Archive for March, 2009
Those of you who have known me for a while know that I am borderline obsessed with Portillo’s. It’s a restaurant based in Chicago that has the best chocolate cake you will ever taste in your life! (The Italian Beef sandwich is also fantastic). I only get to have it twice a year…once when the CHA industry tradeshow is in Chicago and once when it’s in Anaheim, California (the first place outside of Chicago they built a restaurant).
Well, Tony and I are in Chicago this weekend for an internet conference and guess where our first stop after leaving the airport was? Portillio’s! Yum!!! (Chocolate cake pictured below)
Just wanted to send a reminder our free gift certificate promotion ends tonight at midnight. Use coupon code GIVEME10 for a free $10 electronic gift certificate with a $59 purchase and coupon code GIVEME20 for a free $20 electronic with a $110 purchase.
Have a wonderful weekend! I’m missing the Sunshine State right about now. The high in Chicago today is 41!
As always, thanks for your business.
March 27th, 2009
Last Friday I was one of the chaperones on my daughter Lauren’s third grade field trip to St. Augustine. There were 59 kids in total, with 19 chaperones and we had a blast! We got off to a rough start (the bus was 1 ½ hours late picking us all up from school), but overall it was a great learning experience for the kids and I really enjoyed myself. I only had three kids to keep an eye on (one being my own), but it was a nerve-racking experience. The other two girls kept wandering off and since my kids don’t do that, I’m not used to it!
It was also a learning experience for me…I’ve learned that my daughter has reached the age where her mother embarrasses her. I knew this day would come, but I was hoping it was a few years off. When we were on the bus, we passed the restaurant where Tony proposed to me. Lauren was a few rows ahead of me (didn’t want to sit with her Mom) and I yelled up to her to look at the yellow restaurant…"That’s where Daddy asked me to marry him!". She gave me a look I have never seen on her face before and turned back to her friends.
When we got home that night (at 9:30!), she told Tony that I had really embarrassed her by telling her that "on the bus in front of her best friend and EVERYBODY!" I had to smile inside. It was one of those cute but sad moments.
However, now I know I can embarrass her in front of her friends. Isn’t that one of the few paybacks that parents get for poopy diapers, sleep deprivation and getting thrown up on?
I posted a few pictures from our trip below. I just got a new camera and it’s the best camera I’ve ever had. Know why? Because it fits in my purse or my pocket and I always have it with me. When I was doing research on which one to buy, something I read said "What’s the best camera? The one you have with you!" Boy, is that true! I’ve taken over 140 pictures in March compared to 24 in February. I’m really happy because I’ve been able to take pictures of everyday stuff, instead of just "big events". We have a Nikon digital SLR that takes awesome pictures, but I never want to take it anywhere because it’s too big and I don’t want to carry it. I did about 8 hours of research on my camera and ended up choosing the
Sony Cybershot DSCW300 13.6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot
. I am really happy with the camera, but REALLY happy with all the pictures I’ve been taking. I posted a few random ones below.
We have 242 great new products this week. We have lots of spring items to brighten up a dreary day. We have the Green and the Le Creme collections from Die Cuts with a View, Baby Girl and Baby Boy collections from Karen Foster, "Made from Scratch" from Moxxie, new outdoors papers from SugarTree, Japenese papers from Kodomo and state diecuts from Paper Wizard.
We’ve posted some layouts in the Shop by Layout section for the Die Cuts with a View collections and some with our exclusive SYT Obama Election items - click here to see:
Shop By Layout.
The SYT designers were working on the following themes this week: Spring, Travel, England, China, Hong Kong, Africa, California, USA, Washington, Soccer, Golf, Sailing, Drama, Pets, Birthday, Moving and more.
We also have two custom die cuts: a "Happy Birthday to You" and "Soccer Team" and two custom papers: "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "Name in Lights Sign". We’ll make them just for you! Click here to see all the new items:
http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/32509.html.
As always, thanks for your business.
Lauren waiting for the bus (at 6:30 in the morning)
View from close to the top of the St. Augustine Light House. I had already climbed over 13 floors and needed to rest!
Lauren at the top of the lighthouse
Lauren grinding corn
Logan at Test Track at Epcot
Logan playing Air Guitar at Universal
My monthly breakfast with my friends Cathy and Amy
Logan after his breakfast "date" with his teacher, Mrs. G.
March 25th, 2009
How do you feel about kid’s team sports? We are having lots of discussions in our household right now about getting our kids started in sports. Lauren takes tennis lessons and Logan takes golf lessons one day after school. Lauren has tried more activities than Logan (gymnastics, cheerleading, judo) and tennis is the first thing she’s been pretty excited about.
