Must Resist

WTF is this?!?!

Apparently, Amazon has decided to launch their own "Gilt Group" like site.  Exactly what I needed, just like another hole in my head.  I couldn't help it and took a peek.  There is some cute stuff there.  I guess I'll just have to ignore and insta-delete these emails from my inbox like I do for Gilt and Rue La La.

*sigh*  I wish I had more money.

Epic Fail

Well, it looks like the shopping ban lasted a whole 4 days! What ended our valiant effort? Dick's had an extra 50% off on their clearance items. We buckled under the great deals. Here is what we got:

Nike golf shoes for the hubster - retails for $136, paid $45

Nike golf shoes for me - retails for $100, paid $30
Burton beanie - retails for $25, paid $2

Burton kids snowboard boots - retails for $60, paid $6 (the hubster has plans to eBay them)

North Face jacket - retails for $120, paid $35 (Christmas gift for family member)
North Face backpack - anniversary gift to me from the hubster
Padded bike shorts - $45

Under Armour cleats - $20

But we had a coupon for $40 off $200, so the bike shorts were "free". The jacket is a gift we'll hold on to until Christmas and the bike shorts and cleats are for exercise. The hubster always makes exceptions for exercise and "healthy" expenditures. We didn't go way overboard and it is hard to resist deals. At least it wasn't a $400 coat that broke the ban. I consider this a cheat and doesn't count. As long as we stay good for the rest of the month.

Other good news is that we decided to cut down our eating out to one fast food meal and sit down meal a week, capping at $50 a week. We're well under budget for that since I've been cooking at home a lot more. Baby steps...

Damn You, Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

I love shopping and I love clothes!  I admit I have a love affair with Nordstrom.  So when I got a sneak peak at the Anniversary Sale catalog, I knew I was in some trouble.  I took a quick glance through the catalog right before I left for Vail.  A few things jumped out at me, but most of it was for the hubster.  It was quite fortuitous that I decided to pick it up on the day I returned from Vail as that's when I noticed that the pre-select started on Tuesday.

This is one of the great things about the Anniversary Sale and being a Nordstrom cardholder.  You get to feel all VIP-y and shop behind curtained off areas and pick out all the stuff you want before it actually goes on sale.  Surprisingly, I ended up with a lot more than thought I had wanted.  Those Nordstrom sales associate do a good job of picking stuff out you normally wouldn't pick for yourself.  I ended up with Hudson jeans, three trouve tops (one gray sweater and two pastelly colored drapey loose tunics), Nike running shorts, Under Armor knee length spandex type pants, Hard Tail yoga pants, and my indulgent splurge:

Mackage Coat

I know, who buys a coat in July?  Especially in a humid 90 degree Ohio July.  I do!  I love it.  The moment I put it on and looked in the mirror, I was smitten.  It nips in just right and the collar is amazing.  I love the different sleeves.  I just love it all.  We also picked up a pair of gray True Religions for the hubster.  I've been wanting to buy him some gray jeans for a while.  I think they look so good on him.

So this is where the buyer's remorse sets in.  I also bought on the same day, two sets of golf clubs.  I'm thinking that some of this stuff will have to go back, but I'm struggling to decide what.  I'm pretty sure that the jeans are going to go since I just took two pairs in for hemming.  They are pretty much the same cut and wash, but are True Religion.  (Can you tell I am slightly obsessed with True Religion denim?  The hubster is too, but he says he's sworn them off since the Anniversary Sale had like 10 pairs for sale).

I'll wait for the stuff I ordered to come in before I make any final decisions.

Shopping Fail

The hubster, the step son, and I went out Wednesday night for a Rita's run and I decided that I wanted to stop at a few stores before we got our desserts for the night.  I had a $20 gift card from Sports Authority that I spent on some new spandex shorts for officiating.  We then went to Old Navy to buy the step son some new flip flops as his current ones kept breaking.  While perusing the store, I wandered over to the baby section where I promptly spotted a pink superman onesie.  I automatically thought of my cousin and his new baby girl.  He loves superman and I thought it would be fitting.  I went ahead and bought it and a mailer to send it out in.  Right before I went to the post office during my lunch yesterday, I had a nagging feeling about the onesie.  I kept thinking I had seen it before.  I hoped on to Facebook and lo and behold, there was a picture of Parker in the onesie!!

