August 2016

Virtual Race: I’ll Be Right Here 5k

Race Title: I’ll Be Right Here 5k
Distance: 5k
Company: Moon Joggers
Charity: National Psoriasis Foundation

ET5k

This 5k was pretty easy for me – since I was at the casino for a weekend and did almost the entire 3.1 miles in one evening. This medal is pretty cool, kind of like stained glass. I picked this race out early on but it didn’t start until August and I had the concert weekend in mind to get it completed and I did it 🙂

 

Love With Food July

20160715_162925

It’s the height of summer, which means that everyone is raring to get outside and enjoy all the sun, warm weather and freedom that this season has to offer. What pairs better with adventures than scrumptious snacks? Nothing,we say. That’s why we packed this month’s box full of bright, bold summer flavors that will be right alongside you are you hit the open road.

Barney Butter Snack Pack
Telling you what to eat this stuff with would be a disservice, because it’s good on everything. Fruit, crackers, toast – there’s no wrong choice.

Haven’t tried this yet, but I’m looking forward to it

Pure Growth Organic Popcorn
There’s popcorn and then there’s this organic, addictive, gluten-free stuff. Try it and tell us you can’t taste a difference.

I didn’t taste a difference… was I supposed to?

Pur Mints Mojito Lime Mint
These aspartame-free treats are no joke: Cool and refreshing with a big lime kick that feels like summer.

I am not a lime fan so I passed on trying these.

Luna Protein Berry Greek Yogurt Bar
The power of protein keeps you full and feeling good, so go ahead – indulge in the nougaty goodness of LUNA Protein for under 200 gluten-free calories

Shared this with my mom and we both enjoyed it.

Pretzel Perfection Twice-Baked Tomato Basil Pretzel Sticks
Crunchy, salty little bites of heaven with a touch of herbs and a taste that will have you reaching for more again and again.

One bite was all it took – for me to toss these in the trash. Not a fan.

Chef’s Cut Original Real Steak Jerky
Talk about a classic summertime snack. This jerky with the perfect touch of spice is easy to bring on the go, packed with energy and so scrumptious.

Probably my favorite item from this box! Very scrumptious.

Trujoy Sweets Organic Bunny Shaped Lollipop
Not only are these fruity treats all natural, but they’re totally adorable. Almost too cute to eat. Well, almost.

Definitely cute! And tasty.

Yumearth Naturals Sour Beans
The jelly bean taste you know and love, with a little something extra. All-natural never tasted so good.

Not a sour fan so my brother snagged these and enjoyed them.

Jimmybar
Simple ingredients that don’t mess around with any artificial stuff. No wonder this bar is so irresistible.

Another one I split with mom. She enjoyed it more than I did.

Hanson Top 25 Songs

Recently Hanson asked members of their fan club to choose their Top 25 songs from their albums (+ b-sides).  Since they didn’t include any of the members only tracks, this was a lot easier than I expected, but still not entirely too easy to put together.  I decided to “go with my gut” and put my list together as quickly as possible because I knew if I sat around debating any of the tracks, I’d never finish!

How I came to my concussions:

I put all the songs into an excel spreadsheet, and then quickly made a column next to them where I ranked them by “Yes”, “No” and “Maybe”.  Yes were definitely belonging in my Top 25, No definitely didn’t and maybe I could be swayed either way.

After my first run through, I ended up with 35 songs on my Yes/Maybe combined.

I then went through the Maybes and again ranked them Yes/No.  This landed me with a top 24! So close! So I went through the maybes that became No and grabbed on more to round out my list.

There has been some debate as to whether or not we should include MMMBop on our lists – but I felt that I had to.  Without it, who knows if we’d all be here, you know?  We also don’t know what the list is going to be used for – and I’d totally pick different songs if I was picking for a setlist base or if I was picking for songs I want to know more about how they were written or songs I am playing for someone who has never heard Hanson before or songs for a greatest hits… but I tried to combine a little of all of those lists because we weren’t given too much specific direction on what this list would be used for, if anything. (And then the guys went and posted in a newsletter they were surprised a couple weren’t in the running and I have a feeling that may end up skewing the results on people who voted after that newsletter…)  I’m not sure if they will ever let us see what the list ended up being – but I know there was no song on more than 58% of the lists at the time Leigh decided to share some stats with us on Hanson.net – and no song had no votes at all.  Very interesting!

