WW~Caption Contest Win $75!
This week, I am spicing up my Wordless Wednesday with words. But it’s worth it, as you could win $75 to spend at any of the CSN stores! It’s easy to win, just caption this photo of Chloe! Leave a comment with your caption. See below for rules and additional chances to win!
For additional entries do the following and leave a separate comment if you did it:
- Follow me on twitter @ladybugsgrama and tweet about this contest. Tweet this: Enter to win a $75 CSN Stores gift certificate. Caption the kitty picture and win with @ladybugsgrama http://bit.ly/bYB7Vd
- Head on over to ApronFrenzy and check out the aprons. Come back and tell me your favorite.
- Go here and enter for a chance to win a child’s apron and chef’s hat!
Be sure and leave a valid email address. Winner will be chosen by random.org. Contest open until Monday September 20,2010 midnight PST. Contest sponsored by CSN Stores, but the opinions are always mine.
Winner Code expires after first use. Entire promotional amount must be used on first purchase. If the total cost of basket exceeds the amount of money from the promotional code, winner is responsible for the difference. Promotional code will be applied to all items in your basket. Expires December 31, 2010. This promotional code cannot be combined with any other promotional code or CSN Rewards Dollars. Codes CANNOT be used towards international fees.
Last Day, Last Day (for realz this time)
Tomorrow I start work. Still unnaturally excited about that. And I have a few new clothes. Bear and I went shopping on Saturday and got our nails done. We were shopping for business dress clothes for me, but she bought way more cute stuff than I. Oh to be 19 and skinny again.
I have decided the very first thing I am saving up to buy is something I’ve needed since I moved into this house. A dining room set that fits better in my dining cove, but still sits as many of my kids and their kids as possible. And I want it before turkey day. I do. I am demanding like that. At first I was considering bedroom furniture sets instead, but the room is soooo small, I don’t really think I can get much more in that room I need professional bedroom help. SO, you are all going to head on over to THIS LINK and vote for me. So then I will win a bedroom makeover and I can save for my dining room set. It’s all good. Out of over 6,200 contestants, I was chosen as one of 89 finalists. I am way behind in the voting. So share that link with everyone you know! Tell them to vote for Vickie in Escondido (one vote per person, just click “rate this item” at the top of each entry and select a star rating (1-5). Keep in mind that the contestant with the most votes will automatically be placed in the Top 5 Contendors, but the winner of the $10,000 bedroom make-over will be chosen by celebrity designer Michael Payne and the CSN Room Rescue Crew.) Voting ends September 10th, so hurry and spread the word.
Tomorrow I will be back to share how wonderful my new job is (it will be, I just know it) and have a start of a little contest for you all….worth $75!!!
The Future Of My Bedroom Depends On Your Vote
When I entered CSN Stores Big Bad Bedroom Breakup for a chance at a $10,000 makeover, I didn’t have high hopes of winning. I never win anything. Imagine my surprise when I received notification that out of 6,100 entries mine was chosen as one of the 200+ finalists competing for the semi finals! I submitted my pictures and made it here to the finals! There are only 86 of us and the contestant with the most votes will automatically be placed in the Top 5 Contendors, but the winner of the $10,000 bedroom make-over will be chosen by celebrity designer Michael Payne and the CSN Room Rescue Crew.
So I need your VOTE. Please go here and scroll over pictures to Vickie in Escondido (approx 3rd pic) then click on picture and to vote click five stars (if you are on Facebook. You may have to click on the Contest Voting tab to get to the voting) or go VOTE here for -Vickie in Escondido (approx 3rd pic) (if you don’t use Facebook). This would be a dream come true for me and I truly appreciate each and every vote. Voting is open until September 10th, so tell everyone you know!
Here is my submission and my pic:
My bedroom is other peoples’ leftovers and throwaways. After 28 years of marriage, my husband and I hit a rough spot a few years ago when he became disabled, but has been unable to receive his benefits (still waiting 3yrs later). I was the sole provider, until the economy stole my job last year. Since then, we’ve been evicted and gave away most of our stuff. Now we are stable again, but have no money to style our bedroom. Due to all of this bad stuff, our time in the bedroom has been spent for sleep alone. I miss our close time, I miss cuddling and feeling at peace and comfortable in our room: our space.
