3.07.11 Outfit-Forest Hunter

I didn't intend to go to Goodwill, but that's where I ended up Saturday afternoon. I had a jacket for a theme party I never used, so I decided to try out their exchange policy. I felt a bit, how do you say, douchay exchanging it. I should have just donated it back (new and improved after a wash.) But I've already re-donated a couple things; I figured they could handle one $7 credit. I actually saw my re-donated Christmas sweater hanging up on Saturday.

In the midst of my douchay exchange, I uncovered a platinum-colored silk top from Tahari and a cotton Gap safari jacket. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the top. But how could I pass up silk Tahari for $4? This sort of behavior will get me into trouble eventually...

But I made good use of the jacket already. It washed beautifully. This outfit's nice, but I need to find something that makes it pop. Check out my sweet modeling skills. This is one of my signature moves-"trapped in the hallway."

The black dress is pretty basic cotton, but it has a nice gathered waist in front. It's from Martin+Osa, the now extinct sister brand of American Eagle. I got it for a good deal at TJs.

Keeping the tights/boot combo alive for another day.

3.01.11 Outfit The Kilt

This outfit registered a 2 on the compliment scale (one of those from a complete stranger on the way to the cafeteria!) The compliment scale is exactly what it sounds like, how many compliments I got that day. Yeah, I'm that shallow, sue me.

I found this skirt a couple months ago at the Goodwill for something like $7. I love a good thrift. It's the classic 60s/70s kilt-100% wool with leather belt-y tabs on the side. It's a little longer than I would normally wear, but I'm keeping it that way for now in homage of the era this baby came from. You can't quite tell, but my tights are actually blue. I love colored tights and boots.

Tee- TJ Maxx

Sweater- Target

Skirt- Goodwill

Tights- Hue via Marshalls

Boots- Ciao Bella via DSW

2.28.11 Outfit Post

I finally pulled it together and staged a private photo shoot! For myself, by myself. I was the best photographer and model there. In my hallway. Alone. I have to admit, it was a 2 hour ordeal getting the pics from the camera to this post. I have random holes in my basic computer knowledge!

I just resurrected the jacket from the basement. I've had this jacket forever and just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. I took off the brass buttons ages ago.

Jacket-Target (old)

Top-Target

Pants- J crew

Boots-Ciao Bella via DSW

Fixing My Makeup

Oh, makeup. I love/hate it. Carmindy makes it looks so easy. And glamorous. But I am committed to the 5 minute face on weekdays. I guess that's what happens when you turn 30 and inherit dark under-eye circles from your mom. There's really no need to scare innocent coworkers.

Nothing bums me out more than dropping makeup. The case breaks, the mirror shatters, and it goes everywhere. Of course this happens on the day I'm running late and (of course) its a only a week old.

If it's a liquid, all you can do is clean it up the sloppy glass and cry over the lost $55. If it's a powder, I can usually use sad the remnants as a messy loose powder. That's exactly what I've been doing with my face powder for the past 2 months.


The mess it was making in my sink every morning was annoying. And then I saw this helpful hint in Rachael Ray:

With nothing to lose, I decided to give it the old college try. I gathered up my supplies and got to dropping. Eyedropping. I didn't have an eyedropper on hand (does anyone?) so I put the rubbing alcohol in an old contact solution bottle. Which I clearly labelled to avoid any angry-husband-with-burning-eyes confusion.

After I mixed it all together with one of my favorite tools, I got this paste. Not too shabby. Seriously, how great are butter knives? They can do everything.

The next morning, I had pressed powder again! It's not exactly the same as brand new, but it's a vast improvement over what I was working with before.

I've been using the reinvented compact for a couple weeks now and its working out great! Way to go RRay. Thanks to this, you annoy me less today ;)

Sundays. Ugh.

If only I was talking about sundaes...then I might be happier.

Well, happy for a couple minutes and then full of guilt and depression over the unnecessary calories. What? I struggle with a love/hate relationship with food as much as the next gal.

Back to stinky Sundays. For as long as I can remember, I've hated Sundays, especially Sunday evenings. They are the lowest low of my week. The weekend is ending, I have nothing to look forward to but Monday (ugh) and Tuesday (ugh) Wednesday (ugh.) And the biggest kicker is that I usually feel like I wasted the weekend. I've had two days for just me and I haven't accomplished enough. I wasted the days feeling too overwhelmed to actually start anything, so I just end up watching TV. Maybe we made it to Home Depot once. But that's not enough, I should have painted all the trim in the guest room or started the great American novel or fed the homeless or something amazing. Ok, maybe I'm a little too hard on myself.

I was beginning to feel that way about this weekend. But then I forced myself to list what I did this weekend, and I was surprised to discover it wasn't too bad. Not amazing, but still pretty good.

