Shutterfly Wedding Save the Dates

I love Shutterfly… We use them for our Christmas cards every year and I am always pleased with the quality and look. I just found out that Shutterfly also does Save the Dates!!! For real, pretty personalized wedding stationary that you can order online and have shipped right to you OR have them ship directly to save you a little wedding planning stress!! Every bride I know needs less stress, so that’s a win and a lovely Save the Date card to make your wedding day more memorable for you and your guests… WIN WIN! The card shown below, a 5X7 Scallop Trim Save the Date is one of my absolute favorites!

ShutterflySaveTheDate (1)

I am dying over their entire large design collection! They are a high quality card that come with matching white envelopes. You have the choice of a flat, ¾ fold, or tri-fold format. Then the sizes you can choose from, 6×8, 5×7, 4×8, 5×5, 4×5, are all perfect for grabbing your guests’ attention when they arrive in the mail.

ShutterflySaveTheDate (2)

Did you notice that you can add a little something to the back as well! An engagement photo, your names, both! Love that you have that extra space to share something with your guests!

ShutterflySaveTheDate (5)

Another little detail I am really digging is the Foil Stamped Designs like the Save the Date wording on the card above. Really makes it pop!

ShutterflySaveTheDate (4)

Shutterfly’s save the date cards come in several trim options:

ShutterflySaveTheDate (3)

The ticket trim like those shown above are so classy! What trim option would you choose for your Save the Date Cards??

Did you send Save the Dates for your wedding? I think it’s important to give your guests a heads up and I love that you can do that with these Shutterfly cards all while expressing your personal sense of style!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Shutterfly. As always the opinions I share here are 100% my own. If I didn’t really love it I wouldn’t share it with you. ;)

 

#JAdoreVoxBox Review

Valentine’s Day is long gone, but the goodies that I received to try out in the #JAdoreVoxBox from Influenster are perfect for you and your sweetheart any day of the year! I made a using the products I received as inspiration for a little date night out with your honey and here are a few of my thoughts on each of the goodies in the Vox Box.

Influenster JAdoreVoxBox

First up, I don’t know a single person that doesn’t like Hershey’s Kisses… I’m sure they’re out there, but I just don’t know them… haha. I love that they wrap the kisses up for different holidays. Makes things feel more festive! I put most of the Family Sized bag of kisses in a serving tray on my kitchen counter… They’re almost all gone. And that was a HUGE bag. 😉

Hershey's Kisses

Next, I received a few samples of Creme Caramel Red Rose Tea and a sample of Lemon Chiffon tea. I LOVED the Creme Caramel. SO much so that I used all of the samples within a week and had to go online and order some more. I also ordered a box of the Cinnamon Streusel tea which is decaffeinated. The only drawback to this delicious cup of tea is that they don’t sell it anywhere in AZ or NM… So ordering online is a must do. But it arrived quickly and I enjoy a cup every morning.

Red Rose Tea

The Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask was interesting. I rarely use any type of mask and hadn’t used any in years. But this one was easy to apply, dried quickly and forced me to sit and actually relax for the ten minutes required for it to set. Which, come on, every momma needs an excuse just to relax for a few minutes! Afterwards it was easy to wipe off and made my face feel soft. I would think with weekly use it could really make a difference in the way my skin feels. The only drawback to the mask… ? It freaked out my 8 month old daughter when she saw mommy’s face covered in green… haha. But after she realized it was me and I was ok she was fine.

Boots Botanic Clay Mask

The JAdore Vox Box also included some Vaseline Men’s Spray Lotion. I tried it out myself and realized why it says MEN’s on the side… It has a men’s cologne scent to it. The scent actually smells really good, it’s just not what I would like to wear myself. 😉 My husband also tried it out and liked the scent as well as how easy it was for him to apply. I shot a short video of him applying it on his dry arms after a long day in the sun. You can see that here.

One of my favorite goodies was the John Frieda Frizz 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray. I wear my long hair straightened almost every day, so it was perfect for me. And as a mommy getting three days of wear out of one time doing my hair… ? Yes please!!! The spray itself smelled nice and left my hair feeling soft and shiny. It also helped tame those little frizzies you get when you wear your hair down and straight all day long.

