GIVEAWAY: MARY KAY GIFT SET (worth over $90)

Tis' the season to be Giving! It's time for another giveaway. This time I am offering up a little something to spoil your skin with. Mary Kay has been a huge name is the skin care world. They have been offering up quality skin care products for over 45 years. I thought I would offer something a little old and new from Mary Kay. One winner will receive 1- Original Satin Hands Set and 1- NEW Replenishing Serum+C. This giveaway is worth over $90.

SATIN HANDS PAMPERING SET: Mary Kay's® best-seller! Satin Hands® Pampering Set features a new peach-scented hand scrub and hand cream. The set includes the following:

• Satin Hands® Hand Softener helps maintain skin’s natural moisture. Use it on hands before washing,or anywhere else skin is dry.
• Peach Satin Hands® Satin Smoothie® Hand Scrub cleanses and exfoliates.
• Peach Satin Hands® Hand Cream provides instant moisturization that lasts up to 24 hours. It lasts even through several hand washings.

TIMEWISE REPLENISHING SERUM+C SET: With TimeWise® Replenishing Serum+C, skin will appear lifted and firmed. This antioxidant-rich serum is formulated with ingredients that enhance the production of new collagen and help keep existing collagen from breaking down. It also contains ingredients known to support elastin. The formula is enriched with a potent blend of multiple botanical sources, known for their high levels of vitamin C. The four weekly vials help maximize product freshness and provide an effective weekly application measurement to help you get the best results for your money.

All you need to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite Mary Kay product is. Also leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you're the winner. The giveaway will go until Dec.17th at 8:00pm PST. I will then pick one lucky winner by Random.org. DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW MY BLOG SO YOU'RE NOTIFIED OF FUTURE GIVEAWAYS AND FUN STUFF! Good Luck everyone and Happy Holiday's!

Liven Up Your Senses With Scentsy!

With decorations up and the lights shining it's time to enjoy the aroma's of the Holiday's. You can do that now with Scentsy. What is Scentsy, you ask? You know how certain scents bring back memories and help you remember certain things? That's what Scenty does. It's a wick-less candle that comes in an array of smells. They offer ceramic warmers and also plug-in warmers. You add the scent cubes on top of the warmer, plug in your warmer and start enjoying the aroma.

Right now if you purchase from Stephanie's Scentsy Site you can get the following special offers:

1.A FREE BAR with any $25 order

2.A FREE PLUG-IN with any $80 order
and
3.A HALF PRICED ITEM with any $100 order

These special offers are not available on Stephanie's website so you must email her your order. Her email link is available on her Scentsy Site right next Stephanie's picture. Just make sure to mention that you are ordering under "Katie Anderson Party."

These make wonderful gifts for the holiday's. Also, I will be offering up a giveaway later on from Scentsy so keep you eyes open. A huge THANK YOU to Stephanie for offering these Scentsy deals.

AND THE GIVEAWAY WINNER IS...

AMY WHO SAID: I totally need a new suitcase or luggage set. I would put it towards that. What a great giveaway!!

CONGRATS AND I WILL EMAIL YOU ALL THE INFO. THANKS FOR EVERYONE WHO ENTERED AND THERE ARE MORE GIVEAWAYS TO COME!

Giveaway Time! $35 Gift Certificate to CSN.com Stores

It's that time of year and in the Christmas Spirit I(and my friends over at CSN.com Stores) would like to offer a $35 Gift Certificate that can be used at any one of CSN.com's 200+ stores. Use the gift certificate for yourself or use it to buy a gift for someone.

CSN.com has over 200+ stores offering everything from clothes to patio furniture. Plan on traveling this winter and need a new luggage set? Check out the selection of Delsey Luggage. They also carry tons of kids toys and baby items for the little elves on your shopping list.

All you need to do to enter the drawing is leave me a comment on this post letting me know what item you really like from any of the 200+ CSN.com Stores. The drawing will end tonight at 8:00pm PST and I will post the winner tomorrow morning by 8:00am PST. I will choose the winner using random.org.

***I'VE DECIDED TO EXTEND THE GIVEAWAY UNTIL SATURDAY NIGHT AT 8:00PM PST!***

*NOTE: CSN.COM ONLY SHIPS TO USA AND CANADA. FOR MY CANADIAN READERS THERE MAY BE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING CHARGES.

Good luck everyone and Happy Holiday's!

