Limited Edition Bella Luna Blue Tea from Adagio - Available Today (8/22) Only!

I received a complimentary sample of Bella Luna Blue so that I could try it and share my expierence.

The blue moon is finally here and with it comes our most elusive tea, combining fresh lemongrass, ripe blueberries and the exotic hues of butterfly pea. Do not miss the indigo experience of rare Bella Luna Blue!

Limited Edition Bella Luna Blue Tea. A customer favorite and magical tea that brews blue, and when you add lemon juice, it turns purple! It is an exclusive that is only sold on days of a blue moon. Today is your chance to order it because on August 22nd there is a Blue Moon.

I had a chance to try the tea and I really enjoyed the experience. I used a clear mug so that I could enjoy the beautiful blue hues brought to us by the Butterfly Pea Flower Tea

and see the cool transformation when I added the lemon juice to the tea.

Seriously, don't waste this tea on a dark mug, make sure you can enjoy not only the taste but the visual experience of this tea by using a clear or white interior mug.

Be sure to stock up on this caffeine free tea with the flavors of lemongrass and blueberries, since it is only available once in a blue moon (hehe). I really enjoyed the tea but will tell you I doubled up on the tea to make it a little stronger flavor and adding the lemon juice helped the lemongrass and blueberry flavors have more pop than they do without.

Over the past couple of years, I have really been enjoying a variety of new teas that I found at Adagio Teas, you should check out their many loose leaf tea options. You can also get some great teaware to help you enjoy your tea. I still use my toasTEA travel mug that I got a couple of years ago to enjoy hot tea on the go (or even just on my deck). I find it a little 'fun' that you flip it upside down to allow it to brew and then when you flip it back the leaves sit above your hot tea in the mug.

No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. I received a complimentary sample of Bella Luna Blue so that I could try it and share my expierence.

BeepEgg - A Singing Breakfast Party #Tryazon #Brainstream #beepegg

No compensation was received for this post. Complimentary BeepEggs and Ines Rosales torta, as well as information for the post, were provided so that I could host a party, through Tryazon.

This weekend I had the chance to host a Tryazon A Singing Breakfast Party, featuring the BeepEgg from Brainstream and Ines Rosales torta. The BeepEgg helps you make the perfect soft boiled, medium boiled or hard boiled egg.

I decided the best way to start was to demonstrate the functionality of the BeepEgg. We put a few eggs and the BeepEgg into a pan with tap water and turned on the heat.

After a few minutes, the egg beeped, letting us know that it was working and that the water had reached 45C. Then, a few minutes later, a beep to let us know the water was boiling and the stove temp could be turned down to medium. The first song the BeepEgg Classic played was 'Oh Susanna', letting us know we had perfect soft-boiled eggs.

We removed one egg and allowed the others to continue to cook. We cracked it open and took off the cap, revealing a perfect soft-boiled egg:

My mom even commented that she was so glad to have a perfect soft-boiled egg, because they are so hard to make.

The next song that the BeepEgg Classic played was 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame', letting us know we had perfect medium-boiled eggs. We removed one egg and allowed the others to continue to cook. We cracked it open and took off the cap, revealing a perfect medium-boiled egg:

The next song that the BeepEgg Classic played was 'Hail Hail the Gangs All Here', letting us know we had perfect hard-boiled eggs.

We loved that the egg sang each song multiple times and that even if you weren't standing at the stove, you could still make the perfect egg. I loved that the outside of the yolk in the hard boiled eggs was still yellow, mine always seem to be on the edge of turning green.

Now that all of the remaining eggs were hard boiled, we set out to make a few dishes to share.  My son is a fan of deviled eggs and since I use the same 'recipe' to make deviled eggs as I do for egg salad, we took the easy route and made part into deviled eggs and chopped up the rest to be egg salad.

Here the dishes are with some 'fancy' plating.  


Deviled Eggs

Open Face Egg Salad Sandwich



We also tried Ines Rosales tortas.  I hadn't thought to buy some spreads for the tortes, which everyone agreed the Sesame Seed and Sea Salt variety needed.  The Seville Orange variety was a lightly sweet treat to cap the snack.

