Are you threatening me?!!

I tend to think in blog posts (back in the day I would have said "journal entries") and I feel compelled to share this one with you.

If you live in California, you may (hopefully) be aware of, Senate Bill 277: a piece of legislation that has been stomping through the various steps of government on its way toward becoming a law.

SB 277's stated intent is to remove the personal and religious beliefs exemptions to mandatory vaccinations required for attending school. However, it is way more insidious than that, it essentially removes the right of parents to make informed choices for their own childrens' health. If SB 277 becomes law, you will be required to vaccinate your child with every vaccination that the state deems necessary. Even if you choose to opt out of only one vaccination, you would no longer have that parental right - unless you are willing to be forced to pull them out of school and educate them at home.

I have been a mother for 20 years and I take my job seriously. Over the course of the first five years or so of my eldest's life, my husband and I began to seriously educate ourselves about vaccines. After much research (have you ever read a vaccine insert? You should!) we decided to discontinue vaccinations with him and opt out of them altogether for our subsequent children.
As a result of this decision, we have been in numerous "discussions" with others over our choice. These discussions have served to cause us to do further research, which persistently cements our decision. The more informed we become, the more we are convinced that we must not expose our children to these toxins! Now, this is our choice, you must also make informed decisions for your own children, just make sure they really are informed.

SB 277 seeks to remove the personal beliefs AND religious exemptions. So, sorry, Jewish folks, you MUST vaccinate your kids with vaccines that contain porcine cells. Christians, you have a religious objection to abortion? Sorry, you must vaccinate your kids with vaccines that contain aborted fetal cells. PETA folks, sorry but you must vaccinate your kids with vaccines that contain bovine, porcine, canine, and monkey cells.

SB 277 is about SO much more than mandatory vaccination, it is about yet another usurping of our God-given parental right to care for our own children. This is a rights issue people! Even if you are on-board 100% with vaccinating your kids, do you want the government telling you that you must?! What if they include Gardasil in the list of mandatory vaccinations? Do you trust this government to truly have your kids' interest at heart and make wise, responsible choices for them?
Yeah, neither do I!

I urge you to take a sec and read this recent article from the Sacramento Bee - things that make you go hmmmmm! It's all about the Benjamins and our kids are collateral damage!

This is not law yet, we can do something about this; Oregon recently faced similar legislation and shot it down. Educate yourself, contact your legislators, talk to the media, tell your friends, call Governor Brown's office to ask him to veto, sign this petition, and most of all - pray!

Frugal Finds - Razors at a Bargain.

In this episode of Frugal Finds I bring you a fantastic deal on high quality razors. I'm not sure when it happened but razors are redunculously expensive - like, I will routinely shave with a dull razor for 3 months, expensive. I was resigned to only having truly silky smooth legs every 3 months or so, until an ad on Facebook for Dollar Shave Club caught my eye. It seemed to be WAY too good to be true, I mean the two major razor companies must need to charge their outrageous prices because of all the science and stuff right? I did a brief online search (as I always do) to determine the level of scam I could be buying into with Dollar Shave Club (DSC). Turns out they're legit but, during my research, I discovered an even less expensive company, Dorco (yep, giggle, giggle, snort, snort).

According to a few articles I read (and they're on the internet so they have to be true, but in this case I'm assuming they are) Dorco is where DSC gets their razors.
So, by eliminating the middle man and going straight to Dorco (still funny - I'm 8) I was able to get a razor for myself and one for the hubs plus an additional 24 replacement cartridges each for a grand total of $57.92! I found a code (PromoPro25) which gave me 25% off my order plus all orders over $25 ship for free - winner! Oh, and I received my razors 3 days after I placed the order!!!

I've tried out both mine and his (shhh, don't tell him) and they both yielded silky smooth legs and feel great in the hand. I haven't used a chick razor in years but (after reading a ton of glowing reviews) decided to get one - I like how the head pivots around but I feel like the head is a bit too large. This is a minor issue and more about preference; I bought a year's worth and it's really not a big deal. His razor has a smaller head and is similar to (but better than) my previous razor.

I am extremely pleased with these razors and the fact that they're letting me save money whilst "fightin' the man"! You know, the big, money swindling razor man!

