Tag Archives: shopping

It’s Almost Gift Giving Time! (or Excited To Finally Give A Present)

Posted on November 15, 2018 | 1 comment

My immediate family does the standard gift giving with buying gifts for people for their birthdays and Hanukkah. Since we don’t see each other that often, it’s become easiest for us to exchange gifts during Thanksgiving when we are all together. I’m so glad that it is only a week away because the gift I got for my family is something I planned a year ago!

I only get presents for my parents, my brother, and my sister-in-law. For birthdays, obviously they all get their own gifts. But for Hanukkah, I usually combine them (so my parents get a gift and my brother and sister-in-law get a gift). It makes things a little easier for me when it comes to planning, but also it allows me to get something a bit nicer since I am combining the money I would have split for different gifts. But I know that it doesn’t always take money to find the best and most creative gifts, and I usually work hard to find the best thing I can get someone.

I take a lot of pride in finding the best gifts I can. I try to take notes throughout the year and remember them when it is time for me to buy a gift for someone. And there are some gifts that I know are remembered as some of the best. My dad is always excited to see what I get him. I got him a new gym bag a very long time ago and because the company has a lifetime warranty we joke that the bag keeps reincarnating. I think he’s had 2 or 3 different gym bags from that one gift and he likes to remind me that I got it for him. I guess there has been a theme with luggage with my dad because I’ve also gotten him a new backpack and ski bag over the years. But more recently I got my parents a sign for the house in Tahoe and other fun things like that.

And the day after I gave my family their presents last year, I found the perfect present for them! Of course, it was too late to order it then for them, but I bookmarked the website and saved it for the next time. I can’t believe this idea has been one I have had for a year, but I can’t wait to give them their gifts because I’m ready for it to not be a secret. It won’t be a complete secret because my dad does know what they are getting. I needed him to do some spy work for me to help with some of the planning, but I think hearing his reaction when I told him what the gift would be when he helped me was enough to make me happy that he is surprised.

I hate being so vague and cryptic about this all, but I haven’t given people their gifts yet. But I did finally see the final product 2 days ago and it made me even more excited to finally be able to give a gift that I planned so long ago! I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions (even my dad’s) and I really hope that they will all love the gifts as much as I do.

I really get so much happiness out of finding the perfect present for people. If I had unlimited funds, I would probably buy my family more presents and buy gifts for more people in my life. I always see random things that I know would be good for one person or another, but I don’t have the money or they are someone who I don’t usually exchange gifts with. I don’t want to buy a gift for someone who doesn’t usually get gifts from me because I don’t want them to feel like they need to get me something in return. But my gift idea bookmark tab on my computer just keeps growing in case one day I will be getting them a present.

It does feel a bit weird to be done with all my gift purchasing before the holiday season really feels like it has started, but it’s also nice to know that I’m all done and can just enjoy holiday decorations around LA without needing to rush from store to store to try to find gifts for people. My gift giving season is almost here and over at the same time. But then I also get to spend the next year planning out the perfect gift again!

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Default ThumbnailFinding Little Things To Make Me Happy (or Shopping And Text Groups) Default ThumbnailSpreading Some Holiday Cheer (or Finding Cheaper Ways To Make People Smile) Default ThumbnailA Gift From A Stranger (or Positivity Online) Default ThumbnailScripted Jewelry (or My Mom’s Hanukkah Present) Default ThumbnailFinding The Perfect Gifts (or A Gift A Year In The Making) Default ThumbnailGift Shopping (or For Me, It’s That Time of the Year)

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Building Upon My Monthly Challenge (or Continuing To Work On Shopping)

Posted on October 2, 2018 | Comments Off on Building Upon My Monthly Challenge (or Continuing To Work On Shopping)

Last month, I said my monthly challenge was to not do any online shopping. I did allow myself some exceptions to the rule if necessary, and I’m happy to say that I only did that twice. Both times I shopped online this past month was on Amazon, but only one of those was for me. The first time was sending my friend some supplies they needed after getting home from inpatient treatment. I would have preferred to bring it in person, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do that soon enough. And the second time I did online shopping was for some household goods (batteries, paper goods, office supplies). And I did do price comparisons to make sure getting them online was the right choice.

Even though I didn’t completely eliminate online shopping, I feel like I did reduce it a lot. And it changed my shopping habits as well. For the stuff I ordered online for myself, I didn’t buy things right away when I needed them. None of the things I needed were urgent, so I just added them to my Amazon cart and saved them up until it was the end of the month. It was much more mindful than I have done online shopping before and I really did notice a difference in what I was considering buying when I knew that I wasn’t necessarily going to be getting it soon. While my shopping wasn’t out of control, I knew I needed to cut back and I’m happy that I was able to accomplish that in September.

I’m going to continue working on limiting my online shopping. I know it won’t be completely eliminated, but I can work on making sure that I’m not ordering things whenever I think of them. I think adding them to my cart and waiting a few weeks was the right choice. I do have other gifts for people I need to order online this month, but it’s really not the same as ordering for myself so I’m not as worried about it. And since they are gifts, I’m just getting that one thing and not seeing what else is something that can be bought.

