We Got A Van

Our car shopping ended yesterday at the Volkswagen dealer. We got the VW Routan minivan. It's our first time to get a van. The choices were Honda Pilot, camry, accord, honda odessey and the VW Passat station wagon but the Routan was the winner. We got a very good deal with zero interest. I have been wanting a van to accommodate our visitors that would come sometimes. We are happy with it. My husband will be using it in exchange for the truck that we return (lease). Will I be a soccer mom now?

Lazy Day

I am just enjoying my rest day. Although I woke up early today because my husband has to go to work, I went back to sleep right after he left. My daughter woke up at 7:00 a.m. so I have to get up to feed her. I had my decaf coffee while she ate her breakfast then went back to bed again while she watches tv. I stayed in bed until 10 a.m. then started to clean the mess we left in the kitchen from last night's cooking. We were eating lunch when the husband called asking why we are not in the mall because it's black friday. Just because I am lazy, don't want to drive and be looking for a parking forever, don't want to be in a crowded place. After we took shower, we went to do some errands then attempted to go to the mall. When I saw the traffic I turn around then went home. I'd rather enjoy my quite and lazy time at home or shop online than being outside.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Shimumsy!

Charice on Macy's Parade

At the moment we are watching at home the traditional Macy's Parade in New York. We are surprised to hear Charice Pempengco's name as one of the guest. Hurriedly, I left to buy something I forgot that I needed for cooking to be back in time to see her sing. She was indeed at the parade. She was the Macy's float. She sung Because you Love me wearing a fur mini jacket red leggings with with snowy boots. She looks really cute. This Filipina has really gone a long, long way. So proud of you, charice. Happy Thanksgiving.

Gifts below $25 at Kmart

It has been tough this year to a lot of people. The economy has not been very good, food and gas prices have gone up and unemployment rate is rising. This made a lot of families to tighten their budget and watch their expenses.

As part of helping families cope up with the financial crisis, Kmart has provided around 25,000 quality gifts under $25 that you can buy this holiday season. Kmart is the store where you can buy affordable products for the whole family. They have the great savings available to shoppers, layaway plans and no payments with no interest for six months.

These are some of the gifts you can purchase below $25. These are the items that I will be buying as gifts to my secret santa at work and my girlfriends.
• Craftsman 23-inch hand tool box with comfort handle for $19.99
• Martha Steward Everyday tall nickel pillar candleholders for $14.99
• Route 66 girls fashion hoodie and embellished jeans, both just $16.99 each

If you cannot go to the store and shop, you can still purchase Kmart’s collection of 25,000 gifts under $25 at Kmart.com. Check their online deals, coupons and free shipping when you shop online. Be the first one to get in-store and online deals, updates on special store hours this holiday season and the latest Kmart news by providing them with your email address. Kmart is really the best value store this holiday season.

Hello

Hi Guys. It's 1:00 am east coast time. I thought it was only a nap. I told my husband to wake me up around eleven p.m. but I guess he did not. I know he wants me to get extra sleep because I have been complaining for the past days. He said my opps can wait for the four day weekend. I don't think so, right? Haha. I have not done this in a while. It feels good. I wonder what time will I go back to sleep. I don't care for today is thanksgiving, no work and the dinner is not in my house. I will cook though but that's easy.

Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry

The coming holidays make every household very busy. We are kept preoccupied with shopping and celebrating on our own but there are some people that we neglect to include in our celebration. Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry is reminding us to remember also our military service members, veterans and their families during these holidays. It is our way to give thanks to the service they have given to us by bringing peace and security to the country.

Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry is a program where we can give your donations to our brothers and sisters in the military and their families. You can give your donations through monetary form which will be used to buy sears gift card to be distributed to registered families. At Sears website, you can also find the wish list of military families. A dad, mom, brother or sister may not be around with their families during this holiday season but through our donations and gifts we may be able to fulfill their wishes and bring joy to them.

Help support this program. Give your message of support to our troops while they are away from their families. Spread this to your friends so that they can also help and support our beloved military families. Thank you Sears for this opportunity.

