Holiday Shopping Woes

 I am convinced that the only people who do well on Black Friday or Cyber Monday are people looking for major appliances or who don't shop frequently and have no idea they're getting a bad deal. Because you're getting a bad deal. Even sites that used to deliver big sales (6pm.com, I'm looking at you and doing some serious reminiscing over your $99 Frye boot deals of yesteryear), increased the prices of items from early last week. And by a lot. Like $69 a lot in some cases. Huge brands were offering 15-20% off and calling those cyber Monday sales. For small business, those are perfectly acceptable sale percentages, but for ModCloth to offer 25%? And Gap. 40%? Gap regularly offers 50% off just because it's a Tuesday. Cyber Monday used to mean deep discounts that made you feel like you stuck it to the man. Now many of the sales are worse than if you belong to an email list. So what did I buy? A bronze jackalope from White Faux Taxidermy, because I need all the fancy things more than a refrigerator or a shirt. That is all. 

Dollar Tree Bathroom Makeover for $6

I rent, which means I am stuck with parts of my apartment that I simply do not like. At all. Like my bathroom, which, until yesterday, was an extraordinarily hideous reflection of somebody else's poor decisions. Those are harsh words, but ooooh...

Now your eyes hurt. And I'm sorry (kind of), but you need to see what I've been living with for two years. I have been able to improve my kitchen and use good (and cheap) decor to make my super affordable Philly apartment (think way under market value) look way nicer than it should look. Except my bathroom. I was never able to figure it out and cringed every single time I have to go in there. Until yesterday. I was home visiting my parents and went to Dollar Tree with my mom. Dollar Tree is fantastic. Everything is only $1. 

Proof that all the things are only $1.

Do you want to smell nice or lovely? #options

Taste the rainbow? Smell the rainbow.

I prefer chefs with swagger.
 

See? They sell really random stuff there, but also really amazing products, like the best carpet cleaner I have ever used (which I may know from personal use that it also works amazingly well on dry clean only products). Anyway, they had black and white floral contact paper for only $1. And a lot of it. I started thinking about my bathroom and the hideous tile and before I could stop hyperventilating, I had grabbed 10 rolls, abandoned taking pictures of products and headed straight for the checkout. For $10, what did I have to lose?

Before starting, I tried to find online tutorials for contact paper bathroom tile DIY projects, but to no avail. There are so many tutorials that show people using contact paper as a backsplash, but nobody using it as a solution to cover hideous bathroom tile. So like most of my projects, I decided to wing it. After wiping down the tile and making sure it was completely dry, I started measuring and cutting. The contact paper was so easy to put up, and the best part (next to the SVU marathon that kept me entertained while I was working) is that this will peel off without damaging the tile when I move. Also, I only needed six rolls of contact paper, so I am going to return the rest (because money).  

As a follow up, it's worth noting that I just ordered plain black contact paper to create a border to make it look more like somebody who truly cares about their bathroom lives in my apartment (and also somebody who wants the transition from cream to white and black to look less obvious). The before and after shows the huge improvement. 

I am so happy with my Dollar Tree DIY project and can't wait until the black contact paper arrives to finish the work! 

Revlon Frost n Glow Review

Warning: I am comfortable coloring and cutting my own hair. This is what I did and it worked, but I acknowledge it may not work for everybody and highly recommend doing a test section of hair to make sure this technique will work for you. Proceed with caution DIYers! 

I have been paying for salon highlighting for so long that I can't really remember when I started. Over the years, my hair has been pulled through a cap, foiled and on several misguided occasions, been dyed darker. Now, I can add balyage to the list. And I did it myself, and it was so affordable and easy!

I watched and read several tutorials on balyage, a technique where the hair color is painted on strands of hair. Balyage seems so much less scary than pulling hair through a cap (does anybody even do that anymore?) or trying to use foils at home. The best tutorial, hands down, was a video from Jessie James Decker about the process she uses to balyage her (gorgeous) hair at home. I bought the  same brand and color kit that she uses and decided my free Friday night would be devoted to this endeavor. That way if things went horribly south, I had two full days before work for an emergency repair job on my hair. 

No, need for concern! This was so easy. Here is what I bought: 

The color of this kit is Honey, and it only cost $7.49. It would have cost less at Wal-Mart, but my store was out of this color and I had to buy from the grocery story, which is more expensive (but hey, way less expensive than a two-color process). 

The process couldn't have been easier. Mix the bleach powder with the cream activator and, if you're following instructions in the kit, use the tools and gloves provided to apply the dye. I used my bare hands and a toothbrush for application. This was so easy and I was admittedly slow and overly cautious so as to not drop dye on dry strands and cause spotting. Typically, I part my hair on the side, so for more natural results, I parted my hair down the middle. Taking small strands, I painted the color on my hair starting in the middle and using my hands to really work the color in and push it to the end of my hair and close to the root (don't get the color on your scalp - it can look spotty or streaky). 

