Wednesdays learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

inspissate  \in-SPISS-ayt\  ~ verb

DEFINITION: to make or become thick or thicker

EXAMPLES: "Marmalade of carrots is the juice of yellow carrots, inspissated till it is of the thickness of fluid honey, or treacle, which last it resembles both in taste and color." — From Capt. James E. Cook's 1777 book A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1

"Estrogen and progesterone affect direction and flow of tubal secretions, which may accumulate, inspissate, and eventually calcify." — From Gary B. Siskin's 2009 book Interventional Radiology in Women’s Health

DID YOU KNOW?  "Inspissate" is ultimately derived from Latin "spissus" ("slow, dense") and is related to Greek "spidnos" ("compact") and Lithuanian "spisti" ("to form a swarm"). When it appeared in English in the 17th century, "inspissate" suggested a literal thickening. Francis Bacon, for example, wrote in 1626 that "Sugar doth inspissate the Spirits of the Wine, and maketh them not so easie to resolue into Vapour." Eventually "inspissate" was also used metaphorically. Clive Bell once wrote of "parties of school children and factory girls inspissating the gloom of the museum atmosphere." There is also an adjective "inspissate," meaning "thickened in consistency" or "made thick, heavy, or intense," but that word is used even less frequently than the somewhat rare verb.

 

Find more great words at merriam-webster on line.

~THE REBATE~

Getting in the gift giving mode yet?  If you are planning on purchasing games this holiday season this is a great rebate.  Hasbro is offering a rebate of up to $40.00 back on many of their great games.  You can mix and match up to 12 games, but you are limited to only 4 games of one title per rebate form, but you can mail in two forms.   Even better, you can file your rebate right on line and save yourself the postage.  The games included are:

• The Game of Life (SKU# 04000)
• Monopoly (SKU# 00009)
• Scattergories (SKUs# A2861, 05721)
• Pictionary (SKU# 05713)
• Scrabble (SKUs# 04024, 37719),
• Yahtzee (SKU# 00950)
• Hungry Hungry Hippos (SKUs# 05297, 98936)
• Jenga (SKU# 53557)
• Twister (SKUs# 16965, 98831)
• Connect 4 (SKUs# 08417, 98779),
• Elefun (SKUs# 05294, 98934)
• Operation (SKU# 40198)

To maximize your savings be sure to check your local paper for game sales and Hasbro coupons as well as join their reward program for their Perks Coupons and discounts.

I hope you are all having a great day.

C.Q.
 

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

I took this in our yard at the start of the month, summer is going by so fast and I missed a lot of it so I have been taking every opportunity to take pictures.  I loved the close up of this dandelion and by changing it to black and white it really brought out the intricacy of the seed heads.  Fall is right around the corner.


The deal...

Did you know that Kellogg's has a family rewards program?  Just purchase the products you love then look for the reward codes.  Enter the codes on line and redeem them for fun stuff like magazines, toys or movie cash.  While you are there be sure to check the promotions and coupons tab for free codes and some great coupons.

Have a great day!

C.Q.

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Williamsburg Virginia and we can't wait to go back, there is something for both of us since my husband really enjoys the woods and fishing and I love all things history and cultural.  On one of our visits to the Colonial section of Williamsburg I got a shot of this horse and rider headed down the Palace Green headed towards the Governor's Palace.  It was so much fun to feel like you are a part of history there!

The deal...

Woman Within is having their Winter Blitz with up to 80% off clothing and up to 60% off coats and boots.  Winter has been slow to arrive her in Northern Minnesota this year, but I have no doubt it will show up in full force soon!  I was able to find a great Arctic Knee High boot that will fit me great for getting through the snow to take pictures.  They were originally $119.99 but they are now $49.99, and a pair of hounds tooth hiking boots that would be great in the spring, both a great deal, now I just need to decide which I need most.   Another great bonus; if you order $50 or more you get a nice 2 piece weekender travel set.  Also, remember if you are a member of MyPoints you will get 2 points back per dollar spent, or if you belong to Quick Rewards you will earn 3% back on your purchase.

Have a nice Thursday everyone.

C.Q.

Saturday's Sojourn...

