Halloween Treat!
No tricks today….just treats! You all know how much I love a great monogram…I hope you do too. Sherry from The Letter Tree wants to give one lucky KatyShops reader a monogrammed tote bag. Who is The Letter Tree? An amazing web site for everything & anything monogrammed. Scarves, bags, candles, wall tiles….and a ton of other cool things. One thing that has been on my wish list for a looong time now is the monogrammed baseball hat. How cute would this be?
Ooops…sorry – back to the contest 
To enter, click on the tote bag at the top of the page. Email The Letter Tree at info@thelettertree.com and let them know which tote you would like to win. Pick out the color of your bag, the color of thread, and the monogram that you would like on it. Then sit back, pass out your Halloween candy, and check back with me. The contest will close at 7 PM on Halloween night. While you are at it, you might want to check out her great Christmas gifts….its not to early to start shopping!
Free goodies!
Here are this weeks freebies! Free sample of Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee, Free Reach Flosser, Folgers Coffee Sample, Free shirt, Bear Naked Granola sample, another shirt. Make sure to come back tomorrow…I am having a super special Halloween giveaway…a little treat for you (and its monogrammed–YAY).
You can print out free Presidential masks. These are kinda funny!
Puppies, homeless people, and layoffs.
Wow. Yesterday afternoon Riley and I headed out to take care of some errands. First stop was the Library. We pulled in and noticed an old white van with 6 puppies on the top of it. Never being one to resist puppies…we headed over to the van. Low and behold they were dachshund puppies! They had Dapples, long-hairs, short-hairs…and my favorite – the runt of the litter. As it turns out the owner and his wife were trying to sell them in order to get a hotel room for the night. They were living in their van…everything they owned was in the back. Their hope for the day was to at least sell one puppy in order to keep warm for the night. My heart strings were pulled as tight as they possibly could be pulled. Riley had already calculated how much money was in her piggy bank…I would have loved to help them out…but I just couldn’t buy another dog. We left with our hearts feeling very heavy and headed to the grocery store. We just couldn’t perk up and felt so down. As I rounded one of the aisles I ran into a girlfriend of mine that I haven’t seen in a while. She asked us why we looked so sad, I told her about the puppies & homeless people. After boo-hooing to her for a few minutes I asked her how she had been. As it turns out, her husband was laid off and they were on their last 2 weeks of severance pay – with no job prospects. Wow. What terrible news. Lately it seems that everytime I round the corner…I hear something sad. It is times like these that we need to reach out to our neighbors, count our blessings, and find joy everywhere that we can. This reminded me of a site that I recently found on the internet. Have you heard of ipop*in? They are one minute affirmations that you download to your mp3 player. They have a bunch of different categories that range from attitude, creativity, and body image to Love and inner wisdom. You can download 5 free affirmations just by joining their newsletter. You can even mix them into your regular play lists – How great would it be to hear an aspirational sports affirmation just when your starting to get tired during your workout. Or how about a great confidence message just when you are starting to doubt yourself. Maybe something like this would be good….to lift our spirits and put a little jump in our step. One thing that I do know for sure is that I could have used some good new yesterday.
Salvador Dali strikes again!
Do you remember when I wrote about going to the painting class last June? In case you forgot…they compared my painting style to Salvador Dali. Yeah, I was pretty proud Friday night I decided to unleash my inner Dali and took a class at Sips n Strokes in East Cobb. This is so much fun!! You grab a few girlfriends, chill a few beverages, and pack some munchies and head to the studio. Each night the class paints a different painting from start to finish. The instructor leads you step by step through the process…everyone ends up with a masterpiece. The owner/teacher of the East Cobb location is super cool…and laid back. Her class goes at a great pace with plenty of break time to get a refill (you know, to keep the creative juices flowing). She gives personalized help to anyone who asks (ok..I did ask a few times) and is the best at catering to those pesky type A’s (I didn’t bug her too much). The coolest thing about Stacy is that she is giving anyone who mentions KatyShops a $5 discount at her East Cobb studio!! You will have the BEST time…and I don’t care if you have ever painted before….you will leave with a masterpiece that you will be proud of. We painted a pineapple. Its a great pineapple. If you don’t live in this area…I’m sure you will see this concept popping up all over. Try searching “girls night out painting class” or something like that. Its all the rage and so much fun!
