A Brush with Fame – the $5 Dinner Mom

Jenny and I would like to make an announcement.

We are famous. (By association.)

Because our good friend Erin? She is TOTALLY famous. Her face is on a cookbook that she wrote. Check it out.

5 dollar dinner mom

How cool is that?

Jenny and I already have our copies, and I was SUPER impressed with the cookbook (even though I knew it was going to be great, because Erin wrote it and Erin is great) – it was even better than I expected. The first few sections (after the acknowledgments in which she gives a shout out to the #bigdealmoms that caused me to tear up) are dedicated to helping the reader become a better shopper, and even though I consider myself fairly familiar with the couponing process (not because I actually use them the way I should, but because I spend so much time with Jenny and Andrea – I’ve taken it in through osmosis), I learned a lot. And then there’s also the nine bazillion recipes that allow readers to whip up delicious and nutritious meals for less than $5. Perhaps if I keep hanging out with Erin, her cooking skills will wear off on me as well.

Not likely.

In any case, we love Erin so much and are so proud of all she’s accomplished in the past whirlwind year. Not only did she write a book, she did it pregnant. She just had her third baby boy a few weeks ago. In her spare time, she planted and harvested a garden, did crazy things like made her own rice milk, cooked dinner every freaking night (which in and of itself is a miracle if you ask me), and kept up her famous blog. The girl is amazing.

Now she’s about to take off on her book-signing-talk-show-appearing-I-am-super-famous road show. In fact, her cookbook was featured on Good Morning America today! She was on Fox 45 in the Dayton area this morning as well. I told you she was amazing!

If you’d like your own copy, they’re available on Amazon for $10.11 (that is a steal I tell you!) and they’re also available Borders and Barnes and Noble and a bunch of other wonderful places. And if you do get a copy, you’re going to want to get it signed, because she’s famous! Her book signing schedule can be found here. If you’re in the greater Dayton area, don’t miss her appearance at Books and Co. at the Greene (otherwise known as my favorite place in the world) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12th. All of her groupies (aka the Big Deal Moms) will be there! Then you, too, can have a picture just like this one:
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(Jenny “OMG I’m standing next to someone famous!” Rapson and Erin “Who is this weirdo next to me” Chase)

Also, Erin is giving away 10 copies of her book each day for the next two weeks! Click here for all the details.

In all seriousness, Jenny and I are so happy for the success Erin has had. And you know what? Her success has come from a true desire to help people live better. That is incredibly awesome. We are so thankful to know her, not because she’s famous (although that does make us feel pretty cool), but because she’s an amazing person and a wonderful friend.

Congratulations, Erin. This is just the beginning.

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The Ornament

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Thursday Joshua was very excited for me to open the folder he brings home from school every day. Inside was a thick piece of paper, decorated and stapled together. “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad” he had written on the outside. I opened it up to find an ornament he had made for our tree with his school picture in it.

*Sniff*

I got a little misty.

My mom has an ornament of me like this, only it’s my first grade picture, and I knew how much she cherished it.

And now, I know why.

My baby is now a big kindergarten guy, and he made that for our tree, for his mom and dad, and he was so proud of it, and it’s just…it’s a treasure.

And I, ladies and germs, am a hopelessly sentimental old lady.

But look what I have to be sentimental over! HE MADE ME AN ORNAMENT WITH HIS PICTURE ON IT!!! How could I not melt?

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Santa in the Digital Age

A week or so ago, I heard about the Santa calls being offered from Cincinnati Bell, so I arranged for Santa to call Kate that evening. It’s a pretty cute service – you go to the website, put in your child’s name and your phone number (only the greater Cincinnati/Dayton area works) and the time and date Santa should call, and voila, your kid gets a call from the big man himself.

When the phone rang that night, I asked Kate to answer it. I heard her say “Hello?? Hello??? Hello????” and then she hung up. She looked at me and said “Sammy must have called someone or something, because no one was there. All I could hear was ‘Ho, ho, ho.'” Being the genius I am, instead of just letting it go, I was like “Kate, who says ‘ho, ho, ho’??” A look of recognition came over her face… and then horror… and then she burst into tears. She was absolutely heartbroken that she hung up on Santa! It was so pitiful, and while Andy and I did our best to comfort her and convince her it was ok, she didn’t really buy it. I immediately got on the computer and arranged for Santa to call again 15 minutes later, and that time Kate let the man talk. Apparently Santa did a plug for Cincinnati Bell while he was at it, because Kate now says that he lives in northern Cincinnati.

While a phone call from Santa is cute, a video of him talking to your child is even better! Yesterday Emilie sent me a link to the Portable North Pole, where you can make a customized video of Santa. You answer a few quick questions about your child, what he or she wants for Christmas, and upload a picture, and within seconds you have a video of Santa talking to your child, and since he has all the “inside info,” his message is really specific and personal. It is so cute! I was hoping I could embed the video I made for Sammy in this post, but I don’t think there’s a way to do it. You can click here to see it though! Also, if you have teenagers, they’ll let you put them on the “Naughty” list – too funny.

Enjoy!

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