It has been a while since I have done a Sojourn post, but since I am actually in Chicago I thought I would share a bit of where we have been, I think I will save the rest of the vacation for next Saturday.  It will also give me an opportunity to share some of the ways to get great deals on travel.

I guess its easiest to go in order, I received an email from my local airport (we are on a smaller terminal) saying they were offering deals out of here direct to Chicago for $99.00 each way, usually they are $130 or more so that cinched that we were flying.  If you like to travel its worth while to be friends with your airport on Facebook or subscribe to their emails, you can get advance notice on air fare deals that way.  I paid for the tickets using a card that earns mile on that air line as well, and booking it right through them got me double miles towards my next flight somewhere.

Next up was trying to figure out where to stay in the city for under the usual $300 a night.  Being out at the airport may save up front, but it costs a fortune in cab rides, and actually
can wind up costing more than spending the extra to stay in the
heart of the city where you can walk to everything.  I am a member of Snique Away, a great site that offers hotel deals, kind of like Groupon but for lodging.  They have great offers each week, so its always something new.  The deal that came up was for the Hotel Burnham, just a few blocks away from Millennium Park, and we got to save a third of the hotel price. Like all the Kimpton Hotels, it is a smaller boutique property that offers outstanding service, they allow pets but if you can't travel with your family friend they have a program called Guppy Love, you get a gold fish in your room that the staff takes care of for you, no need to do a thing, other than name him/her and enjoy the company.

We arrived early so we had plenty of time to unpack, meet up with another friend of ours who flew in separately and unwind before our night of wining and dining on board the Odyssey dinner cruise.  I purchased a $50 certificate from Restaurant.com during their sale for only $10, so we saved $40 and got to enjoy a great 3 course dinner while listening to live music and watching the Chicago night skyline go by.

Thursday we went on a Chicago Film bus tour, we purchased the tickets on Groupon so we paid 1/2 price for the two hour tour.  These are fun ways to see the city in a new way, and Groupon often has different types of tours and activities on sale if you watch for them.  It was fun to see the spot where they filmed one of my all time favorite movies,  Ferris Bueller's Day Off, of course I had to hum a little Twist and Shout for the rest of the day! As an added bonus we got to see the police cars and they are using for the new Superman move being filmed here, they all said Metropolis and were parked in front of Union Station, how cool is that?!?!  That left the rest of the day for shopping.  Ahhhh shopping, I do a lot of reward sites that pay you to read mail, click links and/or shop through them so I had and still have a lot of gift cards for Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Old Navy, Sephora, Williams Senoma, etc. so it was a fun day!

Friday was our princess pamper day, we all had a lemon cream Mani/pedi at Eshe Spa, a wonderful oasis in the city and a place I would put at the very top of my to do list again, what a wonderful group of gals we had help us!  They are a Spa Finder Spa and I was able to cash out from reward sites and my Discover cards points for Spa Finder gift certificates, the visit was totally paid for using hobby money or Discover rebates.  You can also get good deals on Spa Finder certificates at eBay. After that we went to have High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel, I was able to get a $50.00 Peninsula Dining certificate by cashing some of my points out of my American Express rewards account, so that was a great treat on a budget.  Ahhh what a day!

Today is double discount day at the Art Institute of Chicago, so today will be a day of culture and beauty.  If you have a museum near you that you enjoy check into becoming a member, many museums are reciprocal so you get discounts in many places.  I am a member of the Art Institute as well as the Field Museum and have used those memberships to get into and get discounts in Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul so far, I will have to see where I can visit when we go to Virgina for Christmas.  If you don't want to join check the museum's web site, they often have free days; usually once a month, and they will have it posted on their events calender.

It seems there is never a shortage of things to do in Chicago, this morning they were filming another scene from the new Superman move in Daley Plaza, right next to the hotel so I was able to get some fun pictures of that before we even left for the museum.  Next week the dining, the ball game, the chauffeured ride to the airport and so much more.