I love these….
I love things that make my house smell great! Right now at Bath & Body Works you can get a free Wallflowers or scentport with any purchase. Maybe you want to stock up on your favorite soap? If not, just pick some lip gloss or sample size something that doesn’t cost very much…then get your scentport for free Just print out the coupon and bring it to your store. Want to make the deal a little sweeter? Use this coupon to get a free Signature Collection item with any $10 purchase!! All of the Antibacterial soaps are on sale right now…you can buy 5 for $15. What are you waiting for?
You asked…here you go…
I have had a ton of people ask me which survey sites that I like to use. Of course I love MyPoints . Here are a few others that you can earn gift cards on. Just remember, some of them take a little while to earn a gift card…you just have to be patient. The blue box is for Ipsos Surveys. Just take surveys to earn stuff.
Or you can Join SurveySpot.com and participate in online research studies that match your interests and demographics. Join now.Click Here
Another site that I like is Pinecone Research. They aren’t taking any new members at this time, but keep checking on them…I finally got accepted with them a few months ago and have been paid for a few surveys. I like them because they pay you by check for every survey you complete. You don’t have to wait until it adds up to a big amount…I have received lots of little $3 checks from them.
What sites do you use to bring in some extra money? I would love to know
Pie in the sky…
Oh how I love Fall! I want to make chili and bake pies. Okay, I want to eat chili and smell pies baking in my oven. Lets talk about pies today.
Lets face it, pies can be pretty hard to cut. I hate it when all of the insides ooze out as soon as the first piece has been cut. This cutter would sure make it easy to cut nice even slices. I love the individual pie slice pan…that would certainly put and end to the ooze.
I love this covered pie dish. I hate it when you have to cover your pretty little leftover pie with foil. This is great!
I came across this recipe and this recipe for pies cooked in a jar. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks yummy. No pie plate or ooze either! Has anyone ever actually baked a pie in a jar? I have done bread in a jar…but never pies. Let me know if you have.
Freebies…and a great deal!
I’m sure you have tried some of the yummy things from Omaha Steaks. They have great steaks, burgers, side-dishes, and desserts. If you click here you can get 12 burgers free with your order. Right now you will get a free 6 piece cutlery set with your order too. You can sweeten the deal even more if you place your order through Ebates (if you are not a current member of Ebates you will get $5 for signing up). This is a great way to really maximize your use of Ebates! You can even have them sent to someone for a gift if you want.
Free sample of bathroom sticky notes, free calendars for teachers, sign up at Arby’s and get a coupon for a free beef ‘n cheddar sent to your email box, get a free sample of Secret Sport...then tell them what you think about it and get any 5 songs you want, free Halloween music, free magnetic clip,
For a small shipping fee you can order this sleep kit…it comes with an eye mask, earplugs, dvd, and more. The kit is free but you have to pay for shipping.
While we are talking sleep…get a free Temperpedic sleep renewal kit (nothing to pay at all)
I know many of my viewers use MyPoints. You sign up, and earn points for giftcards. Sometimes you do a survey for points, print out coupons (to use at the grocery store) for points, or just read an email. It is really easy to earn giftcards fast!
Have a great day…I’m off to the music store to pick up my new violin (yay)!
Simply the best.
We had a major cold snap this past weekend and I had the chance to wear my new Fitness Fleece jacket that my mom gave me a few months ago. She bought one for herself at the LL Bean store in Maine last year and absolutely loves it. I always envied her jacket and was thrilled when my very own Fitness Fleece jacket arrived at my doorstep after her trip to Maine this year! This jacket is awesome. Lightweight but warm, the fleece does not get all balled up, plenty of great zip pockets, very flattering fit (contours in to make your waist look skinny). I put mine on to go hiking on Sunday and loved it so much that I wore it the rest of the day. I got so many compliments on it….everyone wanted to know where to get their very own cute little perfect jacket. Trust me, I am very picky about fleece…this one rocks! It comes in eleven yummy colors too.
What a cool idea!
I really, really like these wall straps. They are great for shoes…but just think of all of the possibilities! Stuffed animals, kids stuff in the garage, craft supplies. They come in 4 different colors and can be hung vertically or horizontally. Where would you use them? I would love to hear your ideas!
