Shopping Finds & Deal of the Week, Returning Items, Persistence

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How’s everybody’s weekend going so far?  We just went on a nice long power walk through Balboa Park as a family and there’s still the whole afternoon to take advantage of.  I love weekends!   I’m actually planning on getting together with a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in 10 months as soon as I publish this post.  Back in the day, she and I used to get into some major trouble fun togetherShe still gets into major shenanigans and even though I am a mom, I’d like to try my hand at having more shenanigan type things in my life.  No reason moms have to be boring, right! 

Sunday morning I need to go to the Farmer’s Market.  I have drained my produce supply down to nothing, and I wish the market was today, but I can hold out one more day.  Barely.

Remember a few days ago when I said I was on errand mania this week?
Well here are a few highlights of my deals, loot, and good news:

1. Target
I’ve posted before about my love for their $16.99 Champion Sports bras.
Brand new color:  Purple Tie-Dye was a Must have!

Purple tie-dyed sports bra

It’s more purple than blue in person.  Now I will feel like a hippie in the gym grunting with the guys.  Perfect.
Close up of purple Tie-Dyed sports bra

I got Skylar some Crocs knockoffs.  They are a little big but will be perfect in 3 months when it’s still hot as hades out but all the sandals and summer shoes have been replaced with boots.  You know for that “cold fall weather” In Southern California.  Happens every year but I am ready this time and am stocked up with sandals for rapidly growing little feet!

Purple waterclogs

It was time to replace my leave-in conditioner that I’ve been partial to: Giovanni Organic Hair Detangler & Leave-In Conditioner.   See This Post

Giovanni Organic Hair Detangler & Leave-In Conditioner
Close up of Giovanni Organic Hair Detangler & Leave-In Conditioner

I just wanted a change.  A woman’s prerogative, of course.  So I picked these up

Two hair products on countertop
 
Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Detangler
Close up of Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Detangler
This one was $12.99 and after one use, not sure if it’s amazing, big, volumizing, or sexy, but it’s okay.  Actually, I will probably return it.  I want amazing, not “okay”.
 
And this one was 2.99.  It smells better and works better than the 12.99 Big Sexy Hair. 
Close up of Pantene Detangler
Gotta love Pantene because chemicals and all, their stuff usually works really well.
 
A New Body Spray that smells glorious!
Bottle of Dove Body Spray
Bottle of body mist in pomegranate & lemon verbena
 It smells nothing like pomegranate or lemon.  It just smells really clean, floral, and light.   
Perfect for summer!

2. Next Stop: Trader Joe’s to replenish my coffee stash!

Three various coffees on countertop

I can vouch for both the Dark Sumatra and the Ethiopian as both being great!  The French Roast in a bag is new for me and the price was right.  Like $2.99 or something super cheap for a 12 oz bag.

The coffee I bought and mentioned Here

Container of Bali Blue Moon Coffee
Inside container of coffee showing grounds
 …Not really a fan and after one pot, I decided it wasn’t for me and I brought it back to TJ’s today.   It was too light of a roast for me despite it saying very full body, it wasn’t quite doing the trick.  I always save my receipts and these days, I am not too proud to return something that I will simply never use.

Love bananas at 19 cents each

Bundle of Bananas

Blueberries are finally coming into season!  2.50 per pint, yay!

Container of Blueberries
Side view of container of blueberries

Organic Salad mix $1.99

Bag of Organics Baby Spring Mix
 I love this blend!
Close up of bag of Spring Mix

And huge Fuji apples were 59 cents each.  Couldn’t resist a few good men Fuji’s!

Five Fuji Apples

3. Regular grocery store.  Nothing too glamorous was purchased.  But grapes were 77 cents per pound!   For those of you who shop on your parents dime or who don’t pay attention to produce deals like I do because I get “cheap thrills” from finding deals on produce.  Hey, what can I say…haha!   But “Cheap” grapes would be considered 1.99/pound.  Most times of the year, they’re $3.99/pound or more.   77 cents/pound?  Score!

Green grapes

4. Back to Target again yesterday

Two different sized glass canisters on countertop
 1.5 Gallon and 2 Gallon Glass Jars 
 
Why do I need such enormous jars?  To Brew my Own Kombucha, of course!  As mentioned, I have been wanting to try my hand at Kombucha makingGreat timing considering WF’s pulled Kombucha from their shelves.   
Canisters next to a batch of Kombucha

You can see that the kombucha I started making immediately once I had my Scoby is in the largest glass jar I owned (because I couldn’t bear to wait, gasp, 18 hours to get to Target to buy bigger ones) pales in size comparison.  It’s about 1/2 Gallon and since this stuff takes 2+ weeks to brew, may as well brew in quantity!  Thus, the bigger jars.  Plus, it’s good to have batches in various states of fermentation and ready-ness

5. I scored a Scoby!

Yes, it’s super ugly I know.  
Bag of Scoby
Close up of Scoby in bag
Sometimes the ugliest things are the best for us.
 
Just think of Lotus Flowers.  They are beautiful but start by growing in mud.  
Lotus Flower
For anyone who’s just joining the party, I am planning on getting a Tattoo half Sleeve with Lotus Flowers on part of it.  Lotus is also Skylar’s middle name.
 
