Friday, April 6, 2012

Friday Mishmash - Adventures with My Mom

My mom has been here for over a week now, and boy are my feet tired!  Shopping...it's what we do.  And we do it quite well, I have to say.  One of the things on my list for when she came was to have her help me figure out what to do with the empty area next to the fireplace in my family room - I knew it needed something, I just wasn't sure what, exactly.  Well, we found it, at Kohl's, of all places.  Behold, the ottoman:
The colors in the ottoman go really well with my couch - and I love how my mom styled it, with the plant and tray, which I already had.  So cute!
I also bought a throw pillow for each chair - these are outdoor pillows, but I liked the colors and fabric, so they'll work just fine.  Again, Kohl's.  

So you all know that I like my deals.  Well, I had a "spend $30, get $10 off" coupon and a "20% off entire purchase" coupon.  Wasn't sure if Kohl's would accept both on a single purchase, but I figured it was worth a try.  While we were there, my mom noticed a sign saying that senior citizens got an additional 15% off their purchases...we asked, and would you believe, they ended up giving us a total of 30% off, plus the extra $10?!?  Crazy.  I never buy anything at Kohl's that isn't on sale, and this was no exception.  The ottoman was normally $124.99 (seriously?!?), on sale for $64.99.  The pillows were normally $23.99, on sale for $11.99.  With all the coupons and discounts, we got everything for $58.  Now THAT was a deal!  For online deals, I do use Kohl's coupons from ChameleonJohn - it makes my purchases hassle free and saves me a lot.

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The Sit and Knit diet has not been going well, simply because we've been busy shopping.  I know!  I've managed to get in a little knitting in the evenings, but not much.  The diet part is going just fine, though, since we've been too busy to eat much...hmmm, there is also a Shop and Drop diet!  We did manage to visit the yarn store a couple of times, and came away with a project for me, as I'd told my mom that she could pick out some yarn and I'd knit her another scarf.  Well, my motto apparently is "why do anything easy" because this is what we brought home:
It all started with the blue yarn in the bottom left corner...and with the encouragement of the store owner, I am going to knit a striped scarf where one part will be the blue and silver yarn together, then the colorful ribbon, then the purple and colorful bumpy yarn for the third section.  This will involve cut lengths, knots and all sorts of craziness, knit on big needles.  Now THIS is going to be interesting!
So far, a much simpler project - the chunky baby blanket.  One of the trips to the yarn store was so I could get help with starting a new skein of yarn on it...and I did it!  Then, I knitted that entire skein and started another one!  Not as hard as I thought, which was a relief.  I'm almost ready to start the last skein on this, and once that's done, then I will go back to the knitting store and work on picking up the edges in a pink yarn.  Yeah, I have no idea what that means, either.  But I'll find out!
 Close up - I LOVE how this looks and feels!
 I bought some nicer cotton yarn to try and make a lighter-weight washcloth...obviously I haven't gotten very far with it, but I do love both the color and the feel of this as well.

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Kale, and specifically kale chips, is a food trend that I've seen in blogland for years now, but I've never been tempted to try it.  I mean, really - baking a lettuce-type of produce into a chip???  Weird.  But I know some people live on this stuff (waves to Roz!), so when my mom said she'd recently made some and liked it, I decided to let her make me some as well.  Very nice of me, right?  She washed and tore it up, spun it in my salad spinner, and then drizzled some olive oil on it and sprinkled some kosher salt over the top.  Here's the before picture:
This much green MUST mean it's good for you, right?!?

Here's the after:
Chips!  The first bite tasted a bit strong to me, but I think it wasn't quite crispy enough...she experimented with baking it longer, and in the end, every last chip was gone.  While I'm not into cooking very much at the moment, I'd let her make another batch make some more soon.  Kale...who knew?!?

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With all the shopping my mom and I have been doing, Fashion Friday has returned!  Since losing over 100 pounds, it's been a challenge to figure out what styles look good on me, with my strange post-weight-loss body (stomach and arms, I'm looking at you).  I've worn something one day that made me feel great, and yet a different outfit the very next day made me feel like I'd gained 20 pounds overnight - so I'm in the process of weeding out the clothes that I don't feel good in, and purchasing some that I do.  Here's a new outfit - the combination of the print, plus the banded bottom on the shirt gave it enough drape that I feel like my stomach doesn't really show in it.  Plus I'm trying to buy things with a little longer sleeves, but it's not easy...everything seems to be sleeveless, which just does not work for me.  But I like this:
Top from TJ Maxx, capris are Not Your Daughter Jeans, orange sandals are BOC from TJ Maxx, all courtesy of mom - thanks for the treats!  BTW, I'm wearing a coral necklace that I had when I was in high school...nice to have that thinner neck again.  Also, in my throwback jewelry are two of the three cuff bracelets from my high school era.
While I wouldn't normally seek out pants with bling, every pair had something on it...this wasn't too wild, so I was OK with getting these capris.

