Norman Music Festival Offers Joaquin Phoenix First Professional Gig

Yesterday, Norman Music Festival offered Joaquin Phoenix his first professional gig.

Now how cool would it be if he really came?

Mabel's Labels: My All-Time Favorite Product

Back in the days when I had bottles to prepare for daycare, I embarked on a hunt for the perfect product: a label that would stay put without fading or peeling through the dishwasher, the crock-pot (that's how my daycare heated bottles), and oh, it needed to be cute too!

When I found Mabel's Labels, I knew I hit the jackpot! They had great products, and great customer service to boot. I've been using their products for over 3 years now and love them. Here's a few of my favorite products.

These Shoe Labels are fabulous- I know my daycare providers love me since they can quickly tell which shoes belong to the Sashas! These two-part labels (colorful main label and clear top label) stay fresh through sweaty socks and even through the washing machine. ($18.50 for 24 labels)

I use the Skinny Minis for all sorts of things- these were my bottle and lid labels, and I use them for sippy cups and anything else I need to label for daycare. ($18.50 for a pack of 80)

I saved my favorite product for last- the Tag Mates. We use these for any piece of clothing the kids may wear to school, including coats..... these don't come off either. Wash and dry.... no peeling off. These beat iron-on labels by a mile! ($21 for 75 labels)

Although they are a Canadian company, shipping to the USA is only $3. Shipping within Canada is free.

Mabel's Labels has given me five 15% off codes to share with my friends. These codes are good through February. Please email me at barelytogether at yahoo dot com if you'd like a code- oh and please, since there are only five codes, please only request a code if you plan to use it.

Getcha some!

Our Semi-Homemade Life

Have you ever "met" someone online and knew that you were kindred spirits?

That's how I felt when I met Elaine on the birth club message board for our Jan 06 girls. There were more than a few crazy coincidences that brought us together- our girls had the same first name (even spelled the same way!), her daughter was born on my birthday, and Elaine was originally an Okie like me.

It didn't take long before we were emailing each other on a daily basis and even making plans to meet in Summer 07. Luckily we hit it off in person too! In February 08 Mr. Sasha and I were in TX for a weekend getaway and and while he golfed Elaine and I had a fabulous day of shopping and girl-talk.

So you really need to go meet Elaine right this very second. I swear you'll love her- she's a chic, super-cool working mom of two who somehow manages to (Barely) Keep It All Together much better than I do! She just started a beyond-fabulous blog that you'll love- Our Semi-Homemade Life. Show her some Sasha Says love!

Notes From School: Some Redemption

I think The Politician's teacher knew how upset we were about him being asked to leave Spanish class the other day, because we got later got this note:

As usual The Politician is the first in line to help. The apple doesn't fall far etc. He also needed very little prompting on his manners.

And he got a good manners treat after lunch.

Swoon

Too Faced Mood Swing Emotionally Activated Lip Gloss ($18.50)

From Sephora.com:

What it is: An emotionally activated lip gloss that ranges from Smurf-blue shimmer to beautiful berry.

What it does: Too Faced Mood Swing Emotionally Activated Lip Gloss allows you to wear your emotions on your lips. Depending on your body heat level, the gloss blooms into countless shades of Smurf-berry pink. You never know what shade you'll get, but Smurfette thinks that's part of the fun!

I love this so so so much that I ordered a back-up! Note that this is a bit different than the original (which I also love), although the name seems to be the same on Sephora's site. The Smurfette version is more wine/berry than pink. Don't be scared of the "blue" mentioned above- it's only blue for about 3 seconds!

Silly Blogger

Well, blogspot address aren't redirecting to custom urls as they should.....

http://www.barelykeepingitalltogether.blogspot.com/ should redirect to http://www.sashasays.com/, but it's not....

On the blogger board, seems to be a blogger-wide issue.

If you've still got an old bookmark, like I did for Lipstick until just now, it won't work. Lipstick can be found at http://www.lipstickatthemailbox.com/ if anyone is looking for her! Be sure and change your bookmarks so you won't have this issue in the future.

Others I've redirectected in the past:

http://www.ashleyquitefrankly.com/
http://www.angryjuliemonday.com/
http://www.multislackingmama.com/
http://www.iusedtobewitty.com/

Any others I missed?

http://www.chicrunner.com/

Hope you can find who you are looking for until Blogger works this out!

Notes From School

Monday:

The Politician and a friend were asked to leave Spanish class on Monday because they were being disrespectful and disrupting class.


Tuesday:

The Politician was in the "Top 3" in manners at lunch today!!!!!

As you can see, consistency is not a Sashas family trait.

