July 1st, 2009
Happy Birthday, Mamigami! As a rose among the thorns (mom of 3 boys living with hubby and my dad), most of the birthday and holiday planning falls on me. As you’ve probably noticed, I take a lot of joy and fun out of finding the perfect gifts for my family, usually on Amazon.
This tradition was handed down to me by my mom and my mother-in-law, who tirelessly worked to make sure there were a certain amount of presents for each of their respective 5 and 7 children at each holiday. Favorite dinners were prepared, cakes were made (my mom’s specialties were homemade ice cream cake with brownie crumbles and roll cakes), cards were bought, special songs were sung. Everyone turned out for these mega events and they were huge childhood and even adulthood memories.
But what happens when it is mom’s special day? Well, today we had a good test run on that question. Read the rest of this entry »
June 29th, 2009
Life without Amazonhas been a bit better than expected. I was feeling very good about spending less on stuff I don’t truly need. Then I realized that our planned family vacation (as opposed to the freecation that was handed to us by economic circumstances) was pressing upon us and I was not prepared. Read the rest of this entry »
June 27th, 2009
After chatting about my amazing recent freecation, everyone wanted to know about ways to save. Here’s a few juicy tips that can save you a bundle on your next trip to a theme park. Read the rest of this entry »
June 24th, 2009
So I’m fasting from shopping on Amazon,but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to look. I have a birthday coming up, and no idea what to hint for. I love gadgets, especially cameras and phones, but have a ton of them. Every time I get something, my husband expects that I’ll return it. Read the rest of this entry »
June 23rd, 2009
To add to the great Father’s Day experience, a lovely Dodgers fan services person named Craig sent us a nice note and a picture of our message on the scoreboard. What a nice touch and definitely an incentive to come back as a family for another great experience at the park.
Father's Day Catch at Dodger Stadium
June 22nd, 2009
Yesterday, I spent the day blissfully detached from technology. My family and our Cub Scout den went on a day trip to Santa Cruz Island, a nature preserve with very unique history, flora and fauna. We had a pretty choppy boat ride, complete with my four year old feeding the fishes if you know what I mean. Read the rest of this entry »
June 20th, 2009
My taste for value has not diminished, although I continue to deny myself the indulgence of Amazon
On my last two days of “freecation” I found myself with a little time to catch up on grocery shopping, get Father’s Day presents and prepare for another short day trip to an island near Los Angeles. Oh, boy. Without my digital friend to rely on, I was a bit scared of Read the rest of this entry »
June 18th, 2009
Day 5 was moderately challenging. A lot of time in the car, with my sweet iPhone’s siren song blaring from the app deck - the Amazonapplication glistened at me all day.
The hardest challenge was at Denny’s when we were having breakfast. You see, we were in Anaheim and there was baseball stuff all over. My youngest son, Aidan, saw an Angel’s hat a few weeks ago and wanted to get it -”See mom, it says A for Aidan!” Alas, the heart was melting but the hat was too big. Read the rest of this entry »
June 18th, 2009
Back in my blogging chaise lounge, glass of gifted wine by my side, hubby and I are relaxing after a four day, nearly free road trip with our three rambunctious boys by downloading iPhone OS 3.0 together. Ah, romance is not dead.
Anyways, while I wait and wait and wait for my new phone functions to activate, I thought a summary of the last day of our journey and the grand totals would be in order. Read the rest of this entry »
June 17th, 2009
The best part of Freecation? The stuff that really is free. Read the rest of this entry »
