Great Deals on Magazines!

Sorry that my posts have been brief lately... between getting settled in the new city and the holidays, I haven't had too much time to blog! I'll keep trying to post great deals I find, though, and after the first of the year, you can expect a more lengthy blog post! Until then...

DiscountMags.com is offering some great deals on a few magazines that make great gifts. Hurry though, there are only limited quantities of these deals and the absolute latest they'll be available is 12/20 (today!) at 11:59 PST. 

ESPN Magazine is only $2.99 per year when you enter code 1143 at checkout! Perfect gift for a husband, dad or brother... what guy doesn't love ESPN?

Golf Digest is only $3.99 per year with code 1804 at checkout! I ordered this for Mr. C since he is a golf junkie! I'm sure you all know one of those :)

Glamour is also only $3.99 per year when you use code 7497. A great treat for yourself or any other females on your list.

The next two would make great gifts for any mom-to-be or new mom. What a great gift that keeps giving for a baby shower!

Parenting: The Early Years is only $4.99 total for a two year subscription when you use code 9902.

Parents Magazine is only $5.99 for a three year subscription when you use the code 7735.

If you're scrambling for a last minute gift for Christmas, you could always subscribe somebody to one of these magazines and go to the store, buy the current issue and wrap it up with a note that more are on the way!

Also, note that these DO NOT auto-renew so you don't have worry about your credit card being charged again after a year if you don't cancel. I HATE it when companies do that, don't you?!

Free Yogurt!

Since I'm following a gluten free diet, breakfast tends to be a struggle for me. I can't have any yummy pastries or baked goods and a lot of cereals and granola bars are not gluten free either. One thing I eat in the mornings a lot is yogurt, either by itself or blended into smoothies. Yoplait is giving out a FREE cup of Yoplait Original Yogurt if you go here and sign up! Enjoy :)

Great deal on movie tickets and cereal!

I just wanted to make a quick post to let you in on a great deal that I found! General Mills is running a promotion where you buy two specially marked boxes of certain cereals (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Reese's Puffs, Trix and Honey Nut Cheerios,) enter the codes from these boxes here, and then get a printable voucher for a free movie ticket! To see the list of participating theaters, you can visit this website. There are quite a few theaters that accept the "movie cash" that you get, and you're sure to find one close to you. We have almost 20 theaters that will honor the free movie ticket within 30 miles of our zip code!

If you're anything like Mr. C and I, you love going to movies but hate how outrageously expensive the prices seem to be recently! Well, even if you buy two boxes full price at about $3 a box, that's only $6 for a movie ticket... way cheaper than any theater's prices around here, and you get two boxes of cereal to either eat or donate to a food pantry! To make it an even sweeter deal, you can use coupons or sales that stores have going on. There is a $1/2 coupon from 11/14 General Mills insert to save you some money. Also, keep an eye out for special sales going on. Publix often has these cereals buy one get one free, which combined with the coupon would make an amazing deal.

In case any of you are military wives, here's the deal I found at the commissary that inspired this post (the deal is only good through tomorrow though, so hurry!)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch (Mr. C's favorite... he's such a kid at heart!) was on special for $2.25
The commissary had coupons on the shelf for $0.75 off one box, bringing the price down to $1.50 a box.
I forgot to check if the $0.75 qs were store or manufacturer, but if they were store coupons, you could also use the $1/2 manufacturers coupon to bring the price down to two boxes for $2! If you can't combine the two, it still makes the deal $3 for two boxes of cereal and a movie ticket!

Make sure you look for the boxes that are clearly marked across the front of the box "FREE Movie Ticket!" Also, once you enter the code on the website, you have sixty days to use the ticket. You can enter the codes up until August 2011, so if you're not planning on using them for awhile, you can hang onto them and enter them when you're ready!

Finally... a post!

So sorry for the lengthy delay between posts! Between Thanksgiving and our move out to Texas, I haven't had much free time lately! We made it out here safely last week, and thankfully all of our personal belongings arrived on Monday. So far the move has been relatively uneventful, and for that I am VERY thankful! I've already fallen in love with San Antonio and am really looking forward to exploring all that the city has to offer. We've already checked out the outlet mall in San Marcos, and I had the chance to shop at a Pottery Barn/Williams-Sonoma/West Elm outlet. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven! If you've never had the opportunity to go to one, just picture a building slightly smaller than your average Target but completely filled with fabulous kitchen and home supplies, accessories and decor and all at discount prices. I really need to find a job, because I can already tell that it's going to be a DANGEROUS store!

On an unrelated note, today marks the 111th Army-Navy game! I had the opportunity to attend two Army-Navy games during Mr. C's time at the Naval Academy, and it is one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. It's always a game filled with so much tradition and patriotism, not to mention fun! If you have the chance, tune in today at 2:30 EST on CBS and check it out. It's an awesome sight to see these young men duke it out on the football field while knowing that off the field they'll all be working together to keep our country safe. It will make you very proud to be an American!

With that said...

Go Navy! Beat Army!
(Image found here)

Signs of the Season

Can yall believe that Thanksgiving is a week away?! I know I've said this before, but my goodness, this year has FLOWN by! I'm beyond excited for Christmas, though, as I love EVERYTHING about this season! I can't get enough of Christmas music (I'm listening to it right now...) and I love the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping. To me, there are a few things that mark the arrival of the holiday season, and they have all appeared in full force.

First, my recent major guilty pleasure of the holidays is the Chick-fil-a Peppermint Milkshake! Have yall had one of these? If not, run, don't walk, to your nearest Chick-fil-a and get one. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Starbucks Christmas coffee cups. Love them, and love the fabulous wintery drinks that fill them! Sorry for the quality of this image... I didn't have the patience to deal my digital camera and its pokey uploading! Also, Starbucks has their holiday drinks buy one, get one free from 2-5 pm today through Sunday, November 21! What a perfect excuse to catch up with a friend over coffee!

