Starbucks Gold Card

I just got my new Starbucks® Gold Card. (Even though it’s really black) It costs $25 per year and for that you get your first drink for free, a free drink on your birthday along with 10% most in store purchases.  The gold card can also be used as a gift card.  You can reload it online.

If you are planning on buying this as a gift for anyone, one thing to keep in mind is that you get the free drink when you purchase it, so plan on getting one of the most expensive drinks with extra shots and caramel.

This is different from the rewards card that you can register online.

Cheap Gas in SoCal

Santa Clarita - Corner of Bouquet Cyn and Soledad Cyn

There was a line about 3 cars deep on every island at the gas station yesterday and for a very good reason. Gas was under $2.00 for the first time in years.  This was the cash or credit price, they were both the same. There are three gas stations all on this corner.  The other two were in the low $2.00s, but this is the first sighting of gas this cheap in this area. I really hope it stays.  I paid $42.00 to fill up my tank. Yes!

Motrin Baby Wearing Blunder

Motrin launched an ad campaign directed at moms who wear their babies.  In an effort to reach out and feel their pain, the ad resulted in more of a foot in the mouth reaction.

There are MANY baby wearing mommy bloggers that are taking this to heart and voicing their opinions all over the web, including micro-blogging sites like Twitter.  Katja Presnal put together this great summary of what the general reaction is on Twitter. Find out how hundreds of moms can use word of mouth marketing in 140 characters or less.

So what’s the lesson here? Don’t assume you know what your target audience wants.  I find it very hard to believe that any moms that wear their babies were asked what they thought of this ad before it was launched.  Obviously it had a negative reaction. 

Note to self…don’t under estimate the power of mommy bloggers. 

A simple Google search for the term Motrin Ad will show you what everyone else is saying.

So Motrin gets a big FAIL! Let’s see what they’ll do to take care of this pain in the neck they’ve created for themselves. 

More posts on the Motrin Ad Blunder:

Skimbaco

Marketing Pilgrim

Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Fires

I’m about 10 miles north of the Sylmar fire, but because of the way the wind is blowing it appears that we will be spared.  Although last year’s fires that burned through my town are not soon forgotten.  I can remember the feeling of panic very well and even though I know we are safe for the moment, I know things can turn around quick.

I can see the smoke clearly from where I live and knowing that over 500 people lost their homes in a matter of hours last night in Sylmar is just horrible.  The worst is that the news has now declared the mobile home park a crime scene.  Is it really possibble that someone could be so selfish to start a fire that resulted in almost the entire community burning down?

I’ve been watching the news coverage since last night at about 11pm and it doesn’t appear that things are getting any better yet.  The sun is going down and who knows how much more damage we will see over night.

My Lola

In 2005 my hubby bought me a puppy for Valentine’s Day.  It was either a puppy or another baby and we both agreed the puppy was a much better idea.  I wanted something small.  We already had two Rottweilers that were older.  I did not want a dog that had long hair.  I wanted a dog that was brown (not sure why, but I did). So this is what I got.

I know she’s so cute and her name is Lola.  She was perfect and is still the love of my life, but also a pain in the butt.  Here’s a few things you need to know before owning a Miniature Pinscher.

They bark like crazy when they hear a doorbell, vacuum cleaner or there is a strange dog around. Those shock collars, work pretty well, but she’s figured out to do a lower softer bark to avoid the shock.

They want to be with their owner all of the time. She literally follows me in to every room anytime I get up.

They suffer from seperation anxiety.  Lola sits at the door and waits for me to come home while whining.

They like to eat big dog food.  No matter how many times I tried to feed her puppy food, she wanted the large chunky dog food.

They think they are big dogs and are very protective of their owner. She is not afraid of anything and is the best watchdog we’ve ever had (and yes we had two Rottweilers).

They get cold very easily and shiver like crazy. She sleeps under the covers and will always try and nuzzle underneath any blanket.

They love love love rawhide bones and no matter how big the bone is they will find a way to carry it in their mouth.

Their ears are like satellite dishes. The cute little ears now are permanently erect and can hear any sound miles away. I guess I should’ve clipped em when she was a puppy along with her tail, but I couldn’t bare to.