And going off of that idea, I was inspired for this month’s challenge. I have become so much more mindful of my shopping online. Now I want to be more mindful of my in store shopping as well. And a majority of my in store shopping is for groceries and household things, so the easiest way I think I can be mindful is to always have a list.

I’m actually pretty good at making lists when I’m shopping for household things. I usually shop at CVS and I have been taking advantage of their coupons for a long time. But I have learned that I can combine the coupons you get when you shop along with coupons that various brands put out and with the overall discount coupons I get in the mail (like when you get 30% your shopping trip from CVS). I’m not a crazy coupon person, but it does make me happy when I see the percentage of savings on the bottom of the receipt and it is over 50%. It happens more often than not and it’s nice to know that things I am buying are cheaper than what others may be paying for them.

And I used to do grocery store lists and still occasionally do them. If I’m making something new or have food planned out, I make a list because I hate forgetting one thing that I really need. But I don’t always have a plan and do a lot of routine shopping. I know that I will eat certain things each week and I usually don’t even think about it as I pick up those things each week. But then I also know that there are plenty of times that I just get those things and don’t necessarily think about different meals or what my schedule will be like that will make my meals a bit weird.

I don’t necessarily want to make this about meal planning, although I do think that will be a bit of a side effect of doing this. But I do want to write down what I am going to buy even if it is just stuff I usually get each week. I want to think about what I’m going to do before getting into the store. I can’t guarantee that I will only get the things on the list because sometimes I see something that is new or inspires me. But at least it will give me a plan to try to follow.

In a perfect world, I will make the list for shopping for whatever I am getting before I leave my house. I do try to do that when I can, especially when I’m doing multiple errands back to back. I’ll make a list of each place I’m going to and what I will be getting at each store. I think writing it down really is the best for me because it does help me remember it. But if I’m out and going to do some shopping, I can just make a quick list on my phone. I do have some list apps, but it’s also easy enough to do it as a text or email to myself.

I’m also planning on using this for shopping for clothes and other goods too. When I need to go to a store to buy some new clothes or replace something, I also end up doing a lot of wandering around the store and seeing what else catches my attention. I’m doing much better not buying things that weren’t a part of the plan, but maybe making what I need to buy as a list will help me not waste the time wandering around. I still want to give myself the freedom to do window shopping and see what inspires me, but I want to also make those moments more mindful and for me to be aware that I am choosing to do that.

I’m so glad that I’m going to continue working on my shopping habits this month. I was pleasantly surprised by how last month went and how easy it ended up being. I only hope that this month goes the same way.

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No Shopping September (or At Least No Online Shopping)

Posted on September 4, 2018 | 1 comment

Another monthly challenge time! This feels almost late to write this post, but it’s only 4 days into the month so it’s not so bad. But this challenge is actually one I started before the month started, so it feels like I’ve been doing it a bit longer.

But first, a really quick recap on last month’s challenge. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but I really didn’t have to say no to things as often as I thought I might need to. I don’t know if my friends read the post and didn’t invite me out to things or it was just a slow month socially for everyone, but I never really felt guilty saying no because I never had to say no to anything significant. I didn’t make plans, but that’s different from turning down plans. But I did like allowing myself to have days at home watching tv or reading because I did need those.

And I plan on continuing to do the same from now on because I do feel in a better place mentally than I had before. Even after dealing with some setbacks, I bounced back from those faster than I expected and I think that’s because I did allow myself to be the priority. While I don’t like the idea of being selfish, I see the benefits of doing it and how it makes my time with other people better and more focused.

So this month’s challenge is something I started last week as soon as I thought of it. I am challenging myself to not do any online shopping for the month.

I am not as bad about online shopping as some people are, but it’s bad for me. I find it way too easy to order something online and not have to think about it. It’s not all about the instant gratification, although ordering something on Amazon and getting it a few hours later is pretty incredible. It’s also making me a bit lazy and allowing myself to not go out and do things because I can just order stuff online.

If I see something in an article or in social media, it’s so easy to click on the link and to see if it’s something I want and then to order it. I do try to not buy things too often, but even when I think about if I want something or not I still often get the thing. And I know I have spent money on things that I wanted and not that I needed. I do like to have nice things, but I also am not in a financial place where I should be thinking about what everyone else has. I need to focus on maybe being a bit more minimalistic and paring down on what I have. I have started doing that a bit with all the cleaning I’ve done lately, but I know I can do more.

If I do see something online that I really do think I want, I am going to work on using wish lists more often. This isn’t always an option for all online stores, but I know I don’t use it enough on Amazon. I will probably create a private wish list so I don’t have to worry about other people seeing what I have in there, but I should also work on adding things to my public one too since I can use that for anyone who is asking what I want for my birthday or Hanukkah.

