Didn't I Feed You Yesterday?

I am a crazy, super fan of Project Runway. The season 7 finale comes on tonight and I am VERY excited (cheering for Seth Aaron). So, appropriately enough, today's post is Project Runway related.

On Saturdays I often have the dvds of old seasons playing all day. I can literally watch the show over and over and over. I never get tired of it. Because of it, I am even trying to learn to sew. (Now don't go expecting cocktail dresses, but so far I have at least learned to thread the machine and some sewing basics.) So, when I heard that season 3 Project Runway alum Laura had her own book coming out, I had to have it. Thanks to the Lifetime website for the heads up! http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway A quick trip to Amazon and it was on my front porch in a few days. (To see what became of the amazon delivery box, see http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47493&id=1626052383&l=fdb0d007b2)

Didn't I Feed You Yesterday? A Mother's Guide to Sanity in Stilettos by Laura Bennett. Now I'm not a mother and I won't be in the next 9 months, so there is no secret message here, but the book is hilarious! If you watched Laura on the show, you know she was the one constantly making cocktail dresses and pregnant. She has SIX children. She is an architect turned fashion designer. She is grounded, brutally honest, and the author of a great book! I'm already halfway through the 201 page book and I've only had it for a few days. My husband catches me laughing out loud while reading about her quirky husband, the kids, the help, her realistic perception of her own life, and her love for fabulous shoes. It is a really easy, entertaining read that is hard to put down. I may finish it tonight...after Project Runway! 

Jostens

Remember Jostens? Class rings, cap & gown, graduation announcements... Well, I recently volunteered to be in charge of ordering, addressing and mailing graduation announcements for my brother's upcoming college graduation. (Honestly, I love doing stuff like that.) From the school's website I found ordering info linked to Jostens. I suppose of all the industries out there, this may be one of the most monopolized of all!

From the Jostens website I was able to make all the appropriate choices: college, announcements, find the correct school, choose the ceremony date, etc. From this point you in put your personal info, all the while being reminded that they do not check spelling and if you make any mistakes it is your fault and they will not correct it. Ok, I get it, I would always double check everything anyway. Once everything was entered and triple checked for accuracy, my order was placed....an expensive order at that $149 for 50 announcements!

Nevertheless, I was excited to find a box on my front porch about 10 days later. Upon opening to inspect, this is what I find:

A little plain, but it looks fine from the outside. (Although I was disappointed that the seal and lettering were not embossed, they were simply printed flat with colored ink.) Unfortunately, the inside was less than acceptable.

Yes, all the information I entered was correct, no problems there. See the last three lines at the bottom - what is that? The spacing was totally messed up! 

To make a very long and frustrating story a little shorter, I received THREE shipments with this exact same problem. They also added a new error to the second order as well, just to keep it interesting. So now, I have 150 unusable announcements on my kitchen table! When I speak with Jostens after the third shipment, they say that they will refund me $114. Excuse me? After arguing with them for almost an hour and asking repeatedly to speak to a manger, I finally got them to agree to refund the full amount. But wait, I have to ship all of them back so that they can verify there is a mistake. Are you kidding me? This started the next argument with them. Although it is against their "policy" they eventually agreed to also refund the amount for the return shipping. (I say agreed because I haven't actually gotten that reimbursement back yet.)  

Seriously, it was one of the worst customer services experiences I've ever encountered!

Jostens = Hate It

My eventual remedy to the whole announcement fiasco turned out great, so that will be coming up soon! 

Jen

Cheerios

Cereal is always one of my favorites way to start the day (and end a day for that matter!) so I think it is also an excellent way to get a new blog up & running.

Let's begin with Multigrain Cheerios. These are fabulous! I love them for breakfast, but they are also an excellent snack any time of day. They are sweet, crunchy and light. Since my sweet tooth is the size of Texas, I'm always looking for something yummy to snack on that doesn't make me feel guilty with each and every bite. To add, they come in a cute purple box that totally pass the "I'm an appropriate cereal for an adult" test.

Because I love my Multigrain Cheerios so much, I was super excited to try the new Chocolate Cherrios. (In case you were wondering, Cheerios currently come in 11 flavors!) So, after multiple tries to find the darn things, I finally scored a small box of the new Chocolate variety....and a 3/4 full box is still in the pantry. The chocolate flavor is a little odd and they are more dense than their multigrain cousins. They aren't horrible and I will eat them in a desperate attempt to find anything sweet, but I won't be spending my next $3.79 on these again.

Multigrain Cheerios = Love 'em!

Chocolate Cheerios = Save your $$$

Jen