Bountiful Bargains (and some Bragging)

I'm a huge fan of the JBF consignment sales. It took a while, the first one I participated in was lackluster, but the Coon Rapids/Maple Grove sale has a HUGE following and I am hooked. Probably tooooooo hooked, as I went a bit overboard on clothes especially, but I couldn't resist the wonderful deals!

For example,
Nice big set of Fisher Price Peek-A-Boo Blocks, circus theme. I paid $5. Came home and wiped them down with disinfecting wipes, and they were good as new. The Cupcake is in LOVE with them, as she is very into examining tiny details lately. Compare to the current "alphabet" themed set, on Fisher-Price's website for $27



$22 savings!

2nd score: Fisher Price Elmo's World Guitar, complete with batteries (they require everything at the sale to have batteries and work, so you can try it all out).



We don't watch much TV, but I think this kid came out of the womb knowing and loving Elmo (and Dorothy). I paid $6, it's on Amazon right now for $37.99 and there's not even a scratch on it. Kid is in love. The sounds are mildly annoying for long periods of time, but when you hit the whammy bar Elmo says "WHAMMMMMMMMY!" and it cracks me up every time.

Saved $36 + batteries

I'm in love with Hanna Andersson, a Swedish kids brand that is way too expensive for me, but TC has gotten a few gifts from her Grandmother that got me hooked, and luckily lately I've been able to snag a few things at amazing deals, for example I got this quilted MERMAID jacket:



PLUS the matching capri pants AND a matching mermaid onesie for $15. Compare this to new to jackets from HA currently priced in the $48 range, Capri pants are $28, and printed onesies $22, a similar new outfit would be $98.

Whoa. $83 savings. And SO FREAKING ADORABLE, you knew I couldn't pass up that jacket...

If you're keeping track, that's $167 worth of goodies for $26, and everything looks nearly new. I AM A CHAMPION SHOPPER!

This is just a fraction of my booty (a very small fraction). I admit I went overboard, but so far the toys are all BIG hits (and I'm only breaking them out slowly, might keep a few in the wings for crabby days), and I have an entire summer wardrobe ready for TC's current (18mo) size and 24 months. It's mostly great brands I covet but could/would never fork out the money for new (Children's place stretchy pants are AMAZING, but I'm not paying $15-30 for kid pants, I don't even spend that for MY pants!).


The Coon Rapids JBF Sale is still on today & tomorrow, with lots of good deals (go buy the rest of my stuff!). Grandparents get 25% off most items today, and everyone gets 1/2 off most stuff tomorrow. Details here. I'm also consigning, and that's a great way to stretch your dollars too - I've *almost* made enough in selling her old stuff to pay for the new stuff.

Looking forward to...

After the last post, I pretty much immediately signed up for the "Run for your life Zombie 5K." The zombie shifts were almost all sold out already, so we'll be getting up ridiculously early to trek out to the middle of nowhere for our zombie transformations, but hey - nobody said zombie apocalypse would be convenient. My friends are considering doing a theme for our undead outfits, but haven't settled on one yet. I love costume planning. :)



A few other things I'm looking forward to -

The "Just Between Friends" kid consignment sales start their spring run next week and there are a bunch of them around my area, so I'm excited for good deals. Just in time too, our early warm up + The Cupcake's hulk-like growth means I'm pretty sick of putting her in the same 3 pairs of pink pants and the small selection of currently fitting shirts that don't seem to match any of them. I'm trying to prep some stuff to sell as well, but it is SO MUCH WORK! If I can make enough back to cover what I sell, it will be worth it.




Summer trips! I'll be traveling for work a big ole' week WITHOUT TC, should be an adventure for all of us. I'm not going anywhere terribly exciting (Indianapolis) but I am still excited for the experience. And potentially sleeping through the night a few times :)

Summer activities! TC LOVES to be outside, and she'll sit in her stroller for hours if you keep her moving. Recently I splurged on one of these:

Kid LOVES it! She's particularly obsessed with the little cell phone toy strapped to the handlebars (teaching them to talk and drive already?!?!) and threw the FUNNIEST fit when I tried to take her off it the first time (it won't be funny the 50th time, but seriously, how is it not hilarious when a kid goes all soupy jell-o on you so you can't pick them up and even put them back on the toy they are mad you took them off of? And it's not like they learn that, it must be inborn. Babies are so ridiculous!)I love the sun shade, and while it's not as easy to push as the stroller (and not as much storage), it feels less weird to have her in that on the sidewalk or driveway where we turn circles for hours.

It still ends with ZOMBIES!

I'm skipping the excuses and apologies because really? Nobody cares. I'm the only one who feels bad about not posting, and I'm over it. This is life now. Kids knock you down a few levels on Maslow's hierarchy, but maybe they're also the key to climbing. Oooh, deep, especially for someone who is half zombie.

