sadie belle

just a few pictures of my darling niece taken this past weekend...

here she is saying "hi zizi!"

looking out the front door
(i'm a sucker for pictures from behind!)

one surefire way to make sure sadie will want to come to me--wear a necklace!
(please ignore my double chin. oh i just noticed sadie & i have matching ones--ha!)

making funny faces while she rides her "ho!"

when you press a button in the ear, the horse talks & plays music.
sadie takes both ears and mashes them down as hard as she can!

dimply girl

she put each little ring on the post all by herself--genius!

"playing" the wii with mckinlee

i may be a teensy bit partial, but i think i have the cutest niece ever!!

what i wore

welcome to what i wore wednesday.

as usual, i'm linking up with the pleated poppy!

i've been wearing a lot of this lately:

trying to be faithful about working out--can't embarrass myself at the beach!

short: addidas--can't remember where i got them
shirt: walmart
shoes: asics--from jcp

to mckinlee's orchestra concert
pants: gap from goodwill
blouse: local boutique
shoes: target

another workout day
shorts/shirt: walmart
addidas hat: ross or marshalls?
favorite running shoes: jcp

breakfast at my moms and the drive home
shorts: jcrew factory
shirt: walmart
necklace: kohls?
cute kids: me & my sister

anniversary lunch
jeans: lauren conrad--kohls
shirt: old navy
necklace: i think i got it from 'inspired by faith'--sorry, can't remember

anniversary dinner & party
jeans: lauren conrad--kohls
tunic: jcp
tank: walmart
sweater: old navy
shoes: lucky brand--dillards
necklaces: lisa leonard & forever 21
cute hubby: shirt from kohls, daniel cremieux jeans

baby shower
dress: kohls
(not the best angle--it looks like i've gained 20 pounds!)
mck's dress: justice
my pretty mom: chicos

short/tank/shoes: jcrew factory
sweater: old navy

i cannot wait for this bad weather to be over with and for summer to get here!
what's your favorite thing to wear in summer?

my trip to cvs

i had a pretty good trip to cvs this week.
(by this, i mean last--a little slow in posting!)

Transaction #1:
2 sunblocks-$11.29 each
used: $3 in coupons
$5 in coupon from kiosk in store
$7 from ecb's from last week
Total saved: $15
Total out of pocket (oop): $8.21

Transaction #2:
2 body washes-$4.88 each
1 lotion-$7.49
used: $10 ecb from transaction #1
used $2 nivea coupon
Total saved: $17.22
Total oop: $5.68

Transaction #3
pureology shampoo-clearanced to $7
wisk-$4.99
deodorant-$2.99
Used: $2 wisk coupon
$5 ecb from last transaction
Total saved: $32.99!
Total oop: 8.49

Transaction #4
color wonder set: clearanced to $3
sticker book: clearanced to .50
(i needed these for a little gift this week)
used: $2 ecb from last transaction
Total Saved: $14.48
Total oop: $1.62

so my total out of pocket: $24
total saved: $59.69--woohoo!
i was pretty happy.
i'm sure it could have been less, but since i'm just getting started i'll be glad for what i did save!

around the house

just a little glimpse of some things around my house right now...

these pretty wooden blocks were a gift from my mom & les. i put them on our bookcase in the living room and they look so nice.

here's my cool wooden family rules sign from danielle & mike.
i hung it right in the entry way so it's one of the first things you see when you walk in.

aren't those some good things to remember?

i finally got our family picture framed and hung over the fireplace.
i just put all the stuff back that was on there--but it still needs a little something.

i put all our anniversary cards on the entry table too.

that's all...come back tomorrow for my weekly cvs trip!

our 17th anniversary (with family)

we spent the weekend with our families last weekend--visiting and celebrating our anniversary.
(yes, i know our anniversary is in march. but because that is chris' busy time of year, we always wait a little while until things calm down for him.)

