Tastykake Kandy Bar Kakes Review

Last week, I received my first Influenster VoxBox! I'm so excited about all the goodies in it and today I'm reviewing one of the best goodies, a Reese's flavored Tastykake Kandy Bar Kake....I mean, a cake? Reese's flavored?? Hellooooo!!!! That's right up my alley!

Here's a little background about the company.

The Tasty Baking Company, founded in 1914 and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is one of the country’s leading bakers of snack cakes, pies, cookies, and donuts. As a subsidiary of Flowers Foods, the company has bakery facilities in Philadelphia and Oxford, Pa. that offer more than 100 products under the Tastykake brand name. Celebrated for their freshness and quality ingredients, the Tastykake line includes such classics as Krimpets, Kandy Kakes, Juniors, and Kreamies. For more information on Tasty Baking Company, visit www.tastykake.com.

I have seen Tastykake products at my local Publix and have even tried the mini chocolate donuts. (They're a fave snack of this pregnant gal!) These little kakes just hit my store as well. You can get a single-serve for $1.69, or a family pack for $4.49. 

Yum yum!! I'll take a chocolate-peanut butter cake any day!

The flavor of the Reese's flavored Tastykake Kandy Bar Kake is really good. It's very satisfying when you need that sweet treat. I do find that the actual cake is a little dry, and it does seem to crumble when you're eating it, as does the chocolate coating. Overall, though, it's a great indulgent treat, especially with a glass of milk! You can even go all out and pair a little vanilla ice cream with it. The sweetness isn't too much and the size of the bar is really adequate, so you feel like you're getting a good amount for the calories.

These tasty little treats also come in York Peppermint and Hershey's S'mores flavors. I can't wait to try those out!!

I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Influenster.

Happy Friday!!

Bryant Update

Bryant's surgery went great!!! The doctor is very pleased with how it went and he said he didn't even have to remove some of the meniscus that he often does in ACL repairs. We can pick him up tomorrow after 10 and we can't wait to get him home. 

We've got the patient's recovery quarters ready to go.

Stocked with a comfy bed and tasty treats.

This crate is huge, BTW. The picture doesn't really show its size. We wanted him to be able to get in and out without having to hunker down, and to be able to change positions as needed comfortably.

And sister Marley has her bed right beside his, to keep a little normalcy. :)

I know she'll be bummed she can't use him as a pillow, though. He probably won't be too bummed about that. 

She has missed him all day. They love to lay out in the sun together, so she really missed her sunbathing partner.

We're all ready to see him and know he's doing OK.

I'm just hoping the recovery isn't too rough on him. Being the active dog he is, it will be hard to keep him from running, jumping, and just being his usual spastic self. Maybe he'll be smart and know his limits. Maybe.

I hope you've all had a great week. Happy (almost) Friday!!

Big Day for Bry Bry

Tomorrow morning, our sweet Bryant ("Bry-Bry") will be having surgery to repair his knee. After a consultation with a surgeon, we learned he officially has a ruptured ACL (actually a CCL in an animal...cranial, as opposed to anterior...basically the same thing, though). Fortunately, the doctor can do a minimally invasive procedure that he's done thousands of times so recovery hopefully won't be absolutely horrendous. (nor will cost!!) 

Recovery won't be easy, though. He'll have to be under "crate care" for 4 weeks, with limited trips outside, except mostly for potty breaks. And those have to be on a leash. It'll be like walking him outside our apartment as a puppy again. Oy. 

The hardest part will be keeping sister Marley from getting him riled up, jumping on him, etc. They love to play and wrestle so that will be a tough adjustment for a while. Our current house will also be listed for rent in the next week, so that will make showings difficult. People will just have to get over the crated Boxer in the bedroom.  There's no loading him up in the car. Sorry, not sorry.

He's our first baby, and we got him 2 weeks after our wedding. He'll be 7 in October, so he's still pretty young and I'm hoping he bounces back from this quickly and easily. After almost losing him to Lyme Disease when he was a puppy(most terrifying thing ever!!), and undergoing surgery to remove a cyst from his head a few years back, we're pretty protective of him and worry about him a lot. My pets are most definitely part of the family so when they don't feel their best, I take it just as seriously as I would if it were a person.

We're hoping and praying the surgery goes off without a hitch, they don't find any further damage to his knee once they're in there, and he's better before we know it!!

Hudson has to have his best buddy to play with outside this Summer.

And Marley needs her peanut butter begging partner-in-crime to help out with his sad, (literal)puppy dog eyes.

 He may be an older, wiser(I use that term loosely) man now, but we love him as if he were still our tiny baby who could fit in our laps and curl up into our arms to sleep. (which he'd still totally do, if we'd let him)

 Through lots of hugs...

 and kisses....

and maybe even a little peanut butter...

we'll get him through the recovery and back to his old, spastic, loving, hyper, "special" self.

Can y'all just keep Bry Bry in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow morning as he goes through surgery? While we have faith he'll be fine, I always worry when they have to be put under. 

He's been through a lot for a dog his age and has always been a trooper.

