Monday, June 30, 2014

Kaitlin's Baby Shower!

With recital finally wrapping up, it was time for some low-key hang out time. First, I had a baby shower to attend! On Sunday morning, I met up with some friends from work and we headed to Kaitlin's baby shower. You may recognize Kaitlin's name because she is not only a friend from work but someone I enjoy hiking and hanging out with! She is due with her first child in early August and it's going to be a sweet little girl! She is still working on a name, however all the ones she has told me are adorable!

Here are some pictures from her pink-filled shower!








One of my favorite things about the shower was during the present opening we were able to play bingo! We each had a blank bingo card and before Kaitlin opened gifts we wrote down on the card items we thought she would be opening. Of course being an insanely competitive person, I loved playing this game! As prizes there were a bunch of pink nail polishes in a basket that had labels saying "You nailed it!" How cute is that!?


I also loved the favors they gave away. Bath and Body Works hand sanitizers in shades of pink. They said "Thank you for coming and touching Kaitlin's life, now you'll be able to touch her baby!" This was a cute idea since it's so important to keep a baby away from all the germs you can!

Now, I'm going to share with you what I gave Kaitlin as a gift.


As you all know, I'm on a budget and try to give the most amount of items possible, while still spending the maximum I can afford (which isn't a lot!). I ended up finding a ton of newborn through one year outfits on clearance after Christmas at Kohls. At that point I wasn't even quite sure if she was having a girl or boy but I was banking on it being a girl! I purchased a few items off her registry, but then also bought a two cent baby powder and gave safety latches that I received as a free sample. The most expensive item was the book that I purchased in lieu of a card.  By being smart about your purchases and buying things on clearance and using couponing deals and free samples as gift items you are able to give so much more!


There is everything all wrapped up!

What is your limit for a baby shower gift? Do you use clearance deals and free samples to bulk up your gift?

Have a great day everybody!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Weekly Couponing Wrapup

Another slow week for couponing! Since I wasn't around too much in the past week- and mostly just trying to survive recital week, I didn't do a ton of couponing. Here's what I did do...



At Target:

Burts Bees 4 pack @ $9.99

Suave Sunless Tanner @ $6.99
used try it free coupon, which took off $6.99
FREE

Beach Towel @ $6.99
clearance to $5

Frame @ $6.48
Was 50% clearance!

Planes Toy @ $13.98
Was 50% clearance!

4 Lighters @ $1 each, $4 total
(from $1 bins!)

I spent $42.70, but I managed to get a free item, and a few items for gifts on clearance that I really needed to pick up!


I also popped in Harbor Freight and picked up this free work light!




A slow week, but a ton of great products! How did you do this week?

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Project 365: Week 25

Hello my lovely blog-land friends!

Sorry I was a little MIA yesterday, life has been pretty busy around here which I will be telling you all about during today's project 365 update!


Day 170 I had a few errands to run and I did a little bridal shower and bachelorette shopping! 



Day 171 I shared my "Never-ending to do list" which has been working quite nicely for me.

Day 172 was a big day at work, our annual gym show and I was so thankful to be done with it!


Day 173 was Rachel's bridal shower which I shared here


On day 174 I received an AMAZING envelope in the mail! Rachel's wedding invitation! It was a super exciting day!

Photo: Day 175 happy birthday eve to this girl right here! Love my fgb!!!! #project365

On day 175 I managed to visit with one of my best friends Brittni once I got out of work. Brit's birthday was Wednesday, so lucky for me I got to join her family for her "birthday eve" and have some ice cream cake!

Photo: Day 176. Two peas in a pod. #project365

Day 176 I spent some nice downtime with Roxy. Two peas in a pod =)


How was your week!?

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

End of the Year Gift Ideas!

I'm here today to share a few end of the year gift ideas from gifts I've received this year from my students. I love the ideas they and their parents come up with and I know that sometimes people have a hard time coming up with gifts for teachers, so I thought I would share a few of the more creative ones I've received this year!


These chocolate pops were a hit with one of my classes. One of my students made these for everyone in the class and used a pointe shoe mold to make them dance-appropriate, so cute!


This water bottle with Hershey kisses inside was really sweet and it was even sweeter that they included a gift card to a local restaurant inside!



