Clothes Crushes

Confession: I want to shop. Sooooo bad. But I can't/shouldn't. I partially blame the ladies at Asian Cajuns and Love Maegan for their delicious clothing. Argh! And the Gilt e-mails I receive (but cannot shop from) aren't helping.

While I have found some great items at local thrift stores, I'm fighting off the urge to hit up shops like Forever21, The GAP, Banana Republic, H&M and J. Crew. Nothing too expensive, I promise!

So I continue to job hunt and we continue saving for our next home. But a girl can dream, right?

Here are a few things I have my eye on:

Chiffon flower dress from F21 for $26.99. I could start wearing this dress now and transition it into cool weather with tights, boots and a cream scarf. Love.

Belted lace yoke tunic from F21 for $19.80. I love the sophisticated-yet-funky look of this top. Would look great with black skinny jeans.

Downtown denim trouser from J. Crew for $108. Dress 'em up or dress 'em down, these jeans are sharp and flattering for many a figure.

Boyfriend sweater from The GAP. This one's $39.50. I love jeans and lightweight sweater weather — and I love the comfy look of this particular sweater.

Harper crackle metallic platform heels from J. Crew ($238). These are more expensive than any shoe in my closet but I adore them anyway. I mean, how fierce are these shoes?

$125 Geo-print shift dress from Banana Republic. I'm a sucker for black and white and a sucker for shift dresses.

<$50 Outfit Post: Summer Dinner Out

Because I lost my job and we've been saving money for a home down payment, we don't go out to dinner very often. Well, a visit from Dan's longtime friend Kurt gives us a great reason to go out to dinner — and me a great reason to get out of those athletic shorts and t-shirts.

Today's outfit also is great inspiration for something I plan to do often: post outfits that cost under $50. Total. Affordable and cute clothes are out there. You just have to find them.

If I could just crop out my face...

• White tank from Target ($9.99)
• Mossimo lightweight skirt via Target ($19.99 - sale)
• Old Navy satin espadrilles ($9.99 - sale)
• Retro elastic belt ($2.99 from Salvation Army)

Grand total: $42.96

Leon's Full Service, here we come [for the fourth time since you opened... whoops]. Shall I order the delicious veggie loaf? The scallops? Two orders of pub frites with four different sauces... hmmm. I'm perplexed!

Haircut Promo!

My last haircut from Mary

My hair stylist (Mary Verrilli of Verrilli Hair Studio) has started a little blog! 

Go see what Mary's up to, but more importantly, take note of her inclusion of "mention this blog and get 20% off your first haircut."

Calling all Atlantans: Sale at Kudzu This Weekend

click flyer to enlarge

I bought two of my favorite pieces of jewelry at the fabulous Kudzu market:

(Genuine) amethyst and sterling ring: $58

Wood, pink quartz and faux gold necklace: $10. This totally reminds me of those cool vintage-y pieces J. Crew is getting into... except for much less. (Note: the big gold thing is the clasp, not a pendant)

Go see what kind of treasures you can find! The market carries much more than jewelry; you'll be amazed at the furniture, vintage clothing, knickknacks, home decor, art and more. (And see an old post on Kudzu here)

Atlanta Meets DC (I'm a Guest Blogger on the DC Goodwill Fashion Blog!)

Well, kind of.

Even as an Atlantan (Decaturite, to be specific), I was accepted to be today's guest blogger for the DC Goodwill Fashion Blog. Ch-ch-ch-check out the blog here.

And if you didn't already know, Goodwill operates an awesome auction site (kind of like a small scale eBay that's chock full of great shoes, clothing, household items and more). It's worth scoping out.

My First Look: Yogurt Tap

When Decatur Metro posted that The Yogurt Tap opened its doors today, I knew I had to make it over there. Like, today.

So at about 3:45, my eyes were on the prize. 

Or prizes (plural), I should say. Six scrumptious flavors and a more toppings than I could count. After reading the "directions" for self-serving myself, I washed my hands, sampled the dark chocolate and began filling my cup. 

While I didn't know how to "eyeball" an ounce of fro-yo, I wasn't too concerned since the price seemed more than agreeable: $0.39 per ounce. I opted to fill my cup with four of the available flavors (pineapple, mango, strawberry and dark chocolate) and saved the original and green apple for next time. By the way, the Yogurt Tap Web site tells us that the flavors change monthly.

Mmmm... fro-yo.

Just when I was about to pay for my topping-less-but-delicious yogurt then dive in, I found out something shocking. Would you believe the toppings are part of the $0.39/ounce deal? Well, it's true. I'm usually too cheap for toppings, but with this good news, I loaded up on Heath bar pieces and Cocoa Pebbles.

(just one side of the self-serve toppings bar)

My 9.1-ounce container (including toppings!!!) of yogurt was $3.47 with tax. Not bad, not bad at all. All the flavors were delicious, too, though I'd highly recommend you dedicate a significant portion of your cup to the pineapple flavor. The frozen yogurt, as a whole, was refreshing and tasty. And more like yogurt than that TCBY business. Mmmm.