We now have one Rotty since our male passed away two years ago, but Lola runs the dog house so to speak.  My female Rotty just tries to ignore her all day.

Broken Ankle

My son broke his ankle last April skateboarding on our ramp.  It was about 8pm and just getting dark.  We were just about to sit down for dinner when he came in screaming and hobbling trying to look at his ankle and lift up his jeans.  This was a first for us.  He usually hurts himself, so I thought maybe a strain? After about 10 minutes of laying on the couch with his ankle up and coated in frozen peas, he said he needed to go to the emergency room, that it for sure was not just a strain.  So off we went.

We were at the emergency room until 3:30am and after xrays and an MRI they determined that yes it was broken and no he wouldn’t need surgery, but he’d need to go in the morning to get his cast.

So, who knew that you’d have to get a full leg cast and wear it for 6 weeks for an ankle break? Can you say nightmare? We did. I mean we were headed in to summer and my kid would have this massive thing on his leg, but the doc said if she did a half cast he’d end up walking on it and the break wouldn’t heal correctly.
So he’ll get a half cast in 6 weeks, then should be back on his skateboard by the end of July. Did I mention that he and my husband had just finished building the skate ramp 3 days before he broke it?

Polygamy Porter

I went to St. George, Utah last August and was walking to the rest room at the restaurant when this caught my eye.

I’ll leave the comments to you.

Football Sundays

In the fall, Sunday is my favorite day of the week.  Why? Football. It’s more than just a game, it’s a social activity.  I couldn’t tell you who was playing most of the time, but we have a group of friends we get together with every Sunday to eat, drink and watch football.  True, it’s not great for the ole diet, but I try and starve myself all week long so I can eat junk on Sundays.

It’s pretty simple and easy, there are 5-6 families that rotate hosting football on Sundays.  Most of us wear our favorite team jersey and we all have cute football plates or cups that we bring.  Everyone brings an appetizer and their own drinks and the host usually provides some additional food and of course a TV.  We hang out from about 1pm til the evening time until we figure out who will be hosting the following week. 

It is such a nice break to get out of the house and hang with 10 of my closest friends with no real plans other than just chillin in front of the TV.  If you have friends that like football (who doesn’t?) give it a try for a few weekends.  It’s really a great time and the husbands usually really enjoy themselves a lot. I mean what husband wouldn’t want to have a day where he can just sit around and watch football while his wife approves 100%.  Heck, even if you don’t like football, just hanging out with friends is so much fun.

So I’m off to football for the day.

White House Black Market

My new favorite store is White House Black Market.  My good friend Gaby has been shopping there for over a year and it wasn’t until a couple months ago that I went in to check it out.  Yes. Everything in there is either black or white, but they have some fun animal and floral patterns.  They sell dressy dresses and casual outfits.  Their shoes are really very comfortable for heels because they have super padding in the soles. 

I got a great coupon in the mail that was $50 off a $200 purchase, plus I had a $40 gift card that my friend gave me after she puked on me.  That’s a whole other story that I might blog about later.  Anyway, it’s not the cheapest store in the world, I mean some of the tops are about $50 to $100, but they do have a decent sale section and tonight they were offering buy one get one for 50% off, so I was able to stock up on 3 cute tops and 1 nice black pin striped jacket for about $140 after my coupon and gift card.  Since the holidays are coming up I’m pretty much set with the tops I’ll wear to all the holiday parties, so it was a good shopping day.

If you see this store in your mall, stop in and check it out.  The only thing I think is kind of a rip off is the jewelry.  The last time I went there the sales girl asked if I wanted to add a cute black necklace to what I was buying.  I didn’t look at the price, but realized when I got home that it was $50. At that point I went ahead and kept it, but typically I’d never pay $50 for a necklace.

This store received some national attention when Michelle Obama wore this dress on The View that she said cost about $100.

So if you don’t take my word for it, take the word of our future first lady.

Starbucks FAIL

I swear I have a headache from trying to drink this through a straw that is being pinched so tight from the lid. Sheesh, I give up.

Seriously Starbucks quality control, I know times are tough and you probably bought millions of these things, but they stink.  How about going back to what was working and not changing it? Please.