Category Archives: shopping

Nov30

Sunday’s I Recommend vol. #5

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Welcome to the fifth edition of ‘I recommend’. As the name implies, this is a share to recommend just about anything you like or have tried. It can be a book, drink, food, movie, music CD-anything. Mister Linky will open to another page (that’s how it works on WordPress). Please add your link there and don’t forget to leave me a comment here.

I thought I’d recommend some online shopping places. Over the last few years, I found it easier to shop online. Not to say I don’t go to a few of my favorite stores (TJ*Maxx, Home*Goods, Wally World), but I do not like to have to stand in long lines. It helps that I don’t buy for a ton of people. I find that doing a search on Google is great too. I believe there is a Google shopper where you can bookmark interesting finds.

My favorite place by far is Amazon.com. Sean and I both have wishlists there. Amazon isn’t just books, it’s clothing, appliances, etc. I like that you can find a book you like and have the option to buy it from an Amazon associate if it is gently used (or even new) at a lower price. I just went on there and bought my mom a few paperdoll books for her collection.

I also like Overstock.com. I believe during this season, they have free shipping or very low shipping. Sean is getting PlayStation 4 as a gift to himself (his grandfather gives him money) and is getting a lower priced, refurbished model. I had an Entertainment.com coupon (I get the coupon book for this area each year and it includes .coms and stores also), so he saved another 10%. I think he is saving close to $100 buying it there. Not bad.

I like Dover Publications-a book site-where they sell amazing books on just about anything from paperdolls to cliparts. I utilize their Friday freebies. You sign up and can get a sampling of their books each Friday. I have an huge folder of them for my artwork.

There’s always eBay, Cafepress, Imagekind, Current and the various stores online. I ordered both my mom’s camera and printer and Sean’s camera last year from Wally World. They were last minute thoughts and thank goodness they came in time.

Happy Shopping!

siggie



It’s your turn:

Nov29

Photo Hunt- Metal

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PSHunt

Look really close here-you will see this represents the head of a horse. This was taken at the Philly Flower Show this past March. I like the different elements used like the phone dial for the eye and feathers for the mane.

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I finally ordered an Amazon Kindle-but I waited too long at it takes 11-13 weeks for it to arrive. I saved up over half of what I needed. I think watching Martha Stewart ogle over it again on the site’s video was the turning point.

Update-Zoey asked what the benefits of this are-you can upload books, newspapers and blogs here without an internet connection. You pay $9.99, but you can have the book forever in electronic form.

Here’s their description of it:

We designed Kindle to provide an exceptional reading experience. Thanks to electronic paper, a revolutionary new display technology, reading Kindle’s screen is as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper—and nothing like the strain and glare of a computer screen. Kindle is also easy on the fingertips. It never becomes hot and is designed for ambidextrous use so both “lefties” and “righties” can read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time.

We wanted Kindle to be completely mobile and simple to use for everyone, so we made it wireless. No PC and no syncing needed. Using the same 3G network as advanced cell phones, we deliver your content using our own wireless delivery system, Amazon Whispernet. Unlike WiFi, you’ll never need to locate a hotspot. There are no confusing service plans, yearly contracts, or monthly wireless bills—we take care of the hassles so you can just read.

kindle

Places like e*Bay are trying to cash in on the high demand for these. I am seeing them trying to sell for double or more of what I am paying. I’d rather wait. Geez.

siggie

Nov26

Plugging away

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Seems like I’m moving in slow motion today (Tuesday). All I managed to do was clear off the coffee table in the family room and move some stuff around in the basement trying to find a box for the below named gift. The box I found was not that great, but I added some stickers and pretty gray pearl tissue paper to it inside-much better. I did make a spaghetti dinner and some banana chocolate chip coffeecake (pictured below). My main thing tonight was watching the finale of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ (I won’t say who won for west coast readers). That is one awesome show to watch in HD. I sat and went through the Lakeside.com huge Christmas catalog and ordered about 19 things, a few things for most of the people on my list (and me to save Bri). I did order these to split up with mom. I have to hop over to Amazon (probably on Friday) and order a few things for Sean. I will then hit Wally World and Tuesday Morning and call it a holi’day’-hopefully. : )
No word from mom yet. I so hate disagreements!

siggie

Nov25

Shopping and a stitching finish

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I’m posting late as I just did finish my swan and waterlily cross stitch piece. I believe I started it around 13 years ago. It wasn’t an easy stitch, but it was on 14 count aida (before I started stitching on other nicer fabric). I think it turned out pretty. It came with a frame too! I have the chart up for grabs for anyone who would like it!

