My friend Jodi has started a business.  She is one extremely crafty lady and blows me away with all that she can do.  She has such an eye for the finest of details and lets nothing go unnoticed.  She is the mom of two incredibly cute kids.  She’s battled and overcome postpartum depression and is venturing out to try to make some extra money for her family.

She’s created a FULL SERVICE holiday card business (she also can make custom handmade cards for ANY occasion). All you need to do is send her your holiday letter and your addresses, and she’ll do the rest! She will make or purchase your cards and envelopes, print letters, sign cards, buy stamps, address and mail ALL of your cards. Stress free for you!  Check out her facebook page for more details.

About a month ago, I stumbed across a blog called,  Grinning Cheek To Cheek.  This past week, she posted about an upcoming “Birthday Boy Blast”, a two-week long review and giveaway event hosted by herself and her friend Jen from lifewithlevi.com.  Both of their boys are turning one (one just turned one and the other is about to turn one).

From September 19-30th, they will be featuring products related to birthdays, toddlers, or their parents. There are some really great giveaways lined up, including:

• Boon Flair High Chair from Boon
• Britax Marathon 70 Car Seat from Hayneedle
• Ergo Sport Carrier from Ergo Baby
• Baby bedding sets

And much, much more!

Just wanted to tell you all about it in case you’re interested.  Hope someone I know wins something.  If so, make sure you tell me all about it!

Have you heard of K&Company’s new SMASH Collection?  I just stumbled across a video about their new product line and am in LOVE!

The products are SO reasonably priced! I’m thinking it would be fun to make one of the journals into one year of life with Brody and our adventures together. To take something from each day we have together and quickly “smash” it into the book and say something quick about it. How fun to look back on that in a later year. Just a thought.

If you live near me, you HAVE to check out The Meat House off of Falls of Neuse and Millbrook Road. It’s your local butcher (think Sam from “The Brady Bunch”…Alice’s boyfriend).

They have anything you can imagine and then some. And it’s more than just a butcher. They have baked items, condiments, freezer and refrigerator items, appetizers, etc… Fun things you’ve never seen or tried before. Definitely a place to visit if you’re having a cookout or even need a gift for the guy in your life. It’s an incredible place!

To top it off, their customer service is OUTSTANDING! We’ve been there three times now and every single time has been impressive! You are greeted upon entering, offered help right away, your items are carried to the front for you (so you don’t have to carry them around while you’re shopping) and all while never having to wait. I was even given a freezer tote once to put all of my goodies in for my drive home (FREE).

Check it out. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

And, no, I was not given anything to write this post. 

Just wanted to share a new favorite find with you all.

I saw this video on another blog I read and just had to post it to my blog too. This song was played at our wedding. I love it! I think you’ll recognize it too. It’s actually an advertisement for some phone. LOL! It’s so cool to watch (SO impressed)!

About a month ago, I was reading one of my favorite blogs (I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar) and came across a giveaway.  The first 25 people who left a comment would be sent a promotional code to use toward any one item (including free shipping) on a photo printing site called Paper Coterie.  Of course, I went down to the comments section, counted to see how many people had left comments (tee hee), and posted my comment.  The only catch was that I had to review this website (as they were about to launch their grand opening and were looking for any feedback they could find to better themselves).

Within a week, I was emailed my promotional code, headed to their site and got to work.  My first impression was a very good one.  The colors are very pleasing to the eyes, the layout is modern, it’s inviting and off the beat, gets you excited to surf around and see what they have to offer, and the navigation is so simple.

Their sample of photo books shows you all of the pages and they load up so quickly so you can flip through them fast to see if you like it.  They offer so many options in so many sizes.  They have the perfect balance of things to offer for any gender or occasion.  The loading of photos was very fast and easy to do. The editing and typing for the photo book pages was simpler than any other photo book I’ve ever created.  They even had more features to use that I hadn’t seen before.

I placed my order on March 27th and my item arrived on April 1st.  Talk about fast shipping!  The box was white and had a whimsy and fun label on the front, addressed to me.  It felt like a wrapped gift already.  And the packaging itself was over the top.  Looked VERY expensive!  I could just give my photo book as a gift like that and not have to wrap it at all.

I’ve ordered several photo books before, but the quality of this photo book was impressive!  My only complaint about the quality of the book is that the photo I used for the front page was not glossy, but matte, which made it look very dull.  Any other photo book I’ve received has always been glossy and stands out.  It’s not to say that I don’t like it this way, just something I noticed.

And are you kidding me with the necklace. Yes, they gave me a cute necklace too.  It’s beautiful, fun and would look great with a pair of jeans or a dress (not that I own one)!  What a wonderful gift to all of their new members.

And, to top it all off, a week later, they sent me a thank you note in the mail for sending them my review (it’s that special touch, that great customer service that’s going to keep me going back again and again). Over the top!  Everything from start to finish is classy with this company.  They are quickly becoming my favorite photo creation site.

In celebration of Starbucks 40th anniversary, they are giving away a free petite treat with any drink purchase between 2-5pm for today through Saturday, March 12 (so today is over with, but you still have tomorrow and Saturday to take advantage of this).

