Wishful Slacker

Toddler Gear Guide- 15 months

Here is an update on the toys, books, etc, that strike Ellie's fancy, now that she is almost 15 months old:

1) Baby dolls
Jim and I got Ellie her first real dolly for Christmas.  There are many makers of baby dolls, and the brand that Jim and I were really looking at were those made by Corelle.  They have a plastic head and limbs with a cloth body, and come with different outfits.  The big problem is that they are PRICEY.  And the thing is, does our toddler really understand that she's been given an expensive dolly?  She's thrilled playing with cardboard shipping boxes, so there's our answer.  We got Ellie a $20 Madame Alexander plastic baby doll, and she is really starting to carry her around.  In addition, Ellie has started playing with her Baby Stella doll, which we received as a baby gift.  Baby Stella is an all-plush doll.  Ellie seems to really enjoy both- she picks one up, drops it, and then picks up the other one.  She likes getting Baby Stella's magnetic pacifier to stick to her mouth, and she slings both of them into her grocery cart and baby stroller.


This morning at our toddler class at Pied Piper Eleanor began to feed the baby dolls there with a plastic bottle.  She took it very seriously.  So, apparently we must now add "doll feeding accessories" to our list of future do-dads to acquire around here. 


2) Push carts
For Christmas Ellie received a little plastic shopping cart, which she really, really likes.  She places her bunny or one of her dolls in the front, and sometimes throws the others into the back.  Having a shopping cart at this age is great for her infatuation with constant movement.  At first, she kept leaning on her shopping cart as though it was a walker, and it would tip over and she would get frustrated.  She seems to now have gotten the knack of it.  There are many brands of shopping carts for kids. 


At a friend's house over Christmas break, Ellie had a great time playing with their doll stroller which my friend said she found at Target for about $10.  Sure enough, Target has these umbrella strollers (that actually fold up), and Ellie really loves hers.  I didn't know if there was a need for her to have both a stroller AND a shopping cart, but she really does seem to enjoy having both. 


3) Crayons.  Ellie is starting to enjoy coloring.  Jim got her a set of jumbo Crayola crayons for Christmas, and now we have one more thing to do on rainy days.  :-) 

4) Mega Bloks or other Lego/block sets
I got Ellie and Jim a killer set of Mega Bloks for Christmas.  I got a great deal- 100 pieces in a plastic tub from Walmart.com, for just $10!  It was right before Christmas, so I think I benefited from a good Christmas deal because I haven't seen them that inexpensive since.  Other Mega Bloks sets come in a zippered pouch, and I like the sturdy bin that came with our set.  The Mega Bloks are really easy for Ellie to snap together.  In the play area of a Barnes & Noble she was really enjoying playing with their Lego table.  My biggest issue with the blocks is that she always knocks down my amazing skyscrapers.  Sigh. 


Along the blocks theme, Ellie also received this train set for Christmas and really likes it. 

5) Corn Popper.  Yes, I am referencing that classic toy that we all enjoyed when we were kids.  We got one for Ellie for her birthday.  It took her a while to be able to push it forward properly without falling, but now that she is much sturdier on her feet it has become one of her favorites, especially when she needs to run off some steam. 

6) Laptop.  I still feel that I don't want all of the toys in our home to be electronic and an imagination-zapper.  But there are some battery-operated toys that Ellie just LOVES, and her little laptop is one of them.  We now bring it along for long car rides because it is great entertainment for her when she starts to buck in the backseat.  Hers is a little Vtech laptop, and there is a larger model at Pied Piper.  She loves that one too, and today almost launched into a full temper tantrum after another child TOUCHED it.  Yikes. 


7) Shape sorters.  My mom got us this one for Christmas.  I knew Eleanor would enjoy playing with it, but I was surprised to find after the holidays that it was probably her favorite new toy.  After she inserts the shape into the hippo's body, she pumps the plunger at the top and the shapes spin around inside and come spitting out the hippo's mouth.  She really likes that part. 

