Friday Finds

Yesterday, I was able to go thrifting for several hours!!  I have my usual stores I like to thrift at, which are close by, but every once in while I like to explore a new loop.  Wornall Road has four thrift stores that are within minutes of each other - The Restore by Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, City Thrift, and Red Racks.  I didn't buy anything at The Restore, but I always like to check out what inventory they have!!  Then on my way home, I swung by Maj-R Thrift.

Just about everything I picked up was J Crew!!  I love J Crew, but it is too expensive for this thrifty chick, so finding it second hand is a great option for me.  I have several J Crew items in my wardrobe - all thrifted!!  J Crew is high quality and washes beautifully!!

At Goodwill, I snagged two tops

J Crew Sweatshirt $3.98

Merona Top $3.98

At City Thrift, I picked up two items for my daughter

Gap Sweater Dress $2.98 (1/2 price Thursday!!)

Carter's Top $1.98 (1/2 price Thursday!!)

I actually picked up two of these tops yesterday, in two different sizes!!!

At Red Racks I found

J Crew top $5.98

I absolutely loved the details of this top!!  Lace, fabric covered buttons, and Swiss dots!!

Lauren Conrad Blouse $3.98

This blouse had a small stain on the front and the manager graciously discounted the price!!  

Thrilled to find this basic for a fraction of the price in the store!!

Red Tank $1.98

I am always looking for next season's clothing!!  

Winter is the perfect time to look for your summer wardrobe!!

Wooden H $.99

Then at Maj-R Thrift I found a MAJOR treasure

This is a Chico's knit blazer New with Tags for $6.25 (a 75% off tag!!)

This blazer originally cost $119!!

Harry Potter Gryffindor Scarf $3.98

Any favorites?

Happy Thrifting!!

Nikki

The Big 4-0!!

I will be turning the big 4-0 in September!!  It seems so strange to me that my thirties are coming to an end.

This decade has been very challenging - I have experienced life in a whole new way - I've seen life, death, sadness, and pure joy.  I am parenting a baby again, my first daughter, and a teenager.  I feel like I've come to understand myself better and I've definitely mellowed a bit.  I can laugh at myself.  I have come to embrace this body God has given me.  I feel like I know my style - in my home and in my closet.  I think I know where I want to be in another ten years.  I've deepened relationships.  I've walked through some pretty dark, scary, and overwhelming stuff and I made it through to the other side with a few scars and a new joy and resolve in my heart.

When I was turning 39, I started brainstorming a list of 12 things I wanted to do during this last year of my thirties. I wanted the list to stretch me - some of them are physically challenging, some are to grow me spiritually, some are things I've never experienced, and some are just for fun.

Here's my list!!

Train and Run for a 1/2 marathon - April 11th Rock the Parkway

Launch a Blog - January 1st - You are reading it!!

Do Something for Charity

Go on a Spiritual Retreat - December 30 - January 1st

Go to a Wine Tasting Event

Plan an Oscar Party - February

Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride

Take an Instructional Class

Write Letters to People I Love

Keep a Gratitude Journal - Ongoing

Cut Off and Donate My Hair - September

Go Camping with My Boys

When September rolls around, I hope that I've been able to accomplish each of them and share my experiences with you!!

Green With Envy

This week is Restaurant Week here in KC and my husband and I wanted to enjoy a lunch out without the kiddos.  So I decided to dress up a bit for our date!!  I love dressing up and I love going out to eat!!

I picked a fun kelly green and navy polka dot Liz Claiborne blouse and navy corduroy A.NA. skinnies both from my local Salvation Army Family Thrift Store, hand-me-down boots from my mom, and a fun necklace I picked up from www.jane.com.  Jane is a fun website that has new goodies listed each day at a great discount.  I've picked up jewelry, leather moccasins for my daughter, and stocking stuffers for the family. Everyone should check them out!!

The total cost of this outfit with my necklace is around $20!!

Happy Thrifting!!

Sunday Style - Purple Paisley

I love the bold color and pattern of this dress!  I picked it up for $4 a church sale a couple of years ago.  I always hit up this church sale each spring and fall, because you never know what you will find and their prices are awesome!

