My Favorite Things

September 30, 2008 By 8 Comments

Last week, I just received the item from Pamper Chef that I ordered from my friend’s Pamper Chef party. I have to say that it has quickly become one of my favorite thing to use in the kitchen. It’s not the tool that can do it all like Kitchen Aid. It’s just a small little tool that make sandwich prettier. It’s the Cut-N-Seal. Kellie was talking about it at Busy Mamas blog on how great it will help prepare lunch for your kid.

The verdict is… drum roll please… It’s amazing. I like that it seals the sandwich so there is no mess and no falling cheese or jelly from the sandwich. Miss J now loves to bring PB&J to school. It will make my lunch packing routine much easier. I can just prepare it all in bulk and freeze it in the freezer. The best part is I can do a lot more than just PB&J. I can make Ham and Cheese sandwich, Sausage and Egg sandwich, Turkey sandwich or anything your kiddies love to eat.

Filed Under: Family, Shopping

This is how we spent our Sunday morning…

September 28, 2008 By 4 Comments

Nope. Not in church where we normally are but waiting in line to get gas for over 40 minutes.

This morning as I woke up, I started to call around to see if there is any gasoline in any gas stations nearby. No such luck. Until I searched Google and found this website, Atlanta Gas Prices. I’m sure a lot of Atlantans already knew about this site. It’s a user-based website that people log in to update the gas price for the area. After a quick search I found that Kroger has gas. So I woke up Mr. Rojo and we headed out. On the way, we saw a Chevron station also has gas and they were closer. So we made a u-turn and got in line.

Hmm.. The line was deceiving. It was like we were at Disney World except instead of waiting for a ride we waited for gas. From the street you won’t see the line but as soon as you turned to the station you will see that the line didn’t end there. It wrapped around the parking lot. The gas station staffs are very helpful and organized. The line was long but orderly. So it wasn’t such a bad experience considering other altercations I have heard from my friends and the news. The station also asks that we fill up for $30 worth of gas. They didn’t enforce it but we obliged. At least that what we can do to help each other out. We did saw one car who ran out of gas that they needed to push the car to the station.

So if you really need gas, you might want to check out Atlanta Gas Price before you head out. Make sure to call the station before hand as well. Today we will be homebound. I hope the situation will help opening up for awareness to look for alternative energy resource and for us to start living with less waste energy and resource!

Filed Under: Family

I just have to share

September 28, 2008 By 8 Comments

Normally, I don’t post about my grocery shopping trip since I figured I’m still a newbie in this coupon thing and it will be boring. But tonight I just have to share my best shopping trip yet.

Publix has a really great sale this week! Mr. Rojo has been asking for his oatmeal for a really long time. Poor man, he can’t have breakfast till I can find sale and coupon. :) So here we go.

Purchase:
- 8 Green Giant Frozen Veggie ($1.00 ea)
- 2 Campbell Select Harvest Soup ($1.20 ea)
- 2 Dannon Yogurt ($0.50 ea)
- 8 Quaker Oatmeal ($1.90 ea)
- 2 Pillsbury Cake Mix ($0.85 ea)
- 8 Hamburger Helper ($0.80 ea)
- 4 Chex Mix ($1.28 ea)
- 2 Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta ($0.90 ea)
- 1 Back to Nature Granola ($2.50 ea)
- 1 Tomato Cherry Vine ($2.50)
- 1 Asparagus ($1.91)
- 2lb Apple Gala ($2.44)
- 1 Donut Glaze ($4.49)

Coupons Used:
- 2 x $0.60/2 Green Giant (IP)
- 2 x $0.50/2 Green Giant (Sunday coupon)
- 6 x $1.00/1 Quaker Oatmeal (IP)
- 2 x $0.50/1 Quaker Oatmeal (Sunday coupon)
- 2 x $1.00/1 Chex Mix (IP)
- 2 x $0.50/1 Chex Mix (Sunday coupon)
- 2 x $0.40/1 Pillsbury Cake Mix (Sunday coupon)
- 2 x $1.00/1 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta (Sunday coupon)
- 1 x $0.50/2 Campbell Simple Harvest soup (Sunday coupon)
- 8 x $1.00/1 Hamburger Helper (GM Peelie)
- 1 Free Back to Nature WYB 2 Danon (Publix coupon)
- 1 x $1 off 1lb Apple (Target coupon)
- 1 x $5 off $20 purchase (Walgreen coupon)

Total OOP: $14.46
Total Saving: $85.34

I have to say this was also one of the most stressful shopping trip for me. The cashier was not so friendly at all. When I handed her a stack of coupons she sighed so I knew that I might have a hard time. Sure enough, she refused to take Target coupon with manufacturing coupon. So I asked her politely to ask the manager. The manager confirmed that they can’t do that. So I don’t want to fight that battle. Plus Mr. Rojo started to move away from me further and further. I was afraid he will just go wait in the car. hehe.. I just help them sort through the coupons and pulled back Target coupons that I planned to use. But if they did take all my coupons, I will be paying less than $10!!!!