Also had to go shopping for a wedding gift for Saturday. We decided that a $25 gift card was too cheap and a $50 one was too much. I got a German made lead crystal vase at a price somewhat in between price. I plan to add a little note  to remind the groom that he should always remember their late November nuptials with a big bouquet of gorgeous blooms. Glad I found something.

I did buy a few Christmas gifts too. I bought my niece, Bri and my mom things. Sean bought a few gifts at Wally World tonight. This year we aren’t going overboard because we don’t really need anything. We are planning on concentrating on the decorations and food. : )

Had a phone spat with my mom and she hung up on me. She bought her new eyeglasses at the eye doctor’s office and in my opinion was terribly overcharged for them. I was going to take her to one of the stores I’ve used in the past. My new eyeglasses are from Wally World and I just got a compliment on them. I think I paid half of what she did. She’s talking about having her friend Jim move back in. That would infuriate my brothers even more. I know it’s her house, but the situation was not good when he lived there as he is a messy person. I swear it’s always something.

Swan and Waterlilies Cross stitched piece

Thanks to my friend Carole over at Pea’s Corner for the lovely birthday gifts-a cute basket for bread or muffin with a red cloth and bells that says ‘Jingle All the Way’, a miniature coffee cup candle, Christmas themed cheese spreaders and some yummy soap. I plan to make muffins out of a gazillion bananas I have, so I will show you the goodies later.

siggie

Nov24

What we bought at the church bazaar

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We bought a bushel of mushrooms!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I made some ‘brownie kiss’ cupcakes for the church bazaar on Saturday (no photo). They were from scratch and came from ‘Taste of Home’ cupcake email. The batter was really thick, like icing, so I added a little milk to it. It helped a bit. The recipe said to ‘bake until the tops springs back’ and I wish I had taken them out sooner as they were getting a bit dry. We had to try one to make sure they were good-lol.

So I did buy a few things. We bought the 3 lb. bushel (I guess) of mushrooms for $5, and I need to do something with them today or tomorrow. I made a mushroom omelet for dinner Saturday night and they were really fresh and tasty. Any ideas? I’m thinking of marinating them too.

Brian found a seller with quartz crystals and he wanted to buy a piece, so he did for only about $7. My friend on Flickr said you can dig them up all over Arkansas.
Brian bought a quartz crystal today

I bought a few new Christmas pieces that you will see soon.

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Sean is safe and sound here at home. He arrived at 11:15 pm on Friday night. I don’t think he’ll drive at night anymore as it’s such a tedious drive. He took his dad and me out to dinner last night to The Olive Garden where Brian and I had their shrimp and chicken Carbonara-yummy! And Sean says he’ll get me a Phillies World Champ t-shirt too.

siggie

Nov9

Sunday’s I recommend-vol #2

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Welcome to the second edition of ‘I recommend’. As the name implies, this is a share to recommend just about anything you like or have tried. It can be a book, drink, food, movie, music CD-anything. Mister Linky will open to another page (that’s how it works on WordPress). Please add your link there and don’t forget to leave me a comment here.

Must haves:

1.   Garnier hair products, especially the hair spray

2. Jojoba oil anything, especially by Crabtree and Evelyn

jojoba

It smells so good and makes your skin feel wonderful!

Scent: Blend of lavender and green herbs with a hint of citrus.

3.The little squares of Dove chocolate (they have cute little inspirational messages inside the foil)

4. Martha Stewart’s Living magazine and Everyday Living magazine

5. A good sale at Tuesday Morning or JoAnn Fabrics

and Craft store…

It’s your turn:

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Rachel was my mystery ‘soon to meet’ blogger pal, but we postponed going to Longwood Gardens or the Brandywine River Museum until they have their Christmas displays set up. We did chat (she is an excellent listener and she understands why this blog is called what it is) for over an hour. I can’t wait to meet her in person soon! Thanks for lending an ear tonight Rachel!

