I get the occasional email and Facebook message from people wondering how the adoption is going. Well, up til about a month ago it was going pretty well. Our social worker came to visit and do our individual interviews last month and it went great. But we have had some more speed bumps. We are still working on the next steps I blogged about, but in the mean time we are dealing with some issues. Long story so get comfy. (more…)
Bless Your Heart
Living out loud in the Carolinas
recent posts
Vacation Consultant 🛳️ Color Street Stylist 💅
Mom to 3 pups 🐾
Lover of all things sparkly🪩 Ally 🌈
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
-
For Earth Day CSP & I changed out all the regular bulbs in our house to CFLs , or swirly bulbs as we call them. Just the downstairs alone that was 17 bulbs! They are brighter and whiter than the old school bulbs plus our electric bill will go down I’m sure. We received 2 packages of free CFL bulbs from our electric company so that really helps with the cost. Check with your power company, they may have a similar program. And since CFLs last forever, we won’t have to replace them for years and years. We’re headed upstairs to change out those bulbs next! -
So I’m a couponer now. I haven’t gone whole hog yet with a big system, but I’m doing better each week. I’m getting better deals all the time and it’s pretty exciting to start with a GIANT subtotal then walk out paying less than $20.
Things I’m NOT doing:
- Going to more than one drug store. I’m a CVS girl and I just don’t have the time or desire to bounce around from drugstore to drugstore.
- Same with grocery stores. We use the one CSP works for and the one down the street from us, plus Aldi because you just can’t beat their prices even though the don’t take coupons.
- Turning my house into a mini grocery store. We do not have a pantry. We have precious little storage space. So while this week’s deals at CVS means we’re set for body wash and lotion for like 6 months, that’s about it. I can’t be buying 47 bottles of mustard just because they are only 12 cents. We just don’t have the room. We currently have 3 bottles of mustard but they all fit in the kitchen cabinets. I refuse to turn our guest room into a bomb shelter or store steak sauce under our future kidlet’s bed.
- Paying for coupons. It just seems counterintuitive to me.
- Buying 19 papers every Sunday. I buy one. There are just 2 of us for now. Maybe when the kidlet comes home and the demand for granola bars skyrockets then I’ll shell out for more than one paper.
- Dumpster diving. I am not judging. But I am a huge priss. I can not stand dirt. I understand that people throw out their coupons and it’s just money sitting in a bin somewhere but it’s just not worth it to me. Knowing my luck I’d get stuck and have to call CSP and NOBODY wants that drama again.
- Being as efficient as I know I could be.
Right now my system is very beginner coupon girl I know. I am currently using a little accordion file coupon organizer like this one
from Carolina Pad (holla! Gotta represent my favorite local office supply company) for all my loose coupons. Then I make my lists and put all the coupons I plan on using at CVS or the grocery into zip loc bags labeled with the store name. Those are all held in a little notebook in my purse with a binder clip. Binder clips are my all time favorite office supply, by the way. I’ve seen/heard of a couple methods and I’m wondering which you all prefer. I’ve seen people use the big binder. 
I can totally see the pros and cons of using this system. But I’ve also heard of people just filing the entire coupon insert into an accordion or hanging file 
and going back to clip each coupon as they need it instead of clipping all at once. I also see pros and cons with this system. What do you use and why? Thank you for your help! -
By now you’ve probably read at least one article that discusses the uproar over the ad pictured here that appears in the new J. Crew catalog. Basically, the company’s president paints her son’s toenails hot pink. Conservatives and right wingers have gone nuts. Erin Brown of the right-wing Media Research Center called the ad “blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children.” Really?FOX commentator Dr. Keith Albow even went so far as to advise J. Crew’s president Jenna-
“Yeah, well, it may be fun and games now, Jenna, but at least put some money aside for psychotherapy for the kid — and maybe a little for others who’ll be affected by your ‘innocent’ pleasure.”
I just don’t understand it. It’s toes. Just toes. When my nephew Jacob was younger he was very interested in my lip balm. When he’d see me apply lip gloss or balm he’d say “I want some Shanny yip.” I loved that he called it yip. So I’d put some gloss or balm on him. Guess what? He’s not in therapy. It didn’t damage him. He’s still a great little boy.
I just don’t understand why there’s such outrage over such a small thing. I mean, really, will pink toenails turn this little J. Crew boy into a mass murderer? Or a terrorist? I doubt it. There are so many serious things going on in the world today that could really use our attention. So why throw all this negative energy toward what appears to be a mom and son having some fun on a Saturday?
