I’m just as picky about choosing a purse as I am shoes. I have this terrible problem of envisioning exactly what I want, but never being able to find just the thing I’m looking for. After much searching for a sling purse, I turned to etsy.com in sheer exasperation, hoping I’d find THE ONE.
I did. The colors are fabulous, the craftsmanship is superb, and I’m extremely happy with my purchase.
I highly reccommend Retro Flowers’ esty shop if you’re looking for a new purse.
I know I mentioned back in January that our family would be going through some changes this year and since it’s over and done now, I can now announce that we sold our house and have moved.
I’m not particularly overjoyed about this, but we had to make some tough choices for the time being. We didn’t buy out of our price range at the time we bought our house, so I won’t give you a sad story about buying a McMansion we couldn’t afford in the first place because it wasn’t at all like that. However, our mortgage payment was pretty high and with the cost of everything increasing, getting rid of our high payment just made good financial sense for the time being. Home ownership and the responsibilities it entails (repairs, yardwork, etc.) are just not right for us at this time for many reasons.
We’re settled in our new place, but I miss my home. I suppose this will pass with time. I’m trying to focus on our many, many blessings and be thankful I have a roof over my head at all and that our house even sold at all in such a sucktastic real estate downturn. There are so many people in this same position we were in who have fared much worse. E.B. and the cats have absolutely not missed a beat in all of this and have adjusted quite well. That was my biggest concern. I’ve been feeling every emotion I guess is normal in something like this….sadness, shame, guilt. It’s been a very tough week, but the bottom line is we are here together as a family and this will hopefully only be a temporary change. I’m trying really hard to focus on the positive.
What I do know for sure throughout all of this is that my family and close friends have been my rock. They’ve listened, counseled, pitched in and even showed up on moving day to help us through this. The true test of a real friend? They help you MOVE big furniture, hanging clothes, food from the refrigerator and tons of boxes. I love them so much for that.
So we are no longer slaves to Bank of America, who, as a side-note, can kiss my hot buttered Mississippi grits for making home ownership and selling a home an absolute nightmare and THAT is putting it very mildly and staying rated-G. I could write 265 blog posts alone on why a person would never, ever want their mortgage sold to them, but I will spare you.
It’s different, but I’m adjusting.
Our life has suddenly hit the accelerator. Our house sold and we are in the throws of packing, t-ball season has started, and the last thing I have time for right now is to plan and cook elaborate meals for dinner. We’ve been needing things fast and in a hurry around here. I’m sure many of you can relate, right?
Hormel has recently unveiled their EZ Cook technology which makes planning, buying, and serving delicious meals as easy as scanning a code . Really! You simply choose a Hormel meat product, scan the code on the back of the product with your smart phone, and instantly you have a meal plan, including ingredients, that you can throw together right in the store. That’s what I call easy shopping! Don’t have a smart phone? Don’t worry! You can still visit the site and get the same great information.
Cooking is not one of my specialties, and I tend to not divert from the familiar when it comes to cooking meat. That’s why the application is so handy. It really takes all of the guesswork out of preparing and cooking the meal. I chose the Hormel Always Tender Pork Center Loin Fillet, wrapped it in bacon to give it some flavor, and then baked it.
I served this with a side dish of Sinful Potatoes, one of my mom’s specialties. The meat was delicious, moist, and tender. We were so pleased with our experience with Hormel EZ Cook and can’t wait to test out a different EZ Cook meal plan once we are settled.
The next time you’re stumped about what to fix for dinner, consider giving Hormel EZ Cook technology a try. It will definitely simplify your meals.
I received a $100 stipend and product coupons from Hormel Foods to cover the cost of my groceries for my EZ Cook inspired meal. I am also entered to win a $500 gift card for writing this post.
For my 12th birthday (waaaaayyyy back in 1986) I got my first pair of contact lenses. I had worn big, thick glasses since third grade and felt so much more confident starting junior high without having to wear them. Unfortunately, by the end of the school year I developed a corneal ulcer and the contacts had to come out for almost two more years. I can honestly remember feeling so self-conscious during those two years and couldn’t wait until my eyes had healed enough to wear my contacts again.
Since then, I have had to be very cautious about properly caring for my contacts and tossing them (I wear disposable) when it’s time. I don’t know if age has anything to do with it, but my eyes are also much more sensitive to the things I actually put on my face (makeup, skincare products) and tend to dry out very easily.
