lunch time prize

today was just like any other day at the office. came in at 8, had a parmesan bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, talked with coworkers, and oh yeah, worked. before i knew it, it was lunch time! we don't have any food right now at home to make lunches with, so i went out to lunch today. i chose panda express, which usually is a good decision, but today it was not that good; the rice was hard and the chow mein was mainly onions and celery.

i ended up finishing my lunch, filled up my diet coke for the rest of the day's work, and started to head back to the office. i went a different way than i usually do for some reason, and as i was driving back, i noticed the area seemed familiar. i realized it was because i had been to a thrift store around there before. (is it a little sad and pathetic that i know possibly every location of every thrift store in orange county? maybe. but i don't really care. when you find as good of deals and as many as i do at thrift stores, it's worth it). i saw i had extra time before i had to be back from lunch, so i stopped at the salvation army to see what wonderful treasures i could find. the anticipation and excitement of walking into a thrift store is like a drug to me. when you first start thrift store shopping it's not that addicting, but over time you cannot stop and it becomes the only place you want to shop at.

as i began looking around my excitement started to deflate as i was finding nothing. the salvation army does have really good prices, better than goodwill, but they do not have as "nice" of a selection. i started to think i would walk out empty handed, until my hands and eyes laid sight on a black, gray, and white houndstooth skirt hanging on the rack. i pulled it out and ran my fingers along the extremely soft wool material and up to the tag to see where this adorable skirt came from. ann taylor loft. that's where. at one time this skirt was probably around $70, and now it was going to be mine for hardly anything. i was so excited and so thrilled that i had found such an adorable skirt for such a great price. i quickly made my purchase only to find out that the price was going to be HALF of what the tag said! SCORE!

i got in my car and hurried back to work so i could show off my new thrifty find to my coworkers. they probably all think i'm crazy because i am so obsessed with thrift store shopping, but i don't care. at least i look cute doing it :)

new thrifty finds!

today i had jury duty, which despite popular belief, really isn't that bad. i was released from the courthouse at 12 and called patrick only to find out he was going with his parents to the citadel outlet mall in LA, so i went along. patrick found some cool vans for $20, but the whole time i was looking in these outlet stores all i could think about was how i could find much better deals at thrift stores! so, we get home, and patrick went off to class for his first day of school. this meant i was on my own for the evening. my mind could only focus on one thing - goodwill. i figured, "well, hey, since patrick spent $20 today, it's ok for me to go spend money on amazing deals at goodwill." this was all it took, and off i went to my neighborhood goodwills. there are 2 or 3 goodwills nearby our apartment that i frequent quite often. tonight i decided to go to 2. i am going to tell you about my finds in the reverse order that i found them, because my find at the first goodwill was my favorite :)

these shoes are one of the good deals i found tonight. they are steve maddens and hardly even worn. and the best part is...i got them for a fraction of the cost that someone else paid for them!

the first goodwill i went to tonight had, for me, the most exciting find. in this particular goodwill i look through the clothes first while glancing at the shoes that are in the racks above. i went down a few isles, only to happen upon these beauties. their perfectly pale pink color, glossy luster, and fun detail on the toes won my heart over and i had to have them! i saw they were a target brand, which at goodwill means that shoes from there always are the same price. however, i just wanted to check and make sure because you never know when someone is going to make a mistake. so i flipped the shoes over and there was no price tag! for a fraction of a second i thought maybe there was a chance i could get a better price than the normal goodwill target price. but it was too obvious they were from target, so i gave up on that idea. i didn't really care about the price so much because, regardless, it would still be a good deal and i would still buy them, but i just like getting the best deals i possibly can :) so i was ready to check out and i went up to the register to tell the checker that there is no price. she looks at them and then tells me a price that is HALF what i was expecting to pay! "i'll take them!" i said! i was so excited! i am in love with them and have already started planning out what to wear with them to work tomorrow. gosh, i love goodwill.

addicted

for those of you who know me, well probably for those of you who have talked to me for even a few short minutes, you know that i am ADDICTED to thrift store shopping. i can not stop. it drives patrick crazy, but i can not help it. any time i have even a few extra minutes to spare, my mind day dreams off into the wonderful finds that might be waiting for me at any thrift store, well goodwill, mainly. i can not stand the thought of there being an amazing deal at a thrift store and someone, other than myself, finding it.

i have actually been thinking a lot lately about starting a business where i re-sell great finds at thrift stores! i think i could really excel at this, the only problem is i have NO idea where to start. i have never sold anything online, so i do not know how to go about doing this. if you do, please help me!

because i am so proud of all the great things i find at thrift stores, i want to share a few of these amazing deals with you! here are just a few samples....

on my way home from work today goodwill randomly popped in my head, and, lucky for me, there is a goodwill on my way home! what a coincidence! (there are actually a few on my way home) i found this wonderful purse, brand new, originally from target that sold for $40.00 and i got it for $4.99! what a steal! i am obsessed with it.

in our engagement pictures i even featured a few of my thrift store finds. this dress and belt were both from second hand stores. the dress is michael kors and i got it for a fraction of the cost!

this shirt is one of my favorite shirts. i love all the colors and how i can constantly switch up the outfit that i wear with it because of this.

this super awesome retro blazer i found at goodwill. i am also obsessed with it. i guess i'm obsessed with all the finds i get at thrift stores, but you know what i mean.

this vest is another wonderful thrifty find. it is probably patrick's favorite piece of clothing i have. this just proves that you don't have to spend a lot of money to look great for the hubby :)

ok, i honestly LOVE this dress. originally from J Crew, i got it for 8 bucks! such a steal!

