I'm such a shopper.......

Those that really know me, know I like to shop, but that said, I'm also the biggest "Bargain Betty" that you'll meet. I like to get the most for my money....I watch the ads, clip coupons, watch for 3 hour sales, etc. Going to an outlet mall is like nirvana for me especially when I know I have to spend money on things like school shopping or wanting something new for either Fred, me or the house.....like flatware...or new dishes {{hint hint}}

Well, we definitely got our money's worth out of that trip, it was definitely worth the $25 bucks in gas it cost us, plus we had a great time together hanging out at the water park, in our hotel room, eating out and shopping.

Big savings at Old Navy, Tommy Hilfiger, Bass, Rockport, Rue21 and I found the PERFECT white capris that I was on the hunt for and only had to pay $9.00 for them....SCORE!

Fred scored on two new pairs of work pants, a very cool Pink Floyd T-shirt, a new belt, new sandals, new sunglasses and he got to eat at Steak and Shake....lol

Connor got a butt load of school clothes.....3 pairs of shorts, 1 new hoodie, 5 new t-shirts, 2 new shirts and new skate shoes..all for less than $150 bucks.

I scored on those white capris, a really cool graphic top with cats (cool, not cute...KWIM), a bitching all season black blazer (perfect for work) that I can pair with a million things....for $19 bucks, a new pair of Rockports and a couple new workout t-shirts.

We also found our flatware after searching for several months. We looked at IKEA back in May but didn't like anything we saw there, then we checked out JCPenney, Target, Kohl's, etc, but neither of us liked anything we saw or the price wasn't right. We were at the Corningware/Revere store and they had a bunch of flatware sets on sale for 20% off, plus I had a coupon for another 20% off any item in the store. We found a 45 piece set that we liked and went to pay for it and after she rang it up, she said "Hey, for only $4.00 more, you could buy the 65 piece set, would you rather do that?"....uh...yea....no brainer....and bless your heart for mentioning it, so we walked out of there with a $129.99 set of flatware for $46.00 bucks....SCORE!

Since we saved a bunch of money, I decided to look at the FiestaWare that I've been wanting forever. Our everyday dishes are Longaberger (purchased when I was a consultant) and to be honest, I'm tired of a bunch of it and it looks dated as I chose a woven design and not a solid like they have now. I've been eyeing Fiestaware for quite a while, but waiting until I could get the best deal I could and coincidentally, it was on deep discount at Younkers. 5 piece place setting that are normally $48 dollar on sale for $27 and a free mug with every place setting and I had a couple of coupons they were honoring, so I purchased 7 places settings. The only reason I didn't buy 8 was I didn't like the colors that were left....I bought a place setting in the following colors - Scarlett, Lemongrass, Shamrock, Cobalt, Sunflower, Peacock, Tangerine, but I didn't like the evergreen (retiring) or the chocolate of ivory, so I will wait until Fiestaware introduces another color to get the 8th place setting. I also picked up a large pasta bowl and two smaller bowls in Peacock and a vegetable dish in Scarlett.

Here's my new dishes all nice and organized in my cabinet.





But back to my old Longaberger....never fear, it's going to a good home...my brother LOVES the stuff (I let him keep all of our mother's - she had quite a bit from buying from me or gifts from me), so I gifted my brother with 5 dinner plates, 5 luncheon plates, 2 soup bowls, a pasta dish and some mugs. He was thrilled as he has busted a few dinner plates recently and was down to two.


Here's a couple of picture of our upstairs hallway. I've moved some art around from the family room to the upstairs hallway and at the end of the hallway is a framed poster of a Stick's print called "What We Love About Iowa" that was a fund raiser for the Downtown School when Connor attended. I'm so glad a bought it, because it's unavailable now and I love it where it is. The hall table holds Connor's school portfolio and a couple of family bibles (yea, can you believe it? - but I hate to get rid of them), my precious "angel baby" photo of Connor when we was 6 months old and some other favorite things. The wrought iron 2 tiered stand has had a home in my scrap room and the kitchen and found it's way here where I believe it's going to stay.





We finished up Phase #2 of the home project today. I'm not ready to share pictures yet because I need to get everything cleaned up and I'm too bushed to do it tonight, but I have one more day off and I'm hoping to get things put back then. There is a Phase #3 of the project, but more about that later...