Universal Booty

I am always on the market for a great pair of jeans. I dream of one day slipping on a pair that both slides on easily yet doesn't get butt sprung in 5 minutes. One that hugs my good curves while hiding my bad ones. Is that too much for a girl to ask? My ears perked up recently as I was half listening to one of the hundred Today Show fashion segments. What I heard was this: "Blah, blah, blah, universal fit, blah, blah, makes everybody look good, blah, blah, White House/Black Market." That's all I needed to hear. I got online and, wha-la, on the front page are the jeans they were talking about. The Blanc Essential Jean. Now, I don't know about you, but universal fit appealed to me because sometime I feel like my booty is as big as the universe. I'm always worried something might get trapped in my booty orbit. So I went to the nearest White House/Black Market and tried these puppies on. It was like a dream come true. My booty hadn't looked this good since November of 2005, which is no small feat since I'm still trying to lose my last couple of pounds of baby weight. Momma happy.

BUDGET LIVING: At $78, these jeans are reasonable by today's standards. To save a few more bucks, go to www.retailmenot.com and enter White House/Black Market. There is a coupon code that will save you an extra $20 off an $80 purchase through March 1. By the by, I love this website and use it every time I order online. You can almost always find free shipping at the very least.

Clean Freaks Unite!

Do you have a problem sleeping if there are socks on your floor? Do you find yourself scouring The Container Store for that perfect bin for aforementioned baby socks? Do you have a vacuum cleaner habit that could rival the bill that congress just passed? Do you secretly dust your friends coffee table when they are in the kitchen refilling your wine glass? If you answered yes to any of these questions, do I have the book for you! "The Queen of Clean's Complete Cleaning Guide"by Linda Cobb gives you ideas on how to clean everything from hardwood floors to tang in the toilet. I must give credit to my cousin Leanne for turning me on to this. You see, she is from the obsessive compulsive Johnson side of my family tree. We Johnson's are nothing if not a clean people. We change our sheets at 5 pm every Sunday. We vacuum several times a week. We would never think of using a mere paper towel to dust our shelves. I'm sure she did not notice the way my lip twitched when she told me about this book. I'm equally sure that she had no idea that this bad boy was going to feed my habit for weeks, even months to come. Things I have already used in this book: how to get crayons off the wall - pg. 154, how to get red wine out of carpet - pg. 72, how to get hard water stains off your glass shower - pg. 93 and many, many, many more. Most of her cleaning ideas are natural or low chemical. You can pretty much clean anything with club soda, white vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda (except crayons on the wall). I also really love that I don't have a cabinet full of a chemical cocktail that Luke or Kara might decide to chug-a-lug someday. Linda Cobb has several books on cleaning and you know that I have more than one, but for the bang for your buck and the extra sections on seasonal cleaning and organizing, this is my quick hit for a cleaning high. Momma happy.

BUDGET LIVING: Half Price Books usually has a copy or two of Linda Cobb's books. You'll save a few bucks by getting it that way, though, for the life of me, I can't understand anyone willingly giving this book up to sale. You will have to pry mine from my cold, dead hands.

Dog Stank B Gone

I love my dogs, but not as much as I use to. I can hear the gasps and tsk, tsking of those of you that do not have children yet. Don't judge me. I know that you are thinking "I can never love a child more than I love my dog". I know this because that is exactly what I said for 32 years. I could not imagine a life where I didn't sleep with dogs on my bed every night. And then I had a baby. Fast forward 2 years later. I now have a toddler, a baby, a husband, and 2 dogs that total over 140. That's lbs., ladies. Now the dogs have been evicted from the bed and get to sleep on the floor of our bedroom. I say "get to" because the alternative is the cold, hard patio outside. I told you I love my dogs. So, I have stumbled on a little concoction that makes that deal more livable. I don't have the time to bath the furry children as much as I should. Here is my solution. I call it Stank B Gone. What you need is a spray bottle, tea tree oil, baking powder and a wash cloth. Add enough water to lightly spray the dog until he/she is damp, not wet. Put in a few drops of tea tree oil (enough so that you can smell it when you spray it) and a few shakes of baking powder. Shake it up and mist it on the dog. Rub that stanky fur with your wash cloth. Works like a charm and it buys be a few more weeks of not having dog hair my shower. Momma happy.

ALERT: I have not had Stank B Gone tested for safety or anything else. If you are ify on how this would affect your dog, don't use it. It works on my dogs and, so far, they still have all their fur, although if most of it fell out that would keep me from having to vacuum so much. Try it if you think it might work for yours, but be sure and adjust the tea tree oil and baking soda to the size of your dog.

The Perfect Summer Wardrobe Staple

I'm a big fan of J. Crew. I love the idea that I could be the kind of girl that could pull off every look they have. Alas, my body and my wallet conspire against me. That being said, I cannot tell you how fired up I am about this latest find. The Convertible Swing Dress rocks the summer closet, ladies. You can wear it as a casual strapless dress with a sweater or denim jacket thrown over it. You can pull it up over the girls, fold it down, pair it with some cute jeans and it makes a great shirt for girls nite out. You can top it with a tee shirt or tank and it's a cute, swingy skirt. I smell summer uniform. Also, for you baby bumpers, it would be an outstanding maternity piece and even better after the baby gets here. Easy access breast feeding and very figure forgiving. Holla! Check it out at http://www.jcrew.com/. At $78, it's a good deal since you can throw it in a bag with a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans and be dressed for a week.

BUDGET LIVING: For those of you that live near the J. Crew outlet, they have this dress there for half of what you would pay online. Buy 2. Momma happy.

An Introduction

This a blog about products, items and other miscellany that I think are so great that I want to pass the word around on them. I intend to cover several different topics from food to babies to cleaning dogs. You may be asking yourself, "Gee Leah, what makes you think your opinion is so cool that you need to blog?" Well, if you know me, then you know that I am a total goofball. I do not pretend to have the market cornered on taste but, especially since I've become a mom on a one income budget, I have found things that I think are a good value and work really, really well. Many exceed my very OCD expectations and I think others can benefit from my trial and errors. I plan on piling a bunch of posts on here initially, and when I start running out of things I'll slow down. Check back often. Where did the name come from? When my sweet 2 year old is being a total stinker and he knows that he is just about to get time out-ed, he looks at me with his sweet little brown eyes and says "Momma happy?" Now, in my head I'm thinking, "Hell to the no, I'm not happy!" but, since he is my child, I usually just fix the look of death on him and he moves on. These, however, are actually things that make me happy. So...momma happy. Enjoy.