And for online stores that don’t have wish lists, I can try to see how long you can keep something in your online cart before it is released. I don’t think most stores will be long enough, but I’m going to test some out to see if there are some I can use that way. And if I can’t, I can always email or text a link to myself to remember I was looking at it or add a bookmark for that website. There is almost nothing that I need to get right away and can’t wait for. And if I can wait, maybe I’ll realize I don’t need it or it will go on sale and if I need it I can spend less on it.

But there will be a few exceptions to this challenge. First, I’m not counting paying bills online or ordering refills of my prescriptions online. Online bill pay is not shopping so that’s not even one I considered to eliminate this month until a friend had asked me about it. And ordering prescriptions online is basically required with my insurance unless I wanted to go to the hospital one day to order my refill and then return a week later to get it because my medication isn’t usually in stock when I order it.

I’ve also had a few books for my Kindle that I was thinking of getting this month. Some of them I can wait on (or figure out if I really need to own them versus getting them from the library). But there’s one book that may be a part of a 7 week challenge with an online group (similar to The Artist’s Way). I can’t get it from the library because library books are only for 3 weeks and I would need it for 7. Also, it’s possibly something I would like to own. But I’m debating on if I’ll do the challenge now or another time. Also, some of my supplements I take are significantly cheaper online and if I need a refill of one I will order it online. It’s silly to buy a 30 day supply for the same price as a 60 day supply would be online. But I will be doing some price matching before ordering anything just to make sure there aren’t sales for stores I could go to.

And while I have tried to buy things online I knew I would need ahead of time, I do have a few gifts for birthdays/weddings/babies being born that will possibly need to be ordered in September that I will allow myself to order online if that is the cheapest way to do so. I think I have gotten everything ordered that I will need this month, but especially with the friends who are having babies I know that they might be born before October and I do want to get gifts for others on time. Maybe I shouldn’t consider gifts for other people shopping since it’s not for me, but I don’t want to make too many exceptions if I can help it. So this exception is only for gifts that need to be timely and can’t wait until October.

I don’t know how this challenge will go or if I will feel a huge difference. But when I realized that my online spending was not as controlled as I would like it to be I wanted to see what I could do to fix it now instead of waiting to see if it happens to get better on its own randomly. I know there are some friends who are doing no shopping at all challenges this month, but I’m not totally sure I can do that one. But I am going to try to spend less in stores in person as well since I don’t want to take my online shopping habits and just shift them to shopping in person.

It will be interesting to see how I feel after this month. Maybe I won’t feel like I need online shopping as much? I might discover things that will help me be a smarter online shopper so I don’t stress about overdoing it. But I have a feeling that whatever happens this month with this challenge that there will be a lesson to share when I recap this in October.

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A Disney Auction (or An Amazing Collection)

Posted on August 10, 2018 | Comments Off on A Disney Auction (or An Amazing Collection)

I’m a huge Disney fan, but I know that I’m not the biggest fan out there. Sometimes someone else’s fandom totally shocks me but I’m always impressed by what they collect or know. I also love hearing about how some people own pieces of Disney parks that they won at an auction. I’ve heard of the auctions before, but for some reason I never really looked into them that much.

But when the auction that was happening this year was announced, somehow I couldn’t avoid hearing about it! And when I saw that there was an exhibit of many of the items for sale that was free to go to, I knew I had to go. I was just going to go to check out all the things since I knew everything would be out of my price range. I asked around to my Disney friends to see if anyone wanted to go with me, and my friend Justin was able to meet me at the exhibit this week so we could check it out together.

This auction is a collection of memorabilia that is owned by one man who has collected these items over the past 25 years. It’s incredible to see the things that he had and when Justin and I walked in we were instantly overwhelmed and beyond excited. So we tried to look that things in order as you walk around the room because we didn’t want to miss anything.

While there were a few things that are estimated to go for about $100 that I might watch the auction for, the things that got me the most excited were the crazy things that will probably go for more than what my car cost. If I had the room and money, I would be wanting to get a lot of things. But for now, I just had to admire them all and be jealous of who got to buy them.

I have no clue what I would do with this neon “D” from the Disneyland Hotel, but seriously it would be amazing to own it! I’ve heard of celebrities buying other Disneyland letters and putting them in their yards, so I’m guessing that’s what will happen with this one too.

Or this serpent from the old submarine ride. The new submarine ride does have a small tribute to the serpents from the old ride, but for some reason in my head the serpents were not nearly as giant as this was! I was shocked to see how long it was and could only imagine the fun ways to put this in someone’s house or yard.

They have one of the Jose animatronics from the Tiki Room that still works and has the soundtrack with it so you can make it work just like it does when it’s in the show! I didn’t think it worked when we saw it and Justin asked one of the employees there if it did. I thought it was a joke but she was able to start it and it moved just like it was in the park! They also had other animatronics from the Tiki Room up for auction.

I’ve been looking at miniature replicas of the stretching room portraits from the Haunted Mansion for a while and I have a feeling I’ll buy them eventually. But those are cheap (and tiny) compared to these actual ones from the ride! It was just so fun to get to look at them up close and not while I was rushing to get onto the ride.

