Friday Favorites

Wow, it's already Friday, so how about an edition of Friday Favorites?

Favorite #1: Yankee Candle Votive Samplers

It's easy to see that I'm a huge fan of Bath & Body Works based on how many times I've posted about candles on this blog. I mean, I even wrote about my 6 new candles yesterday! When I was first starting out, i didn't know whether I should go for BBW only or branch out into Yankee Candle as well. Basically, BBW candles are actually cheaper with the sales. However, Yankee supposedly burns longer, so the price is supposed to be better in that regard. Unfortunately, the scents aren't as nice as BBW candles, in my opinion. Yankee candles are sharper and don't seem as smooth, so I never felt the need to buy their jars or tumblers. Their votives, on the other hand, are definitely enjoyable!

I wanted to have more options of scents. Plus, using a 3-wick candle means you need to make sure you have enough time to let the wax completely pool to the edge of the glass. Sometimes I just want to light a candle at night before bed, but I don't know that I will have an hour to let the wax pool correctly. These votive samplers are the best for that. I ordered a bunch of these when they had their $1 sale because I was able to get free shipping, and I still had money in a Paypal account from a large card order. I also purchased two of the votive holders. I burned part of two of them and really liked that I could get a quick scent. 

The ones in the picture above are a few I picked up at Yankee Candle's semi-annual sale a little over a month ago. They had a selection of votives for just $0.50. I would suggest buying them then, but there aren't as many choices as you'd probably like. Even when I was choosing $1 ones online during the sale, they would run out because I have a tendency to add things to my cart and just wait (sometimes I just like picking things out, and I end up not buying at all!).

I'm super excited to have these especially when it's a bit cooler in September. I'd still recommend BBW candles over Yankee, but I'm at that stage right now where ANY candles intrigue me! 

Favorite #2: Tums Ultra Strength 1000 in Peppermint

Oh, the "joys" of having acid reflux, Barrett's Esophagus, and no gallbladder! I'm pretty good at knowing how to avoid major heartburn because I try to avoid things that are really acidic. I also know that it's better not to have acidic things late at night. In fact, yesterday Howard and I shared two peaches after he got home from work before I even started making dinner, and I felt fine! It was much more enjoyable knowing that I wouldn't be uncomfortable later.

Even though I try to avoid things that are extremely acidic or fried or spicy, there are times I just really love a big bowl of pasta covered in tomato sauce! I also like things with a slight kick in them. Plus, anything that has noticeable fat or oil or butter in it can make me sick. Instead of waiting for any symptoms to hit me, I've learned to pop a Tums in my mouth after I finish dinner so it can start neutralizing acids right away. Silly me has been taking the Tums 750 before I realized that there was a difference in strength! I think I bought this more so because it was peppermint, which I know helps with nausea. When I took that first tablet and had it work so quickly, I was so impressed! It's peppermint Tums 1000 from now on!

Favorite #3: Pop-Tarts

Remember when Pillsbury Toaster Strudel first came out, and their commercials were always about how they were so much better than other breakfast pastries (ahem, Pop-Tarts)? I was definitely a huge fan of Toaster Strudels because they were warm, and I liked being able to control how much frosting I'd put on top because I didn't like things to be too sweet. In the more recent months, Howard and I have been enjoying Pop-Tarts!

Considering our extremely small refrigerator, I have to say that it's quite awesome not having to keep Toaster Strudels in the freezer since we just keep the Pop-Tarts on our counter. It's also really awesome that I can pay next to nothing for Pop-Tarts since I'm part of Kellogg's Family Rewards, which means I input codes from Kellogg's products and trade them in for products or coupons! I was able to get $0.75 coupons that double at my grocery stores, so I can get each box for about $0.16 when it's on sale 3 for $5. Um, yes please! Just pop them in the toaster for a quick warming, and then it's done! It's not pictured here, but the chocolate chip one is really yummy. I like that there are so many varieties these days compared to when I was a kid.

And as always, Friday nights are the best because my husband doesn't have to go to work the next day! Here's hoping I can sleep tonight because I barely got any sleep last night.

Friday Favorites

Here are a few things that I've really been enjoying lately!