8) Maisy books.  Ellie likes all of her board books, but we have gotten several books about Maisy (who is a mouse, apparently, but I think she looks more like a rat.  Don't tell Ellie that).  They've got great illustrations and Jim and I like the stories.  Okay, maybe it's really Jim and me that love Maisy, and we are pushing that onto our child.  That may be more of the underlying picture here.  But, I have to say that if you tell Ellie to go get her Sweet Dreams, Maisy book, she goes and gets the correct one, which tells me that she must like it, right?  Oh, and we have gotten many of ours used (but in quite good condition) from Amazon.  We also like Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton. Ellie is starting to say "BOW WOW WOW" in a deep and husky voice when we get to that page.  Cracks me up. 

So, yes, bottom line is that Eleanor received many toys for her birthday and the holidays, and I am pleased to say that we will be taking quite a toy-purchasing break for the time being.  In 2-3 years, when I need to buy another munchkin a gift and my memory is fried, I can look off of this list.  :-)

Oh, one more thing!  We have had some friends inquire about the little play area that we have in our living room.  It is the playzone sold from the One Step Ahead catalog, but we found ours used on Craigslist.  We have the basic set plus two extensions, and then we got the foam tiles to go inside. 

Sale! Sale! Sale!

We went to the pre-sale of the Babies and Tots consignment event for first time moms last night. With the baby fed and in her pj's, we rushed in with the throng of new and expectant couples and went to town. The baby dangled upside down in her carrier as I lunged for dresses, pants, and pajamas. We grabbed as much as we could, and quickly checked out before Eleanor decided she'd had enough! It was pretty fun!

For $150, we came home with:
1 pair of shoes
2 toys
2 sweaters
2 long sleeve shirts
8 pairs of pajamas
2 pairs of pants
7 dresses
5 two-three piece full outfits (tops with pants, including one pair of Levi jeans)

Oh, how I love shopping resale...

(cat not included)

I'm on a roll!

These were from two well-planned trips to Walgreens this week.  :-D 

What ya gonna do but shop?

I'm starting to take some days off from work here and there, now that I am 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant and bursting at the seams.  The squeal coming from my joints every time I stood up is really what propelled this action.  And, what do you know, but over the weekend I actually felt so much better after having stayed off my feet for most of Friday!  My sisters visited me on Saturday and said, completely unprompted, "Well, your ankles and your feet aren't swollen!"

All my friends in Chicago know that I've been clomping around like a sumo wrestler for months now with what seem like the largest ankles in the city.  And just after one day off, they became normal again. 

I've stayed home again today but will plan on heading back in tomorrow.  The most frustrating part of this journey is that this kid is going to make her appearance whenever she damn well pleases (sorry to sound so harsh, my sweet little baby of mine).  If I knew that I could go into labor tonight, for example, I would do everything I could to sleep all...day...long today.  But if nothing happens tonight, then I'll be up all night since I slept all day!  It's a delicate balance I'm trying to maintain here.

I wanted to share one thing I have become somewhat addicted to during these last couple weeks of reduced activity.  I partially blame my friend Michelle for this, since she got me jumpstarted on this path :-)  Anyways, just like they have Groupon.com and other discounted websites for adults, there are also a plethera of discounted websites for babies and kids.  And they all have that "OMGwehavethebestdealnowbutitwon'tlastforlong!!!!!!!" feeling.  It's exhilarating.  Some offer one special per day that quickly sells out if you don't grab it, others offer up a new special once the previous one sells out. 

I've been pretty good about it and have not overly abused our checkbook.  But I've also gotten some awesome stuff!  Like the Woombie, a Swaddlebee econappi and Grandma El's products, all at about a 50% discount from the retail value.

Here are some of the sites I recommend, if any of you wish to fall into a similar addiction.  Let me know if you're aware of any others!

