Change

Sorry I haven't written in a while... I started a new job, and it is a fantastic change! I am very happy. I am learning a lot, and I am able to take on a lot. I love it! Hopefully I'll have photos before the end of the week to show you some things that have been going on!

Yay for new beginnings!

Happy Birthday Bella!

Bella had her 1st Birthday party this weekend! This was Jeepers first doggy Birthday party, and she had a blast. It was also the first time for her to swim in a human pool (instead of the doggy pool at the dog park). I'm pretty sure that she prefers to swim in the dog park pool over the human pool...

The dogs enjoyed running around the pool and jumping in to get the balls

Andrew hosing down Sasha with Bella & Jeepers in the background

Bella & Sasha running around

Bella with one of her Birthday presents- a baby pool

Happy Birthday, Bella!!!!

Rosh Hashanah!

My family celebrated Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) Wednesday evening and Thursday. Wednesday, we had a fantastic dinner at Heidi & David's house before heading off to services. This year Heidi's brother celebrated with us this year. He lives out of the country, and I had not seen him in at least 5 years. Thursday, Grandma hosted a late family lunch (sorry- I forgot to take pictures while we were there)!

Heidi did a beautiful job setting the table!

The family (minus me) eating dessert before we head out for services

Jeepers & Bella

Jeepers & Bella had another play date... I know it's probably VERY boring to see so many pictures of Jeepers, but too bad! I'm so relieved that Jeepers is finally starting to get out of her puppy stage! I'm starting to leave her out of her crate (very short amounts of time), and she's (so far) doing really well! On Wednesday, Jeepers & I went over to Farin's so that she could play with Bella:

Jeepers found Bella's half eaten football

...which turned into a game of keep away!

Stand off!

Don't let Bella get the football! Jeepers in action.

Bella!

I didn't get much accomplished this week, in terms of shopping, but I'll keep you posted with the deals I get on groceries and food. I won't be able to do the $50 in September challege, as a few things have popped up which will prevent me from doing it. :( Hopefully I'll be able to do it in October!

Have a great & safe long weekend!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Last night our family celebrated Grandma's Birthday at Tony's in Houston. My Aunt Ricki came intown from DC to celebrate. I got to catch up with my cousin, Ria (I don't see her very often because she's so busy with tennis) and enjoy a nice dinner with the rest of my family!

Aunt Ricki, Uncle David, Dad & Grandma

Grandma & the cotton candy!

Ria, me & Adam with Grandma, Ricki & Dad

Chocolate Souffle- YUM

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!!!

Tax Free Weekend

This past weekend was 'tax-free' weekend in Texas, so all clothing under $100/item was tax free. Gap had a promotion that the first 50 customers in their stores will receive a new pair of jeans valued up to $69.50. I got to Gap on Saturday morning at 8am expecting to wait in line. Not a single person there! The location near me didn't even know that they were supposed to open at 9am. They ended up opening the doors at 9:25, I grabbed my jeans & headed over to a different Gap to get another pair! Amazing deal- 2 FREE pair of jeans (aka $140 FREE!!!!!). I had also purchased a Gap Groupon ($25 for $50 worth of clothes). I was able to stock up on undies & comfy clothes.

Weekend shopping:

$140 jeans--------------------> FREE

$126 Gap clothes/Groupon---->$25

$36 groceries------------------>$12.36

$61 Target run----------------> $34.26

Approx $70 for groceries, clothes & essentials!

I'll be living off of my groceries (the weekend trip and last week's trip) for the next week! Starting September 1, I'm going to challenge myself to live off of $50 worth of food for a month ($50 will include all meals)!

Have a fantastic week!

Kroger Groceries

I have one perscription that is renewed monthly. I transfer it around to different pharamacies because many of them offer gift cards to their store. I recently transfered a perscription to Kroger to get $25 in groceries. I went to the grocery store last night to stock up on frozen foods (for nights when I'm too tired to prepare dinner) & snacks (for while I'm at work). Although I didn't use many coupons, I still had a great savings because many of the Kroger brand items were on sale. Before I went to the store, I loaded coupons electronically to my Kroger card.

Kroger brand chips: $1/bag--> online coupon $0.25 off --> $0.75 per bag

Quaker rice cakes (hiding in the back): $1.99 --> on Sale $1.48--> Kroger plus card --> $0.99

Kroger brand wheat crisps: $1.89--> on Sale $1.48

Southbeach protein bars: $2.89 --> $1.50 online coupon -->$1.39

Kroger brand crackers: $1.50 (on sale)

Kroger brand oatmael: $1.46 (on sale)

Skinny cow: $1.39 -$1.00 coupon --> $0.39

Kroger ice cream: $2.89 on sale for $1.38 -$0.50 --> $0.88

Raspberries: $2.50 (on sale)

Tina's burrito: $0.49

Budget Gourmet frozen dishes: on clearance for $0.71

SPLURGES OF THE DAY:

Nestle's mango popsicles (I'm obsessed): $3.49

Jarlsburg cheese dip (I'm obsessed): $3.22

Total Spending: $22.39 (but really free because I had a $25 credit... Now I have $2.61 left on the card). If I had skipped out on my 2 splurges, I would have spent $15.68.

