Anniversary Time

Who: J

When: 6/29/12

Where: Ruidoso, New Mexico for anniversary trip

What: *Green top- Old Navy, thrifted *Denim vest- restyled from denim jacket, gift *Skirt- thrifted, remade by me *Belt- thrifted *Boots- Ariat *Wallet- Kate Spade, gift from M

If you ever get the chance, you HAVE to go to Ruidoso, New Mexico. N and I went for a one- night get away for our anniversary and we LOVED it!! Ruidoso is a town high up in the mountains in southeast New Mexico, about 2 1/2 hours away from us in El Paso. Because of the elevation, it's a lot cooler, temperature wise, which was nice, and there are beautiful, tall pine trees everywhere. It was such a relaxing trip! We also went to see the Flying J Ranch Chuckwagon show- awesome! The food was so delicious and the show was amazing!

We really enjoyed ourselves and I'm so glad that we got to go. Oh yeah... and happy 3 year anniversary to us! I'm still amazed that I get to be married to such a sweet, godly, handsome man and I'm excited to see what the next 50 years bring us! :)

Thrifted Thursday- Jewelry Swap

Today, we're going to talk about a really fun thing we did a while back- a jewelry swap! You can do this with pretty much anything- jewelry, purses, clothing, shoes, scarves, etc. We just did jewelry because jewelry is pretty easy to mail when you live so far apart.


How it worked was this: M picked out jewelry she didn't wear anymore and gave it to J... J picked out jewelry she didn't wear anymore and gave it to M.. simple, right? It was fun, because we both like the other's tastes, we got to clean out our jewelry boxes, aaaannnnddd we got FREE jewelry!! Hmmm... it might be time for another swap.... ;)


You could do this with larger groups of friends, and make it whatever you wanted. You could add as many stipulations or as few as you want... although, we wouldn't add TOO many- then it wouldn't be any fun! We just gave each other however many pieces we ended up cleaning out, but if you were planning this for a larger group of people, you could just say that you may only take home as many things as you came with.


However you chose to do it, it's a great way to try new things for free. And free is the best price of all! :)


Here are some of the pieces that we swapped:

Put a Little YeeHaw in Your Step

Who: J

When: 6/20/12

Where: Midweek service at church

What: *Brown top- Cato's *Turquoise tank- Target *Belt- gift from sister *Skirt- made by me *Boots- Ariat *Purse- Coach, gift from N *Necklace- gift from N from Afghanistan

I'm not sure why, but for the last couple of weeks, I've been drawn to adding little bits of western "flair" to my outfits. For this outfit, I decided that wearing cowboy boots in 105 degree heat was a good idea... Oh well, the church has air conditioning... 

I have some other outfits that I added some "westerness" to that I'll have to post later. What do you wear when you're feeling a little cowgirl-y? Or is it only me that has these phases?

P.S. Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Thrifted Thursday!!

Two Beautiful

Who: M

When: 5/8/12

Where: Bus route and Bible study

What: My outfit- *Red skirt-H&M, $10 *Black shirt-Old Navy, $7 *Shoes-Mexican catalog *Necklace and earrings-dollar jewelry store
Her outfit- *White shirt-thrifted, $2 *Tan skirt-gift *Shoes-street market, $1.50 *Tan sweater-gift

 I often take a picture with my photographer and Montse (the other person featured today) is often my photographer. On this particular day, I thought that she looked super cute in her nuetral colors, so I had her pose for her photo also. She was not the most willing subject, but she complied. A lot of the clothes that I have featured as "borrowed" I borrow from her. She was one of the first people I met when I came to Mexico almost 2 years ago. Since that time, she has been a source of friendship, laughter, and on occasion, worry and tears. But I must say, many more good times than bad!! :) 

About the outfit, I just wanted to mention one thing...The skirt I am wearing is one of my favorites. When I saw it the first time I knew I wanted it, but I did not want to pay $25 for it!! So I opted to wait, and my waiting paid off!! I got the skirt for less than half price about a month later! This is a good strategy to use, but at times it has back-fired on me when the items sold out before I had a chance to purchase them...

