Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

A couple weeks ago my husband and I were looking for something to do and decided to go up to the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota.  We spend a couple hours exploring Discovery World in Chisholm, it was a fun afternoon and we got to learn a lot too.  They have areas set up through out the grounds that recreate different settlements of all the different peoples that settled the area.  This picture is a classic settlement of settlers that came from the East Coast of the US.  This is a large home with two stories and a barn in the back.

The deal...

If you are a gardener you know Fall is the time of year to put in your lily bulbs.  Eden Brothers has 33 varieties of beautiful lilys and everyone of them is on sale right now, most marked down 50%!  If you have ordered from them in the past remember to use coupon code loyalcustomer for additional savings.

I hope you are all having a beautiful Thursday!

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~

raconteur  \ra-kahn-TER\ ~ noun

DEFINITION: a person who excels in telling anecdotes

EXAMPLES: A bona fide raconteur, Turner can turn even mundane experiences into hilariously entertaining stories.

"The story is constructed as a light mentor piece in which Henry, a sometime college literature professor, Christmas ball collector and raconteur, takes a boarder into his crummy New York apartment." -- From an article by Dennis King in The Oklahoman, September 10, 2010

DID YOU KNOW? The story of "raconteur" is a tale of telling and counting. English speakers borrowed the word from French, where it traces back to the Old French verb "raconter," meaning "to tell." "Raconter" in turn was formed from another Old French verb, "aconter" or "acompter," meaning "to tell" or "to count," which is ultimately from Latin "computare," meaning "to count." "Computare" is also the source of our words "count" and "account." "Raconteur" has been part of the English vocabulary since at least 1828.
 
~THE REBATE~

Fall is here and its time to start cooking things "low and slow", nothing like a great Brisket for that!  From now until December 31st you can get a $5 mail-in rebate when you buy a 5 pound or larger Sadler’s Smokehouse Whole or Sliced Beef Brisket.  Just fill in the rebate form and mail it in together with a copy of the receipt and proof of purchase.  This offer is limited to one per household.
 
I hope you are all enjoying your week, I am on my way to Chicago with friends and will put up a Saturday Sojourn this month all about Chicago and where we have been and where we are going. 
 
C.Q.

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The Picture...

This seemed appropriate as I look forward to my upcoming girls week out in Chicago.  I am flying in with a friend and we are meeting another friend there.  I think we are going to have a ton of fun together, we have a lot planned with museums, shopping, dining and seeing the sights.  Be sure to check out the Saturday Sojourn post on the 17th for a little sample of what we are up to while we are there.

The Deal...

Are you drapes, curtains or blinds looking a little worn or out dates?  Smith and Noble is the perfect place to find really nice new ones at a great price but even better, now until September 13th they are offering their buy 3 get one free sale.  The sale applies whether you are doing the work yourself or have someone on their team come to help you are do all the work.  If you use the Do It Yourself option enter coupon code 11Ø9DY, if you use the Measure and Install then use coupon code 11Ø9FB, and if you decide to go with the In-Home Design Consulting Service then just use coupon code 11Ø9FC, for the In-Home option you also need a copy of the email for their sale, you can join their mailing list to get one, but if you miss it just leave me a comment and I can email you a copy.

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone.

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

Recently I have added some new apps to my iPad so it is ready to take on vacation.  Surprisingly my favorite way to pass time now is playing UNO.  Gameloft has a great app for only .99 cents and it allows you to play against another person or play the AI in a single game or in tournament mode.  In the tournament mode there are a variety of rules to play through and win, standard rules, penalty rules where you can play a draw 2 on a draw 2 and so on until the last player standing has to pick up a bunch of cards, the 7-0 rules which require you to change hands with a player of your choice when you play a 7 and all cards go one person left or right, depending on the direction of play, when a 0 is played, and jump in rules which is just that, when you have the same card, both color and number as the card played you can jump in and play it.  All these variations make the game a ton of fun and can be hugely entertaining for kids or adults.  You can find the game on iTunes or at the Gameloft site.

The other app I found came to me in an email from Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, I currently subscribe to and love their magazine, now it is available to me on my iPad for free as part of that subscription.  You will need to enter your magazine subscription number which should be on your mailing label.  Some subscribers are having issues logging in, I had no problem however.  I was more than willing to download this app and wait for the fix if I needed to, its one of the magazines I look forward to being delivered!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

C.Q.


