The Thrill of a Deal

I love to shop. Anyone who knows me knows this. With that said, I love a deal, and love the thrill of a deal. When Amaya was born, I fell in love with Gymboree...which is not the cheapest place to shop for a child. This is true to some extent, however, you really do get what you pay for, and if you shop the sales, you are actually ahead of the game, as these clothes last forever, wash well, wear well, and look super cute to boot. Alas, my obsession continues with miss T.

People who love deals, have kids with closets that look like this

Amaya's Closet (should I even admit half her clothes were in the wash when this was taken)

The start of Tayah's collection

Shortly after Amaya was born, I discovered consignment stores, and the rest is history. I do still shop at the name brand stores for the girls (during the sales of course), but have found that if I'm patient, I will find great deals on quality items for a fraction of the cost.

This week I felt like I hit the jackpot on more than one occassion. First were the shoes. I found two awesome pairs of shoes for miss T, both for $5 each! The first were the Stonz boots, these puppies retail for $50 and the inserts for $20. And then some super cute Mexx boots, really who COULD pass them up?

Today I went to a brand name kids consignment sale. I was looking for one specific thing, a one piece snowsuit for Tayah for this winter. Remember, I'm cheap, so the goal was to find something cute, good quality and well, cheap. Success. I found a Gap Warmest snowsuit for $20. Score! Thankfully I married a man who understands my little obsession and just smiles when I come home to show everything off to him. So let's raise our glasses, and say cheers to great deals!

I'm SO not Martha Stewart

Although I really try to be somewhat domestic, it doesn't always come off successful. I was able to make some very yummy beef vegetable soup for dinner last night. Surprisingly everyone enjoyed it. Success! The biscuits were, well, flat. Good thing I'm not an American, I think you have to be a good biscuit maker to be an American.

My helper!

The yummy soup.

Of course, there is always the flipside to my domestic successes. Last night was the orange nipples. Most of the time, I put Tayah's bottles and nipples into hot soapy water in the sink, let them soak and hand wash them. On the weekend I decided it would be ok for them to go in the dishwasher, and was so happy at how clean they looked. Success! Then, last night I made meatsauce for pasta to freeze (domestic yes?), but put the pan directly into the dishwasher, on the bottom rack, with the bottles/nipples on the top rack. I start empty the dishwasher, and then I see it. All the bottles and nipples are VERY orange. Ugh. I realize they are probably perfectly fine for her to use, but I just feel wrong giving her these orange items to eat out of. Thankfully I have an understanding husband who told me to go to Babies R Us and replace the ones that are too gross for me to use now.

Amaya started Brownies last night. She loved it. Of course, when she gets into the car, the first thing she asks is "Mommy did you have to wear an ugly brown dress when you were a Brownie?". Oh... but yes I did. I think it will be a great activity for her over the school year. Hopefully we have lots of neighbours who love Girl Guide cookies!

We get her uniform soon.... last night she got to wear whatever she wanted!

And on the house front .... We somewhat have a deck. I was really pushing for us to have a deck by the end of summer/early fall. My main goal was that we would be able to start using it first thing in the spring (or even possibly on warmer winter days), instead of having to wait till it dries up enough to build it next year. Of course, I would be the supervisor of this project, Dino was the one who actually had to do the work for it. Thankfully we had lots of help this weekend, and aside from about 2000 screws, we have a deck! Patio furniture is being delivered today. Success!

A Fresh Start

I've thought about starting a blog several times, made a few attempts, but never followed through. I used to "blog" on Livejournal, but that fizzled and I find I spend most of my time on Facebook and message boards. I started to look back at that journal and realized how many little things in life I documented that I was happy to be able to go back to and re-live.

So, here is a fresh start. To sharing some thoughts and events that happen in my life. I'm pretty sure my posts will be very random, that's just how I live. Take each day as it comes, enjoy it, and remember to live my modest life to the fullest.

And now... off to change a very poopy diaper