Baby Half Off

Baby Steals and Kid Steals

mama loot
(Chicago-based)

Mama Bargains

Green Baby Bargains

Eco Baby Buys

This is how you do it

I made a killing at Walgreens last night.  The success of saving a lot at places like Walgreens depends on how well you combine weekly store specials with manufacturer coupons.  And, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I've gotten pretty good at it.  Here's my technique:

1) You don't need one, but having a coupon organizer like the one below from The Container Store makes sorting through coupons far easier.  I have the taps on ours labelled "dry goods," "toiletries," "household items," "medicine," etc.  My tab for "cat," has now become "cat/baby," which the cat is a little disgruntled about.
2) On Sunday mornings, I sort out the weekly circulars that come in the newspaper, setting aside the inserts for Walgreens and Target along with the manufacturer coupon sheets that have come out that week.  I'm not a huge fan of CVS, and we don't have many Rite Aids nearby, so that's why Walgreens is my convenience store of choice.  Target can throw out some good specials too, but venturing into a Chicago-area Target sometimes is like walking into the penguin house at the zoo.  There's a lot of slow waddling and waiting in lines. 

3) Sitting down with the scissors, I go through the manufacturer coupons FIRST, cutting out only the ones I think we would ever use (Using coupons is not so you can buy pointless stuff you'd never buy to begin with).  THEN, I finish off with the Walgreens and Target ads.

Why in that order?  Well, if I just clipped a manufacturer coupon for Ponds lotion, then when I see the weekly special for Ponds lotion at Walgreens I instantly remember that I just cut out a manufacturer's coupon for the same product.  If you looked through the Walgreens catalog first, you'd be more apt to forget those store specials when you go through the manufacturer coupon inserts.  Or that could be just me. 

Again, this is the vital consideration here- you CAN combine manufacturer's coupons with weekly store specials. 

To demonstrate my point, I actually wrote down several of the coupons and specials that I combined yesterday during my shopping spree:

• We had a $2.50 coupon good for any 3 Swiffer refills (from the newspaper insert) and a $1 off Swiffer refill coupon that we got from our Swiffer mop starter kit.  Swiffer refills this week from Walgreens were 25% off.  We then got $3.50 off of 4 Swiffer refill products (the pads and liquid refills) that were already 25% off to begin with.  In addition to THAT, Febreze air freshioner was 25% off and we had a $0.50 manufacturer coupon.  If you bought any combination of Febreze or Swiffer products of $10 or more, you got $2 in register rewards (basically a $2 coupon to use for your next trip to Walgreens), expiring Sept 15.
• There was a "buy one get one 50% off" store special for Gillette disposable razors.  We also had a $2.00 off manufacturer coupon.  Now, ladies, boy razors are so much cheaper than those meant for women.  Have you noticed?  You got 4 Gillette Mach3 razors for a little over $6, while Venus disposable razors are almost $10 for 3!  And, I seriously can find no major difference between them aside from the color of the handle.  Anyways, just a side thought there.
• This was a good one- a 10 count pack of Breathe Right nasal strips (which come in handy during bad allergy or cold season) was on sale at Walgreens for just $4 (they're usually closer to $10), AND Walgreens gave you $4 back in register rewards for their purchase.  AND we had a $1 off manufacturer coupon.  Get this, Walgreens doesn't always want you to realize that there are such good specials on some of their products, so sometimes there will be no sale sign at the display.  Another reason why it's handy to do your homework (and they keep their weekly special inserts at the entranceway, which I'll often grab in order to make sure I'm grabbing the right thing).
• Colgate Advanced toothpaste (4 oz tube) was on sale at Walgreens this week for $2.99, plus you get $2 in register rewards.  AND we had a $0.75 off manufacturer coupon.  You can get fooled pretty easily, because the 4 oz tube is one of the smaller tube sizes.  There were other specials on the larger sizes, but our combination of coupon/store special was a better deal. 
• General Mills cereals were on sale for $1.99 each, and we had a coupon that we'd previously been issued by Walgreens for $1.50 off of 3 boxes.   

In the end, we ended up saving $34 after the weekly store specials and manufacturer coupon totals were tallied up.  They print it right at the bottom of your receipt, so you can stare at it with glee all evening.  In addition to those savings, we received $8 in coupons for register rewards and another $1.50 General Mills cereal coupon.  So, basically, my coupon plans involve 2 trips.  The first trip involves using up many coupon deals to get the register rewards.  My second trip involves using our register reward coupons for products that we need that don't usually go on sale, like the 18 containers of Pepcid that I need to buy to get me through the rest of this pregnancy. 