-
Molly is addicted to warm laundry. That girl will seek out a pile of warm laundry no matter where it is. I couldn’t believe when I found her like this! She climbed up on to the sofa, then the sofa arm then climbed into the laundry basket! It was like a kitten climbing up a tree. She couldn’t get down! We may need to hold an intervention! -
Ok, so now you’ve read about dinner and pre-club drinks. Now it’s time for the main event! We were the first to be let in to Howl at the Moon when they opened for the public. I ran to grab a good table and snagged one right up front. If you’ve never been to Howl at the Moon you are in for a treat! And if you have been then you understand why it’s so important to grab a good table. By 10 pm it is standing room only. Howl at the Moon is a rock and roll dueling piano bar. I’m not a bar girl by any means but when I first experienced Howl I knew that’s where we needed to celebrate Morgan’s 21st for a few reasons.
1. It’s not a stand around nursing your drink kind of bar. You get a show. A great show. 2. They play songs everyone knows. From rap to country to classic rock to top 40. 3. The people are friendly. Not just the staff, but the patrons. 4. The musicians are really, really talented. 5. It’s just really fun! Click on all pics to enlarge.So we ordered our first round of drinks and I got my camera out. We all ordered something called a Pink Passion becauseproceeds go to breast cancer research. What they don’t tell you is how GIANT this drink is!
Look how big that thing is! It’s sitting next to Shirlee, my purse, for scale. It was SO good. We would have drank those all night except we saw the bucket drinks and we knew we needed some of those. 
They come with a handful of straws so everyone gets a taste. Don’t worry, the alcohol kills the germs. They are yummy! Note how normal the first few pictures of the evening are. After a few buckets and a LOT of singingyelling along with the band, the picture quality gets a littlejanky!
Behind the bar is a big mirrored wall and for a dollar or two you can get them to write a phrase on the mirror. We snagged the first free phrase.
You can request songs so we put in for Brown Eyed Girl and they called Momo up on stage to dance along for her birthday. 
She pulled Ian (one of her roommates) up with her. My camera got passed around and we took over 300 pictures that night. Most were of people drinking from the buckets. 
At one point this cute girl stopped by our table. She was wearing a hat and a cute dress and was hugging everyone. Then she started drinking from our buckets too!
At the end of the night we found out NONE OF US KNEW HER. We all thought she was friends with one of us but she was just a stranger! She hung out with us for a good while too!
As the night went on and the crowd got bigger and drunker, more people ended up on stage. 
Even Gigi got up on stage! 
There were lots of characters there that night. Quite a few bachelorette parties, birthday groups, and even some people out celebrating recent wedding engagements.I haven’t uploaded all of the pictures for a couple reasons. 1. There are only so many pics of people sucking mixed drinks out of a bucket through neon straws that a person should have to see in their lifetime. B. Some of these pictures have been sworn to secrecy. We are all fine, upstanding adults who don’t normally spend our evenings consuming large drinks via bucket.
I will share with you some of my favorites from that night. First let me tell you, we learned some things about each other that night. For one, after a couple cocktails Gigi goes from hugging you to ripping your face off. Exhibit A. Poor Sara!
Exhibit B. Poor Allison! 
What can I say? We’re a very affectionate family. I also learned that our self portraits tend to suffer the later in the evening it gets. Early on: 
Post bucket drinking: 
Another thing I learned is that we all have some dance moves that we should probably be ashamed of, especially me. 
But we all had a BLAST and that’s what counts! 
You can see more pics here. Coming soon…part 4. Oh yeah, there’s more.
Related articles
- Momo is 21!!! Part 1 of the celebration extravaganza (shanny.wordpress.com)
- Part 2 of Momo’s 21st birthday bonanza (shanny.wordpress.com)
-
I had our evening planned down to 15 minute increments. We were behind schedule from the get go but lucked out when we were able to get seated and fed quickly. We then headed upstairs in the Epicentre to Howl at the Moon. A mean, tiny man with Subway sandwich breath came out and told me that we weren’t allowed in.
Me: But the website says you open at 6pm.
Shorty McSubway: We have a private event going on.
Me: Well when can we come back?
Shorty McSubway: 8pm.
Me: Can we reserve a table?
Shorty McSubway: No.
Me: When should we line up so we’ll be sure to get a table?
Shorty McSubway: Look Lady, I don’t know what to tell you.
Mind you, the events director I spoke with on the phone said they didn’t do private parties on Saturdays! And from experience I know that you have to be at the door when the doors open to get a decent table because by 9 or 10pm it is standing room only. And there was already a small crowd gathering. And it was almost 7 already. Also, I’d been planning this evening for a very long time. Momo is extremely special to me and I wanted it to go off without a hitch. Shorty McSubway did not care about any of this. UGH.
