Triangle Mamas

Bargain Hunting with the Durham Rescue Mission

By Abby

I have a little secret and I'm not sure I should share. If I share, all you local peeps just might start shopping there too and then I'll have to compete with you for all the good stuff.

All the good stuff, you say. Where?

At Rescued Treasures, the Durham Rescue Mission thrift shoppe -- located on US-70/Glenwood Avenue near Brier Creek.

It's here you can find all sorts of awesome deals. I brought home a whole bag of Linus clothing for only $10. It included some pretty nice pants (some still with tags) for $2 each. Right now, Linus is rocking a pair of Gap jammies that I got for -- $2. That's right, most kids clothes are only $2 each.

You can't beat that price anywhere.

Not even at Goodwill, where kid's clothes are $2.25 each.

But even better than prices that beat Goodwill is that unlike GCF, the Rescue Mission's clothes are sorted by SIZE. It's so easy to find a bargain.

My mom even scored a Peg Perego Pliko stroller for $15. She's gonna clean it up, repair the seat fabric, and then pass it on to my expectant sister-in-law, Kate.

And the furniture. I haven't even mentioned the furniture. I have my eye on a desk, if only I can find a way to get it home AND convince my husband that despite it's imperfections, $25 is NOT too much to pay. We'll see.

The other great score I made at the Rescue Mission -- my mom's Christmas present.

But you'll have to wait until Thursday for that one. Stay tuned.

Almost forgot -- While you're there don't forget to donate all your unwanted, gently used household goods and clothing. You can just drive on up, let them unload the car, and walk away with a tax write-off receipt. Easy-peasy.

 

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This is an original Triangle Mamas post. Abby blogs about local finds, shopping steals, and much more at My Sweet Babboo. You can also find her on Twitter when she's not moving laundry around.

Just a Cheesy Girl in Love With the Hillsborough Cheese Company - RTP

By Ilina

 

If there's one thing in my life that's telling and appropriate, it's that I married a man from Wisconsin. America's Dairyland! Home of the Mars Cheese Castle! I love me some cheese. There's one ad that is more truthful than all others - the one that proclaims cheese makes everything better.

 

I got to take a little field trip to the Hillsborough Cheese Company. It was quite an honor because this is not a factory kind of place where the general public can don a hair net and wander in. The boutique creamery operates on a small family farm where Cindy, cheese maker extraordinaire, grew up. Considering I've only been to the kind of boutique where you try on silken dresses that run up your credit card bill, I had no idea what to expect. On a rainy gray day I showed up in my galoshes, having been warned to wear something with rubber soles that could get goopy. The small creamery where all the hands on labor is done is quite refreshing in this age of factory grade rubber that passes as cheese. Don't even get me started on the stuff labeled "cheese product."

 

I got to actually go to work and get my hands dirty whipping up a batch of jalapeno chevre. It was a tactile pleasure to get in there mixing up the grated bits of pickled jalapeno and black pepper. The green flecked snowball that was the end result tasted magnificent. I used it in sweet potato quesadillas that night and polished off the rest on some simple wheat crackers.I also bought some of the aged sweet ash. It was a marvel to see the little round glob of cheese in all its stages and then bite into the finished product. I served the sweet ash to guests outside by our patio fireplace one night. We had a simple fireside nosh of cheese, Italian bread, and grapes. I was up and down refilling drinks and opening wine so I didn't even get to enjoy my sweet ash! Damn my share the wealth spirit.

My other favorite was the ricotta. Banish any thoughts of grocery store ricotta you have. This is nothing like it. I have been dreaming about fresh ricotta since we returned from Italy. In July. I had it every morning for breakfast and have searched all over for a decent stand in until our budget takes us back to Sorrento. Well, folks I found it! The Hillsborough Cheese Company's ricotta is simply divine. It's creamy and rich without being grainy or leaving remnants of a weird after taste like the whole milk stuff sold in the super market. This ricotta, my friends, is the real deal. My sons clamored for it as an after school snack, and I had no choice but to share the wealth. Needless to say, it was devoured in minutes. Next time I shall buy two containers and stash one for myself. And no more sharing for this girl!

