I love mail, especially when it brings free samples! While I do like to save money on food, it's also nice to get some product samples too, to mix things up.

I honestly can't even remember when requested these samples, but it was a unexpected, nice surprise when I came home from work.

I'll definitely enjoy these in the upcoming week. Thanks Pantene!

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Christmas Cheer

The Christmas fairy came and visited our house this weekend! So glad to have all the decor up. Honestly, I can't believe I lasted this long. Now that it's "my" house, I that much more in to decorating.

Kitty Witty likes the tree too (but not loving it enough to knock it down, thank goodness).

We've even broken our the holiday M&Ms too!

Oh my goodness... the best leftover Thanksgiving dinner recipe I've ever tasted. Mushrooms stuffed with leftover green bean casserole. The mushrooms are marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette and the casserole is topped with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Maggie made these, so I'll have to get the recipe and share later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I made a bunch of casseroles and I was really proud of myself for getting it all done AND by 7:30 in the morning! Here's a few photos of the day at my parents' house...

Truffles and Spike were banished outside for the day. It was balmy outside, so they didn't mind too much.

Appetizer table with sausage balls, hummus, dips, and more.

Turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, peas, broccoli salad.

Sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, and squash casserole (I made all these!).

My sis and I!

I am so thankful for my family and friends. Love you guys!

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You'd think I actually lived at Kroger, eh? I had to go back today to get the LAST of the things needed for Turkey Day. I got some AWESOME freebies too!


Raisins
2 Philly Reduced Fat Cream Cheese, $1/2 coupon
Sour cream
Food Should Taste Good chips, coupon for a FREE bag
2 nail polishes (on closeout)
3 Voskos Greek yogurt, (3) $1/1 coupons [made them all FREE]
Turkey bacon, $.75/1 coupon
Broccoli
Yellow squash
Sweet potatoes
Red onion
2 yellow rice mixes, $.75/2
Toothbrush, $1/1 coupon [made it FREE]

Total Value: $33.00
Total Spent: $17.92
Total Saved: $15.08 (46%)

I then came home and made an awesome dinner out of all the things we needed to use up in the fridge... chicken quesadillas!


Yummm! Off to watch Glee with some friends...
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Mannheim Steamroller was great! Maggie and I had a lot of fun at the concert and I think I'm officially in the Christmas spirit (now if only the weather would feel the same way).

Here's to a good and short work week!

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Kroger, Round 2

Quick update for you guys... I had some Red Box coupon codes and needed hair color, so I thought I might as well go ahead and get the few things I needed this week.

Simply Orange, $1/1 coupon
2 Silk Almond Milk, 2 $.75/1, plus a $1/1 e-coupon I saw when looking at my receipt, which technically makes one FREE
Nice and Easy hair color (no coupon... grrrr)
Sour cream
3 cans of green beans
Wheat Thins, $1/1 coupon
Kashi granola bars, $3/1 mailer coupon (made it FREE, plus $.01 - which, apparently is a big deal if they'll give you the overage sometimes?)
Ground turkey
Bananas

Total Value: $32.46
Total Spent: $19.16
Total Saved: $13.46 (42%)

Red Box

2 DVD Rentals

Total Value: $2.00

Total Spent: $0.00

Total Saved: $2.00 (100%)

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I have lots to blog about!

Thursday night after work, I dashed off to Fondren for their holiday event called Fondren Unwrapped. It's just a great time for stores that usually close at 5 to be open late and get people in the holiday spirit, but I went to help CARA, a local (and Mississippi's largest) no-kill shelter with a booth. I didn't mention it, but Sital and I volunteered at our local Petsmart on Sunday for CARA (Y'all know I have a thing for volunteering for animal shelters, as you can see in some of my earlier posts.)

Tents and people were everywhere! We had a pretty good spot in front of Fondren Corner and we were able to raise a good bit of funds for the shelter. Sital and I walked around a little bit during the event and we found things to nibble and drink while we walked. We even stopped in to Sal and Mookie's for their [local] beer tasting.

Sital was excited to have her dog, Ballot, (a CARA dog himself) with us too!

He was super sweet being petted at the CARA table and sitting with us while we sat at Sal and

Mookie's.

----------------

Today, I woke up really early to go do a little shopping with Erin!

We first headed out to Broad Street Bakery for some breakfast. Their granola is out of this world, so I opted for that.

The serving was HUGE!

We made our way to the farmers market and Handworks Arts and Crafts Show (I just happened to score a few tickets). This one booth had awesome dips and there were so many flavors!

I also debated getting this painting but left without it...

Next up is Mannheim Steamroller on Sunday. Can't wait!

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Hey Cupcake!

I love Hey Cupcake! One of the best cupcake bakeries in town. As you know too well, my office has a sweet tooth and HC is one of the places we love best.

She has some of the most creative cupcakes.

Look at the pie and turkey cupcake!!

After taking orders and picking them up, I headed back to the office with two boxes in tow.

This time I got four mini cupcakes for us to all try: (from the top) Coconut Raspberry, Pumpkin, Cookie Dough, and Chocolate Peanut Butter. So good! I also tried the strawberry, which is my favorite. So fun!

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So... somehow this post got deleted and I don't know how. Weird.

But, I'll try to remember what I was trying to say as best as I can...

Kitty Witty has never really be interested in playing with toys. She'll play around for a second or two, but it's mostly me dangling the toys and her looking at me like I'm crazy. BUT, she is obsessed with my Soul Band (a local promotional band from work that looks a lot like a Livestrong bracelet). Everytime I'm wearing it she sniffs it and wants to bite it. I got frustrated with her biting it yesterday, so I threw it across the room.

