I innocently took a sample at Sam’s Club because I couldn’t imagine what they tasted like. I’m not a huge peppermint fan either.
And holy hell were they good. Dangerously good.
Members Mark Peppermint Almonds: https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-peppermint-almonds-20-oz/P03010806
I saw these on Amazon and had to try them. They are reflective — which is cool but obviously I can never see them because I’m in the car. And there was only enough to do this on both sides (unless I wanted to add more “string” between each bulb). Also, can’t wait to see if they stay on as the magnets aren’t that strong. But it’s cute, right?
But it was all an UNBELIEVABLE deal! And now I can treat my clients!!
We were up early this morning to hit the Ukrainian Museum Archives in Cleveland. Surprisingly the bathroom lighting was pretty good—I love Hampton Inn!
I bought a new necklace there (because I broke my necklace on the way here).
With my mom at the museum.
Then it was off to State Meats and eating lunch at Mama Maria’s Ukrainian Kitchen!
Then we visited a Ukrainian cathedral (to see the gold spires in the sun), grabbed a donut across the street, and then some ice cream at the Honey Hut!
Then it was back to the hotel to grab our stuff to setup for the event!
OMG all the “naked eggs” for sale… Typically you’d have to blow them all out yourself and it’s not complicated but it is a lot of work. These were already blown out and cleaned! And on sale! For less than it would cost to even buy them in the store! Turns out the vendor was getting out of the egg business and just wanted them gone. Stay tuned to see just how many I ended up buying!!!
And then I bought my Christmas present! A goose egg from Pysanky Master Lorrie Popow! It’s absolutely stunning. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it!
I asked her how she could even see to do that and she said “When my eyes were younger!” I eventually looked through her Facebook page to see if I could find it to see when she did it…and it was 2012!!
Lorrie Popow: LorriePopow.com and on Facebook
We found this Sparty dog toy at Horrocks and of course had to buy it!
When you travel to Michigan and are close to your first apartment you officially shared (after my cousin Lisa moved out), you stop for a selfie.
The name of the complex has changed slightly but it looks exactly the same. Tom had to stop me from knocking on our actual apartment door and asking to look around.
We also stopped to check out Horrocks. Holy shit has that place grown (since we were last there 20 years ago)!! I would kill to have something like that by us now! We managed to spend a few hundred dollars on fun food items like flavored meats and cheeses, bulk dried goods and treats, flavored bulk olive oils, and Michigan-themed products just to name a few. If you’re ever in the area, you MUST stop: Horrocks of Lansing
Yes you bet your ass I’m wearing my crown!!
No fun errands or escapades… We were on our way to Michigan for my cousin’s wedding (technically like second cousins – whatever my cousin’s kids would be to me!).
Birthday dinner at a super yummy Chinese restaurant in Saginaw.
And a birthday margarita, because of course. The waitress guessed it was my birthday – telling me her mom wears a crown, too. Hey, it got me $1 off. LOL
And then we realized we wanted water for the hotel room so stopped here.
He’s waited 20+ years to have a truck and he certainly went all out! (I’ll just be over here choking on the monthly payments.) He put a deposit down in February just to get on a waiting list and it finally came in! Happy 50th birthday—you get no more presents for a few years!!
P.S. I guess I should tell you what it is (if you’re not a car person and have no idea)—a Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.
Do alarm bells go off? Under $100 at Costco is a feat! Plus those towels were technically not mine. And I made a $200 return! #winning
Someone outgrew her old harness so mom had to go shopping.
I decided to do something different — and a bit bigger for Tom’s 50th!
The kids wanted to go mini golfing and us ladies wanted to go shopping so we piled in the car and off we went—Katie actually sat in the waaaay back without a seat and she thought it was great fun!
We started the day at the craft show…where Katie decided to spend some of her money on a henna tattoo!
Then the kids took grandma and grandpa’s bikes out for a spin. Can you see them?
Right in the center of the picture!
