Shorts?! its 27 degrees!

Ok, so I went shopping for real today. Meaning, in person, not online. Really I just ran to the mall to return a Lands End mail order item at Sears, but I had some free time so I decided to browse Aeropostale, Vanity, Justice, and The Buckle. Wound up getting something at every store-eek!  But fun! ;D

Got some highly discounted sweatshirt hoodies and sweatpants for T at Aero, and some jeans for her at Vanity. Since W had nothing, I ran into Justice and got her a little something off the clearance rack so she wouldn't feel left out (and it was a good deal too so it was ok). I also finally found a pair of sweatpants for me that fit (!) I have been trying some on periodically over the last couple years and never found a pair that fit the way sweatpants should fit (baggy!)... however, maybe that's because I usually try them on at Aero and let's face it , their clothes are cut for skinny teens, not women with hips. But I finally did find a pair there and  they are comfy. Now I finally have a comfy pair of sweats to wear on Saturdays and I will still look like a normal person if I wear them to town. Right now I wear old baggy draggy pants that are super comfy but look raggy, saggy, and baggy and certainly aren't 'town worthy' ha ha.  Anyway, I like them and I'm happy I found them.

Then I went over to the Buckle to see if they had anything worthwhile. The last several times I've been there nothing has sparked my attention, but today they had lots of new capris and shorts. Isn't it crazy that the stores stock all the summer stuff in January??!! That always bugs me, because truthfully I don't want to shop or buy summer clothes in the middle of winter, I want to buy them in summer! 

However...learning from experience, at the Buckle their stuff is GONE if you wait till its actually the right weather to wear it. I've done that in prior years, going in there in the summer to look for particular shorts, and they will have 2 styles left and none of them are the types, cuts, lengths, or sizes I want. Well, today when I was there they had LOTS of bermuda length shorts (yippee!) I can't stand short shorts. And honestly, 90% of the females out there wearing 1-2 inch inseam shorts SHOULDN'T be!  I am smart enough to know that short of a short does not look good on me so I refuse to buy those. I was very happy they had the longer style, and lots of them. They ALSO had  several in the EASY cut, which I LOVE. They are so much more comfortable and fit my body type so much better. Its a pleasure to try that cut on, they feel so good. Whereas, when I am trying on the regular cut and I am wiggling and tugging trying to get them up over my thighs and tush, only to finally get them up and then they are way too big in the waist (but there is no chance I can get a smaller size or they won't make it up past my knees lol) Anyway, these easy fit styles are much more comfy, go on easily , fit me well, and I love em. Last season I found the easy fit in Miss Me's. Well, this season Rock Revival also is offering an easy fit (yippee!), now if I could just get my most favorite brand (Big Star Vintage) to offer an easy fit, I'd be smiling from ear to ear :)

So all this to say... it was 27 degrees this morning, and I bought 3 pairs of shorts and ordered a pair of capris today. Now I've become just as crazy as the stores selling them! lol.  Oh well , I don't regret it, they all fit great and I know if I hadn't gotten them today and tried to go back in the spring or summer I would NOT have found the right cuts, lengths, and sizes that I found today. Below are some pictures to show how cute they are.

My new bermuda shorts  cute cute cute

The ones on the left actually fit me in a smaller size, but I like my clothes baggier if possible so I bought the normal size I buy in 'easy', so this pair is a little bit more laid back in styling. A bit of baggyness, which I like. The other two are just regular fitting(easy), but they all look nice, I like them. I am actually trying to buy jeans/capris/shorts in more of a non-blingy style (like Vintage Big Star), but I am not finding any like that recently, so I guess I will cherish the two pairs I have that I got years ago, they are very low-key, no bling, a bit boyfriend-fitting (ie baggy) and I love em. Always have my eyes open for more like that, but even this season so far all the Big Star Vintage I've seen isn't similar to the stuff I have that I like and want more of. So I wound up with some more 'blingy' styled ones, but I DO like them :)
This next picture is the capris I ordered. I will see how they fit when they arrive to determine if I keep them or not. I would hope they fit well, but they are regular cut, not easy, so I know before they arrive they won't be as comfy as I like the easy ones. But.... the pockets are so darn cute!!!!!! They have all these 60-70's inspired stitching (peace signs, paisleys, etc) I love em, they are so cute, but I don't know if they will wind up fitting. I love stitching on jeans that reminds me of retro stuff. I have a pair of True Religion shorts that have orange/red/yellow rainbow like stitching on their pockets and I LOVE them simply because those pockets remind me of the 70's lol

