Petoskey and Pine #review and #giveaway

Disclaimer: I was provided with a bar of soap and a lip balm free of charge from Petoskey and Pine for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.

It's here!  Remember when I hinted at a great giveaway a couple weeks ago?  To recap, myself along with a dozen other bloggers, were given the opportunity to review some wonderful products from the Michigan-based company Petoskey and Pine. Petoskey and Pine makes soaps, candles and lip balm from all natural ingredients. My products contain

I selected the Lavender Spice soap and Petoskey and Pine also sent me Lavender lip balm.  I've been using my soap and lip balm for several weeks now and my skin and lips are all silky smooth and lavender-y.  I really do love the soap and it's lasting a long time just on the shelf in my shower.  You know how some bar soaps get all dried out?  Not so with this one.  I would love to give another scent a try.  You can check out the entire line here.

I adore the feeling of my lip balm as well, only if I had to choose, I would not have selected lavender for the scent.  I don't really like the way it "tastes" (even though it doesn't really have a flavor, the scent is there and it isn't one I would choose to really eat).  They have a few other flavors (tangerine, lemongrass, peppermint) that I think I would prefer, but that's just me.

Petoskey and Pine also makes soy candles.  I didn't select a candle but several other bloggers did and they have raved about the scents and how long they last.

You can find Petoskey and Pine on their website, Facebook and Instagram.  What scent sounds the best to you?

Do you want a chance to win a great gift set from Petoskey and Pine - just in time for Mother's Day, perhaps??? Enter through the Rafflecopter below.  The contest will begin April 27th (today) and run for one week.  Winners will be announced on May 4th!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please visit my fellow reviews, too!

Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Nichole of Cookaholic Wife

Sarah of The Pajama Chef

Paula of Smidgens, Snippets and Bits

Chrisite of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures

Rebekah of Making Miracles

Traci of Burnt Apple

April of Angels Homestead

Sid of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Anshie of Spice Roots

Shilpi of Simply Veggies

Petoskey and Pine Giveaway Sneak Peek

I am super excited to be one of a baker's dozen of bloggers reviewing products from Petoskey and Pine.  As a Michigan resident, the opportunity to try out a local product is what interested me the most.  When my mail came yesterday, the scent was like a little slice of lavender heaven.  Petoskey and Pine makes soaps, candles and lip balm from all natural ingredients and I can't wait to try out my soap and lip balm.

My goodies to try!

You can read about the products on their website, Facebook,  or Instagram.  Please check out this post from A Day in the Life on the Farm to see what one of my lucky readers may win!  The contest will begin on April 27th and will run for a week, with winners announced on May 4th.

Stay tuned!

disclaimer: products were provided free of charge by Petoskey and Pine, but as always, opinions are my own.

WIAW: A @ninjakitchen Nutri Ninja Pro #review

Way back in June when I attended the FitBloggin 14 conference in Savannah, I chatted with the good folks at Ninja Kitchen about their great blenders.  They had samples everyday and OMG they were so tasty.  (Now, if I can only find the recipe cards they handed out!) A couple weeks later, one of their reps reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in reviewing a Ninja Pro.  Of course I say "YES!!!"

Long story short - it took a lot longer to get one into my hands, but here it is!  The Ninja Kitchen social media person on Twitter was very responsive in figuring out the hold up on my Ninja.

I couldn't wait to start trying it out, so my girl and I tried a couple experimental smoothies with stuff we had in the house.  It's going to take some more experimenting before I'm ready to Ninja all the things because the first couple tries were sorta flops from a flavor standpoint.

After hitting up the store for ingredients - we had a little more success.  The Pro comes with a small recipe booklet and so far so good!  Yesterday morning I made the Bright Side Mocha Shake and at only about 200 calories for a HUGE serving, this was a winner.  I only used coffee that I pulled out of my regular cup of morning joe in the recipe and there wasn't a ton of coffee flavor, so I'm thinking next time some espresso might work better.  Even so, it was still delish.

So yummy and FILLING

The Top 'O the Morning Smoothie was FANTASTIC.  It made a huge amount with a big calorie punch (at about 370 calories) so my girl and I split this one.  Please ignore the super messy counter top.  Just keeping it real, folks.

Breakfast Success! 

My next attempt did not go as well.  I tried the Tabbouleh and instead of the nice dip pictured, I basically ended up with parsley soup. Kind of reminded me of those Pinterest Fail pictures - Nailed It! The recipe said to blend for 15 seconds and mine was liquid in about 5 seconds.  They aren't kidding when they say the blades will crush through ice and frozen fruit.  It also pulverizes anything else in the container.