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Thursday's picture perfect deal...

I apologize for the brief hiatus, I had one of my best friends in town and I got too far behind on everything so when something had to give it was the blog, but I am back in the saddle again and ready to dive in with today's picture and deal.

The picture...

Now that my friend has flown back home I am looking forward to my Trip to Chicago with her and another friend of ours in September.  We have the best husbands, they let us do silly stuff like take trips together, knowing full well there may be a call in the middle of the night to ask for bail money. ;)  This is a picture I took of the Chicago River last time I was there, it was taken by the Veteran's Memorial along the River Walk near Wabasha Avenue.

The deal...

The Chef's Catalog is having their appreciation sale and offering 10% off their items, even if they are already marked down.  I love this store and have ordered from them quite a few times, the products are wonderful, some are great time savers, some are great for comfort, like the kitchen mats by GellyMat that are regularly $80.00 but are on sale for $59.95 ($53.95 after the discount), and some are for everyday, like my husbands favorite All-Clad pans, or my favorite way to store holiday dishes; Cotton Microfiber Storage Cases, normally $20.00, marked down to $12.00 ($10.80 after the discount).  To receive the discount just enter the code BW4EM6857 at checkout.  This code is good until August 7th.  They also have free shipping on all their orders.

I hope you are all having a great week.

C.Q.

Saturday's swap...

OK, I am going to do it again for July, think about where you live and with a budget of at least $10 purchase something that represents where you are, package it up with a postcard from your city or state and mail it off to a person the pair you up with. I think this can be a lot of fun, I know a ton of sites are doing craft swaps, this is similar, except you don't have to make anything, unless you want to. To join just leave a comment and next Saturday I will pair you up with another reader. If this goes well I will do it again next month. If we end up with an odd number participating I will jump in and swap as well, so no one will be left out who wants to join in the fun.  After you receive your package be sure to post about it on your site.

Have a great weekend everyone!

C.Q.

Saturday's Sojourn...

Saving along the way



Today I decided to look at vacations a little differently at let you in on some money saving ideas that will make it easier to go on a vacation with your family.

The first thing to tackle is the getting there. If you are driving make sure your car is tuned up and your tires are inflated properly, this is a huge gas saver. Also, you can check eBay auctions and gift cards sites like ABC Gift Cards for gas gift cards, there is usually a very small savings on these but any savings is good. If you are flying then make sure you check all the sites for the lowest fares, including the airline directly. Kayak, Cheap flights and Booking Buddy are great places to get deals. Most importantly, remember to include all your expenses in your calculations, here's what I mean; I am going to Chicago with some friends in a couple months and we thought about driving, the cost of gas from here to there is about $215.00 according to the AAA fuel cost calculator, plus the additional expense of parking at over $40 per day for 6 nights ($240) made the driving cost about $465.00. Our local airport ran a special offering one way tickets, non stop to Chicago for $99.00, so flying cost us a little less than driving and we don't have to worry about a car. Almost everything is with in walking distance to where we are staying so our transportation in the city is almost nil.  Also, be sure to check eBay for drink vouchers and airline gift cards, these can increase your savings even further.

The next huge expense is the hotel.  For our vacation I found a great deal right in the city using SniqueAway.  They offer 4 and 5 star hotels at very discounted rates.  This vacation will be my first time using them but the reviews on TripAdvisor are all favorable.  Another great option is Hotels.com, sometimes you can find rooms they want to book closer to your arrival date.  Remember to join the hotels guest rewards program if they have one as well, this may not earn you a free nights stay unless you visit a lot, but it will almost always get you free internet service in your room.  If you are a member of AAA be sure to ask when checking in or making your reservation is you get a discount with your card.

Once you have arrived its time to have some fun, one of the best things I have found to do is see if there is an Entertainment book for the area you will be visiting, these are filled with discounts and can save you hundreds.  Also be sure to check in with at the Tourist Information area, most every place has them, from big cities to little towns and they can be a source for some great coupons and information on specials in the area.  If you have a general working idea of the area you are going to visit then you can shop ahead at Restraunt.com for some great discounted meals, just be sure to read the small print, some require a purchase of a certain amount and others may expire.  You can also check on eBay and places like Gift Card Rescue for discounted gift cards, just make sure you don't get a card larger than you can use or it will go to waste.  If you are headed to a larger city be sure to check out CityPass, they offer a discounted price for all the largest attractions in the area.  I have also found that doing a simple Google search on Tourist Discounts for ______ will net you some pretty amazing results.

