Monthly Archives: August 2009

Clothes

Posted on by
2

In the recent past I’ve lost weight. In the past I’ve had a good fashion sense. Realizing that I can fit into clothes that I never have before is slowly dawning on me.

I went out with the oldest yesterday to the mall. For me, that’s a HUGE thing. I hate the mall. I like shopping, but not in stores in the mall. So, it was an adjustment. And the fact that school is starting here on Monday, it was PACKED. We went to JC Penney’s and I tried on clothes and bought some.

I’m on a budget and I’m still building onto my basics. So, I had to buy things that I could use with my current wardrobe as well as expand it in a new direction.

She had me take inventory onto a sheet of paper. I obviously love shirts/tops/blouses I have a lot of those. I needed pants, I only had one pair of dress pants and two pairs of the khaki kind of pants. I get overwhelmed by the choices. Having an inventory sheet helped me a lot with that. I knew what I needed to fill in the spaces and tried on those things. I usually gravitate to the same things over and over again. Having specific things that I needed, helped me break out of that, a lot.

I bought the following and I will try to link to everything so you can see what I bought as well. We had a coupon discount as we were there before 1 p.m. and got some door buster discount as well.

  1. Blazer in purple, after discount it was $20.48. I have to get the sleeves shortened. I have a GREAT tailor in my area.
  2. Two of these, one in wine and one in cream. I had to try these on to make sure I liked them. They have 3/4 sleeves which usually piss me off, but, these are not bad. The sleeves aren’t tight. After discount $18.61 each.
  3. Two of these blouses. One in white and one in the pink stripe. I needed a white blouse that fit, it was on my wish list. After discount, these were $13.96 each.
  4. Unfortunately I cannot find the Liz & Co pants I bought online. I did find these online though, in grey. The Liz and Co ones are in a light, brownish color with windowpanes. I need to get both of these taken up, washing them first to make sure they don’t shrink after hemming. I think that the ones I linked to are the same ones I bought, but, the pricing is different. I paid $33.52 after discount, so I may be returning to the store to double check that and get an additional discount as well.
  5. I also cannot find the Liz & Co jeans I bought online. These are a darker color and after the discounts they were$34.92. I’m washing these before taking them to the tailor as well.

I still need to buy, according to the oldest:

  1. Brown cardigan
  2. Everyday jeans
  3. SHOES!

Doing the inventory was very helpful. I  now know what I have in my closet and what I need to fill in the blanks. I’m putting it on my phone, so I have it with me when I’m shopping. That way I know what I need and what I have.

I had to chuckle at myself. About 8 or 10 years ago I bought a pair of leopard print boots. Just the ones that you wear under pants. I guess they are back in style, again. I told her that leopard may not be my style. Haha, then we saw those boots.

I bought some things last month with hubby in tow, they were good buys according to her and she liked what I picked out. I tried on everything, just because I didn’t know what looked good or fit right or what I liked on me. I’ve been wearing shorts/jeans and T-shirts for too long, time to get other clothes in the mix! *A hazard of being a Work at Home mom!* I have a semi-formal dress, didn’t even know it!

One thing she told me YEARS ago is about vanity sizing. A few stores do this: They take the size down a few to make sure you come back to them when you need more clothes. Remember, it’s not the NUMBER, it’s how it fits and how you feel in it! I didn’t like a dress I tried on, so I didn’t buy it. It was cute, looked great on the hanger, but, it wasn’t me. Express, Ann Taylor do vanity sizing. It’s a sales ploy to get you to love that you are in a 2 or a 4 when you are in a 6 or 8 in other stores. I tried on the pants in JC Penney’s and was a little upset when I had to wear an 8 to be comfy, then she reminded me about vanity sizing and how I feel in the clothes, not the number.

