holiday photo cards $4.90 shipped!

If you’re still haven’t gotten around to getting holiday cards made, you cannot pass up this deal with SeeHere.com! You can get 60, 4x8 photo cards for $4.90 with FREE overnight shipping!!!

I ordered Easter cards with SeeHere, this past year and they turned out great and were super cheap! You just can’t beat 60 cards for under $5! Woohoo!

 

 

Here’s how to get them:

*Sign up for a new account on SeeHere.com (or login to your existing account)
*Create a 4×8 single flat Photo Card
*Add 60 cards to your cart
*Start the checkout process
*Enter coupon code 50cards
*Your final cost should come to $4.90 which now includes FREE Overnight shipping!

Thank you Hip2Save

Oh Amazon…50% off + free shipping

The following toys are 50% off or more off list price at Amazon right now. All are eligible for free shipping. Oh how I love thee…

• Alex Ready, Set, Go! Red Trike: $99.99
• Alex My Wooden Flower Press: $9.99
• Alex Toys My Kitchen Set:$11.99
• Alex Little Hands Talk of the Farm: $22.50
• Fisher-Price Stack & Roll Cups: $5.99
• Fisher-Price My Toon TV: $25
• Fisher-Price 3 – In – 1 Smart Sports: $17.99
• Fisher-Price Color Me Gemz Jewelry Box: $11.99
• Fisher-Price Toddlerz Push Toy- Melody Push Chime: $6.99
• Fisher-Price Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 Kid-Tough Mini Doodler: $4.99
• Fisher-Price View-Master Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 Real Binoculars and 3D Viewer: $5.99
• Fisher-Price Easy Link Internet Launch Pad: $17.49
• Fisher Price Amazing Animals Set of 3 Push & Pull Toys Zebra, Lion, Elephant & Giraffe: $19.99
• Playskool Musical Activity Ball and Gear Center: $11.99
• Playskool Wheel Pals Polar Party: $8.50
• Tonka Chuck’s Stunt Park: $14.99
• LeapFrog Learn and Groove Color Play Drum: $9.97
• Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Blaze Firefly Flashlight: $7.66
• Littlest Pet Shop Collector’s Starter Pack: $9.99
• Kid Galaxy My 1st RC GoGo Fire Truck: $12.49

 

*Thank you Baby Cheapskate

Target deal…today only!

Gotta love Target…they score again with this sweet daily deal on Mossimo Supply Co. Junior’s jeans. You can get TWO pairs of jeans for a total of $13 {including shipping!} That breaks down to just $6.50 EACH! Woohoo!

Here’s how:

Head on over here and start shopping…

Select washes/styles are on sale for $10 {free shipping} AND buy one get one free!!

Then you can use the coupon code UZXPI33P to save an additional 10% off!!

That’s one sweet deal! Oh, how I love me some Tarjay ;)

 

*thank you Hip to Save

{Free} Photo gift tags!

Ok, this is such a CUTE idea from Kodak! You can get 50 FREE 2.5x3 photo cards that can be used as gift tags! You can personalize the front & the back with a message. You only need to pay for shipping which comes to $3.99 for the entire order!

I just ordered a set…this is what mine looks like:

FRONT

 

BACK

 

Isn’t this such a cute idea?! I love them!! If you want some of your own follow the steps below!

 

Here is how to get yours:

• Go here to Kodak
• Select ‘Mommy Cards’ on the left side of the page
• Create your ‘Mommy Card’ to be a ‘Photo Gift Tag’
• Add 1 to your cart {1 set = 50 cards}
• Sign in or Sign Up for a New Kodak Account {new members get 50 Free Prints!}
• At checkout, no coupon code is necessary
• Shipping approx. $3.99!

*thank you Frugal Girls!

No lines. No crowds. No problem.

 

I don’t know about you, but I am not a Black Friday person. There is no “deal” out there that will ever be good enough for me to get up before dawn only to fight off crowds of crazy people. Yes, I think people who shop on Black Friday are CRAZY! My blood pressure rises just thinking about it…

I prefer sitting behind my laptop, clicking away, and only having to worry about cursing out my DSL service. Stress free.

I’ve collected a few of the best websites to find online deals, either on Black Friday or Cyber Monday:

http://bfads.net/Online-Deals

http://www.blackfridayonline.com/

http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=384082011&tag=reblis-20

http://www.blackfriday.info/online/

 

 

And…for you crazy people out there, here are a couple links to the most popular in store ads!

