Fashion Bug Rocks!

10/365

I don't have a picture for today. In my album, I'll be including the tags from the two pairs of jeans I bought at Fashion Bug tonight.

I left the house late this afternoon, in search of some new jeans. With only the one pair from Old Navy, my wardrobe has been a bit on the thin side and I've had to resort to out-of-season capris and bedraggled sweats far too often.

My first stop, Lane Bryant, was a complete waste of time. It's been quite a while since I've tried to shop there, and now I remember why. Their jeans were priced at $44.50! I just can't afford that--we're not made of money! I actually got really frustrated while looking around the store, at the exorbitant prices and the snotty sales staff.

Then I went to Fashion Bug. What a great contrast! They had a sale going on their jeans, $21.50 each. I got two pairs for less than one pair would have cost me at that other place, and I love how they fit and how they look. I will definitely be shopping at Fashion Bug again! The sales staff were pleasant and helpful, and I left the store feeling appreciated as a customer and very pleased with my purchases.

5/365

Today I finished the beginning-of-the-month marathon shopping, with stops at Ikea, Sam's Club, Alberson's, Macey's, and Reams'. Twice.

Some great bargains:
*Macey's had boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.29/lb. I got a 40 lb box, and packaged and froze (shared) meal-sized portions.
*Reams' had lean ground beef for $1.39/lb., as well as its usual assortment of beautiful produce.
*In my continual attempt to bring order to the chaos, I purchased 4 DVD storage boxes and some hanging organizers for the coat closet at Ikea. I could happily spend WAY too much money there, and only rarely go.

2/365

Continued reading from Bunnicula, O's Christmas book.

Made this week’s shared meal today (Friday), because I had flu earlier this week. Jambalaya, so the house smells scrumptious. The yellow rice I made to accompany the jambalaya smells fragrant and delicious.

This morning I had to run out to Walmart because we were completely out of diapers. Completely. Absolutely crazy to let it get that low, when we have TWO (H and L) both in the #4 size.

Bought a new (to us) dishwasher off of ksl.com, and dh is going to install it tonight.

A Christmas Meme

From GloryQuilts

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper with those curly ribbons. I use gift bags throughout the year for birthdays, showers, etc., but I really like wrapping the Christmas presents.

2. Real tree or Artificial? We've always had a real tree. I love the smell and going to the tree farm to cut it down ourselves, but since moving to Utah going to the tree lot is much less fun. Add to that the yearly cost, and I jumped when an artificial one was offered on our local freecycle board. This will be our first year with an artificial tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? It varies. Given my preference, we would put it up on the first Sunday of Advent, which is usually the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Dh usually wants to do it the first weekend of December, so that's when we do it.

4. When do you take the tree down? On January 2nd or 3rd.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes. But only once or twice. And the eggnog-flavored coffee creamer is repulsive.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't remember specific gifts. I got books every year for Christmas, and that was usually my favorite.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My father-in-law.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My kids.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? We have a kid-friendly one with plastic figures for them to play with and set up. I would like to start collecting a set, but haven't decided on the Willow Tree set or another one.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, definitely. Although I'm considering a hybrid this year--mailing postcards with our family Christmas picture (already ordered and on their way) and setting up a Christmas letter website. We'll see...

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Probably the fact that I didn't get a single book last year. I was surprised by how sad I was not to have a new book to start reading on Christmas day.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? LOTR is inextricably tied to the Christmas season for me, since that's when they were all released. I'll also often watch the five-hour Pride and Prejudice movie right around the holiday. As far as actual "Christmas" movies go, I enjoy White Christmas, Holiday Inn, It's a Wonderful Life, and The Santa Clause.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? January. I like to buy throughout the year. And my goal is to finish my Christmas shopping on Black Friday, so that December I can stay out of the stores as much as possible.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas gift? Yes.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes. I like slowly blinking white lights the best. Dh prefers flashing colored lights. We take turns. I think this is his year.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Hark, How the Bells; I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day; O Holy Night; Santa Got Run Over by a Reindeer *blush*

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? I wish we could travel, since almost all our family is in Oregon. But we'll be home in Utah.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We have the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve, which amazingly always ends up being pajamas! :-) After the kids are in bed, the presents placed under the tree and the stockings stuffed, dh and I exchange a few small things and celebrate the anniversary of our engagement. Christmas morning we open all the rest of the gifts.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Having to deal with others' stress every time I need to purchase milk at the Walmart. The unceasing drumbeat of materialism.

