Weekly Deals! (8-22)

Cheap stuff


(Expires 8-27) Caliber 2-pocket folder - 3/$1 (CVS)
(Expires 8-27) Paper Mate Grip Pens 8 ct. - Buy One Get One (CVS)
(Expires 8-27) Paper Mate 10 pack - 3/$1.98 (Rite Aid)
(Expires 8-27) Office Depot Brand Spiral Notebook - 1 cent (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-27) 1" Vinyl Round-Ring Binders - 50 cents (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-27) Sharpie Accent Highlighter 3 pk. - 50 cents (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-27) 1-Subject Schoolio Notebooks - 1 cent (Office Max)
(Expires 8-27) 100 pack Schoolio index cards - $1 (Office Max)
(Expires 8-27) Just Basics Mechanical Pencils 12 pk. - $1 (Office Max)
(Expires 9-8) Carl Jr. - $1 off Hand-breaded chicken fillet sandwich (Here)



Free Stuff

Chili's - Free Chips and Queso
Join IHOP Pancake Revolution and get a free meal (Freeflys)
Free Ice Cream from Baskin Robin's on your birthday (Freeflys)
Join Arby's Extras and get a free Roast Beef Sandwich
Free Sample of Splenda Essentials
Free Sample of Dove Daily Treatment Conditioner
Free Sample of 4 Mary Kay Scents
 

Mentionables

Starbucks Treat Receipt - It's back until September 5th! Make any purchase before 2PM and you can get any Grande cold beverage for just $2.00 and tax after 2PM the same day!

Free Popcorn at Regal Cinemas, Edward's, or United Artists Cinemas for smartphone users! Go to Yahoo Movies on Facebook and sign up, and you can continue to get free popcorn by texting 35350 until one million free popcorns have been handed out. Act fast!

(Expires 12-31) Regal Cinemas - Free small soft drink with the purchase of a small popcorn 

(Expires 8-31) White Castle - Free Original Slider for the first 90 people who have this coupon when they come in. If you are one of the first, the pin they give you will allow you to get one slider for every visit until August 31st

Weekly Deals! (8-15)

Why so few good deals this week? : (








Cheap stuff





(Expires 8-19) Schoolio 1 subject notebook - 1 cent (Office Max)
(Expires 8-19) Composition Notebooks - 50 cents (Office Max)
(Expires 8-19) Avery Durable Double Binder 1" - $2 (Target)
(Expires 8-19) Paper Pocket Folders - 1 cent (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-19) Office Depot Brand Book Covers - 25 cents (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-19) Sharpie Accent Generation Highlighters 5 pk. - $2 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-19) Fashion Pencil Cup - $3 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-16) Boston Market - Buy one meal get a 32 oz. drink free (Here)
(Expires 9-8) Carl Jr. - $1 off Hand-breaded chicken fillet sandwich (Here)



Free Stuff

Chili's - Free Chips and Queso
Join IHOP Pancake Revolution and get a free meal (Freeflys)
Free Ice Cream from Baskin Robin's on your birthday (Freeflys)
Join Arby's Extras and get a free Roast Beef Sandwich
Free Sample of Splenda Essentials
Free Sample of Dove Daily Treatment Conditioner
Free Sample of 4 Mary Kay Scents
Free Sample of Mary Kay Satin Hands


Mentionables

Starbucks Treat Receipt - It's back until September 5th! Make any purchase before 2PM and you can get any Grande cold beverage for just $2.00 and tax after 2PM the same day!

Free Popcorn at Regal Cinemas, Edward's, or United Artists Cinemas for smartphone users! Go to Yahoo Movies on Facebook and sign up, and you can continue to get free popcorn by texting 35350 until one million free popcorns have been handed out. Act fast!

(Expires 12-31) Regal Cinemas - Free small soft drink with the purchase of a small popcorn 

(Expires 8-31) White Castle - Free Original Slider for the first 90 people who have this coupon when they come in. If you are one of the first, the pin they give you will allow you to get one slider for every visit until August 31st

Some Thoughts

First, BlogHer (a big blogging convention that's really well-known) just finished, and I didn't realize until after it was done how cool it would be. Not that I would have been able to get a ticket, pay for a hotel room, and get to and fro... But next year it's in New York, and I really want to go! I haven't talked to Woof about whether or not she'd be interested in going, but I really want to make this blog into something fun, informative, and a really great place for college students and their families to share experiences (with college and products, and anything else) and to come together and do things together! That's really my ultimate goal, and after hearing so much about the conference, it sounds like something that really would have shown me what I need to do next. Plus, New York has a GREAT public transportation system (I don't drive), but the tickets will sell out more quickly. Hmmm..... I guess this is as good a time to announce that I am looking for sponsors (partial or full) to attend the BlogHer Conference in 2012. If you'd like to contact me, my email is in the left column under 'PR Friendly.'

