Favorite Finds Friday!

Today, I'm linking up over at Friday Favorites with Momfessionals, The Slaughters, and Grace and Love.

Favorite Find #1: Stella and Dot La Totale Medium Tote

Sadly, I can't link to this one because it looks like it's been discontinued (which would explain why I got such a good deal on it!)  Here is a picture from a different site:

image courtesy of www.getyourprettyon.com

Perhaps you remember me mentioning a few weeks ago (in this post: http://misadventuresinbabyland.blogspot.com/2014/08/favorite-finds-friday_29.html)  that I was drooling over the Barrington Bags that I found, but the size and price weren't working for me.  I came across this bag by Stella and Dot and it seemed like a decent, neutral alternative so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I'm really happy with it!  It has compartments inside and one outside pocket (where I stash my keys so that I always know where they are...I have this tendency to just throw them in bags without a dedicated outside pocket, then panic when I can't find them right away)

photo courtesy of www.theshoppingmama.com

 I scored the bag for less than $30 which was a steal in comparison to the original price tag, which I believe was around $90.  Score!  The bag seems to be well made and can certainly fit all of my "important" stuff (like snack bags, books, and superhero figures).

Favorite Find #2: Chocolate Apple Orchard 

If possible, I always like to support someone I know who has a business (especially a fellow mom!) So when I was trying to think of ideas for favors to use at my sister-in-law's bridal shower, I was anxious to try a former classmate's company, Chocolate Apple Orchard.  The site has so many yummy treats to choose from, we went with the chocolate covered pretzel sticks in Oreo and Peanut Butter....YUM.

 They looked great and they were delicious!!  Like them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chocolate-Apple-Orchard/117356978439548

Favorite Find #3: Organizing Caddy

Try to not laugh, but this was one of my favorite recent finds.  Prior to finding this amazing piece of interlocking plastic, I had stray batteries, index cards and other office products, and lightbulbs (yes, stray lightbulbs) all tossed into a plastic basket that measured about 3 inches by 8 inches.  The basket didn't even have a lid and I stored it on a top shelf in our pantry....I can't tell you how many times I saw my life flash before my eyes as a battery came barreling toward me!  Here is the before:

DEATH TRAP!!!

While in Target recently (you're shocked I was there, yes?) I came across this awesome organizing tote and knew this would be a sanity (and potentially life) saver for me....for around $7!

ooooh la la!!  Each section snaps into the next, and the top section has a little divider area that was perfect for my batteries.

Related note: sorting all of my batteries made me realize that I may or may not have a slight battery hoarding tendency. 

Let's look inside:

It makes my heart skip a beat just seeing it all so nice and tidy.  I'm not sure I will keep the light bulbs stored in there (I found about 6 more bulbs shoved behind a stock pot in the pantry...don't ask) so I may need a whole other storage solution for that issue.  But for now, this is working well! 

Favorite Finds Friday!

This week I'm also linking up over at Momfessionals Friday Favorites!

Favorite Find #1: HGTV's Fixer Upper
I decided to check this show out after my friend Jenn over at Running for Lemons mentioned it on her blog....one show in and I was hooked!

Related note: Brian and I have this bad habit of finding a show on HGTV, binge watching episodes on weekend nights on-demand, then growing sick of the show.  I didn't want that to happen with this series, so we're taking our new relationship with it a bit more slowly than in the past.

I love their decorating tastes, their personalities, and her entire wardrobe.

photo courtesy of HGTV.com

 Favorite Find #2: Reilly's Summer Seat Farm Groupon
We didn't make it to Reilly's last year for their Fall Harvest Festival, but we definitely wanted to go this year since we've had a great time there in the past...so you can imagine my excitement when I came across a Groupon for it this week! Click here to get your groupon....it's a great deal, we got 4 tickets to the fall fest for $14 (50% off!) and that includes all kinds of activities like a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, haunted house, face painting, marshmallow roasting, and more!  For the full list of activities, visit: http://www.reillyssummerseatfarm.com/festivals/fall-festival.aspx

Favorite Find #3: Plum Paper Designs Life Planner
I have probably said 100 times in the past year, "I really need a personal assistant".  It's embarrassing the number of times that I've said to someone, "sure, I'll be there!" only to come home, look at my wall calendar and realize we already have two other things planned that day.  Now, before you start telling me how this is what my iPhone is for and all about the wonders of google calendars, I'm just going to stop you right there.  I love my iPhone.  I have embraced it.  But I cannot, I repeat cannot, get on the electronic bandwagon for certain things.  To do lists and scheduling are some of those things. (example-at work, I still utilize a giant white board that hangs behind me to keep track of my tasks)

I started scouting some out when I was having anxiety attacks over our busy weekends starting next month so I figured maybe it was time to do something about it.  Why have I never thought to use a planner in my personal life??  I used one all through college and (nerd alert) loved it.  The option that I decided on that I hope will work well for me is from Plum Paper Designs.  I got this style, but they had so many cute options it was hard to pick!

photo courtesy of plum paper designs

Isn't it a fun design?

I loved many of the features, including the fact that you could select from a variety of options for layout (I went with a weekly spread with everyday broken down into morning/afternoon/evening) and extra pages for notes, full monthly calendars, and a contacts/holidays page.

photo courtesy of plum paper designs

It hasn't arrived yet, but I will be stalking my mailbox until it gets here and post a full review. It was certainly less expensive than having to hire a personal assistant, so I'm hopeful that it will help me out a bit.