She Went to Paris

Looking for answers.

If you've been reading this blog or follow me on twitter for a while, then you know that I have insomnia. That's no secret. I do most of my shopping at night. Lately, I have been getting depressed about my husband's upcoming deployment. I have been trying to keep myself together by planning trips while he's gone so I can focus on the good. On a whim, I decided to go to the Air France website and see what it would cost me to fly to Paris for 2 days. Less than I thought. $115. I am now trying to talk myself out of booking the ticket on the spot and wait until I know more. It's not easy. My mother once booked a two week trip to Hungary and the Czech Republic because she saw a good deal on plane tickets. She called it her impulse purchase. It runs in the family.

I am trying to be good and not book the ticket, but this was what I found to be so funny.

That's right. The actual ticket only costs $1. The rest of the ticket cost is taxes and fees.

 ETA: I realized that the screenshot comes out tiny on the post and I can't figure out a way to change that. The picture says that the ticket costs $1 and has $113.60 in taxes and government surcharges on it.

It might be time to replay my favorite YouTube video.



Bonsoir folks.

January sponsors

This year, I have decided to open my blog up to sponsors. I now present you with the first-ever MMS sponsors posts. Some sponsors do have giveaways or coupon codes for my readers.

1) Kimmie Schiffel, Scentsy Consultant
The lovely Kimmie of Full Circle Adventures has joined the ranks to become a Scentsy consultant.

That is her furbaby Gabby pictured above. Kimmie loves candles but needed a more pet-friendly alternative to them when Gabby's poor little tail kept catching on fire. Since Scentsy warmer systems are flameless, they are safe for pets (and children!).

Currently, for the month of January, you can buy several retired fragranced wax bars that are available during this month only. Look out for the Bring Back My Bar tab. Also, the warmer and scent of the month are 10% off. The January warmer had a big red bow on it and will be mine.

In addition, I am hosting a online catalog party with Kimmie. Any order purchased through the Preppy Girl Meets World party will automatically receive a bar of White Tea and Cactus, one of my favorite scents. You can also follow her on facebook for more promotions and giveaways.

2) My Memories

 My Memories is a digital scrapbooking software. I recently did a review of their product here. It is great for making wedding albums, baby books, or gifts for others.

MyMemories is offering PGMW readers $10.00 of their purchase with code STMMMS9327.

3) Cole Creates






Cole Creates is an Etsy Shop run by blogger Cole of All the Small Stuff fame. Currently, her shop carries items that were hand knit by her. How cute is this adorable doggie sweater?

puppy not included with purchase- sadly

Currently, the shop only carries knit items, but she is in the process of expanding her wares to include t shirt gifts (perfect gifts for a college grad or your favorite sorority girl). Starting Monday, until the January, receive free shipping on any item in her shop with code freeship0112.

4) Sweet Tea Paperie
Sweet Tea Paperie is an amazing stationery and gift shop that carries so many fun items.

It really is hard to pick your favorite item from there, but I am partial to this gorgeous Chinoiserie Navy Square Tray from Boatman Geller.

Currently, Sweet Tea Paperie has a promotion on their adorable monogrammed 2012 planners:

Receive free shipping on all planner purchases with code PLANNER2012.

Also, from Monday, January 9th- Sunday, January 15th, all cutting boards will be on sale for 15% off with code CUTTINGBOARD.

I think these would make great bridal shower gifts!

5) Monogrammed Everything
As the name implies, this store is pretty much my idea of heaven! Monogrammed Everything has so many great items that would make great gifts for brides, babies, and everyone in between!
At just $10 each, these monogrammed onesies are a steal and would make a great bridal shower or new baby gift.

The monogrammed clogs are an incredibly popular item and with 18 clog colors, 20 thread colors, and the options to add a high heel or painted heel, the options are pretty much endless and you will be sure that your clogs will be unique!

6) Danielle Stage, Stella & Dot Consultant

Stella & Dot is a fun jewelry company. They have so many gorgeous pieces at great price points. I'm loving these Starfish earrings for $34

this Sofia pearl bib necklace for $118

and these Baby Flower post earrings for only $21.75

For the month of January, Danielle is offering Preppy Girl Meets World readers a special- receive a free pair of Soiree Studs in your choice of gold or hematite (a $24 value) with any purchase.

To receive this special, simply order anything from Danielle's site, and checkout. When you are asked if you are shopping with a trunk show, select Preppy Girl Meets World from the menu. After you check out, Danielle will email you and ask which pair of studs you would prefer.



If you are interested in being a blog sponsor for a future month or would like to know more about it, please email me at whaleflipflops {@} gmail{.}com for more information.

Friday 5- Etsy Love

I have been spending a lot of time on Etsy lately. A lot. I have mainly been looking for home decor things and anything with a monogram on it. And I do mean anything.