23. What theme or color are you using? I'm never that organized.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner. The traditional turkey holiday meal.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A peaceful, happy holiday with my family. Materially, I'm not certain. My parents are giving our family a zoo membership, at our request. I'm really happy about that. Other than that, I'm asking dh for a gift certificate for scrapbooking supplies and hoping for some good books. Oh, and a bluetooth headset.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? ?

27. Who is least likely to respond to this? ?

Father's Day prep

I was suprised when I looked on the calendar today and confirmed that this Sunday really is Father's Day. It crept up on me this year.

Since we have less than a week, and limited funds, I'm focusing on some attainable goals: good food, thoughtful gifts, low-stress projects.

I'll make certain to have some meat marinading on Sunday, so dh can get his grill on. I'll likely do a no-sugar version of a marinade rightly famous among our family and friends: Bob's Teriyaki, named in honor of my half-Japanese former youth leader and the pastor who married dh and I. I haven't yet attempted a sugar-free version, so this will likely be the first of several attempts to get the balance of flavors right. How we will suffer in our pursuit of perfection!

I'm going to put together a collage of photos for dh's new office space in our basement. And I'm also going to choose photos of each child and have them printed in a wallet size, and get together a new photo insert for his wallet. He's been asking for that for some time, and I just haven't gotten it together, yet.

Third Day's new album won't be released until the end of next month, so my original plan to give him that won't work. I'll have to see if anyone else has some good music out lately. Any thoughts?

Soccer Season

Tomorrow marks a momentous day in our family--the day our three bigs begin playing soccer on our very first organized sports team. The three bigs are practically vibrating from excitement.

Today we need to purchase shin guards, cleats, water bottles, and a ball.

In my years of working as a nanny before marriage and having my own children, I spent innumerable hours transporting kids to and from soccer practices and watching them play. It quickly lost it's appeal, and I spent many years being grateful that I didn't have to spend time at the soccer fields I drove past with my small children. But now that my kids will be playing, I'm looking forward to watching them learn the game, and for them to have an outlet for their energy and competitiveness.

Time to break out the folding chairs and sunblock!

Looking ahead

Today's grocery shopping trip resulted in a bit of an impulse buy, a fistful of hope in the midst of winter. Aren't those colors beautiful?

We have been planning on putting in a garden this year. The previous owners had a garden in the side yard, and with our houseful of veggie-lovers, a garden is a necessity. We've had to forgo planting a garden for the last several years that we were living in a rental, and last year my pregnancy kept me low-energy, so we didn't have one even though we now own again.

Our house in Oregon came with several raised beds, and included mature raspberry canes, current bushes, and a rhubarb patch. We really enjoyed having our very own tomatoes and carrots, peppers and carrots.

This year I'm planning on checking out the book Square Foot Gardening and following the author's plan for compactly using our garden space. I'm by no means an expert, and this will be my first year gardening in Utah, so I want as much advice as I can get. I wonder if there's a county extension service in Salt Lake County? Hmmmm....

Today's purchases included two varieties each of beans and peas, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins, summer squash (yellow and zucchini), radishes, green onion, a lettuce sampler, cherry and slicing tomatoes. This will be my first time starting my own tomatoes, and I'm excited to try it.

Mostly, though, I'm excited to remember that Spring is on its way, and that by gardening, I get to participate in the new life of the season.

Heavy-handed (or should that be footed?) analogy

I love my new Crocs.

When they went on sale at Nordstrom's (thanks to Mir for the heads-up ), I was really excited to finally get a pair--and didn't even mind that there were limited colors in my size. If I'd had the option I would've probably gone with black, and I would have missed out.

These bright pink shoes make me happy.

Which was why I was so sad when the very first time I wore them out in public I came home with a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of my right shoe. Bright green gum, for the colorfully minded.

I spent ten minutes or more cleaning it off, but there's still a sticky residue left that picks up dirt.

They're no longer perfect, but they still make me happy. I learned long ago that perfection is overrated. And when I'm contented with my life and the shoes I'm wearing, despite the inevitable scuffs and ick that come my way, everything else seems to fall into place.

