The Guavalicious Life

As a blogger, I get a lot of press releases and invitations to review random items. Most of them I turn down since I don’t consider myself a review blogger. But something made me say yes when the offer to review a new journal for moms landed in my inbox.

And boy am I glad I did.

For My Children: A Mother’s Journal of Memories, Wishes and Wisdom is so much more than I expected it to be. The design and simplicity of it speak to me and i was surprised how much the prompts inspired me. I actually look forward to sitting down and writing about my life.

As I write, I picture my girls reading this when they are mothers themselves and learning about a new side of me. I hope that it will inspire them to write down their own memories.

Here’s a photo of the cover:

And the description from Amazon:
“As a mother ages and sees her children go off into the world, she begins reflecting on her time as a mom and yearns to share memories with her kids. Beautifully designed and illustrated, this perfect gift contains creative prompts that spark Mom’s recollections of fun family vacations, favorite childhood games, and special holidays. The thought-provoking queries allow Mom to delve into her own lifetime of experiences — her childhood and school years, falling in love and getting married, and, most of all, having and raising children. This collection of fill-in-the-blank lists is the easiest way for a mother to record on paper answers to the questions her children never thought to ask but will love to discover.”

I originally conceived this book as part of a Mother’s Day Gift Guide but I feel that this book is more a gift from a mom to herself. It allows you to clear your head and capture those small moments that make motherhood so sweet. Do yourself a favor and order one today.

You know spring has sprung when I wake up hacking and have to sleep sitting up on the couch so I don’t choke to death on cough drops (or die from smothering from a husband sick of snoring.

It’s a pity really, March 20th should be an exciting day for us. We got engaged on the first day of Spring and while I am not a huge celebrator of small anniversaries like that. But it would be nice to memorialize the day with something besides sneezing for once.

And this year, I kind of got to! I haven’t found the miracle cure or anything, I am still sneezing up a storm, but the hacking and sore throat that usually keep me up (and almost always develop into a sinus infection) are not with me this year. I finally kicked them to the curb with Waterpik’s SinuSense.

I have to admit that I was dubious when I was asked to review it. It’s not that I don’t think sinus rinsing works, I know it is a great natural remedy for allergies. It was more that I didn’t think I needed a Waterpik branded one. After all, I have a perfectly lovely neti pot in my cabinet as well as a few other nasal washes knocking around the house.

Why add one more?
What made the difference?
You might know after looking at the picture:

It was so easy that I actually DID it every night. Turns out nasal washing works a lot better when you actually made a habit of doing it. I am loving Spring this year and happy to celebrate this special day with something other than a red nose. And the SinuSense has inspired me to keep up with my other natural remedies for allergies, like eating local honey.

Want to know more? You can check out a video of it in action here. The Facebook page has some great info too. SinuSense is also on Twitter. Their website also has some greta coupons if you want to try it out for yourself. SinuSense by WaterPik– retails for $29.99.

Disclosure: In addition to the product, I was compensated for my time.

Wow, SXSW Interactive. That was intense man. I kept thinking the entire time I was there that I couldn’t wait to get home and write about it. It’s just such a different experience than the blogging and marketing conferences I have gone to. The conference basically takes over that section of Austin and there is an event or session for almost any thing you can think of. Even five days wasn’t enough to take it all in.

I’ve decided that it will probably take five days to really do it justice so I have been working on posts to post all next week. But I couldn’t resist sneaking in a post about LiveOn. I am currently an ambassador for them and was so excited when my husband and business partner met them out one night. It was like they had a brush with a real life celebrity. I begged my business partner to dig up the card and email them but, perhaps put off by my stalker like enthusiasm, he refused.

So I didn’t get to meet them in person but I was thrilled that I could cheer for them at the Interactive Awards. They were a finalist in the Technical Achievement category. SXSWi describes this sites/companies in this category as…

These are the projects that are re-inventing and re-defining the technical parameters of our online experience.