Do you have a money saving tip? I would love to hear about it.

Have a great weekend! 

C.Q.

Saturday Sojourn...

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina



Today I used the site Dart on Map to find a place to check out, it landed on a great spot I had never heard of called Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina.  Kill Devil Hills is located on the barrier islands known as the outer banks and the name dates back to the Colonial Era.  The coast line was a popular spot for merchant ships transporting Rum, and when one would become disabled the inhabitants would go out to the ship and remove the cargo before it sank and hide the Rum behind the sand dunes.  They said the Rum was strong enough to kill the Devil, thus the area became known as Kill Devil Hills.  And despite near by Kitty-hawks reputation Kill Devil Hills is the actual site of the Wright Brothers National Memorial, commemorating the siblings' four powered airplane flights of Thursday, December 17, 1903. Orville returned in 1911, and on October 25 he set a new world glider record, remaining in the air 10 minutes and 34 seconds, soaring against the wind with very little forward movement.

Well there is a little background, lets land a room.  You can stay ocean front at the Quality Inn Carolina Oceanfront.  The guest rooms feature pillow-top mattresses, microwaves, refrigerators, coffee makers, irons, ironing boards, hair dryers, safes and cable television with free HBO. Select rooms also have balconies, desks and sofa sleepers.  A bar/lounge is on site at the hotel where guests can unwind with a drink, a complimentary breakfast is offered and High-speed wireless Internet is complimentary.  Visiting during the off season you should be able to find a room under $100.00 per night.  If you are a Choice Privileges member and book soon you will earn bonus reward points.

Unpack and start to explore the area, besides the beach you are very near the Wright Brothers national memorial.  "Containing a recently refurbished replica of the original Wright Flyer as well as other memorabilia of the First Flight, the Wright Brothers National Memorial and Visitor Center commemorates one of America's historic moments.  A nearby sand dune supports the Memorial Pylon, which locals simply refer to as "The Monument".   On the extensive grounds around the visitor center/museum there are historical markers and a reconstructed hanger and shop. (free)

True nature lover?  Check out the Nags Head Wood Preserve not far up the road.  This 1,092 acres offers beautiful hiking trails that are open dawn to dusk every day for foot traffic only. Leashed pets, horses and bicycles are not allowed on the trails but are welcome on the gravel roadway.  With in the Preserve you will find a rare Maritime Deciduous Forest, Maritime Swamp Forest, Maritime Shrub Forest and Interdunal Ponds laced together with quite a few trails.  There is over 300 plant species, 50 birds species as well as many reptiles and amphibians.  Be sure to wear good hiking shoes, bring some water and download a map of the trails to take with on your adventure. (free)

For the shopper there are some great deals to be had at the Tanger Outlet just a few minutes from the hotel.  Be sure to check out the coupon section of their site for anything you my be interested in. If you join the TangerClub you will also get a free coupon book each time you visit a Tanger Outlet as well as seasonal specials, birthday rewards and gift cards.

If you love fishing you will have no problem finding a fishing charter to take you out to saltwater fish, or you can take the long walk down the Avalon Pier with your own gear and try your luck. Anywhere you fish be sure to check the regulations, here are the rules for North Carolina's Salt Water fishing.

One of my favorite foods is seafood and when you stay someplace near the water its nice to find places with the fresh stuff!  According to TripAdvisor a great place for seafood is Crabby Fries, located less than one mile from the hotel.  Their menu features all day breakfast, steamed seafood, burgers and hand cut fries.  If yo are looking for something more on the romantic side check out The Pearl, they serve dinner and Sunday Brunch and feature a more traditional fine dining experience.  If you are looking for something fun to take the kids to then check out The Jolly Roger who features fresh caught local seafood, steaks, prime rib and reportedly the most famous breakfast on the beach.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!  I would love to hear about your favorite vacation, where was it and what did you do?  Next week I will let you know how the swap went, we will have another swap starting on the 25th of June.

C.Q.