The loot

I have been meaning to do this for a while so I figured that since this weeks haul was respectable it would be a good time.

I will start with Albertsons…

There were some really good stock up prices, which I won’t get into, a smarter more capable woman will go over this at castlerockcouponqueen.blogspot.com.

I got 5, 5 lb bags of flour for 1.00 each, regularly 2.99 each

3 boxes of Jolly Time Popcorn for 1.00 each, regularly 3.69

5 cans of Dole Pineapple for 1.00 each with 2.00 in coupons, regularly 2.29 each

1 sour cream for .79

2 Tony’s Pizzas for 1.00 each, regularly 1.49

5.8 lb’s of 93% lean ground beef for 11.56 or 1.99 per lb, regularly 3.49

6 racks of pork baby back ribs for 2.49 per lb, regularly 6.99

1 Hunts Ketchup

bananas at .39 per lb

3 bags baby carrots for 1.00 each, regularly 1.50 each

totaling 61.22

with a savings of 97.14!

King Soopers

I had to do 2 transactions the first was 20 yoplait yogurts for 10/6 with coupons totaling at 9.55, and 2.40 in savings. This gave me 2.00 for my next transaction.

I got 2 boxes of Post Raisin Bran

1 Kitchen Basics beef stock

1 carton large eggs

1 Ken's dressing

1 Oreida fries

1 Tresseme conditioner

1 box cherry poptarts (oh so healthy)

1 pack of Ramen

2 bags of Nestle Chocolate Morsels

1 box Ronzoni Penne pasta

2 packs of Ronzoni Spaghetti

4 braeburn apples

2 12 packs of pop

for a grand total of 23.93 after coupons

with 30.36 in savings!

Sprouts

1, 2 % milk = 1.89

.5 lb Deli Roast beef = 3.71

.5 lb deli turkey = 3.36

Deli sliced swiss cheese = 3.12

5 lb box of cuties = 3.99 – 1.00 cp

4 Pears = 1.40

3 Hass Avocados = 1.00

2 jalepeno peppers = .30

1 lime = .29

3 lb Gigantic navel oranges = 1.06

2 red bell peppers = 1.54

Roma tomatoes = 1.19

1 reusable shopping bag = .99

total = 25.16

savings = 1.10 ( I know that is pretty impressive!)

And finally Safeway… I have to admit that I cannot find the receipt anywhere so I am going to have to wing it!

3 boxes of Kellogs frosted flakes

2 bags of baby carrots (yes I realize I bought these at several stores)

1 can of cream cheese cake frosting! Yay!

4 boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix

and my total was around 11.84 but with my coupons and some spoils from a previous trip I was able to net .64!!! Yes that is right, they paid me to buy it!

So my grand total was $119.22!!!

That is a total savings of around $142!!!

Which puts my savings around 54% savings!

I don’t know how Jen does this every week, it is a lot of work to figure all this out!


Here are some more pictures, luckily my new kitchen set up lets me display even more...

Okay I have been working on this from start to finish for more hours than I would like to admit so it is time that I hit the hay, Jason is currently passed out on the couch so I am going to see if I can carry him up the stairs... 

Road lessons

Okay so I went for my regular run today, after all it did stop snowing finally! However, a lot of people in the neighborhood neglected to shovel their sidewalks so there was some dry running spots and others still resembled the peaks of the Himalayas. Due to these conditions I was forced to run on the road where it was  fairly dry. After ascending the back hill from hell, (that is it's new name) I was descending happily in the sun at a rather good pace, I was listening to some Stevie Nicks and contemplating life when suddenly any evil patch of ice skating rink took me down and showed me whose boss. Luckily for me I get hurt all the time so I am getting better at falling and have learned how to fall and protect the vitals, (face, hair, boobs... etc.) I sacrificed my entire left side, oh yes I am serious, and managed to hobble away okay. The extent of the damage was limited to my elbow, hip/right under the butt area, ankle,foot, knee, and shin. I took a picture of my injuries, but for your sake and my own, I will only post my knee and shin. I have to say the picture makes me look like a weenie, and I am not claiming that this is my worst injury... that happened when I took out that fat girl in rugby (she had it coming she played for Thunderidge, HRHS FOR LIFE :) ).

Note: although the picture looks like my leg is 10 feet thick at the top and 2 inches at the bottom by my ankle, I assure you that it is not. Let us also note my winter tan... you can almost see through my leg! I am disgusted by how my leg looks but I am going to let it go... but I mean really!!! 

p.s. the shower right after was like hot burning torture... and the peroxide... never mind.

Progress

Alright, I have gotten some more work done on my painting and I thought I would post some new photos of my progress. 

Here it is with the painting I completed last summer, I think it will look neat hung with the other. 

Here is a more detailed shot.

As many of you know, I LOVE ME SOME POPCORN! Now I have a theory that it tastes better when Jason makes it for me, so while I was taking pictures of my painting I got a few of the master at work!

Look at those strong arms grabbing the bowl...

He loves the camera!

Here the popcorn artist works carefully at his craft.

A professional's hands!

That's all for now, I will try to continue to update my progress... until next time!

Artist diaries

Okay I am starting a new painting project and I wanted to follow my progress on the blog here. There is a big art show in Castle Rock every year called the Castle Rock Artfest, and this year I am going to try to get in. This is a juried show which means every artist has to submit slides of their work to a jury and be selected. This show draws about 25,000 to 30,000 people. I am desperately trying to create more work because I don't have enough to bring to a show. So over the next 8 weeks or so I am really going to start focusing on my paintings. The first one I am starting is a collection of two paintings that will hang side by side. They are long and thin, 51 inches by 14 inches. I am using pictures from the same series that I painted "Where the skirts Fly", but in these paintings I am intending to abstract the image even further than before. I have been thinking a lot about my art, who I am as an artist and what sort of relationship I have with my art. I can't say that I have any answers but I have started this dialogue. I have also been considering the work of one of my favorite artists who is Georgia O'Keeffe, and last night I was reading in one of my old art history books and they briefly discussed her work. I will quote from the book titled Art Since 1900 by Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, and Benjamin H. D. Buchloh. They state in the section of Early American Modernism that, " It was left to Georgia O'Keeffe to salvage the lyrical subjectivity that some artists hoped to wrest from the machine age, but in order to do so she abandoned images of production and consumption altogether. After a decade of intermittent paintings of New York, she turned away from the city, and eventually rediscovered, in the desert landscape of the American Southwest, a relation to objects and images that reasserted rather than overwhelmed the body... with her abstracted flowers and landscapes... [she] recaptures self-creation for her own art of nature... In doing so, she charts an alternative identity for American artists, especially for women, one that departs from the machine age and its myths of modernity," (2004, p. 225). I love the idea of turning away from the hustle and bustle of society and rediscovering the beauty of creation. I feel that through my art I am creating a place that I believe exists but that I can never quite find. I love the beauty and yet the solidarity found in the American Southwest. There is this duality and tension between lively, colorful culture and the quiet reverence of the desert. Anyway these are some of the initial thoughts that I am having.

I wanted to post some pictures of my temporary work space and the canvases that I've made. I will try to keep updating as I make some progress.

Pictured here is the first canvas and you can see that I have begun to draw out my painting. Essentially the blue edge of the skirt will weave in and out of the painting. The size is turning out nicely because if it is hung low and you stand next to it you almost get the feeling that it is your skirt flying through the air. And yes that is a bag of sunflower seeds, which is a necessity for me and making art, I'd like to thank my brother for that.

Late afternoon sun.

Here is a slightly clearer shot of the sketch so far. 

Until next time...