Here's a couple additional tips.  In order to get all this to work, it pays to be organized.  So, as I'm going through the ads each Sunday, I also take out an envelope and a pen.  When I find something for us to get, I write it down and then, if there is a coupon, I stick the coupon inside the envelope.  If there are any particulars on the coupon or sale (which there often are-for example, if it's for 75 ft versus 100 ft of Reynolds Wrap) then I write that down on the envelope too.  The envelope is also handy as you head to the check out. 

 

Sometimes I realize that, even with these combos, it's still cheaper to buy off-brand.  If that happens while I am at the store, I scrap my original plan and will remove the coupon from the envelope and shove it into a pocket or rip it up so that it's no longer stuck in the stack of coupons I hand over to the cashier.  That may seem a bit overboard, but it really makes the whole shopping excursion much more efficient. 

You often don't strike it as big with manufacturer coupons on food at grocery stores as you do with toiletries, especially if you tend to eat more produce and less meat and processed foods.  We still come across good deals on canned and dry goods, frozen vegetables, and things like that.  And some weekly grocery store specials are really good. 

As part of this couponing spree, it sometimes pays to stock up.  Buying two things of peanut butter when you've got a store special and a coupon ends up saving you money in the end than just getting 1 and having to return in a month for more peanut butter at full price.  But, don't go overboard here- it's no good to have a pantry stuffed with 10 jars of peanut butter.  Along those lines, as I've already mentioned, pay extra close attention to the sizes of what you're getting.  More is not always better.  Walgreens runs that 4 oz toothpaste special quite often, and manufacturer coupons are a plenty for toothpaste.  Over time I feel we save a lot more money buying smaller sizes at essentially $0.25 a piece than what a larger collection breaks down into. 

And, to end this, I think it's important not to get coupon burnout.  If you don't feel like going through the coupons and ads on a particular Sunday morning, then don't.  If it seems like a chore than I don't think you'll feel the pay off as much.  There's a price paid for convenience during some weeks, and we don't need to shop for shampoo every week either.  So no pressure! 

 

Website of the Week- Part 1

I've been busy and am late in posting my website of the week!  This is going to be a two part website of the week.  Part 1 features Etsy, an ebay-type site that features craft items for sale.   I have yet to buy something from Etsy, but have been tempted and honestly haven't perused its offerings in as much detail as I would like (probably not the worst thing!).  Part 2 will be posted next week :-)

Blog posts will be light next week, because my husband and I are actually LEAVING CHICAGOLAND.  AND THE INTERNET.  AND BASEBOARD HEATING.  For the first time in a year, we are taking more than 2 consecutive days off of work, and for the first time since MAY we are leaving this area.  We will be heading up to my parents' version of Golden Pond, their cottage outside of East Tawas, Michigan, which we haven't visited in 2 years!  So, as you can see, this adventure is very overdue for us, and it still seems strange to think that we're going...

Oh, and with regards to the heating comment, not to worry.  There is a big ole furnace and  a couple space heaters.  You think I'd go somewhere in this weather with no heat?!  It's not even November and I've already worn my heavy North Face coat twice (people have looked at me oddly because of it too).  I like my warmth.   

Ode to my teeth, also, why I went crazy at Express last night

My teeth have turned to mashed potato mush.  Growing up, I had teeth of steel.  Even after 5 years of braces (my glamour years) I had no cavities.  Then two years ago I went to a new dentist for a cleaning.  After much head shaking, they led me to a dimly lit room and, with soothing music playing in the background, informed me that I had SEVEN cavities.  SEVEN.  So many that I would need two visits to get them filled.  One by one they brought up my xrays on their fancy screen.  Which really wasn't necessary- OK, OK, GOT IT- I HAVE CAVITIES.  I SUCK.   No need to rub it in my face by pointing out the dreaded plaque burrowing through my enamel with your laser pointer. 

I will not lie.  This kind of demoralized me.  Driving home after that appointment I called several people for moral support.  Did this mean I was a bad person?  Was I leading my body to an early grave?  Screw it, maybe I should just start smoking and injecting illicit drugs to speed things up?  Honestly, I don't understand how this has happened.  Me with my fancy Sonicare toothbrush.  Me with my regular flossing.  Me with my love of milk.  When I talked to a different dentist about it at my last visit, he gave me some truly half-assed response about how people today are getting more cavities because of our reliance on bottled water.  Cool dude, except that I never DRINK bottled water (you think I'd waste my money on bottled water? pshaw!).