Lastly, as I've featured earlier... I love it when stores roll out their Christmas displays of wrapping paper, decorations and all sorts of other fun things! Speaking of wrapping paper, I wrapped my first gifts of the season! With the move coming up, I'm trying to get my shopping and wrapping done early to cut down on stress later.

Notice my fabulous pink and green Hobby Lobby paper I told yall about earlier! Also, I got the polka dot black paper for $0.74 (!) on clearance at Target! I was a little skeptical if it would be Christmas-y enough, but I found that wonderfl glitter ribbon at Michael's and it tied it together nicely, don't you think?

Anyway, on a different note... as I mentioned yesterday, I've earned some extra cash and gift cards by doing online surveys! Now, you won't make a killing, but if you have some time to spare you can make at least a little extra cash and also help shape new product designs, etc. In the past year or so, I've made a little over $175 in cash and gift cards by doing surveys at night while watching tv, etc. One of my favorite survey sites just sent out an e-mail that they are accepting new members, so I thought I would pass it along! This site is called Pinecone Research, and they pay $3 for each survey you do. I know it may not sound like a lot, but these surveys only take about 20 minutes and are actually pretty interesting. Also, some of them can lead to product trials where you get free items to try out! Here is the link to sign up!

Well, I'm off to do some more packing and move prep while dancing around my house to Christmas tunes!

(Milkshake image from here!)

I've got the BLUES!

One of my favorite things about Pensacola is that it is home to the Blue Angels, the Navy's flight demonstration team. The Blues, as they're known affectionately around here, had their homecoming show this past weekend to ring in the end of their 2010 season, and it was also the perfect way to celebrate the end of our time here! Not only did the Blues perform their AMAZING show, there were tons of other aircraft both as static displays and also flying demos and performing amazing stunts. If you ever have the chance to attend an air show, I highly recommend it! This was my first, and despite the fact that I know pretty much nothing about flying or planes, I found it to be both informative and very entertaining. Without further ado, here are some pictures!

These are two Russian built planes called "Yaks" that do aerobatics and all sorts of tricks! They performed in the evening show, and the sky was absolutely beautiful!

This is one of the planes that the military used to train aviators in the World War II era... isn't it unbelievable that we used to fly these types of plane into battle?!

The Shockwave Jet Truck - a semi-truck with three jet engines that goes over 300 MPH. Completely excessive, but totally cool!

The C-5 Galaxy - The picture doesn't do it justice, but these planes are unbelievably huge in person. As you can see in the picture, the nose of the plane lifts up so tanks and other supplies can easily be loaded and unloaded from both ends.

One of the Blue Angels on the ground.

Fat Albert is the transport plane of the Blue Angels.

The Blues fly with only 18" between their wings! These pilots are the creme de la creme of Naval Aviation!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Tomorrow I'm going to blog about some legitimate websites that pay you for your opinion, so stay tuned :)

Dear Santa, Define Nice!

Sorry about the lack of updates lately! The move is quickly approaching, and with Thanksgiving also just around the corner I've been quite busy and slightly overwhelmed. I broke down and bought several sheets of poster board so I could write mega "to-do" lists that will keep me organized and on task! We tackled our storage room yesterday, and it was a pretty scary task. For the past year, it's been our catch all for any boxes we didn't want to go through, sporting goods that we may or may not use, and out of season clothes and decor. Mr. C discovered the three pink Christmas trees I had stashed in there, and was oh so excited when he realized that although we won't have furniture most of the holiday season this year, our home will be a pink winter wonderland! I'll be sure to post pictures when I get my trees all set up ;)

Also, be sure to go to the Wholly Guacamole website to print out a $4/1 coupon! This will make for some really cheap, and possibly free, guac or queso! The coupon will be up until tomorrow, 11/11 and expires on Sunday, 11/14. I've heard that this is on sale at Publix for $2.99, which means you might even be able to get overage!

Now I'll leave you with some eye candy from the new Kate Spade Holiday Gift Guide!

Candy Darling Rosalie Wristlet - $125 - Isn't this wristlet perfect for any holiday soiree? It's so classic that you could carry it for many holiday seasons to come!

Jingle Bell Headband - $75 - What a fun way to add some holiday cheer to your outfit! They also have jingle bell earrings and jingle bell bobby pins!

Peppermint Earmuffs - $65 - These are such fun! What a great way to brighten up an otherwise dreary winter outfit.

Ice Queen Bib Necklace - $595 - This is the type of necklace that completely steals an outfit. Now, if only I had a spare $600 lying around...

Make sure you're on the Nice List this year and maybe Santa will put one of these fab items in your stocking!

More Hobby Lobby Love

First off, I hope you all had a spooktacular Halloween! Sadly, Mr. C and I had NO trick-or-treaters, so now I'm left with a big old bowl of Snickers, Milky Way and Twix Minis, that may or may not be gluten free! I'm thinking I'll be sending those in with Mr. C to work, since we all know that guys never turn down free food :)

I recently took another trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up that fabulous pink and green Christmas tree paper I posted about earlier, and I found some more fun Christmas finds. EBay informed me this morning that Christmas is 54 days away so I am officially getting into the Christmas spirit. Everywhere I've been that has Christmas items for sale, which seems to be almost every store recently, has tons of bright colored decorations. While I'm a sucker for the classic white, silver and gold Christmas tones, I'm also loving all of these fun pinks, greens and blues. Check out two of the displays I found at Hobby Lobby:

Although it's kind of hard to tell since this picture was taken with my phone, all of these decorations are bright pink and lime green! The monogram balls are my favorite!

