OXO Salad Dressing Shaker review and {GIVEAWAY}

I am excited to share this review and giveaway with you today!

As part of the OXO blogger outreach program, I received a salad dressing shaker for free to try out for myself and one to giveaway.

Here are some of the features:

Description from the OXO website:
Making a quick dressing is a cinch with the OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker. The watertight Shaker offers a clean, neat and convenient way to mix, serve and store dressings, sauces and marinades. The top unscrews to reveal a wide opening ideal for adding a range of ingredients like oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, onions and spices. The Shaker is made of a BPA-free, break-resistant and dishwasher safe material. Once ingredients are added, screw the top on and shake to quickly mix dressings with no spills. The top lever flips back for pouring and forward to seal. Use the airtight Shaker to store leftover dressing and sauce right inside the fridge.

I made a salad for lunch today and tried out the product! I used a Penzey’s Italian salad dressing base.

Mixing it all up!

The top opens up so you can pour out your dressing and it closes for easy storage in the fridge.

I am so happy I received one of these to try out and keep! It is something I see myself using quite often because I tend to make my own dressings vs. buying them.

Want to win one for yourself?

To enter (US residents only):

Mandatory: what are your favorite salad combinations? If you don’t like salads, just say that and tell me what you are having for dinner tonight.

Extra entries:

-Follow me on twitter.
-Tweet about the giveaway “Lisa @ FitintheMidwest is giving away an @OXO good grips salad dressing shaker. Enter here:http://wp.me/p13dZe-1lE”

I’ll announce the winner on Monday, May 7th at about 8 p.m. CST. Good luck!

New ‘do

I used a Milwaukee based groupon type coupon this morning to get my haircut at a new salon. I had a great experience. The salon owner cut my hair and she did a wonderful job. We had a lot in common, so the conversation kept going and I felt comfortable with her as a stylist.

After my cut was over, she touched up my lip gloss and cheeks and then took head shots of me. That is part of the salon experience there. I thought that was pretty unique and nice. Next week, I’ll be able to download the photo to my computer. If it turns out good, I’m hoping I can use it for my new gravatar picture.

So, how did it turn out?

Before:

After:

I got side bangs, but didn’t go totally short. I think she cut off about two inches. I figured the new bangs were enough of a change for now. I don’t love my hair too short anyway. If I had an oval face, I think I’d go short all of the time. But with a round one, I feel like my face shape is just emphasized.

When I was out running errands after the cut, I did notice that I kept touching my bangs to keep them out of my face. I think if I hairspray them good enough, they won’t annoy me like that.

I think it will look better when I flat iron it. The stylist noticed that I have wavy hair naturally and that does tend to make my hair look frizzy on the ends. She didn’t flat iron it and just used a round brush while she blowdryed.

After my haircut, I went to A Gluten Free Frenzy, which was nearby. I don’t need to eat gluten free, but I think doing so helps colitis when I have a flare up. So, I checked out the shop to see what they had to offer. Like most gluten free products, the prices were high overall, but they had a really good selection and I am sure it is paradise for someone with Celiac Disease or a gluten intolerance. There were many familiar healthy food brands available like Bobs Red Mill, Amy’s, Pure Fit, Kind bars and Think Thin.

There is only one Ulta location in my area, so I went there to use my $5 off $10 or more coupon. I got this Kenra hairspray after seeing it recommended on another blog. I’m going to need it to control my new bangs!

Next, I stopped by Penzey’s to use a coupon for a free “teach” box (my second one, it’ll be great to use as a Christmas gift for someone) and I purchased some Italian salad dressing base to get the teach box for free. Craig and I loved the Italian dressing we had at Ann’s Italian restaurant last weekend and I want to try to recreate that.

Finally, I hit the mall, even though the weather was too nice outside to stay there for long. I just wanted to look at a couple of stores that I knew were having good sales.

I was craving a pumpkin based drink from Starbucks, so I got a Pumpkin Spice Frappucino. Trying on clothes had worn me out.

I hadn’t had whip cream on top of a drink for a while and it tasted yummy!

The only thing I tried on today that fit perfectly were some gray pants from the Gap. They had 50% off certain pants and with a $10 gift card, I got the pants for about $21. Fantastic!

It’s still gorgeous outside so we’re going to hike around a local pond. Last time we went there, we had bad luck with bugs, geese and deer on the trail. I am hoping we have a better experience this time!