A look back...

I had to post this blog entry of mine from early last year. It's funny to look back on. Now I can say without a doubt that using coupons absolutely, positively saves you money! Today on Southernsavers.com, Jenny posted the Wal-Mart ad. She is an expert and she said that you are rarely getting a good deal when you shop at Wal-Mart. Under each item that was on sale, she was able to list another grocery store where you could buy that item for less. Very interesting...


This post was inspired by something that happened today at Walgreens. I don't usually shop at Wal-greens, but it was on my way home from running errands. The guy who checked me out offered me a free body wash using a coupon they had at the register. Like an idiot I said sure and when I got home and added it up I had actually spent $2.00 more than I would have had I told him no. I'm more annoyed at myself than I am at him because I fell for it. The manufacturers are going to get their money no matter what and they can package things pretty cleverly to make sure that happens. Anyway, it got me thinking. I'm a little suspicious of this "coupon craze". When I really think about it, I'm just not sure people are actually saving money. This is not a criticism, no ma'am, but rather a "hmmm...I wonder." Of the people I know who use coupons, they usually have to drive to at least two or three places, to use the coupons they have because they are for different stores. Gas isn't cheap. Also, when the coupons can be used on different days they have to go to the store on that day even if they just went yesterday or the day before. More gas. When I look through the paper, I browse through the coupons and I rarely see coupons for things someone truly needs. So, I'm just wondering if anyone has ever really figured out the true savings when you include traveling to different stores on different days, factor in how much stuff they buy that they don't really need and also the time, which in my opinion is just as valuable as money, they spend finding coupons, clipping, organizing, etc. I guess I'm just thinking that if I were really trying to save money, I wouldn't buy things I didn't need even if I had a coupon. I usually buy the off brand also unless I really think the name brand is better. I never see coupons for off brand products so I wonder if they are cheaper than name brands even if they have a coupon. I'm not a brand snob though;) Some people just like to buy the name brand and I really do understand that. Now, if you are couponing to save money on things you are going to buy anyway, that's a different story. So many people are clipping coupons now, it makes me think maybe I'm missing out on something great. You would think it if wasn't worth it someone would have written a book or something about how it's all a huge rip-off. I shop at Wal-Mart. I buy all household cleaners, groceries, diapers, formula, shampoo, conditioner, everything at Wal-mart. I know that sometimes grocery stores will have stuff cheaper if they are having a deal, but then when the deal is over, do people still shop there or do they shop somewhere else? That's the kind of stuff I wonder about. I guess I'm thinking I can shop at Wal-mart (buying mainly off brands) and buy everything at pretty low prices all the time or I can clip coupons for Publix and buy stuff at really low prices sometimes and really high prices other times. Maybe it all evens out. I'm too lazy to really sit down and try to figure it all out so if anyone has any facts or theories on the subject I would love to hear them. For those of you who do coupon, Happy Couponing!!!

Snow Day!

We're having another snow day!!! 7 inches! We played in the snow this morning, did some finger-painting and watched Yo Gabba Gabba. I have got to do an update on what Finley is doing theses days. She is doing new things everyday and it's so fun to watch. Joey's work is closed so we are enjoying having Dada here with us all day even though he is already pacing the house in anticipation of tonight's game. Bring home a National Championship, Tigers!!! Grandad came by for a few hours and I'm about to try to run in the snow. Our 10K training has been going great. I actually find myself looking forward to running. We are on week 3 so we have to run 25-30 minutes every other day and we will run 3 miles on Sunday.

R.I.P. Chi

I have recently suffered a devastating loss. The Chi blow dryer I have had for 9 years died today. It was the best blow-dryer ever. I bought it at cost when I worked at a hair salon in college. I can't spend the money on another one...sigh. This morning when it died I sent Joey to CVS to get a different one. He came home with it and I dried my hair, but it wasn't the same. The Chi does something where it dries your hair from the inside out or something, anyway, my hair looked like crap when I got done and usually it looks pretty good even before I straighten it. I don't care how silly it seems, this fun snow day took a dark turn this morning.



