A Cold, Wet and Gray Weekly Roundup

Hi there. It has been a cold, gray and fairly wet week for the Sonoran Desert.  While as a desert dweller I always appreciate the rain, it can make it tough to take blog pictures. On Friday it rained for most of the afternoon hence the black and gray outfit with a gray background, it's the only space that's covered. It looks like this week is going to be sunnier, but not much warmer. It's nice to have a chance to wear my bulkiest sweaters.

 On the frugal front I haven't done very much exciting or different this week. The GH and I did make it through all of the 5 bean chili that I made on Monday and also all of the quiche I made on Tuesday. I actually had the last bowl of chili and piece of cornbread for dinner tonight. I did make banana muffins last week with extra ripe bananas rather than throwing them away. One of the things that I am trying to be more mindful about this year is food waste. I tend to waste the least amount of food when I plan meals for the week and actually follow through. The planning and shopping come easy enough, it's the follow through that seems to be the hardest part for me.

On a separate and positive note I have finally (mostly) finished the process of dealing with the 1000+ books that I inherited when my Dad died a little over two years ago.  I made the final drop off of items at the Friends of the Pima County Public Library this morning.  When going through the books initially I sorted into a few categories, books for family and friends, books to sell on Amazon, books to try to trade in at Bookmans, books to donate to the library that could be added to the system, books to donate directly to the Friends and books that I might want to keep.  The books I might want to keep pile was the most difficult for me to decide on so I left them in bins for more than a year.  It wasn't until I painted my office last Summer that I finally went through them and decided what I was actually going to keep. The reason I added mostly to the beginning of the paragraph is because there are still a couple of boxes of books that have to be listed on Amazon.  It's great to not have any boxes of books in my laundry room or my office for the first time in years. And as cheesy as it sounds it truly does feel like a weight has been lifted both physically and mentally.

Now onto the clothes. Only four days last week due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

January 18

Sweater: Charter Club - Thrift 201?  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (1st outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Don't remember  Necklace: Gift from C  Bracelet: Gift from Janet

January 19 - Ah, the faces.
   

Sweater: J Crew - Thrift 201?  Pants: Banana Republic - Lat seen here (2nd outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Chicos  Necklace: Mom  Bracelets: Hand me down from J

January 20 - I debated all black but I thought it may have been too much so a bit of gray to soften it slightly

Dress: Chicos - Last seen here (1st outfit)  Sweater: No Label - Bought here in July

The Stuff

Earrings: Rosetta  Necklace: Gift from C  Bracelet: Cost Plus

January 21 - Had to work so I couldn't attend the women's march, but I dressed in solidarity.
   

Sweater: Lands End - Thrift 201?  Jeans: Chicos Platinum - Last seen here (1st outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Chicos  Bracelets: Gifts

See you soon!

As always thank you to blog photographers BB, Mr DC and the GH.

I Hope You Know This Will Go Down In Your Permanent Record

Hi there. I am finishing up a lovely three day weekend by writing this blog post. In doing so I am also checking the last thing off of my weekend to-do list.  I am a big fan of list making, mostly because I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with checking off completed tasks.  I also enjoy the feeling of excitement and anticipation that comes with writing down fun plans, lists shouldn't be all about chores.  One of the down sides to having multiple plans for fun with others is that it tends to not be very frugal.

Full confession of non-frugal activities. I started my weekend on Saturday night with an awesome librarian drinking night at 1702 (linking because they are wonderful) with great food, beer and company, followed by karaoke.

                                      Karaoke selfie with the amazing work husband (WH)

More karaoke selfies with the amazing BB, WH and D

On Sunday I had a lovely lunch with a friend at a local Indian restaurant (that has no website) followed by spending more money at a wonderful community event, The Syrian Sweets Exchange 3.0. The Syrian Sweets Exchange is a chance for Syrian refugee families who are new to Tucson to sell their homemade bake goods to the community and all of the proceeds go directly to help support these families.  I'm not sure what I was expecting at this event but I was blown away by the sheer number of people who showed up. The line to get into the event was long but moved quickly and the variety of food for sale was amazing.  I did not get a chance to see everything that was offered but what I did purchase was great. Events like this are one of the reasons that I love my city so much.

 
The treats I brought home.

On Monday my older dog had an appointment at the vet and I met the WH at Bookmans to trade out series of Archer, he is my hookup. On the frugal side I managed to score more than $70 in trade credit.  Everything that is left from my two Bookmans excursions will be donated to the Friends of  the Pima County Public Library (shameless promotion link, all proceeds benefit programs in my library system).  I swung by a friends carport sale and bought a couple of metal tables to be used as plant stands and I also called my optometrist to order my new contacts. On another frugal note I made chili for dinner, for which I had all the ingredients on hand and was perfect on a cold grey day.

On Tuesday I cleaned out and took inventory of my food cupboard in preparation for my no spend February. I went to three different grocery stores but stuck to my lists. I saved bananas on the verge of going bad by making banana muffins, I made a birthday pie for Mr. DC and a quiche for lunches this week.

On the whole this was an abnormally busy, and expensive weekend for me but very enjoyable.  And now I will return to our regularly scheduled blog and move onto the clothes.

