Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Today has been a pretty good day. Today was the Paducah swap for Peace.Love.Swap. It was very pretty out, so we didn't have to unload in the rain like the past couple of swaps I was at. As far as I know, the next one will be May 5th: Mayfield SWAP @ YMCA. After the clean up, we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. My mom won a $50 gift certificate by playing a Coke Zero instant win game. After dinner we headed home, where I started working on my points sites and instant win games... where I won a free steak dinner from Outback Steakhouse from QuickenLoans. If you do not think instant win games and contests are worth your time, believe me, they are! I don' have a lot of luck with them. Maybe a small win here and there, but my mom wins awesome things ALL. THE. TIME!

My coupon guru.. on WPSD

Meet the queen of cutting costs!

Ben Seibel - Mikasa Mexicana

I love thrift and antique stores. I love to find neat and unique junk. Last month I found these cups at a giveaway:

I thought they were so adorable. And they are cute a for tea parties with my Lexie. She loves that they are green (her favorite color). I've just now gotten around to looking up information on the cups and Ben Seibel, but so far all I could find was this:


"Ben Seibel was a prolific designer. In 1952, when Roseville Pottery Company was experiencing financial difficulties, Seibel was asked to design a dinnerware line that would help revive the company. Raymor Modern Stoneware (see table below) was the result. While this highly desirable potteryware did not revive the company, it did help Seibel make his mark in the design world. His other designs include Impromptu ('52), Informal ('58), Inheritance ('59) and Intaglio ('64), all by Iroquois, as well later designs for Mikasa."
http://www.retrospective.net/BSeibel.htm 


During the 1950s, Iroquois introduced a line called Informal by industrial designer Ben Seibel that had a round shape with "a stretched look." Each piece was decorated in either a two-tone white with solid color (with or without design decals) or in plain white with decals. The set consisted of approximately 25 pieces and included patterns such as Blue Diamonds, Sleepy Hollow, Steller, Teuton, Tiara, Rosemary, Lazy Daisy, Harvest Time, Old Orchard and Bombay-Green. The colors in the collection were earthy and bright and included mustard, apricot, avocado yellow, blue, bean brown, nutmeg, cantaloupe, charcoal, dark-green, lemon, lettuce green, oyster, pink, red, turquoise and white. The ware was "flameproof for cooking," a new concept in dinnerware. A pattern from the Informal line called Blue Vineyard was produced between 1969 and 1973.
Seibel also designed a line called Impromptu with designs like Jardinaires, Grapes, Frolic, Aztec, Pyramids, El Camino, Vision, Pompon, Beige Rose and Pin and Beads. The line was discontinued in 1956. A sleek contemporary shape called Bridal White was part of the Impromptu line and was produced in Seibel's name from 1956 to 1973.
Another unique Seibel design was called Diamond White which was solid white with a sculpted diamond design around the base of each piece. Iro-Tan Ripple ware also incorporated the use of sculpting in the design using a ripple effect that wrapped the body of each piece.
The Inheritance line had patterns such as Grecian Gold and Su Shi. The shape was discontinued in 1959.
Seibel designed dozens of patterns for several different companies which were received with mixed reviews, however, the Impromptu, Informal and Inheritance lines he designed for Iroquois proved to be some of the most collectible sets from that period. Another popular set was called Raymour Modern and was designed by Seibel for the ailing Roseville Pottery Company. It was a bold and unusual pattern described as "a man's dinnerware."
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_China_Company#Ben_Seibel_designs

If anyone can find any more information, please share with me! :)

One of my favorite people: Danielle Colby Cushman of American Pickers

I absolutely love Danielle Colby Cushman, and this is what she had to say today on her Facebook page about dieting:

"So, a lot of you ladies have been asking me about how I stay fit while being on the run constantly... Let me first say I am 175lb and 5' 9" tall. So I am not a tiny little thing but I do strive to stay healthy, for the most part ;)
I think my biggest secret is that I teach burlesque at least 3 days a week and really enjoy jogging, for my mental stability.
I do not have a diet, nor will I ever! I love to eat!!!
What I do try to do is eat at least 50% raw fruits and vegetables so my body is getting the nutrients it needs. I eat when I need to, never starve myself.
For those who don't know, sprinkling flax seed on everything I eat provides me with much needed omegas and fiber. Fried food is something I only allow myself once a month ;)
Rarely do I drink coffee or soda, water will make my skin behave much better, but I do LOVE hot tea, either lavender, ginger or mint with honey and lemon.
Oh! and a little something sweet and decadent every day makes my soul sing!"

