I Wanna Be a Cowl Girl.....

Hey Y'all!

Wow. These past few weeks have been a HUMDINGER. How about for y'all? Let's just say I am more than ready for summer breezes, flip flops on my feet and summer freedom. Yes. I know it is only the beginning of February. But, sometimes you need a little light at the end of the tunnel!

To help me get through the doldrums until Spring, I have been knitting. Mainly cowls, because they are easy mindless TV and movie knitting. In my last post I showed you a picture of the Three Hour Cowl. I enjoyed making that one so much, that as soon as it was off of the needles, I casted on for another one! This new cowl was knitted in cotton yarn too. The colorway is Moondance. I just love that name. It made me feel very calm while I was knitting it! I made this one a little bit longer than my first one.

Recently I have come across a few new knitting blogs that I have enjoyed reading. One of them is by Fiber Flux. She has a great blog and I just love her free and easy knit patterns. Most of the the yarns she uses in her patterns I already have somewhere in my stash. Friday night during Blue Bloods I casted on the Spice Cowl. After knitting a few rounds I called it a night. Then during an encore presentation of Necessary Roughness on Saturday morning I finished the cowl. It was such an easy and fast knit. It is really just a four row repeat. Add in a chunky yarn and size 15 needles and BAM. You have a cowl!

Yesterday I visited some of my favorite thrifting spots and scored some cute things! Today I lucked out at Goodwill and came across a precious set of Correlle Ware. I'll post some pics tomorrow of my finds.

I have some Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos in the Crockpot and it's dinner time. I am not much of a Super Bowl person unless I like a team in the game. This year Pitty Pat and I are going to watch a movie instead of the game. Although, we did catch the Puppy Bowl earlier today! It was precious!

I hope y'all have a good Monday!
Tootles!
:) JKP

What's Up Buttercup?

Hey Y'all!

So. Are you settling into your January routine yet? I am, slowly but surely. We have had fantastic weather in the 70's and 80's here at the beach so that has helped with the January Blues quite a bit. This past weekend was so beautiful! After taking care of some school work, I happily sat out on my back patio with my Kindle and read to my heart's content. Lemonade by my side! And, flip flops on my feet. That makes everything better! :)

I have continued to work on a few New Year's additions. I feel like if I call them "additions" I will more than likely stick with them! I have started back with trying to fit in my 10,000 steps a day. I have shared this "addition" with my students and I have logged back onto America On the Move to track my progress. Since it is January, I have chosen to walk the Iditarod Trail. My students love for me to log on everyday and show them where I am on my trail. It also holds me accountable too! I have also been entering my data on Walker Tracker and that appears on the left side bar of the blog. So y'all can stay updated too! I have been doing really well. The weekends are hard but I am working on it. Today I am under the weather, so I have only gotten in 8,000 or so steps. I am really achy today and my tummy pain is bothering me. So. I am taking it easy and not pushing things tonight! Another "addition" I am working on is cutting out soft drinks. I have noticed a big difference in the way I feel. I am still drinking tea and coffee. I can't cut those out and teach! :) But I am adding more water and juice everyday. Lemonade is also becoming a favorite of mine!

A couple of weekends ago, instead of hitting the after Christmas sales, I hit my favorite consignment stores and found some really cute things. One of my best deals so far has been this sweater that I found. It is a Talbots sweater and it is BRAND NEW! The Talbots tags were still on! And. You know of my love of pink. Add the argyle and I am in heaven! I paid $8 for this $65 dollar sweater. YIPPEE!!!

I also picked up a few things for my Mom. Like me, she loves Correllware too. I happen to find some cute plates for her and a cute top too! I paid $2 for the set of four plates and $3 for her cute Van Huesen shirt.

This weekend I made a few quick stops and found some more cute tops. I love three quarter length tops because they are perfect to wear to school. Since I usually end up pushing up my sleeves anyway, three quarter length sleeves are the best for me!

One of the things that I was REALLY late with this year was Christmas Cards. I decided that a New Year's Card would work for this year, so I placed those in the mail last weekend. They turned out very cute. I used Snapfish and I was very pleased! I happened to end up with a half off coupon and free shipping. :)

Last but not least, I have picked up the knitting needles for a wee bit in 2013. I found this pattern that was so cute! Is it a purse?

