Crockpot Christmas Cider

Crockpot Christmas Cider

Ingredients:

64 oz Apple juice

8 oz caramel ice cream topping

1-1/2 teaspoon imitation cinnamon extract (way cheaper than cinnamon sticks)

1 orange (sliced into round sections)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients (except the orange) into your crockpot. Stir it until it’s well blended yo! Then – grab that orange that we left out and slice it into round sections. Add those into the mixture, they float on the top and it makes the cider look all fancy and stuff. Turn your crockpot on low and simmer it for about 3 hours or so. You can serve this drink hot or cold! Garnish it with whipped cream! If you save the apple juice bottle you can use a funnel and pour the left over cider in it and store it in the fridge! Enjoy!

Photograph Friday | Hickory Dickory Park

We went to the park yesterday - it was so stinking hot! (See sweaty Silas lol) I brought along the Olympus E-410 since it was so nice and sunny outside. I ended up having to bribe Silas with a drink from McDonald's (he calls it old McDonald's haha) to get him to leave. Poor Miri was perspiring-up-a-storm by the time we got to the car! Bless her heart - she is just like her daddy.

Review | Hot Tools Salon Marcel Curling Iron & KQC Thermal Shine Spray

Hot Tools Salon Marcel Curling Iron (1-1/2")

$45.95 on Flat Iron Experts ♥

I'm going to be honest with you - this hair styling tool was very intimidating when I first took it out of the box. I found it pretty difficult to use. I really wanted to do this review using my own hair, but alas...it was too short! (That had a lot to do with my difficulty) So - I asked my sister India if she would help me out! (She was happy to)

(Hmmm, am I doing it right?)

My little sister just so happens to have super-long-gorgeous-Taylor-Swift-hair that was perfect for this Marcel curling iron. It took us several minutes (and a few YouTube videos) to get the hang of it. (Our grandmother also helped us out a bit) ^_^ Here is some helpful information about the product...it's a very snazzy styling tool.

Pulse Technology - for gets hot...stays hot performance. Fast heat-up and instant heat recovery. Maintains constant, even heat while you style. (This thing gets hella-hot people, I recommend removing all children from the vicinity when it's in use)

24k Gold Styling Surface - Distributes heat evenly, produces perfect heat for beautiful, long-lasting, durable curls, and a smooth surface for frizz-free styling. 

Professional Features:

-Rheostat control with variable heat settings up to 430 degrees fahrenheit

-Power indicator light

-Locking/rotating main and Marcel handles 

-Separate on / off switch

-Foldaway safety stand

-8ft. professional cord

-One-year warranty!

YouTube is a very helpful resource when you are trying to learn how to correctly use a Marcel curling iron. (Or any hair styling tool for that matter) I'm going to link a video here to give you a better demonstration than we could provide. If you watch the video - it is probably pretty clear that mastering this tool is all in the hand technique. (Finger placement  - people...it's important!)

 India and I used a thermal shine spray by KQC when styling her hair. It is also available on the Flat Iron Experts website. :)

KQC Thermal Shine Spray

$13.99 on Flat Iron Experts ♥

I highly recommend this spray, unlike other brands...it doesn't have that weird glue smell. It can be used with all of your favorite styling tools, and it's perfect for all hair types. The spray prevents infrared heat damage that results in those nasty split-ends. (Gasp! Nobody wants nasty split-ends!)

Isn't it lovely!? I cannot wait till my hair is longer so I can try out this Marcel curling iron. If you do decide to purchase one - please don't get frustrated! (I'm afraid that I've made it sound super scary) Eventually you will figure it out! :) It is basically like a traditional curling iron...just without the spring loaded mechanism. It also requires the user to keep a constant pressure on the handle when styling. The end result is beautiful - so I definitely think it's worth the extra effort. 

Are you interested in either of the products that I have mentioned today? Please go check out Flat Iron Experts for all of your styling tool needs.  They are very knowledgable and have great customer service. 

 

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Hotel Review | Rite4us Inn & Suites - Smyrna, GA

Matt and I recently booked a hotel room at Rite4us Inn & Suites in Smyrna, GA. This particular hotel was located pretty close to many places that we wanted to visit (Atlanta) that weekend. (July 12th 2013) We had an interesting stay here, (lol - seriously interesting) so I thought it appropriate to do a blog review about it. 

Photo credit - Booking.com (Standard Queen room)

Right when we first walked inside the building I had a bad feeling about my choice to stay this hotel. It had an interesting odor. (We were given two free Rite4us Inn & Suites t-shirts though?) I booked our stay through the website Booking.com - $44.99 + 15% tax was the advertised price. Booking.com listed one other place that was a bit cheaper but it didn't have continental breakfast, so Rite4us won. 

If you live in the South you are probably aware of how humid it can get around here. Let me just say that the humidity level inside this establishment is probably double what it is outside. (I kid you not son) All we can figure is that they turn off the air conditioners after you check out of your room - and that has somehow affected the moisture level in the building? (Can you imagine the mold?) When we walked into our room all I could do is laugh. The room was literally just a bed and a tiny bathroom! (The lights took 2-3 minutes to turn on in the bathroom) The floor showed signs of bad moisture damage and it was dewey...sticky even. (So gross to walk on without shoes) Our air conditioner was frozen up and it was probably about 89 degrees in the room. The large flatscreen television on the wall was the only positive note. (That and no bedbugs lol) We laid our bags down and sprawled out on the bed and began to watch Family Guy for a bit before I decided it best to ask Matt to go request a room with working air. 

The man at the desk was extremely apologetic when he heard about the humid room and the broken air conditioner and moved us to a room similar to this one...

5300 South Cobb Drive, Smyrna, GA 30080

Photo credit - Booking.com (Queen Suite) 

The next room was considerably larger - but the air conditioner was still off. (This room is listed at $54.99 a night + 15% tax) Matt fiddled with it for a minute and had it blasting cool air within a few minutes. (Thank Jeebus!) So eventually, we got cooled off. The floors in this room were still slick with moisture and the ceiling had a few water spots here and there. It had the same large flatscreen television that the previous room had - so we resumed watching Adult Swim. The rest of the night was pretty peaceful, besides people coming home at all hours of the night and being a bit noisy. (Maybe even fiddling with our doorknob) I'm not sure why - but I didn't realize that this hotel was also an extended stay place...so quite a few people actually lived there. 0_0 (Bless their hearts) I'm thinking everybody had been out enjoying adult beverages...

Matt set an alarm for 8:30 AM so we could enjoy some continental breakfast the next morning...that ended up being laughable! He went down to the front office to check it out and quickly returned only to tell me that they had a pathetic excuse for a breakfast set out. (Two containers of frosted flakes, and one mini bagel?) Matt ended up having a brilliant idea though! We went to IKEA and ate a fantastic breakfast for only $5.16! :)

The rest of our trip was actually very pleasant and we had a wonderful time. Lots of IKEA-goodness and various shopping malls. The trip was an overall success. Rite4us taught us a valuable lesson though - less is not always more...and the term "free continental breakfast" can be used very loosely. ;) I cannot recommend this hotel.