For the cost-conscious-couture bride...

Bridal's equivalent to Gilt Groupe... The Aisle New York sells designer wedding gowns at deeply discounted prices during limited-time sales.

{ Elizabeth Fillmore gown available at The Aisle via NY Times }

As NY Times calls it... "As Thrilling as Finding the Groom." Read the full article here.

the loot

So here they are... The Santee Alley purchases! There were so many other wonderful things that I passed up, but these all just had to come home with me.

This hat is so fun, and it fits my ginormous head. Lauren snagged a brown one. 

The color offering made it really hard to choose!

Straw fedora - $8.50 (2 for $17 split with Lauren)

...

 I bought this for the hubs, but I may be borrowing it...

Scarf - $5

 

Sweater flower headband - 50 cents

Umm... yeah. 50 cents.

 Skinny jeans - $10

The back pocket detailing is really cute. A little hard to see... 

Just try not to stare at my ass too long. 

That would be weird.

 

 My favorite find... One day I will have to tell you of my zebra obsession.

I LOVE this wallet. PLUS it matches my debit card--which I have gotten comments on that fact pretty much daily since I got it.

It's almost a little embarrassing.

Almost.

Wallet - $5

Excuse the dorky face... but these glasses basically blow my mind. I love them.

Another shopper told me "You have to get those. Those glasses are pimp!"

Who says "pimp"?

I didn't need her convincing, but I bought them. :]

Pimp glasses - $5

Did you notice my Give a Shirt? I'm actually wearing the husband's. I liked how baggy and cute it was with leggings!

 $34 well spent... Wouldn't you say?

Shopping Santee Alley

FINALLY ventured out to the LA Fashion District when my lovely friend Lauren came to visit a few weeks ago. 

It was life changing.

First of all, did everyone but me realize that said district is over 90 square blocks? Umm...what?! 

I know my friend, and I know she can get overwhelmed with too much stuff. I told her we should just check out Santee Alley and call it good. Wouldn't you know it, that I was the one feeling overwhelmed after an hour or two in this place! So much good-deal-goodness crammed into one little street.

AND I had an opportunity to barter, which was fun, because if you remember from a couple posts ago, I didn't barter at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

 

So as not to overwhelm with photo overload, these are just the shopping photos. My next post will show off my [freaking awesome] finds.

Santee Alley reminded me of all the things I love about Canal St. in New York City. Oh how I love creepy alleys with sketchy foreigners selling me illegal goods. Hmm... is that PC to say?

I am already excited to go back!

Redecorating on the cheap

We are moving next month--five blocks away and $325 less per month. Holla. So while I hate the act of moving, I am excited about decorating a new space. And by decorating, I mostly mean re-arranging and re-purposing what we already have.

My immediate list for our new apartment is:

1) Paint our dinette table (if you could call it that?) black

2) Use it's table cloth elsewhere, to cover up some clear storage bins

2) Recover our couch pillows in black and gray, to better coordinate with the coffee table, tv table, and wall art that we already have

3) Ditch our cool-but-have-served-their-purpose 1960's mosaic end tables that don't match much, and won't fit in our new living room

4) Keep our walnut colored furniture and other decor in close vicinity of each other, and do the same for our black furniture and knick-knacks, to look more intentional with our decorating

My "eventually" list for our new apartment is:

5) Possibly sew a long curtain to cover the exposed shelving in the hallway (we'll have to see how it looks with all our stuff unpacked)

6) Make one of these book page wreaths. So Anthropologie. Love it.

{ Living with Lindsay book page wreath tutorial }

Today, I started on #1 by painting our dinette table that you may remember from DIY dining chair revamp. Look forward to a post about that soon :]

perfect

I think I found the perfect pair of neutral heels.

{ Cole Haan "Carma Air Almond" via available at Nordstrom for $199.90 }

Me likey.

Downside--I don't normally drop $200 on shoes (and these are on sale from $300). But I think these would quickly become a go-to work shoe for me. And I am very intrigued by this Nike-Air-in-a-pump technology. I've been hearing about it for years, but still have yet to try it. 

So this is me trying to justify it... 

1) I will wear them a lot (calculating price per use...)

2) I take care of my shoes, so I will likely have them for several years (again, price per use...)

3) I'm standing or walking all day long at work, so comfortable dress shoes are crucial. (sad note about those $1.49 shoes I got... they kill my feet after like 15 minutes)

4) I just got promoted at work, so I need to up my wardrobe a bit...and maybe give myself a reward for my accomplishments :]

Hmm... we shall see.

deal alert!

