Saturday, March 31, 2012

Coconut Oil - GIVEAWAY!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***

Hi everyone, happy Saturday!  This is no April fool's joke- I have a giveaway!!  YAY!  My friends at Tropical Traditions sent me a HUGE 32oz jar of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to review (only if I wanted to, of course).  And what's awesome about Tropical Traditions is that they wanted me to review the product honestly, even if I didn't like it.  So cool!  Anyway, here's a short video about their product.



Now, you all know me- I eat coconut oil like it's going out of style, but I hadn't tried this particular type before.  Most coconut oils are either really bland or REALLY annoyingly coconutty (is that a word?).  This oil wasn't either of those, but instead a nice mix of coconut flavor and neutrality that could be added to any dish without making it feel like you're dining in the Caribbean (ha... though that would be nice I guess).  I used it as "butter" on my toast, as the oil in my coconut flour bread (recipe to follow in another bloggie), as a lotion, as a hair conditioner, as a facial moisturizer (nope, it didn't make me break out!), in my green smoothies, and as a cooking oil in EVERY-THING I made this week.  No eggs, pancakes or cheese stuck to any of my pans, and my food didn't taste like it needed topped with a cocktail drink umbrella.   There are a TON of uses for coconut oil- what I used it for just scratches the surface.  Here are some more ideas.


Now, you've heard how much I like this coconut oil- do you want one for yourself?!  My friends at Tropical Traditions are going to send one of my readers a FREE quart of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!   Can you believe it?!   Here's how to enter:

Subscribe to Tropical Tradition's Free Newsletter and leave a comment below letting me know that you subscribed.  For an extra entryleave a comment on my Facebook Page telling me how you like to use coconut oil.  You have until Wednesday, April 4th at 5:00pm EST to enter-ok, ready... set... go!

Have a lovely weekend!  Xoxo.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Where oh where has my little Annie gone?

...where oh where can she beeee??

Enough singing.  Happy first day of spring!  Or is it summer already?  Feels like it.

So where have I been?  Again, life has gotten tooooo busy, with no one to blame but myself.

A week and a half ago Brenton and I went to Las Vegas!  Why?  Well, not really for a vacation, though we tried to make it into one since we were out there.   To make a long story short, he was invited to play with the band 311 at 311 Day at the MGM Grand Arena.  We knew if he didn't go, he would regret it for the rest of his life- what an opportunity!  Not to mention that he would be playing in front of THOUSANDS of people, with a band he has been a fan of for... 13-ish years?!  Almost a no-brainer if you ask me!  The scramble to make travel arrangements began, since we had just under 2 weeks to get everything in place.

The event went off without a hitch, and though we were exhausted, it was well worth it.

The MGM Grand, where the concert was held.  What an awesome hotel!
















We stayed at the Excalibur... aka KMart.  HAHA.  It was fine for the amount of time we were actually in the room.
















I do have to say, our favorite part of the trip (besides the concert stuff) was watching the fountain at the Bellagio.   We watched it many times :)






























So enough sight-seeing... what about the show?!?  Well, it was the craziest most awesome experience ever.

Here is the empty arena... you don't ever really see arenas empty, do you?!
















Our badges
















Brenton warming up before the show (backstage)






























And me... waiting....waiting....waiting....



Equipment being set up on stage.
















SHOWTIME!  Here's Nick, Tim, Jeff and some UNLV Percussion Ensemble players.
















Brenton is on the far right.











































































Needless to say, most awesome experience ever.  EVER.

Lots of people have put up YouTube videos of the 4 songs that they played with 311.  Here are a few I found (I don't own these...)















xoxo