Radley for the Win!

I love GREAT customer service.  And I get so excited when it happens to me.  

A year ago when I did my England and Portugal trip with friends, we found ourselves shopping one afternoon in London (well, we found ourselves shopping lots of afternoons in London) and discovered a store that sells handbags.  Really nice handbags.  Radley London was the name of the store.  We had a ball in this store. I spent more money than I ever had on a purse before.  Actually, I spent more money on one item of clothing/shoes/purses/etc than I ever had before.  But I loved these bags and decided it was okay to treat myself.  Who knew when I'd have the opportunity to be back here again?  

I purchased two purses (one I'd use in the Spring/Summer and one I'd use in the Fall/Winter) and a wallet that went with both bags.  I was so excited!  I came home and instantly started using the pink one all the way until October. It still looked brand new after 6 months of use.  I switched to the navy blue bag and continued using it through Winter.  Unfortunately this bag started wearing in a way that didn't look good or make sense.  It was losing its color in a spot that didn't even come in contact with anything.  I didn't think anything of it until I realized that Jeff was going to London and would be just down the street from where I got the bag.  I thought maybe if I contacted them they'd say to send it to them for repair.  I could do one better and have Jeff hand deliver it to them!  

The only problem with my plan was Jeff had no intention of helping me out.  He refused to even consider for a moment the idea of finding this women's handbag store.  But now that I had the idea in my head, I decided to call them anyway.

The woman who answered the phone (Sarah) could not have been nicer!  She said to send her a picture of the bag and an image of the receipt via email.  Done!  The next thing I know I've got a reply back the very next morning apologizing for the delay (um, what delay!?!?) and to pick out anything on their website for the value I spent on the bag and they would ship it to me at no charge.  OMG!!  I felt like a kid in a candy store trying to figure out what I'd want to get.

I couldn't decide between two bags and when I added the price, it was just about what my original bag cost.  I replied back to the email and asked if that was ok.  I got an almost immediate response and said they would be shipping BOTH bags out to me as soon as possible. And they apologized again for the problems this has caused.  The very next day I received the tracking/shipping information on my bags.

Needless to say, Radley now has a customer for life.  I love the way they handled this.  I am very impressed.  Way to go!!  

Oh, how far we've come!

I remember a time when I'd take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese and would look at the moms who sat at a nearby table and have a leisurely conversation while their kids played.  This was not me.  This was never me.   There is no way my kids didn't need me to help them at Chuck E. Cheese.  Hanging out at the table and telling them to go play on their own wouldn't have gotten very far.

On the busiest shopping day of the year (Black Friday!), I took 5 kids to Dave & Busters, located at the Springfield Mall and discovered what this feels like.  Yes, I did.  Only I didn't have another mom to chat with, I was on my own.  I brought my kindle in the hopes that I could be at a table nearby while the kids played, and to my delight, my dream came true.  Wow!  What an amazing feeling it was.

The best part about Dave & Buster's on Black Friday?  It was empty!  I was shocked how few people were inside.  We got a table for lunch instantly, ordered our food, and I told the kids to go play 3 games and come back to the table to see if the food had arrived. The food got delivered about 30 seconds before they got back.  Perfect timing!  After eating lunch, I stayed at the table to pay the bill and the kids continued playing.  They'd come back every 4 games or so to let me know they were ok.  We were at Dave & Buster's for close to 3 hours!  I asked the waitress if she needed the table back.  She said "Look around, we are empty.  Take your time and enjoy."  It was nirvana!  I couldn't believe how awesome this playdate turned out for all of us!

And the 3 extra kids I had with me?  They are besties with my 2 kids and get along fabulously.  It was my pleasure to take 3 extra kids and let my friend stay home and paint her bathroom. Win-win!

My crazy shoe story

In my blog titled "Magical, part 2" I spoke of a crazy shoe story.  Here it is:

When I took Sam to Kohl's to get a pair of sneakers, we ran into Heather and her entire family (including her mom and stepfather!).  They were clothes shopping for her family as Mike's father had just passed away and the kids needed some appropriate clothing for the wake and funeral.  Gosh, I love Heather. She is truly an amazing person.  Not sure how she does it with 4 kids and multiple part-time jobs, but she makes it look easy and is always ready to lend a helping hand to a friend or her children's schools. She's one of those people that manages to fit 28 hours in a 24 hour day without breaking a sweat and always with a smile on her face.  She could give a master class in organization and multi-tasking.   Ok, enough about Heather...let's get on with the story.

