Thursday, September 23, 2010

A hundred reasons why Dunkin Donuts is better...


A thousand reasons why Dunkin Donuts is better than Starbucks Starbunks...here goes:

1. Reward Cards - Dunkin shows appreciation to their customers with reward cards.  Buy any 7 small Hot or Iced Coffees, get the 8th one free! That's customer service folks.

2. Loyalty Promo - Sign up at DunkinDonuts.com and get a freebie mailed to you for signing up AND on your birthday.  Does Starbunks ever give a freebie? 
 
3. Appreciation Week - Dunkin shows respect to our civil servants.  So far, I've seen Dunkin promote Teachers, Nurses & Firefighters.  They get free coffee for the week.  Seriously.
4. Special Promos -  Dunkin's 60th anniversary week, small coffee's were only FIFTY CENTS PEOPLE!  FREE Iced Coffee day on May 11, 2010. Tax Day Relief-Free donut with purchase of small coffee. There are so many promos, at least once a month, I can't even list them all.

5. Pricepoint - For example, a 12 oz. Small Iced Coffee @ Dunkin =$1.84  @ Starbunks=2.02.  Cha-ching, save .18 a cup.
 6. Vocabulary - A small is a small.  A large is a large.  What is it with the Tall-Venti-Grande nonsense at Starbunks?  Just give me a friggin cup of coffee already.
 7. Drivethrus - Most Dunkin's have a drivethru.  Con-ven-ient, thank you very much!

8. Donuts - Duh.
 9. The Coffee - Dunkin Donuts coffee totally rocks.  It's just GOOD coffee, it really is.
 10. The Logo - Dunkins logo makes sense, it's a cup of coffee-to go.  Starbunks logo is a mermaid, I don't get it.
 
That's all I have, for now.  So, it's not a hundred reasons but it's10 really good ones and  I believe I have proven my point.

In my closing statement I would like to make clear - I don't HATE Starbucks.  For me, the better value - the biggest bang for my buck comes from Dunkin Donuts. But if I were traveling West on I10 just outside of El Paso (random example) and the only coffee shop for miles was a Starbucks, would I stop?  In the words of Napolean Dynomite, "Heck Yeah!"  It's still coffee and one must have coffee!

Thank you for reading, I rest my case.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The New To Do List!

Several weeks ago, I was reading a blog post of Becky Higgins which inspired me to create a new to do list. A reader asked her "How do you find time to do everything that you do?"  She answered that if it doesn't fall into one of three categories, she doesn't do it.  I was inspired to create a to do list, utilizing these categories. I'm hoping this will help me keep my priorities straight with each day and it's mounting list of to-do's!

If you would like to try using this list, right click/save the image below to print.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Businest Weekend of My Life - Post #3

Sunday morning, last day of this crazy busy weekend...

8:15am: Quick stop at my local Dunkin Donuts for our Sunday morning usual.


9:00: Hang out with some cutie-patootie 1 year olds at church.

12:00 After church, say hello and goodbye to Daddy, who is tearing down the drums.

1:30: Set up fundraising concession tables at the softball fields and sweat in 111 degrees for the next 3 hours.



More about these two micro-humans at a later time...

5:00: Pick up KFC for dinner.

6:00: Take care of the little person who shares my living space.

9:00: Pass out...so glad this weekend is finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Busiest Weekend of My Life - Post #2

On Saturday morning we participated in a fundraising car wash at Chick-Fil-A:

After the car wash, we raced home, got ready for a wedding 3.5 hours away and picked up some lunch at In-N-Out hamburgers on the way out.

We arrived to the wedding location early because Greg and Josh were asked to help with parking - the rest of us had some downtime...in the forest...with a camera...here's our hot photographer...hehehe!


The uncooperative child who finally informed me "I don't like pictures." pictured here holding a camera.

Grandma and Nathan...

The three of us...

As the wedding began, I changed my camera settings from auto to manual, which is dangerous in my case but with the sun setting I was afraid my flash would be distracting during the ceremony.  Most of my pictures came out blurry but here are a couple salvaged pictures. 




And I always love a good blurry picture of the Hull family! This particular one makes the Top 10 list just because of Greg's expression.

A fun candy table (because love is sweet) occupied some of our time while we waited for dinner.

The rest of the time, Lynn and I were up to our usual shenanigans.

This wedding was literally out in the middle of a forest, I took this shot for perspective.


