Post-Post-Post Christmas Sale Shopping Rocks!

It's been ages since I stepped foot into a Kmart. I don't even know where the nearest Kmart is in my city. I blame the Walmart culture. They are everywhere. But, I really wish there were more Kmart stores around me because they have far better products in their store. Always have a soft heart for Miss Martha Stewart. As always her products rock, but man, Miss Jacqueline Smith. Have you guys seen her bedding? Holy Crap. Just like the movie, " Sweet Home Alabama, " I'm going to say, " That Jacqueline Smith sure knows what she's doing." 

Anyways, as I digress.... me and my mamasita went to her local Kmart because her BFF told her that they were having a 90% sale on their Christmas stuff. Initial reaction: there's just going to be JUNK! 

Oooh, I was sorely wrong. I scored all this stuff for a whopping $3. Two rolls of Martha Stewart wrapping paper. Could not pass that shiz up for $0.39! WTF? Ridiculous, right? Scored some boxes for like $0.19! Even more ridiculous!

It gets worse. So, next door is a Big Lots. I'm going to be old school and call them Pick n' Save! Hah! There's my age out the door. Anyways, this past year, I baked a whole lotta' cookies partly due to inspiration from my girlfriends who were also baking during the holidays, but also because I was being thrifty with my $$ this year. I had tons of fun trying out different cookie recipes. Although, I thought they tasted really good at home, I was nervous to give them out for fear that the recipients wouldn't feel the same way. I lack the confidence as I'm a newbie to this whole cookie baking stuff.  

When it came time to wrap the cookies, I had the difficult time digesting the cost of a tin can. Dear God, $4 for a tin can??? Really? So, instead I purchased little white boxes that wrapped them in pretty ribbon. Ahh, but this time around, I got smart! Found a whole bunch of Christmas tin cans for $0.20! You betcha I filled up my cart with all this clanging!

So, last week's menu planning was yet another successful week! My personal favorite of the week were the Banh Mi's, aka, Vietnamese Sandwiches.

I think the most important aspect of this sandwich is the bread. The hubs was insistent on purchasing the baguette from the Vietnamese restaurants. When I asked him why can't we just purchase a baguette from the regular grocery store? His response. The bread at the Vietnamese restaurants are way better. 

and, Oh, he indeed was right. It was much softer inside and was descently still good the next day! Oh, and the freshness of the bread? Sooo good! They baked it the day we bought it. The price? $1 per baguette! Can't beat that right? 

In the midst of cooking, we finally managed to put up our solar lights out in our backyard.  It's been what? About 6 months since we got them. My wonderful parents spoiled us again and purchased us these lights when they saw that they were on sale! 

The solar lights come with rechargeable batters inside of them. You would have to put them in areas that have direct sunlight in order for them to recharge during the day and light up at night.  Thank goodness for having sun over the weekend because I was a little bit worried that we wouldn't be able to charge them. 


I did get rather obsessive though. I kept observing during the day from morning to mid afternoon where the sun was shining and where it moved during the day. Hopefully, I didn't disturb our drip system as the hubs pointed out. Wups! Didn't think about that. I guess we'll find out when its time to turn back on the drips! 

Here they are scattered sporadically in our backyard. Unlike the hubs, I knew they were to be scattered around the area. He thought they were to be lined along the cement. I think he was thinking of lights that go in front of your house along the steps. He's such a city boy, I swear! 


The lights did light up at night even though they had only 1 day of recharge. The instructions tell you that they need at least 2 days. Phew! Although, they aren't as bright as non-solar lights, they do light up just enough to give light in the backyard.