NOOOOO! It's a Slipper! The name of this patter is Pocketbook Slippers. So cute! And, sorry if the yarn offends y'all. You know me and my BRIGHT colors! Actually, I am probably going to end up giving these away. I am a loose knitter and I used the size 7 needle called for in the pattern. These slippers turned out big for my feet, so I am going to pass them along and knit myself another pair with size 6 needles. Perfect fit! Also. This slipper is a little reminiscent of a Mary Jane. So. Of course I had to knit them! :)

That's about all that is going on here. I had some hope of a snow event next week in the long range forecast, but that has since changed. Hey. A girl can dream!

Have a fantastic night y'all!
Tootles!
:) JKP

New Plates!

Hey Y'all!
I did a little bit of thrifting yesterday and came across some Correlleware! I just had to add these to my collection. These are the medium sized plates and they are perfect for me. Do you notice the plate of noodles? BOO. I am having a bit of a Crohns flare right now and this is all my tummy can handle. Let's hope rest and a light diet of noodles and broth will take care of this! I want to eat Christmas Dinner!
Tootles!
JKP
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Julia, Julia, Where For Art Thou?

HEY Y'ALL!!!
Glory Be. It has been a month since my last post. OMG. And it has flown people. I know it doesn't seem like it out there in blog land, when you want to read a new post, but. It's September 2nd people!

Let me catch you up!

During our last update I was just about to start school and Pitty Pat had just been to the vet. What I did not know was that not only was I having adjustment issues to starting back to school, but so was my furry baby. So on August 13th.. the DAY before I had to go back to work, I found myself in the Vet's office discussing the pro's and con's of Prozac for doggies. FOR REALS. Pitty Pat was so distraught that I was coming and going more and staying gone for longer periods of time... he licked his front left leg RAW. So. We had to wear a cone of shame for a few days. BOOOO!!

After a few days of me coming home for lunch and antibiotics and creams, Pitty Pat seemed to be turning the corner. I was able to remove the cone and he started to get used to our "new" daily schedule. Thankfully, without the Prozac.

One of the coolest things that has happened in my absence from the blog has been that I received an ipad from my school district. I love my ipad. It is so convenient. And. My time that I usually spend blogging, may have been replaced by playing my Mom and Aunt Gwen in online games. Oh yes. And. I usually don't win! Pitty Pat also likes the ipad. He loves to read Paddington stories!

Also. My new hobby of thrifting has kept me VERY busy too! I will update the thrifting blog, but I do want to share a few goodies here too. Here are a few outfits that I have found in consignment stores that have been getting a lot of wear during these Back to School Must Look Professional Days.

 

 

This is a cute brown dress that I found and I also bought it in black too. These dresses are so comfy and look great on too. I paid $5 A DRESS. They also manage to hide the 5 pounds I gained this summer from my cortisone shots. Oh well. At least I look cute!

 

 



This outfit is not entirely thrifted, just the shirt. It is a cute Ann Taylor Loft shirt that looks great with white or black. It also hides the "summer five." If you notice my shoes.. those are my wonderful Orthaheels. My feet feel great even after standing all day in my classroom. And. I know these are YUCKY bathroom shots. I just bought a new mirror today to use to show off some thrifty finds. Now. No more bathroom shots. Living room shots instead! :)

Anyway. I am really enjoying thrifting. This past week alone I have picked up a 4 piece place setting of Correlle, 2 vintage Pyrex mixing bowls, a Susan B. Anderson knitting book that I have been coveting, 5 shirts and two NEW pairs of pants. For $30. Um. YES!

Last weekend my Mom came for a visit and brought me a wonderful "new to me" gift. Over the summer whenever I would visit Mom, I just couldn't wait to use her Keurig to make my coffee every morning. I really wanted a Keurig, but just couldn't afford to spend that kind of money when both Pitty Pat and I are having nervous breakdowns about summer ending. And many Vet visits have been happening. Anyhoo. My mom has been through two Keurigs. Once she got her first one, she went ahead and upgraded to the Mack Daddy Model. She gave her first one to my Grandmother, who was terrified to use it. SO GUESS WHO HAS IT NOW???

Just looking at this picture makes me happy. What you don't know is that to get the Keurig to this exact location in my kitchen, we had to perform a FULL ON KITCHEN reorganization. It was painful people, but had to be done. :) Notice my caddy? It's my old spice rack. YEP. If you feel you need a caddy for your Keurig Coffee... hold the phone. Try your spice rack. SQUEEEEE!!!!!

