The Price is Right

Let’s play a game. :)

I went on a total coupon frenzy today. And it was awesome. For the second time since we’ve lived here (which means I don’t get deals this amazing all that often), Jewel (Albertson’s midwest counterpart) came out with “twice the value” coupons in the paper yesterday. That means they will double the value of your coupon, up to $1. eeeeeeee! So exciting, right?

Okay. Just humor me.

So. Here’s what I got today:

Guess what I spent? (I’m going to tell you anyway…but again…just humor me)

For alllllll this stuff I only spent

…

$22.22

Wanna know how much it would have cost without sales and coupons?

$91.68

Isn’t that INSANE?! I mean, seriously!! I can’t believe how expensive things are these days! Once I do the math I have to do a little happy dance, because I seriously just saved almost $70 on this stuff.

Highlights:
Prego Pasta Sauce: $0.87ea
Nivea Lip Care: $0.75ea
Grande Tortilla Chips: $0.50ea
Wishbone Salad Dressing: $0.34ea
Birdseye Frozen Veggies: $0.34ea
Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce: $0.19ea
Greeting Cards: FREE!

It’s been a while, but the Krazy Coupon Lady strikes again!!!!!!!!!

And I really just had to share that with you.

 

Thanks for humoring me ;)

Heart Cookie Extravaganza!

Okay, so I just couldn’t wait until Valentines Day. And I can only clean the apartment so many times in one week. (I’ll have you know that the kitchen and the bathroom are spotless right now!) And I’m planning on making football themed cookies next week, but I couldn’t wait until next week to make cookies either.

Enough with the explanations. I made heart cookies. Lots of them. And lots of different kinds.

:)

Easiest V-day cookies EVER. Outline. Flood. Dry. Write (with my AWESOME food writer markers). DONE. :)AND they turn out just so cute! I made some larger ones last year, but I like them much better smaller. :)

I tried doing some free hand conversation hearts. And I learned I kinda suck at free hand. I’m okay with it. I’ll just need to practice.
I had a bit of a nerdy moment on that green heart on the back left cookie. And I got a little hungry…cookie decorating takes a lot of energy!!

I made some plain hearts and before I could decide whether or not I wanted to put something else on them, I decided to take them to the cute girl that comes to the ESL class (put on by the ward) that I’m one of the “facilitators” for. She’s the only one that comes to the class…so we REALLY appreciate her ;)
More free hand hearts…I got a little better…but of course, I’m only going to show you my best ones, aren’t I? ;)
These are some of my favorites! I love the multi-colored plaid/criss-cross look.
And the grand finale!! An amazing thing happened. I saw a piping concept on this blog (LOVE her stuff!! She is amazing!) that I thought was incredible and wanted to try it, and I had cookies already flooded and dried to try it right away! It was fabulous, and I love the way they turned out!

Alright…now to figure out where all these cookies are going…because I’m not eating them all…;)

The Chicago Bucket List

So…back when we first moved here a year and a half ago, we came up with a bucket list for the city of Chicago – as in, all the fun things we wanted to do while we were living in the area. We did one for San Diego too (you’ll see the links to them both up at the top). We did pretty good with the San Diego list. We’ve done HORRIBLY with the Chicago list. But let me remind you that for the majority of our year and a half here we’ve been either working, going to school, doing an internship, or studying for the CPA. That made our free time rather limited. But now that we’re waiting on the scores for John’s LAST test (please oh please oh PLEASE let him have passed!!!!) and I’m the stay at home wifey, having finished my internship last month and I’m not looking for work until we move, helloooooo free time on the weekends! This might sound crazy, but I LOVE being able to get the laundry done, the groceries bought and the apartment clean during the week so that we can actually go do fun stuff on Saturday! Because before, it was ALL getting done on Saturday and we were lucky to get a chance to go out and do something out of the ordinary.

So. Back to the bucket list. Two things on our list were to go to the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. So we hit BOTH this past Saturday and made a day trip out of it! And we definitely utilized all the city had to offer ;) We took a metra train into the city, then we took a bus to the museum(s) and then on the way home we took the “L” (elevated train) to get to the metra station to get back home. Whew!

