Hello!

Can you believe that November is just around the corner!  The holidays will be here before you know it!  Thank goodness one of my favorite places for personalized stationary, Tiny Prints is having a great sale this week.  Each day brings a new deal!  Here is a run down…hurry on over as each daily deal expires at 8am Pacific Time the next day!

Monday, 25% off Premium William Arthur Cards
Code: 1024DOD

Tuesday, 25% off Tri Fold Cards
Code: 1025DOD

Wednesday, 30% off Flip Cards
Code: 1026DOD

Thursday, 25% off Ornament Cards
Code: 1027DOD

Friday, Free Upgrade to Rounded Corners
Code: No Code Needed

Happy Shopping!

Happy Thursday!

*This post is not meant to be judgmental to those of you reading who are big time couponers.  I know various families have different needs and reasons for how they grocery shop and use coupons.  I choose to do mine on a smaller, different scale because it’s what works for me now at this point in my life.

Recently, I responded to a post on Shauna Nosler’s blog about couponing.  I’ve recently started couponing on a small scale and have found that it works for me.  I have no desire to have huge stockpiles or buy things just because there is a a coupon for it.  I have my rules for my small scale couponing which I thought I would share below.

1:  I don’t cut out a coupon for something that I don’t normally use.  I apply this rule not only to the type of product but the brand name.

2:  I have started a small stockpile.  READ:  2-3 extras of a certain item that I use daily.  Mostly cleaning supplies, tooth paste, deodorant and paper goods such as kleenex.  However, due to some recent coupons and sales at Ingles, I have 3 boxes of the same cereal and 13 cans of Campbell’s Soup.  (But it will get eaten)

3:  I do save multiple quantities of the coupons that I do use and wait until my local Ingles or Harris Teeter has a sale on the item. This is called “matching up.”  I use one circular from my Sunday Paper and get the extras off the internet.  I refuse to dumpster dive.    I limit myself to the number of coupons I use per item (4 is the most I have used at one point), and as I have noticed, stores and the manufacturers have been doing the same thing recently.    For instance, the P & G Circular limits 4 coupons per item in one transaction and sometimes one trip.

4:  I lump my couponing in with my regular shopping.  So my total cost vs. how much I saved may not look so great to some people but I don’t have time to do more than one transaction and I’m just looking to save on items I already use.

I hope this is helpfully to people who want to coupon on a smaller scale.  Please feel free to share your tips.

For more coupons you can go here:

Coupons.com

SmartSource

RedPlum

P & G Circular 

These sights give great match ups and assistance as well:

Faithful Provisions

The Frugal Girls

My says all the time how the Universe tries to send us messages about paying attention or the choices we may of made.  I’ve officially gotten smacked in the face and I am trying to gain some wisdom from it.

As most of you know I ran and completed my first 5K this weekend and all the adreline left me feeiling good about life.  I lose my IPOD during the race but accpeted and moved on.

Then on Monday morning I discovered my wallet was lost, by Monday night I knew where I had left it but no one has turned anything in.  I cancelled all cards and ordered replacements.  I have a feeling it will be never turned in but this is a bit harder to accept than the IPOD.

All and all clearly I need to start being less scattered and pay more attention to other things in my life.  I tend to overbook my life and move very quickly which clearly can result in missnng vital steps.

How do you avoid getting scattered?

Have a beautiful Wednesday!

Trish is on a wonderful Mexican vacation and has a lovely guest posters for the duration of her trip.  Please stop by!

I am so excited to dedicate my Pink & Green Thursday to organization.  I love been organized and found some great pink and green items.  Enjoy!

MyAgenda by MomAgenda.  I love this planner and this pink color is amazing!

Target Liberty Large Tapered Bin Pink Floral

Staples Pastel Colored File Folders

The Container Store Garbini Mini Can

Happy Pink & Green Thursday!

Hello all my happy brides to be!

I am so excited to let you know about about a great giveaway over at Minted.  I’ve shared some of my favorites through minted before as they do amazing labels and party invitations.  I am super excited to tell you that they are hosting a giveaway for FREE WEDDING INVITES.

Yes, I said FREE.  100 to be exact.

All you have to do between now and May 21st is head over to Minted’s Blog and leave  a comment about your favorite invitation.

These are two of my favs:

Photos Courtesy of Minted.com

It’s that simple.