                             http://bfads.net/

http://www.blackfridayonline.com/popular-ads/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck…may the force be with you ;)

a.must.follow

The blog I am about to share with you is dangerous. It will cause excessive mouth watering, possible weight gain, and potential stalker tendencies.

Oh.my.lordy. If you LOVE food…which everyone DOES…you must follow this BLOG!!!

The Girl Who Ate Everything

She shares recipes for things like this:

Need I say more?!? 

I’ve already tried a couple recipes out and they have been surprisingly easy. I am definitely no Betty Crocker. Plus, she has great kid-friendly ideas…I made Scream Cheese Brownies for Halloween thanks to her blog and they were a big hit with my son!

I knew I would leave you salivating. Head on over to The Girl Who Ate Everything and become a follower…trust me, it’s worth a daily stalking session ;)

#10

 

We have a winner…

Congrats #10 Anne

You’ve won the CSN giveaway!

*Email me to claim your gift card

It’s free!

Ready for another giveaway?! How about some free cash to buy anything you want?! Well, you are in luck! CSN is offering a {free} $45 gift certificate to one of my lucky readers! If you haven’t shopped with CSN before, this is the perfect opportunity to check them out. They have everything from fitness equipment to contemporary coffee tables and gorgeous home decor!

Here’s how to enter:

In honor of Veteran's Day, tell me if you are currently serving our country, have served or know of someone who is a veteran…or just tell me how you plan to honor our veteran's tomorrow! {1 entry}

Follow my blog! If you already follow just leave me a comment reminding me :) {1 entry}

Tweet this giveaway, post it on facebook, or repost on your own blog and leave me the link! {1 entry}

I will randomly choose a winner on Saturday 11/13! Good luck!

Part 2: the great paint debate

In my last post, I told you that last year we had our entire house repainted. Every square inch, all 5 bedrooms, top to bottom, even the ceilings! It was quite the task. Hence the reason we paid professionals. But before any of that could happen we had to pick paint colors.

Oh.my.lord. I hate picking out paint colors! Seriously, my eyes cross just thinking about it. I just wanted someone to tell me what colors to pick! Who doesn’t?!

The painters we hired, exclusively used Sherwin Williams paint only. I had no prior experience with the brand, so I had to trust their professional opinion. Before picking colors, I googled “most popular Sherwin Williams paint colors”…about a million websites popped up. I came across a real estate home staging website, and on their message board a few realtors were discussing the most popular colors found in model homes. Ding, Ding, Ding! That’s exactly what I wanted!

The two most discussed colors were SW Kilim Beige & SW Latte. I used Kilim Beige in all of my common areas such as the entryway, stairway, hallway, etc. I was looking for a neutral color to match any accent wall or any type of decor and this color was perfect for me! Then I used Latte for my kitchen and kitchen island. Latte & Kilim Beige transition perfectly together! I love, love, LOVE these two colors.

Here are some photo examples {brace yourself for the “before” pics, they are horrifying}

the BEFORE:

the AFTER {SW Kilim Beige}

 

 

Formal Dining room BEFORE

 

         

AFTER {Kilim Beige next to burgundy accent wall}

   

View from and into the formal living room

 

Kitchen BEFORE

Up-close of SW Latte in kitchen

Kitchen walls & island are in Latte

 

After looking at all of our BEFORE pictures it really makes me want to blog about all of the other rooms that received a face lift! But I’ll stick with this for now ;)

FYI: All of the paint we used was in an eggshell finish. This may offend you, so I apologize in advance, but I really dislike glossy or semi-gloss paint! I do not like my walls to have “shine” or “glare”. So everything has a flat or velvety finish to it.

I was extremely impressed with the quality of SW. It was affordable and so far I love the richness of the colors. Also – SW did a great job matching colors. In our master bedroom & master bath, we wanted specific Restoration Hardware brand colors {love RH!} so we provided swatches and WAH-LAH!! Perfect match!!

So there you have it! Hopefully this post helped a few people out there that are paint color challenged like myself! Happy painting :)

oh for the love of paint

I hate to paint. I loathe it. I have vowed to never.ever.paint.again.

When we bought our house last year, we had to have every square inch repainted. Oy. Prior foreclosure, nuff said. {So we hired professionals to get the job done}

I recently came across a home decorator blog trying to gain inspiration for some holiday ideas, and I noticed they did an entire post on why you should never ever paint over oak wood. And several people commented about how it repulses them to see people paint oak and it’s a “no-no” in the wood/paint world. Hmm…I disagree.