How can you not love a whole endcap display that Hobby Lobby has so aptly titled "Pink-a-palooza!" Plus, it's full of adorable little penguins dressed in pink and green. Right up my alley!

Do yall think it's too soon to start listening to Christmas music? Mr. C is very much against it until Thanksgiving, but I'm just so excited for Christmas to come that I almost can't help myself!

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

As I confessed in an earlier post, I'm always looking for quick and easy recipes that are also yummy and presentable. Earlier this week, I was watching the Today show when Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa fame came on and shared three recipes out of her new cookbook How Easy is That? One of the recipes was for her Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake, and she had me at the ingredients list.... Kahlua, Espresso, Cocoa... how could you go wrong? Well, I decided to try it out since it was my turn to bring a snack to our weekly military wives Bible study. I think I've found one of my new staple desserts... it was quick, painless and delicious! Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the cake before it was devoured, but here's one from the Barefoot Contessa website. I'll admit, mine wasn't quite as pretty.

Here's the recipe:


2 cups cold heavy cream
12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese
½ cup sugar
¼ cup Kahlúa liqueur
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Pernigotti
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 (8-ounce) packages Tate’s Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies
Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish


In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, Kahlúa, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks.


To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch springform pan, covering the bottom as much as possible. (I break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.


Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate, cut in wedges, and serve cold 

Now, a few tips from my experience. First, this cake does not travel well! If you're driving somewhere, make sure you have somebody else with you who can hold the cake, otherwise be prepared for the cake to slip and slide across the platter (and potentially your car!) as you make turns! I learned this one the hard way :) Also, the recipe calls for Tate's Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies - you can really use any chocolate chip cookies. I baked my own gluten-free cookies from a Betty Crocker mix. Last, I found that the whipped cream wasn't enough to make five layers. I ended up with three layers and was scraping the sides of the bowl. Also, I think that next time I make this I will go for more filling and less cookies. The general consensus was that the filling is the absolute best part of the cake!


Bon appétit!

Pilates... the perfect excuse for a new wardrobe!

If you're anything like me, you're always looking for an excuse to add new items to your wardrobe. Well, I've recently started taking Pilates classes and I am loving it. In addition to getting myself back in shape, this has given me an excuse to shop around for some more yoga pants and leggings. Here are some of my favorite finds!

Lilly Pulitzer Half-Moon Crop Pant - These are also available in pink, and the waistband is kind of hard to see, but it's an adorable swirly flower pattern! 

Victoria's Secret Yoga Foldover Crop Legging - They have these in tons of different colors and patterns with cute matching shirts!

Victoria's Secret Foldover Pant - Ok, so these may not be the most practical, but I would definitely stand out amongst all the military men at the gym on base! Plus, I think sequins make anything more fun ;)

Old Navy Fold-Over Yoga Capris - I feel like the fit of Old Navy's clothes can be a little hit or miss, but for less than $20, I think these cute argyle capris are worth a shot!

What are your favorite brands and styles of yoga and athletic wear?

FreeVS!

It all started with SoyJoy bars. I was looking for a good, healthy afternoon snack and decided to try them out. Since the closest Publix was 45 minutes away, I ran into CVS to pick up a box, and at the end of my receipt was a coupon like thing that said "$4 Extra Bucks." I was intrigued. I did some research, and I discovered that CVS was much more than a drug store that I ran into for contact solution or candy bars - it was my ticket to lots and lots of free items. Extra Bucks would soon become my best friends, and I'm about to fill you in on the secret of how CVS (or "Free"VS as some avid CVS fans call it!) can help you to start couponing and stockpiling necessities.

First things first - what is an Extra Buck? Here's a picture:

Extra Bucks (ECBs) are basically coupons that can be spent more or less like a gift card on anything in the store except prescriptions, alcohol, tobacco and a few other things. This means it's basically free money because once you earn it you can go in and spend it on things you would normally buy anyway like milk, toothpaste, etc. However, you can also roll Extra Bucks from week to week, which is how you can start to get things for free, or even make money on them.

All you need to start earning Extra Bucks is an Extra Care Card, which you can pick up for free at any CVS:

There are four main ways to earn Extra Bucks. First, you earn Extra Bucks based on your spending at CVS. You earn 2% back on every purchase you make at CVS and $1 ECB for every two prescriptions you have filled there. These ECBs print quarterly at the end of your receipt. You can also earn Extra Bucks by getting a "Green Bag Tag." These cost $0.99 and you tie them onto your reusable bag. For every fourth visit that you use a reusable bag and have your tag scanned, you get $1 ECB back. Another way you can earn some ECBs is by signing up to be a CVS Advisor here. Periodically they will send out surveys you can fill out in exchange for ECBs. The way that you will likely earn most of your ECBs, though, is on weekly and monthly ECB deals.

Each week, CVS has a variety of deals where you earn a certain amount of ECBs back on various items throughout the store. These can range from $1 ECB back all the way up to earning the full cost of the item back in ECBs. In addition to getting Extra Bucks back, you can use coupons on these items as well to make it an even sweeter deal. Websites like AFullCup and I Heart CVS post weekly and monthly deals as well as coupon match ups. You have a full month to spend your ECBs after they're issued, which gives you lots of time to wait for a good deal. I often feel like the deals come in waves, and unfortunately the next two weeks are shaping up to be a little slow. I'm hopeful that in November I'll have some better deals to post, but I wanted to give you all a heads up so you know more about what Extra Bucks are and how you can definitely use them to your advantage! Make sure you have your Extra Care Cards ready and you join the CVS advisor panel, because I'll hopefully have some good deals to share with yall soon!

Christmas Countdown: 63 days!

