NOTD: Bubble Trouble

Hey guys! I snatched up this bottle of Revlon Bubble at Target yesterday. It was a steal as it was already clearanced down to $3.17 and then I had a $1.00 coupon on top of that. Woot woot!


I really like this shade of pink... it seems a little more purplely in my pictures but it's not. Revlon got hot pink right on this one in my opinion. The shade is purely pink but it's not neon looking like a lot of hot pinks are, so it compliments my fair skin instead of washing it out.



I called this post Bubble Trouble because I had some trouble with my design. From a distance, my flower looks like an eyeball, lol. I think it has something to do with the Seche Vite taking the detail out of the gem in the middle... it went from a little sparkly stone to a black blob. Ugh.

Which leads me to ask, what do you guys use to attach your embellishments?

Thanks for reading!
- Kim

Adventures in Baking: Mini Donuts!

This is totally unrelated to nails but I wanted to share about this awesome Babycakes donut maker I bought. I had a 15% off coupon to Kohl's plus $20 bucks in Kohl's cash that I needed to use before it expired. I searched the store high and low for something to spend my coupon on and nothing was really appealing to me until I spotted this guy.


It was on sale for $29.99 so with my various discounts, it came out to less than $10. Sweeeet! The set comes with a couple of recipes for donuts but after browsing for more online, several people recommended using cake batter for softer, fluffier donuts. So that's what I did... and look at the yummy goodness!


I used Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Decadent cake mix and man, they super tasty... I'm ashamed to admit I've had about 5 of them with all the fixings, lol! And as an aside, Babycakes has makers for mini cupcakes, cake pops, and whoopie pies... I want to try them all.

Thanks for reading!
-Kim

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag

I went marathon shopping with my mother-in-law and sis-in-law, T, over the Easter holiday. We hit up the outlet mall first and foremost in search of dresses to wear to a formal wedding that's coming up in July. While we were there, we had to pop into all of the designer outlet stores to see what kind of goodies we could find.

We all found a great deal at Coach and all three of us got new bags! All of the clearance items were 50% the already marked down price and then the store clerks were handing out 30% off coupons. With all of the discounts, I managed to get a new Coach Poppy handbag for less than $60 including sales tax. Love it!!


Update: While were out gallivanting, T was snapping away with her iPhone and she sent me some of the pics she took during our adventure.

Coach and Starbucks' Frappachino. Life is good.

My Poppy bag, Nonna's black purse, and T's metallic number.
(I may need to borrow that one at some point in time!)

Booty Pop at the As Seen On TV Store. lol

After 6 hours of shopping and 2 malls down, T and I couldn't keep up with Nonna and had to take a break. Thank goodness JC Penny sells sofas. Haha.

Thrifty Shopping: Goodwill Finds

Oh, how I love some Goodwill! I stopped in this afternoon while running errands and I found quite a few bargains.

From left to right:

1. Torrid Skirt, size 26
2. Steverson's Vintage Top, size 24
3. Cato's Maxi-length Skirt, size 1x
4. Mossimo Printed Cardigan, Size 1x
5. Ashley Stewart Sheer Ruffle-Front Top, size 20
6. Apt. 9 Cardigan (with the tags still on!), size XL

I always try on clothes at thrift stores. If I see something cute and cheap close to my size range, I'll try it on because it might surprise me and fit! Hence the size 26 Torrid skirt. I typically wear a 20/22 so a 26 is a bit bigger than my norm but it looked smaller soooo I tried it on. Perfect! It sits on my hips instead of my waist but that makes it wearable to work and the cut still looks good even slung lower like that.

And now to my absolute favorite find... Chinese Laundry heels! What girl doesn't love cute heels? And to make it even better, these bad boys were only $3.75! Can we say "cha-ching!"

I just adore houndstooth patterns. I already have my outfit planned for work on Monday and these shoes are the focal point! Love it!

Thanks for reading!
-Kim

Thrifty Shopping: Rugged Wearhouse, Goodwill, and Target

Oh, how I love a good deal. Yesterday, I went to some of my favorite spots for thrifty finds. I found a few things I liked and thought I'd share.


I snagged this nautical looking hair clip at Rugged Wearhouse for a whole $1.99. I have no idea what company made it since it was on a generic black card. Oh well! But I am so happy I can wear things like this now that my hair is finally getting long enough. While I was there, I also got this adorable bird necklace for $4.99. It's like the perfect combination of girly sparkle and vintagey roughness. (Yes, I just made up the word "vintagey.")

I'm wearing this in my previous post... take a look for scale/length. :o)

After Rugged Wearhouse, I hit up the local Target. Aside from shampoo and new nail polish, this adorable little pair of cameo earrings found their way home with me. They we're on clearance for a whole $2.48 so of course, I had to have them! I love that the background is black instead of the typical pink or peachy color.


I also went by the Goodwill... it's my most favorite thrifty place to go! I found a lot of things I really liked but they we're either too big or too small and I hate when that happens! But I did find a cardigan that was my size and there are never too many cardies in my closet! One of the Goodwill stores here always has new Target merchandise that's donated by the store. I got this cardigan for $3.75 with the tags still on it. It's still available at Target.com for $17.59 so that's a savings ooooof... $13.84. Shweet!

(photo credit)

I also love to buy plain cardigans like this so I can add my own personal touches... ribbons, flowers, bead, etc. I'm trying to decide what I want to add to this one, if anything. Ideas anyone? lol

I Can See Clearly Now, The Blur is Gone...

When I turned 24 a few years ago, it herald some new things for me in life. Some of those things were awesome... landing my current job, I bought a new car, and I got an apartment with the Mister. That was also the year, I started wearing glasses. I was not too happy about the last part!

