February Deals & Steals

Unless I win the lottery or a car in the near future, I can pretty confidently say this February steal will top the list of deals for the Guidos in 2010. It all started when Joe and I were frustrated about our inactivity levels over the last year or so. Post wedding, we stopped working out regularly and started sitting around a ton. Sick of spending $50 each a month to go to a gym, we prepared to buy a piece of fitness equipment.

For months we researched the best brands and prices and waited for the deal of the century to come our way. Sadly, prices never dropped. So, last Monday we ordered an elliptical from Amazon for $699. I was ok with that - I had to get my butt in gear. But, on Tuesday, I overhear my coworker Helen talking about selling her elliptical before she moves to a new apartment. Not only that, it was the same brand that Joe and I had just purchased. I just about fell out of my chair! How did I miss this opportunity by one day?

Lucky for us, Amazon had not processed our order and I got into our account just in time to cancel it. And get this, Helen only wanted $100 and the elliptical was in great shape. Wow! $100 really did feel like we were stealing it from her, so we threw in a $50 tip and probably owe her a few drinks in the near future. Thanks Helen!



And, also a noteable purchase this month: Skis, boots, and poles for both of us! When rentals for one day of skiing can cost you $60 + a big headache dealing with the chaos, Joe and I have always wanted to own our own equipment. That kind of commitment would normally come with a huge pricetag...one that makes $60 a trip not really seem so bad. Thousands of dollars, likely. But, thanks to the Baltimore Ski Warehouse (and Jill for finding their website) we scored everything we needed for both of us for $500. Yes, it's used, but we're hoping it holds up for our three trips, or so, a year.



I love a good deal!

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Joe's Birthday

My wonderful husband turned 27 today. I think he may have a couple of gray hairs already...haha. We are celebrating by going out to dinner tonight and going skiing tomorrow. I plan to make him a cake this weekend. This is all the loot I got him:

Except it was black with a beige stripe (credit: Banana Republic)
(Credit: Amazon)

(Credit: Amazon)

(Credit: Kohls)

(Credit: Target)

The photo credits aren't necessarily where I purchased these items so don't get a 'tude about it, Joe. Happy Birthday Joey G!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

For Vday this year, I made the hubz a cookie cake. Isn't it cute? Joe made me a cute little basket of stuff including candles, goldfish, snickers, The Time Traveler's Wife dvd, a lil stuffed bear, and some roses that play music (and drive the cat nuts). We are so crafty! Tonight we are going out to dinner at Ruth Chris with some friends of ours. I've never been before so this will be a first!

And, can you believe it has been 4 years since we got engaged? Time flies. Love ya!

DIY Art Project

On day 9 of my 11 day weekend (thank you, snow), I decided I needed a little craft project to keep myself busy. Did you know there is now longer a cross stitch section in Michaels? I'm appalled! That is always my go-to, easy, time consuming project. So, scratch that. Then, I moved on to the scrapbook section (a.k.a. the entire store) in hopes of finding cute paper I could frame for my computer room/office. Another no-fail, easy project. Well, do you think they had ANY yellow patterned paper? Yellow being a primary color and all... No! Of course they didn't. Aisles and aisle of paper but I guess nobody likes the color yellow anymore. I was running out of ideas fast.

In the end, I walked out of the craft store with two blank canvases ($7.99), yellow paint ($.99), and a set of paint brushes ($3.99). Since easy was no longer an option, I was going to paint some purty pictures myself. Unfortunately, I can't paint/draw/etc. So, I turned to Google in hopes someone could help me through this dilemma. I came across this oh so helpful blog with a set of instructions on making a stencil out of painter's tape: All Things Thrifty.

Basically, I was able to follow all her instructions except I didn't have a pattern to trace. So, drawing on inspiration from a pillow I have in this room already, I created my own pattern using the Paint application on my computer. And this is my Do It Yourself Project big reveal:

It was definitely a learning experience. Painting over a painter's tape stencil is not as easy as it sounds - paint bleeds underneath or globs. A lot of touch up work was required. I would absolutely recommend "cutting in" around the stencils rather than quickly going over them with a brush. It's worth the extra time.

The room is still a work in progress, but I'm happy to finally have some yellow and white art!

Cabin Fever

26 inches of snow. 2 days off work (so far). 10-20 more inches of snow expected anytime now. This winter season has been truly crazy. Prior to just recently, in the four years I have been working at Census, I've only gotten one day off work for snow. This year, we've gotten 3 days off so far.
Now I say we have cabin fever, but we have gotten out a little bit. So, without many options given the conditions, we've been stimulating the economy and stuffing our faces. We've stocked up on some ski gear for colder conditions since we weren't quite prepared for our 10 degree trip last weekend. We also picked up some home decor and books. Anything to get out of the house for a bit.

Don't misunderstand, I still love the snow and wish we got this much of it every year. And, it's provided a great little sabbatical from work. But, if I don't go back to work soon, I may weigh 20 more pounds and have a much lighter wallet.