I really, REALLY, hope you don’t have this problem

Five years ago, my husband & I adopted our very first furbaby – our spoiled rotten cat, Sydney.

Exhibit A:

Ten months ago, my husband & I welcomed our very first {real} baby – our precious angel, Landon.

Exhibit B:

Two months after giving birth to my son, my husband & I bought a new house & moved.

Exhibit C:

Well it turns out that…

CAT + BABY + NEW HOUSE = DISASTER

Our beloved furbaby turned into a living nightmare. Apparently, moving into a new house and having a crawling baby chasing after your tail brings about quite a lot of stress and anxiety. I know this because our cat started to PEE, yes PEE, on everything in sight.

It started with my son’s laundry. I guess this was a direct message to my son to “get out”. Then when she figured out my son wasn’t leaving, she moved onto my laundry, then my shoes, and oh, don’t forget about my Coach purse she squatted on. This went on daily, for months. I would walk around my house sniffing like a blood hound dog, until I found something underneath a puddle of the worst smelling bodily fluid on earth.

The last and final straw, came the day she went on a peeing spree. The victim? Our couches in our formal living room. Yep, the suede {ok, maybe it was faux suede} couch, chase & the oversized chair – all goners. They couldn’t be salvaged, and were hauled away to the dump along with my sanity.

My husband was ready to _______ ________ her. {I’ll leave that to your imagination since I don’t want PETA to come knocking on my door}. By this point, I had already spent hundreds of dollars on urine cleaners, vinegar concoctions, marking sprays, natural mood boosters – you name it, I had it. And it didn’t work. 

I called our local vet, with desperation in my voice {or, maybe I was balling my eyes out}. They recommended lots of wine for me and this for the cat:

Comfort Zone Diffuser with Feliway – it’s supposed to stop all urine marking, anxiety, and behavior problems. I bought 3 of them. They look like this plugged in:

They last 4 weeks, and then require a refill. We’ve had them plugged in for a little over 2 months. And I am elated to report that the peeing has almost stopped completely. I wouldn’t call this a miracle product, because she has slipped up a couple of times. But it’s damn near a miracle, because my sanity is slowly but surely returning.

If you have this problem in your home, I highly recommend these things. But buyer beware - they aren’t cheap by any means. Don’t buy them in a pet supply store because they will run you about $47.99 for each diffuser. I found them on Amazon for $18.99 each!! That’s less than half the price that PetCo. was selling them for! WOW…I love, LOVE, love Amazon…and since I bought 3 of them, my total was over $25 which qualified for FREE shipping!! woot woot!

Are you a doggie lover with this problem? Comfort Zone also makes the same type of products for dogs with urinating & marking problems. A girlfriend of mine has been using them for her little dog {who has been lifting his leg on their couches}, and from what I’ve heard they have slowed the peeing considerably. 

So to sum up this review, I really hope you can’t relate to this post because it’s an awful, stinky, insane problem. But if you do, then good luck and I hope my experience will save your couches ;)

Fine. I’ll admit it.

I might possibly be a bit of a makeup snob. There, I said it.

For years, I have turned my nose up at all drugstore makeup brands. Since my early college years, I have been a devoted MAC fan. Have you ever used their eye shadow before? Oh, it’s heaven. I probably have every.single.color ever made by MAC. And my addiction doesn’t end there. MAC foundation…specifically their Studio Fix Powder line has been a staple in my cosmetic bag for years and years.

Well…apparently pigs are now flying because the days of snubbing are a thing of the past. I recently ran out of my infamous Studio Fix powder foundation and was in desperate need. But having a lil one in the house, makes running over to the mall to visit the MAC counter a little more difficult these days. So…I headed to Target.

And I found this:

It’s CoverGirl’s Simply Ageless Foundation.

I haven’t bought CoverGirl since I was 14 and my mom let me wear clear mascara for the first time. Yes, it’s been that long. So I was a little skeptical but for $10.99 {on sale + coupon}, I thought I didn’t have much to lose.

***Insert angels singing here***

This foundation is awesome! It’s a cream-to-liquid formula with swirls of Olay collagen-boosting serum that is supposed to lessen the appearance of fine lines. It's also SPF 22. Let me just say…MAC has been given a run for their money.

I love this stuff. It stays on and in place for hours and doesn’t seem to rub off {or melt off} as easily as the Stuido Fix would. It doesn’t feel cakey or muddy but it also isn’t as light as a powder foundation. If you’ve used Studio Fix powder foundation before you know that it doesn’t have a wet/liquid texture. This change took some getting used to for me, but the CoverGirl texture doesn’t bother me one bit now.

I did not use the sponge applicator that came with the product. I personally am a fan of the traditional triangle makeup sponge, so that is what I use. In my opinion, you get the best application with one of those. After applying, I let it “set” for a few minutes before adding any other makeup on top of it. And wah-lah!! Perfect looking makeup for just over ten bucks!

Simply Ageless is supposed to retail for about $14.00. I found it at Target for $12.59 and I also had a manufacturer coupon that I clipped from the Sunday paper. This beats the $26.00 I was paying for MAC.

Turns out my mom is using CoverGirl Simply Ageless too and LOVES it. Two fans already! Oh – and I did also buy the Simply Ageless Corrector for under eye circles…and I love that too!!! Who knew??? CoverGirl is the new snob doing the snubbing ;)

target lovers unite

Have I told you the story of why Target is my one & only BFF for ever and ever?? For the full story, go here. It will knock your socks off. But long story short…I scored this brand new Canon EF 75-300mm lens for $15.99.