My dear Chi, you were faithful and true until the very end. You will be missed. Love, Elizabeth

When I bought the blow-dryer I bought a Chi straightener too. If it goes out, well, there's no telling what I might do.

Castles and Crowns

I'm having a Castles and Crowns party in Birmingham on February 27th from 2-4pm. Of course all my blog buddies are invited :) I'll post an actual invitation closer to the date, but I wanted to go ahead and let those who are interested see the catalog. There are a lot of cute clothes this season!!!

If you can't come to the party, but see something you want for your child, just let me know and I can place an order for you.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Castles & Crowns SS '11 Collection

New lens.

Joey got me a new lens for my camera for Christmas. I love it! It's a Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III. Whatever that means ;) It lets me take close-up pictures from far away. Joey thought it would be good for Finley because she hates having people in her grill taking pictures. The only thing is that you have to focus it yourself. I need to go out one day and play with it because focusing it myself has been hard. Here are some pictures I've taken so far.

This one turned out good.


This one is how most of them turn out...out of focus.


These are better, but still not right. Moving objects are definitely harder to focus in on.



Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Did I forget to tell you?

We are officially off the bottle! A few days ago, I got really frustrated with bottles. I can't even remember why. Maybe because they were starting to look gross or I couldn't find one of the parts, I don't know. Anyway, I did something on an impulse. I took every bottle we had and threw it in the trash. Every. single. one. I took the trash outside too. Finley did great! She asked for "baba" a few times and I just told her "baba" was gone, gone. She seemed satisfied with that answer. I gave her milk and juice in sippy cups and sometimes she took it, but sometimes she would whine a little or refuse to take it from me so I just set it down next to her and eventually she would pick it up and drink. The real battle came at night. The last 2 nights were pretty rough. Usually, she gets a bottle and lays in her crib and goes to sleep. She doesn't fuss or cry or anything. It was AWESOME! When we put her down without the bottle, she would thrash and arch her back and immediately stand up in her crib and scream. We let her cry for a few minutes and then one of us would go in and rock her to sleep, but the minute we put her down she started crying again. This from the same child who will go to her crib and cry until you put her in so she can go to sleep. Finally, we laid her down and stayed in the room and rubbed her hair and her arms until she fell asleep and then we slipped out. It was tiring because we aren't used to having to do that, but in hindsight it wasn't a big deal. Last night I let her sit in bed with me and watch Backyardigans while I read my book. Then I told her it was time to go night, night. She didn't protest. I put her down in her crib and told her to have sweet dreams and walked out. Silence. I think we are past the worst of it. The word "baba" has been banned from the house just in case hearing it will trigger something. All in all, ditching the bottle wasn't bad. I knew waiting until she was almost 2 was the right thing to do ;) Now if I could only find the perfect sippy cup...

Best bath toy EVER!

Finley likes taking a bath, but I found myself constantly buying those squirter bath toys to keep her entertained so she would stay in longer. She loves to play with the running bath water so I would turn on the water and let it run slowly the entire time she was in there. While we were in Asheville I went in this really cool toy store and I found this...



It's called the Yookidoo Flow n Spill Spout. Here is a description from amazon.com.

Bath time can flow with fun! Yookidoo's Flow N Fill Spout Bath Toy is a unique water activity toy that will have your toddler begging for a bath. This bestselling bathtub toy for babies and toddlers attaches directly to the tub and draws water from the bath up through its spout, creating a gentle and constant water stream. The colorful bath playset comes with three activity tumblers. One tumbler creates a shower, another has a turning propeller, and the last one has a hidden friend that comes up to the surface when you fill it with water! The Flow N Fill Spout Bath Toy also includes a cute push face that easily turns the water flow on and off as well as a swiveling arm that can hold all the vibrant tumblers. Educational Toys Planet offers this award winning toy as a great way to encourage imaginative play and motor skill development in babies and toddlers of all ages. This popular toddler bath toy requires 3 AA batteries.

Finley loves it and now it's the only bath toy she uses. So long to the squirters, foam letters and the other 20 little gadgets that used to fill my bathtub :)



In case you can't tell, she's saying cheese ;)