My roots were pretty grown out, so I knew my color was going to need to process for longer than what was recommended in the video that I watched. Recommended process times in the instructions are from 10 - 60 minutes. My color was on for about 30 minutes and I could have absolutely kept it on for a few more minutes to get the perfect color, but given this was my first time doing this - so thrilled with the result! 

What will I do differently next time? I will do this during the day with natural light on my side. My apartment doesn't have amazing lighting at night, but perfect lighting during the day. This forced me to do some guesswork on the timing of the process. Fortunately, erring on the side of caution worked well, and I'm so pleased with my results!

Burberry Dress for Less

Using the discover tool on Instagram, I came across this dress on a blogger's account. Somebody I follow had liked the image, and I was probably overly excited to find out the blogger has gotten the dress on Shein, a discount site that sells really good replicas. I immediately ordered the dress and am thrilled with it. The sizing is small, which is typical with sites like this, so I ordered a medium. For $36, this is going to be a great staple as the seasons change! 

p.s. you've heard of kevin & zhen, right?

Prescription Sunglasses and Saddle Shoes

Do you ever feel like you're never getting anywhere? Yes? Me too. All the time. This week those feelings were particularly relevant as my car unexpectedly needed an expensive repair and where I thought I was in good shape financially, all of a sudden I was trying to figure out how I was going to make it through the next two weeks. Oh, and my car is four years old and still under warranty. You know how people say they don't want to adult today? Yep. Me. This week.

One good thing did happen. Well, two. The prescription sunglasses that I ordered from Zenni Optical arrived (after my trip that I had ordered them for, but hey, you get how things work for me) and I love them! Glasses can sometimes look silly on my face (which is cool, because I like oversized glasses), but I wanted better fitting prescription glasses so that I can wear them running, driving and around the city. These were under $7 base pricing on Zenni, and I added the scratch/glare coating, 80% tint and personalization. After shipping and a 20% off discount, these were only $21. 

Next up, I rediscovered a pair of saddle shoes that have been under my bed for about two years. They are Bass and were an eBay find ($29). This morning felt more fall-like, and they made me crave layered outfits, falling leaves and cool nights. 

Tracy Reese and a Wedding Gift

Tracy Reese dresses have quickly become my go-to for special events. They're so fun and unique, and I can always find a great deal on eBay. When my friend Cori set her wedding date, I immediately began searching for a Tracy Reese dress. I was so excited to find this $450 linen and mesh dress (new with tags) for a song (let's just say it was reduced to $34 on Anthropologie's clearance racks). 

I absolutely love the embellished neckline. As always, the dress is well made and fit beautifully. Was it risky wearing mesh and chains to church? Yes, but completely worth it.  

Next up, I took an even bigger risk and made my friend's wedding gift. I wanted to do something special, something me, but also something that reflected them as well. That's a tall order. Always up for a challenge, I settled on customizing a globe. If you've trolled any of my posts, you know I'm obsessed with maps and gloves. I thought this was a neat idea as my friend's fiancé (now husband) is originally from Japan. I wanted to buy a black globe to customize since I figured it would easily show light paint. After losing several eBay auctions, I finally won a great 1972 vintage globe. Next up, I bought some art supplies and went to work. 

Practicing freehand made me realize how computers have ruined my handwriting. 

As I had never done this before, it didn't exactly go as planned (the painter's tape ended up ripping some of the map, which led to some improvisation), but I was so happy with the final product! 

Wishing Cori and Hidi all the happiness in the world (get it, get it) as they start their  adventure together! 

Milly for Kohl's

Apparently, I have a collab problem. As I type this, my last post Lilly for Target, I am dreaming of the Balmain blazers that will be gracing H&M's racks just in time to spruce up my work wardrobe! 

Admittedly, when Milly for Kohl's came out, I was not sold on it. This is largely because I'm not a huge fan of Kohl's (sorry, everybody). After seeing a few bloggers style the collection, I decided to go way out of my way and visit my nearest Kohl's. I was pleasantly surprised to find the collaboration full of high quality fabrics and adorable mix and match pieces. Also, everything was on sale! I am short, so a few items I purchased ended up needing tailoring. 

Excess strap, much? 

The crop top totally not cropped on the left and folded up once on the right. 

Today, I picked everything up at the tailors (found a great lady who does cheap alterations) and used Kohl's cash that I got when I purchased my original Milly's items to buy matching shorts for only $6!!  

The Milly for Kohl's collab completely surprised me. I definitely don't see myself becoming a Kohl's regular, but can see myself getting a lot of mileage out of these pieces.