Have a wonderful weekend!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

supposititious \suh-pah-zuh-TISH-us\ ~ adjective

DEFINITION(s): 1a : fraudulently substituted : spurious b : of a child (1) : falsely presented as a genuine heir

(2) : illegitimate 2a : imaginary b : of the nature of or based on a supposition : hypothetical

EXAMPLES: "I sat looking at Peggotty for some time, in a reverie on this supposititious case: whether, if she were employed to lose me like the boy in the fairy tale, I should be able to track my way home again by the buttons she would shed." -- From Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield

"If I had Clark for a son, I would probably take my supposititious heir to lunch myself." -- From Tim Sandlin's 2010 novel Social Blunders

DID YOU KNOW? The Latin verb "supponere," meaning "substitute," has several legitimate heirs in English, including "supposititious" (which dates from the early 17th century) and "supposition" (a 15th century addition). The "fraudulent" and "illegitimate" meanings of "supposititious" trace back to "supponere" in a fairly direct route, whereas the "imaginary" and "hypothetical" meanings were influenced by the meanings of "supposition." In legal contexts, "supposititious" is primarily used in its earlier senses, as in "a supposititious (fraudulent) will" or "the child was supposititious (illegitimate)." When something hypothetical is being considered, the adjective "suppositious" is often preferred over "supposititious."

~THE REBATE~

It's time to think about winterizing your lawn and Ace Hardware can help with rebates of up to $12.00 on their Ace Green Turf and Scott's lawn care products.  There is a complete list on the rebate form, all you need to do is send in the completed form together with the original Ace Hardware receipt and the original UPC from the package(s).  Be sure to fill in the box that asks for the total amount of your rebate.  Purchase must be made between August 20, 2011 and September 30, 2011.  If you are an Ace Rewards member you can complete the form on line.

I hope you are having a great week so far!

C.Q.

Tastefully Tueday...

I'll admit, I get a LOT of mail in my emails in box and I don't always look at all of it, at least if I want to do something other than email for the day.  But today I came across and email from Kraft about their Outstand-wich Road Trip recipes and a chance to win $3,750 each week to take the ultimate Road Trip.  While I was there I checked out the sandwiches and came across so many that sounded so good, but being from Minnesota I chose a sandwich from the neighboring state of Wisconsin to put in the blog today, so without further adiue, here it is...

Cheesy Ham & Apple Panini

2 tsp. KRAFT Mayo with Olive Oil Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
1 tsp. GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard
2 slices sourdough bread
1 thin red onion slice
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Smoked Ham
6 thin apple slices
1 KRAFT Big Slice Colby Jack Cheese Slice
1 tsp. olive oil

HEAT panini grill.
MIX mayo and mustard; spread onto bread slices. Fill with onion, ham, apples and cheese.
BRUSH outside of sandwich with oil.
GRILL 3 min. or until golden brown.

If You Don't Have a Panini Grill heat a skillet on medium heat. Cook sandwich 5 min. on each side or until cheese is melted and sandwich is golden brown on both sides, gently pressing down top of sandwich with spatula to flatten slightly as it cooks.

Substitute: Prepare using OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Cracked Black Pepper Turkey Breast.

Today's no cook offer is from Outback Steak House.  You can print a coupon for an additional $10.00 bonus card when you purchase a $50.00 card.  I love these offers because they really stretch my dining dollars.  You can also sign up for the Outback E-Club reward program where you can earn points towards future certificates and get a $5.00 off coupon for the new Outback Special^® and Snow Crab.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

hyperborean  \hye-per-BOR-ee-un\ ~ adjective

DEFINITION(S):

1: of or relating to an extreme northern region : frozen
2: of or relating to any of the arctic peoples

EXAMPLES: Pauline possessed an impressive tolerance of cold winters, for which she credited her hyperborean ancestors from northern Canada.

"She came through the door tugging him awkwardly by the wrist … and settled into a chair in the waiting room while Elvira's parrot gnawed at the wicker bars of its cage and the little air conditioner I keep in the front window churned out its hyperborean drafts." -- From a story by T. Coraghessan Boyle in his 2010 collection Wild Child

DID YOU KNOW? In ancient Greek mythology, the "Hyperboreoi" were a people who lived in a northern paradise of perpetual sunshine beyond the reaches of the god of the north wind. Their name located them within the Greek world; it combined the prefix "hyper-," meaning "above," and "Boreas," the Greek name for the north wind. When "hyperborean" first appeared in our language in the 15th century, it named those legendary folk. By the late 1500s, though, the word was being used more generally for anything relating to the far north or the people who lived there

~THE REBATE~
 

Lean Cuisine has a great program called Delicious Rewards that runs through December 31, 2011.  When you purchase specially marked packages you can enter the codes online for points that are redeemable for great stuff like their colorful lunch bags, Sweepstakes entries, kitchen gadgets and free Lean Cuisine meals. 
 
