Modcloth Stylish Surprise: SHOES!

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This post could also be titled, “Modcloth, you have my heart.”

You all ready know that because Modcloth embraces every woman by offering a variety of different sizes, it is the store that makes me smile the most. Add that to their amazing customer service and customer appreciation and that site just makes this girl’s shopping heart sing.

But this post really isn’t about that.

This post is about the amazing promotion Modcloh does every few months:

It took me awhile to get over my light headedness when my box containing my Modcloth Stylish Surprise* (explanation about stylish surprise at the bottom of this post) full of shoes arrived at the door. For $10, Modcloth picked a pair of random shoes for me in my size and sent them. Shipping is always free at Modcloth for orders over $50. So, I ordered five pairs (three for me and two for my daughter. This might seem selfish, but her feet are still growing. Mine are not).

My daughter and I were nervous and excited to open the box full of shoes.

But we did!

Boy, did we get lucky!

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We both loved our shoes.

I found out about The Stylish Surprise the same day I put up my post about my March purchases. I had ordered the clothing surprise from them a year ago and liked what I received, but I have enough clothes. I wanted to try the shoe version. It intrigued me.

I also wanted to immediately do a post the moment I learned about the sale going on, but I did not want this blog to seem too consumerismy (another new word). I also had never ordered the shoe surprise before, and I was not sure if it was something I was willing to recommend (this is important to me. I would never speak about a product here that I would not purchase myself). I decided to wait until morning to decide. Then the Stylish Surprise Shoes sold out. So, next time, I am alerting you right away. And if it happens to be on the same day as a post about clothes, well, that will just have to be the way it goes. I don’t want you guys to miss out! I think this promotion Modcloth does is amazing!

Okay. On to our loot:

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I got these beautiful Chelsea Crew Tia Pumps in mustard. They fit like a dream. I love them for evening fun. They are my favorite of the shoes I received.

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My daughter got these cool Dollhouse combat boots. These are so her. She was thrilled. She has worn these all week.

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I also got these Seychelles Two Birds Heels. They are SO tall. I could never actually wear these. I ended up giving them away to the sweetest eighteen year old girl I know. And she was happy. And I was happy. So, it all worked out.

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My daughter got these Chelsea Crew Notch Your Step heels in red. I was jealous of these. They are adorable. More importantly, she is madly in love with them. And I would rather her have been happy than myself. Thankfully, we both were happy. She wore these last Thursday and her outfit was perfect with these shoes! So cute!

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I also received these Chelsea Crew Class Treasurer Heels (funny enough, I was class treasurer… Or secretary. I can’t remember. I also do not remember doing a thing for that title. Maybe I needed these shoes). They are the most amazing orange color. I love them.

So, for $50 we received approximately $337 worth of shoes. This works out to roughly 85% in savings.

I would (and will) absolutely be partaking in these surprise sales again. Not only was it fun, but it was a great bargain, too.

Have you ever purchased a Modcloth Stylish Surprise? If yes, what did you get? If not, would you?

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* A Stylish Surprise is a sale that the online company Modcloth runs every few month. For a low fee, usually between $5-15, they will send you a surprise in the category you purchased your surprise in (apartment, accessories, shoes, or clothing). They guarantee your item will be worth a certain amount, usually much higher than your initial investment. Stylish Surprises are nonreturnable. If it does not fit or if you do not like the item/items you receive, you are out of luck. It is a risk.

* In the pictures, I am wearing Anthropologie’s Midday Dress. It is currently on sale. I am wearing a medium. I have a separate post about this dress going up on Sunday.

* This blog receives a small commission when a purchase is made through this website at Modcloth. : )

The Time I Met A Fairy Tale

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I am about to tell you a tale.

It is up to you to decide what to make of it.

Everything in this story is true.

And for the past seventeen years there have been moments where I have questioned the validity of my memory. Thankfully, it has remained the same after all of these long years. However, it does not make the story any less strange:

When I was nineteen I worked as a hostess at a little steak restaurant in town. The owners were a really cool laid-back couple in their thirties. Every girl that worked in the joint had a crush on the owner. We’ll just call him Derek*. He had long dark wavy hair that caressed the collar of his button-down cowboy shirt (the type of buttons that snap… And unsnap quickly, if you get my drift), a Brad Pitt smile, brown gleaming eyes, the sexiest whisper of a voice, and he wore his jeans well. Sorry for all of the sordid details. I wanted to get the details right for the story’s sake, of course.

