Stripes are in

Stripes seem to be everywhere.  I love it.  They add movement. They add a pattern. And the rule about curvy girls wearing horizontal stripes is bogus.

I usually stick to smaller stripes 

Not very evident in photo, but there is a zipper on the right shoulder

I just got on board the 'bootie' bandwagon last year. I'm hooked.

I need to work on my 'modeling' skills. And maybe learn how to use my remote for the camera instead of the 10 shot continuous setting.

Dress-$8.00 Target Merona-Clearance

Tights-$2.40 Target Merona-Clearance

Boots-$38 Kohl's Vera Wang-Sale + 30% Coupon

The Answer my Friend, is Blowing in the Wind...

Actually, the wind is just blowing. A lot.

We live in the country so we have a lot of open space surrounding us. It is ALWAYS windy here, but this is ridiculous. The windows are humming because of the wind.  I'm thankful we don't have snow to go with this wind like out East (we had that last year-don't miss it).

I was going through some of my folders of pictures and deleting ones that are in one or more folders. Why does the computer recognize that these photos have already been downloaded sometimes. but not others? I digress. Looking through photos of last summer are helping to ease the winter blues. Maybe not, but it did take my mind off the howling right next to my computer.

                                                     Me and my girls on Mother's Day

Day Drinking on the boat

                                                                      Me and my BFF in Portland, OR

At the Great Minnesota Get Together (the State Fair)

And of course the best part of last summer was the arrival of our grand daughter CoCo

Ahhh, memories.  

With this darn cold weather, I haven't been able to take any photos in my thrift store finds.  It is hard to take good photos in the house as we have good Southern exposure in the living room, but there isn't a great spot to take photos, since the walls either have a couch, a fireplace or stairs-not great backdrops. The fireplace would be okay, except for the big TV sitting in front of it. 

So I wait. Until it is at least above 30 degrees and the wind is lest than 30 MPH!

I had a great thrifting trip on Sunday. I found so much stuff and I can't wait to get it cleaned and ready to wear.

Happy Monday everyone!

Black and White.

I was so excited.

 I have been using a homemade "dress form"-a pillow case stuffed with batting on a broomstick. It isn't great, as you can probably imagine.

I had been looking for a dress form for quite awhile.  There are the expandable ones from several places-JoAnn Fabrics, Amazon, Overstock.  I wanted something nice to put clothes on to photograph and also use for sewing, but I wasn't sold on the adjustable kind as I had read many reviews and decided it wasn't really what I wanted.

I found a place that sells ones that are fiberglass and have padding and a nice jersey type cloth cover.  They have nice bases and a plug that goes in the neck.  It was cheaper than the adjustable ones, and looked much nicer.

I apparently didn't measure myself properly as it is way too big.  I have contacted the company twice and haven't heard back about how I can return it.  It is very nice, but my clothes won't fit on it.

Sigh.

Since my clothes don't fit, I had to use my old method for photographing my thrifty finds.

I found this dress at Goodwill for $5.99.  I love the graphic print and slight retro vibe.

It is one of my favorite thrift store finds yet!

Here's hoping I can get the dress form issue resolved and have one that works!

Good Times with Great People

About 16 months ago, I got laid off from a job I was sure I was going to retire from. 120 of us were told that Monday morning that we no longer had jobs. It was a scary day. This was the third lay off that had happened to our family in 8 years.  This is not what we had planned. This was messing up our future we have been planning since we got married. This just sucks.

The day I lost my job, I posted it on Facebook, hoping that I may get some support from my friends, but it led to much more.

The next day I received a phone call from the daughter of one of my friends.  She had just been promoted in her company and her position was open. Did I want to come in and interview? Um, yeah!

One week later I was in a new desk at a new company and planning my new future. I loved that job.  I looked forward to going to work every day. I had wonderful co-workers, worked in a beautiful environment and laughed all the time.  Fast forward to this past October. I was asked by the CFO if I would interested in taking on more responsibility. They had an opening at the "Mothership" of the company I worked for. It is so close to my house and I was happy to show them I was up for the challenge. The hard part was leaving the job that I loved and people I cared about.

