VistaPrint Jackpot!

I think I’ve just died and gone to VistaPrint heaven!

Whilst waiting for class to start, I decided to check my RSS feed. Lo and behold, a nice FatWallet member posted that Groupon’s deal for the day (for Baton Rouge, though they said anyone can purchase it) was $50 VistaPrint credit for $10 with free shipping!

Just in time! I’d nearly made an order this week but decided to hang on until a better deal came along.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

I’ve an email that gives me all of the premium items that I’m interested in for free, including:

– 100x standard postcards
– 25x [business card sized] magnets
– 1x premium* rubber stamp
– 1x premium* pen
– 250x premium* business cards

*premium being fully customizable without extra charge other than an image upload fee if you so choose to upload an image.

And then some. But those were the freebies that I’m most interested in.

Anyway, besides those freebies, the email also gives me $10.00 off my purchase. And since I’m ordering with a friend I’d referred (to save on shipping), I also get $5.00 credited to my own account via their refer-a-friend program!

Yep. That’s the best deal ever. $10.00 for a $50.00 credit but get $10.00 off my purchase, free shipping, AND $5.00 credited to my account.

This deal only lasts for a few more hours though, sadly. I wish I’d found out sooner!

Oh Groupon. I love you now.

**ETA: Oh yeah. It’s limit to 1 per person.

Birthday, Amazon MP3 Code, Ramblings

Today’s my 21st birthday.  Whoo hoo.  I treated it as any other day.  Woke up, checked my e-mail, checked my RSS feeds, went to work, came home, had dinner.  Though I’ve had my FaceBook account disabled for quite some time, I decided to check on it today and see what went on.  Kind of wanted to see if anybody remembered my birthday, really.  And they did.    Which made me happy; I got birthday wishes from my friends and out-of-state family before my own family said a word to me.  Actually, my family didn’t say anything until I came home from work tonight.

Work was pretty good.  I did my usual managerial duties; made calls, checked orders, took phone calls, stocked inventory, etc.  Nothing new there.  I did get a chance to have a good chat with my sister though.  That was pretty cool.  It’s been a while since we’ve been able to just sit down and chat.  Apparently, there will be a birthday dinner going on tomorrow for yours truly.

Looking forward to Wednesday like no other.  My besties from middle school plan on kidnapping me and taking me to who knows where.  All I was told is to bring my ID card and nothing else.    Can’t wait!

Another Amazon MP3 code has emerged from the Interwebz.  Use code MP3GIFTS to receive $2.00 credited to your account toward MP3 purchases.  This time though, it’s not instantaneous; though it can be credited now, it’s only valid between December 23 and 26.  For those who have never redeemed these MP3 codes, go to Amazon.com, choose Digital Downloads > MP3 Downloads from menu on the left.  Scroll down until you see the “Do you have a gift card? Redeem it now” image and click it!    Click on the “Enter Your Code” button and of course, enter your code.    Simple as that.  And of course, after you’ve gone through the trouble of trying to follow along with my written directions, I’m going to be a douche and simply link directly to that page via this link.

Lastly, I think certain comments should be kept to ourselves.  As entitled as you are to your opinions, some should not be voiced.  Then again, that is of course, my opinion.  Should it be voiced?  Maybe, maybe not.  At least my opinion is not being directed to any one person or particular group.  Just sayin’.

16 December 2010 Freebies and Deals Roundup

– EA Games Apps –

I almost bought Tetris yesterday for the price of $2.99 but decided it wasn’t worth it.  This morning, I wake up to find that it’s been lowered to $0.99.  EA Games is having a sale on a lot of their apps, some up to 90% off their original price.  So go to the App Store and search “EA Games.”  Go through the list of their games and see if there’s anything that tickles your fancy. 

(quick list includes: Pictureka, Monopoly Here & Now, Need for Speed Undercover, The Simpsons Arcade, Spore Origins, The Game of Life, Yahtzee… the list goes on)

– Amazon MP3 –

Don’t forget to check out Amazon’s daily free Christmas MP3 via 25 Days of Free.  Yeah, they have a free MP3 section already, but their daily ones for Christmas are pretty cool too.  Last year, my favourite song was “Elf’s Lament.”  Pretty awesome song.  Just download all the free songs you can; you’ll never know.  You may find a new song or artist that you like.

  More to come.  I’ve got Chem finals to get to. 

[About 12 hours later...]

My bad.  Finals and work got the best of me and I didn’t get a chance to update the post as I had planned.

One final deal reminder before the night ends then; tomorrow is Free Shipping day.  Check out your favourite online stores to see if they’re participating.  Plenty of known companies are participating, Toys R Us, Macy’s, Sears, and Best Buy to name a few.  If anything, check out freeshippingday.com for all the details.  They have all the links and codes in one convenient location.  They’ve even taken the liberty of separating the stores that offer free shipping on ALL orders and those who only offer free shipping with a minimum purchase.  Check it out and get your holiday shopping done! 