And to that I give a big ole HELL YES. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to play around with LiveOn as much as I would like because I’ve been dragging my heels on my conversion kit (they scan all your photos for you, yeeha!) because due to moving and an unfortunate incident where my husband threw out a bag of photos, I don’t have that many actual photos. So my mom just brought me a bunch from home and soon I will send them off and regale my followers and friends with pictures of me as an akward girl scout.

Holy tangent there.

Anyway, as I was saying, I totally get why LiveOn was nominated in the technical achievement category because they have totally taken the online photo album idea to a whole new level. It’s more like a newfangled scrapbook. Without the rick rack of course because mama likes rick rack on her dresses, not on her photos.

They do this whole interactive time capsule thing where you can add in memories and thoughts and audio clips, etc. etc. so it’s like diving into a memory. It will make you want to share those awkward photos too. I promise.

The best part? They are based in KC (Kansas City) so take that coast cities. We’ve got a whole bunch of awesomeness going on in the Midwest. We’re not just the fly overs anymore.

We’re on day six of our SXSW Interactive trip! Today we finally check into our conference hotel for six nights and five days of full on technology goodness. Can’t wait! I really love conferences and how energized I get from them. What I don’t love is how run down I get from staying up too late and eating sporadically (and drinking too much.)

Luckily right before I left on the trip, I was given a month’s membership to GaiamTV from Mom Spark Media. I’ve been using it to exercise in my hotel room. It has all kind of fitness videos including yoga videos and exercise videos. Plus there are wellness videos that help me my spirit and body healthy. I even watched a few of the inspirational movies during the plane ride.

Here’s my own inspiration quote:

Giveaway: Want to give the fitness videos and workout videos a try and get healthy where ever you are? I am giving away a 3 month’s subscription to the Gaiam TV site (a $30.00 value) to one reader. To enter comment below with your favorite healthy tip; winner will be chose at random (U.S. only please.) For one more entry, tweet out your tip on Twitter with the hashtag #InspireGaiamTV and @guavalicious. Just leave a comment with the link to your tweet for the extra entry. This giveaway closes April 1st. Good luck!

Disclosure: This promotional sponsored post was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. All prizing for MSM giveaways is handled by a third party unless otherwise noted. For this reason, prize fulfillment can take up to 90 days after the winners information is received.

Doesn’t this look delicious?

Would you believe me if I told you in took me ten minutes to make?

Bertolli challenged bloggers to make a weeknight meal special and sent two coupons for their new Bertolli Meal Soups so we could try them out. Like most working parents, getting a meal on the table is hard enough, making it special seems impossible. But weeknights are usually the only time all four of us sit down together to eat dinner together so I had motivation to accept. They gave us an hour prep time limit but I was actually able to shop, put the meal together, and have it on the table in under an hour. Awesome eh?

I took my coupons to the store and checked out the selection (you can find the Bertolli Meal Soups in the ready made dinner section right next to their pasta meals; to locate a store that carries them pick Bertolli Meal Soups on their product locator.) Since my husband has blood pressure issues, I am always careful to note the sodium on any product. The Bertolli Meal Soups obviously have a higher sodium count than homemade soups and stews but the milligrams were lower than the frozen pizzas we often resort to.

For our dinner, I selected the Chicken Minestrone, which is their lowest sodium soup, and the Tuscan Style Beef and Vegetables. To go with them I made easy cheese twists, which literally cook in the time it takes the soup to heat up. They make the perfect pairing soups and are super simple since they use low fat. You can check out how I make them in this You Tube video.

Overall, we gave four thumbs up to the soups. The big winner was the chicken minestrone soup. My husband may have mentioned something about it being better than my homemade version but surely I misheard that right? Okay, I admit. It was better and took way less time. Though we really liked the flavor of the Tuscan Style Beef and Tomato (the broth is out of this world), I wasn’t a fan of the toughness of the beef. It’s so hard to get stew beef right and I am a tiny bit happy that even powerhouses like Bertolli have trouble with it.