Don't know why I can't rotate this photo, it was upright where I uploaded it from?? anyway, these are the retro capris I was talking about, aren't they cute!!!???? I love 70's retro stuff!

So, yes, I had fun on my impromptu shopping trip today, but it wasn't nearly as fun paying with 'real' money today, as it was paying with 'free' money yesterday (with all my reward dollars and gift cards).  Got some cute stuff though and having fun ;P

I love shopping with FREE money!

Woohoo! Just finished placing multiple online orders with multiple companies with gift cards, LTBucks, and Rewards Cards! Woohoo how fun is that??!!
I earned $240 in Rewards from my Gap Visa over the last few months (they were running a special where you got 5X the points you normally do on purchases). I had until July to use them (which with that much money it would probably take me that long(!) because truth is, there isn't that much I usually find in the Gap or Old Navy stores that I want to buy. I know I can use them at their other stores like Banana Republic (which I like, but truth is , I just haven't been shopping much to know if there was anything in the stores I wanted). I never shop at Piperlime, and I typically don't shop at Athleta because I think its too expensive. HOWEVER, when the Athleta catalogue comes I usually browse through it and usually see some comfy looking things I like, but again the prices are too high so I don't feel the need to buy them. Weeellllll, with this FREE money, I figured that was the PERFECT time to buy something that interested me from that catalogue that I would normally never buy with real money. Soooo, I did!   They also have free shipping and returns so its worry free! If I don't like it or it doesn't fit I can just return it, and they will even put my points(that were used on the Rewards cards) back into my account, so I'll get replacement cards if I don't keep the clothes.  Great, worry free plan!   What fun too!  Buying 4 items and only paying $8!  And then buying a $90 sweater but only paying $30 of my own money for it!  I can love a $30 sweater, but it would take a lot for me to really feel that it was worth $90 if I was paying all of it myself. So what fun, I got something with my free rewards that I never would have gotten otherwise. PRESENTS! woohoo!   (you know I'm frugal right? ha ha)  I love being frugal. Being frugal allows me to live the lifestyle I have with no worries about debt or expenses. It also allows me to afford splurges if I really do want them, however, most cases, I still get the good deal!

Besides using $240 of free money, I also have almost $200 of LTBucks to use. These are rewards I get at my gym for being a member and also for having my friends join. I can use this money for services like training sessions, discounts at the on site spa, or on products in their online store. We have already gotten two Lululemon tank tops for me, and several workout tech shirts for my husband. Plus I got him a heartrate monitor but we returned that because it wasn't exactly what he wanted. Well, this week I ordered him another shirt, love it when free stuff arrives in the mail! So I still have some more shopping to do there, but am waiting for some more products to pop into the store that interest me.

I also just placed an order for these adorable Lululemon crop pants online. I got a gift card for Christmas from one of our partners so , again, it would be something I normally wouldn't pay $88 dollars for (can get athletic gear much cheaper at Academy or Dick's), but the fabric is soooo nice and they are so cute, so I am excited to get them and they will have only cost me about $13!  Totally great!

Also this week, I went to Dick's and used a $10 coupon and bought lots of stuff on clearance. Because I spent over $100 I got another coupon that is good next week for $25 off my puchase! woohoo, how awesome is that?! so that Nike sweatshirt I was eyeing, but didn't want to pay $44 for, will soon be mine next week for only $19! yippee!  Plus my hubby is going to go buy a new golf thing tomorrow and I know after that big purchase we'll be getting some more of those $10 or $20 reward coupons in the mail, hee hee!