 

I am a devotee of the Hillsborough Cheese Company. It stands for all thing values I embrace - local, fresh, good food made with passion, zest, and flavor. Cindy, the cheesemaker, is so knowledgable and humble. She makes a superb product and is driven by quality, not images of grandeur. I'll be making a special trip to some farmers markets a good hike away from me to buy up some Hillsborough Cheese Company Cheese. But I can't promise it will even make it home.

Here's where you too can relish the flavor:

South Estes Farmers Market in Chapel Hill
Eno River Farmer's Market in Hillsborough
Weaver Street Markets (in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro)
A Southern Season in Chapel Hill
Western Wake Farmer's Market in Cary
Saxapahaw Farmers Market in Saxapahaw

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You can find Ilina talking food, politics, and everything in between on her blog Dirt & Noise. You can also catch her in snippets on Twitter.

An Open Letter to Harris Teeter at North Hills East

By Cyndi

Dear Harris Teeter --

You had me at $20 off.

Every time I would start to wander, begin to think that your new North Hills East store was too crowded, imagine that I could save more at Kroger, get annoyed about not being able to find things as you shuffled the shelves around -- somehow you always knew. And every time, those magical $20-off-a-$50-purchase coupons would appear in my mailbox. They worked like a charm.

So given that you seem to have such a keen understanding of your shoppers' minds, how is it possible that you built a two-story store and put the cereal and juice upstairs? And then seemed surprised when people complained? And then spent goodness-knows-how-much money and time remodeling your brand new store to get those items downstairs again? Didn't you know that every mom forced to cram two (or more) children into one of those oversized-yet-still-too-small rocketship carts would have to buy cereal and juice on nearly every trip? And didn't you know that said moms would really hate having to wait in line for the elevator because it's impossible to fit more than three carts at a time?

Or maybe you didn't know there were thousands of local moms you could ask who would have told you that valuable bit of information BEFORE you built the store instead of AFTER?

Well then, allow me to make an introduction. Harris Teeter, meet the blogging moms. We're on Facebook and Twitter and lots and lots of blogs -- and we love to give advice (just ask our children). You don't even have to send us free samples or coupons (although I'm sure we wouldn't say no) -- but you do have to ask. We could have saved you a lot of pain and suffering, but (much like our kids) you had to learn the hard way. We hope you (and our children) will consider consulting us in the future.

Best of luck,

Convertible Girl

P.S. I've only got one $20 coupon left, so please send more. You know, just in case I start to wander again.

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Since taking over the grocery shopping at her house and giving up the online ordering service, Cyndi has developed strong opinions about grocery stores. When she's not shopping or cooking or complaining about both, she can be found at My Convertible Life, where she writes about her two children, one husband and a million other things.

Shopping Locally at the Durham Farmers' Market

By Abby

Boy oh boy, did we hit the jack-pot. It is amazing what a little planning and a fantastic cookbook can do to help a beginner navigate the Farmers' Market.

 

On this week's menu:

• Summer Pesto Pizza
• Tofu Stir-fry
• Brushetta
• Green Enchiladas
• Kohlrabi with Peas and Potatoes
• Sausage Asparagus Skillet

We spent $55 and got at least half of our grocery shopping done at the Durham Farmers' Market. We could have gotten more (like eggs, bread, yogurt, and additional cheeses) but my husband's arms were reaching their maximum carrying capacity (bulk, not weight... he's manly, after all).

Considering that $10 dollars of that was for intoxicating soaps, I think we even did decent financially. (And let's not talk about our tendency to purchase expensively delicious cheeses.)

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How about you? What foods do you try to purchase locally? Do you have any secrets for serving healthy foods on the cheap?

 

(Bottom photos taken by Linus while browsing at the market.)

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Neither Abby nor Triangle Mamas was compensated in any way for links contained in this post. It's just good stuff we like to share.

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Since becoming a mother, Abby continues to work towards a greener, less toxic environment for her family and the world. She blogs about some of the changes she's made at her personal blog, My Sweet Babboo. This post is crossposted over there.

Call Me for a Good Time

by Melissa

Forget bar hopping, karaoke night or $1 shooters.

After spending a Saturday night wandering around Babies R Us half-comatose, I came to the sad, sad realization that my version of "going out" has morphed just a WEE bit.

These days, good times mean I get to go somewhere - ALONE. It means I don't have to pack extra diapers, keep my three year old from leaping around the car while I try to strap him in the car seat, load the baby in the carrier, remember the diaper bag, FOR GOD'S SAKE KID SIT DOWN, click the carrier into the base, finally get the kid strapped in... and then undo it all two minutes down the road because I had to hit the store for one freakin gallon of milk.