It’s not the pool and it’s not my egg chair but it’s still a damn fine day.
My view!
I made the kids stay outside because it was just perfect weather. They’re making up their own rules to Candyland—which involved running around the house and naming fruits and vegetables. It’s crazy what creativity happens when they don’t have their devices!
Then Tom worked at getting the swing up!
And Owen enjoyed riding around the yard on grandma’s bike!
Once the swing was up, that was Katie’s favorite place to be! Sometimes she even let Owen push her!
Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler.
Got this photo update from Anna:
And then it was campfire and s’mores time!
Remember all the drama from our original attempted ottoman delivery? Well…this delivery was postponed a bit as well, but it finally came today (we ordered it in January) and it’s perfect!
And of course within one minute of delivery…
Of course she only got about 25¢ worth of stuff for her $2. But she had fun!
Proof you can get just about anything on Amazon.
Anna and I had gone to the store for ice cream last night after the band concert and saw they had some liquor on clearance. I bought three bottles—two of which were just to try (because they were so cheap) but one vodka that we were sure we’d like. Well…after trying it…we decided we needed to go back for more. Or, rather, the rest. So this was our cart tonight.
So what vodka is it? Smirnoff Red, White & Berry! It mixes great with pop and it will be amazing in Jello shots!
Tonight I did a little shopping from my own stock for things I am running out of… Color Correcting Tinted Moisturizer, Buff Foundation, Rejuvenating Anti-Wrinkle Serum, Advanced SenePlex+ Renewal Serum with Retinol, Digital Age Defense Serum, and Brightening Multi-Vitamin Treatment. Phew! Plus a few extra backups of the Hydrating Mist because SeneGence is getting rid of it and it’s a favorite of mine.
Waiting to buy phones? No wait at all. Trying to fix problems and get numbers ported? Ugh.
It was probably an hour in hold just to get someone and then the rest fixing and waiting. And we’re still not done.
Just kidding. We don’t need it—we love the family… Just wanted to make sure we were stocked before things closed plus leave enough for the next visit. Plus we always have to stop at Glen’s. (Sorry, it will always be Glen’s to me.)
Why yes, that’s an inflatable hot tub! Tom accepted a job yesterday (YAYYYYY!) so when we walked into Costco and saw this, we knew it was meant to be! (It also wasn’t nearly as expensive as we thought it would be.)
We are planning to get a real hot tub in the future, but that requires a lot of work first since we want to redo the whole backyard and deck.
So it was inside to warm up so we could inflate it, and then Tom rolled it outside, and now it’s sitting on the deck waiting to be filled and heated so we can use it Christmas morning!
Maggie could care less about the hot tub LOL.
We’ve wanted to stop at the Albanese outlet many times but we always had Maggie with us and it was too hot or cold to leave her in the car. So we stopped today! They have our favorite gummi bears!
IT was quite crowded so I didn’t take pics — but here’s one I found online that gives you an idea! This is about half of it! And so much more than gummi bears!!
Our faves might be the Goof Ups Gummi Worms!
Y’all know I love me some Amazon…but big box stores will not care about you the way small business owners will because, unfortunately, you don’t mean that much to them.
Spending $100 at a large retail or department store during the holidays won’t make much difference to anyone—but spending $100 through a home business or small local business owner for the holidays means OUR business CAN continue! It gives us our pay, provides for our families, and helps us continue to do what we love without using harsh sales techniques.
You mean the world to us and in return we’ll treat you like gold! Just ask my clients who got $700+ worth of bonuses so far this month!!
Shop a home/direct sales/small local business for the holidays this year!! Tom and I just spent a few hundred at local Grayling businesses (h/t to Tip’n the Mitten). And silly me, I didn’t take a pic of our haul…but there was a bit of locally brewed beer, cider, and wine!
FAIL.
We are pretty sure this was the exact table they tried to deliver the first time. Now we get to wait another 6-8 weeks and cross our fingers that they don’t try this again.