Sam and I make our way to the shoe area.  She finds an awesome pair of skechers sneakers and is thrilled with the cushioned sole.  As we are leaving the shoe department to go check out, I run into Heather again and see her trying on these super-cute shoes.  I instantly fall in-like with them.  I personally don't need another pair of shoes, but I can't resist trying them on.  Yes, they are comfortable, look good and very reasonably priced.  I will take them!

 We are leaving to meet Jeff's family for dinner in about an hour.  I had a different outfit in mind, but decide to switch things up to wear my new pair of shoes.  When Sam and I walk in the house, Jeff sees the two boxes of shoes and questions the purchase.  "Sam got 2 pairs?"  (He would NEVER have a problem with this if I said yes.  If Sam needs 2 pairs, get Sam 2 pairs).  However, the extra pair of shoes was for me.

Me: No, I found a pair of shoes too!

Jeff:  I didn't know you needed new shoes.

Me:  I don't.  But that's why I am never in a panic over shoes.  I am always one-step ahead of being barefoot.  :)

Anyway, we get to Cafe Deluxe for dinner in Bethesda and in the middle of the meal, Sam has to go to the bathroom.  I go with her and while waiting for her to come out of the stall, a woman next to hers comes out and says to me the following:

Lady in the bathroom:  Oh, I thought it was my daughter that walked in.  She has the same pair of shoes as you!  In fact, I have them too and my daughter-in-law too!  We all have them.  We love those shoes.  We get them each year, in different colors.  They are sooo comfortable!

Me:  I know!  I just got these 2 hours ago.  I'm excited about them too!

Lady in the bathroom:  You are not going to believe this.  My daughter paid $200 for her pair!  I got mine for $79 at Macy's.  How much did you pay for yours?

Me:  $39 at Kohls, plus, I had Kohl's cash and a $10 off coupon. So they were practically free.

Lady in the bathroom:  What brand?  Is it Ralph Lauren?

 Me:  Yes (taking off the shoe to confirm), it's Chaps...that's Ralph Lauren's brand.

Lady in the bathroom:  Oh my G-d!!!!!  Where is there a Kohls???  Where is the nearest Kohl's???

Me:  I don't know, I come from the Fairfax area.

Lady in the bathroom leaves in shock.

I'm feeling pretty good about this shoe purchase.  What a great deal!

Yep, these are them.  :)

It's all about the prime!

My love affair with Amazon Prime continues.  Truly, you can get everything your heart desires.  And it will arrive in 2 days.  TWO DAYS, PEOPLE!!! It's pretty fantastic.

My cousin Leslie's son, Max (who is in 4th grade too) had a project for school that he wanted Ian to help him with.  There were two parts to the assignment. 1., Fill out the travel journal and send it on to someone else in another state to fill out.  It asked basic questions like, where do you live, what is the climate like, what is the area known for, interesting info about the area, etc.   Part 2., Send a postcard from the area you live in to Max's school, addressed to him.

What a fun project!  I briefly debated do we send a postcard from Washington, D.C. (we live only 25 minutes away and it is a much bigger tourist destination) or do we find a postcard from Virginia?  I decided Virginia is where we live, Virginia is what we will send.  Now I just had to locate a postcard.  Ha!  Jeff thought I could pick one up at the post office. Um, no.  I am at the post office way too much and I've never seen one there before.  Then Jeff suggested I should drive to the closest hotel and get one from them. Hmmmm.  Again, I am not sure the business hotels near us would have touristy postcards either.  I had a feeling this was going to be a wild goose chase.  Quicker than I could finish the sentence "Let me see if Amazon has anything...", I found exactly what we needed.  A pack of 20 of them to be exact!  And they would be here in 2 days.  How great is that!!  It was well worth the $6.86 to save myself from driving all over the city looking for a post card. 

Amazon Prime rocks!  I have yet to find something they don't carry.  And in just 2 days you can have it too. I love, love, love Amazon Prime.  Don't tell them, but they can keep raising the membership price and I'd still happily pay it. 

Here is what we ordered: 

A crazy shoe story

Sam has convinced Jeff that she needs more shoes.  Jeff bought Sam's argument hook, line and sinker.  Together, they tried to persuade me Sam needed to go shoe shopping.  Hey, here's an idea...why don't the both of you go shoe shopping together?   You can drive each other crazy.  Let's leave me out of it.

I armed Jeff with my Stride Rite coupon, loyalty rewards and sent them to the mall.  While Jeff and Sam were headed to Stride Rite, Ian and I went to the movies.  I received text messages from Jeff updating me on how it was going.  Stride Rite was a bust and JC Penny's children's shoe department at the mall was a bust.  The shoe shopping duo were stopping for lunch at Chutzpah and then trying DSW and Target.  With all those stores, they couldn't find one pair, let alone the two pairs they were hoping to score.  Jeff and Sam called it a day and came home.

