Gymboree Review and $50 Giveaway - Shopping for Easter/Spring #sponsored

 

Spring is here and with that comes all of the great Spring/Summer clothes! Gymboree has some great Spring and Easter clothes at 30% off, along with great sales throughout the entire store. I love seeing the trending colors and styles out for the season. We visited our local Gymboree and picked out our Spring and Easter clothes!

Gymboree has lots of great sales like 30% off the Easter line and a lot of $20 little girls dresses. Not to mention the clearance rack had a ton of steals! I got my oldest some shirts, pants and sweaters at more than half off. I love a good sale!

Here are my children all dressed up in their new Gymboree clothes, but getting a picture of all of them together is almost impossible!

I love the all turquoise this season, I took one look at the bright colors along with the clean lines and I was hooked. The boys got matching shirts (one is a size 6-7 and the other is a 3-4) at 30% off and my daughters sweet dress was on sale for only $20! Notice the hair barrettes in Ashley's hair? They also came from Gymboree, a simple clip that looks like I put a lot of effort into it. Perfect. I love dressing my children up in bright happy clothing for the Spring and Gymboree was the perfect place to shop for them!

You too can shop the latest styles at Gymboree, enter to win a $50 gift card to Gymboree!


GIVEAWAY



a Rafflecopter giveaway

 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts April 4, 2014 and ends on April 17, 2014 at 12:01 am EST. Winner will be emailed and has 72 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize. I was sent a product to review for this post.

Hotter Slippers Review and Giveaway #sponsored

This holiday season shoes and slippers are on the top of our Christmas lists. Not only do my children need new slippers (their feet are growing so fast) but my husband and I seem to need them too. My husband is a huge fan of slippers, he wears them anytime we are at home, especially as the weather turns cold. We don't have a "no shoe" policy at our house but as soon as we walk in the door all of the shoes come off and slippers on. Are shoes or slippers something you will be adding to your list? If so Hotter is the place to shop, they have a wide selection of quality shoes and slippers for men and women.

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Frugal Mall Shopping: 3 items Under $20

Since starting my job over 4 months ago I have needed many new outfits. I LOVE having this excuse to shop! I often buy items here and there to build up outfits when I find stuff on sale. Working at a mall makes it super easy to know when deals are happening. I often find myself shopping on my lunch break to find super deals! Yesterday I went to JC Penney to see what sort of clearance deals they had. I found many great items.

After trying on a bunch of stuff I decided to keep my budget at $20. If I can shop $20 at a time getting great deals I can build my wardrobe without too much damage to my paycheck. :)

Part of my New Years resolution has been to add color and lots of it to my wardrobe. I find myself wearing black, brown, grey and tan. Nice colors but I want fun colors!

 I found a pair of turquoise corduroy pants normally $40 for $5. What color top would you wear with these pants?

A light colored cowl neck sweater top for $8 normally $35. I have the cutest boots and leggings to wear with this top!

A fun patterned shirt that is light weight that would look great with a pair of dress pants I have only $4.

I even put a super cute pink skirt for $6 and emerald green top for $4 on hold for my next work day. I LOVE buying clothing when its on sale!

Do you know of any great mall deals going on right now??

Oasap Fashion Blogger: Red Purse & Straw Hat Review

It has been my Birthday promise to myself to be more fashionable. I want to wear brighter colors, bolder colors and more dresses. For my 20s I was laid back kinda wear whatever I had, mainly tshirts and jeans. Since turning 31 in July I feel like I not only want to but need to be more dressed up. It makes me feel more productive and more willing to be myself. Odd how that works, I always thought people were silly to say how you look is how you feel. I want to look and feel great!

Red has been a color I have avoided over the years. I thought it was too attention grabbing or too bold for me. I always love to have purse options. But oddly they were black or brown. I had a hard time deciding if I wanted a Red, Yellow or Orange purse. I love all of those colors. I felt Red was a great start to bolder colors and its a classic that never goes out of style. Plus I had the help of Facebook fans on deciding a color. 

I selected the Red Bownot Detail Clasp Closure Briefcase crafted in PU, featuring a grab handle to the top, oversized bowknot detail to fold over flap, gold-tone clasp closure to front, a detachable long shoulder chain with lobster clip closure.

• Size:
  Length: 31cm
  Height: 27cm
  Width: 12cm
  Handle Height: 11cm
  Strap Length: 57-115cm
• Color: black,orange,red
• Fabric: PU
• Washing: 40 degree machine wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, cool iron on reverse, do not dry clean.

