Two Weeks in May

Hi there.  So it seems that weekly blogging continues to be problematic despite my best intentions. But you know what they say about good intentions. I've been in a semi daze over the last couple of weeks and I blame that solely on the weather. It's summer in the Sonoran desert now, when temps in the low 90s feel somewhat cool. The cicadas are out in force, and to this desert dweller, that is the signature sound of summer. Despite the heat there are still some flowers to be found, the saguaro has a handful left but the prickly pear is done for the season. I don't think that acclimating to the heat is really possible, instead patterns of living are modified to cope with it. Errands are run first thing in the morning or after the sun has gone down. The best parking space is not the closest, but the one with the most shade. Any sort of physical activity outside during the day is severely curtailed. Sunscreen, sunglasses, hats and a (reusable) container of water become necessities. And the countdown to monsoon season begins.

On that note here are three frugal things I've done recently.
1. The cat's litter box has been moved out of the laundry room so that the door can remain shut during the day.  Because there is no air vent in that room, and it has many windows, it saves energy to not have to cool it.
2. I emptied out my mending basket. I hemmed a couple of skirts, replaced a few buttons and sewed a couple of seams.  This is frugal in more than one way, repairing is cheaper than replacing and it freed up a laundry basket so I didn't have to purchase a replacement for one that wore out a couple of weeks ago.
3. The GH and I ate most of the leftovers in the fridge yesterday and I will finish those off today.

On a less frugal note I waited too long to use a zucchini and some cherry tomatoes that I bought and had to throw them out. I have been trying to reduce my food waste this year and while I am getting better I'm still not there yet. Moral of this story is to prep the veggies for the week on the day they are purchased, it makes me more likely to cook during the week when the prep is mostly done.

And now on to the clothes

May 16

 
Top: Banana Republic - Last seen here (7th outfit)  Cardigan: Banana Republic - Last seen here (6th outfit)  Skirt: Ann Taylor - Last seen here (4th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from the GH  Necklace: Gift Bangle: Mom hand me down

May 17 - I have no idea what I was doing here

Top: Banana Republic: Retail 201?  Skirt: White House Black Market - Last seen here (9th outfit)
Cardigan: Banana Republic - Last seen above

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from Mom  Necklace: Gift Bracelet: Gift from Janet

May 18

 
Top: Simply Vera - Last seen here (3rd outfit) Skirt: Angie - Thrifted here in January Cardigan: BCBG Girls - Last seen here (12th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings, Bangle and Necklace: Mom

May 19

Dress: Jones New York - Last seen here (6th outfit)  Cardigan: French Connection - Last seen here (4th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Retail  Necklace: Gift from the GH  Bracelet: Mom

May 23

Dress: MSSP - Thrifted here in January

The Stuff

Earrings: Hand me down from Mom  Bangles: Gifts and hand me downs

May 24

Top: Banana Republic - Last seen here (1st outfit)  Skirt: The Limited - Last seen here (3rd outfit) Cardigan: August Silk - Last seen here (8th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift ?  Necklace: Gift Bracelets: Chicos

May 25 - Another whole outfit repeat

Top: Ann Taylor - Last seen here (1st outfit)  Skirt: Access - Last seen here (1st outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from the GH  Necklace: Etsy  Bracelet: Mom

May 26

Top: S5A - Last seen here (7th outfit)  Skirt: Tahari - Last seen here (3rd outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Mom  Necklace: Etsy

May 27

Top: Banana Republic - Last seen here (3rd outfit) Cardigan: Joseph A - Thrifted 201?  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (5th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Chicos  Necklace: Etsy  Bracelet: Mom

Added bonus picture of an accidentally color coordinated day at work

Last blast of the saguaro blooms

                                                                Taken today, May 30

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

See you soon!

Early Morning

Hi there. I have been spoiled by working five minutes away from my house.  I thought about that this morning as I got up close to an hour early in order to make it to my dentist appointment on time.  My dentist's office recently moved and they are now half an hour away from my house in good traffic. It's not the logically frugal thing to do, to drive 30 minutes in city traffic, when there are plenty of dental offices within a mile or so of my house. Why do I travel this far just for a routine cleaning? It's all about relationships and loyalty. When I first got dental insurance I chose a dentist that was only 10 minutes or so away from where I was working at the time. That was around 15 years ago. For the entire time I have been going to this dentist, shout out to Dr. David Rosenthal, DDS, I have had the same dental hygienist. She knows where my sensitive spots are without having to ask and always seems genuinely interested in how my life is going.  The receptionist is wonderful and the dentist himself always numbs me up with the first shot.  Thankfully I haven't been in the dentist's chair in years.  I was without dental insurance for a few years, and the office would let me slide on annual x-rays knowing that I was a cash only patient.  I am still without dental insurance because the plans offered by my employer are not accepted at my dentist's office. I am willing to do the non-frugal thing because I trust everyone at my dentist's office and I genuinely like them. I do believe that developing relationships with healthcare providers is important and, as with most things, cheapest is not always best.

Now for three frugal things I have done recently.
1. Our manual can opener has not been working well for a while. Instead of immediately buying a new one the GH tried tightening the screw holding it together and it works great now.
2. During annual open enrollment at work I verified that all of the discounts that I earned over the past year were applied correctly.
3. When I worked an unexpected closing shift I finagled a long lunch so that I could cook the chicken that had been in the fridge a few days rather than let it go to waste. Even the little frugal things add up over time.

Now onto the clothes.

May 9 - Yes the faces never end.

