7 Things to Love About Summer | #5 House Parties with Gevalia

So let's see.

Summer is now, officially, well under way.

I've sucked down my fave childhood treat

and I've seen an awesome movie or two.

Now it is time to party like it's 1999.

or

like it is the sunniest summer we've ever had in Seattle.

I cannot attest to the truthfulness of that last statement.

I CAN. however, attest to the effect the sun has had on my garden.

See, lilacs!

Lilacs in bloom mean it is time for a shindig.

Ideally, this would be in my garden 

(where I spend all my time).

But this is Seattle and summer here

is truly coffee weather.
Mostly because, it is always coffee weather here.
Just throw some ice in it.

Cue Gevalia.

You see.

I am so not a coffee drinker.

I know.

I'm not sure how they let me live near Seattle either.

All things said, I LOVE TEA.

And all sorts of DIFFERENT tea.

So my second best ever gift from my husband, was one of those 

single serve

drop in

coffee/tea server

machines.

Heaven.

Especially when we host folks, 

because we can have fresh coffee available for them.

While some folks might be locals who are addicted to a particular brand

or visitors who feel like a trip to Seattle isn't complete without a sip of that other stuff,

I love that Gevalia now comes in single serve cups for your 

Keurig® K-Cup® Brewer, perfect for a quick Gevalia fix.

Just so you know, Kraft Foods is not affiliated with Keurig, Inc. 

KEURIG and K-CUP are registered trademarks of Keurig, Inc. 

The really great thing is that these single serve Gevalia offerings
are available at my fave place in the world (outside of my garden)

Go Safeway!
Time to host brunch.

I made some tasty sandwiches,
a white bean salad
and some ultra fru fru cracker bites

That cracker was the hit of the day.
tasty thin cracker
smear of goat cheese
dab of apricot jam
smaller dab of mint chutney
fresh mint leaf on top.
Splash of fig balsamic vinegar on the plate.

They were SO yummy.
hit of the day.
High maintenance of course.

The Gevalia
went absolutely stunningly
with the cracker bites.
And with strawberries.

Because everything goes well with strawberries.

I love summer get togethers.
growing up,
in between playing school
(because I was a nerd like that, I would play school during the summer break)
and doctor
(not like that ya'll)
when we played house
I can tell you that we were hosting parties all the time.

Mud pies and all.

now that I'm all grown up
I don't host nearly enough parties
but when I do
I like to make sure my guests are taken care of.

I totally love that Gevalia comes in these one cup servings
so that we can hang out in the yard
reminiscing about our little girl parties.

What parties are you looking to hold this summer?
Where's my invite?

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

7 Things to Love About Summer | #6 Exclusive Movie Previews - Man of Steel

This particular write up of a bit of summer fun was sponsored by the good folks at Warner Bros.

So aside from making mud pies in the back yard,
another thing I love about summer
is having the time to go to the movies.

Especially when I get to go to opening nights and exclusive premieres.

Ever since I can remember,
I have love, Love, LOVED (really, I love it)
science fiction.

I seriously wanted to be an astronaut.
Then Challenger exploded while I was watching in class.
So I figured keeping my feet on the ground
and my butt in a chair in the movie theater
might be a safer exploratory route.

One of my fave movies growing up was Super Man.
So you can imagine my squeals of pure delight
when I was settling in to watch another remade sci fi flick
and the trailer for Man of Steel came on.

Now. I know there is debate about the length of the Man of Steel trailerand to those folks, I say
"Give me MORE!!!"

I get it though.
My husband doesn't like sitting through movie trailers.
Heck, we hardly go to the movies
because we have a sweet set up at home.

Battle aside, you MUST run yourself to Twitter,  Facebook, and Instagram and use the hashtags, #SeeSteelFirst and #ad so that we can all get pumped about this movie together.

I am super excited to take my own super man to the show.

While we won't have to drive through June blizzards
signaling the end of the world
to get there,
he will make an epic effort to totally get in the mood
for the best flick of the summer.

And the best part about it?

Walmart is providing the opportunity for movie go-ers to purchase tickets to the Man of Steel premiere showing at 7 PM on June 13th, 2013 in every Walmart Electronics department across the country.

I mean really.
How could you miss this?

        

This is just in time for Father's Day.
You can take your super man to the movies
and make him feel all special for seeing it
before the rest of the nation gets in on it.

Yay to WalMart for this super unique, first ever partnership and offer!

Who is with me?

Purchase tickets to the exclusive pre-screening of Man of Steel [PG-13] on
June 13th, 2013 at 7 PM at your local Walmart!

Tickets can be purchased in the Electronics Department and include an exclusive
digital comic book written by David S. Goyer, author of "Man of Steel",
as well as an exclusive opportunity to pre-order an HD digital download
or Blu-Ray copy of the film.

1. Go to your local Walmart
2. Visit the electronics department
3. Purchase your EXCLUSIVE Man of Steel prescreening tickets
(available in 2D or 3D)
4. Take your family to the theater location noted on your ticket
Watch the EXCLUSIVE 7 pm premiere of Man of Steel on June 13th!

Learn more here!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Warner Bros.

