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Shoes for Disney World and beyond

Posted on January 26, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When I was teaching, I learned a tough lesson with shoes and my poor feet. I was young, naive and wanted to wear heels. I already knew that buying cheap shoes was not a good plan. I spent a little bit of extra money and bought nicer shoes that would make me a bit taller than my students. After my oldest son was born and I went back to teaching, my poor feet had had it. They no longer could tolerate standing for hours on end in the classroom in heels. I quickly became a creature of comfort. Aerosoles became my best friend since I could find them all over.

After our honeymoon at Disney World, I also knew that comfortable shoes at Disney were a must. Just before our trip in May, we went out to look for new shoes. The boys got new sneakers, hubby a pair of sandals and I got Teva. I was intrigued with Crocs, but nobody locally had any at the time for me to try on. My father mentioned that he loved his Teva, so I tried them on. My feet melted into them.

While at Disney, I thought I would wear my sneakers a lot. My feet showed me differently. I was happier in my Teva. I wore them almost every day there and the entire summer. Putting them away for the fall/winter months has been rough.

Since the summer, I have fallen in love with the wide variety of shoes available from Crocs. I have a pair of their Sassari wedges, Nadia boots, LA Dodger (for around the house) and recently added the Juneau.

When the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration came up, I immediately started to think about shoes. What was I going to wear on my feet that would be practical not only for a conference, but also for wearing/walking at Disney World. I figured the Sassari may be good at night, the Juneau for during the day. Still, I wanted something else for Disney and beyond. While shopping at Kohls and armed with a 30% off coupons I bought a pair of Sketchers Biker’s – Step Up.

Want to see photos? Here are my shoes (sans sneakers) for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration:

So I think I am all set. My only wish is that I could swing a pair of Crocs new Frances.

Crocs Frances

As much as I like the Sassari, I think the wider toe area on the Frances would make it more comfortable for me (high arch make shoes a pain to get at times). A girl can dream right of owning a pair – right?!

So what shoes do you like to wear at conferences? What about when you go to places like Disney World?

Categories:
Disney me moments shopping

Meet Piggy Oink-Oink

Posted on January 5, 2010 9:43 pm by TheAngelForever

I would like you to meet Piggy. Or, as JSL calls her "Piggy Oink-Oink" using snorting noises on the hyphenated part of her name. This is Piggy taking a moment to text message her friends on Twitter.

Way back in October/November, when we were bribing NHL to go to swim lessons, he asked for the Mouse from Kohls Cares for Kids. The deal was to go in the pool with no issues two weeks in a row and we would buy him the Mouse.

Of course, when you buy NHL a Mouse, chances are JSL will want something too.

Rather than pick the Moose, JSL quickly demanded the Pig. I figured that Piggy would become like every other stuffed friend in our house – a dust magnet. Seriously, neither of the boys had ever snuggled a stuffed animal. We would buy them for special events, like at Disney World, but they would rest on their beds with perfect fur.

There must have been something different with Piggy. Since she came into the family, Piggy has been all over. As we noticed how attached JSL was with Piggy, we realized we should probably buy a Piggy Part Deux, just in case something should happen to the original Piggy Oink-Oink. The day before Thanksgiving JSL and I went to Kohls and picked up a back up Piggy.

Piggy goes near and far, to the couch and in the car. He is often on the floor and is a favorite pillow or wrestling buddy. After a month or so, we noticed how loved Piggy has become, she is the first stuffed friend that has matted fur in our house. JSL loves her so much that he even allowed Piggy to try on his new scarf that I made for him. Here is Piggy modeling the scarf.

His love for Piggy makes me wonder. Perhaps there is more to this love for Piggy Oink-Oink. This may be my little guy following in my footsteps. After all, I had several Miss Piggy (a la Muppets fame) dolls that went all over with me and collected pigs growing up. Must locate photos of myself with Miss Piggy from years ago at Nana & Papa’s house to compare to photos of JSL.

Categories:
animals Disney interesting jsl knitting looking back nhl photos play time shopping sleep

Happy Chanukah and holiday shopping

Posted on December 11, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

This Friday night is special for two reasons this week. Not only is it Shabbat, but it also marks the start of Chanukah. All of the running around and getting things ready for our family has to be finished. Most items for the boys have been bought for a while (pre-Black Friday). We get them a little something for each night. Books factor into this a lot.

There are one or two items that I still need to get tomorrow. Hubby and I have also decided to purchase tickets to BlogHer ’10 as our presents to each other…at least I think that is the plan. Tonight the wrapping extravaganza will take place. While JL bakes something for gift giving (can’t say what since people read this),I will tackle project wrap and label. Saturday night we are heading to a Chanukah party with my parents, my brother and his family, grandmother, aunts, and an uncle. Right now we just hope the weather holds back on snow/ice for Uncle I, Aunt M and Cousin S can make it into town.