I hope you are all having a great week!
 
C.Q.

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

Recently my husband and I went up the North Shore of Minnesota to the Gunflint Trail area.  Along the way we stopped into the Judge C R Magney State Park and hiked a little.  My husband has better legs then me so he walked the 300+ stairs to go see the Devils Kettle and got this great picture.  The Devil's Kettle..."The section on the right, lands at the base of the falls and continues downstream. The section on the left vanishes into a pothole known as the Devil's Kettle and no one knows where it goes. It is believed that the water makes its way out to Lake Superior by means of underground passages, but the exact details are unknown. They (the DNR and research scientists) have thrown dyes and logs and other things into the pothole, but apparently nothing ever comes out."


The deal...

PetCareRX is having their Summer Pet Appreciation Week with free shipping on orders over $35.00 and $10.00 off any order over $75.00 with coupon code LOVEPETS. While you are there be sure to check out the deal of the day for extra savings.  Be sure to sign up for their PetCareRX points program which allows you to earn points for each purchase, you can redeem them for cash off your purchase, each 100 points is $5.00 off.

I hope you all are having a great week!  Today is the last day to get in on the swap we have going on, it is a lot of fun and I would love to have more folks involved.

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

amanuensis  \uh-man-yuh-WEN-sis\ ~ noun

DEFINITION: one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript

EXAMPLES: Marco worked as an amanuensis for a judge who needed to compose his opinions orally while recovering from cataract surgery.

"As early as the 1840s and 1850s, the Ohio Cultivator published women's columns that spoke vividly for women's rights and honed the talents of two important abolitionist feminists, Hanna Maria Tracy Cutler and Frances Dana Gage, who is now best remembered as the amanuensis for Sojourner Truth's 'Ain't I a Woman' speech." -- From Frances W. Kaye's 2011 book Goodlands: A Meditation and History on the Great Plains

DID YOU KNOW? In Latin, the phrase "servus a manu" translates loosely as "slave with secretarial duties." (The noun "manu," meaning "hand," gave us words such as "manuscript," originally meaning a document written or typed by hand.) In the 17th century the second part of this phrase was borrowed into English to create "amanuensis," a word for a person who is employed (willingly) to do the important but sometimes menial work of transcribing the words of another. While other quaint words, such as "scribe" or "scrivener," might have similarly described the functions of such a person in the past, these days we’re likely to call him or her a "secretary," or maybe an "administrative assistant."


~THE REBATE~

From now until September 30th you can collect points from specially marked Kimberly Clark products and earn Cars 2 Prizes including $10 pre-paid Visa card, movie tickets to Cars 2, or fun Cars 2 toys.  Just check for the codes on packages of Cottonelle, Huggies, Pull-ups, Kleenex, Scott and Viva.  Points must be entered in the system by 9/30 and redeemed by 10/31.

Remember to come by and enter the swap, we are sharing a little bit of where we are from with folks from different states, it should be fun!
 
Have a great Wednesday everyone!

C.Q.

Friday's freebie...

Way to go Walgreen's, thanks for making walking both fun and rewarding. You can join the Walk With Walgreen's program and start earning rewards like coupons and other surprises, plus if you submit a Walk and you’ll automatically be entered in our $100-a-day-Giveaway. They reward you just for registering! Just set a goal, then log your daily steps. In no time at all, you’ll be receiving rewards and coupons from our partners for doing what you already do.

I hope you are all having a great day!

C.Q.

Saturday Sojourn...

St. Paul, Minnesota



This weekend I am on a vacation with the hubby and some good friends in St. Paul, Minnesota, so I thought this would be the prefect time to introduce you all to a really fun place to visit.