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Added late Sunday morning:

My friend Cathy S., the founder of Love Quilts is doing a wonderful thing in memory of our dear friend Charlotte who passed away in June of this year. If you cross stitch and want to make a sick child happy and snug under a quilt, they you may enjoy stitching for Charlotte’s Kids. Over the years it’s meant a lot to me to stitch for Love Quilts (over 40 squares). Now with Charlotte’s memory involved, I will join in to honor her. I know many of my stitching pals do exchanges. Why not do something like this for a change? The notes of thanks and the photos of the children with their quilts is enough to melt your heart. When some of the children have sadly passed on, their parents hung up their Love Quilts at the wake or funeral. Your stitching will be out there in the big world being loved and honored too.

Oct30

Name Game-come on play!

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Only one person played so far… Thanks Carole–it made an excellent post for you on the 30th. Please go see!

It’s funny what you think about when you are either falling asleep or waking up. I thought of this a few days ago, in the a.m.

What you do:

Think of 5 celebrities who share your first, middle or last name with you (even nickname). Tell us who they are and if you have anything in common with them and/or what you admire about them. Also, find a photo of  your favorite same named celebrity to share with us!

I hope you play along and tag me if you do.

1. Diane Von Furstenberg-designer-I admire her style and styles! She was really popular in the 70s-80s, with her wrap dress being popular. In the last few months, I have seen her on Project Runway and in an American Express commercial. I like how she takes inspiration for her designs from nature.

2. Diane Sawyer-tv news woman-I like her smarts, her news stories and that she travels a lot. She was once a Junior Miss! I think knowledge is power too!

3. Diane Lane-So far she is the closest in age to me than the other Dianes. She’s been a great dramatic actress since she’s been a teen. She only has one child too.

4. Diane Keaton (favorite alert!)


Diane is  consistently wonderful in her acting roles. She has her own style and emulates it to this day. I remember loving ‘Annie Hall’ and her ‘La Dee Dahs’ with Woody Allen- but her clothes! I did wear a tie and vest a few times in the 70s because of Diane. I also am known to wear a few berets too.
5.Dian Fossey-zoologist-What she did to bring awareness to gorillas was amazing. She gave her life for them.

Honorable mentions:Dianne Wiest,  Diane Kruger and Diahann Carroll!

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From Oct. 22nd-

Got some stash in the mail today! I was so excited to get it, it took me forever to get around to opening it. When I sat down to admire it, the cat decided to take a nap on my lap!

Can you see why I was excited! Like an early birthday or Christmas present. I ordered from 1-2-3 Stitch and it arrived in less than a week. I wanted the 2008 JCS ornament issue, but got a few charts too. Enlarge to see what the smaller charts are. I rarely buy charts anymore, but I do collect The Prairie Schooler designs.

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Oct26

Bleary-eyed

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Because of the torrential downpour we had around 6 pm last night, the 3rd game of the World Series was postponed until after 10 pm. It was a pretty good game with the Phillies pulling off the win (5-4) about 1:50am. I just about stayed up to watch it.

Sean just left around 12:30. First he is stopping to see his grandfather, then he will head back to school. He has a ticket for comedian Lewis Black’s show (on campus) at 7:30. The three of us went to see him a couple of years ago at another university-he is sarcastic and funny rolled into one.

Back to the rain-we had just gotten out of church and couldn’t decide where to eat when the heavens opened up! We drove through some terribly big ‘puddles’ in town, almost big enough to stall out the car. We went to BK. The place was almost empty and our burgers were lukewarm. The a/c was blasting in there-may have accounted for the cold food. We should have complained. After ‘dinner’ we ran over to Wal*mart so Bri could get his dad a tv-a 32″ RCA as he has enough money and it was the right size.

We all got up feeling funky and bleary-eyed. The guys are over pop-pops and I am hanging low here trying to get my act together.

GO PHILLIES!