Also, while I was looking at some other blogs, I found two things that I think are awesome and I want to share with you right away. One was a Papa John's deal for a free medium pizza, and the other was a great pen-holder craft that you can do with stuff you already have in your house!

Enjoy your night, tonight is my night off of work, so I know I'll enjoy it... By entering giveaways all night!

-Mew

What you need for your new dorm

This post is for students, primarily incoming college freshmen, who are looking into what they need for their first dorm room. This will not cover apartments in which there is a kitchen area/private bathroom. Most of these lists I looked at when I was a freshman were written by adults, usually posted on some college website that sells everything they list. I'm going to cut the dumb stuff and just make a general list-- if you need something else, trust me, it'll be easily available when you get there.

• Clothes: Bring some summer/spring stuff, but bring a lot more winter/fall stuff. Pack shoes that you can walk through rivers in, if you have to, because some schools have problems with water draining slow on campus, in which case you will in fact be walking through rivers. If you're a girl, bring a TON of hairbands. You'll need them for the spring and early fall, if at no other time, and they're occasionally a lifesaver. Bring Clothespins, too, for wardrobe malfunctions and minor backpack repairs.
• A Lamp: Do not buy a lamp with that silly little organizer at the bottom. You won't use that. Buy one that'll stay cool and light a surface. If it's colored, fine, but you're not going to impress anyone with your lamp, this is just a functional item. If it is really cheap, it'll get hot and heat up your room. With two computers running, your room may already be too hot in early fall or early spring, so you really want to minimize heat at all times. 
• Two Fans: One desk fan and one box fan. Dorms are different everywhere, but most don't have air conditioning. That means they get really hot really fast. Also, if your dorm is in a building in which each room is heated the same amount you'll really want the fans for the winter, as it'll probably get hot then, too.
• A Mini-Fridge: The biggest is the best, but don't bring a full sized fridge, as you'll get in trouble for it. Don't bother with the expensive ones with all the bells and whistles, but try to get one with a freezer if you can. The freezer does not have to be big.
• General First Aid: Band aids, Neosporin, hydrogen peroxide, eye drops (if you use them), LOTS of pain relievers, anti histimines that don't make you drowsy, multi vitamins (late nights will kill your immune system), Vitamin C tablets (great for when you get a cold), cough drops (in bulk!), Ice pack (if your fridge has a freezer).
• Bathroom Stuff: If your dorm requires you to clean your own bathroom, you're going to need windex, toilet bowl scrubber, scrubbing bubbles, a sponge, toilet paper, paper towels (or regular hand towels), soap for your hands, FLIP FLOPS (trust me on this one). You also need all the stuff you would need for a shower at home: A loofah, body soap, shampoo and conditioner, razors, shaving cream (though using it in a tiny shower is rather hard), and anything else you use in the shower at home, including towels.
• Little stuff: If you're a girl, you'll need your makeup, nail polish, lip gloss, moisturizer, jewelry and hand lotion. For everyone else, you'll need your toothbrush, toothpaste, acne stuff (if you use it), Hair gel (if you use it), Lots of chapstick, A can opener, A rubber thing to open jars, flashlight, extra lightbulbs for your lamp, and anything that can keep you prepared for an everyday situation.
• Office Supplies: You'll need: one subject spirals. 12 of them to be safe (this should cover two semesters). Pens and pencils, pencil sharpeners if your pencils are wooden, one big extra eraser, lined paper, a lap desk (for when you're in bed sitting up working), a stapler, a three hole punch, scotch tape, duct tape, masking tape (Woof and i use this to put stuff on the walls to avoid pin holes. In most cases, pins are ok.).Markers, colored pencils, or both. At least one posterboard (for projects in which you need one, just watch for a sale). Post-its. A dry erase board for your door (even if you're the only one who uses it). Scissors (two pairs, because they're always breaking). A flathead and phillips screwdriver and a hammer.
• Microwave: Only if you can have it. Size doesn't really matter, the RAs aren't trained to know the difference between the one that takes less power and the one that takes more. 
• Food: If you can have a microwave, go for stuff that can be microwaved. If you can't have one, you may have to resort to only having snack foods around. See if you can get in contact with someone at your school who lived in the building you're going to live in and see if there's a community microwave that you'll have access to.
• Shelves: If you plan on bringing movies, video games, or really anything, you'll want a set of shelves. A popular way to do this is to go out the day you get into your dorm, after you measure the top of your dresser, and get a set that will fit on there. Also, get drawers for underneath your bed. As many sets as you can fit. Trust me.
• TV: Most colleges have free cable, but even if you want to watch a movie or something, you should have a tv to do it on. Also, some professors ask you to watch something on tv for extra credit, and you should be able to do that.
• Electronics: Don't forget all your chargers, your DVD player (or game system that can play DVDs), lots of AA and AAA batteries, cords for ALL your stuff, hair straighteners, blow dryers, curling irons, computer keyboards and mice, usb drives, computer, etc.