Now for you readers who've held on until the end, I received an email today stating that until midnight tonight (5-5-15) you can snag a 6-blade razor for only $1!!! Hurry!! That's an even better deal than I got - yay you!

Frugal Finds - Handel's Ice Cream

This is a quick Frugal Find that will probably only be interesting to y'all in the I.E. - Handel's Ice Cream (I understand that they ship everywhere in the US but without the "frugal"part). If you're not familiar with Handel's you are missing out and you best be gettin' yourself on over there to discover the deliciousness that is Handel's Homemade Ice Cream.

Handel's was started in Ohio in 1945 by Alice Handel. Handel's whips up fresh batches of numerous flavors of deliciousness every morning and, adhering to their mission to "Never Skimp", they throw in fistfuls of yummy ingredients.

Handel's features a huge selection of ice cream flavors (I can't speak to their yogurt as I get my fix at Pinkberry) and I haven't come close to sampling them all but I have not come across a flavor that I did not highly enjoy! My favorite is banana cream pie (it has chunks of pie crust and sliced bananas in it) and given the fact that I am a proud chocoholic, my choice of banana cream pie as my fave should tell you how nummy it is!

Now, the reason that I'm listing Handel's as a Frugal Find (and my boys LOVED helping with the "research" btwubs) is because if you pop in on a Wed (to the Upland location) or Thursday (at the Rancho location) you get a single scoop cone for $1.25! Depending on who your scooper is, you may get a generous scoop or you may get a wimpy one but either way - it's delicious and a deal considering their normal price is around $3.

You can also sign-up for their Handel's V.I.P. Rewards program so that they can tantalize and tempt you when you check your e-mail.

Enjoy!

Beauty Subscriptions [ March 2015]

I recently jumped on the beauty subscription box band wagon with subscriptions to Ipsy, Birchbox, and Lip Monthly and because I rely heavily on reviews, here's mine:

Ipsy costs $10 per month. You fill out a little quiz so they can semi-personalize your bags. You receive a different little makeup bag each month filled with 5 sample and full-sized beauty products.
My first bag was this month and I think it's adorable!

My bag contained 2 samples and 3 full-sized products:

NYX Eyeshadow (regularly $5) This has nice coverage and opacity but I really think it requires an eyeshadow primer to get long wear and no creasing.
Chella Highlighter pencil (reg. $18) I really like this, it has an apricot undertone that works really well as a highlighter on my skin and the texture is creamy and blendable.
Crown concealer brush (reg. $5) I haven't tried this yet, I already have 3 others this same size and shape but it is soft and seems well made and I'm sure I'll use it at some point.
A sample of Coolway Glow Finishing hair oil. I absolutely love this and intend to purchase a full-sized one when I use this little bottle up. It makes my hair shiny and silky soft with no oily/greasy feel or residue.
Finally, a sample of Laneige BB Cushion. This is a BB cream that you apply with a teeny tiny sponge - I didn't care for the super light coverage and the application process was annoying to use.

I really liked this bag and feel that it is well worth the $10 cost. I like that it will allow me to try out products that I hadn't previously heard of or might not have splurged on and I look forward to seeing what Ipsy has in store for me in the future.
The only thing that I found annoying about Ipsy was that once you sign up, you're told that "due to high demand" you're on a waiting list until a spot opens up, but then you're given the option to get off the waiting list by sharing your Ipsy bag purchase on social media. I find this distasteful for a product that I'm paying for - almost like blackmail. I later learned that if you email them, they will take you off the waitlist for the following month - whatevs to that. This is the only icky thing, other than that, I'm highly satisfied with my purchase!