Monday Blues

I just got here at work. I’m late because I brought my daughter to school. Actually, I’m not in the mood to work, can’t wait for the long weekend. Right now I’m having my coffee with the toasted garlic bread from olive garden last night. I put some butter on it…hmmm… I also have a hopia baboy here too that my friend gave when she went to the Philippine bread house in Jersey City last Saturday. Actually, I like the mongo (or mongo & ube, mongo & queso) more than the baboy. Hope this day will go fast. Happy Monday to all.

Sears Pre-Thanksgiving Sale

Good morning everyone. I just turned on the television and everybody is talking about Thanksgiving. I am so excited to start this week because it is a very short work week. I am off from Thursday up to Sunday. Our thanksgiving dinner will be at my friend’s house this year but I will still be cooking too. Hope everyone will have a joyous Thanksgiving.

When we talk about Thanksgiving, other than getting excited about the turkey, I get excited about the sales and bargains. A lots of stores do not wait for black Friday anymore to start their marked down prices. Sears for example, they already have their Pre-thanksgiving sale going on. This is good to avoid the rush on Friday.

I have a post here on my blog last Nov 13th about my broken digital camera. On Sears Pre-Thanksgiving Sale, they have a Sony 7.2-megapixel digital camera for only $129.99 after $50 savings. I always have a camera in my purse but since it got broken I already missed a lot of special moments like the dinner last night. This is a very slim camera that would fit right even in my smallest bag. I will not let this deal pass. I am buying this digital camera before they ran out. Here is the picture:

Dinner at Olive Garden

We just got home after a birthday dinner at Olive Garden. Not mine but K's birthday. Olive Garden is one of our favorite restaurants. I ordered Chicken Alfredo pizza while hubby had Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara. It was so good not to mention the never ending garden salad with the perfect dressing and the bread. I don't have my camera (broken!) so I can not share any pictures. We have a lot of leftovers we took home and a lot of breadsticks too! That is good for my coffee tomorrow.

How Does Kmart's Layaway Works?

We went to Kmart today to do some Christmas shopping. It’s nice to know that Kmart layaway is back. I decided to put some items on layaway since I do not have enough money with me. If you are not familiar with Kmart Layaway for the Holidays program, here’s how it works:

1. Select your items – Shop around the store like how you do your normal shopping. Take note of the following merchandise that cannot be put on Layaway, such as:
Beer, wine and cigarettes
Flammable products and fuel
Food and other perishable merchandise
Live plants and horticulture
Oil and chemical based products
Photo finishing and portrait studio pictures
Chemicals
Gas additives
Magazines
Paint Thinner
Prescription Drugs
Pool Chemicals
Cellular Phones and beepers
Personal computers


2. Bring to the layaway counter and make a down payment – The layaway counter is different with the cashier. Look around the store for the layaway counter.

The layaway fee is $5 and the cancellation fee is $10. To compute the down payment, it will be the service fee plus cancellation fee or 10% of the value of the merchandise being put on layaway (whichever is greater).

3. Make your payments every two weeks at your Kmart store – The minimum amount you have to pay bi-weekly is 25% of the total balance due. Please do not miss any payment otherwise your merchandise held for layaway will be returned to stock after seven days of missed payment. If this happens, you will be eligible for a refund less the service and cancellations fees.


4. Take home your items once your payments have been completed – All the merchandise you put on layaway have to be paid within eight weeks. Once completed, you can take your merchandise home.

For Holiday and Christmas items, it must be paid in full and picked up by December 5, 2008. If you miss to do this, all the items will be returned to stock.


The total merchandise I put on layaway is $248.75. I put $48.75 as down payment and I will be paying $50 for the next four weeks. I would be able to take the items home after I fully paid them by third week of December or earlier. I am so happy because I still have money left on me. Kmart’s layaway program will surely help a lot of shoppers on a budget like me.

Lucky "Twilight" Fan

A lot of Twilight fans will be jealous of this girl. She only won Pattinson's volvo car that he drove in the movie.