Time is completely flying by, and before we know it the stores will be in full blown Christmas mode. I'm already starting to see hints of Christmas when I'm out shopping, and it's making me really excited. Hobby Lobby has started putting out their gift wrap, and they have LOTS of pink and green! I almost bought these the other day when I was there shopping, but decided to hold off for when I had a 40% off coupon! How adorable is this wrap, though?

Sorry for the picture quality... I only had my cell phone with me at the time! I will definitely be going back to buy the pink wrap with the Christmas trees on it!

Sadly, our move will be right in the middle of the holiday season, which means that I probably won't get to do much decorating and baking! I know that it will be hectic time of trying to get settled and learn a new area, so I've been picking up Christmas gifts throughout the year and plan to have most of my shopping done and gifts wrapped before Thanksgiving! I'm almost done with the shopping, and I'll let you in on a little secret. Thanks to Target's wonderful clearance, we've bought over $500 worth of gifts for just over $100! At the beginning of this summer, I started discovering "perimeter perusing," which is where you keep an eye on certain items of clearance at Target, and also just browse their clearance (usually found around the perimeter of the store on end caps) for good deals. You can get some amazing deals, but be warned - it is very addictive!

You can find Target's general markdown schedule here, as well as a list of recent deals people have found. Target usually starts by marking things at 15% off, then it goes to 30%, 50% and finally 75%. Certain items will go to 90% off, but usually that's just holiday items, etc. I'm usually at Target two to three times a week anyway, so I just make it a point to check out the clearance areas to see what's being marked down. Once I find something I really want, I make sure to check back each week on the day it's supposed to be marked down. For example, right now I have my eye on a Garmin GPS unit, so I've been checking every Monday around mid-morning until I can hopefully find it at 75% off! This doesn't always work, since sometimes people will buy all of the item before it's marked all the way down or somebody will beat me to the good deal. However, I've been pretty lucky with my finds! Here are some of the things I've found and the prices that I paid for them:

Sony Pocket Reader - Originally $150, I paid $37! 

Kodak D830 Digital Picture Frame - Originally $130, I paid $32! We also bought two other digital frames that were originally $100 and we paid $25. 

 

Nike Vapor Headphones - Originally $30, I paid $7.50! I was going to give these to Mr. C in his stocking, but I'm terrible at holding onto gifts so I gave them to him the afternoon I bought them! Oops!

I've always been a big fan of Target, but now I'm loving it even more! Have yall found any great deals on clearance lately?

(Photos from here, here and here.)

Life getting in the way...

Ok, so I lied. It was another week (or so...) before I posted again! The weather here has been amazing, and time has had a tendency to get away from me. Can yall believe it's already October?! I have officially switched out my Bath and Body Works Wallflowers to fabulous fall scents like "Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin" and "Leaves" and made the most fabulous pumpkin fudge! Fall is here, and I couldn't be more excited.

Anyway, as promised, I'll finally offer you an introduction into couponing! I'll preface all of this by saying that the wonderful thing about coupons is that it can take up as much or as little time as you want it to, and it's a very tangible way to save a little cash! Even if you only save $5 each week on groceries, that will add up to over $260 in a year... more than enough to buy a new Lilly!

I initially tried writing this post last week but wrote way too much, which lead to me getting overwhelmed and eventually closing out Blogger and doing some online (window) shopping! Hopefully this attempt will be a little shorter and more successful...

The first thing you need to know about coupons is where to get them! The best place to find coupons is still in your Sunday newspaper. Each week (with a few exceptions like holidays) there will be at least two coupon inserts - Smart Source (or SS) and Red Plum (RP.) There will sometimes be an insert by Proctor and Gamble (P&G) and occasionally one by General Mills. I always buy at least two papers, so that way I have two coupons if an item is buy one, get one free (BOGO) because then you have a coupon for each item, which can lead to some great deals! This is especially important for those of you that live in areas with Publix, which has lots of weekly BOGO deals.

You can also find great coupons on the internet, on websites like coupons.com and on brand websites. If there's a particular product that you use a lot or are planning on buying, just go to their website and see if they have any coupons on there. This is a simple and quick way to save some money.

I've found that the quickest and easiest way to save money is by going to websites where people can post good deals they've found, coupon match-ups for the latest ads, and also previews of upcoming ads. My favorite website is called A Full Cup, and it has forums for almost every store you might visit. This site has been a huge blessing to me, and I guarantee that you will start saving money if you visit this site before you shop! There are also some great store specific websites and blogs. My favorite of these are I Heart Publix, Totally Target, and I Heart CVS! These are also great resources to help you get started in couponing.

The other important thing you need to start couponing is an organization system for all of your "Qs!" There are two main ways that people do this, and which one you use is totally a personal preference. The first way, which is the one I use, involves clipping all of your coupons from the inserts, internet, etc, and then filing them in trading card inserts into a binder. Be warned: this way takes much more time up front! I would say that I spend an hour or two (sometimes more!) each week clipping and organizing my coupons. I then sort them by expiration date into categories like "breakfast foods," "dairy," and "shaving items." The finished result looks like this:

The advantage to using this way is that I can bring all of my coupons with me when I shop, so if I find a great clearance deal, unexpected sale or impulse buy (chocolate? yes please!) I can quickly and easily flip through and see if I can save even more money. The downside is, of course, the time it takes to keep this system running!

The other method that a lot of people use is filing the whole insert by date in a file folder or binder, and then either only printing internet printed coupons (IPs for short) when they need them or printing and filing them as well for a later date. The plus side to using this method is that it takes a lot less time, and it's easy to find coupons when you're looking at a coupon match-up online. Match-ups will list the sale price of a product and then list any coupons you may have for that product by insert and date. There is also a coupon database on A Full Cup that you can use to search for a specific coupon for an item like "butter" or "Land O'Lakes." The downside to this method is that you won't have easy access to your coupons if you're at the store and find that you need ones other than what you already clipped and prepared.