Everyone had a great time trying the products. Two lucky party guests also took home their very own beep egg - of course, one went to my mom so that she could make perfect soft boiled eggs at home.

History
Dr. Rupprecht Gabriel, a German engineer and entrepreneur, was always annoyed by his poorly boiled breakfast eggs. They were either too runny, too hard. In 2000, he decided to solve the problem and the BeepEgg was born - an egg shaped timer that could sing and float. Shortly thereafter Gabriel formed a creative team and Brainstream became an enterprise. Brainstream strives to impress their customers with their “fun and functional” products. Their line of products include BeepEgg, Cregg, SOI - the automatic handbag light, and more.

BeepEgg
The BeepEgg - looks like an egg, feels like an egg, boils like an egg, but unlike an egg it sings. BeepEgg is a precise egg-timer, which is boiled together with real eggs. The BeepEgg and real eggs have to enter water at the same time. Once yolk and egg-white have reached the desired degree of hardness, BeepEgg will play a tune.

Watch this video to see how it works:

For more information about Brainstream please visit:
http://www.brainstream.de/index.php/en/brainstream/detail/ueber_uns

Brainstream can be purchased at: http://kitchenkaboodle.com or Amazon. Ines Rosales is available at http://yummybazaar.com and at various store retailers.

No compensation was received for this post. Complimentary BeepEggs and Ines Rosales torta, as well as information for the post, were provided so that I could host a party, through Tryazon.

Five Below #shop5B #Sponsored

This is a sponsored post for Five Below, through She Speaks. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

The wind down has begun...after weeks of crazy fall sports schedules, this past week wrapped up the remaining fall sports. Of course, the break will be short lived, as we officially kicked off winter sports with our first swim meet of the season this weekend. During the wind down and the slow period that we can enjoy for the next few weeks, we have been taking advantage of the quiet evenings and weekends and getting out and doing things as a family.

The other weekend, because we had no sports and had a few errands to run on Friday night, we took the opportunity to stop at Five Below with the kids. Five Below is a family favorite shopping destination. Usually, we head there without a shopping list, but often times we choose Five Below when we are looking for a specific (and unique) item. I think part of the appeal to the family is just the unique collection of items that they offer and that they offer them all for $5 and below. It is a great place to pick up stocking stuffers and fun items for a white elephant gift exchange.

On this trip, since we came armed with an available budget and an intent to spend it, we spent longer than normal shopping. Everyone wanted to see what was available before making any commitments.

My daughter's first stop was at the plastic shoes. They offer both a lined and unlined version. She found a pink pair in her size and tried them on. Satisfied that they fit, they were the first item added to our cart.

My son headed to the back of the store and checked out the assortment of sports balls. They seem to have one for every sport. A few minutes were spent playing with the balls and deciding if we wanted one or another.

The giant tennis balls were a hit with the kids, but they opted to skip getting a ball and continued around the store.

With the release of the new Star Wars planned for this fall, the kids were excited to check out the vast assortment on Star Wars items that were available at Five Below.

In addition to those items, they also had some posters. The kids gave them a good review, looking for the best options to update the decorations in their bedroom.

Our next stop was in the office/art section. We looked for gift options for a birthday party my daughter was planning to attend. She settled on a sketch pad and a set of colored pencils for her friend. Then, she added in another sketch pad for herself and a dry erase calendar with magnets for her room. Then we found a photo clip pack that consisted of a string that could be mounted and several small clothes pins for attaching pictures. This was a solution I had been looking for to display my daughter's ribbons from swimming, so I added this to the cart.

Our next stop was at the phone/tablet accessory wall. Their selection in the tech area is diverse. They have covers for seemingly all brands/styles of phone and tablet with several colors, styles and themes to choose from. I think my personal favorite was the Lego cover where you could attach building bricks to further personalize the cover.

They also offer charging cables and headphones. My kids are required to bring a set to school, so we always keep a few on hand to replace the ones that get lost or the cords bent and stop working.

Then, we headed up to the candy section.