Tony and I are kind of on opposite sides about it. He played Little League as a kid and feels it really helped him with teamwork and coordination. I am not (nor have I ever been) an athletically inclined person, so it doesn’t have as much importance for me. I did things like drama, music, dance and debate.
My biggest issue is that I think along the way we’ve taken it from something fun to something uber-competitive and I just don’t think it’s right.
Some kids have practice 1-2 nights a week. Some kids have practice every day. Some kids have practice starting at 6:00 am or until 8:30 at night. Some kids have 3-4 games every weekend. Is this the life of a child or a professional athlete?
Tony was at a Girl Scout Father/Daughter bowling event this past weekend and was talking with one of the other dads. The dad told him that it is so competitive that if the kids don’t participate from the very beginning, that it’s almost too late. Only the best of the best continue to make the cuts.
One mom from gymnastics told me that if she had known how much it was going to take over their entire lives, they would have never started. I’ve read studies of the burnout rates of high school/college athletes who have been competing since they were five (not to mention the injury rates).
So, it’s probably obvious by now that I’m not really for it. I want my kids to have the experience, but I also want them to have a balanced life and a carefree childhood for as long as they are able. (I’m also being kind of selfish – I don’t want to give up my weekends either!)
What advice do you have to share?
I got so much great advice on the grandparent situation last week I thought I’d ask for your opinion again. :-) Please leave me a comment on the blog.
Spring is in the air and that means it’s time for spring cleaning! We’ve added over 2,000 items to our clearance section – all at 25% off! States, countries, holidays, sports…all the themes are there. There are so many items we had to break them into sections (Companies A-R and S-Z). For the first time ever, there are SYT die cuts on clearance. We have over 4,000 die cuts and it’s time for some to retire!
All we have is all we have, so when it’s gone, it’s gone!
As always, thanks for your business.
March 18th, 2009
Sometimes when you are younger, you make decisions that have far-reaching, unintended consequences. But hey, you’re young, so you don’t think about these things, right? I am living one of those consequences right now.
When I was 20, I was to college in Missouri, where I went to high school. I was about an hour away from home…just far enough to be on my own, but still close enough for when I needed Mom and Dad. One day, Walt Disney World was on campus, interviewing for the Disney College Program. Let’s see…spring semester in Missouri in the cold and snow, or in Florida, where it’s warm and there’s a beach? It was a no-brainer.
My mom drove down from Missouri to Florida with me and flew back. She got a round-trip ticket because she was going to fly back at the end of the semester and drive back to Missouri with me. At the end of the semester, I decided to stay for the summer. At the end of the summer, I decided to stay, period. It took my Mom years to forgive me.
At the time, I was 20, so thinking long-term about moving 1500 miles away from home never crossed my mind. I was just young and free and loving being out on my own.
Well, this week, one of the unintended consequences of that decision is front and center. My Mom and Dad are here visiting from Missouri. It’s been three years since they were here and two years since we were there. Within about five minutes, Logan attached himself to "Grandpa Bob" and hasn’t wanted to let go since. The first night, Logan came out after we put him to bed and went up to my husband Tony and whispered in his ear, "I love Grandpa Bob!" Tony said "Why don’t you tell him?" "No!" Logan said, all embarrassed. "You tell him!"
After my parents went back to their timeshare, I was commenting to Tony on how quickly Logan attached himself to Grandpa Bob. Then it hit me. Logan has no grandpa in his life. He sees Grandma Fran, Tony’s mom, all the time, since she lives here and works with us. Tony’s dad lives in Wisconsin and my dad lives in Missouri. So there is this really big hole for my kids that I didn’t even realize was there.
Overall, I don’t regret moving to Florida. I love my husband, my kids and my life…none of which would be the same if I had stayed in Missouri. My parents are some of the rare people nearing retirement age who don’t like Florida, so no chance of them coming here. Since we’re not going anywhere either, we have this "unintended consequence" of grandparents and grandkids not getting to spend a lot of time together. My Mom said it’s hard for her when all her friends talk about all the things they do with their grandkids, since hers are so far away.
Anybody in the same situation? How do you stay involved in the lives of people that are far away? If you have any suggestions for me, please leave me a comment below.
We have 267 great new products this week. It’s warm and sunny here in Orlando, Florida, so we thought we’d share some of sunshine with the new Snorkel collection from Cosmo Cricket. It’s so bright and cheery it makes me happy just looking at it! We have lots of beach and spring embellishments from EK Success and more St. Patrick’s Day (the leprachaun’s are coming!) We have 20 new sport papers from Scrappin’ Sports & More, three new collections from Creative Imaginations (Ooh La La, Arizona and Northeast), along with two more collections from Die Cuts with a View (Citrus and Garden Party).