Here is the story:


Tiffany Kuhne, 18 years old, went to Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco for the autograph session of Robert Pattinson. Almost 3,000 teenage girls arrived early, became unruly, pushing each other. The police canceled the session. Luckily, Tiffany and two girls that were turned away were flown to New York by "The Tyra Banks Show" to be in one of their shows themed "Twilight". The girls got shocked when Pattinson and Taylor Lautner showed up at the show. They had a pizza eating contest with a prize of a twilight memorabilia to the winner. After a tie break, Tiffany turned out to be the winner. She was blindfolded and led outside to see her prize. The memorabilia was the Volvo Car! She could not believe what she saw.

Lucky girl you are Tiffany!!!

credit: imbd.com

I have a New Babysitter

Finally, I was able to get a new babysitter for my daughter. She is Filipina, a stay at home mom with two kids. All her kids are still in school when I drop off my daughter but they get to see each other and play a little bit before she gets pick up by her father. Good thing I mentioned to my husband's aunt about me looking for a pinay sitter. She is just few blocks from our house. I started bringing my daughter to her yesterday. So far so good.

Turbo Charge my VW

We have been car shopping over the weekend to replace my husband’s truck. We went to the Volkswagen dealer and he test drove the Volkswagen golf. He wants a small car this time in case the gas prices will go up again. I agree with him because I know gas prices are not steady all the time. If he buys the car he wants a Volkswagen turbocharger installed on it for better driving and to improve its horsepower. Turbochargerpros.com carries all the parts needed to upgrade any Volkswagen vehicle. I am sure my husband is ordering from them.

A Day at the Outlet

We went to the newest outlet in New Jersey yesterday. It is called Jersey Shore Premium Outlets in Tinton Falls. We were quite early to avoid the traffic but the parking was starting to get full by the time we got there. It was an hour way from where we live. It was a cold, cloudy and windy day but this did not keep the shoppers away. There were a lot people and I saw a lot of Filipinos too especially at the UGG store. This is one of the shops that you have to make pila (line outside) before you can shop. The other one is Juicy.

Some photos I took:

Kmart's Lay-away Program

It’s only 39 days before Christmas. Although I have started a little of my Christmas shopping, I am not even halfway through it. I have bought some sterling jewelry for some of my friends but I have not started buying gifts for my family members. I have picked one for my husband already but I am still saving enough money to buy it.

Today while I was browsing the Sunday paper, I saw the flyer from K-mart. To tell you frankly, I buy the Sunday paper to check what is on sale and what deals are available. On the Kmart flyer, I saw that they are offering back the Kmart Layaway program where customers can reserve the items that they want and pay for it on installment. Sometimes we do not enough money to pay our purchases at one time but we do not want to loose the items we are planning to buy. Through K-mart’s layaway, they will put the item aside for you while you are paying for it and pick it up later

Tomorrow I will be at Kmart to get the navigation system that my husband wants for Christmas. I will pay half of the price and pay off the balance before Christmas. Thanks Kmart for your layaway program.

Autumn Leaves

The beauty of autumn is seen when the leaves starts to change colors. Fine. It's beautiful but how about the cleaning part of it? I hope they just fall at one time so that you only rake (or use the blower) the leaves once at your backyard. But no, it is a never ending process until all the leaves from your trees and your neighbor's trees fall. For meantime, enjoy the postcard effect. We have to clean the backyard before the snow comes.

Fine Collections at Keysilver

I have started making my Christmas list. As much as possible, I want to start early with my Christmas shopping. I do not want to be rushing because I tend to forget things when I am on a time limit.

Most of my friends are women. In our group, it is not mandatory that we exchange gifts but to me Christmas is one way of showing them how I value their friendship. Topping my list to give to my girls is sterling silver jewellery. Two of my friends collect sterling silver bracelets. Riza who has a teenager daughter always buy two similar sets, one for her and one for her daughter. While they are all into bracelets, I am into silver bangles.

I want to recommend a favorite online store where I always find nice collection of fine silver jewelleries, pendants, chains, bracelets and bangles. I always shop online at keysilver.co.uk. I really love their beautiful designs and craftsmanship. I am so in love with their happy days bracelet consisting of 7 coloured hearts linked by solid silver. I am sure the teen kids will love to get this for christmas.They have been in the business since 2006 and they ship worldwide. All their jewelleries are of high quality. They have superb customer service offering free U.K. delivery via first class Royal mail post. Always check their website regularly for new products every month. Right now, they are featuring their Autumn Collection.