Little did I know, she chased the band and brought it back! I now have a little fetcher on my hands. It was cute at first, but now it's starting to get a little crazy. I had to hide it in one of my dresser drawers last night because she kept jumping up on the bed and wanting me to throw it.

Take a gander:

Deals and other treasures...

Happy Sunday! Just came back from Kroger (nothing like your cat waking you up at 6:30 and you deciding it's a good time to go to the grocery store without a shower and what you slept in last night) and got some pretty good deals (even got something for FREE, plus a dollar extra).

Before I get to that... I wanted to show you some of the cool stuff I got at one of my friend's garage sales this weekend. My friend Laurie (who [whom?] the bridal shower was thrown for last weekend) was having a garage sale this weekend to purge of a lot of her stuff before she gets married and moves to Houston (and six months later moves to Canada!). She actually had some great things, including these glass pieces.

When I walked in, I had to have them! They are actually really nice [read... expensive] serve ware and I was happy to get them. I am in love with the oblong one I put on my coffee table.

Plus, a matching bowl that's on the dining room table.

Only $8 for both! I also got shoes, a scarf, free weights, and other little items.

Another Kroger run-down for you guys...

*2 Ghiradelli brownie mixes ($1/2 coupon)

Black beans

Peanut butter

*St. Ive's lotion ($.75/1)

Wholely Guacalmole ($4/1, which made it FREE and somehow they gave me the $1 overage, which is like getting, or rather is getting, the 2 Mac and Cheese for free too!)

Baby Greens Salad ($.40/1)

*2 Glade candles ($1.50/2) [I am in love with these]

*2 Annie's Homegrown Mac and Cheese

Maple syrup

Cream Cheese

*2 Green Giant Steamer Veggies

*Libmann kitchen sponges (apparently I can launder and reuse these?)

Yellow rice mix

Bananas

Pie Shells

Total Value: $42.95

Total Spent: $23.96

Total Saved: $18.99 (44%)

Not bad (total price wise) considering my groceries from last week are still carrying over into this week (still have 4 servings of chicken and 1 of beef left, plus one night will be quiche night!) and I used only part of my Drip money (I still work at a coffee shop once or twice a month to fill in if people need me. It's a nice little extra money for not [too] much work) to pay for my groceries so I really didn't even go in to my budget at all for the trip!

Freedom come and it won't be long...

I never ceases to amaze me how much I like being back in Jackson. There is actually a lot to do if you just look for it! Luckily, my job requires me to "look for it," so I happen to get to learn about the cool stuff. Last night, Erin, Claire, and I went to the Mississippi Freedom 50th film screening of the upcoming [nationally airing] PBS documentary Freedom Riders (the event itself was also being filmed to air in conjunction with the documentary). There was also a panel of Freedom Riders discussing their experiences along with a Q and A session. The filming was held at the Alamo Theatre on Farish Street and for those of you not familiar with the area, Farish Street is undergoing a multi-million dollar restoration/rennovation that is going to be amazing! First, we went to Sal and Mookie's for an awesome bite before the show.

The weather was just right and the patio is so pretty at night.

I got the Eggplant Parmigiana sub with caesar salad. You guys know how much a I love eggplant (As evidenced by all these posts.) and this was no different.

Farish Street was PACKED, which was awesome. The Alamo was the same way, which is so great to see for potential economic development and the Downtown Arts and Convention District the city envisions. [nerd alert]

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

It's hard for me to even type these words. Both because I just had one of the best culinary experiences of my life and also because that experience rendered me FULL.

I've been dying to try Parlor Market, one of the newest restaurants to open up lately downtown. It's a block from my office, so there was no reason to not try it. With a lunch meeting today in need of a venue, Parlor Market was suggested and I was more than happy to check it out.

Walking in the door and upon being seated, one of the most interesting menus I've ever read was brought out.

If you can't read the font, click to expand because you'll definitely want to take a look. Salads, tacos, sandwiches and some of the neatest Southern fusion appetizers.

Note to self: Must got back and try the veggie sandwich and the chicken sandwich.

I love the open-ness of the kitchen in the back. The neatest thing about the place is that everything is handmade... even the ketchup.

Our waiter told us all about the decor and how everything pays homage to the Parlor Market that was in the same building over 100 years ago. The floors are from an old plantation in Louisiana; at one time there was a leather shop at this location, so they've incorporated leather with seating, etc.; and they have hidden meat hooks (homage to the Parlor Market that was a butcher shop) in the padding of some of the seating. Love all the details.

We started off with deviled eggs, which were fantastic. I know my family would love these because the yolks are mixed with comeback sauce.

I decided on the Shorty Tacos, which didn't disappoint. The slaw made it.

As if that wasn't enough, the dessert menus were brought out.

I got the Mason Jar Cake (if you know anything about me, you know I love the combo of Thanksgiving dinner and I'll eat it just about anywhere, any way it comes) and it was awesome. I wish it had actually been the cranberry sorbet as said on the menu, but the cinnamon/caramel ice cream that came with it was awesome. The best test of all, the coffee was wonderful. So smooth and good. I'd go in there just for a cup of that alone.

I cannot wait to go back with more people. The place is amazing! I love it because it's one of those places were you think, "I must be in a big city. This is too cool to even be here." Guess what? It's a block from of the office and I like it that way.

Kitty Witty is officially my Snuggle Kitty. It took her long enough, but she's everywhere I am. She's even started sleeping right next to me under the comforter (Over the quilt, mind you. I am NOT having a cat in the sheets. Ewww)

Last night I went to get ready for bed and walk in to the bedroom and there's a kitty lump ready for bed.

Mmmhmm...

Yeah, that'd be Snuggle Kitty.

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