Word (less) Wednesday

Shopping Scores!

Shopping, I love it and lately, I have been scoring some AMAZING deals. I'm not even going in to the stores knowing of the deals, they are just kind of falling into my lap. I think that's what makes the shopping even more fun, the deals.

So, lets talk about the two deals I scored last week......

We have a King Size bed now and we needed new bedding because we moved our old stuff into the guest room with our old bed. I was shopping around and looking at some duvets. I doodled over to Pottery Barn to see what they had. I found Euro Shams regularly priced at $29/$39 for $16.99 and regular shams for $12.99. They had a duvet there that I loved but they only had it in Queen and of course we need the King. I then went online thinking it would be on sale and was going to have them order it. Well, it wasn't and it was still full price at $149. The girl said they can't discount it and I would still have to pay full price. I said I will check another store in the area. I called another one and they happen to have it. I went over and picked it up. On the tag it was $119 so I thought, wow great deal and then she rang it up and it was $89! WHAT? So, if you are doing the math I spent $161.95 (deduct a $25 gift card from that) for about $325 worth of bedding. Pretty good steal to me!

This picture is from the PB website. My shams aren't the ones in the picture, but the are pretty close. It's hard when you already have walls painted and curtains hung in a room to find something that is going to work, but I think I did pretty good.

Okay, so now for the biggest shopping score of maybe my life. On Saturday, we headed out to the Outlets in Leesburg. Not really looking for anything but just some clothes for Mary. I like to wander into the expensive stores just to see what they have on sale. I went into Burberry and saw they had 40% off trenches. I know it's a joke bc that means they are still like $350. I looked through the rack and that is exactly what I was seeing, but then I saw one, the tag said $199. So, we asked the Sales person, "Is that price as marked?" She said no, another 40% off that - "I'm sorry, what did you say?" I quickly looked to see the size and what do you know it was "Amy size", tried it on, fit perfectly and off we went to check out.

The lady behind the counter told me I was getting an amazing deal and she was happy I found the jacket, because she actually wanted it, but it did not fit her. I just assumed the jacket was an old style and they were marking it down to get rid of it. What do I care about old styles, it's Burberry, it's classic.

So, we get home later and Charlie asks me if it's really Burberry. I said I guess so, but I know sometimes they make things for the Outlet. We looked up the Style online and about dropped dead. The jacket retails for....$695! It's just from their past season. I just saved $575 for a jacket that is going to last my life and I can wear it for two different seasons! Of course my Dad told me to sell it, but no way, this is my first and probably my last time I will ever have a Burberry trench and I'm keeping it.

If you are still reading, do the math...my purchases when added together total $1020. I spent $256.95.

Who wants to go shopping?

30 Minutes or Less

The other day Charlie calls and says, "pick a paint color" - umm what? "Pick a paint color," he said again. I told him I'm not painting anything. My parents are coming and we don't have time to be painting. He said, "I want to paint the guest room, take it or leave it." WHAT? He's says he can go to the paint store at lunch and then paint the room that night. Ummm, you are giving me 30 mins to pick a paint color that you tell me I have to live with for the entire time we live in this house. Okay, no problem...........

I usually have a good eye for these things, but it was a little pressured. I threw out some colors and he said, "I want red" and I said "NO". Then I found this on the Pottery Barn site, Salsa Dancing. 

He said, perfect and went to buy it. I was still not totally sold on this. I mean I just picked a color in less than 30 mins.

He got home and started painting....

It's not as orange as it looks but it is definitely a bold color. As soon as it went up, I knew we made the right choice. Then I went to get the bedding that was going in the room and it made me feel even better.

And finally - the finished room. Well, finished in the sense that it is painted. I still have to decorate and hang curtains.

What do you think?

Squeeee Take Two.

One more Word "less" Wednesday - Squeeee!

Word "less" Wednesday

This dog has been on my desk since 2004. That's way back into my SteinMart days. I still remember who gave to me and that it came from a Kids Meal at McDonald's. She thought it looked like Ellie. This dog has been to A LOT of jobs and seen a lot of crazy co workers.

Summer Mini's!

I posted a few weeks ago about how we had pictures taken of Mary and Henry.  Helen just posted the session on her blog and I thought I would link my readers up to the amazing pictures.

Helen John Photography - http://www.helenjohnphotographyblog.com/2012/07/summer-minis-rockville-maryland-baby.html

Charlie who is usually not a fan of me constantly wanting to have pictures of the kids taken was blown away by the pictures. If he was blown away, I guarantee you will be too.

If you are in the DC Metro area, check her out - she is amazing!

New Trick and the Zoo

First, Mary's new trick...

We caught her doing this on Saturday and now she can't stop doing it. Gotta love that she smiles while doing it.

Okay, now for the Zoo. If you need a free workout (well not including parking and snacks) park at the bottom of the Zoo and then walk up to Connecticut Ave in 90+ heat pushing a stroller. I guarantee you will burn  A LOT of calories.

We did get to the Zoo before 10am so it was cooler, you know 85. Besides the heat it was a great day at the Zoo. Of course Henry asked 100 times to see a giraffe......umm how do you tell a 3.5 there is no giraffe at the Zoo. Hey, we have pandas but not your common run of the mill giraffe. We do have them it has just been like 3 years since we have seen them. The exhibit where they are housed has been closed and is not opening for another year. He was happy with this lions, tigers and elephants, but really wanted to see the giraffe.

Here are the pictures from the day...

This last picture of Mary with her fan has had a lot of people in wonder. No the fan is not part of the stroller, it's just a battery operated fan from WalMart. People at the Zoo were in awe of this idea. When we went to the pool a few weeks ago, Aunt Deanie had a clip on one for Alexa and we thought it was a great idea. We used it 4th of July weekend and then again today. While she is awake it's a little trickier because she likes to kick it, but when she is asleep it is perfect for keeping her cool. Thanks, Deanie for the idea.....people from Florida have all the tricks for the heat ;)

Wordless Wednesday - Mary

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Mary!

Can you believe it, she is 6 months today. The time is seriously flying by. It was kind of strange because in the car on the way to daycare, Brighter Than the Sun came on. I posted awhile ago about how that song, played during my c-section and when I hear it, it reminds me of Mary. It was like the radio was saying Happy Birthday this morning.

We don't go to the doctor until tomorrow so I will post her stat sheet and the past months then. Today I have two videos and some pictures. The pictures were not very easy this morning, even with Henry helping me.

Here is a video of Henry singing Happy Birthday to her. He's pretty excited to have cupcakes tonight to celebrate. Little does he know, he only gets 1/2 ;)

The final video is Mary's new trick. She scoots across the floor on her back and she loves to screech at the top of her lungs while doing it.

Happy 1/2 Birthday to the sweetest, happiest baby we know! Love you lots, Pump!

What.A.Weekend. - (Lots of Pictures)

So, the weekend kind of started last Tuesday, ha! Tuesday night we headed over to Dads house for the evening so we could kick of the 4th of July activities.

Wednesday morning the boys got up and played golf. The girls hung back and the kids played outside and the babies napped. We had some lunch and then headed over to the pool. It was packed but we were finally able to get some seats. We all enjoyed the water because it was really hot. We bought Mary a battery operated fan so it could sit on her stroller and keep her cool in this heat.

Henry and Charlie hung around for the fireworks while Mary, Maggie and I headed home for the night. I ran around the house finishing up the laundry and getting our bags packed to head to NJ the next day.

Thursday morning our new bed arrived and we had friends over. I worked while all of this was going on.

After that we packed up and headed out of town to our annual 4th of July picnic in New Jersey.

Friday, we took the kids to the Land of Make Believe in Hope, New Jersey. It's a really old family park but the kids had a blast. They rode some rides when we first got there and then we headed over to the water park area.

Henry was fearless in the waterpark. If the big kids were doing it, he was going to do it too. It was so fun taking him down the water slides and having him run through the pirate ships. Mary even got to ride on the lazy river.

After the park, I had to make a pit stop at Hot Dog Johnny's. I think in NJ it might be a rite of passage to eat there before you die. It was nostalgic for me. We used to drive by it on our way to our Grandparents in PA. Apparently, my dad never stopped because well he is unAmerican and doesn't like their hot dogs. My mom must have made him stop because I remember eating there many times.

We had birch beer and hot dogs. Henry on the other hand had strawberry ice cream and I must say it was the best strawberry ice cream I had ever had. We took Rt 31 home and it really was a like a trip from my past. I have no idea when the last time I was on that road but I remembered a lot of the sites on the way.

Friday night was spent making dips, putting up tents and just getting ready for Saturday.

Saturday morning came and I woke up in a rush. It was 7:45am and there were no children to be found. The fishing contest was starting in 15 minutes and the kids were sleeping. About ten minutes later they all came down and we rushed them out of the house. Henry won for being the youngest fisherman and Jeffrey won for the biggest fish.

After that there was the sand castle contest and the Doo Da parade. Mary decided she needed she nap so she slept while the parade got lined up. She won for the youngest participant in the parade. After the parade there was a lot of eating, drinking and swimming. Henry enjoyed all the activities and especially getting to ride on the ponies.

After dinner there was a raffle and the fireworks. We ended up winning three of the raffled items. Henry picked a fishing net and a boogie board. We gave one raffle away to his cousin Jack who picked some water toys. The fireworks were fabulous or at least that is what I was told. Mary, Maggie and I were up at the house so I missed them again.

Are you tired yet, because we haven't even gotten to Sunday......Sunday morning everyone slept in, well most of us. Mary woke at 6am, had a bottle and then slept until 8:30am. It was nice to get some extra sleep. We had our usual of bagels and bacon. Jersey bagels are the best and I sometimes think it is one of the reasons I can convince Charlie to keep road tripping to NJ ;)

The morning was a whirlwind and we ran out the door around 10:30am. We were headed to a park picnic with all my besties. It was the first time in over a year we have all been together. It was great getting together and watching all the kids play and run around. Thank you, Kimberly and Michael for putting the picnic together.

Look at this group......

It was the perfect way to end the perfect trip. We already miss everyone and are looking forward to doing it all again next year!