I love free stuff!

Speaking of free stuff, last weekend my daughters and I all had free lunches at Schlotsky's because I had 3 coupons for 3 free pizzas! and I had a Groupon for desserts at ExpressOh (so not really free, but still half price) so we got treats afterwards too :)

I am the Groupon Queen and proud of it!  ;D

Well, I was having fun doing my 'free shopping' so I thought I'd share a post about it.  It pays to use reward programs, that's for sure!

Shopping and Fast Cars, not much better than that!

We heard on the radio that this Saturday our local mall was having a 'kids chef event' for members of the kids program at the mall. It only cost $5 each to sign up to become members, and it sounded like something T (especially) would love to do. So we signed up and showed up for this event. It wasn't exactly what I expected. From the description I thought they'd really be doing some cooking. Unfortunately, the didn't. I guess they were supposed to do something at the cookie company table , but I guess they got too busy in the food court (that's where all the vendors were from), so they didn't DO anything at that table, but they had hot free chocolate cookies for everyone (which were yummy). They had the pizza guy there who was super friendly and gave us all the pizza we wanted. They also passed out Godiva chocolates. yum. The only 'activities' wound up being making noodle/cereal neclaces. Coloring. Or rolling and forming pretzel dough with the Auntie Annie's pretzel guy. That was fun, but we didn't get to cook them and eat them. However they did pass out free cinnamon pretzel bites (yum). They also got neclaces and chef hats, and cute aprons and tshirts to keep. All in all, the gave out tons of free snacks, but there wasn't any real cooking involved. I thought the girls would be bummed, but they still really liked it and said it was really fun. They had drawings for prizes too. They had 2 large pillow-pets and lots of zany band packages. The two pillow pets they had were a dog and ladybug, which W actually already has the small versions of. I told her wouldn't that be cute if she won, then she'd have a mommy for her baby one. Well, the first name out of the bin was...

T-----------!!!!!!!!

Wow! how exciting! She picked the doggy pillow pet and was so happy. You should have seen the pure joy on her face! They spaced out the drawings, and you had to be present to win. Of course after T got something W was a little sad because she wanted something. I told her  "you never know, maybe you'll win too" so we hung around, made some more neclaces and ate more free food. They then began handing out all the zany bands so almost every child got a package of bands. They liked that too. They seemed to pull out a few names in the drawing but those kids appeared to have left. Then I watched them and they began to spin the bin again, I said "look W, they are drawing another name, lets pray its your name"....whoa it was!!!!!
She was sooooo happy. She got the lady bug which was so appropriate because her whole bedroom is decorated in red ladybugs. So cute. We certainly got a great deal on this event... for $10 we got to attend this event (and all future ones for a year) , we got tons of free snacks, they got to create stuff, free aprons , hat, huge pillow pets, and tshirts!!!!! what a payoff!

Afterwards we headed to Aeropostale because I heard they had $12 dresses and $5 tshirts, so I wanted to pick some up if possible. I scored a bunch for Dan, several for me, and a couple for T. Plus a book bag for school for T. We had lots of fun trying on stuff together. Plus T tried on a pair of cute  jeans that were 00.  They fit perfect! I couldn't believe that she could fit into jeans at a store that I could buy jeans at!   Wow, my little girl is growing up. eek.  (Plus stuff in that store runs small---teenager body types, not womanly or big men), but still!

Me and T trying on the same shirt! Yes, we bought them both!



My two happy girls, with their pillow-pets!

