Spending $100

So, I have a $100 gift card from Christmas that’s burning a hole in my pocket.  Here’s the thing…I am having a hard time deciding between 2 things.  One of them in is in the fashion realm and the other is home decor.  What’s the better way to spend my money?

In the fashion realm, I really want these boots:

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I have these exact boots in brown, and I wear them all the time.  Those are grey by the way.  So, I’m pretty sure that I would wear the grey ones too.  Plus, I’ve been on the hunt for grey boots for some time now.  The problem is that it’s already January, and I feel like I won’t really be able to wear boots much longer.  For those of you in cold climates, I’m sure you’re disagreeing with me, but in Texas our cold season is on its way out.  On the other hand, even if I don’t get to wear them much longer this year, I’m sure I’ll still wear them next fall and winter.

As for the home decor, I want this:

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Or maybe this:

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I think it would look really good above my fireplace.  And, if you need a visual, here it is:

I know this is trendy and I probably won’t want it forever, but I think it’s cute for now. 

So, if you were me, which item would you go for?  The boots or the ceramic animal?

More Tights

Work continues to kick my ass, but I wanted to pop in and tell you more about tights.  Today it was about 77 degrees outside, meanwhile the rest of the country is being pounded with snow and winter blasts.  I just saw on that the news that we will be getting a “cold front” tomorrow in Austin, and by that they mean that it will be about 50 for the low.   So, not really a cold front.  However, I pretend like it’s winter and put on tights anyway.  My latest obsession is these:

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I only wish that the shipping wasn’t almost as much as the tights are themselves.  Maybe I can find something comparable.  Any suggestions on where to look?

Man Uggs?

The debate about man Uggs is rampant right now because Tom Brady just announced that he was going to be the face of the boot line.  This isn’t the first time he’s made questionable fashion choices.  He was recently sporting a Justin Bieber haircut. 

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Ok, but back to the point.  Man Uggs?  Are we buying into this?  Is it sexy for a man to wear shearling boots?  Should the classic tall be worn by women and men?  I’m of the camp that no, they shouldn’t.  I don’t really like to see my men do the jean boot tuck thing, but maybe I’m alone in this.  What do you think?

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Perhaps the short boot with shorts?

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It’s still a no for me. 

They do have some more masculine looking boots in the line that look like they might be worn by a lumberjack, and maybe I could get on board with that.  But overall this is a trend that I hope Sean stays far, far away from.  Luckily, he’s not so into trends, so I don’t really have to worry about it. 

So what do you think?  Man Uggs a do or a don’t?

I heart tights

Lately I’ve been on a huge tights kick.  This isn’t all that different from every fall/winter, but I’ve been feeling a lot more brave with my tight choices.  For instance, I’ve started including some patterns, designs and colors other than black.  My favorites so far are these polka dot ones from Target. 

I liked them so much that I managed to find a pair very similar but with hearts instead of polka dots from Gap.  I couldn’t find them online from Gap, but here they are from Urban Outfitters.

After all this, I still didn’t feel like my tights collection was complete, so I found a few patterned pairs from Francesca’s. 

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I’m still not brave enough to try the white/cream ones, but I think these will carry me through a couple more months. 

Anyone else loving tights lately?

Online Shopping

Whenever I was looking for dresses for our wedding (other than the wedding dress), I relied heavily on the outlet mall.  The problem was that it’s about 45 minutes from my house, so it wasn’t the easiest thing to get to.  Not to mention it can get ridiculously crowded.  And, if I walked away empty-handed, I felt like it was a huge waste of time.  But, on the other hand, I’ve found a See By Chloe, Shoshanna and Cynthia Steffe dress each for under $50.  So, it makes it all worth it. 

Here are all 3 of them:

Cynthia Steffe

See By Chloe (and, I am undoubtedly dancing to Dynomite)

Shoshanna (and I’m on the right)

But even better than that (or maybe a close second?), two of my favorite bargain shopping stores have recently gone online.  I’m in heaven.  Nordstrom Rack and Neiman Marcus Last Call are now on the web.  Seriously?  Now I don’t have to drive 45 minutes to try and find a good deal, I can just look online.  Hopefully my credit card can take it.

Jewelry Overload

I really love accessorizing, but I fall into ruts where I find myself picking up the same necklace, bracelet or earrings because they’re in plain sight.  But, I realized that I’m missing out on so many of my great pieces because of laziness.  Or worse, I buy something very similar to what I already have because I forget I had it.  Clearly, something needed to change.  Well, fortunately, I live in a place with large closets with lots of extra storage space (please don’t hate me).   I had a set of drawers that I wasn’t using to their full potential, so I changed that.