Filed Under: Saving

My First 5K Walk…

September 27, 2008 By 2 Comments

I did it!!! I completed my first 5K Walk. It was amazing! As I mentioned before that I signed up for the 5K Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk. On Thursday, we headed to downtown Atlanta for our walk. My company is amazing. Not only they sponsored the employees by paying for the registration fee if we signed up before the deadline but they provided buses to downtown.

We headed down there around 3:45pm. The race was set to begin at 7pm. Once we got there, we got some snack and water and started checking out other tents. There were so many tents and so many people. It was very exciting. We walked around and tried to judge who had the best t-shirt. My top three will be Chick-Fil-A, ING, and Buck consultant. Then we walked to the sponsor tents to check out the freebies. I got a bag full of sample and goodies. I think my legs were tired already and we hadn’t started the race yet!

Then we found our gold mine. A tent with free massage! We went ahead and waited in line. For about 30-35 mins we got our turn in the massage chair.. Oh.. Just what I need before the race started. After that, we went to take our team photo. Well, don’t expect to see me in the picture. I was a little speck there in the back and I don’t think anyone can see me there. Our company has over 300 people participated. So it was a good turn out.

At around 6:30pm we slowly moved to the walker starting line.. Oh..Mine.. They were a lot of people so needless to say we were almost all the way to the back. Note to self, next year I will get there earlier to be in the front. After the National Anthem, the race started. But we were standing still for a while before we got moving. By the time we turned on the main route, the first runner was heading back to the finish line! Amazing!! These guys ran 3.1 miles in like 12-15 minutes! I saw one lady who was up there with guys. I think she probably finished in the top 10. You go girl!!!

I walked with one of my co-worker and we did jog a little trying to take advantage of downhill. It wasn’t so bad walking. There were a lot of people so I think I actually walked more than 3.1 miles if you factored in the zig zag I had to do to get pass people on the course. By the time, we got to the finish line it was already dark. I don’t know my official time yet. But I think it should be less than 50 minutes. hehe..

All in all, it was a great experience and now I think I got the running bug. I will train myself harder and plan for 5K run next year. Actually, we plan to sign up for another 5K run this November. Stay tune…

Filed Under: Activities

Five Finds for Friday: Coupon Sites

September 26, 2008 By 1 Comment

Recently, I have been sharing my little knowledge about coupon with my friends. Whenever, I found a great deal I was too excited to keep it to myself. I’m not a coupon expert by any mean. I consider myself a beginning couponer. These are my top five go-to place whenever I plan my shopping for the week.

1) Fiddledeedee – Yes, I chose her for my money and mommy blog a few weeks ago and I chose her again. She has a great easy-to-follow list of Publix deals(my favorite grocery store).

2) Southern Saver – I just discovered her site recently. She has all the stores that I shop regularly including Kroger, Walgreen, CVS and Publix.. All in one!

3) Hot Coupon World – I think most of the mommy saving moms out there know about this forum. The master of all coupons. I have learned a great deal from this site. The information can be overwhelming but if you just pick one store and take it slowly you will learn it eventually. I’m still learning of course.

4) A Full Cup – Another coupon/deals forum with great resource. The information is similar to HCW however they do have printable coupon for Food Lion which is considering competitor to Publix. So you can save even more using their coupon in Publix.

5) Taylor Town Preview - A great site to show you what Sunday insert coupons you will get for each Sunday. You can check before the weekend to help you determine whether you want to buy the newspaper that week or even if you want to buy extra copy that week.

I hope this will help you in saving on your grocery shopping. Let me know if you have your favorite sites that I haven’t discovered yet.

Filed Under: Saving

13 Fall Activities I love to do

September 25, 2008 By 10 Comments

Fall is here. I love Fall season. The weather is cooler. The leaves change color. It’s time to get out my sweater and light jacket. There are so many things to do during Fall.. Here they are.

1) Pumpkin patch farm – I love taking the kids to the pumpkin patch farm and pick out their own pumpkins.

