This Crazy Life of Mine – Page 10 – Living – Loving

04
Oct
2016

Top Ten Tuesday – Pumpkin

categories: #TopTenTuesday, all things pumpkin, pumpkin, Top Ten Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! It’s a new month and we have fun topics scheduled for October. We are starting the month off with PUMPKIN!

I love pumpkin. All things pumpkin. Fall is my favorite time of year and I am that person that gets excited about pumpkin everything, so this will be a very easy list for me to share. Most of these are guilty pleasures, but you only live once, right?!

Ready? Let’s get to it!

10. Pumpkin Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts – I may have lived on these during marathon training. They are SO yummy. Paired with a big glass of chocolate milk, I am in heaven.

9. Pumpkin Scones – I love scones, period. but pumpkin scones are pretty amazing. Especially warm.

8. Trader Joe’s Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli – When I first saw these I didn’t think I would like them. I was wrong. I make a parmesan, butter, and olive oil sauce for them. DELICIOUS.

7. Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter – Better than apple butter, pumpkin butter is delicious on a warm toasted English muffin.

6. Pumpkin Cheesecake – My mom makes the most amazing pumpkin cheesecake in the whole world. Seriously, it’s the best. She needs to make one soon… She does a graham cracker crust on the bottom which I love.

5. Pumpkin Fluff – This is a recipe I heard about back when I belonged to Weight Watchers. It’s so easy to make and delicious too. A box of any flavor sugar-free pudding mix (I always used butterscotch), a can of pumpkin puree, some fat free milk, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix it all up and let it chill. Top with fat free whipped topping. It’s an easy dessert to make and fun to take to parties.

4. Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread m\Mix – I usually make this several times in the fall and winter. It’s so good when it comes out of the oven – add a little warm honey butter to it for some added sweetness. You can also make muffins out of it.

3. Pumpkin Beer – Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale to be exact. I haven’t had one yet this year so I need to get on that.

2. Pumpkin Swirl Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts – In years past, I have not been a fan of cold pumpkin coffee beverages but I had not tried the Pumpkin Swirl Iced Coffee. Let me tell you, it is AMAZING. And since it’s still HOT here in Florida, it’s a perfect cold beverage. Add in some cream and sugar and it’s perfect.

1. Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks – Yep, I love them. Ironically, I haven’t had one yet this season but I plan to this week. I’ve been holding off on it because I know I’ll go crazy with it. I prefer mine with soy milk because it makes it so creamy. Mmmmm….

What is your favorite pumpkin treat? Be sure to visit Run.Chew.Sparkle for her list. She loves pumpkin like I do so I bet our list will be similar!

27
Sep
2016

Top Ten Tuesday – Concerts

categories: #TopTenTuesday, Bon Jovi, concert, Daughtry, Top Ten Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday and this week is all about concerts. I have been to a lot of concerts over the years and it may be hard to pick and choose just ten, but I’ll give it my best shot.

While most people think I just love country music, I love many kinds of music and my concert attendance has proven that!

10. Rascal Flatts – this one was great because in 2005-sh, hubby got me in to see a special small performance put on by Rascal Flatts at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. I loved it! Maybe not considered an actual concert, but I’ll consider it as one.

9. Def Leppard – I want to say I was 19 or 20 when I saw Def Leppard in concert in Houston, in the round. What a show that was.

8. Heart – We got to see them several years ago at Universal Orlando. Amazing music, amazing voices, amazing talent.

7. Daughtry – We’ve seen Daughtry 6 times now (I think?) and I always love his concerts. Some are better than others, given the venue and the acoustics, so to date I probably loved him the most at Ruth Eckerd Hall, the same year we got to meet him before the show.

6. Cole Swindell – Hubby worked his magic to get us tickets to see him earlier this year at the Strawberry Festival. It was perfect and I loved hearing him since “You Should Be Here” live.

5. Dierks Bentley – Dierks can entertain, no doubt about it. He really interacts with the crowd and puts on a hell of a show. We saw him a couple years ago at the Amphitheatre in Tampa, which by the way is my least favorite venue for a concert in Tampa. Totally worth it.

4. Eric Church – we lucked into these tickets thanks to my friend Debbie who couldn’t use them. I always say Eric Church is bad ass and he proved that with this concert. I will definitely see him again live.

3. George Strait – I saw him year after year at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. King George is a class act and just amazing in concert.

2. Lady Gaga – I saw her with my sister-in-law at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Say what you will about Lady Gaga but she puts on one heck of a show and has not only an amazing voice, but is also a wonderful piano player.

1. Bon Jovi – I’ve been lucky enough to see them 3 times now thanks to hubby. Bon Jovi is one of the few performers I will spend extra money on for concert tickets for floor seats. One year, hubby worked his magic yet again and got us up on the side stage. My heart almost couldn’t take being that close to Jon Bon Jovi. AMAZING. This was also the concert that I got my most favorite photo ever at….

What is on your list of top ten concerts? Be sure to visit Run.Chew.Sparkle and see what is on her list!

25
Sep
2016

Howl-O-Scream: Evil Encore

categories: #EvilEncore, Busch Gardens, Evil Encore, Halloween, Howl-O-Scream, Tampa, Tampa Bay Bloggers

Hi, my name is Nanci and I love scary stuff despite how big of a chicken I am. I am that person you hear screaming loudest in a haunted house. Yes, that is me you hear in front of or behind you with the blood curdling scream.

