Friday Favorites – Week 301 – With New Year’s Foods + My Thoughts for the New Year

Happy New Year!  And welcome to our last party of 2015 and our first party of 2016.  Woohoo!  In honor of the new year, today I’ve got some foods that are perfect for your New Year’s celebrations!

But  first I have a few thoughts on the new year and what’s to come.  First off, I want to say thanks to everyone who’s linked up here at any time during 2015.  Whether you’ve come by each week or just a time or two, your visits are much appreciated!

Secondly, although I’m proud of the work I did on my blog in 2015, and I feel I accomplished a lot, I have to admit that I feel like I slacked a bit on parties this year.  My husband was in the hospital last spring, and I had to help him in his recovery time.  And then we also had a number of household projects to tackle and other things that came up.  Long story-short, even thought I managed to get a party post up each week, I felt like some of them were just “thrown together” and I didn’t get to visit you guys and comment nearly as much as I would like.  BUT I promise I will be getting back on track with that in the new year, as well as some other things that I feel I’ve “slacked on.”

Now in honor of me “not slacking” I am planning some posts for January, which will be on setting goals and getting things done in the new year.  In fact, my words for 2016 are “simplify” and “focus,” which I will be posting about this weekend.  So you can expect to see a lot of posts on my blog this year that revolve around these two things, especially “simplify” because simplicity is at the heart of my blog, hence the name “SIMPLY Sweet Home.”  So if you love simple solutions or feel you just want to get back to the basics of life and homemaking, please join me here in 2016.  And as always, I invite you to subscribe to my feeds and allow along on all my social media pages!

And last but not least, you can expect to see a bigger and better party this year!  Soon I will be posting a call for new party hostesses, and anyone who’s interested in being a Friday Favorites host will be welcome to apply.  And I’m also doing a little brainstorming with the current hostesses to see what we can do to make the party better.  If you have any ideas for me, or if you may be interested in being a hostess, feel free to email me.  Cheers! [Read more…]

5 hour ENERGY Yummification Contest Results‏

A while back, I posted about the 5 hour ENERGY Yummification Contest, and I shared a recipe for 5 hour Lemonade.

5-hour Lemonade Drink

Other people around the country also shared their 5 hour ENERGY recipes and entered them in the Yummification Contest.  The results are in!

Here’s the list of winners:

First Place ($50,000 prize): “Pomelimelade” by Tim Merlau, Los Angeles, CA.  This winning submission mixes a Pomegranate 5-hour ENERGY® shot with limeade, and then takes us on a musical journey through all that can be accomplished over several hours (spoiler alert: it’s a lot).

Pomelimelade Recipe 1 glass Limeade and 1 shot of Pomegranate 5-hour ENERGY®

Second Place ($30,000 prize): “Ramalamadingdong” by Mark Golembeski, Los Angeles, CA.  The second place video helps us turn that 2:30 feeling frown upside down by mixing a 5-hour ENERGY® shot with lemonade. This video has it all: a clown, a puppy, a guy in a tutu, and much more.

Ramalamadingdong Recipe  – 1 glass Lemonade  and  1 shot of Berry 5-hour ENERGY®

Third Place ($10,000 prize): “Arnold Power” by Zac Sheorn, Lugoff, SC.  The third place winner reminds us that you don’t have to be good at sports, but mixing a Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY® shot with decaffeinated iced tea helps keep you refreshed while practicing. And practicing.

Arnold Power Recipe“-  1 glass Decaf Iced Tea and 1 shot of Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY®

You can now check out the winners and their award winning photos, videos, and recipes on the Yummification Contest page.

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Disclosure: I received samples and compensation for this post. The opinions are my own.

Friday Favorites – Week 227 – With 5 Yummy Lemon Recipes

friday favorites

Welcome to Friday Favorites. With the summer season quickly winding down, I’m trying to get in as many summer recipe features as possible. This week we have one of my favorite flavors of summer……Lemon!  Hope you enjoy these delicious lemony treats!

AND….while you are here this week, please check out this week’s giveaway.  I am giving away a copy of the book: Simply Sweet Colorcakes. This book is a dream for anyone who loves to bake and create yummy treats for the kids.  Go over and take a look!

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Share a Coke and Rocky Road Coke Floats #ShareitForward #CollectiveBias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Coke Float

Coca Cola is my favorite drink! Even though I love it, I do have to share!  Recently my husband and I went to Walmart to Share a Coke.  On July 6, Coca Cola had a nationwide Share a Coke Event at Walmart.  We received free Coke samples, and we got to see the new bottles and cans which have words on them such as “friend” and “family” along with personalized bottles with actual names on them. [Read more…]

Nutella Hot Chocolate

Nutella Hot Chocolate

I just love hot chocolate in winter!  Usually I go for a little milk and the powdered mix.  (It’s simple. It’s good!) But here lately I’ve been wanting to experiment with a little Nutella.  With just two ingredients (milk and Nutella) you can make a perfectly delicious cup of Nutella Hot Chocolate: [Read more…]

Guest Post: Campari Cranberry Orange Mimosa from Diane at Simple Living and Eating

Today we’ve got another holiday treat! Today’s is an adult friendly treat, perfect to serve at your holiday cocktail parties. It comes to us from Diane at Simple Living and Eating.  She is sharing her Campari Cranberry Orange Mimosa!

Campari Cocktails

Hi I’m Diane Balch and I am coming to you from Simple Living and Eating a blog dedicated to the Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites – Week 175

friday favorites

Hello all! Welcome another fun edition of Friday Favorites! This week we’ve got a free round of drinks for you from our bloggy friends! Hope you enjoy. I can’t wait too see your posts like up below!

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