Last year's V-Day post I shared my view on the day and some retro cards. This year it's all about free stuff. Let's say you are 13 and can't afford a legit Valentine's day for that special someone, have I got a date for you! Or even if you are single I say go for it, it's totally doable with a friend...or stranger.
You need to start with dinner. Now here is a win win situation. Head to your local Qdoba. The deal is you kiss your valentine (or in their words "an understanding stranger" so even if single ...win win my freinds) and you get a free entree with the purchase of one.
After Dinner you need some dessert. What better dessert than a cookie? I don't know how good their cookies are but for free I'm willing to give them a review.
You may also want to have a warm drink, it's pretty chilly out. So head on over to Coffee Bean. If I can get two Chai Latte's I'm all in. You already know I love me some CB!
Finish of the night with a romantic movie in. Or a blooody action packed adventure, what ever floats your boat! You may want to reserve your movie though, Redbox's get empty quickly!
You need a gift right? Well Bath & Body Works has got you covered! Cherry Blossom is pretty awesome. They also have a Facebook freebie.
So there you have it! There are more freebies out there for today so enjoy! Just Google them. I'm liking the Krispy Kreme one too! Speaking of Goggling stuff, how completely, awesome-ly cute is Google's Doodle for today? Pretty darn-tootin awesome! It reminded me of me an The Boyfriend. I may or may not have shed a tear.
I have a mail hoarding problem. I receive mail decide to open or not open and regardless of such choice I then start creating a pile. This little pile then grows and grows and one day when I finally cant' take it anymore I go through it. Between moving and accumulating and sorting stuff around, my pile was more like a giant heap of junk that was seriously becoming some kind of hazard.
The fun part is that in between all that junk I find treasures. You know, things like, money in the forms of checks (two checks, totaling $75), coupons (lots of coupons!), notices for free xm satellite radio for the next 3 months (not the first time this happens), a medical bill 90 days late (not really a treasure and will be paid with said checks mentioned above so I break even), new insurance card (my current card is only 2 months expired), store gift cards, movie ticket vouchers, $5 in music downloads, new credit cards (just new updates for the ones I already have), membership cards, expired coupons (sad face), and gap cash cards that expired the next day.
So to the mall the next day with $30 to the Gap. Determined not to spend more than those $30 my options were seriously limited. Please excuse the awkward dressing room shots...what can I say, I think I like awkward photos.
Seriously, forgive the messy hair...this is what you end up looking when you wake up late. and then try on a bunch of clothes.
Not much luck at the Gap but I did take that grey shirt...sweater?... and only paid a $1 for it. And right after the cashier said the words "final sale" I immediately thought "Why didn't I go to Old Navy first?" I still had $10 left so of I went to Old Navy. I should have gone to Old Navy first.
Now I have a dilemma...the dressing room understood.
So in order to stick to my budget I went home with the orange stripe shirt for $8 (score!) and some jewelry. The brown bracelets and one pink puffy ring that is so not me but it was so dam cute that it won.
So that my friends, is how junk mail leads to shopping. Check your mail, hopefully you find some money and not some bills.
If I can get something on sale, It's like a high! It makes me really giddy. For example, last week I bought some stuff online at Target. Target is not very pricey but if you buy a bunch of things, you know what kind of trouble I can get at Target. But I found some discounts...
Here was the deal, spend over $75 on clothing (which I was already doing) and save 20% plus a holiday discount for 15% (thanks Facebook!) plus $7 of on sweaters (although everything ended up having $7 off...no complaints) and free shipping on orders over $50.
So I ended up saving $55.93. I was very giddy. I could have paid the full price, no problem, but I would rather pay what I did. This doesn't always happen. I spent $100 for a rain jacket once when I could have just bought a cheaper one for like $20. I figure with all the discounts I try to use I can splurge here and there.
I say be frugal, use discounts!! Easy to do if you "like" the stores you shop, sign up for their emails, and also check websites like retilmenot.com. Trust me, the saving giddy is awesome.
That's right, Reeeemix! Said in my best Missy Elliot impersonation.
