Maple Bacon Snickerdoodles

 ♫♪ It's the most wonderful time of the year! ♪♫

I absolutely love the music, the decorations and the baking that The Holidays bring.

 

Here's this year's

NEW COOKIE RECIPE:

 

I know, I know

I just made a sweet treat with maple and bacon,

{check out my apple bread recipe here}

BUT

it's an amazing combination and I can't get enough!

 

Here's how I do it:

 

Here's how each step looks: 

They work best when baked on parchment paper but a greased baking sheet works just fine.

Now go get this maple-bacon goodness into you!

Be sure to check out the 40+ cookie recipes from
The Great Cookie Exchange going on now!

 Happy Holidays! 

Blended Conference 2013

I went to my first blog conference!

BLENDED

It was so much fun!

I got to meet some amazing bloggers right off the bat.

{Check out the business cards I made for the big event HERE.}

 

One of the BEST parts about the whole thing was spending the day with my bestie, Brit.

She blogs at 32 Turns and is one of my favorite people on the whole, entire planet.

We ALWAYS have a blast together!

 

The Hostesses, Wendy & Wendy, were SO great.

They had some pretty fabulous sponsors there!

I am a HUGE fan of Fairytale Brownies!

Trust me when I say that  literally could've eaten one ^this^ size!

 

Britany & I made a bee-line for that table before even hitting the breakfast buffet. =)

 

All of the sponsors spoiled us!

Besides getting some awesome swag,

I discovered some products that I'm SUPER excited about!

 

Shamrock Farms seriously brought their A game!

They've introduced these new protein drinks.

The nutritional value is outstanding!

I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on these.

 

They also had samples of their new line of flavored sour cream.

I LOVE the zesty jalapeno flavor!!!

{I'm working on a recipe with that stuff.}

 

 We played with props,

ate delicious food,

met new friends,

laughed a ton,

and had a BLAST!

 

I hope I see you there next time!

Down East Basics

 

I LOVE THIS STORE!

 I have at least a dozen tops from Down East that I adore

and always get complimented on. 

Recently, I was invited to attend a blog mixer

at their Dana Park store in Mesa, AZ.

 

(Disclosure: this event was sponsored and I received a gift card at the event.)

 

What made it even more fun was that I got to bring a guest

so I grabbed one of my favorite people in the whole, entire world:

my big sister, Rebecca.

 

We have so much fun together!

We seriously act like a couple of teenagers

whenever we get together.

You'd never know we're a couple of middle-age mamas!
{BTW the top I'm wearing (on the right) is yet another fabulous Down East find!
In fact, so is my undershirt. I may be addicted.} 

We mingled and shopped our little hearts out!

The lace top I'm wearing is a wardrobe staple.

(I have it in 5 different colors!)

It was a su-WEET night!

 

BONUS!! 

There happens to be a Costa Vida next door!

I converted my sister to their tomatillo ranch dressing. =)

So in my expert opinion:

DOWNEAST @ DANA PARK ROCKS!!

T-Moblie AZ Summer Party

I had the opportunity to attend an AZ Bloggers event at my local T-Mobile store. It was so much fun! It was hosted by Jamielyn at I {heart} Nap Time so you know it was awesome!

I had to borrow some of Jamielyn's pix because I was so busy playing that I forgot about using my camera.
We ate delicious food,

played lots of hilarious games,

and learned about T-Mobile's Family Plans & Apps like FamilyWhere check-in, Web Guard, Family Allowances and Lookout Mobile Security. You can find out more about T-Mobile on their website, facebook or twitter.

It was so nice to meet so many other AZ Bloggers! The hashtags for the night were #TMobileSummer and #AZ. We had fun tweeting throughout the night.

I met Kristyn from Lil' Luna, Heather from Kustom Kissers, Kelli from Lolly Jane,
and several other Arizona bloggers.

And I got to hang out with my friends Jenna {From Eve} and Jamielyn, The Hostess {Nap Time}

I was lucky enough to win one of the amazing prizes that night! I was so surprised; I never win anything!
Thank you T-Mobile and I Heart Nap Time for such a fabulous evening. =)

Down East Blog Mixer

I was lucky enough to be invited to a blog mixer at Down East Basics at the Arrowhead Towne Center. It was so nice! I love their clothes! They always have a sale going and the clearance racks are a must!

 It was so hard to choose what I wanted!

 I'm saving up for   ^^this^^   top! It is to die for!!

Maybe that's what Mr. Handsome needs to get me for my birthday.... ;)

I was happy to see my amazing friend Britany {from She Made It} there. We shopped our little hearts out!
Thank you, Down East! I'll be back! =)