See how badly I need to win? I don’t even have a dresser! I just move my folded laundry from place to place, depending on the time of day.
You can make a difference just by voting. And telling your friends and family to vote! Imagine getting to watch my bedroom be decorated by a celebrity designer!
I wanna breakup with my bedroom! Help!
Look Underneath The Breast, To The Heart
Being born into the female club, is an honor and joy, but can also be a burden. Sure we can have kids and men can’t, but 
we can also get certain cancers men can’t. So today I wanted to talk about breasts (not that men can’t get breast cancer, but I want to talk about breasts today). Even though it’s not October, we need to think about curing breast cancer every.single.day. Sometimes talking about breasts makes readers uncomfortable, but I can tell you having a biopsy is uncomfortable, getting a cancer diagnosis is uncomfortable and having a mastectomy is uncomfortable (I held my grandmother’s hand while she went through all of those things). So not only do I know of this discomfort personally, I also live life as if I am carrying a little a time bomb. All three of my last mammograms showed ‘something suspicious’. Every time, an ultrasound shows it is just the same watery, benign (annoying) cyst. But what about my mom, my aunts, my daughters? Genetically some of us are now at higher risk, it’s like living with a hidden stalker always wondering where or if it will rear its ugly head.
So I like to participate in things that raise awareness, and, more importantly, money for the cure. The cure is out there and we need to find it and tell cancer to get lost. So this year I am a participant in Bewb Fest 10. Lotus is donating *ALL* her BH Ad Revenue for July to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Which means the more page loads: the more MONEY. So not only I am participating but I am sending YOU THERE. Directly to the page! A lot of my online friends are my age and a little conservative and the sound of this may make you uncomfortable. But many of my readers are young and, shall we say, less inhibited. BE NOT AFRAID, all the photos in the contest are tasteful. So I ask that you go over and vote for your top three. (Why yes, there is a contest! And prizes. AND YES I WANT TO WIN!!). You can vote (FOR ME) as many times as you want (the more times you visit the page, the more revenue is raised and the more money is donated). Although the contestants are listed alphabetically, their photos are anonymous. BUT, I am going to give you some hints so you can vote for me! 1) My photo is probably considered the least racy/sexy of them all. 2) When you see my photo the color ORANGE will be prominent. 3) And lastly, you may be able to see the reins of a horse in my hands. Okay, enough hints. I think you should be able to figure it out. Head on over to Bewb Fest 10 have fun, vote, raise money and awareness!
To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.
On Monday, MacDougal added another new baby to his house….he bought a truck. You see, he had an old Camaro that he has been driving since he was 16. And it just doesn’t work in the baby carrying, car seat installing department! That and it has trouble starting, overheats and generally needs a little TLC. The Camaro has been retired from regular duty, but is not gone from our lives. It has now become Mr. Vixen’s car project. (try not be jealous this isn’t sitting in your driveway right now, undergoing starter replacement #5 in the last two days–ahhh old cars gotta love ‘em)
We’ve been through many a car here at Vixen’s Den, as we are always used car owners and do most repairs ourselves (okay Mr. Vixen is the handy one ). Throughout the years I have learned a tremendous amount about car repair and car care. Gradually over the years of my growth and understanding, Mr. Vixen now comes to me for ideas when he is stuck! Mostly, I turn to the internet and forums for help. Today I found a great site for automotive advise, with the added bonus that I get a little female empowerment boost when I go there! You should drop by and pay a visit to AskPatty yourself!
April is both National Car Care and National Informed Women Month and a perfect opportunity to get empowered to care for your car! Did you know that in the United States the average age of cars and light trucks on the roads today has reached a record high of 9.4 years? That means it’s more important than ever to take proper care of your vehicle.
With the informative Web site www.MotorOilMatters.org (created by the maker of industry-leading brands Pennzoil and Quaker State) you can easily locate key information about how quality motor oils can help prolong your engine’s life and improve overall efficiency, as well as help answer other questions you may have about motor oil. In addition, the site offers a fun, educational game for you to play called “M.O.M. Knows Best” where you can put your motor mind to the test with an interactive quiz.
Did you know?
