first tuesday of the month. grocery day

Every month I look forward to the first Tuesday of the month. Why you may ask? Grocery day! Sounds silly to be excited about something as simple as getting groceries but Jade and I make an event out of it. Since we try to only go once a month, we start off by listing out what we'll need over the month. I found this awesome list online that you can modify and check off the items you're wanting to get. I print mine off and then highlight the items I'm wanting to get.

We go grocery shopping only once a month because it'll save money in the end. Save On Foods has a promotion that on the first Tuesday of the month you'll get 15% off. When you're buying in mass quantities it makes a difference.

Last month I wanted to walk up and down each isle and I read through every label while Jade waited about patiently for me to be done. We were there for over two hours! This month to cut back on our shopping time I promised to do the following things:

• No walking up and down each isle.
• No impulse buying! Unless it's something I meant to add to the list and forgot.
• No reading the labels for five minutes each time while trying to decide between to products.
• Go to produce first because they're the items that sell out the fastest.
• Eat before we go to avoid wanting to buy everything.

I ended up being successful at everything on that list except eating before we went. BIG mistake. It wasn't that I bought too much but being around all the food that I couldn't eat was making me grumpy. Luckily because of how effective we've gotten over the last couple of months we were out of there in an hour! 50% time decrease!

This time Jade and I went our separate ways to try to save some time. Another big mistake. It was definitely not as fun as it usually is. Next month I'm making sure we stick together so that we can joke around and talk while we're there. Plus I love seeing what she ends up getting because it gives me ideas for what I may want to buy. Now I get to enjoy looking at full fridge with so many eating choices!

a thrift shopping success story. skirts and shirts

I am extremely excited about the loot I ended up with from my recent shopping trip to Value Village. I need to share with you all the cute stuff I bought! I've never really had any luck before with finding anything there. I'm going to give all the credit to Jade since she picked out many of the items I purchased.

I tried to take pictures of everything laying flat on the bed but some of the outfits look hideous. The fabrics were not as easy to photograph as I'd imagined and laying flat doesn't seem to properly show their shapes. I promise they are not as bad as they may appear!

Luckily I took pictures of me wearing everything while I was in the change room as I was so excited to share my finds with you. But there are just too many pictures that I couldn't recount my whole day AND post all my new skirts. So as previously promised, I am posting about my new-found thrift store gems!

I'll start with my new shirts. This is one of the items that looks better in person and does not photograph well. For some reason the lighting doesn't do the color justice as it is not a dark blue but a brighter shade. For some reason every time I took a picture of it, my camera would make everything have a yellowish tint to it. My favorite part about this shirt is the design on the front and the way that it falls around my waist.

Unfortunately I only found two shirts that I liked. I love the design of this one. It hugs in the just right spots and is extremely cute. I'm also a huge fan of poke-a-dots. I feel like this will be one of the more versatile shirts I own. Depending on the bottoms and accessories. it can be considered casual or business attire.

Next are all the skirts I purchased. The first one I tried on happened to be from the kids section. It's a tutu! Jade has quite a few of them and I told her that I wanted to look for one while we were there. The only one they had was for children but it's so stretchy that it fit anyway! I also love how colorful and fun it is!

I bought this next one because it reminds me of a pineapple. Sounds like a really weird reason to buy a skirt but it's the truth. It was just so fun and colorful that it reminded me of being on the beach. I also loved its mermaid style cut. Jade agreed that she can imagine me sitting in the sun on our patio, sipping a beer, while wearing it. That image alone was enough for me to want it. It was quite challenging to photograph this skirt because you can't get the full visual of what it looks like unless I'm moving.

With this next shirt, I just love the way it falls when I'm wearing it. It isn't tight fitting and has a slight poof to it. It has this really cute design trim around the bottom. Also it's nice to have some skirts that are more plain and neutral colored so I can wear bright shirts to contrast it.

When I came out of the change room wearing this skirt. Jade asked if I was done trying everything on already. She thought that it was the same one I arrived in. I agree they do look very similar. The other one is actually dark blue and has large horizontal strips around the skirt. Do I really need two skirts that resemble each other so much? The answer is yes. This way if one is in the wash I will have another to wear!

