By now I’m sure you’ve all seen the funny new Spendervention commercials on television. It’s the one where a group of friends get together to convince their buddy that they’re spending too much money at designer boutiques when they could be getting the same or comparable items at a much lesser cost if they only shopped at TJ Maxx or Marshalls.
I was lucky enough to be a part of their gift card giveaway and wanted to be sure to blog about these great stores!

According to TJ Maxx & Mashalls, here are 5 reasons why off-price is the way to shop:

1. Buying Power – Our merchandise strategy can be summed up in two words – opportunistic buying. While other retailers buy merchandise several times a year, our buyers travel to market over forty weeks a year, sourcing from 10,000 vendors in 60 countries. These wide and frequent market trips allow us to buy closer to need and be smarter about trends. Also, because we are making deals closer to need, we are in a good position to negotiate a better price with vendors, and pass those savings along to our customers.
2. Unbelievable Savings – Today more than ever our buyers can negotiate even better prices with vendors due to many factors: department stores planning their inventories much lower, overbuying and then canceling orders, or designers overproducing. All these things allow us to deliver the same merchandise sold in department stores, at the same time, at much lower prices to our customers.
3. Product Quality – At T.J. Maxx and Marshalls our values extend to the important partnerships we have with our vendors. The vast majority of our merchandise is sourced directly from top designers and manufacturers. Over 95% of merchandise at T.J Maxx and Marshalls is the same first quality items that you would find at a department or specialty store at the same time.
4. Fresh Merchandise – While department stores only receive new merchandise seasonally, our stores receive more than 10,000 new items each week. When you shop at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, you’re bound to find a new, differentiated selection of merchandise with every shopping experience.
5. No Sale, Ever – Our reputation has been built on offering our customers an ever-changing selection of brand name family apparel at great values every day. We know customers are bombarded with “sales” and savings messages all the time. We try to keep it simple for them by offering great values every day. There is no need to wait for a sale or clip coupons.

So if you’re looking for great items at an affordable price, check out TJ Maxx & Marshalls. Your wallet will thank you!

W




Could it get any better? We had a perfect day with some garden work in the morning, tball in the sunshine and ending with a BBQ in our backyard. Lots of kids, plenty of tasty food and so much fun. It’s looking a lot like summer these days!

This is from the first morning…Carlos had painted his own fingernails the day before but it makes for a cute pic. I did my best to hide myself.

Thought this was just about the cutest picture of Levi, also from the first morning of camping but he doesn’t look like he just got up at all.

Carlos really got into roasting the mini marshmallows (we had bought them because Bill made marshmallow guns out of pvc pipe for all the boys). Turns out they are super tasty, no raw middle just perfectly roasted tasty ball of sugar.

This was about how it went…with 3 babies in camp, someone was always feeding someone. Lots of work, but all in all they did great.

Had many friends come by and share some time around the campfire with us. Always my favorite part!

I’ve been waiting for Melissa to send me some camping pics…ahem!…so I could share with you. I did take a few with my phone, but our camera didn’t make much of an appearance. I’ll post more once I get some!

The day is coming to an end…but I had to post a big happy birthday to my mom. She’s awesome and we were so glad she came by for some of Dee’s famous potatoes this morning to help celebrate. Hope it was a great one!

=eve

Had a nice dinner with our friends Monica and Jason the other night, the kids are getting along so well and Monica and I have known eachother since, well, forever so it’s been fun to reconnect. Sammy is reading now and Frankie and Trey snuggled up for the story. So nice to have a kid reader in the group. The top picture is my commentary on just how many kids we had last week…too many for the van! Told Carlos we’d get some bungee cords and he could ride up top. He thought it was a grand idea.

Oh, and I’m still working on the camping pics….they are coming, really they are!

Levi still holds a flame for Sophie…it’s pretty darn sweet!

We’re off (with our family of now 7) to camp at Fay Bainbridge this weekend. Should be a great time, have friends joining us down there and lots of kids to play with. Trey will be super jazzed because “his guy” (Joe, our friend’s teenage son) is going to be there. The weather is going to be amazing and the boys couldn’t be more excited.
We are the first site on the right for anyone who wants to come have a s’more with us! We’d love the company.

I haven’t posted pictures from Carlos’ birthday. Wow, what was I thinking? Anyhow, here they are…we had a fun family dinner. He made is SO easy for a mama by wanting popsicles for his birthday snack at school and then pizza for his birthday dinner. Levi tried to convince Carlos that he needed help opening presents (uh, no way dude). It’s tough when the two have birthdays so close together. He got some cool stuff including a Batman cave, a clipboard with paper and envelopes (he loves Office Max). Anyhow, here are the pics!