Hi. My Name is Steph...and I am a Coupon Whore.

There's got to be a 12 step program for me somewhere. When I go to the grocery store, I pride myself on the fact that I can get at least $30 taken off my bill by clipping coupons. I never buy anything I don't need, but I have figured out that the coupons that come out in the current Sunday paper are the same things that Ralph's discounts for that week, so using the coupon that week is key. I know what you're thinking, but don't be jealous. I know you wish you were as clever as me and had my exciting life. You can!
It's not just grocery store coupons, but every kind of store. Let me give you an example...today I checked the mail. I had easily a week's worth of mail in there. Being a new homeowner, I've been bombarded with discounts on shutters, landscaping, lighting, closets, etc. I look at every one, tossing the ones I know I'll never use. Today was the best! Not only did I have a cool IKEA coupon for $20 off a purchase of $100 or more, but I got this other coupon for my local pharmacy. All I have to is transfer a prescription to get a $20 gift card! I'm on it! This was the best of all...a place called BevMo, Beverages and More, whose slogan is "You can't go wrong!" No kidding! It's a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $30 or more. Whoo-hoo! And on the coupon is a picture of SKYY Vodka, the most important ingredient in my killer apple martinis. On the back of the flyer was a picture of a bottle of expensive champage and a couple of glasses and it said, "You're surrounded by boxes - you deserve a drink!" My thoughts exactly!! :)
I got another catalog with home furnishings where I ordered a new set of pots and pans and a toaster to match my new kitchen decor. I had two separate discounts, so I ordered them separately to get both. So I saved $20 instead of 10. I'm telling you - I'm cheap!
So in the morning, I'm off to BevMo to check out what they've got! I can't wait!

Monday Memories 2.13.06

 
 

Saturday was my daughter's Winter Formal. Her first, since she's a freshman. What a beauty, huh? Of course I had my emotional, sentimental moments when I saw how pretty and grown up she is. And I must add...in my objective and unprejudiced opinion, my daughter was by far the most beautiful and graceful girl there. :)
What was cute is that I went by myself to the lake to take pictures although I can think of a few people who wished they could have gone with me. I didn't want to embarrass her by bringing an entourage with cameras. When we got there and met her date, he brought both his parents, his grandfather, his older brother and his brother's girlfriend! His grandfather kept coming up to me and picking up my hand saying, "Oh my goodness...she is beautiful!" He took the words right out of my mouth.
He was such a sweetheart, as was the rest of his family.

It was a girl ask guy dance, so we took care of everything financially...

Dress, shoes, purse, jewelry..............$175.00
Ticket to get into the dance..............$110.00
Limo and dinner for two................... $80.00
Boutonniere for her date...................$11.00
Manicure/Pedicure/Hair/Make-up............$100.00

My baby's memories of her first formal....PRICELESS

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The Depravity of Today's Youth

My daughter has a friend named Alex, the nicest 13 year old boy I have ever met. He's really close to not only my older daughter but the younger one as well and we all look for excuses to have Alex come over. Last year, we bought him his own Steeler jersey and dragged him to the Steeler bar with us to cheer them on, and he's been going with us ever since (of course, this year was absolutely insane). The kid is just a good sport, he's very respectful and fun, and puts up with my hormomal daughter better than anyone else can.
Three weeks ago, before the Steeler game against the Broncos, we picked Alex up on the way to the Steeler bar. (Side note: for those of you who might be thinking, "Wait a minute. Steph is actually taking her children to a bar?!" Let me remind you that it's a Steeler bar, thank you very much, and I've been a die hard Steeler fan for a long time, so I think raising my children to get behind a team, stick with it, cheer them on through good times and bad - well that's just good parenting!! :) Anyway, I digress...so we're on our way to the bar and we stop by to get Alex. We get into a pretty bland conversation about what he had been doing all weekend when he tells us that he went to the movies the night before. He and his friends were so bored with the movie that they left early. How bad does a movie have to suck to get a bunch of 13 year old boys to leave? All they do is screw around in there anyway. So he goes on to tell us that out of sheer boredom they went into the pet store next door and decided to buy a bunch of Mexican Fighting Fish, and a few harmless little goldfish, to throw in the fountain outside and see what would happen. Am I the only one who finds this hysterical? If my daughter came home with that story, I couldn't even be mad, I would just be impressed with her creativity. So to continue the story, Alex said that when they were inside the pet store, the woman behind the counter wouldn't sell them the fish because she said they were fighting fish, they were dangerous to other fish (duh),and she wouldn't sell them to the boys because they were under 18. So they went outside and stopped the first customer to walk in the pet store and asked him to buy them the Mexican Fighting Fish. I stopped him at that point, laughing hysterically and yelled, "You pimped fish!!!" How funny is that?! I can see it now...Alex and his friends standing outside the pet store, saying something like this..."Psst...Dude. Can you score us a couple of fighting fish while you're in there? Here's an extra five-spot if you do." Ha! I love that kid.