Category Archives: good finds

Aug 21

Sunny Ft. Lauderdale

Back in May, after MDS&W trip, I had made a trip to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my in laws for a weekend.  Well, technically, I was supposed to do a spouse swap with my FIL – he was supposed to come to CT and go hillclimb with David for that weekend and I would go down to visit my step MIL.  Well, due to school conflict, it turned out that he wasn’t able to go, but I went anyways.  I was in need of a change of scenery.

Ever since I moved to CT, I had developed severe seasonal allergy.  It was so bad last year I not only only have the sinus infection and post nasal drip induced cough, I had developed Bronchitis!  But then after the bronchitis went away, the cough didn’t and my doctor had thought I had developed asthma from all the cranziness going on.  It turned out I had some kind of viral thing going along with the baterial bronchitis and I just needed two weeks of strong inhaler to clear it.  Or it could be the fact that I was relaxed at 1000 Islands shortly after being diagnosed for asthma and made it went away.

Anyway.  So Ft. Lauderdale was a welcoming change since it was still kind of chili at CT and I figured the warm weather will help with this year’s bronchitis (yes, I had one this year again, but it’s viral instead of bacterial.)  I arived late (around 9:30pm) and was welcomed by both in laws.  Sheryl took the long way home so she can give me a quick tour of the area.  When we got bck to their condo, I was already feeling relaxed and better!  Plus she made matzo ball soup for me!  Let me just mention here right now, matzo balls in clear chicken brother is one of my favorite way to have soup.  I know, I am far from looking Jewish, but hey, I just like them!  I must have shoved three of those matzo balls down my throat because a) I was hngry, and b) I haven’t had them for a long time.  And yes, I know how to make them myself, but don’t you think chicken soup made from others for you just taste so much better?  Sheryl and I stayed up quite a it and flipped through some of the old photo albms she had.  It was so much fun to see some older pictures of David.

On Saturday, dad went to school while Sheryl and I had grand plans of eating French breakfast and shop for baby stuff!  We started off with an awesome breakfast at this little French Cafe by her house.  I had crepe with fresh berries and fresh squeezed orange juice, and Shery had pate sandwich.  They were delicious!  I ate it so fast you would think I didn’t eat for days!  YUM.

After the awesome breakfast, we went to Baby Love, which is one of Baby Bargain’s favorite stores!  (I didn’t know that when I went.  I purchased the book afterwards!)  The store is total of 67,000 sq ft!  Yes, it was THAT big.  They have everything you can think of, every brand you know of, and then some!  And we just happened to go when they have an “Additional 75% off on clearance items” day.  We of course snatched some really good deals on onesies.

I had to have Sheryl hold it until I got home since I had a tiny backpack with me as carry-on when I went down.  And this Thusday, the package arrived -

Saturday night, we went to visit Sheryl’s cousins who were having a graduation party for their son.  It was fun and interesting meeting some of Sheryl’s family.

On Sunday, we went back to the French café and bought me a croissant and fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast and we said our goodbyes for our short visit.  I wish the visit could have been longer, but we are both short on vacation days.

Jun 3

Fashion Show

Upon a few request of seeing my bump and my newly purchased dresses for the upcoming weddings I’m attending, I decided to do a little fashion show on my back porch:

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This outfit shows my bump really well.  It is a $3.00 bargain shirt at the maternity section from Goodwill and my awesome $20 score of Express Editor Pink Pants with Alexis in Wisconsin back so many years ago (that you can’t see).  How am I still fitting in those you asked?  Thanks to the magic Bella Band, I am still able to wear all my regular pants un buttoned!

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Next up is the beautiful Poppy Flower dress found at Destination Maternity at the Promenaude at Evergreen Hills.  We were way early for the movie “UP” so we went across to find me some grubs.  Destination Maternity was on the way to Moe’s, and was having this huge side walk sale (75% off!) so we wondered in.  I think I will wear this dress to the rehearsal dinner next Friday.  (As a side note, UP was really good.  But don’t go without some tissue!  There are some really touching moments in the movie.)

