the month by iPhone :: July 2015

if I was a little bit more on top of things, I would have had this one ready to go for yesterday morning. but it was Monday. is anyone ever ready when Monday rolls around? here's a peek into the crazy month that was July. I honestly don't understand how time can go by so fast. the summer is nearly over already!

so the caption on this photo may have been about how I wanted to throw these at the kids. yeah, it wasn't a great day.

happy mail from Social Print Studio! (: {what I got is pictured here}

Independence Day with my favorites - WiFEE and the HUZz Band!

I love this bag from Target!

three pictures from a lovely morning on the Chicago Fire Boat with the preschoolers. it was even better than every other time I've been on it!

I drove out to the quarry one Monday morning and took pictures of some limestone.

from that same morning, I of course had to drive a little further north to look at Chateau Hutter. this is my very favorite tree at the John A. Hutter Memorial Park across the street. I really keep my personal life pretty private and don't post a lot on Facebook, but I've been posting more lately, and this was something I posted there! I just really like this picture.

of course it would be cloudy and chilly when we took the kids to Quietwoods South for swimming and playing on the splash pad. at least there was no one else there!

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish along with blue spaghetti in the sensory table!

guitars in love.

revived orchids.

 rainbow fish (:

 my favorite slide.

xoxo.

27/52 2015

I feel like every week I just talk about how time is flying by, but that's really how it has been lately! it was a fun weekend getting to see some friends from out of town in between all of the craziness lately!

Thursday 2 July // day one hundred ninety-three :: ah, July.

Friday 3 July // day one hundred ninety-four :: I got some great mail the day before from Social Print Studio! (: this is now hanging in my kitchen, and the Jameson has still yet to be opened. haha.

Saturday 4 July // day one hundred ninety-five :: I love decorating my notebooks with this stickers from SPS!

Sunday 5 July // day one hundred ninety-six :: I helped out at the merch table a little bit for my friends WIFEE and the HUZz Band at the Independence Day celebration the night before, and I ended up being sent home with this bag of kettle corn because the band was given like eight bags so that the kettle corn cowboys didn't have to throw them away!

Monday 6 July // day one hundred ninety-seven :: running errands. Burt's Bees & Frozen Lip Smackers from Target + some books for camp!

Tuesday 7 July // day one hundred ninety-eight :: Frozen Lip Smackers!!! (:

Wednesday 8 July // day one hundred ninety-nine :: I love seeing my name in other people's handwriting. thanks for the new cd, Bruce! (:

xoxo.

16/52 2015

In true Door County fashion, the weather around here has been pretty weird lately. It was semi-warm (we're talking around 55), and the grass turned green. The trees have started to blossom a little bit, but I'm waiting for them to really start blooming before I go out again to get some pictures especially since it was SNOWING yesterday. None of it stuck here since the ground was too warm, but it was still annoying to me. (:

Here's a little glimpse into my week. It wasn't too exciting though.

Thursday 16 April // day one hundred six :: Macintosh apples are my favorite.

Friday 17 April // day one hundred seven :: I must admit that Talenti gelato is one of my favorite things.

Saturday 18 April // day one hundred eight :: I am one of those people who likes to make her bed every morning because it just looks better and I feel like I accomplished something. Saturdays are the best though because I do the laundry so they are fresh sheets. (:

Sunday 19 April // day one hundred nine :: my Tattly order came the day before and I am so excited about it!

Monday 20 April // day one hundred ten :: I was going to plan my lesson for Sunday, but then I ended up getting busy with other errands and such.

Tuesday 21 April // day one hundred eleven :: shooting for a post about my second Stitch Fix!

Wednesday 22 April // day one hundred twelve :: I saw these salt and pepper shakers the last time that I was at Target, and I just fell in love with them, because I love little dogs with wrinkly noses, most especially French bulldogs and Boston terriers. there were two salt shakers left next to a pepper shaker, and I didn't buy any of them because I already have a matryoshka salt and pepper shaker set that I don't use. well, today there was one lone salt shaker, so I bought it for my dresser.

xoxo.

this post contains affiliate links.

Another Post About Target

Don't be so surprised, I'm writing about Target again.

I don't even know why I'm writing another post about Target. Okay, I just have to let you in on what I bought and the great clearance items.

So I went to Target on Tuesday morning because I needed a birthday card and a gift bag for the present. I decided I would also look for something for my Secret Santa for Christmas.