we started out saturday evening with a yummy dinner at a local italian place and then went to mom & les' for our little party.
(we always have a little family party for each couple on their anniversary each year. fun, no?)

didn't the table look pretty?

mom made this coconut cake that was wonderful!

danielle made the most delicious cupcakes that looked like they came out of a bakery!

and mama jeanne made my favorite thing she makes--homemade spice cookies filled with divinity. (is divinity just a southern thing? i don't know--but these are the bomb!)

here we are--do we look like we've been married 17 years?
(that sounds like SO long!)

mckinlee and me
(i love how les is showing chris his telescopic light bulb changer!)

the three of us

mike & danielle--aren't they cute?

danielle, mom & me

mom & les

mom, mama jeanne, & my two aunts--vicki & peggy

sadie talking to "uncle" about her new horse

mck helping sadie ride her "ho" as sadie calls it--totally cracked us up!

some of our gifts--gift certificates
cavendars for chris for new boots
the gift horse for me for pandora charms
we can't wait to use these!

this beautiful family rules sign danielle & mike got for us--i already hung it in my entry & it looks so cool!

mck got gift cards & money, 2 darling charms for her pandora, and other cute things--she was excited!

more gift cards--yay!
anthropologie for me
the art of shaving for chris

mck with her little basket of goodies

my sweet uncle & aunt--aaron & peggy

we had such a fun time eating too much sugar and laughing.
we started playing with the fat booth app on my phone and we were so hysterical we were almost sick to our stomachs!

sunday at lunch we had another little party with chris' mom & dad.
more presents--yippee!

we got some fun money for each of us, i got some french body butter that is amazing, some comfy pajamas (thanks to chris' mom who knows how much i love pj's) and the best chocolate covered pecans. chris got some wonderful lavendar shaving soap in a cool wooden holder.

mck was excited about her straightener

papa, mck & mama dee

buddy, chris, dee & me

we had such a fun time and appreciate our family so much!
we are so thankful we have such a loving family and we miss them all so much since we've moved
(the presents are just an added bonus!)

couponing

do you watch extreme couponing on tlc?
it is absolutely amazing to me that people can get $1000 worth of groceries for $8!
as i've been watching it i think i've discovered that there is fine line between saving insane amounts of money by "stockpiling" grocery items and hoarding!
anyway, it has inspired me to keep up with my coupons more.
now, i will NEVER go to the extremes they do--there is no way i would ever spend 40-60 hours per week couponing and frankly i do not want my pantry & freezer filled with totino's pizza, spaghetti-o's, mountain dew and other so called "food" you can get for free.
but i have decided to "play the grocery game", as they say, at cvs.
there are some crazy good deals to be had at cvs if you clip coupons, match them with things already on sale and use your cvs card. you can also earn "extra care bucks" for things you buy and it's treated exactly like cash for your next purchase.
so here are some of my recent purchases:
(don't expect insane savings yet--i'm just getting started, remember?)

i'm not going to go through each item, but it comes down to the fact that i got all the stuff below after coupons & ecb's (extra care bucks--look at me already talking the lingo!) for $18.75 with lots of ecb's to be used on my next purchase.

now it gets a little better...
all of this stuff was $6.37!
on these 3 items i saved $18.79!

now on to my purchases today...
contact solution $14.99 -- earned $5 ecb
toothbrushes $6.29 --earned $3 ecb
pantiliners .99 each --had 3 coupons for $1 off each--i actually made .03!
i used the ecb's i earned before.
total for this purchase: $7.88
(i was thrilled because this is the contact solution i use and i was running out)

windex--2/$6
ziploc bags 2/$6 --spending $12 earned me $3 ecb
body wash clearanced to $1.12
cotton swabs on sale --$1.99
salmon/tuna -- .83 each
used my $8 ecb i earned on my last purchase
total purchase: $10.29 and i earned $4 ecb to use next time

my rule is never to buy something that i won't use just to "save" money.
i will keep you informed of great deals i find should you want to play the grocery game too!