Vera Bradley Olivia Handbag, 9.99 TODAY ONLY!

 If you like Vera Bradley bags here is a deal!! Today ONLY, you can get the Olivia Handbag for $9.99 + 8.00 s/h. 17.99 for a $36 bag isn't bad at all. There are 18 colors to choose from. http://www.verabradley.com/cat​alog/search.cmd?form_state=sea​rchForm&keyword=olivia&x=0&y=0

Hot Pier 1 Coupon $10/$10

Check out Pier 1 daily deals. Click the daily deal banner and you’ll score a $10 off purchase coupon. You have to print the coupon today but it’s valid through 7/27. http://www.facebook.com/pier1?​sk=app_128953167177144

Menu Plan Monday

So lately, I have just had the blahs.  I don't really want to do anything, including blogging!  I really feel like I have been run over by a truck, so sticking to our menu plan has been a bit of a chore.

This week, I am really going to make an effort to stick to it.  Hopefully, I will get my energy back up and feel great this week.

Monday- BLT sandwiches, sweet potato fries

Tuesday-   Taco Night!

Wednesday- Broiled stuffed tomatoes with spinach, mushrooms, and cheese,  pasta salad

Thursday- Grilled chicken satays with peanut sauce, stir fried noodles

Friday-Pizza Night

Saturday-YOYO

Sunday- YOYO


this post is linked to Organizing Junkies: Menu Plan Monday

We are going to Disney World!!!

I am so excited to say that we have booked our reservations for Disney World!!   We wont be going until after Thanksgiving, but that is just fine with me.     The holidays are one of the most beautiful times of the year to go.  The great that thing about going just after Thanksgiving and before Christmas is that it is off season.   So that really helps save money.

This time we are participating in the meal plan.  Which I am really excited about!   I had wanted to do this last time we went, but I just couldn't talk my husband into it.   This time, however, it worked!  Of course, it also helped that some of our friends used the meal plan in June.   We are using the meal plan with the table service, quick service, and snack.   I will still pack a few extra snacks for the kids.  But, I really think this will make our trip so much easier.     I have already started making our dinning reservations.   

We are also planning on spending a day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.   I am not sure who is more excited about doing this, my husband or the kids.      I used to live in Florida and I remember when Universal opened.   As a general rule, I am not a huge fan of Universal and have never really wanted to waste the time or money visiting there.  But with the addition of Harry Potter, we have to check it out this time.

The Summer blahs have struck

I don't know if it is just the heat, but we have the summer time blahs.    You open the front door and just begin to melt.   I have tried making crafts with the kids, we have baked, we have gone to the movies and we are still just bored!

I think both of my children are looking forward to going back to school.  I am trying to shake us out of it, but I just don't know what else to do. 

Christmas in July- Hallmark Christmas Ornaments

Back when I was in high school, I worked at one of the local Hallmark Stores.  At the time, I didn't really care about the Christmas ornaments.    It was kind of one of those things that you were excited because they were in the store, but on the other hand it was a pain in the butt.   Hallmark ornament collectors are religious about their ornaments.   They come in with their Dream Books circled and know exactly what series they have and the pieces they need.  

I bought a few at the time because I thought they were cute.  And well, those few cute ornaments has turned in to somewhere around 600+ ornaments.      A couple of years ago, I had to purchase a larger tree.   But like any good bargain  hunter, I got the tree for 75% off on New's Year Day.   So, that kind of makes up for the cash spent on the ornaments.  


It is hard to resist the Star Wars ornaments!  When Hallmark started making the Star Wars ornaments, it was game on.  I have been collecting those since 1996.   We have all of them!    This year, there is a pretty good selection.  I am not overly blown away by any one particularly like I have been in years past. 

I am excited that the limited edition Star Wars is the bounty hunter Bossk.     I am hoping that they will make the whole gang of Empire Strikes Back bounty hunters.    (And Hallmark or LFL, if your listening.  I would love to see Admiral Ackbar on my Christmas tree in the next couple of years please.)
My mom just can't understand why we would want something so "ugly" on our Christmas tree.   She just doesn't love Star Wars. 

The other series that we collect heavily is the Disney ornaments.   I just love Disney and well, with children,  they love it even more then me.    We always pick up a few princesses and for my little boy we got the Cars2 ornaments. 

We also have started picking up more Barbie ornaments.   Our little girl is knee deep in Barbie love and well she gets it honestly.   This year, we picked up Barbie Peaches and Cream.  Peaches and Cream is a Barbie doll from 1985.  I had this Barbie as a little girl and I was thrilled when Mattel re-released her.   I bought the doll for my little girl.  Now we have this beautiful ornament to share on our tree.   


These are the only 2 ornaments that I picked up at the Saturday Premiere Party.  Thankfully, Hallmark has a great lay away.  This year, we will be adding 20 new ornaments when the holidays get here. 