Frizz Ease

Last but not least is the Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes. So, here’s the thing. I am a stay at home, work from home momma. I haven’t done a single thing in the last two weeks or so to warrant wearing pretty fake eyelashes. Instead of wasting them on a day when I was just going to stay at home I decided to wait until this coming weekend when I get to get out of the house and go to a concert with the husband! 😉 I’ll let you know after the fact how they turned out!

Your turn: Do you use any of the products that were featured in the Inluenster #JAdoreVoxBox? What’s your favorite??

Disclosure: I received all of the products shared here complimentary from Influenster for review purposes. As always opinions shared are 100% my own!

Easiest Dinners Ever!!! #Manwich

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Manwich. All opinions are 100% mine.

Dinner. The most important meal of the day as far as family time goes. Every morning my husband is up and gone for work too early to enjoy breakfast with me and our daughter. Lunch, he’s still at work. So dinner is our time to sit together and recap our day as a family. I don’t know about you, but when my time with my entire family is limited like that I prefer to spend it enjoying them versus slaving in the kitchen to make dinner. That’s why my family loves Manwich!!

Manwich, in my opinion, has to be one of the easiest, quickest meals ever and my family loves it! All you need is one pound of hamburger, some buns and a can of your favorite Manwich flavor!

Easy dinner idea

I was sent three kinds of Manwich to sample with my family. Manwich Bold Sloppy Joe Sauce, Manwich Thick & Chunky Sloppy Joe Sauce and Manwich Original Sloppy Joe Sauce. My favorite was the Bold Sauce since I am a fan of bolder flavors while my husband preferred the Thick & Chunky sauce. But really, you can’t go wrong with any of the three flavors!

Manwich Flavors

Our favorite Manwich recipe is the tried and true sloppy joe! Again, a can of Manwich, a pound of hamburger and a bun. We also like to top ours with a slice of cheese. Serve it up with beans as a side dish and you have an easy, delicious comfort food dinner!

Manwich Comfort Food Dinner

If the traditional sloppy joe just isn’t your style, you can check out this site for tons of fun Manwich Recipes! Or check out other fun Manwich happenings and fun commercials at the Manwich TV Ads website!

Your turn: What’s your favorite quick and easy dinner recipe??

My Girl’s First Christmas and a Giveaway!

Disclosure: “This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Dreft. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.”

 
This year was my daughter’s very first Christmas! It amazing how having a child can make the holidays instantly more fun and exciting. Every holiday is suddenly more amazing! Let’s be honest, every single day is suddenly more amazing!

Klara and Santa

For Christmas this year Klara got a ton of cute new clothes and toys of course, but the clothes is the focus of this post. 😉 Each of those cute little outfits needed to be washed, so I whipped out my go to baby laundry detergent, Dreft. Not only is Dreft the #1 laundry soap choice for pediatricians, it’s also launching a brand new app, Amazing Baby Days for your mobile devices.

Amazing Baby Days App

The Dreft Amazing Baby Days App can be downloaded for free from the App store on Apple® iTunes®. It gives you the opportunity to load photos from your phone into the app, caption those photos, write little notes to your kiddo, and basically just record all of those Amazing Days during baby’s first year. Once you’re finished you can then publish those moments into a book to share with your loved ones.

Dreft Amazing Days App

To celebrate the launch of the new Dreft Amazing Baby Days App, Dreft is partnering with Kevin and Danielle Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers) as they prepare for the upcoming arrival of their first child.

In the coming weeks you can follow along with the couple via the Dreft Facebook page and Twitter. Then on Tuesday, January 7th, they will be hosting “Dreft’s Amazing Baby Days” Twitter Party from 9pm-9:30pm EST with special guest DANIELLE JONAS!

# DreftAmazingBabyDays Twitter Party Information:

The Twitter Party will take place on Tuesday, January 7th at 9pm EST.