No matter what method you use, you're sure to end up saving lots of money on groceries, cleaning supplies and other necessities so you have more money to spend on fun things or to save!

I figured I would end this post with a good coupon and deal to get you started. With fall here and Christmas fast approaching, who doesn't love coffee creamer in yummy flavors like Pumpkin Spice or Peppermint Mocha?! Well, right now you can get the CoffeeMate Creamers for $0.16 at Publix or $0.29 at Target! All you have to do is go the CoffeeMate website, sign in or sign up (I use my "junk" e-mail address) and print off the coupon. You can print a total of two (hit the back button after it prints the first time!) from each computer you have. One misconception with coupons is that it's ok to make copies of printed coupons... that's not the case at all! Making copies of printed coupons is illegal and actually fraud, so it's much better to beg friends and family to print you extra copies so you can scoop up lots of a good deal... I definitely plan on doing that to feed my love of fall and winter flavored coffee :)

Better late than never!

First off, I MUST apologize that it's been over two weeks since I last blogged! Isn't it crazy how time seems to get away from us? I can hardly believe that it's nearly October. In the two weeks since I last blogged, however, Mr. C and I have accomplished a lot as far as our move is concerned. In addition to getting the move paperwork done (fingers and toes crossed that it all goes smoothly when December arrives!) we also took a brief trip out to San Antonio to see the city and to find a place to live. Neither of us had ever been to Texas before, let alone San Antonio, so we were both really excited to see if it lived up to the hype. We both really loved the city, and are now even more ecstatic to move in December! We decided on a townhouse that is walking distance (on a nice day, if you feel like some exercise!) to a new shopping center with restaurants, a movie theater and shops! The area feels really safe and friendly, and we can't wait to make it our new home! It seems like everything with the move is coming together quite nicely, so now we just wait until we're a little bit closer to December so I can start packing things up! Mr. C has also started school, which means I will have a lot more free time on my hands to blog and take on a few projects that I've been wanting to do. I'm sure yall will get to hear all about my latest endeavor of making all of our Christmas cards by hand! There are sure to be some good stories that come out of that, since I'm not the most crafty person in the world. Thankfully a dear friend here in Pensacola is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and will serve as my fearless mentor and ensure that I don't burn the house down as I try to emboss for the first time!

Anyway, I know that in my last post I said I would introduce you to the fabulous world of couponing! I promise I'll get to that tomorrow (yes, it really WILL be tomorrow... not three weeks from now!) but today I want to blog about something else, so bear with me. How many times are you in a store, at a festival or perusing online and you see advertisements to enter a sweepstakes or drawing to win some sort of fabulous prize? How often do you think to yourself, "nobody ever wins those... all that's going to happen is that I'm going to get a ton of junk mail and solicitors!" Well, I'm here to tell you that's not entirely the truth.

You see, I've never considered myself a super lucky person. I would occasionally enter sweepstakes but never won anything and pretty much thought there was no point in entering. Well, enter Pensacola and me having lots of free time on my hands to peruse the internet and all of its vast knowledge. I found a website all about people who earn their livings by entering sweepstakes! Who knew? After a fleeting moment of envisioning myself sailing around the world in my yacht, with my private butler and fabulous wardrobe that I had all won by filling out some online forms, I crashed back to reality. However, I was intrigued. If people are out there winning cars and boats and thousands of dollars, why not give it a shot? So I did. I'll share with you what I've learned and how you may be able to go sailing around the world in your yacht, or at least get some free groceries!

First, I learned that some contests are way more "winnable" than others. For example, if it's a highly advertised contest that's open to the entire country with one grand prize and nothing else... you're probably not going to win. However, if it's a contest only open to residents of a few states or only open to people attending a certain festival, and there are lots of prizes to be won, then you have a pretty good shot! The key is to focusing on these contests, and entering as often as you're allowed to. For example, Publix (our local grocery store chain for you non-Floridians) constantly has online contests going on that you can enter daily. They often give out hundreds of Publix gift cards, with the grand prize often being thousands of dollars in free groceries. Well, I started entering these daily (or at least whenever I happened to remember!) a couple of months ago, and I've already won a $50 Publix gift card and yesterday I checked my mail to find a $100 Publix gift card! That's like $150 in free money, since goodness knows Mr. C and I spend a lot of money already at Publix! The blog "I Heart Publix" has a listing of various Publix sweepstakes going on that you can find here.

The second thing I learned is that it's a good idea to create a separate e-mail address just for entering contests. I'll be honest, I very rarely receive any spam in my "sweepstakes" e-mail address, since most sweepstakes you enter will give you the option of not receiving any e-mails from the company. Regardless, it does help give me peace of mind about giving out my e-mail knowing that I'm keeping my personal e-mail address safe. You do usually have to give out your address and phone number so you can be notified if you win, so it's important to make sure you're entering a legitimate sweepstakes. I make sure to only enter contests from companies that I know are legitimate and that are hosted on the company's main web page. Just use common sense, and if it seems fishy or too good to be true, it probably is! The website Sweeties Sweeps is run by a woman who enters sweepstakes as a hobby and has won everything from trips to cars to cash and everything in between. She posts a list, called Sweeties Picks, of sweepstakes that she deems to be most "winnable" based on the number of prizes, etc. It's a great place to start if you're feeling lucky and want to try your hand at this whole thing!