The next day each child had a friend over the house for a playdate.  Sam's friend left first.  I suggested to Jeff he should take Sam and head to Potomac Mills for the Stride Rite Outlet.  Maybe they'd have better luck there.  Potomac Mills is a bit of a distance from our house, but I figured it would be good to try after having zero luck closer proximity to where we live. 

Success!!  Sam did find a pair of black dress shoes she wanted to replace, but still couldn't find a pair of back-up sneakers with laces.  The majority of shoes have velcro.  That is sooo 2013 in Sam's mind. 

Now here is the crazy ending to the story.  The shoes were originally $35.  But because it was outlet pricing, they were marked down to $25.99.   I had a coupon for Stride Rite that gave 20% off.  That brought the price down to $20.79.  Then I had two $10 off loyalty rewards which brought the cost down to $.79 !  With tax, the total cost of the shoes came to $.84  WOWEE!!  So Jeff has no cash on him...not even a dollar.  He whips out his credit card and the woman behind him in line is in shock that Jeff is going to charge .84 cents.  She refuses to let Jeff charge this small amount and insists he take her $1.00 to pay for the shoes.  After Jeff politely refuses and they go back and forth a few times, Jeff finally caves and takes her dollar.  The guy behind the counter asked who he should give the change to.  hehehehee.

At the end of the day, the shoes ended up costing us nothing!  And Jeff and Sam were very excited to finally have found a pair. 

Amazing Amazon

I am continually impressed with Amazon.com.  I ordered something the other day for Sam.  She loves arts and crafts and I thought I was ordering this kit with all these rolls of tape to create fun designs.  When it arrived, I realized it wasn't appropriate for a 6 year old and was actually intended for an adult.  I must've misread the description because only a book arrived and no fun rolls of colorful tape. 

I went onto Amazon's website and filled out the form to return the book.  Within 10 seconds I got a reply letting me know that since I was a valued customer to keep the book and do not send it back.  I was being credited the $14 for the return, but to not send the book back.

Wow!  It took me a minute or so for what I was reading to sink in.  So incredibly cool.  What a great company! Wouldn't it be wonderful if every retail store operated like this?

As my schedule gets more hectic these days, I rely on Amazon for pretty much everything.  It has almost replaced my trips to Target.  I love knowing that I can order and return things easily.  Love, love, love, Amazon!

I know there was an uproar a few months ago when Amazon announced it was increasing the cost of the Prime membership.  In my opinion, the cost for Prime could double and I'd still be convinced its one of the best deals around.

Friends.

I feel like I am back in school, elementary school that is.  Between Ian's 3rd grade math and Sam socializing in Kindergarten, I've been transported back to the 1970's.

I've discovered that Sam is shy.  Painfully shy.  I didn't realize how bad this was until kindergarten started.  She had an amazing group of friends all through preschool, but none of them went to the same elementary school as her.  It was time for her to start over.  It's not like she was going to stop being friends with her preschool crowd (they will be friends forever!!), but she definitely needed to have a friend or two to hang out with during school.  Sam needed to figure out how to make friends.  Each day she came home from school, I'd ask her about her day and who she played with.  Sam would shrug her shoulders and not really give me an answer.  My Mama Bear instincts came out in full force and I was determined to make Sam a friend during Back-to-School night.  As moms were filing into the kindergarten room I asked a few if they had a daughter or son in the class.  Once I found a mom of a little girl, I said we need to get a playdate scheduled ASAP!   It turns out that this mom also has a son who is in 3rd grade.  Ian knew him and they've played together from time to time during recess.  We scheduled a date to go bowling with all the kids.  A friendship between Sam and her daughter, Michela was forming. Yay!

Sam started talking about Michela and another girl named Courtney.  It was great hearing Sam telling me what was going in Kindergarten and hearing about these girls.  Ian even spotted Sam braiding Courtney's hair during lunch one day.

We had TWIN DAY at school coming up.  I never got into any of these themed dress-up days before with Ian.  He always handled it on his own. Ian would coordinate which baseball jersey the boys in his class would wear and they would show up at school ready to go.  For some reason I am much more protective of my daughter and was scared she'd be the odd duck out.  I couldn't let that happen.  I asked Sam if she wanted me to email Courtney's mom and see if they could dress alike.  Sam said yes.  When I sent the email I offered to go to Target and buy matching shirts.  I said it would be my pleasure to treat Courtney.  I got a pretty quick response from Courtney's mom.  She was very receptive to the girls dressing like twins.  Only my suggestion of keeping it easy by going to Target turned into a big-time shopping date at Gymboree at the mall.  Sam was overjoyed when she heard her and Courtney could pick out their outfit together.  We met at the mall on Monday afternoon (MLK day holiday) just in time before getting school cancelled for the next 3 days.  Fortunately Friday we only had a 2 hour delay and the girls dressed exactly alike for TWIN DAY.