This skirt is probably my least favorite out of all the ones I bought only because I'm not the biggest fan of purple. But what I really love about it is the really neat design all over it. It's lightweight fabric will make it perfect to wear during the summer. It also doesn't hurt that it feels super soft against my skin.

And last but not least is probably my favorite skirt out of the bunch. The pattern and color is incredible! It's so vibrant and fun; perfect for spring! I told Jade that I wished I had worn a different shirt because I wanted to wear it right then. There was another one with a matching pattern but in a blue/violet color. Jade wanted to get it so we could be matching together but it was a size too big. How disappointing. I've always wanted a twin!

I'm looking forward to mixing and matching all these shirts and skirts. I can't wait to go thrift store shopping again to see what else I can find. Maybe there will be another shopping trip in the near future?!

roommate adventures. shopping and many new skirts

Jade usually has the weekend off so I'd see her around often. Within the last month or so she's been having to work Saturdays as well. I noticed that this cut back on our roommate time in a big way. I previously took for granted seeing her all the time but I've noticed how lonely the apartment gets without her.

More sad news. Last week Jade found out that we'll be getting even less time together. This past weekend was her last Sunday off which meant we had to make a day of it. We did our hair and makeup, got all dressed up, and hit the town to have some shopping fun.

We started by hitting up the Value Village near Whyte Ave because Jade mentioned that it has the best selection. She is the Value Village expert since, each time she goes, she comes home with the best finds!

Since there were a couple other places we wanted to go, we decided that we needed to concentrate mainly on skirts, shirts, and purses. I needed Jade's expertise with these time constraints. She had such a fluid motion in which she looked through the racks. I made the decision to leave it up to her expertise on what to choose. I am the Value Village newbie after all.

Since she knows my style pretty well and we have similar tastes, she cruised through the rows; throwing things for both me and herself into the cart. I used this time to look at the housewares section and found quite a few pieces that I really liked.

Jade taught me the art of her Value Village success with two very important rules:

1. Everything you may be interested in goes in the cart. Even the items you're iffy about. Sometimes the things that you're unsure of end up looking the best on you.
2. You're only allowed buying the things that you love.

Once the cart was full we had to sort through everything and make the final cuts on what was staying and what was getting the boot. That on it's own took a while because of how full our cart was! (I may have gone overboard in the housewares section. Luckily rule #2 took care of most of those items.)

Next it was time to try on all the clothes Jade picked out for me. I felt that a couple selfies were in order while in the change room. I mean I did dress for the occasion and they had a giant mirror perfect for full length pictures.  (On a side note, I'm really wanting to get a tripod so that I can take pictures of my many cute outfits and share them with you!)

I tried on so many adorable clothes (and later bought most them) that I think I'll need a whole post dedicated just for them! Stay tuned for that later this week!

Jade found the cutest slitted fake leather skirt for herself! I can't wait to see her wear it out.

She also got these amazing black and white heels with a little flower on the side. It's moments like these that my small little feet make me sad. There were no size 5 shoes for me to try on because, the few that they had, were not something anyone should be caught wearing in public.

While wandering around I happened to find a mini Hello Kitty figurine. We both knew it was fate that we found it together. It went perfectly with Jade's super awesome Hello Kitty sunglasses. But why are the bows of different sides?! Which Hello Kitty is the real Hello Kitty?!

I ended up leaving the store with two super cute shirts, two adorable purses, six skirts, and a bunch of housewares/decor items. I would deem this Value Village shopping adventure a success!

Our next stop was Sanctuary on Whyte Ave for some purple hair dye for Jade. This store used to be one of my go-to places a few years ago. If I could afford buying the clothes from here I would own more than half the store. I love the vibe you get when you walk in and you can find so many unique items that nowhere else carries. It took  all my willpower not to look through the shop too much while I waited because I knew that I'd end up wanting to buy so many things.

By then we were starting to run low on time before Jade had to be at a mandatory work meeting (on her only day off this week). We usually like having a couple hours to kill when we're going to Ikea because there are always fun things to look at and decorating ideas to come up with. I ended up getting a set of sheer drapes that I was looking for. I forgot to measure the width of my window so I wasn't able to get the hardware to mount it. I guess I'll have to make yet another trip to the deep south for some more Ikea fun.

