Freebie Friday: Avon By Rori!

    

Happy Friday, loveys!!!! Raise your hand if you like free stuff! Oh, you do too? Nice. Nothing better than something for free. Well, here's the deal. Because I love you soooo much, my favorite regular post is going to be Freebie Fridays. All you have to do is click over here for a fun promotion or contest and a chance to win something really awesome....for free. Cool, right?


My scary obsession massive love for cosmetics and all things beauty product related have been well documented on my blog here.  I cannot leave my house, heck, function like a normal human being without going through my routine.

I've used Avon products off and on since I was a young teenager.  I am definitely a product collector, and am not afraid to try out different brands to see what works for me!  I've always been a big fan of Avon's powder foundations....one of my favorite all-time items!  And they must be doing something right, seeing as how they've been around for over 120 years.

I was very excited when my friend Rori Lelli-Bates became an Avon Beauty Consultant!  The only thing better than purchasing an great item is getting it from a friendly, knowledgeable mom working from home!  (Support Mommy Business!)  Don't let location bother you...you can order through Rori's website, get the benefit of her personal guidance if needed, but the convenience of delivery to your door!


Rori wanted me to get out of my rut with Avon, and gave me a few awesome products to try-from the Foot Works foot care line, I checked out the Berry Mint foot soak, Berry Mint Moisturizing Foot Cream, Berry Mint Foot Scrub, and a handled pumice stone!  So delicious.


I went to work on my feet, which were a hot mess.  I wear socks maybe twice a month, and favor clogs, flip flops, and other various sandals.  Needless to say, winter has wreaked it's havoc.  That would be why there is no photographic proof of my foot pampering, ha!


The smell of all three products was lovely, minty without the berry part being too sickeningly sweet.  The soak was great, loosened up my tense feet and made the cuticles a breeze to remove.  I used the pumice stone next, smoothing off all the dead skin in preparation for the foot scrub-cooling and effective all at once.  I rinsed off then applied the foot cream-heaven.  Seriously.  Mr. Floren said it felt like I went to the nail salon today.  Win!


Overall, I've always really enjoyed Avon's quality products.  Avon also offers other opportunities for fun-you too can become a representative, you can host a party at your home, or, my kind of fun-you can host an e-party!  No hosting or cleaning required, everything is done online, but you reap the benefits of hosting a party!  Just contact Rori at roribates@live.com for more information.


Avon by Rori would like to show you how awesome Avon's products are also!  Rori has put together a generous and luxurious gift basket for one lucky winner!  Included in this fab package is:

1-3.4 oz bottle of Avon Foot Works Berry Mint Moisturizing Foot Cream-$6 retail value!

1-3.4 oz. bottle of Avon Foot Works Berry Mint Foot Soak-$6 retail value!

1-3.4 oz. bottle of Avon Foot Works Berry Mint Foot Scrub-$6 retail value!


1 handled pumice stone foot exfoliator-$10 retail value!

1-Anew Ultimate Contouring Eye System-this product IMMEDIATELY helps the eye area look and feel firmer, tighter and more elastic. IN JUST 3 DAYS it restores the look of natural volume to thinning skin around eyes. $34 retail value!

1 jar Anew Rejuvenate Night Revitalizing Cream-this product is a PM Lightweight gel-cream that works while you sleep, so you awaken to skin that looks fresher and more vibrant!  $30 retail value!


The Giveaway: a skincare and footcare package from Avon by Rori worth $90!


To Enter:


Mandatory Entry:  Become a fan of Avon by Rori on Facebook!!


Additional Entries:


-Make a purchase from Avon by Rori through their website for 3 additional entries! (Please leave comment for each entry.)  Use promo code: WINTER5 for free shipping!


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-Vote for In Through The Out Door on Top Mommy Blogs by simply clicking here, just click, nothing else, and leave me a comment that you did so (you may do this once daily, just leave a comment each time!)

-Follow me on Twitter (@kishafloren) or leave me a comment telling me you already do

-Become a subscriber of In Through The Out Door, or leave me a comment telling me you already are

-Become a fan of In Through The Out Door on Facebook, or leave me a comment telling me you already are

-Retweet my tweet regarding this giveaway, or repost my link on Facebook

Have fun, and good luck!!!  This giveaway will be ending Thursday, March 18th at 10 pm, with one winner chosen by a random number generator, notified by email, and posted shortly thereafter!  Thank you for supporting Avon By Rori and In Through The Out Door!