I also received my March Birchbox - Birchbox also costs $10 per month, you don't get a makeup bag but, from what I understand, you do tend to get higher end products.
The box is cute:

 

My Birchbox contained:

Full-sizes -
Davines Oil Absolute Beautifying Potion (approx. $25) I quite like this hair oil but not as much as the Coolway one that I received in my Ipsy box. It has a nice consistency and isn't greasy but I don't care for the scent and it is a bit noticeable in my hair. (They sent bonus shampoo/conditioner samples but haven't tried them yet)
Laura Mercier Foundation Primer - Hydrating (Reg. $33) I was most jazzed about this product and it doesn't disappoint. It's a light, non-greasy primer that left my skin feeling moisturized and held my makeup in place all day.
Jelly Pong Pong Glow Getter Highlighter ($13) The packaging looks confusingly like a small shimmery nail polish. I'm not a huge fan of liquid highlighters but this does provide a pretty, not too shimmery highlight when applied to the skin.
Samples -
Harvey Prince Singular Scentsations Imperial Gardenia perfume. This smells just like Michael Kors perfume, which I used to LOVE until morning sickness with little dude killed it for me. I cannot handle that scent anymore so I passed this on to my mama. The full-size is listed as $29 so, if you like that scent, this is a more affordable alternative to the Michael Kors one.
Temple Spa Peace Be Still Calming Body Balm. This lotion smells just like a spa, it's a bit heavily scented for me and is a little bit light on the moisturizing side so I'll probably throw this in my purse for emergency dryness needs.

I think this box was really fun and it contained my favorite item of the two boxes - the Laura Mercier primer! I feel that this was well worth the $10 and I'm excited to see what I get in the future. Plus, they didn't have any hoops for me to jump through to get my box!

Both of these boxes are month-to-month and don't penalize you for cancelling. I also ordered  Lip Monthly, based on my cousin's recommendation, but won't receive my first box until April.  Lip Monthly is $10/month as well for 5 full-size lip products but they had a lot of deals so I prepaid for 3 months and received my first month free - yay!

Well, that's it for now, if this type of blog post is of interest to you, I'll write one next month when I have all three to review.

Frugal Finds - The LA Arboretum

 

 

I've decided to start a new (hopefully weekly) feature where I will share with you a plethora of frugal finds that my family has utilized and enjoyed!

The first frugal find is one I used to avail myself of on the regular but haven't been in several years until my friend Sandi suggested it - the LA Arboretum in Arcadia. Entrance to the arboretum is free on the third Tuesdays of every month and parking is always free - bonus!

The LA Arboretum is a beautiful place to visit: full of all manner of unique plant life, dotted with some historical buildings, and loaded with friendly peacocks. We took 8 kids with us, aged 5-13, and they all had a blast.

First, the peacocks -

 

 

Peacocks are plentiful at the arboretum - turning visitors into frenzied paparazzi whilst languidly strutting around, teasing them with the hope of unfurling their gorgeous fans of feathers.

 

Then, there's the foliage -

 



 Granted, spring is the perfect time to visit but it's really pretty all year round. There are different regions with vegetation fitting to the theme of each region. There are lawns, fountains, rose gardens, ponds, waterfalls, and all manner of pretty growing things to admire.

Finally, there's history -
There is a train station that was originally commissioned by Lucky Baldwin and moved to the Arboretum, it has friendly docents who guide you through the antiques. A major draw is a "cottage" that was pictured in Fantasy Island but in reality was built by Lucky Baldwin for his 4th wife (who apparently was 16 and no longer his wife by the time the cottage was completed). You can look into the windows of this fully-furnished cottage (creepy baby doll alert) as you walk around the veranda - a bit of useless trivia: it boasts the first flushing toilet in California.

 

 

The paths that wind through the property make it mostly handicap/stroller accessible and drinking fountains are plentiful. However, if you are potty training a child, restrooms are pretty few and far between. There is a café on the premises, we did not avail ourselves of its delicacies so I cannot speak to how the food is but the location is idyllic!

We had a great day - the LA Arboretum receives 7.5 out of 10 stars on the Johnson Fun Frugal Find index for all around value and fun!

Affordable Organic

Through BzzAgent I was recently able to sample some of Ralph's (Kroger) Simple Truth organic products. I try to stick to organic products but the budget is not super compliant as most organic products are redunculously more expensive than their GMO and chemical laden counterparts. I don't do a lot of grocery shopping at Ralph's and hadn't really noticed Simple Truth prior to this sample opp. but subsequently discovered that we actually have some Simple Truth oatmeal in our pantry - I guess I wasn't super observant but you try grocery shopping in the eye of a swirling tornado of ravenous, bottomless pits (also known as my precious angels).