2) Corn maze – Another fun fall activity we did a couple years ago. I would love to do it again.

3) Six Flags Over Georgia – We want to take Mr. Z to see the new Thomas World in Six Flags. I don’t like to go to the amusement park during Summer. It’s way too hot for me. Right now, it’s perfect weather to be out and about.

4) Mini-vacation to Destin – It might seem weird to go to the beach in Fall. But from what I heard, October is a great time to go to Destin. The weather is cool enough to enjoy more outside in the Sun and warm enough to enjoy the beach. The crowds are gone so we don’t have to fight with long line in restaurant or traffic.

5) Camping in the backyard – Yeah.. we are not that adventurous yet to camp in the campground. So for now, I will take my backyard as a baby step for Mr. Rojo.

6) A trip to a cabin in Gatlinburg – Our first cabin trip to Helen was so memorable that even now Mr. Z is still talking about it. So I would love to take them to another cabin trip in Gatlinburg. Maybe we might even hike the trail in the Smokey Mountain Park.. who know?

7) Amicalola Fall – A day trip to the fall will be a nice change for this Fall. I’m sure we will get to see beautiful colorful fall up there in the mountain.

8) Sawnee Mountain Park – This brand new park is so close but yet we haven’t been there. Time to get off from our couch and do some fun stuffs there.

9) Cumming Country Fair & Festival – A small town fair that big enough for us. The kids loved it last year. We will go back again this year.

10) Visit Cabbage Patch Hospital – Because it’s so close and we just have to go there.

11) Biltmore Estate – A visit during Nov will allow us to see the Christmas decoration. I can’t wait.

12) Apple picking – We don’t have that many apple orchards for us to go picking. So I’m still up in the air on this one. The one we went last year, I wasn’t too impressed.

13) Halloween Trick-Or-Treat – I don’t know what they want to be this year yet. I’m not much into fancy dress or costumes. But I just love walking around the neighborhood with them.

Filed Under: Activities, Family

Wordless Wednesday: Meeting The Q Couple

September 24, 2008 By 26 Comments

We don’t look too bad, do we? :)

Check out other WW participants at Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes For Mom.

Filed Under: Family

Circus Circus…

September 22, 2008 By 7 Comments

This past weekend we took the monkeys to see the Ringling Bros Circus. Thanks to Koala Brains for sending me the discount code. I wasn’t sure if we will go but I figured Miss J and Mr. Z have never been to the circus before. This will be a great experience for them.

After we picked up our will-call ticket, we headed inside the Arena. As typical for any types of show, there were a lot of toys and souvenirs for sale. I had to say that I was so proud of ourselves. We typcially had to buy one or two sourvenirs. But this time, we didn’t! Well, I guess with the price tag of $15 and up, I couldn’t swallow buying them.
We got there about an hour before showtime to check our All Access Pre-show. It was such a fun experience for them to get to see the performers up-close and personal. They got to try out the circus outfit, watched the performers by the ring side or even participated in some of the performance. They enjoyed it so much that I think if we took them home then they would be satisfied. hehe.. Time to get back to our seats for the real show. We practially got the whole row to ourselves. It was a short row with only 5 seats and we bought 4 out of those 5 seats. Sweet! The location wasn’t so bad either. It was closer than I thought considering it was the cheapest ticket (with discount).
Once the show started, the kids were so mesmorized by the show. They didn’t even move once. The clown was very funny and entertaining. I’m amazed by how he could communicate and made us laugh even without saying anything. I also loved the guy on the bike.. This guy sure knew how to work his bike. It’s amazing things he can do with his bike. Especially, when he rode the tiniest bike.. I think it’s smaller than any toy bike!
After the show, I asked what they like the most. Miss J loves the acrobat on the rope. She was amazing and strong. Imagine climbing the rope without anything else. I loved when she swinged up there.. I was scared for her! Mr. Z loves the group of gymnasts at the end. They did do pretty wonderful twist and jump. For me, I loved the two acrobats on the swing wheels. Oh.. He was amazing to jump on the moving wheel on the outside. Almost gave me the heart attack!
All in all, we had a great time that night. It was fun for kids and they truly enjoyed the show. Now, I have to give you a fair warning that you might see some animal activists there. I will let your own view be the judge on that.
Filed Under: Activities, Family

13 TV Shows I'm watching

September 18, 2008 By 15 Comments

The Fall TV season has started.. oh.. I can’t wait for all the shows to come back, old or new. Here are my 13 shows I am watching or will be watching this season.