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Are you hosting a giveaway this week?  Head on over to my linky and list it for everyone to see!!!

Freebie Friday: The Linky Edition

Blog giveaways are so much fun!  Why do you think I host one every week?  Not only is it a chance for you to win free stuff, they are an invaluable marketing tool to both blogs and the companies that are featured.  Because I am only one Kisha, and I only do one giveaway a week, I figured I would jazz up Freebie Friday a bit by hosting a giveaway linky.  So, if you are a blogger and are hosting a giveaway, link it up here!  And if you're a reader looking for great giveaways....have fun!!!!!

To appease my OCD and make the linky easy to read for everyone, please consider listing your giveaway in this format:

Blog Name-Giveaway Name-(Date Ending)

And the winner is....

Hola, folks!  I just love doing these Freebie Fridays...not only do I get to reward the best readers in the entire world with a giveaway, I get to review and recommend products and companies I truly love!  Featured this week was Bugs-n-Blooms, the purveyor of the most whimsical, adorable little girls room decor:

Love them.  Great, well crafted product at a very affordable price...and did I mention adorable?  If you are not the very, very lucky winner, head on over to Bugs-n-Blooms and design your next room or event!
Without any further ado, the winner is....

Melissa!

Congratulations!  You have 48 hours to respond to my email and we'll get you all hooked up with Bugs-n-Blooms to get your awesome prize!

Thank you to everyone who entered, and who reads and supports In Through The Out Door every day.

Stay tuned for this week's Freebie Friday, featuring one of my true loves: skincare and cosmetics!

The Time That Kisha Attempted To Be Domestic.

I am the least domestic housewife I know.  I feel like a total fraud when I'm filling out paperwork and the only available option to describe what I do is "homemaker."  Pppp-shaw.   Just to clear things up, I stay at home for the kids, not for the household stuff.  And because my husband works 437 hours a week and if I worked too my poor children would feel like orphans.  And, you know, I kind of don't know what I want to do when I grow up, which kind of sucks, since sometime during the last 28 years I managed to end up a grown up.  Damn.

Anyhoo, I figured I'd take a crack at it Wednesday night.  I do cook at home most nights, but my repertoire usually runs the gamut of "things that come out of a box" to "things that I throw in a crock pot and let cook for four hours."  I had a couple reasons for giving it a whirl...A-Hubby is leaving for his birthday weekend in Denver tomorrow.  I figured a killer dinner might be a good idea, so when he's got some skinny blonde stripper with big tits asking him to go "in the back" with her, he'll be thinking, "well, I could, but damn, does Kisha make some bomb mashed potatoes."  I'm not above bribery.  And B-my buddies over at Girl Talk Thursday offered up this prompt for today: "$10 and dinner needs to get on the table-what do you make?"  Obviously my first answer was, 9 items off the dollar menu at Mickey D's and the leftover buck to pay for tax.  But that's not in the spirit of the game, so whatevs, I'll play along.

While we're playing by the rules, it's been stated that staples-oils, spices, the normal stuff you always have in the house-do not count towards the total.  Which is cool, but seriously, while I was cooking, I was doing the math in my head-this portion of olive oil cost me approximately 11 cents....ha.  I'm nothing if not thorough.  Speaking of thorough, I even took pictures of my escapade in the kitchen.  Me with the first ingredient of the evening....

Red Wine.  Essential.

I decided to take a recipe out of my mother in law's (RIP Grandma Beth) book of tricks.  This woman was amazing, seriously.  She has some of the most family friendly yet creative and budget happy recipes ever.  Not to go off track, but when she was diagnosed with cancer, she took the time to hand write all of her recipes out into a book for Mr. Floren.  I still get choked up every time I open it.  Anyhow, back to cooking.  Tonight, I will be decimating attempting:

German Meatballs

The Recipe (the prices I paid are listed with each item, mind you, I'm a budding couponista, so I got REALLY good deals)

1 lb. ground beef-$1.88

1 lb. ground pork-$0.99

1/4 cup chopped onion-(1/4 of a large onion-we'll say one onion is $0.40)

1 egg (I paid $1 for 18, so we'll say 6 cents)

