Guess what?
Today is my 31st birthday!
And I’m celebrating by doing nothing! Seriously, I don’t have anything written in my planner for today; I have no to-do’s, no obligations, and no big plans whatsoever.
Dave will be home all day, Nora is going to help me make my birthday cake, the kids apparently have a little gift for me, and we’ll probably get Culver’s or Arby’s for dinner so I get a night off from cooking — yay!
Hopefully it will be a relaxing day — and maybe a sign of a relaxing year ahead!
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As I thought about what I wanted to blog about on my birthday, I decided that I’d really like to offer some freebies for EVERYONE, as well as share a couple resources that have helped to drastically simplify my life over the past couple of years.
Consider it MY birthday gift to all of you for being some of the best and most loyal readers a gal could ask for!
(this is my 5th birthday — so just a little older than Nora is right now)
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As many of you already know, I have never loved running errands or shopping “in store” for anything — and now that I’m toting 3 small children around with me all day long, I almost never run any errands until Dave is home.
I order everything I can online or I just do without… and I use our local grocery store’s curbside pickup service to avoid grocery shopping with small children!
Another service I’ve been using for more than 2 years now, to simplify and streamline my life, is Grove.co (formerly Epantry).
For those of you who haven’t heard of Grove Collaborative, it’s an online service that delivers the best natural products right to your door (things like toiletries, cleaning products, diapers, paper products, and other items you use up on a regular basis.)
They offer a HUGE range of products and brands and very competitive pricing. They make it extremely simple to change, reschedule, or cancel an order, and they have the absolute best customer service of any company I’ve worked with in a really really long time!
Using the Grove.co services has saved my sanity month after month by delivering the basics we use every month right to our front porch with absolutely ZERO effort on my part.
I get their reminder email a few days before my order is ready to ship (just in case I want to add or remove anything from my cart) and I get a text alert when the order leaves their facilities. All I need to do is wait a couple of days for the goodies to show up at my door and unload them into the appropriate places throughout our house.
After using this service for over 2 years now, I have our order down to a science. I know exactly how many diapers and wipes we need each month and I know approximately how much toilet paper, tissue, sanitizing wipes, and paper towels we go through as well.
I also have bi-monthly and quarterly orders set up for other less-frequently-used items like dish soap, dishwasher tabs, body wash, razors, toothpaste, lip balm, trash bags, sunscreen, and more.
This means I NEVER have to worry about running out of these basic necessities, I NEVER have to worry about forgetting to add them to my grocery list, and I NEVER have to worry about forgetting to buy them at the store.
I truly never even need to think about them. EVER!
Also, since the products are delivered on a monthly basis, I never need to store massive amounts of extra products in our closest, in our kitchen, or in our small bathroom storage baskets.
Win. Win. Win. Win. Win!
I know this might sound insignificant to some of you, but I can’t tell you how much my monthly Grove shipments have helped to simplify and streamline my life at home with 3 rambunctious children.
Also, since I have the VIP membership, I get free shipping ALL the time and a handful of freebie gifts throughout the year (things like their amazing candles, lip balm, and other fun cleaning goodies!)
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Since my monthly Grove shipments are one of MY most favorite things, I contacted them to see if they’d be willing to put together an extra special offer for ALL my readers to celebrate my birthday.
Of course, they were thrilled to participate in my birthday fun, so there are freebies for everyone this week; plus an extra-special bonus offer for new Grove customers!
Get YOUR Birthday Freebies Here!
Grove.co is offering the following Birthday Freebies to ALLLLLLL of you from now through 11:59pm on June 20, 2016!
If you currently have a Grove.co account, all you need to do is click here to have a FREE Method Dish Soap added to your next shipment (you can choose the scent after it’s in your cart).
If you are new to Grove.co, you can click here to set up your account. With your new account, you will get a FREE Method Dish Soap, FREE Method Hand Soap, FREE Method All-Purpose Spray, and FREE shipping on your first order of $20 or more!
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I’m not really a “gifts” person (lucky for Dave), but knowing that so many of the products we use up each month will be regularly delivered to my front porch with no extra effort on my part is such a fabulous year-long gift for me.
It’s the gift of more time, less stress, more simplicity, less clutter… and it frees up a whole lot of precious mental energy in my brain (and I’ll take all the extra mental energy I can get right now!)
I hope you enjoy your birthday freebies this much!