I walked in and of course got my kicks from Shopkick. {I'm saving up for a Target gift card, obviously.} I browsed the See Spot Save section but didn't really look to closely or pick anything up, and I cut through the women's clothes and went over to the accessories department to look and see if there were any cute scarves on clearance. There weren't. I checked Cartwheel, and then I headed towards the toddler clothing section for that gift.

Well, the hosiery section {Is that what it's called?} is right next to the toddler clothing, so I looked to see if they had any cute knee high socks, and they did!! I ended up getting two pairs {pictured above}, but when they're on sale, there are a few other ones that I liked.

I browsed the toddler clothes, but I didn't see any cute boy stuff, so I went to the home department and looked at sheets. Sheets are so expensive! There were some on clearance and others on sale, but I didn't really like them that much, and I almost bought a pink fuzzy blanket that was on clearance in the toddler/baby bedroom section, but I didn't like the color too much. I wandered around the Halloween section before I went to the kitchen section.

There was an aisle that was empty except for a tiny section of some clearance items, and I found some blond wood frames that I bought {5x7 and matted 4x6 - they match the matted 8x10 in my dining room}. I kept walking and then I looked at some lamps and frames and found a black wood matted 8x10 that was 70% off. It was $12 instead of $40 so I bought it. The problem here is that now I have to pick and print photos for these three frames and decide where to hang them.

{here are the frames, along with a red one that also needs to be filled and hung.}

The reason I don't typically get a cart while I'm in Target is so I don't end up buying a ton of things that I don't really need, so I went and looked at the stationery section. There was a coupon on Cartwheel for an additional 20% off clearanced stationery items, which was perfect because the cutest gift bag was on clearance. I also looked at the notecards on clearance, but I didn't buy any.

I looked at birthday cards, but didn't buy any. I really hate picking out greeting cards! It's so hard because I feel like they never fit the person I'm looking to buy one for. So I just went and checked out.

And that's how I ended up spending $24 at Target this week...

When I pull down the notification center on my iPhone, it tells me how long it would take me to drive to work or church or wherever I usually go that day of the week. Today it told me how long it would take me to drive to Target. Oops.

Kudos to anyone who actually read this. (;

xoxo.

*this unsponsored post contains affiliate links

38/52 2014

finally settling into the school year routine of work and teaching at the Y. it was another busy weekend because of a fall festival in Sturgeon Bay, and on Monday I drove down to Oshkosh for some shopping. the sky was so perfectly beautiful during the day and then later as I left the Y and the sun was setting. I wish I had pictures because the colors were just so vibrant.

Wednesday 17 September // day two hundred sixty :: my shoes tend to end up on the floor between jobs.

Thursday 18 September // day two hundred sixty-one :: breaking into a new NatureBox! {check out what's inside here}

Friday 19 September // day two hundred sixty-two :: coloring time. (: {these printables are from Tried and True}

Saturday 20 September // day two hundred sixty-three :: a few years ago, as I was working on the laundry at work, I updated my facebook status to "laundry is a never ending cycle." I didn't even mean for it to be a pun, but it really does never end...

Sunday 21 September // day two hundred sixty-four :: I finally updated to iOS 8, but only because I had some apps that wanted to be updated. I don't really use anything from the update.

Monday 22 September // day two hundred sixty-five :: I drove down to Oshkosh to do some shopping. I really wanted to get some new shirts and cardigans. the only thing that I bought that resembled clothing is this scarf from World Market {also in orange and purple}. and I found the little trinket tray at Francesca's, which I had never been in before. it's really annoying that I want to buy clothes but everything I find is at least one of the following: not something I like, too expensive, or something I like but couldn't really pull off.

Tuesday 23 September // day two hundred sixty-six :: these are a few of my favorite things (you know you just sang that too)

xoxo.

Doing Cartwheels

when I first started this blog, I used to write a lot about shopping, especially at Target. I have been wanting to shop so much lately, but everything I see, I just don't feel like buying. I went to Target with some gift cards yesterday and a plan to spend them. I still have $2.19 left. (;

here are a couple things I bought!

I had to get those mint gloves for this winter, since they are the perfect color! They're touchscreen compatible, like most gloves these days I think. The phone case is a boombox. I've been watching it for a while, and it was now on 70% off clearance. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or give it to someone yet. The blue thing up in front is another cardigan. I used to have a navy cardigan, but I got rid of it. This one is the boyfriend cardigan, which I have in brown, black, and pink. The new one is thinner with different pockets.

