Life, Family, and Home - Simplified & Sweetened
Hello. Welcome to Friday Favorites. We had a lot of great summer recipes linked up last week, but I decided to focus this week on one of the foods of he season: Berries! Hope you enjoy the picks!
Also, while you’re here today, please take a look at some of the posts in my ongoing Summer Health & Beauty Series. And check out my sidebar for a link to my new Beautiful skin care giveaway!
Today I have a round of beauty supplies to share with you from Tula. This is a brand new product line soon to launch on QVC, and they are all about New Probiotic Technology for a more youthful, beautiful you. Prior to the official product line, bloggers like me were sent some “preview samples of the products. [Read more…]
Info:
-2 Free links with announcement (Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest)
Get the promotional announcement here
The announcement is required or you can pay $5.00 waiver fee
-Giveaway Date: June 16 to June 30
-Co-host $10.00 (include)
10 Links (no google links or personal social media pages)
2 Co-host pages
-Extra links $3.00 (up to 3 links)
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cambria Estate Winery for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Do you have a place in your life that is like no other? It could be a cabin hidden away in the woods, a hot, sunny beach, a favorite restaurant, or it could just be sitting in your favorite reading chair, drinking a glass of wine.
In my life, I have two places like this. The most obvious one would be sitting on the couch by my husband. Whether we are talking, watching television, or just hanging around, we always have a great time, and it feels good just to be with him.
My second place like no other is my office area. This is the place where I work on my blog, make jewelry, work on projects, and take photos. It is also a place where I can just sit and be with my thoughts, or just put my headphones on and be in my own world as I work. And of course, it is a great place to hang out with my office assistant cats.
For me, a place like no other is any place where you can relax, feel at ease, and just enjoy. One such place away from home is a winery like Cambria Estate Winery® in Santa Maria, California. Here you can relax, try Cambria’s unique wines, and just drink in the culture.
The Cambria Estate Winery® has rich wine making traditions. Located at the northern end of Santa Barbara County, Cambria’s estate vineyards thrive on the foothills of the largest east-west oriented valley on the West Coast. Cambria’s hand-crafted wines is special because it is made in one of the coolest wine-growing regions in the world, and an area with a growing season, which results in fully developed and concentrated flavors in the fruit.
Want a taste of what it might be like at the vineyard? Their website is filled with helpful articles, including tips on how to throw a wine tasting party, and great recipes like Grilled Artichokes with White Wine Dip. To get this small taste of the vineyard, just Visit the Cambria blog for terrific recipes, DIY tips and news from the Cambria Estate Winery Vineyards.
The legal drinking age is 21 years old, as always please drink
responsibly.
A week or two ago, I started going through clothes for my upcoming, and much anticipated yard sale, and I also rearranged all my closets and drawers, putting away winter clothes, and getting those spring and summer clothes organized and accessible. Whenever I do my semi-annual clothes clean ups, I usually find there are a few things that need to be thrown in the washer for a little freshening up. Enter OxiClean!
I’ve been seeing OxiClean advertised on television for years, but I only just recently tried one of their products. The company has a number of powdered and liquid detergents for clothing and dish washing. In my case, I tried the White Revive Laundry Stain Remover.
The product comes in a small 3 pound tub, which is enough for 45 loads. As you can imagine from the name, it is especially designed to remove stains and keep your whites bright. But unlike other whitening products, the OxiClean is chlorine free, has no harsh odors, and is safe to use on colored clothes. And it is also dye and scent free, which means it is safe to use on baby clothes and on items for people with sensitive skin and allergies.
Personally I was happy with the results I got from this detergent. It did a great job of cleaning the clothes. Plus, I know a lot of people don’t like the fruity or flowery smells that go along with other detergents, so if you are one of those people, this detergent would certainly be to your liking in that regard.
Giveaway! One Simply Sweet Home reader will win a box of OxiClean detergent.
To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below.
Disclosure: I received free product to facilitate this post. The opinions are my own.
I’m very excited to be a part of the Oriental Trading blogger program. They make it easy to throw a party, stuff gift baskets and bags, come up with arts and crafts activities for kids. Whether you’re looking for VBS activities, throwing a wedding or shower, or hosting a Hawaiian luau, you are sure to find everything you need, from decorations to favors and more! [Read more…]
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fresh From Florida for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Being from the south, I love eating produce Fresh From Florida. The spring time is a perfect time for dishes made with fresh fruit. Fruit is so versatile! It can be used in everything from salads and appetizers to dessert! Spring is an especially great time for berries, especially blueberries!
Blueberry Muffins are always a delicious breakfast treat, and blueberries are also great to place on top of cake, layer in to parfaits, and put in cobblers!
Personally I love a good cheesecake any day of the week and it can only be made better with a little blueberry on top! Today I have a recipe to share for a delicious Blueberry Cheesecake. Check it out!
Ingredients:
1 whole cheesecake (homemade or store bought)
4 pints Florida blueberries, rinsed
½ lemon, juiced
1 cup water
1 cup natural Florida sugar
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish
Directions: In a small sauce pot, combine 2 pints blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and water. Place sauce pot over medium high heat. Stir contents of pot as it comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook blueberry mixture for 20 minutes or until it coats the back of a spoon. Strain blueberry sauce through a sieve if desired.
Let blueberry sauce cool to room temperature, and store in the refrigerator until needed. Top the cheesecake with some of the cooled blueberry sauce, leaving extra for garnish. Place fresh leftover blueberries on top of the cheesecake and garnish with fresh mint. Serve the blueberry topped cheesecake with extra blueberry sauce. (Serves 6 to 12 people.)
You can find Fresh From Florida on Facebook and also follow them on Fresh From Florida on Twitter for updates and product information.
Do you love blueberries? What is your favorite blueberry recipe (Fresh from Florida)?
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gulf County, Florida for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
It is so great to finally have a little bit of warmer weather. With spring finally here, I can help but thinking about summer. Do you like to seek warmer climates for spring break or summer vacation? Come visit GCFL! Gulf County, Florida is an ideal vacation spot for families.
Offering beautiful, pristine beaches, Gulf Country is a quiet, uncrowded alternative to other tourist destinations.
While vacationing in Gulf County, I would look forward to days at the beach, as well as camping adventures. I would also want to check out the shopping. Gulf County has a half-mile long stroll of shops called the Historic Downtown Reid Avenue Shopping District, which looks very tempting.
And of course, I'd have to check out some of the local eating. They have everything from crab houses and oyster bars to bar & grills and barbecue restaurants.
How would you like to win a free vacation to Gulf County, Florida? You can! Just enter the #GCFLnofilter contest!
It is very easy to enter! For this contest, Gulf County is celebrating the outdoors with selfies! Just go out and take a selfie of yourself doing an outdoor activity. Then post it to Instragram using the hashtag #GCFLnofilter.
Gulf County will be featuring some of their favorite pictures on their Facebook and Pinterest pages. And then they will randomly select 5 winners to win free long weekend trips to Gulf County.
And for every contest entry, GCGL gets, they will donate $1.00 to Ourdoor Nation, a movement helping to connect kids and teens back to the outdoors.
When the weather warms up, I love going to outdoor festivals and fairs, such as the one shown here . I like going any place where they have great food, music, and other fun recreational activities!
For further information and rules on this contest, Like GCFL on Facebook and salute real beauty!
If you won a vacation in Gulf County, Florida, what would be your favorite thing to do there?
The Ultimate Blog Party has become fun tradition around here, and I’m always happy to participate. The party is hosted by Janice & Susan of 5 Minutes for Mom. If you’re interested in finding new blogs and making new friends, just create your own party post and link up! [Read more…]
