Category Archives: Five-finger Discount {Free Stuff}

Blue Ribbon Day ~ An Afternoon at the OC Fair

Yesterday we ventured down I-5 and headed to the OC Fair. My friend Angela is well schooled in this fair and assured me it was bigger and better than our more local Ventura County fair that is also currently going on. She had gathered some budget friendly information for our trip, too.

1. Bring $5 worth of school supplies {with receipt} for entrance into the fair. Entrance also included one FREE ride. It’s a win/win.

2. Read & Ride Program {kids ages 5-11} ~ Read two books, fill out a form, turn it in and receive 3 FREE rides.

The kids obviously wanted to IMMEDIATELY hit the death traps…..I mean rides, but we encouraged {OK….MADE} them check out some animal exhibits and the area where the biggest produce is awarded and displayed ~ AKA lemons and avocados on steroids!

The girls then made leather cuffs and bookmarks. This was perfect for Elliott and she can never find anything personalized with her name. I thought this was a nice fair souvenir for only $5.

The mamas figured it’d be better to go on a couple rides BEFORE eating lunch. Holden was turned down for a ride that he desperately wanted to go on due to his height and a kind young man and his girlfriend handed over their 2 tickets so that he could enjoy 2 other attractions as they had purchased a bracelet for “daily unlimited death trap usage”!!

As you can imagine, pin pointing a lunch item can be difficult at the fair. I talked Holden out of a $13 smoked turkey leg and redirected him to a $6 piece of cheese pizza! I had spotted a place that sold sourdough garlic bread which you could order gussied up in many different fashions….I chose the buffalo chicken version and was NOT disappointed. They also had a Nutella/bacon option which I’m sure received high marks, but I went with savory and was glad I did.

After lunch the kiddos explored some sketchy fun houses and we eventually embraced redneckness by making our way to the Turkey Stampede. It actually was tons of fun and now I think the kids will be questioning what we put on the table this Thanksgiving. Immediately after that, we crossed over to the Pig Races and secured a seat in the shade. Holden was chosen as one of four pig coaches for the finals and his choice, Bob, was the grand champion! He was so cute getting the crowd pumped up and rooting for “his” pig which was #6 and wore a blue bib.

We then took our blue ribbon winner and the rest of our crew for their long awaited sweet treat for the day…soft frozen lemonade, shaved ice, deep fried Oreos and Dippin’ Dots. Believe it or not I passed up my sweet treat for an ice cold water and Diet Coke! I’d never been so thirsty in all my life. Calories saved, I guess…….

We closed our day with a bird’s eye view of the fair on the sky ride. I praise the Lord that they have enough sense to require an adult to go on this because there is NO way I’d let Holden ride with his friends. I winced the whole time watching the three 9-year old girlies in the chair in front of us, yelling at them, “Please sit back! Don’t lean forward!” Longest 8-10 minutes of my life!!

BUT, we had a great day and the kids loved it. It had been 6 years since they had been to the fair! We went to the San Benito County Fair in the summer of ’08 before we moved back to So Cal. Holden was just 18 months and Elliott barely over 3 years old!

Here are some iPhone memories…..

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Despite my newfound old lady fear of heights, I think we need to make the county fairs a permanent fixture on our summer bucket lists from here on out.

Missing the San Diego County Fair {or the Del Mar Fair for us locals} and the memories made there over the years…..

Chevron & Metal ~ A Giveaway {Closed}

Announcing the little blogiversary giveaway I mentioned last week…

One: Bright & cheery set of note cards ~ keep snail mail alive!

Two: Set of four metal wine/martini glass markers for your upcoming holiday parties.

Three: Two Essie polishes in fun holiday brights ~ Silken Cord & Super Bossa Nova.

Four: Sweet sandwich plate with vintage inspired silverware imprint ~ liven up your lunches!

Please visit Flip Flop Follies Facebook page and “Like” to stay in the loop on new recipes and other posts.

