What did I accomplish in 2013? Well, I lost 10lbs (over the course of the entire year...). I began to pay down my massive amounts of credit card debt. I earned my associate's degree (in liberal arts--oh so useful) and started on my bachelor's. I learned that gross, used ballet flats sell for tons of money on ebay. And I discovered the joy of Goodwill.
But what for 2014?
Well, I hope to make a really, really good dent in my debt. I hope to earn straight A's this year. I want to focus more on quality than quantity when it comes to clothes, and try and buy timeless pieces. I will not buy items from regular stores unless I have been craving them for more than a week. I will be more choosy when it comes to Goodwill purchases. I will cut back on my sugar and diet coke consumption. There must be a way to get through the afternoon slump that does not involve sugar. I will read 100 books (or more!), and try to make at least half of them real literature, non-fiction, or somehow or other actually good for me. For every trashy romance I read, I should read something decent.
So, basically, I'm going to quit sugar and quit spending money. No way this can go wrong, right?
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Christmas
Good morning!
Christmas was, as is always the case for me, a blur. I work retail, so I get very little time off leading up to the day. Christmas was always one of my favorite holidays as a kid, and it still is. I just don't get to do too much celebrating, since I often have to work Christmas Eve when a good part of my family's celebrating happens. It was a lovely day once I got out of work, however. We always have Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day dinner at my parent's house, and I stay over and my family opens presents together in the morning. Just me, my brother, and my parents. We start with stockings in bed, and then unwrap the rest of the loot downstairs by the Christmas tree.
As you can probably tell, we do take the consumerism part of Christmas very seriously. But it's fun. We love buying things for each other and hanging out together with coffee, food and sometimes wine opening gifts from each other. I bought people a lot of books this year, as I usually do, because they are so easy to wrap. My dad has just gotten a new job where jeans and tshirts are no longer appropriate, so I had a great time finding him some new dress shirts. My boyfriend also got shirts.
My mom is the person I shop the most for. Not only do I do my own shopping for her, but my dad, who is not a shopper, gives me his Christmas budget for her, and I buy her a piece of jewelry. This year, I ended up ordering a custom ring from a company called Gemvara. http://www.gemvara.com/ It's always hard to find her things, since she is allergic to most metals, except gold or rose gold, and she won't wear yellow gold. Basically, she only wears rose gold, which, while it is getting easier to find in stores, is still a challenge. Most nice jewelry stores will only have a handful of pieces, and then only one or two in the price range. With Gemvara I was able to design a ring exactly like what she wanted, just under the budget I had. It even came with free engraving! The ring ended up being beautiful and very high-quality. You can tell there's a lot of gold in it. It is very solid. I will likely be ordering from Gemvara again.
As far as me, I got some new Vera Bradley items in the "Happy Snails" pattern, including sleeves for my nook HD+ tablet and my nook ereader, as well as a wallet and a tote bag. I also got a beautiful Coach brown leather ladylike bag, and two silk button down blouses from JCP in beautiful colors (these were the hidden gems of the fall, I think! 100% silk button-downs in amazing colors for less than $20). I also got a lovely jewelry box, which I will post pictures of when I get it all set up and filled with some of my stuff.
As far as food goes, that's always the best part of Christmas. We always have pretty much the same thing for both Christmas Eve and Christmas, because it's so much easier that way. Nobody wants to spend Christmas afternoon cooking! In years past, we have had seafood chowder, and then roast duck on Christmas day. However, this year, my mom, my grandma, my aunt and I all went to Disney World and had afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian, and were inspired to change up Christmas food. So instead of seafood chowder, we had an appetizer buffet with all sorts of goodies, like homemade onion dip, tomato and mozzarella balls on toothpicks, sausage, goat cheese and pear hors d'oeuvres, and more, plus a large selection of tea sandwiches. We still had duck Christmas night, because my dad cooks that and enjoys it. The food was amazing, but so much work. We will not be doing it again, not like this.
I have been trying to convince my family for years and years that we ought to roast a goose for Christmas. Just once, just to try it. "It's too expensive" my dad always tells me. Yes, geese are expensive. A frozen goose is around $50, which is a lot of money. But when he pulled his 3lb package of frozen duck breasts from the freezer and saw that he had paid $41 for it, he began to reconsider the goose prospect. We shall see!
