I’m a sucker for a deal. But I’m not one of those people who just HAVE to have something because it is a good price.

There is not much fun in treasure hunting if you are just going to get everything labeled “clearance” or  buying something with no purpose for it. I admit, I fall into that trap sometimes. I’ll go into a store for a purpose and see something completely unplanned that is a fantastic deal… that I know I could use in the future, but have no plan for it in the meantime. My general rule is to put it in the basket and walk around the store getting the items on my list. If, by the  time I’m ready to check out, I haven’t thought of a purpose or a place for it, I will put it back. That’s my idea of shopping purposefully.

I’ve learned the hard way that when I get something that don’t have a perfect place for at home, no matter how good the deal, it will just turn into clutter. And clutter equals stress. No thanks.

But the items I’m about to show you aren’t stressful at all! I know just what I want to do with them!

First item:

Adorable Pajama Pants!

Purpose: I am outgrowing my “non-maternity” pajama pants at a rapid rate. (Even though they aren’t maternity, they are bigger than my normal pajama pants)

Real Purpose: The strawberry print! Shield your eyes, it is too cute to take it all in at once!

And they are even in the shape of hearts!

With PINK flowers on the cuffs!

Where I found them: Target

Price: $3.74

Sold!

Second Item:

Pom Pom Slippers

Purpose: The air is cooling down (not really, but lets pretend since it’s September now) and I need some comfy house slippers.

Real Reason: The POM POMS! and they’re RED!

I actually had my eye on these slippers when they were full price. And, although I wanted them, I couldn’t justify buying them in the middle of summer. I don’t wear slippers in summertime. The mere thought gives me chills.

Where I found them: Target

Price: $3.00

Yes, please!

Third Item:

Spray Paint

Purpose: Definitely had spray paint on the list of things I needed to get. I am re-purposing a lot of different things around the house, especially for Layla’s nursery. One of the easiest ways to use what you have but make it work for a room with another color scheme is spray paint. And, when I saw the price, I couldn’t pass it up! Because they were on clearance, they only had a few colors that I was planning on using. But I was more than happy getting an aqua and a red. And I have a special project that this metal color is going to work perfectly for.

Where I found it: Michaels

Price: $.99 each

Item 4:

A Layla Frame

Purpose: Nursery decor. I am using this color scheme (with a green, too) for the nursery and thought this frame was just so fun. My sister had this frame at her house and I really liked it… so when I was browsing around and saw it, I knew the colors would be perfect for the nursery.

Where I found it: Home Goods

Price: $3.99

And that concludes my bargain tour! I love finding things I REALLY love at great prices! How about you?

Baby Bump

I have been so bad about taking “baby bump” pictures. I usually only get one or two per month. And I am behind… as in I will be 8 months this weekend and I haven’t taken my “official” 7 months bump picture. But rest assured, I am indeed turning into a round Humpty Dumpty.

The Official “6 month” Picture…taken at my niece’s birthday party in mid July.

A Wedding

One of my good friends from high school, Erica, got married at the end of July and I was so happy I was able to attend!

The wedding was on Coronado Island in San Diego… absolutely gorgeous day with perfect weather.

How cute are they?? They are both professional Salsa dancers… which is how she met Juan. She married her Salsa partner! They are just perfect for each other.

Here is our “Hell has frozen over THREE times” picture.

First time: I got married.

Second time: I am having a baby.

Third time: Erica got married.

haha… All in good fun of course. We went from thinking we would get married and have a family “right away”  after we graduated high school (because prince charming is supposed to show up on your doorstep days after high school graduation. Or, at the very least, you MUST meet them in college.)… to realizing that wasn’t God’s plan for us… to I don’t think I really even want to get married or have kids for a looong time… to I will get married and have kids when hell freezes over. And that’s never.

And, of course, hell always freezes over and you have to eat your words.

One of these days, it will freeze over for a 4th time and Erica will be having a baby. Mark my words.

Nevermind, that I look like Edward Cullen and am in desperate need of some self-tanner. And a blotter. And a hairstyle. haha You just nevermind all of that! Me, Erica and Angela. Angela was my childhood best friend… I met her when I was 7 years old, a few days after I moved into the neighborhood I grew up in. Oh, how we have stories. It’s funny how so much time can pass in between seeing old friends… and the second you see them, it is as if nothing has changed. I just love these two girls to death.

Our seat assignments were personalized candles. And the color coding indicated our food selection for the servers! What a good idea!

The wedding was a lot of fun… and, as expected, Erica was an absolutely gorgeous bride. Congratulations to Erica and Juan!

A Dance Recital

Ella (my niece) had her first dance recital for Tap/Ballet. They were all so cute. Ella is the 4th from the left.

I think all of the production was a bit much for her… she was acting very shy afterward. She didn’t want her picture taken; she wanted to pretend that she could read the program. haha!

