Archive for » January, 2011 «

31
Jan 2011

Giveaway: Smart & Final’s Ambiance Coffee

By becky

Going without coffee during my pregnancy was tough. I’m a big coffee drinker. A couple of cups every day, at minimum. Sometimes more. Think of me as the average or slightly above-average coffee drinker.

Ambiance coffeesSo when Smart & Final asked if I’d like to try their new line of Ambiance coffees, I said yes. We’d been stuck in a coffee rut for quite a while, so a change was just what we needed. Just before Christmas we received a sweet basket with an assortment of coffee.

We started out with the French Vanilla. We almost always use french vanilla creamer, so we were pretty sure it would be right up our alley. It totally was. I enjoyed a couple of cups during my morning routine of shuffling over to my computer and starting work. We later tried the other blends, of which Gourmet Supreme is probably my favorite with the House Blend coming a close second. My husband took the French Roast to work, which they liked. I’m not a huge french roast fan, so I was more than happy to have him take it. But I smacked his hand when he tried to make off with the Kona Blend before I got to try it. What? I just wanted to try some! Then he’s welcome to take it to them and get their opinions.

I liked them all and would drink any of them again. Really. I shop at Smart & Final a lot, so I have no doubt I’ll be making a run up there the next time our coffee is getting low. And now the good news.

How would you like a gift basket of all six Ambiance coffees? And what if said gift basket also included a Smart & Final gift card for $150? I thought so.

So how do you enter? I thought you’d never ask.

1. For one entry, leave me a comment with your favorite coffee moment. Make sure you leave your email so I can contact the winner.

2. For one additional entry each day, tweet about the giveaway using the #MyAmbianceMoment hashtag: “Enter to win an Ambiance Coffee gift pack & $150 gift card from @smartfinal http://bit.ly/ete5xs #MyAmbianceMoment” and then come back here and leave a link to your tweet. One per day only, please.

Contest deadline is February 8th at midnight PST. Comments after that will not be counted in the giveaway. Winner must respond within 24 hours or a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: As mentioned, I received a basket of coffees to try, along with an offer to send the same + gift card to a reader.

Want some more chances to win? Check out Mel’s giveaway (ends on the 8th) and Jen’s giveaway (ends on the 7th). Oh, and here’s Lily’s giveaway, too (ends on the 9th).

Update:

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

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And the winner was Deb from San Diego Momma! Thanks to everyone for your participation.

(Sorry for the delay in actually posting the results. I had let Deb know via Twitter, but I didn’t get a chance to note it here and then time got away from me and we’re already 2/3 of the way through February. Next thing I know, it’ll be July.)

Category: giveaways and reviews  Tags: ,  73 Comments
17
Jan 2011

Looking back on 2010

By becky

I did this last year and figure, what the heck, I’ll do it again since 2010 was quite an eventful year. Once again, seeing Linda’s reminded me that it’s time to bust this out. She said she made a few slight changes to hers, but I’m just copying mine directly from last year.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before? I got to go to a Honda test drive event, that relationship led to getting to drive the Odyssey for a couple of months (which I’ll be writing more about in the coming weeks). I spoke with an agency and eventually got a new job through them. I’ll add more if anything else comes to mind.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Nope.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Um, me? And my friend, Sondra.

4. Did anyone close to you die? My aunt died on New Year’s Day of 2010.

5. What countries did you visit? Absolutely none, except in my mind.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? A house. (That hasn’t changed.)

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Definitely November 23rd, as that was the day our 2nd son was born. And November 22nd was the day my first son turned three.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Making it through this pregnancy.

9. What was your biggest failure? Landing my son in NICU because I didn’t keep my blood sugars low enough without resorting to meds.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Does getting sliced open count?

11. What was the best thing you bought? Well, since nothing pops to mind right now, I guess nothing was that spectacular. Oh yeah! I bought a Kindle (instead of Nook, yes) and I really have enjoyed it so far.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Certainly not mine.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I was too busy working, sleeping and gestating to notice.

14. Where did most of your money go? Paying off debt… and too slowly at that.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Besides giving birth, getting to drive the 2011 Honda Odyssey for two months.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010? Nothing sticks out.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? happier, mostly.

– thinner or fatter? slightly thinner.

– richer or poorer? maybe a tiny bit richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Taken time to go do fun things with my son during the day.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Working my tail off for little return.

20. How did you spend Christmas? We were with family, as always. Got to introduce the baby to some of the family, but didn’t get out much. A lot of people were sick this time around & we didn’t want to risk getting the baby sick.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010? Yes, with the new man in my life.

22. What was your favorite TV program? I think it’s still Castle.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No, still hating on the same person for, oh, about 7 years now. She’ll never be a part of our lives again.

24. What was the best book you read? I didn’t get to read a whole lot. I guess it would have to be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Mumford and Sons (that’s the uncensored version, so be forewarned about the language).

26. What did you want and get by year’s end? A little boy.

27. What did you want and not get by year’s end? A natural delivery, rather than surgery.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I didn’t get to see much of anything.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Nada. 37.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being able to buy a house. (Do I sound like a broken record yet?)

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Comfy & lazy.

32. What kept you sane? Hubby giving me time to get out of the house & do things by myself before the baby came.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Nathan Fillion from Castle. Love the show & his character.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I can’t stand politics. Truly.

35. Who did you miss? My mom – I wish we lived closer. And my best friend who moved to Montana.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Duh.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010. Go ahead & put yourself out there… you never know what’ll happen.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

…I can’t think of anything right now. Didn’t listen to a whole lot of new music, either.

Category: babbling  Tags: ,  8 Comments