Cathedral of St. Paul

St. Paul is located on the banks of the Mississippi River and was named the capital of the Minnesota Territory in 1849.  The original capital was located at Lambert's Landing and was called Pig's Eye after a local tavern of the same name. The Pigs Eye Tavern was run by  Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant; a retired fur trader-turned-bootlegger.  When Father Lucien Galtier, the first Catholic pastor came to the region, establishing the Log Chapel of Saint Paul (shortly thereafter to become the first location of the Cathedral of Saint Paul), he made it known that the settlement was now to be called by that name.  St. Paul also has original Native American burial mounds believed to belong to the Hopwell tribe.  These mounds date back over 2000 years, to put that in perspective, there were still Pharaohs ruling in Egypt.  According to tradition the dead were buried with artifacts. The Hopewell mounds are very distinctive and including burial of the deceased's ashes. Later the Dakota Indians used the same site to bury their dead; wrapping the bodies in animal skins.

The St. Paul Hotel

Now that you know a little of the history of St. Paul lets find a place to stay.  We are staying at the St. Paul Hotel because we are history buffs.  The St. Paul was built in 1910.  Besides being host to the general public the Hotel has had Presidents, international leaders, royalty, gangsters, movie stars, athletes and business leaders among its guests.  It's one of the Historic Hotels of America, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, if you are a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation you can get 10% off your rate when you book on line plus discounts on various attractions nation wide.  The Saint Paul Hotel is listed at the #1 spot for places to stay on Tripadvisor, but if you are looking for something a little less pricey the list features the Best Western Kelly Inn as the #2 place to stay in St. Paul and the County Inn and Suites as the #3 spot.  Both are wonderful for families and feature indoor swimming pools, the Country Inn and Suites also has a water slide but the Best Western allows pets.  A huge bonus to both properties is that they offer complementary parking, that can add up to a big savings you can spend someplace a lot more fun.  Remember to check out the rewards for each of the vendors as well for more savings and freebies.  Both The Best Western Gold Crown Rewards program and the Carlson Club reward you with points for your stay that can be used for additional nights.

Landmark Center

Como Park Conservatory



Since we splurged on our hotel we strived to keep extra expenses to a minimum and found quite a few things that were either free or very inexpensive to keep us all amused.  Most of buildings we wanted to see offer free tours and have quite the history, first is the Landmark Center which is located right across the street from our hotel.  This building was completed in 1902, originally served as the United States Post Office, Court House, and Custom House for the state of Minnesota and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.  Next stop is the Minnesota State Capitol, construction started in 1896 and was completed in 1905.  The building features a beautiful rotunda and the golden quadriga (the horse sculpture) which you can go up to the roof to view.  An architecture tour wouldn't be complete without visiting the amazing Cathedral of St. Paul.  The church has spectacular stained glass windows, beautiful shrines, paintings and two fresco's.  The Cathedral welcomes over 200,000 visitors per year and photography is allowed, but please be mindful of mass and other religious services that may be going on at the time.  Finally we decided to visit the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory.  Admission is a suggested $2.00 which is used to house, feed and care for the animals as well as take care of the plants in the Conservatory.  This is a fun place for folks of all ages, they have programs and rides for the kids and relaxing strolls through some of the most beautiful gardens for the adults.  The zoo features a California sea lion exhibit, a big cat display, gorillas, yaks and giraffes. Another great stop is the Science Museum of Minnesota,  they have both adult activities as well as quite a few different children's programs.  Now through September 5th they have an exhibit featuring the treasures of King Tut.  The price for the whole package is $38.00 on weekdays for non members and $43.00 on weekends for non member adults, but you can save a bit by opting out of the Omnimax film about Mummies and the audio tour, this will save you $13.00, which you can use to grab a snack.

Mickey's Dining Car

There are so many different dining options in St. Paul.  We all decided we wanted one dinner that was a little glamorous so we chose Moscow on the Hill, a place that compares to nothing we have back home.  (Blini and Borscht were a must for me.)  Another stop that is a must is Mickey's Dining Car on 7th Street. The diner was designed to resemble the railroad dining cars of the period. It is unique in that it is one of the first diners to be built in the Art Deco style.  Not surprisingly it is also on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Mickey's serves breakfast all day, so any time your in the mood for pancakes stop in and check it our for yourself.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!!

C.Q.