On the Menu Monday!

I realized I haven't eaten a home-cooked meal in over a week! No wonder I'm exhausted and feeling run down. Living on hospital cafeteria and restaurant food is not the best option, but sometimes we just have no choice. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE to eat out! Just not everyday for over a week.

Since I am back home and finally have some down-time, I decided to purge a bunch of magazines (pulling out what I liked and recycling the rest). I found some great tips and inspiration, along with some yummy-sounding recipes I'm excited to try out.

Here's some of what I found:

~ Added to my Book Wish List: Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan. It is a story of her love of pastries and Paris complete with whimsical drawings and yummy recipes I can't wait to try. She also has a blog....check it out.

~ Precious/Sorrento Cheese is offering a FREE 46-page downloadable pasta cookbook.

~ Rachael Ray Magazine and On-Cor announced a contest to win a NYC Rachael Ray Show Getaway Package! Enter here.....Good luck!

~ Have you noticed how mini-desserts are all the rave now? These shot glasses of decadence somehow make us feel less guilty because of their tiny size. As if calories only count on full size servings. Or maybe it's so we can have a sampling of more than one flavor? I'm not sure, but I agree....I love them! Move over Cheesecake Factory and PF Changs, I may just serve up my own mini- dessert bar at my next gathering!

Pier 1 Imports offers up a wonderful guide to hosting Tasting parties.  their website is packed with great ideas and recipes. Here is one that I am anxious to test out:

Serve in 12 mini shot glasses.

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp sugar

8-oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

4 oz baking chocolate or chocolate chips

8-oz whipped topping

chocolate shavings or wafers for garnish

• Melt butter in microwave bowl, add cracker crumbs and sugar, mix thoroughly. Place about a teaspoon of mixture in the bottom of each glass. Press down.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese and vanilla until fluffy.
• In smaller microwavable mixing bowl, melt together milk and chocolate until melted and creamy. Add to cream cheese mixture, mix thoroughly. gently fold in whipped topping.
• Fill each glass to the top with chocolate mousse. Garnish with a dollop of whipped topping and chocolate shavings or wafers.

Enjoy the "little" things in life!

-dw.

Restaurants giving back....

If you are a Veteran or active military person you could be eating for FREE this Thursday (or other specified date) in observance of Veterans Day!

Here are just a few of the places giving back a little something for those of you who fight to preserve our freedom...

Click on the restaurant links to get more details about participating locations and specific dates and times.

Outback Steakhouse: Free Blooming Onion

Famous Dave's: Free meal from special menu.

Applebees: Free entree from special menu.

Chili's: Free meal from special menu.

Little Caesars Pizza: Free Crazy Bread at Bremerton, WA location
(Due to franchising, other locations may not be participating.)

Golden Corral: Free Buffet on 11/15.

Thank you all for the dedication you've displayed, the sacrifices you've made, and the freedom you've fought for. God Bless you and your families.

enjoy the gratitudes you so deeply deserve.
-dw

Feeling Lucky?

If you like Lucky Charms cereal and are a movie buff, like myself, you are in for a BIG treat!

While shopping at Target yesterday I spotted Lucky Charms cereal on sale. We were out at home, so naturally I reached for a box. After noticing the promotion on the box, I grabbed three more! (It's okay, the expiration date isn't until 9/2011!)

General Mills is giving away a FREE movie ticket with the purchase of two (specially marked) boxes of Lucky Charms, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix, and Reese's Puffs cereals.
 Target's price was $2.50 per box, so total cost of 
2 boxes of cereal and 1 movie ticket (valued up to $12) = $5.00!
 You don't have to be a math whiz to know THIS is a GREAT DEAL!
 enjoy the movie!
-dw.

Happy National Rootbeer Day!

There is a National Rootbeer Day?! Who knew?

A&W knew, that's who! And to help us all celebrate, they are offering a FREE A&W Rootbeer Float with an order through August 21st!

Who doesn't remember the days when the servers would come out to your car, take your order, and then deliver the food, attaching it to your car window? I LOVED that! I do not know of any A&W's that still do it, but Burgermaster still has some locations that do! We owe it to our children to let them experience it at least once. Pretty soon it may be only a days-gone-by memory we reminesce about....like Drive-in movies!

enjoy today's sweet celebration!
-d.

Ready, Set....Create! Free Photobook from Picasso!

If you've always wanted to try your hand at creating a photobook....now is the time! They are easy to do, have a classy, elegant look, and make EXCELLENT gifts (it's never too soon to start your holiday gift projects)!

For the month of August (expires 8/31/2010) Picaboo is giving us the chance to create a photobook and pay only for shipping! I've created these online photobooks in the past and love the way they turn out! They are so quick and yet look so professional! Simply use coupon code: FREEBK and get started creating your photobook today!

enjoy trying something new!
-d.