Top: DKNY Jeans- Last worn here (4th outfit) Cardigan: H&M - Retail 201?  Pants: Banana Republic - Last seen here (3rd outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from the GH  Necklace: Online  Bracelet: Retail - Cost Plus

May 10

Top: Ann Taylor Loft - Hand me down from my MIL  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (5th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Hand me down from Mom  Bracelet: Grandma T  Necklace: New Orleans

May 11

Dress: Calvin Klein - Last seen here (4th outfit)   Cardigan: Jeanne Pierre - Last seen here (1st outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Etsy  Necklace: Gift from Susie  Bracelets: Hand me down from Mom

May 12 - With semi-action shot
     
Top: Lilla P - Last seen here (4th outfit) Skirt: Chicos - Last seen here (4th outfit)  Cardigan: Dana Buchman - Last seen here (6th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from Mom  Necklace: Gift from the GH  Bracelets: Retail - Chicos

May 13

Top: Banana Republic - Last seen here (3rd outfit)  Cardigan: Chicos - Last seen here (4th outfit)  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (1st outfit)

A head shot I liked, plus the hat!

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from BB  Necklace: Online  Bracelet: Mom

May 14 - I worked Mother's Day so the Moms at work didn't have to

Top: C - Hand me down from Susie  Jeans: Chicos - Last seen here (5th outfit)

Bonus action shot with Fiona

The Stuff

Earrings: Retail - Chicos  Necklace: Online  Bracelets: Mom

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

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

Life Could Be a Dream

Hi there. So obviously I failed in the weekly blogging thing so here is a two week catch up.

Do you wake up with random songs in your head?  I did this morning, hence the title of the post. And I know the song, not for itself, but for being in the soundtrack of Clue. It is one of my absolutely favorite movies. If you've never seen it you should. Madeline Kahn, Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull and Martin McKean doing over the top comedy in the best way possible.

And since this blog is ostensibly about being frugal as well as clothes I thought I'd try to think of three things I've done to save money each time I write a post. So here goes.

1. I called my internet provider on Monday, because my year long bundle package had expired, to ask what they could do for me to keep my costs down.  After being passed to a loyalty agent I was offered a new year long bundle discount that keeps my costs the same and may even save me a few more dollars each month. It's never fun to spend time on hold with awful wait music and a recording reminding me that I could be chatting with customer service online, but in the long run 30 minutes of patience can be rewarded with a year of savings.

2. I remembered to use one of the $25 gas cards my Mom gave me to fill up my car and I gave one to the GH to use for his. Gift cards are great, but only if you use them.

3. I paid my federal and state taxes, yes I owed both money, online directly through my checking account, which avoided both the processing fee of using a credit card and the interest that would have accrued if I took longer to pay down the card. I also changed my federal withholding to hopefully avoid owing anything in the first place next year.

And now onto the clothes.

April 25 - We got new puppets in at work, I am holding the capybara which is as yet unnamed.

Top: Saks 5th Ave - Last seen here (9th outfit)  Skirt: Hillard and Hanson - Last seen here (5th outfit)

     
The blue is holding up amazingly well, and a closer shot of the capybara.

The Stuff

Earrings and Necklace: Gift from Mom  Bracelets: Chicos

April 26 - A full repeat, from August 2016, but with mostly different stuff

Dress: Jonathan Martin Studio- Last seen here (8th outfit) Cardigan: Ann Taylor Loft - Last seen here (8th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift    Necklace: Retail, don't remember when maybe 199?   Bracelet: Chicos

April 27- Another full repeat from August 2016, with different stuff

Top: Peck & Peck - Last seen here (2nd outfit)  Skirt: Apt 9 - Last seen here (2nd outfit)

The Stuff

Necklace and Earrings: Grandma T   Bracelet: Susie

April 28

Top: J Jill - Thrifted 2015  Skirt: Banana Republic - Last seen here (8th outfit)

The Stuff

Everything is a hand me down from Mom

April 29

Top: Talbots - Lat seen here (8th outfit)  Jeans: Chicos - Last seen here (2nd outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Unicef   Bracelet: Mom

May 2- Another outfit repeat, this from July 2016, different stuff

Top: Ralph Lauren - Last seen here (2nd outfit)   Skirt: Jones New York - Last seen here (1st outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Aunt Rosetta   Bracelet: Mom

May 3 - Yes that is a tiara on my head. It's the emergency tiara, courtesy of Debbi,  for when you just need a little extra sparkle in your day.
    
Top: Banana Republic - Last seen here (12th outfit)   Skirt: Vesti - Last seen here (3rd outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings and Bracelets: Chicos  Necklace: Gift

May 4

Top: Ann Taylor - Purchased here in January  Skirt: Banana Republic - Last seen here (4th outfit)

We had Star Wars Day at work, May the Fourth Be With You.
 
I don't own enough white for a true Leia look, but the mini buns go the point accross.

The Stuff

Earrings: Chicos  Necklace: Etsy  Bracelets: Retail 199?

May 5

Dress: INC - Last seen here (7th outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Retail  Necklace: Online  Bracelets: Mom

May 6

Top: Banana Republic - Hand me down from T  Jeans: Levis - Last seen here (1st outfit)

The Stuff

Earrings: Gift from Mom  Bracelet: Mom Necklace: Etsy

I forgot to add in my last post that I had a run of luck at the Community Food Bank Auction my library system runs each year. I won two of the baskets that were raffled off.

This is most of what was in the Go Green basket

This is most of what was in the Women's Power and Pampering basket

I've been going to the auction for four years and this is the first time I've won any of the raffles, it was pretty cool.

And here is a parting photo of the cat my Mom feeds. He/she is a stray but hangs in my mom's yard pretty much every day.

The fuzz is from a mesquite tree.

Here is a link to the song from the post title:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9G0-4TWwew

See you soon!

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