A New Lipstain

My favorite Avon rep, Valerie, knows how much I love lipstains, so when Avon's mark line recently re-released their Kissink Lip Tintmarker, she was kind enough to send me one to try.

I tried the Tintmarker in Berry Bitten and I love it! Typical lipsticks and glosses bleed into the lines around my mouth, which is so annoying! But using a lipstain and a gloss over it keeps that from happening. Quick note: You need to make sure your lips aren't chapped before you try a lipstain. Lipstains and chapped lips don't mix!

Follow these steps to ensure you get your free shipping AND your ebates rebates.

1. Visit Valerie's site first to make her your default rep

2. Log into ebates to get 5% back and go through them to get to the Avon site

3. Once the Avon site pulls up again, you should see Valeri's name near the top of the site

4. Choose your products and then use code REPFS or FSANY to get free shipping (if one doesn't work, try the other)

Happy Shopping!

Follow these steps to ensure you get your free shipping AND your ebates rebates.

1. Visit Valerie's site first to make her your default rep

2. Log into ebates to get 5% back and go through them to get to the Avon site

3. Once the Avon site pulls up again, you should see Valeri's name near the top of the site

4. Choose your products and then use code REPFS or FSANY to get free shipping (if one doesn't work, try the other)

Happy Shopping!

A Little Too Late

Last night when I got home from work, I checked our Call Notes, and we had a message.

"Hello. This is Sam's Club calling. We noticed you purchased some of the recalled Austin Peanut Butter Crackers, and wanted to make sure you knew these were not safe to eat. Blah blah blah."

Too bad they didn't call before I tried to poison my son.

New Skincare Routine?

I am toying with getting the Olay Professional Pro-X Anti-Aging Starter Protocol.

It contains Age Repair Lotion SPF 30 (day), Eye Restoration Complex (day and night), and Wrinkle Smoothing Cream (night).

Right now, Walgreens has it for $61.99 and there was a $5 coupon in the Sunday paper. The Olay website has a $25 mail-in rebate, and I know I have a Wags giftcard laying around from a script transfer. So I really wouldn't be OOP any....

Makeup Alley reviews are mixed, so I'm torn.

Have any of you tried it?

Chicken Fried

I just got this email from Mr. Sasha, who is lacking in technical skills, which makes this even funnier.

The name of the band that sings the Chicken Fried song is the Zac Brown Band. If you would, download it for me. I need you to make me a mixed CD of my favorite songs for Valentines.




We do like this song, 'cause it reminds us of our hick upbringing, but he's kidding about the mix CD. I think.

Today is Big Girl Bed Day

From Nov 1 through Christmas, The Wild Child didn't slept worth a shit. In addition to not going to bed until close to 10 pm, she would wake up an average of 5-7 times per night. Mr. Sasha and I were exhausted and didn't had a moment to ourselves. I didn't say a whole lot about this on here, because it's just hadn't been something I wanted to unload on you guys.

About a week before Christmas , I was doing some research and read about weighted blankets, which are supposed to help kids with SPD sleep better. I thought, what the hell, I'm desperate and ordering one. I ordered a 7 pound blanket that was 36" X 54" from The Hug Shack.

(photo from The Hug Shack)

It arrived on Christmas Eve and a miracle occurred! Her wakings decreased to 1-2 times per night, which was oh-so-much better. We were still having the issue of getting her to go to sleep in the first place though- 10 pm was still about the norm.

Last week, at the suggestion of Kelly Bee, I asked our OT about trying Melatonin. She said she had quite a few patients on it. I of course checked with my bargain board ladies and got some info on what kind to pick up (liquid). Another miracle! After giving it to her at 8 pm, she was going to sleep at 8:30 without a fight! I also checked with our ped to make sure he was OK with it, and he said if it's helping that much, go for it.

But she's still waking up once a night or so and coming into our bed, stealing my pillow, and jamming her little knees into my back and just generally disrupting my much-needed sleep.

So we think maybe she's rolling around in her crib-converted-to-a-toddler-bed and hitting the sides. So tonight, it's Big Girl Bed time. Mr. Sasha has already picked up the new full-sized mattress and box springs and dropped them off home, ready for us to rearrange her room tonight. All her furniture is tethered to the wall (I'm a super-smart mom!) and so we'll have to undo that and move stuff around to make it fit.

For now, we'll be leaving the mattress/box springs on the floor. I have a beautiful family quilt and a gorgeous pink blanket I've been saving to use on her BGB.

So cross your fingers and toes that tonight goes well!

Absolutely Final: Sasha's Motto

I love Jesus, but I drink a little.

This is my new motto.

Another Giveaway!

