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It’s The Little Things: Paper Straws

Folks. I have a problem. We can joke about. Pretend it is a silly thing. A small thing.

But it is getting a bit out of hand.

It is kind of my habit or need, if you will, to have a supply of every possible thing. Imaginable. Just in case. You never know.

“Just in case. You never know.” That is the mantra of my life, by the way. In one word it can be summed up to: greed paranoia.

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I have always been a Straw Freak. I bet you didn’t know there was such a thing. Well there is. Here I am. “Nice to meet you.” I cannot drink out of a glass without a straw. I make weird slurping noises. It is like I have been drinking out of puddles all of my life. My lips cannot form properly onto the glass.

I am sure at this point you are crossing off the word “straw” in Straw Freak.

I don’t blame you.

Also. I cannot drink water with a straw. Or milk (unless the milk is from a donut shop in a small container purchased on the way to the airport between the hours of five and seven thirty in the morning. Jealous of my husband now?). It is simply not done. Sends shivers down my spine, it does.

If I am at a restaurant, I always grab extra ones. Especially at Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf. Their straws are the absolute best. They are big. They are purple. They live in my purse where I can stroke them daily.

Shhhhhh!

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So, I started seeing these gorgeous paper straws popping up all over the place. And the Need Beast in my heart grew.

I finally caved and purchased some hot pink paper straws from Amazon.
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But the Need Beast was not satisfied.

So I bought a small pack of twenty yellow polkadot and stripe ones.

But he longed for more.

He wanted. All. Of. The. Colors.

RRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR!

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But I did not want to pay for them. Well, the other day Anthropologie had free shipping on anything. That’s right. Anything. Do you want to know what I bought?

Clothes?

Nope.

Shoes?

Nope.

Jewelry?

Nope.

Shocker: I bought straws.

Eight boxes of fabulous clearanced paper straws. Eight boxes of 144 count straws (seriously, the best price I have found is on Anthropologie. Who knew?). This, combined with my previous Amazon purchases, left me with a total of 1,196 straws.

My husband was very impressed with this number, folks.

You should have seen his jaw clench.

I think it was in anticipation of the fun sipping he will be doing all season.

Don’t you?

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I am so ready for this summer. For margaritas by the pool. For lemonade. And piña coladas.

All made more exciting with the use of colorful, happy straws.

It’s the little things: Making a drink even better.

Do you have paper straws in your house? Do you drink from a straw? Do you have weird rules about straws? Please share. My Need Beast really wants to know.

* The Amazon link is an affiliate link. The straws for this link are $1 more than what Anthropologie is selling their straws for. However, I provided the link in case Anthropologie runs out. Also, I get free shipping on Amazon but not on Anthropologie. Purchasing through the Amazon link will result in a small commission for The Need Beast this blog.

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It’s The Little Things: All Wrapped Up

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I am going to just come out and say it: I don’t like the typical holiday wrapping paper.

Oh no! I am beginning to sound like Scrooge! First the poor elf, now cute paper? What’s next? Santa’s suit?

Weeeeeellllllll…

Just kidding. His suit is perfection.

Anyway, back to the cutesy paper: That is not to say it does not end up in our house. Santa Claus has an affection for the stuff and he loves to give the kids their gifts covered in outlandish cartoon wrapping paper.

But for my presents under the tree, I like to keep it streamlined.

Usually this = a disaster.

Years and years ago, I wrapped all of my presents in brown kraft paper. It was so pretty under the tree. But then it happened… Presents started being exposed left and right as the tape popped off of the heavy paper.

I learned my lesson.

Or did I?

After that came the year of the all-white wrapping paper. Again, pretty, but very expensive.

Then there was the year of the fabric. Combine all of the problems I had with the brown kraft paper and the expense of the white paper and imagine this headache.

So, I caved. I bought the wrapping paper that I did not like. And I endured.

Heroic.

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But this year I had an idea. I stole into my daughter’s room and I snatched her giant roll of white drawing paper from Ikea off of her desk (if you have not used something in our house within a year, it becomes fair game. Meaning: it reverts back to being Mommy’s. Seems fair, right? Oh, and this rule does not in any way apply to Mommy). I began to wrap presents in it.

It still needed something.

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Every year I buy rolls of beautiful ribbon from Costco. They come in rolls of 50 yards for $7. This is an unbelievably fantastic price.

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I wrapped my presents in different colored bows.

And I was happy.

For the larger presents (like the ice cream maker I purchased for myself my husband because I he always wanted one), I am using gold and silver wrapping paper.

It’s the little things: beautifully wrapped presents under the tree.

Now, if only I could get someone to wrap them for me.

Any takers?

I think I know of an elf who might be available.

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P.S. I shared this on Savvy Southern Style.

And My Romantic Home

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Gift Cards Scam Warning

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Tis the season. For cheer. Family. And, well, scams. I hate to be a downer, but I wanted to do a post on this to make everyone aware of what is happening.

You know those gift card kiosks at the grocery stores? Well, I purchased several of those gift cards from one last year. My grocery store was giving $20 in grocery money for every $100 in select gift cards purchased (this is a fantastic deal and you should check soon to see if your store is running a similar program). I bought a lot of gift cards for Christmas presents. I also grabbed a $100 Amazon gift card to use for myself throughout the year.

The holidays passed, and when I went to use the gift card in January, I had to scratch off a code. I went to do so, and the entire back of the card started to scratch off. I could not understand what I was seeing. But then I figured it out.

Someone had grabbed a handful of gift cards. They went home and photocopied the backs of half of the cards. They then kept the real copy of the card and placed its printed carbon copy onto a card that had not been copied. Does that make sense? They placed it so well, it was hardly noticeable. I did not see it at the time of purchase. When I activated my card, I was actually activating the original card they had at home. They then used the original card and I was left with a worthless piece of paper.

Now, if I was at all organized, I could have fought the purchase with the grocery store. But I wasn’t and I didn’t. People, be better than I was: keep your gift card activation and purchase receipts!

I want everyone to be aware that this is happening. Heck, they could even just write the number of the gift card down or take a picture of it with their cell phone (I just read that this is happening also) and use it online after you have activated it. The scammers call on the gift card numbers every day, just waiting for someone to activate them. Be very careful this holiday season! Check the backs of the gift cards for fake paper backing. And always, always keep those receipts (this is a reminder to myself, as well. I have given two gift cards lately without the receipt!). Give the receipt with the gift card to the recipient or a copy of the receipt with the gift card. You do not want to be giving your loved ones a fake present. Here is some more information on the subject from Yahoo Finance.

Be careful!

And let’s all have a fun and innocent fraudulent-free holiday season!