{ Gals Only Morning }

So, today Miss K. & I went on a little shopping trip with our
bargain~swagger in full effect :)
*
Armed with a few coupons and off we went! For a play by play of our morning check out
MY TWITTER ACCOUNT for fun pics/picks!!!

As most of you know,
thanks to my friends at Nature's Knockout,
I am a work in progress in clearing out my old "toxic-ingredient"
laden cosmetics and body care products and purchasing new "Toxic-FREE" ones.
Bare Escentuals is safe and has a wonderful selection. My two choices of lipstick are:
Black Currant & Bavarian Creme
Each $15
~however~
used my 15% off Beauty Insider coupon and it knocked it down a few bucks!
Online promo code for you is: MADNESS thru 4-19.
Go! Go use it and buy yourself some SAFE lipstick.
After all, we "eat" 7 lbs. of lipstick in a lifetime (on average)
so it might as well not have ingredients linked to cancer and
reproductive/hormone disorders, right?
For more info. check out this site:
Skin Deep

Next up, is LUSH!!!!
I've heard sooooooo much about this place but never thought to look
in MACY'S for it! Of course, I was lured in by all the cosmetic/perfume counters
and out of the corner of my little eye I noticed all the chunks and bars of goodness!
Sis and I will be trying out the Bath Bomb "Fluffy Egg."
It was on sale for $3.95 but lo, I held onto a Macy's giftcard worth
a WHOPPING............ .78 cents!
Seriously. I know. But, like a fool, it gets me in the store if I have a discount.
So, with tax almost covered by the measly gift card
& already $3 off b/c, heck, it's an EGG & Easter's ova'
I got this lil pretty for CHUMP change :)
hollaaa!
*Update: I checked in with my friends at Nature's knockout about LUSH products.
It is a fact that UNLIKE food regulations, products do not follow any rules regarding
the order in which their ingredients are listed.
Although *parabens* (bad news, highly toxic to our bodies) are listed dead last
in the ingredient lists of Lush products, there is nothing to indicate that there
are are only trace amounts, the way food ingredient lists are regulated
highest amounts to lowest amounts.
Thank you, Laurie and Tiff, for your stellar examples.*

Our dear friend who is like family, Pam (we live in her lovely home), gifted us not one,
but TWO of these AWESOME "Kid's Stuff" coupon books.
I use them for everything. Lovin' life with these coupons.
So, off to Crazy 8 we rolled with our 15% off coupon on entire purchase!
So, the *HOT PINK* tulle skirt was $12 and the flip flops were on clearance
for $4.99 already, so we got outta there virtually unscathed.
O how fun is it to have a girl. THE PINK, I tell you!!!

Well, the pink doesn't just stop at girls around here.
Brandon would like to disagree.
But, seriously, M. can ROCK this shirt, he is such a STUD!
So, when I dropped him off to spend the day with Mimi, she gave me a $10 off coupon
at EACH of these stores:
Gap, Old Navy & Banana Republic! Sweeeeeetnessssss yo.
So, this pretty... I mean STUDLY... little ditty for Devon cost me, uh, $0.00!!!
On sale for $9.99 & cashed in my free $10 bucks! holla.
I know, Brandon says it's worth that much in that color for a boy.
But, I still stick with M. being enough of a stud to pull it off completely.
Heck yah he can.

So, this is how I shop... this is how I roll... in the mall, at any & every store I hit.
I love it! Here's my Nature's Knockout friends' blog that lists a lot of deals for
organic beauty products and for awesome mall store coupons.
http://www.NaturesKnockout.Blogspot.com

I have more of these kind of "hauls" I can post, just gotta take pics of everything...
Stay tuned!

{ Booty }

So, I thought I would share some of my treasure hunting with you!
I've got my eye out for certain things and I love the digging and searching for them,
I just love the hunt!

So, here's a gorgeous Fall sweater that my friend actually had for her daughter
and I loved it, but not the price! So, I'm glad I held out b/c I found it
at the thrift store in K's size-to-be for Fall and very gently used for $3.95!!!!
But, alas, to my utter joy, it was HALF-OFF!!
$2 BUCKS PEOPLE!! eeeeee!!!

Then, off to the next thrift store, I stumbled upon this coordinating skirt!
It was also from Gymboree and in the same size as the sweater!
Price: $2.99
Seriously, a Gymboree outfit, very gently used, coordinating pieces
and sized perfectly to fit her this Fall for $5 BUCKS!!
SCOOOOORE!!!! :)

So, those of you who know me, you know I may or may not be
mildly OBSESSED with animal prints and hot pink.
This little Carter's skirt is velor, super gently used, and was only $3 bucks!
(And I do believe Gymbo has a new line that looks just like this! Bonus!)

