Fab Frugal.... Monday?

Oh, I'm so behind on my "normal" posts, but such is life. I've dealt with two weeks of deadlines, but I made it out the other side! 

I've scored some great bargains and freebies lately, starting with this Target shopping trip yesterday! 

My under $5 trip:

This is impressive, because I saved $10! And the Finish tabs alone should have been $6.

I also found this on a random Target run this week. Isn't it a pretty jewelry holder? It matches my dresser items really well, so at 75% off for just $4.98 it came home with me as well.

I love it! Nothing like a little sprucing to help you feel like you're making progress on your house and such. Right?

I don't have much else to share, but I got some good freebies in the mail this week. I got an Aveda hair sample trio in the mail on Friday and I look forward to trying that out. 

More soon!

XOXO,

Mrs. JOnes

I was in gift card heaven...

I had a fairly large Dillard's gift card to spend after Christmas. And boy, oh boy, did I have fun. We don't have a Dillard's within two hours of us, so I shopped online. I plotted for weeks how to get the best deals for me!

I originally ordered a cocktail dress for my brother-in-law's engagement party, but I liked another dress more, so I sent it back. So last weekend, I sat down on my computer and spent my Saturday shopping. :-)

It was fun. And only cost $9. So that was even better. (Note: I did not spend it ALL on me. I did get Mr. Jones the new black belt that he needed. Good wife moment.)

But holy goodness, I had fun! Everything showed up on Wednesday night (along with my new North Face jacket I got on 6pm.com)....

Here's what came:

All in all, I got the Philosophy Joy of Great Skin gift set (awesome!), new MAC powder, a Lilly Pulitzer umbrella (my first Lilly ever!), and flip-top mittens.

It was so much fun I just had to share!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Video: EB goes crazy....

No idea why. But this just happened. Correction, this is STILL happening in our backyard right now. At least she's a FAB guard dog!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Wishful Wednesday: Wish Granted...

I scored this pretty jacket on 6pm.com this week. It should arrive today. I've got hours of softball-watching coming up this spring and I desperately needed a warmer jacket than what I had. So, I'm so excited! I love North Face, and this is one of their Summit Series jackets! Score!

Also arriving today should be some goodies I got using a gift card. Philosophy, welcome to my home. We will be great friends I believe.

I'll be blogging my reaction - and some fun pics of all of these fun things!

Stay tuned - and happy Wednesday!
Mrs. Jones

Sometimes...

It's 8 p.m. and you're sitting in bed already, because a stressful day and workout? Yeah, they kicked your butt.

Sushi and wine is the perfect dessert, following a chocolate chip cookie for dinner.

One memory can make you want to shut down for the night.

One good friend really is all you need.

Girls nights just aren't a priority.

It's okay to be beyond jealous of friends getting together at a blog conference. And to swear you'll make it next year.

A warm puppy is all you need to be happy. A wonderful husband makes life even better.

You just don't really want to blog, but you need to. The words need to go somewhere, and you need to get them out.

This is all you have to say.

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Kicking off a wedding season...

Friday night, we headed up to Mr. Jones' hometown to kick off my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law's wedding season with their engagement party! With football season behind us, we don't have as many opportunities to catch up with Mr. Jones' side of the family, and it's left me missing them dearly!

The party and time with everyone was just wonderful. Celebrating Tyler and Vanessa's engagement was so much fun. At the same time, it brought back so many memories of our engagement party and all the excitement leading up to our wedding. I'm so very, very excited for Tyler and Vanessa! Vanessa, on top of being such a precious future sister-in-law, is also one of my Zeta pledge sisters. :-)

 

Tyler and Vanessa

 The bride and her bridesmaids!

 Sisters-to-be!

Three (almost) Mrs. Joneses!!!

The brothers and their girls!

I loved my dress, and had such a fun time! :-) Can't wait for the next pre-wedding event next month!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

A Perfect Bloggy-Date Night....