I've paired it with black tights from Walmart and short black boots, which are hand-me-downs for my mom.  Since it was a little chilly this morning, I added a black leather jacket that I bought on an online garage sale.  My tights are the only item I bought retail.  This dress can be worn year round, I've also paired it with a denim jacket and cowboy boots.  This outfit cost less this $15!!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Thrifted Style - Basic Chambray Dress with a Little Twist

I bought this Chambray Dress at my local Salvation Army Family Thrift Store just before Christmas for  a whopping $5.99.  I love this dress for many reasons.  It's chambray, which is a staple in my closet.  It's also long - being a taller girl, I find it difficult to find dresses, skirts, and shorts that are long enough for my liking.  The detail on the sleeve is fun and I know I will be wearing this dress all four year round.

I paired it with some navy tights from Target, brown boots from my mom, and a homemade scarf.  I'll be posting soon how I made the scarf - I used some material I already had in my stash with a thrifted blanket!!  

Can't wait to mix up this dress and this scarf with other things in my closet!! Total cost of my outfit is under $15.  Happy Thrifting!!

Sunday Style - Bold Texture & Pattern

I love wearing texture in the winter.  I have lots of textured tights, sweaters, dresses, pants, and skirts in my winter wardrobe.  When I was out thrifting this week, I snagged this amazing vintage skirt for $3.99.  I don't even think it had been worn because the kick pleat in the back was still stitched shut.  My favorite feature of this skirt is the pockets!!  I paired it with thrifted Talbots sweater, textured tights from Walmart, and hand-me-down belt and boots from my mom (she has great taste and pretty much the same size!!).

I love the sequin detail on the black sweater as well.  My snowflake necklace was a Christmas gift from my late sister-in-law and I have to wear it at least once a winter.  I can't help but think of her when I pull it out to put it on.

Total cost of my outfit about $15!!  My tights are the only item that I bought retail.  

Enjoy your Sunday! 

Hair Today, Gone Maybe by September!

In the fall of 2011, I decided it would be an amazing and wonderful thing to grow out my hair to donate to a charity. I officially started growing it out January 1, 2012.  At the time, I had a pixie cut, which I loved by the way!  It was super easy to fix and maintain.  I had no idea growing out my hair would take so long!!

When I was younger, I felt like my hair grew super fast and was relatively healthy.  Now that I'm almost forty (did I just write that out loud), my hair is growing at a snail's pace and since I have a ton of gray I'm trying to cover up all the time, I don't think it's very healthy either!!

Year One, involved lots of trimming, Justin Beiber like hair (I have the pictures to prove it, but not brave enough to share them!!), and trying to keep my hair from looking like I wanted to have a mullet!!  I also had to wear a lot of headbands, bobby pins, and clips to keep my hair out of my face.

Year Two, was a little less trimming, but had to keep the back short to keep it close to what the length of the front was.  I was finally able to put my hair up in an actual pony tail for the first time in a decade!!

Year Three, has been the easiest year because we haven't had to trim hardly at all and I can actually wear my hair in a few more fun styles - buns, pony tails, and curls.  This year, I have tried a few concoctions to help my hair grow faster, but don't really think they've helped.  Recently, I started drinking a calcium tea, that I do think is helping my hair grow a little faster and it's pretty tasty.

I have decided I really don't like long hair on me.  I can't fix it like all these youtube videos and pins on Pinterest show you.  I don't like taking the time to try to fix it and when I do, I usually don't like it and just wear it down like I always do (unless I'm hitting the gym or going for a run).  And the biggest reason I don't like my hair long. . . I shed like a cat.  I feel like I'm always sweeping up hair, pulling off my hair from someone or something, and cleaning it out of my sink!!  Totally, YUCKO!

My plan is donate before my next monumental birthday in September.  I am totally ok with my hair being super short if need be, but I'm hoping it's long enough that I can play with the length a bit and have a bit longer, asymmetrical bob or pixie.  

Source: http://thriftandshout.blogspot.com

Have you donated your hair to charity?  If so, who did you donate it to and why?  So ready to be done with crazy mane of aging hair!!

A Little Cabin in the Woods

My husband organizes and hosts Personal Encounter Retreats twice a year.  It's a four day retreat where you basically unplug and rest.  Everyone is so busy and it's a chance to just be.  I haven't been able to attend because we really like for one of us to be home with the kids if the other is "working".   After 17 years of marriage and 4 kids, we have found this to be extremely beneficial to our family.

