Show Us Your life - Money Saving Tips

This is so my topic! I have an envelope system. No matter how much I explain how it works, no one understand how it works. But trust me, it does. I have gone on so many trips, saved so much money, and have never once said "sorry, I can't..I'm broke."

First step..I do not believe in debit cards. Hate hate hate them. I hate when I go out to eat, we get one bill to split, and everyone has a card. As a waitress..it's also annoying. Ditch it. You will save money. I promise.

Next, when you get your check. Pay yourself first. Figure out how much you need until your next paycheck. Just fun money, not bills. Next, figure out how many bills you have and how much they are every month. Divide that by how many times you are paid in a month. Save just a little more than that. And you are golden.

Have a savings account. DO NOT TOUCH IT! It's to save money..it's not a rainy day fund. But start one of those too!

At any given time I have about ten envelopes going. Currently we have: checkings, savings, Disney fund, gas money (yea, I break it down THAT far,) date night, grocery money, and then I have my own savings, checkings and rainy day fund. Seriously, it works. But you have to stick with it!

I clip coupons. I get frustrated with them at the store. But even a little bit helps! Don't use the ones that say "save 50 cents when you buy 2," unless you will actually use both! 

How do yoooou save money?

Happy Friday!

This week everyone is participating in the MilSpouse Blog Hop! You can find the link up information here! Basically, I'm supposed to give a brief bio on myself. So, here we go:

My name is Nicole, I'm 24 and originally from Massachusetts. I went to Fitchburg State College and have my Bachelors Degree in History. I want to go back to school, for what? I have no idea. I either want to be a teacher..or open my own restaurant. Or maybe both? Who knows! After college (graduated in May 2008..holy crap..2 years ago!) I worked at a local restaurant until one day...I got bored. I decided on a whim to move to North Carolina with a "friend." Long story short, that's where I met Danny. And now, a year later..we are married! Crazy! Other little tidbits: I don't drive, and no I don't want to. But I'm going to have to suck it up and do it! I love to travel and want to go to New Zealand SO bad! I have a puppy named Miley, who thinks she's a cat. Oh, and I have an amazing husband who just happens to be a Marine. I have never been more proud of someone in my entire life. He is my best friend, love, and hero. How amazing is it to have all that wrapped up into one? I think I'm pretty lucky!

I love my blog because I love meeting new girls on here, Military Spouse or not! But did you ladies know next Friday is Military Spouse Day!? I'm thinking..THEME PARTY!

Dabbling in Mascara: Covergirl Lashblast Fusion Review

             Final Look                   vs.      Eye makeup-less Mugshot 

That right photo looks like a sad, lost little boy. It belongs on the side of a milk carton : )

A few weeks ago I won the Covergirl mascara giveaway hosted by Liana of BeautyBag411. She was so kind to send me a few extra goodies as well! I was really excited to see that she included an eyeshadow brush, so that I could finally stop using the horrid free foam shadow applicator.

Annnd get ready to see why I'm not a makeup & beauty blogger.

Naked eyes with sparse lashes curled.

After a few coats of Covergirl Lashblast Fusion

Finished with: NYC Liquid Eyeliner ($2) and a smudge of gray eyeshadow winging the outer corners.

Pros: achieved greater lengths easily. The wand is very unique and felt like a little comb, separating each lash as it goes.

Cons: a little clumpy compared to my usual mascara, and runs easily. I was wearing this mascara the other day and was a little horrified to notice this:

Eeeks! And nobody was kind enough to tell me : (

Would I use this again? Maybe on a day when I'm sure my eyes won't be watering. And maybe there is a waterproof version? Either way, thanks again Liana for letting me try this!

End look again - keeping "natural" for work:

Readers - what is your favorite mascara? My HG is Lancome Defincils (I use regular, not waterproof, and it has never smudged or ran on me) but I'm currently also loving Fiberwig "Paint-on lashes."

Nerdy Excited!

Is Avon a job? If so, I guess I have a job. If not, I guess I have a hobby that has the potential of making me money. I'm actually really excited about this!

I had a lot of positive feedback from followers on here, friends and family, and Facebook friends. So, I'm hoping this works to my advantage! So guys, I'm counting on you! And thank you in advance!

This will also be great because once this business thingy gets going...I'm thinking..LOTS OF GIVEAWAYS! This Avon Lady is going to be working overtime and my blogger friends will make out in the long run! So now you should be nerdy excited too!

In exactly one week...look for my official release of my website and get ready to start ordering!

Charm of the Week: ID/Badge Lanyards for Teacher Gifts

Posted a handful of lanyards this week. Everyday there will be a new one added for a few days. If you want a custom color to keep in line with school colors, just let me know! A lanyard would make a unique gift that not everyone thinks of. Show your teacher how much you cared this year.