Well, actually, Derek had nothing to do with the story, but I thought it would be fun to throw him in. For my your dreams tonight. It will make the story I am telling a little less disturbing.

You’re welcome.

So, there I was. At the hostess counter. The restaurant was extremely busy. The bar was full. We were operating on a short staff. We had an hour and a half wait. And us two hostesses were being swarmed with customers. Hungry customers, who after ten minutes into their hour and a half wait, would be coming up to us demanding to know where they were on the list. This wouldn’t be so bad if just one person did it, but it seemed that many folks parading around under the title of “adult” were terrible at time management.

And would come up every ten minutes to check our magic list. Because time must work differently on it.

This is why we always gave a wait time longer than we expected it to be. And, beside each name, the time we had given them to expect to wait was written.

That’s a little hostess trick I’m givin’ ya. And my second gift in this post.

Again, you’re welcome.

I might have also been slightly irritated that the white crayon I had been whittling with a steak knife had had to be put away to deal with the crowd. And also why today, there is one less whittler and one less crayon sculpture in the world.

This is where my gifts to you end.

Somehow, in the midst of all of this, in through the crowd, stalked a short little old man.

He is the center of our story.

He was as real as you and me.

He had a long white beard. A face full of leathered wrinkles. A large hawk nose. Beady little eyes. And a scowl larger than the whole of his entire body.

He also could not have been taller than five feet. In my memory he was as tall as the bottom of my rib cage, but that seems entirely impossible. And so for you I say, “under five feet.” In my head I say, “as tall as my rib cage.” You may choose to believe whichever you choose. It is just a small part of the story. He was not a “little person” as we know them today. He was just a very short…Very grumpy…Very odd little old imp man.

He came up to the hostess booth and asked me how long the wait would be. I asked him if he was by himself (this is because parties of one are quicker to seat). He was.

I told him his wait would be an hour.

Then I asked him for his name.

And he told me.

And I stared at him.

I asked him again.

And he told me.

And I laughed.

I could not believe it. It was the best joke of the night.

The little old man’s cheeks flushed red with anger. In my memory, he stomped his wee feet. But this is the part I think I might have exaggerated. For this story’s sake, though, we will say he stomped his feet in a mad little rage. He asked me why I was laughing.

And this is what I said, “Your name. Why, that can’t possibly be your name!”

He just stared at me. And stared at me. Until I picked up my pen.

“Okay. How do you spell that?” I inquired. It was at this point I began to suspect he was quite serious. And it was at this point I began to wonder if the air in the restaurant had been drugged.

“R-U-M-P-E-L-S-T-I-L-T-S-K-I-N,” he sharply spelled out, all the while giving me a stare that would have shriveled straw.

“Okay, Rumpelstiltskin. I will call you when your table is ready.”

The little old man stalked off towards the bar.

Our hostess desk continued to be bombarded. And I put the strange man out of my head for a time.

Until his name was the next to he called.

“Rumplestiltskin, your table is ready.”

No answer.

Snickers from the impatient crowd.

Two more times I called his name and two more times there was no answer.

For the last time, I said, “Final call for Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin, this is your final call.”

I never imagined that those words would be uttered from my lips.

I really never imagined any of the situation would have have occurred to me.

And that it would indeed be not an imagination.

Rumplestiltskin never did answer my call.

Maybe he had heard we had a magic list at that hostess desk and he was disappointed to learn the truth of it.

I think he left, because he was upset that he told me his name.

Either that, or the fact, that I cannot spin straw.

But it is definitely one of those two.

There really is no other explanation.

My having laughed at the poor man being entirely out of the mix.

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* Derek is the only part of this story that is made up. The name, that is. The man, well, he was oh so real.

Sweet dreams.

P.S. This absurd and 100% true account was written for The Daily Post’s Weekly Writing Challenge: Power Of Names.

It’s The Little Things: Amazon Prime Membership

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I know. I know it is not technically a little thing. But it makes me happy. Unbelievably, weirdly, wonderfully happy.

Amazon Prime is a yearly membership in which you pay a set fee (as of this writing, it is $79, but that might change soon according to this CNN article) and get free two day shipping on most of their products on their site. Since I usually purchase all of our books from Amazon, this has been beyond wonderful. I will say this will probably not be worth the cost to you if you do not shop at Amazon a lot. Unfortunately, I spend a pretty good amount of funds there. I buy all of my beauty products, excluding make-up, (this is tricky, because I thought one of my products was covered under Prime, but I ended up paying $8 to ship one item. Make sure you check) from Amazon. I also tend to buy everyone’s toys through Amazon.