And if you want to really torture yourself – I have the best of the rest up on Hansonstage which is the members only / random HNet tracks.  Voting for that ends in a couple of days and I still havent managed to pick my own top 25 yet!

Here’s what I ended up picking:

A Minute Without You
Already Home
And I Waited
Broken Angel
Cry/Cried
Dying To Be Alive
Fired Up
Give A Little
Hey
If Only
In The City
Juliet
Lost Without Each Other
Lost Without You
Mmmbop
Musical Ride
Runaway Run
Scream And Be Free
Smile
The Walk
Tonight
Weird
Where’s The Love
With You In Your Dreams
You Can’t Stop Us

Book Review: Girl vs. Boy Band

girlboyband

Girl vs Boy Band is a new series and let me tell you that if you think you can get away with reading just this one and then moving on, you’d be mistaken. It does end with a bit of a cliffhanger. Or as I like to say, it didn’t end. (I mean, obviously it did, but no real closure.)

The book is about Lark, who moved from Nashville to California with her music executive Mom after her parents got divorced.  She is a song writer with severe stage fright.  Her Mom ends up signing the hot big up and coming boy band Abbey Road from London and they come to the US to live with Lark and her Mom.

The book sets up the relationships between Lark and the boyband members as well as a friendship between Lark and one of the boys at school who tries to get her to perform with him in the school talent show.

I really liked the book and all the characters and am looking forward to the rest of the series!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

For fans of Taylor Swift and One Direction comes a new tween series featuring an aspiring singer-songwriter and the boy band that could steal her spotlight.

Talented but painfully shy eighth-grader Lark secretly writes feisty, heartfelt songs about her life-about school, crushes on boys, not getting along with her mom, and missing her dad who lives in Nashville. But that secret becomes harder to keep when Lark’s mother, a music record executive at her own label, announces that British boy band Abbey Road will be coming to live with them while they make their first album!

Sharing her L.A. house with three noisy, mischievous rising stars isn’t as glamorous as expected, especially when things aren’t going smoothly with the band members. When one of them plagiarizes one of Lark’s songs and passes it off as his own, will Lark gain the courage to step into the spotlight herself?

Harmony Jones is the author of many novels for children and young adults. She splits her time between Connecticut and the Rhode Island coast, where she lives happily with her husband and their two incredibly spoiled golden retrievers. She is a lifelong fan of pop music, and even has a whole room in her house dedicated to her favorite group of all time – the Beatles!

Virtual Race: OneHRC Marathon

Race Title: OneHRC Marathon
Distance: 42k
Company:  Hogwarts Running Club
Charity: Big Cat Rescue, International Bird Rescue, Friends of Scales, Save Me Trust

hrc

This was a tough one for me – 42k and $50 but the medal is amazing and I’m going for that perfect prefect status! I just did 1k at a time here and crossed them off my list as I finished them.  I really enjoy the 5ks more than the longer races,but can see why those who run like the longer distances.  Im glad the next HRC race is another 5k.

Love With Food June

20160611_123201

It’s finally summertime which, come on, is a reason to celebrate all on its own, right? This is the season for great parties and get-togethers, and what makes a great party more than great food? This month, share these scrumptios all-natural snacks with someone you love and celebrate all the flavors of summer yet to come!

Sinfully Thin Blue Corn Popcorn
Ever made popcorn for a “light snack” and eaten WAY too much? Hey, we’ve all been there. But with this all-natural stuff, there’s no need for guilt.

I enjoyed this blue popcorn!

Snapz originally crunchy premium apple crisps
You can’t get more all-natural than these crispy fruity bites made with real organic apples. Go ahead, have the whole bag.,

Shared these with Mom who enjoyed them and said “if they were at the store, id buy them”

Biscottea traditional Teatime Shortbread
Take your tea with a side of cookie indulgence. Buttery, dense and comforting, you’ll be looking for an excuse to have “tea” all the time.

Always a great day when shortbread is included in the box!

Torie & Howard Fruit Chews
Completely organic and all-natural, with genius flavor pairings made from real fruit. You’re going to want to savor these.

These were most enjoyable.

Raw Rev Glo Creamy Peanut Butter and Sea Salt Bar
All the rich, peanut buttery flavor that tastes good, with all the superfoods and nutrition to make you feel good too.

This was pretty good.