In my last Over the Weekend post I mentioned that I bought a pretty new dress at Forever 21. I love that store. I'm going to be 50 and still shop there. It's easy to shop there since I don't really have a style it's more of an "I dress comfortably and there are things that just have a Marisol look" type of style. Whatever that look is.
So back to the dress...I wore it 4 times, 4 different ways. In 3 days. Yeah, I got skills like that. It's a simple print dress with an elastic band tightly at the center, loose-fitting everywhere else and a little short in the back, but , nothing a pair of shorts can't fix.
First up: Friends Birthday Party.
Did you notice something? It's my purple heels from this Shoedazzle post. I was soooooo excited to finally wear these shoes. They have just been sitting in my closet for ever! The purple in the dress matches the dress perfectly. That post also reminded me that in fact there is a name for my "style" it's cosmopolitan, modern and spirited. Ha! That still make me laugh.
The party was at night so I threw on this warm, military style sweater and cinched it with a brown belt, and a simple creamy white, rose pendant necklace.
Second I wore it to my sisters backyard birthday party the following afternoon.
I had to dress quickly as people showed up early and this dress was laying on my bed from the day before. Paired with a camel colored belt and skin-tone strappy sandals I was ready to play hostess.
I just love all the colors!
Intermediately following the birthday party was the SAP party so I changed to something a little more dressy and warm.
Added some black tights, black wedges, black necklace and a Navy blue blazer. I asked for theses wedges on my Christmas list, in a Taupe. I received them in black too. I think I have worn the black more than taupe. Good call, little sister!
Little Jazmin liked my blazer so much she insisted on trying on. If a toddler likes what your wearing you definitely look one of two ways... Super cool or like a Nick Junior character. I'm thinking super cool. I am too....Although, if I were a cartoon character that would be pretty cool too.
Finally, the fourth outfit: The following Monday morning, I was running late for work, as usual, so again I just grabbed the dress and here you go:
I paired it with a white tee underneath, a jean jacket and my favorite boots!
Now this may not seem like a proper office outfit, short dress and all, but I work for a cosmetic company and honestly they could care less what I wear. I have worn everything from business formal for a meetings to my yoga pants and a hoodie. Plus, the white tee is for "cleavage" control....hahahaha....OK, ok, enough laughing, and the shorts are for booty control.
I love these boots!
This last little photo session was all laughs. I had to recreate my work outfit this weekend so I could put it on here. Do you know how hard it is to keep a straight face when trying to look aloof like I don't care that I know how cool I look? The fact that my cousin, Linda, was visits and making me laugh plus my sister saying things like, "Love the camera, now hate it, hate the camera." That's me hating the camera in the middle, and then hiding my my face in shame...
So there you go. I didn't mean to but that's how I remixed my dress into 4 outfits for 4 different occasions in 3 days. Mental note: wash dress. I feel a little like a fashion blogger. The heck is a fashion blogger? That's what I said. But there are thousands of fashion blogger out there. I though it was cool an all but not my thing, some outfits were just plane odd to me. Until I came across Kendi Everyday. I would steal her closet if it weren't against the law and if I were a mean person. I think she might have inspired me in my remix. She's the 50 Cent to my Missy Elliot.
I was so proud of myself, getting all creative with my outfits in this one dress. Until my more fashionable little sisters says, "Four? that's it? I can think of at least 30 more outfits." Ouch...hmm...post idea coming up. Till next time, I leave you with a REEEEEEMIIIIX!!!!
Wow, never really noticed how dirty this song is...sorry about that.
I was missing some sheets last night. The kind that go on your bed. I looked everywhere but could not find them. My creamy, off-white ones, that go well with my favorite comforter. Have you seen 'em? Oh well, I did need some new ones anyway and I was itching to get out of the house. Target here I come!
I love Target. You can walk in and walk out with something you didn't even know you needed. Now I could go the "they are evil and make you spend unnecessarily" route but I will take the "I love them!" route instead.
I tried to show some restrain last night. I really did. On the drive there I made a mental note of exactly what I needed to buy. Sheets!! Also what I'm looking for. Wall shelves. That's it. Nothing more.