My pride healed somewhat with time.  But then last night I returned for another routine cleaning (what moron schedules a teeth cleaning on a Friday night?  Oh wait- me) and was informed I need another THREE fillings.  They even offered to fill them right then and there.  While it was tempting to get this next stage of misery over with, the thought of spending my entire Friday evening with this dentist did not appeal to me one ounce. 

So I ran out of there (I get to go back next Thursday-yay!) and instead met my husband at Whole Foods.  Friday night was getting even better- first the dentist, then a grocery store!  But holy cow has anyone been to the new Whole Foods at North Avenue and Sheffield?  The original location for this Whole Foods was closed down a couple of times by the Health Department for a little nuisance they like to call a rat infestation.  This new fancy store is something else.  First of all, at the entrance is a BAR.  Like with a mahogany finish and beer taps and flat screen tv's.  And it looked like people actually met up there just for the bar- at a Whole Foods!  People browse the aisles while carrying their pint glasses.  Deeper into the store is a WINE bar.  Again, people all dressed to the nines on a Friday night, sitting in the middle of a Whole Foods sipping wine.  I would have taken pictures, but I know that Whole Foods does not enjoy that.  We took a photography class last December, and two members of our class were asked to leave the local Whole Foods during one of our photography assignments.  And you wouldn't want to get kicked out of this Whole Foods.  No sir. 

Jim had his bike with him, and after our shop we parted ways so I could head back to the dingy disgusting why-does-that-puddle-never-go-away North and Clybourn red line stop (good God if Chicago gets the Olympics, will they at least re-do the red line?).  Well, on this walk I passed the Express store on North.  All I saw were red "Sale" signs.  Even with that, I kept walking.  Then I stopped.  It may have been the failure I felt because of my teeth.  It may have been the fancy feeling I felt just from walking through that beautiful Whole Foods.  But my body was hit with this incredible urge to shop NOW.  Buy nice clothes NOW.  ON SALE. 

So I did a pivot turn right into that store.  And of course I got one of those good sales ladies who was all, "do you need another size? have you seen our skirts are also on sale?  Oh, you're looking for work clothes? Let me HELP" and doesn't make you feel like a loser for not being able to even remember the last time you bought work clothes.  Jim, who stopped to get us some hamburgers from Five Guys, gets a text from me that reads "GONE SHOPPING" which is all I could manage to get out while carrying our Whole Foods eggs and oranges and my accumulating pile of clothes.  And when I stumbled through our door an hour later, arms shaking from carrying my purchases, I found my hamburger warming in the oven and my wonderfully supportive husband didn't flinch a muscle when I told him how much I spent but rather told me that I needed clothes, and it was absolutely fine. 

And with that, I went to bed.  Without flossing.       

Restaurant.com Special

Now through Sunday- use the promotion code NINETY at restaurant.com to buy $25 certificates for only $1.  We just bought one hundred dollars worth for only $4!  Some restaurants have specific requirements (some certificates can only be used Sun-Thurs, some have minimum purchase requirements, etc), but those are all listed pretty clearly on the site.  You can print them out and then you're good to go!

Shampoo Sarcasm

I finally went through Sunday's coupon inserts this evening.  I'm not very discriminating in my coupon clipping, and will hang on to coupons for all different types and brands of products if I feel I might purchase them given the appropriate situation (see here).  The whole process of purchasing goods, toiletries and cosmetics especially, can be such a racket.  What makes us buy certain things?  What types of gimmicks draw us in?  For example, tonight I came across a coupon for Nivea Body Wash for Women.  Now, what in the heck is so special about this body wash that it's better for a woman and not a man?  Are we as women drawn to this entirely because it was made for us?  Does our estrogen surge at the thought?  Perhaps there is some gene expressed on the Y chromosome that makes a man shriek in disgust at having this as his only cleansing option in the shower.  Give me a break.  Keeping track of His and Hers soaps is not necessary.  Life is already complicated enough!