But anyway, we had a really good time! We stopped at the Field Museum first. We met Sue the T-Rex! (and I just have to say that the architecture in there is just beautiful!!)

We didn’t really get that many pictures inside because the lighting is so bad (they probably do that on purpose ;) but we really enjoyed the Ancient Egypt, Ancient Americas, and Nomadic Peoples of Africa exhibits. Oh, and the hall of Gems. Always love looking at sparkly gems and jewelry ;)

Sidenote: The weather has been crazy. Not surprising really, but it’s worth mentioning because we got about 5-6” of snow over the weekend so this is what we did on our way to the aquarium

And today it’s been raining. So not cool, because it’ll be ice by tonight. Yucky.

So we had some lunch at the museum and took a little break (we walked around the museum for about 4 hours) and then headed over to the aquarium. We didn’t spend as much time there, because (can I just say) what’s included in the basic admission is kinda lame. We got to see everything on the main floor and that was all we paid for. The place was big, but it only took us about an hour and a half to see everything. They didn’t even have garden eels! (They are my favorite) We didn’t really want to see the 3D movie and the other stuff they try to sell to you when you buy your tickets. And again…no pictures…bad lighting…sorry.

Finally, tired, but happy, we made our way to the train station to get home. John snapped this cool picture from the elevated platform and you can see the aquarium at the end of the road

Cool, huh? And of course, us! :)

We made it home, had dinner, made cookies, ate said cookies, and crashed.

All in all, a great day with my bestest friend!

Oh Pinterest…

What on earth did I do without you??

Seriously. Talk about a boatload of inspiration EVERYDAY. Which is good for me. Because I’m in serious need of inspiration. Mostly for what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-today-because-we-still-don’t-know-when-we’re-moving-yet kind of days. Which are often…

SO. This is what Pinterest has given me this week ;)

Adorable door/wall hanging for Valentine’s that I saw on Pinterest:

Here’s what I made:

Not too bad, eh? I think the original has fabric rosettes, but I used paper streamers, because 1) that’s what I had and 2) I wanted the heart to be red, and 3) that’s what I had ;) I also used a canvas because well, that’s what I had! ;) I’ve decided I love working with canvases though. They might be a little pricey sometimes (like when you don’t have a 40% off coupon for Michaels) but I love the look. And my vinyl goes on quite nicely ;)

Inspiration for the bedroom – jewelry hangers!

I know, so cute, right? They aren’t finished, but here’s what I have so far:

The originals are covered in fabric, but I wasn’t finding anything that I really liked. And since I was using canvases (again, LOVE), I found these awesome patterns somewhere online, and cut them out in vinyl and used them as stencils to paint the design on there in the colors I wanted. Awesome, right? I know. ;) I just need the screw in hook things to finish them off. But of course, I probably won’t hang them up until we get to our new place. I guess that means my necklaces must suffer in tangled messes a little bit longer…

But I digress. My big project today was cookies! Now, I really shouldn’t show you the pinterest original, but you’ll just have to understand that it’s been OVER A YEAR since I’ve touched an airbrush…so my technique is lacking…just a heads up…
Okay, here’s the pinterest find:

I know. They just look so perfect. (maybe the awesome photography has something to do with it too ;) One day I’m going to get like that. Hopefully. Anyway, here are mine!! I’m still actually quite pleased with them (and VERY glad my airbrush and compressor work after being locked away in their boxes for over a year since I got them) but I definitely need some practice with the airbrush again ;)
I also tried some squares too, because I got awesome square cutters for Christmas!

I also tried a new royal icing recipe (also on Pinterest ha ha) and technique that I think I really like! So all in all – Success!

And quite honestly, I don’t think John’s coworkers are going to care that I need to work on my airbrush technique…they’ll just be glad I’m making them more goodies before we leave! ;)

So pinterest, until we meet again…

Well, that’s it then…

John is currently taking his last CPA test and if he passes this one, we are all done with the CPA! So if you are reading this from the time I post this and the next 3 hours…send him good thoughts, won’t you? ;) Thanks!

Oh yeah, and we’re also moving.

…

Say what!?? I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t you guys just move to a new apartment?”. Yes, you’re quite right. But John just accepted an offer to work at a company in the Baltimore, Maryland area. This company is owned by the company John currently works for. And I am so excited!

