Big Train Blended Ice Coffee Drink Review

Big Train Coffee (my son would not leave the shiny packaging alone lol)

I cannot live without coffee. Seriously I am a beast if I do not have a few cups everyday. But here in California it can be so hot even early in the morning making a hot cup of coffee is out of the question. Starbucks is way to expensive and the one near me I swear they water the drinks! I complain but no one seems to care. Their blended coffee drinks taste like ice more than coffee!

Adding the powder to my ice and cold coffee.

I recently had the opportunity to try a few of the Big Train Blended Ice Coffee drinks and oh my they are good! I love iced and blended coffee for the summer mornings and for after dinner. They cool you off and taste delicious! Their mixes were great! You can make them cold with ice or hot for the winter. They can be mixed with milk or coffee too. I love having options! I tried the Caramel Latte, Java Chip ( my favorite one!) Coffee and Kona Mocha. I really enjoyed the great  flavor and the chocolate pieces in the Java Chip were really good. I love that Big Train is a California company and trains are a huge hit in our house so it was a perfect fit.

My Java Chip Blended Ice Coffee Drink. Now all I need is a Big Train mug!

Making your own coffee drinks at home is definitely one of the great ways you can be frugal and still indulge! Have you tried or wanting to try the new McDonalds Strawberry Lemonade drink? Well I have a great recipe from Big Train to make your own Strawberry Lemonade drinks at home. Here is the recipe from their blog. You can be serving these all summer for you and your kids!


I like smaller coffee shops where you can try new stuff and feel like your barista is your friend! Ask your local coffee shop to start carrying Big Train Coffee and Big Train Chai products!

You can follow Big Train on twitter and be a fan on facebook.You can buy Big Train Coffee online and mix it at home like I did. Its so great to be able to add as much or as little of ice, milk, and coffee to your drink without having to ask someone to do it for you!













*I was not paid or compensated for this post. The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from other opinions. I was provided for free the products mentioned in this post for my review.

I am a Sweeper!

I love to enter sweepstakes! It takes just a bit of time and I have won some cool stuff. No cars or cash prizes but I am sure eventually odds are I will! I just won a pair of crocs shoes and a carseat booster from the Huggies Rewards program. If you buy their diapers or wipes its worth saving the codes and entering them!

Do you as a reader enjoy me sharing cool sweeps I find? I like to share them for fun.

Here is one I found today:

Tree Top America to the Core Trivia Contest

We drink a lot of apple juice around our house so this was a fun one to enter! 

Do you know of any good sweeps going in right now?

Happy Father's Day! Lion King 3-D Coming to Theaters September 16th

 

To celebrate Dads like Mufasa in the Lion King Disney is announcing today that The Lion King 3D Version will be in theaters September 16th, and on Blu-ray & Blu-ray 3D October 4th.

I am very exited about this! I loved the Lion King movie and still know the words to the song "Circle of Life" and the other great song "Hakuna Matata". I have watched the old version with my son on DVD and he loves all the music. The 3-D version is going to be really cool.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the loving Dads like Mufasa out there! 

Mommy and Me Day!

Mommy and Me Day at Raley Field

I have always wanted to be a Mom. I knew one day I would be ready and we could have great adventures. This year when I saw on the morning news about a Mommy and Me day at the baseball park Raley Field where the River Cats play I knew we had to go. I had never been to Raley Field so I knew it would be fun to see. I love baseball and my little guy has an awesome throwing arm!

It was very exciting to be there! So many kids and their Mommies on the baseball field. There were jump houses, giant balls to roll, baseball playing and parachute fun. We did a little of everything, well at least attempted it! We got in line for the jump house since most of the kids seemed to be the same heights as my son but when I started to ask ages most kids were 2 or 3 I let him try to see if he wanted to go in but he seemed apprehensive so I let him climb down and we went over to the giant ball to play.

We were provided snacks by Raley's and Sunnyside so we had a little picnic on the baseball field. It was so nice that we were able to sit and play on a real baseball diamond! The grass was heavenly! I want grass like that in my yard. My son smiled the whole time running around, throwing his tennis ball ( I forgot to bring his baseball and glove!) I was thankful I had some sort of ball for him to throw in the diaper bag.

My son next to Dinger the mascot

He got really excited when the River Cats mascot Dinger made an appearance.  All the kids were surrounding him getting hugs, high fives and autographs. My son stood there surronded by other kids staring and in awe of this big giant Cat! He LOVES cats and I think this was to him "the cats meow!" He waited his turn patiently to get close enough to Dinger to give him a hug. He grabbed his leg and hugged it! It was the sweetest thing ever! He would have stared at and waved to the mascot all day if I let him. I told him it was other kids turn and pointed him in the direction of the baseball diamond. Hes a bit to small to get the concept of running the bases but for me it was exciting! I have played softball off and on from 5 years old until about 12. I loved it and my sister Sam and I were on the same team a few times. I have great memories with baseball and I look forward to making more fun baseball memories with my son!

Plus Mommy and Me day was free to get in, free parking and we got free goodies to eat and a Raleys Moms Panel tshirt. I am a panel member so I thought that was really cool! We are hoping to be able to watch a game this season since the ball park seems very kid friendly and has a play area for kids during the game.

Raley Field

Do you have any great Mommy and Me days in your area?

Certain Dri Deodorant Review and Giveaway 100 Days of Summer Sweeps

I have to admit sometimes my "natural" deodorants don't work as well as I need them to in the 100 degree plus summers of California. I was going to attend a job fair this week and it was 90 plus and I was dreading the heat. I also worried my deodorant would not work and leave those embarrassing  armpit spots! I know TMI lol. Thankfully I remembered I had Certain Dri in my bathroom and I put it on instead of my natural deodorant. No one wants to make a bad first impression for a job! I was impressed that it worked awesome! I must say its not one I normally think of as brands but I will now keep my eye out for it for coupons and sales!

If you have not tried Certain Dri you should enter the giveaway here f course and also the "100-Days of Summer" Giveaway on Facebook hosted by Certain Dri. It is a Celebrate the season of fun in the sun every day this summer!  For the 100 days from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Certain Dri is giving away one Certain Dri Anti-Perspirant every day. One random entrant will be chosen to receive a Certain Dri Anti-Perspirant (roll-on or solid) each day from May 27, 2011 to September 3, 2011. Every Friday at noon E.T., all seven winners from that week will be announced on the Certain Dri Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/certaindri

GIVEAWAY: 

Win a Deodorant from Certain Dri

 

To Enter this Giveaway:

 

What is your best tip to stay cool in the Summer?

 *Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address*

 

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on. 

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*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts June 17, 2011 and ends on June 30, 2011 at midnight PST.  Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was provided for free the product mentioned for this review. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others.