candy corn bars with m&m's white chocolate candy corn icing #mmsgetcorny #cbias

A few days ago I told you that WalMart just started to carry the brand spankin' new M&M's White Chocolate Candy Corn candies and now I cannot wait to show you how I used them... beside eating them all by myself! Halloween is one of my favorite times just because Fall is my favorite season and what's better then all the Halloween candy? Uh nothing!

Candy Corn Bars with M&M White Chocolate Candy Corn frosting!

First to make this yummy treat you want to line bottom and sides of 9-inch square pan with foil; spray foil with cooking spray.

For the ingredients you want to cream butter, and granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Next stir in flour and baking powder just until mixed.

Now the fun part! Stir in yellow food color until well mixed.

Spread about 1 1/2 cups yellow batter in pan. Place pan in freezer about 15 minutes or until batter is slightly firm to the touch. This is very important if you want the layer effect... which of course you do since we're making it look like candy corn :)

While the yellow is freezing you want to add red coloring to the remaining yellow batter untill you reach the desired orange color. Remember the brighter the better but be careful not to go completely red.

Gently pour the orange mix on top of the yellow, being extra careful not to disturb the yellow mix beneath.

Bake for 48-55 minutes @ 325*

FROSTING:

To make this delicious frosting follow these steps.

1. In medium bowl, beat softened butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar until well blended. Beat in milk, and vanilla until smooth and spreadable.

2. Fill the bottom part of the double boiler with water. Set on the stove, and turn the burner to medium. Pour the M&Ms into the other pot. Put it on top of the first pot. Stir the M&Ms constantly to prevent sticking and burning as they melt. As the M&Ms candy gets softer, use the spoon to crunch the shells. Once melted remove from heat and slowly mix into frosting. Spread frosting over cooled cake.

To serve, remove cake from pan, using foil to lift. Remove foil. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows; cut each square diagonally in half. Top each triangle with 1-3 M&M White Chocolate Candy Corn candy.

they can't all be winners :( Here are some pieces that got mixed up in the cooking process. Totally cool if you ask me!

Want more of my story and how I made this recipe? Check out my ThisMoment story!

Recipe contest on the M&M's Get Corny website starts on October 7th-21st so I hope you all will vote for me! :) Prize is a $150 giftcard to WalMart and that would be amazing everyone!

BATTER

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 drops yellow food color
3 drops red food color

FROSTING
2 1/2 cups sifted powder sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M's

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias. All of the opinions of the product are strickly my own and I was not influenced to produce a positive review or recipe.

what are my rights

Recently I hung out with my fab local bloggers and of course we brought up Blog talk. I'm so lucky to have a great group of friends and bloggers in Orlando. A stay at home mom definitely needs friends and people around her that say more then "bye".

We also talking about digital rights management and protecting our blogs since a couple of us have been victim of content and pictures being stolen lately.
It's such a shame that people cannot be original and go as far as steal pictures and logos.
I love all the info I can find through Adobe though so my blog is pretty protected. Plus putting a watermark on all your photos will help you too.

Protecting yourself on the internet is very important. To save yourself a lot of stress please study everything about your copyrights.

samsung galaxy tab 10.1 review

On June 29th a couple months before I left for BlogHer11 I received a shiny new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the mail. The 10.1 was released nationwide on June 17th so I was so excited to be getting my hands on this beauty so soon.
I'm just going to jump right into this review because there are so many amazing things to say about this product.

To start the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is slightly thinner then the iPad2 and what some people say is the thinnest tablet on the market right now. Lying flat it's just as thick as an iPhone, with my phone on it's side and the Tab standing correct it's quite thinner as you can see, and the last picture shoes how wide the Tab is.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is "taller" then an iPad if you stand it on it's side. I tried squeezing it into an iPad2 case since I couldn't find Tab cases anywhere (FYI: you can only find them online right now) and it wouldn't fit at all.

PERFORMANCE

With the new 10.1 Tab model you will be getting the Honeycomb OS that runs off the Android 3.1 market. I love Android and although Honeycomb doesn't support all apps you can definitely find a lot of FREE (yes most are free compared to the ones you have to pay for in the Cupertino's (Apple) store. The downside is that Apple did just announce that it is home to over 95,000 tablet applications where as Android won't say how much it has. You will quickly find out on your own that it doesn't have much in comparison to Apple.

Animations quick, transitions fast, and web browser performance is awesome, and although videos seem to load up in a smaller window as opposed to filling the screen.