The place was seriously abuzz with activity. As I was finishing up my yogurt at about 4 o'clock, I counted about 35 people in the building. Young (I saw a middle schooler stopping by after school) and old (they needed a little explanation for what exactly they were supposed to do...) seem to be embracing the concept. I even ran into Dave Kell from InDECATUR, who mentioned he was there to "report" on the store's opening, too. (Dave, thanks for posting my photo in your collage!)

Lindsey Phillips, who co-owns the dessert shop with her husband, said that they'd been busy all day long. The pushed-back opening seemed to work fine, as this allowed the Phillips to work out some kinks before customers engulfed the place. 

Go check it out for yourself. You may run into me there, as I know I'll be a regular.

Excited owner Lindsey Phillips, with her daughter

Pros: family-friendly, good pricing, lots of seating, fun "create your own"-type experience

Cons: Parking nearby at night will be a challenge, no cone or beverage offerings (at least not yet) (UPDATE: Lindsey told me Saturday that they validate parking in the deck on the corner of Church and Ponce.)

The Yogurt Tap

419 Church Street

Decatur, GA

(404) 373-6090

Errand Running

Athletic shorts and t-shirts are my usual errand-running attire. Not today, my friend. 

I decided to pull an old favorite out of my closet. I suppose I could call today a "special occasion" for errand running, as I'm going to stop by the newly-opened Yogurt Tap on Church Street in Decatur (thanks for letting us know it's open, Decatur Metro!). I just love this this funky, mustard-colored dress.

The sleeves in this vintage dress are a tad big snug, but I'm not fretting — Yogurt Tap has delicous fro-yo with a mere 90 calories per serving. Watch out, self-serve yogurt machines!

• Dress is Peggy Barker (vintage via Clothing Warehouse in Little Five Points) - maybe $25
• Guess cowboy boots (via eBay) - $30
• D & Y (??) hat - gifted to me by Kate (I think I've worn this hat every other day since she gave it to me a week and a half ago)

Stay tuned for a Yogurt Tap post!

The Bird Necklace Inspires a New Piece of Jewelry

Megan, who's traveling for work, just reported she's been gifted something very special. Check this baby out:

Inspired by my now-famous wood lacquer bird necklace, the kangaroo necklace is a real piece of art. This was gifted to Megan by a professional contact of hers who lives/works in Tennessee (I believe someone's child made it in Vacation Bible School).

Megan, are you going to sport this one at the office?

Craig's List Hair Stylist Claims Another

Craig's List hair stylist claims another... happy customer, that is. Megan went to see my favorite stylist, Mary Verrilli, for the first time yesterday. And she came out looking like this. Foxy!

A-plus work, Mary! Megan plans to go see Mary again when she's due for her next trim. (Megan, leave your thoughts about your experience in the comments section — I want to hear more!)

As for me, I am WAY overdue to see Mary. Being unemployed = feeling a need to stretch out the time between haircut visits. 

A Goodwill Family Affair

Today my mom, sister, sister's boyfriend (Alan) and family friends Sarah and Mrs. Kay were in town for a 5k. Of course we couldn't resist making a thrift store stop on the way back from the race. A family that loves each other thrifts together, right?

Alan, Anna and Sarah prepare for the race (note: I was behind 

the camera in comfy jeans and sandals, ready to spectate)

As we'd hoped, it was a good day at the LaVista Road Goodwill in Tucker. Everyone left with at least one awesome item. I'll try my best to remember them all...

For me, three attempts at denim were unsuccessful, but I still bagged a gold knit top, a white eyelet lace top, green J. Crew shorts and a black top with some eyelet cutouts at the top. Grand total for today's four items: $17.06 (tax free weekend - woohoo!). I'm really loving the gold top (I hear metallics are acceptable to wear again!?!?).

Roxy eyelet lace top ($4.39) and J. Crew shorts ($4.39)... 

oh, and my Wal-Mart sandals

Rena Rowan for Saville gold knit top ($4.39) and Banana jeans 

I thrifted at Last Chance a few weeks back. Anna liked my 

necklace so much that she's planning to make her own at The Bead Shoppe.

Anna picked up a badass blue and white vertical-striped romper (looks vintage) that I will make her wear and take photos in. It's pretty awesome. She also grabbed some running shorts, a simple, lightweight tie-back tank from Old Navy and a funky patterned vintage button-up with red trim. Her boyfriend Alan snagged a pair of funky vintage pants that he'll likely have made into long shorts.

Nice pants and nice pose, Alan.

Our mom found a tasteful Liz Claiborne zebra top, some cute pinstriped jeans and several movies for my younger brothers. Family friend Mrs. Kay bought a pair of Ralph Lauren polo shorts for her son; her daughter Sarah found a great (like new) pair of BCBG kitten heels, a belt, green/flowered sorts and something from a designer in many girls' wardrobes — a pair of Lilly Pulitzer pants. But, I'm pretty sure I'm leaving out some items...

Happy shoppers.

And tonight, we're off to one of our cheap eat guilty pleasures: Ru San's.

p.s. we missed you, Paul!!