In addition to the two day shipping, I also receive unlimited streaming of many movies and television shows. The kids utilize this feature the most. Plus I have free access to their Kindle library. I do not use that feature though. You cannot hoard a paperless book.

On Life Hacker, there is a breakdown of the question, “Would I benefit from Amazon Prime?” It gives a better answer than I could, because they actually use math to make their decision. Imagine that!

I did write a post I have not published (and I am not sure I am going to, because one company earned an F) of the internet companies I used during Christmastime for gifts and Amazon was one of the few companies who earned an A+ from me. I think they do things right.

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In the last five days, I have purchased three books. It is kind of like magic how quickly they have come. I have to stop myself from buying more just to see how fast they will get here. You mean you have to actually pay for the books? This isn’t really magic?

And now, Amazon has Sunday delivery! Yes, Sunday delivery! I am sure there are many differing opinions about this, but I love it. I have not taken advantage of this option (I guess I never shop on a Friday), but I might in the future. There are many articles stating this is a fantastic revenue venture for the U.S. Postal Service. Here is one of them from USA Today.

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I bought “Fan Girl” on Saturday. I received it on Monday. I finished it on Tuesday. Now, that’s a beautiful thing! The situation of my house is, um, not so pretty.

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I ordered “The Magician’s Elephant” and “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” on Monday and I received them on Wednesday. Unfortunately, housework did end up dominating and I have not started those books yet. But I know they are there. Cheering for me from the wings when others might not.

I am not gonna lie. It has been a tough couple of months in terms of health and some other things going on behind the scenes here. A new book just makes me happy. It takes me away. Being able to get a little bit of another world in the dreary mail, is real-life magic.

It’s the little things: an upgrade on Amazon that upgraded my life.

Have you upgraded to Amazon Prime? Do you think it is worth the extra money? I was a skeptic for so long, but I am now reformed.

I love it!

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* This is just my review of Amazon Prime. I am not being compensated for this post. And, as with all of my reviews, your experience might differ from mine.

The Lazy Mom’s Salad

Who knew? Who knew my kids would have a fondness for spinach? Certainly not me.

I did not try spinach until about five years ago. I was terrified of the stuff. Here is what I knew about spinach that prevented me from trying it:

When eaten your body would become grossly disfigured causing monstrous veiny muscles to spontaneously burst out upon your arms.

When cooked it would shrivel away into a slimy green paste that resembled nothing of its former self.

It is green.

So I stayed clear of spinach. No thank you. “Olive Oil go rescue yourself and stop being so annoying. And, no, I am not eating spinach. Especially to save you.” There I said it. Oh, you know you were thinking it.

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But I tried it as a salad. I loved it. It is so velvety and mild. I thought perhaps my children would love it, too.

And they did.

And they do.

More than me.

More than my husband.

More than Pop…

No, not more than him. Their bodies don’t combust for the stuff.

Thank God.

I won’t make a salad unless it is easy. Dinner is all ready so time consuming. Here is how I always make my salad, 3-4 times a week. We never get tired of it.

Ingredients:

5 – 6 oz. of prewashed baby spinach (best flavor I have found is Safeway or Vons O Organic) or prewashed romaine lettuce
1/3 cup Italian dressing (whichever is cheapest)
1/3 cup feta cheese

Optional for the less lazy:

Chopped red bell pepper
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Directions:

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Dump salad in a bowl. Sorry. Forgot to take a picture of it in the bowl. But here it is before that step. All innocent. It doesn’t even know what’s going to happen to it.

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Measure feta. Dump feta in the bowl.

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Measure Italian dressing. Dump the dressing in the bowl. Toss.

And try not use the word dump while you are cooking. Just a thought. A suggestion. Don’t take offense or poke my eye out! “A-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!”

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That’s it. Three ingredients. If this salad could talk it would say, “I am what I am and that’s all that I am. Or all that’s in me.”

You could also dump (Sorry. Couldn’t resist) in the optional ingredients at this point. But be warned that most kids don’t like the extra ingredients.

Now go rescue Olive Oil take a nap. Cause that was exhausting.

“A-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!”