- According to a recent survey from the Automotive Service Association, more than 54 percent of customers who take their vehicles for service and repair are women
- Using a high-quality motor oil in the right grade can help maximize fuel economy
- Low-quality oils that do not meet industry standards or the vehicle manufacturer’s requirements could cost consumers in the long run by potentially damaging the vehicle’s engine or possibly voiding the manufacturer’s warranty
Another reason to look to a high-quality motor oil – like Pennzoil and Quaker State – is that it is designed to meet the demands of today’s engines
Your chance to learn and win!
Empower and educate yourselves ladies (and gents) and you shall be rewarded! Go to either of the sites above and see if you can learn something new! Come back here and share it in the comments. If you do, you are entered to win a $35 gift card from JiffyLube! Contest will end on May 6th at midnight PST time and chosen by random.org. Be sure to leave a valid email address with your comment so I can contact you when you win!
Please note: Some of the information above and the Jiffy Lube gift cards were all given to me by Shell Lubricants and MotorOilMatters.org through MyBlogSpark.
Can I Just Skip Ahead To The End Of The Book?
The long roller coaster ride of RolyPoly is finally drawing near to it’s end. THIS Monday is the scheduled eviction c-section. I will say this is the longest nine months of my entire life. And probably also arduously long for MacD and Funsize too. I’ve been quiet about this entire process here because I have been petrifried every waking moment. It was easiest just to push it all to the back of mind until we got to the end. But now that we are here, well my mind isn’t allowing me to ignore it anymore. Last few nights I’ve had nightmares. Not about RolyPoly, but my mind has been reliving certain moments of Collin’s birth and death. Places I’d rather not revisit.
Needless to say, I have been so busy distracting myself with anything else, I have been remiss in my duties. Today I will try to get all the posts for next week lined up and ready to post. As I will be busy next week. Loving, cuddling and smooshing on my new Spring Sweet Treat!!!!
Speaking of Spring Sweet Treats (awesome segue, right?). The wonderful people at Safeway and Betty Crocker provided me with this VIP coupon and prize pack through MyBlogSpark. 
I was supposed to share this info with you before Easter (which, of course, reminds me I owe you pics of the girls in their Easter outfits I made *sigh* – I’ll get there).
I have obviously failed to tell you about the sale in time, but be sure to check out the great coupon offers. I made the Betty Crocker® Peanut Butter Brownies, which were fantastic. I want to make it all up to you sweet friends, so I am giving you a chance to win a Spring Sweet Treats package of your own! You will receive a silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, AND a $25 Safeway gift card. Entering is going to actually give you two chances to win something. Winning will take a little more effort, but with twice the chance of winning something!
I have a guest post up here at Lovin’ Life on Less, reviewing a wonderful product. There is also a contest is open there for a sample of the product and a $10 Walmart gift card .To enter my Spring Sweet Treat contest just head over to this post and enter their contest. Come back here and leave me a comment that you entered and voila you will have entered two contests! Good luck. Enjoy your weekend and I hope Monday’s post will include a picture of a BABY!
For great spring recipe ideas, visit BakeSweetMemories.com today. Bake Sweet Memories has delicious recipes for fun desserts using your Betty Crocker favorites, including Easter Bunny Cakes and even morning brunches, like the Impossibly Easy Breakfast Bake, which are sure to brighten any morning!
In addition, from March 24th through April 6th, visit the Safeway family of Stores to purchase Betty Crocker SuperMoist Cake and Traditional Brownie Mixes at the special price of $0.69!
Even if you miss the sale, check BakeSweetMemories.com for great coupon offers that download right to your Safeway Club card. This Spring, Betty Crocker makes life a little sweeter.
Contest has ended. The winner is Lesley. Thanks for playing!
Fire burn, and caldron bubble
Comments now closed. The winner was randomly drawn and is Rebecca from Freaky Frugalite. Thanks for playing!