Favorite #1: Edy's Outshine Bars

About a month ago, there was a really awesome California Pizza Kitchen deal at Target to buy two pizzas and get a box of Edy's bars for free. With the coupons available at the time, each item technically came out to be only $1.67. I actually saw it as paying $5 for the pizza and getting the bars for free since we were just trying it for the first time, and it wasn't necessarily something I would have bought anyway. Well, once  Howard and I tried those peach bars, we were hooked! Now they definitely will be something we buy again!

Since neither of us can have ice cream and our apartment can get really hot and stuffy rather quickly because of the lack of air flow (and who wants to pay an arm and a leg for constantly having the air conditioning on during the warmer months?!), we like to occasionally have an ice as a snack or dessert! These Outshine bars make it so that I don't feel as guilty compared to the Luigi's Italian Ice though we like those in the summer months too. The box says that there's a good amount of Vitamin C in it, and there really are chunks of fruit in the peach one and the strawberry one that we also tried. We were actually able to try the lime and strawberry flavors too because CVS had a decent deal on them with coupons and ExtraBucks, and I had ExtraBucks to spend. When I got them there, each box was a little over $1, but I got $4 back to use. Ooo, that reminds me that I need to use it by Monday, I believe.

I would definitely recommend these bars! Even at full price, I would have to say it's "worth it" compared to buying it individually, of course, but it's still too expensive for me personally. Sales and coupons are the way to go!

Favorite #2: 24 Live Another Day

Since Howard and I don't have a TV, we don't watch many current TV shows. If there's something that interests us, we have to watch it on Hulu or some other provider. We do that for things like MasterChef and Top Chef, but recently we started watching the latest season of 24!

The funny thing is that I didn't actually finish the previous 8 seasons of 24! I lost track of where I stopped, so I'm actually starting from the beginning and now am in the midst of season 2. Because that's on Amazon Prime, I can watch an episode and keep going if I so wished. I remember my older brother would stay up late at night watching episode after episode on DVD.

I have to say that watching "24: Live Another Day" is exciting though because we do actually have to wait until the following week to find out what happens next! It has that excitement that we both missed, and we're both quite happy that Chloe was brought back for this season too!

Favorite #3:  Martha Stewart Crafts Simple Circle Cutter

It was only fairly recently that I finally found the blade part of my Martha Stewart circle cutter! I thought I had lost it for some time because it wasn't back at my parents' house, and I couldn't find it in the apartment. I had actually put it in one of my plastic flower and eyelet cases for safe storage and apparently forgot it was there! But now that I have it, it's making my craft life so much easier again, and I have plenty more options!

With it, I was able to make a circle card that I haven't yet posted since the person who requested the custom order didn't yet give it to the recipient. I was also able to use it to make little circles to glue in the middle of scalloped circles cut out with my Spellbinders Nestabilities when I wanted a different shape for the sentiment of the cards I was making. Of course, the only thing that makes this easy is the fact that I have the Making Memories Slice Glass Cutting Mat. I remember when I bought that for the full $19.99 price at AC Moore. I know; it seems strange that I didn't use a coupon, but apparently coupons excluded Slice products and I figured I needed it anyway (of course, it later went on clearance!). Right now it's just $8.98 on Amazon probably because I think the Slice machine is obsolete. It's okay though because I'm happy with how both of the products work together once I read that glass cutting mats are the best. It makes me excited knowing that I have my options available to me again!

I'm extra happy this Friday that Howard got home safely before the thunderstorms started. Stay safe everyone, and have a great weekend!

Friday Favorites

Time for an installment of "Friday Favorites"!  Here are just a few things that I've been loving lately.

Favorite #1: Bottomless Steak Fries from Red Robin

Red Robin is a new addition to our local mall.  The service is really hit or miss as we've had one server who was rarely around and another who was attentive and definitely earned herself a good tip.  The food is also not consistent, but the one thing that has been good each time is the bottomless steak fries!  I'm ADDICTED to fries; I used to purposely order meals if they came with a side of fries when I was a teenager before I realized you can just do a substitution.  Silly me.  Red Robin works out well because I sometimes prefer steak fries, and we all know that steak fries have delicious potato-y goodness inside.  It's not uncommon for me to focus on the fries instead of my meal since I tend to bring half my entree home anyway for the next day!

