Category Archives: New posts

I’m obsessing over the Silverlake Bucket bag from The Sak but what’s up with the color? Your help please?

Handbags & Accessories, New posts, Personal, , ,

So for the last couple of days I’ve been totally (beyond totally) obsessed with finding a medium size handbag.
Here are my requirements.  It must be about 11-12″ wide, soft leather, black (or tan…), the handbag has to have an outside pocket that will hold my iPhone, not a fold over flap type closure (zipper or magnet preferably), a wide opening, and can be carried on my shoulder or crossbody.
After close to 96 hours of searching (more like 4 or so) I finally found a handbag that I like the style, design, color, and quality of but wouldn’t you know that I can’t figure out what darn color it is?  If I can’t figure this out by Monday, I’m going to move on to another bag.  I need to order something ASAP so it will arrive before my next trip in a couple of weeks.. and I don’t want to give up on the Silverlake Bucket bag.  🙁

Here is my delima

I LOVE the The SAK Silverlake Bucket Bag pictured below and I want the dark amber bag pictured below.. BUT the dark amber on The Sak website and the dark amber on Amazon.com look totally different and I don’t like the dark amber I see on The Sak website here but I love the dark amber shown here on Amazon.com.  So which product photograph most closely portrays the true color and which one should I order?

Help please!?
What do you think I should do?

Should I order the cheaper ($118) dark amber Silverlake Bucket bag from TheSak.com website in hopes that it turns out to be the dark amber I see on Amazon.com or should I order the dark amber Silverlake Bucket from Amazon.com which is more expensive ($155) but I like the color shown in the product photograph?  Please tell me in the comments below.

When a downgrade to you is an upgrade to your husband

New posts, Transportation, Travel,

My husband traded in his nicely equipped Volvo s60 a couple of weeks ago and got a Ford Mustang.
Huh, you said?  He went from a Volvo to a Ford Mustang?  Yeah.. I said that too but I’ve learned in the last couple of weeks that just because I think the trade from the Volvo to a Ford Mustang was a huge downgrade, he feels very strongly that it wasn’t a downgrade at all, rather the best thing that’s happened to him since the kids were born.

Here are some ‘behind the scenes’ snippets of conversation between Tim and I over the last couple of weeks, since he’s had the Mustang:

Me: Ugh! I can’t see out of the wind sheild (I’m 5″1′)
Tim: I’ll get you a cushion to sit on

Me: There’s not a sunroof? (the Volvo had a sunroof)
Tim: No (short and sweet)

Me: There’s no wood grain (the Volvo had beautiful woodgrain accents)
Tim: No.. but look at these air conditioning controls!

Me: Do the kids have air conditioning vents back there.. it’s 101 degrees!
Tim: No, but the windows go down.

Me: Do you know this car only gets about 16 MPG in the city?
Tim: Do you hear the sound of that engine?

Me: The drivers seat doesn’t have memory settings
Tim: Check out the ambient lighting down there by the door jam.. isn’t that cool?  You can even change the color!

Me: Where do you put your iPhone (there’s not much storage space in the ‘cockpit’ area)
Tim: It doesn’t  matter.. it’s all hands-free
Me: Oh!  Really?  Huh.  (the little voice in my head says “that’s awesome!  I want hands-free talking in my Nissan Quest!”)

Me – when we get home: Why isn’t Madelyn out of the car yet?
Sebastian: Uh Mom.. you need to move the seat up so she can get out.
Me: Oops.. sorry Madelyn

Ok, so there are a few really cool things about the Ford Mustang that I think I’d like to have in my next vehicle including:

  • Hands free phone and ipod control
  • Built in GPS
  • Built in Satellite radio
  • Comfortable seats.
    The seats are more comfortable than in my Nissan Quest which quite frankly are the most uncomfortable seats ever in my opinion.  My Quest is a 2006 though so hopefully the newer Nissan Quests have more comfortable seating in them.

The first time I got in the car and looking around, I was surprised that my husband now owns such a small, no bells & whistles car.  He went from a Volvo with a wood grain accented interior to a plain interior, lost the sunroof, lost the memory seats, lost the rear air conditioning, and lost TWO DOORS!  All of that to me, equates to a downgrade.  However, to my husband, the v6 engine and the fact that it’s a Ford Mustang make up for the lack of the bells and whistles and I’m happy he’s happy with the car.

Your thoughts..

