Labor Day

This year was my first time getting to experience a real Labor Day weekend. I  really feel for those of you in jobs where you work weekends and holidays because it is not easy! I have been there. You guys are the real MVP’s! 

It seemed like everyone was coming to San Diego this weekend and here I am headed over to LA. At least traffic was good which is hard to say when you are traveling to, or in Los Angeles. 

This weekend was so unbearably hot for us southern California peeps. It’s true when they say we are spoiled folk. We complain when it’s too hot and we complain when it’s too cold. 

With really hot and muggy weather I’m always looking to wear light, airy clothing that will help me to stay cool when I’m sweating up a storm.

This past trip to LA I packed myself a simple, flowy black dress for day 1. Then some loose black shorts and a simple striped tank for day 2. Knowing I would possibly be out in the sun I packed a hat to block the sun from my face. Luckily the hat I packed matched both outfits so I was able to take advantage of it for the weekend. 

Both of my outfits were primarily purchased at thrift stores. My open toe wedges I got at marshalls on clearance for $27. 

My black hat was purchased at goodwill for $4 

And the dress, shorts, and tank I bought at platos closet. 

I love when I find fashion at a reasonable price. It makes the outfit that much more satisfying!

 

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Packing for a weekend Getaway

I wish packing were an easy task; just picking a few things, throwing them in a bag, and all done!

For someone like me, it isn’t that simple. A task that may take some 10 minutes, will take me a whole night. I have to set aside a few hours to pack for two days. Crazy, I know.

It’s just when you love clothes as much as I do, you want to take them all but then you realize, that’s not very practical and then talk yourself out of doing it.

So how do you narrow your wardrobe down so that you aren’t taking two suitcases full for just a weekend?

My first step in the packing process is finding a space in my room where I can lay everything out. I have a love seat in my room with a large ottoman so this ends up being my workspace. I like choosing the bag that I’ll be using so that I know what kind of space I’m working with.

I then go through my closet and start pulling out everything that is an option. Depending on where you are headed, I am sure you have an idea of what you may want to take with you. On this trip to Laughlin it was forecasted to be 100 degrees, so I obviously would not be pulling out sweaters and long sleeves.

Being a visual person I work better having everything laid out in front of me, it really helps me to piece everything together. Once everything is laid out, I then start thinking practical. Knowing that I may be doing a lot of walking, I will definitely want a good, comfortable pair of sandals so I can count those in. I will for sure want at least one pair of shorts. You will have to figure out which ones are going to be more practical for your trip. Don’t worry you can go back and pick a second pair if need be.

My jean shorts usually pair well with all my tops so I will always choose these as my primary pair. Since we are planning on going swimming I will also need to pack a swimsuit. Since it’s only for the weekend I will probably only pack one.

You can obviously pack underwear, bras, socks, and pj’s right away since those are essentials and typically don’t need much thought.

The hardest part for me is always choosing which tops to take. The good thing about summer outfits are that with shorts and tanks they usually don’t take up too much room, so I will usually pick a top and then a back up one. I do this for two reasons; one being that in case I change my mind about wearing my first option I am not stuck with it and two just incase a wardrobe malfunction happens or with it being so hot sometimes it feels nice to switch out of a top you’ve been wearing in the heat all day.

What will sometimes help me is trying on outfits that I have in mind and seeing if it’s going to be comfortable for my trip. When traveling, comfort is very important because you can’t just go home and change.

At the end of it all, I typically have packed enough to get me through the weekend, plus a little extra. It will look something like this.

1-2 pairs of shorts
3-4 tops
1-2 dresses
1-2 pairs of sandals
1-2 light cardigans
1 pair of pj’s
1 swimsuit
1 coverup

Depending on what activities I have planned the list may vary.

Bad habits

I am a naturally lazy person. I find myself lounging around way more than I should. I think we are all guilty of doing this from time to time. It’s typically okay to be lazy occasionally but what I discovered is that my laziness will sometimes affect my life negatively.

This less than desirable trait has stopped me from experiencing new things.

It’s great when we are able to catch our bad habits right in their tracks and see them for what they are. We are then able to force ourselves out of them instead of letting them control our lives.

For the longest time I let my laziness stop me from trying out a barre class that my friend had been inviting me to.  Using the excuse “well Saturday is my only day to sleep in” or “it’s kind of far” when in reality I was just being lazy. I was using these excuses to hide behind my laziness.
So yesterday I set my alarm, woke up and had some coffee and a little snack, changed and headed over to Pure Barre. Your first week is free so I wasn’t even wasting any money on this new experience.