My current list of pathetic yet surprisingly refreshing "good times" consist of:

• Wandering aimlessly around the mall
• Driving to the credit union and back just because the kids are buckled up and immobilized (ok, kids are in this scenario but they can't move)
• Carrying my big ass coupon binder to the store and trying to score free food
• Visiting the dentist (let's just call this "pampering")
• Three words: TARGET WITHOUT KIDS

And maybe just MAYBE I'll stop at ye old Starbucks and grab a half caf. I've living large, homeys.

So if you wanna crazy good time on a Friday night, give me a call.

CONFESS! What are your "good times"?

Crosspost by Melissa. When she's not trying to sneak a free moment, she's blogging about motherhood and the great outdoors at adventuroo.com.

Kid's Summer Stock at the NC Food Bank

*This is a cross-post from Sue's personal blog Motherhood and Me

As my son grows, I find myself looking deeper, wondering how I can change to be a better person in order to teach my son that there is good in the world.

How do you do that?

People can go their whole lives bitter, angry and full of hate. How to you even begin to teach your little wide eyed 3 year old boy about how his place in the world can be a peaceful and kind place?

You start small.

You teach him to share his toys with his friends, you teach him to say please and thank you, you teach him patience, respect and hold your breath when you see him interact with the world around him. Holding your breath in hopes that what you worked so hard to teach him is somewhere deep down inside him.

I was so excited when I decided to take this lesson of kindness and the greater good one step further. I had planned to have a food collection on behalf of the North Carolina Food Bank for his 3^rd and my daughter’s 1^st birthday in lieu of gifts. I told him all about how and why we were doing this and tried to get him excited about going to the food bank to make our donation.

He was excited and everything was set until the dark cloud hit our family and I had to cancel their birthday party. I was so sad that our excitement came to a screeching halt, but glad that I had started to plant the seed of awareness in my little man.

Then the email came.

The North Carolina Food Bank contacted me asking me if I would like to be a Media Sponsor for an event they were having to raise awareness about their facility and hunger in North Carolina. I immediately said yes and was so excited to be a part of something bigger than myself again.

II am proud to announce that Motherhood and Me is a media sponsor for the North Carolina Food Bank’s Kids Summer Stock!

The kid’s Summer Stock is an event to raise awareness about hungry kids who fall short during the school summer breaks. Kids that normally rely on two hot meals per day provided by their school’s lunch program are left on their own. Once the school year ends these kids fall through the cracks and don’t get remembered until the school session resumes in the fall.

Please take the time to come and celebrate the gift of giving at the North Carolina Food Bank Warehouse in Raleigh. Show your support by engaging with your local community and donating what you can personally, monetarily and via canned goods.

I will be there with my kids and my husband, so feel free to tap me on the shoulder and say hello!

 

Thursday, June 3, 2010

6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Food Bank Warehouse in Raleigh

3808 Tarheel Drive
Raleigh, NC (map)

Register now for your free tickets!

Click Here

I hope to see you there!

When Sue isn't trying to change the world with kindness, she can be found at home with her two kids at Motherhood and Me.

The Little Things

by Cyndi

When my first-born was about 6 weeks old, my BFF (who already had two children of her own) came up from Atlanta for a visit. In addition to offering me her shoulder to cry on (who knew motherhood was so exhausting?!) and her wonderful, wise company, she also gave me a most important gift -- she taught me the importance of knowing the best to places to shop when you have a nursing baby.

While she was in town, we went to the mall -- I'm not much of a mall-shopper, but I was desperate to learn how to leave my house with the new baby without having a total meltdown (and I mean, me melting down, not the baby). Together, we figured out which department stores had bathrooms with a lounge area and which shops didn't give the stink-eye when we sat in the changing rooms for a baby snack. Those stores quickly became the only places I went when I needed to shop in those early, scary, newborn months.

As Junius got older and we added Pippi to the mix, my needs have changed over time -- these days I don't worry about a place to nurse, but I am always on the lookout for shops with family-friendly bathrooms. With one child in diapers and one potty-trained, we need a little of everything on a good potty break.

