Gotta Get Away

Every so often, I HAVE to get away. Like, on vacation. Change of scenery. Relaxation. Something new. Re-charge.

With an almost-16-month-old, I haven't had a vacation in a long while. It's been almost two years, which is a long time for me. If I had the choice between a brand new wardrobe or a nice vacation, I'd pick the vacation.

When I travel, I am all about the deals. Show me the money. I want to get the most bang for my buck. I like a long, luxurious (did I mention relaxing?) stress-free experience.

I am super excited that I will be visiting the cooler temperatures of scenic Breckenridge, Colorado later this summer!

So, in the spirit of vacation, I've rounded up some of the most amazing travel deals available now!

First, here's a luxurious 5-night tropical island getaway for two to beautiful Grenada in the Caribbean. Your vacation includes an ocean-view room, all meals and drinks, daily spa treatments, scuba diving, golf, tennis, and more. This deal ends soon, so check it out now!

Second, ClubMed is having their semi-annual sale, which includes last-minute deals, Fourth of July deals, family vacations, business travel, and couples getaways. This includes North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, and more. Click here to see available packages!

Finally, Alaska Airlines is offering flight and vacation deals to warm destinations including Hawaii and Mexico. If you're ready for some cooler temperatures, they also have deals to Alaska, Washington, and Canada. Click here for more!

Deal Alert!

I am so obsessed with Melissa and Doug toys, and I am even more obsessed with childrens' books.

When I visited Totsy today, I almost fell on the floor. They have the most adorable kids' books for $3 and $4, and they have Melissa and Doug for $10. Some of these things are 80% off.

Summer is here and you need to entertain your little ones, so check out this sale!

Thankful Thursday

Here are some of the things I am most thankful for today!

1. Mothers Day Out at church. Little M has so much fun at "school" and it gives me a few hours to get things done. She just moved up to a new class, so I'm so thankful that I love these new teachers as much as her last teachers! She now has a music class for twenty minutes on those days, and I LOVE that! She is just as happy as can be when I pick her up!

2. Air Conditioning. When I get into my hot vehicle, and it's not even summer yet and it's already in the triple digits, I am so thankful for air conditioning. Really... Triple digits already?!

Happy Friday!

Summer Retail Sales!

There are tons of great sales right now that are worth sharing! If you are in the mood for some summer shopping, check out the links below!

Children's Place: Sale up to 60% off, plus 10% cash back
Macy's: Summer Sale, up to 50% off, plus 10% cash back
Target: 18% cash back
Kohl's: Sale, 50% off swimwear, 6% cash back
Victoria's Secret: Semi-annual Sale, Free Shipping, 6% cash back

My First Real Vacation, part four--London

Continued from earlier post.

As I mentioned, as a ten year old, I could navigate the London Underground with the best of 'em. But, we also enjoyed the red double-decker buses and I especially enjoyed hailing the taxis.

London in the summer. Sitting in the park eating a picnic lunch of raspberries and feeding the ducks on the pond. Visiting museums. Watching the Changing of the Guard. Getting ice cream from the street vendors. Touring the Tower of London. Seeing all of the sights. Taking photographs.

Best of all, though, were the musicals. I had been taking dance classes, but the best show I'd ever seen was nothing more than a dance recital. Hello, Andrew Lloyd Weber. Starlight Express, Cats, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat were my first musicals. I was hooked. It rocked my world.

I began realizing that there was more to this world than just what was in my backyard. There was history. There was culture. There were languages and accents. There were opportunities. There was so much to be learned and experienced. The world was so big.

Ultimately, this experience really helped to shape my worldview. It gave me a new lens with which to view the world, a new perspective, and a desire for knowledge. I truly believe that travel is one of the best gifts you can give a child. For a long time now, my goal in life has been to have a family and to travel with them, spending time together and learning.

To be continued.

Free at Brookshire Brothers

I recently learned about some deals at Brookshire Brothers, a regional grocery store in our area. Curious, I went to check it out.

Here the scoop. You can print great store coupons from their website, and they have weekly meal deals. Here's what is going on right now:

Buy two Digiorno or California Pizza Kitchen pizzas for a total of $11, and get bagged salad, salad dressing, and Coke free.

