Introducing Blossom by ChicoBag – Review/Giveaway

ChicoBag is introducing Blossom, the new spring collection designed to help humanity kick the single-use bag habit. All of the bags stuff down into a small integrated pouch and include carabiners, meaning that they can be easily tossed into a purse or clipped onto anything (works well for those New Year’s resolutions to carry a reusable bag!) The new fashion line features four prints designed to help shoppers eliminate single-use bags in style. The vibrant, colorful silhouettes feature prints of blossoms in full bloom reminiscent of the splendor of spring.

>Monday 3/14 – blog hoppin’

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1. Do you have a fireplace in your home? No unfortunately.  I’ve seen those neat Amish “fireplaces” that you can use to warm up an apartment.  They look like a fireplace, without all the work, plug ‘em in and go!  I’d love one!
2. Can you drive a stick shift?  No
3. How many computers are in your home?  One in the living room so I can multi-task and watch TV at the same time!
4. Are your taxes done yet? Do you do them yourself? No – I do them thru Turbo Tax.  I like how I’m ‘walked’ through my taxes.  Very easy to do.  Usually I have them done by the end of Feb – I’m really behind this year.  
5. What is your favorite meal of the day?  My favorite is breakfast – all day long!


Thanks for stopping by GivingNSharing!  I appreciate it and would love to have you stop and look around if you have time.  Be sure to leave a comment and your blog address so I can follow you back.  I do have several giveaways and if you’re interested you can click on the one you want and it should take you to the post.  Thanks so much!


1) WIN a trip for 2 from Gortons and 5 winners will get FREE food! http://tiny.cc/6wd5n ends 3/10, US
2) MaMi’s line of natural skin care w/ active ingredients, no fillers, safe, toxin-free & paraben-free! Giveaway~ http://ning.it/evIJFc
3)LOW Entries! ~ WIN a Blossom Bag from ChicoBag.com on GivingNSharing @http://tiny.cc/m1god, Ends 3/15, US
Ends 3/20:
4) WIN a SIGNED copy of Little Skink from Janet Halfmann @ http://ning.it/dRWa6N Ends 3/20, US

>Weekend Fun and More

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It’s the end of the weekend and I’m just now getting into being social (LOL). I found a new blog hop and signed up for it. Let’s Get Social is the brainchild of a fabulous group of five bloggers called the Fab 5! The Fab 5 includes Bridget of Guide to Smart Shopping, Jennifer of Sweep Tight, Jessica of Mom of all Trades, Tree of Mother of Pearl It Is, and Brandi of Life with Five Monkies.

Be sure to join me NEXT WEEKEND on Let’s Get Social and let’s have some FUN!

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Giveaways you won’t want to miss!
They end the 15th and then I have a few new ones starting:

1) WIN a trip for 2 from Gortons and 5 winners will get FREE food! http://tiny.cc/6wd5n ends 3/10, US

2) MaMi’s line of natural skin care w/ active ingredients, no fillers, safe, toxin-free & paraben-free! Giveaway~ http://ning.it/evIJFc

3)LOW Entries! ~ WIN a Blossom Bag from ChicoBag.com on GivingNSharing @ http://tiny.cc/m1god, Ends 3/15, US

Ends 3/20:
4) WIN a SIGNED copy of Little Skink from Janet Halfmann @
http://ning.it/dRWa6N Ends 3/20, US

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I met my friend today at Panera’s and we had a nice chat over salad’s and yummy sandwiches. I had the Greek Salad and a Sierra Turkey Sandwich on ciabetta bread. Being laid off I find I’m not eating as much so I didn’t even manage more than 1/2 of my meal. It’s funny how when I’m at work that’s all I do – when I’m at home I’m lucky if I eat more than 1 meal a day & a bowl of cereal.

Anyway afterwards I went to the Barnes and Noble there and found a couple of great books. One is a great book by Jennifer Ford Berry called Organize Now! I’m excited about this book because it’s organized as a week-by-week guide to simplify your space and your life. It starts by working on Weeks 1-4 Organize yourself which covers Organizing Your Mind and Life Vision and each week has a checklist of Weekly Goals and concludes with a list of How to Stay Organized with Once a Month, Every 3-6 Months and Once a Year items to work on with a handy check list, tips and comments spread throughout the book.