Zen and Homemade Ice Cream Sammies

Thanks to Restaurant.com I was able to try out yet another restaurant for about half price. This time, my family went out to a local vegetarian restaurant. Our 5 course meal consisted of soup, “chicken” fried rice, spring rolls, fried “fish,” and stir fried veggies. All of which fed a family of 4 for $20.00 and change after tax, 15% tip, and discount. Well, it should have come out to slightly less, but they added extra on the tip. Still, at that price, none of us complained.

The restaurant’s name is Zen. The food was pretty good; it’s been a while since our family’s had a full fledged vegetarian meal so the change was well worth it. My only gripe was that the service was sub-par. Not enough workers, for sure. Then again, I guess they don’t need the workers since there were only 3 parties including my own. We came in at 1245 and didn’t get the attention of a waiter until 1300.

After ordering, it took another 15 minutes before the food started coming out. Even then, it pretty much came out 1 at a time, which sucked because the fried rice came out last, causing us to eat our meal rice-less until the end. Of all of the dishes, the fried rice was my favorite. I’d had the “fish” too many times before and they always have the same taste and texture.

Spring Rolls It was pretty much the cheapest thing I’ve ever seen. Didn’t even at least have a cucumber or something…! Just one strip of the “meat” and lettuce. Nothing more. At least the sauce was good.

Fish Soup It was pretty good. Reminded me of my childhood when mom would always make this. Only she made it with real fish. It was a tad spicier than I would have liked though.

I’m going to assume that this is a stir-fry. It might be sauteed veggies for all I know. Nothing out of of the ordinary. Just like what we would normally have at home. The fake squid was funny.

Fried Fish Typical fake fish. It was just fried up. Nothing special. Good ginger sauce though.

Chicken Fried Rice Last but not least, the Fried rice. Best part of the entire meal, in my opinion. Grey flavors and color. The “chicken” was awesome. None of that obvious soy taste and texture. It was good! I’d order it again.

Next time, I’m going for the spare ribs. Overall, I liked it despite the service. I would definitely go there again. I was actually quite surprised that they accepted my restaurant.com gift certificate without question. I was thinking that they would be “super Asian” and give me grief over it.

I think we may try out BBQ Bistro next week. Our weekly Sunday family outings may turn into “restaurant.com” days.

After a great meal with the family, I came home and craved sweets like no other. In spite of the cold, I really wanted ice cream. So what did I do? I made “ice cream sammies;” frozen pudding sandwiched between two Graham crackers. Good stuff and surprisingly easy to make!

I had used Oreo cookies ‘n cream pudding (Jell-O instant kind) and Keebler’s original Graham crackers. Made the pudding, dropped a dollop in between two Graham crackers, tossed it in the freezer, and called it a day. They came out amaaaaazing!

By the way, much like my complaint about people not reading the fine print at Vistaprint’s site, they need to do the same for restaurant.com. Those “mysterious” charges found on your cc statements are likely from clicking on the “deals” found after purchasing your certificates. Also, the restaurants are not at fault if you can’t read the and follow the directions for minimum purchase requirements. ‘Kay?

$3.00 credit for Amazon MP3

  From the MP3 download page, scroll down about mid page and on the left hand panel, you should see the picture/link, “Do you have a gift card?  Redeem it here.”

Once there, enter the code, STUDENT3 and receive $3.00 toward your MP3 purchases. 

DEAL IS OVER

Pier Fishing

I’d taken up the new hobby of pier fishing.  I’d always wanted to go fishing; for years I’d asked my dad, but we’d just never gone out.  Finally, after some Googling, I learned that fishing from the any of California’s piers is free.

I didn’t have any idea as to what equipment I would need or even how to cast.  Even now I don’t fully understand, however, I did learn that a cheap $40.00 starter kit (Shakespeare Pier/Surf Fishing Rod + small tackle box) from Wal-Mart was a good place to start.  $40.00 too much to give up if you’re really unsure whether or not fishing is for you?  $5.00 per hour will get you rental rods at the little shop in the middle of the pier.

HB Pier isn’t too far from me, so my first adventure there was no sweat.  I put in a couple of quarters into the meter to get an hour and a half in and watched the others on the pier fish.  Many fishing veterans on the pier will be more than happy to assist you and teach you the ways of fishing.  It was there that I met a friendly fella (didn’t catch his name) who was more than happy to teach me how to set up my rod, get my hooks and sinkers in place, gave me some squid pieces for bait, and taught me how to cast.

That day, I learned that an hour and a half in the meters wouldn’t come close to what I needed to fully enjoy fishing.  I can’t wait until the waters are warm again and when Halibut season comes ’round. 

Next place I’m headed?  Newport Beach Pier.