Oh The Smell of Bread is in the Air

It's that time of year when there is frost on the ground, leaves falling from trees and smoke coming out of chimney's. For me, it's bread making season. Nothing beats the smell of fresh baked bread streaming through the house. No matter if you made the bread by hand or used a bread maker, it's smells and is bound to taste good. What I love is the abundance of different varieties of bread you can make. As long as you have flour, yeast and water you are good.

I started out this season with Foccacia bread. The only word I can think of to describe it is "yummy." With a nice crunchy crust, covered in olive oil, salt and garlic, when sliced open gives way to a soft bread. Perfect for soaking up a dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, making a sandwich or just eating on it's own. Last year I made a loaf and took it to my Nonnie(Grandma in Italian) for a wonderful Italian feast at Christmas. She said it tasted so good and reminded her of the bread her mom use to make. That was the greatest honor I had ever received.

I love bread and it's many different taste and textures. Screw the calorie counter, give me a good french baguette!

I Told Her It Was Addicting

I have been quite the coupon clipper for about a year now and I've been laughed at and told I was silly but I've finally found someone who can appreciate my clipping as much as I do, my beloved wife Katie. I've sucked her in. Even though she still feels bad for the checkers, she finally bought her first coupon folder and started printing online coupons. What really convinced her was when we went to Target and our total was $120 and we only paid $40.

I put her through some minor training. Gave her all the good coupon and deal web sites, like the ones listed on the right. I've taught her about stacking store coupons with manufacture coupons and what high value coupons are. She said I should teach a class but I still don't think I'm that much of an expert.

If anyone would like some advise though on how to get started with coupon shopping I would be happy to give what I know. First I would check out these two sites:
http://www.thefrugalfind.com and http://hip2save.com

As foster parents with 4 kids coupon shopping has helped out a lot. Especially around the time for Christmas shopping. I hope this info has been helpful and like I said before, feel free to contact me if you have anymore questions.

I'm out!

Our Fridge is Over Flowing!

So our fridge is over flowing with Thanksgiving leftovers. What do I do with all this food?! You would think that with all the members in our family that we would eat it all by now but no. So I have come up with a list of some ideas of what to do with the left overs and hope this will inspire others.

1. Dog and Cat Food - Kind of a joke but it's really healthy for them
2. Make a Turkey Pot Pie - Use ready made pie crust
3. Turkey Salad Sandwiches
4. Blend up food to make Baby food
5. If still in fridge for over a week just throw everything away

The actual Thanksgiving Dinner was very good. Spending time with Kati's parents was a blast. After dinner we went home and slept for a couple hours then rolled out of bed for BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING! We only wanted to hit two stores, Target and Old Navy. We succeeded and with no injuries. Someone at Target did get so excited that they barfed in one of the toy isles. A Target employee described it as a hazard waste spill. Old Navy had the best deals and we were able to get out of there the fastest. We ended the early morning with IHOP pancakes and then headed home and went back to sleep. All in all it was a good time.

Other than thinking of what to do with left overs and braving crazy shoppers life has been pretty good. Katie's(my wife)health has been doing a little better. She is able to function during the day a lot better. I'm just so happy to see her getting out of bed and not throwing up after every meal. The kids are doing good too.

That's all for now. I'm out!

STARTING FROM FRESH

So I have decided to start my blog over from fresh. It will be more about my current life and great deals that I find in my coupon adventures. Life has made some major changes over the last few months so I figured since I'm starting over I would start my blog over.

So, update on my current life. I am living up in Santa Rosa, CA with my domestic partner and love of my life, Katie. I still have my darling daughter Kaylani but Katie and I are doing foster care so we have an adorable 6mo. old boy names Atreyu and a wonderful, spunky 9yr old named Jacob. To say we have a busy life is an understatement. I love every minute of it, even when times are frustrating. I wouldn't change my life for the world. I love it so much up here and never want to leave. Also, Katie's family and I have become very close and I couldn't ask for better in-laws.

There have been some major struggles though. Recently, Katie was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and the neurologist have yet to figure quite what is going wrong. We hope to get some answers soon but until now we are taking things day by day and hoping for the best. On a good note, my medical issues have gotten much better which allows me to take care of Katie and the kids much better.

There will definetely be more to come but for now, I'm out.

