Have you ever wondered????

.... when is the best time to shop at Costco? when they have most sample carts out? In my humble very unprofessional opinion, I would have to say that FRIDAY evening is one of the best times to visit my local Costco store. While everyone else is out at the local restaurant, you can shop without the crowds and then enjoy a slice of yummy hot pizza or a hot dog combo on the way out. The last few times I have shopped on a Friday night, I have almost had the whole store to myself. As for the busiest days of the week, Saturday and Sunday win hands down. They are also the days with the most samples! So, I suppose the question you must ask yourself is are free samples at every turn worth fighting the crowds? For many, the answer will be a resounding YES, but if you are like me, I prefer to be able to stop my cart in the middle of the aisle to peruse the latest merchandise without feeling like I'm blocking Interstate I-64!
As I see them, I will post items that are on sale. On Friday I saw a GREAT deal on a giant cupcake carrier for only $9.97! Remember if you see an item with .97 in the price you can be assured it's on sale!!!

Oh Where or Where has my blog gone?!?!?

So, yes I fell of the planet when it comes to my blog about my beloved Costco. I think I have a pretty good excuse, a new baby girl in July pretty much says it all! Now that's she's getting ready to turn 9 months, I think I can... I think I can...

So many times over this past year I have thought, oh man, I need to get back to my blog and post about this amazing deal or new product. What has got me back on the wagon, was a conversation with an expectant mom on Facebook about my AMAZING Phil and Ted's Dash stroller that I bought for our new bambino from Costco.com. I couldn't tell her enough good things about it and felt like there might be other mom's out there that needed to know the same things. Of course Costco had THE BEST DEAL out there! Well, I'm off to run some errands with the kiddo's today, and YES, I will be making a stop at my local Costco, as we are celebrating our son's 3rd birthday tomorrow and need to pick up some chicken for the grill! I'll let you know what new and exciting deals and goodies I find! Hopefully sooner rather than later!

I was gone but now I'm back!

Well, it's been FOREVER since I last posted something. I thought many times about how I needed to post an explanation of my absence (not that anyone missed my blog posts!) but didn't. You see I am now 15 weeks pregnant, expecting Baby #3 in July and right after I started this blog, I got the dreaded nausea. This time it was so bad that I couldn't hardly function. My sense of smell was out the roof, my desire for coffee was gone, and on top of it, I could hardly bring myself to go grocery shopping, even to my beloved Costco. I did manage to go a couple of times, but it was literally an in and out thing (I think I've mastered that one now!) and had absolutely nothing to share.

But alas, I am feeling 100% better and am back to my old Costco shopping self. I have one really great find to share with you. I found the yummiest tomato/spaghetti sauce by Victoria's at Costco. The jars are huge (like twice the size of regular jars). When they first came out they were over $6, now they are $4.75 and have a manufacturer's rebate of $2.50 and are $2.25/each. AWESOME deal. Needless to say I stocked up and bought 12 jars, I think that will last me at least half the year.

Well, I better stop while the going is good and post this. It's good to be back in the land of the living. I was sorry to have missed all of the Christmas deals, but hey, there's always next year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I hate to say it but....

For all of you that thought it was utterly impossible for me to find anything negative with Costco.. well... today I did. Let me rephrase it, disappointment more than anything. Yesterday I went specifically to get flea medication for our dog among other things, but forgot until I was in the car driving away... so I went back TODAY... yes today.. because it's just sooooo much cheaper than at the vet..

Well... I get there and it's nowhere to be found.. WHAT?!?!?! I couldn't believe it, I thought maybe they had decided to lock it up in the off limits cage up front. So I asked Miss C our favorite and sweetest cashier where it was hiding.. only to find out that they don't carry it anymore...ugh! Even the man in front of me was shocked, because he thought it was such a great deal too.

Miss C told me that for whatever reason they had decided not to carry it anymore but they still had some at the Norfolk store. I figured that this was an item they were discontinuing company wide. So on my way out I filled out a comment card venting my frustration, and then vented again to the lovely man at the door.. He too asked if I went to Norfolk... only I found out this time.. no the company didn't decide to discontinue it.. just the Newport News store did.. now I was frustrated.. oh well, we're not all perfect.. even Costco :(

Cheers,

Paula

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

Oh how I love it when the weather starts to get chilly and there is just that feeling of knowing that Christmas is right around the corner. And nothing confirmed it more to me than when I went to Costco and saw the twinkling lights on the Christmas trees, the lighted Reindeer bobbing their heads, Christmas wrap, etc, etc... and the rows and rows of amazingly priced toys! You really can't beat Costco's prices on toys. So if you have a kids birthday party to go to between now and Christmas, I'd suggest you shop there! They had 2 webkinz for $16. I hear that they go for almost that much for one. But buyer beware, they do sell out of some of their top toys kind of quickly!

On this last visit, I had the honor of taking my dear friend K, with me on her first trip to the Big C. I think she liked it! She's a member of another "club" (that will remain nameless) but she seemed rather impressed with the infamous Costco! We strolled up and down each aisle (not wanting her to miss anything!) and saw some pretty good deals. They have super soft throw blankets for $9.97 (perfect for those Secret Santa gifts for $10 & under!) and right beside that they had even softer faux fur throws for only $14.97. After a super inexpensive, yummy lunch in the food court that fed 4 kids for $4.44, we left happy! I'm hoping she'll convert once her current membership runs out!

On the way out is was POURING rain.. I was very tempted I rip open my new set of umbrella's that I got for $14.99 ($19.99 with a $5 off coupon!).. i'll have one in my purse next time :)

Cheers,

Paula

Coscto.com

Here is the ottoman I bought from Costco.com.

It was $150- off the regular price. It's a beautiful brown leather with a HUGE storage bin inside. Love, love, love it!

But the best part was the box it came in! It has entertained the kids all week long. No, the dog did not come with the ottoman :)

New Coupons!!!!!

Today was a 3 cup of coffee kinda day.. late night last night and early morning this morning... as I was just starting to come out of my morning fog, I spied my mail from yesterday and tucked between bills and junk mail, were the new Costco coupons! Needless to say the fog lifted quickly! So here are just a few items I am excited about this time...

* $2- off Nestle chocolate chips (limit 2)

* $3- off Craisins (limit 1)

* $20- off Cuisinart Countertop Convection/Toaster Oven (limit 3.. but who really needs more than 1?)... I've been putting off buying this item and am so glad I did.. it's gone from $99- down to $79.. what an amazing deal. It sells for $130 on Ebay or $199 in retail stores.

* $5- off 2 pack- Shed Rain Umbrellas, (the cute ones I noticed in the lady's cart last time!)

These are just a few of the highlights that I quickly noticed and wanted to share with you!

Off to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I'm wishing I had picked up a pumpkin pie from Costco.. oh well I'll do that for Thanksgiving in Nov. You can't beat $5.99 for the biggest pumpkin pie you've ever seen.. and yummiest too!