What I'll do for $100

We bought a new car tonight. Yay for new car. Boo for new car payment. I am sure none of you could care less about that though. The good part of the story is after we test drove it and looked at several other cars, we were walking with the salesman back to the dealership. There was a big puddle we were all walking around. The salesman turns to me and says, "I'll give you $100 off right now if you go jump in that puddle." and then he laughed. So I jumped with both feet into the puddle and made a big splash like a little kid would. He looked at me like I was nuts and then busted up laughing. When he brought out the paperwork, the first discount on the list was $100 for jumping in a puddle. It made me really happy. It's the little things, isn't it?

Ronald Raygun

Winter brings out the grump in me and I have a tendency to get pretty down on Iowa and the frozen tundra - I mean the Midwest. The reality is that it's not so bad and I actually love some aspects: the downtown farmers market, the genuinely nice people (most of them, anyway) and several of the local restaurants and stores are really unique and wonderful.

 

There's a t-shirt store in the East Village of Des Moines called Raygun. Their shirts are mostly Iowa/Midwest themed and always snarky. They used to be called Smash, but as the t-shirt above explains, they had to change it. We have several of their shirts at home and have given even more as gifts. Every last one cracks me up. 

 

I have this one. You've seen my picture and know just how gansta I am. 

This one we gave to a friend who lives in Colorado, but has lived in Iowa before.

My parents have a lake house in Missouri, so I bought this one for my dad for Father's Day so he can wear it down there.

 If you have an Iowa or Midwest connection, or even if you don't, check out Raygun's website. If nothing else, they are good for a laugh.

The loot

As always, our friends and family spoiled us this year. Here are a few things I have had time to take photos of:

Bat coffee sleeve from my mother-in-law from BatGirl93 on Etsy.

Ampersands necklace from my mother-in-law from Isette on Etsy. 

Owl coasters from my in-laws from QueenBe on Etsy. 

Mittens and necklace, both from Target, from my sweetie. 

Necklace from my best friend.

There are lots more gifts, but I haven't had time to take pictures yet, but I will post them when I have time.

I went to Target this morning around 8:30 thinking I'd beat the return and Sunday morning rush and it really worked. I shopped for about half an hour and only saw one other customer. It was so nice and peaceful, but sort of creepy. When I checked out, the cashier asked me if I knew what was going on and why no one was in the store. I was the first customer she'd check out in the entire hour she'd been there.

While I was there I picked up a few necessities and two fun things. I bought the game Quelf, which I have heard is hilarious. We'll play it on New Year's Eve and I'll let you know if it's fun. The other non-necessity (depending on who you ask!) was a bottle of Seven Deadly Zins wine. We had it a while back at a bar and really loved it. It was on sale so it brought the price down into our normal price per bottle that I am willing to pay. Mmmm.

Merry Christmas to me

As I believe you are aware, I have a shoe fetish. I love them. The brighter and crazier the better. Overstock is having sales like crazy and free shipping so I couldn't pass these Liliana Patent Pointed-tow Stillettos by Adi up. They were the last pair in 6.5 - telling people how many are in stock is a gimmick that sucks me in.

You ask, what will I wear bright cobalt blue snake skin pointed stillettos with? I have no idea! I'll probably have to buy a new sweater, which is really ok with me. They are guaranteed to be here by Christmas eve so I have decided they are a Christmas present - in the words of Alvin the Chipmunk - "to me, from me."

I cannot believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away, but I am ready to begin the gift giving so I can finally post my purchases for you to see!

Snow, snow, go away, don't come back another day

I live in Iowa. I have no idea why people live this far north. My excuse is that I was born here, my family is here and I'm trying to move sometime soon. We got about 3 inches of snow Sunday night and another 2 last night. In the next 24 hours we are supposed to get 7-12 inches more! It isn't supposed to reach above the freezing level within the forseeable future. Wednesday, after the foot of snow, we are predicted to have sustained 35-40 mile an hour winds. For those of you who don't live in a frozen tundra, that means as soon as plows clear the roads, they are covered in drifts of snow again. It also means less than a quarter mile of visibility. I. Hate. Winter.