One of the things that made me laugh so hard was seeing the different Disney trash cans that were up for auction. I noticed them first and then the signs that were on them saying they were not to be used for trash. I wish these weren’t going to go for so much, but I have a feeling that a lot of people would love to own a Disney trash can!

And there were ride vehicles up for auction too! I have no clue what I would do with any of them, but I would love to have one! There were so many more ride vehicles for sale than I got pictures of, like a Doom Buggy and Space Mountain car. But I think the People Mover car was one of my favorites. There are so few left out there so I’m sure this will be one of the most expensive items.

And because the auction company knew that this exhibit would draw a ton of fans who weren’t necessarily looking to purchase something, they catered to the fans by having a few fun photo spots. I know we missed some, but I loved getting to be in the ride car for Mr. Toad and in the old Skyway car.

We ended up doing about 2 laps around the room because we wanted to make sure there was nothing we missed and we wanted to take some more photos. And of course, there was a gift shop. They had some fun things related to the auction like shirts, but there were also other memorabilia for sale that were just for sale at a set price and not going to be up for auction. Some of the things were more reasonably priced and I debated about getting an animation cell that I would have loved to have, but I knew that I didn’t need it so I walked away.

I did end up buying the auction catalog that has all the items that will be up for auction so I could enjoy that. It would be incredible to own some of this Disney history, but to have a book with photos and descriptions of the items is still pretty awesome too. Many things for sale were posters or blueprints for rides so it’s fun to have that information to look at over and over.

If I had unlimited money and the space to put things, I know I’d be getting at least a few of the items up in the auction. I do have it as a goal in my head that one day I’ll be able to buy something in one of the future auctions. But for now, I have to just be happy that I was able to experience the exhibit and see all the amazing Disney history that someone has collected. And that was still pretty incredible to see.

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Working On Not Spending (or Trying To Not Get Sucked Into Sales)

Posted on July 20, 2018 | Comments Off on Working On Not Spending (or Trying To Not Get Sucked Into Sales)

It seems like for the last month, everyone was talking about how excited they were for Amazon Prime Day. I know that you can get some amazing deals on Prime Day and there have been deals in the past that I really regretted not taking advantage of. I use my Amazon Prime membership quite a bit (I probably order too much from there, but it’s just so easy), but I’ve never really done Prime Day shopping. So this year, I decided to check it out and see if there was anything that was worth it.

I did look a bit at a few posts talking about what to be on the lookout for on Prime Day, but there were just too many different lists of things to look for and what has been on sale in the past. So I figured I would just browse Amazon during the sale and see if there is anything that caught my eye and was a good deal.

I clearly wasn’t prepared. I know that the site went down and that was a big problem for searching, but there were just too many things on sale to try to make sense of it all. I was trying to sort through different categories since there were some things I knew I wasn’t interested in, but it just seemed like endless lists of things on sale. I started to open new tabs with things that seemed good to me, but then that got out of control and I probably had 60 different tabs open.

I took a step back and it almost felt like I broke a trance. It can be hypnotic to look at how cheap things can get. I do that all the time when looking at other discount sites online. I usually find a ton of things that I can’t believe how cheap they are on sale and debate about getting them. I usually will add things to a cart and then if I still want it later I’ll come back and finish the purchase. I rarely end up finishing a purchase.

I am big on finding deals where I can. I’ve become pretty great at stacking coupons at CVS so things are pretty cheap. Between their coupons they send in the mail, the coupons on the receipts, the Extra Bucks you get, and looking at coupons online; I usually save at least 50% on what it would cost with no coupons. I have had times where technically I made money because the amount I got in Extra Bucks after my purchase was more than what I spent out-of-pocket. I’m not a crazy coupon person, but this only takes a few minutes before I go to CVS and it’s easily worth it.

But at the same time, if you are saving money on something you don’t need you really aren’t saving money. Even with my CVS trips I try to only get the things I know I need. Sometimes I will stock up on things like toothpaste that I don’t need at the moment but will need later because of the sale, but I try not to make that many impulse purchases. And online shopping is really a lot about impulse purchasing. You see one thing and realize it’s a good deal and before you know it it’s in your cart with the things you need and it’s at your door in a day or two. I’m guilty of this habit and I know I need to break it.

After doing some reflection, I rethought my Amazon Prime Day plan. I decided that first I was going to look at things on sale that I already use and would be purchasing again in the future. I found the body wash I use on sale for half off so that was worth it to me. Of all the tabs I had open, the body wash was the only thing I really needed. Then I decided to look through the tabs and see if there was anything that I really wanted and wasn’t too expensive. The only things I got were some new coasters (my current ones don’t absorb any water and in this heat my water glasses are always sweating) and a set of mini glass vases which were similar to something I was looking at in another store but was much cheaper. I want to add some flowers (possibly fake ones) around my house to make things seem nicer and these vases will be perfect.

And that’s all I got. I know there are people who were sharing online how they got something for 90% off or that it was so cheap that it was almost free. But unless it was something I really needed, I really couldn’t afford to buy it. Money is getting very tight and I’m working on finding more work somewhere, but I also know that these shopping trips are probably things that I could be cutting back even more even if I believe that I’m only buying essentials. I’m going to be working on some reevaluating on what essentials I use so I can try to get better at either finding them cheaper or using what I have until my money situation gets better.

