Road Trip to VA

We just got back from our road trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. On our way down, my IPhone was an intricate part of our ride down. After NINE long hours of sitting in the car, I wanted to kiss my phone for provided entertainment in many ways.
   

Let's look at the check list:

Waze App: This not only provided our route, but also alerted us when there was traffic, accidents, and road blocks.  The whole app runs off of client participation, so the more you post, the more points you get.  It's updated each time a person posts about the map, and it will reroute you once it recognizes too much traffic. 

Over: LOVE this app! Not only can you take pictures with it, but you can change the picture through this program and write captions on the photo. I spent hours captioning all our family photos on the way home.  For a limited time, you can download free in-house purchases that change the font and add clever phrases.

Untapped: This is the most under-rated app around.  Sometimes it freezes, but with the different and unique beers I drank throughout the week, it was great to log what I had.  Oftentimes, I have something and forget what if I enjoyed it or not, so with this app, I can write down my thoughts! I can even take pictures, make comments, and write down the location of the brew.  So fun!

Gas Buddy: Oh gas buddy. I am old enough to know say I remember when gas was only 80 cents when I first got my license. Now? It's 3.59 on a good day.  Gas Buddy helps me find a deal nearby.

Road Trippers: Though we didn't use this app on our way to Virginia, it was fun to see what crazy sites were on the way to our final destination. This is hands down one of my favorite apps because I can create any list and tailor the destinations.  If we are only driving up the Northeast coast, then I can create a route that hits the places on the way.  So fun! It gives you a little history and links you to any websites or articles about the places.  

Field Trip: This app alerts you of any locations worthy of a field trip - museums, historical sites, battle sites (right up our alley in Wlliamsburg!) You can customize your route based on "thumbs up" or "thumbs down." There's also an option to read the description aloud like as if you were on a guided tour!

All these apps are available for the Iphone, not so sure about other devices.  Thanks Apple for making our journey chalk-full of info! 

Wear my Reads

After writing my lesson plans and updating my classroom website, I decided to do a little online browsing....

I decided when I teach this book, this is what I will be rocking!

I not only love the book, but I love the color!  My students can expect me to order lots more from this website Out of Print.  Check it out!  The last day of school, I may rock William Golding's wear - who doesn't want to be reminded what boys will do when they are stuck on an island with no adults??

Read and wear it!

Budget Me with Fashion

My husband and I are trying to budget our money and save, and not only did we take the Dave Ramsey course (which could be another post in itself) - but we are trying to look over our finances every month to see where we spend our money wastefully.  It seems our biggest problem is our debit card (err…my debit card).  I use this as my life line - and yes, the plus side is you can't spend more than you have....but what if you have all of your money in your account and you just keep spending?!  It could be a disaster.

Thanks to Savvycents, it seems the cash system approach is definitely working for us (me). 

What is Savvycents?

It contains everything you need to organize your monthly or weekly budget using a cash system. With an accordion style file system inside the wallet you can separate money, coupons, receipts or store discount cards by categories. Your wallet comes with file cards where you can label each category with our pre-printed labels. There are also blank labels where you can customize your wallet based on your personal categories. You no longer have to carry envelopes or zip lock bags to separate your money and coupons. Your change will fit nicely in a coin pocket located on the backside of the wallet. 

It also has 6 pockets for debit cards and store discount cards. On the opposite side there is a place for your driver’s license and a place for your checkbook. 

I received this pink wallet to review, and it has been a godsend.  At the start of the month, I withdrew the amount of money we needed for the following "cash paid" items: Groceries, gas, gifts, entertainments, and personal items.  I can see exactly how much we have to spend and when we are starting to dwindle.  Most people use this method of cash envelopes already.  My mother taught me the cash method but with bank envelopes when I got my first job.  Clearly, it didn’t stick – or I wouldn’t have created this debt hell I live in…but everyone lives and learns!

  I like this a little better than the white stuffy envelope because I am not walking around with ten bank slips in my purse. This looks like a wallet, and acts like a wallet.  I tested it out, and it actually is pretty sturdy – I’ve had a ton of wallets that lasted only a few months because they had small holes, or simply made it difficult for me to remove my license and cards when needed.  Once I had a wallet that every time I put change in it, it would disappear – it took me three times to realize that the change was going to an unknown secret space in my wallet, and I had to cut it open to get out the money! 