Now, I know this may sound like I've gone a little bit crazy, however I wouldn't be telling you about all of this for no reason. Just in the past six months, I've won $150 in groceries, various other gift cards, coupons for free products, a lot of random other things, and what really inspired me to write this post is that this morning I woke up to a phone call telling me that I had won a $200 gas card that I entered to win at the Pensacola Seafood Festival this weekend! Who doesn't love free stuff, especially if it's free money?! Trust me, after all of this, I'll be making sure I enter every local contest and sweepstakes I find, and even give some bigger ones a shot too! Who knows, maybe my dream of sailing around the world will become a reality!!!

Have any of you won anything great in a contest or drawing?

Couponing... not just for little old ladies!

I know that when I mention coupons, it may conjure up images of cute little old ladies pushing their carts through the grocery store at a snail's pace. However, couponing is definitely not just for little old ladies! What if I told you that I got everything pictured above (10 SoBe Lifewaters, Dove for Men Body Wash, Dove Shampoo and Conditioner, two Degree deodorants, two packs of Trident Layers, and a sample of Skintimate shaving cream) for a whopping 50 cents? Well it's true, and it was really easy to do! Since I started couponing earlier this year, we have not paid for any toothpaste, body wash, mouthwash, deodorant, razors or shaving cream, yet the area under our sinks are overflowing with extras of each product! These are all things that you can easily get for free with coupons, and each week I get lots of other fun things for free or next to nothing as well.

Now, you may be thinking, "Eh... coupons... not really worth my time and effort!" but let me put it into perspective for you. Let's look at the things I mentioned above that you can stop paying for if you put a little time and effort into couponing:

Toothpaste (bought 6x a year at $3.50 per tube) - $21

Body Wash (bought 6x a year at $5 a bottle) - $30

Mouthwash (bought 12x a year at $4 a bottle) - $48

Deodorant (bought 6x a year at $3 a stick) - $18

Razors (bought 12x a year at $7 a razor/cartridge) - $84

Shaving Cream (bought 6x a year at $4 a can) - $24

Grand Total: $225

That's a Lilly dress, or a lot of consignment shopping ;) Those are conservative estimates, too, and are for only one person. If you're married, you could double that and save $450 a year just by couponing and getting those items for free. Other things that I rarely, if ever, pay for include detergent, paper towels, tissues, lip gloss, and lots more! If I were to factor all of those things in and add them up, I would say that you could easily save well over $1000 a year, and there are some couponers who save way more than that. No matter where you are in life or what your income is, who couldn't use an extra grand? 

I know that when I first got into couponing, I was really worried about switching the brands that I loved. I was always a Crest girl, for example, and didn't ever branch out when going down the toothpaste aisle. With coupons, you get the opportunity to try different brands if you want, and if you don't like them you really have nothing to lose since they were free in the first place. Also, most brands put out great coupons, so we currently have a stockpile of every type of Crest and Colgate toothpaste you could think of! I'm still a Crest fan, but I'll admit that Colgate isn't too bad either! I also have more scents of body wash than you could ever imagine :) 

So are you convinced and ready to get started? Over the next couple of days, I'll give you a crash course in couponing so you can start saving. Before tomorrow's post, make sure you buy a copy of your Sunday newspaper, since that's still the best place to get coupons.

Let me leave you with this question... what would you spend an extra $1000 on?

Michael Aram and Moving Mayhem!

When I last blogged (which I admit was too long ago!) I let you in on my secret of taking shortcuts when cooking but using great serving pieces! I shared some Arthur Court pieces with you that I loved, and also mentioned one of my other favorite designers - Michael Aram. I think that Michael Aram is less well-known than Arthur Court, however his designs are similarly priced and, in my opinion, just as cool! I discovered Michael Aram as we were registering at Bloomingdale's for the wedding and absolutely fell in love with his Lemonwood collection. Here are some pieces from that collection...

We have this cutting board, and I just love it. It looks even prettier in person!

Couldn't you just see yourself on a beautiful wrap-around front porch pouring friends sweet tea from this fabulous pitcher into...

...these glasses?!

I've also fallen in love with many more of his pieces including the ones below...

Love this cheese board! We registered for it and were blessed enough to receive it, and I use it all the time! When it's not in use, I have it proudly displayed on our shelf... it's too pretty to stick in a cabinet somewhere!

How neat is this wine bottle rest? What a statement piece to put on your counter or wine bar!

How stinkin' cute is this cat bowl? Note that the feet of the bowl are little mice. There is a matching cheese board that's also adorable!

We also have this platter, but you will never believe how much I paid for it! The grand total (including shipping!) was a whopping $7! How did I get such a good deal, you ask?! Gilt Groupe! Read on to find out about this gem of a website!

Much like RueLaLa, the other sample sale site I posted about last post, Gilt Groupe is a site that offers great designer goods at discounted prices. Upcoming sales include Oliver Peoples, Swarovski Jewelry and Marc Jacobs. They also feature Michael Aram from time to time, which is the perfect time to start your own collection! So what are you waiting for? Sign up now by clicking here!

One of my favorite perks to these sample sale sites is that you get credits to spend whenever you share the site with a friend. I would definitely share these great sites regardless of any free credits, but it is nice to get some free money to put towards your purchases. That's how I got that fabulous platter for $7! Gilt Groupe gives you $25 to spend each time one of your friends makes their first purchase. I had one friend buy something, and then found that platter for $32 (originally almost $80... so already a great buy!) It happened to be on a day that Gilt was giving free shipping (which they do from time to time!) so all I had to pay was $7! That's over 90% off!