Case in point:

Check out our OAK kitchen cabinets when we first closed escrow on our house.

Blah. This pictures makes me want to vomit. In my opinion, the oak makes the kitchen look so outdated. The house is just barley 6 years old, and the kitchen looks 20 years old! Yikes.

So we decided to give them a little makeover with some white paint….cheap & easy {well, easy for me since I didn’t lift one paint brush}.

 

I think this AFTER picture trumps the blog post that says never to paint over Oak. I don’t regret this makeover for a split second. Gives so much life to the kitchen.

So there you have it…if you’re in need of some home improvement inspiration, here you go.

Stay tuned for my follow up post on some popular paint colors that will eliminate the painful process of picking out that perfect shade…just thinking about picking out paint colors makes my skin crawl. So if you feel the same way, check back later this week ;)

it’s a shoe thang

Head over to Nordstrom.com and you can get free shipping on all shoes if you purchase before 10/25/10 and use the promo code SHOES at checkout.

They also have some good sales going on….I have been looking high & low for some sandal-type shoes for my son since he grew from a size 4 to 6 literally overnight. And even though it’s raining here all week, it undoubtedly will be back to 85 degrees shortly. NO stores have any sandals in stock…I’ve looked everywhere.

Well lo & behold, I found that Nordstrom has some GREAT sale prices on kids Stride Rite shoes. I got my son the below pair for $25.90 {40% off the original price of $43.95}.

 

If you’re interested in Stride Rite’s, check out Amazon first. They actually have this exact shoe for $4 cheaper with free shipping, however they didn’t have my son’s size.

Happy shopping!

It’s tough

So I’m not exactly a domestic goddess when it comes to laundry. Oh lord do I hate doing laundry. Biggest pet peeve ever. Especially since the boys in my family are stain magnets. My hubby comes home with practically an entire football field smeared on his clothes and my son, well, he’s just a walking mess.

I have always used Shout stain remover. Why I have never tried anything else, I have no idea. In my personal opinion, Shout sucks. It just doesn’t do a good job, especially for the stains a 16 month old can acquire.

So I finally decided to try something else and picked up this OxiClean stain remover:

 

 

This stuff just confirms my love for all OxiClean products. This stuff rocks! Completely removed the evidence of an entire oreo cookie all over my son’s white polo shirt! yahoo! Oh and it smells really good too! I also used it on my carpeted stairs after our cat got sick all over them the other night…it worked like a charm!

If you go to the OxiClean website you can print a $0.75 off coupon for this product! Happy laundry goddess day ;)

#1,987,653 reason why I love Amazon

Just another reason why I love, love, LOVE Amazon. If you are a mom, dad, grandparent, aunt, uncle…pretty much if you know how to online shop, you must sign up for the new Amazon Mom program.

 

 

When you sign up for Amazon Mom you’ll receive:

• Free 2-Day Shipping + Amazon Prime Benefits {for 3 months!}
• 30% Off Diapers & Wipes with Subscribe & Save Delivery
• Exclusive Email Discounts & Offers
• Automatic Cancellation: in the Third Month of your membership, Amazon will send you an email letting you know the automatic end date of the Free Amazon Prime Free 2-Day Shipping.
• If you already have Amazon Prime… you can cancel your existing subscription and receive a prorated refund for the remaining unused months left on your subscription! You will receive an email notifying you of the cancellation and refund amount.

Awhile back, Amazon offered me 3 months free of the Amazon Prime and it was AMAZING! I got free 2 day shipping on everything, no minimum purchase needed! Heaven! It expired just a couple of weeks ago, and I quickly signed up for Amazon Mom and now I get free 2 day shipping all through the holidays! Yesss!! *Remember: ANYONE can sign up! You don’t need to be a mom :)

Also – I am signed up for the Subscribe & Save delivery program for my son’s Huggies Diapers and it rocks! Lowest prices & you have complete control over how often you want a box sent! {you can also cancel at anytime} Loves it!

#5 is a winner!

I apologize that this post is so late. Long story short…Verizon sucks and we’ve been without internet for 2 days.

But I’m happy to announce that commenter #5 has won the giveaway!

 

Congrats to McCall @ Lee, Me, and the girls!

 

Please contact me with your email address so that I can send you details about your gift certificate!

Giveaway Friday!

I don’t know about you, but I love Friday’s! And I have another giveaway to sweeten the day! CSN is giving away a $35 gift certificate to one lucky reader!! CSN is one of my most favorite online stores…they sell everything from coffee tables to coffee makers!

