DEAL ALERT: 1/2 Yearly

It's time to get your shop on!! The Nordstrom 1/2 yearly sale for Women & Children is going on now through November 13th. Use your Nordstrom card between November 2-5 and earn double rewards points!

This is the perfect time to get some of that holiday shopping checked off the list! Start shopping NOW!

If you do one thing TODAY...

Throw away (or donate) all your leftover Halloween candy!

That means even your kid's candy too. Sure they might throw a fit. But you're the mom. You make the rules. You know what's best.

It has been said that the average American gains 7 pounds between Halloween and New Years. Don't let those tempting calories linger around. They aren't good for your kid's teeth or your waistline. Have your children pick out five more pieces and then rid the house of the sweets. If it kills you to simply throw it away, most every city has a school or organization that has some type of candy donation. Chase willingly donated his to the Blind Children's Center in our city.

On a side note; I can't believe it's been a year since I started Hailey's Helpful Hints! I set a goal that I would do this for one year and then re-evaluate how much I enjoyed it. Or better yet, how much my reader's enjoy it. I'm happy to report that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

Click here to read my Halloween tip from last year. You might be more convinced to toss out the candy once you read how much work it takes to burn off that bite here and nibble there...

HALLOWEEN Fun Facts

Happy Halloween!! The United States might be in a tricky economic situation, but it won't stop Americans from buying vampire fangs or princess tiaras this year. And if the ghosts and goblins aren't scary enough, the health statistics and effects from all that candy might be. Get ready for trick-or-treating with these nuggets of information:

*According to an annual survey done by the National Retail Federation, 7 in 10 Americans will celebrate Halloween in 2011 (the most in the surveys history), and spending will be slightly up. Yes even in the down economy! On average, people will spend $72.31 on costumes, candy, and decorations. Total Halloween spending: $6.9 billion.

*According to CNN; The average household has shelled out $21.05 in Halloween candy alone.

*The U.S. Census Bureau says roughly 41 million children ages 5 to 14 go trick-or-treating each year.

*According to Nielsen Research, approximately $1.9 billion (or 598 million pounds) of candy is sold during the Halloween season in the U.S.

*Chocolate makes up about three-quarters of a trick-or-treater’s loot, according to the National Confectioners Association.

*National Confectioners Association more than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year: “That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces—enough to circle the moon nearly 21 times if laid end-to-end”

*One serving of Candy Corn (about 30 pieces) has 140 calories, the equivalent of three miniature Hershey bars.

*The average child collects an estimated 3,500 and 7,000 calories on Halloween night, according to Dr. Donna Arnett, chair of the Department of Epidemiology in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health. The estimate was based on nutrition facts of popular Halloween candies.

*A 100-pound child who eats 7,000 calories worth of candy would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours to burn those calories, according to Arnett.

*Four out of ten (41%) adults admit that they sneak sweets from their own candy bowl.

*90% of parents admit to sneaking goodies from their kids' Halloween trick-or-treat bags.

*Snopes.com, a Web site that debunks urban legends, has a well-annotated article entitled Halloween Poisonings in which the author finds no evidence of their ever having been a “genuine Halloween poisoning” — one in which a child randomly has been given a cyanide-laced candy or razor-embedded apple while going trick-or-treating. A documented case of a child being poisoned by Halloween candy, on October 31st, 1974 in Houston, Texas, turned out to be a filicide — a father deliberately poisoned his son, and blamed it on Halloween. (He allegedly gave the poisoned candy to other children to cover his tracks, but nobody else fell ill.) Ronald Clark O’Bryan was convicted of the crime of murder and executed. In other words: mom's stop freaking out!

*This from an article last year on CNN: “although some parents may be tempted to space out the amount of candy their children consume after Halloween, dentists have advice to the contrary: When it comes to teeth, it’s better to eat a whole lot of candy at once than to space out candy consumption over time. Basically, the fewer episodes of candy eating, the better. “It makes sense, given that cavities form when bacteria in plaque ferments the sugars in candies and creates acid that attacks the tooth’s surface, says Dr. Clarice Law, assistant professor of dentistry at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Dentistry. “Repeated “attacks” lead to cavities, so eating a bunch of candy — for example, with a meal — and then brushing your teeth is better than spreading that candy out over time. Law doesn’t recommend binging but does advise that children limit their candy-eating episodes.”

Have fun and be safe out there tonight!!

