Today's Thrifty Style

Despite the winter weather advisories today, I made the decision to venture down to South Street yesterday. Thankfully, by the time I left the house, it had stopped snowing and what was on the ground around my area was gone. It was still insanely cold. Cold in Philly means layers!

To keep me warm, I had a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt skinny jeans ($5 at Goodwill), my 3/4 length Gap t-shirt (free from my friend who was cleaning out her closets), my absolute favourite fair isle Coldwater Creek fair isle swing cardigan (brand spanking new, $6 at Goodwill, one of my best scores to date) and my covet-worthy glittery skull scarf ($2 on clearance at Claire's.)

Oh, and I cannot forget to mention the accessories. In my ear is my singlet earring that I made (free, mainly because I'm too lazy at this point to try and figure out what it cost me a year ago to make it), and my super cute picnic pie necklace, which was gifted to me by my friend's mom for my 30th birthday.

Total for this outfit: $13
Did I stay warm? Oh yes!

Til next time! -Erika

Exciting news!

With the help of my dear partner (thank god for people who are much more technologically savvy than me!!), I have been able to make some pretty significant upgrades to my portable communication device. In other words, I gots me a shiny new phone.

What does this mean for you?

Remote blogging! Direct from the stores! Please note the excessive use of exclamation points to denote just how incredibly excited I am to try this out.

The steals and deals in store!
The outfits that don't make the cut!
The weird and random stuff that I find that I can't figure out what it is, but I kind of want to buy it anyway!

Yes, peoples! It's time to start using my unlimited data plan to its fullest.

Til next time, here's a picture of a T-Rex and penguins. -Erika

It's the End of the World As We Know It

So, doomsday types are saying that tomorrow is the end of the world. Do I think that this is the case? No. I don't.

But it's an interesting proposition, isn't it? We often hear that we should live each day like it's our last. What if tomorrow was really the case and you had less than 24 hours left on this planet and you knew it? What would you spend it doing? How would you feel about how you spent your life?

I thought a little bit about that today. What would I do if I knew I had only one day? Hmmm, that is a tough one. I would probably try to spend as much time as I can with the people I love. Given that most of them live far away, I'd probably be heart broken that I couldn't actually see them. The idea of that hurts, I have to admit.

If I looked back on my life, I would probably think that I did the best I could at any given time. Ok, sometimes I tried a little harder than others. Would I have regrets? Yeah. I wish I wouldn't have been so hard on myself all the time and would've cut myself some slack once in a while. I'd regret letting my fear of what could be control my actions and thus, control my life. I'd regret not letting myself just be human and make mistakes and move on without beating myself up about them.

But I would also look at how lucky I was to have had a life where I was surrounded with people who loved me, regardless of how neurotic I could get. People who were willing to wander out into the woods and bring me back, metaphorically speaking, when I let my brain get too far ahead of reality.

And just because I could, I would probably also take advantage of the world ending to do something I've never done before, like streaking. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only person having the same thought.

I'm sure I'll be blogging again after tomorrow. If not, I'll admit now that I was wrong. Not that it will matter by then.

Til next time...I hope! -Erika

Spiders and the Realization of my Abilities

If I can drive down 95 with a spider on my steering wheel and not kill either myself or anyone else in the process, then I can do anything.

How to Paint Your Room on the Cheap

I've lived in my little 900 square foot house for over 3 years now, and it has taken me this long to finally get my rear in gear and get my back room painted and converted into the studio that I have always wanted.

As of now, its about 80% complete. There is still some additional work to be done painting, moving in some more furniture and books, and hanging shelves. It feels so good to have a space of my own where I can create beautiful things to share with the world. In a few weeks, my partner will be joining me to help me finish up the remaining work that needs to be done in there. I promise to get more pictures for you.

Right now, I'd like to talk about my super-incredible-can't-believe-I-got-it-so-cheap-yet-its-so-pretty paint deal.