Space Cadet

Who: J

When: 6/16/12

Where: New Mexico Museum of Space History

What: *Purple tee- Old Navy *Denim skirt- Old Navy *Shoes- Walmart *Vest- made from t-shirt using this tutorial (super, super easy!!) *Necklace- Lisa Leonard designs

Some friends of ours from church invited us to go to the New Mexico Museum of Space History in  Alamogordo with them- it was so much fun! There were a TON of exhibits and lots of information, all presented in an interesting way. I think N really enjoyed it, too, which is always a plus since I feel like I drag him to "my kind" of stuff way too much (antique stores, thrift stores, stores in general...). 


While I was doing "research" on Pinterest, I found a tutorial on how to make a vest by cutting up a tee (link above). So, of course, I HAD to try it! I love how it turned out! Very comfy, and a nice, light, flowy layer for summer. This vest actually works pretty well as a scarf, too (I'll post those pictures another day). I even bought another tshirt at Goodwill specifically to cut up and use to make a vest- I'll post pictures of that when I get it done!

Denim Day

Who: M

When: 5/30/12

Where: folding, sealing, stamping letters...great fun!!!

What: *Denim skirt-Cato's, $7 *Pink shirt-thrifted *Undershirt-China :) *Earrings-gift shop, $5 *Shoes-Festival of October, $10

This day was a break from my normal routine. I usually head straight to the Murillo's house after school, but on this day I was able to go home, change, eat, and then head over there. Also, I brought along 5 girls to make my work load easier...In about 5 hours, we assembled almost 2,000 letters including labels and sealing them! It was pretty awesome! But back to my outfit, I seldom get to wear denim, so I was excited for a chance to don my casuals! :) I think my new favorite color to put with EVERYTHING is turquoise! It is a fun color and matches just about everything! Well, at least I think it does...lol

Thrifted Thursday- Here's the Dealio, Yo

Ok, ok, I know the title is a little (a lot) cheesy, but I couldn't help myself! I'm super excited about all of the great dealios, err... I mean... deals... I got at Goodwill this week! You may have noticed that I talk about Goodwill a lot more than other thrift stores, but that's just because there's one about 3 blocks from my house... I promise that I pretty much love all thrift stores equally!

I had a post about a jewelry swap that M and I did planned for this week, but it's turning out to be a bigger project than I thought, so I'm still working on it.  But, I had some specific things I was wanting to look for at a thrift store, so I decided to head over to Goodwill to see what I could find for this week's post. Here are the results:

I have big plans for all of these wonderful things!

I've been wanting to add a little more "western" flavor to my wardrobe, so the purple plaid shirt and the denim vest are for me. I found this awesome tutorial on how to make vests from t-shirts, so I snatched up the striped tee for that little project. I picked up the two blue shirts, the Star Wars videos (which we seem to be collecting for some reason... I'm not sure why we need multiple copies of these videos), and the ACU pants (for more on ACUs, read last week's Thrifted Thursday) for my husband. And the hangers... well, we just needed some more hangers. 

Everything I bought, except for the blue dress shirt, was half- off. I decided before I went into the store that, except for dress shirts and ACU's (both of which my husband is in need of right now), I wouldn't buy something unless I LOVED it AND it was half off. I have to admit, my resolve was tested... I found a really pretty coral cotton top with a silver star design and mother of pearl snaps... BUT, I stuck to my guns and put it back. There's also a straw bag with gold trim that I've been eyeing, but I'm not going to pay $10 for a USED Victoria Secret brand bag... I'll have to keep an eye on it to see if it goes on sale. 

There you have it- my Goodwill treasures for this week. I don't usually spend so much at once, but I was looking for some things for upcoming events, and some other items that we needed. I think I did pretty well! ;)

Happy thrifting!

                                                                                                            -J

P.S. I'll keep working on the jewelry swap post- maybe next week!