RSVP to the Twitter Party here: http://twtvite.com/DreftAmazingBabyDays

Prizes include:

  • Bottles of Dreft

To participate, follow your hosts @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom @WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, our sponsor @Dreft, and our special guest @daniellejonas.

Truly Lovely Dreft Giveaway

 
Also in celebration of the Dreft Amazing Baby Days launch, they have given one lucky Truly Lovely winner the chance to win TWO Bottle of Dreft Baby Laundry Detergent!!! To enter the giveaway use the Raffelcopter form below. The giveaway will close one week from today at midnight on Sunday, January 12th. The winner will be announced on Monday the 13th.

Danielle and Kevin Jonas

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hidden Valley Ranch Feast

Good Monday morning lovelies!!! Only two days now until Christmas! I hope you’re ready! 😉 Today I have a fun dinner party to share with you! I was invited to host a Hidden Valley Ranch Feast as a member of Crowdtap.

The plan was to invite some family and friends over, have them bring recipes made with Ranch as sort of a pot-luck dinner and then share the recipes with one another. I was sent a box of Hidden Valley Ranch goodies to use during the party that included a Team Ranch t-shirt, a bottle of ranch, samples of Hidden Valley Italian dressing, Ranch dressing and dip mix, and Ranch To Go packets.

RanchReview

For my main recipe I made . It’s a super simple recipe I found on Pinterest.

Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe

I also put together a huge salad bar, as requested by my husband. A big salad covered in Ranch dressing is one of his favorite things!

Salad bar party

One guest brought  a jalapeno ranch dip and another brought potato soup flavored with a Hidden Valley Ranch packet! Both recipes were delicious!!! My nephew Chancey was happy to sport the Team Ranch t-shirt as our official Ranch mascot.

Team Ranch Hidden Valley Ranch Party

My niece, Corryn was in charge of handing out samples of Ranch to Go and the Italian Dressing.

Hidden Valley Ranch Feast

Overall everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the dinner. We each learned a few new recipes to make for our own families using Ranch as an ingredient. The salad bar was a big hit. Everyone loved being able to put together their own salads. I definitely recommend trying one for your next big dinner get together!

Your turn: What is your favorite recipe using ranch as an ingredient??

Disclosure: I received the Hidden Valley Ranch Kit as a member of Crowdtap. As always opinions shared here are 100% my own.

Happy Holidays from the Mortensens!!

Only 5 shopping days left until Christmas now!!! Is it just me or has December flown by for anyone else?? Goodness. I barely got my Christmas cards in the mail day before yesterday… But while we’re talking Christmas cards, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from my family to yours!!!

ChristmasCards2013

I am SO pleased with the way our Christmas cards turned out this year!! I took the photo of my girl myself and ordered the cards from Tiny Prints. They seriously have SO many options to choose from. I made up at least three different cards with the same photo before being able to choose my favorite!

I love that you can choose to have rounded corners, plain square corners, or even choose another fun trim option. They have both folded cards and flat cards. This year I went with a flat card. They are perfect for sticking in an addressed envelope and calling it done! Saves tons of time in my opinion!

ChristmasCards

Plus the flat cards are easy to display on a hanging card display, fridge, etc. You know for those people like myself that display all the cards I receive at least until New Years! 😉

Granted, Christmas is only a few days away now, but you can definitely still send a card out for the New Year! I love to receive them even after Christmas. Always fun to find out what your friends and loved ones are up to and see a pretty face you recognize!

Your turn: Do you prefer a flat or folded card? Do you send holiday cards annually??

Disclosure: I received a set of Christmas cards from Tiny Prints in exchange for my honest review and promotion of their site. As always opinions shared here are 100% my own!

 

Unique Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Happy Monday friends!!! Only 9 shopping days left until Christmas!!! If you’re looking for a last minute gift idea or stocking stuffer, I have a few ideas for you… I spent this last month testing and trying a few fun products. You might have seen my thoughts on a few items through Instagram, Twitter or Facebook already, but here is my overall review of the #RoseVoxBox from Influenster. Each of these goodies would be fun for stuffing those stockings this year!