On Tuesday, Mr. Jones and I got to have the perfect date night! We met up with Mrs. Smith and her husband!!! It was the first time Mrs. Smith and I have gotten together, and we had a blast.

I was so grateful that Mr. Smith didn't mind driving down for the Alabama vs. Kentucky game! We went out to dinner at one of my favorite sports bars - where we got quite a few funny looks with our mixed attire! The Smiths are Kentucky fans, and of course, we are huge Alabama fans!

After some seriously good appetizers and food, we headed over to the game!

Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones, finally!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Smith 

Me and my sweet Mr. Jones!!!

This is the second bloggy meet-up I've had, and it was so wonderful to relax and have a fun night with Mrs. Smith and our husbands! They got along pretty darn well too! The boys talked sports and tech fun, while we discussed our Twitter BFFs, plans for our next get together, and all that jazz!

Thanks for a wonderful night Mrs. Smith! I can't wait to do it again

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

Frugal Friday: CVS, BAM and Champion....

Well, it has certainly been a week! I got some great deals this week, and had a little fun doing it too!

My first big stop of the week was at Books-A-Million on Monday. I had the day off, and I had a gift card, so I went to check it out after my workout. Talk about clearance fun!

I picked up a book, two Burt's Bees gift sets, a 3-pack of Yankee Candle car fresheners, and a new pair of headphones for just $40, which was all covered by my gift card! I've still got some money left on it, so I might be picking up a few Valentine's goodies!

Look how cute these little gift sets are!

I also scored earlier in the day at CVS. If you haven't checked out their makeup clearance sale, you might want to! I got an Almay set of eyeshadows for about $2, and I paid $.67 for Physicians Formula makeup, because it was $3.67 and the CVS coupon machine printed out a $3 off coupon! Nice, huh?

Also, there are some great samples out there right now! Check them out!

I realize this post is getting long, but I've also been doing some online bargain hunting. I picked up a precious workout top at Champion for just $15! It's originally more than $36, so I'm super happy.

I googled the exact top to find the sale price (it was not coming up through the website originally) and then I went through Ebates (5% cash back!) and used retailmenot.com to get 20% off and free shipping. Now that's a deal!

Freebies to check out:
Free Nexxus ProMend Sample
From Wal-Mart

Free CoverGirl NatureLuxe Sample
From Wal-Mart

Free Lacoste perfume sample

XOXO and happy saving,
Mrs. Jones

How I save.... sharing the love

Happy Thursday everyone!

I've been talking to a bunch of people about my favorite ways to save online, so I thought a post with links and explanations might help some people who want to get involved in saving these ways. I've got links in the post, but if you need links later on, I added buttons to my sidebar on the blog.

Swagbucks
Swagbucks is fabulous. Basically, it gives you "swagbucks" for using it as a search engine, playing games, watching funny tv clips and more. Those swagbucks can be redeemed for prizes, my favorite of which is Amazon gift cards! Sign up and check it out - really, for using it maybe five minutes a day, you can get free money!

Ebates
Okay, one of other favorite ways of saving is to get paid for the online shopping I was planning on doing already. You can do that through Ebates. I have gotten cash back from Victoria's Secret, The North Face, Lenox... you name it! We're about to book a plane flight for Mr. Jones, and imagine my joy when I saw Southwest is even giving 2 percent cash back!

RueLaLa
My third and final linky love goes out to RueLaLa. Designer products, cheap prices, need I say more? Lilly, Lenox and more! It changes every day. You do usually need a referral or invitation to join the site, so I'm happy to share!

I hope you guys like this info, and that it helps get some of you using these sites! Free money and cash back and cheap designer stuff is the way I love to shop!

Enjoy,
Mrs. Jones

Miss America and random ramblings...

So, I'm a few days late.....

I was such a fan of Miss Delaware. Until she ripped off the Center Stage signature dance. That is not cool with me! Red toe shoes and all! Plus, she kind of stumbled. That was a little disappointing.

Miss Virginia was another favorite. Talk about Riverdance!!!