It all happened because I was getting terrible headaches at night and after a couple of doctor visits with no diagnoses, my doctor suggested I get my vision checked. I went to an optometrist and found out that I am woefully near sighted which was causing my eyes to try to do this sort of "auto-focus" all day long and by the end of the day, the strain was causing me to have the headaches. The doc told me contacts or glasses should clear it right up.

I wanted contact lenses but no matter what brand I tried, I could still feel them in my eyes and they drove me absolutely nuts! So after a month of puffy, red eyeballs and even worse vision, I decided glasses were the better option for me. That was when I got my first pair from JC Penny's. I really wish I could find a picture of them but they were generic silvery-pink wire frames and there was nothing that special about them aside from the color. I still ended up paying about $180 for them total. The sad part is that I wore them maybe 20 times.

I wasn't happy with how that pair matched a lot of my clothes or jewelry. I wanted to get a different style but I was not about to spend another two hundred bucks on glasses. That was when I heard about the best thing EVER for us four-eyed girls on the Clark Howard Show. There's a company called Zenni Optical and they sell glasses, super cheap. Clark swore by them so I thought I'd give them a try and ordered a pair. I have been addicted ever since! The colors, the style, the CHOICES! I compiled a sampling of some of my glasses and this isn't even all of them.

(Click the picture to bigify it!)

And yes, the sunglasses are prescription also! The best part is that each pair cost me between $12 and $20 bucks and that INCLUDES the tint or anti-glare coating. Quality wise, I think they're great. The color holds up on the plastic frames and I've only broke one pair and that was because I sat on them with my big butt. If I had a pair of glasses that didn't break in that situation, I would be amazed.

So let's do some math... for the cost of one pair of glasses at the mall, I can get between 10 to 15 pairs from Zenni. In addition to saving all that money, having so many options helped me to embrace wearing glasses. I'm not self-concious about them at all anymore and I even feel like they're an awesome fashion accessory... what do they call it now days, geek chic? Yep, I'm rocking it. :oP

Lots of Love!
Kim

P.S. -- I hear a disclaimer is good for when doing unsolicited reviews of products so here goes... I am not affiliated with Zenni Optical or Clark Howard. I just happen to love their products and I love a good deal... I also like sharing good deals with other people because, well, I just do. I mean really, who doesn't like saving money? :o)

Mail Call: Old Navy... How Do I Love Thee?

I ordered some amazing tops from Old Navy last week and they arrived in the mail on Wednesday. I tried them on as soon as I got them and I love this style! I was so impressed with the fit, that I immediately went back online and ordered 2 more. (the green check and bright white to be exact.)

The blue and pink shirts are the Ruffled Gauze tops. You can get them here. I ordered size XXL but I could easily have fit into an XL. I like the loose fit flowing style though so I guess just order according to your preference. (Tighter fit: size down. Loose fit: regular size.) Old Navy calls the blue one "Purple Floral" but there is nothing purple about it. It's a nice blend of baby blue, dark blue, gray, and a orangy-peach color. I wore it to the office today with a blue cardigan and a peach chunky bead necklace. Precious! I wish I had thought to take a picture of it but oh well! I'll get a shot next time. :o)

The middle gray top can be found here. It's a dainty floral print which is popular for this spring but the muted gray with pops of yellow give it a little edge in the world of pink, blue, and purple blooms. It was also a steal at $14.99. Love it!

I can't wait for the other two tops to arrive. I'm already planning outfits in my head. I'm also thinking about ordering another color of the gray top. So let me ask you guys... do you buy multiples of clothing items you like in different colors and patterns?

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New OPI and a Big Ulta Haul

I like orange. It's number 3 on my top colors list. I picked this orangy shade up at Ulta today on clearance. It's called Chop Sticking to My Story by OPI. I just love earthy brown undertones that make it an orange my pale complexion can live with.

I also picked up a bunch of other things at while I was at Ulta...




The first picture is what I spent the most money on. The polishes are the OPI and the 3 Ulta brand colors from left to right are Bombshell, Glitter Top Coat (I guess they ran out of names, lol) and Fuchsia Crush. I also got some powder and an eyebrow pencil. The can is another awesome product I discovered a little while ago and can't live out. Who ever invented dry shampoo is my hero!

Now to the super-awesome part! Ulta has a promotion going on that if you spend $17.50 on Ulta brand products, you get this awesome makeup kit free. That's right... EVERYTHING in the second picture was free including the cute little bottle of Dance Teal Dawn polish which I lurve.

I love getting a great deal and not to toot my own horn but *toot toot*! This was a steal! For just under $37.00 I picked up all of this stuff and I have all NEW makeup to wear. That is something that definitely makes this girl happy!

Lots of love,
Kimberly

P.S. -- I also promise to start taking real pictures with a real camera. The cell phone has made me lazy because everything is all there together but man, the picture quality sucks!!

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Good Deals: SnapFish Photo Book

I found a great deal for a photo book from Snapfish (HP) through SlickDeals. They're running a promotion until October 15th where you get $11.99 off your purchase when you use the code babybook at checkout. To commemorate our trip to the annual Honeybee Festival, I made a book for my nephew and it came out FREE with the coupon. I only had to pay $2.14 total which was for $1.99 shipping plus sales tax. Sweet!

To get this deal for yourself, create an account here. Then click here to select your style and options. There are all sorts of layouts, backgrounds, and text options. I opted for pictures on just one side of the page for the simple fact that I didn't have enough for all 20 pages.






I think it came out adorably and I love that I was able to narrate a little story for him to read. And more importantly, since it was only a couple of bucks, I feel fine about giving it to a 5 year old to play with. I just hope he likes it! :o)