Say it isn't so!

Word is my beloved Old Navy may be closing doors sometime this year!

Article here: trust me it gets worse

Baby it's cold outside

Well, I've been told it's has been snowing in Kentucky already, and even down here in Alabama it's very cold (especially in the mornings.) I love to be warm, being cold is just so uncomfortable and I hate trying really hard to get warm.

So, in my quest for staying warm I thought I'd put together an outfit for just lounging around the house that still looks nice enough that you wouldn't be embarassed to answer the door but still keep you warm and cozy.

1 Skirt = 2 Outfits

I found a skirt at Old Navy today that I absolutely love, but am going to wait to see if it goes on sale before I buy it and boy if it does I will definately buy it. I have so many intentions of buying it that I am already putting outfits together for it. The thing I like about it so much is that it is so versatile it could be dressed up or dressed down and it still looks just as awesome. Plus its made out of sweater material so it's warm!

So here is what I came up with:
Dressy:

This entire outfit including the skirt is $76.09

Casual:

This outfit including the skirt is just $80.60

All for under $25

Me & my friend Christena went "bargin hunting" today. I had never been truly shopping at a thrift store or a goodwill or salvation army before until today. Now I dont know how I ever did not go shopping at any of these places.

I learned that if you dig well enough you can find some really cool stuff for a great price. I didn't go looking for anything in particular but got some really cute stuff for under $30. So I'll show you what I got.

I wish I had a picture of the chair Christena got for like $12 it was so cool and would definately make a great office chair! Pink leather and chrome = awesome!

First for the random house "junk"

I typically do not like stuff but I found this brass star and thought it would be cool to decorate for some holidays such as fourth of july and christmas. I may spray paint it a different color or just leave it the way it is. But a candle on it maybe?



Next I really needed something to put my ring in when I take a shower or wash the dishes because J. was tired of me leaving it on the counter and has threatend many times that he would take it and hide it from me to teach me a lesson and I only paid 3 cents for it who could argue with that?!



I found these really cute candle holders for a $1 each plus I like white so they go with practically any decor.



and finally this small apothacary jar I thought it could hold jewlery or cotton balls maybe? or something else like candy. It will probably be moved around our house a zillion times. It was only a dollar and I can think of about 10 uses for it so I'd say it was worth it!



Now onto the clothing/accessories

I dont have a picture of them but I found a great pair of black dress pants which to me are so comfortable I'd wear them anywhere even if it wasnt a dressy occassion but everyone knows what regular black dress pants look like! Plus they were $4 normally probably about $30 and they fit! Which is a big thing for me!

I also hardly ever find shoes that fit! But these were so cute I knew that if I put them on they wouldnt fit but to my suprise they did & plus gold is so "in" this season and the little flower gives it a little something special.



I really have a thing for dark purple this fall too (I hope it carries on into a few other seasons and next year also) and found this purple clutch that was just too cute and was only $3.50 what a steal!



This is for my mom who has been complaining for the last two winters that I really needed a new scarf so I found this one and its cute and a double layer of knit so its great just a little febreeze maybe a hand washing in the sink with some woolite and we're good to go & only for 1 smackeroo!



So were we keeping a tab here? Lets see total comes up to...
Star plate: $3.00
Ring holder: $0.03
Candle holders: $1.00 each x 2=$2.00
Apathacary jar: $1.00
Black pants: $4.00
Shoes: $9.00
Purple clutch: $3.50
Ivory scarf: $1.00

Grand Total: $23.53

I plan to sometime in the near future (maybe tomorrow) make some outfits for you guys out of this stuff to show how a few small peices can go a long way!

So what is your favorite piece of clothing or home item that you have that you are really proud of that you got from a place like Goodwill, Salvation Army, or a thrift/flea market? Tell me about it I'd love to hear!

Make a list & Check it twice

gonna find out who is naughty or nice.

ok ok no not really! This post is not about Christmas or Santa Clause coming to town. It's about lists....ahh yes list. How I love thee!

You see, I have a lot to accomplish throughout the day so to keep myself organized and make sure that I get everything I need to get accomplished done I make myself a list of the daily things I need to do. Between school and taking care of two (or sometimes three) yahoos I have a lot on my plate.

There isn't much to it really but I have a few simple rules that I will tell you about for when I make my "daily list".

1. Do it before you go to bed at night, it helps you not lay in bed and toss and turn thinking about all the things you need to get done tomorrow and trying to make yourself mentally remember all of those things. So instead write it down and litterally forget about it, you'll sleep better trust me!

2. Go find (or buy) yourself a red pen or sharpie. Why you ask? Well ok when I look at my list and I see that I did something that I needed to do that day I put a checkmark by the task, but when I just do it with a pen or pencil I sometimes don't notice it, so I take a red pen and I make a BIG FAT check mark or X by it and that is like saying to myself "tadah look at what you did", it's like a hug or a pat on the back for a job well done! It's an instant motivator.

3. Put it somewhere you can see it and you see it often. I leave mine either on the refridgerator or on my desk because I see both of those things all the time atleast 20 times a day and it reminds me to finish that list.

4. Don't put too much on your plate. Don't be like me and get too ahead of yourself. Sometimes I like to think I can do more in a day than I really have time for and at the end of the day I don't have some of my things marked off I get down on myself and feel like I didn't manage my time well enough that day.

100 Days & My Loot

Well it is offcially 100 days until our wedding day and I tell ya I cannot wait I'm so excited with each passing day the excitement builds. Although I have to be honest there is so much left to do I also start thinking "100 days!!!? 100 days!!? there is not enough time to do all of the stuff I have left to do!" but I know I'll get it all done! Everything will be fine....

*faints*

Anyways as I said yesterday I went shopping today and I came back with some good stuff. And I didnt go into any stores that I didn't have on my list! After I show you what I got I'll tell you how much I spent.

First my new platter. I love it I originally saw this in robin's egg blue at TJ Max a few weeks ago but decided not to buy it then and I went back today hoping to find it but to no avail it was all sold out so I got the white one which to me is just as well it goes with everything!



Next, a new cookbook for the food lover in me. I had looked through this cookbook before and liked it but once again decided not to buy it because it was a bit on the expensive side but when I saw this at TJ Max it was just too good of a deal to pass up!



Now for the clothes....I needed some things for fall so I got a cardigan (in gray because it goes with everything brown and black) a plum lace trimmed cami and an ivory cowl neck sweater.





So how much do you think I spent? Well here is the breakdown:
Cowl Neck Sweater: $18.95
Gray Cardigan: $31.00
Plum Cami: $9.00
Platter: $11.00
Cookbook: $8.00

Grand Total: $77.95

Not bad if I do say so myself!

Go with a mission

I finally got enough school work done to be able to go and do something fun so me & my friend C. are going shopping tomorrow! I love to shop but sometimes, I end up buying way too much. So, I'm going to try something new! I usually do this with grocery shopping and it makes things so much easier. A list! I dont know how this is going to work with clothes shopping but I do have a couple of things on my list that I need such as some earrings for the wedding, some undies, and a few fall tops. I also found this gorgeous platter at TJ Maxx the last time I was there and didn't buy it and I can't get it off my mind so I'm going to go back and get it! If they still have it that is *crosses finger*

I also like to plan what stores I'm going to go to so I don't just wander from store to store that really gets me in trouble because then I find lots of things in each store I like, so I'm going to plan what stores to go in and go in ONLY those stores.

So my list of stores is...
Old Navy
TJ Maxx
Target
Charlotte Russe
Gap
Victoria Secrets
Claires