Gevalia Kaffee Coffee Fika with Friends Sweepstakes, Review and Recipe Ideas

I was excited to meet with the peeps from Gevalia Kaffee late this summer during the BlogHer conference in NYC.  I didn't realize that Gevalia has been around since 1853--that is a long time!  Gevalia used to be available online only but now the Top 10 varieties are available nationwide in the coffee aisles of supermarkets.  Check your local supermarket HERE for availability.  Gevalia believes everyone including busy moms like us deserve a second moment for themselves to savor a delicious cup of coffee!

  Gevalia was kind enough to send me several varieties of coffee to try at home.  Hubby was very excited as he loves premium coffee brands like Gevalia.  I received a Gevalia Traditional Roast and a Gevalia House Blend variety to try. 

The Traditional Roast comes in whole bean and ground for convenience.  This is a really balanced blend that tastes great.  We both loved it.  My mom was visiting for a week and this was a fave of hers as well!  It is made from choice, mountain-grown Arabica beans but it is not super heavy...it is a medium roast.

The Gevalia House Blend is a little more robust than the Traditional Roast.  It isn't bitter it just has that darker roast kind of flavor but not as dark as a French Roast if you know what I mean.  It has a great aroma and the flavor is nice and deep--good for when you need a little more than a nudge on those EARLY mornings.  Kind of like when school is starting....you all know exactly where I am going, right ladies?  I really enjoyed the House Blend too. 

Want to try a yummy Gevalia recipe?  This one is a little fancy....perfect for guests!


Frothy Mocha Seville

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 squares (2 oz.) semi-sweet baking chocolate, cut up
• 1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate, cut up
• 1 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 cups freshly brewed double-strength Gevalia Espresso Roast Coffee
• 1/2 half-and-half or light cream, warmed
• Whipped Honey-Orange Topping

Directions

1. Place brown sugar, semi-sweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, orange peel and cinnamon in blender container; cover. Blend until chocolate is finely chopped.
2. Add hot coffee to blender container; cover and blend on medium speed until chocolate is melted.
3. Add half-and-half or light cream; cover and blend until frothy. Pour into 4 coffee mugs or cups.
4. Top each serving with a spoonful of Whipped Honey-Orange Topping and additional grated orange peel. Makes 4 servings.
5. Whipped Honey-Orange Topping
6. Mix 1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream, 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon orange liqueur or orange juice in chilled small bowl.
7. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.

Would you like to win $50,000?  Oh, come on....who wouldn't love that?  Gevalia has an exciting sweepstakes promotion right NOW where you can have the chance to win $50,000!  Even the 2nd place prize is fantastic....a trip to Hawaii!  What the heck....you have to be in it to win it so throw your name in the hat.  Mine is in there so we will cross our fingers!

Don't forget to follow Gevalia on Twitter and on Facebook for lots of other fun ideas with coffee.  

I received complimentary Gevalia products from Kraft as a part of this blog post.  All opinions are my own and include my personal experiences with the products. 

Review: Nice 'n Easy Non-Permanent Haircolor #FlirtWithHairColor

I was excited to be chosen to participate in a new blogger program with Vocalpoint.com  from Nice 'n Easy.  They just launched a great product for anyone that needs a little color pick me up for their hair.  New Non-Permanent Hair Color from Nice 'n Easy lets you kind of date a new hair color before you commit.  The color gradually washes out within 28 shampoos so you can sort of flirt with a pretty new shade of color before you get (hair) tied down.  Fun, especially if you are already married because you can still date and flirt LOL!

Vocalpoint and Clairol were so sweet to send me a free coupon so I could really try it out myself. I have light brown hair that I like to keep a bit lighter than that so I chose  #91 Dark Blonde. 

 It was super easy to use and felt very gentle on my hair and skin.  The color came out very similar to what they showed on the Clairol Website HERE.   It even colored those pesky little gray hairs!  It was very easy to figure out the shade I wanted too.  I loved the easy to read directions that came with the package and on the website.  I would definitely recommend Clairol Nice 'n Easy if you are looking to change your shade but not commit too much or too long.  

Try one or even a few shades and take your time deciding on your fave color!   Remember, 28 shampoos and you are all done. No major commitment.  If you love it then do it again with the same Clairol Nice 'n Easy color too or you can switch to another beautiful Clairol more permanent color!  I bet you will love it.  

Don't forget to check out more fun new products and chat with others online and see what they think on Vocalpoint.com.   You can also see what is going on their Facebook page too.  You can go directly there with this link:  Facebook.com/vocalpoint.

You can also follow Clairol on Twitter.  Have fun!

I received a free coupon from Vocalpoint and Clairol in exchange for expressing my opinion.  All opinions and comments are my own.

Review & Giveaway: A Gem Creation Hair Decor

I recently was invited to the MomSelect Swag Suite event as part of a recent blog weekend.  I met a bunch of great brands including Ronit from A Gem Creation.  She had so many beautiful clips, barrettes and more I was stunned.  When I went on her EtsyA Gem Creation page I was totally wowed. You have to check it out.  The colors and designs were so creative too.  Every size you can imagine too!

I chose a Blue Flower Clip as my gift.  It is a beautiful sky blue and clips in my hair easily.  It really adds a lot of flair to any outfit. It is perfect for any occasion too.

You can really see the love and care that goes into each piece that Ronit creates.  She has been crafting for years and has always loved to create things. All AGC items are unique, handmade and rarely repeated which is exciting to me.  She uses a bunch of different fabrics and ribbons, embellishments and hardware which makes each hair item unique. I appreciate that all the clips are lead free and CPSIA compliant.  That makes all the moms comfortable with using them on children too.  She even uses totally non toxic glues and materials. She donates to many causes including families in need.  I really liked that and wanted to support her even more after I read about that.  

You can check out more of her beautiful creations on her Facebook page HERE. Don't forget to visit Etsy to buy any of her pretty pieces too!

Leave a comment about your thoughts on A Gem Creation's hair accessories or tweet about them and a way to contact you in order to be in to win a random piece from their collection!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  I received a product sample for review. As always, all opinions are my own.

Soft Scrub Blog Giveaway PLUS Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes and Giveaway

Soft Scrub has a new product line of household cleaners that has recently launched call Soft Scrub Total.   It seems like I never have enough household cleaning supplies so the timing was perfect that Soft Scrub kindly shared some free samples of Soft Scrub Total with me too!  There are three great products in the Soft Scrub Total family that all have a patented trigger that allows you to clean with your own choice of a fine mist or a thick foam.  Great right?  Just know that they clean AND deodorize all around your house!  Those handy little triggers even spray upside down so you can get into all those hard to reach places that the family gets dirty!  They are super tough on stains but very gentle to all kinds of surfaces.  The products are powerful and versatile enough to help you to clean your whole house. 

I have used the Soft Scrub Total to clean my kitchen and bathroom and it did a great job on sticky stains in the kitchen. It did equally well on the bathtub and sinks.  Everything looked and smelled super clean after my cleaning day.  I would definitely buy these again...I just saw them at Target too.  Good to know for next month when I am stocking up.... You can also enter here to win your own coupons for Soft Scrub to get your house super clean!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway


Don't forget to enter the Soft Scrub Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes with over $3,000 in prizes!  There is one grand prize and fifty 2nd place winners will also get $40 in gift cards!  Enter the Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes here.

Soft Scrub provided a free sample of their Total products to me so I could review them.  However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.