As far as the speakers go of course you won't be hearing Doby Digital Sound blaring out from the sides but to me you get some pretty nice crisp audio and video playback. Flash, DivX, MPEG4 and H.264 files all played back petty well. The only problem I have is viewing videos via Facebook. IE: If someone posts a video on their wall and I try to view it, I can hear the sound but the screen is pitch black. I'm not sure why I have this issue and if you will experience the same thing.

BATTERY

I am in love with the battery life of this puppy. Seriously, even with the display brightness at about 70% I was able to get about 10 hours of life before I was seeing the screams of my Tab telling me it needed to be plugged in. Turning the power down just a bit I was able to get about 11.5 hours of up time. I usually keep my settings at "Automatic Brightness" and I still see between 10-11 hours before she dies on me.

SOFTWARE

Again you will be getting Android 3.1 with the Honeycomb Market and that brings along widgets that can be resized vertically and horizontally. Now you cannot do this will all widgets (yet) but for Email, Calender and a few others it is possible.

As you can see I expanded my Gmail widget to take up most of the screen space because I like to glance and see multiple emails before having to open up the application.

I am in love with this feature and cannot wait till more people jump on board and update their applications.

CAMERA

One word. Impressed. You can take 3MP photos/videos using the rear- and- front facing cameras. Now sure in comparison 3MP isn't much but for a Tablet of this size you can get some amazing shots. I'm not entirely sold on using it just because it's a little hard to hold the tab and press the shutter button at the same time. Now I'm not jumping for joy but the image/video quality is nice and better then some tabs/phones.





both pictures using the Galaxy Tab camera.

CONCLUSION
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the best Honeycomb tablet on the market to date. In due time will we see if it can match up to Apple's extensive store of Apps and if you're willing to wait for that (like I am) then this Tab provides a world-class Gmail experience, better handling than the iPad 2 (in my opinion anyways) and a higher resolution display.

The 16GB WiFi model (that I have) retails for $499 -- exactly in line with the iPad -- while the 32GB variant will demand $100 more out of your pocketbook. If you're looking for some 3G action so you can surf when not on a WiFi line then the 16GB goes for $529 while the 32GB is $629. Some pretty hefty price tags but if you ask me it's definitely worth it and I wish I had the 3G service.



**I was sent the product(s) free of charge by the company or PR representative. It has been used for the purpose of this review. The views are strictly 100% my own. Receiving the product did not influence me to produce a positive review. I truly love the Galaxy Tab and use it each and every day!**

christmas flowers

This year I have decided to change up how I decorate the house. Yes, I've already began thinking about Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year, can you blame me for wanting to start early?

Gifts for family members and friends out of state can get pretty expensive when you add in shipping and packing cost so I usually just send gift cards but I know how unpersonal that is. I ship always send my "moms" (my friend's moms who are like my mom. you know how that is.) flowers on Mother's Day and I found this cool online store that carries christmas flowers too!

I think it's a lot more special to get fresh flowers delivered to your door then receive a gift card in your mail box. Plus, just look how gorgeous they are. The only difference is these flowers bloom later in the year so they are perfect for Christmas and your christmas hampers.

Of course I can't shop for flowers without looking at some for myself and Christmas just isn't Christmas without a poinsettia in the house. I can order all my flowers and plants now and schedule the delivery in December so there is no way I can forget the special people in my life.

So besides flowers, give me some other easy (not expensive) ways that you bring joy to your out of state family and friends.

member's mark 4x probiotic *update* #digestivehealth

So a couple weeks ago I told you that started taking this probiotic by Member's Mark. Well I am happy to report a happy tummy and a happy mommy. After just a couple days I already noticed a difference in how my body was reacting to the Member's Mark 4x Probiotic.

In my previous post I told you a little about my tummy problems and they are definitely gone now. I tested my stomach by eating something I just knew would keep me in the bathroom. Well turns out I didn't have any issues at all. No more bloating or (shhh) gas and definitely no more constipation. If you don't have those issues then you have no idea how life changing it is but lemme just tell you that it changes everything!

I am not a huge pill taking person so it was hard for me to swallow these. They are about the same size as your average multivitamin but to me that's big. I can barely swallow pain reliever.

Taking the Member's Mark 4X Probiotic has been a challenge and on the days I accidently skip I feel a difference.
To really test my body and see if it was all just a fluke I stopped taking the pills for about 4 days. What happened? Well the bloating instantly came back. My jeans were tighter and I felt so icky and just run down. After the 4th day I was done and day 5 I took my pill. A couple days later I was happy again.