It’s not easy for me not to spend. I want to have nice things and I don’t think that I get anything too outrageous, but I also know that I am buying stuff because I think I need it. I don’t need to have the best of everything and I need to get better and using what I already have and repurposing things that I may have forgotten about.

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I Love Good Customer Service Stories! (or Sometimes A Dream Purchase Isn’t One)

Posted on April 19, 2018 | Comments Off on I Love Good Customer Service Stories! (or Sometimes A Dream Purchase Isn’t One)

I’ve shared a few different customer service stories on here. While I’ve had some bad experiences, I’d rather share the good ones. Maybe this is because I work in customer service and I hope that my customers feel as happy as I do after a positive outcome. Or maybe it’s because my dad and I love to share customer service stories (good and bad). Either way, I’m happy I’ve got another good one to share.

I’ve been trying to get better with my spending. I have been working on cutting back where I can but occasionally I do still have splurge purchases. And most of the time, these splurges are either things that I have been looking forward to (like my Disney pass or Pantages tickets) or something that I’ve been stalking online or in stores and wait for it to go on sale. A lot of the time, if I’ve been stalking something I’ve wanted to buy eventually I don’t care about it anymore. But there was a purse that I had been stalking online for a while.

I’m not going to name the company because I don’t have the best things to say about the purse, but this isn’t a designer bag even though it wasn’t cheap. But I view purses as investments and this cost about the same as what my last purse cost and I’ve been using that bag for about 8 years! So spending more to have an investment piece is worth it. I didn’t need a new purse (my current one was starting to show wear, but it wasn’t broken or torn), but I did want one. And when I saw this purse for sale online, I jumped at the chance to get it!

I was so excited because one of the features of the purse was how roomy it was even though it was a smaller bag than I’m used to. There were a bunch of videos online about how to pack it full of lots of things. While I do keep my purse clean, I keep a lot of stuff in there. I have a bag that has all the random things I may need when I’m out (lip balm, hair tie, mints, safety pins, pen, notebook, and other things like that). Based on the videos that I was watching online, I should have been able to fit all my things in the bag with room to spare.

And when the bag arrived earlier this week, I loved how nice it looked! It wasn’t showy and it was smaller than I’m used to, but it seemed super functional. That is, until I tried to start putting my stuff in it. Maybe if I didn’t have everything organized into a bag and had all my money things in a wallet, it would have worked. There were lots of pockets for organization, but the larger pockets didn’t really fit my things in it. I tried putting my stuff inside and walk around my house and it just wasn’t meant to be. Not only did I have issues with the bag seeming overstuffed and being difficult to pull things out of, the way the strap of the bag hung on me was just off. The strap was cutting into my neck (which totally surprised me) and one of the adjustment buckles on the strap was getting caught in my hair and pulling some strands out!

Honestly, I thought about if I could make this bag work. I tried to downsize what I carried in my purse but I still had issues with it feeling overstuffed. I readjusted the strap to see if it wouldn’t bother my neck or if the buckle wouldn’t get caught in my hair. But when I adjusted it to fit my body and hair better, it wasn’t the length of the strap I wanted it to be. It’s unfortunate because I really loved this purse but it just wasn’t meant for my body or my lifestyle.

I looked at their website to see their return policy and it stated that the purse had to be in completely unused condition to be returned for a refund. But in order for me to try the purse, I had to unwrap the tissue it was wrapped in. And the tissue on the straps had tape so there was no way to put that back exactly like it was when it was delivered. But I took a chance and emailed the company to see if there was anything they could do to help me out.

Within minutes of me sending the email, I got 2 emails back from them. The first was an apology that the purse wasn’t working out for me and that as long as I had the tag with the bar code (which I did) that they would accept the return and refund my money. And the second email was a shipping label that I could use to send it back. I wasn’t expecting this at all since their return policy was pretty clear that it had to be totally unused, but it made me so happy that they were willing to try to make me a happy customer even if I didn’t love the purse I bought. There are other bags they sell that I would totally consider buying in the future, but I don’t need them now.

While I had been dreaming of having this purse for so long, it just wasn’t meant to be for me. And while I really wish I could have made it work, I know that the money I spent on it could be used for other more important things. I probably shouldn’t have made the purchase in the first place but it was something I had been wanting for a long time and the want for it wasn’t going away. I had to take the chance on getting it when it was on sale, and I’m just lucky that even though I have to return the purse that I experienced amazing customer service so I don’t have to worry about the money I spent.