Here are some of my recent favorites:
1) Monogrammed Lime Green Wafffle Weave Bag from KatieClaire

I was feeling sad because all I wanted for Hannukah were monograms and I didn't get a single monogrammed thing, so I decided to buy some for myself. I have been needing a new larger size makeup bag for traveling, and when I saw this, I knew I had to have it. I'm really hoping that it comes before I leave for the Canary Islands.
2) Navy Seersucker Clutch with Monogram from SouthernBeaus

No words. This is just perfect. I hope to make it mine for this summer.
3) Custom State & Location Chevron Print from RedRobe Designs

I seriously love chevron so I love this. You can put a little heart near a specific city/town, so I want two get two of those, one for NYC and one for Omaha and hang them up next to each other in pretty frames.
4) Vintage Telephone Booth in Coral Photo from Swede13

I would love to hang this up in my house when I start thinking about/missing England.
5) Turquoise Blue Ceramic Necklace on a Silver Chain from amaniworks

I actually bought this necklace today after seeing a voucher for the shop on Heartsy. I think it will look great with a navy sweater or top. (Lord knows I have enough of those.) My total cost was $15. If you haven't heard of Heartsy, it's similar to Groupon, but only for Etsy. Every day, they have deals for several shops and once in a while, they have auctions as well. I loved it because I have discovered so many new shops through it.

UPrinting Giveaway

Recently, I was contacted by UPrinting to do a giveaway for them. I was intrigued because I know several bloggers have used UPrinting in the past and have enjoyed them.

UPrinting is generously offering one Preppy Girl Meets World 250 stickers (2x3.5" 70lb Label Matte, front only printing).

These are great if you own an Etsy shop or a small business and need more stickers for your packaging or promotional materials. It is also great if you are newly married and need new address labels with your new last name on them (totally not speaking from experience here or anything like that, folks), or if you want to replenish your supply of gift labels after the holidays. You can upload your own design, so the possibilities are pretty much endless.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents ages 18 and over. You are not eligible to win this prize if you have won another giveaway from UPrinting in the past 6 months.

To enter:
1) Like the UPrinting Sticker Printing Page and then leave a comment saying how you would use these stickers if you won. This entry is mandatory.
2) Follow my blog publicly via GFC for a second entry.
3) Like Preppy Girl Meets World on Facebook for a third entry.

This giveaway will run until Saturday, January 14th, at midnight EST.

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive stickers for hosting.

My Memories Giveaway winner

Thank you to all who entered the my memories giveaway. The winner is comment #3- kmb564.

Please email me and I will put you in touch with My Memories.

If you didn't win but would like a copy of the software, you can use code STMMMS93273 to get $10 off the digital scrapbooking software.

Stay tuned for another fun giveaway tomorrow!

Thank you to My Memories for sponsoring this giveaway.

Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale

I have to say, I was not a huge fan of this one. I was waiting and had my alarm all set, and then like every single other sale, there were website problems and it didn't go up as scheduled. Some people had better luck than I did, and by the time I got in, the things I had really been hoping for had all sold out. One shirt sold out as I was checking out. Boo.

In the end, I ended up getting just two items- the Wanda Top in White

and the Murfee in Show Me Some Skin.

Everything else just didn't interest me or was sold out in my size.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again- Murfees are one of my absolute favorite Lilly items, but they are one that I almost always refuse to pay full price for*. I just don't think they're worth the $118 price tag, IMO. So I only buy them at the sales. Loved this print and had to snap it up for $29.

I had a gift card to Lilly, so my total came out to just $9 out of pocket. That is a new record for me. Husband was impressed with my shopping and told me he'd let me make weekly Lilly purchases if I could keep them all under $10. About that dear...

What about you? Did you have any better luck at the sale?


ETA: I just noticed that Lilly Pulitzer will be on Rue La La on Thursday. If you didn't have luck at the sale, then I would try there as well.

*the notable exception would be if Lilly ever made an Alpha Sigma Alpha print Murfee. Get on that Lilly. Pretty please.

Things Never to Say to Me

Living overseas, my tiny kitchen is the very bane of my existence. And I don't mean it's too small to eat in. I mean that both my husband and I physically can't stand in there at the same time. It really annoys me when American friends mention how small their kitchens are. When I bring up mine, they say "oh it can't really be that small." You wanna bet? I now present to you, the Kitchen at Chez MMS.

This is my whole kitchen if I stand directly in the doorway:

And this is all of the usable counter space in said kitchen:

For the record- when I lived in a studio, my counter space was a lot bigger

It gets to be really interesting on the days when I make four course meals in there. Usually the step stool in the top picture, coffee table, dining room table, and on occassion, couch are all covered in trivets and mixing/prep bowls.

So there you have it folks, my entire kitchen. So please, for the love of all things that are holy, unless your kitchen is actually located inside your linen closet, do not complain to me about how small it is.