FREE Rachel Ray Dinnerware at Albertson's

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for free stuff…or "free" stuff.  If you are of a certain age you will remember the Brady Bunch episode in which they family had diligently saved green  stamps from the Grocery store and finally had enough for…a sewing machine for the girls…or a rowboat for the guys.  They solved it with a house of cards stacking game and as I recall, it was the dog who knocked over the cards.  I think the dog was a boy so it was decided that the GIRLS won!

 Yay girls!  But in typical Brady Bunch fashion -where every show has a happy ending for all- the girls generously brought home a television set that they could all enjoy (cue the music, wise words from dad, and smiling head tilt from mom).   But really one of my favorite episodes ever!  The idea of getting "stuff" for a few measly green stamps.
I have always tried to take advantage of the freebies: movie tickets, free samples in the mail, fast food games, etc.  Imagine my excitement when I found out about Albertson's Rachel Ray  FREE Dinnerware.  And all for collecting a few measly stamps!  Please understand, it's not like I needed another set of dinnerware.  With over 30 years living an adult life I have managed to accumulate several (many several) sets of dinnerware.  But IT WAS RACHEL RAY!  and IT WAS FREE! and I HAD TO HAVE THEM!  So yes, Albertson's was the real winner here.  They indeed bought my loyalty when I switched almost exclusively to their store just so that I could collect the stamps.  At the end I had enough for seventeen pieces of dinnerware.  Let's see now, twenty stamps could get you 1 piece and each stamp  was earned for $10 spent.  If I'm doing the math correctly, that means that every piece was earned by spending $200…so 200 x 17= 3400…that means that I spent $3,400.00  for free dinnerware!

They're preeeety though aren't they!  

Cricut Recipe Cards - Or What is the Point of an Obsession?

Look what I used to do: 

Chicken Tortilla Soup - Cricut Style!

I spent countless hours making gorgeous recipe cards with my Cricut Cutting Machine. I have to tell you, these consumed all of my free time and "free" money (haha right?)!  What did I do with these recipes?  Never look at them again - that's what! It's not like I'm going to risk ruining that beautiful recipe with kitchen spills; so they were just packed away with all of my other scrapbooking "stuff". I was reminded of them when I was unpacking a box of scrapbook paper I had moved to my new house and ran across a few.

Why did I make them?  Sometimes I would enter them into recipe scrapbook contests - which I sometimes won.  Sometimes I would join a scrapbook-style recipe swap.   A recipe swap is when you get together with say 12 people and everyone makes a different scrapbook-style recipe card 12 TIMES! After that you distribute one to everyone so at the end you have 12 different recipes and only had to make one (12 times of course).  But I NEVER used them to actually cook with.

My recipe swap card for banana cookies.  

The truth is, I didn't always enjoy the recipe cards I got in return.  They may not have been recipes I would ever want to try and I KNEW how time consuming it was for somebody to make them- so I just tucked them away too.  What finally broke me of my scrapbook-style recipe addiction was when I joined an ABC cupcake themed swap.  This was back a few years ago when cupcakes were all the rage.  Do you know how many letters there are in the alphabet?  That's right - I had to make 26 copies of my recipe card.  Not only that but I signed up to do not one but three different letters!  So yeah, you do the math - that's 78 of those suckers.  Speaking of sucker….I was a big one because the woman running the swap flaked out on it and most of us never got our recipes.  Such a waste of time and money.  And fortunately for me the end of my scrapbook-style recipe card swapping obsession.

Enjoy a few more crazy time-wasting recipe cards I made!

A close up of my Banana Cookies recipe card.  This is probably my favorite one that I did.

Clam Chowder - do you get the ocean theme?

Cleaning Hard Water Deposits with Vinegar

Yuck!  Look at the hard water build-up on my bathroom faucet!

I wanted to see if regular white vinegar was really powerful enough to tackle a  heavy hard water deposit that had settled on my bathroom faucet. I know, I know….if I had been a better housekeeper (don't you hate that word) to begin with, it never would have gotten to this point.  Okay.  Moving on!

I poured some vinegar in a baggie and attached it to the faucet with a rubber band.

Look carefully and you can see the bubbles as the vinegar is working.

The next day (about 16 hours later) the vinegar had worked it's magic!  EWE! Look, you can see the hard water deposits at the bottom of the baggie!

I took off the baggie, wiped it clean and BEAUTIFUL!!!

Fab Fit Fun VIP Winter Subscription Box Review

I've been posting a few subscription box reviews lately. I guess that makes it an obsession right? The Winter Edition of the Fab Fit Fun VIP (FFFVIP) box arrived this week.  I really like FFFVIP boxes not only because they are usually super fun but also because they only come once a quarter - or every three months.  Even though they are a little pricier ($49.95), you don't have to pay for one every month.  This one had some interesting things in it; some to love…some undecided.  A subscription box is kind of like a box of chocolate…

So far every FFFVIP box has had some jewelry in it.  This month's had a necklace and a bracelet.  I guess these items are the ones I'm not sure about.  Usually when I don't like a piece of jewelry it's a generation thing and my 20 year old daughter loves it (and takes it for her own).  She wasn't sure this time either.  Both pieces have an interesting meaning behind them though:

The Giving Keys Never Ending Necklace features an engraved key pendant.  This one says "courage".  You are suppose to wear it and embrace the message until you run across someone else who needs the message more than you do.  You then pay it forward by giving them your necklace.  Kinda cool.