Buy two Old Spice deodorants on sale for $1.99 each (and use coupons from the 6/5 P&G insert) and get two bottles of body wash free. After coupons, you get all four items for only $3.

If you spend $10 in the store, you get a free Crest toothpaste and free McCormick grill mates marinade (printable coupons from their website).

So, spend $14, and get $20 of free groceries!

Bottle to Cup saga

Little M used Born Free and Medela bottles during infancy, and we loved them. They were great, and I have no complaints about them.

We introduced her to a sippy cup with water at 7 months. She adapted very well.

When she was almost thirteen months old, we hit a snag when we tried transitioning her to drinking milk from a cup. She refused. About that same time, we hit a wave of ear infections and strep throat. Since she stopped taking her antibiotic from a syringe, we had to mix it into her milk up to three times a day, which left us attached to the bottle.

When she was finally well several weeks ago, she began taking sips of milk from her cup. Small victories. But, for her morning and evening milk feedings, she was still very stubborn and refusing the cup. We bought tons of cups, got tons of recommendations, tried all the tricks you read about, and nothing. Luckily, we will still be able to use all of those new cups, so it wasn't a complete waste.

I am so, so happy to say that we finally hit the jackpot with the NUK Learner Cup . They provide more of a gradual transition, which is what we needed. I thought we had set a world record for the oldest child to ever drink from a bottle, but I read that lots of children are still attached to their bottles at age two, so now I don't feel so bad, since she is only fifteen months. The only problem is, these cups can be hard to find, and the selection in stores is very limited. I found one small section of them at Target, but it was pretty small and empty.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have started with the NUK Learner Cup when she was around 11 months old and then transitioned from there. They say hindsight is 20/20, and when you have your first child, you just have to learn as you go.

Anyway, if you want to try it out, all of the parts are interchangable so they will grow with your child, and you can mix and match. These have been such a lifesaver.

It is such a great feeling to finally overcome this obstacle!

Board Book deals

I've mentioned in earlier posts that I like to get baby boards books in the Dollar Spot at Target. Last time I was there, they were completely gone.

I went back to Target this weekend, and they'd re-stocked the Dollar Spot with lots of new board books! This time they are adorable Bee Smart books, among others.

This past week we also went to Books-a-Million and scored some great board books for around $1.50 each! They had Brainy Baby, Sesame Street, Disney, and more. If you have a Books-a-Million in your area, I found these deals in the Clearance section towards the back of the store.

Regularly priced board books at bookstores, Target, and even Walmart typically cost $6-$14 each.

We read together for around an hour each day, so we like to keep lots of books on hand!

Here are some board books under $4 which are eligible for free shipping! Happy reading!

Huggies only $3!

Well, today I forgot something at the grocery store, so I ran by the new Dollar General down the street.

Imagine my surprise when I walked in the door only to find a display with Huggies Little Movers jumbo packs of diapers marked down to only $6 per package! This one is definitely worth sharing!

Update: A new $3 off Huggies coupon has reset, so you can get these diapers for only $3 per package!

My First Real Vacation, part three--Westminster

Continued from this post.

In London, we met up with the group from my grandmother's college. We would be staying at Westminster School, whose graduates include the likes of Andrew Lloyd Weber and A. A. Milne. Westminster School has been around since the 11th century. In Texas, we think the Alamo (circa 1700s) is ancient. Westminster School is somewhat similar to what you see at Hogwarts in Harry Potter.

Adjacent to Westminster School is Westminster Abbey, home of royal weddings. It is also the memorial place, and sometimes burial, of people like Winston Churchill, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Robert Browning, Keats, Lord Tennyson, Sir Isaac Newton, as well as kings, queens, and other royalty.

When I think of my time at Westminster School, I think of playing games in the Little Dean's Yard, cobblestones, visiting the gift shop at Westminster Abbey, doing brass rubbings with the metallic gold crayon on black paper, and eating meals in the old dining hall (also reminiscent of Harry Potter). The college students we were with played soccer every evening on the lawn after dinner. The professors sat outside, enjoying the weather and the conversation. It was great for people-watching.

