Winter Survival and Beyond!

By Simply Susan

For the first time ever I am excited for cold weather and snow!  Those who know me well are in shock right now but, my new Sorel boots are so amazing I can’t wait to wear them in cold weather!  Not only are the Suka Sorel boots warm and stylish the fit and feel are wonderful.  I walked around in them in my house and they truely are the most comfortable boots I have ever had!  The Sorel boot tends to me more expensive than some boots but they are well worth the price. 

 A bit more about my new Suka Sorel boots ~ A perfect collision of function and fashion, these Alaskan tall boots offer great comfort, protection, and aesthetics in a boot that can be worn in a variety of climates and seasons.

FEATURES & BENEFITS
• Waterproof leather upper keeps feet warm and dry
• Fleece lining helps wicks moisture
• Simple and clean pull-on design
• Removable PU footbed offers great comfort and can be removed for quick drying

The Sorel Suka Boot

Check out Sorel.com they are launching there new website this fall and offer more than just boots their new site is amazing!

Giveaway~$25.00 Visa Card

Go to the Sorel.com website and come back here and let me know which boots you need to survive winter! Second entry by signing up at their site for emails.

Open to US Residents only 18 years and older.  Expires 11/24/09.

Cordial Cakes

Congratulations to five lucky or should I say creative readers!  Cordial Cakes was thrilled with the response they received and picked five new Cordial Cake flavors from all of the entries.  Please note if there was and entry picked and more than one reader submitted this flavor the first entrant that posted it was chosen.

Here are Cordial Cakes new flavors and winners!

CHAMBORD (raspberry) – Submitted by Daphne R

BUTTERSHOTS (butterscotch) – Submitted by Jill W

MIDORI (melon) -Submitted by Jill D

PAMA (pomegranate)-Submitted by Holly C

PEACH Schnapps (peach) Submitted by Joanne S

Congratulations WINNERS!  Cordial Cakes will be contacting you directly.

The Anything Goes Wine!

Summer is over but you can still go Barefoot!  Barefoot Wine is calling you to sit back, kick your shoes off and relax!  They truely are the anything goes wine!  We tried a bottle of the Barefoot Zinfandel  and loved it!  My husband and I are red wine drinkers and we both were impressed with the smooth and long-lasting finish this varietal offered.  I was really impressed when I ran across the Barefoot Wines on sale for $6.99!  I stocked up on the Zinfandel and even grabbed a few bottles of other varietals to try.

The high quality and reasonable price of Barefoot Wines makes this wine one that you can stock up on, serve year round and is definetly classy enough to serve on those extra special occasions!

 Take a look at Barefoot Wines website.  This newly launched website is full of information to help make your life easier! I love the information they offer on pairing suggestions and the unique recipes!

Giveaway~Barefoot Wines Essentials Pack!  This giveaway includes: The tote bag, cuddly soft towel, stemless wineglass and wine opener!

How to enter~Head to the Barefoot Wines website and join the Barefoot Republic.  Come back to my website and in the comments tell me your barefooter name and what wine flavor sounds the best to you and what you might pair it with. 

Expires~Nov. 3, 2009

US Residents only!

By Simply Susan

 I just got back from picking apples! Here in Iowa the apples are ready to be picked and there seems to be an abundance of them everywhere. We have friends with farms and acreages that have several apple trees just begging us to help ourselves to apples. This is not a problem at our house. My entire family loves warm apple crisp with a dab of vanilla ice cream!

Here is a simple recipe we use. I make several at a time bake one and freeze the others (unbaked) for later in the year.

10 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

Place the sliced apples in a 9×13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.

Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

“Now you can have your cake and drink it too!”

By Simply Susan

They are the moments in everyone’s life that they want remember for as long as they can remember.  Birthdays.  Anniversaries.  Graduations.  Weddings.   These events all have so much in common and one huge commonality is CAKE!  The more unique, thoughtful and special that cake is, the more likely it will be a cherished memory for a lifetime.