LAST MINUTE: Halloween Dessert Ideas

In case you need some last minute Halloween dessert ideas or are looking to do some fun baking with the kiddos this weekend, you must check out Glorious Treats. Drool.

You can find the recipe for this Candy Corn Cheesecake Mousse here. Enjoy!

FANCY FRIDAY

Friday already?!?! Thank goodness. My week was filled with nothing but medical crap. From my 6 month old pulling all-nighters because of Croup and countless tests to diagnose a stomach infection that hit me hard last Sunday. Despite the not-so-fun stuff, my fancy was still tickled - aka; to enjoy, adore or be satisfied by.

This week it's LANTERNS.

I was so inspired by the above picture I found on Pinterest. How fabulously simple is that front porch decor using lanterns and candles? Keep the pumpkins through Thanksgiving then swap them out for glittery ball ornaments or pine cones for Christmas and change the candles to red. I'm sold.

Side-note: No, I do not have a personal Pinterest page. I think I might be the only girl on the face of this planet that doesn't. Why you ask? To be honest, I've deliberately stayed away from the monster. Now I know all you Pinners are thinking I'm totally missing out but for my addictive personality, it screams "Stay the hell away!" I'm not saying it won't happen in the future but for now, I'll stick to browsing when I have a free minute.

Ok back to Lanterns...

Having a party? Lanterns are an easy decoration for table centerpieces and add a whimsical, glowing effect when you hang them from tree branches.

To add lanterns to your holiday decor repertoire, you can find the classic set of three at Pottery Barn. The initial purchase will set you back a little money but they are timeless accents that you'll be able to use for years to come.

If you're looking for smaller lanterns and don't want to spend a ton, I noticed on Tuesday that Ikea has out their small tea-light lanterns (available in white, chrome, black and red) for $3.99 in their holiday section.

GET ORGANIZED: Color Coding

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a single color is worth a choice few. Just as red, yellow, and green rule the roadway, a home color-coding system can bring order to your living space wordlessly, providing information at a glance without a miscellany of labels. Put hues to work, whether you are organizing papers, preparing food, or outfitting your entryway. With these bright additions, your living space will be far from drab - and far easier to manage.

Below are just a few places in your home where you could really benefit from a color coding system:

~Welcome Center~
Keeping clutter at bay starts the moment you walk through the door. A coordinated sorting station, with one color assigned to each family member, anchors household activities and the entryway's decor. Squares of Homasote fiberboard become vibrant pin boards when covered with linen fabric, which is secured with staples at the back. Personalized bins, made with linen-wrapped fiberboard that is slipped inside acrylic magazine files, help organize mail and paperwork.

~Spice Labels~
Categorize the array of seasonings in your cupboard into two groups with colored stickers. Spices typically used for sweet recipes, such as cinnamon, are indicated by orange tags; savory flavorings, such as cayenne, are dressed in yellow. Download Martha Stewart's templates here and print onto self-adhesive paper. Attach to matching tins or jars.

~Cutting Boards~
Minimize the risk of cross-contaminating kitchen work surfaces by designating a plastic cutting board in a specific color to a particular type of food: blue for seafood, green for vegetables and fruit, yellow for poultry, and red for other meats.

~Wine Tags~
Handmade labels let you survey your wine collection at a glance, quickly finding just the right bottle. Choose an organizing system, such as the type of wine or the country of origin, and assign a color to each category. Use a tag-shaped craft punch to create the label and a circle punch to cut a hole in its center, or download Marth's wine tag template. Snip a few small slits around the circle. Write the proper vintage, vineyard, and varietal on the tag. Spare labels can double as gift tags.

~Recipe Cards~
An overstuffed recipe box, brimming with generations of family favorites as well as recent additions from friends, can be made far more navigable with stickers affixed to a corner of each card. (This also works on newspaper and magazine clippings.) Select a color to represent a type of dish or a course, perhaps green for vegetable sides and yellow for dessert.

~Keys~
To minimize fumbling at the front door, paint the tops of frequently confused keys with distinctive shades of nail polish. Apply a different color to each key, letting it dry before flipping it to coat the other side. A single layer should suffice - no topcoat required.

~File Folders~
Exchange your manila folders for colored ones, assigning a hue to each category such as red for medical information and light blue for mortgages - so the next time you're hunting for a document, all you'll have to do is scan for the appropriate shade.

~Recycling Bins~
Think beyond green: Coordinated plastic buckets take the hassle out of sorting recyclables. Give each material - plastic, newsprint, glass, and any others your community accepts - a colored destination, and keep it consistent from week to week.