To enter, please leave {one} comment here on this post sharing your favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

Giveaway open until midnight Pacific Time, Thursday, November 15th, 2012.

One winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday, November 16th, 2012.

*****

My favorite Turkey Day side is probably the stuffing ~ sausage cornbread, in particular.

Please DO enter and Good Luck!

And as always, thanks for reading. XO

Nineteen

Congrats to Alicia Rule, winner of my little giveaway!

Here is what she shared for her love of Spring…

I love spring because it means warm sunshine after a long Colorado winter. Farmer’s markets are going to start soon, cold season is coming to a close, my heating bill is going to soon go away, and Easter chocolate to top it all off!

Thanks to all who entered. I loved seeing all your Spring favorites popping up on the post.

There will certainly be more of these giveaways, so keep your eyes peeled and don’t give up!

Happy Friday…the weekend is teasing us!

Lucky Charms ~ A Giveaway

Time for another giveaway!

More of my favorite things I want to share with you…

1. One-of-a-kind pair of light green Havaianas {US size 7/8} with LUCKY horseshoe embellishment

2. Set of 10 Jonathan Adler notecards ~ dots on the inside {cards} and chevron on the outside {envelopes}

3. Meri Meri {Note To Self} 150-page journal with button closure

4. Sunshiny sticky notes

5. A box of my new fave tea ~ Sweet Coconut Chai from Celestial Seasonings

*****

To enter, please “Like” Flip Flip Follies on Facebook if you haven’t already and then leave one comment on this post of what you love about Spring. That’s all there is to it!

Hurry…a winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday morning, March 9th.

Giveaway open until midnight PT, Thursday, March 8th, 2012.

Please spread the word!

XO

Dear Monday

Dear Monday,

I {heart} you because…

you are the prelude to a new week filled with endless possibilities!

{via}

Found this darling FREE printable on Pinterest {of course!} and fell in love.

Grab an old 8X10 frame and print out this bad boy ~ looks fine on regular old printer paper, but I used photo paper.

I think it’ll be cute to place one in each of the kids’ rooms and one downstairs to remind the ones I love WHY I {heart} them.

{and a good way to reward good behavior for the little ones!}

Something fun leading up to Valentine’s Day…

…and everyday for that matter.

Here’s to a great week!

XO

A Few Of My Favorite Things ~ A Giveaway

I’m hosting a little giveaway of a few of my favorite things in honor of my upcoming 2 years in Blogland.

The winner will receive the following bundle of goodness:

12 ounce bag of ground {Old Fashioned Caramel Vanilla} coffee from local Newhall Coffee Roasting Company

Boxed set of 20 Katie Daisy notecards & envelopes from teNeues {4 each of 5 images}

Pair of {Lake Green} Havaianas US size 7/8 {run a bit big} with a snowflake{ish} embellishment perfect for the holidays or even year round

A little blank book/journal featuring the following: storage pocket, ribbon marker, 240 ruled pages, elastic band closure and 8 tiny rosettes down the side

{sorry, little suitcase not included ~ for display purposes only ;-)}

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Giveaway is open until midnight PT, October 31st, 2011. Winner will be drawn randomly and announced on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 ~ my 2 year blogiversary.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post telling me what you’re looking forward to the most in the last couple months of 2011.

One entry per person please…if you haven’t already {liked} Flip Flop Follies Facebook page, please click here and do so. It’s good for my self esteem! Ha!

Many thanks!

Please tell a friend ~ Good Luck!

{C’mon, don’t be shy…I expect to see some new names and faces popping up in the comments! XO}

Lucky

Good morning!

The lucky winner of the rosette bib necklace is…….

{letters via}

Yay, Leah! Congrats!

Leah blogs over at Leah’s Thoughts…go over and check out her thoughts on recipes, parenting, creativity, holidays, literature, and all of life’s other whatnots.

Leah, I will pop these goodies in the mail to you…..enjoy!