I still can't believe that Miss America is only 17 - talk about a life changing moment. I loved her talent dress, thought her hair looked a little poufy with her swimsuit and was kind of iffy on her gown.

What joy though! I loved her reaction and loved how she pointed to heaven to thank God. Sweet gesture. There were some horrible evening gowns that evening though. Miss New York and that black silver gown?!?! Ugh! I was surprised at the number of white gowns, especially among finalists. What did you guys think? I know quite a few people have blogged already....

By far my favorite moment of Miss America though? The 30 minute phone recap my mother-in-law and I had! :-) Now, that was fun!

It's the middle of a long week. I have so much to share! But work deadlines are looming, so I'll be back soon!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

All photos from Google Images/AP

The perfect puppy toy!

I'm only, ahem, a little in love with my sweet puppy girl Eve Belle. So, it's no surprise at all that I am always in search of the perfect toy for her!

I believe I hit the jackpot in early December with a Boots and Barkley (Target brand) toy from Target!

She got "lolephant" first, and got "garaffe" for Christmas. They are her favorite toys. It reminds me of Linus and his blanket when you see her with them.

Target doesn't sell them online, but I just wanted to share in case you are looking for a pretty indestructible toy for a crazy pup! This floppy plush toy is stuffingless, with squeakers in each arm/leg and head. So, five squeakers in each toy!

Plus, they're cute! Just wanted to share the puppy love!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Menu Monday: Pioneer Woman!!!

Well, it's still Monday! So, time for a little Menu Monday-ing.

For Christmas, I finally got The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. YAY! (I have some sweet grandparents!)

Sunday night, I cracked the cookbook for the first time to make PW Potato Skins!

Forgive the iPhone pictures, I've been so lazy and haven't pulled out my big camera lately. But these? Really? They were just heavenly! I absolutely adored them and we will be having them again fairly soon!

Tonight (hence the fairly late posting) I went back to the PW cookbook, and made Chicken Spaghetti. VICTORY! I'm in LOVE with this recipe. I didn't use fryer chicken and boil it, I used chicken breasts and baked them instead. It worked perfectly anyways, and I figure maybe that's a little healthier?

I can't find the links to share, so if you need the recipes, comment and I'll get back to you!

Happy MLK Monday! It's been a wonderful day off for me. I got 90 minutes of cardio in (woooo!!!!!) and finally put the last of our Christmas stuff away. I'll take that for an awesome day, how about you?

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Staying on track...

Well, as we've discussed on here previously, I'm trying to lose weight. I've gotten more serious about it since Christmas, and with 2011 here, it's kind of one of my "to dos" for the year.

I'm actually happy to report that while I'm not currently doing Weight Watchers PointsPlus, I have been hitting the gym a lot. Getting sick derailed my "eat healthy" plans, but I'm still pretty on track! Score! Since I last got on the scale about 2 weeks ago, I'm down 5 lbs.

One of my new fitness favorites has been my Nike Frees. I love them. They are so light. And yes, the neon yellow is a little obnoxious, but I really like them. Has anyone else gotten a pair?

I'm trying to make up a specific plan for what I want to do to keep this weight loss going, and I'm sure I will and I'll blog it, but for now I'm just happy I'm on the right track!

Here's to 2011!
Mrs. Jones

Note to self...

When it's below freezing, even in Alabama, and you notice how dirty your windshield is when you're driving to work, DO NOT spray your windshield wiper fluid to fix it right then.

Bad, bad idea.

Even if you are in Alabama, it is below freezing, and ice will form on your windshield.

Oops,
Mrs. Jones

Wishful Wednesday: Working world

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Since I'm back at the office again, and the bitter cold weather has me rethinking what I pull out to wear each day, I've been wishful thinking online with some online stores. Haha. Not much shopping going on this month, but I'll bookmark these and go see when they get put on sale.