I know I've missed things, so this is where you come in. Take a notebook around with you for a few days and write down every last item you use during the day. Add what you feel like you need to your list. I can't know everything you need. Hopefully I've brought to mind some things you weren't thinking of before! Enjoy your first year, and let me know what else you added to your list!

-Mew

Woof goes UrbEx!

August 4th, 2011

Let me start off by saying that I'm a photographer.

Today, I went on a trip with a small group of friends to my first ever Urban Exploration Expedition. I gotta say, it was incredible.

First, we stopped at a Power Plant.

This Power Plant was SUPPOSED to be deserted; it didn't turn out that way. In fact, they still use some of the substations there. First, we had to walk two blocks to even find the access point in the fence (ya know, where the chains were cut). Then, we ran across a field the size of a High School Track. After that, we climbed through a window which was roughly 3 feet long, two feet wide, and a good eight feet off the ground. It was rough; we used a cement block to hoist ourselves up. Once inside, we moved to the third floor. 

Not fifteen minutes after being in the building, one of the girls was photographing by one of the old broken windows. She thought she heard voices, she looked outside..she did. Three workers in uniforms and hardhats were standing outside. One of them was on the phone. She heard him say something along the lines of "Yeah, well, we got a tip that some kids ran behind the building..so, I guess we'll bring the cops in."

Oh, shit.

One of the members of our group, the other guy (two guys, two girls) had wondered off up the stairs even further to see if he could find an access to the roof. We had NO idea where the guy went.

So the three of us are standing there, freaking out, trying to decide what to do, right? Well, we decided to book it; we had no idea what "bring in the cops" meant, and figured they'd search the place.

One of the girls called the guys phone, and he came running back down eight flights of stairs to meet us.

We went down to the first floor where we entered. We had to climb back out the window, but from the inside, there wasn't a way to climb up. We ended up using a stool to hoist ourselves up; one of the legs was broken and it wobbled like crazy. One by one, we went back out the window feet-first. We used the cement block to come back out as well, being the tallest, I exited last. No one had been holding said cement block for me, and it ended up toppling over when I stepped on it. Yeah, that was a fun fall.

We made sure we had everyone and everything, and high-tailed it back the same way we came in; running as fast as we could towards the hole in the fence.

The cops showed up just after we had all gone out of the fence; now, we were on another companies property. They were still functioning, some construction company of some sort. Probably the ones that saw us go in and called in the tip. The cops spotted us in the companies lot, and forced us to stop. When we were questioned, we said we had just been trying to find a way to the Waterfront (the Power Plant is located at a river). The cops gave us a lecture about trespassing, and told us to leave.

Oh well, better than getting arrested, right?

We continued on, after all, it was only about 9:00 AM.

Now, this is the location where we were originally supposed to travel. Thomas Edison (formally known as Julia de Burgos High) High School. Now, let me tell you all about this:

We went exploring on a Thursday. We had originally planned to travel to Edison, and the trip was to take place the day before (Wednesday). We had to change our plans at the last minute because one of the people who wanted to go had to work on Wednesday.

Well, Wednesday afternoon, a 4-Alarm Fire broke out at the abandoned school. In the front section, two of the floors burned.

Although I was/am very disappointed we didn't get the chance to walk through the school, if we hadn't changed our plans, we would have been caught in the fire, for sure.

We went today back, just to see the damage. 

