There are few companies or products that truly live up to their motto, but I would like to make the case for my favorite grocery store!
Top Ten Reasons I love shopping at Publix:
#10 Coupons: They double coupons up to $.50 and take competitor coupons. I’m a member of the Publix Baby Club, and they send me TONS of great store coupons every month (for all kinds of stuff, not just for baby).
#9 Carside Service: They bag your groceries and take them to your car for you – I have much more appreciation for this now that I have a baby. It not only makes me feel safer to have someone walk out with me, but I don’t have to worry about leaving Keaton in the car alone while I go find a cart corral.
#8 Bakery: Hands down the best grocery store bakery for bread or desserts! I make a special trip every week to get fresh sandwich bread for Scott.
#7 BOGO: Every week, there are 15-20 items that are buy one get one free, which really just means that they are ½ price, because you can buy just one of the items for the same savings.
#6 Anti-germs: At the front of the store, there are antibacterial wipes to wipe down your cart (or buggy, as they call them here in TN) before you put your baby in it (or touch it yourself). If you have a small infant, the infant carrier carts are kept separate from the other carts, and they are always labeled with date of the last cleaning and the name of the employee who cleaned it, so you know that you have a freshly cleaned cart for baby.
#5 Publix brand items: usually always at least a dollar cheaper than name brand stuff and always just as good. I’m especially a big fan of the Publix brand feta cheese for my salad – yummy!
#4 Friendly Staff: They seriously must have to go through “nice school” – I am always amazed at how every employee seems to be in the best mood everyday! They go out of their way to make me feel welcome and help me find what I need every time I go in the store.
#3 Free Samples: I like to come hungry because there is always plenty of free food, especially on Saturdays. When you order meat from the deli, they always give you a slice to try. We usually hit the deli first, so Keaton can enjoy the free meat slice while we shop.
#2 Free Balloons: Just ask customer service, and they will give you a balloon to tie to your cart for your little one– how fun!
#1 Penny Item: This is probably the most fun and most addicting thing about shopping at Publix. Every Sunday and Monday, there is a mystery item for sale at the front of the store for only 1 cent! You have to spend at least $10 (I think) to buy the item and you don’t know what the item is unless you go to the store. The penny item varies from frozen pizza to salad dressing to cereal to reusable grocery bags to Pasta Roni to Cocoa Mix. I feel my week is incomplete without benefiting from this promo.
Random thought: the only other company/product (that I can think of right now) that lives up to their motto is Folgers, because coffee really is the best part of waking up…
We had such a great time playing with our friend Noah at his house yesterday. Noah is 8 months older than Keaton, so he showed him all kinds of new toys and tricks! Below is a picture of Noah making Keaton laugh by putting a bowl on his head. Keaton thought this was hilarious! It is a delight to watch Keaton interacting with other children now. I can already tell we are going to have to start working on the concept of sharing soon...
Fedex finally delivered Scott's birthday present. Here's a brief interview with the birthday boy about his newest toy:
I heard about this movie from my friend Katy's blog, who heard about it from another blog...
I thought this was too funny not to share. My dad's office arranged for him to be picked up and driven to lunch for his 60th birthday! Morbid, but hilarious!
What a terrific weekend we had celebrating my Dad’s 60th birthday!
iday, I think Keaton ate his weight in biscuits this weekend!
ay big bucks to people to come up with the most “can’t get them out of your head” ditties to attach to their toys! Scott and I are often humming and singing to Keaton’s toys long after he has gone to bed. One of Keaton’s favorite toys that he received for Christmas was the Fisher Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage. The songs on this toy are so annoyingly catchy! I thought it was funny that it actually came with lyric cards.
Sunday was Scott’s 31st birthday, and Grammie and Papa Anderson came to Nashville for the weekend to help us celebrate. We had a terrific weekend relaxing, watching football, and spending time with family. Scott asked for an Ipod for his birthday, so he’ll use his birthday money to pick o
ne out this week. He chose Mickey Roo’s BBQ for his birthday dinner, and I made him a Snickerdoodle cake that we enjoyed after we got home. We onl
y have 5 more days to wait for the party to start back up when Grandma and Papa Archambo arrive Friday to celebrate Scott's birthday and Papa's 60th!
We Andersons like to think of ourselves as somewhat connoisseurs of infomercial items. I remember Scott and I glued to paid programming one Sunday morning after church during our 1st year of marriage when the commercial for the “Ultimate Party Machine” began… “make smoothies, margaritas, dips, snacks, even complete meals in 10 seconds or less!” I had to have one…and I got one for Christmas in 2004. Yes, it’s basically a miniature food processor, but during the last four years, I’ve used it to make smoothies, omelets, peppermint mochas, corn chowder, mudslides (and other mixed drinks), guacamole, chicken salad, and many other yummy treats. It had a resurgence in the last couple of months, because it was perfect for making homemade baby food! Sadly, today while pureeing a batch of sweet potatoes for Keaton’s dinner, it finally kicked the bucket.
in the car and head to Hotlanta for New Years. We spent New Years Eve with Scott’s cousin Janet Turner and her husband in Conyers, GA. Grandma and Papa Anderson and the Workman family met us there. As is tradition, we ate at Duruma Japanese Steakhouse for New Years Eve and then came home to watch the ball drop with Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark. Here’s a picture of our clan at the restaurant. We were wondering what Keaton’s reaction would be to the flaming grill, clanging utensils, and flying knives. He loved it! He kicked his feet and smiled the entire time!
The next day, we headed to Alpharetta to meet up with some old friends for lunch! Here’s us with Nate, Ginny, Ella, and Scarlet Early, Nathan Brauer, and Andrew and Valerie Hobbs (in town from England!). What a treat to catch up with good friends – we miss them so much!
ng together. As usual, we told them they better get used this – they will be friends – whether they like it or not!