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Default ThumbnailAmazing Customer Service (or I Love Sharing Positive Stories On Here!) Default ThumbnailAdventures In Banking (or More Customer Service Stories) Default ThumbnailBeing Upset With Customer Service (or Trying Not To Be The Type Of Customer I Hate) Default ThumbnailExcellent Customer Service (or A New Fitbit) Default ThumbnailA+ Customer Service (or Loving Benefit) Default ThumbnailAdventures In Customer Service (or Trying Not To Be The Bad Call)

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Another Adventure In Bra Shopping (or I’m Glad I Took Another Chance)

Posted on March 16, 2018 | Comments Off on Another Adventure In Bra Shopping (or I’m Glad I Took Another Chance)

I’ve written about bra shopping on here before. It was a pretty horrible experience. I was essentially fat shamed for trying to find a sports bra in my size. Since that post, I haven’t really done a proper bra fitting. I did a somewhat decent one at a mall store where I’ve gotten bras in the past, but I knew those bras weren’t the right size. And that store was either unable or unwilling to do a proper fitting for me. But because of my past experience, I was nervous to try another store (because I was never going back to the one that shamed me).

But this week, I realized that I really needed to go get a bra fitting. I had recently bought a new bra at that mall store and it was showing signs of being too big and too small at the same time. I did a little bit of research on where to get a new bra since I’m not someone who fits into most standard sizes. And if they do carry my size, they are a mall store that doesn’t do fittings or they are a store that only has one ugly white/beige/black bra in my size. I wanted to go somewhere that made me feel like a valued customer but was close enough that I didn’t have to drive an hour to get to and that didn’t only sell bras that were double or triple my budget.

But it seemed like I found a pretty great place while doing my research. Jenette Bras had a location that wasn’t that far from my house and while I wouldn’t have as many bras to choose from as some other people, they did carry bras in my size. They specialize in bras that are D cup and up, which is what I needed. I was only nervous about how many options they would have in my band size. But it seemed like they were the best bet for me so I headed there after work this week.

As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by one of the bra fitters and she was super friendly! I explained that I needed a new bra or two and that I was on a budget so I couldn’t afford anything too crazy. She said that would be easy enough to do and she brought me back to one of the fitting rooms. This isn’t a store where you walk around and look at what they offer. You hang out in the fitting room where they figure out your size and then they go and bring bra options that will work. And after each bra you try, they see how the fit is to make any size adjustments and get your opinion to see if the style was right.

I didn’t mind not going around to shop. When I do that, I usually get frustrated by the lack of options in my size. Or I focus too much on price tags when I should be looking at style. And of course, you never know how things will look on your body when they are on a hanger or in a drawer so I’m quick to judge. But since I wasn’t doing the shopping, I got to hang out in the super cute fitting room waiting for options to be brought to me.

When we figured out my proper size, it turns out I was right that my other bra was both too big and too small. My band was too big (yay for losing some inches!) and my cup size was too small (I guess my weight loss wasn’t in my chest?). And once that was figured out, they started to bring back lots of options for me to try on. Some of them were just not my style and some just didn’t fit my body right. But there was never any judgement from anyone at the store about anything I tried on. Even with the ones that didn’t fit my body correctly they never said it was wrong for my body. They just said that it wasn’t the right fit and that they would find something more comfortable.

In the end, I ended up buying 2 new bras. One is similar in style to what I was wearing before (just in the correct size) and the other is different but still cute. Plus, the different one happened to be on sale so it was actually less expensive that the mall bras I had been buying! I also tried on sports bras while I was there since I could always use another one. I did find one I liked, but I didn’t like the color and the brand was going to be coming out with new ones soon. So they wrote down the brand and size for me so I can come back and try them on when they have them in better colors.

Even though the bra that wasn’t on sale was a bit more expensive than I would have liked to have spent, since the other was on sale it pretty much cost me the same for these 2 really nice (and perfectly fitting) bras as it did for 2 of the ill-fitting mall ones! Plus, having a properly fitted bra really does make you look better in clothes! I know that if I lose weight I will need to buy new ones and that can get expensive. But I think this is an expense that is worth it and I can’t skip on buy something because I am hoping I will lose weight. But I also know that when my weight is lower and I need another fitting, I now can go to Jenette Bras and I don’t have to be worried about how I will be treated!

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Feeling The Need To Clean (or Working On Quality Over Quantity)

Posted on March 13, 2018 | 1 comment

I’ve written about doing big cleaning spurts before, but recently I’ve experienced one of the weirdest needs to clean I’ve ever had. This started a few weeks ago after a friend of mine went to Mardi Gras and was telling me about a moment of clarity when they realized how wasteful everything seemed. She couldn’t believe how many people were taking beads when they would be throwing them out later. And the streets were cluttered with trash and she just couldn’t believe that she was in the middle of that.

It didn’t hit me right away after my friend shared that story, but after reflecting back on it for a little bit I had the same moment of clarity in a way. I was looking around my house and just had a feeling of panic over how cluttered and messy it was looking. I know that it wasn’t that bad and none of my friends felt it was messy, but to me I just couldn’t take it. And then I had the feeling over being overwhelmed by having just too much stuff.

I’m not a hoarder in any sense, but I do have a tendency to over-shop. A lot of this is with clothing because when I find something that fits me I usually will get multiples of it. I’m really trying to get out of that habit, but it’s hard when I find something that I really like. I’ve been working on cleaning out my closet and drawers and have had bags of things to donate. I also had the opportunity to reorganize as well since I finally had more space.