The Cupcake is a toddler! Maybe not in age, but she definitely toddles. And runs. And climbs. And tries to jump off tall objects. It's been a challenge to try and get a photo the past few months as they're all a big blur. She acquiesced to a quick snap in her otter hat and fuzzy pink jacket the other day, gotta love those big blue eyes. She's very into books at the moment (YAY!) and we splurged on a big ebay lot of them this past week, and at the same time found a big stash of board books in the basement we were saving until she was old enough, so mega score. And just in time, as "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" might have been shoved down the garbage disposal if I didn't get some relief soon. Other favorite toys are that strange Kewpie doll in her hands (yes, that was mine as a child - though I have no memories of it), and the big awesome slide/tunnel/crawling structure that was TC's birthday gift (and sort of mine too). The other love of of our lives right now is this CD by Jewel, which is completely addicting and not nearly as annoying as all the other songs that we are surrounded by daily (the stuff her bouncer played almost drove me to an ice pick in the ear). Seriously, this disc is awesome, thank you so much Auntie Lorla :)

In other news: I have an epic cold, which TC had a week before me and I now have new appreciation for why the poor bugger was so unhappy. I'm on my 7th box of Puffs Plus (Grammy is on her 12th...) and still somehow making snot. Egads.

Oh, is that not what you wanted to hear? Because with how much I talk about poop every day now, snot barely registers on the ooky scale. It's glamor all the time. TC started sleeping through the night at a year, then 2 weeks later she stopped. It seemed to maybe coincide with our switch from formula to whole milk, so we went back to formula, then she was sick, and now she is better and has slept through the night 3 days in a row. Basically, we have no idea, we're just delirious and zombi-fied most of the time, so we're thankful when we get a good night and too confused to question when it's a rough one.

And speaking of zombie-fied:
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE: 5K OBSTACLE COURSE ZOMBIE RACE!

Um, YES. Please. I have to think the only time I'd ever really run is if I were being chased by zombies, and even then chances are good I'd just give up and go brainless pretty quickly anyways. So not only is this an awesome race for athletically minded individuals, I think I may have to sign up as a zombie (shuffling zombie, not chasing zombie - you have options!) since I always seem to miss the "Zombie Prom" type events and have sadly never been turned into the living dead, despite my love of costumes and events. Sadly no ankle biting zombies allowed, but I'm looking into babysitting options already. Nothing says romance like a zombie date with the husband.

Coming soon (well, maybe):

-many musings on the future! (hint - more questions than answers!)
-exciting news and world events (at least for me it's exciting)
-must learn to watermark my photos now that Pinterest is co-opting them even more than google images

Checking In...

So when you fall through the ice in a Minnesota winter, your body tries to survive by shutting down function to the extremities in order to keep the core going. Bodies are smart that way.

That's pretty much my new mom strategy too. Apologies to "extremities" that have been put on ice for a while - i.e. cleaning, socializing, brushing my hair...

I've also taking a bit of a sabbatical from blogging I guess, it wasn't intentional but it's working out just fine. I just had a few too many balls in the air, and it's amazing how much easier juggling is when you kick a few of those balls under the couch and forget about them.)

So, YES, I am alive!

Yes, I will blog again - eventually! I even have a few projects I really should put up before I forget them.

And if you are visiting from [MN]Love's newsletter, welcome, thank you, and you'll find my "Marriage is..." pic and post here.

And this is The Cupcake at 10 months + change, using her FOUR new teeth to test out a pickle:



Ta ta for now...

In the Closet

I haven't been able to do much on my bucket list since I checked off "#2: Have a child," but I am working on one item little by little. It's number 156: Love all the clothes in my closet. And it's a pretty big deal. I mentioned before that I've drastically changed sizes over the past year and a half, and I'm currently finding myself down to a size 10 for the first time in more than a decade, and while I've never been too focused on my weight, wow is this making shopping a LOT more fun! Now, if only I had some MONEY to shop with :)

But as much as buying new clothes is important, the other and perhaps larger task in this project is getting RID of things. My closet is more or less full, I own clothing...I just don't love it. I don't even like it all. And I don't want to be bogged down by it anymore.

I'm sick of throwing on clothes in a rush, and then being uncomfortable the rest of the day as they don't fit or flatter. I'm sick of getting all bent out of shape before I go somewhere because I "have nothing to wear." My life is very full. I barely have time for the things and people that I DO love, I'm done wasting it on things I don't. So I have some prioritizing to do.

Here are some of the rules I'm going by:

1. Always try it on. I've never been a catalog or online shopper, and I'm terrible at knowing how something will look on me or feel. So even if The Cupcake is throwing a fit, no buying and returning later - that's just double the work. Try it before you buy it.

2. If I don't immediately love it when I try it on, I don't buy it. Don't even consider it. There are so many beautiful things in the world these days, there is no need to settle or talk myself into something - I don't have $$$ to waste on things I don't love. In the past if something was a really great deal it has sort of elevated my opinion of it - but no more. No instant love = no sale.

3. If it is inconvenient, it goes away. If it needs to be hemmed or taken in or otherwise repaired - even if it's a great deal - no sale. I just don't have time to get to those things right now, and I know it.

4. Consider the ladies. This means if I can't wear a bra, or would have to buy some sort of special bra, or if my straps would hang out and annoy the crap out of me all day, no sale. When I got my mermaid I went out and bought a bunch of backless shirts...but stick on bras suck. I end up cupping myself all day, and that's just not a good look. Perhaps in some really specific situations this might be allowed (formal wear?) but for daily outfits - no go.