Wanna know why?

We’ll be less than 100 miles from my family! Hurray!

It’s been kind of crazy how this all came about…John and I had talked about not wanting to stay in Chicago forever, but we figured we’d still be here a while to give John some longevity in his new job. Turns out his company likes to rotate people in his position every year or so (keeping those people within the company) so when December, John’s year mark came around, his supervisor started asking him what he wanted to do next. John knew of this company in Baltimore and he knew I wanted to end up closer to my family (isn’t he just fabulous to me?! I know, seriously) so he started asking around…and it basically took off from there! They flew John out the Tuesday before Christmas to interview him and now here we are! We don’t know yet when we leave, because they have to find someone to replace John and then John has to train them before we can head out. But we’re looking at a month to a month and a half. Whew!

I know, crazy, right?

Yay for Snow!!!

And other things ;)

It has finally snowed! And stayed!! We’ve had a couple of little snowfalls, but the snow never stuck. So that left us wondering when we’d ever get those 58 inches of snow and the worst winter ever that has been predicted for the area. Well, it’s beginning! ;)

I even braved driving out in it yesterday! I’m quite proud of myself. But anyway, I just love the look of untouched snow. It’s just so perfect! I’m loving the view from our living room window looking out on the courtyard.

It was so peaceful watching the snow fall :)

I’m still crafting away while I’m at home. My family has called in with several vinyl requests. While we were at home for the holidays, I put stuff up in my sister’s butterfly room. Namely, the butterflies ;)

And now I think she’s obsessed, because she has requested several more items she’d like me to make for her mirror, wall above her desk AND the wall above her closet. ;)

My brother is also getting in on the vinyl action. Vinyl makes boy stuff too!! He’s really into dragons right now, so here’s a sneak peek at the stuff I’ve cut out for his room.

Are you diggin’ the sword? Cuz I’M diggin’ the sword! I found this sweet metallic vinyl in the clearance section of the place I get my vinyl from. Score!

And of course, I’ve been making vinyl for me! So, during the course of my internship, KitchenAid came to visit the school (I know! SO awesome!) to do a photo shoot of a new 7-Qt commercial mixer that they are coming out with. Well, a month or so later, they said they would give all of us interns a FREE professional 5-Qt mixer for helping out!! Eeeee!!! I know, amazing, right?! So even though I already had one, I totally signed up for my free one. (I mean, really, wouldn’t you?) So I gave my old one to my mom because she wanted a black one to match her kitchen. (her other one was white) and now I have another shiny new black one!

Of course, I needed vinyl on it. I could have just done the same thing I did with my old one (see HERE) but I figured I had a chance to change it up a bit, so that’s what I did.

Introducing the KitchenAid Subway Art!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a little tricky to design because the words had to be right side up on both sides of the mixer (and not backwards), but I’m really pleased with the way it turned out!
Hurray!

Love it. Just love it. :)

And that’s what I’ve been up to lately, besides cleaning and reading my way through the entire kid section of the library. I’m hoping to get some cookies made here soon, I’ve been brainstorming some ideas! I’m thinking I also want to try cake pops again. I certainly know now what we should have done last time… but they were certainly good for a laugh, yes? So stay tuned!

Desk Declutter!

I’ll be honest. I haven’t really made any actual goals. I know, horribly untraditional. I haven’t even done a “2011 in Review” on the ol’ bloggy here. That might come tomorrow. Or something. We’ll see.

Because you see, I’m a stay at home wifey at the moment. And as such, it’s glaringly obvious what my current goals are: keep the apartment clean, stay in top of the laundry, do the grocery shopping and make dinner and ORGANIZE! I know that that list sounds totally boring, but I’m actually enjoying it. And knowing that I’m doing it so that John can get his work and studying done gives it a purpose, because he’s had to do it all for the past year while I’ve been doing school and my internship. So now it’s my turn. :) And having extra time to craft and put vinyl on everything I can find isn’t too bad either…hee hee hee

Which brings me to my first decluttering/organizing project: my desk! I wish I’d taken a before picture, but I guess you’ll just have to appreciate the awesomeness without the comparison ;)

