Posts by Donna Chase12

So, I swung by their office today and they told me they can actually look up package info since they keep copies on file—but if you’re dealing with a certified mail delivery? Yeah, you're pretty much out of luck there... just figured I'd let everyone else know in case you run into the same headache.

Melissa Morgan77, it’s only been a week for me, but honestly, I like to be prepared just in case things don't show up within that two-week window... It'll be interesting to see what happens if the package gets sent back to the sender, because that's happened to me exactly twice when stuff didn't arrive on time. And the worst part? They send them back marked "unclaimed," even though the girls had already checked with the local USPS office at least two or three times while waiting for it to show up.😠

I need some serious help here—is there any way to file a claim for a package if I lost the receipt?
I’ve got all the tracking info and the shipping date, but that little slip of paper basically vanished into thin air. The customer’s been waiting over a week now... usually, my shipments go out via FedEx or UPS and arrive in a day or two, but I always seem to have this one run of bad luck with the paperwork when things actually go sideways.😢🙂

Nicole Lee4 said:You didn't quite nail the math there. You were looking at the rate for just priority mail—you gotta factor in both the certified and the priority shipping if you want the real number.
The absolute cheapest recommendation you're gonna get is $9.50.
And yours was sitting somewhere between 3.5 and 9 ounces—so $12.50 plus $1.70 puts you at $14.20.

I totally did the math myself—mostly because I wanted to send it via Priority Mail—but then she goes and tells me I have to fill out some specific form just to make that happen... honestly, whatever, it doesn't even matter anymore. At least now I know for next time that I need to be super blunt about wanting a tracked letter. I just assumed when I said "priority," it was a given that meant priority shipping. My bad.🙂

Thanks for the input, everyone.🙂

Nicole Lee4 said:priority-plus is basically just regular priority

it bumps up the rate by about $1.50
last week they were doing those extra surcharges—you know, where they slap an extra stamp on every package for charity stuff, like fighting TB or whatever—about $1.55 per item

so what did you end up paying exactly?

hey, sorry for the late reply—honestly, I totally forgot I even asked this question here😁
anyway, I already knew all that... the extra $1.55 (which wasn't even part of my initial math) and what the whole thing actually meant. My point was that I wanted to send it as a priority letter. I asked the clerk if there was some specific form to fill out for that, and she told me no, just check the "priority plus" box. But then I look at the UPS website and their calculator says it should be $2.50 for that weight. Instead, I got charged $14.20, so either she gave me bad info or I just overpaid for nothing... obviously, it’s not like I’m losing my shirt here, but since I ship a ton of stuff, these little screw-ups really add up over time. Luckily, if I don't have too many packages, I catch it right away and can call them out on their nonsense at the counter, but when I'm loaded down with shipments, I don't realize it until I'm back home and then I'm just stuck with it

Little Coco, oh my god😲

Anyway, I’m here with another one of my little dilemmas—on these new USPS forms for registered mail, they totally scrapped the "priority" option, even though you can still obviously calculate priority rates online... Since I had no clue they changed things, I asked the lady at the counter if there were different forms now or if they just ditched the option entirely, and she tells me—with a straight face—that it's now called "Registered Plus." So, I check the box, pay up, get home, and only *then* do I realize I just paid double what I actually owed.
Does anyone actually know what's going on? What is this new "priority" name, and what exactly is "Registered Plus"? Because based on the price, it’s definitely not the same thing.😕🤷

And honestly, what you guys said about having to watch everything they write down and what you're paying for? It's so true... In the beginning, I got ripped off a few times before I finally learned all the different tiers and started doing the math myself. The other day, a clerk actually tried to convince me that a package weighing $33 was under 2lbs for shipping to $7.25, and I didn't back down until she realized she'd messed up.🙄
I mean, seriously, how do they not know these basic rates by heart?🤷

Sarah Harris5 said:And then they start grilling you about how much weight you dropped, right? Like, "How much more do you have to lose just to get back to where you started?"
I’ve got a bad feeling I’m gonna be hearing that exact same thing.

As if—nobody asks those questions now, since I managed to drop all the weight in the first month alone😂

miana2 said:total blackout... honestly, how many people out there are just that reckless? 😢

yeah... unfortunately
I guess some girls who get pregnant easily don't even realize what a massive stroke of luck they actually had...🤷

Oh, and it just hit me—something that used to drive me absolutely insane—back when women would interrogate me about how much weight I’d put on... like, as if anyone actually cares... 👎

hollowmarlin49 said:Ever since my first checkup with Dr. Wahid—who was such a breath of fresh air during my pregnancy—I’ve just stopped overthinking everything. He basically told me, "Look, you're a mom now; stop being so hard on yourself and fight for your kid, it's totally normal."