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Here's what I wore last Saturday for my 10K/10 week outfit challenge - I bought the purple top at the race expo in Dallas last December.  The design is called the Warrior Heart, and I think it's really pretty:
I finally got a plain black Gym Girl Ultra running skirt, so all of my print tops will have a nice quiet base to go with.  The purple is one of my favorite colors, but this outfit ended up being a bit dark to wear on a busy road - it would be find for a race, or in a park, but I like to be a little more visible to traffic.

Tomorrow is an easy (ha!) run of 4 miles - we are tapering for our 10K race on the 14th.  After the run, a well-deserved breakfast at Blue Baker, followed by...hmmm...maybe more shopping?  Why not?!?

Have a happy Easter/Passover/Sunday!

14 comments:

  1. Love your new outfit. Love the ottoman. Love your Mom.

    Don't love kale chips :)

    As you know I knit with multiple colors. If you have to knit just a few needles with a color before you change colors, I wouldn't cut off the yarn. I don't do that because I don't want a lot of loose end on my work which I have to sew later. I do cut them when it's more than 10 needles.

    You will do fine on that scarf, I love the colors your Mom picked.

    And last, I didn't knit at all this week. Work has been so crazy this week, I'm so tired at night that all I do is sit on the couch and put on my recorder and watch some tv shows.

    Happy Eastern dear friend.

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  2. Looks like you had a wonderful visit with your mother! My mom knits too and she knits these little outfits for my sister's dogs lol!

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  3. Kale chips must be crisp and they don't keep you so might as well eat them all up! I love Kale and even I go through phases with them.

    Maybe Sit and Knit is going to be your winter/heat of summer diet? I know I'd have a hard time sitting when it's nice outdoors like it is now.

    I KNEW you had a bling girl in you trying to get out. The outfit is cute! GMTA - I keep looking at those sandals every time I go to TJ - can't decided if I really need them but you know how I feel about shoes, so please send your mom here to buy them for me :D

    Happy Easter Shelley!

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  4. Amazing deals, great capris and cutest mom ever. Shelley - you are winning!

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  5. I've tried kale chips a few times and ick. They either are still chewy or they are so done they almost disintegrate once they hit your mouth. Glad yours turned out though!

    Hooray for shopping with your Momma - I know that's something you both enjoy.

    Have a wonderful Easter weekend Shelley!

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  6. Wow, lots to comment on today!

    I love the spaciousness of your house. I love how even your knitting is in the baby blanket.

    I LOVE that black and white top on you! Perfect.

    I've had kale chips and couldn't stop eating them, and then other times I've had them and thrown them away. Seems there is a fine point to getting them "just right."

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  7. Love the ottoman, Kohl's is great, isn't it?

    I make kale chips a few times a week, I don't salt them before I cook them. I put them in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes, then I squeeze some lime juice on them and sprinkle with sea salt. Yum!

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  8. Sounds like a great time with your mom! And bargains on top of that. Sweet!

    Have a good weekend, Shelley!

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  9. Your mama is so cute! What fun you guys had. Glad they took all those coupons for you.

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  10. Welcome to the world of kale chips. I like them much better than good-for-you kale any other way. Loved hearing about your time with your mom. She's great. Enjoy that time together, I'm runniing on memories 19 years after my mom died.

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  11. Seems like you made some great buys! Your mom seems adorable, I wish I could go shopping with mine! (She lives in Italy)

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  12. Wow, what a great deal at Kohls! I have gift cards for Kohls but there isn't one close. I love purple too! I especially like the Nike hat!

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  13. Dang! Must rush off to the store and buy some kale...

    Love the coral necklace. Did you save any puka shell necklaces from back then? ;)

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  14. Hee, so glad you had fun with your mom! That's a pretty ottoman; we are going to need one of those but with all the color in my living room, I don't want to get a pattern.

    I am a recent convert to kale too, but I haven't warmed to the idea of chips. I do love it in soup, though!

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