Autumn Rose Reo

Free Santa Letter from the North Pole {Free Printable}

November 21, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

While there are many fun and cool services to keep the spirit of Santa alive for your children, there’s still nothing like getting something in the mail – especially when it’s a free Santa letter from the North Pole!

I know every day my kids ask if there’s anything for them. So now you do and it’s even got a postal mark from the North Pole to prove it – courtesy of the United States Postal Service, USPS. Best of all, with the exception of the postage, it’s free, promotes a writing activity with your child and will be huge when they get the letter with the stamp from the North Pole!

Here are the steps for your child to get a letter back from Santa:

1. Have your child write a letter to Santa and seal it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.

2. Tell your child that you’ll place a stamp on the envelope and mail it to St. Nick for him or her.

3. Later, when alone, open the envelope, read the letter and write Santa’s response on the back of the child’s letter. Have Santa write: “It’s important to be green and save paper. That’s why I’m writing on the back.”

4. When responding as Santa, reference your child’s accomplishments not included in his or her letter, i.e., Santa is so proud that you volunteered to help ____, or Santa is really impressed with the great job you’re doing in school — especially with math, etc. Sign it Santa Claus with a P.S. to get to bed early Christmas Eve.

5. Place the letter into a new envelope addressed to the child at his or her home. Be sure to include: Santa Claus, North Pole, as the return address on the envelope. Don’t forget to apply a First-Class stamp — such as a recently issued Santa or Rudolph Forever stamp.

6. Place the stamped envelope in a larger envelope (or Priority Mail envelope) with adequate postage addressed to:
NORTH POLE HOLIDAY POSTMARK
POSTMASTER 4141
POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

Letters from Santa must be received by the Anchorage, AK, Postmaster no later than Dec. 15, 2014.

The Anchorage Postmaster will open the envelope, remove Santa’s letter addressed to your child, apply the North Pole postmark and mail it back home. When Santa’s letter arrives, have your camera ready when you ask your child to open the letter and read it to you.

And to make it even easier, here’s a cute free Santa printable for you to download and print!

Free-Adorable-Santa-Letter-Template-MamaChallenge

Click to download the Santa Letter Template here!

Share the photos on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #SantaLetters. Keep the letters and the photos in a scrapbook as a great family keepsake.

The Letters to Santa program adds to the excitement of Christmas and is perfect for interesting youngsters in letter writing.

Remember, the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Shave the Date: Movember Ends Nov. 30 {Giveaway}

November 20, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 5 Comments

The handle bar.

The pencil thin.

The Pizza Inn.

Actually, I can go on for days of all the different kinds of mustaches that you’ve probably seen this month throughout Movember.

Some of them good. Some of them not so good.

Started as an effort in Austraila in 2013, Movember has grown to a 21-country effort that in 2013 had more than 219,000 participants and raised more $23 million. And let’s not even begin to count all the amount of hair that was cut when it was over.

However, it’s not really about the beards. Remember Movember is about getting men to talk about men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.

But when it’s all said and done…thankfully many men will take it off (we hope) and The Boardroom is ready to help us all do it in style. A proud supporter of Movember, Nov. 29 & 30, men will receive 50 percent off an Express Shave with a $5 donation to the Movember Foundation. The Boardroom is also hosting a ‘Celebrate Movember’ contest, offering Facebook fans the opportunity to win free weekly mustache trims and a free Benchmark haircut service. For each contest entry received, Boardroom will donate $10 to the Movember Foundation.

With 12 locations in DFW, including: Dallas, Addison, Las Colinas, Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, Southlake and Highland Village, the Boardroom Salon for Men was created to provide a cool, comfortable, masculine place for men to get a great haircut, shave, facial or other spa service – the ultimate relaxed grooming experience for men.

But I’m making sure for one lucky man is rewarded for his moustache-growing with either a free Benchmark haircut or a free Hot Lather Shave (both valued at $55). What a great gift for that special man!

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Make the Holidays Count with Help from Market Street

November 19, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I’m thrilled to be partnering with Market Street to highlight features, deals and more each month! #MarketStreetTX

Oh, the holidays.