You Love Fruit Leather
Does dried fruit sound too simple to be your new favorite snack? You’ll never be so happy to be proven wrong by this sweet treat.

Another one that Mom tried and she didn’t like this one.

Wild Garden Sundried Tomato Hummus Dip
This stuff is so good, you’ll be tempted to just eat it straight from the package. Not that we’d blame you.

Mom snagged this one and liked it.

Snack Factory Original Pretzel Crisps
Everything you love about a cracker mixed perfectly with everything you love about a pretzel. Plus you can pair them with just about anything.

Been on a big pretzel kick this summer and these were great!

 

 

Book Review: Bronx Bummers

bummersThere are so many books out there that talk about all the greatness that has been on the Yankees teams throughout their history.  Bronx Bummers is the opposite of that – the history of the Yankees Bad Boys, Blunders and Brawls.  Each of the 3 B’s get their own part in this 50 chapter book.  I like reading about baseball’s history and this is a look at history that usually isn’t in all of the other books.  Sure I’ve read a ton of books about Babe Ruth but I’m not sure any of them have called him “The Badass Bambino”.  This book ended up being a lot of fun to read and I think that many baseball fans would enjoy it – whether you are a fan of the Yankees or not. (You may enjoy it more if you are not a fan, actually.) Definitely an interesting perspective to writing about the history of a team and I’d certainly be interested in reading more like this about other teams as well.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Whether you love the Yankees or loathe them, even the most casual baseball fan is well versed on the team’s nearly 100-year lineage of legends that span the decades from Ruth to DiMaggio to Mantle to Jeter.

Most every book on the Yankees, therefore, heralds the unparalleled winning tradition of the famed Bronx Bombers.

This is not that kind of book.

In Bronx Bummers: The Unofficial History of the New York Yankees’ Bad Boys, Blunders and Brawls, authors Robert Dominguez and David Hinckley shine a light on the dark side of the team’s otherwise illustrious history.

In 50 lighthearted chapters, Bronx Bummers begins with the tale of the Yankees’ first colorful owners in 1903 — one was a former New York police chief widely considered the most corrupt cop in city history, the other was Manhattan’s biggest owner of illegal gambling dens — and continues through the sordid exploits of some of the team’s earliest stars, including a slick-fielding first baseman run out of baseball for throwing games; a good-hitting pitcher who derailed his Hall of Fame-bound career with his brawling and boozing ways; and even the great Babe Ruth himself, who regularly led the league in HRs, RBIs and STDs.

And while most baseball teams have a history of bench-clearing brawls, Dominguez and Hinckley, veteran New York City tabloid reporters, chronicle how the Yankees hold the unofficial record for most fights between teammates — not to mention the most front-office blunders.

From the bad old days of the team’s origins as the Highlanders all the way to the Bronx Zoo years and beyond, Bronx Bummers divulges what really went on behind the boxscores of baseball’s winningest franchise.

CD Review: Nick Fradiani Hurricane

fradiani

Every Day
Nothing To Lose
In The Long Run
Forget2ForgetU
Get You Home
Howl At The Moon
Nobody
Love is Blind
All On You
Hurricane
If I Didn’t Know You
Beautiful Life

Hurricane is the debut release from American Idol Season 14 winner Nick Fradiani.  At first, I didn’t like Nick, but he is slowly beginning to grow on me.  This album is pretty good, although a lot of it seems to be about an ex girlfriend. But the tracks are catchy enough that there aren’t any on here that I’ve been skipping and it’s been on heavy rotation in the last week or so in the car.  Despite this album being pretty solid, it is the worst debut of any of the Idol winners to date.  I have to say that a lot of this is probably due to the decline in record sales and the music industry just being in a weird place right now. (Because how else can you explain Caleb, WHO?, selling twice as much!?)

Book Review: If You Were Me and Lived in… Egypt

egyptIf you were me and lived in Egypt is another book in the series of books which helps introduce children to different cultures around the world. Throughout the book there are pronunciations for various words, there are great illustrations and a lot of information of what life would be like if the child lived in Egypt.

I received a free copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Join Carole P. Roman when she visits the stunning and exciting land of Egypt in the newest book of her informative series. Learn why this ancient land is often called “The cradle of civilization.” Travel down the Nile to discover Egypt’s fascinating history. See the land through the eyes of a youngerst like you and understand what life is like in this exotic place.

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com