Leopard print is my love language

Purchased this in Iowa

 

 

And I don't want to steal pictures from someone else's blog because that's creepy but this vest is so damn cute, I can't get over it. I have on a gray shirt, dark jeans and black wedges.

 

 

Let the fall leopard obsession continue!

 

Ps - fashion blogger I am not. Don't judge.

The end of the monogram saga

I've been obsessing over monograms for a while. I took to the Twitters to complain, too. Sorry about that...

A few weeks ago I found a Groupon for one, and it finally came in the mail. I love it! I ordered the rose gold 18" extra-small monogram from monogramonline.com and it's wonderful! A little larger than I was dreaming and hoping for, but after 3 days it's grown on me.

I even bought one to give as a gift! Guess you'll have to wait until the holidays to find out who it's for.

Have you purchased anything lately that you are just obsessed over?

Friday Favorites

 

Visiting these jokers for Halloween. It's going to be friend super overload and I.CANT.WAIT.

 

 

Orange is the New Black. Hop on the bandwagon, it's worth it.

I found a Groupon although secretly I still want the BaubleBar one.

 

 

Etsy finds. (thanks Whitney)

 

 

 

Owl decor. This little dude sits on my mantle. I have another one from Typo on my dresser in my bedroom, and can't forget my ($50) Scottish owl pillow that I had to have. Obsessed.

 

 

 

Your turn!

 

Amazon Prime > Everything

I can't tell if I'm tardy to the party (as per usual) or if I'm really ahead of the curve on this one, but you guys really need to check out Amazon Prime's subscriptions.

When I bought my Kindle FIYA I also bought an Amazon Prime membership. Although I have a hard time watching all the shows on my DVR, surely I will stream live videos wherever there is free Wi-Fi. Surely.

Now while I have yet to use Amazon Prime for what I bought it for, it has come in disgustingly handy for...other things. Like subscriptions.

For a 15% discount, I have 5lbs of sour patch kids delivered to me once every 2 months.



And my mascara gets delivered once every 6 months.


And I'll never need to walk into Target again because everything I need from there I can just order via Amazon. Like the round brush I bought while I was trying to fall asleep the other night.

While this might sound like I'm spending frivolously, I'm really doing myself a favor. The less places I have to go to shop, the less money I spend. I can't go look at shoes (and unfortunately there is no Amazon Prime subscription for shoes, I checked), I can't pick up random bathing suits in February, I can't buy $39 books that I don't need...nope, I ended up buying only what I "needed" - a boar bristle round brush. BRILLIANT I TELL YOU.

So go, little friends, and subscribe. You will not regret it.

Smell Good

My dependence on perfume started in high school when I discovered Cool Water.

I doused myself in it every morning. I'm 25 and I still own a bottle, and probably always will. It's the perfect summer scent, and takes me back to the year 2000!

Then I discovered Lucky - the jeans, the store, and clearly the perfume. Literally last week I threw away my last travel size bottle. I'm not really sure if I should buy another. Might be time to retire this one, but man... it smells so good! Reminds me of volleyball and my high school boyfriend. All the more reason why I probably shouldn't buy another bottle. Do women in their mid-20's still wear this perfume?

One of my more recent discoveries was Coach Poppy. Love at first sniff. I bought this over a year ago and still have more than half the bottle left. Whenever I wear Poppy, someone always smells it on me and compliments it. It's never the same person, but I do always get compliments. So, I'm not sure what the staying power of Poppy is, but I know I love it when I first put it on. So fresh and so inviting! And so not overwhelming, which is exactly what I look for in a perfume.

Just after finding Poppy, I was introduced to Daisy. I really think it will forever be in my perfume collection. It's delicious, light, flowery, and inviting. If I smelled it on someone else, I'd think based on smell alone they were a great person with a wam, inviting personality. I mean, not trying to toot my own horn, but....I think I fit the bill! 

I have a few other scents in the mix. Some Ralph Lauren ones and I've randomly gotten some samples that I never really loved the way I loved these. 

I'm such a sucker for the Ulta deals - they are always giving away free gifts with the purchase of a perfume. I was lured in over the weekend by that exact signage. 2 bottles of nailpolish and $100 later, I walked out with a new-to-me scent. Acqua di Gio by Giorgio Armani. Listen, I may not buy designer clothes or own very many designer handbags, but I'll be darned if I'm not ahead of the curve on perfumes. Does that count for anything? 

I haven't spent enough time wearing the Acqua di Gio to really be able to describe it to you, but I know when I told the sales associate about my other favories, it was one of her recommendations, and she hit the nail on the head! So, Acqua di Gio, I hope this is the beginning of a long and lasting relationship. Literally! 

By the way... I never thought I'd be the girl to write more than 2 words regarding my perfume. Oh well. At least you know I smell good!  

Goodbye Dell, Hello Acer

When I was in college, I had a friend who would always call me to go to lunch on Fridays because she knew that I would likely be hungover, and therefore would try to spend money in order to make myself feel better. It never worked for me, but she always got a free lunch out of it. Good thing I liked her company so much.

Honestly, I don't know when I started associating spending money with feeling better, but some things never change. After a surprisingly crappy kick-off to one of my favorite long weekends of the year, I decided it was time to kick my shopping into high gear.

First stop, new computer. I've been toying with the idea of buying a new computer for a while, and what better time to do it than when I was trying to buy my own happiness? I typically avoid shopping at Wal-Mart, but since there (to my knowledge) aren't any local computer retailers, I felt okay with my Wal-Mart computer purchase. Plus, the price really couldn't be beat.

The only poor review I found was that the computer wasn't so durable, but considering the furthest I move my computer is between my couch and bed, I figured it was a safe bet. I also did not purchase the extended warranty for the same reason.