While you are anxiously waiting on the results, you can shop at a discount:

Good Luck!

As I have mentioned, a fellow co-worker of mine and I hosted a Bridal Shower Brunch for my friends, HMC.  HMC is getting married in NH in June and is limited on how many guests she can invite.  We thought it would be nice to gather some of her NC gals to celebrate her upcoming nuptials at The Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village.

Simple but classy table setting.  FiestaWare and Iris Centerpieces

Heather (The Bride), Katie and Lu

Menu

The Blushing Bride to Be

True Gentlemen wear Pink

Fantastic Raspberry & Lemon Swirl Sorbet

Group Shot

Overall a great time!  Most importantly the bride was happy!

Happy Tuesday!

It’s that time again!  The colors are amazing and the pages will make your life so much easier!  The 2010-2011 MomAgenda/MyAgendas are here!  Look how great the colors are:

Photo Courtesy of MomAgenda.com

Click here to order or go to the right sidebar on my page.  Happy Organizing!  What color will you get?

I’ve neglected this blog but that wasn’t my intention.  The universe through me another curve ball last week in the form of my 2005 VW Jetta breaking down.  My car has been in the shop officially a week and they think they are nailing down the problem.  What bothers me most is that there isn’t a reason for it.  My car is nearing the 90k mark and is 5 years old and according to the mechanic, things just start to break down.  My Virgo nature is struggling with this but I am trying to go with the flow.  I can’t go anywhere today since I am sans vehicle but the gift in that is conquering my at home to do list.  It’s fairly long so I will spare you the details.  I haven’t even opened myagenda from MomAgenda in nearly a week.  I think it may have dust on it;)

Last week, I joined my mother for a very short trip (READ: 30 HOURS) to Charleston, SC.  The weather was amazing and we were lucky enough to get a discounted room at The Charleston Place Hotel.  (READ:  My fantasy wedding reception location).  We used to live in Charleston so it’s always interesting to visit a place you used to live.  Here are a few photos from our trip:

The lobby of the Charleston Place Hotel.  If I can’t have my reception there, at least I can have photos taken on these steps;)

(Photo-Mine)

View outside our room.  Yeah for sun!

Interesting card found at Papyrus

Anson’s where we had a fabulous meal Thursday night!

Fun steal of a deals found at Butterfly on King Street

Once again readers, sorry I have been so neglectful.  I am going to get better.  I have also made a Facebook FanPage. Please join!

Thank you for reading!

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday!  I know it is cold in most parts of the country but that doesn’t mean you can’t start planning all the spring soirees that are in the mix.  Spring is a perfect time to host a bridal or baby shower.  I mentioned earlier that I will be hosting a bridal shower for a friend in April.  I am super excited to be doing this for her and even more excited that I have found the great stationary website that is Minted to pick out her perfect invitation.  I’ve already mentioned the options for her earlier so I thought I would pick out some more favorites for showers:)  BONUS:  If you are a new costumer to Minted, you can register and get $20.00 off your first purchase of any size!

Bridal Showers

Sweety Florals Bridal Shower by Vanessa  An Lim

float + green Bridal Shower by Float Paperie

Baby Showers

Cupcake Baby shower by PottsDesign

Soft Blocks Baby Shower by Kelli Hall

Happy Planning!

If you know me well, you know the story my mother tells  me of being “her little bag lady” when I was a toddler.  She will tell you that I could not go anywhere without my bag of things.  I’ve been told that these ranged from my favorite book of the week to a ratty beloved stuffed animal.  It was very important that I had my bag with me at all times; my mother never discounted my early sense of the knowing the power that certain things belonged to me.  So here I am in my late 20s and I never leave the house without a bag and sometimes several.  I enjoy tote bags and my J.Crew Madras small tote bag has gotten a lot of ware as of late.

Photo from J.Crew

Favorite Bag Items:

1.  Blackberry Curve (I love this phone,  love it even more since I am using the phone part more with my hiatus from Facebook)

2.  MyAgenda from MomAgenda (I have a calender on the BB but there is some thing amazing about being able to write everything down)

3.  Smith’s Rosebud Salve (best lip balm EVER)

4.  Oliver People’s Sunglasses (these cost a pretty penny but I will keep them forever)

5.  Change (for meters, helping out a stranger who’s short on a nickle, dime, etc)

What’s in your bag?

Happy Friday Readers!