On Tuesdays We Target... Edition II

It seems like forever since I've posted a Target Tuesday post, but trust and believe I have been there sooo many times. Today I'll be sharing a few of the cute finds that I saw at my local Target. 

Such a cute shirt that can be dressed up or dressed down. Right now I'd purchase it oversized and wear it to the gym because I totally need to get my workout on.

Can you say ready for Spring? I was super excited to see my favorite colors right besides each other. Perfect dresses to wear to work or out to brunch.

There are just certain aisles that I have to visit like all of them!!! I always get my life in the candle aisle. Now my preference is Bath and Body Works but sometimes those are too strong, Targets candles provide a happy medium. Right now I'm obsessed with blood oranges so I was happy to see this scent. It was a perfect spring scent and although I didn't purchase it, I will be adding it to my future candles list. The other candle, Glacial Water Mint reminds me of my favorite Stress relief body wash. This is totally a candle that you want around you to create a in-home spa. Perfect candle to help clear your mind while taking a bubble bath.

Such a cute picture which describes me best. Have you visited Target this week and if so, what caught your eye?

Wait, Who Doesn't Want A Discount?

One of my favorite words is discount, which is prettymuch synonymous with sale in my opinion. Just let it be known that your girl loves a sale or a discount, whatever you want to call reduced pricing (that’s not stolen lol). I am totally that person that receives a compliment and immediately states how much of a discount I received. Trust me; I am always excited about the items I’ve found on sale. Discounts and sales are the main reason why I can continue to shop at some of my favorite retailers. On Christmas, I was able to score a pair of Sam Edelman boots from Piperlime for less than $30 (with shipping). Want to know my secretson getting discounts? Keep reading and I’ll share my 3 tips on how you can get an amazing discount at almost any place you shop!

         1. Subscribe to the company’s e-mail listing

I always shake my head in disbelief when I offer the loyalty program at my job and customers don’t take it. I know it’s a personal choice but most loyalty programs/e-mail listings are absolutely free. I didn’t realize how protective people are about their e-mail addresses until I had to start asking for them in my line of work. By subscribing to the company’s e-mail, you get first dibs at discounts. There are honestly a few companies’ e-mails that I literally wake up and look forward to receiving. The boots I mentioned earlier was because of an e-mail that offered an additional 60% off of sale items. This past weekend, I was looking for a pair of black work pants and the store was advertising 30% off regular prices, but I knew that I could get them cheaper. Luckily for me, Ichecked my e-mail and was able to get 50% off of 3 regular priced items. Before I pay full price for anything, I always check my e-mail to see if there’s an additional discount. 

**Bonus**

If you are leery about providing your personal e-mail to retailers, create an e-mail account strictly for discounts so that your personal e-mail isn’t inundated. To make it easier use these fun e-mail address:

Yournamelovesasale@

Yournameloves2shop@

Barganistayourname@

Anysalesforyourname@

 

2. Follow Your Favorite Companies on Twitter/Instagram/Yelp

Because I love Yelp, I usually check-in anytime I visit a restaurant. You didn’t just think that discounts end with clothing did you? Often times checking into a restaurant deals pop up and you can choose to use it immediately or save it for later. One meal for $16 became two for $24, ever since then I always check in. I also can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across a flash sale by following companies on different social media platforms. There range anywhere from an additional percentage off to free shipping just by using a code that they only give out on Twitter/Instagram. Over the weekend I really wanted to check out this new donut spot in my neighborhood. Something told me to tweet and say that I was excited to finally try them. Because I’m a bit nosey, I read through their feed and saw that if you song a particular song you’d receive a free house donut. You know I got my free donutpictured on previous blog post)! 

 

3. Ask

I know you’re thinking, really, ask for a discount. I too thought in the same manner. But there is a good book that I’ve read that says ask and you shall receive, lol. Nonetheless, some companies aren’t allowed to advertise certain sales, if you don’t subscribe to their e-mails or follow them on social media, how else would you know. Even if there isn’t a sale or discount currently going on they may share offers that are coming down the pipeline.

 

 

Now that you have 3 easy ways to find and take advantage of a discount let me know what you’ve purchased.

Pamper Me Sunday

Instead of watching the Super Bowl (while eating delicious buffalo chicken dip) I spent my evening pampering myself. Working two jobs is tiring at times, so I decided to just relax after work today. I even made a healthy dinner, although I would have preferred an assortment of appetizers. 

My pampering session started off with a nice lush bath. I ended up using Lord of Misrule which is a spicy herbal blend of patchouli and black pepper oil. I was recommended it during the long Holiday hours I recently had in December. I must say, it did help to relax my aches a bit, and it turned the water my two favorite colors; pink and green!!! 

