Last year my bff, Jenn, invited me to go to the phenom that *is* the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale. It is only a few hours from where we live and we thought it would be a fun, quick shopping trip where we scored a few purses. Uh, lets just say it was a freaken nutso crazy shopping experience filled with over 5 hours standing / waiting in lines, six hours in the car and saying my tagline of "I hate people" more than a million times under my breath. We did score some good deals and I'll admit that this self proclaimed Kate girl picked out a few things that I've used many times over the past year. And I'm pretty sure Jenn thought I would NEVER want to do this again. But guess what?!? We did. And we brought more ladies with us!
This year the sale was MUCH more organized and well planned out {given the number of people who attend}. We were all excited to do a mini-girls trip mid week. Me, Jenn, my mom, Aunt Anna Marie, Tim's mom, Aunt Nanci and our family friend Pam traveled to the big sale. We met up the night before, dined and spent the night in a hotel (a luxury of peace & quiet for me & Jenn!!). Then we woke at the crack of dawn to shop til we dropped. And let's just say several of our party scored BIG at the sale!
Here are a few pictures to show the fun . . .
Our group
Jenn & Me
My loot (the bag is going to become my new work bag. I think I'm finally going to retire, er sell, my first Kate Spade diaper bag, which has actually been my work bag for the past year or so). I bought a few other items for gifts, so those aren't pictured here (and of course I also snagged a few things for friends who couldn't make it with us)
And to commemorate the trip, Debbie & I put together these little goodie bags for us all. :)
Mother’s day is fast approaching. And it is a day that has always been special to me – not just because I have the best mom (and mother-in-law) around, but also because it is always very close to (if not on) my birthday. Now that I’m a mama, too, it is like the trifecta – I get to pamper the moms in my life AND I get pampered by the little peeps not just for being their mom but for celebrating my day of birth, too. Bonus!
Now now that I’m older, though, I find that giving gifts is MUCH harder. Tim & I are the type of people who if we want something we just go get it {and unfortunately, so are our families!}. That’s where personalized gifts come into play and save the day! Thanks to sites like Shutterfly, I can create a special, one-of-a-kind memento to show our moms (aka Nana & Grandma, now) how much we love them.
I normally make everyone a special calendar for the year at Christmas time. But I also like to put together books -- they are so easy to create and Shutterfly has some of the most beautiful layouts I've seen. And the quality is amazing! They are running some sales right now, so go check them out!
I've also considered doing something special Nana & Grandma could put in their office or home. The canvas wall art is one of my favorites.
Or maybe I'll do some stationery. Who doesn't love getting a REAL piece of mail (not junk!) hand written on a beautiful piece of paper personalized from the sender? So pretty!
Overall, Shutterfly is one of my favorite "go to" sites for quick, unique, personalized {and beautiful} gifts! Be sure to check them out for a wonderful way to surprise your Mom or Grandmother on Mother's Day.
Check back tomorrow for a quick update on how I spent some quality time with my mom and Debbie (as well as a few other really special Moms in my life) this week.
Do you have a blog? Click HERE to sign up for a chance at 50 free cards from Shutterfly.
Ashley was brave enough to let B&K (and A) decorate Easter eggs at her house last week. They seemed to have had a blast!
This may end up becoming a regular "segment" here. Remember this post? Well, Kendyll is at it again! She is VERY into fashion. She loves for things to match and will notice if you are wearing something that matches too. She is also all about telling everyone they look pretty (or handsome). The other day I put her in a pretty shirt & sweater set for school and had intended her to wear a pair of black mary janes. She threw a fit and said her tall books would go better with the shirt. No joke.
First up, her "housewife" getup, as I call it. (the apron & hat were birthday gifts from her boyfriends Keegan & Louden).
Second is her "I'm ready for the beach" look.
Sexy.
I thought of a few other random "quirks" or cute things the kids are saying these days . . .
- They are very literal. Like in the morning when I say "Ok, take your clothes off so we can go potty" they are both quick to correct me. "No, Mom, these are my PAJAMAS, not clothes!!". Same goes for jean/pants . . . "Bennett, pull up your pants" is quickly corrected with "No, Mom, these are my JEANS".
- They are also big time into talking / sounding like adults. They are quick to start a sentence with "So . . . . " and love to use the word "Because" and statements like "Maybe we'll go to the park" or "Maybe we can eat dinner in the playroom" -- its the use of the word "maybe" that kills me. I need to get this on camera because it is quite funny.
- Apparently our years of positive reinforcement and "great job!" are rubbing off. The other day I was playing a game of online "match game" with Kendyll on her "iPad" (aka her Fisher Price XLi thing). I kept missing matches (not on purpose) and Little Miss Wicked Smarty-pants kept pointing out the matches to me. When I would finally click on the 2 squares that matched she would pat me on the back and say "good job mommy, I'm very proud of you". Ha!
- I don't think I've mentioned it here, but they went through this phase where they were addicted to the movie "Despicable Me", aka Spickle-spickle Me, as B&K call it. We seriously watched it every.single.day for at least a month (good thing mommy & daddy love the movie too. A lot). We had to scale back a bit, though, when B took to shoving and pulling and hitting his sister like she was a minion. Humph. But he still LOVES to quote the movie. All.the.time. So if you hear him spout out an "UN-PRE-DICTABLE!!!", "chillax", "look at my face" or use the word "Poop" a lot, you now know where this came from.
We had a nice, low-key weekend. Tim helped his dad out around the house on Saturday and yesterday we just lounged (K is fighting a little spring cold). It warmed up enough in the afternoon that we were able to go down to the park for a bit and B&K rode their bikes {I need to take off the little parent bar in the back . . . they can both get around on these fine, but sometimes they like to push the bike around, too}.
The next week or so is SUPER jam packed (for me at least!) . . . the semi-annual CMOTC consignment sale is this weekend, then Saturday night we're going to see a comedian with some friends (and Grandma & Grandpa are coming down for the weekend!), then I'm sneaking away for another mini-girls trip/overnight thing next week and we're planning to go to South Bend for the ND Spring Game the following weekend. Whew! Fun times!