Things to remember:

  • I use a tailor for everything as I’m short. I just had a dress taken up at the straps by 2″ on each side as the dress was a little low cut for my body. It’s worth the money to get a professional to hem pants, shorten sleeves, move buttons. People don’t usually think about that when trying on clothes, so, the next time you shop, think about that. It’s worth the money in the long run to get things tailored. Good basics should last years before replacing. So when you get upset about spending $15 for a pair of pants to be hemmed, think about how long you will wear those pants. If you are getting something tailored, you are paying for the professional to do the work. I know how to hem and take things up, but, the frustration level and the quality level is not worth it for me in the long run to do it myself. I arrived at that conclusion over the past few years.
  • Also think about what you have in your closet that it will coordinate with. If you don’t have at least two things that it will coordinate with, it’s not a good deal, no matter what the price. It’s a waste of your hard-earned money as it sits in the closet, mocking you!
  • Take inventory before you shop for clothes. Even your kids need this done. That way you know what they have, what they need, what to buy. It will make it more efficient when you are shopping. Don’t you make a list when you grocery shop? It’s the same thing, clothes just last longer. It goes with the above rule!

She has started a blog that will help everyone, no matter what size they are, with dressing on a budget. She finds good sales and posts about them. Even if it’s not your style, it’s worth looking at the store or something similar as it may be what you are looking for. So, go and visit, read, learn, SHOP and then please share the link. :smile:

Work at Home

Posted on by
3

Jennifer wrote about The Working Mom vs. the Stay at Home Mom. Which reminded me that I too have been on both sides of this.

I never needed benefits because the military insurance covered everything, so, looking for jobs was pretty easy actually. People liked that I didn’t need insurance so, they offered me part time jobs.

I’ve had a full time job with part time pay or a part time job for most of our marriage. I sold Tupperware and Avon in the 80′s. I also worked part time at Lerner’s. (New York and Company now.)

The oldest was about 3 when I was hired at a bank in upstate NY. I was VERY excited to have a job, a career maybe. Being military you need to have skills that you can take with you when you move every 3-4 years. Banking, nursing, teaching are really popular with military families. Then, I found out I finally was pregnant with our youngest. We had been trying for years. Hm. This was a hard thing to do. I continued working and then when I had her, we used a sitter to fill in the times that hubby wasn’t able to watch her. On shift work it’s pretty set in stone, so there were days that he would watch both of the girls, which was great. I hated dropping them both off at the sitters. She was a friend of a guy that he worked with at the time and we liked her a lot. I always felt that because she was there and older, she would watch out for the youngest, and she did. Once we found out we were moving, I stopped working there and took a small cashier job for a few weeks to make some extra cash. That was in 1991.

I didn’t work outside the home again until 1995 when we moved to Georgia. I again found a job at a financial place. A credit union this time. It was a little easier this time as the girls were older. It was very part time, 3-4 days a week. Nice pay though as they didn’t have to give me any benefits! The youngest was in kindergarten and the oldest was entering 5th grade. If one of them got sick, I was able to leave to pick them up, or  he was. We were really lucky that he had a good job at the base down there. I was learning other aspects of the industry, loans, balancing the ATM, doing things that challenged me to learn. I stopped working there in early 1998 after being a victim of a bank robbery. I then decided that I wouldn’t work in banks or any place that would be a target for a robbery.

In 1999 I landed a job as an office manager at a truck garage. It was great part time hours, 9-1 every day. I really liked the job, it was challenging. I thought I was up for a promotion 18 months later, but, I was fired. They hired someone to replace me when I was at home helping my husband recover from his hernia surgery. It was at that moment in time that I made a promise to myself and to everyone that was in my family: I would never work for anyone but myself again.

In 2001 I started a hosting company with my hubby. We folded it in 2003 after many triumphs and some really bad times. We never did get the money back from our merchant company, it’s gone forever I’m sure. I learned a lot of things about blogs, MySQL, cpanel, everything.

We moved to Northern Virginia in 2004. I was still taking photos and I was asked to take photos for a neighbor’s wedding. He and his wife had about 12 people total including hubby and I and the youngest. That was in 2005. It was okay, I really did not like how the photos turned out. I had a Nikon CoolPix 950 at the time. A digital camera, but a HUGE digital camera.