The purse is large just as I wanted. I carry many items in my purse for myself and my son. I like the bold red but a touch of sweetness with the bow. Perfect to use a Statement to a classic black and white dress.

In the last few years I have become a hat person. Mainly from the encouragement of my husband that hats are beautiful and I look great in them. For the summer I have purchased a few nice straw hats. I love the summer feel of a straw hat for fashion and keeping the sun off my face.

I selected the Contrast Lace Panel Plaited Hat with cut out detail made of straw, featuring contrast lace panel to brim, straw plaited design with cut out detail, bow-knot embellishment for my newest summer hat. I look forward to wearing it to the park, summer outing events and lounging by the garden. 

• Size:
  Head Girth: 56cm
  Cap Peak: 12cm
  Brim Width: 10cm
• Color: white&light brown
• Fabric: Straw
• Washing: 40 degree machine wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, cool iron on reverse, do not dry clean.

I like the delicate look of the lace and bow on a simple hat. Its cute and functional.

Oasap has tons of cute clothing, purses, hats shoes and more. They even predict that uneven hem lines will be hot this fall. Along with Florescent, sounds a bit like my childhood in the late 80s LOL. They have some cute British style Union Jack items too.



  *I was not paid or compensated for this post. The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from other opinions. I was provided for free the product mentioned in this post for my review.

Red, White & Blue Fashion and Food

I have had so much fun watching the Olympics games so far! The games are something I always look forward to. This year has been very special to share with my son. He loves watching the swimming, gymnastics, shot put (go figure the kid loves to throw things) and the volleyball. He has done the cutest tumbles and volleyball stances in the living room. He yells "lymipics" (he leaves out the O) in the swimming pool and kicks like crazy. Its so fun getting caught up in all the USA cheering. He even knows to put his hand over his heart when the anthem is played and clap when its done. He makes my husband and I also salute and have our hand over our heart, not sure where he got the salute from but its so cute!

For me I have been seeing the buzz on the commercials and in store ads of all the Red, White and Blue items. What a better time to shop for those colors! I have seen some cute fashion and home decor. I cant stop thinking Red, White and Blue.

JCP  Red & Silver Nugget Necklace

Macy's DKNY Jeans White Plus Size Dress, Sleeveless Striped A-Line

Target Women's Mossimo Blue Papina Peep Toe Shoe 

I like the touch of gold like all the metals USA has won!

 

What would be funner to have after shopping for Red, White and Blue items? COOKIES! I found a recipe from Cookie Madness for Red, White and Blueberry Cookies. These look tasty!

Recipe and Picture From CookieMadness.net

Red White and Blueberry Cookies
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (try with 3/4 tsp. as noted)
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons butter — softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3 ounces white chocolate — cut into chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready two ungreased cookie sheets.
In a medium size bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a second bowl cream butter and both sugars. Add egg and vanilla and beat for 30 seconds.
Add flour mixture and stir with a mixing spoon until well mixed. Stir in all dried berries and white chocolate, then drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 12-13 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Makes 24 cookies




How do you like to celebrate Red, White and Blue? With Labor Day coming soon I am thinking it will be a fun holiday to end the Summer with a Red, White and Blue theme party.

DownEast Basics Summer Outfits and Blogger Event

My favorite display in the store. I purchased the skirt shown.

Last week I was able to attend a great blogger mixer thanks to an invite from another local blogger. The DownEast Basics Blogger Event happen to be on my birthday! So cool to be able to meet some great local bloggers and shop all on my bday. We had just left an outdoor festival and planned to go to the mall to do a little birthday shopping so it was a perfect plan. The sales gals were super sweet. They had gift bags, cookies and drinks for us. My plan was to bring my mother in law but she was not feeling up to it (she has Lupus) so I brought my husband and son with me. My husband is actually fun to shop with. He tends to pick out stuff I would not think to buy, he tries to get me out of my little fashion box I tend to stick to.

Turning 31 I feel like my 30s needs to be more fashionable. Less dressing like a tshirt and jeans gal and onto the skirts and colorful tops. DownEast Basics is the perfect place to start that. They have comfy clothing that is cute, stylish and colorful. The great thing is they have sizes XXS to XXL which means you can go shopping for just about anyone in the store. I can even shop with my skinny sisters there LOL.