On a completely different note, Mr. C and I have begun to try and figure out our move with the Navy. While we're not moving for another two and a half months, we're trying to get a head start since Mr. C has his orders already. We've only been at it about two days, and it's already been a huge pain in the butt! The Navy, in true government fashion, has tried to automate things by making everything streamlined through one website. The issue? The website only works on Windows computers, and we are a Mac family! What's a girl to do?! A lot of independent research, that's what! Did you know that there is an entire government memo with how to handle plastic Rubbermaid totes during a move? Yes, there's a plastic tote protocol! Also, you get an extra 500 pounds of weight for professional equipment, including, but not limited to, your astronaut spacesuits. Yes, that is one of the examples that is given. You can't, however, have the movers ship your fish, birds or reptiles, in case you somehow thought that was a good idea! Oh, the joys of the military.

[All images courtesy of MichalAram.com!]

Serving pieces can make all the difference...

I have a little confession to make... I'm not the best cook. I get by ok in the kitchen and most of my meals are edible, however I am by no means a gourmet chef. However, I firmly believe that no matter what you're cooking, if you serve it on a nice platter or in a beautiful bowl, it makes the dish ten times more enjoyable! Presentation is everything, so even if you buy something ready made at the store, you can dress it up and serve it on one of your own platters, and everybody will believe you spent hours slaving over a hot stove to make it! I won't tell ;)

Two of my favorite serving piece designers are Arthur Court and Michael Aram. Both make pieces that are absolutely to die for, and are reasonably enough priced that you can buy lots of pieces to mix and match your table! What's even better is that both are featured frequently on online sample sale sites, making the deal even sweeter!

Arthur Court is on RueLaLa, one such site today! Check out some of the pieces I'm loving below...

This would be perfect for a tailgate at the Swamp! On RueLaLa right now, it's only $29!

In case you're a Noles fan, like Mr. C, you can pick up this napkin holder for tailgating at Doak!

How stinkin' cute are these little salt and pepper shakers for Halloween, which will be here before we know it?! 

This looks like such a useful piece, since the casserole dish comes out for baking. This is one of those pieces you can bake and serve in, making it super easy to have a beautiful presentation! It's only $49, too... I feel like you would definitely get your money's worth with this piece!

I could definitely keep going, since those are just a few of my favorites! If you're not already signed up for RueLaLa, you can click here to sign up! Every day they feature great designers at even better prices. In the past, I've bought Lilly dresses for $50 and our 10 piece Calphalon pots and pans set (retail of about $900!) for $200. 

Game Day Dresses!

We are one week away from one of the best times of year... college football season! I love college football, although UVA, my alma mater, is not exactly what you would call a football powerhouse. Let's put it this way - going into the 2010 season, we're ranked second.... worst team in the country! However, what us 'Hoos lack in football prowess we make up for in game day fashion. While this will sadly be my first football season away from Charlottesville, I am currently living in the middle of SEC territory so almost every shop I go in has dresses in school colors. Lucky for me, Auburn is not too far from us and they have the same colors as UVA (fun fact - the professor who started Auburn's football team was a Wahoo, which is why he suggested navy and orange for Auburn's colors!) so I have seen more than my fair share of adorable game day dresses perfect for tailgating on The Lawn. Most of these have been by a local company called Judith March. Below are some Judith March dresses I'm loving right now!

I love the orange seersucker bow on this navy blue dress!

While not school colors, this dress looks like the perfect weight for a crisp fall day!

We get a lot of Bama fans around here too, and I think this crimson dress is adorable. 

Check out the Judith March blog to check out more pictures of their great dresses! 

(Images courtesy of Judith March and the Sassy Britches Boutique Online Store!)

Redbox... for designer purses?

As most of you know, we're making the move to San Antonio at the end of the year. Being the type-A person that I am, I spend most of my free time researching anything and everything I can find about San Antonio and all it has to offer. In doing my research, I stumbled upon this new concept that will be making its way to San Antonio and other cities around the country soon.

Allow me to introduce the Chirp vending machine. Brought to you by the makers of Redbox, my favorite rental DVD vending machine company, it is a vending machine that will be placed at grocery stores to vend "affordable luxury goods at up to 75% off retail." Examples listed on the website include brands like Steve Madden and even Gucci! You literally stop with your chicken breasts and milk in hand, scroll through the items on the screen, select the luxury good of your choice, and voila... out it comes! I remember when I was younger, I always wanted to stop and play with the claw machines outside of stores in order to try and win that stuffed animal I absolutely had to have. I guess now I'll have to fight off the urge to stop and buy the latest designer bag?

I'm really not sure how I feel about a Gucci vending machine. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think it will catch on around the country or totally flop?

Loving Lilly (Online!) For Less

I love online shopping. There's just something fun about having anything you could ever possibly want to buy at your finger tips. One of the best parts of online shopping is that you can get practically anything you want in your size, and at the best price possible. I have a few tips that I always use whenever I buy anything online!

1. Always check for a coupon code!
If you're anything like me, you get a million e-mails a day from Victoria's Secret, J.Crew and just about every other store you've ever set foot in. I must admit that I hardly ever read these, but they can contain some great savings. Oftentimes, stores will put out coupon codes for great promotions like an additional percentage off or free shipping. What's even better is that there are websites like RetailMeNot and Coupon Cabin which compile all coupon codes available and put them in one easy to search place. Just search the store you're looking for, and you'll see if there's anything available!

2. Ebates!
I've already professed my love of mail, but what I love even more is getting checks in the mail! If you sign up for this neat website called Ebates.com, you can get a certain percentage of your online purchases back via check. Anytime you want to shop somewhere, like Nordstrom.com, Priceline.com or even Ebay, you go to Ebates first, log in and then search for the site you want and click through to that site. You then shop as normal, and you'll get a certain percentage back. It's usually around 2-3%, but sometimes it's much higher. It also adds up if you're doing something like booking a hotel or buying textbooks online. I've received almost $50 back simply buying things I would already buy. Ebates is safe and secure, and has been featured by a lot of different media outlets. So what are you waiting for? Sign up by clicking here and you'll get $5 right off the bat just for signing up!