I can think back to birthdays of my own and remember one as if it were yesterday!  What I remember  is how special I felt when I was presented with a most coveted Barbie doll cake. The dolls big white dress adorned with white frosting flowers was the cake and the upper body of the actual Barbie doll was waist high in cake poking out of the top. I smile just thinking about how much joy that cake brought me. I can also distinctly remember the Margarita cake my husband made me 6 years ago on mother’s day. I felt so loved. It’s not as if I don’t remember any other birthdays or mothers days.  It is the fact that those cakes had a great impact on how special I felt on that day, at that moment.

Cordial Cakes.com has something very unique and memorable to offer with their cordial cakes.  Something that they hope helps make your event one that will be remembered for as long as you can remember and your loved ones will feel extra special!

My Cordial cake arrived safely in a standard UPS brown box. The cake appeared to be simple at first glance but once we cut into the cake we knew immediately it was far from a simple cake. This scrumptiously moist cake was nothing short of amazing! Each cake that Cordial Cakes makes has 8 ounces of top shelf liqueur in it!  They offer over seventeen flavors to choose from and it serves 24 people!  This particular cake was the Amaretto Cordial Cake and the smell alone was heavenly! My husband is not huge on cakes, in fact he generally prefers cherry pie on his birthday!  But when he took a bite of this cordial cake he couldn’t help but take bite, after bite, after bite.

What a great gift to send to someone to let them know how special they are to you. Cordial cakes also donates 10% of each sale to the ASPCA(American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Cordial Cakes is not a big run bakery, nor do they have a huge website.  None of that is important because simply said, their secret recipe  for Cordial cakes is something to remember and will have you saying, “Now you can have your cake and drink it too.”

Giveaway~(CLOSED)

UPDATE:   The winners will receive emails by October 12th.  There were many of the same suggestions, so if Cordial Cakes picks a cordial that was submitted by more than one participant, the person who submitted the entry first will be the winner.  Shan from Cordial Cakes will send emails to the winners!  We will let you know the winners and their winning entry!

Shan, at Cordial Cakes, is offering four lucky reader the opportunity to receive a Cordial Cake of their own! 

How to enter~Go to the Cordial Cakes website and look at all of the flavors they offer. Can you come up with a new flavor? Go to the “contact us” on their site and type in a suggestion and come back to my site and type in the comments that you entered. Shan will choose four entrants as the winners of a Cordial Cake!

Contest ends October 3, 2009. Open to US residents 18 years of age or older.

By Kelly Marie ~Teen View Writer

Whether it be Homecoming, Winter Formal, Fall Ball, Prom or any other dance you have it always has everyone looking for the PERFECT dress. Buying the dress a few months early can save you money, time and from stressing out. When the dress isn’t really in “Season” it’s not as expensive. Buying your dress before anyone else does also gives you more choices, plus You won’t be stressing when you can’t find a dress to wear last minute.

Good ways to prevent the dreaded event that someone has the same dress as you:

Get a group of your friends and go on a road trip one weekend or while on break. Finding a great dress out of town lessens the possibility that someone else from your school/town will find one there too.

Order online. With the help of the World Wide Web you can search through millions of dresses by color, size, shape, etc… I found a super great site called SimplyDresses  (also known as PromGirl) and they have a great selection. Check out the new HOMECOMING dresses! They are awesome! With that many dresses to choose from its pretty unlikely that someone will get the same one as you. The only bad thing is that you can’t try it on before you buy it but, most of the time if it doesn’t fit you can return it. Just make sure you check the return policy before you order!

Make your own! Some very talented girls( unlike me) can sew, or find other ways to make a dress. Some colleges even give you scholarships for wearing duct tape to prom! I was watching the CNN student news and there was a girl who made a dress out of duct tape, now that is clever! There is a girl at my school who is making her dress out of 5 gum (the brand) wrappers. Yep, pretty sure she will be the only one with that dress on!

P.S. Don’t forget the accessories and shoes to match your dress!

xoxo <3 Kelly Marie

Have you tried the Dole Fruit in the Jar?  Wow!  The taste of fresh fruit year round is definetly worth a little extra money. And best of all my kids really like it!  Check out the DoleMagic.com website there you can find tips, hints and recipes on how families can incorporate more fruit every day as a part of healthy, fun diet. There you can also enter for a chance to win a trip for three to Maui, Hawaii. They also are giving away sixty daily prizes, 8 weekly prizes and the 1 grand prize winner. Every time you log on you will have the chance to win a daily prize!  Check out some of their simple to prepare recipes using the Dole Jarred Fruit. 