I promptly called the hubster to see if I hadn't thrown the receipt away so we could return it. I'm just glad I caught it before it was sent out.

Pants Success!

I will not be pant-less when we move into the new building.  After the Asian Festival today, we hit up Polaris to go shopping to see what the Memorial Day sales had in store for us.  I had a $10 reward card to spend at Banana Republic and the hubster wanted a new shirt.  Well, they had a promotion going where they give you a mystery card with either 15, 30, or 50% off of your entire purchase.  I'm the most unlucky person ever when it comes to these things, but to my surprise, I got a 50% off coupon.  Score!

I'm a woman on a mission.  I grabbed all the black pants I could find and some tops and head back to the fitting room.  These fit much better than the outlet BR pants.  I find the one pair that I like the most and guess what?  They are even on sale for $45.  The hubster also liked a tube top I brought in to try.  It was $25.  I ended up buying two pairs of pants (black and khaki), ordering another black pair over the phone, and three tube tops in varying colors.  I'm sure a few will be returned.   Add in my 50% and $10 reward, my pants were $20 and my tube tops were $10!

I spent less on this than I did on the black pants I bought at Nordstrom.  Those are definitely going back along with the cute clutch I bought.  Impulse purchases are bad!

Damn you Nordstrom

The Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale for Women and Kids is going on right now.  In fact, it started yesterday and guess who went last night!  I did!  Oy vey.

I did some major damage.  I bought some black Elie Tahari slacks (for work), a multi-strand silver necklace (very sparkly), a neon yellow t-shirt (I know, very trendy, but I had visions of me running in it - if that is not the silliest reason to buy something, I don't know what is), a grey tank top, apple green cardigan (for work), a grey cardigan (for work), and an apple green Kate Spade wallet/wristlet (for fun).

I thought the wristlet was super cute and I totally could have used it in Vegas.  I ended up carrying my mini Longchamp bag or my black clutch and phone while I was out there.  With this, everything would have fit.  I do have a greyish-purple one I bought at Forever 21 awhile back, but I don't know where it is.

I'm having major buyer's remorse right now and most likely much of it will be returned. =(  At least I stopped myself from buying yet another pair of Chanel sunglasses.  I've been good about buying sunglasses even though I love them.  I just can't justify another pair when I have three that cover all the bases and I don't love the unique ones enough to drop a lot of money on them.

Business Casual

We had our pictures taken today for new badges and a group picture to commemorate the move into our new building.  Apparently, the group picture will be placed inside a time capsule.  We were directed to dress business casual for this picture to anticipate the dress code shift when we move into the new building.  It was very interesting to see what people considered business casual.  There were still a good number of people in blue jeans.  Some tried to skirt the denim rule by wearing black jeans.  Some went the opposite direction and went for business with a pant suit.

I went for business chic and wore my only pair of black slacks with a off white tank that has a sequined panel in the front with a black cardigan.  I finished off the look with my new belt and black Tory Burch flats.  I think I need some new ones since these are getting worn down.  I'm thinking of going to the Nordstrom half anniversary sale today and see if I can find some more pants or cardigans.

It's Christmas in May

So what was in those boxes I posted yesterday?  Here's what was inside them:

ipad 2

The hubster and I made the unfortunate mistake of walking into the Apple Store a few weeks ago to play with the new iPad.  We decided to splurge on one since I took on a lot more games this lacrosse season.  We've been playing with it non-stop since we got it yesterday.  I have to say for a company that is known for its intuitive-ness in its products, it was not intuitive to sync my iPhone to iTunes and then to my iPad.  It took a while and was very frustrating.  In the end, I still ended up losing some apps (mostly fee, some paid), but it's working great.

New shoes

I bought these two Sundays ago and I got my mom the same pair.  Unfortunately, hers are still MIA.  I'm going to wait a few more days and then I just might cancel the order.  They are cute and I never thought boat shoes would be me.  I haven't showed them to the hubster, so still undecided if I want to keep them.