So my question to you this week:

Have you finished all of your holiday shopping yet? If you have not – good luck!

Categories:
Aloha Friday holidays shopping

Birthday shopping Pandora style

Posted on December 4, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Without a doubt, I am a horrible person to shop for. I can never think of anything I want. When/if I do, I often do not tell people what I want for fear of my taste not being matched. Thanks to this, my birthday (next week) and Chanukah (begins at sundown next Friday night) are tough for people like my parents and my hubby. It is especially hard since they are usually at the same time or within days of each other.

Last year, my parents told me that they wanted to buy me a watch. Mine had died and was not worth replacing the battery. They are ~~addicted~~ hooked on Invicta watches. They have some gorgeous items, but no matter how long and hard I looked at items online at Shop NBC (or where ever they sent me), I never found anything I loved. Part of the problem is I like to see an item in person before I buy it. What if it doesn’t look right on me? Spending that much money for something meant homework.

When we all went to Disney World, I looked for a watch there, but nothing sparked my interest. As we approached another birthday, my mother mentioned something to me. She asked if I had ever thought about a Pandora jewelry. I had heard about them before, but had never seen them in a store.

Thursday, this all changed. I told my mother that I was really intrigued with the Pandora bracelets and charms. Thanks to seeing Aunt S and Cousin A’s bracelets at Thanksgiving I wanted to go to the store at our local mall. Mom was off work yesterday, so we went to look at this. All I can say is WOW! I was in love from the moment I walked into the store. The set up was amazing and the person who worked with us was patient and wonderful.

In the end, I finally picked out my birthday present for last year and this year. Here it is:

There are two little boy charms, one for NHL and one for JSL. I did not like the birthstone charms, so I looked at the Murano glass beads. I have a history with Murano glass. When TechyDad and I were in Las Vegas before we had kids, I fell in love with the Murano store at the Venetian. I stood for a long time debating whether to purchase something. In the end, I did not. The light green bead on the left is for NHL’s birthday in August and the dark green for JSL’s in May. Worked quite nicely! I also took a book and circled a Forget Me-Knot charm for hubby to get for our marriage/love/life together.

Forget Me-Knot

That one will go between the two Murano beads when I get them. I’m also eyeing an Angel bead, but want to see that in person first.

Angel

So my questions for this week:

Are you easy to buy presents for – whether birthday/holiday?
Is anyone else into Pandora? Would love suggestions from others.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #76

Categories:
Aloha Friday birthday looking back me moments photos shopping

Black Friday 2009

Posted on November 27, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I have to admit, I do not think I have ever gotten up before the sun comes up to go to Black Friday sales. My mother never did it, so I never caught the bug. Sure, there are things that interest me, but I am not into fighting crowds of people hounding the same deal of which there are not enough to satisfy the masses. I would rather stay home, cozy and warm in the house. My hubby works today, so the boys and I will stay home and do something special together. If we venture out it will likely be to a quiet lunch location and maybe the newly library.

On Thanksgiving I did head out shopping. I pulled out the newspaper and looked at the CVS and Rite Aid ads. A few things were very interesting to me because they were free or 99 cents. NHL was up and watching the parade while JSL and TechyDad still slept. I went to CVS first. The items I bought were close to $50 on sale, once I used my ECBs (which were expired, but this store accepts them), my total was $3.50 for the tax.

I could have done a little better had my coupons not disappeared. Still this was a great deal and I still have almost $35 of ECBs to use for another CVS visit. Oh and the candy was free with ECB and needed so I would not forfeit additional ECBs that I had to use.

After this I went to Rite Aid and had my $5 coupon from Fall Spending. I almost bought NHL the $20 Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS, but my trusted friend that works at a gaming store said it was not a good plan for a child. So it was a no go. I spent just about $20 on sale items – my coupon. Of the $14 that I spent out of pocket, $12 will be coming back in Rite Aid rebate. The cost of the Hot Wheels cars was $3, so this was a fabulous deal, even without my missing coupons.

So, I bought all of the above items for under $7 out of pocket! It was so nice and quiet in the stores Thursday without many bargain hunters. Sure, I would love some of the deals on Black Friday, but I will enjoy the day home without the crazy stores. Now to see if there are any Cyber Monday specials.

My question this week:

Will you or have you already gone out to shop this Black Friday? What are your favorite places to go to? Please feel free to share the deals that you got.

BTW – Be sure to check out three giveaways that are going on right now: Softlips Winter collection, Movie Moments Prize Pack (4 movie tickets and cereal), and Sweet Ones Prize Pack. Another one for the kids will be coming soon (hint – it will be a Crayola product).

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #76