My Kind of Ski Trip

I think Colorado is one of the best places to live. I know that cities can be appealing when they're near family, if they stir up happy memories or if you have a great job there. But if you take all that away and just look at the city's geographical location and climate, (in my opinion) Colorado cities can't be beat.

Tim and I got to live in Colorado Springs for four years and we fell in love with Colorado. We like to get back to Colorado as often as we can because it's so fantastic and because it is home to two of our favorite people.


My sister, Ashley, and her husband, Ryan.

We had to get in a ski trip this season so we planned a trip to Copper Mountain Resort.

We had a blast. Skiing, eating, hot tubbing and shopping with good friends who are also family makes for a great trip.








While Ashley and I enjoy some moderate physical activity in a beautiful setting, if shopping were a sport we could be serious competitors in the "bang for your buck" event. We took a morning and drove out to the Outlets at Silverthorne. The drive itself made for a worthwhile trip.


Ashley scored big time at Ann Taylor. They had a huge sale section and everything was an additional 50% off.


This might look kind of strange on the hanger, but it was really cute on her. And the price ...


$2.39 after the extra 50% off!

This shirt was very flattering and had interesting colors. It was also machine washable while looking like it would demand special laundry attention. A big plus.




$4.89 is a good deal!

My camera did not capture this cardigan's cuteness.


I know she'll wear this a lot and it was only $7.39. And look at the cute buttons!


Not pictured: a beautiful, deep teal scarf that could be worn year round.

I got one thing. A red coat.




For some reason all the coats were marked even farther down to $59.99. Works for me!

We both tried on this top at Banana.


Let's just say that standing side by side it was a lesson in how to wear a tunic(Ashley) and how NOT to wear a tunic (me). I am ALWAYS drawn to tunics. I'll hold one up and say "aaw, look at this" and Ashley just shakes her head and instructs me to put it back. They do not agree with me. I do buy the least offensive ones just because I can't resist. This particular one was highly offensive.

Ashley bought it. And it looked great on her.


I had my big score at Restoration Hardware at Cherry Creek right before we went to the airport.

This is how the girl wrote up the hold tag.


Is Restoration Hardware in the business of selling orchards now? (And don't get me started on the apostrophe. What could these orchards possibly be possessing? Ugh.)

No, they don't sell orchards, but they do sell exquisite faux orchids! And I am a sucker for a realistic faux orchid.


I bought two of the Trough style for my dining room.


They are still $89 a piece at RH online, but for some reason they were half off.


Plus, all sale items were an extra 10% off and then I noticed some small scratches in the containers (that I don't mind at all) so I asked for another discount and the manager gave me another 5% off. It's not much, but it almost paid for my stuffed chicken pita at Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill. Mmmmm. Love that place.

So these were $38 each! My sister is orchid-sitting until she can hand deliver them to me sometime in the (hopefully) near future. I know they're in good hands.

Ashley picked up a FREE top at Banana because they sent her a gift card for her birthday.


Banana is so thoughtful!

It was a great ski trip and we look forward to our next get together!

Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day, don't you? For me, Valentine's Day isn't just about romantic love. It's about the real, true love one has for family and friends. And Valentine's Day comes at just the perfect time of the year. It's always kind of a let down to take down the Christmas decorations, say good-bye to visiting friends and family, and go back to work. I usually get in the mood to clean out and declutter in January and then before I know it it's time for another holiday!

Wouldn't you know that I would marry someone who couldn't care less about Valentine's Day? In fact, he actually kind of dislikes Valentine's Day. I've tried my best in the ten plus years I've known and loved him and I've pretty much ... almost given up on him. Isn't that the way it goes?

But I've decided to not let it get me down. I just direct my Valentine's Day affection elsewhere.

The house was looking so bare after putting away all the Christmas stuff. I don't have much in the way of Valentine's decor and I'm not going to buy the adorable decorations out right now at full price (maybe in March at 80 or 90% off). I decided to give myself an hour to quickly add some free Valentine's love to a few areas of my home.

I Valentine-ized the dining room table with some red and white that I already owned.



My mother-in-law gave me the candles one year and my mom gave me the napkins, heart frame and Waterford violet vase.

I love these little vases. They are perfect for a real flower or two or, in only select instances, a bunch of fake ones.

I love these votive holders I got at Big Lots several years ago. I bought several for myself and gave them as gifts, too.