Afterwards, I decided to tackle my pores and did a Nose Pore Strip that I picked up from Forever 21. I've heard good things about Boscia Pore Purifying Black Strips but I decided to save some coins and go with a less expensive option. This product was pretty easy to use and after about 15 minutes I slowly pulled it off and saw that my pores were less noticeable and looked nice and clean. Don't sleep on Forever 21 beauty products!!! 

Since my part time job requires me to stand, I knew I had to take care of my feet. Last year I did a foot exfoliating mask which worked amazing by removing all of the dead skin from my feet and heels. Lord knows my heels were screaming for help lol. Can you believe that this foot mask also came from from Forever 21? I swear that section around the cash wrap gets me every time. This packaging was a bit different than the packaging I had last year, and so were the instructions. I hope the results end up being the same because my feet felt brand new!!! 

To finish up this pampering session, I tamed this mane of mine. I found a new moisturizer/styler that I think will become a staple of mine. I was actually shocked at how well it worked since my hair hates olive oil, but this here is a keeper!!! 

My pampering session ended up being a success. A night of relaxation, healthy dinner with a cute dessert, what more could a girl ask for...well there's always more lol. How did you all spend your Super Bowl Sunday? 

10

10 days in to January and I think that by now I should have come up with a few goals to work on. I understand the importance of writing my goals out as well as making a specific plan to achieve them. Luckily, my job introduced an S.M.A.R.T way of goal planning that I’m able to incorporate in my personal life. Below I’ll share 10 of the goals that I’m working on this year. 

1. Read More Books (at least one per month)

2. Work Out On A Regular Basis (I really want to get into Yoga)

3. Work On My Relationship With God/Attend, Join, and Become Active In a Church

4. Blog On A Regular Basis (try to attend at least one conference, for free *fingers crossed*)

5. Take More Pictures With My DSLR (and try to upgrade it by the end of the year)

6. Go On More Adventures (try and get in at least 2/3 trips)

7. Work On Getting A Professional Certification In Something

8. Stop Procrastinating!!!

9. Get a better job that I actually love and make more money

10. Become More Financially Fit (save more)

Have you set any goals for 2015? If so, what were they?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!! How excited and thankful I am to be able to see another year. I look forward to everything that God has in store for me in 2015. In regard to any resolutions, I'm thinking about my goals now and writing those down so that I can create some sort of action plan to achieve them. However, the picture above does provide a good description of a few things that I'd like to work on. What are you resolving to do in the new year?

In case you're not following me on Instagram (which you should) here are a few pics of my friends and I celebrating the New Year.

My selfie stick was the highlight of the night.

Serving a lil face!!!

Gotta have some money in your hand when the New Year comes in #Superstitious

One of my Besties that actually threw the party.

I was super excited that this entire outfit came out of my closet and I didn't spend any money on a new fit. Check out the deets:

*Sequin Shirt-thrifted

*Faux Leather Bomber-old but purchased from Target

*Cut out Knee Jeans-H&M

*Clutch-The Limited

*Pointy Gold Stilettos-very old from college (do the math, lol)

Interesting Day...

Christmas isn't a season, it's a feeling

I have been trying my hardest to blog this month but haven't been able to. I literally haven't had a day off since Thanksgiving. I really can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I mean it was just January. I always say I'm going to prepare for Christmas ahead of time but my Christmas tree just went up and I still have sooo many presents to get and ship. I will try my best to blog over the next 12 days, but for now here are a few holiday pics that have made me smile!

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday. Although my post is a bit late, I am reminded of sooo many things to be thankful for:

-life & health

-family

-full-time job

-friendship

-God's grace

This year, I decided to spend thanksgiving a bit differently. My family in the area was gone and I didn't really feel like sharing Thanksgiving with someone else's family (it would just make me miss my family in Ga.). NOTE TO SELF: THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME I SPEND THANKSGIVING IN VA. AWAY FROM MY GA. FAMILY. 

I digress. 

Luckily I was able to eat at a restaurant with a friend and celebrate the holiday our way. Initially I was going to have their traditional turkey/ham dinner but I decided on something different. Everyday is a day of Thanksgiving so I didn't have to have a meal that symbolized the tradition. Instead I had quite the opposite, burger and fries (with a blood orange sangria).

I can't lie, I was really really missing the dressing and a piece of good ole sweet potato pie. But honestly this meal hit the spot and filled me up.How did you all spend your holiday and what was your favorite part of dinner? 