Friday night I had a movie night/slumber party with my MPG girls. No Strings Attached is one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but it was still so nice to see my MPG girls-we don't get to see each other often enough. I also cancelled the Weight Watchers subscription I haven't used in over a year. I would still like to lose a couple pounds, but I just wasn't making use of the subscription. There's $200/year saved. A excellent step towards my New Year's resolution to Waste Less. So when you think about it like that, Friday was a success!

Saturday morning I got up early and got a hair cut, went to Target before 9 am and picked up breakfast for B and I. That afternoon we spent 3.5 hours at Home Depot working with a Certified Kitchen Designer on ideas for our kitchen (WOOOHOOO) and had a lovely dinner. With the kitchen planning alone, Saturday was a success.

Today I stayed in my PJs until 3, which is what made me feel lazy in the first place. But during that time, B and I agreed upon a bunch of upcoming house projects (agreeing=HUGE step), rearranged the guest room, did 4 loads of laundry, ran the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen. I think that's pretty good overall. I also felt bad I didn't make it to the grocery store (its really cold outside.) But I ended up doing something better instead. I played Top Chef with the random food we had in the fridge (spinach, broccoli slaw, lemon, chicken, fresh thyme, leftover mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and pie crust) and actually created a tasty dinner without a recipe. I had a lot of fun doing it, I used up all our leftovers and 80% of it was vegetables, so it was healthy. Did I Waste Less again on Sunday? You bet! Goooo me!

So overall, this weekend wasn't the waste I felt like it was. It was a bunch of itty bitty baby steps towards a happier and more fulfilling life. Sounds pretty good to me. So, I take back the ugh.

Sundays. Yay!

Goodwill Hunting

My favorite Saturday afternoon activity is going down to the local Goodwill and sifting through the treasures. Sometimes they have great furniture, sometimes a decent leather purse and sometimes I come home empty handed feeling grimy. It really depends on the day and my mood. Overall, the good days outweigh the bad ones.

On bad days, thrift stores can be VERY overwhelming and annoying (Ugh, why can't they just show me the adorable things!) BUT I refuse to miss out on good deals because my blood sugar is low. So I have a pretty simple method:

Go directly to the pretty things. Skip the boring junk and look for shiny or embroidered or pretty patterns. I have a real addition to all things embroidery and crewel. I want to cover EVERYTHING in it. I haven't done so yet, but I'm sure it will happen soon, just you wait, it will be bad.

Anyway, after something catches my eye I check out the brand and/or quality of fabric and construction. Sometimes brand is enough of an indication. If not, I look for natural fabrics-wool, silk and cotton.

This week I struck gold in the jacket department.

J Jill embroidered number (shocker) that I have in mind for my mom:

A tagged-ripped out (AKA really good) 100% silk one that I think might be sweet for my oma (sorry the color's washed out):

A classic grey wool for moi (it always helps when a cute hipster walks by and says "that looks great on you." Ok, thanks I will take this one-I look cute in it.)

And a cute purple puffy sleever that I don't know what to do with, but has the potential for adorable-ness.

Now I need to decide how to style these babies...

Deals in the most random of places

Ok, it's not that random. I go to BJ's for deals on toilet paper and Sonicare toothbrush heads and Laughing Cow cheese. Sometimes I'll pick up a paperback while I'm there. But finding a item for my wardrobe that I've been pining after for years? Unheard of! There I was, trying to decide between 1 or 2 gallons of olive oil when I turned around to see a shining beacon ahead of me:

HUNTER WELLIES!

*cue the sounds of angels singing*

Let me just start by saying that I am a diehard Anglophile. I love all things British. This may or may not be directly related to the fact that my family watched a lot of PBS and Monty Python when I was growing up. But studying abroad in London for a semester only made it worse. Some of the happiest moments in my life occurred strolling down the streets of London, just going to or from class. Ah, precious memories....

Anyhoo, I love wellies. Wellington boots. Rain boots. They're adorable and functional. And I love well made/quality items. The kinds of things that Queens prefer to wear. And I love a good deal.

Hunter wellies for $125 at Nordstrom? Quality-check. Good deal-uh, no.

Hunter wellies at BJ's for $80? Done and done. That's a 36% savings my friends! And I'm confident these will last me for years to come, making them a good investment. It also helps that my current electric blue Polo wellies from Marshalls were on their last legs. They were also adorable, an excellent deal and served me well for 5 years. Alas, they were a little too small and lining at the heels had worn through. So they will be donated so someone else can love them as much as I did And when Spring come, I will being my love affair with my aubergine Hunters wellies. Unless I can find a good deal on liners sooner than that ;)



*I apologize for my horrible picture taking skills-they're actually a lovely deep purple that sometimes looks navy. Aubergine=fancy way of saying eggplant in French.