While Mom was visiting we got to meet Uncle Richard and Aunt Brenda for lunch. It was great to see them and I really enjoyed visiting and catching up with both of them. Here's a snap of me and Uncle Richard. Do you like his sweater???

I found it for him. Still with the tags on it. For $3. I think he really likes it. He put it on right after I gave it to him! :) If you look closely.. you can see Mitzi Mazda in the picture too!

I haven't really done much cooking this summer, or knitting for that matter. I have just really enjoyed being home and traveling some too. Today I decided that my house needed to feel Fallish. So I put away my summer decorations and brought out my fall table decorations and my Department 56 Halloween Village. It doesn't help that it is still 95 degrees outside, but it feels nice in here. I think the Decaf Iced Pumpkin Latte that I had this morning had a little something to do with my urge to change seasons around here!

 

So in a nutshell (eventhough I am allergic to them) that has what has been going on. The beginning of school has been tough and every year I think that it is going to do me in. This year I have been fighting exhaustion like I have never faced. That has been hard and has contributed to the lack of blogging too. I know that y'all don't want to hear how tired I am when you are just as tired too! When Mom came last weekend, she took me to the grocery store because I haven't been in a few weeks. Now that is some kind of tired when you can't make it to the grocery store. I have a dr's appoitment in Charleston on the 13th to deal with some things, so maybe that will give me an answer too. And. Do you know how many consignment stores I can hit while I am in Charleston?????

 

I hope y'all are doing well too and thanks for coming back to read!

Tootles!

:) JKP

 

 

Back to School Tears, Currently, and a NEW BLOG!

Hey Y'all!

Can you BELIEVE that it is August 3rd? I am in complete denial. That and I have been battling a horrible case of food poisoning. Last weekend I didn't leave my sofa for FOUR days! I couldn't eat solid food until yesterday. Y'all. It was not pretty around here!

While technically I don't go back to work until Tuesday, August 14th, I have to go back even sooner. Monday I am going in for a little while to get my furniture moved in my classroom. I will probably go back in on Tuesday to do some more unpacking. I am also getting my hair cut and colored on Monday. It is so long and needs to be colored. I haven't had my hair done since Memorial Day! Then next Friday the 10th, I have to go to ipad training! That's the silver lining on the clouds! The following Monday, the 13th, I have another training session to go to as well. At least I am going with one of my good work friends. That should make it a little bit more fun!

Don't get me wrong, I love working with my students. But it is A LOT of work to get up and running. And it feels like you are getting the life sucked out of you at times. So, that is why there are tears at the beginning of school. That and we are getting about 3 emails a day with stuff that we are going to have to do when we go back. I AM SO NOT READY!

I have also really enjoyed being home this summer and hanging with Pitty Pat. I miss him so much when I am at school!

Like me, Farley is still out for now! She posted this month's Currently today, so here's mine!

Also. I may have developed a new hobby. :) A few weeks ago, I blogged about visiting consignment stores while I was visiting Mom. It really all started with a clothing sale her church had while I was in town. I got several new pieces of clothes for school for under $40. Since I have gotten home, I have continued "thrifting." I have gotten some great things for my wardrobe at FANTASTIC prices. I end up calling Mom every night to share my "thrift deals" of the day. And she always wants pictures. So I decided to start a blog, called JustJulia's Thrifty Finds! If you have visited my blog in the past few days, you might have noticed that I have already added a link to the blog. This is not going to replace this blog, I just didn't want my thrifting deals to have to compete with the cooking, crafting and knitting! And, once school starts, my thrifting may only be limited to weekends. So it won't be updated ALL the time, but I do have some posts that I can't wait to share! The new blog, in addition to this one will also give me another outlet to be creative. And if I am going to survive this next year, I am going to need fun things to look forward to!

So that is what is going on here! I have a few books I want to finish this weekend, some knitting to work on, a celebration of a dear friend's birthday, and of course some beach time to keep me busy this weekend. I am trying to keep the "School is Starting Anxiety/Depression" away.

One more thing...........I took Pitty Pat to the vet today for his 3 year old check up! He is doing great and is very healthy. He does have to go on a diet though. :) So a few less treats for the baby.

That's what is going on here! I am off to snap some photos of today's thrifting deal!
Tootles!
:) JKP

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned!

Hey Y'all!

Pitty Pat and I arrived home on Sunday and we have been settling into the final days of summer routine. I have one more week left until I have to start going in and working in my classroom. I don't actually report for work until August 14th, but I have several trainings to attend ( I AM GETTING AN IPAD, YIPPEEE) and our open house is earlier than usual, so I have to get things set up in my classroom BEFORE I "officially" go back to work.