However, aside from my camera lens deal, I sometimes think Target is part of a conspiracy to make me broke. I swear, I go in JUST to buy toothpaste and diapers and exit the store with my checking account $200 less! Ouch!  So when I opened an email from my mother-in-law last week, with a link to this article, I immediately jumped for joy at the idea of being able to afford my unaffordable trips to Target.

Wise Bread released an article last month, that exposed Target’s markdown process of items going on sale & clearance.

Apparently, Target has a system for marking down their merchandise weekly:

Monday - Electronics, Kids Clothing and Stationary (Cards, Gift-wrap, etc.)
Tuesday - Domestics, Women's Clothing, Pets and Market (food items)
Wednesday - Men's Clothing, Toys, Lawn & Garden, Health and Beauty items
Thursday - House Wares, Lingerie, Sporting Goods, Shoes, Music / Movies, Books, Decor and Luggage
Friday - Auto, Cosmetics, Hardware, and Jewelry

By closely following the markdown schedule, and hitting the stores early in the morning, it is possible to get what you want before anyone else knows about it.

AND…according to Wise Bread, Target also has SECRET DEALS…

Secret Deals - Regular Target deal hunters know that it can really be a hit or miss type of deal. Some parts of the country have fantastic deals on high-end items, with no hint of the discount from their sticker price. Other areas never mark these same items down. The only way to really know if an item is on “secret clearance” is to scan it, made handy by the self-scanning stations placed throughout most stores. In order to get an idea of what might be on secret clearance, it is often necessary to browse message boards and web forums of those shoppers that do this regularly. (For a great resource for getting awesome Target deals, do a search for “Target Perimeter Perusing” and see what you may find!)

After reading this wealth of information, I decided to test out their claim first hand. I went to Target on a Thursday morning. Which means they should be marking down house wares, lingerie, sporting goods, shoes, music/movies, books, decor and luggage. My first stop was the lingerie department. And sure enough…I spotted 3 employees marking down pajamas, lingerie, and workout attire with little red clearance stickers! Score! Next stop…shoes. And yep, the adorable yellow sandals that I had been eyeing for a couple weeks were now marked on clearance with a little red sticker. Score…again!

Conspiracy or not, my BFF status with Target is now stronger than ever. I hope you & your wallet find this information useful. For the entire article and more Target insider tips, head on over to Wise Bread.

4 days only!

Hurry! Print this coupon today and go shop til you drop!

Some of my personal faves – Gap, Old Navy & Banana Republic are giving out 30% off coupons during their Friends & Family 4 day event! Plus, they give back 5% of what you spend to Big Brothers Big Sisters, so your shopping counts for more. It starts TODAY, 03/18 and ends on 03/21. So hurry! Print your in store coupon HERE.

 

 

{thanks hip2save}

calling all baby mama’s

Oooooh have I found a fun website. My checking account now thinks I’ve had a little too much fun. But how can anyone resist spending money on a lil one?!

Have you heard of Personal Creations? No? Me neither. Until they sent me a random catalog in the mail, with a big fat 20% off my entire order promo code on the cover! I was hooked.

If you have a baby, grandbaby, know a baby,  etc, etc…check out this website.

I found this ADORABLE {personalized} alphabet quilt for my son. I added it immediately to my shopping cart. The cost - $59.95 with personalization included. But remember, I had a 20% off coupon…so in my opinion this was a steal. I have never seen a quilt with as much detail AND personalized for this price. Each animal is a different fabric texture, and there are sweet embellishments on some of the tailed animals. It is too cute.

 

                       

I also found this for my son’s nursery:

It’s a {personalized} canvas of a duck family. The coolest part? You can customize how many ducklings are on your canvas {up to 6 ducks}! I ordered one with 3 ducks {Daddy, Mommy, & Landon}. And each duck is personalized with it’s name. It’s precious. But I know what you’re thinking. Personalized, custom nursery canvas = boo koo bucks, right? WRONG. I only paid $19.95!! YES, you read right…just under $20 bucks!

 

When I was pregnant, I stalked websites for months looking for affordable nursery canvas’, pictures, and paintings. And they were always so expensive. I wish I had known about this website 9 months ago. But it looks great in my son’s room now :)

***COUPON ALERT****

If you click here, and sign up for Personal Creation’s email list, they will send you a coupon code for 15% off of your entire online order!!!

Happy shopping my fellow baby mama’s :)

Seeing double

 

This website deserves a double take. Check out, Zenni Optical, they are offering complete eyeglasses starting at just $8 a pair! This price INCLUDES prescription lenses! They offer numerous frame styles for men, women, and kids! Also, shipping is a flat rate of $4.95 no matter how many pairs you order! I am sending this link to all of my vision “challenged” family members ;)

 

{Thanks Heidi from The Craft Monkey for this awesome deal tip}

Hop on over!

 

I have just discovered this awesome deal, thanks to hip2save!

I don’t know how long this price will last, but at SeeHere.com you can get 60 Easter Photo Cards for just $4.90!!

Follow the below steps to get your card!

Go to SeeHere.com and create you photo card.

Add 60 cards to your cart {this is key to receive free shipping}

And then upon checkout, enter code newbaby which will deduct $24.50 from your total.

I just did this myself, and my total + tax was $5.33 for 60 adorable Easter cards!

You CAN’T beat that!!

Hurry on over…

{Thanks to hip2save}