Today, while having a much-needed lunch with a friend, I discovered an impressive little family touch in the ladies' room at Bruegger's Bagels in Ridge Road Shopping Center -- the "invisible" potty seat. It's one of those three part toilet seats with a regular seat, a kid-sized seat and a lid all on one hinge (see photo). It's a small change, but a big deal for a new potty-trainee whose tushie would fall through the regular-size seat. Even thought I was there sans-kiddos, I was still thrilled to see the attention to detail.

In a time when families can feel more than unwelcome in some stores (see the Michigan Target store that called the police about a breast-feeding mom earlier this month -- although to be fair, the family bathroom at the North Hills Target is always clean and easy for potty breaks), it's nice to see a business taking steps to make families comfortable.

Share your tips here -- what are your favorite family-friendly places in the Triangle?

When Cyndi isn't scoping out public restrooms, she can be found chasing her two children (ages 4.5 and almost 2) or writing at Junius & Pippi Take the Cake.

Image from Amazon.com.

An Unpaid Endorsement of My Holiday Haunts

by Ilina

With the holidays creeping upon us and beckoning us to the big box retailers, there are more than a few ideas brewing my head to keep it local this year. I'm making my list and checking it twice. Who am I kidding? I'm not checking it at all. It's all I can do to write the list down on a scrap of torn envelope from my daily ration of junk mail. There are some places I will hit this holiday season for sure. Keep in mind this is not host of paid endorsements; these are independently owned business that I happen love. I would love to know some of your faves, especially since mine are clearly Raleigh-centric! Here are a few of my favorite Triangle things.

Tookies Toys: Independently owned toy store in Cameron Village that carries an awesome selection of Playmobil and other European brands. The wall of games is great, and the beefed up science section leaves my six year old drooling. The best part is no crazy testosterone laden shoot 'em up flaming, bursting, wheeling toys that some "experts" think boys must play with. And hands down the best looking wrapped gifts to boot! Did I mention free gift wrapping?

The Lollipop Shop: Did someone mention candy? This is a newcomer to North Hills that carries a mouthwatering buffet, I mean array, of old school candy and new fangled treats. My sons love the wind up toys and teddy bear accessories. Deal recently chose a fire chief hat for his little sidekick "Beary." Bird indulged in colorful rock candy and German-made gummi bears. The rainbow of M & Ms and wall of Jelly Bellys make me feel like, well, a kid in a candy store!

Marbles Kids Museum and Museum of Life + Science: Wonderful places to wile away the hours, rain or shine. A museum membership makes a dandy holiday gift (and a fantastic present to a kid who's going to be a big brother or sister!). There are times we go to Marbles twice in a week just because the boys want to embrace their inner Scurvy Dog and Black Beard on the pirate ship or bang the drums in "Brazil." The Life + Science Museum never disappoints. The bears are always a kick, and the remote control sailboat racing makes us all captain for a day.

Moxie Kids: This is where the cool kids shop. Or in our case, this is where the cool kids' grandfather shops. If you happen to see my sons looking particularly snazzy, it's because they're sporting some Tea Collection or Charlie Rockets garb from Moxie Kids. The store is chic and cute without being pretentious. The girls clothes are simply breathtaking. It's almost worth having a baby girl just to shop there. Almost.

Cameron Village Library: Forget Cheers, this is the place where everybody knows our names. When Bird turned one we donated copies of his favorite books to the library to commemorate his birthday. If you, like me, see the magic of books, donating to your local library is a fine fine gift. Talk about the perfect gift for the person who has everything and the gift that keeps on giving all wrapped up in one handsome cliche package! Look for The Cat in the Hat at Cameron Village Library with Bird's nameplate pasted in the cover.

One last thing...

Over the holidays and randomly throughout the year, we take a batch of cupcakes or brownies to the fine fire fighters at Station 6. They've come not once, but twice to save my little Deal (once when he was choking and a second time when he did this). They literally saved my son's life. Twice. A few doses of sugar fail miserably as a thank you, but think about it, nothing is grand enough to show our gratitude for the best gift we have ever gotten.

Ilina blogs about her musings and sons' escapades at Dirt & Noise and supports local businesses in her off time. If you want to follow her non sequitors, follow her on Twitter @ilinap. She also somehow manages to run iFactor, her own marketing consulting business, and cooks home cooked meals every night. Almost.

Didn't you know they sell magic at Target?