Like I said, the top couple floors burned. The floors collapsed on themselves. Total wreckage where the fire raged. One of the locals we talked to, located in a townhouse right across the Alley, told us they were evacuated during the blaze, it was so bad. From the sidewalk you could tell just how badly devastated it really was.

While walking around the exterior taking photos, we ran into another Urban Explorer. He was chill; he told us about another school nearby we could travel to, and he'd lead us through it. Word, dawg. We arranged to follow him there.

We continued on, and eventually ran into the owner of the building. He bought the School on June 30th. Dude, after a month and some change, there's a fire? That sucks. One of the girls asked him about the auditorium, and whether or not it had been damaged. The auditorium is stunning; it's two stories - a stage, a ground floor, and a balcony. It's amazingly beautiful, and I had REALLY been looking forward to shooting it, and was incredibly bummed out when I couldn't because of the fire. However, I got the chance to go in and shoot it!

Thrilled, we carried on, following our new buddy to the other school. It was an abandoned Elementary School - defunct in the 70s.

This school was incredible. It was ridiculously easy to get into, too. The back door was open and no one was around. Once inside, the ride was ridiculously smooth. Our new friend lead the way through the school; very knowledgeable.

I really love Urban Exploration; I've always been interested in historic and abandoned sites, and I'm very glad I did this, despite the danger. I feel I'll definitely be doing more in the future. ;P

Exploring in your backyard,

-Woof

Weekly Deals! (8-7)

Groupon and the like



Cheap stuff

(Expires 8-12) Waffle House - Buy one get one sausage biscuit (Here)
(Expires 8-13) Filler Paper - 1 cent (Office Max)
(Expires 8-13) Paper Mate Write Bros. black or blue ballpoint pens 10 ct. - 10 cents (Office Max)
(Expires 8-13) Kingston 4GB Data Traveler 101 USB Flash Drive - $7.99 (Office Max)
(Expires 8-13) Staples Standard sized striped paper clips 100 pack - 25 cents (Staples)
(Expires 8-13) Westcott Preferred 7" Scissors - 50 cents (Staples)
(Expires 8-13) Staples mini stapler - $1 (Staples)
(Expires 8-13) High Sierra Backpacks - 50% off (Staples)
(Expires 8-13) Scholastic School Glue 4oz. - 1 cent (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Wilson Jones 1" Binder - 50 cents (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Markers 5 pack - $1 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Scotch Removable Double-sided tape - $3 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Sharpie Accent Retractable Highlighters 4 pack - $3 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Arrowhead Spring Water 20 Pack - $3 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Mesh Wire Wastebasket - $5 (Office Depot)
(Expires 8-13) Denny's - 20% off a to go order (Here)
(Expires 8-14) Bath and Body Works - Free Signature Collection Body Care Item (up to $12.50 value) with a purchase of  $10 or more (Here)
(Expires 8-16) Boston Market - Buy one meal get a 32 oz. drink free (Here)
(Expires 9-8) Carl Jr. - $1 off Hand-breaded chicken fillet sandwich (Here)



Free Stuff

Chili's - Free Chips and Queso
Join IHOP Pancake Revolution and get a free meal (Freeflys)
Free Ice Cream from Baskin Robin's on your birthday (Freeflys)
Join Arby's Extras and get a free Roast Beef Sandwich
Free Sample of Splenda Essentials
Free Sample of Dove Daily Treatment Conditioner
Free Sample of 4 Mary Kay Scents
(Expires 8-12) Advil 24 ct. Bottle at Walmart (Use this coupon)



Mentionables

Starbucks Treat Receipt - It's back until September 5th! Make any purchase before 2PM and you can get any Grande cold beverage for just $2.00 and tax after 2PM the same day!

Free Popcorn at Regal Cinemas, Edward's, or United Artists Cinemas for smartphone users! Go to Yahoo Movies on Facebook and sign up, and you can continue to get free popcorn by texting 35350 until one million free popcorns have been handed out. Act fast!

(Expires 12-31) Regal Cinemas - Free small soft drink with the purchase of a small popcorn 

(Expires 8-31) White Castle - Free Original Slider for the first 90 people who have this coupon when they come in. If you are one of the first, the pin they give you will allow you to get one slider for every visit until August 31st

Sodastream Review

I emailed the nice people at Sodastream about a possible review opportunity without high hopes. After all, their product looked amazing, and I couldn't imagine that my little blog would qualify for their reviewing standards. When I got an email back, I was super excited and provided some information to them, then didn't hear anything for a week. Being new at this, I didn't know what to expect. Was my little blog ok? Did they decide not to do a review? Once again, my hopes were low.