January 10

Sweather: Rafaella - Retail 200?  Jeans: Chicos Platinum - Thrifted here

The Stuff

Earrings and Bracelet: Mom  Necklace: Unicef

January 11

Top: Cable and Gauge: Thrifted here in Spring of 2016  Pants: Gloria Vanderbilt - Last seen here (8th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from Brother  Necklace: Gift from GH  Bracelet: Mom

January 12 - Sometimes I smile with my eyes closed
  
Cardigan: Ann Taylor - Retail 20??  Jeans: Gap - Thrifted here

The Stuff

Necklace and Earrings: Gift from Mom  Bracelet: Chicos

January 13 - Again with the closed eyes
  
Cardigan: Eddie Bauer - Thrifted here Summer of 2016  Pants: Nine West - Last seen here (7th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Christmas gift from the GH  Necklace: Etsy  Bracelet: Mom

January 14 - Ahh the faces, I must have been amused by something
  
Sweater: Banana Republic - Retail 20??  Jeans: Levis - last seen here (2nd outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Chicos  Necklace: Online Bracelet: Mom

See you soon!

As always thank you to blog photographers BB, Mr DC and the GH

Outfits From the First Week of January

Hi there.  I have seen a lot of talk about No-Spend January on some of the frugal blogs that I read. While that is not a possibility here, considering the fact that I bought airline tickets today for a trip to New Orleans later this year, it got me thinking about trying a No-Spend February.  This might seem like cheating a bit since February is the shortest month of the year but I look at it as a way to increase my chances of accomplishing a no spend month.  This doesn't mean I won't spend any money at all in February, it just means that I will attempt to spend as little as possible.  That means no thrifting and minimal grocery shopping. It also means cooking as much as possible from scratch, which means that I have to get back into the swing of prepping as much of the week's meals as possible on Mondays. No time like the present to start implementing a good habit so with veggies waiting to be chopped onto the clothes. It was a short week last week so I only have four outfits.

January 4 - I make all the faces when getting my picture taken
  

Sweater: Croft & Barrow - Thrift 2015  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (4th outfit) Scarf: Chicos - Retail 2013

The Stuff

Bracelet: Chicos - Retail  Earrings: Etsy Necklace: Etsy

January 5- Lighting makes all the difference
  
Top: Ann Taylor Loft - bought in 2016  Jeans: Levis - last seen here  (1st outfit)

What my ears look like when the sun shines through them, also why I wear a hat every day.

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from Mom  Bracelet: Mom  Necklace: Online

January 6 - Me & my shadow, just chillin

Blouse: Old Navy - Retail 2013  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (6th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings and Bracelet: Gifts from the GH  Necklace: Aunt Rosetta

January 7 - Again with the faces
  
Cardigan: August Silk - Thrift 201?  T-shirt: Banana Republic- Retail 2014 Jeans: Levis - Last seen above

The Stuff

Earrings: Grandma T  Bracelet: Mom  Necklace: Etsy

Bonus picture of my cat looking sweet while being a jerk.

His actual, personal, basket is the rectangular one on the right, less than 6 inches away from the basket of clean laundry that he's in.

As always thank you to blog photographers BB and Mr DC.

See you soon.

Thrift and Gifts

Hi there.  I was not good about tracking my thrifting on the blog for the last few months of 2016. To remedy that, and to start 2017 off right, this is a big wrap up post of my thrift haul from a few days ago as well as what I thrifted, and was gifted in the last part of 2016. One of the pleasant side effects of documenting what I wear on this blog has been the gift of hand me downs that I have received from friends and family.

I will start with the gifts. Many of these have already been seen on the blog.  My wonderful sister-in-law,  Susie, brought me a surprise when she cam to visit in November.

Enclosed in this little bag was some wonderful jewelry that belonged to Susie's Mother.

I have already worn two of these necklaces. The cream colored one on the right is so incredibly lightweight. I believe is is made of plastic but am not sure of the age.  The necklace on the left is made of rolled paper beads.

This gold tone necklace and bracelet have also been worn already.  The texture of the metal is on the itchy side and it catches fabric fairly easily.  I am on the look out for a mock or real turtleneck in a smooth fabric that is less likely to catch before I wear the necklace again.


 The clasps on both pieces are pretty unique, and makes me think they were not made in the U.S.

Both of these pieces have also been worn already.  I wore the brooch to my company Holiday Party and on New Year's Eve, but have no pictures.

Thank You Susie for some great jewelry!!

Onto the clothing

The following are pieces that I bought in the last few months of 2016.

  
This skirt has already been worn. It has no label and is made from a very soft suede like fabric. I am fairly sure that it was handmade. Sadly the pants went straight into a donation pile as the waist gaps and a belt did not help the problem.  I decided that they were not worth the cost of having them altered as the fabric was not great quality.

   
Neither of these pieces have been worn yet due to my laziness in dealing with my ironing pile.  The skirt doesn't need to be ironed but the top I want to wear with it desperately needs to be steamed.

  
Both of these pieces will probably not be seen on the blog until it warms up again

    
Both of these items have been worn, the top on the right will be in my post for this past week.

This sweater will likely show up on the blog sometime soon, it is also in the tower of items to be ironed/steamed.

What I bought last week:  I don't have prices for these items as the store I purchased them from snips off the tags to reuse them and I can't remember the price for each piece.  Nothing cost more than $3, as everything was half off. The total cost of all items was $30.75

       
     Brown Dress: MSSP                               Red Print Dress: Jonathan Martin

    
Red Hippy Skirt: Angie       Snake Print Skirt: attention        Dotted Skirt: The Limited

    
Velour Pants: Juicy Couture  Blue Jeans: Chicos Platinum    Black Jeans: The Gap

    
Black Silk Pants: Ann Taylor               Charcoal Pin Stripe Pants: Alfani

    
Black T Shirt: Banana Republic               Black Knit Tank: Ann Taylor

      
Black and Grey Silk Blouse: Ann Taylor  Black and Grey Top: Ann Taylor

    
Pink Knit Tank and Cardigan: Ann Taylor  Found in different sections.

Green and White Silk Top: Lauren Conrad - Not to be seen until it warms up.

I hope you had a great first week of the year and thanks for stopping by.

See you soon.