Between the Lines: 1/30/11

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop

It's Spotlight Saturday Hosted By

Between the Lines, Survey Junkie, and Little Yaya's

Welcome to our fun blog hop with a twist! Every week swing by to link up your blog and one you want to spotlight! Did you find a new blog you liked this week? Is there one you visit on a daily basis? Well, simply link up your Spotlighted blog right under yours. We will Spotlight our favorite blogs of the week in spots 4, 5, and 6.

This week is Spotlight a favorite Blog! I'm Spotlighting Jodi from The Magical Mouse Schoolhouse ! Next week we will be spotlighting one of our favorite Food Blogs!

How it Works

1) Link up your own blog.
2)Link up a blog you want to spotlight for the week.(ex. Spotlight: Roslyn's Closet)
3) Follow your three hosts.
4) Grab our button and post it on your sidebar or in a Spotlight Saturday Post.
5) Follow as many blogs from the list as you like and leave a comment so they know you stopped by.
6) Return the favor by following blogs that followed you.
(Be aware that URL's cannot be duplicated so please have a second spotlight choice in mind. If your blog's URL has already been spotlighted, just add one you'd like to spotlight. And don't forget to leave a comment with the blog you spotlighted so they can come and join the blog hopping fun! )

Friday, February 4, 2011

Don't Miss Spotlight Saturday!

Welcome to all my new Fun Follow Blog Hoppers! I am so glad to have you here on Between the Lines! Hope you all come back tomorrow to join us, along with Survey Junkie and Little Yaya's, for our Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop tomorrow!!! Link up your own blog and another that you would love to share with the rest of us! Linky opens at midnight!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Kidorable Winner!

Congratulations to HomemadeBaby! You are the winner of the Kidorable Ballerina Umbrella Giveaway! HomemadeBaby won with comment #78, "I am a newsletter subscriber." The winner has 48 hours to accept her prize or a new winner will be randomly selected. Thanks to everyone who entered and a HUGE thank you to Kidorable for offering such a great giveaway!

Boost Your Buzz $1000 Giveaway!

Increase your Social Media presence and online exposure with Boost Your Buzz!! Are you looking for more Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Email subscribers, Google Friend Connect follower's and want to get your name out there and seen by thousands of people? We can help you do just that!

From April 1st through the 15th Simply Stacie, Little Yaya's and Survey Junkie will be hosting the Boost Your Buzz $1,000 Giveaway where one lucky person will win $1,000 cash. The giveaway will be similar to our highly successful Follower Giveaway Tours where participants will follow various social media accounts of different companies/blogs ( ie. Google Friend Connect,Facebook and Twitter ) to gain entry into the giveaway. They will be given one entry for each blog/business they follow/like/subscribe, etc..

We would love to include your blog or business in our giveaway and have the entrants follow, like or subscribe to YOU! Join the Build Your Buzz Giveaway and we will send our readers to your sites and ask them to follow or subscribe to you in exchange for their entry.

Visit Survey Junkie to view packages and get signed up

Make sure you let us know that Kelly from Between the Lines sent you :)

Recipe Corner: Three Bean Chili

On Superbowl Sunday, some friends and I are have a Chili Cook-Off! I've been searching for the perfect recipe and ended up picking and choosing from a few different ones. Now I know you should never go to a Cook-Off with a dish you've never prepared before, but I have faith that this combination of ingredients is going to be fantastic. Now any of you coming to the cook-off STOP reading now! LOL! No copying. Do you have a favorite Chili recipe?

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion,minced (You can chop them, but this way I can hide them from my hubby:)
2 (15 ounce) cans chili beans in spicy sauce
1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
4 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (16 ounce) jar hot salsa
1/8 cup chili powder
1/8 cup ground black pepper
1/8 cup red pepper flakes
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 pounds ground beef

Directions

In a large pot over medium heat, combine garlic, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, black beans, diced tomatoes, salsa, chili powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer.
While soup is heating, cook beef in a large skillet over medium heat until brown. Drain excess fat, then stir beef into soup pot. Simmer, covered, until flavors are well blended, about 1 hour.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Blogmania: April 2011

Last year Blogmania was a huge success for Between the Lines and our sponsors. Everyone had fun and we were introduced to many new wonderful businesses. Behind the scenes, however, things weren't running as...let's say politely as I felt that they should be. So as a result, I decided to take a step back, focus on my own giveaway and sponsors, and not return to Blogmania the next season. This was a very hard and disheartening decision for me to make because I had enjoyed participating so much in the past.

Thankfully, a few weeks ago I discovered that Blogmania was under new management and things were on there way back to the way they used to be. The April Blogmania team, headed by Bree Anderson, is now focused on fun, support, and teamwork. I cannot tell you what a breath of fresh air this is. With all the speculation and trouble that has followed Gina Parker, it is nice to know that she is no longer has any association with Blogmania.

With all that being said, look for Between the Lines at the April Blogmania Event. I am excited to join such a great group of bloggers who are working together to promote wonderful businesses, products, and services. Unfortunately, I am getting a bit of a late start here, so if anyone is interested in being a sponsor, please contact me at betweenthelines-kam at hotmail dot com.

SwimSpot.com Review

I know many of you are enjoying the winter weather right now, but I have never been a huge fan of the cold. So during the cold snowy months I dream about warmer weather and spending some time on the beach. During the past few weeks, SwimSpot.com has helped me take my mind off cold toes and cracked hands by giving me the opportunity to peruse through their site and pick something to use once all this cold white stuff melts away. With all their Designer Swimwear to choose from, it was definitely a difficult choice.

Swimspot.com was recently praised by Lucky Magazine as being one of the top ten websites offering designer Womens Swimwear. They carry brands from Hurley and Tommy Hilfiger, to Athena and Guess. Yet despite their extensive collection of swimwear for women, their website is extremely easy to navigate. I loved that there were so many different ways to search for the perfect item. Swimspot.com allows its customers to search its swimsuits by designer, style, trends, body type, color, size, or even price. Whether you are looking for the perfect Bikini or the most stylish coverup, Swimspot.com has you covered.

I had recently purchased a new swimsuit, so my goal was to find the perfect coverup. I needed something that could do it all. I need to be able to wear my coverup to the beach,but also to the local beach restaurant to grab some lunch or dinner. After much debate, I happily settled on the coverup pictured to the right. Typically when I buy online, I am concerned the item won't fit or feel right. So 9 times out of 10, I just don't buy it. SwimSpot.com offers free shipping, free returns, and free exchanges. With that kind of promise, there is really nothing else to worry about.

Visit SwimSpot.com today and find the suit that is your perfect fit. Make sure to take advantage of a Fit Specialist while you are there. And join them on Facebook to keep up with the latest fashion trend and SwimSpot.com promotions.