98% Savings

After some coupons and Extra Care Bucks, I paid a whopping $.66 for these items at CVS:

Savings update....

A couple of weeks back, I posted How to Save $1362 This Year. In the post, I talked about having a goal of reducing the grocery budget by 10% a year. There are two sites I am currently using that are helping with that A LOT. First, The Grocery Game. It takes a little work at first to get the hang of it, but man is it worth it. Here's what I scored last weekend at Randall's for $5.00 (total savings of 86%):

And, here's what I got at CVS for $15 (total savings of 83%):

The other is Money Saving Mom. She posts deals all day long.

If you want to try the Grocery Game, send me a note and I'll send you a referral for a free trial.

On The Cheap

Hmm. What should I call it when I find something really cute and affordable that looks a lot like something overpriced that I covet? On The Cheap. Done.

My super adorable fellow blogger and friend, Lauren, posted these ah-maaaaa-zing pieces a few weeks back:

all images via Mika Organic

Alas, each piece retails for around $200. Sad face.

But wait...what's this I see, Parts and Labour?? Screen printed A-line skirts from Angie's Sweatshop for $38? Very similar vibe for a lot less? Done.

Watermelon Rocket Popsicles

Over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to try a new twist on the traditional eating-of-watermelon: Watermelon Popsicles. I had seen a yummy recipe at Cupcakes and Cashmere a few weeks back, so decided to check it out.

First, Nick (no longer so sadly bald, thank GOD) helped chop up all the melon:

 Then, I made some simple syrup.

I didn't photograph it, but we squeezed some fresh lime juice, too. Next step - puree in the food processor. BIG FUN for Nick to pulse the melon in there:

Add some simple syrup and lime juice until you like the taste:

Pour in the molds (we have cool rocket ships) and freeze (Ben got involved at this point):

 Delicious. Seriously. The boys LOVED them:

Since then, we've made two more rounds. We just use whatever fruit looks like it's about to go bad. I think the tastiest so far were the "cutie" oranges where we squeezed out all the juice and made them the top layer, then pureed strawberries for the bottom layer. The kids go just as crazy for these as they do for sugary popsicles and really, it's straight fruit with maybe a hint of sugar. Not too bad! You can also make the simple syrup with raw sugar. It makes the syrup brown, but it seems to just blend in with whatever fruit you blend up.

Loving, Not Loving

I am going to start a series called Loving, Not Loving for fashion trends that well, you guessed it. I can't guarantee it will be regularly scheduled - so it'll be a surprise post each time it happens. Yay!

Someday, I might even find a way to post images on this thing that looks all nice and formatted and organized. For now, all I can seem to do is post one after the other in a big straight line.

Loving: Floral + Stripes. I have tried recreating this trend a few times myself. It's quite simple with clothes you already have in your closet. Sometimes, I just do a black/white striped shirt with a floral scarf and some jeans. Or, a cute floral top with a striped blazer.

image via The Sartorialist

image via Second Skin

image via The Sartorialist

image via 9 to 5 Chic

image via What I Wore

Not Loving: Oxfords. I find these shoes seriously unflattering, particularly when worn without socks. I think you have to have super skinny and lovely legs to pull them off but even then?? Not so much.

image via Second Skin

image via adored austin

image via What I Wore

image via Second Skin

What the ?

Why is this blog called "Groudy Pencils" anyway? What the F does that mean? No, it's not about chewed up, nasty pencils. Why would I do that?? When I was little, my parents read to me each night (yay parents!). They'd ask me each night what I wanted to read and, one of my most favorite books was Hansel and Gretel. I couldn't pronounce the name of the book, so I called it "Groudy Pencils". Now, it's kind of a nickname / reference to moi.

While we're on this subject, how disturbing is Hansel and Gretel and why do parents read it to young children?? Why does it seem like a good idea to read a story to a young child at bedtime about parents abandoning their children in the woods at night only to be taken in by a witch that wants to eat them??