Check out her Facebook Page: Danielle Colby Cushman, American Pickers

Dollar Tree and their... "batteries"

At the beginning of February I bought a couple of packs of batteries from the Mayfield Dollar Tree. I knew from the beginning these batteries would not be as good as Energizer of Duracell, but I was at least hopeful they would get the job done... I was wrong. Each one of these batteries barely lasted 5 minutes. It was frustrating. I was very upset that I wasted my money. I wrote the Dollar Tree company to let them know about my situation. Today, in the mail, I received two $5 vouchers for Dollar Tree. This made me a pretty happy camper. Just remember to go ahead and buy the good batteries, or batteries you have liked in the past... do not fool with Dollar Tree batteries. But if you ever do have an issue with Dollar Tree, they are great at compensating your troubles!

Kroger shopping trip 03/22/2012

After my cardiology appointment yesterday, Chris and I shopped at the South Side Paducah Kroger (I have been told they are the best to deal with on coupons, and I haven't had a problem yet from them!). Remember, I am not an extreme couponer. I just want to save my family some money when I can and stretch our dollars. We had about $103 worth of items rang up, but with all our coupons we spent a total of $74.82. That is a savings of about $28. Even that amount (whether someone thinks its big or small) makes me happy! I was able to get a pack or M&M, a Snickers bar, a Cadbury Creme Egg, and a bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Cherry for FREE with some of my coupons! I had other coupons for free items (like Dove's Men Body Wash and Klondike ice cream bars), but wasn't able to get them this trip for they were out. :( But Chris is going to try the Murray Kroger. I like the South Side Paducah Kroger because they came highly recommended for couponers (out of all 3 Paducah Kroger), but they don't have as big of a selection as Murray's Kroger in my opinion.

My cardiology appointment and results.

So, today I had my cardiology appointment. It went pretty good. Dr. Young was super nice. I was in and out in just an hour. Than ran an EKG and did the basic poking and prodding. They couldn't tell much from today's basic test (other than I have been experiencing "grays out" which are like black outs. I faint and my eyes go black, but I can still hear.), so they are having my do some more next week. They are scheduling an echo and a thyroid test. Dr. Young thinks maybe the incident with my Rhogam shot could have played a part in the frequency I have been experiencing the palpitations and "gray outs." I will know more next week. ....But the waiting room had a Keurig which made Lexie very excited. She said that's the coffee thing we have at home. I made her a hot chocolate :)

Cardiology appointment...

Tomorrow I go for a cardiology appointment at Western Baptist in Paducah. My OBGYN thinks that Cameryn might be putting some strain on my heart. I've been have fainting/dizzy spells accompanied with heart palpitations and chest pains. I am hoping they can give me medicine, and that I will not be put on bed rest. We will see. I am a wee bit nervous, but more for Cameryn than myself. I have already been taking my prenatals along with another prescription for iron pills. I've been have these spells since I got my Rhogam shot where I fainted. I will let everyone know more tomorrow after the appointment.

Lexie and the car wash

The pollen monster has struck today, leaving yellow all over Chris' jeep. The jeep being like one of his babies, we had to go to the car wash as soon as possible. He begins spraying the car, and Lexie loves this. She loves watching through the window's and yelling at daddy that he missed a spot. While I was enjoying watching Lexie be her usual self, I failed to notice Chris had left a window rolled down. He begins to spray and water hits Lexie and me. I try to get his attention, but he sprays he sprays the window again... so I am screaming at this point. He finally realizes the window is still down. Laughing after the fact with Lexie, Chris finishes up and get in the car. Lexie, still giddy from the incident, tells Chris, "Thank you daddy for making my car seat and me nice and sparkly!"

Cafe Au Latte - Mayfield

If you have not been to Cafe Au Latte yet, you should go. It next to Los Pino's. I went there for a business meeting, and I had a Tropical Passion smoothie. I am always worried about getting smoothies because some can be too "yogurty." This was delicious. In my opinion it was like a healthy slushie that wasn't overly syrupy. Great for a hot summer's day! My little girl (who is a picky eater) LOVED it, too! They offer other flavor smoothies, as well as specialty coffees and food items. My friend, Erica, said everyone has to try their grilled cheese. I haven't yet, but I am going to! They offer a rewards card, that when you buy 5 specialty drinks, you get the 6th one free. The also have an email program you can sign up for in store. Support local businesses and check it out!

Check them out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Au-Latte/191973540849761.

UPDATE: Facebook Page: Cafe Au Latte & Webpage: Cafe Au Latte

Hello and welcome!

Hello. My names is Danielle Garland. I am 24, and I live in Western Kentucky. I am married to a wonderful man, Chris Garland. I have a 4 year girl and a little boy, due to arrive in May. This is my blog about what I do and love. I will post about my weekly freebies, websites and products I love, things my daughter, Lexie, has said or done, and whatever else pops in my head. I invite anyone to read! A lot of my posts might cater to my local area, but I want anyone from any place to read.

One thing I want to say is the reason I chose this background for my blog is because my daughter, Lexie, loves those dandelion "seed heads". She calls them "wishers." They make me very happy when I see them. Especially when she is around to see them, too, and when she makes her little 4 year old wishes on them.