Do you like your spouse’s car?  What’s your next dream car?  I personally am dabbling at the thought of a newer Nissan Quest, a 2011 Honda Odyssey, or a Mercedes M-Class (funny, huh?) when I’m over my Nissan Quest. 😉

P.S. Click here to follow me on Twitter to get more ‘behind the scenes’ snippets, reviews, coupons, and giveaways.

Tiny “bling bling” on Old Navy jeans left me empty handed

New posts, Personal, ,
Old Navy $15 Adult Jean Sale

I left Old Navy a little bummed and empty handed today.

Last week I bought a pair of The Flirt Skinny Cropped Jeans (photo below) at Old Navy and when I got home and tried them on again I felt that they were a size too big – yay!   I went back to Old Navy in hopes of exchanging them and they were out of the size that I needed.  An employee called a nearby store and had a pair set aside for me to pick up.  Very nice.

So, I went to Old Navy this morning to get the jeans.  I tried the jeans on, liked the way they fit, and after picking up a couple of things for my 10 year old so I could get my total up to $50 and use my $15 off $50 coupon, I went to check out.

Here’s where the drama began:

I assumed that because Old Navy is running a $15 jeans promotion that these jeans were marked down from $29 to $15. But, I was wrong.

Old Navy Flirt jeans with "bling bling"

The jeans I picked out (The Flirt Skinny Cropped Jeans) weren’t $15, they were $29.

You know why?

Because they have what the employee called ‘bling bling’ on the back pockets.

I said “huh? bling bling?”.

She (Old Navy employee) said “yeah.. right there.. you see, on the pocket there”.

I said “Ohhh.. OK!  I see the 3 tiny dots (AKA bling bling).. silly me“.

So because the jeans have “bling bling” they weren’t on sale, and because they weren’t on sale and my total was $52.75 (with Sebastian’s two items), I decided I would use my $15 off $50 coupon and that would make up for the lack of discount on the jeans.

There I go being silly again.
The total was $52.75 AFTER TAX.  The employee told me I needed to add another item in order to get the total to $50 BEFORE TAX and be able to use the coupon.  So I picked up a little boo boo frog thingy and then my Old Navy temporary card number decided not to work.  Ugh!! After that I just opted out of the purchase entirely.  I asked for the $15 off $50 coupon back so I could use it another day but the employee had already locked the coupon in the safe.  Manager to checkout 1 please! The manager took my coupon out of the safe and I left empty-handed except for my coupon.

I know.. $29 isn’t bad for a pair of jeans but since I had just bought the kids a million and a half dollars worth of school clothes…(mostly from Old Navy), I didn’t want to spend $29 on a pair of jeans for myself.

Just so you know.. I really liked Old Navy’s Flirt Skinny Cropped Jeans because they are mid-rise which is a great fit/rise for most moms and the cropped length looked OK on me because I am short.. I don’t typically wear cropped pants as I don’t think they look great on ‘height challenged’ people like myself.  The cropped length makes the jeans look like an almost normal length, on me.

Pop Art 5-in-1 Toy Story Tasty Baker review

Food and Drink, Gadgets, New posts, , , , ,

We LOVE pancakes.. OK, I LOVE pancakes.
Tim and Sebastian like chocolate chip pancakes and Madelyn doesn’t like pancakes, but loves eggs.
So, you can imagine that weekend mornings are fun around here.  I usually have the pancake griddle and a skillet out for the eggs, but this week I made regular pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, AND eggs in our new Pop Art Toy Story 5-in-1 Tasty Baker.

How cute are these little Toy Story pancakes?

We recently went on a trip to a lodge in Kentucky for a few days and nights and I brought the Pop Art Toy Story 5-in-1 Tasty Baker with us.   With 3 kids under 4 years old and my  10 year old, the Tasty Baker was a huge hit!   I thought I would use it once or twice during our vacation but I used it every day.

Here’s what I’ve made with the Pop Art Toy Story 5-in-1 Tasty Baker:

  • regular pancakes
  • chocolate chip pancakes – Sebastian’s favorite
  • blueberry pancakes – my favorite
  • eggs – Madelyn’s favorite

My cousin’s kids might have loved the Toy Story shapes as much as or more than the actual pancakes.   I use soy milk in my pancake recipe and some people are turned off by that.. I have to remind myself that most kids don’t know the difference though and assume that they loved them.  They sure gobbled them up!