Simple, but adorable. A mason jar full of wrapped candy is a great idea! Mason jars are cheap and a great way to store items, and the candy inside is such a delicious treat!


One mom went so far as to crochet flowers for her daughters to give me and the other teachers. How sweet right?! I love it!



Another mason jar idea- but I thought the top was adorable- you are "tutu" sweet! How cute is that?! I love the idea of giving a mason jar full of candy (just make sure it's wrapped candy. A lot of people will not eat food that isn't wrapped for cleanliness reasons!)

Those are some cute homemade items I received as gifts for this end of year. I will keep you updated if I receive any other cute ideas before the year is over!

Do you have any cute homemade ideas for end of the year gifts?

Monday, June 23, 2014

Rachel's Bridal Shower!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here and an extremely special day, it was my best friend Rachel's bridal shower! This day had been in the works for months, Rachel's mom, her sisters and I have been planning for it for a long time!

The event took place in Mystic CT at Latitude 41 (which is located at Mystic Seaport) and was set up outside under a tent. 





I arrived early (obviously) and hurried around setting up an index card at each place setting. I had each person write down what they thought the recipe to a perfect marriage was and gave them to Rachel on a binder ring when we left the shower. 



When we arrived we spent time socializing with everyone, followed by a delicious lunch. There were multiple options for everyone which was great, including a delicious pasta. I cleared my plate of course!


After everyone ate, we played a few games I had planned and then Rachel opened gifts.



I am extremely lucky to have a great group of girls in Rachel's bridal party because when it was time to open gifts, we managed to get it done in 45 minutes! I gave everyone a job and we had quite an assembly line going. There were people collecting trash, organizing gifts, removing cards from envelopes, picking out the next gift, while I was busy writing down all the gifts in a notebook.


After gifts, we spent some time posing for pictures and then eating cupcakes until the party officially ended!


It was a great day with delicious food, amazing company and a beautiful bride-to-be!

I wanted to share a couple of the games I prepared for the shower with you if you are looking for bridal shower party games.


The first game I created was a purse scavenger hunt. I took ideas from several online purse scavenger hunts and pulled 25 items to include on my list.


The second game we played I named "he said, she said"

I asked Rachel and her fiancé Ant five questions each and then took eight quotes from them out of context. This was a great game because they said some pretty mushy-gushy stuff which made it fun to guess who said what!

Of course I handed out prizes to our two winners. I brought two candles as prizes as well as a "mystery bag" where I put a few cosmetic items I've received couponing inside.

I've been waiting to share these details with you guys for such a long time- and I have more wedding-related blog posts in the works as I participate in Rachel's wedding this summer as well as Brittni's wedding this fall. Exciting things are happening around here!

How was your weekend? Did you have any special events?


Friday, June 20, 2014

Weekly Couponing Wrapup

I'm running a little late today with the weekly couponing wrap-up. I've been dog sitting this week meaning it's been a lot of back and forth from my house and I wasn't able to get this post ready last night since I wasn't with my receipts! Whoops =)

So, this week I did two small hauls- one at Walgreens and one at CVS. Sadly my Walgreens is closing soon and the closest one is about a half hour away, meaning I probably won't be doing Walgreens hauls too often....

Here's what I did at Walgreens this week:


3 Purex UltraPacks @ $5.99 each
on sale buy one get 2 free
$5.99 for all three!

1 Colgate Toothpaste @$1.99
used $1 coupon
Paid 99 cents

Also used $1.50 Walgreens Register Reward and $2 Rewards Points.

Paid $4.04, saved $15.68!

Then at CVS...

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2 Dry Idea Deodorants @ $3 each $6 total
used $2 coupon on each one, making them $1 each
Paid $2, received $2 ECB back, FREE!

2 Colgate 360 Toothbrushes @ $2.99 each, $5.98 total
used $1 coupon on each one, making them $1.99 each
Paid $3.98, received a $4 ECB back, 2 cent MoneyMaker!

3 Aveeno Bars @ $3.79 each
Paid $11.37, received $10 back in ECBS, $1.37 total!

I also used $13 in ECBs.

I paid $5.98 out of pocket and received $14 back in ECBs making this a great trip!

How was your couponing week?!