On a happier note, I went to the mall last night. I am done Christmas shopping but I had so many good coupons, I couldn't resist. $15 off a $15 purchase, $10 off a $10 purchase and free item up to $13 when you spend $10. I consider myself a savvy shopper, but even I was impressed with the results:
1. $50 sweater, on sale for $40, with $15 off coupon = $25
2. $24 candle, on sale for $12, with $10 off coupon = $2
3. Two $13 lotions, on sale 2 for $10, plus got a $11 body wash free = $10
Grand total: $110 worth of stuff for $37.

As the savviest shopper, Staci Reynolds of Examiner.com and ReynFashions, says, "Don't buy it just because the price tag is right." I didn't. The sweater I already own in grey and purple argyle and I love it, so I bought the solid blue version. You can always use free body wash, use a candle as a gift and either use or gift the lotion.

It's the little things

Yesterday I bought this June Tailor Spindle Thread Rack. I know it's silly, but it made me really happy. My thread has been living in a plastic bin, all in a jumble. Now that I am using more colors for my totes, I constantly had to dig through and have bought a color I already have a couple of times now. I have also skipped buying thread thinking I had the right color, only to come home and not have it. Grrr. Now my thread is all color coordinated and on display and I love it. It really is the little things!

Besides shopping, I was pretty productive this weekend. I made four totes on Saturday morning then on Sunday I packed each tote with groceries and took pictures for my Etsy shop. I worked at a grocery store in high school and occasionally someone would end up not buying the groceries after they filled their cart (forgot wallet, credit card declined, etc.). Then you'd have to unpack everything from the sacks and "reverse shop" to put everything back on the shelves. It felt a little like that only 15 times over. Boxes, cans and produce in the bag. Pictures. Boxes, cans and produce out of the bag. Repeat. Over and over again. It's done now, which is a relief. I'm not sure my bag of baby spinach survived though. It was looking a little worse for wear by the end.

I got it!

 

This weekend my sister moved to Vernon Hills (Chicago). My parents were out there to help. I asked if they'd stop at the Schaumburg Ikea to see if the Noren Gateleg Table was in stock. It's the table that I blogged about in the post This Table is "Sew" Perfect. I found it up in Minneapolis last weekend but they were out of stock. I was so disappointed, I could have cried.

Anyway, it was in stock and they picked it up for me! My dad will be in town for business later this week and will deliver it. I cannot wait to put it together. (I love assembling things - weird, I know.) It will be nice to have the extra table this weekend for our annual costume party but after that it's going to be my sewing table. Hooray!

I can't stop

I have an online shopping addiction. It's so exciting to click that "buy" button and then to get something in the mail that isn't a bill! So satisfying. This seems to be a recent problem. I used to be able to browse, sometimes thinking, "I could make that" and occasionally actually making something I'd wanted to buy.

The sites I can't stop buying things from are:
1. Alice.com - forget your Target/Wal-Mart trip with this site. The prices for everyday household items are very competitive and everything is delivered to your door with free shipping in recycled and biodegradable packaging. Get stamps, toilet paper and granola bars delivered to my door? Don't mind if I do.
2. EyesLipsFace.com - Very affordable makeup (some things as low as $1!) with frequent coupon codes. I love the mineral line, especially the foundation and eye shadows and they are a fraction of the price of brands like Bare Minerals. I have so much (over a dozen mineral eye shadows alone) but I can't stop. Just ordered some more yesterday.
3. Etsy.com - this one you all know about. Every time I buy something off Etsy, I get more excited. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, since I sell on there, I know how excited I get when I make a sale. By buying things, I know I am giving that happiness to someone else, which thrills me more than it should. Second, there are so many original, inventive, eco-friendly things on there. Case in point, I just bought these reusable produce bags from Love For Earth. I have been using reusable grocery bags for a long time, but never found any great reusable produce bags, so I've been either letting the produce roll free in the cart (gross!) or using the plastic bags (bad!). I got 6 small bags and 3 medium bags. I asked for an assortment of colors, but I think my favorite are the green, pink and black.

Halloween Paintings

I bought these on Etsy last week and I cannot wait for them to arrive so I can get them put up. I put my Halloween decorations out on Sunday and I have just the spot waiting for them to arrive. They are from Annya 127's shop.