My Friend Jen

Catch Words

2011-11-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

I caught a bit of a morning talk show this morning. The "experts" were talking about current catch phrases. Two that really caught my interest were "Skinny" and "Artisan". I didn't realized how much I had bought into that marketing plan until they showed my very own favorite ice cream treats and even a hair product I use. They showed how "Artisan" makes even a basic old cracker like a Wheat Thin fancy and extra special, with a homemade attitude. Back in the 1990s the big phrase was "Extreme". Extreme Sports and such. They said new words that we will be seeing more in the near future are "Social" "Smart" and one I would like to add is "Local", as in food and other consumer goods that have not travelled far.

What do you think the next big catch phrase will be to encourage you to hop on board?

I love summer

2011-06-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have a little problem so far with summer, and the kids being out of school. My problem is that I still wake up at 6:30am. No matter how late I stay up, I still wake up. Although that quiet time in the morning is a bit glorious (coffee, laptop, no rushing around to make lunches and wake everyone up) I'd really like to sleep in for at least an hour. Man, I must be getting old, waking up so early without even an alarm besides the cat, trying to be helpful. I guess he thinks it is time to get up. But I really am loving the time off of school to just have fun and not be rushing around all day, and no homework is absolutely fabulous. That 2nd grade math was killing me. We've been doing too much, pottery painting and Boardwalk rides, playdates and a beach outing, so tomorrow will be a catch-up day. Running some errands and hopefully getting a haircut for my 8 year-old who thinks his hair is cool and Beiber-ish, but he doesn't realize it looks like a toupee.....

Frugal Mommy

2011-04-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think that I'm secretly frugal. I would die if anyone ever called me "cheap". Ever since I got married, and even more so since I had my kids, I have strived to stretch our dollars. I make a lot of mistakes and am known to blow money like anyone else, but it's kind of a hobby for me to find ways to find fun for my family without spending a lot. I've been told over and over that I should start a blog, and I do love to research and write, so here goes a little effort. I'm hoping to be able to share of bit of frugality that I have learned over my 10 years as a mom, so that you can save a few bucks as well.

Today the sun was shining and I started getting excited for school to be out. Summertime means being able to be more spontaneous, and for us that means hitting the drive-through restaurants more often. Today I grabbed an old Scooby Doo lunch box that was an extra in the cupboard, and I dedicated it to become our Drive-Through Backup Bag. I threw in some ketchup packets from the refrigerator door, a good sharp knife for cutting burgers or sandwiches in half, a few straws, and some napkins. That will be a good start. There is nothing worse than the moment you find that they forgot to give you a straw from the drive-up window, especially when you have a napping toddler in the car. I also tossed into the back area of my minivan a box of juice boxes and an few bottles of water. We try to use the re-usable ones, but sometimes the plastic-y ones are just sooo convenient. I replenished by stash of reusable shopping bags for the grocery store to make myself feel better, and threw in a few of those horrible plastic grocery bags for trash bags as well. I love that at one particular drive-through that serves bean burritos, I can feed myself and my 3 kids for around $5 if we have our own drinks in the car. So there!