So far, Savvycents seems to hold everything I need. I like how there are many different compartments – some for credit cards/license, some for coupons and cash.  You really can carry whatever you would like – and it would be super organized.  

I plan on organizing my wallet and get it ready for full maximum usage for Black Friday sales. I will not be held up by my lack of organization, and carrying all my coupons and gift cards around in one container will be great!

Thanks Savvycents for making my cash system a little more fashionable :) 

My wallet loves November 1st but my garage doesn't

I love the first week of November for oh so many reasons. It means I don't have to feel silly about purchasing Christmas gifts (because yes, I like to start in the summertime) AND I love the sales. My Halloween collection grows tenfold this week every year because I hit up major clearance racks searching for skeletons and skulls galore.

Today my FAVORITE Halloween website has major clearance. Grandin Road has 60% off and then an additional 30% most Halloween items.  Yet, I put all my items in my shopping basket online, and by the time I was ready to purchase - half of them were gone :( booooooo

If you love the Pottery Barn Kids Halloween costumes, and are not handy with a thread and needle, now is the time to get the most adorable costumes at afforable prices!  My favorite costume is the cupcake costume. I wish they had my size (it would be double triple sizes larger than this!).  It was $55 - but now is $34.  Still expensive, but I have seen Pottery Barn's costumes, and they are worth the money.

The last big horrah for my wallet and my Halloween must-have is on the website Improvements. They have the cutest decorations on sale for Halloween, and if you purchase before Wednesday - you get an additional 20% off.  I have my eye on the  Halloween Character Silhouettes. I think they would look fabulous creeping around my front lawn...and for $12? My wallet will thank me, and so will the kids in our neighborhood! (Not too scary.)

Good Reads - a membership for life and love

I love books. that is no mystery to the depth of my love for the novel.  I recently heard that Gilmore Girls may or may not be coming out with a movie.  However, my feelings are mixed.  This got me to thinking about Rory our common love for the written word.  She always had a book in hand...which then got me looking for the list of books (because not only do I love books but I love lists!).

http://buecherrad.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/rorys-bucherliste/

http://gilmoregirlsfanatic.com/2010/10/15/where-i-went-wrong-with-the-booklist/#comments

Both of the above links have Rory Gilmore's book list...and maybe instead of tackling the NY Times List (yawn!), I would attempt Rory's extensive list...and the plus side? Some of the books on the list are mandatory reads for my students. Fabulous!
I recently told a friend that once I blog about something I am going to do, I don't follow through....we were trying to figure out  why that is. Perhaps it's because I get it off my chest - I declare it to the world, and that is enough for me.....so I am hoping that THIS book list will be different (I am going to try a lil harder this time!)

*I joined the Rory Gilmore Book Club on Goodreads.com - so excited to meet people from all walks of life who enjoy reading and my favorite cancelled show!

The first book I am reading (I already had it shipped from a library nearby) is called The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorthy Parker.  I will keep you posted on it's fabulousness or not...

Project #29 Pimp your window

This isn't really a project, moreso a review.

In college, I didn't want to give up celebrating or decorating for the holidays, so an easy and little-space needed way was to decorate the windows. I had (and probably still have) quite an array of window clings for all holidays.  Though I can't tell you where I put my stash of plastic celebratory clings, I have upgraded my window status. I bought window clings that cover our whole window in Michaels and Christmas Tree Shop (both by Martha Stewart) - which look great on our porch.  I love Martha. And I like how I only have to use her first name, and everyone knows who I am talking about right away. This year, we purchased the witch cling and decided to create a - "witch" area on our front porch, including the witch cling, extra witch brooms leaning against the house, and a calderon (filled with the smoke machine).

The skeleton window cling we bought two years ago, and I liked it so much - I decided that every window should be covered.  Lucky for our budget,  we only have four windows facing the front! I didn't realize the vast array of choices that are out there.  In our Michaels, two types are offered - a witch and a Frankenstein (both of which we proudly own).  Using a 40% coupon, the clings are only $6!You can cut the plastic to fit your window, and it rolls neatly back onto the plastic from which it came from.