As far as what I ate: everything. I basically ate everything, and drank wine to go along with it. I'm not even sure I could type out everything I ate, but it was a lot. But my boyfriend and his mom are leaving town for a week tonight, heading home to visit their family for the holidays, so I will have en empty apartment and plenty of time to cook nice, healthy meals and nobody to convince me to go out to eat instead. I will make up for my indulgences. Merry Christmas everybody!
Christmas was, as is always the case for me, a blur. I work retail, so I get very little time off leading up to the day. Christmas was always one of my favorite holidays as a kid, and it still is. I just don't get to do too much celebrating, since I often have to work Christmas Eve when a good part of my family's celebrating happens. It was a lovely day once I got out of work, however. We always have Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day dinner at my parent's house, and I stay over and my family opens presents together in the morning. Just me, my brother, and my parents. We start with stockings in bed, and then unwrap the rest of the loot downstairs by the Christmas tree.
As you can probably tell, we do take the consumerism part of Christmas very seriously. But it's fun. We love buying things for each other and hanging out together with coffee, food and sometimes wine opening gifts from each other. I bought people a lot of books this year, as I usually do, because they are so easy to wrap. My dad has just gotten a new job where jeans and tshirts are no longer appropriate, so I had a great time finding him some new dress shirts. My boyfriend also got shirts.
My mom is the person I shop the most for. Not only do I do my own shopping for her, but my dad, who is not a shopper, gives me his Christmas budget for her, and I buy her a piece of jewelry. This year, I ended up ordering a custom ring from a company called Gemvara. http://www.gemvara.com/ It's always hard to find her things, since she is allergic to most metals, except gold or rose gold, and she won't wear yellow gold. Basically, she only wears rose gold, which, while it is getting easier to find in stores, is still a challenge. Most nice jewelry stores will only have a handful of pieces, and then only one or two in the price range. With Gemvara I was able to design a ring exactly like what she wanted, just under the budget I had. It even came with free engraving! The ring ended up being beautiful and very high-quality. You can tell there's a lot of gold in it. It is very solid. I will likely be ordering from Gemvara again.
As far as me, I got some new Vera Bradley items in the "Happy Snails" pattern, including sleeves for my nook HD+ tablet and my nook ereader, as well as a wallet and a tote bag. I also got a beautiful Coach brown leather ladylike bag, and two silk button down blouses from JCP in beautiful colors (these were the hidden gems of the fall, I think! 100% silk button-downs in amazing colors for less than $20). I also got a lovely jewelry box, which I will post pictures of when I get it all set up and filled with some of my stuff.
As far as food goes, that's always the best part of Christmas. We always have pretty much the same thing for both Christmas Eve and Christmas, because it's so much easier that way. Nobody wants to spend Christmas afternoon cooking! In years past, we have had seafood chowder, and then roast duck on Christmas day. However, this year, my mom, my grandma, my aunt and I all went to Disney World and had afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian, and were inspired to change up Christmas food. So instead of seafood chowder, we had an appetizer buffet with all sorts of goodies, like homemade onion dip, tomato and mozzarella balls on toothpicks, sausage, goat cheese and pear hors d'oeuvres, and more, plus a large selection of tea sandwiches. We still had duck Christmas night, because my dad cooks that and enjoys it. The food was amazing, but so much work. We will not be doing it again, not like this.
I have been trying to convince my family for years and years that we ought to roast a goose for Christmas. Just once, just to try it. "It's too expensive" my dad always tells me. Yes, geese are expensive. A frozen goose is around $50, which is a lot of money. But when he pulled his 3lb package of frozen duck breasts from the freezer and saw that he had paid $41 for it, he began to reconsider the goose prospect. We shall see!