i not only have a passion shopping for clothes at thrift stores, i love all of the random accessories i can find. this old school camera is on a shelf in our apartment and adds such a great touch to our mid century style.

it's been a while...

it has been quite a long time since i have posted on our blog. our lives have been crazy. i had two jobs, one of which i hated to death, and only had sundays off all while going to school part time. patrick was also going to school full time and now he's back with the us forest service fighting fires and saving bushes. as for me, i got a new job working with one of my good friends kaitlin finger. i love it. it is so chill and laid back. it is such a great place to work. i also have my weekends back so that is one of the best parts of this new job. and since i have started there i have gotten back into reading blogs again because kaitlin reads them a lot. and as i read all the blogs that i love because they are so funny, cute, and entertaining, it sparked a desire in me to start blogging again. but i apologize right off that my blog is probably not funny, cute, and entertaining as most blogs out there.

so let me give you an update on our lives over the last few months. one of patrick's best friends growing up, josh finger, got married to one of our friends kaitlin calder, now finger. their wedding was so gorgeous and everything was perfect. patrick was a groomsman and had no problem being goofy again with his boys.

then we went off to catalina! patrick and i had never been there before and we got great deals on groupon so off we went with our good friends brad and ashli caldwell. it was so much fun. catalina is gorgeous! i would definitely recommend it to anyone who has never been. we went paddle boating, drove around on a golf cart for hours, ate good food, sun bathed in the wonderful sun, and rode on the big catalina flyer. it was a great mini vacay.

in may most of my family came down to visit because my cousin got married. while they were here we went to an angels game and, of course, my sisters and i hardly paid attention to the game. we were too busy having a blast taking weird pictures of ourselves on my phone and laughing our heads off. it was like old times. it was so much fun.

patrick went on a huge fire in arizona! it was the largest wildfire in arizona history and he got to fight it! he was gone for 18 days, which was absolutely horrible and so hard for us to be apart that long. one of the great things about him being gone, though, was that we really learned to appreciate and love each other so much more. you don't realize what you have until it's gone. even the smallest things like a kiss good night, or cuddling, seem like the world to you when you can't have them. it was probably one of the hardest times we've ever had, but it made us fall in love all over again :)

one of my besties from byu came to visit! the one, the only, britt linde. she is a bundle of fun and i miss this girl so much. we had so much fun together at byu and we were inseparable. she honestly is one of my best friends ever. while she was here we met up with she and her little brother at huntington beach, of course, and walked around main street and the beach, and longboarded along the beach. it was so much fun and i miss this girl to pieces.

for the 4th of july patrick and i braved the crowds and headed down to huntington beach. it was PACKED but SO much fun. there was a parade, good food, and of course, the sun! during the parade there were fly bys by jets. it was so cool. we relaxed on the beach for hours and walked up and down the water. we even played in the water for a little bit. it was bone chilling cold, but so fun.

we also had the chance to see one of patrick's best friends get engaged about 2 weeks ago. it was very exciting and we are very happy for him.

for so long now, probably as long as patrick has known me, i have talked about how i have never been to the circus! i have always wanted to go, but for some reason or another, i had never been. well, a few monday nights ago patrick and i were at the store and i suggested that we get some steaks to bbq for the next night's dinner. he said no, we wont have time. and i was like what do you mean we wont have time? he got super awkward and tried to cover up whatever almost came out and said that he didn't really feel like steaks. so later that night he says to me, "are you excited for tomorrow?" i had no idea what he was talking about. he kept asking me and it was clear he had a surprise for me. and if you know me, you know that i LOVE surprises. so the whole next day at work i was so anxious and could hardly focus. all i could think about was trying to figure out what he had planned. i knew the circus was in town and i also knew that the pageant of the masters in laguna beach was going on too. those were the 2 options i had narrowed it down to. so i get off work that day and rush home to change. we hop in the car with brad and ashli and start heading towards the honda center, which is where the circus was. i got SO excited. i kissed and kissed and kissed patrick. it was so fun being surprised and especially with something that i have been wanting to do forever. thanks babe!

the elephants were so cute! they were only a small part of the show, but all of the entertainers were so fun and amazing. i wanna go again!

so on to the next activity....kaitlin and josh invited patrick and i to go with them to the mormon night at angels stadium because her family had extra tickets. to be honest, it was a horribly boring game, but i got to see lots of old friends and my own family. we had fun with all of them, but didn't watch most of the game. one of josh and kaitlin's nieces was obsessed with patrick and would not leave him alone. all she wanted to do was play with patrick. it was so cute. and by the end of the night when it was time for fireworks she decided she wanted to share that moment with patrick, so as a result, i had no one to cuddle up with during the fireworks show. but it was ok because i was melting over how cute patrick is with little kids. i can't wait to have some of our own!

well, most of you know that summer time means oc fair time in california! patrick and i love the fair! we went twice this year. we ate super yummy food, which patrick spent a fortune on, but it was so good, it was worth it. we tried deep fried oreos and a deep fried klondike bar. the oreos were ok, but the klondike bar wasn't good. we had a blast going with our friends though. it was so much fun to walk around and see all the animals, rides, food, and the hypnotist. that was probably our favorite part. it was hilarious. ironically enough, i was actually one of those people up on that stage at the fair about 6 years ago. i got hypnotized there. it was crazy and so fun and it worked!

so, needless to say, we have had quite a fun filled summer so far, and there is still almost a month left! i love being married and having a best friend to do everything and anything with. can't wait to see what the rest of the summer holds...