Mommin' It Up!

April 22, 2014April 21, 2014

Shoppin’ it up at my happy place: CVS

This Shoppin’ It Up series is sponsored by CVS Extra Care. The content is 100% originally my own, as is my big love for all things CVS.

A quick stroll through the archives of this blog will show that I love coupons and drugstore deals – I mean, you guys have seen my post pictures of my deals about a million times – and it’ll show you that my first savings love? Is CVS. You guys know that about me, but do you know about how I found CVS? Perhaps not – and I’d love to tell you.

Six-and-a-half years ago I walked into a CVS with a few coupons and a sketchy plan. I had read about their ExtraCare program on a blog and I was looking to see if I could put it to work for my family’s budget. That night, with a four-year-old and a one-year-old, headed into cold and flu season, I was looking for a great deal on some children’s Tylenol. And that night, I found that deal, and so much more. I found ExtraCare, ExtraCare Bucks, great customer service, and a place to get what my family needed at a price that I could afford and that actually put money back into my shopping budget. To say that first experience was life-changing for me may seem dramatic, but it is absolutely, 100% accurate. That night CVS became a part of my life, and soon it became more than just a shopping destination: it became my happy place.

Let me tell you about my favorite day of the week: it’s Sunday. We often go to church Saturday night, so Sunday morning I spend some good time with my coffee, my newspaper ads, and my coupons. I see what’s on sale, consider what we need, and I make a plan for my weekly shopping. It is a very zen time for me. I’m not an expert at a lot of things, but I am good at coupons, and so I get geeked out excited about my weekly Sunday shopping trip. And the first stop on my Sunday Funday? Is always CVS.

On Sunday afternoons, my husband keeps the kids at home while I head out on my own, free as a bird, for an hour or so of “me time” – at the store. I know, I really know how to party right? But it IS a fun time for me. Right before I leave home, I check the CVS app on my phone to see if I have any ExtraCare Bucks that I can send to my ExtraCare card before I shop -it’s such a cool feature! And eco-friendly too – who needs paper?

I sent that baby to my card, yo.

I walk through the doors of my local CVS and it’s like the “Cheers” theme song starts playing – sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name – and they know mine. The manager always asks me if I need help finding anything and I always say “No thanks, I’m good.” and he always replies back, “I know you are, but I have to ask!” And he never fails. When I hit the door, my first stop is the wonderful Magic Coupon Machine (I believe the technical name is the “ExtraCare Coupon Center”).

I scan my ExtraCare card at this machine and cross my fingers that some fabulous coupons will pop out! These CVS coupons are awesome because you can combine them with manufacturer’s coupons to save on brand names, and there are often also coupons for CVS brand items, which I love.

(I totally scored Sunday!)

After I get my coupons, I stroll around the store and check the items off my list, pausing to look at what else is on sale, crunching numbers on the calculator on my phone, and of course checking for any sweet clearance deals. Just to make sure I don’t miss anything, I often quickly pull up my CVS app on my phone and check out the myWeeklyAd feature (which you can also get online). It shows me sales on the items I buy the most, which is so helpful! Here’s a screen shot of my personalized myWeeklyAd this week…Mountain Dew and makeup. Could CVS possibly know me any better???? I think not!!

After I’m su-uu-re I’ve got everything I came for, it’s time for me to check out, and I grab all my carefully-organized coupons from my purse along with any ExtraCare Bucks I have to spend – you get these for buying certain items and then you can spend them like cash on your next purchase.

These babies are basicall cash. Treat them well! — These babies are basically cash. Treat them well!

What I LOVE about ExtraCare Bucks is that you can spend them right away, while you’re right there in the store if you want to. Using your ExtraCare bucks with coupons can REALLY add up to big savings! I always enjoy looking at the bottom of my receipt to see how much I’ve saved. It makes me a wee bit giddy sometimes!

CVS savings 2 — This was a particularly good trip!

And you know what else is great about saving money and getting things we need and want (yes, I DID need those three new mascaras I got last week…right?)? It’s that when I leave that store with that giddy, happy, “I got a good deal” feeling – I take that feeling right back into my home with me. When I get home from a CVS run, I’m a happy girl. A happy wife, a happy mama, headed back home refreshed and cheerful to her family – and with a bag or two full of items that meet our household needs.

That feeling? Is why I’ve been shoppin’ it up at CVS for over six years, and while I will be for years to come.

What’s your favorite thing about CVS shopping?

April 21, 2014April 20, 2014

Every Nerd Needs a Mentor

Joshua speech meet — Speech Meet Nerd just like his Mama. Sniff Sniff!

There is a recently-viral video of Wil Wheaton telling a girl who asked him a questions (I think he was on a panel at ComicCon) about what to do when someone called her a nerd. And Wil does a fabulous job telling her how to handle it and how to be confident in her own awesomeness.