Post-holiday find

Finished the grocery shopping today, and picked up a little Valentine's gift pack of Starbucks goodies at 50% off regular price. Since their prices are normally grossly inflated, I figure the $7.50 I spent on a mug, five tea bags, a cocoa packet, some ground coffee, and a little storage box was just about right.

I'm not a diehard Starbucks patron. My favorite coffee place is probably Coffee People, a Portland area store that makes great coffee and includes a chocolate covered esspresso bean with every order, a nice touch.

I do love Starbucks' version of chai, though, probably better than anywhere else I've tried. When fall rolls around, the sweet, almost pumpkin-pie scent of chai is what signals that it's once again my favorite time of year. And through this long, grey, snowed-in year, chai tea has been a real comfort.

Of course, I can't afford Starbuck's exhorbitant prices more than once or twice a month, at most. And since my days are usually spent at home, I've had to come up with my own version of chai, to get me through the long house-bound days. On a dark February day, I can drink an entire teapot myself.

My Chai

Brew three bags of Tazo Chai tea in a full eight cup teapot. Pour into teacup or mug, about 3/4 of the cup's worth. Add two packets of Splenda and top off the mug with 2% milk. When you've been house-bound for three days or longer, use half and half. If it's been five days or more, break out the cream.

Enjoy. Best drunk while the kids are happily occupied elsewhere in the house, but is good even in the midst of chaos.

Buying in bulk

A couple weeks ago marked a momentous occasion in the life of my young, large family: the first time we purchased a five gallon bucket of food. Oatmeal, to be precise.

Growing up in a large family as I did, with a mom who is frugal by necessity, our kitchen and storage area were filled with buckets of all manner of dry goods: rice, pastas, cereals, wheat berries (to grind into flour), and the inevitable beans. When Y2K and the accompanying stockpiling began, my parents' basement family room had an entire wall of buckets. It was a sight to see!

When dh and I first married, cooking what I considered a normal-sized meal would yield us at least three meals: one for that night, and two for the freezer. In the years since I have adjusted that expectation as our children came along and started eating real amounts of food. This last year in particular, the three oldest have begun eating about as much as myself and their daddy. And they are still quite young--I can only imagine the sheer volume of food we will need when we have six teenagers in the house!

So a couple of weeks ago, when there was a special food storage sale at a local grocery store, I bought our first seriously large bulk food item: a five gallon bucket of rolled oats. Ever since my brother visited from NYC and made a truly memorable pot of oatmeal the kids have loved the stuff. They always request it made "like Uncle Josh made it," and scrape the bottom of the pot clean. Over the year since his visit my memory of exactly how he made the oatmeal has grown a bit hazy, so my apologies to my brother if it's not quite right:

Uncle Josh's Oatmeal

10 cups water
1 cup raisins
1-2 apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
5 cups rolled oats
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
generous shake of cinnamon

Bring the water, raisins, and apples to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and reduce heat, stirring frequently. Simmer for about 5-8 minutes, until most of the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes. Serve with milk or half-and-half if you're feeling particularly decadent.

Hope realized, with meatballs

This weekend marked my first visit ever to Ikea. I've spent years drooling over the catalog, and then counted down the months until the new local store's construction would be complete last year. After waiting so long, I was almost afraid that the actual experience would be a let down. But it was even better than I had anticipated: inexpensive, practical, colorful, and stylish--the perfect store.

Since my 7yo daughter becomes my 8yo daughter tomorrow, many of my purchases were for her birthday: a colorful hearts comforter cover, a piggy bank, assorted small toys, and a pink and purple assortment of small storage boxes for her treasures. I picked up some white curtains for her at another store, along with some purple ribbon to stitch along the bottom. It doesn't look like we're going to get her room painted, as we had planned, but we can at least make it pretty for her.

My other Ikea purchases were all problem-solvers: an apple cutter, to replace the one that vanished; a tea ball for my solitary morning cuppa; a magazine rack to corral the growing pile of PC Magazines dh brings into the bathroom.

Oh, and the green plants at the top of this post, bought despite my proven black thumb. Winter has been particularly difficult this year, and I'm more than a little cabin fevered. They are on my kitchen window sill, and promise that despite the white and grey outside my window, Spring will be here soon.