30 in 30 Remix Update: Days 1-4

If you are new to my blog, welcome! This is an update of the 30 in 30 Challenge, where you pick 30 items from your closet and remix them for 30 days. You can read more about it here!



Day 1

{off to a bright start!}

top: Strawberry's

pants: Banana Republic

bag: gifted, from MJM Shoes (my "commuter" bag...post coming soon!)

necklace/earrings: no idea...very old

 Day 2

{dress down day}

top: Banana republic

jeans: thrifted

necklaces/bracelet: gifted, made in China (isn't everything?!) (they're magnetic!)

Day 3

{my favorite outfit to date...and hair}

top: The Limited (on super sale, $7)

cardigan: gifted, but I think JC Penny

skirt: Banana Republic Outlet

flats: Charlotte Russe

necklace: gifted, from Mexico

bag: gifted,

Day 4

{can you tell I didn't feel like going to work today? Also, C needs to work on his photo skills- I swear it didn't look this bad in person!}

top: Burlington Coat Factory

pants: same as above!

watch: gifted, Lucky Brand

I'm noticing this makes it seem like I own a lot of stuff from Banana republic. Though I *love* their stuff, I think this is all I own from them. Just seems like a lot- I guess I counted their items as classics that would match a lot of stuff for this challenge! Also, I forgot to take pics of Day 2, so I just put the outfit back on for the pic! And Day 4 was taken at the end of the day, after commuting home and getting rained on- I was a bit grumpy. Not that that's a valid excuse, but still....

Sidenote: How do you like my cubicle/desk area at work?! Definitely did not mean to get that in the pic!

Still feeling great about the challenge! I'm actually looking forward to getting dressed in the morning (except for yesterday...oh well)! Need some better photographers and poses though! I don't know how those with OOTD do it! Mad respect!

Tunery Tuesday: S&M - Rihanna ft. Britney Spears (Remix)

  Rihanna. Britney Spears. Chains and whips *wa-pooosh!* What do you think?

Weekend Recap: Relaxation and Organization

I had an AWESOME, relaxing weekend. On Friday,

me and my coworkers had a Girls Night In and mini surprise Baby Shower for our friend, V (in the middle- I was taking the pic). We had some pizza and white grape juice (in wine glasses, haha), she opened presents (and was very happy!) and watched Love and Other Drugs. This was a VERY weird movie. I thought it would be funnier/happier. And I have never seen nor wanted to see so much of Anne Hathaway....needless to say, C can't wait to see it. Hmph! I also had my first ever Crumbs cupcake...OMGoodness. I had the Squiggle (an oversized, rich, delicious, Hostess style cupcake). It was delicious.

Saturday I did some chores- laundry, dishes, tried to fix my computer (I think I'l have to get professional help for it), updated my itunes, made some calls to friends I haven't talked to in a while, and watched some TV.

Sunday C and I ran some errands- groceries, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Michael's, Ulta (for C!), and Target, and I wrapped presents. Have I ever mentioned how much I **love** Target? They have the fastest, easiest return policy ever! And I love their sales, and stuff in general. This was actually our second stop at Target in 3 days... I got all of V's baby shower stuff there, and needed some more baby stuff (got another shower coming up) and presents for my godson.

My first time using Picnik- Love it!!

All the presents- the baby shower basket in the back, godson presents wrapped (too bad I ran out of wrapping paper- argh!) and mom's very late birthday basket, filled with beauty goodies, chocolate, and a mag!

I have been slowly but surely doing some spring cleaning. But for some parts, we needed some organizing...tools. We *FINALLY* got an over-the-door rack for our pantry, and I finally got a belt/purse hook for our closet! I'm so excited I thought I would share:

That is our new over the door pantry organizer. The other pic is the top shelf of our pantry- where all those rolls of saran wrap, wax paper, press and seal, aluminum foil, and ziploc bags were before...all about to (and more often than not actually did) tumble on top of me whenever I reached for chips or one of the wraps.

That is one of the wire shelves on C's side of the closet. The other pic is all of my belts and most of my purses (I'm not a huge accessory person) on my new belt/purse hook. I love the fact that I can organizer by hook/loop. All of those belts and purses were mashed into that little wire cubby before the hook. Needless to say, I could never find any belts or purses when I was looking for them without everything falling out...so I barely used them. Now they are neatly hanging on my side of the closet, and the cubby is all clean and organized (have a few small wristlets in the 2 purses).