You would have been so proud of me. I found my sheets. On sale too! $15, not too shabby huh? Plus some wall shelves, on clearance, thank you very much!! Here they are, sheets all nicely washed and laid out. My new wall shelves waiting to be nailed up on the wall...
But then...
Hear me out, so what had happen was I saw a pretty striped silk tank so cute! Then I had to get the tan v-neck tee. They are super comfy and I don't have that color. They are always out in my size in that color. Then I remembered I needed some tights. Plus I threw out an old sports bra earlier that day so I had to replace it. Oh and I passed by the shoes and these cute heels were just screaming my name, plus I took the fact that they were the last pair and in my size as a sign that I had to buy them. Oh and this cute little tool set was on clearance! I'm always borrowing my Dad's tools. Time I have my own set, right??????
I may have a problem. Hello, my name is Marisol and I'm a Target addict.
So I kept seeing these adds for ShoeDazzle all over the place. I don't fall for selling pitches. I'm the first one to say yeah right what's the catch???
Having said that, I found myself seeing these pretty purple heels over and over. Oh pretty... shoes... *snap* back to reality. Hmm I like the shoes so how do I go about getting them on this here site? Click on the link of course.
The deal with this site is you sign up, take a quiz, then you are given a selection of shoes picked out custom for you by "stylist" or "computer generated system" based on your style quiz. Every month you are sent a showroom of shoes, you choose the one you like and pay $39.99. This includes shipping. If you don't like your selection that month then you skip that month and you can quit at any time. Hmmm....
First impression:
It looked like a cool thing to try. It had all the right elements cute shoes, Celebrity endorsement via Kim Kardashian. She's the brainchild and face of Shoedazzle. I watched a little video read the Q&As. After said dazzlement of purple shoe... Since there it's a commitment I decided to give it a try. Going in on this I knew I would be either very happy or out $39.99 for one month. Here is my experience:
Signing up:
Seriously an easy process, they don't ask for that much. You take a quiz where you are asked to choose between designers, fashionistas and styles...16 total question. Then they ask for your age range (18-46+) Shoe Size (5.5-11) and your dress size (0-12+). You put in an email address and create a password. Ta-dah! You are now a ShoeDazzle member.
Right after this little fun quiz... please take the meaning of the word fun lightly, you are shown your very own personal style. This comes in a form of a collage of different clothing and accessories along with some celebrity pictures. It looks like something that you made from magazine cutouts in 7th grade.
If ever came the time when I needed to define my style I now know what to say.
Apparently my style is cosmopolitan, modern and spirited... LOL. Ok sure. Although now that I take a closer look at this thing I do like what I see. Except for the chunky gold necklace and that black jacket.
After your collage comes your showroom with your shoe options. My purple shoes were not there. I guess they don't fall under Cosmodspir combo. After a few clicks here and there I found my shoes in the "Click here to see the shoes that almost made your show room" option. There they were. I selected, and purchased. $39.99.
A few days later I got my Shoedazzle box. Very nicely packaged. They even give you one of those soft shoe bags in pink. I felt very girly.The shoes look exactly like they did online. You can tell they are not super great quality but for $39.99 I'm not about to complain. That is until I tried them on. One shoe was tighter than the other. Significantly.
Woe is me.
I wrote to customer service about my situation (they ignored my concern about the different sizing) and agreed to exchange the shoes for whatever size I wanted. Free of charge. Sounded good to me. Too bad I put them on the floor behind my bed and forgot about them until about a month later. I doubt they have the shoes anymore since there is now a new collection in my show room. A collection that I passed on. I am also going to pass on ShoeDazzle. As in I am now canceling my membership. It's a cool program but when it comes to shoes I need to try before I purchase. These shoes are not that special and you can find similar styles at stores in the mall for about the same price or even cheaper online. Overall it was kinda fun but not for me. I'm not too bummed about the shoes since I do like them and I can manage one tight shoe, can't return as I wont get my money back, you get "credits back. So can't wait to actually wear my purple studded suede shoes. Even if I wont be able to walk in them for long...