New snowboarding goggles

The ones I bought have lavender accents on the frames and the strap.  I'd been holding out on getting custom ones for a few months, but the $155 price tag was holding me back.  When I saw these pop up on REI.com for $64, I gave up my dreams of custom goggles and bought these.  I think I'll buy replacement lenses when it gets closer to winter, but overall, I'm pleased with these.

With all these goodies, I think it's time to give my credit card a break.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

I spent Mother's Day with the hubster's family.  We did a joint Easter/Mother's Day celebration.  We had a great time eating lunch, participating in an Easter Egg hunt, and just hanging out.  Everyone loved their gifts.

We ended up going down to Cincinnati early to hit the outlets prior to stopping at his mom's house.  The hubster replaced his backpack which was stolen from his car.  He got a new red North Face one.  I went in search for some new work pants since we'll be switching from a casual dress code to a business casual one.  No more jeans except on Fridays!!!  My entire work wardrobe is centered around jeans.  I own one pair of black pants not including the ones that go with my suit.  Anyway, I had no luck with pants, but did buy a new pair of jeans.  Great!  Another pair of jeans, I need a new pair of jeans like I need another hole in my head.  But I can't resist.  I did get a mint green button up for work, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

We left my mother-in-law's house a little later than anticipated and we didn't get home until 7 pm.  That's ok though because we still got to grill out tonight.  I've been dying to use my grill again ever since I bought the matching stand to go with the grill.  This has been the first rain free day in God knows how long.  I made grilled chili lime chicken, veggie skewers, corn on the cob, and chicken rice.  It was good and so quick and easy!  I know I'll be using that sucker all summer long.

Mother's Day Shopping

Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday.  This is one of those holidays that sneaks up on me.  This year I remembered and got my shopping done this weekend.  The hubster was autocrossing at school on Sunday leaving me all alone at home.  He also tasked me to buy Mother's Day gifts for his mom, grandmom, and sister-turned-new-mom since we are going down to Cincinnati on Sunday.  I find shopping for his family very difficult and usually end up getting them something that I would want to get.  My first stop Sunday morning was to Kohl's.  I had $10 in Kohl's cash to spend that expired in a few days.  If I couldn't find anything suitable for the "moms", I would just buy the step son some new underwear.

To my surprise, I ended up buying everything at Kohl's and came in under budget.  I don't think anyone in his family reads my blog, but if you do, GO AWAY!

For the mom-in-law:

It's one of those recordable books, but instead of her recording her voice for a story, there are questions in there that you can ask your grandkids and record their answers.  The demos were cute and I think I bought in to it.  I wondered whether this was something that the stepson was "too old" in to participate.  If it is, then she can always save it for her new granddaughter.

For the sister-in-law:

Yes, picture frames are a pretty generic gift and a good fall back, but I really liked this one and since this was her first Mother's Day, I think it was appropriate.  Also, I personally think the hardest part of receiving a picture frame is finding the time to find a suitable picture, printing it out, picking it up, and framing it.  So I did it for her!

For grandmom:

Yes, another picture frame!  I put a family photo I had taken from Christmas in the frame.  I think it's special because it has the whole family in it with both great grandkids.

Last, but not least for my mom:

Sperry Top-Siders

I think my mom will like them.  If not, Nordstrom makes returns/exchanges so easily, she can find something that she likes better.  I actually bought a pair of the same shoes for myself while I was there this weekend.

On a different note, I sent a text to my little brother to ask what he was getting her for Mother's Day.  His response: a couch and a love seat.  WTF?!?!  I guess she wants some new furniture before my relatives come to visit in July.  I don't blame her.  The current sectional she has is probably 20 years old.  I'll leave that purchase up to my brother.  He's not married and doesn't have a mortgage or a car payment.

Oops!

I was on the phone with my friend Melissa discussing local lacrosse politics and I got a call during our conversation and let it go to voice mail.  It was Anthropologie calling me to let me know they found a dress I wanted in my size.  I immediately called back and it's now on its way to me.  Here's the dress:

Slubby Tulip Dress

It looks much better on than it does in this pictures.  I've been wanting to try this maxi dress trend and this one just looks so easy and chic.  I love the material too.  The sales associate told me there was some make up on the dress at the neckline and gave me 20% off.  If I don't think it's washable, I'll return it.