You Can Do a Graphic Novel Review

I had the opportunity to review the book, You Can Do a Graphic Novel.    My son and I have been working on it together.   I thought that this would be a great way to help practice some creative writing during the summer.    The book offers great step by step instructions and even helps you get your creative juices following.   This is a great book for older children, teens, and even adults who are interested in creative writing.   I have even found myself, sketching and writing down ideas that I can further develop into a story.  


Barbara Slate, graphic novelist and author of You Can Do a Graphic Novel guides readers through the same process she learned in her early days working for Marvel and DC Comics-a process she has simplified for the classes she teaches and for the syndicated column she writes. 

The book teaches readers how to:

·         Be creative in a way that works for you.

·         Find your own artistic style!

·         Create characters that get people's attention ... and hold it!

·         Develop a great plotline and write believable dialogue.

·         Lay out pages to keep the story moving forward.

·         Keep those creative juices flowing when you get stuck.

About the Author:

Barbara Slate has done it all. Her first character, Ms. Liz, appeared on millions of greeting cards, in a regular comic strip for Cosmopolitan magazine, as a spokesperson for Dupont's Lycra and as the star in a series of animated segments on NBC's Today Show. Her big break in comics came when she created Angel Love for DC Comics. From there, she created, wrote and drew Yuppies from Hell, and Sweet XVI for Marvel and put her own spin on the Disney classics Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Archie's Betty and Veronica, and Mattel's Barbie. Barbara's art has been exhibited in many galleries and reviewed by The New York Times.She is profiled in the seminal work A Century of Women Cartoonists. Stan Lee, Chairman, POW! Entertainment and Chairman Emeritus, Marvel Entertainment, calls Barbara "titanically talented." She is currently busy being a mom, doing a graphic novel titled, I Got Married and Other Mistakes, and teaching. Her website is barbaraslate.com.

You Can Do a Graphic Novel

ISBN: 9781592579556

Alpha Books, $19.95


* I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.   All opinions expressed in this review are my own. 

Menu Plan Monday

We have been doing really well cutting back on the consumption of meat in our household.  I really think that doing menu planning has helped me in that aspect.   Some vegetables are still a tough sell for the kids, but they are doing great.


Monday-  Broiled stuffed tomatoes, grilled corn on the cob, fruit salad

Tuesday- Grilled vegetable fajitas, black beans and rice

Wednesday- Macaroni and cheese, green beans, okra, and fruit

Thursday- Chicken lettuce wraps, steamed rice, sesame cucumber salad

Friday- Pizza Night

Saturday- YOYO
Sunday-YOYO

This post is linked to Organizing Junkie's: Menu Plan Monday.

Took a little vacation!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I took a little vacation, but I will be back posting starting tomorrow.   I have had a lot going on and just needed a little break.   Thanks for understanding. 

Monday Menu Plan

Monday-   Orange chicken, rice, stir fried veggies

Tuesday-  Taco Salads

Wednesday- Veggie Burgers, fruit salad, chips

Thursday-  Turkey meatballs and pasta. mixed green salad

Friday-   Red Curry Tofu with vegetables and rice

Saturday- Sub sandwiches, fruit salad and chips

Sunday-YOYO


This post is linked up to  Organizing  Junkie: Menu Plan Monday.

Live Blog- Trooping the Great Escape

Today, my family and I are out trooping at the Great Escape. It is a local bike and hobby shop. We are sharing our R2 unit with the costumers. We are sharing information about building droids and using remote controls. The Great Escape is a place where we get some of our remote parts. There will be several of us in costume walking around the store. Should be a great afternoon. I will share pictures later this evening.

Thrift Finds- A relish dish, a tin, and a tea pot

So, last weeks thrift post was a little shall we say on the bizarre side.   It just seemed like everywhere I looked, the unusual, awesome, and hideous crawled or jumped out of every corner.    I don't think that I will ever have another week like that.

This week is well, sadly, on the tame side. 

I went to the local Salvation Army Store.  Which isn't one of my favorite places to shop.  It is getting harder and harder to find good thrift stores.   I will reserve my rant about their prices and what they think of the stuff they sell for another time.    It's not new people!  I am not paying retail prices!  

When I stop in there, my goal is to find unique items $3 or less.  

The first item was this cute little vintage tin.   I thought my little girl would like it because it has what I would describe a princess on the front.   It was only a $1.   It has made good storage for crayons, so it was totally worth it.

My second item was this little tea pot $2.   I don't know that it is really vintage, but I like the toucans popping out of the brush.  I guess when I use it, I can pretend I am having tea in some sort of tropical tiki hut.  

My last item, was this cute little relish dish.   I remember seeing these somewhere.  There were different little dishes for different condiments.  I like it and the price was certainly right.  It was $1.99.   Next, cook out this little guy will find his place on the food table.