The Lorna Jane Bracelet.The bracelet is a symbol of sisterhood and is  worn as a reminder to "Move, Nourish,  and "Believe" everyday.  AND I think you could even wear it to the gym! Hmmm

The  necklace retails for $55 and the bracelet for $29.99.

The TruEnergy Inspired Earbuds retail for  $39.99 and are a bright flashy blue.  Love the color!  An awesome feature of these earbuds is the splitter so that you can share your music.

Fab Fit Fun boxes have always contained some sort of cosmetic.  My daughter's favorite in this box was the lip gloss.  It was pretty cool because the lid had a light in it and the lip gloss container had a mirror on the side. (You notice I talk in past tense.  That's because for me the lip gloss is in the past…long gone to my daughter.) 

Beauty for Real Lip Gloss- Retails for $22.

There was also a full size Simple Foaming Facial Cleaner ($7.50) and NYX Eye Shadow Palette ($8)

I'm pretty excited about the Bioxidea Miracle 24 facial mask ($19) and the Skyn Icelandic Relief Eye Cream ($45). I guess I'm showing my age…

Finally there is a code to get five online Physique 57 Classes for some "butt-lifting and tummy-toning workout fun".  It seemed a little sketch at first. Would they ask me to give a credit card number up front?  Is is a buy 5 get 5 type of "certificate"?  But it looks like the real deal.  You get to try out five lessons on FFFVIP - a $25 value.

All in all a mostly decent box with goodies retailing at….(drumroll)…..around $250.00 all for the price of $49.99!

Nature Box Subscription Box December Review

December's Nature Box came today! Yah! With all of the very unhealthy holiday treats lurking around, I'm looking forward to some (mostly) healthy snacking.  Nature Box foods tend to be healthier because they are minimally processed and made with more wholesome ingredients - you won't see high fructose corn syrup on the ingredient list.  Every month you get five different pretty decent sized bags of snacks for $19.95. There is a way to customize what you get but I like surprises so I never customize.  Here is what in this month's box:

Southern BBQ Sunflower Kernels - a perfectly tangy blend.

Antioxidant Boost Trail Mix with dark chocolate and berries.  Just look at the variety you get!

Lemon Pucker Pistachios - strangely addicting.

Italian Bistro Pretzels - great to munch on but could also be used as croutons in a salad or soup.

And finally, the Sun-Dried California Apricots.  No they aren't pretty but that is because the are the real deal.  No preservatives, added sugar, or coloring. If you look at the label you can see one ingredient on the list: Apricots.

Disclaimer: this does not look or taste like a fruit roll up.  This contains 100% actual real fruit!

See - just one ingredient!

If you would like to sign up and try your own nature box, use this link and save $5 off your first box!

(Disclosure: I am an affiliate and so will earn a commission if you click on any the above links when you order your box.  Thanks!         Any questions, please ask.)

Pop Sugar December Must Have Subscription Box Review

I love subscription boxes!  They are my new indulgent obsession.  The Pop Sugar December box was just delivered last week.  Of course I had to wait until my 20 year old daughter visited before I could open it.  It's kind of a fun thing we do together.  In fact, FUN is totally the word I would use to describe December's box.

Some boxes have a sort-of theme going on.  I think the theme that best describes this box is all the fun little things you would like to buy for yourself but don't.  Let's see what was in this fun little box!  

The most impressive item from this month's box is a Lulu Frost Bracelet.  

This gorgeous bracelet is on a heavy chain and has a dangling silver charm that reminds me of a snowflake.  It's kind of hard to see in this picture so please go to Lulu Frost's website for a better look.  By the way, this is my daughter modeling the bracelet- and no, she never took it off before she left to go back to college.  A very clever way to walk off with a bracelet valued at $110! 

I love pretty much everything I saw on the Lulu Frost website.  It's a little pricey for me though - stuff I would not normally buy which makes the Pop Sugar Subscription Box so worth it to me!

Next up is MIXT Studio Holiday Gifting Set which includes paper tags and twine to wrap 3 smallish boxes and retails for $9.  It's okay - kinda cute. 

This box, as a Pop Sugar Box always does, included some fun cosmetics to try.  In this month's box was a full size Modelco Fibre Lashxtend Black Mascara which retails for $20 and promises "clump-free voluminous lashes because of it's glossy texture and added lash fibers".  I wouldn't know as my daughter took off with that one too.  The December Box also included a NCLA Peppermint Lane Nail Wraps set ($16).  While I think it's cute, I did send it on with my daughter - red and white polkadots and stripes will truly look better on her hands than on mine!

Okay so my daughter has kinda made out like a bandit on this box! (I am going to try to sneak the bracelet  back from her though…) One item she didn't get was a set of Govino Go Anywhere Champagne Flutes.  They are beautiful clear and lightweight plastic that is reusable and comes in a set of four for $13.  

You'll notice they are stemless and though it's hard to see in the photo - they have a little indent on the side you can use to hold them.

I would have preferred wine glasses, which you can find on their website.    But  these are  nice!

Finally are the treats.  This month's box was very generous with the goodies!

 First we have the CC Made Caramel corn.  It was actually pretty tasty.  The 3 oz package sells for $4. Then they included not one but two packages of Ghirardelli Squares.  My favorite was the Pumpkin Spice.  Who knew that pumpkin and spice in caramelly goodness, covered with milk chocolate would be so delicious!

It was fun to put everything out on the table for our impromptu tree decorating session. 

So all in all a fun little box with an estimated value of $180 for only $39.95!!