As far as what I ate: everything. I basically ate everything, and drank wine to go along with it. I'm not even sure I could type out everything I ate, but it was a lot. But my boyfriend and his mom are leaving town for a week tonight, heading home to visit their family for the holidays, so I will have en empty apartment and plenty of time to cook nice, healthy meals and nobody to convince me to go out to eat instead. I will make up for my indulgences. Merry Christmas everybody!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Animal Print and Pizza
Long day today! Busy at work, and then I went to the mall, because I was bored and I am dumb. But I had really good pizza for dinner, so that's a start. I also tried on a couple of items at JCP that I've been lusting after, but I restrained myself and did not purchase. I figure that since they still have just as many as they did last month, the chances of both making it to the $5 clearance rack is pretty damn good. I do love JCP, but nothing is ever worth full price there, mostly because it always ends up on clearance. I do miss the days (short-lived days, that is) when they just had the price on the tag, no monkey business. Alas, nobody understood that an $8 tshirt is the same price as a $20 tshirt that is 50% off with a $10 off $50 coupon. *sigh* Math is just so hard sometimes, isn't it? Anyway, they always have cute stuff, and the store is usually pretty well organized, so I can find things, unlike Kohls and Sears. My goodness, I'm verbose tonight.
Anyway, today was a pretty decent eating day. Homemade hot cocoa and an english muffin for breakfast, quiche, yogurt, an apple and a clementine for lunch, and a slice of delicious pizza and a caesar salad for dinner. Plus a giant Joy tea from Starbucks, because they were out of China Green Tips.
Now for some pictures! Today's outfit looked a little better in person, mostly because I'm a horrid photographer. Here's a breakdown:
Jacket: LLBean, from Goodwill. $7
Scarf: Jcrew, also Goodwill. $4.50
Sweater: Gap, $30-ish. I wore it for the pockets, since the skirt lacked them.
Tshirt: Everlane. LOVE their tshirts. $15, very flattering and soft, and ethically-produced. Amazingly fast shipping, too. I'm in NH and they are in CA, but when I order, I get them 2 days later. Incredible! I highly, highly recommend these t's. They're pretty much all I wear for tshirts lately. They also offer rewards for referrals *hint hint* https://www.everlane.com/n/xsmfas
Necklace: Kohls from a couple of years ago. $7.
Skirt: LLBean Signature. On clearance at the outlet for $12, down from $198 or something stupid like that. Unlined, but 100% wool.
Tights: Gap, last season. $7ish. Hard to tell, but they are animal print.
Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger. $30ish at DSW. I've had these for ages, so it's hard to say.
Now for the JCP try-ons. I've been eyeing this blouse for a couple of months now. It's a silk-cotton blend and priced at $40 (though always on sale). It's very lightweight and soft, and feels great on. It's the JCP house brand, which I really like for cute, cheap basics. They always hit clearance, too. I sized up, as I always do in button-downs. I usually take a medium, but this is a large. I just need the extra room for shoulders and chest. Very flattering, I will buy this when it gets cheap enough.
These pants looked better in real life. These are Joe Fresh, and I took a 12, like I always do in their bottoms. I love the slim cropped shape in pants, probably due to years of my mom complaining that cropped pants just look like somebody shrunk them. I'm finally rebelling! I love the plaid, but these won't get much wear outside of the Christmas season, and therefore are quite impractical. This is not to say I wouldn't buy them if I saw them for $5. I shouldn't, and I probably won't, but no promises will be made. I was lazy and didn't take off my tights for the try on. Sorry, but who's got time for that?
Anyway, today was a pretty decent eating day. Homemade hot cocoa and an english muffin for breakfast, quiche, yogurt, an apple and a clementine for lunch, and a slice of delicious pizza and a caesar salad for dinner. Plus a giant Joy tea from Starbucks, because they were out of China Green Tips.
Now for some pictures! Today's outfit looked a little better in person, mostly because I'm a horrid photographer. Here's a breakdown:
Jacket: LLBean, from Goodwill. $7
Scarf: Jcrew, also Goodwill. $4.50
Sweater: Gap, $30-ish. I wore it for the pockets, since the skirt lacked them.
Tshirt: Everlane. LOVE their tshirts. $15, very flattering and soft, and ethically-produced. Amazingly fast shipping, too. I'm in NH and they are in CA, but when I order, I get them 2 days later. Incredible! I highly, highly recommend these t's. They're pretty much all I wear for tshirts lately. They also offer rewards for referrals *hint hint* https://www.everlane.com/n/xsmfas
Necklace: Kohls from a couple of years ago. $7.