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On Sunday, CostumeChick, BackStageKnits, and I went up to West Farm mall to find some dresses for me for the weddings.  We scored this at H&M of all places!  The dress is not a maternity dress, but it is roomy and comfortable for me.  It was inexpensive (~ $39) and I will be able to wear it again after I have the baby!  I can see myself dress it down to wear it to work, or dress it up for a wedding.  I’m probably going to wear this to the wedding next Saturday.  I’m thinking red jewelry and red nail colors…  I don’t own any red shoes though… hmmm…

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This was found at Caché.  I *HEART* that store.  Always had.  It is, again, not a maternity dress.  I can see myself in this for many summers to come.  It was 50% off, plus additional 10% because one of the strap is defective (it can be easily sewn back in place).  I’m thinking of wearing that to the rehearsal dinner for the August Wedding.

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This is another great find from H&M (~ $55).  It is super comfy and flow-y.  As you can see, plenty of room for me to grow into even though it is not a maternity dress, and wearing this to the August wedding is definitely not a problem.  I’m thinking of wearing my black pearls set of jewelry that I wore for my reception.

And while we are at fashion, I might as well show you this shawl I made as a wedding present for my cousin:

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Pattern – Icarus Shawl by Miriam L. Felton (Ravelry Link Here)
Yarn Used – 2.5 skeins of A Touch of Twist Aussie in Ebony
Needles – Harmony size 4
Gauge – N/A
Knit – February 21, 2009 to May 20, 2009

I have to say, I was bored while knitting this, hence it took me so long.  Plus for awhile I was low in energy so I didn’t get to knit it either.  This, however, could be a really great beginner shawl – a little bit of lace edging that’s just enough to start learning lace, but simple stockinette and yarn overs makes up the majority of the shawl.  Of course, if you just want a easy shawl pattern that you can take along to SnB or watch TV with, this could be good for you as well.

Well, what better way to end this fashion show with a fashion no-no?  This is a dress I tried on to show that some retro styles should just NOT be allowed to come back, EVER:

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Jan 21

Vermont

I went up to Vermont with David last weekend for the ski race.  We got up way too early, but way too late for the race on Saturday.  The sky was still dark and I slept through the whole driving portion of the trip.

I sat in the lodge on Saturday since we we straight to the mountain (see above on late-ness) and worked on my Jezabel.  It is almost done, except a few rows on the neck.   The team did decent and we went and have pizza for dinner.

The next day, when the team got up for the race, I stayed behind lounging/sleeping in my pj and in the motel, with the beautiful snow outside, falling fast and furious.  I waited till time to check out, and slowly cleaned out my car and went to White River Yarn and waited for them to open.  I discovered the shop last year around this time and was eager to see Lois again.  I stayed for three hours and then after saying my goodbyes, I drove over to Woodstock for some shopping and also check out Wippletree.  

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I actually got there in time for them to close, so I didn’t really get to see it properly.  I did buy couple skeins of yarn, but I’ll show that at a later date, as the lighting has been bad during the time I’m home and I couldn’t take any decent pictures. 

I also went to Thistle Bath and Body to check out their handmade soap.

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I couldn’t help but come home with some soap!!!!

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I have super sensitive skin, so I’m always afraid to try soap, unless it is doctor recommended, or I’ve already tried before and that it doesn’t dry out my skin or make me itch for no reason.  So when I saw the soap stack, it was perfect for me to try.  I already started using Green Tea and so far, I love it.  It has a nice scent, mild and subtle but lingers around enough to relaxes you, and my skin feels moisturized after using it.

I only get to really visit the two shops before David showed up.  You know what that means – I’ll have to go again!!! :)

Jan 8

Guess What I Got?

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I had some points I have to use before the end of the year, so we got ourselves a Christmas presents.  :)  Now those fried chickens are gonna be AWESOME!  And fries!!!  Can’t wait! :)

Ok.  Gotta get back to Jamie Lee.  She’s calling my name.

Dec 6

Etsy Street Team Connecticut Holiday Spectacular!

I love handmade stuff.  Always have.  I also love MAKING handmade stuff.  So when I saw the Holiday Spectacular flyer from Esty Street Team Connecticut blog, I was excited to attend, and it’s a bonus that it wasn’t too far.