After the class I was so happy that I had forced myself to go. I really enjoyed myself and I got in a really great workout. I’m now obsessed with barre classes.

I had all this time to enjoy the rest of my Saturday and felt great. I went home afterwards to shower and get ready and head over to the old navy sale to get some things that I needed.

Found these really great open toe heels at marshalls that I’m really loving. They were on clearance for $27. There were quite a few different styles too!

Morning Motivation

I came across a quote the other day that really spoke to me

“Of this I am sure, you do not find the happy life, you make it”

I am such a big quote person because of how impactful quotes can be. 

I wrote a previous blog post about ways to be happy because we all know that it isn’t always as easy as it seems. 

I know I am guilty of it but we definitely think a lot about the things we don’t have and if I only had this I would be happier or if I only looked like this I would be happier. 

You can’t go looking for happiness because you’ll never find it, happiness is right where you are! 

Summer cleaning

I spent my Saturday morning doing some “summer cleaning”

Every so often I like to do a little purge of my closet and get rid of any clothes that I don’t need or don’t really wear anymore. I’m always constantly thrift shopping so I’m always bringing clothes home and need to make room. With the clothes that I don’t wear anymore I’ll try and sell them to get some money. 

I go through my clothes and inspect them looking for any imperfections and pick out the ones in good condition to sell. 

 I like to sell on multiple platforms to make my sales go faster. I post my clothes on mercari, poshmark and offer up. I will also take my items to platos closet. 

With using all these different ways to sell it helps me to get my items out to more people and hopefully sell quickly. The whole idea is to get rid of the clothes. 

The downside to selling through an app is that you sit there waiting for someone to contact you to purchase your clothes. As where platos closet buys your clothes on the spot. The downside to platos is that they won’t buy many items and you don’t get very much for your clothes. They are reselling your clothes so they have to make a profit too.

What I like about Mecari and Poshmark is that you are able to post your item and set your price. They will be the middle man and help with the shipping label and such but it comes at a price. Mecari takes 10% and poshmark takes 20% of your sale.

It’s better than getting nothing for it, right?? 

After a while if something doesn’t sell then I’ll take it to a Salvation Army and donate it. 

So this morning after gathering my bags of clothes I threw everything on and took some photos for people to see what the item looks like on. Typically people will want to know how the fit is so using pictures of item on seems to have worked better for me. Although some items speak for themselves. 

Here are some of the items I’m selling and my usernames in case you want to take a look at all the items I’m selling. 

Poshmark: blac0035

Mecari: blac0035

Fixing Relationships

Our society has become such a consumer society with an attitude of ‘if it’s broken throw it away’ rather than trying to fix it.

This idea has seemed to transgress into other parts of our lives including our relationships with people.

So many relationships end simply because there was a problem and one or both parties walked away from the problem rather than spending time to fix it.
This happens with friendships, significant others, and family. When the going gets tough, then were outta there.
I’m not saying that all problems are equal and that they should be treated the same.

Of course, if your significant other cheats on, you then by all means walk away. I’m not expecting anyone to stay in any situation that emotionally hurts you.
These “problems” that I speak of are slight disagreements.
The ended relationships that you look back on and think “why did we ever stop talking.”

But we look at relationships as disposable, just like objects in our lives. If this ones broken then I can just get a new one.

So the nasty cycle just continues and relationships end and divorces reoccur until what? So we continue on to the next one and the next one.

What if instead of always throwing away these relationships, we worked on trying to fix them? What if we treated people like human beings rather than objects?
My parents always taught me growing up that if I took care of things that they would last longer. How is it that we don’t seem to do this with people or relationships?

Is it that were too lazy, we don’t have time or that it’s hard?

Life was never meant to be easy. People are not perfect. Disagreements are a part of life.

People have become so accustomed to running whenever things get tough never knowing what could have happened if they stayed.
I’m not arguing that there are not valued reasons for ending relationships, there are

I’m arguing that if we spent more time nourishing and working on the relationships in our lives rather than neglecting them that they would last longer, be stronger and deeper, and more fulfilling.

Our relationships with people are a reflection of our own health. It’s been proven that people who have a good core group of friends and relationships will live longer.
We need friends and we need people.
Our relationships with people help us to grow. Challenges in life help us to grow.

No one said it would be easy but I guarantee it will be rewarding.