Our previous experience was a GREAT one as our server brought a basket of extra fries for each of us and included some Campfire Sauce.

If you read any of the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, you know that rather than writing "The family sat down and ate dinner," she would go into such detail about what was eaten and how.  I've never seen such descriptive food writing ever!  Can you imagine what she would have written if she were still alive and had a food blog?!  I'd be checking for updates every 15 minutes!

In Farmer Boy, there's one particular scene where Almanzo and one of his sisters Alice were doing some chores outside when Manzo figures it must be dinner because he's famished.  Unfortunately for him, it's only mid-morning, so his father tells him to put a potato in the ashes to bake.  He makes two of them so that his sister can have one as well.  As he stands there waiting for it to cook, he suddenly hears a loud sound as one of the potatoes bursts and hits him in the face!  It's extremely painful for him, of course.  After his father makes sure that his eye is okay even though his eyelid and cheek are burned, he says that Alice should eat her potato since it was his that had burst.  Alice replies that Manzo should eat it instead because he's injured.  In the end, they decide to split the potato in half.  They stand there in the cold gnawing on half a potato, and Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote one of my favorite parts of ALL the books that I've ever read in my ENTIRE LIFE.

The potato was burned black outside, but the inside was white and mealy and a most delicious baked-potato smell steamed out of it. They let it cool a little, and then they gnawed the inside out of the black crust, and it was the best potato they had ever eaten.

Isn't that just the most beautiful excerpt of literature ever written?  That part has stuck with me since I first read this book in 3rd grade at school, and a good potato always makes me think of the word "mealy" even though it can sometimes be used with a negative connotation when describing food items.  However, when it's paired up with the word "potato," I see it as the highest compliment one could give ... to a potato.

Well, Red Robin's bottomless steak fries are definitely "white and mealy" in the same way that it was for Almanzo and Alice.   

Favorite #2: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Red Carpet

It's been months since I took the time to paint my nails.  I actually took the time to do my nails more often when I was busy with work during the last school year, so I thought that trend would continue.  Alas, I got a bit lazy with it.  In the past, I'd paint them at the end of the day before bed so that they'd have time to harden overnight, but because it's been so cold out, I've had to take the time to dry my hair completely instead.  I decided that it's about time I got back into doing my nails especially since I have quite a lot of polish from all the CVS sales and deals!

One of the more recent shades that I purchased was this Sally Hansen one in Red Carpet.  I have a bunch of this kind, and it works really well on me.  It lasts a good amount of time without chipping and maybe just minimal tip wear as with all polishes, but what I love about them is that I typically don't have an issue taking the color off whereas I might have to use a second piece of a remover-soaked cottonball to get other brands off my nails.

I decided to use this for my toenails because the purple I had on beforehand was almost completely gone!  I'm surprised that it did last for as long as it did.  Since I didn't do my nails for Christmas, I didn't get a chance to use this red.  It is SO pretty!  It has red sparkle in it so it reminds me of Dorothy's ruby red slippers in The Wizard of Oz.  I'd post a picture of it, but it's on my toes!  I don't think it's right to have a photo of bottomless fries above and then my feet below.  Besides, this is one of those polish colors that doesn't seem to be captured very well in swatches.  I just did a quick Google image search, and none of them look as nice as what it really looks like in real life.  This was the perfect color to use to get me back into loving all the different shades and choices!  Now it's time to find an opportunity to do a manicure and let it dry!

Favorite #3: Christmas Blanket

Howard and I got our new blanket this past Christmas Eve when we celebrated with my mom's side of the family.  My Aunt Daisy and Uncle Larry bought these super warm blankets for each of the married couples in my generation, so we got one as did my brother and his wife and my cousin and his wife.  It was really funny because my cousin Tyler wrapped them up and said we had to be together to open it, and we had to go in order.

We understood why after we started!  My cousin and his wife did theirs first, and then we saw that underneath, Tyler had run out of wrapping papers, so he stacked them up!  Ours was in the middle, so the top portion didn't have wrapping paper on it.  It was definitely a clever way to get three massive items wrapped up for Christmas, and we had such a laugh when we saw it!