Bausch + Lomb has developed a new contact lense cleaning solution called Biotrue, which actually works just like your own eyes by containing a lubricant found naturally in eyes. It matches the pH of healthy tears and keeps beneficial tear proteins active all to keep your eyes healthy and comfortable.
I normally use another brand of contact lense solution, so I was excited to try out Biotrue, but also wondered if it might irritate my eyes by changing solutions. I’m happy to report that my eyes feel great and there was no irritation caused by Biotrue. I’ve noticed that my eyes stay a bit more lubricated so I’m not having to pop them out as much for a quick wetting and cleaning in between pairs. I’m pretty pleased with Biotrue and give it my stamp of approval!
I wrote this review while participating in a Mom Central Consulting blog tour on behalf of Bausch + Lomb Biotrue. I received a Biotrue sample and a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.
As we were driving home from a weekend outing Saturday evening, I realized it had been October since I had left the boundaries of our small town. October! Life seems to be moving at such a fast pace that this fact never dawned on me until I was out of town and enjoying myself immensely. We made a day trip to Memphis, which is roughly two hours away from our home. We were on a mission to pick up my husband from work, but we also took time out to explore a little and do some fun things.
As we crossed the bridge into Memphis over the Mississippi River, E.B. saw the skyline and immediately exclaimed that, “he looooovvvved New York!!!!!”.
Bless his heart, in his defense, those big buildings did sort of look like we were in NYC. Not that the kid has ever been there…I’m sure he got the New York stuff from copious amounts of Madagascar watching.
We also took in a little retail therapy, because when you live 2 hours away from the civilized world, this?
Looks like heaven!
We also had our first dining experience at Joe’s Crab Shack, and we’ve declared as a family that it’s really one of the best places we’ve eaten in a while. The atmosphere was wonderful! (80’s music, excellent service, eating on a covered porch on a beautiful day, amazing seafood, and a playground for E.B. Bonus!!!) I had the Caribbean Feast and it was seriously so amazing.
The trip was declared a complete triumph when I spotted these in Old Navy:
My shoes! My shoes! (Insert “The Search Is Over” by Survivor softly playing in the background). $13.99.
I need to get out more.
By now we’ve all heard the news that along with gas, grocery prices are also about to start rising. One thing I’ve been more committed about this year is looking for ways to save on our weekly grocery bill. By combining coupons with a great sale, it’s easy to shave several dollars off our shopping trips.
Kroger is currently having their fantastic Kroger Cart Buster Savings Event at a store near you. From February 27th through March 12th, shop Kroger´s biggest-ever promotion and find the hottest prices around on more than 35 brands, across more than 60 categories from General Mills, P & G, Nestle, Pepsi and Kroger Banner Brands. During the Cart Buster Savings Event, you´ll find great savings in almost every department at the Kroger Family of Stores, which includes Kroger, Ralph´s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith´s, Fry´s, QFC, Baker´s, Owen´s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets and Scott´s Food & Pharmacy.
Here are just a handful of the great brands participating in the event: Multigrain Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper, Yoplait, Progresso, Totino´s, Green Giant, Cascadian Farm, Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Pampers, Pantene, Crest, Iams, Febreze, Old Spice, Bounce, DiGiorno´s, Nestle Toll House, Juicy Juice, Coffee-Mate, Edy´s, Stouffer´s, Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets, Nestle Candy, Purina and many more!
You can also follow Kroger on Facebook and participate in their Deal of the Day. If you are one of the first 1000 people to click on the deal link for that day, you receive a free load-to-card coupon for that item.
I was generously provided with a $25 Kroger Gift Card to use during this event and was so excited about the savings! As an avid couponer, this sale really helped me get the most out of my grocery budget for this week. I always look forward to these big sales, so it was fun planning out my shopping trip.
I have one $25 Kroger Gift Card to give away to one lucky Mommy Cracked reader. To enter, just leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends Friday, March 18, 2011 at 11 PM Central. U.S. Only.
The Kroger Family of Stores gift card, information, and giveaway were all provided by the Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills/Nestle/Proctor & Gamble through MyBlogSpark.)
It sure makes it hard to wake either one of them up on a school morning when they’re looking so darn stinkin’ cute and comfortable.