Busy Weekend!

I have SO much to write about from Friday through Sunday! Friday I went to Target (barely finished shopping in time before dinner), and I had some excellent finds:

Cetephil face wash & moisturizer (a daily necessity): $8.94 + $5.64 (-$5.00 coupon for 2 Cetaphil products) --> $9.58 (not an amazing deal, but I was in need for it, so I had to splurge)
Dawn: on clearance for $2.34 from $2.89 (-$1.00 coupon) --> $1.35
Schick Hydro 3 razor: 6.99 (-$5.00) --> $1.99
All detergent: $4.49 on sale from $4.89 (-$1.00) --> $3.49
Scotch tape: $0.50 on sale from I'm not sure what --> $0.50
Clorox toilet tabs: BAD- NOT ON SALE, but I needed & haven't found a coupon in months- $4.74
2 tie-dyed tank tops: $10.00 on clearance for $2.50 --> $5.00
Cut off shorts: $14.99 on clearance for $3.47 --> $3.47

Total Spending: Just under $70.00

Total: Savings: Just over $40.00

Total Spent: $31.80
Not the best deal that I've had, but it was a decent savings, and I got a lot of things that I needed.


Saturday, Mom & I went to the Houston Design Center for a big sample sale. I didn't find anything, but I learned a lot about rugs & I got a lot of decorating ideas. I bought a beautiful Kilim (made in turkey) to go by my bed. I've been looking for another one (to go on the other side of the bed) for a while. Unfortunately the rug stores didn't have any that I liked in the size that I needed.

Houston Design Center- beautiful setting!

Sunday, Jeepers & I went to Beaumont to visit PawPaw and have lunch. We had a great time, and I made it home just in time to shower and head out to Improv to see Jo Koy with Adam Hammer opening for him. This was the first stand up comedy show that I have ever seen, and I LOVED it. The show was HILARIOUS; I laughed so hard that I cried. It was a neat/cozy venue, and I look forward to seeing more shows there.

Jo Koy with a fan after the show

Coley's Collars

I was so happy to find Jeepers' new bow in the mail! I ordered it from Coley's Collars on Etsy, and I love it! The master behind this is Nikki. She is a super sweet woman who has a very creative mind (and very reasonable prices)! I had her pick the fabrics for Jeepers first bow, and I look forward to ordering more from her!

Cute packaging!

Jeepers flaunting her new bow!

Feeling beautiful, even while eating!

Lounging with her new accessory!

Birthday Party

I had a great little Birthday brunch this past weekend at Shade. Although most of the people didn't really know each other, I had a nice time and the food was fantastic.

Table

Party favors made by Mostly Chocolate... If you haven't had anything by her, I highly recommend trying her chocolates & chocolate dipped fruit!

The girls

Brittany & Me

After brunch, Brittany & I went over to the Contemporary Arts Museum. The exhibit was interesting, to say the least. I finished up the day at BRC for dinner. I had never been, and I was very impressed! I will definitely go back in the near future. Sunday, I was able to get majority of my Christmas shopping done. I know, I know... It's early, but I love having that taken care of in advance.

Target Savings

Most of you know that I'm a huge coupon/rebate/savings fanatic. I'm contemplating starting a blog about my savings to share my knowledge and information to others about spending less & saving more. I organize my trips to the grocery store & Target by my coupons. I (majority of the time) will not buy something without a coupon. I go to the store with the coupons out for the items that I want to buy, and I shop from those. ...Otherwise I end up spending way more because I impulsively grab things off the shelf that I THINK that I need.

My Target trip last night:

Betty Crocker brownie mix (impulse buy) --> $0.89
Scrubbing Bubbles shower cleaner ---------> $6.99 (-$6.99 coupon) - FREE
Bio True contact solution -------------------> $4.99 (-$2.00 coupon) - $2.99
Skinny Cow Ice Cream ---------------------> $1.22 (-$1.00 coupon) - $0.22
DiGiorno Pizza -----------------------------> $2.89... On sale 2/$4 (2 -$2.00 coupon) - FREE
(Pencil sharpener --------------------------> $0.20 on clearance)
(Crayola Crayons --------------------------> $0.25 on clearance)
Bottom two items not pictured because I donated them before I got home.

Total Spending: $4.83

(*$3.24 will be reimbursed by my flexible spending account that I have through work.*)

Not too shabby!!!!!

