Friday November 6, 2009

It's not even 3 pm, and I am ready for the day to be over. Nothing has really worked out the way that I wanted today. The Rusty Knight missed his bus, and so we had to drive him to work since Princess Stomping Foot has dance early today. I thought that would be ok, because I had a lot of places at that end of town that I wanted to hit, but I forgot to bring my list with me and so I will have to go back. I have to go back anyway, a certain drugstore is offering a $25 giftcard for transferred prescriptions and I didn't realize that the one I was trying to use didn't have any refills left on it. I had to call the pharmacy it's at to have them call the doctor, before I can transfer it. We came home for lunch, and I had gotten a 15% off coupon for the shoe store where I found the boots the other night. We ran over there after lunch, but they were gone. I did score a dress on the clearance rack at Target. The Rusty Knight has a Christmas Party for work that requires cocktail wear, and of course I have nothing. I was thinking that I could just wear an old pair of shoes and bag that I already have and snazz it up with a necklace, but now I'm not so sure.

Here's what I started out wearing today (it warmed up and I had to change):

Converse- $35 on sale at Famous Footwear

Micro Check pants- $16 on sale plus a coupon at JC Penney's

Cowl Neck tunic- $6 at Susie's Deals

Denim Vest- $18 on sale at Sears

Amber Bracelet- bought so long ago that I don't remember where or how much

Boyfriend Watch- $10 at Target

GRAND TOTAL= $83

Thursday November 5, 2009

Last night, I picked up my white shirt from Penney's. It needs a wash/press, but it fits nicely. The knot detail is nice, and makes it a little less boring. This is one of those pieces that will allow the rest of my wardrobe to really function. I can already see myself wearing it with so many things. I tried on a coat at Penney's, too. I loved it, but even at half price it is way more than I want to spend. The weird thing is that it was a petite and it fit perfectly. The sleeves on things are often long on me- especially coats. But, the torso on petite garments is usually too short. I guess I will have to explore petite coat options, since this one fit so well. At the mall, I took a little spin through some of the other stores. I tried on a coat at Forever 21, but it wasn't anywhere close to fitting across the bust. I looked at Sears, but didn't like any of their coats. Our local mall is about 75% teen shops now. Every time I go in, there is a new one open. Not a lot of choices for those over 21. I checked out the Famous Footwear, and I found a pair of knee high boots on clearance that actually fit me and were comfortable. With 16" calfs and wide feet, that doesn't happen often. I have a $5 reward certificate from them, and if there is a coupon in the newspaper this week I am going to go back and hope they are still there. I headed to Ross after the mall, to see if they had any coats. I didn't find any coats that I liked, but I tried on a tunic sweater that I loved. It was brown and fuzzy with a deep V neck and was toasty warm due to some angora fiber in it. I adored an August Silk flyaway cardi in chocolate brown with a leather clasp at the waist, and found a cozy pair of micro fleece PJ's. I'm going to try and go back for the sweater and PJ's- those are items that I need for winter.

Wednesday November 4, 2009

My silk long underwear came yesterday. They are very sheer and lightweight, but feel like they will add a nice amount of warmth. They fit perfectly, and now I am kicking myself for not adding the sleeveless top, too. I can see that I will be getting a lot of use out of these. My shirt was just delivered to JC Penney, so I am going tonight to pick it up.


After my great shops this week, I am definitely giving up my Grocery Game membership. I think that I do just as well on my own- especially if I track prices. I can get coupon match ups for Target, CVS and Walgreens on Never Pay Retail Again, and grocery store lists for free on Pinching Your Pennies. I will still read the Grocery Game message boards, because there is always good info there. I was really excited when I got the store ads yesterday. Stater Bros has the Clementines on sale, canned veggies, and Jennie O Turkey (which I have coupons for), as well as a baking deal. Vons has apples, blue and black berries, pot roast, free items with a $25 purchase, and a turkey deal. I am actually excited to plan my shopping this week. Plus, the kids need their prescriptions refilled and I am going to do some transfers for more giftcards.


I usually don't have much of a Christmas list for myself, but this year there are several items that I want- just to make my life easier, or need to replace. The first one is just a second freezer. I am using the freezer part of the old fridge, but I want a whole freezer to fill- and fill it, I will! I also want a faster waffle iron: this Belgian one. I want a stove top popcorn maker, and a new crock pot. I'm worried about more pieces of the crock breaking off since Wonder Teen chipped off the handles. I'd love to have one that comes with a mini crockpot. I was thinking that I'd like a double or triple one, but then I realized that they are only 2 1/2 quart size. I need the big one. I also need a new digital camera, since I broke mine. That's quite a list for me. Oh, and the boots that I want, too. I have all kinds of "wants" right now for my feet- not that most of them will get satisfied. I'd love a chestnut pair of ankle boots to wear with jeans, and a suede pair of slouchy boots in a nude tone.

I've been cooking a lot today. I made a double batch of waffles, and a big batch of bean and cheese burritos- all for freezing. For dinner, I am making a fruit salad with the bargain pineapple that I picked up and some omelette's. I think that I am going to go window shopping tonight. I'm not in the market for buying anything, but I just need to get out of the house and go somewhere besides the gym.

I don't think that I blogged about them, but when I re-orderd my Bass Freeway's I also got some Bella Vita Vera's in brown suede. The soles on there are very comfortable, and the width seems good. They were a little snug on the tops of my big toes (weird spot to be tight), but I think that I have managed to stretch them out enough to be comfortable there and I am looking forward to wearing these. If these are as comfortable as I think thay will be, I will seriously consider duplicating them in another color.