The Tasty Baker can be wiped clean and includes a cleaning tool/brush to use on areas where the batter might stick.  It also comes with a batter scoop and an instruction manual.  It would be nice if the Tasty Baker came with removable nonstick plates so they could be handled and washed easier.

Pop Art Toy Story Tasty Baker

The 5-in-1 Tasty Baker is available in a Disney Princess version as well as a Mickey Mouse version.. and of course a standard version.

Toy Story 5-in-1 Tasty Baker bakes cakes, muffins, quickbreads, and more…it can even cook eggs (Madelyn loves ‘Alien eggs’) into 5 delicious, kid-friendly shapes: Buzz, Woody, Rex, Alien and Lotso.

You can buy the Pop Art Toy Story 5-in-1 Tasty Baker here at Amazon.com

Read about mom-entrepreneur Linda Carlish, creator of The Pop Art Toaster here.

Follow Pop Art Toaster on Twitter

Like Pop Art Toaster on Facebook

Disclosure: I received a Disney 5-in-1 Toy Story Tasty Baker from PopArtToasterStore.com for review. I did not receive any other compensation. This product review is based on my own personal experiences and is completely honest and objective.  Your experiences might not be the same.

Things aren’t always what they seem – ask questions and do research!

New posts, Travel, ,

My 10 and 4 year old and I and my mother took off from Atlanta Sunday for a 4 day stay at a state park lodge in Kentucky through this Thursday. My son loves hiking, I love water, and my daughter loves everything so we’re all happy to be here.
Unfortunately, I’ve learned that ‘lodge’ doesn’t always mean the accommodations will be beautiful, plush, fancy, or clean. I am not a big complainer, as you know if you are a regular reader. But I’m having a really hard time keeping my mouth shut about some of the stuff I’ve seen and experienced here.. I can’t however bring myself to complain to the staff. I’m a non-confrontational person. That’s why I’m not going to say where exactly we are.. I’m not trying to bash the place but I’m pretty frustrated.

The main lodge

First, the good stuff about the lodge:

  • My 10 year old loves the hiking trails. My mother and aunt have taken him hiking both mornings so far. They went 3 miles the first day and 6 miles today where they saw waterfalls, streams, a turtle, and a crawfish.
  • The cottage bedrooms are a good size and have two double beds each.
  • The pool is nice, with a walk in entrance.. great for the little kids.
My aunt, son, and mom going out for a hike

Here are my gripes:

  • The septic tank just behind our cottage is overflowing/leaking.. there is toilet paper on the ground. Here is a photo – don’t click if you’re easily grossed out.
  • While the pool has been my favorite amenity at the lodge, the kids were a little bummed that the ‘mushroom waterfall’ in the pool doesn’t work.
  • The lobby in the lodge, where I’m working now and is the only place to sit besides the dining room, doesn’t have anything for kids to play with.
  • The couches and chairs in the cottage are made of a terrible material, some kind of vinyl or something, and are not comfortable at all. It’s like sitting on hard plastic.
  • The kitchen is tiny.. the refrigerator door hits the chairs when open.
  • While there is Internet access in the lobby of the lodge, the cottages and cabins do not have internet access at all.
  • The game room looks like the inside of an institution (all gray and white.. no color) and has a ping pong table, a foosball table, and a chess, and checkers table.. all very flimsy and cheap and you have to pay to get a ping pong ball, golf club and golf balls, and bow and arrow, at the front desk in the lobby.
  • We had to ask for more dishes and they were delivered in a black garbage bag just like the clean towels are delivered every day.
  • The swings and playground equipment do not look clean.. most of the equipment is moldy. Sad for the kids. 🙁
  • There isn’t a DVD player in the room. We’ve been too busy to need the TV on, but it would be nice to know that we could pop a fun movie in for the kids if needed.
  • There are no laundry facilities which is very strange for a place where people hike (get sweaty) and swim.
  • No garbage disposal

This experience has taught me that it is very important to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of online research before making reservations anywhere. The website for this lodge shows beautiful cottages, pool, miniature golf, archery, and the inside of the lodge look beautiful when in fact they are not extremely impressive.

This lodge has tons of potential if they would just spend a little time checking things (like leaking septic tanks) and cleaning (playground equipment).

Here are a couple of photographs of the kids having fun at the lodge.

The kids at the lodge pool
Madelyn playing with survey tape.. who knew survey tape could be so fun?