1. Lost

2. Heroes

3. Fringe

4. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

5. Grey’s Anatomy

6. Brothers & Sisters

7. One Tree Hill

8. Gossip Girl

9. Prison Break

10. Army Wifes

11. Burn Notice

12. Desperate Housewifes

13. 24

Can you tell I’m a TV junkie? So tell me, what are your shows?

Filed Under: Family

Wordless Wednesday: My Favorite Cabin Trip by Miss J

September 17, 2008 By 11 Comments

This art is inspired by a trip to Helen that we took in March.

Filed Under: Family, Travel in North America

Coupon of the 21st Century

September 16, 2008 By 2 Comments

Coupon as we used to know is a bunch of paper coupons from Sunday newspaper. Then we have Internet Printed coupons from various website. Recently, I have seen a big promotion for Cellfire which is yet another way to help you save money. Cellfire is the coupon on your phone. Basically, you register on Cellfire with your cell number and you will be able to save coupon on your phone via text message or application for web-enable phone like iPhone. I don’t really know how it works on non-iphone. But I can only tell you about my own experience from iPhone point of view.

It’s amazing! There are various stores that are part of cellfire coupons. It’s might not be that many yet but I’m sure once there are more users there will be more offers. So far I have used cellfire with my grocery card. You can load the coupon to your card and it will automatically apply your saving when you purchase the product. Another beauty on this is that you can use this coupon in combination with your traditional paper coupon. For example, if you have $0.50 for a 4-rolls pack of Cottonelle from Sunday newspaper and also you loaded the $0.50 for a 4-rolls pack of Cottonelle to your grocery card, when you buy that toilet paper, you will save a total of $1.00. Easy, right?

I just came back from lunch at Arby’s that I tried my coupon for the first time. I wasn’t sure if they will accept it. I walked in and asked if they accepted Cellfire coupon, sure enough they do. I just show them the screen of my coupon code for the cashier to enter those code and I got my free sandwich!

I think this is a great concept. We have cell phone with us all the time. But how many times that you forget your coupons either in a car or at home? So check them out and see what other offers they have in your area. Now, pardon me as I head to Caribou Coffer to get my large drink with $1 off.
Filed Under: Saving

Around the Blogosphere

September 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I have been featured in a fews of the great carnivals this past week. Each of them has a great list of posts. It’s worth to check them out.

1) Living Almost Large is hosting Money Hacks Carnival #29, The Food Haven.. Check them out after your lunch or dinner. Otherwise, you might be drooling all over your computer.

2) Frugal Babe is hosting Festival of Frugality #142. Check out posts ranging from food, recession, saving, shopping, frugal living and everything else in between.

3) Family Travellogue is hosting Carnival of Cities. A great carnival with a lot of great posts of 2 weeks worth. Give you a chance to travel around the world from US cities like my submission of Chattanooga trip to Pattaya, Japan and London.

4) Georgia On My Mind is hosting Georgia Carnival #44. If you are Georgia blogger or plan to visit Georgia, this is a place to check out. Great round up of anything Georgia.

Filed Under: Blogging, Saving, Travel Tips

Five Finds for Friday – Food Blogs

September 12, 2008 By 8 Comments

I love to eat but I have to admit that I am not a cook by nature. I cook out of necessity. So I always surf and check out other great food blogs for inspiration and recipes. Here are my top five finds for this week.

1. Lunch Nugget – A great blog for any family looking for a more creative and heathtier way to pack lunch for their school-age kids. I love the picture for each post since I’m such a visual person. I won’t even look at any recipe that doesn’t have the picture. So this is my life-saver blog.

2. Thai Table – A great Thai recipe site with step-by-step instruction. I cook Thai food once in a while. Just because sometimes I feel like it. And no, I am not a great cook for Thai food so don’t ask me to cook Pad Thai for you. Sorry, not all Thai people can cook. Or should I say my Thai food standard is very high so if I can’t make it taste like what I ate in Thailand then I won’t bother.

3. Closet Cooking – I found this blog via Cheap Healthy Good. A great simple blog with great photo and recipe. The simple cooking is my kind of cooking.

4. Steamy Kitchen – Jaden’s blog for the modern asian food with great simple recipe is not a new blog that I just found. I have been following her for a while.

5. Chez Pim – I’m so so behind in the Blog world. I’m sure everyone knew about Chez Pim’s blog but I just recently discovered her via my fellow Thai blogger – Oakmonster’s Den.

Filed Under: Food Around the World
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