As it Turns Out, Size DOES Matter.

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CottonelleHoliday  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

Have I mentioned, by chance, one or two times, that we have a MILLION birthdays and events running up to Christmas? Oh I have? In case you’ve forgotten, we call the Sophie-Bobby-Jonah-birthday madness that happens in the 5 weeks before Christmas “Birthmaspalooza”. One consequence, I mean joy, of this season is that I have to host gatherings. At my house.

Which often looks like this:

messy house

So getting ready for a holiday party or other Birthmaspalooza event can really stress me out. It’s a lot of hard work when your day-to-day housekeeping skills are sub-par at best. So, after the cleaning is done and the shiny doors are thrown open, I really want to be able to relax and enjoy the party.

One thing that keeps me from being downstairs enjoying my guests? This:

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Sadly, this is not just a common occurrence at family parties when we typically have a minimum of 30 guests. (We have a BIG family! And lots of friends!) The empty toilet paper roll, of course, is  a scene I face every darn day in my house (a certain child of mine who shall not be named uses about 1/2 a roll of TP per day minimum, for the LOVE!), but it’s not one I want to deal with when I’m having a party! Making sure my party guests have TP when they need to use my shiny, clean bathroom can be a real pain in the…you know. So, I typically leave an extra roll on top of the toilet so I won’t have to keep hoofing it up the steps to the crapper to check on the status of the TP. Klassy, I know!

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I also employ the metal tiles in our super-cool vintage 1950s bathroom. And you know, my kids’ letter magnets. Just to make sure everyone is CLEAR.

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You know you’re jealous of my magnetic bathroom! It’s pretty awesome and has proved itself bloggable before…

But anyway. You guys know I’m coo-coo for coupons and deals, so I often purchase Cottonelle, because they always have the BEST coupons! This is a fact, yo! And though I’ve long been a fan of the double roll, I for some reason had been in the dark about the Cottonelle TRIPLE ROLL until a couple weeks ago. Because of the fabulous coupon stacking potential at Target, I’ve been shopping there a-l-o-t more lately and  that is where I found and got a great deal on the Cottonelle triple roll 12-pack.  PLUS I scored some free Kleenex with this printable Target coupon. It’s as easy as “buy Cottonelle triple roll, get free Kleenex” while supplies last! Plus, I used a Target Cartwheel coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon too and got a deal that gave me an old-school coupon HIGH!

But anyway, back to my bathroom.

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Before the next party, the double roll met the triple roll.

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And then the Cottonelle triple roll met my toilet paper holder:

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And the angels sang.

And I got to leave a note for my party guests to let them know that the TP pressure was OFF!

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(Pun intended?)

Got big holiday parties at your house this holiday season? Now you know what to do (besides avoiding potlucks!!) to stay in the party and out of the potty!

Are you the designated toilet-paper-changer in your family, or are you not the only one in the house gifted with magical “empty TP roll vision”?

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Join us for the Lands’ End 12 Hours of #Together

LE Holiday

Pop quiz!! Where’s our FAVORITE place to shop? And our favorite brand to WEAR? And our FAVORITE brand to work with?

Why, it’s Lands’ End of course! (Duh. Please tell me you figured that out from the photo if not from past experience reading this here blog and seeing us decked out in LE from head to toe!)

Emily and I are totally stoked to once again help Lands’ End host their 12 hour Twitter extravaganza on Cyber Monday, December 2, from 8 am to 8 pm CST! Our hour, THE BEST HOUR, is from 10-11 CST, or 11-12 EST if you will, and we’ll be tweeting about awesome gifts for kids!

BUT YOU SHOULD TOTALLY BE THERE FOR ALL THE HOURS! Because the prizes, OH the prizes are going to be fantastic! Plus, this year you can even follow along on Instagram! (( And you know I loooouurrrves me some Instagram! )) Oh, what fun!

Here’s everything you need to know!

Lands’ End Twelve Hours of #Together on Twitter and Instagram

8am-8pm CST Cyber Monday, 12/2/13

Prizes prizes prizes will be given out and special online-only doorbusters announced!!

Follow @LandsEndPR on Twitter and @LandsEnd_PR on Instagram

((and of course @jennyitup and @momminitup on both Twitter and Instagram as well!)

Use the hashtag #Together and JUMP ON IN anytime between 8am-8pm CST but especially during our hour 10-11 CST (11-12 EST!)!!!

Can’t wait to tweet with you all then!

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Classin’ up the joint on Thanksgiving

its not a party
This picture came from Pinterest, but alas, did not link back to a website. So I don’t know who to give credit to. No one sue me. You can’t get blood from a stone.

Wednesday night we went to my Grandma’s (sadly, not the Grandma I share with Emily because she would’ve loved this) for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my brothers and their families, my cousin Amy and her family, my Grandma and two aunts. (Kudos to my Aunt Z, by the way, for going out of her way and making some delicious gluten-free food for us!)

Since Jonah-Jo is still doing great on the potty but prefers to flush the big potty rather than sit on it and do his business, and since I had no desire to have him pee all over Grandma’s couch, I brought his little potty with us to Grandma’s and set it down in the living room when we arrived. Then i got all the kids coats off and started to get them settled…and was alterted by loud laughter/horrified cries that Jonah was beginning to de-pants in the living room.

Since he still feels the need to take his pants and underwear alllllll the way off when using the john, he was kinda mad that his shoes were still on. So I hurriedly helped him get them off and his pants all the way down, while my husband’s cousin, who’s only been in the family a few years and has had a limited opportunity to glimpse my STELLAR parenting, said, “You’re just gonna let him whip that thing out right here?”

“I sure am!” I replied as I plopped Jonah’s naked rear onto the potty. He then did his business and stood up and did a naked victory dance to the applause and embarrassed laughter of my extended family while I attempted to get his Spider-Man undies and pants back on him. We then took a victory lap to the bathroom to flush and I left the little potty there so he’d have to actually go into the bathroom to use it and confine his nakedness to an audience of one next time. (Which he did quite nicely before we left.)

The next day he gave a repeat performance at my parents’ Thanksgiving celebration, though I had put the potty in a more discreet place. He countered my discretion by taking his pants and undies off on the complete opposite side of the room and blazing a naked trail as he headed for his little potty. (The little bathroom on my parents’ first floor is too small to hold even the little potty.)

So bas-ic-al-ly, Jonah brought the favors to our Thanksgiving party! What a guy!

I promise I’ll have him over that habit my next year.

How was your Thanksgiving? Anyone nude up at your Grandma’s house? No? Just mine?

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