My favorite time of the year. And honestly, one of the hardest times of the year, too.

I love all the decorations, the music, the tradition, the parties, the gifts…Unfortunately, that all takes work. A lot of work. And normally, that’s up to me. I want so much for things to be perfect. To look a certain way, be a certain way, and to be a remembered a certain way.

But after many years of hard work, I’ve decided that what really counts is the time we spend together. The friends I haven’t seen don’t care I spent countless hours preparing my house to look like the magazines. My family doesn’t care mom spent days putting together the perfect holiday meal. And they really don’t care if when everything’s all over, that there’s hours of cleaning up – at least not enough to pitch in (HA!)

So this year, it’s time to decide what is really important. I want to entertain and I want it to be good, but I don’t always have the time to put in.

That’s where my friends at Market S t reet make it SO easy to create the right party set up for friends or the holiday meal that your family will be talking about for years!

Just take a look at this quick, but delicious party, but it certainly doesn’t look like it’s from a container (and I didn’t do anything, but put it in the oven and then on the table.) I just went to Market Street, picked it up and served it up!

MARKET STREET SIGNATURE ITEMS

Smoked Gouda Pimiento Dip

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Market Street Cheese Balls

Artisan Breads (cracked pepper parmesan, white chocolate apricot, good n’ grainy)

Texas Brownies

Thumbprint cookies

Bacon Wrapped Quail with jalapeno

Stuffed Pork Loin

Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Stuffed Roulade (flank steak stuffed with fresh ingredients.)

Or you can get Market Street to put together the whole holiday meal for you with just one order! Take a look at the tasty Turkey Day or Christmas Dinner at http://marketstreetdfw.com/holidaydinners! My Market Street even has a separate drive-through and they will bring out your meal to you! Now that’s easy holiday entertaining!

Move Over Elf on a Shelf…Roaming Reindeers are Here! {Giveaway}

November 18, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 18 Comments

I was provided a complimentary copy for purposes of this review. However, my comments here are all my own. Affiliate link is included.

I could spend all night looking at those Elf on the Shelf ideas on Babies Rabies. Unfortunately, I can’t keep up the pace of the creative ideas on a daily basis or add one more thing to my “after the kids go to bed” list.

Thankfully, another mom felt the same pressure and gave us parents another alternative to the Elf.

Angela Meju’s Christmas keepsake and children’s book, Roaming Reindeer™, is a tale celebrating teamwork, good manners and the holiday season, and serves as a fresh, new Christmas tradition for families and classrooms around the country.

Roaming Reindeer™ is centered on Gus and Sam, two of Santa’s reindeer, who decide to help Santa by visiting little girls and boys to report back on who is naughty and who is nice.

When the pair realize there isn’t enough time to visit all of the children, they call on their friends for help. The reindeers are sent off in pairs of two and are assigned a home to visit. Reindeer 1 is in charge of going back to Santa to report naughty children while Reindeer 2 stays to keep watch.

The gift box set comes in a keepsake box which includes a Reindeer 1 and Reindeer 2. They stay in one place in the home together – until the kids are naughty, so Reindeer 1 leaves to give Santa a report. Children and siblings will keep a close eye to make sure their reindeer stay together until Christmas Eve, when they leave to help Santa deliver presents—until returning next year to keep watch! Retail cost is $34.95 and is available at Amazon.

Author Angela Meju is a nurse who currently lives in Austin with her husband and two children. She was inspired to write Roaming Reindeer™ to create her own Christmas tradition with her children, whose excitement and anticipation of Santa’s arrival grows every year.

Win your Roaming Reindeer Kit!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Insta-Thanksgiving: Turkey Flavored Popcorn and Apple Pie Juice

November 17, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 50 Comments

I received product for purposes of this review. All comments here are all my own.

Are you too busy this Thanksgiving to cook up a beautiful bird, stuffing and the works?

Or is everyone got some much on their plate (pun intended) that they don’t have time to come home and enjoy the American holiday?

Or are you watching that waistline, but are craving just one bite of fresh baked apple pie?