Giveaway~ One reader will win a coupon organizer, one coupon good for a free Dole Jarred Fruit, Dole fruit coupons and recipes. 

(CLOSED)

How to enter~ Go to the DoleMagic.com website and register to win the trip to Hawaii! Come back and under the comments let me know that you have entered the DoleMagic contest!  GOOD LUCK!

Contest ends September 26, 2009.  Sorry you must be live in the US to win this.

Orig. $279.99
Was $129.99
Now $97.49

Use coupon code EXTRA10 to get 10% off of the closeout price which makes the set $87.74!!

By Simply Susan

Stressed? Tired? “Calgon, take me away!” Wait a minute, who really has time for that?  In today’s hectic, fast paced world you need something that can calm you, refocus you without taking you away from what really needs to be done.  The Jones Gaba brings you clarity, calmness and as a mother, the fact that it is all natural is a huge plus.   With the Jones Gaba my teenagers can focus on the work that needs to be done and I don’t need to worry about what they are drinking.  I personally felt refreshed and revived after drinking my Jones Gaba.

What is GABA and why it works~GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid)  increases alpha brain waves, which produce feelings of “in the zone” calmness and relaxation.  GABA also decreases beta brain waves, which produce feelings of nervousness and anxiety. Those beta waves are the waves of distraction. They get in your way and muddle your mind.  Pretty amazing stuff.  If you want to know more about this check out the Jones Gaba website.

Jones Gaba comes in 4 different flavors.  The smell of the tea is very strong and at first thought I was expecting a strong tasting drink.  Once I tried my first Jones Gaba I was pleasantly surprised at the hint of flavor in my drink.  The fact that it wasn’t too overpowering I was able to enjoy the entire can.

Check out Jones Gaba for yourself and let Jones Gaba…. Take you away without really taking you away from life!

GIVEAWAY: (CLOSED)

Two readers will win a Gaba Jones Rubics Cube Keychain

Go to the Jones Gaba website take a look at what flavors the tea comes in.  Come back to my website and leave me a comment as to which flavor you think sounds the best.  BONUS~Receive one extra entry for subscribing to my blog.
Contest ends Sept. 03, 2009.  US shipping addresses only.

*******Winners #1        True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 4

Sam Hazlewood

Submitted on 2009/08/13 at 1:56am cool! Honey lemon sounds good, so does the apple!!!!

*******Winner #2      True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 26

By Simply Susan

Shopping Online
Millions of Americans love to shop online because it is quick, easy, you never have to leave home, and you don’t need to worry about the store hours or long lines.  Online shopping is a 24 hour a day business   In fact last Christmas I purchased ninety percent of gifts online.  It’s not that I don’t like to go to the mall or department store.  It is just easier to browse online and compare prices.  I never, never pay full-price for an item and have found the greatest discounts online

If you have not already shopped on eBay, this may be the time to check into it. There are many benefits in shopping on eBay including the ease of getting onto the site and the huge variety of items just waiting for you. You can purchase new or used items and generally the items are much lower than the suggested retail price.

Selling Online
I started really selling on eBay about a year ago.  I started with my kids used American Eagle clothes they had outgrown. Because of the popularity American Eagle has on eBay I now sell only American Eagle clothing and accessories. I personally specialize in the bigger or harder to find sizes.  Check out my site you might find something you want to take home tonight!

If you are thinking about selling online and don’t know where to begin I would suggest starting by selling what you have around the house.  See what sells and what doesn’t.  By trial and error you are sure to find your nitch in selling on eBay.

Give away (Closed) 

How to enter: Go to my site “The Eagle Outlet” and come back here and in the comments tell me your favorite item I have listed at “The Eagle Outlet” .

BONUS~Get two entries if you subscribe to my site! Leave a comment with the email you subscribed with.

Giveaway ends: September 3, 2009.  Must have a US shipping adress and over 18 to win.

******** WINNER******

True Random Number Generator Min: Max:  Result: 90 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

www.online-sweepstakes.com