Like always, Valentine's Day has snuck up on me and here it is just a few days away. But, this year, I'm not worried at all because I've got Whole Foods to help me get everything in one quick and easy trip. With everything from fresh flowers and gourmet chocolate to aisles and aisles of gourmet foods begging to be cooked up for a special Valentine, Whole Foods really does have you covered. 
Deals & Discounts
New Years sales at Simon Malls
Did you think all the sales and deals ended with the holidays? If so, you’d be wrong, because the sales are in full swing at Simon Malls. This past week I took the family out for some post-holiday shopping at Northgate Mall in north Seattle and we found good deals everywhere we looked.
Gymboree is having their Red Balloon Sale, Victoria’s Secret has their Semi-Annual Sale, Nordstrom has their men’s sale, Lane Bryant has their Ring It Up, Ring It In sale event, Eddie Bauer has their Semi-Annual Sale, Old Navy has their Active Sale, Things Remembered has a New Years’ Sale, and even Starbucks has a year end sale going on. And the sales go on and on and on…
Holiday cleanup is a breeze with the Shark Rocket lightweight vacuum
by Stacey, editor and reviewer
My household requires a serious vacuum; with two dogs and two young kids my vacuum is on constant overdrive. I love having a clean house, but my vacuum has to keep up with my active lifestyle so I started my search for a machine that would help make quick clean ups a breeze.
The Shark Rocket, one of the newest lightweight vacuums on the market, was the solution to the things my large upright vacuum so often lacked. Shark re-engineered the full size vacuum to make a more versatile machine {without the usual heavy packaging} that deep cleans carpets and hard floors with ease.
This lightweight vacuum weighs in at under eight pounds, but don’t let the small package fool you, this machine has some serious suction that easily compares to any full size upright model! 
The Zaycon Foods experience
Enough people have asked me about my Zaycon Foods experience this fall that I thought I would share it here so you can see how the whole thing works.
Missed my first post and don't know what Zaycon is? Here's what you need to know:
Zaycon Foods is a fairly new company started here in Washington State two years ago as a 
means of offering natural, hormone free meats at bulk prices all across the US.Instead of traditional delivery services, Zaycon calls itself a “drive thru” meat market that allows you to order online and then pick up during one of their many events across the US in a matter of minutes – no unloading kids or searching through the grocery store to find the best deals.
Now that you have a bit of background, here's my Zaycon story:
- We placed an order with Zaycon for 40lbs of chicken to be delivered in October.
- I cleared out freezer space like a mad woman in preparation of 40LBS OF CHICKEN. My family dined on some crazy meals in my clearing spree.
- A few days before the chicken event near us, I got reminder emails so I wouldn’t accidentally miss it.
- The day of the chicken event, I drove my car to the church where the event was taking place where there were maybe 2 cars in line in front of me. In about 3 minutes I was talking with the Zaycon reps, confirming my delivery, and then accepting my chicken, which came boxed and covered in plastic sheeting to contain any juices that may seep out of the internal packages. I never even got out of the car, and my kids stayed buckled.
- Within 5 minutes of arriving, I was leaving the parking lot with my order. That's roughly 10x faster than any grocery store trip with two kids if anyone is wondering.
- I drove home and began a 2 hour process in which I packaged the chicken into smaller portions, cleaned up after myself, and then I split the chicken packages in between the fridge and two freezers to store them. All in all, I washed my hands over 50 times in this process because I am absolutely crazy about raw meat – especially chicken.
The only part that I did not like about the process was the last step, as 2 hours is far too long to be dealing with raw meat. If I had to do it all over again {and I definitely will}, I will make sure I have someone here to help me with the chicken once I get it home. If one person had the designated clean hands and the other handled the raw meat, this process would have taken about ¼ of the time as most of the 2 hours was honestly spent scrubbing my hands in between tasks.
VTech Premium Kid Connect lets you connect with your kids anywhere {InnoTab 3S}
My kids love to text and call their dad throughout the day while he’s at work, but I hate to leave them unattended with my cell phone. This means I’m constantly guarding my phone and making sure it’s locked down, and the kids try their best to convince me to take their pictures and send it to daddy all day long.
The solution? The awesome Premium Kid Connect available on the VTech InnoTab 3S that helps parents stay connected to their kids when apart. You may remember how much I adore the InnoTab learning tablet for kids and how it saved our Chicago-to-Seattle train trip, got us ready for school, and now offers supplemental learning we can do at home, but it’s way more than that when you connect it to VTech Premium Kid Connect and any Wi-Fi connection.
With the Premium Kid Connect on the InnoTab 3S, your kids can send voice, text, and picture messages right to loved ones' phones in real time. All by themselves.
Fun OshKosh fashions for fall and winter {25% off coupon}
I participated in an Influencer Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for OshKosh B’gosh. I received a gift card to facilitate my shopping trip and to thank me for participating.