In 2006, after our cross-country trip, I wanted to try to work again. I had taken some really nice photos on our 3 week journey, it was with our little Sony Cybershot, not even a good DSLR. The youngest was in high school, the oldest was on her own in Richmond. It was time. I applied for a job at a local, private nursery school. Three year old’s aren’t for me. After three weeks I was done. Plus we found out that she was pregnant with the little girlie, so I couldn’t work at all. She didn’t have the means to get around, doc appts. school, etc.

The little girlie arrived in the Spring of 2007. I took a lot of photos during the 2006-2007 time frame. I went to DC and took photos of everything. Most of them are still in my portfolio.

I bought my first real DSLR in June 2007. It was time for that! I loved it and still use that camera to this day. I took a million photos of everything. Of course of  the baby girlie, but other things as well. I worked for a sports photography business for a season in 2007.  It was so helpful in what I was doing, I still remember things that I learned there in that short time.

I’ve always taken photos. Ask anyone in  my family or any of my friends. I started really young with a camera in my hand, I remember being 6 or 7 and my grandpa helping me figure it out. He took wonderful photos. People, places, things. You name it, he shot it. He was a hobbyist though. I always thought that if he had lived in a different era, he would have changed careers. I like to think that he not only started me off, that he’s watching me now from up above.

We moved to Southern Maryland in January 2008 and I’ve been snapping photos ever since. I had just a few clients last year, this year more though. I’m getting repeat clients and new ones. Hopefully in 10 years I can look back at this entry and say that I have grown with clients consistently since 2008.

I totally agree with Jennifer when she states this:

I read on someone’s blog about how the blogger was a working mom and absolutely hated it. If you’re in that boat, then you need to step back and evaluate what can you do to make changes to live a life that you can tolerate. It won’t ever be perfect – but if you absolutely hate it, then this does not sound like a decision that is “right for you and your family”. You may not have the option of being a stay at home mom, or it may require changes in your life that you’re not willing to make. But that’s the trade off I guess.

Life is full of compromises and there are things you aren’t going to like doing. I’m 44, I like what I’m doing, right now. Hopefully in 10 years or even 5 years I can say that I liked this time period in my life. LIFE IS TOO SHORT. Seriously. Look at what you want to do, what you want to be, and do it. Life passes by in an instant and if you aren’t happy with where you are right now, change it. Have the guts, the nerve, to change it.

Church

Posted on by
2

I’ve been visiting a church for the past few weeks. I really like how it’s very contemporary and has a lot of music. I went to a church women’s dinner meeting tonight at Panera. It was nice to just sit and chat with some gals. I really don’t have anyone to hang out with during the day, I hang with hubby in the evenings, so this will be nice once a month. The church is Protestant, I’ve been going to Methodist churches our whole marriage, so this is a change for me. Hubby doesn’t want to go with me, but, I think that he will help out with the church workday on Saturday. I hope he will anyway. I look forward to getting more involved as time goes on. I think that there are a lot of different places that offer worship with this church, different services. I like the service I go to and I really don’t see myself changing any time soon. The sermon always applies to me in one way or another, which is a good thing. It’s starting to feel like home in our new town. :smile:

August

Posted on by
4

I cannot believe how quickly this year is passing by. My mom will be visiting in October for a week. This is the first time we have seen her since 2006. She’s never met the little girlie in person. We’ve been bugging her for two years to visit, I’m not driving to Florida to pick her up, but, I will pick her up at the airport. Hopefully she will be happy here for a week, I will be busy some of the time she’s here, but, most days I will just be around or at the gym for a little while in the afternoon.

