Handmade by Bernice

My fabulous sister-in-law Bernice made me a purse for my birthday!  She asked me for pattern suggestions and a few color ideas, and then surprised me with something even cuter than what I was expecting!  It's perfect!  I love the gray and yellow together, and the shell buttons.  So pretty.

And this lovely little thing is a tea wallet!  What a novel idea!  Great for my recent tea obsessions.

It's about time...

for a refresher.  Over the past year, I've given away approximately 30% of my wardrobe.  That's not really that much, considering the plethora of clothing options I had in the beginning.  The only problem with getting rid of old clothes is that you don't have those standbys anymore to depend on when you don't feel like thinking about getting dressed.  But maybe that's the point.  There's a reason you get compliments on those days you take more than 10 minutes to get dressed.

Today I did something rare and unusual for me: I went shopping.  Many years ago (ok, about 5), shopping was my weekend hobby. I wasn't an outdoorsy sort of girl back then, I was an indoorsy sort of hobby shopper, and it was a weekly habit.  One which ate up many dollars that could have been directed towards my savings account.  The saddest part of it all was that I didn't need any of the stuff I bought, and I didn't even truly want half of it.  It was just something fun to do.  Today, I only go shopping when I absolutely must, because it's no longer enjoyable. I get a bigger thrill out of watching my debt decrease and my savings increase, and it feels stressful now to make all those decisions about my hard-earned cash.  Clothing, in my mind, is the second most quickly depreciating investment you can make - behind buying a new car.  It is a necessity, however, so you might as well try to have a little fun with it, right?

Ok, what did I get?  Well, you know I had to have coupons, and today also happened to be a sale day at JCPenney's!  So it was a win-win.  Let's hope I made some wise choices:
(really really sorry about just having links, but I don't know how to make pictures from other websites show up on my blog!)
Gray Cowl-Neck Sweater Dress with Belt
Reversible Gray&Pink Drape Cardigan (apparently it's called a "cozy"... get with the times, Ri!)
Black flyaway cardigan/cozy/whatchamacallit
Gray Laceback Vest
Black Heels (to go with the dress... not sure if I'll end up just wearing my usual knee-high boots with the dress and returning the heels.  Pain tolerance issues and all, you know...)
Khakis for work in "Barnswallow", I think, which is somewhere between gray and khaki/cement
Jeans because my current ones are getting holes, but not in the "cool" places to have holes, of course! I didn't get the skinny flared jeans I'm showing in the link... I got regular bootcut, but for some reason Old Navy's website doesn't have the same style I bought in the store.

Total cost: $131.83 - $20 Old Navy gift card = $111.83.  Total value was $253.99.  Not bad!

30th Birthday Dinner

Katie, Cory, John, Kasey, Miriam

Me, Katie & Cory, Taryn, Jenell, John & Kasey, Miriam & Peter, Kris & Catherine.

Roasted beet salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts

Mushroom and Brie soup

My favorite, Confit de Canard (duck)

John, Kasey, Annie, Miriam.

Peter, Kris.

John, Kasey, and Kate, our very accomodating waitress.

Taryn, Jenell.  John &Kasey's baby Annie did so great!

Le Cafe de Paris consistently makes the best cappuccino I've ever had.

Crème brulée.

Taryn, Miriam, me, Kasey, Catherine.

Such a LOVEly Saturday

Look what showed up at my door today!

A Valentine's package from my Mom (Aside: She always sends me something for Valentine's Day, despite knowing I will be so behind as to forget that the Can-I-still-mail-something-and-get-it-there-by-the-holiday? window for Valentine's Day has closed and there won't be anything in her mailbox come Monday.  But that's the definition of love, isn't it?  Giving without expecting anything in return?  Thanks Mom!):

A sweet little pink package

I also got a new purse for my birthday!  My super-talented sister-in-law crafted this for me!

And she has no idea how much tea I've been drinking lately, but serendipitously, she made this matching tea wallet!

Today...

~ I am 30 years, one week, and one day.

~ I am feeling guilty for not being as prompt as my friends when it comes to Thank-You Card Response Time (TCRT).

~ I am wearing glasses to avoid the "freshly ground sand" feeling in my eyes.

~ I am still reeling from the over-the-top dinner last night at The Mona Lisa, courtesy of P&M. (And the birthday beat goes on...)

~ I am making Kale & Chorizo soup and Cheesy Beef (-Elk!-) Casserole for J&K.  I've made the delicious soup before, but not the casserole.  One's mainly for her, the other mainly for him.  Can you guess which?

~ I am the proud new owner of a 12-kilo kettlebell.  Woo!

~ I am happy it's February.

Den stora IKEA äventyr

What? You don't speak Swedish? 

Today's post is titled "The Great IKEA adventure"!  And an adventure it was.  Did I tell you about it?  I don't think I did, because otherwise the photos would not have languished on my camera for the last 4 months.  Enjoy.  (See more on facebook!)