                             

Thursday Five!

 It's that time again..Thursday Five over at MannLand5. List five things that make you Happy, Giddy, Grateful, Joyful, Gleelful, or all of the above.

1. Tomorrow is Friday! And me and Danny are having a looong-overdue date. Sure, we go out all the time..but I can't remember the last time we had a legit date. Getting dressed up and headed out to a fancy-ish seafood place! I'm way giddy for this!

2. I'm so grateful for Danny. I swear, he is going to get sick of my endless complaining. For the first 15 minutes that he gets home from work, I swear all I do is whine and complain about my lack of sleep and how the dog drives me nuts. How is that fair? I need to work on this...majorly.

3. The cheap prices at Walmart make me happy. Up until a few months ago, I hated Walmart...I was strictly a Target girl. But the grocery prices at Walmart make me want to do a little dance!

4. I'm so overly joyed about the birth of my cousins little girl! I (still) honestly can't see him with a baby. I'm so excited for him and his wife and I can not wait to spoil meet her!

5. There are only 3 more episodes of LOST until the finale!! And my Roomie will be down here to celebrate with me, I'm so gleeful about that!

Welcome to the World!

Yesterday, at 4:45PM, Danny's cousin Ashley gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Noah Dale weighed in at 7 pounds.

Five minutes later, in Massachusetts, my cousin Brian and his wife Jessica gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl. Lauren Helen is 6 pounds 2 ounces.

How cool is that?!

I Want To WIN!

I have never won anything. Okay wait, now that I think of it...senior year of high school I won a carry on piece of luggage. I still use it, so I guess that's pretty cool! But other than that...zip-nadda!

When I read that one of my favorite bloggers was having a giveaway, I wanted in on it! It's the first giveaway I have ever participated in on here..so I'm actually kinda excited about it!

Go follow Mrs. S.'s blog, tell her I sent you please!

I'm Obsessed!

With my own wedding pictures. Seriously, every time I look at them I have a new favorite. I think I'm going to get some of them printed out this weekend..and start my scrapbook! I know I've posted the link on here before, but I just love our photographer so much..so here is her website Anna May Photography. Go there, leave her some feedback..and let her know how much you love my pictures. She really is awesome!

Here are more of my favorites!

My accessories..and the bells were used to hold the escort cards!

All prettied up..minus my dress!

The girls did shots...I chugged the champagne!

Me and Dad...doesn't he look like Dennis Quaid?!

This picture is SO us! I love it!

 What? Not every bride lays on a bar for wedding pictures?

love love love!

My sister checking out my rings

 Mmmm tiramisu!

 

Everyone I know reallyyyy likes SHOUT!

Seriously, love all those pictures! Our DJ sent us a video of our wedding..I'm currently trying to figure out how to get that on here..hopefully I can figure it out! In the meantime, here's a two minute clip..my fathers face cracks me up! Go here!

 

I Want It Wednesday

I'm totally in the mood for a Friendly's Reese's Pieces Sundae. I don't want a recreation that I whipped up myself...or the kind that comes in the frozen aisle at the grocery store. I want extra yummy peanut butter sauce, lots of crunchy Reese's...and sure, some vanilla ice cream. I could do without the chocolate sauce, but go ahead, throw some of that on too!

Has anyone else ever noticed that no matter what Friendly's you go to, no matter what you order...it always takes forever to get your food? Even the ice cream window takes forever!

But that sundae is totally worth the wait!

A Risky Alteration: BCBG Pleated A-Line Dress

This is a quick post that I found in the "unpublished" archives from many months ago. When my mother first gave me this dress, my initial reaction was ... hrm, interesting.

I tried it on and sauntered around the house, as each member of my family gaped in horror, expecting the worse. "Im not with child," I snapped at my dad and grandma. 

BCBG tweed dress, sz 0

What to do with such a dress? The ginormous pleats overwhelmed my petite frame and made the dress difficult to alter. My mom instructed me not to alter it, and instead save it for when I am pregnant. That is just so like her to buy me something that won't be worn until a decade down the road, if at all. I remember when I was 10 years old, she bought me these purple, carrot-shaped, Route66 brand jeans in kids size 10, 12, AND 14. I didn't hit size 10 until I was about 16 years old, and by then I had probably burned the jeans. Moral of the story: I did not want this dress sitting around for 10 years waiting for me to grow into it. I was determined to make it wear-able.

You can't tell in the photos, but the material is a light blue tweed, which is actually beautiful in person. Such a shame that the fabric was used on this tent instead of a nice, fitted, sheath dress!