Super cute display with the gold frame

I purchased the Orange Flower Afternoon Picnic Skirt with my blogger gift card, THANKS DownEast Basics! I also found a white shirt for $5! I looked for an orange top like the one I made on my Pinterest Board but did not find on the fit right on my top. The tshirts are a comfy fit though. I was also looking for a Yellow Subtle Nuances Skirt that I saw on the DownEast Basics website, it was not in stock but they sales gal was nice enough to add me to the list to give me a call when it was in stock. I am loving yellows and oranges for the summer and I think will be great into the fall.

I will be back to DownEast Basics for my yellow skirt when its in stock and hopefully will have the chance to work with DownEast Basics more in the future. You can shop in stores or online for great prices. They are having a $25 and under sale on fashion tops / sweaters and a denim sale of up to 40% off.






*This is a personal post, I was not paid for this post but was provided a gift bag from DownEast Basics for the event.

Makeover Your Man with MaLo Underwear

Who says Men's Underwear has to be boring??!! My husband is a man of comfort. If it has worked for the last 10 years why change it seems to be his attitude about underwear. I am so tired of seeing plain and starting to fade in color undies when I do laundry. The same bland colors over and over. His clothing is up to date, his shoes too so I convinced him he should try updating his undies as well.

We went shopping at Target to buy some of the new MaLo Mario Lopez Underwear and Undershirts. I read online about a few of the designs they had for the MaLo brand. I showed a few to my husband that I knew he would try. My husband can be picky about things I buy for him, he and I have opposite ends of what we think is stylish.

My first thought when we arrived at Target and saw many of the items were not in stock was oh no! I knew my husband likes the plain one color type of things but I remained hopeful he would be willing to try something new. I told him how it was Mario "Slater" Lopez designs so it must be cool! :)

 

Target was out of stock on the MaLo Purple or Black undies that had the MaLo logo in the corner, the ones I showed a picture to my husband to convince him to try them. They did have these ones that I think are cute, but my husband thought they were a bit kid like. I mentioned how they will make him feel younger and more cool. He just smiled and said he will try them to see how comfortable they are. (note to self dont tell your husband ANYTHING will make him feel younger its an implication he is old lol) 

 
We wandered around Target for a while looking at toys, movies, sports, electronics, typical guy stuff since my husband and son were with me. We had fun looking around getting ideas for gifts and decor. My son just had his last two balls popped by the dog so we decided to get him a new one. These ones were huge and on sale!

Love the SF Giants!

Purchasing our #MaLoUnderwear

 We ended up buying one pack of MaLo Trunk Undies, MaLo Tank Tops and a big yellow ball. My son carried more items all around the store but we made him pick just one. You can read more about our shopping trip and the silly things my son does while we shop in my Google+ Story.

Here is the boring faded before items I am  trying to get my husband to replace with MaLo items.

Old Underwear we are replacing with MaLo

At home with the new MaLo items. I was excited to hear what my husband thought of them.

 I ask my husband for his honest opinion of the MaLo Underwear and Tanks. He said the undies fit a little big for the size on the legs and the band was a bit big but the tanks were comfy. He also added they are good summer undies since the material is thin. He wants to keep an eye out for the plain ones like the tanks with the MaLo design to have the underwear that matches. He did suggest underwear designs that reflect the design on the front of the Roman / Greek statue theme. I thought that would be a fun idea too. Although I did tell Mario Lopez at a twitter party I thought Glow in the Dark Super Heroes would be cool, see how opposite ends of style my husband and I are lol. 

We did have the chance to go through his closet and bag up items to donate, others to sew into a winter blanket for the dog (yes I am a thrifty upcycler when I can be) Some of the items were tshirts, sweatshirts and some socks. I could not get him to part with his old comfy stuff but he is wanting to add to his wardrobe more of the MaLo items so its a start!!

*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and MaLo #CBias #SocialFabric

Update your Children's Wardrobe with CookiesKids.com

Each season that passes my son needs new clothing. Its still the one thing I am baffled by that each season he no longer fits into what he wore last year. Its also so fun to have a great excuse to go shopping! I have noticed summer clothing has been bright and even neon for this year. It reminds me of my childhood, the early 90s fashions. The fun and funky colors make for some stylish clothing. On the opposite side of that fashion is the always in summer style basics like leather sandals, jean shorts and polo shirts.

With my husband and I deciding what to buy our son can be a clash of styles. For me I like cute kid stuff, my husband the cool name brand stuff. So we meet in the middle with cool kid themed items. Since kids always need new clothing I like to shop price for stylish clothing.