Simple Truth seems to have products in pretty much every grocery category and the prices are quite good for organic. We tried several products: yogurt, bread, an energy tea, and my favorite - a 70% cacao dark chocolate and quinoa bar. I'll make a little confession here, I generally prefer milk chocolate (scandalous I know) but I tend to pick dark chocolate because then I can convince myself that I'm being super healthy whilst wolfing down an entire bar in one sitting. This bar, despite being 70% cacao, didn't have that super bitter, fruity taste that a lot of 70% cacao bars do and the little crunch of quinoa was delightful! I totally intend to purchase more of these chocolate bars in the future.

Can you feel the love?!

While no store-bought bread in the under $4 range is completely in the under 5 ingredient range, this one is pretty good - and at $3.59/loaf, the price is excellent (for organic). In the spirit of true disclosure, I don't like whole wheat bread - there I said it! I was raised on homemade whole wheat bread that was dense, heavy, and dry (my mom tenaciously pretends to love this type of bread) so once I was making my own bread buying decisions, I bought delicious sheep herder and pillowy  potato breads. But then the health fairy whacked me over the head and I've been compelled to only buy whole wheat bread for the last 20 years. Therefore, bread is really just a conduit for whatever thing I'm putting on top of it and I derive no real pleasure from eating the bread itself. With that in mind, I will inform you that this bread was semi-moist and had a mellow flavor with minimal "bird food" on top. My 3 stomachs with legs and their dad seemed to quite enjoy it as it was gone in 2 days. Of course, my 3 stomachs with legs will eat pretty much anything in the house so I don't think that's a fair endorsement.

Yogurt, on the other hand, is something I quite enjoy (although much more so in Pinkberry format) and I found Simple Truth's yogurt to be a nice textured Greek yogurt with a natural fruit filling (no high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors here) but at $1.19/single serving container (actually a very "good" price for organic), we won't be purchasing more of these anytime soon. If you have a money tree though, I would recommend picking yourself up a few of these bad boys.

I will put an end to my rambling/confessions by saying that I am quite grateful to have been introduced to Simple Truth as I feel it will help my in my joint desire to feed my family as healthfully as possible (darn it mom, you rubbed off on me) while still being able to pay our mortgage (now that was dramatic - but true). 

How I "fixed" a hole in my shirt

I recently had a traumatic ironing experience. Last month I bought a shirt that I love, the front of it is made of polyester - which can't be successfully ironed so I was steaming it with my iron and I TOUCHED IT with the iron!!!! Aahhhhhhh! My new favorite, twice worn shirt, is ruined!!

I gotta' cop to having thrown a teeny bit of a hissy fit and tearfully (OK, not tearfully, it's not like I spilt milk) threw the shirt into my closet...where it taunted me every time I walked in.
Since we don't have a money tree and the holes are in a totally noticeable place, I resigned myself to the idea that I'd probably have to pitch my new shirt with no hope of a replacement.

But then, I saw this blog post on Pinterest and thought that I could adapt her idea (her flowers are a bit too foofy for me) and somehow use the flowers to cover up the holes in my shirt!

I dug through my scrap basket and found two fabrics that I like together. Using two different sized mugs, I traced circles onto the reverse side of the fabric and cut out 7 circles.

I cut 6 semi-even slices into each circle and rounded off the edges to create a flat flower with 6 petals.

Now, the fun (and probably toxic) part - using pliers (a blister on my finger demands that I emphasize the necessity of these) hold each petal next to an open flame until the fabric begins to melt and curl up in a petal-like fashion. Repeat for each petal on every flower using the pliers to keep the rest of the flower out of the flame and wax.

I then laid out the flowers in a cascade that covered the two gashes on my shirt and stitched them, in random places, to the shirt. 

Tah dah, the finished product! While I prefer the shirt without any foofoo on it, I'm pleased with the finished result. This isn't permanent so if I decide that I want to try something different in the future, I can easily snip off the thread and remove the flowers.

                    

Reese's spreads

This is a funny time of year to be reviewing a product like this, what with all the resolutions folks are still successfully clinging to but I recently received a Voxbox from Influenster containing a jar of Reese's spread and I desire to unleash my opinion of it upon you!