We will definitely be giving these a try on those nights when we want something special to sit down to together when we are short on time. Going the extra step to make a side dish and get the table set was totally worth it. And since it took me such a short amount of time I sat down completely relaxed. That may have been the most important element!

Thank you to Bertolli for giving me a chance to try their new line and for compensating me for my time. Betolli can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and of course their website.

Can you believe Valentine’s Day is barely two weeks away? I admit that we are not big Valentine’s Day people, no fancy gifts in our household. Our celebrating is usually limited to a decorated breakfast table and a picnic dinner at home. And oh, lots and lots of chocolate eating.

Chocolate, how I love it. But as I have gotten older my taste buds have gotten snobby and decided that the regular old drugstore candy bar just won’t do. Luckily gourmet chocolate has gone mainstream and there are tons of options to please my picky taste buds. In honor of Valentine’s day I thought I would share some of my finds with you.

First off, Angell Organic candy bars. I received some of these to review in December and planned to share them with visiting family. The only problem was, I couldn’t stop myself from scarfing them down. But really, can you blame me. I mean they are almost healthy really. They only have 5-7 ingredients per bar, all of which you can actually pronounce. And there’s no GMO products or corn syrup. Best part? There’s less than 200 calories per bar. And no guilty conscience: Angell candy bars are fair trade.

All flavors are kosher and the Angell Crisp is gluten free and the Dark Angell is vegan. You can find them at a store near you as well as online. They are around $2 each.

Confession: I am a secret hoarder. Out in my garage we have a gigantic stash of used plastics. You see, our city as great as it is, only recycles one and two plastics. So we save up our yogurt tubs and cheese lids and ferry them to Dallas when we visit family. Yep, we are a little bit crazy about recycling. We are one step away from joining the earth liberation army.

Suffice to say, I am a wee bit into green living. So I jumped at the chance to test out Tide Coldwater. We almost always wash our clothes in cold water but I haven’t used a detergent made specifically for cold water laundry. I love my natural detergents but I admit that they don’t always tackle the stains that two five year old girls leave on their play clothes.

And it totally came through. Even without any kind of pre-treatment. I am so looking forward to pulling that off of my laundry shelf and adding less plastic to our garage stash.

Disclosure: I received a product sample and was compensated with a $50 gift card.

Here is one for you last minute shoppers out there. Bookstores are the one size fits all, easy place to get something for everyone on your list. And I even have a list for you!

Steve Jobs: Unless the recepient lives under a rock, they are probably intrigued by Steve Jobs. Which makes this biograpgy the perfect book for anyone from 16 on up. It delves deeeply into the psyche of the genius behind Apple. Who wouldn’t want a peek into his mind?

Brave Irene: The kid on your list is probably a smidge too young to see Iron Lady but they will love this book read by Merly Streep. Brave Irene by William Steig is the story of Irene a dressmaker’s daughter who takes on a journey to deliver a dress in time for a fancy party. It takes place during a snow storm making it the perfect winter book. The gift comes with the bonus of pleasing the parent of the kiddo you give it to. Books on CD are perfect for car trips. They can be played when it’s dark out and make a great diversion during the day since kids can follow the story through the pictures.

My Teenage Werewolf ” target=”_blank”>My Teenage Werewolf: Got a mom on your list? Any mother will be fascinated by this account of a mom, inspired by the tough relationship with her daughter, who puts on her journalist hat to delve into the primal relationship between teenage girls and their moms. Even though my twins are only four, I found myself totally enrossged in this book. I also immediately started as therapy and spa vacation fund.

300 Best Rice Cooker Recipes: Let’s admit it, we all have a spare kitchen appliance hanging around that we’re not sure what to do with. And half of those are rice cookers. This book will have your friends cooking full on meals from that rice cooker languishing in the back of the cabinet. Hopefully they will be so grateful that they will have you over for dinner.

Does anyone feel like December went by amazingly fast? It’s hard for me to believe that my in-laws will be arriving a week from today to spend the Christmas weekend with us. This will be our first Christmas hosting for them and I have been frantically cleaning and clearing out the house to prepare. It is slow going since I keep getting distracted by pictures and letters I come across.

The advent of the digital age has made me much more ruthless about deleting bad and random pictures. But I have a much harder time doing that with actual prints. Someone’s eyes may be closed but I can’t bear to part with it because it is the only version I have. So I hang onto them and they languish in envelopes along with school pictures, faded prints from my parents, and old Polaroids.

Yes, I know I could scan them but that plan was how they ended up in the envelope. I keep thinking I will get to them on a rainy day but when that rainy day comes I end up snoozing on the couch instead. I dream about just boxing them up and having them neatly presented to me in digital form, ready to share.

Sometimes dreams come true. I’ve been given the chance to do just that by Live On. Their Live On Rewind service sends you a secure, shipping box, prepaid postage back, shipping instructions, zip lock bag for secure storage during transit. Then their specialists convert all your media and send it back along with a DVD of the preserved media.

The best part is that they also provide online access to your newly digitized memories at LiveOn.com. I wrote last month about how much I love the interface on their site. It goes way beyond a digital album. I can’t wait to start adding my own memories to the pictures I am having scanned.

This year is about making new memories with our daughters and our family. I am so glad that I will be able to put side by side pictures of these moments with the ones from my own childhood. The next time I am at my parents I plan to gather up their photos and send them in as well. I think it would make a fantastic gift. If you would like to gift someone with the service (or use it for yourself) you can get 30% off the service with the coupon code HOLIDAYREWIND. Now that’s a gift that keeps on giving!

Thank you to LiveOn for sponsoring this blog post. Please LiveOn to learn more about sharing and preserving your most important memories. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective. Although story ideas were provided, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This year of time gets a bit stressful doesn’t it? There are parties, school events, shopping, etc. Too often, dinner times rolls around and I am completely unprepared. At the same time we are eating way more treats than normal so I want to make healthy dinners. That means avoiding my usual go to of take out or frozen pizza.

Right in time for my holiday food crunch, I was given the chance to review the Simply Dressed line from T. Marzetti. I am always a bit skeptical of store brought dressings. I usually make my own since my dressing are full of preservatives and colorings.

But this line isn’t the “French” I grew up eating on my iceberg salads. The Simply Dressed dressings are all natural, made with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and canola oil. They don’t contain preservatives, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, MSG or artificial flavors.

They make several awesome sounding dressings but I ended up picking the Ginger Sesame version to try out. I have never been able to master dressings with an Asian flair. And the ginger ones I am addicted too always have artificial coloring which I try to avoid with the girls.

When I first poured out some to try, it looked like the “Italian” dressing I grew up eating on my mom’s classic pasta salad. But when I dipped some broccoli in, there was no comparison. I was immediately struck by the ginger flavor. It’s sharp with out being over powering. It’s a great balance since both me and my girls loved using it as a dip.

I ended up incorporating the dressing into two quick and easy meals that are not only a snap to prepare but are also a welcome respite from the heavy foods of the holidays.

Asian Wrap

• rotisserie chicken
• slaw pack (or shredded carrots and broccoli)
• Simply Dressed Ginger-Sesame dressing to taste
• flat wraps

For each wrap use about a half cup of chicken and half cup of slaw pack, then drizzle one fourth of a cup of dressing over before wrapping. These are great for lunches, just wrap in plastic and eat within twenty four hours (refrigerate of course!)

Sesame Noodles

• 8oz whole wheat linguine
• one zucchini
• two carrots
• two stalks celery
• 1/c peanuts, crushed
• one cup Ginger-Sesame dressing

Cook linguine according to directions. While it is cooking, matchstick the carrots, celery, and zucchini. Drain the noodle, combine immediately with chopped veggies, toss with dressing, and top with crushed peanuts. Makes four servings with a bit leftover for a lunch.

Now I am dreaming up ways to use the rest of the Simply Dressed line. Because why stop with salads when you can shortcut your way into dinner?

I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Simply Dressed review. They provided me with product to test myself and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.