After researching Martha and her clings, I realized there was one design I do not have - but must get my hands and my windows on them.  Spiders! At a later date, I will show you the front of my house, and it will make complete sense why locating these spider clings are a must.  This is what our living room looks like (not finished yet!), we have them all over the place!  Imagine the front of our house,  attacked by 5 foot spiders! yuck!

 In addition to window designs, Martha has a bunch of adorable, yet scary (and not chintzy) decorations for your house and your craft room.  Some projects you need to actual put together, and some already come assembled - just find a place and voila! My fear of mice and the creekiness of our stairs made me purchase the black mice silhouettes.  Again, with a coupon I spent less than five dollars on over 15 mice.   They are eerie and atleast twice a day, I do a little jump when I pass our stair case.  But they still make me laugh because they are so gross, and it the dark - they definitely resemble the real thing! Right now, we only put a couple around the  stairwell, but plan to put the rest around the house.  To torture our little dog Princess, I tacked a mouse silhouette by her food dish, so it appears it is eating out of her food dish.   Apparently, she doesn't care (or doesn't see it!). What a brave little dog!  

Blog Guidebook

I am becoming quite a fan of Blog Guidebook, as you can list your blog (for free!) in their directory?  Click here for more info!!  

They have a ton of blog parties listed, giveaways, and Blog How-tos!

Blog Par-tay!

Today is October 1st, which kicks off my very first blog mini series!   We go all out for Halloween, and I thought why not have a party to celebrate!? For the next 31 days, I will be posting spooktacular Halloween projects. recipes, and decorating ideas. I will happily feature anyone who wants to join the party and show off their cauldron of macabre ideas! Let's swap em! Some thoughts: Homemade costume ideas,  yard decorations, party treats and favors, fun food and drink concoctions!

<a href="http://oneplusoneequalslove.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww73/my1ange1/31DaysHalloweenButton.png" /></a>

How To Participate?

Please link up to my party and grab the "31 Spooktacular Projects" party button, and spread the word of this spooktacular event!   Add your link to Mr. Linky anytime between October 1st -31st. Please provide link to your Halloween post :)  If you don't have a blog, email me the pics or idea! I will gladly post for you!   

(Please keep your fingers crossed that it works, as I've never used McLinky - and I'm really excited/anxious of what to do!)

My First Blog Award!!

Thank you thank you! I wave my hand like a queen.  My first blog award!! I am so excited!!!  Thank you to Robyn over at Adventures in Abby Land for selecting me for The Versatile Blogger Award!!

What a great way to start the day!  I ran through the rain this morning, attempting not to look like a drowned rat - so when I opened up my email after getting into work and saw Robyn's comment - it made the wet feet and ragged hair not so bad!

*This is just a fun way to meet other bloggers and get to know one another, by passing these fun bloggy awards to other bloggers that we like! There are some FUN rules in accepting this bloggy award.
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous.
4. Contact the bloggers you choose and let them know they won the award.

7 things about myself??

1. I love school supplies.  I have an abundance of markers, pens, pencils, and staplers. Yes - staplers.  I have about 8 of them, and I am not sure why or how but I refuse to get rid of any. 

2. My best friend and her husband are moving to Africa to work among missionaries for the next ten months.  I am super proud of her, but will miss her terribly. 

3. I need to have ice in my drink at all times.   I realize it probably waters down most of my beverages, but I like my drinks at a chill temperature always.  *Except milk. YUCK*

4. Milk - I can not - and I repeat CAN NOT share my milk with anyone. For some reason, I find this absolutely gross. If you take a sip, consider it yours. 

5. I would love to be a baker, window display designer, cupcake maker, coffee shop owner, seamstress, costume designer, trampoline jumper, author.....and still be me. Yes, I need nine lives.

6. My favorite holidays are Christmas and Halloween. We completely decorate our house for both occasions (will post pictures!). Each year, we try to incorporate a new design or decoration...I can't wait to see how it comes out this year!!

7. Sugar is a necessity not a want.  My tea and sugar go hand in hand....to a point where there is a syrupy goo at the bottom of my mug - my husband wants to vomit, I want to smile and drink more.