I'll update on him after his surgery.

Miracle in a Bottle, For Your Dishes!

If you're on Pinterest, you've probably seen this around...

source

And if you're like me, you thought "Oh please, like that'll ever work. How is this supposed to fix my scratched dishes?"

Well, Miss Sceptic here decided to give it a try on our white dishes that have accumulated quite a bit of scratches. 

I grabbed these at Publix. They're seriously like $2 a piece, so I didn't feel bad if it didn't work since I didn't sink a bunch of money into them.

They're sold at a lot of grocery stores. You can find all retailers at their website.

Having no idea what I was really doing, or how much of this stuff to use, I tackled one of my most scratched dishes to test it out and just ran with it.

I started out with the soft cleanser. This would probably do more for flat dishes, such as plates...something it can sit on for a bit. The liquid didn't really stick to the sides of the bowl well but it did make a difference in the appearance of some scratches.

You can see it really didn't effect the sides too much, but did help the bottom.

Next, I tried the can of powder. You basically work it and a little bit of water into a paste and rub it in a bit. Let it sit for about a minute and rinse. 

Voila!!!!

I'm absolutely amazed!! While it's not in perfect, brand new condition, it's just about as close as it gets. I'm a believer!! I plan to take this stuff to all of our dinnerware either just before we move, or right after. I can't wait to see how all my plates look afterward!

If you've got some plates with unsightly scratches, you have got to try this stuff out! It's too easy and too cheap not to try! And the results speak for themselves. Now, I don't know how long these results will last, but I'm anxious to find out. I'll update you on how the dishes are looking several weeks from now. I'm hoping they don't go back to their old scratched up selves after just a few runs in the dishwasher. If they do, I will definitely let you know!
I imagine they'll need periodic treatments of this stuff to keep them looking good, though.

I Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Earth...

There's been a lot going on around these parts and none of it has helped make time for blogging. I promise I'll get back with the program this week.

Here's a photo run-down of the last few days...

Thanks to my awesome husband, I finally got that big soft pretzel with cheese sauce I've been dying for!! It was divine! I already need another one.

Saturday, we headed down for Gage's 1st birthday party. I cannot believe he's ONE already!! Seems like I was just visiting him in the hospital.

 Old friends (& neighbors) together again. Amanda is in the middle and Gage's mommy, Julie, is on the right. Oh, and that huge blob on the left...that's me!! Bahahahaha!! Seriously, large and in charge nowadays, y'all!

I don't know why all the non-Instagram pics look like this. Maddening!

 Hudson was right in the middle of gift time. He kept playing with the toys. Silly child. That's Gage, the birthday boy, standing with the BLOND hair! :) He was a busy boy, and did a lot of mixin' and minglin'.

Hudson also thought Gage needed some help with his smash cake. Again, no idea why the picture's doing this. He kept going up to him saying "Hi!" Gage loved his cake and I'm pretty sure he would've eaten the whole thing if they hadn't taken it away. Atta boy!! 

After a fun-filled party, he was worn slap out!!! You'd think he'd nap the whole 2 hours home....NOPE! 30 minutes. He's an awful car napper.

Yesterday, we started a little bit of this...

 because we love moving SOOOOO much!! That was written in sarcasm font, in case you couldn't tell.

 Hudson did a little modeling while I packed up some of my closet. Great picture for high school graduation, no? ;)

More on the moving thing right quick.....we originally planned on staying in this house until our lease is up next Feb.(we signed a 2-year lease on it) After thinking about it, we decided a bigger house really is necessary. We want to rent for a couple more years until we can build. We don't want to just build anywhere. We(I) want land and I'm very picky so we're taking our time with that, trying to save some money (although that'll slow down now that twins are coming), then we can build the home of our dreams. The house we're moving into in a few weeks is beautiful! It's a good bit bigger than where we are now, has an extra bedroom(and 2 extra bathrooms) AND an awesome bonus room WITH a bathroom upstairs that we'll use as the guest suite, with a better layout and is in a little nicer neighborhood. There's even a possibility we'll just want to buy it later, depending on if the owners decide to come back from where they were relocated to a while back for work. Luckily, the new house is literally 3 minutes from our current house, so that'll make moving a little easier. Ya know...like, a smidgen.

So, we're starting the packing process a little early, but I'm only going to get bigger and more uncomfortable so better to start early than to wait until the week before. I'm not wild about moving while pregnant (again...we moved up here to Huntsville over 2 years ago when I was VERY pregnant with Hudson), but it's for the best and this house is going to be so much better for us as a party of 5! 

I might be really excited about the kitchen, though. Y'all. The fridge. It's one of those HUGE Sub-Zero type fridges. Not the same brand, but same size. Huge. I'll definitely be spoiled after living with that thing for a while. Joseph's just hoping I don't feel like I have to keep it full all the time. ;)

Today, we've just enjoyed being at home together. We cut open the first watermelon of the season so someone was happy...

And I picked a good one too! It's SO sweet and yummy!!!! The watermelon is too. :-) HA!