Sam and Courtney having fun shopping together for matching outfits.

The cutest thing was when the phone rang on Friday morning.  I answered it to hear to Ian's friend Jack, in a shaky, timid 8 year old voice ask for Ian to come to the phone.  Jack wanted to confirm with Ian which baseball player's shirt they were all going to wear.  The boys decided on Strausburg. 

Sam and Courtney were the hit of kindergarten.  I can now breathe a sigh of relief that she has a couple of friends.  That is until next year when she ends up in different class than Courtney and Michela and I may have to start this making friends thing all over again.  It's a good thing I am good at it. :)

As for 3rd grade math and kindergarten sight words, I am still in elementary school hell. 

Sam in her TWIN DAY clothes. 
This is what the girls picked to wear.

Prime time!

I've been a huge fan of Amazon since the website was only selling books.  Remember those days?  Now that Amazon has expanded their store, it is my first stop for all things you buy online.  They have wonderful customer service, very competitive pricing and fantastic return policy.  Plus, you can shop while wearing your pajamas.  What's not to love?

I knew about Amazon Prime but never felt the need to spend the $80 annual fee for the privilege of what it can do for you.  Mind you, I never did pay for shipping to begin with.  I always easily had $25 in products I wanted to order (or could add to it with things I was bound to get anyway) and that alone gave me free shipping.  And I never really needed my stuff to arrive within 48 hours.  I felt like the regular shipping speed was plenty fast enough. 

About 6 weeks ago, I was finalizing a purchase on Amazon and somehow I inadvertently ended up with the free 30 day trial to try Amazon Prime.  I still don't know how this happened, because many, many times before when I was offered it upon checkout, I could decline and it was never an issue.  Looking back, I am pretty sure that I was snookered into the trial.  I don't think Amazon was going to let me continue being a loyal customer without trying Prime.  Whatever the case, I let it slide and decided to see what the hoopla was all about.  I think just about every friend I have uses Amazon Prime and raves about it.

Can I say that Amazon is a genius?  They certainly got me to change my mind.  In those 30 days of using the trial for Prime, I've become addicted.  I took my completely adequate amount of shopping on Amazon to crazy new heights.  Yowzer!  I can't stop!!!  After only one week, I told Jeff when the charge for Amazon Prime hits our credit card at the end of the month, its ok and totally worth it.  I can't stop ordering things!

Example - Ian comes in to our room one night and says he would like some slippers.  Before he could turn around and leave the room, I had them picked out and ordered.  You want slippers?  Bam!  You got slippers!  They'll be here in 2 days!!

Jeff's cell phone case broke.  You want a new cell phone case?  Bam!  You got a new one!  It will be here in 2 days!!

I was raking leaves one Saturday afternoon and ran out of leaf bags.  I need more leaf bags?  Bam!  I got more leaf bags!  They'll be here in 2 days!!  Oh, and while I was on the website, I couldn't help but also get some awesome gadgets to help with raking.  Because you know, they were in the same listing as the leaf bags.  Like I said, Amazon is brilliant!

This is just the beginning.  I am very embarrassed to let you know the full extent of everything I am ordering.  It is going to have to stay on the down-low between me and my delivery man. 

Amazon knew what they were doing when they made me sign up for the 30 day trial.  Oh yeah!

Size Small? Really?

Last weekend I went away for a few days to Solomon's Island, MD with some of my girlfriends.  We had a great 48 hours.  On our way out of town, a few of us seeked out the one and only retail shop that sold clothes.  We had no idea what kind of store we were walking into, but we were women on a mission and as long as shopping was involved, we were game. 

The store we stumbled upon was like nothing I've ever seen before.  There was women's clothing everywhere!!  It appeared to be a house with many rooms (all on the main floor) that was converted into a boutique type shop.  The clothes seemed to be color coordinated and grouped together.  It was big-time sensory overload trying to take it all in.  You could literally be in the same small room for 20 minutes and still keep discovering new items.  Some clothes were piled on top of each other, some were on hangers, and others were artfully draped on various arm chairs.  There weren't more than 2 or 3 of each item, and if you were lucky, your size was one of them. 