This was very difficult to narrow down, but so much fun to go through my favorites :)

15 blogs to win this award:

1. 1 Luckee Girl

2. No 504 Main
3. Along for the Ride
4. Bake at 350
5. Be Different Act Normal
6. Brown Paper Packages
7. Crazy Domestic
8. From the Hive
9. Haphazardly Happy
10. Is there a Doctor in the House?
11. Just When I Can Squeeze In
12.Let's Go Fly a Kite
13. Moo Moo's and Tutu's
14.Poca Cosas
15. Simply Complicated

(That list is in alphabetical order, not listed by favorites)

Thanks again for this wonderful surprise, and congrats to the 15 blogs listed above!!!

Halloween Fun using your printer

As a teacher I am obbessed  with printables - I use them as rewards for students who are finished with their work, or downtime activites.  The Python printable website has an array of Halloween games that are so neat for the classroom and home! I searched through their database of over 50 printable activities, and found games that span all age ranges. I used some of the "Kids' Halloween"  Activities (word searches,vocabulary sheets, puzzles) for my classroom -and then stumbled upon more "adult" games.

  We have an annual Halloween and plan on  incorporating some of the games.   My favorite is the scavenger hunt - the website gives you easy clues with simple household objects to locate.  We decided to make prizes (ranging from candy to wine!) for the winners.  This site seriously takes the  cake of finding fun  at parties.    

What I like the best about the site is it was fast to download and super easy to print off.  I'll be honest - at first when I saw the site, I was a little hesitate to even write about it, thinking how exciting can printables be?! But then I downloaded them, and they actually were quite cute!  What I like the best is how they are organized on the site - breaking the activities into : Kids',Teens, Adults, Party games, Trivia games, and word games. My son's favorite was the NFL printables, which included sports trivia , matching of  players to teams and a word search.  This kept him busy in the car as we searched the stores for additional Halloween decorations :)  

On their website, they advertise as followed:

Our printable Halloween party games pack is huge! We have over 50 printable items, including scavenger hunts, trivia, party games and craft activities suitable for Halloween, Fall Harvest and Thanksgiving.

The products are delivered by encrypted download. Once a customer pays, they receive an email link to their download page. This will allow us to send bloggers their review samples in moments, so this is not too close to the deadline for Halloween or the rest of Fall.

The price is $19.95 for over 50 games, which should make it very appealing!

To find out more about these games and what fun you could have,check it out! The site allows you to download a few Halloween coloring pages, and a coupon for $5.

  

This Product Was a Free Giveaway

Etsy Love

The Trendy Owl

Recent Etsy purchase....as I am looking through my google reader - I come across the cutest hair bands that are on sale for a whooping $5! five dollars?! I heart headbands and this certainly will pimp my hair.  The elastic band doesn't seem like it will squeeze my head (a reason why I can't wear hairbands all day). And for 5 dollars? I have met my hair's soulmate.  
I quickly purchased three - it took me no more than three minutes to pick them out and buy them. I can't wait for them to arrive! There are all different colors and styles to check out!!
After perusing the site, I settled not only on three hairbands, but also a necklace. The flower jewelry has three fabric flowers attached to a chain.  I already have my outfit picked out when it arrives in the mail!


Check out The Trendy Owl's Etsy site to see all the different types of designs!  

Dream a little dream of laundry

Sometimes I spend hours (and hours) day dreaming about what our next house will look like. I can't help but stroll down the aisles of Home Depot and Lowes, picking out the colors of all our rooms (in the fictitious house).  

First of all, I would like to have a laundry room. A real laundry room.  I realize I am fortunate enough to just have a washer and dryer, but in the end - they are located in our drabby basement.  I want to be able to hang cutesy signs, paint bright colors, etc.  

This is from KevinandAmanda and the laundry room looks fabulous!  Not totally over done and just big enough to do your business.  Mr. loves the drawers next to the washer/dryer.  It looks neat and organized.  I also love love the color on the walls!


If we happened to have a whole room for a laundry room, rather than a hallway space, I believe we would have to have a ton of storage. To store what...I don't know! Laundry stuff :)  I love the locker baskets (maybe to store lost socks?).  I love the shutters on the inside of the house, and the adorable decorations on the counter top.   It may be hard to see, but there is bubble glass instead of regular cabinet fronts.  LOVE. It is sad that my dreams consist of fancy pants washers and dryers?