We've got some shrimp skewers to grill later and I have a strong desire to get an ice cream maker and make some homemade grape ice cream. We'll probably just go over to the froyo shop instead. Keep it simple, right? 

I hope you're having a nice, relaxing long weekend. Let us not forget what this day means. We owe so much to the men and women who've made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom. And to those who are currently serving our great nation, we can never thank you enough. 

We are forever grateful and we pray for your safety, always.

Y'all get out and enjoy this beautiful day we've been given!!

21 Week Appointment

This morning we had our 21 week checkup, which included the big anatomy scan of the twins. I was pretty anxious and a little nervous. I'm usually a little anxious before every ultrasound, but this one was big. The tech spent more time than normal, checking out the babies' hearts, brains, and all the major organs. I am so relieved and so thankful to know that they both look absolutely perfect!!! It's also nice to know that little girl, is still a little girl. ;-) She's a lot more bashful than her brother, who's willing to show off the goods any time. He also likes to kick his sister in the head, apparently. A handful already!!

My doctor continues to be pleased with how the babies are looking and I hope it stays that way! We are just endlessly thankful for healthy babies and a healthy pregnancy. I could complain about being hot, tired, huge, and uncomfortable, but really...as long as they're doing well, I'll tolerate all of that and more.

Their sweet little profiles.

Mr. Grayson. He weighs 13 oz.

Miss Raegan. The first profile we've ever gotten of her. She's usually looking straight at us. 

She's weighing in at 15oz!

They also got their first monogrammed items and they are precious!

It's so sweet to see their names on something for the first time. I'm trying to resist buying them many clothes, especially monogrammed clothes, until I have a better idea of how big they'll be. I love the colors in these burp cloths and they're pretty much the exact colors I plan to use in their room.
Speaking of which, I can't wait to start putting that together. :)

Happy Wednesday, y'all!!

Quick Weekend Recap

This is going to be quick, because frankly, I'm exhausted. Our backyard has SO many bushes in it and they're all pretty high-maintenance (super annoying, especially for someone who hates yard work and has no green thumb) and the weeds in the beds are ridiculous! They grow super fast and if you don't stay on top of them, they pile up. Well, we haven't stayed on top of them and after we got an estimate from our lawn guys for taking care of them and trimming the bushes, I quickly got motivated to take care of business myself!! Not sure who some people think they are charging the insane amounts they charge for things, but whatever. I got out in the backyard during Hudson's nap and pulled...and pulled...and pulled. Luckily they were all pretty easy to pull, there were just a lot of them! You know those weeds that are really resistant and want to stay in the ground? And you pull and pull and then BAM! All of a sudden, they come up and send you flying onto your butt? Yeah...always a good time. I always laugh at myself when that happens, even if it hurts a little bit. I can only imagine how funny that sight must be to someone else. HAHA!

Anywho...we didn't do very much this weekend, but we did go to cousin Logan's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. We started off the day early and this little guy hopped up in the big chair like he'd been eating there his whole life. Trying to grow up on me. :(

We headed down to the party and even though it had to be moved because of rain, the turn-out was great and Crystal had it set up so nice. It was a very cute John Deere theme!

The birthday boy was STOKED about his John Deere Gator!

My 2nd cousin, Crystal, and me. Her Paw Paw and my Fatdaddy were brothers and we were always pretty close growing up. I just think she's one of the best people ever!!

 And I'm super jealous of her skinny, tan self. Once I pop these babies out, I'm getting skinny, I tell ya!! ;)

Mr. balloon man...typical.

My two men.

We pretty much took the rest of the weekend easy and it was nice. It rained a lot and who likes to get out in that anyway?

I hope you had a nice weekend as well. My heart is so heavy and saddened by what has happened in OK and all I can do is pray for the victims....those who lost loved ones, homes, pets....everything. The devastation is surreal and unimaginable. My thoughts and prayers are with them all!

Stella & Dot Winner!

(and no, I do not endorse Mr. Crazy Charlie Sheen. I just thought that was funny.)

Just a quick note to let you all know that a winner has been chosen for the Stella & Dot giveaway. Congratulations to Trish Flynn!!! As I said in my email, Ashley will contact you soon to get the earrings to you. I know you will love 'em!! :)

Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway and showed some support to Ashley and her business. Remember to keep her in mind for all of your Stella & Dot needs and events. Also, don't forget there's an online trunk show in my name that will be up for a few weeks so you can browse around and purchase through that. Any items you purchase will be delivered right to your door.

Please feel free to email Ashley at astork.stylist(at)gmail(dot)com with any questions you have about any pieces, are looking to host a trunk show of your own, or want more information about starting your own career with Stella & Dot.

I hope you guys had a great weekend. Unfortunately, it went by too quickly.
Raise your hand if you felt like this when you realized tomorrow is Monday.....
**throws hand up in air **

No, I do not accept the fact that the weekend is over!!

Sorry, I'm having a hard time letting go of The Office.

Here's to hoping your Monday treats you well. (OK, decent..that's really the best a Monday can do, after all)