Thursday, June 19, 2014

Project 365: Week 24

Finally, some hot weather has arrived in Rhody! I love, love, love summer...almost as much as I love the fall. (There's something about crisp fall air, leaves changing, and back to school supplies that makes my heart skip a beat..) Summer is definitely tied with fall for my favorite season because I love hitting the beach, wearing summery dresses, and being a little more carefree. Here's how week 24 went:



On day 163 I was definitely feeling the "recital can't come soon enough" feeling. This is the time of year I think all teachers (whether they work in a school, after care program, or etc..) cannot wait till the year is over!


On day 164 I was able to go out for drinks with Rachel after work which was wonderful! Living an hour away from each other makes it hard to get together for little chunks of time so it's always nice to see her when she's visiting her parents. 

 

On Saturday day 165 I took a long hike and walk with my co-worker and friend Kaitlin. It's so nice to  walk and talk with someone who understands exactly what you're going through!



Day 166 was Father's Day. If you've ever met my dad you wouldn't be surprised that his father's day wish was to be left alone. He's definitely not a people-person, so a day to himself was like a dream...fine with me!



I posted two extra pictures this day too. I spent this week dog-sitting this little cutie named Molly. You know I'll take any excuse to sit around with a puppy =)


Day 167. No personal space from this dog! 


Then on day 168 I shared why I've been so exhausted all week. The house I'm staying at has a clock that chimes every half hour. It's so hard for me to sleep through that, plus the dog who wakes me up early every day and constantly lays on top of me! 


Yesterday, day 169, I used my day off to go to the beach with my co-worker and friend Kayla and her son. He wasn't too fond of the beach or sand! 

That's how my week went...how was your week?!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

A Long Time Ago, We Used To Be Friends.....The Veronica Mars Book!

If you've been reading for awhile, you may remember back in April where I became obsessed watched the Veronica Mars tv series. I managed to work my way through all three seasons and then watched the movie that was recently released. They were all great and if you have an Amazon Prime account you can watch all three seasons for free which is awesome. I rented the movie on Amazon Prime for only $2.99 which wasn't a bad deal either =)

(I swear Amazon isn't paying me to promote them..but I wish they were!)

Anyways, after finishing The Veronica Mars movie I realized that there was a book written by Rob Thomas (the shows creator) that was about Veronica's life after the movie ended. I was sold and instantly downloaded it to my kindle!


The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is set in good ole Neptune California where Veronica has just taken over for her dad at Mars Investigations. Her father is still recovering from the accident that occurred to him during the Veronica Mars movie (no spoilers from me!) Veronica has hired Mac to work with her and begun to take on new cases. A girl goes missing during her spring break in Neptune and Veronica is hired to find her. In the midst of her investigation another girl goes missing, the daughter is seems of none other then Veronica's mother Leanne. 

With the complications of Veronica's relationship with her mother and learning of the new family she never knew her mother had, Veronica works on the case relentlessly. Veronica also has to deal with her fathers disapproval of her decision to stay in Neptune as well as her relationship with the stuck-at-sea Logan Echolls.

I enjoyed every moment of this novel and was hooked from beginning to end. As with every episode of Veronica Mars, I was not able to figure out the conclusion until Veronica stated it. It's amazing how Rob Thomas is able to place clues throughout the novel and yet I still am not able to figure it out without quick-wit Veronica. 

If you love Veronica Mars and haven't read this book you better get on it!

By the way, yes I did picture Kristen Bell the entire time I read this novel =)

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

June Birchbox

I received my June Birchbox over the weekend and was quite shocked with what was inside!



The box looked promising enough after opening the top!


I found an eyeliner inside. A silver eyeliner. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this silver eyeliner- I'm not exactly a silver eyeliner kind of girl. This is by Cynthia Rowley so I think I would actually like it if I got a normal color.


You can see it swatted on my hand above. Not my type of color!


Next up is another strange product. Laqa & Co lip lube in the color purple. Purple? Seriously? I'm so not a purple lipstick girl.


You can see it swatched above- once again not my color!


This Perlier body cream in the lemongrass scent looks like something I actually would like! I love a good body cream and I can't wait to test this product out.


I received a trio of products from nyakio. This is their coffee face polish, coffee body scrub, and hydrating face oil. All three of these seem really interesting and I can't wait to try them out!


Lastly, this Dr. Hauschka Body Wash is another product I'm excited to try. I like using different body washes and hopefully this one will be a winner!

What new products have you gotten recently?