Don’t worry we’ve got the solution for you and we aren’t talking catering or a non-fat version of pie.

Nope.

And it’s better than mashed potato flakes, too.

Gourmet popcorn in all the flavors of Thanksgiving.

KingOfPop.com “popcorn-ized” the big meal this year via the Thanksgiving Popcorn Feast – nine flavors of popcorn combined to give you every taste of a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Flavors include: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, apple pie, pumpkin pie and strawberry cheesecake. This would be a creative hostess gift, or a real surprise for kids at the feast who expected to yawn their
way through another Thanksgiving. Available at GourmetGiftBaskets.com for $34.99.

While I didn’t pop open the sides, I did eagerly dive into a bag of Pumpkin Pie popcorn and it fit the bill. So I went ahead and finished it off, much like I’d like to do a Thanksgiving except this time it’s one kernel at time.

Right after Thanksgiving, GourmetGiftBaskets.com is offering the Holiday Gourmet Popcorn Sampler, which includes: Gingerbread, Dark Chocolate Orange, Eggnog, Holiday Anise Cookie, Cinnamon Bun, Dark Chocolate Peppermint, White Chocolate Peppermint, Tuxedo, and Strawberry Cheesecake-flavored popcorns ($39.99).

But we haven’t just popcorned Thanksgiving…they’ve juiced it, too.

Old Orchard Brands, just introduced a new line of limited-edition fruit juice cocktails to celebrate the iconic flavors of fall. Apple Pie, Caramel Apple and Apple Cherry Cobbler fruit juice cocktails are available in stores beginning in November and are the perfect additions to the season. Sweetened naturally and are made with real fruit juice, the three cocktails contain no artificial colors or preservatives. Apple Pie features hints of cinnamon, vanilla bean and nutmeg. Caramel Apple’s creamy caramel taste complements the flavor of crisp fall apples. Apple Cherry Cobbler features a blend of late summer cherries, a hint of lemon and the sweetness of juicy red apple. For a list of retailers featuring the Old Orchard limited-edition fall cocktail juices, visit

Best of all, pretty sure you won’t turn into a blueberry or be wheeled out for juicing if you take a taste.

But I would suggest brushing your teeth after munching on the Roasted Vegetables popcorn.

Wanna try the three Old Orchard Juice blends?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Credit 101: 5 Things To Teach Your Teen About Credit

November 12, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 20 Comments

When did you get your first credit card?

For me I felt it was my first step into adult hood when I opened my first Old Navy Card my freshmen year of college.

My credit limit? $200.

Thankfully, I still have it, but not without a few mishaps and learning lessons along the way. Considering your credit is like your own pass to owning a house, a car or almost anything at all, I was excited to learn even more about my credit from this sponsorship with

Honestly looking back at high school (or even college), classes like Home Economics (which many schools don’t even offer anymore) should be a requirement for EVERYONE. Training on creating a budget, understanding your credit, and even buying your own home should be something we all learn. But we don’t and the irony is, no matter how good at sports, band or science we are, we all should know at least the basics to live.

But in speaking with almost everyone I know, the moment they were 18, they opened up a credit card. And then another. And maybe even another one before things all went downhill. Then they spent the next 7-10 years fixing their bad credit and building up their score so finally they might be able to buy a house, get a good job and plan for the future.

So honestly, these five facts aren’t just for teens, but for most of us. These are good reminders that a good credit score makes a huge difference in your lifestyle for decades to come so you should learn how to take care of it the right way.

1. Credit is not free money.

Credit is a good thing, if you treat it right. And it can be the end of you, if you don’t follow the rules. Credit is more like a loan with a really high repayment rate. And if you don’t repay it when you say you are going to, the companies that gave you that piece of plastic are going to make things difficult for you. They will hunt you down and tell everyone you know or that will make a difference in your life you don’t pay things as agreed and it will be much worse than being benched from a game.