This post is linked to Her Library Adventures, Magpie Monday, Penny Worth Project. 

Yo Gabba Gabba design added to Etsy store

I have added another pair of shoes to my Etsy store.  This time it is a Yo Gabba Gabba design.  Please stop by and check out my new Etsy store.   I will be adding more designs each day. 

Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-fil-A TODAY!!

Don't forget today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-fil-A .  IF you go into participating location dressed as a cow, you can get a free meal!   My kids and I did this last year and had a blast.   We are planning on eating lunch there today

LEM Photo Challenge: Sunset

My Etsy store is now open!

Yesterday, I posted about some of the hand painted shoes that I have been making.   I am happy to say that I know have 6 items listed in my Etsy store!   Please stop by and check it out. 

New items added to LuluBeans Boutique

I wanted to share a few of my new items with everyone.   I started doing hand painted shoes and clothing last September.   My Etsy store is now open , and I  have a facebook page for anybody who is interested in ordering.  I do all types of work, cartoon characters, teams, animal prints, etc.  

This is a sneak peak at the Clemson Tiger shoes.   I can do other teams on request.  This pair is a toddler size 9.   All of my hand painted items are $20 each.   But,  I do give a discount on multiple orders.

This is the Electric Blue Zebra print.   This pair is a child size 10.  This is also the last pair that I have in this color.  

I am also making Fairy costumes and accessories.   This is a Fairy Princess Headband.  You can get these made in any color .  This particular headband would be for ages 3 and up.   These are priced at $6.




If you are interested in ordering please email me at Lulubeanspainted@aol.com.   I will be happy to customize pieces for any theme. 

Wordless Wednesday

          My Wordless Wednesday is just a random collection of pictures from our 4th of July weekend fun!   That is my husband dressed up as Vader.  You can read more about that here.

PF Changs- Free Lettuce Wraps tomorrow for Facebook fans

PF Changs is celebrating their 18th anniversary during the month of July.  Tomorrow 7/6/11, they will have a downloadable coupon on for Facebook fans to get free Lettuce Wraps.  Be sure to like them on facebook to be ready for it. 

Menu Plan Monday

 Happy 4th of July everyone!   I am really looking forward to getting together with some family and friends later today.  We are planning to attend a concert in the park and bring a huge picnic spread.   The fireworks will be after the concert, so it should be a great evening.   

Thanks for stopping by!




Monday- 4th of July Potluck Dinner!   I will be taking Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies,  watermelon, and sandwich tray.

Tuesday- Crustless Broccoli Quiche, garden salad, and garlic toast

Wednesday-  Chicken Satays with peanut sauce and stir fried vegetables

Thursday- Cheese, olive, and onion enchiladas with rice

Friday-  Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, mixed green salad

Saturday-  Grilled chicken lettuce wraps, Cucumber sesame salad

Sunday- YOYO

this post is linked to Organizing Junkies : Menu Plan Monday

Darth Vader loves fireworks

Yesterday,  my husband volunteered to help out a local fireworks stand.   He agreed to come out in his Vader costume to help the stand raise money for the local Shiner's Childrens Hospital.    I have to give it to him, he is a real trooper.  The Vader is unbearably hot and the temperatures were in the 90s yesterday.    I didn't dress up this time.  I opted just to be his handler.  I always worry about him getting overheated when we do events in the summer. 

We had a lot of fun despite the heat and the crowds stopping by were good.  So hopefully, we were able to help them raise a little extra money.

Food from roadside stands just tastes better.

I grew up in the South and my husband grew up in the North.  As you can imagine, we look at things slightly differently.    Yesterday, we decided that we would stop by the flea market.  I wanted to look around and pick up some produce.   The flea market is one of the best places to get local produce and its cheaper then the grocery store a lot of times.   

Well it was getting close to lunch time and I suggested that we get some tacos and Mexican sodas from the little taqueria.   Every time we are there, the smell of the tacos is just beyond words!! and they make homemade tortillas.   My husband was looking at me like I had 3 heads.   He was like I don't know.....   I was like it's ok.  I said look, they have a sanitation rating.   Clearly, they have been inspected.  

So this set us off on the discussion about buying food off the side of the road.   In my world, there are certain foods that you buy off the side of the rode and nowhere else.    They are: peanuts (roasted and boiled), produce of all kinds, snow cones, and BBQ and/or hash when available. 

It just tastes better that way.  My husband just can't wrap his head around the fact that not everything has to come from the grocery store.  No, I don't want Mr. Peanut.   I want Cajun roasted or boiled peanuts with extra hot sauce from Mr. Murphy.   Mr. Murphy has sold peanuts at the same spot on the side of Reidville Rd for at least 30 years.  I remember us buying them from him as kid.   Why would I buy elsewhere?