I find online shopping for my son to be the easiest place to get him clothing. I can shop when he is napping or busy with an activity. Plus I can find the best sales and promo codes online. Who does not like to shop in their comfy chair at home with an iced coffee in hand right?!

I went through my sons closets to see he no longer fits in any of his last year shorts. Here in CA shorts are a must have. I love plaid shorts for kids. They are so cute and perfect to mix match with a variety of plain polos or tshirts. I was looking for something he could wear to the park but also cute enough to get his pictures taken in if matched with the right shirt.

I have shopped online before at CookiesKids.com for the winter and purchased some really great sweatsuits and jeans for him, I knew I would find great summer clothing there too. I found the cutest Spiderman red plaid set. My son thinks super heroes are cool and funny enough calls them all Batman, even if it is Spiderman. I knew he would love the Spiderman polo shirt and plaid short set as much as I did. It met my kid like fashion and my husbands cool kid style. I was surprised at all the cute and low priced Spiderman, Batman, Superman and even a few Transformer items I found. Every time I shop at Cookie's Kids I find clothing that I like for my son but also my niece and nephews. I enjoy shopping there since I can find items for ages from newborn to kids 16. I know we will be shopping there for many years to come.

He loves his Spiderman outfit, his shoes are just a bit too big

My son loves sports and this summer he has been so active with wanting to throw the football, kick the soccer ball and swing his baseball bat. With 100+ degree weather I knew he would need light weight shorts and tank tops. I found really cute and only $3.99 or $4.99 tops and Short Sets at Cookie's Kids. When we got it in the mail I knew as soon as he put it on and starting running around that it was just what he needed. He was not as sweaty and was able to move quickly. Not that I needed that fast boy to go any faster lol. Hes quick and this Mom needs to be quicker!

So cute in his Short set from #CookiesKids

With our new pool we needed some cool swim shorts too. I liked these ones since they have orange in them. Orange is my son's favorite color and for the price I had to have them.

Cookie's Kids is always having some sort of sale with discounts or freebies that making shopping there even more fun. Their email newsletter will send the deals to you a few times a month. I have found great items that way. This shopping trip I got a freebie that made me think of my little brother (who is all grown up and a young man now) a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stationary set.

I had a blast using Polyvore to put together outfits to see which one would look best. I found a few really cute items that I pair up into an outfit. My favorite was this one, its an orange, brown and blue plaid set. I love the Tigger hat and the shoes. You can see the other #CookiesKids outfits I made on my Pinterest Kid Fashion Board.

About Cookie's Kids:

If you have not yet heard about Cookie's Kids here is a little info about them. This year they are celebrating 40 years in business! In 1972, a young man named Cookie and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a 1600 square foot store in Jamaica, Queens, fixed it up, bought inventory and Summer and Fall, and opened a day after Thanksgiving with a full stock of holiday toys. The toys were a success and they put the extra money toward buying children's clothing for the next season. When that did well, they bought more clothing. The business was on it's way.

As the brothers Cookie, Marvin and Sonny, who had come in as a third partner in the business, began to open new stores in new locations, inventory expanded. Besides the latest fashions, our customers wanted shoes, toys, backpacks and accessories and we were prepared to deliver.

By the late 1990's there were six superstores throughout the NYC area, and though they previously had different names, by that time they were all named Cookie's Kids. Also in the late '90s came an important addition to Cookie's Kids' inventory: school uniforms. It was the steady success in uniform sales that paved the way for founding CookiesKids.com in 2007, which originally sold uniforms and soon after the entire Cookie's Kids Inventory.

What summer clothing items do your kids need? Sandals? Shorts? Tees? 

Cookie's Kids has all of that plus even school uniforms for the fall.

Want to see more of the great items from CookiesKids.com you can read my Google+ story about my shopping trip. #CookiesKids

*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.

39Dollar Glasses Review and Giveaway - Mother's Day

About four years ago, I bought a new pair of glasses that cost me a little over $500. I have known for awhile now that I really do need new glasses again, but I dreaded paying out all that money.

Imagine how happy and surprised I was to find 39Dollar Glasses. This great online store is the perfect answer to the traditionally high price of eye wear.

The company is owned and operated by eye doctors, and all of their glasses are made in the USA. They are able to offer a complete line of prescription glasses, including no-line bifocal, and Transition Lenses. By being an online only store, 39Dollar Glasses doesn't have to pay the overhead that traditional retail establishments do, thereby being able to pass that huge savings onto their customers. 39 Dollar Glasses also offers a 100% guarantee and free shipping. Plus they ship FREE to all active US service men and women no matter where they are serving!