But. I have to admit that I was a little perplexed about the whole thing because in my family? Being a nerd is cool. Nerd is not a dirty word, and we are ALL Geek Chic. Perhaps you’ll recall that we start our kids on the path to nerdery very young in this gene pool. We encourage and even expect that our children will be bona fide members (dare we say leaders?? One can only hope!) of the Nerd Herd.

In our family, amongst us adult and among all the nieces and nephews and cousins, we have band nerds, drama nerds, math nerds, science nerds, Star Wars nerds, sports nerds (yes there is such a thing) and we even have a WORLD CHAMPION RUBIK’S CUBE NERD – BOOM! Jealous?

When it comes to my own children, Joshua is embarking on the path to becoming a NEW kind of nerd in our family – a video game nerd. Joshua is pretty much obsessed with the WiiU – he loves Disney Infinity, LEGO Marvel, and a whole bunch of other games – those are the only two I can really deal with hearing about at this point.

My husband enjoys video games, but he is not a Certified Video Game Nerd, so although he’s been able to guide Joshua up to a certain point, our baby son is currently surpassing his dad’s capacity for video game nerdiness.

Luckily for us, though, Joshua has found an Ultimate Video Game (and comic book and a whole lot of other nerdy things) Nerd Mentor – our friend Corey. Although Corey is not a member of our family, he is a great guy and a certified Non-Creep.

joshuacorey — Joshua and Corey at Corey’s wedding. One reason I don’t worry about Joshua becoming a Video Game Nerd is because Corey is a HUGE ONE and yet he still landed a hot wife at the age of 27, which isn’t too bad.

Recently, Joshua had a question about his fave game for Nintendo WiiU – LEGO Marvel – and Corey is a huge Marvel nerd so of course he owns this game even though LEGOs are for children (ooh, come on LEGO nerds, don’t let me get away with that!), so he MADE A VIDEO of him playing the game to show Joshua how to open up a certain feature. So then Joshua made him a video back showing him how he had followed Corey’s advice…and because he is so cute and loves Corey so much, he asked for another video, and because Corey is a nice guy and excellent Nerd Mentor who works from home and has time to make videos of himself playing a video game because a 10-year-old asked him to, he sent one right back…and so on, and so forth. I think they are on like the 5th video now. Here’s one of Joshua’s; you don’t have to watch the whole thing to know that a) my son is well on his way to becoming a HUGE Video Game Nerd and b) Corey is a very patient Nerd Mentor who clearly has his eye on training Joshua up in the Way of the Nerd.

I’m very thankful for Corey’s friendship to Joshua (he married our babysitter Krisha so since she can’t be our sitter anymore, it’s nice that he’s at least contributing to our son’s nerdery) but I also really like to make fun of him for being such a giant nerd (and I quote: “When I found out Joss Whedon was going to direct the Avengers, my heart exploded.”) so this situation is a TOTAL win-win for me! Especially since Bobby records and sends Joshua’s videos for him so I don’t have to mess with THAT inconvenience. Whew!

Nerd Alert, people! My baby’s on his way!

April 17, 2014April 17, 2014

Reason to Procreate: Living Baby Dolls

Gymboree provided me with a gift card to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.

So, I really enjoy dressing up my kiddos because well, they are darling and attractive, no? But for most of their lives, they’ve had a ton of hand-me-downs, and it’s been totally awesome. I LOVE FREE CLOTHES, and since my kids are so very, very cute, they look just as awesome in clothes that other people pick out as they do in ones that I pick out. But, it is awfully fun for me to pick out new things for them once in awhile, so when Gymboree asked if I might want to check out some of their latest spring fashions I said “heck yes!” And I went shopping to outfit my little darlings for Easter in some of Gymboree’s latest and cutest styles. See?

Orange is my favorite color, and I love the way it looks on all three of my kids. I especially love Sophie’s Orange You Cute Polka Dot Ribbon dress (of course – girls are way more fun to dress up no matter how cute those boys are, at least in my world.) One thing I love about Gymboree’s girls clothes is that they are so age-appropriate! Everything I looked at when pondering what to buy my little girlie was adorable and nothing at all was trampy. Woohoo! I love the ribbon details, the bow on the collar, and the polka dots and pleats. I LOVE it! It’s too sweet for words. And of course I love the boys‘ shirts, too. I love that Gymboree had coordinating shirts for them even though they are seven years apart in age. Don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to match them up like that.

Another thing I really enjoyed about my Gymboree shopping experience is that I earned $25 in Gymbucks for every $50 I spent! So now, I get to go back to Gymboree with those Gymbucks and get some the NEW items they just released last week. I absolutely ADORE this Yellow and Black Collection, Sophie must have it ALL!

Of course, I can’t leave my boys out – they are pretty handsome fellas after all! I love the Beach Buddies collection for all the fun we have coming up this summer.

I hadn’t been in Gymboree in years before I decided to do this review, and I’m so glad I did! I will definitely be shopping there for our next special occasion. What’s your favorite thing about shopping at Gymboree?