Deals of the Day...

There are lots of great bargains to be found out there this holiday weekend, and there is no better deal than FREE, right?! But hurry and check them out...some expire TONIGHT!

Walgreen's is repeating their FREE 8x10 collage print deal (Coupon code: VDAY), as well as offering a Friends and Family coupon for 15-20% savings! Expires: Friday, 2/12

For my collage, I selected pictures from an event I attended last summer and will cut them apart and add them into my scrapbook - because nobody said we have to LEAVE them in collage form! It's a great way to print out a bunch of pictures...all for FREE!

And for those of you who love Bebe...or believe you can never have too many tote bags...Bebe is offering a FREE tote bag to all their Facebook fans. Once you sign up to be a fan, go to Wall Photos and click on the tote picture and print it out!
Expires: Monday, 2/15

enjoy some great bargain shopping this weekend!
-d.

Deals of the Day!

There are two days left to get your FREE photo desk calendar at Clark Color! Simply use the promo code: RINGIN2010 and it your's for only shipping and handling...a better deal than $8.99 and free shipping in most cases! Gotta love all the free offers out there right now! You even get the choice of having the calendar start with any month you like....say February for a Valentine's Day gift? May for a Mother's Day gift? June for a Graduation gift? Once again, the possibilities are endless.

International Delight has an offer ending soon as well....Sign up to be a Fan on their Facebook site and then click on the Holiday Giveaway tab....they will send the first 100,000 fans who register a coupon for a FREE pint! How sweet is that!?

enjoy the FREE things life has to offer!

-d.

Deal of the Day....

Walgreens (my personal favorite pharmacy) has a great TODAY ONLY deal going on!

To help promote collage prints they are offering a FREE 8x10 collage to their Facebook fans. Coupon code: FANFREE. Simply upload up to 20 photos, select collage, and it will arrange them for you. If you don't like the look, simply click "view options" and then "shuffle." I think I hit the button about 50 times before I settled on the layout I wanted. Then just tell them whaich store you'd like to pick it up at and...viola! So simple! I used the offer to compile a collection of flower/outdoor shots I have taken over the past few years. I love my new, little portfolio piece!

The ironic thing about this offer is this past Monday I spent quite some time creating a portfolio collage real similar to this one - manually. Creating the picture boxes, making sure they were all aligned evenly, cropping them to fit into one large box together......when I could have merely logged on to Walgreens.com and had it completed for me in a matter of minutes! Well, now I know!

What will you do with your collage print? It's perfect timing for a great (and very cost-effective) Valentine's Day gift or a 2009 year-in-review collage for either a scrapbook title page or a main picture for a quick and easy 2010 calendar. The ideas are endless. But this offer isn't....it ends tonight! Well, the FREE part anyway. It's available any day we like for only $3.99.

Thanks Walgreens!

enjoy the generosity of others.....then pay it forward!
-d.

Give a Day....

As if Disney wasn't already one of my all-time favorite companies...this year they are going above and beyond.

They are offering a free day at a Disney Park in trade for a day of volunteer service in your own community. To find a volunteer opportunity near you, simply click here. If you aren't planning a trip to California or Florida you can earn a day and then donate it to charity!

I've said it before; I'll say it again....Disney ROCKS!

enjoy the rewards of helping your community!
-d.

No Library Card or Cash Needed!

In this economy, good deals seem to be getting easier and easier to find. But completely FREE?
That's not usually quite as easy! But Tow Books has done it....

John Warner, Chief Creative Czar of TOW Books announced, “We’re giving the books away for free. The problem with books isn’t that they cost too darn much, it’s that they cost anything at all. Thanks to file sharing, music doesn’t cost anything anymore. Why should books be any different? Why should someone pay 10 or 15 dollars for something they’re not sure is going to be any good?”

The giveaway includes dozens of copies of the actual physical books TOW has released, along with unlimited free electronic copies.

I chose, Everything Is Wrong With You: The Modern Woman's Guide to Finding Self-Confidence Through Self-Loathing
by Wendy Molyneux

Here is the description Tow Books offered....

While other self-help books might tell you that something is wrong with you, this book is here to tell you that everything is wrong with you. In your quest for perfection, are there things you've forgotten to worry about?

Like: Are your toes weird? I'm not saying they are, but are they?

What if you think you are thin, but you actually have a vision disorder that just makes you see yourself as thin when, in fact, you are totally not thin? Think about it!

What if whenever you go out of town your boyfriend has crazy orgies at your house? And what if all your best friends come to those orgies? Of course I can't prove it, but can you disprove it?