Along these lines, I am intrigued by the language on lotions and cleansers that try to get our attention.  I am currently using the shampoo that is pictured here.  Underneath the word Shampoo on the bottle it says "With Liquid Crystals."  Oh my gosh!  LIQUID CRYSTALS!  Thank God!  So, I've gone to the Pantene Pro-V website to learn more about my shampoo.  This is what it says:

_________________

BRUNETTE EXPRESSIONS

DAILY COLOR ENHANCING SHAMPOO

Helps keep your brown hair strong against damage*

Pro-Vitamin system, with prismatic shine enhancers, boosts dark brown tones by protecting against daily damage and stresses that can dull brunette hair. Designed to protect against damaging elements for true, multidimensional brunette tones.*

• Gently cleans to help remove build-up and impurities in darker brown shades while leaving hair lush with moisture
• Non-color depositing formula gives radiance to flat color
• Moisturizing formula helps fight dryness and dullness for healthy shine and strength against damage
• Pro-vitamin formula delivers moisture to the hair and gives radiance to flat color

* shampoo and conditioner vs. Pantene shampoo alone

_________________

Hmmm.  But where's the part about the Liquid Crystals?  How can I learn more about their skills and magic?

Part 2 in looking into this- examine the bottle.  Here's what is says (yes, I am typing out the description on the back of the bottle.  It's a slow TV night):

"Pantene Pro-V Brunette Expressions Shampoo formula with Liquid Crystals helps protect against daily damage and improves the way light interacts with your hair, bringing out depth and richness.  Liquid Crystals help reveal the 3 facets of your color: tone, depth, & vibrancy."

So there you have it Ladies and Gentleman! Your answer!  Albeit, I still don't truly understand what these are.  But, anyways, my point is just that it's funny when you start paying attention to these things.  Imagine seeing the phrase, "NOW with Ginkobalobahoba extract" on the side of a bottle of hair mousse.  Someone will pick up that product, think, "ohhhh, ginkobalobahoba! I think I saw Dr. Oz talk about that on Oprah!" and then into the cart it goes.  In actuality, maybe Dr. Oz mentioned ginkgo biloba and not ginkobalobahoba, and if Dr. Oz did mention it, perhaps he recommended it be administered in capsule form and not slathered over one's head. 

I had a great chemistry professor in college who went off on a tangent during class about how everyone wants all-organic vitamins, when we can get the equivalent benefit of a calcium supplement by eating chalk.  Then he brought in a pure piece of calcium, secured a protective barrier around it, adjusted his safety googles, and told us to brace ourselves.  He threw one little drop of water on the calcium and IT TOTALLY BLEW UP.  It was awesome.   

Website of the Week

When I first started this blog, one of the subjects I thought I would discuss frequently was coupon savings.  And, lo and behold, I really haven't talked that much about it!  Part of the reason for this is that stores seem to be getting smart to the recession and aren't offering the types of specials they were earlier in the year.  Another reason I haven't blogged much on my couponing is that I stocked up on many of our toiletries, etc, a few months ago and haven't needed to venture out and replenish the stock.  And, sigh, I've been working long hours recently and spending my evenings at home collapsed on the couch with my eyes glazed over.  Sitting next to me on the couch are the inserts from Sunday's newspaper that I have yet to go through.  It's Wednesday night for crying out loud!  

But those of you who know me know that I love nothing more than getting good deals.  The other day while walking down Diversey, I spotted a slip of dirty paper stuck against a fence.  My husband was in mid-sentence when I shrieked and rudely leapt past him, snatching up the paper with an urgency comparable to a junkie trying to satisfy his drug habit.  It was a $3 off coupon for Walgreens!  How sweet is that?  It was almost as good as when I discovered that leftover meatloaf last night.

This is a site that we saw featured on a re-run episode of ABC Chicago's 190 North show.  The show was taped in the dead of winter and they featured a segment about things to do in the city to warm up.  It made you cold just watching it- not really something you want to see when winter is in the distant future.  But anyways, later in the show they interviewed a man named Brad Wilson who created bradsdeals.com, a website with online coupon codes, print-out coupons, and featured store specials.  Check it out.  May your savings bring you much happiness!