The selection, oh the selection! Suddenly, the cart started to fill faster. There were the theater boxes of candy...there were three or four varieties chosen. There was the wall of 10/$1 candy items. There were three or four bags filled with personalized assortments of candy. There were gummy bears and candy corn (shh! those were mine, all mine!).

Everything we bought was $1 - $5, in even dollars, except the candy corn which was priced at $1.79, which I found odd given the typical pricing that we saw in store.

Everyone was pleased with their purchases and we headed on to tackle our remaining errands and grab dinner, although I'm pretty certain that a couple of the 10 for $1 candy items might have been consumed on the way to dinner.

This is a sponsored post for Five Below, through She Speaks. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

Spring Break Staycation - Bowling and Arcade Fun for the Family #StarLanes #Polaris

When I was a kid, Spring Break was just a week off of school. There was one year that we headed on a family vacation to Arizona, but aside from that they were just a week at home. I'm not really sure that I remember that my friends went anywhere either. There wasn't a 'fancy' term for staying home that week, it was just what we did. Nowadays, of course, the practice of staying close to home and enjoying all that your broader community offers has a label - staycation.

Now that I am a mom, we tend to spend the week of spring break close to home. Making some short driving trips, but otherwise spending time with friends. We like to fill the week with activities like bike riding (although it seems to be very windy when we do), bowling, jumping (used to be at an inflatables place, but now we have trampoline places), heading to the playground, swimming at the Y (or a water park) and hanging out with friends. This year our spring break has included play dates with friends, movies, breakfast out, swimming at the Y, board games and sleepovers. Still to come is a chocolate factory tour, movie and lunch at a dine in theater, time with Grandma and Grandpa, a trip to the science center, a visit to the bookstore, bowling and probably more dining out.

Many businesses know that there are many families doing staycations and offer specials during the week. The week before spring break, our local Y sent out a special pool schedule for spring break. I have seen special offers from many other local businesses that know that parents will be looking for something to make the break fun.

If you are in the Columbus area, or close enough to drive, like we are, then you might want to check out the special offer at Star Lanes Polaris. Their special is designed to span several weeks of spring break, so you can take advantage now through April 10th.

Pins, Pop-a-Shot and Pizza

March 16 - April 10

For $15, children ages 12 and under, will receive a kid's meal menu item, game of bowling and shoes and $5 arcard game card.

Available weekdays from 11am to 3pm. Must be accompanied by an adult.

Why not gather together your group of moms (or dads) and plan a playdate at Star Lanes. You can all visit, while the kids play or join in the fun and challenge the kids to a game.

No compensation was received for this post. A promotional gift card was provided for a future visit. All opinions are my own or that of my family.

Color Me Rad 5K in Akron #Giveaway

You know, when I was a child, I can remember participating in 5K and 10K events with my parents from time to time....of course, those events were Volksmarches, not runs. As a young adult, I did my first 5K with friends in Philadelphia. I had been living in southern New Jersey and my roommate and I joined the gym. I started to include running on the treadmill as one of my regular workout activities, so when a group said that they wanted to run, I decided to give it a go. I am proud to say that I finished, but will admit that I wound up walking a good portion of it.

When I started to run again last year, some 15 years later, I set a goal for myself that I wanted to be able to run the equivalent of a 5K. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could run a continuous 5K, but I did get there. Once I did, I set a new goal, I wanted to be able to run it in under 35 minutes. I set this goal because I decided that I wanted to run a 5K with friends and didn't want to completely lag behind. I knew that 35 minutes wasn't really great, but at least I wouldn't embarrass myself. I was able to achieve my goal and even get a little bit quicker than planned.

At this point, unfortunately, I haven't yet run a 5K, but I think that Color Me Rad might be the perfect opportunity...it even feels like something that my whole family could join in on and kids 7 and under run for free (they don't get a race bib and such, but still). It sounds like so much fun...show up nice and clean and get color bombed as you race. No worries, the dye is "non-toxic, non-rash-inducing, Kroger branded, colored corn-starch." You can learn more about Color Me Rad here. Having seen not only the pictures that they shared, but the pictures from my friends from other similar experiences, it certainly seems like an absolute blast.