Skirt: LLBean Signature. On clearance at the outlet for $12, down from $198 or something stupid like that. Unlined, but 100% wool.
Tights: Gap, last season. $7ish. Hard to tell, but they are animal print.
Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger. $30ish at DSW. I've had these for ages, so it's hard to say.
Now for the JCP try-ons. I've been eyeing this blouse for a couple of months now. It's a silk-cotton blend and priced at $40 (though always on sale). It's very lightweight and soft, and feels great on. It's the JCP house brand, which I really like for cute, cheap basics. They always hit clearance, too. I sized up, as I always do in button-downs. I usually take a medium, but this is a large. I just need the extra room for shoulders and chest. Very flattering, I will buy this when it gets cheap enough.
These pants looked better in real life. These are Joe Fresh, and I took a 12, like I always do in their bottoms. I love the slim cropped shape in pants, probably due to years of my mom complaining that cropped pants just look like somebody shrunk them. I'm finally rebelling! I love the plaid, but these won't get much wear outside of the Christmas season, and therefore are quite impractical. This is not to say I wouldn't buy them if I saw them for $5. I shouldn't, and I probably won't, but no promises will be made. I was lazy and didn't take off my tights for the try on. Sorry, but who's got time for that?
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Today's Goodwill haul: J Crew, vintage Dress Barn, Cashmere and Brooks Brothers
So today I actually had a day off, which considering I work retail is amazing, since Christmas is less than a week away. I also am done with classes for the time being, with the new semester starting next month. My boyfriend had a project that needed his urgent attention, so I was completely free and alone for the day. I decided to go to Goodwill. I can never go when I'm out and about with the boyfriend, since a decent Goodwill trip takes a couple of hours. An hour to go through all the racks, and another hour or so to try everything on. He just can't handle it. But that's ok, I love it anyway.
I found lots of things today that looked nice on the rack, but only a few that actually were nice enough to bring home. And here they are!
This scarf is J Crew from last season, 100% wool, and nice and big and pretty IRL. I just love it. Plus, I wear scarves quite often, so it's a sound investment at only $4.49 ($4.99-10% for having their loyalty card).
I've decided recently that I love silk blouses, and this is nice and thick and weighty. A great investment at $4.49. I have a few sweater vests that this will look nice with. Don't laugh! Sweater vests are awesome!
This is 100% cashmere and cost only $4.49! It's nice and thick cashmere, too. Can you iron cashmere? It's wrinkled, and that's the only problem. I love the pockets on this, and the black trim. It feels a little Chanel.
This isn't particularly fashionable, but it's a nice basic in really, really nice merino. It's by Brooks Brothers, so it probably retailed for around $100, if not more. Will be nice for days when I'm not really feeling the whole fashion thing. $4.49
My favorite item is this vintage (though I'm not sure it's quite old enough to be vintage, but it is old enough to have shoulder pads...) cardigan from Dress Barn. This was my most expensive item of the trip, at $7.29, but it's a really nice lambswool/angora blend with beautiful gold buttons. So classy and warm! I love it! Does anybody know how old this Dress Barn logo is? I'm just curious, this sweater is for-sure a keeper.
And now...no more Goodwill for awhile. While this stuff wasn't expensive, I really had no business spending the money anyway. I am thrilled with what I got, but I also am thrilled I showed some restraint. I did not buy the pair of J Crew light wash jeans that fit really nicely, because I know I will not wear them. I never wear light was jeans when I have them. I also put back a pretty open cardigan from Gap, since it was dark purple and I've been having a hard time making that color work in my wardrobe recently. Plus, it was a duplicate of one I already have in dark grey, and I'm trying to stay away from duplicates like that. As you will see when I start posting my outfits, I do a lot of duplicates. I love them and always spend too much money buying them. No more, I vow! No more duplicates (well, except for plain t shirts. Those are always OK).
I found lots of things today that looked nice on the rack, but only a few that actually were nice enough to bring home. And here they are!