This fall, after his retreat, I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to just get away at the end of the year and do my own little retreat.  He thought it was a great idea and encouraged me to make it happen.  So I started researching a little bit of where I could stay without much success.  Most were too expensive and weren't remote enough for me.

Then I had dinner with my best friend and mentioned my idea to her and she was about as excited about it as I was.  She is a working mom with three teenage kids and a crazy schedule, so getting away to rest and unplug sounded amazing.  We've been best friends since college and until about five years ago, lived just 5 minutes from each other.  She lives about two hours away for me, so we have to be intentional about seeing each, we usually meet half way for dinner.  Our dinners usually end up being about three hours long with lots of conversation, laughs, and tears.  Our time together is so very precious, but is always WAY too short.  We were thrilled about the possibility of spending uninterrupted time together for an extended period of time.

We ended up finding this charming place on AirBnB.  It met all of our criteria - inexpensive, secluded, and close to both of us and our hosts were incredible!!

This cottage is situated on a goat farm and just welcomed you in.  It reminded me of an English cottage with lots of quirks and charm.  We were greeted by Ginger, the cat and two dogs who were gentle giants, whose job was to protect the goat herd.

It was so wonderful to get away from the craziness of our lives and just be.  We didn't have to think very much about meals, we each brought lots of snacks and then did a quick trip to Walmart to pick up some frozen meals and sides.  There was no laundry to do and no kids to run to the next event!  We both could just be - how rare and exciting is that!!

We spent two days planning out what we wanted to do in 2015, spending time in prayer and communion with God and nature, laughing until we cried, staying up way too late, eating way too much, and just being together.

One of my favorite parts was exploring the property.  The hosts had left a map of a hiking route down to a creek.  It involved climbing fences, averting lots of thorns, barbed wire, and bitter cold, but it was so worth it.  I love just being outside, exploring, and taking it all in.  I was able to take some photos and loved trying to capture the beauty surrounding me.

Individually, we came up with a word or phrase that we wanted 2015 to be.  The idea comes from the book My One Word .  I've actually never read the book, but the concept is to take a word and focus your energy on that, instead of making and breaking tons of  New Year's resolutions.  A couple of years ago, I came up with a phrase that worked pretty well for me, until our daughter came along half way through the year and pretty much the rest of the year was focused on being a mom of a newborn again.  I picked the phrase THROUGH AND THROUGH.  It comes from 1 Corinthians 5:23, 24 - "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you THROUGH AND THROUGH.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."  I want MY God to know me THROUGH AND THROUGH - spirit, soul, and body.  I want NOTHING hidden from Him.

I so thankful for this time away.  I felt energized when I came home and ready to face 2015 with open arms.  I am grateful my husband encouraged me and took care of the family while I was away.  It was time well spent with God, nature, and my best friend.

And Away We Go. . . .

I've toyed with the idea of writing a blog for a little over a year now.  I've always been a planner.  I like to have things all figured out.  I like to know what I'm getting myself into. So for a year now, I've been researching, planning, following blogs, and pinning away on Pinterest, trying to figure out the blogging world.

I've been struggling to figure out my niche - what's going to set me apart from all the blogs out there, but I've concluded I don't really have a niche. I don't have one or two things I want my blog to focus on.  I love too many things - I love crafting, thrifting, God, movies, fashion, scrapbooking, books, repurposing, food, travel, fitness, entertaining, and photography.  I might think that is a lengthy list, but I could have added several other items!!

I want my blog to be a way to express myself.  I love creating, whether it with paper, photos, or fashion.  Being able to create energizes me.  I have finally figured out that when I'm not able to be creative in some form, I start to shut down.  It's time for me to just be me!!

I chose the name A Pocket Full of Violets for a few reasons.  1- I love violets - they are my favorite flower (thanks Anne of Green Gables!!).  2 - If we are blessed with another daughter, I want to name her Violet.  3 - I also have tons of ideas I want to share with you - my pockets are filled to the brim :).  4 - Just like a pocket full of lovely little violets always makes me smile, I hope that this blog will bring a smile to your face as well.