And man, I gotta mention all those judgmental old ladies constantly digging into my business while I was pregnant. Like, seriously? It's like they think every pregnant woman forty years ago was out there tilling fields or something... was the whole country just one giant farm back then or what?! 😕

Honestly, once you actually become a mom, things don't get any easier—you just have to endure a way longer stretch of listening to that kind of mindless, nasty commentary... I'm a brand new mom and I've already heard enough nonsense to last a lifetime. It's exhausting.👎

Sarah Harris5 said:Honestly, nothing gets under my skin faster than pregnant women who act like they aren't even carrying a human being. They’re out here smoking, drinking way too much, riding motorcycles, hitting up tanning salons, and rocking massive stilettos right up until the delivery room like, "Oh, this isn't happening." Then they wait until the last second to take off their jewelry and wonder why the jeweler can't resize everything instantly, or they start making crazy plans about not taking the baby home in an Uber or whatever. It’s wild because there are so many women out there struggling just to conceive, yet these ones are out here gambling with it every single day!!
Ugh, I just had to vent somewhere.

This stuff used to drive me crazy too, especially because I knew someone nearby who, once she found out she was pregnant, basically said she didn't know if she wanted to laugh from joy or cry from sheer misery,😲 and then she kept drinking and smoking even though the ultrasounds were showing things weren't looking great from the start...
Sadly (or maybe—call it luck😕), she lost the baby...
And then, when she came to meet my little one, she acted all devastated like it was this huge tragedy, despite the fact she did absolutely nothing to protect her own pregnancy... I just don't get it...🤷 Sure, maybe she would have lost the baby anyway even if she’d been on strict bed rest and stayed sober, but if I were in her shoes, I’d always be wondering if I was the one to blame.😢

Amanda Reed4 said:I honestly die of embarrassment when I see those 70-year-old tourists stripping naked right in the middle of the beach while my sister-in-law's six-year-old kid is standing right there...
but frankly, I couldn't care less,
I tell them exactly what I think, and usually, they either cover up or clear out...

If they want to be naked, they can find a nudist beach,
because Lord knows I’m not showing up to a nudist beach in a wetsuit...
not that there'd be much to look at anyway, then I wouldn't even bother saying anything...........

🙏 seriously though, bravo.
one of the grossest things I've ever seen at the beach—some lady, probably in her 60s, just sitting there topless on a lounge chair with her chest hanging down to her lap 😲😂
and yeah... this was at a family beach swarming with kids 👎

Ladies, don't hate me, but you guys are absolutely killing me with these comments....😂🤣
about men and cellulite 👍😂

hollowmarlin49 said:I second this word for word. Honestly, today has been such a rough one since the second I woke up. My husband is driving me crazy because he doesn't get why I'm stressing about the house being spotless before guests arrive, and then he calls me out on it and I end up sobbing like a total mess. Like, I tell him the kids shouldn't come over if the carpets aren't even cleaned, and he’s just like, "Babe, they won't even notice for the first few weeks" 😕 Seriously, wtf?!?!?! But yeah, I'm mostly just getting on my own nerves...

hollowmarlin49 said:They’re so laid back, it makes me want to roll him up in one of those rugs and toss him down the stairs. I just told mine, either you scrub this stuff before the weekend or it's going straight to the curb, whatever works for you ☕ Gonna go grab some fruit and try to chill, haven't even eaten today because I'm so worked up.

Sarah Johnson7 said:This thread always puts me in a certain mood. Sure, there are plenty of nasty stories here, but honestly, it’s just a relief to see I’m not the only one dealing with bad experiences and being a little high-strung...

That part about husbands sitting in waiting rooms 🙏 🙏 is the absolute TRUTH!!! And I totally agree with the point that their wives share the blame too. I've basically concluded that women can be their own worst enemies; I see so many of you irritating other women who seem to have way less empathy than you'd actually expect from a human being.
Yesterday, some young girl was so incredibly rude, just cutting right in front of me for a bathroom stall that I was left speechless. I even mentioned to my husband, "Well, maybe she'll be pregnant one day and end up in the same boat," and he just bluntly snapped back, loud enough for people to hear, "She's such a mess, she probably won't." I ended up feeling more embarrassed for her than she was 🙂

hollowmarlin49 said:I honestly can't believe how much the cellulite caught me off guard during pregnancy. I’ve always been a curvy girl and never really had an issue—maybe just a tiny bit on my eyelids if I’m being picky—so I figured, hey, at least I won't have to stress about it once the baby arrives, right? Yeah, right. It can always get way worse 😲 Now my legs look like two bumpy tree trunks... they're all swollen and just covered in this crap, totally lost their shape 🙂

Dana Miller2 said:That caught me off guard too.
I swear, my cellulite actually developed its own damn cellulite during pregnancy 😬

vividhawk87 said:I’m not so sure about that... I don't think you can see cellulite through cellulite. 😁

If I were there, security would be dragging me out of the store by my calves. And don't even get me started on the language I'd use—I'd tear her apart right then and there. Since I'm such a big girl myself, I might as well use my size to make sure she hears every word while I'm at it. I'd definitely make sure to tell her to watch how she talks to people who are BIG!