So I challenge you;
Maybe you haven’t been a very good friend to someone?
Maybe you haven’t talked to someone in a long time and it’s been over due?
Maybe you stopped talking to someone and you could have fixed it?
Whatever the case is, let’s start fixing things instead of leaving them broken.

Palm Springs 101

Sometimes a girl just needs to get away. Palm Springs for me has always been a little vacation to help me to unwind and relax. Being from San Diego it’s only about 2 and a half hours which makes it a great getaway location. 

On my most recent trip, I was able to get a few touristy things in while also kicking back. 

The biggest thing to know when coming to Palm Springs is that it is extremely hot, therefore expect a lot of pool time. 

It’s always important for me to pack lots of sunblock, a couple of bikinis and a floatie to lay on. This will be the focus of your trip so make yourself as comfortable by the pool as you can. 

Depending on where you stay, some hotels have bars by the pool which is great for keeping cool. 

One hotel I recommend staying at is the Saguro. This colorful hotel has a cool, hip vibe to it. What I love about this trendy hotel is the fun atmosphere, providing ping pong, cornhole or bike rentals in the lobby for it’s guests. It also has a great little Mexican restaurant that serves up some yummy margaritas. 

At night, I recommend heading to downtown and checking out all the shops and restaurants. Peabody’s is a good time if you are looking for a little bar with Karaoke. 

On my most recent trip we headed to the nearby casino, Aqua caliente to do some light gambling. Being first time club members we took advantage of our free play! Palm Springs is filled with casinos so we did a little bit of casino hopping. $5 drinks and 5 cent kino, count me in! 

If you’ve never done it before then I recommend checking out Moorten Botanical Garden. If you are a fan of Cacti then you’ll love it here. $5 per person gives you a self guided tour with a map of the grounds. The Cactarium is pretty cool and worth checking out. 

A cool lunch spot that we enjoyed was the Draughtsman. Beer and burgers, what more could you ask for. Oh yeah! A side patio with some fooseball and cornhole. Can you tell I love cornhole? 

If you are into the cheesy touristy stuff like I am then you will have to stop by the house that is Instagram famous, for the main fact that it has a pink door! It’s located really close to the downtown area. If you google the pink door Palm Springs you can find the address. Take a picture and hashtag #thatpinkdoor

On our way back home from our little getaway we stopped at an attraction by the side of the freeway called Cabazon Dinosaurs. We just stopped to take pictures with the life-sized dinosaur structures but for $12 there is a tour that allows you to see much more. 

 I love playing tourist and checking out all the cool little things that Palm Springs has to offer. It’s definitely a great place to escape to for the weekend when you are looking for a calm and relaxing getaway!

Happy 4th

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July whether you were bbqing, lounging by the pool, or traveling. 

I enjoyed a nice BBQ at home followed by fireworks at a nearby lake. 

For events that take all day I usually plan on wearing 2 different outfits if I can. Especially when it’s hot out. 

I personally don’t have any red clothes so every year I purchase a red accessory so that I can have my red, white, and blue attire. 

This year that was a red flower headband that I purchased from Walmart for $3

Outfit # 1: 

Top: old navy 

Shorts: Victoria Secret

Outfit #2

Dress: target 

Sandals: target

Sunnies

Has anyone noticed how a pair of sunglasses can crucially make or break an outfit?

It’s another accessory that just so happens to have a purpose other than fashion.

Lately I’ve been using my black pair to accessories my simpler outfits. Black sunglasses are such a staple and match with everything.

I love my black Fossil Sunglasses that I only paid $10 for at Marshalls.

I’m one of those people who lose sunglasses on the daily which is why I can’t fathom paying too much dough for a pair.

Luckily I can get great brand name Sunnies for cheap and not be too upset when something happens to them.

You can find name brand Sunnies at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Ross for really cheap so you don’t need to worry too much if you lose or scratch a pair.

Piece by Piece

One thing that I’ve learned about fashion, is that it’s kind of like a puzzle. You take these different pieces and you put them together to create a bigger picture.

I’m not at all a whiz when it comes to fashion, I put my pants on one pant leg at a time. So I come across moments when the pieces just don’t seem to be fitting.

Those are the days where we like to think “I have nothing to wear”

when in reality we have tons to wear we’re just not piecing it together correctly in that moment.

But when you piece things together it’s very satisfying.

Today was one of those days for me. When finally the pieces seemed to fit perfectly.

Hat: $4 Goodwill

Jean jacket: $25 Forever21

Top: $24 Urban Outfitters

Leggings $12 Victoria’s Secret

Purse: $8 Platos Closet