I am happy that the box is a 3 month supply so I wont run out any time soon.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are 100% our own and yours may vary; I’m not a Dietician, Doctor or any kind of Specialist. My post is about how my body reacted to said product. You may experience sometyhing completely different.

white chocolate candy corn m&m's? yes please! #mmsgetcorny

You heard me right! Mars has made all of our chocolate-halloweeny dreams comes true by combining the best of the best. White Chocolate. Candy Corn. And M&M's!

For a limited time Wal-Mart stores will carry this deliciousness.

We have been looking every. single. day but no luck but the heavens opened up just three days ago when I decided instead of driving everyday I should call my Wal-Mart, so I did and they told me "yes we have them" YES!

So go out and search for them because they should officially be in all Wal-Marts this weekend.

Want some even better news? On September 28th @ 9pm EST there will be a #MMsGetCorny twitter party! So RSVP HERE and join the fun and you can even win some gift cards to buy all the M&M's (or food, whatever) you want!

protecting my family and home

So much has been going on lately and seriously sometimes I wish I could just be single, have no kids and live the "perfect life". As if I don't have enough on my plate I recently learned that my home warrenties provider plan is about to expire so I need to search for a new one or place to go.

Earlier this year I blogged about financial ups and downs and all the bills that we have. That is when we first purchased the warrenty for our home from American Home Shield since we found a great flex plan that they have.

Simply put you should always have a home warrenty protection plan. If you choose your plan correctly you can have everything from your microwave to your garage door opener covered if something were to happen to them. I never really thought about it but last month our garage door opener did stop working. Those things don't just come with AA batteries in them so it was annoying at first but awesome that it was covered on my plan.

If you have health insurance, car insurance, home insurance then definitely consider getting a home warrenty because it can cover all the little things that add up.

hexbug review and giveaway

When I was at BlogHer I got to do some super amazing and fun things. One of these things was playing with HexBug. I had seen the commercials and honestly was pretty weirded out by them but once you see them in person it's awesome!

HexBug is so much fun that John and I play with it more then the girls do. Trying to build a cooler city then last time or just watching them is cool. Why? I have no idea but they are just cool!

You can purchase so many different sets and bugs to create the biggest and best buggy world. Starter Kits, Spiral Kits and Habitats are just to name a few. Along with the tiny Nano bug you can see above there are more bugs to play with like the Crab, Original, Inchworm, Ant and Spider.

Although they are pretty creepy there is no doubt you will be addicted the second you start playing with them.

(if the giveaway form is not showing up please click on the Post Title)

living in a technical world

We all know it's 2011 but have you really sat down and noticed how we all revolve around technology? It's hard to watch my 1 year old play on my iPhone and know exactly what she's doing. My older daughter plays on her Tab, 3DS all the time and of course my husband and I are on our phones almost 24/7. The world around us is changing and when it comes to blogging you have to be right up there with the big dogs to fit in. I have considered creating an online survey so I can track what kind of visitors I am getting to my blog on a daily basis. Plus, it's cool to know if just moms to be are reading my blog or moms of multiples or even dads.

Another cool cool I recently discovered is email marketing software that will help organize my inbox a little better. I cannot tell you how unorganized and cluttered my email is so I'm hoping something like this will help me and actually save me time at the end of the day.

frito lay back to school giveaway

You may remember a couple months ago I attending a Frito-Lay party where some local bloggers and I created some delicious dips to pair with Frito chips. It was tons of fun and I think we all put on a couple pounds that day.

Frito Lay snack chips are great for any day of the week but their single serve chip bags are great for outings and school lunches. Now that back to school time is going strong full force I've had to go shopping a lot more and buying that large variety single serve chip bags is always my #1 stop at the store.

Frito Lay has made lunch even healthier by now making Natural chip flavors for you and your kids! You can purchase a variety pack of Lay's Classic and Sour Cream and Onion potato chips, Rold Gold Tiny Twists pretzels, and SunChips Garden Salsa and Harvest Cheddar multigrain snacks! These products are made without any artificial or synthetic ingredients, artificial flavors or artificial preservatives, and contain no monosodium glutamate (MSG).  The 1-oz bags will help you manage portion control, even on the go, and fit nicely into any lunch container.