You may be wondering why this post is titled "Oops!"  Well, here's why.  I shouldn't have bought it.  At this point in the season, I was only supposed to get one reward which if you follow this blog, I already got my new coffee machine.  I must admit the reason I bought the Keurig was because I asked for this dress over a week ago and the sales associate said I would hear from them in the next day or two.  So I just assumed that they were just out of stock online and in stores.  Oh well.  There's still the chance I might not love the dress since I tried on the small in stores and it was way too big.  Maybe the extra small might still be too big or I'll have a change in heart about how it looks.

Relaxed and Rested and unable to breath...

I took the day off yesterday.  It was a much needed break.  After 7 straight days of lacrosse including a killer 4 game day on Sunday, I needed a break.  I wouldn't have been able to function.  I slept in and then the hubster and I went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  After lunch, we went shopping where I used my free pantie coupon from Victoria's Secret and a $10 coupon to get a new bra.  Right before we left, the hubster wanted to go to Hollister.  I don't normally shop there, but the hubster thinks they have cute clothes for me.  I relented since he didn't complain when we went to Anthropologie (he hates this store).  One of the reasons I don't usually shop there is because I don't think it's very age appropriate for me now that I'm 28.  The hubster thinks I'm just being dramatic and a grandmom.  Another reason is I once saw them spraying their disgusting perfume on their clothes after hours.  No wonder it reeks in there.

Walking in to the store yesterday, the perfume wasn't so strong, but now that I'm wearing a cardigan and tank top that the hubster bought me, I can smell it every time I move.  Yes, I should have washed them before wearing, but I was in a rush this morning and just threw on some clothes.  I don't usually wash new clothes before I wear them.  Should I?  I think it's because I don't think about other people trying them on that I don't get grossed out by it.  Maybe something to consider in the future.

New Stuff

So someone (a fuzzy someone who shall remain un-named) decided that she wanted a little snack (you'd think it would be the fat one), but this snack was of a plastic nature.  Anyway, the culprit sneaked into my ref bag and chewed up my finger whistle!  Right before my college game.  I found out this season that we refs have a system.  Things need to be just so or else we get all screwed up and can't call a decent game.  I buy almost all of my reffing stuff online, so I was in a pickle.  Where would I get a finger whistle in Columbus in two days?!?!

Well, there just happened to be a store in Columbus on the other side of town which has the BEST hours (note dripping sarcasm there).  They are open on weekdays from 10 am to 4:30 pm.  Four-fricking-thirty?!?!  Better than banker's hours.  So I leave work a little early to head over there before my game and pick up two whistles for $17.00!  I've learned my lesson: have a back up.

Since I left work earlier than anticipated to get there before the store closed, I had about 30 minutes to kill.  So what do I do?  I go to Dick's.  I always need sporting goods stuff.  Anyway, I had a Sports Authority coupon that was expiring soon and I know that some of their locations take competitor's coupons and the shirt I wanted is not carried by Sports authority, so I decided to give it a try.  I get to Dick's, grab my shirt, wander around a bit, and head to the register.  I ask about the coupon and they took it.  I got my shirt for $10.  By the way, it's a black Nike shirt for wearing under my stripes.  I definitely needed another one because I've been reffing almost every day and I don't have time to do laundry every few days and the shirt I had been wearing and re-wearing was getting too smelly.  I know I'm gross.

So new whistles and a new shirt for me!

<3 end of season sale

I picked up a Helly Hansen jacket at the Snow Trails ski shop for 50% off right before the season ended two weeks ago and I got a new pair of snowboard pants today at Aspen Ski and Board.  I really like the color combination.  I already got to use the new jacket since the weather has gotten colder again, but I can't wait to use the new pants next year.

Must resist...

 Pretty shoes...

