Have you Been Booed??

We live in a fabulous neighborhood for kids -- there are basically four "circles" around a central park -- kids are always riding bikes & scooters and playing at the park -- lots of fun! 

The neighborhood is 12+ years old, so there are lots of mature trees and shrubs, and it backs up to a state park, so much of it borders a protected greenbelt area.  The houses have curbside appeal, and there are TONS of families.

And we get TONS of trick or treaters --- people actually drive here, to our neighborhood, with car loads of kids to trick or treat.  I think the HOA said the average number last year was over 700 kids!

Another fun thing in our neighborhood is the annual visit from the neighborhood ghost. 

Hee hee, OK, not really, but close!  Have you been booed??  Each year, and I am not sure who started this, you may come home to find you've been booed.  A little treat can be found on your porch -- this one is all about treats, not tricks -- and then you reciprocate!  Such a fun tradition, and in an age where many neighbors don't even know each other, a neat way to show you care -- even if it is anonymous!  Check it out here for info on how YOU can share the "boo" love in your neighborhood or office!  Pretty soon, you'll be surrounded by phantom ghosts! ;0)

Here's the "boo" poem -- enjoy!

You've Been Boo-ed!

The phantom ghost has come to town
To leave some goodies... I see you've found.
If you wish to make this a happier fall...
Continue this greeting, this phantom call.

First, post this Phantom where it can be seen,
And leave it there until Halloween.
This will scare other Phantoms who may visit.
Be sure to participate, you don't want to miss it!

Second, make two treats & two copies from Been Booed .com
Deliver them to two neighbors, try to stay calm.
Don't let them see you, be sneaky, no doubt
And make sure they put their Phantom Ghost out!

Next, you have only one day to act, so be quick!
Leave it at doors where the Phantom hasn't hit.
Deliver at dark when there isn't much light...
Ring the doorbell and run, and stay out of sight!!

And last, but not least, come join in the season.
Don't worry, be happy, you need no good reason.
It is all in good fun and we are just trying to say...
Happy Halloween & Have a Great Day!

Fabulous Finds Friday!

It's that time again -- Fabulous Finds Friday! 

Looking for bargains?  Coupons?  Special Promotions?  Great deals?  I am!  That's why I L-O-V-E this brilliant website, aptly named Fabulessly Frugal!  In addition to regularly posting coupon and sale match ups for your favorite stores (including Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Target and more) they post great deals to be had ALL over the web!  It's really like one stop shopping for savings!  With all the information available on the web these days, it's really nice to jump on Fabulessly Frugal and take advantage of their time, energy and expertise scouring the web, the weekly ads and matching up coupons to save ME the most money!


They also offer a DVD Seven Secrets to Successful Couponing to find out how to become an ethical and fabulessly successful couponer.  TLC's Extreme Couponing raises many questions, and sometimes evokes a strong response (negative and positive) in people.  Can you really buy $1000+ in groceries for just pennies on the dollar?  Is it reasonable to expect to save that much?  How much time do those "extreme couponers" spend to achieve those sky high savings?  Check out this post Extreme Couponing: Will you be watching? for insight and information.

This is definitely one site you should really check out and add to your "must read and visit often" list!  I guarantee using their tips will save you money! 

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!

Tracy

Fabulous Finds Friday!

It's here!  Fabulous Finds Friday!  Actually, my first Fabulous Finds Friday ;0)

I am excited to share this absolutely fabulous find (can you tell I like the word fabulous?)  Flipping through the Pottery Barn catalog a while ago, I came across this French Wire Hamper that I immediately fell in love with!   I not only wanted one, I wanted two!  I just love the vintage look but that it's absolutely functional as well, with a washable ticking drawstring liner.  Looking at the description further, I saw it even fully collapses for easy storage!

Love, love, love!

What I didn't love, staring me in the face, was the price.  $149!  Just for kicks, I put it in my cart and headed to the check out line ;0)  Hmmm, shipping, $21.  Tax, $15.81.  Now, I wasn't looking at a mere $149, but a grand total of $185.81!   Grrrr.  I closed the catalog.


A day or so later, I decided to google "french wire hamper."  Yeah!  Hits!  Oh wait... they're nearly all the Pottery Barn version.  Hmmm.  There HAS to be another one out there in cyberspace, or at least something similar?   Not much luck.  I tried various search terms -- "vintage laundry hamper", "french wire basket", but either got the same Pottery Barn hits or other non-laundry hamper items.  Not that I wouldn't also love to snag this fabulous basket as well, but I refocused my concentration on the wire hamper.  Wire hamper, wire hamper.  I was getting nowhere fast.  Of course, there was eBay.  Yes, I found a few there.  I watched a couple auctions, and both went for over $100 plus shipping.  Hmmm.  Less than PB, but still not great... so I decided to keep looking. 

Then I thought of a fabulous blog/website I just love (yes, I said fabulous) that is perfect for this quest!  Reichel Broussard of Copy Cat Chic has a great design eye, a super cool site and an adorable baby daughter.  Reichel regularly posts designer items and their "copy cat" counterpart -- often either the exact same item or something super similar, at a much lower price!  LOVE her blog!  In fact, after seeing this I just had to add these to my bedroom -- at the copy cat chic price of course!