Candis says
Happy Birthday Andrea. Thank you for all that you have done in sharing you wisdom and simplifying my life. I may not always comment, but I always read. You are apart of my morning routine. :0)
Susan says
Happy Birthday! Hope you had a wonderful day! Thank you for the Grove freebie. I got started with Grove after hearing about them from you, back when they were known as ePantry. Love their products, and their customer service can’t be beat. Thanks for the birthday gift! LOL
Emily says
Happy Birthday Andrea!!! Hope your day was restful and filled with sweet blessings. And how thoughtful of you to give us readers a present. I’ve only been using Grove since January. I love their products but still working on tracking how often we go through products. I also recently began getting paper products from Amazon subscribe and save. Have you used that program? Still trying to decide which is the most cost effective. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!
Andrea says
Thanks Emily. I guess I’ve never really utilized the Amazon subscribe and save very much — I’m not sure why though. I might have to revisit it and scope out the prices!
Lynda says
Happy birthday!! And thank you…. very curious to try Grove!!
Deborah says
Happy Birthday Andrea. It is YOUR birthday and your thinking of US! You are so kind. I am glad you took the day off! Well deserved, and required at least one day off lol.
You have a very full life ahead of you with a beautiful family, house and husband. May God continue to Bless you and yours. Even though I am well past my raising baby years, I still learn a few things from you. And one day when I am Blessed with grandchildren I will be aware as a result.
You are a awesome mom, for sure. Enjoy this wonderful new year. Again Happy Bday.
SandyK says
You were adorable at 5. Your features haven’t changed much and you daughter is following your profile. Happy Birthday and that you for the freebies. I’m trying the company out.
Have a great day!
Iliana says
Happy Birthday Andrea!!
Have a nice and restful day!
Thanks for all your tips and hard work
Best wishes
JoAnn C. says
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Thank you for the freebies. Have a wonderful day.
janet says
Happy Birthday, Andrea! And thanks so much for the freebie! I have a Grove Co subscription, and was getting low on a few things, including dish soap, so this was such a timely treat!
I love your blog, and I have been thinking that one of the best posts was when you shared about your filing system. I’m a fairly organized person, but had some crazy mental block when it came to setting up files, so they have been pretty random and haphazard… and only I knew where to find things. I love the simplicity of how you did yours, and now have organized, easy-to-find files. Thanks so much for ALL your posts. I anticipate reading them every day. My afternoon coffee/blog reading break.
Andrea says
Thanks so much Janet! Enjoy your dish soap 🙂
Kylie says
Thanks & happy birthday!
Question and/or suggestion for a blog post: why don’t you purchase some of these items in bulk at Costco (assuming you still shop there… I think you mentioned you have a membership)? I shop at Costco regularly & Grove only occasionally mainly because most of the items you mentioned — household/toiletries — are cheaper if you buy them at Costco… Love Grove’s products but after cost comparing with Costco it’s much better on the budget to go to Costco.
Just curious!
Andrea says
I guess the main reason I don’t buy so much of the toiletry items at Costco is because I hate storing massive amounts. I like that I can get JUST what I need from Grove every month and not need additional storage space.
Amy says
Is anyone else having trouble with the link? I’ve been trying all day with no success 🙁
Lisa says
I was having the same problem and ended up going to a different browser (Chrome). It worked right away.
Amy says
Thanks Lisa!
Andrea says
try it using Chrome — I’ve heard that “fixes” any issues.
Olga says
Happy birthday, Andrea! May God bless you and your family abundantly! Today is my son’s birthday too. ♡ 🙂
Love your blog; thanks for all you do to make our lives easier and simpler. ☺
Maria says
Happy birthday Andrea! Hope you have a wonderful day with your family – you deserve it!. Love the pic with you and the kids sitting on that beautiful l rattan sofa. Thanks also for the wonderful tips and awesome ideas you so generously share and for sharing your birthday freebies with everyone! That is so awesome!
Debbie says
Thank you for the chance to get some freebies on your birthday! We’ve been having problems in our neighborhood and actually all over our city of packages being stolen as soon as UPS or FedEx leave it in front of people’s porches. I’ve stopped my orders of BlueApron for a while because I don’t want our house to be the next target. These people are following the delivery trucks all over town and as soon as they leave they get the packages. It’s sad but this is a terrible crime that nobody can seem to solve or stop. It’s not as terrible as the recent shootings but just another problem for us all. Sorry, I don’t mean to be a bummer on your birthday. Happy Birthday Andrea! Enjoy your day!
Danielle says
Happy Birthday Andrea! You and my daughter have the same birthday!
Wishing you all the best!
I live ovseas so i can’t paricipate in the give-away but I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog.
Denise says
Happiest of birthday wishes coming your way. Hope your day is filled with love and laughter…and CAKE!
Karen says
Happy birthday and thank you!
Pal P says
Happy birthday ! Thank you for being there and for your blog.
Amrita Mukherjee says
Happy Birthday to you Andrea.. Many more to come..As I am from India i cannot avail your freebies but I thoroughly enjoy reading your post. Happy Birthday once again dear.
