My Week in Review ~ 3.31.13

Happy Easter, lovelies!  I hope you had an amazing weekend!  I wanted to share some of my week with you.  Yesterday I went to a Colorado Avalanche (hockey) game with my bf, his daughter, and his mom.  So here's a pic of the 3 of us together at the game :)  This was my first hockey game since I used to go see the Providence Bruins when I was in high school.

I *finally* made some of my past 2 WhimseyBox projects, and they're so useful for keeping me sane and organized.  Plus they're fun to look at, too!  If you haven't looked into WhimseyBox yet, I highly suggest you do so!  It's a craft box (like the beauty ones!) that comes monthly, and I'm obsessed!  Plus, use my referral link and get $5 off your first box!  (They run $15 a month, and come with a project and all the necessary supplies!)

The kiddos were on Spring Break this week, and I've tried to keep things on the inexpensive side.  So we took a trip to the thrift store the other day.  I hit the gold mine with books, these were all under $5 a piece, most were only $3!  So far I've finished The Carrie Diaries, and am starting Four Blondes next.  It's reasons like this I refuse to pay full price for things, I got 12 books for the price of 2 of them!

Friday I took the kiddos to Chuck e Cheese to play some skee ball (and other games).  It was so fun, I love arcade games!  The kids had a blast, and I did too!  Plus, Bella shared her 'winnings' with JT, which made my day.  Sometimes just a small gesture like that reminds me how lucky I am.

I've been doing tons of spring cleaning, and I wanted to share a quick tip that worked pretty well for me.  I put a measuring cup with 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave and set the time for 10 minutes.  Now it completely boiled over and made a mess and leaked out, (should have put a wooden stirrer in!) but it steam cleaned the entire microwave, and I just wiped all the mess out with a damp cloth.  So easy, it's ridiculous.

I won this Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream from Amber of Real Girl Glam and LOVE it!  It gets rid of puffiness well, and I'm hoping that with continued use it works on the darn bags and circles!  PS ~ If you're not familiar with Amber's blog, you should check it out!  

What were some of the highlights of your past week?

xx

Lia

On Shopping Lockdown.... and a Halloween DIY Craft!

Hey there lovelies!  Today's post is going to be kind of a brain dump, so if you don't want to hear it, don't say I didn't warn ya!

I make good money, at least by my standards I think I do.  I went to school, graduated with my degree in mathematics, and now work as a Data Analyst for Staples.  However, I epitomize that old adage 'the more you make, the more you spend'.  Plus I only get paid once a month (GASP!).  Once I get paid, I pay all of my bills, and rather than budget the remaining funds for gas, food, general expenditures, etc, and then put the rest in savings, I spend it.  So when it comes to a week, sometimes two or so weeks before I get paid again, and I'm flat out broke.  I have enough for gas and groceries -BARELY- and have to hope that nothing else arises.  I confess, I have no savings or retirement plan.  I know.  It's horrible. Now that my husband and I have reconciled and he is moving into my condo with me and the kids, it should help with finances.  We want to get back into a house; however, the whole no savings thing puts a big damper on that.

I've never been really good at admitting any faults of mine, not even to myself.  I am a strong, stubborn Greek woman who is never wrong.  At least that's what I've always told myself.  I realized that maybe I have a problem with spending. And maybe I can be to blame for things, at least partly.  (Hence the reconciliation with the hubs, but that is a story that won't be told here.)   The even harder thing for me to do is to ask for help.  I finally bit the bullet, let go of my pride, and went to the hubs last week and told him.  He's put me on spending lockdown.  My finances are now in his hands, until I'm out of debt and have a little savings.  He *may* give me an allowance, he's not sure yet.  At first I was upset, but now I really think that this is the best thing that's happened to me.

I have an armoire FULL of craft supplies.  I need to get my DIY on!  I have a walk in closet, 2 smaller armoires, and a large dresser FULL of clothes and shoes, the majority of which I do not wear.  This period of lockdown will force me to become more creative with what I have.  It will help me get rid of things that no longer fit or I just don't like anymore.  Finally, I think it will help me appreciate what I have rather than wish for and covet what I don't. Ok, I still may wish for and covet alot of things.  But maybe I'll get more inspiration to use what I've got instead of single-handedly jumpstarting the economy.

So, lucky ladies, you will see a lot more DIYs and refashions in the coming weeks/months.  You'll see a lot of wardrobe challenges, challenging me to wear what I've got.  Finally, you'll see my progress!  I need to hold myself accountable, and I'm putting myself totally out there!  I'll let you know how my debt reduction / savings increase is going :)  I get paid this Friday, so that's when all that fun starts!

On another note, I saw this frame on A Diamond in the Stuff's blog, and not only loved it, buuuut I had all the supplies, including the same frame on hand!  Follow her easy peasy directions, and for just a few dollars, you can have this too!  I love it, and can't wait to put my kids' pic in there :)

What do you think of my jar of severed fingers?  I bought 2 bags of the 'fingers' at the dollar store, and recycled a small glass jar.  I'll have more Halloween decoration DIYs coming up, I'm a little obsessed with Halloween!!

xxxoooxoxo
Lia