I learned to navigate the London Underground map of the tube routes. That reminds me of the Cadbury candy vending machines. Yum. I can almost hear the Underground recording "Mind the gap" now.

Not-so-yum: The dinners at Westminster School weren't especially delicious. It was fish and chips, or mystery meat. There were some good dinners. There were a lot of great desserts. (I think I'm noticing a theme here.)

Westminster School was full of hallways and tunnels and nooks and crannies. It was such a wonderful adventure. There were surprises around every turn. There was so much history, and so much mystery.

At night, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament would be all lit up, and I would drift off to sleep to the sound of the chiming of Big Ben's bell...

My Spring Savings Summary, part four

Continued from earlier post.

I decided that I had a few more favorite things to add to my spring savings summary.

When it comes to couponing, tons of coupons are for $1 off a certain product. Sometimes the coupon says that it excludes trial sized items. But, sometimes it doesn't. What this means is that you can stock up on travel-sized items for free. For example, I have gotten tons of free travel-sized Degree and Dove deodorants this way.

You have probably noticed me shopping a lot at Walgreens. I never used to shop there because drugstores can be so overpriced. But, since I discovered the weekly register rewards deals at Walgreens, I have saved so much money on toiletry type items especially. They will also have great diaper deals which can be combined with coupons. I check their Sunday ad most weeks, or I will check the blogs listed to the right for the best deals.

Walmart can also be a great place to shop to maximize your savings. They pay coupon overages, which is very appealing. Those overages can then be applied to the remainder of the items in your cart.

I have loved Target because I've gotten lots of great baby board books for $1 in Target's Dollar Spot. This includes lots of great Sesame Street board books. I also hit the jackpot when I found several on sale for 75% off. I've noticed that basic board books at Walmart start at around $4, so Target wins the board book competition hands-down. Target has also been a great place for travel-sized items. Finally, Target has lots of printable store coupons which can then be stacked with manufacturer coupons for bigger savings.

HEB, our regional grocery store, has weekly meal deals where you buy one item and then get, like, four items free. You can buy an unlimited number of meal deals. This deal is a real jackpot, especially when you have a coupon for the main item. They also have the Texas Showdown deals each week that are buy one get one free. This too is great when you have a coupon for the main item.

Loving the deals...

Walgreens Trip: 6/5/11

Walgreens this week:

Over $80 in products purchased, including 1 Pampers, 2 Colgate toothpastes, 2 Gillette Fusion ProGlide Razor systems, 3 frozen pizzas, 7 bodywashes.

Register Rewards received: $25
Number of coupons and Register Rewards used: 15
Number of transactions: 3
Paid out of pocket: $22

Best deal: Buy $30 worth of Gillette products, receive $10 RR. If that $30 purchase includes a ProGlide razor, get an additional $5 RR. There are tons of current Gillette coupons which make this deal practically free! I got $40 worth of Gillette products for under $5.

Reminder: By just taking a few minutes each week or each month, you can get most of your toiletry items absolutely free. This is especially true for toothpaste, deodorant, bodywash, soap, and razors. The great thing is that these items don't expire for a long time, so you can just keep them in a bathroom cabinet until you need them.

If you're like me and missed the memo about cloth diapering, you're still paying a fortune for disposable diapers. If you play your cards right, you can save $500 per year on disposable diapers by matching coupons to sales. It's not as hard as it sounds, especially since the blogs listed to the right will give you the weekly deals!

Baby DVDs: Under $4 New!

Most of these DVDs are regularly priced at $15-$20 each in retail stores, and all of these are currently less than $4 each!

Featured Blog and Sunday Hopping!

Thank you so much to

Chubby Cheeks Thinks, My Life in Jenga, and Real Mom Reviews

for selecting me as the featured blogger on the Swingin' by Sunday blog hop!





Today I am also co-hosting the Sundae Hop at

Baby Talk Without the Babble!

Sundae Blog Hop Co-Host!

get the InLinkz code

My First Real Vacation, part two--The Isle

Continued from this post.

An interesting fact is that my grandmother had the same pen pal in England since they were young girls, writing to one another for almost sixty years.