It’s time for food! A recipe from me to you (or rather my mother, since it is her recipe). Recently, CSN Network contacted me about reviewing a product from one of their many stores. It was hard to decide, as they have so very many places to shop! The recipe I am going to share with you has been my favorite since I was a kid. I have made it many times over the year, but it never quite comes out the way my mom’s always did. I decided it was because I didn’t have a large oval baking dish from 1965. Being unable to locate one, I found the Rachael Ray “Bubble & Brown” 3-Qt. Stoneware Baker while searching for something to review. It was the “Bubble and Brown” that caught my eye! You see, a lack of crusty goodness is exactly what has been missing from my rendition of mom’s recipe! That is my fave part of this dish and we’ve (okay just me and my dad) had full on physical battles at the dinner table fighting over who gets to scrape the bottom and sides of the dish!
So, here is my recipe and my review:
Scalloped Potatoes
- 6 medium potatoes (peeled and sliced)
- 3 Tbl. butter or margarine
- 2 Tbl. flour
- 3 C milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 Tbl onion
- 1 ham steak (cut into pieces)
Make white sauce of butter, flour and milk. Layer potatoes and ham cover with seasoning on each layer (end with potatoes only). Cover and bake at 350 about one hour. Uncover and continue baking until top is browned (at least another 30-45 minutes) My additions to mom’s recipe: I use a food processor to slice my potatoes really thin-easier and they cook faster. If you know my family, you know onions are not allowed into any food. Of course, I use onion in everything: they just don’t know it. To avoid detection, I food process my onion into mush. To make it even simpler, I go ahead and poor that mush into the white sauce after it’s done. Then all I do is ladle the sauce in and I don’t have to layer the onions. Lastly, I don’t measure the salt and pepper. I just well salt and pepper each and every layer. Well.
Review:
The pan is huge. Much bigger than I pictured it would be, but that works for me because I never use the recipe as stated above. I always double the potatoes and sauce. Otherwise, someone in the house wouldn’t get to eat (and it would not be me!). It’s just too yummy to stop with just one serving. My browning issues were definitely resolved with the baker! What I was most impressed with was the cleanup. After baking, this recipe it is really cooked on to the pan (despite my best scraping techniques) and this cleaned up so easily. The handles are awesome for getting it in and out of the oven. The only drawback, if I had to find one, was covering it. I used heavy foil and tucked it into the handles, which worked fine, but for this particular recipe it would be nice to have a lid. All in all, I give the Rachael Ray “Bubble & Brown” 3-Qt. Stoneware Baker a huge thumbs up!
I also made a lasagne in this pan and it was fantastic! I’ve only had the thing a week and already we’ve
had two meals in it. But I want more! This is where you, my lovely readers and friends, come in. In the comments, leave me your favorite cassarole recipe so I can try it in my new 
pan! As a reward (besides access to my mother’s secret recipe-Hi, Mom! Hope you don’t mind I published your recipe to the world) you will get a chance to win this Rachael Ray Bubble and Brown 4-Piece 10 oz. Ramekin Set. How cute are those, right? That is a lot of reward for just a recipe!
This contest runs through next Friday, April 2nd ending midnight PST. To enter you must leave a recipe (or link) in the comment section of this post (required). Make sure you leave a valid email address also. Want additional entries? Okay. Choose any (or all of these), but be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.
- Follow my blog on Networked Blogs (widget on the right)
- Subscribe to my RSS feed (top right, above header)
- Follow me on twitter AND post about this giveaway (twitter bird on top left sidebar)
- Add the ApronFrenzy button to your blog (grab the code on the left sidebar)
- Become a fan of ApronFrenzy on Facebook (link also on left sidebar)
This giveaway is open to US and Canada only. Prize will be sent directly from CSN Network to the winner. I was allowed to keep, free of charge, the item I reviewed. But all opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.
Starting Monday Off With A Winner
And no I am not talking about Health Care Reform (although I do feel like a winner today). I am talking about the winner in the Buns of Steel Giveaway. The contest ended Friday night with 13 contestants (sorry number 14, but you didn’t enter until Saturday morning). I used Random.org to choose the winner and it was Number 6! Congratulations to Becki at Harmony In Motion. I will be contacting you via email for some information to get your gift pack that includes a VIP coupon for Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls, as well as a photo album to help keep your family’s sweet Sunday morning memories close at hand. (Also, yes, sleeping in can definitely be a favorite Sunday morning treat!)