Best part...they are coming to Akron...close enough for me to consider making participation a reality. The Color Me Rad 5K in Akron is scheduled for Saturday, August 17th.

And, you can too. Whether in Akron (or another community) you can find an event near your city and register on their site at colormerad.com.

And, as a special bonus, as A Busy Mom of Two reader, you have the chance to win two FREE entries to the Color Me Rad event in Akron! And, since it is for two, have your friends enter and double your chances of running the race together for FREE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway will remain open through August 6th. Giveaway is open to residents of the US only and you must be able to come to Akron to use your prize. Winners will be selected through Rafflecopter. The winners will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected. Registration with promo code must be completed by August 14th.

No compensation was received for this post. I have the opportunity to receive a complimentary race registration for myself, should I choose to run. All opinions expressed are entirely my own or that of my family.

Get the 2013 Ohio Family Fun Summer Survival Guide from HallofFameMoms.com

For those of you that are in Ohio, I recommend that you check out the just released HallofFameMoms.com second annual Ohio Family Fun Summer Survival Guide. The guide contains many ideas for summertime fun in Ohio, links to local attraction & event reviews, money saving coupons and much more.

Plus, as part of her kick-off celebration, you can enter to win an overnight stay and waterpark passes for Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort. (you can read about our experience at Fort Rapids here.)

Head to HallofFameMoms.com to enter to win and learn how to download your free copy of the Ohio Family Fun Guide Today!

Many thanks to Tracy at HallofFameMoms for including A Busy Mom of Two in the guide as a Ohio Family Fun Resource.

Pretty Muddy 5K

I am so excited to share that I get to be a part of the Pretty Muddy blog team.

I have heard of similar events before, but was not familiar with the Pretty Muddy 5K. Pretty Muddy is an All Women Mud Run, that is 5K in length and features several obstacles (more on them here). And when you are all done? - Pretty Epic Finish Line Party (entertainment, music, drinks & celebration galore).

The events are held around the country, so there's a good chance that there is one near you.

It is really short notice, but right now is the best time to register. TODAY only!, you can receive a $20 Discount on registration. This is the cheapest registration that you will find for the events this year.

2013 Pretty Muddy Events

Dallas, TX – June 1

Sacramento, CA – June 29

Chicago, IL – September 7

Columbus, OH- September 14

Richmond, VA – September 28

Atlanta, GA – October 12

Tampa, FL – November 30

Miami, FL – December 7

Interested? Here is a post that steps through how to select an event and use the code code GIRLTIME to get a $20 discount!

I am looking forward to running it. It has been 16 years since I last ran a 5K, but I like having a goal, plus it sounds like a ton of fun. Won't you join in the fun?

Kalahari Resorts Indoor Waterpark

Did you know that Kalahari Resorts in Sandusky, Ohio is America's LARGEST Indoor Waterpark? I've mentioned before that we love to take the family to indoor water parks. This time of year, when it is so cold outside, makes it even more appealing - no matter what it is like outside, the weather is always perfect inside.

One of our favorite rides at Kalahari Resorts Sandusky is the Zip Coaster. The first of it's kind, this "water-coaster" propels you through 500 feet and 30 seconds of zero to 20 mph free-falls, dips and turns. It really is pretty cool to go up on water slide.

One attraction that I have not been brave enough to try is the FlowRider. On FlowRider, 50,000 gallons of water flows under you each minute to create a five foot ocean-like wave on this exciting attraction. This stand-up ride combines the thrills and skills of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding in a wet, wild and safe environment.

For me, my favorite part about the indoor water park? Spending time with the family of course. Kalahari caters to that with their various room options, including an amazing family suite that sleeps 10 and includes a full kitchen.

Ready to book a getaway for your family? Check out the special offers (here) that they have made available just for you!

Want to learn more about Kalahari? Join us on Saturday, December 1st at 1:30 pm for a Twitter party. Watch for #Kalahari and join in on the conversation.

No compensation was received for this post. I am participating in a Kalahari posting program through US Family Guides. As a participant, my family will receive a one night stay at Kalahari. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.