5. It all goes in the wash. I hate to iron, and I definitely don't have time in my day for it. I'll never hand wash garments either. And I can't really afford to dry clean. Everything in my life has to tolerate puke, poop, and pureed carrots (which stain like a b!@#$). I don't have time right now for high maintenance clothes.

6. If it's too big, it goes away. I know, I know, this might not be permanent weight loss, and maybe I'll have to buy a whole new wardrobe if I gain it back or keep shrinking - but I don't have room to keep multiple separate wardrobes, and I'm sick of grabbing clothes that seem okay in the morning, and are falling off my hips halfway through the day. If I wear something, and it proves to be annoyingly large - it's going in the GET RID OF bins, the same way I am constantly rotating TC's wardrobe.

(GET RID OF method is yet to be determined. I'd love to have a yard sale, or put everything on ebay, take it to a consignment shop, or otherwise profit from it - but that takes SO MUCH TIME. For now, it's all getting piled in boxes in the attic).

7. The Norm rule. This has been in effect for...oh, 11 years now. Norm is mostly white, and constantly freaked out, which means my house is COVERED in tiny white hairs that stick to everything. Especially black clothes. Or navy. Or anything fleece. I haven't seen hubby in a black t-shirt forever. When I was working full time I occasionally had "work only" black clothes that I rarely wore around the house, but now that I'm home more than away, it really doesn't make sense to invest in things I can almost never wear. Nina Garcia would not survive in my house :)

I'm trying to pay more attention to clothes that can work together, though I've never been able to limit myself in terms of colors. I have an odd attachment to tie dye, I know, but I'm okay with that. I'm trying to ease up on the sparkles - if only because they often complicate rule #5, but also glitter and studs are a baby hazard (gasp!) so I'm toning it down a little...at least until I can wear jewelry again :) (TC has a mean grip and lightning speed, she WILL rip that crap right off of you). While my life is pretty messy right now, I don't need to keep "paint clothes" or things "I might wear in the mud" - keeping clothes BECAUSE they are ruined already is silly, that's what aprons and bleach are for.

I've hauled 3 giant laundry baskets out of my bedroom so far, and since I had TC I believe I've purchased 3 pairs of pants and 12 tops - plus a bunch of jeans from the goodwill. Half of those jeans ended up violating my "rules" above and got the axe - mostly because I found myself hiking them up all day long, I'm just NOT made for low rise jeans, and there are better options for me. Hoping to finish this project by the end of the year, get some photos up of what I'm keeping and ditching, and slowly build my closet back up while keeping to the rules above.

Material Girl

We went to a bridal shower last weekend, which was a perfect excuse to wear a party dress:



I <3 this outfit! And it was SUCH a steal - a few weeks ago I heard a rumor that Ella's organic baby food was on sale half price at Babies R Us, so I ventured in and stumbled on a gigantic clearance sale. All of their clothing on the clearance racks (which were all over the store, there must have been over 20 circular racks) was $5 or less. That meant we got this $29 dress for just $5!!!



She was in a great mood, but had no intentions of posing for me - she's ALWAYS on the move right now!



The leggings she already had, and the hair clip I bought for her newborn photos but never used - I was worried she'd rip it out, but she left it alone all day! (the other baby at the party tried to jack it several times, however).




We even had a matching bib and shrug to accessorize with later on!



Replace the necklace she is holding with a phone (the old corded style), change auntie Laura's lap to some shag carpet or a Lisa Frank comforter, and she's a child of the 80's just like myself:



I decided not to curl her bangs though :)

Fair Time: Round II! DING!

The kid was in great spirits for her second day at the fair (yes, it's so good we go multiple times. Plus it helps to spread out the walking and overeating). The weather was GORGEOUS - cool, with a light breeze - and it was pretty uncrowded for the fair, we could actually get around okay most of the time even with the stroller.



Food the adults ate this time (less Cupcake-friendly fare, I'm afraid):
teriyaki chicken noodles
blackened Caribbean chicken
a couple of beers in the Bazaar, a milk, and a Sun Drop soda
wild rice cheeseburger
corn on the cob
Sweet Martha's cookies
free sample of sparkling cranberry juice

Stuff I bought:
(much more reserved this time!)



I only spent $6 on "stuff" this time, I couldn't resist these two little sea horses. When she's old enough TC has a few matching mermaid dolls from the same vendor. Maybe next year I'll get the octopus and sting ray :)


Stuff the kid did get to try:
strawberry shake
nitro ice cream sample
sweet corn ice cream
and then there was the chocolate cream puff, clearly the highlight of the evening:




I like to think she was in a state of perfect happiness with her first taste of the creamy chocolate filling:



Holy smokes, those eyes!



She liked it right away, and actually got fussy after a few bites when I stopped sharing!



Yes ma'am, more cream puff filling coming your way...and then the silly kicked in...



She was in QUITE a delightful mood!



She had a fit of the giggles!



I totally understand, chocolate cream puffs make ME happy too...



Then she slowly wound down...



And fell asleep soon after. Another fantastic evening at the fair!