No Wonder it's a Secret!

Several weeks ago, I received a voucher for a free item from Victoria's Secret. I think I might have blushed a little when I looked at the envelope, but I really can't pass up free. It's in my blood. It mouldered on my desk for a week or two... then it mouldered in my purse for about another week.

Upon discovering that my daughter's one and only wish for her birthday was to have a Pillow Pet, I knew that the mall was the one place I was sure I could get what she wanted. (As it turns out, they were out of the one she's been talking about for the last nine months.)

I figured that it would be good to kill two birds and go to VS as well. I blushed a little as I wheeled my little family into the brightly lit place to look through items that, generally speaking, never see the light of day once you get them home.

Of course, since it had been several weeks since I got the voucher in the first place, I was wondering if they might be out of stock and I was going to be out of luck. I (translation: Ben) ended up having to ask one of the workers where I might find the promised item. *Blush!* To her credit, she was very sweet and talked to my daughter while we walked over to the correct bin.

Once there, it was up to me to feel slightly perverted while I looked through for something that might pass for cute. The lady next to me had an enviable air of cool, collected nonchalance as she looked through the bins too. As I pondered what my choice might actually say about me personally, my daughter sweetly walked up to me and said, "Mom, can I help you?"

I gasped out a nervous laugh and said, "No, Audrey. I think this is something I need to do by myself." The lady next to me burst out laughing and I laughed too. I'm not sure if I blushed since Ben was too busy texting a status message for Facebook. I do know my eyeballs felt like they were on fire, so that doesn't bode well for me.

Hardly a moment later, Ben informed me that my son was pointing up at a picture of a model in her negligee and saying, "Bottom! Bottom! Bottom! Bottom!"


I also have a $10 off coupon for a bra. I don't know if I'm ever going back. I think I've had enough embarrassment to last me the rest of the month.

The Many Faces of Audrey

I know I've been slacking with the Preschool Blog posts... I know because one of my dear sisters asked me about them just last night! Well! I thought to myself, Someone is actually reading them! Whaddayaknow!

I admitted to her somewhat shamefacedly that I had not just been slacking on the blog front, but on the preschool front entirely. It's easy to get excited when your child asks, "What are we going to learn about today, Mom?" but when you actually get down to doing something with the child, all they want to do is watch the latest favorite movie.

This week is The Week of the Young Child, some sort of national observance. This week, Audrey will learn all about herself. To start the week off right, for both myself and her, I took a page from a good friend of mine. Monique Duke is one of the most talented photographers I have ever known and this idea was an inspiration for me. I've been wanting to do it ever since she wrote about it, but wasn't able to find the ideal time to focus just on my girl.

The idea was to call out emotions to her and snap away at whatever expression she gave me. I was worried that she wouldn't understand some of the emotions I was going to ask her to show me, but I went ahead and, with a little explanation, she stole the show. Click on the picture for a larger version. Well worth it!

The Many Faces of Audrey

HAPPY SPRING!!!

The Haul

I wandered around the mall today with a mission. I was going to have fun and I was going to spend some money. I went IN the stores with an eye for purchasing. However, I wasn't looking to spend purely for spending's sake. Well, maybe a little. I was more interested in finding a good deal that I could go home and feel good about. I am not interested in Buyer's Remorse at this stage of my life.

I almost never go into Claire's or Icing because I know I'll buy something that looks fantastically cute in the lighting of the store, but that looks strange once I get home. HOWEVER, upon walking into the store, I found that they were having a big clearance sale and quite a lot of their clearance was upwards of 75% off. I squealed a little, in my head.

Here is my haul, which I am super proud of, so don't say anything mean about it... Or you can, but just know that you will be making me feel sad for about .0000000238 nano seconds. Then I will go back to gloating over my new stuff.

Plaid Hobo (you can't see in this shot, but there are little shiny threads running through the plaid)

Original price: $26

Marked Down price: $13

Final price paid: $3.19

Butterfly Handbag

Original price: $20

Marked Down price: $10

Final price paid: $2.49

Teal Scarf with Skull print

Original price: $14

Marked Down price: $7

Final price paid: $1.69

Love the skulls!!

Various Wallets

The top two plaid ones were originally $12 and $14 respectively, marked down to $6 and $7. I got each one for $1!

The Pink Butterfly makeup bag/purse was originally $7, marked down to $3.50 and I paid $1!!

The Hardcase with eyelets was originally $16, marked to $8 and I paid $1.99.

Ring

Original price: $12.50

Marked Down price: $6.25

Final price paid: $1.49

Brown Plaid Headband

Original price: $5.50

Marked Down price: $2.75

Final price paid: $1

Cute details! (I used the skull head as my little model because I knew I'd never get the headband back from Aud if I used her.)

Charm Necklace (with crosses! *gasp!*)

Original price: $12.50

Marked Down price: $6.25

Final price paid: $1.19

Hello Kitty Necklace (for Audrey, though I may wear it now and then)

Original price: $12.50

Marked Down price: $6.25

Final price paid: $1.49

Dangley Chain Necklace

Original price: $10.50

Marked Down price: $5.25

Final price paid: $1.19

Fabric Necklace with Beads

Original price: $16.50

Marked Down price: $8.25

Final price paid: $1.99

Cute Plush Fennec Fox that whistles when you squeeze it's tummy

Original price: $7.50

Marked Down price: $3.75

Final price paid: $1

He has a crooked face but he's cute anyway... unless SHE'S cute... either way.

The whole purchase including tax was $24.27!

While I am not a hardcore bargain shopper and some would feel that I spent too much, I feel good about my level of shopping savvy!

Yay me!

BTW: If any of you are planning on going to the Orem mall anytime soon, stop by Claire's if this is your kind of thing! :)