Thrifty Find - Two Tone Charlotte Russe Heels

 

Shoes - Charlotte Russe - Goodwill

My latest retro Goodwill find - these cute black & white two-tone Charlotte Russe heels!  I've been looking for shoes just like this for quite some time.  So, I was overjoyed to finally find a pair during one of my thrifty outings

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Stepping out in my yellow sundress and new (to me!) shoes!

Mary Ellen

What I Wore to Work - Vintage Jerrie Lurie Dress & Outtakes

Dress - Trends by Jerrie Lurie (Goodwill)

Shoes - Madden Girl (Goodwill)

After finding a tremendous amount of retro and vintage inspired modern dresses at Goodwill, I finally stumbled upon an ACTUAL VINTAGE DRESS!

This Jerrie Lurie dress is red with white polka dots with white detailing around the collar.  I'm guessing it's probably from the 70's.  Which in turn makes me vintage as well LOL!

Close up of the collar with small buttons down the front

As I was taking pictures of the dress, a little visitor quietly entered the room!

She's wondering what Momma is doing.

Instead of taking pictures of some old dress, she should be taking pictures of me!

Hi, Oreo!

Mary Ellen

Linked at Transatlantic Blonde

His & Hers Goodwill Finds

A recent Goodwill find - a kimono style robe in my favorite shade of blue!  The robe has vibrant retro images of ladies at leisure, enjoying drinks.
 

A close up of the ladies!

On the same Goodwill outing, Dave found some loungewear for himself.  A burgundy colored pajama set with images of cocktail drinks and party go-ers.  Kiss Kiss thinks Daddy is quite snuggly in his new pajamas!

 Found anything good at your Goodwill or thrift store lately?

Mary Ellen

How I Became A Dress Every Day Kind of Girl

Ashleigh has taken to wearing more dresses and skirts on her own since I made the change to wearing dresses every day

From my "What I Wore to Work" posts, you know I wear dresses and skirts every day to work.  However, you may be surprised to learn that I'm usually in dresses and heels on my off days as well.  But it wasn't always that way.  My wardrobe used to consist of khakis, cords and few dress pants for work and jeans for the weekends.  Last Spring, my company began the process of changing database and web providers.  The initial phase began with three days of meetings for key users.  Typically I'm not involved in such meetings, but my manager thought it best I sit in (oh joy!).  Since we were meeting with outside vendors, I decided to pull out the only three dresses I owned.  And that's when the change happened!

Wearing my dresses, I felt more feminine.  Dave noticed too!  He started telling me how beautiful I looked in the mornings before work.  And I started to feel more positive about my appearance as well.  While I don't seek the attentions of any man other than my husband, I couldn't help but notice more doors were opened for me and that more kind smiles and compliments were offered.  Even a woman executive in our office told me it was nice to see someone wearing a dress as so few women in our office did anymore.   

Well, the meetings ended but the dresses stayed!  I slowly started rebuilding my wardrobe inexpensively by buying dresses and skirts from Goodwill.  I sought out A-line dresses and skirts at first since the style is flattering on most body types.  More recently I've taken to buying modern dresses with a more retro/vintage feel.  Most of my jeans and dress pants were donated to Goodwill or given away to friends.  I've only got a few pairs of jeans in my closet now (which probably don't fit anymore!) that I haven't worn in over a year.  

There are so many messages today which try to deny the differences between men and women.  Or blur the lines between what is feminine and what is masculine.  I enjoy expressing my femininity by wearing only dresses.  After all, God fearfully and wonderfully made me a woman!

Mary Ellen  

The NC Zoo, Broken Tail Lights & My First Visit to Hobby Lobby!

Clayton with his sleepy mask - he loves it!

On the 4th, we headed out early towards Asheboro for a visit to the North Carolina Zoo.

On the way, Dave noticed one of our tail lights was flapping in the wind.  Since we didn't have extra duct tape in the van, we stopped at the nearest gas station.  They didn't carry duct tape, but one of the girls behind the counter was kind enough to let us borrow her own personal roll.  It was camo!  More on the tail light below!

With the tail light fixed, we made our way to the zoo and arrived just as the gates opened.  We started in the North American section of the zoo and made our way to see the animals.  Like this cougar, who seemed a bit depressed.  Poor kitty!

"Choot em' Lizbeth, choot em!"

Swamp People reference :)

Playful seals

Lazy polar bear

Watching the seals chase one another

The Boys. 

We get asked a lot if they are twins.  Twins in trouble making, yes.  Actual twins, no!

A stop at the garden-themed playground

I have a picture from 4 years ago of a 4 year-old Ashleigh, 2 year-old Clayton and me pregnant with Reed in this very squash!

Playing

And more playing!

Even though we arrived at the zoo fairly early in the morning, it was already quite warm.  The misting stations along the trail were a welcome sight!

The power generated by peddling, turned this colorful windmill.

With all the walking, I was so relieved to see this sign!