I was so happy and excited to be offered the opportunity to order and review a pair of their glasses. I went to the website and was so amazed at all the kinds and styles of frames that were offered there. It was a lot of fun looking through all of the selection and picking out my frames.

The website is completely user friendly, and filled with all the information needed to comfortably place your order. There is also a 1-800 number to call if you have any questions, which I did. The customer service person was very helpful and able to answer all of my questions. My prescription is for progressive lenses, and I needed to make sure that I was placing my order correctly.

A few days later, my glasses arrived. I have to admit I was a little nervous about buying them online. But when I put them on, I was completely happy with them. They fit great, and I was thrilled with the improvement in my vision.

I just love 39Dollar Glasses and am now a loyal customer. I am happy to tell everyone I know about the great and inexpensive glasses they make. Visit the website to see the amazing selection of frames and styles to choose from. Here I am in my new pair of Sofia Brown Glasses.

39Dollar Glasses is offering one lucky reader a pair of free glasses (up to $75). There is also a coupon code to receive 10% off of all other orders (code FFT 123).

 GIVEAWAY

Win a pair of Glasses or Sunglasses (up to $75) from 39Dollar Glasses.


To Enter This Giveaway:

Like 39Dollar Glasses on Facebook +1

(Please do NOT write on their wall about Frugal Family Tree, its against their wall rules you can tell them which pair of glasses you like but not a requirement)

(leave your FB name, First and initial if its your name so I know you liked them)

*Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on.

 -Follow 39Dollar Glasses on Twitter +1
-Follow 39Dollar Glasses on Pinterest +1


 -Follow Frugal Family Tree on Pinterest +1
 -Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1
-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1 

-Share this giveaway on Facebook ONLY, using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day)

-Copy and Paste This Tweet on Twitter and leave me the link (to find the link click on the time stamp under your tweet. Can be done once a day for the duration of the giveaway)

#Win a pair of Glasses (up to $75) from @39DollarGlasses at @FrugalFamTree #Giveaway ends 5/30 http://www.frugalfamilytree.com/2012/05/39dollar-glasses-review-and-giveaway.html

 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts May 11th 2012 and ends on May 30th, 2012 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post.  I was provided the product pictured in the post for free for my review. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.

Kravings by Klogs Shoe Review and Giveaway - Mother's Day

Shoes are something all women love! Its the simplest way to make an outfit look put together. As a busy Mom I was stuck in the flip flop rut and I hated it. I needed a pair of shoes that I could slip on to do errands and also look great while doing it. They needed to be comfortable and not too tall. ( My son loves to still be carried and tends to be a wiggle worm so I did not want to fall over wearing too tall of shoes, yes I am klutz lol)

I looked online to fins a comfy pair of clog type of shoes and found a great company, Klogs. I was delighted to see that Klogs makes a line of shoes that are perfect for a Mom. Kravings by Klogs has super cute, stylish and comfy shoes for a busy Mom. I have been wearing the Millie in Black from the Monarch Collection and love them. They are very comfortable and sturdy. A good shoe especially a sandal needs to feel sturdy. Like you can run in them if you need to. Of course I do not recommend that but with a toddler it possible you might have to dash after them.

The Kravings Shoes have leather tops with a cushioned insole and shock absorbing outsole. The main thing I noticed about wearing the shoes after hours of running errands with my son is my feet still felt great. No soreness or fatigue. Awesome!

GIVEAWAY

Win a pair of Woman's Sandals from Kravings.com


To Enter This Giveaway:

 What style of shoes from Kravings do you like?

*Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on.

-Like Kravings by Klogs on Facebook +2
-Follow Klogs on Pinterest +2
-Like Klogs on Facebook +2


 -Follow/Add to your circle  Frugal Family Tree on Google+ ( right hand side) +1
-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1
-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1 

-Share this giveaway on Facebook ONLY, using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day)

-Copy and Paste This Tweet on Twitter and leave me the link (to find the link click on the time stamp under your tweet. Can be done once a day for the duration of the giveaway)

#Win a pair of Sandals from Kravings by Klogs at @FrugalFamTree #Giveaway ends 5/25 #shoes

 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts May 10th 2012 and ends on May 25th, 2012 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post.  I was provided the product pictured in the post for free for my review. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.