We left the wedding about 8:00 - got home about 12:30 - woke up at 5:30 the next morning for the next day's events and activities.  That's the next post.  Peace out.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Busiest Weekend of My Life - Post #1

This Friday begins one of the busiest weekends of my life beginning with the following:
  • Drop books off at library - done!
  • Pick up mom from airport - check!
  • Pick up kid, fundraiser cookie dough & scrip cards from school - done!
  • Participate in fundraiser at local Chick-fil-A - complete!
Herein lies the pictures from the last task...

Thursday, September 16, 2010

School Lunch

Posting a few pictures taken while I ate lunch with Nathan at school.  Not sure which one makes the cut for the POTD though.

Nathan with his teacher.


Nathan with his mommy.

Nathan with his classmate.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Picture of the Day

Just posting a few POTD's that I really like but never got around to posting the day of...

09/01/10 - I finally used my 'Freebie' for signing up at DunkinDonuts.com.  Another reason why DD is better than Starbucks.  When was the last time you got a Starbucks freebie?


09/02/10 - Nathan learned about the letter 'M' at school and made a cute mouse mask at school.

09/03/10 - My friend, Amber and I eat met for lunch and chose to sit outside even though the thermometer read 102.  Anything under 110 these days is actually nice weather for us, hahaha!!

09/10/10 - Speaking of weather, it was 70 degrees this particular morning.  Cool.  Crisp.  Brisk.  So nice I took Nathan for a wagon ride around the block before school.  I really like this picture of us, taken with the camera sitting on the ground.

Fyi - I used Pioneer Woman's 'Seventies' Photoshop action for these pictures, she has such an awesome set of freebies, if your looking for some good actions!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Personal Fitness Challenge...Weigh In Now!

I've decided to take on a personal fitness challenge for these reasons.
  1. Although, I am a petite person I have a muffin top that is proportionate to my frame.
  2. I really need to integrate any form of physical activity into my life.
  3. I've been watching fitness infomercials for the last 3 hours.
Each infomercial makes one ludicrous claim after another about weight loss, body shaping, and major life changes. I'm going to try one and test the results. I'm asking for you to weigh in on which program I should test.  I am committing to do the following for the fitness plan selected:
  • I will commit to the timeframe of the program.
  • If there is a nutrition plan, I will follow it. 
  • I will report on a weekly basis, weight/inches lost or physical changes.
  • At the end; I will post before/after pictures and report if the infomercial was a hoax or not.
Each program costs $60 and has a money back guarantee, so there's nothing to lose! Without further ado, here are the infomercials that had me at "Order Now!"



Zumba
To watch this pumped up exercise party infomercial yourself, click Zumba

Truthful Claim or Gotcha Gimmick?
- You feel like your having a party while your working out - i love a good party!

- Denise's testimony - if you don't feel the emotion in Denise's testimony, your not even human.
- Zumba is a fast growing fitness craze with more than 7 million enthusiasts - where are these people?
 


Turbo Jam
To watch this total energetic and spastic infomercial yourself, click Turbo Jam

Truthful Claim or Gotcha Gimmick?
Get the results you want in the shortest time possible - perfect, that's all I care about.
Just 20 minutes a day to target every major muscle group - short time committment, i like it.
It's not the same old kickboxking -good, cause I am just sick to death of the old kickboxing.



Slim in 6 
To watch this well produced and very convincing infomercial yourself, click Slim in 6

Truthful Claim or Gotcha Gimmick?
Total body transformation - you won't even RECOGNIZE me!
Get in better shape now than before kids - wow, seriously?
Tana's tearful testimony - can't even talk about it, too emotional.

 Hip Hop Abs
To watch this hip and upbeat infomercial yourself, click Hip Hop Abs

Truthful Claim or Gotcha Gimmick?
Lose fat without ever doing a situp or crunch - good cause I don't know what a situp is.
Learn to dance like the superstars - yeesss!
Your not really exeerrrcising, your daannncing! - perfect cause I seem to have an aversion to exercise.
So vote on the fitness program you would like to see me complete by leaving a blog comment. 
WAIT!  There's MORE!
If you vote NOW, at the end of a successful fitness program I will produce my OWN infomercial!!
This invaluable video can only be viewed here on this blog at NO EXTRA COST!
Vote NOW before it's to late!!
This special offer will not be available again!!