 Afterwards, we met Dan to help him pick out some golf stuff at the golf store. While there we petted lots of cute puppies that people were trying to sell on the roadside. So precious. I love puppies!
We then ate dinner together. One of the reasons I went to town today was to go to Old Navy to use the $20 Groupon I bought this week. I haven't been to Old Navy in I don't know how long! Usually I only shop clearance or sale stuff and their clearance racks are always atrocious so I don't even like to try to look through them. So I went in thinking I have no idea if I'll find anything, I hope I can find enough stuff I like to use up my $20. I did want to see if they had a long maxi dress or skirt for summer. I don't have any and they look really comfy and cool , especially in this extreme heat we get.
Well, my goodness. I found tons of stuff that fit awesome!!!! They even had 5" chino shorts (I love that length) that FIT ME IN THE WAIST!!!!!!   I have a booty, and in order for most bottoms to FIT my bottom, the waist winds up being WAY too big, so I have to cinch them in with a belt, or try to get them taken in. But these actually fit! I was so excited, I bought 3 pair!!!! I did find a maxi skirt (unfortunately not on sale, but by that point I was so in love with the outfit, I paid full price) I got a couple tanks to wear with the skirt and jean shorts. I also tried to buy 2 maxi dresses that I thought I could wear as pool coverups as well, I brought them home for a second opinion. No surprise, Dan didn't like the big flowy, breezy one , he said its for fat people. So I'm returning that one, but keeping a black one that is REALLY pretty, but I probably won't wear in public as a dress because without the swimsuit under it I think its too low in the front. I know people wear stuff like that, but I don't like to. But around the house with a swimsuit it will be pretty and work well. So all in all, I had a great time shopping. Oh, I forgot to mention the best part.... after dinner Dan took the girls home with him while I went shopping ALONE! woohoo! We also switched cars because the girls don't like riding in the Challenger.......woohoooooooooo again for me!
Oh man! That was so fun. I was actually hoping to get stopped at red lights so that I could take off at warp speed from each one! :)   I had the windows down, classic rock blaring, blond hair flying.... I was having so much! For this, suv-driving, conservative, soccer mom.... I was having a major trip down memory lane, and I was loving the speed and the rock n roll of my past!   ;0   I love that car!
Truth is, it was a great day from start to end. The girls got along great and they really enjoyed and appreciated all we did today. Plus, I got some major shopping in, which was incredibly fun!

Zappos

Zappos.com is such a fun website. They have free shipping and free returns(for up to a year from purchase!) I have been ordering jeans from them and really enjoying myself trying them all on to try different fits and styles without having to trudge through the mall and be disappointed that they don't have my size in the style or length I want. And fortunately, since I return almost everything, except maybe one pair out of a 10pair order, I'm getting refunds on all the purchases. Because my goodness, if you didn't, this online shopping thing could get addictive and expensive! Thank goodness for these free returns, and the lovely time-frame to let u decide if you really want it or not. This was my go Zappos post, ha ha.

I love a bargain!

My husband teases me that I love to shop. But the truth is, I really just love a bargain! Shopping isn't fun for me if I'm not getting a good deal. So let me share with you my latest adventure in bargain shopping... :) (really big smiley face here!)

Two weeks ago I was at the Gap and came across a jean jacket I really liked (I've been looking for one randomly for several months now). However, it was $70 and I really just didn't want to spend that. (Its funny how I'll spend $150 on a pair of jeans or thousands on a piece of jewelry, but I won't buy a jean jacket for $70 bucks because its not a good 'deal'). Truth was, it just wasn't worth it to me. I didn't need the jacket if it was going to cost me $70 bucks, so I told the sales lady to put it back. She then told me that if I came back on a Wed, I could save 45% off a full priced item with the coupon she was giving me. Hmmm, sounds good. I'll give it a try. Well, it turns out the coupon began in July, and it was still June. So I had to wait 2 weeks before I could try to use this Wed coupon in July. I was really hoping they still had my size... they did :) So I went up to the register to pay for it and when it rang up it came up at 19.99 (!) (remember the coupon is only supposed to be good on full priced stuff not sales items) Hmmm, I'm starting to think, is this not going to accept my coupon, what's going on here , that price doesn't look right, its supposed to be $70. Well, THEN, she enters my 45% off coupon, and takes credit for a reward certificate I had and I wound up paying LESS than $7 for a $70 jacket!!!!! What a deal! I even said to her "wow, that's a good price" and she didn't second guess it at all, she just took my money and closed the deal. I'm thinking cool deal-that was an amazing price. That jacket wasn't even on clearance, it was a new-stock fall merchandise item, and I got it for 90% off! I guess the UPC code was wrong in their computer or something, because I know it wasn't on sale. (Good thing about that, is that there is a law that if a store marks something wrong with the UPC, they have to honor it, or if they overcharge, they have to give u even more back). So I don't feel like I lied or did anything wrong in accepting that price, I'm just totally excited to get it. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not a cheat, when salespeople count change wrong, I always give it back to them and correct them explaining that they don't want their till to be off (so as not to embarrass them), but I don't think this was cheating, I think this was my good fortune, and I'm happy to receive it!) :)

