A Thrifting We Will Go...

I never really shop at thrift stores unless I'm trying to find pieces for a costume.  Thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army typically hold huge discount sales during the holidays.  Since yesterday was a holiday, I thought I'd try my luck at those two stores to see what kind of deals I could find.  I went shopping with two of my cousins, and we were off and running at 930am.  The first store we visted was Goodwill in Concord, and they were offering 50% off all apparel and shoes.  It's a pretty good size store and very well organized.  I found a few things that included a green Xhiliration short sleeve sweater top, a gray Diet Coke vintage tee and an Old Navy jean skirt for my daughter. 

We visited a second Goodwill store in Plesant Hill, and this is where I really hit the jackpot.  This store was more crowded and the racks were packed with clothes. Here I scored two pairs of jeans: Citizens of Humanity and Elie Tahari.

(sorry my pictures are so poor. a new camera will definitely be on my Christmas list this year).  Each pair retails for nearly $200, and I was able to get both for $5 a piece (after the 50% discount)!! I'll need to have alterations done to shorten the pant legs, but what a steal at those prices.

I also found a jacket for my daughter.  It's so cute, isn't it? It's a size 4T and will be perfect for this winter season.  I ended up getting this for $3 after discount.

My purchases also included 2 Superhero shirts for my son priced at $1.79 but 90 cents each after discount, a little girl's pink summer dress, Gymboree skirt, another Old Navy jean skirt, and a work out top. 

The total spent on the day's shopping trip was approx $31! 

I'll probably hit the thrift shops again during the next holiday weekend and as they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure... 

Busy Bee

Phew! The last few days have been such a whirlwind! Whenever there's a holiday, the weekend always seems to be so jam packed and too short.  I'll fill you in on what I've been up to in the new few posts. 

First, last Thursday, I took the kids to the Jelly Belly Factory. 

This is actually the second time we've been on the tour and the kids love it!  It was a busy day at the factory since it's summer vacation and there were a lot of tour groups and kids on field trips.  Before the tour starts, everyone has to wear a hat.

This hat only lasted on Maddy's head for a few minutes and I spent the rest of the tour trying to get it back on.  You can probably guess that I was pretty unsuccessful.  It's great to see the factory in production and you get to see all the behind the scenes action of the making of a Jelly Belly.  Did you know that the 3 most popular flavors are Very Cherry, Buttered Popcorn and Licorice?? Licorice is usually the flavor I throw away first.  I think the kids favorite part of the tour was getting samples of the jelly beans.  We tried chocolate dipped orange, lime, and bubble gum.  No pictures are allowed inside the factory so you'll have to visit the Jelly Belly Factory yourself to get a first hand glimpse into the making of the world famous jelly bean!

Kiddie Gambling

During the summer, my goal is to take the kids to do at least one outside activity a week without it costing me an arm and a leg. This week I had two activities planned, and the first one was Chuck E. Cheese.  Now I know what you're thinking. Chuck E. Cheese is never cheap!!  Yes, you can easily get carried away and before you know, you'll end up going home with 6 toys that will never be played again and a quarter in your pocket.  With the help of coupons (sign up for Chuck E. Cheese emails) and through buying Chuck E. Cheese SCRIP from my son's school, the 5 of us (2 adults and 3 kids) had lunch and a couple hours of fun at a reasonable price. 

I titled this post "Kiddie Gambling" because that's exactly what this place is like.  Kids stick their money into these machines hoping to win the jackpot! In this case, the jackpot = 50 tickets. Today, my daughter hit that jackpot.  Her birthday is 11/21/07 so I like to think that she has a little bit of a lucky streak in her.

I admit that sometimes I can get caught up in the excitement of the game and the thrill of winning more tickets then the next kid.  Seeing the lights blinking rapidly and the jackpot number dwindle down from 50 to 0 gives you some sense of accomplishment.  It's short lived, but I'll take it.  Between 3 kids, over 900 tickets were collected and more candy and junky toys were stuffed into my purse.  

Chuck and I will be going on a break now so I can collect more quarters for our return.

Welcome Home, Grandpa!!

For those of you who know me, you know that my Grandpa has spent the last 2 1/2 months in the hospital and at a skilled nursing facility following double bypass heart surgery in April.  Well, I'm happy to report that today he is finally strong enough to come home!!