Note the Phillies bear: I have no idea where it came from. I am assuming it has been hiding there all along (the 2 years my belts and purses have been mashed in that cubby). But yes, we (especially C) are Phillies phans.

How was your weekend? What did you do?

April Goals

Last Wednesday night I got so much accomplished compared to most nights. I fixed my purse and my blush case (the handle was a bit broken up and falling apart so I superglued it all back together, and the plastic cover on my blush was off, so I superglued that back on too), I uploaded pics from the last 3 months, I caught some of "Extreme Couponing" (post about that coming soon!), and I finally picked out my 30 items for the 30 in 30 Remix challenge. It felt great to finish some of the things I've been putting off for so long. So I've contructing a small list of goals for April.

1. Go to the dentist!
C has been on my ass about this one for about a month. I hate the dentist, but I haven't gone in over 2 years sooo....yeah, I need to go!

2. Read more.
I have a list of books that I want to read, and two of them before the movie comes out! But first up- continuing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I lose motivation quickly though, so I have to stay focused on this one because I am not apt to read on my morning commute- and sometimes too tired by the end of the day!

3. Be more creative.
In what I wear (yay remix!), and with certain projects. I have a scrapbook that I bought that's sitting in my closet collecting dust. There's the stuff for the gift baskets I plan on putting together sitting in my dining room. I have a "HomeMaker Notebook" with magazine clippings of cleaning and organization tips, coupons (old and new), fashion inspiration, craft ideas!!, etc. that is sitting half put together also in the dining room.

4. Remove clutter from my life.
I love organizing things and going through my wardrobe to get rid of clothes/shoes/accessories that I no longer wear. Whether that means selling it or giving it away, I want to get it out. Also, I would like to clean up my computer- organize photos, songs, get rid of some of the junk, etc.

5. Figure out my future.
A heavy one, but necessary. I need to figure out if I want to stay working where I currently am and focus on getting ready for and into grad school, or if it's time to move on. And then I need to start actively pursuing whichever I choose.

6. Eat out less.
C and I eat out at least twice a week. And though we have gift cards and coupons for some eateries, we're often not eating at those places! I think we're in a bit of a dinner rut as well. However, I do have a bunch of recipes I've been collecting, so maybe it's time to bust them out,...at least one or two to start with and add some variety to our regular menu!

7. Open a Savings Account.
Pretty self explanatory. But now that my tax refund came in (woot woot!), I really want to put it somewhere less accessible than...ooh can't tell ya! But yeah, need to put it away away.

8. Make a budget (and stick to it).
I already kind of started this one. Sticking to it is going to be the kicker though!

I will report back periodically and at the end of the month. Do you have any monthly goals?

Inappropriate Touch Tues...Thursday

This is not about sexual harrassment in the workplace...but I got your attention!


So you know how you make friends (if you're lucky) with some of your coworkers? Well, I am lucky enough to have 3. We are fairly close- we go to lunch together just about every day, vent our frustrations about work and personal life, and even hang out outside of the office and buy each other presents for holidays/birthdays/etc. But there are still boundaries that you have to be careful not to cross. And one of my dear friends crossed it...repeatedly.


I am a fairly easy going and playful person- I don't let much bother me and I like joking around with my friends. But one of my pet peeves is people touching me. Hugging close friends is fine- but people I've only recently become friends with, I get a little uneasy.


Also, no one likes being made fun of, me included. Even if it is just teasing, after awhile, it's just not funny anymore. Anyway, my one friend started coming up to me and cupping my forehead withe the palm of her hand. At first, I was like....WHAT are you DOING?!?! It was soooo strange. Just randomly walk up to me, and cup my forehead. She said that 1. I have a big forehead and 2. she liked that the palm of her hand fit my forehead perfectly. No joke.

via

So this went on for several months. Every so often I would tell her it bothered me, but eventually I just gave up because I realized she had no intention of stopping. she thought I was joking around. Until one day about a month ago. I was having a rough day. Phones were ringing off the hook, various other coworkers were annoying me, I had more work than I could handle, and I had just about had it. So she's standing by my desk- I get yet another phone call, and my boss is also standing nearby waiting to talk to me about something. And she pulled on my ear...in front of my boss, and while I'm on a work call. I exploded. "STOP TOUCHING ME!!! Don't yank my ear, don't cup my forehead, just stop it!!!"


Needless to say, she hasn't touched me since. And as usual, I felt awful after yelling at her. I know she was just playing, but it was so annoying! Plus, it made me incredibly self conscious about my forehead, which, prior to this experience, I never realized was that big!