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I forgot to take a picture of the room all the vendors are in, but it was warm and cheery with holiday feel in the air.  I’ve gone through all the vendor first without making purchases, and then went back to the ones I really want.

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My new earrings!  I love the vintage feel to them.  I don’t know where these branches came from, but some other earrings/pendants are from vintage books, vintage stamps, pressed leaves or flowers…  you  name it, she’s got it.  I love the elegant feel to it too.  I really wanted to buy more stuff but I refrained myself.  But I will definitely be back to visit in the future.

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My next purchase is a mini scrapbook.  I supposed I could make it myself easily.  But it’s nice to support fellow crafters too.  It has a little snowman charm with it too.  I can’t wait to select some picture to go with it!

And that’s it!  That’s all I bought!  Although I really like stuff from Spoiled Baby Design, Design By Galina and Sulimos Design as well.  Sue from Sulimos Design is also teaching Precious Metal Clay class and I’m thinking of taking it!  (Thanks for your influence MamaE!)

So I’m excited for my purchases and my self-imposed budget.  Tomorrow, a post about a gathering!

Nov 29

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all your family and friends.

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That is our lovely honey brined smoked turkey.  We’ve made this turkey ever since my brother moved here in 2004.  We saw it on Good Eats from foodnetwork and just couldn’t resist to light smoking flavor of the hickory.  Plus!  It frees up our oven!  How sweet is that!?

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CostumeChick and Evad came to our shingdig since they couldn’t go home for the holidays this year due to work.

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David’s mom came too :)  And our friend K & M showed up around dessert time to hang out, but I forgot to take a picture of them while they are there.

And from the picture, you can see our lovely dinner.  Here is the menu and links of recipes:

 

  • Sausage and Herb Stuffing (I made gluten free corn bread and used that instead of regular bread.  Also, I skipped the dried cranberries since David doesn’t like it.  But I bet it’s good if you put it in!)
  • Holiday Spiced Sweet Potatoes (This is such a yummy twist of the regular sweet potatoes!!  I used Trader Joe’s Organic sugar instead of brown sugar since that’s all I have on hand.  But I bet you can use Demerara sugar and it’s just as good.)
  • Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (I made this up – I used buttermilk instead of regular milk and it turned out awesome.)
  • Cranberry Sauce (I made this for the past two years and I can’t say anything bad about it.  The only thing is that I don’t know what to do with the leftovers!  I’ll have to look up that this year!)
  • Green Beans with Pancetta and Shallots (This is a good quick sautee.  Although I think with all the confusions, I forgot to put the shallots.  Opps :P )
  • Roasted Broccoli: Barefoot Contessa Style (I don’t actually have the cookbook.  I saw this on Amature Gourmet’s blog and couldn’t resist but make it for the Thanksgiving dinner.  It is SO GOOD.  I made the Amature Gourmet’s version though.)
  • Chinese Sweet Rice Stuffing (I can’t begin to tell you how to make this since my brother whipped it up.  My grandmother always made this for Thanksgiving at home and we both love it so much we have to have it.  Good thing my brother knows how!)
  • Mulled Apple Cider (I was going to make this.  But I found mulled cider spice bags in the supermarket that included everything in the recipe and all I had to do is drop the spice bags in with the gallon of cider and put them in the slow cooker…  yeah… it was easy AND good!)

 

And CostumeChick made a killer gluten free pumpkin pie that was sweetened with honey.  SO YUMMY.  And yes, we got a ton of leftovers!!!  What have we done with the leftovers?  Hmmm…  Let’s see…

 

  • Holiday Spiced Sweet Potatoes –> Sweet Potato Pancakes (1 egg, 1 cup of rice flour, 1/2 cup of sweet rice flour, mix well and form pancake shape on your griddle or big flat pan with butter!  Oh, you can use all purpose flour isntead of the above gluten free options)
  • Sausage and Herb Stuffing –> We reheated this in the oven and heat up the Trader Joe’s Creamy Corn and Roasted Pepper soup and eat them together for lunch.
  • Turkey –> Part of the meat will probably go into a Turkey Shepards Pie with the leftover potatoes.  The bones will make Turkey Stocks.  Turkey Stocks will probably turn into Wild Rice Soup, which usually use chopped ham, but I think we’ll use leftover turkey this time to try it out.
  • Green Beans and Broccoli –>  They will probably stay as side for another meal, maybe steak or pork chops!