Thanks to my relationship with Tampa Bay Bloggers and Busch Gardens, I had the pleasure of attending VIP night with hubby for some scares, beverages, and front of the line passes. This years theme, Evil Encore, is spot on. In addition to the haunted houses, the roaming hordes are awesome. The creepiness factor of the scare squads is spot on. Zombies, clowns, creepy pigs, and more. SO SCARY.

The attention to detail in the haunted houses is really amazing. Not only sounds and visuals but also SMELLS. We made it through all the houses but one and I had to say that Zombie Mortuary scared me the most, just like last year. If you have a fear of rodents like I do, this is not the house for you. Do old motels scare you? Oh than you will love Motel Hell. And if clowns are what give you nightmares, then Circus of Superstition 3D is sure to be in your dreams after you make your way through it. I’m still hearing the evil clown laughter…

Here’s a list of the haunted houses. I recommend you go in ALL of them. They are all scary.

The Black Spot
Motel Hell
Circus of Superstition
Unearthed
Death Water Bayou
Zombie Containment Unit 15 (this is the only we we didn’t make it in)
Zombie Mortuary

For more fun, take a ride in the bumper cars with Crash Test Zombies. More fun that just crashing into your friends bumper car, you can chase down the cars with the zombies in them.

Many of the rides are open during Howl-O-Scream. We had the pleasure of watching some of our group ride Falcon’s Fury. I think they are all crazy, of course, because to me rides that like (and roller coasters too) are scarier than any haunted house. Riding in the dark ups the scare factor. At least that’s my opinion as a ride spectator.

And lastly, we watched the Fiends show held in the Dragon Fire Grill. Lots of dancing, laughter, and old fashioned characters are a great way to wrap up your night of scares.

You can find all the details here for planning your night of terror at Busch Gardens…. Check out the front of the line passes while you’re at at. It’s well worth it.

21
Sep
2016

Live Life Brighter with Outshine Snacks

categories: #SnackBrighter, healthy snack ideas, Outshine frozen snacks, OUtshine fruit bars, Outshine snacks, review

Here in the Sunshine State, it gets HOT. It doesn’t matter that tomorrow is the first day of Fall, it’s still hot and muggy outside. Between running every day and sometimes working outside, I long for a cool refreshing snack that won’t break the sugar bank.

I recently tried Outshine Fruit Bars and the first thing I thought was “where have these been all my life?!” I tried the pineapple ones, my favorite fruit, and oh my goodness, are they delicious and full of chunks of real pineapple. After being out in the sun, it was the perfect snack. Doesn’t it just look refreshing and delicious?

Outshine Fruit Bars are made with real fruit or fruit juice and NO GMO ingredients. In fact, there is more real fruit juice in each bar than any other ingredient. The pineapple ones are just 80 calories each with 0g of fat and sodium. It’s the perfect healthy snack. If you want to get creative, you could even use one of the fruit bars in place of ice cubes and juice in your smoothie.

Outshine has a whole line of fresh snacks including Fruit & Veggie Bars and Simply Yogurt Bars. All are made with fresh ingredients and will make for the perfect snack for you and your family at home or on the go. I plan on taking a cooler with me on Sunday for my run and enjoying one of the pineapple fruit bars afterwards!

Summer may be ending, but with Outshine Snacks you can still live life brighter. Whether you are at the park, playing in the backyard, being active, at the beach, or wherever, Outshine Fruit Bars are the perfect guilt-free treat.

What is your favorite flavor of fruit bar? Have you tried Outshine fruit bars before?

21
Sep
2016

The time that WIN Detergent saved my running clothes… {Giveaway!}

categories: giveaway, running, running clothes, WIN Detergent

All runners know how stinky running clothes get. There are days, especially in the summer when it is as hot as the face of the sun here in Florida, that I am convinced my running clothes could stand up on their own. It gets pretty bad.

Add a 100-day run streak in to your hot summer and the stink is no joke. You can use all the pretty smelling detergent you want and wash them the second you take them off, but that yucky odor is still there and you can smell it when you put them on and go running again.

Thankfully, there is WIN Detergent and it is pretty magical. Those fabulous moisture-wicking fabrics that are running clothes are made of, while wonderful at keeping moisture away from our skin, they also trap oils that are full of bacteria. Hence the stink. That is where WIN Detergent works it’s magic and it separates the oils from the synthetic fabrics. So, no more stink. If it sounds simple, it’s because it is. And YES, it really works. If you have sensitive skin, they also have a fragrance and dye free option.

Also, WIN Detergent is great for removing that gross mildew smell that happens when you leave wet clothes in the washer too long before popping them in the dryer…

I am on Day 91 of my 100-day run streak. Thanks to the folks at WIN Detergent, I received 4 bottles of WIN Detergent for myself and my stinky running clothes AND I’ve had the pleasure of giving away 2 bottles of WIN already. On Day 95, I will give away another bottle and then again on Day 100 when I hit my goal.

For the next bottle I’ll be giving away on Day 95, I am looking for people to comment on this post and tell me what other things you’ve tried to get the stink out of your running clothes. I’ll pick one random winner on Sunday 9/25 after I get my run in.

If you can’t wait to see if you will be my next winner, you can always order WIN Detergent directly from Amazon and save $1 on your first bottle with discount code EVERYWIN. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you’ll receive FREE shipping. Click here to order now.

Congratulations to Rosie who was my random winner. Thank you for reading and commenting on this post!