So we decided to pass the time by grabbing a pre-game drink at Mez. It looked pretty funky from the outside and it was just a moment’s walk from Howl. We walked in and knew right away that we were totally not cool enough to be there. The decor is super modern and moody.
We sat down near the bar. It was semi-crowded. Members of the waitstaff came near us multiple times but no one took our order. Speaking of the waitstaff- the men were wearing all black- shirts and pants. Pretty normal. The women were also wearing all black. But they appeared to be wearing swimsuits, jog bras, ice skating skirts, fishnets, panties on top of fishnets- all very Lady Gaga gone goth. At one point a waiter came over with a big bowl and said “Shrimp penne?” to which Sara replied “No, thank you. We just ate.” Bahaha! He wasn’t asking if she’d like a sample, he was trying to deliver an entree!Finally we were able to flag down a waitress. They have some really cool sounding cocktails. I chose the Lotus Blossom
and won the award for prettiest drink of the night. It was very yummy! And very strong. Those people do not skimp on the booze! We all had to nurse our drinks as they were super strong. Everyone tried to make me eat the flower. I ate one petal and it just tasted like bitter lettuce. We had a really good time laughing at Gigi when she got a serious case of the giggles. I still don’t know exactly what was so funny! When it was closer to 8 pm we settled our tab and headed over to Howl.On the way there I snapped this picture of Morgan:
Next up: our evening at Howl At The Moon! -
I can’t believe she is all grown up! She is a junior at USC (University of South Carolina) so she celebrated her 21st birthday with her friends in Columbia on Friday night then came home to celebrate with us Saturday night. We all met up at Courtyard by Marriott City Center. By we I mean me, Christina, Sara, Gigi, Morgan/Momo & Ian (Momo’s roommate). We went up to the room and Momo opened her presents then we all miraculously piled into Christina’s car to go to dinner. I chose BlackFinn for dinner because I wanted a restaurant in the same building as our next stop as well as a varied and affordable menu. We were seated right away and our waiter was just great. I love a waiter with a good personality! Dinner was really fun and yummy. (click to enlarge pics) We all tasted each other’s meals and agreed everything was really good. Quite a few of us chose flatbread pizzas (I got the blackened chicken version
and we all agreed that Christina’s margherita pizza was the best. Super fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. 
During dinner it occurred to me that Christina had never seen Morgan’s tongue tricks. Momo has a freakishly long tongue and she can do a variety of sideshow tricks with it! She had just started demonstrating when our waiter came back to the table. He jumped about 3 feet when she rolled that thing out! Christina snapped a couple of pics on her phone:
She can even lick her elbow! 
Go ahead and try it, you can’t! Eric the waiter reappeared a few minutes later with the restaurant manager in tow. Eric had run to get him when he saw Momo’s tongue! She had to put on a repeat performance. I told Eric as soon as we were seated that it was Momo’s 21st birthday and as a prize he brought out a birthday cake shot. 
Then once dinner was over he brought us a huge, delicious brownie sundae for us all to share! 
The manager even brought out a big stack of VIP passes to area bars. 
Who knew a circus tongue could get you so many perks?!? It was a really fun start to a REALLY fun night! -
I am looking forward to so many movies that are coming out this Spring and Summer! Most all of them are based on books I’ve read so it makes it that much more exciting.
- Water for Elephants.
One of my top 10 favorite books of all time. It’s romantic and has action and is just beautifully written. Plus it addresses a cause I’m passionate about- animal abuse in circuses. I have blogged about that a few times. I hope that going to see this movie will change a few peoples’ minds about going to animal circuses. I hear that Tai the elephant is amazing in this movie and I love the rest of the cast too. Christoph Waltz as August? Genius! - Something Borrowed.
I haven’t read this book, but I need to. It looks so cute and I love the cast, especially Ginnifer Goodwin and John Krasinski. - The Help.
Also in my top 10 books of all time. If you haven’t read it you REALLY have to. Like it should be part of school curriculum. They did a fabulous job casting this movie too. I adore Emma Stone. - I know this next one isn’t coming out for a while but there has been so much buzz about it I am including it. The Hunger Games Trilogy.
SQUEEEE!!! Can. Not. Wait. for this movie! So far I’m really pleased with the casting here too. I’m dying to find out who they cast as Haymitch. I’m hoping for either Robert Downey Jr or Hugh Laurie. And I really hope Kristen Chenoweth gets in there too.
What other movies should I see this Spring/Summer? What are you looking forward to?
- Water for Elephants.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
Bless Your Heart 