A girl can dream......and blog about it!

Chicken coop

A dear friend of my mine hangs out with some chicks named Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia. Chickens of course.  I admit it - I am super jealous. The moment he told me the names of his little friends, I knew I also must own chickens.   Why, you might ask? Well, you are not alone in asking.  When I told my husband - he wanted to know why I would possibly want to own four creatures that peck and eat grains. First, they are odd and interesting creatures. Secondly, lil baby chicks - adorable!  Not to mention fresh eggs would be a total perk each morning.
So for the past few weeks all I have talked about is owning my own little chicken coop filled with my own lil Golden Girls. After looking up information on habitats for chickens, who knew their homes could be so hip?!

Chicken Cribs located in California have an easy DIY kit that you can put together yourself.  It can accommodate four chickens (perfect for my Golden G names!).

This type of house keeps out OTHER animals and seems pretty easy to clean. Therefore, it is the most practical.  However, there are some pretty wacky coops out there!

This particular coop seems like a giant egg, and maybe that is the point? Not sure about that.  I am just not up for the ultra-mod types.   But in my coop searching, I found a whole website deticated to chicken coop plans - Called DIY Chicken Coop Plans (very straightforward with the name!).

My other favorite chicken coop is the Eglu - which apparently was the laughing stock of coops by farmers a few years ago.  But now it seems the popular choice!  It is also pretty reasonable and they have a bunch of different styles depending on your need/space.

The article in Sunset Magazine makes it seem so easy to own your own chickens.  It answers all the questions you might have, like whether or not it is legal, or how to have baby chicks or just eggs to eat.  However, in the end - I believe this is just another fantasy because I feel that owning chickens may make me a farmer.  And for that, I feel I need to improve on our garden.  Which means we need to better our compost pile.  I know my logic seems odd, but I feel without my compost pile and garden, I shouldn't have chickens.  Till then, I will just have to keep my fresh eggs and Golden girls to my dreams.

Shiver Me Timbers

The idea of a party tickles me pink. I love the thought of having a themed party. Today, I think all my ideas have been wrapped up in someone's blog.   Under the Table and Dreaming posted about her son's pirate party. After my own heart!!  I love all the little touches and the cupcakes are completely and utterly ADORABLE!  I believe she made them herself. When I showed Mr, he said that I could do that if I had all the time in the world - he is right, I have enough trouble doing my laundry, let alone making and decorating little pirate booty cupcakes. 

These cupcakes she decorated using fondant, something I am not too familiar with yet.  But after looking these over, I think I might have to try it out!

After checking out her website a bit more, she also fancied a Carnival party - seriously, I believe this woman may be my new hero. 

Check out her site and see what fun and creative ideas she has come up with!

Monday monday

The dreaded B word. I loathe the word. I'll whisper it to you know what I mean...I hate the word bored. AH. I hate even typing it! I am as a child, I may have tossed that word around a time or two, but I am finding that more and more kids can not seem to occupy themselves! What gives?!

This summer I am hoping to get alot of projects done that perhaps fell by the wayside this year. We also have planned a lot of fun day trips, but certainly not one for every day! Therefore, it is up to Little to occupy himself when we are not entertaining him with circus events, fairs and carnivals, and museum trips. Following me around the house looking mopey is NOT a friendly experience!

What I like most about this is that some of the activities are clearly CHORES.

And I don't know what is stopping a child from just picking again till they get something they want to do.....like play video games. hmmm. This is something I need to think about.Somewhat Simple created a "Bored Jar" and I really like its presentation (which is everything!).

The idea is to come up with a list of things to do, fun and not-so-fun, so when the child is feeling bored, they can entertain themselves. The list that I came up with has over 20 activities, though some of them are repeated (like dusting and cleaning!). Below is an example of the lists I am using for the jar.

Another blog that had a fabulous "Bored Jar" was KMcKay Designs. The fonts she uses are so darn cute! She also has a ton of other fun activities for kids to make - if you want to check it out!

Summer has never been so crafty!!