Ashleigh viewing bison

The geyser

We didn't see lions or tigers, but we did see bears!

Entering the desert

These turtles were munching on a pretty delicious looking salad!  Mixed greens, chopped apples, carrots, mango - not sure about the white stuff.  Maybe it was feta!

The cutest part of the desert were these baby ocelots born in April.  One of the babes came right up to the glass and did what babies do best - poop!

Gigantic beehive

Ashleigh riding a gigantic bee

A gorilla in deep thought

Elephants

Giraffes

After we walked around the African exhibits, we hopped on the zoo tram and headed back towards the entrance.

We saw a number of thrift stores on the way to the zoo, so we decided to stop by a few before leaving town.  The only one open on the holiday was Goodwill.  Surprisingly, the Goodwill in Asheboro has higher prices than the Goodwill in Raleigh.  After thrift store browsing we grabbed lunch at the Golden Corral next door where we had two of the sweetest, most attentive servers ever! 

As we're driving out of Asheboro, we pass by a Hobby Lobby.  Of course I scream with delight!  I've seen the awesome stuff from Hobby Lobby on other blogs, but have never visited one.  We don't have them in Raleigh for some strange reason.  Dave drops me off to take a quick look inside while he and the kids wait  in the car.  Oh, it was everything I had imagined!  It was like a Michael's, Home Goods and Jo-Ann's rolled into one - but better!  Seriously, I loved everything in the store.  I walked aisle after aisle taking it all in.  I found a cute French sign for the bathroom that was on sale.  I left the store feeling in awe and arrived at the car to find a crabby looking Dave.  According to Dave, I was in the store for an hour!  I'm not sure it was really an hour, but he says it was.  If it was really an hour, wouldn't they have come inside looking for me?  What if I had fainted or something! 

The tail light continued...Later in the day after we were home, Dave made a quick run to the store for some paint brushes.  As he was coming out of the store, he saw a bunch of kids (teenagers) standing behind the van.  When they saw him walking towards the van, they ran off.  When Dave got to the van, he found the broken tail light cover missing, camo duct tape and all.  What is going on with the youth of today?!?  Who takes a broken tail light cover?!?  Really!  

Anywho, that was our 4th.  Hope yours was enjoyable!  

Mary Ellen

What I Wore to Work - My "Uniform"

Forever 21 shirt dress - Goodwill

Shoes - Target (clearance)

I don't really have a work uniform, but this navy blue Forever 21 shirt dress reminds me of a uniform!  Simply put, this is probably my favorite dress.  It's stretchy and unbelievably comfortable.  And very versatile.  I can easily wear this around the house while cleaning (and it looks great with my aprons too!)  Or out shopping for groceries.  But it also looks great in the office.  If I could, I would wear this dress everyday :)   

Close up of the bodice - point collar, button down front with cargo chest pockets

Mary Ellen

Summertime Blues

With the change of the season, I wanted to "cool down" our family room by moving away from the red and black colors in the room.  While browsing a new to us thrift store in town, we found a set of beautiful blue paisley throw pillows.  And because they were yellow tag items, they were 75% off!  We walked away with two gorgeous pillows in great condition for only $3! 

Also while out, we stopped at one of our favorite Goodwill locations in town.  And right there in the household section were two blue rose throw pillows that seemed made to go with the paisley pillows we picked up earlier.  The rose pillows from Goodwill were $1.29 each.   

To bring in more blue, I placed this Pier 1 bird plate on the side table next to the sofa.  I found this plate (along with a matching red one) at a yard sale a few weeks back for $2. 

Mary Ellen

These thrifty finds are linked at Southern Hospitality - Today's Thrifty Treasures.

What I Wore to Work - Making Waves

A different hairstyle for the Summer - finger waves.  By no means done the right way!  But I found I could achieve the wavy look I wanted by parting my hair in the center, adding gel to the sides, then forming S curves using a fine tooth comb.  I placed large alligator clips in the bends overnight to help hold the waves in place.  I used flexi-rods in the back of my hair for tight curls.  When getting ready for work the next day, I just remove the alligator clips and flexi-rods for a vintage-inspired wavy look. 

Merona dress & necklace from Goodwill

Shoes (not shown due to my poor photo skills!) - Anne Klein from Goodwill

Floral hair clip - Dana Buchman from Kohl's

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I started playing around with the photo effects in Photobucket while uploading the pictures for this post. 

Painting effect

Ink Stamp effect

Film Grain effect

Pop Art effect

And my favorite

the Fresco effect

Mary Ellen

What I Wore to Work - Polka Dots

In this installment of What I Wore to Work, I'm seeing spots!  Well polka dots on this cute litte dress I picked up from Goodwill.  Since the dress is strapless and sleeveless, I paired it with my black sweater for the office.

A peek at the red crinoline built-in slip

Looks like I'm walking along the yellow brick road in these red shoes (also a Goodwill buy)!  Not the most practical of shoes, but I adore their curves and heels.