7 Things to Love About Summer | #7 Fla-Vor-Ice Freezer Pops

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jel Sert for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was but a young girl,
I hung out in my granny's yards
making mud pies all day long

Here's some grainy proof.

 

When we came back in from playing,
my grandmother had many different ways
of practicing her love of us.

One of my favorite was the special occassions
when she would go into her deep freezer in the middle room
and she would come back out with a fist full of Fla-Vor-Ice pops.

Back then I didn't know it, but as I was reading up on Fla-Vor-Ice pops,
I'm starting to realize more and more how health conscious my granny was.
There were always options and choices for us.
I know she thought sweet kids needed sweet treats.
And she also wanted to ensure that our parents 
wouldn't have to deal with sugar rushed kids at pick up.

I didn't know it back then, but the reason why we
always wanted the "real" ice pops (and not the off brands)
was because Fla-Vor-Ice pops are made with real fruit juice.
And we were kids who ate real fruit out of the garden
and we could tell the difference in straight out goodness.

The other great thing about them was that
we barely had to stop playing
to eat them.

We didn't have to sit at the table with a bowl of ice cream.
We didn't have to sit on the porch to spit watermelon seeds
(to avoid accidently seeding the garden).
We could take them anywhere.
 

Fla-Vor-Ice pops actually made us feel rich.
We could rarely afford to get a treat when the ice cream truck came around.
Sometimes, when we were especially down about that,
we might get a bonus pop to suck on.

Now that there are sugar free versions of Fla-Vor-Ice,
the cool thing would be that my diabetic granny
could sit out in the garden and enjoy a pop or two with us.

My memories of Fla-Vor-Ice was of the Original fruit flavors.
My favorite flavor was "purple"
We were kids, we didn't know that "purple" wasn't a flavor (smile).
Grape, so it was.

Now as a big kid, I totally want to try the Tropical flavors.
Maybe those will create new flash back memories
to awesome times in the islands.

All things considered,
there is a Fla-Vor-Ice for everyone!

Fla-vor-Ice is a "mom approved" snack.  
My mother stopped buying ice cream
once she realized she could placate us with a 
much more affordable, less messy and much healthier snack.

Get your Fla-Vor-Ice love on
by checking out Fla-Vor-Ice on Facebook.

What flavor do you love?

 

 

Bank Owned Home Community Gardens | #Social Power

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Social Power for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

This sponsored opportunity was truly a dream come true.
I know, for some of you,
that you get a bit tired of the sponsored ops
and just want me to get back to making
and harvesting
and writing
and blogging about home and garden stuff.

Promise you that today is just that.
and then some.

You should RUN your fingertips to Social Power.
It is THE NEXT (now!!) BIG THING.

I was reading up on Social Power
and the best snippet I came across
described it as 
a platform
that harness the untapped power of social media
to resolve everyday issues.
#SocialPower

This minute of your life
will fill you in on the details:
 

Over at #SocialPower, I'm Following B.
I love the interface of the site
(though, admittedly, it wasn't immediately intuitive to me)
and in less than five minutes, I had my issue set up.

 

It is gardening season.
I am frustrated by how hard it is to get a slot in a community garden.
All the while there are vacant houses all around.

Community gardens in the front and back yards of Bank Owned properties
seems like a really neat win - win solution to me.

All I need are 999 more people to at least THINK this issue has potential.
You can support it by going to Social Power and supporting, commenting on, and sharing my issue 
across your networks.

As I say on my issue page,
the yards of many Bank Owned Homes are eyesores.
Let's do something productive about that.

Neighborhoods win, banks win and future homeowners win.
Set up correctly, there is no loser in this scenario.

So what do you think?
Are you in with me?

Now it is your turn to 
make a difference.

What is your issue?
How can I support you?
 

I Love Lilies | Sponsored iBulb

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

 

I'm in full gardening tilt around these parts.

Between my backyard
my sideyard
and my P-Patches 
(yes, plural)
you had better believe
that I'm growing some lillies.

I LOVE to grow lilies in my garden.
Most folks hear "lilies" and think of traditional day lilies.
Or is that me?

What I've always loved
(and fallen more in love with lately)
are cala lillies.

Like most flowers,
I love how there are smallish versions
all the way up to GIANT versions.

And on the cala lily front
I just found a gorgeous pink version 
that is just too cute for words.

I know lots of folks see big, gorgeous, day lily blooms,
and immediately think there is no way they could grow them.

Fear not.
Lilies are super easy to find in the pot.
Home super stores, flower shops, and grocery store flower stands
are givens.

Around my parts, lilies are popular farmstand offerings.
Even in pots which makes them the most fun.

I love Day Lilies mixed in with tulips.
With lilies, you really only need a few in a bouquet
to really make a modern statement.

As a gift to someone special in your life 
or as a stand alone bouquet on the counter,
lilies really make your space pop.

And if you get really creative and mix in a variety of bulbs
you can really create some WOW power.

Need more eye candy?
Check out these bits of bulb inspiration and really neat bouquet ideas
on Pinterest.

Home grown from bulbs or picked up in pots.
Lilies are super easy to care for
with lots of bang for your buck.

I'm personally partial to calla lilies (so sleek)
but any lily will make your day.

Throw in some gladiolus and irises
(especially beared irises)
and your love for lilies will explode.

What is your favorite lily?