Food Truck Tuesday...

Since I was unable to make it to Target for Target Tuesday, I can actually deem this day as another segment day. Hence the title Food Truck Tuesday. That really wasn’t hard to think of since my company actually has a different food truck each Tuesday for us to choose from. Now that’s what I call a perk!!! Nonetheless, my lifestyle blog will be transforming into more food and lifestyle, so be on the lookout for more food post.

Over the weekend I did a lot of meal planning, I broke everything down by what to buy as well as what day/time I'd eat the meal. Yes, your girl is trying to get it right get it tight. But keep in mind I am still a certified foodie!!! While meal planning I was sure to leave Tuesday's lunch open because I knew for a fact that is be at the food truck today. This would be the first time that we'd have a BBQ themed food truck. I checked my calendar as soon as I got in and it was full of meetings; so I thought of the next best thing.... ask someone to pick up my order. Honestly, that was like a last resort type of thought. I'm the type that relishes in the novelty of the food truck. I really need to experience the design, the service, and of course the cleanliness. The food Gods must have been looking out since one of my meetings ended early!!!

I made it out to SloppyMamas food truck and watched as they added items to the menu. I'd already done my homework, so I kinda knew what I wanted. I went back and forth between the brisket plate (which came with two sides) and the brisket sandwich. I knew for sure it had to be brisket and that it had to be the moist cut instead of the lean cut. I ended up choosing the sandwich to keep my lunch budget down, but of course there were add ons. I added the coleslaw that everyone raved about online as well as the bacon jam. I am sooo happy that I did. The meat was sooo moist and the coleslaw had pieces of pickles inside and was bursting with flavor!!! I made a great choice of skipping out on my meal planned lunch. 

Disregard the fact that I drowned my bread with BBQ sauce!!!

In case you're wondering some of the other meals I've enjoyed from Food Truck Tuesday keep salivating and look below.

This was my first time having a Vietnamiese sandwich (Bánh Mi) from @Phowheels the only thing missing was a fried egg to. The flavors from this sandwich was everything.

This was also a first time sandwich. A Cuban from @borinquenlunchb the crisp outside yet softness of this bread was perfection. And the mustard-pickle-pork blend was EVERYTHING (I actually had it twice I'm on week). 

Since food trucks have basically started to take over the food market, which food truck is your favorite and why? 

On Thursdays We Thrift... Edition I

Look at all of those patterns!!!

Can you believe that there was once a time that I was embarrassed to actually go thrifting. Yes, that was me. I honestly couldn't understand why my mom shopped at thrift stores when I was a child. It was very weird for me because my mom would literally get a designer handbag (Dooney & Bourke) every other weekend from Mansours. I can't remember when the actual switch occurred and I began LOVING thrifting, but I'm sooo happy it did. And I'm also happy that I was taught by one of the greatest thrifters in my opinion, my mom. Flash forward a few years and one of the first things I look for (besides a Target) is a thrift store.

Unique was one of the first thrift stores that people raved about when I moved to Virginia. I went the first time and absolutely hated it. I visited a few more times and still hated it. I'm honestly in awe that Unique is moving into my top 3 thrift stores. I honestly visit every Thursday on my lunch break because on Thursdays they have 25% off. And if I feel like I wasn't able to search as thoroughly as I'd like to, I go back after work and give it another go. I actually was able to teach my friend how to thrift and she picked up a few cute pieces too. I'll try my best to update you all on my thrift finds. If you're in the Virginia area, let me know your favorite place to thrift. And check out some of the awesome things I picked up!!!

This Talbots skirt is perfect for the fall. What color top would you wear? $7.99

I knew immediately knew that this Banana Republic shirt had to come home with me!!! $6.99

I love the dual design as well as the duel texture of this shirt.

 

You can never go wrong with a plain black shirt, get this, it's a Target brand shirt!!! $3.99

I was sooo happy when I found this leopard print maxi skirt!!!



What is that, velvet?  $5.99

Another cute skirt for work, since its blue & white I need some color to make it pop.  $7.99

I love the color of this shirt, but hate how this pic makes my head look sooo swole lol!!!

 

I LOVE finding designer deals, that's exactly what this Michael Kors skirt was. $5.99

I can't wait to wear this vintage top with a pair of tights and combat boots. $4.99
  

This vintage silk blouse is sooo soft!!!

Deciding on which clutch to choose...

She did sooo well on her first thrift trip!!!

Yes everything behind me, came home with me today!!!

 Again, all of the items purchased were an additional 25% off and guess what? On Veteran's day Unique is offering 50% off of everything. I. Will. Be. There.