 

So if you have ANY ideas what to do with leftoever cranberry sauce, let me know!  Maybe a dessert of some sort?

Oh, and see what I found in the supermarket?

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That is damn good.  I still need to try the Sugar Cookie Eggnog!  The pumpkin one is great (I tried it last year!)

Now that we are done talking about food, which seem to be happening a lot lately, we should talk about the highly anticipated SHOPPING.

Everyone knows black friday supposedly has the best deal EVER for the whole year.  It marks the beginning of the Holiday Season and the start of holiday shopping.  I go every year, although I don’t stay up all night and go to the midnight sale.  This year, I needed some winter skirts and pants for the new job (which I found and got) and of course, Coach.

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Meet my new Coach purse.  Isn’t it pretty? :)

So yeah…  That’s all I got so far.  Oh!  And I finished the market bags for Schaefer, but I forgot to take a picture before I mailed it out.  I finished it this morning at 11am and I wanted to make sure it gets mailed with the mail wagon today instead of Monday so I rushed it into my mailbox with Clip-n-Ship, which by the way, is the best service EVER invented!  I’m still in my PJs and I mailed the box to Schaefer!

So now I’m off to ponder which project to start next…  Hmm…  Central Park Hoodies? Rogue? Olive Branch Hoodie? Celtic Icon? Sage Cardigan?  Oh the agony of choosing…  Only if we have more time in a day!

Oct 28

Omaha Steaks, You Did Not Disappoint!

On October 22, I wrote about the deal from omahasteaks.com and since then, they have caught on and change the deal.  But since mine was shipped the day I ordered, I wasn’t too worried.  Until two days ago.  I received an email from Omaha Steaks saying that there was a mistake and that the 12 free burgers could not be combined with any other deal, blah blah blah.  But last night I came home to this – all 20 burgers, individually wrapped, sitting in a cooler on my front step.  They are all vacuum sealed and only one broke, causing some interesting clean up.  But for $1.98 shipped, I am not complaining.  And the only reason it broke, I believe it’s because UPS screwed up and shipped my order to Rhode Island first (it says on the tracking thing).  I suppose I could call UPS, but I’m afraid it’s going to be more hassel than anything.

I’m glad my order came though, and I’m sorry for those that had the rules changed on them mid way.  I personally think that’s pretty poor business decision.  If you want to change rules, go ahead, but honor all the orders that your computer took!!!  It’s called learn from your mistake!!!  I know lots of people had report them to BBB and if you are one of the ones that tried the deals and have them change the rules on you mid way and didn’t get what you wanted, I would suggest you to go to BBB too.

On a completely different note – Did you notice I’ve been blogging more?  Three days in a row baby!  (shuuu… I don’t want to jinx it…  Oh wait, I just did.  DOH!)

Oct 22

If You Eat Meat, You Want to Read This!

Have you ever heard of a deal that’s too good to be true, and not trust worthy?  Me too, and plenty of times.  But not this one…  I assure you, this is real, and require almost no work!

I’m about to share a deal on Omaha Steak Burgers.  By doing the following steps, you can get 12 four oz burgers and 8 five ounce burgers for $1.98, shipping included!!!  Don’t believe me?  Read on…

1.  Geico Priviledges is a new website that helps people finds deal and savings.  It’s kinda like a Entertainment Book except online.  If you sign up, you will get a $25 gift certificate code to OmahaSteaks.com (I just check this, and am not sure if they are still offering this since it doesn’t say it on the main page anymore.  WIthout this coupon, you won’t be getting the whole thing for that cheap, you would just be getting free 12 four oz steak burgers with first purchase).  If they are still doing the coupon code, they will email it to you at about 2 hours after you sign up.  So be patient. [Reading the fact it's Geico?  Don't worry, you don't have to change your insurance or anything, this is just a side thing that Geico is doing and promoting.  You do not need to switch insurance!]