I get my peaches from Mr. Reed and his family.   I know them.  Why would I buy unripe peaches at the grocery store?  You can't eat them, they are never ripe.   Mr. Reed picks them and they ripe and ready to eat. Plus, I get a whole bushel basket for like $8.

I just don't think he will ever get it!  He thinks macaroni and cheese comes out of a box for goodness sake!   I made my husband go cross eyed when I unleashed the fury of my Miracle Whip sermon on him.  

It's a Southern thing

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

These are my pictures for the Sunday Scavenger Hunt.  If you want to join in on the fun, visit Ramblings and Photos: Sunday Scavenger Hunt. 



X-ray

Crossing Threshold


Toy

Farm 



Pop of Color

Thrift Finds - A shirt so awesome and hideous all at the same time, that it had to come home with me!!

With it being a holiday weekend, my thrift adventures have been slowed down a little bit.   I did manage to venture into my one of my local Goodwill stores yesterday.   This particular store, I really don't like shopping at it.   I swear that it is a blackhole of handmedowns.  They go in, but never come out!  The selection never  seems to change and the prices are ridiculous!!  So when I stopped, I wasn't planning on buying anything. 

I  just was casually looking around and out of the corner of my eye, I see this guy holding up a shirt.   He was joking with his mother and sister.  The sister who was probably in her early teens, sporting a Pikachu shirt,  was instantly delighted and began begging her mother for the shirt.   The mother said, "NO!" in that way only mothers can pull off.

This leaves me going YES!! SCORE!! because I seriously love Harry Potter.   So, after they moved down a little ways,  I whipped out my handy phone and snapped a picture to send to my husband.   The message read,"  I am coming home with this treasure.   It will be referred to as, "the shirt that shall not be named"......

The story gets better and I haven't even paid for it.   So, I grabbed the shirt off the rack and begin walking around the store, only to be stalked by Pickachu!   I stop to look at something and there she was.  This didn't happen once, but several times. 

  I know she was waiting for me to put it back.  That wasn't happening!  I was starting to think that she might jump me, then we would have some sort of  fist fight.   One shirt and two rabid pop culture wolverines going at it.   It would have been interesting and hopefully somebody would have caught the video and youtubed it. 

I guess the best way to describe this shirt, is as a Harry Potter Hawaiian shirt.   It has great colors and graphics, and it is pretty loud as far as design goes.   My husband's reply was, " Are you serious?"   "Absolutely! There is a new HP movie coming out and I am sporting this to the show."    To which I get the reply, " you are so strange sometimes"  " I can't help myself.  I love the bizarre, and  you love me for that."

For the grand total of $4 I bought the wizard resort wear.  Will it see the light of day after the movie?  Probably not, but it is totally a fun piece and I am happy to own it, at least for now. 

I also hit a little yard sale where I picked up a Disney trading pin and 2 packages of All My Children trading cards (who knew there was such a thing?)    All My Children was one of my grandmother's favorite "stories" when we were growing up.  I lost my grandmother a couple of  years ago and now All My Children is getting canceled, seeing them just made me sad, so I wanted something to hold on to I guess.   I spent a grand total of .50 for the 3 items. 


The pin was totally worth that.  So hopefully, in the fall when we go to Disney World, I will be able to find someone interested in trading for it. 

I did manage to make it to the flea market on Saturday.  I mainly went to pick up some produce.  I really didn't see anything that screamed, "TAKE ME HOME!"     But this must have been the week for the awesome and the hideous. (Awdeous or how about Hidesome?, I am not sure how to combine them)

I did stumble on this, which prompted me to create a new Facebook album, titled "What you might have missed at the flea market"    It is mainly to celebrate everything weird and wonderful that you might find at a flea market.

This is a large carpet portrait of Ronald McDonald.  I mean, it does have that certain I don't know what quality.   It made me laugh, so I snapped a picture of it to share.  No, I did not buy this.  Rest assured my husband would have had me committed if I had suggested that. 

Hope you have a great 4th of July weekend and found some great items yourself.  Or at least something that made you laugh.

This post is linked to Her Library Adventures       
and Magpie Monday 
and the Penny Worth Project

LEM Photo Challenge: Red, White, and Blue

Cake Decortating Class- final project

I have had so much fun taking a Wilton Cake decorating class this month.   It is something  that I have wanted to do for a long time and I really have learned a lot from it.    It probably would have been better if I had taken the class when the temperature was a little cooler though.  


I had a lot of trouble transporting my cake!  Yesterday, the temperature was close to 100 degrees and well the frosting just can't handle that kind of temperature.   So the final project looks kind of like a cake slide.  Still, I am really proud of what I have accomplished and I can't wait to practice more.   I am definitely going to take some of the other cake decorating classes that they offer.