A Sunday morning at Easton

We went to go see "The Green Hornet" at Easton this morning.  It sucked.  Really, really, really sucked.  A terrible movie.  I wanted to walk out about 20 minutes into it.  We went to Panera for lunch and went to a few stores.  I wanted to go to J Crew because they had an extra 40% off their sale items, but as usual, there sale stock sucks.  I did see a shirt I had contemplated buying on-line, but since it was kind of a weird shape/cut, I didn't want to risk buying it on-line without trying it on since their sales are final sales (which I think is totally absurd).  It was way too big, but I got an idea of what it looked and felt like.  I should scoot on over to their site and see how much it is and if they have my size.  After J. Crew, we went to Banana Republic.  They had an extra 40% off sale and 25% off regular items.  I bought two things which is a lot since I don't own much from Banana Republic (my suit and a wrap top).

First, tuxedo pants:

They didn't have my normal size, and by normal, I mean the size I bought my suit pants in since that's the only reference I have.  So I tried on a size smaller since the suit pants weren't too tight, and they fit!  The site has them on sale for $90 (regular $110), but I got them for $20!  Score!

Second, a dress:

I have to say I'm late to the whole color blocking thing, but it took me a while to find something I liked, in my size, and cheap.  Also, I look way better than the model in this dress.  I ended up buying a petite size only because it was the only one I could find.  It still fit, maybe a little on the short side, but it's still super cute.  I guess I sacrifice a little on the fit for price.  Oh, well.  So the site has this dress on sale for $100 (regular $140), and I got it for $30!

I love sales and good deals.  Now if only I can win my ebay auction for a snowboard and snowboard pants...

What a day =(

I woke up late this morning because I forgot to set my alarm clock.  I didn't mind getting in to work a little late since I had only 4 more hours to get in for the week.  This meant at the latest I should have left at 1 pm.  I had a deadline today to get some action items completed from a meeting in December.  Everything was pretty much squared away.  I was waiting for some data to process and off it should have went.

Well that obviously did not happen, especially if I'm writing about it now.  I didn't leave until 4:30 pm.    I was not a happy camper.  After about 2:00, I realized I wasn't going to leave any time soon.  The hubster had a pretty rough day too.  He spent an hour and half coming home.  The hubster and I ended up going to Five Guys for dinner and stopping into Victoria's Secret for their Semi-Annual Sale.  I bought a bikini (which I don't need) and a pair of panties.  The quality and selection of their sale items has gone down drastically.  I needed to buy something to make my day a little better and the hubster didn't want to go to Anthropologie with me.  We also stopped at Trader Joe's.  I'm not cheered up yet from my sucky day at work, but hopefully, more shopping tomorrow will.

After Christmas Shopping

I really thought I had escaped with minimal damage this year on buying Christmas stuff.  I thought being in PA/NJ would hinder any buying.  I left PA with 4 ornaments and 2 boxes of lights (I justify the lights because 3 strands per tree on our front yard was a little scarce, 4 would be perfect).  Anyway, I went out to the bank to deposit some money and decided to hit up Target and Wal-Mart.  Target was cleaned out (not unexpected as it's January 3), but Wal-Mart had tons of crap.  I ended up with another tree (perfect for the cleaned out Florida room), some garland for the new tree, reindeer antler headband (I've been wanting one), and some candy for Logan's belated Christmas with us.  So in total, I spent $15 plus $20 Target gift card on Christmas stuff.  No gift tags though.

One of my favorite shopping days of the year

The day after Christmas!!!  I love Christmas! Love, love, love.  So because I'm too cheap to buy Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, tags, etc at full price, I always go shopping the day after Christmas (75% off, yo!)  But I think I'll have to start restraining myself.  At first, it was great.  I had just moved to Columbus, so it was starting fresh and I could buy to my heart's content.  Fast forward, 3 years and I don't need quite so much anymore.


Case in point, last year I bought 5 packages of self stick gift tags.  Yes, F-I-V-E.  That's 100+ tags. I don't even know if I know 100 people.  *goes to check Facebook*  I guess I do know 100 people.  Either way, I think it would take me at least 5 years to use all those gift tags.  I need more control.


And ornaments are another thing.  I love ornaments.  I have too many as is, but that doesn't stop me from stopping and looking at ornaments anytime a shiny, glittery ball passes my line of vision.
The solution: buy another tree for more ornaments!


Good thing I'll be in PA/NJ for the day after Christmas.  There is only so much room in Heidi (Brock's name for my Audi A4) and I think Brock would be very upset if I left him or one of the dogs behind for more Christmas stuff.