2.  Click on this link to and sign up for Omaha Steaks newsletter and you will get the email that gives you the link to the 12 Free four oz burgers.  Of course, this only works if you don’t recieve their newsletters already, but if you did, don’t be sad, just use another email address!!!  I usually have a “junk mail” email address to sign up for stuff like this.  hotmail and gmail or even yahoo can give you free email addresses!

3.  Once you receive the coupon code from step 1 (if they are still doing it), go to the email from step 2, shop around and find the 12.99 items, which for me was the 8 five oz burgers, but 8 polish sausages are also 12.99, so if you don’t want that many burgers, then do sausages!!! Either way, add your 12.99 item of the choice to cart.  Click on your cart to check out.  The check out process is four steps.  First you need to confirm your billing address – you can pay by credit card on their site or paypal.  I did paypal because it’s easier for me.  Then you will need to confirm shipping address.  Click continue and it will take you to payment and reivew.  A 13.99 shipping charge had been applied at this step, and you will see a empty box for coupon or gift certificate code.  This is where you copy and paste the code from step 1 to that box and don’t worry about the Pin number.  Click apply and viola, your shopping cart should say $1.98 for total payment!!!

I did it last night and couldn’t believe it myself, and what is more unbelievable was that after an hour, I got an email from Omaha that my order has been processed and shipped!!!!

So I’m hoping Geico Priviledges is still doing the deal.  Good luck and please let me know if step one still works.

NOTE:  Worry about getting too much junk email?  Don’t forget after the CAN-SPAM law passed, all e-newsletter type emails are required to have a way for you to unsubscribe.  So after you receive your lovely free beef, just click on that unsubscribe button in the email and smile gleefully on your awesome new deal and the no junk inbox!

NOTE 2:  Worry about too much burgers and it’s no longer the summer season?  Don’t forget that burgers are made of ground beef, so you can always use it as ground beef in different dishes!!!  4 burgers will equal a pound of ground beef!!!

NOTE 3:  I am not affiliated with either companies!  I am sharing this purely on sharing my love of finding awesome deals!!!

NOTE 4:  As much as I love this deal, I was not the first one to find it.  I first heard it from Money Saving Mom and she heard it from Catherine.  So thank you ladies!!!

Jul 22

New Home

Wow.  WordPress is so much better.  I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, but since Wife”Mom”Knitter did it, I decided to jump ship as well, but had to wait till I finish the invitations.  Alas, they are done, and mailed.  I’ll be making more changes as time goes, but this will do for tonight.  Stay tuned for future posts.

I’ll be back.

May 31

All the Good Stuff

Look at what I won from Knittymuggins????

I entered her 200 posts contest and I won! And I NEVER win anything from blog contests so this was very very cool! :) She sent me one skein of Farmhouse Yarn Silk Blend in Turkey Red, lots of Dove chocolates and two Soak! :) Thank you so much!

So I wanted to amend the meme I did few days ago. If I have a billion dollars, the FIRST THING I would so is to hire myself a chauffeur!!!! How could I forget!? That will give me more time to knit while going to places!!!! :)

And here are a couple of things I forgot to mentioned from our trip -

We stopped at Grandma Nancy’s on the way to the 1000 Islands, and also on the way home, since she is literally on the way. And on our way home, I got some grandma’s famous molasses cookies and she also gave us a little birdhouse wind chime to take home. What is so very special about this is grandma painted it herself!

Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t paint for anything and it’s so awesome to have a piece of art hanging outside our house.

Another thing I forgot to post about is a good find I got from the antique store where I got my yarn winder.

I don’t know exactly what it’s called, but it holds the cone steady and let it spin while I knit from it! The yarn came with the gadget feels like cotton to me, but I don’t really know for sure. I know that it will be perfect when I knit with my zephyr cones.

And I suppose I should really post some knitting progress:

The Woodland shawl is coming along, although not as fast as I would have liked. I am itching for this one to be done so I can start something else, with fat needles and fat yarn that can be finished in a few days! We’ll see when that can happen!

With that said, I should really get some knitting in before the day ends. I got quite a few things done in the garden and also I went to the farmer’s market, but that means no knitting has been done!!!! Not good! Me Go, NOW!