Now, I generally try to keep my family on a healthy diet but we do indulge in the occasional treat, such as a Reese's peanut butter cup. In the case of my 18 year old, he recently "indulged" in 2 half-pound Reese's cups - and by indulged I mean decimated.








Anyhoo, this Reese's spread is all the yummy chocolate peanut butteryness that you expect from a Reese's cup but in a spreadable format. I didn't expect the spread to hold true to the flavor of a Reese's cup but it absolutely does and is super yummy when spread on all types of things - which would be really difficult to do with a Reese's cup!

I am one of those weirdos who doesn't like hazelnuts so I find Nutella icky but a little spoonful of this spread is Oh So Yummy!

As you can imagine, I had a lot of "quality assurance testers" forcing their assistance upon me and we came up with several delightful conduits for the spread, the favorite being a spoon (or finger before I caught them and put an end to that).
We tested the spread on: apple slices (good), banana slices (The Elvis: delicious), frozen banana slices (Frelvis: even better), bread (eh), pretzels (what's not to like), and the aforementioned spoons/fingers. I can see this being yummy on vanilla ice cream or even as a cake filling or frosting.

I believe the cost of a 13 oz jar of this beauty is around $3.50. It's really bad for you but it tastes so stinkin' good! That is all.

WOMM = Word Of Mouth Marketing

I started to write a post a week ago, wrote a paragraph, came back, wrote another one, and then left it until today. I realized that the reason I was so unmotivated to write this is because it was turning out super dry and BORING! If I don't want to write it, who is going to want to read it!

So - WOMM, how does it work? Well, basically I sign-up with a company (I'll have links to the ones I currently use later in this post), they send me a product (s) to try out, I try it out, and then gab about my experience to my social circle and occasionally host a party featuring the product. There are guidelines and "challenges" to follow and a final "report" to file (which usually isn't too arduous). My compensation tends to be: the product, points toward gift cards and things, entries into drawings for prizes and gift cards, or various other items.

The Word of Mouth Marketing companies that I belong to are contracted by companies looking to maximize on WOMM. What's in it for these companies? Inexpensive marketing utilizing WOMM, consumer input, occasional focus group data, and potential new customers - all at a significantly lower cost than traditional marketing.

The first WOMM company that I signed up with was Crowdtap - in the beginning they were pretty awesome and compensated you with cold hard cash. However, as they grew and gained new members the compensation is fairly sucky. That being said, I still actively participate with Crowdtap as I enjoy the products I get to sample and the occasional Amazon gift cards I win. The best free item I've received from any of the companies came from Crowdtap - a Windows 8X cell phone and $75 gift card to use for party supplies/eats.

My current favorite is Bzzagent. The reporting process is super simple and I've been able to try a lot of fun products that I might not normally have purchased.

I also participate with Influenster - they send out what they call Voxboxes. My boys are really enjoying my current sample from them but that's for another post.

I've been participating with WOMM companies for several years now and I definitely recommend it if you like trying new products (or businesses) out and sharing your honest opinions!

How about you, do you use any of these companies? Do you have a favorite that I haven't listed?

Neutrogena Rapid Dark Circle Repair Eye Cream

I was recently chosen by Crowdtap to sample Neutrogena Rapid Dark Circle Repair Eye Cream (retail price is listed as $20.99). Although I had not previously heard of this product, I was super excited for this opportunity as I suffer from permanent bags/circles under my eyes - the result of having had Graves Disease (and children) and am always on the lookout for ways to minimize them.

This product comes in a long pen-like container with an attached brush that dispenses product as you turn a knob at the base.

 

The product is a thin white paste with a slight shimmer and no noticeable scent.

When first applied, this product does slightly disguise circles (I think due to the shimmer) but after two days of use, it started to sting a bit when I applied it. I have used this product for 2 weeks and do not see any lasting noticeable change but the stinging aspect makes me think that it might be a skin bleach and so it may work on folks who were born with darker pigment under their eyes.

Conclusion: This product provided only a very slight temporary lightening under my eyes. I'm unsure of the cost of this product but I think if you have dark rings under your eyes it might be worth it for you to give it a shot.