Disneyland, here we come!

So, in approximately 24 hours, I will be arriving in Anaheim. Jenn and I will be spending the weekend at Disneyland. I am so excited!! It's Gay Day "Weekend" at the park, so we've packed our red shirts (and some pants), and will be meeting up with a bunch of friends. As of last weekend, DL is decorated for Halloween, so it's going to be extra fun. I've never been to DL for any holiday, so to go for my favorite holiday is really special. I seriously cannot wait. I'm sure my work shift is going to drag like hell. lol.

I'll be sure to post some pics when we get back. We're taking the laptop with us just in case we fill the camera's memory card. lol. Last year we took about 120 pics and it was just a normal weekend. I'm sure we'll take at least double that this weekend.


In other news, I'm pretty much all moved into my bedroom. I've even put stuff up on the walls! I did that today while I was packing for this weekend. I need to pick up a couple of poster frames, though. I have my NKOTB poster that needs a frame, plus I have these 2 Mexican paper cut out things that need frames. I'll take pics when they're up so you know what I'm talking about. LOL.

I also realized just how out of control my purse collection is. LOL. I filled a large storage tote with around 12 - 15 purses and 2 tote bags...plus I have 3 sling bags that don't fit...then there's 2 other purses that didn't fit...and then there's 5 more purses that I put on display on a shelving unit next to my bed. I'm sure my counts are short, too. LOL.

I also have a problem with sunglasses. Hanging on our mail sorter/key hook thing, Jenn and I have all of our sunglasses. There are 11 pairs of sunglasses. 9 black, 1 blue, 1 red. All but 2 black ones are mine. LOL.

Don't even get me started on my shoes!! Seriously, I think I have 20 pairs...and I threw out 6 or 7 pairs when I moved rooms.

One day I'll take pics of my collections. LOL. I keep saying that I don't have anything to show for my money, but then I see these collections and go "oh yeah".

Ask and you shall receive

I came across a plus sized online store today that is not only trendy, but affordable.

Casual Plus

My next clothing spree will be going to this store!

Plus Sized Clothing

I have to say that as a plus-sized woman, it's disappointing to go shopping for clothes. I don't have a huge budget as we are operating on only 1.5 incomes, so I can't spend tons of money on clothes at any given time.

My favorite places to shop are Torrid and Old Navy. Old Navy is much more in my price range, but sometimes I want clothing that's edgier than the preppy stuff they have, and it'd be nice to shop in a real store, not just online (plus sizes are only sold online now), but Torrid is just way out of my price range. I shop at Torrid when they have their 50% off Clearance sales, but not really at any other time.

Target and Walmart have plus sizes, but most of those styles are for people my mother's age, not mine. It's hard to be a 20 or 30-something, plus sized, and broke.

It's also really hard for me to buy shoes. This doesn't have anything to do with being plus sized, but I am almost 6 feet tall and have size 10.5/11 feet. It's so hard to find cute shoes in my size. My choices are usually ugly sneakers, ugly flats, or stripper shoes. Yeah, I don't like either of them. I would like the same shoe someone a size 6 has, but in a size 11. It's not like clothing where some items just don't translate well into a large size. A shoe is a shoe, there shouldn't be a reason that shoes can't be made larger than a size 9!

So, all around, shopping is a pain in my ass. LOL. Yeah, yeah, I know "lose some weight and you won't have these problems!" But it's not really that - it's price. I don't understand why the fashionable stuff is so damn expensive! Cotton and spandex don't get more expensive when you make it cute instead of ugly. LOL. Thankfully I can find random shoes at Payless (though they're not so cheap anymore), and I've always got my Converse. =o)

I'm looking forward to Revolution 1228 coming out with an affordable (AND CUTE!) plus-sized line. This is clothing being designed by Mia Tyler and a partner right now. There has been one shirt launched already and I'm looking forward to more. I've seen samples and love what I see. I'm hoping that the items will be as affordable as I would like them, but we'll see how things go. I have faith!!

