Hallmark cards as low as 50 cents???

Let this "money saving mom a.k.a cheapO mom a.k.a budget queen" share with you my excitement when I found out that you can get Hallmark cards as cheap as $0.50!!?? 

Unheard of right!!! 

Usually those Hallmarks cards are overpriced and most people just throw it away after quickly reading n glancing over it! 

(So heart pain as if just throwing money away... haha)...

Fret not, starting August 30th 2018 (today), Dollar Tree will be carrying greeting cards by Expressions from Hallmark and Heartline a Hallmark company!
There are over 6,500 Dollar Tree stores nationwide (no sweat finding one near you) and every store will carry Expressions from Hallmark, $1 each and Heartline a Hallmark company, 2 for $1 (that's $0.50!!!)
Strangely n oddly enough, if you are familiar with the store Dollar Tree (like this momma is), you would know all things are priced at $1 hence the name DOLLAR tree store!
(P/s: doesn't mean you can still read and throw it away okay?
Let's practise the 3Rs ~> reduce, reuse n recycle)

Okay you might be doubting me now and guessing that these cards are "cheaplak" a.k.a knocked off from the genuine original ones???

• It is of the brand "Hallmark".
  I'm sure everyone has at least received or given a Hallmark brand card and know the high quality that comes with it.
• These are NOT made in China in case you are wondering, it is made right here in USA...
• And another plus point is that these cards are made with paper from well-managed forests.
  (For more info, visit Hallmark.com/ourplanet)

Okay enough of me "talking", now let the pictures of the cards do the talking!

For more information, go to 

DollarTree.com 

I'm glad there's a good variety for EVERY occasion. 

These came just in time as we are nearing the holiday season and lots of other celebrations coming up like my 10th wedding anniversary (*hint hint to Mr. Hubby if you ever read this blog! Lol...)
I'm glad I got your card ready already ...  hehehe!!!
With hundreds of new greeting cards to choose from, you can celebrate every moment with your friends and family without breaking the bank!

Disclaimer: 

***I was compensated for this post in exchange for my honest (with love) review. 
This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links***

Corteo by Cirque du Soleil

Corteo by Cirque du Soleil

Written by Karthik Naga aka Mr. Hubby aka daddy #SiennaSkyler (mommy's on "break")

************************************

The KarMie blog partnered with the Hornets Sports and Entertainment to giveaway two sets of tickets (4 tickets in total) to the Corteo show by Cirque du Soleil at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC on August 8, 2018.

We were privileged to have attended the Disney on Ice “Frozen” show which was the perfect treat for Sienna and the Monster Trucks show which was the perfect treat for Skyler.

Having watched Totem by Cirque du Soleil, we expected Corteo to be the perfect treat for the parents, right in time for the 10^thanniversary of our civil wedding!  However, little did we realize that the kids would actually end up enjoying it even more than we did.

Skyler was only 2 years old when we watched Totem, and hardly was able to enjoy that show.  For Corteo, at the age of four, he was hardly able to look away from the dazzling circus acrobatics spectacle that the world-famous Cirque du Soleil is known for.  It was such a joy for us to see our kids inspired and entertained by the world class talent that was right in front of us on stage.

The parents enjoyed Totem a lot!  Although Corteo was amazing, we felt that Totem was even more engaging due to non-stop action.  Corteo had breaks in between the action due to comedy and dialogue which was less entertaining to the adults, but very fun for the kids.  The truth is you can’t go wrong with Cirque du Soleil as they do so many mind-boggling stunts that it is worth every dollar in the price of admission.

You can get a taste of some of these stunts in our video from the show (https://youtu.be/9LMeAR8ga3U).
We didn’t want to ruin your viewing experience by putting too much of the show, and it is a lot more amazing in person!

Here were our favorites:

Ladder climbing – one very acrobatic and daring gentleman took a tall ladder and, with no support on the ground, climbed up the ladder to the very top, just to give a rose to his lady.  The ladder had no attachment to the ground and this feat took an amazing amount of balance, concentration and guts!

Rings – many performers took big rings and spun inside of them, and around the stage.  Just when you thought they were amazing, they took it to a whole new level which you would have to see to believe!

Juggling – anyone who has tried to juggle 3 balls knows how difficult it is.  These amazing performers were able to juggle 7 or 8 bowling pins while spinning around the stage.  They were then able to juggle in partners with another person running in between the pair without touching the bowling pins.

Music – the live singing and instruments were at such a high quality.  We actually didn’t even realize it was a live performance until about 30 minutes into the show… it was that good!  It felt like they were just playing a recorded track.

Trapeze couple – this was the finale of the show and words can’t describe how amazing it was!  It was captivating, and I don’t think there was a person that looked away the whole time.

Some things that could be improved:

Lengthy comic dialogue – While it’s fun to have some comedy elements, we felt some of it went for longer than necessary, which can lose some of the audience members' attention.

Bed jumping – there was a long act where many men and women were bouncing on beds to the bed frames, back and forth many times.  It was quite a low level of danger for Cirque standards and wasn’t as entertaining or dazzling as most of the other performances (they’ve created a very high standard for themselves!).

It was a memorable night and we would recommend a Cirque show for the whole family any time you get the chance.  If you would like to have the chance to win one of our upcoming giveaways to some of the best shows in the world, please follow this blog and these Instagram profiles for all the details to enter:

https://instagram.com/karthik_naga/

https://instagram.com/jamiechaw/

Disclaimer: This is a Media invite sponsored by Hornets Sports & Entertainment. All opinions are solely our own.

Moving... yet again?

Moving... yet again? 

Didn't I tell you from my previous post that we might have to move again? 

Yes, it's our 7th time moving as a family!
Don't count the days when I was single ~ pre kids!

I should write a book as to the reasons behind each move before this "mom brains" forgets... Lol!
I shall spare you the details for the time being...
Hmmmm but just for fun...
I wonder what I shall name the title :-
"Life of the nomadic KarMie's family", "Moving and Grooving with KarMie",
"Let's move it, move it with KarMie"...

So here's the blog post I wrote last year on tips and advice when moving with 2 young kids...

I re-read it again before my move (as a refresher) and find it still relevant.

Do leave a comment if you have any tips that might be useful for my next move, perhaps??? Lol...