Another place I seem to have an unintentional collection is with water bottles. I get a ton of them as a part of swag bags and then there are some that I have bought as well. But I usually use one of only a few water bottles. And I finally bought one that I had been wanting for a long time (it’s sold by a company that only does bulk orders but I was able to order a single bottle from them). And when I got that perfect water bottle and I was trying to put it away, I realized how ridiculous my collection had become.

And after taking that photo I realized there were more bottles that I forgot about! I sorted them out and put the ones I use and the ones I have sentimental value with on one side and all the rest on another. I had 10 or 12 bottles that I don’t care about and I didn’t want to keep in my house. Another friend of mine mentioned how their kids are always losing water bottles so I gave her all the ones I didn’t need. It was a win-win because I got them out of my house and she got something she needed for her kids.

And I spent part of yesterday working on getting as much of the other stuff in my house organized. The box I had been using for holiday decorations wasn’t big enough so I got a big plastic tub to store them in. I got organizers and baskets for my bathroom and threw out products I don’t use. My house still could use more decluttering, but I’ve made a huge step in the right direction and I don’t feel as overwhelmed anymore.

Every time I have a big cleaning like this, I tell myself that I won’t get that way again. But it always happens. And that’s because of my over-shopping tendency. But I’m much more aware that I have that issue and I’m hoping that knowing it will help me not be as bad about it. I really don’t need to own a ton of the same thing if I could just get one nice version of it instead. For my water bottles, I didn’t need 10 bottles that were ok when I could have just bought the 1 that I really wanted. It’s tough because the better thing is usually more expensive, but in the long run it ends up being cheaper than buying multiples of the less expensive thing.

I have a dream that my house will be one of those minimalistic dream homes, but I know that it would be tough to make that happen because I do have so much in my house that I love and want to keep. But I can work on storing things properly and out of the way so it doesn’t feel as full as it really it. And I have a feeling that for the next few weeks I’m probably going to keep working on what I’ve started and I may have something much closer to that dream than I ever had before.

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Default ThumbnailSpring Cleaning (or Needing To Declutter Again) Default ThumbnailTime For Some Refocusing (or I Need To Do Some Follow Through) Default ThumbnailMaking My House Look Fancy (or Doing Some Upgrades For The New Year) Default ThumbnailOrganization Time (or Seeing A Bit Of A Mess) Default ThumbnailSpring Cleaning (or Feeling Pampered) Default ThumbnailWorking On Cleaning (or Time To Declutter)

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Making My Friend Try On Wedding Dresses (or I’m So Glad She Found The Perfect Dress!)

Posted on January 18, 2018 | Comments Off on Making My Friend Try On Wedding Dresses (or I’m So Glad She Found The Perfect Dress!)

I’m sure that most single women don’t love when their friends get engaged and share all the wedding planning details. But that’s not me. I love hearing about plans and details and all of that! So every time a friend of mine gets engaged, I usually am always asking what’s happening, what they have picked out, and what they still need to do.

When my friend Jane got engaged, she shared about how she was a bit anxious about looking for a dress and I immediately told her I wanted to go shopping with her. She started shopping back east with her mom and didn’t find anything. And after that experience, I think she was a bit hesitant about trying it again. But because I can be bossy, I told her that we had to go check out dresses. We went to David’s Bridal a week ago without an appointment just to see if they could take a walk-in, but they couldn’t. But that gave us a chance to look around at dresses that she wanted to try and I think she was feeling a bit better about the options that were out there.

She got an appointment for this week and I think we were both pretty excited to check out the dresses we liked and to find out what she would like. She mentioned not being sure about certain silhouettes or wanting a veil, but she knew my job was to encourage her to try on things that she wouldn’t necessarily pick for herself because you never know what you will like.

When we had been there the other day, we picked a big variety of dresses for her to try on. Some were short dresses, some long, some were very simple, some were so heavily beaded that we wondered if it would feel too heavy, and most other options you could think of. There was one short dress that Jane thought could be the one and it happened to be at that store so we made sure it was on the list. And when we went back this week, we looked around a bit more and found a few other options that I thought could be nice.

When the consultant came out to meet us, she decided that we should do 5 dresses at first for Jane. 2 of them were ones that Jane loved, 2 were ones that I loved, and then the consultant picked one out on her own. Then we went back to the changing rooms where she took all of Jane’s measurements and I hung out in the waiting area super excited to see what Jane was going to like!

The first dress that Jane tried on was a fun dress with a high-low hem. It was a very plain dress, but that meant we got to have fun checking out options on how to customize it. She tried different belts, different sleeves, and mesh overlays. We found a combination that Jane really loved and I thought that maybe she would end up with the first dress that she tried on. She looked super happy about the dress and I could tell that some of the stress she felt going into the appointment was quickly gone.