We are also the first to get the new Wild Raspberry collection from K&Co. (They accidentally sent it to us earlier than they were supposed to..sshhh…don’t tell anyone!) We’ve posted some additional layouts in the
The SYT designers were working on the following themes this week: Ireland, Cuba, Europe, Nevada, South Dakota, badminton, bowling, music, softball, white water rafting, Civil War, great outdoors, honeymoon, police, kids. and more. We also have two custom die cuts: a "Orlando or Bust" and "Honeymooning in Orlando". Of course, you can change the city name to your choice. Click here to see all the new items:
http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/31109.html.
We also have a promotion on SYT products until Friday, March 13. For every $100 of stuff you pick out, you can add $15 of SYT products for free! Just put the $115 worth in your cart and apply coupon code 15FREE100 at checkout and it will take $15 off your order total.
We have several different promotions going on right now (15FREE100, free shipping over $59, 10% customer apprecation discount for orders 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, etc.). We are offering different choices so that you can choose the one that is the best deal for you. However, the offers cannot be combined, so make sure you pick the best one! (As much as I would love to give you all the discounts, there are silly things I have to worry about, like rent and payroll.
As always, thanks for your business.
Logan and Grandpa Bob
Lauren and Logan with Grandma and Granpa (with Tony’s head reflected in the mirror!)
March 11th, 2009
I just love fairs! The Florida Strawberry Festival is going on right now and we took the kids last weekend. It’s always the weekend of Lauren’s birthday (I can’t believe she’s 9!!!), so we go almost every year. The time was the most fun we’ve ever had. The kids are old enough to go on most of the rides and old enough to think they’re fun instead of terrifying.
The rides are fun, the strawberries are good, the people watching is hilarious, but you know what the best part is? Fair food! I have never seen so much fried food (or turkey legs) in my life! As we were walking around, Lauren wanted to know why everything was on a stick. Corn dog on a stick…chicken on a stick…deep fried snickers on a stick…They were deep frying things I didn’t know you could deep fry, like Oreos, cookie dough and Pepsi. How the heck do you deep fry Pepsi anyway? I wanted to try it, but by the time we got back to it, I had a terrible stomachache from all the deep fried junk!
However, the award for the most unbelievable fair food goes to "The Chocolate Barn" for…ready for it?…chocolate covered bacon! (If you don’t believe me, check out the picture below). Who knows, maybe it’s like chocolate covered pretzels and it’s really good?
Afterwards, the kids said it was one of the best days of their lives.
Makes every minute of the stomachache worth it!
We have 261 fantastic new products this week. We have the new floral collection, Madeline from K& Co and three new collections from Die Cuts With a View; Taj Mahal, Tahiti Beach, and Nana’s Kitchen. We have a St. Pat’s/Ireland collection from Reminisce called Green Day (along with some great new layouts in the Shop by Layout section – click here to see:
Shop By Layout.) We also have products from two new vendors this week, stickers and glitter from Martha Stewart Crafts and eight new collections from Amanda Blu, including ballerina, princess, rockets, reptiles, Noah’s Ark and some gorgeous florals.
We have a special promotion with Amanda Blu until Friday, March 6. Get a free Amanda Blu album with a $100 purchase ($23 value). Simply add the album you’d like to your cart and apply coupon code FREEALBUM at checkout (one coupon code per order, please
The SYT designers were working on the following themes this week: Japan, Morocco, United Kingdom, Missouri, North Dakota, Baseball, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Mountain Biking, Cruise, Sourthwest, St. Patrick’s Day and more. We had such a great response to last week’s custom paper with two different sayings/words in two different fonts that we also made a diagonal option this week.. We also have two custom die cuts: a cruise ship and a theatre sign. My favorite die cut of the weeks come courtesy of one of my long-time customers, Dolores from Nebraska: "I’m a Scrapbook Addict, I Need a 12 x 12 step program!" Click here to see all the new items:
http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/30409.html.
We also have 261 items on sale this week and over 150 items left on 50% clearance. Click here to see all the bargains:
http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.
As always, thanks for your business.
Lauren and Logan with the stuffed animals they "won" at the fair. It only cost us $20 each! But they were SO proud of themselves for "winning" them.
They ended up riding the Tilt-A-Whirl twice, but Logan wasn’t so sure about it the first time!
See! Chocolate covered bacon! I wouldn’t kid about something like this!
In the car after "the best day of their life"
March 4th, 2009