AND I have to point out that I was able to reorganize everything without spending anything! All the containers I have now are ones we already had! Some took a little paint and they worked perfectly! So I’m quite proud of myself :)

Now, the unveiling! Ta Da!
Sorry about the lighting…I still don’t know what I’m doing in that respect…anyway, I readjusted the shelves on the right hand side of the desk so I could actually fit containers in there. I haven’t labeled two of them because I don’t know quite yet what’s going in there, but it’s nice to know I have the extra container space :)
These file drawers were a mess inside and so I cleaned them out and organized my loose papers and things into manila folders and binders. And yes, I did take of my vinyl swirls that I had on before, but the white space makes it look more open and cleaner now.
I found these awesome little containers in my craft stash. I knew I was saving them for a reason! And of course, they needed cute labels. :) And ignore John if he points out that the containers are see through…so you wouldn’t exactly NEED a label…but like I said to him last night, it’s for consistency…and besides, aren’t the little pictures awesome?!

And one more shot of the whole thing before we go ;)

Yay! I’m liking this decluttering business. I wonder what I will tackle next… ;)

Happy New Years’!–And some Christmas Craziness…

What the freak just happened?! The last two weeks of holiday break FLEW by! After graduation from my internship (which I’m still not sure I’m entirely convinced really happened…), I drove back with my mom and sister to VA. John had to work the following week, so he showed up the Friday before Christmas.

Let me tell you though, I LOVE being with my family. Especially for the holidays. There’s eating, watching movies, eating, games, eating,reading Harry Potter (I read 1-5 in one week), crafting, eating, movie quoting (and they are usually animated movies, and no one cares because we’ve all seen them. and love them. and quote them. and it’s so nice to not have to explain every quote :), baking and some more eating. And I’m going to apologize now, I have an abysmally small amount of pictures for this trip. I guess we were just too busy DOING stuff for me to remember to take pictures…

There was Jennifer’s handbells concert (which was super cool, I’ve never seen one before) baking cookies for a little class I was doing for Jennifer and her cooking class. I taught them how to outline, flood and decorate sugar cookies with royal icing. And then didn’t get any pictures of them at it. I finally remembered to take some of mine before my dad ate them all ;)

John came in late Friday, and Christmas eve we had yummy steaks and salmon (which, for the record, I don’t find yummy…but I’m sure it was good for those who like fishies…) and watched Muppet Christmas Carol – which is a must watch every year :) Christmas morning we went to church for an awesome musical program and then came home and opened presents!!! Not too long after we finished up, Jason called! Jason is serving a two-year mission for our church in Malaga, Spain and is allowed to call home on Christmas and Mother’s Day (you can see his weekly letters HERE) It was so fun to talk to him! We even got to Skype, so we got to “see” him too! We shoved the whole family into the office and crowded around the computer to talk to him and he sounds like he is doing great and it was awesome to be able to talk to him! After talking with him, Mom realized that the turkey she’d been defrosting for Christmas dinner was SO not going to be ready by dinner time (it was 2pm at this point…and still quite solidly frozen…). Oops. But we had ham in the fridge too. So that’s what we had instead.

For the Monday after Christmas, we went up to a resort called Massanutten to go to the indoor water park up there. They also have a kind of wave simulator we wanted John to try. Not quite like surfing, but he enjoyed it. I preferred the hot tub. It was freezing outside!! Tuesday I hit the after Christmas sales with my mom. So fun! We found some really cute clothes and bought lots of Christmas candy that went on clearance. I’m still eating Christmas shaped sweettarts…Wednesday was our Despicable Me party with some friends that hadn’t seen it yet. Thursday was a Christmas party/open house and Friday was the BYU bowl game! And of course, I made cookies for the occasion…;)
Rise and shout! The cookies are out!!! ;)

I didn’t really watch the game, but you can’t really blame be for not being true blue, because while the game was on, Mom and I were making these:

I know, awesome, right? Love my vinyl!

Saturday we packed up and came back, and went straight to a New Year’s get together from the airport. We finally made it home about 11 (hey, it was 2012 in New York by then) and went. to. bed. ;)

And now we are back. What the heck am I going to do now?! ;)