The clothing was unique and you felt compelled to keep looking through each room to see what treasures were within.  Since the clothing was a little on the pricey side, all four of us spent more time in the 50% off room than any of the others.  I went into this store thinking I shouldn't be shopping...it was ok to look, but I really didn't need to buy anything.  However, when we moved into the main room where the register was located, it was then while my friends were paying for their purchases, that a dress spoke to me.  It was really pretty and quite different than the usual clothes I wear.  I am not a person who usually wears dresses.  More than anything because I don't easily find dresses that look good for my body type, which can best be described as short-waisted, round and lumpy. 

It didn't take long for encouragement from my friends telling me to try on the dress.  There was only one small hitch, it was a size small.  I wasn't even born a size small.  There was no way it was going to fit.  This was silly to even consider trying it on.  But, hey, when your friends start encouraging you, it can become a very persuasive voice.  I joked that if this dress fits, I'd be wearing it on the drive home. 

Guess what?  It fit!  And not only did it fit, but it looked good.

Now, I don't foolishly think that I am actually a size-small wearing girl.  Hardly!  I am positive that this dress was miss-sized.  The label in the dress and the tag itself both said "Small", but again, its hard to believe that I would ever fit in something actually a size small. 

It didn't take long to convince me to buy it.  Heck, just knowing it said "Small" in the dress was enough to make me start taking out my wallet.  I think this could be a new marketing move, put the size "Small" in more upscale clothing and watch the bigger-size women flock to buy it. 

The card attached to the dress described it as "An everyday dress".  I could easily wear this dress every day, just knowing I am walking around in something sized "Small."   Isn't it great how your mind can play with you like that?  So when you bump into me around town, and I wearing the same thing over and over again, just know that I do have other clothes in my closet, but none are a size small. 

I didn't wear the dress home, but I did wear a smile on my face for the 1.5 hour drive back to NoVa. 

Walmart: Should I give them a 2nd chance or did I get lucky?

Within 2 miles from my house is a both a Target and a Walmart.  These two highly popular destinations in Burke is only 1 mile from each other.  However, you would think an ocean separates one store from another.  I despise Walmart with all my heart.  If Walmart was the only place to carry a certain item I need, then I will do without it.  Yes, this is a big, bold statement to make, but that is how much I can't stand the store. I hate trying to find a parking spot, I hate their advertised specials promoting the best price ever, therefore bringing enormous crowds inside, and I hate that they are open even on holidays when Target would be closed.  Ugh!

You feel like you are entering another world walking into Walmart.  All of sudden walking through the doors no one (and I mean NO ONE!) speaks English.  Not even a little bit.  And everyone who works there doesn't seem to have a full set of teeth (but that is my personal problem, not theirs).  And, here's the biggie -- no one who works there can tell you where any of merchandise is located.  It is nuts and very frustrating.

Anyway, so this is why I no longer shop at Walmat.  This is why I heart Target.  Target rocks!  And I know Target like the back of my hand, but even still the people who work there will not only tell you where something is located, but they personally escort you to the spot. 

So I found myself the other day in the precarious position to have to go in a Walmart.  Ian was at the movies with his friend and friend's mom and I took Sam and went grocery shopping.  We had 15 minutes left to kill before it was time to pick-up Ian from the theatre.  I badly needed to get Sam another pair of ballet tights and a roll of tape.  I saw the Walmart right across the street from the theater and plugged Gertie in to find out where the closest Target was.  Yes, that is how strong I feel about avoiding Walmart.  Unfortunately, the Target was a good 10 minutes away at Springfield Mall and Walmart was going to have to do.

I found a parking spot, grabbed Sam and made our way through the door;

Me (to the first sales person I saw on the floor):  Where would I find little girl's ballet tights?

Walmart Worker:  What?  Valet lights?

Me:  No, ballet tights

Walmart Worker:  You looking for lights?

Me:  No, you know, the thing you put on your legs to do dance....BALLET  TIGHTS!

Walmart Worker:  Oh, I see.  Look over there and points in a general direction of the store.

hahahaahah.  Me thinking to myself, wow, doesn't matter where the Walmart is located, they are all the SAME!

So Sam and I power walk (we lost 4 valuable minutes trying to communicate with the first sales person) to the girl's area and find two employees talking to each other.  Bingo!  I can now kill two birds with one stone asking two people at once to understand what I am trying to say.

Me:  Do you  know where I can find girl's ballet tights?

The two sales people look at each other, the one says, "Yes, we moved them."  Looking at her friend, "Do you know where we moved them to?" 
The Friend/Other Sales person answers:  "They are right here.  Let me you show you."

And she brought me to the exact spot they were located.

Woweee!!!  I am thinking this woman just transferred from working at Target.  :)  But, it did get me thinking that I maybe I should give Walmart a 2nd chance.  I guess my mind is starting to get fuzzy around the edges on why I think this store sucks so much.