[Tweet “47% of employers use credit checks when making a hiring decision #MyCreditKarma #Ad”]

2. Get a copy of your credit report.

By law, everyone is entitled to one free report at least once a year. Thankfully gives you much more than that – for free. While it is your responsibility to manage your credit, that doesn’t mean you have to do it all by yourselfoffers free credit monitoring and notifies you of any significant changes on your credit report around the clock.

[Tweet “33% of Americans have never checked their credit report #MyCreditKarma #Ad”]

Credit monitoring is a service that tracks your credit report on a daily basis and notifies you of any significant changes on your report. Since the credit monitoring service will notify you any time a new account is opened in their name, many consumers use credit monitoring as a means of preventing identity theft. In addition, credit monitoring can help prevent errors from credit reports. Mostly notably, credit monitoring will notify you of derogatory reports such as a delinquencies from a creditor.

3. Learn to read your credit report.

I admit at first look a credit report looks like a lot like a lot of graphs, numbers and words that either you don’t understand or make it too hard to find the stuff you should be paying attention to. But it’s important to read it and understand what it says.

That big three digit number? That’s your credit score. You want your credit score to be at least 720, which is considered good by many creditors. Some aim higher than that.

4. Make a plan for change.

Sometimes you made the blunder and didn’t make a payment (or 10), but sometimes it’s just a matter of “cleaning house” with the credit agencies. Things happen. Unfortunately, if your credit has been compromised from a data breach or stolen card, you definitely need to stay on top of reporting what is yours and what isn’t yours. If you have something on your credit report you want to change, can help you find the right solution to fix your issue. Whether it’s a late bill from years ago, they will help you with a solution tailored to you.

[Tweet “25% of consumers have errors on their credit reports that might affect their credit scores. #MyCreditKarma #Ad”]

5. Make a plan for the future.

Are you planning to purchase a new home or get a loan to start your business? Then begin planning today with some of Credit Karma’s free tools like the Home Affordability Calculator and Simple Loan Calculator.

But there’s many more tools available from Credit Karma. All you have to do is sign up for free to begin taking charge of your credit future today.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Credit Karma™.

Nine Reasons To Go to Cici’s Pizza Tomorrow, Really

November 11, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 42 Comments

I was invited to learn about Cici’s New #BetterBelieveIt Taste Better at a local Cici’s Pizza. And now I want you to know Cici’s ain’t the same place you and I used to eat at. All the comments are all my own.

Do you remember your first time at Cici’s Pizza?

For me it was in college when I had $4 left in my bank account and I was starving. But after searching for that extra dollar in change I found in my car, I was able to scrape together $5…That got me an endless supply of pizza or at least as much I could put it my mouth at that setting. This is how many of us did it for years – go to Cici’s and get high quantities of pizza. It wasn’t exactly our favorite pizza, but you couldn’t argue with the value for your $5.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that thought Cici’s Pizza was alright, but wasn’t my favorite pizza to eat. I wanted more toppings and less crust to bite through. I wanted to taste my pizza, not just eat it.

Thankfully, they listened to my request and many others and this month Cici’s Pizza launched a new pizza.

1. The sauce is zestier with a new recipe (really)

2. The pizza is cheesier by doubling the cheese on more (really)

3. The toppings are tastier with better quality toppings and adding more to each pie (really)

4. The crust is yummier with a new made-from-scratch with garlic butter and less thick so there’s room for more stuff

But there was a lot more about Cici’s Pizza that I learned that I didn’t know, too.

5. While Cici’s Pizza doesn’t serve a gluten-free pizza, you can bring one from home and they will cook it for you!

6. Cici’s Pizza serves the community in so many ways including school fundraisers. youth sports discounts, birthday party packages, lunch and learns and a lot more.

7. Macaroni and Cheese Pizza? Yep. They got that and whole lot more like Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Spinach Alfredo and other fun combinations, I never knew they had. Actually, you can create your own and they’ll bring it to your table. All you have to do is ask.

When a little girl’s favorite thing is Mac n cheese, you should expect her favorite pizza to be Mac n cheese too. #betterbelieveit #pizza #macncheese

A photo posted by Mama Challenge (@autumnreo) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:46am PST

8. For $5.99 you can get a full pizza buffet with dessert, salad bar and pasta for adults (it’s even cheaper for the kids.) That’s a deal. Don’t believe me? You better believe it!

