It's All About Whatchya Know

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Not only because of the crazy, messy life that I live, but also with the knowledge I have gained. When I haven't been studying like crazy for my test that was this past week or working or cleaning or whatever else makes me so busy, I have been looking at fashion stuff like crazy! I have become a fashion sponge. Unfortunately, I have not been able to use my knowledge per say, but I have gotten a few items since this whole "walk about" began. 

One thing that I did buy was right up my alley. 

Not only was this item good quality, it was name brand, and it was CHEAP (and the crowd goes wild!!). I would not have known this brand from Adam a few short weeks ago, but as I was strolling along in SAMS CLUB (SAMS CLUB people, can you believe it?!) I happened to notice a certain sign above some clothing items that read 7 for all mankind.

I totally did a double take.

I had just seen these exact same jeans on RueLaLa the week before selling for over $100! 

I feverishly dug through the pile, only to find out that they are sized like those fancy clothes that I don't buy. I have no idea what size I am in the 20's-30's! I only know those low number sizes that I can afford!

I held up several pairs up to me to try to pick out what would fit. Then I realized I didn't know how much they were. I looked up and read all the signs and saw that they were..... $30!!!!!!!!

I am sorry for my enthusiasm, but that is MY kind of price and I can't help it!

I picked out what I thought would fit (since there are no fitting rooms at Sam's and you can't take merchandise into the loo), and took it straight to the cash register.

I now have to apologize for such a good story. Unfortunately I got them home and guess what... they didn't fit! :(

I am going to take them back in the next few days and exchange them, but what a deal, right?!

Check out your local Sam's Club. You never know what you will find. Thanks to all my Pinteresting and internet shopping, I CAN have my cake (fashion) and eat it too (cheap!!)!!!!!

I Did It

I totally sewed Sadie a doggie sweater from one of my old sweaters that she loves to lay on. I am pretty sure she is a big fan! It only took me about 15 minutes to make the changes. It may not be the best fit, but you could not pay me enough money to go out and buy a real doggie sweater. :)

Will to Run

For about a year and a half I have been doing CrossFit as a means to get my exercise in for the week. I absolutely LOVE CrossFit for so many reasons. I love the challenge, I love the people, I love that you see results, I love that you start doing things that you never thought you would EVER be able to do (like a pull-up or a rope climb), I love that it pushes you farther than you ever thought you would go, I love the high that you get from working your body past the point of breaking, I love that ANYONE can do it even though nobody thinks that they can, I love all of it. Since I have started school in August it has been really hard for me to keep up my CrossFit routine. Because I have such long hours at work, which means I can't go to CrossFit on those days, and then on my days off I have to get up and read a stinky, boring textbook, I have not found the "umph" to wake up early on my days off and go to the gym. To sum it up, I have been lazy (fine, I will admit it!).

All that to say, I would recommend CrossFit to anyone and everyone. However, this week, I have made the decision to put CrossFit on the back burner for now. It is difficult to keep something in a certain time slot on a regular basis with the unscheduled life that I have. 

Therefore, I have also decided I have to still get exercise at home. I decided that this will actually work, because in the last few months on my days off when I couldn't get up to go to CrossFit (at 6am), I have been waking up and running at home. 

Today is my day off so I woke up, laughed at all the ridiculous comments on Facebook about the election (from both sides mind you), looked at Pinterest for a few to recover, and then got me and my lazy dog's butt out of bed. I suited up like a snowman (it was in the 40's this morning, burr), wished for the first time in my life I had bought Sadie a doggie sweater (I admit it), and tried to get her excited about going for a run and going out in the cold. 

Needless to say, it is hard to run with an unmotivated dog. We did a few laps around the neighborhood while I listened to America's Test Kitchen and then did some squats. It was short and sweet, but at least I did it. 

I will continue to work out on my days off and drag this lazy pooch around with me.

(This is a picture I took after our first lap around the neighborhood. When we got back to our driveway, she seriously halted and sat. It made me laugh so hard that I had to stop and take a picture. She is such a lazy girl, but you gotta love her!)

Happy running! Hope this picture brings you some motivation! ;)

Happy Voting!!

Everyone go out and use your right to vote today! Proud to be an American today. No matter what happens, I am proud and thankful to have the freedom to use my voice as a citizen of the United States of America to make my opinion known. Not everyone has that right or freedom! Use yours because you can!

Recently Read

(I am FINALLY getting around to posting about these books. You will have to forgive my lateness, which is probably going to make for a pretty crappy post, but here goes nothin'...)