And with finding the tape located where I thought it should be and walking through self-checkout without any kind of wait, we made it to the theatre in plenty of time.  I can't believe I am saying this, but overall, my experience in Walmart wasn't that bad.

I heart discounts!

Attention!!  Attention!!  Really cool idea for when traveling found below. 

I have a wonderful tip that I'd like to share with all of you.  It is along these lines of getting a discount, but it is not one that is readily thought of.  A HUGE amount of credit goes to my sister Lori for letting me know about this spectacular idea.

Groupon and Living Social are two companies that offer deals on all kinds of things (restaurants, events, attractions, exercise classes, merchandise, etc) local to the city you live in.  The offers are usually 50% or more off and a new deal gets emailed every day.  You purchase the deal up front at the discounted rate, print out a certificate and then can use it for the full value.  There is an expiration date, but in most cases it is good for at least 6 months.  For example, a local Italian restaurant we go to the all time might be offering $30 worth of food for only $15 and you have until October 31, 2011 to use it.  Since we would go to this restaurant anyway and always spend at least $30 when we are there, it is a no-brainer and I would purchase it for our next visit.  Or, these deals give us the opportunity to try something new without feeling like we are spending a million bucks to do it. 

Now, here's the new angle that my sister came up with.  It is brilliant!!  Lori was traveling to San Francisco a few months ago and signed up for the Groupon and Living Social deals for that travel destination.  She was able to monitor the deals as they were being advertised and take advantage of some wonderful savings for when she and Ben arrived in the city.

I kept this idea in the back of my head and recently was able to put it to use.  Jeff and I are planning a trip to Las Vegas over the summer.  I know, 105 degrees is really pushing my limits of being ok in heat, but the timing of the kids going to my parents in Florida was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.  So, I signed up for Las Vegas on both the sites and have been having so much fun watching a new opportunity come in my inbox each day.  It is like I get to have a little fun planning and exploring Vegas without even leaving my house.  I've already taken advantage of two Groupon deals.  The most awesome one was a day trip to the Grand Canyon.  Jeff and I wanted to do this, and now we are doing it to the tune of 50% off.  Woo-hoo!!!

And when the trip is over, I can easily opt-out for these specific cities' emails.  It is a win-win all around.

Now I just need three other people to purchase the deal too and I get it for free.  Anyone else planning a trip to Vegas?

A funny thing happened on the way to dinner

Friday morning I woke up and started thinking about what I was going to wear that evening. I had plans to help celebrate a good friend's last days as a single woman. Karen was getting married on Sunday and her sister planned a great evening to send her off in style.

Still feeling down in the dumps over Bailey and not being excited about anything in my closet, I decided a quick trip to Kohl's was in order before taking Sam to the gym. Retail therapy is sometimes the best medicine to cure the blahs.

I found a cute little skirt and some killer sandals. I tried the skirt on and was pleased with the size I needed to get. I left Kohl's with a smile on my face and headed for the gym. Once I got back from the gym, I took a shower and put on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts to wear for the rest of the day, until it was time to get dressed.

I picked Ian up from school and Sam went down for her nap. Needing to be at the restaurant between 4:45pm and 5:00pm, I told Jeff I would bring the kids to his office at 4;40pm and switch cars with him. Jeff's office was only 5 minutes away from the restaurant (Maggiano's in Tysons) and this would alleviate Jeff from having to leave work super early to come home in time.

I was hoping to be in the car by 4:00pm, but unfortunately Sam was still sleeping. I absolutely hate having to wake a sleeping a baby and decided to give her 10 more minutes. During these 10 minutes, I decided to get dressed and put on the new skirt. I gave myself the once-over in the mirror and to my horror I discovered the sensor tag was still attached the skirt. OMG! Well actually, I think my exact words were "Oh Shit!!". I yelled to Ian, "Get your shoes on now! We need to leave!" I ran into Sam's room and woke her up. Very quickly changed her diaper, got her shoes on and ran for the door. I told Ian we needed to make a stop first on the way to daddy's office.