Pleats are always tricky, plus this dress was fully lined. Simply taking in the sides wouldn't work, as the fabric being taken away would pull on the pleats. I spend an hour brainstorming and putting in a few stitches myself to see what type of alteration would work. This is a rough sketch of what I ended up getting:

#1 - stitch shut the pleats on the upper body. #2 - slim down both sides of the upper body to give it some definition. When I took it to Hemmingway Tailors, the ladies agreed. They also suggested slimming the dress all the way, as the full skirt would pouf out too much if only the torso was taken in. The poor side pockets were forfeited in the process.


The results:

Front View: before and after alterations

Side View: before and after alterations

Back View: Before and after alterations

The front and side views look better post-alteration, but ... uh-oh...what happened to the back? The tailors took in too much fabric from each side, and as a result the back pleats (esp. the left side) are pulled open and have completely lost their shape. So my tailors aren't perfect, after all. I'll forgive them, but they should have been able to foresee this issue when pinning in the sides. There's not enough fabric to let out to address the problem.

Anyone have a tip to share about altering pleated items? Or a tip for me on how to salvage this poor dress?

The Count Down is On

The biggest problem I have with having a home business is that I work best under pressure. Which is just another way of saying I procrastinate so much that unless I have a dead line its often hard for me to finish a project. Yes, you may laugh at me. That's why during my school days I often made deals with myself like, "I can't watch this show tonight unless I finish my math homework first."

Well now I'm facing that big and fun deadline that every artists faces when they do shows - the countdown to opening day!

If it seems like I've talked about the Saturday Market season starting a lot - that's because I have! It's my main focus right now. And considering I'm down to 10 days - it should be!

My original plan was to spend all month working on things for the season, and then my nephews were born on the 11th of this month instead of the 10th of next month! Needless to say the whole first part of my month was completely taken up and saturated with baby stuff! Now I'm still a little split with my focus (how can I not be? They are so cute!!!) but I think I'm just about ready.

The most important things are done. The canopy is on it's way in the mail from Amazon, I've bought most of the displays I need, and if I don't get the rest in time that's ok, I'll just improvise and have it for the next week!

The biggest thing left on my plate is changing over some of my tagging system. While I'm dreading the monotony of that, I have started a few pieces at time with the items I've been listing these last few days. I think I'll probably go down to the red box while my hubby is gone this weekend and rent a movie to watch while I do the rest of the tags.

Secret Saturday Event!

Girls! If you're in the Jacksonville area this Saturday, I want to hangout with you! I don't want to give all the details out on here (don't want creepy people finding out where we hangout!) but just know, it will be a good time!

So, if you're in the area (or know of anyone who might be interested,) just leave me a comment and I'll get all the info to you!

Hope you can make it!

Question!

If I sold Avon would any of you buy it? Answer honestly please!

I have a meeting with a rep tonight, 

but really only want to do it if people will buy it!

Thanks in advance!

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

77 followers?! How exciting! But here's the thing...I think only about 10 of you leave comments and lovin'. There must be a reason you read this!

I want to get to know my readers, so leave me a comment and be my friend...not just a reader!

Life with PAG: Bye bye big apple

See ya "Manhattan home":

Hello again Boston bed:

I got to leave my NYC project early to attend to some work back in Boston. Everyone was so jealous that I got to go home. Some of my coworkers have been out there since last August, and will probably be there for the rest of this year! Although I had tons of fun and good eats while in NY, nothing quite compares to being in my own cozy little apartment.

Two quick packing tips:

1. Hotel hangers can harbor gross stuff. I started packing entire outfits on my own "slim" hangers, which ended up being quite efficient.

2. Handbags that fold down save a lot of space. Pictured: Longchamp Le Pliage and LV Speedy 25

Snapshots from the dining diaries with my fave coworkers:

Couldn't read a word on the menu @ Del Posto.

Stuffed with steak @ Bobby Van's

Trying to eat light for once @ Sushi Samba

Steakfest again @ Quality Meats

Closeup of meal: 3 filet sampler, green beans w/ cashews, parmesan waffle fries, and a huge sirloin:

Thank you readers for all the foodie recommendations after my last NYC post. Jessica suggested some hearty ramen from Ippudo, and I ended up going twice for classic (left) and modern (right). Now I am determined to "brew" my own tonkotsu broth, but I read that it takes 12+ hours.

Went to Boston's Beer n' Bacon festival during my first week back. There were tons of beer samples from local breweries, as well as pig-themed nibbles from local restaurants. I was bloated for the rest of the day.

Inhaling a bacon-flavored mini chocolate cupcake with maple frosting:

The end. Hope everyone had a great weekend!