Coupon Clipper

This morning on the Today Show, they did a piece on Coupon clipping. They had Stephanie Nelson, author of the book “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting your Grocery Bills in Half.” On the show, this woman went to CVS Pharmacy and bought $83.00 worth of stuff and paid $1.00 for it after coupons. ONE DOLLAR. 

 So, it got me thinking…maybe I should at least glance at those annoying coupon books that show up in my mailbox three times a week. The Today show also said that Stephanie saved so much over the past year it was equivalent to having an additional part-time job. Now, I already own a business and have a second part-time babysitting job BUT if I can add the pay of one more job by taking ten minutes a day to browse these coupon books—I’ll do it!

My only fear is that I will now spend money on things I don’t need just because I have a coupon, opposed to saving money on the things I do. So, I’m going to need to really follow the Coupon Mom’s “Principles of Strategic Shopping:”

1. Know your prices:

I need to become familiar with the prices of the items I regularly buy, instead of just grabbing them and throwing them in the cart. This way I will know and appreciate a good deal.

2. Know your store’s saving programs:

Dear Target, What are your saving programs? Love, Kristin

3. Know your coupons:

I need to organize the coupons I do cut, I’m thinking of getting a little rolodex or a small accordion style folder to store them in. I’m thinking organizing them by store will be most helpful—then when I know I’m making a trip I can just go through the coupons for that store.

I have already cut some coupons and I plan on using them tomorrow on my day off. They just so happen to be to Express and Cabana Tan….excellent!

Must Have

Alright ladies, I'm going to let you in on one of my beauty secrets...you didn't think lack of sleep and stress were my only tricks, did you?

Aside from my bronzer and mascara, this is the one make up product I couldn't live without. I don't know how I made it through my first 24 yearS! Seriously, this is the greatest products of all time.....

Photo Finish Foundation Primer from Smashbox!

If you haven't used Smashbox products before, I highly recommend you check them out! Smashbox was actually started by two brothers who are the grandson's of Max Factor (we've all heard of him, right?), they started a photo studio (called Smashbox) in 1991. From there, their business grew into a make up line designed for the perfecting needs of a photo shoot. Their products are all animal cruelty free, earth friendly and are non-irritating, clinically tested, allergy tested, dermatologist tested and made with good-for-your-skin ingredients. The majority of the products are also gluten-free.

I use their amazing Bronze Lights bronzer, the "Brazilian Bronze" eye shadow and of course the Photo Finish Foundation Primer! The Photo Finish is by far my favorite! Here's the product break down from the website:

Create a perfect canvas for foundation application with this silky, lightweight blend of vitamins A & E, grape seed extract and green tea. Worn alone or under foundation to increase its longevity, our best-selling primer helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and pores for flawless skin with a velvety-smooth finish. In a new square airless pump for freshness to the last drop.

Oil-free!

Winner of Best of Sephora Award for Best Primer, one of Marie Claire's "25 Products That Will Change Your Life", & an InStyle Best Beauty Buy. 

It truly does prime your skin for the rest of your make up. My foundation goes on so smooth and even and lasts FOREVER! Honestly, at the end of a 13 hour work day of running around, steaming milk, and cleaning my make up still looks fresh.  LOVE IT!

Channeling My Inner SunShine

Those of you who know me well know that I love TV, especially reality TV. One of the show’s on the top of my MUST WATCH list is “The Biggest Loser.” The show takes severely overweight contestants and gives them medical advice, nutritional advice and two no-nonsense Personal Trainers. The contestants compete against each other in physical and temptation challenges each week, but the main challenge is to lose weight. Each week the contestants are weighed and the people with the lowest percentage of weight loss are sent home. The show is often faulted for bring somewhat unrealistic, because 99.99% of people trying to lose weight do not get to do so in this “failing is not an option” circumstance with all of these amazing resources. I however, think it is amazing. It gives this handful of people the opportunity to change their lives and for many of them save their lives, while inspiring others. This show truly is inspiring and motivating. Watching the mentally, physically and emotionally grueling things these people are put through really proves you can achieve anything if you work hard enough.

My favorite contestant of all time is on this current season’s show, her name is SunShine. She came on the show with her father O’Neal. As the two biggest members of their family, SunShine and O’Neal have a special bond, one that enables both of them and caused them to become extremely unhealthy. SIDEBAR: They’re from Minneapolis which makes me love them even more! SunShine is 24 years-old (just one year younger than me) she has never had a boyfriend, never been kissed and has never felt good about herself. Watching her on this Biggest Loser journey has been truly inspirational. She has lost 80 pounds in 12 weeks, but the real changes are emotional. She had a tough conversation with her dad this past episode telling him that he can finally let go; that she is, for the first time in her life, truly happy and that she is finally realizing and feeling like she is beautiful. Talk about water works, I was crying like a baby. But what truly inspires me is her determination, she came to the show to lose weight, become healthy and change her life and she is not going to leave without accomplishing that. She is always giving every work out 110% and when she’s not pushing herself she is pushing an encouraging her dad and the other contestants. I know it’s crazy, but I feel like I know her and I am so proud whenever I see her win a challenge or kill it on the scale. I need to look to SunShine for inspiration in my own life; inspiration to not only be healthier and push myself but to believe in myself, be more confident and to really push encourage those close to me.

 You get 'em girl! And if you ever need a Sugar Free Vanilla, Skim Latte...I got the best one in town!

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

Chelsea Handler is the host of a late night talk show called "Chelsea Lately" on the E! Network and is also the New York Times #1 Bestselling author of the books, "My Horizontal Life," "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me Chelsea," and her newest book "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang." She is beyond hilarious, I record her show every night and am near tears from laughter almost every episode. This past Saturday, she was in town for a book tour promoting "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" and I was lucky enough to have tickets. My friend Sarah and I went to her stand up show and she did not disapoint.

She was raunchy, foul-mouthed and everything you would expect. She didn't hold anything back--she made fun of all races equally and as usual used her family as most of her punchlines. I'll keep my favorite line from the show to myself to keep the blog PC but my second favorite was, "You'd be tired too if you were drunk all the time."

I have read both of her previous books and am finishing up her latest, if you have not read them...you need to. They are hilarious short stories of her crazy comedy filled life. Half the time I cannot believe what is coming across the pages of the book but nonetheless I can't put it down and find myself laughing out loud during most of it. J had to "shoosh" me on an airplane once because I was laughing too loud while reading, "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me Chelsea." Her quick wit and unashamed attitude make her so fun to watch and so fun to read, so if you're not already a Chelsea fan I highly recommend you become one!

ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY!

I cannot believe it's already been one month since we opened our doors for business! I am really excited about how everything is going so far! We're averaging about 50 tickets per day, which is a decent flow of traffic. Of course, it's slower than we would like but it's only been a month! We're finding that Saturday is our busiest day, and while Sunday used to be our worst day we're seeing it really start to pick up! We're currently working on getting some patio furniture to add some outdoor seating and I will also be attending a drink workshop in a couple of weeks and will hopefully get some great ideas for a couple of special summer drinks! We recently had an ad written in the St. Louis Park local news paper, so hopefully that will drive in some more traffic! 

Thank you so much to all of our friends and family for your undying support and for bringing in so much business for us! We love you!