I picked up 2 tshirts too that were on sale, so part of my reward certificate went towards them, but I'd like to point out, that if I hadn't gotten those tshirts, then the whole $10 certificate would have gone towards the jacket and then the jacket would have only cost me $1 !!!!!!!!!!!!
($19.99 -$9 coupon45% -$10reward cert =$1 ) wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I just had to share this with you, because it was amazing, and if there is one thing I love (besides my kids and family), its a great deal! ;0

some of the 56cent items

Here are some pictures I took of some of the clothes I bought for 56 cents each. I got this black sweater (which is actually very tight since its a XS and I would have chosen a M at the store) but it stretches ALOT so it works out ok. I paired it with two of my skirts and I am asking for your opinion. Does it match both or does it look better with one over the other. The first one is exactly the same off-white and black. The second one has the same "lines" but it has additional colors of beige and peach. What do you think looks better stripes and circles, or stripes and stripes?

I somehow goofed and got this picture sideways, but do you think I can wear this pink skirt with the turquoise and white tanks or is it too colorful?

I got this really cool sweater tank that feels incredible. I love the color. I do wish though that it had two straps instead of only one because it looks really dumb with my current strapless bra (that thing makes my boobs look like rockets-ridiculous!) So, I either need a new one-strapped or strapless bra, or I tried it with this khaki tank underneath it -u can see it on one shoulder. Does it look dumb with the tank or not? Do I need to shop for a better bra in order to wear it without the tank or not?

And finally, this is that beautiful sparkly skirt I got. I paired it with a black sweater I had that has some beading and sparkles at the necline so it looks really nice together. I wore this today to church and felt so PRETTY :)

Sorry for the multiple posts all about the same thing (shopping and birthday fun) but I can't seem to get more than 5 pix on a post and if u know me, you know I love pictures! :) Let me know what u think about the outfits.

shopping fun!

Ashley, Jen and I went on our $10 shopping spree yesterday. It was SO FUN! I want to make it a tradition to do every year when they have it, and telling others about it, they want to join us too! :) We had such a ball gathering up our piles of clothes and then semi-trying them on (the rule was you couldn't use dressing rooms for this sale). Jen was smart and wore a skirt to slip things on under. I had shorts on, so after a bit, I said "who cares" and I discreetly whipped em off in order to try on some items (in the corner). They laughed at me, but who cares-I'll never see those women again :) We got some fabulous deals. This picture shows a cute turqouise tank top I got, I wore it that night on my date night with my hubby. We went to Bonefish Grill (yum yum), then killed some time (and a credit card) at the Buckle getting some hip jeans for both of us, then ended up the night with a movie. Fun, fun, fun day! (There was a 8yr old birthday party at Chuckee Cheese thrown in there in the middle too-so I was TIRED by the end of the day!) But great fun. This picture shows most of the clothes strewn on my bed so u can see how much stuff I got! It was about 18 items, so each item cost about 56 cents! AMAZING! I wore the pink skirt in this picture today to church. It has sparkles and rhinestones on it and it is so pretty. Its my absolute favorite "find" of the day :)

Here we are with our loot bags! When we were done shopping we went to TGIF's for lunch. Jen (the healthy one) talked us into dessert. We all ate it of course, but you can see from the picture that she really "dove" into it! ha ha Just teasing ya!

The girls after a successful day of shopping! what a day!