Now we joke about it, and she teases me in other ways (like throwing paperclips at me from her desk!). Anyway, I saw this on Tosh.0- enjoy!!

P.S. Is anyone else having trouble using spell check? It hasn't been working on my blog in over a week!

30 in 30 Remix Challenge!

I am finally participating in the 30 in 30 Remix Challenge- so excited! Here are the rules from Kendi Everyday:

Note: Rules are meant to be broken- I'm not including shoes in my remix!

Let's take a look:

It looks a bit messy, but here are my 30 items!

The items:

1. Purple dress
2. Green  dress
3. pink floral skirt
4. army green skirt
5. blue/gray skirt
6. khaki skirt
7. dark denim jeans
8. light jeans
9. brownish pants
10. khaki pants
11. gray pants
12. black pants
13. black blazer
14. beige cable knit sweater
15. black cardigan
16. white button down
17. black button down
18. blue stripe button down
19. yellow/gray stripe button down
20. blue sleeveless top
21. aqua tank top
22. green short sleeve shirt
23. maroon long sleeve shirt
24. light pink long sleeve shirt
25. white turtleneck
26. red 3/4 sleeve turtleneck
27. black 3/4 sleeve turtleneck
28. yellow short sleeve shirt
29. orange short sleeve shirt
30. gray/white tunic

The challenge starts tomorrow! I will try to take pics and upload somewhat consistently as I do the challenge. Like Kendi mentioned, the challenge doesn't have to be done in 30 consecutive days, but I'm going to try to! I really like the idea of using what you already have and "shopping your closet." And anything to help me at least curb spending for a little bit would be great! Will you join me? If not, what do you think about this idea?!

Wish me luck!

Where'd My Money Go? - Week of 3/28

Bills
$825 - Rent
$300 - monthly transportation
$15 - Credit Report (I meant to cancel this...obviously not soon enough ::grumble::)
Total: $1140

Extras
Entertainment
$20 - Restuarant for 2 (Groupon) (planning date night with C)
$20 - xxx (Groupon) (also for the date night with C)
$24 - 4 movie tickets (BuyWithMe)
Total: $64.00

Shopping
$60 - 6 pairs of FlexFlops (Groupon)
$65.00 - CVS (mostly stuff for mom's gift basket, with a few things thrown in for me)
$65.00 - Target (some groceries, stuff for mom's gift basket...)
$8 - purse
Total: $198.00

Other
$12 - Jean Louis David Hair Salon (LivingSocial)
$5.00 - Metrocard
$4.00 - Burger King (at least I didn't buy the meal this time, only the sandwich!)
$75.00 - Wedding Present
Total: $96.00

Grand Total: $1498.00

Do you know what that amount says to me? I've been overspending/frivolously overspending. $60 for 6 flip flops? My idea is to give all but one pair away as presents (especially bachelorette presents, since they have really cute "Bride to Be" ones). But you know what? I have 5 pairs of scarves I bought over the winter that I bought for the same purpose- easy and cheap presents (they were $5 each) and all but one (I think) are still sitting in my closet.

I went into Target looking for a pair of classy nude heels for the wedding last weekend. You know the one thing I DID NOT purchase at Target? The heels. They were sold out/unavailable- and yet I spent $65, at least half of which were on grocery items that we got "because we were there" and didn't want to stop at the grocery store. ::SMH::

$40 for a date night. A DATE NIGHT!? Umm... yeah, we could have used that money for a more cost-friendly date. Like those movie tickets I bought and a (cheaper) dinner option.

$12 for a haircut-- actually I don't feel bad about this one. Except that I was supposed to use it on Friday night (in prep for the wedding) but I was too lazy to go. But I really do need a haircut, so this will come in handy soon. $5 Metrocard was spent because I took too long in CVS...easily could have been avoided if I used better time management skills while in the store. Le sigh.

What I Learned:
One trend that stuck out the most here-- I spend too much on "daily deal/group discount" sites. Yes, they have fabulous deals on them...but maybe for now I should opt out of those emails- because saving that money would be the best deal of all.

I need to make a budget and stick to it. So I did. The one thing I didn't add to the budget yet is "Groceries." I read somewhere that you should take a month's worth of grocery bills to figure out how much you're spending there, so I will do that tonight (hopefully...at least this week sometime, before I post the budget).

I will share soon, along with some goals for April. Stay tuned...