Here is he, while out on a day pass from the nursing facility, with my Grandma and my very pretty cousin Tricia at my Grandma's 81st birthday party.  It's been a very long road from the first night he spent in the hospital and he has come such a long way.  Many days and nights we spent at the hospital and slowly but surely he was well enough to be transferred to the nursing facility.  Occupational and physical therapy everyday proved to be a tough pill to swallow for Grandpa, but with enough encouragement, he has been able to improve and gain strength.  Our family thanks everyone who continued to pray for him during surgery and on his road to recovery.  More exciting for me is that I can just walk to visit him since he's staying at my auntie's house and she lives down the street!

My Name is Rachelle and I'm Addicted to Daily Deals..

Groupon, Living Social, Mamapedia, Plum District, Juice in the City...you name it, I'm a member!  Every morning my inbox is flooded with deals from all over the country.  I guess Groupon feels the need to tell me what kind of deals are happening in Sioux Falls, SD just in case I decide to visit :)  I joined most of these sites because a lot of them offer free sign up credit and let's face it, who doesn't like to get stuff for free??  Normally, I'm scouring my emails for deals for the kids--museum passes, theme park tickets, vouchers for toys, etc. but today I actually found something for me!! There are so many great deals each day that it's so hard to show some restraint since you can do so much damage with just a few clicks on the keyboard.  The deal I grabbed today is a from a site called No More Rack and right now you can get $10 in free sign up credit with your purchase of $20 or more.  This morning I saw these shoes:

On sale for $23.00 but after I used all the credits I had accumulated, my total went all the way down to $3 incl shipping!!  Yay me!! 

	Details	Quantity	Price	Total
	Misbehave Liliana Glitter Espadrilles Size: 6 Color: Black Savings: 36.99	1	23.00	25.00

Sub Total	23.00
Shipping	2.00
Credit	22.00
Your Total	3.00

I didn't realize I hadn't used any of the sign up, thank you, and holiday credits No More Rack generously deposited into my account.  I thought these looked really similar to the TOMS that retail for $54 and I just couldn't justify spending money on something that is equivalent to a week's worth of my grocery budget.  So I think this is the first time I found a deal for myself and I can't wait to get them in the mail.  Now it's your turn to check out No More Rack  and remember that their deals change every day so if you find something you like today, get it now because it won't be there tomorrow.  Happy Deal Hunting!

Start a Blog? Sure, why not..

Welcome!! (to the two of you that may be reading this)

After months of contemplating this blog idea, I finally decided to go with it.  Now, here I am, staring at the computer screen wondering what to type.  <<This idea was much easier when it was just in my head>>  I'm starting this blog with the intention of sharing the shenanigans of my daily life--one day it may just be a trip to the grocery store where I get excited over getting a box of capri suns for 99 cents.  Other days, you may find out that my daughter, Maddy, set the record for most wardrobe changes by a 3 year old in a single day.  Yes, she is known to change her outfit multiple times in one day; sometimes by choice, but most of the time out of necessity (hint: our rule is that if she eats a popsicle or chocolate, she can wear underwear only).

Don't let her cuteness fool you.

You'll also meet my son, Isaiah, who thinks he was a superhero in his previous life.  He has to wear a superhero shirt every single day or else he can't be seen in public.  He's already an iPad addict and always corrects me that the iPhone I'm using is actually his. (Technically, he is correct since we let him have my husband's old phone, but I dropped my phone in the toilet, which is another story in itself, and have been too lazy to go out and get a new one).

He'll be starting Kindergarten in the Fall and I'm already going crazy trying to figure out what kind of snacks and lunch to pack him. If he had it his way, he would eat mac n cheese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sidenote: does any other mom get really annoyed when you go to a restaurant and find out that the mac n cheese on the menu is just the Kraft Mac n Cheese from the blue box AND they're charging you $4 for it???!

Along the way I'll be sharing our summer activities, baking challenges, crafty moments, extremely cheap shopping trips (because I don't leave home without my coupons!), and other crazy adventures that make up my life.  So I guess this is it for the introductory post.  I'm still trying to figure out how to make the blog "pretty" so please bear with me.  Hopefully, a good night's sleep will help me find more thoughts of the blog or we can just see where tomorrow will take us.