So who wouldn’t want some free shopping money right before the holiday’s hit?! I know you do! So enter my giveaway…I’ll pick a winner on Tuesday the 21st.

Here’s how to enter…{leave a separate entry for each}

1. Tell me your favorite upcoming holiday tradition that you can’t wait for

2. Become a follower of my blog! If you already follow, leave a comment reminding me :)

3. Tweet or Facebook this giveaway and leave me the link

4. Post this giveaway on your own blog linking back to mine!

Good luck!

 

*Do you want to hear about the latest & greatest giveaways on a regular basis? Sign up with the Giveaway Scout and you can be notified via email so you’ll never miss a giveaway!

Updating my xmas wish list now

This past weekend, my family had a little photo shoot for our upcoming holiday cards…

I noticed during our shoot that our photographer was rockin’ this beautiful camera bag, which she had told me last year that she had won on a blog giveaway. I didn’t get to see it in person until this past weekend…and now I must have one!

It’s gorgeous and doesn’t even look like the typical “camera bag.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no professional. But I am a mom with a big clunky camera that tries to stuff a Canon SLR into an always waaaay too small purse. I’m constantly fumbling and rearranging my wallet, phone, camera & lens to fit into my bag when I just want to take pictures of my son at the park! {sigh}

So I’m updating my Christmas wish list with a Kelly Moore bag {hint, hint, hubby if you read this}.

If you are a photographer, amateur, or just a mom with mamarazzi tendencies then hopefully you find this on your wish list too :)

 

 

 

Badger me all you want

A few weeks ago, I saw someone post the link to EWG’s 2010 Sunscreen Guide exposing the best & the worst sunscreens on the market. And of course, my {not so trusty} Banana Boat was rated one the WORST sunscreens on the market! Mainly, because of the poor UVB coverage and all of the chemicals that are in it! To make matters worse, the baby version, that I use on my son was rated just as bad!

I was so horrified, that I vowed to never use that stuff again.

One of the #1 top rated sunscreens is this stuff called Badger. Their sunscreen is organic, all natural, contains no chemicals, water resistant and provides excellent UVA & UVB coverage. I found it on Amazon for $13.60 {kinda pricey} and it’s only a 2.9 oz tube! Yikes! But the almost 100 positive reviews by customers made me give it a try.

Let me just say that this is the BEST sunscreen EVER!!! I put it on my son one afternoon and let him run through the sprinklers, and beads of water were literally bouncing off of his skin! It was amazing.  It’s super thick, but rubs in well. Kinda leaves a ghostly look if you don’t rub well, but it wasn’t a big deal for me.

But the icing on the cake was that my husband actually liked wearing it. My husband is a football coach and spends hours in the sun and comes home looking like a lobster on most days. Partly because he is the WORST baby when it comes to wearing sunscreen. I would rather convince my toddler to wear it, than my husband. He is horrible. Whines & whines about putting it on because it “burns” his eyes when he sweats. Well, lo & behold, he used it once and was hooked. He swears it doesn’t burn his eyes at all {probably because there are no chemicals in it – duh!} and he doesn’t come home looking like he was fried up on a BBQ!

This stuff puts me at ease knowing that it’s safe for the whole family to use and there are no harmful chemicals being put on our bodies. To me, it’s worth the extra $$$ :)

Go grab one!

I wanted to share what I just purchased this morning. I haven’t even received it yet, in fact I can’t really give you a review on the product because I’ve never used it. But it’s such a great price that I have to pass along the deal just in case you have been looking for something like this too.

 

I bought the Regalo My Cot Portable Bed for my son. It is on sale, on Amazon, for $20 with no tax & free shipping! This is the lowest price out there, even lower than Wal-Mart since they charge for shipping.

This cot had excellent reviews not only on the Amazon site but also every other retail site I could find it on. I had to jump on this deal since we are planning another mini vacation in October and I’m pretty sure my son will have outgrown his pack ‘n play by then.

It’s 48 inches long, so it should last him for a few years and definitely throughout all of toddlerhood.

Go grab one! :)

 

*Thank you Baby Cheapskate

winner!!

Congratulations, Blessed Mommy of 2 over at The Hanlon Family blog, you have just won the CSN $40 gift certificate giveaway!!

Please contact me with your email address! Happy shopping!

It’s a giveaway!!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know how much I love CSN! They sell just about everything from platform beds, to vacuums, and kitchen essentials. You really can find just about anything you could ever dream of on one of their 200+ online sites.