This Is Harder Than I Thought

I didn't realize how difficult and trying this was going to be. I have always been a strong person and the people that know me best have seen we lately at my weakest. I'm trying to do things to keep my mind off of everything like getting out of the house, started exercising again and I'm even donating my breast milk. But yesterday I decided to go to my friends baby shower. What was I thinking? After it was done I got in my car and broke down. That was suppose to be my shower, I was still suppose to have a big belly with a kicking baby inside. I just don't understand why it was all ripped away from us. Now I'm left with this empty belly and the fear of getting pregnant again and loosing another baby. You would think that having my 3 year old would comfort all this but the worst part is that it doesn't. All I do all day is mope and cry and lay in bed. I have suffered from depression since I was 10 but this is the worst.

Learn to appreciate the Lettuce's and Mushrooms

Recently I have learned to really appreciate the taste of two things, Mushroom and Lettuce's. I have never really been into either until I came across some of both at our local farmers market. Most people, when they think of the two they imagine the white pre-cut mushroom that have no taste and good old iceburg lettuce. I got some Cremini, Portabella, Oyster and Chantrell's in the mushroom group. For the lettuce's I got Endive, Radicchio, Romaine, and Butter Leaf. Both the mushrooms and lettuce's had so much flavor to them.

All I did with the mushrooms was saute them in a pan with some butter, very little salt and some pepper. That' it and they tasted so yummy. They were very hearty and filling too. These particular mushrooms can also be found in your local grocery store. The Chantrell's on the other hand, I have yet to see in the stores and probably because of their price, about $13 per pound. I recommend experimenting with mushrooms though and really enjoying their taste. There'e is much more to the mushroom than you think.

The lettuce's I chose just happen to be the only kind they had at the Market. Again, whenever I thought of lettuce I thought of the plain iceberg that has no nutritional value at all. These lettuce's were so yummy and flavorful that I hardly needed dressing at all. The endive had a slight bitter taste, the butter lettuce was buttery, the Radicchio was robust and a bit bitter too and the romaine was nice and crunchy and a bit sweet. Never will iceberg be aloud in my fridge again! As for the dressing all I used was some Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, Salt and Pepper. I made just enough to lightly coat the leafs so you can still taste the lettuce's. Yummy and refreshing.

The Tragedy That Hit Our Family

So it all started on Thursday when I went in for an ultrasound. The second the Dr. looked at Ema's chest he said there was no heartbeat. I was in disbelief. I just broke down and kicked him out of the room. After I composed myself I called Rob and he left work and came to the dr's office. We talked with the dr and he said that our baby girl was gone and I would have to deliver her and they would induce me. I would be called to the hospital within the next 48 hours.

Finally on Saturday morning they called me and said to come down. We got to Marian around 10am and got all checked in. At 12pm they starting the inducing by inserting 2 Cytotec pills into my cervix. They did this every 4 hours. Finally on my 3rd dose I started having regular but mild contractions. I chose to have the PCA pain meds so I could get some rest because I knew it was going to be a long night. Finally at 12am they started the Pitocyn. I was still at 0cm. My contractions started to get a little more intense but dealable. I went all day Sunday with medium contractions and still not dilating. At 12pm Sunday they upped the Pitocyn and my contractions went into full force. The pain meds weren't helping anymore but I thought I could handle it. Finally at 8:30pm I said screw it and had them do an Epidural. Right after they put in the Epidural my Dr came in and broke my water. I was finally able to take a nap. At 11:30pm Sunday night my nurse came in and was just going to change my pad under me but I woke up with this sudden urge to push. She checked me and I was at 10cm. Apparently I needed the epidural. She called my Dr and I started pushing once he got there. I pushed twice and Ema was born. I finally had the VBAC and natural birth I had always wanted. Once I delivered the placenta we could also see what the cause of death was, Ema only turned one way inside of me and twisted the cord so tight it pinched it off. My Dr. said she would have made a fancy dancer.

Ema Tagikiama Jenny Miscoi was stillborn at 11:58pm on 2/28/2010. She weighed 1lbs 2oz and was 13.5in long. She looked just like her sister did just a lot smaller. She already had a full head of hair. We were able to spend several hours with her and at 11am Monday morning they took her. We got lots of pictures and they gave us a keepsake box for everything. We have hand and foot prints. We also had her baptized right after she was born.

I came home on Tuesday morning. We are having Ema cremated and will have her home next week. I never in my life thought this would happen to us and I still cry every night. We will try again and just pray that our next baby will make it full term.