I am sure my friends will love my presents for them. One reason also why I wanted to do my shopping early is because I want to wrap my own gifts. I like putting my personal touch on every presents I wrap with a simple note and a holiday card. This is actually the difficult part of doing my Christmas presents but I enjoy doing it. Last year, my color motif was silver and burgundy. I am thinking of green and purple this year. I am very excited now that I am almost done. Thanks to Keysilver for all your beautiful collections.

My Ink Recycling Reward

I got this in the mail. It is my staples reward for recycling my old HP, Dell, Lexmark or Kodak ink and toner cartridges. In every ink or toner that you bring at staples, you get $3. You can recycle up to three catridges per day. You can use it to purchase anything at the store, online or by phone. When you get your reward, take note of the expiration date. This one is expiring tomorrow. I better use it before I lose it.

There is $ in your garbage. Just a saving tip.

The Sproutwells Become Techi-Holics

Wow! The Sproutwells are also coping with the latest technology. This “techi-holics” family has learned to use the computer and doing online shopping at freshfunds.com. Why do you think The Sproutwells can shop without spending money? It is easy. Join the freshfunds program where you can accumulate points when you buy Chiquita fruit and veggie bites, fresh express gourmet café salads and fresh express packaged salads. Through fresh funds you are living a healthy lifestyle and at the same time you earn points that you can use to bid the featured auction item on fresh funds. This is a way of rewarding yourself for eating healthy and nutritious. If you want to join the program, just go to fresh funds website and register. Once you are registered, you can keep track of the points you have earned then you can start bidding or make a donation. Start being a member now and be like the veggie family, The Sproutwells.

What are Your Plans for the Weekend?

Once it's Friday 5 p.m., it is officially the start of the weekend. It's almost 8pm and right now my daughter is taking a nap. Yes, just a nap. It's like this if she did not take a nap at the babysitter. She has no problem sleeping again later even if she takes a nap this late.

The weekend is always too short. Tomorrow is food shopping day. I already emptied our refrigerator of leftovers to have space for tomorrow's groceries. During weekend I try to cook some food that we can just microwave for dinner during weekdays. On Sunday, we are going to South Jersey to check out the newly opened outlet.

For now, enjoy your weekend. Be Safe.

Promises Welcomes You

Promises Treatment Center is a place where addiction to drugs and substances such as alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, heroin and many others are being treated. They have two facilities; one located in Malibu with the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean and the one with a home like setting in West L.A. If you know somebody who needs drug or substance abuse treatment, let them come to Promises before it is too late. They can be reached at 866-871-3149 where a specialist is always available 24/7.

Verizon International Calling

When we switched from cablevision to verizon fios, one thing I would miss is cablevision's international calling plan of $14.99/mo for 250 minutes. We cannot consume the 250 minutes but that was still cheap i thought. At that time, verizon has no international calling plan yet. Today I found out that Verizon came up with their own version too. It's a better deal $9.99/mo for 300 minutes. How's that? Competition is just so lovely!

Thanks to JourneyLite

I just read an article written by a woman about her experience at Journey Lite. She was so happy she made the decision to undergo the lap-band surgery at JourneyLite. According to her, she already started seeing the result and the best one is that she has regained the confidence in herself. The lap-band surgeon really did a very good job and she was just thankful that Journeylite is with her through her journey.

"Dear Santa"

This is a gift from my husband two Christmases ago and now it's broken. It still power on but you cannot shoot and all you see is a blank screen. How it got broken? I bring this camera everyday inside my purse so that I can capture anything that interests me. On day, my beloved daughter put her bottled water with sports cap inside my purse. Next day I just felt the camera case like wet/cold. That’s it!!! The water spilled because the cap was not pushed back down. I took the battery and memory card out to make sure there is no water inside. I have been told before that if electronics get wet, just leave it, do not use for weeks and it will dry up and hopefully it will be functioning again. Not this one. It has been a month or so. It seems that whatever got wet is all dry now but no change. The only chance to revive it is go to best buy and buy one!!!GGRRR!! I love this camera and it takes good picture with its 8.1 mp. All I can say is, “Dear Santa…”

Digital Landing

Are you tired of your dial up service and very slow internet connection? It is time to switch to a fast internet service for you to enjoy surfing the net, watch videos and play games in your computer. If you have a lot of questions in your mind or you need more information about switching to a high speed internet service, digitallanding.com has all the answers for you. It is a very informative website that shows you a lot of news, updates, articles, FAQ’s, comparisons and a lot more about internet services. You can even watch videos at digital landing showing the different means of switching to a super fast internet service. Do not be left behind by technology. Do the switch now.

