Snow and Swimsuits

I was so delighted to look out the window this morning and see the beautiful snow! I thought I heard Tim in the garage getting ready to leave so I quickly made it out there so we could share the magical moment. I threw open the door.

Me: Look at the snow!
Tim: It's like a winter wonderland!
Me: I know!
Tim: (chuckling)
Me: Are you mocking me?
Tim: Uh-huh.

Whatever. I quickly grabbed my camera and shuffled outside to take some pictures. I absolutely love how quiet it is when everything is blanketed with snow. Everything is bright and still. It takes me back to Colorado. Sigh.

Even though outside it looks like Summer is far, far away, I know that my afternoons by the pool are only about three months away. I have a few new things for fabulous and classy poolside lounging.

I bought a new cover up.


While it might look a little boring, I really like it. It has a cute keyhole opening with a little bow adorned with wooden beads.


The price was right, too. Not $40, but ...


99 cents at NBC's 99 cent sale!

I went to Goodwill the other night and found a tote for the pool that I absolutely love! You know how I need a tote bag for every occasion.


It was only $4.00! And it has a great lining that can handle sunscreen squirts and snow cone drips.


I love the faux woven look.


It's very Bottega Veneta-ish.


Yeah, yeah, I know that's quite a stretch, but I'd say my Goodwill tote is as close to Bottega Veneta one can get for $4.00. Have you ever felt Bottega Veneta leather? Put it on your To Do List. It's UNbelievable.

As I was photographing the tote in my backyard (Yes! That's the magical snow from today!) I rememberd a cute little envelope I bought at Ann Taylor Loft.


I was just drawn to these. Maybe because they're so shiny. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I knew I could use it for pictures, receipts, To Do Lists, coupons, etc. The price made it too good to pass up.


And it was an extra 50% off so $2.44!

This will be great to hold my pool card, driver's license and snow cone money and it matches the tote perfectly.

I even have some new sandals. I got these muted gold sandals at the Gap Outlet.


I was kind of disappointed when I saw that they weren't real leather, but that is actually better for summer. I won't worry about them getting wet. How much?


So I'm set with pool accessories, but what is the main thing you need for the pool? A good swimsuit. Luckily, I've snagged a few over the last year. ALL under $5.oo and all from NBC.

This is a good family or mixed company swimsuit.


At $3.00 it's almost disposable.

I usually don't wear swimsuits quite this busy, but for $1.00 I thought I'd give this next one a try (with my own black bikini bottom, of course).


This one is my least favorite, but it was only $3.00 and it's really well made.


This is going to be one of my guest swimsuits. So if Sister forgets her suit she's taken care of. :)

This one's my favorite.


If you've seen these in department stores you know they're well over $100, but I got this one for $3.00. Score!

The snow continues to fall and I love it! Look at the bushes lining our sidewalk!


While I wait for Summer I'm certainly going to enjoy this!

Goodwill Finds

I had to swing by Goodwill last night while I was out running some errands. I didn't buy anything, but today I'm wishing I bought a thick, heart-shaped, glass bowl that was $1. It would have looked so cute around Valentine's Day with M&Ms or kisses in it. I could go back after work today, but I'll have to see.

I did remember to bring my camera and my battery actually had some life in it this time. You CAN find cute things at Goodwill. I found a dark denim skirt from Gap's 1969 collection for $4.

It honestly looked brand new.

There were some pants from Ann Taylor Loft.

They felt like they'd never been through the washer or dryer (in a good, new-ish sort of way).
They also had lots of brand new dresses that would be worthy of a formal or a wedding.
I'd be very interested to know how these ever made it to Goodwill. There were so many that you could probably dress your whole wedding party. The tags were still attached!

Of course, it wouldn't be Goodwill without a dress like this stuck in the rack.

Although this could be the foundation of a fantastic Halloween costume.

I made a quick run through the shoe area while holding my breath. It stinks back there. I would NOT recommend buying shoes at Goodwill unless they look brand spanking new and can be wiped off with a Lysol wipe (like jellies or rain boots). I might buy shoes for an infant if they were irresistible because you know they didn't get much wear and how gross can a tiny foot be?

Plus, you find things stashed in the wrong departments all the time. Look at this adorable swimsuit I found in the shoes.
It was so cute and ... the best part ... brand new.
I'm looking forward to welcoming a couple babies next summer, but I don't know yet if they'll be needing frilly suits or manly swim trunks. Wait, I just re-read that sentence and I must clarify these are friends' babies. No twins for this girl.

For those of you who have never set foot in a Goodwill, let me prepare you. Goodwill is gross. I feel that expectations will make or break almost any experience so I want to be clear. It is not glamourous to shop at thrift stores.

When I go to browse (or dig) I wear clothes that can be washed in hot water. I have anti-bacterial hand gel ready for use. I do not touch my eyes, nose, or mouth while in the store and I sequester any purchases I bring into my home from mingling with the rest of my belongings until they have been washed, wiped or run through the dishwasher.

Thrift stores are often not well organized (see swimsuit in shoe department above). Nobody will ask you if need any help (like any decent mall store), let you know what the specials are (Bath & Body Works-style), start a fitting room for you (Ann Taylor's the best) or offer you something to drink (I miss you, Harold's).

It is not unusual to enter a fitting room and find that there aren't any hooks in the wall, only small holes where hooks used to serve a purpose. Mirrors can often have a wavy, funhouse quality which makes it awfully difficult to decide if it's the pants or take-out dinners that are causing this unfortunate situation.

While I am a fan of thrift stores I will have to say there are two areas to avoid at all costs:
and dressing rooms that look like this:
Be safe out there.

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?