Mystery Dinner - Times Two!

Last night, the non-profit I work for hosted its annual board dinner.  This has historically been a rather dry and boring event, but I was in charge this year.  So we livened things up a bit with a 1920s murder mystery.

I wrote the mystery myself (which was quite the literary undertaking!).  I based the plot and characters loosely on "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (minus the drinking and swearing and other "inappropriate" behavior).

I tried to create the atmosphere of a 1920s dinner party with lots of feathers, pearls, cut glass and white linens.  We had jazz and dance music playing during dinner and even a few vintage cars out front as guests arrived.  Many people came in costume, which added to the evening.  I even managed to come up with a costume from a few local consignment shops that accommodated my growing belly.  (My husband was a character in the murder mystery - that's why he's wearing the funny glasses.)  

Overall, I think the evening was a great success!  No one solved the murder, though, so I must have made it a little too mysterious. . .

This morning my husband surprised me with a mystery of my own to solve!  Today is our 6th anniversary, so I have to piece together clues I've been receiving throughout the day (including a motive, getaway vehicle and "weapon of displayed affection") to figure out what he he in store for us tonight.  We'll see where we end up!

Ladies Night Out

Much of what has been consuming my time lately was a ladies outreach event for our church.  We held our first Ladies Night Out on Friday with a theme of "Making Life Beautiful" - inside and out.

 

About 40 ladies got together for a night of pampering - chocolate, coffee, cosmetics and just plain fun.  We had a speaker share a few beauty tips and "trends" for the upcoming season.  We played a few games and gave away some fun prizes.  

We wrapped up the evening with a challenge from God's Word on the true inner beauty that comes only from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  

We enjoyed quite the spread of finger foods to dip in our chocolate fountain and an extensive variety of coffees and teas in our very own coffee bar!

We decorated with butterflies in fun spring shades of green and purple.

It was a lot of fun to spend an evening together with ladies of all ages and backgrounds.  What a lot of work - but it was well worth it.   Seeds were planted and now we get to see how God will grow them into beautiful, transformed lives for His glory.

Deals - May 16

Life has been so crazy lately, I've hardly had time to shop, let alone coupon!  It felt very good to go out tonight alone (thanks to my wonderful husband for watching our son) and save some money.  :)  Here are few of the best deals I found:

Pampers Jumbo Pack ($8.83)
-$1.50/1 manufacturer's coupon
-$1/1 CVS coupon
-$2 ECB
=$4.33
+$1 ECB (green tag)

Heinz ketchup ($1.89)
-$2/1 coupon
=FREE

Kraft salad dressing (2/$4)
-$1.50/2 coupon
=$2.50/2 (or $1.25 each)

Rold Gold pretzels (2/$5)
-$2/2 coupon
=2/$3 (or $1.50 each)

Poptarts (3/$5)
-$1/3 coupon
=3/$4 (or $1.33 each)

Duncan Hines brownies ($1.69)
-$0.50/1 coupon (doubled)
=$0.69

Giant also had some great store coupons, including a free half gallon of Turkey Hill ice cream!  :)  My total savings was 47% - a "personal best"!

Peanut Butter Goodness

I've been craving chocolate and peanut butter lately, so tonight I decided to make the "old standby" - chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.  The cake was in the oven before I realized I had no powdered sugar for the frosting.  Tactical error on my part.  :(

I found a recipe online for peanut butter frosting without the powdered sugar and decided to give it a try.  It turned out beautifully.  I'm not a marshmallow fan, but you wouldn't even know it's in there!  The best part is you don't even have to wait for the cake to cool - which I find the most frustrating part of baking.

My craving has been satisfied!  Momma and baby are very happy.  :)

Peanut Butter Frosting (without Powdered Sugar)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used a little bit more)
1/2 cup marshmallows (I used marshmallow creme)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine milk, sugar and butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat; add peanut butter and marshmallow.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour immediately over warm cake.

Easter Events

The past week has been a busy one with many church and family activities celebrating our Lord's death and resurrection.

My husband put together a beautiful Easter program for this morning's service.  We called it "What Wondrous Love."  It was a fresh reminder of God's gracious love for us.

This past Thursday, our playgroup Connect the Tots hosted an Easter Egg Hunt.  It wasn't the warmest spring day, but everyone had a lot of fun.

Then my family came for Easter dinner today.  It's actually the first time I hosted a sit-down meal for more than four people and the first time in a very long time my whole family posed for a picture.

Noah had fun hiding eggs for us and then "helping" us find them.

Recent Deals

March was a pretty bad month for the budget - for some reason we were way over in most every category.  But I'm determined to do better this month and so far, I've been finding pretty good deals.  Here are a few from my past few shopping trips:

From the week of March 28

Wisk ($8.39) B1G1 free
- 2 $2/1 coupons
-$2 ECB
=$2.56 for 2 (or $1.28 each)

Oral B toothbrushes ($2.99)
-2 $1/1 coupons
-$1.50 ECB
=$2.48 for 2 (or $1.24 each)

From the week of April 4

Kandoo Toddler Wipes ($1.42)
-$1/1 coupon
=$0.42

Raid Ant Traps ($2.49)
-$2/1 coupon
=$0.49

From the week of April 4

Pepperidge Farm cookies ($3.49) B1G1 free
-$1/2 coupon
-$1 Giant doubler coupon
=$1.49 for 2 (or $0.75 each)

DeerPark water, 24-pack ($3.99)
on sale for $2.99 with Bonuscard
-$1/1 coupon
-$1 Giant doubler coupon
=$0.99

MinuteMaid orange juice ($2.50)
-$1/1 coupon
-$1/1 Giant doubler coupon
=$0.50

I love when Giant gives the extra $1 doublers!  It really does make a difference.  And thanks to a dear friend who gave me her coupons too, I saved an extra $8 this week between two trips.

Granola & Galoshes

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" 
Psalm 34:8

The other day Noah and I went to Trader Joe's for the first time.  I had had some of their very yummy granola at my sister-in-law's house while we were visiting California, and I was hoping to pick up some for myself.  I was even  prepared to pay a little bit extra for it - it was that good.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a larger box for less than my usual generic grocery store brand.  I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast the past few days.  I know, the little things. . .

Even before we went to California (and first tasted the yummy granola), I had been looking for galoshes for Noah.  This has been almost a month-long search now - consignment sales, department stores, shoe stores, Craig's List. . . you name it.  No one seemed to have decent-looking galoshes in the size I needed for the price I was willing to pay.

I was just about to give up hope of ever letting my son play outside this spring, when I was visiting a dear friend's house and she pulled out a tub of things her kids had outgrown and asked me if I wanted anything for Noah.  In the very bottom of the tub was a pair of red, size 8 galoshes!  Noah and I were so excited that we walked home from her house through the yard, just so we could look for mud puddles to jump in!  I guess I need a pair of galoshes now too!

God is good, and He cares about the "little things" that we eat and wear just as much (and more) than we do.  He richly provides us everything to enjoy (I Timothy 6:17), even granola and galoshes.