Frito Lay asked me to host a giveaway to help you with your back to school needs.
They are including a full size 22 pack multi-pack of chips, eco-friendly reusable snack wraps, and an insulated lunch tote!



**I was sent the product(s) free of charge by the company or PR representative. It has been used solely for the purpose of this honest review. The views are strictly 100% my own. Receiving the product did not influence me to produce a positive review**

Giveaway is open to USA residents 18+ years old. It will end and close on October 10th @ 9:00pm EST. Any entries made after such time will not be counted and will be removed from the list. Winner will be contacted via email & will have 24 hours to respond. If winner does not respond their prize is then forfeited and a new winner will be selected.

engagement ring shopping

Years ago when my now husband proposed to me I know he went through a lot to find me a ring he thought I would love. Don't get me wrong, I did love it but did I die a little when it wasn't my perfect ring? Sure. But my perfect engagement ring is one that looks like Kim Kardashian and totally unobtainable until I win the lottery. It looks a little something like this one one Since1910 when I was searching for a designer engagement ring.


By Tacori - $12,780

Yeah it's huge but I love big. And I mean come on.. it's only $12,800 since I would just need to have it in Platinum, lol.
Needless to say I didn't get my $12,800 ring when my husband proposed but that's ok :) I married him anyway.

Buying an engagement ring can add years to a man's life. There are so many stores, cuts, sizes, colors, clarity to choose from and the all important question of "will she like it?". To make the this all important stage in life easier Since1910.com has built their website with men in mind. There are easy options to check off in their Diamond Search or Engagement Ring Setting areas.

getting healthy with probiotics #digestivehealth #cbias

Have you noticed I'm on a big health kick recently? Well I am. A while ago I noticed I wasn't feeling so hot, always tired, you know. So I started taking a multivitamin, a supplement (if you read my post yesterday) and now I started a probiotic supplement.

It's from Sam's Club and it's called Member's Mark 4X Probiotic. I'm super excited to start this probiotic because digestive issues have always been something I have. Probiotics are good bacteria that can even be found in yogurt. I know that as we age the number of microflora is reduced as well as stress and diet. So adding more Bifidobacteria is always a good thing.

When I say "digestive health" I'm sure you think, "I dont need to take probiotics... I can go to the bathroom just fine." Well those types of tummy troubles aren't the only thing that probiotics help. There are nerves in your stomach that are connected to your brain. So when you're nervous and get that butterfly feeling or feel sick to your stomach when stress happens? Those issues have to do with digestive health too and I strongly believe probiotics can help minimize some of those feelings.

Each box of Member's Mark 4x is a 3 month supply but I'll be updating you in about 2 weeks with my review on how I have been feeling!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All thoughts included are my own.

fruits & veggies pronutrien​ts by centrum #nutritionpossible #cbias

I blogged about the importance of my daughters getting vitamins but I didn't really include myself. I've always tried to take a multivitamin but if I forget a couple days my whole routine is thrown off. Recently I started taking a multivitamin again and I personally can feel a difference when I don't take my multi and when I do.

Centrum has a new product out called ProNutrients which are supplements that you take in addition to your multivitamin. Today I went shopping for their Fruit & Veggie vitamin because I do not get enough fruits and vegetables in my diet at all. I'm pretty good with my veggies but not at all with fruits so the ProNutrients supplement is beneficial for me.

I went to Wal-Mart and it took me some time to find the ProNutrients. Before I went shopping I went to the Centrum ProNutrient facebook and received a $3 off coupon so I can save some money and be healthy!

Finally I found the ProNutrients on a attention grabbing end cap just past the other multivitamins

 I love the other supplements but I am already taking a ProBiotic and an Omega-3. Maybe when those are all gone I'll start taking the ProNutrients brand.

 I know it's going to take a couple weeks for the Fruits & Veggies to full be in my system but with it’s 100% grapes, blueberries, raspberries, plums, carrots and tomatoes sources I cannot wait. Each vitamin (or Mini Tab as Centrum calls it) has antioxidant properties to support cell protection and general health. And each vitamin harnesses the power of one serving of a blend of fruit and vegetables. ONE serving!

Here's my ThisMoment story that I hope you will all check out!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All options are my own and payment did not influence me to produce a positive review.

emergen-c kidz review

I'm sure you've heard of Emergen-C for adults but did you know they make this amazing drink for kids too?

Recently we were sent 3 flavors for M to try out - Orange, Grape and Fruit Punch.

