another reason to love hobby lobby...

40% off coupons. decor for every room in the house.  50% off frames every single day.  so many crafts to get your creative juices flowing.   CHEAP hair bows.  decorations for every holiday imaginable.  yes, i love hobby lobby.  i love hobby lobby so much and visit the store so much, my cute isabella has called it my "work."  when she sees tall buildings, she says, "look mama, daddy's work," and when she sees hobby lobby she says, "mama, there's your work!"  :)

i went there yesterday, and it was another hot summer day.  i didn't have a whole lot of time as i was expecting some ladies to arrive at my house in an hour to do a fun craft w/ the kiddos (which i intend on sharing w/ you soon!).  so, i was rushing through the store as hard as it was (honestly, it had been a few weeks since i had been there and i wanted to look up and down every aisle!) throwing all kinds of things in my basket.  i wanted to make sure i bought enough stuff for everybody.  i get to the cash register and the cashier starts ringing me up.  my total comes to about $70.  oh, wow, didn't know i bought THAT much stuff, but i go ahead and sign it and go on my way.  we walk outside in the sweltering heat, and i get the girls buckled in the car seats.  i sit in the driver seat and put the A/C on full blast.  i take a peak at my receipt and think, "oh, they over charged me $23.00"  i think i'll just come back another day as i don't have a lot of time...but wait.  nope, i can't do that or they'll just say i took the stuff out of my bag.  great.  i have to get out of the car, get the girls out and walk back in.  UGH!!!  nope.  i'm not going to do it.  instead i look at the receipt  for their phone number and dial.  a man answers, and funny enough, i recognize that it is the manager (ha, told you i go there a lot).  i start to explain my situation and before i even ask him to come outside to meet me, he asks, "are you outside?"  i say, "yes!  i am parked right out front!"  he said he would be right out...SWEET!  the nice man came to my car and read thru the receipt, explained line-by-line how i was charged and showed me that i was indeed charged...correctly.  oops!  he was very nice about it and kept assuring me that he didn't mind.  now that is what i call customer service!!!

you would be surprised at what people will do to keep your business.  this isn't the first time i have asked people to come outside b/c i have little ones in the car.  restaurants that don't necessarily have curbside service have brought food to my car b/c i had a sleeping baby in the car!  one time i called a restaurant and ordered a gift certificate over the phone and asked if they would meet me outside as i would have my two children w/ me.  it never hurts to ask...

i'm headed there again this morning to return the items we haven't used...and maybe just take a look around a little more :)

a couple of non-recipes and cooking tips...

i wanted to try some recipes out this weekend so i can share them w/ all of you this week.  i had two in mind...potato salad (summer essential) and pineapple-upside down cake (a recent craving).  first up, my mom's potato salad.  my mom's potato salad is so good, my bro-in-law once wrapped it up in a tortilla and made a taco out of it!  okay, not sure that qualifies a potato salad to be super yummy, but it's an excuse to share this fond memory.  the funny thing about trying to reproduce my mom's so-called recipes is that her way of cooking is a "little of this, little of that" and "i think i add this, but i can't remember..."  so, i have what my mom thinks i need for the potato salad...

- 5 potatoes

- hellman's mayo ("get the hellman's, not miracle whip, hellman's" my mom tells me)

- 4 hard-boiled eggs

- onion and garlic (what she means here is actually onion salt or powder and garlic salt or powder)

- celery (however much i want)

- relish (she tells me this and i laugh b/c we both know she used to chop hamburger dill pickles, but she now uses relish for convenience and i really think you can taste the difference!)

- salt

so, i start boiling the water and add onion powder and salt so the potatoes can soak in the seasoning.  i chop the potatoes in quarters and dump them in the water.  time goes by and i realize that i prob should've checked to see what time i dumped the potatoes in!  oops...i check the potatoes and they are perfect...for mashed potatoes.  wow.  it didn't take me long to mess this up!  the funny thing is i've given my mom a hard time about her potato salad these days b/c the potatoes have been coming out a little softer than usual.  i had even started calling it her "mashed potato-potato salad"...that's what i get!  to remedy the soft potato situation, i drain the water, place them in a bowl and stick it in the fridge for about an hour.  it worked like a charm!  i then follow the "recipe"...

- add mayo (however much i think is good)

- add chopped hard boiled eggs

- stir

- add chopped celery

- add garlic salt

- add salt

- stir

- add more mayo

- add more garlic salt

- add more salt

- stir

and that was it!  i thought it tasted good before popping it in the fridge until dinner, but while eating dinner i thought it could've used more seasoning.  and then while ling in bed, ready to go to sleep i remember...i forgot the pickles!  classic.

i was going to share the pineapple upside-down cake "recipe", but i feel this blog entry is already a little lengthy so i will share it next week.  i hope to bake it again this weekend w/ an added step my mom told me the day after i baked it :)

something i've already know about myself and has become even more apparent as of late is that i am not so good at relaying instructions.  i hope to improve as i blog more and start some projects.  i plan to take photos as i'm in the process of projects.  also, i'm not very good at sticking to recipes (my husband gives me a hard time about this).  i'm pretty sure that is why my cake pops tasted delicious but weren't so pretty as little miss momma's cake pops.  when i bake cakes i use extra light tasting olive oil (bertolli) instead of vegetable oil...in return cakes come out SUPER MOIST!  yummmmm....but when it came to staying in place on lollipop sticks, some came tumbling down :(  so after dipping them in melted chocolate i couldn't let them dry standing up.  they dried cake ball down and this is what they looked like...

you can actually seen a fallen soldier on the left, hahaha!

so, back to me not being great at explaining how to make things and not sticking to recipes...i've decided to bring in my girlfriends for some help (except they don't know this yet).  i will still share an occasional recipe, but i think my amigas could do a better job and i will take photos of the process and taste-test :)  BRILLIANT!!!

i realize you really didn't learn a new recipe today, but i hope you learned a new trick and maybe got to know me a little better.

one more thing before i leave (i know i said my blog entry was lengthy, but when i'm on a roll i just need to go w/ it)...sunday i had hoped to post my highlights of the week and hope to do in the future.  unfortunately, my night didn't go as planned, but i would just love to share these precious moments w/ you...

**my sophia moment**

i was holding her before putting her down for the night and smiled down at her sweet face.  she looked at me, smiled and took her paci out.  she then start "talking" to me in a soft whisper.  she just babbled on and on while grinning and looking right into my eyes.  she would stop, and i whispered back to her.  we went back and forth for a few minutes, and i relished every second!  such a treasured moment!!

she loves gabbing on the phone and whoever she talks to makes her laugh!

**my isabella moment**

isabella has long hair that tends to curl on the ends so i never think to curl it.  every once in awhile she'll watch me use a curling iron and she'll ask me to "make her hair hot".  i grant her wish by curling one, maybe two strands of hair.  well, while my hubby took sophia to her 12 month check-up, isabella stayed home w/ me and as usual she came into the bathroom as i was using my curling iron (mainly as a straightener, but whatever).  she sweetly asked me if i would "make her hair hot", and i thought what a perfect time to curl all of her hair!  just me and her in the bathroom having a mother/daughter moment.  her smile was so big during the whole three minutes it took me to curl her hair.

next...hot rollers!

hope you ladies have a fantastic week!!  savor those little lovely moments...