A Well-Heeled Life

For this "Wednesday Workday" post, I'm reviewing a fantastic book I just finished called, "  What Does Somebody Have To Do To Get A Job Around Here? 44 Insider Secrets That Will Get You Hired " written by Cynthia Shapiro, MBA, ELC, PHR. It's perfect for people entering the job market. Oh...like MOMS! Whether you're a stay-at-homer, a work-from-homer, or traditional nine-to-fiver. Chances are we all at some point are going to need to interview for a job or a project. Because of my career in public relations and lots of experience with news media, I considered myself a people person. I also think I'm a great interviewer. Still, after reading this book I realized some subtle mistakes I'd made during past interviews that probably made the difference between me or somebody else getting the 'gig.' Cover of book, "What Does Somebody Have To Do To Get A Job Around Here?" by Cynthia Shapiro Let's be honest. Nobody ever t

Regular readers know I've bragged , er, written about my ninja-like skills when it comes to finding a deal. I pride myself on finding ways to enjoy a first-class lifestyle on a coach-class budget. I may be frugal, but never at the expense of lifestyle, style, or quality. Well, today I'm admitting I make mistakes too. Case in point, last weekend. My "free" family activity ended up costing me fifty dollars! As a stay-at-home mom, most of the planning of social activities fall under my control. My husband works hard, but Saturdays are all about family time. I put a lot of energy into planning fun for us every weekend. So I have a basic check list when I'm looking for activities. It includes: Educational? Fun? Something or somewhere someone in the family has asked to do or see? Easy location and parking? BONUS if its free or frugal Well, last week I completely failed. I scheduled for us to attend the "The Big Draw" event at the Walt Disney Fam

Autumn . It's absolutely my favorite time of year. Bright sunny days and cool nights. Leaves begin to change colors. Then of course there are the weekend activities like watching my kiddo playing soccer and fun community events that are traditions for us like making our own Apple Cider at the town's Cider Squeezes and finding the perfect gourds to decorate our front porch at a pumpkin patches. Last, but not the least of my reasons for loving the fall season is the fashion ! Having been raised in the rainy Pacific Northwest, about 65 percent of my closet is fall/winter type clothing. Autumn is MY season! I have coats and jackets, gloves and hats. Turtlenecks and boots and I can't wait to drag them out of my closet again. Ooh...just thinking about all my "new" clothing options makes me a happy girl! You know what this frugal mom doesn't like as much? The hit my budget can take due to the many events, activities, and holidays that take place during this

Greetings! Happy Fall! Sorry for the long delay without a new post. I had surgery a few weeks ago and have since been laying low while I recuperate. This was the second surgery to deal with some ongoing health issues. My time in the hospital was difficult, but the good news is I have outstanding care team and feel much better now. The good news is the bed rest gave me LOTS of time to think up new topics.

Greetings Readers! I've just returned from a summer vacation trip to Legoland California and San Diego. Yes we had an amazing time. As we returned home and started to tally up the costs, I realized we'd managed to spend under $1100 for 5 days for our entire family. This included admission to Legoland, travel, lodging, catching a first run flick at the cinema, and meals out. My vacation glow may last another week knowing we little we paid for this trip! With that in mind, I decided I should share some of my fave tips for saving money on a trip to Legoland. Happy Days for this Lego Lovin' Kid Yes, it is possible to enjoy a fabulous vacation to Legoland without going broke. However, it does require advance planning. When we were planning our trip, I started searching the Legoland Website as well as other resources online trying to find tips and tricks. I love information from other parents. I also started looking on Groupon for nearby deals.My three bi

Cool news to share (and shameless ask for votes)! My husband is a finalist in Cooking Light magazine's "Family Dinner Hero" contest. The magazine selected him as one of the finalists based on an essay I wrote about him. Now the public votes to name a winner. You can pick up the September 2016 issue on newsstands or read it here . Search his name, "Marcus." You should see the following picture. Then scroll down and look for the words, "Vote for Marcus." Screen capture of my dynamic duo of cooking! The Backstory: My husband is an amazing cook. He also makes about 75 percent of the meals for our family. Yes. I do know how lucky I am to be married to him. The BACK backstory: As a boy, my hubby was what was called a "latch-key kid." Back in the '80s, the idea of two-parent working households was still a little novel. The idea of young kids having to come home and fend for themselves for a few hours was still not that common. So,