Stacie says
Happy Birthday Andrea!!!! Thanks so much for the freebies! Love your blog! After reading various blogs throughout the internet, yours remains my favorite and look forward to reading it everyday! Its the best one out there! So glad you are sharing all of your thoughts and talents with us!!! Thanks and have a GREAT day!!!
Andrea says
Thanks so much Stacei!
Ann says
Happy Birthday! & THANK YOU for gifts on YOUR BIRTHDAY!❤ You’re so thoughtful!
Lynn says
Happy Happy Birthday Andrea! I look forward to your blog every day!
Birthe says
Happy Birthday from Germany! I hope you have a wonderful day! I love your Blog!!
Joy says
Blessed and blissful birthday to you, Andrea! I just celebrated my birthday last week, June 9th and celebrating my and my husband’s 9th wedding anniversary today (16th). Yay for us!
Trust you have a blast today! 🙂
Barbara says
Hi Andrea! Happy Birthday and thanks for sharing these great deals with us. I was an ePantry subscriber but then when Target, Amazon and other stores starting offering similar deals, I found ePantry was a bit more expensive. I also found that many stores offer free shipping without having to pay to sign up for a VIP program. Have you carefully compared prices and do you choose ePantry/Grove regardless of prices? Just curious if you think this is a good deal!
Andrea says
Hi Barbara,
I think this is one of those things where I have a good system down with products I really like, so even if it’s not the absolute cheapest, I’m OK with it! Also, I got the VIP membership free when I first signed up (because I was one of the first people to sign up) so I’ve never had to pay for shipping (which is nice).
However, I honestly didn’t know that Target had a program like this! Good to know!!
Leslie says
Happy!! Love your site. Tried the link for a new customer and it didn’t work for me.. :{
Andrea says
Thanks Leslie, maybe just try the link again as it might be “slow”. Dave and I both JUST tried it and it’s working fine for us 🙂
Kelynn says
Happy birthday Andrea! I’m having the same problem accessing the link for new customers!
Andrea says
oh no — the only thing I can think of is that lots of people are clicking on it so it’s taking a bit to load??
The offer is open until the 20th, so maybe try back tomorrow. If it still doesn’t work, let me know and I’ll do more investigating 🙂
Andrea says
Hi Kelynn, congrats on the new baby!
If you are still trying to access the link, try doing it in Chrome if possible. I’ve heard there are no issues in Chrome!
Amber says
Happy Birthday Andrea!
Today is my half birthday…at 37.5…why not!? I feel like my life is blessed, so might as well enjoy an excuse to make a cake.
I love your blog and all the tips I’ve learned from you over the years. You are wise beyond your years. Have a fabulous day!
Amber
Andrea says
Happy half birthday (I love celebrating half birthdays)!
Deni says
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA!!!
Chris says
Happy Birthday Andrea! I hope you have a great day to remember. I use Grove myself and love it!
Anne says
I wish there was this in Australia!
Christina says
Happy Birthday Andrea!
Your blog is always my favorite! Thank you for hosting the freebies. I’ll definitely be checking out the Grove site this weekend.
Veronica says
Happy Birthday, Andrea! Hope you have an amazing day! Best wishes for the year ahead!
Michelle Bonk says
Happiest of birthdays! Enjoy that blank space … such a joy in today’s far-too-busy world!
Such a generous birthday gift to all your readers! (Can’t wait until Grove starts shipping to the “Great White North”!_
Andrea says
Thanks Michelle. and yes, I did think of that when I wrote this post — the freebies weren’t really for “everyone” but it’s the best I could do with getting something for (almost) everyone!
Michelle says
It’s still an amazingly generous offer … and not your fault that companies have shipping restrictions!
As it would happen, I’m going to be in Michigan this summer so I’ll hope to stock up on many of these products while there (at Target and MEIJER!!!)
Jen says
Happy happy birthday! Wishing you all the best today and in the year ahead!
Paulette says
Happy, happy Birthday, Andrea! You deserve a day of “nothing!” Enjoy!
Kellie says
Happy Birthday Andrea! Thanks for gifting us on YOUR birthday Super thankful for your blog! Have a wonderful day celebrating all the things you love.
Lee Cockrum says
Happy birthday! Hope your relaxing day is wonderful!!
Grandma Ann says
Happy Birthday Andrea! Have a blessed year! Thank you for writing your blog. I look forward to reading it every Monday they Friday.
Abbie says
Happy Birthday from a thankful reader. While I’m a bit further along the parenting road, the organization and simplifying tips you pass along are timeless and so very practical (and the pare ting helps make me wish you had been around when my children were growing up)! Hope that you enjoy a peace-filled day with your family!
Kristina says
I hope you truly enjoy your day!