The last days of summer are great. Sleeping late, running errands, reading books, catching up on movies, beach time. Not much else going on. I do have to take Pitty Pat for his vet checkup next week and get my hair cut and colored. I have been putting off getting my hair done and my roots are terrible! But I figure the longer I wait until August, the cuter my hair will be for Open House!

Y'all also know how I LOVE a good shopping deal. I would not describe myself as a "cheap" person, but there is really NO NEED to pay full price for clothing. Unless. 1. It is a formal occasion. or 2. It is an emergency, like a funeral. Other than that, let the deals begin!

Last week while I was in Beaufort, I found several consignment stores. Let me tell you, if you can find a consignment store in the area of a base or fort you have hit gold. Many officers wives will "dump" their wardrobes when heading to a new location. Lucky for you! And, if you are getting the hives about going into a consignment store, let me share a cautionary tale with you!

Last week, Mom and I were in a store. It was more "thrift" than consignment, but it still had some deals. As Mom was holding her nose in the air, I proceded to pick out THREE AWESOME Lily Pulitzer pieces. A top and two pairs of shorts. Ahem. All in her size. In like new condition. How much did she pay for those items? $10. FOR THREE LILY PULITZER ITEMS!!! YUP.

Now, I have some rules about consignment shopping. These may help you if you are leery of entering the consignment world!

1. Go to major department stores. If you see something you like, TRY IT ON. TRY ON LOTS OF THINGS. You do not have to buy. But this way you will see what size you wear in certain labels and what styles look good on you. This makes shopping in the consignment world easier!

2. Don't let things like missing buttons turn you off. If a sweater or shirt is missing a button, it is an easy fix!

3. Check the clothing carefully for rips or stains. I will not buy anything that has a stain. Just because you don't know what kind of stain it is and you won't know how to get it out. I really look for clothing that is in like new condition or still has it's tags on!

4. Check the label to see if it is dry clean only. This may not be a big deal for you, but it is a pain to get things dry cleaned. But, SOME pieces are worth it!

5. Become a label snob. I only buy certain labels because I know their quality. And the fact that it will last longer. That's not to say if I find a cute shirt, I won't buy it, but I mainly look for Talbots, Ralph Lauren, Jones of New York, Liz Claiborne, Ann Taylor.

6. If you see something in a consignment store and you like it, buy it. I promise it will not be there later. Also, get in the habit of stopping by on a weekly basis. Their stock changes daily.

7. Do not be afraid of the Goodwill. I know. I hear you. You are scared people will think you are poor. But y'all. The world has changed. Lots of folks who HAVE money shop at Goodwill. Yes. You have to dig. But, what you find may be well worth it. At most Goodwill's shirts are $3, coats are $3 and dresses are $5. But, if you are going the Goodwill way, you will have to stop by weekly. Because their stock changes daily. And if you like something, BUY IT. It will be gone.

8. Have a good idea of prices. Let's not forget, this is clothing that has been worn. Or if it has tags, it has been hanging in a closet. You should not pay full retail price EVER. Your goal is to pay less than what you would pay if the item was on a deep sale. I use this guide.. shirts if they are NICE $12 and under, pants $15 and under, skirts will vary. Be careful, some consignment stores mark stuff UP.

9. There are items I will not buy. Shoes. I can't wear someone else's shoes. And. Sleepwear. Enough said.

10. I am a big Vera Bradley fan, but I won't pay $50 to $70 for a purse. Consignment stores and Goodwill carry Vera Bradley! Just check the straps for wear and tear. :)

Now, just because I shop at consignment stores doesn't mean I don't shop in real stores too. It's just about who has what I like and who has the best sale! Sometimes shopping at a major department store is better than a consignment store. You just have to look!

Now. If you still aren't convinced.. here are some of my recent finds at a consignment store!

Like new Ralph Lauren tops. I paid $7 for both!

Liz Claiborne jacket.. $5!

Now. Here's a final caution about consignment store shopping. Just because it is only $5 or cheaper does not mean you need it. If you don't love it, or it is just OK, don't buy it. Leave it for someone else. Because there may be someone who needs it more than you!

Also. Don't forget to clean out your closet and take things to Goodwill or a consignment store too. Because I bet there is someone out there who could use your stuff too!

Happy shopping!

Tootles!

:) JKP