I love silhouette art, don't you?

This deal from Cut Arts via Groupon can be enjoyed by anyone, not just LA residents.

The artist, Karl Johnson, is the real deal. His work has been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, O magazine, Domino, Elle Decor, Country Living, InStyle, Traditional Home, and many more.

Here is some of his work:

 

{ photos all found at Cut Arts website }

The deal is this: $25 worth of services for $12 (you can use this to cover a basic 5x7, or have $25 go toward a bigger, fancier order)

Snag it by April 18 at midnight!

because everyone loves a makeover...

I don't know about you, but I can't afford a shoe closet overhaul, no matter how much I may want one. So despite my longing for new shoes, I decided to work with what I had to give it a little boost.

Here is what I did:

1. Bought 2 pairs of $1.49 shoes (okay, this wasn't part of the plan--but it seemed like a practically free improvement!)

2. Pulled out a couple pairs that I'm just not feelin' anymore (i.e. So uncomfortable that I never wear them, anyway)

3. Washed 3 pairs of cloth flats

4. Spot treated my sneaks with carpet cleaner.

5. Cleaned the suede on some boots, and the details on my sneaks (and Matt's sneaks, too!)

6. Gave my favorite pair of shoes a makeover.

The makeover part is my real insider secret here, so I will explain.

Remember the days of shoe repair? Probably not. It was long ago. But why can't we keep that little corner cobbler in business? And why don't we even consider fixing our worn out shoes? Well, this is a loaded question, but the short answer is this: most of the shoes we buy are made cheaply to accommodate our throw-away consumer society. Most of our shoes are not repairable. But I bet you have at least one really good pair of shoes--or at least a leather pair. There are some things you can do to repair well-made shoes, with a little time, and oftentimes, only a few dollars.

I bought these shoes at least 5 years ago...and they are one of my absolute faves. They are such a fun, yet neutral color, and they are really comfortable, yet dressy enough for work. After about a year of wearing these shoes A LOT, I noticed that the gold was starting to wear off, especially at the toe and the heel. They were lookin' a little shabby. So I stopped wearing them, but couldn't give them up. Then I got the idea to try and repaint them. 

I went down to Sander's Shoe Repair in Salem, and picked up some Meltonian Nu Life Color Spray in Gold. They have a wide range of colors, so if I really wanted to, I could even change the color of these shoes completely. Keep in mind, if you are painting your entire shoe, you don't need to find an EXACT match, but if you are only touching up a spot or two, you need to choose your shade wisely. This gold is actually a little darker than the original shoe color, but I didn't mind.

In action:

Before and after:

Heel:

Side:

 

Toe:

Some other easy shoe repair:
Replace shoelaces (DIY)
Resole (go to a professional)
Retip (for pointy toe shoes-- again, go to a professional)

So what do you say? Are you feelin' a little cobbler in ya?

the joys of finding a deal.

Don't you just love having "a find?" A cheapie surprise never fails to fill my heart with joy. :] Especially when you find out it's on sale at the register. Just sayin'.

So this was my amazing find today. These were at Old Navy, and were returned (unworn) from OldNavy.com. Since this is an online exclusive item, they discount it to get it out of the store, and give you an extra 50% off so you can't return it, and it won't end up in the store again. So these shoes were marked $2.99 and with the extra 50% off, they were $1.49 each. I KNOW, RIGHT?

So I paid $3.24 for two pairs of shoes.

Holla. And happy Friday to me!

I know they aren't exactly what I was longing for in my shoe closet post, but a deal is a deal, is a deal. So I don't know about you, but I will always find room in my shoe closet for a cute pair of $1.24 shoes. 

Even if they turn out to be the most uncomfortable shoes, ever. 

Worth it.

wedding budget/fundraising tip?

Check this out, via Offbeat Bride.

Spokane couple aims to recycle 400,000 cans to pay for their wedding.

That is $20,000 for those of you who can't do quick math (Who am I kidding? I used a calculator.)

Hop on over to Offbeat Bride for the whole shebang, but basically they are doing this over 7 months time, aim to get married this summer, and are in it for the positive environmental impact--besides the cash.