A Night with Ryan Cayabyab

I am sharing some pictures taken last night when we went to GK (Gawad Kalinga) Paskuhan here in New Jersey. It was held in one of the catholic schools in our area. During the first part of the event, GK had an auction, displays and slide shows of their different housing projects in the Philippines. Everybody was treated to a very nice merienda of arroz caldo and various kakanin. The highlight of the event was the concert of Stephanie reeves ( a Filipina based in Europe, she did miss Saigon in germany, etc.) – very talented singer with a powerful voice. The finale was Mr. Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and his RC Singers. They gave us our favorite pinoy songs plus a lot of pasko songs too. This group is quite different from Ryan’s older singing groups which are all kids but his one are grown ups (18-25 years old). They are here to promote gawad kalinga and all its projects. It was a fun night which ended with buying their cd’s and signing of autographs.

Medical Assisant Course at St. Augustine

Last week as I have mentioned in my older post, one of my co-worker was laid off. I have been in this company for almost 10 years but this is the first time they have to lay 0ff a worker. When this happened, I began thinking if I am really on a secure industry with regards to my employment. It bothered me a lot and being out of job is not a joke these days.

When I got home I spoke to my husband about my insecurities. He suggested that I better prepare myself my switching to a medical career. It’s not too late. He said I can start by enrolling in a medical assistant course. We went to St. Augustine School of Medical Assistant website and check their courses on medical assistant online. They have an online course which you can finish at your own pace for 6-8 weeks. This is good because I am a working mother. I can enroll on this medical assistant school online at the same time I can still go full time with my job. This will be a lot of sacrifice on my part but I am willing to do it to have a better future.

Sasha Obama’s Dress

Sasha Obama is the 7 year old daughter of Barack Obama. The dress she wore last Tuesday night’s rally was bought off the rack at Nordstrom for $72. The President of the New York based children’s dressmaker was so delighted to see Sasha wearing their dress. It made the designer cry. They gladly offer to design more for the Obama kids especially for the inauguration. The President also said that they already got several requests for the dress which will be out again this coming spring.

credit: cbs880.com

Kmart Lay-away is Back

My house is just a walking distance from Kmart Department Store. If the weather is nice, me and my daughter can walk from the house to Kmart and do our shopping. Every time we are at the store I always go visit the electronics section and dream of when will I be able to buy this tiny Lenovo notebook? I like it very much. It is so lightweight that it can be handy to carry inside your bag or backpack.

One day while I was looking at the notebook, a salesperson approached me asking if I am interested in buying the notebook. I said, maybe if I get the extra money. She told me that I do not need the extra money to buy it right now since Kmart Lay-Away is back. My eyes sparkled hearing what she just told me.

When we got home, I told my husband the good news. I immediately checked Kmart’s website by entering my zip code to see which Kmart location offers the lay-away. Luckily, the Kmart in my area does. I already found a perfect Christmas gift for myself. Thanks for Kmart lay-away for it would not be too heavy on my budget and I could pay on installment through their plan. I would definitely have my dream Lenovo laptop before Christmas day.

Call n' Sick

I called out sick today. I have been having this flu and cough since last friday but I feel better a little bit then it kept on coming back. My itchy throat and coughing have bothered me a lot especially at night. Chicken soup was my favorite food during this time. Today I decided to stay home and take a total rest. I have a doctor's appointment at 3pm today. Vick's nyquil cannot help me no more. I think I need a stronger one. I had a flu shot I'm wondering if this is the reaction?

