Sunday, July 15, 2012

McCormick hosted party

Through Crowdtap, I was selected to be a part of the McCormick hosted party. I got to host a party with McCormick seasonings. It was fantastic. Thanks you so much McCormick. They sent a package of seasonings which included the McCormick Grill Mates Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ sauce, McCormick Grill Mates Molasses Bacon seasoning, McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning, McCormick Grill Mates Slow and Low Memphis Pit BBQ rub, McCormick Grill Mates Spiced Brandy & Herb marinade, and a McCormick apron. It was exciting getting to open this kit from McCormick. I was so surprised with how generous they were with what they sent.

To start we actually had a small get together with one family and then later our party for the 4th of July. Our small get together we had some ideas and wanted to try them out, so we used this time to do that. This was the first time we used McCormick seasonings on pork chops and ribs. We actually combined the Molasses Bacon seasoning and the Montreal Steak seasoning on the pork chops and for the ribs we used the Memphis Pit BBQ rub. The rub was very good, but honestly the pork chops were the center of that meal. The combination of the two seasonings made those pork chops the best pork chops any of us had ever tried.  At this point we got really excited to try this again for the party on the 4th of July.

Our 4th of July party, we had invited about 10 people to come. There ended up being 6 adults and 3 children there. The men all went straight outside and started up the grill. The women started working on the side dishes. We baked beans, home made cole slaw, and chips and homemade ranch dip. The men seasoned and grilled hamburgers marinated and seasoned with Molasses Bacon seasoning, chicken legs marinated in the Spiced Brandy & Herb marinade, ribs seasoned with Memphis Pit BBQ rub, hot dogs and smoked sausage with the Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ Sauce, and the pork chops with both the Molasses Bacon seasoning and the Montreal Steak Seasoning mixed together. The kids were playing corn hole in the back yard while the men grilled.

Once all of the food was cooked we all sat down to eat and chat. We all at least tried a bite of everything so that we knew what the seasonings tasted like. Everyone's favorite was the pork chops. They like all of the seasonings and definitely asked what they were seasoned with, but they all thought the pork chops were the best. I had printed out a sheet of what each item was seasoned with and gave it to each guest if they wanted a copy so they could get their favorite seasonings.

After dinner, we all went out back to play horse shoes and corn hole. We teamed up and did husbands against wives and then husbands played against the kids. Of course the kids played the best and beat all of us, lol. We wound down the night with a few beers and wine coolers and some great conversation. Nights like that make the best memories. Good food and good company.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Old Navy Beach Accessory sample and share opportunity.

I got accepted to be a party of Old Navy's sample and share for beach accessories. This is one reason I love Crowdtap and Old Navy. All of the opportunities that they offer are unbelievable and fantastic. This sample and share they sent me 4 coupons, one for myself and 3 for friends. Each of us were able to get a pair of sunglasses, a pair of flip flops, a beach towel, and a beach bag.

I tried to have it as one big party where all of my friends and I go all at once, but of course all of our schedules didn't agree so I had to go with each of them all separately. I took my friend Amanda the day we got our coupons. Her and I both used ours that day. We had a blast shopping through the variety of styles and colors and all of the options available to pick from. She ended up getting a wicker beach bag, the flip flop beach towel, some flip flops in tan, and some black sunglasses. I got the flower beach towel, the blue beach bag with the tie at the shoulder, some gray flip flops and some black square framed sunglasses. We both also made an additional purchase. She purchased some flip flops for both of her kids and I got some sunglasses for my kids, flip flops for them, and also myself an additional pair of flip flops.

The second trip I took my husband. He never gets to participate in things like this and with it being fathers day I thought he deserved to be a part of it. We went and they had a great selection of flip flops for men that he was able to pick from, they had a few different styles of beach towels for men, but we had trouble with the sunglasses. We spent the most time in this section trying to find unisex sunglasses and out of all of the styles there were only 2 styles that were unisex. We were both a little disappointed with the selection of sunglasses for men. For his beach bag, he picked a wicker bag that he felt comfortable using when he took the kids to the pool or to the beach. It turned out to be alot of fun even though there was not much of a variety of sunglasses to choose from. We loved the fathers day sale as well since all the men's items were 50% off. My husband got him a pair of swim shorts as well while we were there.

Finally, today, I took my final friend to Old Navy for her coupon. She picked the same blue beach bag I did, the zebra print beach towel, some metal sunglasses with aviator looking frames, and some black flip flops. I didn't get to stay in the store with her as long since I had my daughter, but she called me and said she also got a new swim suit, and about 5 more pair of flip flops with a few other items.

I highly recommend everyone to check out all the styles Old Navy offers, especially the flip flops. There were walls and walls of flip flops and it was fantastic at the styles and variety, even for the men. Old Navy is making me love them more and more with all the new items they add to their store. They never disappoint.