~Bath/Kitchen/CleaningTowels~
Designate a certain color towel to each bathroom or for each family member. That way when the kids are doing their chores and putting away the laundry, they know exactly where to put specific towels.

~Holiday Storage~
Whether your bins of decorations are stacked high in the basement or hidden behind bicycles and boxes in the garage, you'll be able to locate them in seconds with the help of bands of colored duct tape (and, perhaps, a flashlight). Wrap each container in shades that match the festive decorations stored inside: red and green for Christmas, black and orange for Halloween.

Who would have thought: SHUTTERS

Similar to my "New Uses for Old Things" section, I thought this idea deserved some love. How crafty is this? Shutters for paper organization. Yet another brilliant idea from Martha Stewart.

This particular trio hangs on the wall over a hallway console but you could do this in your office or area in kitchen. Their louvers are a perfect (not to mention plentiful) spot to tuck invitations, display artwork, or hang a message pad.

Here is the link for the tutorial on how to make and hang this awesome idea. I personally would just go buy the finished shutters at Home Depot or Lowes, have your hubby put a little hook on the back and hang. What a great project for him this weekend right?!?! ;)

JUST SPOTTED: Nip + Fab

On Sunday Target launched celebrity favorite and British sensation Nip+Fab, a body-care line, that I'm pretty freakin' stoked about it. Their price point is spot on with everything under $20 and I'm head over heels for their simplistically trendy marketing. Oh c'mon now, you can't deny that you too are swayed by pretty packaging.

While Target has a few beauty lines, this is by far the most appealing. All 18 products target most every body part we're looking to hit. Frown lines. Yes please. Cellulite. Hell yes. Tummy Fix. Seriously. Stop. The products are crammed with breakthrough natural and technologically advanced skin smoothing, boosting and firming ingredients. Nip+Fab is the answer to achieve results quickly with minimum fuss and expense.

Since several of you readers have asked about dark circles and puffiness under the eye, I think you'll want to get your hands on a bottle of the "Eye Fix." This is a 2-in-1 eye cream and concealer that hydrates and de-puffs the under-eye area. It also contains light-reflecting particles to conceal dark circles. For $9.95, I'll call that fab. Another one to check out is the Dark Circle Fix, a triple action eye cream. Alittle more expensive at $15.95 but a must-have to incorporate into your nightly routine.

Curious what the heck the "Bust Fix Plumping Treatment" is? If you've lost elasticity over the years, this screams your name. Ok this screams ALL our names especially those mamas that have done any form of breastfeeding. For $17.95, you can can get visibly plump, smooth and firm skin around the bust and decollete with this high performance bust serum. It contains CellActive, a plant-based complex of active ingredients which support the natural process of lipid deposition, lending fullness to the bust, it will reshape the contours of the cleavage area to optimally accentuate. I call this mega-fab!

SWEET SUNDAY

Carrot, pumpkin and applesauce - three ingredients that scream fall! Thanks Lori for this deliciously easy recipe.

~Carrot Cake Muffins~

Ingredients:
1 box carrot cake (Duncan Heines super moist)
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
dash of pumpkin pie spice
dash of cinnamon

Directions:
1) Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and stir.
2) Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes our clean.

Try this:
Add raisins or walnuts to the mix for added flavor & texture.

I hope this ends your weekend on a sweet note! xo

FANCY FRIDAY

I was emailed this poem on Wednesday and I've read it over several times since then. It's funny how things fall into your lap when you're not looking but need them most. I am constantly struggling with "waiting" ie; being still and patiently allowing things to work in my life the way God has planned. I want to solve everything. Now. I want things to happen. Yesterday. I want to be in control. Of everything. But if I'm a true believer, I need to wait. I need to wait for the Lord to work miracles in life at the time He sees fit. Of course I still ask why - Why aren't you taking away the pain? Why are you watching me suffer? Why is this happening in my life? It is in those times, I lean on my faith for guidance, perspective and strength. And I wait. And He always provides.

WAIT

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied. I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply. "Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait? I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign, 
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, we need but to ask, and we shall receive. And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, as my Master replied again, "Wait." So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign. I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be. 
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me. You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint. You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
you'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me, when darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love, when the peace of my spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
but you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night, the faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
from an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
what it means that my grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And thought of my answers seem terribly late,
my most precious answer of all is still..."Wait."