| It’s no secret that I love Crate & Barrel, and now that we are settling into the house… I am starting to feel festive. We are hosting Thanksgiving for my family this year, and since our new dining room table has arrived I have been on the lookout for cute decorating ideas. I already know how I want the table to look, and I thought these pumpkin candles would look just adorable. Best of all, they are not expensive. My wallet says thanks C&B! – $4.95 and $9.95 |  |
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Dave was lucky enough to be born on Halloween, and it was always one of my favorite holidays even before I met him. I have been looking at Halloween Costumes since it’s coming up, and I am pretty sure I would win the wife of the year award if I bought him this V for Vendetta costume. How awesome is this? He loves the movie, as do I. He can never find a costume that he loves, but I am almost certain he would give full approval to this one. I mean it has daggers… what guys wouldn’t love that? There are tons of other great costumes on this site, so I’m on the hunt for one for myself too. I like that there are lots of unique ones I haven’t seen on other sites. – $169.99 |
| I shouldn’t be online shopping since we’re in the middle of a move, but I heard that GAP is having a big online sale and I couldn’t resist. I have an $80 dress to return because I thought it looked cute online, but it ended up making me look pregnant. I’ll have a nice credit once I find the time to do that. I saw these cute Doxie PJs and thought of Corrin. There are some matching panties too, and a ton of other stuff worth wading through if you like to bargain shop online. It’s a great way to beef up your Fall wardrobe. – $19.99 |  |
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I love to travel, and strangely I even enjoy planning travel too. I can spend hours on sites like CheapoAir mapping out everything from airfare, hotels and rental cars. |
I am a pro at online travel planning. I can’t remember the last time I used a travel agent or even spoke with someone over the phone to buy plane tickets or to reserve a hotel room. That’s the beauty of the Internet. Like everything though, there is always competition. There are a lot of one-stop travel sites that can take care of all your needs. How do you know which one to use?
For me and probably most other people, price is the most important and deciding factor when selecting a site to use from. Just because you’re on the Internet doesn’t mean you can’t comparison shop. The great thing about CheapoAir is they have a low fare guarantee. I had given up on buying airfare to Las Vegas for a convention, but their sale rate is actually right in my price range– just over $200. Most other places I looked were over $300 or slightly under.
They do have a toll free number that you can call if you like speaking with a real life person, so as their motto says, “One Click or Call Does It All!”
| We took Brownie over to the new house for the first time today. One of the most exciting things for me is having a yard for him. I wanted so badly for Peanut to be there with us, and it makes me very sad to think about it.
Brownie seemed to love it though. I knew he would. When I take him to my parent’s house he never wants to come in. There are so many new smells. He left his first “presents” in the yard too, and I guess I need to go get The Jaws Pooper Scooper so that we are not walking around stepping in it. This looks cool because my hands won’t even have to come in contact with the doodie. – $17.99 |
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Our living room furniture is going to be moved to the house next Sunday. I have a black leather loveseat and sofa. We have a huge living room, so I am going to need to buy more stuff to fill it up and make it more comfortable for guests. Ever since going into the model home and seeing the cozy chairs, I am convinced that I need a pair of black leather recliners to finish up the room. I can just imagine taking a nap or reading a book in one of these beauties. I have been to every furniture store under the sun in the past two weeks, and I haven’t found a price that beats Wholesale Furniture Brokers. Plus shipping is FREE (you can’t beat that), and everything usually ships in 5-10 days… just in time for our move in date. – $499/chair |
| I’ve never hung curtains in my life. At least not real ones from a rod. We were always a mini blind family. Our house also came with them, but now that we have a HOME I was bound and determined to be a grown up with REAL curtains! The Paris bedroom will be the first to make it’s transformation. We bought these black panel curtains from Target and a really pretty rod for each window. It ended up costing about $80 for the whole deal, and we are going to go back to the house tomorrow in an attempt to hang them. Wish us luck. The formal dining room is next! |  |
| I was just saying on one of my other blogs earlier this week that I am tired of living the corporate life, and wish I could quit my job and give back or do something that felt a little more worthwhile. I think it’s funny that I discovered a company that sells hawaiian shirts and other beach wear (super cute sarongs too!) with the “Go Slow” mantra, because that’s just what I need right now. |
Mad Gringo was founded by a man who decided to fly out to Mexico to be carefree and get away from his daily work grind, and developed the idea for the company while spending the day drinking tequila with a local. Maybe I need to fly to Paris and sip wine at a local cafe and come up with my life’s plan? I could wear this cute ice blue Mad Gringo t-shirt to remind me that dreams can come true.
I think the logo with the pineapple and skull look is super edgy and fun. Plus, blue is my favorite color and pineapples are one of my favorite fruits. It fits my personality perfectly, and I think this is going to make a great shirt to work out in. — $19.00
| Dave and I bought a new board game to celebrate our anniversary. I know it sounds cheesy, but we have a whole closet of games that we’ve collected as a couple since we met. Our newest edition was Game of Life: Twists & Turns, and it is really pretty fun. Life was always one of my favorite games as a kid, and this one is cool because it has credit cards that you stick into an electronic “lifepod” that keeps track of your money and score. Banking was always my least favorite part of both Life and Monopoly (I heard there is a similar version for that game), so this really speeds the game up and cuts back on cheating– at least in my opinion. We are having fun with it. – $39.99 |  |
My dream used to be to design greeting cards for Hallmark. It’s true. That’s probably part of why I decided to go to work there just for fun back in high school.
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I just discovered a $10,000 scholarship contest that would have been perfect for me back then. The Gallery Collection is the leading business-to-business mail order publisher of premium quality personalized Christmas, Holiday, and All Occasion greeting cards in the United States. The Scholarship Contest is open to high school and college kids and is called the “Create-A-Greeting Card Scholarship Contest.” Pretty cool, huh? You can submit an entry through January 15, 2008. |
It’s also about the time of year for the company to start thinking about ordering business christmas cards. I remember the days when my dad would get those from all the vendors that he worked with. It was always a nice touch for the companies to do that to thank him for his business that year, and we had a ton of beautiful cards to display. I like the ones from The Gallery Collection, and they are really pretty affordable.
| My name is Laurie and this is my blog. Laurigami is the name of a song my husband Dave wrote for me several years ago. It is said that if you fold 1,000 oragami swans, your wishes will come true. Here's hoping all my wishes and dreams come true. ♥ |
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