Haha. Too funny. I snagged one of my sister’s pictures from before the recital…

You’ll see this picture again one day when she is on So You Think You Can Dance.

Airport Cafe

Whenever I am back home visiting family, it is always a treat to go to the Airport Cafe in French Valley. It’s fun for the kids to watch the airplanes and helicopters take off and land (who am I kidding. I probably enjoy that part more than the kids.) and they have a great patio to eat on while watching the planes.

Here I am (and Layla, too) with my nephew, Luke.

See what I mean? Humpty Dumpty. haha

So I have to tell y’all. I got scolded by the waitress for drinking a Root Beer. haha I don’t think she meant any offense by it, but still. I love me some Root Beer every now and then. I hardly ever have caffeine, but I am not particularly concerned with having an occasional soda or iced tea when the mood strikes. My mom lived off of Dr. Pepper when she was pregnant with me and I turned out exceptional. Or moderately acceptable. Or Fine. Whichever you prefer. So when I feel like a soda, Root Beer is usually a safe choice. The vast majority are caffeine free anyway. Except Barqs.  Barqs has bite… and just so happens to be my favorite.  When ordering, it didn’t specify which Root Beer they served, so I took a gamble. Drink comes, I sip… confirmed it is Barqs. One won’t hurt me. But two would… or at least the waitress thought so. She made it a point to tell me that she noticed I was pregnant and wanted me to be aware that I was partaking in a caffeinated beverage. And, although it is ultimately my decision if I wanted a refill, she wanted me to make an informed decision. haha What a Good Samaritan.  And a wet blanket. Yes! I want a refill! But I couldn’t socially shame myself!

“WHAT?! This Root Beer has caffeine?! I demand a lemon water to cleanse myself of that filth!”… I gasped in horror.

No.

I didn’t.

But I wanted to say that in the most dramatic way possible.

I wanted to really put on a show! haha

But I used my manners and thanked her for the information and ordered my lemon water like a lady.

A lady that desperately wanted another Barqs Root Beer!

Nothing like a waitress questioning your parenting skills already.

That is my story. The end.

Procrastination: An Explanation.

You may have noticed that all of these events unfolded in JULY. And we are now in SEPTEMBER. Where the heck did August go? I think I missed August. I can’t even remember anything I did this entire past month. Except paint. And paint some more. I remember going to doctors appointments, Layla’s 4D pictures, going to church, eating at Chick-Fil-A and going to Home Goods… and 190,309 trips to Lowes to get a single item that we had forgotten. And working on lots of projects around the house. Starting a bunch of things for the Nursery and finishing none of them (yet). Painting some more. Finding a new fabric store that I’m in LOVE with but can’t bring myself to pay their outrageous prices. Browsing around Ross and realizing that they are ALREADY playing Christmas music. Then finding the nearest broomstick and whacking the ceiling speakers. OH!! And the best news of all:

So I usually drop Jon off at band practice for church and then go to JoAnns to browse around the crafts, fabric, etc. It is a win-win situation for both of us. I get out of the house and get my creative fix, Jon doesn’t have to accompany me to JoAnns.  We all win. So anyway, I am driving through a parking lot of a strip mall that has an empty building in it. I just so happen to casually glance over at the empty building and see writing on the door:

HOBBY LOBBY.

No.

It can’t be!

I feel faint. This has to be some sort of cruel joke. Who did this?! I want names.

Head still caulked around like an owl to confirm what I think I saw… I almost forgot I was driving. Good thing the parking lot was empty. It was like someone letting you in on a JUICY secret that could “potentially” happen… like “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I’m pretty sure that we have the winning lotto ticket.” And that’s how I felt… because if we were getting a Hobby Lobby (the first one in California, mind you!) I just hit the jackpot.

My sources have confirmed this as fact. Just bring us a Chick-fil-a and I will have died and gone to heaven.

And that pretty much sums up my August recap. Consider yourself filled in. Which doesn’t necessarily explain my lack of posts… other than this whirlwind month flew by so fast that I didn’t even see it come or go.  And the final order of business:

The official “7 month Baby Bump” Picture…

…like real soon. Like by the end of this week. Like right before I am actually 8 months and have to take a big ol’ lying picture.

I have to do my grocery shopping tonight. Read we have no food in the house. Well, we do if you count random cans of beans, vegetables or soup and miscellaneous condiments, crackers and frozen chicken. And of course all of the rest is over my sugar/carb limit and is automatically disqualified. Sure, I could go to the store now and get lunch… but I worked in a grocery store for almost 9 years (through high school, college and transition into a career)…and I refuse to go more than once a week. I’ll break out in hives. Furthermore, I need to actually sit down and meal plan so I can shop quickly and efficiently for the week.

Please consider the entire previous paragraph as a justification for me wanting to go out to lunch. I needed to get out of the house…and take a break from cleaning, organizing and painting… if only for 30 minutes.