This is the Philly Phanatic:


Update-
I was so whacked out today, it wasn’t funny! Dang BK, but Bri brought me home McD’s chicken sandwich (am I brave?) and I was ok with that. I think I was hungry by then. I also get in a stew when I know Sean has that long trip ahead of him. He made out fine and enjoyed the show.
The Phillies are playing great and winning 8-2 so far in the bottom of the 8th. I get nervous and have to do something else instead of watch. Here’s something interesting-some of the ashes of the late Phillies relief pitcher Tug McGraw

were scattered on the pitching mound last night by his sons Tim and Mark. Tug’s # was 45 and the winning pitcher Jamie Moyer is 45 yrs old.  Jamie was really sick with a stomach bug and played anyway. Darn tummy bugs!! I got choked up when I heard about Tug (thanks John Clarke) as I had met him after the 1980 World’s Series and got his autograph. He lived in my hometown for a number of years. (The photo is of Tug recreated his winning pitch at the closing ceremony of Vet’s Stadium in Philly. He would pass away 4 months later).
What! another homerun-Ryan Howard appears to be out of his slump-10 to 2!! We won! 3 games to one! Looking good! I hope it stays that way!

Oct19

Gadgets-I love gadgets

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Zoey over at Perennial Passion said she found some really ‘rad’ kitchen gadgets lately. It’s true, I love gadgets and have an entire drawer of them!

I noticed my static duster (a larger household gadget) was looking old and worn and the handle, made out of plastic, had broken in several places, making it hard to shake out.  Today, Bri took me out to lunch and then to a store that he collects ads from for the paper. I hadn’t been in there in years and it was much bigger than I remember. They are a bit pricey, but when I saw that chartreuse duster with the telescopic handle, I knew I was bringing it home! The handle part is metal. I have already tried it out and it reaches the corners of most of my ceilings (the family room is higher as it was the garage at one time), and holds the dust like a trap! This was my consolation for Bri not taking me to the Delaware Home Show where I could have meet Nadia Geller from the Learning Channel. She was the only reason I would have gone.

I hope you can see that I placed the duster, that looks like a broom, under my Wicked Witches’ house sign. I do live on the west end of my road. ; )

Yesterday my mom and I were in a 5 Below store (everything is $5 and below as the name implies) and I saw this waist trimmer, thinking of Bri and me. I decided to try it on and it’s comfortable. I took that photo, hello girls! LOL I guess you are suppose to make it as tight as possible. My mom was commenting on my tummy the other day and how it needed squishing. Well it’s been out of control for almost 22 yrs (with the one exception when I lost some decent weight). I guess you are suppose to ‘exercise’ wearing this thing? My tummy muscles have been really weak lately, moving involuntary like an eye twitch when I sneeze. In my mind’s eye I keep seeing Sigourney Weaver in Alien. Also, Brooke Burke, one of the celebrities on ‘Dancing with the Stars‘ wore some kind of contraption after she had her last baby and her tummy is flat as can be (it’s called ‘Taunt’, but what I linked to looks like a pricier version of what I bought). Hey, I think she’s going to win! I’m really hoping the fat gets pushed down to the butt region as it’s suppose to be better to have it there. In my dreams.

Oct15

Watch this space

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…for my latest cross stitch finish. For some reason, I diligently stitched on it since late July, to early August until now. I have a few stitches left. The designer didn’t use quality paper (yet charged $10 for the chart) and many of the symbols were terrible to read or rubbed off. I had to improvise a few stitches, but you can’t tell. And I did use the tape that Lee sent me-thanks again. I want to do a quick Halloween design next.

I went down to my hometown Tuesday afternoon and got my hair done and so did mom! Colleen gave mom a reverse bob-very cute. We went to Olive Garden for dinner (mom’s had the same tummy bug or whatever I had and I wanted to give her a treat) and then hit Micheal’s Craft store. I didn’t pick up anything to buy for a long time, then I saw a ‘now you can knit socks’ book, but didn’t see the correct weight of yarn in the vast collection in the store, so I scraped that(but it’s something I want to try). I purchased some stickers and papers-some with a Christmas flair!

I’m still thinking about having a table at the church Christmas bazaar, but then it may be better to have a yard sale  which wouldn’t cost me $35. Our basement really needs to be tidied up.  I had a sale years ago, but not sure that people want craft books and baskets. It’s a lot of work too.

So watch this space! : )

Update!! It took me 2 hours to finish this. Then I washed and pressed it. Introducing Sleeping Kitty by Ellen Maurer Stroth:

I can’t believe a strand of my own hair showed up so well too!

My inspiration to do this piece, my own brown tabby Cosmo!