Candy is an inexpensive way to decorate. I got some Hot Tamales in my stocking and they work perfectly in my little candy tower. (And this way I don't eat a whole box in one evening since they're part of my decor.)
I bought two amaryllis at Marshalls after Christmas and they work well on the buffet.
They were only $7.00!
Pottery Barn sells just the flower for $12. I thought these looked pretty realistic but the bulb seemed a little odd. My mom (the horticulturalist) informed me that the yellow bulb is a "dead giveaway" that these are fake. So I will be painting these brown in the near future.

Next year when I pack up the Christmas decorations I'm going to try to look at things through rose-colored Valentine's glasses. I know I have other red, white, or sparkly things that could be mixed together in a new way for Valentine's Day.

In the bathroom (yes, Valentine's Day is honored in the bathroom, too) I just grouped together some pink and red bath products along with some cute washcloths from my mom.

Gels and bubbles are near the bathtub (makes sense, right?).

And lotions are on my vanity.
I just like walking in and seeing little displays. It makes me happy.

Another thing that makes me happy is this quick and cute DIY project that doesn't even need instructions once you see it.

I made this in college with a picture from the February Formal and it still makes me all warm and fuzzy when I see it. He does, too. :)

What do you to decorate for Valentine's Day?

Saturday

I can't believe it's already Tuesday and I'm just now posting about Saturday. I'm going to need to figure out some sort of schedule for myself or this blog is going to quickly head south and my two followers will stop checking in.

Saturday involved two key outfits. You don't need to see Outfit #1 when I was eating this.

Let's just say they were "at-home clothes". My most inner circle knows about these favorite indoor T-shirts: Casady (about to be retired), I Survived the Y2K Bug, We Be Jammin and my beloved, black Coca-Cola T-shirt with silver writing (that's not really silver anymore) that I got in fifth grade after saving up Coke can tabs.

Anyway, back to the real clothes.

We went to a 4-year-old tee ball game to support this guy.


How cute is he?! Wade and Sarah deserve the credit for this little guy and Sarah is the talented photographer behind the camera.

Since the Gators' team color is blue we HAD to wear blue to support #8. Um, navy is a form of blue.


I don't have much true blue so I settled on this navy Ralph Lauren skinny fit polo.


You can get it for $75 here,


but I scored this one for $19.99 at the Ralph Lauren outlet in Gilroy, CA.

Anyone else been to Gilroy? I could not get over how much the entire town smelled like garlic! It was SO strong! I kept searching for validation, begging someone to confirm that, indeed, IT SMELLED LIKE GARLIC EVERYWHERE.

I finally had my moment when we learned that Gilroy is the Garlic Capital of the World, home to the annual Garlic Festival and there is even a Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen & Court. Meet 2009's Royalty:

I paired the RL polo with some Gap Curvy Jeans.

These are $59.50 at Gap or online, but I got them on sale for $19.99.

Saturday night we met our friends Brent, Abbey, and Luke for some Tex-Mex.

Wait. Luke's little face didn't make that one and you don't want to miss out on this:

There. Much better.

I wore the Gap jeans, but paired them with a white tank top (not pictured) that I got for 99 cents at NBC and a drapey, short sleeved cardigan with cute pockets.

It's not much to look at on the hanger, but I really like it and get compliments whenever I wear it (and not just from my mom). A woman even stopped me once to ask where I got it. Don't you just LOVE it when that happens?! I told her it was from NBC, but I didn't tell her I only paid $3 for it and it had the Kensie tag on it for $98!

I wore it with this bracelet.


I've had this for a few years but you can still get it here at Express.com

I'm usually not a fan of the clothes at Express, but I do like some of their jewelry. For some reason I got a $10 off coupon in the mail from them so I thought it might be worth a visit. This bracelet was on sale for $10 so it was FREE. Totally worth the visit.

I've got one last picture from Saturday.

This is Brent and he is showing off a brand new pair of Salomon ski/snowboard pants I got at Goodwill for $4.50! I should have taken some pictures showing the cool pockets and ways you can adjust the fit of these pants. I was going to ask him to model the pants, but when I asked Tim to help me remember to get a picture of "Brent in his new Salomon pants" Tim said, "Don't do that." So here's Brent holding the pants.

Speaking of Goodwill, I went to Goodwill last night and I even took my camera with me so that I could share some fabulous finds out there for you. I was so disappointed to discover that my battery was dead! There was a cute, ruffled top from Ann Taylor Loft, a dark denim skirt that looked brand new and a plum, silk wrap dress that even had its matching belt. Matching belt is a major Goodwill plus. Matching belts seem to get separated from their garments at Goodwill.

Oh well. There's always a next time. And then the time after that and after that ...

Question: Goodwill. You WILL Goodwill or you WON'T Goodwill?