Hubby and I went to Annapolis this past Saturday for a few hours. We shopped, well, I shopped at a few places. I have NEW clothes that FIT! (more on this later), then we ate at Gordon Biersch. If you have not been able to go to one, you should! They have great garlic fries. This was our second time eating there, we tried one in Vegas as well. Then we headed to our friend’s house for a few hours. We swam, talked, had a good short visit. :smile:

Sunday found us welcoming a new piece of furniture into our home! A friend of hubby’s that he works with, had a piano that he was giving away. We received it after a lot of hard work, dealing with rain and lifting. I listened last night while getting things done in the kitchen to my husband playing some songs. :smile: I missed hearing him play and he’s good at it. “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen is the current fav I ask for.

I have been purging and cleaning a lot of things lately. I went through my closet a few weeks ago and got rid of a few things, encouraged hubby to get rid of things as well. Last night I finished the job. Shoes, shirts, blouses, jeans, if they didn’t fit, they are gone. I can now say that I have a new wardrobe! I’m getting the dresses filled in, I really wear more skirt/blouses than dresses, but three is enough for right now. 2 pairs of cotton pants – one khaki and one black, one pair of black dress pants. Three or four cardigans, about 10 polos, 6 dresses blouses/sweaters, 20+ t-shirts. I think I have a few skirts too, cotton (khaki, denim, black). Target is really where I’ve been shopping for the past few months. They have some skirts in there that just hit me right as I’m short, so they aren’t mini’s on me, just right. I bought a jacket or two from there, those denim ones in colors. I also bought a black jacket from Wal-Mart. I like some of the George stuff. I need to go in there and see what they have for the Fall. I have two entire drawers in my dresser open for new things. I would like to get some jeans that fit really nice, dark and light. I have two pairs from last year and I have a feeling they will be donated over the next few months once I find new jeans.

I’m starting to look for Christmas ideas for the family already. I have one thing crossed off of the list, already bought it. I just need to wrap and hide it. :smile: Hubby pointed me in the direction of his Amazon wish list last night. His bday is the 21st of this month, I needed ideas! I have some now.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the youngest is going to college again this Fall. She changed her classes around with the help of a counselor, so, she’s carrying four classes, one or two each night, M-Thur. We are purchasing a new laptop for her to use at college. She’s done so well with the stuff she has on her plate with the little girlie and everything that goes along with being a single parent, that she’s earned it. There have been some issues with the dad and I won’t go into all the drama that surrounds it, but it’s been hard on her. Luckily she isn’t old enough to understand. Hopefully it will be resolved one day.

We just got a flier in the mail from the Ren Faire people, I cannot wait to go! We are thinking about Labor Day weekend! We didn’t go last year, I think it was the first year since 2005 that we missed!

I’ve been fixing up my office over the past few months. I repainted part of the wall that was damaged by something that was put up with that stick on stuff vs. brackets/screws/nails. I now have a black corkboard (found it at Office Depot) and a white board calendar (Target) hanging on the wall above my desk. I have a white board (Office Depot) behind my door. Hubby put up some file holders on my wall last night, which are great. It’s nice to have more of my desk top open. I really loved the look of the Pottery Barn things, but, the price was too high and I really just wanted things with black frames. They are out there if you look.

I recently upgraded my BlackBerry from a pink Curve 8330 to a black Tour 9630. It’s a pretty nice phone, I like most of the features. Hopefully an upgrade will be coming out soon for the OS and it will take all the little hiccups out. While I was there I upgraded our phone plan so now we have 10 designated phone numbers that don’t cost us minutes to call. The oldest and my BFFOUCDP are on the same carrier, so that didn’t leave too many that we needed to designate. Hubby’s work number, my mom, his mom and dad and our home number are now free for us to call from our cell phone’s.

I put a new profile photo up on my business website as well as Facebook and Twitter for the business. I have a new logo for the business site, she’s so good at what she does! I could have created it, but, there were too many options in my head that I couldn’t pin one down.

I have been going through our personal photos from the last month and have a few really cool photos from the 4th of July. I slowed down my camera and got some neat shots of the fireworks. I will probably print and hang those in the house somewhere. I also have a cute, CUTE, shot of  the little girlie in a red, white and blue dress waving a flag. :smile:.

TTFN!