 

6. Power of Fruit sent me 3 Boxes of their frozen barsFree from additives, corn syrup, and preservatives.  Whole Fruit and nothing else.  See Here to Read more about them

Three boxes of Power Fruit Frozen Bars
Box saying All-Fruit Tropical Bars
Nutritional Facts on Bars
 
Box of All Fruit BananaBerry Bars
Lots of Great Flavors

 

Skylar loved them and wanted more!  Thanks Power of Fruit!
Young girl with hand on countertop smiling
Young girl standing by refrigerator smiling

7. Tattoo News!   Remember how I said there’s a certain amazing tattoo artist who I really want to do my tattoo, but he has 2 year wait

Inside Tattoo Shop
Well, persistence pays off!

I emailed him on a whim, thinking there’s no possible way, but…may as well try?  Well, nearly a week later he emailed me back and mentioned an option called Fast Track whereby for a higher hourly rate, when he has openings and random slots to fill in his schedule, the people on Fast Track are given priority.  Yes, it will cost me more, but frankly, it’s going to be on my body forever so really, you cannot put a price tag on that!  I have a consult appointment set up with him for July 7th to talk about my tattoo and people on fast track get their tattoos in 3-6 months, not two years.  I can handle that!  I am sooo excited about this!  I still have another artist as backup but hopefully my Main Squeeze First Choice will work out!

To Recap the Medical Marijuana post…

Thanks to everyone who has chimed in and gave their very respectful and non judgmental thoughts on Medical MarijuanaIt was quite the Hot Topic Post with tons of comments! 
Coupon for Free join for Medical Marijuana
Click Here to read what everyone’s been saying, for yourself.
 
Things that jumped out at me from the comments: (I don’t want to re-post anyone’s comments here but Read All of them Here)
 
The overwhelming majority said legalize it.  Some people said have governmental control and tax revunue while others said legalize it, de-criminalize it, and keep the government out of it.
 
Nearly unanimously, people said Medical Marijuana should be legalized 
 
Most of the commenters don’t currently smoke, but I would say at least 75% have said they’ve tried it at some point
 
A good 10-20% are regular Smokers  (major shoutout to those honest readers!)
 
The people who do smoke said it helps them to be less inhibited, more creative, happier, and in general, just better off
 
For the people who don’t smoke, most don’t care if others do it, so long as those smoking are not harming others, i.e. driving, babysitting a child, etc.
 
I was so happy to read everyone’s comments because it just shows, overall, what a respectful bunch of people read my blog.  You guys are the best!  Thanks for playing nice!
 
 
 

There was also Kombucha Making & Drinking.
Thanks to everyone who has contacted me on email or left comments regarding your own kombucha making tips and recipes.  It’s been so fun to read!  It’s like making cookies; everyone’s got a different recipe and way of doing things but the final product seems to turn out well for everyone no matter how they got to it!

And From Yesterday,  it was fun to hear who gardens and what you like to grow!

Stevia Plant on countertop
2.99 Stevia Plants are up my alley!  
 I’ll post my thoughts of the stevia plant and leaves later on in the week.  I have a coffee date I’m late for now!

 And thanks for telling me if you like your driver’s license picture or not.

Womans California Drivers license
And if you’re an organ donor!

Dessert:  Great time to make Mango Banana Softserve!

Ingredients for Mango Banana Softserve on blender
Three Bowls of Mango Banana Softserve
If you don’t have frozen mango, substitute in any frozen fruitpeaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, that are in season!  Heck, buy extra just to freeze to make softserve with!

Gym & Weights Workout Today From This Tab: Back/Abs

 
 
Who can pass up the chance to win 6 Chocolate Bars?
 

Questions
1.  Favorite Target, Grocery Store, or Trader Joe’s Find lately?  What things to do you purchase over and over that are staples for you?
Me = TJ’s coffees and I am a body spray junkie and love trying new ones! Of course, fresh produce goes without saying, too.

2.  Do you return things that don’t work out for you or that you have no intention of using?
When I was younger, I would have never dreamed of returning something, especially food!  But, the older I have gotten, I frankly don’t care!  If the product doesn’t work for me, I return it.  I don’t use the whole can or tube or wear clothes and then return them, but things like $8 cans of coffee and $13 hair items, if I use them once and don’t like them, they’re getting returned.  I’d rather have the cash in my wallet to re-spend on something I will use than suffer with something I don’t want.  How about you?

3. Best Thing You’ve Ate or Done This Weekend So Far?
Me = Family power walk, stalk and stare at my kombucha that I have brewing on my countertop.  Kind of like watching paint dry…haha, and my coffee date with my friend I am going on, now!

4.  Are you persistent?  
As I said about getting an appointment with a tattoo artist that I was told would be a two year wait and I got an appointment in mere weeks…I attribute that to persistence.  In my former life I used to sell things.  Everything from real estate to timeshare to overnight transportation to eyeglasses to pharmaceuticals.  I can sell snow to an eskimo, actually. 

Much of life, much of sales, I believe is about being persistent.  Consistency, follow through, staying the course, but balancing that carefully without being pushy, over the top, or like a bull in a China shop.   There’s definitely an art to knowing when to turn up the crank and be more persisitent versus feeling out a situation and knowing to back off and scale back your efforts a bit. 

Are you persistent?  Do you know when to turn it up in order to make things happen and when to tone it down? 

5. What made you smile today?
Me = fresh blueberries!

I’m off to have fun with my friend!  Have a great weekend Everyone!!!!

Stay Tuned For A Wrap & Sauce Recipe…

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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