If all else fails, maybe I'll try making my own line. ;o)

Shopping

So I now own more black clothing than I have in the last 5 years combined. LOL. I lived in black clothing in my early 20's, then hit 25 and discovered a love of pink. This love phased out my dark & disturbed clothing, so up until today, I owned 2 pairs of black shorts (one was a "work" pair) and about 4 tops (not including tank tops). Even my shoes have been colorful - only 2 pairs of black shoes (one actually has a white skull pattern on it). Today I purchased a black polo (@ Target), a pair of black capris (Dickies from Ross...I saw the exact same pair at Gottschalks for 3 times the price!!), a pair of black "short pants" (they're super floods. LOL. you could also call them long capris...they come to about 2 inches above my ankle), and 2 pairs of flats from Payless (they're doing a BOGO 1/2 off) - one is all black, the other are black with white polka dots.

I just washed all my laundry (I always lack in that department and end up doing 3 large loads on one day) and all that new black stuff, with shirts i already have, I was amazed by how many items I now own that are black. LOL.

But black's slimming, so it's all good! Plus I can wear all this stuff outside of work, too, so I feel much better about my purchases. I spent about $80, but saved probably $60 by taking advantage of sales (Payless) and using discount stores (Target and Ross).

Now I'm ready to start working. LOL.

She works hard for the money!

So i got a call about an hour or so ago from my supervisor at work. I was asked to come in on Thursday from 10 - 12 for orientation to "graduate" to floor sales. Whee! This means way more hours and working with customers! I'll still be doing the floor sets, but I'll have addition hours with the daytime crew. I am so excited. This will make things so much easier for us...even if it's just a few hours a week, that little bit of extra money will be a huge help.

I will have to go immediately after my orientation to Torrid (just across the hall) and buy black clothing. That's our uniform at Bath & Body Works. Thankfully, it's pretty lax other than that. I can wear shorts (but not too short), capris, button ups, non-button ups, polos, etc, and as far as shoes go, i really don't think it matters. lol. but i think those have to be black, too. The store manager was wearing flip flops one day. I can't wear those all day, so I'll stick with my converse and ballet flats, thankyouverymuch! ;o)

This extra money is going to be so helpful when I take my trip to see Riki in June, and the week we're with Jenn's family (also in Oregon in June).

Anyway...just needed to share my good news!


Oh...p.s...no news on the baby front yet. I'm doing my very best to be patient! LOL. Today's day 31, so it's not much longer now.

Coupon Clipping

Jenn and I started coupon clipping when we moved to Antioch. Since I'm not currently employed and will still be making a fraction of what I had been making even when I do get a job, we are cutting costs where we can.

Because of our issues with Comcast, we switched to AT&T and are saving $40 a month on phone/internet/cable. We got a Costco membership and are buying bread, meat, medications, and other things that don't have a short shelf life (read: no vegetables). Costco also has their own coupon book that we get in the mail, so we pick things off there that we can save even more money on. We are also clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper's ads.

We've also made it a habit (though we did it before, we are just more diligent now) to buy store brand items, buy one get one free (et. all), 2 for $x.

We went shopping yesterday and filled the cart with all kinds of things we need for a while and spent only $88. Everything we bought was on some kind of deal or had a coupon. Had everything been full price, it would have come closer to a $200 total. We definitely aren't sacrificing "fun" food in favor of this type of shopping either. We're still getting our normal foods...and then some that we didn't used to have. We're getting more veggies (frozen, though) because of the coupons.

Anyway..today, Jenn came across this blog about this lady who, last year, fed her family of 4 on $800 for the entire year. I'm intrigued, so I've bookmarked it and will be following it. I dont' think I'll have the same stamina this lady has for going through check out lines more than once or to make multiple shopping trips a week to use all of my coupons, but I'll definitely be inspired, I'm sure. LOL.