Remember, if you were OK, there wouldn't be so many books and magazines out there devoted to helping you get prettier and be more stylish. I mean, if you think that publishers are just in it for the money, then you definitely have trust issues! How can you solve them? Please purchase this book to find out. And maybe buy an extra copy in case you lose this one. And a third one in case you get mugged on your way home and the mugger demands three copies in exchange for your life. It happens all the time. On the other hand, you could just walk out of here without this book, thinking that you are great just the way you are … and arrive home to find that your husband has left you because of your weird toes.

Click here to see the available downloads.


enjoy the free laughs!
-d.

Good Deal Alert....

A couple good deals I wanted to pass on to the locals...

Prospect Liquidator's in Everett had a screaming deal on an Epson R1800 (12x12+) printer! Only $417 including tax!
For those not local, Epson has it on sale as well...for a little more.
http://www.epson.com/




Our "test" weekend at the Creative_Outlet retreat house is coming Oct. 13-14 and I've decided to open it up to guests...
If you need a mini-get away (Noon Saturday - 5pm Sunday) and would like to spend the weekend relaxing, crafting, laughing, and then providing feedback, let us know! We will be providing a Spaghetti Feed on Saturday evening and Biscuit & Sausage Gravy Breakfast on Sunday! Reserve your special "test-run" rate of only $45 per person before space runs out! e-mail me at dw-shain@comcast.net for more info!

I am also going to do a GIVEAWAY!!!
One Paid Registration for Sharin' Memories' Crop Pink Event on Saturday, Sept. 29th in Olympia will be given away to one lucky poster on this blog site! Simply post a message by Noon on Monday and get a chance to win! Sharin' Memories has great group of ladies putting on a super-fun event for a WONDERFUL cause!!!

"Celebrate a Special Woman in your Life" All day crop for the Cure
10am-10pm at Sonrise Church located at 2805 Boulevard Rd. SE, Olympia
Includes: Non-stop Cropping, Pizza, Snacks, Drinks, a Silent Auction, and round trip transportation to and from Sharin' Memories and Starbucks. A portion all crop fees goes to support Komen’s mission to find a cure for breast cancer through research, education, screening, and treatment.

enjoy the savings...and a chance at winning!
-d.

A Week In Review...

Wow...so much has happened in the past week I almost don't know where to begin...

Rog got a call last Monday asking if he'd be interested in going to work for a different company. He has been so unhappy where he is at, he jumped at the interview opportunity. Everything went incredible and he starts there today! I am so happy that he followed his heart and took this leap!! To work for people who do not express appreciation or value one's dedication is very difficult and eventually begins tearing you apart. After nine years he is making a fresh start and I feel like it is the right thing for him to do. Yea!!!

With the change of job came the perfect opportunity to take a couple days off and re-group. We had a camping trip planned with friends and were now able to leave earlier than expected! After a bit of RV Mechanical trouble we arrived at Banks Lake and had an incredible time! All the perfect ingredients...my family and friends, lots of sunshine and cool, clear water! Not to mention an awesome shish kabob dinner one night and a sweet early morning visitor to top it all off! AAahhhhhhh....heaven!

I am now back home feeling relaxed, sporting a new tan, and ready to catch up!

Things to do:

1. Reclaim the dog from ex-hubby. I tried to see if he'd just keep her, but he says I'd miss her too much. Yea, right! If I was smart I would have included her name in the custody agreement! LOL!

2. Drive Melissa to the DOL to buy her car tabs. Funny how teenagers just think all you have to do is add gas and drive! Before we left on vacation a police officer very nicely reminded her that her tabs had just expired! Welcome to July, Baby Girl!

3. Try and define 7 things about myself. I was tagged by Heather while I was away so look for those answers on Wild Card Wednesday!

4. Create a cool, new blog banner. It has been on my list for quite some time, but now with the step by step help from http://everydaydigitalscrapbooking.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-create-blog-headers.html and Melissa (who is much quicker with Photo Shop) I will finally take the plunge and make it happen! The title-only thing is just sooooo boring!

5. Get three days worth of work on the book done in one day! I need to make up for time away and the busy week ahead. I have family in from out of town to visit, a play date for a couple rounds of tennis (or whatever it's called when you haven't lifted a racket for two years and weren't very good to begin with!), and a dear friend dealing with some very rough days ahead that I want to be available for at a seconds notice. She's been there for me sooooo many times.

So lots of big stuff going on around here! I better get to it! I'll leave you with a quote from a song that I just love...."Breathe in, breathe out...move on."

Extra points if you know the name of the song and the artist who sings it! Heck, let's make this official! Everyone who posts the correct answer in the message field before Wednesday's post will be in the running for a little giveaway!

A file Caddy from Highsmith - ready to "alter" in your favorite patterned paper and add to your Creative Space!

enjoy the opportunities that present themselves, sometimes when you least expect them!

-dw