Then on the day my family was going to a friend's pool, we opened the door to find a HUGE box. It was almost up to my waist, and the Sodastream logo was on the side. I was SUPER excited to get it! I carried it in and eagerly awaited the moment I could try it. Later that  night, I opened the box to find two smaller boxes and some flavors. Here's what I received: The Sodastream machine, a metal container of carbonation, a one liter bottle (empty), some instructions, 10 big flavor bottles and a pack of 3 water flavors to go with it. I put the bottle full of water into the refrigerator and read the instructions very very carefully. It turns out, that was not at all needed. This machine is incredibly easy to put together. I think even without the instructions I could have figured it out.

The machine itself is made of a strong plastic, which is great because that makes it light and easy to carry and travel with, though I haven't traveled with it yet. It doesn't plug in to the wall, so you can set it up just about anywhere, and it takes up a little more space than a 2 liter and it's a little taller, but it is very small for a machine. It also works really simply. You press a button on the front and screw in the bottle, then you press a button on the top 3-4 times until  you hear a loud buzz, then you press the first button and unscrew your bottle. The whole process takes less than a minute once you have it down. It's a little difficult at first, but it doesn't take long to find the best way to do it.

This is a picture of the machine I have. It looks bigger in this picture than it actually is.

The bottle that goes into the machine is also really well-made. I think it could probably last 3-4 years of frequent use, if not much much more. To be honest, I'm not too familiar with re-usable bottles, but this one really impressed me. They also send a cap for the bottle so that you can store your soda in the bottle it was made in until you're ready to make more. How convenient is that? You can't wash the bottle in the dishwasher, but really I've never needed to wash it out at all. Since it's made with water and flavoring (which immediately dissolves in the water and doesn't separate with time) all you need to do is rinse out the bottle 2-3 times and you've gotten out all the flavoring from before and it's clean. If you're really worried, then you can just pour some soap and water in there, close and shake it, then pour and rinse. No problem!

I also just love the many different kinds of flavors available. I got some favorites like Energy Drink (Red Bull) and Cola Free (Coke Zero) and some interesting flavors like Diet Pink Grapefruit and Orange Mango. They also sent two bottles from their naturals line, Cola Natural and Black Currant and Pear. I have tried most of these, and can say that the ones that are made after popular sodas really do taste like those sodas. In fact, my sister commented that the cola free tasted even better than normal coke zero. My personal favorite has been Energy Drink, because during school I am always drinking monster in the mornings, and I think that this would allow me to make my own and save the money, because frankly it's a HUGE difference in price. If you use your machine for that alone, you can save an incredible amount of money. To put the flavors in the drink, you take your carbonated water and fill a the cap of the drink and pour it in. Simple! You close your soda, turn it to and fro gently, and it's well-mixed. The only problem that I have with the system is that the cap of the flavor is only a little smaller than the opening of the bottle, and it takes some time to figure out how to get all the flavoring in the bottle and not on the side. I have it perfected now, but I had trouble figuring it out.

For college students, this could turn out to be their favorite gadget ever. The prices are low, so they're not spending all their money on soda, and they don't have a big bottle to worry about going flat either. On top of that, they can carry it to class like a normal re-usable water bottle. If they're an energy drink drinker, they save enormous amounts of money, and don't have to wait in line to buy their drink in the morning. They also won't have to spend much time when they wake up making soda, so they'll save up to 7 minutes every day. It doesn't sound like much, but I know that a lot of people can get a lot done in 7 minutes. Plus, it's easy to clean and the machine never gets dirty. The only thing I can think of that might be hard for college students is replacing the carbonator, which you can buy online or trade in at a store close to you (they have a list of stores that carry their products on their site). You pay about 20 dollars for an exchange, but I can say that you have 60 liters worth of carbonation from each carbonator. That means that once every two months you might have to change it out. Ten dollars a month doesn't seem unreasonable to me. In fact, that's not even 5 days worth of my energy drinks during the school year. The flavor refills themselves are around 12 liters worth, and they're about 5 dollars. Also, if you know soda the way I know soda, you'll know this next statement means something: it makes fountain-tasting soda.

If you're looking for something fun and interesting to give your college student, consider the Sodastream soda machine with some flavors! You seriously can't go wrong.