Fortunately Kohl's is across the street from my house. But still, the idea of getting two kids in and out of their car seats twice and adding 10 minutes to my travel time with the big unknown of how bad 495 was going to be, was totally stressing me out. I double parked in front of Kohl's, put on my flashers, grabbed Ian and Sam and headed for the front door. I carried Sam the whole time because I knew the minute I put her down, she'd be off shopping. I told Ian to stay close to me at all times. As soon as we walked through the sensors, the alarms went off. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started wondering who was trying to steal merchandise. In my loud voice as I am rushing to the first register, I said, "I bought this skirt this morning to wear tonight, and the cashier never took the sensor off. I need you to take it off now! I am running very late!". The person I was talking to was a young man in his 20's and replied with, "this is going to be awkward ma'am." He said that because the sensor tag remover was a permanent fixture on top of their counter. I replied with, "This won't be awkward" and proceeded to jump straight up on the counter, still holding Samantha. It was one smooth move and I had no idea I could get myself that high up off the ground without needing a running start. I guess it is true what they say about adrenaline and having super powers kick in when needed. The cashier was able to take a hold of the side of my skirt and run it through the machine to remove the tag. Yay! I jumped down and made a beeline out of there. In and out in under 60 seconds. It helped the alarm went off to announce our arrival. The woman who was in the process of getting checked out, was hysterical with laughter.

We made it to Jeff's office in plenty of time. And, to my delight, out of the 13 women attending the dinner, I was the first one to arrive at the restaurant. Never a dull moment! And for a few minutes my mind was on something completely different than Bailey.

Not for the faint of heart

It's been awhile since I've been up all up hours of the night. Now I know why. It is painful and it hurts. My BFF Heather and I feed on each other's energy and the idea to go to Toys R Us when they opened at 12:00 midnight last night didn't seem like it was a good idea until I spoke to her. All of sudden, we decided we HAD to be there. I am normally asleep by 10:30pm and wasn't sure how we'd stay awake to when the store opened. Heather came up with the brilliant idea to see a movie beforehand. The plan was to go see "The Blind Side" at 7:50pm and afterward hang out in the parking lot of Toys R Us until they opened. When we arrived at 10:20pm, the line had already started forming and was easily 60 people deep. How could I wait in the warm, dry car watching the line get longer and longer? No way! So I took my place in line and waited for more than 1.5 hours in the cold and rain for the doors to open.

The line got longer and longer. We were at the Fair Lakes, VA location and it stretched all the way to BJ's. CRAZY!! I asked a police officer what he estimated the crowd to be and he said easily 1,200 people. All standing in the cold and rain. Wow! At about 11:55pm, they handed out the tickets for the first 100 people to get this season's hottest gift - the Zhu Zhu pet hamster. Heather and I made the cut. Who knew this was something we even wanted?

The police did a great job of keeping the crowd under control and when it was time to go inside the store, they opened the doorway just enough for one person to enter at a time. Meanwhile, the police held back the big groups of people who all of a sudden appeared from the parking lot and was prepared to cross the street and enter when the crowd started moving.

Once inside it was the absolute craziest environment I've ever seen. These people were professionals. They knew what they were doing and had apparently done this before. Shopping carts were filled up to the top in a matter of seconds. Stacks of toys on display in the store disappeared with the blink of an eye. It was insane! People had a strategy on what they wanted to buy and scoped the store out the day before. I admittedly, didn't bring my A game and was clueless. In my sleep-deprived state, I thought I would be able to wander around and take in the sights and smells of the store with all their glorious toys at my leisure. Heather and I even said we'd shop until 1:00am and then plan to be home by 2. Ha!!

The one big item Heather really wanted was the princess vanity. It was originally $69 and would be on sale for $25. Wow! What an amazing deal! I knew that eventually Samantha would be old enough to enjoy something like this and told Heather to pick me one up if we got separated. She also had said she would get one for another one of our friends. I was going to hit the pick up of the hamsters (we told to get them immediately upon entering the store) and Heather was making a beeline for the vanities. We are not entirely certain what happened, but all we know is that there were exactly 8 vanities to be had at the store and all 8 were gone by the time we realized what end was up. I heard rumors that the vanities had been moved to the front of the store and the hamster crowd was blocking the view of them. I never did see any of the vanities, not even in people's carts.

I do believe the amount of people in Toys R Us at 12:10am was a fire hazard. You couldn't move. There were people everywhere. It was so congested that if someone fell over, we'd all go like dominoes. I inched my way through the GeoTrax section and Heather was nice enough to point out an item or two she thought Sam would like. They ran out of carts and was making big apologies to people over the store's intercom.

Finally by 12:15am, we had it. There was no more fight in us and it was time to call it a day. We started hearing announcements about where the end of the line was and realized it would've been easier to go in the other direction to get to the end. It took us 10 minutes to make our way to the end. The end of the line by the time we got to it (at 12:25am) was located back in the toy baby area -- near bikes. Seriously. I kid you not, the line weaved in and out of most aisles and bordered the entire left half of Toys R Us. Heather and I soon realized we weren't going anywhere fast and decided to take turns wandering the aisles (cartless) and see if there was anything else we wanted to get. When it was my turn to go, I was in awe that every single person in the store was now standing in line waiting to check out. It was seriously out of control. Some of our best finds came from pilfering people's carts who dropped out of the line and gave up.