3. Shop online clearance!
We've all been there. You're at a store that's having a great clearance sale and you find the most adorable skirt. It's calling your name as you peruse the racks, and you realize that you need it. Then, you check the size... surely you can squeeze into it even if it's three sizes smaller than what you would normally wear, right? You grunt, you jump, you do some quick squats in the fitting room to get yourself down to a size zero, but finally you give up, feeling defeated and leaving your skirt hanging on the rack. How can you avoid this heartbreak? Shop online! There's usually a lot better selection online and the discount is often the same (or better if you're using coupon codes and Ebates!) and most stores will allow you to return things bought online to the brick and mortar retail store. What you can do is buy several items that look cute online and are your size, try them on and return what you don't want. You can save a lot of money and heartbreak going about clearance shopping this way!

Do you all have any great online shopping tips you want to share? I'd love to hear them!

Bzzzzzz....

Confession: I LOVE getting mail. Everyday, I make the trip to the mailbox and hope that there's something fun inside for me. Frankly, the days of pen-pals and handwritten letters have more or less gone by the wayside and been replaced with the likes of e-mail and Skype, which means that I've had to take matters into my own hands to ensure I'm not met with disappointment each trip to the mailbox. Sure, I love receiving and reading the five magazines I subscribe to (it would probably be more, but Mr. C saved me from myself on that one...) but what's even more fun is opening your mailbox to packages of free things! Would you also like to receive free gifts in your mailbox? Then read on, faithful reader, as I introduce you to the world of BzzAgent.

BzzAgent is a website where you sign up to participate in word of mouth marketing campaigns sponsored by companies that want to get their product out there and receive honest feedback in return.

Here's an example of a BzzCampaign I'm participating in:

Orbit Gum recently came out with a fun new package designs that consist of bright colors and patterns. They've been marketing through commercials, but they also really want to push for people to check out their new packages and buy them. Enter: me. I signed up to participate in the BzzCampaign, they mailed me five packages of Orbit Gum and a bunch of coupons and now it's my job to chew the gum, hand it and the coupons out to friends, and provide Orbit with feedback of how people like their gum. Not too shabby, eh?

The best part is that all sorts of companies are doing BzzCampaigns. Some of the cooler ones I've seen recently include a "BzzKit" that included hundreds of dollars of haircare products from Sebastian and Nioxin, one that offered a free year of LifeLock to protect your identity and one that offered a free $100 Sonicare Toothbrush!

Ready to sign up? Just go to http://www.bzzagent.com/ and enter your info. I must admit that it took me quite awhile to get into the swing of things and figure out what the buzz was all about. The biggest goal is to gain "honeycombs" and move up your status so you'll be invited to campaigns before everybody else. You get these by doing things like reviewing sponsored websites in the "Frogpond" and also adding reviews to different "BzzScapes," which are like fan pages. You should also hop onto the home page once in awhile to see if you have surveys to fill out, because these will increase your chances of getting matched to a campaign! BzzAgent will send you an email if you're invited to a campaign, but it never hurts to check and see if any are available on your homepage as well! If you hae any questions, please do let me know!

(image courtesy of BzzAgent!)

These are a few of my favorite things...

Mr. C and I were very blessed to receive a lot of wonderful gadgets as wedding gifts. I have to admit that I love all sorts of new gadgets and anything that makes life easier and improves my quality of life. I'm a complete sucker for all things new and shiny! Without further ado, I present some of my favorite gizmos and gadgets...

 

This little guy is probably my favorite and most used gadget right now. It's the Clarisonic Skin Care Brush and it will revolutionize the way you look at washing your face. It's from the makers of the Sonicare tooth brush, and it's basically just like the Sonicare, but for your face. It's incredibly refreshing and is proven to remove 6x more make up than washing your face manually. It also leaves your skin feeling super smooth and much cleaner. Mr. C has even been known to sneak a wash in before shaving because he says it makes his skin feel softer! They come in the grey, white and pink, and I promise you won't be disappointed if you invest the $200 and get one of these! 

Mr. C and I use our Keurig Platinum Brewer nearly every morning. It's wonderful because it allows us to each enjoy our own hot beverage without any mess or having to brew a whole pot of coffee. I drink my English Breakfast Tea almost religiously, and Mr. C is more of a coffee drinker. You just put the individual "K-Cup," shut the lid and hit brew, and within seconds you have a piping hot, delicious drink! They make literally hundreds of K-Cups from tons of different brands, and best of all you can buy them pretty much wherever normal tea and coffee is sold! 

Prior to the wedding, whenever I asked married friends what Mr. C & I should definitely register for, they almost all immediately told me I should register for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. At first I didn't know what the big deal was, but now I certainly do. Apart from looking beautiful on my counter (Mr. C doesn't quite grasp its beauty, I must admit...) it just makes baking so much easier. It's wonderful to toss some ingredients in, turn it on and let it go while I tidy up or get the next step of my recipe ready to go. 

I know, I know... it has one of the cheesiest infomercials ever, but I just LOVE my Magic Bullet blender. I was very hesitant at first to buy one, but my mother got me one as a Christmas gift after discovering how wonderful it was from a friend of hers. I am a huge fan of smoothies, and this little guy makes smoothie-making so much easier! Before I had the Magic Bullet, I hardly ever made smoothies because it was such a pain to make one little smoothie in the blender and then have to clean it all up. With the Magic Bullet, you put all of your ingredients in the cup you drink out of, screw on the blade and blend! When all is said and done, you just wash the blade quickly and stick the cup in the dishwasher. I can make a delicious, fresh smoothie in about a minute! It also is great for frozen drinks, mousse, sauces, and so many other things! 

(all images courtesy of the ever wonderful Google Image Search!)