Last evening was the Holiday party for the former part of the company I work for.  My youngest daughter took my job when I moved to the new location, so I went as her "date".  I had so much fun catching up, laughing and eating wonderful food.  

 Me and my baby

Fun, fantastic people

Big, happy smiles

Old Navy dress: $6.99

Merona Pumps: $7.58

Green Bracelet: $2.99

Thanks you so much for including me in your night of celebration of a great company and the friendship of so many wonderful people.

Mad about Plaid

I had an awesome thrift shopping excursion last weekend.  I hit up 5 different stores and walked out with dresses, skirts, tops, sweaters, purses, scarves and some books.

While I am waiting for the weather to turn a little nicer so I have room to take photos outside, I will continue to show just the items I picked up.  Our house isn't big, and with 4 adults and a baby here, there isn't much space that isn't taken up with toys, playpens, laundry and outerwear!

I love wearing skirts almost as much as wearing dresses, but I sometimes run into an issue with what to pair them with. I never seem to have luck thrifting for outfits, but occasionally I will unknowingly find separates that will go together.

I posted a black sweater last Sunday that I bought at one store and here is the skirt I found at the third store I visited. They went together really well and is the perfect work outfit. 

This is a Chaps buffalo plaid skirt that I found at Goodwill for $4.99. It is the correct size so I didn't need to make any adjustments and it doesn't appear to have been worn very often.

I wore the black sweater, some black tights and my tall black leather boots and some simple earrings.  It was easy to change out of when I had about 3 minutes to change into my workout clothes for Zumba.  My legs still hurt.

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend and are headed to their couches soon to watch the Superbowl.  Go Seahawks!!

Time flies when you're not looking

Sometimes life just gets in the way, doesn't it?  I started to blog many years ago as a creative outlet.  It was about cooking and the simple things we like to eat, along with just things that happened in life.  Somehow I fell out of love with cooking.  I don't know what happened.  It just seems like such a chore.  In a way, I think it is because no one seems to appreciate it any longer. With 4 adults and a baby in the house, we are going different directions at all times.  We rarely get to sit down to dinner anymore since 3 of the 4 of us work different hours than the rest. It just doesn't fulfill me like it used to.  I do feel great once I have talked myself into actually preparing a meal, but the effort it takes to get me there just exhausts me.

I'm hoping that with this new blog, I can find some kind of passion for something again.  I have always loved clothes......and shoes.....and purses.  My favorite era for clothing is the 1950's and 60's.  I feel that I should have truly been an adult at that time.  Women were stylish, the clothing had great form and who doesn't want to play cards and drink martini's in the middle of the day?

As I am starting out, I will post pics of thrifty items I find.  Some will be what I have found at thrift stores, and others will be some great deals I find on clearance.  I want to get some time under my belt before I start styling the pieces (I have "styled" a couple pieces when I first started this blog).  I just need to gain some confidence after reading so many great blogs and seeing what appears to be natural talent.  I will also ask questions and opinions to help me find my voice and to honestly ask for help.  Many times I find things I love, but have no idea to wear with it.

For my first find, I present 

It is a Sag Harbor black sweater that I picked up for $4.99 at Savers.  I'm limited on my photo editing tools, so it looks a little washed out. Trust me when I say it is not faded at all.  It has this cute little bow on the collar and it is one of the softest sweaters I own.  I paired it with a pair of black and grey pants and a pair of black booties.  I'm looking for some bold colored earrings or a bracelet to wear with it to add a pop of color.  I didn't want to interfere with the cute bow with a necklace.

And a side note: I did spell "Trys" incorrectly in the name of my blog.  I just liked the way it looked, rather than being grammatically correct :)

Happy Sunday!

Thrifty Thursday

I know lots of people do Thrifty Thursday on the Blog land. There is #tbt on Facebook.

I have a thrifted outfit that I really like. It has the 60's vibe that I really like. My hubby calls this my "Peggy Olson" outfit.

The dress I found at Saver's for $7.99 and the shoes were $5.99 and I got 50% off because of a sale. The cardigan is one that I have had forever.

I just found a red belt to wear with it and the hubby really likes it as it gives me more of the hour glass figure and he thinks it is sassy.

I hate how my selfies-in-the-mirror turn out, but I was at work and snapped it while I was still 'fresh' looking :)