Other chapters are:
• Organize Your Papers
• Organize Your Things
• Organize Your High-Traffic Areas
• Organize Your Personal Spaces
• Organize Your Storage Areas
• Organize Your Special Events
• Organize Your Routines

Jennifer mentions in her introduction (paraphrased): “I felt people needed a simple, straightforward book to help them get their lives organized.” It will give you a fast, simple and straightforward guideline to follow and useful tips to help you stay organized for the rest of your life. Each week a series of small goals will be set for you. Focus on one goal until completion and then move on to the next. There are a number of tips to help you reach each week’s goals (at your own pace). If you find these tips helpful, use them. If they don’t work for you, follow your own methods to reach your organizing goals.

What I really liked about the book, is Jennifer encourages us to move at our own pace and in the order that works for us (ie – I’m planning on skipping the first chapter and working on Personal Spaces first).

You can read a portion here – (just scroll down to see it)

Which area would you work on if you had this book?

>Coupons and Deal’s you don’t want to miss!

>

Get Your Savings Started with the Couponizer!

15% off entire order at www.thecouponizer.com!

Use Coupon Code:  STPATTYS

Apply at checkout, one coupon per transaction.

Offer runs 3-10-11 thru 3-17-11.

With gas prices soaring, every little bit of savings helps!  Organization is the key to real savings, especially today.  With literally hundreds of offers beaconing weekly for attention, add the paper trail in there and every consumer could use the structure and support The Couponizer has to offer.

SPRING GIFT IDEAS: 

- Brides need Shopping Lists!!  For only $4.95!

Spring brides can organizing their thoughts while shopping with a list, and with the Gift Tracker, keep track of gifts received!  With our new code – STPATTYS, this is a deal!

- ORDER MORE than 1 Couponizer:

You can receive a discount if you order more than 3 Couponizer’s at the same time: Price Details These are great gifts for:

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Real Estate Agents      New Mothers            Pastor’s wife

                                                                           

Nature Valley Granola Bars – buy 1 box, save .50

Honey Nut Cheerios – buy 1 box, save .55

Big G Cereals – buy 2 boxes, save $1

$1.00 off any one Kashi Berry Blossoms cereal 
$0.30 off Yoplait Greek Yogurt
$5.00 off Non-Drowsy Claritin Allergy Product
$0.75 off Muir Glen products  
$0.75 off Fiber One cereals
$1.00 off any Aleve-D product 
$0.40 off Yoplait Yogurt
$1.00 off Hidden Valley Salad Kits (Redeem at Walmart)  
$1.00 off any 2 Gorton’s Seafood items

**** Drawing – don’t miss out ****
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$1.00 off ONE (1) LACTAID Milk Product
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Misc:
$2.00 off HALO SleepSack wearable blankets  (@ Target)
$1.00 off any ONE (1) POISE Pads


Are you Unemployed &/or Uninsured?
Up To 75% Off On Prescription Medication

>Willow Bird Baking

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Willow Bird Baking

Willow Bird Baking 
I discovered a new recipe blog tonight and I think I’ve fallen in love.  It’s seriously a bad thing to be lookng at recipes and food pictures at 1:30 am.  I’m usually hungry by this time of night and this blog just makes me drool!  

Julie Ruble is the owner of the Willow Bird Baking Blog which isn’t just about Baking sweets like Caramel Fudge Brownie Cheesecake and Lemon Blueberry Crumble Bars.  She also covers recipes like the Cream of Mushroom Soup with Crispy Leeks, Blueberry Walnut Bread and Homemade Heart-Shaped Ravioli in Red Sauce.  Willow Bird Baking has been featured many times over in Blogdom and she even made it to Round 9 of Project Food Blog sponsored by FoodBuzz.com.  

I thought this looked SO yummy!  Does anyone have any suggestions about substitutions for heavy cream?  I’m very sensitive to Dairy and can only have a tiny bit or I end up with terrible stomachaches.  Thots?  This sounds so good &  I’d love to tweak it to make a wonderful savory potato soup.  YUM!

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Crispy Leeks

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Recipe by: Adapted from Phyllis Hoffman’s Celebrate Magazine
Yields: about 4 servings

Soup Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped leeks
1 1/2 pound mixed sliced mushrooms (I used sliced buttons)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
4 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream


Crispy Leek Ingredients:
vegetable oil
2 cups thinly sliced leeks
kosher salt

Directions:
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add leeks and saute about 5 minutes or until tender. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cook about 12 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft the the liquid evaporates some. Add the chicken broth, bring to a bowl, and then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, fry leeks. Heat 1 – 1.5 inches of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. I tested the oil by adding a leek and seeing how appropriately it fried. When your oil is ready, add leeks and fry in batches (they won’t fry well if you try all at once, so do about 3 or 4 batches). Fry until folden and remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with kosher salt. 

