How I'm Cleaning During the Holidays - Swiffer Bissell Steamboost {giveaway}

This post is brought to you by Swiffer Bissell Steamboost. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. 

I can't believe 2013 is coming to a close. The year has flown by and I know next year is going to go by just as fast (if not faster) when we welcome our baby boy in April. 

I have really enjoyed the holidays this year, but they are definitely a lot of work. You all know I love to bake, but with baking your bound to make a mess. As much as I try to keep the powdered sugar in the bowl, it somehow always makes its way to the floor! 

So to help me clean up the mess I made during my holiday baking this year, I had the opportunity to try out the new Swiffer BISSELL STEAMBOOST.

The Swiffer Bissell Steamboost is basically a combination of the Swiffer, which I think most everyone is familiar with and a steam cleaner. I love using steam to clean since you can get better results without harsh chemicals. 

The Swiffer Bissell Steamboost took no more than 5 minutes to put together and get up and running. You just take the pieces out of the box, snap a few together, fill the chamber with water, attach the cleaning cloth and then plug into the wall. Then, in about a minute you're ready to start steam cleaning. 

The machine was pretty easy to use. All you do is push the button when you want the steam to come out. Since I had a big sugary mess on my floor, I was pushing that button quite a bit. But if you're mess wasn't that big you probably only need it every few seconds or so. 

One of the drawbacks of the steam mop is since you need to plug it in, you can only travel so far with the machine before you need to unplug and put into a closer outlet. My kitchen is fairly big and I still only needed to do this once, so it really wasn't a big deal. You probably want to change out the cleaning pad  for a new one too if you're doing a large area. 

I was pretty impressed with the Swiffer Bissell Steamboost. My floors were cleaned only a few days before my baking so I didn't think it would clean-up more than what I spilled on the floor that day. But from the photo above you can see that it also steam clean mopped away dirt and stuff that my that my other mop left behind - love that!

I'm still not sure this steam mop completely replaces some good ole' deep cleaning, but for in between those cleanings it is quick, easy and gets the job done. And I love that when I'm done I can just toss the cleaning pad in the trash and not worry about it. 

For more steam cleaning tips and tricks, visit http://www.swiffer.com/cleaningtips/frequency/floor-steam-cleaning. You can also learn more about the Swiffer family of products by visiting www.swiffer.com or www.facebook.com/swiffer. 

Buy a Swiffer BISSELL STEAMBOOST starter kit before December 31 and receive a $15 mail-in rebate (rebate restrictions apply). For more info on the rebate, visit www.swiffer.com/rebate.

And now one of my lucky readers has a chance to win your very own Swiffer BISSELL STEAMBOOST! 

All you have to do is enter through the Rafflecopter link below and tell me one of your tips/tricks for cleaning during the holidays. Once you comment, you will more hances to enter. The giveaway runs from December 31, 2013 to January 17, 2014 and 1 winner will be chosen and notified on January 18, 2014. The winnerswill then have 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen. Please read the complete Terms & Conditions as this giveaway is only valid for U.S residents only (Sorry, rules of the giveaway prohibit us from offering this outside of the U.S.).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cinnamon Chocolate Wine Latte

Thanks to Collective Bias & ChocolatRouge, this recipe for a Cinnamon Chocolate Wine Latte is sure to keep you warm on cold winter days! The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or over.

When the weather turns cold, I love to indulge in some hot drinks to combat the chill in the air. This year all of my hot drinks have to be sans alcohol (pregnant lady here), so my husband happily obliged and was the official tester of this recipe :)

This drink is a fun (and adult!) take on an everyday latte. I picked up a bottle of ChocolateRouge Wine at our local grocery store and thought it would go well with a little milk and cinnamon.  And (according to my husband), it sure was! ChocolatRouge is a red wine with chocolate added, so the cinnamon complemented it nicely. I found the wine with other dessert wines and there was even a coupon attached to the bottle for $1 off - love that!

This would be a great drink to serve in a slow cooker at a holiday party so all your guests can enjoy throughout the event. And you could also pick up some extra ChocolateRouge to serve chilled by itself. 

Cinnamon Chocolate Wine Latte

1 part whole milk

1 part chocolate wine (i.e. ChocolatRouge Wine)

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Whipped cream (optional)

In a small sauce pan, heat milk on medium high heat until steaming hot. Pour into coffee mug or desired glass. Add chocolate wine and pinch cinnamon to the milk and stir. Top with whipped cream and sprinkling of cinnamon, if desired. Enjoy!

I can't wait to try some of this after the baby is born in April :) Until then, go out and make this Cinnamon Chocolate Wine Latte for yourself and let me know what you think!

To find more great recipes using ChocolatRouge visit their website and follow them on Facebook!

Looking for some other hot (adult) drinks? These are some of my favorites!

Chicago World's Fair Exhibit at The Field Museum

Over Thanksgiving, we went and visited my sister who lives in Chicago. While we were there, we had the opportunity to visit The Field Museum and specifically, Chicago World's Fair Exhibit that recently opened. I was really interested to go because I had never been to the Field Museum before and didn't really know anything about the Chicago World's Fair. 

To help in your visit to the museum, there is a The Field Museum Tours mobile app you can download to tell you about the different displays & exhibits. All you have to do is scan the QR code on the display and info will pop up to tell you more about what you're looking at. 

One of the first things in the Chicago World's Fair exhibit is this accounting ledger. You'll notice a green QR code in the corner of the glass. 

I hit the green 'Discover' button on the app, scanned the code and this is what popped up:

As some of you know, I am a CPA, so I found this display so interesting. The accounting ledger was so large and contained so much information in it. It helped keep track of the expenses for the 200 buildings that were built for the Fair. Makes me appreciate having computers to keep track of all of this stuff nowadays! 

Another neat exhibit, were these 'stuffed' animals that were displayed during the Chicago World's Fair. It's amazing how well they are preserved even after 100+ years. 

One of the most interesting facts I learned from the exhibit are the foods that were introduced at the fair. Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum, Cracker Jack, and Shredded Wheat all made their debut at the Chicago World's Fair. I had no idea those products have been around for so long!

Another cool aspect of the exhibit were some of the interactive displays they have. The table above gave you a chance to 'play music' using instruments that were on display from other cultures within the exhibit. 

The exhibit also featured large screens with images from the Fair projected onto them that were semi-animated (kind of like a GIF). It was a really neat way to feel like you were stepping back to the Fair in 1893. 

As you can see there are a wide array of items on display in the exhibit and it helps illustrate how diverse the Fair was. From Peruvian Mummies to musical instruments from around the world to plant artifacts, the Chicago World's Fair brought such a wide range of items together in one place for patrons to view and learn about.

I was so sad to learn that most all of the buildings that were built for the Chicago World's were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire. But they were able to save lots of the artifacts and pieces from the Fair and this is where The Field Museum grew from. 

The Field Museum is still learning more each day about the items that were displayed during the Fair and working on preserving the artifacts so they will be around for years to come. 

I had a great time at the exhibit and learned so much about the Fair. The displays really helped take you back in time and get a sense of what the Fair was all about. 

If you're in the Chicago area, I encourage you to visit The Field Museum & the Chicago Worlds' Fair exhibit. You will not be disappointed. And don't forget to download the The Field Museum Tours mobile app before you go. 

And there's even this great view of the city from the north side of the museum! So pretty (and you can't even tell how cold it was!)

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.