Matthew's Puzzle and a mom putting it all together

Sincerely Nuts Turkish Pistachios Review #SPON

April 11, 2013 By Maryann

I have been given a complementary bag of Sincerely Nuts Turkish Pistachios to help facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

When I was a little girl my parents would take me to visit my great aunt in Virginia. To me the hour long drive felt like 5 and I hated being in the car. But one thing always made the trip more pleasant and that was the pistachios my parents always brought along for me to enjoy. Back then the only pistachios available were the ones colored red! We had no idea that artificial color was so bad for you, so I used to love shelling the nuts while my fingers turned bright red.

Now we have Sincerely Nuts where we can order a variety of pistachios among other nuts, seeds, chocolate, candy and dried fruits. The Turkish Pistachios arrived roasted and lightly salted. My kids loved trying to open the shells. Because nuts are Paleo and full of good potassium I don’t mind the kids asking for them as an after dinner snack. This is fast becoming their favorite pre-bedtime indulgence.

Since they also have no sugar added dried pineapple I would like to use that with the pistachios to make a healthy and delicious trailmix. I think that would be perfect for taking on road trips this summer.

What is your favorite nut?

Wordless Wednesday The Last Few Weeks

April 10, 2013 By Maryann

I have had a busy last couple of weeks. So I wanted to show you a bit of my boys, my Easter eggs and some pretty flowers I had on my table. Hope you enjoy.

eShakti Review Sponsored Post

April 9, 2013 By Maryann

I was provided with a free eShakti dress to help facilitate this review.

I have been working on getting my figure back and since I haven’t quite gotten there yet, I often find it hard to locate a dress that looks really good on me. I have been watching enough What Not To Wear to know what I should and shouldn’t highlight but department stores don’t seem to really care. They are all about the trends. I need well constructed pieces that fit my 5’3″ frame without overwhelming me.

That is where eShakti really takes the cake, so to speak. They offer something that I think is unheard of. For a very reasonable price you can pick the dress, or other item, that you like and then have it tailored to your specifications. I started by choosing the Savannah dress in a lovely Turquoise. I loved the faux wrap effect and the retro styling which looks great on my figure. Then I selected the size. I decided to choose from traditional sizes, but you also have the option to actually measure yourself and submit those measurements to ensure a more perfect fit. I think this is a great idea and I will probably do that the next time I order. The next step has you enter your height. This allows them to proportion the dress properly. Obviously a size 10 is going to fit very differently on someone who is 5’2″ compared to someone that is 5’10”. Lastly, and I think this is sort of the most fun, you get to make changes to the design of the dress. With the Savannah dress I opted to have it fall right above the knee. Some of their other designs have more customizations available, such as type of sleeve, neckline, lengt, embroidery, pockets and other embellishments. h. This is perfect for someone that wants to make sure their arms are covered or really wants a maxi dress. eShakti now offers size 0 – 36W. Whatever the desire, eShakti has you covered.

And the pricing is VERY reasonable. The Savannah dress starts at $64.95 depending on material you choose. You don’t pay extra for customization! I was very pleased with the quality of the finished product. The material was well weighted and the craftsmanship was good. I loved how well the hidden zipper was constructed, it did not pull at all. I would not hesitate to buy from them.

One other thing I really like about eShakti is they have a gallery of real customers in their clothing. I love to see how others are wearing these beautiful articles and found it very inspirational.

Genesis Today Skinny Coffee Review – Sponsored Post & #Giveaway

April 5, 2013 By Maryann

I received two bottles of Skinny Coffee and Genesis Today Total Cleanse for free to facilitate this review.

Skinny Coffee

If you know anything about me you should know that I ♥ coffee. Like I think it is ambrosia, or the elixir of the gods. I could drink coffee morning, noon and night, and sometimes I do. When I was nursing Lorenzo I remember sitting up at night craving a cup of coffee. Not for the caffeine but instead because it just tastes so darn good.

But I like to drink my coffee with some sort of creamer. I used to use half and half until I needed to go diary free. Then I moved on to a coconut milk creamer, and now I use full fat coconut milk. Not the lowest calorie option, I know. And since I am still working the Weight Watchers angle, I need to be conscious of what I am putting into my body. Well, I should always be conscious of what I’m taking in, but trying to lose weight makes you scrutinize even more. I also really enjoy a good cup of iced coffee, which brings me to Genesis Today Skinny Coffee. It comes in two flavors, Creamy Cappuccino and Vanilla Latte. But what makes them so different is the fact that these coffees combine medium-roast coffee with a touch of milk and 600mg of pure green coffee bean extract per serving. I first learned about green coffee bean extract from watching Dr. Oz. Green coffee bean extract is known to slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream and helps to support a healthy metabolism.

I have been drinking Genesis Today Skinny Coffee for a couple of days now. I usually have it in the afternoon over ice. It is only 90 calories per 8 fl. oz. serving. That is not bad at all. I love that while it does contain sugar it does NOT contain high fructose corn syrup and instead uses stevia leaf to enhance the flavors. It also contains some great B vitamins such as B12, B6 and B5. I love B vitamins.

I also decided to try Genesis Today Total Cleanse. It is a detoxifying herbal dietary supplement that comes in a two-part cleansing program. I have only been using it for a few days so far, but I’m already liking it. It has been very gentle on my system, which is really important to me. It contains tons of great herbs and supplements like Pau D’Arco, Fenugreek and Milk Thistle. All things I have taken at one time or another, but this combines them and other supplements into one cleansing program.