After 15 minutes, transfer 1 cup of soup to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Add this back to the pot and add the cream. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve. Serve topped with crispy leeks.

>What makes YOU feel Lucky?

>I AM BLESSED

You know, I don’t really believe in having LUCK or being Lucky. I know it’s just a word to express either how you feel or a term to describe WHY someone got or won something. I will say that I do believe in being BLESSED by God, and the family, friends, things that I have and the skills and abilities that I have.

How am I Blessed?
1.  I am Blessed with the Saving Grace of God.  God has given me his love and open arms, HE’s provided me with Salvation and a way to get to Heaven –  He’s given me Trust that He has supplied ALL that I need to get there – without trying to get there on my own which is impossible.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV
2.  I have a roof over my head, a car to get where I need to go, people who pray for me and care when I am not feeling that great.  No, I don’t have a job right now and honestly I don’t know what I’m going to be able to do – but I do know in the past when I’ve been in this situation that God has always provided me with what I need, when I need it.
3.  I’m not bedridden or using a cane or in a wheelchair.  I have 3 awesome doctors who honestly care how awful I feel at times.  They don’t waive my rights to honesty, to finding the right therapy for me preferably without those “blessed” drugs.  ”LOL”  I don’t know what the future holds as I deal with this Fibromyalgia problem – but God is giving Scientists and Doctors the ability to sympathize and the knowledge to find new therapies and medication to control the pain and everything that goes with it.

If you want to call that Luck, then feel free to – but know that I feel like I am Blessed By God.

Prayer Request: Please pray for a job that I can have a Passion for, that I will actually WANT to get out of bed for, that provides Full Time benefits in 30 hours, and where I will make a difference.  Thank you.

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Redbox is sponsoring a “Lucky to Have Friends Like You” promotion. If you order and pay for your movies online through my link I can earn FREE movie credits toward movies in March.  You can reserve movies, a video game, Blu-Ray disc’s – a couple of each if you’d like!

And Guess What?
If it’s your 1st time reserving online – YOU can get a FREE movie too!

I’d really feel “Blessed” with a FREE movie or two!

Click HERE & Thank You!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and redbox blogging program, for a $25 Walmart gift card from redbox. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” 

>GroOrganic.com Website Review

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Recently I was approached by GroOrganic.com to review their website and play with their Garden Planner which enables a gardener to design their garden and actually set up plans for their garden which includes a list of required plants. 

GroOrganic’s Garden Planner:

• Makes it easy to draw out your vegetable beds, add plants and move them around to get the perfect layout. Either feet and inches or metric units are supported and any shape of garden can be created.
• Adapts to suit your gardening style whether you use traditional row planting, raised beds or Square Foot Gardening.
• Adapts to your own area using our database of over 5000 weather stations.
• Prints your own personalized planting chart showing how many of each plant you require and when to sow, plant and harvest them.
• Sends email reminders twice a month of what needs planting from your garden plans.

Watch a great video that explains the Garden Planner better:

http://gardenplanner.groorganic.com/

My review:
The planner is ideal for anyone setting up their garden from the mega size gardens on acreages or farms to the little balcony/patio container gardens for the single or couple who wants fresh veggies and fruit during the summer.  When you set up your plan, you indicate how big a garden you want.  The one in the picture above is 4′ 2′ and when you plug in the plants you want to add you are told how many plants you need and the accompanying information box which drops down tells what plants you can plant with it, what kind of pests you might have and when to begin planting, sowing or fertilizing.

GroOrganic is available for helping homeowners, retirement centers, hospitals, schools and community gardens set up their own gardens.  You can purchase their packages and they will maintain it for you if you don’t have time (or kids) to take care of it – or if you just need advice on setting up your garden and what to plant they’ll help you with that too.

This website is a real time and headache saver!  I think it will be helpful to people who are not computer savvy once they know how to use it.  If you get stuck, need suggestions or help with your planning you can either call or drop them an email and they get back to you very quickly.

For more information email info@groOrganic.com or call 888-9-groOrganic (888-947-6674)

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.