9. I am giving away a gift card for $10 to Cici’s Pizza for you to try for yourself!

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Christmas Hot List: Disney’s Big Hero 6

November 10, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I was provided with some of the Big Hero 6 for purposes of this review. However, comments here are all my own. Affiliate links included.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be sad if our Frozen DVD would stop working for just a day or two.

I’ve been trying for a couple of months to get a break (after the Frozen-themed birthday party and no Halloween), so thankfully Disney released another movie for us to get excited about with Big Hero 6.

Inspired by the Marvel comic book, the movie follows Hiro and his inflatable robot Baymax build their own gang so they can take onaa kabuki-masked villain. Featured voices in the film include Damon Wayans Jr., Maya Rudolph, and Ryan Potter.

While we didn’t make it out for opening weekend, I counted their request at more than 10 times to go.

So until then we watched the trailer…also about 10 times.

Taking them to the movies wasn’t really on the to-do list, but they weren’t about to be put off by another home viewing of Frozen.

But toys can be a good distraction.

Big Hero 6 Baymax Rocket Fist and Mask Role Play Combo Pack

Retail $20.99

Of course, every little boy wants another mask, especially when it has a flying fist. Thankfully this one is soft and styrofoam lined.

Big Hero 6 11″ Deluxe Flying Baymax with 4.5″ Hiro Action Figures

Retail $37.99

Baymax flies, makes noise and more. You’ll hate this toy, but your kids will LOVE it.

These will be on the hot list for holiday especially for the boys, so better to snag these up when you find them.

Remember Frozen toys about six months ago?

Junior League of Arlington’s The Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake

November 7, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Junior League of Arlington’s The Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

1 c. sugar
½ c. brown sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 c. flour
1 sp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar to 1 cup milk)
½ c. brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon
½ c. walnuts

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup sugar ½ brown sugar with butter.
Add eggs until well blended.
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Stir dry ingredients into dough.
Add buttermilk and nuts until well blended.
Pour mixture into 9 X 13 inch dish.
In third bowl, combine ½ c brown sugar, 4 tsps. cinnamon to create crumble topping.
Spring mixture on top of bread.
Refrigerate overnight.
When you wake Christmas morning, bake bread at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
Serve with coffee and hot cocoa!

Mini Spinach Quiches

November 7, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 2 Comments

Mini Spinach Florentine Quiches

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

(Inspired by Pillsbury’s recipe)
1 ¼ cups Original Bisquick™ mix
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
½ cup half-and-half
1 egg
2 medium green onions, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
½ cup Swiss cheese and ½ cup Cheddar cheese, blended

Instructions

Heat oven to 375°F.
Generously grease 24 mini (1 3/4×1-inch) muffin cups with cooking spray.
In small bowl, stir Bisquick mix and butter until blended.
Add boiling water; stir vigorously until soft dough forms.
Press rounded teaspoonful of dough on bottom and up side of each muffin cup.
In small bowl, beat half-and-half and egg until well blended. Stir in onions, cheese, salt and red pepper.
Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons egg mixture into each muffin cup. Sprinkle cheese over tops.
Optional: Refrigerate overnight or cook immediately.
Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and centers are set.

« Previous Page

Free Santa Letter from the North Pole {Free Printable}

Shave the Date: Movember Ends Nov. 30 {Giveaway}

Make the Holidays Count with Help from Market Street

Move Over Elf on a Shelf…Roaming Reindeers are Here! {Giveaway}

Insta-Thanksgiving: Turkey Flavored Popcorn and Apple Pie Juice

Credit 101: 5 Things To Teach Your Teen About Credit

Nine Reasons To Go to Cici’s Pizza Tomorrow, Really

Christmas Hot List: Disney’s Big Hero 6

Junior League of Arlington’s The Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake

Junior League of Arlington’s The Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Instructions

Mini Spinach Quiches

Mini Spinach Florentine Quiches

Ingredients

Instructions

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