1/2 cup bread crumbs (1/8 of the package I paid $1.49 for, so we'll round to 20 cents)

1 1/2 cups cream (I bought 2 cups, we'll use the other 1/2 c. for the mashed potatoes, $1.49)

1 tsp. salt (freebie)

1/4 tsp. pepper (freebie)

1/2 tsp. allspice (like I have that laying around. but, freebie)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg (freebie)

1/4 cup flour (freebie)

1/4 cup oil (freebie)

1 T. brown sugar (freebie)

side: mashed potatoes

5 lbs. potatoes (50 cents!)

the remaining 1/2 cup of cream

2 Tbsp. butter (freebie)

1 Tbsp. garlic powder (freebie)

1 Tbsp. sour cream (I wasn't sure if this is a freebie or not, but we'll say 25 cents to be fair)

1 package of pork gravy-50 cents

Loaf of italian bread, buttered and broiled-$1.49

Steamed broccoli-$0.69/lb

Chunked pineapple-$0.79

Grand total:  $9.24!!!!

Not only was this supremely affordable, it turned out delicious and even an idiot a Kisha can do it.  First, you combine the ground beef, ground pork, and onion in a large bowl.  Beat the egg and combine into mixture.  Add bread crumbs, half (3/4 cup) of the cream, salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and brown sugar.  I know that eventually you're going to have to get your hands dirty rolling the meatballs, but eff that.  I stayed clean as long as possible.

Shape into 1-1/4" balls.  Heh, they said balls.  Made out of meat.  Roll in flour, which is a good thing.  As I was, "shaping the balls, aka, rolling balls in my hand, aka, I should stop the entendres now before you stop reading," they felt flimsy and falling apart in my hand.  Once I rolled them in the flour, they firmed right up.  Last one-heh, firm balls.

In a large frying pan, warm oil.  Brown meatballs on all sides.  I did about five minutes each on three sides, worked well.  One note from Grandma Beth-don't crowd the pan, it's better to do multiple batches than shove them all in, and she's right.  I split my balls into two batches in my ginormous Ikea pan and it was perfect.  Once I had cooked both batches separately, I put them back in the pan together to create the sauce.

All my balls.  Greasy.

To create sauce, leave remaining oil in pan.  Pour the other half of the cream directly into pan.  This was not in Grandma Beth's recipe, but I threw in a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream for some pizazz.  Also some salt and pepper.  Roll balls around in the cream (heh) then simmer for 10-15 minutes with a lid on.

This can be served many ways.  Grandma Beth recommended rice, the girls loved it with egg noodles, and Mr. Floren and I opted for mashed potatoes with ours.  My mashed potatoes, people, are to die for.  Melt in your mouth amazingness.  You would marry me too once you tasted these bad boys.

Kisha's Orgasmic Fantastical Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled, and sliced into large chunks

Boil these on high for about 20-30 minutes, until you can stir them with a wooden spoon and they are falling apart.  Then, the key to lump free potatoes-mash them before you add anything.  I actually take the hand mixer to them and blend them about halfway first, then add the following ingredients.  These are approximates, because I am not a recipe kind of girl...I just throw shit in and hope for the best.

 the remaining 1/2 cup of cream

2 Tbsp. butter 

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. sour cream

Serve while hot.  You can thank me for the full tummy and orgasms later. 

I also made a package of run of the mill pork gravy for a little extra oomph.  I mixed my meatballs and potatoes together so I didn't use it, but my picky husband doesn't like to mix his foods so he appreciated the side.  The final product, on Mr. Floren's plate:

Voila!  There is hope for me yet!  Worst case, I had an ad for Little Caesars on hand....$5 large pepperoni pizzas, yo.  You can't go wrong.

Wordless Wednesday

Mama and The Little One

Mama and The Curly Haired One

Another mama with her little one

Please, please say a prayer for Layla Grace Marsh and her family.  Layla passed away on Tuesday at the age of two from neuroblastoma.  This little girl touched the heart of people everywhere, and did so much good in her short time on earth.  Be at peace now, Layla.

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For more Wordless Wednesday, take a peek at J. Leigh Designz, 5 Minutes For Mom, Seven Clown Circus or WordlessWednesday.com!

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Feel free to hop on over and check out my current giveaway, featuring whimiscal kids room decor from Bugs-n-Blooms!