This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt and prAna as part of the Stonyfield Yogetters Bloggers Network. Mother's Day is tomorrow and our house is in chaos; but what's new! We just started demolition on our kitchen for a very overdue remodel. Our kitchen is the original kitchen from 1985 and the cheap laminate cabinets have been painted over (poorly) several times. As of Friday afternoon the remnants of our old kitchen are now gone and we're left with dust and dreams. Day 2 demo progress! Now we break for the weekend. Cabinets installed on Monday! #kitchenrenovation A post shared by Calley Pate (@backtocalley) on May 12, 2017 at 3:14pm PDT Needless to say I'm learning to live in chaos. We saved out the essential items needed to live day to day and packed up our plates, glasses, and pantry. Most of our kitchen is now packed in boxes and bags in our garage; while the essentials are sitting on our dining room table in the living room. Even the refrigerator and ... [ Read More ]
Pear Frozen Yogurt Recipe
Pear Frozen Yogurt is a great summer treat and is super easy to make! This post is sponsored by R.W. Knudsen as part of their blog ambassador program. It's been in the 90's all week in Florida and we've been breaking all sorts of record highs for April and it doesn't look like May is going to be any cooler. Summer is here and I'm filling my freezer with some treats for my family to chill out with. I received a few bottles of RW Knudsen's Organic Pear juice in my quarterly box of goodies as part of their ambassador program and I knew I wanted to make a frozen treat. The recipe was pretty simple but I'm sure you could tweak it to your desired consistency. I honestly wish it had been a little creamier, but I have no clue what to change to make it creamier. The mixture before it was frozen was actually a really nice consistency that would have made for a nice summer fruit soup, or if it were a little thicker it would have made an amazing smoothie. I'm sure my kids would have ... [ Read More ]
Freshen Up Your Yard for Spring
This post is sponsored by Coca-Cola and Walmart Garden Center. #CokeFlorida #SpringFlowers #CokeAmbassador Now that we're home from Spring Break, it's a great time to get started freshening up the front yard for spring. The flowers are starting to poke their heads out from between the weeds. I'd love to say that I was the one outside getting my hands dirty, but I left most of the work to the boys this year. It's not that I don't enjoy gardening, but the girls were busy selling Girl Scout cookies when they started the front yard. They started by clearing out the weeds and trimming the overgrown plants and shrubs. In Florida we don't have much of a winter season and our greenery is pretty green year-round. If we don't trim things back they will overtake the house! After everything was cut back and weeded it was time to freshen up the mulch. It's amazing how much a fresh bag of mulch can brighten up a front yard and make it look perfectly landscaped. Coca-Cola is currently ... [ Read More ]
Visitors Guide to the Valspar Championship 2017
It's March in Palm Harbor which means it's time for golf! If you've followed my blog for a while you'll know that March is my favorite month of the year. It's filled with birthday's and anniversaries and Spring Break and vacations and GOLF! Each year the PGA Tournament comes to our backyard with the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort. Golf? Yes, golf. I promise it's a fun spectator sport, or at least Valspar and Innisbrook make it fun! The Valspar Championship is known as the most colorful PGA tournament in the world. Spring is in full bloom in Florida and the courses are blooming with colorful flowers. I have a good friend who is in the landscape business and he's always in awe of how manicured the grounds are. The grounds are so colorful and it's always so joyful to walk around the tournament. You feel like you've escaped the busy life around you when you drive into Innisbrook and walk around the course. There are events happening all week long at Innisbrook surrounding ... [ Read More ]
Oh, Kale Yeah! Sprouts is now open in Tampa!! #NewKaleInTown
This post is written through a partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market. It's finally here, the new Sprouts Farmers Market is finally open in Tampa!! My son and I got to visit the newest location in Carrollwood for their Friends & Family night and blog tour. We got a quick tour and overview of Sprouts with their staff and then had some time to shop on our own. I really didn't have much on my shopping list this week, but I still managed to find some essential items and bargains that I couldn't resist. If you're near Carrollwood I would recommend visiting them between now and Sunday; their Grand Opening specials are running all weekend long. I couldn't pass up the $1 strawberries, $1 pineapples, and 3/$1 avocados. Be sure to download their mobile app before you go so you can take advantage of the Sprouts mobile coupons, no more clipping necessary! As we walked in I was immediately in love with the adorable little succulents and the bright, vivid orchids. I do not have ... [ Read More ]
Tips for Saving Money on Organic Foods