Once we picked up our luggage at the airport, we headed for a tram that would take us to the train station so we could go and visit her dear friend. Somehow, I left one of my bags on the tram, but my grandmother hopped back on, grabbed my bag, and hopped back off in record time, just as the doors were closing. It was impressive. Needless to say, I learned a very valuable lesson when I was nearly separated from my suitcase.

The train ride south was beautiful. The train had a buffet car where I ordered hot chocolate. We sat and watched the English countryside pass by. Then, we hopped on a ferry to take us to the island. Our dear friends picked us up from the dock and drove us to their beautiful, historic, three-story home at the foot of a castle. Here I am, a ten-year-old girl who has just left Texas for the first time, and I am suddenly staying in this amazing cottage and staring up at a castle. It was unreal.

They took me up to my room, where they had left a bowl of "sweets" for me to enjoy. At that point, the jet lag had taken its toll, and I was out. That was some of the best sleep I'd ever had.

While on the island, we visited the beaches. I played British games and collected shells. We climbed up the hill to the castle and played on the castle walls. There was a little stream--a fjord--down the road where I would lay on the footbridge above and try to catch the little minnows.

We had picnics in their gardens, amidst the fragrant flowers. The postman would come in for a cup of tea while on his bicycle delivery route.

I loved having afternoon tea, mostly because of the cookies.

The way of life was so much slower. It was a magical land of flowers, seashells, streams, and castles.

The food was very, very different. When served a white sauce for my salad, as a young child from Texas, I'm going to assume it's Ranch dressing. No, it was mayonnaise. I ate it all to be polite, but that is a salad I will never forget. I loved the small, buttered potatoes from the garden. Then there was spam. Back in those days, I still ate meat, and I thought it was funny-tasting ham. After the fact, I learned about spam.

Everything in the house was smaller. The doorways, the rooms. There were no closets, only wardrobes.

When it was time for my grandmother and me to head back up to London for the remainder of our trip, both of the women cried. I had never seen my grandmother cry. But, an only child, it was almost like she was leaving her sister.



To be continued...

Old Navy and Baby Genius Deals!

If you hurry, you can get the current Groupon deal for $20 to spend at Old Navy for only $10! That is 50% savings! This one will not last long...

Also, if you change your city to Chicago at the top, you will see an online deal for Baby Genius DVDs. You get 5 DVDs and 5 CDs for only $25! That is 50% off. For brand new baby DVDs, that is a steal!

My First Real Vacation

I remember when I was ten years old I'd never stepped foot out of Texas, let alone flown on an airplane. My grandmother, a college professor, called and asked to speak with me. Standing at the kitchen bar with that old rotary phone receiver up to my ear, she asked me if I'd like to go to England with her for three weeks that upcoming summer. I was very uncertain.

On her previous trips "across the pond," she had sent me lots of postcards, and I loved receiving the mail from her, complete with foreign stamps and the blue "air mail" designation. On those previous trips, she left "grab bags" for my brother and me. Each day she was gone, we got to reach in the bag and pull out a little treat from her. It was the best. I remember getting a Big Bird pencil, as well as a gift certificate to Baskin-Robbins for a free ice cream cone.

I was uncertain because England seemed so grown-up, so formal, so far. Three weeks was a long time. Would it be boring? Would I get homesick?

I accepted her offer, and we began making plans. I got a passport. I got new clothes and shoes for traveling. She had me pack my suitcase a week in advance in order to be prepared.

My parents and brother dropped us off at the Dallas-Fort Worth international airport, and we began the journey that would change my life.

The British Airways jet was enormous. Each person got a little travel amenities package with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and eyemask. The flight attendants brought snacks, drinks, full meals, candy, and they brought me a kids activity package. We watched movies and television. My grandmother and I gazed out the window. I remember seeing the Mississippi River and Newfoundland. It was magical. Even the airplane bathroom was interesting. When you are only ten years old, those bathrooms are much roomier. British Airways: You had me at Hello.

I remember we landed at London Gatwick that next morning. As we made our descent through the fog, I had to pinch myself. Were those emerald green fields really real? Was this really happening? Could I actually be on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, or was this all just staged somehow ?

To be continued...