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A few weeks ago I confessed how lousy I was feeling physically. I also confessed that I intended to change my ways for the better. Well, I started to fall of the wagon last week. We hosted a cookout and the chips, the drinks, the hot dogs all called out to me. Then the next day, but who's counting, I was famished and bypassed the fresh veggies in favor of a bag of baked potato chips in the pantry. Forget they were baked, not fried. I probably ate 5 servings. Ugh! I'm the first person to admit that I'm not the most disciplined woman.I tend to tell myself, "oh well. you tried." and move one to the next thing. Then another month passes, my dresses feel a little snugger, and I begrudge myself for not sticking to my XYZ plan the last time. This time I'm trying something different. I went back to something a nutritionist had once told me. I used to be in incredible shape. I'm embarrassed to admit this was nearly a decade ago and pre-pregnancy. I weighed 75+

I recently did a housekeeping/purge of sorts. Not of the home I live in, but of my social media accounts. The impetus? A ' Real Housewife ' (the city doesn't matter). I was perusing my Instagram feed and realized that for the 5th time in a week, 'Housewife X' was selling something. I found myself annoyed because it occured to me that the only things this particular housewife ever posts to her feed were new clothing items available for sale in her retail shop. Anyway, I decided to scroll back through her Instagram feed to confirm whether I was imagining this phenomena or not. A quick scan of about 1 years worth of posts confirmed that with the exception of 2-3 posts about her hubby/new baby, everything else she "shared" with her followers was about personal care, body care, or clothing items. All of which were available for sale. In fact, I couldn't help but notice several other fans commenting that they were "going to go broke" because

I don't know about you, but I live and die by my calendar. It wasn't always like this. Ten years ago, it was a paper calendar that I dutifully carried around in my purse. even if I didn't really use it consistently. Now, I use a calendar app on my phone. Sometime soon after the kiddo was a born, I quickly realized that I needed to do a better job of scheduling my days. Gone where the carefree days when I would call my hubby and let him know I needed to pull a late night at work. Or the weekends when we just decided to stay in bed until 1pm catching up on sleep and other things. The lobby that I DIDN'T wait in. As I geared up to return to work, the reality of work obligations, family needs, and laundry was all setting in. I also realized that the "mommy brain" thing people tell you about is real. In a panic, I went about organizing my entire life (LOL)! I planned a few day's worth of crock pot meals, ran every errand I'd put off for 5 months,

Today is my birthday, so let me start by saying I am grateful for this day and another year of life. My mother died in her middle age (too young in my book). She never had a wrinkle for crying out loud, but cancer doesn't discriminate. As I get older, I am really struck with the tragedy of her loss. I always find myself reflecting on my mother's life. My life and my goals at this time. I reflect on what I'm doing well and what areas can be improved. On the whole, I'd say my track record for accomplishing my goals is 50/50. My life goals have taken on new importance though. I've really been thinking about how short life is and the fact that I'm almost the same age as my own momma when when she passed. My mother had a difficult childhood and adulthood. Her mother died when she was in grade school. Her step-mother was not kind in the least. Her father died when my mom was young. In the end, she was on her own. My mom would be the first to tell you that s

For this week's Thrifty Thursday post I want to share the latest way I'm making do (or is it making due) with what we already own. Why? Two reasons: A) We're a single income family living in the country's most expensive real estate market. B) Our house is tiny. A+B = We're on a budget and I'm serious about eliminating clutter. But first, a little history. Our family likes to go for long walks on the weekends. The hubby and I often listen to music, while walking hand in hand, for stretches of time on said walks. Lately I've been passing my phone over to our kiddo about 10 minutes into my jams. Music puts a spring in your step and I've discovered we can keep walking another 45 minutes if the kiddo's enjoying his own tunes.  Anyway, recently, our son has been asking for his own phone so he can listen to music too. We're a one income family, so I cringe thinking about the added cost to the monthly budget. I tell him he can use mine all day