So, the next 4 things here were all bought at the same thrift store.
I went with my Dad this day and didn't even notice that there was a sale
b/c it was actually during a weekday that we went and usually Saturdays are the Big sales.
So, when I treasure hunt, I really, really weigh in, once I'm about to head to check-out,
to see if I really reallllly need the stuff I put in my cart.
So, here I was thinking,
"Will I really wear this on her in 2 years when she actually fits in it, etc."
and I just figure, "Well, I can just give it away to friends if I end up not using it.
Just too good of a deal to pass up and leave here!"

So, here are the steals of that day:
Above is a really sweet little white Gap denim like jacket with the neatest
collar button over snap. Love it! Love the price: $2.92

Here's the 5T cream vest from Gymboree that I was debating for a while.
It was washed so it would fit earlier that 5 years old from shrinkage.
It is stainLESS and couldn't have been been worn much at all.
It was virtually bran new without tags.
I know, a no-brainer, right? At $2.92.
But, you know, sometimes I feel like I might have a mild hoarder gene in me
and it freaks me out. So, I'll try to "prove" to myself that I can leave a good deal behind.
Well, not today, fellas.
It was just too cute and timeless.

This was just so bold and cute that I had to have it for K.
It's from Gap and a 3T and only $2.92!

This was a stretch for my taste and the sizing isn't the greatest for K,
but Gymboree items are so well made and the corduroy is extremely gently used.
The buttons really sold me, thinking to myself, "Well, the buttons alone on this jacket would be $3 bucks from Joann's, so why not get the whole thing from the same $3 bucks?!
(Conversations with the red devil on my shoulder, no doubt!)

So, I get up to the register and my bill was waaay lower than expected.
I said, "That can't be right."
She said it was HALF-OFF everything today!!!
Dude, a buck fitty for each of those items!!!!!!!
And, to top it off, my Dad bought everything for me.
Very awesome day.

This cute apothecary jar was $.95. good.
Half-off, even better!

Entire swim outfit, from 2 different thrift stores, tags on the drawers.
$10 Mossimo & Quiksilver

Treasure hunting is such a fun hobby. I absolutely prefer to shop this way... not for everything, of course, but for most things in a growing family, it is a great option for us.
I will keep you updated on my {booty!} lol

{ Re-discoveries }

A secret passion I'm about to let you in on...
I treasure hunt.

Since I was very little, my Dad would take me from flea market to flea market, yard sale to garage sale every Saturday morning. I would spend the morning hours rooting and sifting through boxes and boxes of "junk."

I was hooked.

Dust covered stickers for $.25 a piece or 5 for a $1.oo.

Handmade shoelace hair bows in every single color combination 2 for $5.00.
My first long "dangly" earrings and Maybelline makeup,
bought for me by my Dad. At the Flea Market.
My treasures from a day's worth of sorting and searching,
all tucked away and organized in my special hiding places.
This little girl's dream.
*
On into the High School years, Saturday mornings found us in the local thrift stores.
Something about my Dad, he knows every "back way" around town.
We would go from one side of the city to the other, hitting every thrift store along the way.
Old man wool sweaters and thick, chunky cords topped my list during these years.
The hippie, grungy sort, I suppose.
I cut, sewed, rearranged and individualized these clothes and made them
into representations of me.
And I always had my eye out for unique candles/candle holders.
Different was what I went for, in style and in attitude,
during those somewhat unsettling years.
Different is what I clung to
when all around me was not what I wanted to be like.
*
Nowadays, thrift stores and flea markets are trendy and the "in" thing to do!
Who would've known!?
Still, the smell of the standard detergent that occupies second-hand stores
has the power to take me back to the moments of my childhood
where I find a smile on my face.

A trip to the mall or even after-Chirstmas shopping at Target
pales in comparison
to the excitement that fills up within me, even at the ripe old age of 30,
during a Sarurday morning of thrift store shopping.
It is among some of my most favorite feelings, ever.
The anticipation of discovering something's untapped potential.
Creating something with my own two hands out of what I find
or finding that perfect item that is just waiting for me to swoop it up in utter delight!
*
As I look back, I wasn't too far off my mark:
I still love stickers and collect them for my children's scrapbooks.
I am a cosmetologist and love make up and beauty products of all kinds.
I love jewelry and have quite the collection these days.
I create and design my own handmade hair accessories
for my own daughter now.
I still love to sew and design, especially things for my kids.
And, I still like
to
be
me.

They say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
How right they are.