Do you see that??  Three whole drawers just for jewelry!!

So I organized my necklaces:

And, another drawer for my bracelets (and a few more necklaces)

And, then I figured my earrings and rings needed something a little different.   This means I still have an entire drawer left to fill with jewelry.

My earrings and rings sit comfortably in a jewelry box Sean got me last year for my birthday. 

Here’s a little peek inside:

Actually, the jewelry box is kind of a funny story.  Sean and I went shopping for an engagement ring in January and my birthday was in February.  He kept saying that he thought I was really going to like my present.  He never says that.  Buying presents for me always makes him nervous.  So I was like, “Sweet!  I’m totally getting engaged!!”  Then Sean walks in with this big box for me to open.  I was thinking it was a little abnormal for an engagement ring, but thought maybe he was just trying to throw me off.  Then I picked it up, and it was kind of heavy.  Still not discouraged, I tore into the box.  It was a jewelry box, how fitting!  I thought I was going to open it up and see a little ring inside.  So, I flipped open the box, opened all the drawers and there was nothing.  I loved the present, but I felt so awful because I’d created this big build up for myself, and then there was no engagement ring.  I could tell Sean was expecting a much different reaction, and had I opened this present at any other moment, I’m sure I would have been ecstatic.  Damn that engagement ring build up!

So how do you keep your jewely organized?

Gift Guide

So, I’m not one of those people that shop all year for Christmas presents so that by the time December rolls around, I only have a few things to get.  Nope.  You’ll find me scouring the internet and paying for overnight shipping to get my gifts in on time.   It’s not even that I don’t have ideas of what to get people.  I think the problem actually is that I have too many ideas and can’t decide.

Usually I peruse magazines and the internet for gift ideas, but I often find myself discouraged by what’s in the magazines because they are WAY out of my price range.  Now, I don’t know what Christmas looks like at other people’s house, but at my house, we don’t spend $300 or more per person on gifts.

But, for those of you that need some ideas (most of them reasonable), Lonny Magazine has some great suggestions (p.s. why is Lonny magazine is everywhere now?  And where the hell have I been that I just found out about it a week ago?).

Of course I love the Etsy suggestions:

My favorite of the Etsy finds is the bowl and the necklace.  The bowl is from seller Etco and the necklace is from Orit Hadad.  Yes, the necklace is a little steep, but the rest of her jewelry is so reasonably priced, and absolutely gorgeous!

And, here are some suggestions for the Artsy person in your life.

I am in LOVE with that camera.  I’m not sure how great the pictures would be, but it’s adorable.  And, did you see that iPhone case?  Love it.

And for the Eco friend of yours…

I’m loving the Vegan purse, and the Moccasins.

And, for the French-loving, girly girl:

This page, I’m liking a lot of the non-budget friendly pieces, like the scarf, sparkly purse and vase.  Sigh…

Which are your favorites?

Inspired by Doilies

I came across Etsy Seller, Tuuni and now I’m loving the idea of using vintage doilies to dress up pillows and storage bins.

It also reminded me of the bags that Brooke posted a couple of days ago. 

And, it doesn’t seem like it would be hard to make them on your own if you had some vintage doilies.  What would you make?

Guest Post

Hey!  I’m guest posting over at Fashion Under $100 today.  Stop by and check it out! 

Also, apparently I don’t know how to spell in that post, so at the very least you can make fun of me for it. 🙂

Ombre Hair

Have you seen the new trend of ombre hair?  You might also know it as two-toned hair.  I’m all for hair trends that allow me to be lazy and not spend money on getting my hair dyed, but I can’t say that I’m on board with this trend. 

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And, to be honest, it seems like more work to get it started than a normal dye job.  Do you dye the top of your hair dark and the bottom light?  Because from what I remember, these ladies didn’t grow out their roots for a long time. 

It also reminds me of a time in my life, we’ll call it sophomore year of high school.  For some reason I thought having red, chunky highlights was a good look.  I also thought that said red chunky highlights could be achieved in my own bedroom.  You might guess that this didn’t go well, and I had what my high school english teacher so lovingly called as “fried cheese on my head.”  Actually, her exact words (in front of the entire class) were, “My goodness child, what have you done to your hair?  It looks like you fried cheese on your head.”   Anyway, my mom made me an appointment at a salon to fix it and it was “fixed” in that it was what I asked for, but sadly what I asked for was a terrible idea.  Sorry, I have no pictures of this time to share with you.  At least not electronically. 

But, I have seen this trend done on one person that I actually like.

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Subtle, and done years ago ahead of the current trend. 

So what do you think?  Are you a fan of ombre hair?