CE3PENULA....man, what that old hag did to you is straight-up bottom-of-the-barrel stuff... it really shocks you when you see how far some people will go😢

Kate Cox2 said:Well, that sounds perfectly normal to me—you simply know your own priorities and what brings you joy, so you organize your life around those needs. You went out to get more plants because that matters to you; someone else might just veg out in front of the TV, whereas I’d probably spend my time painting my nails.😍

Look, I get it... obviously your kid comes first, period. But you don't just stop existing because you have a little one. You’re still going to do the things that make you *you*—it’s just gonna look different now. You'll reorganize your life, maybe drop the stuff that doesn't really matter anymore, but that's on you. For someone to sit there and predict that you won't be able to handle the things that actually matter to you? Honestly, that's just obnoxious. It's borderline malicious, if you ask me.

Yeah, well... even when it comes to sleep... they were talking a lot about that too—just wait until you see the absolute mess they make of things.
Honestly, I’ve always been a bit of a light sleeper—even during my pregnancy, I was lucky if I got six hours of shut-eye. My little one is pretty much a pro at sleeping through the night. When they need to nurse, they just sort of stir around a bit, grab a quick meal, and then drift right back off. Most nights, they'll pull a solid 10 to 12-hour stretch with maybe two or three feedings mixed in.🤣 The only real drag is that the kid is constantly wheezing—I’m basically running on zero sleep because I'm stuck worrying about them. But even if I *did* manage to get more rest than I used to... yeah, I still wouldn't be sleeping.😁

Amanda Reed4 said:I’ve heard every single variation of this nonsense too (the whole "get your sleep in now because you won't get any later" routine, etc.).
Maybe I actually want to be tired! And then I'll just rub those rude faces in it—even if I'm lying about it... he he he!!!

Look, sure, things get tough sometimes, but when someone hits me with that nasty little comment like, "Just wait until you don't even have time for yourself, let alone your plants," while I'm sitting here three weeks after getting home having already bought a massive haul of new greenery, repotted everything, and spending my daily downtime watering and pruning... 😂 🤣 😂
That's just a textbook example of people being petty for no damn reason.👎

hollowmarlin49 said:Ugh, just heard another gem from everyone—men, women, young, old... all of them. If you think things are hard now, just wait until you have a kid, then you'll really see, haha! (okay, I added the laugh at the end, but that’s basically how they say it 🙄). Honestly, why are people such jerks? Like, can't we just have a normal conversation without it turning into some mean-spirited comment? It's not like I'm pregnant because it's "trendy" or whatever... I know exactly what I'm getting into.

It’s like I wrote this myself....👍
The only difference is that in my experience, it’s strictly women saying it.
Once you actually give birth, it turns into—"Oh, just wait until he's [insert number of months or years here]," and so on.👎

don't even worry about it

Her cookies actually took first place. $27/lb
As for the cakes—I can't say for sure—but one smaller one we picked up was $40, though I didn't get a count on how many slices were in it.
The little pastries go for about $3.25 each.
If you're looking for the nitty-gritty details, just shoot her an email... she’s pretty quick to reply.

Betty Brooks76, welcome to the club for cake lovers and Monica fans👍
she did a pretty sweet job on that one

Carol Richardson15 said:Guys, I seriously have to rave about this little bakery in Ann Arbor called Monica because I swear I’ve never had better cakes in my entire life... 🙏 I headed over there this past Saturday with my partner and some friends because I’ve been obsessing over those wedding cupcakes for ages (you know, the ones Zippy 😍 had—thanks so much, by the way!) and honestly, everyone was just blown away!!! Every single flavor sounds amazing, but we ended up going with chocolate, a chocolate-vanilla combo, and then chocolate-orange.
The cakes are literally a dream come true, and the prices are actually super reasonable compared to everywhere else... Anyway, big shoutout to Monica 👍 !!

Man, I'm so glad you guys loved them too...👍
we went with chocolate-vanilla for our cupcakes as well, though that orange-chocolate one sounds pretty killer... actually, I'm planning to hit up Ann Arbor again this Monday to see the doctor, so my better half and I might just treat ourselves once more... it's also pretty cool how they switch things up with seasonal fruit flavors depending on the time of year.🙂

hiddenlynx22 said:I wouldn't personally suggest doing favors with the cookies, but if that's the route you want to take, every guest really ought to receive their fair share. In that case, you'd want to have everything packaged ahead of time rather than just handing out the leftovers.

I'm with her on this one.

steelrider3 said:So, we're looking at 10-15 ounces per person, and if we're doing little favor boxes for guests, maybe another 10 ounces per box? 😉

I wouldn't count on that—it probably depends on how big those containers actually are.

Drew Wells, honestly, you'll have plenty.
We had so much left over from our 45lb batch that my mom ended up handing out treats to 40 people the next day, and then my partner and I brought enough to share at work, and we still had leftovers sitting in the pantry.