Wednesday, November 20, 2013

BOGO Baskin Robbins on Wednesdays



This isn't really ice cream weather, but who can pass up free ice cream?! Every Wednesday from now through December, when you buy any 2-scoop sundae you get on FREE! Valid only at participating locations. 

Visit the Baskin Robbins Website to find the location closest to you.

Thanksgiving Decor


I mentioned in my post yesterday that we are hosting thanksgiving at our house again this year. In preparation for this, I spent way too much time on Pinterest looking for decorating ideas. I decided to to post some of my favorites for you to see.

Photo Cred.
Photo Cred.
Photo Cred.
Photo Cred.
This FREE Thanksgiving printable from How to Nest for Less is perfect to print, frame and display  for a quick and easy Thanksgiving decoration.  

Monday, November 18, 2013

A Thankful Heart

Photo Cred.
We're hosting Thanksgiving at our house for the second year in a row. Thanksgiving with my family looks like mass chaos in our 1,900 square foot home with 30+ people inside.
Picture this: Everyone is talking at the same time and trying to get through the line of food in a disorganized cafeteria-like fashion. There are tables and chairs set up wherever we can fit them and there are people scattered throughout the house. Everyone is eating on our finest china, aka paper plates, and drinking out of plastic cups. The table centerpieces end up getting moved to the floor to make space for more plates and there's always some sort of heated discussion taking place. Multiple interactive games take place at the same time (most of which require yelling) and you can hear some sort of ball game on the television. 
Does this sound like your picture perfect holiday? It does mine! We have so much fun that it out weighs any downside to giant family holidays. I'm forever thankful that we have so much family to celebrate with, even if it doesn't produce magazine-worthy photos!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday Freebie-Free Kindle ebook

I have been periodically posting freebies and special deals on here, however I'm going to try to start consistently posting a freebie to my blog every Friday.



My first Friday Freebie is a Kindle ebook download. The book is How to Save 50% or More at the Grocery Store. Disclaimer: I have not yet read this book, but I can't resist checking out someone else's ideas on how to save money when grocery shopping!

Note: When you click on the book it tells you that the current cost is $0.0, but be sure to double check before downloading, as the price can change at any time.

You can download the book HERE


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Bathroom Remodel

We've been slowly working on redoing our master bathroom since we moved into our house (an embarrassing 18 months ago!). We've finally made enough headway to consider it "almost done." As with any home project, (or at least projects at our house), it didn't turn out to be quite as easy as we had first thought. It seemed that every time we made progress, something would go wrong. To make the job even harder, I wanted to turn a dark grey, modern bathroom into a white, traditional bathroom. I need to dig up my "before pictures" and take some better quality "after pictures". But until then, here is a teaser of what is to come!

Go ahead and laugh at the sticker that is still on the corner of the mirror.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Buy One, Get One FREE Starbucks

Photo cred.
Calling all Starbucks lovers! Starbucks is offering Buy One, Get One Free on their holiday beverages between the hours of 2 and 5 p.m. This deal starts TOMORROW and runs through this weekend (11/13-11/17). So, go treat a friend to some holiday cheer (or just spoil yourself!).
The participating beverages are:
  • Caramel BrulĂ©e Latte
  • Peppermint Mocha
  • Gingerbread Latte
  • Eggnog Latte

Monday, November 11, 2013

English Muffin Bread

I am new the world of bread making…mostly because I avoided it. Making bread seemed like such a daunting task that I wasn't prepared to tackle. My first few attempts turned out just okay (I assume it's because I didn't know what I was doing!) However, my mom recently sent me this amazing recipe for English Muffin Bread originally featured by One Good Thing By Jilliee, and it was easy enough that even I couldn't mess it up! Who doesn't love a good fail-proof recipe? You literally take all of the ingredients, dump them all in a bowl, and mix. Making homemade bread is so much more economical than buying store bought and you can't even compare the taste. To make it even better, I made some homemade cinnamon butter that I found on just a pinch which was the icing on the cake……I mean bread.

**I did change a few things in the recipe, so I've listed my version below. You can check out the original recipe HERE

Photo Cred.


English Muffin Bread
5 1/2 cups warm water
3 packages yeast
2 Tablespoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
11 cups flour (I used 5 1/2 cups bread flour and 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour)
Mix altogether in a mixer with the dough hook (just enough to combine). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm place. Let dough rise until it reaches the top of the bowl (about 45 minutes). Kneed dough a couple of times and then spoon into (3) well greased loaf pans (my loaf pans are pretty big…you may need to use 4). Cover again, and let rise in pans until dough reaches the top of the pans (about another 45 minutes). Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. 10 minutes before done, brush with melted butter. Makes 3 loaves. Bread will be moist at first. Allow to COOL COMPLETELY before cutting. Makes terrific toast.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Free Redbox rental




Get a FREE DVD rental at Redbox kiosks when you use the code NW2PCLP3.

This off is good until November 18th and can only be used once per credit card. 

Thanks The Freebie Blogger for posting this!

Monday, November 4, 2013

New Furniture!

You'll have to excuse my blurry IPhone picture and the coat hanging in the corner!

We've been in our house for a year a half now and it's slowly but surely starting to feel like a home! I spent my weekend searching craigslist for great deals and picking up furniture because we are having a dinner party, a birthday party and thanksgiving dinner at our house (in the next 4 weeks!). I am VERY particular about what I want, and I'm also very cheap. Add those two together and it can be pretty tricky to find anything that fits my standards! I figure if I'm going to buy something, why pay more for it than I have to?!
Our dining room table was actually given to us by my aunt who no longer needed a table that big. The blue chairs came from Home Goods (my favorite store!). the black chairs,  the white wicker chairs and the hutch were both craigslist finds. And the buffet was given to us because a family friend was going to throw it away. The giant lantern and buffet lamps are from Old Time Pottery.
I plan to refinish the hutch, buffet and table, and spray paint the wicker chairs….but for now the eclectic look is growing on me. Up to this point, this room has cost us a total of $600!
The room definitely needs some wall decor and maybe a big rug….but this room is definitely becoming one of my favorite rooms in our house!

This is a close up of lantern decorated for fall