Anyway, I posted on Copy Cat Chic's Facebook site to see if anyone out there had come across a copy cat version of my coveted french wire hamper.  No luck...

Fast forward a couple months.  I've longingly turned the pages of the Pottery Barn catalog to look at my french wire hamper and trolled the website too.  I was down visiting my mom and grandma in Vancouver, WA.  Mom and I love to hit up great vintage barn sales and shops, like the big Barn House Boys sale in Battleground, WA on July 30, 2011.  I found some GREAT stuff there, I tell ya.  Will post more about that sale later ;0)

So mom tells me about Monticello Antique Marketplace an indoor vintage/antiques place over in Portland, OR (aka land of no sales tax) that was hosting several special vendors in addition to their regulars.  So off we went.

Love, love, love!  I mean, what's not to love?  There were soooo many things I wanted to bring home!  Imagine my surprise and delight when I spied the exact french wire hamper I had been coveting at Pottery Barn!  I ran over to it and started inspecting.  First, the price -- $69!!  Yes!  The ONLY difference I noticed was that this version didn't have casters.  I was fine with that!  So I scooped that one up fast.  Woohoo!  Then, just a few feet away, another one!  AHHH!  This one had casters!  I checked the price.  Hmmmm.  $84... a bit more than the first, but let's see, no tax, no shippping, wayyyyy less than PB -- yeah, I scooped that one up too!  Yeahhh!  I excitedly pulled up the Pottery Barn version on my phone to show my mom.  We folded them flat, and put them in the car!  It was a super score!

A few days later, I went to Joann Fabrics with a coupon for 50% off one regular price item.  I picked up some red ticking fabric to make a liner for each (just $3.49 per yard).

 

So, that's my fabulous find for this Friday!  I'll do a follow up post once I have the liners made.  Super excited!

Have a great weekend ;0)

Tracy

for the love of a boy....

This really all started with a darling boy, Charlie. *Isn't he a sweetie?*

This blue-eyed, mostly bald little guy stole my heart immediately.  It was love at first sight!  Even before he arrived, I was a busy beaver, stockpiling away.  I think I had clothes up to at least size18-24 months before he was born.  It was such fun!  Having two girls, now teenagers, I never had the opportunity to buy boy clothes, so off I went!

One thing to know about me.  I never pay full price.  For anything, if I can help it.  You can almost always find a coupon, discount or promo code out there somewhere!  So my deals were fabulous, and I found myself running out to Lowe's to buy more storage containers as the clothes piled up ;0)

Did I mention I have sold on ebay for years?  My user name is laurenjane  (Lauren and Jane are the girls' middle names)  My ebay "career" started waaayyyy back when I could actually buy things for the girls they would wear -- totally cute stuff, they'd outgrow it, then onto ebay it went.  I distinctly remember the day when 4 year old Belle (now 14) ran her hands down a pair of super cute Gymboree leggings and frowned, saying "Mom, these are NOT wide enough!"  She wanted flares.  And so began the downfall of being able to shop for the girls without their "approval."  I didn't have an ebay store then, but built up my sales, and of course, did some buying here and there as well.  

Fast forward to 2010, and my ever-growing piles and containers.  My husband actually posted this one on Facebook.  *thanks honey* 

BTW, this lovely room was our formal dining room *sigh*  Oh, and I am slightly more organized than this now.... I have more bins!

I really wanted to open my own resale shop, but the timing wasn't right to leave my full time job.  So, the website was born, and our online store, CharlieWarlies was in business!

I branched out from just Charlie's clothes to finding TONS of adorable girls' items as well, and rather quickly, my inventory grew. 

My goals are really twofold:  first, to grow CharlieWarlies into the premier children's online resale destination for fabulous bargains on brands like Baby Gap, Ralph Lauren, Crewcuts, Mini Boden, Gymboree, Janie & Jack and more! 

Second, by developing this business, I can pass along GREAT deals on super cute, designer kids' clothes to you, AND quit the "day job" and spend more time with my little cutie, Charlie, and the girls before they are off to college!!

And since I love to talk about my children (and shopping and clothes) just as much as the next guy (or gal), this blog was born!

So I hope you will join me on this fabulous journey!  I plan to have feature posts like "Fabulous Find Fridays" where I will share my "fabulous find" of the week, whether it's an adorable outfit, a piece of furniture I plan to makeover, or great deals/links/blogs/ websites, including *FREE* stuff and coupons!  Who doesn't love free?

You'll also find another feature post, "A Smackeral of Something to Think About" where I may discuss current topics relevant to baby, kids and family (nothing too heavy, but hopefully thought-provoking and comment-worthy!) 

Another recurring feature will be a "Did ya Know?" post, with fun, crazy, interesting, educational or just plain neat facts you can use in your day-to-day life.  Who couldn't use a little fun fact about random things here and there right?  Stay tuned!

In between, you can join me on my tumble down the rabbit hole, on my adventures into the crazy, wonderful and sometimes scary world of motherhood!

Looking forward to the journey.... and to think, it all really started

for the love of a boy...