Oh the Lazy Days

So the last few days have been on the lazy end. I have done my normal cooking and cleaning about the house but nothing else special. I did replant my herb garden though. This year we have Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano and Flat Leaf Parsley. I couldn't find a decent looking Basil so I planted that by seed. I need to get some veggies going in the planters too. See as I live in an apartment, I don't have much space so I stick to small plants. I always have Bell Pepper(green, yellow and red), Jalapeno's and Tomato plants. I've been tempted to try one of those upside down planters for the tomato's but still not sure how that would work. I wish I had room for zucchini but I will have to keep buying at the farmers market. I've been on a veggie kick lately which is healthy and good for me, baby and Kaylani but Rob sure wants his protein, so tonight I'm making Asian Style Spare Ribs. Not sure about the marinade yet. Probably just soy sauce, tomato paste, garlic and brown sugar. I'll also make my Nonnie's Tomato Salad. Sliced up tomato's with the seeds taken out, thinly sliced red onions, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. So simple and for some reason a sort of comfort food for me plus Rob and Kaylani both love it.

Ugly Breakfast Tomorrow

So some fellow mommies are coming over tomorrow for an Ugly breakfast around 9am. We usually do this about twice a month and it basically means you get to stay in your PJ's and not worry about your make-up and hair. I didn't realize how much there is to be done around my house though. You know when you start wiping things down you notice all the nooks and crannies you haven't cleaned in a few months? Ergh! Rob is so on trash patrol when he gets home from work. Now if Kaylani would decide to take a nap I could start to get things ready for tomorrow.

On the menu for the morning:
1. Homemade bread with Jams
2. Beverages(coffee,tea,juice)
3. Fresh squeezed OJ(thanks Ce for the oranges!)
4. Meats and Cheeses(prosciutto,salami,cheddar,provolone,brie)
5. Muffins(blueberry)
6. Whatever else the other mommies decide to bring

Thankfully most of this stuff can be prepped ahead of time and when I wake up I just need to open my fridge, turn on the oven and press the coffee maker button. I think after about 5 years I have learned the art of hosting. It really is an art form too. Well off to my kitchen to start all this stuff. I'll let you all know how things go down.

**UPDATE** Everything turned out great! It was nice to have some fellow mommies over and see all their kids. Everyone enjoyed the yummy grub. The other mommies ended up bringing some cantaloupe(so sweet!), eggs and turkey bacon. Turned out to be a good breakfast with good coffee and good friends. Can't wait for the next one!

Dinner Last Night

My friend Steve is visiting from Baltimore so I decided to invite him and our friend Nelson over for dinner last night. They were expecting take out but I had a little surprise waiting for them. When they walked in they were greeted with a wonderful cheese platter of Brie,Aged Cheddar and Blue Cheese. I also had some artisan bread that I sliced up, brushed with olive oil and toasted in the oven. There was also some salami, prosciutto, garlic stuffed olives and a salsa of tomato's,basil and fresh garlic. So yummy! That was just to start the evening. For dinner I served Beef Tips in a Merlot reduction, roasted green beans with mushroom and red onions and a Spring Mixed Salad with Endive and a Dijon,Oil and Vinegar dressing. Steve and Nelson were so surprised. I know it sounds like a difficult dinner that I had to start in the afternoon but it was really very easy. If you would like the recipe's feel free to email me.

This meal was served with a great Merlot wine from Forestville,CA Vinyards. I use to live near Forestville and I remember having their wine and how wonderful it was. I was able to find it here in Santa Maria. I definetly recommend it with a beef meal or pasta with a tomato meat sauce. For only about $10 a bottle you can't beat it. You can check them out here:
http://nobleestates.com/Products/Forestville.htm

The First One

So this is my first post in my blog. I was kind of up in the air on whether I should even start one of these but I figured that I have a lot of stuff in my head that I need to get out and things that I need to share with the world.

Today is just another day at home with the kiddo. It's so weird being home all the time. For those of you who don't know me, that's most of you, I am recently a stay at home mom and not by choice. I was laid off from my job about 3 weeks ago. I have been working a full time job since I was 15 so it's weird. Though I did think that I wouldn't know what to do with my time but I find myself much busier than before. I have craft projects going, I'm cooking and baking more than usual, learning to make a lot of stuff homemade and shopping, of course. I have also taken up the project of redecorating and reorganizing the house. So much fun!