First up, the contents! Here’s the Instagram unboxing video I shared when I received the Rose Vox Box.

 

AS you can see, lots of fun goodies!!! The first thing I tested was the Kiss Nail Art Gradation kit. In my initial review I loved it. There’s three polishes included thus three steps to the process. It was so easy to apply but ended up looking like a professional manicure. The only downside to this polish is that it doesn’t last long. If you have a party to attend or fun event to go to, I’d do the manicure the day of and all will be well. But after only a day or two my manicure started chipping. It might work better if you apply some kind of top coat over it… Just a thought.

KissNailArt

I LOVED the Lindt Lindor Truffle! If any of my very own Santa’s helpers are out there reading right now, I would be very happy if a few of these showed up in my stocking. 😉 So yummy!!!!

Lindor Truffle Review

Next up, I tried out the Dr. Scholl’s Cozy Cushions. The following is my thoughts on those…

The belVita breakfast biscuits were decent. Not my favorite item in the Rose Vox Box, but it was interesting to try something new. The blueberry flavor was yummy actually and I enjoyed the taste, BUT to me, that doesn’t feel like a breakfast item. Maybe a quick snack to hold you over before or after breakfast, but not filling enough to make it very long.

belVita review

And finally I really enjoyed testing the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Mascara. It made my lashes look long and full without the clumps. The unique shape of the brush seems to help with getting your lashes mascara clad without gunking everything up! I found if I curled my lashes with an eyelash curler than applied the Scandaleyes they REALLY helped my eyes pop! Thumbs up for Scandaleyes.

Scandaleyes

So there you go. A few ideas on goodies to get for this year’s stockings! Have you tried any of the products mentioned above? Your thoughts? Any other ideas for fun stocking stuffers???

Disclosure: I received the items mentioned above as part of the Rose Vox Box from Influenster. As always opinions shared here and through all my social media channels are my own.

5 Easy Snack Ideas with Hershey’s Spreads

I have just found my new favorite snacking go to!!! Hershey’s Spreads! I’ll be honest, I never really jumped on the chocolate, hazelnut spread bandwagon… No particular reason I guess. Kayli, my sister, did and tried to convince me to try it but I just haven’t. That is until Crowdtap sent me a jar of the brand new Hershey’s Spread to sample.
Oh. My. Yum.

Hershey's Spread Sampling

I am in snacking heaven!!! After a couple weeks of trying several snack combinations I have narrowed them down to my five favorites.

First up, Hershey’s Spread and popcorn. Specifically kettle corn. It just so happened I had a bag from a Cowboy Christmas event we went to over Thanksgiving weekend. I thought, why not?! Turns out it is DELICIOUS!!! Try it. Really.

Hershey's Spread Snack Idea

Then there’s the old stand by… Chocolate and strawberries. Can’t go wrong. You just can’t… yummy!

Crowdtap Hershey's Spread Sampling

Pairing Hershey’s Spread with apple slices makes for a tasty treat as well! Just slice up your apple and dip into the chocolate spread. Easy, right!?

Hershey's Spread Snack

Now this one is going to blow your mind I’m sure… Chocolate and Graham Crackers! haha. Just add a marshmallow and you’ve got a S’more!

Graham Cracker and Chocolate Snack

And finally a little salty/sweet combo… Hershey’s Spread and pretzel sticks! This one was fun cause you can just dip the stick in the chocolate!

Easy snack ideas

So tell me, what is your favorite chocolate spread pairing?? Have you tried the new Hershey’s Spread yet?

You know my opinion… LOVE it!!! So yummy! 😉

Disclosure: I received a jar of Hershey’s Spread via a campaign from Crowdtap, as always opinions shared here are 100% my own.

Baby’s Firsts with Pampers and Giveaway!!

Disclosure: “This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.”

 

Pampers Logo

Our sweet little lady will be five months old on Friday. In these five months of her life so far we have celebrated a lot of firsts….

Klara's Firsts

From the top left corner, clockwise – Klara’s first Thanksgiving, her first trip to Hannigan Meadows, her first horseback ride with Daddy, her first Halloween. That’s not to mention the everyday firsts, things like her first smile, her first laugh, rolling over for the first time.