One of the things that I had to buy was some new knee high socks. I wasn't too impressed with the selection that they had; there were only about a dozen different ones. These zebra and leopard ones have little ears though! They also had raccoons and they were sold out of the foxes. The other patterned ones were all really boring, like just athletic stripes.

I knew that I didn't need more notecards, but these were in the dollar section. I was skeptical at first because they're usually $3.99, but they rang up as a dollar. And these stickers! I bought them for my preschool class for the week of Halloween, but I kind of don't want to use them because they are so cute!

Do you have Target's app Cartwheel? I love scanning all of my items and seeing what kind of deals I can get. This was definitely a good day, because most of my items had coupons! The sweater was already on sale, but it was another 20% off, and the socks were 10% off. I bought a few other unpictured items, some on clearance, and some on sale plus a 5% off coupon. The best one though was that the dollar spot had a 30% off coupon that could be used on up to four items. Those notecards were only 70 cents! I can't be too mad at myself for that.

Until next time, Target. You know I'll be back.

xoxo.

ps - this post is NOT sponsored, I just really love Target and Cartwheel.
pps - I wish I could do a cartwheel.

and congratulations to Molly for winning last week's giveaway! (:

January Spending Freeze

Last month, I participated with Erin & friends for the January Spending Freeze. Like when I did a spending freeze in July, the point was to only spend money on necessities like bills and food.

I won't say that I was perfect this month, but thinking about the spending freeze definitely saved me money!

Of course I had some bills and necessary expenses this month, including my cell phone bill and some food. I still live at home, so I don't have to pay rent or utilities or any of that fun stuff. I had to get gas for my car, and I also paid for my car insurance this month. It's due early next month, but I figured that I would take care of it early since I could. I also had to send out an eBay order, so I had to pay a few dollars for shipping, but technically that's covered in the price that the buyer paid, so never mind. I also had to pay for a Kickstarter campaign that I pledged to last month.

I actually did go shopping a couple times this month, but I didn't really buy anything. I had to print off some pictures at Target for my grandma, and I went there again towards the end of the month, but there were a lot of things that I wanted to buy that I didn't. I just got mascara like I needed to, and some granola bars which were on clearance and I had a coupon for! I used some credits from Christmas returns to buy some Pyrex and Wilton bakeware at Gordman's and a pair of tights at Kohl's. I also was able to use some of my Amazon credit (from SwagBucks gift cards) to buy a book. Finally, I did also buy some foam stickers for my Sunday school kids and a little pick me up for a friend who needed a smile. They made me smile too, so that was a bonus.

There were a lot of things that I wanted to buy last month, but I said no so that I could call this a success. Do you know how hard it is to go to Target and not buy everything? I was so proud of myself for spending less than ten dollars there!

I'm going to try to let this experience guide me through the rest of the year. Do I need cute Eiffel Tower notecards for a dollar? I have a 20% off coupon though! But I knew that I already had so many notecards at home, so I put them back. And then there was that album I wanted to buy on iTunes, but I said no. January really helped me put my spending habits in check!

xoxo.

The Month by iPhone: January 2014

I still don't understand how January can already be over. This year is already flying by! It was a really cold month here in Wisconsin!

One of my favorite snacks is a sliced apple with Greek yogurt and granola!

I've been writing in the Happiness Project journal for almost a year now, but I just started reading the book! I haven't gotten very far yet though.

I love this boomerang drawer liner!

Magic Music

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pat on the Black - read more about my experience here!

There were some water drops on my moonroof when I pulled out of the garage one morning, and by the time I parked at my destination five minutes later, I could hear it cracking as it froze!

pretty pink flowers in a mason jar on an orange boomerang counter

a rare picture from me inside our church. there are some beautiful stained glass windows on either side, which someday I will have to sneak a picture of.

Razorcake always has cool covers!

As of January 25th, I have been driving Luna for three years!!

I just really love ice-frosted windows.

a rare selfie, because I was wearing a hat (which also rarely happens!) {ps I hate the word selfie}

 I thought it was pretty funny that my outfit matched the diner at work!

I am totally going back to Target to buy this after Valentine's Day, when it will be on clearance! It's red velvet!

best bookmark.
 
Some January Posts:
January NatureBox
2014 :: Week 1
2014 :: Week 2
2014 :: Week 3
2014 :: Week 4
One Night at the CopperLeaf
Door County Drive

xoxo.