I am babysitting this week, so posts may be a little light. Hopefully tomorrow, I will have up my review and a big giveaway I alluded to in this post, sometime this week I will have a guest post up at a new blogger friend I met in person this weekend, and, of course, a photograph heavy post on our super secret trip Friday (which as to Legoland!!!)
Go meet Monday head on! Maybe if you tackle it hard enough it will remain unconscious until Tuesday!
There aren’t enough days in the weekend
Good morning, world. Or evening. Or whatever time it is when you read this. Today I am off on a super, special, surprise trip to a very fun place with Ladybug, Butterball, NannyGoat and Bear. Lots of pics and stories to share when we are done! Don’t forget you have until midnight tonight to comment and possible win free cinnamon buns and a photo album here. Winner to be announced Monday morning!
Meanwhile, I am hope you all enjoyed your midweek and St. Patrick’s Day. Ours was a slightly quieter celebration than last year as we were unable to locate the beer goggles 
However, the addition of a new Irish Soda Bread recipe-big thanks to @irishsamom-brought the feeding frenzy to even new heights. There was, of course, still a few Irish Car Bombs dropped 
and there was still some Irish step dancing
And RolyPoly stayed tucked inside momma (as he should for for the next 4 weeks).
I am hoping for a peaceful and beautiful weekend for myself and all of you. Back soon.
Buns of (stainless) Steel
I got a new (to me) stove this weekend. Hip, hip, hooray! My oven stopped working three weeks ago and it is NOT easy to find something everyone will eat that you can cook on a stove top night after night after night.
The new (to me) on cleaned up really well, just take a gander at this polished beauty:
The old one looked like this:
Use your imagination here because I forgot to take a picture of it and now it’s in the garage against the wall & I can’t get to it. Just picture in your head a 25 year old white, battered and beaten gas range that had the extra benefit of being disgustingly filthy. Now let that picture go, because it will just make you ill to see it anymore. I know it did me.
A couple weeks ago the ol’ white pieceofcrap stove started acting up. When you turned on the oven, it did this crazy, useless thing: Instead of lighting and heating up, it filled the house with gas. Nifty, right? So Fishboy was going to buy a new one; however, there isn’t anyone out there in the entire world who has a tighter grip on his wallet than Fishboy. So he found this baitandswitch cheap range at a store, but no stock. They were unable to convince him to upgrade, so they gave him a two week lead time. After one week, it became two weeks from that date. After the second week, it became three weeks from this new date. I was going insane!!! So I went on CL and found one that met his criteria (black and stainless to match our micro and fridge and super cheap). I don’t know why, but it makes my tiny kitchen look so much bigger to me!
First thing I did was bake in it. I’ve had this giveaway I needed to do, but it required baking. So early Sunday morning I baked cinnamon rolls! “With today’s hectic schedules, leisurely mornings and breakfast with the family are difficult to come by. Luckily, Sundays present the perfect opportunity to reconnect and share a delicious breakfast together.”
Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark provided me with a gift pack that included a VIP coupon for Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls (although I went with Grands Cinnabon instead) as well as a photo album to help keep my family’s sweet Sunday morning memories close at hand. Yesterday was the Sunday morning of the “evil Daylight Savings-ness” and my family was still asleep while I baked and made some fancy-shmancy coffee in my press. I love the new range so much, I may just put it’s picture in the album instead of my family. It wasn’t long until everyone started streaming into the kitchen once the waft of baking cinnamon reached their rooms!
Your chance to win:
If you would like to win a Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls gift pack that includes a VIP coupon for Pillsbury 
Orange Sweet Rolls (or the rolls of your choice) as well as a photo album (pictured on right) to help keep your family’s sweet Sunday morning memories close at hand all you need to do is leave me a comment about your favorite Sunday morning activity. Contest ends at midnight PST on Friday, March 19th (yep it’s a quicky). Be sure to leave a valid email!
On a side note, do you see how in the that picture of the album turned out? I put a picture of baby Chewbacca with a hot dog in her mouth in the album, but I didn’t notice until I went to crop the picture that Chewbacca herself (all growed up *sigh*) was peeking out the front door while I was clicking! It is sweetness, isn’t ?
Find the Vixen
For Realz
Spread The Frenzy
Barked Back