Since Ikea is on the opposite end of the city from our place we needed to make sure we had enough time to get to Petsmart before Jade's meeting started. It's almost an hour drive to get back but we made it in time. I figured whilst I was dropping her off there, I should go in and buy some more cat food. It's a good thing I always go with Jade because she helps me fend off my temptation to buy more kitty toys. There is already a surplus at our place which is why I must resist! By the time I got home I was exhausted. I couldn't wait to crawl under a blanket with a cup of tea and watch some mindless TV.

All and all it was a great weekend adventure.

Sushi, corsets, and tea. Oh my!

Once again had an amazing sleep last night. It's funny because nothing has changed to make my nights more restful. I'm not going to complain since it's so nice to finally sleep well. And waking up feeling rested actually makes my day at work go by incredibly quick.

After work I met up with one of my best friends that I haven't seen in a while. I took her out for sushi and beer. I got the mexican maki and it was absolutely to die for. It's probably one of my favorite items on the menu. It wasn't until about a year ago that this friend had taken me out for sushi for the first time. Ever since then I can't seem to get enough!

Come to think of it my friend has introduced me to many things over the years. She made me want to learn how to play a guitar when she showed me how to play a few chords. She was the one who got me to try my first loose tea and sushi for the first time. I even remember the first time we met. We were both fourteen and we snuck in liquor filled chocolates into the movie theatre in hopes of getting a slight buzz.

She is very important in my life. This is why, when she asked me today, I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I'm really looking forward to it. Not only because I love weddings but also because she is going to have hers in Mexico. One week of drinking and relaxing with close friends. Plus I get along well with everyone else that is in the wedding party which means it'll have to be a good time.

Afterwards we went to one of my favorite stores, Nightshade Corsets (Nightshade Corsets). Rows and rows of corsets and other amazing items! Whenever I come to this store it is guaranteed that I'm going to buy something even though I own so many corsets already.

Today was no different. I saw a mannequin wearing a gorgeous white and black corset with a matching skirt and I had to try it on. When I asked if they had any additional colors it turns out I already owned a corset in a similar shade of green. So to see how it would look together I found the corset I already own and tried it on with this amazing skirt. I couldn't resist purchasing it especially since I already owned the corsest.

Now I own this whole outfit minus the shrug. I haven't yet decided how I feel about the shrug with this outfit. I think I may want to find something a little more fitted. But I do love the detail of it along with the flowers around the neck. It also matches the frills of the skirt quite well. Now all I have to do is figure out a place where I can wear this outfit without having men gawking because I'd be wearing a corset.

I went out to a bar for my friend's birthday a few years back and decided to wear one of my corsets with a pair of jeans. I was sitting on a bar stool with my back facing the crowd when a larger older man walks up and runs his fingers down the lacing of my corset. My friends told me that he had a creepy look on his face as he was doing it. Ever since that night I've been worried to wear them out for fear of unwanted touching. But no time like the present to get back on the horse. And this time I'll make sure I sit with my back facing a wall.

This morning I was looking through my teas at work and I realized that I have so many teas at home that I don't drink often enough because they have caffeine in it. I try to avoid caffeine later in the day in case it affects my ability to fall asleep. This is when I came up with the idea to inventory all my teas. I started compiling a spreadsheet depicting the type of tea, if it's caffeine free, if I enjoy it, and if I'd buy it again once it's completed. This way I will know exactly which teas I have and which ones I like.

So once I got home I pulled out all my tea, lit some candles, and completed the spreadsheet. Unfortunately there are so many teas that I don't even remember what they taste like because it's been so long since I've had them. Now I am going to have to go through all the ones that I don't remember (and there are many) to fill in the rest of the spreadsheet. In the long run it will help me keep organized with which ones I like and want more of and which ones not to bother with.

I think Dash got a little bored of my shenanigans and decided to show how upset he was by the lack of attention by laying on his face. I have never seen him lay like this before and it was so cute. Definitely got my attention! Currently he's happy that I'm done so we can cuddle and watch a movie together.

I've made myself some tea. One that was on the list of teas I can't remember how they taste. Tonight I picked Bear Trap as my tea of choice. It's a herbal tea with black currants, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries. The tea is actually pretty good but I think I'm enjoying it better chilled than hot. One tea down yet so many more to go!