I grew up an OshKosh kid. I vividly remember at least a dozen favorite OshKosh outfits that I wore from toddlerhood on up. I was so thrilled that of all my baby and toddler clothing, my mom had saved a few of my old OshKosh favorites in my keepsake box.
When I was pregnant with my daughter I discovered an OshKosh store that had just gone in a few months earlier, and I made the trip with my sister in law who also had little ones. Together, we loaded up on basics, PJs, and fun stuff from newborn to 12 month for our little ones and had a blast. Even though our baskets were full when we went to check out, I remember being surprised by how low our bills were.
I’ve shopped at the OshKosh b'gosh store numerous times since then, but those first clothes I bought will always be the most memorable. In fact, I can’t bear to part with 90% of the clothes we bought that day as those were the clothes my daughter ended up wearing the most. Since she didn’t grow for so long, our memories in those small sizes span about a year in total, so my daughter literally wore most clothing into rags at that stage.
But, not her OshKosh clothes. Those look as good as new, or as new as baby clothes can look after being worn for so long. And, that’s the reason I have such a hard time parting with them. So, instead of donating as I did with all of her other clothing, I kept quite a few pieces for her keepsake box just like my mom did before me.
So, knowing what big fans we are of OshKosh, you can bet we were excited to find out we were going to get a gift card to shop the store this fall to see all of their new styles. Armed with a few pieces from home that we were going to match with, the kids and I headed off to our local store this week.
Design your own jewelry with Pictures on Gold
Holiday Gift Guide – Day 1
I’m a sucker for personalized anything. Maybe it’s something deep rooted in my past from having a somewhat unusual name in the 80s, or maybe it’s just that personalized gifts these days are just so cool. Whatever the reason, I spend most of my holiday budget on personalized items like those from Pictures on Gold.
Pictures on Gold is just what it sounds like: jewelry that can be engraved with whatever pictures you desire. From clip art to special pictures to personalized messages, Pictures on Gold can custom create anything you dream up. The interactive “Build Your Own Locket” application on the PicturesOnGold.com website lets you do just that and allows you to control every single detail.
But, not only that, they also show you each step of the way what your item will look like. Drop in some clip art from the Pictures on Gold files and you can rotate it, enlarge it, and move it around your jewelry.
Kmart makes fiscally responsible Back to School easy
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the Kmart Back to School commercials with the kids on the playground telling “Yo Mama” jokes to compliment each other’s new Kmart gear. Just like the infamous “Ship My Pants” commercial of earlier this summer, it’s clever and funny, and every time it comes on, I find myself stopping what I’m doing to watch it.
I mean, who doesn’t want to be so fashion forward and fiscally responsible that the kids are talking about it on the playground? Well, now you can be that cool mom simply by shopping at Kmart for back to school.
And, their fall sales and deals couldn’t come at a better time, because in addition to back to school items and school supplies, fall means the start of many different activities that all cost a good chunk of change. With so much going on, your budget can get pulled in a lot of different directions, and it’s easy to realize you’re over budget before school has even started.
Crayola for Back to School
Don’t shoot me, but I’m actually looking forward to Back to School shopping. I’m excited about walking the aisles and aisles of notebooks, protractors, pencil boxes and art supplies looking for the perfect supplies to send my daughter off to school with. Maybe it’s my love of office supplies talking, but I love digging through all the brand new school supplies and taking in the scent of new crayons and freshly sharpened pencils.
Yes, I know all you seasoned moms are now shaking your heads at me.
It’s not that I look forward to plunking down cash for brand new crayons when our {slighty} broken ones are just fine, it’s just that school is more fun when you have a backpack full of new school supplies. I’m looking forward to loading up my art-loving daughter with all the fun stuff for school {and for at home} that can make her entire school year exciting.
In fact, I didn't even mind that we had to store-hop a bit in order to get everything we needed, er, wanted, because it was as much about the adventure as it was about our crazy awesome Crayola haul we came home with. Seriously, just look at all this fun stuff we get to play with!
Back to School with Fruit of the Loom “Underwear for Overachievers”
Every mom of school aged kids is aware of the infamous school supply list at the start of each year. If you’re not familiar, these lists typically involve large amounts of cash and leads to a bunch of questions about why your child needs 25 individual toothpicks, red yarn, and three tennis shoe laces, amongst other things. While I have no doubt that these items are necessary and will lead to awesome learning opportunities, I’m much more excited to back to school shop for things that don’t come on that list.
Things like fun t-shirts, jeans, and new kicks that will make getting dressed for school less of a chore each morning. Fruit of the Loom thinks that if you’re going to the trouble of refreshing your wardrobe that you should also consider the basics – like socks, underwear, tees, and tank tops. Even though these items won’t be seen at school, it makes all the difference in how your child views getting dressed each day and can take a morning struggle and make it far more peaceful.
The Fruit of the Loom Underwear for Overachievers program was started to help parents upgrade their children’s basics while stocking up for school. By offering seasonal bonus packs that include FREE underwear, t-shirts, socks, and undershirts in each pack, it maximizes your back to school dollars while making it each to prepare for the school year ahead.