Back-to-school lunch box refashion

Baby J will likely be moving up to the toddler room in day care in a month or so. She needs to bring a lunch box with her food every day and I am just now starting to think about this, which is totally unlike me! We got this ultra-hip and cool lunch box sent to us at work from a vendor we use for promotional products.

 

Hot, right?! Well, it was free and it is insulated, so it would do the job I needed it to.  But the logo was not my cup of tea to say the least. I took it home, busted out my elastic thread and ruffled up some strips of fabric, got out the glue gun, and voila!

 

Bye-bye horrible logo, hello cute fabric flowers!

Weekend away, bathroom organization and another thrifty find

What a weekend! We got back from a wonderfully busy weekend with my husband's extended family in Saratoga, NY. We went to the horse racing track, the casino, and had some great meals and food. We were hoping to go to the lake that our Uncle Michael has a house and dock on but it rained all day on Saturday. Boo.

Nonetheless, we had lots of good times all around.

Here is Baby J studying the "Pink Sheet" which is the newspaper that lists which horses are expected to win so you can make bets accordingly.

We had a picnic area right by the area where the trainers and jockeys walked by with the horses. Those jockeys are TINY! Seriously, like 85-90 pounds and like barely 5 feet tall.

Baby J had a lot of fun playing with her big cousin Addie.   We're looking forward to next summer when they can run around together and go swimming.

Last week I really focused on organizing my bathroom closet which was a jumbled up mess of bins of various toiletry items and linens. It was a disaster in my opinion (but to many of you, it probably looked just fine, lol). I bought separate containers for the different items we have, divided them out, and cleared out the clutter (on my side of the sink at least) and picked up this little pink handled tote for my makeup and brushes for only $1 at the Dollar Store.

Since I've been couponing more and more, I found that the stash of products can get quickly out of control and you forget what you have unless you get organized.

And finally, I think I got the deal of the summer the last time I went to the Goodwill. What is that, I thought to myself as I was perusing the shirt rack?

A lavender workout shirt with the tags attached!? Upon closer inspection....

UNDER ARMOUR?!?! At the GOODWILL?!? With the tags ATTACHED?!? Luckily I only had on a tank top and I quickly tried it on. It fit!

And look at that, only $9.50, and I got an extra discount for having my Super Saver Shopper card with me. Major shopping score for the fall running season!

Thrifty Tuesday

I've been doing really well recently at CVS (see post below). I went in today to get some items and had a $10 off a $50 purchase and a bunch of ERB to use. Look below and try to figure out how much I spent for this haul.

2 Softsoap hand soaps
1 Softsoap body wash
1 Crest Pro Health Mouthwash
1 box of Kotex tampons
2 Colgate Toothpastes
Herbal Essence Shampoo
Herbal Essence Conditioner
Herbal Essence Hairspray
Herbal Essence Spray Gel
1 Edge Men’s shave cream
1 Skintimate Shave cream
24 rolls of Scott Toilet Paper
2 packs of Schick Xtreme ladies 4 blade razors
3 king sized candy bars

Grand total........$9.92! I paid $29.92 out of pocket but got back a $10 gas card for Exxon and a $10 CVS card back. This may have been the best couponing trip I've ever done.

And then Baby J and I went out to the thrift store last night because we had major rain and we couldn't go for a walk. I love thrifting because you'll never know what you'll find. Plus, our local Targets donate their surplus/salvage goods to the Goodwills so you can find never worn items at a fraction of the cost. I also have a Goodwill Shop n Save card, which gives you extra discounts on certain items (different every day and you never know what the employees will select for that day) on top of the low prices.

I walked out with this cute Merona skirt which I'm wearing today to work. I remember seeing this in the store and wanting it, but didn't want to shell out the $$ for it back in the fall. I got it for $2!

 Sorry for the poor lighting, my downstairs bathroom is this crazy shade of orange/pumpkin so it's kind of hard to photograph.

And then I also picked up my first piece of vintage Pyrex! Anyone who knows me, knows I love all things vintage, especially 60's-80's. I have a pile of vintage bedsheets and tablecloths that I could not resist purchasing, and I have a dream of one day having a collection like this of vintage Pryex wonderfulness:

image via Pinterest

But you have to start somewhere right? I picked up this pretty little piece for $2.97. She has a couple marks on her but is in otherwise great shape! So if you ever see some vintage Pyrex, in any colors, grab it for me--I'll give you $$ and maybe even make you a cool craft! :)

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend!

Oh lord, it's hot here in PA. Like heat index of 115 degrees hot. Thank goodness for A/C!

