Throw Pillow Giveaway! We have a Winner!!!

GIVEAWAY UPDATE!!!  WE HAVE A WINNER!!

Congrats to Linda Ruamthong!!!

I will be sending you that pillow in the mail girl!

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I have sewn a pillow that I would like to give as a gift to one of you!!

It's super cute, right?

Well, all you have to do is complete the Rafflecopter steps below to win!

MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE EACH STEP.  

The last step requires that you follow my blog with Google Connect & leave a comment telling me so.  You can find it on the upper right corner of my blog.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Poppin' Tags

THRIFT SHOP (G rated Radio Edit Clean version) - MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS FEAT. WANZ from Garrett Wesley Gibbons on Vimeo.

I am frequenter of the local thrift stores.  Today it was Goodwill.  Here is a picture of what we snagged today:

I got some The North Face sneakers for $4, an Alphie for the kids for $5…why doesn't everyone shop this way??  

Don't be nervous about it!  You may be surprised who you run into there!!

How Starbucks Got Me Ready for an American Chocolate Week Date Night

You may have noticed a new little arrangement in your Wal-Mart bakery area:

Starbucks & Wal-Mart bakery have put together what they're calling, Delicious Pairings.  Starbucks coffee & items from Wal-Mart's bakery paired together for your ease & delight.  If you know me, this is right up my alley!!!

Normally, I would pick up my coffee on the coffee/tea aisle. We pretty much always buy Starbucks, & we usually try to get Pike's Place Roast if it's available.  If it isn't, we just grab something medium to dark & we're happy.  It being American Chocolate Week & all, I decided to try their new Starbucks Mocha flavor!!  After all, a mocha coffee was the first cup to get me hooked back in the day.  Starbucks made it easy for me by having their little suggestions out to tease me in the bakery!!!

Wal-Mart will also, at some point, will have a demo set up, so you can try samples.

  My Wal-Mart, at that time, had samples of Ghiradelli Chocolates to go with their Starbucks Mocha samples--though I was there to try their other suggestion:  

Double Chocolate muffins were the partner for this new Starbucks Mocha flavor, so I picked up some.

The next idea I had to make this night special was to rent Chocolat!  Such a good movie.

I brewed the coffee & set everything out on our ottoman in the living room just after we put the kids to bed.  The coffee was pretty lightly flavored as far as flavored coffees go, which is what we prefer.  If we're going to have a flavored coffee, we still want to taste coffee & not have a chemical-like after-taste.  The cupcakes were really too good because I ate 2 & they're HUGE.  I will be getting them again for sure.  I think in the future I would not have them together because it's pretty indulgent/rich, but, of course, that was perfect for a chocolate celebration!!  

I'm excited to see what future pairings will be waiting for me in the Wal-Mart bakery next time I'm getting groceries.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. All opinions are my own.  #CBias #DeliciousPairings #SocialFabric

You Need to Go Shopping!

I'm writing this post to encourage you to SHOP!  

Now that I have your attention, this is actually a serious post.  An old friend of mine, Jonathan Perrodin, is going through a tough time.  

He and his wife Amber own & Operate Perrodin Supply Company.  

Jonathan is the sole carpenter for the business and on February 22nd, he amputated his right index finger while working in their studio. Instantly, their lives changed.  They are now trying to figure out how to move ahead with their business, but the injury to Jonathan's finger has caused a loss of time, as well as huge medical bills.  

To support their family, a group of handmade artists and makers have donated goods for what they are calling the Four Finger Fundraiser.  All proceeds will benefit the Perrodin family to help them with their medical bills.  

So, really, you need to go shopping!  Click the icon below to be directed to the shop:

Please consider sharing about this fundraiser publicly to increase flow to their shop.   

Happy Shopping!!!

Cookie's Kids Easter Outfit Shopping

At our house, we like to make a big deal out of Easter.  Christmas gets tons of glory, but Easter is just as important to celebrate, so I'm trying to pump it up more.  Last year we did lots of crafts, kept telling the Easter story, played awesome celebratory Easter music on Easter morning like this song:

And this one:

Didn't leave out this one either:

For any mom, it is super exciting picking out the Easter outfits!  I just found out about a website called Cookie's Kids.  They have very reasonable prices, but great stuff!  On their website they offer school uniforms, boy's suits, girl's dresses, shoes, toys & more.

A bit about Cookie's Kids:  They started in the 70's. "Cookie" and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a store in Queens & sold holiday toys. Since that went so well, they used the money they earned to buy kid's clothes & their business grew from there. Cookie's Kid's have 7 stores in the NYC area in Bronx, Brooklyn & Jamaica as well as online at CookiesKids.com & are now celebrating 40 years in business.

It's nice to know a little about the companies you buy from, isn't it?  

Back to my shopping experience:  For Katie, I knew I wanted a pink ruffle dress.  If you know my daughter, it was either that or leopard & I'm not really feeling leopard for Easter. Ha!

Here's the dress I found!

Did you notice the price mamas?!  That is budget-friendly!!  

Here's what I found for Jackson:

I was real excited to find this little set because it's his first time to wear a suit!  Can you believe you can get all that for $15?  I'm hooked.

My order came in super quick!

I had them do a fashion show for me and I could not stop taking pictures of how cute they were.

Oh boy.  Two cute kids.    Here's my Google+ album about my experience.

You can check out #CookiesKids on Twitter and Facebook for the inside scoop on great deals.

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

x

Casual Friday Link Up!

Today I'm linking up with Two Thirty-Five Designs' Casual Friday Link Up.

Here is my very casual friday outfit.  Jcrew Sweater.  Old Navy Skinny Mini Flare jeans which they are sadly not selling anymore.  Glad I got 2 pairs.  Yesterday's make-up & hair (ha!)  Even a dirty mirror!!!  Only the truth here.

These shoes were my latest Goodwill find.  Super comfy.  These are the kind with no brand; simply "made in China."

I saw this quote on a friend's Facebook page and LOVED it.  So perfect and encouraging! 

Our kids are great and we are NOT screwing it up!!  We are a work in progress and learning every day, aren't we?  Chin up cuties!!!! xoxoxo