Well, today CSN is offering a $40 gift card to one of my lucky readers! Woo hoo!

And it’s super easy to enter the giveaway! Here’s how to win:

1st entry – become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment telling me you are now a follower. {If you already folllow, then leave a comment reminding me :) }

2nd bonus entry – complete a blog post about this giveaway on your own blog and leave a comment with the link!

3rd bonus entry – post this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter and leave me a comment with the link back!

Contest will end Monday, July 12th @ noon. Good luck!

my newest find

My son was in desperate need of a book organizer and I wanted something cute to match his toy bin shelf.

Wah-lah! Personal Creations strikes again! Oh how I love this website.

I found this ADORABLE canvas bookcase that is personalized too! It’s listed on sale for $49.98…BUT I had a 30% off coupon code and got it for $34.99!!!!

The canvas is great quality and the wood is very sturdy. It also comes in pastel colors for girls.

I just so happen to have a 30% off coupon code for you too. Today until July 12th, use the code BIGSALE and receive 30% off of any item!

No stud required

I am a huge commitment phobe when it comes to decorating my house. I don’t like anything too permanent, for fear that I’ll hate it 5 minutes later.

Fortunately, when it comes to home improvement, my hubby is seriously Mister Handy. I swear he can do it all. But we sadly drive each other nuts when it comes to hanging stuff on walls. It’s always a major production. I get the same speech every time… “ok, let me get my hammer, and find the perfect sized nail, oh but wait I gotta find a stud in the wall first…yada, yada, yada.” And I’m all.. “Stud?! Just freakin’ nail that sucker in the wall, gosh darnit!” and then of course 5 minutes later, I hate it and want him to move it. Cycle repeats.

So. I found a solution to both of our problems.

     

I am madly in love with 3M for inventing this stuff. It’s awesome and is currently holding up everything in my house that is under 5lbs.

No nails. No studs. No annoyed hubby.

Best part: it’s not permanent. You can take anything off the wall without any holes left behind and no damage to paint!

Here’s an example of what I’ve used it for…

Happy hanging…err, sticking?! ;)

I’m back!

I told you a couple weeks back that I was on a mission to find an easy, kid-friendly way to travel.

Well, we just came back from a Father’s Day vacation that included 110 degree weather, a lake, and a boat. We were in need of a lightweight, compact stroller that we could navigate around a hotel, push down a boat dock while having beach gear strapped to my back, and something that would store easily on the boat. 

We already have an UppaBaby Vista Stroller {which I LOVE}, however it’s big and HEAVY. There is no way we were going to fit it in our SUV along with coolers, beach chairs, umbrellas, pack ‘n play, etc, etc.

Thanks to CSN, I found the Kolcraft Tour Sport Reclining Umbrella Stroller, priced at only $38.95. FedEx delivered it about 2 days before we left. I wasn’t expecting much, since it was competing against other umbrella strollers that were double the price. But, it met all of my requirements. It is super lightweight {about 11lbs}, opens quickly, locks easily, and folds up compact just like an umbrella…hence the name, right? ;)

The fabric is surprisingly good quality, the seat does recline, it comes with a sun shade, and cup holder. The handles are high enough to push the stroller without bending down, which was a big factor for my hubby since he’s 6’2”. I wasn’t too thrilled with the sun shade. It’s small, doesn’t really provide much coverage and it consistently popped off when we closed the stroller to store it away. Minor complaint compared to the other positives.

        

Bottom line: job well done. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for an inexpensive and convenient umbrella stroller.

Before & After

       

I’ve learned a few things this past week:

1. My tile floor, specifically the grout, is not supposed to be a light shade of BLACK.

2. The darker vs. lighter shades of the stone is not just a “design”…it’s DIRT.

3. OXICLEAN is my newest BFFE!!!!

Needless to say, my floors were in need of a DEEP cleaning. Like, the type that requires you to get on your hands & knees, break your back, blister causing, brush scrubbing – type of clean!

I took a 1/4 scoop of Oxiclean and mixed it in a medium sized bowl of hot water, spread it over my tile floor & grout, scrubbed the hell out of it, and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then I mopped it off, let it dry, and then mopped it again with just water to clean any residue away. LOTS OF HARD WORK…but holy cow my grout is like 10 shades lighter!!! 

It should be known that I still use & LOVE my McSteamy, but it doesn’t do much for grout grime. Even my husband was impressed and he’s not exactly the type to get all giddy over a house cleaning product…so you know it’s gotta be good!