PawPaw & Max

This past weekend was busy like usual. PawPaw came in for a visit & Ally (family friend) had her engagement shower. My cousin Max came to lunch to see Pawpaw; he is cute (and big) baby.

Have a great week! I have a lot going on this week, so I probably won't be able over the next few days. I'll have some good updates come Monday!

Laramie Project & LOIS!

It's been so long since I've updated, but I have a lot to show and tell you. I went to the Holocaust Museum- almost a month ago- to see The Laramie Project (a play about the Matthew Shepard story). The Mayor of Houston introduced Judy Shepard (Matt's mom), and she gave a nice introduction to the play. It was a very interesting play that Judy explained most accurately portrays the events that happened to her son. Below is a photo of our Mayor & Judy.




4 Letters- LOIS! I went to see the corpse flower, Lois, at the Museum of Natural Science. We bought our tickets during the day that we were planning to go. We bought tickets to see her at 10pm (as the museum was open 24 hours a day to see Lois), we arrived at 9:45pm, and we waited an hour to see her. She wasn't half as stinky as I thought that she was going to be!

Have a great weekend!

Judy Shepard

Last night I went to Judy Shepard's book signing and talk. She is remarkable. If you don't recoginze her name, you might recognize her son's name: Matthew Shepard. He was "the gay twenty-one-year-old University of Wyoming college student" who was beaten and left hanging on a fence in 1998. It is such a tragic story. Since his death, she has created a foundation to help educate people on diversity and acceptance. Most impressive, she's working on a couple more books right now- one of letters that she has received and a childrens book. She explained that she has received over 100,000 emails and over 10,000 letters about her son. She gave a fascinating talk about Matt, her foundation, and her personal feelings on forgiveness.

I started to read her book last night, and it's really great. I highly recommend it.

I'm going to see her talk again this weekend at the Holocaust Museum, as she will speak before the showing of the Laramie Project (an HBO movie that was made to show the Matthew Shepard story).

Eric

The past couple of weeks have been very scary for my cousin Eric and the family. After having ACL surgery, he came home for recovery. Less than a week into his recovery, he was hospitalized for chest pain (which we found out was a blood clot). After being put on blood thinners for a few days, he was hospitalized again (which we found out was internal bleeding). He's had a couple of surgeries and blood transfusions, and he is now out of ICU. It seems as though he's starting his recovery (finally). Please keep your prayers with him, as he's going to have a long road ahead of him.

Scary Weekend

Saturday morning, I look Jeepers to the dog park to play with her friend, Bella. As we were driving home (after the play date), I was stopped at a light and saw a pedestrian get hit by a car. I immediately called 911 & waited for the ambulance to get there. It was by far one of the scariest things that I have ever seen. The girl who was hit, appeared to be ok, but she was taken to the hospital to get checked out! I hope she just had some bad cuts and bruises!!

I took Jeepers back to the park on Sunday morning. After the park, I did a MASSIVE cleaning at home. I moved all of the furniture to clean my floors (LOVE the Swiffer WetJet), and I cleaned my couches from Dexter & Jeepers' hair! We ended the weekend with a family dinner with some cousins. By the end of the night this is what Jeepers looked like:

Have a great week!

Wood Floors & Adam's Graduation

I took off work on Friday to have wood (well vinyl wood) floors put in throughout my whole apartment (entry, kitchen, living room, dining room, and bedroom). What a mess!!! Ripping out the tile was ridiculously dusty, so I am STILL cleaning. I have a feeling that I'll be dusting every other day for at least a month (what a pain!).

Living room carpet ripped up

Entry tile ripped out

Kitchen tile ripped out

Leveling the concrete before they can put down the new floors

Glue...

Wood FINALLY going in!



Dexty peeking out while they were ripping out tile/carpet in the other rooms

After a long day... Everything came together. I'm happy with the color and the look of the floor. Dexter & Jeepers seem happy with it as well.

Living room/dining room!

Bedroom!

After a long day full of loud noises (from tile being ripped out), dust, and cleaning, I headed over to my Grandma's house for dinner with the family. My Aunt Ricki was intown, so it was great seeing her. Didn't get any photos Friday night. Sunday was my cousin, Adam's, high school graduation. I'm so excited for him as he gets ready to head up to Boston for college, and I'm looking forward to seeing him this Fall when I visit!


Adam's high school class

Adam getting his diploma!

The GRADUATE!!!

After graduation, we headed over to Kata Robata for a fantastic sushi lunch. Kata Robata is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in Houston; it has a great atmosphere & fantastic food. Yay, Adam! So excited for you to head off to college!!! Congrats again!

Family conversation before we got our delicious food

David, Adam & Heidi

The whole family after lunch! Ria & Tracy- Sorry you weren't here to celebrate with us!

Adam & me