So I decided I would research where I could go and what I could get with my new diet. After browsing around the nutritional facts of different food establishments… I was pleasantly surprised that I could get crunchy chicken tacos from El Pollo Loco. Score! (six more…lets score…clap, clap. clap, clap. SIX MORE! Sorry that cheer always goes through my head after the use of “Score”. It’s a mystery how my brain works.) But there was nothing besides Iced Tea that I could get for a drink at El Pollo. And I LOVE iced tea. BUT tea is a hit or miss pretty much anywhere. Statistically speaking, when ordered, you will get moderately tolerable iced tea 23% of the time and really good iced tea 2% of the time. The other 75% you will immediately regret your decision after tasting the tea and realize there is no amount of acidic lemon that could neutralize the crap in cup you’ve been given, labeled “iced tea”. It’s usually the remnants of morning coffee when they have decided they’d just brew tea in the coffee brewer without actually washing it OR they made a batch of iced tea in the morning time (of last Tuesday) and haven’t brewed a new batch since. That is my dilemma with tea.

Luckily, Sonic is right next door to the El Pollo Loco. And what a fabulous site Sonic has!

Check it:

You can totally explore their actual menu…

…and then build whatever you want and see all the nutritional facts. Like if you want a chicken sandwich but don’t want mayo on it… you can take it off and see the nutritional difference. Or you can see the actual calorie/sugar content in the different sizes of sodas with any flavor additions. I found myself a Large Diet Dr. Pepper with Diet Cherry Flavor for 0 Calories and 0 Sugar! Score! (six more…sorry.)

So the plan was the head to El Pollo and then to Sonic. It was a good plan. Until I got to El Pollo at 1:45. You know what that means… 15 minutes until Happy Hour at Sonic! What do I do? Do I wait? Do I go? I can’t eat my tacos without a drink! Or can I? Yes, I will. So I found a nice shade tree in the Walmart parking lot (right in between El Pollo and Sonic)… completely out of the way of any cars. I mean, I want to eat my tacos in the privacy of my own car. I can’t stand people watching me eat in my car. Is that weird?

With that being said, why is it that people are attracted to parked cars at the end of the parking lot when there are roughly 3,840 empty spots elsewhere? No kidding, this old man (who I was sure had to be on Megan’s Law website) just pulls up his big ol’ minivan in the parking spot next to me. And stares. Have you never seen a pregnant lady eat a taco before?! Carry on, creepster! I mean, what was his plan? I was so uncomfortable I almost backed out of my parking spot! Finally, he just drives away. Meanwhile, I am enjoying my Walmart people watching and just kept thinking, why are there so many creeps in this parking lot?? What attracts all of these people to Walmart? It doesn’t matter what state you go to, the same people shop at Walmart. Seeing a “normal” person or family is an anomaly! Then of course, the psychologist in me starts trying to profile the “creepy Walmart shopper” to understand what quality it is they all must have to be attracted to the same store. I concluded it must be that creeps like their bargains.

Yes. That is it. All creeps are bargain shoppers.

I solved the mystery!

They don’t go to places like Target because they would rather save their 32 cents on Sam’s Choice Cola. They would rather battle the crowds, crazies and wait in long lines for 32 cents.

What weirdos I thought.

And then it hit me.

As I am analyzing the qualities of creepy, crazy Walmart shoppers all congregating at the same store because they are all attracted to a bargain…

I realize that I am sitting in my car, eating tacos without a drink for ten minutes because I am waiting to go to my second fast food place in 15 minutes, so I can save a dollar at happy hour. A DOLLAR. As in the value of my life is only worth 10 cents a minute. Because I, too, am a bargain hunter.

All of the crazy people in the parking lot are probably looking at ME thinking… why is that crazy pregnant lady eating tacos in her car? And she has no drink! What a nut!

Oh. Em. Gee. I’m nuts like the rest. I need to go befriend the Walmart creepsters. We might just get along. And with that epiphany, I sped away into the Sonic drive thru and got my sugar free, diet cherry diet dr. pepper for half price.

And now I’m left to ponder if I am a Walmart shopper at heart. No, I would never pull my car up next to a pregnant lady and watch her eat a taco (there ought to be a law against that), but I have to admit I do some crazy things to get a good deal. I actually kind of enjoy being frugal, finding a treasure on clearance or using a good coupon. I like saving money. I like being resourceful. I endure the ten minute wait for a drink to save a dollar.

I couldn’t get this ol’ saying out of my head on the drive home… whenever you point at someone, you have three fingers pointing back at you. I pointed out the creepy, crazy stereotype of the Walmart shopper… and discovered I’m probably three times as bad. Minus the creepy, socially inappropriate habits.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pick out my rattiest pair of pajama pants and slippers…

I feel a Walmart trip in my near future.