It was one of those my baby is so cranky we will both explode if we stay inside kind of days. My son, Oscar has been waking up early from his afternoon naps which results in an earlier bedtime. This of course means we all get up at the crack of dawn and the cycle repeats. So, I thought we would go for a nice long stroll at North Hills. We started at Chick-Fil-A, because 1) Ahem, we live in North Carolina, and 2)They were doing a food drive for free sandwiches. 

I'll trade my cans of Tuna for a chicken sandwich ALL DAY LONG. 

And can I stop right there and talk about how I LOVE that little fake grassy area outside at North Hills? I never understood why they didn't just put real grass there. I mean I guess it is easier to maintain. But it always seemed odd to me that there was astro-turf outside. However, now that I am the mom of a very curious crawler, I thank the Lord for synthetic nature! I can let him crawl and roll around to his heart's content. And crawl he did! It was a beautiful day. 

We walked around the plaza for a bit and headed back down to our parking spot, conveniently located next to Target. OK fine, you're twisting my arm, I'll go inside the store! I grabbed a couple super cheap items for myself off the clearance rack (because nothing in my current wardrobe cost more than $3.74) and headed for the Cheerios. At this point Oscar was starting to get cranky and I realized we were almost an hour past nap time. He had been really good and my plan was working, so we walked toward the checkout. 

Just then, in the home section I heard the loveliest music-box rendition of Jingle Bells and I had to find it. Lo and Behold there was a snow globe with a reindeer inside and the music was playing. I shook it and thought, I bet Oscar would think this is neat. I leaned down and wound it up and shook the globe and there he sat, absolutely entranced. His eyes lit up and he was tracing each little snow flake with his fingers. We looked at a few more, each with their own Christmas Carol and it occurred to me that even though I have known this is his first Christmas, I hadn't really considered what it would be like for HIM. He is the perfect age to really have fun with it and for the first time, I understood why parents get so into the holidays. It's not about the latest greatest toy. It's about the magic! Watching his eyes get wide and excited was just about the best thing in the world. I can't wait to create that magic for him as the holidays draw near. That day, I found magic at Target. And yes, this December Oscar will be unwrapping his very own snow globe.

An original Triangle Mamas post. When Andrea is not getting all mushy in the home goods aisle, she can be found blogging at Lil-Kid-Things or gabbing away on Twitter. 

Confession: I Do Love a Jon Jon

We all have our varying opinions on the jon jon. Before Little Bird was born, I imagined him wearing nothing but jon jons, romping across the playground in his little smocked coveralls. I'm not sure what I was drinking at the time, but his entrance into real life complete with poop, pee, drool, dirt, and general stickiness soon changed my mind on the jon jon.

Now, I reserve the jon jon for church on Sunday morning and other occasions where he needs to be a little more dressed up. We don't wear them to Marbles, and he won't be wearing them to Mother's Morning Out, no matter how many other little boys will.

For some reason though, Bird still has way more jon jons hanging in his closet than I have pride to admit. I blame Kelly for this. Kelly runs Divine Consign in Raleigh. Divine Consign hosts trunk shows of overstocks and consignment sales a few times a year. It's not your average consignment sale. You don't have to dig through to find things that aren't stained or that you could buy just as cheaply if you caught them on clearance. Kelly takes only high end, gently worn children's clothes, saving moms like me who only like to shop in front of a computer screen a lot of time and hassle.

If she hadn't made it easy enough for us, now she has also started a blog. This post on how to shop a consignment sale was incredibly helpful, and I thought worth passing along.The next show is August 31 through September 4 at Stonehenge Shopping Center in Raleigh.

What about you? Do you hit consignment sales for your kids' clothing? What other ones are worth a look? Do you sell at consignment sales? Do you have any additional shopping or selling tips?

Let's help each other continue to dress our children way way better than we dress ourselves. That is until What Not to Wear shows up on my doorstep and rescues me from myself.

An original Triangle Mamas post. This post was not sponsored by Divine Consign in any way. We just happen to like moms in business for themselves, especially when they do it so well. In fact, if you have a mom in business here in the Triangle who you think we should feature, please contact us. We don't do reviews, but we share our positive and negative experiences freely here.

When Marty isn't busy ironing jon jons, she writes about everyday things at Don't Take the Repeats and Deep South Moms. When she has less to say, she hangs out on Twitter.