School’s Fund Raising

The school’s fund raising deadline is today. I am so happy my daughter was able to sell or should I say, my co-workers bought a total of $163 from her. Based on her total sales, she gets the following prizes:

a. Sell: $1 - $24.99 – gets a mystery prize
b. Sell: $25 - $49.99 – flying comet
c. Sell: $50 - $74.99 – expanding flying disc
d. Sell: $75 - $99.99 – spin, pop, catch flying “zee beez”
e. Sell: $100 - $174.99 – super pump rocket

She gets all the prizes from letters a to e.

Presidential Election in the U.S.

Today is the day that Americans will pick who they want to be the next president. McCain or Obama? The polls opened at 6:00 am this morning up to 7pm tonight. Maybe in a couple of days we will know who is the next president of the united states.

credit: msn.com

Zenni Optical

How was your Halloween? Ours was fun. I got home early and my daughter was still napping. She got tired of this whole day fun, from the Halloween parade in school to trick or treating at the baby sitter’s neighborhood then at our place. It started to get dark when we took off to meet my friend and her kids at the corner of our street. The kid’s bags got full of candies right away so we decided to come home to give out candies to trick or treaters too. We sat in front of our porch until kids started to come and play since it was not cold at all. All the kids know each other from school. They started running around then all of a sudden come my friend’s son with broken eyeglasses. My friend got so disappointed because she paid a lot of money for that eyeglasses and now it is broken. She said that she has been looking for great eyeglasses for less for her son. It is not advisable to buy expensive ones because he keeps on losing it or breaking it. I recommended to her Zenni Optical which carries a wide selection of quality eyeglasses starting from $8. If she got the chance to watch television yesterday, Zenni Optical was on Fox news! You can also get variable dimension frames from Zenni.

This is the eyeglasses that my friend wants for her son:

Job lay off

Somebody from my job got laid off today. My company decided to dissolve the position he is in. I am so sad for him. I know this is the worst time to lose your job with how the economy is. The unemployment rate is not going down and not too many are open for hiring. I know he has a part time job just hoping that they will give him more hours. Good Luck to you S.

credit: clipartof.com

Fashionable Maternity Clothes

Pregnancy is the most beautiful thing that happens to a woman’s life. My husband always tells me when I was pregnant that I look sexy. He is saying that carrying our baby inside my tummy makes me looks sexy to his eyes. He was the one who loves to shop for my stylish maternity wear that I use every day to work.

We have found a maternity boutique online that is so perfect for stylish pregnant women. We have been shopping from bellydancematernity.com, which carries the widest selection of clothes for expecting mothers. Always check their newest arrivals and see the hottest new styles of maternity clothes. I have several of their Ingrid and Isabel camis which I have been using throughout the summer that I was pregnant. For parties and formal occasions, I wore their Japanese weekend maternity tops with a black trouser also from belly dance maternity.

I enjoyed my pregnancy so much. I thought being pregnant would mean not having a social life but not when you have stylish clothes from belly dance maternity. I always recommend them to my friends and co-workers. Gift certificates to belly dance maternity are also a perfect present to somebody you know who is expecting.

Reset Your Clocks

Before you say good night this evening, do not forget to reset your clocks to an hour earlier. We have an extra hour of sleep tonight. It's fall back time. We have longer nights again but....it is what it is. Don't forget to change the batteries of your smoke alarm detectors too. Always on the safe side.

credit: fotosearch.com

Enter to Win an Xbox 360

Charter Communications is one of the leading providers of cable, internet and telephone services. Discover better TV with charter’s cable service which provides digital cable, hdtv, digital video recorder, on demand and basic services. You can maximize your gaming experience with their blazing fast high-speed internet. They also offer both local plus long distance calling on their telephone service with a lot of calling features.

Charter Communications has a new promotion called Charter Communications Xbox Sweepstakes. They will be giving away one Xbox 360 every day until December 15th. It is so easy to join. All you have to do is order any charter service online or simply register today and you can be automatically entered to win an Xbox 360. Here are the prize pack details:

Xbox 360 Pro Console
Xbox Live Headset
Wireless Controller
Component HD AV Cable
20Gb Detachable Hard Drive

You can also get more savings by signing up with The Charter Bundle. You get all the 3 services for only $99.97/month for 12 months plus the chance to win an Xbox 360.

Do not let this offer slip away. You can be a future owner of an Xbox 360. Visit their website connect.charter.com and sign up now before the December 15th deadline.