This scarf is J Crew from last season, 100% wool, and nice and big and pretty IRL. I just love it. Plus, I wear scarves quite often, so it's a sound investment at only $4.49 ($4.99-10% for having their loyalty card).
I've decided recently that I love silk blouses, and this is nice and thick and weighty. A great investment at $4.49. I have a few sweater vests that this will look nice with. Don't laugh! Sweater vests are awesome!
This is 100% cashmere and cost only $4.49! It's nice and thick cashmere, too. Can you iron cashmere? It's wrinkled, and that's the only problem. I love the pockets on this, and the black trim. It feels a little Chanel.
This isn't particularly fashionable, but it's a nice basic in really, really nice merino. It's by Brooks Brothers, so it probably retailed for around $100, if not more. Will be nice for days when I'm not really feeling the whole fashion thing. $4.49
My favorite item is this vintage (though I'm not sure it's quite old enough to be vintage, but it is old enough to have shoulder pads...) cardigan from Dress Barn. This was my most expensive item of the trip, at $7.29, but it's a really nice lambswool/angora blend with beautiful gold buttons. So classy and warm! I love it! Does anybody know how old this Dress Barn logo is? I'm just curious, this sweater is for-sure a keeper.
And now...no more Goodwill for awhile. While this stuff wasn't expensive, I really had no business spending the money anyway. I am thrilled with what I got, but I also am thrilled I showed some restraint. I did not buy the pair of J Crew light wash jeans that fit really nicely, because I know I will not wear them. I never wear light was jeans when I have them. I also put back a pretty open cardigan from Gap, since it was dark purple and I've been having a hard time making that color work in my wardrobe recently. Plus, it was a duplicate of one I already have in dark grey, and I'm trying to stay away from duplicates like that. As you will see when I start posting my outfits, I do a lot of duplicates. I love them and always spend too much money buying them. No more, I vow! No more duplicates (well, except for plain t shirts. Those are always OK).
The beginning...
Basically, I'm broke and larger than I would like to be, but I also love clothes and food more than almost anything else. Can we see the problem with this? I have managed to cut back on clothing spending (mostly by shopping at Goodwill instead of the mall) and I have lost almost 40lbs over the last year, but I'm still poor and still overweight. So there's some progress, but still a ways to go. My goal for this blog is mostly to become more aware of what I am spending and eating. I spend too much money and eat too much sugar. I log my calories faithfully on myfitnesspal.com, but that has stopped working for me. So now I am going to tell you guys what I buy every day, and how I eat. I'll also show you how I'm wearing what I've bought, both recently and long ago. Maybe this will help me to realize that I really do have plenty of clothing, which I am sure I do. I no longer have room in my closet (not that it is a large closet, but it's not all that small, either). I can't have more clothes without getting rid of some, and I have nothing I want to get rid of. Therefore, I can have no more new clothes. Well, aside from what I just bought at Goodwill, but that's the next post. I will end this post with what I ate today, and why. I feel like explaining why I eat the things I eat will perhaps help me to stop eating the bad things, and eat more of the good things. So here goes:
Breakfast:
Snack:
So that's my first post. Stay tuned, I'm posting my small Goodwill haul soon. It was a great one!
Breakfast:
- Gummi multi-vitamins. Probably a waste of money, but I took them last winter and hardly got sick. Trying it again this winter.
- Fiber One Caramel Nut protein bar. Sometimes these taste like Snickers. Not today. But I simply wasn't hungry, but wanted to eat something.
- Shrimp Veracruz at a Mexican place with my dad. Shrimp sauteed with mushrooms, tomatoes and green onions. Came with rice and refried beans. I did not eat the included tortillas. I did eat the chips and salsa. Very satisfying.
- Leftover frittata from Monday morning, made with leftover whole grain pasta, leftover roast pork, and some cheese.
- Baby carrots. I love them
- Potato chips. Ditto.
- A Lindt milk chocolate ball. My boyfriend got a deal on a box of these online, so they're just kind of sitting there, begging to be eaten. I consider having one of these a day pretty good, considering.
Snack:
- A clementine. Not my favorite, but not bad, either.
So that's my first post. Stay tuned, I'm posting my small Goodwill haul soon. It was a great one!
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