Emergen-C Kidz has amazing health benefits for your kids and they will love drinking it. It's a powder that easily dissolves in water and fizzes for some added fun.

Some great points I have to mention

-Produced without preservatives, artificial sweeteners, or artificial flavors. They include only natural flavors and real fruit juice powders

-Gives your kids a natural energy boost with B vitamins

-Supports a healthy immune system with vitamin C, zinc and 32 mineral complexes

So M didn't like the Fruit Punch flavor as you can see by her facial expression but she did like the Grape flavor a lot more. Orange was apparently "too sour" for her taste as well. So she has been drinking the Grape every day after school by request.

If you are looking for a great way to give your kids vitamins then you can find Emergen-C Kidz at most grocery and health food stores. While you're there pick some Emergen-C up for yourself as well. I urge you to do this because for each box sold, 25¢ is donated to Vitamin Angels, providing essential nutrients to one child for one year.

Please take the Emergen-C Kidz Pledge on Facebook that you will commit to creating a fun and healthy lifestyle for me and my family, which includes: eating more nutritious foods, taking vitamins daily, and getting regular exercise – all while having fun and spending more time together! Just by signing the pledge Emergen-C will donate an EXTRA 25cents to Vitamin Angels!!


I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Emergen-C and received samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

we are moving...maybe

So I mentioned it on Twitter the other day so I guess it's time to blog about it to.

John and I have been talking about Pennsylvania. Why there? There is no big reason really. We have no family there, no friends, have no idea what jobs are there, where we would live, nothing. What is there is some place we can agree on. It's close to New York but not too close. NYC is a good 2 1/2 hours from where we are talking about living.

Side note. I love how a whole another state (while crossing through Jersey) is just two hours away when it takes me 3 hours to get to Miami from Orlando, lol.

Another thing about PA is we will experience all the seasons instead of just rainy, cold and SUPER hot. No we want Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter people and it would be great for our girls to experience that as well. With all this talk of moving we of course have to think about the big stuff since as I mentioned we have nothing up there. He needs to talk to his managers to see if he can transfer, we need to visit PA and see if we even like it, while we're visiting we need to meet with a realtor, find a nice school.

While John has been trying to worry about all that what have I been worrying about? My wardrobe! I will have nothing to wear in the winters and neither will the girls. I love bundling up in hoodies and fur lined jackets with boots so I am going to be in heaven!

I was shopping on Ellos recently and found this gorgeous crowl-neck sweater that I know I will look just fab in! So if you are like me and don't need a reason to shop then you should go to the site and check out all that Ellos has to offer!

Although this potential move won't happen for another year I am still excited about the prospect of a new start. I am sad to be leaving my parents and other family along with my new bloggy friends here in Florida though :(
So we'll see how the next year plays out and what will happen with my family of 4 (maybe 5 soon)!

bathroom makeover #cbias

I've been talking a lot of giving our whole house a makeover in the past few months. One place I neglected to mention was our guest bathroom, or the girls bathroom really. We decorated it nice and I loved the creamy yellow on the wall but we never that much to it.
This weekend we decided it was time so we ran to Wal-Mart to purchase Glidden Better Homes & Gardens Collection paint to bring a whole new look to the dark bathroom.

Our current shower curtain is green and brown and fairly new so we thought we'd leave it and just get paint to match.

After putting the pop out paint circle on the wall back at home we decided green wasn't a good idea. We liked the brown though. We chose a darker brown and John then suggested blue.

The blue was way too dark (the color on the right) once we saw the test spot on the wall so to keep the room from feeling too small we added white to it so it would lighten up a bit. I promise the blues don't look as "slate-y" as they do in these pictures.

We also decided to add to hardware in the room. I was surprised to see that Better Homes & Garden made their own line.

Here was the bathroom before

And here is the bathroom now!

We still have some things to add but I just wanted to get this post up to show you the paint job we did!
We took it from a yellow cream base to dark brown with a blue accent wall. The brown is called Aromatic Coffee and the blue is Bluebird's Egg (with a little white added to it) and of course both paints are from Glidden's Better Homes & Gardens Collection.
A see through shower curtain helps bring a ton more light which we love.
To see more pictures of the finished bathroom check out my ThisMoment story. There you can see the accessories better.

We are so happy with our new bathroom paint and Glidden! There was barely any odor what so ever, it is washable so when we made tiny mistakes on the tile or mirror it came right off when it was dried!


This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own and we did all the hard work using our Glidden paint.