Here's what I'm crushing on:

Express One-Button Cardigan

$29.99

The Limited Textured Ruffle Blouse

$39

The Limited Bow Neckline Halter Dress

$89

The first two tops would just be great for work. This dress, however, I am in love with. I think it could be perfect for some bridal showers and stuff I'll have to go to this spring. What do you think? It's a different neckline than I normally choose, which could be so much fun!

And OMG for the child in me, this nail polish collection comes out in February!

Who's with me? Time to Gleek out our nails!

Have a great day! I'm hoping to get back to the gym today, so we'll see how that goes after work. My energy level is still not back to normal. Say prayers.

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

Sniffling to death...

Well, now that I'm done recapping our lovely Orlando trip, I guess I can catch up on life right?

Well, we got back Sunday afternoon. Mr. Jones and I both went back to work on Monday. And by Thursday, I was pretty darn sick. I left work that afternoon, went to the doc Friday morning.... and three prescriptions and one shot later, I'm doing a lot better, but not as good as I hoped I'd be doing. I feel pretty worthless.

The only thing I managed to do in the last four days was get the smaller of our two Christmas trees taken down and put up. And even then Mr. Jones had to help with the attic part. I just hate being so useless!

Currently we are holed up at home, waiting for the impending "snowpocalypse" to hit Alabama. We'll see if it materializes. I think it might. We've got hail and ice sitting on the ground outside. So, we'll see. You know EB will be so excited if she gets a snow day.

Cross your fingers! I could totally use a snow day to rest!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Capital One Bowl & Margaritaville!

Our final day in Orlando was the reason for our little trip - the Capital One Bowl, where Alabama absolutely hammered Michigan State! 

It was so much fun! I got absolutely FRIED during the day, which was insane considering the weather we had been having!

Doesn't Mr. Jones look so precious here? I loved this picture!

We wrapped up our night - and trip - with a wonderful dinner with friends at Margaritaville. It was so much fun! Margaritas and cheeseburgers in paradise - it really doesn't get much better. Unless, of course, you add balloon artists in! Which we did of course. Can you believe how fabulous this balloon animal is? A red elephant!? Roll Tide Roll!

What a night and what a trip! The drive home was long, but the trip was just fabulous!
Hope you enjoyed all my (extensive) recapping!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Welcome, Violet!

Eve Belle gained a new family member this weekend! Meet Violet Jones:

Welcome Violet! We're so glad you and EB will be cousins! We get to meet her in a few short weeks! Yay!

Happy Saturday,
Mrs. Jones

Goodbye 2010, Hello Magic Kingdom!!!

Our final theme park day was New Year's Eve at Disney's Magic Kingdom! I can't even begin to tell you how tired we were by the time our third day had started. It was ridiculous! But it was wonderful nonetheless! 

I love the holiday decorations at the Magic Kingdom. It really just looks more magical there than at any of the other parks. Have you ever seen the behind-the-scenes specials about how they do it? They are fabulous - watch next year if you can!

Mr. Jones can't stand Lotso from Toy Story 3, so of course he couldn't pass up this photo op!

We saw a couple of shows on the castle stage during the day! Dreams Do Come True and the Christmas show, I believe.

One of Mr. Jones' co-workers told us that Mickey's Toon Town will be torn down in 2011, so we had to make one last trip over there to go through Minnie's house!

I love her pink Christmas decorations! Aren't they just adorable!?!?

I love these Mickey-shaped wreaths on all the lamp posts. They really are one of my favorite decorations. Don't think I don't have plans of a Mickey-shaped wreath at our house for next year. Keep your eyes peeled. :-)

We only lasted until about 4 p.m., but we rode Space Mountain twice, got drenched on Splash Mountain, giggled at the Laugh Floor, rode Pirates of the Caribbean, visited Toon Town, saw the Hall of Presidents, Mickey's PhilharMagic, It's a Small World, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and of course, Mr. Jones all-time favorite, the Carousel of Progress. :-) Busy day, huh?

But we loved every minute, and rang in the new year in a wonderful hotel, with gourmet pizza and champagne.... and we didn't even make it until midnight!

Yay for Disney!
XOXO,
Mrs. Jones