Epic Lunch Fail

A few product details:

• 900 Watts Professional Power
• #1 Most Powerful Nutrient & Vitamin Extraction the power to unlock the natural benefits of fruits & veggies
• Ninja® Pro Extractor Blades crush through ice, seeds, skins and stems for a smooth, even consistency
• Sip& Seal™ Lids for healthy, personalized drinks on the go
• Frozen Blending crush through ice and frozen fruit for cold, healthy drinks and smoothies
• 18 and 24 oz blender cups with 2 sip and seal lids.  The lids are awesome but the cups are probably a little big to use with a straw - mine didn't quite reach to the bottom.

I was impressed with how smooth my drinks got in only a matter of seconds, even with using the entire fruit like the orange in the breakfast smoothie.  The husband has also started using it to blend his protein shakes after the gym.  I'm not sure this will replace my other blender or my food processor, but it's definitely a nice addition to my gadget lineup.  

Do you have a favorite smoothie or Nutri Ninja recipe?  I think my next experiment is going to be making my own almond butter - maybe with some honey or apple.  

You can find Ninja Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube!

(Ninja Kitchen provided me with a Nutri Ninja Pro without charge in exchange for a product review.  As always, the opinions are all my own.)

Fitness Friday: swim product I love!

A few weeks ago, Beth over at Discom-BOB-ulated Running posted about the issue of Triathlon Skin.  She's a badass when it comes to triathlon and the chick really knows her stuff.  Anyhoo, she talked about the itchy, dry skin some of us get when we swim a couple times a week.  I have been DYING after my pool swims (seriously, I wonder if I'm allergic to the chemicals but I have no where else to swim so I'm stuck).  Beth suggested these products from TriSwim.  

I ordered the body wash and lotion from Amazon and ZOMG MY SKIN DOESN'T ITCH!!! The products also smell amazing and help get rid of that nasty chlorine smell that tends to stick around no matter how long you shower.  I'll be ordering the shampoo and conditioner next.  

(I haven't been asked to review this product and no one gave it to me for free.  I just love it and wanted to share in case any of my readers have the same pool-skin issues I do.)

Fitness Friday: @SuddoraSports Giveaway sneak peak!

I'm excited to give you all a little sneak peak into a giveaway I'll be hosting here next week.  Paul from Suddora let me know yesterday that they are featuring some new Non-Slip Headbands with Velvet Lining over at Amazon.com and wanted me to pass the info on to my readers.  These types of headbands are the only ones that don't slide out of my hair.

Aren't they cute?!?!

Paul is sending me a headband to check out, plus another one for one of my readers.  Once I receive them, I'll give you all an opportunity to win one!  

If you just can't wait, Paul has set up a discount code to give my readers 50% off when you order though their Amazon link.  Click on the link below and enter the promo code SUDDORA5 to get 50% off! That's like less than 6 bucks including shipping!

Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I49CNHW

Promo Code: SUDDORA5

Active Time: Discount code is good from 2/6/14 at 2pm PST until Feb 28th

Discount Amount: 50% Off

You can find Suddora on Facebook and Twitter (go "like" them now and you'll be a step ahead for the giveaway next week!).

the fine print: Suddora is providing me with a headband to review and another to give away, but as always, the opinions are all mine and I receive no compensation from their Amazon site.

Thirsty Thursday: An @zipfizzcorp review!

Hello there, good readers!  I hope this first Thursday of 2012 has you still working hard on your goals (I don't call them "resolutions") and you're looking forward to a wonderful year to come.

Today, I'm abandoning my usual "Thankful Thursday" post for a write-up of a different sort (although, if you wanna be technical, I'm thankful for the opportunity to do this review).  A few weeks ago, the lovely folks at Zipfizz contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in trying their product and writing a review.  Cool!  Of course I said yes!  I have friends who rave about Zipfizz and I was able to try one flavor a few months ago and I loved it then.  This would give me a chance to try more flavors and pick a favorite.

My samples came in a cute little package, compete with a Zipfizz water bottle! (I've decided I can never have too many water bottles.)

There was also a handy-dandy little flashdrive included, which provided tons of info about Zipfizz. 

click and save the picture to print the coupon!

(You can also head to their website, follow them on Twitter, or check them out on Facebook for more info and other coupons.) 

I couldn't wait to give the products a try.  I can say that the Pink Lemonade flavor was by far my favorite.  Very yummy and I loved the little bit of fizz as I drank it.  The Berry and Citrus flavors were also very good.  (I will admit I did not like the Creamsicle or Orange Soda flavors at all.  The Creamsicle really did taste like a creamsicle, so if you like those - go for it!)  I did feel a little added pep and energy from the drinks and liked that they weren't overly sweet like some sports drinks can be.  They even gave me enough energy to tackle the mountain of work on my desk.

Legal mumbojumbo: Zipfizz provided me with the samples to try and the cute water bottle.  The opinions stated here are all my own.

Have you ever tried Zipfizz?  If you have, what's your favorite flavor?