I got there today after 5pm (more like 5:15pm). They still had some in stock and still honored my free treat. All of the mini treats look and sound so yummy. It’s a hard decision. The Salted Caramel Sweet Square is just divine. Here’s a quick description of it…  Salted caramel and chocolate filling with a layer of crisp pretzels and pecans on top of a butter shortbread crust. Isn’t your mouth just watering? Y…U…M!

Some of you may or may not know, but I’m addicted to lip balm….  There, I’ve said it.

“Hello, my name is Jan and I have an addiction to lip balms”. A serious addiction (I also have one to office supplies, storage items, blah, blah, blah).

I have to have something on my lips at all times…I mean ALL times! I have lip balm in almost every room in my house (bathroom, kitchen, living room, office, purse, etc…). I use to even have some in Brody’s room when I was nursing. Yep, I have a problem, but I’m ok with it.

I recently stumbled upon a great lip balm sold on Etsy. I think I’ve found my new favorite. I found a shop on Etsy called Body Language (BL) Soaps. The owner is Lindsay and she’s just amazing!  We’ve been chatting back and forth over the past couple of days (she gets my fetish with lip balms).  She spent years perfecting this lip balm and she’s certainly hit perfection in my book.

She sells soaps, lipsticks, mineral makeup, lip balms, facial care, lotions, creams, perfume oil, bath salts, body scrubs, travel sizes, and the list goes on.  I’ve tried her lip balms and lipsticks and LOVE them both!  Neither are waxy and both have a “gloss” to them (which I love).  They glide on well and are very moisturizing.  She even threw in some sample lotions with my order (and I’m told I’m getting more with this second order).  I’m very picky on lotions, but was quite impressed with these.  The scents weren’t overpowering, but not faint either.  The lotions weren’t greasy at all, but moisturized very well.  I may have to make another order and get some lotion next time.

After trying two of her lip balms and one lipstick, I placed another order for 5 lip balms and another lipstick (told you I’m addicted).  There goes my “personal care” budget category for this month (lotion will have to wait for another month). LOL!

Here are the lip balms that I’ve ordered:

• Orange Cream
• Apple Spice
• Creamy Vanilla
• Maui Melon
• Coconut Cream
• Strawberry Lime
• Pineapple Butter Cream

I’m making you hungry now, aren’t I?  She has so many other flavors (even a flavorless one), not to mention a few chocolate ones (Chocolate Strawberry, Smother Me In Chocolate, ChocoLatte) just to name a few.  If you’re a lip balm freak like I am, you may just want to check out Lindsay’s Etsy store and order one for yourself.

I know…Kroger…really?

I NEVER use to shop at Kroger…NEVER (not that anything is wrong with it, I just always thought they were higher priced, although I’m finding that they really aren’t)! Why did I start? For one, my personal trainer started asking me to get specific name brands of food that only Kroger had. Another reason…it’s right around the corner (yes, I said it Sis) from my house and is SO convenient with a toddler to just make a quick trip and be done.

What I’ve learned about Kroger that I never knew before…

• They send you coupons periodically for things you already buy.  There’s always at least four (I got six last time) coupons for FREE items.
• The coupons that print out at the register are always for something I already buy (Gerber snacks, cheese, etc…).  Occasionally you’ll receive the questionable coupon for something you would never buy like hearing aid batteries.  LOL!
• If you have a nearby Shell station (and I’ve never been a fan of Shell before either until now), you can use your Kroger Plus card there to get 10 cents off per gallon (and I’ve heard sometimes more).  That’s a decent savings if you’re already needing gas anyway.  You earn “points” to use toward gas from purchases made at Kroger.  And, not all Shell station participate in this, although I’m finding that not all advertise that they participate and  you don’t know until you’re buying gas that they do (you’ll be prompted to slide your Kroger Plus card through their machine).  If you look online to check which Shell stations participate, not all are listed.  I just found out that the nearby (again…right around the corner) Shell station participates, but was not listed as being one that did (and they don’t advertise it).
• BONUS – They give your kids balloons (at least my kid).  I’ve never asked for one, but I think they notice Brody saying “eh eh eh eh (times infinity) and want to make him shut up.  LOL!  We’ve also found a great friend there (Miss Jennifer).  Brody LOVES seeing her (as do I) and she just loves Brody (she calls him “her boy”).

Just some pluses about Kroger that I wanted to point out in case they are of interest to anyone.  Things I didn’t know until I started going there.  The gas discount I just found out about a week ago.

I’m not sure about you, but we have wishlists in our house (one for all three of us) for birthday and Christmas gifts.  This helps family know what we really want (we even rate things from 1 to 5 stars on how much we really want them).  We add links and prices to things as well as descriptions, if necessary.

This past year, my Mom asked me if there was anything else I wanted that I hadn’t taken time to put on my list.  Why yes there was.  I had been eying this magazine rack.  I have subscriptions to probably 5 magazines (ordering them at places that offer them for $4 or less).  They all seem to come around the same time and then end up sitting in a pile on my desk, taking up space.  When I’m done reading a magazine, I usually have several pages dog-eared to go back and read the full article or look something up online.  Then the pile is back on my desk for me to take time to go through the dog-eared pages.

Solution…the Umbra Magazine Rack.  I love the look and simplicity of this magazine rack.  It doesn’t take up a ton of space on my wall, is a nice interesting piece to look at and is functional.  I love it!  I just need a few more magazines to come in to fill it up.  LOL!