We just recently had one of my favorite firsts… Klara had her first taste of rice cereal. It was the very first time for her to eat from a spoon. We waited until her daddy got home from work so he could join us. We are both big food lovers so it was really exciting to be able to start Klara on solid foods. It will eventually lead to us sharing our love of food with our daughter. I can just picture fun restaurant outings, trying new recipes at home, etc!

Klara's First Food

As our girl grows it’s exciting to experience each new first. I am thrilled that as Klara keeps experiencing fun things for the first time she can continue to wear our favorite diaper brand, Pampers Swaddlers!

Pampers Swaddlers PackagingPampers Swaddlers are now available all the way through size 5!! To celebrate Swaddlers sizes 4 & 5, Pampers has 30 days of incredible giveaways and a grand prize of FREE Swaddlers diapers & wipes for a year going on right now!!!  Visit and enter to win daily prize bundles, plus the grand prize.

Pampers is also hosting a live Twitter party on December 5th at 9PM EST. To join click this link, Pampers Swaddlers Twitter Party,  and follow the hosts, @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom @WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, and our sponsor @Pampers.

Prizes will be given away to participants of the twitter party and will include:

3- Celebrating Firsts Gift Packs, ARV ($250), which include:

  • Baby’s First Friend Doudou Bear Plush Doll
  • Baby’s First Tooth and First Curl Treasure Box
  • Baby’s First Words Book
  • Baby’s First Steps Plush Toy
  • $50 Shutterfly Gift Card to celebrate all “firsts” moments
  • Baby’s First Bath Robe
  • Pampers Swaddlers

Grand Prize: Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR camera worth $450!

 

Pampers Celebrating Firsts Prize Pack Giveaway:

Right now, I have a giveaway for ONE lucky Truly Lovely reader!!! The winner will receive a Celebrating Firsts prize pack from Pampers which includes:

  • Baby’s First Friend Doudou Bear Plush Doll
  • Baby’s First Tooth and First Curl Treasure Box
  • Baby’s First Words Book
  • Baby’s First Steps Plush Toy
  • Pampers Swaddlers

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway will close one week from today at midnight on December 10th. Winner will be announced the following day. Thanks for playing and good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hey There Four Eyes…

Sixth grade was a rough year for my vanity… I got glasses AND braces all in the same school year. That’s a lot for anyone to deal with…  Yep, that’s me. 6th grade school photo, you’re welcome. 😉

Kassi Picture

It was also a tough year for my parents’ checkbook! Two huge expenses for one child in one school year?! That’s not to mention the normal expenses… things like school supplies, school clothes, sports equipment. And they still had three other kiddos to buy supplies and things for… OH, and did I mention that both of my brothers wore glasses. My mom wears glasses or contacts and my dad wears reading glasses. My sister, the lucky duck, is the only one without vision problems in my entire family! If my parents had not had vision insurance you can imagine how much more expensive that year would have been!!

family2

Nowadays, as you can see from the photo above, my family is still very reliant on our vision insurance coverage. I wear contacts on a daily basis and glasses at night. My mom wears glasses with transition lenses. My younger brother, the groom in the black hat, wears transition glasses. My older brother, in the red shirt was lucky and got laser surgery done on his eyes so he doesn’t have to worry about glasses or contacts anymore!! Besides him any my sister, still with perfect vision {can you tell I’m jealous?}, everyone else worries about covering the costs of our eyesight.

Vision insurance plans, such as provide a frame allowance as well as full coverage of basic lenses. They also provide discounts on lens options including progressive lenses, photochromic lenses, anti-reflective coating, scratch-resistant coating and UV protection. People with VSP insurance are shown to pay much less for their glasses at a national retailer than those without coverage. You can a year with VSP Vision Care while keeping your eyes healthy AND looking stylish {they have more than two dozen brands and hundreds of eye wear styles to choose from}.

Your turn: Do you or anyone in your family wear glasses or contacts? For how long?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.