The next dress that she tried on was one that I loved that Jane wasn’t sure about.  It wasn’t right because it was too low-cut and even with making a change to fix that wouldn’t make the dress right for her. But I’m glad she at least tried it on. The third dress was another one that I picked out and it was a gorgeous dress with lace and a longer train. Jane was nervous about a dress with a train, but I told her she needed to just try it. And when she walked out, it was such a magical moment!

She looked incredible in the dress! It fit her perfectly and it was just amazing! It wouldn’t be the dress I would expect her to wear, but it being unexpected made it even more perfect! She also tried a veil on with it and the veil made it complete! I was tearing up a bit because she looked like a bride out of a magazine! I had a good feeling that this would be her dress, but I tried to stay calm because I didn’t want to influence her choice.

The next dress was the short dress that Jane loved. It was a fun dress, but as soon as she had it on she knew it wasn’t right for her wedding. And it wasn’t able to beat the previous dress. And the last dress she tried on was one that the consultant picked that was similar to the dress I loved. And when Jane walked out in that one, I knew she was going to have a tough time picking a dress. It was beautiful and she looked amazing in it. She was so confused on which one to get so she decided to try the one we all loved again to see if she still loved it.

And when she got that dress back on, I knew that it was the dress for her! She was just glowing and couldn’t stop smiling. She looked like a bride and looked like herself which is exactly what you want. She mentioned how it was so funny that I picked her dress and how it wasn’t what she was planning on trying on and how it ended up being exactly what she wanted. I would have been happy with whatever dress she got as long as she loved it, but I feel so special that she got a dress that I picked out!

I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the dress (even though she said I could), so I’m only going to share a little bit of the detail on the train.

I wish I could share more of the dress without giving it away because it is just so amazing! And she looks amazing in it! It was so fun to get to watch her find her perfect dress and she kept saying after she picked it out how painless and easy it all was. I’m glad that that’s the experience she had because I am sure that wedding stuff can be insanely stressful and I wanted this to be fun for her.

I feel so lucky that Jane invited me to go shopping with her and that I got to see what her dress looks like! It was such a fun afternoon with her and I feel so special that I got to be a part of that day!

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Making My House Look Fancy (or Doing Some Upgrades For The New Year)

Posted on December 28, 2017 | Comments Off on Making My House Look Fancy (or Doing Some Upgrades For The New Year)

I’m not sure why, but for some reason I’ve been on a big cleaning and organizing spree. Maybe it’s because so many of my friends posted photos of their holiday decorations and I thought their homes looked much nicer and more grown-up than mine. Also, I know that things have gotten a bit cluttered lately and I know how easily that can get out of control. But mainly, I just wanted to upgrade some stuff around my house because it was time to do so.

Things started pretty basic with getting a new shower organizer (my old one was starting to rust) and I got some baskets I could hang off of towel racks in my bathroom (I have a serious lack of storage in there). I also wanted to do some better organizing in my kitchen. I had won a blender at Orangetheory a while ago but hadn’t organized my kitchen to fit it in there. I had my old blender still in there and I knew that it was time to get rid of that. So I started to clean and move things around in my kitchen to find a space for the new blender and that got me to move things around more.

And of course when I started moving things around I realized that I needed to do some more shopping and organizing. My parents gave me a set of knifes over 10 years ago that I never opened because I already had a knife set. But since I was doing so many upgrades I decided to switch knife sets. And since the new knife set didn’t have a knife block, I had to get one. I ended up finding a really compact one that didn’t have pre-cut slots so I could use it with any knife set. I also found a new dish drying rack that was much smaller than my old one. Since my kitchen counter space is limited, it’s nice to have more space now that I’ve switched things up.

And the most recent upgrade was inspired by my first one. The new shower organizer was nice but since I could put more things it in I wanted it to look nicer. The variety of bottles in there made things seem more cluttered than it really was and I wanted to fix that. I’ve used nicer containers for soap before since the giant bottles don’t fit where I use them. So I decided to look into new containers for my shampoo and conditioner. I ended up finding glass bottles that looked almost identical to the face wash bottle I already had. I got those (I realized that I could have just gotten more face wash bottles, but it was much cheaper to get the new bottles).

I also had learned from past mistakes about decanting one liquid into a new container and got some funnels too. And while it was a bit slower than I thought to move everything into the new containers, the end result looks so nice!

I’m thinking about maybe getting more containers like this for other things I have around my house like lotions or my body wash (which is still in the original bottle in my shower). It really does look so much nicer this way when the containers are out and I don’t have somewhere to store them away. And I can get the bigger sizes of things now and then pour them into the smaller containers (which should save me a little money).

Of course, all of these upgrades did cost me money which wasn’t the best. I really wanted to save money, but once I got started on these projects I wasn’t really able to stop. I’ve got a few more projects in mind that I want to do, but I’m hoping that I can do them without buying more stuff. A lot of this organization has been trying to minimize what I have in my house. I’m aware that I have too much stuff at times and I need to work on that. But when I’m getting rid of stuff, it helps to also make the stuff that I’m keeping in my house look nicer.

My organization and upgrade project is an ongoing thing. But it’s nice to know that I’m going to be starting 2018 in a much nicer looking place that feels much more grown-up to me.

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