Thanks to all you lovely ladies for entering ~ look for another giveaway closer to the holidays.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Tardy

I’m totally tardy to the rolled rosette bib statement necklace party. And why didn’t I start making these earlier?

But I have made a few now and I LOVE how I can throw one together in a jiffy.

I am giving away my latest one along with a coordinating rosette ring.

This one features 6 rosettes in various sizes in a sort of asymetrical layout and hangs on a black grosgrain ribbon which lets you choose the length you want ~ just tie it in a pretty bow where it fits you best.

The fabric is black with bits of hot pink, yellow, orange, turquoise and white and will add a fun subtle punch of color to your wardrobe year round. It would look darling with my all time favorite outfit ~ a crisp white top, some comfy old jeans and a pair of fun flats, wedges or of course flip flops!

The ring is a one-size-fits-most deal and has a matching mini rosette perched on top. Again, will add a little somethin’ somethin’ to a casual, everyday outfit and compliment the necklace perfectly.

{not a professional hand model!}

Giveaway is open until midnight {PST} Tuesday, August 9th 2011. I will randomly select and announce the winner on Wednesday morning, August 10th 2011.

To enter, please {Like} Flip Flop Follies on Facebook if you haven’t already and leave me a comment telling me your favorite thing you’ve done this summer!

That’s it! Go enter now….

Don’t be tardy to the Giveaway Party!

Awesometown

The developer of Valencia, Newhall Land, has deemed it {Awesometown}. I think it’s pretty catchy marketing.

“Just another day in…AWESOMETOWN”!

Love it.

Anywhoo, I wanted to share 10 things that made my/our weekend awesome…

1. I found these Miss Trish flops for $6.24 at Target:

Love the pineapple bling…I may have a girl crush on Trish Carroll ~ hoping she teams up with Target again next summer! Here is a fun article featuring the woman behind the fabulous bejeweled sandals.

2. Watched 127 Hours.

{having your arm trapped under an 800 pound boulder for over 5 days would NOT be awesome, however. w-o-w!}

3. Visited The Getty Villa in Malibu

It’s amazing to me that both The Getty Center and The Getty Villa are FREE to the public {nominal parking fees apply}. It’s difficult to get the full effect of these two places when bringing the kids but we still love to go and stroll around the gardens and pack a picnic. The Getty Villa had crafts which the kids loved…I even made a cithara:

You can see the Pacific Ocean through the Roman-inspired gardens…

{on elliott ~ my vintage baby dress and miss trish sandals from target}

4. Lunch at Duke’s in Malibu

5. This for dinner Saturday night

6. Finally got my sander

{look out old furniture!}

7. Made cake pops

{post coming soon!}

8. Had this for dinner Sunday

{grilled pork tenderloin ~ marinate in 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, 3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 4 tablespoons pineapple juice and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar for at least 30 minutes, turning over halfway. baste with marinade while grilling. [from sprouts farmer’s market free mag]}

9. Did Day 6 of Jillian

{but don’t tell her about the cake pops!}

10. Had some rain

{a nice surprise in the middle of summer!}

That was our weekend in and around Awesometown.

How was yours?

And The Oscar Goes To…

{via}

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The nominees for the mint Havaianas in the {flip flop} category were:

Amy, Shauna, Vicki, Kathy, Leah, Michele, Erma, Victoria, Trish & Roxanne

Thank you Ladies for entering and sharing your Spring favorites.

Random.org selected the {winner}, but you’re ALL winners in my book!

And the mint Havaianas go to………

Shauna from Nor Cal!

Yay!

I hope you prepared your acceptance speech! 😉

I will get them packaged up and into the mail to you!

*****

Again, thanks for reading and entering…I will be doing another giveaway to kick off Summer, so please keep trying!

Looks like it’s going to be another splendid day in So Cal…

…may YOU have a splendid day wherever you are!

It’s Friday!

XOXO