Sorry Mr. Bear, It Just Won't Work Out

 Saturday morning was quite an adventure.

After going out to the garden to snip off some broccoli, I came back in to wash and chop it for my omelet. When I started to wash it off I noticed a funky smell coming from the sink and just as I noticed it, the sink began to back up. So I switched on the garbage disposal.

And... nothing.

My husband, being the handyman that he is, immediately got to work. So I made my omelet, and left him be.

About an hour later he came back and announced that it was time to call in the plumber. I don't think we've called a plumber out in five years so I know something had to be going on. We quickly checked our home improvement envelope and made sure we had some cash on hand and then made the phone call.

Within half an hour the plumber as here and quickly got to work.

After a disgusting cleaning of the pipes and flush of dirty water our problem was fixed. Our only problem was the fact that after 5+ years, pipes do back up. We were told to use an enzyme cleaner (like Natural House's Sinky that I love) and make sure not to put any no-no's down the drain.

No-no's included basically anything not liquid save for a few bits and pieces here and there. Everything else should either go in the trash or the compost bin, not down the sink.

As the plumber was packing up he asked if he could use our restroom. I quickly looked at my husband and said to make sure it was decent before the plumber used it. I wanted to make sure that the trash was cleaned out so he didn't have to look at (or smell!) my son's pull up from the night before.

I didn't hear what the two of them discussed but afterwards my husband told me that he plumber told him that I meant to flush the toilet, "Because when someone says that they mean they didn't flush the toilet."

What!? Now I don't know about you, but I flush. Pretty regularly.

After the plumber was done using the bathroom he came out and said, "Now I thought we talked about toilet paper before."

Uh-oh.

I received a few awesome coupons at BlogHer'11 last year and quite a few from Charmin. I had finally broken down and picked up my free pack of Charmin toilet paper a few months back right before it expired. But I left the toilet paper in the back of my car since we're Kirkland and Scotts fans and we just didn't need any. I was going to donate it until we ran out of our Kirkland stuff and I didn't want to go to the store...

And of course I broke down and started using it right before the plumber came. After he hadn't been to our home in over 5 years.

I guess Charmin is a big no-no. Plumbers probably won't tell you this but stuffing Charmin down your pipes is like stuffing paper towels down there, or so my plumber said! I knew there was a reason why we didn't buy it... I just didn't remember why.

So now I'll remember to flush the toilet and hide the Charmin the next time we call the plumber!

Enjoying the Expo {BlogHer '11}

A few of the fun moments in my BlogHer conference happened on the expo floor. No, not because we were showered with samples of this and coupons for that, but because we got to act silly and have fun while trying out new things. And not necessarily the new things the vendors were passing out.

Some surprises came when we realized that there would be large cartoon characters on the floor. A few being quite cute, others... just a little weird. Here are some we ran into: 

Smurfette at the Pressman Toy booth

Smurfette wasn't too weird of a character. She was friendly, holding a fun looking game and was more than willing to take a photo with us. M wasn't too sure about her and just kept an eye on her hands the whole time (you know, just in case Smurfette tried to steal her). And Smurfette was the typical size of any other character you might meet at an amusement park or other event. Nothing too intimidating or scary about that.

The Pringles Guy floating around for P&G

The Pringles guy, however, was a bit odd. He was like a mix between a costumed character and a hot air balloon (maybe he's going to be in the Macy's Day parade?). And you could totally see the guy inside the costume. I couldn't quite figure out how the head stayed afloat. Was there some little generator blowing air in the suit the whole time? I'll never know... But it did make for a great photo op so I jumped in camera ready!

The Charmin bear... and a large toilet at P&G

Now this was just awkward... a giant toilet and a bear. And no, I didn't check to see if he had toilet paper stuck on his bum. But I loved that even though I couldn't get up and sit on the giant toilet (since M was sleeping on me) my friends (one being pregnant) jumped on without any cohersion at all.

Buddy the Dinosaur at the Pressman Toy booth

And last but certainly not least, the picture that made me very popular in our home. My son's favorite tv character from his favorite show. I had to giggle when my son said the exact same thing I did when he saw the picture. He looked to me and said, "Buddy's tiny like me, Mommy!" I think it made him love Buddy even more to realize that he wasn't some larger than life character but was close to his size.

We didn't just have fun with the characters walking around, we also had a blast at the various photo booths the vendors set up as well as some of the activities the vendors had us participate in. Some of the most memorable?

The Retail Me Not Money Grab
Basically you signed up for you chance to be a part of their affiliate program in exchange for a chance at jumping into their money booth. They shut the doors and turned on the fans and a bunch of play money shot up in the air. You had to put the money into a VERY small slot in the front of the booth and depending on what stamps you had on the back of your fake cash you got actual money! I went in and got $45! I heard that a few of my friends got lucky as well. I stole borrowed this picture of Melissa from her blog since I was alone with the baby when I went in. Quite an amusing thing to watch as a bystander as well! 

I just loved the fact that everyone had a chance to take home cash. Real cash. After being fed all weekend, given free drinks AND tons of amazing products we also got to bring home some spending money as well. It's like they were paying us to be there instead of the other way around. Sure, I had to pay for my ticket but the fun I had, the memories I made and the people I met more than made up for that cost. 

The T-Mobile photo booth
Not only did we get to take home a memorable picture from the folks over at the T-Mobile booth but we got to choose our costumes of choice. They had hats, boas, large bags, and a wide assortment of mouth pieces to choose from including different styles of lips and mustaches. It was so much fun deciding what each of us would wear (and what lips Miss M would have). It was quite hard trying to stop Miss M from eating the props. It might be one of the main reasons why I don't look as happy in the photo that we took. But believe me, the whole process was quite entertaining.

The photo booth matched with the fact that T-Mobile was giving away cell phone screen cleaners, lip balm, mints and flinging monkeys made them quite good entertainment while walking around the expo.

The P&G Febreeze Experience
The first place we visited at the expo was the P&G station. Not only did they have a BlogHer carving made out of soap but they also were doing a drawing for a Braun Ionic brush that I tried out as soon as we were approached at the booth. Yeah... this brush is totally on my Christmas list! In order to be entered for the brush drawing we had to go through the P&G house (and take pictures on a giant toilet... no, just kidding, that wasn't a pre-requisite) and answer questions about becoming more eco-friendly in our homes.

One of the rooms we had to visit was the Secret Room. Now I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen in this secret room but I had an idea since I've seen the Febreeze Breathe Happy commercials. M was sleeping on me so I needed a little help with my blindfold. I also needed a buddy to go in with me so I nominated Melissa. Might not have been the best choice for a smell "test" since she's pregnant and definitely has the pregnancy nose thing going on. We were lead into a room and... I'll let the video tell you the rest.