Holiday Giveaway - Tassimo Brewing System

The weekend is here, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and the holiday season is in full prep mode.  The tree lighting at The Grove here in LA went off last Sunday--no joke, there were fireworks going off for 30 minutes, which means my town is already getting wreaths on the doors and lights on the bushes.

New Dress A Day - christmas tree lightingIt's started!!

This is my favorite time of year because it means lots of QT with the family, lots of seasonal flavors, and lots of multitasking.  It has been perfect timing getting to work with TASSIMO™ on today's post because my to-do checklist has already hit multiple pages and I am in need some caffeine assistance. TASSIMO™ sent me one of their machines to try out (don't worry, one of you guys is going to get one too!) and I kind of fell in love because it made me feel like a DIY coffee master.  I've never been all that good at making coffee, which really doesn't make sense because you fill the scoop with the proper amount of grounds and then add the water to coincide...there's not much to mess up, right?  I think consistency is my issue--sometimes I'm super tired in the morning after late work nights and I forget if I just put in scoop five or six and then either put in too much or too little water.  Oy, those are my mornings on the regular.  Let's just say that lots of time is spent at coffee houses working and getting caffeinated. These machines are pretty magical because they work with INTELLIBREW™ technology, which means a perfect cup of coffee is brewed each time.  No mistakes (!!!).  No mess ups (!!!).  Their T DISCs, which are filled with the coffee grounds/tea leaves, have bar codes on them that the machine reads to create and make your chosen beverage perfectly--the proper water temperature, amount of water used, and brew time are all located on those codes.  Totally feels like The Jetsons, right?

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning CoffeeCoffee making time!  

I rocked the Pumpkin Spice latte like a champ after inserting the disc and pressing one easy button.  

Who's unlocking the perfect cup of coffee (or peppermint hot chocolate) this holiday season?  This gal!!

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning CoffeeNew Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning Coffee Steamy

Post-use, the discs come out with the center pierced and that's the clean up.  I was totally intrigued that my delish espresso came from inside that guy!

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning Coffee All done! (Doesn't it look like Don King's hair a little??) 

The machine also acts as a mirror, if you so decide!  (OK totally kidding, but I loved this shot that got me making breakfast!)

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning Coffee Reflections!

The cool thing about this machine is that you get a coffeehouse variety of T DISC options and they're all made in minutes.  On-the-go students, busy moms and dads, work at home peeps like me, coffee aficionados...everyone can benefit.  I'm going to have my espresso/tea latte/crema game down pat by Thanksgiving! Here's my past week of brewin'

Weekend breakfast...

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning Coffee - Turkey KielbasaTurkey kielbasa, you are delicious.

 Work week kick-off...

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning CoffeeWork prep! 

Afternoon brainstorming sessions... 

New Dress A Day - Tassimo Giveaway - Morning Coffee Gettin' down to business, computer on my lap!

Just the right amount of caffeine to get me ready to tackle this piece!

New Dress A Day - vintage muumuu - Goodwill - thrift store shopping Muumuu!!!!

You'll see the finished product post-Thanksgiving as it's coming with me on vacation, but in the interim, let's giveaway a TASSIMO home brewing machine!  You can unlock the perfect cup of coffee this holiday season just like me.  To enter, leave a comment below answering this question: Why is the TASSIMO is a rad gift for the holidays? 

Also with Black Friday making waves (Macy's/Walmart/Michael's are all opening on Thanksgiving for the first time this year - that is simply too crazy!), TASSIMO™ has a bunch of offers to get down on Cyber Monday with! Using the code TACYMON3 at checkout, get 20% off T DISCS and get 20% off brewers with 2 free packages of T DISCS.  (*this offer is only valid in the US on TassimoDirect.com. Cannot be combined with other offers.  Limit 1 coupon redemption per customer.  20% T DISC discount limited to 6 packages, 20% brewer discount limited to 2 brewers.  Offer valid only on 12/2/2013 until 11:59PM PST) 

Sweepstakes Rules: No duplicate comments.  You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: 1 - Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post 2 - Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post 3 - Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post 4 - For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.  Winner will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.  You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.  The Official Rules are available here.  This sweepstakes runs from 11/26/13 - 12/23/13. Be sure to visit the Tassimo page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!  

 

 

Outfit Rewind: Blue Vintage Leopard Print Dress

I loved this leopard print dress that Cathy in NC sent my way to use! New Dress A Day - DIY - VIntage Dress - Blue Leopard Print

When I wore it the first time, only a few weeks ago, I made it into a top that I paired with jeans:

New Dress A Day - DIY - VIntage Dress - Blue Leopard Print

(For a refresher on the full post, click HERE!)  For the second wear, I went this route...

LEATHER!!!

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

I was invited to a chic, punk themed party (à la the Met Ball) so I thought this pairing would be perfect.

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

A little leopard print/leather mix was just the right amount of edge for the soiree!  I even crafted a little Alexander McQueen/tartan-esque fascinator to wear as well!

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

It seems like blue was the color of choice for the evening, because RNW was rocking the same hue!

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shoppingNew Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

JMT and I flanked the birthday girl and he even got into the DIY spirit and wore a safety pin tie!!  I want to safety pin something too now!

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

We had a fun night taking oodles of photos...

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

...and pointing out our matching skirts...

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

I even got a pic with the birthday girl, showing off the clip that I made her!  She had fab blue extensions in her hair and the round rhinestone/chain link/pearl clip was just the bit of bling to make her updo sparkle!

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

By the end of the night we were all danced out.  The warm coat went on and home we went.

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

Such a fun themed night to re-wear my top in a completely different way!

New Dress A Day - blue leopard print dress - Goodwill - thrift store shopping

I think I'm going with LOOK #2 as my fave!  What do you guys think?

Outfit Rewind: Leopard Print Teaser

Happy Monday!  The full post will be up later this afternoon, but in the interim here's a little teaser. I went back and re-wore the top that came from this belle of a dress...

New Dress A Day - DIY - VIntage Dress - Blue Leopard Print

...and made a fascinator to accompany it.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Alexander McQueen -fascinator

There was a punk rock party on the agenda this past weekend, and my blue, glittered, leopard print top was exactly what I was going to wear.  Photos to come...