For those who know me, I tend to live by a "I'll know it when I see it" kind of mentality. I'll wait weeks, months, and yes, sometimes years looking for the perfect "fill-in-the-blank" until I see the one that is just right. Or until my hand is forced. I'm especially this way with paint for the house. It's a huge hassle to pull the furniture away from the walls, throw down drop cloths, tape off borders, blah blah blah...all to get the paint on the wall and realize the colour is worse than old cat food.

I thought I had settled on a colour, one called "Fossil Butte." I wasn't totally in love with it, but I figured it was good enough because I couldn't settle on anything else. I headed over to my local Home Depot to get it mixed when, lo, there appeared in the paint aisle, a rack of paint that were marked at 50% off. And there, on that rack, the most beautiful blue that called me to it! I was intrigued! I was elated. I was suspicious...what was wrong with this paint that it was half off?

I spoke to one of the women working at the paint counter and found out that any paint that is mixed that day and left behind is remixed as a different colour and marked down for quick sale. Perfectly good paint, half the price...if you can find a colour you can live with.

One gallon is more than enough for my tiny room, but what if your rooms are larger than a shoebox? They can mix more up for you, but any paint after the first one will be full price.

At the end of the day, I spent a grand total of approximately $64 (not including supplies like brushes and rollers, which are reusable) painting my room.

• $28 for primer
• $22 for chalkboard paint (what's a studio without a chalkboard wall?)
• $14 for my pretty, pretty blue enamel paint

I am looking forward to getting the rest of my studio together to show you all. Til next time! -Erika

Things I Learned Being Locked Out of My House

1. Being locked out when you can't get to your spare keys kind of sucks.
2. I do not have a future as a burglar. I was completely unsuccessful in breaking into my own house. 
3. The bright side of this? The doors and windows I spent so much money on have REALLY good locks on them.
4. No one around in my neighborhood questions a person in all black standing on trashcans and sticking rods into windows of houses. I'm kind of hoping this is more related to my neighbors knowing that it was me, rather than apathy.
5. I am really lucky to have such good friends who are willing to help me out, even in my dumbest moments.

Never fear gentle reader, I was able to get back into the house without resorting to a crowbar, brick or battering ram.

Til next time! -Erika

A Small Prayer

Some things in life defy explanation, defy logic, defy belief. Some things you that read about, you cannot fathom really happened.

And yet, they do.

A million things go through your mind when you see the news and hear children have died. Horror that children could be taken from this world so brutally. Sadness for the families that it happened, let alone so close to the holidays. Anger at the monster who would do such a thing, such a thing that no one could ever think to imagine to do, and yet they did.

Tomorrow is the day to ask how this all could happen. Today is the day to pray for the families of those who lost loved ones. Today is the day to pray for the recovery of those who were injured. Today is the day to pray for all those who are affected in any way by this incident.

Everyday is the day to hold those that you love as close to you as you can and never forget to tell them how much you love them.

Discount Notice!!!!!

This is a heads up for anyone in the Philly area who might be looking for a ready-made crafting table (read: not like the one I cobbled together from side cabinets and a 24x49 inch piece of compressed chipboard with a white finish.) I saw some Martha Stewart crafting tables similar to this one that were on clearance at Home Depot for $100 on Aramingo Ave.

I'm sorry that I cannot tell you definitively that this is the same one, but if you're looking for something like this and it's in your budget, I'd jump on it soon. There were only a couple left.

Til next time! -Erika

Twas 3 Weeks Before Christmas...

...and my tree was up,

 

there was knitting on my needles,

and my studio was finally starting to look like a studio instead of, you know, a mess.

There is still more work to be done in there, but at least I have my craft table set up. I managed to save a boatload on the paint. I'll share my cost saving secrets for setting up my studio in an upcoming post.

Til next time! -Erika

Treasures at Goodwill? You betcha!

I was going to tell you all about decorating Christmas trees and knitting socks, but I found something MUCH more interesting.

So, this woman walks into Goodwill in Milwaukee. She plunks down $12 for a painting that ends up being a $9,000 painting by Alexander Calder!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my dream. The closest I've come is a pair of brand new Lauren by Ralph Lauren pants with the tags still on for $4 that I was able to resell online.

Keep on thrifting! Til next time. -Erika