The blanket was such an appropriate gift during this FREEZING COLD season especially since we don't seem to get much heat in our apartment this year as opposed to last year.  We actually have our duvet from IKEA on our bed (the green circles), our extra duvet cover (the black and gray), and now our new blanket all on our bed.  It is SO much warmer now because it has some weight to it so it traps the heat in without having to wrap ourselves in the blanket as if we were in a cocoon.

Ever since we started using it, we've been much happier at night, and it doesn't take me as long to fall asleep since I get warmer much faster.  Speaking of falling asleep, it's about time I do that now!  Hope you all had a happy Friday!

Friday Favorites

If you've been following my blog over the more recent weeks, you clearly know that couponing has become one of my favorite hobbies.  It's amazing how much you can save just by doing some research and learning how to stack coupons and watch for sales.  If I sat down and actually calculated the amount of money we spent during our first few months or even first full year of marriage versus what we spend now on groceries and necessities, I'd be hoping for an opportunity to go back in time and give myself a slap or two as a wake up call!

However, despite the incessant posts about couponing, it's not the only thing I'm enjoying right now as hard as it may be to believe.  There are a few other things that I think would fall under my "favorites" that I'd like to share with you!  I know other bloggers write about favorite things on Fridays or have segments depending on the day of the week, but I don't know how good I'll be about that so I'm not going to promise anything other than my continued random outbursts!

Favorite #1: Skippy Natural Peanut Butter Spread with Dark Chocolate

I've never been a fan of eating waffles with syrup mainly because of its stickiness and the sweetness.  On occasion, I'd drizzle a little bit on a waffle to have an extra sugary jolt in the morning especially being hypoglycemic, but what I typically enjoyed was peanut butter on my freshly toasted Eggo.

Unfortunately, over the past year or two, peanut butter has been giving me heartburn and discomfort especially in the morning, so I've been avoiding one of my favorite quick protein and carb breakfast.  That all changed when I heard about Skippy Natural Peanut Butter Spread with Dark Chocolate.  We picked it up at Pathmark when there was a $1.99 sale on Skippy with a coupon.  Love the doubling of coupons at Pathmark and Stop & Shop!  Oh wait, I shouldn't be writing about coupons here ...

I tried this chocolate-y spread on a waffle many times, and it's been so delicious!  It hasn't really given me stomach issues, so that's why I'm a fan of it.  I especially wanted to see how it compares to Nutella, and I actually like it more than I like Nutella.  That could be because I feel as if I need to be in a certain mood to enjoy the taste of hazelnut.  Plus, it helps that Skippy is much cheaper than Hazelnut!

Favorite #2: Kitchen Nightmares

Before I got married and left my parents' house, we often watched Restaurant Impossible with Robert Irvine.  It was entertaining for us to see how he would help the owners of a restaurant do things the right way.  We couldn't believe just how many establishments on the series have frozen food and use microwaves to cook!  I wanted to watch more episodes at our apartment, but we don't have a TV, so I had to search online for some.  There are only a few on YouTube, so I started watching Kitchen Nightmares on Netflix.  And now I just discovered that more seasons are available on Hulu, yay!

First of all, I have to point out that I truly dislike how Gordon Ramsay spews out so many profanities.  He has a completely different approach than Robert Irvine.  But the basis of the show itself in terms of seeing a restaurant get back on the right path is what intrigues me.  Yes, I'm fully aware that this is still a reality show and things are contrived, but I still think it's entertaining.

Oh, except for the ones that have cockroaches and mold everywhere.  Blech!

Favorite #3: Oriental Trading Double Sided Tape Rolls

After a few years of crafting, I read a lot about Scor-Tape and other redline tape by companies like Ranger.  I wanted to try it because I know it's supposed to work really well with putting together 3-D paper items.  In the past, I've always used my Scotch ATG gun, but over time, some of the things would start to fall apart.  I decided to buy some redline tape from Oriental Trading.  I don't now just how well it'll last in the long run as I only just began using it, but so far, I can see that it's better than using an ATG gun.  If this doesn't have long staying power, I will invest in more expensive redline tape, but I know now that it's easy to work with and sometimes easier than using a tape runner.

Of course, let's not forget the best of all Friday favorites ... I get to spend the weekend with Howard!  Yay!