Weekend Wrap Up

What a weekend it has been!  I spent Friday night at a girlfriend's house eating pizza, drinking wine, and talking men and babies.  There were only three of us, but my two friends both have children so I was a bit out of place in some conversations.  Still, I love these girls (and their little ones) and I know they will be thrilled when my husband and I finally take the plunge and expand our family.  The time is near but we still have a few practical things to get worked out.  More on that soon...

I spent Saturday and Sunday helping a new friend move.  She is going through a lot in her personal life and has had to move with very little notice and very little help.  Luckily, our Bible study group was able to come together to get her moved.  I'm not sure what else we can do for her at this point, but I have a feeling she's going to need a solid support system.  She and her 5 week old little girl are in quite a difficult place but hopefully she knows that we are here for her.  It's not my place to tell her story, but knowing her and what she is going through has really helped me appreciate all the wonderful people in my life. 

Alright, internet world, I'm off to prep for the week to come.  If only I could convince my laundry to fold itself...

Too good to be true?

I don't know about you but I tend to be wary of deals that seem to good to be true, especially when it comes to the "free trial" concept.  Well, today I decided to risk it.  Has anyone heard of ShopRunner?  It's a shopping program that offers discounts and free two-day shipping on participating websites.

I know what you're thinking.  I just made an online purchase earlier this week so I shouldn't be shopping.  Well, I just happened to find a gift card in my glove box when I was cleaning out my car two days ago and it had $20 on it!  Woohoo!  I had also received a 15% off coupon for American Eagle so I decided to browse.  I saw that the AE Lightweight Hoodie that I had been eyeing a while ago was now on clearance, plus all AE clearance is an additional 40% off.  So with my 15% off coupon, the total came to $12.74.  Even though I live in a southern state, I am ALWAYS cold so I wear a lot of lightweight sweaters and hoodies all year round.  With gift card in hand, this was a no-brainer.

Ok, back to ShopRunner.  I was thrilled with my find but was not thrilled with the shipping - $7!  For some reason I have a mental block against paying for shipping, so I went hunting for deals.  I stumbled across ShopRunner and I was immediately intrigued.  The annual fee is $79, but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial.  Supposedly, you are not charged as long as you cancel the service before the 30 days is up, but you have to give a credit card when you register.  I read, and reread, and reread the policies before deciding to give it a try.  I signed up and was able to get free two-day shipping on AE.com right away.  I'm going to give it a few days and then I'll go in and try to cancel.  The site claims you can cancel online pretty easily, so hopefully this won't come back to bite me in the butt.  Fingers crossed...

Happy Friday!

Hi, my name is Charlotte...

...and I'm a shopoholic.

In the few years since my husband has been working excessively and taking classes, I have found comfort in shopping.  I like to walk the mall to kill time on the weekends and its not unusual for me to wander around TJ Maxx on my lunch hour instead of eating by myself.  When I'm home alone at night, I'm usually fighting off boredom by browsing online.  I don't spend much at any one time and only buy during sales or with coupons, so I never considered my shopping habit to be much of a problem.  Well, let me tell you something folks.  Spending $30 here and $40 there multiple times a week certainly adds up over time.  Since we are considering starting a family soon (eek), I've decided that now would a good time for me to get control of my spending.

Don't get me wrong, we make decent money and it's ok for me to buy things here and there.  The real problem with my shopping habit is that I buy things that I think are really cute but don't really have any use for or things that are just ok but are on sale so I can't pass them up because they're so cheap.  In the end I've spent money on stuff I love but have no use for or things I don't really like enough to actually use.  So I guess my goal is to spend less by being a more discerning shopper.   

Am I alone in this?  I certainly hope not.

So there you go, blog world.  I am looking to you to hold me accountable.  I will not restrict myself to the point of misery but it is time for me to stop buying things that I don't both love AND have a use for.

That being said, I have done well so far this month and have actually RETURNED a few things I bought during the after Christmas sales.  As a reward, I decided to treat myself to some fun cheap jewelry from Forever 21.  I am trying to branch out when it comes to accessories so I'm starting out with cheap stuff that I won't feel bad for not using much.  I can't really wear much clothing from Forever 21 because I'm 5'8" and their clothes are made for shorter girls (or tall girls that don't mind showing A LOT of skin...) but their accessories are so inexpensive they allow me to try new things without feeling guilty. 

Here's what I ordered:

I thought these were unique and fun with just a little pop of color.  They're the Ancient Disc Earrings and priced at under $2.  I'm hoping to get at least a couple good wears out of them this spring. 

Next up are the Curved Leaf Earrings.  I'm hoping to wear these with a sundress or flowy top when it warms up a little more.

I probably didn't need to get another pair of fun gold earrings, but I really liked these.  They're the Cutout Bollywood Teardrop Earrings and I think these will be more of an evening pair than the leaf ones.

On to necklaces.  This is the Teardrop Bead Necklace.  I typically wear very small and simple necklaces (this is what I've had on for the past few weeks) but I want to try to add a little flair to my wardrobe.  Since I wear a lot of solid colors instead of patterns (man do I sound boring) I'm hoping that some different pieces like this will help.

Last we have the Faceted Bead Necklace.  This was the one item I wasn't completely sure about but I'm currently in love with the color navy and all things nautical so I sprung for it.  At $10.80 it was the most expensive item I bought but I think it will prove to be a quality purchase. 

With shipping and tax, I was out the door at $36.35.  Not bad for 5 items.  I will have to say, it is a bit hard to fathom spending $6.95 for shipping when 4 of my 5 items cost less than that.  Come on F21.  Oh well, shopping online saved me a trip to the mall where I would have inevitably bought stuff from other stores as well.  And of course, no trip to the mall would be complete without spending a little extra on...

No unplanned buys from other stores + no unnecessary snack spending/calorie consumption = a spending win for this week. 

Formalities

Since I am entering into what feels like a new relationship with you, the internet world, I feel the need to introduce myself.  My name is Charlotte.  I am 27 years old, married, and I work full time.  My husband is a first responder and works long overnight shifts, so I fill my time with church, friends, my dogs, books, and shopping (an unfortunate habit I have picked up since my husband started shift work...what can I say, nothing beats retail therapy). 

I recently finished graduate school and my husband and I are starting to contemplate having children.  I consider myself a strong, hard-working person, but having children absolutely terrifies me.  I hope I am not alone in this.

I'm not entirely sure what has motivated me to start blogging.  At first the thought came to me out of boredom.  I enjoy writing and I thought it might be fun.  But the more I considered it, the more I have realized that my life will be drastically changing in the coming months/years and writing a blog could be comforting.

So there you go, internet world.  You are now my friend and confidant.  I have high hopes for this relationship.  Don't let me down.