I've got a few other pending purchases up my sleeve. Now if only I hadn't spent Friday moping, I could have maximized my weekend and taken a short trip to the outlet malls for the ultimate in shopping. I have plenty of open weeknight in my future though. Who knows what will happen?

What's on your "Cheer Me Up" shopping list ?

Sofa Shopping

Today I went sofa shopping. We've had the same couches in our apartment since I moved in almost two years ago and my roommate is eventually moving out because she is getting HITCHED (wooohooo!). I figured it was time for me to start my big girl life, too, starting with a sofa. We all have our quirks, ok? If owning a sofa will make me feel like a grown-up, then so be it. Having a garden also makes me feel grown up, so there!

Anyway, I decided today that it was the day to start couch shopping. My first stop was Thomasville. I had done some researching online and knew that Thomasville had a sofa most similar to my beloved Dr. Pitt Sectional. I popped into the store and found this:


 

Thomasville Canyon Sectional

The problem? For what I want, it's about $2500. As I expressed on Twitter, I promised myself I would not buy a $3000 sofa. Could I afford it? Yes. Would it be a wise way to spend $3k? Um, no. So I ooh-ed and ahh-ed and laid on the couch and then I moved on. One day, Canyon Sectional, you will be mine. Unless I buy the Dr. Pitt instead.

Next stop, American Signature Furniture. I've helped several friends with furniture shopping, and all of them have ended up buying from ASF. I really like the store and I went in with high expectations. After a questionable experience with a sales rep (she was nice, but didn't really understand my priorities and made some unnecessary comments), I walked out with 3 potential options.

 

American Signature Furniture Lawrence Sofa & Chair

I walked in being 100% set on a sectional, but I didn't fall in love with any upon first glance. I did really love these 2 pieces though. The picture doesn't do it as much justice, but both of these pieces are REALLY deep. I am 5'9" and when I sat with my back against the sofa, my feet didn't touch the floor. Plus, it was long enough for me to lay down without being uncomfortable! The total price for both of those pieces would be about $1300 including delivery. But, I knew I really wanted a sectional, so I went back for a second look. 

American Signature Furniture Solace Sectional



This was my 2nd find, and I really liked it. It's a sectional, it's microfiber, and it's comfortable! I walked away from this sofa initially because I didn't like that it was lower to the ground (which is my dad's #1 complaint about my current sofa situation) but upon further inspection, it really wasn't any lower than any of the other sofas I sat on. And I did a lot of sitting. The Solace would be about $1500.

The third and final sofa I sat on was the Soho Cobblestone sectional. It's a little smaller than the Solace, and it's less expensive. Grand total would be $1200 for this one. I really like the chaise lounge on this one. It only comes in one color that I would actually consider. Sorry, red is not for couches. The color works for me though. I guess this is probably my 3rd choice.

In fact, as I'm typing this, I really think I like the Solace sofa. I want to take someone else with me to look and just get a second opinion, and I want my mom to run into the store and look at the couches and let me know what she thinks, but I think I have a top choice. Now I have to measure my living room and figure out if any of these things will actually fit!

Stay tuned for Katie's Becoming A Grown-Up Part 3. I don't know what the topic is yet, but I'm sure I'll do something grown up eventually and hopefully live to blog about it. For now, I'm going to go drink wine with my Sunday Funday friends and play card games, because that's what grown-ups do.

things i bought recently

can you tell what i'm going to be doing this spring? 

Hot Tip of the Day

I just spent way too long thinking about this, but I thought I'd share my fabulous theory with all of you - it's the kind of person I am. Far be it for me to theorize about something without sharing.

So, everyone always complains about the excessive spam mail they get from various companies. Amazon, Zazzle, Old Nav, New York & Company, Groupon... those are just a few of the ones that flood my inbox on a daily basis. Obnoxious, right? And you are constantly tempted to unsubscribe, aren't you?

Here's an idea: instead of unsubscribing, create a rule in Gmail for those emails! Picture instructions below:

Step 1: Open the email. Under More Actions, select Filter Messages Like These.

Step 2: Choose how you want to identify the emails - I usually opt for the From field. Go on to the Next Step.

Step 3: Select Skip the Inbox, Mark as Read, and Apply the Label:. Select your label - mine was called Daily Deals, but I have now changed it to Deals/Ads.

Then Create Filter!

Why is this awesome? Because every now & then websites send you handy coupons or information about deals. For example, today I wanted to place an order from Zazzle.com, and I searched through old emails and found out that they had a 50% off deal with an exclusive code. But, I never even saw the email, I was never tempted by their little schemes, and I still benefitted from being a subscriber! Win-win if you ask me!

So next time you're planning some online shopping, do a quick search of your inbox and see what emails you've gotten (and not even known about!) that might save you some money!

Happy Online Shopping and even Happier Clean Inboxes!

Top 10 Thursday -- Trader Joe's products

Mainly I wanted to tell you about item #1, and how I basically died when I ate it and then promptly ran to Trader Joe's to get 12 more packages. I cooked them, grated fresh parm cheese on top, and pronounced them my new favorite food. But, below, you'll find my favorite things to purchase from my friend Joe that likes to Trade things. He's pretty handy, that Joe.

1. Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Ravioli
2. Green Fin wine
3. Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade
4. Frozen Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onion puffs
5. Frozen scallops
6. Vanilla Ice cream & Brownie Bites
7. Honey infused goat cheese log
8. Mini peanut butter cups
9. Pink lemonade
10. Frozen individual packages of brown rice


I always walk out with a handful of other random things, and I could spend an hour staring at the cheeses alone. And the frozen foods make me want to never cook again. What do you love to get at Trader Joe's?