• budget,  fall,  fashion,  summer

    September Thrifted Finds: Adding Interesting pieces to your closet

    I was so happy to find some really fun pieces while thrifting this past month. These were found on a shopping trip in Chattanooga, TN with my friend Rachel from @thefauxfrenchgirl. My goal is no new clothes till the end of the year and I will have a budget of $50 for thrifting for each month through December. If you are on a budget, shopping second hand is a great way to add interesting pieces to your closet. Popover Top We visited 2 stores, America’s Thrift store and the Northside Neighborhood House Thrift Store. I found this cute top and suede purse at NNHT which had a nice smaller shop…

  • food,  travel

    The Food in Costa Rica

    When we visit a country, we like to eat the local food. So as soon as we arrived to Costa Rica, we knew we want to eat local food for lunch. As we left the car rental place, we asked for a recommendation to a local inexpensive restaurant and we were direct to a local Soda place nearby. In Costa Rica, small restaurants are called Soda and this one was just few minutes away. The one thing you will notice in our typical Costa Rican meals is the common theme of rice and beans. At this Soda, fruit juice was included so we got to taste guava juice, tamarind juice…

  • outdoors,  travel

    San Jose to Quepos, Costa Rica: Advantages of Renting a Car

    Welcome to the first of many posts sharing my 2oth anniversary trip to Costa Rica with my husband! I figured I would write these post kind of like a journal sharing some travel tips along the way. We were able to use Delta Sky miles for this trip (just paying fees and taxes) and spent 2 nights in a Hilton Hotel in San Jose (using hotel points which included free breakfast and free happy hour). Saving money in these ways, we were able to spend a little more than our usual for 2 nights at Tulemar Resort which was still not crazy expensive (about $230 for our room which had…

  • budget,  fall,  fashion

    How to Wear Denim and Camo

    Like the question about what shoes to pair with a denim dress, the answer of how to wear denim and camo together is to just do it any way you like it! You could wear denim on top and camo on the bottom or do the opposite. I always think of camo as a neutral (it really pairs well with florals and with stripes) as long as it is done tastefully. Today I am sharing two looks with the denim shirt dress which I won in a giveaway last month and shared it in this blog post recently. Denim Duster with Camo We took these pictures on a bright morning…

  • budget,  fashion,  outdoors,  travel

    What to Wear to Costa Rica

    How do you decide what to wear to Costa Rica? The first thing I did was look at the forecast which predicted 90%+ chance of rain every day since it is the end of the rainy season at the beginning of October. It turned out we didn’t see much rain but we did get good use of our rain jackets on our ATV ride where it rained for some of the way, the night jungle tour (it rained a good 10 minutes) and during our visit to La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens where it also rained and the spray of the waterfalls could get you pretty wet. The second thing…

  • outdoors,  travel

    Weekend In Jacksonville

    Two weekends ago, we spent the weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. My brother was having his church wedding and reception and while we didn’t want to miss the occasion we decided to do the trip in two days so as not to miss school nor work. It is a 6 hour drive one way and leaving early on Saturday to get there for their afternoon wedding worked out well. I really enjoyed the opportunity to dress up and cannot wait to see all of the pictures! The wedding party was supposed to wear dusty rose and we each got to chose our dresses. After several really funny attempts, I came upon…

  • fall,  fashion,  Sunday Showcase

    Non Jacket Fall Layers with the Sunday Showcase Link Up

    Ideas for blog posts come to me in different ways and this one came from making a reel for the #wearitwednesday gals a couple weeks ago about skirts. It also happened on a day where the morning was really cool at 53 degrees and a light layer was needed for a couple of hours. Everyone knows to add a denim jacket to make a outfit fall worthy but what about other toppers? I looked at my closet and pulled out 4 pieces I thought would provide interest and a little warmth for cool but not cold fall days and here are my non jacket fall layers. Here is my original…

  • friday favorites,  mom

    Month in Review

    September is always a busy month for us but this month was even busier than ever! Here is my month in review! 20th Anniversary Date My husband surprised me by coming home a day early from his work trip and we went out on a nice date. I was spoiled with a new wedding band (mine had to be caught off at the fire station last year as I couldn’t take my rings off after trying for years and it started to pain my finger) and a message in a bottle. Here is my quick look for our date dinner. Our big celebration starts today (I will share next week…

  • fall,  fashion,  Ways to wear

    How to Style Your Blazer for a Casual Look

    This year, I realized that despite all of my lightweight jackets (and I have quite a few), I didn’t have a single blazer. Jodie, one of the most creative bloggers I know, suggested to search for one while thrifting and inspired by her, I did find one that I will style next month. On her hand, she searched for one t0o and found this adorable polka dotted one. You should have seen us exchanging texts and pictures as I was running with running club. Not exactly conducive to texting and looking at pictures but that was when she was in store at Goodwill in Arizona! Today, we are both once…

  • budget,  fall,  fashion,  Ways to wear

    Styling One Dress 6 Ways For Fall

    It had been a while since I wrote one of these posts showing you how to wear one item several ways. I really had fun this go around with this thrifted Banana Republic dress! Styling this dress 6 ways for fall was a fun exercise! I wasn’t sure it would fit me when I tried it on but like Jodie says, when thrifted do not pay attention to size and just try it on! I am glad I did as I love the print and color and how versatile this dress will be pretty much year round. Short Blazer for Warmer Weather This is how I wore it to church…