A few months ago I read a few books that I thought I would share about because I liked them so much. After reading The Hunger Games (HG) by Suzanne Collins, I have been itching for a good read. I really loved HG, however, the writing style was not up to par for me. I found my taste for "a book as good as HG" sad, because HG was not the best written book I have ever read. I had been doing some tootling around on some blogs and found a list of books recommended by the author of a particular blog that I frequent. I went out on a limb and just bought one of the books she recommended, hoping it would be good. The first book that I read was called Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Image via www.goodreads.com

The reason I was excited to read this book was because it is set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, which intrigued me after reading my very first post-apocalyptic novel, HG. It is also about a young girl who is coming of age in this post-apocalyptic society, which divides its' people into five factions by distinct personality traits/characteristics: honesty, intelligence, peacefulness, bravery, and selflessness. In order to be apart of one of these factions, you must prove to the people in the faction that you belong there by a series of "tests" designated by each faction. If you don't complete the tests up to their standards (which you might not survive), you are placed into a group of people (more like the "untouchables" of the society) known as the "factionless." The main character is at the age where she must choose to either stay with the faction she was born into (stay with her family and everything she has ever known) or leave her home, reject her family, and choose another faction, even if it is where she thinks she belongs. Like HG, this book presents its' readers with many questions of social norms as well as ethical issues. It was a thrilling read for me (not for my husband, he made me stop reading it to him at the climax of the book, boo) and also, very thought provoking. I actually thought it was better than HG in most instances. My husband disagreed.

The other book that I read (as soon as I stopped reading this one) was Divergent's sequel, Insurgent.

Image also via www.goodreads.com

This book was just as good as the first (which HG did a bad job at). I gobbled it down in a short time, and was left wanting more and more! Unfortunately, the last installment of the trilogy is not to be released until next fall.

I highly recommend both of these books to anyone who liked/loved HG, or who loves good books, period. They are considered "Young Adult" reads, so if you are not into that, I wouldn't read them. 

Anyone read anything good lately? I am looking for some good books to read over the holiday once my semester is over with (yep, back to no pleasure reading books while in school, BOO!). I will also do another review if I read anything good (I have read a few books since then, but they weren't good enough to do an actual review on). 

Hope everyone had a good start to their week! Is anyone else as tired as I am at about 6pm once it is already pitch black dark outside?! Darn you, time change! 

Fashionista

Yes. My new goal in life is to become some what of a fashionista. I have never been interested in fashion. Well, I have always wanted to wear cute clothes, but I never have had a knack for picking them out or spending the time/money (mainly the money) to buy them and/or keep up with the latest trends. My main problem is that I cannot seem to gravitate at all towards fashionable clothes due to some unknown cause. I am fairly conservative/modest, which has always caused me to either look like I am 50 years old or like I am 12. My best friend even told me once (I clearly remember this so don't try to say you didn't) that I need to stop dressing like an old lady. Basically, I am a fashionignoramous.Yep, I said it.

So, one day quite recently I decided I was going to change this about myself. I don't want to spend enormous amounts of money on clothing, but I am willing to put up a substantial amount of money in small increments to get a basic wardrobe started.

You know, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly style (love that show and them, of course!).

Although I want to change everything about my personal style and my closet, my main problem is found in the beginning of the quest... what is fashion/style and where do you find it?

First stop. Pinterest.

I have basically been spending my free time scouring the Women's Fashion section on Pinterest and looking through every fashionable friends' "style" boards to try to answer this simple question. I have found a lot of fashionable things. The more I look through pictures, the more I feel like I know my own personal style. It has been really helpful in figuring out what I actually like and what grabs my attention at first glance.

This has brought me to my next question (which I am still trying to answer)... where do stylish people shop? Not only stylish people, but stylish people who wear my age appropriate clothing?

This question still boggles my mind. I cannot seem to figure this out.

One thing that has helped me answer this question, is a certain blog I have started reading recently. This certain blog is written by a girl who writes about food, fitness, and of course, her style. She takes pictures of herself, posts the pictures, and then says where each piece of her outfits were bought. This has helped me figure out (at least a little) where some people shop.

One of the places that this girl shops is a certain online boutique called RueLaLa. At RueLaLa, you sign up to become a member, and then you have free access to look through their deals of the day. Basically, it is discounted high end clothing. Some things are reasonable, some things are moderately expensive, and some things are incredibly expensive. Although most things I would not or could not afford, I did purchase something....

I am sorry for two reasons... 1.) I cannot tell you what I bought and 2.) It was not for myself to help my wardrobe. However, it has helped me to see that buying clothes and things online is posible and can lead to a positive outcome without any trouble.

All this to say, I am working on my style and trying to figure this whole thing out. I would appreciate any tips or tricks from anyone with any sense of style. I personally need it greatly.

Hope everyone had a great, relaxing weekend! Happy Sunday! :)