty Bow Blue (I like this necklace).
2. Blog, tweet, or facebook about this giveaway and leave the link here.
Now, if you do all of the things mentioned above, you might even be able to up your chances by getting your name in 4 times! Fantastic, right? Open to U.S. residents only.
The giveaway will end at 8am PST on Thursday, May 3rd and the winner will be announced via twitter (follow me on twitter here) on Friday. Good luck! Go visit Betty Bow Blue now… 

SPONSOR WELCOME

April 28, 2012


tws
I wear Tumbleweeds. No, not the kind you see blowing across the freeway, but the kind that are so cool and are handmade by lovely duo Beca and Doug. I really think the glasses are way cooler than I am. Really. Anyways, I love my tumbleweeds. See here and here, and I even wore them throughout The Color Run and they held up nicely, did not fall off my head, and did not stain at all! Heck, they even make adorable kid ones. Aren’t they cute?!! Well, I think you should wear Tumbleweeds too! 
In celebration of Mother’s Day coming up, Tumbleweeds Handcrafted is giving away this pair (pictured above) of turquoise fawn clubmasters to one of you! 
Here are some things you can do:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite pair from the Tumbleweeds Handcrafted.
2. Blog, tweet, or facebook about this giveaway and leave the link here.
3. Follow Tumbleweeds Handcrafted on their blog and twitter and leave me separate links telling me you do so.
Now, if you do all of the things mentioned above, you might even be able to up your chances by getting your name in 6 times! Fantastic, right? Open to U.S. residents only.
The giveaway will end at 8am PST on Wednesday, May 2nd and the winner will be announced via twitter (follow me on twitter here) on Friday. Good luck! Go visit Tumbleweeds Handcrafted now… 

HUZZAH!

April 28, 2012


the saguaro
This week’s learned and links…
– True is 6! A post or two of her birthday celebration coming up soon.
– Soul cannot sleep with us in a hotel room. Ben and I had terrible sleep that night.
– Love The Saguaro in Palm Springs. It is definitely a fun hotel.
– Love this post Jenn did on how to display instagrams. Doing this asap.

– Winner of Blowfish giveaway announced here on twitter. Follow here.

– Want to make this fun weekender tote.

– A poster with sass.

– Ordered this bathing suit for our trip to Palm Springs, but it didn’t come in time. Nevertheless, I still love it, it fits great, hides that bit of mom belly I have, and can’t wait to wear it to the beach.

– Excited because floor tearing up and putting in gets started the end of this week. Who wants to have a party and trash our carpet?!!

Got lots to do at home this weekend. Ben goes back to work on Monday. I have giveaways coming too, so check back! 


THE COLOR RUN BEAT OUT DISNEYLAND

April 27, 2012


the socal color run 2012
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the socal color run 2012
the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012
the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012the socal color run 2012

Yeah. I know. There’s a million pictures here (and a video), okay, not a million, but you know what I mean. It was just too fun and too pretty of a race to not share a grip load of pictures, so here you go and tons more here. The video was made by my friend Lance who was our team leader. He’s an athletic dude who runs at least one race a month.

If there’s a Color Run coming to a city near you, do it. Seriously. It’s a pretty happy place to be. I think it pretty well beat out Disneyland for the happiest place in Orange County last Sunday. I felt cheated because it didn’t feel like much of a 5k at all. We ran the whole time and when we were done, it went by so fast and we were having a blast that we didn’t want it to end. Really though, half of the people we passed by as we were running, weren’t running, so I don’t think you need to run to be part of this.

Next year, Ben is going to fast walk this (he’s got bad knees from playing sports when he was younger) and True and Brave are going to join in for sure. Brave had fun dancing with the crowds at the end. I think this kind of thing is right up her alley. It was really like a big, giant party and everyone was so excited. There was dancing and a whole lot of color and I think those things make a great combination.

I must say that in the car, on the way to the race, I was pee in my pants nervous. I was really afraid I might. This was my first race and I didn’t know what to expect. My sister and I ran this with a team and Ben’s cousin was on the team too. Most of the others on the team, we just met for the first time on Sunday and they were a pretty rad team to be with. Our team name was Color Me Radd.

I think The Color Run makes me expect all 5k’s to be this fun and I have a feeling they aren’t. I do want to do the Foam Fest coming up in May, if our family calendar is clear that day. Anyone in SoCal want to join that with me? We might be running this as a team again. And now I want to do a 10k and work my way to a half marathon. There’s a half marathon in October and I’m contemplating joining. Not sure though, 13 miles is a lot of miles. Would love to do a marathon, but that’s like running from my house to my mom’s house and not sure if I could do it. We’ll see. I’ll take it slow, but I think The Color Run was a good place to start. Heck, I’m even thinking of joining the Zombie Run in October, but that makes me really scared. Zombies chasing me?!! Oh my! Lance already started a team for that. I tell you, he’s hardcore when it comes to this race stuff.

Anyone else do the color run or have plans to do one near you? It really is bomb dot com.

p.s. to rinse the color off, take an ice cold shower. like as cold as you can take it and you will have no problems. and yes, i am wearing my tumbleweeds handcrafted sunglasses.

p.p.s. foam fest is may 26th in temecula. if you are thinking of joining, let me know! it’s on sale here.


FAMILY MEALS: WEEK FIFTEEN

April 27, 2012


This week was so busy that our fresh homemade meals happened only once. With it being Ben’s last week, we were trying to get as much done as possible and then True’s birthday arrived and we flitted off to Palm Springs.
family meals
I thought we had chicken breast, but we didn’t, so I decided to also use the marinade and sauce with shrimp (I know Ben won’t eat the drumstick). Bad idea. The recipe went well with the chicken, but not so much with the shrimp. It came out way too salty and just wasn’t good with shrimp. The chicken on the other hand, was really yummy and when you drizzle the sauce on top, the flavors just really pop. I would definitely make this again, but with chicken only and not shrimp. 
family meals

Week 4/30 – 5/4
Tuesday: Seafood Medley Pasta
Wednesday: A healthified version of Panda Express Orange Chicken
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pizza
What was your favorite meal this week?

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