10% Off Overstock.com

I was contacted by Overstock.com to give my readers an ongoing 10% code to use at their store. They already have big discounts. There is free shipping for your first order and $3 for shipping and handling after your first purchase.

I really like their coffee pots!

Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System

  This single cup brewing system brews coffee or tea.

Cuisinart CHW-12 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker with Hot Water System

You can enjoy many things with this machine! It is a hot water system, so soup, cocoas, teas and much more can be made.

Their gift basket section has a lot of choices! A gift basket for just about any event you can think of. 

'Happy Birthday to You' Gift Bag

This one is full of good treats and bright colors!

Snack Attack Small Gift Basket

This one is full of all kinds of treats.

The discount code: 121728


It is good for any purchase at Overstock.com and it is ongoing. Go pick out something fun!

All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

Fun Follow Friday!

• It's Fun Follow Friday! 
• Click on the link above and add your blog. Other people will check out your blog and you can check out many blogs too!
• When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the Fun Follow Friday. Of course, they would love for you to follow both hostesses blogs, Simply Stacie and My Wee View, but it isn’t mandatory. If you do follow them, just leave them a comment and they will follow you back.
• The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you!
• If you like this blog you might like one of my other blogs as well: Milking the Issue and The Apel's.

Lego Cake

Yesterday we celebrated my husband and younger sister's birthdays. My sister Terra made a carrot cake and I made a chocolate Lego cake.

My husband loves to build Lego towers with the kids, so I thought I'd try it out.

The raised areas are marshmallows cut in 1/2, and frosted.

I do have to say that I love chocolate cake, but it's harder to frost. I has only a thin slice of the carrot cake my sister made. It was yummy! She made it with applesauce. It had a limited amount of sugar in it.

*A side note. I stepped on the scale yesterday, and found out that I've lost 20 pounds since the summer! It doesn't really look like I have. I've lost it all over, and not in one spot. My mom says that's the healthiest way.

Cake Pops

Bakerella has put out a book on making Cake Pop's. This book will be on my Christmas list.
Here's the promo video for the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3TD3GA6P8LX4L
I've made what I call Cake Ball before. It's using the same method as Bakerella does; I just don't add the sticks, and get as fancy as hers.
Maybe I'll get more fancy over Christmas time.

I Won!

I won the Make Your Own Chocolate Kit from Glee Glum!

Before Christmas, I'll be making some chocolate with my 5 year old son Mica. I think we'll give his preschool teachers a treat!


I'll post about it on here when we are in the kitchen together.

Blast Off!

The cookies: The Rocket and Stars
The Rest: Photoshop layers, lots of layers

I'm not sure if it's done.

Glee Glum

I think the make your own kits from Glee Glum are so great! I like them because they are something that I could do with my 5 year old. I could see us in the kitchen with apron's on making chocolate for his preschool teachers.

Chubby Cheeks Thinks is giving away a Glee Glum Make Your Own Chocolate Kit!

Hurry up, the giveaway ends today!

Another Robot Cake

I made another robot cake for my oldest son's friend birthday party.

I made some rocket cookies to go in the kid's treat bags. There were some wind up robots I found at Target that went in their bags as well. They are so cute!

 Check out the rocket my hubby made for my son's room! The kids really enjoyed themselves!

Birthday Cake's

It took Mica awhile to blow out his candles.

• Here's the cakes. I like the robot one. I got the stuff to decorate that one, cut the cake out, mixed the frosting, and daddy decorated it while I cleaned. I'm making another robot cake next week for Mica's friend birthday party. Then I'll make preschool treats coming up. 

• I'll post the other treats I make soon!

• I decorated the space shuttle and give myself a C-. The red just was blobbing as I squirted it out. Of course if you remove it, it turns the white frosting pink. 
• This is when I like cookies better then cake. With cookies you mess one up, throw it away, and move onto the next one.

Health Update

I met with a dietician. I just need to watch what I eat calorie wise. I did not fast to loose weight. I only fasted for lab work, to check for diabetes. I do not have diabetes! :)

I've started eating better. I wasn't eating bad before, just better now. All the sweets you see on this blog are usually for events/people, not for myself. My main problem is not eating too much, it's more about staying active. I broke my foot this year, and since then I've gotten into bad habits. This too I've started to change.

I've started a new blog along with another girl about healthy eating if you'd like to see it, click here.

I'll still post on here from time to time. In fact I'll be putting up a robot cake soon that I'm making for my oldest son's birthday party at the end of next week. My little guy is turning 5! I'll be posting birthday treats for his preschool class as well. No cake for me.

Winner

I picked a winner for the csn | stores $40 giveaway! It is Pixie! Congrats. I will be sending her an email shortly.

Giveaways Ending Tomorrow at Midnight!

• I have two giveaways going on that end tomorrow! 
• They are both for csn | stores ($40 gift certificate) and can be found here and here.

Fasting, Fasting, Fasting

• We had company all weekend, and yesterday I made yummy feta cheese burgers with chopped up tomatoes, chopped green onion, worcestershire sauce and oat meal in them. Oh and sides of salad, cheesy potatoes and watermelon. 
• My supper consisted of couscous, tofu, plain lettuce and watermelon.
• Last week I learned that I have high cholesterol and my blood sugar is elevated.
• I have to go in today to get more blood work done. 
• Summer school is going on until the end of the week, so I wanted to get this lab testing rolling. My appointment isn't until 3:45 today-after class. I had to fast for 12 hours. Most people test in the morning.
• I stayed up late last night, and had an additional meal of couscous, tofu, plain cucumber and grapes. This might be my new life because I need to start taking better care of myself. 
• My cholesterol isn't too incredibly high. It's 206. I have a family history of high cholesterol, over weight family members and diabetes. I told my doctor that I want to lose weight, so that is the path I'm on.
• I have to say that I've never been too bad with food. I could be better. I make great baked things in the kitchen that I, or Daddy take to work. I don't devour them myself. 
• At this present moment in time I could eat a horse, and it's lunch time for most everyone, but me.
• I'm walking more during lunch time at work. It's a start, but I need to exercise more, a lot more.

CSN | Stores - Giveaway!

• I'm so excited because this is my first giveaway!
• CSN | Stores has so many things to choose from with their 200 + stores. 
• I had a chance to do a review for them on my family site, The Apel's.
• I picked out a clock and valance for my son Isaak's room.

• CSN | Stores has most anything you can think of! They have a great selection of furniture, lighting and cookieware.

 CSN | Stores is giving away to one lucky reader a $40 gift certificate! 

Include your email address if you do not have it public in your profile. You can enter if you are not a blogger.

1. For your first mandatory entry, check out CSN | Stores and tell me what you'd pick out with your gift certificate if you won!
2. For a second extra, entry copy and paste my Cookie Art button and add it to your site. 
3. For a third extra entry, {like} me on Facebook. Leave your Facebook name in your entry.
4. For a forth extra entry, enter my other CSN Giveaway on my site Milking the Issue.
5. For a fifth extra entry, Google Friend me.

• You do not need to enter all of the entries to be qualified, just the first entry.
• Remember to leave your email address if it is not public in your profile. 
• This contest closes in 2 weeks July 30 at midnight. 
• The winner will be chosen using random.org.

This giveaway closed on July 30.

Disclaimer: The opinions on this post are my personal take on the products. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. If you have questions about this post please contact me at: alissa4illustration@hotmail.com

Giveaway Scout

• Giveaway Scout is a very useful tool to get the word out about giveaway's.
• If you are someone that has giveaways, I strongly recommend using this connection.
• I entered the giveaway above into Giveaway Scout.