I had no idea if what was in my cart was on sale. Some of the stuff apparently didn't go on sale until 5:00am. People were standing in line talking about the great deals they were getting. I never felt more out of it not knowing exactly what was going on in my cart. It took us until 3:00am to reach the registers. I lucked out big-time and got a cashier (named JJ), who took the time to tell me the price of each thing in my cart and let me know if it was on sale or not. It was then that I was starting to come back to my senses and told him to put stuff back that wasn't on sale. He added my rejects to the growing pile behind him and said he didn't mind in the least because he wasn't the one who was going to reshelve these items. When we came to the items that would be marked down at 5:00am, he graciously gave me on-the-spot price adjustments and rung me up at the sale price.

I walked out of Toys R Us feeling beaten-up. My eyes hurt from still being open and my body was starting to go through dehydration from lack of water. It was not pretty. I have no idea what I ended up going home with (and won't until Ian goes to sleep tonight) nor do I have any idea if this was even worth my time to do this in the first place.

I know I saved a total of $51. I know I received an electronic hamster for $9.99 that the same exact thing is being sold on Amazon for $46. And apparently no one can find one to buy. I also know I received the 64 pack of crayola crayons for free with my purchase. And I know I saw an amazing movie that I would've probably had to wait until it came out on Netflix to see.

Will I do this again next year? Not if my life depended on it. Heather and I excel at getting to stores at 5:00am when they open. Not at midnight the night before. They call it Black Friday for a reason. Lining up in the outside, cold and rainy night for 1 hour, 40 minutes before they open the doors on Thanksgiving was not as fun as it sounds.

Good for each other

I am not sure who has had a bigger influence; my husband on me, or me on him. When I first met Jeff, he had a few things that needed working on. He wore tube socks straight up (almost all the way to the knee. Really. I am not kidding about this). His glasses were so big, they covered more than half his face. He would wear colored t-shirts (that did not match mind you) under his button down shirts. And, his hair style had more than the beginnings of a comb-over going on. But, I fell in love with the person that he was and knew the rest could be worked on over time. I am happy to report that my work with him is done and I only occasionally catch a sock creeping up above the ankle. I honestly thought I got rid of all the tube socks. Guess I was wrong.

The influence Jeff has had on me is much more subtle and not easily recognized by the casual friend or acquaintance. The ability to shop within my means and not take on any credit card debt. I've never been told not to buy something. If I see something I want and can easily tell Jeff which budget column it should come out of, then I know there is little getting in my way of having it. However, a change has come over me to the point that I am not recognizing myself.

For days I've been getting emails from Old Navy promoting their huge sales, both online and in the stores. Each morning I've been deleting these emails (along with all the other stores filling up my inbox promoting their sales) without batting an eye. On Friday, Old Navy finally wore me down and I ended up clicking through to their website and started shopping. Ooooooh! What a great sale they were having. I couldn't shop and click fast enough. It was like a huge adrenaline rush hit me. Pajamas - check! Work out shorts - check! Cute new capris - check! Some new shirts - check! All of this stuff looked too good to pass up. And, the sale couldn't be beat. Before I knew it, my cart was filled up and I was feeling pretty good. All I needed to do was check out. Ian needed something and I ran downstairs to help him. I came back to the computer a few minutes later and decided to see if everything I had in my cart was absolutely necessary. No, I really didn't need those PJs, so I deleted them. Then Sam needed my attention for a few minutes and I went to her. After I got back to the computer, I decided that the work-out shorts weren't completely necessary either, so I deleted them. Next thing you know, I talked myself out of the cute new capris. I was then left with 2 items. While both things were priced amazingly low, I was then stuck with a new dilemma. Were these 2 items really worth the $7.00 in shipping? Not hardly! The cost of shipping the stuff to me was a crazy high percentage of the cost of the clothing I picked out. Next thing you know, I no longer had anything in my cart that had to be mine. I completely talked myself out of everything I just shopped for.

Who is this person and what have you done with the impulsive, never-one-to-turn-down-a-sale Robyn?!?!? Where is the person that would shop until she dropped and then worry about where the money was going to come to pay for it? Where is the person who could always rely on her father to come through for her when she gave his Amex card for payment?

I guess this person grew up, got married and has two kids. I guess this person no longer thinks about only herself. She now realizes the importance of making sure it is needed than just getting it for fun.

Yes, this is the influence my husband has had on me. I am sure he would say his ability to change my spending habits is much more important than anything I could've done to his look. However, I must disagree. I think our influence on each other is equally important and we balance each other out nicely.