Sounds like a pretty lofty goal to me, but it sounds pretty dang awesome. I am anxious to see how quickly they will succeed. I am sure they will, the only thing I am skeptical of is their timeline--they will need to move their wedding date, change their budget, or keep saving cans after their wedding to pay off their credit cards. That is just my realist (perhaps skeptic?) prediction.

Don't get me wrong though, this is such an incredible goal. I am totally on Team Spokane!!

{ photo via Offbeat Bride }

Any readers in the Spokane area, send your cans to these lovesick puppies!

I will keep you updated on the end result. We will see if they prove me wrong! :]

What do you guys think of this?

have you heard?

Have you checked out Eyes Lips and Face Cosmetics yet? Talk about seriously amazing deals.

{ e.l.f. homepage }

I first heard about this site from a friend last summer who mentioned that they are a counterpart of MAC. I haven't found anything on their site that supports this, so I can't deny nor confirm this tidbit. But does anyone else know?

I love that elf is DIRT CHEAP. Seriously, a ton of stuff that is $1. On top of that, when you sign up for their email newsletter, you are sent coupon codes all the time--coupons that are actually worth your time. I am talking 50% off all mineral makeup (which every item in their mineral line is no more than $8 each in the first place!)

I am telling you, they have a great marketing and promotions team, because I literally want to buy something every time there is a coupon, because they are such good deals... which, by the way, don't you hate that? When you find yourself loading up your shopping cart with crap you don't need just because it is SUCH a good deal? Curse you, Dollar Store!

I have ordered from elf twice now, and I plan to review the products that I tried for you in the near future.

So get excited :]

diy chandelier

{ Z Gallerie }

I saw this chandelier at Z Gallerie last weekend, and drooled a little.

...After I wiped my chin, I determined that this could definitely be DIYed. Then my dad chimed in and said that it would look great in front of a big bathroom mirror. Brilliant!


So now all I need is a big bathroom and a big mirror.
Then I want to make this.
Stat.

flower girl dress

Flower girls. ADORABLE. Let's get that out of the way, shall we? Unpredictable, traditional, sometimes even a little cheesy... Not for everyone, I know. But come on. They can be so gall dang cute.

But what is up with flower girl dresses costing more than prom dresses? Or even wedding dresses? That is just a scam and a half. Tack the name "wedding" onto ANYTHING and it's value is suddenly inflated 6 times over.

Let's face it, toddlers are wearing these things. And often these frocks are white (more on this later) or at least some precious pastel color. It is hard enough for a bride--a grown woman, mind you--to keep her white dress clean. I don't even need to say more about that. But can we mention that this dress will more than likely never be worn again? And sure, her mom might save it in a box somewhere, but who really re-wears those things? And you know that they will be grown out of it by the time you are back from your honeymoon, right?

Okay, so let's cut to the chase. I walked by this adorable dress in Old Navy this week and instantly thought "Perfect flower girl dress!" Why? It is modern, just dressy enough, age-appropriate, summer heat appropriate (but adding a sweater is totally do-able ,too), comfortable for baby (100% cotton!), washable (again, 100% cotton!), and BONUS: It's $19.50!P.S. Seriously, go see this in person. It looks so much better on the hanger, it is almost sad. I really wished they had a photo of this dress on a model, but alas. This squint-your-eyes-real-hard-at-it photo is all there was.

Okay, so now my rant on white flower girl dresses...(I apologize. I do this time to time, but I promise, it isn't daily.)

Whether you are a traditional, non-traditional, religious, non-religious, church wedding, or courthouse wedding-type... Whatev. I think it is a pretty safe assumption that the vast majority of female wedding guests wouldn't want to wear a white dress to a wedding. Agreed? K. You just don't want to take that from the bride. You wouldn't do it even if you hate her, because you know that every other guest would hate you for it. So why are already adorable toddlers exempt from this rule? Isn't the whole point of not wearing white for the "all eyes on the bride" deal goin' on? (Read: I am not into the "I am the princess. It is my wedding, so my day will be perfect, even if you all suffer to make it that way" thing. I hate bridezilla. But this is the one thing I am on Team Bride about.) But really, what is the deal with it not being okay for cousin Jimmy's hot girlfriend to wear white, but it's cool for niece Maddy? Most weddings today include colors other than white in the decor (please!). Put her in a dress that compliments the color scheme or theme of the wedding. She will still look precious, non-white dresses are much more practical, there won't be insane wedding inflation on it, and it will be so much easier to find.

That said. Drumroll, please. Here is my $19.50 perfect flower girl dress at it's finest: