Free Money?

I hate when gift cards have an expiration date. There is so much stress to use it before it expires, and you usually end up spending more than you had on that little card.

In december I went to Abercrombie to return some t-shirts Jessica decided she didn't want. I walked in the store and returned the shirts and, of course, happened to see the jeans she liked were on sale and some cute tee's. Then I grabbed a sweatshirt for Jessica and one for Emily and went to pay. That totaled $108. They gave out gift cards for $25 if you spent over $100, which duh everyone probably does there. I was so excited about it.

Today I looked at the gift card and noticed that it expires on January 31. That's this sunday. When I am going to be in Miami. So now I only have 2 days to get over there (20 min. away) and spend that $25. Kind of annoying isn't it? But more annoying would be wasting it. And since I have a laser appointment on wednesday, I guess that means I have to go there today. That means forget about going to Costco which I really needed to do...

Oh well. What's more important anyway, free Abercrombie clothes or fruits and vegetables?

OR

?

Ball, Nuts, and A Postcard

The other night Emily decided that we should watch Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark). You know that scene with the big boulder and Indi running out of the cave? Well Alyssa LOVED it. She kept saying "ball" and "see it."

In the middle of the movie I went upstairs with her to put her to bed and she kept repeating "ball" and "see it." I told her that she could watch the ball movie n the morning. While I laid in bed with her she kept saying ball till finally she fell asleep.

The next morning I heard Alyssa talking so I got out of bed and went into the hallway. She was on the stairs chatting away going downstairs BY HERSELF. She never goes downstairs by herself. She always sits at the top of the stairs and calls Mommy, Mommy....

Apparently she was really looking forward to watching Indiana Jones again, because she plopped her butt down on the couch and said "ball.... see it." She watched the movie, saw the ball rolling after Indi and then continued to watch the rest. Will came downstairs. I told him that Alyssa was obsessed with this movie and really wanted to see it.

Will (who hasn't seen the movie in at least a year. About a fifth of his life.) says to me, "Mommy, you really shouldn't let her watch this movie. It is not appropriate. Don't you remember that scene later in the movie when the strong guy fights Indiana Jones by the airplane. There is BLOOD. So not appropriate. And all the fighting. And they punch, and there's blood. It is not appropriate for Alyssa. Look right now (scene in Nepal when he goes to get the medallion from that girl. What's her name again?) do you see the blood coming from his face?"

That kid is too funny. Nothing seems to scare my kids though. They all love scary movies. The only thing that really scares Will is spiders. Seriously even just saying the word makes him freak out.

Anyway, if anyone is a diehard Indiana Jones fan, come on over. We have a showing at least 5 times a day.

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I took my kids and 3 of Jessica's friends to a paint and party place yesterday. They all painted and they came out really nice.... especially Will's awesome red dragon. Anyway, we were on our way home around 4 and I told the kids that I was starving and we should pick up an early dinner. Jessica was like, "Mommy I am starving too." And of course, always the competitive girl, I said, "Yeah well you ate lunch at least. All I ate was a couple nuts." Which I did. I ate some pecans, but apparently Jessica is old enough to think of that word in a different way, and looked at me like I was nuts and almost burst into laughter. Truthfully, I almost did too..... Hahahahaha....

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So remember how I was expressing my love for Zappos the other day.....? And I was saying that I saw that the girls' Michael Kors boots were on sale a couple weeks after I bought them, so I called and asked for the difference. Well it had turned out that I had bought them on sale but they had gone done a little more in price since then. So he told me that he would reimburse me the difference of that which was only $2.90 for each. I said to him, Oh you know I didn't realize I had bought them on sale it's not that big of a difference it's ok. And he had told me that it's $5.80, and that's a good cup of coffee. So I laughed and said ok then, I'll go to Starbucks today on you. Thanks. We both laughed and hung up.

Well... yesterday I got a postcard from him (well from zappos too) in the mail! He wrote :

Hi Jennifer! (*oh by the way, that's my legal name)

Hope your Kors are working out!

Did you get that big cup of coffee with your refund? :)

Happy Holidays! -George

He left his extension on the bottom of the postcard. I think he has a crush on me. Just kidding.

But he does have my address cuz it's hand written. Kinda scary how much information we give out to complete strangers.

Anyway, if anyone needs a nice guy to help them out at zappos.com, let me know, and I'll hook you up with George.

Victoria's Secret

I like to shop at Victoria's Secret. I especially like to shop there because if you put yourself on their mailing list they send you a card for a free pair of panties almost every month. Even better, if you decide to send your husband and kids to get your free pair (cuz you have a migraine), they will put him on their mailing list and then you get 2 free panties every month! That is Victoria's true secret! (Beat that Shosh).

Now if you decide to take all your kids to Victoria's Secret and you go to the crappy mall just because it's near your house, just know that the selection will not be as good. And while you are searching for the pair you want, your 21 month old might take a triple D bra out of the drawer and wear it as a hat... or a mask. And if you are anything like me, you will not get embarrassed. You will actually take out your camera phone and encourage her to do it again!

*It was so much funnier in person.... I wish you all could have seen it!

Jon, You Might Not Like This One...

I had a great day yesterday, and this is why......

I spent the day at Old Orchard (outdoor mall) with my sister-in-law. Since Alyssa was asleep in her stroller we decided to take advantage and go to Ann Taylor where I found these....!!!


*seriously, are so much cuter in person.

*hard to tell, but they are angled by the toe and open on the inner side....

* these look hideous here...but are really cute! they are the same as the black above but these are for fun... to dress up a pair of jeans or with a short skirt. love!

The best part of all was that each of these were originally $115 or $125 and I paid $23 for each of them!!! $74.22 for all three! (Jon you know I couldn't have just bought one pair...that would have been ridiculous!) I felt very accomplished... so proud of myself. There is something about shopping that makes you feel good. The brand new pair of shoes (or 3 in this case), a new handbag, a brand new lipstick, or even a freakin t-shirt... it just makes ya happy... Girls, you know what I'm talkin about!

Then we went to Nordstrom, and bought a few things for the kiddies...(we don't need any details here, the hubby reads this). Alyssa woke up, so we went to the dragon (an outdoor climbing thing) to play. After a short while, Alyssa decided that she would rather walk around and look at the stores instead. She also insisted on holding my SIL's Ann Taylor bag....






I think every single person at Old Orchard told me how cute she was...they were right :)

Then we went to The Picture People so I could finally have a picture of my 18 month old (!!!) on my wall. In my family room I have a wall of pictures of my kids. Each one has their own photo shoot... (except Alyssa) :(



But today that was all gonna change!
Unfortunately, Alyssa didn't really want to smile today. My SIL and I had to give her props. It was kinda difficult and a little stressful but the photographer got some great pics!


We picked up Will from school and went to Bagel Country for a late lunch. After, we went back to The Picture People to see Alyssa's pictures. They were all really cute. I got 3 pictures for my family room wall (although there were 2 others that were really cute too). These are the ones I chose:









When I got home I decided to make rainbow dinner...thanks Shosh... because Will had t-ball and I didn't have enough time to make a real dinner (not that I really wanted to anyway. I got my hubby his favorite soup from Bagel Country though). Here is a picture of my version of rainbow dinner...



Thanks for the idea Shosh. Emily loved it and wants to have it again another night!




*That is not soda. It's purple water... just so you know.