This post is written through a partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market. I've made this confession before, but I don't always buy organic foods. Shopping organically can be expensive and most families just can't afford the extra expense to buy only organic foods. While we could probably afford more than what we spend on groceries, it's very hard to commit to spending THAT much more every time we shop. I'm very excited to see all the money saving options that Sprouts is bringing to the Tampa area for organic, natural, and non-GMO groceries. Grand Opening Specials The Grand Opening of Sprouts in Carrollwood is next week and shoppers have several options to save money. Sprouts will be opening at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, February 22nd and the first 200 shoppers in line will get a coupon for 20 percent off their entire purchase. That's a huge savings for anyone who's up early enough to stand in line that morning. Sprouts will be serving coffee and muffins to everyone in line before the ... [ Read More ]
Shop Fresh, Shop Local, and Shop Small
This post is written through a partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market. What does it mean to "shop local?" In today's "Amazon" world everyone is migrating to instant gratification and wanting to order everything online, knowing that it will be delivered tomorrow. The meaning of shopping local is changing. Small businesses are closing their doors. Buildings are sitting vacant for longer. They can't compete with the Amazon-lifestyle. I'm pretty sure the only places I've shopped locally within the last month has been our grocery store, craft store, and drugstore. Aside from that anything that we need we usually order online and have it delivered to our house. However, I'm not much of a shopper so our needs are pretty limited. I don't think I'll ever start grocery shopping online. That would require me to have a set meal plan and use a grocery list to know exactly what I need days in advance. No more stopping by the grocery store on the way home to grab a few things for ... [ Read More ]
Blogger Secret 101: Life is not always picture perfect!
This post is sponsored through a partnership with Stonyfield Yogurt company and their YoGetters Blogger program. Can I tell you a secret (or ten) about blogging and parenting? I don't always make elaborate meals like what you see on my blog or Instagram, I don't always have a clean home, and my kids don't always have the best packed lunches. I am a crazy mom who works full time on top of all the regular mom duties. My average day starts at 7am when my alarm goes off and I have an hour to get both kids (and myself) presentable to the world for school. There are lots of days when we sleep in and snuggle instead of having a perfectly pressed school uniform and perfect hair. Wrinkles are like dust bunnies; both welcome in our home! We usually rush off to school with some jelly sandwiches (because peanut butter is banned at our school) with some chips and whatever else my kids throw in their lunchboxes. On a good day I'll catch them taking fruit, yogurt or Stonyfield ... [ Read More ]
Chocolate Cookie Butter Balls & More Recipe Fun with Sprouts Brand
The recipes in this post are brought to you through a partnership with Sprouts Farmers Markets. About a week ago a huge box of goodies arrived from Sprouts Farmers Market full of pantry staples from their private label. My box arrived on a day when we were running all over town and it sat in the trunk of our Jeep until about 10pm. We had errands to run after school, then we had our Girl Scout meeting, ran by son up to a youth group meeting, grabbed a quick dinner with some friends, back to get my son and finally home to get both kids ready for bed. It was such an exhausting day, but my kids really wanted to help me open the box. This was the box that never ended, the goodies were packed deep in the box. It was a fun box to open. Lots of spice, some sweet heaven in a jar (i.e. Cookie Butter), and a few essentials that will stock our pantry for a while. We (almost) immediately opened the jar of Cookie Butter for a quick snack before heading off to bed! If you missed my ... [ Read More ]
Sprouts Farmers Market coming to Carrollwood
This post is written through a partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market. It doesn't take long for the news to spread when something new is headed to your neighborhood. Several months ago some friends circulated a post on Facebook about a new farmers market grocery store that was going in down the street from us. The building has been under construction for months and there are no signs out front yet. Fast forward to December of last year when one of their communication specialists reached out to me about working on an upcoming campaign to announce the store to the Tampa Bay area. I was very curious to know if this was the same store I had heard about earlier in the year. Is Sprouts Farmers Market coming to Tampa Bay?? Is there really going to be a new place for me to shop locally for natural and organic foods...without having to drive 20+ minutes to "the other guys?" Yes!!!! Sprouts Farmers Market is opening several stores in the Florida area in 2017; including Tampa! The ... [ Read More ]