Currently...
cooking:

zucchini fritters!

crafting:

image via Sew Homegrown

reading:

home projects:
to get my basement cleaned and organized and looking more like this....(um yeah, sure...)

image via pinterest

weekend plans:
Bridal shower for a wonderful old friend and fellow Greek advisor!
And hopefully a walk or jog, but with the current weather, it isn't looking like that'll happen anytime soon!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Books!

I have been reading like crazy lately. I usually can get through 30-40 books a year, but at the rate I'm currently going, I may hit 50 in 2011. My wonderful in-laws gave me a Nook for Christmas and I am so glad they did! Some of the books I've been reading are 800+ pages and the Nook is so much better to cart around than bulky books, especially in my work bag or to the pool or beach (but alas, I haven't been there in a really long time, oh well). I get most of my books from the library on the Nook, and that's why I chose it over the Kindle (although I thought I heard that the Kindle was going to start allowing for Adobe ePub software downloading, but who knows?). I think I've purchased maybe 2 books in the entire time I've had it.

Here are some of the latest I've finished:

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

This was interesting, to say the least. It's basically about a high-powered lawyer who has a condition where he just gets up and starts walking and can't stop. It's about his internal struggles, those of his family, and how he handles his condition. It was a sad book. I picked it up because I really liked his other book, Then We Came to the End, but this was entirely different, but in a good way.

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at the World's Holiest University by Kevin Roose

Funny, poignant, interesting. I learned a lot from this. I've been intrigued by fundies (Christian fundamentalists) for awhile now, and Kevin decides to transfer from Brown to Liberty University (Jerry Falwell's college) to see what it would be like to go to school there. As a college administrator, this was crazy eye-opening to me. If you've read and liked A Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs, you'll love this. (And actually, Kevin was AJ's intern as he was writing his book!).

Size 12 is Not Fat Series by Meg Cabot

This was light fluff reading I did towards the end of our academic year here at work, when things were crazy busy. There are three books in the series: Size 12 is Not Fat, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, and Big Boned. The series follows a former washed-up pop singer who gets a job working as an assistant hall director at a university and then turns amateur detective when students start to get murdered in her building. Funny and light; incredibly quick reads!

The Lincoln Lawyer and The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

                 

OK, huge page turners here. Loved them both, and finished each one in a few days. Did it help that Matthew McConaughey plays Mickey Haller? And that I love love love Matthew as a lawyer (especially in "A Time to Kill" when he's glistening the entire movie...swoon). But I digress. Fast paced, good eyesight into the American justice system from the defense point of view. I can't wait to get to the others in this series.

And, currently reading, and loving!
Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

What are you reading now? Any good suggestions?

Shopping/couponing scores at CVS!

So recently I've been trying to be more aware of spening money and how much is going out and coming in. Could this be in part to watching an entire marathon of Extreme Couponing? Possibly....

A co-worker suggested following the great web site For the Mommas, on couponing and matching up sales to coupons in order to save money. Holy cow it's working! How you ask?

Case in point:
Last week, I bought a 12 oz. bottle of contact solution for $7.99 and got $7.99 in ERB (CVS extra reward bucks). Don't know what they are? Read this or watch this.

Then, this week, I purchased 2 tubes of Colgate, 2 Crest toothbrushes, a bottle of Dial body wash, and a pack of pads and used my $7.99 ERB. I paid a whopping $2.30 out of pocket, and was given $5 in additional ERB!

THEN, if it couldn't get any better, I went again today to CVS (there's one right by my office!), and got a CoverGirl NatureLuxe mascara and lipstick/balm for $8 (I used my $5 ERB from above) out of pocket and got $5 more in ERB.

So in total, I spent $18 out of pocket (but keep in mind I still have $5 in ERB still in my wallet, so it's more like $13) and got:
Contact solution
2 full size toothpastes
2 toothbrushes
Full sized Dial body wash
Pack of pads
NatureLuxe mascara
NatureLuxe lip balm

What's cooking Wednesday: Backyard gardening

This is the third year we've had our raised vegetable beds in our backyard. Mr. Westie built them for me and it didn't take him too long. This year, we have zucchini, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, and sugar snap peas. We also have a planter box with mint, peppers, and basil. This is a photo of last year's box, when our zucchini overtook the entire thing.

This year, Mr. Westie built a separate box for the mammoth zucchini and we're good to go! I've already gotten about 8 zucchini, enough beans for a meal side dish, and only a few peas. We have lots of green tomatoes on the plants and we're looking forward to them ripening.

So far, I've made zucchini boats, bread, and baked slices of zucchini with a can of diced tomatoes, cheese, and bread crumbs. The produce is starting to overwhelm me!

Which brings me to the question: what are your favorite fresh-from the garden recipes?