Tuesday November 2, 2009

I had a very sweet comment from Michelle yesterday, who said that I inspired her to go back to Weight Watchers. Congrats on your decision Michelle- I wish you the best of luck on your weight loss journey!

It's funny- I have had a couple of different comments (both online and IRL) asking if I am at my goal yet. Honestly, I'm not anywhere near my goal yet. My current weight is just passed the point of "obese" according to the BMI calculator, and that is not where I want to be. My next mini goal is to cross over and get into the "overweight" category (how sad is that- overweight is my next goal LOL). It feels like I've been working on that for some time now. It took me a year to get where I am now. I am only halfway to my goal, so I think that it will be another year to get there.

I had another good shop last night. We stopped at Vons to get some fruit, since they had some good deals. I got a 5 pound box of Satsuma Mandarin oranges, a pineapple, a bunch of bananas, and a bag of Gala apples for under $10. Not bad. I was thinking that even if I had paid cash at Stater bros and CVS (instead of having a giftcard and voucher), my total would still be under $60 for all of my shops yesterday. I'm actually thinking about cancelling my Grocery Game subscription and going it on my own. With my new coupon binder, I have a lot of coupons other than the newspaper ones to use. I can get most of the same information on free sites, so why pay?

I'm so bummed- 6pm.com had these boots that I have been in love with for some time on sale for $21.95 today, and now they are sold out of my size. Not that I was going to buy them today, but sometimes when they have a really good sale they repeat it again. I will just have to watch and see if they go on sale again. Maybe they will get more in stock. I'm not even sure they would fit my calves, but for $22 I would try them out. I also found a coat at 6pm that I kind of love. I'm going to go and look at Kmart this week. They have coats 40% off, and they have layaway. Last year, I found a nice cream colored puffer coat at Kmart for around $40 because it was 40% off. It's really warm, and decent quality. I'm hoping that they will have something that will work for an everyday coat for me. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a coat that might not fit next year.

Angie of You Look Fab did a blog post today about her fall Mom on the Go formula #4, so of course I have to put some of those looks together for myself. The formula is:

jeans+ tunic sweater+ leather/pleather jacket +ankle boots (with numerous variations)

First, a look that sticks strictly to the formula-

Sudini heeled ankle boots, DKNY Soho bootcut jeans, patterned tunic sweater, chain link necklace & pleather jacket

with loafers-

pewter loafers, Levi's, teal tunic sweater, polka dot scarf & pleather jacket

with Converse and non sweater tunic-

Converse, Levi's, striped tunic, floral scarf & pleather jacket

With a blazer and ballet flats-

Sofft ballet flats, Levi's 505 jeans, cowl neck tunic top, thrifted blazer and stone choker from World Market

I like some of these better than others, but it's a starting place.

Monday November 2, 2009

Well, it's Monday again. My weight is actually up a pound from last week (Halloween candy!), but in the month of October I lost 4 pounds, and that is right on track. I was hoping to bump that up until Thanksgiving, but I am just happy to be losing again at this point. My measurements are exactly what they were last month, so no change there. This last week was really difficult for me. On the cold days, I found that all I wanted to do was eat. I'm not used to being hungry like that. I'm sure that as colder weather sets in, I will have to make some adjustments.

I wore my new Levi's 505 straight leg jeans yesterday. I wanted to see if they would stretch out like many non-premium jeans do. I had them on several hours, and I didn't notice a stretch. They were so comfortable that I forgot that I had jeans on. The rise is nice and high, and there is just enough stretch. They were on the loose side, and way too long even though I bought a Short inseam- so I washed and dried them on hot last night. Now they are perfect.

I'm wearing the jeans again today since we have grocery shopping with multiple trips to do. I went to CVS first, since I had a $25 giftcard from them. I had high hopes of rolling that giftcard into even more money with ECB's, but this week it just made more sense to pick up anything off my regular list that they carry. So, I came home with 2 loaves of bread, 2 dozen eggs, half gallon of milk (for potato soup), a bag of dried apricots (for Princess Stomping Foot), a bottle of vanilla, a box of freezer bags and a bottle of ibuprofen- for FREE! I still have a couple of dollars left on the giftcard, too. Then I went across the street to Albertson's and got Turkey Italian sausage and cat food. I both were on sale, and I had $1 off coupons for both. My total for that was around $7. Not bad for my first trip of the day.

Here's what I am wearing:

Converse all stars- $35 on sale at Famous Footwear

Levi's 505's- $28 on sale plus coupon at Kohl's

Green Top- $8 on clearance at Old Navy

Fly Away Cardi- $15 on sale at Old Navy

medallion necklace- $10 at World Market

GRAND TOTAL= $96

I had to take the cardi off before we even left the house- it was too warm. It's really nice today. Next trip out, I hit Stater Bros. and Winco. I don't have Grocery Game lists for either of these stores, so this was just deals that I figured out on my own. When The Rusty Knight brought our recyclables in, he got a voucher for Stater Bros. I knew that I didn't want to spend much more than that voucher, and it worked out well. They had Bar S hotdogs on sale for 69 cents a pack. It's a really good price, but I had two $1/2 packs coupons so I ended up getting those for 19 cents each. They also had flour and sugar on sale- $1.49/5 lbs. I bought two each of those and also picked up a bag of shredded cheese that I needed. I paid 39 cents for the whole thing. We picked up the rest of my needs list at Winco- for $13. I still have a pineapple and mandarin oranges that I want from Vons. We can get those on the way home from dance tonight. I will probably have to pick up some things on Friday, but getting the bulk of the week's groceries for under $25 is pretty cool.