How could I forget Another Online Mom's Beauty Giveaway? She had an awesome month of budget-friendly tips, capped off with a fab prize! Go check her out!

Two Giveaways From My Friends

Two of my friends are having fun giveaways this week!

Katy, an IRL friend, is giving away Sentsy goodness!

And Chic Runner, a FIMH, is giving away the book Eat This Not That!

Go and enter!

Question

Coach Sterling Silver Logo Ring

What finger would you wear this on?

More specifically, would you wear it on your pointer finger on your right hand, if you already wore a Nelle and Lizzy Double Ring on your ring finger of that hand? (And only wore your wedding ring on your left hand.)

Sorry for the crazy details, but I really want to know if this would be too much.....

Pinecone Research Referral

The bargain board always freaks out when Pinecone Research opens up membership. Although I don't get a thing from this referral, I wanted to tell you about it because I really like Pinecone. They pay $3 for each survey you answer, and although I can't tell you about the surveys or products I have received, I can say that it's certainly worth your time!

Here's the email I got from them:

Dear SASHA:
**It’s not too late to take advantage of this special opportunity to refer households to apply for membership on the PineCone Research panel.** If you have already assisted with this effort - thank you and please feel free to disregard this email.

PineCone Research continues to grow and we invite you to help! We are offering select members the opportunity to recommend membership to a friend or relative who is NOT a member of their household.

Do you know of households that would like to join the PineCone Research Panel? If so, please FORWARD A COPY of this email to each household you would like to refer so that they may click on the registration link shown below. That household should complete the registration form themselves and submit it. REMEMBER THAT ONLY ONE PERSON PER HOUSEHOLD MAY REGISTER. Multiple registrations of the same Household will void all registrations.

Here is the link to the registration:
http://www.pineconeresearch.com/signup/ds531Referral1.asp

As a member in good standing, you've already seen the benefits of being part of PineCone Research. So please, share the benefits of membership with a friend. Just don't forget, please don't tell them about any of the products that you have seen in our questionnaires or tried in your home. Remember, it's important that your PineCone Research survey and product testing experiences remain confidential.

If your referral has any questions, they can email us at scott@pineconeresearch.com or click on the attached links to learn more about PineCone Research.

http://www1.pineconeresearch.com//about.HTM
http://www1.pineconeresearch.com//policy.htm

While this is not a paid referral program, we genuinely appreciate your help in spreading the word that PINECONE IS GROWING!

Thank you,
Karen Scott
Web site: http://www.pineconeresearch.com

Email: scott@pineconeresearch.com

Good Deal Alert: Walgreen's Revlon Creme Gloss

New Revlon Creme Gloss

Since I often run outside, my lips can get super-chapped this time of year, and my much-loves lipstains don't just work right.

So I was excited to see this new Revlon product offered as one of Walgreen's February Free After Rebate products. (Remember you can submit your rebate request online now- so much easier!)

I picked it up in Wine Anytime yesterday and it's a great color. Very smooth and pigmented. Feels great on my chapped lips. One caveat- it's one of those click-type brush applicators that Stila often uses- and you have to click it a million times to get it started. Seriously. I bet I clicked it 65 times....

There's also a $1 coupon for Revlon cosmetics in both the 10-12-08 and 12-07-08 SS inserts. That would make it a money-maker since Walgreen's will give you the pre-coupon price back! (And choose the Walgreens giftcard option to get an additional 10% back!)

Getcha some.

Trans Design Order

Oh my.... I am officially addicted to nail polish. If I had the time, I think I would be painting them every day!

I wanted to pick up all your suggestions, but I just couldn't! Some of the colors I already had, or at least had a dupe for. Thanks for all your ideas!

Here's what I got for myself:

SECHE-Restore Thinner 0.5oz. (my Seche Vite is too thick and needs to be saved from the trash!)
CND-Cuticle Eraser 0.5oz. 6/pk. (love love love this stuff and am splitting this 6 pack with a friend)
OPI-DS exclusive
OPI-DS couture
OPI-DS reserve
OPI-DS tapestry (I am in love with the DS shades!)
OPI-Queen Of West Web-Erly
OPI-Sweet As Annie-Thing
OPI-Pretty And Privileged (these three are the 90210 colors, had to have these!)
OPI-Yes...I Can-Can! (a friend had this on and it was so pretty!)
OPI-Pink Of Hearts 2 (breast cancer research color)
OPI-She's Golden
OPI-Pearls Night Out (thanks Belle for the suggestion!)
OPI-Coney Island Cotton Candy (thanks Carrie for the suggestion!)
OPI-Los Angeles Latte (wore this to my wedding and am dying to have it again!)